Wednesday, March 8th, 2023

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 18

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

UNIVERSITY NEWS

U. launches new NAIS concentration Concentration focuses on Native American and Indigenous studies from critical lens

Almost one year after being announced at the April 2022 faculty meeting, the Critical Native American and Indigenous Studies concentration is now available for students.

The Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative began the concentration’s development in the spring of 2021 with hopes of launching in fall 2021 or 2022, The Herald previously reported. Its introductory course, ETHN 1200K: “Introduction to American Indian Studies,” is available on Courses@ Brown for fall 2023.

The 10-credit concentration explores four themes, also called Concentration Breadth Areas: Creative Expression; History, Politics and Policy Issues; Language and Identity; and Systems of Knowledge and Belief, according to the University Bulletin. The concentration’s

HERALD FILE PHOTO

NAIS explores four themes: Creative Expression; History, Politics & Policy Issues; Language & Identity; and Systems of Knowledge & Belief. development was supported by a Mellon Foundation grant NAISI received, The Herald previously reported.

The concentration only includes two mandatory courses: ETHN 1200K and NAIS 1900: “Critical NAIS Capstone Course,” which will be offered beginning spring 2024.

The capstone course, restricted to seniors, will provide students with “the opportunity to share their research; reflect on what the field of NAIS is (and is) becoming; and consider how their work relates to the field as a whole,”

according to the course description.

Students may submit research papers, projects or a write-up associated with a relevant engagement or internship experience as a capstone.

To pursue honors in the concentration, students must complete a thesis research project. Their proposal must be approved by a faculty advisor and the NAIS Departmental Undergraduate Group. Completed theses must be submitted by the third week of April for spring graduation, or the first Monday of December for winter graduation.

Daniel Etienne ’26 estimates that he has made somewhere between $400 and $700 since the start of the fall 2022 semester volunteering as a participant in research studies on campus. He’s been paid entirely in cash.

As a frequent study participant, Julian Ansorge ’24 has taken part in roughly six studies through the University. “It adds up, so it can (be) almost a part time job if you’re really vigilant,” he said, adding that he typically learns about these studies through Today@Brown.

Today@Brown emails and targeted advertisements on social media frequently include calls for student volunteers in research studies, which

range from investigations of economic decision making to autism to alcohol consumption. Nearly all studies offer financial compensation in the form of cash or gift cards.

According to the Research at Brown website, the University “is committed to the conduct of responsible research,” and the Institutional Review Board is tasked with evaluating the ethics of human research affiliated with the University. The IRB has also approved the use of Today@ Brown for recruitment, according to the site.

The Herald spoke to four students who described their experience participating in studies on campus, explaining that the opportunities were convenient, well-paid and often interesting.

Student experiences: quick money, learning about research Students noted that the convenience of participating in studies and the opportunity to make money in a

SEE STUDIES PAGE 2

METRO

Zia discusses potential changes to enrollment units

The University has begun considering new ways for students to accrue enrollment units — a requirement for graduation — said Dean of the College Rashid Zia ’01 at Tuesday’s faculty meeting.

Currently, undergraduate students must accumulate 32 enrollment units to graduate from the University, among other requirements. Students receive four enrollment units for completing a full-time semester — taking between three and five courses, typically — or after completing four courses during separate Winter Sessions or Summer Sessions, Zia said.

Individual winter or summer courses do not count toward enrollment units unless taken in bundles of four. Students can also receive a semester’s worth of enrollment units for work from another institution, and

‘Almost a part-time job’: Study participants reflect

BY ELEANOR BARTH WU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

UNIVERSITY NEWS

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Researchers discuss benefits, limitations of student subjects in studies

BY NEIL MEHTA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Fall semester grade deadline change postponed at faculty meeting

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

no more than one semester of units for pre-matriculation work such as Advanced Placement courses.

Separately from the enrollment units, students must complete 30 courses during their time at the University.

Students, Zia noted, might not be able to plan multiple winters or summers ahead — meaning they do not know if an individual Winter Session or Summer Session course will count towards accruing enrollment units, especially early in their college career.

For students with financial constraints, that creates uncertainty, he said.

Similarly, a lack of flexibility surrounding enrollment units can prevent students from using Winter Session or Summer Session courses to make up for taking reduced course loads under special circumstances.

“The current complexity of policies is dissuading some students from accessing our full curriculum, especially with winter and summer courses, in ways that are inequitable,” Zia said at the meeting. “It is a very difficult advising conversation for them to figure that out.”

SEE PROPOSAL PAGE 2

Ruggerio calls for RIPTA overhaul Transit agency faces ‘fiscal cliff,’ potential oversight hearings in General Assembly

BY YAEL SARIG SENIOR STAFF WRITER Rhode Island State Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D-North Providence) recently called for the resignation of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s CEO Scott Avedisian and for the merger of RIPTA with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation in a Feb. 17 press release. Ruggerio also called for the state Senate to conduct an oversight hearing on the public transit agency.

Ruggerio’s calls for change follow several tumultuous months for RIPTA. The agency is reportedly headed towards a “fiscal cliff” once federal money — including the $29.6 million in Federal Emergency Relief dollars the agency received due to the pandemic — runs out.

The agency also experienced a driver shortage last fall, which Ruggerio described in the press release as an example of “foreseeable challenges”

RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD

which were “left unaddressed until there was a crisis.”

Cristy Raposo Perry, spokesperson for RIPTA, linked the authority’s fall driver shortage to a greater labor shortage facing transit agencies nationwide. In an email to The Herald, she cited “pandemic-related health and safety issues, competitor wages, CDL requirements, assaults against drivers and a lack of interest from the younger workforce” as obstacles to recruiting drivers.

RIPTA also recently faced criticism

Arts & Culture

U. News

Metro

Sports

Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” offers dark, complex narrative Page 3

SPH program supports underrepresented students Page 4

Bill proposes injuredon-duty status for first responders with PTSD Page 7

Brown wrestling competes in EIWA Championship Page 7

TODAY

28 / 44

for granting a contentious “no-bid lobbying contract,” according to a Senate press release, which added that the decision was made without consulting the RIPTA board.

In January, The Providence Journal reported that former Mayor of Cranston and Republican candidate for Congress Allan Fung’s lobbying firm was granted a deal with RIPTA. Avedisian was formerly a Republican mayor of Warwick.

By mid-February, the board had

SEE RIPTA PAGE 3

TOMORROW

32 / 45

DESIGNED BY TOM LI ’26 DESIGNER NATHANIEL SCOTT ’24 DESIGNER GRAY MARTENS ’25 DESIGN EDITOR

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

SPORTS

Bears baseball remains winless after sweep at U. of New Orleans Carter Rasmussen ’26 wins Ivy League Rookie of the Week for dominant relief outing

BY LINUS LAWRENCE SPORTS EDITOR The baseball team (0-7) was swept in a three-game set on the road against the University of New Orleans (7-4) this past weekend, falling by final scores of 10-3, 9-5 and 5-1. After two series, the Bears are still searching for their first win of the season.

“We haven’t played well yet — to me, that is a better place to be than if our best performance led to our current results,” Head Coach Grant Achilles wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “It’s back to work at being the best version of ourselves every day and striving for consistency of process rather than control over the outcome.”

Bruno jumped out to an early lead in the opening game on Friday night, scoring two runs in the top of the second inning on RBIs from Gunner Boree ’25 and Ray Sass ’23. But UNO responded quickly, plating five runners in the next two innings with the help of three Brown errors, two of which occurred on the same play in the bottom of the third.

The Privateers tacked on four more

STUDIES FROM PAGE 1 low-commitment way was appealing.

“It’s relatively easy to sign up, doesn’t take too much time and the pay is somewhat decent,” Etienne said.

Participants have the choice of participating in longer, higher-paying studies or shorter ones. Addie Kerwin ’24 explained her preference for the former, noting that for one month-long study she participated in, she tracked her alcohol consumption. She was paid $400.

But Ansorge expressed a preference for shorter single-visit studies. He participated in one study where he was asked to complete a series of computer tasks to earn real-world money.

But compensation and convenience are not the only motivating factors for students. “It’s a nice way to make money, but I think at least the psychology ones are always actually interesting to me,” Ansorge said.

According to Lucy Yu ’26, the opportunity to learn more about the types of research the University conducts is another benefit of participating in studies. She appreciated the learning

PROPOSAL FROM PAGE 1 Most of Brown’s peer institutions do not have separate requirements for winter and summer courses in terms of their contribution towards students’ ability to graduate, Zia added.

“We’re trying to work with the (College Curriculum Council) and others to bring forward a better proposal,” Zia said.

David Buchta, senior lecturer in classics, raised concerns about students overloading their schedules with courses to graduate early under a new system.

“How would we prevent a student from saying, ‘How do I cram in as much as possible … and get out of here in three years?’ ” Buchta asked.

Zia noted that most students are unaware of enrollment units as a condition required for graduation. “It is

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Carter Rasmussen ’26 was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week after a relief outing in which he recorded seven strikeouts over three innings.

solid contact.”

For his performance, Rasmussen was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week Monday.

“It’s a huge honor to get recognized this early in the season, and it means that the work that we have put in is paying off,” Rasmussen wrote, though he emphasized that his focus is “on the goal of winning the Ivy League Championship.”

Rasmussen was followed by Jacob Young ’25 and Jack Seppings ’25, who each tossed scoreless innings to give Bruno an opportunity to stay competitive in what had appeared to be a blowout. The Bears took advantage of that opportunity, attempting to mount a miraculous comeback by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off three hits and four walks.

Boree, Brasher and Reece Rappoli ’24 each contributed an RBI, while Jared Johnson ’25 picked up two RBIs on a two-out pinch-hit single.

“That inning shows that we fight to the last out,” Boree wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “That inning was a testament to (what) we are capable of as a team.”

“It was an important reminder for our team of what we are capable of: stringing together good at-bats, aggressive swings in the zone and sticking to our limits,” Achilles wrote.

Down 9-5 in the ninth inning, the

Bears loaded the bases with one out to bring the tying run to bat, but they were ultimately unable to score.

In the series finale on Sunday afternoon, the Bears’ sole run came on their first home run of the season by catcher Jacob Burley ’23, who later caught a runner stealing on the basepaths.

Boree, who was responsible for one of the Bears’ three hits on Sunday, was an on-base machine all weekend: He reached base safely nine times via three hits and six walks over the course of the series. “I was simply looking for pitches to hit, and I didn’t get many, which led to all those walks,” Boree wrote.

The Bears will look to get in the win column during a four-game set against Pennsylvania State University this coming weekend. It will be the last of the team’s three road trips to start the season before their home opener versus Bryant University March 18.

Boree called “playing with aggression” the key to securing a victory in their upcoming games. “With the talent on our team, if we can come out of the gates firing, we should get our first win this weekend,” Boree wrote.

“None of us wanted to start off this way, but with a lot of baseball left, the path forward is to double down on what led to such a positive and productive build into the season: a consistent process and trust in competition,” Achilles wrote.

runs in the bottom of the fifth, knocking both starter Tobey McDonough ’23 and reliever Peter Dubie ’26 out of the game. It was rookie Christian Keel ’26 who stopped the bleeding, throwing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball in his Bears debut.

Bruno added a run with an RBI triple

by Nathan Brasher ’25, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.

In game two, UNO came out swinging, scoring eight runs across the first three frames. It appeared the game was well out of Brown’s reach when rookie Carter Rasmussen ’26, who made his debut against Georgia State the week prior, took the mound.

Rasmussen was dominant, befud-

dling batters to record seven strikeouts over three innings of two-hit, one-run ball, with the run coming on a wild pitch.

“Carter’s outing can be summed up in one word: attack,” Achilles wrote. “He attacked with his fastball, making his secondary stuff even better … Hitting becomes a lot more difficult with that type of presence on the mound.”

“I was loose and not putting pressure on myself, so I was able to just get the pitch call, throw that pitch and beat the hitter however I could,” Rasmussen wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “I put my fastball on the edges of the strike zone and made them chase offspeed (pitches) out of the zone, which kept them from any

experience of receiving an MRI for the first time and being given a short tour of the facility while participating in one study. “I think that was just as much of an academic experience as it was for pay,” she said.

Researchers discuss student samples Oriel FeldmanHall, associate professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences, studies behavioral economics and relies on student participants, in part due to convenience.

“We live in an ecosystem of a university where there’s lots of students around,” she said.

However, FeldmanHall also noted the limitations of these kinds of studies. “One issue with psychological research in general is that our datasets, which are comprised mostly of students at universities … are what are called WEIRD” — or from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic societies, FeldmanHall said.

For research questions concerned with political behaviors, these biases are important to take into consideration,

as a homogenous sample “can be very problematic,” she added.

But the FeldmanHall lab has also observed similarities between the behavior of Brown students and subjects from other demographic groups, specifically in a study testing altruistic behavior.

Students aren’t always just a “convenience sample.” In an email to The Herald, Isaiah Foley, who works in Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences Jennifer Merrill’s lab at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, explained that studies concerned with young adult behaviors such as drinking are specifically well-suited to recruit students on campus. Such studies aim to prevent harm in the same populations they draw from, he added.

For other studies, Brown students make up only a minority of participants. The Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment Adolescent and Young Adult Study, for example, initially drew exclusively from a registry of local adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Lat-

er, the study was opened to Brown students in an effort to broaden their research, according to Anthony Spirito, professor of psychiatry and human behavior and one of the principal investigators of RAYS. Reflecting on the role of students

in research, Spirito explained that students are “helping to advance science research projects” and learning more about themselves in the process. And, he added, they are almost always compensated for their time.

not within the schema of students to think … about courses and enrollment units,” he said.

President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 expressed a similar sentiment.

“I don’t know. … Maybe we could take a straw poll to see how many people even knew enrollment units existed,” Paxson said.

And while flexibility in enrollment units might allow students to graduate faster, it does not happen often at peer institutions with that flexibility, Zia added — though he noted that he was not sure if that was “necessarily a bad thing.”

Also at the meeting, the Faculty Executive Committee presented a motion to amend the University’s Faculty Rules and Regulations to resolve conflicting deadlines for the submission of fall semester grades.

According to Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Urban Studies Kenneth Wong, a representative from the committee, there are two contradictory deadlines for grade submissions in the Faculty Rules and Regulations. The amendment would delete the mention of a Jan. 6 deadline for fall semester grades but maintain the requirement for grade submissions within 72 hours of final exams or 48 hours for exams on the last day of the semester.

The motion sparked extended debate among faculty prior to the voting process.

Ross Cheit, professor of political science and international and public affairs, said that this policy was “not adequately sensitive to people with a large class.”

“If you have a large class, and especially if the exam date is late, this is

actually hostile in terms of holidays,” he added.

Luiz Valente PhD’83, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies and comparative literature, agreed with Cheit, adding that “it should not be up to the registrar to decide when I should have a due date for a paper.”

“I’m a little bit annoyed that some discussions keep coming back up,” Valente added.

Sylvia Kuo, senior lecturer in economics, spoke in favor of the amended deadline. While Cheit and Valente both said that the policy would pose issues for instructors teaching large classes, Kuo disagreed. Having taught ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics,” one of the largest courses on campus with an enrollment of over 500 students in fall 2022, Kuo advocated for transpar-

ency and timeliness regarding student academic standing.

“You’d kind of like to know a little bit earlier if a student is at risk of being on academic probation,” Kuo said.

Dan Katz, senior lecturer in mathematics, added that he was able to “hand in grades on time” for his classes of over 400 students under the 48-72 hour policy. But Katz added the policy should leave room for exceptions requested through the Office of the Registrar to accommodate professors with large classes and late final exams.

Govind Menon, professor of applied mathematics, suggested that the motion be postponed to the next faculty meeting in order to incorporate the exceptions Katz suggested.

The postponement passed with approximately 65% of the vote.

ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

ARTS & CULTURE

Cate Blanchett presents fascinating portrait of tainted subject in ‘Tár’ Film delivers compelling realism in tale of composer’s downfall

BY FINN KIRKPATRICK ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR “Tár,” nominated for six Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, is, on paper, not the easiest film to like. Its titular character is far from a likable protagonist, and the arc of the film basks in her detestability. Yet despite all of this, “Tár” is a movie that deserves all of the praise it has received.

Underneath a dark and sinister theme is a masterfully crafted narrative with strange moments of levity that propel the film forward. It’s a three-hour look into a twisted world of power and desire that lets you witness its discomfort firsthand.

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is a giant in the contemporary classical music scene. She is the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and an EGOT recipient — she has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. We first meet her in front of a packed audience as she is interviewed by The New Yorker to discuss two upcoming projects in her life: a live album version of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 5” and a book entitled “Tár on Tár.”

This first scene takes its time and isn’t eager to get the film going at a peppy pace. The audience is granted this interview essentially in its entirety with very few cuts, and from it, you get everything you need to know about this character and the gravity of her eventual decline. She’s shown as a clear genius, and the writing of this scene, combined with the performance of Blanchett, feels so real that you’ll have to remind yourself that Lydia Tár does not exist in the

RIPTA FROM PAGE 1 directed RIPTA to either “dissolve the contract and/or select another (lobbying firm) staff member to manage the contract,” the Providence Journal reported.

“It is inaccurate to refer to the lobbyist contract as a ‘no-bid contract,’” Perry wrote. She added that RIPTA followed state laws in developing the contract with Fung and noted that the RIPTA board “has also delegated authority to the CEO to execute contracts under $100,000.” She also said that as a state agency, “RIPTA does not have ‘political’ allies.”

Patrick Crowley, secretary-treasurer of the R.I. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and a RIPTA board member, said he supports Ruggerio’s calls for Avedisian to resign in part due to the perceived lack of transparency.

“In my short time on the Board of Directors, I’ve been exceedingly frustrated with the lack of transparency and what I perceive as treating the board as only a rubber stamp for agency decisions,” Crowley said. “It should be the Board of Directors itself that is driving an agenda to make sure RIPTA is as strong of an agency as possible.”

Perry noted that RIPTA is “consistently transparent, accessible and responsive to its board.” She added

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The film does an excellent job at keeping the ultimate distance between the viewer and character – close enough to provide viewers with a complex sense of Lydia Tár’s psychology, but not too close as to cloud their perceptions of her. real world.

Following this interview, Tár’s world opens up to the audience. She is soon giving a guest lecture at Juilliard where a student says that, on principle, he doesn’t listen to white male composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach. This statement offends Tár to her very core and she lays into the student as a result, introducing one key element of Tár’s character: She has her way of the world, and she will hear no challenges to it.

This attitude comes to the forefront when the movie switches to follow Tár’s home life in Berlin. Her wife Sharon (Nina Hoss), concertmaster of the symphony, is ostensibly the maintainer of order in Tár’s life, but undertones of

Tár’s manipulation extends into their relationship. Tár also holds the same authoritative thumb over her assistant Francesca (Noémie Merlant), whom she drags along everywhere but never seems to respect much. Tár’s most sinister intentions are revealed upon the arrival of Olga (Sophi Kauer), a young and beautiful prospective cellist who becomes a new object of Tár’s infatuation. A vicious cycle within Tár’s professional life, while not fully revealed, is heavily implied in these interactions with Olga — until it ultimately reaches a boiling point.

Tár’s past actions and behaviors begin to catch up with her on her book tour, and the more she tries to bury her past, the more it comes to light.

Having her back against the wall reveals Tár’s truest colors, and the more you hate her, the more engrossed you become in her story. The film does an excellent job at keeping the optimal distance between the viewer and the character: You’re close enough to get a complex sense of Tár’s entire psychology, but not so close that it clouds your judgment when forming your perception of her.

And the movie finds the perfect tone to handle these complex psychological aspects of the character.

“Tár” is both making fun of Tár herself — as the film carefully deconstructs her self-righteousness and toxic history without trivializing it — and the audience for eating up her “ge-

nius” without giving it much critical thought. The film’s self-awareness makes moments work as subtle dark comedy without taking away from the drama “Tár” carefully creates.

“Tár” works because it presents a character who is such a compelling lead — not because you like her, but because you want to study the reasons you hate her so thoroughly. The film sets up Tár as a character who commands respect, and its path to make the audience lose all of that respect is nothing short of masterful. Writer and director Todd Field crafts a character with such complexity in a world that feels so real that, despite the film’s characteristic discomfort, it enthralls the viewer completely nonetheless.

that Avedisian has moved to further the agency’s transparency by agreeing to notify the board of pending contracts prior to their signing, a move not required by RIPTA regulations or law.

Crowley called for a national search to replace Avedisian, explaining that RIPTA is “so important that we need to find the best person in the country that could lead this agency.”

He explained that RIPTA’s function as a complex urban, suburban and rural transportation system all in one requires significant expertise to run.

likely than RIDOT to collaborate with riders to ensure their needs are met.

“RIDOT is car-centric,” Raub said.

“It is not very transparent. It does not consult with the public very much at all. And it’s come up with some pretty bad ideas with regard to public transit in the last few years.”

Raub said that under Avedisian, RIPTA has applied for “pretty much every grant which it is likely to get.”

Still, she acknowledged remaining concerns about the agency’s financial situation, especially considering the declining gas tax in the state, which has historically been used to fund some of RIPTA’s operating expenses.

“That’s got to be dealt with, or we’re going to see service cuts, which are going to perhaps lead to a downward spiral in riders,” Raub said. “If you can’t get the bus you need when you need it, then people are going to stop riding the bus.”

Sen. Meghan Kallman (D-Pawtucket, Providence) said a potential solution could be implementing a surcharge on miles traveled or vehicle weight rather than on gas so that a sustainable funding stream remains even as the state moves towards higher electric vehicle use.

solved by Ruggerio’s proposed measures. Ultimately, Raub said money from the state will be essential not only in the implementation of the state’s Transit Master Plan, Transit Forward RI, but also to the very survival of RIPTA as an agency.

“There is no place (RIPTA) can reduce its budget without cutting service,” Raub said. “I do think that (RIPTA) should be doing more lobbying in the legislature, and unfortunately their lobbying effort got off to a bad start.”

Kallman said that the state holds the responsibility for RIPTA’s current financial distress. She described several bills in the works that aim to increase funding for the transit agency. One would enact a surcharge on Uber and Lyft rides, mirroring a similar policy in Massachusetts. Half of the surcharge money would go towards creating “complete streets,” which Kallman described as a process of enhancing walkability and the number of protected bike lanes and bus shelters on Rhode Island’s streets. The other half would go towards funding the Transit Forward RI, a project Kallman deemed overlooked for far too long.

“We have not, as a state, made serious commitments to funding the Transit Master Plan, we have not made serious commitments to funding RIPTA, and we frankly haven’t made very serious commitments to funding

public transit as a whole for a long period of time,” she said.

As for calls for a senate oversight hearing, Raub explained that while she doesn’t see it as necessary, R.I. Transit Riders is not opposed to them.

“I don’t think that RIPTA has anything to hide,” she said.

Crowley, on the other hand, said an oversight hearing is “absolutely necessary,” especially in light of unresolved questions lingering from last year’s oversight hearing on RIPTA after a data breach that impacted thousands of people.

Crowley emphasized that ironing out RIPTA’s current issues is essential to him because, as he sees it, the agency represents much more than public transit.

RIPTA “is a key to our democratic infrastructure in Rhode Island,” he said. He said that one of the things he loves about public transit is the way it brings together vastly different people, with riders of all races, gender identities, ages and economic classes utilizing the bus.

“Fundamentally, if we’re going to really protect our democracy in the state, we’ve got to all have a stake in the resources that are part of what makes Rhode Island great,” he said.

“That’s why RIPTA is not just a bus system, it really is a cornerstone of our democracy, and I think that’s why it needs to be protected and enhanced.”

A potential merger: more funding, but at a cost?

According to Crowley, the potential merger between RIDOT and RIPTA may have been proposed by Ruggerio to address the financial edge RIPTA is teetering on.

“I think (RI)DOT is well-positioned to leverage not just state money, but a lot of federal programs,” Crowley said. “My concern would be, would RIPTA be able to get the attention that it really deserves under a larger umbrella? And would it be treated as an afterthought as opposed to a primary mission?”

Patricia Raub, co-chair of Rhode Island Transit Riders, expressed similar concerns. She said that RIPTA is more public-facing than RIDOT and feels that the agency would be more

Looking forward: oversight hearings and long-term solutions Raub said she thinks Rhode Island’s transit woes are unlikely to be

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Health Equity Scholars highlight program support, opportunities at SPH Originally for HBCU graduates, program now accepts HSI graduates, R.I. residents

BY SWARAJ AGARWAL SENIOR STAFF WRITER The School of Public Health’s Health Equity Scholars program — a cohort-based program for students from historically Black colleges and universities or Hispanic-serving institutions and Rhode Island residents — provides members with scholarships, leadership development and support as they pursue a master’s in public health.

Launched in 2020, the program was envisioned by SPH Dean Ashish Jha as an expansion of the partnership between the SPH and Tougaloo College, according to Rosenny Taveras, director of the HES program. “The program was launched as a response to the killing of George Floyd and the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color,” she added.

“The destructive trifecta that is systemic racism, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic upheaval our communities continue to face highlighted the need to implement a program to train the next generation of leaders who will rise up and fight inequities in public health,” Taveras wrote in an email to The Herald.

According to Taveras, the program was exclusively for graduates of HBCUs when it was launched. After its initial success, she and other program leaders

MATHIEU GRECO / HERALD

As the program’s first cohort graduates this spring, it hopes to build a strong alumni network, according to Rosenny Taveras, director of the HES program. felt the need to increase accessibility by adding two new admission pathways in 2022 — one for graduates of HSIs and another for Rhode Island residents.

“These pathways were intentional,”

Taveras wrote, as “a way to target and develop leaders in the Latinx community as well as within our own local community.”

Taiylar Ball GS, a first-year Health

Equity Scholar and Rhode Island resident, said she applied to the program because she loved the idea of having support while pursuing graduate school.

“I wanted to pick a program that I felt would invest in me as a student and allow me to be around like-minded people,” she said.

“There are so many people that really care about the success of the students in the program,” Ball said. “I would not change a thing about the program.”

She added that she utilizes the University’s Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center and the Brown Center for Students of Color.

First-year Health Equity Scholar Ameerah Battle GS said she had “never considered applying to an Ivy League school” before learning about the program.

Battle received an email from her undergraduate institution promoting the program, which led her to the HES website and meetings with SPH student ambassadors. “I really liked what I was hearing and also Brown’s mission statement, which led me to apply,” she said.

“I was really surprised when I got accepted into Brown,” Battle said. “It is a really good program for anyone considering getting their master’s in public health.” She said that the nature of the program and the financial support it provides are “more than I ever could ask for,” though she wishes she had opportunities to connect with previous cohort members.

“With our first cohort of students graduating this spring, we are aiming

to build a strong alumni network as many of our scholars have shared interests in serving as future mentors,” Taveras wrote.

Taveras added that the HES team is “working really hard to increase the program’s visibility to prospective students.”

According to Taveras, many health equity scholars visit their alma maters to talk about their experiences at Brown. This past fall, three students in the HES program — all Tougaloo alums — returned to Tougaloo to “connect with faculty and students to talk about our program,” Taveras wrote.

According to Taveras, HES leaders are also increasing the program’s visibility by attending conferences run by affinity-based organizations, including the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

“We have also partnered with alumni and student HBCU networks to assist in our efforts to reach students and graduates of” HBCUs, she explained, adding that HES leadership has collaborated with the SPH admissions staff to attend information sessions at HBCUs, HSIs and Rhode Island institutions.

Taveras wrote that she looks forward to “working closely with our students and local community partners to build lasting partnerships” as the program moves forward.

“Although we still have work to do,” she wrote, “I envision the HES at Brown program serving as a model for other institutions looking to create equitable change.”

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International Women’s Day Brunch 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Faculty Club, Huttner Room

Nationalism, Philosemitism, and Poland’s Jewish Revival 4:00 p.m.

111 Thayer St, Joukowsky Forum

Bullet Journal Workshop: Snail Mail x LGBTQ Center 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Stonewall House

Community Building Dinner with guest speaker Tom Perez ’83 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Leung Conference Room

TOMORROW’S EVENTS National Meatball Day All day Sharpe Refectory and Verney-Woolley

Pathobiology Seminar: Monica L. Guzman, PhD 12:00 p.m.

70 Ship Street, Room 107

Study Abroad Advising Passport Day 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Petteruti Lounge

The Alexander Meiklejohn Lecture: Schooling Free Speech 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Stephen Robert ’62 Hall

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

6

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

Gupta ’25: How to know when you’re ready to have sex It takes a lot of courage to raise your hand and ask a question in a classroom full of your peers. That is never more true than when you are a student in a sex education class. I have taught sex education in many contexts — from talking about casual consent with my 8-year-old cousin to discussing birth control options with high school students to figuring out how to teach queer sex education via Zoom during the pandemic. Sex education can and should take many forms, but through my experience in every type of sex education, anonymous questions have remained the best way to gauge understanding and see what students are really wondering about how to navigate various sexual health-related situations.

One of the most common and interesting questions I get in the classroom: How do you know when you are ready to have sex? The short answer is that every person has their own timeline, and that nothing has to be set in stone. If you feel like you might not want to have sex, but think that you should, you are likely not ready to. Conversely, if there is something in your gut that is telling you that you are ready, listen! You know your body best, and your body knows you. However, there is a lot more to unpack with this question.

Sex can mean so many different things.

Within sexual health contexts, sex can include anal, oral, vaginal and other types of

sex. Personally, I like to think about sex as any sexual activity that is meant to be pleasurable or have orgasm as the goal. That being said, regardless of how you define sex for yourself, you may feel ready for one type of sex but not another. That is completely normal, but it can be difficult to communicate that with a sexual partner. We can sometimes let ourselves do things we don’t actually want

how they view and give consent, which can further complicate the matter. It is important to know what types of sex we are comfortable engaging in before a sexual encounter and that we feel confident communicating those wants to our sexual partners. If you are ever in a situation where you don’t know either of those things for certain, you might not be ready to have any type of sex at that moment

“Everyone’s journey to feeling ready for sex is unique; the most important factor is that you don’t feel pressured by outside influences.”

to do because it seems easier in the moment than actually communicating our desires.

The prevalence of hook-up culture in college makes it easy for consent to go assumed and unsaid, which is a recipe for miscommunication and crossed boundaries. Someone’s identities and past experiences also inform

with that person.

However, people often do have sex when they are not ready. A study of about 3,000 sexually active individuals in England found that 39.7% of women and 26.5% of men did not feel that their first sexual encounter “occurred at the ‘right time.’” You may have had

conversations with your friends that echo similar sentiments about their “first time.” I think our culture encourages young people to have sex before they are equipped with the information and communication skills they need to feel truly ready. Combined with the current state of sex education in the United States, there are multiple factors to blame regarding the lack of information young people receive about sex. There will always be an element of learning by doing when it comes to sex, but that does not mean you can’t feel ready beforehand. Sex is not something you can prepare for like an exam, but the best thing you can do for yourself is to get in tune with your feelings and make sure you can express them comfortably — before, during and after a sexual experience. Everyone’s journey to feeling ready for sex is unique; the most important factor is that you don’t feel pressured by outside influences.

If you have questions about sex or relationships that could be discussed in a future column, please submit questions to an anonymous form at tinyurl.com/BDHsexcolumn. Anusha Gupta ’25 can be reached at anusha_gupta@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Why change the John Nicholas Brown Center?

To the Editor: In recent weeks, I have followed news of changes to the John Nicholas Brown Center with a combination of alarm and curiosity. Despite coming across several announcements regarding its renaming and restructuring, I have yet to see a fully satisfactory explanation for these developments. To my dismay, it is clear

that the University has not been particularly transparent about its rationale to fundamentally reshape the mission and goals of the John Nicholas Brown Center. It begs the question, “why?”

As the old adage goes – why fix something that does not appear to be broken? Given that this fundamental change will impact students, faculty, staff and al-

ums — not to mention the larger Providence community — the University ought to do a better job explaining its thinking. In closing, I commend Professor of American Studies and History Steve Lubar for opining that these unwelcome developments are “sad.”

-Toby Berggruen ’24.5

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

7

METRO

R.I. bill would give first responders with PTSD injured-on-duty status Bill introduced for third consecutive year, faces concerns over cost of implementation

BY INJY EL-DIB STAFF WRITER For the third consecutive year, Rep. Steve Casey (D-Woonsocket) has introduced a bill in the General Assembly that would allow Rhode Island firefighters and police officers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder to receive pay for injury on duty and made eligible to apply for a disability pension.

Casey told The Herald that the bill allows first responders, firefighters and police officers “to go get the help that they need.” After consulting with a mental health professional, first responders would be able to take paid time off without having to use their sick days, Casey explained. That time off would be “qualified as an injury on duty.” For firefighters and police officers who are no longer able to work following PTSD diagnoses, the bill would also allow them to apply for an “accidental disability retirement allowance.”

PTSD is characterized by a cluster of symptoms including intrusive thoughts and nightmares, emotional numbing, outbursts of anger and difficulty sleeping, according to M Tracie Shea, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, who has conducted research with individuals diagnosed with PTSD, particularly veterans.

Shea said that in recent years, “people are just much more aware of (PTSD) both within the mental health

field and outside of it.” While she believes it’s unlikely for practitioners to fail to diagnose patients, “a lot of people don’t go and get treatment because … they don’t understand what’s wrong with them,” she said.

The bill is “near and dear to me,” said Casey, who also works as a firefighter in Woonsocket. In his work, Casey said he has “seen some really horrific accidents and instances of what people might consider pretty stressful events.”

As a result of experiencing one of those situations or multiple of them, Casey witnessed some of his colleagues struggle with their mental health, including one who took his own life in 2018, he said.

Casey has presented this legislation annually for the last three years, explaining that financial concerns have prevented its passage.

State law requires that bills and resolutions “having an effect on the revenues, expenditures or fiscal liability of the state” must be paired with an estimation of their financial impact, in addition to their impact on city and town finances.

According to Casey, an updated fiscal note has not yet been issued for this year’s bill.

The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, which represents “municipal government interests before the state legislature,” has expressed concerns about the proposal.

“The injured-on-duty system needs to be reformed before we expand any additional benefits,” Associate Director Jordan Day said.

Day said the organization recognizes the issue of PTSD among first responders in Rhode Island and the need to consider “how to best support their treatment,” she said. “We, of

course, respect and appreciate Representative Casey and his advocacy for public safety officers.”

But the bill “will significantly increase the spending on injured-on-duty benefits, which is already an administrative and fiscal challenge for cities and towns,” Day said. A solution requires “thoughtful and critical reform” and a change in the injured-on-duty threshold before the state is able to extend benefits, she said.

For Day, the most successful approaches to addressing PTSD in first responders come from states that are “focused on treatment, not simply payouts, with the goal of returning people to work,” she said.

She cited a 2019 law passed in Connecticut, which created a oneyear limit for workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD-triggering events and “creates a pathway for (first responders) to get the care and support that they need, including peer support networks and their mental health services,” she said.

According to Casey, “the goal is not to affect the pension system.”

Though Casey recognized that there will be added expenses, he said he believes many of the previous projections overestimate that cost. The 2021 fiscal note estimated that the bill would add between $1.2 and $7.1 million in state expenditures in its second fiscal year.

“Fire departments are very expensive. Police departments are very expensive. So in a lot of ways, they look at us as a cost center,” he said.

“We’re trying to really approach this from the perspective that it’s more important to have good mental health for everybody.”

Casey said that he is “meeting with

CLAIRE DIEPENBROCK / HERALD

For first responders who can no longer work, the bill would also allow them to apply for an “accidental disability retirement allowance.” people and entities that will be affected by this ahead of time” to discuss potential concerns. “It’s important to have compromise and agreement with any piece of legislation, not just with what we’re doing here,” he said.

According to Shea, treatments for PTSD include “present-centered therapy that tries to understand patients’ current life issues and how they might relate to their PTSD symptoms and interpersonal therapy which focuses on relationships,” Shea said.

Written exposure therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, also known as EMDR, have also become common treatment methods, Shea said.

For Casey, calling PTSD a “disorder” can be misleading.

“I like to call it a post-traumatic stress injury or an incident because … this isn’t something you’re born with,” he said. “This is an event or an effect that happens over time,”

he added.

Casey noted that awareness about first responders affected by PTSD in Rhode Island began increasing after the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Warwick — when the public realized first responders witnessed serious injuries and deaths over an extended period of time, he said.

On March 7, the Rhode Island Ethics Commission authorized Casey, as a firefighter, to preside over the bill as chairman of the state House Committee on Municipal Government & Housing.

“If this legislation passes, I have no more advantage from it or benefit from it than any other fireman in the state,” Casey said.

Casey said he is hopeful that this bill will act as “encouragement to people to go ahead and get the help that they need and create a more safe environment for everyone else on the job.”

SPORTS

Hunter Adrian ’25 takes eighth in weight class at EIWA Championship No Bears qualify for NCAA Wrestling Championships in final competition of season

BY AUSTIN XIANG STAFF WRITER The wrestling team (4-10, 3-6 EIWA) competed in the 119th Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship this past weekend at the University of Pennsylvania, with captain Hunter Adrian ’25 (133 lbs) being the lone Bear to advance to day two of the tournament. No Brown wrestler qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma March 16-18.

Each of Bruno’s nine wrestlers took part in a single-elimination tournament in their respective weight class, with losers dropping to the consolation bracket. The EIWA Championship offered a total of 45 automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, while the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee announced the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers Tuesday.

Adrian, who was the No. 8 seed of the 133 lbs weight class — the highest seed out of any Brown wrestler — won his first match of Saturday in the round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Along with Hunter Adrian ’25’s two wins, Keegan Rothrock ’25 (165 lbs), Drew Clearie ’25 (174 lbs) and Alex Semenenko ’26 (285 lbs) also picked up a win apiece in the tournament.

No. 9 seed Pat Phillips of Franklin & Marshall.

In the quarterfinals, Adrian went head-to-head against two-time All-American and No. 1 seed Vito Arujau of Cornell, losing 16-1 by technical fall. Adrian, however, responded in the next match against Sacred Heart’s Andrew Fallon with another 2-1 victory, securing his place in day two of the tournament.

Adrian “lives, trains and competes

in a way that demands respect,” Head Coach Jordan Leen wrote in a message to The Herald. “We love watching him compete, win or lose. He has been our best performer all-season with wins over a returning All-American and three Automatic NCAA qualifiers.”

Sunday would pose a challenge for Adrian, who dropped both matches of the day and ultimately finished in eighth place — not enough to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA

tournament.

Keegan Rothrock ’25 (165 lbs), Drew Clearie ’25 (174 lbs) and Alex Semenenko ’26 (285 lbs) also picked up a win apiece in the tournament.

No. 15 seed Rothrock won against No. 17 seed Noah Bash of Franklin & Marshall in an 8-0 major decision after dropping his first match, while Clearie, the 12 seed, defeated Franklin & Marshall’s Noah Fox in a 5-4 battle after losing his initial bout. No. 16

seed Semeneko emerged victorious in the round of 32 against Marc Berisha of Sacred Heart, winning 2-0, but was unable to advance any further.

Still, none of the three secured an automatic qualification to the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee announced Tuesday that no Bears were chosen for the 46 remaining spots in the tournament.

“Several of our guys put themselves in position to win big matches, but at the end of the day the tournament left a lot to be desired,” Leen wrote. “I don’t think anyone feels good about it, including Hunter Adrian, who is probably the most disappointed. I am curious to see how the results fuel the level of commitment we will see in the off-season.”

As a team, the Bears earned 7.5 points in the tournament, thanks to Adrian’s eighth-place finish. Out of the 17 schools in the tournament, the Bears finished tied with Sacred Heart (0-13, 0-7 EIWA) for 15th and ahead of Long Island University (3-10, 1-5 EIWA).

The team will now look forward to the next season, starting with a “critical” offseason, according to Leen.

“The recipe in our sport is commitment over time,” he wrote. “I think we have a core group of guys that want to be successful and are willing to do what is required.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

8

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Paxson provides updates on grant, gift review process at faculty meeting Updates on Data Science Institute, search for dean of Graduate School also provided

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER At Tuesday’s faculty meeting, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 offered updates on a report provided to her office by a working group charged with reviewing the University’s gifts and grants processes.

The group was established last spring to “review existing practices for accepting gifts and grants,” she said in the meeting.

According to Paxson, the group’s first recommendation was to “amend the ‘Openness In Research Policy’” — which states the University’s commitment to freedom of research — to include a clause ensuring that the University’s grant and gift acceptance policies align.

“A grant will not be accepted if the intended purpose of the Grant and/or being associated with the grant-making organization could inflict significant damage on the University’s reputation, standing or integrity or be contrary to University values,” the proposed clause reads.

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

A report recommended the establishment of a “Gifts/Grant review Committee” to ensure grants and gifts aligned with University values.

“In some cases, however rare, association with a grant-making organization could pose a threat to Brown’s reputation or be inconsistent with Brown’s values,” the report reads.

“Having different ethical standards for the acceptance of gifts and grants— both of which support educational and scholarly activities—does not make sense.”

Paxson used hypothetical scenarios surrounding the now-deceased banker and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a “thought experiment” to run through the University’s gift acceptance policy and proposed updates to it.

“If we had a proposed gift from somebody with that … reputation, we would certainly not accept the gift,”

Paxson said, referring to Epstein.

In 2019, the University placed a fundraising administrator on leave due to his previous fundraising from Epstein at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The administrator resigned from the University in early 2020. Brown has never received any funds from Epstein, The Herald previously reported.

The report from the working group also recommended the establishment of a Gifts/Grant Review Committee to “review grants and gifts that may not be aligned with the University’s stated … policies,” according to the meeting agenda.

This review process would not apply to grants from states agencies,

federal agencies or “places we accept grants from regularly,” Paxson said.

The group’s final recommendation was that “the University should develop a policy and practices for the acceptance of anonymous gifts and grants from donor-advised funds.”

According to Paxson, donor-advised funds are essentially “philanthropic savings accounts” where the donor “get(s) the tax break right away” before the money is redistributed.

Paxson said that the University uses these accounts in their own philanthropic endeavors. When donors place money into these funds, she added, they “can recommend who to give that money to.”

Paxson emphasized the importance of policies reviewing donor-advised funds. “This would be somebody like Jeffrey Epstein saying ‘okay, I’m going to give money to a donor advised fund, recommend that it go to a certain program, and request to remain anonymous,’” she said during the meeting.

Discussing grant policies more broadly, Paxson noted that she “worries about the politicization of our decisions to accept research grants because it’s equivalent to censoring faculty.”

Interim Provost Larry Larson also discussed progress on improving hiring processes and proposal review

timelines for research, among other administrative aspects. He additionally noted that an “external assessment” of the University’s research administration had been completed in December.

He also provided updates on the search for the new permanent dean of the Graduate School following Professor of Medical Science Andrew Campbell’s decision to step down from the deanship in June of last year.

The task, Larson explained, is challenging due to “an incredibly heterogeneous set of graduate programs around the campus.” He added that the search committee for the dean “want(s) the experience of our graduate students to be uniformly excellent across campus.” The committee will contact candidates in the coming weeks and will name a dean by May, Larson said.

Paxson also announced that the Data Science Institute, approved at last month’s faculty meeting, was approved by the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, at its last meeting.

Memorial minutes were additionally held in honor of Anthony Lancaster, professor emeritus of economics, and Bryan Shepp, professor emeritus of psychology and cognitive and linguistic sciences, who both recently passed away.

ARTS & CULTURE

Musician Daiela Simon-Seay ’26 makes her mark on campus music scene campus musician Julien Deculus ’25.

She is also planning a performance with Chance Emerson ’23.5, another student musician, and is scheduled to appear at the Class Coordinating Board’s annual gala in the spring. She recently performed at a WBRU live session, accompanied by her bass player Jon (JD) Gormon ’26.

Simon-Seay was extremely appreciative of Gormon and his work, calling him her “rock.”

“We play every single show together,” she said.

Gormon said he felt similarly about Simon-Seay. “Not only is she one of the most musical people that I’ve met and interacted with, but she’s also my best friend,” he said.

Simon-Seay just finished working in collaboration with another student artist

Simon-Seay talks pursuing music professionally, campus collaborations

BY RYA VALLABHANENI ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Daiela Simon-Seay ’26 is new to the campus music scene, having just arrived at Brown in the fall. But she is not new to the industry at large: her family consists entirely of musicians, her music is available to stream on several platforms and her band members are scattered all across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles.

“Music has been a huge part of my life ever since I was born,” Simon-Seay said. Her mom is a vocal producer and singer-songwriter vocal coach, her dad a bass player and her brother a singer and producer, she explained. “It was something I could not escape, but now I’m so happy I’m doing it seriously.”

Currently, Simon-Seay is a member of HALFnHALF — an R&B and indie band whose other three members currently attend Berklee College of Music. The group first formed a few years ago after meeting at summer camp. They all then “just kind of linked on Facetime,” according to Simon-Seay.

“We’ve gotten so many cool opportunities being split between Berklee and Brown,” Simon-Seay said, adding that the band opened for Blue DeTiger at the Royale in Boston last November. HALFnHALF’s song “LADY” boasts over 200,000 streams on Spotify.

Simon-Seay’s single “I’m Not Her” is also available to stream on both Apple Music and Spotify. The song was released about two years ago, along with a music

COURTESY OF DAIELA SIMON-SEAY

Daiela Simon-Seay ’26’s single “I’m Not Her” is available to stream on both Apple Music and Spotify. video.

“I think I’m being super selective with the music I do put out, just because I want to make sure it feels super authentic to me,” she said. “Since I am kind of all over the place, I want to figure out my sound before I just start putting out things.”

Simon-Seay described her personal style as spanning a wide array of genres.

“I mainly do R&B soul funk music, but I’ve been venturing into hyperpop and heavy metal,” she said. She also grew up playing jazz and is trained in drums.

As far as her artistic process goes,

Simon-Seay draws mainly from her personal life. “A lot of my daily experiences I like to reflect on and then kind of just put those vibes into my music,” she said.

“I voice memo so many things.”

Simon-Seay added that her process for making music is different every time, “which is kind of the beauty in it.”

When first coming to Brown, Simon-Seay knew that she was “here to mainly focus on music.” She plans to concentrate in music, has performed at events, including one hosted by Small Victories, and has joined Shades of

Brown, an on-campus a capella group.

“It’s really cool to meet other musicians who … aren’t classically trained … and to just build that community with really dope singers,” she said.

While she is engaged with many different musical communities on campus, Simon-Seay wants to maintain a balanced lifestyle. “I want to make sure I’m growing as a musician — practicing, putting in my hours — but also just living,” she said.

In terms of current projects, Simon-Seay recently finished recording background vocals on a song for fellow

on campus, photographer and videographer Dori Walker ’24. Walker had been helping her shoot a music video for a single that she and her brother plan to release in mid-May. “She’s crazily talented and also warm and open,” Walker wrote in a message to The Herald. “Especially as a collaborator, she’s always willing to try new things and push her art.”

The single is called “Delete Me” and is a product of Simon-Seay and her brother’s band Abuelita, which she described as a“little alter-ego band.”

It’s “our angsty teen music,” she said.

In the future, Simon-Seay said that she is looking forward to continuing her work in the music industry, both on and off campus.

“I definitely want to graduate, and then just start touring,” Simon-Seay said. “I’m just super excited for the time that I can focus on my artistry solely.”

This story was originally published online on Mon., March 6.