SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 47
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Student groups grant Nguyen ’17 wide support Nguyen ’17 endorsed by 32 student groups, topping Garcia ’18 with four, Nelkin ’17 with two By MATTHEW JARRELL STAFF WRITER
COURTESY OF THEATRE ARTS AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES
Sock and Buskin’s latest production, “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” debuted Thursday in Leeds Theatre. The play, set entirely in a post-apocalyptic future, uses hit-sitcom “The Simpsons” to explore the evolution of pop culture fixtures within a changing society.
‘Mr. Burns’ examines growth of pop culture within society
‘The Simpsons’ serves as cultural pillar in postapocalyptic world on stage in Leeds Theatre By ALICIA DEVOS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sock and Buskin’s “Mr. Burns, A PostElectric Play” lights up the stage with superb acting, powerful commentar y and candle lighting. Opening Thursday and running
ARTS & CULTURE
through April 18 in the intimate Leeds Theater, the production, directed by Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Professor Connie Crawford, pushes audiences to contemplate how culture changes with society. Written by Anne Washburn, the play is unconventionally split into three acts that take place chronologically but in distinctly separate times, all somewhere in the undisclosed future. In the first act, characters at a run-down, seemingly outdoor refuge complete with a fire pit and camping chairs collectively attempt to remember the “Cape Feare” episode of “The
Simpsons.” But guards posted at the edges of the outpost alert the audience that this is no ordinary campfire conversation. When a stranger named Gibson, played by Jesse Weil ’16, stumbles into camp, the drawing of guns disturbs the previous facade of calm, and references to quarantines and nuclear plant meltdowns reveal the post-apocalyptic state of the world. Weil’s believably nervous and shell-shocked performance bolsters the entire scene. Alarmingly, not even the characters know the full scope of the state of the world. Jenny, played by Jenna Chapman ’19, bemoans this,
explaining, “I think I can handle anything if I know what it is.” Some time later, in the second act, the characters from the first act have formed a theater troupe that recreates scenes from “The Simpsons.” Because their destroyed world lacks electricity and many recognizable aspects of society, they must use the little that they have — candles and duct tape — to build their sets. Additionally, many groups memorializing “The Simpsons” like theirs also exist, forcing them to buy lines from people who can remember other parts of “The Simpsons” in » See MR. BURNS, page 3
Viet Nguyen ’17 won a commanding victory in the endorsements campaign for Undergraduate Council of Students president, capturing the support of 32 student groups in his bid to lead UCS for the 2016-2017 academic year. Among the groups pledging support for Nguyen were 1vyG: the InterIvy First Generation College Students’ Network, the Asian American Heritage Series, the Asian American Student Association, the Black Heritage Series, the Black Student Union, the Brown United Hmong and Miao Alliance, the Brown University Latinx Council, Bruin Club, the Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Relationship Abuse, Chess Club, Divine Rhythm Step Team, First-Gens@ Brown, Gates Scholars, Gender Action, Global Brigades, Harambee House, International Mentoring Program, Ivy Council, the Latino Heritage Series, Lecture Board, MEChA de Brown, the Multiracial Heritage Series, Natives at Brown, the Queer Alliance, Quest » See UCS, page 2
Tenure process varies ‘The Flick’ picks up after the credits roll PW production explores among departments questions of authenticity, For 76 percent of faculty members, tenure offers lifetime employment, academic freedom By JULIE CENTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Complicated, controversial and misunderstood are words that could be used to describe a number of topics in higher education, but tenure, a title 76 percent of University faculty members garner, is perhaps the academic policy most defined by them. Tenure guarantees faculty members lifetime employment to protect their academic freedom “to pursue their research wherever it leads them,” said Dean of Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12. Tenured faculty members can only be removed from their positions if there is
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“egregious” behavior, such as academic or sexual misconduct, McLaughlin added. The University typically reviews between 15 and 20 tenure cases a year, McLaughlin said, adding that only one or two usually get rejected. The Corporation expects the University to manage the tenure track so that 70 to 75 percent of the faculty members are tenured to maintain “a percentage of the faculty that is always refreshing,” McLaughlin said. Process The internal tenure track for a professor begins the moment someone is hired as an assistant professor. After an initial four-year probationary period, assistant professors are reviewed for reappointment for an additional three years in which they must continue to teach and produce research that is » See TENURE, page 2
identity, power of silence with movie theater staff By JASON GOETTISHEIM CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I still remember my most unusual — and potentially most embarrassing — Halloween costume. I was 10 or 11, and my movie-obsessed friends thought there would be nothing more clever than to glue a large slab of black cardboard to our shirts, stick half-eaten popcorn and spilleddrink containers to the paper, and call ourselves a movie theater floor. It was likely the first time I thought about all of the trash left behind when the credits roll. Ten years later, Annie Baker’s play “The Flick” brought me back to
ARTS & CULTURE
ELI WHITE / HERALD
In director Sam Rubinek’s ’17 hands, Annie Baker’s “The Flick” is a fasterpaced exploration of young characters’ friendships and senses of self. this world, this time exploring less tasks. Reading the play shortly after the trash and more the people who it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama clean it up. Baker’s slow-burning play in 2014, I knew that Baker’s message is intentionally lacking in theatrics, was profound, yet the scripted pauses instead acting more as an exercise in and mammoth runtime of three hours testing the audience’s patience, with tested audiences who attended the whole scenes consisting of charac- original Off-Broadway production ters performing mundane cleaning » See FLICK, page 2
WEATHER
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
NEWS BrownThink sparks discourse on immigraton policy with focus on Rhode Island diversity, needs
NEWS Working group initiated by Gov. Raimondo recommends solutions to flaws in probation system
COMMENTARY Kumar ’17: Passage of HB2 in South worrisome, but severe backlash brings hope
COMMENTARY Meyer ’17: Spring Weekend brings influx of drugs supporting violence of drug trade
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» TENURE, from page 1 reviewed by the Dean’s office annually, McLaughlin said. During an assistant professor’s sixth year, the department considers tenure. Candidates write a “career narrative” that is filed in a dossier with all relevant published work, said Johanna Hanink, assistant professor of classics who recently completed the tenure process. The chair of a department then assembles a committee of senior faculty members who are tasked with forming a list of potential external sources to evaluate the dossier, said David Weil, professor and chair of the economics department. Candidates may both propose external evaluators and make the committee aware of any sources they think would fail to report unbiasedly, Weil added. When at least eight external evaluators have written letters of evaluation, the committee reads through the dossier containing all of the candidate’s information and the external evaluations and writes a report, McLaughlin said. The entire department then assembles to discuss the candidate’s career and votes to grant tenure. If the department recommends tenure for the candidate, the dossier is sent to the Tenure Promotion and Appointments Committee for recommendation. From there, the candidate’s case must be approved by the Provost, the President and the Corporation for the “pro forma” final confirmation, McLaughlin said. If a tenure case is turned down, it is reviewed by the Committee on Faculty Equity and Diversity to review the process for discrimination or procedural discrepancies, McLaughlin said. But
FLICK, from page 1 — those who stayed past the first act, anyway. But director Sam Rubinek’s ’17 superb production of “The Flick,” which concluded its run Monday at the Production Workshop, did not encounter these pitfalls, precisely because Rubinek was aware of them. He noted that while most shows are “dialogue punctuated by silences,” Baker’s writing is more “silence pierced by dialogue.” To call this production silent by any means would be a disservice to the small noises — the sweep of a broom, the crunch of a popcorn kernel, the whirring of a projector — that make up life at the theater. Boosted confidently by Josh Cape’s ’17 set design, featuring mismatched chairs and an appropriately hideous carpet that evokes Hollywood B-films, and Ahmed Ashour’s ’19 straightforward lighting design, the production successfully conjures the monotony of everyday life for the workers. The show opens on Sam — the oldest and most seasoned of the three workers, portrayed with nuance by Peter Bowden ’16 — teaching tightlaced newcomer Avery, played by Brad Weekes ’17, the ropes at Worcester County’s last remaining movie theater with a film projector. The first third of the play, which watches Avery and Sam’s friendship develop in real time, is often intentionally uncomfortable; Avery’s youth and almost robotic social nature could not be more different from the casual and more reflective Sam. But Sam and Avery are not alone at the theater — the spunky and hilarious Rose, portrayed
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the University tries to minimize tenure case rejection through transparency, he added. “Being turned down for tenure is a very serious setback professionally,” McLaughlin said. To relieve this issue, the Dean’s office’s annual reviews aim to inform professors who are “not proceeding in a way that it looks like they will receive tenure” of their progress so they can potentially find a new position before being evaluated and rejected, he said. External tenure is “not initiated by a clock reaching a certain point,” but is instead given to faculty members who did not rise through the ranks at the University. Departments grant tenure to assistant professors at other universities or retain the tenured position of senior faculty members who are hired, Weil said. The University aims to “demystify” the complicated tenure process for junior faculty members by hosting workshops that clarify the expectations and review the checklist of demands, Mclaughlin said. “I found people to be very transparent along the whole way,” said Hanink, adding that her department chair kept her informed of the tenure calendar. “I know that’s not the case for some of my friends at different universities,” she said. In computer science, the department gives strong recommendations and feedback without the expectation that junior faculty will follow the directions exactly, said Ugur Cetintemel, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science. The department should be a guiding force for junior faculty members expecting tenure, but feedback should not limit different
professors’ own notions of achievement, said Cetintemel. “There are many paths to success,” he said.
by Emma Miller ’16, maintains a mysterious presence for the majority of the first act, seen only through a window into the projection booth looming over the theater. The show, portrayed as a series of vignettes in the lives of these three characters, is at its best when all three are on stage, but the superb performances of Miller and Bowden often overshadow Weekes, whose less natural performance, while understandable given Avery’s character, comes across as less authentic than that of his co-stars. But the staging and Baker’s writing are such that we are drawn to Avery as the show’s emotional center; his desire to work at a theater with a film projector comes from his yearning for truth and authenticity. For him, watching a movie not projected on film is like “looking at a postcard of the Mona Lisa” instead of the painting itself. Avery’s discussions with Sam about what makes a great film — and, by extension, great art — reveal a level of insecurity regarding reputation and a desire for validation, ultimately sparking questions about broader themes of identity. Avery fears that his future will not take the right path and hopes that he can look back and know he “made the right choices,” while Sam reflects on the choices he has already made and the path that led him there. The characters question what it means to be oneself and how one can be authentic when it feels as though the path is no longer clear. Baker asks us to reflect on whether our expectations for ourselves are too high, whether we seek too much and whether it is still okay to “settle,” however
we choose to define that word. We watch as Avery, Sam and Rose learn to trust one another — and then, in a particularly devastating scene, to lose that trust — as they argue over topics including race, ability, sexuality and class, viewing in close-up the subtleties and nuances that connect us to other people. Such an emphasis on face-to-face communication is ironic given the play’s focus on the shift to digital cinematography. This show is not for everyone. It is long, uncomfortable and polarizing. A college-aged audience would relate most deeply with the stories of coming of age and finding oneself that the production explores, but young people, accustomed to faster-paced Friday night recreation, may be the ones most unsatisfied with the slow speed of the performance. In many ways, the pacing of the show is slower than that of real life, perhaps so that we are able to fully process and appreciate each moment as opposed to immediately casting it aside, as we so often do in a digital world. But the show is more true to itself, and to life, than most I’ve seen, celebrating the smallest of moments and deftly tackling deep questions like the youthful quest for authenticity. Indeed, Avery does look for authenticity throughout the show, and he finds it in this movie theater, looking at a non-existent screen that should rest where the audience sits. It seems that we almost make eye contact with Avery, wanting to close the gap between the audience and the stage. But we remember that Avery is still a character on a stage, there to remind us of the beauty of the reality we leave behind in entering the world of theater.
Standards The University uses the three dimensions of research, teaching and service to evaluate tenure candidates, Cetintemel said. While service is important, research and teaching are weighted more significantly. The standards are system-wide between similar universities, but differ amongst departments, McLaughlin said. “Our expectations are not very divergent from those of our peer groups,” he said. Tenure candidates in the sciences are expected to have received research funding from organizations such as the National Science Foundation or other grant providers “as sign that research is promising and successful,” McLaughlin said. Candidates should also have a number of published articles in top peer-reviewed journals that are cited in other researchers’ work, he said. In the economics department, “tenure is a very high hurdle to jump over, so most people are going to want to have as much publication under their belt before they get to it,” Weil said. A good economics article could take as many as five years to publish, he said, citing 6 percent as the acceptance rate for top journals. “Any junior faculty member at a top university economics department is exquisitely conscious of how difficult this publication process is and how long it takes and how bad timing can mean that you don’t get tenure,” Weil added. Tenure review in the computer science department focuses on peerreviewed publications, peer-reviewed
conferences and software development, Cetintemel said. Unlike other sciences, the department does not use research funding as a metric for successful research but merely “a means to an end,” he said. In the Department of Classics, there is “an understanding that you need to publish a book to get tenure” which usually stems from the professor’s doctorate dissertation, Hanink said. In addition, professors are expected to have evidence of a second project underway, she added. These are “reasonable expectations for a hardworking assistant professor that comes out of a PhD program with a dissertation,” McLaughlin said. Though teaching and research are weighted equally in determining tenure, teaching is “notoriously difficult to evaluate,” so research standards are more measurable, McLaughlin said. But “it’s almost impossible to get tenure at Brown if teaching is weak,” McLaughlin said. While the committee reviews students’ teaching evaluations, professors’ teaching materials and peer observations of classes, many variables of teaching assessment are unaccounted for, McLaughlin said. For example, some classes are inherently less popular due to class size or subject matter, McLaughlin said. In addition, studies show that professors from underrepresented minority groups frequently get lower scores on student evaluations for variables such as “knowledge of topic.” These discrepancies “need to be interpreted and contextualized,” McLaughlin said. Results Though tenure provides job security for professors, it does not slow down
» UCS, from page 1 Scholars at Brown, REZilience Magazine, SCRAP, Shades of Brown, $ocial Classmates, SOMOS and the Round and Vietnamese Students Association. Brown Gates Scholars campus leader Gabe Reyes ’18 spoke highly of Nguyen’s work in promoting firstgeneration and low-income student interests on campus. Nguyen initiated the creation of the First-Generation Student Center and assisted in the process of doubling of the University’s emergency fund and increasing travel aid for international students, according to his platform. “I feel confident trusting Viet,” Reyes said. “He’s already done so much — more than any other candidate.” Nguyen’s drive to accomplish his campaign’s goals would make him a strong leader, Reyes said. “Viet has demonstrated that if there’s something he wants done on this campus, he’ll push for it — he’ll fight for it,” he said. Kevin Garcia ’18 attracted votes of confidence from the Brown Democrats, Brown Republicans, Greek Council and Matanya’s Hope, while Zachary Nelkin ’17 garnered backing from the Providence Democratic Socialists and Brown Students for Bernie. Student group representatives supporting Garcia highlighted his exemplary service on UCS for the past year and his in-depth knowledge of student concerns. Brown Democrats Vice President Brian Cohn ’17 attended the candidates’ debate Thursday and praised Garcia’s performance. “Kevin’s experience shone through,” Cohn said. “We liked seeing knowledge on a range of issues.” Garcia is a member of the Brown
their research, McLaughlin said. Rather the program is designed to “protect the integrity of the research that (faculty members) are doing and their freedom to pursue it,” he added. In fact, tenure can increase faculty productivity and creativity, encouraging crossing disciplinary boundaries and pushing research further, Hanink said. Since being approved for tenure, she has engaged in more ambitious, longer-term research that she previously would not have considered “tenure-safe,” she said. “A lot of those field-changing books took a decade to write,” Hanink said, adding that tenure’s ability to provide freedom is especially important in the humanities. “(Tenure) allows you to take bigger academic and intellectual risks,” Weil said, noting that untenured faculty members are fearful to pursue research that “might not pan out” in time for publication. But as faculty members move up the ranks, priorities may shift from the highly sought-after research of junior faculty members to service for the University, the department and the greater community, Cetintemel said. Pride and ambition continue to motivate professors even after receiving professional security, McLaughlin said, adding that professional regard is worth more than salary to many faculty members. The ambition to succeed in their fields is “human nature for people who are high performers.” Even after receiving tenure, there are still awards to receive, research funding to earn and problems in each field to solve, McLaughlin said, adding that “the ambition doesn’t stop.” Democrats, and Cohn spoke positively of his work with the group. “His ideas of accessibility, tolerance and compassion really fit well with the Brown Dems’ mission,” Cohn said. Support for Garcia from the Brown Republicans was equally strong. “We were really pleased that Kevin reached out to us,” said member Zach Neronha ’19. “We thought it showed that he was going to stand up for us and all the student groups on campus.” Neronha also noted Garcia’s UCS work placed him a cut above the other candidates. “There were a lot of consistencies between the platforms. … We like the way Kevin comes at this platform. We think he’ll do a great job implementing these things through his experience on UCS,” he said. Garcia’s ability to effectively navigate the partisan divide makes him a particularly effective candidate, Neronha said. “I think it’s a beautiful fact that in the state of our political system right now, the Brown Dems and Brown Republicans have endorsed the same person,” he said. Nelkin’s promise to change the internal structure of UCS resonated with Brown Students for Bernie, said member Aidan Calvelli ’19. “We liked that his platform was about making UCS more democratic. That’s in line with Bernie’s methods,” he said. There exists substantial crossover between the approaches of Sanders and Nelkin in terms of “increasing elections and turnout,” Calvelli said. “We’d be doing Bernie a service by encouraging student groups to be more active in campus politics,” he said. In his unopposed bid for the UCS vice presidency, Tim Ittner ’18 took 10 endorsements.
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TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016 • PAGE 3
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Enrollment for non-concentrator CS courses soars Department expands non-concentrator class options in light of demand from students, faculty By SUVY QIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
One in five current undergraduate students will have taken a computer science course before graduation, said Ugur Cetintemel, professor of computer science and chair of the department. While enrollment in CS classes has seen record growth in recent years, many students end up in classes intended for non-concentrators. As a result, the number of CS courses offered for non-concentrators has also increased, said Tom Doeppner, associate research professor of computer science and vice chair of the department. A new course, CSCI 0100: “Data Fluency for All,” will be offered this fall and serves as an introduction to data science for non-concentrators, Doeppner said, adding that the department expects a lot of interest in the new course. “We’ve made a conscious effort to have more courses available for nonconcentrators,” he said, adding that this is a move away from a focus on concentrators.
For many years, only CSCI 0020: “The Digital World” and CSCI 0040: “Introduction to Scientific Computing and Problem Solving” were offered for non-concentrators. CSCI 0040 targeted engineering students, and CSCI 0020 was offered for the rest of the student body. But six years ago, CSCI 0931: “Introduction to Computation for the Humanities and Social Sciences” was developed to give computing skills to social sciences and humanities concentrators without a “full-blown computing course,” Doeppner said. Later CSCI 0080: “A First Byte of Computer Science” was created by Professor of Computer Science Michael Littman as an “introduction to computer science as an academic discipline,” Doeppner added. The growth in non-concentrator classes is a result of the demand from both students and faculty members, Cetintemel said. Sometimes, faculty members approach the CS department asking which classes their students should take, Cetintemel said. Once there is a significant demand, the CS department tries to decide whether to tweak a course or create a new course depending on the intensity of the need. “These classes teach computational thinking — a structured way of solving problems — and programming is the
way we implement that,” he said. “You are trying to create a recipe that would give a solution to any complex problem.” Despite its common perception, “computer science does not equal programming,” he added. “Computing is a real enabler,” Cetintemel said. “Regardless what area you’re working on, if you can use computing and information, you’ll be at a competitive advantage. You’ll be able to do things others can not.” Doeppner attributed the increasing popularity of classes to the economy. Not only do people see taking CS classes as gaining a skill that leverages a successful job search, but also enrollment correlates with the economy’s performance, Doeppner said. “When the economy — particularly the high tech economy — is doing well, our enrollments go up,” he said. Enrollment increased dramatically during the dot-com boom and fell during the dot-com bust, Doeppner said. But even during these “low periods,” CS students were still getting job offers, though the perception was that there were fewer jobs, he said. “Now the tech economy is doing well, and our enrollment is far greater than it has ever been,” he added. This growth in CS enrollment is a “nationwide phenomenon,” Doeppner said.
LILLY NGUYEN / HERALD
Several students stated that their choice to take CS classes was influenced by the job market. Eddy Ones ’17 took CSCI 0040 the spring of his first year to satisfy a requirement for his mechanical engineering concentration. But he realized “it wasn’t enough for me,” he said, adding that he has since taken several other CS classes. “The thought process behind computer science is transferable to other fields,” Ones said. “It can open opportunities in the job market” in a society that is shifting toward a technology focus,
he said. Similarly, Austen Sharpe ’18, an environmental science concentrator, took CSCI 0020 her first year, motivating her to take more CS classes. She decided against concentrating in CS because of the difficulty of finding appropriate study abroad programs and the lack of flexibility of course selection, Sharpe said. “I viewed computer science as a creative tool, as another way to express your ideas,” Sharpe said. It’s like “an outlet” for a lot of different concentrators, she added.
BrownThink sparks debate on immigration policy in R.I. Immigration reform contest invites students to offer ideas on pathways for change, centers on local issues By GWEN EVERETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Students, faculty members and policy experts gathered at BrownThink 2016, an undergraduate public policy competition, to discuss immigration policy reform this past weekend.
The competition aims to provide Brown undergraduates who are not necessarily public policy concentrators with an opportunity to take a policy, solutions-based approach to current national and international issues, said Kimberly Meilun ’17, student organizer of BrownThink. Meilun said she founded
MARIANNA MCMURDOCK / HERALD
The three-day program allowed student participants from all areas of study to discuss solutions to current national debates on immigration.
» MR. BURNS, from page 1 order to maintain their competitive edge. Besides a shortage of lines, the lack of electric power creates demand for items like lithium batteries and flashlights. A bizarre mash-up of pop songs written by Professor of Music Wang Lu marks the end of the second act. Quincy, played by Julia Fein ’18, complements the mash-up’s symbolization of cultural breakdown with some of the act’s closing words, in which she declares that the power of a cartoon lies in its lack of motivation or consequence. “Where else do we get that?
No where!” she says. “Meaningless entertainment is actually pretty hard.” A sign presented before the beginning of the third act announces that 75 years have passed, though 750 might be more plausible. Costumes have morphed from drab to colorful, from mundane to zany and music is almost ever-present in this heavily futuristic final act. The Simpsons have attained mythical status. Their original story now intertwines with reality: “One family survived: The Simpsons,” one character says. After some drawn-out singing, Mr. Burns, the antagonist in “The Simpsons” played by Evan Silver ’16, appears
the organization because she felt there was “a lack of forums (on campus) for students to go and talk about public policies” outside of classes within the department. The program spanned three days, starting Friday and ending Sunday. The first two days of the program were dedicated to introducing the topic to participants. Sunday, competitors were tasked with conceptualizing and presenting their own public policy solutions, Meilun said. BrownThink chose immigration as its topic for its inaugural year because of its relevance to the current election cycle, Meilun said, adding that the program hoped to “address as many aspects of this really complicated, personal, controversial issue as we could.” Not all students who participated in the programs were required to compete, Meilun said. Instead, students learned about immigration policy through discussions and presentations delivered by experts on the subject. Discussion leaders and presenters included Karen Sullivan, a lawyer specializing in international law and immigration policy, and Yalidy Matos, a postdoctoral fellow at the University. Matos held a discussion
on the history and distinctions between the classifications of illegal and legal immigrants. Organizers also sought to frame the topic specifically with regard to Rhode Island, said Carrie Nordlund, associate director of the Public Policy Program, to participants of the event. Not only did the focus on Rhode Island make the topic of immigration more manageable for students, but it also allowed for greater specificity, she added. Additionally, while national mainstream media often talks about immigration in terms of Central and South American immigrants, the picture of immigration in Rhode Island is demographically different, Nordlund said. It is important to think about the diversity of communities and individuals to whom we are referring when talking about immigration because these communities are culturally distinct from one another, have different needs and require different public policy solutions, she added. Aaron Mayer ’18.5 competed at BrownThink and said his team structured its policy proposal around the challenge of attracting more high-skilled immigrants to Rhode Island. While the
demand for H-1 visas is usually around 234,000 per year, the United States issues only 55,000 for high-skilled workers each year, Mayer said. Mayer’s team proposed that the federal government issue 65,000 visas at the start of the year and an additional 1,000 each following month, he said. According to the proposal, the visas would be auctioned off to firms — like Google or Apple — looking to fill positions with high-skilled workers, he said. This “highest bidder” formula works because firms that need high-skilled workers the most would be willing to pay the most, he added. But Mayer’s team did not win the competition in part because its proposal did not focus enough on Rhode Island, he said. The winning team proposed a solution that allowed Rhode Island firms to sponsor low-skilled workers under 18 in a fellowship program. It was difficult to think about immigration only in terms of Rhode Island, Mayer added, because the immigration problem is a national issue. Nevertheless, Mayer said he found the experience immersive and educational. “I now feel like I gained an expertise, a real mastery” of immigration policy, he said.
and challenges Bart Simpson, played by Weil, to a duel. Sheets handed to every audience member before the third act read, “Every story ends on a dark and raging river.” And a dark and raging river it is. On the surface, the play tells a story about the ways culture changes to reflect society. The plot illuminates this clearly by directly highlighting the transformation of “The Simpsons” from casual retelling to staged re-creation to mythic legend. “It was very important to us that the main story was clear to the audience, regardless of whether or not they have
seen ‘The Simpsons,’” Crawford wrote in an email to The Herald. Beneath the obvious, there is another, darker layer to the play. The nuclear catastrophes wreak havoc on society in the first act. But even in the second act, once people have moved beyond sheer terror and begun to rebuild, even in a society in which the culture has been unplugged, greed and competition still exist and haunt the characters’ lives. Mr. Burns is the selfish, powerhungry villain in the third act — the individual human embodiment of the corrosive social conditions that surface in the second. Bart Simpson
appears to defeat Mr. Burns and what he represents, with the force of love, backed by his family. “How a group of people struggle to build and maintain a loving (if flawed) family is the essential question of this play for me,” Crawford wrote. Bart demonstrates the power of this familial support, singing, “Life never dies; I will meet my life so gloriously.” But then Mr. Burns pops out from backstage on a stationary bike affixed with wires, powering something — a nuclear generator, perhaps? This closing, salient image is foreshadowed by some of Mr. Burns’ earlier words: “I’m never leaving. I don’t go away.”
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PAGE 4 • TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
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Sexual assault survivor, alum tells story in new book ‘We Believe You’ aims to tell stories of campus sexual assault survivors unfiltered by media By SHIRA BUCHSBAUM SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On his sixth night at Brown, Andrew Brown ’15 was sexually assaulted. He’s spoken about his assault in a Huffington Post piece, the recent Oscar-nominated documentary “The Hunting Ground” and now again in the book, “We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out,” to be released April 13. While Brown wishes he had never been assaulted and recognizes that “survivors are completely in a position to tell as much or as little of their story as they’d like,” he said he “felt surrounded by such supportive communities” that he wanted to share his story. “For me, knowing that if one other person felt less alone because of what I shared, it would be worth it,” he said. Brown said he connected with the editors of the book, Annie Clark and Andrea Pino, the co-founders of the survivor advocacy group End Rape On Campus, through his appearance in “The Hunting Ground.” The documentary focuses on Clark and Pino’s advocacy work and their lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where they were both sexually assaulted as undergraduates. The pair was moved to gather survivors’ narratives because they “wanted to compile something that gave a platform and showed these stories in a way that was unedited and unfiltered by the
media,” Clark said. In featuring the narratives of a diverse collection of survivors, the book sheds light on “intersecting identities that we didn’t usually see,” Clark said. “We Believe You” features stories, artwork, poetry, letters and transcripts from dozens of survivors of sexual assault from an array of gender identities, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, religions and immigration and socioeconomic statuses. “I’m really proud of the representation of the book. We just haven’t had this type of representation before,” Pino said. She emphasized that the diversity is not limited to demographic qualifiers; there is diversity in experience represented in the book as well. Brown noted the importance of representing the spectrum of experiences people have with sexual violence: Sexual assault and healing following trauma “happen to so many different kinds of people, and it happens in so many different kinds of ways,” he said. Clark harkened back to the typified manner in which the media portrays survivors’ stories and activism. “It’s about time that survivors are portrayed as people and not just as stories and not just as figures,” Pino said. Working to mitigate the suffering that results from sexual assault is not done in one way either, Clark said. There is an expectation that “you have to share your story,” and that’s simply not the case, Clark said. “A mother teaching her sons how to respect other human beings is just as powerful” as going public with one’s experience, she said. Brown echoed the importance of
survivors sharing their experiences “on their own terms.” With journalists or film editors, “what you’re missing out on is the full experience people have. They’re already making decisions about what’s most palatable.” “We Believe You” seeks to remedy that issue by contextualizing the survivors’ narratives in their lives before and after their assault. The narratives are structured in chronological sections rather than told side by side in distinct blocks, and Brown’s is one of a few that weaves throughout the book, thematically stringing the pieces together, he said. Brown added that the editors have made sure that the survivors in the book are happy with how they are portrayed. Concerns with confidentiality also shaped the text, Clark and Pino said. Some contributors are anonymous because of safety concerns, and a few survivors dropped out, Pino said. “It’s a privilege to be out there publicly with my name and my face because I’m not living in fear of retaliation,” Clark said. Not everyone has that privilege, she added. Brown also acknowledged that his case differs from many: Though it “was not handled well by Brown (University),” Brown’s assaulter was eventually expelled from campus, he said. But the healing process is different for everyone regardless of legal or hearing outcomes, Brown said. “It’s not all about reconciliation and forgiveness or confrontation — it’s about your relationship that you have with yourself.” Pino and Clark noted that while the book is intended to demonstrate to other survivors that they are not alone,
COURTESY OF END RAPE ON CAMPUS
“We Believe in You” is a collection of narratives that reveals the stories of survivors of campus sexual assault through poetry, artwork and stories. it will resonate differently with different audiences. Ideally, it will teach friends and family members how to create a strong support system for survivors. As far as campus support systems go, Bita Shooshani, a Counseling and Psychological Services psychotherapist who works with survivors of sexual assault, noted that the Sexual Assault Peer Educators at Brown do a “lot of incredible work” educating the community. “It’s important that everyone know they can do something and to know that this happens in our community,”
she said. “It’s really easy for people to go into a place of denial” about sexual assault on campus. The book could be an “opportunity to collectively break out of the denial,” Shooshani added. Brown maintains the book will help people feel like they have a place to turn. “The real point is that this never should have happened to you, and you are worthy of being helped and worthy of being believed,” he said. Proceeds from sales of the book will go to End Rape on Campus.
Working group aims to reform R.I. probation system
Rhode Island home to second-highest probation rate in country, experts cite lengthy terms as flaw By LAURA FELENSTEIN STAFF WRITER
The work of the Rhode Island Justice Reinvestment Working Group, assembled by Gov. Gina Raimondo to improve the state’s criminal justice system, seems poised to come to fruition as the anniversary of its July 2015 inception draws nearer. According to the Council of State Governments Justice Center’s website, the group was created to reform the Rhode Island probation system. The group’s work follows 2008 efforts to reform the criminal justice system that focused on incarceration. Rhode Island has the second highest
probation rate in the country with 23,000 people in the system, according to a presentation available online that the Justice Center gave Raimondo in December. Probation, according to the presentation, is an over-utilized sentencing option, and those on probation often remain under supervision for far too long. The high probation rate is a direct result of these two issues, the center argued. Nationally, periods of probation last an average of two years, whereas the average probation period in Rhode Island amounts to three years if probation is the only sentencing and six years
ELI WHITE / HERALD
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s RI Justice Reinvestment Working Group plans to reduce the state’s probation rate, which is second highest in the country.
for probation following incarceration. Such high probation lengths mean that there are not enough resources offered by the General Assembly to properly supervise the entire population on probation — in Rhode Island, 60 percent of the probation population goes unsupervised, according to the presentation. This fault in the system leads to high costs and high rates of failure. Within three years, 50 percent of the individuals on probation are up for resentencing, the presentation indicated. For those who are supervised, the lengthy probation term does not significantly reduce the rate of repeat offenses. According to Chief Justice Paul Suttell, co-chair of the working group, “Statistics show that the vast majority of people who reoffend do so within the first three years, and it drops off dramatically after that.” At this stage, the working group aims to increase the efficiency of probation supervision and bolster public safety by reducing the probation population and recidivism, Suttell said. While the group has put forth several recommendations to improve the probation system, the recommendations can only make an impact if state legislators pass bills to make the recommendations law or if rule changes are introduced directly within the courts, Suttell said. Such changes are expected to occur before the end of this legislative session, which could end in late June, he added.
“One of the changes would be to increase the burden of proof for finding that a person has violated the terms of probation,” Suttell said. Whereas previously, a judge needed only to be reasonably satisfied that the person in question violated the conditions of probation, the adoption of the new rules introduced by the working group would make it so that a judge would have to find violation by a preponderance of the evidence. According to Suttell, a second significant change the group means to implement is a three-year maximum probation length for non-violent offenses, unless a judge has compelling reasoning to lengthen that sentence. “The idea would be to keep people on probation for shorter periods but to provide more services to them that are treatment opportunities,” Suttell said. “Perhaps job training — whatever might be necessary to ensure that they don’t reoffend.” Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Rhode Island, believes it is too soon to foresee any challenges the group may encounter in transforming its recommendations from ideas into legislation. He worked in parallel with the group but was not a member. Members of the group had significant disagreements, Brown said. “I don’t know how that will all play out when it comes to trying to get legislation passed.” According to Carl Reynolds, legal and policy advisor for the Justice
Center, controversy still surrounds the question of how to respond to violations of the conditions of probation. In the current system, probation violators serve an average of one year in prison regardless of whether their violation is technical — a misstep that would not be a crime if the person were not on probation. The group intends to define more clearly the different kinds of violations that are committed and attach punishments accordingly. “We really tried to push the state to think about a more constrained response overall to that juncture in the system. Swiftness and certainty of punishment are more effective than severity alone,” Reynolds said. Once the legislation comes to a conclusion, the question of whether or not the state will receive funding for the implementation of these changes will still remain, Reynolds said. “I think (Rhode Island can get) a couple million dollars, potentially, of funding directed to the state that helps do training, improve data systems — whatever ends up making the most sense,” he added. If the state grants the funding, Reynolds said, the Justice Reinvestment Working Group will continue collaborating with the state on implementing changes. “There is no question (that the working group is doing necessary work). … We are very pleased that the governor has brought together this group to try to address this really critical issue,” Brown said.
TODAY
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016 • PAGE 5
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As the weather finally begins to warm after an unexpectedly long winter, buds are at last able to bloom. Students walk past these blossoms on the way to the SciLi, hoping to finish their workload in time for Spring Weekend.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Los Angeles Times Puzzle c r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd
“It’s about time that survivors are portrayed as people and not just as stories and not just as figures.”
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Gearshift letters 6 Where a baby develops 10 Largemouth fish 14 Pianist Chick with 22 Grammys 15 Sheltered, at sea 16 Johnson of “Laugh-In” 17 Banjo sound 18 Org. with many long missions 19 Whopper maker? 20 “Fine, don’t listen to me” 23 Old TV-top receiver 26 Calms 27 Lobster-steak combo 31 Prefix with -logue 32 “Airplane!” actor Robert 33 “We don’t know yet,” in a TV schedule 36 Corner-to-corner line: Abbr. 37 Accustom (to) 39 Timely blessing 40 Some MIT grads 41 Tabloid twosome 42 Lull in a cradle 43 Two-rope jumping 47 Texas landmark 51 Two-man Army helicopters 52 Nonverbal communication ... and what the starts of 20-, 27and 43-Across can be 56 Spirited horse 57 Like some dorms 58 PlugIns Scented Oil maker 62 Multigenerational tale 63 Sharpen 64 Haunted, say 65 Marked, as a ballot 66 Squeezed (out) 67 Ward off DOWN 1 Tipper’s 15: Abbr. 2 Use oars 3 Org. promoting hunter safety 4 Navigational hazard
5 Southern California’s __ Beach 6 Classified listing 7 Skin care brand with an Active Botanicals line 8 Middle: Pref. 9 Sweetheart 10 Lightweight wood 11 Ram in the sky 12 Like bread made into stuffing, perhaps 13 Feudal servants 21 What a keeper may keep 22 Two-legged zebras? 23 Remark to the audience 24 Film with nakedness 25 Financial dept. 28 Green digit? 29 Onetime EgyptSyria fed. 30 Sandwich bread 33 Place for a crown or cap 34 Lawn bowling game 35 Pharaohs’ crosses
37 Norah Jones’ “What Am __ You?” 38 Modern, in Munich 39 “Enter the Dragon” martial artist 41 Hollywood favorite 44 Praised 45 Waste watchers: Abbr. 46 Cloak’s partner
— Andrea Pino, co-founder of End Rape on Campus
47 Put down 48 Seuss’ environmental advocate 49 Words of wisdom 50 “Oops, sorry” 53 Yearn (for) 54 Corner for breakfast 55 Trait carrier 59 Dadaist Jean 60 Yahtzee cube 61 Slender fish
See SURVIVOR on page 4.
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Bone Marrow Registry Drive 10:00 A.M. Sayles Hall Lobby
Words — topics — interpretation 6:00 P.M. Marston Hall
Prisoners, Students and Prison History 12:00 P.M. Nightingale-Brown House
Providence is Not Our Playground 6:30 P.M. BERT, Room 105
TOMORROW 2016 Black Lavender Experience 12:00 P.M. Churchill House
A Discussion on Chronic Absenteeism in RI 7:00 P.M. Wilson Hall, Room 102
Andrew Ahn: Filmmaking as a Queer KoreanAmerican 6:30 P.M. Kassar House
Mr. Burns, A PostElectric Play 8:00 P.M. Leeds Theatre, Lyman Hall
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL
Nguyen ’17 for UCS president As students gear up to vote in elections for the Undergraduate Council of Students this week, The Herald endorses Viet Nguyen ’17 for UCS president. Nguyen, like the other two candidates — Kevin Garcia ’18 and Zachary Nelkin ’17 — plans to prioritize amplifying marginalized voices on campus and increasing campus inclusivity and accessibility. All three of these candidates are clearly passionate, qualified and promising, but Nguyen is the best man for the job. While Garcia and Nelkin have both been active members of UCS for several semesters, Nguyen spent the past three years building connections with student groups and administrators. He spearheaded projects such as the First-Generation Student Center set to open this summer, working closely with President Christina Paxson P’19, Provost Richard Locke P’17 and current UCS President and Vice President Sazzy Gourley ’16 and Alana Bhatla ’16. He has also established ties with cultural student groups, international student groups and LGBTQ groups, and he hopes to use those relationships to help bring attention to and prioritize the concerns of historically underrepresented groups in the future. Nguyen intends to realize his goals by advocating campus resources that take into account the multifaceted identities of students. For example, he would like to see the University hire more Counseling and Psychological Services counselors who specialize in areas in which students most frequently seek help in order to decrease CAPS appointment wait times and the workload of counselors who specialize in those areas. (The average wait time for an appointment with one of the two practitioners of color employed by CAPS is currently over a month.) He wants to increase the accessibility of Title IX services by pushing for partnerships between the Title IX office and other campus resources so that students can report sexual assault cases to whichever administrative body they feel most comfortable approaching. Nguyen also hopes to increase the number of career-oriented on-campus jobs available to international and undocumented students, especially teaching assistant positions, which require students to provide Social Security numbers when applying. It is important to note that Nguyen devised his plans in cooperation with the student groups he hopes to represent. He hopes to continue pushing for the incorporation of student input into University initiatives in order to avoid situations like the frustration over the recent strategic plan released by the Swearer Center for Public Service. He believes that future initiatives should be preventative rather than reactive, a goal that can be accomplished by providing more channels through which students can provide feedback to the University. Nguyen seems to be the candidate best situated to address the issues most salient in our community. We hope our fellow students will keep him in mind as they place their votes. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Emma Axelrod ’18 and Emma Jerzyk ’17, and its members, Eben Blake ’17 and Leeron Lempel ’19. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Notes from North Carolina NIKHIL KUMAR staff columnist In my last column (“Don’t dismiss the South,” March 17), I pushed back against “the traditional narrative of an enlightened, prosperous North and a backwards, poverty-stricken South,” going so far as to characterize the latter as “a multicultural region that, though often mired in the weight of its past, also enjoys an enormous capacity for progress and modernity.” Less than a week later, on March 23, the Republican-dominated North Carolina General Assembly and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory demonstrated just how heavy that past is in passing the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, more commonly referred to as House Bill 2 or just HB2. The law requires people in North Carolina to use public restrooms according to the gender on their birth certificates, prohibits any local minimum wage above the state minimum ($7.25) and prevents local governments from legislating anti-discrimination measures on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. With the rapid passage and signing of HB2, North Carolina became the latest battleground in a culture war that seemed to have fizzled out after the Supreme Court’s June ruling in favor of marriage equality. The law was signed on the same day that it was introduced, and Democrats walked out of the Senate rather than casting futile votes so as not to be associated with the bill. In the days
and weeks since, the typically Carolina blue skies have been clouded by a political firestorm: North Carolina Attorney General (and Democratic nominee for Governor) Roy Cooper announced that he would not defend the “unconstitutional” law in court; scores of businesses — including Apple, American Airlines and Charlotte-based Bank of America — have spoken out against the law; the Obama administration warned that North Carolina may lose federal funding for education and in-
protections, was the result of a yearlong struggle. In March 2015, a similar measure failed to pass because of public concern about the stipulation allowing trans people to use the restroom corresponding to their gender identities — the same ill-informed, fear-driven concern that has rallied many North Carolinians around HB2. After signing the state bill into law, McCrory outrageously accused Charlotte’s mayor and city council of “government overreach and intrusion” and told city officials “to get
defend the honor of North Carolina; after all, it was the lower Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, who recently said that a proposed “bathroom bill” similar to HB2 isn’t “necessary” and that “South Carolina is doing really well when it comes to respect and when it comes to kindness and when it comes to acceptance.” I am saddened that North Carolina and its elected representatives are not doing so well when it comes to respect, kindness and acceptance.
In light of this latest onslaught of attacks against civil liberties, it is tempting to grow discouraged and take back all of the positive things I said about the South in my last column. But to do so would be to fall into the same trap of myth and generalization that has tarnished my home region in the eyes of many. frastructure. Bruce Springsteen’s announcement that he was canceling his concert in Greensboro garnered an article in the French newspaper of record, Le Monde, confirming the international reach of the shockwave generated by HB2. As a longtime resident of Charlotte, the law hits particularly close to home. HB2 is a direct response to a non-discrimination ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council in February concerning sexual orientation and gender identity. That ordinance, which should have been a no-brainer given that Charlotte was one of only three of the country’s 20 largest cities without such
back to working on the issues most important to our citizens.” This statement is ironic not only because the state government’s actions amount to nothing short of overreach and intrusion, but also because McCrory was himself mayor of Charlotte for 14 years. There is no doubt that HB2 altered my perception of my home state. A friendly (well, perhaps not so friendly) rivalry between the two Carolinas has led me to become indignant should anyone ever suggest that I am from South Carolina — North Carolinians typically think of our state as superior in every regard. But now I feel much less reluctant to
The problem isn’t limited to North Carolina, though: A string of legislation with the same hue of intolerance has popped up across the South. April 4, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill that would allow for discrimination against the LGBTQ community under the guise of religious liberty. April 5, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a similar bill into law, and April 6 the Tennessee state legislature passed its own religious liberty bill. Among my friends in Charlotte, there is a strong sense of helplessness in the face of a Republican state government that seems only to be working for certain North Carolinians, forgetting
the importance of protecting minority rights in spite of majority rule. I imagine that such a sentiment permeates many pockets of the South. In light of this latest onslaught of attacks against civil liberties, it is tempting to grow discouraged and take back all of the positive things I said about the South in my last column. But to do so would be to fall into the same trap of myth and generalization that has tarnished my home region in the eyes of many. An opinion poll found that 51 percent of North Carolinians support the bathroom component of HB2, which means that the state is roughly divided on the matter. Indeed, far from representing a coherent block of intolerance, many prominent (Democratic) politicians and business leaders are throwing their weight behind the fight to repeal the law. And the tide seems to be distinctly against McCrory and the Republican leaders in Raleigh: Each day more companies and conventions announce that they will not do business in North Carolina, and a lawsuit challenging HB2 is working its way through the courts. It seems impossible that the state leadership will not ultimately buckle to such intense economic and political pressure. But until it does, I can only hope that the “vibrancy and optimism” that I see in the South will one day be visible to the rest of the country and the world.
Nikhil Kumar ’17 likes his freedom in choosing bathrooms and can be reached at nikhil_kumar@brown.edu.
High stakes DANIEL MEYER staff columnist On Friday and Saturday, Brown students will bask in the sun (fingers crossed), sing along to “Trap Queen,” wear ubiquitous tank-tops and get high. Many will abstain, of course. But for some students, drugs are as natural a part of Spring Weekend as the music itself. I’m not interested in demonizing drug use for its own sake. But given the proud commitment to social justice that Brown students normally uphold, our tendency to treat Spring Weekend as an excuse to do more and harder drugs is hypocritical. Most of the time, Brown students are conscientious consumers. We smugly sip the Fair Trade coffee from Blue State and Coffee Exchange. Students for Justice in Palestine successfully petitioned to get Brown Dining Services to offer alternative hummus products so that students might avoid Sabra, a corporation criticized by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. Many get their groceries from the Brown Market Shares Program in order to support alternative food systems. A few years ago, Brown students pushed the University to boycott fossil fuels in its investing even though they conceded that the gesture would be mainly symbolic. But for some reason, this commitment to ethical dealing doesn’t extend to drugs. The coke, molly and weed that enhance many a concert-goer’s experience are anything
but Fair Trade certified. Most of it travels across America’s southern border, fueling unimaginable violence from which U.S. consumers are insulated. The drug wars in Central America, including both conflicts between government anti-drug forces and criminal organizations and turf wars between different entities, is one of the least discussed humanitarian crises in the world today. Though the violence takes place just across the Rio Grande, the terrible toll of drug violence is largely out of sight and out of mind. In 2012, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico saw 288 homicides, a rate of seven-and-a-half murders per
2007 to 2014, just over 103,000 civilians died in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the same period, there were over 164,000 homicides in Mexico according to data released by the Mexican government. In February of this year, our southern neighbor suffered from an average of 55 homicides per day. The scale of killing resembles a war, not a crime problem. This violence is fueled by American consumers’ insatiable demand. Led by experimentation by individual states, the United States has finally started to relax its domestic war on drugs. But unfortunately, we have not altered our militarized anti-drug strat-
The coke, molly and weed that enhance many a concertgoer’s experience are anything but Fair Trade certified. 10,000 residents. Unofficially, according to a Wilson Center report, the number may be almost twice as high. Laredo, its sister city on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, only had eight murders at a rate of 0.3 per 10,000 residents. The widespread violence was driven by a pitched battle for control of Nuevo Laredo’s smuggling routes into the United States fought by the allied Sinaloa and Gulf Cartel organizations against Los Zetas. The cities have otherwise similar demographic profiles. The scale of the killing is stunning, especially given the negligible profile of drug violence compared to that of the War on Terror. From
egy abroad. The United States has pursued a policy of interrupting supply and trying to decapitate organizations by capturing or killing figures like Sean Penn’s friend, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The policy is an ongoing failure. As any Spring Weekend attendee can testify, attempts to block supply aren’t working very well. And the strategy of decapitation has resulted in bloody feuds in the power vacuums created by the absence of a kingpin. In the short term, relaxing domestic drug policy might make things worse. Decriminalization without legalization reduces the deterrents to drug use, potentially increasing demand. But without legalization,
the demand will not be met by regulated domestic sources. If consumer demand for drugs goes up, narcotraficantes will surely fight to meet it. In many ways, Brown students tend to have an impressively liberal approach towards drugs. Students for Sensible Drug Policy will offer anonymous access to drug testing kits for the weekend (suggesting Spring Weekend is indeed the prime time for experimentation). SSDP is one of many voices advocating for an end to the domestic war on drugs and mass incarceration. In 2013, the group supported Rhode Island’s decision to decriminalize pot. Brown’s mandatory First Reading for freshmen, “The New Jim Crow,” critiques harsh drug laws as racist injustices. Too often, this conversation stays confined within the United States’ borders. Brown students should exercise the same compassion and commitment they show in opposing domestic mass incarceration toward ending drug violence in Central America. In the meantime while that violence persists, the campus’s collective eagerness for drugs is hypocrisy. To be clear, I am not trying to vilify drugs or drug users. That sort of rhetoric only serves to perpetuate drug war politics. But Brown students should be under no illusions about the stakes of their Spring Weekend fun.
Daniel Meyer ’17 can be reached at daniel_meyer@brown.edu if you want to buy some blow.
ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
Lonely Island’s satirical ‘Popstar’ delivers expected laughs Ivy Film Festival’s free, advanced screening parodies celebrity culture, today’s music scene By JENNIFER SHOOK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“I’d love to get Conner to the point where he’s just kind of everywhere … like oxygen or gravity or clinical depression,” said Sarah Silverman, who plays Paula, publicist for music’s hottest star of the moment, Conner4Real, in the upcoming film, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” The film, which will hit theaters in June, was brought to the Martinos Auditorium in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts for a free, advanced screening as part of the Ivy Film Festival Sunday. The theater echoed with laughs as the student audience enjoyed the latest comedic offering from The Lonely Island — Avika Schaffer, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone — whose members produced, wrote and starred in the film. Judd Apatow and Rodney Rothman also produced the film. Samberg stars as rapper Conner4Real, a Justin Bieber-esque breakout star from The Style Boyz, a rap group that Conner started with his childhood friends. The group, since dissolved, was
comprised of Owen, played by Jorma Taccone and Lawrence, played by Avika Schaffer. Owen stayed on as Conner’s DJ to support him and watch as he became a solo star in his own right, while Lawrence left the music industry to don a series of jumpsuits as a farmer and part-time woodcarver. The movie follows Conner as his sophomore solo album, “CONNQuest,” flops hard, leaving his music manager, played by Tim Meadows, and publicist Paula to help him pick up the pieces of his career. Filmed in a documentary style, the movie parodies concert films like “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” providing ample time for talking head interviews from a host of music industry figures such as Simon Cowell, A$AP Rocky, Usher, Nas and Ringo Starr, who offered their critiques of Conner’s music and career choices. In addition to star cameos, the film is packed with a very typical mix of SNL alums drawn from The Lonely Island’s stint on the cast. Along with Tim Meadows and Sarah Silverman, Maya Rudolph plays the prim and proper representative of Conner’s corporate sponsor who struggles to relate to young, cool stars like Conner4Real. Bill Hader shows up for a memorable scene as Zippy, Conner’s eccentric and somewhat anachronistic guitar tech
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At the Ivy Film Festival’s free, advanced screening of The Lonely Island’s new movie, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” students watched as the latest album of Conner4Real, Andy Samberg’s character, flops. who explains his pet interest in flatlining: lowering his heart rate to the point of death and then restarting it. “Popstar” is a film ultra-aware of the pop culture it inhabits — Conner overshares in snaps and instas just like a modern star, DJ Khaled offers cogent advice on the importance of a good catchphrase to any artist’s career (“When you have a catchphrase, the world is catched by your phrase”) and Conner announces to his followers on
social media that he’s dropping his “surprise” album Thursday at four o’clock. Some of the film’s funniest moments come from these very current references. Conner’s opening act, played by Chris Redd, is the character Hunter the Hungry, a parody of Tyler the Creator, complete with aggressively offensive lyrics and Tyler’s trademark love of pranks. The Lonely Island trio is most famous for viral music videos like “Dick in a Box” and “Jack Sparrow,” and they
don’t skimp on the music here. The film’s songs are about as hilarious as the lyrics are unprintable. Conner’s lead single from “CONNQuest” is “Equal Rights,” a loosely veiled parody of Macklemore’s “Same Love.” In the song, Conner announces his support for the LBGTQ community and calls for marriage equality (“It’s allowed now!” says a confused Ringo Starr) while assuring his fans of his own heterosexuality, delivering the chorus, “I’m not gay.”
Wall Street Journal critic talks writing, film Joe Morgenstern details personal evolution as writer, imparts career advice at annual lecture By ETHEL RENIA STAFF WRITER
Joe Morgenstern, a Pulitzer Prize-winning and award-winning film critic, delivered the 16th Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture at the Faculty Club Monday. The annual lecture serves to honor the memory of Casey Shearer ’00, a promising young writer who died a few days before his graduation. A film critic veteran writer for the Wall Street Journal and a friend of the Goldway/ Shearer family, Morgenstern agreed to
appear as the guest of honor in a luncheon that both celebrated Casey’s life and recognized promising young writers through the annual Casey Shearer Awards for Excellence in Creative Nonfiction. Ruth Goldway, mother of Casey, described the awards as a way to “encourage Brown students to focus on (Casey’s) tradition of writing so honestly and beautifully.” Elizabeth Taylor, senior lecturer in English and co-director of the nonfiction writing program, announced the names of the first- and second-place winners: Paige Morris ’16 and Anisha Dias Bandaranaike ’17. The audience was comprised mostly of students studying film or writing and faculty members from a broad
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Joe Morgenstern, film critic for the Wall Street Journal, delivered the annual Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture Monday.
range of departments. “I always try to go to events at Brown that bring in people from outside professions,” said Allison Schaefer ’17. “A really great thing about Brown is just the opportunity to hear other perspectives and discover career paths you’re interested in.” Morgenstern’s lecture focused on his experience and evolution as a writer. He “became a writer because (his) parents gave (him) a typewriter at eight years old,” he said. They initially bought the typewriter for him to write thank you notes to extended relatives but were quickly blown away by his precocious vocabulary. Morgenstern said that when he was young, he believed that vocabulary was key to writing, much like some believe dialogue is key to screenwriting. In his sophomore year of college, Morgenstern wanted to impress a beloved philosophy professor, he said. This professor, while appreciative of Morgenstern’s vast vocabulary and style, set him on a different path — one that valued content over flowery prose. Morgenstern said that while his writing is inspired by his enthusiasm for movies, “what really keeps me alive is just the fun of playing with language … making the words dance.” As a film critic, he believes his writing should offer a perspective removed from the movie industry. When he first started out in his field, Morgenstern was plagued with doubt in writing a critique that overly praised or dammed the work of a friend in the industry. Today, Morgenstern is dismayed by how few film critics are “left alone by corporate pressures,” he said. “I have to maintain my independence.” Morgenstern concluded his talk with a few words of advice for aspiring filmmakers: “Believe in the medium. Believe in the beauty of the medium.”
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“The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” sequel to the 2012 film “Snow White and the Huntsman,” supplies a host of new actors and additional backstory.
‘Huntsman’ revitalizes fairytale franchise Sequel to ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ plays to dark fantasy trend in blockbuster films By JENNIFER SHOOK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“In my kingdom there is but one law: Do not love. It is a sin,” says Emily Blunt, starring as Freya, the Ice Queen, in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War.” The upcoming film is a spin-off sequel to the 2012 movie, “Snow White and the Huntsman.” While the film features characters reprising their roles from the franchise’s first installment, it also introduces a host of new characters, enough to revitalize the franchise and allow it to serve as a standalone film separate from but consistent with its successor. “Huntsman” also gives the franchise a broader backstory with the addition of Freya, the sister of returning protagonist Ravenna, the Evil Queen, played by Charlize Theron. Prior to the first film, Freya is betrayed by her lover and flees from Ravenna’s queendom to start her own regime in the far north. Under the rein of Freya, this new kingdom is ruled by her power over ice and with the overriding credo that love is strictly rejected among all her subjects. In her northern palace, Freya raises an army of huntsmen by training her subordinates
to fight as children. Chris Hemsworth’s character, Eric, and his love interest, Sara, played by Jessica Chastain, are among the huntsmen. Discovering that the two had fallen susceptible to love despite her forbiddance, Freya breaks the pair apart, sending Eric floating off down a river and into the events of “Snow White and the Huntsman.” While not featured in the film, Kristen Stewart’s Snow White serves as an unseen plot device spurring the events of the sequel — four years after the events of the first film, she sends riders to convince Eric to seek the lost magic mirror left behind by a supposedly vanquished Ravenna. Though the film’s theme of the spirit of love can be overwrought at points, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” still serves as a fun blockbuster film. It follows a continued Hollywood trend of dark fantasy films loosely rooted in traditional fairytales — similar to films like “Maleficent” and “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.” Though somewhat auxiliary characters to the plot of the film, a quartet of dwarves, including Nick Frost, returning as Nion from the first film, Rob Brydon as Gryff, Alexandra Roach as Doreena and Sheridan Smith as Bromwyn, offer the film much-needed comic relief. “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” is set to be released nationally April 22.