the
Justice www.thejustice.org
The Independent Student Newspaper Volume LXXI, Number 19
of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Waltham, Mass.
ADVOCATING FOR THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Kraft prof discusses sex trafficking research, scandal ■ Prof. Bernadette Brooten
(NEJS) discusses her research of sex trafficking through the lens of Christian studies. By EMILY BLUMENTHAL JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been implicated in a sex trafficking ring involving the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, where he was allegedly taped receiving sex acts from employees, according to a Feb. 22 New York Times article. Police began to suspect the spa was part of a sex trafficking ring after officers found explicit online reviews, per a Feb. 22 Business Insider article. The sting has uncovered a massive sex trafficking ring involving businesses “stretching from Florida to New York to China,” a Feb. 22 Boston Globe article stated, and over 200 people have been charged. The allegations against Kraft are
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
DISABILITY ACTIVISM: The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy organized a talk with Judy Heumann, a notable advocate for disability rights. She recalled personal experiences and shared knowledge she has gained throughout her career.
very significant to Brandeis professor Bernadette Brooten (NEJS), who studies sex trafficking. Brooten is the Robert and Myra Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Professor of Christian Studies. The Kraft-Hiatt family created the endowed chair professorship because they felt that “Jews and Christians and others needed to understand one another better,” and have “academic opportunities for learning about other traditions than one’s own,” Brooten said in an interview with the Justice. Brooten has met Robert Kraft on several occasions and said she was “stunned” and disturbed when she found out about the allegations against him. According to a Mar. 1, 2019 USA Today article, Robert Kraft has donated to several organizations dedicated to stopping sex trafficking. Though she is very “disappointed” by the allegations, Brooten still acknowledged that many people including herself and these organizations have “benefited” from his philanthropy.
Judy Heumann reflects on career in disability policy Special election
See KRAFT SCANDAL, 7 ☛
STUDENT UNION
■ The activist discussed
what she has learned from more than 40 years of international activism. By SAM STOCKBRIDGE JUSTICE EDITOR
Disability rights activist Judith “Judy” Heumann spoke in Sherman Function Hall on Thursday about what she has learned during her 40year career in disability activism. The lecture and following discussion, “The Journey to Achieving Equality: Past, Present, and Future of Disability Activism,” was organized by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy and by the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy. It was part of a series of Sankofa Community Conversations hosted by the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The discussion was initially to be held in the Heller School, but high demand forced them to relocate, said Wendy Peverill-Conti, Senior Department Coordinator for the Lurie Institute, in an interview with the Justice. Event coordinators were only expecting 80 people to attend, then they changed the venue when more registered, PeverillConti said.
Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mark Brimhall-Vargas introduced the event first. He said he was excited to welcome Heumann, “a true legend in the disability rights movement,” then turned the microphone over to Monika Mitra, the director of the Lurie Institute. Mitra began by summarizing Heumann’s career and achievements. Heumann led a protest of the delayed implementation of regulations in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and she served as the assistant secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under former President Bill Clinton from 1993 to the end of his administration in 2001. Then, from 2002 to 2006, she worked for the World Bank as its first advisor on Disability and Development. In 2010, she was appointed to the newly-created position of special advisor for International Disability Rights by former President Barack Obama. Mitra reminded the audience of three “pioneers” of disability activism that worked at the Heller School: Gunnar and Rosemary Dybwad and Irving “Irv” Zola. Mitra invited Zola’s widow, Judy Norsigian, to introduce Heumann. Norsigian said returning to Brandeis was “very emotional,” and that she appreciated “all the won-
winners declared
derful people” Zola brought into her life, including Heumann. When her husband returned from trips to California, he often told her “great stories about Judy Heumann,” she recounted, adding, “Finally I got to meet Judy Heumann, and I could understand why they were such good friends. They are star activists in the best sense of the word.” Norsigian then gave the floor to Heumann, who discussed her life in activism and what she had learned in her career with Sandy Ho, a research associate at the Lurie Institute. Heumann’s activism received national attention in 1977 when she organized a sit-in at the Federal Office Building in San Francisco to protest the delayed implementation of regulations stipulated in section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The act was one of the first pieces of legislation to protect the rights of Americans with disabilities. Section 504 says that people with disabilities shall not “be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Although activists coordinated sit-ins across the country, only the San Francisco sit-in lasted
■ Four senators and two
associate justices were elected to fill open seats on Thursday. By CHAIEL SCHAFFEL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The Student Union held a special election to fill several open positions in the Senate and Judiciary on Thursday. Nancy Zhai ’22 won the open Senate position for the Class of 2022 in a four-way race. Zach Kern ’21 and Nakul Srinivas ’21 won seats for the Class of 2021 in an uncontested election, while Yuechen Ta ’21 won the Senate seat for International Students, also uncontested. Rachel Sterling ’21 and Jack Ranucci ’22 were elected Associate Justices of the Judiciary in a seven-way race for the two seats.
Class of 2022 Nancy Zhai
In an email to the Justice, Zhai said the three most important parts of her platform were to “improve
See LURIE, 7 ☛
So, um, like, I'm smart?
Reclaiming intellectualism as a female college student.
Class of 2021 Nakul Srinivas
Srinivas said that he wants to increase opportunities for student feedback about the Union to get a better idea of what his constituency wants, per a Facebook correspondence with the Justice. He said his familiarity with the Class of 2021
See SPECIAL ELECTION, 7 ☛
Dare to Dream
Activists discuss German climate justice
BAASA celebrates the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
By JEN GELLER
By ADDISON ANTONOFF
NEWS 5
Vice President Assesses Student Union By AARON FINKEL
FORUM 11
Baseball Team Wins First Two Games
By SAMMY PARK Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
[the] dining experience, streamline communication between Union and student body, as well as foster a community that cherishes diversity and inclusion.” Zhai cites her experience on the Services and Outreach and Dining Committees, involvement in Waltham Group and work as an International Students and Scholars Office Fellow as her qualifications for the position. In the email, she called for greater accountability to students, including by making Senate and committee chair reports public. Zhai won her seat with 45.1 percent of the 217 votes cast, with candidates Nathan Sayer ’22 and Jonathan Ayash ’22 receiving 21.6 and 19.3 percent respectively.
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ARTS 19
By JEN GELLER
COPYRIGHT 2019 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 16
2
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
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NEWS
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS ‘LEFT ON PEARL’
POLICE LOG
WALTHAM BRIEF Bentley Univ. holds high school prom charity event
MEDICAL EMERGENCY March 5––University Police received a report of a student feeling unwell in Rosenthal North; the student was taken via Cataldo Ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. March 5––A community member in Gerstenzang Science library who was feeling ill received medical attention on the scene and refused further care. March 7––A student in the Village reported feeling unwell, and upon on-site treatment from BEMco, refused further care. March 8––A community member in Rosenthal North felt ill and was transported by Cataldo ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for treatment. March 8––BEMco treated an ill community member in Shapiro A and B, who was later sent in a Cataldo ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. HARASSMENT March 5––University Police compiled a report about the confrontation of a staff member in Usdan cafeteria. DISTURBANCE March 8––A Student in Reitman Hall was arrested for resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer, and disorderly conduct. A Community Standards Report was filed. March 8––The University Police received a call about a disturbance in Usen Hall. The matter was later taken over by the Department of Community Living. —Compiled by Mia Rubinstein
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CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n A news section article misspelled Midyear Senator Madeline Scherff’s first name. (Mar. 5, Page 2) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org.
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CLARA ALEXANDER/the Justice
The Women’s Studies Research Center screened director and producer Susie Rivo’s documentary “Left on Pearl.” The film told the story of a women’s liberation demonstration at Harvard University in 1971.
As spring comes to Waltham, Waltham High School is looking forward to its event of the season: prom. Bentley University’s annual “Dresses to Dreams” event, held on Feb. 16, gives students from Waltham High and the greater Boston area free prom dresses. Prom can be pricey, and “Dresses to Dreams” is an attempt to alleviate this and keep the event exciting for every student. According to a March 8 article on the Bentley website, this event “help[s] young women build self-confidence that will last long after high school.” Participants talk about “confidence and goal-setting” as well as hair and makeup, and participatent in workshops on empowerment to help bring a “deeper meaning” to the event. Organizers find it meaningful, too. Holly Fiscus, an organizer of the event, said in the same article that she wants women “walking away feeling confident and loving themselves,” and that she loves to see bonds form at the event. “Dresses to Dreams” brings together students from across the greater Boston area. A Feb. 16 photo series in the Waltham Wicked Local highlighted students from a variety of schools who attended the event, among them Dorchester High School, Lawrence High School and Watertown High. Not all attendees were seniors — eighth graders from the Watertown Boys & Girls Club came as well, according to Wicked Local. To fund the event, Fiscus and her 16-member board raised $2,180 on GoFundMe, per the Bentley article. The dresses were donated from dress shops, boutiques and community members — “Dresses to Dreams” attendees had over 400 to choose from. Jeannette McCarthy, the long-term mayor of Waltham, attended the event. Per the Wicked Local story, she advised the students to work for their goals and “never give up.” —Eliana Padwa
SENATE LOG Student Union Vice President Aaron Finkel ’20 swore in the newly-elected Senators — Class of 2022 Senator Nancy Zhai, Class of 2021 Senators Nakul Srinivas and Zach Kern and International Senator Yuechen Ta ’21.
STUDENT UNION BUDGET
Treasurer Adrian Ashley ’20 and President Hannah Brown ’19 came to the Senate to report on the Union’s 2019 fiscal year budget and presented the fiscal year 2020 budget to be voted on by the Senate. The Senate is constitutionally mandated to vote on the budget each year but has never done so before. “I want to be fully transparent with how the money is getting to you guys,” Ashley said. During his presentation of the 2019 budget, Ashley reported that E-Board and the Senate spent $4,000 and $12,000, respectively, and that the Student Union spent $10,500 on projects such as the free airport shuttle during winter break. “At the beginning of the semester, we had $38,000. That was something that we weren’t really happy with,” Ashley said, adding that the new budget would set a lower benchmark for spending. He encouraged Senators to create Student Money Resolutions because “the entire Student Union is penalized” with a smaller budget “if … one section of the Student Union doesn’t spend any money.” He stressed that if the Senate spent all its funds, it could request emergency funding, which it would most likely receive if the Allocations Board saw that it was using its funds to better student life. The new budget would set aside $21,000 for the Senate, $15,000 of which would be allocated for both Midnight Buffets, and the remaining $6,000 for SMRs. Ashley stressed that senators must think ahead when they create their SMRs so they can submit them within the next week and include them in his request for emergency funds. After Massell Quad Senator Kendal Chapman ’22 asked why the Midnight Buffet is in the Senate budget, Brown explained that past precedent has seen the Services and Outreach committee plan the event, so the funds would be allocated to the Senate. The Senate voted by acclamation to pass the fiscal year 2020
budget.
EXECUTIVE OFFICER REPORTS
Finkel reminded the Senate of the attendance policy, noting that Foster Mods Senator Matthew Reeves ’19 has not attended any Senate meetings since his election in January. The Senate will vote on whether to impeach Reeves at its next meeting on Sunday. Finkel announced that there will be another free airport shuttle during April break and reminded senators of the mandatory “Meet the Union” event on March 22. Additionally, Finkel announced that the candidate meeting for the 2019–2020 EBoard election will take place on Tuesday, with a debate to follow on March 18, Finkel stated.
COMMITTEE CHAIR REPORTS
Club Support Committee Chair Noah Nguyen ’21 reported that her Club Application Training event was successful, with over 20 students interested in starting clubs. At the event, the committee discussed “all the information about our new application.” Nguyen also reported on the committee’s working group, which is currently pursuing the Secured Club Advisor project and recently proposed a draft of the project during a meeting with leaders of secured clubs. During the meeting, Nguyen stated, the project received “a lot of feedback,” with a common concern being that a club advisor “might want to get too … involved in the leadership decisions of the club.” Addressing that concern, Nguyen stressed that the club advisors would only be there for club leaders seeking advice and could not do anything beyond the terms stated in their contracts. Health and Safety Committee Chair Josh Hoffman ’21 announced that professors who have technology to record their lectures are now required to do so, and labs in inaccessible rooms must be moved to more accessible locations.
AMENDMENTS
Finkel reintroduced the amendment to sanction senators after three unexcused absences each from committee and Senate meetings. Ridgewood Quad Senator Leigh Salomon ’19 clarified that sick leaves “wouldn’t count
towards your absences.” Racial Minority Senator Denezia Fahie ’22 asked how a senator could get involved in a committee if they had a “serious conflict” with the meeting time. Salomon and Finkel responded that chairs would “try their best” to be flexible and allow people to do work outside of meetings. The amendment passed by a roll-call vote. Senators were skeptical of an amendment to clarify that Judiciary representatives must hold office hours because the demands asked of justices would increase. Midyear Senator Madeline Scherff ’22 pointed out that justices are “elected representatives of the student body” and thus should be “readily available” to the public. Responding to a worry that justices could resign if asked to hold office hours, Off-Campus Senator Jacob Diaz ’20 declared that the Union should not “give in” to justices “not wanting to do work.” The amendment passed by a roll-call vote. Finkel reintroduced an amendment to require an E-Board member to attend Senate meetings and report on them to the E-Board. Executive Senator Kent Dinlenc ’19 said the amendment is “pointless” and makes his job “arbitrary,” as he and Finkel already report E-Board meetings to the Senate. Racial Minority Senator Geraldine Bogard ’20 countered that the many communication problems plaguing the E-Board and Senate make the amendment necessary to improve transparency and correspondence between the two branches. The amendment did not pass. Senators were divided over an amendment to require the confirmation of appointed positions each semester. Dinlenc asserted that this amendment would give the Senate “power that we do not need” and that if someone had a problem with an appointee’s job performance, they could “complain to the president,” who could remove the person if they deemed it necessary. Salomon disagreed, stating that the amendment would put a check on the President’s ability to create positions “just for the sake of creating positions,” which has been a problem in the past, he said. Hoffman countered that the amendment was “no big deal to pass” and that the appointees would be “innocent until proven
guilty.” The amendment did not pass.
MUG SMR
Senator-at-Large Richard Kisack ’19 reintroduced his SMR to purchase mugs for University staff as part of an appreciation effort, having modified the SMR to purchase the mugs specifically for facilities workers and to take out the markers. In light of the budget presented by Ashley earlier in the meeting, Diaz asked whether the purchase was necessary and the best use of the Union’s money, adding that people “could do better with less money.” Fahie stated that if anyone had an alternative to the mugs, then it “needed to have been submitted two to three weeks ago” and that “something is better than nothing.” She declared that deciding between the budget and appreciating workers was “a moral debate that you could have within yourself.” Hoffman added that giving workers something physical would be more tangible and useful than a thank-you card. Chapman and Class of 2020 Senator Tom Alger brought up the concern that the marker would wash off the mugs, and that the quality “wouldn’t be exactly what we’re hoping,” Chapman said. Other senators brought up budgetary concerns, noting that the shipping would cost more than the mugs and getting the mugs before April break would cost another $400. After a roll call vote, the motion failed. Finkel stated that the SMR was created with “very good intentions” and encouraged senators who were interested in worker appreciation efforts to get involved in the Senate’s tabling event writing thank-you cards for workers, to take place next week. During the public forum, Finkel stated that he wanted to advertise that Senate meetings are public in the branch’s weekly email. Senate meetings are held Sundays at 7 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center, room 313. They are open to the public. —Editor’s Note: Nancy Zhai and Nakul Srinivas are News writers for the Justice. —Emily Blumenthal
THE JUSTICE
HOLOCAUST TALKS
The Department of Community Living selected individual housing lottery numbers for rising sophomores (Class of 2022) and upperclassmen (Classes of 2020 and 2021) during a closed meeting last Wednesday. In attendance were Student Union President Hannah Brown ’19, Ridgewood Quad Senator Leigh Salomon ’19 and Student Union Director of Academic Affairs Brandon Stanaway ’19, as well as representatives from both campus newspapers. Lottery numbers will be released to the student body on Wednesday. Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Timothy Touchette said that requests for upperclassman housing had increased by 200 to 300 applications since last year. According to Touchette, meetings with senior DCL staff and student representatives to make the housing process more transparent began last year. Touchette highlighted a number of changes since last year, including stiffer penalties on those who withdraw from the housing process after May 1. He did not specify a dollar amount but said that the penalties for withdrawal would get harsher in 25 percent increments based on the period when the student cancels their contract. He compared the system to a landlord collecting first and
HISTORICAL RECKONING: German gap year students volunteering with Jewish elders held a dialogue with Jewish students about the history of the Holocaust and its impact on their lives.
German and Jewish students engage in Holocaust dialogue ■ The students discussed the impacts of the Holocaust on their perceptions of the German and Jewish peoples. By MAYA RUBIN-WISH JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Center for German and European Studies hosted its second annual “Let’s Talk About the Holocaust: German and Jewish Students in Dialogue” panel. The audience included Brandeis students and members of the local community, and a reception was held beforehand where attendees discussed the event to come. The panel consisted of two Jewish students, two German students and a moderator. The Jewish students were Elan Kawesch ’20 and Jillian Fisch ’21. Kawesch is the head of the Jewish philanthropy organization Together Remembering Their Names, and Fisch is the vice president of the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee. The German students, Felix Knodel and Mia Balk, are Christian volunteers on a gap year program Aktion Sühnezeichen, or Action Reconciliation Service for Peace. The two are living with Jewish host families and volunteering at Hebrew Senior Life, a center for the Jewish elderly. The panel was moderated by Benyamin Meschede-Krasa ’17, a GermanIsraeli Jew who has one grandfather who was a member of the Hitler Youth and another who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. The first question posed by Meschede-Krasa was, “What motivates you to work with Jewish elders?” Balk explained that as a German born generations after the Holocaust, she does not feel guilty, but she does feel a sense of responsibility — not necessarily to make up for the terrible events that transpired — but to get to know the culture and religion of the
NEWS
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TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
3
BRIEF DCL assigns housing lottery numbers
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
Jewish people. Knodel said that coming from near Stuttgart, his community did not have a large Jewish presence, so by participating in the program, he hopes to further understand the history of the Holocaust and World War II and take steps towards continuing reconciliation between the German and Jewish people. Both Fisch and Kawesch explained that their work with the Jewish elderly was motivated by the knowledge that the number of Holocaust survivors alive today is dwindling, and that today’s American youth are not sufficiently informed about the Holocaust. A recent poll showed that two-thirds of millenials do not know what Auschwitz is, and 22 percent have never heard of the Holocaust. They hope that by learning the individual stories of survivors, they can educate their peers to prevent anything like the Holocaust from happening again. The panelists were then able to ask each other questions. Fisch addressed the German students, explaining that as a Jew growing up in the United States, there were negative connotations attached to the German people. She recalled people in her community refusing to buy German cars or travel to Germany as a result of lingering resentment about the Holocaust. Balk spoke about an experience she had at Hebrew Senior Life, where one of the seniors with whom she has a close relationship told her that they did not like Germans. She said that she understands on some level where this sentiment came from, but did not think it was productive to put all Germans into one box, especially younger generations who were born long after the Holocaust ended. Balk directed the next question at the Jewish students, asking if there was any event in United States history that would move them to do a year of volunteering in another country as she and Knodel are doing in the Unit-
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last month’s rent in an off-campus lease. Touchette said the new policy was in the contract for all on-campus living spaces this year but did not impact housing enrollment. Touchette also told the Justice that rising sophomores would no longer be able to pick single rooms in Massell and North Quads as they had in previous years. An online document from DCL published Feb. 13 stated that a limited number of singles in Massell and North Quads would be available to rising sophomores for the upcoming year. Touchette also noted that Skyline’s South Tower would become upperclassmen housing, while the North Tower will be set aside for rising sophomores. DCL staff released the rising sophomore housing numbers without showing meeting attendees the associated names due to student privacy concerns. The last number given out in that portion of the lottery was 1065. The students in that lottery can pick between Skyline’s North Tower, East Quad, the Village, Rosenthal Quad, 567 South Street and the Charles River Apartments. Further data from the meeting is shown in the graphic below. ☺ —Chaiel Schaffel
Housing Lottery
ed States. Both Kawesch and Fisch explained that, while there are many events in United States history that they find shameful, they themselves would not, saying that realistically speaking, this is not something that most Americans do. An audience member then asked Balk and Knodel to explain specifically how the Holocaust is taught in German schools. Balk explained that every German student has to learn about it, and that teachers attempt to teach the events objectively — without censoring any details. Knodel added that he had been taught this history several times in school and noticed that his fellow classmates were not always engaged in the content. He speculated that because the Holocaust occurred so long ago, they felt that its lessons did not apply to them. An Israeli audience member then asked to what degree younger generations are responsible for making amends for the actions of older generations. Kawesch said he thought that too much of a “blame-game” was taking place. While younger Germans are not responsible for the events of the Holocaust, he continued, Jews miss out on an opportunity to get to know them as humans on a personal level by harboring bias against them. This prevents valuable conversations about what happened, which are beneficial to all involved. Balk noted that the fact that the Holocaust happened means that it could happen again. Because of this, she said, it is everyone’s responsibility to always be working for peace. To accomplish this, Fisch stated that people need to “be constructive and proactive.” She stressed the importance of not only discussing problems but taking action to correct them, but also humanizing those with different backgrounds or political views from your own to move forward together.
Upperclassmen Housing
Sophomore Housing
BRIEF University gives Alumni Achievement award to Watanabe On March 9 and 10, the University celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Wien International Scholarship Program. Since its establishment in 1958, the program has brought over 860 students from 112 different countries to the University. On Saturday afternoon, panel discussions were held with both current Wien scholars and Wien Scholarship alumni. Panelists discussed the developments and achievements of the program over the past 60 years, as well as goals they have for its future. University President Ron Liebowitz and his wife, Jessica, hosted a gala at the Sherman Function Hall on Saturday night to continue the celebration. The event featured the presentation of the annual Alum-
ni Achievement Award to Wien alumnus Toshizo Watanabe ’73. In November 2018, Watanabe donated $10 million to the University to fund the establishment of the Toshizo Watanabe International Scholarship Program, which provides aid to undergraduate and graduate students from Japan. According to the University’s Nov. 14 press release, his was the largest gift that Brandeis has ever received from an international alumnus. Watanabe scholars will be awarded full tuition as well as a partial stipend for living expenses, as per the program’s website. Watanabe, who is now president of the Toshizo Watanabe Foundation and chair emeritus
of health and wellness company Nikken Global, graduated from Brandeis with a bachelor’s degree in Politics. He attributes much of his professional success to the scholarship support that he received from the Wien program as an undergraduate. According to the press release, his inspiration to donate to the University was spurred when he attended the celebration for the 30th anniversary of the Wien program, during which co-founder Lawrence Wien gave a speech. Ever since, Watanabe says that he has “always wanted to repay the Wien family’s generosity by helping other students.” —River Hayes
Study Abroad Housing
Illustration by NATALIA WIATER/the Justice
HOUSING LOTTERY: Data compiled from the Department of Community Living and March 6 interview with Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Timothy Touchette. *Available to both rising sophomores and upperclassmen.
Image Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
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Innovation in Israel: Economy and Society
Sunday, March 31 & Monday, April 1, 2019 Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Sunday, March 31, 3:00–5:00 PM
Innovation in Israel The Ilan Troen Lecture on Contemporary Israel Affairs KarnIt Flug, Past Governor of the Bank of Israel, in discussion with lIsa M. lynch, Provost, Brandeis University
Free and open to the public. Registration requested by March 21.
go.brandeis.edu/israel-conference Follow the conference at #InnoIsrael
Joining the conversation: gIdeon argov, General Partner at New Era Capital Partners Reception follows
Monday, April 1, 8:30 AM–2:45 PM
Schusterman Center for Israel Studies
academic conference
Brandeis University
Learn from the experts about the roots and future direction of Israel’s innovation economy and its societal impact.
THE JUSTICE
‘WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE, ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE’
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NEWS
By ELLA RUSSELL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
German activists discuss the fight for climate justice
■ The speakers belong to
the German environmental advocacy organization Ende Gelände. By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
As part of their U.S. tour, two German activists, Dorothee Haeusermann and Daniel Tyll Hofinger, shared stories and discussed their experiences advocating for climate justice last Thursday. The activists belong to the climate justice organization Ende Gelände, which aims to mobilize people to fight for climate justice by stopping coal mines and protecting the Hambach Forest. In English, Ende Gelände means “here and no further.” Haeusermann and Tyll Hofinger explained the work of Ende Gelände in three broad categories: what Ende Gelände is, how it works within the environmental politics of Germany and what made the anti-coal movement successful. In their opening video, protesters on screen chanted, “We are unstoppable, another world is possible.” Tyll Hofinger began by explaining German politics and showed the audience a map of Germany and its neighboring countries, the Netherlands and France. He pointed out three open-cast mines, or open pits that resources are removed from, adding that 11 million people live near those mines, and could experience adverse effects from this proximity. “The power plants that are fueled by [these mines]… are actually Europe’s largest source of [carbon dioxide],” and emit a hundred million tons of the gas, according to Tyll Hofinger. In order to slow the effects of climate change, he said, Ende Gelände strives to drastically re-
duce these practices. He added that although Germany is often credited as the leader for climate justice, and that 30-40 percent of Germany’s power comes from renewable energy, 60 percent still comes from fossil fuels. Therefore, Tyll Hofinger said, there is more work to do in the future to reduce coal extraction. Ende Gelände’s movement has gathered momentum in Germany and surrounding nations such as Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, and now has a total of 40 local groups that comprise the overall organization. In addition, the Hambacher Forest, located south of the Hambacher coal mine, was set to be cut down in 2012, but activists started to occupy the forest in protest. Last September, 31,000 police officers evicted those who resided there, destroying up to 93 houses in the forest, sparking more debates about the extraction of fossil fuels. Just over 50,000 people participated in the largest anti-coal climate justice demonstration that Germany has ever had. Although the Coal Commission said the Hambacher Forest is safe, Tyll Hofinger said that the younger generation knows that work needs to be done to protect it from further threats. One step further from the demonstration are the acts of civil disobedience that Ende Gelände uses — such as sitting on the railroad tracks used to transport coal to “interrupt [mines’] dirty business,” according to Tyll Hofinger. In fact, this act of civil disobedience worked to stop the Hambacher Mine project for “a day or two,” he added. These blockades of mines have two purposes: acting as a physical blockade with bodies, but also as a symbolic “intervention for discourse.” Haeusermann said that while Ende Gelände has been “successful,” and climate justice has moved onto the mainstream political stage,
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their work is not done because there still has not been a complete phase out of fossil fuels. Ende Gelände and the issues they address have made German national news. The organization participates in a series of “Red Line” events, which deal with what will happen if humans continue to dig coal and pass ecological limits. Ende Gelände also hosts climate camps, where people attend workshops, organize their own electricity supply and plan their own methods of activism. Haeusermann and Tyll Hofinger also discussed the potentially traumatizing risks people face when they participate in demonstrations. One tactic Ende Gelände uses is dispersing when police come, as this overwhelms them with the number of demonstrators. However, they said, Ende Gelände does not leave anyone to stand alone. Haeusermann told the audience that, “if there is some trouble, real trouble … there is legal support and emotional support for people.” Tyll Hofinger added, “We were sitting on those tracks with two and a half thousand people and police. They did not evict us, because there is no way, no police station is large enough. So they found a legal reason [for] why it is actually not illegal for us to be there.” This resulted in laughs from the audience — law enforcements were acknowledging why demonstrators had every right to be acting how they were. Ende Gelände prepares for these demonstrations year-round, but most actions are taken in the summer months. Now, individual chapters also perform their own, separate demonstrations. But when the joint acts of civil disobedience take place, buses and cars come in from all over Germany and other countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, with eager participants.
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Student clubs and academic depts. host int’l dance event inspiration from the German and Austrian tradition of a winter ball.
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
CAMPUS EVENT
■ The event organizers drew
HERE AND NO FURTHER: Daniel Tyll Hofinger (left) and Dorothee Haeusermann (right) spoke about climate justice efforts in Germany. The group they work with, Ende Gelände, aims to curb coal mining and protect the Hambach Forest.
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Various language departments, intercultural organizations and dance groups hosted “Let’s Dance” in Levin Ballroom on Sunday. The event featured various styles of dance through performance, short lessons and extended free dance periods. The organizers aimed to invite everyone in the Brandeis community — not just students, but also staff, faculty, alumni, family and friends, leading to over one hundred people attending the event. A wide array of organizations came together to produce the event: Ballet Club, the Brandeis Ballroom Formation Team, Hooked On Tap and Brandeis Swingers all gave performances, and ballroom club and swing club offered dance lessons. The lessons were conducted in the middle of a semicircle of chairs, allowing the audience to first watch a brief performance of the dance, and then try out the dance themselves. The Brandeis campus events calendar advertised “Let’s Dance” as an “opportunity to mingle.” In keeping with this goal, all of the lessons were partner dances: the ballroom club taught waltz and salsa, and swing club taught swing dances. Attendees were also encouraged to switch partners throughout the evening so they could meet new people. For the salsa lesson, to showcase the intercultural nature of the event, the phrase “let’s dance” was shown in several languages on the Levin Ballroom projector. The instructors encouraged the attendees to ask partners to dance using a language other than their own. The event was sponsored by the Intercultural Center, the World Languages and Cultures Committee, the Center for German and European Studies and the Brandeis Pluralism
Alliance. Other language departments also pitched in to provide a selection of international desserts. Emcee Gabriela Giordano ’21 provided a general overview of each program and mentioned the various events each organization was hosting in the future, such as the WLC’s “Brandeis Language Oscars” on April 16, and CGES’ Deutschlandjahr: Brandeis Catan competition on March 27. Giordano then introduced Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL), director of CGES, the primary creator of this event. Von Mering explained her motivation for introducing “Let’s Dance,” which took a year to come to fruition. She developed “Let’s Dance” around the winter ball, an old tradition originating in Germany and Austria. Von Mering recalled her childhood in Germany, where everyone was required to take dancing lessons at the age of 14. This tradition is not practiced today, but Von Mering hopes to restart the tradition at Brandeis, making “Let’s Dance” an annual event. After a performance from the Ballet Club, Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL) talked about the link between foreign language and dance. Although music from different countries played throughout the event, Dubinina explained that the connections ran deeper. “Dance is a form of communication” she said. In both language and dance, “people express [through] movement and gestures some kind of emotion, some kind of story.” Second, both dance and language require some training, and as beginners, we are often “afraid to open ourselves to ridicule if we don’t move the right way or if we say something wrong.” Although it is difficult, Dubinina argued that being a beginner is “the time to enjoy language learning, [because you feel] as if you are sprouting wings and taking off.” One of the central messages of this event, Dubinina said, is to not “be afraid to be a beginner, either in language, or in dance or in anything else that you are trying for the first time.”
‘LET’S DANCE’
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DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY: Over 100 Brandeis community members gathered to learn and perform styles of dance from all over the world.
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SPECIAL ELECTION: KRAFT SCANDAL: Prof. New justices and speaks about sex trafficking senators take office CONTINUED FROM 1
CONTINUED FROM 1 his goals is to push for requiring non-Senate committee members to attend at least one Senate meeting a year to “get a better idea of what the Student Union is like,” he said in the same Facebook message.
Zach Kern
Kern said in a Facebook correspondence with the Justice that he wants to get a sign posted on Loop Road to notify drivers how to get to Rosenthal Quad. 63 people voted for Srinivas, while 56 voted for Kern. There were seven “Other” votes and 25 abstentions. 151 votes were cast in total.
International Student Senator Yuechen Ta
Ta wanted to run for her position because of her desire to support the International Student community, she said in a Facebook correspondence with the Justice. She said she realizes the community works hard; “But sometimes they don’t know where to find support.” She pledged to help cultural clubs organize more events, to “encourage international students to step out of their comfort zone,” and to work with ISSO and University Admissions to provide assistance to incoming and current international students. Her election comes after a turbulent recall process for former International Student senator Linfei Yang. Ta was elected with a 73.3 percent vote share, with 4 percent of voters opting for “other” and 22.6 percent abstaining. There were 75 voters.
Student Judiciary Rachel Sterling
Sterling said that as an Associate Justice, one of her main goals was to foster “an environment that is built upon a foundation of trust and honesty within our community,” according to an email to the Justice. Sterling is an English Major and a Philosophy and Legal Studies Minor, and she told the Justice that her academic studies would help her succeed in her elected office. “I am passionate in the language of the law, and interpreting the text in a [sic] objective, yet reasonable, way that can be understood by the public,” Sterling said. She cited flaws in the University’s judicial system as her motivation in running, with one such flaw being the ambiguity of the Allocations Board’s rules regarding student clubs spending.
Jack Ranucci
Ranucci said in his candidate bio that the Judiciary had an “incredible opportunity to guide the Union,” but that the Judiciary has a “responsibility to adhere to past precedent.” He did not respond to requests for comment. In the seven-way election, Sterling took home 21.8 percent of the total 688 votes, while Ranucci received 16.5 percent. Trang Nguyen ’19 and Adrian Orduno ’21 were runnersup, receiving 15.7 percent and 14.4 percent of the votes respectively. —Editor's note: Nakul Srinivas and Nancy Zhai are News writers for the Justice.
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Brooten, a New Testament scholar, said that there is little research on sex slavery within a religious context. She began a “collaborative research project” to better understand “how deeply slavery is embedded within Christian, Jewish and Muslim thinking and history, and how we have not yet overcome its legacies today.” Though many think of sex slavery as a “modern phenomenon,” Brooten said, “the sexual exploitation as part of forced labor is a very ancient practice.” She added that the exploitation has evolved with technology to conceal the identities and transportation of people involved in sex trafficking. In ancient times, women and children were forced into sex slavery as captives after war, while others sold themselves into slavery as a way to get out of extreme poverty. Governments did not regulate slavery in the past because the institution of slavery is based on “the owner having complete control over the body and life of the enslaved person,” she explained. Brooten said she is also interested in how modern Christianity grapples with its history with slavery and sex trafficking, especially during the era of U.S. chattel slavery, which occurred before the Civil War. She argued that an assessment of this history is necessary to shape future Christian activist work against sex slavery. During the 19th century, Brooten said, “many Christians and some Jews … supported slavery and … appealed to the Bible” to justify slavery. The New Testament states that “enslaved persons should obey their masters and mistresses in all things,” and Jesus “did not prohibit slaveholding in any of his teachings,” Brooten said. She added that she worries that some modern Christians view sex slavery through a moralistic lens, and noted that Christianity has had a “problematic relationship … with sexuality.” Enslaved African women were sexually exploited by “white Christian men who were upstanding members of their congregations or even the pastor” which “has had a long-term effect on … the way that black women’s sexuality in this country is often popularly viewed,” Brooten said. Coming to terms with that history would help reshape Christian
activism against sex trafficking because “one would be paying attention not only to current women who are forced into prostitution,” but the activism would also address race relations. Female slaveholders could also be as cruel as their male counterparts, according to Brooten, particularly within the context of the sexual torture of enslaved women in America. When masters would rape and impregnate enslaved women, the mistresses would often inflict their rage on the women because they felt “slighted,” she said. Brooten made the distinction between enslaved women and married women forcibly subjugated to a dominant husband. The idea that men own their wives and children is a concept that originated in slaveholding, and is a common thread in these types of marriages. Abused or subjugated and enslaved women differ, however, because “the enslaved woman is not allowed to leave, does not receive pay, [and] is subject to violent sexual abuse at the owner’s whim.” Though the former group of women may also be subject to abuse, they are still free, she asserted. With the attention surrounding the Kraft case, Brooten stated that she is glad that media outlets are “paying more attention to the conditions of forced labor among prostitutes,” and how women become trapped in sex trafficking. Though many women were forced into sex slavery, others are in debt servitude. This means that they have paid traffickers in order to gain passage to the United States and then prostituted themselves to pay their debts, Brooten explained. Many of these women are so deep in debt, however, that they cannot get out of sex slavery. The women working at Orchids of Asia were East Asian, Brooten said, which reveals another problem in the world of sex trafficking — sexual fantasies based on ethnic stereotypes. “In prostitution, the ethnicity of the prostituted individuals makes a difference,” she explained, adding that women’s bodies are “marketed” based on stereotypical fantasies held by the “consumers,” who are mainly white men. Thus, she said, “prevention efforts have to differ given the communities” of different ethnicities.
Today’s slavery is distinguished by its underground nature, unlike the slavery of the past. The “invasion of one’s body that occurs in forced sexual labor,” however, “is a thread that runs through the history of slavery,” Brooten stated. The economic inequality which has also been present throughout the history of slavery has been increasing in the U.S., which could exacerbate the problem of sex trafficking. “I’m deeply concerned that inequality in this country is growing, and that we are not addressing it in any adequate fashion,” Brooten said. Curbing sex trafficking, Brooten said, is “not just about rescuing a few women at a massage parlor,” but must involve addressing economic inequality. If a man “has the economic means wherewith to support himself and his family,” she explained, “he will not sell his daughter into slavery or allow her to go into slavery.” Brooten said that having the Kraft name on her professorship would not impede her work, as “the work speaks for itself.” In the future, Brooten will continue her work on sex trafficking, specifically studying sexual violence against people with disabilities as well as the intersection of race and gender among black women suffering sexual harassment. She will also continue her work with the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, which aims to “reduce sexual harassment and violence” by “learning about … differences [in communities] and by working to create the conditions in which all victims/survivors know that reporting will result in justice,” according to a statement on the project’s website. As a result of the attention given to the Kraft allegations, Brooten said she believes that people will become better at recognizing the signs of sex trafficking. Many massage parlors are hubs for sex trafficking, and people wondering what goes on in these establishments could help build awareness. In the Kraft case, next door to the Orchids of Asia spa, a pizza shop owner often saw women aimlessly walking around the strip mall where the spa is located. “They looked malnourished,” he said in the New York Times article. “One I even offered a slice of pizza to. She wouldn’t even say hi, wouldn’t even say thank you. Just kept her head down.”
LURIE: Institute recognizes long-time disability activist CONTINUED FROM 1 longer than a few days, Heumann explained. It went for 28 days, supported by activists both with and without disabilities. The Black Panther party delivered hot meals for the demonstrators, and the mayor of San Francisco also helped by providing air mattresses and portable showers. This cooperation was present among California activist organizations long before the sit-in. Different activist coalitions communicated with each other so that they weren’t “going after each other’s money” in fundraising, she explained. The sit-in received renewed attention following recent coverage on a segment of the Comedy Central series “Drunk History,” which organizers screened at the event. Heumann said Candace Cable, a gold medal Paralympian, told Comedy Central to do a segment on the sit-in. The episode got the most important details correct, but she noted that the “hearing” where she and other citizens with disabilities testified was held in San Francisco, not in Washington, D.C. Still, she said it was commendable that the show hired actors with disabilities and accurately depicted the involvement of citizens both with and without disabilities. One of the most important things about the demonstration, Heumann said, was that the non-disabled com-
munity learned more about disability, race, gender and sexual orientation. Heumann and Ho also discussed the importance of expectations and definitions of disability. Ho said that there is a “stigma” surrounding disability that makes many people with disabilities uncomfortable identifying as disabled. Heumann added that many people “may not even realize they have a disability,” and that it’s important to remove that stigma. She also said that at many universities, “disability is not seen in the diversity column” of the admissions process. Heumann explained that, historically, efforts to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities have been “overshadowed” by efforts to look for cures. She said that disability policies must reflect that some disabilities are permanent and that some only develop later in life. She added that training programs for people with disabilities must be designed with future jobs and future technology in mind, not current jobs and technologies “that might not exist ” in a few years due to new technologies like artificial intelligence or robotics. The discussion concluded with a short Q&A segment. Susan Bueti Hill, who works for New England Regional Ski for Light, asked for advice about finding work with no college degree and a disability. Heumann said it’s important to remem-
ber that when applying for jobs, applicants can choose not to identify themselves as having a disability. Another audience member offered advice, too. Laura Rauscher, the director of Disability Services at Smith College, said it’s important to find a “mentor” — someone who can help navigate the disability community and network. Emily Dana ’19 asked Heumann for advice for those starting in activism, to which Heumann replied, “Well, organizing is really important. Organizing is very important. And organizing is very important.” Heumann said it’s important to listen to people’s stories with an open mind, because “whatever people are feeling, it’s real to them.” Cindy Wentz ’74, who worked at the Boston Center for Independent Living, asked if Heumann thought the disability community would be able to maintain the strength it has possessed throughout the last decades of the 20th century. Heumann said she believed it would become even more robust as the population of Americans with disabilities grows, but said that it can only remain strong if people are willing to get involved in activism. Mitra concluded the event by presenting Heumann with a plaque “for her journey toward achieving equality, past, present and future disability activism, and the gratitude for [her] leadership and activism.”
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features
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 ● FEATURES ● THE JUSTICE
just
VERBATIM | ERICA JONG
I believe that women should live for love, for motherhood, and for intellect, and I believe we shouldn’t have to choose.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1912, Juliette Gordon Lowe founded the first chapter of Girl Scouts of America.
An average human brain weighs three pounds.
So, um, I’m, like, smart? Features Editor Sammy Park writes on reclaiming intellectualism as a woman in college have felt that being a woman has altered “Ipeople’s perception of me and my intelligence. I always have men start explaining things to me even though I already understand the concept. ” -- Claire Kiewra ’22
‘too girly’ might make people not take you seriously “Being in a professional setting, as a lot of scientific settings are still male dominated. But at Brandeis, I haven’t been pressured to be less feminine, partially because I feel that Brandeis’s STEM community is pretty progressive and accepting of diverse perspectives.
”
-- Pallavi Goel ’21
tend to not recognize when I am joking and take “Men that as an opportunity to explain to my why my joke was wrong, whereas women are usually able to deduce that I am joking using context clues like tone. Inwardly I have always felt a lot of pressure to go ‘above and beyond’ because I watch mediocre boys praised for just trying and girls only praised for succeeding.
”
-- Julia Haynes ’20
have a tendency to “Men re-explain their thoughts
when I disagree with them. This seems like an insult to my intelligence because it’s like “you could not possibly understand my argument and yet disagree.” Their immediate urge to re-explain themselves stems from an assumption that I suffer from an inadequate language and comprehension skills.
” -- Valerie Janovic ’19
By SAMMY PARK JUSTICE EDITOR
Despite the playground phrase that was sprinkled throughout my elementary school years — “Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider, girls go to college to get more knowledge” — my time spent in school was marked by a subtle undercurrent that I wasn’t going to be eligible for the world of “serious” academia. Throughout my 12-year tenure as a student in California public schools, I had a proclivity for verbal fillers (“like” and “um” are my favorite), an obsession with the “Twilight” franchise and in ninth grade, upon hearing the news of Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction, an emotional meltdown in the middle of an English class. Obviously, the notion of the austere “intellectual” was in direct conflict with not only who I was, but also how I was perceived. During my first year at Brandeis, I quickly realized just how gendered our notions of intelligence are. In lectures and discussions, it became clear that boys who constantly “jump off” of female students’ comments conceptualized themselves as smart in a way that I didn’t. They were comfortable with, for lack of a better word, dominating the classroom. Eventually, I had to seriously question why I wasn’t at ease with publicly participating in this academic space in the same way as some men. I preferred to impress my professors with my essays rather than raise my hand because writing allowed me the time to perfect my thoughts and verbiage. From this line of inquiry, I was forced to face my own problematic understandings of exactly who gets to be considered “smart.” Before college, I was ostensibly a feminist by every measure. I was a congressional campaign intern for a Democratic candidate, I was a member of my high school’s Progressive Club and in articles for self-described feminist publications wrote statements like “Spending money at businesses directly benefiting women of color is an act of resistance against a patriarchal, racist system.” However, despite my seemingly progressive — dare I say revolutionary — stances as a high school student, I still internalized the idea that femininity and intellectualism were at odds with one another. Because these two qualities existed as a dichotomy in my mind, I simply chose femininity. I thought in higher academia, I would have had to
sacrifice my passion for pop culture references and aggressive femininity. In a way, this choice freed me from the proverbial tug-of-war that many women face between determining what gender norms they have to follow to be “presentable” while still distancing themselves from being excessively feminine as to not risk losing their status as “competent.” Logically and objectively, I am fully aware that grades shouldn’t determine self-worth. I spent my entire pre-college educational career as a public school student. I’ve sat through dozens of lectures about how people are more than just a number and how grade point average is a social construct. But my reclamation of intellectualism (probably) would not have happened if I wasn’t being graded. As toxic as this may be, the fact that I was able to not only get the same, but often better grades than my male peers — who didn’t have “Valley Girl” dialects, speaking more like Kennedys than Kardashians — allowed me to see that my femininity wasn’t at odds with my ability to be quantitatively “smart.” However, regardless of my internal paradigm shift, the outer world is still a firm believer in the dichotomous relationship between womanhood and intellectualism. Despite legislative and administrative efforts to make education a more equitable sphere, I believe that the path to making an inclusive academic space lies in deconstructing our notions of who gets to be smart. While problematic preconceptions about intellect hindered my ability to think of myself as smart, I would be remiss if I didn’t also admit to benefiting from them. I am a native English speaker. I came to college having read Shakespeare and knowing things like who the “model minority” was. So, while my unapologetic femininity and womanhood act as disadvantages in my perceived smartness, my other experiences provide me with advantages. This year has taught me to listen to the content of what is being said rather than simply seeing the speaker. I’ve had to dismantle the idea that someone can “sound” smart. I’ve had to reconstruct classist notions that privileged extracurricular activities over jobs. I have realized that, for some students, a college education means that their family has to lose a source of income. Above all else, college has made me realize that there is no blueprint for an intellectual, only an opportunity for everyone to be one.
THE JUSTICE ● FEATURES ● TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
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Understanding student experience PARC Peer Advocate Alison Hagani ’22 explains the Campus Climate Survey
By ALISON HAGANI SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE
Brandeis launched its second Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Violence on March 5. The anonymous survey — sponsored by the Office of Provost and the Division of Student Affairs — seeks to understand how sexual violence manifests in the Brandeis community. An individualized link to the survey was sent to every undergraduate and graduate students’ Brandeis email and will be active until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 22. “The survey asks a lot of personal and specific questions about behaviors you might have seen or experienced, as well as questions about intervening, reporting and supporting survivors,” shared Sarah J. Berg, director of the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center and one of the principal investigators on the survey. “They are tough to think about, but the more open students can be about their experiences the better we can hope to address them.” By asking students to provide information on their identities, the University also seeks to better understand which populations are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Each section of the survey allows for open-ended student input, enabling all students to share more specifics about their experiences and interactions, if comfortable. All students’ responses are anonymous and a student can choose to skip any questions. Brandeis released its first Campus Climate survey in 2015 after the Obama Administration’s Department of Education encouraged colleges across the country to do so as part of an effort to combat widespread sexual violence on college campuses. Using the data from the 2015 survey, the University was able to determine how to better distribute and implement resources on campus. After the survey, Brandeis provided more substantive measures to combat sexual violence: the Office of Graduate Student Affairs helped extend Title IX training to include all new graduate students, and PARC developed workshops on bystander intervention and consent that are mandatory for student leaders, athletes, and more. Since then, Violence Prevention Educators at PARC continue to create and run educational trainings. “Our most widely-run training is called ‘Deis Won’t Just Roll With It,’” explained Prevention Ed-
ucator Lexi Foman ’21. “It discusses the roots of violence and teaches ways to be a prosocial bystander. We are always trying to improve and increase violence prevention education and make sure that every member of the Brandeis community has the tools and skills to combat sexual and relationship violence.” Similarly, the results from the 2019 Campus Climate will be carefully analyzed by select staff members from the Office of Planning and Institutional Research and by the principal investigators for the climate study: Berg, as well as Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Mark BrimhallVargas and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Kim Godsoe. Results will then be shared with the Brandeis community and be used to guide campus-wide improvements. The survey’s sponsors believe that participation in the Campus Climate Survey can have both individual and collective benefits. After the completion of the survey, every student can either receive a $5 gift card to Amazon or make a $5 donation to one of three nonprofits: the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence in Waltham, or the Violence Recovery Program at Fenway Health in Boston. Additionally, students can use this anonymous platform to share experiences that they might otherwise not be comfortable sharing. Beyond this, students can also contribute knowledge that will allow Brandeis to provide resources that better address the issue. PARC is just one of many resources on campus that will improve as a result of the data. “We would also see how much faith students have in university resources, especially students of marginalized communities,” Peer Advocate Tanashya Batra ’21 said. “We want to make our office open, accessible and helpful to everyone.” If you have any questions or input regarding the Campus Climate Survey, reach out to PARC Director Sarah J. Berg. If you or another member of the Brandeis community whom you know have questions or would like additional support with concerns related to sexual or relationship violence, please contact the PARC at parc@brandeis.edu, visit our website www.brandeis.edu/parc, or stop by the office in Usdan (room 108). PARC advocates can also be reached via phone 24/7 at 781-736-3370.
Photo Courtesy of ALISON HAGANI
PEER SUPPORT: PARC employs students as Peer Advocates and Violence Prevention Educators.
Previous survey results: Brandeis’ first Campus Climate Survey took place in the spring semester of 2015 The overall response rate in 2015 was less than 35 percent 44 percent of female undergraduates responded to the survey 22 percent of the undergraduate female respondents reported to have experienced some type of sexual assault 38.2 percent of respondents knew how to formally report a sexual assault 39.2 percent of male undergraduates respondents reported that they disclosed an incident of unwanted sexual activity to a third party 14% of female undergraduates reported that their peers could “help you gather information or find resources or services.” Data Courtesy of BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY RESULTS, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT FACT SHEET
Illustrations Courtesy of PARC, MORGAN MAYBACK/the Justice
10 TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 ● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE
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Avraham Penso, Editor in Chief Natalia Wiater, Managing Editor Amber Miles, Senior Editor Jen Geller, Jocelyn Gould, Deputy Editors Nia Lyn, Eliana Padwa, Associate Editors Sam Stockbridge, News Editor Sammy Park, Features Editor Gabriel Frank, Forum Editor, Megan Geller, Sports Editor Maya Zanger-Nadis, Arts Editor Andrew Baxter, Photography Editor Morgan Mayback, Interim Layout Editor Liat Fischer and Devo Meyers, Ads Editors River Hayes, Mia Rubinstein, Acting Copy Editors
EDITORIALS
University’s use of Duo is a cumbersome attempt at security
Recently, Brandeis launched Duo Security’s two-factor authentication system as a means of protecting students and their personally identifiable information, according to a Nov. 6, 2018 article in the Justice. This new security measure is a required part of the transition to Workday, the new human resources software that the University is currently adopting, per a Nov. 20, 2018, Justice article. Student employees are the first students required to enroll in Duo, with many students being required to enroll by March 7. After logging into a Brandeis website, students must confirm that log-in through a push notification, text or phone call, a step added by Duo. While this is a commendable first step to improve cybersecurity, the decision to implement such software has several oversights, and this twofactor system might not be accessible to all students. One of the first assumptions Duo makes is that all students have access to a smart phone or some other kind of device. Some people might rely on library computers and without the
Two-factor creates problems needed secondary devices, students are essentially blocked from SAGE and Latte as well as their emails and documents on Google Drive. ITS states that those who do not have access to a cell phone should contact the Help Desk for other options, but this does not address the stigma that students may feel around not having a smartphone. It also does not clarify what students should do if their phones die or break, something which is difficult to predict. Although there is an option to save the login credentials for 30 days, it is not recommended by Duo. While reauthentication is promoted with the students’ best interests in mind, it is inconvenient to always need multiple devices. While Duo adds an additional layer of protection to students’ information through their University accounts, its flaws must be addressed. This board encourages the University to reevaluate this software before making it mandatory for the entire University.
Task force should prioritize laundry room issues
One of Brandeis’ enduring infrastructural problems is the atrocious laundry system. In a Jan. 28 email to the Brandeis community, University President Ron Liebowitz announced the creation of a third task force to address campus infrastructure. This board urges the task force to consider improving laundry on campus. The primary issue is a lack of machines. In the Ziv Quad, for instance, each building only has three washers and three dryers (or two, in Ziv 130) — one of each for every 30 (or 45) residents. In Skyline, a much newer building with plenty of unused space, there are only four washing machines, or one washer for every 40 residents — although there are six dryers, one for every 27 residents. At least in Skyline, the machines consistently work; in Ziv, students can expect at least one of the three washers to be broken at any given moment. Even when all the machines are functioning, the card reader is often broken. Fixing the card readers would be a good start; alternatively, the school could simply include laundry as a pre-paid component of tuition and ditch the card readers entirely. In the meantime, installing new, functional machines would be a worthwhile investment. The problem of consistently out-oforder laundry machines is in part due to the practice of unplugging the card readers to get free laundry. In addition to almost causing fires, unplugging the card swipe creates an error code and the machines “cannot be used again until they are serviced, which needs to be done by an external contractor,” as reported in a Nov. 13, 2018 Justice article. Unplugging the card readers also resets the timer on loads that are currently running, a major annoyance for students. Furthermore, a number of laundry
Machines keep malfunctioning rooms are too small for more than one student to use at a time. In Ziv, Rosenthal and Skyline, there is no space for a table to put clothes on, a necessary laundry room feature considering that students often wait hours (or days) to remove their laundry from the dryers. Students hoping to do their laundry in these buildings frequently have to wait or else dump the other person’s laundry in other machines, a random hamper, or on the floor. To complicate matters further, timers are unreliable in most machines, as they frequently run longer than their allotted time. This problem causes students to leave their laundry unattended for long periods of time, decreasing the number of available washers for other students. In addition, the entire laundry room system is inherently inaccessible to students with disabilities. Laundry rooms are often in buildings’ basements, either entirely inaccessible or accessible only through extremely out-of-the-way routes, such as those in the Charles River Apartments. Also, the card swipe machines display their instructions visually and do not have a setting which reads out the prompts. Although this board appreciates steps the University has taken to make laundry rooms more accessible, such as applying clear plastic braille sheets over washer and dryer buttons in Skyline, fundamental problems remain. This board calls on the University to install more and better washers and dryers in laundry rooms and to add tables for storing and folding laundry when space allows. The University should also renovate laundry rooms to create a system like Skyline’s, where card swipe machines cannot be unplugged.
MAYA ZANGER-NADIS/the Justice
Views the News on
For the second time in the history of the AIDS epidemic, a patient carrying HIV was successfully cured of the disease in London. While researchers have described this as a long-term remission of the disease instead of a cure, many are optimistic that the therapies the patient underwent could pave the way for the future of AIDS treatment, and might lead to an eradication of the disease altogether. However, this “cure” requires the use of a bone marrow transplant, a painful procedure for donors that can lead to long-term discomfort. Do you think that bone marrow transplants should continue to be used on a large scale in the search for a cure for AIDS? Should HIV research funding be directed to this method or to other experimental therapies?
Prof. Donald Shepard (HELLER) Advances in anti-viral therapy and more widespread use of treatment and prevention have almost halved global HIV/ AIDS deaths over the past decade. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization estimated that 0.94 million people died of HIV/AIDS-related illnesses globally in 2017. As well as more complete application of existing therapies, this disease needs new treatments. The “London patient,” who received bone marrow transplant for cancer treatment, achieved remission of his HIV/AIDS as an additional, dramatic benefit. However, this experimental therapy is expensive and replete with side effects. Furthermore, according to Gates Foundation Advisor Dr. Mike McCune, it could address only half of HIV/AIDS infections (those using CXCR5, not CXCR4, cells). Since the London patient has been off antiviral treatment and free of HIV/AIDS for only 12 months, his long-term prognosis is still unknown. For other diseases, such as prostate cancer, where invasive treatments have uncertain long term benefits, complications, and side effects, randomized trials have provided key data. Similarly, this bone marrow treatment deserves measured expansion with careful documentation, and, if still promising, a randomized trial to assess its true, long term value and applicability. Prof. Donald Shepard is a member of the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy at the Heller School, specializing in Health Economics.
Prof. Ian MacPherson For those living with HIV who are successfully undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART) and are otherwise healthy, the risks of a bone marrow transplant are probably not worth the potential gain in quality of life. However, complications such as ARTresistance occur in a subset of patients and they may benefit greatly from such a procedure. Additionally, technological advances in the bone marrow transplant procedure itself may minimize risk and discomfort enough to make it a viable option for otherwise healthy individuals living with HIV. With respect to the scale of current research efforts, it is quite low given the criteria for such a procedure (HIV-positive individual in need of a bone marrow transplant with a matched donor having HIVresistant T-cells). Ian MacPherson is an assistant professor and researcher in the department of Tropical Medicine at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and was a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University.
Shoshana Finkel ’20 To a layperson, it may seem like there should already be a cure for AIDS - we have vaccines and antiviral drugs for so many of the world’s most deadly viruses! But because of the nature of the way HIV attacks the immune system, any of these treatments would be rendered useless with HIV in the bloodstream. Until we know more about this “cure”, here’s what is still recommended by the public health community: vigilant education on how to prevent the spread of HIV using safe sex practices, and making medicine like PrEP, that prevent HIV infections from advancing to AIDS, more widely accessible to the HIV positive population. Am I excited about the prospect of an AIDS cure? Absolutely. But we shouldn’t stop making sure we are preventing the spread of HIV and the advancement of AIDS in patient’s bodies. We can’t drop the ball on those vulnerable populations who won’t immediately have access or afford these expensive treatments. Shoshana Finkel is a Health, Science, Society, Policy Major and the Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Yiddish department.
Photos: Ian MacPherson; Donald Shepard Kristen Lucken; the Justice
THE JUSTICE ● FORUM ● TUESDAY, MARCH 12 , 2019
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The Student Union has made progress but still needs work By AARON FINKEL
SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE
If you told me in high school that I’d be the student body vice president at Brandeis, I certainly wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, a few months ago, you put your faith in me to serve alongside our amazing President Hannah Brown as the “face” of the student body. Now, halfway through my tenure, I’d like to share some thoughts on what we’ve accomplished as a team, what I’ve learned, and what suggestions I have for the future. My vice presidency began with a simple message to my colleagues and myself: DO YOUR JOB. This mantra comes from my high school music teacher, who, alone, balanced conducting, teaching seven classes, running an extracurricular club and his career as a professional saxophonist. How did he handle such a full schedule while also solidifying our reputation as one of the finest programs in the state? He had high expectations and instilled in us the desire to meet them. We understood that if we didn’t do our jobs and meet his standards, our grades would suffer. But it wasn’t fear of a bad grade that motivated us; it was the fact that we were a team. One person not doing their job let the entire team down. We all shared in the effort, so that in the end, we could all reap the rewards. In the process of achieving consistent, superior ratings, we learned how to focus on the right priorities, align our goals and roles responsibly, and hold each other accountable. Now, these seem like the traits of any successful organization. I’m a results-oriented person. To me, “doing your job” means valuing action over talk. It means being resourceful and resisting the temptation to overthink things. I’ve learned that this is much more difficult than it sounds, and I’m certainly not perfect. Luckily, this mantra resonates with many in the Senate. In just a few weeks, much has been accomplished. For instance, we’re conducting a comprehensive review of all our governing documents, revising outdated rules and streamlining processes. We’ve worked on the accessibility of the BranVan, completed the campus-wide distribution of free menstrual products and condoms and will be working to expand students’ access to mental health services. We’ve done a better job reporting student feedback to Brandeis Dining leadership and continue to plan “Meet-the-Union,” Midnight Buffet, and
several weekend excursions for the student body. We are also working hard on both a club advising system and the implementation of a revolutionary extracurricular management/online student portal system before the end of this academic year. I’m also proud that one of my personal projects, a new digital advertising system, was recently installed in the Shapiro Campus Center. These are just several examples of projects undertaken by the Union. The praise lies with my colleagues who have put in hours of effort to make all of this possible. This work is not just for our benefit, but for the future generations of students. Nevertheless, I believe we as a community can do more. Dining remains an ongoing issue. Our campus infrastructure requires upgrades. Equally important, some members of our community feel isolated, lacking a deeper connection to the school. What we lack in school spirit, we too often replace with unnecessary infighting and drama. After three years in student government, I have some suggestions for my fellow Brandesians. It’s easy to blame administrators for all the issues the community faces. Clearly, sometimes that criticism is warranted. Other times, it’s without basis and serves to further alienate. Most administrators work extremely hard to accomplish nearly impossible tasks within the constraints of outdated structures and rules. As a student leader who’s learned about many of these behind-thescenes processes, I can safely say that confrontation and blaming others often proves ineffective in achieving a desired result. Instead, we should focus on building partnerships. After all, we’re ALL on the same team — the Brandeis team. Many of our school’s deep issues appear to be self-inflicted, requiring changes in our institutional culture. They call for more risk-taking and trust. Trust requires us to assume good faith in each other, rather than seek or overemphasize reasons to criticize. As University President Ron Liebowitz said during his inaugural address, this trust can only come from the “sharing of information, a clear delineation and understanding of who should have authority to make decisions and a willingness to believe the best in each of our intentions, even when there is disagreement.” I wholeheartedly agree. We also need a good sense of humor, and a willingness to have a little more fun. As Provost Lisa Lynch stated in her inaugural address, “This does not mean that we should not be serious — rather it means that we should not take ourselves
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: APAHM COVERAGE Last Tuesday, the Justice published an Arts cover that depicted the Brandeis Asian American Student Association’s “Dare to Dream,” the opening ceremony of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The next day, BAASA leadership and the APAHM ceremony organizers reached out to us to highlight several problematic design choices. The Justice regrets these mistakes, and we would like to apologize to BAASA and those who were understandably hurt by our cover. Although the aim of our Arts cover was to acknowledge the APAHM opening ceremony, we inadvertently used a font type for the text that played into a historical pattern of stereotyping Asian Americans. In addition, the concept for the cover itself failed to thoughtfully depict the themes of “Dare to Dream” and instead inappropriately represented the event and its purpose. The Justice cares deeply about recognizing and unlearning stereotypical depictions to ensure that they do not appear in our reporting, and we regret that in this instance we fell short of these expectations. We will work to do better in the future. We deeply appreciate that concerned members of the community took the time to reach out and educate us about the problems with our design, and we are taking this opportunity to re-evaluate our design process to ensure that errors like this are not repeated. The feedback we received has revealed flaws in the way we create our Arts covers, and we are committed to reforming our practices to ensure events are covered with greater attention and sensitivity. Moving forward, Arts covers will be designed only after consulting the reporters, reviewers or photographers who attended the event to gain a better sense of the event’s core themes and messages. Additionally, if an event on the Arts cover does not have a corresponding article in that issue, our readers will be notified if such an article will be published on a later date. The accompanying APAHM article appears in this issue. On Sunday, the cover’s designer and senior editors of the Justice met with BAASA leadership to discuss how the Justice can improve its relationship with cultural clubs. As student journalists, we are always seeking to learn, improve our reporting and build better relationships with our community. — Avraham Penso, editor in chief
JULIANNA SCIONTI/the Justice
too seriously.” We could all benefit from this advice. Our Student Union has so much unrecognized potential. Our governing documents remain outdated, and we should seriously consider changes to our organizational structure in the long term. There is no reason why a community our size should have a complicated, bureaucratic Student Union, seemingly modeled after the inefficient U.S. government. At the same time, why is a student government that handles over $2 million and manages more than 250 organizations often relegated to the sidelines of student life as “just another club?” Why are the Union’s actions, communications, and events too-often ignored, overshadowed by other agendas, or irrelevant to the average student? Why is there an apparent unwillingness by some in the organization to unify around a long-term vision? Is this because of a high turnover rate? Perhaps we should look into creating more multi-year positions, or refocusing ourselves on continuity. The Union must also ensure that day-to-day interactions with students remain positive and that our systems are user-friendly. That’s especially important when we discuss funding. I see little reason why a government flush with cash is often
overly stringent in its funding policies. Perhaps we should examine what takes place at other American universities to see what we can improve upon here at home. Our long-term goal should be to find ways for students to spend less time in “marathon” or treasury training sessions, and more time enjoying their extracurricular events. Ultimately, I feel that both our community’s greatest enemy, and its greatest asset, is ourselves. Change never happens unless people really want it. Making Brandeis and the Student Union better for everyone will require some personal accountability, a change of culture, a little less arguing and a focus on big ideas, coherent strategies, teamwork and doing one’s job. In my high school’s music program, if something sounded off, our teacher wasn’t interested in excuses, complaints, or arguments. He cared less about appointing fault and more about the end result. My suggestion to future leaders: please continue this administration’s efforts to improve student life in the long-term. We may graduate before we see those changes, but future generations will thank us for our work. The Union is headed in the right direction. Now it’s up to the entire community to do its job and help us move things forward!
Ranked choice voting should be the future of elections By VIOLET FEARON JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
2020 might seem like the distant future, but the Democratic presidential primary is already underway. While several potentially major candidates have yet to announce and pundits should probably cool it for at least a little longer, one thing’s clear: the Democratic field is going to be a crowded and ideologically diverse battleground. Candidates span from moderates, like Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker, to progressive stalwarts like Elizabeth Warren and, of course, Bernie Sanders. With such a large and fractured field, there’s a particularly compelling argument to be made for ranked choice voting. The Democratic primary awards delegates proportionally. But in order to receive a proportional number of delegates, a candidate must receive at least 15 percent of the vote. Under the current system, if you vote for a candidate who receives less than 15 percent of the vote, your vote essentially vanishes. While this system is certainly better than the alternative winner-takes-all system, it presents issues in a large field when votes are fractured among many candidates. Enter ranked-choice voting. It’s quite simple: Rather than picking one candidate, you rank them. Then, all the first-choice votes are counted up; if your first choice candidate doesn’t reach the threshold, your second choice candidate gets your vote. If both your first and second fail, your third choice receives a vote — and so forth. This is not some pie-in-the-sky idea; it’s been implemented on a smaller scale around the country. Many cities, states and even universities have adopted ranked choice voting, according to FairVote.com. The ranked-choice system could
be beneficial in a national primary setting, especially for the unusually extensive field of 2020 hopefuls. Let’s imagine you’re a progressive Democrat (I know; a progressive at Brandeis, what a far-fetched idea). Maybe your first choice is the academic Elizabeth Warren, who you favor for her policy expertise and wonkish demeanor. But let’s imagine that by the time the primaries come around, Warren still trails Sanders. This could very well happen; right now, Sanders usually polls at anywhere from 11 percent into the high 20s, whereas Warren hovers around 5 percent, per FiveThirtyEight. com. Sanders also matches up relatively well with your hypothetical political views, but your first choice is Warren. You have a decision to make — do you vote for your genuine choice, potentially “wasting” your vote and failing to support a progressive who might actually get the nomination? Or do you vote for your second choice, sapping even more support from Warren? The scenario could apply to Democrats of all stripes — say, a centrist who broadly supports Kamala Harris but whose ideal candidate is the far lesser known Peter Buttigieg. The problem remains the same: voters potentially compromising their ideological preferences in order to vote in accordance with national trends. It’s a dilemma that rankedchoice voting neatly solves. Put your first choice first, your second choice second, and not a single vote is “wasted.” If Warren or Buttigieg doesn’t get 15 percent of the vote, your vote goes to Sanders or Harris. It’s a system that doesn’t reward name recognition quite so heavily, that encourages voters to support less popular candidates and that prevents the rapid snowballing of popularity some candidates experience. Granted, the result of this
arrangement could reveal very different fractures in the Democratic party than common knowledge dictates. The conventional party fractures I laid out above — a progressive who’s dithering between Warren and Sanders and a moderate looking to Harris or Buttgeig, may be an overly simplistic binary. FiveThirtyEight recently published a fascinating model that conglomerated polls asking voters for their second choice primary candidate. The two leading candidates, in accordance with other polls, were Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden (the latter has not yet announced his candidacy, but the pollsters don’t seem to mind). But here’s what’s interesting: when examining second choices, “more than a quarter of Biden supporters say Sanders is their second choice, and more than a quarter of Sanders supporters say Biden is their second choice,” as reported by FiveThirtyEight.com. In this sense, ranked choice voting might end up with some surprising beneficiaries. Either way, the resulting nominee would better reflect the preferences of voters; isn’t that what a democracy is supposed to strive towards? It is, of course, highly unlikely that ranked choice voting will be implemented on a national level any time soon. The Democratic Party still places enormous value on candidates’ performance in Iowa; while they aren’t conservative in the political sense, they’re clearly conservative in terms of their reluctance to violate tradition and introduce systemic changes. But hey, five years ago no one would’ve guessed that Democratic socialists would be such a powerful force within the party. In this rapidly changing environment, it seems reasonable to at least start a conversation about the mechanics of our elections.
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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Editorial Assistants
Arts: Addison Antonoff, Dinlenc*, Evan Mahnken*, Ella Russell,
News: Emily Blumenthal, Gilda Geist
Mendel Weintraub
Arts: Luke Liu
Photography: Clara Alexander, Zoe Brodsky, Charlie Catino,
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Production Assistant Features: Kirby Kochanowski Photography: Thu Le
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TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Gendered world languages reveal discrimination By RENEE NAKKAB JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
In light of the recent sexual abuse scandals that have arisen from the political, athletic and entertainment sectors, this year’s International Women’s day could not have come at a better time. This staple of the women’s rights movement was memorialized in 1909 and has been going strong every year since. From strikes and sit-ins to ‘women in business’ panels and concerts, the varied activities that commemorate this day are centered around women’s empowerment, love and appreciation. Internationally, both women and men have banded together on a unified front to show support for their sisters. As I was reading about a young French woman who created a feminist rendition of a famous rap in Le Figaro, the very words on the page made me question the equality of this pro feminist piece. The divide between masculinity and femininity within this French text made me reflect on the gender segregation within the English language. I then realized that, throughout time, language has been used to demoralize women and remains a method of sex discrimination today. Within Romance languages, there are masculine and feminine forms of vocabulary. Within sentence clauses, there is an inherent degree of sexism due to the unique differentiation between words based on sex. For example, in French the word for intelligent in the masculine form is “intelligent,” and in the feminine form is “intelligente.” The real problem lies within the gender specific words that correlate to positions of power within society. The best example would be “le président, le juge, le procureur,” which translates to “the president, the judge and the prosecutor” in French, all of which have no feminine form equivalent. Fundamentally, the founders of this language could not fathom having these high profile positions filled by women, and wrongly neglected to give them the chance of ever being recognized as such by not creating a feminine counterpart. It is the job of men and women to right these wrongs by creating words and melding them into common conversation. Fed up with this ridiculous notion, the progressive public moved towards integrating its own progressive words into their language, like “la présidente,” “la juge” and “la procureure.” This problem is worsened once we look at the plural forms of words. In languages such as French and Spanish, these words are always trumped by the masculine. If a group has at least one male, no matter the number of females, it will be referred to in the masculine, thus being the reference point for all plural context. Considering that these are two major world languages, this commonality within the languages can be seen internationally. These are also two of the oldest and most widespread languages spoken today, and thus the effects
LEON KRAIEM/ the Justice
of this blatant sex disparity are seen by far more in our current lives. The English language is no better than every other language that has vulgar curse words with a feminine connotation; it is home to derogatory trigger words that are abused by those wanting to inflict emotional pain onto others. Such words range from “bitch” to “hoe” and escalate to “pussy.” These words have a female connotation, but are not used in a positive light. A classic example is when a person does not do what is expected of them: he or she is referred to as a “cunt.” It is a problem within our society that this slang word for a female body part is being used as an insult. Instead of choosing to live in a genderless word, we are linking female anatomy with inadequacy and a failure to live up to an expectation. Similarly, people are called “dicks” when they are being rude, thus giving male anatomy a negative connotation. That these derogatory names are about, and used by, both sexes does not make it all right. It goes without saying that we should be supporting one other rather than tearing one another apart. These words feed the all-too-well-fed patriarchy, and it is our job to support the women’s movement rather than verbally undermine it with negatively charged genderbased slang. However, there are other, more subtle words in our vernacular that feed into this patriarchal view. Can you spot the similarity
between words such as hero, woman, human, and female? ‘He,’ ‘man’ and ‘male’ are the roots of these very common words. Essentially, women were never given the opportunity to be perceived as separate from men; after all, you cannot spell ‘women’ without ‘men.’ The sneaky effect is not noticeable at first because it is so ingrained in our culture that it is usually accepted without a second thought. Yet imagine the impact it had on you when you were in your formative years, first learning how to read and write. Whether you realized it or not, the spelling of these words made it visually clear that the patriarchy is rooted in something as inconspicuous as our language. Reformers, similar to France, wanting women to feel empowered by their language, have created words like “shero” to make it clear that women hold just as important a role in the written and verbal word as men. Yet it is only when society catches onto this language that we might see this subtle gender discrimination start to dissipate. But who can forget about the misogynistic phrases that we have all heard throughout our development? Whether it be “you throw like a girl” or “man up,” these phrases have successfully classified ability based on sex. Mental, physical and emotional strength, power and stamina have nothing to do with genitalia; rather, they have everything to do with the individual. Thus, these phrases further the creation of a meritless society
based in stereotypical expectations opposed to reality. Furthermore, while tradition and a desire to maintain the original dialect and grammar of a language is understandable, it is an unrealistic standard for the constantly evolving organism that is language. Dictionaries have to be updated constantly as the years pass because new slang and words become norms in our vernacular. An obvious example of this comes from changing technology, as nouns like Google and Facebook are added to our language because of how often they’re used. Instead of mindlessly abiding by these offensive, non binding “rules of language,” we should break free from this mold and use words that call for gender equality in all languages. Ultimately, I am not suggesting we erase or recreate an entire language; rather, it should undergo a progressive refashioning. While it would be hard to recreate words like ‘woman’ or ‘man,’ it is easier to modify pre-existing words or phrases to account for the gender disparity. It is important to be mindful of what you say and how you say it. Although it is not your fault that languages are inherently patriarchal, you could do something to change the way words are perceived. Although this might not seem like a massive step, it, nonetheless points in the right direction of making people feel equally loved, appreciated and accepted.
CEOs’ personal identities are inseparable from their companies Maddox
KAY GLOBAL WARNING “You’ve really put a big investment in our country. We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple,” Donald Trump said as he commended Apple CEO Tim Cook at an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board on Wednesday. This hilarious slip of the tongue caused Tim Cook to change his Twitter name to “Tim” with the Apple logo next to his name, according to a Thursday CNBC report, as well as his official profile. The meme volcano erupted with references to well-known entrepreneurs ‘Bill Microsoft’ and ‘Elon Tesla,’ as well as colonial forebears ‘George America’ and ‘Ben Electricity.’ Technically, Elon’s surname should be a hyphenated PayPalTesla-SpaceX, but let us not get too pedantic. This is not the first time Trump has flubbed a CEO’s name in a corporate Freudian slip; last March he introduced Marilyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin as “Marilyn Lockheed.” While unintentional, Trump has highlighted that in the age of the entrepreneur and corporate personhood, founders’ and executives’ identities are enmeshed in the companies they command, especially in the tech sector. This has become completely natural, to the point that we do not think about it until someone like Trump points it out in a way that is too obvious to ignore. “Isn’t it more important that Cook works at Apple than that his last name is Cook?,” asked the author of a March 7 Slate article. Indeed, for most people who don’t know Cook personally, his profession
is more important than his name, because we have more interaction with his products and his company than with him as an individual.
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The confluence of individual leadership and corporate identity is not necessarily something we need to change, but a reality we should be be aware of.
The positive side of this association is that corporate leaders can inspire employees and the public through personal charisma and a spirit of innovation. Contemporary business leaders must be dynamic and have strong public speaking skills. Through a mastery those abilities, they become their brands. A Feb. 26 Forbes article on how tech companies are influencing corporate culture said, “companies must create vibrant cultures that make employees proud.” With low unemployment, workers are looking for jobs they can identify with, and charismatic tech CEOs provide that. Taking this idea to a bizarre extreme, a June 2018 Bloomberg piece describes laid-off Tesla workers singing Elon Musk’s praises on Twitter: “Thanks for the opportunity, Elon! Eye on the mission. Will always be
proud to say I worked for Tesla,” gushed one former employee. While the idea of professionals being happy after losing their jobs is strange, any company that inspires this level of devotion and belief in its goals has achieved something meaningful. Inspiration leads to continuity. Thriving in a ‘cult of personality’ breeds future leaders who are able to both keep the brand’s identity and integrate themselves into it. At Apple, Steve Jobs’s turtlenecked keynote speeches were as emblematic of the brand as any of its products. When he became too sick to work and subsequently passed away in 2011, Tim Cook replaced him as CEO because he had been at Apple nearly 15 years and fit with the company culture bred under Jobs. In many effective companies, executive leadership functions like a family, so it is easy to imagine ‘Steve Apple’ passing the mantle to younger brother ‘Tim.’ This gives companies a continuous brand identity, in the literal sense. The negative side is that when the identity of a massive company which employs thousands is bound up in that of a fallible or untruthful person, individual mistakes reflect poorly on the organization as a whole. When Jeff Bezos denied lewd photo allegations and announced his divorce, Amazon shares fell roughly 2 percent, according to a Feb. 8 Entrepreneur article. While this did not cause investors longterm concern, it exemplified the blurring line between private life and economic activity for corporate celebrities. That puts a certain pressure to be perfect, or at least, to hide one’s mistakes, on the shoulders of leaders. From a moral standpoint, if corporations are to be regarded as people, we should hold
The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.
those who run them accountable for their personal behavior. In the eyes of the law, corporations function as people, distinct but not separate from the individuals who run them. However, the arrogance or misconduct of chief executives can affect an entire company, down to its independent contractors. Nearly two years after the ousting of problematic CEO Travis Kalanick, Uber is still struggling to clean up its brash reputation caused by the sexual harassment of employees and customers, according to a Mar. 3 New York Times article. The confluence of individual leadership and corporate identity is not necessarily something we need to change, but a reality we should be aware of. The values we emphasize in business should not define our public policy, and what that says about our country demands further thought. When we apply cult-of-personality values to the political sphere, valuing them above facts and policy analysis, demagogues seize control. However, in tech, it is often less important to address the facts of today than to imagine what could be tomorrow and work backwards. The imaginative, dynamic leader who can think this way becomes synonymous with their company. America has evolved as an individualistic nation, for the most part placing individuals rather than group movements as the makers of history. We reference eras by their presidents and pop culture icons. Today, CEOs and tech moguls have joined that circle of icons. When President Trump called Tim Cook “Tim Apple,” he touched on a neoliberal current in which personal identity is inseparable from that of a corporation. Trump himself is a part of this current — at least his companies bear his own last name.
THE JUSTICE ● SPORTS ● TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
TRACK: Judges surpass record with a time of 11:40.64 CONTINUED FROM 16 come into a program that had already established themselves through previous NCAA national performances by Julia and Emily Bryson, Leini and Lisbeth Valdez and Doyin Ogundiran. Coach Sinead focuses on training us so that we are prepared to peak at the end of the season, so we all just wanted to stay as fit and healthy as possible. Obviously, we wanted to get as many people as high-scoring as possible at nationals, and both the DMR and Emily Bryson are now champs, so I'd say that goal was more than fulfilled.” This year the team was led by Head Coach Sinead Delahunty and Assistant Coaches Steve Flanagan and Jason Sliwoski. Coach Delahunty has coached
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PERFECT PITCHING
the Judges since December 2013, making this her fifth season as a Judge. Through her time with the Judges, Delahunty has coached 11 different athletes qualifying for NCAA Championships. Delahunty graduated from Providence College in 1993 where she was a six-time All American athlete. Assistant coaches Flanagan and Sliwoski also have histories in the world of track and field. Flanagan graduated from Fairfield University in 2012, where he was named captain his sophomore year and helped his team recieve its best time finish in IC4A Championships. Sliwoski was an athlete at Worchester State University, where he achieved the school record and and was a recipient of an NCAA National Qualifier in the Decathlon.
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VELOCITY: Brandeis' Callie Macdonald ’20 pitches the ball in a game against Emory University on April 14, 2018.
SOFTBALL: Team works hard as season starts up CONTINUED FROM 16 Monday 5–3 and 5–2 with come-frombehind wins to improve their record to 4–0 for the year. In game one, the Judges were trailing 3–1 going into the seventh inning. Lehtonen drove in a run in the third to get the Judges on the board. However, Salem College responded in the fourth inning by driving in a base-clearing double that plated three runs off of Amidori Anderson ’21, who made her first career start. The Judges may have gone down quietly in the next couple of innings, but the Judges were resilient and loaded the bases in the seventh inning. After Salem College struck out a Judges hitter for the second out of the inning, Felder stepped up to the plate. Felder continued her dominant streak and hit a double that tied the game.
Lehtonen then hit a double that sealed the deal and drove in two runs to make the game 5–3. Todd came into the game in the bottom of the seventh to shut the door and notch her second win of the season. She collected two strikeouts in her one inning pitched in the winning effort. Judges 5, Spirits 3 In the second game of the doubleheader, Goldman toed the rubber and collected her second win of the season to improve to 2–0 for the year. She looked dominant as she gave up two unearned runs and allowing just three hits while punching out seven in their effort. The Judges were trailing, but shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21 tied the game by driving in a two-run double. Brandeis then took the lead on a double by Marissa DeLaurentis ’19,
followed by a single by Caroline Sippin ’20, making the game score 4–2. Todd drove in the fifth run of the game in the sixth inning on a run batted in single. The Judges had a dominant Monday afternoon as the offense had nineteen hits, nine of which were doubles. Lehtonen had three doubles, while Todd and DeLaurentis each had two of their own. The Judges’ pitching was also impressive, as the three pitchers held Salem to five runs and eight hits. Through their first three games, the Salem College Spirits had scored 33 runs on 38 hits. This is the first time the Brandeis softball team has started the year 4–0 since 2014. The Judges are now off until March 16 when they will be on the road again to Worcester, Massachusetts. They will be playing against Clark University in a doubleheader at noon in an effort to improve their record.
BASEBALL: Team travels to Bowdoin College after three games cancelled CONTINUED FROM 16 the top of the second, Bowdoin tried to make up for their score deficit scoring another point, bringing the difference to 2–3, but the Judges continued to impress. Scott Ziegler ’21 and Victor Oppenheim ’20 scored
two more points at the bottom of the second, making the score 2–5 by the third inning. In the bottom of the third, Ziegler scored again from a single to center field by Khoury, followed by Khoury scoring from a double to left field hit by Fossas. The Judges advanced their lead with
an impressive score of 7–2. At the bottom of the fifth, Oppenheim honered to right resulting in a run batted in and a score of 2–8. Although the Polar Bears scored at the top of the sixth, Parrot scored one more time at the bottom of the sixth to bring the final score to 9–3. The Judges will travel to Tufts
University to play the Jumbos on Monday and take on Nichols College Tuesday. Both games will be reported on in next week’s issue. Currently, the team has a winning streak of 2 games and a batting average of 0.352. The teams slugging percentage is 0.593 and an on base percentage of 0.400. Compared to
last year's batting average of 0.251, slugging percentage of 0.347 and an on base percentage of 0.347, the team is looking forward another great season. The schedule for this season has had some changes due to New England weather and may change in the future as well.
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THE JUSTICE
● SPORTS ●
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
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TENNIS
JUDGES BY THE NUMBERS BASEBALL TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
Runs Batted In
UAA Conference W L NYU 0 0 JUDGES 0 0 Emory 0 0 WashU 0 0 Case 0 0
W 4 2 6 3 2
Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 0 1.000 4 .600 2 .583 3 .400
Isaac Fossas ’21 leads the team with six runs batted in. Player RBI Luke Hall 4 Isaac Fossas 2 Mike Khoury 2 Dan O’Leary 2
Innings Pitched
Greg Tobin ’21 leads all pitchers with 7.0 innings pitched. Player IP UPCOMING GAMES: Greg Tobin 7.0 March 12 vs. Nichols College Albert Gutierrez 2.0 March 14 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute Tim Lopez 2.0 March 16 at Clark University Marc Maestri 1.2
SOFTBALL UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS Runs Batted In
UAA Conference W L W JUDGES 0 0 4 WashU 0 0 1 Emory 0 0 2 Carnegie 0 0 0 NYU 0 0 0 Case 0 0 0
Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 1 .500 3 .400 0 .000 0 .000 2 .000
UPCOMING GAMES: March 16 at Clark University March 20 at Eastern Nazaree College March 24 vs Simmons College
Marley Felder ’19 has a teamhigh 5 runs batted in. Player RBI Marley Felder 5 Keri Lehtonen 5 Scottie Todd 5 Brianna Urena 4
Innings Pitched Scottie Todd ’20 has a teamhigh nine innings pitched. Player Ks Sydney Goldman 12.0 Scottie Todd 9.0 Amidori Anderson 4.0
TRACK AND FIELD Results from the UAA championships on Feb. 23.
TOP FINISHERS (Men’s) 200-meter dash
RUNNER Regan Charie Lorenzo Maddox Jamie O’Neil
TOP FINISHERS (Women’s) TIME 22.64 23.43 23.87
200-meter dash
RUNNER TIME Devin Hiltunen 26.33 Anna Touituo 27.43 Kanya Brown 27.76
SERVES UP: Ana Hatfield ’22 serves the ball in a match against her opponent from MIT on Saturday.
Tennis teams serve up success this season ■ The Judges meet up with Tufts University Jumbos and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Beavers. By MEGAN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
This week the Brandeis men’s tennis team defeated the Tufts University Jumbos at the Natick Racquet Club. In addition, the University women’s team played and lost to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team at home this Saturday.
UPCOMING MEETS: March 30 at Snowflake Classic April 6 at Amherst Invitational
TENNIS Results from the meet on Feb 23.
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
MEN’S SINGLES David Aizenberg
RECORD 6-2, 6-1
WOMEN’S SINGLES RECORD Catherine Allen 6-0, 6-0
MEN’S DOUBLES RECORD Coramutla/Aizenberg 8-6
WOMEN’S DOUBLES RECORD Cox/Allen 8-4
UPCOMING MEETS:
Men: Friday at Rochester Polytechnic Institute Women: Saturday at Middlebury College
ZOE BRODSKY/the Justice
Judges 7, Jumbos 2 This meet is the men’s sixth win this season, bringing them to an overall record of 6–1 after defeating the Jumbos. In doubles, the Judges earned two victories with duos David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 as well as Jeffrey Chen ’22 and Adam Tzeng ’22. Both groups won 8–6 in their matches. The third double of the day was played by Colt Tegtmeier ’22 and Tyler Ng ’19, who were beaten by their opponents 7–8. In singles, the Judges served their opponents in five of the
six matches. In these matches, Aizenberg dropped the first match, but the Judges responded with wins by Coramutla, Tzeng, Nikhil Das ’21, Chen and Rahan Vohra ’21. The team is now on a three-match winning streak and is looking forward to next week’s match against the Rochester Institute of Technology next Friday. In an interview with the Justice, team member Benjamin Wolfe ’20 explained, “The team is set on making an national tournament appearance and winning the UAA tournament. Personally, I am excited to see the team grow together and win together. We’ve got an amazing group of guys with the best team culture I’ve ever been a part of.” Judges 4, Beavers 5 This meet is the women’s third loss at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center this season, bringing their overall record to 3–3. The team is looking forward to next week’s match against Middlebury College next Saturday. In doubles, the Judges finished strong with wins in two of the three matches they participated in. The first win came from duo
Sophia He ’19 and Ana Hatfield ’22 with an 8–1 victory. In the second double, MIT fought back against Keren Khromchenko ’19 and Diana Dehterevich ’20. The Judges clinched the last doubles victory as Lauren Bertsch ’21 and Olivia Leavitt ’19 earned an 8–6 victory. In singles, Leavitt was defeated, but the Judges came back with Khromchenko’s 6–3, 6–1 win for the Judges. MIT then defeated Dehterevich in three sets with scores of 6–2, 3–6 and 4–6. Rather than discouraging the Judges, these defeats woke them up. Bertsch reclaimed the lead with a 6–2, 6–2 victory. MIT evened the score by defeating He 1–6, 4–6. The Judges did not recover in the last meet, as Michele Lehat ’19 was defeated 6–7 and 2–6. Wolfe elaborated, “Brandeis athletics have improved so much in my time at Brandeis, and it’s been amazing to be a part of. The improvement is in part due to Brandeis students who support these teams. For the few home matches we have, it would be amazing to see as many people as possible come to support us as we attempt to reach our goal of making nationals this year.”
PRO SPORTS BRIEF The long-established history of the Boston Red Sox: the good, the bad and the ugly Most Brandeis undergraduates have known only a successful Red Sox team since they began following baseball. Over the past 15 years, the Red Sox have been a highly successful team — not quite in the rarefied air of New England’s beloved Patriots, but not far off. However, our parents and grandparents who followed Boston baseball prior to our lifetime have known some dark times. I will review some of the bad times, some of the ugly times and finish with some of the good times, staying consistent with chronology and ending the article on a pleasant note. The Bad The Red Sox, needing money, sold the rights to Babe Ruth (The Bambino), to the New York Yankees in 1920 for $125,000. Ruth, considered by many to be the greatest baseball
player of all time, had helped the Sox win the 1918 World Series. For the next 84 years (until 2004) after letting Ruth go, the Red Sox did not win another World Series. In that 84-year span, the Yankees won 26 World Series Championships. The “Curse of the Bambino,” explained by kidzworld.com, further explains the suffering of Red Sox fans during this time period. The Ugly Three events stand out in the midst of the “Curse.” Ugly number one: On July 19, 1978, the Red Sox held a 14-game lead in the standings over their archrivals, the New York Yankees. The Red Sox blew the lead and had to play the Yankees in a onegame playoff to decide the winner of the division. On a sunny fall day at Fenway, Bucky Dent, not known as
a power hitter, hit a home run late in the game to lead the Yankees to the win and ultimately to the World Series Championship. Ugly number two: In the 1986 World Series, the Red Sox held a 3–2 game lead in the best-of-seven series against the New York Mets. In the bottom of the 10th, the Red Sox held a two-run lead, and reaching the elusive World Series Championship seemed inevitable. However, a ground ball went through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner, a mistake one would be more likely to see on a Little League field, allowing the Mets to win the game and go on to the World Series Championship, as explained by a [Nov. 2016] foxsports article. Ugly number three: In game seven of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium, the Sox had a 5–2 lead in the eighth inning with their ace,
pitcher Pedro Martinez, on the mound. Again, victory was a high likeleyhood for the Red Sox. Despite a high pitch count, manager Grady Little kept Martinez in the game, and the Yankees managed to tie the game. In the bottom of 11th, current Yankee manager and then Yankee third baseman Aaron Boone hit a gamewinning home run, and loyal Sox fans must have thought the “Curse” would never end, according to a [2014] yanksgoyard article. The Good The “Curse” was finally and dramatically broken in the 2004 ALCS. The Yankees had a 3–0 lead in the series and had demolished the Sox 19–8 in game three. Trailing 4–3 in the bottom of the ninth inning at Fenway and facing pitcher Mariano “The Sandman” Rivera, the Yankees’
superstar “closer,” the Red Sox managed to tie the game and win in extra innings. They then went on to beat the hated Yankees three more times straight to win the ALCS and then the World Series. The Sox not only ended the curse, but did it in a way no other Major League baseball team has ever done, overcoming a 3–0 deficit in the playoffs. This feat has given momentum to a 15-year period of good fortune for the Sox. Since 2004 the Sox have won four World Series, while the Yankees have won only once. Take-Home Message After a World Series win in 2018 and a dominating 108–54 record, there is every reason to believe that good times for the Sox and their fans will be the norm for the foreseeable future. —Megan Geller
just Sports Page 16
THE DEEP HISTORY OF THE RED SOX The good, the bad and the ugly of the Boston Red Sox history explained, p. 15. Waltham, Mass.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
HEY BATTER, BATTER SWING
SOFTBALL
Victorious Judges sweep opponents ■ Judges travel to North
Carolina to sweep four games while on the road. By ALBERT GUTIERREZ JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Brandeis softball team spent their February break down in North Carolina. The Judges made the most of their time away from the University by sweeping all four games on the road. Strong pitching performances and overpowering offense made it easy for the Judges to kick off their season in the right direction explained by the Brandeis Athletics website. Judges 8, Knights 0 The Judges started off the season with an 8–0 win against Southern Virginia University. In the first game of the series, hurler Sydney Goldman ’22 looked stellar as she enjoyed her first career win and shutout. She also struck out five and surrendered three hits while going the distance. While their defense and pitching was stellar, the Judges’ offense erupted for eight runs, seven of which were produced by first-years.
Goldman began the offense by delivering a base-clearing double in the third inning. Marley Felder ’22 also contributed to the win by driving in three runs of her own. Judges 14, Bobcats 6 In game two, the Judges defeated Frostburg State University 14–6 in the double header. Junior pitcher Scottie Todd ’20 was the star of the show. While she did not have her usual electric stuff on the mound, she helped her own cause at the plate. Todd went the distance while surrendering six hits and six earned runs in six innings of work. However, at the plate Todd belted her third and fourth career home runs while collecting four runs batted in. The Judges also had six doubles in their fourteen hits. Briana Ureña ’20 hit two doubles and drove in three runs that game. Keri Lehtonen ’19 and Melissa Rothenberg ’21 also had doubles that game. Judges 5, Spirits 2 While games on Sunday were postponed due to mildly bad weather in North Carolina, the Judges were able to sweep Salem College on
See SOFTBALL, 13
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TRACK AND FIELD
Team outruns their opponents in NCAA Championships ■ Team succeed at NCAA
Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. By MEGAN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
Between Friday and Saturday, the Brandeis women’s Track and Field team participated in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Massachusetts. This meet marked the Judges’ first relay national title in the distance medley relay. In fact, the team defeated the school record with a time of 11:40.64. During the meet, Julia Bryson ’19 started the race with the 1,200-meter leg in 3:37.07 minutes before handing off to Devin Hiltunen ’22. Hiltunen then passed off to Doyin Ogundiran ’19, who was a valuable asset to the Judges. She impressively pushed the team from fifth to second place after running a leg in 2:13.75 minutes. Ogundiran passed off to Emily Bryson ’19, who ran 4:50.10 with a 31-second last lap, sending Brandeis to win its first national championship. Last season, the Bryson sisters, Ogundiran and Lisbeth Valdez ’21 finished third in the national championships, so it remains to be seen how the women will end this season. Emily Bryson qualified for the following days finals in the mile run, entering with her season
best 4:45.48, the fourth fastest in Division III history. Also in the mile, Jac Guerra ’22 finished seventh with a time of 5:05.39, making him the only qualifying first year runner in the mile. Julia Bryson and Ogundiran both gained their second career AllAmerica honor. On Saturday, Emily Bryson had an exceptional finish in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship. She won her second national championship of the meet for the mile and the third of her career. Additionally, Bryson won the 3,000-meter run and ran the eighth-fastest time in preliminaries. For the first six laps, she remained among the top three runners. In the third lap, Bryson pulled ahead and completed her final lap in 32.83 seconds. Bryson’s time of 4:45.80 is the fifth fastest mile in Division III history. Emily Bryson became only the second Brandeis student to win two NCAA titles in one meet and is the first to win a national title in three events. Her eight AllAmerican honors tie her with Mariko Tansey Holbrook ’03 for fourth on the University's all-time list. The next meet the team is set to compete in is the Snowflake Classic on March 30 at Tufts University followed by the Amherst Invitational on April 6. In an interview with the Justice, Jac Guerra explained, “The goals of the season centered around performing to our potential. I was lucky enough to
See TRACK, 13
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ANDREW BAXTER/Justice File Photo
FOCUS: Brandeis’ Luke Hall ’21 was up at bat in a game against Case Western Reserve University on April 7, 2018.
One game postponed and two more cancelled for the baseball team ■ Judges play and defeat
Bowdoin College 4–2 and 9–3 this past week. By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR
The Brandeis men’s baseball team is gearing up for their 2019 season. The team’s first game against the University of Massachusetts Boston was postponed and will be made up on April 23. Their games scheduled for Sunday against Western New England University were cancelled due to bad weather conditions, resulting in the team playing only two games out of the five on their schedule. But the limited number of games played bodes well for the Judges: their overall record is 2–0 after their first two games against
Bowdoin College, according to the Brandeis Athletics website. In their season-opening sweep, the team played Bowdoin at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Massachusetts. It was a battle of Brandeis alumni as Judges Coach Derek Carlson ’91 defeated the Polar Bear’s Michael Connolly ’94, making the matchups even more interesting. In the first of the two games, the Judges won 4–2. Isaac Fossas ’21 scored the first point of the game at the bottom of the second inning, with a run batted in hit by Luke Hall ’21, according to Bowdoin Athletics. Next, at the bottom of the third, Mike Khoury ’21 hit a single to right field, and Tommy Sand ’21 was able to score the second point for the Judges, making the score 2–0. At the top of the fourth, the
Polar Bears tied the game at two. However, immediately following this, the Judges got two runs back by the bottom of the fourth. The Judges ended the game scoring two more points. Hall hit the ball to left field, resulting in a run batted in, and then Dan O’Leary ’20 did the same. For the rest of the game, neither team scored, and the final score of the game was 4–2 in favor of the Judges. In the second game, the Judges were even more successful, defeating the Polar Bears 9–3. Although Bowdoin opened up the top of the first with the first point of the game, the Judges did not back down. At the bottom of the first, Khoury, Hall and Frey all scored points out of three separate runs batted in by Hall, Alex Parrot ’21 and O’Leary, respectively. In
See BASEBALL, 13
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March 12, 2019
Vol. LXXI #19
Preview:
ONE FOOT PLANTED
just
Arts Waltham, Mass.
Artwork: Ayelet Carmi and Meirav Heiman. Images: Clara Alexander/the Justice, Creative Commons. Design: Noah Zeitlin/the Justice.
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TUESDAY, THE JUSTICE MARCH | ARTS 12, | 2019 TUESDAY, I ARTS JANUARY I THE JUSTICE 31, 2017
CONCERT
Noted critic listens to music By KENT DINLENC JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
“My composing is inspired by movement and the contemplation of change,” composer Josh Levine began. He presented at the Music department’s composition colloquium, “Metaphors and Musical Means” on March 7 in the Slosberg music center, and music students lent an ear to Levine’s experiences at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. Levine shared his fondness for the unity of memory and imagination, thinking about the physicality of musical performance and the way we as listeners identify with it emotionally. However, I was only available to attend the first half of the lecture, during which he discuss his thesis, a recorded flute and piano duet he played for students. Levine described himself as an “old-fashioned idealist,” a composer who creates music meant to be listened to from beginning to end. He encouraged listeners to listen to his music more than once in the hopes that his pieces will rereveal themselves in different ways. He weaves references
throughout his body of work which allude to previous structural or surface-level elements. Levine occasionally references Bach or Beethoven, but usually incorporates previous ideas of his own. He went on to discuss the relationship between musical ideas and metaphors. Levine explained that the “different structural strata interweave and collide in a network in nature-inspired processes of growth and decay.” When he played varying takes of his piece for the students, there were discussions regarding the altered performances and how different musicians interpreted his work differently. One was faster, harsher on the flute, and one was tighter. “Sixty Cycles” was the name of Levine’s next piece. He had composed it for a colleague celebrating his sixtieth birthday. Levine’s goal for the piece was to use the phases of life and the frequent disparity between the temporal grids that we use to organize our lives — weeks, months, days — and experiential time. The piece was structured using several different types of musical material which didn’t specifically contrast thematically with
each other. He used sixty different “structural zones,” each with the same number of beats as the fixed grid. Each zone varies in time at a specifically perceived speed and density of the material in our mind as well as actual fluctuations in performance. Metaphorical thinking allowed him to express life through the technical means he acquired throughout his professional exposure to music. Through the compositional process, Levine was able to use materials that were effective and sufficiently varied to create works that resonated with his audiences. The lecture continued with a discussion delving into the process of weaving life experience into music — one doesn’t have to have reached the age of sixty to have something important to say about life by using metaphor in art. Rational and irrational aspects of life can be experienced at any age. They can always be filtered through art in whatever way we see fit. Though I wasn’t present for half of the lecture, students seemed engaged and hanging on to Levine’s every word. His insight into the use of metaphor in music was inspired and informative.
THU LE/the Justice
“OLD-FASHIONED” Josh Levine spoke about how he would like his music to be enjoyed.
FILM REVIEW
A satisfying ending to a beloved franchise By MENDEL WEINTRAUB JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
While the majority of this weekend’s moviegoers shelled out their hard-earned money to “Captain Marvel,” several releases from the past few weeks faded into box office obscurity. Among them was “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” Dreamworks Animation’s third and final entry in the successful franchise that began in 2010. The series tells of Berk, a Viking kingdom that lives in harmony with dragons. It finds a serviceable ending in its finale, if not a completely satisfying one. “The Hidden World” picks up one year after we last saw our heroes, led by Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, a “Night Fury” named Toothless. After losing his father and reuniting with his mother in the events of the last film, Hiccup is in charge of Berk, which is now overrun with an ever increasing dragon population as a result of Hiccup’s numerous covert rescue missions of the captive creatures. When a dragon-hunter named Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham) threatens to destroy Berk and kill Toothless, Hiccup and his friends go on a mission to find the hidden world, a dragon haven of legends old. Along the way, Hiccup and Toothless encounter a Light Fury, Toothless’ female
Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
END OF THE JOURNEY: After nine years, the successful animated series finally comes to a conclusion. counterpart. As Toothless grows fond of his new mate, Hiccup is forced to come to terms with the notion that he and Toothless may have to part ways — forever. When reviewing the third part of a series, one is bound to compare it to
its predecessors, rather than judge the film solely on its own merit. The movie is strong in many of the same ways the first two “Dragon” movies were. It is gorgeously animated, features a beautiful score by John Powell and has a voice cast
of game actors. Scenes like Hiccup’s discovery of the hidden world and a lengthy courtship ritual between Toothless and the Light Fury are standouts, and, quite frankly, some of the best computer-animated sequences of all time. The supporting cast, especially Kristen Wiig’s Ruffnut, get their moments to shine. Hiccup’s internal conflict, just as in the first two entries of the series, takes the front seat in the story, and to great effect. What is missing, though, is a strong external conflict, as the film’s muddled plot buries Grimmel’s threat, which is already narratively weak since he is not all that menacing. At times, you forget he even exists. Grimmel serves as nothing more than a distraction from Hiccup’s internal journey, and feels more like a pawn of the subplot than a player in the main story. However, when the scenes bookending the uneventful Grimmel plotline are those with the visual, musical and narrative strength of Toothless’ love story and Hiccup’s realization that he will have to let Toothless go, you begin to forgive the weaknesses of “The Hidden World.” The overall effect of the series’ final installment is ultimately satisfying, as it brings the franchise’s hallmark heart and humor to the center of the narrative. Even if there is some turbulence, “The Hidden World” nevertheless takes flight.
THE JUSTICE I ARTS I TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
19
CULTURE
APAHM: Dare to Dream By ADDISON ANTONOFF JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Earlier this month, the Brandeis Asian American Students Association opened Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with their “Dare to Dream” event. While APAHM is normally celebrated in May, the event was held in March to avoid conflicting with finals, as the hosts explained. The more people contribute the better, especially when raising money: BAASA sent the proceeds from the event to the National Immigration Forum, a leading organization in advocating for immigration policy reform and helping immigrants, including Dreamers. In fact, this is what the event name — “Dare to Dream” — refers to. The show consisted of several performances, many by Brandeis students, each piece portraying different facets and talents of the Asian American Pacific Islander community at and around Brandeis. The opening act was Eli Kengmana ’19, a guitarist with a particular interest in finger picking. Kengmana played two songs and discussed mental health within the AAPI community. He shared his own story about how music helped his mental state and reflected on his father’s stoicism when Kengama first began dealing with mental illness, realizing that his father was not uncaring, but scared for his son. Kengama stressed the importance of creating a space within the community to discuss mental health. Afterwards, the hosts of the event highlighted the mental health resources available on campus before introducing the next performance: the Brandeis-based dance group XL, which focuses on K-pop and urban dance and performed two energetic numbers. Then came one of the most important —
and poignant — part of that evening. It was the speech given by Max Tang ’19, the president of the Brandeis Asian American Task Force. The Task Force members spoke about their personal experience with the fight for AAPI studies at Brandeis, sharing personal anecdotes about never seeing members of their community in history classes or textbooks. Then Tang shined a light on three different figures from AAPI history: Bhagat Singh Thind, Yuji Ichioka and Yuri Kochiyama. Bhagat Singh Thind brought issues of race and nationalization to the Supreme Court and challenged the fact that Indians were unable to be naturalized citizens. Yuji Ichioka, a student of UC Berkeley in 1968, created the term Asian American. Yuri Kochiyama, a friend of Malcolm X, fought for reparations for Japanese internment. After Tang’s speech, which reiterated the importance of AAPI studies, BAASA announced that Prof. Yuri Doolan (HIST), the first tenure-track assistant professor of AAPI, would be joining Brandeis faculty this coming fall. With this victory, BAASA reminded the audience that there is still more work to be done as the journey toward creating an AAPI Studies department continues. The next step, they said, is to ensure that Prof. Leanne Day (GRALL), a current professor, stays on to help create the new department. Copies of the related petition, which praises Day for her commitment to the representing Pacific Islanders, were available to read and sign at the event. The headliner of the event, Michelle Zauner of the musical group Japanese Breakfast, spoke between songs to share how moved she was by the students’ push for AAPI studies and how important representation is — a small but heavy reminder of how much a difference having an AAPI department could make.
Photos by SARAH KATZ /the Justice
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Students spent months rehearsing and preparing for their APAHM performances — and it showed!
ON POINT: A wide variety of student groups performed at APAHM, demonstrating just how much support Brandeis can gather for something students are passionate about.
ONE-WOMAN SHOW: Michelle Zauner’s solo musical performance was supplemented by her comments about the importance of APAHM’s mission.
BEYOND JUST PERFORMANCES: A big theme of the night was honoring the effort that is being put in to bringing an AAPI department to Brandeis.
EVOLUTION OF CULTURES: From modern to traditional performances, APAHM showcased different talents of the AAPI community.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 | ARTS | THE JUSTICE
INTERVIEW
JUSTARTS SPOTLIGHT ON THE ROSE
By JOCELYN GOULD JUSTICE EDITOR Greeting entrants to the Rose Art Museum at the opening of Howardena Pindell’s exhibit What Remains to Be Seen, “Untitled” (1972-1973) invites viewers to pause and explore the seemingly simple composition. The massive canvas is transformed into clouds of different reds by layered dots the colors of raspberries and blackberries, rust and dried mosses, sunset yellows and night sky blues. Smears of yellow paint along the bottom serve to emphasize how carefully the dots are applied elsewhere, while also exposing the chaotic energy of the composition. In the upper right corner, white dots appear and scatter across the canvas and fade away. Per the piece’s caption, these white dots are one of the its defining features and a hallmark of Pindell’s developing artistic style: the paper circles discarded by hole-punchers, gathered and applied to the painting’s surface. Smudged and sometimes overlapping, the circles are both painfully distinct from the painted dots, and easy to lose in the swarm of colors. The more time I spent standing in front of this piece, the more its internal juxtapositions stood out to me. The colors first attracted my attention — the shades of a nasty bruise somehow brought into harmony. But trying to look closer at how this effect was achieved drew me to focus on the dots, so that the effect of the colors faded away and into a mass of individual points. What had seemed a charming arrangement of a few unlikely colors was suddenly overwhelmingly complex. Yet focusing on each once-white hole-punched dot drew me out of the crowd, bringing me back to see the entire canvas. The holepunch cutouts preserve the pointillist quality of the piece, even from afar, so that even as the colored dots blur together into complex colors, the light dots remind the viewer of how the beautiful hues are created. Pindell is able to create a composition that feels personal and intimate and invites the viewer to overlay their own emotional reactions on the piece. This is made possible by the interplay between paint and paper, mass clouds and individualism, chaos and cohesion that Pindell captures in this piece.
STAFF’S Top Ten
ANDREW BAXTER/ the Justice
Top Ten Foods On Campus By Noah Zeitlin
JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSITANT
We all have our opinions on the food at Brandeis. Here’s the indisputable top ten best foods at Brandeis. 1. The “fruit-infused” water 2. Popcorners from the C-Store 3. The fruit *sometimes* 4. Smoothies from Einstein’s 5. The cookies 6. The ice cream 7. Mashed potatoes 8. Currito’s bowls 9. Currito’s burritos 10. That one water fountain at Sherman that gives a faint taste of lemonade
Joon Cha ’20 NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice This week, justArts spoke with Joon Cha ’20 , who organized K-Nite. ZOE BRODSKY/the Justice
JustArts: Tell me a bit about Brandeis Korean Student Association. Joon Cha: We are an association that tries to promote the Korean culture. To those who are interested. And just last week we had our annual culture show. It was one of the biggest event of the year. JA: How did you get involved with Brandeis Korean Student Association? JC: I came to campus [as] a transfer student. The first semester I didn’t join ‘cause I didn’t know about things. The second semester, I was like, “why not?” My old school didn’t have this kind of organization ‘cause we didn’t have enough Korean students. So I just joined.
MEGAN GELLER/the Justice
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Sports lover 5 They go well with milk 10 Bikini top 13 McGregor of “Trainspotting” 14 Scooter popular in Europe 15 Coveted Thanksgiving morsel 16 What Forrest Gump feels for Jenny 19 Self-diagnosis site 20 Group of parishes 22 White stones 24 Masters topic? 25 Keep mentioning one’s honeydo list, say 26 Oil company known for its toy cars 27 Guitarist Paul 30 Food with a rhyming slogan 31 Dash reading 32 Conquistador who searched for the Fountain of Youth 36 McCain and Flake, for two 37 Way back when 40 Ones spinning at a club 43 Dependable, in commercial names 44 Annoying pest 45 1-Across opposite, stereotypically 46 Seventh Greek letter 47 What the first letter in 47Down stands for 50 Kinda neat 51 Popeye’s creator 53 Get rid of stubble 55 Monopoly property whose rent is $22 59 Video game character with a green diamond on its head 60 _____ wave 61 Gagarin’s home 62 Green prefix 63 Stratosphere gas 64 Jury member, in a sense
23 Excitement 27 Peter’s wife on “Family Guy” 28 Automaker Ferrari 29 Express disbelief (at) 30 Chi-town transports 32 “I don’t mean to ____ ...” 33 Intermediate compound in the Knoevenagel Condensation 34 “Last Call” host Carson 35 Finish 36 Roadside assistance org. 37 ____ fixe 38 Wackadoodle 39 Like extreme measures 40 The U.S. spends roughly $600 billion per year on it DOWN 41 Jacuzzi part 1 Baccarat, e.g. 42 Vast blue expanse 2 Destroy with a dis, slangily 45 Discouraging subliminal 3 Where an RV owner can clean message found in 16-, 32-, 37house? and 55-Across 4 Gets ready to pop the question 47 Grp. that goes clubbing? 5 Cell used for in vitro 48 Ended up costing, as a bill fertilization 49 Baseball’s “Big Papi” 6 “Scrubs” character Elliot 50 Sat-____ 7 Letters before a date, on a 52 Saint with a namesake fire storefront 53 Use a self-checkout, say 8 Slanted pieces 54 In shape 9 ____ Hawkins dance 56 Marriage vow 10 Voting coalition 57 Functionality 11 Motivator in “John Wick” 58 Make a mistake 12 Way back when 17 They might spike during the Super Bowl, for short 18 Deli offering 21 “Ghostbusters” character 22 Unit of resistance
JA: Korean culture has such a long history with so many different aspects; it must be hard to cover all of them. What is the audition process like? JC: Some of them didn’t require auditions. It’s just mostly volunteer-based. ...There’s a few that had auditions, but other than that, [it] mostly was volunteer-based. They started practicing [in] September... so they [had] enough time. JA: Many people have talked about the great food you provided at the event. What is it like to prepare food for such a large event? JC: It’s not easy. The shopping was not easy. We tried to come up with a menu that is unique, but also possible to make 200 to 300 portions. JA: What did you find challenging about organizing this event?
Crossword Courtesy of EVAN MAHNKEN
JC: I just didn’t know how much is involved in the process, like how many different things [go] into it. I had a chance to work with SPS, Aboard, ICC, CES ... they are all necessary aspects to [putting] a show together. Especially this year, our show was very heavily Eboard-based. A lot of the performances and other things were prepared by eboard members. So I guess I didn’t [know] how many people it takes to prepare a show.
JA: Is there anything else you would like to add? JC: I think we are just an organization that tries to have fun at the same time while preparing challenging stuff. We are fun!
Solution Courtesy of EVAN MAHNKEN
—Luke Liu