Brown Daily Herald

Bayard ’24: In 2020, Trump grew his support among voters of color. Could that be a good thing?

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 05:19:21 GMT

In the ebullience, anguish and delusion that has followed President Joseph R. Biden’s win in the 2020 general election, one statistic seems inexplicable: Greater percentages of voters of color cast their ballot for former President Donald Trump in 2020 than in 2016. The question is simply: Why? I doubt that these voters bought his laughable claim in the final debate that he was “the least racist person in this room.” But as John McWhorter writes in the Atlantic, they need not have believed that claim to vote for him. In 2020, Trump made it easier for such voters to focus on aspects of his campaign other than his racism. Ultimately, Trump’s small gains among voters of color may be explainable, and if future Republican nominees continue to gain ground among voters of color, it could be healthy for this country in the long run, even if worrisome for the Democratic Party.

Donald Trump did not run the same campaign in 2020 as he did in 2016. That’s not to say that one was more ‘normal’; both were distinctly and uniquely Trump in that they were fueled by innumerable falsehoods, speeches that flitted between ideas with the grace of a toddler swatting at a fly and, importantly, the fomentation of ‘us vs. them’ tensions. Exactly who ‘us’ and ‘them’ are in that formulation, however, were subtly but crucially different in Trump’s two campaigns.

In 2016, future-President Donald J. Trump began his campaign by descending his golden escalator to give a campaign announcement speech in which he infamously called Mexican immigrants “rapists.” In that campaign, he also proposed a complete ban on Muslims entering the U.S., criticized a federal judge based on his Mexican heritage and, of course, incessantly discussed plans to build his beloved wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In 2020, Trump was no less crass, and he still had no reservations about dog-whistling, but his focus shifted slightly (when was the last time he brought up his big, beautiful wall?). At that point, he had his sights set more firmly upon what he considered a disconnected elite class opposed to everyday American ways of life. Compare Trump’s 2016 Republican National Convention speech with his 2020 speech: The former focused on stoking fears of crime in cities with large Black populations like Baltimore and Chicago, violence from “illegal immigrants with criminal records” and Islamic terrorism. The latter still made clearly racialized claims about open borders, but at its heart was contempt for privileged “liberal hypocrites who drive their cities into the ground while fleeing from the scene of the wreckage.” The message was clear: These people, preaching from their ivory tower, don’t care about the common man. For a racially-resentful white voter, this common man could, of course, be white, but the generality allowed the message to resonate with some voters of color as well.

With this shift — and with claims of a strong economy — a few more voters of color were evidently comfortable voting for Trump. In 2016, 8 percent of Black voters, 28 percent of Latino voters, 27 percent of Asian American voters and 36 percent of voters belonging to other racial or ethnic groups voted for Trump. In 2020, those numbers marginally increased to 12 percent, 32 percent, 34 percent and 41 percent, respectively. Maybe the movement toward Trump shouldn’t be all that surprising. I don’t presume to understand the reasoning of every Trump voter, but I would argue that, through Trump’s lens of populist resentment, working-class voters of color have more in common with working-class white voters than they do with the wealthy, out-of-touch metropolitan elite that is Trump’s new bogeyman. I can see why Trump’s vilification of such a group could resonate with a socially-conservative Cuban American who associates the word ‘socialism’ with the Castro regime, or a Black person who has lost their service job due to COVID-19 lockdowns that have cost relatively fewer white-collar jobs.

To be clear, I’m not saying that I condone a vote for Trump.. However, maybe an increasingly diverse Republican base could be a hopeful sign for the future of the American political ecosystem, if perhaps not the Democratic Party. If the GOP going forward nominates candidates that can touch some of the same populist nerves as Trump without blatant racist appeals, it is not unimaginable that they would continue to receive a steady infusion of disaffected voters of color. In the long run, such a change might make a healthier American political scene.

For one, if neither party could win without voters of color, both parties would have to be responsive to their political interests. The Republican Party would need to take into account more than just the interests of white Americans, and the Democratic Party could face serious electoral repercussions for ignoring the concerns of Black voters as they’ve been able to in the past.

Additionally, a more substantial, but racially — and culturally — diverse, working-class base for the Republican Party could dampen the influence of the plutocratic donors, creating what Nicholas Lemann of the New Yorker terms a ‘reversalist’ Republican Party, in that it would reverse GOP economic orthodoxy and lead to policies that genuinely benefit America’s working class. If this is the path the Republican Party takes, future historians will be able to trace the beginning of this shift to Trump ending the GOP assault on Social Security and championing greater COVID-19 stimulus than Mitch McConnell was willing to entertain.

Finally, such a reconfiguration of party coalitions could make the duopoly at the core of American politics a bit less dangerous. Race is a hazardous fault line for an electorate. If both major parties in American politics included substantial numbers of all racial groups, cross-party connections of culture and heritage could dissipate some partisan tension and hatred.

I don’t intend to argue that shaking up party coalitions is a cure-all for America. A GOP that receives 20 percent of the Black vote, for example, is unlikely to lead to Jeff Sessions marching in the street with Black Lives Matter supporters. Nor does this shift mean that there aren’t other worrying political divisions. Trump has exacerbated other fault lines in American life, such as gender, geography and most concerningly, education level, which can be a proxy for social class. Still, this change could herald a new era in American politics, where parties must be truly responsive to the needs of every voter, plutocratic megadonors’ influence is diminished and maybe we can see across party lines just a bit better.

Pipatjarasgit ’21: The Office of International Programs somehow made my study abroad worse

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 04:36:04 GMT

In mid-October of 2020, I received an email from the Office of International Programs sent to all returned study abroad students, encouraging me to apply to work as a peer advisor. I laughed. Why would I ever want to work for OIP, or for that matter, interact with OIP ever again? Especially with the utter disorganization and poor communication in that office’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis when I was abroad?

In early 2020, I studied abroad as a student in the Brown in France program, and like most students abroad that semester, I ultimately returned home early due to COVID-19. As the situation across France significantly worsened in early March with exponential increases in COVID-19 cases, we heard nothing from the Office of International Programs. The most up-to-date information seemed to come from rumors circulating among students on our program’s group chat rather than directly from University administrators. Of course, we had been in close contact with our program director and staff, but we faced radio silence from the decisionmakers back in Providence, the administrators who actually have the power to make consequential health and safety decisions for Brown’s undergraduate study abroad programs. I am not the only person who had these concerns. In both the days leading up to the program’s cancellation and the weeks following our departure from France, the OIP failed to adequately communicate with us or provide sufficient support as we frantically navigated unprecedented, anxiety-inducing circumstances. This is unacceptable. It is one thing to make mistakes during a crisis. It is another to act negligently.

In an email from the OIP that we received in the early hours of Thursday, March 12 (Paris time), we found out that our program had been canceled and that we would have to return home. That same morning, we were called to the Brown in France office for a meeting at 9 am. In our message from the OIP, we were instructed to rebook our return flights or to purchase an economy class ticket to return home. OIP indicated that it would reimburse students for change fees and fare differences for rebooked tickets, or the cost of the ticket in the case of a new reservation. No additional details were given regarding flight pricing or expectations. After our 9 am meeting, many of us stayed at the Brown in France office where we opened our laptops, woke up our parents while they were still sleeping in the United States and frantically began to plan for our return home.

In a confrontational phone call that evening, I was told by the University that the flight that I had already booked was far too expensive to be reimbursed. Only after this phone call, as I was on an evening walk along the Seine back to my apartment, was a message sent out to all study abroad students in Europe at 9:30 pm local time, indicating restrictions for flight pricing, baggage fees and reimbursement. For some of my peers, this easily could have been financially prohibitive, given the extremely high cost of flights booked at the last minute. And by this time, most students in the Brown in France program had already made their travel plans; some students had even left France that same day.

After much back-and-forth and an appeal, the College informed me that my reimbursement would be approved. I flew home on Saturday, March 14 without incident and was reimbursed a few weeks later. Had I not advocated for myself through senior leadership in the College, I would have been forced to worry about the financial implications of purchasing a ticket home as instructed when I should have been free to solely focus on getting home safely at the dawn of a global pandemic.

Sometime around March 14, 2020, the University announced plans to resume courses online effective March 30 and added the following note to the covid.brown.edu FAQs page: “the Office of International Programs contacted all undergraduates who remain enrolled in study abroad programs to share information on options for maintaining academic continuity.”

This is not true; as a student in the Brown in France program, we had only last received a mass email from the OIP on March 12. For two weeks, I was left uncertain about what the rest of my education would look like that semester, with no other communication. It was not until March 31 that we did finally receive information from Providence about academic continuity.

It was a painful two months between my return home and the end of my (online) semester in Paris. While students attending the University’s program in Bologna, Italy were offered a full tuition refund if they were to withdraw from the program, my friends and I in the Brown in France program and other programs across the world were not afforded this option. This meant that I was stuck in online classes for months, having paid full tuition for a largely inadequate educational experience. My online education at Sorbonne Université was woefully insufficient. Personally, none of my classes held regular meetings over videoconference; at best, some instructors sent us their class notes, while a few of my instructors completely disappeared from their courses. At one point in the semester, I gave an oral presentation over videoconference to my professor—in other words, an audience of one. Students studying abroad in Italy were given the option to ditch their study abroad program, while we were forced to continue with a poor learning experience that certainly would not have met Brown’s expectations for online courses. I cannot help but wonder why there has not been any publicly available, official explanation as to why this was the case.

I certainly don’t blame the University for the COVID-19 pandemic, but I indict the OIP’s response. We have never received an apology from the OIP for its mismanagement and lack of communication. It is indefensible for the OIP to have provided inadequate and unclear instructions to students while they feared the prospect of being stranded in a foreign country at the dawn of a global pandemic. It was similarly unacceptable that the University did not do better to provide an acceptable education, relative to the extenuating circumstances, to study abroad students.

Studying abroad has been one of the best parts of my time as a Brown student, and it therefore pains me to tell students to think twice about doing so too. This is not because of the quality of Brown’s programs, but rather because of the OIP’s apparent aloofness, which left me and many of my fellow study abroad peers feeling unsupported during a public health crisis that called for our immediate evacuation. In my view, this was a complete dereliction of duty.

During the few months that I was at Sorbonne Université, I thought that the amount of disorganization and breakdowns in communication were horrendous. Unfortunately, the OIP succeeded in embodying the same bureaucratic nightmares that I experienced as a French university exchange student. I am glad that there are currently no students studying abroad on a Brown program. Although my friends and I all got home safely, I would not be comfortable telling students that they can trust the OIP to keep them safe.

Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit ’21 can be reached at poom_pipatjarasgit@brown.edu. The opinions expressed in this piece are entirely his own, written in a personal capacity as an undergraduate student, as opposed to any professional capacity. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Sports teams work to integrate first-years during pandemic and Quiet Period

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 04:09:48 GMT

As COVID-19 continues to leave its mark on collegiate athletics, teams at Brown must navigate another round of Quiet Period restrictions while also integrating first-years who were required to study remotely in the fall. Many members of the Brown athletic community went through Quiet Period last fall, but for first-year athletes arriving on campus for the first time in their college careers, the restrictions add to an already unfamiliar environment.

When coming to College Hill for the first time, men’s lacrosse player Kevin Sweeney ’24 said he was not prepared for the quick transition to a pandemic-defined athletic experience.

“The hardest thing to adapt to has definitely been the lack of training accommodations,” Sweeney said. “It’s tough to be a college athlete and only limiting yourself to dorm room workout(s).”

Quiet Period regulations limit access to certain training equipment, and outdoor recreation is limited while students returning to campus isolate in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

First-year students aren’t the only new faces on campus this semester. Gymnast Carolanne Van Zandt ’23 returned from studying at home last semester and is now living in a top floor suite in the Omni Hotel.

“The transition has been interesting to say the least,” Van Zandt said. “Moving 1,500 miles from home and going immediately into isolation is tough considering how much I love spending time with people.”

With her gymnastics season already cancelled, Van Zandt said that it has been difficult to come to grips with the lack of participation in a sport that usually takes place year round.

Gymnastics Coach Sara Carver-Milne echoed this sentiment. The team last trained in a gym in March 2020. “Not only has that been a hardship to deal with for our training, but recruiting has been shifted to live streamed competitions due to outbreaks in gyms that have forced them to shut down.”

While a return to in-person athletics is currently up in the air, Carver-Milne shed light on what this uncertainty means for the gymnastics team’s intentions moving forward. “Right now we are focusing heavily on mental health and the acclimation of first-years into the team morale,” she said. “They already had a head start with training as they did their best to work at their hometown gyms last semester.”

In addition, the eight upperclassmen athletes on campus last fall had to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions while maintaining “a team GPA of 3.788” Carver-Milne said. “Now it’s time to introduce the first-years to that same mental toughness. I am proud to say that everyone has handled their given situation with grace and persistence.”

Other fall athletes have adopted a similar mindset while coping with the loss of their seasons.

Field hockey midfielder Ana Claire Piacentini ’23 praised her team’s positivity throughout the pandemic. Encouraging one another to integrate the first-years into the team and stay in shape has been imperative to the long term goals of the team, she said.

Through “Zoom we’ve been able to construct our goals in a concise and unified manner,” Piacentini said. “This not only amplifies our positivity for the team as a whole, but it definitely helps integrate the first-years into the team systems.”

Zoom has also helped first-year athletes like Sweeney continue to acclimate to an ever-changing environment and its restrictions, while also working to bond with the new teammates that they have only met virtually. It is through these Zooms, Sweeney said, that team members have continued to connect with each other.

“We’ve heard from the seniors a lot and they have been nothing but welcoming,” Sweeney said. “In the event that we do have a season, I hope we have the ability to not only compete for us, but compete for them. They definitely deserve the opportunity to play.”

University sees record-high number of applicants for Class of 2025

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 03:03:09 GMT

Applications to the University reached an all-time high for the class of 2025, exceeding last year’s total by nearly 10,000 students, Dean of Admission Logan Powell told The Herald.

Before the Jan. 5 deadline, 46,469 applicants — from both the early and regular decision pools — applied to the University, a 26 percent increase from the 36,592 applicants to the class of 2024, according to Powell. 5,540 applied early decision, while the remaining 40,929 applied in the non-binding regular decision pool. The total also eclipses the previous record of 38,674 applicants for the class of 2023.

Powell attributed the sharp jump to the many changes to the application process that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the unpredictability of admissions decisions this season possibly led students to apply to more schools in an effort to bolster their chances of being accepted. Students who could not take a standardized test, Powell noted, also had additional uncertainty in their process and may have cast a wider net that included the University, which maintained a test-optional policy this cycle.

Perhaps the most notable factor in students’ decisions to apply to more schools was the fact that many students had not gotten a chance to visit college campuses since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Powell.

“They aren’t able to load everyone in the station wagon, drive everyone from one college to another university,” Powell said, speculating that students applied to more expansive lists than normal, hoping to form decisive opinions in the spring about the schools that offered them admission.

The University’s 26 percent increase in applicants surpassed that of the Common Application, which saw an overall 8 percent increase in applicants using the platform, Powell said.

Faced with less certainty, applicants may have emphasized school reputations and financial security.

“We are affordable in ways that not many colleges and universities can claim,” Powell said, pointing to the University’s fee waivers and the lack of loans in its financial aid packages that meet full demonstrated need, through the Brown Promise.

Sara Harberson, a private college counselor and the former dean of admissions at Franklin and Marshall College, echoed much of what Powell theorized led to the increase. Schools across the country saw “widespread application increases across the board,” Harberson wrote in an email to The Herald.

Test-optional policies, Harberson wrote, “seemed to embolden students to apply to colleges they never would have applied to” — and without the “gut check” of visiting a school, students were “afraid to remove colleges from their list.”

Key trends largely mirrored applications to the Class of 2024 — the same proportion of students, 47 percent, identified as students of color, while 67 percent of applicants applied for financial aid, down a few percentage points from last year’s applicant class.

The geographic composition of the pool was also similar to the make-up of last year’s applicant pool. Nineteen percent of applicants are international students — a one percent increase from last year — and applicants from the South again led the United States, with 17 percent of the pool coming from the Gulf Coast, including Florida and Georgia. California made up the next-largest bloc, with 14 percent of applicants.

Eight percent of the pool also applied to the University’s Program in Liberal Medical Education, while one percent applied to the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program.

Groups that the Admission Office has previously prioritized — such as rural and small town students as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, students from Rhode Island and first-generation college students — all saw increases in applications that either approached or outpaced the overall 26 percent increase. Rural and small town applications increased by 23 percent, while applications from the state of Rhode Island went up 31 percent and applications from first-generation students rose by 34 percent.

“That’s an encouraging sign that the outreach that we as higher education professionals have done has borne some fruit,” Powell said, also noting the four percent increase in first-generation applicants nationwide.

Harberson wrote that “everything colleges did to recruit (first-generation and rural) students in the past pales to going test optional.”

“For colleges that make diversity a top priority,” she continued, “it seems like they have found their answer in a test optional policy.”

The increase in applications also came on the heels of the Admission Office’s full transition to virtual outreach: Everything from tours to high school visits went online amidst the pandemic.

“We did everything we possibly could to provide information about Brown in the application process,” Powell said. Still, there is “no substitute” to seeing students’ high school environments, Powell admitted, explaining that the Admission Office hopes to hit the road soon, likely by the 2022-2023 application cycle.

But many of the changes implemented — such as live Q-and-As or live virtual tours — might remain for future cycles. Some changes, such as virtual high school visits or virtual evening programs, likely allowed the University to reach students it previously would not have communicated with, Powell said.

The changes to the outreach and application cycle, Powell said, did not come as part of an effort to grow the applicant pool. They were instead meant to “recognize the incredible stresses that many students face, to accommodate a different environment.”

Harberson wrote that colleges might be at a tipping point in applicant pool sizes, noting that they need to take some responsibility for rapidly growing pools — and “back off how they aggressively target and recruit prospective students” — to prevent the process from becoming increasingly and unsustainably competitive.

The University still expects to admit enough students to yield an incoming class of just under 1,700, Powell said, which includes a small number of students returning from gap years that might lead the class to ever-so-slightly exceed its normal size of 1,665 students.

Applicants will receive notifications on their decisions April 6 at 7:00 P.M, the University announced, and will have until May 3 to inform the University of their decision.

Students move to stage 2 of Quiet Period

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 02:06:59 GMT

Students who recently arrived on campus can move into stage two of Quiet Period starting Jan. 23 at 6 a.m., according to a Thursday night email from Associate Vice President for Campus Life Vanessa Britto and Dean of Students Koren Bakkegard.

During stage two of Quiet Period, students may pick up meals from any on-campus dining location, gather in small groups with masks, exercise outdoors and order food using contactless delivery apps. Gatherings during stage two must be limited to five students, and “wearing a mask is required unless you are able to easily, continuously and measurably maintain social distancing of at least six feet,” according to the email.

In stage one, students were not allowed to gather for any reason and were only permitted to leave their residence halls for essential activities, which included picking up meals from an assigned dining hall, getting a COVID-19 test or picking up mail from Page-Robinson Hall.

“We know that the limitations in place during stage one can be challenging, and we appreciate your efforts to help protect our community’s health,” Britto and Bakkegard wrote.

The decision to enter into stage two of the Quiet Period was made by administrators based on the results of students’ first two COVID-19 tests, which were conducted “roughly four to five days after students’ arrival,” according to the Healthy Brown website. Most students moved into on-campus housing from Jan. 9 to 12, meaning stage two of the Quiet Period will begin nearly two weeks after the first students arrived for the spring semester.

From Jan. 9, when the first students moved in, to Jan. 19, the latest available testing data by press time, 55 positive cases among students and faculty have been identified by asymptomatic testing, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Dashboard. Over the last seven days, asymptomatic testing has had a positivity rate of 0.2 percent.

While students will have more freedom in stage two of the Quiet Period, they will still be restricted from having “in-person contact with the community beyond Brown’s physical campus,” which includes all students living off-campus, according to the email.

Students housed at the Omni Hotel, River House and Chestnut Commons will not have access to on-campus dining halls until Jan. 27, and will have meals delivered in the interim.

Until the Quiet Period is over, students will not be allowed to go to the Brown Bookstore in person, though they have the option of ordering books online and having them delivered to Mail Services.

Pizza Marvin, a not-so classic pizza parlor, arrives on Wickenden Street

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 02:04:12 GMT

Pizza Marvin, a collaboration between chef Robert Andreozzi and renowned bartender Jesse Hedberg, opened its doors on the corner of Wickenden Street and Governor Street last month.

Andreozzi drew inspiration from “historic pizza joints,” he said.

Pizza Marvin offers New Haven-inspired pies as well as square slices, which hark back to New York City’s Prince St. Pizza and nostalgic Rhode Island pizza. Drawing from the classic combination of pizza and soda, the pizzeria is a one-stop shop that offers a wine and beer list along with Hedberg’s innovative cocktails that are canned and labeled in house.

“Three of the drinks we carbonate have the profile of a soda: They’re a little bit sweet, they’re bubbly, they’re fizzy, they’re light, they’re fun and definitely lean kind of fruity,” he said. One of Hedberg’s signatures, the Transfusion, is a twist on the Moscow mule that includes Concord grape juice, ginger beer, tartaric acid and orange citrate.

Also on the menu are reimagined appetizers like Taco Wings, wings with taco seasoning, or Buffalo Stix, a cross between buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks. Other snacking options include a raw seafood bar and, for dessert, italian ice and soft serve.

“Our pizza kills but everything in here is a good bite to have,” Hedberg said.

As for their square slices, “you can hear someone eating it from across the room; it’s so crunchy,” Andreozzi said. Beneath that crunch is a “soft and pillowy” texture. The pizzas are baked with olive oil in the imported pizza oven left behind by Roma Capoccia, the Roman-style pizzeria that previously occupied the same lot and closed last year during the pandemic.

Andreozzi and Hedberg are “working with exciting artisans and purveyors” to incorporate quality ingredients like freshly milled flour, Jersey tomatoes and low-moisture Wisconsin mozzarella into their natural fermentation process to make their pizza “delicious and digestible.”

Alisa Caira ’22.5, a former Herald columnist and post- writer, said of the plain slice she had earlier this month, “Nothing better has happened to me that was that simple … I can’t even explain how much better (that) slice made my day.”

When the space became available, Andreozzi and Hedberg, who met nearly four years ago and have been eyeing opportunities to work on a project of their own, saw their chance.

Being able to open in Fox Point was “a dream situation for us,” Andreozzi said, citing the diversity of the area and access to students, recent graduates and East Siders.

Before opening, they made some changes to the space, adding their own modern-yet-retro wallpaper, counter seating and red and white checkered tables. In creating their brand, the duo “paid a lot of attention to detail.” Their takeout packaging includes stickers, and they plan to sell some unusual merchandise like lighters and fanny packs. The space even features a bubblegum machine stocked with Pizza Marvin gumballs.

Opening a restaurant during a pandemic comes with its challenges, although the duo said pizza might just be their silver bullet. “Name a better concept that lends itself to takeout and delivery,” Andreozzi said.

“With the pandemic, many families are staying in,” Elena Song ’23, a former shift lead at Marco’s Pizza in Lewisville, Texas, wrote in a message to The Herald. “Pizza is a more-affordable option than many other carry-out food, so some pizza places have seen increased sales these past few month(s).”

For now, customers aren’t allowed to linger inside of Pizza Marvin, as a COVID-19 precaution. When it’s warm enough, they plan to serve ice cream out of the small takeout window where customers can now pick up their takeout.

Currently, Andreozzi and Hedberg are collaborating with a DJ to make their own signature playlist accessible to takeout customers by QR code. When the pandemic ebbs, they plan to open up the patio and place some tables out front. They envision customers sticking around for a couple of drinks while the weather is nice.

Pizza Marvin is currently open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

BCSC search for new director continues amid staff departures

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 02:03:35 GMT

The Brown Center for Students of Color is in the process of searching for a new director, planning to pick someone to assume the position by the summer.

The new director, along with new staff members who will eventually fill current vacancies, will play a large role in shaping the atmosphere of the center “based on the staff’s own philosophies and ideas,” Interim Director of the BCSC Loc Truong wrote in an email to The Herald.

After months of crafting a job description, the BCSC Director Search Committee — which is composed of three undergraduate students, two graduate students, four staff members and one faculty member — is using Koya Leadership Partners to find and interview candidates. Truong wrote they are looking for a candidate who exhibits “dedication to the growth and positive experience of students of color.”

The willingness and ability to work with and mentor students is another vital attribute of a potential candidate. “Many of the interactions a staff (member) might have with a student could be on social, personal and academic support, and it is important for staff to understand resources available to students and be able to make referrals to departments across campus,” Truong wrote.

After controversy in 2019 about a lack of student input being implemented and heard at the BCSC, Truong prioritized a commitment to ensuring as many community stakeholders were represented in the selection process as possible. That process “has not only received positive student feedback, but was built in direct collaboration with Brown students — true to the ethos and character of the BCSC,” he wrote.

Undergraduate and graduate students on the committee played a large role in writing the job description for the director last semester and now hold regular meetings to provide feedback on the search. “I feel my input is being valued, especially because we aren’t in as much of a scramble anymore and so we are taking the time to be very thorough,” undergraduate committee member Sara Alavi ’21 said.

Alavi expressed her hope that the new director will “bring a lot of passion both for students and the work we are doing at the BCSC by supporting student activism and creating a space that is comforting and empowering.”

“After all of the staffing changes this past year, we are all kind of hoping for continued commitment to creating close ties to students of color here,” Alavi said. Committee members want a candidate who has “more lived and practical experiences that will help them build mentorship relationships and be good role models, rather than degrees or qualifications.”

The BCSC community as a whole “has been involved in the hiring process through many targeted listening sessions, membership on search committees and feedback via email,” Truong wrote. The committee also created an anonymous feedback form so that any BCSC community members can provide feedback.

In addition to the search for a new director, there have been two recent staff departures at the BCSC.

Kristy Kumar left her position as assistant director for co-curricular initiatives Jan. 5 of this year to work for the City of Madison, WI. She will be leading a new Equity Division within the Department of Civil Rights as the Equity and Social Justice Manager. “After five years in higher-education, I wanted to move into city government to cultivate tangible racial justice and equity policies through systems-level change,” Kumar wrote in an email to the Herald.

Kumar expressed her pride in working for a center that has played an integral role in many students’ lives. “I’m deeply proud of the work I was able to collectively dream and implement with colleagues and students as co-conspirators of projects rooted in racial justice, coalition-building and solidarity across identities,” Kumar wrote. “I’m particularly proud of the ways we reclaimed and recentered joy along the way.”

Maurisa Li-A-Ping, former coordinator for first-year and sophomore programs, also recently left the BCSC to pursue an MFA in creative writing. “In my position, I was able to build transformative relationships with students and colleagues that prompted our growth and development,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.

There is not currently a timeline in place for selecting replacements to fill Kumar and Li-A-Ping’s roles. Other BCSC staff members will take on their responsibilities in the interim, according to a statement sent to the BCSC community from Truong reviewed by The Herald.

Looking ahead to the future of the BCSC, Li-A-Ping believes the center is at a “pivotal time in its growth right now.” She hopes they will “continue their legacy of activism, advocating for and with communities of color and creating spaces for (people of color) at Brown to celebrate, grieve and grow.”

Alavi is optimistic that future staff changes will bring new perspectives and experiences to the community. “Whoever is hired in whatever position will have a pretty major impact (on the center),” Alavi said. “I have a lot of faith in the fact that whoever is hired next will bring their own personality and experiences to this space.”

Truong echoed Alavi’s sentiments. “The BCSC professional staff make their mark at the Center through their own individual ways of being and doing, which is one of the things our students most appreciate about them,” he wrote.

Despite future staff members having not been chosen yet, Truong believes the core values of the center will persist. “This does not mean that the overall ethos and charge of the center will change,” Truong wrote. “Our staff is dedicated to honoring the rich history of the (BCSC) and ensuring that this history is reflected in current programs and student needs.”

UCS passes resolution calling to rename CIT, community reacts

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 02:02:14 GMT

The Undergraduate Council of Students passed a resolution to rename the Thomas J. Watson Sr. Center for Information Technology after its Nov. 18 general body meeting.

The resolution, which passed with 87.5 percent in favor, was sent to the Office of the President and the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management, a special body that makes recommendations to the President on ethical investments and expenditures.

ACURM can issue a recommendation regarding the resolution, but the ultimate decision to rename the CIT lies with the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, according to UCS President Jason Carroll ’21.

Concerns surrounding Watson Sr.’s connections to Nazi Germany prompted the resolution, which was sponsored by Carroll and co-sponsored by Deborah Meirowitz ’22 and UCS Chair of Campus Life Zane Ruzicka ’23.

Watson Sr. “maintained deep business relationships with Nazi Germany” during his time as president of International Business Machines, a company whose German subsidiary leased machines that were “used to facilitate the Holocaust and operation of concentration camps,” according to the text of the resolution.

While the resolution is being considered by University officials, UCS members are “planning a strategy to make sure that students are informed” and that the matter is “given the attention and conversation that it deserves,” Carroll said.

“I hope (the resolution) sparks a larger discussion about antisemitism in the Brown community,” Meirowitz added. “There are (many) antisemitic incidences on college campuses around this country that people don’t know about, and I think it’s really important that we use this as a jumping off point.”

Combating “antisemitism is a critical part of combating white supremacy globally,” she said.

Despite the publication of the 2001 book IBM and the Holocaust and a 2004 Herald article about Watson Sr.’s past, Carroll said that “there didn’t seem to be a huge conversation at Brown about our connection to Watson (Sr.).”

“Once students know about this … will students with lots of various ethnic, racial, religious (backgrounds) feel comfortable using that facility and honoring that person?” Carroll questioned. “The only reason (students) are ‘okay’ with it now is because nobody knows about any of this,” he said.

Although unfamiliar with the resolution, computer science students who spoke to the Herald were generally in support of a name change.

“If there are students that feel uncomfortable with the fact that the CIT’s named after someone associated with Nazi Germany,” renaming the center would be “a welcome change,” said Rahul Mani ’21, president of the Computer Science Departmental Undergraduate Group.

Floria Tsui ’23 said she is in support of the resolution. “Names hold a lot of power,” she said, adding that students “don’t always question where that name comes from, and the funding behind that, and why that still persists.”

“On a basis of principle, it is probably a good thing to do,” Nick Young ’23 said. Although he expressed support for the name change, he noted that most students did not seem to know about the history of the CIT’s namesake and expressed doubt about that history’s discernible effects on student life.

Additionally, because the building is mostly referred to as the CIT, Young said he does not feel attached to the center’s full name.

But while some said they do not feel a strong connection to the current name, Professor of Computer Science Andy van Dam shared hesitations about what the name may be changed to. As someone whose family was affected by the Holocaust, van Dam “personally wouldn’t mind seeing a change to the Watson Sr. Center for Information Technology,” he said, while noting that he believes Thomas J. Watson Jr. and the “Watson clan” should still be honored at the CIT.

“Given the long history of Watson and IBM contributions to Brown, … I think it would be much better to preserve the (Watson) name,” van Dam said, suggesting that the CIT be renamed to the Watson Center for Information Technology instead of honoring Watson Sr. specifically.

The resolution is not targeting the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, which is named after Watson Sr.’s son, Thomas J. Watson Jr. ‘37, who was not involved with Nazi Germany.

Names indicate who “we as a society think deserves honoring,” Meirowitz said. “We shouldn’t be honoring (Watson Sr.), someone who profited off of and assisted in the critical aspects of the organization of a genocide,” she continued. “It just doesn’t represent our values as (Brown) students, faculty and staff.”

“It’s also a question of what really has a bigger impact on this University,” Carroll added. “Is it money or is it ethics?”

Alpert Medical School adapts first-year anatomy course to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 02:01:51 GMT

Since the Warren Alpert Medical School moved the majority of its curriculum to a remote format beginning in fall 2020 to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines, lectures have been given live over Zoom or pre-recorded. The components of the curriculum that do meet in person, such as the first-year anatomy course, have been adjusted to meet social distancing requirements.

Because of the pandemic, the anatomy course no longer includes a year-long cadaver dissection, which had long been considered an integral part of the Med School experience, said Amy Chew, lecturer in ecology and evolutionary biology and one of the lecturers for the anatomy course.

Traditionally, groups of five to six students would spend about three hours a week dissecting a cadaver themselves, but this required many students to be in a confined lab space for a prolonged period of time, Chew said. Given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations against indoor gatherings, this aspect of the course needed to evolve with the onset of COVID-19.

Med School staff now perform the dissections beforehand for the students to study later — a method known as prosection, Chew said. Students are required to spend one hour a week in the lab, but during this time, only two students may be present together, which allows for enforcement of social distancing guidelines.

While the switch to prosection means that students miss out on the dissection experience, there are benefits to this teaching method, Chew said. “The one major advantage is that students aren’t so tied up in lab,” she said, adding that the new method gives medical students more time to study the content they learn during the anatomy lab outside of class.

Other medical schools had already stopped using dissection pre-pandemic, Associate Dean for Medical Education Paul George ‘01 MD‘05 said. By switching to prosection format, “we’re actually more in line with what other medical schools are doing at this point,” he added.

Students who spoke with The Herald voiced mixed feelings about the Med School’s switch to prosection.

“With (COVID-19), I’m grateful we get to go” to the anatomy lab, Wendy Gonzalez ‘19 MD’24 said. “But I do feel like we missed out. I feel like we would remember so much more if we actually got to … find everything ourselves.” She believes that the more hands-on aspects of dissection would have helped her as a visual and tactile learner and better prepared her for a career in surgery.

But understanding the need for adjustment during the pandemic, Gonzalez said she thinks learning using prosection “is still helpful.”

Other first-year medical students prefer the prosection method.

“I’m somebody who is definitely not going to go into surgery, so it’s maybe less heartbreaking for me than for somebody who’s really into anatomy and the body,” said Jessica Moore MD’24. Moore says she has been able to learn effectively using prosection because of her independent learning style. “For me, it’s been a better experience,” she added.

Navya Baranwal ’20 MD’24 said, “At first I was a little apprehensive: What is my medical education going to be like? But overall I feel like it’s still been very meaningful and educational, and it’s been a nice balance of ensuring medical students’ safety but also (ensuring) that we have a good education.”

Despite the change in the course structure, student engagement and performance has remained steady; course ratings and exam scores have been about the same as they were in past years, according to George.

In years prior, performance in the anatomy course was partly evaluated through a practical exam. But that component was eliminated in the fall, which made the efficacy of the course harder to judge, Chew said. It was replaced with 20 additional multiple choice questions on the lab material in the written exams.

“It is challenging for us to try to figure out what (students) have been able to absorb” from the lab without the practical exam, Chew said. “I think we won’t really know until these students take their step exams next year,” she added.

The COVID-19 anatomy experience raises questions about the future of the Med School’s anatomy course after pandemic restrictions are lifted.

“I think we’ll go back to a more normal overall Med School structure at some point in the not-so-distant future,” George said, but in regards to anatomy, “it’s hard to predict” when that will occur.

But “there’s certainly lessons we can learn from (COVID-19) about the curriculum and how to make it more efficient,” George added.

University to hold in-person Commencement for class of 2021, cancels postponed class of 2020 ...

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:35:06 GMT

Commencement for the class of 2021 will be held in-person May 1 and 2, but families and guests must attend the event virtually in light of public health conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was announced Thursday afternoon in a campus-wide email from President Christina Paxson P’19.

The University also canceled the in-person ceremony for the class of 2020, which was originally slated to take place alongside that of the class of 2021 after it was moved online in a May 6 decision following the ceremony’s postponement in March. All alumni reunions for 2021 will be held virtually.

“Should circumstances improve, we will consider relaxing restrictions, but we cannot plan for that uncertain outcome,” Paxson wrote.

The announcement comes barely a week after the Rhode Island School of Design’s Jan. 11 decision to cancel in-person ceremonies for the spring. Instead, the college will offer a virtual commencement with potential for “small, in-person departmental gatherings,” according to an email from President Rosanne Somerson.

Alumni Relations will be working with the class of 2020 to “find a way to meaningfully honor their achievements,” Paxson wrote. Last May, a “Virtual Degree Conferral Ceremony” was held to honor members of the graduating class remotely.

“While we are seeing encouraging national reports about vaccine development, the coronavirus continues to pose a risk to public health and safety,” Paxson wrote. “Unfortunately, positivity rates statewide and across our country remain high. There are concerning reports of a more transmissible variant of the virus, and widespread vaccine distribution is taking longer than we would like.”

This marks the second consecutive year in which guests and alumni will be unable to attend commencement exercises. In 2019, Commencement and Reunion Weekend attracted more than 10,000 people, according to a University press release.

“To the members of the class of 2021, whose families will experience these changes in Commencement due to the pandemic personally, I am so sorry to write with such disappointing news, especially when our community has already sacrificed so much,” Paxson wrote. Students will have the opportunity to attend University Commencement ceremonies in future Commencement and Reunion Weekends once the pandemic is over, she emphasized.“Brown remains steadfast in its commitment to prioritize the safety and well-being of the Brown community as well as the greater Providence community. I look forward to the day when we have the opportunity to be together again in-person to mark these momentous occasions,” Paxson wrote. “Until then, let’s remain committed to supporting each other and upholding the strong community spirit that is so special at Brown.”

Apple ’21: Republicans fall out of line

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 02:48:08 GMT

With former President Donald Trump’s term as president finally at its end, many are now examining where the Republican Party, a party almost completely co-opted by Trump, can go from here. Republicans on Capitol Hill have discussed the need to move on from the Trump presidency, and Trump’s favorability is falling even among members of the Republican Party. Some now even expect that, just like in 2009 — when Republicans began to pretend they had never supported Bush and instead started the Tea Party movement — the party will rid itself of Trump. This is a flawed interpretation of the situation, one that misunderstands Trump’s hold over the party, and more importantly, over its base. Rather than moving on from Trump, the party will continue to embrace him in order to appease his supporters, both in and out of Congress, leading to a real chance of a GOP civil war and continued Republican losses at the ballot box.

By the end of his presidency, George W. Bush sat at an approval rating of 34 percent as the architect of unpopular wars in the Middle East and Central Asia and presider over an economy in recession. Rather than rallying behind him, some Republicans created a movement of small government, deficit hawks known as the Tea Party, and pushed the party away from Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” to the right. Bush was almost completely ostracized from the GOP, and the Republican Party was able to rid itself of Bush’s status as a truly terrible president convicted by international tribunals for committing crimes against peace. Recently, Bush has even been largely absolved of this status, in part due to his perceived favorability juxtaposed against Trump. In the past few weeks, since the attack on the Capitol, low polling numbers and public statements from some Republicans indicate that Trump will be cast out as well. However, a deeper look illustrates the numerous differences between the situations.

First of all, the Republican base remains behind Trump. Even the most pessimistic polls for Trump predict he has a 40 percent chance of winning the Republican primary in 2024, and 64 percent of Republicans support him. But even these numbers are misleading, as they likely underestimate the true extent of Trump’s support. While many claim that polls are wrong, or that “shy Trump voters” exist, neither of those explanations are likely correct in this case. As Ann Selzer, perhaps the best pollster in the nation, argues, while “shy Trump voters” do not exist, polls do have a nonresponse bias. In short, Trump voters aren’t lying to pollsters, but they are just less likely to answer polls, conditioned as they are by Trump to distrust them. The Republicans who do answer polls are more likely to be somewhat opposed to Trump. Thus, arguably a vast majority of the Republican Party, even more than data illustrates, is still behind Trump.

Republican constituents are not alone in their support for Trump. Many politicians continue to stand by him, either because of a fear of a primary challenge or because they are true believers. More than half of House Republicans opposed the certification of the Electoral College, even after the assault on the Capitol. And on Jan. 19, more than half of Republicans signed onto an effort to remove Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick Cheney, from her position as the third most powerful in the House Republican caucus because she voted to impeach Trump. Even if we ignore the irony of a Cheney choosing the side of good, and being punished by Republicans for it, her gamble to paint herself as the leader of the anti-Trump wing (and the next Speaker should the Republicans abandon Trump) appears to have backfired. Republicans generally are in lockstep with Trump, as they see their fortunes tied to his.

While Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Jim “Gym” Jordan, Ted Cruz and other fervent supporters often make the headlines for their dedication to the former president, far more entrenched and powerful Republican politicians are behind him as well. Rick Scott, who voted to block the electoral certification in Pennsylvania, is also the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate campaign arm. While he is far from the only person in charge of recruiting candidates for 2022 Senate races for the Republican Party, it is telling that a propagator of the Big Lie and supporter of Trump holds that position. While Tom Emmer, Scott’s House counterpart, opposed Republican’s anti-democratic efforts to overturn the election, his caucus is clearly more on the side of Trump than any remaining “establishment” GOP members.

Trump, unlike other former presidents, will not cede the limelight once out of office. As someone typically self-aggrandizing and accustomed to playing kingmaker, Trump will continue to exert his influence as the de facto leader of the Republican Party. He has already called for primaries to Brian Kemp and John Thune, and he will likely continue to support Republicans who bend over backward for him. In addition, his children and family might begin to try their own fortunes in political office, with Ivanka considering a Senate run in Florida, and Lara Trump, Eric’s wife, planning a Senate run in North Carolina. These connections will give Trump even more reason to remain in the public eye and steer the GOP as he sees fit. Bitter Republican primaries, where politicians must carefully straddle the line between regaining suburban voters they lost in 2020 and appealing to the sizable part of their base that votes for Republicans because of Trump, will likely ensue.

While Trump’s hold on the Republican Party has been helpful for it in many ways, his continued grip after he is gone can only hurt it. Republicans have been at their strongest in the Trump era when he was on the ballot; he juices turnout among white working-class voters, even as his rhetoric alienates suburban ones. However, when he is off the ballot, Republicans suffer from their association with him, and lose the benefits of the Trump turnout effect, as evidenced by 2018, 2019 and 2021. If the party remains tethered to Trump, and all signs seem to suggest it will, not only will moderates continue to leave the party, as a few thousand Republicans in Arizona have already done, but more extreme candidates will successfully primary incumbents or win Republican primaries. For example, in Pennsylvania, where Republicans are more behind Trump, more extreme candidates like Doug Mastriano (who attended the Capitol riots) would have an easier time winning the primary, making it more likely that a Democrat captures the seat by attracting the moderate suburban voter disillusioned by Trump-like fringe candidates. This will be true in elections across the country in 2021 and 2022, and leaves Republicans in trouble, even in a midterm year that historically would be somewhat favorable for them.

State parties in pivotal states have also signified their support for Trump. Kelli Ward, chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party and never one for moderation, is planning on censuring Cindy McCain, Jeff Flake and Doug Ducey, Republicans who have exhibited moderate tendencies or opposition to Trump. This trend is similar in other states. In Texas, the party chair is waging a war against the speaker of the state house and the governor, in part for not being Trump-y enough, and members of the Georgia Republican Party have been quick to attack Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensberger, the governor and secretary of state, for their lack of zeal in defending the former president’s lies.

Unlike Bush, whose legacy incited a reactionary, insurgent GOP movement, Trump himself has created the movement, ensuring that after he has left office, it will continue. And as it has shown, the Trump formula without Trump himself is a poor electoral strategy. Republicans, who have gleefully supported Trump for the past four years, either because of his electoral power or because of their true belief in his message, must now decide how to navigate an increasingly polarized Republican Party. And new threats arise every day: Trump is now floating the idea of a new party, the “Patriot Party.” Absent ranked-choice voting, this would split the Republican Party, in effect making the Democratic Party the dominant one in perpetuity. Even if Trump stays in the Republican Party, the GOP will have to reckon with his influence, and will likely experience infighting far greater than anything we’ve seen in decades. Trump’s worst tendencies have terrorized the country for years on end, but perhaps now that he is gone from the presidency, it will be the GOP that finally reaps what it has sowed.

Caleb Apple ’21 can be reached at caleb_apple@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Walsh ’23: The savings disparity

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 02:27:44 GMT

As joblessness claims have reached record highs during the pandemic, the ultra-rich have lined their pockets. By taking advantage of easy access to PPP loans, tax loopholes and the summer rebound in the stock market, the country’s billionaires have added more than $500 billion to their net worth. Rightfully, outrage abounded. But the divide between the COVID-19 experiences of the ultra-rich and the poor is not the only one to worry about. The gap between upper-income Americans — particularly those who have been able to work remotely — and lower-income individuals will continue to widen, in part due to disparities in household savings.

Most high earners have been able to dodge the income drops that have plagued lower-income individuals throughout the pandemic. According to a report by the Pew Research Center in 2020, 47 percent of lower-income adults lost their jobs or had to take a pay cut, or know someone who did, compared to only 32 percent of upper-income adults. Leisure and hospitality, which includes millions of lower-income restaurant and hotel staff, took the biggest hit: In December 2020, there were 3.9 million fewer workers in the industry than the year before. This is no surprise, given that many high-earning, white collar workers have been able to seamlessly transition into remote work, whereas most low-income, blue collar workers must do their work in person.

And as restaurants and bars have closed or limited capacity and travel plans have been jettisoned, most American households have greatly reduced their spending. But while poor Americans are struggling to make ends meet, high earners have been able to save more money. High earners have historically made up the lion’s share of restaurant spending, but now, some of the dollars formerly used to support local businesses and service workers are going toward retirement savings and future investments. Sadly, few people save up for future restaurant outings, so the excess money in the bank accounts of high earners is likely never going to end up back in the coffers of restaurants or bars. In essence, high-income individuals who tend to use their earnings on consumption, often in support of low-income workers in industries like hospitality and leisure, are hoarding it for themselves.

Whereas COVID-19 has been a boon for savings for high earners, the opposite has been true for those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. A Harvard study found that poor Americans are still spending nearly as much as they used to before the pandemic. This fact, coupled with the income losses poor Americans have experienced, has been calamitous for their savings. The Pew Research survey cited earlier found that 44 percent of lower-income adults have had to dip into savings or retirement accounts to make ends meet, compared to only 16 percent of upper-income individuals. There are racial disparities as well: White people were the least likely to have to use money from their savings, whereas Black and Hispanic people were the most likely.

These disparities are likely to have real consequences further down the road. People tend to save money for their retirement or for big purchases, like college education and down payments on houses. Once the economy fully rebounds, poor Americans will have to reaccumulate the savings that they depleted during the pandemic. They’ll probably be less able to buy a house or pay for their children’s college education — or at least, they’ll have to take on more debt to do so. They are also more likely to have a precarious retirement. There has been much talk lately of a K-shaped recovery — an economic rebound in which the rich see improvement but the situation of the poor worsens — and it appears that disparities in savings will play a role.

Some economists are optimistic that a post-pandemic consumption boom could help correct some of the economic fallout from COVID-19. After over a year with little dining out and few vacations, they presume, Americans will spend at above-average levels, restimulating the economy and bringing jobs back to decimated industries. But given the fact that this economic recession was due to a highly infectious virus, the economic rebound might not be an abrupt shift but rather a plodding crawl. Even as infection rates decrease, Americans could remain frightened to return to in-person establishments, and the economy could remain sluggish. This will be especially true if the vaccine distribution continues at its laggard pace. In turn, disparities in savings will continue to build.

Fortunately, there’s hope with the new Biden administration. With voting majorities in both houses of Congress, the President will have no excuse not to advocate for further stimulus, increasing individual checks as well as assistance to small businesses and the unemployed. Furthermore, both President Biden and his nominee for Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen ’67, have expressed a desire to engage in deficit spending and advocate for low interest rates, policies that will maximize spending in the economy and hopefully lessen the recession’s disparate impacts.

The savings disparity is one of many reasons the U.S. is expected to undergo a K-shaped recovery. And since savings contribute to an individual’s long-term economic well-being, this disparity could have lasting impacts on wealth distribution well into the future. But while further stimulus and loose monetary policy will be an effective measure to curb this problem in the short-term, there must also be a longer-term commitment toward building an economy where shocks like COVID-19 don’t produce this much inequality. The Biden administration and Congress must view current inequality as a call for long-term, structural changes to our economic system. Working class America is depending on them.

Brown community reacts to Biden inauguration on a day of firsts

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 01:05:28 GMT

Joseph R. Biden has been inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

In an emotional inaugural ceremony that marked the transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to Joseph R. Biden Jr., speakers called for unity and healing. Biden inherits a nation facing the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis and civil unrest in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Despite looming online threats of violence from far-right extremists leading up to the ceremony, the new president went forward with the traditional outdoor ceremony at the Capitol, where just two weeks ago, pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the building in protest of Biden’s victory. In preparation for the event, Washington saw the arrival of 21,500 National Guard troops from all 50 states this week, culminating in a protective force of 25,000 troops to prevent further civil unrest.

Crowds were not allowed to gather on the National Mall as they historically do to witness the Inauguration.

The ceremony was attended by former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has restricted his travel in the past year due to the pandemic, did not go to the ceremony, and Trump refused to attend.

For many Brown community members, Jan. 20 was a day of celebration and relief, despite the online threats of violence. Alexandra Blitzer ’22.5, a former intern for the Biden campaign, told The Herald she was “beyond thrilled.”

“The cynic in me kept waiting for something bad to happen, but watching everything go off without a hitch feels like the first step towards rebuilding our democracy,” Blitzer said.

Visiting Professor of the Practice of Political Science and Interim Director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy Richard Arenberg wrote in a statement to The Herald that the inauguration marks “a new era.” Following the Capitol insurrection, “democracy has prevailed. The president has made clear that he intends to try to unify the country. I welcome that message. Inauguration Day is a day for optimism and hope.”

Security threats and COVID-19 precautions prevented large in-person gatherings from taking place on campus, but that did not stop Brown students from congregating remotely. The Brown College Democrats, in conjunction with the three National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations on campus, hosted an inauguration watch party over Zoom.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council, or Divine Nine, is composed of the nine historically Black Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities created during an era when Black Americans were banned from joining Greek-letter organizations founded by white students.

The Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Delta Sigma Theta chapters at Brown joined the Brown Democrats not only to celebrate Biden’s presidency, but also the ascension of Divine Nine alum Kamala Harris to the vice presidency. Harris was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Howard University. She is also the United States’ first female vice president, the first African-American vice president and the first Asian-American vice president.

“It’s really incredible to be able to see somebody who’s a part of one of these organizations and has used the support system to be able to get to the vice presidency,” said Roysworth Grant III ’21, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Especially in the wake of the national racial reckoning of the past year, “it’s really incredible to be able to see a Black person be able to be the Vice President — and a Black woman at that,” Grant added.

But despite the Inauguration Day’s historic firsts, some students at the watch party expressed feelings of frustration for a country resistant to change, regardless of leadership.

“This country is still the same and a lot of things are still being perpetrated, no matter who is in that position, no matter who is the president, no matter who is the vice president,” David Onabanjo ’22 said. “And so at this moment, I’m fighting for some excitement.”

Other watch party participants emphasized that a Biden victory does not mean their work is done.

“Obviously the presidency and vice presidency mean so much and seeing representation in those various offices means so much,” said Brown Dems President Jasmine Powell ’22. “But at the same time, there’s still a lot more work to be done. So I’m excited to see so many people here at Brown and in Rhode Island really engaging with our various organizations and ready to do the hard work after today.”

Nanodropper, startup co-founded by Brown alum, named to Forbes 30 under 30 Healthcare 2021

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 01:04:00 GMT

Jennifer Steger ’13, co-founder of medical device startup company Nanodropper, was named alongside her cofounders to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list of honorees this year.

Nanodropper has designed a more cost-effective eye-drop bottle adapter of the same name, which reduces the size of eyedrops up to 60 percent, according to their company’s website. The Nanodropper has the potential to save patients affected with glaucoma, an eye condition that causes nerve damage and potential blindness, hundreds of dollars on medicinal eyecare.

Steger, who currently serves as the company’s chief scientific officer, co-founded Nanodropper in July 2018 with Chief Executive Officer Allisa Song, Chief Operations Officer Elias Baker and Chief Commercialization Officer Mackenzie Andrews. They founded Nanodropper to offer a solution to a 2017 ProPublica article that reported on the costly waste of eye drop bottles intentionally designed to release large drops that spillover.

The article “really resonated with us — the inequity that people were experiencing, based on this medication that they needed (to) maintain their eyesight,” Steger said.

While Steger was an undergraduate, she researched in a lab under the mentorship of Nicole Cyr, an associate biology professor at Stonehill College who was a postdoctoral research fellow at the time. According to Cyr, Steger was “an outstanding student.”

“She’s not just bright, but she’s curious, and she is very, very persistent,” Cyr said. “I’m not surprised that she’s been successful in this endeavor as well.”

Following graduation, Steger joined a lab at the University of Washington, where she met cofounders Song and Andrews. She joined them in pursuing the idea for the Nanodropper to make a “direct and immediate contribution to addressing inequities in healthcare,” Steger said.

As the principal scientist on the team, Steger “really holds the backbone of our company when it comes to scientific rigor and making sure that we aren’t making decisions without data,” Song told The Herald.

Research has shown that African Americans and people of Latinx descent are predisposed to glaucoma, and women are more likely to be diagnosed than men, Steger said. Uninsured or underinsured patients with glaucoma are also affected by the cost of losing eye drops due to spillover.

To mitigate this problem, Steger found that eyedrop size could be reduced to a range of seven to 10 microliters. Having gained prototype funding and equipment from the University of Washington, the Nanodropper team went through several iterations before achieving the desired drop size and beginning the manufacturing process in the fall of 2019, she said.

The product was designed to not only be functional, but also easy to use for elderly patients and patients with low vision, Andrews said. The team considered the feel of the product for customers who have less dexterity in their hands and chose a bright blue color for the top end of the adapter to more easily align the drop to the eye, Baker added.

The team also used customer interviews with eyecare professionals and patients to inform the design process. “We really tried to go one step beyond just solving this problem of oversized eyedrops, and tried to improve every aspect of the eyedrop experience that we could with a simple medical device,” Andrews said.

The Nanodropper was a brand new device in the medical industry at the time of its release, uncommon in that it did not build on or compete with a prior product, Andrews said. Though there were challenges in creating new marketing approaches and distribution pathways, it was a “huge benefit” to not have to compete directly with large healthcare companies.

After a delay caused by their U.S. manufacturers having to produce COVID-19 equipment instead, Nanodropper’s product was launched in June 2020 and is now recognized on a national level.

The group attributes the success of the startup to the team dynamic and the different skills that each member has contributed — “a dream team,” Andrews said.

The startup has recently launched a “Give the Gift of Vision” program, where customers can purchase a “Pay-It-Forward” Nanodropper on behalf of those who cannot afford it.

Nanodropper plans to expand their reach with global partners, such as the Aravind Eye Care System that has hospitals in India and Africa, Andrews said.

For Baker, joining the list of Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees was an unimaginable achievement, who read Forbes’ articles during high school.

“It was like a confirmation that we’re not just a student team anymore,” Andrews said. “We’re really doing something that means a lot to the future of healthcare.”

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified June 2020 as the year Nanodropper was co-founded; the company was founded in July 2018. The article also stated that the team went through hundreds of iterations, when in fact they only went through several. The article misidentified Nicole Cyr as a former postdoctoral research student, but she was actually a former postdoctoral research fellow. The Herald regrets the errors.

Brown Arts Initiative debuts David Dornstein ’85 Grant

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 01:03:34 GMT

The Brown Arts Initiative introduced the David Dornstein ’85 Artist Grant on Jan. 4. The new grant will award a total of $50,000 annually to at least one graduating senior and graduating graduate student, with each being eligible to receive up to $25,000.

Applications for the grant, which are available on the UFunds website, opened on Jan. 12 and will close on Feb. 15. Applicants are required to submit a written narrative of their desired project, responses to a series of short response questions, a budget proposal and three letters of recommendation. Top applicants will move on to an interview with a faculty committee of arts professors in March, with final decisions made in early spring.

This program is designed “to provide an exceptional next step opportunity for truly motivated students who want to investigate life as an artist after graduation,” said Thalia Field ’88 MFA ’95, faculty director of BAI and professor of literary arts.

She noted that while many smaller artist grants exist, this new grant is for students who wish to complete an ambitious project beyond the scope of existing grants.

“It is a game changer for the arts on campus,” Field said.

The BAI was approached by an anonymous donor that wished to honor Dornstein and impact students in a large way. After many conversations, the David Dornstein ’85 Artist Grant was formed.

Dornstein was one of 270 victims in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988. “He was returning home to New York from Israel after working on a project for Alternatives in Jewish Education” when the tragedy occured over Lockerbie, Scotland, according to the David Dornstein Family Papers. While at the University, he wrote for The Herald and studied writing.

Chira DelSesto, director of programs and operations at the BAI, said that this grant has debuted at a particularly difficult time for artists.

“During this time, when artists have been so hard hit by the pandemic, and people have seen gigs dry up, it’s really hard for students to be able to find jobs in the arts once they graduate,” said DelSesto. “This is a way to kind of bridge that gap a bit.”

This grant could cover anything from screenplays to art galleries or theatrical performances. The BAI has other small grants and has funded groups such as the Ivy Film Festival, Fashion@Brown and individual students like Madeline Greenberg ’21.

Greenberg recently received the BAI Student Grant, which, unlike the Dornstein Grant, only awards up to $1,000 per student. Her project, called “Face the Data,” is a portfolio from 2017 to the present day that includes all of her digital movements on social media, internet searches and pictures, The Herald previously reported.

Greenberg used her grant money to help fund her collaboration with three artists, Maya Man, Lins Derry and Addie Wagenknech. Her project, which is to be featured on the BAI website as an interactive exhibition, will be available for viewing in February.

As someone who has gone through the process of applying for and receiving a BAI Grant, Greenberg had a few words of advice for future Dornstein Grant recipients.

“Don’t be intimated, go for it. The process of applying is as valuable as the work itself,” she said. “Practicing putting words to the projects you find meaningful is the first step to understanding what you find to be transformative or powerful.”

Winter Break wonders: five films from the final days of 2020

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 01:02:40 GMT

Wonder Woman 1984

Fast-forwarding seven decades from the World War I setting of 2017’s Wonder Woman, the highly anticipated sequel is set in the brightly colored ‘80s, an era of bulky TVs, aerobic wear and parachute pants. Gal Gadot returns as Diana Prince, the Amazon radiant in her classic beauty and righteousness. When Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), a fraudulent oil tycoon, stumbles upon a magical wishing stone, he uses its powers selfishly. As the world careens towards an apocalyptic end, catalyzed by Lord granting wishes left and right, it becomes apparent that he must be stopped.

WW84 serves up a healthy dose of escapism in an otherwise disheartening year. The blockbuster showcases the thrilling Amazon Olympics, Kristen Wiig’s entertaining transformation into the villainess Cheetah and Gadot’s moving performance as the heroine faces heartbreaking choices.

But the film has some critical flaws. At points,the plot becomes clichéd and teeters on the precipice of comedic absurdity. Action sequences oscillate wildly from riveting to grimace-inducing (rules of physics are abandoned); likewise, the visual effects waver between delightful and disappointing. As they say, the sequel is rarely as good as the original, and WW84 is no exception.

Available on HBO Max.

Soul

Pixar’s newest film centers on Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a middle school jazz teacher who has yet to achieve his dream of becoming a professional jazz artist. Before Joe receives the opportunity to fulfill this aspiration, he inauspiciously falls into an open manhole and dies.

Unwilling to pass to the Great Beyond, Joe instead enters the Great Before, the realm where souls garner personality traits before beginning their lives on Earth. He partners up with 22 (Tina Fey), a problematic soul unenthusiastic about living, to return to his comatose body.

Soul dazzles as another one of Pixar’s beautifully realized masterpieces. Its message is simplistic and heartwarming: Life is worth living for every single moment, and we should never forget that, even in our ambitious pursuits. Visually, the film is a sumptuous feast of creativity with dashes of ethereal Cubist designs and hippy-eccentricity. It also enters the Pixar canon as a rare gem that celebrates Black culture. Following the studio’s first Black lead character, Soul captures the alluring magic of jazz as well as the minutiae of everyday life — from the barber shop to hailing a cab.

Available on Disney+.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

An adaption of August Wilson’s 1982 play about the Mother of Blues, the Netflix original film takes place in 1927 Chicago, where Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and her quartet gather at a run-down studio for a recording run by a white producer, Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne). Levee (Chadwick Boseman) stirs up trouble as the new trumpet player in the band, who aspires to become more than just a nondescript member playing “jug band” music. Egos collide between Ma and Levee amid tensions between the white managers and the Black performers.

The film is an acting tour de force. As Boseman’s swan song, the late actor gives it his all. His character, Levee, is a charismatic thirty-something scarred by white men’s atrocities committed against his mother. Boseman voices the searing pain and rage rippling beneath smiles appeasing his oppressors. As Levee rails against the injustices of God in a gripping monologue, the audience cannot help but distinguish the haunting parallel to Boseman’s own tragic passing. The rest of the cast offer stellar performances as well. Davis transforms into Ma, a larger-than-life star who refuses to let the white producers steal her shine. In an industry replete with white appropriation of Black artists’ work, the film fights back against the erasure of Black musicians by commemorating their resilience and strength.

Available on Netflix.

Promising Young Woman

In Emerald Fennell’s feature directorial debut, Cassie, played by Carey Mulligan with caustic wit, leads a double life. By day, she is a coffee shop waitress. By night, she is a huntress in disguise at local bars, exposing the fact that the “good guy” who comes to a drunk girl’s rescue never has the noble intention he fronts. Pursuing a personal vendetta against predatory men, the likes of whom ruined her best friend’s life during college, Cassie is forced to confront her own personal traumas. .

The thriller is unapologetically wicked fun: An instrumental cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” plays as Mulligan dresses up in a vinyl nurse costume before the climactic confrontation. Fennell manages to keep the plot wildly unpredictable, avoiding common pitfalls in the genre of female revenge flicks. Mulligan shines as Cassie, revealing the humanity of a single-minded character whose anger, despair and trauma remains pent up behind a steely façade. Despite its darkly hilarious moments, the film realistically exposes the complicity of higher education institutions in instances of sexual assault. And by the end, the audience is left to wonder if the system will ever really change.

Available on Amazon Prime, iTunes/Apple TV, Vudu and FandangoNow.

The Call (Kol)

A South Korean reimagining of the British and Puerto Rican film The Caller, the fast-paced thriller focuses on two women, Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) and Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo). Born two decades apart, they are connected by a time-bending phone call. What initially begins as an innocuous friendship quickly spirals out of control, resulting in a relationship of loathing and vengeance.

The bloody cat-and-mouse game between Seo-yeon and Young-sook is refreshing with multiple twists and turns that keep the audience on the edge of their seats. From her maniacal laughter to shifty gaze, Jeon, who previously starred in the acclaimed Burning, gives a frighteningly convincing portrayal of Young-sook as a budding serial killer. Park’s performance as the victim with everything to lose is equally compelling. Ultimately, the small-scale film with few characters may leave audiences with pounding hearts and a more fulfilling cinematic experience than the typical bombastic blockbuster.

Available on Netflix.

Providence Public Library raises climate change awareness through national grant

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 01:01:07 GMT

The Providence Public Library hosted an online workshop Jan. 14 to spark community discussion on climate change and its varying impacts on people of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

The webinar took place over Zoom as part of a larger pilot program called Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change, which is funded by the American Library Association. Kate Aubin, teen educator at the PPL, said the workshop is part of the PPL’s wider effort to educate adults, teens and children about the effects of climate change.

In September, the association selected the PPL, along with 24 other libraries across the nation, to be part of this pilot program and receive a $1,000 grant to educate their communities about environmental issues. Aubin applied for the grant on behalf of the PPL.

“Libraries are for the lifelong learning of all topics, and climate change and climate resilience are two of the most profound issues that the world is dealing with right now,” said Sarah Ostman, communications manager in the ALA’s public programs office.

The program began when Carol and Andy Phelps — a couple passionate about philanthropy and climate change — contacted the ALA and expressed interest in donating money to help libraries create an educational program about the climate crisis, according to Ostman.

Olubunmi Olatunji, program director of Youth In Action and the main speaker at the event, discussed the importance of educating communities about climate change and the power libraries have to raise awareness about the environment. YIA, a R.I.-based group focused on training youth activists, partnered with the PPL for the event to discuss the effects of climate change and environmental justice in Providence and beyond.

Libraries’ “whole motto is trying to be there for their community,” Olatunji said. “When a place like the Providence Public Library says that they want to become a climate resiliency hub, I know that they’re the type of library that wants to do it right.”

Following an introductory quiz on how pollution relates to socioeconomic background, Olatunji led a discussion about the impacts of climate change on housing, immigration and employment. Workshop participants also discussed potential solutions to the climate crisis, including clean energy subsidies and individual dietary changes.

“I don’t think it’s too much to expect our energy companies to start transitioning to solar, especially if directives from Governor Raimondo say that we need to be mostly solar by 2030,” Olatunji said. “It is OK for us as people to expect more from our government, and for our government to expect more of the corporations that are taking advantage of our communities.”

On the program as a whole, Ostman said that “libraries are a natural place to be educating people about climate change and helping them to take action.”

She hopes that the pilot program will inform the ALA on how to expand the Resilient Libraries initiative to include a greater number of libraries in the future. Although Ostman, like Olatunji, believes in the importance of this program, she said that the ALA still needs funding beyond that provided by the Phelpses to expand past the pilot stage.

Upcoming events at the PPL include follow-ups to the Jan. 14 discussion, such as a workshop focused on helping individuals get involved in climate efforts in their own communities, according to Aubin.

“Libraries are uniquely positioned to help with this fight (against climate change) because they are trusted institutions in the community,” she said. “We are places where people can get together for free and learn.”

Shanmugam ’23: Building more schools alone won’t increase enrollment in low-income countries

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 04:20:26 GMT

In the world’s poorest countries, children who don’t attend school often have no choice but to become breadwinners — or even get married — before adulthood. For those who can stay in school, on the other hand, education is transformative. Just one additional year of schooling can boost future earnings by nine percent. And babies born to literate mothers are 50 percent more likely to live to the age of five. Well aware that children who attend school live healthier, richer lives, governments in the developing world have long sought to expand access to quality education. But millions of families are choosing to keep their children at home; policymakers’ long trusted strategies are growing stale. Instead of investing blindly in the supply of education — schools, teachers, books, etc. — authorities need to ask why demand for education has leveled off.

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo explain in Poor Economics that most policy makers view the supply of education as key in giving children the chance to learn. Indeed, this mentality has guided post-colonial governments in low-income countries. Tanzania, for example, made primary school free in 2001; Kenya followed in 2003. Duflo and Banerjee note that 95 percent of Indian children today live within half a mile from a school. At first glance, it seems as though supplying more education to expand enrollment worked: The number of unenrolled primary school-age children decreased from 94 million to 72 million between 2002 and 2005-2006.

But growth in enrollment has been more muted in recent years. Since 2007, the percent of primary school age children not attending school has remained stubbornly between 8 and 9 percent. Sixty million children thus miss out on the cognitive, financial and social growth that grade school often ensures. At the secondary school level, global enrollment has been stuck at around 75 percent since 2013.

NGOs and activists are still trying to explain this stagnation. In the 2000s, education, long inaccessible to vast swathes of humanity, became more accessible than ever before; droves of first-generation students stepped into primary school classrooms. But as the decade came to a close, the effects of supply investment seemed to drop off. Despite being granted public education for the first time, millions of families weren’t taking advantage of their new opportunities.

In essence, supply investment was most effective when there wasn’t much supply to begin with – when tuition free schools in the developing world were hard to come by. Additional investment was much less effective once the infrastructure for universal public education was put into place. In other words, there are diminishing returns to investing in the supply of education.

In the early stages of development, barriers to education are largely physical. Students often live too far from schools for attendance to be worth it. And in many rural areas, limited capacity makes universal enrollment impossible. Children in Indonesia faced these problems in the 1970s: At the beginning of the decade, the gross primary school enrollment rate was only about 80 percent. Then, the government began the largest primary school construction program in history. The program, known as INPRES, produced 61,807 new schools by 1979. But even more striking than its scale is the insight the program offers: In densely populated areas — presumably those that already had schools — the program had no statistically significant effect on enrollment or the lifetime wages of children. But in sparsely populated areas, “where each new school significantly reduce(d) the distance to school,” the government’s program had a pronounced effect. For every school built per thousand children, the education levels of the first age group exposed to the program increased by up to 0.19 years. School construction was thus more impactful in rural areas than in urban areas, showing that school construction can have diminishing returns.

Consistent with the idea that there can be diminishing returns to investment in education supply, enrollment growth in the developing world has slowed after decades of heavy spending. Research from Rachel Heath and Ahmed Mushfiq Mubarak suggests that supply is no longer the problem — instead, governments should consider the demand for education. The economists test this theory using data from Bangladesh. They compare the effects on enrollment of a supply-side incentive — educational subsidies — with the effects of a demand-side incentive — the prospect of a job in the garment industry. Because garment jobs require education and are often “females’ only or best option to work outside the home,” they motivate girls to remain in school.

Ultimately, the authors find that the subsidy did not significantly alter a young girl’s probability of being in school. A 10 percent increase in garment factory employment within a given village, however, increases that chance by 1.3 percent. In a country that was already approaching universal primary enrollment and gender parity in access to education, investment in the supply of education thus had diminishing returns. The demand channel more effectively drove children to attend school.

It seems strange that the prospect of work in garment factories better motivated enrollment than cold, hard cash. But decisions about education are often more complex in poor areas and in the absence of extensive social safety nets. People in poor countries do a drastically different kind of cost-benefit analysis than people in rich ones. And the returns to education are often unclear in impoverished environments, as Robert Jensen finds in his 2010 study of children’s beliefs about the returns to education in the Dominican Republic. Interviews found that students generally underestimated the returns to attending high school on future wages, in part, Jensen suggests, because of residential segregation by socioeconomic status. Many young people, “only able to observe the earnings of [the educated] workers who live in their neighborhoods,” grow up with lower estimates of the returns to education. Attending school has an opportunity cost: Students forgo marriage, the ability to help with chores at home and wages that they might otherwise earn. For most, the returns to education outweigh those alternatives. But factors beyond a child’s control — such as their place of residence — can make that impossible to see.

Once again, interventions that target the demand for education could be transformative. As part of the discussions that Jensen’s researchers had with students, a randomly selected portion of the group was told of the true returns to education — which, of course, were higher than they originally believed. Strikingly, those students completed on average about 0.3 more years of school over the following four years than students who were not told about the true benefits of schooling.

Faulty perceptions about the returns to education aren’t the only barriers that can keep children at home. In communities without internet access or computers, there are no virtual classrooms, so COVID-19 related school closures make learning nearly impossible. Estranged from school for so long, some 10 million students might never return. And pandemic or not, financial hardship continues to drive children to become breadwinners at a young age.

All of this points to one thing: A lack of schools isn’t the only problem. Governments have long worked to put a school within walking distance of every child. Now, they need to ask why many children still aren’t making the journey.

Arjun Shanmugam ’23 can be reached at arjun_shanmugam@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Reports of sexual misconduct on campus rose in 2019-2020 year

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 01:05:33 GMT

The Title IX and Gender Equity Office released its 2019-20 Annual Outcome Report Dec. 10, revealing a slight increase in the reported incidents of sexual misconduct at the University.

There were a total of 109 allegations made in the reporting window of July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, in comparison to 104 allegations in the 2018-19 report.

The data captured in the report are related to conduct forbidden under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, federal legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and settings. The University made revisions to its existing Title IX policy in response to new federal guidelines that went into effect Aug. 14 of last year. These changes include enforcing a higher standard of proof for allegations, limiting the kinds of cases upon which colleges and universities must act and requiring live hearings for cases of sexual misconduct, The Herald previously reported. These updated regulations did not affect the information in the Outcome Report, which predates the enforcement of the Title IX policy revisions.

According to the report, the University is in the process of drafting a new policy to address sexual and gender-based harassment and sexual violence that does not fall under Title IX.

The uptick in alleged misconduct might reflect a better use of and increased comfort with channels for reporting misconduct rather than an actual increase in instances of prohibited behavior, the report stated. The report cited a survey from Oct. 2019 in which student respondents reported an increased trust in the University’s resources surrounding sexual misconduct relative to 2015.

But offical data from the Title IX office only reflect a portion of actual instances of sexual assault at Brown, according to informal survivor data collected by Amanda Cooper ’22 and Carter Woodruff ’21.5, along with their fellow members of Voices of Brown, a public Instagram account that features student-survivors’ anonymous stories of sexual violence.

Instances of sexual assault reported in the optional and anonymous 2019 Association of American Universities Campus Climate survey conducted at Brown were higher than those reported to the Title IX Office, Cooper and Woodruff said.

“It makes total sense to me that there would be a discrepancy between reporting rates due to the various obstacles that survivors face when trying to seek justice,” Woodruff said. “If Title IX were made more accessible and understandable to the student body, I’m sure reporting rates would go way up.”

Breaking down the data

The report provided information on the University’s sexual misconduct complaint processes, the outcomes of these complaints and whether or not they resulted in sanctions such as a reprimand, suspension or expulsion. Only one student received the expulsion penalty as the outcome of the University’s complaint process.

Ten complaints were processed through the University’s official complaint procedures for complainants who requested an investigation. Following the investigation of allegations within nine formal complaints, five respondents were found not responsible, five were found responsible and two were referred to another process. Two complaints were withdrawn during proceedings.

The University’s Title IX policy allows complainants and respondents to appeal outcomes on the basis of substantial procedural errors, new material evidence and decisions or sanctions that are contrary to the weight of the evidence in cases involving a student respondent. Last year, two appeals were submitted to the University.

The report also offered insight into the informal resolution process, which allows parties to put forth terms of resolution that they see as an appropriate outcome to a given complaint. Through this informal channel, participants are not required to communicate directly with one another or undergo an investigation, hearing or finding procedure. Two complainants and respondents chose to resolve their complaints through informal avenues.

The prohibited conduct highlighted in the Outcome Report was broken down into several categories: 36 incidents of sexual and gender-based harassment, 23 incidents of sexual assault, three incidents of sexual exploitation and sexual coercion, five incidents of relationship and interpersonal violence, seven incidents of stalking, five incidents involving the provision of alcohol and/or other drugs for purposes of prohibited conduct, two incidents of retaliation, three incidents of prohibited consensual or intimate relationship with a student, 19 incidents of conduct outside of the scope of the Title IX policy and six incidents falling under the “unable to categorize” umbrella.

Behavior that falls outside of Title IX’s purview “often involves reports with perpetrators who are unaffiliated with Brown, or the behavior reported is not listed among the prohibited conduct in the Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment, Sexual Assault, Relationship and Interpersonal Violence and Stalking Policy,” Title IX Program Officer Rene Davis wrote in an email to The Herald.

For such conduct that falls outside of Title IX’s scope, incidents are channeled to other campus resources, such as Campus Life, academic departments, deans or staff supervisors, Davis wrote.

Encouraging reporting

The Title IX Office engages in a variety of steps to encourage reporting cases of misconduct. “I have taken multiple opportunities to speak to students to de-stigmatize concerns associated with reporting,” Davis wrote.

Davis is working with student governance and survivor activist groups to respond to questions and concerns surrounding reporting, as well as with colleagues in offices working directly with survivors: the Sexual Assault Peer Educators, Women Peer Counselors and Sexual Harassment & Assault Resources & Education advocates.

“These individuals provide important insight and can also clarify myths associated with reporting in their own work,” Davis wrote.

As part of its advocacy work, Voices of Brown has partnered with Brown’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to comb through the University’s Title IX policy, with Davis’ help, and break it down on the group’s Instagram page to make the information more accessible to the community, Cooper said.

The Outcome Report highlighted the past year’s training and community education efforts related to Title IX, which “focuses on education, intervention and accountability,” Davis wrote. “We put an emphasis on education and awareness to influence attitudes, which the research shows will lead to changes in behavior.”

During the reporting window, the BWell Health Promotion Office conducted 130 workshops and training sessions for more than 5,000 new and returning undergraduate, graduate and medical students with the goal of educating students on their obligations under Title IX. Brown’s Sexual Assault Peer Education program also held 63 workshops reaching 743 participants in the community.

Both Cooper and Woodruff noted that most of these modes of training consist of optional workshops, with little oversight from higher-ranking University administrators. The training that is mandatory, other than basic consent training first-years receive, is usually punitive, Woodruff added. She and Cooper feel that regular conversations and trainings surrounding sexual violence should be a mandatory part of students’ experiences during their four years at Brown, even potentially showing up on their transcripts.

The Future of Title IX

Both Woodruff and Cooper commended Davis on the work that she and her office, as well as the campus SHARE advocates, perform to support survivors within the Brown community. Still, they expressed concern that higher University administrators are disconnected from the work that is being done by more specialized offices and roles.

Woodruff also argued that the language of the report, which affirms that preventing and addressing sexual harassment on campus is a “priority” for the University, is inaccurate.

“We’re not going to end sexual violence by hiring one amazing person and having them do all of the work that the administration should be pouring money into and having a whole team dedicated to doing,” Woodruff said.

For survivors like Woodruff, witnessing the University’s effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been strangely disappointing. “They know how to tackle a public health crisis, one that is related to seemingly uncontrollable social scenes at Brown,” she said. “They know what to do when there’s an epidemic on campus, but they’re not treating the epidemic of sexual violence at Brown as the health crisis and safety crisis that it is.”

Cooper echoed the sentiment. “Sexual violence leaves scars that nobody sees,” she said. “There are so many lingering repercussions of these actions, and the fact that perpetrators are not being caught and there are low numbers of reports all feeds into this problem.”

“When (Voices of Brown) was first founded, in the first few weeks, we were getting DMs upon DMs from survivors at Brown who needed urgent assistance,” Woodruff recalled, while reflecting on the lack of accessibility and trust in formal Title IX procedures at Brown. “Title IX is really not the end-all-be-all and shouldn’t be, and we’re seeing vast negligence at the higher up administrative level and historic negligence.”

With the impending presidential inauguration, Davis and her colleagues keep an eye toward potential policy changes that might accompany the new administration. “A change in presidential administration could bring changes in federal guidance, and Brown will certainly follow any developments closely,” she wrote. “We would revise our policy and procedure to comply with any subsequent changes in the law.”

R.I. prisons face rampant COVID-19 spread amid calls for decarceration

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 01:04:40 GMT

In Rhode Island, there have been 10 reported COVID-19 cases for every 100 people, according to the New York Times. But the rate in state prisons is currently more than five times that, with 51 cases per 100 incarcerated people as of Jan. 14, according to the Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ Facebook page.

As the RIDOC grapples with continued outbreaks of COVID-19 within its corrections facilities, the Decarcerate Now Coalition has called for measures to immediately reduce the number of incarcerated people in Rhode Island prisons, according to Anusha Alles, a staff organizer at Direct Action for Rights and Equality. DARE is a member of the Coalition, and is calling for the prompt release of incarcerated people who are awaiting trial and for those who are medically vulnerable.

Despite calls for immediate decarceration, the RIDOC said that prisons are not overcrowded. Currently, R.I. prisons are “operating at just under 52% capacity; that is the lowest it’s been in decades; space is not a concern at this point,” Jhomphy Ventura, chief of information and public relations officers for the DOC, wrote in an email to The Herald.

Early release and bail requirements “fall under the purview of the court, not RIDOC,” Ventura added. The number of incarcerated people set to be released went down from 2,902 in 2019 to 2,157 in 2020, according to Ventura.

In December, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office opposed a push from state public defenders and the R.I. Public Defenders’ Office to require judges to release incarcerated pre-trial defendants who hadn’t posted bail, unless under extraordinary circumstances.

In a written response to calls to amend bail guidelines reviewed by The Herald, Deputy Attorney General Adi Goldstein and appellate lawyer Christopher Bush wrote that they “agree that individuals who pose no threat to public safety and present a low risk of non-appearance should not be held.” But they noted that fewer than 50 incarcerated people are held at the R.I. Adult Correctional Institution, the state’s maximum security prison, due to lack of paying bail. Only four of those individuals, Goldstein and Bush added, are being held for what the DOC deems “nonviolent” offences.

Ventura said the DOC has taken “numerous steps” to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in prisons. The DOC has distributed masks, issued a mask mandate for staff and implemented strict sanitation protocols. In addition, all incarcerated people and staff are tested for COVID-19 every one to three weeks, and the DOC utilizes “camera-assisted” contact tracing, has modified schedules of incarcerated individuals to encourage social distancing and has suspended community visits.

Older incarcerated people have also begun to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as part of Rhode Island’s distribution plan, according to the Providence Journal.

But Alles said the coalition has received information from close contacts of individuals who are incarcerated that contradicts statements from the DOC. For instance, she said, she has heard reports of incarcerated people receiving only one mask for the majority of the pandemic and a correctional officer returning to work seven days after testing positive for COVID-19.

When contacted for comment, Ventura said the claims were inaccurate. “Our health safety protocols have made RIDOC one of the safest correctional institutions in the nation,” he wrote.

According to the DOC, as of Jan. 14, about 51.2 percent of individuals who are incarcerated in RIDOC facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. Roughly 94.6 percent of incarcerated people in maximum security — 332 out of 351 total individuals — have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Prison has been an abusive and unhealthy place for a really long time,” Alles said. “The outbreak just makes (decarceration) that much more urgent.”

Leonard Jefferson, a member of DARE, said the Rhode Island ACI is “unfit for human habitation.” Jefferson served time in the Rhode Island ACI from 1973 to 1984 and from 2013 to 2019.

According to Jefferson, the prison hosts excessive mold, rodents, vermin, birds and poor ventilation. He added that incarcerated people are separated by bars rather than walls, making disease spread easier.

“Correctional facilities are not islands operating without outside contact,” Ventura wrote. In addition to possible exposure from correctional officers, he wrote incarcerated people could contract COVID-19 from “court visits, outside medical appointments with waiting rooms, visits from clergy, teachers and mentors, counselors, attorney visits, social workers and more.”

In December, 20 state legislators co-wrote a letter to state officials in support of the demands of Decarcerate NOW, according to R.I. State Senator Tiara Mack ’16.

The letter called for an official quarantine process for incarcerated individuals who test positive, as well as a formal process for family members to report information that contradicts the DOC’s stated policies. The letter also advocates for additional testing and personal protective equipment in prisons, transparency around COVID-19 data reporting and priority for incarcerated people and prison staff in the state’s vaccine distribution plan.

Soon after, the DOC issued a response claiming that many of these practices are already in place. For instance, the response states that since May 2020, all incarcerated people have received at least two masks and that all asymptomatic incarcerated people are being tested frequently. The DOC also said that family members are already able to report concerns via email, and all reports to date have received a response from either the Assistant Director, Warden or Deputy Warden.

Still, according to Mack, “the prison setting, by design, is not made for social distancing.”