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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 70

‘Ginger with soul’: Seniors see start-up success Brown Venture Launch Fund supports Easton ’16, Enriquez ’16 with popularizing craft beer

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Meal plan math

PLA $Cost per meal

Though they have the highest price tags, the Flex 460 and 20 meals-per-week plans have the best value per meal. The Herald calculated the value of each meal plan by subtracting flex points from the total cost of the meal plan and dividing the remainder by the number of meals included.

$7.55

$10.24

$4,728

LS EA K E M E 10PER W

LS EA K E M E 14PER W

LS EA K E M E 20PER W

$13.13

$4,450

$Total

E K 7 M WEE PER

$4,038

$3,660

$17.10

By ISABELLE DOYLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After getting their hands dirty juicing hundreds of pounds of ginger root, Max Easton ’16 and Nico Enriquez ’16 can now see their product — Farmer Willie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer — at 40 retail locations on Cape Cod. Enriquez, a former Herald opinions columnist, and Easton used seed money from the Brown Venture Launch Fund to market Farmer Willie’s this summer, ultimately creating a viable beverage business from the ground up. Enriquez and Easton had been planning the venture since the spring of their sophomore year in 2014, when they applied and were accepted into Brown Venture Lab, a program run by the Swearer Center for Public Service, the Brown Entrepreneurship Program and the Office of the Dean of the College. The program is designed to help creative, entrepreneurial students accelerate startups by providing them with grants. Over the next year and a half, Easton and Enriquez won pitch contests, created a website, a YouTube channel, a Facebook page and a Twitter handle, conducted interviews with over 200 » See BEER, page 2

X FLE

460 $9.19

FLE $4,728

330

$12.42

FLE $4,450

$15.78

240

AM F- C F O

$4,038

$1,580

$21.60

JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

Meal plan offerings dish out varied per-meal values

Flex 460, 20-meals-per-week plans offer lowest cost per meal credit, remain most popular options By GABRIELLA REYES STAFF WRITER

Students have just one week left to decide on a meal plan before the Sept. 30 deadline for changing or canceling a meal plan. The eight primary meal plans — three “flex” varieties, four fixed meal varieties and an off-campus plan — are priced differently and offer dramatically different values. The Herald calculated the approximate cost per meal for each plan by subtracting flex points — which are equal to $1 each — from the total and dividing the remainder by the total number of meals

included in the plan. The results were clear: The meal plans with the highest total price tag offer the best per-meal value. Though it is the most expensive meal plan, the 20-meals-per-week plan is the best deal at $7.55 per meal, while a single meal on the off-campus plan is the costliest at $21.60, according to the calculations. For comparison, Brown Dining Services uses $7.30 as the meal credit equivalent in campus eateries. Meals on the flex plans are more costly than their equivalent fixed meal plans. A meal on the Flex 460 plan costs $9.19, compared to $7.55 for the 20-meals-per-week plan, which has

the same total price. Meals on the Flex 330 and Flex 240 plans cost $12.42 and $15.78, respectively. As the total price tag and number of meals for meal plans declines, the average meal becomes more expensive. For example, the 14-meals-per-week plan costs $10.24 per meal, while meals on the 10-meals-per-week and seven-mealsper-week plans cost $13.13 and $17.10, respectively. Approximately 72 percent of students on one of the meal plans chose either 20 meals per week or Flex 460 during the last academic year, wrote Gretchen Willis, director of Dining Services, in an email to The Herald. “I do believe that meal plan is a good value,” Willis wrote.

Students expressed preferences for certain meal plans based on convenience and value. “Flex 460 is a better deal than Flex 330,” said AJ Whitman ’17, who chose the plan in order to “never have to worry about food.” “I can’t say it’s the best deal, but it’s not horrible. I have easy access to food and don’t have to cook,” Whitman said. Shanelle DeJournett ’17 also expressed satisfaction with Flex 460. “I’m an athlete, so I’m terrible at going to breakfast — sometimes I don’t even have time for lunch,” she said. “On Flex 460, I can spend points on cereal and snacks.” But DeJournett added, “I feel like (the University is) jacking up the prices.” » See MEAL PLAN, page 3

Lack of funds for river refurbishment project may put out WaterFire Silt deposits in shallow waters threaten river’s ecosystem, increase city’s risk for floods, hurricanes By AGNES CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

WaterFire organizers are facing an urgent need to refurbish the Providence River to ensure the popular event’s longevity, but financial limitations are preventing restorative action. “After 25 years of use and success there is now understandably a need to return our attention back to the river and the parks to make the needed refurbishments to assure another 25 years at least of further success,” WaterFire Providence wrote in an April 15 Facebook post.

INSIDE

Growing silt deposits in the river threaten WaterFire because event boats need at least three-and-a-half feet of water to traverse the river, according to a report on WPRI 12 Eyewitness News. The riverbed has not been dredged since its construction in 1977, and deposits have since built up the floor of the riverbed, decreasing its usable depth. Increasingly shallow waters affect more than just WaterFire by threatening the river’s ecosystem and increasing the city’s risk of flooding. Dredging the river would also make it navigable for recreational boaters, who currently cannot dock in Providence due to the river’s low water level, said Barnaby Evans, executive artistic director of WaterFire Providence. But preparing a dredging project would require at least a year of

planning. “You’ve got to test the materials, you’ve got to figure out where it’s going to go, you’ve got to figure out how you’re going to extract it without causing damage, and it’s got to be coordinated with … biological activity in the river. So it’s not going to happen anytime soon,” Evans said. No concrete plan to dredge the river has been put forth yet, primarily because of limited funding for the project. The dredging project is priced around $5 million, not including the additional cost of preventing future infilling of the river, said Dan Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the federal government carried out an analysis of the river a few years ago, and determined that the » See RIVER, page 3

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Large silt deposits have brought the Providence River’s water level down and may eventually prevent boats from traversing it.

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

ARTS & CULTURE Art, aliens invade Thayer Street for annual Festival Fete, bringing together Providence vendors

ARTS & CULTURE In advance screening, ‘The Intern’ offers heartwarming story of friendship across stages of life

COMMENTARY Esemplare ’18: NCAA restrictions to student-athletes’ off-the-field opportunities are too rigid

COMMENTARY Mitra ’18: Students should not be afraid to take a step back from the rat race and live a little

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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

This Week in Higher Ed BY DREW WILLIAMS, UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Art installation’s ‘White Only’ and ‘Black Only’ signs ignite debate at SUNY Buffalo

Graduate student Ashley Powell hung “White Only” and “Black Only” signs around bathrooms at the State University of New York at Buffalo Sept. 16, in what she later called an art piece intended to “expose white privilege,” the New York Times reported. Students and faculty members were unaware of the intention behind the signs, and many called authorities out of indignation and fear. The signs were meant to fulfill an assignment for Powell’s course “Installation: Urban Space,” which was to create an installation “about time,” the Times reported. In a statement, Powell, who is black, likened racial conflict in America today to that of the 1950s and 1960s and intended for the signs to make “racist structures” visible again. “If (the signs) weren’t needed, and if they are irrelevant, then why are people so upset?” she said. “These signs illustrate that white people do not have to be active aggressors, like the KKK, to be responsible for this system of racism and white privilege that threatens, traumatizes, brutalizes, stunts and literally kills nonwhite people every day in the United States,” she added according to Inside Higher Ed. Columns in the Spectrum, SUNY Buffalo’s student paper, included both support and anger for Powell’s actions, with one column reading, “It is necessary to remind people as to how some things have not changed” and another noting, “It’s natural for students to not view the signs as art. Students have a right to be mad.” The university expressed a commitment to ensuring that freedom of speech and open dialogue continue on campus in a safe and inclusive manner, Inside Higher Ed reported.

Massachusetts to vote on free community college initiative

The Massachusetts legislature is considering a bill to provide community college for free to all residents. If passed, the initiative would make the Bay State the third in the country to do so, Public Radio International reported Tuesday. Tennessee signed a similar measure into law in May 2014, and Oregon did so in July 2015. The bill was debated at a Joint Committee on Higher Education hearing Sept. 16, where student advocates and representatives alike spoke of the current barrier to education for many in the state and the need to alleviate it for reasons of both equality and economics. Students “don’t think college is for them and I think if it gets the brand that (it’s) free, they’ll say, ‘Well yeah, I can afford free community college,’” Massachusetts State Representative Tom Sannicandro told PRI. Opponents countered that the initiative could cost more than $160 million each year and would deprive community colleges of necessary resources. Massachusetts has 15 community colleges which currently educate roughly 196,000 students, Boston.com reported. Tennessee finances the system through extensive use of federal funding, specifically Pell Grants, said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, in a statement. In January, President Obama announced the “American College Promise,” which would use $60 billion in federal funds over the next decade to provide two free years of community college to any students enrolled at least half-time with a 2.5 GPA. Obama has requested $1.36 billion for “American College Promise” to be included in the 2016 federal budget.

Virginia ROTC student dies after collapsing during routine training

Virginia Military Institute freshman Sean Duc Hoang died Monday after collapsing during “regularly scheduled physical training” for his cadet program, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Hoang, a biology student, was running with his Army ROTC unit when he suffered his fatal complication. VMI officials said they do not have any additional information on the incident, but that a coroner in Roanoke, Virginia will reveal the cause of death soon. Another VMI cadet died in 2009 after suffering from cardiac arrest during a 10-mile run, the Post reported.

SYDNEY CALAS / HERALD

Farmer Willie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, packaged to reflect its organic contents and farm-made brew, is currently available at 40 locations on Cape Cod, thanks to the efforts of co-founders Nico Enriquez ’16 and Max Easton ’16.

» BEER, from page 1 entrepreneurs and juiced hundreds of pounds of ginger root by hand. The project originated in Enriquez’s friendship with Willie Fenichel, a goat farmer in Cape Cod who made a homebrewed alcoholic ginger beer that inspired Easton and Enriquez’s venture. Decisions on BVLF awards are made by the director and assistant director of social entrepreneurship at the Swearer Center, according to BVLF’s website. The fund awarded Easton and Enriquez $1,000, which they used, along with the $600 they won in pitch contests, to begin refining and standardizing Fenichel’s recipe, Easton said. After Easton and Enriquez had made the product consistent, BVLF gave them another $5,000, which they dedicated to obtaining legal documents and stock agreements, developing a website and perfecting the product, Easton added. The project started slowly, with venture lab meetings every Monday to discuss what the partners researched that week and how their ideas developed. Their research included the United Kingdom alcohol market, where ginger beer exploded in 2009, and the United States market, which showed climbing sales for craft beers and ciders with local roots and stories, similar to Fenichel’s. Easton and Enriquez both said the biggest mistake they made while launching their venture was at the beginning of production, when they invested $10,000 in each batch of beer but had yet to hire a production expert. “We took some risks and got really lucky. … We really had no idea what we were doing, but all the batches turned out well,” Enriquez said.

“I would say oysters and Farmer Willie’s is a pretty awesome combination,” Easton said. The partners’ methodology was experimental, and in the beginning, they faced challenges as they attempted to make the process as organic as possible. For the first batch they tried, Easton and Enriquez spent 14 consecutive hours grinding and juicing 300 pounds of ginger root to distribute among 10,000 cans. Today, they still use all-natural ginger, but they no longer hand-grind it themselves, they said. Alan Harlam, director of social entrepreneurship at the Swearer Center, said “determination and grit are the most important qualities. If anybody thinks that their first swing at the bat is going to connect, they’re almost always wrong.” Harlam said BVLF’s goal is to support student entrepreneurs who possess determination with various resources at each stage of the development process. “For us it’s about, ‘Do they understand a particular sector of customers and what they’re likely to want, rather than just wanting people to buy what they are developing?’” Harlam said, adding, “I often talk to entrepreneurs who are describing a solution, a product or service, and they haven’t really figured out what problem they’re solving. I believe entrepreneurship should start with a problem.” Harlam said Easton and Enriquez were “incredibly resourceful, even scrappy. They were laser-focused.” The two knew that they wanted to initially publicize Farmer Willie’s as a summer drink, so they made sure to have advertisements and testing locations ready before summer 2015. Above and beyond grit, Easton and

Enriquez emphasized the importance of their relationship in the venture. If they had not balanced each other out and each compensated for the other’s weaknesses, it would have been much more difficult to get the project off the ground, Easton said. “We get on very well and enjoy spending time together,” Easton said. “We got more and more excited about the idea when we started doing this (venture lab) stuff.” For Enriquez, too, the partnership was imperative to the undertaking’s success. Student entrepreneurs “need to find a good co-founder. That’s essential. Find someone you really trust, and who will work as hard as you will and fill in wherever you’re weak,” Enriquez said. “Just doing it alone would be impossible.” The research they did through the BVLF was also critical, as the two interviewed over 200 entrepreneurs before they launched their project. “Literally the best possible thing, when you’re starting, every person you meet, is to ask them, ‘Based on our conversation, are there one or two people you think I should meet or talk to?’” Enriquez said. Now, Easton and Enriquez are planning on growing the business further and expanding beyond Cape Cod. They recently hired their summer intern as a full-time employee working to expand production into Boston, and they hope to be selling in Rhode Island by February, Enriquez said. Enriquez and Easton are incredibly busy, between their senior year courses and their entrepreneurial work, but as Easton said, “I haven’t had an experience like this at all in my life. … It doesn’t feel like hard work.”

UNIVERSITY NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Bookstore pop-up supports local artists, economy Organizers hope shop exposes students to broader Providence community By MEI NOVAK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A new pop-up inside the Brown Bookstore, Brown Shops Local, was launched earlier this month. The shop sells products ranging from jewlery to tote bags to greeting cards, all created by local artists. Situated next to the seating area of Blue State Coffee, the shop’s merchandise reflects themes such as environmental awareness and cultural expression. Brown Shops Local was spearheaded by the owners of Frog and Toad — Asher and Erin Schofield — and Katie Silberman ’94, the University’s community liaison. Working together with the Brown Bookstore, they solicited local artists for the venture to expose students to the “vibrant arts culture” in Providence and stimulate the local economy, said Asher Schofield. “In any sort of academic life, it’s easy to be absorbed in the institution that you’re in,” Schofield said. The shop is designed to make students aware of the “broader city” that exists beyond Brown. The pop-up shop comprises a small portion of the creative talent in the area but could expose students to an artistic culture of which they might otherwise be unaware, Schofield said. The venture also demonstrates the economic value of shopping locally, Schofield said. When purchasing a piece at the shop, there are no middleman costs and buyers “know that the artist is getting well compensated for their time and work,” Schofield said. Buyers who purchase artisan products like David Allyn’s ceramic mugs, for example, are “supporting something more rich and vital than a factory-made ceramic mug at Target,” he added. Pieces at the pop-up include

» MEAL PLAN, from page 1 William Martin ’18 is on the 20-meals-per-week plan — the plan with the best calculated value. The plan is “a reliable source of getting something to eat,” he said. “It’s cheaper to cook for yourself, but it’s very inconvenient,” Martin said. “I think the price of a meal plan is worth avoiding the hassle.” But after freshman year, when being on a meal plan is no longer mandatory, some students choose to forge their own culinary paths. “Going off meal plan is one of the best

quirky greeting cards, iconically American mugs and jewelry made from recycled skateboards. Several artists developed work specifically tailored to Brown students by using University symbols such as the Van Wickle Gates, Schofield said. This work includes Allyn’s mugs and Maryann Fenton’s prints. Among the most popular artwork created for the pop-up is a tote bag featuring the words “Lil’ Rhody” intertwined with an anchor, developed by Riverzedge Arts Project, a group Schofield said he was eager to involve in this initiative. Riverzedge Arts Project is a nonprofit group employing underserved high school students in creative pursuits. The tote bag was designed by the high school students participating in the program, said Kim Keiter Johnson, print works director at Riverzedge. The sales from the tote bags go directly back into the program, said Rebekah Greenwald Speck, executive director of Riverzedge. Riverzedge has an existing relationship with Brown, Greenwald Speck said, adding that participation in the pop-up is “one of the many expressions of our relationship.” Riverzedge is “very grateful Brown values what we do outside of Providence,” she said. Brown Shops Local has previously been around during the holiday season to encourage students to shop locally, Silberman said. This year, the Office of Communications expanded the initiative to make these goods available during the rest of the school year at affordable prices, she said. Frog and Toad was the ideal organization to “curate the shop for us,” Silberman said, adding that Frog and Toad was instrumental in connecting Brown with local artists. The bookstore has also been a “really wonderful” partner due to its “mission of promoting social good,” Silberman said. Brown Shops Local will remain in place until the end of the school year, Silberman said. Students can economic decisions I’ve made in college,” said Chris Bey-Musick ’17. After freshman year, “I realized it would involve a lot of extra money to eat out or cook for myself to change things up,” he said. “As someone who’s low-income, that’s really difficult.” “One of my biggest gripes is going to the marketplaces, like the (Josiah’s) mini-mart and the Campus Market. The price mark-ups there are absolutely ridiculous,” Bey-Musick said. “They’re definitely taking advantage of the fact that we as students don’t have transportation or time to go other places, which I find unethical personally.”

MEI NOVAK / HERALD

Alongside Jessica Brown’s pop culture plates, shoppers can find local pieces — including quirky greeting cards, jewelry made from skateboards, artisan mugs and tote bags — at Brown Shops Local in the Brown Bookstore. post pictures of purchases from the pop-up to Twitter or Instagram with #BrownShopsLocal to win prizes, she added.

The emphasis on supporting local artists and economies is an important element of the project, Silberman said. Part of what makes Rhode

Island great, she said, is the fact that you can “feel the networks of people supporting each other. If you have an idea, you can make it happen here.”

» RIVER, from page 1

“It’s something that people can put off,” Baudouin said, adding that there is not an immediate sense of urgency. A 2014 agreement with the U.S. Army Corps that allows WaterFire to request closure of the hurricane barrier during low tide ensures that the water level is kept sufficiently high, providing a temporary solution. “It helps in the interim, but ultimately, siltation is going to get worse” and more of the river bottom will be exposed during low tides, Baudouin said. WaterFire generates $9.3 million in tax revenue for the Ocean State every

year and supports almost 1,300 jobs in the city annually, according to its website. It is a platform for artists to sell their works and perform to large crowds and has become something that people identify with the city of Providence, Evans said. “Although it does lose its novelty after the first visit, WaterFire is a very unique event that captivates sight, sound, smell, feel and taste and also offers a venue for local artists and food vendors,” said Sherry Zhang ’18. “The city should address the water issue in order to preserve this distinctive tradition.”

waterfront did not qualify for their funding because it is not used for commercial purposes. “The U.S. Army Corps formula does not consider the $114 million of new spending in hotels and restaurants each year that WaterFire brings into the state, because this is not a transported cargo commodity,” Evans wrote in an email to the Herald. This puts most of the financial burden on the city and state. There have been talks between the city, state and some federal agencies, but no money has been set aside to fund the project.

ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

Streetgoers on Thayer Street this Sunday may have been accosted by an alien, swayed by a salesperson or serenaded by a troupe of musicians at the second annual Thayer Street Art Festival. Organized by Festival Fete, the community event provided a space for a celebration of local businesses and artists.

Art, aliens invade Thayer Street for festival Festival Fete’s second annual Thayer Street Art Festival showcases local artists’ work, community spirit By ASHNA MUKHI STAFF WRITER

Thayer Street was lined with white tents housing over 100 artists and craftspeople Sunday, as crowds wove their way through the stalls. Students may claim to have encountered some strange sights on Thayer Street before, but this weekend’s scene of people dressed in larger-than-life alien costumes and squawking at passers-by was one not many can say they have experienced. Vendors set up shop on Thayer Street as part of the second annual Thayer Street Art Festival organized by Festival Fete. Festival Fete coordinates art fairs across Rhode Island. According to its website, its mission is to “offer a platform for local artists — of various mediums and levels — to show their work.”

The festival drew people of all ages to Thayer. Undergrads leaving their dorms wandered through the street, picking up glass-blown vases, potted plants and handmade jewelery. Children skipped along, pulling their parents toward the intersection of Thayer and Meeting Streets, which was splattered with chalk doodles earlier visitors had drawn on the sundrenched concrete. In addition to the interactive art exhibits the festival offered, children at the festival were particularly intrigued by the alien figures brought to the fair by Big Nazo Lab, a performance troupe with a store in downtown Providence. “Aren’t you hot in there?” a girl asked one of the artists in a heavy green alien costume. “Do you need a tissue to wipe your nose?” a boy asked, pointing at the globs on the figure’s snout.

A variety of vendors Emery Wenger stood behind his lineup of glass-blown objects, introducing himself to every customer who stopped to look at the vases, cups and animal figurines he had made. He said his most popular product was his “mini-pumpkin.” Small but surprisingly heavy, these glass pumpkin figures came in a variety of lavish colors. Wenger said he has taken to experimenting with the colors of the pumpkins and has recently added a Bruins-themed black, gold and white pumpkin to the collection. Adam Salisbury’s “license plate art” caught the attention of the festival’s student attendees. Salisbury’s products feature Rhode Island and Massachusetts license plates cut out into shapes and slices, mounted on wooden boards. Salisbury said he thought of this unconventional idea when sorting through the unused items that had accumulated in his garage. “The idea came to me one day, and I just went

with it,” he said. Also popular was Melanie Champagne and her “My Magical Emporium” stall, which featured small wooden trinkets imported from countries around the world. One of these was a small bird whistle from Mexico. The whistle blows at different pitches when different levels of water are added to it, Champagne said. But Champagne said she is most proud of her homemade, all-natural oils and creams. She started making these over a decade ago, after her daughter sustained third degree burns in an accident. The cream she made for her daughter, called “Maelie’s Miracle Cream,” treats a variety of skin problems. It contains sweet almond, eucalyptus and peanut oil among its natural ingredients. Champagne’s homemade products also include muscle rub, blister treatment and bug repellent. “I make these because I want to heal people without chemicals,” she said.

Praise for Providence Vendors said Providence was an ideal location for art fairs. Salisbury said he enjoys the large population of local artists he meets at Festival Fete’s events. “I love doing art fairs here because Providence has such a diverse cultural population,” Champagne said. Many of her products are traditional goods from South America and Asia, and Champagne said she wants them to make “people feel at home.” Students said they were surprised by the transformation Thayer had undergone overnight and said they appreciated and enjoyed all that the festival had to offer. “I was really shocked to see this when I came out of the SciLi,” said Masahiro Nakanishi ’15. “But it’s a beautiful day, and I’ve found some really cool things here,” he said. “The space men dancing to the banjo were quite alarming,” said Steven Brownstone ’16, “but I appreciate the culture and free spirit of our community.”

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

c i t y s c a p e at s u n s e t

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Stir Fry and Curries, Po’Boy Sandwiches Pizzas: Honey Boo Boo, Bianco, Polynesian Teriyaki JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

Baked Potato Soup, Hearty Country Vegetable

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Szechuan Spicy Chicken Stir Fry, Snow Pea Pods, Steamed Vegetable Melange

Savory Chicken Stew, Vegan Basmati Rice Pilaf, Grilled Ham with Pineapple, Pumpkin Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Ham and Bean Soup, Vegetarian Spinach Strudel, Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwich, Steak Fries

Pastito, Rotisserie Style Chicken, Rosemary Polenta, Stir Fried Peppers, Roasted Brussel Sprouts

sudoku

crossword

MATTEO MOBILIO / HERALD

Sunset in Providence casts a halo around the First Baptist Church in America. In the background can be seen the outline of 111 Westminster, or the Superman Building, which has remained vacant for years.

comics Ampersand | Wasita Mahaphanit ’18

calendar TODAY

SEPTEMBER

Managing Your Online Identity 12:00P.M. Rockefeller Library

Choreographer Farah Saleh Performance 5:30 Granoff Center, Studio 1

ARRRdition for Pirate A Capella 3:00 P.M. Wilson Hall, Room 309

Men’s Story Project General Interest Meeting 7:00 P.M. Salomon Center, Room 202

TOMORROW Writing Papers: Editing for Clarity 12:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson, Room 203

Black Heritage Series Welcome Back 5:30 P.M. Stephen J. Robert ’62 Campus Center

BURP Time-Out Thursday 1:00 P.M. Stephen J. Robert ’62 Campus Center

Brown Capoeira Practice 8:00 P.M. Nelson Fitness Center, Studio 2

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Against the new housing ordinance On Friday, Mayor Jorge Elorza signed into law a new ordinance that will prohibit more than three college students from occupying single-family homes in R-1 and R-1A zones in Providence. The ordinance will likely have little impact on the neighborhood issues it was designed to address and will only complicate the lives of students looking for off-campus housing in the future. While the passage of this legislation was seemingly aimed mostly at Providence College students, Brown students will also be affected, as these zones encompass some areas on College Hill, including parts of Angell Street, Thayer Street and Bowen Street. We acknowledge that this was a well-intentioned step towards addressing problems in much need of attention, but we doubt that it will actually resolve them. When college students rent out single-family homes and live there in large numbers, the atmosphere of these neighborhoods can often be negatively affected. Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan, who introduced the college student amendment to the ordinance, said in a press release that the “change in intended use of single-family homes is undermining the character of our neighborhoods, diminishing the quality of life and creating health and public safety concerns.” Families living in residential neighborhoods understandably do not want to feel like they are living in the middle of a college dorm. But this ordinance was not the most effective way to address these concerns. Many of the problems this ordinance aims to address will remain unresolved, but many aspects of off-campus student housing will be complicated. Providence already has legislation in place that limits the number of unrelated people who can live together that is not well enforced; specifying students is supposed to make it easier. But we doubt it will, especially considering patterns that occur in areas that have passed similar legislation. Medford and Somerville in Massachusetts, for instance, are two areas in which seniors at Tufts University frequently lease offcampus housing. While Medford and Somerville have ordinances that limit unrelated residents to three and four people, respectively, landlords frequently sign leases to only the legal number of students but allow more to live there unofficially. Similar situations could easily arise in the areas affected by the new city legislation. Of course, what differentiates the new Providence legislation is the specification that three college students, as opposed to just unrelated individuals, cannot live together. But if students circumvent the new regulation, then the official specification will not affect the conditions it seeks to affect, and the expansiveness of the order might lead to other problems. As Councilman Seth Yurdin pointed out in a meeting to discuss the ordinance, its definition of “student” would prohibit two married students enrolled in graduate school or taking classes at a community college from renting together. Certainly no families in Providence should have to deal with loud, disrespectful college students partying until 2 a.m., but this ordinance will not do much to change that. The main effect will be that college seniors might take advantage of more loopholes, as they do in other areas, and older adults who are technically classified as students will have fewer options to find housing.

M I R A N DA F R I E L

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“The space men dancing to the banjo were quite alarming.”

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Manuel Contreras ’16 and Meghan Holloway ’16, and its members, Emma Axelrod ’18, Noah Fitzgerel ’17 and Aranshi Kumar ’17. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

— Steven Brownstone ’16

See festival fete on page 4.

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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

The argument against amateurism NICHOLAS ESEMPLARE opinions columnist

Last week, I sat in MacMillan 117, listening to a lecture I’d heard before. It was much like any lecture at Brown, except the lecturer was an administrator, not a professor, and no one was taking notes. I was attending the annual compliance meeting for all of Brown’s studentathletes, an hour-long meeting that is as boring as it sounds. The focus of the talk is compliance with Brown’s and the NCAA’s eligibility restrictions. Essentially, watch your step. Over the past few years, more and more people have begun to question the practices of the NCAA. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the NCAA generated $989 million in revenue in 2014, mostly in television and marketing rights fees. This is a remarkable figure, especially when you consider that its most important employees are unpaid college athletes. It’s numbers like these that have athletes and fans across the country clamoring for studentathletes to be compensated for their work. The argument for compensation tends to center on the performance of big-time athletes at major sports programs. A recent article in the Washington Post, for instance, calculated that Jahlil Okafor, who led Duke basketball to a champion-

ship in April, generated about $3.3 million for the school in his one year there. He saw none of that money. In my mind, however, there is a bigger issue with the NCAA’s commitment to amateurism, and it lies with the NCAA’s treatment of all its student-athletes, not just the stars. That the NCAA has the sole right to profit on a collegiate player’s athletic ability or reputation is accepted simply because it is deeply entrenched in the popular conception of amateurism, which has existed

lives that is unique and unmatched. What’s more, it operates as a blatant monopoly in collegiate sports, depriving athletes of their market value and of the compensation they could earn on their own as a result of their skills. What the NCAA has done is effectively take away every right of a student-athlete to profit or benefit in any way from his or her athletics reputation, or even the network that being a collegiate athlete has afforded him or her. The language used

es, staff, teammates or friends to let them know that you are in business of some sort.” Athletes are not permitted to start a sports clinic, endorse products or accrue any sort of benefit from their athletic skill, reputation and expertise. The purpose of this is “preserving an academic environment in which acquiring a quality education is the first priority,” according to the NCAA website. At first this argument seems valid, especially at Ivy League schools like Brown that make it clear that aca-

The NCAA’s restrictions go far beyond what would be necessary to ensure that academics remain the first priority by not allowing student-athletes to monetize their athletic ability and Division I experience in the way any other college student can monetize their abilities and experiences.

for some time. The authority of the NCAA over student-athletes, however, extends far beyond that of any other institution involving college students. Imagine, for example, that a writer for a college newspaper was restricted from providing writing help or publishing articles in another newspaper, or that a student with a perfect SAT score was barred from using this ability to make money tutoring for the test. The NCAA exercises a level of control over student’s

to discuss such measures is almost comical. Last year’s Brown University Student-Athlete Handbook states that, though a student-athlete can establish their own business, “there must be no promotion whatsoever by the student-athlete or mention of the student-athlete at all.” Examples of impermissible behavior that the handbook cites are “using your Brown email address on the contact page of the company website” and “send(ing) an email to coach-

demics always come first. But the NCAA’s policies are absurd when you consider that the very things that student-athletes are forbidden from doing, such as profiting off of their name or likeness, are exactly what the NCAA does in licensing such things as college sport video games. What’s more, the “academic environment” argument fails to explain many of the NCAA’s restrictions. For example, why are two Divison I soccer players not allowed

to use their athletic reputations and abilities to run a soccer clinic in the summer when school is not in session? The reality of the situation is that the NCAA’s restrictions go far beyond what would be necessary to ensure that academics remain the first priority by not allowing student-athletes to monetize their athletic ability and Division I experience in the way any other college student can monetize their abilities and experiences. Despite its claims, the NCAA’s intentions are clear: You focus on your school work. We’ll worry about the money. Forget about the star athletes who earn their universities millions, forget about the NCAA’s nearly $1 billion in revenue and forget about player unions. I believe that the NCAA needs to take a hard look at how its policies affect the little guys — the athletes that will never sign a professional sports contract or even earn a full-ride scholarship. The debate over whether players should be paid for their on-field performance rages on, but the NCAA’s restrictions on an athlete’s ability to make money off the field are an absurd and hypocritical stance for an institution that derives all its revenue from unpaid college students. I hope this article isn’t an NCAA violation.

Nicholas Esemplare ’18 is a double concentrator in English and economics.

Escaping the rat race MILI MITRA opinions columnist

One of the things I love most about Brown is the sheer passion of the entire student body. Every day, I feel privileged to work with so many people who have ambitious dreams and are not afraid to strive for them. The enthusiasm I see around me has pushed me to try many unfamiliar activities and take unexpected risks. For that reason alone, I will always be grateful for Brown’s motivated atmosphere. But the competitive nature of our campus culture has its drawbacks. Don’t get me wrong: I am the first person to acknowledge that the competition has driven me to work harder and get the most out of the college experience. But at the same time, I worry that it distorts our priorities and instills a one-sided image of success. All too often, college students are compelled to choose courses and activities that look good on their resumes. This is certainly understandable, given the price of a college education. In today’s world, we have no choice but to think about potential wages and career paths. It would be unfeasible and impractical to dismiss financial motivations completely. After all, college is an investment and it is natural for students to want to achieve the most from it. We Brunonians are no exception to this rule, but it is a testament to the University that so many students have succeeded in combining their lofty ambitions with intellectual passion. Brown is a college of overachievers — and

I mean that in the best possible sense. But this very fact seems to have resulted in an almost formulaic view of success and achievement. This is perhaps most apparent in the near-universal fixation with summer internships and work experience. For the record, I definitely believe internships can be extraordinarily rewarding. They give us a taste of reality, which is crucial after nine months of living in the “Brown bubble.” Unfortunately, I know too many students who forced themselves into dreary internships for the sake of filling their resumes and demonstrating work experience. I can’t help but feel that their time would have

everything I could have hoped for, with the added advantage that it complemented my concentration and added to my resume. So how can I complain about strategic internships without being an utter hypocrite? Well, I spent the rest of my summer at home in Singapore. I could have filled those weeks with another internship or volunteer work to make the most of my limited summer time. Instead, I took time off from the unrealistic deadlines and never-ending pressure. I needed to recharge from the most rewarding but stressful semester of my life, during which the term “free time” was just an impossible pipe dream.

We spend so much of our time in college competing for grades, leadership positions and internships, but there are moments when it is important to step back from the perpetual rat race. been better spent pursuing their own interests. I write this from the experience of my own summer. For the first month of our break, I remained in Providence interning with the Energize Rhode Island Coalition, a group of organizations and individuals trying to promote carbon pricing in the state. I had interned part-time throughout the spring semester, and I chose to continue in the summer because I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a phenomenal experience for reasons similar to other summer internships: I met people I would never have interacted with otherwise, gained experience working in a professional setting, learned more about Rhode Island and discovered things about myself in the process. It was

After all, studies have shown the importance of rest for well-being and productivity. It might seem like an exaggeration, but I genuinely gained a lot from my long-overdue months of leisure. I didn’t do anything that could be considered productive or practical by Brown standards. I visited my family and spent time with my grandmother. I rediscovered my vicarious love of sports, painted on canvas, dabbled in a bit of creative writing and expanded my literary horizons by reading numerous books. Each morning, I woke up with a blank schedule and, for the first time in years, enjoyed living purely in the moment. I wanted to give myself some free time, but in reality I kept myself busy — just on my own terms.

The break certainly succeeded in helping me recharge: I came back to Brown excited and eager for another demanding year. But more importantly, it gave me the time and opportunity for some important self-reflection. I had several epiphanies during the summer. I realized I couldn’t survive without my writing; I feel a thrill whenever I encounter anything related to law, and I have a love-hate relationship with political science but can’t seem to walk away from it. I gained conviction about my concentration and career choices over the summer — not only from the amazing internship but also from the purposeless vacation. As I discussed my summer with my peers, I realized people listened to internship stories but were quick to dismiss the benefits of a break. I couldn’t seem to make people understand that my holiday was as enlightening as my work experience. Perhaps our conception of success is too reliant on quantifiable and demonstrable results. But some things are worth doing without thinking of ambitions or targets. We spend so much of our time in college competing for grades, leadership positions and internships, but there are moments when it is important to step back from the perpetual rat race. I’m not arguing that everyone should take a free summer and ignore valuable opportunities. Many students thrive on pressure and can balance their lives with ease. But I do have advice for the first-year students who want a break yet can’t bring themselves to turn away from the competition: Don’t feel afraid to escape the race and live for yourself a little. Who knows when you’ll get another chance?

Mili Mitra ’18 can be reached at mili_mitra@brown.edu.

ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

‘The Intern’ offers comedic look into complicated friendship Senior citizens with laptops, masseuses in corporate setting fill screen with unexpected contradictions By JACLYN TORRES STAFF WRITER

“The Intern” is a film that starts off comedic but slowly weaves in romance and drama to depict an unconventional story of friendship. Brown Motion Pictures hosted a free advance screening of the upcoming film Thursday night in a packed Martinos Auditorium at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro star in the film, alongside other fan-favorite actors playing minor roles in the film, including Adam DeVine of “Workaholics” and “Pitch Perfect”

REVIEW

and Andrew Rannells of “Girls” fame. De Niro’s voice carried powerfully throughout the theater. He appears on screen suddenly, taking a Tai Chi class and talking about the trials and triumphs of being a retired widower, eventually facing the screen. Quickly, the viewer realizes he is talking to a camera offstage. This role is atypical for the two-time Oscar winner, famous for playing Vito Corleone in “The Godfather Part II” and Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull.” De Niro frequents the screen as a power figure who withstands pain and shows no weakness, but his character Ben Whittaker in “The Intern” is vulnerable, charismatic, wise and eager to learn more about the digital age

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alongside much younger millennials. Hathaway sticks with the status quo by playing Jules Ostin, the uptight, intense, sleep-deprived e-commerce entrepreneur. Her business, called About the Fit, consumes her life, leaving her little time to spend with her young daughter and stay-athome husband. Jules and Ben meet through About the Fit’s senior internship program, which is specifically for 65-and-older adults looking for experience in a new age of business and technology. Ben becomes Jules’s personal intern, and the two develop a surprising friendship. They both become mentors to each other, Jules teaching Ben about the startup and Ben teaching Jules tough life lessons while acting as a support system. While the film centers on the relationship between the two, the real

humor comes from Ben’s other relationships: primarily, three twentysomething males. Bridging the generation gap proves entertaining and relatable in the movie. At one point, Jason (Adam DeVine) asks Ben how to win a girl back and Ben responds, “Well, have you talked to her?” “No, I should probably do that, right?” Jason says. Ben’s other relationship is with the company’s masseuse, Fiona (Rene Russo). The two meet when Fiona is sent over to Ben for a rather sensual massage that ends with some fist bumps from his new young buddies and a newspaper on his lap. On a first date, Ben takes Fiona to a funeral, a morbidly funny outing. De Niro’s character creates relationships with his coworkers rather quickly, establishing trust and relatability almost immediately. It is due

to his warm personality than Jules opens up to Ben and trusts him with information about her personal life. The drama culminates when Ben finds out Jules’ husband, Matt (Anders Holm) is cheating on her while Jules has to decide whether or not she wants an outsider to take on the role of CEO at her company. The tension builds as Ben worries about breaking the news to Jules, while she in turn faces decisions about the future of her company. The last scene of the film brings the whole production full circle: a shot of De Niro taking the same Tai Chi class as in the beginning of the film. With its depiction of the trials and tribulations of growing up and getting old, the film leaves the audience, at the very least, with a renewed appreciation for their elders.

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