SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 13
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UCS briefed on proposed DIAP course designation If approved, DIAPdesignated courses to have stricter standards, approval process By EDUARD MUÑOZ-SUÑÉ SENIOR STAFF WRITER
COURTESY OF JULZ RICH
Protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline stood outside Citizens Bank — which has a revolving loan and an open line of credit in place with the company constructing the DAPL — Feb. 8.
Indigenous people rights activists protest DAPL Demonstrators respond to Army Corps of Engineers Feb. 8 decision to resume pipeline construction By GWEN EVERETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would
resume construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, indigenous organizers, tribal leaders and Providence community members protested the controversial pipeline in front of Citizens Bank Wednesday Feb. 8. Demonstrators argued that the DAPL would threaten area access to clean water, violate Native American tribes’ — specifically the Sioux tribe’s — treaty rights by unfairly impinging on tribal
PW brings campy style to Roman classic Cast of “The Captives” proves punchy, energetic in modern take on Plautus’ comedy “Captivi” By ETHEL RENIA SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Production Workshop’s new play resembles a pop-up book come to life. The backdrop is clean-cut, cotton candy pink and two-dimensional. The music is upbeat and cheerful. The characters are loud and dramatic, popping out of the stage like jack-in-the-boxes — energetic, quick and attention-grabbing. The show gently pokes fun of itself and lovingly recounts the tale of two young men captured in war and held prisoners by a rival region in ancient Greece. The play “The Captives” is the translation of the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus’ comedy “Captivi.” Initially, the visual gap between the ancient storyline and the vibrant set and cast that portray it might startle viewers. Indeed, the flashy, almost plasticlike setting seems more appropriate for
INSIDE
gossiping housewives at a suburban barbecue on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It is precisely that gap between Latin play and suburban America that makes the show all the more entertaining. Plautus’ comedy is appropriated for the modern United States. The set and costumes are pointedly flat. The jokes and gags are accessible and funny. The actors are punchy and cheeky. The set and music are riddled with pop culture references. In fact, the entire play is framed like a modern television show, which gives this Latin play a faintly familiar ring. “Roman and Greek comedies set up what we now see as sitcoms,” said Anthony DeRita ’18, director of “The Captives.” “The Captives” is a very self-aware performance in terms of its kitschy decor and quirky feel. It leans into its kookiness, toying with the limits of the theatrical stage and television set. Represented on stage are characters that would not normally be featured in a traditional play or movie. The playwright Plautus himself is on stage » See PW, page 2
land and cultivating corporate greed at the expense of civilian welfare. The protest was organized the day of an announcement that the Army Corps of Engineers would grant the final permission necessary to begin legal construction of the pipeline, which it approved Wednesday. Trump’s revival of the pipeline does not come as a surprise. As » See PROTESTS, page 3
The University may soon abandon its Diverse Perspectives in Liberal Learning course designation in favor of a new “Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan” designation, announced Dean of the College Maud Mandel and Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum Besenia Rodriguez ’00 at the Undergraduate Council of Student’s meeting Wednesday night. Mandel and Rodriguez, along with five members of the College Curriculum Council, put forth the idea that the DIAP designation would have more stringent and specific standards than the current DPLL designation. The CCC, which is chaired by Mandel and oversees the undergraduate curriculum, will vote on the changes Feb. 28. If the CCC approves the proposals offered by the Task Force on Diversity in the Curriculum, then the DIAP designation will appear in courses for the 2018-19
academic year. Faculty would have to submit courses for a DIAP designation regardless of whether the course is already DPLL designated. Mandel began her presentation by describing growing concerns raised by the Task Force that the DPLL designation had become watered-down. The Task Force released a report in August 2016 that reviewed how the University could ensure “sufficient educational offerings on issues of race, ethnicity, inequality and social justice.” The Task Force found that the DPLL designation had failed to appropriately label courses that focused those topics, Mandel said. According to the report, the guidelines to label DPLL courses are too broad. The current definition for the DPLL designation comprises three vague tenets, two of which speak to broad critical learning skills and only the third addressing power and privilege, Mandel said. The lack of specificity led the Task Force to conclude that the current standards had become “too expansive to be truly meaningful” and that “it could be difficult to find a Brown course, regardless of topic or discipline, which would not meet the » See DIAP, page 2
Scientists measure well-being through words
Series of colloquia features data science projects, builds interdisciplinary community By JACKSON WELLS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Ever wonder how much happiness a word contains? Data can be used to study aspects of our lives that people may have not previously thought possible — even the type of emotion that our words convey. Such applications are the focus of the conference sponsored by the University’s new Data Science Initiative. Chris Danforth and Peter Dodds, professors at the University of Vermont, discussed the research and goals of their work at the University of Vermont’s Computational Story Lab in two of the University’s data science colloquia Feb. 2. The first lecture was given by Danforth and centered around the team’s flagship program, which they call “Hedonometrics.” The team gathered the 10,000 most frequently used words from scans of Google’s books project, tweets , lyrics and the New York Times, Danforth said. Then, using » See DATA, page 3
JACKSON WELLS / HERALD
Chris Danforth, pictured above, and Peter Dodds discussed their data science research with students at a Data Science colloquium Feb. 2.
WEATHER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
NEWS New archaeology exhibit documents past, present, local community of Poros, Greece
SPORTS Men’s basketball to host first LGBTQ pride night Saturday in game against Dartmouth
COMMENTARY Kumar ’17: Americans should revert to common decency, seek truth during Trump presidency
COMMENTARY Colby ’20: Fake news produced by not only conservative, but also liberal media outlets
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ARTS AND CULTURE PAGE 2 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Rhode Island Hall archaeology exhibit documents Greek history Professor, students record relationship between local communities, archaeological dig By ETHEL RENIA SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“I should be Poseidon,” a new collection of pictures and prose, seamlessly blends in with the first floor of Rhode Island Hall. Curated by Yannis Hamilakis, professor of classics, and his graduatelevel ARCH 2153: “Archaeological Ethnography: A Multi-Temporal Contact Zone,” the exhibit stems from Hamilakis’ book titled “Camera Kalaureia: An Archaeological Photo-Ethnography.” The exhibition’s focuses on
archaeological ethnography — “a new perspective on archeology that tries to connect past and present and include the voices of local communities,” Hamilakis said. The selected photographs were taken by Hamilakis’ co-author Fotis Ifantidis in the Greek island of Poros, home to the sanctuary of Poseidon, where archaeological research first began in 1894. The photography shows the continuous process of engaging with the site and with the community surrounding it. Hamilakis and Ifantidis worked with the local community of Poros over the course of three years, recording and photographing the community’s relationship with the ongoing archaeological research on the sanctuary. “The quote, ‘I should be Poseidon,’ comes
from someone who used to live on that site,” Hamilakis said. There are a number of families that used to live on the current research site but were forced out to give way to excavation, he added. “The quote challenges archeology, contests the whole idea of prioritizing the ancient past versus the contemporary moment and also speaks of the sometimes difficult relationship we establish with local communities,” Hamilakis said. The title of the exhibition also conveys a certain amount of doubt. Displaced locals of the archaeological site often question the knowledge that excavators bring, Hamilakis said. They say “‘You may know the academic dimension of these things — but I’ve
lived here. I know the stones. I know the landscapes. I have worked the land.’” The pictures in the exhibit were selected “in order to reflect elements that are central to archaeological ethnography: multi-temporality, use and reuse, displacement and questions of ownership, among others,” wrote Matthew Pihokker GS, a second-year archeology graduate student who helped curate the exhibit, in an email to The Herald. The longest stretch of pictures in the exhibition follows a flashy plastic barrier set against a black and white photograph, connoting how “people perceive a separation between archaeologists and archeology on the one hand and local individuals and tourists
on the other,” said Miriam Rothenberg GS, a third-year archeology graduate student who also helped curate the exhibit. That separation plays a great role in the exhibition’s narrative and is accompanied with questions that break the discipline down to make sure archaeology “really is for everyone,” Rothenberg added. Other pictures “comment on the multiplicity of the site,” Hamilakis said. “On every archaeological site there are different moments. On this specific site, we prioritize the time in which the sanctuary was built,” Hamilakis said. “But what we are trying to convey in this project is the sense of multiple times — that in addition to that classical moment, there are other moments.”
» PW, from page 1 and is the only character in a toga. The stage managers are seen around the set, performing their own off-beat silent sketches like human versions of Universal Pictures’ Minions. The main characters interact with these anomalous presences on stage. Despite the liberties taken with the play’s presentation, the storyline of Plautus’ “Captivi” remains. The flashy set accommodates the twists of the original plot such that the director’s decision to make surburbia the backdrop of a story written two millennia ago — while still surprising — is not so much of a stretch. In conclusion, PW’s “The Captives” is made most interesting by its modern, experimental twist. The show is defined by its campy style that colors its every aspect — a style that somehow fits with a classic play that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
ANITA SHEIH / HERALD
Dean of the College Maud Mandel introduces a proposal to replace “Diverse Perspectives in Liberal Learning” course designation with a more rigorous “Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan” designation. Mandel said the University would not make these DIAP-designated courses a requirement.
» DIAP, from page 1 definition,” according to the report. In response to these findings, the Task Force suggested replacing the DPLL label with a DIAP designation that will better reflect the University’s goal of educating undergraduates about diversity, Mandel said. DIAPdesignated courses should go through a more rigorous review process in order to receive the designation, and larger DIAP survey courses should be created and marketed to incoming students, according to the report.
Rodriguez spoke to the importance of a DIAP designation in helping students find classes “across the curriculum.” “We’ve seen a few courses that have received so much interest that students were lined up outside of the room during shopping period, (students) who (were) really interested in learning about racism, about inequality and about structures of power,” Rodriguez said. The committee to review the designation would include the CCC, Senior Associate Dean of the College
for Diversity and Inclusion Maitrayee Bhattacharyya and two faculty members with expertise in DIAP topics, Mandel said. Each approved class would be reviewed every five years to ensure that courses truly reflect the designation. UCS members suggested using Meiklejohns to promote DIAP courses and asked specific questions about how to encourage departments to develop more DIAP courses, especially departments that have more difficulty integrating courses about DIAP topics.
Some in UCS argued that the University should create a DIAP requirement similar to the WRIT requirement rather than just a designation. Mandel responded by reaffirming the University’s belief that the most effective way to encourage students to delve into a subject is to create interest in the topic, not require the study of it. The creation of a DIAP requirement might also create a precedent and potentially lead to the creation of other requirements, which conflicts with the freedom of the open curriculum, she said.
NEWS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» DATA SCIENCE, from page 1 Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Project, people rated the words on a “happyto-sad” scale. The inspiration for the project came from Danforth’s desire to develop a more holistic approach to measuring people’s well-being. “Scientists tend to focus on measuring things that are easier. It’s hard to measure how well people are doing,” Danforth said. “Because it’s hard, (research on well-being) sort of diminished over time, and the focus tends to be put on these economic indicators.” “Originally, our goal was to develop instruments that could quantify how well people were doing on a population scale so that investments could be made by the government in the right things,” Danforth said. There are not enough investments in research of mental health conditions, and data like this will allow
» PROTESTS, from page 1 early as December, he said that he supported completing the pipeline, which spans four states and may carry as many as 550,000 barrels of oil per day to Illinois from its starting point in North Dakota. Trump owned stock in the company constructing the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, according to an article published in the New York Times. Though a Trump spokesman announced last month that he had sold all of his stock in June, Trump has not provided documentation confirming the completion of the sale. Protesters gathered at Citizens Bank, which has a revolving loan and an open line of credit in place with
people to develop software that can help in many ways, such as in diagnosis and medical treatment, he added. Dodds, the other main researcher for the project, discussed the efforts of the Computational Story Lab to study the data of people’s stories — to algorithmically measure different aspects of these narratives through different systems like the Hedonometer, a tool that measures people’s happiness. He discussed the potential for lexical analysis to develop even more scales, such as the “Lexicocalorimeter,” which measures the number of calories people burned or consumed in an area by tracking the use of words that have been assigned caloric values, like “eating” or “butter.” The lab wants to take this data and apply it to everyday life, Dodds said. For example, they are able to geographically map happiness by examining the locations from which words are sent. They can also chronologically view
fluctuations in happiness through social media through methods like looking at a spike in negative words used during a tragedy. Dodds also noted the ability of their methods to analyze literature. Using the Hedonometer, the researchers were able to track the mood of the text as the narrative progresses in various novels and movie scripts. Danforth said that developing apps is a main priority for the future of the lab, adding that the researchers will pursue funding to build these tools that will be helpful in daily life. “Part of our goal is to show what is possible using this type of data and make the code available so that individuals can try and build tools that will be useful for public health applications,” he said. “We want to try and make technology that helps people be aware of what their phone knows about them.” Brown’s Data Science Initiative,
which offers a one-year master’s program, strives to create opportunities for students to engage with data science and learn about its applications in projects like those underway at the Computational Story Lab. “We’re trying to ramp up the different kinds of activities that we’re sponsoring on campus,” said Professor Jeffrey Brock, the director of the Data Science Initiative. “We’re using the colloquia as a kind of seminar series to build community across these departments … and engage local and nearby researchers in similar areas to come speak on campus.” The four departments central to the Data Science Initiative — mathematics, applied mathematics, computer science and biostatistics — are trying to reach out to involve even more departments, Brock said. “We’ve been working maybe more in isolation than is appropriate, so we saw an opportunity … to build across these different units,” he said.
Brock sees potential for Brown in the theoretical aspects of data science as well as the applied ones and hopes to emphasize applications in public health, neuroscience and physics. Brock encourages interested students to take relevant courses, which include ECON 1660: “Big Data,” data fluency courses and APMA 0110: “What’s the big deal with Data Science?” The department is also planning to host a Hackathon and a Music Hack Day. Brock emphasized the variety of companies moving to Rhode Island that may create opportunities for Brown students interested in data science. “It’s a very broad spectrum of career opportunities for students now if you’ve got just a little bit of technical know-how and an interest in a particular domain area,” Brock said. “It’s hard to find a field where (data analysis) doesn’t have some sort of impact.”
the company constructing the DAPL, said Nick Katkevich, one of the protest’s organizers and co-founder of the Fighting Against Natural Gas Collective. Organizers had attempted to meet with bank representatives earlier that day but were escorted out of the building by police, Katkevich said. He encouraged the public to withdraw their deposits from the bank to pressure Citizens to listen to public concerns. Julz Rich, who demonstrated at Standing Rock in 2016 and was the first woman to chain herself to a construction vehicle there, spoke to the crowd about the intergenerational nature of the issue. The land on which the DAPL would be constructed has belonged to native people for
hundreds of years and construction on it would violate a collective history, Rich said. She added that the DAPL threatens future generations of Native Americans who deserve clean water. DAPL construction stalled during the final weeks of the Obama administration, with the USACE blocking construction Dec. 4. “This a big gesture of (the Trump administration) not caring about the future,” said protestor Edward Foster. Desire to protect the environment and secure clean drinking water in the United States motivated him to join the protest, he said, as well as his opposition to the emerging policies of the Trump administration. As the protest continued, police
officers approached the protesters and asked them to move to a different spot in front of the bank. “How’re you going to ban someone on land you stole? This bank doesn’t own this land. Those cops over there don’t own this land,” Rich said. Other speakers referenced more examples of stolen lands, emphasizing that the phenomenon is not limited to DAPL construction. The city of
Providence itself rests on land that rightfully belongs to native tribes, multiple speakers said. While protesters and speakers expressed fear at the Trump administration’s recently announced policies, one female protester expressed hope at the level of political engagement she has seen in recent weeks: “I’ve never been so blown away to see the power in the people.”
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SPORTS
PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Olson ’18 wins all-around, tops career best at Yale meet Veteran posts career-best score of 38.550 after filling in for injured teammate on beam By CAL BARASH-DAVID SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Going into the fourth meet of the season, the gymnastics team looked to grab its first win against Yale at the Pizzitola Center Saturday. Despite the fact they posted their second highest point total of the season, the Bears fell to the Bulldogs 192.225 to 193.500. Anya Olson ’18 won the all-around with a score of 38.550, surpassing her previous all-around career best of 37.650. She scored 9.475 on vault, 9.700 on bars, 9.600 on beam and 9.775 on floor. For her efforts and success in the meet, Olson has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week. The Herald: Why did you choose to come to Brown? Olson: A mixture of things — I had an old teammate from my gym at home (in Michigan) who came here first, and she was a junior when I came in as a freshman. She told me how everything was at Brown — how the coaching was. She just loved everything about the school, so that got me inspired. What’s the most difficult part of being a student-athlete?
I never have enough time to do anything. It’s just a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. Preseason … we have early morning lift three times a week. So we wake up at probably 6:30 or 6:40 a.m.
How did you get into gymnastics? I had a lot of energy when I was younger, and I would do cartwheels, headstands and stuff when I was really young. So my mom just put me in a mom-taught class — how most of us start — at 3 or 4 years old. I just went up the levels from there. What was it like to sit out all of last year with a dislocated ankle? It was really hard because I had gotten through basically all of preseason, and then I got hurt right before Christmas break. We start our season in January, so I went home for six weeks, and then when I came back I was not really able to do much. There was another freshman who was hurt with me. We didn’t get to travel to any of the flying meets like California or Nashville, so we missed out on really huge things. How did you stay positive? I was focusing on this year; that really helped me. I was more focused on rehabbing, and then when I started to do some skills it got better because when we stayed home we would just go into the gym and practice. Being there
NAOMY PEDROZA / HERALD
Anya Olson ’18, the Herald’s Athlete of the Week, enjoyed the most successful season of her career despite suffering a dislocated ankle that prevented her from competing last year. to cheer on everybody and support the team in any other way that we could helps a lot too. Do you have any pre-meet ritu-
als? We all like to do our hair and makeup together — there’s one girl who’s injured who does everybody’s hair — so that’s always kind of fun. We play
really loud music in the locker room, so that usually gets us in the zone. What was it like to win the allaround? Were you in the zone? I was trying not to focus on doing it because when I tend to focus on all four events, … thinking about that is a lot. I try to focus on one event at a time. I wasn’t expecting to do the all-around
that meet, I was only going to do three events but then (Claire Ryan ’18) got hurt, so I had to stand in for the last event, so I was really surprised. I was supposed to be exhibition, so my score would not count (for beam), but I was going to compete anyway. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
M. BASKETBALL
Men’s basketball to host first-ever LGBTQ pride night Partnership between Brown Athletics, LGBTQ Center results in event during Dartmouth game By ALEXANDRA RUSSELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The men’s basketball team will host an LGBTQ Pride Night in partnership with the Brown LGBTQ Center this weekend, the first event of its kind at the University. Saturday evening, Bruno will host Dartmouth in an Ivy League matchup, during which players will wear special multicolored warm-up jerseys in support of the LGBTQ students on campus. The Providence Gay Men’s Chorus will also perform the national anthem before the game. The first 200 students to arrive at the game will receive free pride Tshirts, said Kelly Garrett, program director of the LGBTQ Center. The LGBTQ Center will also have a table set up in the Pizzitola Center where spectators can write notes of support to LGBTQ students that will be linked together as a symbol of allyship, Garrett said. “We want people to know that we’re here, and we’re supportive of everyone on our campus,” said Head Coach Mike Martin ’04. The event was created by the Brown Athletics department to show its strong support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students on campus. “I was really excited because the athletics department approached us,” Garrett said. “It’s a huge statement from
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Captain Tavon Blackmon ’17 will join his team in support of LGBTQ students on campus in Saturday’s Pride Night game against Dartmouth. “There are much bigger things going on in the world at any time — we can use our sport as a vehicle to show that support,” said Head Coach Mike Martin ’04. the athletics department in terms of their support for LGBTQ students and their LGBTQ athletes.” “This is the most visible event that’s ever happened,” she added. “We want to include everyone,” said
co-captain Tavon Blackmon ’17. “It’s a night to support diversity and inclusion and let everyone know in the Brown community that they’re welcome to come to athletic events.” Martin emphasized the importance
of using athletics as a means to engage with the wider community. “We realize we play a game,” Martin said. “There are much bigger things going on in the world at any time — we can use our sport as a vehicle to show
that support.” “It’s a big step forward,” Blackmon said. “It will just bring unity on campus and bring a lot of people together.” The game will start at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Pizzitola Center.
TODAY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
a c h i l l d ay
SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS
Pizza: Bacon Alfredo, Harvest, Buffalo Chicken JOSIAH’S
BLUE ROOM
Three-Cheese Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla
Build-Your-Own Burrito Bowl, New England Clam Chowder
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Red Thai Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower with Red Onion, Pumpkin Cupcakes
Orange Teryaki Haddock, Roasted Agave Butternut Squash, Ambrosia Cake
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Breaded Chicken Fingers, Peanut Butter Sandwich Bar, Lobster Bisque, Brownies
Chicken Saltimbocca, Spinach Pie Casserole, Roasted Red Potatoes, Ambrosia Cake
sudoku
RELEASE DATE– Friday, February 10, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle crossword Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Classic British two-door 5 “That’ll do, thanks” 10 TiVo products 14 Had too much, for short 15 Gulf of Guinea capital 16 “The Caine Mutiny” novelist 17 Fight fan’s accessory? 19 Skye writing 20 Where a soldier may be out 21 Do 22 Davis of the silver screen 23 Augment 25 Preacher’s accessory? 28 Like preachers 29 Basketball filler 30 Spot markers? 31 “Freeze!” 32 Checkout device 36 Conductor’s accessory? 39 How villains act 40 Feature of a good essay 43 Texter’s “No way!” 46 Chemical suffix 47 Colleague of Ruth and Antonin 48 Donald Trump accessory? 52 When Peter Pan grew up 53 Love interest 54 “Mysterious Island” captain 56 Two-yr. degrees 57 Input, often 58 Vampire’s accessory? 61 Uncommon blood type, briefly 62 Squash variety 63 Actress Petty 64 Antiquity 65 Layered skirts 66 Help the chef DOWN 1 Bonnets for Colonial Williamsburg reenactors
2 Skelton catchphrase 3 Across the driveway 4 Forest’s Oscar role 5 “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” speaker 6 Golden Arches pork sandwich 7 Le Guin genre 8 Cliff nester 9 It may keep you from getting home safely 10 One in with the out-crowd 11 Spinning mass 12 Take stock? 13 ’50s-’60s country singer McDonald 18 Boot camp VIPs 22 Special Forces hat 24 Ill-fated rapper 26 Hackneyed 27 Aviation nickname 32 Hurled 33 Skulk 34 MSN alternative 35 Springfield, for one
37 Holmes adversary Adler 38 It has its ups and downs 41 Decent plot 42 Armada component 43 Below-par period 44 City west of Venezia 45 Latke maker’s need
47 Adequate, in verse 49 Public persona 50 Pricey bar 51 India’s longestserving prime minister 55 Chain links?: Abbr. 58 D.C. athlete 59 Hosp. area 60 Climber’s destination
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
SAM BERUBE / HERALD
Snow settles on the Caesar Augustus statue on Wriston Quad Thursday. Students enjoyed a break from classes as the University closed temporarily due to severe weather conditions in Providence.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“It’s a night to support diversity and inclusion and let everyone know in the Brown community that they’re welcome to come to athletic events.
”
— Tavon Blackmon ’17
See lgbtq night on page 4.
xwordeditor@aol.com
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Mesa de Conversacion 12:00 P.M. Sharpe Refectory
Momenta Quartet Concert 8:00 P.M. Granoff Center
SATURDAY Smash Tournament 2:00 P.M. Tech House
Pain et Fromage 4:00 P.M. Machado
SUNDAY House of Pancakes 12:00 P.M. King House (St. Anthony Hall)
Boffer Swords 2:00 P.M. Tech House
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Brown Bites: Feb. 3-10, 2017 I love college As part of Governor Gina Raimondo’s FY2018 budget proposal, the Rhode Island’s Promise proposal would guarantee two years of free public college for in-state students. The proposal — which would cost the state $30 million — applies to the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College. RI Promise could help eliminate barriers for first-generation college students — fewer than 45 percent of people in the state have received a higher education degree, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. No experience necessary The annual Hack@Brown hackathon focused on greater inclusivity for students with little to no prior knowledge of coding and also emphasized areas outside of coding like design and product management. The event attracted students from both Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design as well as professionals and recruiters from the field. One group of first-time participants was awarded for creating a device for those with visual impairments that alerts users of obstructions. Not bad for beginners. Paxson speaks out The first faculty meeting of the semester saw President Christina Paxson P’19 speak out strongly against President Donald Trump’s recent ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Paxson affirmed the University’s stance “that we don’t tolerate bigotry, we don’t tolerate xenophobia and hate,” adding that future policy changes could threaten the University’s mission of advancing knowledge. Plans for offering assistance to the 22 community members affected by the ban were discussed, including legal support and summer housing. Empire State sweep The women’s basketball team earned a weekend sweep at home against Cornell and Columbia. The wins lifted Bruno to second place in the Ivy League standings with a 4-2 conference record. Justice Gaziano ’20 netted 27 points on 5-5 shooting from three in the first contest, while Taylor Will ’19 and Shayna Mehta ’19 led the way in game two with 18 points. The Bears continue their pursuit of a berth in the inaugural Ivy League tournament with games against Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend.
K I M B E R LY S A LT Z
comic A Horse of Any Other Name | Zachary SIlberberg
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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
The great American identity crisis NIKHIL KUMAR staff columnist
Is the United States an isolationist hermit or a welcoming haven for immigrants and refugees? Do we still hate Russia’s guts, or have we finally put the Cold War behind us? Is Australia among our closest allies or not worth even an hour of our time? Were we founded on Judeo-Christian values or the universal ideals of liberty and equality? Should we prioritize the freedoms of speech, press and assembly or the right to bear arms? Do scientists and technocrats search for the truth, or do they merely shove their dubious agendas down our throats? Do we crave the boldness of a tough executive or the impartiality of a cool-headed judiciary? Many of these questions are as old as the country itself, but the very fact that we are asking them all at once signals an existential crisis from sea to shining sea. One of the causes for this meltdown is Americans’ inability to distinguish between what is true and what is false. The rise of fake news during the election and the subsequent lies put forth by the White House of President Donald Trump about the inauguration crowds, voter fraud and the fictional Bowling Green massacre have planted seeds of doubt about the reli-
ability of the media and the government — traditionally trusted sources of information — in many Americans’ minds. With the coining of the term “alternative facts” by Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway, those seeds of doubt have taken root, sprouting fastgrowing shoots of distrust among the public. In addition to this threat to democratic transparency, it seems that Americans can no longer agree on what is right and what is wrong. Of course, there will always be disagree-
scent presidency have vaporized this delicate mutual understanding of basic social norms. During his campaign, Trump mockingly imitated a reporter with a disability. The White House’s statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day didn’t mention the Jewish people, six million of whom were exterminated by the Nazis. And Trump abruptly hung up on the Australian prime minister less than halfway through an hour-long phone call — despite a recent survey that noted that Republicans consider Australia to
ent slippage from the norms of common decency? Indeed, this is a vital question to pose in light of the proliferation of comparisons between President Trump’s executive order barring citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and the discriminatory, inhumane actions pursued by Hitler’s regime. How is it possible that some Americans decry the executive order as unconstitutional and utterly contrary to our values while others continue to support the president and his supposed desire to protect the homeland?
In learning about atrocities like the Holocaust or struggles like the Civil Rights Movement in school, it was easy to look back through the decades and use the labels “good” and “evil.” Yet with each passing day in Trump’s America, the gray area between “right” and “wrong” seems to become all the fuzzier. ments on “political” questions like the correct size of government, the appropriate role of the United States in international affairs and divisive social issues. Until recently, though, it seemed that the country had reached a broad consensus on certain basic norms that can be referred to generally as “common decency.” Common decency includes demonstrating respect for people with disabilities, condemning genocidal regimes like Nazi Germany and white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and reassuring our allies that they matter. The 2016 election and Trump’s na-
be the United States’ strongest ally. Given that the president represents the country in an official capacity, it is unsurprising that his rupture with common decency has trickled down to the public. Last week it was reported that a group of Texas high school seniors gathered for a class photo yelled “Heil Hitler” and “Heil Trump” while performing the Nazi salute. Though the school announced that it would pursue disciplinary action in response to the outrageous anti-Semitic gesture, it seems that American society may be descending toward moral turpitude. How can we explain this appar-
Two key factors have contributed to this widening gulf between Americans. First, misinformation from the government and accompanying suspicion of the mainstream media have led many Trump supporters to view the order as necessary for national security. If the leader whom you trust sounds the alarm that a terrorist attack could take place at any moment if the borders aren’t sealed, then how could you not support sealing the borders? Such rhetoric is deceptive, of course, since few terrorists have come from the countries on the banned list and visa recipients and refugees have already
been vetted by the federal government. Second, this powerful securitarian rhetoric clouds Trump supporters’ ability to consider the discriminatory intent of the executive order — discrimination that arguably renders the measure unconstitutional. In this climate of fear, small wonder, then, that common decency is carelessly thrown out the window. Regardless of partisan preference, we all want our families and our communities to be safe. But arbitrary discrimination along national and religious lines and the exclusion of desperate refugees from the country will not forge a path toward a less dangerous world. In learning about atrocities like the Holocaust or struggles like the Civil Rights Movement in school, it was easy to look back through the decades and use the labels “good” and “evil.” Yet with each passing day in Trump’s America, the gray area between “right” and “wrong” seems to become all the fuzzier. In order to re-establish political unity in this divisive moment, we must restore faith in the arbiters of truth — the media and the government, among others — and return to basic norms of common decency. If we fail in these two tasks, then the world’s oldest democracy may cease to live up to the high ideals to which it has aspired for nearly two and a half centuries.
Nikhil Kumar ’17 can be reached at nikhil_kumar@brown.edu.
The left can be fake, too OWEN COLBY
op-ed contributor Just weeks after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, statements from the White House have led many journalists to call Trump’s tenure a “post-truth presidency.” This allegation is a result of Trump’s claims that “any negative polls are fake news” and that CNN is a “terrible... fake news” organization. Meanwhile, Trump surrogate and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway has claimed the existence of “alternative facts” and lied about a nonexistent terrorist attack that she called the “Bowling Green massacre” to make a point about the dangers of refugees. These statements are a small sample of the egregious fabrications coming from the Trump administration. The administration’s remarks — along with conservative media sources, like Breitbart and Infowars, which often propagate fake and polarizing news — have led many liberals to believe that fake news is a primarily Republican problem. But that isn’t the case. While Democrats aren’t flagrantly spreading mistruths like Trump, false news and narratives arise from the left, too, more than many liberals are willing to admit. Pundits and liberal media sources have regularly accused conservative media outlets of promoting falsehoods. Salon’s Matthew Sheffield asserted, “Fake news has always been much more of an issue for conservatives.” The Washington Post’s Christopher Ingraham published an article titled, “Why conservatives might be more likely to fall for fake news,” and Vox’s Jason Mittell and Chuck Tryon claimed, “Fake stories about Hillary Clinton being a murderer emerged from a long legacy of right-wing media that has long pushed against established norms of journalism to spread fear
and distrust.” One of the most popular liberal media sources on Facebook, “Occupy Democrats,” which has over 5.7 million likes, regularly pushes lies with a heavy liberal bias. PolitiFact, the nonpartisan, Pulizer Prize-winning website, reviewed a sample of Occupy Democrats’ Facebook posts and found that 66 percent of the claims assessed were “false” or “pants on fire” lies. In one post published Nov. 25, Occupy Democrats reported, “Three Wisconsin counties admit to fixing the vote in favor of Donald Trump.” This was incorrect, and no county ever “admitted” to fixing votes or committing voter fraud. Still, most lies on the page go unno-
mostly false, and their review of Addicting Info was equally damning. Addicting Info has published headlines like “Russia minted ‘In Trump We Trust’ coins ahead of the 45th U.S. president’s inauguration,” without informing readers that the coin was made by a private company, unrelated to the Russian government. Moreover, The Other 98% recently posted an article “that claimed the surgeon general of the (United States) warned that drinking every time Trump lied during the first presidential debate could result in ‘acute alcohol poisoning.’” This was actually a satirical article from Buzzfeed falsely portrayed as factual by The Other 98%. There are countless other propagators
While the fake news reaching Republicans is more extreme, progressives should still be vigilant about the fake news arising in their own circles and take care to avoid the corrosive impulses of their conservative counterparts. ticed and a simple scroll down the Occupy Democrats Facebook page reveals more mistruths. A post published Feb. 7 claimed that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, was the only Democrat to vote against “every Trump cabinet appointment.” But even she voted for the confirmation of Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations, a position that comes with cabinet status. Unfortunately, as far as leftist social media goes, Occupy Democrats is not an exception. Popular liberal Facebook pages — such as “The Other 98%” and “Addicting Info,” which have 4.5 million and 1.2 million likes, respectively — are similarly unreliable. PolitiFact’s review of The Other 98% found that 75 percent of sampled statements were
of clickbait-oriented fake and biased news catering to the left. The articles cited above were all liked and shared thousands of times and could have potentially reached the eyes of millions of unknowing readers. One could say that these examples are not comparable to the immensely popular and widely read Breitbart and Infowars publications, but this claim is unfounded. Breitbart has been advertised as a prime example of right wing fake news, and a former executive of the publication, Steve Bannon, now advises Trump. While these publications are often discussed and condemned by the mainstream media, their reach on Facebook is smaller than that of leftist Facebook pages. Breitbart has
approximately 3.1 million likes and Infowars has about 672,000 likes on Facebook, far less than the 5.7 million likes Occupy Democrats maintains. While this is an imperfect metric to measure readership, this should at least prove that biased media sources on the left and right are similar in scope. But biased left wing media sources are not criticized the way biased right wing media sources are. Right wing publications receive extensive coverage because they spread far more divisive and egregious lies. Brietbart, for instance, has a racially charged news section titled “Black Crime” and has continued to spread Trump’s false claim that he would have won the popular vote if not for “illegal voters.” Even Republicans have repudiated this claim of widespread voter fraud. Incredibly, Infowars is far worse than Breitbart, conspiratorially claiming that the government was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and faked the moon landing. It is true that the lies pushed by conservative outlets can be far more offensive, and ultimately dangerous, than the fake assertions of liberal outlets. But, while the fake news reaching Republicans is more extreme, progressives should still be vigilant about the fake news arising in their own circles and take care to avoid the corrosive impulses of their conservative counterparts. As Democrats continue to critique the Trump administration and the biased right wing news sources that fueled his rise, it is important to recognize that there is a large division of Democrats who are reading similarly fake and divisive news. If Democrats want to claim a moral high ground, they should block and unlike Facebook pages, like those listed above, and be more introspective about the polarizing rhetoric that afflicts both sides of the political spectrum.
Owen Colby ’20 can be reached at owen_ colby@brown.edu.
SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
Bostonians, don’t forget about 2004 CHARLIE BLASBERG sports colmnist The day after the Patriots’ miraculous Super Bowl LI win, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy posed the question of whether this Super Bowl victory was Boston’s greatest sports story. He, like many, narrowed down the contest for this prize to the 2016 Patriots Super Bowl comeback and the 2004 Red Sox postseason, which included coming back from down three games to none against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and ending an 86-year title drought. The Red Sox’s World Series win was unequivocally the greatest story in Boston sports history. The context in which the events transpired, the drama surrounding the Red Sox’s comeback against the Yankees and the way the city of Boston responded all make the Red Sox’s run a more compelling story than the Super Bowl comeback. It is important to differentiate between the greatest story and great sporting events. I am not asking for the greatest moment, the greatest game (which could very well be Super Bowl LI) or the greatest season in Boston sports history. The greatest sports story connects unbelievable events with a history that heightens the drama. The first criteria that makes the Red Sox’s run greater than the Patriots’
victory is the context in which they were playing for the World Series. As if having an 86-year title drought was not enough, those 86 years were made especially torturous by the amount of times the Red Sox got so close to snapping it, only to be disappointed. They appeared in three World Series in which they lost in Game 7 (1946, 1967 and 1975) and countless other seasons they were felled prior to the Fall Classic, seemingly always by the same foe: the New York Yankees. The Red Sox facing the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS seemed poetic. It served as a chance for the Red Sox to redeem themselves after a heartbreaking loss to the Yankees in the ALCS the year before, as well as an opportunity to finally defeat the Yankees, who had bullied the Sox ever since they traded Babe Ruth in 1919. The Patriots’ meager history pales in comparison to that of the Red Sox. Though they lost two Super Bowls before winning their first, their initial absence of titles resembles the Chicago Cubs’ curse more than the Curse of the Bambino. For the vast majority of seasons before 2000, the Patriots were, quite frankly, not a good football team. They didn’t tease New England, they just embarrassed their fans. The Patriots also, for all intents and purposes, have no rival. For a while, the rival was whichever team Peyton Manning played for. Some could argue that a rivalry has brewed between the Patriots and New York Jets, but that has always been lopsided. No matchup for the Patriots contains the same mutual animosity that the Red Sox and Yan-
kees had in the early- and mid-2000s. In the postseason this year, the Patriots played three teams that do not have a history of giving them trouble. Though the Steelers at first glance seem like good fodder for rivalry, their record against the Brady-era Patriots is 3-7 and 1-4 in Foxborough. Simply, the contextual drama that Brady’s suspension by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell added to the Super Bowl does not match the drama that the tantalizing 86-year curse cast on the Red Sox’s 2004 run. The second criteria that makes 2004 a better story than Super Bowl LI is that the Red Sox comeback was more impressive. In games one through three of the ALCS, the Yankees took the Red Sox’s strongest weapon in each game and neutralized it. In games one and two, they tore apart Curt Schilling then tagged Pedro Martinez for four runs, and in Game three, the Red Sox, who had been a terrific home team all year, were thrashed 19-8 at Fenway. Games four and five were so impressive because they saw the Red Sox trailing going into the eighth inning of both games. In game four, Mariano Rivera, the undisputed greatest closer in the history of baseball, took the mound to face Kevin Millar, who was not having a good series. The game should have been over. For essentially his whole career, if Rivera took a lead into the ninth, it was game over. Somehow, though, a walk, a stolen base and a groundball up the middle tied the game, but many forget that game was not over. The Yankees
had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning against Curtis Leskanic, who was a mediocre pitcher at best. As we all know, the Red Sox held on to win on a David Ortiz walk-off home run. The next night was a similar story. The Red Sox trailed when Rivera entered the game in the eighth inning, which is usually a death sentence. But with a sacrifice fly, they drove in a run and proceeded to win in the 14th inning on yet another walk-off by David Ortiz. Coming back against Rivera two nights in a row is unheard of, and, by the numbers, should never have happened. In game six, Curt Schilling took the field with a torn ligament in his foot and blood leaking through his sock and into his shoe. Nationally, that game is simply referred to as the “bloody sock game.” Such a visible sign of guts and grit was simply not matched in the Super Bowl. Sure, the Patriots were down against the Falcons, but they were down against a defense that had accomplished nothing of note all season. They did not have the greatest closer in the history of the game staring them down facing elimination. On top of that, when the Patriots started coming back, Tom Brady had an easy time picking apart the Falcons’ zone defense, whereas the Red Sox came back to win game four but were behind the next night in game five and struggled to escape Game six with a win. The Red Sox were in a more dire situation than the Patriots in the ninth inning of Game four and mounted a more impressive comeback.
The final criteria that makes the 2004 Red Sox story the greatest Boston sports story is something out of the Patriots’ control. Baseball’s postseason happens very sluggishly, which often leads to boredom in lopsided games and series. But in the case of the 2004 ALCS and World Series, the long games and the time between each game served to draw more and more people to the extraordinary events that were unfolding. This story picked up momentum like no other story, sport or otherwise, in my lifetime in Boston. The whole city was in a two-week frenzy. Super Bowl LI happened too quickly to infect the whole region like the Red Sox did. People were shocked by the Patriots, but the shock and surprise lasted only for one night, whereas the days of emotional ups and downs and the dramatic events that led to the Red Sox’s World Series Championship in 2004 lasted for weeks and drew people closer to the events. While Boston sports fans have been blessed to have witnessed some of the great stories in the world of sports, these two games are unmatched. While the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI championship loses out to the Red Sox’s 2004 World Series run — as most every story will — the city of Boston needs to take a step back and appreciate how rare it is to have so many great moments, stories and seasons transpire in one city.
Charlie Blasberg ’18 can be reached at charles_blasberg@brown.edu.
It’s official: MLB has lost its mind JAMES SCHAPIRO sports columnist Way back in September, I addressed MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s multiple proposals to cut down on game length, many of which I found either harmful to player safety or the integrity of the game. “Baseball, the national pastime, has been around since 1845 and has always been plenty exciting,” I wrote. “In fact, even as Manfred has fretted about pace of play, baseball’s TV ratings have soared, teams have seen record revenues and fan attendance is close to the highest it has ever been. The game is just fine the way it is. Commissioner Manfred, don’t ruin it.” All those facts remain true, and what’s more, we’re coming off a World Series that was an instant classic; the final game received more than 40 million viewers and was the single mostwatched baseball game in 25 years. Regardless, Manfred and his Secretary of Ridiculous Ideas Joe Torre
have forged ahead in their quest to change baseball from the national pastime to the Jerry Springer show. True blue baseball fans? Who cares about them? Let’s make baseball fun again! I’m reacting, in particular, to a report by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports late Wednesday afternoon. “Major League Baseball plans on testing a rule change in the lowest levels of the minor leagues this season that automatically would place a runner on second base at the start of extra innings,” he reported. So, why do this? Surely, there must be a legitimate explanation for putting a runner on base for no reason at all. Will it keep players safe? Is it essential for MLB to continue functioning? It must be something like this — after all, there’s no way Joe Torre and Major League Baseball would simply initiate such a change without an extremely compelling reason. Well, nope. Passan quotes Torre explaining the policy. “It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch,” Torre said. “As much as it’s nice to talk
about being at an 18-inning game, it takes time.” It’s not fun. Well, Mr. Torre, that’s a shame. It’s also entirely false. Since I’ve followed the Mets, for example, they’ve played several games of 18 innings or more. Without doing any research at all, one was in 2010 against the Cardinals — the Mets won in the 20th after Albert Pujols doubled in the 19th but the Cardinals didn’t score. One was against the Braves: Shaun Marcum pitched eight scoreless innings, the only thing he ever did for the Mets. Another was against the Marlins: I had a little league game, and when it ended two and a half hours later, the Mets were still playing. And then there’s one of the most exciting games in baseball history: the Rick Camp game. Google it — I don’t have space to tell the story here. That game went 19 innings, and that was baseball at its absolute finest. But, sure, it’s not fun. I just remember all these games for no reason. Certainly didn’t have fun experiencing any of those games, no sir. And utility infielders pitching — has Joe Torre really lost it to the point
where he no longer believes that’s fun? Just Google “position player pitching” and watch any of the extensive highlight videos, or read one of the articles with titles like “10 Most Memorable Position-Player Pitching Performances of All Time” or “The 5 Best Position Players to Ever Pitch in a Game.” And then tell me again that it’s not fun to watch position players pitch — and tell me, moreover, that baseball fans don’t think it’s fun either. You can’t. It’s simply not true. “It’s baseball,” Torre went on to say. “I’m just trying to get back to that, where this is the game that people come to watch. It doesn’t mean you’re going to score. You’re just trying to play baseball.” Wait — what? If the report hadn’t lost me by the end of the first sentence, it would have, again, at this point. Joe Torre wants to “get back to that” by making a change that has never even entered mainstream American baseball thought? “You’re just trying to play baseball”? That’s nice, but baseball, sir, includes extra innings, which should never start with a runner on second base. Back in September, I gave com-
missioner Manfred the benefit of the doubt. “Manfred, in summation, has taken improving the pace of play — a well-meaning objective — too far,” I wrote. Well, Manfred, Torre and the rest of MLB get no such benefit now. This proposal isn’t well-meaning, misunderstood or complicated. It isn’t addressing a legitimate problem, and even if it was, it isn’t a legitimate solution. It’s an asinine PR move, a desperate attempt to attract people who aren’t baseball fans at the expense of those who are. It’s not worth being considered at a tee-ball level; to see it being tested in the minor leagues, for possible eventual implementation in the majors, is simply outrageous. No more benefit of the doubt, no more chances for redemption, no more let’s wait and see. This is a stupid proposal, implemented by stupid people, for stupid reasons. None of this belongs anywhere near the national treasure that is Major League Baseball.
James Schapiro ’19 can be reached at james_schapiro@brown.edu.
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