ARTS Page 19
SPORTS Women’s soccer wins two games 16 FORUM Condemn shady government officials 12 The Independent Student Newspaper
the
KNIZNICK GALLERY of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXX, Number 4
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
NOBEL HONOREES
CAMPUS LIFE
University calendars display student info ■ University Gmail calendars
containing sensitive and personal student information were insecure and exposed. By AVRAHAM PENSO and CHAIEL SCHAFFEL JUSTICE EDITOR AND contributing WRITER
Until yesterday, anyone with a Brandeis email account had access to the private information of students, faculty and administrators through the University’s Google Calendar network. Administrative calendars publicly displayed full names and phone numbers of some students and parents, as well as detailed family financial situations and student disability accommodation needs. While faculty and staff have since received directions for locking their calendars, students had not been informed of this issue as
of press time. The greatest quantity of unsecured data appeared in calendars for Student Accessibility Support and the Office of Student Financial Services, where students’ personal information could be found on open staff calendars dating back to 2012. “Having trouble paying for books, potential for more aid,” read one meeting description in the calendar of an SFS employee. Another meeting noted: “Father of [student name redacted] job loss. Discussion of further aid possibilities.” Sensitive student information was also accessible on a Student Accessibility Support employee’s calendar, which contained meeting descriptions such as “Figure out executive function challenges” and “Mother of [Student name redacted] - re: disability services for
See CALENDAR, 7 ☛
ADMINISTRATION
Task Force on Free Expression share draft with the community ■ The Presidential Task
Force on Free Expression welcomed community members to an open forum. By MICHELLE DANG JUSTICE EDITOR
The Presidential Task Force on Free Expression reconvened in open forum last week, following the committee’s release of their draft of working principles. University President Ron Liebowitz, Provost Lisa Lynch and Committee Chair Prof. George Hall (ECON) met with community members on Wednesday to ask for critique and questions about the proposals. In response to the growing national debate regarding free speech policies and political expression on college campuses, Liebowitz assembled the task force in November 2016, composed of members of the Board of
Trustees, faculty, staff and students, with a mission “to come together to reflect on and re-examine our University’s policies and practices related to academic freedom and free expression.” In March, shortly after violence broke out at Middlebury College regarding a controversial speaker, the task force held its first open community meeting, during which they asked Brandeis’ community members for aid in crafting a set of principles. The task force also “studied Brandeis’s history regarding free expression and academic freedom, reviewed other universities’ statements and practices, and engaged in conversations with a wide range of campus constituencies,” according to the draft. The first principle, “Maximizing Free Speech in a Diverse Community,” highlights the need for free speech in connection with a diverse and inclusive community, as well as
See FREE SPEECH, 7 ☛
YVETTE SEI/the Justice
NOBEL LAUREATE: Prof. Michael Rosbash at the University's press conference on Monday morning in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.
Profs. Rosbash and Hall receive the Nobel Prize ■ Rosbash and Hall were
honored for their work in understanding the molecular mechanism of the body clock. By MICHELLE DANG and LIAT SHAPIRO JUSTICE EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
“The phone call at 5:10 this morning destroyed my circadian rhythms,” Prof. Michael Rosbash (BIOL) joked of the phone call telling him he had won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It was a fitting statement from Rosbash, one of three joint Nobel recipients awarded for their pioneering discoveries in circadian rhythm. The prize was awarded yesterday morning by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute. Rosbash, the Peter Gruber Endowed Chair in Neuroscience, was lauded alongside colleague and Prof. Emeritus Jeffrey C. Hall (BIOL) for their four key publications on the circadian rhythm, published between 1984 and 1992. The assembly also awarded Dr. Michael Young, a faculty member at Rockerfeller University in New
York, for his three foundational publications on the subject between 1984 and 1998. The three scientists successfully isolated the period gene that controls the circadian rhythm. The Nobel Assembly wrote in a press release that thanks to “the seminal discoveries by the three laureates, circadian biology has developed into a vast and highly dynamic research field, with implications for our health and wellbeing.” The science all started with fruit flies, Rosbash explained in a phone interview with the Justice. “We spent a long time trying to figure out how biological timing takes place and how circadian rhythms are orchestrated directly. We found these key genes that work in the fruit fly and discovered a feedback loop — a transcriptional feedback loop — which is really the center of the timing mechanism [of how] the gene controls its own expression,” he said. “It turns out that the same mechanism is in humans … these proteins really govern a large fraction of the structure of the genome.” During a University press conference honoring Rosbash on Monday,
Provost Lisa Lynch lauded Rosbash for his “willingness to think about problems in a different way, for being unconventional in [his] scientific thought to make these kinds of breakthroughs.” Lynch asserted that the awarding of this Nobel Prize “celebrate[s] scientific knowledge through its most basic proponents.” Prof. Leslie Griffith (BIOL), a colleague and friend of both Hall and Rosbash, added, “Jeff has actually been a larger-than-life presence. His partnership with Michael made them an unbeatable team. This partnership is also a great illustration of the value of basic science.” The press conference also gave a glimpse into the professor’s humanity and humility: As University President Ronald Liebowitz remarked during the event, “In addition to being a Nobel Laureate, Michael is the number one fan of our basketball team.” Liebowitz added that “Michael represents the essence of what makes Brandeis special and unique — a world class curiosity, a desire to solve real-world challenges, and creating a community of scientists
See NOBEL, 7 ☛
Hey Siri!
Total Domination
Pro-Procrastination
The co-founder of Siri talked about the future of artficial intelligence.
The men’s soccer team crushed their opponents by scores of 5-1 and 1-0 this past week.
Jorge Cham, author of comic "Piled Higher and Deeper," gave a humorous lecture to grad students.
FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
Waltham, Mass.
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INDEX
SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3
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