The Justice, February 11, 2020 by The Justice

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The Independent Student Newspaper Volume LXXII, Number 17

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, February 11, 2020

REPAIRS CONTINUE

Waltham, Mass.

CAMPUS MAINTENANCE

Water main repairs cause further damage

■ A control valve serving Pearlman Hall was damaged on Jan. 28 during repairs to a burst water main. By EMILY BLUMENTHAL JUSTICE EDITOR

NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

WATER HAZARD: Paths around Pearlman Hall were taped off when damage to a control valve caused water leakage.

An accident during repairs to a broken water main by Pearlman Hall on Jan. 28 damaged a nearby control valve and caused water to leak onto the surrounding sidewalk, Vice President of Campus Operations Lois Stanley told the Justice in an email on Wednesday. The University’s contractor, P.W. Ryan Co., temporarily fixed the control valve on Wednesday to stop the flow of water and will apply a permanent fix during February break. Stanley wrote in another email to the Justice on Friday that the damaged control valve “is one [of] many in the area and shuts off

CAMPUS PROTESTS

Students discuss University’s response to campus protests ■ Students expressed concern

about the administration’s new protest policy and unequal treatment of protesters. By HANNAH TAYLOR JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the Women of Color Alliance co-hosted a discussion titled “The Power of Protest: Protesting at Brandeis University” at the Shapiro Campus Center on Monday. Moderated by FMLA President Hannah Baker-Lerner ’20 and WOCA President Kyra Frazier ’21, this discussion covered the context behind past protests that took place on campus and the administrative responses that followed each, allowing students to openly share their feelings on the subject. The conversation began with a comparison of the #StillConcernedStudents and IfNotNow protests from last May. Baker-Lerner and Frazier explained that #StillConcernedStudents was a protest led by students of color who made the following demands of the Brandeis administration: increased transparency, a prioritization of mental health, equitable and accessible transportation, the accountability of the Department of Community Living and Public Safety and the support of the administration. This

protest was a follow-up to the 2015 #ConcernedStudents, or Ford Hall 2015, protest as students did not feel their original list of demands was adequately met. Baker-Lerner and Frazier also explained the protest involving IfNotNow. Brandeis Hillel had commissioned an artist to paint a cube to celebrate the ties to Israel within the Brandeis community, and an unknown student graffitied one of the sides with “Free Palestine.” When Hillel repainted over the graffiti with “Coexist,” members of IfNotNow taped a sheet of paper to the cube that read “Stop Lying to Young Jews #FreePalestine.” In response to these events, President Ron Liebowitz sent emails detailing how the #StillConcernedStudents and the IfNotNow protests each violated Section 7 of the University’s Rights and Responsibilities handbook, which lays out guidelines about protests and demonstrations. In a May 3 email, he said the #StillConcernedStudents protesters were in violation of Section 7, and in a May 15 email, he said those involved with the vandalism of the art installation were in violation of the Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression. BakerLerner and Frazier then said that the administration took further action in August with a change in the protest policies. The policy changes require pre-approval of banners and posters, as well as pre-approval of campus space for protesting. An-

other student later clarified, however, that pre-approval for space was always needed, but the justification for why it is necessary was added to the regulations. After discussing the context behind the protests, Baker-Lerner and Frazier invited discussion among the students present. Several students felt that the administration made the changes in the protest policies in direct response to these protests. Many students suggested that the University was targeting students of color in tightening their policies on student demonstrations, especially as students of color were leading the #StillConcernedStudents protest, while other demonstrations on campus led by white students in the spring of 2019 went unpunished. Specifically, students brought up a protest by Brandeis Climate Justice where students hung banners that were left up during admitted students day and received a positive response from the administration, which contrasted strongly with the almost immediate removal of the #StillConcernedStudents banners and the IfNotNow poster and the punitive actions taken in response. One student expressed further concern, saying the policy changes were copied directly from Princeton University’s policies and noting that “all big universities are doing the same thing.” Many students were upset that there was not much student input

the water to a nearby hydrant.” The permanent repairs will involve replacing parts, and there was no damage to campus facilities. The water main serving Pearlman Hall burst on Jan. 27, and the contractor fixed it with a clamp the next day. During repairs to the main, the control valves were shut off, which is when the damage occurred, according to Stanley’s email. Before calling the contractor, Facilities Services “made multiple attempts to fix [the control valve] in house, but nothing worked,” Stanley wrote on Friday. But even in the wake of these aborted attempts, eight days lay between the initial damage to the valve and the contractor’s arrival, as what Stanley described as a “slow leak of water” transformed into large puddles and ice patches on the walkways around Pearlman Hall.

See MAIN, 7 ☛

BRIEF Univ. limits travel to China due to Coronavirus In an email to the Brandeis community on Sunday, Provost Lisa Lynch updated community members as to how Brandeis is responding to the Coronavirus outbreak. Lynch stated that the updates have resulted in Brandeis “restricting all Brandeis students, faculty, and staff from traveling to China on official University business, effective immediately.” Lynch also said that the University will continue to monitor statements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “with the intention of removing restrictions as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.” Travel restrictions only apply to those who are planning on traveling to China for University-related purposes. Despite this, Lynch said that the University “strongly recommend[s] that those who are planning [to] travel to China for personal reasons reconsider such plans.” In addition to updating the Brandeis community, Lynch shared that the University has established a working group to work with public health officials, as well as to update contingency plans if necessary. Lynch stated that “since the last communication from the Brandeis Health Center, the U.S. Department of State has raised its travel advisory for mainland China to ‘Level 4 – Do Not Travel.’” Along with the increased travel advisory, the CDC has said that any travelers who come to the US from China are required to be monitored for up to 14 days after arriving. Accord-

ing to the Feb. 2 travel advisory posted by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, Level 4 is the highest travel advisory. The Department of State also stated that should the situation deteriorate further, “the ability of the U.S. Embassy and Consulates to provide assistance to U.S. nationals within China may be limited.” According to the Presidential Proclamation on Novel Coronavirus, issued on Jan. 31, 2020, foreign nationals who have visited China in the past 14 days are prohibited from entering the United States. For American citizens as well as lawful permanent residents and their families who “have been in China in the past 14 days will be allowed to enter the United States, but will be directed to one of 11 airports to undergo health screening,” the Proclamation said. Also in the Feb. 9 email, Lynch said that “this is an especially stressful time for members of our community who are affected by the Coronavirus because of its impact on their families and communities or the stigma they may be experiencing in public settings.” Lynch also asked that “everyone treat one another with dignity and respect, so that we sustain the supportive, inclusive, and compassionate community that is rooted in our founding values.” Currently, there have been 12 cases of the Coronavirus in the United States, including one case in Boston, MA. —Samantha Goldman

See PROTESTS, 7 ☛

Plastic straws only available upon request

New Year, New Chum’s

K-Nite 2020: Nabi

 Chum’s got a makeover and held a grand re-opening.

Last Saturday, the Korean Student Association hosted its annual K-Nite show.

By TALIA ZITNER

By JACQUELINE WANG

By LEEZA BARSTEIN

NEWS 3

Superbowl halftime show is inspiring By VANDITA MALVIYA WILSON

FORUM 12

Track and Field breaks records NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

FEATURES 8 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 editor@thejustice.org

By MEGAN GELLER

SPORTS 16

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

●

NEWS

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT TALK-IN

WALTHAM BRIEF John DiBiaggio, former president of Tufts University, dies at 87 Former president of Tufts University John DiBiaggio has died, according to a Feb. 8 Boston Globe article. A Feb. 7 TuftsNow article reported that DiBiaggio was president of the University from 1992 through 2001 and that he died on Feb. 1 at the age of 87. The same article noted DiBiaggio was known for “elevating the stature of Tufts University and strengthening its financial foundation.” The same TuftsNow article reported that during DiBiaggio’s tenure, Tufts’ endowment tripled and multiple new facilities were established, including “the Jaharis Family Center for Biomedical Nutrition Research in Boston, the Bernice Barbour Wildlife Medicine Building in Grafton, and, on the Medford/Somerville campus, Tisch Library, Dowling Hall, and the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center.” DiBiaggio’s legacy includes a passion for student activism. The same Boston Globe article stated that in a 1997 opinion editorial for the Globe, DiBiaggio mentioned that “‘[he is] often criticized for not only tolerating but encouraging student political activism”’ but went on to say that “‘without passion for a cause … there can be no lasting sense of responsibility.”’ DiBiaggio had previously been the president of the University of Connecticut, from 1979 through 1985, as well as president of Michigan State University from 1985 through 1992. According to the same Globe article, DiBiaggio was remembered for working to carve out an identity for Tufts and quoted a 1992 Globe interview in which DiBiaggio said, “I don’t want us to be a Harvard. Harvard is a great university, but I want us to be what we are and do what we do well.” DiBiaggio was preceded by President Jean Mayer and succeeded by President Lawrence S. Bacow and current president, President Anthony P. Monaco, according to the Tufts website. —Jason Frank

The Justice will not be printing for the next two weeks due to the February recess. The next issue will publish on March 3.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n Editor’s Note for “A night in Hoi An with VSA”: Thu Lu is a Justice production assisstant and did not edit this article (February 4, Page 18). n Senate Log was amended to correct senators’ titles and the spelling of several names (February 4, Page 2). The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org.

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THEA ROSE/the Justice

Prof. Sabine von Mering (GECS) (left) and Manager of the Office of Sustainability Mary Fischer presented at the Fossil Fuel Divestment Talk-In on Feb. 5.

SENATE LOG Senate discusses communication issues, potential amendment At the Senate’s weekly meeting on Sunday, Union President Simran Tatuskar ’21 presented a series of ongoing Executive Board projects, but was met with backlash from senators who were engaged in similar projects and accused her of poor communication.

Executive Officer Reports

Union Secretary Taylor Fu ’21 announced that there will be a special election on Thursday for an international senator and two community senators. This election comes after the resignation of former Class of 2021 Senator Jake Rong at the Jan. 19 meeting, and the dismissal later in this week’s meeting of Class of 2021 Senator Sissel Tan and International Senator Capo Wang ’22 for missing too many meetings. Because no one signed up to run for the two Class of 2021 Senator roles or Ziv and Ridgewood Quad Senator, the positions became Community Senators, meaning they are essentially Senator-atLarge seats. Tatuskar announced the launch of a new partnership with the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center to implement a “Sip Chip” initiative. “Sip Chips” are devices designed to detect common date-rape drugs in drinks. Tatuskar also announced the relaunching of a bike rental initiative. The Union bought 63 bikes nearly a decade ago for a similar initiative, but the parties involved in the project graduated, and the project stagnated. The bikes have been in storage in non-temperature-regulated conditions, and the administration threatened to throw them away unless the Union found something to do with them, she said. Executive Senator Scott Halper ’20 criticized Tatuskar for poor communication which he saw as promoting duality in projects, and for not involving Senate committees. He mentioned that the “Sip Chip” initiative could involve the Health and Safety Committee. Other E-Board projects, including International Women’s Day and a plan to redo the Market Basket Shuttle, could go through the Social Justice and Diversity Committee and the Facilities and Housing Committee respectively. “A lot of these projects are great, but they seem like things that would normally go through the Senate. So I’m wondering why you consider these EBoard things and why you haven’t reached out to the Senate committees so that

would be related to these issues,” he said. Tatuskar said that “Sip Chip” needed funding “ASAP,” and that the project’s facilitators reached out to her personally. The Market Basket Shuttle was an administration initiative, and thus never had Union involvement, and the International Women’s Day team also reached out to her personally. Class of 2022 Senator Joseph Coles saw the overlap as an opportunity for the EBoard and Senate to work together, but expressed disappointment in the lack of communication. “There’s a lot of projects that are very similar that are being done two different ways, and that does not really seem okay,” he said.

Committee Chair Reports

Standing in for Services and Outreach Committee Chair Alison Leibowitz ’20, Midyear Senator Michelle Kleytman ’23 reported that the Midnight Buffet theme will be “Pool Party.” Health and Safety Committee Chair Leah Fernandez ’22 reported that the committee met with Student Sexuality Information Service to discuss the committee’s condom dispenser project. The Union purchased 16,000 condoms, but the dispensers have not been set up yet. Fernandez and Tim Touchette, assistant dean of Student Affairs, scouted locations for the condom dispensers last week. Facilities and Housing Committee Chair Trevor Filseth ’20 reported that the ceiling on the fourth floor of East Quad had caved in. In a message to the Justice on Monday, Filseth said that Class of 2022 Senator Joshua Feld had informed him of the issue, and that Facilities Services was “on it.” Sustainability Committee Chair Oliver Price ’20 reported that community members often throw trash in the recycling bin, which makes the recycling ineligible for processing and forces Facilities to discard it as trash. He said that Mary Fischer, the manager of Brandeis’ Sustainability Programs, has received complaints from custodians who have been sifting through the recycling bins to remove trash in order to “purify” the recycling. Price plans to make a video explaining what can and cannot be recycled so that the community will feel “morally inclined to take two seconds” to throw trash in the correct bin. Senate Representative to the Allocations Board Jasmyne Jean-Remy ’22

reported that A-Board met with Assistant Dean of Students, Stephanie Grimes, and decided that its old financial management system SUMS would be replaced by Slate. A-Board has been in the process of implementing Slate for several semesters, but the rollout has been held up by delays.

Amendments

Coles introduced an amendment to streamline the structure of the Union’s Club Bylaws. Coles’ amendment passed by acclamation. Price introduced an amendment to exempt the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board from the Bylaws’ ban on clubs paying students. The Sustainability Ambassadors who are part of this program do intensive labor during moveout, when they take items such as school supplies that would otherwise be trashed and repackage them for donation. Even with the ambassadors’ help, move-out is routinely understaffed, and the University has to then hire movers for $40 per hour when students could be hired to do the job for $12 per hour, Price said. This program could potentially be expanded to movein for Orientation, when the Sustainability Ambassadors give presentations as volunteers.

Confirmations and Dismissals

The Senate confirmed former Racial Minority Senator Joyce Huang ’22 as the new Union Diversity and Inclusion Officer and Bishal Baral ’20 as the Union Director of Technology. Future Union Director of Outreach Ilannysh Rodriguez ’23 was not at the meeting.

Senator Reports

North Quad Senator Krupa Sourirajan ’23 reported that Polaris Lounge has become a mess, and that drastic measures may need to be taken to rectify the situation, including shutting down Polaris for a weekend. Class of 2023 Senator Oona Wood agreed, describing the conditions in Polaris as the “epitome of entitlement.” Class of 2022 Senator Joshua Feld announced that the Chief Information Officer of Brandeis reached out to him about putting printers in each dorm and lounge. The two are discussing ideas for locations. —Editor’s Note: Trevor Filsethe ’20 is a Forum Staff Writer. —Emily Blumenthal

POLICE LOG MEDICAL EMERGENCY Feb. 3 — BEMCo treated a party in Village C for shortness of breath. Party was then transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. Feb. 3 — Cataldo Ambulance transported a party who was light headed to NewtonWellesley Hospital which BEMCo responded to in Ziv 128. Feb. 3 — In the Goldfarb Library, a party reported an ankle injury. The party was treated with a signed refusal for further care. Feb. 6 — A party in Usen Hall called BEMCo for flu-like symptoms. The party was transported to health services for further care. Feb. 6 — BEMCo responded to a party in Usdan Student Center not feeling well. A family member picked up the party. Feb. 6 — A party in Hassenfeld-Krivov Residence Hall was not feeling well. BEMCo treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. Feb. 7 — A party in Hassenfeld-Krivov Residence Hall displayed flu-like symptoms. BEMCo treated the party who was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Feb. 8 — BEMCo treated a party in Usen Hall with a hand laceration with a signed refusal for further care. Feb. 9 — A party in Skyline Residence Hall had a ring stuck in a swollen finger. BEMCo removed the ring, and no further assistance was required. LARCENY Feb.3 — A staff member in the Gosman Sports Complex reported theft of a portable JBL bluetooth speaker. HARASSMENT Feb. 8 — A party was harassed via text message while off campus. A report was compiled on the incident. DISTURBANCE Feb. 9 — A noise complaint in the Charles River Apartments was reported. The party was spoken to and the Area Coordinator on call handled the situation further. —Compiled by Jen Geller

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Volume LXXI,

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The Indepen denT

Number 12

BOARD OF TRUSTEE

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STudenT new Spaper

Trustees make long-awaited divestment choice S

BrandeIS un IverSITy SInce 1949 r 4,

Tuesday, Decembe

2018

‘BABY STEPS’ TOWA

RD DIVESTMENT

Waltham, Mass.

■ The University will change its investment strategie s to decrease future investme nt in fossil fuel business es.

principal business is the mining coal for use in energy generationof Investments .” that presently ist in “fossil exfuel private partnerships limited (i.e., private partnership limited By JEN GELLER funds ments, the focus that make investJUSTICE EDITOR ing profit from of which is derivthe exploratio After months production of n of deliberatio fossil fuels such and Board of Trustees n, the and natural as oil gas) policies regarding adopted a set of cordance with … will run off in acfossil fuel the funds’ typical vestments at incycles,” Chief their November life Investment ing, updating meetNicholas Warren Officer the 1973 guidelines that previously to the Justice. wrote in an email informed their These funds investment an average have decisions. life cycle of Brandeis students have 10 years. “The overall been pressing administration portfolio is ture, with mato divest from the many funds sil fuels for fosreaching the later stages several years and have of their life continued to Therefore we cycle. do so in response expect it to the recent wind down over slowly policy announcem to In a Nov. 28 ent. Warren wrote. the next 5-7 years,” email to the Brandeis community, private limited This is specific to University President Ron Liebowitz that invest with partnership funds outlined the new pola icies that will focus on gaining profit from guide future exploiting and ment. From investing oil, natural producnow on, the University gas and other endowment ’s sil fuel. As funds will fosof Oct. 30, 2018, not be invested directly fuel private “fossil in “public or limited partnershi companies [market value] or partnershi private ps[’] ps whose [was] $63.3 million,

See DIVESTMEN

T, 7 ☛

STUDENT UNION

Special election call to fill open positionsed

The Brandei s Mountain Club hung a Monday to protest banner in ANDREW the Board of Trustees’ decisionthe Shapiro Campus Center BAXTER/the Justice Atrium on on fossil fuel divestment.

ADMINISTRATION

Report details cam shortcomings on divpus ersity

■ The report presente da comprehensive picture of how community member s view the Universi ty's diversity, reportin g policies.

problems such as Meehan’s behavior, and what steps athletes may are fear being forced vent such problems being taken to preteam or not off the from arising being allowed future. in the to play, according to Liebowitz. However, over Brandeis’ climate the course of their The University and culture vestigators found interviews, the inwas founded no evidence of principles of ation and determined retali“anti-discrimination, on there was simclusiveness, inply a perception academic freedom, that it was occurring. pendence, and indeTo combat this University President the perception, Liebowof academic quality”highest standards Ron Liebowitz itz explained released the ■ The Union's vice in an interview Campus Climate chief of staff,” gation, discrimina in an era of segrethe Justice and with last Thursday, Report he said, adding, tion and quotas, The Brandeis and treasurer will president which detailed don’t bear any investigato “I the Monday Hoot rs wrote. ceedingly high the “exon ill will toward that the administra step down standards” and They’re both them. However, some tion needs to build the and be replaced er shortcomin very passionate broadcommunity’s community gs very smart. bers brought at the end of and trust in the system, which … I’m really well as the steps of the University, as up controvers memwill take time. this semester. excited to see where things the rounding the ies surous policies Previtaking to address administration is go.” University’s were unclear, identity, which “I understand Jewish and made it he and final report, them. This second many agreed difficult to report said, given a painted [Chang] has been is important to Brandeis. authored by By CHAIEL SCHAFFEL Liebowitz said issues. pendent investigato indehe and I don’t think target on his back, explained that One faculty member JUSTICE STAFF rs the University sity must ensure believes the Univerhired last spring, WRITER any student identity-based that the community feel that way, should follows up on face additional schools is aware of tial findings the iniespecially as pressure to resources that The Student regarding the man,” he said. a freshmaintain their reputation are available to them Union announced complaints lodged against s, that Vice President which — such discourages former men’s as the Reporting individuals Reynolds said at Brandeis Benedikt ball coach Brian from raising baskethe would help olds ’19 and web issues successor develop Meehan. the institution his Treasurer Jerry Reynalternate channelspage — and create For the second . Others mentioned with ’18 will resign contacts with Miller for reporting, the administra half of the investigafusion about conat the end of with educating along tion, tion, whether the as mester. Their the seBoard of Trustees them on why well as or not Brandeis them up on markets itself seats will be reporting is important. tasked projects relevant catch investigators as filled in a special election — Walter Prince, the vice presidency to the and noted that a Jewish institution, to be held on In addition, colm Graham . He will also conversations MalDec. 10. investigators Vice President and Daniel his successor rael have become about show that instead learned Tarlow — Benedikt with examining how to help “charged,” which Isof reporting Reynolds announced Reynolds ’19 groups. student the systems, turn put “fundraise issues, many in the Brandeis in and culture climate rs on the defensive his intent community choose of University to resign during with Jewish Looking back speak about ’s procedure for handling donors,” according to them among complaints related Senate meeting. the Nov. 20 Union Union, Reynolds on his time in the report. to the themselves — an example or discrimina to bias said he thought of what they interview with He said in a Dec. 3 tion work with environme Many students his “small town call a corrective action and to recommend the Justice spoke well mentality.” ntal groups that his personal heath the University accordingly. University’s Administraat tors admitted was the reason academic rigor of the Throughout stood out the to investigato resignation. for his the report, the He also expressed lationships they most. and rethey are “too rs that An incident gators stressed investiconcern about formed with quiet” about in November in which the Senate their role as and faculty praised faculty, how their progress in improving weighs its constituen two “lawyers and investigato the campus culture, criticized Reynoldssenators publicly rs,” not experts opinions. ture” that exists the “niceness cults’ which further educational in the within the adds field, writing, ment in a resolution for his involveto Others “Senators, and the school. climate of poor communic raised concerns “We will not substitute any elected ation. about faculty purchased pianos that would have our tions, are expected members’ cultural posiadministration’s].” judgement for [the Diversity, equity for the first-year to be liaisons sensitivity. residence quads and communic Diversity, Equity and inclusion They pointed One the steps the affected his decision ators for the Brandeis has to and administra Inclusion to step down body,” he said. student historically pert said professors extion is already but taking, and declined sues of race and faced is“Right factor, Reynolds was not the driving as if we’re decision now, it seems segregation, equipped to respect and staff are “illthe specific recommen to give their own said tigators noted, makers for cultural differencciting both the invesReynolds accepted in the interview. student body. es,” according dations, saying the doing so would 1969 Ford Hall These [campus] original to the report. that the apologies Class of 2022 protest, its 2015 be “presumpt papers probably This issue newsof culturally of Senator Alex uous.” part and Meehan’s counterTo understand talk to our constituinsensitive Chang International encies [more] “bullying” the campus was prominent firing. From Student Senator and investigators than we climate, interviews with their in Yang ’20 and interviewed Linfei toward his players.Meehan’s behavior Reynolds stressed do.” the community said he was a number of faculty, staff, investigators that being “thankful” that they apologized found that while , the member of the The investigato dents and alumni administrators, stuwas “deep and Union is a strenuousa . “They rs also described been open to undertaking wide acceptance there to examine concerns “widespread communication have about the way for full-time importance anxiety about of the of diversity, me as well as the University students and suggested complaints” lodging equity, and with the presidentwith complaints. inclusion” among handles among the Brandeis that the Union They then should and munity due complaced their findings in a trators and deans, students, administo concerns larger about retaliSee UNION, 6 ☛ ation, confusion there was “notably Brandeis culture context of how the less consensus” surrounding among the faculty. dures and a has contribute procelack of belief Administrators d to that things will change. tended to focus the “business For example, case” for increasing on student di-

By NATALIA WIATER JUSTICE EDITOR

Student Fashion

 A Brandeis student transforms his love of fashion into a business

By SAMMY PARK Photo Courtesy

MELA

See CLIMATE,

Scholar reflects on

 The South Asian Students Association celebrate s “Our Shared Connectio n.”

By GILDA GEIST

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ARTS 19

U.S. curation of Chinese

School starting times

By ELLA RUSSELL of IRA BORNSTEIN

Women’s basketba

By JEN GELLER

make no sense

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THE JUSTICE

REDUCING PLASTIC WASTE

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NEWS

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Video performance artist presents work a series of clips showing Nakadate pretending to have a birthday party with her and the men from her earlier project, “Oops!.” She also presented “Where You’ll Find Me,” a 2005 project in which she staged death scenes in unexpected locations including on top of a bald eagle statue and in front of Mount Rushmore, and her first feature film “Stay The Same Never Change,” which focuses on the everyday lives of men and girls in a small midwestern town. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and went on to win several awards and be added to the collection at the Museum of Modern Art. The presentation also included several of Nakadate’s photography projects. The first photograph discussed was entitled “Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind,” a project for which she traveled across the United States and Canada, tossing a pair of her underwear off the train each day and photographing it. Nakadate explained that she had faced “incredible slut shaming” after having used herself as the subject of her work, and that this project was a response to that and a reflection of her wanting incorporate herself into the work, but in a more non-direct way. Another photo project, entitled “Lucky Tiger,” entailed the artist photographing herself in underwear and crop tops in various locations and asking men to talk about her body while dipping their fingers in ink and putting them on the photographs. Nakadate is currently working on a project that entails visiting every house her late mother ever lived in and making videos with their current occupants.

her video projects and photos about dance and the human body. By MAYA RUBIN-WISH JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Photo Illustration by NOAH ZEITLIN

SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS: Reusable straws can be purchased from on-campus dining halls and retail locations.

Plastic straws now by request only plastic straws, part of a larger campus sustainability effort. By LEEZA BARSTEIN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

In a joint effort to reduce single-use plastic on campus, the Office of Sustainability and Sodexo announced that following February break, singleuse straws will only be given out by request, according to the Office of Sustainability’s website. In addition to reducing plastic straws, Brandeis has cut back on the use of plastic bags and water bottles as part of a larger plastic reduction initiative that started last year, Manager of the Office of Sustainability Mary Fischer and General Manager of Brandeis Dining Services Andy Allen explained in a joint email to the Justice on Friday. The decision to only provide plastic straws upon request following February break, Fischer and Allen explained, is to accommodate students who have a disability or do not have reusable straws. Single-use straw bans have recently been criticized for putting individuals with disabilities at risk. Bendable straws are often a necessity for individuals with impared mobility, not only allowing them to drink out of cups without spilling, but also eliminating the difficulties that come with washing reusable straws, according to the Center for Disability Rights. In a Wednesday email, Elizabeth Nako, the accessibility specialist for undergraduate students, told the Justice that she and her colleagues do not have extensive information regarding how plastic straws may impact students at Brandeis with disabilities. The Office of Sustainability’s web-

site also explained that students will be encouraged to #skipthestraw when purchasing beverages on campus. #skipthestraw is part of a larger movement to help communities across the United States reduce their dependence on single-use plastic, which was started by the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting volunteer work and scientific research to protect oceans. Fischer and Allen explained that with more information available regarding the impacts of single-use plastic, they hope students will choose to avoid straws all together. Fischer and Allen also stressed that the sale of reusable straws should not be a financial burden to students, reinforcing that purchasing reusables “is just an option.” Sydney Carim ’23, a member of Brandeis Climate Justice, said in an interview with the Justice on Thursday that reducing plastic on campus is part of a “much bigger plan.” Carim listed reducing food waste, ethically sourcing food on campus and divesting from fossil fuel industries as key steps to making Brandeis a more sustainable campus. “I only think it makes sense to divest from fossil fuels and stop putting money into an industry that is decimating our planet,” she said. Last year, several environmentallyfocused groups, including the Senate Sustainability Committee and Staff Action on Climate Change, put together a petition to ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus, said Fischer and Allen in their email. After overwhelming support to reduce plastic on campus — the petition received over 1,100 signatures in support of the ban — the Office of Sustainability began its initiative to phase out the bottles. It is expected to eliminate 10,000 water bottle sales by the end of this year, the Justice reported in an Oct. 8 article. To provide an alternative for single-use

ARTIST TALK

■ Laurel Nakadate showed

■ Students must now request

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

bottles, filtered water refilling stations will be available at Dunkin’ Donuts, Einsteins and Starbucks, according to the Office of Sustainability’s website. The reduction of plastic bags and straws on campus, Fischer and Allen said, has been in the works since 2018 as part of Sodexo’s “Better Tomorrow Plan.” With its 18 commitments for a more eco-conscious future, the “Better Tomorrow Plan” has encouraged Sodexo to promote “sourcing in a responsible way, tackling hunger and malnutrition, promoting gender equality and avoiding food waste,” according to Sean Haley, the regional chair of Sodexo UK and Ireland. Fischer and Allen explained that the plan acts as a guide “of best practices” to reduce single-use plastic waste. After Sodexo’s current dining contract expires at the end of the semester, Brandeis hopes to continue the plastic reduction initiative with a new vendor. Fischer and Allen noted that plastic reduction was one of the sustainability goals in the dining Request for Proposals. Although it is still unclear whether or not the plastic reduction initiative will expand to plastic utensils, they said that students can always use their own utensils and that the Office of Sustainability regularly hands out reusable utensils. Brandeis is not the only university reducing plastic on campus. 93 universities across the United States have partnered with the Post-Landfill Action Network, an organization dedicated to helping schools find solutions to reduce their use of single-use plastic on campus, according to the PLAN website. Stressing the importance and urgency of waste reduction everywhere, and not just at Brandeis, Fischer and Allen said, “Locally, our landfills and incinerators are reaching their capacity, [and] globally, our dependence on disposable items wreaks havoc on the environment.”

Laurel Nakadate gave an artist talk at the Goldman-Schwartz Art Studio on Feb. 3. The standingroom-only presentation included overviews of Nakadate’s various projects and artistic endeavours, as well as a brief Q&A. Nakadate is a photographer, filmmaker, video and performance artist. She received a BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and an MFA in photography from Yale University. The presentation began with a showing of “Oops!,” Nakadate’s 2001 video project. During her time at Yale, the artist explained, she felt a deep sense of loneliness that led her to walk around New Haven, finding strangers who were willing to make videos with her. The end result was a montage of Nakadate performing a choreographed dance to Britney Spears’ 2000 hit “Oops! ... I Did It Again” with various older, single men in their homes. Some danced with her, some stood still. Nakadate explained that showing this piece in her graduate program critique was a very risky and strange choice at the time. She advised students to push themselves to make work that takes them outside of their comfort zones. Nakadate presented several other video projects during the talk, including “Happy Birthday,”

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SAFETY

BEMCo brings “Stop the Bleed” kits to campus ■ Blood loss prevention kits were installed in six locations and BEMCo will train students to use them. By ARI ALBERTSON JUSTICE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Brandeis University joins over 40 other schools, universities and institutions in “Stop the Bleed,” a blood loss prevention program, by installing bleeding kits around campus and adding preventative training to CPR classes in an initiative led by Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps. Jacob Silverman ’20, a BEMCo maintenance officer, attended the National Collegiate Medical Services Conference last year, where representatives from Johns Hopkins University gave a presentation on “Stop the Bleed.” With the encouragement of Allison Lewis, BEMCo’s director of operations, Silverman has led the effort to bring the program to Brandeis. BEMCo has purchased six

bleeding kits, which were installed Wednesday in popular campus locations, including Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, the library, Usdan Student Center and the Shapiro Campus Center. According to BEMCo Director and Field Supervisor Michele Etzbach ’20 in a Feb. 6 interview with the Justice, the kits include tourniquets, pressure bandages, compression gauze and an informational card to allow anyone to use the kit, whether or not they have received training to use the kits. These materials together “are meant to be able to stop almost every cause of excessive bleeding on any part of the body,” Etzbach said. Blood loss from traumatic injury is the leading cause of death among college students, Etzbach said. Although BEMCo is able to respond to emergencies quickly, “even having a two minute response rate could be too much time” if someone is bleeding excessively. Blood loss is also “easily the most preventable” injury on college campuses, Etzbach said, and compared to automated external defibrillators, which address cardiac episodes and can be

found in most buildings on campus, bleeding kits are more appropriate to the kind of medical incidents on a college campus. The kits allow bystanders to provide immediate care at the scene, equip employees to respond to emergencies in their workplaces and provide materials to off-duty BEMCo staff who may be nearby. “Our overall mission at BEMCo is to make the campus as safe as possible,” Silverman said, and making life-saving supplies publicly accessible is part of that mission. The roots of “Stop the Bleed” can be traced to the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, when a group from the American College of Surgeons worked with experts in law enforcement, government and emergency medicine to find ways to prevent deaths from blood loss by teaching bystanders to provide lifesaving care, according to the Stop the Bleed website. In 2015, the White House responded to the surgeons’ efforts by creating the “Stop the Bleed” program through the Department of Homeland Security.

Since then, several states have passed laws and led initiatives to equip schools with “Stop the Bleed” kits and to require students to be trained to use the kits in order to graduate, according to a Dec. 11 article from Kaiser Health News, and in some states the program has been implemented even without legislative incentive. There is no state-wide initiative in California, the article says, but two students at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita worked to bring the kits to their school, and when a shooting happened there last year, staff members used the kits to help victims at the scene. Some gun control advocates see the “Stop the Bleed” initiative as a band-aid that does not address the root problem — the gun violence that causes fatal bleeding in the first place. Lindsey Donovan, a member of Everytown Veterans Advisory Council, a group of military veterans who support gun violence prevention, said in an Aug. 14, 2018 Time article that if this is the government’s response to gun violence, “we have already failed.

We don’t need to control the bleeding — we need stronger gun laws.” Still, advocates for the program argue that people should know how to act safely in situations of excessive bleeding. Dr. Eileen Bulger, chair of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, said in the Time article that this knowledge “should be as common as CPR.” Etzbach emphasized that bringing “Stop the Bleed” to Brandeis is not a reaction to gun violence, and that Brandeis is not at a higher risk of gun violence than other schools. The kits can treat any type of bleeding injury and can be used in a variety of situations. “I’m hoping that when people see the kits they’ll feel safer and they won’t feel more nervous,” Etzbach said. “They really can only do good.” In addition to providing resources for schools, “Stop the Bleed” organizes training sessions for communities and elected officials. Nearby trainings can be found through an online search tool, and can be requested through local hospitals or by contacting “Stop the Bleed” directly.

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STUDENT ELECTIONS

Union to elect new senators ■ The Student Union

prepared for its special election for Community and International Senator positions. By HANNAH O’KOON JUSTICE EDITOR

The races for Community Senator and International Senator will be decided in a special election that will take place on Thursday. The Justice attended the “Meet the Candidates” event on Monday and interviewed prospective senators about their goals if elected. The position of Community Senator is outlined in Article Ten, Section 8 of the Union Bylaws. According to the law, the Union is required to hold a special election for this position if there is “no demonstrated interest among constituents of a certain residential area to hold office as a Senator.” The Student Union can then hold a special election “open to the entire undergraduate student body to fill any empty positions.” The community senators will serve in place of the two

Class of 2021 Senators and the Ziv and Ridgewood Quad Senator positions, for which no one ran in previous special elections.

Community Senator (2 Seats)

Tyler Carruth ’23 is running for the position of community senator. As a first-year student, Carruth has immersed himself in the Student Union by attending several committee meetings, including the Senate Dining Committee. In an interview with the Justice at the forum, Carruth emphasized his work with the Senate Dining Committee, and if elected, he hopes to continue working with the Dining Committee to further address student concerns. Additionally, Carruth said that he will “be representing a lot of people and a lot of different quads and classes” and that his main priority will be focusing on communication between the Union and its constituents. Carruth outlined his plans for the Justice, including intentions to cultivate relationships with Senators of different quads to better understand the issues that each quad faces. Furthermore, if

International Senator (1 Seat) Chloe Yu ’22 is running for the position of International Senator. Yu said in an interview with the Justice at the forum that she is actively involved in both the domestic and international communities and hopes to further integrate the two. Yu commented that she has three primary goals that she hopes to accomplish if elected. She aims to increase the availability of on-campus jobs for international students, to assist in providing more accommodations for international students during extended breaks and to “break down social barriers between international and domestic students.”

University names composition award after Brandeis alumnus Henri Lazarof M.A. ’59 has been honored with an international composition award.

By JEN CRYSTAL and GILDA GEIST JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT AND JUSTICE EDITOR

The University established an international composition award in honor of musician and composer Henri Lazarof M.A. ’59 in January. The Henri Lazarof Living Legacy includes the composition award, several concert series and an archival exhibit in the Goldfarb Library. Applicants for the award must submit two recent works in any musical style and using any musical instruments to be reviewed by a panel of anonymous judges, Senior Academic Administrator of the Music Department Mark Kagan said in an interview with the Justice on Thursday. The winner of the Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize will be announced at the Henri Lazarof Concert Series on April 5, according to the prize’s webpage. The winner will then create a composition to be performed at the Spring 2021 Henri Lazarof Chamber Concert and will receive $15,000. This chamber concert will be an annual occurrence, Chair of the Music Department Mark Berger told the Justice in an interview on Wednesday. He said that alongside the performance of the winning piece, guest artists will perform a piece by Lazarof. The winning composer will have to compose a piece that matches the instrumentation of the Lazarof composition, Kagan said. This year’s instruments are the flute, harp and viola. Lazarof was interested in composition from a young age, Kagan

said. Lazarof began his musical training under Paul Ben-Haim in Israel, then he won an award to study in Rome. He was then invited to study at Brandeis with Harold Shapiro and Arthur Berger where he earned his MFA in 1959. Lazarof created a total of 126 compositions throughout his career, and he was also an avid art collector. In 2007, he and his wife Janice donated a total of 130 pieces of art to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Lazarof finished his career teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles. “In addition to being a great composer, [Lazarof] was very well known as a[n] incredible teacher of composition, and he was a very strong advocate for other composers’ music as well, so it seems natural that we would use this gift in a way that would promote the creation of new music,” Berger said. Kagan explained that at the time that the family approached the Music Department for this project, they were also considering other institutions. The department worked with the family to design and negotiate the best way to promote Lazarof’s legacy, and the family chose Brandeis. “Brandeis was always a very special place for Henri Lazarof … from the years that he spent here, so I think that played a role,” Berger said. Berger estimated that the process of negotiating and establishing the programs took about a year and a half. According to Berger, Brandeis has already made a name for itself in the music composition world, but this international award will bring more prestige and recognition to the University. In addition, these new programs will help bring in new musicians for students to see and showcase works by Lazarof that are not fre-

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

‘I JUST HAD TO BE THERE’

elected, Carruth intends to coordinate with several on-campus departments in efforts to make campus-wide activities more accessible and available to all students. Shivam Nainwal ’22 is also running for the position of Community Senator. He did not submit a candidate bio and did not attend the “Meet the Candidates” event.

BRANDEIS ALUMNI

■ Musician and composer

●

quently performed. “This is going to help bring a lot of those great pieces of music that he composed to life while at the same time supporting other composers as well,” Berger said. Kagan explained that the University publicized this composition award by approaching any university affiliated with a music department. “I’ve received a query in French which indicates to me it was either from Canada or France,” Kagan said. “This is great because we want this competition to reach international [audiences] … and we’re expecting hundreds of applicants.” Berger explained that although Lazarof is considered great in the music composition community, his work is not performed often because of its difficulty. “His music is challenging.” Berger said. “It’s very expressive, very fluid and it’s not easy music, but it’s very serious and very heartfelt and that kind of music requires a certain level of performer.” The Henri Lazarof Archives will officially open on April 5 and will include manuscripts, audio materials, photographs and more, according to the archives’ webpage. This composition prize is not available to Brandeis students. However, Kagan said that the Lazarof Living Legacy is expanding to New Music Brandeis. In 2022, the organization will assist in funding a concert in which student compositions will be featured alongside Lazarof’s compositions. This concert will occur every few years, Kagan said. “I like to think [that compositions are] an expression of our time and the challenges we face now. You see that in contemporary art, movies and music,” Kagan said. “Music is a mirror and a reflection of our lives.”

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ACTIVISM AND RESEARCH: Professor Adrienne Keene discussed how students’ involvement in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline influenced their relationship to activism.

Speaker discusses native students’ pipeline protest ■ Dr. Adrienne Keene discussed

students’ connection to activism after protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. By ANIKA CHAKRABARTY JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dr. Adrienne Keene, an assistant professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, discussed her research regarding native college students’ involvement in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline on Friday. During the event “‘I Just Had to Be There’: Experiences of Indigenous Students in the #NoDAPL Movement,” Keene explored how these students’ participation in protesting the construction of the pipeline shaped their college experiences and relationships with activism. The United States Army Corps of Engineers first approved permits for the construction of a 1,200 mile pipeline meant to transport crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois in the spring of 2016, Keene explained. The Dakota Access Pipeline would have crossed under sacred indigenous sites and the primary water source of the Standing Rock Nation in North Dakota, posing the risk of water contamination in the event of a leak. The project prompted a resistance movement that drew indigenous and nonindigenous peoples from across the nation. Keene described how protesters established camps on the plains of the proposed construction site and faced police brutality and harsh weather conditions. The protests resulted in formerPresident Barack Obama blocking the project, a decision that President Donald Trump reversed days after he took office. Keene emphasized the role of native college students in the protests. A young woman from the Standing Rock Nation, Bobbi Jean Three Legs, organized three youth runs to raise awareness of the issue, one of which was the first event associated with the movement to gain national recognition. Keene explained, “The biographical availability of college students — meaning they have the time, motivation and space — makes them prime participants in social activism.” The role of youth in the resistance further expanded with the establishment of the International Indigenous Youth Council, a group that organized meetings and press conferences during the protests. The involvement of youth in the Standing Rock movement marked a change from traditional indigenous student activism. In the past, native college students focused on calling attention to racism within institutions they attended as opposed to protesting issues in the outside world. For her study, Keene interviewed 14 native students from a range of secondary institutions who took part in the movement, either from their campuses or at the camps in North Dakota. Keene outlined the common themes she found across the 14 interviews. These themes included the centrality of activism to indigenous identity, as many students felt obligated to protest as a way of protecting their heritage; and students’ shift in academic interests and focus following

their protest experiences. Keene mentioned one interviewee that changed his major from Engineering to Ethnic Studies after developing an increased appreciation for his culture following the protests. Additionally, Keene discussed the interviewees’ appreciation for “language as environmental activism.” Keene provided an example of one student who found there was no word for “undrinkable water” in the Mohawk language, explaining that “within that knowledge of the language comes environmental stewardship practices that go with it.” Keene also described the students’ contemplation of the “otherwise” of their protest efforts while they were at the camps: she explained how students considered a reality in which their involvement in the resistance movement resulted in greater justice for indigenous people. Keene highlighted an interview with “Ana,” a college senior whose protest experience was representative of the common themes Keene discovered in her interviews. Upon arriving at the camps in North Dakota, Ana found her niche in the community by washing dishes for the community of protesters. Keene cited Ana’s gradual recognition of the small yet significant role she played at the camps, which led her to embrace her indigenous heritage through a newfound passion for native food. Following the conclusion of her research, Keene said she will help the students she interviewed to connect with each other and other native activists to help them strengthen their native identity and sense of community. She also discussed integrating data from Twitter and other social media platforms into her study. Native activists relied on these platforms to voice their resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and organize small-scale protests. Keene has now begun the process of interviewing indigenous Hawaiian college students who participated in the protest against the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, a mountain Keene said was the location of sacred indigenous sites. The controversial project threatened these sites and sparked controversy similar to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Keene noted the similarities in the themes relating to native identity that arose from the experiences of the protesters of the Thirty Meter Telescope and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Unlike the resistance movement in North Dakota, however, protesters on Mauna Kea started a school to teach traditional culture to youth. Many students spent a semester studying on the mountain while maintaining contact with their professors from other institutions, Keene said. Additionally, Hawaiian activists protested the University of Hawaii for its sponsorship of the project. Keene said she is looking for more interviews to help her expand her study. Her ultimate goal is to increase “educational outcomes for native students.” The event was hosted by the American Studies Program and sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Colloquia Series and the Brandeis Anthropology Research Seminar.

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MAIN: Repairs continue on damaged control valve

ENDING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

CONTINUED FROM 1 Like the initial water main break, the area between Pearlman Hall and Goldfarb Library was cordoned off with orange construction cones and caution tape. However, with this incident, Facilities Services did not mark the area until water had been leaking for several days.

While the community was kept updated about the water main break, Facilities Services did not inform the community about this leak. When asked why, Stanley wrote, “Four buildings including a dining hall were served by the water main that broke and we did not want to risk losing water service. That is not the case for the control valve.”

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NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

ZERO TOLERANCE: Dr. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen discussed her work to end female genital mutilation at "The Jewish Ethics of Fighting Female Genital Mutilation." The event was hosted by the Women's Studies Research Center.

PROTESTS: Students react to new protest policies, allege unfair treatment CONTINUED FROM 1 before the policy changes. One student explained that though the administration held a forum, it did not feel like a safe space for discussion, especially with a large police presence. Another student, a Community Advisor, said she had gone to a meeting between President Liebowitz and the CAs where they discussed these policy changes, but expressed concern that the group present was not representative of the student body as a whole. She explained that the Community Advisors and Orientation Leaders are often the only students involved in these conversations and they do not have a choice as to whether or not they attend them. Students also discussed how Brandeis faculty perceived the protest policy changes. One student said that the African and AfricanAmerican Studies department reportedly “condemned” the changes, saying they were “inequitable and went against everything Brandeis

is supposed to stand for.” Some students even questioned whether or not they would have attended Brandeis had they known how the University handled situations like this on campus. For instance, one student said it is “messed up” that Brandeis calls itself a “social justice school” when it is “not addressing Black and brown students’ concerns and discouraging protesting for representation and needs.” She said she applied because of Brandeis’ social justice policy, but now says the policy seems to be “social justice if you have permission.” Students agreed that the issue with requiring approval for student-led demonstrations is that doing so creates an “active barrier to protesting,” meaning the Dean of Students' Office can decide where and when students protest, putting them in a location where they won’t be noticed, for example, or adding more campus police to the area. The

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updated policy says requiring permission is “to give the University the opportunity to provide space that accommodates the reasonable needs of both the University community and those engaged in acts of speech or protest,” but, as one student noted, the needs of the University and the students are often different. Many of the students felt that the demands from both the 2015 #ConcernedStudents protest and the 2019 #StillConcernedStudents protest have yet to be met to their satisfaction. They said that President Liebowitz’s emails barely addressed the demands themselves, but instead focused on the policy violations –– “more silencing students than fixing issues,” one student said.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020 ● FEATURES ● THE JUSTICE

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VERBATIM | JOHN KEATING No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.

ON THIS DAY… In 1916, Emma Goldman, a nurse and midwife from New York, was arrested for lecturing and distributing materials about birth control.

FUN FACT

Coca-Cola has made more than ten billion gallons of syrup since the drink was invented in 1886.

Chum’s 2020 Makeover

Cholmondeley’s Coffee House held a grand re-opening last Thursday By TALIA ZITNER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On an overcast, chilly Sunday afternoon, Cholmondeley’s Coffee House (Chum’s) is mostly empty, minus a few students working quietly on laptops. Soft music plays overhead, jumping from Frank Ocean to one of those songs only heard on TikTok. Chum’s offers a cozy respite from the more traditional spaces available on campus. Over a $1 cup of hot chocolate, students can use the space to study, hang out with friends and attend shows ranging from concerts to improv. Located in the historic Usen Castle, tucked into the corner of the building, Chum’s was named for the coonhound that belonged to campus photographer Ralph Norman, and serves as the only student-run coffeehouse on the Brandeis campus. It has an extensive college student - geared menu that includes cult-classics like Nutella sandwiches and pizza rolls at prices unheard of when compared to other places on campus. Chum’s has also been host to some pretty significant star power, such as Joan Baez, Tracy Chapman, and Genesis, just for starters. The space can be rented out by any group on campus and is open Thursday through Sunday at various times. Chum’s recently went through a significant remodel and had its grand re-opening on Thursday, Feb. 6. The re-open-

ing featured a brand new chalk table, games, free food and drinks. The majority of the remodeling process happened over winter break. “We recently had the walls repainted from blue to warm orange tones over winter break,” Gabe Trevino ’20, one of Chum’s general managers, said in an email to the Justice. “The planning process was really a full team effort. We brainstormed what type of snacks and beverages to serve and how to advertise it. We had a great turnout on Thursday! The recent changes with the wall colors, more Christmas lights, as well as high tables and low coffee tables makes the space feel more like a traditional grungy yet warm space that is more alternative/unique than other spaces on campus,” he explained. Trevino first started working at Chum’s as a first-year. “I had attended WBRS concerts held in the space ... When I got hired, I was elated as it felt like the ‘coolest’ job on campus. Chum’s means a great deal to me, as once I started working here as a sophomore it was a freshly renovated space that was quite different from what I remember as a freshman,” he said. This made it an especially big deal when Chum’s decided to change their space this year following complaints about it feeling “too cold or sterile.” “Chum’s should be a safe space for students. Chum’s should be a creative outlet for students. Chum’s should be a study space or just a place to plop on a

couch and chit chat with your friends,” Trevino said. Chum’s seems to leave a warm and lasting impression on those who work at and attend the coffeehouse. Chum’s other general manager, Anna Bartusis ’20, also got hired as a firstyear and has worked there ever since. Bartusis explained how the reopening was a largely collaborative experience for her and the rest of the staff. “We knew we wanted to offer a sampling of our drinks (coffee, tea, hot chocolate). Since we’re student-run, it’s up to our small staff of 7 to schedule our shifts and the main goal of the reopening, especially by having it during the afternoon, was to make the campus community more aware of our presence,” she said, also in an email to the Justice. She added that Chum’s, being studentrun, is always open to suggestions and often looks to improve their menu and space: “We’re always working on our menu, providing super cheap drinks and snacks - everything from lattes and affogatos to soup and PB&Js. Nothing is over $3. We also just acquired a toaster oven which will definitely allow us to expand our menu” Also one of the recently implemented changes is the acceptance of credit cards as a payment method, “a huge step from being cash only for so long,” stated Bartusis. Nachos, ice cream and plenty of other affordable and tasty snacks await at Chum’s. Be sure to check them out.

Photos by NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

NEW YEAR, NEW CHUM’S: Chum’s went through a renovation two years ago that improved its sound and lighting systems. Smaller renovations have taken place since.

STUDENT RUN: Chum’s is completely run by seven Brandeis students and is open every week Thursday through Sunday.

CHUM’S CASH: Chum’s Cash, available at various campus events, can be redeemed for a free drink or a $1 discount in other products.

CARD PAYMENTS ACCEPTED: Students can now use credit cards to pay at Chum’s. Previously, only cash was accepted.

Design: Sara Fulton/the Justice

THE JUSTICE ● FEATURES ● TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Time-travelling taste buds Sodexo’s Future 50 Ingredients campaign featured nutritious and sustainable meals

Photos by VERA SHANG/the Justice

CHOOSING THE INGREDIENTS: Sodexo chose foods identified as being nutritious and having a low environmental impact, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund and Knorr Professional.

By ELIANA PADWA JUSTICE EDITOR

Students walking into Sherman Dining Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 5, were able to partake in four dishes that were part of Sodexo’s Future 50 Ingredients campaign. These dishes — a wild rice, quinoa and lentil bowl (non-kosher lunch); a crispy hoisin tofu wrap with lotus root (kosher lunch); a cauliflower and amaranth risotto bowl (non-kosher dinner); and an ube maitake tartine (kosher dinner) — were created through a Sodexo partnership with the United Kingdom branch of the World Wildlife Fund and food brand Knorr Professional, per Sodexo’s Sept. 10, 2019 press release. Per the same release, the ingredients used in last Wednesday’s featured dishes were created from a set of 50 ingredients WWF-UK and Knorr had jointly identified as being nutritious and having “a lower environmental impact.” Sodexo launched 40 Future 50 recipes across 2,500 locations. In an interview with the Justice, Sodexo’s marketing specialist

Emily Baksa explained that Brandeis was chosen because its students “express a high demand for vegan and vegetarian offers” and the members of the Brandeis Dining culinary team are “passionate about plant based eating.” In response to a question about extra expenses, Baksa stipulated that this and other special events are included in their Brandeis budget and that Sodexo is “happy to keep providing these exciting events to the community!” Should Sodoxo remain at Brandeis after June 2020, Baksa believes pop-ups and events will remain a large part of campus dining. Universities are a key market for plant-based eating, she added, saying that the response to it has been very positive. Of the meals exhibited in Sherman last week, Baksa reported that the wild rice bowl was most popular at lunch and that the tartine was favored at dinner. These results were collected through a poll posted on the Brandeis Dining instagram story. When asked if meat is being phased out long-term as part of Sodexo’s push for sustainability, Baksa responded that Sodexo

FAVORITES AMONG THE CROWD: According to an Instagram poll conducted after the event, the wild rice bowl and the tartine were favored by students.

GREENHOUSE GASES: In an email to the Justice, Sodexo shared that it is planning to cut greenhouse emissions by 34% by 2025.

“wants guests to understand that meat does not have to always be the center of the plate and that integrating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables is beneficial for both your health and the health of the environment.” However, meat is not being entirely phased out. Instead, Sodexo has been making an effort to include more vegan and vegetarian recipes and to exhibit a wider variety of plant-based foods. Sodexo hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by 2025, Baksa said in the same email, and implementing more plant-based menus are a key part of the initiative. In the same interview, the Justice asked Baksa about hidden costs of sustainable eating — economic impacts on communities that had once relied on now-popular foods, for example. Baksa responded that Sodexo is “carefully considering the costs and social impacts of all the Future 50 recipes” and that ingredients are vetted. The vetting agencies look at the climate and social impacts of foods, fair trade ways to grow the Future 50 ingredients and the ability of the ingredients to conserve soil nutrients.

Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL) affirmed in an email to the Justice that plantbased eating is good for our planet. She pointed out, “If you swap out beef and cook some delicious lentils instead you’re doing threefold good — lower greenhouse gases, less animal suffering and better health for yourself.” Asked about costs of sustainable eating worldwide, von Mering asserted that focusing on hidden costs is rhetoric used by climate deniers “so that we don’t focus on the much bigger problem of the fossil fuel industry. Don’t be fooled!” Moreover, von Mering said that sustainable policies she wants to see implemented once this “criminal” presidential administration is over include an overhaul of farming subsidies to benefit small-scale and organic farmers, an international ban on glyphosate and more research money allocated to sustainable farming. “To understand why things are the way they are,” von Mering said, “just follow the money!” Brandeis Uprooted and Rising did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Design: Jen Crystal/the Justice

10 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020 ● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE

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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, Acting 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 Acting Copy Editor, Hannah O’Koon, Copy Editor Frances Hoffen and Yona Splaver, Ads Editors Samantha Goldman, Online Editor

EDITORIALS Sodexo pamphlets: Good intent, harmful impact Recently, Sodexo has begun supplying students with nutritional information through a series of “Mindful by Sodexo” pamphlets available near Sherman Dining Hall. On the surface, the initiative seems like a great idea, and this board appreciates the dining company’s attempt to connect with our community. However, many of these pamphlets promote unhealthy attitudes towards food and body image. This board calls on Sodexo to reevaluate the messaging they use to connect with students, as well as for other campus organizations to closely scrutinize the ideas they promote. In one pamphlet, Sodexo shared models of how to build plates that contain fewer calories, and reminds students that often when one thinks they’re hungry, they are actually just thirsty. Verbatim, the pamphlet suggests that those trying to “drop some pounds” can use water as an “appetite suppressant.” In another pamphlet, they tell students about “sneaky” ways they can incorporate more exercise into their lives, but put the focus on how many calories those simple acts burn. These tips are good advice for someone who is trying to lose weight but the conflation of healthy habits with weight loss is deeply problematic. Many students attempting to live healthy lifestyles are not trying to lose weight, and will not benefit from additional pressure to do so. Moreover, many of the tips suggested in these pamphlets are strategies employed by individuals who have disordered relationships with food and their bodies. By having these pamphlets easily

Body positivity is important available in the dining halls, which is already a place of some stress for many individuals, Sodexo risks encouraging harmful behaviors or propagating new ones. There are methods for speaking about food, bodies and health without drawing on disordered tropes. Per the National Eating Disorders Association, ways to develop a positive body image include appreciating all that your body can do, looking at yourself as a person beyond your body parts and focusing on altruism instead of worrying about weight and calories. Moreover, per the same website, striving for a healthful lifestyle can mean focusing on balance and moderation, looking for physical activities which genuinely bring you joy and not speaking about foods as positive and negative. This board suggests that Sodexo, and by extension the campus conversation around health and wellness, rest on these tenets rather than solely on food restriction and weight loss. A new campus initiative, Body Positive Brandeis, will train peer facilitators and “serve people of all identities and create space for dialogue” about identity and oppression’s impacts on body image and self-care, per the BPB website. This board appreciates their effort, and hopes that BPB will incorporate truly valuable and positive information, take caution not to leave potentially triggering material around campus and work with Sodexo to promote body positive rhetoric both in the dining halls and outside of them.

Reduce ambiguities surrounding study abroad According to the Office of Study Abroad website, Brandeis University offers over 200 different programs in about 60 countries, allowing students to customize their experience. However, there are often logistical issues associated with gaining course credit from classes taken abroad, which may dissuade students from taking advantage of these opportunities. This board urges the OSA to address these issues. Abroad programs are reviewed and approved by Brandeis faculty “to ensure that students are able to receive major/ minor credit for the courses that they take overseas,” Associate Dean of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid explained in an email to the Justice. However, the Justice spoke to multiple students who have been or are currently studying abroad who explained that, while the courses they picked were screened and counted as general credits, it was up to the professors in each department to decide whether courses taken abroad count for the specific requirements of each major, which was not always guaranteed until students’ return. Since the professors need to see the syllabus to make the decision, students often have no way of knowing if the courses taken abroad will be counted before their programs start. This is discouraging for students who are considering studying abroad in their junior or senior years — which account for the majority of the applicants — since they will only have two or three semesters to meet all their

Clarification needed major requirements upon their return to Brandeis. Prof. Lucy Goodhart (IGS), a study abroad liaison, told the Justice that professors do not formally preapprove courses because students might discover at the start of the program that their course is not actually available, or because an “even more enticing” course has caught their eye. Not approving courses, therefore, ensures “flexibility,” she said. Although most of the students we spoke to applauded the department professors for being very supportive and helpful both during the application process and while the students were abroad, the system is a stressor for many students considering going abroad. The study abroad system should be reformed so that students can be guaranteed that they will receive specific academic credit for their classes abroad. To offer a fair and feasible study abroad program, Brandeis should create a process for guaranteeing major/minor credit before students go abroad. Studying abroad is both an incredible opportunity and an important decision for any student to make. One should not feel the pressure to give up the chance to explore the world because they might not be able to trust that they will finish their majors. This board urges the OSA to make changes accordingly so more students can utilize the opportunities they provide.

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Views the News on

On Feb. 3, United States presidential candidates competed for the 41 pledged delegates in 1,679 precincts during the Iowa Caucus. Iowa’s Democratic Party planned to release the results of the caucus through a smartphone app designed to calculate and release the results more quickly to the public than in previous years. However, the app had the opposite effect — results were delayed by almost a day and only started being released Tuesday afternoon. The IDP confirmed that the delay was due to transmitting errors between the app and the IDP. How do you think the delay in the release of the caucus results will affect what some see as already wavering public confidence in our voting systems? Considering the fragility of technology, should Democratic parties in states with upcoming caucuses and primaries take precautions to ensure the results are released without similar issues?

Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL)

Whatever else we might say about the Iowa debacle, it does not bode well for electronic voting in the fall. There were glitches in the app and then in the hotline set up as backup for the precinct reps to report the results, but we now learn that an unexpected benefit has emerged from the delay in the reporting: we have data we mightn’t have had but for the Democratic Party’s excessive security precautions. We not only have the delegate count which was all we got in 2016, we have the first and second alignment results, calculated and kept in part as security against failure the next level up in the system. Under Iowa Democratic Caucus Rules, if the group you join (first alignment) has under 15% of those in the room, you must move to a group in support of another candidate (your second alignment), from your first to your second choice. If the group you joined initially has over 15%, you must stay put. But if there was movement at a caucus site, we now know which candidates picked up votes and which did not. So I, for one, would hate to see Democrats abandon their gathering in one thousand six-hundred-and-eighty-one schools ‘n’ churches, homes ’n’ libraries, choosing instead to head to polls to cast ballots on Primary Day. Were the Democratic Party in Iowa to abandon caucusing for the privacy of the voting booth, something unique to our democracy will be lost.

Andreas Teuber is an associate professor of Philosophy at Brandeis.

Vandita Malviya Wilson Iowa and any other state that has a caucus should be mandated to remove this antiquated method of determining delegates, for either party. Technology today can and does work; however, when any large governmental organization is in charge, and has little knowledge of how the tech is supposed to work, and not enough dry runs are scheduled and the wrong players are the ones running the project, the whole thing becomes fraught with error. Frankly, and this is part of a larger issue on the delegate selection process, a small state with the homogeneity of Iowa should not even be a player on the early stage of the democratic process. I’ve read that the developer of the app had ties to the Democratic Party. I’ve read now that backups of backups were in place. As a former IT professional who very carefully documented her work, I can say this was clearly not the case. This should have been tested and rolled out in a much more efficient and discreet manner, not with the fanfare that it received. It erodes the trust of the general voting public. I do hope the other states are taking notice, and that they do a better job of rolling out their tech. In the end, the tech is only as good as the information received in creating the program and the interface. I would have recommended not touting it as much and maybe doing fewer interviews and more testing and debugging. But for $63,000, they got what they paid for, which isn’t very much. Let’s face it: the only states that matter are the swing states, and the big delegate states and much more than an app and voter count overhaul needs to happen for the voting system in this country to be modern and effective. I hope this “glitch” is an impetus in the right direction. Vandita Malviya Wilson is an MBA candidate at the Brandeis International Business School and is a senior staff writer at the Justice.

Nathanial Walker Iowa 2020 can be described by the good, the bad and the downright ugly. First the good: paper ballots. In response to Russian interference in 2016, the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) mandated paper ballots that can be traced and accurately verified. Whatever the final results are, we can sleep tight knowing that they are free from foreign intervention. The bad: DNC reaction. The biggest issue with Iowa is the growth in opinion that the DNC is conspiring against the Sanders campaign. Asking for a nondescript “recanvass” has Sanders supporters fearful that they will lose their virtual tie with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, playing right into Donald Trump’s wishes. The ugly: the IDC’s belief that this would actually work, and work faster than normal. 2020 was the first year that the Iowa Caucus counted votes in first and final alignments. This is a fantastic thing. However, they vested all of their faith in an app when they were counting three elections, not one. Decisions like minimally staffing the IDP call center and using an app are serious missteps, considering the increased demands of this election. Nathanial Walker is a Ph.D. student studying international relations in the Politics department. Photos: Andreas Teuber/ Vandita Malviya Wilson/Brandeis University File Photo

THE JUSTICE ● FORUM ● TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Analyzing Trump’s State of the Union shenanigans

Judah

WEINERMAN CHATTERBOX

President Donald Trump gave his final State of the Union speech before his re-election campaign kicks into full gear, but you might not have even realized it. With Trump’s acquittal on all charges of impeachment and the chaos of the bungled Iowa Democratic caucus completely dominating the airwaves, comparatively little ink was spilled on Trump’s address to the nation. If you’re nonplussed, you’re not alone, as congressional Democrats seemed downright bored during the proceedings. Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) passed the time by reading his pocket copy of the Constitution. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) walked out. Several other representatives, including heavy hitters like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Maxime Waters (D-CA), didn’t even bother to show up. At the very end of Trump’s polemic, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (DCA) ripped up her copy of Trump’s speech. Pelosi’s middle-school esque stunt, much like her sarcastic clapping last year, will provide ample fodder for center-left #resistance Facebook pages and laptop stickers. If she were really committed to stopping Trump’s agenda, she’d stop voting for his massively overinflated military budgets, but we can only expect so much from a speaker afraid of her own shadow. As for the other Democrats, the anger and boos made sense, but the visible boredom did not. Trump’s speech was a lot of things, but boring was hardly one of them. State of the Union addresses in recent years have featured a barrage of special guests and highlight spots, and this year was no different. Clearly intent on making his mark in the wake of a brutish impeachment defense and a looming re-election effort, Trump held nothing back. The address felt less like a tone-setting agenda piece and more like a long, Trump-hosted daytime talk show. Showing commitment to veterans by surprising a military family with their father freshly returned from Iraq waiting in the crowd for them! A tirade about the evils of socialism punctuated by the wild appearance of Venezuela’s selfappointed President Juan Guaido! Announcing the launch of the Space Force by pointing out the little boy who will become the first member of the Space Force, right in front of a Tuskegee Airman! Promises of a trade deal with a post-Brexit United Kingdom made in person to Mr. Brexit himself, Nigel Farage! Promoting a scholarship program by plucking a fourth grader out of the crowd and giving her one on the spot!

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Imagine you’re in the crowd on “Oprah” in 2004 when she announces she will be giving you a car, but the car is just Nigel Farage sitting uncomfortably close to you, and Donald Trump is going on an unhinged rant about how Democrats are trying to sneak into old people’s homes and steal their Medicare checks to pay for a giant mural of Karl Marx. Point is, none of these surprise introductions were terribly salient, nor terribly inspiring. The inclusion of failed figurehead Guaido as a shot at democratic socialists like OcasioCortez became even odder when he admitted in an interview with the New Yorker he had never heard of her until recently, and after a quick brush-up on her agenda, he came to the conclusion that the New York Congresswoman was in fact more in line with his vision of social democracy than anything put forth by his rival Nicholas Maduro. Farage’s presence belies the fact that the now-independent UK is likely going to get its clock cleaned by Trump’s own trade negotiators. With apologies to the Space Force kid, when Trump sends him to die in space trying to shoot down a Chinese satellite, getting to meet that Tuskegee Airman will have counted for very little. But the biggest surprise of all was how Trump pivoted to his promotion of increased funding for cancer and AIDS patients, taking time to highlight a cancer patient near and dear to his base: talk radio host and conservative lodestone

Rush Limbaugh, who was attending the address as a personal guest of the First Lady. Limbaugh, a longtime cigar smoker, had announced his Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis earlier that week. If there was any time for the Republican establishment to honor one of their most devoted foot soldiers, it was now. In Trump’s own words, “Rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire, and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.” Now, the Presidential Medal of Freedom isn’t exactly the Nobel Prize, and Trump’s prior picks for the award haven’t exactly been the stuff dreams are made of. Limbaugh joins disgraced economist Arthur Laffer, arch-Republican donor Miriam Adelson, and the very dead Babe Ruth in Trump’s Medal of Freedom selections. Yet, of all of these duds, Limbaugh might very well be the single least worthy recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the history of the award. While his impact on American politics and culture might be outsized, Limbaugh’s contributions to American political discourse are uniquely negative. The man who once responded to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke’s moving testimony about her struggle to win even basic reproductive services with “Can you imagine if you’re her parents how proud of [Fluke] you would be? Your

daughter goes up to a congressional hearing conducted by the Botox-filled Nancy Pelosi and testifies she’s having so much sex she can’t afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.” On one hand, an award used to honor modern titans like Nelson Mandela, Norman Bourlag and Dolores Huerta shouldn’t go to a radio shock jock who calls his ideological opponents “Feminazis,” “Young skulls full of mush” and “Long-haired, dope-smoking, maggot-infested, good time rock ‘n roll plastic banana FM-types.” Then again, any club containing Margaret Thatcher, Donald Rumsfeld and Strom Thurmond is one that no American should aspire to be in, but at least those awful people had a veneer of respectability. Limbaugh has spent his entire career breaking down the last vestiges of the kind of conservative civility that the likes of William F. Buckley — a Medal of Freedom winner himself — had spent their entire careers trying to drag back in the post-war years. The latest product of that regrettable style, with its crass treatment of anyone outside the white ruling class and willingness to let millions suffer merely to “own the libs,” is of course Trump himself. Perhaps honoring Limbaugh at such a toxic and brazenly self-congratulatory State of the Union address was poetic, in a way. If you’re going to reveal the moral depths that America’s right-of-center politics have descended to, you might as well give one last gift to the guy who helped dig that hole.

Appreciating the right to vote as an African American By ABIGAIL CUMBERBATCH JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, Trump was acquitted of all the impeachment charges leveled against him. While this does not come as a shock, it certainly reflects the current value system the American government strives to uphold. Trump’s first term as president has challenged concepts of justice and equality in American society, and his impeachment acquittal is no exception. If the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to punish a man who has continuously abused his power as president, how can the American people rest knowing that the rights currently enjoyed are not at risk of being taken away? This fear is especially true for African American voters who celebrated the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment on Monday, Feb 3. This anniversary is made even more significant not only by the current state of American democracy, but also by the fast-approaching general election. As an African American, the ability to cast one’s ballot has always held a special place in my heart. Even though this will be my first year voting in the general election, I am not ignorant to countless sacrifices made by other African Americans to allow me to actively participate in this democracy. For many, the act of voting is just another thing one does as an American. You

pick a candidate that aligns with your values and cast your ballot on election day. However, many never stop to realize how fortunate they are to have the opportunity to vote, and many will never have to. For African Americans, the act of voting is inextricably linked to what it means to be an American. On one hand, the 15th Amendment finally gave Blacks the opportunities to participate in a country they have been part of since its inception in 1776. But it also reinforces the fact that this was not granted to African Americans out of the kindness of someone’s heart. Rather, it was gained through continuous struggle and sacrifice. Even after the 15th Amendment was established, African Americans continued to face difficulty when it came to voting. In the South, Jim Crow practices created physical obstacles between African Americans and the ballots. From poll taxes to literacy tests, African Americans may have gained the right to vote, but continued to be seen as less than and unworthy of the vote. The fact that Jim Crow laws created physical barriers to stop African Americans from acting out their constitutional right proves that power in American democracy has — and continues to lie with — those who support white, patriarchal systems that actively try to inhibit the rights of minorities. It is an utter shame that the 1965 Voting Rights Act had to be established after the 15th Amendment to ensure that African Ameri-

cans were enjoying the rights they fought for. The 1965 VRA not only dismantled Jim Crow practices in the South, it also helped reflect the diversity of voices that existed in American democracy. Today, we dedicate a month to the diversity of the Black community and its many accomplishments in spite of systematic racism. While I am truly fortunate for this time of appreciation, it also reflects that American society is willing to join in on our celebrations but won’t be seen acknowledging our woes. Case in point is the spectacle of Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday, in which he acknowledged a handful of African Americans for their stories and accomplishments. But this wasn’t because Trump truly believed that these stories needed attention, but rather because he is attempting to gain the support of Black voters. Does Trump believe that just because he gave a few shout-outs to African Americans in the audience, his relationship with the Black community will suddenly be revived? Trump has a history of bigotry towards African Americans and it should not be overlooked because he now acknowledges the existence of African Americans in this country. The praises Trump sang at his State of the Union Address were one of many tactics he has created in order to garner the support of Black voters. Trump dedicated an entire Super Bowl ad to criminal justice reform in which he showed

the magnitude of his abilities as president by commuting the life sentence of Alice Jackson for her nonviolent participation in a cocaine ring. In the commercial, Jackson is seen thanking Trump for his role in reuniting her with her family. While I am pleased that Jackson was reunited with her family, Trump is only using her to build a platform for himself in the Black community. Where was Trump when Jackson was still serving her life sentence in 2016? Trump is representative of the type of Americans that use African Americans as pawns in their games, though in actuality, his opinion towards us has not changed. Trump’s impeachment acquittal has proved he is politically invincible. However, votes are what got him into office, votes are what have shaped the current climate of American democracy, and votes will be the answer to forming a society that upholds honorable, morally righteous standards. The diversity of each vote cast is so imperative to the future of America. African American politicians and leaders did not tirelessly fight for the establishment of both the 15th Amendment and the 1965 VRA so we could say our vote doesn’t matter. Minority votes matter more than ever before. The right to express our opinions through voting should not have been the product of struggle and sacrifice. So with this opportunity to shape the future of America, we have to use it before history repeats itself.

The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE

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Iowa Caucus debacle: The good, the bad and the ugly By MEHMENT ZORLUOGLU JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

As of Feb. 9, only two days before the New Hampshire primary, there is still no officially announced “winner” of the Iowa Democratic Caucuses. Nevertheless, it seems as if the campaigns have moved on, with the fallout from Iowa likely cemented no matter what the candidates might have to add a week later. What is interesting, however, is what that fallout — either predictably, or unpredictably — might be. It seems clear, regardless of what partisans of any camp may have to say, that President Donald Trump could hardly have penned a more farcical Monty Python skit with which to mock the Democrats than the scenario that played out over the past week. Early on, there was an initial data dump of very few precincts, which hardly changed for an hour or so. There were initial reports of irregularities and delays in getting the correct data out, with reports that the results needed to undergo “quality checks.” Soon after, the initial data released on sources like the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post were erased, as if no votes had yet been recorded. The delay created uneasiness, both in the television news media, which is always eager to have the results and project a winner, and with the more heavily invested segment of the general public who await the results as a bellwether for what is to come, as well as a potential influence on their vote. As the night carried on, the only reason given for the delay in releasing results was that an app commissioned to record the results and tabulate them more efficiently turned out faulty. Presumably, the app would have swiftly been abandoned, as there were results from a few precincts being reported live on television with correspondents in the room watching with cameras. The lack of complete transparency from the party apparatus, both in Iowa and nationally — albeit in what were surely hectic hours and days — only contributed to the chaos. Not to be upstaged, the candidates tried to get in front of the chaos and steer the conversation in a favorable light for their own campaigns. Perhaps the most brazen example of this was Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg coming out late that night, with no officially confirmed results yet published, claiming “all indications suggest we will be heading to New Hampshire victorious!” The Sanders campaign followed by releasing their own internally collected data from around 40% of precincts, which purported to show their campaign comfortably ahead by about 5 percentage points. Needless to say, the lack of clarity and adequate due diligence by the party and media alike lent itself to a frenzied scramble by the campaigns to spin what was happening — or not happening — positively for themselves. Not only was there chaos, but the lack of understanding about what was going on both by the media and general public saw an online surge in conspiracy theories and people questioning the reliability of the data yet to be released. All of which was surely music to Trump’s ears. Speculation aside, the fallout from the

HARRISON PAEK /the Justice

caucuses and the lack of closure surrounding it — it’s still technically an open case as the next state on the calendar is gearing up to vote — should concern Democrats. It has the potential to continue to splinter a party already bursting at the seams as its “big-tent” appears to be at capacity or overflowing between the establishment and the left. Going forward, the party would do well in being more transparent with its constituents rather than leaving a void that conspiracists and even disingenuous agitators from the Republican Party can fill. Supporters from all sides have a claim to take up with the Iowa Democratic Party and Democratic National Committee. First, the Sanders camp says it clearly won more votes, which it takes to be the real measure of a winning campaign, and that Buttigieg got off scot-free if not actually being boosted by

claiming he won on the night of the caucuses. Buttigieg voters have the charge that he clearly outperformed polling and public expectations going into the race and was thus dealt a bad hand when otherwise favorable headlines may have been muddled by the chaos and controversy surrounding Iowa. If polls are to be believed, however — despite underestimating Buttigieg’s support in Iowa — Buttigieg has enjoyed somewhere between a 7-8% rise in the Real Clear Politics polling average of New Hampshire since the Feb. 3 Caucuses. If there are any candidates for whom the whole mess seems to have ambiguous ramifications, it is the Biden and Warren camps, who finished fourth and third respectively. Biden fell from being one of the favorites among betting markets and media pundits alike to fourth behind Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg, which does not bode

well for the candidate who centered his pitch on electability. However, it is equally possible that the confusion surrounding Iowa may have taken attention away from what otherwise seemed like a collapse in the perceived strength of the Biden campaign. Meanwhile, Warren seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle, having a solid third-place showing with easily the third most votes tallied in her name (20% in the final count). This is all to say that while Bloomberg and Trump may both be laughing — although for different reasons — it is unclear who was hurt by the entire fiasco, as it is not even clear yet who won the final “State Delegate Equivalent” count. But if popular vote is anything to go by, Sanders appears the most unfortunate, as his popular vote victory seems to have been lost in the absurdity of the caucuses and the inept management of its fallout.

As a woman of color, the Super Bowl halftime show was inspiring Vandita Malviya

WILSON DIFFERENT

This year’s NFL Super Bowl halftime show was fabulous, or so I thought, as I watched the festivities while doing my homework. I had resolved to stay disconnected while watching the game on Sunday, Feb. 2. The game was such a good one, and although I didn’t like all the commercials, they were nonetheless interesting (or confusing) enough to sustain my interest. The game itself held my undivided interest, and though I was not rooting for either team, I was rooting for the totality of its spectacle: the snacks, the ads, the throwback to the olden days of four TV channels and, long before I understood the game itself, the halftime show. In the last few years, however, the halftime show has become harder to watch. Perhaps it’s the high definition TV, which allows me to see each and every flaw of the performers. Perhaps it’s the nature of the content, perhaps it’s that I now know more about the NFL itself and that I understand the movements and the

lyrics far better than I did when I was ten. Still, I have been a fan of both Shakira and Jennifer Lopez since nearly the inception of each of their respective careers. I first learned about J.Lo when she starred in the movie “Selena,” and at some point I heard she used to be a dancer on “In Living Color.” I followed her career through her romantic comedies, her CDs and her dances. I followed her personal life through her marriages and almost marriages, and since she is only a few years younger than I am, and she is from my generation, I could not help but make those comparisons. No, of course I can’t sing or dance or act like she does, but in my mind, I certainly could. In some ways, she has been a role model for me in terms of what a woman can do, and how she has persevered despite the negative press she has received through the decades. In a similar vein, I followed Shakira’s career, though not as assiduously, and I purchased her first English CD, “Laundry Service,” that I played endlessly in my car. I subsequently bought her other CDs, and I watched her concerts on YouTube. It was because of Shakira that I was inspired to learn more about Colombian culture. To me, both these ladies seemed to only get younger with time. Having seen their performances both on TV and online, I wasn’t exactly dismayed or shocked by the halftime show, although I had to take my glasses off because at times I felt as if I was receiving

too much information that my eyes would not be able to unsee. As a woman of color, I was proud to see a woman of both Colombian and Lebanese descent as well as a woman of Puerto Rican descent headline the halftime show. And compared to seeing the shirtless Adam Levine last year, seeing glitter, sparkle and fringe was a welcome respite. The show was a technical tour de force. A lot goes into producing a show of that magnitude, from organizing the performers and the volunteer dancers of various ages and genders on stage, to choreographing the pyrotechnics, as well as managing the sound system. When I posted my admiration of the halftime show on my Facebook feed, well, I got some pushback. One person noted that Shakira lip synched. To which I responded, “Well, it’s a show, not an acoustic recording.” Shakira is a dancer … a performer … and entertainer! As such, in order to put on the best possible show, she took measures to ensure that she was able to do the dancing without resorting to a body double, with tons of energy I might add, and well, singing live in person compromises all that. But it isn’t 1990, and Milli Vanilli got a lot of flack for their performances as have others over the years. Nowadays, the show is the thing. And technically, it’s impossible in large stadiums for the sound to sync live, and at those concerts performers can be disrupted by the delay and echo as they sing so they must block it out.

The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.

J.Lo was on a stripper pole, or an “exercise pole,” and more power to her for that. I figured it was a great cross promotion for the movie “Hustlers,” and a chance for her to show the skills she may have learned while preparing for her role. As the headliner of the two Latina girls’ performance, J.Lo was on the stage a lot longer, with frequent costume changes, each a bit more revealing and daring than the previous one. It is not 2004, and I thought we had moved beyond being horrified by seeing skin, or fabric in the color of skin. I lightly poked fun at the integrity of some of the costumes’ fabric. Frankly, I loved the pink ball gown skirt the most. I honestly didn’t know the young girl singing was her daughter, and it doesn’t matter. Yes, there were children in what looked like bird nests or scalp massagers, and yes there were young dancers on the field and the stage. Trust me, they wanted to be there. It’s quite a feather in one’s cap to be in a halftime show. I did not believe the show was provocative enough to send children out of the room. At younger ages, unless told what is going on, children don’t really understand the nuances of the performance. Yes, it is sexualized, but guess what, sex sells, this is how human beings are wired, and societal norms are different now. This country was founded by Puritans, but biology doesn’t change that quickly.

THE JUSTICE ● SPORTS ● TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

WBBALL: Judges split games this weekend CONTINUED FROM 16 Petrie. However, Filiere responded just 18 seconds later with a threepoint shot. After two more baskets by the Tartans, Casanueva made another three-point shot that brought the score to 31–45. After Revis made a free throw at 7:03 bringing the score to 34–48, neither team scored again for over a minute, until Kerry Tanke ’22 made two free throws on a foul by the Tartans’ Megan Jaeb. However, just 18 seconds later, on a foul by Casanueva, the Tartans’ Leah Weslock made two free throws. The rest of the quarter moved at a slower pace than it had thus far, but ultimately the Tartans outscored the Judges 20–18 for the quarter, landing the score at 44–58 entering the final 10 minutes of play. The Judges put forth a bold effort in the fourth quarter, with both

GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME

teams scoring 12 points, but it was not enough to overcome the Tartans, who walked away with the win. With 8:28 remaining, Casanueva made two free throws on a foul by the Tartans’ Laurel Pereira. Tanke also made a free throw with 7:32 remaining on a foul by Carnegie Mellon’s Emily Archer. Fourteen seconds later the Tartans’ Katie Higgins made a layup, followed by one from the Judges’ Samira Abdelrehim ’21 just 12 seconds later, which brought the score to 49–64. The last points of the game were made by Reavis — a threepoint shot that brought the final score to 56–70. They had a stronger showing in the fourth quarter, but the Judges were never able to overcome the deficit that started so early in the game. Up next, the Judges will be on the road against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. on Friday.

TAKE FLIGHT

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

PUSH FORWARD: Brandeis’ Matan Zucker ’23 goes for the rebound in a game against Case Western Reserve University on Jan. 31.

MBBALL: Team breaks short winning streak CONTINUED FROM 16 Judges shot just 27–62 from the field as a team.

NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

CELEBRATIONS: The Brandeis Judges sprinted to the finish at the Reggie Poyau Invitational hosted by Brandeis University on Jan. 10.

Judges 77, Tartans 70 On Sunday, Brandeis took down the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans, but needed a second-half rally to do so. The game started in a remarkably unremarkable fashion, with the game’s first 22 points all coming off two-point field goals, resulting in a 12–10 Tartans lead. After staying tied at two, four, six and 13, Carnegie Mellon pulled ahead 20–14 on a three-point shot by Daniel Weiss. The hosts led by as much as eight, before Sawyer connected from deep for Brandeis’ first successful three-in-10 attempts. Jones followed with another triple, but a frustrating first-half for the Judges was punctuated when Nassar uncharacteristically turned the ball over, leading to a Carnegie Mellon threepointer in the waning seconds of the period, a potential five (or six) point swing as the Judges had been in possession with the shot clock turned off. The Judges were in a perilous position at the break, trailing 36–29 against a team that had just lost to a New York University side previously 0–7 in the UAA. Having experienced their most unexpected loss of the season on Friday, the Judges had 20 minutes to

prevent their successful season from derailing in 48 hours. Brandeis responded by scoring six times on their first five second-half possessions. On the fifth, Hagerty missed his second free throw only for Jones to draw a foul on the ensuing rebound, leading to a jumper by Sawyer. This capped a 12–2 run to open the second half, which put the Judges ahead 41–38. Carnegie Mellon would draw level at 43 before buckets by Clamage and D’Aguanno gave the Judges their largest lead to that point. After a Carnegie Mellon three brought them back within one, the Judges scored eight straight points following a timeout to lead 55–46 with 11:52 left in regulation. Brandeis went on to outscore their opponents 37–17 from halftime to 7:54 remaining in the game. The underdog Tartans recovered and kept themselves in the game late, missing a chance to come within six points from the free throw line at the 95-second mark. Still down only 72–65 with well over a minute remaining, Carnegie Mellon made a puzzling decision to foul D’Aguanno, one of the Judges’ better free throw shooters, in the hope that he might miss the front end of a one and one. Instead, the experienced sixth man calmly converted both free throws to put his team in a very comfortable position. After the Tartans hit a layup, they elected not to foul, allowing Brandeis to run down

the shot clock on their next possession. The Judges came up empty but maintained a seven-point lead with 31 seconds to go. The persistent hosts used a three-point play to make it 74–70 while preserving all but three seconds of the clock. They immediately fouled Nassar, but the sophomore nailed two more important free throws to make it a six-point game. The Judges’ defense held and forced a miss, with Darret Justice ’23 grabbing the rebound and scoring the game’s final point on a free throw to seal the bounce back victory with 0:17 seconds to play. After starting off 0–9 from behind the arc, the Judges finished 7–16, with five of those coming from Jones and Sawyer who each led the team with 17 points. Jones had a double-double with 14 rebounds, twice as many as any other player on either team. He also paced Brandeis in assists with three. The Judges had a -5 turnover margin but escaped with the win thanks to their +19 mark in team rebounding. Brandeis ended the weekend where they started it in terms of UAA standings, tied at the top of the conference with both Emory University and Washington University in St. Louis with a record of 7–2. The Judges are now 15–5 overall and travel next to the University of Rochester on Friday Feb. 14 for an 8 p.m. tip-off before an all-important clash with Emory on Sunday at noon.

TRACK: Judges soared at Tufts Invitational CONTINUED FROM 16 4.30 meters (14–01.25). The women also set a new school record in the 4x200-meter relay, breaking the record set in 2016. The foursome of Anna Touitou ’22, Sonali Anderson ’22, Sydney D’Amaddio ’23 and Devin Hiltunen ’22 posted a time of 1:47.30 for a new school record and a second-place finish. They beat the

previous University record by 0.30 seconds. This is Anderson’s third school record and Hiltunen’s second. Anderson finished in thrid place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.34 seconds, after posting 9.63 seconds in the preliminaries. Hiltunen placed sixth in the individual 200-meter dash with a time of 26.47 seconds, which was second in her heat among the

Division III runners. Hiltunen also ran the 4x400-meter relay with Yahni Lapa ’23. Leinni Valdez ’21 and D’Amaddio, placing second with a time of 4:07.46, just slightly ahead of third-place Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Andrea Bolduc ’21 placed fifth in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:03.57. Lapa placed eleventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.13. Natalie

Hattan ’22 placed eighth in the onemile run with a time of 5:19.11 and Willa Moen ’20 placed eighth in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.83 seconds. Niamh Kenney ’21 placed fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:08.79. For the first time in his career, Allan was named the University Athletic Association Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 3, after

breaking the Brandeis school record in the heptathlon for the second time this season with a score of 4,782 points. As of last week, Allan was ranked 10th in Division III in the heptathlon, as reported by Brandeis Athletics. He beat his previous school record by 143 points. Brandeis heads to Boston University for the Valentine's Invitational on Friday, Feb.14.

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THE JUSTICE

JUDGES BY THE NUMBERS

● SPORTS ●

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

FENCING

MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS Emory WashU JUDGES Rochester Case Chicago Carnegie NYU

UAA Conf. W L D 7 2 0 7 2 0 7 2 0 4 5 0 4 5 0 4 5 0 2 7 0 1 8 0

Points Per Game

Collin Sawyer ’20 leads the team with 15.8 points per game. Pct. Player PPG .850 Collin Sawyer 15.8 .800 Chandler Jones 13.9 .750 Eric D’Aguanno 11.1 .650 Nolan Hagerty 8.8 .550 Rebounds Per Game .450 Nolan Hagerty ’21 leads the team .450 with 7.9 rebounds per game. .400 Player REB/G Nolan Hagerty 7.9 Chandler Jones 7.6 Matan Zucker 3.9 Lawrence Sabir 3.7

Overall W L D 17 3 0 16 4 0 15 5 0 13 7 0 11 9 0 9 11 0 9 11 0 8 11 0

UPCOMING GAMES: Feb. 14 at University of Rochester Feb. 16 at Emory University

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS UAA Conf. W L D NYU 6 3 0 Chicago 6 3 0 Emory 6 3 0 Case 5 4 0 WashU 4 5 0 JUDGES 3 6 0 Carnegie 3 6 0 Rochester 3 6 0

Points Per Game

Overall W L D Pct. 16 3 0 .800 15 4 0 .750 15 8 0 .750 10 4 0 .500 11 8 0 .550 13 6 0 .650 11 9 0 .500 9 11 0 .450

UPCOMING GAMES: Feb. 14 at University of Rochester Feb. 16 at Emory University

Camila Casaneuva ’21 leads the team with 14.1 points per game. Player PPG Camila Casaneuva 14.1 Hannah Nicholson 11.3 Jillian Petrie 9.1 Courtney Thrun 7.1

Rebounds Per Game Hannah Nicholson ’20 leads with 9.2 rebounds per game. Player REB/G Hannah Nicholson 9.2 Camila Casaneuva 6.0 Courtney Thrun 5.4 Samira Abdelrehim 3.8

SWIMMING AND DIVING Results from Keene State Invitational on Jan. 18.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

JEN GELLER/the Justice

EN GUARDE: Although the Judges struggled this weekend, they had more luck at the Eric Sollee Invitational on Feb. 1 (above).

Men’s and women’s teams fell at Duke Invitational ■ Fencing fell to their opponents at Duke Invitational, but men pulled out a win against Hopkins.

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s) By JOCELYN GOULD

100-yard Freestyle

200-yard Freestyle

SWIMMER TIME Tamir Zitelny 49.17 Marcelo Ohno-Machado 49.52 Thomas Alger 51.38

SWIMMER TIME Audrey Kim 2:04.50 Natalya Wozab 2:07.64 Sofia Chevez 2:09.89

UPCOMING MEETS: Feb. 12 at UAA Championships

TRACK AND FIELD Results from the Terrier Classic at Boston University on Jan. 25.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

60 Meter Dash

200 Meter Dash

RUNNER TIME Reese Farquhar 7.39 Armin Alirezael 7.61 Domenick Raphael 7.97

RUNNER TIME Tessa Holleran 28.88 Somali Anderson 28.92 Gabby Tercatin 31.79

UPCOMING MEETS: Feb. 14 at Valentines Invitational Feb. 23 at USA T&F New England Championship Data Courtesy of THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION and the BRANDEIS ATHLETICS WEBSITE; Images Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.

JUSTICE EDITOR

Both the men’s and the women’s fencing teams struggled at the Duke University Invitational this weekend. The women’s team fell to all five teams they faced, while the men’s team secured one victory against Johns Hopkins University to counteract their four losses. Men’s team On Saturday, Feb. 8, the men’s team went 1–4, although they came close to victory against the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tarheels. With scores of 4–5 sabre, 4–5 foil and 5–4 epee, the Judges narrowly lost to Penn State, 13–14. Sabre fencer Alex Holtman ’21 won two of Brandeis’ four victorious bouts, with Ian Quin ’20 earning two of the foil squad’s victories. On epee, Ben Rogak ’23 was undefeated, taking home three of the squad’s five successful bouts. The epee squad continued to shine as the Judges went 12–15 against UNC, with scores of 3–6 sabre, 3–6 foil and 6–3 epee. Rogak went undefeated in another three bouts, with fellow epeeist Chris Armstrong ’20 adding two victories. Lucas Lin ’22 and Quin

each won two bouts for the sabre and foil squads, respectively. The Judges dominated against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays with a final tally of 18–9. Holtmann and Lin both won two bouts, helping the sabre squad earn its 5–4 score. On the foil side, which went 6–3, Sam Chestna ’20 won three bouts and Jake Hempe ’23 won two, with both fencers going undefeated. The epee squad had the day’s strongest showing, going 7–2, led by Armstrong, who won all three of his bouts. The Judges lost to the University of Notre Dame, and their host, Duke University, 7–20 and 10–17 respectively. The sabre and epee squads fell 3–6 to Notre Dame, while the foil squad had their worst showing of the day with a score of 1–8. Lin and Rogak each contributed two wins, to the sabre and epee scores, respectively. Against Duke, the sabre squad was 2–7, and the foil and epee squads were both 4–5. Josh Shuster ’23 won three of the four successful epee bouts against Duke, going undefeated against the Duke Blue Devils. The epee squad had the strongest showing, beating three of the five universities at the invitational. The sabre and foil squads both went 1–4. The men’s team is now 16–16. Women’s team The women’s team faced stiff competition on Sunday, Feb. 9, falling to all five university opponents at the invitational. The Judge’s strongest showing came against UNC, 12–15, with all

three squads going 4–5. Jessica Morales ’23 dominated on sabre, going undefeated in her three bouts. Foil fencer Jessica Gets ’20 and epeeist Dakota Levy ’20 each earned two wins for their squads. The Judges fell 6–21 to both Notre Dame and Duke. Against Notre Dame, the sabre squad fared the best (3–6), while the epee (2–7) and foil (1–8) squads struggled. The sabre squad also got the closest to beating Duke (4–5), with the foil (0–9) and epee (2–7) squads continuing to lag behind. Cumulatively against the two universities, Maggie Shealy ’23 won three bouts and Morales won four to lead the sabre squad. The Penn State Nittany Lions beat the Judges 20–7. Shealy and Morales earned the sabre squad’s three victories and Gets earned the foil squad’s two wins. The epee squad went 2–7, with one win each from Levy and Madeleine Vibert ’21. Against the Temple University Owls, the Judges fell 3–24, all squads 1–8. Morales, Gets and Vibert each earned their squad’s single win. Overall, Morales and Shealy dominated the sabre squad, winning nine and six bouts, respectively. Gets won five foil bouts, and Vibert and Levy each won four epee bouts. None of the squads won any of their matches, with squad records of 0–5 for all. Despite their losses, the team’s record remains at 19–17 overall this season. Both squads will look to redeem themselves on Wednesday at the Boston College Beanpot Tournament in Chestnut Hill, MA.

PRO SPORTS BRIEF

Potential sale of New York Mets to Steve Cohen falls through If New York Mets fans are indeed envious of their neighbors who root for the New York Yankees, it is understandable. The Yankees have won 27 championships in the team’s 106 years (approximately one championship every four years) while the Mets have won two championships in their 57 years of existence (approximately one championship every 30 years). The Yankees’ most recent dynasty, that of the 1990s, can be largely attributed to the willingness of their late owner, George Steinbrenner, known as “the Boss,” to spend whatever amount of money it would take to obtain the best talent, allowing the Yankees the best chance to win. Yankee spending has proven to be good business. Since 1973, when Steinbrenner acquired the team, to the present, and with

the team presently run by his son, Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees have surpassed the Mets in attendance for 35 of the past 47 years and in each of the past 27 straight years, according to the Baseball Almanac published data. The Mets, while competitive in recent years, have been less successful than their crosstown rivals, at least in part due to the financial constraints of their current owners. This has caused resentment by the fans and many hope that the current owners, the Wilpon family, would sell the team to new owners with “deeper pockets” who could afford to stock the team with the best talent. The Mets’ owners’ desire to sell and the background of the Wilpon’s financial difficulties was chronicled in a Dec. 12, 2019 Bloomberg article.

The Mets ‘principle owner, Fred Wilpon, who acquired an ownership interest in the Mets in 1986, and his son, Jeff Wilpon, the chief operating officer, have a history of spending generously for top talent. However, due to their involvement in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the finances of the team suffered, and the Wilpons had to pay $162 million to settle the lawsuit related to the scheme. As a result of this lawsuit, the team was forced to borrow $62 million from Major League Baseball and the Bank of America Corporation and repaid the loans by selling minority shares in the team. As a result of the financial stress and to the chagrin of their fans, the team was tenth in payroll in 2019, hardly befitting a team in the New York market. It was because of this that Mets fans were ecstatic by the prospect of

billionaire hedge fund manager and Chief Executive Officer of Point72 Asset Management, Steve Cohen, buying the team. Cohen is a lifelong Mets fan from Great Neck, Long Island and is already a minority owner. The Mets and Cohen were close to finalizing a deal for Cohen to acquire up to an 80% share of the team with a value of $2.6 billion for the team. The initial excitement has evaporated, however, as the deal has been called off. As reported in a Feb. 7 CBS article, the exact cause of the deal’s collapse is unknown, though the team described the proposed deal as “a highly complicated one” and stated that, “despite the efforts of the parties over the past several months, it became apparent that the transaction as contemplated would

have been too difficult to execute.” Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in the same article, “The assertion that the transaction fell apart because of something the Wilpons did is completely and utterly unfair.” The Mets have stated that they will attempt to find another buyer for the team. However, for diehard Mets fans, the prospect of a new owner as Cohen, whose net worth is $13.7 billion and has the resources to give the Yankees a run for their money, was a dream come true. Now, the Mets and their fans are back to square one. To quote Ernest Lawrence Thayer, who penned Casey at the Bat, “There is no joy in Met-ville, Mighty Cohen (and Wilpon) have just struck out.” —Megan Geller

just Sports Page 16

METS SALE FALLS THROUGH Mets fans were ecstatic a the prospect of Steve Cohen buying the team, p. 15. Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

MEN'S BASKETBALL

DIFFICULT DEFENSE

Men’s basketball remains tied for first in the UAA ■ Men’s basketball splits this weekend’s games, bringing then to 15–5. By JONAH WHITE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The Judges entered last week ranked 25th in the country, but were upset in Cleveland, Ohio and needed to come from behind in Pittsburgh to go 1–1 for the weekend. Spartans 84, Judges 76 The Judges fell to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Friday, Feb. 7 in a disappointing result of 84–76 against a team they defeated just seven days prior. The host Spartans scored the game’s first four points on a pair of layups in the game’s second minute. Collin Sawyer ’20 put Brandeis on the board eight seconds later, and then Sam Nassar ’22 tied the game at four. Case Western responded with a 17–6 run to take a commanding 11-point lead nine minutes into the contest. The Judges struggled to cut into the lead for the rest of the half, trailing 35–22 before a 9–4 run enabled them to enter the break within single digits. The team’s best stretch of the game arrived at the outset of the second half when they went on a 13–5 run, due in part to a three-point play by Sawyer and a three-point jumper by

Dylan Lien ’23. Having tied the game at 44, the Judges allowed four straight points, only to respond by taking their first lead of the game on consecutive threes by Eric D’Aguanno ’20 and Austin Clamage ’21. With this basket, D’Aguanno became the Judges’ alltime leader in career three pointers. It was back and forth for the next two minutes until a three-pointer by the Spartans’ Ignas Masiulionis put the home team up by four. A three by Lien got the Judges back within one at 60–59 with 8:48 to go, but Brandeis struggled mightily from that point on. After the judges were held scoreless for a remarkable five straight minutes, a Nolan Hagerty ’22 free throw made it 70–60 with three and a half minutes left. Chandler Jones ’21 scored a layup at 2:25 to make it 73–67, and then Sawyer answered a Spartans’ layup come within five while the Judges had 72 seconds to work with. The dagger came when Case Western Reserve penetrated an aggressive Judges defense to knock down a three in the corner with just 46 seconds on the clock. The Spartans made enough free throws down the stretch to hold the Judges off despite another three pointer by Lien. Sawyer led the Judges with 22 points on 7–11 shooting, while D’Aguanno and Lien scored 12 and 11, respectively. Jones and D’Aguanno led the team with six rebounds and Jones pitched in four assists. The

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

MOVE IT: Brandeis’ Katherine Puda ’21 looks to make a basket in a Jan. 31 game against Case Western Reserve University.

Women’s basketball Judges break overcomes losing streak See MBBALL, 13

☛

TRACK AND FIELD

records at Tufts Invitational ■ The Judges broke school records in the 60-meter hurdles and the women’s 4x200-meter relay at Tufts Invitational. By MEGAN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR

Brandeis’ Jack Allan ’20 in the 60-meter hurdles and the women’s 4x200-meter relay teams both broke Brandeis school records in their events at the Tufts University 2020 Cupid Invitational on Feb. 8 in Medford, MA. During the men’s races, Allan set his second University record of the season, the first being the heptathlon, a combined contest made up of seven different events, on two different occasions. This weekend at the Tufts Invitational,

Allan broke the record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.46 seconds in the finals. This University record had stood since 2009. During the preliminaries, Allan ran the race in 8.62 seconds to earn the second seed position. However, in the finals he won the race by 0.12 seconds and lowered the school record by one-tenth of a second. The record was previously held by Myles Tyrer-Vassell ’12. Individual performances included Lorenzo Maddox ’20 placing fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.30 seconds and sixth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.16 seconds, missing fifth place by 0.004 seconds. Dion MorrisEvans ’22 placed fifth in the highjump with a height of 1.9 meters. In the pole vault, Breylen Ammen ’20 placed fifth at 4.45 meters (14–07.25) and Aaron Corin ’22 placed sixth at

See TRACK, 13 ☛

■ Women’s basketball split their recent games, bringing them to 13—7 overall and 3—6 in the conference. By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR

The Judges snapped their threegame losing streak with a win against University Athletic Association rival Case Western Reserve University on Friday. Two days later, the Judges lost to Carnegie Mellon University, another UAA rival. These games bring the team record to 13–7 overall and 3–6 in the UAA. Judges 80, Spartans 71 The Judges broke their three-game losing streak with a victory over the CWRU Spartans. This was the Judges’ third conference victory and their 13th overall win for the season. The first quarter began slowly; it took almost two minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard. At 8:04, the Spartan’s Melissa Heath made a layup, and just over 30 seconds later she made a second, bringing the score to 0–4. The game proceeded for over two minutes with this score before Camila Casanueva ’21 captured the Judges’ first points of the game with a 5:22 jump shot. However, the Spartans responded with a three-pointer from Isabell Mills, bringing the score to

2–7. Brandeis’ Francesca Marchese ’23 came back with a three-point shot of her own at 4:43 followed by another jump shot by Casanueva at 4:26, tying the game at seven. The Judges gained momentum toward the end of the quarter and ended on top with a score of 21–15. The Judges never lost their lead in a slower second quarter. They entered the second half with a six-point lead capped off by a layup made in the last two seconds by Courtney Thrun ’21 assisted by Casanueva. Within the first 15 seconds of the third quarter, Jillian Petrie ’21 made a layup followed shortly by another from Hannah Nicholson ’20 that brought the Judges’ lead to ten points. Emma Reavis ’23 followed suit at 7:53 to bring the score to 42–30. Thirty seconds later, Nicholson made two free throws. After a layup and another free throw from Nicholson, the Judges led 47–30 with 6:59 left in the quarter. After this nine-point run to start the half, the Spartans responded with a free throw by McKenna Gross in response to a foul by Nicholson. The Judges kept their substantial lead for the rest of the quarter which concluded with a 13-point lead and a score of 60–47. The final quarter solidified the Judges’ victory. Although the Spartans closed the gap to nine points, the Judges finished strong to end the game victorious with a score of 80–71. Thrun led the team in points and rebounds this game, with 17 and 12,

respectively. Casanueva led the team with nine assists. This was the first home game that CWRU dropped this season. Tartans 70, Judges 56 The Carnegie Mellon Tartans beat the Judges in a Sunday contest that resulted in a final score of 70–56. In the first quarter, both teams were slow to score, but when they did, it was the Tartans who got on the scoreboard first with a three-point shot by Makayla Filere with 8:54 remaining in the quarter. It took until 6:33 for the Judges to score, when Petrie made a jump shot to bring the score to 2–8. The Tartans maintained a steady lead throughout the rest of the quarter, at one time having as large as a 14-point lead over the Judges until a threepoint shot by Casanueva narrowed the gap to 11 at 1:17. Going into the second quarter, the Judges trailed 13–22. During the second quarter, the Judges faced a similar fate as the Tartans made the first shot — a threepointer by Filiere with 9:26 remaining. The Tartans ended the first half with a free throw by Caitlyn Clendenin with 47 seconds remaining to put them ahead of the Judges by 12. The teams went into the second half with a score of 26–38 in favor of Carnegie Mellon. In an interesting turn of events, the Judges made the first shot of the third quarter with a jump shot from

See WBBALL, 13

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February 11, 2020

Vol. LXXII #17 Vol. LXX #2

September 12, 2017

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arts & culture

Waltham, Mass.

Images: Noah Zeitlin/the Justice, Creative Commons. Design: Noah Zeitlin/the Justice.

TUESDAY, THE JUSTICE FEBRUARY | ARTS 11, 2020 | TUESDAY, I ARTSJANUARY & CULTURE 31, I2017 THE JUSTICE

CULTURE EVENT

A K-NITE to remember By JACQUELINE WANG JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

K-NITE is one of the largest events that the Brandeis Korean Students Association holds every year. This year, KSA chose the theme of butterflies, or “Nabi,” to represent the hard yet beautiful transition that everyone has to go through in life, to say farewell to the graduating senior class, to wish the best for everyone going through hardships and to ultimately become a better version of themselves. K-NITE kicked off with a unique E-board video, showing the audience several different skits that highlighted aspects of Korean culture with meticulously designed content, from Korean food culture to K-drama. One of the clips included featured reactions to an extremely spicy ramen taste test. Other clips included a “vlog” of a stereotype of Korean students’ “luxury life,” a K-drama scene of “Rich Mom & Poor Stepson,” directed and filmed by E-board members, another K-drama

scene of “My Instant Pet Boyfriend & Me” and a lovely K-pop music video cover of “Blue-Velvet debut.” Each skit featured an aspect of Korean culture, popular with young Koreans and people from all over the world. The two K-drama scenes captured a K-drama fan’s heart — especially “Rich Mom & Poor Stepson.” It featured the most frequently repeated scene in family ethics dramas, which often take place in K-drama chaebol (extremely wealthy families). The exaggerated styles of acting brought laughter from many in the audience. The activity was a fusion of K-pop and traditional Korean culture. Students, including KSA members and volunteer dancers, performed several group dances that represented K-pop culture and ignited the atmosphere right away. The dances, “Fancy” and “Yes or Yes,” from popular K-pop girls idol group Twice, energized the audience with their brisk melodies and lively dance moves. “Idol” and “Kill This Love,” from the world-famous K-pop groups BTS and Black Pink, struck the audience

THEA ROSE/the Justice

DANCING FUN: Students performed Korean dances to help teach the audience about Korean popular culture.

with powerful moves and strong rhythm. Audience members swayed glow sticks to the rhythm and responded positively to the event. Applause thundered through Levin Ballroom at the conclusion of each act. KSA also designed stages of soft Korean pop music between the dances. Songs such as “Nose, Eyes, Lips” and “Stay With Me” are very popular among Asian audiences. Many in the audience started to sing along with the performers on stage. Another song, “Shabang, Shabang,” by Korean trot song singer Park Hyun-bin, gave the performance an air of happiness with its repetitive two-beat rhythm. Dances representing traditional Korean culture combined the element of Talchum, a type of traditional Korean dance performance with masks, to the rhythmic modern music. Between performances, there were bits in which two audience members were invited on stage to participate in a quick quiz on Korean culture or KSA. Those who won received cute LINE Friends regalia, which is a series of popular cartoon characters. It was an opportunity for the audience to

THEA ROSE/the Justice

ENRICHING HISTORY: Some of the dances at K-NITE had traditional Korean roots.

learn trivia about Korean culture, such as who was the founder of the Korean language (the answer is King Sejong). KSA decorated a dreamy scene at Levin Ballroom. One hundred paper butterflies were hung from two corners of the room. The stage was decorated with hand-carved paper flowers and painted signs. Even the tables were sprinkled with small pieces of paper with metallic shine and lit by transparent glass jars that had flowers inside and were strung with lights. K-NITE was a cultural feast, not only for Korean students and K-drama fans, but also for the whole student population, including people who had not been previously exposed to Korean culture. The KSA put tremendous effort into arranging the performances and setting up the stage. To better immerse the audience in the activity, KSA even projected lyrics of songs on the screen during performances. I could really feel the love KSA members have and I sincerely hope that their wish for this event will come true: that everyone can fly into their futures like butterflies.

THEATER PERFORMANCE

Quick: create and perform a play! By ELISABETH FREEMAN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

On Sunday night, the Undergraduate Theater Collective (UTC) presented “Quickies,” the annual festival of student-written short plays. The nine plays were all about 10 minutes long, and were written, produced, directed, designed and acted by students. The format of these performances allow students to get involved in theater, no previous experience or extensive time commitment required. Auditions for “Quickies” were about two or three weeks prior to the showcase followed by a mere two or three rehearsals for students to perfect their short plays. I was shocked by how remarkably well and quickly the UTC was able to put together these plays. The actors knew their lines and seemed truly immersed in each of their roles; they looked like they were having an amazing time. Some of the actors even laughed as they recited their lines! I could tell that the audience was having a blast as well — students hooted and hollered, ooh-ed and ahh-ed. The plays were diverse in tone and content. While the plays were largely comedic, the types of humor varied. “A Staircase Full of Trash,” about a group of friends hanging out, and “He’ll Know What It Means,” in which a narrator tells the story of a person who tells friends to relay messages to someone with the assertion that he’ll know what it means, were quirky and felt comparable to sitcoms. “Elvises Are in the Building,” which parodied “The Bachelorette” but with Elvis impersonators, “Paper, Unwritten,” about a procrastinating student, and “A Night on the Job,” which

follows a despondent Uber driver driving drunk college students to and from a frat party, were satirical. Meanwhile, the humor of “Ikea Shelf” derived largely from the absurdity and novelty of a student building a shelf onstage. Some of the plays, however, were more serious in tone. Most notably, despite having its fair share of jokes and comedic moments, “I and Love and You” was dramatic, and even sad at times. The audience ooh-ed at multiple moments during the scene due to the story’s emotional notes. Furthermore, “Inconveniences” had emotional as well as funny moments. The plays all used the space and resources of the stage creatively. “Hindsight” and “He’ll Know What It Means” featured actors who were sitting in the audience or standing offstage. The creative decision to break the fourth wall made the plays feel more interactive; they literally and metaphorically popped off of the stage. The play that resonated with me most was “Paper, Unwritten.” Written and directed by the play tells a story as old as time: a student has a paper due tomorrow but there are, unfortunately, not enough hours in the day to write the paper. With midterm season almost in full swing, I would say with confidence that I am not the only student in the audience who started thinking about a paper with a looming due date that I have put off for a tad too long. “Quickies” was a fun and interesting experience. The event is held annually; if you are interested in being part of a theater production but do not have the time or experience, consider trying out “Quickies” next year. If the stage is not for you, then I recommend attending the showcase with friends instead!

Design: Grace Sun/the Justice, Yael Hanadari-Levy/the Justice

CATHERINE LIN/the Justice

BUILDING A SHELF: Molly Rocca ’20 perfomed in one of the Quickies, “Ikea Shelf.” The act was centered around the construction of an Ikea Shelf.

CATHERINE LIN/the Justice

CREATIVE STORYTELLING: The first Quickie, “Hindsight,” was about solving a mystery involving an allergic reaction in a flower shop.

THE JUSTICE I ARTS & CULTURE I TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

DANCE SHOW

Happy ‘Hooked on Tap’ dancers tap their feet to the beat Hooked on Tap, the premier tap dance group on campus, presented its annual performance on Feb. 8 in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. This year’s theme was “Tappy Feet,” a play on the 2006 Warner Bros. animated film, “Happy Feet.” The show included various dances which were choreographed and performed by Brandeis students, as well as performances from other Boston-area universities.

By NOAH ZEITLIN JUSTICE EDITOR

Ben Greene ’21 and Liam Gladding ’21 were the emcees of the evening. To allow for costume changes and some lighthearted jokes throughout the show, the two performed comedy routines in between the performances, including one where they mimicked rowing on a boat before a dance entitled, “Rock Island/ Whatayatalk.”

NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

Emma Rivellese ’22 choreographed a remix of the overture from “William Tell.” One of the performers of this number, Claire Martell ’23, stated in an interview to the Justice that “I was a little nervous to be dancing with people who were so good at tap (my studio was really small and I never got the chance to meet other tap dancers) but I was also excited to dance in front of a bunch of new faces, including my new friends who I had just met this year.”

The Executive Board of Hooked on Tap opened the second act of “Tappy Feet” with a performance of “Gitchee Gitchee Goo” from the Disney Channel show “Phineas and Ferb.” Genevive Bondaryk ’21, one of the presidents of HOT, who played Ferb in this routine, stated in an email to the Justice that “the most rewarding part of the show is getting the chance to hang out with and perform with the other members of Hooked On Tap. We really are a close-knit group and I love the energy that we give each other during rehearsals and performances.” This dance was choreographed by Rebecca Weiss ’21.

The dance “Everybody Talks, Everybody Taps,” featuring the song by Neon Trees, which was choreographed by Sonia Findling ’22, featured performers who wore the colors of the rainbow. In an email to the Justice, Corey Brown ’23, one of the performers in this dance, stated, “The crowd was super excited to watch everyone on stage, so when they applauded at the end of each dance it was a great feeling to know all the work we did last semester paid off.”

Genevive Bondyark ’21 choreographed “Fever” by Little Willie John, which was performed by the Tap Ensemble. In the program, Bondyark wrote that “[this dance] inspired by a group called ‘The Tap Pack.’” The costumes of this piece, which were reminiscent of penguins, brought together the theme of the show right before the conclusion of the first act.

Editor’s Note: Justice editor Megan Geller performed in the Tappy Feet and did not edit this article.

BOOK REVIEW

‘Scythe’ brings a dystopian world to life By JESSICA SCHWARTZMAN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“We must, by law, keep a record of the innocents we kill.” Thus, begins “Scythe” by Neal Shusterman, the first book in the Arc of a Scythe Trilogy. It is set in a world in which humanity has conquered everything: poverty, disease, war, even death. To control the population, Scythes, a group of the most noble and compassionate members of society, are commanded to kill a certain amount of people every year. It is not murder, but rather, as Scythe Curie explains, “the closest thing to a sacred mission that the modern world knows.” However, a new order of Scythes is on the rise; they believe that Scythes should enjoy what they do and be less restricted in how to do their job. They want to have power over society, not act as its servants. Into this mix enters Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, who are chosen to become Scythe apprentices. As they learn philosophy, weaponry and how to glean with honor and mercy, they find themselves at the forefront of this battle of ideals – and fighting for what makes them human.

Overall, this book is excellent. It is well written, the characters seem realistic, and the plot is interesting. Shusterman transitions smoothly between slice-of-life depictions of Rowan and Citra’s Scythe training and philosophical contemplations of a world without death. While he can be heavy-handed at times, his opinions on how humanity will handle a limitless future are worth pondering (“Will we all be renaissance children, skilled at every art and science, because we’ve had the time to master them? Or will boredom and slavish routine plague us even more than it does today, giving us less of a reason to live limitless lives? I dream of the former, but suspect the latter.”); as much as the reader might want to ignore these “useless interludes” and get back to the action, I would urge you not to ignore them completely. Furthermore, the characters are fleshed out and have realistic motives to their actions. The character development is topnotch, subtle enough that it does not feel jarring and present enough that the characters do not feel stagnant. A particular favorite character of mine was Scythe Curie for her fortitude and quiet compassion. But even the characters that the reader may de-

spise make the story better for their presence. The main villain, Scythe Goddard, can feel one-dimensional at times, but he is such a narcissistic power-monger that readers will not want to spend too much time in his head. Lastly, while the plot has a slow pace at times, it is only because the groundwork is being laid for the larger story to come. My only complaint was the romantic subplot, as I found it unnecessary and ill-suited to the relationship that I perceived the characters in question to have. However, it is a pretty minor part of the book overall, so it is easy to look beyond. That said, what keeps me coming back to this book is the world-building; Shusterman really explores the philosophical and psychological effects of a perfect world. There is no poverty because everyone there has a basic income guarantee, the debate over abortion has ended because every unwanted child is carried to term and then placed with a family who wants a kid and cannot have one, and everything is efficient because the world is governed by a benevolent Artificial Intelligence, the Thunderhead. As ideal as this might sound, it comes with very real costs. Now that there is no longer anything to strive for, humanity has

become stagnant and complacent. To paraphrase the text, life has become about passing time, instead of forging it. However, the most striking difference is that these characters cannot comprehend mortality — something understandable given that they all rightfully expect to live for centuries. For example, a pastime considered fun in some circles is “splatting,” or jumping off of very tall buildings and being rendered “deadish.” Instead of permanently ending their life, they wake up completely healed a few days later with all of their memories intact. Even the Scythes, while more philosophically advanced than most, cannot completely comprehend it — after all, they are the bringers of death, not at its mercy. It is a small detail that most writers would not have handled with so much complexity. Overall, as I read the book, it was fascinating to discover all of the effort that Shusterman has put into their worldbuilding. Overall, I would highly recommend “Scythe” to just about everybody due to the excellent writing and worldbuilding. I can see it occupying a place similar to “The Giver” on shelves, with the added benefit of two more books to directly continue the story.

Design: Megan Liao/the Justice

THE JUSTICE I ARTS & CULTURE I TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

INTERVIEW

JUSTARTS SPOTLIGHT ON THE KNIZNICK GALLERY By LUKE LIU JUSTICE EDITOR

For most people, plants are a symbol of nature — both peaceful and calm. Along those lines, with a few exceptions, plants are often portrayed in a positive light and sometimes as a symbol for good. Flowers, for example, represent beauty and preciousness. To name another, trees embody wisdom and gentleness. Even grass is often seen as the representation of life and resilience. However, as much as we love to personify different types of plants, there is a fundamental difference between the way we see plants and the way we see animals. Despite the fact that both are treated as life, many people don’t see humans and plants as having much similarity. In “Making Kin (With Self and Other),” S.E. Nash mixes human bodies, brain images and natural coloring, creating a set of images that are slightly disturbing but fascinating at the same time. The piece contains three sets of frames. The ones on the left and the right, from bottom to top, feature an image of a component of the human body (a brain — an organ of animals — and a cell — the basic unit of life that make up organs), an image of a human figure without the part above the neck, a large color dyeing of what seems to be the image of a brain and some sharp object. Each portion of the frames seem to be rather normal. The human figure on the left is even in the motion, watering a plant. However, when you put all four parts together, the frames become three operation tables, and the pictures formed surgeries over the cartoon figures. The resemblance between the shape of a brain and the watermark of the purple cabbage coloring shows that, maybe under the surface, we are not as different from the rest of nature as we thought. Of course, my high school biology knowledge has largely faded, and I have no intention to start a debate about the genetic similarity and differences between humans and cabbage. If you feel strongly about the points I just made, feel free to check out the Krautsourcing exhibition at the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center.

Amy Chen ’22 NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice

This week, JustArts&Culture talked with Amy Chen ’22, the co-president of Brandeis Drawing Club, on the club’s event “Art of Paper-cutting” last Tuesday. “Making Kin (With Self and Other),” 2019, repurposed wood from raised garden bed, laser engraved plywood, fabric, cabbage stains, acrylic paint, burlap, composite resin, colored pencil, 28 x 68.25” Photo Courtesy of KNIZNICK GALLERY

Amy Chen: In this activity, we explored ‘window-flower,’ a form of paper-cutting and folk art that originated in the Song Dynasty almost a thousand years ago. People cut ‘window-flower’ to decorate their homes during the Spring Festival and it became a symbol of people’s best wishes for the New Year. Because I am from China and I think paper-cutting is a very traditional art in China and other Asian countries, such as Japan. In Western countries, I don’t see many people doing paper-cutting or treating it as a fine art. When I was little, my grandparents taught me to do [paper-cutting]. I would love to introduce this art to people and spread the culture from my hometown. It is also interesting to see how people incorporate different elements from the East and the West to create new things. JAC: What do you think is the highlight of the activity? AC: So people just do the art themselves. I gave them a brief introduction on the art of paper-cutting. I assigned them handouts and they could follow the instructions. If they have any questions they could ask me. This is really like a DIY process – they can design all the things on their own and create their create patterns. JAC: So the best part would be creating their own patterns?

MEGAN LIAO/the Justice

SUDOKU

STAFF’S Top Ten

JustArts&Culture: What was your motivation and intentionsbehind this activity. Do you have any expectations for people participating in this activity?

AC: Yes. They can first get familiarized with the steps [of creating paper-cutting] and then they can explore how to create negative spaces and positive spaces with paper. This is not solely Eastern art and I combined some Western elements [in the activity]. I included [elements from] certain artists such as Henri Matisse and elements of abstract figures to amalgamate Western elements into this paper art. JAC: Are there any difficulties organizing this activity? AC: It is just like a regular event we held in the past. But I did not expect that so many people would come. Last semester we held painting activities that were ‘semiprofessional’ and only the people who had the experience/skills were willing to come. This time, many people came and they had various backgrounds such as biology or computer science. Only me and some of my E-board members are fine art and art history majors.

NOAH ZEITLIN/ the Justice

Top 10 animated movies By LEEZA BARSTEIN EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

These are the animated movies that made my childhood.

JAC: Can you please share with us your future plan for activities? AC: I think we will probably do an ink painting section.

1. Up 2. The Lion King

JAC: Like splash-ink?

3. Tangled

AC: I think we would introduce some Western artists such as Pollock who splashed oil pigment on the paper. We will also combine elements from Japanese traditional ink painting. People here are more familiar with pencil and oil painting, and we want to let them explore the world of ink painting.

4. The Princess and the Frog 5. Tarzan 6. Lady and the Tramp

Sudoku Courtesy of OPENSKY SUDOKU GENERATOR

7. Aladdin 8. The Aristocats 9. Monsters Inc.

— Jacqueline Wang

10. Ratatouille Solution Courtesy of OPENSKY SUDOKU GENERATOR