University News - The Brown Daily Herald

Metro

Tiara Mack ’16, first Black queer RI state senator, shares her path to public office with current University students

By Victoria Yin | February 24

Rhode Island State Sen. Tiara Mack ’16 discussed her unique path into local politics with fifteen University students and faculty Wednesday. Mack was selected by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy to speak as part of the Rhode Island Politics and Policy Series. The event was moderated ...

University News

Two seniors launch new buying and selling platform, Zaar

By Gaya Gupta | February 24

Two months ago, Kaitlyn Cook ’21 posted several of her unused household items — dresses, a toaster, a Brita filter, rugs and more — on the “Brown University Buying and Selling” Facebook page. With more than 8,000 members, she figured she’d be able to sell the items easily. But days and ...

University News

Texas students impacted by winter storm, blackouts

By Liza Mullett | February 23

Last Tuesday, Marie-Anne Barrón ’22 was eating lunch with her family, grateful to have power again, when she noticed water falling from the ceiling, followed by “a loud boom.” “All of our pipes burst,” said Barrón, who is a resident of Katy, Texas — a city hit hard by last week’s cold ...

University News

Sororities welcome 61 new members following first ever virtual recruitment

By Tyler Jacobson | February 23

Sixty-one undergraduate students accepted bids into three of the University’s four nationally recognized sororities following four days of virtual recruitment from Feb. 11-14, according to Megan Fox, assistant director for Greek and program house engagement. After a majority of their chapter disaffiliated ...

University News

Nelson Fitness Center balances increased student population and health guidelines for spring semester

By Jack Walker | February 23

Every day at midnight, students race to book time slots to access the Nelson Fitness Center on its website, scheduling one-hour workout sessions four days in advance. Prior to the pandemic, Howard Silverman ’22 went to the gym about six times a week to work out. But, now, the coveted reservations ...

Health

Connect for Health finds ways to assist patients remotely

By Karlos Bautista | February 23

Last March, before Rhode Island locked down for the pandemic, a woman with two daughters walked into the Hasbro Adolescent Healthcare Center, where Connect for Health Program Coordinator Hilda Castillo was working. “The little girls were freezing,” Castillo said. “They were wearing flip-flops ...

Metro

Inaugural Kennedy Talk discusses free speech, information reliability

By Kaitlyn Torres | February 23

At the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’s inaugural Kennedy Talks event “Threats to the First Amendment: Social Media, Political Vitriol, and a President Impeached” held Feb. 23., Christiane Amanpour, a renowned journalist, and Martin Garbus, a prominent First Amendment lawyer, ...

University News

Brown to form integrated academic health system

By Caelyn Pender | February 23

The University signed agreements to form an integrated academic health system for Rhode Island in conjunction with Lifespan and Care New England, the state’s largest health care systems, according to a Feb. 23 community-wide email from President Christina Paxson P ’19. This merger will bring together ...

Science & Research

University Professor Michael J. Frank named one of two 2021 Troland Research Award recipients

By Jared Zhang | February 22

Michael J. Frank, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences and director of the Carney Center for Computational Brain Science, was named one of two recipients of the Troland Research Award last month. The $75,000 Troland Research Award is given annually to “honor early-career ...

Science & Research

Four University students recognized by Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awards

By Benjamin Schornstein | February 22

Four University computer science students were recognized during the selection process of the 2021 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awards. Nishanth Kumar ’21 was selected as one of 23 finalists, and Sarah Bawabe ’21, Dylan Sam ’21 and Homer Walke ’21 were acknowledged as honorable mentions. The ...

University News

The Bruno Brief: How Brown students are creating meaning while on leave away from College Hill

By Olivia Burdette | February 22

In this week’s episode of The Bruno Brief, we hear from students who decided to take leaves of absence from Brown in light of the pandemic about the semesters they’ve created for themselves instead. We talk to contributing writer Kashif Ansari ’24, who spoke to these students currently spread ...

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University News

COVID-19 testing at OMAC, One Davol Square paused due to supplies shortage

By Olivia George | February 22

Updated 2:40 p.m., Feb. 22, 2021 The Olney-Margolies Athletic Complex and One Davol Square in the Jewelry District, two of three venues where asymptomatic COVID-19 tests are being conducted, canceled all remaining scheduled tests Monday mid-day due to supply shortages. The University had not released ...

University News

VP Carey: Low weekly number of COVID-19 cases continues but public health, safety practices remain important

By Claire Liu | February 21

The University saw seven community members test positive for COVID-19 in the asymptomatic testing program between Feb. 18 and 20, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Dashboard. The seven cases follow a week when zero students tested positive, from Feb. 11 to 17. “Since the beginning of the ...

University News

Faculty reflect on exams and evaluations one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

By Adam Remels | February 21

A packed Salomon auditorium filled to the brim with students is often a familiar sight for exam-takers at Brown. This year, COVID-19 restrictions have reshaped midterm season entirely, and faculty have had to rethink their approach to evaluating students’ comprehension in a new digital learning landscape. The ...

University News

Veritas Forum panel discusses the meaning of cancel culture and forgiveness

By Aanchal Sheth | February 21

In a world where hostility is rewarded with attention and controversy becomes viral within moments, how do we hold space for the opposing opinion? What does it mean for one to be “cancelled”? Can we forgive mistakes made in public? These are just a few of the many questions raised Thursday at ...

Science & Research

Brown researchers posit region of brain’s role in planning movements based on sound

By Gabriella Vulakh | February 21

University researchers collaborated with the BrainGate clinical trial to identify the role of the middle frontal gyrus — an area in the front region of the brain — in planning movements based on auditory stimuli, including words and other sounds, through observations of a single participant in the ...

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Events

Polling giant Mark Mellman discusses 2016, 2020 elections, future of polling in Taubman Center talk

By Liza Mullett | February 19

Mark Mellman, the president of the American Association of Political Consultants and chief executive officer of The Mellman Group, joined Visiting Professor of the Practice of Political Science Richard Arenberg to discuss the current state and future of political polling with the Taubman Center for ...

University News

Students connect with traditions for Lunar New Year celebrations in an unusual year

By Livia Gimenes | February 18

As Feb. 12 marked the transition into the Year of Ox on the Chinese lunar calendar, students turned to unheralded ways of celebrating the Lunar New Year, not only in Providence but across the world and virtually. For Bree Zhang ’22 this year's celebrations culminated in an unexpected silver lining ...

University News

Graduate Center Bar faces an uncertain future, remains closed at University’s discretion

By Emily Faulhaber | February 18

On a typical Saturday night early last year, students might have been packed into the Graduate Center Bar. They would order from the bar's extensive beer menu (Tecate, Lord Hobo, Fiddlehead and many, many more) then cart pitchers, popcorn and cocktails back through crowded tables, bumping elbows along ...

University News

Brown Womxn’s Collective focuses on diversity, inclusion in first recruitment

By Nitya Thakkar | February 18

The Brown Womxn’s Collective, a program house founded in the wake of a 70-member exodus from Kappa Alpha Theta last October, held its first recruitment sessions over the weekend of Feb. 6 and ultimately extended 65 bids to new members. In the fall, the 70 members who voted to disaffiliate from ...