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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 52

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BUCC discusses staff search, DIAP annual progress report U. to announce new director for first-gen, lowincome center, finalize search for Title IX officer By ANNA KRAMER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

ELI WHITE / HERALD

The Undergraduate Finance Board did not approve funding for printing for student publications, including the Brown Noser and the College Hill Independent, in its budget review for the 2017-18 academic year.

UFB cuts print funding for student publications Spring 2018 budgets see reductions for print, student editors cite lack of transparency from UFB By EDUARD MUÑOZ-SUÑÉ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In a budget review for the 2017-18 academic year, the Undergraduate Finance Board did not approve funding that would cover student publications’

printing expenses for the spring 2018 semester, according to sources from several publications. UFB informed student publications of the cuts April 17. It remains unclear to the leadership of the publications whether UFB will permanently reject all printing costs for the spring or readdress the issue at a later date. Kelton Ellis ’18, co-managing editor of the College Hill Independent weekly newspaper, said the “problem here is that there’s been a real lack of

transparency overall — so much of this has just been cast upon us.” The editors of the Brown Noser reacted similarly: The cuts were “very out of the blue,” said Katherine Dunham ’19, editor-in-chief of the Brown Noser. UFB’s budget is comprised of the student activities fee, which is automatically collected from every undergraduate student. The fee in the 2016-17 academic year was $137 per semester. Each student group categorized under the » See UFB, page 3

The University is concluding searches for a number of open positions, including director of the Title IX Office and program director for the First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center, said President Christina Paxson P’19 during Tuesday’s Brown University Community Council meeting. The University will announce a new program director for the FLIC next week, said Eric Estes, vice president for campus life and student services, adding that the new director will be a Brown alum. Three finalist candidates for the director of the Title IX Office have been invited to campus, said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, executive vice president for planning and policy. A decision will likely be made after those visits by the beginning of July, he added. Forty doctoral students who identify as members of a historically underrepresented group have matriculated for this year, which is an increase from 18 students last year, said Shayna Kassel, associate dean of the graduate school, during a discussion about the recent

Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan progress report. Fourteen percent of incoming doctoral students identify as an underrepresented minority, she added. Applications to PhD programs from members of HUGs increased by 33 percent this year, Paxson said, adding that this number was “astronomical.” About 30 percent of faculty members hired last year were members of HUGs, increasing the fraction of faculty members who identify as members of HUGs from 8 percent to 9 percent, Paxson said. The diversity and inclusion oversight board’s memo on the DIAP progress report outlined three major concerns, Paxson said. Those concerns included failure to adequately address disability, lack of qualitative data and the sometimes non-inclusive departmental DIAP writing process. The University is planning qualitative staff surveys over the summer in response to a recent quantitative staff climate survey. Graduate students sometimes cannot afford their first weeks in Providence and at Brown because they do not receive their stipends immediately after arriving, said a BUCC audience member during a discussion about the DIAP annual report. “Our peer institutions are doing better,” she added. Paxson also addressed the University’s work in relation to the local community. “My concern is that we do so » See BUCC, page 2

Panelists discuss ‘Future Literary arts department honors poet S. Harper of the Democratic Party’ Michael remembered for 50 years Speakers point to Clinton’s poor outreach to minority voters, economic message, as reasons for defeat By STEPHANIE REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After losing control of the executive and legislative branches of government following the 2016 election, Democrats are left pondering the future of the party. David Corn ’81 P’21, political commentator and Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones, moderated a discussion on the future of the Democratic Party Tuesday, analyzing the party’s shortcomings in the wake of its defeat this past November. Maria Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino, a nonpartisan political organizing group for Latinos, Bill Samuel, national director of government affairs at the American Federation of Labor

INSIDE

and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the largest federation of unions in the country and Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, a political committee supportive of pro-choice women seeking office, joined together to panel the event, “The Future of the Democratic Party.” The event was the culmination of a seminar series that was planned prior to the 2016 United States presidential election, said Edward Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, a cosponsor of the event. The event was also sponsored by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, the Brown Democrats and the Brown College Republicans. In order to advance the Democratic Party, panelists said, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign failures should serve as an example for future campaigns, drawing attention to broader » See DEMOCRATS, page 2

of teaching, musical prescient poetry By ETHEL RENIA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The literary arts department hosted a memorial tribute Tuesday for Michael S. Harper, who joined the University as an English professor in 1970 and retired from the literary arts department in 2013. Harper passed away in May 2016. “Over the course of his four and a half decades of teaching here, Michael Harper mentored generations and generations of students and writers,” said Peter Gale Nelson, professor and academic program director of literary arts. Anthony Walton ’87, who graduated with a master’s degree in poetry, was among the students profoundly impacted by Harper’s guidance. Walton has become a writer and poet himself

ARTS & CULTURE

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Michael S. Harper passed away May 2016 and was remembered by the Brown community Tuesday for his poetry’s honesty and musicality. and returned to campus to address a small crowd of Harper’s friends and colleagues at the John Hay Library. Walton

was first exposed to Harper’s poetry in a textbook he had his junior year of » See HARPER, page 2

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE Food truck serves up spacethemed street food, proves popular on Waterman Street

ARTS & CULTURE Father John Misty’s new studio album “Pure Comedy” fails to effectively critique society

COMMENTARY Steinman ’19: Having algorithms determine obscenity in YouTube videos is dangerous

COMMENTARY Oke ’21: Providence must address its lead problem, hold elected officials accountable

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BACK

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TODAY

TOMORROW

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NEWS

PAGE 2 • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

JASMINE RUIZ / HERALD

At Tuesday’s BUCC meeting, President Christina Paxson P’19 discussed the upcoming conclusions of two major staff searches.

» DEMOCRATS, from page 1 flaws within the party. The panelists critiqued Clinton’s campaign strategy, which they said failed to attract union, minority and women voters. “Hillary Clinton did rather well, but not as good as (former President) Barack Obama, and that’s really the story,” Samuel said, adding that it was her loss, not Trump’s success, which eventually led to his surprise victory. Clinton’s economic message was ultimately unsuccessful in attracting the “downscale voters, those earning $15,000 or less,” Samuel said. Along with her ineffective economic message, Clinton’s failure to critique Obama’s economic policies — regardless of the fiscal climate he inherited — hurt Clinton’s campaign, pushing many Americans into Trump’s arms, he added. Kumar concurred with Samuel on Clinton’s flawed outreach strategies, adding that the demographic shift in the Latino community could have made Clinton the first female president had she not ignored that community. “We keep hearing that not enough Latinos (came out),” yet “Latinos are the only population that grew as an

electoral base this year,” Kumar said. Additionally, 54 percent of Latinos voted early, part of an early-voting trend that had never been seen before, Kumar said, adding that this was true despite the fact that most polling booths were in locations scarcely populated by the Latino community. “Texas was ripe to turn blue and was not part of the battleground strategy,” she added. Schriock also critiqued Clinton’s lack of minority engagement, as women of color comprise the backbone of the party, she said. Though voting data has still not been released, Schriock stated that exit polling foreshadows the salience of minority women in upcoming elections: Clinton won the vote of 94 percent of African American women voters to Trump’s 6 percent and the vote of 86 percent of Latinas voters to Trump’s 12 percent. Kumar emphasized the importance of Latinos in future elections and political leadership, a sentiment echoed by panelists in a March 7 event planned by the same organizers, “The Future of the Republican Party.” “The Democratic Party needs to look like the population they serve,”

» BUCC, from page 1

» HARPER, from page 1

many different things, that it is all very diffuse,” she said, adding that while the Swearer Center for Public Service is working to strengthen community partnerships, a broader effort to examine the University’s work involving the community has also begun. As of March 31, the BrownTogether campaign has raised over $1.29 billion, Paxson said, adding that she would have liked to have raised $1.5 billion by this point in the campaign. Construction for Wilson Hall’s renovation and a new building for the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs will begin at approximately the same time this summer, Paxson said. In her updates at the beginning of the meeting, Paxson discussed concerns surrounding the changing federal landscape, including fears of potential cuts in research funding and the recent immigration bans. While a proposed White House “skinny budget” includes cuts in research funding, the University has recently received a $3.3 million federal grant to extend the Initiative to Maximize Student Development in the sciences and a $1.3 million award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the humanities.

high school. The inclusion of African American culture in Harper’s poetry made a lasting impression on Walton’s conception of the art form, he said. Harper believed the poet “is someone who keeps the truth alive until people are ready for it,” Walton said. An example of this preserved truth includes Harper’s poem about the Algiers Motel incident. On July 25, 1967, during the 1967 Detroit riot, the annex of the Algiers Motel was seized by the authorities, following a report of a gunman. Three black civilians were murdered and an additional nine people were beaten by the Detroit Police Department, the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Army National Guard. A film about the incident titled “Detroit” is set to come out this summer. Harper “wrote his poem about this incident in the late ’60s. Now, 50 years later, the nation is ready to start thinking about it,” Walton said. Robert Stepto, professor of English and African American studies at Yale and lifelong friend of Harper, also came to the memorial tribute to say a few words about his friend and colleague. Together, Stepto and Harper co-edited “Chant of Saints: A Gathering of Afro-American Literature, Art,

Kumar said, adding that the party failed to prioritize Latino voters in Texas because those in the leadership “were culturally incompetent with what was happening on the ground.” Voter suppression also continues to be a prominent issue, Kumar said, adding that resources must be made available to better register Latino voters in an effort to reflect the nation’s changing demographics and aid the party. Despite Clinton’s loss, 2016 will not be remembered as the year of the party’s decline, Schriock said, adding that the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections were far more damaging, due in large part to the Tea Party movement. Resembling the Tea Party’s surge following Obama’s 2008 presidential victory, many progressive grassroots movements and organizations have flourished in response to Trump’s win. Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that the party must effectively work with these organizations in the upcoming 2018 midterm election to avoid similar disappointments. Following the event, Dave Andrews MA’12 said he felt the discussion might be too optimistic, though, like the

and Scholarship.” Stepto met Harper in 1969: “We had many good times together,” he said. “It is abundantly clear that Michael fell into (the category of) ‘the speech that would have some influence on the world,’ as (Harper) called it.” His work has been honored with fellowships, honorary degrees and an appointment as the first poet laureate of Rhode Island, as well as prizes including the Robert Hayden prize, the Black Academy of Arts and Letters prize, the Melville-Cane Award and the 2008 Robert Frost medal for lifetime achievement, Stepto added. “Michael Harper’s poetry is infused not only with the rhythms of music but also with an eye and an ear attentive to history and current events,” Nelson said. “He used poetry to foreground terrible realities that have necessitated many transformations for and within this nation — realities that include cultural and political racism, ongoing struggle for equality and a never-ending need to bear witness to our collective past and, in doing so, to construct the basis for a better, more just future.” The McCormack Family Theater hosted a follow-up event to gather students, faculty and friends to honor Harper with a poetry reading accompanied by music.

KAITLYN LEW / HERALD

Director of the Watson Institute Edward Steinfeld introduced the panelists, who discussed the forces behind Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid. panelists, he hoped the rise in political engagement would continue to benefit the party. “In a sick, disgusted way, I’m glad Trump got elected,” Andrews said.

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ARTS & CULTURE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 • PAGE 3

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JULIA ROSENBERG / HERALD

Rocket Fine Street Food, a Providence-based food truck founded in 2010 by Patricia Natter-Meneguzzo and Joe Meneguzzo, sold out within two hours after stopping at Waterman Street.

Space-themed food truck finds success in Providence Rocket Fine Street Food serves sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, more, in menu featuring celestial inspiration By LIORA MORHAYIM STAFF WRITER

Last Wednesday, food truck Rocket Fine Street Food, run and owned by couple Patricia Natter-Meneguzzo and Joe Meneguzzo, stopped on Waterman Street during lunch time and sold out of everything in two hours. The truck features a space-themed menu peppered with references to StarTrek, Star Wars and various celestial

» UFB, from page 1 Undergraduate Council of Students is assigned a UFB representative responsible for reviewing their budget request. For many student publications, printing costs comprise the vast majority of their budget. The Indy’s “printing costs are about 90 percent of our funding,” said Dolma Ombadykow ’17, co-managing editor of the Indy. The Clerestory Journal of the Arts’ 2017-18 budget request reveals the journal’s cost of printing amounts to 99 percent of its total budget, according to a copy of the journal’s budget request obtained by The Herald. The remaining 1 percent of its budget is for publicity efforts, such as posters. Only half of the funding the Clerestory Journal requested for the academic year was approved, according to the document, which will cover printing costs for the fall semester.

bodies. “I like science fiction, and I have a sense of humor, so I like to work the two together and hopefully entertain and inform people as to what we are and what we are doing,” Meneguzzo said. “My mother always wanted me to be an astronaut, so I didn’t let her down,” he quipped. The Providence-based truck has made a name for itself with its egg sandwiches, hot dogs and burgers prepared with local and organic ingredients.

According to Rocket’s website, the business strives to provide customers with cuisine that meets only the highest standards: “Our philosophy is simple. Throughout our menu we use the highest quality ingredients in their purest form.” Always involved and interested in cooking, Meneguzzo “grew up in his Italian grandmother’s kitchen, and I grew up baking at home,” Natter-Meneguzzo said. Going into the food service business was something they always wanted to do, but having no prior experience, they felt that managing a restaurant would be too much to handle, Natter-Meneguzzo

added. Now, Natter-Meneguzzo handles the window and administrative responsibilities while Meneguzzo cooks each dish. Inspired by the food truck trend that started in the early 2000s on the West Coast, Natter-Meneguzzo said the couple felt they were up to managing a truck. “We decided that we (were) going to do it, quit our jobs, pack everything, move back to New England and start the Rocket,” Natter-Meneguzzo said. In 2010, the couple started their business in northwest Connecticut, but, after a year and a half, moved to Providence

— a small city with lots of pedestrian traffic and great food culture, NatterMeneguzzo noted. Today, the couple mainly operate in Providence but also travel around Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts to cater birthday parties, weddings or graduation parties, she added. Though the truck has proved much more work than the couple anticipated, it has been extraordinarily rewarding to engage with customers and hear their feedback, Natter-Meneguzzo said. “It is a different dynamic than what you get at a restaurant,” she added.

Similarly, the Intercollegiate Finance Journal received only 2 percent of the budget it requested for spring 2018, according to a copy of the IFJ’s budget request obtained by The Herald. Editors from multiple publications referred to meetings they had with their UFB representative in the past several weeks in which the cuts were not explicitly mentioned. In informal meetings with the UFB representative assigned to the Clerestory Journal, Jeremy Wolin ’19, co-managing editor of the Clerestory Journal, was informed of UFB’s intention to make all student publications switch from printing to digital. He was told that if he felt strongly about the need for a print medium, he should express that feeling in the budget request, which he did. To emphasize the need for printing, the Clerestory Journal wrote in its budget request: “Publishing series of pieces is the best way of displaying the

work students have done. … In order to most effectively feature student artists, we publish our issues in physical and color copies.” “Because there is such a huge design community at Brown and(the Rhode Island School of Design), … the physical printed book is really important to the identity of the magazine,” Wolin said. Concurrently, in recent semesters, UFB cut all the Indy’s funding for offcampus distribution, which “came with no heads-up whatsoever, which was extremely difficult to manage,” said Will Tavlin ’17.5, the Indy’s co-managing editor. A core function of the Indy is “to be in print and distributed throughout Providence,” Ombadykow said. “Our aim is to be as accessible to the Providence community as possible.” The editors expressed frustration not only at the decision to not approve funding for printing but also at how

UFB announced its decision. “To have (our printing funds) turned around on us, without a headsup or without any sort of caution, is irresponsible, and it feels like the carpet was pulled out from under our feet,” Ombadykow said. If UFB doesn’t fund the Indy’s print and distribution, “then we see no reason in continuing to be affiliated with Brown … because, financially, we would be completely abandoned at that point,” Ombadykow noted, adding that though that may not be UFB’s intention, “that’s the reality of what UFB is trying to do.” Other publications also emphasized the importance of printing physical copies as a means of building relationships with the community and with their readers. Being a print magazine is “a completely different experience” than publishing online, said Katharine Jessiman-Ketcham ’18, president of

IFJ. “When we actually print out the journal, we have a distribution day, and it rallies everybody together. It’s a celebration day.” Distribution is similarly a big deal for the Noser, which has been publishing in print for over 20 years, Dunham said. Students working on VISIONS Magazine also noted a connection with its print readers. The relationship online readers have with a publication is different than its relationship with its print readers, said Mia Gold ’17, editorin-chief of VISIONS Magazine. “I hope that print publications continue to be valued at Brown, even though we’re moving towards a digital age.” Gold said. “Continuing to fund publications is really important for Brown.” Chair of UFB Jordan Ferguson ’17 declined to comment. UFB will meet to discuss the matter with student publications April 25, according to multiple sources.

NEWS

PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Comparative literature professor wins humanities fellowship Elias Muhanna becomes U.’s first recipient of Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship By EMILY DAVIES STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Elias Muhanna leans back in his office chair, sporting a purplecheckered button-down shirt and sipping from a pink water bottle. With a full black beard and cleanly shaven head, the young professor breathes a sort of millennial hipness increasingly unusual in the field of comparative literature. Muhanna’s presence as a cool intellectual reflects his unusual ability to connect academic scholarship to a general audience. A contributor to the New Yorker and writer of the acclaimed blog “Qifa Nabki,” Muhanna has become a highly respected and influential public scholar. Muhanna’s national following helped him become the University’s first recipient of the Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship, a selective $50,000 award given to humanities faculty members pursuing scholarly projects the public can engage with. “This is a unique fellowship that recognized public-facing work by scholars,” Muhanna said. “While there are many fellowships out there that

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Elias Muhanna earned a $50,000 award as part of the fellowship. His winning proposal investigates the lives of MIddle Easterners through analysis of written and spoken Arabic. support academic scholarship, I think it’s quite rare to find a program that is focused on cultivating work that has a mainstream audience in mind.” Muhanna’s winning proposal — a book project to be titled “The Language of Paradise: Arabic’s Past, Present, and Future” — studies differences between written and spoken Arabic as a way of understanding lived experiences in the Middle East. “I really think that his book will bring the best of the humanities to the public,” said Daniel Reid, executive director of the Whiting Foundation.“It

will affect the conversation about how we think about the Middle East.” The Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship, though only in its second year, has typically made a point to feature work less dependent on text, such as podcasts. Given this trend, a book proposal was a hard sell for the seven anonymous fellowship judges, Reid said. “It’s hard to be able to write both for scholars and for the public,” Reid said. “But Professor Muhanna’s application just hit it out of the park.” Muhanna’s persuasive plan for his

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book, history of successful public outreach and celebrated long-form publications contributed to his knockout application, Reid said. Muhanna edited and translated Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri’s 14th-century Arabic encyclopedia in his book “The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition,” which National Public Radio recognized as one of the best books of 2016. His monograph, an in-depth paper on a specialized topic, is titled “The World in a Book: Al-Nuwayri and the Islamic Encylopedic Tradition” and is expected to be released November 2017.

Muhanna’s success is not limited to his writing; he has become one of the comparative literature department’s most popular professors, said Marc Redfield, chair of the comparative literature department and professor of comparative literature and English. “Students unanimously praise Professor Muhanna’s ability to make the material come alive,” Redfield said. “He is one of the most talented and successful and inspiring young faculty members that I have had the pleasure of working with.” But students will have to bear spring 2018 without Muhanna’s inspiration, as he will be taking the semester off to focus on his book project. During that semester, he hopes to travel to North Africa and Qatar and do archival work to reconstruct the material history of the Arabic language, he said. At the same time, Muhanna expects to continue publishing digital pieces that help develop his project-related narrative. Muhanna has already begun work for his book project, leaving for Jordan last Thursday to accompany a friend on an archaeological expedition. But even with the exciting nature of his work, Muhanna expects to be ready to return to teaching fall 2019. “Writing a book is actually very boring in many cases,” Muhanna said. “It’s the daily death by word processor.” When asked about Muhanna’s future at the University, Redfield said, “I foresee nothing but good things for Professor Elias Muhanna at Brown.”

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

calm on the green

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Mushroom’s Revenge, Spicy Sausage and Garlic, Miss Maple JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Mac and Cheese, Honey Chicken Club, The Muffaletta

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, Hearty Country Vegetable Soup

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Vegetable Egg Rolls, Roasted Tomato Soup, Farro and Roasted Veggie Bar, Brownies

Polenta Bar, Black Rice with Roasted Tofu, Cauliflower Soup, Whole Carrot Cupcakes

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Squash Bisque, Fried Fish Sandwiches, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Chicken Pesto Pasta, Greek Pepper Steak, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Orange Delight Cake

sudoku

c r o s s w o rD d

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Cup of joe 5 Slow-moving critter 10 British sports cars, for short 14 “Woe is me!” 15 Neigh sayer 16 Clarinet cousin 17 Flat-topped landform 18 Where to get cash 20 Foamy brew 21 Korean cars 22 Put in a chip for a hand 23 Turn topsy-turvy 25 Meaner than a junkyard dog 26 Where to see splits and strikes 30 Sci-fi subject 31 Replacement grass, perhaps 32 Dollop 35 Under the weather 36 Highlander’s hat 39 Part of a journey 41 Id controller 42 Young man 43 See 38-Down 45 La Scala production 47 Where to keep needles and thread 51 Theater district 54 Like San Francisco’s terrain 55 On the ocean 56 Leslie Caron title role 57 Cleft site 61 Where to find valuables 63 Bring on board 64 Latin 101 word 65 Photographer’s request 66 Sci-fi subjects 67 IRS IDs 68 __ Martin: British sports car 69 Things associated with 18-, 26-, 47- and 61-Across

DOWN 1 Doorframe part 2 On the sheltered side 3 Bouquet holder 4 More often than not 5 How Bond likes martinis 6 Making mention of 7 Warship fleets 8 Beliefs: Suff. 9 Rural area 10 “Heeeere’s __!”: Carson intro 11 Grab __: eat 12 One beyond hope 13 Shabby 19 Give a hoot 24 20-Across serving 25 Shoppe adjective 26 Get-out-of-jail cash 27 Earthenware pot 28 Out of control 29 IM chuckle 32 __ Squad: Best Buy tech support 33 Fairy tale baddie 34 Gravy vessel

37 Part of Lawrence Welk’s cadence 38 With 43-Across, umbrella drink 40 Soccer score 44 Repress 46 Inspire with a pregame pep talk, say 47 Comes down as ice pellets 48 And others, briefly 49 Male escort

50 Karen who wrote as Isak Dinesen 51 Indian princes 52 Lines on a list 53 Dam on the Nile 56 Workout centers 58 Old record player 59 Remove creases from 60 Storied loch 62 Cape Town’s country: Abbr.

ANSW R

O S

KAITLYN LEW / HERALD

The Class of 2020 Board held the event “Serene on the Green,” featuring aromatherapy bags, iced tea, coloring, bubbles and Del’s lemonade. The event was meant to relax students during a stressful time of year.

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

“Writing a book is actually very boring in many cases. It’s the daily death by word processor.” — Professor of Comparative Literature Elias Muhanna

See humanities fellowship on page 4.

calendar TODAY MARCH APRIL

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Wellness at Brown!: Yoga to Energize 12:00 P.M. 200 Dyer Street, 101

Wriston Recycles Trash Sort 12:00 P.M. Wriston Quad

What Fire Does (Earth, Itself 2017) 3:00 P.M. IBES

Swearer Town Hall 6:00 P.M. IBES, 130

TOMORROW ADOCH Coffee with a Cop Event 8:30 A.M. Brown Bookstore

Inspiring Women in Science 9:00 A.M. Granoff Center

Lecture by Gohar Homayounpour 5:30 P.M. Pembroke Hall, 305

Thai Lessons with the Brown Language Society 7:00 P.M. Sayles Hall, 014

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

comic P-branes and Bosons |Ricky Oliver

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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Code can’t cure all CLARE STEINMAN opinions editor

Pre-roll advertisements on YouTube, the ones that play before your desired video, are generally understood as one of the most annoying types of online advertisement. Sometimes it is because they are disproportionately long for the video you’re trying to watch, or because the advertised product is grossly incongruent with the content of the video, like news coverage of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Disapproval of pre-roll ads is near universal: It is estimated that 94 percent of viewers click the “skip ad” button when they are given the chance. As such, it feels strange to defend them. But as inconvenient as they are, it is the advertising money that keeps independent YouTube broadcasters afloat. Unlike television advertising, ad placement on YouTube is not determined by the advertisers themselves or by a network, but by an algorithm delivering content to more than a billion users every single day. And on a website whose founding slogan in 2005 was “Broadcast Yourself,” the makeup of that algorithm has dangerous implications for free speech. Understanding the sheer size of YouTube’s operation underscores the importance of what this algo-

rithm does. Every minute, another 400 hours of content are uploaded; it would take a 24/7 staff of 24,000 to watch and monitor every new addition, a job I would wish upon no one. With “thousands of sites” signing on as advertisers each day and 1.7 billion so-called “bad ads” removed in 2016 alone, the lines of code that govern ad

dio host to a firearm review channel, who watched their funding disappear overnight. The New York Times described the move as “abrupt” and “vague” — while Google billed it as “expanded safeguards for advertisers.” To be sure, advertisers deserve the absolute right to choose what type of content they attach to their brand

dollars is so integral to its function. In late March, the Wall Street Journal reported that major brands like Pepsi, Walmart, Starbucks, General Motors and FX Networks were suspending advertising from YouTube or from the entire Google universe in response to their ads appearing on controversial videos. A company

Unlike television advertising, ad placement on Youtube is not determined by the advertisers themselves or by a network, but by an algorithm delivering content to more than a billion users every single day. And on a website whose founding motto in 2005 was “Broadcast Yourself,” the makeup of that algorithm has dangerous implications for free speech.

placement on YouTube are responsible for an almost unthinkable number of decisions that, combined, curate the content that eventually reaches viewers. Last month, YouTube, which is owned by Google, changed this algorithm, pulling ad dollars from all “potentially objectionable content,” resulting in a wide range of YouTube stars, from a progressive ra-

and reputation, as seen with the mass exodus of advertisers from sites like Breitbart. The rationale behind that boycott, and many others, is a guiding principle of web economics: For website owners, advertisers and sponsored content are power. Without advertiser money, it is hard for anyone online to gain traction as a writer, musician, comedian or artist, which is why the flow of YouTube’s advertising

with a conservative CEO might well have valid objections to its advertisements appearing on a left-wing political talk show, and a company whose leadership believes in gun control might feel the same way about the firearm channel. Similarly, it is good to see companies like Google taking some measure of responsibility for the extremism that can flourish on their platforms. But these are personal, hu-

man decisions, not ones to leave up to an algorithm. Whatever your feelings about gun control, the testing and reviewing of weapons for informational purposes is not hate speech, and no reasonable human judge could mistake it for hate speech. Misclassification on that scale can only be the fault of erroneous computer programs which, despite increased sophistication, can never take offense at any kind of speech, and so must rely on overly broad and occasionally bizarre metrics to weed out hate. Once code is made political, the ramifications are enormous, both in terms of attracting an increasingly partisan and divided user base and in terms of redefining the boundary between fact and opinion. This reliance is dangerous and dystopian, portending an increasingly plausible future in which an algorithm can decide what is good or bad for us to view through basic capitalism. As the disturbing saga of the so-called Facebook Live murder that played out this week demonstrated, we are in completely uncharted territory when it comes to the ethics of online shareable content. But handing control of our standards of decency over to artificial intelligence will only plunge us further into the dark.

Clare Steinman ’19 can be reached at clare_steinman@brown.edu.

Why isn’t Providence learning from its troubled history with lead? BAMI OKE staff columnist It’s hard to imagine that just two miles away from the lavish neighborhoods of College Hill, the threat of lead exposure is about to skyrocket in some of Providence’s poorest areas. Following the Flint, Michigan water scandal, the presence of lead in Rhode Island’s pre-1978 homes and vacant buildings has raised some questions around the state’s recent push to increase local property values by revitalizing older buildings. As recently as 2014, Brady Sullivan Properties — a New England-based real-estate developer — acquired $4 million in tax credits for the renovation of several former mills located across Rhode Island. The U.S. Rubber Lofts project in the Valley and Olneyville neighborhoods — which have some of the lowest median family incomes in the city — seeks to convert the old factory complexes in the area into 302 “loft-style apartments,” with one, two, three and four-bedroom units available for residents to lease. Despite how appealing the project sounds, it’s important to note the overwhelming effect of gentrification ventures like this have on the existing residents of Providence. The city has a lengthy history of renovation efforts that have disproportionately harmed its minority and low-income populations. These ideas have returned to the state agenda in recent years. Since his campaign in 2014, Mayor Jorge Elorza has promised to “revitalize (Providence’s) neighborhoods,” and began the process with his EveryHome program in October 2015. Last year, there were almost 800 properties registered as abandoned in Providence, and the six-year plan was intended to either re-

habilitate or demolish up to 600 homes in the city. It aims to replace them with new, affordable houses for people previously displaced by foreclosures, housing projects and other local changes. Yet these plans, much like the Brady Sullivan project, have not always lived up to their promises. Brady Sullivan has a rather concerning history of exercising dangerous and irresponsible practices on multiple occasions: In August 2016, the company was fined $139,171 by the Envi-

tration then imposed a $19,600 fine on the company. Lead exposure in the low-income communities of Rhode Island is nothing new. Before the use of lead paint was banned nationally in 1978, most New England homes contained significant amounts of lead that continue to show up today. This explains why most cases of childhood lead poisoning in Rhode Island are a result of exposure to the dust from lead paint. However, the ubiquity of old homes in Rhode

How can we sit idly and watch Rhode Island’s government “struggle” to find funding for clean water pipes, yet simultaneously award an out-of-state contracting company millions of dollars in tax credits?

ronmental Protection Agency for not following federal lead paint removal regulations during a restoration project in Manchester, New Hampshire. In May 2015, a subcontractor hired by Brady Sullivan to do a demolition job was found to have left an inhabited building contaminated with arsenic, cadmium and lead. After discovering that the contractors failed to adequately notify the tenants placed at risk by this oversight, the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-

Island is most certainly not the sole cause of this state’s alarmingly high rate of lead poisoning in young children. Since 2010, the drinking water in Providence, Cranston and North Providence has exceeded the federal lead standard six times. Almost 13,800 homes in the state receive water through lead-infested pipes that are too expensive for the average low-income resident to replace on their own. A study conducted by the University from 1993 to 2005 showed that 48.6

percent of children from Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket and Newport had been poisoned by lead. In these neighborhoods, children are four times more likely than the national average to be diagnosed with lead poisoning. These facts should not just concern local parents or tenants — they should enrage us all. How can we sit idly and watch Rhode Island’s government “struggle” to find funding for clean water pipes, yet simultaneously award an outof-state contracting company millions of dollars in tax credits? What good will these fancy new apartments do for those living in poverty, or in single-parent homes, or in houses that have been deemed unfit by federal standards for habitation? Not only should we members of the Brown community hold elected officials accountable for this disdainful attack on underprivileged neighborhoods, we must also stand in solidarity with the residents of Providence in their fight for a healthy living environment. In no way am I calling upon every Brown student to disproportionately take up public spaces, or even to get involved in every single local campaign. But paying attention to local news, raising awareness of current events that affect the rest of the Providence community or simply acknowledging the University’s role in the displacement of minorities in the area are small acts that can have a big impact. When the state government’s lack of concern for the well-being of its constituents is so blatant, what choice do we have but to open our eyes and take action?

Bami Oke ’20 can be reached at bamidele_oke@brown.edu.

ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

‘Pure Comedy’ ambitious in scope, fails to impress Father John Misty’s cynical new album falls short of mark with clunky, vain song-writing By CONNOR SULLIVAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” graces many college students’ bookshelves, and for good reason. Captivating and extensive in subject matter, the novel tackles everything from tennis to substance abuse to the pitfalls of the entertainment industry. At more than one thousand pages, it is a lot to unpack. But Wallace leaves even the novel’s bloated digressions on the mechanics of telephones as readable. Heralded in some circles as the pinnacle of modern literature, the work carries a critical legacy even more formidable than its door-stopping size. Father John Misty, the sardonic stage persona of Los Angeles-based singersongwriter and internet troll John Tillman, takes a great deal from the gospel of David Foster Wallace on his latest record “Pure Comedy.” A sprawling 74-minute-long double album critical of everything under the sun, “Pure Comedy” is similar in ambitious to “Infinite Jest” in terms of size and scope. On the album, Tillman’s third as Father John Misty, irony-laden shots are fired not only at the media and its glut of vanity-driven popular artists — victims Tillman dubs “the comedy of man” on the title track — but also at the singersongwriter himself. Thematically, it is remarkably similar to “Infinite Jest,” with the morbid and technophobic imagery of “Total Entertainment Forever” seemingly lifted directly from Wallace’s magnum opus. The album’s sweeping and ostensibly self-aware grandiosity wants so badly to replicate Wallace’s work with its meta and barbed critique of society. But Tillman, in a fundamental

misreading of Wallace, ends up falling even flatter than the media and pop stars he sets out to skewer, at least lyrically. Not unlike many of the literarily-inclined and clove-smoking aesthetes that attend liberal arts colleges everywhere, Tillman conflates “high” culture with social capital. Intellectualism is cool — a fact he reminds audiences of with every vacuous and cringe-inducing lyric on the album. Corny allusions to literary figures and vague references to technophobic doom are abound on “Pure Comedy,” each one more half-baked and nebulous than the last. The songwriting of tracks like “Leaving LA,” which affirms that “the role of Oedipus was a total breeze,” leaves the listener thinking the album might be best retitled “Pure Torture.” With an analysis that is closer to a B+ ninth grade book report on “Infinite Jest,” the one-dimensional references to media theories and academic texts promote more of a stroking of Tillman’s cynical ego than any meaningful metacommentary. Rather than seeing his supposed depth of acerbic cultured insight as a means of shedding truth on this troubled world, Tillman seems to view his art as a vehicle for his own vanity. In the process, he embarrasses himself, coming across as that kid in section who pretends to have done the readings, or even worse, that guy who goes to bars to mansplain the works of Simone de Beauvoir. Outside of a few sincere one-liners, the songwriting is beyond clunky. But the most egregious aspect of the album might be its broader cynicism — an omniscience that serves as a crutch for actual emotion. Tillman’s brand of post-modern critique used to be hilarious and at least a little affecting. “Bored in the USA,” a track off his last album “I Love You Honeybear,” was a laugh track-lined musical critique of society that remained self-conscious of musical critique’s lack of potency, making for an incredibly interesting listen when it

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“Pure Comedy” is a 74-minute long double album with tracks that are vast in scope, yet limited in depth of content. The album fights a variety of social establishments and figures, including Taylor Swift and the media. dropped in 2015. Tillman’s cynicism on “Pure Comedy,” however, rarely reaches such transcendence. Tillman eviscerates pop star Taylor Swift on “Total Entertainment Forever,” but does not substantiate his negativity with any kind of rigorous analysis. It’s simply pretension — phoned-in opinions as vapid as his references to media theory and Plato’s allegory of the cave. The end result is a petty irony no more enlightened than a mocking subtweet at an ex. Maybe the only selling point to the album is its gorgeous, lush

instrumentation. Tillman may not be that sincere, but as a former drummer for the ethereal indie act Fleet Foxes, he knows a thing or two about crafting pretty ballads. Wallace’s prose was cold and clinical, but Tillman’s songs, mostly mid-tempo, are warm and pleasant to the ear. At times, his crooning and fragile voice even seems to imply actual feelings. But it’s all too good to be true — Tillman, in another of his grating post-modern tricks, is probably just appropriating popular, unassuming harmonies to convey his affected

message to the masses. Irony and satire — if done right — can resound beyond themselves and affect true change. Most of the time though, in this Internet-saturated era, such stylized critiques devolve into a lazy and ineffectual way of coping with the world — a pervasive theme in Wallace’s oeuvre. The only entertaining irony on the album is Tillman’s complete misinterpretation of this concept. Like so many undergraduates with half-finished copies of “Infinite Jest,” he misses the point entirely.

Master of Public Affairs

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Lunch with Current 5th-Year MPAs Thursday, April 20, 12:00 p.m. Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street McKinney Conference Room Final MPA information session of the year! Join current students for pizza and find out how a 5th year at Brown can catalyze a career in public policy.

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