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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 28

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Orchestra accompanies electric violinist Study finds most hosted

speakers lean left politically

Tracy Silverman’s composition reflects on the significance of an insignificant life

Student coalition published report in hopes of fostering ideological diversity on campus

By ELISE RYAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Brown University Orchestra performed “Love Song to the Sun” to accompany the song’s composer and electric violin soloist Tracy Silverman in the first concert of the semester Saturday. After the previous night’s performance was canceled due to inclement weather, Saturday’s concert brought a packed house of eager students, faculty and community members. “Love Song to the Sun” follows the life of a gnat over 24 hours as it experiences birth, mating and death. In bringing the “level of what we would normally consider an insignificant creature to operatic … dimensions,” the piece makes the point that “every living thing has the right to life,” Silverman said. This concept “was the sort of parable of this piece — and in

By KATHERINE BENNETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

ARTS & CULTURE

ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

Tracy Silverman performed his original composition “Love Song to the Sun” accompanied by the Brown University Orchestra Saturday. order to make that point, the music had to be very emotional,” he added. The theme’s ramifications could

expand to the way humans view the “hierarchy of people in our lives,” said » See VIOLIN, page 2

A coalition of students, working under a group called SPEAK, published a report last Tuesday that found 94.5 percent of speakers invited to Brown lean left ideologically. Composed of 17 students who collected and analyzed the data for the study, SPEAK welcomed representatives of different groups on campus, such as No Labels at Brown, the Brown Republicans and the Brown chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society, said Greer Brigham ’20, leader of SPEAK. The group’s recently published report also received endorsements from the Dialogue; the Brown Journal of Philosophy, Politics and Economics; the American Enterprise Institute at Brown; Brown Students for Israel; and various faculty and administrators, he added.

Despite reaching out to liberal groups on campus, SPEAK’s endorsements largely come from center- and right-leaning groups, Brigham wrote in an email to The Herald. “We do have several endorsements from liberal professors. … In addition, the key members of our team (are) about 50-50 left and right.” The project started as a way to figure out how to bring better balance to the dialogue on campus, said Alex Santangelo ’19, vice president of No Labels. Inspired by an idea presented at a No Labels meeting, SPEAK was formed as a coalition when the group realized that other organizations had similar goals, he added. “We treated it like a social science question. … We collected data for it, we worked with some Brown professors checking the data (and) making sure it was accurate, and we’re now … publishing it,” Santangelo said. With the actual collection process beginning early last fall, the report covers all of the speakers invited to campus in 2017, he added. For the report, the group » See STUDY, page 3

Lecture contemplates Good Night Lights continue to shine intersection of faith, science University expands its Astrochemist Karin Öberg discusses latest research on habitable planets, extraterrestrial life By PRIYANKA PODUGU UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

“There is something very dignified about (God) allowing the creativity of the Universe to be present within it and slowly emerge, rather than just putting everything in order from the beginning,” said Karin Öberg, a professor of astrochemistry at Harvard, during a lecture titled “Science and Theology of Habitable Worlds around Other Stars” on Monday. Öberg’s lecture took place as the final event in the Brown-RISD Catholic Community’s Thomas Becket Association Lecture Series. The series allowed the University to host lecturers who spoke on the intersections of religion and a wide array of subject areas, such as law and science, said Reverend Albert Duggan ’03. During her lecture, Öberg delved into the theological implications of ongoing research into habitable planets

INSIDE

and the presence of extraterrestrial life. Öberg, whose research team discovered the first complex molecule on a disk of dust and gas that surrounds a newly formed star — stressed that “there is no intrinsic psychological conflict between being a Catholic and a scientist.” Öberg began her lecture by explaining the variety of scientific and religious models that describe the Universe’s structure. Following the formulation of the Big Bang theory, which outlined the expansion of the Universe that causes galaxies to grow further apart from each other, religious individuals advanced an alternative hypothesis: Through miraculous creation, new matter was constantly formed in the Universe to fill the gaps between galaxies. Rather, Öberg said she believes the discovery of the Universe’s constant expansion suggests that “we seem to have a god that sets things into motion but then lets the Universe emerge … following its own laws.” She added that this system represents a “joy in creation … and seeing something change over time.” In addition to articulating the » See FAITH, page 2

initiative to brighten the night for Hasbro Children’s Hospital By IVY BERNSTEIN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

About a year ago, security guards at the Sciences Library began shining flashlights from the 14th floor every night at 8:30 p.m. to wish children at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital goodnight as part of an initiative called Good Night Lights. Since then, the University has expanded the initiative by recruiting students, and the SciLi now uses automated lights. Steve Brosnihan, resident cartoonist at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and conductor of the Good Night Lights project, began what would become Good Night Lights by blinking his bike light each night at children in the hospital, who would respond by flashing their room lights back. Eventually, he began to recruit organizations and groups throughout the city to flash lights at the hospital each night. The University recently installed two LED automatic lights on top of the SciLi to increase visibility. The lights create an impression of a “waking robot,” Brosnihan said.

COURTESY OF STEVE BROSNIHAN

Two recently installed automatic LED lights on the top of the SciLi turn the building into a waking robot, wishing hospitalized children good night. “It’s a great way to participate because the building becomes super visible every night at 8:30 p.m.,” he said. “Kids look forward to seeing the robot wake up for a minute to say goodnight to them.” Brosnihan has made an effort to involve University students in the project.

At first, he recruited his family friend, John Costa ’20, to participate. “It’s really cool that something so minor for us … can have such a major effect on kids,” Costa said. On Monday and Wednesday nights, Costa and his friends send a hand-held signal from » See LIGHT, page 2

WEATHER

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

SCIENCE & RESEARCH Alpert Medical School Study shows that stroke risk factors may have greater effect on women

ARTS & CULTURE Art exhibit depicts aesthetic and social perspectives of wall lining U.S.-Mexico border

COMMENTARY Savello ’18: Social pressure for seniors to write theses can detract from individual academic paths

COMMENTARY Powell: Legacy admissions should be reconsidered as part of greater efforts toward accessibility

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» FAITH, from page 1 religious ramifications of the Big Bang theory, Öberg also explained scientific efforts to discover habitable planets and life throughout the Universe. In order to classify a planet as habitable, scientists determine the distance between the planet and its host star to calculate the sustainability of liquid water on the planet. Drawing on data from recent studies, Öberg said “water turns out to be an extremely common thing we see in space … (and) where planets are forming.” With the presence of water and organic materials, “there are many planets that are physically habitable,” she added. But while researchers cannot conclude that the Universe is “teeming with life,” Öberg said she found “austere beauty” in the idea of “Earth sailing through time and space with all the life in it.” Öberg spoke on how finding rational life outside Earth would challenge

» LIGHT, from page 1 the higher floors of the building. “That added a really wonderful human element to the automatic lights that were already happening,” Brosnihan said. “What the kids see is the robot wake up, and then these bright sparkles that are the flashlights down the side of the buildings.” Last fall, Brosnihan met some members of the women’s lacrosse team while they were visiting children at the hospital. He talked with them about the project and inspired some team members to get involved. Hafsa Moinuddin ’19 has taken the lead in organizing the players. “We’re so lucky to be at a school like Brown,” Moinuddin said. “It’s always good to give back, and it’s such an easy way to do it. It’s such a rewarding and fulfilling experience.” Usually around nine players participate, and Brosnihan, Costa and Moinuddin coordinate constantly through a group chat to ensure that someone

humanity’s relationship with God. To answer this question, she relied on the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who discussed the possibility of multiple incarnations of God and Jesus Christ that could offer salvation to extraterrestrial beings. Marjorie Pang ’18 said her Catholic faith and belief in the compatibility of science and religion brought her to the lecture. “It’s interesting to hear from someone who shares that view,” she said, adding that the discussion taught her that “science perfects God’s creations.” In bringing Öberg to campus, Duggan said he hoped to reassure students that they do not need to choose between faith and interest in academia. “A person of faith can use their faith and theological understanding to enrich the research that they do and, likewise, … use the research that they do to encourage probing of theological questions,” he added.

will always be at the library to wish the kids good night. Brosnihan has many plans for the University’s future participation. On Feb. 7, Brosnihan held a conversation with about 40 staff members to talk about the project and discuss its potential expansion. “People were inspired and excited to do something in their own departments,” said Angela Hilliard, University human resources communication and program manager. “There were tears, honestly, and it was really great to see. Everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats.” In the spring, Hilliard and Brosnihan plan to walk around campus to determine which buildings are most visible from the hospital. “There is a potential for a much greater Brown participation,” Brosnihan said. Hilliard also plans to reach out to the Rhode Island School of Design to increase awareness about the initiative and hopes RISD students will contribute some creative ideas.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PRIYANKA PODUGU / HERALD

Monday’s lecture provided a brief history of cosmology and explanations of research into exoplanets and interstellar clouds, as well as discussion of theological implications that such discoveries presented.

» VIOLIN, from page 1 Todd Winkler, professor of music and director of the doctoral program in multimedia and electronic music experiments, who created a video that accompanied the music and was projected on a screen behind the orchestra. “The video had to be compelling in order to draw people into this story,” Silverman said. Though trained as a composer, this was the first time Winkler created a video with a live musician, as well as the first time he created a video for another person’s music. The idea to combine music and video “started from this idea of reenvisioning the way a performer is on stage,” Silverman said, emphasizing that he wanted to create a “virtual self of myself that would be able to transform my appearance the way I transform my sound … to more fully embody the music,” Silverman added. The visuals were not meant to completely pull the audience away from the performers, but rather, to enhance the performance by acting as a window into Silverman’s mind, Winkler added. “I want the audience to see what I see in my head, and I don’t want to break that magic by having them look at me,” Silverman said. Silverman, therefore, had to participate “visually as a player on the screen, rather than just be completely

separate,” Winkler explained. He compared the score of the orchestra to the trajectory of the video. “In my mind, … the video score is right there in every measure, almost like it’s another instrument, … really integrated into the whole texture of the piece,” Winkler said. At times, the projected images were slow-moving or static, depicting underwater scenes or the gnat’seye view of a pond. Motion detecting cameras allowed Silverman’s figure to be transposed onto the moving background, with different shapes and lines composing his form as the music changed. At the climax of the piece, computer-generated yellow orbs circled around his sihouette, growing and converging. “Love Song to the Sun” was cocommissioned by Brown along with the Vanderbilt University Orchestra, Anchorage Symphony and Rogue Valley Symphony — which have all previously performed the same piece with Silverman. While the piece was commissioned two years ago and was intended to be performed last semester, it was pushed until this concert due to conflicts. Silverman is a Juilliard-trained musician who has been at the forefront of the creation of the six-string electric violin since the 1980s, he said. At Saturday’s concert, he played his custom violin, which adds two lower

strings to the usual four. Silverman left the classical world and traditional violin to move his sound closer to the guitar “because the guitar is more of an instrument of our current culture than the violin,” Silverman said. Different post-classical playing techniques, which he introduced to the string players in the University orchestra during workshops, include what he calls “strum bowing” to allow for a more rhythmic sound. The concert began with “Overture to ‘Candide,’” which was chosen by Conductor and acting Music Director Daniel Harp in recognition of the 100th birthday of its composer, Leonard Bernstein, whose music is being played around the world this year in celebration, Harp said. The concert concluded with “Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Opus 43,” by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Sibelius was “very, very sensitive to nature, and much of his music is about his feelings about nature or his responses to being in nature,” Harp said, drawing a connection between this choice and Silverman’s focus on the life of an insect. Sibelius incorporates intellecual elements as well as natural ones to create “a very dynamic, elemental nature to the music,” Harp said. “It’s like music you could imagine if you were standing on a mountaintop, or music you would imagine looking at an iceberg.”

ARTS & CULTURE TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

U. researchers deepen understanding of ocean turbulence Study exploring largescale turbulence hopes to increase accuracy of climate models By LIYAAN MASKATI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Scientists have long examined the dynamics of the ocean, and a recent study conducted by University researchers brings new insight into the properties of ocean turbulence. The results of the study have the potential to develop better models of ocean currents, which could consequently improve climate models. The study, which focused on how large-scale turbulence in the ocean dissipates energy, focused on the properties of eddies — a specific kind of turbulence flow. “Eddies are like spinning passes of fluid in the ocean,” said Brodie Pearson, postdoctoral researcher in earth, environmental and planetary sciences and co-author of the study. The size of these eddies can range from 10 to 100 kilometers wide, he said. The research focused on the properties of a particular kind of eddy — mesoscale eddies, the largest known type. Though examining the energy dissipation of mesoscale eddies was the core of the study, this was not what the researchers initially intended to investigate, said Baylor Fox-Kemper, associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences and co-author of the study. “(In) some studies, you find what you set out to look for, and (in) some studies you find something along

» STUDY, from page 1 examined speakers who had spent significant time in the United States and who weren’t considered event moderators, Brigham said. In determining where each speaker should be categorized on the political spectrum, the group used a number of metrics, including campaign contributions, social media statements and career positions that the speaker had previously held, he said. “Only when we were very confident … whether they were left or right, then we’d assign them,” he added. In defining the boundaries of “left” and “right,” the group generally used the Democratic and Republican parties as proxies for these ideologies, Brigham said. “You can pull up (the speakers’) political contributions,” he said. “It’s easier to get hard data than … if you try to get their views on capitalism or something like that.” Out of 237 speakers overall, 94.5 percent were identified as having a

the way that you realize is interesting and worth pointing out and maybe has a significance beyond what you were setting out to study,” he said. “This is in the latter category.” The researchers initially aimed to evaluate a new change to high-resolution climate models by creating a series of tests to compare different models, Fox-Kemper said. “In the course of doing that, we noticed that one particular property — the energy dissipation rate — behaved, in a statistical sense, in a way we didn’t expect it to.” The models indicated that the energy dissipation of mesoscale eddies followed a particular kind of statistical distribution, known as a lognormal distribution. In most statistical distributions, a typical measurement is close to the average, Fox-Kemper said. “What’s important about a lognormal distribution is that a typical measurement is very far away from the average,” he explained. “It has been well-known that smallscale turbulence follows a lognormal distribution,” Fox-Kemper said. “The key insight is that small-scale behavior seems to occur in a very different largescale kind of turbulence.” “As an observational oceanographer, this (finding) makes life very difficult,” said Carl Wunsch, professor emeritus of physical oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One can no longer assume that an observation of a process in any one part of the ocean reveals much about the same process in another part of the ocean, he explained. This could be troublesome for both scientists who observe the oceans and those who make

“left lean,” according to the published report. Even more specifically, out of the 198 speakers who specifically addressed topics related to American politics, 93.4 percent fell on the left side of the ideological spectrum. Addressing the fact that many invited speakers are college professors, a group that tends to be more liberal than the average population, the report also states that 92.3 percent of the 90 non-professor speakers in 2017 were left-leaning. In response to these findings, Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development, reaffirmed the University’s commitment to hosting a wide variety of speakers. “Welcoming a broad diversity of perspectives on our campus — from students, faculty and staff or from those who visit campus — is fundamentally important to advancing our core mission of education and discovery,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. “The stated goal in the report of promoting greater engagement with ideologically diverse

COURTESY OF FOX-KEMPER LAB

A study conducted by the Fox-Kemper Lab found that energy dissipation of large-scale ocean turbulence follows a lognormal statistical distribution. This finding could increase the accuracy of climate models. numerical models. “What (Wunsch) is talking about is absolutely true,” Fox-Kemper said, agreeing that lognormality may present a challenge for scientists. Despite the difficulties this may pose, it is likely to increase the accuracy of climate models in the future. “If the real world behaves in the same way as these models do

— which we don’t have any obvious reason to doubt — then we need to consider this effect as we think about the flow of energy from large scales to small scales in our climate models,” Fox-Kemper said. For instance, when running highresolution models, scientists ought to check that the statistics they obtain

are consistent with lognormality, he explained. If not, the model is quite possibly inaccurate. Furthermore, all measurements of large-scale to smallscale energy transfer should be interpreted as being part of a lognormal distribution and not any other statistical distribution, he noted.

ideas is one that the University supports wholeheartedly.” But Clark said the metrics used in the report, while depicting a left versus right analysis, fail to capture “in totality the richness and complexity of viewpoint diversity at Brown,” adding that the depth of ideas are rooted in more than just political ideology.“Every week, speakers from around the globe come to campus and offer distinctive views and perspectives informed by their experiences, expertise and scholarship. And there are routinely wide differences in viewpoints on topics expressed by different speakers, regardless of their perceived place on the political spectrum,” he wrote. Edward Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, expressed similar ideas in an email to The Herald. “We focus on public policy issues from an international and comparative perspective, so many of our speakers — and many of the topics we address — don’t

naturally fit in a Democratic (versus) Republican or liberal (versus) conservative framework,” he wrote. He emphasized the Watson Institute’s continued commitment to “thorough discussion of global challenges.” Through this project, SPEAK is hoping that real change can be effected on campus. During the fall semester, the coalition met with political groups, faculty members and campus administrators to get input on their process. These included leaders of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy and the Watson Institute, Brigham said. “We want the conversation to be within Brown. We’re just trying to figure out how to make this as productive as possible and actually have the University invite a more broad range of speakers,” he added. For Santangelo, one of the purposes of the report has been to encourage the administration to create more diverse ideological conversations. “The ultimate goal is for the administration

to understand … they need to do a better job of bringing a balance of perspectives,” he said. Though Clark agrees that hosting a wide variety of views is important, he also noted that this responsibility is shared among the Brown community as a whole. “All members of the Brown community have the right to invite and host speakers of their choice on campus to advance and debate ideas,” he wrote. “Members of the Brown community turn that responsibility into action every day, and the lineup of events and speakers nearly every week of the semester makes that clear.” The overarching goal for the project has been to spark dialogue about the ideas being shared on campus, Santangelo said. “We just want to bring balance to the type of speakers that are coming here and what’s being discussed. … We’re highlighting a national problem but keeping it to Brown.”

SCIENCE & RESEARCH PAGE 4 • TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Researchers reveal sex-based disparities in stroke risk University study analyzes risk factors, preventative strategies, treatment through sex-specific lens By CATE RYAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Risk factors for stroke have a disproportionate effect on women compared to men, which may be due to a lack of effective treatment and preventive care, according to a University study published in the journal “Stroke” last month. The study aims to convince physicians to take sex into consideration when treating stroke patients, said Tracy Madsen, the study’s first author and assistant professor of emergency medicine. A stroke is an event that involves damage to the brain or brain tissue caused by a disrupted flow of nutrients and oxygen to the brain, Madsen explained. The ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, caused by a clot in a blood vessel traveling to the brain, she added. The likelihood of experiencing a stroke may increase with hypertension, diabetes or atrial fibrillation, which consists of irregular heart rhythms, as well as other common afflictions, such as migraines, she said. Madsen’s recent study examined existing data, looking for all of these risk factors to highlight differences by sex. This study was inspired by research Madsen published in the journal "Neurology" in August, which looked at rates of stroke occurrence over nearly two decades. It showed that while stroke incidence rates decreased in men over time, the same was not true for women, especially in the category

of ischemic strokes. “That’s a concerning finding,” she said. “One of the obvious hypotheses … is maybe we are not preventing stroke in women as well.” This discrepancy, she hypothesized, could be due to each sex needing different preventative strategies for certain risk factors. By using the same treatment and guidelines for men and women, “maybe we are missing out on better ways to prevent stroke in women," Madsen added. Seana Gall, a senior research fellow in cardiovascular epidemiology at the Menzies Research Institute in Tasmania, Australia, has conducted similar research on sex specificity in strokes. Madsen’s study was significant because it addressed “gaps identified by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association in terms of what we know about preventing stroke in women,” given that the condition’s presence is increasing as a public health issue, Gall said. The study not only highlighted potential risk factors, but also looked into the management of these risk factors through a sex-specific lens. This enabled researchers to understand that women are less likely to take blood thinners — a common treatment for atrial fibrillation — than men and that they also experience differing forms of diabetes prevention, among other findings, she said. Madsen’s interest in the sex-specific nature of stroke developed over the course of her education as an undergraduate and medical student. After pursuing women's studies in college, she "fell in love with emergency medicine" and found that this research allowed her to pursue both simultaneously, Madsen said. One of her mentors at Brown, Alyson McGregor MD’03,

CATHERINE HABGOOD / HERALD

associate professor of emergency medicine, helped her realize that her interest in women’s health could translate into a variety of medical specialties. Though scientists have long noticed differences in rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke between sexes, the last decade has seen an increased focus on the issue, Gall said. The American Heart Association's “Go Red for

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Women” campaign is partly responsible for that, as it helped bring about the notion that “cardiovascular disease, including stroke, is a big part of the burden of disease in women” to the public eye, which brought more focus to it within the research world, she said. Recently, journals like “Stroke,” among others, have even started publishing editions dedicated solely to the

topic, Gall added. Madsen said her next steps include developing “sex-specific cut-offs for different risk factors,” which could lead to practical applications in a clinical setting. She said she hopes that, in the meantime, her study will serve as an educational tool for clinicians and act as further evidence that stroke is “not purely a man’s disease.”

TODAY

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 • PAGE 5

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SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Pepperoni, Spinach and Feta, BBQ Chicken Ranch Grinders JOSIAH’S

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Nacho Bar, The Jo’s Burger, MYO Grilled Cheese

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sudoku ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

Dot Dot Workshop hosted a handmade pottery sale Saturday to benefit Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance Rhode Island, a coalition of organizations providing legal and psychological resources for people of color.

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

“It was about giving space … for the voices of people who can’t be here because they can’t travel past the checkpoint.

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— Paja Faudree, associate professor of anthropology

crossword

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calendar TODAY MARCH

10 9

10 11

Public Health Blood Drive 10:00 A.M. School of Public Health

Brown in Washington Info Session 12:00 P.M. Swearer Cemter

Cornel West Lecture 5:30 P.M. Salomon Center, Deciccio Auditorium

How to Market History 7:00 P.M. CareerLAB

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12 13

13 14

14 15

15 16

16 17

17 18

18 19

19 20

20 21

21 22

22 23

23 24

24 25

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Talk: Bolei Zhou 12:00 P.M. CIT, Room 368

Erin Beck Lecture on NGOs 4:00 P.M. Watson Institute

Wendy Red Star: Visiting Artist Lecture 5:00 P.M. List Art Building, Room 120

PASS Class - Photoshop for Animation 6:00 P.M. Granoff Center, Room N320

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

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Thesis writing — passion or pressure? SAMANTHA SAVELLO staff columnist The summer before my senior year, I swore to myself I wouldn’t write a senior thesis. I wanted to spend my final year at Brown making the most of my classes and activities — not stressing over a random 40+ page research paper I had no interest in writing. When I returned to campus in the fall semester, however, all my friends could talk about were their thesis abstracts and research progress and upcoming deadlines. It seemed like no matter whom I spoke with, nearly every senior I knew was doing a thesis. Naturally, I started to feel left out and began to wonder if I was making a mistake… A few weeks into school, someone asked me why I wasn’t doing a thesis of my own. “Well, I’m a Hispanic Studies concentrator. It would have to be 50 pages in a foreign language,” I explained, trying to defend myself. It was true. Both the length and language requirement were big deterrents for me, among others like the tight deadlines and excessive reading. In response, they asked me why I couldn’t just have my advisor edit my grammatical mistakes. “It can’t be that hard, right?” they asked. I hate to admit it, but I let this condescending comment get to me. The very next day, two weeks before the thesis abstract deadline, I ran to my departmental advisor, panicking and asking if it wasn’t too late. Believe it or not, I had

actually been guilt-tripped into writing a senior thesis. This is problematic and far too common: Even at a school that claims to promote unique and personal academic paths, too many of us end up conforming, undertaking the biggest project of our college careers for all the wrong reasons. I’m sure that there are many students who choose to write them out of pure passion and interest. But when it comes to senior theses, this prioritization of reputation (or even competition) over interest is not atypical. Among highly

Even at a school that claims to promote unique and personal academic paths, too many of us end up conforming, undertaking the biggest project of our college careers for all the wrong reasons. motivated and overachieving Ivy League students, it’s inevitable that there are going to be people writing a thesis solely for its value on a transcript or the “honors” status on a diploma. As a result, it’s almost certain that there will be peer pressure to write one. In fact, as I’ve experienced first-hand, there seems to be an academic and social stigma surrounding seniors who choose not to write a thesis or do some sort of research-related equivalent. But what I’ve learned about thesis writing through my experience is that it has nothing to

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I not, I doubt the hours of researching, writing and revising would have been worthwhile. The bulk of the work may be reading articles and writing an analytical paper, but passion and interest are what make the final product so rewarding. Without passion, thesis writing becomes an unbearable chore that takes away from the valuable last months of college with only a superficial benefit. As my research comes to an end, I can proudly say that I have gotten so much more out of the experience than just the word “honors” written on my diploma. I’ve uncovered im-

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do with reputation or ability. Every Brown student is perfectly capable of doing a thesis, but that doesn’t mean they have to do one. In fact, in order to get the most out of a thesis and complete it to the best of your ability, the most important thing is not how smart you are — it’s how passionate you are about the specific topic of your thesis. I was lucky: Despite my initial misplaced motivations, I ended up — in the last waking moment before the abstract deadline hit — stumbling across a topic that fascinated me. Had

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portant parts of my family history and learned how to connect themes from a variety of my department’s classes, both of which have enriched and culminated my Brown experience. Ultimately, I started my thesis for the wrong reasons, and ended up discovering a true motivation and passion for my work. But I don’t recommend taking this route. Before setting out to write a thesis, genuinely consider the reasons why you’re doing it and if you actually care about the topic at hand. A thesis can be of great value to students when they are driven by interest and curiosity, but if they are writing one solely to gain recognition or prove themselves, it is simply a stressful and meaningless research project. If you truly don’t have a topic that enthralls you, don’t feel pressured to write a thesis. There are other satisfying ways to cap off your time at Brown, like picking up an extra class that captivates you or completing an alternative capstone project. By the time we reach senior year, we have had three full years to craft our academic paths and identities. Drawing upon this experience, we should work to be confident enough in our identities as students to make the best choice without succumbing to outside influence.

Samantha Savello ’18 can be reached at samantha_savello@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Dispelling legacy myths should help focus on access LOGAN POWELL

op-ed contributor In recent weeks, there has been a call for full disclosure about the role that “legacy” status plays in the college admission process at selective institutions. At Brown, legacy applicants are those whose mother or father, or both, received an undergraduate degree from the University, and who seek admission as firstyear or transfer students. Unfortunately, the full disclosure movement is based on long-held and entrenched misunderstanding about the role that legacy plays in the admission process. It has led to speculation that children of alums are admitted at the expense of students who will be the first in their families to attend college, low-income students or others who do not have an immediate connection to Brown. This couldn’t be further from reality. A focus on legacy admissions distracts from what is truly at the heart of the movement, which is how to increase access to Brown for low-income and first-generation students. The questions that we must address include: How do we get more low-income and first-generation students to apply to Brown? How do we more strongly communicate that Brown is affordable, and that our institution wants to ensure they thrive here? And how do we encourage them to accept Brown’s offer of admission once they are admitted? Dispelling myths about how Brown considers children of alums in its application process will let us focus squarely on these important questions. The full disclosure movement has asked for any and all documents related to our “policy” about how legacy applicants are considered in the admission process. There is no written policy about how applicants’ status as a child of an alum may be considered in their admission process, because they are re-

viewed like all other aspirants to Brown — one case at a time, and without the use of formulas or quotas. First and foremost, we look for academic strength and intellectual curiosity. Our primary mission is to identify young minds that will ask new questions, create new knowledge and be active learners for life. Second, we closely review how students spend their time outside of class. For some, it may be student government; for others, working a part time job or taking care of younger siblings. Third, we seek to understand, from essays, letters of recommendation and alumni interviews, if the student is someone of

mitment to building community at Brown, we pay special attention to children of Brown employees, whether that be a faculty member, a member of our grounds staff, or a library employee. We consider how our student athletes spend innumerable hours training and competing, all while balancing the rigors of academic work. Veterans, children of active duty military and our ROTC cadets represent the very best of this country and are courageous in ways that many of us will never know. And we actively recruit students who will be the first in their families to attend college, because these students demonstrate determination, life ex-

therefore our alumni base. One in five children of alums who enrolled at Brown this year are students of color. Over the past five years, 29 percent to 39 percent have been students on financial aid. They come from big cities and rural America. It’s important to understand that each of the many factors outlined here is an example in which the talent or attribute may act as a “tie-breaker” in our process. In cases where an applicant is otherwise extremely well-qualified for admission, the fact that they are a firstgen, ROTC cadet, legacy, or talented artist may prompt us to lean in their direction to build the community that we know will flourish as

The simple reality is that presenting a trade-off between access to Brown for first-generation and low-income students and children of alums is a false dichotomy.

strong character. This is of critical importance as we build a class and a community. Only after we have established the foundation of these essential elements do we begin to layer a host of priorities that help guide our work in an ever-more selective admissions environment. We take a vast range of considerations into account, many of which receive more attention than whether or not a student’s parents attended Brown. We are dedicated to strengthening the visual and performing arts, and might look very closely at musicians when trying to identify the cellist who might be needed to fill out the orchestra. We seek out some of the most talented science students, innovators and humanists in the world. And as part of our com-

periences and traits of leadership that will help guide our society into the next generation. So why do we also pay attention to whether an applicant is a child of a Brown alum? Many of these students grew up immersed in the values of Brown. They are often mentors and guides to other students in navigating the University. We see them giving back through BrownConnect by mentoring and developing internship opportunities for Brown students. And yes, they also support Brown’s priorities financially, though this is not the focus. All members of the campus and alumni community benefit from the unique attributes that children of Brown contribute. And these students reflect the growing diversity of our campus and

they process through the Van Wickle Gates. And this is how we build a diverse class that supports our goals of community. Admitting children of alums does not affect access for first-generation and low-income students. In the Class of 2021, 13 percent are first-generation, 40 percent are students of color and 11 percent are children of Brown alums. The simple reality is that presenting a trade-off between access to Brown for first-generation and low-income students and children of alums is a false dichotomy. What does affect access is whether or not these talented students know that a place like Brown is possible for them. It’s whether they have the support to understand and navigate the admission process. It’s

the availability of financial aid. And it’s resources like the First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center to help them thrive at Brown. Our work is successful when we bring students from dramatically different backgrounds together on College Hill, where they will learn and grow together as a class. In the past two years, we have doubled the number of ROTC cadets admitted, doubled the funds available to bring low-income admitted students to campus for A Day on College Hill and increased from three to 30 the number of QuestBridge students (low-income and high achieving students) we admitted through the formal “match” process. And because we learned last year how much of an impact application fees can have, we have waived the application fee for any student who qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch in high school, or who works with a Community Based Organization focused on college access. In addition, increases in financial aid continue to make Brown more affordable, and all students next fall will have the University-packaged loans that used to be part of financial aid packages replaced with scholarships they don’t have to repay. This is through the Brown Promise initiative. We can, and should, continue our commitment to increased accessibility to Brown. We will continue to expand our efforts to enroll even more low- and moderate-income and first-generation students. At the same time, we should continue to recognize the talents that our legacy applicants bring to campus. This is not a case of either/or. This is a tide that will continue to lift all students.

Logan Powell is Brown University’s Dean of Admission. He can be reached at logan_powell@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Debate around Political Theory Project misses the point To the Editor: While I admire Associate Professor of History Seth Rockman’s free market ideals regarding Brown’s “marketplace of ideas” mentioned in his recent letter “Why does the PTP feel the need to pay its students?”, I believe the general debate of late in The Herald regarding the Political Theory Project signifies what’s wrong with discourse at Brown. Speaking as someone who is not on the Koch dole, it’s possible that the PTP relies so significantly upon the sloshing of Koch dollars since, otherwise, such voices would fossilize at Brown. But as SPEAK (Brown’s coalition for ideologically diverse speakers) has demonstrated, Brown overwhelmingly invites a narrow range of ideological viewpoints to campus. So what does restricting outsider competition sound more like: free market or monopoly? Whether it be the recent Herald contributors Julia Rock ’19, Harry August ’19 or Daniel Shemano

’19, we no longer explore the big questions. Let’s start arguing why buzzwords surrounding the Kochs such as “libertarian,” “anti-government,” “free markets,” etc. are or aren’t poor ideas and stop quibbling over who has paid for whose lunch. This is the language barrier of political polarization; one person’s radical agenda is another’s thriving discourse is another’s conflict of interest. Hope exists. The last paragraph of Rock and August’s op-ed began to slip from rhetoric regarding PTP financing to rhetoric regarding PTP viewpoints. And to Shemano, I add that I would be thrilled if one day I opened The Herald and found a detailed, thoughtful, data-driven argument in support of a specific principle or policy of the PTP that is unpopular on campus. Jimmy Thompson ’20 Jimmy Thompson is currently enrolled in classes taught by John Tomasi, director of Brown’s PTP, and Rockman.

NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

Art exhibit explores stories along U.S.-Mexico border

COURTESY OF GREGORY THIELKER

Gregory Thielker used this sketchbook in his travels along the U.S.-Mexico border to draft the paintings that now hang in the Cohen Gallery in the Granoff Center.

“The Wall” brings fusion of art, anthropology to Granoff, Watson to reveal diversity of experiences By JACOB ALABAB-MOSER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“The Wall,” an exhibit by Gregory Thielker that examines the partitions along the U.S.-Mexico border, opened Thursday in the Cohen Gallery in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts as well as the first and third floors of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. The work emerged as a result of interdisciplinary collaboration between Thielker, a New York City-based visual artist, and Paja Faudree MFA’92, associate professor of anthropology. “There’s a need to challenge the expected images and stories that are told about the border, about migration,” Thielker said. “We’re very familiar with seeing a certain kind of imagery through photojournalism.”

The exhibit in the Cohen Gallery features hyperrealistic, monochromatic paintings that depict the border in all of its varied forms, as well as sculptures composed of objects left by people crossing the border that Thielker collected on-site, Thielker said. These objects include backpacks, water bottles, clothes and pieces of fabric worn by people around their shoes to conceal their footprints, the artist added. Over the past two years, Thielker has criss-crossed various segments of the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, creating sketches along the way. Faudree joined Thielker in January to conduct ethnographic interviews with people living along the Rio Grande Valley and adjacent areas of the border lining Texas, including undocumented immigrants, border patrol agents, artists and researchers, he added.

Beyond just the Mexican and Central American immigrants they expected to meet, Faudree and Thielker met people from all around the world seeking asylum, including people from Cuba and Ukraine. “People talk a lot about the border, talk about immigration,” Faudree said. “But when you’re actually spending time on the border, there’s a lot of variability.” When he approached his subjects, Thielker shared his sketchbook, which is now on display at the Cohen Gallery. One woman at a Catholic refugee center broke down crying upon seeing an image of barbed wire in his sketchbook, he said. “She talked about her own experience crossing, and it was very emotional,” he added. “She could tell that I was really invested, … (that I was) not just going to be writing something up and walking away.” While Thielker’s paintings in the Cohen Gallery explore the border’s

visual and aesthetic properties, the exhibit in the Watson Institute imbues the project with a sense of humanity, Faudree said. The Watson Institute portion displays photographs taken by both Thielker and Faudree, as well as excerpts from interviews the two conducted. “It was about giving space ... for the voices of people who can’t be here because they can’t travel past the checkpoint,” Faudree added. The exhibit tries to “hold these different parts of the story against each other.” Thielker and Faudree held a public discussion about their collaborative research at the Joukowsky Forum last Wednesday in addition to a reception the next day celebrating the exhibit’s opening in the Cohen Gallery, Thielker said. Before arriving at the University, “The Wall” showed at the Castor Gallery in New York City and at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, he added. The Brown Arts

Initiative chose Thielker’s exhibit from a pool of 300 submissions because it was “collaborative and engaged” and demonstrated the artist’s deep commitment to connecting with audiences at the University, said Program Manager Sophia Lacava-Bohanan MA’15. “I normally work in areas of contested territory, areas where there’s a history of conflict,” Thielker said. According to the artist’s website, his past work has investigated other sites around the world: “(Un)governed Spaces” depicts the rich and complex history of the Shomali Plain in Afghanistan, while “Highway” touches upon the modernization of the ancient Grand Trunk Road in India. “The Wall” is “more than just art, it’s more than just ethnography,” Thielker said. “It’s important to understand the ambiguity” of the border’s manifold nature. The exhibit will be on display until March 22.