Wednesday, September 18, 2019

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

VOLUME CLIV, ISSUE 11

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

METRO

METRO

State conducts aerial spraying of pesticide to combat cases of mosquito-borne disease

Shiru Cafe shutters all U.S. locations

Three people contract rare EEE disease in R.I.

Popular coffee shop to close College Hill location next Friday after less than two years

BY ISABEL INADOMI SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that two more Rhode Island residents have been diagnosed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a rare but potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease.

These diagnoses bring the state’s total number of human cases this year to three. A West Warwick resident diagnosed with the virus died Sept. 8, which marked the first EEE fatality in the state since 2007, according to a Rhode Island government press release. A child younger than ten years old from Coventry, R.I. and a person in their 50s from Charlestown, R.I. were also diagnosed with the illness.

Before this year, only one person had been diagnosed with EEE in Rhode Island since 2010.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the virus can either result in a systemic or encephalitic illness; while people can recover from the former in one to two weeks, approximately a third of those who experience encephalitic symptoms ­­— swelling of the brain — die, and many who survive continue to have neurological problems.

BY ALLIE REED UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Though an individual’s chance of contracting EEE is small, “when it does happen people can become very, very ill,” wrote Vanessa Britto, executive director of Health and Wellness at the University, in an email to The Herald.

“Because the risk is not nonexistent we want everyone to be smart about protecting themselves as much as possible.”

On average, there are “about seven cases per year nationwide” of EEE, said Howard Ginsberg, an insect ecologist who sits on the Rhode Island Mosquito Advisory Board. “This year, we’re already above that,” he added, with

Consulting season in full swing at University

BY CELIA HACK UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR Over 200 students crammed themselves into a lecture hall Monday night, many dressed in business casual, with stragglers forced to sit in aisles or squat near doorways.

As one student’s Google Doc read, this was the “Bain Case Interview Workshop,” and most in the room were focused on a mock-interview prompt: how to advise someone opening a frozen yogurt shop. The case closed and students filed out to an Insomnia cookie

SEE MOSQUITO PAGE 2

SEE SHIRU PAGE 3

AR EXPERIENCE: MICHAEL BASS/ HERALD , ILLUSTRATION: USHA BHALLA/ HERALD

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Students network, attend workshops with Bain, EY Parthenon among others

killing adult mosquitoes, according to a Rhode Island government press release. The aerial pesticide should not be a cause for human health concerns, Britto wrote, adding that it has been “used for decades worldwide and is highly effective against adult mosquitoes.” The pesticide is not absorbed well through the skin and breaks down “fairly quickly” in sunlight, she added.

To date, RIDOH has treated four “critical risk areas,” covering parts of 21 communities with the aerial pes-

Shiru Cafe, the coffee shop on Angell Street known for its free drinks, will close its doors Sept. 27 — less than two years after it came to College Hill.

The international chain plans to close all three of its U.S. locations to remain focused on its “continued growth” in Japan and India, U.S. Director of Operations Keith Maher wrote in an email to The Herald.

The cafe, an international chain that branded itself with free in-house drinks for college students in exchange for their data, came to College Hill in February 2018. The Providence location was the Japanese company’s first expansion into the United States before it branched out to New Haven and Amherst.

But as early as December 2018, there were signs that the company was strug-

spread, with consulting season in full swing at Brown.

“The scene of pre-professionalism at Brown is growing,” said Jennifer Xu ’20. “People are putting more effort into trying to land a good internship.”

Monday night’s workshop was just one of at least ten networking opportunities and information sessions offered to students interested in consulting in the last week. Students flocked when opportunities arose: Over 200 students were registered for the Bain Info Session, over 220 for McKinsey and over 150 for EY-Parthenon, all in the last week, according to Matthew Donato, director of the CareerLAB. While the University is known for its liberal arts education, many students choose to go the consulting

SEE CONSULTING PAGE 4

cases also reported in Michigan, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

EEE is initially transmitted to birds by mosquitoes that do not bite humans. The infected birds are then bitten by another type of mosquito that feeds on both birds and other mammals, potentially passing along the disease to people, Ginsberg said.

He added that “areas near swamps are a special risk,” as mosquitoes primarily reside there.

In response to this uptick, RIDOH has treated higher-risk areas with a low concentration of the aerial pesticide spray Anvil 10+10, aimed at

METRO

Ceremony Tea to replace Tealuxe Tea shop plans to open in October, serve loose-leaf tea, pastries, mocktails

BY HENRY DAWSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER Ocean State resident and business owner Michelle Cheng plans to open Ceremony Tea in the place of Tealuxe on Thayer Street this October.

Her loose-leaf tea company, Leafy Green, has been servicing Brown’s School of Engineering and Blue Room cafes since April 2018, and Cheng is eager to open the company’s first retail operation with drinks from $3-5 and tea ceremony services from $5-20.

Property owner Mark Goldberg said he expects Ceremony to experience the

SEE CEREMONY PAGE 2

News

Commentary

Commentary

Newly completed Disability Study Space set to open third week of September Page 3

Lehrer-Small ’20: Public schools should not invest in e-learning Page 7

Kramer ’20: U. should improve accessibility services for students Page 7

COURTESY OF MICHELLE CHENG

Ceremony Tea’s Thayer Street shop will be the company’s first retail operation, selling drinks between $3 and $5 in addition to tea ceremonies.

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TOMORROW

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CEREMONY FROM PAGE 1 same success Tealuxe had in its 20-year run, citing a student-driven demand for food and drink stores. Goldberg also took on Ceremony to support local businesses. “I could take that whole thing, knock it down and build a CVS. … But I don’t need to. The thing is to build small businesses, and hopefully they’ll be successful,” he said. Tealuxe closed without warning on May 24 due to financial strain resulting from years of “very, very dead summers,” according to one store employee, as The Herald previously reported.

Local businesses can matter to students too. Louise Tisch ’2 0, a fan of the now-defunct Tealuxe, said, “It would be nice to have a less corporate coffee or tea situation on Thayer Street. ... I would love to see Providence-based businesses succeeding because it seems like there’s a lot happening there, and it’s always exciting.”

Leafy Green sources tea directly from farms in Japan, Taiwan and China and was started at the nonprofit culinary incubator program Hope and Main, based out of Warren, Rhode Island. The incubator is designed to get small businesses off the ground with minimal risk by providing access to buyers, social media platforms and storage facilities among other services.

Ceremony hopes to partner with another graduate of the incubator program, SinoBox, a Franco-Sino fu-

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

sion pastry company based in Warren, Rhode Island. The pastry operation is part of Chinese Palate LLC, which is run by entrepreneur George Gao. His wife, Joanne Mou, is the head chef of SinoBox and a graduate from Johnson and Wales University.

Like Ceremony, SinoBox looks to incorporate modern trends into Chinese pastries while respecting their authenticity, Gao told The Herald. He expects to serve pineapple cakes, mochi and daifuku at Ceremony’s opening and will design a new menu of confections each quarter.

Along with pastries and conventional tea drinks, the store will serve original tea-based mocktails, with ingredients sourced from Sprout Organic Farms, a micro-farm in North Providence, Rhode Island.

Sprout grows microgreens, which are plants harvested when not fully grown, according to CEO Aaron Damus.

In an electrically lit warehouse filled with vertically stacked racks, Sprout has been growing plants like marigold, lemon, anise, hyssop and some forty other types of harvestables for about a year.

“The flavors tend to be more concentrated the younger the plants are,” Damus said. Baby greens have a stronger flavor and nutrient profile, he added. Sprout’s products are used all over New England — from Nitro Cart’s breakfast sandwiches to James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina’s Japanese restaurant Uni.

Cheng needs potent herbs for her tea mocktails, which she envisions University students relaxing over the night before a test.

“If you don’t want to drink, but you want to experience that atmosphere and ‘grab a drink’ and catch up with friends not in a coffee environment, you can come to our shop,” Cheng said.

The desire for a non-alcoholic venue to relax with friends reflects a need Cheng felt in her college days, and the space provides a way to unwind at night without repercussions the next day.

The store’s menu will vary between day and night. Daytime has more to-go options, including Matcha Sparklers — hand-whisked matcha poured over sparkling water — matcha lattes and other conventional tea options.

At night, Ceremony will mix mocktails like Kyoto, a plum-sauce base with sakura (although, like the tree’s blossoms, the drink will only be available in the spring), as well as Lapsang Souchong, a smoked black tea from China with a little bit of bitters and pear nectar. Cheng described a yet-tobe named drink with matcha, yuzu and agave, topped with a soy-milk foam and served in a martini glass.

But the store’s name comes from its signature offerings: modernized tea ceremonies. In one such ceremony, based off the elegant Japanese tea tradition, the store will serve Asahi Matcha, a single-estate, single-origin unblended matcha from a farm in Japan.

“Our farmer only allows us to buy two kilograms a year. They’re just like, ‘This is all we can provide for you, even if we have more. Sorry, maybe one day I’ll visit you in the U.S. to make sure you’re preparing it to the standard, then maybe I’ll sell you more,’” Cheng said. She hopes to give customers a purer tea experience, offering usucha and koicha, letting drinkers taste the hints of sweetness and sesame present in the tea.

The store will also have a gyokuro tasting set, which is a three-course tea set. In the first set, the leaf is brewed in hot water. In the second, the leaf is chilled and sipped from a wine glass.

Finally, in the third, it is mixed with genmai, puffed rice and soy sauce.

“The Chinese ceremony is a little more decadent,” Cheng said, describing a seven-stage oolong tasting course.

“We want to introduce tea-drinking to this culture — bring the traditional aspect here but mixing aspects of what we consider to be a little bit more forward thinking,” Cheng said.

“When we first came up with (the) Nitro (cold brew) tea, my own mom was pretty against the concept. (For) one, they don’t believe tea should be drunk cold, and two, to add nitrogen into it?

She doesn’t understand the purpose. I try to explain to my colleagues or even my parents that we have to grow with the times. If we don’t introduce new ways of consuming this ancient, delicious beverage, the younger generation may not be interested.”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

MOSQUITO FROM PAGE 1 ticide spray. RIDOH also conducted a “larviciding” campaign in at-risk areas using a bacterium called Bti. Bti “produces toxins that specifically affect the larvae of only mosquitoes, black flies and fungus gnats,” according to a RIDOH press release posted Sept. 4.

For precautionary measures, Britto, Ginsberg and RIDOH all recommend limiting time outdoors at dusk, since that is when most of the mosquito species that transmit EEE are active. “You just want to minimize your exposure,” Ginsberg said. People should limit their outdoor activity at those hours“for the remainder of the mosquito season, which typically ends in mid-October (after the first hard frost),” according to the RIDOH press release.

Students can also wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, ensure window screens are intact and use insect repellent when outdoors to limit exposure, Britto wrote.

Arden Orwicz ’21 said that she is “concerned” about EEE, “but maybe not concerned enough to act that much.”

Orwicz first heard about the illness from a news report in her home state of Connecticut, but said that at the University, she feels “like no one knows about it, which is kind of scary.”

The Department of Environmental Management and RIDOH are “considering the next steps” to combat EEE, which include the possibility of additional aerial spraying in the state, according to a state press release.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

New Disability Study Space to open later this month

COURTESY OF SUMERA SUBZWARI

Disability Justice at Brown and the Undergraduate Council of Students pushed for the $50,000 project. Though the space will officially open for use in the third week of September, DJAB is currently conducting a soft opening in order to gather feedback on the space.

New study space in Rock designed for students with sensory differences

BY TRISHA THACKER SENIOR REPORTER The newly completed Disability Study Space is set to open in the third week of September, bringing neurodiverse students a room with everything from sound-proofed walls to standing desks.

The study space, located in the basement of the John D. Rockefeller Library, is structured to be accessible to students with a range of disabilities, including mobility limitations, but is uniquely designed for those with

sensory differences, according to Leah VanWey, associate provost for academic space. The project had a budget of $50,000 and was funded by Provost Richard Locke’s office.

VanWey gave credit to Disability Justice at Brown and the Undergraduate Council of Students for bringing this issue to her attention. “The UCS and the students involved in DJAB made a strong case for the isolating effect of the lack of study space for neurodiverse students,” VanWey wrote in an email to The Herald. “They argued that no existing study spaces were adequately meeting the needs of this population, and that the result was students isolated in their dorm rooms to study.”

“Right now, as a disabled student, I have never once studied in a library,”

said Silver Mckie ’22, the former community coordinator of DJAB. “A lot of spaces in the libraries have ambient noise and fluorescent lighting and things that aren’t accommodating for students with sensory issues.”

Although the space was renovated this summer, DJAB is in the process of conducting a soft opening to gather feedback before the official launch, according to Sumera Subzwari ’21, the lead coordinator of DJAB. The space will technically be available to all students but will require talking to the librarian for access; it will also have a key code on the door to prevent people from taking items, Mckie added.

Mckie and Subzwari were part of a focus group to advise interior designers on how to make the space more accessible. The group met in May and looked

over floor plans, furniture samples and carpet swatches to give feedback before the space underwent construction over the summer. “We decided on a combination of blue and tan for the color scheme that wouldn’t be too distracting,” Subzwari said. “We also split up the room in two sections — so one section would be geared more toward group work and the other toward independent work.”

The space also has a combination of chalkboards and whiteboards as well as noise-cancelling headphones to account for sensory sensitivities.

Standing desks and chairs that accommodate all body sizes are meant to ensure physical accessibility.

DJAB is also pushing to create a Disability Justice Cultural Center in Arnold Lounge, which members of the

group previously proposed to UCS in April, The Herald previously reported.

“What the disabled community really needs right now are spaces where we can meet with other disabled folks and talk about our lived experience,” Mckie said.

“The cultural center has a community focus, while the study space has an academic focus,” said Victor Padilla GS, a member of the Disability Study Space Focus Group.

On top of the DJCC, Padilla is hoping to expand accessible spaces for graduate students with disabilities, who he says have access to even fewer resources than undergraduates. He hopes to see the new study space serve as a prototype for improving accessibility on different parts of campus, including beyond College Hill.

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Shiru Cafe opened in February 2018, appealing to students with free wifi, drinks and access to a study space. The cafe, popular with students on campus, will close its doors Friday, September 27.

SHIRU FROM PAGE 1 gling in the United States’ market. That month, The Herald reported that Shiru had not yet secured any corporate sponsors for its U.S. operations, a vital component of its business strategy.

This summer, Shiru announced that the company would begin charging for specialty drinks, with prices ranging between $3 and $5.50, a notable deviation from its mission to serve free drinks.

Maher previously told The Herald that the business’s financial trouble was due to a “more elaborate and sophisticated” espresso-based coffee culture in the U.S. Shiru’s business model relied on the idea that sponsors would pay the coffee chain to advertise job and internship openings and information. In its inception, Shiru offered free Wi-Fi, study space and information about employment opportunities, in addition to free specialty drinks like lattes and cold

brew. Earlier this month, Vice President of Client Development and Strategy Steve Horton said “it would be fair to (expect) 20 to 25 (sponsorships) by the end of the year” for the New England cafes, The Herald previously reported.

Despite the branch’s closure, “we are extremely proud of our current team of baristas — many of whom have been with us since opening day — and we’re so grateful for the positive community they’ve helped create at Shiru Cafe,” Maher wrote.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

From 2015-2018, the percentage of University graduates in consulting jobs has increased from 10 percent to 12 percent, according to CareerLab data.

CONSULTING FROM PAGE 1 route. From 2015 to 2018, University graduates employed in consulting has risen from 10 percent to 12 percent, according to data collected from CareerLAB. With the increasing popularity of the industry among students, fall recruitment season and the pressure that comes with it have become staple parts of returning to campus for many juniors and seniors. Firms usually make offers for full-time positions and internships by mid-October, with applications deadlines and two rounds of interviews taking place throughout the month of September and early October, according to Donato.

“Recruiting is competitive — for ref-

erence, we typically have around half of our incoming class filled with returning interns,” wrote Nicole Kaufmann ’18, a recruiter for EY-Parthenon, in an email to The Herald. She added that consulting accepts students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, which increases the number of applicants for only a few slots.

Without a formal business school, CareerLAB is tasked with helping students navigate the trying and complex recruitment process. This year, the center moved its consulting spotlight event to the fall season, as opposed to the spring. Here, students can participate in “speed dating” with recruiters from various firms.

“They really value the broad skill-

set that many of our students bring to the recruiting process,” Donato said of consulting firms’ affinity for Brown students, who tend to “approach problems in non-traditional ways.”

Similarly, the Collegiate Consulting Group started a weekly bootcamp this fall to train anyone interested in recruiting. “It’s to build a community (of) people who are navigating the interview process, either for internships or full-time,” said Leah Lam ‘21, a director in CCG. Even with the resources available to prepare for the season, recruiting can overwhelm students. On top of interview preparation, many students feel that they need to take advantage of the info sessions and networking op-

portunities available with a wide range of firms. Coffee chats, which Xu participated in, can put students in a two on one conversation with recruiters. But they can be a trick to get into.

“The spots are pretty limited,” said Xu, who participated in one. “People really have to sign up the minute the link is released.”

Samer Wahood ’21, who is going through his first year of recruitment, was taken aback by the exclusivity of coffee conversations. He went to CareerLab for a coffee chat, only to find he could not get in.

“They asked if my name was on the list, and no, it wasn’t,” Wahood said. “I realized it had been booked out a month in advance.”

ANDREW DING / HERALD

After having gone through one year of recruitment, Jessica Zhu ’20 is revising her strategy.

“I feel like for juniors, there’s a vibe that you need to go to every single one,” she said. “Don’t feel the pressure to go to all of the events.”

For all of the buzz surrounding jobs at consulting firms, Donato hopes students will explore a range of job opportunities.

“I’ve been interested in how many students want to do consulting versus how many students do it,” he said. “A lot of students choose consulting or finance because they are interested, but also because they may not have a great sense of what the other options are out there.”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY

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Out For Lunch with Robyn Ochs 12:00 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center

John Carter Brown Fellow Talk 4:00 P.M. John Carter Brown Library

GBC Welcome Back Celebration 5:00 P.M. Page-Robinson Hall

Deloitte Information Session 6:00 P.M. BERT

TOMORROW Eroding Democracy on Twitter 12:00 P.M. 111 Thayer Street

Faith Wilding: Seen and Heard 4:00 P.M. Pembroke Hall

Haffenreffer Museum Open House 5:00 P.M. Manning Hall

Performance by Hari Kondabolu 8:00 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Hall

Q U OTE OF TH E DAY

“A lot of spaces in the libraries have ambient noise and fluorescent lighting and things that aren’t accommodating for students with sensory issues.”

— Silver Mckie ’22 SEE DISABILITY PAGE 3

CR O S SWO R D

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

A ST U DY I N NAT U R E

ROSLYN CORIZ / HERALD

Students bask in the sun’s rays and breathe in the fresh O2 at the greenhouse in 85 Waterman Street, home to the University’s environmental science departments.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

7

Invest in students: A case against e-learning

BY ASHER LEHRER-SMALL OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Many American school districts have made a massive mistake, and you should take note. This mistake is not only wasting your taxpayer money, but it’s also stifling opportunities for millions of American youth.

Struggling public schools have increasingly been investing in expensive e-learning packages rather than the necessities of quality education. While these online learning platforms may look good on paper, they degrade student learning and dehumanize the school environment.

The Providence Public School District is a prime example of this mis-investment.

PPSD faces many challenges. According to 2015 statistics, seventy-nine percent of its student population is low-income. School buildings are in a state of disrepair. A recent report on the district conducted by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy found that some school buildings are “even dangerous to students’ and teachers’ wellbeing.” As a direct result of this report, the state has begun a takeover of the school district.

Given the school district’s challenges, it’s not surprising that student achievement is low in Providence. The latest Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System test scores show that, across all grade levels, 90 percent of students are not proficient in math and 86 percent are not proficient in English Language Arts.

To attribute these poor results to inadequate funding would be an oversimplification. In fact, Providence spent over $18,300 per student in FY2018, placing it solidly above the median funding level of Rhode Island public high schools. For comparison, Barrington, which is widely regarded as one of the state’s best school districts, spent just over $15,000 per student

in the same year. This is not to say that PPSD could not benefit from increased funding. PPSD students deserve more.

But the seeming contradiction seen in Providence of low-performing, highly-funded schools is actually a common phenomenon.

State redistribution schemes and federal grants often bolster the budgets of struggling schools.

So why don’t additional dollars always translate to increased student performance?

Unfortunately, school budgets may not go toward increased learning opportunities for disadvantaged students. Instead of fixing leaky roofs or introducing programs to better support high-needs students, Providence has invested in an online learning platform called Summit

success: standardized test scores. An alternative study found that e-learning had strong negative effects on student motivation. With these mixed results, one must evaluate the impacts of e-learning in each individual context.

The Johns Hopkins report found that, in Providence, “students almost universally disliked the Summit program.” In interviews, students reported that they were “burned-out through the over-use of screen time and bored.”

Instead of using the software to do schoolwork, students often surfed the web, watched YouTube videos and listened to playlists. One student missed about half of the school year and still earned a B due to the way Summit is designed.

Online learning is a convenient investment, but not a good one.

Personalized Learning.

Online learning is a convenient investment but not a good one. Policymakers can sell online learning as a push for modernization, using phrases like “21st century standards” or “learning for tomorrow.” School officials can rest easy knowing that e-learning platforms don’t join the teachers union and don’t require pensions, benefits or professional development.

The only problem is that e-learning packages don’t actually help students learn. Though a 2010 evaluation by the U.S. Department of Education found evidence of modest gains for students using online material, the study admitted that “few rigorous research studies of the effectiveness of online learning for K–12 students have been published.” Furthermore, the study’s results rested on a narrow definition of student

If your first instinct is to blame students for poor attention or for cheating the system, I challenge you to think more deeply. Have you ever taken an online course such as Coursera or Khan Academy? How long did you pay attention before you took a “quick Facebook break” that turned into 45 minutes of watching YouTube videos? Now imagine spending nine months each year in courses dominated by work on your computer with minimal oversight. In a room full of your friends. I’m not arguing that there’s no place for e-learning in our public schools.

I’m arguing that its place should be limited, and its implementation should be strictly monitored.

In 2015, the e-learning market broke the $100 billion threshold. By 2025, it is projected to climb above $325 billion. Not all companies

classified as e-learning necessarily supplant traditional learning — for example, Canvas is classified as an e-learning company. But entrepreneurs, encouraged by school districts’ uncritical money-throwing, are eager to produce the next shiny online package sold in the name of developing our nations’ youth. In the process, we turn some schools into a glazed-over slog from computerized classroom to computerized classroom.

Students deserve better.

Struggling schools need to invest their budgets in services that will support their highneeds students. In many Providence schools, roofs are leaking and the heat doesn’t work properly. Shouldn’t adequate shelter be a prerequisite to learning? High school students in Providence receive bus passes only if they live beyond a two-mile radius of their school. In the winter, many students need to trudge well over a mile in the snow to get to class. Would it be that difficult to ensure that all students have guaranteed transportation? These issues seem like they should be prioritized over investment in pricey e-learning packages.

Brown University students, if you plan to go into education technology, think long and hard about how your work will translate to the classroom. Ensure that your product supplements, rather than supplants, classroom learning. If you plan to work in education policy, think about how each investment will affect individual students. Heck, you could even listen to students themselves. The Providence Student Union has a Student Bill of Rights that provides a good starting place.

Asher Lehrer-Small ’20 can be reached at asher_lehrer-small@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@ browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Brown is accessible, but not enough

BY ANNA B. KRAMER STAFF COLUMNIST

There is a lot of rhetoric about increased awareness of social injustices on Brown’s campus. And yet, we are not taking enough initiative to increase accessibility for students with physical disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that any and all measures be taken to ensure that students with disabilities receive equal access to educational services — including the removal of architectural barriers and provision of auxiliary services. Brown has not lived up to this mandate, even thirty years after the passage of the ADA. Of course, I am not insinuating that this is a new problem. The general lack of accessibility support and services on college campuses has been a persistent issue, and as an able-bodied student at this university, I am not the authority in what this experience is like. But given that Brown values progress and that one in ten college students lives with a physical disability, change needs to happen more swiftly.

Brown has made concerted efforts in recent years to push back against ableism by increasing accessibility to those with physical disabilities. For example, Brown offers accessible restrooms and parking throughout campus and provides wheelchair rentals to those who need them. But Brown can and should be doing more.

Students who possess a disability do not have equal opportunities when compared to their able-bodied peers. As a student body, we often discuss how challenging it is to complete all that we need to get done in a given day, but

imagine having to factor in the added challenge of a physical disability.

We should be making it as easy as possible for those with physical disabilities, and there are some clear areas for improvement.

First, supposedly accessible parking is not as accessible as it could be. My roommate, who sustained an injury this summer that limits her ability to walk for the semester, cannot find handicapped parking closer than Smitty-B — a lot five minutes away from her classes. The scarcity of accessible parking spots diminishes

will not pick up or drop off students at off-campus locations, despite how close these locations may be to parts of campus. Seventy to eighty percent of seniors at Brown live off campus, but those who rely on SEAS shuttles for transport may be left unable to participate in this practically class-wide social activity.

It is unfair to indirectly encourage students with disabilities to live on campus as a result of this policy; this exacerbates a divide between individuals with disabilities and those without them. Shouldn’t all students get to make the

But if more people are made aware of the gaps that still exist with campus accessibility, we will see a greater push to solve these problems quickly and efficiently.

the actual utility of offering such parking in the first place.

And students with disabilities may not have access to a car to help them get around campus. In that case, they must use a wheelchair or scooter to get from class to home — given how cracked and uneven many parts of the sidewalks are around campus, this proves a particularly arduous task to undertake multiple times a day.

To that end, Student and Employment Accessibility Services, and the University at a broader level, could do more to make shuttle pickups a seamless process. Currently, SEAS

exciting decision to live with a group of their friends without disability serving as a deciding factor? There may be an alternative to this SEAS shuttle problem, but if such an alternative exists, it is not adequately advertised.

In a similar vein of advertising options and accommodations, Brown could better display exactly where accessible entrances and exits are located across academic buildings. While most of the buildings on campus have wheelchair entrances and ramps, they are not clearly marked.

Sayles Hall, for example, has a particularly confusing accessible entrance for those who do not

know where to look. Compounding this problem, many of the “accessible” entrances that are in place do not even function. The automatic doors at Smitty-B and the Pizzitola, for example, do not open when the entrance button is pushed.

Ideally, every building on campus would be accessible. While this proves a logistical challenge on a campus with centuries-old buildings and designated historical landmarks (many buildings were built with a dated framework that does not allow for the incorporation of elevators), at the very least, proper signage and equipment should be put in place to help students locate the accessible entrances.

I do not mean to ignore all that Brown has done in recent years to improve the physical accessibility of campus. Compared to other universities in the United States, Brown has made significant strides. But if more people are made aware of the gaps that still exist with campus accessibility, we will see a greater push to solve these problems quickly and efficiently . To have a physical disability on this campus remains a huge burden, one that I cannot presume to fully understand.

There are tangible ways we can fix many of these problems right now, be that repaving uneven surfaces, adding more handicapped parking or ensuring the functionality of accessible entrances and automatic doors. But to bring about even simple changes, we must first acknowledge them as a student body.

Anna B. Kramer ’20 can be reached at anna_ kramer@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

TERRA: ART | LAND | JUSTICE A BROWN ARTS INITIATIVE SYMPOSIUM ON ARTS & ENVIRONMENT Sept 19-20, 2019

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts 154 Angell Street, Providence, RI FREE and open to the public

Activist artists and scholars, a civil rights educator, architect, chef, poet/farmer and others share ideas about humanity’s relationship to land through a cultural and social justice lens • Opening keynote by multimedia artist JACKIE SUMELL

MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER: brown.edu/go/terra

• Panel discussions, exhibitions and film screenings • FARM FRESH RI Pop-Up Market

#BAITerra @BAIBrownU This convening is made possible by gifts to the BAI Director’s Innovation Fund and the Agnes Gund Presidential Lecture Fund.

Photo: Media Productions.

artsinitiative@brown.edu 401.863.1934 arts.brown.edu