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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2022

VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 74

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

CS TAs cite overworking, HR hurdles

Suspect arrested following Wayland break-in Sunday

TAs describe working extra hours, developing large components of courses

Man is charged with breaking and entering, willful trespass as DPS investigates

BY WILL KUBZANSKY UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR Unionizing was not the first solution explored by exasperated teaching assistants in the computer science department. Facing systemic issues within the department, such as overworking and inaccurate hour logs, the TAs sought department help. They communicated with and met department leaders and secured a raise for their colleagues. But they found that change insufficient. Months after presenting their concerns, a group of computer science undergraduate TAs announced their intention to unionize in an Instagram post on Monday. Organizers described issues in the department in their announcement, including TAs frequently working overtime, underreporting hours and playing the “role

BY NEIL MEHTA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

JENNIFER CHEN / HERALD

of professors” by “writing handouts, rubrics and lecture slides,” according to the Teaching Assistant Labor Organization’s press release. And these issues span courses across levels in the department and are persistent, The Herald found through interviews with organizers, other undergraduate TAs and department officials. Before the union was officially

announced, The Herald interviewed nine students involved in organizing TALO about departmental issues and TAs’ attempts to address them prior to unionization. They said TAs often work more hours than the University allows, are tasked with developing large portions of course material and have worked without official positions

SEE CS PAGE 11

A suspect has been charged with breaking and entering and willful trespass after reportedly breaking into Wayland House, according to a Monday email sent to Wayland residents by Vice President for Campus Safety Rodney Chatman. The suspect was arrested Sunday after being apprehended by DPS. On Sunday morning, a Wayland resident contacted DPS regarding “a suspicious person in the room of another student,” according to the email. The suspect fled the scene on foot after being confronted by the resident. DPS dispatched an officer to the scene after receiving a call about the individual. The suspect was arrested

behind 13 Brown St., the email read. “We will continue to gather information to determine if additional charges are warranted and if he was involved in any other crimes,” Chatman wrote, adding that the department will look into “how long he may have been present in Wayland House and how he may have entered the building.” According to DPS Director of Advocacy, Engagement and Communications Quiana Young, the investigation is ongoing. “We are in the early stages of our investigation and have received a multitude of information and tips,” which DPS is reviewing for accuracy, Young wrote in an email to The Herald. Wayland resident Alexia Embiricos ’25 told The Herald that she pursued the suspect after receiving a concerned text from another resident. On Sunday morning, Embiricos — who lives in one of two fourth-floor suites in Wayland — received a text from a resident in the neighboring suite

SEE BREAK-IN PAGE 2

UNIVERSITY NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

Provost Richard Locke reflects on 7-year tenure

U. alum characters across fiction, film

Locke helped steward Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, Building on Distinction BY MIZUKI KAI SENIOR STAFF WRITER At the end of the month, Richard Locke P’18 will conclude his tenure as the University’s provost to begin his role as vice president and dean of Apple University, the tech company’s corporate leadership school. Since his appointment as the 13th provost in 2015, Locke has served over seven years as the University’s chief academic officer. Locke arrived at the University in July 2013 as director of the Watson Institute for International Studies. In his three years as director, Locke helped integrate the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions into the Watson Institute and also launched the one-year Masters in Public Affairs program. Additionally, the Watson Institute raised over $35 million under his leadership, according to a 2015 University press release.

In July 2015, Locke succeeded Professor of Chemistry, Engineering and Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology Vicki Colvin, now the director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering, as the next provost. In a letter announcing his appointment, President Christina Paxson P’19 said that Locke “emerged as the leading choice among outstanding candidates to lead the University’s academic programs,” and that his “appointment (would) sustain the momentum” of the Building on Distinction strategic plan. Building on Distinction Much of Locke’s tenure was shaped by the University’s Building on Distinction initiative, a 10-year strategic plan launched in 2013 to further invest in capital projects, increase financial aid, strengthen community ties and cultivate diversity. One of Locke’s first tasks as provost was to lead the initiative’s operational planning to execute these goals. “I felt very excited about it,” Locke told The Herald. “For me, the priorities were always about how we raise

SEE LOCKE PAGE 12

Authors, screenwriters share reasons for sending their fictional characters to Brown BY REBECCA CARCIERI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR What do Brian Griffin from “Family Guy,” Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City,” Cliff Calley from “West Wing” and Andrea Sachs from “The Devil Wears Prada” all have in common? They all walked through the Van Wickle Gates. The Herald spoke to authors and screenwriters whose characters attended Brown to learn how the University’s name has been evoked in popular culture. Among its peer institutions, Brown is noted for its culture of campus activism and commitment to academic and intellectual freedom with its unique features such as the Open Curriculum and shopping period. Over the course of the history of the University, Brown has been described as the progressive, hip and creative Ivy, and it has been the location of many works in popular culture from novels to television to films.

U. News

Ukrainian students discuss experiences at Brown as war continues Page 4

PETA calls on Paxson to address animal experiment concerns Page 6

Students, faculty, postdocs reflect on first semester of PPE Center Page 7

ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD

Brown in the novel When Jeffrey Eugenides ’82 wrote his 2011 novel “The Marriage Plot,” he wanted to see how the 19th century trope of a marriage plot — the type of story that centers around a couple and potential obstacles on their way to marriage — “might function under contemporary mores,” Eugenides wrote in an email to The Herald. “The Marriage Plot” focuses on three college friends from Brown University — Madeleine Hanna, Leonard

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Bankhead and Mitchell Grammaticus — in their senior year in 1982 and their first year post-graduation. While his novel didn’t have to take place at Brown, he wanted it to be some place “like Brown,” Eugenides said — a “small, liberal arts school caught up in the craze for French theory.” While he doesn’t think Brown is a more compelling setting for a novel

SEE CHARACTERS PAGE 10

BRANDON WU ’24 DESIGNER

GRAY MARTENS ’25 JULIA GROSSMAN ’23 DESIGN EDITOR DESIGN EDITOR NEIL MEHTA ’25 DESIGN CHIEF