SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 41
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U. files amicus brief against revised immigration ban BASEBALL Bears sweep U. part of 31 universities challenging President Cornell, Trump’s revised executive order in amicus brief fall to Princeton By PRIYANKA PODUGU SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The University and 30 other American colleges and universities filed an amicus brief against President Trump’s revised executive order on immigration Friday. The order, which temporarily bans entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, was blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii last month and could be reconsidered by the U.S. Court of Appeals in May, according to a Mar. 27 Politico report. The brief — a legal document submitted by non-participating parties — argues that the order obstructs the institutions’ missions, deters scholars from studying in the United States and sets a dangerous precedent for discrimination. The institutions argue that because they aim to “attract the world’s best scholars, faculty, and students and work across international borders, … (they) have a strong interest in ensuring that individuals from around the globe can continue to enter the United States,” according to the brief. Universities contend that the new order threatens their ability to continue attracting premier scholars and “their
Strong offense, effective pitching lead Bears to 2-2 conference record in split weekend By ALEXANDRA RUSSELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The baseball team opened Ivy League play this weekend with a pair of victories and two losses, sweeping Cornell Saturday by tallies of 8-1 and 7-4 before falling to Princeton Sunday, 3-2 and 11-5. The weekend slate leaves Bruno with a 8-10 record and a .500 Ivy League mark. HERALD FILE PHOTO
Universities argued that the revised executive order obstructs universities’ missions, deters students from attending college in the United States and sets a precedent for further discrimination. goals of educating tomorrow’s leaders.” Measures intended to promote safety and security ought to follow “a manner that is consistent with the values America has always stood for, including the free flow of ideas across borders and the welcoming of immigrants to our universities,” according to the brief.
Modeled after an earlier amicus brief Brown and other universities filed against the original executive order Feb. 13, the current brief reiterates the significant economic and academic contributions international students, faculty and scholars make to their respective fields of study and to the United States. Brown has over 20 students and scholars from countries
banned by the order and counts 3 percent of its faculty as international, according to the brief. The institutions also point out that the executive order falls at a critical time for American universities, many of which have just issued admission letters for their new undergraduate and graduate student classes, giving » See BRIEF, page 4
Brown 8, Cornell 1 Saturday, Bruno posted an early lead over the Big Red (10-8, 1-3) in the conference opener. First baseman Marc Sredojevic ’17 led the Bears with three RBIs and two runs, while outfielder Sam Grigo ’18 also notched a pair of hits and two RBIs. Starter Christian Taugner ’17 delivered a strong performance, allowing just one run and three hits in seven innings for his third victory of the season. After Brown scored twice in the » See BASEBALL, page 3
Human To Robots Lab U. admits 8.3 percent of applicants betters robot’s fetching ability Fourteen percent of class Students and computer scientists design program to ask questions, differentiate objects By GLORIA NASHED STAFF WRITER
University students and computer scientists have been working to reduce errors in human-robot interactions for the past several months at the University’s Humans To Robots Laboratory. A research team of undergraduate and graduate students proposed a new model that programs a robot to more effectively retrieve an object through question-asking and information processing implied from hand gestures, according to the research team’s published article “Reducing Errors in Object-Fetching Interactions through Social Feedback.” The study’s findings are important because they might streamline many tasks related to health care, home life
INSIDE
and maintenance activities, said David Whitney GS, co-author of the study. Fetching items is a problem social robots currently face, according to the research team’s article. The act of fetching requires a robot to interpret human language and gestures to infer what item to deliver. “If the robot could ask questions, it would help the robot be faster and more accurate in its task,” according to the article. Currently, social robots are not programmed to ask questions. To test their program, which is based on a mathematical model of probability assigned to a group of objects, a user would stand in front of the robot with six items spread across a table directly in front of the robot. The six items are two identical plastic bowls, two identical Expo markers and two identical metal spoons. In the first set-up, the items were spread out along a large arc in front of the robot with the identical pairs placed far apart from one another, creating » See ROBOTS, page 2
of 2021 identify as firstgen students, 47 percent as students of color By SARAH WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The University admitted 2,027 students to the class of 2021 through regular decision Thursday, said Dean of Admission Logan Powell. The regular decision acceptance rate was 6.5 percent, setting a record-low 8.3 percent acceptance rate for the class of 2021. The previous record of 8.5 percent was set for the class of 2019. The students accepted regular decision join the 695 students accepted through early decision. Of those deferred from early decision, 5.4 percent were admitted regular decision. Approximately 1,000 students were placed on the active waitlist. All admitted students were selected from a record-high pool of 32,724 applications, according to Powell. The admitted students come from all 50 states and 77 countries, with 12
MATT BROWNSWORD / HERALD
percent of admitted students coming from outside of the United States. Fourteen percent of the admitted students are first generation students, a slightly higher percentage than last year, Powell said. Forty-seven percent of admitted students self-identify as students of color, the same percentage admitted for the class of 2020. Additionally, sixtytwo percent of admitted students come from public high schools, an increase
from last year, according to Powell. The University also admitted a slightly higher percentage of students who indicated they would apply for financial aid — 64 percent of students compared to 61 percent last year. The University has worked on strengthening financial aid awards for middle income students in hopes “that by strengthening those financial aid » See ADMISSION , page 4
WEATHER
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2017
SPORTS Softball drops doubleheader at Princeton, wins single game against Cornell
SPORTS Women’s lacrosse splits two games in California, besting Cal, falling to SDSU
COMMENTARY Betuel ’16: Student athletes’ passion, commitment indicators of Ivy-League-caliber, excellence
COMMENTARY Steinman ’19: David Brooks misinterprets ties between American history, Exodus story
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NEWS
PAGE 2 • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
COURTESY OF HUMANS TO ROBOTS LABORATORY
The study, conducted in the University’s Humans To Robots Laboratory, sought to better the robot’s fetching skills by having it ask questions and process information from hand gestures. Improved fetching skills will streamline healthcare, home life and maintenance tasks.
»ROBOTS , from page 1 an ambiguous situation. In the second set-up, the items were in a line at the center of the table with identical pairs placed close to each other, making pointing a less effective method for getting the robot to distinguish items. The researchers only wanted the
robot to ask questions when it was in an ambiguous situation, such as in the first table set-up, said Eric Rosen ’18, co-author of the study. In a clear situation akin to the second table set-up, the robot should not ask a question, he said. Overall, the researchers found that the model systems were accurate:
detecting the correct item with 88.4 percent accuracy in the ambiguous table set-up and 97.9 percent in the unambiguous table set-up. The team also found that the results of the experiments confirmed its hypotheses that asking questions would improve the robots’ ability to accurately retrive items in the ambiguous set-up. In the
unambiguous set up, the model was much faster without the robot asking a question, the study found. It is important that robots ask questions when retrieving objects because “the sensing of robots is very poor,” Whitney said. They were surprised that the simple questions the robot asked “dramatically increased
(the) accuracy, and people enjoy it more because it feels like a real conversation,” Whitney said. This current technology with robots “has profound implications,” said Joyce Chai, professor in the department of computer science and engineering at Michigan State University, who was cited in the research team’s published article. “We see robots in hotel service, elderly care, … but you cannot expect humans to work with robots by using (complex) interfaces to control the robot,” she added. Since language is the most natural means by which humans interact with one another, it is important for language to exist between robots and humans, Chai said. “I think what the group has done will have important applications in the future for joint tasks,” she added. Though the team’s research was a significant development in this area of study, robots’ communication with humans can still be further enhanced, Rosen and Whitney said. “In this particular project, we only implemented two modalities of communication: speaking and pointing gestures,” Rosen said. “But the way robots understand speaking is very basic,” he added. They currently do not understand the concepts of “left” and “right,” he said. The Humans To Robots Laboratory hopes to expand on its research so that the robot system can understand this concept of directionality and more complex syntax, Whitney said. The team’s research will be presented this year at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation to be held from May 29 to June 3 in Singapore.
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SPORTS
MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
ELI WHITE / HERALD
Veteran infielder Marc Sredojevic ’17 bats at the plate. Sredojevic led the Bears with three RBIs and two runs in Bruno’s 8-1 victory over Cornell Saturday afternoon.
» BASEBALL, from page 1 first, second baseman Brian Ginsberg ’18 added a solo home run to left field in the top of the second to widen the lead. Pierre Le Dorze answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but Bruno secured the victory with a five-run fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, shortstop Rich Ciufo ’20 and third baseman Willy Homza ’19 scored off a single from Grigo, before catcher Josh Huntley ’17 drove outfielder Rob Henry ’17 home on a fielder’s choice. Sredojevic hit a home run to right field, sending Huntley home to give the Bears their seven run lead. Brown 7, Cornell 4 Saturday afternoon saw the Big Red apply more offensive pressure in a closer contest. But Bruno stole the victory with
a solid showing at the plate. Henry led the Bears with three hits, posting a home run and scoring twice, while Huntley notched three RBIs on a pair of hits. Garett Delano ’20 also recorded two RBIs. Starter Reid Anderson ’18 allowed three earned runs with four strikeouts in six innings. Dante Bosnic ’18, Samuel Hauser ’17 and JJ Sliepka ’19 combined for the final three innings in relief. Sliepka denied the Big Red with a scoreless ninth inning, earning his third save of the season. Delano opened scoring in the top of the first, sending Sredojevic and Grigo home on a single. Tommy Wagner and Cole Rutherford responded with RBIs in the bottom of the inning, but Bruno answered with two runs in the top of the second to reclaim the lead. Homza scored on a fielder’s choice before Huntley drove Ginsberg home on a single up the middle.
Rutherford narrowed the deficit for the Big Red with a home run in the bottom of the sixth, before Ryan Krainz added an RBI in the bottom of the seventh. Henry hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to maintain the Bears’ two-run lead, while Huntley notched two RBIs in the top of the ninth to secure the victory. Princeton 3, Brown 2 F/8 The following day saw the Bears fall to the Tigers (6-14, 2-0) at Clark Field in a close matchup. Bruno siezed an early advantage, but Princeton responded with three unanswered runs to take the victory. Starter Max Ritchie ’17 limited Princeton to one run with nine strikeouts in six innings but ended with a no-decision on the day. Sredojevic doubled down the left field
line in the top of the first, driving Grigo home for the first runof the contest. In the top of the second, Homza scored off a single from Ginsberg to bring the lead to two. Asher Lee-Tyson answered in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly to center field. Cody Phillips added a run to even the score in the bottom of the seventh on an error, before David Harding scored in extra innings on a walk-off single from Conor Nolan, lifting the Tigers above the Bears. Princeton 11, Brown 5 The Bears scored first in the afternoon contest but were unable to maintain the early lead. Grigo and Homza paced Bruno with three hits apiece, while Sredojevic recorded two RBIs off a pair of hits late in the game. Henry crossed the plate after Huntley
grounded into a double play in the top of the first. Princeton responded with three runs, before Huntley singled up the middle in the top of the third, sending Grigo home. Princeton added four runs in the bottom of the third to secure the advantage, before Jake Rosander ’19 scored off a single from Ginsberg in the top of the fourth. Sredojevic added a home run in the top of the fifth and an RBI single in the top of the seventh to narrow the deficit, but the Tigers answered with four runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Bobby Leyman ’19, Will Tomlinson ’20 and Cameron Deere ’20 threw two innings each, combining for seven strikeouts in the loss. The Bears will continue conference play with home doubleheaders against Penn Saturday and Columbia Sunday.
SOFTBALL
Brown kicks off conference play 1-3 against Princeton, Cornell Bruno offense combines for eight home runs in one-win weekend against conference opponents By TESS DEMEYER STAFF WRITER
Before spring break, the softball team was riding a five-game win streak, but two losses to Princeton and a defeat at Cornell have brought that stretch to an end. Brown (9-16, 1-3 Ivy) opened conference play at Princeton (1111, 4-0) Saturday. During the first of two games, the Tigers attacked early, scoring three runs in the first inning and one in the second. A solo home run from Kaitlin Okimoto ’20 in the fourth inning appeared to be the start of a late comeback. Annie McGregor ’18 hit another solo home run, making the score 4-2, and Okimoto brought the Bears within one run of the home team in the top of the sixth. Bruno held Princeton at four runs for the remainder of the game but was unable to maintain momentum in the seventh, falling to the Tigers 4-3. “It was kind of rough losing it in
that close of a game,” Okimoto said. “We really just wanted to come out hard and play for each other and the coaches.” The second game of the series was cut short as Princeton scored 10 unanswered runs, resulting in a mercy rule finish in the fifth. The Bears gave up two runs in the first, but held the Tigers scoreless for three and a half innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Princeton brought home eight runners and smothered any chance of a comeback. The next day, Bruno took to Niemand-Robison Field to battle the Big Red (6-9, 1-3). Brown trailed 2-0 after the second inning, but tied the score during the third with a hit from Okimoto and a home run from Raquel Blanchard ’20. Cornell went up by one in the bottom of the fifth, but Cat Seitz’s ’19 solo home run tied the score once again. Okimoto and Julia Schoenewald ’17 followed with RBI singles to make the score 5-3. Despite a late home run from Cornell, the Bears were able to hold onto their lead, claiming their first Ivy win with a 5-4 victory. The final game of the weekend remained scoreless until the sixth when Christina Andrews ’17 knocked
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Kaitlin Okimoto ’20 makes contact with a pitch at the Bears’ home opener Wednesday. The first-year hit two home runs in a losing effort against Princeton in her first Ivy League game as a Brown Bear. a two-run homer into centerfield. Cornell evened the score with two runs late in the seventh, forcing the game into an extra inning. Andrews broke the tie and upped her career home run total to nine with a shot to left-center, but the Big Red responded with two runs in the bottom of the
frame to end the game 4-3. “All of us were hitting really hard,” Seitz said. “We played hard both games. The second one didn’t turn out as we wanted it to, but we played well. We stay together when things are going really well and when things aren’t going our way. If we continue
to do that, we’re going to keep getting better.” The Bears will take a brief break from Ivy play with a game against Providence College Wednesday before facing off against Columbia in a double-header Friday. All three games will be played at Murray Stadium.
NEWS
PAGE 4 • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
» BRIEF, from page 1 international students a short window of time to decide whether they will attend university in the United States. Twelve percent of Brown’s admitted students to the class of 2021 come from outside the United States, The Herald previously reported. With the executive order “arbitrarily excluding persons … and contemplating further categorical entry bans based on national origin,” universities fear that international students, will be deterred from seeking higher education in the United States, according to the brief. During her recent trip to Hong Kong, President Christina Paxson P’19 told CNBC that Trump’s policies are “sending out a message to the world that international students may not be welcome in the U.S. … I think it’s very important for presidents, like me, to get out there and say that at Brown University, we want international students. They’re vital to what we do,” according to a University press release.
Though the ban has been temporarily suspended, the universities assert that the order has already had “serious and chilling implications for … students, faculty and scholars.” The universities recognized that while the new executive order does not “prematurely cancel student visas,” the separation of students from their families has been traumatic, and others hesitate to leave the United States because they “fear their re-entry may be barred,” according to the brief. Students at Brown have already faced such complications and uncertainty because of the original executive order, The Herald previously reported. The University has “offered access to immigration and legal advising” and housing to affected students over breaks in addition to virtual learning opportunities for students stranded abroad, according to a University press release. “One of Brown’s greatest strengths is our diverse, global community, and it is critical that we do all that we can to ensure that we are able to continue
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD to attract exceptional students and scholars from all nations,” wrote Provost Richard Locke in an email to The Herald. “The recent travel bans present unacceptable obstacles that hinder our capacity to fulfill our mission, and through this amicus brief and the other steps we are taking we are making our position known and seeking to affect change.” Brown filed the brief alongside the seven other Ivy League schools in addition to Boston University, Brandeis University, Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Duke University, Emory University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Rice University, Stanford University, Tufts University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, Washington University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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» ADMISSION, from page 1 awards to all families who demonstrate financial need, Brown will be as affordable or more affordable than any of their other options,” Powell said. “Overall we’re absolutely thrilled with the talent and wide range of perspectives represented in this admitted student group,” Powell said. “They continue to be enormously talented (and) they continue to be increasingly diverse.” In addition to the diversity of the class, Powell emphasized that the class of 2021, “academically, by all objective measures, is as strong as any in Brown history.” Powell said that the admits “demonstrated strong interest in Brown, they connected with their alumni interviewers, they’re incredibly academically talented, and those students we think will yield at a very good rate.” “Brown cares about my success and my undergraduate life,” Setty said. “They care about … seeing what I can contribute.”
After admitted students make their college decision by May 1, additional students may be admitted off the waitlist to reach the University’s goal of 1,665 students in the class of 2021, Powell said. The University also admitted 95 students admitted through Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education and 21 students admitted through the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program. Some of the newly admitted students felt shock and disbelief mixed in with gratitude upon receiving their decision letters. “It was kind of hard to believe for a while,” said Melissa Machado of Miami. “(When) it started sinking in, I was like, ‘Wow, this really happened.’” “I’ve been dreaming about attending Brown for years,” said Aakash Setty of Vernon Hills, Illinois, who was accepted through PLME. Setty is excited to attend Brown because “its freedom, its opportunities and all of the options it provides its students,” he said. Brown’s program for admitted students, A Day on College Hill, begins April 18.
TODAY
MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
success on the river
SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS
Pizza: Caprese, Chicken Ranch Bahn Mi JOSIAH’S
BLUE ROOM
Pot Pie Bowl, The Isabella Burger, Jambalaya
Build-Your-Own Burrito Bowl, Spinach and Feta Soup
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
BBQ Beef, Peanut Butter Bar, Pasta Primavera, Cream Cheese Brownies
Shish Kabob Beef Strips, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Canja Soup, Black Forest Cake
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Baseball Burrito Bar, Ginger Pasta, Sloppy Joe Sandwich, Ranger Joe Cookies
Cajun Pasta, Grilled Boneless Pork Chops, Broccoli Quiche, Black Forest Cake
sudoku ELI WHITE / HERALD
The women’s crew team won four out of five races against Radclife College in their home opener on the Seekonk River Sunday, sweeping the three NCAA events. Next weekend, the team will race in Gold River, California.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“It is critical that we do all that we can to ensure that we are able to continue to attract exceptional students and scholars from all nations.” —Provost Richard Locke
crossword
See brief on page 1.
calendar TODAY APRIL
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CESH Special Lecture 2:00 P.M. 121 S Main St
LGBTQ+ CareerCon 5:00 P.M. Faculty Club
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Vinyasa Yoga 6:00 P.M. Hillel
Bereavement Group Meeting 7:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson
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TOMORROW Education, Opportunity and Prosperity 12:00 P.M. Joukowsky Forum
Letter Art 4:00 P.M. Campus Center
Dean in the Lobby 4:30 P.M. Barus and Holley
Community Action Off the Hill 7:00 P.M. Pembroke Hall
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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COMMENTARY MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
In defense of Ivy League recruiting mission to places like Brown is solely the number of A’s on your transcript, or a 95th percentile SAT II? Of course not. It’s about extracurriculars — it’s about passion. These things are part of the holistic admission process maintained by elite U.S. universities because they are forms of signaling. In 1973, Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Spence delivered his paper on job market signaling, in which he examined the relationship between education, employers and the labor market. He concluded that while
EMMA BETUEL
op-ed contributor In 2011, I had dreams of playing soccer for Brown. A player for a smalltown club team, I had been on a series of select teams and won some state and country recognition. I loved Brown, but I craved the student athlete experience. And in fall 2012, I became a Brown varsity athlete. But I was not recruited. I walked on to the women’s crew team as a freshman and rowed for four years, winning an NCAA title in 2015. In high school, I would have given anything to be a recruited college athlete — especially at a Division I school. Yet, there is a large percentage of the Brown community (and the Ivy League community at large) that has taken an alternative stance toward their recruited counterparts: They believe that recruited athletes don’t deserve to be here at all. This sentiment was voiced in a Yale Daily News column in February. Most recently, Owen Colby ’20 lamented the “disproportionate focus on athletic recruitment” in his column in the Herald (“Stop overvaluing Brown athletics,” Mar. 24). These writers use colorful vocabulary and quotations from school charters to disguise an accusation directed at our athletes: “You don’t belong here. You are not one of us.” For students who are supposed to champion diversity and inclusion, this is a painfully limited outlook. Do you truly believe that the standard of ad-
Brown degree will “signal” your ability to perform to a potential employer, certain high school achievements signal to Brown admissions that you are a highly-qualified applicant capable of meeting this standard once you graduate. With this in mind, how is being a great athlete not an indicator of excellence? If you can run a 4:40 mile, sink a three-pointer with two players guarding you or win a national championship in high school, you have set yourself apart by pursuing something at the highest level. People who excel
You may believe that because Brown “lowers” its academic standards (usually test score benchmarks) to admit great athletes, they are less deserving of their places here. But you would be hard-pressed to find a Brown student who got in simply because they had stellar grades and test scores. Brown turns down thousands of these applicants every year. To get into Brown, you have to set yourself apart from the crowd by being great at something. Achievement in sports is one way to do this.
If you can run a 4:40 mile, sink a three-pointer with two players guarding you or win a national championship in high school, you have set yourself apart by pursuing something at the highest level. People who excel at what they do embody the excellence that places like Brown exist to cultivate. education may not increase your productivity, it still has a value when it comes to determining wages and getting a job. Basically, your diploma is a hardcover humblebrag — an easy way to say, “I work really hard and achieve a lot,” without actually saying it. You can decide what you think a Brown degree should signal. It absolutely includes academic achievement. But is that all? A Brown degree also signals passion and a commitment to pursuing things at the highest level. This is why the Admission Office looks at far more than academics to decide who is afforded the opportunity to carry the Brown legacy. The same way your
at what they do embody the excellence that places like Brown exist to cultivate. Their achievements are signals of excellence, just like a high SAT score signals test-taking excellence. When you become a student athlete at Brown, you decide to pursue athletic excellence on the court, field, track or water. So when Colby argues that Brown should not emphasize athletic success, he is arguing that Brown should not support students pursuing a form of mastery. Insinuating that the University should not support this is ludicrous. Maybe this attitude comes from antagonism toward athletic recruiting.
Those who are antagonistic toward college sports often bemoan the recruited spots that are reserved for athletes in each admitted class. But these recruiting spots are far from free rides. They are some of the most hotly contested prizes in high school athletics. In some ways, choosing to pursue admission as a recruited athlete may be an even harder path to walk than the normal admission route. For the class of 2020, 32,390 people applied to Brown. Of those, 3,015 were accepted. That gives us an admission rate of 9.3 percent, according to the Admission Office’s website. Now look at the percentage of high
school athletes who are able to make the jump from high school to college athletics. According to a study conducted by the NCAA, only 2.1 percent of high school baseball players will play DI baseball in college. Only 2.4 percent of female soccer players will play DI college soccer. Women’s ice hockey sends 9 percent of high school athletes on to play DI hockey — the highest percentage of any NCAA sport for men and women. This is still lower than Brown’s overall admit rate for the class of 2020. This is for all DI NCAA schools — limit this to the Ivy League, and those numbers would decrease even more. This was my admission experience at Brown. An all-county soccer player in high school, I wanted nothing more than to play soccer at Brown. I drove two hours to soccer practices three days a week, and spent summers flying around the country to play in college showcase tournaments. At the end of the day, I didn’t make the cut — I would not be one of those 2.4 percent of female soccer players who could play DI soccer. But in May 2012, I was accepted into Brown’s class of 2016. So when you see athletes on campus, repress the instinct to judge them as unworthy of their place on College Hill. They are the cream of the crop. They earned one of a handful of spots to become recruited Ivy League athletes. And if you inquire further, you will likely find that they are excelling academically as well.
Emma Betuel ’16 can be reached at emma_betuel@alumni.brown. edu.
Strangers in the Land of Egypt CLARE STEINMAN opinions editor As we near Passover next Monday, I am reminded of a story told each year about five rabbis living in Roman times. After the traditional Passover meal, they are said to have sat up all night recounting the story of Exodus: How the Israelites were kept as slaves in Egypt, how God cursed the Egyptians with 10 plagues and, finally, how the Israelites were redeemed and led toward the Promised Land. Baffling their students, they told and retold the tale until it was time for morning prayers, finding new meaning with every recitation. This story speaks to the power of the Exodus narrative to be constantly reinterpreted, a process which continues to this day. It is a story which has been reapportioned across literature, artwork and political rhetoric for thousands of years. In particular, the Exodus narrative has long been viewed as an overarching theme in American history. In a recent column in the New York Times, David Brooks went so far as to blame the current state of American politics on Exodus’s fading relevance as an “organizing national myth.” The story, in his view, gave an order and purpose to the great movements of peoples — like Puritan colonization, westward expansion and Great Migration — that shaped American history. He then takes it one step further, inexplicably blaming social justice movements as the cause of this decline. He writes, “American history is taught less as a progressively realized grand narrative and more as a series of power conflicts between oppressor and oppressed.”
There is plenty to take issue with here — namely that those grand narratives came about precisely because of oppression. Brooks carefully skirts around this omission by bizarrely implying that Frederick Douglass and Langston Hughes experienced the Exodus narrative in the same way that the Pilgrims did. Still, Brooks is right about two things: Societies are most unified and functional when tied
and Spread of Nationalism,” Benedict Anderson writes that nations depend on a link to their “glorious past” in order to maintain a hope for a shared future. Shared stories can connect people who have very little in common aside from an American (or French, or Brazilian) identity. But those stories can only signify American-ness if they represent the experiences of all Americans — not just those who have traditionally held po-
America’s story has been told both by those who have had microphones handed to them and by those who have been forced to shout to be heard above a whisper. To pretend that our national myth is a calmly told, linear fable with a moral at the end, as Brooks does, is to ignore what America has been and to underestimate what it can be.
together by great national narratives, and the story of Exodus suits America. But both Exodus and American history are messier than Brooks acknowledges; both involve accomplishments to take pride in and moments of quandary and moral failure. Viewing America as an Exodus tale requires an honest historical reckoning, and an understanding that we have been sometimeIsraelites and sometime-Pharaohs — an understanding that will make us stronger as a nation, not weaker. In his seminal work on nationalism, “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin
sitions of power, nor just the “real Americans” of the heartland, but also the recent immigrants who came here because they saw a narrative worth retelling and contributing to. America’s story has been told both by those who have had microphones handed to them and by those who have been forced to shout to be heard above a whisper. To pretend that our national myth is a calmly told, linear fable with a moral at the end, as Brooks does, is to ignore what America has been and to underestimate what it can be. In a time when we can’t seem to agree on whether or not basic facts are true, the task of
constructing an “organizing national myth” seems almost too great to imagine. Religious narratives in particular are not applicable or relevant to everyone, and the American narrative does not have to be shaped by Judeo-Christian traditions. And a good argument can be made that misguided and antiquated myths — like a bygone American greatness in need of restoration — have done a good deal of harm. But just as the Exodus story is told and retold, critiqued and re-examined each Passover, deliberating on our past can teach us a lot about who we are. While exclusion and erasure dominate the national conversation, and walls are erected at our borders and around our institutions, Exodus — Biblical and American — can be one of many stories that remind us of the importance of compassion and aiding the oppressed because we were among them. It reminds us of the injustice that we’ve come from and that we are committed to fighting. Brooks sees the Exodus narrative as a story that occurred in the past, ignoring the fact that the storyline is still ongoing — and its lessons hold true today with a stronger urgency than ever. The Passover story has never been confined to the past. For thousands of years, it has been traditional to tell and retell the story, and at the end of the meal to acknowledge that slavery and oppression persist around the world and at our very own doorsteps. Exodus is not about the past; it is about actively ensuring a better future for those still enslaved. As we say to close the Passover meal, next year may we all be free.
Clare Steinman ’19 can be reached at clare_steinman@brown.edu.
SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
W. LACROSSE
Bruno splits two-game California slate with win over Cal, loss to SDSU Bears best Cal in one-goal game before failing to cut deficit in five-goal loss to San Diego State By CAL BARASH-DAVID SENIOR STAFF WRITER
For many students, spring break offers a respite from the dreary Providence winter — a time for the student body to escape to warmer climes. This year’s break gave the women’s lacrosse team a similar, sunny interlude. The Bears (4-6, 0-3 Ivy) traveled to San Diego for a two-game, sun-soaked road trip against The University of California at Berkeley and San Diego State University. Bruno split the trip, besting Cal (2-9, 0-3 Pac-12) 14-13 and falling to SDSU (8-3, 2-1 Mountain West) 13-8. The action started Wednesday with a matchup against the Golden Bears. The beginning of the game saw Cal swap the lead with their counterparts. Six goals in seven minutes tied the game at 3-3 before Cal netted five straight to stretch the advantage to 8-3 with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half. A reactive Brown surge brought the score to 8-6 after a goal from Rachel Vercillo ’20 after a Cal penalty. But both defenses responded in the final 7:52 of the first half to keep the ball out of the net. The second half was a contentious affair — neither Brown nor Cal would hold more than a two-goal lead. Goals by Hafsa Moinuddin ’19,
Carolyn Paletta ’18.5 and Zoe Verni ’19, along with a Cal goal, tied the game at nine. The next few minutes saw Cal take a 12-11 lead. But two goals in a span of 37 seconds gave Bruno a 13-12 lead. Emma DeGennaro ’20 added another with 3:45 to play. Cal was able to grab one goal back, but that’s all they would get, as Bruno held on to win 14-13. “We went down in the first half a little bit and weren’t playing our best lacrosse,” said Captain Mollie Lane ’17. “But it was just an awesome win that we were able to gut out in the end.” Paletta led the Bears with a careerhigh six points on five goals and one assist, and Moinuddin added three goals and an assist of her own. Having tallied 21 goals each, the sophomore duo of Paletta and Moinuddin lead Bruno in scoring this season. Vercillo, DeGennaro and Verni each found the back of the net twice in the win. Just two days later, the Bears took on SDSU at the latter’s home field. In a less competitive affair, the Aztecs recorded the win. Bruno was only able to notch two goals in the first half, while SDSU netted six. The Aztecs converted two goals early in the second half to push the advantage to 8-2. Goals by Bri Irons ’18, Moinuddin, Paletta and DeGennaro would bring the game to 10-6, but Brown would never get closer than the four goal deficit. SDSU outscored Brown 7-6 in the second half to finish off the 13-8 win. “It was definitely a challenge for us to have two games within three days,”
ELI WHITE / HERALD
KC Williams ’20 looks to pass the ball up the field. In their team trip to California over spring break, the Bears took home a nail-biting 14-13 victory over Cal Wednesday but fell to San Diego State 13-8 Friday. Lane said. She added that the team struggled with “focus and attention to detail (and) … also being able to play when our bodies were so tired.” With four conference games in the remaining month of their season, the Bears, who have yet to claim an Ivy
League victory, are looking to heat up. “We definitely have making the Ivy League Tournament on our radar,” Lane said. “That’s been one of our goals since the beginning of the season.” Next, the Bears head to Ithaca to
take on Cornell Saturday before hosting Harvard the following weekend. The next two games are “huge for us,” she said. “Both are very talented teams, so I think it will be a great challenge for us to see … how we can perform against such high-caliber teams.”
M. LACROSSE
Three-game winning streak snapped as Princeton tops Bears Men’s lacrosse cannot rebound after Tigers’ offense surges early, often en route to 11-goal win By NICHOLAS WEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Heading into its second Ivy League matchup of the season against Princeton Saturday, the men’s lacrosse team looked to capitalize on a valuable respite from classes and take home an important win. But the Bears (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) had trouble responding after the Tigers (6-3, 2-1) took a six-goal lead heading into the second half and eventually fell 21-11. Princeton scored first, with Gavin McBride beating rookie goalie Phil Goss ’20 less than a minute into the game. But the Bears responded immediately, with veteran midfielder Matt Graham ’17 putting Brown on the scoreboard just thirty seconds later with his fifth goal of the season. In the ensuing minutes, Princeton took back possession and fired multiple shots at Goss, who came up with a pair of saves to keep the game tied at one. But after starting defenseman JJ Ntshaykolo ’18 received a slashing penalty with 11:45 on the clock, Princeton capitalized on the man-up opportunity to take a 2-1 lead. Brown answered again as first-year Luke McCaleb ’20 notched goal number 14 of the season. Bruno continued to
surge offensively, as midfielder Stephen Hudak ’18 beat Tyler Blaisdell at the net to help the Bears take a 3-2 advantage and swing the momentum back in their favor. Princeton then ignited a rally, beginning with a goal in the final nine seconds of the first quarter that started a 5-1 run lasting 10 minutes into the second quarter to recapture a 7-4 lead. The Bears’ co-captain and returning first-team All-American Dylan Molloy ’17 cut the Tigers’ lead to four with 9:38 left in the half — his 27th goal of the season. But Princeton’s offense remained relentless, going on a 4-1 run to secure an 11-5 lead heading into halftime. Brown got off to a strong start in the second half, with Molloy scoring his second goal two minutes into the third quarter off an assist by last year’s second-team All-American midfielder Larken Kemp ’17. But Princeton laid down a third offensive surge, going on a 5-2 run that helped the Tigers to a 16-8 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Princeton opened up the first three minutes of the fourth quarter by scoring three goals in quick succession, taking an 11-goal lead. Later in the quarter, Brian Prigmore ’19 and Jackson Newsome ’19 combined for three goals — each scoring their first tallies of the year — as Bruno attempted to rally back into the contest. But the gap proved insurmountable. As the final
ELI WHITE / HERALD
Matt Graham ’17 carries the ball up the field toward the opposing net. In the team’s 22-11 loss to Princeton Saturday, Graham scored two goals, dished two assists and picked up two ground balls. buzzer sounded, the game ended in a 21-11 loss. In the contest, Brown held a slight advantage in shots, taking 54 to the Tigers’ 53. Face-off specialist Ted Ottens ’17.5 won 21 face-offs on 36 attempts. But the Tigers bested the Bears in ground balls, saves, clears and goals
from man-up possessions. With the loss, the Bears now sit tied with Harvard for third place in the Ivy League standings. Yale and Princeton hold the first and second spots, respectively. The Bears will continue their season this Saturday, hosting the Bulldogs
(5-3, 3-0) — who remain undefeated in conference play after a win Saturday against Penn. Last year, Brown secured a 14-12 win over the then-No. 1 Bulldogs. Yale took home the Ivy League tournament crown after Bruno fell to Harvard in the semi-finals last year.