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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 90

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Athletes navigate academic constraints, New imaging technique distinct standards of social conduct differentiates cell types University researchers develop tool with potential applications in cancer screenings

Academic support, teamspecific social rules, teammate mentoring shape athlete experience By BEN SHUMATE

By ELENA RENKEN

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Though athletes and non-athletes at Brown live side by side, varsity athletes are widely held to different standards of social conduct and face distinct obstacles to completing coursework. To overcome academic challenges, athletes receive some degree of institutional support and provide each other with peer-to-peer assistance. On the social side, athletes’ team commitments may entail adhering to additional rules of conduct set and enforced by individual teams, and when faced with matters of discipline from the University or law enforcement, athletes’ identities may inform the results — for better or for worse.

University researchers have developed a novel imaging technique that distinguishes cells that have gone through a change that occurs during cancerous growth — among other processes — from cells that have not. A study published Oct. 3 describes the development and impressive accuracy of this tool, “the first of its kind to do a really extensive morphological study,” according to Susan Leggett GS, the lead author of the paper. The approach is preliminary, and “there is a lot of work to be done,” Leggett said, adding that at this stage of development the technique is most powerful as a method for screening new drugs. In the future the tool may be applicable to cancer screenings. The change that occurs in processes such as wound healing, development and cancerous growth is called the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Epithelial cells have a cubelike form, while mesenchymal cells

Academic affairs The NCAA is often the target of pointed criticism in popular media over its supposed exploitation of studentathletes for profit. But discussed less often is the close relationship the NCAA maintains with member institutions like Brown to support student-athletes.

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The Office of the Dean of the College holds office hours in the Nelson Athletic Center in order to accommodate the schedules of student-athletes. Each year, $24.6 million — about 5 percent of the NCAA’s $503 million in revenue — is redistributed back to Division I schools through the Academic Enhancement Fund, and Brown receives about $70,000 of it annually. According to the NCAA website, the fund is commonly used for “tutorial services, equipment, supplies and additional personnel.” The value of services

provided for athletes through the fund cannot factor into the financial aid packages for athletes determined by schools. Brown’s athletic department provides laptops for student-athletes on road trips, and the Office of the Dean of the College holds weekly office hours in the Nelson Fitness Center, according to Brown’s Student-Athlete Handbook. But what » See ATHLETES, page 2

are more spindle-shaped, but the cells are different in more than just their shape. The researchers also stained their samples for specific biomarkers — images included in the study show different colors for E-cadherin and vimentin. E-cadherin has higher concentrations in epithelial cells while more vimentin is present in mesenchymal cells. The researchers used MATLAB to “analyze data on a more macroscopic scale and figure out what the trends were and then train the computer to recognize the transition,” said Zachary Neronha ’19, a co-author of the study. Many different visual characteristics of the cells were observed and recorded, but only the four most predictive factors were included in the final algorithm, Leggett said. One reason for the elongated form of mesenchymal cells is motility, Leggett said. Epithelial cells can stick together and create tumors, but they will not split apart. If a cell becomes mesenchymal, it is able to break away and form other tumors throughout the body. The numbers of epithelial and mesenchymal cells in a tissue sample can indicate the aggressiveness of a tumor, so this technique could potentially be applied to » See CELLS, page 2

Safer sex supplies Professor awarded $1.2 million NIH grant Xi Luo, assistant professor now free on campus of biostatistics, plans to

In effort to remove previous price barriers, BWell, SHAG provide free supplies, delivery service By FIDELITY BALLMER STAFF WRITER

BWell Health Promotion has changed its signs and done away with collection tins: All safe sex supplies are now completely free on campus. In the past, signs asked for donations for safer sex supplies at cost — for example, one external condom cost $0.15 and a dental dam cost$0.50. Only a few hundred dollars came in per year from donations for the safer sex supplies, which was far lower than the cost, according to Naomi Ninneman, BWell Health educator. The lack of income was one reason to make the supplies free, she added. “The price obviously was not so high that it would have provided a significant barrier for the majority of students,” said Sexual Health Awareness Group

INSIDE

co-coordinator Deborah Pomeranz ’18. But “it’s a good statement to say these things are supplies that all Brown students have a right to and should be able to access free of cost, even if that cost won’t be a barrier.” “For a lot of people, part of being a student and being a person is exploring their sexuality, and we want people to be able to do that in the most healthy way possible,” Pomeranz added. The change was made possible in part through free safer sex supplies ordered by BWell through the Rhode Island Department of Health, which offers them to at-risk groups. Since youth are included in that designation, students qualified for free safer sex supplies. BWell has ordered these free supplies before, but the shipments have become more consistent this year. Another reason for the change was the launch of the Ship n SHAG service in spring 2016 through which students can order free supplies — including internal and external condoms, dental dams, gloves, lube and informational » See SEX, page 2

develop statistical models for brain scans By ANNA KRAMER STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professor of Biostastitics Xi Luo and other researchers have received a grant of more than $1.2 million over three years from the National Institutes of Health to use big data modeling to study brain connectivity. The grant will allow Luo, as well his collaborators at Johns Hopkins University and Yale, to develop statistical models to analyze large data sets from brain scans. This statistical analysis will allow researchers to study how regions of the brain interact. The development of statistical models and methodology will primarily take place under Luo at Brown, who will collaborate with Brian Caffo, professor of biostatistics at Johns Hopkins, in order to validate methods and refine the statistical models. ChiangShan Li, associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Yale, holds the primary expertise in neuroscience and

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Xi Luo, assistant professor of biostatistics, and his collaborators received the grant to address limitations in the study of brain scans and interactions. will define how the models can address of smaller models to study “one region important issues. at a time, one gray area at a time” and The study was proposed to develop then “trying to extrapolate to the whole new methods that would address the limi- brain,” Luo added. Large-scale statistical tations that currently exist in the study of models will address this limitation by brain scans and brain interaction, Luo allowing for the study of multiple brain said. These limitations include the use » See GRANT, page 2

WEATHER

FRIDAY, OC TOBER 21, 2016

SPORTS Athlete of the Week: Tommy Bush ’18 discusses stellar performance, future expectations

SPORTS Faulty defense, lackluster offense by field hockey contribute to four-game losing streak

COMMENTARY Kumar ’17: Creation of grad student-specific space in Rock discourages collaboration

COMMENTARY Krishnamurthy ’19: Trump accurately embodies attitudes of Republican Party

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» ATHLETES, from page 1 many athletes cite as the most beneficial resource provided to them is the tutoring system, in which athletes are paid to help other athletes with introductory classes. “I really dipped into the tutor system when I was a freshman,” said Rebecca Musgrove ’17 of the women’s basketball team. “In general, athletes understand the harsh scheduling. They understand that you won’t be available in daytime hours.” Athletes may also feel more comfortable working with other athletes because of academic insecurities, said field hockey co-captain Katarina Angus ’17.5. “Sometimes athletes at Brown can get nervous to ask for help,” Angus said. “We don’t want to ask dumb questions.” In addition to the athlete tutoring system and universal advising resources such as Meiklejohn peer advisors, teams at Brown each designate academic peer advisors of their own within their teams. Whether officially designated as peer advisers or not, athletes are often valuable resources for their teammates. The Herald’s 2016 spring poll found that about one-fifth of varsity athletes concentrate in economics or business, entrepreneurship and organizations. This allows underclassmen to seek advice from older teammates within these concentrations, said Christian Taugner ’17, a pitcher for the baseball team and economics concentrator. “With BEO or econ, there’s a lot of classes you can pick from,” Taugner said.

» SEX, from page 1 materials on how to use the products — to their campus mailboxes. Since this service is completely free, Ninneman wanted to send a consistent message by making all other campus supplies free as well, she said. BWell Health Promotion put out a survey to students in 2013 that included questions about barriers to safer sex supplies, Ninneman said. A quarter of respondents said that embarrassment was a large barrier, leading to the development of a free, discreet service — based off of Boston University’s Condom Fairy program — that allows students to avoid taking safer sex supplies in a public space. Cost was not a large barrier to students, according to the survey. Because of a lack of selection and limited number of safer sex supplies on the doors of Residential Peer Leaders, “a

“Knowing which upper-level classes to pick and having older guys that have gone through it (help) the most.” Angus, an art history and architecture concentrator, still seeks advice from a former teammate who graduated from the art history program because it is a relatively uncommon concentration. Within the field hockey team, players use a spreadsheet to recommend classes for teammates based on difficulty and how understanding the faculty member is toward athletes, Angus said. Friction can sometimes arise between faculty members and studentathletes when frequent absences related to travel interfere with attendance policies or exams. In one experience, Angus worked with her coach and Carolan Norris, senior associate director of athletics, to draft an email to a faculty member regarding an attendance issue. Within the athletic department, athletes have resources “if a professor’s not budging or not being lenient,” she added.

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Social standards Off the field, being a varsity athlete often means abiding by a stricter, teamenforced code of conduct as well as the expectations of acting as a representative of the University. Teams set different rules for inseason conduct based on the wishes of coaches or captains. Some teams, like men’s hockey and women’s basketball, enforce the “24/48 hour rule,” prohibiting any drinking 24 hours before a practice and 48 hours

before a game. Other teams, such as men’s and women’s crew, enforce a strict “dry season,” not allowing any drinking in season. Following a dry season illustrates a level of dedication to the team and its goals, said Neil McKenzie ’17 of men’s crew. “There’s definitely a sense of collective responsibility. Over the past 20 years, there’s been an expectation that guys have been upholding.” Crew’s dry season in the spring is set by captains and has not been broken in McKenzie’s four years, he said. “I think it’s very reasonable,” Taugner said. “If you’re drinking 24 hours before a practice, your priorities aren’t there.” For other teams, coaches may impose dry seasons, but they work closely with players to enforce realistic rules. Men’s hockey typically follows the 24/48 hour rule but temporarily went dry in the 2014-2015 season during a stretch in which the team was struggling, said team captain Andrew Doane ’17. Our coach believed “when we were going out it was affecting how we played throughout the week of practice,” Doane said. “We kind of needed a wake-up call, and our coach saw that.” “After we turned it around and had a few big wins, our coach lifted it,” Doane said. The field hockey team designates “social experiences,” nights when the team allows players to go out during its season. The nights are chosen based on the team’s schedule, wishes of the coaches and recent performance, Angus said.

lot of people will just stock two or three kinds of safer sex supplies, whereas with Ship n SHAG you can order any of the things we have available,” said SHAG co-coordinator Susannah Howe ’18, a former Herald senior staff writer. Students can also text SHAG at 66746 to ask anonymous sex questions, including questions about products they receive through Ship n SHAG. Members of the SHAG team answer the questions with oversight from Ninneman. Ninneman, Howe and Pomeranz said they see Brown’s efforts as unique and part of a campus culture that cares about removing barriers and making students feel safe and comfortable. “I think the overall campus culture is really important in informing what our priorities are,” Howe said. “Our approach has definitely changed over time as campus culture and views on campus have changed. We want to make

sure we are meeting the needs of Brown students — meeting them where they are regardless of their identity or their experiences.” Every campus center has responded well to requests to host a safer sex supply station, Ninneman said, adding that they understand the importance of accessible safer sex supplies. “We know that overall condom availability programs at universities are inadequate,” Ninneman said. “So Brown probably is unusual in the level of accessibility. But we’re not the only ones making these efforts.” There has been a larger trend on campus toward increasing the accessibility of general health services and products for students on campus — including UCS’ program to provide free tampons in all non-residential oncampus bathrooms and the repeal of Counseling and Psychological Services’

“They’re earned — so if we don’t play well … then we might not earn the right to go out that night,” Angus said. “If (our coach) thinks our team needs to release some steam … and have fun, she’ll definitely bring us up to speed on what she thinks we can do.” When trouble comes knocking While some athletes are expected to abide by additional rules of conduct set by their teams, all athletes are subject to the same standards of conduct that apply to every student at Brown and resident of Providence. When athletes brush up against the University or law enforcement, their status as athletes may affect their treatment — leading to arguably lighter or harsher punishments. Athletes often live with teammates in houses, and parties held at these team houses are a salient feature of night life at Brown for both athletes and nonathletes. Parties thrown by teams come with risks similar to those any group of students may incur. For example, in spring 2016, several men’s hockey players were disciplined after Department of Public Safety officers responded to a noise complaint at one of the houses where players lived. Upon arrival, the officers did not find a raucous party and left without filing a report, Doane said. But regardless of the inaction by police, players were still required to appear at a dean’s hearing and were eventually punished. “I feel like they come down on us

SARA RUNKEL / HERALD

RPL and CA doors will no longer have donation bins now that safer sex supplies on campus, including condoms and dental dams, are free. seven-session limit. locations including the LGBTQ Center, “These things — even though we the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, the didn’t plan them together — are all really Brown Center for Students of Color, the important aspects of students’ health and bathrooms on the first and third floor students’ sexual health,” Pomeranz said. of Health Services, the Health PromoStudents can order supplies from tion office in Health Services and on the Ship n SHAG or pick them up at campus doors of RPLs.

» CELLS, from page 1

» GRANT, from page 1

understanding and predicting cancerous growth. This new form of single-cell analysis is a step toward replacing human identification of epithelial and mesenchymal cells, providing a more exact judgment of a sample. “Single-cell analyses are a new trend in biology,” Leggett said. “All of this historically has been done by eye, and now we’re finally reaching this vision for biology where we can start to integrate all of this really complex data that we can’t even really wrap our minds around.” “Single-cell image analysis has been of growing emphasis in cell biology” for five years or so, wrote Douglas Lauffenburger, professor of chemical engineering and biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in an email to The Herald. But this application is new, he added. Leggett hopes that through

regions at once. “We hope to get new methods and validate those methods … to model the data at a large scale,” Luo said. “We are also truly interested in scientific discovery and using really large data sets to get back a better picture of the brain as a whole.” The study will incorporate the data from scans of different brain regions into statistical models. The researchers hope to discover “how the structural and functional connections” between brain regions “inform brain function, diseases (and) recovery from injuries,” Caffo said. “In the study of that phenomenon, you get very interesting mathematical results. … In order to make headway on those results, there are some very interesting statistical and modeling problems,” he added. Luo hopes to make use of machine learning when analyzing the large data sets. “The key component in machine learning is to train the computers,” Luo said. “We can do tasks in a fractional time

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERISTY

University researchers created an imaging technique that distinguishes cancerous cells from those not affected by cancerous growth. understanding the details of this process on such a small scale, scientists will be able to shed light on how to shift cells back to their epithelial forms. The lab hopes to work on threedimensional screening and using morphological analysis in individualized medicine in the near future. This new imaging tool is a “very

exciting advance” that holds great promise, Lauffenburger wrote. As the replacement of human judgment with machine analysis increases in biology, “the key will be to complement machine learning analyses with human intuition to provide conceptual explanations of biological processes from the mathematical results,” he added.

pretty hard. One false noise complaint, and our reputation is tarnished,” Doane said. “Anytime that I’ve had to talk to cops, they’ve been very mature and very straightforward — it’s usually administration that misconstrues information.” Despite this sentiment among some athletes, Norris contends that treatment of athletes and non-athletes is the same with regard to conduct. “Student-athletes are held to the same standards of conduct that pertain to all students at Brown,” Norris wrote in an email to The Herald. Police — whether DPS or Providence Police — sometimes ask athletes which teams they play on, multiple student athletes said. Musgrove was pulled over by the Providence Police while picking up friends from the baseball team from Whiskey Republic last year. The officer looked into the car and asked if the students were Brown athletes and allowed her to go with a warning after confirming they were athletes, Musgrove said. Doane also recalled being asked about his status as an athlete during interactions with police officers and questioned whether this facet of his or other student-athletes’ identities should factor into matters of conduct. Some Brown security guards also become familiar with student-athletes from working at their games, Musgrove said. In certain cases, the rapport that results from this familiarity between athletes and security personnel leads to lenient treatment, she said.

compared to different approaches.” While the team is not looking for a “wholesale reinvention of the field of machine learning,” it is looking to apply the field to novel areas, Caffo said. The study will also incorporate existing data sets. Luo plans to tap into the Human Connectome Project, which offers public access to a large neural imaging study and will give the team access to “terabytes of imaging data with about 1,000 subjects,” he said. Luo hopes that the development of new statistical models will benefit the scientific community as a whole. “Maybe other scientists have been trying to analyze data with similar data structure(s),” he said. “We’re going to provide tools — for free — to the scientific community.” The grant from the NIH is part of President Barack Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, which is a program aiming to advance neuroscience through innovative techniques, according to the NIH’s website.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Five-goal game from Bush ’18 pushes Bears past Toronto Highlight-reel performance at Harvard Invitational bodes well for rest of 2016 campaign By NICHOLAS WEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The No. 11 men’s water polo team will head into tournament play at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational this weekend on a roll. The Bears (12-6, 4-1 NWPC) are sporting an impressive six-game win streak dating back to Oct. 1. This string of dominant play is largely attributable to the team’s high-intensity offense, which has been propelled by numerous multiple-goal performances from upperclassmen. Veteran attack Tommy Bush ’18 is a case in point, netting a staggering five goals against the University of Toronto Sunday at the Harvard Invitational. Bush scored in each of the game’s final three periods to help power the Bears to a resounding 15-7 rout of the Varsity Blues. For his unmatched offensive production and pivotal performance in the team’s weekend victories, Bush has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week. Herald: Did you have any particular thoughts leading up to the game? Bush: It was pretty standard. We haven’t played Toronto before, so we talked a little about personnel and

just tried to stay loose. Toronto is not typically a very strong competitor, so we got a long run in. At what point in the game did you really start to find your rhythm? I think it was more about being at the right place at the right time and having my teammates setting me up. So I didn’t actually feel like I was in some crazy rhythm; I just got a lot of good open looks. Being a junior in the system, how would you say your role on the team has changed over the years? I have definitely developed more into my role on the team. Freshman and sophomore year, you are kind of just figuring things out. You are primarily in there to gain experience and provide some good defense. Now that I am an upperclassman, I am much more involved in the offense. Playing with these guys for two or three years, you just get a much better feel for how everybody else plays, which has helped our chemistry a lot. We have such a strong core of upperclassman, with a six-person senior class and another five people in the junior class. When did you start playing water polo, and what drew you into the sport? I started playing when I was 11. It was really because my dad played in high school, so he was always a fan of the sport. And a lot of my good friends that I had met while on the

swim team played water polo, too, so I decided I would give it a shot. What is your favorite thing about water polo? Now that I have been playing it for so long, the best thing is all of the friends that I have made. Aside from the relationships, it has helped me learn a lot about managing my time between school and athletics and about the value of hard work. In terms of the actual gameplay, I love the fast style of play. And it’s a contact sport, which is a lot of fun. Moving forward, what are your goals for the rest of the season? Our main goal obviously is to put ourselves in the best position possible for the conference tournament at the end of the season. We have two more weekends of league games, so those will be really important for locking down that number-one seed. More generally, we are just trying to improve every time we play. We have a big tournament this weekend in California where we are going to play some really good teams, so hopefully we can gain some good experience there and continue to build momentum. Most other sports do not have these big invitational tournaments like water polo. How do they fit into your season? It’s definitely pretty unique. We just go in every weekend with the

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Tommy Bush ’18 prepares to shoot on the opposing defense. Brown continues its season this weekend at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. mentality that we are trying to get better every game. That is really the theme of the season. The games don’t technically matter in terms of conference play, but they do matter in terms of improvement, so we try to approach them with equal intensity. Do you have any individual goals

as an athlete moving forward? It’s not about anything like, “I want to score a certain amount of goals.” It’s more that I just want to be the best teammate that I can and continue contributing to the team. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

FIELD HOCKEY

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Hannah Leckey ’20 drives the ball from midfield. The Bears will host Ivy League opponent Cornell Friday and Holy Cross Sunday, hoping to snap their current four-game losing streak and build momentum moving into the final stretch of regular season games. Brown currently holds the fourth spot in the Ivy League standings with two conference games remaining.

Facing Friars at home, Bears lose fourth straight game Inconsistent offensive effort, missed last-minute opportunities culminate in 2-1 overtime defeat By MATT BROWNSWORD NEWS EDITOR

After going on a three-game losing streak for the first time since the end of last season, the field hockey team took on Big East foe Providence College Tuesday, one of the most difficult matchups of the Bears’ (6-6, 2-2 Ivy) season. A goal from Jaclyn Torres ’17, an arts and culture editor at The Herald, was not enough to keep a fast

Providence team at bay, as the Friars (12-3, 4-1) topped Bruno in overtime by a score of 2-1. Brown started out with all the control in the first half, hardly allowing the ball to cross the half field line. But Providence was able to secure a few corners against the run of play and swung the tide after the first 10 minutes. The Friars applied pressure after that point in the first half, but Hannah Leckey ’20 and co-captain Katarina Angus ’17.5 kept the game scoreless to the end of the half. The senior and first-year switched positions constantly throughout the game, with Angus moving up to support the Brown offense and Leckey dropping back to manage the defense.

Co-captain Leah Zavalick ’17 did not start the game but played a majority of the time at right back while Maddie Ayles ’19 occupied her usual left back position, both quieting the pacy Providence forwards. Head Coach Jill Reeve employs the switching strategy to give one of the two a rest while the other pushes up the field to fight for the ball, Angus said. The Friars got on the board first after nearly 15 minutes of play in the second half. Three minutes later, Torres got her fifth goal of the year with a shot that beat a sprawling Providence netminder to tie the game at one. Brown registered two corners in the second half, the first of which put an end to 147 minutes of open play without a corner.

“Our defense has been very solid this season,” Angus said. “But in the coming games, especially against Cornell, we want to make sure we capitalize on our offensive opportunities and make sure we always get something out of our attack, whether it’s a goal, a shot or a short corner.” Brown’s last chance in regulation to steal a win came from its only corners: two consecutive plays with under two minutes left to play in the game. The first resulted in an immediate call for another corner before Angus was stifled on the end line and Providence was finally able to clear its defensive zone. Brown was unable to get anything going offensively in the overtime period, and Providence recorded four shots

and one penalty corner before Sylvia Miller deflected a high and fast shot from Abby Thornton past the helpless Katie Hammaker ’19. The loss was the Bears’ second consecutive defeat against the Friars — though it marked an improvement over last year’s 6-1 blowout. As opposed to last year against Providence, “we stepped up our communication and focused on playing as a unit with quick passing for the entire game,” Angus said. “I thought this year we brought a lot more energy to the field, which made a huge difference in our play.” Brown takes on Cornell Friday at home in an effort to halt its four-game losing streak before heading to Holy Cross Sunday to face the Crusaders.

ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

‘Search Party’ takes unconventional approach to humor Producers discuss process behind new TBS show’s dark comedy in screening on campus Thursday By AMY WANG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Thanksgiving break is getting closer every day — and so, too, is the premiere of TBS’s upcoming mystery-comedy, “Search Party.” In advance of the series’ big release Nov. 21, Brown hosted a prescreening Thursday night in the Stephen Roberts ’62 Campus Center. TBS describes “Search Party” as a dark comedy, centering on four “selfabsorbed twentysomethings who come together when a former college acquaintance mysteriously disappears.” The show stars “Arrested Development” actress Alia Shawkat as Dory, an antiheroic young woman who, in an effort to add meaning to her life, resolves to find her missing college classmate with the aid of three close friends — Elliott (John Early), Portia (Meredith Hagner) and Drew (John Reynolds). Executive producers Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers were present at the screening and the subsequent Q&A session. Bliss and Rogers are a duo to be reckoned with. They’ve worked together on shows and films before, including writing for the Netflix series “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day at Camp” and co-writing and directing “Fort Tilden,” a satirical comedy about two roommates’ trip to Fort Tilden beach that won the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative

Feature at the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival. Their previous collaborative experiences served them well in the making of “Search Party,” their first co-produced television series. Rogers cited the process of “rebreaking” stories — a showwriting tactic they took from the “Wet Hot American Summer” writers’ room and incorporated into their own. Rogers described rebreaking as “throwing as many ideas up on the board as possible and then organizing them and then trying to see if things still fit and rebreaking (again).” “I think that working on ‘Fort Tilden’ made us very much understand each other and how we work together,” Bliss added. “The experience that you have helps you figure out the way you want to work.” In fact, the conception of “Search Party” was strongly tied to the success of “Fort Tilden.” After the latter was released to popular acclaim, “the world wanted us to do something similar to that,” Bliss said. “Once you have your calling card, people want more.” Rogers and Bliss did just that. They created a quirky, self-aware comedy about a group of millennials in the digital age. It didn’t take them long to decide on an extra hook to the story — an element of mystery in the shape of a missing-person plot. They teamed up with Jax Media, a New York-based production company, and comedian Michael Showalter ’92 to film the pilot episode before marketing it to various television networks, eventually settling on TBS as the best fit. “We both really love mystery,” Rogers

MARIANNA MCMURDOCK / HERALD

Alia Shawkat, of “Arrested Development” fame, stars as Dory in “Search Party.” The new TBS show’s first season will air in its entirety from Nov. 21 to Nov. 25, with two episodes shown per night. said. “I think it’s exciting to make a show “In this (show), a girl goes missing, in that way, it’s bold.” that can be more than one genre. We like which is not inherently funny. But the As it turns out, even the format of the making things that are very funny. We way that the characters respond to that show’s release will be unconventional. like making people laugh. But also, this situation is funny,” Bliss said. Rather than broadcasting one episode show is dynamic because it’s suspenseful TBS has recently been working to weekly, as most TV series tend to do, and mysterious. There’s a plot, and it gets rebrand itself, announcing its efforts to TBS made the decision to broadcast the thicker and scarier as it goes. So it was a include content with a focus on “bold entirety of the first season of “Search Parneat opportunity creatively.” sensibility” and digital and social media. ty” in one week — Thanksgiving week. Given this, “Search Party” isn’t your With its unconventional plot, hybrid Every night from Nov. 21 to Nov. 25, everyday sitcom. It’s dark comedy — genre and young, up-and-coming cast, two episodes of the show will be released clearly evidenced by the show’s toned- “Search Party” fits into this initiative back to back from 11 p.m. to midnight. down palette and stark lack of a laugh well. This type of broadcasting “kind of shows track. Juggling serious content and jokes “What we really liked about it is that that TBS is embracing a binge-watching can be hard to do, but in many cases, it’s it was not something we’d seen on TV culture,” Rogers said. “I think it’s TBS’s the people and not the plot that give the before, and it was something that we way of bridging TV and digital and tryshow its humor. wanted to watch,” Bliss said. “So I think, ing to make both worlds meet.”

TODAY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

the poe try of pot tery

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Bacon and Feta, Harvest, Buffalo Chicken Cuban Sandwiches, Sushi Night JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Lasagna Bowls

Minestrone, Chicken Tortilla Build-Your-Own Burrito Bowl

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Six Bean Soup, Grilled Ham and Swiss Sandwich, Sauteed Chard, Ranger Joe Cookies

Manhattan Clam Chowder, Italian Chicken Parmesan, Mac and Cheese, Magic Bars

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Vegetable Barley Soup, Breaded Chicken Fingers, Enchilada Bar, Blondies

Beef Vegetable Soup, Orange Beef Pad Thai, Tilapia Provencale, Bread Pudding

sudoku

GUS REED / HERALD

“The Sound of Ceramics” musical and sculptural exhibit in the Cohen Gallery of the Granoff Center for the Arts closed Monday. The display was a collaboration between composer Wang Lu and artist Polly Apfelbaum.

crossword

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

“If you’re drinking 24 hours before a practice, your priorities aren’t there.” — Christian Taugner ’17, baseball pitcher

See athletes on page 1. CORRECTION An article from Thursday’s Herald (“Alum talks privacy policy at Facebook,” Oct. 20) stated that Matt Perault ’02 is the head of global policy development at Facebook. In fact, he is the head of the policy development team. The Herald regrets the error.

calendar FRIDAY

OCTOBER

S 1

Master’s of Public Health Panel 11:30 A.M. Alumnae Hall, Crystal Room Lobby

Environmental Program House Open Dinner 6:30 P.M. 111 Brown Street

SATURDAY Community Archaeology Day 11:00 A.M. Off-campus location

Race, Past and Present: Why Black Lives Matter 11:00 A.M. Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

SUNDAY Family Weekend Dance Concert 2:00 P.M. Ashamu Dance Studio

PW Presents: 3C2C 2016 8:00 P.M. TF Green, Production Workshop, Downspace

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Brown Bites Trump comes in fourth place The results of The Herald’s fall undergraduate poll were released Monday, revealing that 85 percent of Brown undergraduates will be checking the box for Hillary Clinton come November. Meanwhile, Donald Trump brought in a meager 1.8 percent of votes, falling behind Gary Johnson, who received 2.8 percent of student support, and Jill Stein, who received 2.1 percent. Other big reveals from the poll include gender and race disparities when it comes to talking in section and class, with students who identify as white and male the most likely to feel comfortable speaking up. Safety first Lost fingers, fainting and electrocution — such are the hazards of lab life, according to the minutes from the University’s Lab Safety Committee. With students and faculty members dealing with hazardous and sometimes radioactive waste, Brown’s safety committee must constantly enforce strict protocol when it comes to equipment. But sometimes things slip through. One time, 25 years ago, Dean Hudek, a laboratory physicist and member of the safety committee, figured out that a student had mistakenly created a bomb through a regrettable “series of unusual events.” Oops. Spring Weekend comes early “Gigs on the Grass” kicked off Saturday as the first ever Brown concert devoted entirely to student musicians. Students sang, strummed and sunbathed as Luk and Val Make Music, Pure Evan, DIASPORA, richard and others took turns on center stage. Missed the festival? Don’t worry. The Class Coordinating Board will follow up Saturday’s events with “Spring Prekend,” a mini spring concert to showcase the talent of some of the best bands at “Gigs.” Privacy please Matt Perault ’02, head of the policy development team at Facebook, spoke on campus Wednesday, giving insight into what exactly Facebook does with your data. The good news? Facebook outlines what it does with user information in its privacy agreements and settings. The bad news? The documents are hundreds of pages long. Though it may technically be possible to know where your information goes, as Watson Institute Director Edward Steinfeld said, the burden is on the user.

D O R O T H Y W I N D HA M

comic Cat Ears | Najatee’ McNeil

Occupy Providence Providence residents and advocates for the homeless planted themselves in Burnside Park on Monday to protest the new proposals for the renovation of Kennedy Plaza. The protest fell on the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Occupy Providence movement, which also occurred in Burnside park to protest economic inequality. This year, demonstrators’ attention was turned to the new Kennedy Plaza plans, which many feel threaten the homeless population. “Ever since they started messing with the buses, there’s this feeling that there are people who are wanted downtown and people who are not wanted downtown,” said Pat Fontes, a protester.

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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

The restricted section of the Rock though outdated, are warmer and more inviting. Undergrads are strictly prohibited from entering — the space is restricted by card access. The glass enclosing the study center creates a fishbowl effect through which undergrads can observe the grad students utilizing the space without the satisfaction of ever stepping inside. Of course, I understand the merits of creating a space on campus reserved for grad students. As a Herald story on the planned renovation

NIKHIL KUMAR staff columnist

As a typical college student, I spend a lot of time in the library. The Rockefeller Library — more commonly known as the Rock — is my location of choice on campus. I find it more welcoming than the Brutalist Sciences Library or the stuffy, no-food-allowed John Hay Library. My use of space in the Rock has varied over time, beginning on the first floor before shifting to the Absolute Quiet Room, then to the carrels by the front windows on level A and even brief stints in the depths of level B and the stacks of level three. During reading period and finals, when cramming students displace me from my usual haunts, I have also frequented the undergraduate computer cluster on level two. Correction: the former undergraduate computer cluster on level two, newly christened the Vincent J. Wernig Graduate Student Reading Room. In case you have yet to witness the renovated space, the computer cluster and several other rooms on the second floor have been dedicated solely to grad students. The relatively stark aesthetic of the renovated study center, with its blue carpet, white lights and sterile furniture, is in contrast with other parts of the Rock, which,

that this particular project does little to foster a greater sense of community between undergrads and grad students or to advance the Rock as a hub of learning and collaboration. The renovation is the latest manifestation of the University’s recent orientation toward its graduate programs, which Duncan Weinstein ’17 thoughtfully called into question in a recent op-ed. The new grad student study center misses the mark because it replaces an undergraduate space that already en-

functional space. Furthermore, I question why the library should be the site of a grad-student-designated zone and why access to that area should be restricted so visibly and adamantly. As mentioned above, I support completely the belief that grad students should be better integrated into student life at Brown and that this necessity calls for the allotment of specific places where they can congregate and form a stronger community. At the same time, the library

The library ought to be at the heart of the so-called ‘university-college’ to which Brown aspires, where undergrads, grad students and professors occupy the same spaces, communicating freely and productively.

noted last November, library renovations over the past decade have concentrated on undergraduate learning, and nearly all of Brown’s peers already possessed spots uniquely used by grad students. In addition, a more recent Herald story illuminated the dearth of on-campus housing options available to grad students, which contributes to a more general feeling of exclusion from campus life. But it is neither the creation of a grad-student-specific space nor the desire to renovate campus facilities with which I take issue. Rather, I feel

joyed a significant amount of activity. The undergraduate computer cluster had printers and scanners, in addition to a gorgeous view of downtown Providence. The space was packed during peak study times and well-used during lulls. In the wake of the second floor’s transformation, I almost feel unwelcome when venturing there, and other undergrads have expressed to me their dismay that this part of the Rock is no longer available to them. The renovation has been billed as a creative endeavor, but that creation required the sacrifice of a pre-existing,

ought to be at the heart of the socalled “university-college” to which Brown aspires, where undergrads, grad students and professors occupy the same spaces, communicating freely and productively. As a place of intellectual discovery and exchange, it seems counterintuitive to me to partition off different sections of the library to be utilized by different groups. In fact, the former undergraduate space— while designated as such — was not restricted to others apart from a sign on the door and was connected to a smaller grad-students-only com-

puter cluster. Under this arrangement, undergrads and grad students alike felt comfortable in utilizing the second floor of the Rock, occupying adjacent spaces without feeling forcibly segregated. The renovation’s greatest flaw is the decision to police its use by card access — this seemingly innocuous addition alienates undergrads from graduate students. The removal of this feature would immediately ameliorate its unwelcoming aura without detracting from its dedication to grad students. Perhaps it is petty to single out this newly formed grad student study center as a site of contestation of the University’s values, especially since my personal feelings for the Rock so immediately inform my judgment. But at a time when Brown is undergoing important changes in its structure and vision for the future, it is necessary to reflect upon and critique the manner in which the university is growing and evolving — and no detail, be it carpet color or chair selection, should be spared. The challenge of welcoming grad students more closely into the Brown community while balancing the demands of many stakeholders and maintaining the University’s identity is great indeed, but the final answer does not lie in the spatial division of the library.

Nikhil Kumar ’17 can be reached at nikhil_kumar@brown.edu.

Not another anti-Trump op-ed ANUJ KRISHNAMURTHY staff columnist Writing an open letter or op-ed about why Donald Trump is fundamentally unfit to be president is like declaring that the earth is round or that Kenneth Bone is a glorious stallion among men. We get it. I promise, we really do. Trump is a con artist concerned only with self-aggrandizement. He has little understanding of American foreign policy or policy in general, as the three presidential debates have made clear, and his hairdo looks like a bird’s nest. These are all true things, and repeating them in dramatic fashion doesn’t make you some sort of premonitory messiah with singular sight of the truth. It’s not like the rest of us are beating rocks together, intoxicated by Trump’s second-grade lexicon. Just to be clear: It doesn’t take an iota of courage to call Trump an unprincipled imbecile or to proclaim that he shouldn’t be president. (At least, not here on the East Coast. Some newspapers out in the southwest, though, like the Arizona Republic, have actually been threatened for rejecting Trump and endorsing Hillary Clinton.) And individuals of the Republican persuasion especially shouldn’t be acting so self-righteous about their denouncement of their party’s nominee. On Wednesday, members of the Brown Republicans club wrote an op-ed (“Rose ’19, Tarke ’18: Brown Republicans do not endorse Donald Trump,” Oct. 19) that methodically explained how Trump “fail(s) to represent our values.” It is heartening that Republicans on this campus are cognizant of the fact that

Trump, endlessly predisposed to misogyny and mendacity, represents an “obvious violation of the principles on which America stands.” But when Republicans attempt to disassociate themselves from their standard-bearer, they’re essentially rejecting everything their party has represented. For the past half-century, Republicans have devoted themselves to the inflammation of intercultural resentments, the indifferent acceptance of systemic

disproportionate sentences for nonviolent, drug-related crimes. It seems that old, racist habits really do die hard. The highest ranking Republican, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan, R-WI, claimed in 2014 that men “in our inner cities” — hint: he’s not talking about white dudes — don’t care about “working or learning the value and the culture of work.” Through decades of accusatory rhetoric — blame the wel-

It takes courage for armchair commentators to see that no section of the political spectrum occupies the moral highground — that we’re all self-interested screw-ups who say dumb things to win elections.

injustice and the deliberate impoverishment of ordinary Americans. Starting in the 1950s, Republicans have woven a simple narrative: We should fear the poor, the foreign, the nonwhite. They have rejected outright the notion of equality of opportunity, gutting crucial government programs such as support for higher education and infrastructure maintenance. In the meantime, officials in several Republicancontrolled White Houses oriented the country toward a convenient political distraction: law and order, a neat excuse to slap black men with

fare queens, or the immigrants or the Muslims — Republicans cultivated the same climate that furnished Trump’s blasphemous ascendancy. Try as you might, my dear Republican friends — to extract your party from Trump’s predatory clutches, to claim that he isn’t a real conservative — you can never escape the scary truth: Trump is the most Republican Republican out there. To be sure, it’s just as infuriating when liberals unleash impassioned polemics against Trump. Column after column, voices on the

left vilify people who identify with his campaign, deeming them irrational, deranged or disconnected from the 21st century. But liberals, too, are responsible for sweeping generalizations — not about minorities, but about the moral character of Trump’s supporters. Clinton, for example, believes that half of all Trump voters constitute a “basket of deplorables.” In making generalizations like this, she and her surrogates are willfully dismissing a significant segment of the populace they are obligated to serve. I thought the Democrats, obsessed with social justice and inclusion, were supposed to be a little kinder than that. But, as it turns out, liberals are immensely capable of the same intolerance they decry in conservatives. Go figure. This festering hypocrisy, on the part of both the political left and right, is why antiTrump statements, online and in print, feel so futile. More than any op-ed, what does take courage is to admit that Republican voters aren’t all “deplorable” barbarians; that maybe, like all human beings, they are viscerally fearful of a future that very well might leave them in the dust. It takes courage to confront the historical misdeeds that have enabled the rise of a wannabe tyrant. And it takes courage for armchair commentators to see that no section of the political spectrum occupies the moral high ground — that we’re all self-interested screwups who say dumb things to win elections. Only when we realize this central fact — that we aren’t always right, and the other side isn’t always wrong — will we ever deserve a better kind of politics.

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

SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Let’s be clear … and convincing JAMES SCHAPIRO sports columnist When Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was called out at the plate in the second inning of game four of the National League Championship Series, he immediately signaled to his dugout for a challenge. He thought he was safe and that the replay would prove it. When the Dodgers challenged the call and the reviewing umpires did not find enough evidence to overturn it, he was more than a little upset. “Call what you see. Do you see a safe or do you see an out?” Gonzalez said after the game. “They didn’t say I was out. They said there was not enough evidence. They knew I was safe. They just didn’t want to overturn it.” The reference to “evidence” comes from the text of the replay procedure. By rule, replay officials cannot simply make whatever call seems more likely based on video review. They must consider the original call on the field

and may only overturn it if they find “clear and convincing evidence” that the original call was incorrect. Gonzalez disagrees with this rule. “It’s not a trial. Evidence should not be involved,” he said after the game. Gonzalez’s critiques have been echoed across baseball since replay was first instituted. But put simply, they’re just wrong. The replay system has problems, but the “clear and convincing evidence” standard is not one of them. Those who disagree with the standard contend that often the outcome of a play can be visible on video review without being clear and convincing. This was Gonzalez’s argument: While it may not have been absolutely certain that he touched home plate ahead of the tag, it appeared so based on replays. But this argument is not borne out by reality. In 2016, replay officials overturned more than 50 percent of all calls that were challenged — a season high. Replay umpires routinely spend minutes at a time minutely examining a single play, looking for reason to overturn a call and often make overturns based on evidence that seems far less

than clear and convincing. The notion that replay makes controversial calls too difficult to overturn is simply not true. The “clear and convincing” standard also has another important purpose. Even video review is often inconclusive. In Gonzalez’s case, the replay officials found it could not be determined whether his hand had landed on the plate when Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras applied the tag based on video review. Based on video of the play, I agree. While it may appear that Gonzalez may have touched the plate before being tagged, I can’t say definitively that he did. In fact, on all angles of replay available, it is abundantly possible that his hand was still in the air when the tag was applied. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports argues that “something is wrong when 54,000 fans watching the video boards at Dodger Stadium and millions more watching on television see one thing and the replay official in New York sees another.” Ignoring the problem that the 54,000 Dodgers fans at the stadium will obviously be biased in the Dodgers’

favor, there’s another problem here: The millions of people watching on television aren’t looking for evidence. They’re simply making an instinctual determination based on what it looks like they see. Umpiring decisions should not be made instinctually. Calls should be made based on the actual evidence available. And in this case, the evidence was insufficient to show that Gonzalez had reached the plate safely. On plays with that level of uncertainty — which, for the record, include Gonzalez’s slide into home on Wednesday night — replay can’t always determine what happened. And when that is the case, the only sensible procedure is to stick to the original call — far better than changing the call without sufficient reason. Replay was not designed for calls like this. Even on slow-motion, highdefinition video, it’s almost impossible to tell whether a player’s hand is actually touching the ground. Replay was designed for calls that, when made incorrectly, can be easily detected — balls that land foul but are called fair or fly balls that are ruled caught but bounce

James Schapiro ’19 is still bitter about calls overturned against the Mets three years ago. He can be reached at james_schapiro@brown.edu.

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before hitting the fielder’s glove. Gonzalez and Rosenthal’s argument is premised on the belief that “clear and convincing evidence” is too much to ask. They claim that changing the standard will lead to more correct calls, but in reality, it is a subversion of the replay process. Often there is no clearly visible correct call: There is the call on the field of safe or out, and the call on the replay, of indeterminate or too close to tell. And when calls are too close to tell, nobody has any business overturning them. To be sure, the system is not perfect. The review procedure probably needs adjustment of one kind or another, and replay is certainly not without its problems. But demanding clear and convincing evidence before overturning a call on the field is emphatically not one of them.

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