Wednesday, October 12th, 2022

NEWS

U. website accused of violating ADA

Student climate protesters disrupt ExxonMobil event

Protest by Brown chapter of Sunrise marks first action by group since late 2020

Movement Brown protesters, led by hub coordinator Isaac Slevin ’25, marched into the conference room of the build ing chanting: “No more coal! No more oil! Keep the carbon in the soil!”

BY CALEB LAZAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

A class action complaint filed Sept. 23 claims that the University’s websites, including the athletics website and the campus shop website, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by not being fully compatible with computer screen-reading programs.

Plaintiff Milagros Senior — who is legally blind and requires screen-read ing programs to access web content — claimed she faced multiple access barriers when trying to view infor mation about Brown sports teams and purchase a product on the Uni versity’s websites, according to court documents.

The suit argues that the Univer sity’s website and online retail store violate Title III of the ADA, the Re habilitation Act of 1973 and antidis

crimination laws in New York, where the complaint was filed.

Senior, represented by Gottlieb & Associates, is asking the court to certify a nationwide class of all legally blind individuals in the United States who have attempted to access the Uni

versity’s website, as well as a subclass of such individuals in New York.

The complaint lists access barri ers such as a lack of alternative text, invisible code under images that

BY SOFIA BARNETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Student protesters interrupted an Exx onMobil recruiting event Tuesday in the Lincoln Field Building to call attention to the company’s lack of action to pre vent climate change.

Around 12 students attended the ExxonMobil recruitment event, meant to advertise the oil and gas company’s job and internship programs, while nearly 60 students entered in protest af ter the event’s start. Sunrise Movement Brown — a recently-restarted student organization dedicated to mobilizing students to advocate for climate policy and environmental justice — organized the protest.

At 12:01 p.m., one minute after the event was scheduled to begin, Sunrise

Slevin delivered a speech in front of students and the ExxonMobil recruit ers, calling attention to the company’s effect on the environment and what he described as a failure to commit to large-scale change.

“You say you’re here to talk about renewable energy and act like you’re going to be the company of the future,” Slevin said, addressing the recruitment team. “But only 0.16% of your expendi tures in 2021 were (made) to low-carbon investments. That’s not what we stand for at Brown.”

The recruitment event’s description emphasized the company’s low-carbon energy sources: “Exxon has recently reconfigured to focus on diverse en ergy sources, and they are hiring not only in traditional oil and gas but also in renewable energies, carbon capture

U. hires 62 new faculty for 2022-23 school year

UNIVERSITY NEWS Faculty from historically underrepresented groups comprise 30% of new hires

BY SARAH ONDERDONK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University announced that 62 addi tional faculty were hired for the 2022-23 school year, 30% of which are members of historically underrepresented groups in higher education, according to a Sept. 6 press release. With these new hires, the University has “just about” met its goal of doubling its number of HUG faculty between 2016 and 2022, Provost Richard Locke P’18 wrote in an email to The Herald.

The release attributed the high percentage of new faculty hired from historically underrepresented groups to “strategic investments” in the Universi ty’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, which “are helping to ensure that fac ulty represent the varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences critical to advancing knowledge, learning and discovery.”

According to the University’s web site, the DIAP is a “comprehensive strategic plan to create and sustain the diverse and inclusive community neces sary for the advancement of knowledge, learning and discovery.” The DIAP was released in February 2016 and outlined a plan to double the number of facul ty from historically underrepresented groups by 2022, The Herald previously reported.

Joel Revill, senior associate dean of the faculty, wrote in an email to The Herald that the group of 62 new faculty “is made up of various ranks” and was hired throughout the year.

Sylvia Carey-Butler, vice president for institutional equity and diversity, said that the University’s progress on this goal “speaks to not only the com mitment of the institution,” but also to the efforts of the requisite academic departments.

Locke explained that the University has used various strategies to meet this goal, but “in all searches, there has been consistent attention to diversity and inclusion.”

The search committees are trained

Juniors navigate community-building

BY MAISIE NEWBURY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

When Jesse Hogan ’24 sat down to select his housing in the spring, he was hoping for an in-suite single — a typical living situation for juniors.

To their surprise, by only the sec ond day of the housing lottery, there were nearly no such options available in University dorms, leaving Hogan in a Buxton House double for their junior year.

“It was an uncomfortable situation for me,” Hogan wrote in an email to The Herald. “I started to realize that living off campus might just be a better arrangement.”

So when ResLife began to accept a greater number of off-campus requests from incoming juniors following the initial lottery, Hogan knew they had to jump on the opportunity.

Hogan is now one of the 2,000 stu dents that are currently living off cam pus, an almost 25% increase from the

typical 1,600 off-campus students in previous years, according to Kate Por ter, associate director of campus life communications and outreach. For a class that has seen repeated roadblocks to having a normal undergraduate ex perience — including a remote start to college life — shifting on-campus dynamics are just the latest challenge.

“Undergraduate enrollment at Brown has increased over the past few years,” Porter wrote in an email to The Herald. This influx reduced the University’s on-campus housing capacity from 78% to 72% of total en

rollment over the past few years, she added, leading to more juniors living off campus.

“I’m not sure if it’s a COVID thing or over enrollment, but we do have a lot more juniors living off campus this year,” said Mina Sarmas ’24, vice president of the Undergraduate Coun cil of Students and former first-year representative for the class of 2024.

“In some ways, it feels natural that people have started to disperse now that we’re upperclassmen,” Hogan

Class action complaint seeks to make website accessible to visuallyimpaired users

Class of 2024 discusses changing dynamics with more students living off-campus

RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

The complaint lists accessibility issues on the website such as a lack of alternative text and empty and rendundant links.

and storage, data sciences and related fields.”

ExxonMobil did not respond imme diately to requests for comment.

Slevin also emphasized the per manent damage from the fossil fuel industry on the environment and reit erated how those effects make joining the company antithetical to having a positive impact after graduating from Brown.

“This shouldn’t be a future for any one of these students here who are try ing to make a difference in the world,” he said. “Fossil fuels have no place on our campus. They have no place in the world. We need to stop spending money on any of them.”

The recruiters told students that they are “working on low-carbon solutions of CO2 sequestration” as a company.

“That’s corporate lip service,” Slevin said in response. “It’s proven to be cor porate lip service. So we’re going to continue to be anti-fossil fuels and try to force y’all off campus.”

Slevin said the protest was orga nized quickly.

“This was pretty spur of the mo ment for us,” he said. The recruiting event was announced last Friday, and the Sunrise chapter “thought it was ridiculous and irresponsible,” leading them to meet over the weekend to or ganize the protest, Slevin said.

Lizzy Duke-Moe ’26, Sunrise Movement Brown and RISD’s action team lead, described the protest as a way to strengthen activist culture on campus.

“Recently, it’s felt like everyone is an activist until they come to Brown,” she said. “So it was very important to me that we actually make things happen,” rather than just talking about it.

Duke-Moe noted that the protest marks the revival of Sunrise Movement

LAWSUIT FROM PAGE 1

screen-reading software uses to vo cally describe graphics; empty links that contain no text and redundant links going to the same URL address, which can have unclear functions or require additional navigation; and multiple pages with the same title elements, which may prevent visually

Brown and RISD’s organizational efforts and that the group plans to expand its campus involvement this academic year.

“Sunrise kind of died out,” she said,

impaired users from distinguishing pages.

The complaint also alleges that the website contains broken links to non-existent or empty webpages, which can be “especially paralyzing” for the visually impaired as they may be unable to determine where they are on the website once they reach an error page.

As relief, Senior requests that the

referencing the fact that the group was last active in late 2020. “So this was kind of a test drive (so we could) see who’s interested.”

Currently, the chapter is also work

court grant injunctions requiring the University to make its website fully compliant with ADA requirements and a declaration that the Universi ty’s website discriminates against the blind. Senior also requests compensa tory damages, an award of costs of the action and attorneys’s fees.

“As part of its larger commitment to achieving equitable experienc

ing on writing a petition calling upon the University to prioritize candidates dedicated to Brown’s environmental commitments in its search to fill its open provost position, Duke-Moe said.

es for individuals with disabilities, Brown University maintains a Stra tegic Action Plan for Web Accessibil ity,” University spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.

“That plan enables the University to work in an ongoing way to fulfill its commitment that users who have disabilities, whether visual, auditory or other, have equitable and effective

The protest is just the beginning of the group’s activism for the semester, Slevin added. “We have a lot of stuff on the agenda and a lot to do,” he said. “We’re really excited to get started.”

access to information on Brown’s website.”

According to Clark, Senior is un affiliated with the University and has filed more than a dozen similar lawsuits against universities across the country.

“We are reviewing the complaint in full and considering our options for response through the legal process,” Clark added.

wrote. “I do feel a little more indepen dent and ‘adult-ish’ living off-campus, but I won’t deny that I’ve lost some of the community that came with living in dorms.”

Finding a community hasn’t al ways been easy for the class of 2024, said Lucy Lebowitz ’24. The majority of current juniors came to campus in spring 2021 when COVID-19 safety precautions restricted student life and interaction.

“It was really hard to make friends at first,” Lebowitz said. Since dining halls were closed and meals were all takeout, Lebowitz and her classmates missed out on bonding over on-campus meals. Further, the class of 2024’s orientation was entirely online, making interaction with students outside of Lebowitz’s own residence hall especially difficult.

“Most of my best friends I met be fore I came to campus,” Lebowitz said, referencing the creative ways her class mates were able to connect virtually

before coming to College Hill.

“As I move into a normal college experience, I find myself wondering what things would be like for me now if I’d had a normal start,” Lebowitz said.

But entering her junior year, Lebow itz has found that she once again has to readjust to the shifting dynamics on campus.

“I’ve had to get a lot more com fortable eating by myself in the dining halls,” said Lebowitz, who is on a cam pus meal plan.

With fewer juniors living in dorms, there are also fewer juniors on meal plan. Sarmas said that UCS conducted a survey earlier this semester of upper classmen, which indicated that 163 out of 277 respondents — about 59% — have opted out of a University meal plan.

Logan Torres ’24, president of the 2024 Class Coordinating Board, lives on campus and is on meal plan. “I don’t normally eat in the dining hall, but when I do, I generally see a lot less familiar faces,” Torres wrote in an email to The Herald.

He contrasted this experience with summer 2021, when the University din ing halls first reopened to the first-years and sophomores on campus at the time. Torres went to the dining hall and pri marily saw his own classmates. “It was an amazing opportunity to gain comfort being away from home,” he said.

“I have finally settled into this year’s geographic shifts,” Hogan wrote. “I re call something similar happening be tween my freshman and sophomore years, and having to lean into that adjustment.”

The University is currently working to address what Torres described as “the outflux” of off-campus students in his class by building new residence halls, including the recent opening of Sternlicht Commons and the ongoing construction of dorms on Brook Street, according to Porter.

The Brook Street Dormitories, open ing in fall 2023, will add 353 beds to the University’s on-campus housing potential, which will allow the Universi ty to better meet the needs of students

under the six-semester on-campus housing requirement and also those of seniors who wish to live on campus, Porter wrote.

In the meantime, members of the class of 2024 said they will continue to grow their community on and off campus and make the most of their atypical college experience.

“We did not get a real orientation, or the iconic first-year ice cream so cial, but we discovered other ways to connect with each other,” Hogan wrote. They acknowledged how con necting online with their peers was certainly different from in-person alternatives, but also noted that the friendships they made in their first year have persisted.

“We got everything we were sup posed to one way or another,” Sarmas said. “We made connections even if it was in a single file line in the cold out side the Ratty.”

Sarmas also referenced the events she’s been able to attend since her first year, including a make-up orientation

dance summer 2021 and the first home Harvard-Brown game since 2018 this fall.

“The difference is that you don’t experience them with that same joy and curiosity of being a first-year,” she said.

“Because of our unique situation, 2024 has a connectedness that no other grade has,” Torres said.

It is important to Torres that CCB remains receptive to the needs of his classmates and creates a “community that lasts,” he added.

But with the challenges of their time at the University, some juniors are left with mixed emotions about their ex periences.

Despite feeling “really connected to people” at Brown, Lebowitz also ar ticulated a sense of disconnect from the University as an institution. While she said she idealized Brown before starting college, she’s since felt “really let down.”

“As I move into a normal college experience,” she said, “it feels like we were robbed.”

SOFIA BARNETT / HERALD

While around 12 students attended the ExxonMobil recruitment and internship information session, nearly 60 Brown students entered to protest. The students, organized by Sunrise Movement Brown, marched into the event one minute after it began.

in diversity, equity and inclusion, and “cluster hires in the arts, sciences, so cial sciences and specific fields like Black diaspora in English and Am(eri can) Studies have paid significant divi dends as well,” he wrote. Cluster hiring is when institutions advertise and fill multiple positions at the same time and has been used to increase faculty diversity.

Revill added that cluster hiring is useful because “we will be able to attract the strongest scholars if they know that they will have an exciting network of collaborators to work with at Brown.”

lowship and Andrew W. Mellon Gateway Fellowships have also brought many “exceptional young faculty to Brown and into tenure track lines,” Locke wrote.

Locke added that the hiring of new faculty is a year-round process. The job market usually opens in the fall and closes in May, but the process can take multiple years for high-profile senior hires, he added.

“Brown has invested in identifying and tracking promising candidates be fore they are on the job market,” Locke added. “We have an associate provost and an associate dean who work to identify candidates, promote Brown to them as an exceptional place to pursue their scholarship and generate excite

ment about them on campus.” For these candidates, the process might also take several years.

“There is a diversity representative that’s on every search committee,” Car ey-Butler said. The Office of Institution al Equity and Diversity reviews all hiring advertisements as well as the faculty short lists and long lists, she added, but most academic and administrative departments also have their own DIAP committees.

“We also have a Guide to Diversify ing Faculty Searches, and I can tell you that it is something that’s utilized on a regular basis across the University,” she said.

A part of the guide advises Uni versity departments to work “very

closely with (University Human Re sources), ensuring that we are ad vertising in diverse publications as well as utilizing local agencies so that we’re ensuring that we’re recruiting both nationally and locally,” Car ey-Butler said.

Most hiring decisions are made at the departmental level, “so we need to have broad buy-in from the faculty, which I think we have,” Revill wrote.

The University also loans faculty positions to departments in order to enable extra hiring if needed, Revill added. For example, he wrote, a search may find two qualified candidates who would increase a department’s diversity, so the University will allow the depart ment to hire both.

Along with diversity, the University is “committed to resisting the trend to ward adjunct teaching that is pervasive among American universities,” Locke wrote. “To maintain the excellence of our teaching, we need to hire tenured and tenure track faculty to fill areas of need.”

The University also works to grow departments that have a high demand from students, Revill wrote. “Last year, for example, we hired five new faculty in computer science and two new environmental studies lecturers, largely to meet curricular demands,” he added.

Moving forward, Locke wrote that the University “will continue with (its) push to hire a diverse faculty.”

The Presidential Postdoctoral Fel

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

The University has hired 62 new faculty members for the 2022-23 academic year, with about 30% of the hires being from historically underrepresented groups. The University is also “committed to resisting the trend toward adjunct teaching that is pervasive among American universities,” Provost Richard Locke P’18 wrote in an email to The Herald.

S/NC

BY SOFIA BARNETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Oct. 4, Jacob Gelman ’25 left the Duke University School of Law ad missions information session with the same confusion he had brought with him.

After an hour of listening to ad missions officers detail the school’s application cycle, requirements, strategies and more, Gelman still did not find the answer to his most pressing question: Will taking class es Satisfactory/No Credit penalize him in the law school admissions process?

“I’ve heard from other pre-law students that taking courses S/NC can sometimes stunt your application,” he said. “I know there’s a huge emphasis placed on (grade point average) in this process, and no one has been able to answer if (S/NC) will cause problems or not.”

Gelman shared that he is reluctant to take courses S/NC because of his law school aspirations, even though the University’s unique curriculum and grading system were a primary motiva tion for his enrollment.

“I fell in love with Brown’s encour agement of academic curiosity, and now I feel a bit worried that I’m stifling it for myself,” Gelman said.

Alexandra Herrera ’23, another student interested in law school who previously wrote for -post, also said the University’s unusual flexibility drew her to enroll, but she does not share the same inhibitions regarding taking courses S/NC.

“I’ve heard some people say you shouldn’t take anything within your concentration S/NC,” she said. “But the point of the Open Curriculum is to explore, and (taking classes S/NC) is just applying the Brown philosophy. That’s why you came here.”

Herrera explained that she utilized the S/NC grading option during her first two years to explore her initial interest in law but has since taken fewer

courses S/NC.

“I do feel more inclined to take classes for a grade now,” she said.

“But that’s because I’m exploring less since I’m a senior, not because of concerns regarding S/NC and law school.”

Ben Thornton ’24 also tends to take classes for a grade but is not intimidat ed by S/NC ambiguity.

“I take my classes for a grade because, in my experience, that has pushed me the most as a learner and is the grading system that I thrive the most in,” he said. “But I’m not worried about how taking a class S/NC will look for law school.”

Thornton explained that getting the most out of the undergraduate learning experience is a top priority for him and that graduate school hypotheticals are not his main concern.

“At a place like Brown where you have this Open Curriculum and are designing your own schedule and grading system, I think setting up a

system that works best for you should be at the forefront of those decisions,” he said.

“I do think ABC grades show more about a student’s performance versus S/NC, just objectively looking at the numbers,” Thornton added. “It’s a more accurate and precise indication, … so it makes sense to put more stock into ABC grades. Admissions officers making decisions with more precise data is a justified thing to do.”

The University’s pre-law advising team — composed of Ari Gabinet, senior fellow in international and public affairs; Lindsay Garcia, as sistant dean of the college for ju nior/senior studies and recovery and substance-free student initiatives; and Betsy Shimberg, senior associate dean of the college for co-curricular and experiential learning — echoed the importance of grades as indi cators of academic capability in an email to The Herald.

“We recommend that students be

judicious in selecting the S/NC grading option,” they wrote. “Taking all or a majority of classes S/NC does not pro duce a comprehensive picture of an applicant’s readiness for graduate-level work.”

Despite their acknowledgement of the significance placed on grades in the law school admissions process, the Uni versity’s pre-law advising team wrote that there is no “reliable data” from law schools that would allow them to say that “this many S/NC choices is OK; that many is not.”

The team wrote that they encour age undergraduates to take advantage of the University’s unique curricular and grading setup, advocating for ac ademic curiosity and exploration with the usage of whatever grading system makes the most sense for each indi vidual student.

“Academic excellence and rigor are important in law school admissions but so are imagination, creativity, in tegrity and individuality,” they wrote.

“The S/NC option is intended to allow students to use the Open Curriculum without excessive risk to (their) tran script.”

Ultimately, the pre-law advising team wrote that they hope students pursue their academic interests freely and without inhibitions stemming from the fear of penalization in law school admissions.

“Good grades and a good LSAT are important, but the law school ad missions process is far more nuanced than just plugging statistics into an algorithm,” they wrote. “There are too many factors involved to have a one-size-fits-all solution for every student.”

“Judicious use of the S/NC option is consistent with the fundamental aspect of the Brown education,” they added. “Used in that way, (the grading option) can suggest the kind of cre ativity and intellectual curiosity that makes good law students and great lawyers.”

RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD

Activists, crisis pregnancy centers clash over CPC proliferation

The Womxn Project

against crisis

BY NATALIE VILLACRES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade this June, abor tion access has remained at the fore front of both local community discourse and nationwide topical concern, spark ing widespread controversy amongst Rhode Island residents.

While there are currently two in-person providers that offer surgical abortion services within the state, The Womxn Project — an activist organiza tion advocating for reproductive justice — has reported 11 “Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” These centers allegedly false ly pose as abortion-providing medical clinics to pressure individuals to car ry their pregnancies to full term, said Jocelyn Foye, executive director of The Womxn Project.

“They prey on people who are vul nerable, and we all are when we first find out we’re pregnant,” Foye said.

Foye said that such centers are pushing people beyond the legal limit of when one can get an abortion, con ducting misleading medical examina tions and employing anti-abortion guilt tactics when serving patients.

With CPCs located throughout the state of Rhode Island, organizations such as The Womxn Project are working to counteract the presence and alleged harmful practices of these clinics.

“This fight is not new,” Foye said. “This fight has been something that has been in existence for a while and, with … the Dobbs decision, many more of these … spaces are starting to pop up.”

Gretchen Raffa, vice president of public policy, advocacy and organizing for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England — one of the only two abortion providers in the state — ex pressed concerns over misinformation and medical misguidance in an email to The Herald.

CPCs advertise themselves as offer ing services such as abortion, emergen cy contraception and counseling, when at their core they are “morally opposed” to such resources and will not provide them, Raffa explained.

Additionally, Raffa and Foye ex plained that CPCs often lack medically

trained staff or licensed professionals, rendering them illegitimate as medical clinics. Raffa cited a 2006 report written for U.S. House Representative Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California, where researchers found that 87% of CPCs contacted provided false or mis leading information about the health impacts of receiving an abortion.

“Through their deceptive advertising practices, anti-abortion CPCs are public health dangers, as they disrupt access to time-sensitive reproductive health care,”

Raffa explained. “Not all of these centers advertise in false and misleading ways, … but those who try to mislead people may cause serious harm.”

But some Rhode Island CPCs say these allegations are untrue.

Gail Faraj-Musleh, executive direc tor of the Mother of Life Pregnancy Center — one of the clinics specifically called out by The Womxn Project — em phasized that her organization solely aims to uplift pregnant community members facing difficult circumstances, offering resources to those from mar ginalized backgrounds.

“I do have a passion for life, and I

have a passion for women who have not had the opportunities that I’ve had in life,” Faraj-Musleh said. “I really wanted to support them in their walk, in their raising families and in their very diffi cult relationships.”

According to Faraj-Musleh, the Mother of Life Pregnancy Center pro vides ultrasounds, STD testing infor mation, counseling, parenting classes, car seats and additional resources for individuals in times of need, regard less of religious affiliation or insurance coverage. Through these services, she believes that her organization empow ers community members to recognize and utilize skills that they may not have used in the past, offering them tools and support to guide them in raising their potential families.

Faraj-Musleh stressed the impor tance of choice in making decisions surrounding abortion, asserting that Mother of Life merely serves to offer options without methods of coercion.

“There are three (choices). It’s to carry and parent, to abort and to adopt,” she said. “Abortion should not be the default. It’s a choice. So is parenting,

and that’s what we’re helping to do here.”

Y.G. Nyghtstorm, a Mother of Life security professional and former U.S. congressional candidate, agreed with Faraj-Musleh’s statement, emphasizing the “pro-choice” nature of the center. He believes that CPCs provide a social service to Rhode Island’s most vulnera ble communities, offering a safe haven to those with nowhere else to turn.

In addressing allegations of un trained medical staff and unlicensed professionals at the clinic, Faraj-Musleh defended the legitimacy of her center’s practices, stating that Mother of Life consistently renews its annual certifi cation to perform pregnancy tests and examinations through the Rhode Island Department of Health.

“We have to be under the care of a medical director in order to perform a sonogram. The sonogram has to be done by someone who is trained, and she has her active license through the state of Rhode Island,” said Faraj-Musleh, adding that Mother of Life’s medical providers are “fully trained” with “35plus” years of experience.

Foye pointed out that low-income residents are most at risk for CPC “propaganda,” as such spaces take ad vantage of these populations during a “confusing time” in their lives.

The Womxn Project has worked to alter search engine optimization and misleading reviews of CPCs on Goo gle, hoping to reduce their online popups and search engine priority, Foye explained. In-person rallies, demon strations and social media advocacy have also played a role in The Womxn Project’s campaign, as Foye aims to attract as much attention as possible to the ongoing issue, she said.

Raffa added that Planned Parent hood is grateful for the public activism already taking place, emphasizing the importance of breaking down unneces sary barriers for pregnant individuals.

“To combat stigma and misinforma tion, we must continue to educate the public with accurate, non-judgmental information,” Raffa said. “Everyone deserves the freedom, autonomy and medically accurate information neces sary to make informed decisions about their bodies, lives and futures.”

centers

HARSHINI VENKATACHALAM / HERALD

Maia Weinstock ’99 discusses her latest book on Mildred Dresselhaus

BY ANNA KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Ada Lovelace Day — a day to cel ebrate women in STEM fields — Maia Weinstock ’99, discussed her latest book, “Carbon Queen: The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus,” elaborating on the life and work of the titular figure before a book signing and reception at the John Hay Library.

Dresselhaus was an “extraordi nary physicist and electrical engineer and material scientist,” said Amanda Strauss, associate University librarian for special collections and director of the John Hay Library. “She defied ex pectations and forged a career in solid state physics, made highly influential discoveries about the properties of carbon and other materials and socially helped reshape our world in countless ways.”

Weinstock first described Dressel haus’s life, including her journey over coming poverty and sexism. Dresselhaus was born to Polish Jewish immigrant parents during the Great Depression, when her family struggled to put food on the table, Weinstock said. “That was an early lesson for (Dresselhaus) in ba sically pulling up your bootstraps and making life work no matter what your challenges are.”

After self-studying from books checked out from the New York Public Library, Dresselhaus aced the entrance exam of the one academically-strong high school that was open to girls, Hunter College High School, Wein stock said.

At Hunter College High School, “she became really well known for being a math tutor,” a role that brought in

income to help support her family, Weinstock said. Weinstock displayed Dresselhaus’s yearbook photo, next to which is written, “Equations she can solve, any problem she can resolve, Mildred equals wit, brains plus fun, in math and science she’s second to none.”

During this time, Dresselhaus crossed paths with Rosalyn Yalow, who was an adjunct professor at Hunter at the time but would go on to win a Nobel Prize in 1977, Weinstock said. Weinstock described how Yalow took Dresselhaus under her wing as a mentor and encour aged her to pursue science as a career.

Yalow warned Dresselhaus about harassment and discrimination as a woman in the field, Weinstock said, but encouraged her to persist, telling her that had what it took to become a scientist.

Dresselhaus worked at Massachu setts Institute of Technology for almost 60 years. She became the institution’s

first fully-tenured female professor and the first female president of the American Physical Society, according to Weinstock. She was also awarded the 2012 Kavli Prize in nanoscience “for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions and thermal transport in nanostructures,” according to the award website.

One of Dresselhaus’s key contribu tions to the field was her discovery that changing the placement and configura tion of carbon atoms in nanotubes could result in changing the properties of the nanotubes themselves, allowing them to be used in different applications, Weinstock explained. Carbon nano tubes — atoms of carbon shaped as a tube — are used today in a variety of fields, including industrial engineering, sporting goods and the automotive and space industries.

“The number of applications (of carbon nanotubes) has skyrocketed

since her career, especially since … the (1980s) and certainly since the early 2000s,” Weinstock said.

Dresselhaus was also “highly in fluential” in the field of graphene — a single layer of carbon atoms that are ar ranged as repeating hexagons — Wein stock said. Dresselhaus’s work played a significant role in influencing two Nobel Prize awardees in 2010, whose work focused on experiments on graphene and who mentioned her influence in their speech, Weinstock added.

Dresselhaus received the Presiden tial Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014. The medal “was for a lifetime of achievement in both her field of solid state physics … but also (for her) great strides in expanding the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM,” Weinstock said.

“I know (Dresselhaus) as a huge fig ure for women in science,” said Cris tina López-Fagundo, a postdoctoral

research associate who attended the talk. López-Fagundo, who complet ed her PhD on graphite, said she was drawn to the event since frequently cites Dresselhaus’s talks.

Weinstock graduated from Brown with a concentration in human biology focusing on the evolution of gender. She had originally been interested in pursuing graphic design until she was misplaced during her internship with Scholastic. “I realized that actually I really enjoyed writing and editing sci ence articles for children (during my internship),” she said in an interview with The Herald, explaining her pivot from biology to science journalism.

Strauss, who previously worked with Weinstock on increasing the represen tation of women in Wikipedia articles, arranged Tuesday’s talk. “This was a wonderful opportunity to showcase both an alum’s work and foreground the History of Science collection at the Hay,” Strauss said.

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Weinstock presents life, achievements of first female fully-tenured MIT professor

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Mildred Dresselhaus was the first female fully-tenured professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as the first female president of the American Physical Society, according to Maia Weinstock ’99.

With Thayer Street a one-minute walk from my dorm, I’ve often found myself browsing Yelp for food options. I love the category search func tion in particular, which allows users to browse for food options by cuisine. One category I’ve noticed is “ethnic” restaurants. The word “eth nic” could be referring to exotic cultural dishes and challenging flavors that are certainly dif ferent from mainstream Western cuisine. The adjective isn’t exclusive to Yelp, either. It can be found on the webpages of Spoon University, Better Homes and Gardens and Rhode Island Monthly. But the word “ethnic” raises an im portant question: Ethnic as opposed to what?

The problem with the phrase “ethnic food” is that it implies the existence of some kind of normative, white American cuisine. When we categorize different foods into “ethnic” and American, what does that say about how we view other races and cultures in America? Why are waffles from Belgium and pizza from Ita ly considered American food while foods from Iran or Vietnam are othered as “ethnic?” At a time when our society is deeply split by our differences, it’s time we move past the phrase “ethnic food” and break bread — be it naan, pita or challah — with everyone.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the adjective “ethnic” as “of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic or cultural origin or background.” By this defini tion, all food is ethnic. Yale culinary historian Paul Freedman details the racist and classist stereotypes that are implied by the term “eth nic food” in his essay, “There is No Such Thing as a Nonethnic Restaurant,” published in the

book “You and I Eat the Same.” The term “eth nic food” is connected to America’s history of immigration. Food made by immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries was often seen as un healthy or suspect. But these cuisines were also slowly accepted by the American public. For ex ample, Chinese food was embraced in New York

tige. According to his logic, the price we pay for food is tied to perceptions of racial and ethnic groups.

For example, searching the “top 10 best eth nic restaurants in Providence, RI” on Yelp yields diverse cuisines such as Caribbean, Turkish, Pe ruvian, Mexican, Thai and Syrian. Most restau

types associated with it are no longer social ly acceptable. That’s not to say that using the word “ethnic” is inherently racist, but the lan guage we use is a powerful tool in shaping our attitudes toward other people. When someone refers to non-white cuisine as “ethnic food,” they are upholding an idea that Western Eu ropean cuisine, and therefore Western Euro pean people, are not ethnic while grouping all non-white cuisines, cultures and people into one amorphous blob. The expectation of auto matically lower prices for cultural foods such as tacos and dumplings also devalues those who cook the food and their culinary heritage.

We won’t become racial pioneers if we stop using the phrase “ethnic food.” But some ac tionable things to do include learning about the pronunciation of dishes, researching the history of foods and specifying the cultural cuisine in stead of using the blanket phrase “ethnic food.” Though these actions may seem trivial, they are meaningful steps we should take to better fos ter cultural literacy.

City in the early 20th century due to its cheap ness, especially by bohemians. That association of immigrant communities’ foods with cheap ness led to otherization that persists today.

Academic research seems to support this conclusion. According to a study done by Krish nendu Ray, professor of food studies at New York University, Americans have been willing to spend more on French food compared to most other cuisines and expect to spend less on Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes. Ray argued to the publication Quartz that the price we place on food is reflective of cultural pres

rants are labeled with one or two dollar signs, a symbol that indicates the relatively low price of a typical meal. On the other hand, search ing the “top 10 best American restaurants in Providence, RI” reveals food that carries Italian, German and French origins, such as hamburg ers and pizza. More restaurants in the list have three or four dollar signs. This is not only indic ative of the lower-price phenomenon associat ed with ethnic food but also the racial divide in which cuisines are deemed American and which are “ethnic.”

The phrase “ethnic food” and the stereo

There is no difference between ethnic and non-ethnic food. American cuisine, like its peo ple, is an eclectic mix of borrowed cultures, traditions and flavors that have adapted to the people who have immigrated here and call this place home. After all, even the phrase “Ameri can as apple pie” refers to a dessert that comes from England. Sorry, Johnny Appleseed.

Juliet Fang ’26 can be reached at juliet_ fang@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and other op-eds to opinions@brown dailyherald.com.

Fang ’26: It’s time to stop using the term ‘ethnic food’

“At a time when our society is deeply split by our differences, it’s time we move past the phrase ‘ethnic food’ and break bread — be it naan, pita or challah — with everyone.”

RISD student, alum vendors sell creations at annual craft fair

BY RYA VALLABHANENI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Looking down on Benefit Street from the top of College Hill Saturday, only a sea of bobbing heads was visible — adults, children and dogs all making their way slowly through a vibrant crowd. Myriad tables lined both sides of the street, displaying the creations of student and alum vendors at the Rhode Island School of Design’s annual fall craft fair.

RISD Craft: Fall 2022 featured the work of over 130 artists affiliat ed with the school. Both current stu dents and alums showcased their art, which ranged from prints to ceramics to clothing. Some sold jewelry while others offered kitchenware. One booth consisted entirely of repurposed steer ing wheels.

While alums filled a sizable portion of the fair, RISD students presented their work in a separate designated section.

Brown-RISD dual degree student Dexter McChesney ’24 sold various blown glass projects for the first time at RISD Craft last year and returned once again this fall. He described Saturday’s fair as “a lot better than last year’s fair (with) a lot more activity.”

RISD senior Lena Luo sat next to McChesney and also sold blown glass pieces. She sold her work at RISD Craft last year, and had pre viously been involved in two other artist markets.

Both McChesney and Luo noted that they ended up selling much more than they initially expected.

“I mostly do it for the experience

and exposure, but I sold quite a lot yesterday, and that was awesome,” McChesney said. He was also grateful for the opportunity to simply show off his work.

McChesney sold about 25 items worth around $500, he said. While this sum was much greater than his total last year, it was still low compared to other vendors. “The prints sell a lot better than a glass object, so I’m assuming people get more there,” he said.

“My expectations were to sell half or most of my pieces and at the end of the day we almost sold out,” Luo, who

sold about $880 worth of art, wrote to The Herald in an email. “I have only two pieces left in my possession.”

Luo added that she received unex pected commissions from people who purchased her art at the fair.

McChesney said that the work he sold during the fair differed somewhat from his typical pieces. He explained that the items he sold were not created for his own studio practice, but instead were the pieces he had made for fun or thought looked interesting.

“If I didn’t sell my art it wouldn’t be accessible to everyone because I need to

survive and enjoy life. If I didn’t sell my art, I wouldn’t have the time to make my art. And I value art, and I value ac cessibility, and survival,” Luo wrote.

The artistic prowess on display translated into an enjoyable experience for attendee Isabella Yoo ’25.

“The fair offered an opportunity for me to witness firsthand the artistic talents of people from all different walks of life,” Yoo said. “Whether pot tery or prints or clothing or painting, each artist’s work was unique in its own way.”

“Even last year when I didn’t sell

much, it was fun because people saw my work and that was a big confidence boost,” McChesney said.

“I think the fair went well,” Luo wrote. “I think the fact (that) I did much better this year compared to last year just means I’ve gotten better at blowing glass. I can finally make truly beautiful things and the fact that people agree and are willing to pay for that really validates that.”

RISD Craft occurs each fall and spring. The spring fair is currently slated for RISD’s commencement and reunion weekend in early June.

Student artists feel confidence boost in displaying, selling work

COURTESY OF LENA LUO AND DEXTER MCCHESNEY

The event featured the work of over 130 artists affiliated with the Rhode Island School of Design, which ranged from prints to ceramics to clothing. Brown-RISD dual degree student Dexter McChesney ’24 sold around 25 glass blown projects at the fair worth about $500, more than he expected.