Wednesday, September 25, 2019

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

VOLUME CLIV, ISSUE 16

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

U.S. ambassador to Philippines speaks at Watson

Fund provides students aid for event, food costs

Kim emphasizes importance of U.S.-Asia relations, encourages foreign service careers

Undergraduate Finance Board dedicates $10,000 to new fund in its first year

BY SARAH WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim P’22, spoke about the importance of U.S. involvement and foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific during a forum titled “Old Friends, New Frontiers” at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs Tuesday.

Before entering the field of diplomacy, Kim worked as a public prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Interested in foreign policy and drawn to the idea of living overseas, he planned to work in diplomacy for only a couple of years before returning to his job as a prosecutor.

However, he came to enjoy diplomacy work so much that “those two years have now become thirty years,” Kim said in an interview with The Herald.

Having also served as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Kim is currently awaiting Senate confirmation for his appointment to U.S. ambassador to Indonesia.

Kim’s forum was a part of the

METRO

BY KAYLA GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

East Asian nations,” he said. “This is not so for the Asia of today — or the Asia of tomorrow.”

The ambassador’s lecture also focused on the indispensability of strong U.S.-Asian partnerships to security and prosperity both in the Indo-Pacific region and the United States. Kim said

Students can now receive financial assistance to cover tickets to student-run events and food at off-campus conferences through the Event Assistance Fund, which the Undergraduate Finance Board launched as a pilot last spring.

UFB expects the fund to be particularly helpful for students who may have some level of family contribution to tuition but would be discouraged from attending events with ticket prices, UFB Chair Julian De Georgia ’20 said. “Anyone who feels that finances would be a barrier for you going to a student event is eligible to request funds, and we expect that to be a pretty self-selecting group of people.”

Events including lectures and

SEE AMBASSADOR PAGE 3

SEE UFB PAGE 8

AREEZ KHAN / HERALD

Current U.S. ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim may serve as ambassador to Indonesia following his Senate confirmation. In his talk, he stressed the importance of the Indo-Pacific region in U.S. relations.

Chong Wook Lee and Vartan Gregorian Distinguished Lecture Series. Established in 1992, it aims to “underscore the importance of understanding global issues” and “relying on innovation” from Asia and the U.S. to solve global challenges, said Edward Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute, during the event’s opening remarks.

Kim stressed the vital importance

of the Indo-Pacific to the United States, citing the region’s population of 650 million and its significance as one of the United States’ largest trading partner. Over the past few years, Southeast Asian nations especially have experienced significant growth and now have considerable economic and political impact. “In the past, power and influence in Asia were concentrated among

ARTS & CULTURE

Student loan bill of rights protects R.I. borrowers Legislators pass consumer rights bill in July, following lead of six other states

BY CLARA GUTMAN ARGEMÍ SENIOR STAFF WRITER In February 2019, Roger Williams Law School alum Kara Humm visited the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, to tell him about the “uphill battle” she’d been fighting for five years against her student loan servicing company. Three days later, her servicing company denied her loan forgiveness, which she believes she qualified for after spending more than 10 years in public service.

For most students with federal loans, servicing companies serve as

Yale Whiffenpoofs blend humor, history

Renowned a capella group brings songs, smiles, tradition to First Baptist Church

BY NAYA LEE CHANG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“We are the Yale Whiffenpoofs,” tenor Hale Jaeger proclaimed Sunday, Sept. 4 to a crowd of over 100 people.

“And we are so excited to be singing here — mostly because we are the first collegiate a cappella group in America, and this is the First Baptist Church in America.”

Clad in black tailcoats and white gloves, 11 members of Yale University’s most renowned vocal group performed an hour-long set that included Bohemian folk, Cole Porter (a Whiffenpoof alumnus), the Beatles and Michael Bublé.

Despite their sharp outfits and serious vocal skills, the Whiffs maintained a relaxed and playful demeanor throughout the show. Shared grins and goofy dance moves accompanied

SEE LOANS PAGE 3

SEE WHIFFS PAGE 3

Science & Research News Timekeeping ‘metronome cells’ discovery adds to neuroscience debate Page 2

Proposed NLRB rule could change status of graduate student unionization Page 4

DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD

The Yale Whiffenpoofs, the first collegiate a cappella group in America, began accepting singers of all genders last year. The Whiffs now consists of 13 male members and one female member.

Commentary

News

Ren ’23: First-year reading assignment, “The Idiot,” could have been better Page 6

Jessica Meir ’99 will co-pilot her first mission to International Space Station BACK

TODAY

TOMORROW

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

‘Metronome cells’ may play timekeeping role in brain Newly analyzed subset of cells adds information to neuroscience debate

BY RAHMA IBRAHIM STAFF WRITER University researchers have discovered a new subset of cells — “metronome cells” — that may act as timekeepers in the brain, a finding that contributes new information to one of the biggest debates in neuroscience.

While scientists have long known about the existence of cells in the brain that tend to be more reactive to stimuli — called fast spiking cells — they have long debated the function of a specific frequency of rhythm produced by those cells, called gamma oscillations. Some neuroscientists believe that gamma oscillations are at the root of how the brain functions. Other equally qualified scientists believe that these rhythms are merely a byproduct of brain activity.

“Scientists’ faces will either light up or grow very overcast when someone mentions gamma oscillation,” explained Christopher Moore, professor of neuroscience and supervisor of the study.

These gamma oscillations produce structured ripples in the brain at an interval of 40 Hertz, or 40 cycles per second. This regular pattern has led scientists to believe that perhaps the gamma oscillations act as an organizing clock, helping to align and connect information coming from different areas of the brain. Moore compared this theory to an orchestra; just as a conductor of an orchestra connects the various parts, the gamma oscillations have been thought to have similar function. If the conductor stops, then the whole orchestra cannot make good music.

But for years, scientists have acknowledged limitations with this theory.

Fast spiking cells and gamma rhythms have been found to respond

USHA BHALLA / HERALD

to stimulus from outside the body of the cell. This raises concern if researchers assume that these oscillations act as a timekeeper; if the conductor is distracted every time they hear a trumpet, then the orchestra cannot be conducted.

When the researchers analyzed these “metronome cells,” a subset of fast spiking cells, they found that these cells exhibited regular ticking and did not react to the outside world. “We looked where most people didn’t,” said Hyeyoung Shin, who was first author of the paper and worked alongside Moore.

She is now completing her postdoctoral

education in California but was a graduate student at the University at the time of the study.

These cells were firing gamma rhythms and did not respond to outer stimulus — both key conditions in finding the timekeeping program in the brain. This data provides positive evidence for the hypothesis that links gamma oscillations and brain function.

The researchers say that they arrived at their results “on accident.”

They had originally anticipated studying gamma rhythms in the brains of mice following rewarded behavior in

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response to a tapping stimuli.

Vikaas Sohal, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist who leads a neuroscience lab at the University of California, San Francisco, sees this study as “an important step forward” in understanding the organization in the brain.

Now that the researchers have discovered these metronome cells, Sohal says it would be interesting to search for these cells in other parts of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex.

“Understanding gamma oscillations helps us understand and treat diseases such as schizophrenia … where gamma

oscillations have been found to be in association,” he added.

As the researchers look more into these metronome cells, they are finding them “even more fascinating,” Moore said. Although Shin has left Moore’s lab, the researchers plan to separately expand on this study.

In further research, scientists could examine signals in other areas of the brain, whether these cells coordinate between different parts of the brain and whether there is a genetic factor that may control these cells.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

AMBASSADOR FROM PAGE 1 the most cost-effective investment of U.S. resources consists of partnering with emerging leaders overseas, through exchange programs or higher education opportunities, to create “ecosystems that encourage innovation.”

He added that U.S. support of young international change-makers will lead to the development of “personal connections with Americans that create deep and unbreakable bonds.”

Kim’s own experience as the country’s first Korean-American foreign ambassador has allowed him to bridge the U.S. and Asia in a way that has been incredibly fulfilling, he said. Born in Korea, Kim told The Herald that returning to his home country as an ambassador was special to not only him but also Koreans and Korean-Americans because of the example he provides of rising through the ranks of the diplomatic system.

Joyce Lee ’22 said she attended the lecture because, as a Korean concentrating in international relations, she was particularly intrigued by the perspective

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

of a former U.S. diplomat to Korea.

Gina Sinclair ’22 also mentioned her interest in Kim’s unique identity as both a Korean and a representative of the U.S., which puts him “at a crossroads.”

Sinclair said she appreciated how Kim answered questions on U.S. policy decisions in a manner that helped the public understand why those decisions were made. “I could also understand where he was coming from, whereas if I listened to the news, I would see the U.S. as making decisions that hurt a lot of lives,” Sinclair said.

Sinclair said she left the lecture inspired to take up a career in foreign service, something that Kim passionately encouraged the audience to pursue. “An individual diplomat can really change the trajectory of lives as a counselor officer sharing visas, can set rules for global trade, can protect human rights as a political officer, can uphold young leaders to excellency,” Kim said.

“There’s really no greater privilege than the honor of representing your country overseas.”

WHIFFS FROM PAGE 1 the snapping, clapping and occasional stomping that is customary of a cappella arrangements. The group’s semicircle formation and proximity to the audience gave the concert an intimate air despite the lofty ceiling and large crowd.

In between songs, the Whiffs connected with the audience through lighthearted banter and corny lines.

At one point, Jaeger stepped forward to tell a joke: “A Yale student and Brown student were walking down the street, and the Yale student was much, much better.” He stopped abruptly and stepped back into the semicircle to laughter.

Following Whiffenpoof tradition, the performance concluded with an invitation for Whiffenpoof alumni to join the current members in singing “The Whiffenpoof Song.” One audience member and alum, William Barnum, was welcomed to the front, where he and the current Whiffs sang and swayed, their arms around each others’ shoulders. When asked if he

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attends Whiffenpoof shows often, Barnum said he goes whenever he can.

The Whiffenpoof rehearsal and tour schedule is intense. Alex DiMeglio, a Whiffenpoof and the group’s music director, said the group rehearses for several hours every day in addition to doing gigs most days. He explained, “The rehearsal schedule will ebb as we learn more repertoire and become more comfortable, but the gigs will ramp up.”

Because of their rigorous schedules, all current Whiffenpoof members are taking gap years, often between their third and fourth years at Yale. This practice of taking the Whiffenpoof year off began in the early 2000s and allows the Whiffs time to tour 30 countries and over 100 cities during their one-year stints in the group.

In 2018, the traditionally male Whiffenpoofs became a gender-inclusive group open to anyone with a tenor, bass or baritone vocal range, regardless of gender. The group now

includes 13 male members and one female member. Similarly, the Jabberwocks, the University’s oldest and formerly all-male a cappella group, began to accept singers of all genders this year, as previously reported by The Herald.

An entirely student-run group, the Whiffenpoofs rely on group member and business manager Mark Gustaferro to plan their extensive tours. Gustaferro began planning the First Baptist Church in America concert in March by reaching out to Whiffenpoof affiliates in Providence. “The Whiffenpoofs are very fortunate to have been around for so long and to have 110 years’ worth of connections,” DiMeglio said.

Reagan Hunt ’23 attended Sunday’s Whiffenpoof show after learning about it during a church service earlier that morning. She was very impressed with the Whiffs, whom she had never heard before. “They have such beautiful voices and such amazing control of them,” Hunt said.

LOANS FROM PAGE 1

ness. But nationwide, over 99 percent of forgiveness applications are turned down because of strict requirements, according to Forbes. The new bill of rights aims to address some servicing companies’ predatory practices by requiring loan servicers to register

help you,” she said.

Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a coalition of servicing companies nationwide, wrote in an email to The Herald that most borrower complaints concerned issues

student loans to attend university in Rhode Island by increasing transparency for servicing companies across the board, said bill sponsor Sen. Dawn Euer, D-Newport. “We’re at a crisis point with student loans in this country,” she said. Euer added that the high

land, which represents and lobbies on behalf of the state’s private universities, also supported the bill. Brown is a member of AICU of Rhode Island. According to Dan Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island, the

44 million student loan borrowers accumulate $1.56 trillion nationally, making it the second highest consumer debt after mortgage, according to Forbes. About 11 percent of this debt is delinquent. Under the federal College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, law school graduates who have spent more than 10 years in public service and made 120 monthly loan repayments qualify for loan forgive-

with the state and setting standards for how servicers communicate with customers.

Humm is optimistic that the bill of rights will hold servicing companies accountable for their inaccessible communication channels. She estimated that she has spent 35 to 50 hours on the phone with FedLoans Servicing over the course of five years.

“There was no one to talk to that could

determined under federal law, such as interest rates and repayment options.

The national Alliance does not include FedLoan Servicing. “Most challenges are with rules … under which we all have to work,” Buchanan wrote.

While the student loan bill of rights aims to protect borrowers who, like Humm, should qualify for debt forgiveness, it also extends beyond that group to anyone who takes out

rejection rate for loan forgiveness applications indicates “a problem with the status quo.”

The Rhode Island Office of the General Treasury supported this bill.

“This is something we take very seriously,” said Evan England, a spokesperson for the Treasury, adding that the office rarely weighs in on policy.

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Is-

legislation will impact students at all Rhode Island universities equally. It is necessary to address the “uncertainty around the efficiency of the federal pathway” for addressing borrowers’ complaints, he added.

The University Loan Office did not respond to multiple requests to comment.

Millions of dollars

an intermediary between the government and their wallets. Humm, whose loans were processed by FedLoan Servicing, said her application was denied because that company misled her during the loan repayment process — ultimately preventing her from making the necessary number of monthly payments to qualify for loan forgiveness under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.

For example, Humm says the company placed payments in a forbearance program without her knowledge for months and disqualified some of her other payments on the grounds that she submitted them too early in the month.

“It’s extremely frustrating to be doing everything you’re supposed to do and not being able to get everywhere,” she said.

FedLoan Servicing could not immediately be reached for comment.

Humm is one of many who have called for legislators to protect student loan borrowers from deceptive lending practices, and the Rhode Island State House responded by enacting the student loan bill of rights on July 26. The law is modeled on similar legislation that has passed in six other states. Gov. Gina Raimondo will do a ceremonial signing on Monday.

Rhode Island’s student loan bill of rights comes as more than 133,000 Rhode Island residents owe a combined $4.5 billion in student loan debt, 10.4 percent of which is overdue, the Boston Globe reported. Nationwide,

SOPHIE CULPEPPER / HERALD

Over 133,000 Rhode Island residents owe a combined $4.5 billon in student debt. About $470 million of this is delinquent, meaning it is overdue.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Proposed rule casts doubt over future of graduate student union NLRB released rule would exclude grad students from employee status

BY KAMRAN KING SENIOR STAFF WRITER The National Labor Relations Board released a proposed rule Friday that would exclude graduate students from classification as employees of their universities, putting the future of the Brown’s graduate student union in question.

The University will have “no further obligations to the union” if the rule takes force before the University and the union, known as Stand Up for Graduate Student Employees, reach a collective bargaining agreement, according to a pre-election agreement signed in June 2018 by the University, SUGSE, and the American Federation of Teachers, SUGSE’s union affiliate.

The University has not explicitly committed to continuing negotiations with SUGSE if the rule goes into place before the parties have reached a collective bargaining agreement.“As the proposed rules are finalized, Brown will review them in detail and assess their potential impact on our campus.

Given our collective progress to date, we expect to simultaneously continue to negotiate with the Union in good faith,” Director of News and Editorial Development Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald when asked whether the University would continue to bargain with SUGSE without an official

mandate.

On Saturday, SUGSE tweeted a series of updates, which read, in part, “we believe the University will honor its commitment to negotiate in good faith.”

Rithika Ramamurthy GS, one of SUGSE’s bargaining committee cochairs, said the NLRB’s proposed rule reflects a national “anti-worker sentiment” that she worries will create a more difficult environment for SUGSE. “Rule or not, the fair, correct and politically sound thing to do would be to continue bargaining with us,” she added.

If the proposed NLRB rule goes into effect and the University decides to forgo negotiations with SUGSE, graduate students would lose their ability to bargain through a union for health care coverage and improved wages, among other areas of concern. Brown graduate students voted to unionize in November 2018 and in April 2019, kicked off negotiations toward a collective bargaining agreement, The Herald previously reported. Last week, SUGSE and the University reached a tentative agreement on grievance procedures.

“It was a big deal, because to us it signified that the University is still sitting at the table and working toward a contract,” Ramamurthy said. “The compromise was definitely heartening on this tentative agreement.”

Following the rule’s proposal, SUGSE posted a “Toolkit to Oppose NLRB Rulemaking” on its social media, which includes instructions on defending their right to unionize.

If the rule goes into effect, it would apply only to private universities, as

COURTESY OF STAND UP FOR GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYEES

The University and Stand Up for Graduate Student Employees are currently in negotiations toward a collective bargaining agreement. A recent tentative agreement crafted a grievance procedure. unionization at public universities is subject to state law. Students at Rutgers University and City University of New York, for instance, have been unionized for decades. Only five private institutions have active graduate union contracts.

The rule, if passed, would mark the fourth time the NLRB has flipped its position on the issue since 2000, when it first ruled that graduate students had

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the right to unionize. The president appoints members of the NLRB on a rolling basis, with each member serving a five-year term. This process has created a board that tends to change its leanings based on the political orientation of the nation’s highest office.

The NLRB will take comments on the proposed rule from the public for at least 60 days from Monday, Sept. 23. It must reply to all comments before the

rule can be instituted.

Ramamurthy hopes the University community sticks up for its graduate students, who touch many aspects of University life. “We make up a really important part of this campus and this community. It would be really disappointing not to feel that support,” Ramamurthy said.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY

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Assertive Speaking 9:00 A.M. South Street Landing

Brown’s BIG Fall Career Fair 11:00 A.M. 235 Hope Street

Bound By Harvard Lecture 4:00 P.M. Pembroke Hall

Memory Dishes 9:00 A.M. 94 Waterman Street

TOMORROW Study Abroad 101 Info Session 4:00 P.M. Page-Robinson Hall

Refusing to See 12:00 P.M. Nightingale Brown House

Latinx Heritage Series 5:30 P.M. Sayles Hall

Stretching at Your Desk 12:00 P.M. South Street Landing

Q U OTE OF TH E DAY

“We’re at a crisis point with student loans in this country.”

—Senator Dawn Euer, D-Newport SEE LOANS PAGE 3

C O RRECT I ON

CR O S SWO R D

A previous version of the Sept. 23 editorial “University should further clarify its ethical gifts policies” stated that Steven Cohen P’08 P’16 “pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013.” In fact, his hedge fund reached a settlement with the federal government for insider trading violations. The article has been updated to reflect that change. The Herald regrets the error.

C L A RI F I CAT I ON A previous version of the Sept. 24 article “Lime Scooters peel out of Providence” stated that JUMP had “exited” Providence in August. It is more accurate to say that JUMP has paused its services, as the city intends to continue the program.

The article has been updated to reflect that change.

SPI DE RWOMAN SP EAKS

ROSLYN CORIZ / HERALD

Muriel Miguel, director and founder of New York City’s Spiderwoman Theater, spins a web of a lecture and ensnares audience members in tales from her life and career spanning six creative decades.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

I did not like the first-year reading

BY JOHNNY REN OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

This past summer, as anxiety and excitement for the coming year stewed within the hearts of Brown first-years all over the country and all over the world, we received a book in the mail.

It was our First Readings, a novel called “The Idiot.”

I still remember eagerly opening that conspicuously book-shaped lump of a package on my doorstep one day in July and excitedly cracking open the pages of the novel. The reading, in some way, felt strangely real and concrete. Over the lazy summer months, the idea of attending Brown had become a sort of abstraction. But that summer day, as I held the book in my hands, effectively given my first homework assignment, the idea of Brown became marginally more real, tangible and imminent.

What did I expect? In my state of summer naivete, I certainly had high hopes for the story, for something to inspire or excite. Little did I know that “The Idiot” would disappoint in more ways than one. Its ultimate value, if any, lay beyond its pages instead of within them. The conversations had in the wake of its failure as a book created a new kind of unexpected connection within the first-year class.

I finished “The Idiot” the same week that I received it in the mail, all four hundred some pages of it. My initial reaction to its ending was supreme confusion. The prose, at times unfocused and other times strangely lucid, was interspersed with esoteric anecdotes, emails and subplots. All of it was beckoning toward some profound resolution. And yet, if you read the last line of “The Idiot”, you are met with the ultimate anticlimax: “I hadn’t learned anything

at all.” It was a particularly underwhelming line from an already underwhelming conclusion, devoid of romance, vindication or really anything revelatory.

I have often wondered why the First Readings committee wanted us to read such a book.

There is a part of me that can empathize with their motivations. The novel, telling the story of the hopelessly lost college freshman Selin, can be seen as a sort of consolation. Maybe we don’t need to know where we are going — even

“What did the selectors of ‘The Idiot’ envision? I can only speculate that they imagined something better.”

though I am already well aware of the merits of the Open Curriculum. Maybe we can all learn to laugh at ourselves a little — maybe the book’s title tells us about how Brown upperclassmen view us new first-years. And considering that the narrator Selin is a Harvard student, the last line of the novel may have just been intended as a tongue-in-cheek attack on our Ivy League neighbors.

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Indeed, there are varying interpretations about how we can view the story, but none of them fundamentally change how I feel about the book. I did not like it. And through many discussions with other first-years during orientation, I have realized that many others feel the same way. The book, with its unconventional narrator and narrative, was an unenjoyable experience for many students. And though our opinions certainly do not detract from the literary merit of the book, which was a Pulitzer

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Prize finalist, or from the enjoyment of those who did like the book, numerous questions still linger. Why “The Idiot”?

Beyond the literary interpretations of the novel, I think that the first-year reading represents, more broadly, a Brown student’s first interaction with the university. In some way, it also forms one of our first shared experiences as a class. What did the selectors of “The Idiot”

envision? I can only speculate that they imagined something better. “We are confident that ‘The Idiot’ will elicit lively and meaningful discussion,” Dean of the College Rashid Zia wrote in a University statement.

The committee could not have expected the abject indifference felt by many of us as we made their way through the novel. Nor could they have foreseen the numerous faculty members who felt entirely comfortable criticizing the book right along with us during discussion several weeks ago. In such a sense, “The Idiot” was a failure. But despite our general dislike of “The Idiot”, there is something admirable about a book that defies first reading cliché: A book which isn’t overtly optimistic or self-righteous, but which portrays the realities of first-year angst, failure and confusion.

I did not like “The Idiot.” But I am glad that I read it. During the brief span of first-year orientation, when the topic occasionally swung for some reason to the First Readings, we could bond over our mutual dislike of the book, or at the very least, we could debate its meaning.

Two weeks into class, there are now far more interesting things to talk about, and the novel has faded into the collective unconscious of the first-year class.

But invariably, I will think about the book just a little. And unlike its narrator, I have learned something along the way — the value of suffering through things together. Whether a strange book, the brown rice at the Ratty or the impending Rhode Island winter, things are better when we all are idiots together.

Johnny Ren ’23 can be reached at jiawei_ ren@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Meir ’99 departs on mission to International Space Station Meir to co-pilot her first mission alongside astronauts from Russia, UAE

BY CATE RYAN SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR Minutes before 10 a.m. lectures begin today, astronaut Jessica Meir ’99 will soar through the atmosphere and rocket into space toward the International Space Station.

Her first-ever space flight will depart from Kazakhstan at 9:57 a.m. EST. The flight will take roughly six hours and will launch Meir’s six-month stay on the ISS for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lifting off from launchpad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the rockets of the spacecraft will ignite from the same location where the first person in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, originally departed from in 1961.

This is Meir’s first flight since she was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2013. She will co-pilot the Soyuz ship alongside cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, who has already traveled to the ISS twice and completed over 300 days in space.

Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, representing the United Arab Emirates, rounds out the three-person crew.

“The driving force of everything that I’ve done in my life has been exploration,� Meir told The Herald last April, just as she began the last few months of preparation for the space flight. At the University, Meir pursued her passion for the life sciences by concentrating in biology. She also advanced her long-held interest in space as an active member of the flight and space clubs. She credits her time at the University as an influential step in her path to NASA astronaut. “The whole atmosphere at Brown is interdisciplinary with plenty of exploration. It creates an atmosphere of problem solving. Jessica is a good example of that.

She’s a product of that environment,�

Professor James Head said in an interview with The Herald in 2013, when Meir was selected for her astronaut class.

Now, Meir will have the chance to explore from above the Earth’s atmosphere, where she will participate in and conduct a myriad of scientific experiments aboard the ISS. She will help conduct about 300 experiments, according to Space.com.

Meir’s first year roommate Jaclyn Mason ’99 told The Herald in 2013 that “She had a goal, she achieved it and every step she took was directed toward that goal.�

Today, Meir gets to see that goal come to fruition, as she will look down at Earth from her seat in the Soyuz ship.

COURTESY OF LUC VAN DEN

Meir, Skripochka and Almansoori will fly to the International Space Station in an act of international cooperation. The team will stay on the ISS for six months, and Meir will help conduct various experiments.

FROM UFB PAGE 1 performances on and off-campus are eligible for funding. Spring Weekend tickets are not covered, as the Brown Concert Agency has its own financial assistance program.

This year, each student may request up to $100 per semester from the $10,000 allocated for the program from the UFB-managed Student Activities Fund. The size of the Event Assistance Fund is a “very flexible number right now. The goal right now is to understand the need better,� De Georgia said. “That’s why we didn’t create a lot of regulations around what types of things students could request for or who could get funds.�

Students can apply for assistance through UFunds though the online application is currently closed for small updates to the form, De Georgia wrote in an email to The Herald.

Student Activities Office Financial Coordinator Mariam Han will review applications, confirm approved applications with the Bursar Office and provide eligible students with directions on how to access the fund, De Georgia said.

It is “important to provide accessibility to students who would like to attend an event/conference but may be limited by financial constraints.

We agree that events should be accessible,� Director of Student Activities Joie Steele wrote in an email to The Herald.

During the 2016-17 school year, SAO rules prevented the Event Assistance Fund’s inception when the Undergraduate Council of Students first pursued its creation, De Georgia said. Those rules changed last year, allowing then-UFB Chair Lisa Schold ’19 and then-Vice Chair De Georgia to pick up where UCS left off. UFB met with Associate Dean for Financial Advising Vernicia Elie throughout the

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fall 2018 semester to create the fund and determine logistics, including the size of the fund and application management.

The financial aid fund went live at the start of the spring semester but was not used by students due to a lack of initial publicity, De Georgia said.“This semester, we’re trying to push this further to make sure that people who would need access to that kind of resource would actually be

able to know about it and access the fund,� he added.

Hawai’i at Brown Co-Founder and President Leinani Roylo ’21 said she was not aware of the fund’s existence. “It would be nice to have these funds to go to events from other schools ... to meet other people from Hawai’i on the East Coast.�

For Brown Mock Trial, “one of the biggest issues we’ve faced over the past few years ... is that Mock Trial

isn’t always financially accessible because we travel so often and because UFB has historically had a policy of not providing funding for food stipends,� said Sarah Shapiro ’20, Brown Mock Trial team captain and executive board member. “We’ve been thinking about this issue for as long as I’ve been in the program,� said Shapiro, who has been on Mock Trial since her freshman year. “I think that there’s a huge need and I

think that it’s a really good thing that UFB is doing this.�

While the fund is now largely under the purview of SAO, UFB will continue to meet monthly with Han to discuss the fund. UFB will update the amounts and criteria for the fund once they have a sense of needs and interest in order to make it as inclusive as possible, De Georgia said.