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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 32

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Film grapples with mental health, mass media Library curates journal

availability as prices rise

Documentary screening tells story of Sunil Tripathi, U. student who went missing in 2013

Library spends 70 percent of collections budget on journals, databases amid resource piracy concerns

By JENNIFER SHOOK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“While it breaks our hearts, it also broke us open as a community,” said University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson Monday as she introduced the story of Sunil Tripathi, a student whose disappearance is chronicled in Neal Broffman’s award-winning documentary “Help us find Sunil Tripathi.” Sunil went missing March 17, 2013 after taking several semesters off to focus on his health. His disappearance led his family — his mother, Judy, father, Akhil, sister, Sangeeta ’04 and brother, Ravi ’09— to turn first to local Providence authorities and then to social media in their search for him. After nearly a month, Redditors in a Sub-reddit linked Sunil’s name to Suspect 2 in the Boston Marathon bomber search. The image of Suspect 2 was revealed to the public by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The linkage created by these Redditors quickly spurred mass media reactions, as major news networks reached out to the Tripathi family for answers.

By ZOE GILBARD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

President Christina Paxson P’19 gives opening remarks at the screening of “Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi,” a film about a student’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the family continued to search for their own answers about Sunil’s disappearance. Sunil’s body was found April 23, 2013, the victim of suicide. Approximately five days prior, the implicated Boston Marathon bombers had been apprehended. “Help us find Sunil Tripathi” follows the events of Sunil’s disappearance and his family’s dedication to their search for him. The documentary

connects narratives about the value of familial love and dedication with the gravity and seriousness of mental health. It also presents a cautionary tale about the benefits and dangers of social media by tracing how quickly the social media reaction to Sunil’s disappearance changed from support to distrust and accusation. Ravi and Sangeeta said the idea of » See FILM, page 4

Researchers at some universities have become dependent on illegal sources for journal articles because of how expensive subscriptions have become, Heather Joseph, an advocate for legal open access, told National Public Radio last month. “When there is a journal article I need but Brown does not subscribe, I just ask a colleague to send me a PDF,” said a professor in the social sciences, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of legal repercussions. “But this is for research purposes only.” While most professors did not report that they share journal articles with researchers at other universities, the recent introduction of the twostep verification process is a security measure that protects against this sort of illegal activity. Ravi Pendse, head of Computing and Information Services, said that

recent phishing scams prompted students and faculty members to allow individuals outside of the University community to access library resources. The two-step verification process will significantly reduce piracy of this kind, Pendse said. Pendse said that the library and CIS work together closely to ensure that students and faculty members have full access and good security when it comes to academic resources, such as journal subscriptions and databases. “These scholarly articles and proper dissemination of those articles is such a critical thing. It is great to see that collaboratively all of us are protecting our scholarly resources,” Pendse added. The collection of journals to which the University subscribes is determined by Director of Technical Services Boaz Nadav-Manes and Associate University Librarian for Research and Outreach Ned Quist, among others. They solicit help from the departments, look at data collected by CIS on the usage of different journals and ask for recommendations from faculty members, graduate students, undergraduate students and administrators. » See JOURNALS, page 2

Politicians, colleges aim Fusion shows take viewers on emotional ride Weekend shows explore to reduce student debt media overload, failed RED Act seeks to alter student loan system, R.I. colleges aim to decrease average student debt By GWEN EVERETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Corporation authorized a 4.1 percent tuition hike for the 2016-2017 academic year last month. This increase is consistent with past years — after a 4.4 percent increase for the current academic year and a 3.8 percent increase for the previous year — as the cost of higher education continues to rise across the country. For some, tuition hikes could lead to loan trouble later on. In 2014, graduates of colleges in the Ocean State had the fourth highest average debt in the nation, according to a report published by the Institute for College Access and Success. The cost falls on young adults at the least opportune time in their financial lives: just as they attempt to forge careers and build a solid credit history. Despite financial aid packages

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and the promised employability of college graduates, today’s American college students and graduates have a collective $1.3 trillion debt to pay, according to a report the Federal Reserve published earlier this year. With this problem in mind, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, sponsored the Reducing Education Debt Act with a group of other Democratic senators mid-January to alter the structure of federal student loans. Meanwhile, officials from colleges in Rhode Island are working to improve financial aid and literacy among their students. Reducing Education Debt Act The Reducing Education Debt Act primarily seeks to “strip out the money-making role of government in student loans,” Whitehouse said. The 2010 Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act partially reformed the student loan system, said Richard Davidson, press secretary for Whitehouse. The act eliminated the costly role of “middlemen” banks in federal student loans, according to a 2010 » See DEBT, page 2

relationships through range of dance styles By ISABEL GENSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

There is perhaps no student group on campus more aptly named than Fusion Dance Company. Fusion’s 33rd Annual Spring Show reflected the company’s dedication to cohesively synthesizing different styles of dance and music genres with original choreography and film. In one of the group’s characteristic performances of the night, five silhouettes took the stage as the audience cheered for the upcoming dance. When the lights flashed on, umbrellas popped open to the sound of Gene Kelly’s “Singing in the Rain.” The dancers began to move, and the umbrellas’ soft twirling matched the twisting of bright skirts mid-pirouette. Suddenly, the sound of pouring rain boomed through Alumnae Hall and the stage went dark. Just as quickly as the dance was cut off, it began again to the Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men.” The five dancers performed hip-hop

ROLAND HIGH / HERALD

moves and gymnastics to match the faster, more modern number. The crowd went wild. This piece’s shift in style to match the shift in song speaks to Fusion’s

musicality. Throughout the show, music ranged from “SOS” by Rihanna to “Ease on Down the Road” by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. » See FUSION, page 3

WEATHER

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

NEWS U. fills two senior-level roles in communications, seeks to diversify stories told about Brown

NEWS Study abroad consortium program in Havana adjusts to increased student interest

COMMENTARY Vilsan ’19: Even when bleachers empty, school spirit courses through classrooms, communities

COMMENTARY Krishnamurthy ’19: American politics need injection of hope to stop spread of prejudice, fear

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» DEBT, from page 1 Daily Finance article. But the government still makes revenue off the federal student loans it issues, Whitehouse said. “The government treats (student loans) like any other lender would treat a loan,” Davidson said. Interest on federal student loans can become substantial as it accumulates over years, he added. The RED Act contains three main provisions: First, it seeks to make student loans refinanceable. Unlike credit card or auto debt, student loans — both federal and private — are currently ineligible for refinancing. “There’s a fundamental injustice about (this policy),” Whitehouse said. Not only are the terms of federal and private student loans unusually stringent, but they also target a population that may not have the financial literacy to understand the debt they are taking on, he said. Student loans have been written out of bankruptcy codes, which is how

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college debt becomes inescapable for so many individuals, Davidson said, adding, “I think everybody agrees that (the current policy) is a bad idea.” The RED Act would allow students to refinance their federal or private loans as new federal loans at the interest rates “offered to new federal borrowers in the 2013-2014 school years,” according to the act. The act states that 81 percent of borrowers who have a debt greater than $40,000 have taken out private student loans that carry interest rates of 8 percent or more. Allowing students to refinance their debt into federal loans would “take a substantial burden off of students’ shoulders,” Davidson said. Second, RED seeks to “make two years of community college as universal as high school” by making it tuition-free, according to the act. The act proposes a “federal match of $3 for every $1 invested by the state to waive community college tuition.” The act also calls for similar tuition subsidies to be extended to “minority-serving

institutions” and hopes to create “a new partnership between federal government and states and Indian tribes” to make community college more accessible to indigenous populations. Finally, RED seeks to permanently index Pell grants to the consumer price index, ensuring that they keep pace with inflation. Under the current policy, Pell grants are pegged to inflation, but that peg must be renewed in 2017, leaving future low-income college students vulnerable to the unpredictability of federal politics, Davidson said. The act states that “61 percent of students who receive Pell grants have to take out loans compared to 29 percent who do not receive the grants.” The act seeks to preserve the “purchasing power” of a Pell grant and in doing so prevent students from taking on additional loans to cover the inflationary gap that would arise if student loans were to lose pace with the CPI. Whitehouse acknowledged that it could be an uphill battle to pass the RED Act into law. Though it is

Average student debt for 2015 college graduates

Brown’s average student debt for the Class of 2015 is below the national average, while 2015 graduates of Rhode Island School of Design and Roger Williams University on average graduated with more debt than the national average.

$40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0

$39,049 $33,593 $29,000 $21,697

ROGER WILLIAMS RISD

NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY

AVERAGE BROWN

Sources: CNBC; Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development; RISD website; Roger Williams University website EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

»JOURNALS, from page 1 The library occasionally contacts professors to gauge the value of certain journals in the event that they receive data that the journal has not been frequently downloaded, Boaz said. “In all fairness to the University, if no one is reading it, then we shouldn’t be buying it,” said Sheila Blumstein, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences. Some of the scientific journals can cost up to $20,000 per year, and purchasing them is a commitment, Quist said. “On occasion, we do cancel things, but we have to in order to make room for new things,” Quist added. “Things have gotten better in large measure because of electronic access. Prior to that we didn’t always have all of the journals,” Blumstein said. “I’ve never really had much of a problem, or if something isn’t in the library, there’s interlibrary loan. I’ve never had to go to another institution.” The University belongs to a consortium, including Penn, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and various Rhode Island institutions, from which students and faculty members can borrow books and electronic resources at any time. “I visited a couple other schools, and without naming them, I was

appalled at how bad their resources were and how much better ours are,” Blumstein said. “We get a listing of what’s available from a library representative. If there’s a journal you particularly need or want, you could request it.” Blumstein added that it is often difficult to find articles from before 1995 online. But if she wants to find a piece, it is almost always possible to do so legally. James Valles, the chair of the physics department, said that he rarely feels he does not have access to a journal and that his colleagues also feel that they are well-supported by the library resources. Valles said that he uses a website called Arxiv, run by the Cornell University Library, to legally access pre-print and pre-published versions of scientific papers. “People can read them and start working with those papers the moment they appear.” The library spends over $11 million per year on its collections; about $8 million of this goes to journals and databases, Nadav-Manes said. The University’s library budget is divided into three parts: journals, which come both individually and in packages, databases and books. The library purchases subscriptions to 400 databases each year, some of which include only

bibliographic information, while others grant full access to articles. “Seventy percent of our budget is now going towards journals and databases,” Quist said. The library currently subscribes to about 75,000 journal titles and approximately 97 percent of these are electronic journals, Nadav-Manes said. Though there is a constant increase in the prices of journals every year, there were no unusual increases this year, he said. “It’s more than inflation quite often, especially with the (journal) packages, which is a chunk of our expense every year,” he added. Cornelia Dean, a senior writer in the science department of the New York Times and a lecturer in environmental science, said that the cost of journals “has been a huge issue for people trying to do research from institutions who do not have access to this kind of money. It’s an issue we periodically review in the science department at the Times.” To overcome this legally, researchers have advocated open-access publishing, popularized by the Public Library of Online Science, Dean added. The PLOS uses the Creative Commons Attributions License to publish scholarly articles and makes them accessible to the general public for free. Anyone can access and make use of

in the long-term national interest to make higher education more accessible, short-term budgetary concerns could be a source of conflict within Congress, he added. The act is set to be presented for congressional vote later this month. Even if the act does not get passed, it will hold symbolic value, as it will force members of Congress to take a position on rising college costs, Whitehouse said. College affordability in Rhode Island Donald Farish, president of Roger Williams University, noted that it is also the responsibility of universities to make higher education more affordable. “When I came here … still on the heels of the great recession of 2008, family incomes had been falling,” Farish said, adding that raising tuition in a recession and post-recession economy did not seem like “the right thing to do.” Roger Williams guarantees that each entering class will be charged the same tuition fee over four years — a policy he said can also be implemented by many other colleges. But Farish explained that when universities raise tuition, much of colleges’ and universities’ extra income goes back to students through financial aid packages. According to its website, the average student debt at Roger Williams is $39,049 compared to the 2015 national average of $29,000. In part, the circle of universities that Roger Williams competes with experiences a “market response” when tuition costs change, Farish said, adding that students may not choose to attend Roger Williams if tuition were too high. In a way, certain colleges have to compete with their peers through their price tags, but the same cannot necessarily be said for “name brand” schools like Harvard or Yale, he added. Brown also offers a loan education

program — “Get Your Bearings” — aimed at bolstering student financial literacy and encouraging smart financial planning, wrote Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development, in an email to The Herald. The University also offers counseling services to students planning on taking out loans, he wrote, adding that the goal of these services is to help students only borrow as much as they need “rather than automatically borrowing the maximum amount for which they are eligible.” Since 2009, the University has provided loan-free financial aid packages to any student with a family income below $100,000, he wrote. Students with family incomes above that amount may be offered financial aid packages including loans, but the loan amounts are guaranteed to “remain consistent throughout four years at Brown,” he added. Over the past five years, an average of 35 percent of Brown’s graduating seniors have taken out loans while enrolled at the University. The class of 2015’s average indebtedness was $21,697 — a decline from the $23,967 average for the class of 2014, he wrote. The average national student debt in 2014 was $33,000, Clark added. But Brown students still have the largest debt in the Ivy League, The Herald previously reported. Meanwhile, Rhode Island School of Design has expanded financial aid by 45 percent in the past five years and has no plans to raise tuition for the upcoming school year, wrote Jaime Marland, director of public relations at RISD, in an email to The Herald. The school also takes specific measures to increase financial literacy among students taking on loans, Marland wrote. The average student debt for the RISD class of 2015 was $33,593, according to the RISD website. The effectiveness of RISD’s financial education initiatives is apparent “through our low loan default and high retention rates compared with other schools,” Marland wrote.

these articles, as long as they are properly cited. The PLOS website has links to a suite of science journals on topics such as biology, medicine, computational biology, genetics and pathogens. “Public access is a big issue,” Blumstein said. “People want to know about things, and they should have the right to know.” “The publishing business, the art of getting a manuscript through the process, is basically the same no matter what. It goes through peer review and can take from 30 days to half a year

— the same whether it’s a subscription journal or an open-access journal,” said David Knutson, public relations manager of PLOS. Many institutions, such as the University of California system, as well as government organizations, have required that any research they fund be published in open-access journals like PLOS, Knutson said. “Content is king. Don’t be fooled by any title on any journal,” he added. “If it’s good research, it’s good research. Some of it is freely available to you.”

KATE TALERICO / HERALD

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TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 • PAGE 3

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Students rely on mix of U. fills two communications positions services to keep clothes clean Staff members appointed Brown Student Agencies provides external service while most students rely on dormitory machines By UGOCHI IHENATU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As exam turmoil hits its peak mid-semester, students may find themselves strapped for time to do their laundry. Most of them do their own laundry using dormitory laundry machines. For an additional fee, some choose to use the laundry service provided by Brown Student Agencies. The washers and dryers in each building are handled by ASI/MacGray Campus Laundry Solutions, with which the University started working in 2012, said Richard Hilton, associate director of administrative services for the Office of Residential Life. “They’re experts — it’s what they do. (Laundry is) the service that they’re set up to provide,” Hilton added. Representatives of the company come to campus three days a week to service and inspect the machines. When a washer or dryer breaks, it is reported to ResLife by either MacGray inspectors, the card readers on the machines or the students using the machines. “Our biggest voice is usually from the students — which is great, because we’re not in every single room every single week,” Hilton said. Each use of a washer or dryer costs $1.50 per load, a price that has risen $0.25 since the University began its new contract with Mac-Gray in 2012. The money collected is used for the contract with Mac-Gray, water, electricity and maintenance of the machines. Revenues and costs associated with the laundry machines are confidential, Hilton said. BSA’s laundry service is a result of collaboration with ResLife and an outside company, E&R Cleaners. Between 200 and 300 students

» FUSION, from page 1 The company was also versatile in its ability to choreograph and perform several styles of dance including contemporary, ballet and even aspects of martial arts. Fusion’s performance did not stop at original choreography. It incorporated an original song and video produced by Marley Kurton ’17, which were played and projected over the dancers in the piece “Overload: Part II.” The multimedia component distracted the viewers from the dancers, an intentional decision used to convey a sense of media overload. The show successfully took its audience on an emotional roller coaster, expressing complete joy in “Bring Back: 1987” and the anguish of a failed relationship in “Colour Me In.” The costumes in the ’80s-inspired piece included neon leggings, unitards and leg warmers, transporting the audience back to 1987. In “Colour Me In,” flowing white dresses fluttered and reflected cool lighting to instill a sense of sadness as two couples danced on stage.

currently use BSA’s laundry service, said Howard Carter ’16, executive director of BSA. Records of BSA’s contract with E&R Cleaners go back as far as the 2000-2001 academic year, but Carter said that BSA and E&R Cleaners began a relationship prior to that, though he wasn’t sure of the exact date the partnership began. BSA started offering a laundry service based on student demand. Seeing that other campuses in the Ivy League offered a wash-dry-fold service for their students, BSA believed that a large number of Brown students would appreciate the same service, Carter said. E&R and BSA both receive a portion of the revenue collected from the laundry service. The portion that BSA receives covers the “logistical and legal challenges” that BSA faces and also goes toward other student services, such as the Underground Coffee Shop. “BSA is a nonprofit student group, and it aims to offer products and services that the students need and to use the revenues from those products and services to give back in some way,” he said. The program has succeeded in achieving its goal of making life easier for students, Carter said. “Students … seem to really enjoy the service. We’ve had stable membership and usage of the service for a long time. … We don’t get a lot of complaints,” Carter said. Adam White ’18, who has used the service his freshmen and sophomore years, provided a mixed review of it. While the service does make doing laundry easier, it is also inconsistent in its pick-up and drop-off times, he said. “(The service) is really expensive, and they don’t pick up (the laundry) as much as they did last year,” White said. “They’re supposed to pick up Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but they don’t actually do that. It’s a flawed process.”

One key feature of Fusion’s Annual Spring Show was the senior piece. This year’s three seniors — Cara Mund ’16, Jess Fisher ’16 and Rose Thomas ’16 — wrote and performed a skit that strung together dances to Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” Rent’s “Seasons of Love,” Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and even Robin Williams’ famous dancedirecting line from the movie “The Birdcage.” The piece was clever and playful at first, but watching the three seniors hold hands and walk backstage was a glimpse at an intimate moment. The bittersweet feeling they shared at the end of their last performance was felt wholeheartedly by the audience. The only people in Alumnae Hall who could match the excitement of the screaming fans were the Fusion Dance Company members themselves. The dancers were passionate and ecstatic throughout the show, their intense focus interrupted only to shine bright smiles at the crowd. Fusion’s 33rd Annual Spring Show appealed to a diverse audience and achieved the company’s mission of celebrating all dance styles, body shapes and choreography.

to build University relationships with journalists, government By JULIANNE CENTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University has recently filled two senior-level roles in communications. Brian Clark began his position Feb. 22 as the director of news and editorial development, and Albert Dahlberg was promoted to assistant vice president of government and community relations after serving for seven years as director of state and community relations. Both men will help shape the University’s relationships with external institutions such as media organizations and government entities. Clark, previously the director of public affairs at Roger Williams University, will direct news and media relations for the University. The role includes facilitating news coverage through the University’s own news site and communications with campus publications and external news media, he said. “What we want to do is start to diversify the types of stories that we tell about Brown,” Clark said. While past University media has had an exclusive focus on faculty and student research, Clark hopes to direct attention to “the totality of the Brown experience.” New areas of interest will include “what makes campus life distinctive,” teaching, administration, scholarship and campus events, Clark added. Serving as the spokesperson on University operations, initiatives and activities will entail working with journalists on “an hour-to-hour basis” due to the University’s prestige and visibility in the national news, Clark said. Clark hopes to “elevate the reputation of the University” to both recruit students from different backgrounds with varying academic interests and improve the career opportunities of alums, he said. “Colleges and universities have adopted models of creating strong news operations within their communications divisions because we — rather than traditional news media — are now the primary drivers of news about the University’s priorities and what makes us distinctive,” wrote Vice President of Communications Cass Cliatt in an email to The Herald. “Brian is uniquely positioned to lead this work because of his extensive experience building and leading strategic teams,” wrote Cliatt, who oversees Clark. Clark will replace Mark Nickel, who served as news director until he left the University in February, she added. While Clark focuses on the University’s presence in the news, Dahlberg will specifically oversee all government relations. He will aim to advance the University’s strategic and operational plans by maintaining relationships with government officials at the federal, state and city levels, he said. “In his new role as assistant vice president of government and community relations, (Dahlberg) will build on his solid foundation of experience

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Brian Clark, the University’s newly appointed director of news and editorial development, began his position late last month.

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Albert Dahlberg was appointed to represent the University as the new assistant vice president of government and community relations. and knowledge in this area,” said Russel Carey ’91 MA’06, executive vice president for planning and policy, who oversees Dahlberg’s work. “A lot of my responsibility is to enhance our partnerships with the city and the state and local community organizations in ways that are mutually beneficial,” Dahlberg said. Since the University and the community are “interlinked,” the success of one depends on the success of the other, he added. The University works with local governments to help combat city fiscal constraints through developing economic programs, employing community members, supporting local businesses, assisting the public school

program and improving regional health, according to a pamphlet created by the office of government and community relations. The programs are a result of a “healthy relationship” between the University and local governments, Dahlberg said. Prior to his work at the University, Dahlberg worked in government under then-Senator Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 P’17 and worked as counsel on air issues in the Senate Environment Committee. He has also worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. Dahlberg’s “diversity of experience” and understanding of government’s inner workings allow him to better advocate University interests, he said.

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As relations normalize, more students study in Cuba Students face limited amenities, engage with local culture, take classes at University of Havana By ELI BINDER STAFF WRITER

As diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba normalize, students have expressed increasing interest in studying in the communist country. Last month, President Barack Obama announced that he would be the first sitting U.S. president in 88 years to visit Cuba. “You could feel the excitement in the air, ” said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and associate dean of the College, who was visiting the University’s program site at the time. “Students who are studying in Cuba are actually witnesses to history.” “It’s definitely an amazing program,” said Michael Petro ’17, who is studying in Cuba this semester. “We have very privileged access to the island in a way that few Americans do.” Academics Brown’s study abroad presence in Cuba dates back to 2008. The University established a program in the country as a result of faculty interest, Brostuen said. At the time, between eight and 11 students participated in the program every semester. In 2014, “Brown formed a large consortium of universities called the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad,” Brostuen said. Spearheaded by Brown, CASA unites nine leading U.S. universities — including six of the eight Ivy League schools, as well as Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University and Vanderbilt University — to develop study abroad programs across the world, he added. This semester, 29 students across the nine consortium schools enrolled in CASA’s Havana program, which first welcomed students in fall 2015, replacing the Brown program. Brostuen said the program will expand to accommodate increasing student interest in studying in Cuba. This expansion will occur in a thoughtful way, which includes increasing support on the ground in order to “be hands-on with our students,” he said, adding, “We have no desire to make it a monstrous program in terms of size.” CASA offers courses at Casa de Las Américas, a state-run research center for Caribbean and Latin American studies. These courses, designed for CASA students, are also open to Cuban students at the University of Havana. But those students often choose not to enroll in them, as they do not receive credit from CASA classes. CASA students also have the

» FILM, from page 1 creating a documentary surrounding the events of their brother’s disappearance came from their relationship to Broffman, the director of the film. Broffman is a friend of the family who originally assisted in the search by helping the Tripathis create a oneminute video to post to the search effort’s Facebook page. The video is embedded into the finished documentary, Sangeeta said. “The whole time we were searching

option to take classes at the University of Havana, which Brostuen called “a great school with a lot of history to it.” This gives CASA students the opportunity to study alongside Cuban peers. In most cases, students take half of their courses at Casa de Las Américas and half at the University of Havana. But the language may pose a problem for students studying there, wrote Marta Nuñez, a Cuban professor, in an email to The Herald. Some “CASA students cannot absorb all the new knowledge we teach them. … Maybe taking six Spanish language semesters (before arriving) is not enough.” But she added that the advent of the CASA program has also seen a jump in American students’ linguistic capabilities. Limited resources Cuba’s limited resources may also impede the educational experience there. “Resources at the (university’s) library are poor, and we should do something to help,” wrote Julio Ortega, professor of Hispanic studies and the visiting professor at Casa de Las Américas on the CASA program, in an email to The Herald. “I am afraid they (stopped) buying books in the ’70s.” Petro said he has encountered some academic difficulties that he does not face in America. Because Wi-Fi is very limited in Cuba, when teachers show PowerPoints, students must share them with one another via flash drives. “Memory sticks are vital in Cuba. … That’s how you transfer information,” he added. Four weeks into one of his classes, he has been unable to find a copy of a required textbook, despite a persistent search. When he asked his professor for advice on where to buy the book, she responded, “Finding the book is part of the class.” But Nuñez wrote that contending with Cuba’s lack of resources can be educational for CASA students learning how to adapt to limited means. Though they experience “better living conditions than their Cuban friends, they also confront enormous difficulties adapting to our meager material conditions,” she wrote. “I believe that they learn to live with less … at least until they go back to their original environments.” The lack of resources is not only felt in the classroom but also follows students back to their residences. Like all CASA students, Petro lives in a privately owned home rented out by the program — “the Cuban version of Airbnb,” he said. His apartment, for Sunny we ran into other people who were also struggling, and everybody had a story,” Sangeeta said. “It became so clear that the story was so much bigger than our family, and it was very clear to all of us — all four of us — that we really wanted to be part of engaging people in the bigger story and really try to help other young people who are struggling.” The film was screened in Salomon Center at 6 p.m. Monday, a time of year Ravi noted was significant, as it marked nearly three years since

which he shares with a CASA roommate, is on the second floor of a highrise building on the coast. Sometimes waves crash 20-feet high over the sea wall and flood the basement of the building. This traps people inside and sometimes causes the power to go out. Running water is only turned on during the day, and tap water is not potable. Cuban culture Still, the living conditions have not dampened Petro’s experience. “I’ve really, really enjoyed myself here,” Petro said. He said he was pleasantly surprised by how nice Cubans have been to him. “People are immensely friendly. You walk down the street and get invited into local houses,” he said. Stephen Bozier ’17 studied in Cuba on the CASA program fall 2015. He said that his experience in Cuba was in many ways very different from his expectations. During his first week, he noticed that “being in Cuba didn’t feel like I was in a socialist or communist country,” he said, adding that this raised the question for him: “What is that supposed to feel like? And what does our American capitalist education lead us to believe” that life in a socialist or communist country is like?

In many ways, time is experienced differently in Cuba than in the United States, Bozier said. “There’s kind of a rhetoric that going to Cuba is like stepping into the 1950s or the 1960s, and I challenge that because when we went to Cuba it was very much 2015,” he said. But he added that “time definitely moves slower. I wasn’t pressured to have a plan for the next hour or the next minute or the next day.” Bozier said at Brown he notices that many students have a “tunnelvision existence going from one thing to the next.” But in Cuba, he became comfortable spending days exploring the city or walking about without a plan or responsibilities. Ortega wrote that one of the biggest differences about studying in Havana is that “the city, its culture, diversity and energy, is part of your learning experience.” CASA students are not accustomed to seeing “such an integrated society, a healthy mixture, despite poverty and scarcity.” Intersections of identity Bozier said that, as a black American, his time in Cuba exposed him to a complex intersection of issues. “The rhetoric, especially due to the government, has made it so that the Cuban identity goes before any other

racial identity,” and this has led to a “similar colorblind rhetoric” to that in the United States. But black Cubans face discrimination in some ways, including higher rates of unemployment and worse average economic standing, and they are more likely to be stopped by the police, though Bozier noted that in Cuba police shootings of blacks are uncommon, unlike in America. Bozier said that he did not generally face discrimination. “There are privileges that come with being a foreigner, especially when it comes to the idea of personal safety,” he said. He recalled one instance in which policemen stopped him while he was walking with two fairer-skinned friends at night. Bozier imagines the policemen assumed he was a native following the two students to sell them something — which Bozier said he had come to realize was a common reason for police stops of black Cubans. But once he showed the policeman his American passport, they ended the interaction. During his trip, as racial tensions ran high in America, Bozier said he felt to a certain extent “more comfortable (in Cuba) than I do in the United States.”

COURTESY OF STEPHEN BOZIER

Through his window, Stephen Bozier ’17 was able to look out on the Havana cityscape, thanks to the CASA study abroad program he took part in last fall. The city and the culture heavily influenced his learning experience. Sunil’s disappearance. The film was introduced by both Cooper Nelson and President Christina Paxson P’19. Sunil’s disappearance occurred in the first year of Paxson’s presidency, and Ravi and Sangeeta praised her reaction to Sunil’s disappearance. Paxson met personally with the family and helped offer ideas and ways of leveraging the University’s resources and connections to the wider Providence community in the search for Sunil, Ravi and Sangeeta said. Paxson told the audience that the

community’s reaction to his disappearance taught her that the “university family she had come to had a big heart,” thanking the audience for their attendance and willingness to “affirm a shared experience that we had as a community.” Following the film’s screening, Cooper Nelson turned the microphone over to audience members, who shared stories about their relationships with and respect for the Tripathi family. Judy also shared comments from Broffman, who was unable to attend.

Broffman communicated sadness in his absence and also his gratitude to the Brown community’s openness while he was making the documentary. “We agreed to make the film because the hope was that if any person who’s either struggling themselves with depression or any person (who) knows someone (who is struggling) … saw this film or talked to someone who watched it, they’ll just be able to start talking and start the conversation,” Ravi said. “This is us continuing the conversation at Brown.”

TODAY

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

riding into spring

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Bacon Chicken Ranch, Spinach & Feta, Pepperoni & Meatball Italian Puff Pocket, Chipotle BBQ Taco JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Quesadillas

Three Bean Chili Chicken Mushroom Xacuti

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Squash Quesadillas, Ground Beef Enchiladas, Turkey Tacos, Rice with Jalapenos

Three Bean Lasagna, Red Pepper Frittata, Stir Fry Caribbean Chicken, S’mores Cupcakes

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Split Pea Soup with Ham, BBQ Beef on a Bun, Vegetable Strudel, Holiday Cookies

Vegetarian Onion Soup, Corned Beef Brisket, Spinach Pie Casserole, Irish Soda Bread

sudoku

RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich ACROSS 1 Transparent 7 Pasture mom 11 Beaver project 14 On the plane 15 Stein fillers 16 Detroit-toHarrisburg dir. 17 Latter-day Beau Brummell 19 School support gp. 20 No longer on one’s plate 21 Virtual people, in a game series 22 Wrap for leftovers 23 Ambles 25 Mount Rushmore quartet 27 Eponymous ’80s fiscal policy 31 Furry Persians 35 Norse god of war 36 Wood shaper 37 Home run jog 38 Grenoble’s river 41 Corned beef order 42 Update, as a cartographer might 44 Bogotá’s land: Abbr. 45 Cut a paragraph, say 46 Crossbred guide dog 50 “Vamoose!” 51 Threw with effort 55 Rocker David Lee __ 57 Southwestern land formation 59 Lured (in) 61 Wall St. debut 62 17-, 27- or 46Across 64 Downing Street address 65 Poker stake 66 Cool and collected 67 Chemical suffix 68 Baseball gripping point 69 Car radio button DOWN 1 Like a weak excuse 2 Skyscraper support

3 Utah’s “Industry,” for one 4 Cuts the rind off 5 Crease maker, or crease remover 6 Cavity filler’s deg. 7 Modest skirt 8 Grad who may use “née” in a college newsletter 9 Good thinking 10 Night school subj. 11 Added to one’s bank account 12 Piedmont wine region 13 McDonald’s “Happy” offering 18 Op-ed pieces 22 Hen or ewe 24 Himalayan legend 26 Note between fa and la 28 __-Roman wrestling 29 Spiced Indian brew 30 On its way 31 PC key not used alone 32 Geometry calculation

33 Arizona town where the Earps and Clantons fought 34 Collar stiffener 39 ’90s White House name 40 Glamour rival 43 Bogey beater 47 Crooner Vic 48 Mafioso code of honor 49 W-2 form recipient

52 “À __ santé!” 53 Olympic swords 54 Revolutionary diplomat Silas 55 Solemn ceremony 56 Start the bidding 58 Goblet part 60 “Mrs. Robinson,” e.g. 62 Partners for mas 63 Cairo cobra

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

The statue of Marcus Aurelius withstands a day of rain showers, continuing to preside over Ruth Simmons Quad.

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

“Students who are studying abroad in Cuba are actually witnesses to history.” — Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs

See cuba on page 4. xwordeditor@aol.com

calendar

03/15/16

TODAY

MARCH

03/15/16

Gelato Making Workshop 1:00 P.M. Sharpe Refectory

Brown Capoeira Practice 6:00 P.M. TF Green Hall, Room 205

Jazz Combos Concert 8:00 P.M. Grant Recital Hall

Telescope Observing Night 8:00 P.M. Ladd Observatory

TOMORROW Mining Gummi Bears in One and Two Jars 4:00 P.M. Watson CIT 241

Argentine Tango Classes 5:00 P.M. Graduate Center, Graduate Lounge

How to Start a Revolution with Paper 4:00 P.M. John Carter Brown Library, Reading Room

Douglas Mao Lecture 5:30 P.M. Brown/RISD Hillel

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z

comic ENGNS Life | Nathan Amin

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

I’ve got spirit, how ’bout you? FABIANA VILSAN staff columnist

Several months ago, as a wideeyed freshman eager to call Brown her new home, I purchased more Brown merchandise than I wish to admit. Where did the sudden burst of school pride come from? Maybe it was the repressed cheerleader inside me, who hadn’t had the chance to tap into her pep in a European high school. When I chose Brown, I knew it wouldn’t have the masses of cheering fans of a much larger public school. I wasn’t wrong. But the half-empty bleachers don’t make Brown any less spirited — they just mean that our school pride can’t be made into a teen musical. Coming from a high school where the only attendees at sporting events were athletes’ mothers, the uniformed cheerleaders and the marching band that I encountered at various sporting events this year came as quite the culture shock. In a half hour, I found myself cheering and clapping like a maniac despite my complete lack of knowledge

about the games. Hell, I didn’t know if we were winning or losing. I only knew we were playing, and that was reason enough to come decked out in brown. When I came to Brown, I thought that a tailgate was nothing more than a flap on the back of a truck.

try. American school pride is contingent on more than the top college rankings — it has to do with community. Maybe the stereotypical definition of school spirit is flawed. Maybe the formula — volume of cheers + quality of cheers + number of stu-

pointment in the lack of positivity and overall happiness in students across America despite the amazing institutions they were attending. According to Achor, students did not focus on the privilege of attending those schools but on the competition and workload of everyday life.

The half-empty bleachers don’t make Brown any less spirited — they just mean that our school pride can’t be made into a teen musical.

I was ready to accept that Brown students must truly be car enthusiasts until a friend of mine explained the pomp and circumstance that is school pride in the United States. As a European, the idea of school spirit was rather alien to me, as school pride where I’m from is mostly derived from getting into the “top five” list of universities in the coun-

dents at football games — doesn’t work. If you leave an institution after four years with nothing to show for your sense of community other than a few free t-shirts and ticket stubs, who’s to say you’re truly spirited? In a recent TED talk, Harvard graduate and happiness researcher Shawn Achor expressed his disap-

Behind the merchandise and the pom-poms were students doubting their place in the community they worked so hard to get into. For many students, the pride and joy experienced when reading their acceptance letters is quickly replaced by anxiety as they begin planning their next applications, whether they’re headed for graduate school

or employment. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve complained about midterms, long readings and uncooperative problem sets these past two semesters just as much as the next college kid. But in my experience, Brown isn’t about competing with your classmates, and it’s not about attending the university for four years just to have something to hang on your office wall. Maybe it’s the open curriculum, the option to take a class S/NC or the student demographic, but students at Brown embrace and understand the privilege of attending this school. They don’t second-guess the classmate who offered to help them understand the econ homework, wondering if they’re about to get sabotaged. Shouldn’t a sense of community and optimism for life after Brown factor into the school spirit formula? The repressed cheerleader inside me found the school to match her pep, both in the bleachers and in the classroom. Whether you’re the one in the audience, the one being watched or the one taking a nap on the Main Green, you’ve got spirit, too.

Fabiana Vilsan ’19 can be reached at fabiana_vilsan@brown.edu.

Republic of dreams ANUJ KRISHNAMURTHY staff columnist When U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-MD, who represents the predominantly black localities of Baltimore County, spoke in MacMillan Hall Tuesday, he was unsparing in his excoriation of the new American condition. In a talk that was largely extemporaneous and unprepared — “My speeches come from my heart, … so I don’t know what I’m gonna say,” he proudly admitted at the outset — Cummings discussed a dimension of politics generally neglected by opportunistic politicians and ratings-hungry media outlets: The unabated pain, sustained suffering and unrealized aspirations endured by far too many Americans. In a particularly poignant story, Cummings explained that during his Congressional swearing-in ceremony, he observed tears in the eyes of his father, a man subjected to twentieth-century America’s excruciating prejudice. Cummings, laughing, asked his father why he was crying. His father, moved that his son was joining the same legislative body that had relegated blacks to second-class citizenship for centuries, replied, “I saw what I could’ve been.” Encapsulated neatly in Cummings’ father’s heartbreaking response is the central trouble plaguing our country today: the torturous evaporation of hope. “There are too many people who, when they’re 60 years old, will be wondering what they could’ve been,” Cummings warned. According to Gallup, only 52 percent of Americans believe in the economic opportunity afforded by the American dream,

down nearly 30 percentage points from three decades ago. If dreams truly are the “touchstones of our character,” as Henry David Thoreau once wrote, then the essence of America is in a state of egregious — but not irreversible — disrepair. Americans, almost by definition, wield an uncanny capacity to imagine a brighter, better future and pursue its realization endlessly. In effect, the moment we stop dreaming, we are no longer American. The defining project of the twenty-first century must, therefore, be the revival of American optimism. Effective politics shouldn’t be limited to the straightforward business of cre-

for example, the unprecedented popularity of Donald Trump. Hopelessness and manic desperation are the principal sources of motivation for his energetic supporters. Ideologically, Trump voters are not atypically extreme or radical. They fit solidly within the moderate Republican establishment. But his support base is white, middle-aged and lacks much education beyond high school or some college. And it is this specific demographic, probably more than any other group, that has acutely felt the economic disempowerment engendered by automation and globalization. America’s manufacturing industry, seismi-

The prejudice and xenophobia ignited by Trump’s candidacy are merely manifestations of a more significant reality: The absence of hope directly enables the proliferation of hate. ating policy, canvassing door-to-door or winning the next election. Instead, American politics must take on the loftier objective of keeping imaginations aflame: cultivating hope in a country that is growing hopeless, resuscitating the people’s ability to dream in a time of grave nightmares and restoring faith in a nation that has, since its inception, embodied the universal and fundamentally human mission of creating a safer, more prosperous and more inclusive society. Mainstream politicians ought to internalize Cummings’ advice immediately. Indeed, it is the very negligence of hope that has permitted political outsiders to accumulate so much grassroots support this election cycle. Take,

cally transformed by robots and foreign imports, once employed 25 percent of the country’s workforce, providing even uneducated Americans with access to well-paid work. Today, the industry constitutes only 9 percent of American jobs. With skyrocketing higher education costs and fewer low-skilled job opportunities, the people who adore Trump have no alternative means of material or spiritual selfadvancement. To them, the American dream is legitimately dead. To them, the declinist motto, “Make America great again!” makes perfect sense. To them, blaming racial minorities is an easy — and maybe the only — coping mechanism in a world that has coldly and callously left them by the wayside.

This isn’t to say that Trump’s racist rhetoric or the deplorable actions of his supporters at rallies is excusable. It’s not, and level-headed citizens have a responsibility to reject the kind of close-minded discourse that, as Cummings put it, “turns (Americans) against each other.” But the prejudice and xenophobia ignited by Trump’s candidacy are merely manifestations of a more significant reality: The absence of hope directly enables the proliferation of hate. To classify Trump voters as monolithically bigoted or stupid, or “white trash,” is to ignore their genuine plight and overlook the prevalent hopelessness behind Trump’s meteoric ascendance. Even worse, urban liberals’ knee-jerk denunciation of Trump’s supporters, irrespective of their behavior, exhibits the same kind of ignorance and lack of compassion they so vehemently decry in Republicans. Trump, as a human being, might be worthy of our unwavering revulsion. But as a candidate admired by millions, he does deserve some serious and forthright examination. Like Cummings’ father, who refused to let his son be defined by his struggles, we cannot let some of the perceived deficiencies of this year’s competitors mar the whole election. This presidential race isn’t — and shouldn’t become — an anti-Trump crusade. Instead, it needs to be an election of hope, one in which both the voting public and the candidates recognize that hope against all odds is a fundamentally American tradition and that its deliberate preservation is essential in ensuring that America remains what it has always been: not a republic of fear but a republic of dreams.

Anuj Krishnamurthy ’19 can be reached at anuj_krishnamurthy@brown.edu.

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ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

The 1975 releases aesthetically risky breakup album Somber undertones, religious influences pervade group’s second studio album By JACLYN TORRES ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

The 1975 released its latest album, “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” Feb. 26, combining a sense of the old, the new and the unusual. The album starts with the band’s customary sound of frustrated lyrics mixed with an upbeat tune and purposeful, innovative instrumentals. In two of the album’s first three songs, “Love Me” and “UGH!,” frontman Matt Healy sings about the complications of a relationship that he knows is destined to fail. “Love Me” centers on a relationship with a famous singer who will not commit to loving him, but her own lyrics ask her music fans to love her work. Healy belts out the lyrics in a frustrated manner, angered by the girl’s ironic inability to love. “UGH!” talks about a relationship in which Healy was not given the freedom to pursue his own interests outside the shared experiences of his relationship. The title of the song encompasses all the expressions of annoyance and hurt surging through the song in one exclamatory word. While the title is simple, it is both powerful

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Matt Healy, lead singer, guitarist and pianist for British indie rock band The 1975, performs in concert. The band’s latest album, the lengthily titled “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” dropped late last month. and evocative. Both of these songs are deep and personal, but they are the most upbeat and positive songs of the album. The rest of the playlist takes on a somber, even depressing tone. A darkness pervades the music and seeps into the body of the listener. The change is immediate within

the first few notes of the fourth song, “A Change of Heart.” The song documents the realization that your partner is cold-hearted and can no longer be loved. Healy sings of “having a change of heart” and breaking off the relationship but still feeling the repercussions of his choice. He slides into a depressive state in which he

only wants to take a break from the world and go on the road for an undefined journey. “She’s American” piggybacks off “A Change of Heart” by moving on from this toxic relationship while remaining cautious about falling in love again. Healy sings of looking out for certain characteristics of his ex that will impede his efforts to find somebody new. “If I Believe You” is the most emotional track of the album, because Healy slowly sings of his fragile state of mind and his inability to forget his breakup. The song has undertones of religious influence: The background singers invoke gospel-like vocals, and the lyrics mention Healy’s strong belief in Evangelism despite his ex’s desire to change him into an atheist. The most powerful moment is when Healy moans, “And I’m broken and bleeding / And begging for help / And I’m asking you, Jesus, show yourself.” This lyric is vulnerable, beautiful and tragic, so much so that whether the listener is religious or not is beside the point. Healy cries for help in this deep depressive state, and his line appeals to the kindness of humanity to support him in some capacity. The next three songs, “Please Be

Naked,” “Lostmyhead” and “The Ballad of Me and My Brain” are about Healy’s lowest of the low moments. He has “lost his head” and does not even know who he is anymore. “Please Be Naked” is an instrumental, an unusual track to include in the band’s album as they have not included instrumental tracks on previous albums. The other two songs have minimal lyrics, another unique component of the playlist. The overall aesthetic and lyrical innovation of The 1975’s latest album allows the listener to gain a sense of understanding about the band and grip the harsh reality of breakups and toxic relationships. Healy’s voice is authentic, and his lyrics express the true emotions of a person going through a breakup. He does not pretend that these matters are simple. The words he sings to his listeners are thoughtful and precise. This album is the greatest work of The 1975’s career. The band members take musical risks and expand both their style and scope of material. “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet unaware of it” is a line for listeners who turn to music for thought-provoking lyrics, which the 1975 delivers in its most recent album.

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