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Justice www.thejustice.org
The Independent Student Newspaper Volume LXXII, Number 19
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B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
FRED WILSON ACCEPTS CREATIVE ARTS AWARD
Waltham, Mass.
CORONAVIRUS
Studying abroad in the wake of coronavirus
■ Univ. announces
restrictions to student travel following updates about the coronavirus. By JEN CRYSTAL JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
ARTIST AWARD: Fred Wilson received the Creative Arts Award, following in the footsteps of previous awardees such as Aaron Copland, Mark Rothko and Georgia O'Keefe.
Visual artist wins award for artwork exploring racism ■ Artist Fred Wilson
discussed his past projects and art exhibitions at the award ceremony. By ANIKA CHAKRABARTY JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Dorothy Hodgson presented the University 2019 Creative Arts Award to visual artist Fred Wilson on behalf of University President Ron Liebowitz for Wilson’s critical work regarding institutional racism, in the Wasserman Cinematheque on Tuesday. According to the University website, the award recognizes “excellence in the arts and the lives and works of distinguished, active American artists.” The University established the award in 1956 and granted it to those who had either “left an enduring mark upon their times” or artists emerging in their field of study. Early recipients include composer Aaron Copland, painter Mark Rothko and artist Georgia O’Keeffe. In 1995, the award became The Poses Institute of the Arts at Brandeis University and awarded annual residencies for artists, which allowed the artist to reside within the institution while creating art. The University then revived the Creative Arts Award in 2015. Wilson’s work was distinguished because it “challenges dominant
assumptions of history, culture, race and conventions of display,” Hodgson said. She emphasized how Wilson’s art exposed society’s flaws while “also imagining paths to healing, inclusion, justice and light.” Upon receiving the award and medal, Wilson discussed past projects that he worked on, focusing on his exhibition in the Maryland Historical Society. In 1992, Wilson said, his work in “alternative gallery settings” garnered the attention of the curator of The Contemporary, an art museum in Baltimore, MD. The museum sponsored Wilson’s “Mining the Museum” one-year exhibition in the Maryland Historical Society, which involved spatial arrangements of objects from the museum’s archives as a way of conducting institutional critique. For example, a piece titled “Metalwork 1793-1800” juxtaposes the presentation of silver cups and pitchers with slave shackles. Wilson explained that he chose to work in the Maryland Historical Society because of the discomfort he felt there, referring to the racial undertones of the presentation of objects and artifacts from American history. Wilson said he created the exhibition after scouring the museum’s collections and archives and speaking to as many museum employees as possible, including board members and custodial staff. He used his research to create installations
on the third floor of the museum using objects from the collections and archives. “I wanted people to understand that I was going to take over the whole place. I was going to look at everything — the entire space. I controlled the lighting, the wall space, the labels, colors of the space and the arrangement,” Wilson said. “I wanted to make the museum mine.” Wilson displayed images of several different arrangements from the Baltimore exhibition. One image depicted a gold globe-shaped trophy with the worth “TRUTH” on it. To the right of the trophy were busts of Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson and Napoleon. To the left of the trophy, Wilson arranged three empty pedestals, each with a label of the name of Harriet Tubman, Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass. Wilson commented on how the museum had busts of white historical figures, including one of Napoleon, who had never visited Maryland, but no busts of the notable Black historical figures who had all been to Maryland at some point in their lives. In another work, Wilson said he arranged chairs representing different class statuses around a whipping post he found in the museum’s archives. He also presented a photo of an installation in which he placed a Ku Klux Klan hood he had found in the museum inside a baby stroller.
See AWARD, 7 ☛
Provost Lisa M. Lynch announced in a March 9 email to students and families that international trips planned between now and May 3 would be canceled. It is unclear whether this will affect fall semester study abroad programming. As the March 20 deadline for summer study abroad programs quickly approaches, students must decide what the prospect of studying abroad will look like for them in wake of the coronavirus. Students are permitted to study abroad over the summer; however, Brandeis has suspended all University travel and study abroad pro-
grams in mailand China, Italy, Iran and South Korea, Associate Dean of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid said in a March 6 email to the Justice. In a March 9 email, Lynch announced that all upcoming University-related, international travel until May 3 will be suspended. Students returning from Level 3 countries (currently China, Iran, Italy and South Korea) and from Level 2 countries (currently Japan) will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus, Lynch wrote. Lynch explained that students who live on campus must complete their selfquarantine period off campus. Since the coronavirus is constantly evolving, primarily impacting travel, studying abroad can be daunting. “The Office of Study Abroad is in daily communication with its affiliate program partners abroad (program providers and host
See VIRUS, 7 ☛
ARTIST TALK
Artist’s work explores relationship between queer and Jewish identities ■ Goldbloom presented her
photographs that deal with queer identities in Hasidic communities. By ARI ALBERTSON JUSTICE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Artist Shterna Goldbloom presented her photography, which was inspired by her experiences reconciling with her queer identity and Hasidic upbringing, as part of an exhibit of her work at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute on Wednesday. Goldbloom was selected from among 70 applicants, and her exhibit, entitled “Ich Bin Di Sitra Achra” — Yiddish for “I Am The Other” — is part of an HBI sponsored series of exhibits by Jewish artists. Goldbloom grew up in a Hasidic community in Chicago, Illinois, a place which she described as “very gendered.” She only had female friends, she said, and certain tasks, such as making challah, were assigned to only girls. When she went to college (something that was discouraged by her community), she began to make art that dealt with the expe-
riences and traditions of her upbringing, as well as notions of gender and queerness. Some of Goldbloom’s early projects question gender norms, particularly composite photographs she created by taking photographs of herself and her twin brother wearing the same clothes and participating in gendered tasks such as baking or taking out the garbage. These works drew inspiration from the work of photographer Kelli Connell, whose work involvedscomposite photographs (pieces made from multiple separate photographs combined) of the same model wearing different clothes in order to explore notions of gender and expression, Goldbloom said. Another composite photograph portrayed Goldbloom as two figures sitting next to each other, one wearing traditional clothing from her youth and the other wearing the style of clothes she wears currently. The piece was inspired by the work of artist Frida Kahlo, Goldbloom said, and bears a striking resemblance to Kahlo’s “The Two Fridas.” Goldbloom wanted to explore both sides of herself in the painting –—past and present,
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Dining RFP vendor presentations
You Go, Girl!
The Tempest
W JFAB sponsored a brunch in celebration of International Women's Day.
Last weekend, this classic story was retold at Laurie Theater.
By ELIANA PADWA
By SHOSHI FINKEL
By EMILY BLUMENTHAL, JEN GELLER
NEWS 4-5
Coronavirus wreaks havoc on the economy By VANDITA MALVIYA WILSON
FORUM 11
The impact of sports on the human body THEA ROSE/the Justice
FEATURES 9 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
ARTS AND CULTURE 18
Make your voice heard! Submit letters to the editor to letters@thejustice.org
By EMMA GHALILI
COPYRIGHT 2019 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 15
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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
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NEWS
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY BRUNCH
WALTHAM BRIEF Boston to open first recreational marijuana dispensary Boston’s first recreational marijuana store is set to open Monday, March 9, according to a March 6 Boston.com article. The same article reported that the store is called Pure Oasis and is opening in Dorchester, about four miles south of Downtown Boston. The store will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week. A March 6 Boston Globe article reported that Pure Oasis is the first shop to open through an economic empowerment program designed to ensure that money made from the legalization of marijuana benefits communities impacted by the War on Drugs, run by the state of Massachusetts. The same article reported that the shop is being opened by Kobie Evans and Kevin Hart, and that the two applied to the economic empowerment program in 2018. The Boston.com article explained that although this is the first recreational marijuana shop to open in Boston, weed has been legally sold in Massachusetts for 15 months, and its use has been legal for over three years. Evans and Hart released a statement saying, “‘On behalf of the entire team at Pure Oasis, we are excited to reach this important moment where we will open our doors as the first retail cannabis business in Boston and as the first economic empowerment candidate in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,”’ according to a March 5 Waltham Wicked Local article. The store will open in Dorchester, despite Evans and Hart originally wanting it to be downtown, in part because no brokers called the two back while they were initially searching, according to the Boston Globe article. —Jason Frank
n The Rose Spotlight article photo incorrectly gave the photo courtesy to Rose Art Museum. It was corrected to Luke Liu (March 3rd, page 20). n The Men’s Basketball article incorrectly indicated that the team still could make the postseason at time of print. They were ineligible for the ECAC and not selected for the NCAA DIII championship (March 3, page 16). n The Men’s Basketball headline incorrectly stated the team’s record as 17–4. They were 17–8 (March 3, page 16). n The Men’s Basketball kicker incorrectly said that the team had “a 2–3 weekend.” They actually went 2–3 over the final three weekends of the season, as correctly stated in the article (March 3rd, page 16). n “Judges By The Numbers” included incorrect standings for men’s and women’s basketball. For the correct end-of-season standings, visit uaasports. info (March 3, page 15). n A Features article mispelled Rachael Pucillo’s name. Changes were implemented online (March 3, pages 8-9). n A News brief did not include that Emily Blumenthal wrote the article (March 3, page 3). n A News article did not end (March 3, page 5).
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org.
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MEDICAL EMERGENCY March 2 — A party in the Stoneman Infirmary and Public Safety lobby reported a twisted ankle and requested assistance transport. University police transported the party to the Urgent Care facility for further care. March 2 — There was a report of a party with an elevated heart rate in Goldfarb Library. BEMCo was called on scene, and Cataldo Ambulance was called. The party was treated by EMS staff with a signed refusal for further care. March 3 — Spingold Theater staff contacted University Police for a party who had a finger laceration. University Police responded to the location along with BEMCo. BEMCo rendered aid with a signed refusal for further care. March 3 — There was a report of a party who suffered a seizure in Goldfarb Library. BEMCo and University Police responded on scene. Waltham Police, EMS and Waltham Fire Department Engine 4 responded on scene. Party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.
THEA ROSE/the Justice
On International Women’s Day, several feminist clubs organized activities in the Shapiro Campus Center, while students lined up for a bagel brunch.
SENATE LOG Senate discusses coronavirus, passes several amendments The Senate discussed a popular petition concerning the continuation of in-person classes if the coronavirus were to come to campus, and it passed several amendments and Senate Money Resolutions during its weekly meeting on Sunday.
Constitutional changes
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
POLICE LOG
The Justice proposed changes to its constitution regarding how it runs its elections for Editor-in-Chief to reflect the current procedures. Additionally, the Justice added a clause to recognize its new club consultant. The Senate voted by acclamation to approve the changes, with an abstention by Class of 2022 Senator Joseph Coles.
Executive officer reports
The “Take Your Professor Out to Coffee” initiative has stalled after E-Board ran into issues getting coffee vouchers from Conference and Events Services, Executive Senator Scott Halper ’20 reported. The Union positions of Director of Advocacy and Accessibility as well as Director of Outreach have not been filled. The former position has been vacant for the entire semester, and the unconfirmed appointee for the latter position, Illanysh Rodriguez ’23, resigned before the March 1 Senate meeting. Halper said that there is an alumnus who graduated last semester who is interested in the Director of Advocacy and Accessibility position, but he raised concerns about having a non-undergraduate on EBoard. To find undergraduates, the E-Board will consider advertising the position with the Hiatt Career Center. Student Union President Simran Tatuskar ’21 decided that the Director of Outreach position did not need to be filled, and that the EBoard would therefore no longer be pursuing candidates for the position. After the Union found a number of bikes in storage from a past bike rental initiative, Tatuskar began work to revive the initiative, but ultimately found that the logistics of
restarting it were too difficult. She proposed selling the bikes to Brandeis community members at a “steep discount,” Halper said. Community Emergency and Enhancement Fund Chair Krupa Sourirajan ’23 said that the money raised from the bike sales would be used to buy two bike racks. Halper addressed a petition that has been circulating on several Brandeis-affiliated social media groups that advocates for the University to move all classes online because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. As of Monday afternoon, the petition had over 1,400 signatures. The petition is an extreme move, said Rosenthal Quad and Skyline Senator Leah Fernandez ’22, but added that the signers’ concerns are understandable because Brandeis has not announced any protocol for if the virus were to come to campus. Although the University has not issued any guidelines on the continuation of in-person classes, it has put out a website with facts about the coronavirus and said it is “prepared to provide housing and other care should students need to quarantine or isolate on campus.” The potential of an outbreak on campus is especially concerning for immuno-compromised students and faculty, who are in greater danger of complications from the virus, but senators advised the community to remain calm. “I don’t think we need to create mass panic or have everyone refrain from going to class. We’re a university. We’re supposed to go to class, but I think the people who do have separate health issues should have the option [to stream lectures],” said Class of 2023 Senator Oona Wood.
Committee chair reports
Social Justice and Diversity Chair Priyata Bhatta ’22 reported that the committee’s International Women’s Day event was a success, and said that the committee would begin work on its employee ap-
preciation project. The Dining Committee’s employment appreciation project was also successful, reported Dining Committee Chair Nancy Zhai ’22. The tabling event ran out of cards and collected over 200 messages from students. The forums for the University’s Request for Proposals for a new dining vendor took place on Wednesday and Thursday and had high attendance, Zhai said. Fernandez, who is also the chair of the Health and Safety Committee, reported that the menstrual project initiative is “basically done,” and that the products will be distributed in dispensers at nine locations around campus next week.
Unfinished business
Class of 2023 Senator Skye Liu proposed a SMR to cover the extra money needed to pay for alcohol consumption awareness flyers. When she printed the flyers at the Copy Center, the prices were higher than expected because the Copy Center had not updated its prices on its website. The Senate voted by acclamation to pass the SMR. The Senate voted by acclamation to pass the SMR for stickers for the condom dispensers. Senator-atLarge Alex Park ’22, who proposed the SMR, said that the Copy Center was “not very willing to cooperate” on pricing. Coles’ amendment to allow audition-exclusive clubs to receive funding from the Allocations Board passed by a vote of acclamation. Coles said he would work to give these clubs Marathon training so that they can apply for full funding instead of resorting to emergency funding, which normally will only grant up to 80% of desired funds. The Senate passed an SMR by a vote of acclamation to pay for the custodial fee for the Trans Day of Visibility on March 31. —Emily Blumenthal — Editor’s Note: Editor Jocelyn Gould works for Conference and Events Services.
March 6 — There was a report of a party with a finger laceration in the Goldman-Schwartz Fine Arts building. BEMCo staff treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. March 6 — A party in Pomerantz Residence Hall reported feeling unwell. BEMCo treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. March 6 — A party in Cable Hall reported having an allergic reaction. BEMCo staff treated the party. Party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care via Cataldo Ambulance. The Area Coordinator on Call was notified. March 7 — University Police and BEMCo responded to a party having an allergic reaction in Renfield Hall. Party was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care via Cataldo Ambulance. The Area Coordinator on call was notified. March 8 — BEMCo staff responded to a call in Ziv 128 for alcohol intoxication. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance for further care. University Police submitted a Community Standards Report on the incident. March 8 — BEMCo staff responded to a call in Reitman Hall for alcohol intoxication. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance for further care. University Police submitted a Community Standards Report on the incident. DISTURBANCE March 2 — There was a noise complaint at the Charles River Apartments. Residents were advised to lower their volume without incident. March 5 — A Community Advisor at the Charles River Apartments reported a noise complaint to University Police. University Police requested the Area Coordinator on call speak with residents, as this is an ongoing issue. LARCENY March 2 — A party reported that their student ID was stolen from The Stein and used four times. University Police compiled a report on the incident and the card was cancelled. DRUG VIOLATION March 3 — DCL staff confiscated drug paraphernalia from a party in the Foster Mods. University Police took custody of the item and compiled a Community Standards Report. MISCELLANEOUS March 2 — A faculty member reported that a student essay contained disturbing content. University Police compiled a report on the incident. March 6 — There was a report of an unattended backpack in the Library parking lot. University Police were called on-scene and were unable to locate said backpack. —Compiled by Noah Zeitlin
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AREA COORDINATOR VACANCY
BRIEF
Prof. Faith Smith speaks at Inaugural M. Jacqui Alexander Lecture As part of its annual lecture series, the African Diaspora Cluster organized the Inaugural M. Jacqui Alexander Lecture in African Diaspora Studies on Thursday. Prof. Faith Smith (AAAS, ENG) held a talk titled, “After the Dance: Performing Sovereignty in the Carribean,” which is drawn from her upcoming book, “Strolling in the Ruins: The Carribean’s Non-Sovereign Modern in the Early 20th Century.” In his brief introduction to the event, Associate Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS) explained that the African Diaspora Cluster was originally established “as a hiring initiative to attract scholars of African diaspora studies” to Brandeis. The cluster is a group of professors and fellows seeking to “grow the department and enhance intellectual unity here at Brandeis around the teaching and study of peoples of African descent,” he said. Today, seeking more than just to hire distinguished and vibrant faculty, the African Diaspora Cluster hosts discussions, read-
ing groups and events. Following this introduction, Prof. Carina Ray (AAAS) honored Prof. M. Jaqui Alexander, the professor who the lecture series was named after, who was sitting in the audience. The event marked Alexander’s return following her years as an assistant professor of Sociology at Brandeis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Alexander is an “incisive and influential theorist of transnational feminism, whose work has transformed how we think about heterosexuality, the nation and nation building, the state, citizenship and coloniality and postcoloniality in the Carribean,” Ray said. Ray explained that this work is not only well respected by a plethora of scholars across the globe, ranging from rural America to the Netherlands, but also that “in naming this annual lecture series after her, we both honor her work and remain inspired, provoked and challenged by it.” In welcoming Smith to the
stage, Ray acknowledged Smith’s intellectual curiosity, personal generosity and “ability to see and cultivate the best in those around her.” Ray added that in Smith’s upcoming book, she discusses “the period just before the beginning of the first World War, when the fantastical resolutions of the fiction and their complex responses to photography show Carribean people measuring the growing imperial interest of the USA.” As Smith read her excerpt, she touched on topics such as anglophone Carribean history, imperialism and sexual identities inscribed in colonial and postcolonial law. Smith also discussed her experience working in the AAAS department. “To get to dream alongside these colleagues is a blessing, and there are students who tell us everyday that what has come before and what prevails now can always be reimagined,” she said. —Leeza Barstein
THU LE/the Justice
BRIEF Univ. prof. signs letter oppossing facial recognition technology on college campuses, joining Brandeis and other institutions in this effort Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) joined more than 150 other academics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to sign a letter opposing the use of facial recognition on college campuses. The letter, published on Feb. 28, was written in conjunction with Fight for the Future. The letter states that “the constant surveillance of facial recognition threatens our human rights and privacy” and that “facial recognition is invasive, enabling anyone with access to the system to watch students’ movements, try to analyze facial expressions, monitor who they talk to, what they do outside of class and every move they make.” Fight for the Future is a group that aims to “harness the power of the Internet to channel outrage into action, defending our most basic rights in the digital age,” according to their website. In an email to the Justice on March 4, Brooten said that she signed the letter “mainly out of concern for darker skinned and immigrant communities” and that the software used for facial recognition can make errors, “especially with darker skinned people.” Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found “the systems falsely iden-
tified African-American and Asian faces 10 times to 100 times more than Caucasian faces.” Brooten also commented that this data could be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target undocumented students. “Teaching people to be aware of their surroundings and to look for signs of potential violence, hateful or discriminatory acts, or other misconduct is a community-based approach that can be much more effective,” Brooten said. Fight for the Future has compiled a list of universities indicating whether they will not use facial recognition, may use facial recognition or are currently using facial recognition. Brandeis University, Boston University, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with many other universities, have pledged not to use facial recognition on campuses according to BanFacialRecognition.com. According to an article by the American Civil Liberties Union, video surveillance has not been proven effective, even with minor crimes. The ACLU also said that because technology has evolved so rapidly, there are very limited checks and balances on how video surveillance can be used. The article
also said that the increase in use of video surveillance “has the potential [to] change the core experience of going out in public in America because of its chilling effect on citizens.” The discussion about the use of facial recognition and video surveillance continues, however, as some universities are using student’s phones to track their location. A Washington Post article reported that at Syracuse University, students’ attendance is recorded through an app called SpotterEDU that immediately links to “Bluetooth Beacons” that connect to students’ phones and gives them points for attendance. Syracuse University is one of many universities that have started to track students’ location, along with Auburn University, Central Florida University and Indiana University, according to the Washington Post article. While Brandeis University has pledged not to use facial recognition on campus, Brooten said that she signed the letter because she “desired to support students, faculty, and staff at other universities and colleges in their efforts to persuade their administrations.”
NEW DIRECTIONS: Following North Quad Area Coordinator Josh Adlerman’s departure, the Department of Community Living searches for a replacement.
BRIEF
North Quad Area Coordinator leaves Brandeis to “pursue another opportunity” North Quad Area Coordinator Josh Adlerman left his position on Friday “to pursue another opportunity in [his] home state of New Jersey,” according to a Feb. 28 email to North Quad residents. In the email, Adlerman explained that his departure is “bittersweet.” “It is certainly unfortunate that I am unable to remain at Brandeis for the remainder of the school year,” Adlerman wrote in a March 3 email to the Justice. However, Adlerman said that he has worked with Community Advisors to ensure a smooth transition in the wake of his departure. “I have been working closely with my CA staff to ensure that they are prepared to troubleshoot through the semester, and that they know how to ac-
cess any resources they may need to best support the North Quad community,” he wrote. The Department of Community Living is currently looking for his replacement. At this point, there is no timeline for the hiring process. Along with CAs, Assistant Area Coordinator of Reitman Hall Winnie Rugamba and Associate Director of Community Living and Orientation Scott Berozi will serve as resources for North Quad residents. Adlerman urged residents in his Feb. 28 email to be “extracommunicative” with CAs, explaining that reaching out to CAs for “any/all assistance will help ease the transition for both Scott and Winnie.” —Jen Crystal
‘THE TEMPEST’
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THEATER PERFORMANCE: On Thursday, the Department of Theater Arts performed the opening show of “The Tempest.” This production of the show will continue to run until Sunday, March 15, barring any changes due to University coronavirus responses.
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
DINING HALL OPEN FORUMS SODEXO
BON APPETIT By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
GLOBAL MENU: Representatives from Sodexo pledged at an open forum on Wednesday to bring more diverse food offerings to campus if the company is awarded the new dining contract.
By EMILY BLUMENTHAL JUSTICE EDITOR
Sodexo, the University’s current dining services partner, aims to “continue the momentum” of its work at the University, while reinventing itself with more diverse menus if awarded the new dining contract, the company’s representatives said during an open forum on Wednesday in Sherman Function Hall. The forum was the first of four presentations by the finalists for the University’s new dining contract. The Request For Proposals process began in September when Sodexo and the University mutually agreed to end their contract three years early to reexamine the University’s dining services. The current contract will expire on June 30, and the new dining vendor will begin on July 1. “When we decided to go out to bid and put a dining RFP out, we really looked inward, brought new players to campus and really started to build some momentum on what’s new [and] what’s going to be different. We decided we really want to be here. We are the future of Brandeis,” Sodexo’s Strategic Partnership Executive Heather Muhlenberg said. “We put in a pretty detailed proposal. We made immediate moves to try to build some momentum.” If awarded the new contract with the University, Sodexo plans to bring in more diverse food choices to the dining halls, including Lemongrass Kitchen for Thai and Vietnamese food, Mexican food from Amelia’s Taqueria and the Future-50 ingredients. It also hopes to expand its kosher offerings and partner with the Humane Society to offer more plant-based recipes. Other dining options include the teaching kitchen “Kitchen Academy” and the UCook station in Usdan, where students could cook their own food. The layout of the dining halls would change, as Sodexo plans to break down the wall between Upper and Lower Usdan for a “food hall, micro-stall environment” and more room for seating, Muhlenberg said. Lower Usdan would have the Hoot Market, Lemongrass Kitchen, Louis’ Deli and Kutz Bakeshop, which would be moved from their respective current locations in Upper Usdan and Kutz Hall, as well as new locations Veggie Grill, “The Farmhouse” and “Simple 7.” Upper Usdan would have Mein Bowl, Amelia’s Taqueria and Dunkin’ Donuts. In Sherman, Sodexo would bring Simple Servings and the vegan and vegetarian Sprouts to the front of the dining hall. Sodexo will also bring in a food truck, PRKD Pizza, which will serve freshly-made pizzas. The company plans to introduce PRKD before the end of this semester. To increase community involvement, Sodexo hopes to work within the guidelines of University President Ron Liebowitz’s Framework for the Future. Through programs such as “Take Your Professor to Lunch” and themed breakfasts, Sodexo aims to work with the University on its goal of “creating a stronger sense of community on campus,” as stated in the Framework. To further connect to the greater-Waltham community, Sodexo will continue to partner with Russo’s, a local produce company, and will conduct outreach and provide jobs to individuals with disabilities in the community. In response to a question about sustainability, Sodexo’s Sustainability Director Annie Rowell said that the company has set a goal of sourcing 30% of its food from New England food producers by 2030 and will work with programs like Vermont First, Maine Course and Mass Impact to provide local offerings. Director of Culinary Innovation Rob Morasco said that the chefs would create innovative recipes that used plants to replace meat products in the vein of plantsubstitute companies such as Impossible
Foods. To reduce food waste, Sodexo will follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, which includes reducing food waste, donating to food banks and creating biofuels from leftover food. Rowell highlighted Sodexo’s rollout of reusable straws and its partnership with Black Earth Compost as examples of the vendor’s commitment to sustainability. Sodexo will combat food insecurity through a partnership with Swipe Out Hunger, which would allow students to donate meal swipes, and the Mystery Shopper program, where students can shop anonymously and eat with other community members without identification of food insecure-status, according to its PowerPoint presentation. During its presentation, Sodexo aimed to present a reinvention of its dining services while furthering the work it had already done. However, Sodexo’s assurances that this time would be different were not enough for several attendees of the forum. “I see a disconnect between what you’re presenting to us and what seems to be a pretty high level of discontent among at least the students, and I wonder, can someone explain that gap?” Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL, ENVS, WGS) asked. “Is it just a communications issue, or is it really that you’re putting a smiling face on something that isn’t as good as it sounds.” Sodexo’s Senior Vice President of Operations Phil Harty replied that Sodexo hopes to build on its partnership with the University to improve communication, and that the company has “scratched the surface with our momentum.” “When we have the most success as an organization is when we have a good, solid partnership steeped with transparency and communication,” Harty said. For audience members with allergies and dietary restrictions, the prospect of Sodexo walking away with the new contract was worrisome, especially in light of incidences of allergic reactions caused by mislabelled food. In response to concerns from these students, Culinary Dietician Karen Jew said she wants to alleviate difficulties with dietary restrictions by being more available to students and by continuing to train staff. “We do acknowledge that there are incidents, but you know what? It’s about what we do once we find out,” Jew said. “We’ve reached out to the student, we’ve taken action. We’ve committed to training our staff.” Senate Dining Committee Chair Nancy Zhai ’22, who has been vocal about allergen issues during Senate meetings, said in an interview with the Justice, “I appreciate our committee’s partnership with [Sodexo] and that they want to build off of the current improvements, but I want to see a plan with more substantial and innovative goals to achieve them (e.g the allergen practice is the same as last year). I also wished that they presented more substantial goals to challenge the current practice (look [at] things anew) to regain the trust of the community.” During the Q&A session, Brandeis’ chapter of Uprooted and Rising asked about Sodexo’s involvement in private prisons. “Unlike our competitors, we do not operate or participate in any services in corrections in the United States. We do have some services we provide outside of the United States, but we only do that in countries that do not recognize the death penalty,” said Chief Operations Officer Cal Thetford. Uprooted and Rising did not respond to the Justice’s request for comment. Sodexo plans to retain the current dining staff under the new contract, and the workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 26, supports the continuation of the University’s relationship with Sodexo, according to the company’s PowerPoint presentation.
Based in Palo Alto, California, Bon Appetit Management Company visited Brandeis for the second of four Request For Proposals presentations on Wednesday in Sherman Function Hall. Throughout the event, Bon Appetit leadership staff presented what they would do if they were the next Brandeis dining vendor. According to Bon Appetit President Michael Bauccio, the company started over 30 years ago with the philosophy that “food did not have to be a mystery.” According to the Bon Appetit website, “Our food is cooked from scratch, including sauces, stocks and soups ... A pioneer in environmentally sound sourcing policies, we’ve developed programs addressing local purchasing, overuse of antibiotics, sustainable seafood, the food-climate change connection, humanely raised meat and eggs, and farmworkers’ rights.” Bauccio emphasized that Bon Appetit was founded under the premise that it would make restaurant-quality food by not taking food out of the can or freezer in its “chef-driven program.” Bauccio said the vendor takes pride in knowing where all its food comes from and that there are no corporate-mandated menus so that chefs for each account are at the center for which recipes are made. According to the PowerPoint presentation at the event, Bon Appetit services other schools such as Colby College, the University of Pennsylvania and Emory University, among others. Bon Appetit also services company headquarters for Snapchat, Uber, Amazon and Google. Bauccio said the retention rate of companies using Bon Appetit is 99%. District Manager for Bon Appetit Yvonne Matteson introduced the company’s master plan for Brandeis dining, which falls into three categories. She said that Bon Appetit takes transparency incredibly seriously for all of its accounts, and that it seeks to create an authentic food experience. The final element is sustainability. “We are here to support and enhance your sustainability initiatives. We are a partner in that,” she said. Bon Appetit Chef Luis Acosta, who would be the executive chef if the University selects Bon Appetit, detailed the planned changes for resident dining. Acosta emphasized Bon Appetit’s enthusiasm for bringing these ideas to reality on the Brandeis campus. For Lower Usdan, Acosta said that Bon Appetit plans to have several stations. “Sear & Steam” will serve rice and noodle bowls as well as dumplings, “Toss” will serve seasonal Italian pasta dishes and “Cutting Board” will serve artisan sandwiches. For Sherman Dining Hall, Acosta said that there will continue to be kosher and non-kosher dining options. Kosher dining, Acosta said, will include rotating meat and dairy days, and those dishes will align with the non-kosher dining concepts. For the nonkosher dining, stations will include “Roots,” plant-based dining that will feature a juice bar, “Wood & Stone,” hot sandwiches and made-from scratch pizza and “Near & Far,” a station that will exhibit global dishes. General Manager for Bon Appetit Marietta Lamarre described the vendor’s vision for retail dining on campus. For Usdan retail, Louis’ Deli will still be an option, but the meats will be cooked from scratch. “Our meat is roasted in house,” she said, and rivals Boston and New York City deli. Lamarre also introduced Bon Appetit’s vision of a Chobani cafe. This will include yogurt bowls, sandwich spreads, soups and pastries, but “all will be featuring Chobani yogurt, just in different ways.” Lamarre said the new sushi station will allow individuals to select what goes into their rolls, and the Hoot Market will continue to be a convenience store. Bon Appetit also plans to add açai bowls. She said she is most excited for the “pick-3” program where students can pick an entree and two sides to be a meal swipe. The Stein would serve scratch-made pizzas, healthy bowls and the “pub favorites”
that include chicken fingers and french fries, but also locally-crafted beers and wines along with floats and shakes. Regional Vice President of Bon Appetit Elaine Smart talked about the importance of sustainability. She said that she read the University’s climate action plan, but was surprised that “there was no mention of dining in that, and I found that particularly strange.” She said that Bon Appetit will help the University in achieving its sustainability goals. In achieving measurable sustainability results, the company uses four methods — “prioritizing plant-based proteins,” “preventing and reducing food waste,” “trimming transportation” and “decreasing deforestation.” Examples of how Bon Appetit achieves these goals are by buying local ingredients (within 150 miles), not importing tropical fruit and not buying imported bottled water. The company’s goal is 20% local purchasing, and it seeks to use all parts of produce to reduce waste, such as broccoli stems and tops. To reduce waste from its suppliers, Bon Appetit uses “imperfectly delicious produce” that may be misshapen for soups and other dishes. In order to spread awareness of food waste and increase community responsibility, Bon Appetit plans to collect and weigh it, and then post the results of their findings. Smart said the average college student wastes 142 pounds of food a year. In terms of wellness, Bon Appetit Regional Dietician Daniele Rossner spoke about efforts to include healthy menu items and increase allergen labelling. Rossner said the fact that food is made from scratch ensures it is easy to make food choices that are the most nutritious. Portions are made using the United States Dietary Association’s guidelines, Rossner said, in addition to easy-to-read icons to “indicate key nutritional qualities of food across our menus.” These icons include vegan, made without gluten-containing ingredients and vegetarian. Full nutrition information will always be present in dining halls. Rossner said that Bon Appetit takes allergies seriously. It provides food awareness training, adds descriptive nomenclature, ensures that ingredient questions are directed correctly and fosters individual connections with students with allergies to create an individualized plan to ensure they are eating safely. She said that Bon Appetit adheres to Food Allergy Research & Education guidelines. During the Q&A session, a member of the Brandeis University staff advisory council asked about summer dining for staff and students, seeing as more and more is happening on campus over the summer. Smart replied that Brandeis did not ask Bon Appetit about its plans for this under the “Request For Proposals” process, but that the company would discuss it if it were the successful candidate. One student asked if the current dining employees under Sodexo would keep their jobs under Bon Appetit. Smart said, “We want to embrace the current employees.” As long as the staff pass the Bon Appetit background check, they will be welcome to continue working for Brandeis Dining and join Bon Appetit. “It is very seldom, in fact never, that we go into an account and not keep all of the existing employees,” Smart said. Bauccio added that the employees that have been at Brandeis are loyal to the campus, and that it is essential for Brandeis’ partnership with Bon Appetit that they retain the current staff. He said, “There is so much that we would need to learn from them as much as the idea that we bring a new skill set we think to those employees.” In an interview with the Justice, Senate Dining Committee Chair Nancy Zhai ’22 said, “Bon Appetit is very open to improv[ing] the current dining practice even though it means to change a culture/mindset of people.” She said that it also places an emphasis on improving allergen labelling and that staff are continually being trained in allergen information, which Zhai said is the “right step.”
JEN GELLER/the Justice
NO MYSTERY: At an open forum on Wednesday, a team from Bon Appetit said that the company would make its food from scratch and source it transparently if awarded the new dining contract.
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NEWS
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
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HARVEST TABLE By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
Harvest Table Culinary Group, a subsidiary of Aramark Corporation, presented as the third Request For Proposals presentation on Thursday in Sherman Function Hall. After the members of the Harvest Table team introduced themselves, they began to present their vision for Brandeis Dining Services. Harvest Table’s Director of Partnership Development Juliann Green started by answering the question, “What are those top three areas we feel require immediate focus?” Before suggesting ideas, the vendor looked at what was and was not working now at Brandeis. Green said they read University President Ron Liebowitz’s “Framework for the Future,” which guided how Harvest Table could build its program. First, they want to embrace Brandeis’ values and traditions, including its diversity. Green also highlighted how she saw sustainability as an important part of Brandeis’ dining culture and one of Harvest Table’s founding values. Harvest Table seeks to be hospitable and wants to improve students’ dining experience. Harvest Table’s President and Founder Mary Thorton detailed what its prospective dining program would look like. The program is based on Harvest Table’s philosophy — “fresh, vibrant food,” “personalized service” and “connected communities,” meaning greater connectivity between Brandeis students and faculty but also with dining employees and the local economy, Thorton said. The company’s chief culinary officer, Matthew Thompson, said that its food is additive-free, because “going back to the way ingredients should be” is one of its guiding principles. He said Harvest Table also looks at the animal welfare policies of its food producers and if farmers make a living wage. Thompson also said that Harvest Table looks at whether or not women and people of color are treated fairly by its suppliers. Harvest Table has a philosophy of being scratch-made, where recipes that will be served on campus are developed on campus so students will have input, Thompson added. In terms of nutrition, they seek to use natural ingredients to make food flavorful, without simply adding sugars and fats. Allison West, a registered dietician for Harvest Table, talked about the transparency of what goes into Harvest Table’s recipes. “We deserve to know what is in our food,” she said. All locations have registered dieticians as a resource to answer questions about ingredients in recipes, and Harvest Table uses digital media so students know what is in the food. If any meal items change, the digital screens and website will be updated in real time. West highlighted “Tru,” which she likes to call, “a restaurant inside of a restaurant or a kitchen within a kitchen.” Food at that station eliminates seven of the eight most common food allergens — milk, eggs, wheat/gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and soybeans. The eighth food allergen is finned fish. Senate Dining Committee Chair Nancy Zhai ’22 said in an interview with the Justice, “I think they can greatly improve allergen awareness and customer service substantially [on campus], but me and many other students are concerned about their relationship with Aramark, private prison, etc.” If Brandeis were to partner with Harvest Table, the University’s District Manager would be Christian Wise. He elaborated on six aspects of the potential partnership — “engage with the community,” “collaborate openly,” “communicate often,” “innovate nimbly,” “measure deliberately” and “share the results.” Thorton said that every four to six weeks, Brandeis would meet with Harvest Table to evaluate what changes need to be made and to discuss future goals. Harvest Table would also send a report to the University regarding what happened and any feedback that was received on events being run. The vendor’s Director of Guest Experience, Kate Williams, described the systems Harvest Table uses to communicate with students and how those will influence the Brandeis dining program. She said what came up through their visits to campus was that there needed to be authentic Asian food. Representatives from one of the Harvest Table partners, Bento Sushi, was at the presentation and will offer sushi, poke bowls and ramen. Harvest Table uses a “your feedback matters” platform to allow for action to be taken
quickly on concerns. Guest Experience Manager Casey Claflin said that “napkin talk walls” are another way students can contribute to the dining experience. They can write ideas on the wall and managers and chefs in the locations can make changes quickly. Thorton said that Harvest Table will conduct training to ensure that these programs are possible. Its philosophy is the word “yes,” Thorton said. She highlighted that the company has turned jobs into careers that staff members love. According to the company’s PowerPoint, hospitality is created through a familial atmosphere, daily huddles to go over safety, service and ingredients in the food each day, allergen awareness, growth and development and recognition and rewards for stand-out work. Harvest Table’s guiding values as hospitality professionals are “take a chance” and “always be yourself.” Thompson explained how Harvest Table would enhance Brandeis’ sustainability initiatives. This will manifest itself in composting and recycling, as well as a plant-forward restaurant in the nonkosher section of Sherman dining hall. To combat food waste, Harvest Table has started using unconventional components of foods, such as “broccoli leaves and the stems from brussel sprouts.” It also uses reusable boxes to transport produce to campuses instead of cardboard, wax-lined boxes. Harvest Table also partners with Farm
“
We deserve to know what is in our food. Allison West, Dietician
Forward, which recognizes efforts to source locally. Thompson said that Farm Forward recognizes Harvest Table for having “the highest purchasing standards in the industry.” It is recognized for beef, poultry and pork, and for only purchasing third-party welfare-certified products. Harvest Table is the first to meet those standards in all three categories, according to Thompson. Green talked about how Harvest Table could invigorate the University’s dining program and students’ perceptions of dining. She highlighted that Harvest Table is “By students, For Students.” The community will grow internally, but also with partnerships with local farmers and resources. She said that they push boundaries with the mentality, so that the best ingredients are artfully prepared, yielding the best results. It was with this that Green shared a diagram of what food would be served at each of the dining locations around campus. Examples include Bento and TomaTillos in Upper Usdan and Rotir Rotisserie and Fuze in Lower Usdan. She said that Louis’ Deli would be moved to Lower Usdan to add seating and make it a place where people can relax and enjoy the dining experience. She added that the 781 Market, an extension of the Hoot Market, will be a place where students can get food or drinks any time of the day or night. Green said that Harvest Table wants each dining center on campus to feel like a different dining experience. During the Q&A session, one student asked about Harvest Table’s operation, given student concerns about better supporting community farms and farmers and fishers of color, animal welfare and reducing carbon emissions — for which there was a demonstration outside of the Aramark Philadelphia office. Thorton said that although Harvest Table is a part of Aramark, it is an independent division and has its own policies. Thorton was not aware of the Philadelphia demonstration. Harvest Table develops its own supply chain in the areas where it has accounts. Thompson said that Harvest Table had committed to meeting these demands, such as by only purchasing meat from third-party certified sources to improve animal welfare. He said that Harvest Table prides itself on its commitment to transparency. Another student asked about worker retention. Thorton said that the workers’ contracts will be honored and their jobs guaranteed both because of the collective bargaining agreement with UNITE HERE Local #26, but also from a humanitarian perspective.
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
‘BY STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS’: Harvest Table said at an open forum on Thursday that it would encourage growth inside and outside the Brandeis community if awarded the new dining contract.
CHARTWELLS By EMILY BLUMENTHAL JUSTICE EDITOR
Chartwells, a New England-based independent subsidiary of Compass Group, presented its plan for the University’s Request for Proposals for the new dining contract during an open forum on Thursday in Sherman Function Hall, which emphasized the integration of technology into dining services. Chartwells’ focus is in three areas: its partnership with the University, transparency and “passion for program,” according to its PowerPoint presentation. Its menus are based on guidelines from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to maximize nutritional value in the food. These menus will be built to reduce red meat consumption and be more “plant-forward,” and will use products from local farmers. Chartwells will also craft seasonal menus to feature in-season produce, which is more sustainable and higher-quality than importing produce year-round, Division Chef Sarah Bodner said. Additionally, Fueling Your Unique Lifestyle Program, Chartwells’ “functional food program,” will ensure that food is healthy and nutritious so students will be able to focus on their studies. The program will encourage creative usage of healthy foods in dishes and “simple ingredients, done really, really well.” In Sherman Dining Hall, Chartwells will add a teaching kitchen, which will feature occasional visits by celebrity chefs, as well as an expansion of kosher options to “match and be complementary” to those on the nonkosher side. This would include a kosher grill station, deli, salad bar and global station. The teaching kitchen would be mobile, and could be used in the kosher section. “We really wanted to make certain that the kosher program had its strength and had its validity versus it kind of just being the paper plate program that it is right now,” Chartwells’ Division President Mindy Segal said. “When we’re designing kosher menus, we’re not designing them as kosher menus. They’re designed as great food that happens to be kosher.” While the layout of Sherman will remain relatively unchanged, Usdan will undergo extensive renovations. Louis’ Deli would move to the space that currently houses Currito’s and SubConnect, and would serve as a “designated kosher outpost” with its own seating area, Chartwells’ Vice President of Growth and Retention Tom Lapp said. Lower Usdan will utilize the vendor’s FlexiKitchen concept, which will allow for constant changes in food offerings. Chartwells proposed two options for Lower Usdan: the current all-you-can-eat layout and a community food hall. The vendor would ask the community for input on the offerings in the community food hall format, which could include Paper Lantern, its Asian food and bubble tea restaurant, or a Panda Express. The Hoot Market would undergo a “facelift” to become the “C-Store of the future,” Segal said. In addition to more offerings similar to those found at organic food stores like Trader Joe’s, the Hoot Market would feature hot food offerings and a late-night street taco stand. The Shapiro Student Center would get a fully-licensed Starbucks, unlike the outpost that is currently in Farber Library. Segal said the addition of a Starbucks in the SCC would provide “a really great opportunity to have a late-night gathering space,” as well as a central spot for students to get coffee throughout the day. In place of the library’s Starbucks, Chartwells would open another coffee shop with Dean’s Beans, Atomic Coffee or another coffee company requested by students. It would also feature an extensive bakery. To increase sustainability, Chartwells will institute its “Carbon Foodprint” program, which will look at the carbon impact of food used by dining services, to help Brandeis meet its goal of reducing its car-
bon footprint by 7%. The vendor would also partner with the Office of Sustainability to evaluate the equipment in the kitchen and subsequently implement strategies to reduce water and energy usage. The WasteNot program, with the goal of reducing and making students more aware of food waste, will use technology to gather and showcase data about food waste to the community for a low cost. Another goal is the reduction of single-use plastic. Chartwells plans to integrate new technology into its food services, including by the use of autonomous robots to deliver food, an online ordering program to reduce wait times in line and the integration of more 24/7 options for food, such as a salad-making robot machine and a cashierless market. The dining halls would feature screens with nutritional and caloric information, and a “social media wall” so students could showcase their “Instagrammable moments,” Lapp said. Student feedback would utilize more technology, including through the Happy or Not screens in the dining halls, which would enable students to select an emoji to reflect their satisfaction with their meals. Chartwells would also hold focus groups each spring to gauge students’ feedback in areas such as meal plans. The technology would also be used for better allergy safety practices. The dining halls would feature kiosks to allow students to “navigate their dietary needs by choosing allergens when they get to the dining halls (e.g if one student is [Gluten Free], they can filter out gluten when they want to find allergen information of the food options provided that day),” Senate Dining Committee Chair Nancy Zhai ’22 said in an interview with the Justice, adding that that aspect “really stood out” to her. Despite the increased technology use, Chartwells said that this would not result in a loss of jobs for workers, but would provide more options for students. In fact, in terms of worker retention, Chartwells plans to keep all the current employees and have a party to welcome them, Chartwells’ CEO Lisa McEuen said. To engage with the Waltham community, Chartwells will partner with FoodWorks to bring local restaurants to campus for pop-up stations and possibly longer-term set-ups in the dining halls. Under this program, students can ask for certain Waltham restaurants to set up stations, and Chartwells will work to bring them in. Jordan Resh ’20, a member of Brandeis’ chapter of Uprooted and Rising, asked about the possibility of meal plan price increases under Chartwells, citing a sharp rise in food prices at Barnard University when it contracted with the company. McEuen replied that the price increase was a “fundamental decision of the client,” and Lapp added that Chartwells needed to make substantial changes to the dining program. Additionally, buying a meal plan “should be something that is a value to you off the bat,” Segal said. Resh also asked about concerns by dining workers at several other institutions contracted with Compass Group alleging “racist, disrespectful and condescending treatment” by management, who she said did nothing to address the “heinous and aggressive behavior.” Chartwells’ Vice President of Operations Tracy Treadwell replied that the company has strong relationships with 19 other branches of UNITE HERE Local #26, and Bodner added that any allegations of similar behavior were “not acceptable” to the company. Another student from Uprooted and Rising asked about Compass Group’s investments in military operations, to which McEuen replied that the company does not have any military holdings. She added, “Sometimes things get out in the media that aren’t all the way accurate.” Uprooted and Rising did not respond to the Justice’s request for comment.
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Join Photos! Email Noah Zeitlin at photos@thejustice.org Illustration by MORGAN MAYBACK/the Justice, NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice; Photos by ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice, NATALIA WIATER/the Justice, YURAN SHI/the Justice, NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice, SARAH KATZ/the Justice, ZACH KATZ/the Justice
$2,500 Israel Travel Grants Competitive $2,500 grants for undergraduates pursuing academic or career interests in Israel through internship, research, study, work or volunteering. Focus on anything from science, technology and business to the arts, social justice, and topics in the social sciences and humanities.
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GOLDBLOOM: Artist discusses personal stories behind her photography
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ARTIST DISCUSSES UPBRINGING
CONTINUED FROM 1 religious and secular. “I was strong in both of those people,” she said. Many of Goldbloom’s photographs address Jewish traditions. One photograph showed Goldbloom holding a chicken to represent the Hasidic practice of kapparot, or the ritual transfer of sins to a chicken before Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Another showed Goldbloom leaning backward as someone out of the frame cut her hair with shears. This piece was meant to address both shechita, or the practice of slaughtering animals according to kosher guidelines, as well as the tradition that Hasidic women cut their hair when they get married. For Goldbloom, these photographs were part of her process of analyzing her values of what was good or bad, and why. Goldbloom also created a series portraying queer individuals who had grown up in Hasidic communities, inspired by the Yiddish word “feygele,” which means both “small bird” and “homosexual.” These works included portraits, as well as three Torah scrolls. The first scroll was encased in an embroidered cloth covering, symbolizing queer individuals who were not publically out. The second scroll was partially unrolled and showed a portrait of someone who had been through gender and social transitions. The final scroll was fully unrolled and showed a photo of a queer family, to represent those who had established a space for themselves. Goldbloom was inspired by the idea that the Torah is a living document that is constantly reinterpreted, she said, as well as the fact that queer narratives have been historically excluded from those interpretations. The pieces in the “feygele” collection were meant in part as a testament to queer Hasidic people’s
existence, Goldbloom said. “Some of this body of work is just to simply say, ‘Here. This is proof,’” she said. Following Goldbloom’s presentation was an opportunity for the audience members to ask questions. One person asked about the significance of the color red, which is prevalent in her work. The color red is linked both to Jewish history and queer history, Goldbloom said. Goldbloom pointed to the “blood libel” accusation that Jews use nonJewish children’s blood for ritual purposes and the fear surrounding blood during the AIDS crisis as specific examples. Another audience member asked whether Goldbloom felt that there was a space for queer people within the Hasidic community. Goldbloom said that she understood that many queer people were estranged from their communities for valid reasons, often the result of a “mutual pushing away,” as she put it, yet she wished there was more connection between queer communities and Hasidic communities. She cited her mother as an example of someone who is both “queer and frum” — frum meaning religious — and has stayed in her community and been accepted. Goldbloom received her MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design in 2019, and her art has been displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and the Fotovakschool in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, according to her introduction by curator Susan Metrican at the event. The exhibit “Ich Bin Di Sitra Achra” is on display through July 3 in the Epstein Building. The event was co-sponsored by the Department of Fine Arts, the Division of Creative Arts and the Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis.
CAMERON CUSHING/the Justice
POWERFUL PHOTOGRAPHY: Artist Shterna Golblum was selected to display her photography, which was influenced by her experiences growing up queer and Hassidic, at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute through July 3.
VIRUS: Univ. comments AWARD: Artist receives Creative on study abroad bans in Arts Award midst of coronavirus CONTINUED FROM 1 Taking on a more curatorial role, Wilson said he displayed paintings he found of white children with Black children in the periphery. He explained that the museum was “meant for the elites of Maryland and everyone who came in, even the docents, would take that on and live it in the institution.” Wilson illustrated this point by recounting how the director of the museum said that he never realized there was a Black child in one of the paintings. “You’re not meant to see the Black child, the Black presence in the museum,” he explained. Wilson also discussed his show in the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, in which he
CONTINUED FROM 1 said he wanted to draw attention to the contributions of Black people to Italy’s history. Pieces in the show included stories he created for Black characters from Italian Renaissance paintings and statues of Black figures shown to be holding up a building titled “Stati Uniti D’America,” or the United States of America. Wilson noted that he shifted to glasswork when he started creating chandeliers made of Black glass, titling the chandeliers with lines from Shakesespeare’s “Othello.” He included these works in his Istanbul exhibition, where, similar to his Venice exhibition, Wilson said he wanted to highlight the presence of the minority Black population in Turkey.
universities) in order to continuously monitor how the situation might develop over the coming weeks and months,” Van Der Meid said. Students hoping to study abroad in a French, Hebrew, Spanish or Italian speaking country are required to successfully complete class levels of at least 10 and 20 beforehand in order to “demonstrate a basic knowledge” of the language, according to the Study Abroad website. “Students who study abroad in China, South Korea or Italy are required to take one course in that language if they go abroad to that country,” Van Der Meid said. He explained that students who switched study abroad locations
this semester due to the coronavirus were able to switch into countries that did not have a language prerequisite. Students who would like to study abroad but have only taken languages where travel is restricted can still study abroad, if they so choose, he said. “Brandeis understands the impact that a mid-semester change to coursework can have and strives to work closely with our affiliate program partners in order to help mitigate potential impacts on students’ academic progress,” Van Der Meid said. “Should a program decide to suspend operations for the semester, we will work with students to consider alternate means to maintain academic progress, following
the options set out by their respective programs or universities.” At this point, study abroad programs outside of mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea are still operational this summer. However, since this situation is constantly evolving, it is important to carefully weigh whether or not studying abroad is the right decision for you, Van Der Meid said. “Students and families with questions about how their time abroad might be impacted should reach out to the Office of Study Abroad so that we can navigate this complicated global health situation together,” Van Der Meid said. More information can be found on the Brandeis Study Abroad Responding to the Coronavirus page.
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features
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020 ● FEATURES ● THE JUSTICE
just
VERBATIM | DIANE VON FURSTENBERG The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1917, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake killed 140 people in Long Beach, California.
Bats are the only mammals that can actually fly.
#StoryTellingSavesLives “This Is My Brave — College Edition” performed on campus last Thursday
Photos by THEA ROSE/the Justice
INSPIRE AND BE INSPIRED: Ali Gold hopes that by sharing her struggles with OCD, anxiety, bipolar disorder and self-harm, she will inspire those who are struggling to realize they have a bright future ahead.
By SOFIA GONZALEZ JUSTICE EDITOR
The cast of “This Is My Brave — College Edition” shared their experiences with mental illness with the Brandeis community in the form of poems and interactive stories last Thursday in the Shapiro Campus Center. The event aimed to “create a positive and supportive conversation around mental health through students sharing their personal stories using creative expression,” per the University’s website. This Is My Brave began as a blog in August 2011 when Jennifer Marshall, a mother of two young kids, shared her experience with bipolar disorder. In October 2013, Marshall partnered with Anne Marie Ames to design and produce a theater show that would decrease the stigma associated with mental health. Since then, This Is My Brave has “produced over 50 unique shows in cities across the United States featuring over 700 storytellers,” per their website In 2019, Marshall and Ames decided to create two new pilot programs aimed at educating young adults and teenagers about mental health and stigma. As part
OPENING UP: Josh Ludwig shared his experience with mania to raise awareness about what symptoms people can experience during that stage of bipolar disorder.
Design: Sofia Gonzalez/the Justice
of the initiative, they recruited a team of 10 graduate and undergraduate students from Boston-area campuses that performed at Lesley University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Tufts University and Boston University prior to coming to Brandeis. Four of those students — Josh Ludwig, Ally Beard, Ali Gold and Mallory Gothelf — and one of the co-producers of the “This Is My Brave — College Edition,”Audrey Grubb, performed, sharing their experiences with Brandeis students, faculty, staff and Waltham residents. Using humor, sadness, irony and nostalgia, the four students highlighted the importance of speaking up about issues surrounding mental health and establishing a strong support network. As Gothelf stated in an interview with the Justice, “Whatever you are going through it never helps to keep that inside or internalize it.” One of the first steps people should “always take” is sharing those feelings with someone, whether it is a friend, family member or counselor, according to Gothelf. “I think that is when you can receive a lot of support and really bolster what you are going through,” she explained. With one out of five Americans impacted by a mental illness every year, communication is the only way to decrease the stigma that currently exists around these topics and provide help to those who need it, the cast reminded the audience. Several narratives also emphasized the importance of self-care in maintaining physical and mental health. Beard, a junior at Harvard University who shared her journey in dealing with anxiety and depression, told the Justice that “no matter how busy you are, it is important to take time for yourself every single day. … It’s going to help you to feel better, to work better and to be better.” While prioritizing self-care might be difficult in college, especially during particularly busy weeks, doing so will “make you more efficient in the long run,” she added. It is important to remember, the performers said, that selfcare looks different for everyone. As Grubb mentioned in an email to the Justice, “Selfcare doesn’t always have to be a day at the spa. It can be as simple as taking a few deep
breaths in the middle of the day to reset before class, listening to music, or taking a quick walk. Find something that works for you and DO IT.” All of the stories shared by the cast also explored the role of their families in their road to recovery from mental illness. While the performers expressed gratitude toward their family members for being supportive and proactive, it is worth recognizing that this is not a universal experience and that cultural differences might make it hard for certain individuals to ask for help, receive assistance and access treatment. As Gothelf mentioned, “It can be hard because your family plays such a huge role and culturally there are aspects that people are not going to agree with or understand.” Beard added to that, stating that her “family was not actively against mental health or mental well-being, but they just did not know what anxiety was.” Naivety and lack of awareness are, indeed, common among older generations who were simply never exposed to these
“
It’s so common to be in therapy now. It’s like the bookclub of our generation. Ally Beard, Harvard subjects because of the taboos associated with them. Dealing with inexperienced parents can be taxing, especially during periods of stress. Beard advises individuals going through this to “try to have patience… no matter how frustrating it might be.” Gothelf emphasized the importance of taking the time and space to consider the best ways to approach and discuss the subject, “whether that be by distancing yourself a little bit so you can take time to heal and feel strong” or by reaching out to others who might understand. She added that “sometimes you just have to create a little distance so can take care of yourself.”
BACHELORS AND BEYOND: After completing her undergraduate degree, Audrey Grubb enrolled in a graduate program in mental health counseling.
The event, which was sponsored by the Dean of Students Office and the Health and Wellness Program, was followed by a reception that featured food and drinks and allowed the audience to talk directly with the cast. This Is My Brave is still seeking undergraduate and graduate students interested in sharing their stories about mental health. While platforms like This Is My Brave provide individuals with a great opportunity to share their journey with mental health, Grub urges people to remember that “everyone experiences mental health and recovery differently,” and that as long as you are receiving help, the way you choose to share — or not share — your story is completely valid.
If you need to talk to someone immediately, please call one of the following resources: Brandeis Counseling Center after hours: 781-736-3785 Brandeis 6TALK: 781-736-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 Self-harm Hotline: 800-273-TALK
THE JUSTICE ● FEATURES ● TUESDAY, MARCH 10 , 2020
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THEA ROSE/the Justice
ORIGINS: The United Nations formally recognized March 8 as International Women’s Day during the 1970s.
Celebrating women at Brandeis and beyond The Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis sponsored a brunch on Sunday in celebration of International Women’s Day. By ELIANA PADWA JUSTICE EDITOR
International Women’s Day began in the early 1900s as a labor holiday honoring working women’s movements in the United States and throughout Europe, per National Geographic. Originally implemented by the Socialist Party of America, it became an important day of pacifist protest during World War I, and in 1917, International Women’s Day rallies in Russia contributed to the start of the Russian Revolution, as stated by Penn Today. In the 1970s, the United Nations formally recognized March 8 as International Women’s Day, and it has since been used as a day to “celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics,” per the BBC. At Brandeis, this year’s day was observed through the International Women’s Day Brunch, a gathering of student organizations sponsored by the Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis. At the event, attendees could eat a free bagel brunch and “appreciate and empower the women in [their] life” by participating in a variety of activities, according to the event description. Organizer Yael Perlman ’23, who is part of JFAB, had celebrated International Women’s Day every year at her all-girls high school. She told the Justice that this year she was inspired by how Kindness Day brought people together, and decided to hold a campus-wide gathering for Women’s Day because “a lot of times, campus is so isolated. … If you’re in a certain club, you don’t necessarily know people from other parts of campus.” Her goals for the day were to gather, unify and empower — which she feels she achieved. JFAB served bagels, lox, pastries and coffee, and many other clubs tabled with information and other handouts. The Justice spoke with each organization, hearing their unique perspectives on International Women’s Day and their club’s feminist missions. Sharsheret at Brandeis Sharsheret at Brandeis Co-Presidents Debbie Spivak ’21 and Cassandra Nathan ’21 told the Justice that supporting International Women’s Day fits into their club’s mission of linking people together — Sharsheret is the Hebrew word for “link.” Sharsheret is a national organization supporting Jewish women and their families facing breast and ovarian cancer. They have college chapters around the country. At Brandeis, Nathan and Spivak feel Sharsheret’s role is to spread information about those cancers that younger people might not have easy access to after graduation. At the Sharsheret booth, brunch attendees could pick up goodies such as branded mints and pens as well as information about breast and ovarian cancer. PERIODBrandeis Brandeis PERIOD leaders Kyla Speizer ’23 and Cassady Adams ’22 said, “We are trying to break down the menstrual stigma and
make sure that everyone who needs access to menstrual products has access to menstrual products.” Throughout the school year, PERIOD holds open mic nights, menstrual products drives and education events. They also work with Girl Scouts, teaching them about period poverty and getting them involved in menstrual activism. PERIOD acknowledges that “not all women menstruate and not all menstruators are women,” but feel that events like the brunch are still important for connecting with other feminist clubs on campus. Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance The Femenist Majority Leadership Alliance leaders Olivia Pavao ’20 and Zoe Applbaum ’20 told the Justice they are proud of being the biggest feminist organization at Brandeis. On campus, they “provide a space for people to talk about feminist issues, as well as do some grassroots activism,” Pavao
Club representatives told the Justice about a recent alumni panel they held, in which they brought in female alumni from a variety of STEM professions. They also partner with a graduate organization, volunteer at a local middle school and hold fundraisers for a women in STEM scholarship at Brandeis. They get around 50-60 people at events, they added, showing that they are making an impact. They feel their mission “ties in nicely” with International Women’s Day. “Promoting it on campus … is amazing. It really just aligns with Brandeis and its mission … and it’s a good support system for other women on campus, to know there are other organizations they can look to,” they highlighted. GirlUp Brandeis GirlUp “strive[s] to promote the health, safety, education, reproductive rights and general well-being of adolescent girls around the world, especially in developing counTHEA ROSE/the Justice
BAGELS, COFFEE AND FEMINISM: JFAB hosted a kosher bagel brunch. Several clubs on campus set up informational booths.
and Applbaum said. At brunch, they handed out period packs with a pad, a tampon and a piece of chocolate. Packs were free, but they suggested a donation of $2, which would go to the Boston-area Rape Crisis Center. The club also holds Sexual Violence Awareness Month in April. FMLA tries to cross-collaborate with other feminist groups on campus as much as possible, they said. Asked how International Women’s Day is important in 2020, they pointed out the lack of a female president and that “women are at a significant disadvantage in comparison to men across the world.” It is always important to celebrate women’s activism globally, Pavao and Applbaum added. Brandeis Encourages Women in Science and Engineering BeWISE encourages women in STEM.
tries,” said President Pallavi Goel ’21. At Brandeis, they work to spread awareness and hold fundraisers, and are hoping to have an empowerment festival in early April. At their booth, they distributed heart cards, allowed guests to write empowering Post-it notes and held face painting “just for fun.” GirlUp is an international organization affiliated with the United Nations, and Goel said that International Women’s Day is “very fitting for GirlUp.” GirlUp is about female empowerment, she said, and she was happy to be there. Brandeis Athletics Women representing Brandeis Athletics also tabled at the event. Olivia Feeley ’23, who is on the soccer team, said she and some teammates took the opportunity to “share our perspective on the day and on being competitive female athletes.” Feeley said she feels there
are “many intersections” surrounding being a woman in competitive sports, and that it presents unique challenges to overcome but “many beautiful things come from it too.” To Feeley, this day is “a celebration of all the things it means to be a woman — the things that are challenging, as well as the things that are really rewarding.” Asked to elaborate on the unique challenges facing women in sports, basketball player Emma Reavis ’23 jumped in: “One of the things … that really affects women in sports, especially in today’s day and age, is people who say they would rather watch a boy’s soccer game or a boys’ basketball game than a girls’ because we’re ‘not as athletic.’ … I think they are not really understanding that there are other things that we’re capable of. We’re skilled, we are able to do things that could be just as fun to watch or just as interesting but we’re not given the opportunity to have that sort of support.” Reavis added that people tend not to understand the challenges women athletes face, stereotyping their coaches and practices as less intensive than the men’s teams. Sabrina Salov ’22, another soccer player, added that a unique challenge faced by women in sports is “the disparity in respect compared to men.” She has pushed through by learning to find that respect within herself, and handles obstacles by relying on herself and the trust she’s built. Social Justice and Diversity Committee The Student Union’s Social Justice and Diversity Committee’s booth showcased biographies of impactful women from around the world. SOJO chairs said they chose the women to showcase by finding one inspiring figure from each continent, and tried to make sure they represented people of different backgrounds and cultures. Asked to speak to the ‘international’ component of the day, they said it meant “recognizing women from all over the world. That’s why we have women from different cultures, religions. … Clearly, they are not all American.” The committee’s mission is to “make sure we are really bringing out the social justice part at Brandeis, and promoting justice and equality. … [and] making sure that minorities on the campus are well-represented,” they told the Justice. Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center Alison Hagani ’22 and Lauren Formanski ’22 staffed the Prevention Advocacy & Resource Center’s table, running a game where one could match a woman activist’s description to her name. Each woman has “participated in her own way, disrupting the cycle of violence,” they explained, saying they picked women by focusing on diversity and adding different perspectives and fields. To them, International Women’s Day is about “taking power back to raise awareness and empower women further.” It’s also about supporting one another, they added, noting that bystander intervention is also about standing up for each other.
Design: Sofia Gonzalez/the Justice
10 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020 ● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE
Justice
the
Established 1949
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Jocelyn Gould, Editor in Chief Jen Geller, Managing Editor Avraham Penso and Natalia Wiater, Senior Editors Gilda Geist and River Hayes, Deputy Editors Andrew Baxter, Hannah Kressel, Eliana Padwa Yvette Sei, Lily Schmidt-Swartz, Judah Weinerman and Maya Zanger-Nadis, Associate Editors Emily Blumenthal, News Editor Sofia Gonzalez, Features Editor Gabriel Frank, Forum Editor, Megan Geller, Sports Editor Luke Liu, Arts & Culture Editor Noah Zeitlin, Photography Editor Yael Hanadari-Levy, Graphic Design Editor Cameron Cushing and Hannah O’Koon, Copy Editors Frances Hoffen and Yona Splaver, Ads Editors Samantha Goldman, Online Editor
EDITORIALS
Evaluating options for the future of campus dining
Brandeis University hosted a series of four Request for Proposal forums between Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5 in search of a new dining vendor. The University invited Sodexo, Harvest Table, Chartwells and Bon Appetit to present at these forums.
Why we like Harvest Table Of all of the vendors that presented, this board would like to endorse Harvest Table, an independent division of Aramark that uses different sourcing, as our next food vendor. This food vendor seems to have many ideas for the future of Brandeis Dining, such as rebranding and relocating Louis’ Deli to the Usdan gameroom for more space and a classier appearance. Another idea was to replace Currito with TomaTillos, a more authentic Mexican experience. In addition to these upgrades, Harvest Table plans to incorporate more plant proteins, such as spinach, kale, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds and much more. They also plan to make food and beverages available 24/7 in Lower Usdan with a more “robust” offering day and night. Harvest Table claimed in their presentation materials to report allergen information for “the top eight allergens [which] are milk, egg, soy, wheat, shellfish, fin fish, peanut[s] and tree nut[s],”a good step given the necessity of accurate allergen information Additionally, this company plans to source their food from local farms and markets such as 4 Town Farms in Seekonk, MA, Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole, NH and Steere Orchards in Greenville, RI. This is a positive step if the Brandeis community desires to eventually have its own dining service, as obtaining food locally will make a future transition, supported by the student group Brandeis Uproot and Rising, easier. The company also only purchases meat from third-party certified sources to ensure animal welfare. Although Harvest Table is our top choice, we still have reservations regarding their affiliation with Aramark. Aramark has a history of client complaints about food quality and sustainability. Harvest Table is an independent division of Aramark and gets their food from different sources. This board is uncomfortable with financially supporting a company with the issues that Aramark has, but of the four vendors presented, we see Harvest Table as the best option, especially because of its independence from its parent company. Why this board is not endorsing the other three vendors For all their posturing as willing to change and improve, Sodexo has done nothing to convince this board that they will be able to truly fix their issues if their contract is renewed. We cannot endorse renewing a contract with a vendor that is not demonstrating a clear plan to deal with its most critical problems, including health concerns
and dangerous mishandling of student allergies. In addition, while other vendor proposals are claiming to offer significant changes, Sodexo’s main message seems to be that they will give us more of the same by building on current “momentum,” with only surface level changes. If the University wants a change, we should get a real change. This board also believes that two of the other proposed finalists, Chartwells and Bon Appetit, would not sufficiently address the needs and concerns of the University as the new vendor. While both plans include details on changes to the current dining situation, for the most part they seem discouragingly similar to what we already have with Sodexo. Their shared parent company Compass Group — as well as both of these independent branches — all have a history of bad press and complaints around health concerns and poor treatment of workers. Their talk of sustainability and technology initiatives may sound compelling without the context of the personal bad experience the Brandeis community has had with our current vendor, but beyond that, this board does not believe either will give the University dining the changes we need. Independent dining at Brandeis This board agrees with the student group Uprooted and Rising, which argues in-house dining would give Brandeis the best opportunity to ensure sustainable dining services, just treatment to dining employees and lower costs, among other benefits. However, we are unsure of the practicality of making the transition by the upcoming summer, as the new contract must start July 1. This board encourages the school to evaluate the potential for transitioning to in-house dining and to communicate with other colleges who have their own in-house dining programs and foundations who have supported similar transitions in the past. The board also recommends that the school negotiate a flexible contract with the upcoming company so a transition to in-house dining could be made in the future. Ultimately, though this board endorses Harvest Table as our next food vendor, we would like to emphasize certain changes that any future vendor should offer. First, meal plans should be affordable to all students. Additionally, students should have more meal plan options, as well as the ability to opt-out of purchasing a meal plans for students who live in dorms with kitchens. A large number of students in housing with kitchens are forced to purchase a meal plan that they often do not fully use. Additionally, a points-only meal plan would be helpful for students who want the option to eat on campus without carrying around cash or a credit card, while also not having swipes they will never finish. —Editor’s Note: Editor Jen Geller covered these forums for News and did not contribute to this Editorial.
AMANDA PYUN / the Justice
Views the News on
In recent months, the Supreme Court has announced it will take on various court cases that test already festering tensions in American society. These cases will involve issues ranging from abortion rights, to the status of DACA immigrants, to deciding the fate of the Affordable Care Act. The case Gee v. June Medical services will determine the Supreme Court’s stance on certain laws that restrict abortion access. Another case, Barton v. Barr, determines the future of 800,000 immigrants known as Dreamers. On March 2, the Supreme Court decided to take up a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, which has survived major attacks under Trump’s presidency. Why do you believe the Supreme Court has chosen to hear these controversial cases now? How will these upcoming rulings deepen the divide amongst an already polarized society? You can answer these questions focusing on one specific case or addressing them as a collective.
Annabella Gualdoni, Esq. (LGLS) It is not surprising to see a series of controversial cases coming before the Supreme Court when there has been a change in its makeup or during an election year, and now we have both so candidates will attempt to use the Court’s rulings, however they may go, to their political advantage. With the Gee case in particular the divide is already profound and longstanding, and a court decision is unlikely to change that. What I do foresee is that case’s outcome causing an even bigger rift in how individual states restrict rights. Many people do not realize that prior to Roe v. Wade (1973) abortion was already legal in some states. Should Gee overturn Roe, I would expect to see a return to the late 60s and early 70s, where access differs greatly from state to state. Evolving reproductive technologies and medicine (such as abortion “pills”) may arise. Annabella Gualdoni is a Guberman Teaching Fellow in Legal Studies.
Prof. Daniel Breen (LGLS) Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Russo v. June Medical Services, LLC, involving the issue of whether Louisiana can constitutionally require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges in a hospital located within 30 miles of the clinics where they work. Since there is no conceivable reason for a law like this other than to make it harder for women to have abortions, the Court has two choices: it can either follow its own precedents by striking down the law as an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to reproductive privacy, or it can ignore those precedents and uphold the law — thus pleasing the Republican constituencies that gave us Justices Gorsuch and Kavanugh. Either decision would further deepen our current partisan divisions; but much more importantly, should the Court discard prior case law and rule for Louisiana, the true losers would be the women of the United States, the institutional integrity of the Court and the Rule of Law. Daniel Breen is a senior lecturer in Legal Studies.
Judah Weinerman ’20 After years of conceited conservative attempts to create the most rabidly right-wing Supreme Court since Roger Taney held the post of Chief Justice, the dual appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have finally given right-wingers the opportunity to take an axe to every single SCOTUS decision that didn’t go their way. Some more West Wing-minded liberals might have faith in Chief Justice John Roberts, but I believe we’ve finally hit the tipping point, where the court sheds any pretense that it is a non-partisan institution. Barring a legal miracle or an especially guilty conscience on the part of Roberts, we may be saying goodbye to Roe v. Wade, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and any hope for those admitted to the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). I have no doubt as to how Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will swing; the only question is whether Justice Roberts wants to destroy his legacy or merely tarnish it. Judah Weinerman is an Associate editor for the Justice majoring in History and Sociology. Photos: Noah Zeitlin; Justice file photo/Brandeis University File Photo
THE JUSTICE ● FORUM ● TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
Coronavirus panic wreaks havoc on the global economy Vandita Malviya
WILSON DIFFERENT
When I first thought of writing this article regarding the economic impact of the coronavirus (officially known as COVID-19), I knew things were going to get worse before they got better — and they have. There has been a delayed impact on the United States, but as of March 7, there has been a total of 17 deaths and 308 cases. A state of emergency has been declared in California, New York and Washington and more. A cruise ship with 21 confirmed cases so far is quarantined near San Francisco, and in limbo as to when test kits for all the passengers will be available. They have finally been allowed to dock in Oakland, CA, which is odd, since Oakland is just a short drive from San Francisco, so I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to prevent. What started as a problem halfway across the world in Wuhan, China, has spread to Italy, Iran and the rest of the world. So far, 102,000 have been infected with the virus and nearly 3,500 have died worldwide. The first death from the virus, which was first reported on Dec. 31, was in Wuhan. It’s likely that the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks prior. On Jan. 23, the initial response to the virus was met with a strict quarantine imposed by the Chinese government, with all air and rail travel temporarily stopped. Then Beijing canceled celebrations around the Lunar New Year, and the Shanghai Disneyland closed. Travel restrictions started cropping up for locations like China and Hong Kong. By Jan. 27, there were cases of the coronavirus reported in the U.S., Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. Suddenly, people were afraid to travel with or near anyone who looked like they might be from one of those countries which reeks of racism, and a policy like the ones deployed by China isn’t feasible in most many other countries on a large scale that has been done in some of the countries where the first cases appeared. A few firms were brave enough to send cautionary notes to their investors about the impact on their supply chains. Apple was among the first to do so: They closed some stores in China and have been consistently lowering their earnings estimates for the year. In our endless cycle of shopping and with China having become the world’s factory, there will be fewer goods shipped out from China. It boggles my mind that companies
put all their manufacturing in one country and never diversified their supply chains to other leading manufacturing countries because the cost at the time would have hurt their bottom line. To me, this is typical Wall Street, thinking of profits before people and procedure. Sure, maybe we all don’t need the latest and greatest Apple Watch now. What about every other thing we purchase? Most of it is manufactured outside the U.S., and a good portion of that is made in China. This includes the face masks that have seen stock outages and price gouging, as well as pharmaceuticals and medical devices. A friend of mine mentioned that some companies have had work standstills because the raw material they use for research are made in China as well, and they don’t have the reagents to make their products stateside. Wait times for products are increasing and without products to sell, there is no revenue to realize. There have been travel and tourism repercussions as well, which seem blown out of proportion given the low fatality rates of COVID-19. True, the rate of infection is high, but since the virus impacts those with compromised immune systems and the elderly, it seems ridiculous to close school to save the children. A far better solution would be to tell the affected populations to selfquarantine or avoid public spaces. Schools have canceled their trips abroad for students, faculty and staff. The Louvre was closed for a period but has since reopened. The streets of Venice have been emptied out. Airlines have canceled flights to more and more countries, especially locations most seriously affected by the coronavirus. Companies have been canceling trips. Conferences and South by Southwest was canceled in Austin, Texas. Both Amazon and Microsoft have been having their employees work from home, at least those who can. Additionally, as with any economic crisis, the most affected people are the ones who can least afford it: service workers continue to show up for their shifts because if they don’t, they don’t get paid. Gig economy workers who might be delivering for GrubHub or driving for Uber are still on the road. Schools have closed for weeks at a time, including elementary schools (as close as in Wellesley, MA) and universities (Stanford, the University of Southern California, and the University of Washington), out of an abundance of caution. What’s worse than the bite of the virus so far is its bark. Fear begets fear, and I have noticed the streets around the Boston area seem to be quieter than usual. Scaremongering spreads awfully fast, and fewer people have been going to movies, eating out, riding the train or going to sporting events. Some teams have posted warnings and made requests that any
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fans concerned about their safety simply stay home, and suggestions have been made that games be played in empty arenas. I’ve seen recipes for hand sanitizer popping up on my social media feeds, and I’ve heard tales of people buying Everclear, which is 190-proof alcohol, if they can’t buy hand sanitizer. So far, 93 countries have been affected. Meanwhile, we still don’t know how COVID-19 is transmitted, and there is no vaccine. Nor do we know the incubation period of the virus, with estimates ranging from two days to a few weeks. Many of those infected seem to recover, with those most susceptible being the elderly and those with compromised systems. The Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have not labeled the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic … yet. It’s more widespread than either SARS or MERS were, but it seems to have a lower death rate. A lot of people seem to think that buying a mask and giving a nasty look to someone who is coughing will be sufficient to prevent them from catching the virus. The reality is that people just reall need to wash their hands better and moisturize afterwards. It’s one reason why I wear gloves when I’m out and about. It would help if public places were actually kept clean. Why does it take the threat of a virus to clean the subway lines or “deep clean” a school’s surfaces? I wonder what the custodial staff is doing other than emptying trash and superficial dusting. Perhaps if they were given a budget for decent cleaning supplies and the time in which to perform
their duties, surfaces would remain cleaner. The financial markets have certainly not been immune to the effects of COVID-19. Granted, the markets had been slowing, but jobs were growing at a healthy clip, incomes were rising and inflation was low. Then, on March 3, the Federal Reserve took the extraordinary measure of cutting the federal funds rate by one-half percentage point in an effort to calm the markets, but that measure fell flat. Last week, stocks experienced their biggest weekly loss since the global financial meltdown of 2008. The biggest stock losers were airlines, travel-related stocks, oil companies and technology stocks. Sure, the market has needed a correction, and I’ve felt that we’ve been in a bubble for a while, but what I don’t understand is the senseless herd mentality of investors wanting to sell in a down market. If investors don’t like uncertainty, I’m at a loss to explain why they’re in the stock market to begin with. I constantly see my friends and family engaged in wild sell-offs and then complaining about their losses. Maybe if they would stop looking at their investments on a daily basis and use that time doing something more productive, like reading a book, it might give them more peace of mind. Until the means of transmission are identified, and effective mitigating plans are put in place, the wild ride caused by the coronavirus is far from over. But we can all do our part by using common sense and taking measures not to spread illness when we are sick.
Evaluating Joe Biden’s presidential competency Trevor FILSETH
SANITY
The presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden has, to say the least, recovered from a rocky start. After three disappointing finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Biden won every county in South Carolina and nine out of 15 states on Super Tuesday, putting the former vice president firmly in the lead in the number of delegates awarded so far. For the first time since the race began, this has crystallized the two wings of the Democratic Party into two solid voting blocs: the center-left supports Biden and the progressive left supports former frontrunner Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. To put it mildly, this turn of events has not favored Sanders. Indeed, the timing of Biden’s support — all the other moderate candidates dropped out and endorsed him within a 24-hour period — invites suspicion of a conspiracy of the “establishment” against Sanders. This
makes sense when one considers that the Democratic National Committee more or less openly sided with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Sanders in 2016. While it’s certainly possible that the DNC is scheming against Sanders again, it’s more likely that a large number of Democrats simply see Sanders’ policies as too extreme and many consider Biden as a viable alternative in his own right. Biden’s experience certainly qualifies him for the role. He served in the Senate from 1973 to 2009 with a largely successful track record. He was one of the co-sponsors of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act and the 1994 10-year Federal Assault Weapons Ban. He was mocked for saying in a debate that Americans needed to “keep punching” at domestic violence, but Biden himself was instrumental in the passage of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which led to an astonishing drop in intimate-partner violence. Biden has since called VAWA his proudest accomplishment as a senator. After Obama picked Biden for the vice presidency, his relationships in the Senate were essential in securing the necessary sixty votes for the Affordable Care Act. Of course, after 40 years of public service, Biden has had his fair share of screw-ups. He infamously plagiarized part of a speech in 1987,
costing him his shot at the presidency that year. His opposition to federally mandated busing is anathema to the party today, and he was widely criticized for his conduct towards Anita Hill in her 1991 hearings, although there is at least some evidence that he has tried to make amends for it. In short, Biden’s track record is not nearly as consistently spotless as Sanders’. But Biden can be relied upon to deliver a solidly liberal agenda, perhaps even more liberal than President Obama’s, and if he ultimately secures the nomination, the Democratic Party will be in good hands. More importantly for those worried about the general election, the polls so far have suggested that Biden would beat Trump in a head-to-head contest. We’re far enough away from November that anything could happen, but Biden’s approach seems to be far superior to Hillary Clinton’s in 2016. There’s a tendency among some Democrats to consider the white working class in Midwestern Rust Belt states as irredeemable reactionaries and to write them off in favor of appealing to younger, more diverse segments of the population. This is certainly worth doing, but Biden’s been around long enough to understand that elections aren’t won through ideological purity, but through building a winning coalition from all parts of the electorate. As a
moderate, he’s better positioned to recapture them, as well as other Obama voters who switched to Trump in 2016. Biden’s record notwithstanding, he’s opposing Bernie Sanders from the right and this has led some on the left to treat him as though he were a Republican in disguise. Several people I know have promised to stay home in November if Biden defeats Sanders for the nomination. Obviously, this is their prerogative. However, it seems strange to me that the people who would probably be the most outraged by four more years of Trump are also the most willing to bring it about. Toxic brinkmanship — insisting others vote for your candidate, at the risk of everyone losing — might work in the short run, but in the long run, it has the potential to destroy the Democratic Party. So by all means, continue to support Bernie Sanders as vocally as you can. Sell as many people as possible on his progressive vision. Continue to criticize Biden’s record wherever criticism is due. Above all, though, remember that the Democrats are one party, not two. If you’re a Democrat, whoever wins the nomination needs your support, and even if you would have rather had someone else, the alternative is Trump.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Is eliminating plastic straws really the answer to climate change? By ANGELA SELF JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Unless you have been living under a rock, then you have probably noticed the introduction of reusable straws around campus. The supposed intent behind this new green initiative is to cut back on the use of single-use plastics, of which I am completely in favor. The abundance of singleuse plastics in existence has exacerbated the effects of climate change by contributing to greenhouse gas emissions around the world. This initiative to stop using plastic straws is not just isolated to Brandeis University — this is a global movement in which the consumer is being challenged to consider how even the smallest actions, such as using a straw, have drastic consequences on the environment. However, though I am in support of holding ourselves accountable for climate change and its impact on our environment, I am not on board with the focus on blaming the consumer. Instead, I believe that we should shift our collective gaze on the giant conglomerates responsible for the mess we find ourselves in now and hold them accountable for the absolute destruction these companies have caused in our world. 71% of all global greenhouse emissions are created by only 100 companies. If this is the case, then why has the majority of the blame been placed on the consumer? I think that there are two primary reasons why the narrative has been skewed, the first being that it is simply the most profitable solution. These companies have been incredibly successful in making you, the consumer, feel bad for the mess they have created. Instead of spending any money to fix the problem, they have gotten you to purchase more products that supposedly “fix” climate change. Honestly, my hat is off to their marketing team for being able to sell such complete and utter garbage to the public. For example, let’s take the company Chevron Corporation, an oil company that ranked 12th on that list I mentioned earlier. Chevron contributes to 1.31% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world. It also made a net profit in just the fourth quarter of last year of 3.7 billion dollars. If they put 1% of that towards researching more eco-friendly alternatives to their product, that would be an astounding 37 million dollars. And that is only one company on a list of 100. There is no reason that we should be in the catastrophe that we are in today.
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The second reason that I believe the consumer is being blamed for climate change is because it is something tangible that the average person has direct control over. We may not be able to force companies to contribute their earnings to fixing climate change or passing sensible laws that would save our planet. What is completely within our control is the ability to say “no” to a simple plastic straw. Instead of becoming totally disenfranchised with those in power and taking on a nihilistic outlook, people try to fix what they can in order to make themselves feel like they have some sort of control over their future. I don’t blame people for acting this way; it is a means of survival. We feel good about ourselves for not using a straw when we order our non-fat oatmeal macchiato and think that we have done our part after carrying our groceries in flimsy paper bags that will inevitably rip once you have left the store.
Now, where do we go from here? I find it highly unlikely that these 100 corporations will have a Scrooge-like epiphany and out of the goodness of their hearts fork over millions of dollars to climate change research. The government, at least in the United States, has to take these companies to court. This strategy has worked before: the Oklahoma attorney general took the pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson, to court in a landmark case in which Johnson & Johnson was held partly responsible for the opioid epidemic sweeping the country and were forced to pay 572 million dollars, which will be put by the state towards addiction treatment programs. Why can’t the same be done for the sake of climate change? I have for most of this article tried to shift the blame of climate change onto these large corporations. This does not completely absolve the consumer. Sure, we could continue to solely focus on eradicating plastic
straws and making sure we correctly recycle (which, by the way, is a sham in itself, but that is a story for a different time). Plastic straws make up just 0.025% of plastic found in the ocean. Although the fight to remove plastic straws has its flaws, it does show just how powerful the consumer can be in demanding change. If we focused that energy on other, more productive climate-change-reducing measures, we could make much more of an impact. For starters, boycott the use of plastic bags. Try to avoid stores that offer them if you can (though I realize this might not be feasible for everyone). Vote with your dollar. That is the power that the consumer has. If you vote with your dollar, you are placing more of the blame on these companies, while also owning up to the role we have in the current state of our planet. We have the power to enact change and hold these companies responsible. So what are we waiting for?
Reflecting on the current state of the Democratic primary By MEHMET ZORLUOGLU JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
As Joe Biden comes off with what was widely recognized as an unexpectedly strong showing on Super Tuesday, looking to all but put the nomination away tonight, Sanders is continuing his energetic rallies to galvanize supporters to his side, particularly in Michigan, the largest state to vote on the 10th. What we are witnessing, however, is a generational divide, the likes of which perhaps the Democratic party has never before seen. Some exit polls suggest Sanders won 58% of those aged 18-29, whereas it is almost flipped for voters aged 65+, with Biden earning 48% (with Sanders trailing far behind with 15%). The difficulty for Democrats who singlemindedly want to defeat Trump is to decipher who is most likely to do so. It is undeniable that the party elite, as well as a broad swath of older voters, see Biden as the much safer option, perhaps voting out of a sense of fear or apprehension that the Sanders campaign would fall on its face in November. We can label these voters “default Biden voters.” Those who may have entertained other candidates, but when the dust settled and everybody else dropped out, really only had one choice left. The rapid consolidation of the Democratic field after South Carolina seems to have completely turned the primary on its head. Even after South Carolina, many observers — myself included — were expecting a pretty good night for Sanders on Super Tuesday. The delegate count notwithstanding — as it is yet to be determined, with states like California, Colorado and Utah (strong states for Sanders) still yet to post complete results — the narrative out of Super Tuesday was that Biden came out with a resounding win and that Sanders had been rejected by voters. This despite the fact that it simply is not true: Biden won 38.37% of the votes cast and counted at the time of this writing,
while Sanders won 32.14%. In any normal circumstance, this would be characterized as a reasonably close race with a decided bent in Biden’s favor. Since expectations were low for Biden, however, it is being treated by some as all but burying the Sanders campaign. It will be interesting if voters in future states respond accordingly, as they seem to have after the signals of South Carolina and prominent former candidates like Mayor Buttigieg and Senator Klobuchar endorsing Biden. How and why the race swung so dramatically in such a short span of time and the narrative that came as a result of it aside, it now behooves Democrats to take a good, hard look at the two remaining candidates. While it is abundantly clear that the “party chooses” mentality is not only not dead, but rather stronger than ever, and that they have chosen Biden, this choice is not automatically self-justifying. After all, if the Republican establishment had its way in 2016, Trump would not have won the nomination and the Democrats would likely be in control of the White House today. It is clear, now more than ever, that 2016 was not a mere blip on the radar of the overwhelming beltway consensus on what makes a strong general election candidate. Sanders, despite being quite old, not particularly charismatic, nor particularly elegant as a speaker (like an Obama or JFK) has, for the second primary season running, galvanized a sizeable portion of the Democratic base, and they seem quite sticky— less likely than the supporters of any other candidate to change their preference. Call it a cult, or a movement built on a set of policy issues that have resonated and reverberated throughout the Democratic party, the issue for the establishment seems to be the following: how to retain Sanders’ voters without nominating him?
My suggestion, given how overwhelmingly his support skews younger and less ideologically or emotionally tied to the Democratic party, is that it is a fool’s errand. This is because, firstly, younger people are lower propensity voters to begin with, as the Sanders campaign has learned the hard way in not being able to turn them out at the numbers they had wished (although, if you ask some, it is not for lack of trying, as the entire UCLA campus, from reports, seems to have had only one precinct for a school of upwards of 40,000 students). Secondly, Sanders voters are far more likely to be unsatisfied with politics as usual or the status quo, and thus a larger portion of them might see no point in voting for a return to the “normalcy” that bequeathed Trump’s victory to begin with. Another reason for concern among Democrats is that there are many reasons to think that Biden may not be equipped for a long, rigorous campaign process, which is both physically and mentally exhausting. He has kept quite a light campaign schedule, actually managing last week to win a handful of states he never stepped foot in. Buoyed by overwhelming support from Black voters, particularly in the South, who are generally quite reliable Democratic votes in November, Biden has created the appearance that he is running away with the nomination, despite the fact that Sanders enjoys overwhelming support from Latinos, another crucial group Democrats must win in November. If 2016 is anything to go by, it seems like a tireless campaigner who is more than happy to travel to every corner of the country to court voters might have an edge over Biden’s more hands-off approach. In this sense, it seems that youth is on Sanders’ side in two senses, both in terms of the voters, and who is more able to bring that energy and vigor to the campaign itself. One can hardly even imagine an alternative history
The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.
where Sanders won the nomination and failed to campaign in some of the rust belt states that the Democrats would eventually lose narrowly to Trump, for example. The last consideration for those attempting to gauge who is more likely to unseat Trump is to answer why they believe Trump won in the first place. There are some — and I am somewhat sympathetic to this view — that suggest that Clinton was a uniquely weak candidate to put up against Trump, one who’s weaknesses played right into his hands, and that the election was a story of who could perform less badly, which Trump barely edged out. There is another view — which I am almost equally sympathetic to, and torn between the two about — which is that Trump was able to capture the anti-establishment fervor which was heating up ever since Obama got elected (and probably even preceding him, as some saw both of his campaigns as quasi-antiestablishment efforts, at least in rhetoric if not substance). On this second view that sees the rise of right-wing so-called “populists” worldwide as a trend, Trump appears a far more formidable candidate, and would need an equal and opposite movement to knock back his. If this second view is favored, and presumably we have not exited this “antiestablishment” moment, then Sanders is the clear choice. If the former interpretation of Trump as a blip and not a phenomenon is preferred, then perhaps Biden, who is better liked than Clinton was, and has the benefit of not having to deal with a decades-long smear campaign by the right impugning his character and motives, would have more than enough to get across the finish line. However, it is clear that Biden is not above the fray on this, as the Hunter BidenUkraine controversy is sure to bubble up again come election time. Whether it will land decisive blows to Biden should he win the nomination, however, is unclear.
THE JUSTICE ● SPORTS ● TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
BASEBALL: Ten games completed CONTINUED FROM 16
the fourth accounted for all of the Judges’ scoring.
Bears in Northborough, MA. Aided by a pair of RBI triples in the second and third innings, Bowdoin jumped out to a 4–0 lead through four innings of the seven-inning contest. Khoury scored a homerun for Brandeis in the sixth to make it 4–1, but the Polar Bears put the game out of reach in their last turn at bat. Shedden took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits in six-plus innings of work, while striking out six and walking none.
Judges 13, Golden Bears 1 Brandeis benefitted from a change of Bears in Northborough in their second doubleheader in as many days, this time against the Western New England University Golden Bears. The Judges led 2–1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, when they scored 11 runs and hit homeruns on four consecutive balls in play. A two-out grand slam by Michaud was followed by a walk, and then back-to-back-to-back homeruns by Khoury, Fossas and Hall. Tobin picked up his third win of the season, striking out 13 in a seven inning complete game.
Polar Bears 8, Judges 2 The Judges dropped the second game of the doubleheader by the same score. Starting pitcher Roberts was knocked out of the game in the third inning despite not surrendering an earned run. The first batter of the game reached on an error, followed by a single to give the Polar Bears runners on first and second with nobody out. After a flyout, an RBI double and a strikeout, the Judges had a chance to avoid further damage, but Bowdoin’s Brendan O’Neil hit a homerun with two runnes on bases to make it 4–0. Another error led to two more unearned runs in the third, before a RBI triple from Hall and subsequent sacrifice fly in
13
LOOKING OUT
Golden Bears 4, Judges 0 The Judges were shut out for the first time this season in the second game, as three Western New England home runs accounted for all of the scoring. Newman took the loss, allowing all four runs in six innings while amassing three strikeouts. Tejada pitched a scoreless seventh, but the Judges went three for 23 at the plate. Brandeis, now 6–4, travels to Salem State University on Wednesday before two doubleheaders over the weekend, including their Sunday home opener against Williams College.
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HUSTLE: Brandeis’ Julia Fujita ’21 sprints to second base in a game against Fitchberg State University on April 11, 2018.
SOFTBALL: Judges’ season starts with a split CONTINUED FROM 16 Poets battled back from an early deficit, and Brandeis did not score again until the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh, Marley Felder ’22 drove in two runs, sealing the victory for the Judges. Goldman tossed another complete game, the 18th of her career. In the second game, Brandeis battled against the Poets, breaking a 3–3 tie in the fourth, scoring nine runs. In a 13–8 win over the Poets, four Judges tallied multiple hits, capped off with home runs from Striggow and Rothenberg.
Concluding their West Coast road trip, Brandeis took on the University of Redlands Bulldogs. The Bulldogs swept the doubleheader, winning the opener 8–7 and the second game 6–0. In the opener, the Judges started the scoring with four runs in the first. However, Brandeis could not maintain their lead for long, as the Bulldogs scored five times in the bottom of the first. Trailing 5–4 in the second, Brandeis took the lead by adding two runs. Bridget Cifuni ’21 added a solo shot to put the Judges up 7–5. In the bottom of the fourth, the Bulldogs scored twice, later gaining the lead with a
two-run home run off of Goldman. This was only Goldman’s third loss of her Brandeis career. In the second game, the Bulldogs tossed a shutout, as the Judges managed only four hits. The Judges squandered scoring opportunities in the fifth, as they loaded the bases with no outs. However, the Judges were unable to overcome the Bulldogs’ offense, losing the second game of the doubleheader as the Bulldogs completed the sweep. After a three-week break, the Judges will host the Clark University Cougars for their home opener on March 14.
TRACK:Team attends UAA Championships CONTINUED FROM 16 Josh Lombardo ’21. On the women's side, Willa Moen ’20 got into the scoring column in the pole vault, tying with two others for eighth place with a height of 3.23 meters. Moen was just an inch off of her personal best. At the end of day one, both Brandeis teams were in sixth place. On day two of competition, the Judges had additional outstanding performances. Breylen Ammen ’21
became the Judges' first-ever UAA pole vault champion and Devin Hiltunen ’22 earned a pair of All-UAA honors at the 2020 UAA indoor track and field championships. She helped the Judges to score 46.33 points and finish in fifth place, one placement down from their position of the past two years. Hiltunen also finished second in the 400-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash to earn her first two individual career AllUAA honors indoors. In the 400-meter, she finished with a time of 58.39 seconds, just 0.14 off the winning time.
Hiltunen had run three-tenths faster in preliminaries and was the top seed in the finals. In the 200-meter, she was third in both the preliminaries and the finals. Her preliminary time of 25.27 seconds is currently tied for 21st in the NCAA rankings, which would gain her entry into the championships. In the final, Hiltunen ran 25.46 seconds, gaining All-Association honors by twohundredths of a second. Brandeis had two individual scorers in the 3,000-meter run. Kenney earned the team's third All-UAA honor with a
runner-up finish. She ran the fastest final lap of the race with a time of 34.25 seconds, to finish with a time of 10:02.87, ranking 36th in Division III this season. Danielle Bertaux ’20 ran the final 200 meters in 36.62 to finish in fourth place with a time of 10:07.33, giving her a 44th rank nationally. This was the first All-UAA honor for both runners during the indoor track season. The Judges also claimed three third-place All-Association honor finishes from Churchill Perry ’20, who was the UAA-triple jump champion as
a sophomore and finished in second as a rookie, completing his medal set in the event with a leap of 13.72 meters. He also added a second bronze in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.33 seconds, just 0.06 out of second and 0.28 behind the winner. The Judges finished in fourth place at the UAA Championships for the second year in a row with 60 points, their highest total since 2006. Brandeis edged out NYU, who finished with 59 points, and Case Western Reserve, who had 58.
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THE JUSTICE
● SPORTS ●
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
15
TENNIS
JUDGES BY THE NUMBERS BASEBALL TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS UAA Conference W L WashU 0 0 Emory 0 0 JUDGES 0 0 NYU 0 0 Case 0 0
W 8 11 3 6 3
Mike Khoury ’21 and Victor Oppenheimer ’20 lead the team with 12 runs batted in.
Overall L Pct. 2 .800 3 .786 1 .750 4 .600 5 .375
Player RBI Mike Khoury 12 Victor Oppenheimer 12 Luke Hall 11
Innings Pitched
UPCOMING GAMES: March 11 at. Salem State University March 14 at Colby College (doubleheader) March 16 vs Williams College (doubleheader)
Greg Tobin ’21 leads all pitchers with 25.2 innings pitched. Player IP Greg Tobin 25.2 Mason Newman 11.1 Kyle Shedden 11.0
SOFTBALL
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LUNGES: Brandeis’ David Aizenberg ’20, depicted above, plays doubles with Anupreeth Coramulta ’21 on Feb. 3.
UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS
UAA Conference W L W Case 0 0 3 WashU 0 0 6 Emory 0 0 6 Carnegie 0 0 3 JUDGES 0 0 3 Carnegie 0 0 2
Overall L Pct. 1 .750 3 .667 4 .600 2 .600 3 .500 4 .333
Runs Batted In
Marley Felder ’19 has a teamhigh 7 runs batted in. Player RBI Marley Felder 7 Tara Striggow 6 Jolie Fujita 5
Innings Pitched Sydney Goldman ’22 has a team-high 21.0 innings pitched. Player Ks Sydney Goldman 21.0 Amidori Anderson 9.2 Chandra Penton 7.2
UPCOMING GAMES: March 14 at Clark University March 22 at Simmins College
TRACK AND FIELD Results from the UAA championships on Feb. 29.
TOP FINISHERS (Men’s) 200-meter dash
RUNNER Perry Churchill Dean Cambell
TOP FINISHERS (Women’s) 200-meter dash
RUNNER TIME Devin Hiltunen 25.27 Anna Touitou 26.80
TIME 22.54 23.20
UPCOMING MEETS: March 13 at NCAA Championships
TENNIS Results from the meet on Feb 23.
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
MEN’S SINGLES David Aizenberg
RECORD 6-2, 6-1
WOMEN’S SINGLES RECORD Catherine Allen 6-0, 6-0
MEN’S DOUBLES RECORD Coramutla/Aizenberg 8-6
WOMEN’S DOUBLES RECORD Cox/Allen 8-4
UPCOMING MEETS:
Men: March 15 at Middleburry College Women: March vs. Endicott College
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Serving up a new season ■ Judges are currently 2–3 after one win and two losses last week. By ANDREW BAXTER JUSTICE EDITOR
The Brandeis men’s tennis team, which was ranked eighth in the country among Division III teams by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, traveled to Minnesota at the end of February to compete in the ITA Division III National Men’s Team Indoor Championship. The Judges had a solid three days of competition, finishing in fourth place with strong showings against top division and national rivals. Judges 7, Bears 2 The Judges started off their tournament strong on Feb. 21 with a win against the No. 1-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears, who also compete in the University Athletic Association. Brandeis swept doubles play to notch a convincing win over the Bears. This contest began with a clean sweep of the doubles, giving the Judges an early lead. The duo of Jeffery Chen ’22 and Adam Tzeng ’22 took the first hit against the Bears at No. 2 doubles, easing past their opponents with a quick 8–0 win. Rajan Vohra ’21 and Colt Tegtmeier ’22 took a couple of late service breaks to take the point at No. 3 doubles, overpowering their opponents 8–4. The Judges completed the sweep of the doubles points with a nail-biter at No. 1 doubles. David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 trailed 7–5 when one of their WashU opponents, Benjamin Vanders Sman, went down with an injury. The Judges took advantage of this opening and closed out this tight match in a tiebreaker, taking it 8–7. Brandeis continued their momentum from doubles play with a strong showing in singles, dropping just two matches, to clinch the win and a spot in the semifinals. The Bears came into the singles strong, taking the score as close as
4–2. Brandeis again got the first win, with Nikhil Das ’21 overpowering WashU’s Sam Komis 6–0 6–1, pulling the Judges ahead 4–0. The Bears took the next two matches at No. 1 singles — with Aizenberg falling short 6–1 6–2 — and at No. 5 — with WashU’s Takabatake toppling Vohra in a hard-fought match with a score of 6–4 6–2. The Judges clinched the match at No. 4 singles, with Chen surging to a 6–4 6–4 victory with a late break in each set. The Judges went on win the remaining matches, with Tzeng at No. 3 and Coramutla at No. 2 coming from behind to win 3–6 6–3 6–0 and 2–6 6–2 6–4 respectively. Eagles 5, Judges 4 The Judges rode their momentum into the semifinals on Feb. 22 against the No. 1-ranked Emory University Eagles, another UAA rival. In this second match of the tournament, Brandeis fell just short of the win with a hard-fought 4–5 loss. The Judges took an early lead in doubles with the team of Aizenberg and Coramutla besting their Eagles opponents 8–3 at the No. 1 spot to get the first team point of the match. The No. 2 Brandeis duo of Chen and Tzeng followed with a closer match, edging out their opponents 8–7 (14– 12) after a marathon tiebreaker. The Eagles got their first point at No. 3 doubles with a hard-fought 8–7 (7–4) victory over Vohra and Tegtmeier to close the gap to 2–1 with the Judges still ahead heading into singles play. The Eagles forged ahead with two early singles wins over the Judges. At No. 2 singles, Emory’s Morro bested Coramutla — reversing his fate against Coramutla from doubles — with a score of 6–3 6–3 to even the team score at 2–2. Tzeng also lost his No. 3 singles match with a score of 6–2 7–6 (7–4). The Eagles took the next singles point as well, with their Kenawi taking down Brandeis rookie Simon Kaupilla ’23 at No. 6 singles 7–5 6–1 to put Emory ahead 4–2, just one point from clinching the team win. The remaining three singles matches were all close battles, going to three sets each. Brandeis’ Aizenberg finished
first with a 6–2 3–6 6–3 win at No. 1 singles. The last two matches finished at about the same time and the two teams split the final team points with Emory clinching the win. Brandeis’ Das fell 6-7 6-1 6-3 at No. 5 singles, giving the Eagles the win. The Judges took the last point of this close team match, with a win by Chen at No. 4 with a score of 6–4 3–6 7–6 (7–5). Maroons 6, Judges 3, In their third match of the weekend, on Feb. 23, the Judges fell to UAA rivals, the No. 4-ranked Maroons from the University of Chicago to take fourth place at the ITA Division III National Men’s Team Indoor Championship. For the third match in a row, the Judges finished doubles ahead of their opponent. Chen and Tzeng finished off a perfect tournament at No. 2 doubles with their third win of the weekend, besting their opponents 8–6. At No. 3 doubles, Vohra and Tegtmeier took another team point for the Judges with another 8–6 win. Chicago got the best of Aizenberg and Coramutla 8–6, handing them their first loss of the tournament at No. 1 doubles. The Judges had the lead 2–1 going into the singles matches. The Maroons took charge of the match in the singles, pulling away from the Judges to take the win. They quickly overtook the Judges in the first three singles matches to finish, notching wins at No. 3 singles with a 6–3 6–2 win versus Tzeng, at No. 5 singles with Das falling 6–0 6–2 and at No. 6 singles with a close 7–5 6–4 score against Brandeis’ Nico Ramirez ’22. Coramutla got the only singles win for the Judges with a hard-fought 7–5 6–2 win at No. 2 singles, before Chicago took the last two matches in three sets. At No. 1, the Maroons edged out Aizenberg, 6–4 1–6 7–5. They consolidated their win with a 5–7 6–4 6–3 win at No. 4 singles, handing Chen his first loss of the tournament. Overall, the Judges had a solid tournament and finished in fourth place with strong showings against top-ranked UAA opponents.
PRO SPORTS BRIEF
Digging deep into the psychology of sports and why they are popular The stereotype of a sports fan is a person sitting on the couch ,drinking beer and eating nachos, according to Psychology Professor Daniel L. Wann of Murray State University in Kentucky. In an interview with CNN, he claimed that “sports fans are quite active physically, politically and socially.” In addition, Wann said he believes that when fans identify with a local team, they have higher self-esteem and are less lonely because they feel they are a part of a group. Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago Sian Beilock found who people who watch sports have improved language skills. Beilock studied hockey fans compared to fans who have never heard or seen the sport. They found that the hockey fans had a “stronger connection between the mind and
the body” and that “when we are sitting on the couch watching a football game or a hockey game, our brain is actually playing the game in a way.” Dr. Robert A. Kloner M.D., Ph.D. is the director of research at the Heart Institute of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles and a professor at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He studied the cardiac death rates in Los Angeles after the Rams lost the Super Bowl in 1980. Kloner found that cardiac death rates in men and women increased after that game. Kloner does admit that he did not have access to data indicating if the patients had underlying cardiac conditions, but Kloner claims, “In some cases, I think that what happens is that the sporting team becomes almost like an extended
family and if your extended family is not doing well and getting beaten in the final quarter of the game, you can understand how there may be an emotional reaction that can lead to a cardiac event.” Kloner’s finding mirrors a study in Europe that looked at how World Cup soccer game losses were associated with cardiac deaths in the country. Martha Newson of the Centre for the Social Cohesion at the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford, examined the release of cortisol, a steroid hormone, as people were watching soccer, according to a Jan. 2020 article. The evidence was collected from field laboratories during the 2014 The Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Natal, Brazil. In this experiment,
they replicated studies that looked at salivary cortisol concentration fluctuations while people watched live soccer events. Newson’s team found a correlation with the increase of cortisol levels in people that were watching live sports. This is beneficial because cortisol is a hormone that can help control people’s sugar level, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation and assist with memory function. According to data collected by psychologist Robert Deaner of Grand Valley State University in Michigan, men were twice as likely as women to be involved or interested in sports across 50 countries. Deaner decided to investigate if there was a biological reason why more men tend to watch sports more than women. In a May
2016 interview with TIME Magazine, Deaner stated he found that fewer women watch sports because there are fewer female sports leagues. He also found that men are more likely to watch sports because of a phenomenon known as the spectator lek. The spectator lek is typically found in male birds but also can be seen in mammals and insects. According to Deaner, “the lek is when men display their plumage, overall size or fitness, by engaging in mock- or not-so-mock-combat, while other members of the species observe.” This explains men sitting down and watching other men play sports on TV. The lek is less common in women, so Deaner concluded that this is why many men have more of a desire to watch sports than women. —Emma Ghalili
just Sports Page 16
SPORTS’ IMPACT ON THE BODY Watchng sports can release hormones that aid in regulating blood sugar, metabolism and memory function, p. 15. Waltham, Mass.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
SOFTBALL
RUN-BELIEVABLE
Softball season opens in California ending 3-3 ■ The Judges opened their season with a doubleheader against Occidental College, followed by facing Whitter College and the University of Redlands. By HANNAH O'KOON JUSTICE EDITOR
The Brandeis University softball team opened their season in California, concluding their first road trip of the season with a 3–3 record. The Judges opened their season with a doubleheader against Occidental College, splitting the two games. The Judges won the opener 7–3. Pitcher Sydney Goldman ’22 tossed a complete game, giving up five hits and three earned runs in seven
innings. Goldman struck out eight and walked five batters, as the Judges tallied 13 hits behind Goldman’s dominant pitching performance. The Judges dropped the second game 5–4, with all four runs coming from home runs by Melissa Rothenberg ’21 and Jolie Fujita ’21. Both two-run shots were not enough to defeat Occidental, as the Judges fell. While facing the Whittier College Poets, the Judges swept the doubleheader, winning the opener 7–3 and the second game 13–8. In the opener, the Judges tallied five runs in the second inning, with eight of the first nine batters reaching base. Tara Striggow ’23 and Brianna Urena ’20 opened the scoring, as each had a bases-loaded single. The
See SOFTBALL, 13
☛ YURAN SHI/Justice File Photo
SPEEDY: Brandeis’ Victor Oppenheimer '20 runs to first base in a game against Suffolk University on March 3, 2019.
TRACK AND FIELD
Team takes fifth in UAA Championships ■ The Judges attended the UAA championships at NYU and recieved a total of 46.33 points, placing them in fifth. By MEGAN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
On Feb. 29 and March 1, the Brandeis Track and Field teams participated in the University Athletic Association championships hosted by New York University at The Armory in New York City, NY. During the first day of the competition, the Judges had two All-Association performances, one for each the men and women. The Judges had one All-Association event each for the men and the women. On the men's side, it was Jack Allen ’20, who placed third and earned individual honors in the long jump with a personal-best distance of 6.90
meters. This was Allen’s first AllUAA honor indoors. On the women's side, the women’s distance medley team of Andrea Bolduc ’21, Sydney D’Amaddio ’23, Victoria Morrongiello ’23 and Niamh Kenney ’21 finished with a time of 12:08.92, nearly two seconds faster than Carnegie Mellon in third. This is the third straight year that the Judges finished in the top two, having won in each of the past two seasons. Other day one scoring performance came in three other events. In the men's high jump, Brandeis competitors took seventh and eighth. Dion Morris-Evans ’23 placed seventh with a height of 1.85 meters, while Allan was eighth at 1.80 meters. The men's distance medley relay placed seventh with a time of 10:32.78, run by the quartet of Alec Rogers ’20, Jamie O’Neil ’22, Aaron Portman ’22 and
See TRACK, 13 ☛
Judges set scoring record with 6–4 to start season ■ The Judges started their new season off strong with a five-game streak. By JONAH WHITE JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Judges opened their season in Florida with five straight wins, as the team scored 10 runs in five consecutive games for the first time ever. Judges 14, Eagles 2 The Judges began this streak on Feb. 17 with a victory over the Elmira College Eagles, getting on the board in all but one inning. First baseman Isaac Fossas ’21 set the tone as the third batter of the game, slugging a two-run home run to left field before the Eagles recorded two outs. Catcher Luke Hall ’21 went four for five and was a home run short of the cycle while pitcher Greg Tobin ’20 earned the win, striking out six opponents in as many innings. Judges 11, Bobcats 5 It wasn’t much closer the next day against the Bates College Bobcats, as Brandeis again led from the game’s third batter, scoring six runs in the first three innings en route to another comfortable win. Left
fielder Sam Nugent ’23 went five for five with three runs scored, while Hall added a home run. Pitcher Tim Lopez ’20 got the win, allowing two runs in five innings while striking out eight.
Judges 11, Eagles 2 On Feb. 19, the Judges trailed the Eagles 2–0 after two innings, but quickly got back on track with three of their own in the third. Brandeis also scored three runs each in the fifth and eighth innings in the effort. Hall went three for five with his second homerun in as many days ,while pitcher Cam Roberts ’22 got the win. Judges 15, Bobcats 1 The Judges dominated the Bobcats again on Feb. 20, ending the game after seven innings because of a ten run mercy rule in place for the February tournament, according to the Brandeis Athletics website. It was 9–1 in the third inning thanks to a grand slam by right fielder Mike Khoury ’21 and the win went to pitcher Kyle Shedden ’20. Judges 11, Vikings 5 Brandeis set a program record against the Augusta College Vikings on Feb. 22 with another remarkable offensive display. Second baseman Victor Oppenheimer ’20 was three
for five with five runs batted in, and the Judges scored nine of their runs in their first two times up. Tobin earned his second win of the season in six scoreless innings of work. Gulls 9, Judges 8 In their first game outside of the Sunshine State, it wasn't so sunny for the Judges, as they suffered their first loss of the season in devastating fashion at the Endicott College Gulls. Brandeis scored the game’s first six runs in the third, including a basesloaded balk. With the score 8–4 entering the bottom of the ninth, it didn’t look like their lack of offense after the third inning would hurt them. Instead, the Gulls hit three straight singles, knocking Judges’ reliever Mason Newman ’21 from the game in favor of pitcher Christian Tejada ’23. Tejada put the tying run on first with a run-scoring walk before a pinch-hit single brought the hosts within a run. After a sacrifice bunt moved the winning run into scoring position, Endicott tied the game on an error by shortstop Drew Michaud ’23. Polar Bears 8, Judges 2 On March 7, the Judges dropped the first game of a double header against the Bowdoin College Polar
See BASEBALL, 13
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March 10, 2020
Vol. LXXII #17 Vol. LXX #2
September 12, 2017
just THE >> Pg. 18 TEMPEST just arts & culture
Waltham, Mass.
Images: Noah Zeitlin/the Justice. Design: Thea Rose/the Justice, Noah Zeitlin/the Justice.
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TUESDAY, THE JUSTICE MARCH |10, ARTS 2020 | TUESDAY, I ARTS &JANUARY CULTURE31, I THE 2017 JUSTICE
THEATER
The temptation of ‘The Tempest’
By SHOSHI FINKEL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
There’s something about William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” that keeps us feeling pulled in by the tides of time back
inhabitants, the spirit Ariel and feral castaway Caliban. Evelyn Inker ’23 had a commanding presence as the formidable Prospero. This character is considered to have been a standin for William Shakespeare himself, and Inker succeeded
EMILY BLUMENTHAL/the Justice
YOUNG TALENT: The actors were successful in bringing the 400-year-old play to life at the Laurie Theater. to the shores of Prospero’s island. And this week, the mysterious and fantastical story was told in the Laurie Theater, part of the Spingold Theater Complex. It tells the story of Prospero, an Italian nobleman and sorcerer, who was marooned on a wilderness island with his daughter, only to create a magical storm to lure an Italian ship to bring them home. The crew and passengers get lost on the island, meeting its strange inhabitants and uncovering the evil plots of Prospero’s brother. This play has something for everyone: romance, fantasy, revenge, court intrigue and questions on the nature of existence itself that have shaken theatergoers to their core for centuries. The actors have clearly worked hard to become these Shakespearean characters, and their hard work paid off. “The Tempest” has much to navigate as a modern actor, with its Elizabethan jokes, songs and philosophy lessons. I especially loved watching Renata Leighton ’21 and Grace Ahlin ’23 as the island’s whimsical and terrifying
at filling the room with the wizard’s and the Bard’s magic and existential musings. Rosie Sentman ’22 and Rose Archer ’20 had sweet chemistry as the youthful aristocrats Miranda and Ferdinand and were just adorable to watch onstage. I also loved watching Elizabeth Hilliard ’23 and Maia Cataldo ’20 as the comedic duo Stephano and Trinculo, as they drunkenly fought and plotted their way to their own undoing over the course of the show. Still, it can be hard to find one’s voice in acting out Shakespeare, especially when such young actors must deliver lines meant to carry the weight of age and experience. It seemed as though the actors could have used some more coaching on how to deliver certain lines, as they often fell into the trap of simply yelling lines when they wanted them to carry more emotion. There were also some moments during the show when I wasn’t sure if the actors knew exactly what their lines meant. But as I’ve said earlier, “The Tempest” is a tall order for a college production, and the cast certainly delivered the intrigue
and the ‘oomph’ this play calls for, and I commend them for that. For most Shakespeare productions nowadays, there is a postmodern urge to change various elements of the show in order to remain relevant and fresh, and this one was no exception. Some of these choices, however, held up better than others. One of the greatest strengths of “The Tempest” is its ability to transport the audience to another world. I would have felt that here, if the production staff could have decided where it was they were transporting me to. The show’s set consisted of two huge fallen structures, resembling steel beams of pieces of a ship, resting atop one another on the edge of a cliff face, with stairs leading up to an inner space of one of these structures, with portholelike windows for characters to hide behind and look out of. This set gave the show a science fiction feel, with strips of LED lights on the sides of the beams changing from green to blue to red, making the whole stage feel like the inside of a spaceship. The floor of the stage had been covered in crushed black cork, making it resemble a black-sand beach, or perhaps the surface of a distant moon. This helped transform the small Laurie Theater into a menacing and eerie island, produced a dramatic effect as actors walked, ran, danced and fought across the stage. The elaborate costumes were beautiful and fun to look at, but could not pick one aesthetic to stick to. Some of the characters sported what looked like Japanese harajuku fashion, while others looked like they had just walked out of “The Jetsons.” I would have liked its whimsical element to have been channeled into clear differences between the clothes of the island inhabitants and the shipwrecked Italian noblemen, but they were equally colorful and strange. There were a few costume pieces that were a marvel to look at, and I could tell a lot of effort was put into their crafting — notably Prospero’s elaborate magic cloak and Ariel’s giant harpy’s wings. There was clearly a lot of effort put into the costumes, but I found myself distracted by their garishness and lack of consistent
EMILY BLUMENTHAL/the Justice
CREATIVE LIBERTY: This production changed the genders and pronouns of some of the characters to fit the needs of the cast. style. The sound and lighting design of this show was perhaps what drew me in the most, throwing the entire room in and out of storms and magical sleeps. The nearlyconstant sound effects and music were of a movie theater caliber, and I appreciated how seamlessly the lighting shifted and altered to show different parts of the island, or to dramatize a character’s mood or intentions. The dramaturg’s note in the playbill explains that “we adapted the text by changing the pronouns of certain characters” in order to reflect the gender diversity of the cast itself. I have seen this done many times, but usually if productions are going to give, say, Prospero female pronouns, they will change the character’s name to Prospera. Changing the pronouns without the names is a little confusing, though the added element of gender-neutral pronouns for some characters means that names can’t just be flipped across the gender binary, because what would the genderneutral form of “Ferdinand” be? This choice is perhaps more radical because it shows that there is nothing inherently gendered about names. Am I saying that any Shakespeare production should stick to Elizabethan sensibility in its costuming, gender roles and set design? No, not at all. That has all
been done before, and I agree that any new production needs to shake things up. However, a director and production staff must be deliberate in choosing what to modernize. It seemed like this one had chosen their aesthetic at random, and there was nothing especially novel about how they presented the story and characters. There is so much meaning to be mined from the soliloquies, conversations and relationships, especially those centered around Prospero. Shakespeare asks us, “Who is a good person? Who is deserving of forgiveness? What makes a person civilized, and who gets left out of society?” These are all timely questions, and yet the takes on them in this show were troublingly classic. There are so many ways to change the relationships in this show, but no especially bold choices were made here. “The Tempest” is running for another weekend, and I highly encourage you to go out and see it for yourself. It is the culmination of much hard work, and the actors are a delight to watch. Go immerse yourself in the world of Prospero’s island; despite the production’s shortcomings, you may still emerge a changed person. —Editor’s Note: As of press time, it is unclear if there will be performances this weekend due to changing University policies surrounding COVID-19.
CULTURE
BAASA presents: APAHM Opening 2020 By CAYLIE JERUCHIMOWITZ JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, March 7, students packed Levin Ballroom, ready for the Brandeis Asian American Students Association’s show – BAASA Presents: APAHM Opening 2020: Reclaiming Voices. Everyone waited with anticipation and excitement to witness the incredible talent and important messages this event offered. The event began with opening remarks from APAHM Coordinator Kelly Zhang ’22, BAASA President Alison Kan ’20 and BAASA Vice President Regina Tham ’20. Zhang explained that APAHM stands for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is usually celebrated in May. However, because finals are in May, BAASA decided to hold the event in March. The BAASA leaders and APAHM coordinators also discussed the theme of this year’s event, which was “Reclaiming Voices.” They explained that there are many stigmatized identities and stereotypes in the Asian community. Kan said, “Through having this event, we like to showcase a variety of Asian American talent and also provide a space for the community to reclaim their identity.” A note in the program states, “We are dedicated to defying the identities forced upon [Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders] and empowering our community. Through holding this event, we hope to provide a space for marginalized voices, to stand up for the arts and to stand up against stigmatized beliefs in the AAPI community.” Cards placed on the tables at the event that said “I am ___ and proud” resonated with the event’s goal of emphasizing that everyone, particularly the AAPI community, should embrace and accept their identities. In the opening statements, Tham encouraged everyone to write something about themselves after each performance with the hope that it would inspire people to feel excited about and proud of their identities. This was a nice way to immerse those who attended the event in its themes. Next, the executive board presented a video about a family watching TikToks that reflected on Asian American culture. For example, one of the TikToks spoke about phrases Asian parents stereotypically don’t say to their children. I thought this video was a great way to emphasize the theme of reclaiming one’s identity because of the way Asian Americans used popular aspects of teenage culture to reflect on aspects of their cultures and show that they are proud of their identities. This led into several performances, including music, dance and other talents. Groups from the Brandeis community
NATALIA WIATER/the Justice
WELLESLEY AIKO: Founded in 2007, AIKO is Wellesley College’s Taiko ensemble. Design: Grace Sun/the Justice
and other groups from around Massachusetts performed. One group that I found very interesting and exciting was the Nova Diabolo Team. The program states that they “strive to present an exciting performance that blends traditional art with contemporary influences.” Diabolo has such a unique talent and did so many amazing moves, such as throwing the diabolos to each other and jumping over them. They even turned off the lights and used light-up diabolos. I was also impressed by all the dance groups. The Brandeis dance groups that performed were XL Girls, a hip hop dance team, and Chak De, a Bollywood Fusion dance team. Both groups had powerful performances that were wonderful to experience. Another dance team that performed and created a lot of excitement from the crowd was Hip Hop Culture Organization, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The program explained that this group “continues to recruit dancers of all different backgrounds, giving their members a platform to grow together as dancers and individuals.” The idea of bringing people from different backgrounds together connects to the show’s theme of embracing one’s identity. Their performance was a lot of fun to watch and you could really see the talent in this group’s dancing. Another presentation I was glad to see was Asian Task Force speaker and Brandeis alumnus Max Tang ’19. As explained in the program, “ATASK is a nonprofit, community organization serving Pan-Asian survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence.” The program and presentation further explained the organization’s mission. The program said the group’s mission is to “prevent domestic and intimate partner violence in Asian families and communities and to provide hope to survivors.” Tang’s presentation included many important statistics and facts emphasizing the domestic violence that Asian communities can experience. Tang shared that “Asian communities experience domestic violence twice as much as white, Latinx and Black communities.”
NATALIA WIATER/the Justice
NOVA DIABLO: Nova is a Massachusetts-based Diablo performance team that blends traditional art with contemporary influences. Tang also explained that many of the people who turn to ATASK for help are immigrants who speak limited English, which creates barriers for them to seek help from other sources. Including this presentation in the show was a great way to raise awareness about this problem and to reflect on ways that students can help, such as by financially supporting ATASK. During the event, there was a boba sale and all the proceeds were donated to ATASK. One of the coordinators also spoke about the Brandeis Asian American Task Force. The event program explains that BAATF “is a grassroots, Brandeis University based and focused, student organization created to advocate for the needs and betterment of the Asian American community here at Brandeis University.” The organization’s purpose “is to gather and mobilize students around finding solutions to issues specific to the Asian American community here at Brandeis,” it added. The coordinator explained that this organization “is advocating and
organizing for the establishment of an API studies program here on campus,” and that some classes for this program have already begun. The API Studies program has helped their work on a project “to recover some of the history of Asian American students organizing on the campus at Brandeis,” she said. This event was entertaining and educational. It brought students from both Brandeis and the larger Massachusetts community together to celebrate APAHM and create a space for people to be proud of their identities. Specifically, this event celebrated Asian American cultures and identities through the performances and gave students the opportunity to learn more about circumstances affecting the Asian American community at Brandeis and beyond. Through the event’s theme, Reclaiming Voices, the event also debunked stereotypes toward the Asian American community. —Editor’s Note: Justice Editor Noah Zeitlin took photos of APAHM for BAASA.
THE JUSTICE I ARTS & CULTURE I TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
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CONCERT
Voices of Soul and the Chromatones take over Mandel By ELISABETH FREEMAN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
On Saturday night at the Mandel Center for Humanities, Voices of Soul hosted an a capella concert featuring McGill University’s Chromatones. Before this performance, my only exposure to a capella was from “Pitch Perfect” and “Glee,” so I did not know what to expect. Would the event be overly dramatic and ostentatious like its fictionalized counterpart? Part of me was apprehensive as a result, but as I looked around the lecture hall, I saw dozens of eager faces waiting to listen to some hopefully high-quality a capella. Now I was expecting an insanely amazing performance. Imagine my surprise when VOS calmly walked to the front of the lecture hall and did not say a single word. Instead, they began to sing. The performance of VOS quickly met and exceeded my expectation of high energy. The a capella group covered four soul songs that audience members could easily recognize, such as T-Pain’s “Buy U A Drank.” The
Photos by Jen Geller/the Justice
A CA-AMAZING: The audience enjoyed listening to Voices of Soul and the Chromatones singing.
songs were catchy, and I could see people in the audience bobbing their heads and tapping their feet to the beat of the a capella group’s singing. I had to fight the urge to start singing along (fortunately for the audience and everyone with ears, I was successful). Not only was the audience having fun, but it was clear to me that the singers of VOS were having a wonderful time as well. Their performances were passionate and energetic — they were smiling and moving their bodies as they sang. Overall, the set was vibrant and upbeat, despite the fact that sitting in Mandel G03 reminded me of the exams I took in that lecture hall last semester. Halfway through the show, the Chromatones took to the stage and performed their set. While VOS sang soul songs, the Chromatones primarily sang pop songs. Besides simply singing covers of songs that the audience knew and loved and loves, the Chromatones also performed remixes and mashups. One such mashup was of two Charlie Puth songs: “Attention” and “Dangerously.” With an even more varied set, the Chromatones developed strong audience
engagement. The cheering and excitement that VOS cultivated was further developed by the Chromatones’ performance. Despite performing songs in a different genre and style than VOS, the Chromatones similarly gave an energetic and crowd-pleasing performance that had the audience cheering when the singers would successfully hit higher and longer notes. The concert was only about 45 minutes long, yet the passion of the singers radiated upon the audience, assuring that everyone would have fun and enjoy the show. The famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote, “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” Indeed, the performance shined brightly. Not a minute went to waste at the concert. I am thankful for VOS and the Chromatones for offering excellent performances so that I can now say that I have been to an a capella concert and enjoyed it. —Editor’s Note: Editor Andrew Baxter he is a member of Voices of Soul and did not edit or contribute to this article.
CANADIAN FRIENDS: The Chromatones are an a capella group from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
SOULFUL SONGS: Voices of Soul specifically sings songs of the soul genre.
CONCERT
Jumping around to Horse Jumper of Love By RACHEL STERLING JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On March 6, 2020, the Brandeis Association of Music and Concert Organizers hosted its second event of the year, “BAMCO Presents: Horse Jumper of Love with Boston Cream,” in Cholmondeley’s Coffee House. The event was created and organized by the group to bring the world of rock and indie punk on to the Brandeis campus. That night, Chum’s became a lively, energetic concert venue packed with eager, cheerful students and performers alike. The show’s opener, Boston Cream, is an indie punk band from the local area of Boston, Massachusetts. Describing their music
Photos by EMILY BLUMENTHAL/the Justice
VERY FLEXIBLE: Horse Jumper of Love showed off some rather dramatic poses to their doting audience.
as “mutant freakout party music,” Boston Cream rocked the audience with their harsh chords and confident lyrics. The band consists of five members: Melanie Bernier, Ryan Connelly, Peach Goodrich, Joe Marrett and Nicholas Ward, who all bring a unique sound and style to form one cohesive and epic performance. The purple and orange lights illuminating both the performers and the audience created an entertaining ambience, combining punk rock flair with disco influences. During the show, the members each performed a choreographed dance to fit the stylistic sounds of each song as the audience danced alongside them. At the end of the show, the members wiped the sweat off their brow (just to show
how hard they really rocked) as the audience erupted in cheers. It was an amazing way to start the show and the interactions between the band and the audience were filled with laughter and joy. Following Boston Cream, Horse Jumper of Love, the headliner, jumped on stage as the audience burst into cheers and applause. Their music layers the hypnotic drone of slow chords with heavy rock and metal influences heard throughout their songs. The Bostonbased band is made up of Dimitri Giannopoulos (guitar and lead vocals), John Margaris (bassist) and Jamie Vadala-Doran (drummer), who formed the band in 2013. They have been featured on several prominent radio stations as well as popular music magazines. The band performed some of their more popular songs, such as “Ugly Brunette” and “Orange Peeler,” both of which were followed by the audience’s enthusiastic participation in its lyrics. Toward the end of their performance, the band performed a special song that was immediately recognized by everyone in the audience: the theme song to the popular TV show “Drake and Josh.” The tone quickly shifted from moody, relaxed beats into one of casual, comical enjoyment to end the show. Afterwards, Anthony Rivera ’20 said, “They are a solid band that deserves more recognition. I am happy that Chum’s can be a place for them to show off their talent.” The concert was a success and well-received by the students who attended. In an interview with the Justice, Anna Bartusis ’20, both a long-serving member of BAMCO and General Manager of Chum’s,
said, “It was such a fun show! Boston has a great music scene and it’s awesome to support local bands.” BAMCO remains an irreplaceable, invaluable club on campus in their efforts to host events dedicated to showcasing bands who present dif-
ferent styles and genres of music and performances around the East Coast. Being around people who were simply enjoying the night with amazing music, food and friends was an awesome way to end the stressful week.
ROCKING OUT: The audience enjoyed indie punk from Boston Cream and rock and metal from Horse Jumper of Love.
LOCAL TALENT: Horse Jumper of Love and Boston Cream are both up-and-coming Boston-based bands.
Design: Megan Liao/the Justice, Yael Hanadari-Levy/the Justice
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THE JUSTICE I ARTS & CULTURE I TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020
INTERVIEW
JUSTARTS SPOTLIGHT ON THE ROSE ART MUSEUM By YUENING LI JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITTER
What message does William Villalongo want to deliver in “Vanitas”? The most luminous part of the painting is the exquisite silver tray. Strewn across the tray are browning, bitten fruits and a photograph of a white man. Unlike the rotten fruits, which are painted in acrylic, the image of the man looks like a photograph pasted onto the painting. Hands of an African American hold the tray, while his body disappears in the dark velvet background, leaving a mass of floating feathers to compose his physique in the void. At the top of the painting, the person’s eyes appear — a pair of shining eyes. His facial expression remains ambiguous due to the absence of the body. The combination of tangible and amorphous provokes contemplation of the power imbalance between Black and white people. The humble gesture of the figure offering a loaded tray recalls the outdated practice of Black servant boys serving their master a tray of fresh fruit in the late 17th and 18th centuries. With the added piece of information that the white man in the photo is Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who killed nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, SC on June 17, 2015, we come to understand that the artist intends to call attention to the racial tension in the United States through the abolished practice from the age of slavery. Being aware of the theme of the painting, we can infer that the artists’ intention is to include all African Americans who are under oppression by depicting a seemingly absent anatomical body. The lack of individual features unites all African Americans. It draws our attention to the current wellbeing of the group. The motivation of creating this work is the artist’s background. Villalongo is half African American. He feels responsible for promoting racial equality in American society, where racial discrimination is underaddressed. In addition to his interest in reflecting history and politics through painting, he created “Vanitas” as a steadfast response to Roof’s malicious crime. Today, five years after the diabolical crime and three years after “Vanitas” was painted, discrimination based on race still exists in every corner of the world. Villalongo utilizes an outdated social norm in the 17th century to reflect on the event in 2015 in his painting. His work teaches the grave lesson that history repeats itself: yesterday can be today. In the fight against racial discrimination, we, the viewers, should continue Villalongo’s spirit of fighting against racism and not letting yesterday become tomorrow.
Emily Pollack Photo Courtesy of EMILY POLLACK
This week, JustArts&Culture talked with Emily Pollack ’21, the director of the play “R&J,” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” by Joe Calarco. The play reinvents the classic story by setting it in an all-girls Catholic school and tells a series of “forbidden” stories surrounding the four main characters. JustArts&Culture: As the director, what are the hardships you faced readapting this classic play by William Shakespeare? Emily Pollack: The difficult part of it was that the original cast was all-male to mimic Shakespeare’s all-male cast, and our production is all-female. So is our production team — our entire production team, everyone working on it was female. So one of the hardships was there were some moments in the script that, you could tell, it was written for men. So the hard part sometimes was to break through that. But halfway through the play I realized that it was not such a big “wall” to break down. Because my production group and I all agreed that women could just be as passionate and violent as men. There are certain moments in the play that I think gender disappears. I actually learned a lot through the show. I found that [some hardships I found] were not hardships at all. JAC: Why do you want to re-adapt the play and set it into a all-girls Catholic high school? When I read the introduction, it felt it a lot like the setting of “Little Women.” Is that just an illusion or am I on the right track? EP: Oh, yes. You’re totally right. I didn’t even think about that. Because I was always in the mindset of the original script, the playwright — the original setting mimicking “Dead Poets Society.” But with an all-women cast, it does really mimic that whole part of “Little Women” where they all dressed up as characters and as fairies and as men, and put on those shows. There is a sort of freedom the women in “Little Women” later realized that it is not easy to get later. Yes, so they (actresses) find power to be able to play men in Shakespeare. JAC: Is that how you feel when you are directing the play?
MEGAN LIAO/the Justice
JAC: You mentioned that in the play “Romeo & Julie” is a forbidden text. Why is that?
SUDOKU
EP: I think it has to do with that these texts were not condoned by the Catholic Church — suicide, marrying young or marrying without consent. Also it’s about young people disobeying authority. That’s probably a big reason why it is forbidden in the world Joe Calarco built. And, hopefully, we created the same kind of danger that he created in the script. JAC: How would you translate the tragic love story to the fracture of friendships? What’s the deeper meaning behind the story that you want to convey to the audience?
STAFF’S Top Ten
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
Top 10 NFL Play-by-Play Broadcasters By JONAH WHITE
JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Sudoku Courtesy of OPENSKY SUDOKU GENERATOR
Here are my favorite NFL playby-play broadcasters. 1, Al Michaels 2. Ian Eagle 4. Joe Buck 5. Dick Stockton 6. Kevin Harlan 7. Kenny Albert 9. Greg Gumbel 10. Andrew Catalon
EP: I personally believe that it is impossible to have a good understanding of romantic love without having a good basis of friendships. And women’s friendships especially are important in crafting an in-depth understanding of romance. Stretching all the way back to 19th-century literature, like in Jane Austen, you can see how women’s friendships are important in understanding love. And with this production in “R&J,” I wanted to show the importance of friendship next to romantic love. How they interweave and rely on each other. I feel like in modern stuff, it is so easy to pass on a love story and look over female friendship. But they are really integral in understanding love today and love as women. And there are many restrictions that women still face in their friendship, love and the world for centuries and centuries. And in “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet doesn’t have many friends but old women who don’t really understand her. So it is really special for me to be able to add in friends for Juliet through this adaptation and to see how that affects the story. JAC: Is there anything else you want to tell our audience?
3. Kevin Burkhardt
8. Jim Nantz
EP: Yes. Because all of Shakespeare’s shows were all written for men. So twisting those parts and finding where women can find power in those shows has been my favorite part in directing the show.
Solution Courtesy of OPENSKY SUDOKU GENERATOR
EP: This process of working with my amazing, amazing cast and crew has taught me so much and made me more proud of being a woman. And I hope that audience members who come see the show can find the same kind of power that I found in the show. —Jacqueline Wang