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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
VOLUME CL, ISSUE 71
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BUCC talks possible U. boycott of Hilton hotel Mental health, sexual assault survey spark conversation on improved health, safety resources By DREW WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
COURTESY OF MARK GARTEN / UNITED NATIONS
Jane Goodall began her illustrious career studying chimpanzees in Tanzania. She has since become involved in environmental activism, even launching her own youth service organization, Roots and Shoots.
Jane Goodall named Lecture Board speaker Primatologist Jane Goodall, leading expert on chimpanzees, to give lecture Oct. 19 By ANICA GREEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
World-renowned English primatologist Jane Goodall will speak at Brown Oct. 19, representatives of the Brown
Lecture Board told The Herald. “Jane has polled consistently highly in the past Lecture Board polls we’ve had, so we knew that there was a lot of student interest in bringing her to Brown,” said Allison Schaefer ’17, vice president of campus relations for Lecture Board. “In the past it hasn’t worked out logistically but luckily this fall our schedules aligned nicely and we are really excited to have the opportunity for her to come and speak
to Brown.” Beginning in 1960 at the age of 26, Goodall spent 55 years in Tanzania studying chimpanzees, and her research on their family structures and social interactions has made her a celebrity and foremost expert on the species. She is also an outspoken activist on nonviolence and environmental conservation and serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. » See GOODALL, page 2
The University is considering implementing a boycott of the local Hilton Providence Hotel due to a labor dispute between employees and the hotel’s owners. Members of the Brown University Community Council discussed the potential boycott at a meeting Tuesday. The BUCC also touched on Counseling and Psychological Services reforms and the Campus Climate and Sexual Assault survey results at the meeting. President Christina Paxson P’19 ended the meeting with the announcement that the BUCC would take the semester to reflect on Brown’s role in perpetuating structural racism and eliminating it in the future. Sophia Gluskin-Braun ’17 and Daniel Crowell ’16.5 began the meeting with a presentation on dangerous working conditions at the Hilton in downtown Providence. The Hilton is owned by the Procaccianti Group,
which owns the Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel and former Westin Providence Hotels, both of which the University has previously boycotted. Hilton employees are asked to clean 17-25 rooms per day, more than the unionized hotel standard of 14-15 rooms, and the rate of work-related injuries at the hotel is 69 percent higher than the national average, GluskinBraun said. Hilton employee Jonah Zinn joined Gluskin-Braun and Crowell to ask the BUCC to consider an additional boycott for the Hilton, which would entail removing the Hilton from Brown’s list of suggested hotels and alerting the community — parents of students in particular — that there is an ongoing labor dispute at the Hilton. Zinn told a story of one co-worker who delivered twins by C-section, only to receive a call from the Procaccianti Group threatening to fire her if she did not show up to work the following Monday. Ultimately, the poor conditions come down to a lack of respect, Zinn added. Without any ongoing legal action for labor law violations, some BUCC » See BUCC, page 2
Brown grads flock to top companies Utilizing CareerLAB and departmental resources, students find positions at Google, Goldman Sachs By JACKSON CHAIKEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Brown students have been successful in securing jobs at top companies in the technology and finance sectors, according to data from LinkedIn. The three companies with the most Brown alums employed based on a survey of LinkedIn profiles are Google, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, with 386, 167 and 148 alums, respectively. Other top companies alums reported working at include Pfizer, Stanford University, IBM, Harvard, Morgan Stanley, New York University and the Rhode Island School of Design. The list “speaks well to the intelligence and competitiveness of our students on the job market,” said Matt Donato, director of CareerLAB. According to data from CareerLAB, 15 percent of students in the
INSIDE
class of 2014 entered the technology industry immediately after graduation, while 13 percent went into education and 9 percent work at consulting companies. “We try to target really high-quality opportunities and high-quality organizations for our students. That being said, a lot of the banks, a lot of consulting firms already have Brown on their list of recruiting schools,” Donato said. But CareerLAB is not the only group at Brown that works to connect students with job opportunities, especially for positions in technology fields. Parielle Lacy ’15 said she used the Department of Computer Science’s Industry Partners Program to get her job at Google as a software engineer. Many top technology companies have a strong on-campus recruiting presence, Lacy said, adding that she had completed the process by October of her senior year. Wendy Ginsberg ’15, an associate product manager at Google, had a similar experience, noting that Google » See GRADS, page 3
TIMOTHY MUELLER-HARDER / HERALD
The new Language Resource Center will span half the Sciences Library’s sixth floor, where students will be able to work individually or with small groups. Resources will also be available for languages not taught at Brown.
Language Resource Center to reopen in SciLi U. also seeks new director to lead initiatives, promote new technologies for language learning By JULIANNE CENTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A new space for the Language Resource Center will open on the sixth floor of the Sciences Library by March 1 as part of a six-floor renovation of the library,
said Ercan Balci, director for the Center of Language Studies. The new facility will provide a “flexible learning environment” and “cutting edge technology” for students studying languages. It will also provide technological support for language faculty members. The new LRC will cover half of the sixth floor and include technologically advanced classrooms where students can work individually or in small groups, meeting rooms with access
to computers and software and staff members available to assist students. The center will also share a recording studio with the Instructional Technology Group, which will be located on the same floor, as well as provide resources for students who wish to learn languages that Brown does not provide face-to-face instruction for, Balci said. In addition, the University is looking to hire a new director for the LRC who will “lead Brown’s efforts » See LANGUAGE, page 2
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
ARTS & CULTURE Acclaimed Austrian horror film at Cable Car immerses audience in gloomy atmosphere
METRO Wind farm off coast of Block Island remains controversial as construction commences
COMMENTARY Sundlee ’16: By focusing on recognition, feminists have lost sight of economic justice
COMMENTARY Esemplare ’18: Laptop use in class distracts students from the worldclass education Brown offers
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» LANGUAGE, from page 1 to provide cutting edge technological resources and tools to foreign language teachers and learners,” Balci said. The new director, who will be hired by Jan. 1, 2016, will maintain close ties with the CLS in order to determine faculty needs and priorities and to inform faculty of new developments in language teaching and technology. He or she will be integral in designing and determining the type and quality of services provided by the LRC, he said. Senior Lecturer in German Studies Jane Sokolosky is looking forward to the initiative’s focus on new technology. “As a teacher at Brown, it’s hard to know what’s out there because we’re so busy with our commitments with students and teaching.” She added that “having a person as the director of the LRC will help us to find what’s out there.” The LRC was previously located on the second floor of the Center for Information and Technology, next door to the SciLi, Sokolosky said. The old LRC has not been in operation for approximately six or seven years, and a director has not been in place for about as long, she said, though she was unsure of the exact timeline. Faculty members from language departments pushed for it to be opened again, due to the growing technological needs
» GOODALL, from page 1 Goodall, now 81, got her start in the field from famed archaeologist Louis Leakey, who wanted to prove the evolutionary link between the great apes and early hominids. Goodall’s revolutionary discoveries about chimpanzees upturned many conventional beliefs about the species. She famously discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools, and she observed them killing and eating meat, disproving the popular belief that they were primarily vegetarian animals.
of teaching. New technology will include video conference services, providing a venue for virtual meetings with students in different countries, Balci said. The idea is to provide “authentic and meaningful conversation” using the languages students are learning. There are about 2,500 graduate and undergraduate students learning languages at Brown, Sokolosky said. Isabel Paolini ’19, a student from France who is studying Arabic, thinks the new LRC will be a great addition to the language programs at Brown. “We use technology every night.” “The more you can do and be immersed in a language, the better you can be,” Paolini said, as she spoke about the helpful instructor, small class size and supportive community of her language class. Sokolosky hopes the new center will provide a “comfortable and welcoming” environment that will bring solidarity to language learners around campus, allowing faculty members and students to “understand each other’s cultures better.” “We have great language programs and our instructors are doing their best to provide the best possible instruction,” Balci said. The new LRC will further the CLS mission to “promote excellence in language teaching and language learning.”
Since her days in the field, Goodall has founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which is committed to raising awareness and improving understanding about great apes, conservation and sustainable living, largely by focusing on education opportunities. To that end, Goodall also founded the Roots and Shoots program, a global service organization where young people empower their community through sustainable living projects, such as community gardens and beekeeping. She will speak in Salomon 101 on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. The online ticket lottery will be held at 12 p.m. Oct. 13–15.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» BUCC, from page 1 members were hesitant to boycott the hotel without further research. An additional look into the reliability of the statistics seems necessary, in addition to an opportunity for the Hilton’s management to present its case, said Brendan McNally, associate director of Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations. Manuel Contreras ’16, a student representative on the BUCC and Herald editorial page board editor, disagreed. “I have concerns about turning this space into a courtroom,” he said, adding, “If we have the opportunity to assist the marginalized, why wouldn’t we? Particularly given Brown’s position of power.” An audience member, also a Hilton worker, pointed out that Brown’s previous boycotts simply consisted of the acknowledge of a labor dispute and that this factual statement could again be made without deference to one side or the other. Paxson tabled the discussion, saying that a decision would likely be made before the next meeting. The BUCC also conducted the first open forum on the Mental Health Community Council’s report and its recommendations for Counseling and Psychological Services, released Sept. 2. Sherri Nelson, director of CAPS, presented the seven goals for CAPS, as detailed in the report: increased staffing; improved medical leave of absence procedures; strengthened mental health support for graduate and medical students; enhanced online resources; training for community members to support those dealing with mental health issues; peer resources for students; and an increase in insurance options for mental health resources on campus. Steven Rasmussen ’74 MD’77 P’13, chair of the MHCC, stressed the importance of diversifying the additional counseling staff and eliminating the
seven-session limit in favor of a higher implicit ceiling. Concern within the BUCC focused largely on the elimination of remaining barriers to mental health treatment in the CAPS program and in the overall Brown community. Despite the increased staffing, some students seeking help have reported being unable to access a mental health practitioner for two weeks or more, indicating that wait times remain a problem, said UCS President Sazzy Gourley ’16. Nelson was uncertain of the current wait time, but said that even during “the mental health crises” of last spring, wait times were shorter than they had been in previous years. “A wait time of a week is really quite reasonable,” she said, adding that a new system for crisis appointments and additional urgent slots built into the schedule make CAPS a “24/7/365” organization. Rasmussen said the staff size CAPS needs fluctuates greatly over the course of a semester. “What we want to do is staff close to that peak volume and use the extra staff for prevention” during less busy times of year, he said. Students needing medical leave can also struggle to find appropriate psychological help, a problem that Crowell said he experienced during his own leave of absence. But a CAPS employee in the audience said this has been solved through the addition of a worker tasked with calling students on leave throughout the semester. The discussion also turned to unequal access to mental health among students with financial aid. “I didn’t think this would be an issue where we issue a report and are done,” Paxson said, adding that the conversation and implementation is “continuous and imperfect.” Title IX Program Officer Amanda Walsh presented the campus sexual assault survey statistics released in an Association of American Universities report Sept. 21. Twenty-five percent
of undergraduate women at Brown reported experiencing sexual assault, a figure close to the national average, Walsh said. But 71 percent of undergraduate women reported sexual harassment while at Brown, and nearly 90 percent of students identifying as TGQN — transgender, genderqueer or nonconforming, questioning or not listed — did so, placing Brown well above the national average for those groups, Walsh said. With 54 percent of students reporting having witnessed a drunken person heading to a sexual encounter, Walsh said the impetus remains on the University to increase education for students of all backgrounds and identities. Training “has to come in many forms since different students will respond in different ways,” she added. The first-year online module training — which is expanding this week to encompass faculty and staff members as well — received mixed reviews from incoming students, but would likely still be the most effective for educating current students on a widespread level, Walsh said. Education is needed to facilitate positive discussions, as well as prevention tactics, she said. Effective training should include “online, in-person and incorporating it into the curriculum in a way that isn’t always focused on sexual assault, but that’s focused on healthy relationships,” she added. To end the meeting, Paxson discussed the need for an ongoing conversation about racial inequality on Brown’s campus. She said the firstyear’s summer reading assignment, Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow,” promoted this conversation between faculty members and incoming students. “We need to make sure at Brown that our policies, that the things we do, are not contributing to structural racism,” Paxson said.
UNIVERSITY NEWS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» GRADS, from page 1 recruits heavily for software programming at Brown. While she knew some Brown students and alums who worked at Google, she did not know the company had so many alums on its roster, Lacy said. The Industry Partners Program is meant to facilitate research collaboration between technology companies and the Department of Computer Science, but it also encourages the recruitment and hiring of Brown students, according to the program’s webpage. While CareerLAB also hosts career fairs that can help students learn more about potential employers, few job opportunities are available through career fairs, Donato said. Most hiring opportunities are done through oncampus recruiting, he added. “The vast majority of students get information and advice and leads on employers through the networking process and through working on identifying and pursuing targets,” Donato said. While pursuing her job at Google, Lacy networked and got a recommendation from a classmate who had already received a job offer from Google, she said. Google is a popular postgraduation destination for Brown alums partially because the atmosphere
Top employers of Brown alums
Technology and software companies like Google, Microsoft and IBM are some of the largest hirers of Brown grads, according to data from LinkedIn.
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and attitude present in the company’s corporate structure is very similar to that of Brown, Lacy added. Donato said that he hopes to keep improving CareerLAB services to
maintain existing job pathways and better prepare students for their job hunt. Much of this revolves around continuing to expand BrownConnect, a website where alums can post
internships, and Project 2019, a new program designed to engage first-year students, he said. Though CareerLAB works to improve job opportunities available for
students after graduation, Donato said students should focus on the bigger picture. “Look for something you want to do when you graduate, but your first job is not going to be your last.”
Committee searches for Austrian thriller film will have chemical dependency dean you crying for ‘Mommy’ Dean’s responsibilities include leading recovery groups, developing campus policies By AILEEN SEO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The University is currently searching for a new assistant dean for chemical dependency and junior and senior class following Kathleen McSharry’s departure from the position in August. The dean is responsible for issues of chemical dependency as they relate to students, faculty members and staff members and will manage academic and co-curricular programs for the junior and senior classes. The committee is looking for a candidate with a background in advising at the undergraduate level as well as personal or professional experience working with the recovery community, said Carol Cohen, senior associate dean of the College for class advising and health and personal issues, who is heading the search. In addition to providing academic advising, the dean is responsible for facilitating chemical dependency recovery groups and developing campus policies regarding alcohol and other drugs. “It is important that we have somebody who can understand substance addiction and recovery and how it interacts with the life of a college student,” Cohen said. “The position is fully integrated into the undergraduate academic dean structure.” McSharry and her predecessor worked with student and community groups on campus including the Early Sobriety Group, which is open to any
Brown student in recovery, and the Lunch Bunch, a monthly gathering of Brown students, faculty members and staff members who are in recovery or who have been affected by chemical dependency. “This is a way to support and normalize the fact that addiction is a common issue in universities and for some people it’s a reentry into social life,” said University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson, who has worked closely with the dean for chemical dependency in previous years. Until the position is filled, the responsibilities have been divided among other administrators, Cohen said. Cohen has stepped in to complete much of the advisory work while the search is taking place, and Catherine Axe, director of Student and Employee Accessibility Services, is meeting individually with students struggling with substance use and leading recovery groups. It is unlikely that the new dean will be making changes to policies already in place, including the interim alcohol policy upheld in September that prohibits alcohol in residential spaces, said Dean of the College Maud Mandel. “The policy itself has been recently adjusted so I don’t see the dean in any initial stages making changes to policy,” Mandel said. “We have a robust program in place. It is less that we seek to initiate several new programs but more important to have steady dependable support.” Members of the search committee include Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Sherri Nelson, Associate Professor of English and American Studies Daniel Kim and Thomas Chavez ’16, among others.
Eerie countryside atmosphere, impeccable cast set the tone for tragic horror flick By COREY HEBERT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sitting down in the Cable Car Cinema to watch “Goodnight Mommy,” audience members should prepare themselves to be immersed in a goosebump-evoking psychological thriller. The film delivers a horrifyingly engaging plot — impressive considering the film is in German with English subtitles. The storyline takes the audience on a ride full of sympathy and fear, pity and disillusionment. The Austrian film opens with a “Children of the Corn”-like scene of two adolescent twin boys playing in the
REVIEW
» HIGH LINE, from page 8 world of architectural renderings — mostly computer-generated images — aimed at selling developments to the superrich. One planned building near the High Line was depicted with a moat and old-style blimps floating in the background. People that seemed to be taken from a French palace were scattered throughout, some playing croquet. Lindner said he likes to call this the “Steampunk-Quatorze” style, pointing out how out of place it is among the existing buildings. It seems “generic,” the result of globalization ignoring the local culture, he said. The central criticism Lindner offers is that all of these developments
countryside. The boys walk through a corn field and a bog to a pitch-black tunnel where one boy, Lukas, disappears into the shadows. Next, the two boys are seen back home playing when their mother appears, her face covered in bandages and looking like a mummy. She unnecessarily reprimands the boys, producing a cold, on-edge atmosphere that permeates the following scenes. Her demeanor leaves the boys wondering if Mama is really their mother. Through the rest of the movie Mama grows more hostile, and the boys grow more resourceful in their attempts to figure out her true identity. Unforeseen twists enthrall the audience on the way to a thrilling and tragic climax. The film revolves around three main characters: Lukas, Elias and Mama. The actors were impeccably cast and portrayed their roles to a tee. The fictional twins of the movie were
played by actual twins — Lukas and Elias Schwarz. Their bond as twins is evident in the film and will leave viewers wondering whether the boys were great actors or just great brothers. Mama was portrayed by Susanne Wuest, who wonderfully depicted her scenes of desperation and sternness but slightly missed the mark when it came to acting motherly. Directors and screenwriters Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala contrast key moments of silence with eerie sounds. They utilize the minimalist set, which includes only a house, to bring the viewers’ focus to the characters. “Goodnight Mommy” was chosen as Austria’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Academy Awards. “Goodnight Mommy” will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you calling your mom as soon as the credits roll.
are essentially projects for people to make and save money. Referring to a picture of the plan to turn the iconic Battersea Power Station in London into luxury apartments, he said the image screams: “We are going to try to make as much money as we possibly can.” If these projects do not end up helping the existing community, it is because it was not really meant to help. Members of Lindner’s audience was intrigued by his critical view of the High Line. “I really thought he gave us the framework to think about other problems,” said Robert Lee ’17. “It’s going to be useful in the future.” “We are a part of the class that is the beneficiary of this … even if we’re thinking critically about it,” Zipp said.
Amanda Boston GS said she “appreciated his discussion of the ways that gentrification has really just escalated” but is curious to know more about the repercussions for low-income people. Lindner said he expects that if people “unpack what’s happening in the High Line, and then look in our own communities, we’ll see other versions of the same thing happening.” But other growing housing projects keep the well-being of their residents in mind, Lindner said, citing the more positive impact of housing projects in the Netherlands that have “a commitment … to develop spaces that are not driven or beholden to the need for profit.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Block Island offshore wind farm will be America’s first Opponents cite poor planning, urge pursuing alternative renewable energies By NATALIE LINDSAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Three miles off the coast of Block Island, Deep Water Wind is overseeing construction of the first offshore wind farm in the United States and is expecting the controversial turbines to begin producing electricity by fall 2016. The project will consist of five turbines connected to the mainland by an underwater cable, according to Deep Water Wind’s website. “We know the world is watching closely what we do here, and we’re incredibly proud to be at the forefront of a new American clean-tech industry launching right here in the Ocean State,” said Deep Water Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski in a company press release. The project received $290 million in private funds from French bank Societe Generale and KeyBank National Association of Cleveland, according to a March 2 Deep Water Wind press release. Though the U.S. government does not directly fund renewable energy projects, several federal incentives exist in the form of tax credits for every kilowatthour of wind energy produced. While offshore wind projects have become popular across Europe over the past 20 years, many projects in the United States have been stalled because of concerns regarding costs, disruption of aesthetics and interference with ocean life. Strong support from a variety of organizations and stakeholders — absent in other U.S. wind farm projects — helped the project advance to the construction phase, a July 27 Rhode Island Public Radio article describes. According to Deep Water Wind, energy costs on Block Island could decrease by as much as 40 percent. Residents currently face some of the highest electricity rates in the country, ranging from 37 to 50 cents per kilowatt hour this past year, in comparison to the average mainland cost of 14-15 cents per kilowatt-hour. But some locals are not satisfied with the way the project has been handled. “I knew right away that the town had not done its homework,” said Chris Warfel, Block Island Town Council member. Warfel cited a poor use of funds and a spotty technological track record as main reasons for his opposition to the project. The town was not well organized
in its planning of the project and was not equipped with the necessary expertise to thoroughly investigate its operation, he said, adding that he would like to see the community pursue alternative renewable energy solutions. “It will be interesting to see how long (the turbines) last,” Warfel said. Deep Water Wind has estimated the lifetime of the turbines at 20 years, after which specific parts may need to be repaired or replaced. Deep Water Resistance, an organization started by Block Island locals to protest the project, calls the Block Island Wind Farm “a Wall Street financial creation, that intends to make a fortune at our expense,” according to a statement on the group’s website, which suggests natural gas or hydroelectric as potential power alternatives. The environmentally friendly turbines will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tons each year and have created 300 temporary local construction jobs, according to the Deep Water Wind website. J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environmental studies and sociology, said people are starting to appreciate these environmental benefits as they witness more hurricanes, fires and other extreme weather events. “People are starting to perceive the effects of climate change,” he said, adding “they’re realizing that the solutions need to be bigger.” Zoning and approval laws are often difficult obstacles for many offshore wind projects, Roberts said. In Rhode Island, the Ocean Special Area Management Plan investigates how infrastructure like wind turbines may affect components ranging from commercial fishing interests to marine life, and often restricts areas from development, Timmons added. Recently, concerns have been raised regarding worker safety and the quality of the turbines’ construction, according to a Sept. 28 Eco R.I. News article. Issues involving poor documentation and irregular welding practices have led to a demand for better supervision by ABS Group, the consulting firm hired to oversee construction. But all welding has been inspected and was determined to be in compliance with industry standards, according to the article. Worker safety violations involving loss of control of suspended loads have prompted Weeks Marine, the construction company building the turbines, to institute training and safety improvements, including stationing safety officials on all vessels, Eco R.I. News reported.
COURTESY OF HANS HILEWAERT
The Deep Water Wind project will create five turbines off the coast of Block Island. Supporters of the project cite lower electricity costs and sustainable energy, while its detractors believe the project is poorly planned.
Program to expand need-based grants for R.I. students Students attending college in-state, select number of high-achievers to receive increased financial aid By SHAWN YOUNG CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Gov. Gina Raimondo announced a restructured and expanded need-based grant program for Rhode Island students attending college in-state, according to a Sept. 10 press release. Dubbed Rhode Island’s Promise, the grant program is intended to eliminate the gap between a student’s financial aid package and the cost of college. Raimondo cited her father as an
example of using college to move into the middle class. He utilized the G.I. bill to become the first person in her family to go to college. “Now more than ever, higher education can be the ladder to the middle class. Rhode Island’s Promise will open the door of opportunity for so many Rhode Islanders,” Raimondo said in the press release. The new program has a budget of $10.1 million, an increase of $2 million from last year’s $8 million budget, the Providence Journal reported
Sept. 10. The program also aims to provide a smaller number of high achieving students with a more significant grant, thus creating a grant program that is “more efficient and impactful,” said Dan Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island. Private institutions receiving these funds will match whatever they are given by the state, Egan added. Rhode Island has the fourth highest average student debt in the country, according to the press release. But this figure is more complicated than it seems: The large number of graduate
students in the state could account for the relatively high average student debt, Egan said. Another factor contributing to the high average is that a large portion of the institutions of higher education in the state are private, said Gail Mance-Rios, acting executive director of the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority. “With the new program, schools have the flexibility to design their own program based on the unique population of each school,” Mance-Rios said. The only colleges currently receiving funding are the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the
Community College of Rhode Island, she said. Private institutions wanting the additional funds made available by this year’s budget increase could receive funds as early as spring 2016, she added. At Rhode Island College, around 500 students have received scholarships from the program, wrote Nancy Carriuolo, president of Rhode Island College, in an email to the Herald. “I am hoping that more capable students will see Rhode Island College as within their financial grasp thanks to the availability of the scholarship and promotion of its existence,” she wrote.
TODAY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
make it net-work
menu 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
Grilled Vegetables Calzone, Fried Scallop Roll, Mustard Mashed Potatoes, Snow Pea Pods
Zesty Lemon Chicken Thighs, Pork Chops in a Tarragon Mustard Sauce, Braised Cabbage
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Pulled Pork Sandwich, Vegan Quinoa Stuffed Portobello, Malibu Blend Vegetables
BBQ Chicken Quarters, Tortellini Pesto Salad, Cajun Corn and Tomatoes, Potato Salad
sudoku
crossword
TIMOTHY MUELLER-HARDER / HERALD
Students who attended CareerLAB’s tech career fair Tuesday left with more than career aspirations and relationships with potential employers: Many brought home swag including selfie sticks, t-shirts and frisbees.
comics P-Branes and Bosons | Ricky Oliver ’17
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FALL GENERAL CAREER FAIR 12:00 P.M. Sayles Hall
TALKING TO PROFESSORS AND FINDING ACADEMIC MENTORS 7:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson, Room 203
JANE STREET CAPITAL INFORMATION SESSION 6:00 P.M. CareerLAB
STEAM General Body Meeting 7:00 P.M. Sciences Library, Room 315
TOMORROW BURP TIME-OUT THURSDAY 1:00 P.M. Stephen Rober ’62 Campus Center, Memorial Lounge
KATRINA AFTER TEN KEYNOTE 5:00 P.M. Churchill House
DEMYSTIFYING THE GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION PROCESS FOR STEM FIELDS 4:00 P.M. CareerLAB
FREE ADVANCED SCREENING OF “SUFFRAGETTE” 7:00 P.M. Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL
Spacing out assignments To say that the average Brown student is overcommitted is probably an understatement. From juggling work, holding office hours as a teaching assistant, completing their assignments, working out and having a social life, many Brown students are in a constant state of negotiating their time with their many commitments. Given hypercompetitive admission practices, it is no surprise that today’s students are historically among Brown’s busiest. Being a student at Brown is about more than attending classes, and as such, we believe all professors can be more compassionate about major assignment deadlines — proactively working with to students avoid the experience of having multiple midterms or essays due in a single day. A more communicative and expressive culture on our campus can do wonders for our collective mental health and ensure we focus more on learning than on completing assignments and moving on to the next one. Depending on their concentrations and interests, some students have a tendency to map out their schedules in such a way that they lump certain classes together. For instance, it is common for pre-med students to take PHYS 0040: “Basic Physics” and BIOL 0280: “Introductory Biochemistry” together, and public health students might take PHP 0850: “Fundamentals of Epidemiology” and PHP 1501: “Essentials of Data Analysis” concurrently. Unfortunately, significant bouts of stress arise when midterms are scheduled to be only days apart, or large assignments are due on the same day. Faculty members in departments that offer courses in which students often double enroll in should communicate major assignments with one another and avoid scheduling things on the same day. Critics may argue that students should learn to tackle multiple midterms on a single day because graduate schools such as medical or law schools organize such overwhelming schedules regularly. While this may be true, Brown prides itself on having students who genuinely enjoy learning. It is often said that students savor rather than dread their problem sets, classroom debates and reading. But the hectic sense of being overwhelmed is fundamentally taxing, and more often than not prevents students from properly learning course material. Understandably, academic anxiety does not necessarily come from a difficulty or distaste for classroom work, but rather the lack of time. It is common for students to say things like, “I would really love this class if I had more time.” Essentially, when different faculty members place midterms or homework due on the same day, students are forced to race against time, and learning the course material is no longer the goal. Instead, they may choose to emphasize studying only the essential pieces, or they may not spend as much time as they should developing an understanding of concepts. In an ideal world, Brown would have a rule where students could only have one midterm or large assignment per day. Understandably, this is not always possible, but the effects of stressful situations do take their toll on students. In the unfortunate situation where midterms or papers for courses often taken concurrently have to be placed on the same day, departments should encourage faculty members to be lenient and offer students the opportunity to reschedule. The cultural shift we envision is not designed to promote student slacking but rather to recognize that the purpose of college is to learn and learn well. The University should do what it can to make sure that anything obstructing a student’s path to success is minimized. Timing and scheduling conflicts are an overwhelming, unfortunate and frequently unnecessary nuisances that can impede students’ performance and learning. 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.
M I R A N DA F R I E L
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Speaking up in section To the Editor: In his piece “On Classroom Etiquette,” Chad Simon ’16 seems to forget the point of discussion sections and of college in general. Contrary to what Simon may believe, not all students arrive with a flawless grasp of philosophy and a talent for public speaking. When one of his peers says that they are “not remotely qualified to say this,” they are entirely correct and honest, but their thoughts are valid to the extent they advance their own education and that of the
An article in Tuesday’s Herald (“Mobile market benefits food stamp recipients,” Sept. 29) misstated that the Food on the Move program received a grant of $63,000 in the summary deck and photo caption. As stated in the article, the grant was in fact for $100,000. The article also referred to Kim Gans as the director of the Institute for Community Health Promotion. In fact, she was the director from 2010 to 2014 but now serves as an adjunct professor of behavioral and social science at the School of Public Health. The Herald regrets the errors.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“If we have the opportunity to assist the marginalized, why wouldn’t we?” — Manuel Contreras ’16
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group. They trust that their classmates will allow them to make mistakes and tackle new ideas as best they can — a trust that Simon has now violated. Perhaps he could help his classmates rise to his intellectual heights by thoughtfully responding to their “jabber” and letting us all learn from his opinions. Mentioning irrelevant online articles to prove the value of your laptop is, however, just plain annoying.
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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Selling out to the patriarchy ROBYN SUNDLEE opinions columnist
Being a feminist is chic. After centuries, it seems we’re finally winning the culture war. Long gone are the days of feminism being seen as the domain of frumpy, grumpy spinsters. We’ve got Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and, of course, Emma Watson in our ranks. We have sex appeal. We have commercial appeal. But there’s something unsettling about seeing the feminist banner so eagerly scooped up by corporations and sold to us in trendy soundbites. Feminism is embraced, but most thoroughly as an aesthetic — an accessory to identity that is designed to go in and out of vogue like the tides. It’s a shallow interpretation tailored to consumption and made to be communicated in 140 characters. And with that, we have enshrined ourselves in capitalist identity politics that hobble mobilization and pacify us with feminist kitsch. We have given up on revolution. I am by no means complaining about gay marriage legalization or Caitlyn Jenner’s success. But these advancements all take place in an arena circumscribed by androcentric capitalism. We’ve lobbied for en-
trance into a boys’ club, rather than striving to strip it down. What we’re seeing at work is a grand compromise with oppression. One theory of the perpetuation of patriarchy by theorist Deniz Kandiyoti is the notion that women work within patriarchal systems in order to maximize their livelihoods. They make bargains and tradeoffs with their society that they think will give them the best possible outcome.
game. Women of the 21st century have agreed to work within neoliberalism in exchange for being allowed to participate in it — albeit, for less pay. Indeed, this phenomenon is not at all limited to women in the Bible Belt. Examples of prominent feminists making patriarchal bargains abound. Margaret Thatcher or Jeane Kirkpatrick come to mind. In the words of renowned feminist theo-
We feminists here at Brown are poised to do the same. We proudly sport “F*** the Patriarchy” shirts, while simultaneously courting mega-corporation employers. In focusing on cultural recognition instead of economic redistribution we are making one big bargain with patriarchy. I don’t blame anyone taking this path — we’re just looking out for ourselves in a dog-eat-dog world. But it’s worth it to bear in mind the
We proudly sport “F*** the Patriarchy” shirts, while simultaneously courting mega-corporation employers. In focusing on cultural recognition instead of economic redistribution we are making one big bargain with patriarchy. This explains why many women cling to policies and traditions that oppress them, such as abortion restrictions. Anti-abortion activists can be seen as strategic instead of illogical actors. Many women see the separation of sexuality from domesticity and reproduction as contrary to their best interests since it lessens the responsibility men have for their sexual actions. They are trying to play the game the best they can, rather than rewriting the rules of the
rist Cynthia Enloe, “When a woman is let in by the men who control the political elite it is precisely because that woman has learned the lessons of masculinized political behavior well enough not to threaten male political privilege.” It is not that these women have broken the bonds of patriarchy. Rather, they have worked within the structure to achieve what power they can while inadvertently fortifying an oppressive system.
compromises that we make. Complacency and overemphasis on identity politics have also undercut efforts to organize and fight for economic redistribution. This is because identity politics is atomizing. The extreme concern for recognizing difference has made it difficult for the left to create the necessary unity for revolutionary tasks. Indeed, many popular feminist intellectuals, such as Judith Butler, have condemned attempts to transcend
divides among the left. But if some common ground cannot be found, the left may fall to factionalism and infighting. Besides, certain scopes of study do allow for feminists to transcend differences resulting from class, race, religion and so on. For instance, Kandiyoti’s study on patriarchal bargains offers a means: “Such analyses dissolve some of the artificial divisions apparent in theoretical discussions of the relationships among class, race and gender, since participants’ strategies are shaped by several levels of constraints.” By viewing the way women and men relate to each other through certain lenses, we can find shared strategies and understanding that could provide a basis for mobilization. Feminists must seek foundations for unity and return to the fight for economic justice. Single-minded focus on issues of recognition will lead to the feminist agenda being perverted to serve the interests of capitalism. It is crucial that we be suspicious of the commoditization of ideology and recognize the instances in which we, in our enthusiasm to promote our cause, fall prey to patriarchal bargains.
Robyn Sundlee ’16 is concentrating in international relations.
Pay attention NICHOLAS ESEMPLARE OPINIONS COLUMNIST Anyone who has sat in the back of a lecture hall knows that students with computers get distracted. This is immediately obvious, and it makes sense; lectures can get boring, and when they do it’s hard to avoid the allure of the bountiful Internet. Many parents and faculty members I’ve spoken to believe that this is a generational issue, that a population raised to expect fast and constant entertainment doesn’t know how to slow down. I strongly disagree. It seems to me that anyone who expects students to remain focused on lectures with such a cornucopia of distraction in front of them needs a lesson or two in human psychology. Despite the fact that such a level of distraction is harmful to education, relatively few faculty members ban the use of electronics in class. I find this mind-boggling and more than a little imprudent. But your education, after all, is your responsibility, and though the desire to distract yourself is an understandable fallibility, I urge you to pay attention. Let’s talk about money. No one at Brown is oblivious to the fact that a college educa-
tion does not come cheap. And so the most straightforward argument for valuing your time in class is this: You’re paying for it. Sure, this kind of thinking is a lot easier in the afternoon than it is right before your 9 a.m., but if you take a second to calculate how much you’re paying for each class, you may start to second-guess the decision to sleep through lecture or spend it scrolling through Facebook. The average class meeting Tuesdays and
blanked out for a second or two in lecture without any real harm done. But the reality of the situation is that for many, online distractions are not fleeting. Students, while attempting to glean the gist of the professor’s point, will often keep their Facebook tab open throughout class. If you haven’t read the science on multitasking, here’s a spoiler: It’s not going to help your retention. For some people, the money argument
If you look up from the screen for just a few moments, you might catch a glimpse of the Ivy League education you’re missing. Thursdays, for example, ends up costing you over $300 per class. With this kind of financial cost, it would seem an easy decision to close your browser and stick to note-taking. The issue is that most students don’t see classroom distractions as a major disruption. “I needed a break,” they’ll say, or “I’ll just read the PowerPoint later.” Again, these justifications seem to add up. Even the most studious Brunonian can’t deny that he or she has
doesn’t do it. Some say that the money they are spending is more for the diploma than the education, while some argue that, as long as they learn the material later, they’re not really missing out on anything. I vehemently reject both of these arguments, but there is another reason I see for paying attention in class, and it has to do with another limited resource: time. It’s no novel idea to think of time as a resource, but most people don’t seem to treat it
like this in day-to-day life. A minute distracted is a minute wasted — a minute that could have gone to one of the innumerable things that we claim never to have enough time to do. Distraction is wasteful, and time is a nonrenewable resource. If you’ve already given up an hour to come to class, it wouldn’t hurt to pay attention. Of course I’m not blind to the desire to take a break from class. But when browsing the internet during lecture becomes a routine, more is lost than most students realize. What’s more, this kind of behavior reinforces the negative impressions that students already have about lectures, namely, that it is hard to retain information and that they do not have much value. Regardless of the reason given, I strongly believe that we would all benefit from paying a little closer attention in class. Sure, it’s not the end of the world, but to me, it seems like a pretty egregious waste of time and money. A friend once told me, “It’s hard to focus.” Maybe. But if you look up from the screen for just a few moments, you might catch a glimpse of the Ivy League education you’re missing.
Nicholas Esemplare ’18 is a double concentrator in English and economics.
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ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Talk examines negative repercussions of New York’s High Line project Lecture constructs conversation around global phenomenon of supergentrification By ROLAND HIGH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
When Christoph Lindner, professor of media and culture at the University of Amsterdam, first encountered the High Line park in New York City, he was “seduced by the whole project.” “Then that relationship began to sour,” he said. Lindner discussed the High Line — a park created on a crumbling, weed-covered elevated railway — and its negative repercussions in a talk entitled “The High Line, Supergentrification and the Street,” which was presented by the Department of Urban Studies. The department invited Lindner because of a growing interest in fostering international connections with other academic institutions, said
Samuel Zipp, professor of American studies and urban studies. Though Lindner said he has enjoyed spending time at the High Line, “the time is now right to begin also trying to critique and analyze the project.” The High Line project was designed to revive the “so-called dead space,” Lindner said, adding that the park is a place “where people go to be slow and, increasingly, have to be slow.” He is referring to an “ironic, unintended form of slowness”: pedestrian traffic jams caused by the park’s 5 million annual visitors. People want to visit the High Line, but it is not much of a sprawling and spacious park — tourists might instead recall the bustling airport security lines they just left. The first problem Lindner pointed to is the design. According to the High Line website, “the movement to save the High Line was catalyzed by iconic photographs taken by Joel Sternfeld in 2000,” showing “the wild beauty of the self-seeded landscape.” But the result is far from “wild”:
The park is carefully planned and contained, built to last as long as possible and to siphon visitors in a straight line from entrance to exit, said Deitrich Neumann, professor of history of art and architecture and director of the urban studies department. Overall, it presents a fairly stifling, uncreative experience. But the more popular the High Line becomes, the more desirable the surrounding property becomes, Lindner said. “The skyline itself is being transformed by the popularity of the park.” The result is supergentrification: a phenonmenon in which the superrich push out the rich, often very quickly, Lindner said. The superrich are “parking their cash” in property, leaving mansions that are often “uninhabitable and uninhabited” at a time when the need for affordable housing is increasingly dire, he said. Lindner also dove into the bizarre » See HIGH LINE, page 3
ROLAND HIGH / HERALD