BY SAM LEVINE & HALEY
According to five students inter viewed by The Herald who all had roommates infected with COVID-19, the
Brown used to poll local elections. Why did it stop?
Labor Day shut down Interstate 95 and Route 10 for hours and even collapsed a building at 215 Peace St. Rhode Is land saw five to seven inches of rain over 90 minutes Sept. 5, overwhelming the city’s storm drains, according to a statement from Charles St. Martin, chief public affairs officer at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Two weeks ago, torrential rain left parts of the Ocean State underwater. In the coming years, Providence’s stormwa ter infrastructure will likely be tested by more frequent and intense storms due to climate change, experts told The Herald, with some local climate experts saying the system is outdated andFloodingunderprepared.intheProvidence area on
In the past, the University played a larger role in polling Rhode Island. Beginning in 1984, the University polled on a “wide range of political
SEE PRIMARY PAGE 2 SEE FLOOD PAGE 8 SEE COVID PAGE 2
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM SINCE 1891 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 43 UCS announces new committees on outreach, Pagepolling5 CLS to sponsor certificate in Pagecompetenceintercultural6 Glickman ’23: Modern censorship criticizes systems of oppression Page 7 U. News U. News Commentary 72 / 57 71 / 53 TODAY TOMORROW LGBTQ Center to relocate to larger, newly renovated space Page 8 U. News DESIGNED BY RAPHAEL LI '24 DESIGN CHIEF JULIA GROSSMAN '23 DESIGN EDITOR
According to climate experts, flood ing events like these are likely to be come more common and more intense in the coming years. They say invest ment in green solutions and artificial — also known as “gray” — infrastructure, such as better drainage pipes, will be needed to avoid future flooding issues.
Flooding leads RI to address aging drainage
new guidelines that have come with the University’s shift have proven unclear, causing some students to swap rooms with COVID-positive friends, sleep in common rooms and struggle to find University-provided tests and masks.
The Labor Day storm was “one of the major impacts of climate change that Rhode Island has already begun to see and is going to increasingly see according to all of the forecasts,” said Sheila Dormody, director of climate and city programs for the Rhode Island chapter of Nature Conservancy, an en vironmental group.
SANDLOW
Because COVID-19 is so widespread, the University now focuses “on prevent ing major outbreaks and instances of severe illness or hospitalization,” Britto wrote. When asked about the current number of cases on campus by The Her ald, Britto said that the University will only release this data when it can “in form useful action for the community.”
“There’s not going to be a lot of polling unless other organizations step up and pay for it,” he said, adding that without “reliable, regular public opinion polling, the political commu nity is left kind of flying blind.”
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
BY EMMA GARDNER & YAEL SARIG METRO EDITOR & SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Primaries in Rhode Island for a num ber of local, state and federal races took place Sept. 13. That night, in cumbent Dan McKee won the Demo cratic nomination for governor, while Republican candidate Ashley Kalus handily defeated her opponent.
If a student tests positive and lives on campus, the University advises them
BY WILL KUBZANSKY UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
This fall, Rhode Island will see its first election that garners widespread national attention since 2014’s gu bernatorial contest between former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and thenstate Treasurer Gina Raimondo. On Nov. 8, Fung and current Treasurer Seth Magaziner ’06 will compete for the Ocean State’s second district in the House of Representatives. The Cook Political Report has designated the seat a toss-up — one of only 31 nation wide, making it crucial to Republican hopes of taking back the House.
Some drains in the region were built over 150 years ago, said Craig Hochman, an engineer at the Providence Depart ment of Public Works.
Hardly three weeks after setting up his dorm room in Marcy House for the start of the fall semester, Oliver Villanueva ’25 found himself moving many of his belong ings for a second time after his roommate tested positive for COVID-19. When he learned his friend Eric Ma ’25 also had a COVID-positive roommate, they came up with a solution: a room swap, where Villanueva would stay in Ma’s room and their COVID-positive roommates would stay in Villanueva’s room for the remain der of their isolation period.
Candidates look forward to elections after primaries
METRO
UNIVERSITY NEWS
“Our stormwater infrastructure is
ing COVID-19 like “other infectious diseases,” Vanessa Britto MSc’96, asso ciate vice president for campus life and executive director of health and well ness, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Tuesday’s takeaways
not designed for what it currently needs to be designed for,” she said.
Moving to isolate
BY JACOB SMOLLEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The University outlined its COVID-19 housing protocols for the fall 2022 semester in an Aug. 8 email from Britto and Vice President for Campus Life Eric Estes.
The “rare storm” had “severely taxed” the drainage system on the high ways, which are overseen by RIDOT, St. Martin said. Much of that infrastructure “was designed 50 years ago and has not been upgraded since.”
Experts, advocates urge for green infrastructure after storm shuts down roads, destroys building
SEE POLLING PAGE 3
Democrat and R.I. Treasurer Seth Magaziner advanced to the general election against Republican Allan Fung in the race for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, while Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley won his party’s primary and faces no opponents in November, ef fectively making him the next mayor of theFollowingcity. the primaries, candi dates and political experts at the Uni
New protocolsCOVID-19unclear, say students with positive roommates
for Politics and Policy. And, by the numbers, less polling is occurring in Rhode Island overall.
Heading into a hotly-contested gubernatorial primary last week, Rhode Islanders only had access to two polls to gauge the state of the race. One came from The Boston Globe and Suffolk University, and the other from WPRI Channel 12 and Roger Williams University; both were released before candidates debated in late summer. No public polls for the Providence mayoral race were
versity reflected on Tuesday’s results and the upcoming general election in November.
Wendy Schiller, professor of polit ical science and director of the Taub man Center for American Politics and Policy, had a number of takeaways from last Tuesday. The results of the five-way Democratic primary for governor surprised her, she told The Herald.R.I.Secretary of State “Nellie Gor bea coming in third surprised me,” Schiller said. “She’s had a solid cam paign organization for a long time, she’s very well known. … It appears that … more (undecided voters) swung to (former CVS executive) Helena Foulkes than Nellie Gorbea.”
SENIOR STAFF WRITERS
released.Organizations like WPRI have a “limited budget” for polling, ex plained Ted Nesi, a politics and busi ness editor for WPRI.
UNIVERSITY NEWS Taubman Center regularly polled Rhode Island from 1984 to 2016
METRO
CYNTHIA ZHANG / HERALD
Providence has seen an increase in the amount of impervious cover — sur faces that do not absorb water — around the city, mostly in the form of asphalt and concrete. With less greenery to soak up the rain, drainage systems can be come overwhelmed when larger storms hit the area, Dormody said.
Tuesday was also a rough night for women in Rhode Island politics, Schiller said. There are “no women running for secretary of state, ... or treasurer, or attorney general — it’s a step backward for women’s repre sentation.”
The Fung-Raimondo contest of 2014 featured six reputable polls be tween September and Election Day — including two conducted by Brown. But this race will not feature polling from the University, said Wendy Schil ler, director of the Taubman Center
“It was definitely a hassle,” Ma said. They had to move more than five days’ worth of clothes as well as sheets and comforters between the two dorms, all while two of the four roommates had COVID-19, he said.
primariescongressionalGubernatorial,took place Sept. 13
The University has shifted to treat
Students improvise isolation housing
Schiller added that progressive forces also did not fare well in city and state elections. “In 2022, you can see progressives were not as big a force in this election as they were four years ago,” she “Peoplesaid.have just come out of a long pandemic, and they want some stability,” Schiller continued. “They just want good government, not a lot of change.”Onthemayoral front, preferences for “good government” rather than activism helped boost the campaign of Smiley, whose victory Tuesday has almost assuredly made him the next mayor of Providence, Schiller said.
“We kept our message focused on the importance of keeping (the 2nd Congressional District) in Dem ocratic control so that we can turn the page on Trumpism, protect abortion rights and fight for working people,” he said. “From the beginning, we took the fight to our Republican opponent instead of our Democratic opponents, and in doing so we demonstrated to
Ward said that the University’s de cision to change protocols from desig nated isolation housing to self-isolation was understandable, but criticized the implications of the decision.
Kalus has already attempted to paint McKee as corrupt, referencing the on going investigation into the current governor over the granting of a gov ernment contract.
University to not provide” designated isolation housing, he said. “But it’s ba sically just (suggesting) this idea that COVID is over, which is being mirrored in much of the country, and I think it’s pretty dangerous.”
If a student has trouble accessing a test, Britto recommended calling Health Services, whose staff can “work with stu dents to arrange for testing,” she wrote. Students should test whenever they are not feeling well or are experiencing “anything in the way of symptoms.”
“The way we get affordability is by increasing the housing stock and using the money allocated to build housing in a responsible manner,” she added.
“Smiley ran on good government, not a lot of change,” Schiller said. His more progressive opponents, Gonzalo Cuervo and Nirva LaFortune, suffered from an unfavorable political climate and a lack of clarity in their message, she
Dillon Sheekey ’25 slept on an air mattress in his friends’ room when his roommate tested positive.
“I understand that it’s much more convenient for the University and probably much less expensive for the
that the Residential Life key office in Graduate Center E would remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and have masks and test kits “available to students throughout the fall semester.”
PRIMARY FROM PAGE 1
primary voters that our campaign un derstands the importance of winning in November.”DavidBuchta, senior lecturer in classics, served as warden of his local polling place in East Providence for this year’s primary elections. It was his first time volunteering for a primary election, though previously he served as warden for the 2020 presidential election. He said he was pleasantly surprised by the high turnout he saw this“Iyear.was exhausted, but I was happily surprised at the fact that people were coming out to a primary,” Buchta said.
Ellis Ward ’24 lives in North House, and when his roommate tested positive, he remained in their shared room. He said he was concerned that he may have had COVID-19 and did not want to spread it to any of his friends or housemates.
“With temporary needs to replenish stock, masks and tests remain available to individual students 24/7 at the Key Office in Grad E,” Ice wrote.
“The practice of relocating students who test positive to dedicated isolation housing largely ended during the spring semester,” Brenda Ice, senior associate dean and senior director of residential life, wrote in an email to The Herald on behalf of ResLife and Health Services.
Smiley’s lack of a Republican oppo nent in the general mayoral election — virtually guaranteeing his win — is a “huge vulnerability” for McKee, Schiller said: “McKee needs a far bigger turnout in Providence to beat Ashley Kalus.”
with a friend or family who may be in the area,” Britto and Estes wrote.
While Sheekey, Ma and Villanueva opted to stay with COVID-negative friends, others remained in their dorms with their COVID-positive roommates.
Pham-Swann added that he had trouble finding information on isola tion procedures on Healthy Brown’s website, located under the Fall 2022 FAQ page, for information about what to do if an individual or their roommate tests positive for COVID-19.
“You’d think of this as something where it’s only the very, very politically dedi cated people who would vote in an off year at the primary, so I was happy to see that people were, in fact, getting out to Buchta’svote.” warden responsibilities prevent him from declaring his own political affiliations. He also noted that the primary results weren’t particularly surprising to him, save for how close the election for governor was and Gorbea’s third-place finish.
Trouble accessing tests, masks Pham-Swann said that he struggled to find information on where to find tests. Instead, he used masks and tests he saved up from the previous semes ter. Both Pham-Swann and Sheekey said they only learned where to pick up masks and tests from the University by word of Othermouth.students reported having trouble accessing masks and tests from the University. In their Aug. 8 commu nication, Britto and Estes announced
“Fungscenarios.issuchastrong candidate for CD-2 … because people know who he is,” Schiller said. “He’s run … (for) so many offices, people like him, they trust
The McKee campaign did not re spond to requests for comment in time for publication.
If a student’s roommate tests pos itive and they do not wish to stay in their room and do not have an option for alternate housing, “they should contact Residential Life or the Ad ministrator on Call,” Ice wrote. These staff will work with students, especially first-years who are new to Brown, on a “case-by-case” basis to support the student and find a housing solution for the duration of their roommate’s isolation, she wrote.
Before he was able to move to Ma’s room, Villanueva stayed in his dorm with his COVID-positive roommate. He said he spent as much time away from his room as possible, leaving at 8 a.m. one day and not returning until midnight. Similarly to Ward, when in the room with his roommate, Villaneuva pointed their air purifier toward his bed and tried to distance himself from his roommate.“Iwasvery annoyed” at the Univer sity, Villanueva said. “I don’t consider it sustainable.”“Lastyearwe actually had a system,” he continued, referring to the isolation housing at the Courtyard by Marriott Providence Downtown and other des ignated on-campus isolation housing. “This year, it feels like the University doesn’t care anymore.”
Onward to November’s general elec tion
Britto also wrote that students should continue to practice proper hand washing and cough etiquette on campus, while also staying up-todate with COVID-19 vaccines. A new bivalent booster is now available to the general public and will soon be offered on campus, The Herald previ ously reported.
2 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
“It was definitely inconvenient,”
Businesswomanadded. Ashley Kalus, who won the Republican primary for governor and will go on to face McKee in November, said Tuesday’s results showed differing levels of party unity on the state level.
To win in a competitive gubernato rial election, “the Democrats have to portray Kalus as anti-labor,” Schiller
After reporting a positive test, students receive communication through the portal with additional guidance for their isolation, accord ing to screenshots reviewed by The Herald. The communication repeats information from the Aug. 8 email and includes a link to the Brown Student Resources for Temporary Isolation website. There, students can see where to pick up daily meal bundles and access a separate portal to request essential supplies.
Remaining in dorms
If a student tests positive but their roommate tests negative, their room mate may remain in the room or “stay
But when Ma went to get a test from the key office on Sept. 15 after learning he had been a close contact of someone who tested positive, he was told the of fice had run out of tests. He had to return to the office the next day to receive one.
Ty Pham-Swann ’25 said he under stood the University’s rationale but wanted clearer communication from the University. When his roommate tested positive for COVID-19, PhamSwann moved his belongings into the common room of his suite in Harkness House and slept on the couch.
him and think he’s a Rhode Islander,” she added. “So he’s got an advantage.”
Staff in the key office reported not having masks available for students on multiple occasions when asked by The Herald over the last two weeks.
COVID FROM PAGE 1
To strengthen Rhode Island’s econ omy, the state should build “a better
business environment,” Kalus said. That “means reducing regulation, reducing taxes, so that we’re fostering an envi ronment of entrepreneurship. And part of that is affordability.”
The wide margin of victory in the Republican primary “shows that our party is united,” Kalus said. “That’s why we really only had a few (Republican) primaries. Everybody’s been working together.”“Theother big story is how fractured the Democrats are,” Kalus added. “McK ee didn’t even get a third of the vote, and that story really shows the mood of theirMagazinerparty.” said in a statement to The Herald that Democratic unity was strong in his race.
Magaziner is framing the race as a referendum on democracy and is making the case that electing Fung, a relatively moderate Republican, would embolden more far-right Republicans in Congress.TheFung campaign did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.Asforthe governor’s race, Kalus emphasized that her priorities include education, the economy and reducing corruption in an interview with The Herald.“Iwill reform education and make sure we can provide a world-class ed ucation to all students no matter their zip code,” Kalus said. “The right to a quality education should be a consti tutional right. We cannot trap children in failing schools.”
Kalus framed herself as a political outsider. “I’m not a career politician, I’m not an insider and I think we need a person that represents change,” she said. Meanwhile, Democrats have fo cused on another way in which Kalus is an outsider — the fact that she recently moved to Rhode Island.
said Ward, who said he spent most of each day working in the common areas of his house, and would then sleep at night in his room with the windows open, a fan blasting and his bed pushed as far as possible from his roommate’s.
Schiller noted that abortion is un likely to be a mobilizer in the race, as Rhode Island has already codified Roe v. Wade. Although Kalus is pro-life, she has committed to preserving the state law protecting abortion rights, accord ing to The Boston Globe.
Despite the long, draining hours, Buchta said he feels a strong desire to keep coming back to warden duty. In 2020, he volunteered because of a sense of civic duty. He had the flexibility to help since the University canceled classes on Election Day.
JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD
“I was exhausted but also absolute ly enlivened at the end of the night,” Buchta“Yousaid.have this democratic process whereby we can all express our voice,” he added. “I can do this (volunteer work as warden) and actually sort of help make democracy possible.”
“I was very fortunate to have those two friends nearby,” Sheekey said. “If someone didn’t have that option, … the situation would be a lot more difficult.”
to stay in their residence for the dura tion of their isolation while “adher ing to COVID-19 safety protocols like masking and sanitization if they have roommates or suitemates,” according to the email. Students should report their positive tests to University Health Services using the Health and Wellness Patient Portal, the email said, but are no longer required to move out of their dorm if they have roommates.
Ashley Kalus, who won her Republican primary and will go on to face Democrat Gov. Dan McKee in November, said Tuesday’s results showed differing levels of party unity on the state level.
said. “The only way McKee cruises in is if he goes after Kalus on what the Republican Party will do to labor rights, organization (and) bargaining rules.”
The congressional race is also rath er competitive, Schiller said. A June poll of head-to-head contests in the CD-2 race — the only one conducted so far — showed Fung beating Mag aziner 45% to 39%, with nearly 17% undecided. Magaziner is favored in FiveThirtyEight’s forecast of the race, winning in 75 out of 100 simulated election
POLLING FROM PAGE 1
“Supporting student research is a great benefit in and of itself,” West said. “I trust the current leadership to make their own decisions on that.”
Money that would have funded sur veys in the past now supports research for political science and some econom ics graduate students, Schiller said.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 3THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
and policy issues,” said Darrell West, vice president and director of gover nance studies at the Brookings Institute and former director of the Taubman Center. The Taubman Center oversaw these polls for decades.
Foulkes was in a stronger position after the debates so they could have voted more strategically, he explained.
But since 2016, when the center polled the Democratic and Republi can presidential primaries in Rhode Island, the University has not polled its home state.
Schiller said. The poll had a sample size of 405 people and showed McKee with a three point lead over R.I. Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea — within the margin of error of 4.9 points.
“They didn’t realize things had shifted,” Nesi said. “Foulkes had become a stronger candidate, and they said, ‘I would have voted for her.’ A poll could have helped them to understand the actualFlemingsituation.”also noted that “more people” and “more polls” can create an average of polls for voters to ref erence.Nesi added that he thought the Uni versity could offer a public service to the community — even if they did not poll elections and just polled public opinion on approval ratings and policy issues.Those polls would prevent assump
Nesi said he knows the Taubman Center’s budget has little flexibility and instead called for the University to solicit a donation or create an in stitutional priority that would back a pollingPollingproject.hasalso gotten harder: Re sponse rates to polls have fallen, West said. And notably, polls have proven shaky indicators in recent elections, especially in swing states.
“It’s harder and harder to poll,” Nesi said. “That’s part of why I would look to Brown as an institution that has the knowledge, expertise and academics (for polling). … If they wanted to, they could have a good polling operation.”
ter plays a “different role” than before at the University, she did not know if polling would ever resume at Brown.
tions, he said: “Good opinion polling can be a really useful counterbalance to groupthink and conventional wisdom.”
“It’s really important profession ally, and the marginal utility to those graduate students and to our graduate training infrastructure is very high,” Schiller said. “I want to further graduate training.”Somemoney has also gone to un dergraduate research fellowships, she noted.Ina January interview with The Pub lic’s Radio, President Christina Paxson P’19 said that while the Taubman Cen
In-state polls such as WPRI’s can also offer unclear pictures of a race,
If the University were to allocate Taubman Center funding to polling, it still “couldn’t compete” with larger polling outfits like Marist College and Quinnipiac University, which conduct more regular polling of races around the country, Schiller said. Dedicating resources to polling requires “infra structure,” she added — such as hiring a postdoctoral student — as well as competitive races to poll.
Some Gorbea primary voters told Nesi that they wished they had known
But Nesi noted that polls showing a tight race within the margin of error can still help voters. For example, the last poll before the primary — showing a tight race between McKee and Gorbea — came out before former CVS executive Helena Foulkes’s strong performance in the debates, he said. On primary night, McKee scraped out a 2.8% margin — but over Foulkes, not Gorbea.
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
Polls can cost from roughly $5,000 to $30,000, depending on the sample size, the method of polling and the length of the survey, said Joe Fleming, a political analyst for WPRI who leads the channel’s polling operations.
“It couldn’t really tell us who was going to win the governorship,” she said. “It takes a lot of money to do that.”
“We wanted to empower the general public to have the means to express its views about policy issues,” West said. “Rhode Island had a history of insid er politics. It was a very elite-based system.”Developing a polling operation within the University fit into a national trend of increased polling at the time, he added. In the years that followed, the Taubman Center released statewide and citywide polls about elections, the direction of the state and city, approval ratings and policy questions multiple times a year.
MCB Faculty Seminar 10 a.m. 70 Ship Street
to U.
After UFB Chair Amienne Spen cer-Blume ’23 and Chopra were elect ed in the spring, the pair realized that the constitution would need to be “sig nificantly revised” to “modernize” the document, Chopra said.
4 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS CALENDAR
“It was great to get (the constitu tion) passed when (it) did so that we could start the new year with the up
Disability Studies Group Mixer 4:30 p.m. Nicholson House (71 George Street)
“The UFB has evolved to meet stu dent demands and we’ve had to insti tute different policies in order to … promote growth of student activities,” Chopra said.
“It was among the first things that we discussed regarding our plans. We got through the majority of edits in June
Cristobal Gnecco - Empty Ped 12estalsp.m.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Communicating Science to the General Public 12 p.m. Medical Education Building 270
BY EMILY FAULHABER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
“In the past, it’s been primarily UCS (providing recommendations) with a bit of input from UFB. But now, UFB on its own can make recommendations,” she said. With this change, UFB will now act as the primary advisor on the student
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
TODAY’S
Watson Institute
“There (were) a lot of aspects of the UFB constitution that were horribly outdated,” he said, adding that language in the constitution was not consistent with how UFB had been operating “within recent Spencer-Blumememory.”andChopra began working together over the summer to amend the UFB constitution.
and (early) July,” Spencer-Blume said.
The Undergraduate Finance Board’s updated constitution — announced by Vice Chair Arjun Krishna Chopra ’25 at the Sept. 14 Undergraduate Council of Students town hall — delegates special elections to the Student Government Association rather than UCS, updates rules on self-funding and adds a new first-year representative position.
TOMORROW’SEVENTSEVENTS
Cuban Privilege: The Making of Immigrant Inequality in America 12 p.m.
Come Meet Elvy 12 p.m. CIT First Floor Atrium
dated constitution,” she added.
recommendationselectionaddressesConstitutionspecialprotocol,
ThWTuMS 765 8 2 3 4 141312 15 10 11 9 2119 22 17 18 16 25 23 24 1 26 27 28 29 30 20
Rhode Island Hall, Room 108 Farewell to Summer Bash 6 to 8 p.m. The Underground F
recommendations to the University Re sources Committee regarding increas ing or decreasing the student activities fee, which helps support student orga nizations, Spencer-Blume said.
WLC Reading Group 10 to 11 a.m. 195 Angell Street Conference Room 202
activities fee to the University.
The constitution also updates the checks and balances in place on UFB self-funding. UFB has not received funding in the past, but the updat ed constitution allows UFB to spend funds on “publicity” and “outreach” to inform students about UFB and how they distribute funds, Spencer-Blume said. According to the new constitution, UFB cannot unilaterally grant itself any funds, and all UFB funding decisions will be approved by UCS.
The updated constitution address es UFB special elections, which will now be delegated to the Student Gov ernment Association rather than UCS. The transition was made to ensure there were “no conflicts of interest” and one branch was not “organizing its own elections,” Spencer-Blume said.The UFB is now authorized to make
UFB amends constitution to align with operations, add new provisions
The new UFB constitution has been posted to their website.
The two also incorporated input from leaders in other branches of stu dent government before the consti tution was voted on during an early UCS board meeting and the first UFB policy meeting of the semester, Spen cer-Blume said.
SEPTEMBER S
There is also a new first-year rep resentative position that will replace the UCS-UFB liaison. The position, which was announced at an infor mation session held by UCS, UFB and CCB, currently has seven first-year candidates.Thechanges made to the UFB con stitution are “completely up to the students,” since the University dele gates a “good amount” of authority to UFB, Chopra said. The UFB is now also following the same approval process for amendments to its constitution as UCS, requiring a two-thirds majority for amendments, said UCS vice president Mina Sarmas ’24.
Jung Haye To ’24, Alexander Ávila appointed as new directors
To will also be looking to recruit for UCS and create a more “in-person line between UCS and the community,” Zhong“Wesaid.hope to … serve as a liaison between the University community and administration,” To said.
This year, there will be multiple shorter polls that “target specific is sues” such as dining services, residen tial life and facilities, Sarmas said. Some polls will be sent to relevant groups to obtain feedback, such as to first-years after the flood in Keeney Quadrangle.
“Having a connection to the stu dent body is (reciprocal) in the sense that (students) feel that they’re being listened to … and being heard,” Zhong said.Ávila plans to have polls come out “every four to five weeks” in order to collect data from students at more regu
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 5THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
sent by UCS and was appointed to the position by Zhong and Sarmas over the summer.Ávila will also oversee a group of students that will help collect and sort data. In prior years, there would be one UCS poll per semester which would take “around 20 minutes” to complete, Zhong said. UCS was previously not able to “timely” obtain student concerns and act on issues due to the lack of frequen cy of previous polling, he added. Ávila said the committee hopes to obtain data on relevant school issues that will help UCS and the administration collaborate.
lar intervals, he said. Once the polls are completed for the semester, he hopes to distribute a “policy memo” to UCS which will also be made publicly ac cessible.“The polls are really important in terms of advocacy efforts. It’s really helpful to have numbers on what spe cific things are affecting students,” Sarmas said.
’23
A lot of work done by UCS often
This year, there will be multiple shorter polls that “target specific issues” such as dining services, residential life and facilities, according to UCS Vice President Mina Sarmas ’24. In previous semesters, there has been one longer poll each semester.
Two new committees — an outreach committee, led by Jung Haye To ’24, and a polling committee, led by Alexander Ávila ’23 — were announced at a Sept. 14 Undergraduate Council of Students meeting.Thenew committees, which will be headed by the newly created roles of outreach director and polling direc tor, have been put in place to “bridge the gap” in communication between students and the administration, UCS Vice President Mina Sarmas ’24 said.
BY EMILY FAULHABER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
To has held office hours on the main green to “bond” with students since the start of the semester, he said. He has also hosted panels with UCS President Ricky Zhong ’23 on topics such as hous ing, meal plans and identity centers, among others. To said that upwards of a hundred students attended some of the Nowpanels.that school is in session, To plans to hold more social events to “bring the (University) community together,” he said.
The goal of the outreach committee is to create a more “consistent means of interacting with the student body,” Sar mas said. The committee is composed of ten students, To said. Currently, there is a lot of “virtual communication,” but there is still a “need for in-person communication outreach” between UCS and the general student body, To said, and the new position will be able to fill this void.
“fell between the gaps” and wasn’t com municated to students, so the outreach committee was also created to increase “visibility of (UCS) initiatives (and) cur rent work,” Sarmas said.
UCS announces polling, outreach committees to increase communication
She hopes the “frequent feedback” from students through polls and events via the outreach committee will also lead to a natural increase in connection to the student body, Sarmas added.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
NAT HARDY / HERALD
The polling committee seeks to gain student feedback, Ávila said. Ávila found out about the position through an email
Sokolosky hopes that the certifi cate will allow students to “go beyond just having an interesting and excit ing experience away from Brown” to one where students are able to more effectively engage with other cultures.
allow smaller language departments such as Quay’s to receive institutional support in their efforts.
“Every semester, we have hundreds of students enrolled in language courses who will not go on to become concen trators,” Sokolosky said. “Many students take several semesters of language courses at Brown but the concentration just is not the right option for them.”
All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media), and they must be exclusive to The Herald.
Persian “is a small language, we don’t have a concentration (and) there’s really no chance we will ever have a concentration,” Quay said. She added that the certificate will be a good way for students within the department to gain formal recognition for their lan guage commitments as well as institu tionalize much of the smaller language experience already offered at Brown.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
U. announces certificate program in intercultural competence
SIMONE STRAUS / HERALD
Riker believes that this certificate can serve as a useful tool beyond the academic space. “On a planet that has been pushed beyond its limit with humanitarian crises becoming more frequent,” he wrote, “understanding languages and cultures is vital for con necting people of all ages and abilities across the globe.”
An initial group began the develop ment of the certificate in spring 2021.
Certificate will focus on student language, cultural, experiential learning
Please send in submissions at least 24 hours in advance of your desired publication date. The Herald only publishes submissions while it is in print. The Herald reserves the right to edit all submissions. If your piece is considered for publication, an editor will contact you to discuss potential changes to your submission.
The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. is a financially independent, nonprofit media organization bringing you The Brown Daily Herald and Post- Magazine. The Brown Daily Herald has served the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $200 one year daily, $100 one semester daily. Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.
Quay believes that the certificate will leave room for students to connect their language and culture studies to other disciplines they are exploring — for example, through an exploration of bias in automated translation in a linguistics, computer science or gender perspective in specific languages.
Quay said she believes the certif icate will allow students to explore culture as a dynamic, multi-faceted experience rather than a simple idea.
Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.
The Center for Language Studies will sponsor a new Certificate in Inter cultural Competence that will allow students to formally synthesize their language and experiential learning into a cohesive learning experience, according to a Sept. 7 Today@Brown announcement from Jane Sokolosky, director of the CLS.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
Copyright 2022 by The
“Intercultural competence is kind of a big buzzword in the education field and particularly language studies,” said Michelle Quay, visiting lecturer of Per sian. “People are trying to quantify or codify a little bit more formally what it is that we’re talking about when we teach culture in the classroom.”
6 88 Benevolent, Providence, RI (401) 351-3372 www.browndailyherald.com Editorial: herald@browndailyherald.com Advertising: advertising@browndailyherald.com THE BROWN DAILY HERALD SINCE 1891 @the_herald facebook.com/browndailyherald @browndailyherald @browndailyherald 132nd Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Ben Glickman Managing Editors Benjamin Pollard Caelyn Pender Senior Editors Katie Chen Gaya Gupta Jack Walker Editor-in-Chiefpost-magazine Kyoko Leaman ArtsNews& Culture Editors Rebecca Carcieri Laura David Aalia Jagwani Science & Research Editors Kathleen Meininger Gabriella Vulakh Metro Editors Emma Gardner Ashley Guo Oliver Kneen Katy SameerPickensSinha University News Editors Emily Faulhaber Will KaitlynShilpaStellaAlexCalebKubzanskyLazarNadirashviliOlken-HuntSajjaTorres Sports Editor Peter Swope EditorialOpinionsPage Board Editor Johnny Ren Head Opinions Editor Augustus Bayard Opinions Editor Anika Bahl Bliss AlissaJacksonMelissaHanLiuMcGoughSimon PhotoMultimediaChiefs Danielle Emerson Julia Grossman Photo Editors Elsa DanaRoslynChoi-HausmanCorizRichie Illustrations Chief Ashley Choi Social Media Chief Alejandro Ingkavet Digital DirectorNewsofTechnology Jed Fox CopyProductionDeskChief Lily Lustig Assistant Copy Desk Chief Brendan McMahon Design Chief Raphael Li Design Editors Julia Grossman Gray Martens Neil Mehta GeneralBusinessManagers Alexandra Cerda Sophie Silverman Sales Directors Joe AmitBelfieldLevi Finance Director Andrew Willwerth
“I believe that students who com plete the Certificate in Intercultural Competence will embark on a lifelong journey as global citizens,” Timothy
That summer, the CLS discussed what other certificate programs looked like at Brown and in other universities. The group then entered a lengthy drafting process for the certificate’s proposal before ultimately presenting it to the College Curriculum Council, Quay said.
the radar for students who are coming from a variety of majors, like neurosci ence and math,” Quay said.
“There’s an opportunity here to put these language and culture classes on
Submissions must include no more than two individual authors. If there are more than two original authors, The Herald can acknowledge the authors in a statement at the end of the letter or oped, but the byline can only include up to two names. The Herald will not publish submissions authored by groups. The Herald does not publish anonymous submissions. If you feel your circumstances prevent you from submitting an op-ed or letter with your name, please email herald@ browndailyherald.com to explain your situation.
Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse.
students taking courses in several lan guage departments asking them about questions or concerns they would have about a potential certificate. Just over 50 students responded, nearly all of whom had positive feedback, according to Sokolsky.Students will be able to declare the certificate through the eight distinct languages offered through the World Languages and Cultures Unit of the CSL, including American Sign Language, Ar abic, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Swahili and Nahuatl, according to Sokolosky. The Germanic Studies department will also offer the certificate, and Sokolosky anticipates further language depart ments will soon follow suit.
Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
In order to fulfill the certificate’s requirements, students will have to take two language theory courses — LANG 0800: “Theory and Practice of Inter cultural Competence,” a new founda tional course expected to be offered every semester and required to be tak en before the certificate’s experiential learning component, and LANG 1400: “Language Practicum in Intercultur al Competence,” a non-credit course completed alongside an internship or study away experience, according to the University’s Course Bulletin.
Certificate participants will also be required to take LANG 1800, a half-credit capstone class meant to supplement the students’ experiential learning, which is central to the certif icate’s programing. Students will also be required to either study abroad or engage in a domestic or international internship to complete their studies.
Riker, senior lecturer in American Sign Language, wrote in an email to The Herald. “When learning languages and cultures at Brown University, it is crit ical to understand the complexity of human relationships through an inter sectional lens and engage in service to the community.”
The certificate will also create a more structured pathway for students to explore and receive recognition for the “dedication and commitment” of taking language and culture-based courses, she added.
BY ALEX NADIRASHVILI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
In a similar vein, the certificate will
The development team also ensured student involvement throughout the process, Quay added. Early in the plan ning stages, a survey was sent out to
Students must also take two courses taught in the same language and an “area of perspectives” elective from a variety of disciplines — including history, linguistics, anthropology and International and Public Affairs — that relates to the language chosen for the certificate, according to the certificate’s website.
You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com and letters to letters@browndailyherald. com. When you email your submission, please include (1) your full name, (2) an evening or mobile phone number in case your submission is chosen for publication and (3) any affiliation with Brown University or any institution or organization relevant to the content of your submission.
The new certificate will aim to com bine “the knowledge, skills and atti tudes that curious and open-minded students are constantly acquiring and developing through the targeted study of languages and cultures,” Sokolosky wrote in an email to The Herald.
Having a robust civic conversation will flesh out ideas and flush out those that don’t pass muster. Mill’s view, articulated during a time
The censorship we see today, this current set of societal parameters for acceptable speech, is a grassroots innovation, not the product of those in power. These standards for conduct — particularly prevalent at Brown where 71.8% of undergraduates describe themselves as liberal or very liberal, according to a Brown Opinion
speaking up for their own identities when a topic like immigration arises as a senior who was raised by college graduates might. I write today as the latter, privileged to be unafraid to voice my views in these pages. Absolute silence is not necessarily the solution, but mindfulness is.
Glickman Not censorship, respect.
Noah Glickman ’23 can be reached at noah_glickman@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@brown dailyherald.com and other op-eds to opin ions@browndailyherald.com.
At the heart of my argument, I’m talking about respect. Thinking before we speak is nothing new; it’s a lesson we learn before we’re old enough to enter any classroom. Only now, instead of punishing those who dissent from oppressive historic norms, we call out white supremacy, classism and mi sogyny.
The main counterargument to this line of thinking is John Stuart Mill’s view, expressed in “On Liberty,” that more speech infused into the public forum means the ideas most in demand will prevail. If one is confident in their ideas, what is the harm in more speech?
Self-censorship must have existed since humans first formed groups. Some powerful majority always decides which values, ideas and ways of being are permissible, and those who transgress these norms face the backlash of the community. As a result, we often censor ourselves, filtering out certain thoughts before we speak. For much of history, this dynamic has punished ideological, religious and especially racial minorities for their differences. Call it Puritanism, McCarthyism, homophobia or racism, societal norms have al ways been defined equally by what is forbidden as by what is encouraged. That marginalization has meant significant emotional and material damage to so many.
Today, we have a new variety of censorship, one which can be seen on campus: As alleged in a recent op-ed, community members tend to shy away from dissenting opinions and fear open discussion of contentious issues. Mod ern censorship culture theoretically operates the same way as its predecessors. It determines which values and ideas are most worthy and prescribes communal punishment when some one professes to believe otherwise. One might ask then, should we not be equally critical of this new iteration of an old problematic para digm? The answer is no. Our censorship culture is characterized by a fundamental and redeem ing difference — it is critical, not protective, of those in power.
Our censorship culture is characterized by a fundamental and redeeming difference — it is critical, not protective, of those in power.
Project poll — are centered on pushing back on eons of marginalization. Discouraging speech that might offend someone is not coddle-cul ture, it is a needed break from the past to lift up folks who have been harmed by structures of oppression. Frustration with ideas that fur ther harmful systems is not thoughtless anger. It is the result of weighing the harm of silencing those ideas against the tangible harm that they
ly stolen decision-making. Wondering aloud if affirmative action in college admissions is beneficial or harmful, as someone who is not a beneficiary of the program, bulldozes this country’s history of systemic racial in equality.Iamnot calling on you to tamp down your intellectual curiosity and forgo personal growth for the sake of others’ comfort. Rather, I would encourage you to consider time, place and context. If you feel gnawing discomfort when a question comes to mind, ask yourself, “Why am I hesitant to bring this up? Will my friend feel demeaned and unseen? Will this colleague be reminded of a lifetime coping with similar ignorance?” Allow your discom fort to initiate a process of self-examination; allow it to be part and parcel of your journey. And then ask yourself what an appropriate avenue for answers would be — private con versation with a trusted friend, a meeting with a generous professor, a search on the better parts of the internet.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 7THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
Few would argue that people should be shunned for advocating tax reductions or teaching religion in schools. But certain lines of inquiry are tantamount to disputing an individual’s humanity. Questioning a per son with a uterus’s right to reproductive care is not neutral. It assumes a lack of agency, a reminder to womxn of centuries of violent
’23:
of massive disenfranchisement and savage in equality, does not consider that not all speech is received equally. While Brown as a forum somewhat levels the playing field, there are still significant power imbalances between individuals on campus. The marketplace of ideas is not equitable. A first-year Undocu mented, First-Generation or Low-Income stu dent may not be as comfortable and fearless
have inflicted on generations of largely nonwhite, non-male people. Many of us, in society and on campus, have collectively agreed that remedying the latter, or at a minimum not mak ing it worse, is worth quieting a voice or two along the way.
is often cheaper and less likely to lead to pollution than gray infrastructure, he said.“The burdens (of climate change) are mostly borne in Black and brown neighborhoods, lower-income neigh borhoods that don’t have as much tree canopy cover or open space as some of our wealthier and whiter neighbor hoods,” Dormody said.
BY ANIYAH NELSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Since its formation in 2004, the LGBTQ Center has been located on the third floor of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center. But last year, the University an nounced plans to transition the center to Stonewall House, a newly renovated location at 22 Benevolent St., by fall 2022, The Herald previously reported.
role, which replaced Women’s Peer Counselors.ForPatti, the collaboration between the LGBTQ Center and the Sarah Doyle Center allows for further intersection ality in the centers’ programming.
“We realize that this type of situa tion will become more common as cli mate change accelerates,” he continued. “We are evaluating the capacity of all our systems and upgrading as quickly as possible.”Theincrease in severe storms is due to climate change-induced temperature rise, said Baylor Fox-Kemper, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences. He explained that warmer air leads to more intense rainfall and drying.But Fox-Kemper noted that it’s dif ficult to link any one storm to climate change, nor is it possible to say that storms will always intensify at a cer tainDroughts,rate. like the one Rhode Island is currently experiencing, can make flooding worse, as dried out soil is unable to absorb much of the water, Fox-Kemper said.
“Intensity is really a big deal be cause your stormwater systems are designed to handle a certain amount of rain,” said Curt Spalding, an envi ronmental consultant who works with climate group Providence Resilience Partnership. “It’s so hard to design something that can handle this wide range of events.”
“Part of how these systems ended up being neglected is there’s no source of funding dedicated to taking care of that infrastructure,” he said, adding that Providence, unlike other cities, does not specifically tax to support stormwater utilities.Spalding and Dormody explained that they prefer green solutions, which involve restoring the water cy cle and watershed to its natural state.
“There is a lot of overlap between a lot of these groups,” they said. “People (often) don’t fit into one category or feel like they belong in only one of these groups, and so I think this proximity is also super exciting.”
The relatively limited space in the center’s current location has created COVID-19 concerns among students, said Sophia Patti ’26, who serves as the social chair of Queer Alliance, a stu dent organization that provides iden tity-based programming for members of Brown’s LGBTQ+ community.
FLOOD FROM PAGE 1
But issues with RIDOT and Prov idence’s stormwater systems did not develop overnight, according to local environmental advocates such as Spal ding and DormodyDormody.noted that the state has failed to meet legal standards for drain age infrastructure in the past.
Danae Lopez ’25, who started work ing at the LGBTQ Center last year and currently serves as the digital commu nications and publicity coordinator, said that the center’s current lack of space has forced staff to find alternative locations to hold events.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
The new center’s proximity to the Sarah Doyle Center may help foster collaboration between the two spaces, said Felicia Salinas-Moniz, the director of the Sarah Doyle Center. “The staff and I at the Sarah Doyle Center are very excited to have the LGBTQ Center as our new Salinas-Monizneighbor.”pointed to previous collaborations between the two centers over the years. This semester, the two began co-supervising the new Women, Gender and Sexuality Peer Counselor
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 8THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
The money for some of these initia tives came from the American Rescue Plan Act, but, historically, finding fund ing and political support for improving stormwater infrastructure has been dif ficult, Spalding noted.
Additionally,said.green
Hochman noted that the city has also taken action to repair aging drain age infrastructure, much of which is decaying because of the materials it was built Providencewith. has been cleaning 25 miles of sewer main and looking at pavement reduction strategies “spe cifically to address flooding,” Hochman
tiny. You can’t really fit more than 10 to 15 people comfortably in the main room,” Patti said. “Some people aren’t comfortable eating in such an enclosed space, and a lot of social events do re volve around sharing a meal together.”
DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD
tions, Patti and Lopez agreed that their excitement for the new center stems, in part, from the additional space that will be “Weavailable.gettohave more events and actually invite more people.” Lopez said. “Now we get to do a lot of events like game nights and big movie nights, (and) have more performers, speakers and“Brownscholars.”has a lot of people who identify as queer or LGBTQ+ and it’s re ally wonderful that we’re going to have the opportunity to have bigger spaces and more opportunities for people to hang out there and feel comfortable,” Patti said. “Having this new location allows you to have more people and still be respectful of COVID guidelines.”
Yet even without such dry condi tions, stronger storms will likely cause problems in Rhode Island.
Given the current center’s limita
In 2015, RIDOT was sued by the En vironmental Protection Agency due to violations of the Clean Water Act. The parties reached a consent agreement that same year, which required that RIDOT inspect and repair many of its drainage systems.
LGBTQ Center to move to newly renovated space near Keeney
“The (current) center is … really
Stonewall House “will allow us to … (host) guest scholars, activists and art
ical infrastructure was “in poor re pair” and had “not been adequately maintained.”Dormodyargued that the legal ac tion against the department prompted action to repair aging infrastructure. Still, “the decades of disinvestment and neglect of those systems is a pretty steep price to pay,” he said.
said. Additionally, the city is “looking to install green infrastructure” to deal with runoff that pavement reduction cannot address, he added.
“It is no coincidence that the Gledhill family chose to name our new home Stonewall House as a tribute to the Stonewall Rebellion in the summer of 1969, which has become a symbol of the struggle for LGBTQ rights, which highlights the significant contributions of trans organizers and activists of color across the globe.”
In describing their hopes for the future, Garrett and O’Neill pointed out the historical nature of the cen ter’s name, which was selected by the Gledhill family, a major donor for the new“Wecenter.hope that the beautiful and newly renovated space will be enjoyed by all as we continue to work with stu dents, faculty and staff to make Brown a more inclusive campus,” they wrote.
Students, faculty cite additional space as major benefit of new location
ists, (do) workshops and (hold) smaller community-building events while also providing more space for students to study, have meetings and enjoy con necting with others,” they wrote.
At the time, R.I. District Attorney Peter Neronha released a statement that said that much of RIDOT’s phys
In an email to The Herald, St. Martin wrote that the recent flooding was “not related to the issues brought by the EPA in the consent decree,” and that starting in 2015, RIDOT began investing $100 million in reducing pollution from stormwater.“Wearein full compliance with the consent decree,” St. Martin wrote.
When repairing infrastructure in the future, governments should look to be as flexible as possible, Fox-Kem per “Younoted.can just build in a little ex tra margin for error, knowing that the future is uncertain, maybe more uncertain than you expect it to be,” he said.Despite these uncertainties, there is plenty of optimism about the path forward.“The good news is we actually know what to do,” Dormody said. “There are a lot of very complicated problems re lated to climate change. This is not one of them.”
The center will officially move into the new space later this semester.
Danae Lopez ’25, who works at the LGBTQ center, said the small size of the current center caused staff to find other locations to host events.
This new location, which is directly across from Keeney Quadrangle and next to the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender, will offer the center an array of academic and social spac es for increased programming, Kelly Garrett, recently departed director of the center, and Caitlin O’Neill, senior assistant director, wrote in an email to The Herald.
The goal is to reestablish marshes and floodplains while increasing the amount of greenery that can soak up water before it enters the drainage sys tem, Spalding infrastructure