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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 53

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Gaur ’21 wins ‘Jeopardy!’ Championship Wendy Davis talks abortion First-year takes home rights, value of empathy $100,000 grand prize in ‘surreal’ college championship

Texas state senator known for 2013 filibuster discusses life story, future of reproductive justice

By ALEX REICE STAFF WRITER

In a gripping final round that aired Friday April 21, Dhruv Gaur ’21 was crowned the “Jeopardy!” College Championship grand prize winner, taking home $100,000. Along with the cash prize, Gaur guaranteed himself a spot in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions. Gaur overtook second place winner William Scott, a first-year at Tufts University, who earned $50,000, and Hannah Sage, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, who secured the third spot and went home with $25,000. Describing the moment when he won, Gaur said, “It was just kind of surreal. … I didn’t even think about it until I was actually in the finals, and then when it did happen, it was crazy.” Cameron Tripp’ 21, Gaur’s best friend, was just as excited. “I just couldn’t really believe it. I knew that he won, I just couldn’t believe that he did,” he said.

By ALICIA MIES STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS INC.

While the final round of the College Championship aired Friday, Gaur has had to keep his victory a secret since the episode’s taping in March. After Gaur’s victory, “I didn’t say two flights of stairs … out the door, anything to him,” he said. “I picked and poured apple cider everywhere.” him up by his legs and threw him over While Gaur’s win was a shock for my shoulder, and I ran him down » See ‘JEOPARDY!’, page 3

State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-TX, began her speech at a reproductive justice event Saturday afternoon with an impassioned message about personal stories and the “power of empathy” to break down political barriers. Following her own advice, Davis, who first came to national attention in 2013 for her 13-hour filibuster of a bill that sought to limit access to abortions in Texas, shared her experiences with the Brown community. The Brown National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League ProChoice America and the University’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union brought the politician and former candidate for Texas governor to the Friedman Auditorium to mark the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the supreme court decision that struck down laws restricting access to abortion.

President Donald Trump recently criticized Roe v. Wade at the March for Life earlier in January, and since becoming a Republican candidate has self-identified as “pro-life.” “Wendy Davis was a perfect person for (the talk) because she’s a senator in a state that’s also anti-choice,” said Camille Di Bella ’19, president of Brown NARAL. According to Di Bella, the event was important because “most people probably don’t realize that Rhode Island is very anti-choice. It’s on the bottom rung in terms of access to reproductive healthcare.” Davis began her speech with an anecdote about her grandmother’s life as a low-income, uneducated wife of a tenant farmer. She then proceeded to track her lineage through the shoes worn by the women in her family. Her emphasis on shoes stems directly from the fact that shoes have played a pivotal role in her own life: During her famous filibuster, she wore pink running shoes that have grown to symbolize her fight for reproductive rights. Davis then went on to talk about her early life. She worked through community college as a teenage mother, » See DAVIS, page 3

Holocaust survivor discusses Researchers study kimchi fermentation Offshoot of microbiome life story in Nazi Germany Esther Adler implored audience to ‘keep talking about this’ to mark Holocaust Memorial Day By COLLEEN CRONIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

At 94 years old, Esther Adler stepped out from behind a podium that was almost as tall as she was to speak at Brown-RISD Hillel Sunday night. The first thing she said to an almost entirely filled room was that she doesn’t really like to refer to herself as a survivor of the Holocaust. “Until some years ago, I never called myself a survivor because I felt that the people who suffered in ghettos and went through camps, they are the survivors,” Adler said. She was fifteen when she escaped Germany and traveled with a Jewish youth group to Jerusalem. Though she made it out of Germany alive, Adler said many of her family members and friends did not. Adler was invited to speak at Hillel for Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Memorial Day, on April 11. Adler said she doesn’t use the word Holocaust to describe what happened at

INSIDE

the hands of the Nazi party to people of the Jewish faith. “The word Holocaust comes from Greek and its means a burnt offering. And I thought that … this is not a good description for what the Holocaust, the Shoah represents,” Adler said, “The word shoah, the Hebrew word means a terrible happening, a terrible occurrence.” The event was sponsored by the Holocaust Initiative at Brown University, Brown-RISD Hillel and Facing History and Ourselves. “It’s something we do every year for Yom Hashoah. We have a service generally, which we had on April 11 and we also bring in a survivor if we’re able,” said Zoë Gilbard ’18, one of three student co-leaders who helped organized the project. “In past years we’ve had people who are living in Rhode Island or Massachusetts and are part of the local Jewish community to tell their story to answer questions,” she added. “1933, that was the faithful (year) that Hitler came to power,” Adler said. Adler, who is of Polish descent, was only a child in Breslau, Germany when the country became a fascist » See ADLER, page 3

lab motivated by researchers’ interest in food science By CATE RYAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Kimchi, a Korean side dish composed of seasoned, fermented vegetables, has become popular in recent years, especially among health-conscious consumers. The staple Korean accompaniment was the focus of a recent study led by Michelle Zabat ’18 and Will Sano ’16 and completed in the lab of Peter Belenky, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology. The study explored the impact that different production methods have on bacterial communities withinthe fermented foods that people consume. As more and more people look to buy kimchi and other fermented products such as sauerkraut, companies have changed their production methods to increase efficiency. The researchers studied the changes in fermentation processes that have come with this shift in production processes. Consumers have particularly been attracted to kimchi because it is a probiotic, meaning it promotes the proliferation of healthy bacteria

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A study led by Michelle Zabat ’18 and Will Sano ’16 investigated effects of different production methods on popular fermented foods such as kimchi. within the body. “Recently, with the whole rise of probiotics as a concept, fermented foods are becoming more popular, especially in health conscious circles in the United States,” Zabat said. “The science behind (probiotics) is not as rigorous as it could be,” Belenky

said. “We don’t yet know which probiotics are important, but nonetheless a lot of the reasons why people purchase things like kimchi, kombucha, or yogurt … is because they believe it has a benefit for them, from the probiotic perspective,” he added. The study » See KIMCHI, page 3

WEATHER

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

NEWS Neil-Cohen GS studies invasive Eastern cottontail rabbits that students see on campus

SPORTS Baseball team grabs critical win against Harvard, but drop a threegame series on the road

COMMENTARY Steinman ’19: Students should not let heavy workloads prevent them from enjoying sunny days

SECTION Cardoso ’19: Brazil can no longer leave myth of “racial democracy” unquestioned after Franco’s death

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U. scientist to contribute to next global climate report IPCC global climate assessment report to release in 2022 with FoxKemper as co-lead author By KENDRICK TAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Baylor Fox-Kemper, associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences, was selected as a coordinating lead author for a chapter of the next global climate assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Along with two other coordinating lead authors, he will direct a team of 20 scientists in writing chapter nine of the report, which focuses on Earth’s ocean dynamics, sea levels and the cryosphere — the parts of earth where water is solid. Baylor was among 800 scientists chosen to contribute to the report out of over 3,000 applications from all over the world, Fox-Kemper said. “I’ve found these reports to be a really

useful resource, … and I’ve been reading them and thinking about them since my student days,” Fox-Kemper said. “This is an opportunity for me to return the favor and pass on my knowledge to the rest of the world by summarizing what the state of the field is now like.” Instead of trying to come up with new experiments to conduct, the report will primarily focus on summarizing the progress made in climate research since the last report in 2014, according to Fox-Kemper. The chapter will also evaluate the current capabilities of modeling changes in the oceans and how those models can be made more accurate in the future, he said. The IPCC’s first Assessment Report was published in 1990, and a new one is published every five to seven years, Fox-Kemper said. The report that he is co-leading is the sixth Assessment Report, which is scheduled for release in 2022. Fox-Kemper’s work at Brown involves studying the relationship between

ocean dynamics and cryosphere change. He develops computer models to simulate these relationships, as well as other ocean processes. “Baylor is so passionate about his work,” said Qing Li GS, who studies under Fox-Kemper. “While he is technically my advisor, he often brings up interesting science topics to talk about with me on a more friendly basis.” “Baylor knows everything!” said Abigail Bodner GS, who also studies under Fox-Kemper. “He’s involved in so many projects related to his field of work and often meets with leaders in this field from all over the world to discuss their work.” “I think one of the reasons he was chosen to contribute to the report was because he’s so well respected in this sector of the scientific community. What he says will be taken very seriously by everyone else,” added Aakash Sane GS, who is also from the department. “It’s a big honor to be doing this, and I hope I do a good job,” Fox-Kemper said.

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Baylor Fox-Kemper will work with 20 other scientists to write a chapter of the IPCC report to explain ocean dynamics, sea levels and the cryosphere.

U. doctoral candidate investigates dwindling rabbit species native to campus Neil-Cohen studies genetic variation of New England cottontail, Eastern cottontail By TANUSHRI SUNDAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER

It is hard to believe that the wide-eyed, puffy-tailed rabbits that scurry around campus are actually an invasive species, while the species native to the region is disappearing. These endangered New England cottontails are the focus of Kimberly Neil-Cohen GS’s research. Threatened by the disappearance of their natural habitat, the New England cottontails are becoming overshadowed by the Eastern cottontail, a burgeoning species which is able to survive in environments with thinner patches of cover. Neil-Cohen, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the ecology and evolutionary biology department, studies genetic variation in the New England cottontail and hopes to expand her research to include the Eastern cottontail as well. Specifically, she looks at the histocompatibility complex, a set of proteins that influence immune system function, in

the New England cottontail. Because New England cottontails are endangered in Rhode Island, knowledge of their genetic health can inform the rabbits’ risk to disease and help states make decisions on how to move rabbits between the five remaining populations in the Northeast to enable their survival, Neil-Cohen said. Her dissertation research involves developing genomic-based methods for detecting potential pathogens. These methods are more cost-effective and efficient ways of determining microbes that could put the endangered rabbit species at risk, she said. Current species management plans focus on providing better success for the New England cottontails rather than eradicating the Eastern cottontail said Catherine Sparks, assistant director of the Bureau of Natural Resources at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. These plans include carefully studying and monitoring the “five remnant populations” of rabbits in the Northeast, including a captive breeding and conservation project at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Neil-Cohen said. One conservation strategy involves

increasing the population’s genetic diversity to improve its health. Neil-Cohen’s research also involves analyzing the diversity of functional, significant genes of the New England cottontail. “It’s very encouraging that they have retained moderate diversity,” she said. “There’s strong evidence that (these genes) are under natural selection.” Neil-Cohen works closely with the Roger Williams Park Zoo, as well as wildlife departments across New England and researchers at the University of Rhode Island. Together, they aim to conserve the New England cottontail species. “One of the greatest pieces of this work is how collaborative it is,” she said. “It’s wonderful as a student to be a part of research that spans state and federal wildlife agencies, zoos and other facilities,” she said. She credits the University for her positive research experience. “The quality of science that happens in the ecology and evolutionary biology department is outstanding — there’s a great sense of community and incredibly supportive mentorship.” Because there is currently “no hope” of eradicating the invasive Eastern cottontails in New England, according to Sparks, we can expect them to

MONDAY, APRIL 23rd 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM CONTACT Lusine_Galoyan@brown.edu to schedule an appointment University Hall Room 101 The Open Hour with the President is for currently enrolled students

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Neil-Cohen worked with the Roger Williams Park Zoo and other researchers to develop conservation strategies for the New England cottontail. remain a hallmark of Brown’s scenery. “I see them a lot,” said Camille Tulloss ’21. “Sometimes I see four in one day.” Despite their invasive status, the

rabbits appear to be quite friendly and approachable, Tulloss said. “You can often get close to them, but I’ve never personally chased one before.”

NEWS

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018 • PAGE 3

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» ‘JEOPARDY!’, from page 1 the audience and his friends, he had been aware of the results since they filmed the show in March. Keeping the secret was “so hard,” according to Gaur. “A lot of people were pestering me about it, and at a certain point my strategy was just to lie. … I would be like, OK I got fifth, and then the next day, I got third and eventually people were like ‘OK, we can’t believe anything.’” The experience was a whirlwind for Gaur. All five of the quarter-finals were filmed on the same day; the semi-finals and finals were also taped within 24 hours of each other. There was no time to prepare between each round. But, the experience brought him closer to his fellow competitors. “I think in the finals especially, because they had the three of us away from all the other contestants, we got

» KIMCHI, from page 1 took a closer look into these foods and assessed the bacterial population that people ingest when they eat these products. Studies like this one help people gauge whether or not foods actually do contain probiotic bacteria, he said. To accommodate demand, production companies have started to break from traditional fermentation methods, Zabat said. For example, some have started to replace the typically used fermented seafood with miso paste, making the product vegan. “Both of those ingredients contain their own communities of lactic acid bacteria that will ferment the material,” Belenky explained. The project aimed to establish whether or not vegan production methods produced a differing final bacterial composition, and concluded that it did not.“If you want to make vegan kimchi, it’s going to have the same final bacterial properties as the traditional kimchi,”

» ADLER, from page 1 state. Adler described Germany as a “disaster” after World War I, which facilitated Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. “He found a scapegoat,” Adler said, and added that his first targets were Jewish people. In the walled-in “old city” section of Breslau, Adler felt a strong sense of community among a heavily Jewish population. “It was an atmosphere where we knew we belonged.” Adler went to a private Jewish school where she studied Jewish history and Hebrew, in addition to other subjects. The section of the city in which she lived was incredibly homogenous. “I never had a non-Jewish friend,” Adler said of her time in Germany. In 1935 after the Nuremberg Laws went into effect, Adler said her school was flooded by an influx of German-Jewish students who were no longer permitted to attend other public schools. Signs were put up on Jewish store fronts that read “Aryans don’t buy” and “Jews go to Palestine.” Her family — which included her two working parents and three other siblings — typically had a maid while she was growing up until non-Jewish women who were younger than 45 years old were prohibited from

really close,” Gaur said. Gaur has few regrets after participating in the competition. “I threw out some dumb answers a couple of times, I said altitude instead of amplitude. But, in hindsight that didn’t affect anything.” Gaur said. If given a chance to do the competition over again, he “would have looked less serious in the first game,” he added. But overall, Gaur has a positive view of his experience. “There were so many good parts. I think the best part was the people. The people working at ‘Jeopardy!,’ the other contestants, just getting to know everyone,” he said. Gaur plans to hold on to most of his 100,000 prize, he said. “I think I’m going to invest most of it, try to make it grow a little bit, try to get some of those taxes back, and then later when I really need it for grad school or for something important, then I’ll have a large amount of money that I can

tap into.” Looking ahead to the more immediate future, Gaur is excited to participate in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions, which will include all of the “Jeopardy!” super winners — the winners from the last two years. “We’re trying to get him to prepare hard-core,” Tripp said. While the college championship is focused more on academic questions, “‘Jeopardy!’ by itself is just a bunch of random facts a lot of the time,” he added. Usually college champions don’t get much further than the semi-finals, but “I think he has a good chance of making it further than any other college champion has made it so far,” he added. But while Tripp is eager to help Gaur start preparing for the Tournament of Champions, “I might give it a little break,” Gaur said. “I’m a little Jeopardy!’d out.”

he added. “The selective pressure of the fermentation environment is so strong that it doesn’t really matter what your input is. … You will establish a (bacterial) community that is the same, no matter what,” he explained. In order to evaluate the bacterial compositions of the various kimchi models, the researchers analyzed samples taken from the ingredients that compose kimchi, the fermentation facility and the final product. Then researchers sequenced the DNA of these bacteria, which allowed them to identify which bacterial species were present, she said. Inspired by Belenky’s personal passion for fermentation and Zabat’s interest in food science, the project started as a “side venture” in the lab, which focuses primarily on microbiomes in the human body and environment, Sano said. “I almost view kimchi as a small, microcosm of (the lab’s greater focus). It is also a microbial community that responds to a stressful stimuli,” Belenky said, explaining that the salty

conditions in which kimchi is produced are analogous to the stressors that are studied with regard to the microbiome in humans, for example. The lab’s capabilities were well suited to the researchers’ interest in food science, given that the study called for many of the same methods employed by other microbiology research. “What’s exciting about the technology that exists for profiling bacterial communities is, you don’t need to sequence the entire bacterial genome in order to figure out what they are,” Sano said. A single, short gene, 16S, codes part of the ribosome and can be sequenced to determine the species of a bacterium. The project served as an opportunity for Zabat and Sano to gain experience in a low-stakes context, Sano said, adding that it allowed them to gain expertise in the necessary methods without involving high-risk, high-cost human tissues. Both Zabat and Sano plan on building upon this experience in their future endeavors.

working in a Jewish home as the government feared relationships between Jewish and non-Jewish individuals, she said. “Every year brought new restrictions,” Adler added. Adler noted that it was clear to her, even from a young age, that these rules were not normal. She is often asked, “Did you realize?” to which she replies, “Of course I did.” “(Hitler) was totally ruling our city because in (every) corner (Nazis) had set up loudspeakers. So if I was outside, I couldn’t avoid his voice where ever I went.” Even though she knew how terrible Hitler was, she said the Nazi marches were impressive. She added that once, she was so inspired by the music that she accidently started walking with them until she realized what she was doing. It wasn’t until Kristallnacht, November 9, 1939, that she decided that she had to leave Germany. “The conditions were really closing in on us,” Adler said. Adler knew that some groups offered trips to Palestine, which was not yet the state of Israel. The first time she tried to apply she was 14, and she was denied. “I counted the days until my birthday,” she said. On her birthday, she applied again and was sent to Palestine.

Adler would eventually move to the United States in 1947 when her mother fell ill. Although she hadn’t planned to stay in the United States, she met a man with “the most beautiful blue eyes” on her boat trip across the Atlantic who she eventually married. Adler then dedicated her life to Jewish education and has written children’s books, plays and a novel entitled “Best Friends: A Bond That Survived Hitler.” “Don’t be quiet, … that’s the worst,” Adler said. “Whatever religion, whatever background, you have to keep talking about this.” “It was really moving I have never been to a talk about a Holocaust survivor before,” said Ilan Upfal, a prospective student visiting campus for A Day On College Hill. “I just wanted to come to bare witness to the tragedy, remind myself of it and learn more about it.” Gilbard said that she hopes that events like this will inform more people about the Holocaust, and referenced the April 12 New York Times article that said 41 percent of Americans don’t know what Auschwitz is. “The importance of Holocaust education only gets stronger as we get further away from the events,” Gilbard added.

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Five years ago, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis stood for 13 hours to block the passage of a bill that would have restricted access to abortions.

» DAVIS, from page 1 eventually going on to receive honors as a graduate of Harvard Law School. “At the time, I worked two jobs, and I divorced not long after (my daughter) came into our lives,” she said. “Those years living on my own and trying to dig us out of poverty were some of the toughest I have ever known.” Talking about national issues surrounding reproductive rights for women, Davis warned that lawmakers were now proposing “some of the most far-reaching abortion restrictions in a generation,” she said. “Why this assault on women? Why this interest in holding us back? Part of it honestly is the desire to put women back in our place, inhibiting our sexuality,” she added. Davis fondly recalled the night of her filibuster, when hundreds of Senate spectators chanted and shouted until midnight in her support. Davis was supposed to keep the floor to ensure that the legislative session would end without the bill passing. “We lived in a state where demoralization can tend to overtake us,” Davis said. “But against that backdrop, for whatever reason, on that day, we showed up. We showed up for something we cared about, for each other,

for ourselves, for women we knew and for women we would never personally know.” Davis said that while the future of reproductive rights in the country may seem bleak, she has faith in the new generation as she “has had faith in no generation before.” After her speech, Davis spoke with R.I. State Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-RI. They discussed their motivations, the importance of more female representation in legislatures and Davis’ advocacy group, Deeds Not Words, which aims to inspire young women to work on gender equality issues. Davis then answered questions from the audience. Through her replies, she stressed the importance of intersectionality within the reproductive justice movement and her belief that someone cannot be both pro-life and a feminist. “I respect that (Davis) took a strong stance in saying that there is no forgivable pro-life feminism,” said Harriet Small ’19, who attended Davis’ lecture. “As a woman, reproductive justice has always been an integral part of my political experience and one of the political causes that I’m most passionate about, so the opportunity to hear someone speak (who) is so steeped in that issue was really amazing.”

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SPORTS

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Bears halt seven game losing streak with win against Harvard Baseball drop three-game series to Harvard, move to last place in the Ivy League standings By ALEX SMOLAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The baseball team had lost seven consecutive games and 16 of its last 17 contests before Sunday afternoon and was in desperate need of a victory against Ivy rival Harvard. After dropping the first two games of a three-game series against the Crimson (6-6 Ivy, 16-17) Saturday, the Bears (4-11, 8-22) were finally victorious with a 7-3 victory the following day. With the weekend’s results, the team falls to last place in the Ivy League standings, with just six more conference contests remaining in the season. “We certainly ended the weekend on a good note,” said Head Coach Grant Achilles. “It was a tough start to the weekend for us, facing a pitcher coming off of a no-hitter last weekend. We came out flat and didn’t play well at the start, but we certainly responded with a much better game two.” Brown 1, Harvard 3 In the series opener, the Bears’s offense was stifled by impressive performances from the Crimson on the mound. Although Brown recorded six hits, the team was not able to make critical plays with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, Harvard was able to capitalize during important at-bats, plating one run in the third inning and two in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Starting pitcher Collin Garner ’21 “and the guys that threw out of the bullpen came out and pitched great in game one, but (Harvard pitcher Noah Zavolas) had all his stuff working and shut our offense down,” wrote center fielder Sam Grigo ’18 in an e-mail to

The Herald. “That’s baseball sometimes.” In the top of the ninth, infielder Garett Delano ’20 was able to put a stop to the Crimson’s shutout bid with a home run to deep center field, but his moonshot was not enough to bring the Bears back into the game. “Our only goal is to get back to playing the kind of baseball we know we’re capable of — like how we played against Cal and Florida A&M early in the season,” Grigo wrote. “Things obviously haven’t gone the way we expected them to, but there’s still time to end on a positive note and build momentum for the program heading into next year.” Brown 7, Harvard 8 Later that afternoon, Bruno was handed a crushing walk-off defeat by the Crimson. Early in the contest, Harvard looked poised for another dominant performance, knocking in two runs in the first inning. But the Bears evened the score in the second with a two-run homer from right fielder Joe Lomuscio ’21. “I just tried to stay aggressive,” Lomuscio wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “I saw the ball well and tried to be a tough out every time out there.” Harvard struck again with a threerun third inning, putting the Bears at a large deficit. Bruno stayed resilient and began to slowly trim the Crimson’s 5-2 lead, scoring a run in each of the fifth, seventh and eighth frames. But the Bears again had trouble generating clutch hits with runners in scoring position, as the team grounded into a bases-loaded double play to end the seventh inning. Bruno’s missed opportunity would prove costly later in the contest. Brown entered the final frame at a two-run deficit, but the team delivered with timely hitting to tie the score. First baseman Hunter Carey

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Joe Lomuscio ’21 swings at a pitch in the Bears’ series against the Crimson over the weekend. Lomuscio led the Bears, and hit 3-5 Saturday with a critical home run in the second inning to keep the Bears on pace. ’18 managed to score on a groundBrown 7, Harvard 3 with a single in the seventh inning, out to cut the Crimson’s lead in half, In the series finale, the Bears and Grigo scored on a wild pitch to and pinch hitter Brennan Vasquez ’21 jumped out to a quick advantage in widen Brown’s lead to six and secure cappedd the comeback with a two-out the first inning when third baseman the critical victory. single. Cameron Deere ’20 brought Grigo “It’s one of those times where you’re But in the bottom of the ninth, home on an RBI single. really proud of your team and how the Bears were put on the ropes when In the top of the fifth, Bruno’s of- they respond,” Achilles said. “(TomTrent Bryan reached third base with fense took control. Grigo launched a linson) gave us a great start, and the just one out. Matt Rothenberg then clutch home run to right field to send bullpen did a good job coming back recorded a pivotal hit to center field Lomuscio and Delano sprinting across as well. To get the extra cushion with that brought Bryan home and gave home plate. At the end of the inning, Grigo’s home run and then to tack on Harvard the critical series victory. Brown had extended its lead to four late as well after Delano hit the leadoff “Of course, the walk-off loss stings, runs. triple — that was very positive for us.” especially after battling back late,” LoStarting pitcher Will Tomlinson ’20 The Bears will stay on the road this muscio wrote. “We fought hard and was exceptional on the mound for five week, traveling to Albany to play Siena have to move on and focus on winning shutout innings, giving up just three College Tuesday before facing Dartevery pitch.” hits and striking out two batters. mouth in another three-game series Deere knocked in another RBI over the weekend.

TODAY

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

mariachi with a mission

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Cheese, Pepperoni, Caprese, BBQ Chicken Ranch Grinder JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Grilled Cheese, Pulled Pork Burger

Chicken Noodle Soup, Blue Room Grain Bowl

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders, Gnocchi with Pesto, Frosted Brownies

Lyonnaise Potatoes, Italian Clam sauce with Linguine, Southwestern Grain Bowl

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Cavatini, Spinach Strudel, Spicy French Fries, Six Bean Soup, Frosted Brownies

Rotisserie Style Chicken, Chinese Fried Rice, Roasted Carrot, Strawberry Lemon Eclair

sudoku KAITLYN LEW / THE HERALD

Mariachi de Brown’s Spring Concert raised funds to support Christian Arturo Esquivel’s family Saturday. His father was illegally detained and arrested by ICE officers.

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

“Why this assault on women? Why this interest in holding us back? Part of it honestly is the desire to put

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women back in our place, inhibiting our sexuality. RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 17, 2012

— Wendy Davis , Texas state senator

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis crossword ACROSS 3 Filet mignon order 40 Compromise with 55 Clingy, in a way

1 Doctrine suffix 4 Predatory cat 8 Swiss bread? 13 ABBA’s home country: Abbr. 14 Sewing cases 16 Defamatory text 17 Live __: 1985 charity concert 18 *Hangman drawing 20 Pisces follower 22 Centuries on end 23 Excessively 24 *Layered lunch 28 Cabbage 29 Resident of a city at nearly 12,000 feet 33 Chance in a game 35 “__-dokey!” 38 Overplay a part 39 Words with price or premium 40 *Actor’s prompt 42 Endearing tattoo word 43 Slowly, in scores 45 “Dumb” girl of old comics 46 Message from the boss 47 Inferior and inexpensive 49 Deduce 51 *Colleague of Wyatt Earp 56 Karate belt 59 Inside info 60 Rental agreement 61 *Feature of Fulton’s Clermont 65 Strings in Hawaii 66 École enrollee 67 Baker’s device 68 Address at a Scottish pub 69 First American Red Cross president Barton 70 Venison source 71 Effort DOWN 1 “I, Robot” author Asimov 2 Artistic ice cream blend

See Davis on page 1.

4 Not as much the district attorney 56 Oil acronym 5 Derby-sporting 41 Tirade 57 Object that may Addams 44 Chew the fat be struck by the 6 “Yes, mon ami” starts of the 46 For a __ pittance 7 Rechargeable answers to 48 Plains native battery starred clues 50 Gal’s guy 8 Shrank in fear 58 Thought 52 Trims the lawn 9 Oil-drilling 62 TiVo, for one 53 Green-bellied equipment 63 Wide shoe sap sucker 10 Be up against letters 54 Schindler of 11 “Quo Vadis” “Schindler’s List” 64 Morn’s opposite emperor 12 Mark’s love, ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: casually 15 Distort, as facts 19 Microwave no-no 21 Black, to Blake 25 Six-time baseball All-Star Moises 26 Like a newborn 27 Holiday entrée 30 Trampoline maneuver 31 Physics particle 32 Jules Verne captain 33 Powder on a puff 34 Sundance Film Festival state 36 Green prefix 37 Toyota 04/17/12 xwordeditor@aol.com subcompact

calendar TODAY MARCH APRIL

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Massage Mondays 12:00 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, 229

Understanding China under Xi Jinping 12:00 P.M. Joukowsky Forum

The Role of Intelligence and Information Sharing 3:00 P.M. 85 Waterman Street

LCDS Seminar: Chad Topaz 4:00 P.M. 170 Hope Street, 108

TOMORROW

04/17/12

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19 16

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22 19

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The Battle of Kadesh 1:00 P.M. Quiet Green

Marcus Cohen Lecture: What is Psychoanalysis? 6:00 P.M. 190 Hope Street, 103

Dispelling Southeast Asian Political Myths 6:00 P.M. Watson Institute, McKinney Conference Room

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

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Ratty renovations a heartening sign On Thursday, April 12, the University announced a multi-million dollar renovation of the Sharpe Refectory’s infrastructure, with the eventual goal of installing permanent cooling abilities there in the summer of 2019. The current plan includes two phases: first, a $4 million upgrade of the electrical system and backup generator; and second, the development of permanent solutions to the currently subpar systems in place for Ratty workers in the summer after the completion of a feasibility report. We applaud the University for taking and making public concrete action to enhance working conditions in the Ratty, and the Brown Student Labor Alliance for its dedication in elevating this cause to the forefront of student activism. The University’s plan will mitigate the harsh conditions that workers in the Ratty kitchens face during the summer months. Employees have previously voiced concerns about the high temperatures in the kitchen while preparing meals over the summer. Sadly, their repeated calls for the installation of air conditioning went mostly unheeded by the University, which renovated the Ratty’s design and furniture layout in 2012 and planned additional renovations in 2014 and 2015. Why the University did not prioritize safe working conditions for its employees at a much earlier date is more than a little perplexing. High temperatures in the kitchens, after all, pose significant safety threats to those employees who must work in them for hours on end; Ratty workers have reported feeling fatigue, sickness and faintness during their shifts, and noted the fact that the kitchen heat makes them sweat so much that their uniforms stick to their skin. It is heartening to see the University finally making strides in its treatment of Ratty employees, who deserve safe working conditions and are integral to the day-to-day functioning of the University and the wellness of the student body. We also commend the SLA for drawing attention to working conditions in the Ratty and its previous work with workers’ rights at Brown. On Wednesday, April 11, the SLA hosted “Fans on Faunce,” an event in which student activists encouraged other members of the community to place fans on the steps of Faunce. The display of fans raised awareness among the wider student body about the Ratty’s overheated kitchens and may have encouraged administrators to unveil renovation plans earlier. With respect to any issue of justice and equity on campus, the buy-in of the student body is crucial for the enactment of long-term reform, and the SLA has recognized and effectively acted upon the responsibility we have, as students, to every member of the Brown community — including those who work so hard to ensure that we have convenient access to three meals a day, every day, in all weather. Ultimately, we are glad to see the crystallization of funding and timelines for phase one of the renovation of the Ratty’s kitchen. While phase two begins with a feasibility report, currently underway, we hope the University executes the goals outlined in its recent announcement, develops a permanent fix for working conditions in the Ratty and continues to address, in a timely fashion, the concerns of all its employees. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: Anuj Krishnamurthy ’19, Mili Mitra ’18, Rhaime Kim ’20 and Grace Layer ’20. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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COMMENTARY MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Here comes the sun CLARE STEINMAN opinions editor It once seemed an impossible dream, but spring has finally come to Providence. As predictable as daffodils, students all over campus are populating every green space available to soak up the long-overdue rays of sunshine, ensuring that this week’s prospective student visitors for A Day on College Hill, unlike last week’s, are given the full picture of the ideal college experience — music playing, frisbees flying, hammocks hanging from trees. And while everyone may have different preferences when it comes to the weather, it really does seem that days like these — days of rebirth and reawakening — make us better people. We are friendlier and happier. Our interactions are better: What might have been a rushed smile at a friend as you both hurry to the nearest indoor library or dining hall becomes a real conversation. We gather together for more events, stop at things that look interesting, become more spontaneous. As the days get longer, they get more complete, as the beckoning spring sun imbues us with the energy and desire to make the most of each. It is, therefore, an unfortunate feature of the academic calendar that

too many of these magical spring days are only observed, longingly, through a library window. The looming threats of exams and final papers are compounded by the almost physical difficulty of sitting inside on a beautiful day long enough to prepare for them. And unless you’re staying for Senior Week, your last days of

rology to hold our cumulative spring exams in less alluring weather. But short of transferring to schools in magical climates with more than 10 nice days in a semester, we should have options that allow us to cherish these days without feeling constantly bogged down by our workloads. Some professors, aware of the

more manageable. However, while academic changes may be hard to come by, changes in our mindsets and behaviors can also have a powerful effect when it comes to living the last month of the semester to the fullest. Reading period and finals and the weeks leading up to them can be the

The looming threats of exams and final papers are compounded by the almost physical difficulty of sitting inside on a beautiful day long enough to prepare for them.

the semester are likely to be a harried balancing act between the desire to sit surrounded by friends on the Main Green and nagging anxiety over that half-written paper. Yes, we are in college to learn, not to frolic in the sunshine. And it would take a radical reshaping of either the learning process or meteo-

fact that time seems to race by after spring break, give students the option to turn in major assignments at any point during the semester. While this is logistically not feasible for the curricula in many classes, offering multiple major assignments to take the weight off of the final exam can also make the end-of-year crunch

most stressful times of the year, particularly when concerns about internships, jobs or moving to another city are thrown into the mix. It’s easy to let that stress consume us and feel like we’re missing out on important chances to deepen friendships and explore Providence at its best, or simply to relax and take a break.

When that happens, taking the time to get fresh air — if only to take a quick walk or eat a meal outdoors — can boost motivation and energy to the point that you don’t have to feel guilty about the time spent relaxing. But over the next few weeks, the most valuable approach that I’ve identified for maximizing the good moments while getting everything done is to live each moment with intention. Ensure that you’re dedicated to working when you’ve set aside other things to get work done, and commit to fully enjoying the rest of your time. This is bigger than “productive procrastination” or self-care. It is a reminder that these days, the days that stir us to enjoy our friendships and our beautiful campus and forget about everything else, can break us out of our normal, workdriven routines, and that is a good thing. And if all else fails, as my roommate helpfully contributed, just do all your work at night. I take no responsibility for how that works out for you.

Clare Steinman ’19 can be reached at clare_steinman@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.

After Marielle Franco’s death, Brazil can no longer ignore its racism CONNOR CARDOSO opinions editor As Abdias do Nascimento once famously noted, Brazil has the largest African population of any country in the world besides Nigeria. As of 2010, 97 million Brazilians — 50.7 percent of the country’s population — identify as black or mixed-race. Over the course of the 20th century, racial diversity — particularly among people of European, African and indigenous origin — became a dominant theme in the country’s social consciousness. By the end of the 20th century, a national mythology had emerged around Brazil’s unique multiracial development. Brazil was, as Gilberto Freyre famously commented (though he did not coin the phrase), a “racial democracy.” That is, through generations of coexistence, Brazilians learned to live in a state of racial co-harmony. So how did Brazil — the only former European colony in South America to be ruled by the royal family of its colonizer following independence and the last state in the Americas to outlaw slavery — become a paragon of racial tolerance? Simply put, it didn’t. Fast forward to March 2018. Marielle Franco, an openly lesbian Afro-Brazilian councilwoman in Rio de Janeiro, was assassinated, along with her driver. Throughout her public life, Franco had been critical of Rio de Janeiro’s approach to managing crime in the city’s favelas and the government’s indifference to the poverty of black or mixed-race Brazilians who live in urban centers. Most recently, she had been an outspoken opponent of the federal government’s decision to deploy the military to

control crime in the predominantly black favelas of the city. Her supporters have claimed that her murder was an act of “black genocide” perpetrated by members of the military, eager to silence an especially vocal critic. Yet while her murder

— has challenged the idea of racial democracy publicly in a way that it has not been in decades. For instance, let’s examine one crucial pillar of the myth of racial democracy: Inequality in Brazil exists along class, not racial, lines. Many

Franco’s assassination has challenged the idea of racial democracy publicly in a way that it has not been in decades.

actually remains unsolved, there is a kernel of truth in her supporters’ suspicion: Brazil is a society deeply divided by race. Franco’s assassination — in bringing attention to the brutal tactics of the federal military against the predominantly black favelas, her life’s work challenging institutional racism and even the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death

Brazilians, including many black and mixedrace Brazilians, when challenged, are quick to point to a number of wealthy or successful Afro-Brazilians as proof that social mobility can transcend racial limitations. Yet this is not true. On average, white Brazilian men make approximately 50 percent more than black Brazilian men, according to one study. When one con-

trols for education, experience and labor market characteristics, race continues to strongly influence wage disparities. Similarly, despite making up 51 percent of the population, black and mixed-race Brazilians make up only 8.5 percent of deputies to the House of Deputies, the lower house of Brazil’s national legislature. And if black or mixed-race Brazilians are underrepresented in politics, they are overrepresented in prisons: 64 percent of the country’s prison population is black. While Franco, and many others, have been critical of these trends in Brazilian politics, the country has largely been unable to have serious discussions about race due to the mythology of racial harmony that made criticism of institutional racism seem unpatriotic or even subversive. Fortunately, these discussions are beginning to take place in mainstream forums. Of course, none of this is to say that many Brazilians were not critical of institutional racism and the illusion of “racial democracy” since the term gained popularity in the beginning of the 20th century. Rather, it is to say that mainstream and international attention given to Franco’s death is beginning to neuter claims of racial democracy as an acceptable refrain when debating racism in Brazil. Brazil can and should work toward the realization of the socalled “fable of the three races.” But to do so, it must continue the process of recognizing that it is still just a fable.

Connor Cardoso ’19 can be reached at connor_cardoso@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and opeds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

New England, enjoy it while it lasts JAMES SCHAPIRO op-ed contributor As I sit down to write, the Boston Red Sox have just been no-hit by Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics. But the setback is minimal. The Red Sox are still 17-4: They have the best record in baseball and lead their division by four games. For Boston, just about everything is clicking. Twenty games into the season, their lineup and pitching rotation are running like finely-tuned machines, and they show every sign of continuing to play like frontrunners. Meanwhile around the region, the Boston Celtics are in the midst of a first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, a series they have every chance to win. The Boston Bruins lead their playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. And the New England Patriots’ loss in Super Bowl LI has yet to fade from memory. Considered all together, these events lead me to ask a simple question, one which New Englanders should consider during this period of sporting prosperity. Do New England sports fans know how good they’ve got it? It’s on display this season, of course, but New England’s sporting success goes back much further. Since

the turn of the millennium, the Bruins have made the playoffs 12 times and won a Stanley Cup. The Celtics have made the playoffs 14 times and won an NBA championship. The Patriots, of course, have made the playoffs 15 times since 2000, including every year since 2008 and have emerged victorious from five out of the eight Super Bowls in which they’ve appeared. And the Red Sox, in the same time frame, have made the playoffs nine times and won three

Take it from me. I am a fan of the New York Mets, Jets, Rangers and Knicks. I watched the Rangers collapse in slow motion this very season: After a long run of playoff appearances over the past few years, including an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, the 2018 Rangers fell victim to injuries and age and finished 34-39-9. The Jets have been similar — they’ve looked championshipbound several times, but it has never worked out. Chad Pennington, Mark

all the pieces: Pitchers Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Addison Reed and Rafael Montero; promising young hitters Brandon Nimmo, Juan Lagares and Dominic Smith; and established veterans David Wright, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker. Except it didn’t quite work out. Wright is on the disabled list, perhaps for the rest of his career. Walker, Reed and Duda were traded away when the team faltered behind them. Nimmo and Lagares are stuck on the

So I’ve enjoyed this period of prosperity almost as much as true-blue Boston fans have. But as an objective observer, I’ve also been able to reckon with a hard truth: It won’t last forever. World Series. All in all, this has almost certainly been the most successful two-decade athletic stretch for one single region in history. And it has certainly won me over. Except for when they take on my New York teams, I root for New England teams whenever they play. I even support the Patriots, though, as a Jets fan, I’m supposed to regard them as bitter rivals. So I’ve enjoyed this period of prosperity almost as much as true-blue Boston fans have. But as an objective observer, I’ve also been able to reckon with a hard truth: It won’t last forever.

Sanchez, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick — a few of the Jets quarterbacks since 2000 who were supposed to lead us back to greatness, but ended up falling far short of expectations. The Knicks: Carmelo Anthony! Amar’e Stoudemire! Jeremy Lin! Kristaps Porzingis! We’ve had players that most teams can only dream of, yet somehow, it just hasn’t come together. And then there are the Mets, who over the last few years have provided an almost perfect case study in what the Red Sox could be if their luck was just a little bit worse. The Mets have

bench behind higher paid, lesser performing veterans. Smith and Montero are stuck in the minors; Wheeler and Matz have been oft-injured and so far have failed to live up to their immense potentials. Why are these failures important? Because they are all part of the normal course of running a baseball team, but the Red Sox have been able to avoid them for years. Sure, they’ve had setbacks, but it’s been a long time since a Boston team has suffered a truly devastating blow, the kind that tears a team down for a generation. Andrew Benintendi could lose his

swing, or Hanley Ramirez’s power could abandon him. Mookie Betts could lose his speed, and with it, the Sox’s perennial playoff competition. It could be anything, and that’s the point. Maybe it won’t even be the Red Sox. Maybe it will be the Bruins, or the Patriots, or the Celtics, or all of them. Anything can happen in sports, and sooner or later, it will. I won’t enjoy it when the inevitable large-scale setback does occur: As I’ve said, I’m a fan of Boston teams, even the ones I’m supposed to dislike. But nevertheless, it has to happen eventually. This may seem like a doomsday message, but it’s not. It’s a call to action and to emotion. New England, enjoy it while you can. Savor every moment that the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins are dependable playoff teams, and each year, give their fans a decent chance at a championship. Sure, great teams are fun to watch while they’re still great, and it’s easy to get swept up in the victories. But take it from someone who has seen greatness slip through a team’s fingers. Once it’s gone, you’ll miss it more than you can imagine.

James Schapiro ’19 can be reached at james_schapiro@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

NFL draft busts product of environment not individual shortcomings CAL BARASH-DAVID op-ed contributor The Cleveland Browns are going to be on the clock and under the microscope next Thursday. While the front office wants to build its team and do what’s best for the franchise, one goal likely remains in the back of management’s mind: Don’t draft a bust. Cleveland has control of the first and fourth picks in the draft this year. While this seems an advantage, the Browns’ position comes with great expectations. To be sure, the names of Tim Couch, Johnny Manziel, Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden still haunt the franchise. While the label “bust” has been firmly affixed to these former first rounders, it’s not a coincidence that these players so disproportionately end up in Cleveland. It may in part be due to Cleveland’s lack of ability to evaluate talent, but I think it’s more complicated than that. Rather than a skill evaluation problem, busts are often a result of an inability to develop talent once a player enters the league. To be sure, there is no “bust-gene.” Upon entering the NFL, no player is destined to fail. And while scouts and general managers seek to ascertain which players are most likely to pan out, practically all of the first-round

picks in the draft are incredibly talented football players who have the potential to be successful in the NFL. In football, it’s easy to blame players for poor on-field perfor-

determines a player’s success. When evaluating a young player who is new to the league, it is crucial to examine one’s context in order to properly assess ability. A player who is labeled a “bust” after poor per-

draft is such that the worst teams get the best draft picks. Thus, the most promising young players may find themselves in situations not quite conducive to success. Such was the case for Jared Goff

When a quarterback tosses a pick, or a linebacker misses a tackle, people notice. But what we don’t see is the tremendous organizational aptitude or ineptitude that largely determines a player’s success.

mance. When a quarterback tosses a pick, or a linebacker misses a tackle, people notice. But what we don’t see is the tremendous organizational aptitude or ineptitude that largely

formances often lacks the organizational luxury of skillful teammates, mentors and patient coaches. A bust could be somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the order of the

in 2016. The Rams sold the proverbial farm in order to move to the number one spot in 2016 draft to select him. After a lackluster first season of limited work in which Goff

threw five touchdowns to his seven interceptions, cries of bust began to echo around the LA colosseum. But the Rams refused to hit the panic button, and they doubled down on their young signal caller. Rather than yanking him and starting anew, the Rams hired a new coach — Sean McVay —who changed the team’s culture. This past year, Goff threw the same number of picks and ratcheted up his touchdown number by 22 in more than twice as many games, and thereby cemented himself as the future of the franchise. The Rams could have written off Goff as a bust and moved on. But rather than making rash conclusions about his ability, they adapted and put him in a place to succeed. While the Browns will acquire some talented players next Thursday, no 21-year-old will be the panacea for a team that has earned only one win in the past two seasons. And if a young player does not succeed in a culture that has fostered so much failure over the years, he should not be derided as a bust. He might just be a victim of circumstance.

Cal Barash-David ’19 can be reached at callan_barash-david@brown. edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.