The Justice, March 15, 2016

ARTS Page 18

FORUM Act responsably in the Sudan 11

“DOG SEES GOD”

SPORTS Women cruise to second place 16 The Independent Student Newspaper

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B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9

Justice

Volume LXVIII, Number 20

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

ADMINISTRATION

PLEADING A CASE

Univ. under two new Title IX investigations ■ On March 1, the University

received word of a new Title IX complaint, regarding a decision they overturned in favor of the alleged attacker.

By EMILY WISHINGRAD JUSTICE editor

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

QUEEN OF THE CASTLE: V.P. of Campus Operations Jim Gray (left) and Interim President Lisa Lynch (right) defended the demolition.

Town of Waltham delays the Castle demolition by one year ■ The Waltham Historical

Commission voted to delay plans to demolish the Castle due to its historic value.

By HANNAH WULKAN JUSTICE editor

The town of Waltham Historical Commission stalled the University’s plans to demolish part of the Usen Castle and build a new dormitory in its place at a hearing on Monday night. The Commission voted unanimously to delay demolition of the Castle for one year unless the University presents a plan that the Committee finds acceptable and chooses to waive the yearlong waiting period. Their decision was made based upon its apparent historic value to the city.

The two-hour long discussion on the Castle was held at the Waltham City Hall Monday night, beginning with Commission Board Member Laurence Alexander Green ’04 reading a brief history of the Castle. He explained that it was built as part of Middlesex University and is one of two buildings left on campus from that time in its history. He also mentioned that Eleanor Roosevelt taught classes in the Castle, and Martin Luther King Jr. addressed students in it.

Brandeis administrators and representatives then presented their plans for renovation. Interim University President Lisa Lynch opened with a statement, explaining that Brandeis “grew up around the Castle” and that it is beloved by the community, but that it was “poorly designed” as it did not have an architect or engineers work on it, and it was “inexpensively constructed” because it was built during the Great Depression.

She explained that after considering various options, the University developed a plan to preserve towers A and B of the Castle — the most iconic pieces easily seen from the road and containing Cholmondeley’s coffeehouse — while demolishing towers C, D, E and Schwartz Hall and building a new dormitory in their place. An early sketch of the plan illustrated the layout of the proposal, with a green quad between the remaining towers and the new dormitory buildings. Vice President for Operations James Gray mentioned later that they might incorporate old pieces of the Castle walls into the landscaping.

Lynch mentioned that the University looked into preserving the entire building but found that it would be “prohibitively expensive,” costing between $80 to 90 million. The plan as proposed would

cost $37 million, including both the demolition of the current structure and the construction of its proposed replacement. She said that to preserve the Castle in its current form and keep it livable would cost four times as much per bed, later emphasized by Robert Dickey, the leader of the study into options for the Castle, who explained that it would cost between $700,000 and $900,000 per bed but that the proposed plan would cost $230,000 per bed. This latter cost per bed is closer to comparable institutions.

“We have a responsibility to spend our scarce resources on our core mission,” Lynch said. “As a research university, our highest priority is to invest in educational excellence by continuing to attract the very best faculty and by increasing financial support so that no exceptionally qualified student who is offered acceptance at Brandeis, including many from Waltham, is precluded from attending for financial reasons.”

Following Lynch’s presentation, Gray spoke, explaining that the University strives to have 90 percent of students live on campus, but that the current housing falls short by about 320 beds. The new dormitory would add about 60 beds to overall campus housing. He also ex-

See CASTLE, 7 ☛

The University was notified that it is being investigated for a Title IX complaint on March 1. Judy Glasser, Interim Senior Vice President for Communications, confirmed, in an email to the Justice on March 15, that the University has received notification. The accuser brought charges against the alleged assailant to the University last year through the Special Examiner’s Process, and the University’s internal investigation ruled in favor of the accuser, but the ruling was overturned during the appeals process.

The University says it will cooperate fully in the investigation but claims no wrongdoing in its internal investigation: “We are confident that we are in compliance with all requirements of Title IX, and have policies and procedures in place to promptly and equitably investigate and adjudicate allegations of sexual misconduct affecting the Brandeis community,” wrote Glasser in an email to the Justice. She said that the University would not be able to comment on the specifics of the case.

In an interview with the Justice, the accuser (who was given anonymity for this article) said that in filing the Title IX complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education, they provided a number of examples about “the ways in which Brandeis did not uphold their legal responsibility to Title IX.” The accuser said that the major concern that they brought up is the

See TITLE IX, 7 ☛

CAMPUS CLUBS

Second B.SASV report sees little improvement ■ The report card calls for

changes in the University's sexual assault policy, which B.SASV says is lacking.

By MAX MORAN JUSTICE Editor

On Monday morning, Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence released and distributed their second “progress report” on the University’s current policies and practices to prevent and address sexual assault on campus. The report grades the University in a range of areas, suggesting that the University has barely improved on addressing sexual assault since last year and, in some areas, has dramatically worsened. The report calls for an administrative response by next Monday at 9 a.m.

B.SASV is a student coalition that advocates for improved University policies to both educate students on sexual assault prevention and to address the needs and concerns of survivors of sexual assault. The group released its first progress report in Nov. 2014, which was similar to the new report in structure, grading the University in a manner similar to a report card and offering suggestions on new policies to address shortcomings that the report explains.

In an email to the Justice, B.SASV member Evelyn Milford ’16 wrote that throughout this year, B.SASV has mostly worked to draft this report, saying, “We wanted to ensure that we were prepared for its release, and had plans in place depending on when/how the administration chose to respond.” B.SASV is also involved

See B.SASV, 7 ☛

Yes to the dress

Foul ball

The race is on

 Mary Hurd (TA) helped create the wardrobe for the recent production of "Intimate Apparel."

 The men's baseball team had a tough outing against Emory University, falling 9-3 in nine innings.

 Student Union candidates met on Wednesday for a preelection meeting.

FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

Waltham, Mass.

Let your voice be heard!

Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org

INDEX

SPORTS 16

ARTS SPORTS

17 13

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FEATURES

10 OPINION 9 POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3 COPYRIGHT 2016 FREE AT BRANDEIS.

2

TUESDAY, March 15, 2016

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NEWS SENATE LOG

POLICE LOG

Senators discuss student safety on South Street in wake of accident In this week’s Student Union Senate meeting, a new club called Volunteers Around the World approached the Senators seeking recognition, according to an agenda for the Senate meeting provided to the Justice by Student Union Vice President David Herbstritt ’17.

The senators also heard executive officer reports from Student Union Treasurer Nicole Lenchner ’16, Executive Senator Paul Sindberg ’18 and Herbstritt.

Other topics of discussion included a proposed resolution on Indigenous People’s Day — a proposed alternative name for Columbus Day, which will be on Oct. 10 this year — as well as a discussion on the recent car accident on South Street and the repercussions it has for student safety.

The meeting closed with individual senator reports and an open forum before the Senate moved into a closed discussion.

—Abby Patkin

BRIEF

Medical Emergency

tance for a party in the Brown Social Science Building with a burn. The party was treated on the scene with a signed refusal for further care.

Mar. 8—Police received a report of a party in the Village Quad who had trouble breathing. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Mar. 9—A party called from the Village Quad reporting their friend was having a panic attack and headache. The party was treated on scene and transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Mar. 12—Police received a report of an intoxicated party in North Quad. Police found the intoxicated party with friends and found all appearing in order.

Mar. 12—Police received a report of an intoxicated party in North Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transported by Cataldo ambulance to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Mar. 12—University Police escorted Waltham Fire Depart-

Mar. 6—University Police received a report of a party in the Usdan Student Center who was not feeling well. The party was treated on the scene by BEMCo staff and transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital.

Mar. 6—A party in the Foster Mods reported having head pain and requested BEMCo assistance. BEMCo staff requested Cataldo ambulance, who transported the party to NewtonWellesley Hospital.

Mar. 6—Police received a report of a party in Ridgewood Quad who fainted but regained consciousness. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley.

Mar. 6—The manager of Sherman Dining Hall reported a party had fallen on the stairs and cut their chin. BEMCo responded and treated the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care.

Mar. 8—Police received a report requesting BEMCo assis-

DCL disposes of Boris’ Kitchen props due to mold growth in closet

ment and Cataldo ambulance to the scene of a medical emergency for transport to the hospital.

Mar. 12—University Police received a call from the Waltham Police, who reported a call from an Advocate Crisis Hotline. The Advocate Crisis Hotline got a call from a national suicide hotline in Maine, reporting that a party in Ziv Quad made suicidal threats.

University Police and the Area Coordinator on Call responded to the scene, and Cataldo ambulance transported the party to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care without incident.

Mar. 13—Police received a call from a Community Advisor in North Quad reporting a resident was feeling ill. BEMCo treated the party on the scene, and Cataldo ambulance transported the party to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.

Mar. 13—A caller from North Quad reported their roommate needed BEMCo assistance. The Area Coordinator on Call was

FLAVOR TRIP

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n A photo caption misidentified a hired performer at the Brandeis Asian American Association’s AsianPacific American Heritage Month event as a student (March 8, page 2). n A News article misquoted Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen as calling Palestinian and Israeli territories “settlements” (March 8, page 5).

The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

Justice

the

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Mar. 8—Police assisted an Area Coordinator on Call with drug confiscation in the Village Quad. Police filed a report on the confiscated contraband.

Harrassment

Mar. 11—A staff member in Rosenstiel reported harassment.

University Police compiled a report on the incident with an investigation to follow.

Other

Mar. 7—Police received a report of an attempted break in of a locker in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Police compiled a report on the incident.

— Compiled by Avi Gold.

Mumps outbreak hits Boston-area schools

—Rachel Sharer

n A News article title misspelled the word “feminist” (March 8, page 5).

Drugs

BRIEF

On Monday, March 7, the campus sketch comedy troupe Boris’ Kitchen was informed that the Department of Community Living had thrown away all of their stored props and costumes, according to a March 10 post on the Boris’ Kitchen Facebook page.

According to the post, Director of the Department of Community Living Tim Touchette informed the group that the props and costumes had been thrown away due to the growth of mold in the space and on the objects, which was caused by a steam system leak. The locks on the closet door, which is located in the first floor of Hassenfeld, had also been changed so that the group no longer had access to the space.

Touchette also told the group that DCL had not been doing safety checks in the space because they were unaware of its existence and use as a prop storage space. Boris’ Kitchen noted that they receive keys to the space from DCL every year. Touchette did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Boris’ Kitchen is currently seeking reimbursement for the discarded items and renewed access to the closet space. The group declined requests for comment at press time, stating only that they are “working with Student Activities and DCL to resolve our issue.”

n A News article stated that the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage was in 1969, when it was in 1970. It also misstated that it was the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union that was 75 percent Jewish; it was actually the West Side Group, which predated the CWLU. Further, the article implied that there were multiple Women’s Health Book Collectives in Boston; there was only one. It also failed to note that many from the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective recognized their shared Jewishness and it implied that Prof. Joyce Antler (AMST) has written exclusively on Jewish feminism and motherhood. In fact, these are only two of the topics that Antler’s 11 books cover (March 8, page 5).

notified for a voluntary psychological evaluation. Cataldo ambulance was notified and transported the party to NewtonWellesley Hospital.

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

Students taste homemade Malaysian cuisine at the South East Asia Club’s annual Malaysian Food Festival, which took place on Wednesday night in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.

There is an ongoing outbreak of mumps — a viral infection that causes inflammation of salivary glands and swelling of the jaw and cheeks — at universities in the Boston area, Executive Director of Health and Wellness Dr. Michael J. LaFarr announced to the University community in a Wednesday email.

More consistent symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, stiff neck and loss of appetite. The mumps virus lives in the nose, mouth and throat of those infected and is spread to others through the air.

It can also spread through direct contact with contaminated objects, such as a used tissue or drinking glass.

According to a March 9 Boston Globe article, the number of confirmed mumps cases in Massachusetts is up to 12, with nine of those cases coming from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and one case each from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Bentley University — also located in Waltham, Mass. There have been no reported cases of mumps at Brandeis, LaFarr wrote.

Mumps is more common in children than in adults and is most harmful to those who have never received the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine. A small percentage of those who have received the vaccine may not respond well to it according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. According to LaFarr’s email, the University requires that students have received two MMR vaccines — or have blood immunity to the virus — before enrolling.

In his email, LaFarr encouraged students to contact the Brandeis Health Center if they are concerned about exposure or symptoms. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, symptoms typically appear 2 to 3 weeks after exposure, but individuals are not contagious until approximately 2 days before their glands start swelling. Individuals remain contagious until 5 days after their glands have begun swelling. In the event of contracting mumps, individuals should stay away from public places, where there could be non-vaccinated people, until they are feeling well again, according to LaFarr’s email.

—Rachel Moore

ANNOUNCEMENTS Dignifying the Homeless Experience

The aim of this event is to educate about the homeless experience. In the process, attendees will explore questions surrounding dignity, autonomy and societal preconceptions, and participate in activities that strive to open mindsets and overturn myths and unrepresentative stereotypes.

Today from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Hassenfeld Conference Center Lurias.

Paris Agreement and Global Climate Justice

The experts in this panel will provide a political and legal overview of the Paris Agreement and its meaning for environmental protection and global justice. They will focus on the most vulnerable states, their negotiation strategies and policy opportunities for improving their situation — both in terms of the Paris Agreement and negotiations on the loss and damage of climate governance.

Today from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

Negotiating Your First Job Salary

Over the term of her life a woman will earn $1 million less than a man simply because she is a woman.

This session is open to any student who will be negotiating their job salaries and are interested in earning their true potential, as these early decisions will have lifelong consequences.

Tomorrow from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room.

The Spinning of the President

Please join American Studies in welcoming David Greenberg as he discusses “The Spinning of the President: The Politics of Image from the Bully Pulpit to the Permanent Campaign.”

Greenberg is an associate professor of History and of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University and a frequent commentator in the national news media on public affairs.

Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Mandel Center for the Humanities, room G12.

Jesus Christ, CEO

This lecture will be delivered by Jonathan L. Walton, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Religion and Society, Harvard Divinity School. Walton’s research addresses the intersections of religion, politics and media culture. Drawing on British cultural studies, Walton explores the interrelationship between the media used by Christian evangelists and the theologies thereby conveyed. His first book, “Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism,” disrupts commonly held assumptions that associate evangelical broadcasting with white, conservative evangelical communities.

Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Lown Center for Judaica Studies, room 315.

news

ADMINISTRATION

plan, the University hopes to have a new COO, CDO and Heller Dean by July 1.

By Abby Patkin JUSTICE editor

The search for the new Chief Operating Officer, Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of the Heller School will begin shortly, according to a March 11 email to the community from Interim University President Lisa Lynch and Interim Provost Irving Epstein.

According to the email, all three searches will begin within the month, with the goal of having a suitable appointee in place around July 1. The committee in charge of finding the new COO will be chaired by Lynch and will include Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren, Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel, Board of Trustees member Larry Kanarek ’76, Vice President for Advancement Services Tim Cross and Profs. Wendy Cadge (SOC), Ron Etlinger (Heller), Anita Hill (Heller) and Carol Osler (ECON). The new COO will replace Steve Manos, who has held the position at the University since 2012. Search firm Spencer Stuart — which aided in the recent search for President-elect Ronald Liebowitz — will also be assisting in the search for the new COO. The search committee for the CDO — a newly created position that resulted from the Ford Hall 2015 negotiations in December 2015 — will be led by Epstein, with assistance from search firm Witt Kieffer. The remainder of the committee will be comprised of Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Kim Godsoe, Board of Trustees member Curtis Tearte ’73, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Sheryl Sousa ’90, Director of Employment and Employee Relations and Title IX Coordinator Linda Shinomoto, Program Coordinator for Sexuality and Gender Diversity Felix Tunador, Philip Cooper ’18 , Danni Tang ’19, Vivekanand Vimal Ph.D. ’16, Veronica Flores M.S. ’13 Ph.D. ’18, Profs. Charles Golden (ANTH), Jennifer Gutsell (PSYC), Liz Hedstrom (BIOL) and Govind Sreenivasan (HIST).

Epstein was quoted in a March 1 Justice article as saying that the CDO position will involve “coordinating, implementing and helping to shape the university’s plan for diversity and inclusion ... providing guidance for and having input into decisions about recruitment of faculty, staff and students; and strengthening access to all of our facilities for all of our community members.”

He added that the committee will actively be looking for a “deep com-

mitment to diversity and inclusion, relevant experience, understanding of Brandeis’s culture and mission, people skills, strength in management, leadership, innovation, collaboration and communication” in potential candidates.

The Heller Dean search will be chaired by Prof. Dolores AcevedoGarcia (Heller), who will also be assisted by Spencer Stuart. Search committee members will include Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joan Dassin, Robert Dunigan, Michael Doonan, Constance Horgan and Thomas Shapiro — all from the Heller School — as well as Prof. Sara Shostak (SOC), Heller Board of Overseers chair Constance Kane Ph.D ’85, alumna Sarah Emond MPP ’09 and two students to be selected by the Heller Graduate Student Association.

These searches are just part of the aftermath of the Ford Hall 2015 protest, the negotiations for which ended in the Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion at Brandeis University, which Lynch released to the community on Dec. 1. Other features of the plan included arrangements for the School of Arts and Sciences to review degree requirements and investigate ways to better incorporate discussions of race into the classroom.

In a Feb. 24 email to the community, Lynch gave updates on the plan, which included a brief discussion on the School of Arts and Sciences implementing diversity representatives to focus on diversifying the faculty and improving recruitment. In a March 1 email to the Justice, Birren said that the diversity representatives play an important role as part of the search committee for tenureline hires in the School of Arts and Sciences. “Every search for a new tenure-line faculty member has a separate search committee that consists of faculty members from the hiring department, a faculty member from outside the department, and the diversity representative,” Birren wrote, noting that the school is carrying out 10 searches for tenure-line faculty this year, and thus have 10 diversity representatives to sit on each search committee.

She added that the role of the representatives is to help the committee “build the most diverse pool of candidates possible by suggesting outreach initiatives such as advertisements in publications that will reach diverse groups, and committee outreach to … organizations that might help to diversify the pool.”

While the diversity representatives are not voting members of the search committees, she noted, they “must certify to the dean that the hiring decision was arrived at through a fair and unbiased process.”

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PIANO MAN

Searches for senior admins to begin soon ■ As part of its Diversity

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YUE SHEN/the Justice

A piano player performs at the Russian Club and Russian Culture Studies’ talent show, which recognized both Russian Culture Week and International Women’s Day.

ADMINISTRATION

Univ. appoints ombudspeople to hear student complaints ■ The University has chosen

three individuals to act as ombudspeople until a Chief Diversity Officer is chosen.

By Rachel Sharer JUSTICE Editor

The University has selected three staff members to serve as University ombudsmen for the undergraduate and graduate student population, according to an email sent out to the community last Thursday.

Director of the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program Erika Smith, Associate Director of Academic Advising Brian Koslowski and Assistant Director of Student Support Services Elena Lewis MA’11 will serve as University ombuds for the Spring 2016 semester and until the final selection of a Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion.

The creation of the ombuds role follows Interim University President Lisa Lynch’s diversity update to the community on Feb. 24, in which she discussed the search for a Chief Diversity Officer, as well as student and faculty recruitment. It also comes

several months after the end of Ford Hall 2015, during which one of the student protestors’ listed demands was to “establish an office of ombuds within Academic Services” to “receive and investigate complaints made by students against abuses or capricious acts of university officials, faculty, and staff.” Ford Hall 2015 leaders did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

According to the email, a University ombudsman will serve as a “conflict-resolution resource who is independent, confidential, informal and neutral” and works to address student concerns and advocate fair procedures. All three appointed ombudsmen recently completed official ombudsmen training with the International Ombudsman Association.

The University Ombuds website notes that the staff “operate outside of official or sanctioned university processes” and will “not participate in any formal adjudicative or administrative procedure.” It also notes that the service is completely confidential, and no student information will be shared with other entities except in cases of “imminent risk of serious harm and reports of sexual miscon-

duct.”

The three ombudsmen are all active staff members in the University, with many years of experience working at Brandeis and with issues of diversity and social justice. According to the ombuds website, Smith has been at Brandeis for over 15 years, serving as the director of the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program since 2004, an adjunct lecturer in the Heller School, a research analyst, a Posse mentor and a faculty sponsor for the Education and Development Working Group.

Koslowski is currently in his eighth year at Brandeis and serves as the associate director of academic advising in Academic Services, as well as the coordinator of the Brandeis Undergraduate Group Study program, according to the website.

Lewis has been at the University since 2004 and is currently the assistant director of the Student Support Services Program. She has also taught in the Civil Rights and Educational Equity program and has supported numerous groups on campus, such as the Brandeis Pluralism Alliance and the Brandeis Bridges Fellows. All three declined to comment at press time.

Student union

Herbstritt and Nunez compete for Student Union presidency

■ As many seniors are about

to graduate, several Student Union positions will be up for grabs in this week’s election.

By cARMI ROTHBERG JUSTICE EDITOR

The Student Union met on Wednesday evening to discuss the positions available in the Union’s spring elections with potential candidates. The Union’s current president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, junior representative to the Board of Trustees, and representative to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund each spoke about their positions and answered questions about their work on the Union.

Student Union president Nyah Macklin ’16 began the meeting by recalling her time thus far on the Union’s executive board. “There’s a lot of work you’re going to be doing,” she said. As

president, Macklin had to drop many of her other commitments, as she spends about 20 hours per week on the position. The Student Union president is responsible for meeting with administrators as “an advocate for student needs at all times” and “trying to be more inclusive of what voices you’re representing when making certain decisions,” Macklin explained. A president should be “someone who’s representing all of our students and not just their own personal voice.” This year’s presidential candidates are David Herbstritt ’17, the Student Union’s current vice president and an executive senator earlier this year; and Christian Nunez ’18, an active figure in the Ford Hall 2015 movement and member of the Ford Hall negotiations team.

Next, Herbstritt talked about his experience as vice president. “It’s a very organizational role,” he said.

“The main function of being the vice president is being the president of the

Senate.” The Union’s vice president organizes and runs Student Union Senate meetings and is also free to pursue their own initiatives — Herbstritt, for example, has been involved in making changes to Allocations Board, including a November amendment to the Student Union constitution expanding the size of the A-Board and a more recent amendment to the Allocations bylaws changing the marathon process.

The Student Union’s current executive senator, Paul Sindberg ’18, is running for vice president unopposed.

Student Union secretary Shuying Liu ’16 explained that her position involves sending out a weekly email from the Student Union and overseeing access to the Romper Room and to the Student Union office.

The candidates for this position are Transitional Year Program Senator Gabriela Gonzalez Anavisca ’19 and Isaac Altman ’19.

After Liu, Nicole Lenchner ’16 spoke

about her time as treasurer of the Student Union and the responsibilities involved in the job. The treasurer is in charge of the Student Union’s PCard, meets weekly with University budget analyst Steve Costa and attends meetings of both the e-board and the A-Board. Ziyang Chen ’18, a member of this year’s A-Board, is running for treasurer unopposed.

Emily Conrad ’17, junior representative to the Board of Trustees, said that her position involves providing insight into student life, representing student views and sitting in on meetings of the Board of Trustees, which occur four times each year. According to Student Union policy, Conrad will continue on next year to replace Grady Ward ’16 as senior representative to the Board of Trustees. Will Jones ’18 is running for junior representative unopposed.

Matt Smetana ’17, chair of the Senate Sustainability Committee, spoke

on behalf of current sustainability representative Stephanie Reifenberg ’16 about the duties of the sustainability representative, which mainly consist of “advertising the sustainability fund, getting student submissions for it, and serving on the board as one of the people who votes on these ideas.” Cacildia Cain ’18 is running unopposed to serve on the Brandeis Sustainability Fund.

Brooke Granovsky ’18, Jacob Edelman ’18 and Alec Hoyland ’18 are all running to serve on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

The meeting ended with an explanation from Liu on the campaigning process. Candidates’ campaigns began at midnight on the night of Wednesday, March 9 and will last until this Thursday. No money or paper may be used in campaigns. The Student Union will also hold a presidential debate this Wednesday.

Elections for all executive positions will be held this Thursday.

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news

CLOSED DISCOURSE

BRIEF Two Brandeis students injured when driver crosses lanes and causes collision

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

Two Brandeis students were sent to the hospital at 11:30 p.m.

Friday night after a motor vehicle travelling south crossed lanes and struck the students, who were walking adjacent to the northbound lane. The University community was informed in an email from the Office of Communications on Saturday afternoon.

As of Saturday morning, one student — a 20-year-old female, according to a Mar. 12 Boston Globe brief — at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was in critical condition, according to a Waltham Police officer. Beth Israel was unable to provide the Justice with updated information due to legal restrictions. The vehicle’s driver, a 24-year-old Framingham man, according to the Globe, was also

admitted to Beth Israel for facial injury treatment.

A 19-year-old female student was admitted to Newton-Wellesley Hospital with a lower-leg injury, according to the Globe. A third student, mentioned in Saturday’s email to the community, suffered no injuries but was taken to an area hospital for evaluation as a precaution. Both have since been discharged.

Waltham police told the Globe that they believe driving speed and alcohol were factors in the crash, but as of Saturday, no charges had been filed. Waltham Police and the Department of Public Safety are investigating the crash.

—Max Moran

IN JEOPARDY: In his talk, Friedersdorf argued that the increase in “safe spaces” on campuses puts First Amendment rights at risk.

Writer criticizes college culture of censorship ■ Conor Friedersdorf criticized weakened free speech rights on campuses.

By Christof Rindlisbacher and Jaime Kaiser JUSTICE Contributing writer and editor

On Monday night, Brandeis Conservatives and the Student Union co-sponsored a talk about freedom of speech on college campuses. The talk was held in Schwartz Hall at 6:45 p.m. and featured a lecture and question-and-answer session with Atlantic staff writer Conor Friedersdorf.

Mark Gimelstein ’17, vice president of Brandeis Conservatives, explained in his introduction to the event that Brandeis Conservatives’ club members “felt a talk of this nature was necessary on the Brandeis campus, and indeed all college campuses.” He explained that “unfortunately, there is a general trend in academia of many students’ basic rights on college campuses across the United States being systematically taken away as a result of measures such as safe spaces, free speech zones, microaggressions and other tactics.”

In his talk, Friedersdorf said that he generally feels “closer to the average college student than the average American. But, he continued, “I feel totally out of step with the social justice movement on campus.” Specifically, Friedersdorf spoke about some of the issues and gave his observation about free speech issues on college campuses.

Friedersdorf spoke about how the free speech climate at colleges does not match the wider world. “Undergraduates at private institutions are preparing to enter a world where the next-door neighbor in their apartment building or the guy who gets the bus at the same time as them every morning or the woman who gets in the Uber that they drive to make

FEATURES

a little extra money … can say whatever they want, and there’s no dean of equity and diversity to contact, and no anonymous microaggression site to register a complaint,” he said.

For Friedersdorf, the problems facing discourse are many, but his talk placed the blame primarily on what he calls “groups that are intolerant of dissent.” However, he went on to explain that his intent is not to “vilify student activism.”

He had positive commentary about the Black Lives Matter movement, which he said drew attention to police abuses that much of his own journalism focuses on.

He also spoke extensively about the evolution of speech codes and how courts have repeatedly struck down many these codes as a violation of the First Amendment. “History shows that the least powerful people in any setting rely the most on strong free speech norms,” he said.

Throughout his talk, Friedersdorf referenced recent events that have occurred on the Brandeis campus, such as the Ford Hall 2015 protests in November and December. Although he was not present for these events, he offered what he termed “constructive criticism” based on his experience with other campus protests, as well as online accounts.

One such criticism: “When I read the student demands published by activist groups, very few call for more study of anything. … There’s this vague notion that white supremacy or institutional racism or interlocking systems of oppression or systemic bias are what ails us.

But those are just buzzwords if you can’t drill down to how they actually affect people.”

“It isn’t disrespecting students to try and get a better understanding [of racism]. It’s the only way to actually help them,” he continued.

In an interview with the Justice, Gimelstein said that many campus conservatives are frustrated with

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what he termed a lack of “open discourse” at Brandeis. “The faculty is very liberal,” he said. “The students are taught very liberal things, they’re taught that conservative ideology from the get go is wrong, that it can not be truthful. ... [This] does a disservice to people who want an actual discussion on college campuses.”

“College campuses are fundamentally unfriendly to conservatives,” Gimelstein continued. “That has to change, and I think that Brandeis should be the leader in this regard.”

Friedersdorf expressed the belief that free speech is in jeopardy on college campuses, and yet that is an opinion that is not universally shared. Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) told the Justice in a telephone interview, “I’ve felt quite comfortable saying whatever I want [at Brandeis, even though] my course makes statements sometimes that are somewhat provocative.” At the same time, Fellman was also clear that “liberals and radicals tend to make the mistake of dismissing conservatives; … they tend to dismiss people who disagree with them without listening to them or or honoring them.

And I think that’s a big mistake. …

When somebody says something offensive, [we should] try to figure out why they said it, and the best way to figure out why they said it is to ask them.”

Friedersdorf graduated from Pomona College in 2002. He then obtained his first journalism job as a beat reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Pomona, where he covered immigration protests. As a writer for the Atlantic, Friedersdorf has found the freedom to cover topics that interest him, such as civilian death from police abuses of power, drone strikes, government surveillance and civil liberties violations affecting Muslim populations.

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—Editor’s Note: Mark Gimelstein ’17 is a columnist for the Justice.

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Students put signs on the Louis Brandeis statue to reflect B.SASV’s report on the University’s sexual assault policies.

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Zito spoke on Friday about the reemergence of filial piety as a Chinese value.

By Rachel moore JUSTICE STAFF WRITER DAISY CHEN/the Justice

A NEW PARADIGM: Berger spoke on how modernization in a pluralistic society affects the stability and structure of religion.

Scholar discusses effects of religious pluralism Berger addressed how religious pluralism awffects people, religions and politics.

By Abby Patkin Justice editor

“Things are not what you thought they were,” began Peter Berger, Boston University Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Religion and Theology in his Thursday lecture, “A New Paradigm for Pluralism and Modernity.”

In his lecture, Berger argued that society is not moving toward religious secularism — as many would think — but to a form of religious pluralism.

Berger, author of the recent book “The Many Altars of Modernity: Toward a Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age,” discussed religious pluralism — when many different religions coexist in a society — arguing, “We don’t live in the secular age. We live in a pluralist age, which challenges every religious tradition, but not in the way secularism does.” According to Berger, secularism challenges religious traditions by forcing them to be separate from public actions. Pluralism, on the other hand, challenges the tradition and unity of religious organizations by making communities less religiously homogenous.

He explained that pluralism as a concept first arose in the 1920s as a way of describing the diversity of the American population. He added that the suffix “-ism” would suggest that pluralism is an ideology, but he views the term as more of an observation or social fact, a reality that “hits you whether you like it or not.”

Regarding religious pluralism, he continued, “It’s not that there is no God; it’s that there are too many gods. … There are many religions coexisting, and that has many implications.”

He described one experience in which

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Professor lectures on filial piety in Chinese culture ■ NYU professor Angela

he visited a Catholic cathedral only to see Hindu Hare Krishnas decorating the space. “That’s religious pluralism,” he stated.

In his lecture, Berger argued that religious pluralism has three different types of implications: those on individuals, those on religious institutions and those on political order.

In terms of the effect on individuals, “the basic effect of religious pluralism is very simple: … it becomes very difficult to take the religion you were born into for granted,” he said. Historically, he elaborated, social psychology showed that individuals tended to follow their community’s status quo, which made it easier to stay with a certain religion when communities were mostly religiously homogenous.

Because religion can no longer be taken for granted, he continued, “you have to make a decision [about how to observe your religion].” A few examples of these religious decisions, he added, include choosing which practices to observe, how to observe them and whether or not to stay affiliated to that religion entirely.

Berger then discussed how the fall of the homogenous community has had implications for individuals on a national and international scale.

“The combination of pluralism and religious freedom is explosive,” he said, explaining how the rise in religious freedom has caused strife in many societies that were historically homogenous but are now finding themselves pluralistic. He cited efforts to suppress pluralism and different religions in the Middle East, Russia, China and India as examples of the fallout from pluralism. “It’s very difficult to suppress religion, because people have very strong attachments to their religion,” he said.

Berger summarized: “Nietzsche was wrong … it’s not that God is dead; there are too many gods. … Religion has percolated upward in individual

TUESDAY, March 15, 2016

Campus speakers

COEXISTENCE

■ Theological scholar Peter

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consciousness on what is taken for granted.”

Next, Berger discussed how the rise of religious pluralism has impacted the cohesiveness and power of religious institutions. “Whether they like it or not, … they become voluntary institutions.” He cited the changes between the Roman Catholic Church’s First and Second Vatican Councils — which differed in their approach to the relationship between the Church and the modern world — as an example of modernity impacting religious institutions. “Pluralism is a system where religion becomes a choice, not a fate,” he said.

Finally, he considered the political fallout from religious pluralism.

“This pluralism needs to be politically managed because, otherwise, these groups will all be at each other’s’ throats,” Berger explained. “There has to be some secular space of the state where the state doesn’t enforce any religion and acts as more of a traffic cop.”

He explained that it took him over 20 years to view the secularization theory — which argues that society moves further and further away from religion as it progresses — as untenable. He argued that secularism and religion are not mutually exclusive and that many people are able to keep their religion separate from their professional life, as is the case with doctors or lawyers. Citing one example of a surgeon friend who is religiously observant, Berger said, “Every move that he makes [in surgery] must be as if God doesn’t exist,” yet he also noted that the surgeon does not magically stop believing in God for the duration of the surgery.

A question-and-answer session followed the lecture. The event was sponsored by the Religious Studies Program, the International and Global Studies Program and the Sociology Department.

Interested in journalism?

Filiality — the relationship between a parent and child — is undergoing a resurgence in modern China, argued Angela Zito, associate professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies at New York University in her lecture, “China Dreams: Of Filial Values in the Persuasive Form of Social Propaganda,” on Friday.

Zito explained that filiality, which refers to the quality of an interpersonal relationship, typically one between parents and children, is an old virtue in China. In her lecture, she discussed its re-emergence in Chinese culture, as well as its close connection to both state and religion.

“Filiality, a very old and old-fashioned virtue in China,” Zito began, “is undergoing a renaissance of attention. In July of 2013, there was a law [passed for the] rights and benefits of the elderly, and it was amended to include certain clauses aimed to encourage children to especially spend more time with their parents.”

Yet, she continued, “it is unclear just how injunctions to spend the holidays with your parents are going to be enforced and people in China reacted quite strongly online.” She explained that people often ask, ‘“This is a virtue. How did it become a law?’”

“This latest iteration [of the original 24 Filials, a former and ancient set of laws pertaining to filial conduct,] … has skewed toward buffing up intergenerational communications on all fronts. … It marked departure from earlier versions that emphasized the physical bodies of everyone involved.”

Zito described this recent move by the government as “an old-time propaganda roll-out of another revision of the very old — around 1000 [CE] — of the 24 Standards of Filiality,” which are, as she quoted an article from the China Daily, ‘“an unrealistic portraiture of ideal middle-class families in today’s changing society.’”

The topic of filial piety is one that Zito tackles in the book of essays she is currently working on, “Census of Filiality: Bodily Capacities, Forms of Knowing, and Hierarchies of Power, Past and Present.” This work will reflect on the 18th century, “a hey-day of Chinese self-felt cultural hegemony,” while also considering “the current efflorescence in recovering and recuperating the past and past traditions today in China, which is being taken up with nationalist fervor by many sorts of people,” she explained.

Even today, filiality is found to be applicable to the widespread interests of many, “because of its everyday centrality in organizing ethical and spiritual life,” which is why, Zito said, she has “often emphasized filiality in [her] own work” on Chinese culture.

Zito identifies three concurring cultural components that have contributed to the revival of filial piety: “the China Dream, the widespread revival of Confucian and classical teaching and the problem of the care

of aging bodies.”

“The China Dream” is a slogan that has become ingrained in culture “like jokes do,” she said. It is a political agenda, voiced by figures such as President Xi Jinping, who incorporated the China Dream in a speech commemorating the reopening of the Chinese National Museum. According to Zito, Jinping’s message “memorialized China’s past humiliations yet in a spirit of overcoming, of transcendence.” Zito noted that this campaign is occurring alongside the approximately 20-year trend of studying the classics and Confucius in particular.

“The reinvention of ritual sacrifice, to the sage of Confucius himself — the idea of filiality gets deeply implicated in these activities, a prime object of its ethical goals. Respect for parents and teachers is easily connected to the State’s dream.”

However close the connection between state and Confucian goals is, the state is not enthusiastic to support Confucianism, she added. While “some vocal enthusiasts would like to see Confucianism added to the religious roster … China has only five recognized state religions, and Confucianism is not one of them,” Zito said, explaining that nothing will come of this push for recognition. “Of what use would it be to the state as its own softly-powered cosmic bid if it turned Confucian ritual life to something to be controlled by the Ministry of Religion, instead of channeled by the Ministry of Propaganda?”

Zito argued that the government has a seated interest in promoting filiality in terms of children helping aging parents, “given the crisis in health care, especially for the elderly.” She has observed street art, created by the government, in cities like Shanghai and Beijing, that “avidly pursue[s] the loving illustration of filial bodies and their utilities.” Scenes depict middle-aged children assisting their parents with computers, eating nutritious meals, taking them to the doctor and generally keeping them from neglect or abuse.

Even though the state will refuse to work with the interests of the people in terms of increasing popularity in Confucianism, it will use filiality to acknowledge the needs of its aging demographic, Zito argued. She reported that in 1999, 10 percent of China’s population was over 60 years old, with more than 20 million people over the age of 80.

Filiality, Zito noted, can be applied to a variety of virtues or phases of life, including finances and career motivation.

This newest cultural wave of filiality represents an “abandonment of [the] socialist, idealist,” with a “new emphasis on emotional relations, heart to heart conversations.” The emotional aspect of filiality, in particular the care of elders, is a very urban concept and is only realistically achievable for a certain class of people; some people have pointed out that this notion conflicts with individualization, Zito emphasized.

Regardless, the state, which “reigns supreme [in] communication and propaganda,” will push that the family is “more precious than ever,” because that is in the best interest of the state, she concluded.

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RESURGANCE: In her lecture, Zito addressed how filial piety has made a comeback in Chinese law and culture, especially in more urban areas with wealthier families.

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7

TITLE IX: New complaint marks second investigation CASTLE: Admins push for this year A COMPLICATED PAST

AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice

On Wednesday, Siegfried Weichlein, professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, lectured on Britain's relationship with the EU.

scheduled demolition CONTINUED FROM 1

plained that the Castle is currently a safety hazard, with mortar and stone falling, as well as that several ceilings had collapsed over the past several years. He said that the University has invested over $1 million in preservation efforts to make the castle safe this year, such as scaffolding and wrapping the towers to prevent falling stone.

Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees Grady Ward ’16 spoke on his time as a Community Advisor in the Castle last year, explaining that of the approximately 120 students living in the Castle at the beginning of the year, 30 were forced to move to other housing throughout the year due to the condition of the building. He added that the students understand the benefits of the University’s plan and generally support it, as they are aware of the “financial tradeoffs,” and that both the Justice and the Brandeis Hoot, along with the Student Union, have endorsed the plan. Lynch later added, “Students at Brandeis are known for being vocal and they are not bashful in coming forward on this, and this is probably the only issue which I have not had vocal [pushback].”

The meeting then opened to questions from the Commission, cover-

ing subjects such as whether the University had investigated alternate funding sources and other locations to build new dormitories. The Commission was also interested in hearing about specific plans for the preservation of towers A and B, as well as how thoroughly the University had investigated preserving the exterior structure. Commission member and Secretary Marie Daly mentioned that it was not the Commission’s job to take into account the cost of preservation, only if the building was worth preserving based on its historical value. The Commission also asked if the University had explored the possibility of renovating the Castle for uses other than housing, as it might be less expensive. Gray said that while they had, the most immediate need of the University was housing, and that seemed to make the most sense for the space.

The meeting then opened to comments from the public, with several community members speaking in favor of preserving the Castle. Edmund Tarallo ’04 spoke of his time living in the Castle, explaining that it was a priceless experience. He said that the University should be ashamed for letting it deteriorate as far as it did, and that they should not let it disappear simply because it is old and needs work.

Waltham resident Andrea Newley recalled walking past the Brandeis campus with her children and telling them about the giant that lived in the castle and would come down the hill, and said, “Waltham’s history can’t be given away.” Gray joked that she should not worry because the giant lives in Tower A. The meeting closed with statements from the committee members, most generally in support of delaying the demolition of the Castle in favor of considering other possible ways to preserve it.

Commission member Sean Wilson moved to preserve the Castle for a year, with a unanimous vote in favor from all seven members of the board.

Chairperson Clarence Richardson Jr. closed the meeting by explaining that the University should work to revise its proposal, and that the yearlong renovation delay could be waived by the Commission if it finds a new proposal acceptable.

Among the suggestions the committee made for revisions to the proposal were a revised approach to the utilization of the structure, an investigation into preserving the Castle and expanding housing on to other parts of campus including green spaces and parking lots.

CONTINUED FROM 1

level of accountability that the University holds itself to in repealing the decision. “One major concern that I have and something that I wrote about in my complaint is that the special appeals process has no accountability,” they said in an interview with the Justice. “Their appeals process is like a rubber stamp that they can use to reverse any decision.” The accuser said that the initial decision they received about the case was more than 30 pages long, while the appellate decision — which overturned the original decision — is less than two pages.

But the accuser was also concerned about the initial investigation that ruled in their favor — a process that they call “horrifying.”

“The administration mishandled essentially every aspect of the process from the no contact order to the actual procedural elements of the process. There was just a real dearth of competence in the administration in respect for the law and what I was entitled to,” they said.

The accuser also called attention to the fact that the University has not publicly said anything about the investigation: “The fact that they haven’t notified students is pure negligence, I would say, simple negligence.”

A Sept. 29 2014 Justice article notes that the University released a statement regarding a past Title IX filing against the school on its website and a statement was provided by then-

Executive Director of Integrated Media Bill Schaller when Brandeis was added to the United States Department of Education’s list of 75 Universities and Colleges under Investigation for Title IX at that time. These statements are no longer available online. The case that earned the University a place on that list was issued on behalf of a student who filed a Title IX complaint during the summer of 2014 after they were found guilty of sexual misconduct in the Special Examiner’s process. The University was notified of that case’s complaint on Sept. 2 2014.

Title IX is part of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 and states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. ” The Department of Education’s April 4, 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter” explicitly includes sexual assault as part of Title IX. The Chronicle of Higher Education lists two Title IX cases as being brought before the University on March 1. The Justice is continuing to investigate on this case. A Title IX case against the University, filed in April 2015, is still on the docket, pending a verdict. Dean of Students Jamele Adams did not reply for comment by press time.

— Mihir Khanna contributed reporting.

B.SASV: Report demands changes to address sexual assault CONTINUED FROM 1 in planning the annual Take Back the Night march which will be on April 4, and is working to break down the parts of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook related to sexual violence into “consumable, sharable zines,” according to Milford.

“While changes have been made and work has been done to address the points in the previous progress report, not enough has been done within the last two years,” the report reads. “As members of the student body, administration and university at large, we need to drastically improve the ways in which sexual violence is handled at Brandeis.” The report goes on to say that it is “unacceptable” to have known perpetrators and abusers walk around campus, to have survivors and supporters be unaware of counseling and reporting options and “that Brandeis, as an institution, allows for these things to happen not only through a lack of response, but through actions like hiring known perpetrators for positions of power on campus.”

B.SASV’s report gives the University a “B/B-” on providing “clear and accessible information on existing reporting paths, options, and resources,” a nearly nonexistent improvement on the last report’s rating of a B-. The report calls for a poster listing University hotlines and resources for sexual assault survivors that was printed by the Office of Communications to be updated to include information on what happens after one reports an assault, to include a QR code for scanning that information and to be present in every University bathroom. They also ask

for clearer online resources explaining the differences between mandated reporters — who are required under Title IX to formally report any instance of sexual assault they hear of — and more confidential resources. Lastly, B.SASV demands that these resources to be translated into at least Spanish, Korean and Mandarin for the aid of international students.

Next, B.SASV graded the University’s progress on hiring “a permanent on-call crisis response counselor” as a D, instead of the F it received on the last report. While calling the Rape Crisis Center’s hotline will always eventually lead to someone answering the call, according to B.SASV the call is rerouted several times if one calls after the RCC is closed. The group recommends that the University hire a staff member to permanently be on-call for this number, as well as several backups for when that person is unavailable. They also call for a pager system for all Psychological Counseling Center staff, as well as staff at the Office of Prevention Services, the Rape Crisis Center and those in jobs related to Title IX. Finally, they ask for an additional staffer at the OPS or RCC “whose position allows them to be by the phone more often and be on-call at all times.”

The greatest drop in grades for the University is on “a psychologist on the Psychological Counseling Center staff who specifically specializes in sexual trauma, violence and assault for longterm counseling.” Falling from a B+ to a D-, the report argues that since Kristin Huang left Brandeis in Fall 2015, the University has not yet hired a replacement trauma specialist, and B.SASV

calls for this replacement to be a permanent clinician of color. Currently 12 clinicians on staff are trained in trauma counseling but are not specialists in the area, and while one staffer is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, the report calls for additional staffers fluent in these languages as well as Hindi, Korean and Spanish.

The first draft of the Progress Report stated that the PCC was considering limiting the 12 free sessions students are guaranteed in cases where the sessions were not “necessary,” but in an interview with the Justice, Senior Associate Director of the PCC Joy von Steiger said this was false. The report has since been updated to reflect that the proposed change is “no longer in effect,” saying that it was included in Orientation and Community Advisor trainings.

B.SASV rates the University’s progress on “Proper training of university staff, faculty, and administrators on the roles and responsibilities of mandated reporters and/or responsible employees under Title IX” as a C-, rather than last year’s D. The group recommends that all University staff and faculty receive compulsory bystander intervention training, and that Community Advisors both receive training and prominently display information on their doors about being mandated reporters. A CA told the Justice that currently, CAs are not mandated to receive bystander intervention training.

However, the current group of CAs had planned on receiving bystander intervention training two weeks ago, before the death of Zimeng “Boots” Xue ’18 interrupted this plan.

Fifth, the report gives the University a “C/C-” on “Pro-social bystander intervention, effective consent and healthy relationship workshops offered at Orientation and extensively throughout the entire school year.”

Last year’s grade was a “C-/D+.” Currently, the University offers a presentation to incoming students during Orientation called “Speak About It,” which is followed by discussions among Orientation groups. B.SASV calls for incoming students to additionally receive consent and bystander training, and that the Orientation CORE committee “works to seek out individuals prepared to safely and confidently lead these sessions.” In her email to the Justice, Milford wrote that “The first step would be to have RCC peer advocates assist [Orientation Leaders] in facilitating these discussions. Ideally, our long-term expectation is that this would include hiring professionals from local institutions like Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and have them present for all groups.”

She also said that Orientation leaders do not receive sufficient training for leading the discussions after Speak About It and that the discussions may potentially be triggering.

In an interview with the Justice, Director of Orientation Jenny Abdou said that while OLs are not currently required to receive bystander training, she personally ensures that they do as she feels strongly that they should receive this training. According to Abdou, Brandon Weintraub ’16 led training for the midyear OLs under the “Train the Trainer” model, and a company called True to Life Training

trained August’s OL group. An SSIS presentation at Orientation also includes education on consent.

B.SASV gave the University a “C/C” on training Brandeis Public Safety officers, noting that 14 of the Department of Public Safety’s 28 total officers and executives are certified sexual assault investigators under the State of Massachusetts. They call for all officers to receive annual training from the company Margolis Healy by having the officers on duty during the main training attend a separate session. The trainings focus on “embedded cultural norms and interpretations, biased police reporting, best practices for diversity, equity and inclusion” according to B.SASV. The group additionally calls for University Police to develop an anonymous reporting method for providing feedback to the department.

Brandeis received an F on both 2014’s and this year’s report on “an effective campus-wide campaign to combat rape culture.” Arguing that student activism alone cannot adequately address rape culture at Brandeis, the group asks for a designated employee to create a wider knowledge of rape culture on campus. Milford also said that she hoped administrators would publish a formal response to the report. An unknown person also attached a report card with the B.SASV report’s grades to the statue of Louis D. Brandeis outside Sherman Dining Hall, along with a sign reading, “Louis, you’re still on probation.” This is a reference to a 2014 Justice editorial cartoon about the first report card, which depicted Louis Brandeis as receiving academic probation for his poor grades.

8

features

TUESDAY, MARch 15, 2016 ● Features ● The Justice

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VERBATIM | MALALA YOUSAFZAI When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 44 B.C., Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated.

In 1784, Benjamin Franklin first proposed Daylight Savings Time.

A PERFECT FIT: Mary Hurd (TA) (left) fits a corset onto Keturah Walker ’18 (center) with the help of costume designer Mary Lauve (right).

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY HURD

Undressing “Intimate Apparel” Mary Hurd (TA) created the costumes for the production

By KIRBY KOCHANOWSKI JUSTICE EDITOR

“The play is titled ‘Intimate Apparel’, which is an indicator that costumes are going to be very important,” Mary Hurd (TA), the costume director for the Brandeis Theater Department, said in an interview with the Justice.

The play, produced by the Brandeis Theater Department, ran from March 3 to March 6 and featured costumes designed by Mary Lauve, the costume design assistant at the Huntington Theatre Company, and actualized by Hurd.

“Intimate Apparel” is the story of a 35-year-old African-American woman named Esther, played by Ashley Ertilien ’17, who works as a seamstress in New York.

Set in 1905, Esther creates corsets and other intimate apparel for women. The show follows Esther as her client relationships develop and as her written correspondence with a Caribbean laborer in Panama develops into love.

“The costumes are incredibly important for the story in a practical

sense, because they are scripted in — they talk about the costumes, so you have very specific needs to meet — but also because they help create an understanding of the world the characters live in,” Hurd explained.

Though in many cases Hurd is given a rendering (a picture drawn by the designer of a specific costume piece) to help her create the costumes, for this show, she was given what are referred to as research boards. The boards feature various images that are used to communicate the general design idea for the show. They help to give Hurd an idea of what to do to create the costumes.

Perhaps most unique to this show are the actual items of intimate apparel. Hurd created seven corsets to be used on stage. “Normally, corsets are just a white cotton fabric, really very basic and plain, but there’s a lot of talk about fabric in this show and specifically the fabric of the corsets [Esther’s] making, so it became really important that the corsets not be plain white cotton,” Hurd said.

To remedy this, Hurd put the corsets onto dress forms and created

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE LOVETT

DRAMATIC DRESSING: Michelle Richardson ’19 (left) and Ashley Ertilien ’17 (right) share the stage in a scene from the play.

her own patterns.

She created covers that would match the size of each and then assembled them onto each corset.

Ertilien was given an impromptu lesson by Hurd on how to lace someone into a corset for several of her scenes. “She is very good at it,” Hurd laughed. “I showed her once; she did it exactly right immediately, which is impressive to me. I told her, ‘Wow, you’re really good at this!’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, it’s easy.’ Not to everybody it’s not. She’s got a very good immediate understanding of it, and it is a physical thing. You either get it or you don’t. And she really gets it.”

Hurd’s connection to the physical is all part of her job. When considering Esther and her work, Hurd said, “It’s hard not to identify with her. There’s a physical connection, because the work I do is so physical. ... It’s a sculptural process in a very specific way, … and the physical, the tactile, is really important, because someone is wearing it — someone is touching it — because how it feels makes a big difference in how they communicate character. I mean, think about satin — satin is smooth, slinky and it changes how you move.”

Though Hurd’s official title is costume director, she takes on many roles. “I do a lot of different jobs, so in the context of making the costume, that’s a draper — someone who takes the rendering and makes it into the garment,” Hurd explained.

“I also take the role of shop manager, because I manage the budgets [and] do the hiring. ... I also manage our rental space. We have a stock room that other people can use and come and borrow costumes from.”

Besides an extensive stock room, the costume department has a large workspace where the costumes are created. One of Hurd’s favorite tools is the industrial steam pressure iron. “It releases the steam so you get really high pressure, very hot steam, so the iron doesn’t have to be as hot, which is nice, so you don’t melt things or burn things as easily,” Hurd explained. The department recently acquired new industrial ma-

chines that Hurd is eager to teach students to use. “If someone wants to come in and do a project with me, I’m more than happy to work

with her, as well as a “firsthand,” whom she hired as an assistant.

“It’s a really impressive department,” Hurd reflected. “And I’m

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY HURD

ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Mary Hurd (left) with Mary Lauve (right) make adjustments to the costume of Ashley Ertilien ’17 (center), who plays Esther. something out, depending on my availability. I’ve been trying to build those relationships, because [the workspace is] a great resource, and hoarding it to myself just seems ridiculous. So I’m trying to build those relationships and make all that we have to offer available to everybody on campus,” she explained. Hurd had a team of five student stitchers who worked on “Intimate Apparel”

lucky we have a really good staff.

The people that I work with are incredibly talented and have a lot of knowledge. We all come from professional backgrounds so we all have a lot of experience. There’s a lot here for the students — a lot of opportunity.”

— Lauren Chin contributed reporting.

the justice ● Features ● TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

FEMINIST IN THE FOREGROUND: Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard (WSRC) signed copies of her new book, “The Memoir of a Rebel: A Feminist Before the Women’s Movement.”

BRIANNA MAJSIAK/the Justice

Writing Rebel Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard (WSRC) dicussed her new memoir

By SAGIE TVIZER JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last Tuesday the Women’s Studies Research Center celebrated International Women’s Day with Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard (WSRC), a self-proclaimed feminist before the women’s movement.

Bouvard seeks to bring attention to women around the world, as well as to female poets and writers like herself, who use literature as a form of expression and as a call to action. When asked what inspires her writing and poetry, Bouvard answered simply: “Justice. Justice and compassion.” Bouvard visited the WSRC to discuss her new autobiography, “The Memoir of a Rebel: A Feminist Woman Before the Women’s Movement.”

Bouvard has been a resident scholar and writer at the WSRC since 1991 and has published 12 nonfiction books and eight poetry books. She was formerly a political science professor at Regis College, where she directed poetry workshops. Her research focuses on a plethora of social justice issues, ideas which she develops fully through her writing.

Bouvard began her presentation by explaining the context in which she grew up and how it encouraged her to be a “rebel.” As a young woman in the 1950s, Bouvard remarked on several instances in which she was undermined for being a woman. In one example, she spoke about obtaining her doctorate from Harvard University, which she was one of two women to attend at the time.

According to Bouvard, when she was writing her dissertation, her professor claimed to have lost her paper, and when she came to his office to speak with him, he tried to force himself on her. She cleverly went to his secretary and asked her

for his wife’s phone number.

Bouvard explained that she then received her paper from her professor the following day.

She credited one professor for constantly looking out for her and for waiting in the doorways for her when she met with other professors to make sure that they “behaved.”

Bouvard told the Justice that her time at Harvard “made [her] want to do more for women because it

I think [the idea that we’re powerless] is the message we’re getting, I don’t know if you feel it, but it is a message, and I don’t like it.”

During the event, Bouvard discussed some of the events recounted in her autobiography, focusing on those that transpired during her time in Argentina.

She visited the country in the wake of the Dirty War, a period of military dictatorship that lasted

BRIANNA MAJSIAK/the Justice

WORDS OF WISDOM: Bouvard discussed her time working and protesting with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina following the Dirty War. was so unfair.”

As one of four women during her time studying at Harvard’s Political Science department, Bouvard realized the necessity of her work.

She explained that her upcoming book, “Moral Heroes and Heroines” “is intended to give people hope that we’re not powerless. Because

from 1976 to 1986. During this time, the ruthless regime led to a number of “disappearing” individuals.

Typically, these citizens were young and were suspected of espousing socialist ideals. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Spanish, were a group of

mothers who publicly denied the state’s attempts at suppressing its constituents through various demonstrations. They most commonly were the mothers of the disappeared children and demonstrated and protested in support of finding their children and bringing attention to the human rights abuses by the government.

Bouvard was inspired to go to Argentina after hearing about the horrors of the Dirty War. In Argentina, Bouvard worked extensively with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. She took part in demonstrations and protests and even embarked on a personal project of documenting all of their stories through interviews.

Bouvard described the devotion of the protesters: “There was always a new demonstration. Always a new slogan. Always a new newspaper. If you can imagine that during a time like that, it’s incredible.” She elaborated on their dedication, explaining, “they were there [working] all the time, from the first thing in the morning to late, late at night. And they never got tired, because they supported each other. It was just wonderful, like a family.”

She explained what it was like for these women to live in a military state through various personal stories. She told the audience, “We were on the bus and [one of the mothers] was talking at the top of her voice.

“You know, she was always talking loudly about politics. There were two guys sitting next to us that were listening, and I knew they were spies. … ‘Please keep your voice down, these guys are spies,’ [Bouvard said]. She said, ‘Why should I? Let them learn something; they need to learn.’”

Living in a military state presented harms more convoluted than spying. Bouvard shared the

story of one of the mothers with whom she worked and interviewed.

Bouvard explained how 10 “heavily armed men” came while her husband was away.

They took the woman’s two sons outside and repeatedly kicked them in the genitals.

Afterwards, her home was searched and pillaged while her sons were held at gunpoint. The men accused her 18-year-old son of theft. “They took him away and that was the last she ever saw of him,” Bouvard concluded.

Bouvard, however, does not see herself as confined to any single issue in her writing. Recently, she has taken up writing poetry about the refugee crisis in Syria. Syria has recently undergone a civil war that has resulted in the deaths or displacements of nearly half of the pre-war population.

Due to the complexity of the varying interests, which can be categorized as religious and ethnic, the nuances of the situation are often overlooked.

Bouvard’s use of poetry to bring attention to the refugee crisis in Syria is unique because critics commonly discredit poetry that expresses political propaganda or takes a side on a political issue.

When asked about this pressing tension between poetry and political issues, Bouvard elaborated: “I am a rebel, I do what I want and I go in my own direction; I always walk in my own direction quietly and it makes it difficult to publish, but I do it anyway. There are things that need to be said, and I will always say them, and I have been saying them since I was small … I think poetry is an important vehicle of truth and caring; there’s not just one subject ... for me — it’s a free space.” ☺— Brianna Majsiak contributed reporting.

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10 TUESDAY, March 15, 2016 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

Max Moran, Editor in Chief Avi Gold, Managing Editor Carmi Rothberg and Hannah Wulkan, Deputy Editors Jessica Goldstein, Noah Hessdorf, Jaime Kaiser, Grace Kwon, Rebecca Lantner, Brianna Majsiak, Catherine Rosch, and Rachel Sharer, Associate Editors Abby Patkin, News Editor, Kirby Kochanowski, Acting Features Editor Amber Miles, Acting Forum Editor, Jerry Miller, Sports Editor Lizzie Grossman, Acting Arts Editor Michelle Banayan and Mihir Khanna, Photography Editors Emily Wishingrad, Online Editor Sabrina Sung, Copy Editor Talia Zapinsky, Advertising Editor

EDITORIALS

Vote David Herbstritt ’17 for Student Union president

This week, the student body will take to the polls to elect next year’s Student Union president. After the conducting of private interviews with both candidates and an extended deliberation among members, the Justice editorial board has elected to endorse David Herbstritt ’17 for Student Union president. Though this was one of the toughest endorsement decisions of this board in recent years, we have determined that Herbstritt is the best candidate for this year’s election due to his greater Union experience and specific platform. Herbstritt has been involved with the Union for the better part of two years, serving as the Class of 2017 Senator, Executive Senator and, most recently, Vice President. Herbstritt can rely on two years’ worth of experience in leading the Union; he served as the Chair of the Senate Club Support Committee during the 2014 to 2015 school year and runs Union meetings as Executive Senator this year, in addition to regular meetings with the Allocations Board.

In his conversation with the editorial board, Herbstritt noted a number of specific policy changes he hopes to implement. First, he noted his desire to expand the bystander intervention training that exists, hoping to make it mandatory for all students. Second, he proposed an increase of the number of solar panels on campus to help make the University more environmentally friendly. Finally, Herbstritt posited that the role of the Union is to advocate for the student body by making sure that the student body is aware of the resources it can provide to students. Herbstritt strives to be a voice for the student body within the administration by being both responsive to students and taking action.

Herbstritt also comes with nuanced opinions on divisive issues on campus, specifically a proposal to divest future funds from fossil fuels while also recognizing the problems that could arise from such action. He also proposes supporting adjunct faculty

Value Union exerience

unionization and pushing the administration to continue dialogue about the racial climate on campus.

While we have elected to endorse Herbstritt, the vote among the board was razorclose for most of the deliberations, and we maintain admiration for Christian Nunez ’18. Nunez was a leader in the Ford Hall 2015 movement and continues his leadership across campus, and the board was thoroughly impressed by his promise to speak to each individual club leader about their concerns on campus. However, we are hesitant to endorse a candidate with absolutely no prior Union experience.

While Nunez’s ideals about the Union advocating for students are deeply commendable, to most effectively execute on those ideals, one needs a deeper understanding of how the Union functions and how it can effectively be mobilized. We urge Nunez to run for the Student Union Senate in the fall to acquire this critical experience — just as current Student Union president Nyah Macklin ’16 did before him — and consider a presidential run next year. Moreover, we call on Herbstritt to consider Nunez’s promise to proactively seek out each club leader to gather student feedback rather than reactive polling measures. While we approve of the specificities of Herbstritt’s platform, keeping a keen ear to the ground is critical to effective leadership.

This board supports Herbstritt in his bid to become the next Union President, a candidate with a wealth of Student Union experience and specific ideas on how to help the student body. No matter which candidate students vote for, we urge them to vote; too often, this board must chide students for their poor electoral turnout.

— Justice editor Noah Hessdorf ’18 is suitemates with Nunez and recused himself from the editorial.

Commend student efforts for sexual assault prevention Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence released its second-ever report card on the administration’s progress on preventing and responding to sexual violence at the University on Monday. B.SASV found that while the University has made some incremental change toward combatting sexual violence, especially through work with the Department of Public Safety and the creation of a Rape Crisis Center, there has been little to no improvement in other important areas, such as the lack of “resources for survivors of sexual violence.”

This board applauds the independent student group’s advocacy on the issue of sexual violence. B.SASV is part of a growing trend in the University of students forming activist organizations independent of University regulation that hold the University accountable for progress on important social issues. For example, this year alone, students formed Ford Hall 2015 and the Brandeis Asian American Task Force to raise awareness about systemic racism on campus and the lack of an Asian American studies department, respectively.

B.SASV’s report card provides a model for other student coalitions to follow as inspiration for raising awareness and calling for administrative accountability on specific topics at the University. Their report card provided a comprehensive, detailed outline of what they see as the current weaknesses at the University re-

Pursue targeted movements

garding sexual assault prevention in a way that is informative for members of the student body who may be unaware of the extent of the issue. Regular reports, like the one B.SASV just released, allows for the student body to track the University’s progress and see what further action needs taking. The report card’s specificity focuses the broad topic of sexual assault on campus into specific issues and changes.

While not all of these changes are immediately actionable, B.SASV acknowledges this and can point to simpler, short term changes. For example, in an email to the Justice, Evelyn Milford ’16 clarified immediate concerns with the Rape Crisis Center sharing space with the Office of Prevention Services even as the group calls for a new RCC space that isn’t currently viable.

We encourage B.SASV to continue raising awareness about the issue of sexual violence on campus through regular reports of this nature as well as public advocacy.

However, it is not the role of students alone to improve the campus for the better. The administration has the power and influence to make change that is far larger than that which students alone can inspire. This board calls on the administration to work with student activist groups to enact policies and reforms that make the University a better space for all, using this report as a starting point for tackling a broad issue in specific, regular doses.

CATHERINE ROSCH/the Justice

Views the News on

On Monday, after three days of debate and 39 hours of filibuster by Democratic state senators, the Missouri Senate voted on and approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution which would protect religious groups that refuse to facilitate same-sex marriages, according to a March 9 New York Times article. Before becoming official, the bill must pass the state Senate once more and then pass the state House. This proposed amendment highlights the constitutional struggle between those who claim same-sex marriages are an affront to their First Amendment religious freedom and the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. Do you think this proposed state amendment is constitutional, and what is the best way for the First Amendment and Obergefell v. Hodges to coexist?

Paul Sindberg ’18 The best preschool in my hometown was operated in cooperation with the local church. The thought that my children could be denied access to good education because they have two dads is enough to convince me that if this bill is constitutional, the Constitution is no gold standard for morality. As Maria Chappelle-Nadal and her fellow Democrats argued on the floor of the Missouri Senate, this bill’s terms stretch beyond allowing religious figures to deny marriages to same-sex couples. This bill allows any organization or business to deny service to LGBT people on religious grounds. The homeless youth shelter in my hometown was also operated by a local church, and 40% of homeless youth are LGBT. According to StartClass.com, of the top 10 preschools in Missouri, five have religious affiliations. Any amendment which would preclude my child’s access to education is in violation of my right to liberty. The First Amendment and Obergefell v. Hodges can coexist just fine: It’s the old white men using the Bible to justify their absurd fear of my people that needs to go. State Senator Bob Onder, I’m looking at you.

Paul Sindberg ’18 is the Treasurer of Brandeis Democrats. He is also the Class of 2018 Senator and an Executive Senator in the Student Union.

Laura Tretiakova ’18

The separation of church and state implies that the state cannot legislate how any religious group practices their religion. While Obergefell v. Hodges guarantees same-sex couples the same legal rights and protections as opposite-sex couples under the law, it cannot force religious groups to hold same-sex marriage ceremonies. However, personal religious views should not allow people that represent non-religious institutions to discriminate against same-sex couples. I understand that being rejected by a religion that one practices can have great emotional and psychological ramifications.

The Obergefell v. Hodges syllabus itself argues the importance of marriage in a religious context, while also discussing the freedom of religion. Ultimately, I firmly believe in the separation of church and state, in this and all other issues, and as such I think that religious groups can have control over their own domain but cannot use the excuse of religious views to discriminate in other areas of life.

Laura Tretiakova ’18 is the president of Queer Policy Alliance.

Rev. Matthew Carriker The proposed Missouri state amendment would shield religious groups from having to facilitate same-sex weddings and allow businesses to refuse services to same-sex couples. The first amendment prohibits any law that impedes the free exercise of religion. Yet have we not changed our constitution when it has been discriminatory? While it was constitutional in our country for slavery to exist (justified by religion, no less), today the 13th Amendment outlaws slavery. It was once constitutional in the United States for women not to vote, and for there to be “White only” establishments. Yet the 19th Amendment did away with gender-based voting discrimination. The 1964 civil rights act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Being married to a black woman, I am still shocked that interracial marriage was illegal until the Supreme Court decision of 1967. I am no legal expert. But, the fact that this bill could mean denying married gay people housing, employment, social services and schooling rings awfully close to the discrimination of blacks that the civil rights movement sought to change.

Rev. Matthew Carriker is the Protestant Chaplain at Brandeis University.

Frankie Marchan ’19 The same-sex marriage — granting all dependent couples and families identical civil liberties — sanctioned by Obergefell v. Hodges is a civil union, which does not necessarily fit into every religious definition of marriage. Some religious groups define marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and this is usually associated with the procreative formation of families. A religious group should not be forced to facilitate a marriage that does not fit within their traditional definition of marriage. However, it is imperative that same-sex couples be treated with the same respect and privileges with which an opposite-sex couple married outside the specific religion would be treated. Everyone deserves the same respect. The tension between the First Amendment and Obergefell v. Hodges is primarily one of semantics, and, if considered respectfully, should not pose more of a problem than the coexistence of multiple religious groups within a secular state.

Frankie Marchan ’19 is a member of the Brandeis Catholic Student Organization.

THE JUSTICE ● fORUM ● TUESDAY, mARCH 15, 2016

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Support Just Employment Policy for campus service workers

By Divanna Eckels JUSTICE Contributing WRITER

Over the past year, the work of the Brandeis Labor Coalition can been streamlined into two important core campaigns: the Just Employment Policy campaign and the Faculty Forward campaign. One of these, the Just Employment Policy, was inspired by Georgetown University’s Just Employment Policy, which addresses similar issues to our own.

Georgetown University was the first university to get a policy like this one approved by the university.

Our policy seeks to counteract unjust labor conditions and wages for Sodexo workers, who have no collective bargaining power with the University because they are contracted by an outside organization. As employees whose work keeps this university functioning properly, they should have a say in the terms of their contracts.

Currently, some Sodexo employees who work at Brandeis make less than a living wage in their first years of employment, after which their wages increase to a living wage, which was negotiated by their union, “UNITE HERE!” The living wage in Waltham is about $15 an hour for a single adult, according to the Crittenton Women’s Union’s Economic Independence Calculator.

The Just Employment Policy seeks to ensure an indexed living wage standard — a wage that fluctuates with the cost of living when it inevitably changes — that goes into effect at the beginning of employment because it is nonsensical for full-time employees to not receive enough pay to live and support their families at any point in their employment. The policy also seeks to create a harassment-free work environment and appropriate and effective channels to report grievances.

Grievances are supposed to be addressed within five days of being reported by employees, but there have been situations in which grievances were being reported but not addressed, and as such, they piled up. One of the seven points of BLC’s Just Employment Policy directly addresses this concern, stating that the University must provide appropriate channels to report and address staff concerns in a timely manner without retaliation.

In early 2015, the student body had the opportunity to vote on whether they supported the Just Employment Policy through a Student Union referendum. The student body overwhelming voted to implement the program, with 83 percent of voters indicating support for the policy, thus demonstrating crucial student support for dining workers.

GRACE KWON/the Justice

Presently, BLC is continuing this momentum for the advocation of our dining workers through our continuous negotiations with the administration to implement the Just Employment Policy, as well as through a letter of support. Dining workers are currently renegotiating their contracts with Sodexo for the first time since Sodexo became the main food provider for Brandeis in July of 2013, and the members of BLC have created a letter to express our support of the process, which will hopefully lead to better, more equitable contracts.

Among other things, our letter seeks to express how much we appreciate dining workers. By working long hours and coming in to work in poor weather — including snowstorms which close all other University operations — they make many sacrifices to carry out work that benefits students every day. This warrants appreciation and respect, and because of their hard work and clear dedication to the Brandeis community, Sodexo

dining services employees deserve equitable contracts with living wages and suitable benefits.Further, keeping current job classifications is of the utmost importance to employees, because, as the letter points out, “We understand that these classifications set clear expectations and make sure that the work [they] are being asked to do is work [they] are trained for and feel comfortable with.” As such, we recognize the value of these classifications and support Sodexo employees’ efforts to retain their current job classifications in their upcoming contracts. In the letter, we also express understanding that “health benefits are an extremely important safety net for [them] and [their] families, and should not be cut.”

The letter concludes with a promise to the workers: “We will do everything in our power to support you in retaining the benefits you have now, and will stand by you throughout the process. … We will have your back because you have always had ours!”

Several organizations have already cosigned this letter, including Brandeis Climate Justice, Brandeis Democrats, Brandeis Immigration Education Initiative, Amnesty International at Brandeis, Students for Education Reform, Brandeis Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and Queer Policy Alliance.

Co-signing the letter demonstrates a commitment to our entire Brandeis community and to labor justice, and other campus clubs should get involved because such a show of solidarity can only help the efforts of BLC and Sodexo dining services employees.

Everyone should support dining workers in this process. Engaging with your peers about these issues on campus and always showing respect to the dining services employees is imperative, because their work to provide us with sustenance every day must not go unnoticed.

— Divanna Eckels ’18 is a member of the Brandeis Labor Coalition.

Reevaluate United States’ relationship with South Sudanese officials Jessica

Goldstein ubuntu When South Sudan was born in July 2011, it was like “literally going to sleep in one country and waking up in another without moving,” according to former Senator Tom Andrews (D-ME) in a Aug. 31, 2015 interview with BBC News. It was the success story the United States always wanted for Africa democracy in action.

The birth of Africa’s “success story” would dismiss the stereotypes, particularly those that labelled Africa as a continent of only war and poverty.

Six months prior, the people of South Sudan voted in a referendum to seek independence from its violent neighbor to the North. According to the South Sudan Independence Commission, 98.83 percent of voters supported the cessation of South Sudan from Sudan. This addendum or right to referendum was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War, a two decade war that resulted in the deaths of 2.2 million people.

Violence in the country has since tarnished this once pristine image. In Dec. 2013, the exvice president of South Sudan, Riek Machar, allegedly hosted a coup against the government after President Salva Kiir deposed his entire cabinet that summer. This, as well as a history of ethnic division in the Sudan’s two wars,

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sparked the South Sudanese Civil War. In short, two politicians could not agree on who should take power, so instead, they decided to corral their country into ethnic conflict to even the score and attempt to gain the upper hand.

Despite this, the United States still remains quite involved in South Sudanese affairs. In 2015, the United States is one of the most significant funders in foreign aid to the ailing country, according to the Department of State.

We have since used our political power to influence the country’s flawed peace deal. We were there for the creation of the state that former President George W. Bush helped cement with the CPA in January 2005.

We should use our political power and relationship with the new state to ensure it’s fragile peace remains a reality and this can only be done by holding those responsible for the violence and near dissolution of the state accountable.

As of now, our largest responsibility seems to be to the governments and militias fighting more than two years of civil war. Rather than siding with the government and the militias by providing resources irresponsibly, the United States should instead be on the side of the people — by holding leaders accountable for their actions — democracy and independence after a history marred by violence and inequality.

The South Sudanese people are subject to an unspoken reality civilians are hiding in the swamps from their own governments and militias alike. In a Mar. 12 New York Times op-ed, Nyakier Gatluak, a displaced person, expressed, “Even if you die in the water, it’s better to be killed by snakes or crocodiles than by government soldiers.” In a country that is supposed to be a symbol of progress, women and girls are raped, men are castrated, and aid

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groups and journalists are targeted.

A March 11 United Nations report reveals evidence suggesting war crimes and crimes against humanity. There are instances in which government soldiers burned and cut civilians to pieces, but this perpetration of violence is not confined to government soldiers alone, according to a Feb. 24, 2014 article in Human Rights Watch.With all of this violence against civilians, how can we begin to mitigate conflict and help those suffering from food insecurity? How are militias and government soldiers alike able to continue to finance these grievous atrocities?

“

We should use our political power and relationship with the new state to ensure it’s fragile peace remains...

First, U.S. legislators must work toward cleaning up the illicit and lucrative trafficking and poaching networks. H.R. 2494: the Global Anti-Poaching Act passed on the floor of the House last November. The bill targets some of the greatest abusers of human rights who utilize the illicit funds to finance terrorism.

It would make it a “predicate offense” to participate in these networks and would improve governmental systems’ abilities to dismantle these networks.

According to the text of the bill, “poaching

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and illicit trade in endangered and threatened wildlife are among the most lucrative criminal activities in the world, worth an estimated $7 to $10 billion annually.” South Sudan’s government soldiers and militias are no stranger to this network, and as a result, it directly funds violence by enabling them to purchase arms.

Members of the Senate must pass this bill in order to better mitigate violence in conflictriddled areas.

South Sudan is also the victim of a kleptocratic regime that operates on a patronage network, according to the Sentry, an initiative of the Enough Project. The oil industry, the most essential portion of the South Sudanese economy, is corrupted. The resource serves as a central driver for sustaining conflict by providing funds. Therefore, during the current war, this specific resource is targeted by armed groups.

However, oil revenue also significantly opens the door for corruption, according to the Sentry. A 2007 audit report found that “$114 million in oil revenue was unaccounted for.”

The funds are likely like caught up in state coffers or in the hands of the kleptocrats. This serves as just one example of how illicit money laundering provides the framework for funding conflict. The U.S. must take forward steps in tracking and targeting these abusers.

Conflict in the world’s newest state shows the United States that it perhaps needs to look for another success story, but the country should not give up on South Sudan so quickly.

Approaching accountability through targeted sanctions has the unique power of stemming conflict without affecting the civilians on the ground. In 2011, overnight, South Sudan became a new country. In 2013, overnight, it did again. In 2016, over several nights, South Sudan could have a lasting peace.

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TUESDAY, March 15, 2016 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Trump presidency will undermine US foreign policy

By Maddox Kay JUSTICE Contributing WRITER

Donald Trump will build a wall. It will not be a physical one. Assuming the real estate magnate clinches both the Republican nomination and the presidency, he will isolate America from every nation he offends. He will wall us off with a barrier of ignorance and hate that few will dare climb. The true danger of a President Trump is not as a politician but as an ambassador.

While Trump would chip farther away at the middle class with conservative education and tax policies, that is not where the true danger lies.

Few of Trump’s more outlandish ideas would survive the scrutiny of Congress. The White House might get some gold plating, but, for the most part, the country would keep ticking in time under President Trump’s watch ― which, according to Marco Rubio, he’d be happy to sell you for the right price.

However, the president is more than a politician — he or she is a head of state and Donald Trump would be a very dangerous head of state.

Among other skills, being head of state requires diplomacy. Trump’s constant argument is that, as a businessman, he understands negotiation. Negotiating with troubled countries and maintaining peace takes a more delicate touch than selling condominiums, and Trump has already demonstrated that he can not remain composed during a presidential debate.

Trump would not be the first president to be unpopular abroad, but if the unprecedented international ire he has drawn thus far is any indication, he would take the prize.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto just compared Trump to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, according to a March 8 BBC article, and we’re still in the primaries. That Mexican-sponsored wall looks like a long shot.

In January, British Parliament met in response to a petition to ban Trump from the country which collected 575,000 signatures, according to a Jan. 18 CBS article. During deliberation, members of Parliament referred to him as an “idiot,” a “buffoon,” a “fool” and a “demagogue.”

Trump’s plan to ban all Muslim travel to the United States will not go over too well, either. Remember when George W. Bush ducked a pair of shoes in Iraq in 2008? Trump had best prepare himself for some carefully tossed steel-toed boots if he ever sets foot in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, spoke out against Trump’s remarks regarding Muslims, according to a March 10 CBS article. Our relationship with Israel is vital, and Trump threatens to strain it further.

Everywhere Donald Trump goes, he will

EMILY WISHINGRAD/the Justice

represent the United States. The rest of the world will not see the millions of hard-working men and women who work to put food on the table for their children.

They will read about Donald Trump’s net worth in the newspaper and see his properties on television.

They will not hear airplane passengers applauding a pair of soldiers in uniform. They will hear Donald Trump saying that John

McCain is not a war hero because he was captured.

America, you are too good for that. The damage President Trump would do to this country through policy pales in comparison to the damage he would do through international relations and diplomacy. There is, however, solace.

If Trump wins and we would like to live somewhere without walls, “Cape Breton is

lovely this time of year,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to the same March 10 CBS article.

—This article was originally written for Prof. Eileen McNamara’s (JOUR) class JOUR 145A: “Opinion Writing.”

Justice Managing Editor Avi Gold ’16 and Justice Associate Editor Jessica Goldstein ’17 are students in the class.

Condemn violent political rhetoric in presidential campaign Catherine

Rosch Cynical idealist

On Friday night, thousands of protesters shut down Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Chicago after 32 people were arrested at an earlier rally in St. Louis, according to Vox News in a March 12 article.

The protests came after a Trump supporter sucker-punched a black man at a rally on Wednesday in North Carolina and the Trump campaign refused to condemn the incident.

Following the cancelled rally on Friday, Trump told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that he believed the violence and confrontation at his rallies were caused by economic issues and protesters who are “very dangerous people,” not by inflammatory comments that he has made time and time again on the campaign trail.

This is not the first time that Trump has refused to denounce violence among his supporters; during Thursday’s Republican debate in Miami, when moderators asked him about quotes he had said in support of violent protesters, Trump refused to take back what he said as the audience cheered.

It is laughably untrue whenever Trump claims that his rhetoric does not inspire violence, that the hateful things his supporters do and say are caused by economic stress — that the protesters bring violence upon themselves. The facts disprove this narrative. For example, in August 2015, two men in South

Boston severely beat a homeless man with a metal pipe while saying Trump’s inflammatory statements about Latinos were correct.

What was Trump’s response? He told CNN on Aug. 18 that he would “never condone violence,” not that he thought that the men’s actions were abhorrent or that he regretted making his original comments, only that he did not actively support beating a homeless man who looked Latino.

There is an argument that Trump was not directly responsible for this incident in Boston: How was he supposed to know that his supporters would become so impassioned that they would commit violence?

The answer to this is simple: There is clear evidence that Trump’s campaign has directly inspired violence and targeted racial minorities — even at their own rallies. At a Feb. 29 rally at Valdosta State University in Georgia, a group of black students were forcibly escorted out of the rally.

According to a March 1 Washington Post article, the black students had quietly taken their seats to participate in a silent and nondisruptive protest when local law enforcement told them they had to leave the rally. In a March 4 Talking Points Memo story, Stryde Jones, a captain with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, said that Trump staffers explicitly asked him to remove the silent protesters.

Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress backed up this account, explaining that “Trump staff wanted them out.”

It seems that white supremacists are not considered a threat to safety and security at Trump’s rallies — at a March 4 rally in Kentucky, white supremacists were present in the crowd, according to a March 13 Vox article — but a group of black college students

silently protesting racism are.

Trump promises to “tell it like it is” and not worry about pesky things like racial stereotyping and political correctness. This is, according to a March 11 New York Times opinion piece, part of his appeal: “The notion that Mr. Trump voices ideas that his supporters are ‘afraid’ to express, vital truths lost to the scourge of political correctness, has been a rhetorical through-line of his campaign,” and both Trump and his supporters believe that voicing these ideas is part of making America great again.

“

There is a right to free speech, but there is no right to escape all consequence for offensive and harmful speech.

They seem to think that because it is no longer socially acceptable to sexually harass women or call black people the n-word or label over a billion people as terrorists on the basis of their religion that this new “political correctness” persecutes them in some way.

Yet even with the rise of political correctness, Trump and his supporters still are not being persecuted for these views.

Rather, they are saying all of these things, and in Trump’s case, it is winning him elections.

To say that Trump and his fans are being

“oppressed” for not being able to use racial slurs or treat women and minorities as less than equal is absurd. There is a right to free speech, but there is no right to escape all consequences for offensive and harmful speech.

Trump’s campaign touts a slogan “Make America Great Again,” but when was America last great? Was America last great in the 1980s, when tough-on-crime policies began disproportionately targeting black and Latino communities and when President Reagan and his administration joked about thousands of gay men dying of AIDS, as captured on tape and shared in the new short documentary, “When AIDS Was Funny”?

Was America last great in the 1950s, when racial segregation was the law of the land, the First Amendment did not apply to political dissidents and women could not take out a loan in their own name?

Was America last great in the 1940s, when American citizens were rounded up and detained on the basis of their ethnicity?

Was America last great in the 1910s, when child labor was legal and women could not vote?

Was America last great during the Antebellum, when slavery was legal?

Because no matter how you spin it, Trump is implying that one of these less-than-ideal periods in American history was the last time America was great.

For whom are we making America great?

Are we making it great for the white supremacists who have been flocking to Trump en masse, or are we making it great for the homeless man beaten with pipes, for the 30 black college students booted from a public space because of their race and for the protesters who gathered in the streets to combat bigotry and its harmful consequences?

THE JUSTICE

TENNIS: Women’s doubles split hard weekend matches CONTINUED FROM 16 helped me with swinging much more free on my returns and with hitting better spots and margins in doubles.”

On Friday, the squad dropped a tough match to the Stevens Ducks, despite taking wins on three of the final four singles courts.

Ng and Cihlar took the final two courts as Ng earned a straight-set win 6-1, 6-3 and Cihlar won 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

In doubles action, Granoff and Bunis took a 9-7 victory.

Women’s squad (5-4 loss to NYU, 5-4 loss to TCNJ) The women were unable to keep up with the host Violets on Sunday, despite splitting the singles courts.

The No. 1 duo of Haley Cohen ’18 and Olivia Leavitt ’19 lost 9-8, while Charlotte Aaron ’18 and Sophia He ’19 lost an 8-5 decision on the No. 2

● Sports ● Tuesday,

MARCH 15, 2016

13

ON THE HILL

court. Emily Eska ’16 and Maya Vasser ’16 took an 8-3 decision on the No. 3 court for the Judges.

Brandeis dropped the first three singles courts before responding with wins on the No. 4, 5 and 6 courts.

Cohen dropped a straight-set match 6-4, 6-3 on the No. 1 court, while Keren Khromchenko ’19 saw a 6-1, 6-2 defeat on the No. 2 court, and Leavitt fell in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

He won a three-set decision 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 on the No. 4 court, while Eska took the No. 5 court 7-5, 1-6, 6-2.

On Friday, the Judges traveled to TCNJ but were unable to take down the hosts in a 5-4 defeat.

Duos Cohen and Leavitt as well as Aaron and He took victories of their own on the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles courts, respectively.

The Judges return to action this Saturday when they host the University of Rochester, beginning at 10 a.m.

TRACK AND FIELD BRIEF Stender and Bryson finish in 12th place to lead Judges in Indoor Championships The men and women’s track and field team saw two runners finish in 12th place at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships last weekend, with Ryan Stender ’18 and Emily Bryson ’19 racing for their respective squads.

Stender represented the Judges in the men’s 3,000-meter race on Saturday afternoon as the 12th seed at the meet after recording the 14th-best time during the indoor season. He ran the race in 8:41.07 to match his seed, but was unable to crack the top-three New England runners at the event.

Stender’s time was two seconds ahead of St. Olaf College senior Paul Escher and four seconds ahead of Trinity College senior Patrick Hogland, who finished last year’s event in 12th place.

University of Wisconsin– Eau Claire junior Josh Thorson took the crown in 8:25.25 as part of the school’s secondstraight national title.

Bryson completed the onemile run in 5:04.62, earning 12th place in the preliminaries, four spots ahead of her seed. Her time was just over a second off her personal best and 97 hundredths out of the 10th spot, which would have seen her qualify for the finals.

Bryson ran in the second of the two heats, finishing in a solid seventh place.

Bryson was the first of the two rookies at the race to cross the finish line, outpacing Otterbein College freshman Claire Lamb by 14 seconds. She also finished her preliminary heat a full 10 seconds ahead of Swarthmore College senior Sarah Nielsen, who took an eighthplace finish in last year’s race for her team. Ultimately, Baldwin Wallace University took the team championship.

The Judges will open the outdoor season at the Bridgewater State Invitational on March 26.

— Avi Gold

MORGAN BRILL/Justice File Photo

WINDMILL STYLE: Pitcher Samantha Wroblewski ’18 pitches from the windup in a game against Suffolk University on May 9.

SOFTBALL: Team wins two of final three games CONTINUED FROM 16 morning. The squad fell behind 2-0 after second inning but used a 2-run fourth to take the lead heading into the sixth inning. The Judges traded runs with NYU in the sixth but had enough in the tank to ultimately claim a narrow win.

Sullivan and Moss again led the Judges’ offensive performance, combining for two home runs and three of the team’s four runs batted

in. Moss also finished with a double, adding to her already impressive tournament stat-line. Pitcher Sadie-Rose Apfel ’18 had a strong performance on the mound for the Judges, giving up a mere three runs (two earned) in her impressive complete-game outing.

The victory brought the Judges to 7-6 on the year and 5-3 in the tournament. For NYU, the loss dropped them to 4-8 overall and 3-5 in Florida.

After the hardships of the tournament, Moss spoke of the team’s endurance, saying “This team has clearly proven that we possess the skill, passion and grit to get it done ... What you cannot see from the numbers on the page is the tenacity, effort, spirit and togetherness of this team.”

Looking ahead, the Judges look to build on their momentum as they take on Clark University in a double-header on Saturday.

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●

Sports ● Tuesday, March 15, 2016

15

FENCING

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS baseball TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Runs Batted In

Not including Monday’s games.

UAA Conference Overall

W L W L Pct. WashU 6 2 12 4 .750 Emory 5 3 15 5 .750 Case 5 3 8 7 .533 Rochester 4 4 4 4 .500 NYU 2 5 4 8 .333 JUDGES 2 6 5 6 .454 Chicago 0 0 1 2 .333

UPCOMING GAMES: Today vs. Bridgewater State Thursday vs. Daniel Webster Mar. 20 vs. Clark (DH) *DH=Double Header

Greg Heineman ’16 leads the team with 10 RBIs. Player RBI Greg Heineman 10 Rob Trenk 7 Connor Doyle 5 Jay Schaff 5

Strikeouts Sam Miller ’16 leads all pitchers with 12 strikeouts.

Player Ks Sam Miller 12 Sean O’Neill 12 Bradley Bousquet 11 Elio Fernandez 10

SOFTBALL UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

Not including Monday’s games.

Runs Batted In

UAA Conference

W L Emory 10 0 WashU 14 4 JUDGES 6 4 NYU 3 6 Rochester 2 7 Case 2 8

W 21 6 8 4 4 7

Madison Hunter ’17 leads the squad with 14 RBIs. Player RBI Madison Hunter 14 Madison Sullivan 13 Keri Lehtonen 10 Marissa DeLaurentis 7

Overall L Pct. 1 .955 4 .600 7 .533 9 .307 9 .307 13 .350

Strikeouts Sadie-Rose Apfel ’18 leads all pitchers with 14 strikeouts.

Player Ks Sadie-Rose Apfel 14 Melissa Soleimani 13 Sarah Petrides 3

UPCOMING GAMES: Saturday at Clark (DH) Mar. 30 at Wellesley (DH) Apr. 1 at Worcester St. (DH) *DH = Double Header

track & Field Results from the men’s Last Chance Meet at Tufts and the women’s Eastern College Athletic Conference meet.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

3000-Meter Run

One-Mile Run

RUNNER TIME Ryan Stender 8:21.36 Mitchell Hutton 8:51.55

RUNNER TIME Kelsey Whitaker 5:11.19 Maggie Hensel 5:13.51 Kyra Shreeve 5:17.92

HEATHER SCHILLER/Justice File Photo

SWISH AND FLICK: Epeeist Sonya Glickman ’16 (right) parries a blow during a matchup against New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Squads bid bittersweet farewell in final contest

■ Epeeist Sonya Glickman ’16 cruised to a semifinal appearance in her final collegiate event.

By Noah Hessdorf

UPCOMING MEETS:

Justice Editor

Saturday at Bridgewater State University Apr. 2 at Tufts University Apr. 9 at Amherst College

TENNIS Updated season results.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

MEN’S SINGLES Michael Arguello

RECORD 2-3

WOMEN’S SINGLES Haley Cohen

RECORD 1-5

MEN’S DOUBLES Arguello/Cherkin

RECORD 3-2

WOMEN’S DOUBLES Cohen/Leavitt

RECORD 3-3

UPCOMING MEETS: Saturday vs. Rochester Mar. 25 men vs. Wheaton (Mass.)

Apr. 1 women at Nor’Easter Bowl

The men and women’s fencing team completed its 2015 to 2016 season on Sunday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Regional Tournament at Vassar College. Six fencers advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, but they went no further.

For the men, the top performance of the day came from foilist Guillermo Narvaez ’18, who finished in 17th place. His score of 3-3 was good enough to propel past the first round and into the semifinals, where he was able to add another key victory.

Unlike the foil squad, the epee squad had two competitors make the semifinals, epeeists Albert Reiss ’17 and Ari Feingersch ’16. Both men went 3-1 in the first round while competing against fencers from Brown University, New York University and Hunter College.

Feingersch went 3-3 in the second round with wins again against

Brown and NYU, as well as a victory against Boston College, to move on to the semifinals.

Reiss had a more difficult time getting there as he finished in a tie for the last spot. Competing against sophomore Avery Vella of Yale University, Reiss edged his foe 5-2 to move onto the semifinals.

Feingersch and Reiss struggled in the semifinals, with the two fencers finishing in respectable places of 18th and 20th, respectively.

The other fencer from the men’s side to make the semifinals was saberist Curtis Wilson ’18. Wilson added three individual victories for the afternoon en route to a 21stplace finish. He defeated opponents from Hunter and Vassar and a saberist from St. John’s University, senior Roman Sydorenko, who was the eventual champion.

For the women’s team, two competitors found their way into the semifinals for their final collegiate fencing events.

Epeeist Sonya Glickman ’16 advanced to the semifinals easily, just narrowly missing a spot in the finals. She finished a victory away from the finals after defeating opponents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown in the semifinals.

Also trying to extend her collegiate career was foilist Caroline Mattos ’16. Mattos struggled in the second round where she finished with a record of 2-4, with her two victories coming against MIT and Harvard University. She missed out on qualifying for what would have been her third trip to the NCAA Championships.

While it is disappointing that no Judges qualified for the National Collegiate Championships, it is even more so because of the location of the tournament. This year’s championship will take place at Brandeis itself on March 24 to 27.

While they did not have a competitor reach the National Championships, the team did have a successful season.

Highlights of the year include a third-place finish at the New England Collegiate Championships at Wellesley College on Feb. 20 and an undefeated 5-0 record at the Northeast Conference Meet at Brown on Nov. 21.

The men will see seven of their members leave the team as seniors, while the women’s side will lose an astounding nine teammates. The rebuilding process will weigh heavily on the first years and their ability to perform next season.

pro sports BRIEF Teams slide into bracket positions and into all-out playoff mode as tourney madness takes off On Selection Sunday, the NCAA tournament bracket was finally unveiled. In a season filled with upsets and surprises around every turn, the Selection Show continued that trend. Earning No. 1 seeds in the tournament were the University of Kansas, the University of North Carolina, the University of Oregon and the University of Virginia.

Oregon and Virginia were the surprises among the group, as pundits across the board were in shock to see Michigan State receive a No. 2 seed instead. Oregon’s No. 1 seed is the first in the program’s history.

Kansas, UNC and Oregon each won their conference tournaments, as Virginia fell in the finals to UNC. While this crop of talent is immense, the No. 2 seeds are impressive in their own right.

Led by Michigan State, the entire group has a strong chance to make a Final Four run. Following Michigan State, the cluster includes the University of Oklahoma, Villanova University and Xavier University.

The Michigan Spartans won the Big Ten Tournament while the other squads were upset in their respective tournaments. Michigan State and Oklahoma are both led by shooting guards who are favorites for the National Player of the Year. Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield both are able to shoot the ball from outside the perimeter, while still putting the ball on the ground.

Villanova and Xavier were each upset in consecutive nights by streaking Seton Hall University.

Despite winning the Big East Tour-

nament and knocking off two topfive teams in two nights, the Pirates were only given a six seed and are set to square off against a solid Gonzaga University team.

Seton Hall will look to continue its impressive run against Gonzaga and through the rest of the March tournament madness. University of Kentucky, another conference tournament winner, has a tough matchup against Stony Brook University.

While Stony Brook is not a marquee national powerhouse, the upstate New York school had a terrific season for which it has garnered attention across the entire country.

Another low-key school poised to make some noise is Yale University.

Making the tournament for the first time in more than 50 years, the Bulldogs will look to upset Baylor Uni-

versity in the 5-12 matchup.

Other teams on upset alert are the No. 4 University of California Berkeley, which will go up against the University of Hawaii, and No. 4 Duke University against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

The two No. 13 seeds in Hawaii and UNC Wilmington have both shown their ability to compete with the elite of the country and look poised to bring trouble as the underdogs.

As always, there was controversy in who the NCAA Selection Committee selected to the tournament.

Noticeably absent were Monmouth University and South Carolina University. Both schools started their respective seasons off strong before slipping down the stretch. Still, many believed they had a stronger case than other squads that made

the tournament, such as the meager University of Michigan and mediocre University of Tulsa.

One of the most notable misses, however, was Louisiana State University, which started the season as a sure bet for the tournament. With freshman star Ben Simmons at the helm of the team, the squad seemed poised for greatness. Yet the team slowly fell apart throughout the season, ending with a truly disappointing 19-14 record and a flat third place overall in the Southeastern Conference.

While the arguments about what teams were snubbed have the potential to take away from the hype of the tournament, this March Madness is sure to be as wild as ever.

— Noah Hessdorf

just

Sports

Page 16

SMOOTH FOOTWORK The men and women’s fencing team fell short of final bid in the NCAA Regional Tournament, p. 15.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Waltham, Mass.

softball

STAYING FOCUSED

Squad snags second place ■ Catcher Keri Lehtonen ’19

and infielder Liana Moss ’17 combined for six runs in a drubbing of Case.

By GABRIEL GOLDSTEIN JUSTICE staff writer

The women’s softball team was in Altamonte Springs, Fla. this past week for the University Athletic Association conference tournament. The squad had a strong showing at the tournament, finishing the week with a 6-4 record, good enough to place second overall. The Judges started the week strong, defeating conference foes University of Rochester, New York University and Case Western Reserve University. The team carried that momentum into the weekend, where they seized victory in three of their final five games.

MIHIR KHANNA/Justice File Photo

LEVEL-HEADED: Pitcher Bradley Bousquet ’18 kept his weight back and waited for a ball to hit against Suffolk University on May 9.

Men secure two key wins in tournament ■ Pitcher Sean O'Neill ’18 allowed only one run in a stellar offensive performance against a strong New York University

By JERRY MILLER JUSTICE Editor

The baseball team lost four of its last five games in the University Athletic Association tournament, beating New York University in a thriller on Saturday. The Judges ended the University Athletic Association Tournament with a 2-6 record and sit at 5-6 overall.

Emory 9, Judges 3 The Judges came out strong defensively in the first two innings of the game. Pitcher Sam Miller ’16 pitched solidly to start the game, allowing no runs in the first two innings of play.

The next three innings proved to be the downfall of the team, with the Emory squad racking up seven runs in a pure beating of the Judges’ pitching.

The Judges tied the game in the fourth with a lead-off homerun from outfielder Ryan Healy ’16. Yet the Judges’ success was short lived, giving up five runs in the top of the fifth to surrender their chances.

Miller was done for the day, allowing four earned runs and striking out just four batters.

Pitcher Anthony Nomeako ’17

came in for relief but was similarly attacked by the Emory offense.

Nomeako surrendered three runs, only one of which was earned, in his short-lived two innings of play.

The Emory offense continued its barrage of runs into the sixth inning, tacking on two more runs to the scoreboard.

The Judges finally subdued the hot Emory offense in the last three innings. However, that was not enough to stave off an Emory win.

The Judges mustered only one run in the next three innings, not nearly enough to take back the sevenrun lead.

Pitcher Daniel Schupper ’16 closed out the game for the Judges, allowing only two hits and no runs.

The scoreboard flashed 9-3 as the Judges left the field in despair. Emory improved to 5-3, taking second place in the standings, while the Judges fell to 2-6 in conference play.

Judges 7, NYU 6 The Judges came out victorious in a hard-fought battle against the NYU Violets on Saturday.

The game started out on a low note for the Judges, with pitcher Sean O’Neill ’17 hitting the first batter of the day and allowing one run in the top of the first inning.

Yet the Judges responded well in the bottom of the half, bringing in two runs off an error and a sweet single up the middle by first baseman Greg Heineman ’16. The NYU defense tacked on one more error during the inning after a failed pick-off attempt.

The Violets regained the lead in the third, scoring two runs in the top of the inning. Senior catcher CJ Picerni hit a rocket off O’Neill to bring in both runs and increase O’Neill’s earned run total to three.

Once again the NYU defense committed costly errors, this time in the bottom of the third, to give the Judges one more run. Outfielder Liam O’Connor ’16 advanced to second on a throwing error, eventually scoring the lone run.

The Violets continued to trade runs, regaining the lead with a run in the fourth. O’Neill gave up a double to left field and a subsequent run in the top of the inning.

The teams continued to exchange run for run throughout the rest of the game. The Judges scored a game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth, which ultimately saved the game and pushed play into two extra innings. Both teams played evenly throughout the 10th inning, pushing the game even further into 11 innings of play.

In the bottom of the 11th, infielder Benjamin Bavly ’19 scorched the NYU pitching with a deep double to center. With just one out, Heineman came to the plate and smashed a walk-off single up the middle, bringing in Bavly for the win.

With the win, the Judges improved to 2-5 in the UAA tournament and 5-5 in the overall season.

The Judges will continue their campaign today against a 5-3 Bridgewater State University team before taking on Clark University in a doubleheader on Sunday.

Judges 5, Emory 13 The Judges struggled mightily in their final game, falling to UAA powerhouse Emory University.

The Eagles came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, mounting an 8-1 lead by the end of the third inning. Though Brandeis mustered up a counterattack of their own in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs, the Eagles were able to immediately respond with four of their own in the top of the seventh on their way to an easy victory over the Judges.

The Eagles’ balanced offensive attack was led by freshman shortstop Cassie Baca and junior thirdbaseman Melody Carter. Baca and Carter both finished with a home run and a double, combining for five hits and four runs batted in.

The Judges’ offensive attack was led by infielders Madison Sullivan ’16 and Liana Moss ’17. Sullivan and Moss combined for three of the Judges’ five runs batted in. Beyond Sullivan and Moss, however, the Judges struggled greatly to generate consistent offense.

The victory brings the Eagles to an impressive 21-1 on the year and 10-0 at the UAA conference tournament. With the victory, the Eagles seize the tournament championship. The loss brings the Judges to 8-7 overall and 6-4 in Florida, resulting in a second-place tournament finish, the team’s highest finish since 2010.

Judges 8, Case 4 In contrast to their matchup against the Eagles, the Judges turned the tables on Case on Saturday, mounting a 7-0 lead by the end of the second inning.

Case responded with three runs of their own in the third inning, but found their early deficit insurmountable. The Judges offensive onslaught was guided by catcher Keri Lehtonen ’19 and infielder Sullivan. The two combined for six of the Judges’ eight runs batted in, each finishing the game with a home run.

Case was led by sophomore firstbaseman Grace Tritchler, who finished the game with a home run, a double and three runs batted in.

Case struggled most on the mound, with junior pitcher Annie Wennerberg lasting only 1.2 innings to start the game. She was pulled after giving up a quick seven runs.

Judges 4, NYU 3 The Judges claimed victory in a close battle with NYU on Friday

See SOFTBALL, 13 ☛

Tennis

Judges lose narrow battles against top foes ■ Ryan Bunis ’17 took a two-

set win on the No. 2 court in a 7-2 team win against New York University.

By AVI GOLD JUSTICE EDITOR

The men and women’s tennis team battled regional and University Athletic Association opposition last weekend in contests against the Stevens Institute of Technology, the College of New Jersey and New York University. The No. 26 men split their two matches while the women dropped both matchups.

The No. 28 women sit at 1-5 on the year as their losing streak extends to four games, while the men improve to 2-3 with Sunday’s win.

Men’s squad (7-2 win over NYU, 5-4 loss to No. 25 Stevens) The Judges swept the courts against their UAA foes on Sunday to seal a victory on the road, including straight-set victories in four of the five victories.

Ryan Bunis ’17 took a win on the No. 2 court, while Michael Arguello ’17 rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory on

the No. 3 court. Jackson Kogan ’19 cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory on the No. 5 court and Zach Cihlar ’19 won on the No. 6 court by a 6-3, 6-2 final.

“I think the tough loss against Stevens prepared us to really battle and fight in each match against a tough NYU team. I think every guy battled and gave their all in every match, singles and doubles, and it really showed with the two 9-7 wins in doubles,” said Kogan.

Tyler Ng ’19 battled to a three set victory by the final of 7-6, 6-7, 10-7 on the No. 3 court, while Brian Granoff ’17 lost a marathon on the No. 1 court, 6-4, 4-6, 12-10.

The Judges took two victories in doubles action, as Cherkin and Arguello took a 9-7 decision on the No. 1 court and Danny Lubarsky ’16 and Kogan matched a 9-7 win on the No. 2 court.

“One big thing [Lubarsky] and I worked on was for me to put more pressure on our opponents when I was at the net. I think that change showed its importance in the final two games against NYU when I hit around [three] volley winners just from being tighter on the net off of good shots from [Lubarsky],” Kogan remarked. “[Lubarsky] has really

See TENNIS, 13 ☛

just

Vol. LXVIII #20 March 15, 2016

“Dog Sees God” »p.18

Waltham, MA.

Images: Mihir Khanna/the Justice, Creative Commons. Design: Amanda Nguyen/theJustice , Abby Grinberg/the Justice.

18

THE JUSTICE | Arts i TUESDAY, March 15, 2016

theater

CATCH-UP CHAT: Van’s sister (Lily ’Shrayfer ’18) talks to CB (Dylan Hoffman ’18), whom she has not seen in years, about his relationship with Beethoven.

MIHIR KANNA/the Justice

Parodic play touches on dark topics

By Lizzie Grossman justice Editor

As the curtains open, the stage is revealed to be embellished with some very familiar set pieces. On the right side is a brick wall. In the middle, a piano. And on the left side is a red doghouse with “Snoopy” written across the top. In the middle of the stage, Dylan Hoffman ’18 sits writing in a notebook, wearing a well-known yellow t-shirt with a brown zigzag pattern.

“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead,” presented

by Brandeis Players, opened last Thursday and ran through Sunday. As evident from the setup and characters, the play indeed parodied the popular comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles M. Schulz.

However, unlike “Peanuts,” which focuses on the lives of young children and is considered to be humorous and cute, “Dog Sees God” has much darker undertones and deals with themes such as bullying, sexuality and violence.

The story revolves around many of the characters from “Peanuts” as high school students, with much different personalities than anyone part of the Peanuts fandom would expect of the them.

“CB” (Hoffman) — who is clearly parodying Charlie Brown — is dealing with the death of his dog, who has passed away from rabies.

He continuously tries to write to his pen pal, who does not end up responding until the end of the play, about his feelings. His sadness causes him to ponder over

questions about an afterlife, his sexuality and his social status, as well as many other topics that add to the theme of the show.

Meanwhile, Beethoven (Benjamin Korman ’19) — imitating Schroeder — is distressed by the fact that he is bullied almost every day of his life. CB and Beethoven used to be very good friends but have parted ways.

When CB discovers Beethoven playing piano in his music room and spills out his feelings over the death of his pet, Beethoven, in return, shares his bullying experience with CB. CB and Beethoven, both feeling sympathy for each other, make a plan to try to rebuild their friendship.

At a party at Marcy’s (Remony Pearlman ’19) house, Beethoven is made fun of for his homosexuality and is asked to leave. CB proceeds to stand up for Beethoven by kissing him in front of everyone.

The relationship between the two boys is the root of many of the problems that persist throughout the play.

Both boys must get used to the idea of loving each other. They are required to deal with bullying from their classmates. Matt (Zain Walker ’18), one of CB’s close friends, is furious that Beethoven is in love with CB and harasses Beethoven to the point where he commits suicide. This causes even more distress for CB, who deeply regrets not having been friends with Beethoven for all those years.

The casting for the show was very well done. Each cast member

LUNCH GOSSIP: Matt (Zain Walker ’18), Tricia (Emily Galloway ’18) and Marcy (Remony Perlman ’19) discuss Marcy’s upcoming party.

MIIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

brought the personality of their character to life. It was especially interesting to see the teenage personas of the well-known “Peanuts” children.

CB’s sister (Talia Bornstein ’19), who is the teenage version of Charlie Brown’s sister Sally, is goth. Van (Otis Fuqua ’19), who is the equivalent of Linus, is a pothead who has a crush on CB’s sister.

Peppermint Patty, who throughout the play is known as Tricia (Emily Galloway ’18), and Marcy are the “popular” girls. Van’s sister (Lily Shrayfer ’18), who is clearly Lucy, does not have nearly as big a role in the play as she did in the series. She is now a pyromaniac who has been taken to a mental institution after setting fire to the hair of the wellknown “little red-head girl.”

One of the most interesting and complex characters is Matt. It is unclear for most of the show which teenage “Peanuts” character he is.

He is CB’s best friend and a popular guy who is good friends with Tricia and Marcy. He is extremely germophobic and homophobic, and he spends lots of time bullying Beethoven about his sexuality.

He is not wearing the signature clothes of any “Peanuts” character, as the others do, nor does he have a name that alludes to a “Peanuts” counterpart character, such as “CB.” It is not completely clear who Matt represents until one of the later scenes, in which he tells Beethoven to stay away from CB, to which Beethoven, extremely enraged, calls Matt by his old nickname — “Pig Pen.”

Matt’s character was the most different from his younger “Peanuts” counterpart than any other character. Considering that Pig Pen is not a major character in the “Peanuts” series, it was an intriguing mystery to me throughout the show who he was portraying, which made it especially interesting to watch.

Walker did a fantastic job at embodying his character, bringing a level of “toughness” to Matt that gave him the aura of a real high school “bully.”

The show was extremely heavy and dark to watch and actually managed to bring some audience members to tears at various parts.

However, there were also some parts in the show that were hard to not laugh at.

Although the whole cast brought such great character to their roles, including at the solemn parts, they had a way of making all of the hilarious lines in the show even funnier. Galloway and Pearlman did a great job bringing the stereotypical “popular girl” vibe to their characters, and Tricia and Marcy were definitely the comic relief of the show.

The show itself brought back a few recognizable trends from “Peanuts” — there is a scene where Tricia and Marcy are talking about a teacher who they are mad at, and Tricia imitates him by going “Woh wohwoh,” a humorous reference to the adults in the “Peanuts” television series, who are never actually seen on screen and do not speak in words. During the party at

Marcy’s house, the teenagers start dancing to the familiar “Peanuts” theme song.

One of most creative and impressive elements of the show was the music that the Brandeis production staff added. Nearly all of the songs were pop-punk/emo songs from the early 2000s, which not only went with the theme of the show extremely well but also added a very desirable dose of nostalgia that, at least for me, made the somber play more fun to watch.

The songs that the production staff picked paired perfectly with their respective scenes. When CB and Beethoven kiss each other after the party, “First Date” by blink-182 plays in the background.

In the first scene, when Beethoven plays the piano in the background to add effect to the grave scene, the tune he is playing is the beginning of Simple Plan’s “I’m Just a Kid.” As the scene ends, it becomes clear how well the message of the song represents the theme of the show.

“Dog Sees God” was no doubt an extremely intense show and encompassed many burdensome themes that were probably very triggering for many members of the Brandeis community. However, between the amazing acting, unexpected humor, allusions to the extremely lovable “Peanuts” and fantastic music, it was overall very well done. “Dog Sees God” definitely made its mark in Brandeis theater as a show that managed to delight the audience while also shining light on serious issues.

BOYFRIEND FRUSTRATION: CB (Dylan Hoffman ’18) and Beethoven (Benjamin Korman ’19) discuss their relationship.

MIHIR KANNA/the Justice

THE JUSTICE i arts i TUESDAY, march 15, 2016

19

Culture K-POP TUNES: An a capella group, led by Jeongmi Seo (right) ’18, performs “Um Oh Ah Yeh” by Mamamoo.

ABBY GRINBERG/the Justice

K-nite celebrates Korean Culture By max moran justice editor

Anyone walking past Levin Ballroom on Saturday night would have been staggered by what they would have seen. A line of over 200 students — and a few proud parents — were eagerly jostling to get inside for the Brandeis Korean Student Association’s annual K-nite stage show. This year’s presentation, titled “Heart and Seoul” (get it?), featured a loving salute to Korean culture, including everything from Tae Kwon Do demonstrations to K-Pop dancing.

Once the doors finally opened, the crowd was greeted with blasting pop music, a dazzling light projection on the ceiling and collages of smiling Korean men and women pasted on the walls. A humorous introductory video showcased BKSA’s e-board

retelling a Cinderella-like story as one of their coordinators prepared to come to K-nite. Of course, this wasn’t your average fairy tale: the prince sat on a toilet bowl throne, the narrator made a few well-placed insults on Eduroam’s reliability, and men in dresses portrayed many of the female characters.

Finally, the show started in earnest. A white spotlight shining on him, Joon Daniel Lee, a student at the Berklee College of Music, kicked the show off with smooth acoustic covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and Coldplay’s “Yellow.” Lee’s rich and emotive voice filled up the room and earned wide applause.

Following Lee’s performance, the crowd was introduced to a running sketch wherein two BKSA members wandered around a Korean-American neighborhood and ran into different people

enjoying Korean culture, which would in turn segue into the next performance. The sketches and segues kept things light and funny; one of the presenters was raised mainly in Korea, the other in America. The American said he thought of tae kwon do when he thought of Korea, while the Korean replied he thought of Starcraft.

The first thing the two MCs encountered was an a cappella group, who performed two K-pop tunes. As the event’s program explained, K-pop blends American musical genres like rap, rock and techno with Korean performers and artistic style to create massively popular music. South Korea’s annual growth rate rose to over 10 percent in 2008 due to K-pop alone, according to the program.

The a cappella group performed “Yanghwa Bridge” by Zion. T and “Um Oh Ah Yeh” by Mamamoo,

two R&B-inspired tunes that sounded great.

Next, the crowd was treated to a traditional Korean fan dance, also known as Buchaechum.

Eunice Choe ’17 led a troupe of six dancers in the dance, the form which originated in the courts of the Joseon dynasty. Fluttering fans in ways that evoked natural images such as peacocks, waves and butterflies, the dancers moved in long, graceful motions and awed the crowd. Last before intermission was a tae kwon do demonstration.

David Lee ’16, Tommy Cheong ’17 and Becca Miller ’18 led a team of seven through several synchronized drills. The group even demonstrated their ability to break wooden blocks with their bare hands.

After a quick break for Chocopie treats and citrus tea, Bostonbased Gayageum player DoYeon

Kim performed a piece on the traditional Korean instrument.

Kneeling over the long instrument, she plucked a beautiful tune.

Following Kim was another musicbased performance — though of a very different style. Three K-pop dance performances had the crowd cheering for the women, men and later coed performances of popular songs like AOA’s “Heart Attack” and Big Bang’s “Bang Bang Bang.”

The talented dancers clearly loved performing in the hyper-modern style, as they popped, locked, sashayed and blew kisses to the audience.

Closing out the night was a rock band performance of “Wi Ing Wi Ing” by Hyuko and a belt out to Bruno Mars’ “Angel” by Lee. As the crowd grabbed a few more Chocopies for the road, not one person seemed less than exhilarated.

MUSIC

Lydian String Quartet performs in Slosberg

By JAIME KAISER justice EDITOR

On Sunday evening, the Lydian String Quartet performed in Slosberg Recital Hall, along with assorted guests, for a performance titled “Gabriel Fauré: A Chamber Music Retrospective,” as part of Fauré Festival Weekend.

The Lydian performance was the culmination of a two-day celebration of renowned French composer Gabriel Fauré.

This is far from the Lydian String Quartet’s debut campus appearance: The group is made up entirely of Brandeis faculty members in the Music Department, and they perform routinely at the Slosberg Center and at other local venues throughout the year. They have also traveled extensively beyond borders, putting on critically acclaimed performances throughout Europe. Currently, the quartet is made up of violinists Prof. Daniel Stepner (MUS) and Prof. Judith Eissenberg (MUS), violist Prof. Mark Berger (MUS) and cellist Prof. Joshua Gordon (MUS).

The event was the brainchild of Lydian quartet member Stepner.

In an email to the Justice, Stepner said, “I love Fauré’s music and feel

it is woefully underappreciated in this country, so I conceived the idea of a festival retrospective.” The Brandeis Arts Council provided him a grant to develop the project, which allowed him to invite musicologists with an expertise in Fauré for the kickoff Saturday event.

Carlo Caballero, a music professor and Erma Mantey Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder, expanded on Fauré’s significance in a written piece included in the Festival program. He said that in a conference he attended last year, “I discovered with pleasure and excitement that discourse around Fauré’s music has expanded and greatly diversified. He added, “[We] are in the first stages of imagining a spacious structure in which to explore his 64 years of creative work, one whose rooms may be surprisingly diverse and perhaps in some respects unfinished.”

According to Caballero, part of the reason Fauré has been historically overlooked in scholarship is because he “avoided direct alliance” with major artistic trends.

The concert featured three musical pieces. The first was one Fauré composed in 1924 and featured the Lydian Quartet

seated in an intimate semi-circle on the stage. It was divided into three parts: “Allegro Moderato,” “Andante” and “Allego.”

Chanson,” or “The Maid Song,” in English. Of the three pieces of the night, this one constituted the earliest of Fauré’s works — it was

AVITAL SIMONE/the Justice

STRINGS STARS: The four members of The Lydian String quartet perform their first musical number, which was composed by Fauré in 1924.

For the second number, the Quartet was joined by three other musicians, mezzo soprano Lynn Torgove, pianist Donald Berman and double bassist Kate Foss.

The piece was called “La Bonne

published in 1864.

The piece was based on the poetry by 19th century French poet Paul Verlaine. The songs were performed by Torgove in French, but audience programs included

English translations.

Torgove’s lucid vocals permeated the room, and although the language was foreign to most of the audience, the emotion of her voice told a story in itself. “La Bonne Chanson” was divided into nine different poems with music for each. Some, such as “Jai Presque peur, en vérité,” or “I almost fear, in truth be said,” evoked a kind of urgency because of its speed, while others had a more delicate, slower mood.

After a brief intermission, the Lydian Quartet took the stage once again, this time joined by pianist Ya-Fei Chuang, for “Quintet No. 2 in C minor.” Much like the opening number, this piece also had distinct sections: “Allegro moderato,” “Allegro vivo,” “Andante moderato” and “Allegro molto.”

Stepner said that typically, the group takes at least three weeks to rehearse a piece but that in this case, they did not need to devote as much time to the leading and concluding pieces because they have performed them on past occasions.

In addition to the concert, the Fauré Festival included three talks with Fauré experts and a concert with the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and Brandeis Chamber Choir on Saturday.

20

TUESDAY, march 15, 2016 | Arts | THE JUSTIce

Brandeis TALKS

INTERVIEW

What would you have done with the hour we didn’t have for daylight savings time?

Carly Chernomorets and Ben Astrachan PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLY CHERNOMORETS

Gabriel Carrasquillo ’18 “Daylight savings for me is like cutting the end of a blanket and putting on top thinking that you added blanket space. If I had that extra hour, I’d play video games.”

This week, justArts spoke with Carly Chernomorets and Ben Astrachan, director and assistant director of the Brandeis Players production “Dog Sees God.” justArts: How did you come across the opportunity to direct the show?

ILLUSTRATION BY ALI SANTANA/the Justice.

Monica Chen ’18 “I probably would have slept.”

Emily Bisno ’19 “I would sleep.”

Jake Greenberg ’18 “I would spend more time outside.”

—Compiled and photographed by Michelle Banayan/the Justice.

STAFF’S Top Ten

Mascotology

By Abby patkin

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Forty winks 4 _______-Barbera 9 Wood for making model airplanes 14 Minsk, vis-a-vis Warsaw 15 Bad start?

16 They’re heeded by scryers 17 Wraps (oneself) in, as velvet* 19 Cartoon character that can’t see all that well 20 Sunglasses spotted on Kim Kardashian 21 Partner in time?* 23 Having a mane, perhaps 26 Simpsons character who said “I’m better than dirt! Well, most kinds of dirt.”

27 Curvy road shape 28 Snarky advice on how to lose weight 30 Friend to François Hollande 33 Sports locale 34 Confession booth occupant 36 Hint to the first three letters of two of the starred clues 39 Word between the two theme clues 41 Hint to the first three letters of two of the starred clues 42 Daughter of 30-Down, formally 45 Forced conscription 48 Prefix with con 49 Really, really cool 51 Nervous pauses 54 It comes before la 55 Carrot-like plant 57 Photonic portmanteaus, in quantum theory* 62 Sam of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” fame 63 Tylenol competitor 64 A philatelist is a type of this* 67 ______ the Accuser (Guardians of the Galaxy villain) 68 Pay for, with “to” 69 Suffix with Japan or Taiwan 70 See 8-Down 71 They might need mending 72 _____ Boot DOWN 1 Sling stinging insults at 2 Hall and Oakley 3 Italian sauces 4 Resident of Gary, for example 5 Columnist Landers 6 Org. founded under Harry Truman, famous for its 68th report 7 Have a requirement for 8 With 70-Across, eventually 9 Most exciting, slangily 10 2009 Tony Dalton film 11 Building block

JA: What has been your favorite part of directing the show?

CROSSWORD COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

12 Inclement weather, say 13 “Unto us _____ is given” 18 Is able to 22 _____ Nostra 24 Shetland shutdown 25 Montagna di Sicilia 29 Alights (on) 30 Father of 42-Across, informally 31 Singer Tormé 32 Utter rage 33 Letters on a wanted poster, perhaps 35 “... _____ interrèd with their bones...”

36 Swanson of “Parks and Rec” 37 Exist 38 40 43 Promising, as potential 44 Missing, to the military 46 Sacha Baron Cohen recently did one 47 Relatives of a weasel 50 Opts (to) 51 As one 52 Drink often served with an orange wedge 53 Church features 56 Fleshy cavity 57 Star Trek equivalent to “Mach” 58 _____ Gobi (Curry dish) 59 _____, Vidi, Vici 60 Name that’s Crazy or Terrible 61 Achy, but not breaky 65 Abundant meadow 66 What a drug dealer might be on?

68 Onetime Giant 69 Estuary

1. Cincinnati Bearcats 2. Seton Hall Pirates 3. Austin Peay Governors 4. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 5. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 6. Oregon State Beavers 7. Indiana Hoosiers 8. Oregon Ducks 9. Wichita State Shockers 10. Kansas Jayhawks

CC: I think my favorite part of directing the show has been the amazing camaraderie that has developed within the cast. I feel so privileged to have worked with every single one of those immensely talented people. I was really flattered when they all agreed to be in the play in the first place. The collective brilliance of the cast has just made this experience so worthwhile.

Ben Astrachan: I think, going off the camaraderie idea, it was one of the safest spaces I’ve felt [at] Brandeis, just because we always kept the lines of communication open and always had conversations about the play and about our lives and how they connected to the play. It was just a very nice community feeling.

JA: What’s been the biggest challenge in directing the show?

SOLUTION COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

justice EDITOR

The top ten March Madness teams based solely on how much I like their mascot.

Carly Chernomorets: I think that Brandeis is starting to do a really good job of expanding its horizons and talking about underrepresented issues in the community, and I think that the show “Dog Sees God” kind of continues that trend, because we don’t see a ton of narrative of bullying or violence in response to bullying, especially at the college level.

I think it’s something that’s talked about a lot with younger people, but then they like to pretend that it just doesn’t exist after that. And so we thought it could be beneficial for everyone to be exposed to this narrative that touches on all those topics.

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CC: As Ben said, we placed a really high [importance] on creating a safe space with the content that we were working with. It’s been a challenge, but a really necessary challenge, to constantly be checking [on] ourselves and making sure that we’re creating a safe space for everyone.

BA: And also, [considering] the fact that we lost someone in our Brandeis community a week before the show went up, a big challenge for us was how the show now had to change in such a drastic way, we were able to figure that out, and it was hard coming to some of the last minute decisions of how we were going to put the play up and how we were going to make it work to really call for good conversation throughout the whole Brandeis community instead of making people feel sad, or worse, about what is happening.

CC: Creating a safe space ultimately ended up extending from just the casting crew to the entire Brandeis community. So it became a question of, Is this a constructive choice, or is this a choice that will hurt more people than it will help? And we ultimately decided that, for people who felt ready to see it, it could be [constructive].

—Lizzie Grossman