The Justice, December 8, 2015

ARTS Page 18

SPORTS Swimmers go for the gold 16

“COMEDY FEST”

FORUM End name discrimination trend 11 The Independent Student Newspaper

the

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 LXVIII, Number 12

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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

FORD HALL 2015

Faculty

Students demand Asian American studies program ■ The Brandeis Asian

American Task Force seeks to increase visibility for Asian American scholarship.

By Max Moran JUSTICE Editor

A grassroots student activism group calling itself the Brandeis Asian American Task Force called on the University administration to create an Asian American studies program by Fall 2016 in a letter sent to senior administrators last Monday and posted on medium.com last Wednesday. The letter gives administrators just over one week to sign a contract pledging that they will accede to the demands, calling upon administrators to respond to BAATF’s demands by today.

BAATF has asked that administrators pledge to create an Asian American Studies Department, with both a

AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice

ANCESTORS WATCHING: Ford Hall 2015 leaders led chants just before the demonstration came to an end on Tuesday.

Ford Hall 2015 ends in agreement after 12 days ■ Interim University

President Lisa Lynch announced the negotiated agreement for the demands.

By Abby Patkin JUSTICE Editor

Twelve days after it began, the Ford Hall 2015 protest came to a close last Tuesday, with administrators agreeing to institute several new policies to address racial injustice on campus.

Of the original 13 demands the demonstrators made, all but one were addressed in the agreement.

The Ford Hall 2015 movement — named after the similar 11-day student takeover of Ford Hall in 1969 — began when a group of students, calling themselves Concerned Students 2015, sent a list of 13 demands to Interim University President Lisa Lynch, which included increasing the number of black students and faculty at Brandeis as well as training faculty on racial sensitivity. 24 hours after issuing the demands, the students then held a rally on the Rabb steps on Friday, Nov. 20. After the rally, the demonstrators marched to Lynch’s office in the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center, and announced that they would hold a sit-in, occupying the building until their demands were met. The sit-in continued over the Thanksgiving break.

At a Nov. 24 faculty meeting, Lynch spoke about the timeline of the protest and what the administration and Board of Trustees had done to address the demands. At the time, this included supporting Lynch’s Nov. 22 email to the community, which affirmed the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity without promising new initiatives. She also urged faculty members to support their students and colleagues and recognize that students of color carry a great burden both on and off campus. “This is not a frivolous moment, this is not a situation of a handful of disgruntled students who are … crybabies, to use some of the language that has been in the press,” Lynch said. “These are students who have had the courage to stand in public forums. … This is, these are situations that none of us in this room would wish on anyone in this room. Not on our children, not on our friends, not on our colleagues.”

Last Monday night, Concerned Students 2015 created a Facebook event called “Unity Day,” which called for all supporters of the movement to meet at Rabb steps at noon the following afternoon to “stand together in unity.”

The demonstrators then marched to the Fellow’s Garden outside the Shapiro Campus Center, alternating between chants and personal narratives of racial injustice. Initially, the student leaders said that administrators would be making a public announce-

minor and a major — an earlier version of the contract had asked only for students to have the methods of developing their own major, but this was a typographical error, according to BAATF President Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong ’17 in an email to the Justice. The students also ask for an introductory Asian American Studies course to be offered by Fall 2016 and three tenure-track professors of Asian American Studies to be cluster-hired by the end of Spring 2016.

Additionally, BAATF is demanding a Florence Levy Kay fellow — a twoyear-long, non-renewable teaching position for a post-doctoral student — for Asian American studies be appointed and that administrators act transparently and collaborate with BAATF throughout the process of creating the new department. The contract attached to the letter asks for signatures from Interim President Lisa Lynch, Senior Advisor to the

See BAATF, 7 ☛

Student union

ment to the group at 12:30. When the administrators did not show up, the demonstrators marched to the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center, where members of the administration were meeting with the Ford Hall 2015 negotiations team.

An email from administrators stating that they would not have a statement ready at 12:30 did not reach the student body, due to what Vice Provost, Chief Information Officer and University Librarian John Unsworth later called an “email bottleneck” that interfered with incoming emails, according to an email he sent to the student body later that day. “I am especially sorry that this outage interfered with important communications on campus today, in particular the discussions between the administration and the students involved in the sit-in at Bernstein Marcus,” Unsworth wrote. He also noted that the Library and Technology Services department is working on a more permanent solution to the issue.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Lynch exited the admissions building, and Flagel and Lynch addressed the demonstrators present at Admissions.

Lynch spoke first, reading aloud from the joint statement on Brandeis' commitment to diversity, inclusion and racial justice, which she later

Macklin delivers SOTU on Brandeis activism ■ Student Union President

Nyah Macklin and other Student Union members spoke at the biannual event.

By abby patkin and jaime kaiser JUSTICE editors

Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 addressed the student body at the biannual State of the Union address in the Shapiro Campus Center last night. Other members of the Student Union were also present and spoke during the event.

The event was hosted by Student Union Director of Programming Adriana Gleaton ’16, who opened the event by introducing Macklin. Macklin began her address by briefly touching on the path she took to end up as Student Union President. She noted that she came to the University as a transfer student during her sophomore year and wished “to dive into the Student Union as early as possible” to help her fellow students have a voice.

See FORD HALL, 7 ☛

She went on to reflect on the past few months, noting, “This has been one of the most insane semesters since I’ve embarked on Brandeis. I wouldn’t wish the presidency upon anyone. If you’re not ready to fight for the rights of your fellow students … if you’re not ready to work tirelessly to mend the relationships between your constituents only to watch it come crashing down every day ... and if you don’t love this job, then maybe the Student Union isn’t for you. But it is for every single one of us who’s here.

We all love this work and we will put in endless hours to make sure this work comes to fruition.”

Macklin then outlined her interpretation of the major roles of the Union, stating that “the Union has three main tenets: we advocate for the needs of our constituents, we allocate funds throughout the many studentrun organizations in a way that has maximized the impact of each organization … and we foster a sense of community.”

See SOTU, 7 ☛

A history of protest

Roughing it out

Call to action

 JustFeatures researched the history of the Ford Hall and Pearlman Hall takeovers.

 Women's basketball held their own against Johnson and Wales University, but ultimately fell 7165.

 Alexandra Shapiro '18 urged administrators to grant Prof.

Jillian Powers (AMST) a tenuretrack position.

FEATURES 8-9 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

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 9

OPINION POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3

COPYRIGHT 2015 FREE AT BRANDEIS.

2

TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS SENATE LOG Senate ties up loose ends in its final meeting of the fall semester On Sunday, the Senate convened for its last meeting of the semester to discuss the Midnight Buffet and other ongoing initiatives.

Senator At Large Lorenzo Finamore ’18 ran the meeting, as Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 and Student Union Vice President Dennis HermidaGonzalez ’17 were not present.

The Brandeis Virtual Reality Club approached the Senate for recognition and chartering. The Senate voted unanimously in favor of both recognition and chartering. Student representatives from the Brandeis Israeli Culture Club and from Students for Accuracy about Israeli and Palestinian Affairs also approached the Senate seeking to merge their clubs into the Judges for Israel. A student representative for SAIPA noted that his club wants to help host more pro-Israel events on campus and expand their outreach methods. The Senate voted unanimously in favor of de-recognizing SAIPA and changing the BICC constitution to reflect the name change.

Senator to the Off Campus Community Sam Krystal ’17 then discussed his ride-share program initiative, which would allow Brandeis community members to carpool to and from campus. Krystal noted that as of late, no one has applied for a Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund grant, which channels University funding toward beneficial programs and services for the community. He added that he wants to see if there’s a way to fund the program through the University to help get it off the ground.

The Senate then moved into the executive officer report, which was delivered by Adrianna Gleaton ’17, the Student Union Director of Programming. Gleaton announced to the Senate that Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 would be giving her State of the Union address at 8 p.m. on Monday night.

Next, committee chairs gave reports, the highlights of which included the total dollars earned from the Turkey Shuttle sales — $8,600 — Midnight Buffet updates and discussions on the most frequently used resources on campus, including communal spaces in dorms.

During the new business section, Class of 2018 Senator Paul Sindberg spoke about preparations for Midnight Buffet, which will take place on Wednesday. He noted that t-shirts for the event had been ordered, utensils and decorations were purchased and each senator would be in charge of a certain aspect of the event coordination, like t-shirt distribution and cleanup.

The Senate then voted to go briefly into executive session to vote on the Executive Senator for the spring semester. The senators voted to reelect David Herbstritt ’17, the current Executive Senator.

Once the executive session was over, the Senate moved on to senator reports. Rosenthal Quad Senator Will Jones ’18 noted that he received an email about the smell of marijuana permeating his quad, and he announced that he would spend his winter break figuring out how to reduce the smell of the recreational drug across campus. Sindberg told the Senate that he reset the PIN for voicemails in the Student Union office so that senators would be able to listen to messages from their constituents, which they had been unable to do before. The senators also discussed creating a new committee of senators to be trained as bystander trainers, resolving heating issues in Usen Castle and painting a mural in East Quad’s Airplane Lounge.

Class of 2018 Senator Skye Golann then announced that he would be taking a semester off from school, after which he will likely transfer to another college.

He stated that he would be stepping down as chair of the Senate Dining Committee, adding that North Quad Senator Hannah Brown ’19 will likely take over.

He ended by noting that former University President Frederick Lawrence is still paid by the University and still receives paid housing in Waltham, even though he has relocated to New Haven, Conn. to teach at Yale University. He added that the University pays its administrators — especially its president — more than Harvard University and other top-tier universities do theirs, and he argued that this money would be better spent toward scholarships for students of color.

POLICE LOG Medical Emergency

Nov. 27—A caller reported an unknown emergency inside the Heller School. University Police located the party in the library, who reported a sharp pain to the head and mouth area. The party was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital by Cataldo ambulance for further care.

Nov. 29—Police received a report of a party in Spingold Theater with a cut finger. BEMCo bandaged the finger.

Dec. 3—A party in North Quad reported their roommate was suffering from a fever. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further medical aid.

Dec. 4—A party in Ridgewood quad reported having a lacerated finger. The party was treated on the scene by BEMCo staff and refused further medical aid.

Dec. 5—Police received a report of an intoxicated party in North Quad. The party was treated on the scene by BEMCo staff and transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.

Drugs

Nov. 23—Police checked a building in Ziv Quad after a fire alarm and found that the alarm went off due to ignited smoke. Police found no damage and placed a party under arrest for possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute.

University Police transported the party to the Waltham Police station for further processing without incident.

Nov. 24—University Police assisted an Area Coordinator on Call in confiscating marijuana.

The Area Coordinator on Call filed University judicial charges.

Larceny

Nov. 29—Police received a report that a party’s credit card had been compromised and compiled a report on the incident.

Disturbance

Nov. 22—Police were forwarded information regarding people crying and sirens in the area of Ziv Quad and the Village Quad.

University Police checked the area and found the area all quiet.

Dec. 4—Police requested the Area Coordinator on Call for Ziv Quad for assistance with a noise complaint in the area. A large group left the quad upon the arrival of the coordinator.

Dec. 5—Police received a complaint of parties in the Usen Castle banging on a bell and talking loudly. The parties were gone upon the arrival of University Police.

Harassment

Nov. 22—University Police received a report of a party making verbal threats. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Nov. 23—A staff member in Bernstein Marcus reported receiving a suspicious email. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Other

Nov. 29—An off-campus party reported a suspicious party who exposed themselves. Univer-

SPREADING THE LIGHT

Flashers target Brandeis students on South Street

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

n The Justice has no corrections or clarifications to report this week.

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

Justice

the

www.thejustice.org

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods.

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The Justice Brandeis University Mailstop 214 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3750

—compiled by Avi Gold.

BRIEF

—Abby Patkin

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

sity Police compiled a report on the incident and advised the Waltham Police Department.

University Police also sent a unit to the Waltham Police station to compile a report due to the jurisdiction.

Dec. 3—Police received a report of a possum in the area of Usdan Student Center. Police moved the animal to the woods.

Dec. 5—Waltham Police Department reported college-aged people who were possibly students tipping over city residents’ trash barrels on South Street. A Waltham Police patrol unit observed the group going into the woods near East Quad. University Police checked the area but could not locate the individuals.

Dec. 5—Police received a report of a bag that had been in the Shapiro Campus Center all night.

An officer checked the bag and discovered several textbooks.

The bag of books was left with the information desk.

Barry Sasson ’16 (center) addresses the crowd gathered at “Light Up Brandeis,” a celebration to mark the first night of Chanukah. The event was sponsored by Chabad at Brandeis and many other student groups.

There were three separate incidences of individuals exposing themselves to Brandeis students on South Street in the last month, according to Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan.

Callahan wrote two emails to the community — on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, respectively — that addressed two recent incidences of indecent exposure and also mentioned a prior incident.

The incident on Nov. 29, according to Callahan’s first email, occurred at approximately at 10 p.m., with the male exposing himself to a female student near Wheelock Road and the William F. Stanley Elementary School on South Street. The incident on Monday also occurred at approximately 10 p.m., though it took place near the intersection of South Street and Shakespeare Road, according to the second email.

In his first email, Callahan wrote that the Waltham Police Department listed the suspect as being a “dark skinned male, possibly Hispanic, and in his 30s.” He added that the suspect was approximately 5’8” and had a stocky build, some facial hair and was dressed in black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt with the hood up.

The incident on Monday, he wrote, also involved an episode of indecent exposure, though this time, two Brandeis students were targeted. The police report listed the suspect as being “a white male, approximately 5 foot 6 inches tall, in his 30s, husky build, wearing gray sweatpants and sweatshirt with a black beanie,” Callahan wrote.

Callahan went on to state in his second email that the Waltham Police recently notified the University of another incident of indecent exposure involving a Brandeis student that occurred earlier in November.

He also noted that the Waltham Police is currently investigating both incidences and asked that anyone with information on any of the incidents contact the Waltham Police Department, and that anyone wishing to report a new incident contact the University Police as well.

Callahan concluded his email by reminding students to be cautious and aware when out at night. “As always, be mindful of your surroundings and please report any suspicious incident or activity to the Brandeis Police,” he wrote.

—Abby Patkin

ANNOUNCEMENTS Beyond Academia

In this webinar, Joshua Cracraft Ph.D. ’14 will share his own successful career transition and offer tips on identifying potential career paths, networking and marketing your skills in applications and interviews. This event is sponsored by the Hiatt Career Center and the Brandeis Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Today from 12 to 1 p.m. online at brandeis.joinhandshake.com.

The Immigrant Experience: Our Experience

What’s it like for immigrants who live in Waltham? What’s it like for Brandeis students who work with them? Join the students in the EL16a practicum class “The Immigrant Experience in Waltham,” taught by Marci McPhee, the director of campus programs at the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

The students will share what they learned from a semester working with

Charles River Public Internet Center, Prospect Hill Community Center, Waltham Family School or WATCH. Tomorrow, from 12 to 12:50 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center International Lounge.

Rediscoveries Join the 2015 Sorensen Fellows as they share experiences and memories from their summer internships spent putting social justice into action.

Thursday from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center Alumni Lounge.

ICC Presents: Holidaze — Special Edition

Studying hard for finals? Take a study break and stop by the Intercultural Center any time between 2 and 4 p.m. to get a free massage, make holiday cards for loved ones and have a snack. Free hot cocoa and holiday treats will be served.

Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.

Agape Dinner Church

Agape is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-affirming church in Waltham. Dinner Church is an opportunity to connect to God and one another and to share a home cooked meal.

Sunday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.

Messiah Sing

Join members of the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and Brandeis University Chorus in a community sing-along of featured works from Handel’s masterwork “Messiah.” Score sheets will be provided to event attendees.

The singing will start at 4 p.m. and will be followed a tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. with caroling, kosher cookies, and egg nog after. Don’t miss this annual tradition and holiday favorite.

Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

THE JUSTICE

Wen ’18 created a survey to gauge awareness of trans issues on campus.

By Abby Patkin JUSTICE editor

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

Rapper, artist, hip-hop scholar and activist KRS-ONE addresses students at a lecture on Wednesday. The event, titled “Art, Race, Activism,” focused on institutionalized racism, the power of hip hop and the need for greater unity in the face of injustice.

Faculty

Student letter urges department to place Powers on tenure track (AMST) is currently on a oneyear contract and may not be able to teach next year.

By Max Moran JUSTICE Editor

Upon hearing that Prof. Jillian Powers (AMST) was uncertain whether she would be able to return to the University next year due to being hired on a one-year contract, Alexandra Shapiro ’18 began drafting a letter to administrators and the American Studies faculty chair calling for Powers to receive a tenure-track position. Now that letter, along with several post-script testimonials from Powers’ past students, has been distributed to other faculty and undergraduate departmental representatives. Shapiro will potentially contact the Brandeis Faculty Forward movement as well.

Powers is one of 101 contract faculty members as of Fall 2013, making up 29 percent of the University’s total faculty, according to statistics on the University website. Specifically, Powers’ job title is of a “lecturer,” making her one of 44 faculty delineated as “lecturers/artists-inresidence.”

Lecturers are faculty members on one to three-year-long contracts who are hired primarily to teach and advise students, according the Nov. 30, 2009 Contract Faculty Guidelines available through the Provost office. While different departments and schools have different policies about funding any research being conducted by lecturers, Powers stated in an email to the Justice that she personally does not receive “any institutional support for my scholarship.” Powers teaches six courses, including an experiential learning practicum, according to the University faculty guide. Powers’ scholarship focuses on “how the boundaries of belonging are defined and substantiated along racial, ethnic and national lines,” according to her email. She is currently writing a book about how Jewish, African and ChineseAmericans each hire tour guides to travel to their respective lands of ancestral origin: Israel, Ghana and China. According to Powers, this past spring she was named the 2015-2016 Berman Foundation Early Career Fellow due to her research for the book, and she is using this research as a springboard for a

3

Senator launches pronoun and name preference survey ■ Senator at Large Lucy

scheduled TEDx talk in March.

Powers is compensated at a lower rate than tenure-track faculty but does receive health benefits because she is a full-time lecturer, according to her email. She later clarified to the Justice that she came to the University as a Florence Kay Fellow — a postdoctoral teaching fellow on a two-year, non-renewable contract — three years ago.

She was offered a one-year contract with “just over half time, (60%)” last year. Lecturers and artists-inresidence are the only contract faculty who can be hired on a yearly basis — all other positions in the University structure must be hired for at least three years. Full-time lecturers are generally hired after a nationwide search, according to the Contract Faculty Guidelines.

In her letter to administrators and Department Chair Prof. Thomas Doherty (AMST), Shapiro writes that “Professor Powers represents the current desires of Brandeis students as she gives voice to the marginalized and gives students of privilege the tools to find an end to structural oppression and systems of privilege. Her classrooms are legitimately diverse and provide white students with the tools to become accomplices in the movement for equality.”

In an interview with the Justice, Shapiro elaborated that “she’s the only person in the American studies department that specializes in race and ethnicity, and I think it’s kind of obvious that you can’t really talk about America without talking about race and ethnicity.”

The most common promotion for a lecturer is to senior lecturer, a position that includes three to five years-long contracts and possible additional compensation. However, senior lecturers are also employed only from contract to contract and primarily serve as teachers and student advisors. There is no procedure in the Contract Faculty Guidelines for promoting a lecturer to a tenure-track position.

Though she is not personally a member of Brandeis Faculty Forward — the organizing committee of adjunct and contract faculty pushing to create a union at Brandeis — Powers wrote to the Justice that she supports their efforts. There will most likely be a vote on the formation of a union sometime between now and Dec. 14, which Brandeis Faculty Forward hopes would represent both adjunct

TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

STudent life

BOOGIE DOWN TO BRANDEIS

■ Prof. Jillian Powers

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and contract faculty, according to a Nov. 10 Justice article. One of the topics of negotiation between the University and Faculty Forward representatives is the exact distinctions between various faculty, as well as the varying roles that lecturers and other contract professors serve across different departments and schools.

Several student movements have advocated recently for people of color to see increased representation in the University’s pedagogy; the Ford Hall 2015 movement, which ended on Tuesday, sought to increase black faculty to 10 percent of the University’s faculty and the Brandeis Asian American Task Force is currently calling on the University to create an Asian American Studies department.

Powers is Puerto Rican, making her part of the five percent of University professors of Hispanic descent, according to 2013 data on the University’s website.

Shapiro told the Justice that she drafted her letter over Thanksgiving break and sought testimonials from Powers’ past students, including recent alumni. There are 28 signatories on the final letter.

She initially sent the letter only to Doherty, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren and Provost Irving Epstein. On Dec. 4 sent the letter to American Studies UDRs because “they are able to attend faculty meetings so it would kind of be on their radar, they’re students.”

She is considering reaching out to Brandeis Faculty Forward and the Ford Hall 2015 and BAATF movements as well.

“If we look around at all the different things that are happening on this campus it’s clear that having an intersectional education is really key, and there aren’t enough spaces to learn to be a good accomplice,” Shapiro told the Justice.

Powers also stated in her email that she had no hand in writing the letter and “I am still trying to figure out how I can adequately respond in a manner that can express my full thanks and gratitude to her work and the time students took to write such thoughtful, personal, and detailed testimonials … even if this is to be the final chapter of my academic career or my time at Brandeis, Alex’s letter has shown me that I have succeeded.”

Doherty declined to comment for this article due to its focus on personnel issues.

Seeking to raise awareness of transgender issues on campus, Student Union Senator at Large Lucy Wen ’18 has distributed a survey via email to the community on the use of preferred pronouns and names on University-issued forms of identification.

Wen said in an interview with the Justice that she first learned of the issue by talking to Felix Tunador, the Intercultural Center’s current program coordinator for sexuality and gender iversity about potential methods of making the campus more transgender and gender non-binary-friendly. “We talked about how we wanted the ID cards to be changed so that the transgender people — or anyone who wants their preferred names on their card instead of their legal name — could have their preferred names on their ID so that when people call their cards, they won’t feel embarrassed,” Wen said.

She added that her next step was to approach the campus card office to discuss how feasible that change might be. The card office, she said, told her that the change likely wouldn’t be feasible in the shortterm, as the cost to re-issue cards to students would be significant.

She added that she has run into difficulties with the IDs needing to be a legal form of identification, though she mentioned the possibility of having the students’ preferred name on the front and legal name in smaller print on the back.

With this idea in mind, Wen decided to gauge how many students would support the initiative on campus, as well as how many would directly benefit from this change. “By doing this [survey], we can show … that a lot of students are supporting this, and if we get the data, we’ll have the confidence to talk to administrators ... about policy changes,” she said.

Though she initially hoped for 15 percent of the student body to participate in the survey, Wen said she’s only gotten about 8 percent so far, or 250 individuals, though the survey will still be open for another week. She added that her

goal is to analyze the data collected through the survey and bring the results to administrators as a bargaining chip for change. “We can say, ‘This will benefit a lot of people.’ And it’s Brandeis, you know?

We’re known for social justice; we should be walking in front of every other university. We should be leading them in creating a more comfortable environment for transgender people and all members in Brandeis,” she said.

She stated that so far approximately 30 percent of respondents have stated that they would prefer a different name on their ID, and many others said that they would support the change, even though they would not directly benefit from it. Wen said she was pleasantly surprised to see such widespread support, adding, “I’m really glad to see people caring about this, and it really shows that Brandeis students are really receptive towards ... transgender people.”

Wen is working with the Senate Social Justice and Diversity committee, which she co-chairs with Bethlehem Seifu Belaineh ’16, the Racial Minority Senator. She noted that Belaineh has been focusing more on diversity initiatives while she has taken the lead on gender and sexuality initiatives. According to Wen, the committee — which also includes non-Senate members like Kira Levin ’17 and Maryanne Cai ’16 — has also been focusing on creating a more inclusive space for international students.

“They’re the diversity, and we don’t want to just throw them there and say ‘you’re the diversity’; we want them to get involved with us and let the diversity function,” she said.

She added that one of the current goals of the committee is to host a speaker event with Dr. Yu-Hsien (Sharon) Wu, whose lectures focus on acclimating international students to the American university system and way of learning.

Outside of the pronouns survey, Wen stated, the committee has also helped the Rape Crisis Center with its consent campaign, which has sought to post fliers with hotline numbers and other services all over campus.

Independently, Wen has also been pushing for enclosed shuttle shelters for the winter months and for getting a website up for students to view and sign up for professors’ office hours.

BRIEF Vandals target East Quad Vandals emptied fire extinguishers and pulled the fire alarm in Hassenfeld-Krivoff residence hall at approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday morning.

In an email to the Justice, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan wrote that the extinguishers appeared to have been intentionally discharged inside the building. He added that the matter is currently under investigation by the Department of Community Living and the Department of Public Safety. He also noted that a “Community Standards referral will be initiated if anyone is identified as responsible.”

According to the University’s website, students who violate any part of the “Rights and Responsibilities” handbook may be referred to Department of Student Rights and Community Standards for further action. The website also notes that a Community Standards referral or report “may initiate a formal adjudication if one or more community standards found in ‘Rights and

Responsibilities’ have been allegedly violated.”

Additionally, the website states that a student who has been referred under these standards could undergo the Student Conduct Process or the Special Examiner’s Process, depending on the nature of the allegations.

In terms of the damage resulting from the incident, there is a precedent of residents paying for damages to communal spaces in their halls, which could mean that Hassenfeld-Krivoff residents might contribute to cleanup and repair costs. Residents in Ziv 127 were charged $23 each after fire panels and electric door systems were severely damaged on three separate dates — Oct. 14, Oct. 31 and Nov. 10. In an email sent to Ziv residents on Nov. 12, Director of Community Living Tim Touchette wrote that, “Damaging the facilities in your community in this way is not only inappropriate but is also very dangerous.”

—Abby Patkin

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THE JUSTICE

campus speaker

Stan Brooks ’79 reflected on the highlights of his career in television and film.

By Rachel Moore JUSTICE Staff writer

Hollywood director and producer Stan Brooks ’79 paid a visit to his alma mater to discuss his transition from Brandeis to Hollywood on Monday.

Brooks’ recent works include his directorial debut “Perfect Sisters,” starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley, best known for her role as Lucy in the “Chronicles of Narnia” film series. Brooks has also started two film-production companies: Stan & Deliver Films, which created “Perfect Sisters,” and Once Upon A Time Films. Having produced over 60 films, Brooks has also garnered multiple Emmy awards and nominations for his work in television miniseries.

Prof. Thomas Doherty (AMST) introduced Brooks, noting that the ultimate purpose of Brooks’ lecture was to demonstrate “how a liberal arts education can form a professional filmmaking career.”

Brooks got his bachelor’s degree in American Studies after declaring and then dropping Pre-Med and Psychology majors. He then went on to pursue a graduate degree from the American Film Institute (AFI) as only the second Brandeis student to have been accepted there at the time.

Brooks began his lecture by recalling his experience at Brandeis with a mixture of nostalgia and humor. “Who lives in the Foster Mods?” he asked the audience, following his question with an anecdote about recently breaking into the mod he had inhabited in 1979 with his ex-roommates — including good friend Mitch Albom ’79 — to celebrate the “Tuesdays with Morrie” author’s 50th birthday.

Though he expected to feel a certain amount of nostalgia, Brooks said the emotion he felt was closer to horror as he realized “the carpeting, the appliances, the furniture [were] all the same,” which incited groans and laughter from the crowd.

Not one to fly below the radar, Brooks also cited his high level of participation in event planning during his time on campus, including staging bi-weekly movie nights in Levin Ballroom and bringing Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League, to deliver a lecture. The latter effort, he says, got him into some “trouble,” prompting then-University President Marver Bernstein — “a cross between plant moss and a basset hound” — to call Brooks personally to complain.

Success didn’t follow Brooks immediately after his graduation from AFI — “I took a job in the mailroom … at Film Ways … a television production company,” he said. At that job, he was also supposed to take care of the actors’ needs. John Bennett Perry, the star of the company’s show “240 Robert,” cared only that “his son … didn’t eat too much candy off the crafts service table,” adding that this “really annoying” child was Matthew Perry, later of “Friends” fame.

But all wasn’t lost, Brooks added, noting that his grandfather gave him a “really amazing” piece of advice: he “asked me the most bizarre thing … ‘What are you wearing when you go to the mail room? …

Wear a tie.’” He said his grandfather continued, giving him a wellworn, but, as Brooks noted, highly important piece of advice: “‘Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.’”

“By day five, the guy who was producing ‘240 Robert’ plucked me out of the mailroom and made me his assistant. So the tie worked.”

In his lecture, Brooks also shed light on the relationship between opportunity and association: “The thing about Hollywood is everybody is a heat-seeking missile,” Brooks said. “They look for where heat is, and they want to be around it. It’s like a giant bonfire in the middle of the forest; they run to it.

They don’t really care what it is; it could be burning the house down. … Because I was at the company where they made ‘Flashdance’ …

The ability to work in television was easier because I had these super-hot bosses.”

Brooks gave several more Hollywood anecdotes, including his experience in casting with “Rocky 3” — “I was responsible for [discovering] Mr. T,” a former bouncer from Chicago’s South Side — and as producer for Emmy Award-winning “Broken Trail,” starring Robert Duvall, whom he called “the most detestable human on the planet.”

Duvall, according to Brooks, lost his temper on set, calling co-star Thomas Haden Church a “no-talent, sitcom-hack.”

“Every meeting I have ever been in, I use my Brandeis education way more than I use my AFI education. … I have made movies on every subject imaginable … because I was an American Studies major.”

He urged students interested in film to pursue it as a graduate student, even stating that he dissented with “Friends” creator Marta Kauffman’s ’78 suggestion to create a school of film at Brandeis.

Brooks then took his Emmy award — won for his production on “Broken Trail” — out of his backpack. “This,” he said, lifting the award above his head, “is because I went to Brandeis.”

This event was sponsored by the American Studies department.

GRACE KWON/the Justice

FROM SOUTH STREET TO SILVER SCREEN: Stan Brooks ’79 lectured on how he made his way from American Studies student to lauded director and producer.

TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

5

FUTURE OF TERROR

Brooks speaks on his journey to Hollywood ■ Director and producer

●

MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice

DECONSTRUCTING A MOVEMENT: Dr. David Siddhartha Patel, a Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center, spoke about the makeup of top ISIS personnel and touched upon why the organization might appeal to individuals living in the Middle East.

Scholars discuss the future of the Islamic State’s tactics after recent Paris attacks ■ A group of scholars

discussed and debated how ISIS’s ideology and goals will shift in the coming months.

By Arianna Unger JUSTICE Senior Staff Writer

Last Wednesday, a group of scholars met to discuss the implications of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris on the Islamic State’s future military and recruitment tactics. The event, which was organized by the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, was titled “ISIS after Paris.”

The lectures and discussions — moderated by Prof. Alain Lempereur (Heller), director of the Heller School’s Coexistence and Conflict master’s program — included Profs.

Jytte Klausen (POL) and Shai Feldman (POL), Dr. David Siddhartha Patel and Dr. Richard A. Nielsen.

Patel, a Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center whose studies focus on social order, religious authority and identity in the contemporary Middle East, was the first to address the audience. He focused his allotted 10-minute time frame on providing the audience with an overview of ISIS’s internal structure and political framework. “We should be modest in how much we know and understand about ISIS … and about perhaps how much we’re misunderstanding their goals,” he cautioned the audience.

Patel explained that the ISIS organization dates back to 2003, when it was an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that it has since morphed into an independent organization. He added that prior to the Syrian Uprising, ISIS had existed as a relatively small and powerless entity in Iraq.

It was the political discord in Syria which provided ISIS with an opportunity to grow and usurp political power in the region.

He went on to describe how, according to his research, the leaders of ISIS appeared to be mostly Iraqi ex-Ba’athists — people of the youngest Iraqi generation who had previously served as members of the secret police, military intelligence and special guard officers under Saddam Hussein. These individuals, Patel warned, are all the more dangerous because they have gained extensive military experience through their former posts.

Most ISIS fighters he noted, are local Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis who had previously pledged allegiance to Saddam Hussein’s regime but who now feel disenfranchised or

disillusioned by their current representative governments.

The attraction of ISIS to its potential recruits, Patel explained, is twofold. First, and most simply, he said, “ISIS pays.” The 600 dollars a month salary ISIS awards local fighters is much higher than salaries paid by alternative rebel groups and general Iraqi and Syrian employers, according to Patel.

Conscripts who agree to fight in more remote territories have the opportunity to “receive a house, a wife and all sorts of other goodies.”

Second, Patel emphasized that the ISIS regime provides structure and predictability to those who live within its conquered territory. He noted that approximately 7,000 different militia groups have a stake in the region, adding: “in territory not controlled by ISIS, every checkpoint is controlled by a different militia group … every single one of them is going to want a bribe. Eventually somebody is just going to shoot you and take your stuff. ISIS provides order over a large swath of territory that you can move around in and feel relatively safe. The order might be an unjust order, … but it’s order.”

Next, Klausen, the Brandeis Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation, addressed the recent military strategies proposed

by Western countries to defeat ISIS. She posed the question, “if we beat ISIS to the ground, will we then not deter more people from joining?”

She then answered her own question with a resounding “no,” claiming that ISIS is an organization driven by more than financial incentives and a craving for regional political dominion, propelled primarily by ideology. Klausen argued that it was this very ideology that would continue to attract recruits to the organization, regardless of Western military intervention.

“The Islamic State is far more than a state,” she told the audience.

“It is a revolutionary objective that is built on a very elaborate and sophisticated political-religious ideology. … The Islamic State is also an amorphous, sprawling, highly interconnected network that spans continents and countries.”

Despite her claim that Muslim extremist ideology was at the root of ISIS’s violent movement, she asserted that, “We [the Western world] cannot fight the ideology.”

Klausen instead called for the establishment of an “International Global Regime” that would capture and contain the individual people culpable for the organization’s vio-

lent atrocities.

Nielsen, the Neubauer Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center, was next to the podium. He themed his speech, “If ISIS wants you to do it, maybe you shouldn’t do it.”

Nielsen claimed that ISIS wants three main things from the Western World: “Increased Islamophobia and [Western] policy makers who explicitly link Islam to the Islamic State and its rhetoric, … refusal by Europe and the U.S. to take Muslim refugees from Syria and Iraq [and] … [U.S. and European] boots on the ground in Syria.”

He explained that what he proposed as ISIS’s first and third objectives were driven by a motivation to establish a “good guy” and “bad guy” dynamic between itself and the West — rhetoric that would appear to justify the cosmic jihadist battle that ISIS hopes to wage.

In regard to the refugee crisis, Nielsen posited that ISIS hopes the West will stop accepting refugees because it currently appears puzzling to most of the Muslim world that Sunni Muslims are desperately trying to flee from the “One True Caliphate” that ISIS is trying to establish. He closed his lecture by warning that Western powers should exercise caution when assessing ISIS’s true objectives.

Feldman, the Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center, was last to speak. He addressed the ISIS conflict as related to other Middle Eastern countries, questioning why no Middle Eastern countries — with the exception of Iran — have invested serious military efforts in defeating ISIS. He quoted one of his colleagues at the Crown Center in his answer: “ISIS is the number two enemy of almost every country in the Middle East, and it’s the number one enemy of none.” He explained that many Middle Eastern countries are hoping that the Western World, whose “number one” enemy now seems to be ISIS, will be the ones to put boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq.

He concluded his talk by saying, “I don’t see a way of dealing with the recruitment and the appeal of ISIS without dealing with the theology … but I would argue that the West cannot do this. This is a debate which has to be conducted within Islam.”

The event was co-sponsored by the Coexistence and Conflict Program, the Center for German and European Studies, the Politics Department and the International and Global Studies Program.

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FACULTY BRIEFING

MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice

FORD HALL: Degree reqs to be reviewed CONTINUED FROM 1

emailed to the community. The statement featured the Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion at Brandeis University, which Lynch summarized into four categories of goals and strategies to implement.

Notable policies from the agreement include a School of Arts and Sciences Task Force to review degree requirements and suggest ways to incorporate race into the classroom, an additional staff member of color in the Psychological Counseling Center and a new initiative focused on community college recruitment of underrepresented minorities. The University was already scheduled to begin a review of degree requirements over the next few years.

Lynch noted that “these actions need to be sustained over time and we realize that changing institutional practices and culture is a complex process that will generate resistance and conflict. But, given the widespread support I have seen across our campus community over the past week, I am optimistic that we have the capacity to achieve our goals.”

She also stated that the University has a commitment to protect students from discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality and gender expression, religion, nationality and other forms of identity. She added that the University recognizes that certain individuals on campus — especially Black women — sit at an “intersection of certain forms of violence, threats, intimidation, and harm.”

Students in the crowd then urged Flagel to make a statement addressing one of the 13 demands, which stipulated that he issue a public apology to Khadijah Lynch ’16. In January, Lynch tweeted that she had “no sympathy” for two New York Police Department officers who were killed.

The tweets were later published in an article by Daniel Mael ’15 on conservative news website Truth Revolt, which lead to Lynch becoming the target of online rape and death threats.

Lynch has since stated that Flagel failed to provide her with sufficient support throughout the controversy.

During his address, Flagel declined to mention Lynch by name or speak specifically on his interactions with her, stating that he would not make any student a “further target” of controversy, especially without having the student’s permission to address personal matters in public. He told the group of demonstrators that he “will gladly … apologize for those feelings of safety on our campus. It’s our responsibility to make everyone on this campus — as the agreement we all negotiated says — feel a part of our Brandeis family.”

One attendee asked if Flagel

planned on emailing Lynch or talking to her individually, to which Flagel answered, “To talk about communications with an individual without their permission is irresponsible.”

He concluded by inviting students to talk with him individually if they had further concerns. At the faculty meeting, Flagel made a similar statement, apologizing for anything he or his team had done to make students feel less safe on campus. However, he added that “the last thing that any of us wanted is to have a situation where a student is reintroduced as a target of the kind of hatred and threats that occurred last winter, off or inside this campus, and so I am not inclined to speak for any student in terms of their statement or status or want to introduce their names in to the press, and I maintain that stance.”

The group of accumulated students and community members, accompanied by Flagel and Lynch, then made its way to Bernstein-Marcus, where the Ford Hall 2015 movement had been stationed. More students also waited outside the administrative buildings, and volunteers passed around snacks and rain ponchos.

Lynch read the joint statement again.

As she read, the crowd was silent, with the exception of a brief and quiet chant of “ancestors watching, I know they’re watching, ancestors watching, I know I know.”

In a Tuesday night press release on Medium.com, Concerned Students 2015 wrote, “The students of #FordHall2015 who have occupied the Bernstein-Administrative Marcus [sic] building for the past 12 days, since November 20th, 2015, are now a part of history. We are a part of Brandeis’ history, Black History, and American History. We are overjoyed to pave the way for future Brandeis students and hope that our actions are inspirations to other university students demanding a positive change.”

The Faculty Senate also issued a resolution in support of the Ford Hall 2015 movement and the resulting agreement on Wednesday morning, which was held up by the same error that prevented administrators from releasing their announcement time, according to Senate Chair, Prof. Susan P. Curnan (Heller) in the email.

In the resolution, the Senate resolved to implement strategies to increase its own diversity; encouraging curricula that discusses race; advocating for diversifying the Board of Trustees; and developing an equity fellows program, which would have fellows whose purpose would be to champion diversity and race discussions in different departments and public areas of the University.

— Emily Wishingrad, Max Moran and Avi Gold contributed reporting.

TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

7

BAATF: Day of Action to be held at Bernstein-Marcus CONTINUED FROM 1

Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS) addresses the Ford Hall 2015 movement at the faculty meeting on Nov. 24 while Interim University President Lisa Lynch (right) looks on.

●

the President Peter Giumette, Interim Provost Irving Epstein, Chair of the Board of Trustees Perry Traquina ’78 and Dean of Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Susan Birren. Signing the contract would serve as a pledge to accomplish the goals.

In an email to the Justice, Wong said that she created BAATF so that Brandeis students could study Asian American history and culture, and that she had met with Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong before issuing the demands, alongside the president and vice president of the Brandeis Asian American Students Association. Elaine Wong told the Justice in a separate email that she had met with Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong and the BAASA representatives on Nov. 12, but the demands in the Dec. 2 letter are different from the aims she had discussed with the group.

BAATF distinguishes itself from BAASA in its manifesto, available online, wherein BAATF states that it is “advocacy based” and a “creator of sustainable and constructive plans,” and is not a “cultural organization, focused on building awareness.” BAASA representatives did not respond to request for comment by press time.

Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong declined to comment in her email to the Justice on what topics she’d like to see the proposed introductory course cover. Northwestern University’s Asian American Studies program, which was specifically mentioned in BAATF’s letter due to it originating from student activism in the late 1990s, consists of three core faculty and offers over 20 courses on topics including the experience of secondgeneration Asian Americans, AsianBlack relations in the United States, Asian Americans in popular culture and the ongoing effects of colonialism on Asia and the Pacific Islands. Several of these courses are cross-listed in departments including American studies, history, sociology and anthropology, according to the department’s website. When asked about other departments that may offer cross-listed courses with Asian American Studies, Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong wrote that, “We believe all departments can viably have cross-curricular courses with Asian American Studies. We must first achieve an agreement with the administration to create the program and department before beginning the hard work of creating and molding it.”

In an email to the Justice, Birren wrote that new curricular initiatives generally “come through departments and faculty who have constant interactions with students.” The Provost’s office creates new academic programs, which usually come from faculty drafting a proposal for the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Students occasionally contribute to these proposals as well. Any new programs must be approved in two separate votes of the faculty at mandated Faculty Meetings, according to Birren.

Birren also noted that even in programs with only one core course, such as the International and Global Studies program, there are significant costs to establishment; programs require staff support, a program chair, an oversight committee and operating expenses to support colloquia, meetings and special events. “Sustained support of a faculty chair requires an endowment of several million dollars,” according to Birren.

According to raw data accessible on the Provost office’s section of the University website, full-time professors in the year 2011 earned a median salary of $124,916. 93 percent of these professors at the time were tenured or on the tenure-track. Accounting for inflation, the cost of the three tenure-track professors required to meet the demands of BAATF, assuming they are paid the median salary, would cost the University an average of $1.56 million over four years. Estimates of the same cost based on data from March 17, 2005’s Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Contract Faculty to the Provost and Faculty Senate stand at around $1.92 million, based on an average salary of around $130,000, or around $158,000 when accounting for inflation.

When asked about work the University has done to assess student demand for Asian American Studies, Elaine Wong replied that Brandeis last offered a course on the Asian American Experience in 2011 which enrolled 22 students, but she said, “This is one, but only one, indication of student interest but [is] now quite out of date.”

According to Birren’s email, there has been discussions among faculty in the Anthropology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments who are supportive of creating an Asian American Studies minor.

As of press time, 270 students have signed a petition in support of BAATF, according to their medium account. In November, Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong

conducted a student survey asking students whether they’d be interested in minoring in Asian American Studies, according to a medium.com post. Out of 121 total respondents, 40 students (33 percent) said they would be interested in such a minor while 37 students (31 percent) responded “maybe,” and 44 students (36 percent) said they would not. In contrast, 70 percent of students in Wong’s poll expressed interest in taking an introductory Asian American Studies course and 84 percent supported creating an “Asian and Asian American & Pacific Islander Center” on campus. In total, 69 percent of the respondents were Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander American, according to the medium.com post.

A “Day of Action” rally is scheduled to be held at the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center today from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m., according to a Facebook event created by BAATF. This is the same location where students recently held a sit-in for 12 days as part of the Ford Hall 2015 movement.

The event also calls for students to call and email Lynch, Birren and Epstein throughout Monday to vocalize their support for the Asian American Studies department. According to Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong, BAATF currently has 19 members, including Wong, and will determine its vice president by the end of the semester. She noted in a later email to the Justice that BAATF delayed releasing their letter until Nov. 23 out of respect for the Ford Hall 2015 movement, which BAATF supported — Ford Hall 2015 has since issued a statement of support for BAATF. BAATF is not currently recognized as a student club by the Student Union.

When asked at last night's State of the Union address whether she would be directly involved in any activism which BAATF chooses to pursue, Student Union President Nyah Macklin '16 responded, "I'm still navigating that. Right now I have to step down from my activism role and focus on the Union." Macklin was part of the Ford Hall 2015 negotiations team.

In a call for members distributed on Nov. 20, BAATF asked for individuals with experience in financial budgeting, statistical analysis, grant and foundation research, alumni outreach, and “organization sustainability planning.”

—Mihir Khanna and Jaime Kaiser contributed reporting.

SOTU: Macklin speaks on her involvement in Ford Hall 2015

CONTINUED FROM 1

She went on to thank each division of the Student Union and highlight their accomplishments, which included the Senate’s coordination of the upcoming Midnight Buffet on Wednesday, the Judiciary’s review of the Union constitution and bylaws, the Allocations Board’s adapting to a new constitutional amendment, the Treasury’s accessibility to club leaders and the Executive Board’s organization and initiative. Macklin also urged all students to read the Student Union constitution, noting that not reading the Student Union constitution is akin to not “not knowing the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. You don’t know your rights.”

“One of my other constituencies is my own people. These people with melanin in their skin just like my own. I know many of you have been wondering why would I, the Student Union President, get involved in Ford Hall 2015, a protest on campus that only caters to one demographic? I say I was involved because I should not choose between being a black woman and being the president of the Student Union. Many faculty, administrators and fellow students have reminded me that I sit at a very particular intersection. I know. Can I fight for the rights of my people all while fighting for the rights of the general population? Black students are a part of that population, are they not? When I was elected, I made a promise to fight for the voices

that had been silenced in our nation and on this campus. … I do not take back my involvement in the protest. I will never.”

As she concluded, Macklin stated, “Going forward, we must hold our University to its mission [of diversity and equality]. The Student Union might not be on the front line, like I was, but we will provide support to our students and we will advocate and communicate with you.”

In an interview with the Justice after the event, Macklin said she did not attend her regularly scheduled office hours due to her participation in the Ford Hall 2015 movement. When asked whether she would be as involved with the recent Brandeis Asian American Task Force petition for an Asian American Studies program at the University, Macklin responded: “I’m still navigating that. Right now I have to step down from my activism role and focus on the Union.”

After Macklin’s address, Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees Grady Ward ’16 took the stage to update the assembled students on his interactions with the Board. He explained the role he and Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees Emily Conrad ’17 play both in the Student Union and with the Board of Trustees. He also touched on the Student Union’s role in supporting reform and unity on campus, citing the Ford Hall 2015 movement as a good example of disconnect between the administration and the study body. “Far too often,

the people who are most empowered to change things are also the people who are the most [ineffective],” he said.

Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 then spoke, acknowledging that the Student Union Senate has functioned well this semester as an effective “cohesive unit.” He said that while there have been setbacks in having to train new members and get them comfortable in their positions, the Senate has accomplished a great deal on campus in the last few months.

Herbstritt cited the Senate’s ongoing efforts to implement bystander training for all clubs as an example of one of its more innovative initiatives on campus. He ended his speech by encouraging students to come to him and other senators with their concerns.

“It makes it a lot easier to do our job when we hear from the community we serve,” he said.

Senator at Large Lucy Wen ’18, the Social Justice and Diversity Committee Chair, spoke next, focusing on her committee’s ongoing preferred name and pronoun survey, which she administered to the community via email earlier this month. In advocating for the importance of the survey to transgender and gender non-binary students, as well as students with less common names, she argued, “Using the wrong names is a violent act.”

Union Treasurer Nicole Lenchner '16 was last to address the audience.

She invited club leaders to approach her with any questions or concerns they may have.

8

TUESDAY, December 8, 2015 | THE JUSTICE

just

Pro

features

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBERT D. FARBER UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT

Ford Hall

By Rachel lederer and Lizzie Grossman JUSTICE contributing writer and JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The Bernstein-Marcus sit-in that went on for 12 days in late November and early December of this year drew inspiration from other movements, most obviously from the movement that took place in Ford Hall in 1969.

The students this year called themselves #FordHall2015. While Ford Hall does not exist anymore, and the 1969 Ford Hall occupants may not have utilized hashtags, their occupation had many parallels to this year’s sit-in all the same.

The fall of 1968 was a transitional time for the University. Morris Abram was inaugurated as the second president of Brandeis, following the departure of the former president, Abram L. Sachar. A number of requests made by black students after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death in April had been granted. The number of black students had risen from 58 in the previous academic year to 120 (out of a student body of 2,600), making the student body 4.6 percent black at a time in which 1.6 percent of college students in Massachusetts were black (though the national average was 5 percent). Twenty-three of the students were black men who were part of a new program to bring students from disadvantaged backgrounds to Brandeis called the Transitional Year Program (TYP). The amount of financial aid distributed to black students had almost tripled, and a few visiting black faculty had been recruited.

In December 1968, an Afro-American Studies program was approved by the Board of Trustees and faculty.

But the next day, tensions arose again when a white first-year student reportedly shot a black TYP student in

April 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. The AfroAmerican Society proposes that in response the University actively recruit more black students and faculty as well as create an Afro-American Studies department. The University establishes 10 Martin Luther King scholarships.

UNITING THROUGH PROTEST: Students gathered outside of the Bernstein-Marcus Center in order to show their support of the occupation of Ford Hall in Jan. of 1969.

the cheek with a BB gun.

This year, protests at the University of Missouri about racial inequities on campus spurred Brandeis protests. In 1969, motivation for the movement may have been furthered when on Jan. 7, 1969, two visitors from San Francisco State University — Bill Middleton, a black graduate student, and Arlene Davis, a white professor — came to talk to Brandeisians about a student strike at San Francisco State that started in November 1968 and went on for five months. They had been invited to speak by Neil Friedman, a former assistant professor of sociology at Brandeis.

Accounts on whether the visitors directly encouraged, or “dared,” a similar kind of protest to take place at Brandeis are varied — members of the administration informed Abram that they did, while a transcript of an interview with a member of the Ford Hall occupation from 1969 says they didn’t — but the talk did impassion the students to combat issues of racial inequality on campus.

On Jan. 8, Friedman announced that he was going on strike for a week in solidarity with the San Francisco State students and wouldn’t be teaching classes. The same day, the occupation of Ford Hall began. Around 70 black students seized the building and held a news conference in the office of the Black Advisor and Assistant to the Dean of Students, where they presented their ten demands as nonnegotiable. None of the ten demands were being presented for the first time — four were first presented in April 1968 following the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and most of the others were first presented in September 1968. They hung a banner on the outside of the building, renaming it Malcolm X University, and had control of the switchboard inside, where they

January 8, 1969 About 70 members of the AfroAmerican Society take over Ford Hall with their list of 10 demands. An emergency faculty meeting is called and a resolution calling for the students to leave the building and negotiate is approved.

answered phone calls and introduced the University by the same name.

The ten demands included the creation of an Afro-American Center, increased efforts to hire black faculty, black directors for TYP and Upward Bound (a program that also recruited disadvantaged students), increased recruitment of African students in the Wien International Scholarship Program (which brings international students to campus), a guarantee of ten Martin Luther King scholarships for black students each year, expulsion of the white student who had shot the black student and a written clarification of the standing of TYP students on campus, some of whom had reported feeling stigmatized.

A major demand was the establishment of an African and Afro-American Studies Department with secured funding and the ability to hire its own faculty. The most controversial aspect of the demand was the students’ desire to have some degree of power over selecting the chairman of the newly established department.

Though Abram stated his sympathy for most demands, and said some of them were already in the process of being fulfilled, he strongly opposed the students having any sort of power in selecting who could be hired, as well as their tactics of taking over Ford Hall. Abram temporarily suspended the students involved and threatened them with expulsion.

At a faculty meeting, Abram proposed that the University release a statement that the faculty “utterly condemns the forcible takeover of the University’s premises” and demanded that the students leave. The motion passed, with 153 professors voting in favor and only 18 voting against. A suggested addition to the statement, presented in a motion by Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC), that added that the

January 9, 1969 A petition is drafted and approved by a minority of students to oppose the use of force on the occupiers. Some white students begin a sit-in at Bernstein-Marcus in solidarity with the movement. Ford and Sydeman Halls are renamed Malcolm X University by the Afro-American Society.

1968 December 1968 An Afro-American Studies concentration is created. A white student shoots a black TYP student with a BB gun. The white student is not expelled.

faculty sympathized with the efforts of the black students, did not pass.

Even though most faculty wanted the students to leave, the use of police force to remove the students was opposed almost unanimously by both professors and students on campus.

Students from other Boston area colleges arrived on buses to show support for the efforts of the occupiers.

Representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Congress of Racial Equality and the Urban League also came to show support and offer their assistance to students.

Around 300 white Brandeis students, many of whom were members of Students for a Democratic Society, a national organization of leftist students on campuses which was well-known for its anti-Vietnam War activism, demonstrated in support of the black students occupying Ford Hall. They congregated in BernsteinMarcus on Jan. 12 and on Jan. 13, they initiated a strike against classes. The next day, 22 white students went on a hunger strike. A group of students occupied Mailman Hall and distributed all the literature related to the goals of the movement and updates on its progress for anyone who was curious.

On Jan. 13, those students initiated a strike against classes. The next day, 22 white students went on a hunger strike. A group of students occupied Mailman Hall and distributed all the literature related to the goals of the movement and updates on its progress for anyone who was curious.

Abram and other administrative figures negotiated with the students in Ford Hall over the course of the sit-in, and they eventually came close to an agreement on every demand.

Backed by a majority of the faculty, he pledged to work on the development of an African and Afro-American Stud-

May 1969 Faculty meets to evaluate TYP and find a new director.

March 6, 1970 After two day in office, President Schottland signs an agreement to bring 80 more minority students to Brandeis.

1970 January 14, 1969 The occupying students of Ford Hall, headed by Brandeis AfroAmerican Society President Roy DeBerry ’70, MA ’78, PhD ’79, publishes their list of demands in the Justice. Some students create a general strike and 22 white students begin a hunger strike in support of the protest.

19 April 1969

January 18, 1969 The occupation ends. President Abram states that he will meet every legitimate demand.

Amnesty is granted to all students who leave the building.

ALL INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED FROM ROBERT D. FARBER UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

ies Department and offered the students in the sit-in amnesty if they left the building on Jan. 18. The students left with none of their demands fully met, but with promises that most of them were being worked on. Most of the demands eventually did come to fruition.

After the occupation of Ford Hall ended, students continued efforts to make sure their demands were followed through with. According to a Justice article, the Afro-American Organization organized a boycott of African and Afro-American Studies courses taught by white professors.

In February 1969, eleven separate fires were started in Olin-Sang.

Abram speculated that those responsible were affiliated with the Ford Hall occupation, but others thought they were more connected to Vietnam War protests as they were set off inside and outside of the offices of two professors, I. Milton Sacks and Roy Macridis, who were known on campus for their support of U.S. foreign policy concerning the war. There was an investigation into the occurrence, but no one was ever apprehended.

In March 1969, 75 white students conducted a sit-in in the Gryzmish administrative building in support of the demands from Ford Hall, which they felt the administrators were not addressing promptly enough. The students accused the administration of caring more about the public image of the University than its students.

“We must not allow this situation to be defined as an 11-day crisis which was peacefully ended,” a statement released by the students involved with the sit-in read. “The crisis of blacks in America is 400 years old. The crisis at Brandeis will not be over until a black person can receive an education here, relevant to his needs and the needs of his community.”

Faculty approves an African and Afro-American department.

Ronald Walters is hired as chair of the department.

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

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otests of Precedent

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Justfeatures researched student activism from 1968 - 1976

TIME OF CRISIS: President Morris Abram (center) gave a press conference during the student occupation of Ford Hall 1969.

A Professor’s Perspective

By AMBER MILES JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

In his 52 years at Brandeis, Professor Gordon “Gordie” Fellman (SOC) has witnessed some major campus activism, from Ford Hall 1969 to Ford Hall 2015. In an interview with the Justice, he spoke of his experience and involvement.

According to Fellman, on the night of the Ford Hall takeover in 1969, the University President at the time, Morris Abram, called a faculty meeting as abruptly as the takeover itself. At the meeting, Abram told the faculty to go to the dorms and tell the white students to stay out of the conflict and continue with business as usual. When a faculty member objected to this and requested to hear what the Ford Hall occupants had to say, Abram insisted that he had told them all they needed to know and sent them off to the dorms.

Four faculty members, however, defied orders and went to Ford Hall instead to hear the students’ side.

After the students explained how administration had betrayed them by not following through with promises the first University President, Abram Leon Sachar, had made to students of color, one faculty member pointed out that the University betrayed faculty all the time and advised students not to take it so personally. “Why do you take it?” a student asked.

Throughout the protest, faculty remained in support of the students, even clashing with Morris Abram when he wanted to call police and have students forcibly removed from Ford Hall. Fellman in particular continued to keep the students’ best interests at heart, though he remained relatively silent due to the tenuous position of his tenure. But at one point, he spoke up.

When he heard whisperings about Ford Hall students considering going on strike, he discouraged them from doing so because a settlement seemed imminent at that time.

“I think if it would make you feel good to go on strike, that’s one thing,” Fellman said he told them, “but I don’t think it’ll help the cause.” The next day, however, a front-page article in the New York Post falsely reported that he had encouraged students to strike and that morning, an infuriated Abram called Fellman into his office. Fellman tried to explain, but only pub-

TEACHING AND LEADING: Prof. Gordie Fellman (SOC) has been involved with student activism since Ford Hall 1969. lishing a letter correcting the facts in the next issue of the New York Post satisfied Abram.

After students protesting financial aid cuts took Pearlman Hall on April 29, 1975 news sources swarmed Fellman — Sociology Department Chair at the time — for a comment, hoping he would condemn the students’ actions. Instead, Fellman said, “Why don’t we find out what they’re doing there? Why are they there? Let’s take it from there.” Out of numerous publications present — including the New York Times and the Boston Globe — only the Justice published his comments.

Fellman also witnessed the divestment protests of the 1970s and 1980s.

Human rights activism shifted from local to international as students, in protest of apartheid, urged divestment from South African companies. According to Fellman, students did everything from hijacking the PA system to play Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” at a trustee banquet to building and living in shanty towns in order to pressure the University to take action.

One tactic, blocking the second entrance to the University near the Village, which is no longer used, resulted in arrests. The majority of the students arrested took a plea deal that would expunge their record in exchange for an admission of guilt, but four students — two of them Fellman’s students — refused it. Instead, they chose to defend themselves in open court and ultimately, won. Eventually, protestors achieved divestment after they threatened to disrupt commencement.

Pearlman Hall

By KIRBY KOCHANOWSKI JUSTICE Editorial assistant

On April 29, 1975, a group of 75 students marched around the Usdan Student Center to Pearlman Hall in protest of University policies regarding equality on campus.

The group of students identified themselves as the Student Action Group (SAG), an outgrowth of a previously existing campus group known as the Campus Student Coalition (CSC). In response to limited scholarship funding as well as an increase in student costs, the CSC created a list of demands to be fulfilled by the University. Over a month passed after the release of these demands, and the administration had yet to respond. The SAG refined these demands to a list of seven and promised to occupy Pearlman Hall until the administration properly dealt with student concerns.

On the first day of occupation, Brandeis president Marver H. Bernstein met with several student representatives from SAG. He discussed plans to institute an admissions proposal where Asian American students would be considered minorities for the purpose of allocating financial aid. Previously only African American and Hispanic students were considered for financial aid. He also promised to increase the budget for the Transitional Year Program. The TYP, since renamed the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program, offers specialized small classes for a group of socially disadvantaged students, meant to ease their transition to college. The budget for this program was originally set at $35,000, but

Bernstein promised to increase it to $52,500. Despite these changes, SAG decided to continue with the protest, even after Bernstein warned students that a court order for their removal had been requested.

In 1975, Brandeis was struggling to create a balanced budget, which perhaps made administration more hesitant to agree to student demands. The University planned to raise student costs without increasing available financial aid and also wasn’t planning on expanding diversity programs, something SAG members felt could be a result of the Ford Hall occupation that occurred only six years prior.

In a public statement SAG stated, “After the Ford Hall takeover in 1969, the university’s wealthy backers reacted, and admissions policies since have worked to steadily reduce the number of potentially ‘disruptive’ students.” They criticized the lack of diversity on campus, describing the Brandeis population as sheltered and the overall campus environment as profoundly unrealistic. At the end of their document, the students wrote, “COME TO PEARLMAN HALL --- GET INVOLVED IN REALITY!” Reactions to the protest were mixed. Though many students supported the movement and over 175 protestors marched outside the building in support of the demands, an article written for the Justice on April 30, 1975 estimated that only about 20 students actually occupied the building.

On April 30, the temporary restraining order requested by Bernstein was issued from the Middlesex Superior Court, calling for all pro-

testors to evacuate Pearlman Hall.

The next morning, SAG released a statement calling for a campuswide strike until all demands were met. They highlighted the need for more scholarship money to make sure students weren’t adversely affected by a rise in University costs.

The same day, both the Student and Faculty Senates released statements urging SAG to leave Pearlman Hall and end their occupation.

According to these statements, which can be found in the Brandeis archives and special collections, the Student and Faculty Senates felt the “illegal occupation of campus buildings is detrimental to the welfare of the Brandeis community.”

The University never took legal action against the protestors but instead offered amnesty in an attempt to expedite an agreement between SAG and administration.

Bernstein sent a memorandum to SAG on May 4, presenting a compromise. As well as ensuring increased funding for the TYP and promising to investigate the minority status of Asian American students, Bernstein also promised to employ student ambassadors in admissions (meant to recruit minority students) to solicit student opinions about faculty promotion and to implement a grant “floor” where the proportion of student costs to grand aid wouldn’t drop below the 1975 level.

The next day, May 5, 1975, the protest officially ended, and the students evacuated Pearlman Hall after six days of occupation. They were greeted by the applause of over 200 community members gathered outside the building.

TIMELINE COMPILATION BY LAUREN PUGLISI

May 5, 1975 March 1975 The Board of Trustees approves a cutback in Brandeis’s budget for the following year.

Students vacate Pearlman Hall after president Marver Hillel Bernstein agrees to implent some of the seven demands, including increased funding for the TYP and increasing student involvement in admissions and faculty hiring decisions.

1974

1976 April 29, 1975 About 35 students, led by the Student Action Committee, take over Pearlman Hall with a list of seven demands aiming to increase financial aid due to the rise in student expenses.

STUDENT SUPPORT: During the 11 day occupation of Ford Hall 1969, students from nearby universities in addition to Brandeis students, picketed outside of Ford Hall to show support for the students occupiers.

DESIGN BY REBECCA LANTNER/the Justice

10 TUESDAY, December 8, 2015 ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

Max Moran, Editor in Chief Avi Gold, Managing Editor Hannah Wulkan, Deputy Editor Morgan Brill, Production Editor Rebecca Lantner, Catherine Rosch, Jaime Kaiser and Grace Kwon, Associate Editors Abby Patkin, News Editor, Brianna Majsiak, Features Editor Jessica Goldstein, Forum Editor, Noah Hessdorf, Sports Editor Jaime Gropper, Arts Editor Michelle Banayan and Mihir Khanna, Photography Editors Emily Wishingrad, Online Editor Carmi Rothberg, Copy Editor

EDITORIALS

Commend BAATF campus organization efforts A student group called the Brandeis Asian American Task Force emerged in the public eye last Wednesday, calling upon Interim President Lisa Lynch and other administrators in an email campaign to sign a contract promising the creation of an Asian American Studies department. BAATF gave the administration a one week deadline to sign off on their demands. That deadline is today.

This editorial board commends the coordinated efforts of BAATF. Their movement stems from a tradition of Brandeis student activism and comes in the wake of a successful Concerned Student 2015 sit-in.

However, creating an entire department involves multiple constraints, limitations which cannot be circumvented entirely.

This Board recommends that an abbreviated version of the program be introduced into the curriculum before creating a full department.

Creating any academic department involves multiple steps: the development of a curriculum, approval from an academic oversight committee external to Brandeis, finding professors with the expertise to fulfill the mission of the department as well as supporting staff. Even if the University signs off on the deal today, it could likely be years before a fully-fledged department becomes a reality.

Funding presents another complicating factor. According to our estimates outlined in this week’s news article, the three tenure-track professors demanded could cost the University approximately 1.56 million dollars over four academic calendar years.

Hiring new tenure-track faculty would be

Weigh options carefully

a substantial investment Brandeis must weigh carefully, along with its obligation to live up to the social justice values of this University.

BAATF President Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong ’17 conducted a survey in November, meant to indicate student interest, which determined that 70 percent of students surveyed would like to take an introductory Asian American studies course, 40 percent of respondents were interested in a minor and 37 percent of respondents might be interested in the minor. The survey draws from a small pool of 121 respondents — too statistically insignificant to represent accurate interest. We urge the University to devote resources to more accurately gauging interest.

Initially, the University should hire one faculty member to teach an introductory Asian American course and revive a class last taught in the American studies department in Fall 2011 called “The Asian American Experience.” The University could then assess whether it has the resources and interest to create a major or minor.

The Administration and BAATF should work together to figure out how to make Asian American studies a greater part of the University’s broad academic profile. In light of this, the process might be slower than is preferable, but bureaucratic obstacles do not necessarily equate with indifference on the part of individual administrators. This approach will allow the program to build naturally and ensure a base of student interest and funds critical to its future success.

Reevaluate Student Union involvement in protests Over the last several weeks, student groups such as Ford Hall 2015 and the Brandeis Asian American Task Force have sent direct letters to the University’s top administrators which included lists of specific demands and a short deadline by which they must be met.

This board has often condemned a sense of student apathy toward administrative dealings and is pleased to see these protest movements as evidence to the contrary.

However, that each of these student movements has been driven to protests and demands is indicative of a larger problem within the University.

The first line of the Student Union constitution states that it exists “to provide for meaningful address of student concerns through the principle of democratic representation; to exercise our indisputable right to be represented in the affairs of the University.” As the home page of the new Student Union website states: “We are your link to change.”

If the Union derives its power from being both student-elected and having personal connections to the administration, then something is clearly wrong if students feel that the only avenue for change is through protests.

Similarly, the Student Union President exists to “represent the Brandeis University Student Body in the larger community,” according to the Union Constitution. When events like Ford Hall 2015 are plagued by poor communication between administrators and students, it is the president’s role to mediate as an impartial body.

While Student Union President Nyah Macklin’s ’16 leadership as a member of the Ford Hall 2015 movement was strong, this board questions whether personally serving as a protester is the President’s job; even as Macklin led her constituents who participated in the sit-in, students who either opposed or questioned

Consider whole student body the movement’s aims were left without a method of having their voices heard by those in power.

Macklin confirmed to the Justice at last night’s State of the Union address that she suspended all of her Union activities during the protest, including holding office hours. While Macklin is of course welcome to a private opinion on these issues, when the campus is thrown into a crisis, her duty is to at least hear and consider every side of the argument.

Macklin argued at her State of the Union address that she should not have to choose between her identity as a black woman and her role as Student Union President. This board argues that the best way for Macklin to advocate for black students is to use the power she holds as Union president, making her uniquely qualified to impartially communicate between student advocates and administrators.

Macklin also confirmed last night that she is not planning on being as involved with the BAATF demands and subsequent action. If Macklin has now carved out direct involvement in student advocacy as a role of the Student Union President, this board holds that she must fully commit herself to this movement as well.

If Macklin is the most powerful student voice on campus, it does other groups on campus with equally valid demands a disservice by failing to give them her full and undivided support. As a negotiator and leader in one movement, she was able to attract the attention afforded to her role — those connections and power that must be made available to BAATF as well.

This board hopes that, in the coming weeks, Senators will advocate for student concerns before a sit-in becomes necessary, and the President will be be available to all students.

GRACE KWON/the Justice

Views the News on

On Nov. 19, the House of Representatives voted strongly in favor of the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act 2015, or the American SAFE Act of 2015, which would effectively bar Syrian refugees from entering the country. The bill requires the secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the FBI and the director of intelligence to sign off on each and every individual entering the country from the region in an effort to mitigate terrorism. Similarly, on Nov. 14, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker expressed that he would ‘certainly say no’ to the admission of Syrian refugees into the state ‘until I know a lot more than I know now,” according to WBUR, Boston’s NPR News Station. Do you support the American SAFE Act and what should the U.S. do, if anything, to aid in the Syrian refugee crisis?

Prof. Leigh Swigart (PAX) I disagree with the SAFE Act. The Human Rights consortium FIDH recently issued a statement warning against the temptation to curtail human rights guarantees in response to acts of terrorism. Protection of refugees is one of these guarantees, to which the United States has acceded.

It is unreasonable to paint all Syrian refugees as potential terrorists because one of the Paris attackers entered Europe under the guise of a refugee. What would be our reaction if European countries shut down visits by all American citizens because, at alarmingly regular intervals, there are individuals on our territory who take it upon themselves to commit acts of domestic terrorism? Should all Americans consequently be seen as potential mass murderers? We would be outraged. In a Brandeis event on Dec. 2 entitled ‘After Paris: ISIS and the US,’ a research fellow of the Crown Center cautioned that the rejection of Syrian refugees is exactly what ISIS wants as a reaction to their recent attacks. We should honor our responsibilities and resettle Syrian refugees in the US. Prof. Leigh Swigart (PAX) is the director of Programs in International Justice and Society at the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Chen Arad Compassion and a sense of responsibility on the one hand and prudence on the other should guide American leadership as it considers the best way to address the Syrian humanitarian crisis. Without a question, the United States and countries worldwide must be wary of terrorism. The recent vote by congress in favor of the SAFE Act accordingly addresses the ever-growing need to be cautious when welcoming refugees. However, the act seems to be absent of the compassion deserved by people who lost everything to the same kind of terrorism. To maintain security while also living up to its humanitarian values, America must complement the SAFE Act with an effective effort to expedite screening processes as well as a broader policy ensuring that both the refugee issue and Syrian crisis as a whole are addressed by the world community.

Chen Arad is a MA/MBA candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. He traveled to the Syrian-Jordanian border, where he met Syrian refugees.

Mark Gimelstein ’17 While well-intentioned, the SAFE Act suffers from unignorable flaws. To the naked eye, the law ensures a triple check for terrorist affiliations on every Syrian refugee who comes into America. However, behind the smoke and mirrors of seemingly common sense measures, it’s clear that this process is impossible to actually execute successfully. When pressed during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on how the FBI intended to vet every Syrian refugee, Director James Comey responded: “We can query our database until the cows come home, but [nothing will] show up because we have no record of them.” The crux of the problem is that this “solution” does nothing to change the underlying conditions on the ground in Syria and other ISIS strongholds. Until we have a president willing to call ISIS what is it and begin a campaign to defeat them and their enablers and allies, refugee crises like the one we deal with today will continue in perpetuity.

Mark Gimelstein ’17 is a columnist for the Justice. He is also the vice president of Brandeis Conservatives.

Christa Caggiano ’17 I do not support the American SAFE Act, nor do I think our international obligations permit such a bill. The United States is privy to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drafted after World War II, a lot of the language directly deals with people who are fleeing a violent and despotic regime like the Jews during the Holocaust and Syrians now. In fact, the UDHR stresses the right to asylum several times. In article 14, it states clearly, “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” It also states in article 22, “Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation, ... the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.” As a member of the security council, it is America’s responsibility to uphold and campaign for the sanctity of international human rights. The rights of Syrian refugees should be no different.

Christa Caggiano ’17 is the former co-president of Brandeis Amnesty International.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

Condemn harmful name discrimination trend in U.S.

By NIA LYN JUSTICE Contributing writer

“I’m not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea.” This comment made by former child star Raven Symoné was intended to be humorous but instead exposed the harsh truth surrounding ethnicity and stereotyping in the modern and professional world.

According to Ziba Kashef in the book “Race, Class, and Gender in the United States,” individuals with white-sounding names are 50 percent more likely to receive a job interview or a call-back than are individuals with names one would associate with a specific race. For the purpose of the study, names like Lakisha Washington were used in comparison to Emily Walsh — generated based on their popularity within any given race. This information comes from a University of Chicago study conducted from 2001 to 2002 where fake resumes were generated in response to several newspaper ads, for careers in the Boston area that ranged from a sales associate to a clerical position, where the rate of callbacks were used to gauge success. In conducting the study, four resumes were sent in response to each advertisement: two with extensive backgrounds in the given fields, email addresses and other important personal information, and two with little experience. Out of the four, one was randomly assigned to a “black name.”

The study showed that, on average, applicants with “black” sounding names need to send 15 applications in order to receive a callback, while those with “white” names only need to send about 10. What employers see when they first receive an application is one’s name. They see the name of someone potentially representing their brand and their ideals, and most often, a name that represents an unfamiliar face is not what they want.

Now, one might argue that individuals with unique names like “Watermelondrea” are fully able to use an alternate name for business purposes or even go as far as to change it, but why must an individual change an aspect of their identity to accommodate one person’s idea of the norm? It isn’t the person who presents an issue; the problem lies in the society itself.

There is a problem when something as minute as a name is enough to hinder another person’s ability to communicate. Instead of mandating others to change who they are, society should collectively make a conscious effort to be more accepting of differences and what

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comes along with them. This should be a lesson that is taught to children, one where the first lesson on how to pronounce a “different” name is enough.

Surely, discrimination or stereotyping isn’t new to those with non-traditional names; they have had to tirelessly prove that they are more than a name. This goes beyond ”black” sounding names, extends to many Arabic names, as well. In post-9/11 America, Arabic names can be viewed in a negative spotlight because of inaccurate, pre-held notions of Americans.

“

The fact that a name, one of the most basic elements of an identity, can lead to unjust treatment is devastating.

A 2009 study published by the American Journal of Sociology found a similar trend of name discrimination for those with Arabic names. Participants were presented with resumes with background information and resumes for two sets of individuals, one with an English name and one with a Arabic name.

Participants were later asked to categorize the resumes and decide the odds of an individual candidate being hired.

They were always in favor of the supposed white applicant.

The fact that a name, one of the most basic elements of an identity, can lead to unjust treatment is devastating. America’s long history of maltreatment of the “other” is part of the continuing problem; it forces individuals to alter who they are to fit the mold of what is “acceptable” and what isn’t. By doing so, it’s basically saying that anything that isn’t traditional, or white, is wrong and can’t be any good.

In the case of Symoné, or should I say, Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman, she has the affluence and status that allows such a name to stand out on a resume for more than her race. For normal working-class individuals, a name doesn’t just make one unique or special; a name makes you. With a name that doesn’t conform to society’s standards of normativity, one is unable to even give a proper first

BEN JARRETT/the Justice

impression. The privilege that Symoné has been accustomed to has guarded her from the most basic form of discrimination. But this issue extends beyond the former Disney star and her life; it represents all those that make similarly ludicrous statements without the

background to even comprehend the levels of discrimination that minorities undergo on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, this unconscious racism and disregard for an individual’s character has proven to be So Raven.

Criticize commercialization in Belgian physician-assisted suicides Jessica

Goldstein UBUNTU

I am standing on the precipice of something great, you say. I am making the right decision, you say. My family won’t miss me, you say.

Finally, the pain will go away. Suddenly, you are standing on the precipice of something, but it isn’t great. It is not the dream job or the relationship that will magically reset the clock on all past and failed relationships but instead you are gripping onto the edges of a very tall apartment building, aimed at throwing yourself over the railing and into the grimy abyss.

The family thinks you are doing better, and so do those random friends of your parents who are basically your family — the friends who were in the waiting room the day you were born. They stun you with a barrage of questions and praises. One sticks in your mind and never fails to escape: “You look so healthy!”

You chuckle to yourself, thinking, If only they saw me now. This is the first thing that made you laugh all day. Heretofore, you never believed this day would come. Finally, you thrust yourself over the bars and you meet your death.

Some fissure cracked in you that suddenly made you come to the realization that you were merely on the precipice of death. Struggling with depression your entire life made

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the possibility of suicide defensible, yet society has yet to catch up with this concept as suicide carries a social stigmatization unmatched by any other form of self-harm. In Western Europe, there has been increasing wave to secularize death. In fact, in Belgium an organization known as Life End Information Forum attempts to glamorize it by presenting it in a utopic form, stripping the country bare of all its Catholic roots.

“

...the concept of suicide transforms from misguided to chic.

However, there is a stark difference between physician assisted suicide on the grounds of terminal illness and physician-assisted suicide in the case of psychological illness. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the first and second countries to decriminalize euthanasia, this “right to die” extends beyond terminal illness. According to a June 2014 New Yorker article, studies in both Oregon and Switzerland, states where physician-assisted euthanasia is legal, found that individuals are more encouraged by the desire to remain autonomous than by the pain. Shockingly, estimates show that the number of euthanasia and assisted suicide deaths has doubled in the Netherlands in the last five years and that in Belgium that number has skyrocketed by 150 percent, according to the 2014 New Yorker ar-

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Fine Print

ticle. Principally, the control of who has the right to die falls in the hands of medical professionals, which, to say the least, is alarming. Doctors now decide who has the right to die, and the commercialization of death in Belgium may allow them to be incentivized to do so.

The process of confirming a euthanasia is done through a series of steps in order to comply with the law through the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission in Belgium. In the case of terminal illness, two doctors must approve that the patient is in fact incurable.

In non-terminal cases, those who suffer from psychiatric disorders must be approved by three doctors. In 2013, 13 percent of all those euthanized in Belgium were not suffering from a terminal illness, with five percent of those individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders.

The push is closely tied to the spirit of Belgian humanism, or the idea that the individual has the right to take responsibility over their condition and therefore has the right to choose whether or not to die. But while the humanist argument seems all well and good, it diverges from the spirit of corruption inherent in the system. In fact, according to the New Yorker article, only half of the euthanasia in Flanders has been reported to the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission.

This gaping hole in the system has failed to be addressed, largely because the board responsible for granting these life and death decisions is clearly biased; half of them are affiliated with right-to-die organizations. This presence of corruption and lack of transparency is frightening as one can be unsure of the circumstances of the unreported cases of euthanasia. In fact, there is an uncertainty surrounding whether those with psychiatric illness should have been granted the right to

The Staff

For information on joining the Justice, write to editor@ thejustice.org.

die.

In fact, some doctors may be enamored with their newly found rights, and with so many holes in the vetting process, it shouldn’t be trusted. A Belgian family doctor, Patrick Wyffels called the process of euthanasia “very magical.”

However, at times, he is concerned that his own viewpoints on the process may influence a patient to a detriment: “Depending on communication techniques, I might lead a patient one way or the other.” In the days leading up to the final act, he expressed, “I am afraid of the power that I have in that moment.” If doctors themselves cannot rely on their own professional judgment to make these decisions, why should they be granted this humanist right if they choose to be irresponsible with it?

Furthermore, as political and social systems in Belgium are being influenced by this humanist perspective, the concept of suicide transforms from misguided to chic. Secular politicians now dominate the political sphere and legislate for greater autonomy in death, and oncologist and professor Wim Distelmans discusses the topic of euthanasia with teenagers over pastries and coffee. With the taboo alleviated, the right to die doesn’t exclude you or your family from high society. The fear of death even in its lowest form is replaced by the right to choose.

Death is not utopic. Thomas More’s “Utopia” asks us, “Why don’t you break out and escape to a better world?” However, when death is mired with corruption and a lack of responsibility, we must revisit the discussion entirely.

We cannot allow this lack of transparency to continue, otherwise we may as well take responsibility for the untimely deaths of those on the precipice of something truly great.

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TUESDAY, December 8, 2015

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THE JUSTICE

FORUM PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Recognize inherent flaws in pro-life movement’s name

By AMBER MILES JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 27, Robert Lewis Dear targeted a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., shooting twelve people.

Since the shooting, the political right has attempted to distance Dear’s actions from the “pro-life” movement, but Dear’s mutterings about “no more baby parts” upon arrest and comments by Barbara Micheau, a former wife of his, establish a clear connection. According to Micheau, Dear had targeted Planned Parenthood in the past by jamming the locks of clinic doors with glue to prevent personnel from entering the building.

While Dear’s prior attack exhibited far less violence than the recent shooting, Micheau’s comments, as well as Dear’s statement upon arrest — a reference to the controversial and largely discredited videos released by the Center for Medical Progress —― all but prove that a disdain for abortion and a “pro-life” leaning factored into his motivations to kill three and wound nine.

Even with this, however, the right could still assert that Dear’s actions reflect nothing about the “pro-life” movement — if not for the tragic and disgusting frequency of violence perpetrated by supposed “pro-life” advocates against reproductive health clinics. According to the National Abortion Federation, the following violence against clinics has occurred: 11 murders and 26 attempted murders since 1993, 191 arsons since 1976, 38 bombings since 1978 and 654 anthrax threats between 1998 and 2002.

Factoring in additional acts of violence, a Jan. 1 2015 report from the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws notes that, overall, abortion providers have reported more than 6,800 acts of violence since 1977.

With the Nov. 27 shooting in Colorado, that number just went up.

These troubling instances of violence by people who claim the term “pro-life” illustrate the hypocrisy of the term itself. But still, conservatives protest, those are the actions of rogues; true “pro-life” advocates would never do such harm.

For argument’s sake, let’s grant that — disregard all anti-abortion terrorism and look only at the sweet-smiling, nonviolent pro-lifers — but even then their claim to the term “pro-life” is shaky at best, and it crumbles on two counts: a disregard for the life of a pregnant woman and a disregard for the quality of life of the mother and child.

Pregnancy can be difficult, painful and even life threatening. According to a 2004 Guttmacher Institute report, 12 percent of women who opt to have an abortion do so as a result of health problems. By virtue of opposing abortions, “pro-life” advocates would therefore support endangering the lives of 12 percent of women

ALI SANTANA/The Justice

who seek abortions. To prioritize a fetus that cannot survive on its own over the woman needed to give it life in the first place defies logic and tragically devalues the already living, breathing woman.

Beyond actual life-or-death situations, opponents of reproductive choice fail to acknowledge the consequences to quality of life of both mother and child that bringing an unwanted pregnancy to term entails.

For approximately one percent of women who choose to abort, the unwanted pregnancy results from sexual assault, according to a Feb. 26 article in Health Research Funding. While that number may seem inconsequential taken at face value, the article goes on to report that 85 percent of women who become pregnant from sexual assault choose not to abort, meaning that at least 15 percent would still opt for abortion.

If supposed “pro-life” advocates had their way, pregnancy would prolong these women’s psychological trauma for nine months or more. For women who already had their autonomy violated in the most reprehensible way, this continued deprivation of bodily autonomy would be devastating.

In any instance of sacrificing the fetus to save the mother, “pro-life” advocates argue that the worth of the fetus’s life equals that of the mother and that therefore, the mother has no right to terminate the pregnancy. With this ideology, “pro-life” advocates attempt to seize the moral high ground, but they underestimate the complexity of the situation. If the two lives are equal, that does not mean that forcing the mother to carry to term preserves life more. It simply means that, either way, one life is sacrificed for the other.

Furthermore, pregnancy significantly reduces the mobility, freedom and financial

resources of the mother. For lower income women, retaining a job while pregnant may not be possible, and even for those women who do remain employed, carrying a fetus to term, let alone caring for a child after birth, may pose an unbearable financial hardship. According to the 2004 Guttmacher report, 73 percent of women abort because they can afford neither a pregnancy nor a child, and 22 percent don’t feel mature enough to raise the child.

Without abortion, many of these mothers would either willingly give up their children or lose them to the state due to maltreatment. In either case, many unwanted babies would end up in the foster care system and subsequently suffer poor quality of life during and after childhood. According to statistics reported by Foster Club, the foster care system increases substance abuse and psychological problems while decreasing chances of success in adulthood: children who lived in foster care experience seven times the rate of drug dependence, five times the rate of PTSD and twice the rate of alcohol dependence; further, only half will be employed, less than three percent will earn a college degree and 71 percent of young women will become pregnant by age 21. Worst of all, according to an April 2005 study by Casey Family Programs and Harvard Medical School, about one-third of foster children reported maltreatment during their time in foster care.

Now, none of this is to say that foster care always fails or even that it’s better to abort than to put an unwanted baby up for adoption, but “pro-life” advocates need to acknowledge that supporting life doesn’t only mean supporting life entering this world; it also means supporting life while it physically exists in this world.

As anti-abortion activism and hesitance to support welfare programs tend to overlap, “pro-

life” advocates need to examine their advocacy for hypocrisy.

Two other common reasons for aborting include health problems of the fetus and having an abusive partner, which represent 13 percent and two percent of abortions respectively, according to Guttmacher. In these situations especially, the fetus — if carried to term — would suffer considerably. As such, while examining the morality of terminating a pregnancy, opponents of abortion need to also examine the morality of continuing a pregnancy only to bring a child into poor health or abuse.

Altogether, these facts reflect that many who purport to be “pro-life” actually harbor a hypocritical disregard for lives outside the womb, and that makes their use of the term “pro-life” difficult to swallow, especially since the term exists as a guilt tactic to manipulate the opposite side. The term “pro-life” implies that if a person isn’t on the side of “pro-life” advocates, then that person must be “pro-death,” which simply isn’t true. Before firmly claiming the moral high ground, anti-abortion activists must carefully examine all factors surrounding abortion. The issue isn’t as clearcut as many of them allege.

Terms for movements or ideologies should reflect what they actually mean. That’s why people in favor of women controlling their own reproductive rights call themselves “prochoice” rather than “pro-abortion” because, despite what many anti-abortion activists believe, pro-choicers don’t run around cackling about heinous infanticide and encouraging all women to get abortions. “Pro-choice” describes a person who supports a woman’s autonomy over her own body. “Pro-life,” on the other hand, does not accurately describe its own movement, as that movement fails to support all life.

Label Planned Parenthood attacks as acts of domestic terror Catherine

Rosch cynical idealist

On Nov. 27, Robert Lewis Dear walked into a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic and opened fire with a long gun, beginning a five-hour stand-off with the police. Nine people, including four police officers, were injured.

Three people — a police officer, a military veteran and a single mother who was accompanying a friend — were killed. Dear surrendered to the police and was taken into custody alive after committing the worst attack on an abortion provider since late-term abortion provider George Tiller’s murder in 2009. When he was taken into custody, Dear reportedly told a police officer, “No more baby parts,” a reference to a series of doctored videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, an extremist anti-choice group that pretended to be a medical research group and tried to claim that Planned Parenthood traffics the body parts of aborted fetuses. Dear also had a history of vandalizing other Planned Parenthood clinics and of violence against women, including domestic abuse, voyeurism and sexual assault.

The FBI considers domestic terrorism to be any violent act that is intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population and is motivated by political or religious beliefs. Dear committed a violent act with the intent of intimidating or coercing a civilian population and was motivated by his political beliefs. So, by the FBI definition, a reasonable person would conclude that this attack in Colorado Springs, a politically motivated violent act for the purpose of targeting

a civilian population, is an act of domestic terrorism. Even former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee would agree with that statement, as he stated in a tweet he posted a few days after the shooting.

But, as is the case after every mass shooting or act of violence carried out by a white man, the first question wasn’t if this attack was an act of terrorism (it is) but a discussion about mental illness and access to guns. I’ve written about the issue of mental illness and gun violence twice in the past, and both times, I have argued that conflating mental illness with mass violence is at best inaccurate and at worst harmful to the twenty percent of Americans who have mental disorders, just like I do. There is a double standard here as well ― that white Christian men can commit atrocities motivated by their religious and political beliefs and are not labeled as terrorists, just mentally ill, even when they, in fact, are not.

There are no indications that Dear was mentally ill or motivated by mental illness. In fact, the vast majority of those who attack clinics and doctors are not mentally ill. Eric Rudolph, the 1996 Olympics bomber who bombed two abortion clinics and killed a clinic security guard in 1998, was not motivated by mental illness. Paul Jennings Hill, who shot and killed an abortion provider and his bodyguard in 1994, was not motivated by mental illness. James Charles Kopp, who followed a provider home and shot him through a kitchen window, sniper-style, was not motivated by mental illness. Scott Roeder, who followed George Tiller into a church and then shot him point-blank in the head, was not motivated by mental illness. Only John Salvi, who may have had schizophrenia, murdered two Planned Parenthood employees in Brookline in 1994; the court ruled that he was competent to stand trial, and Salvi ended up committing suicide in prison.

And this trend goes beyond anti-abortion violence. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bomber, was not motivated by mental illness.

Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi who murdered six people at a Sikh temple in 2012, was not motivated by mental illness. Dylann Roof, the most recent white domestic terrorist who was not labelled as such, was not motivated by mental illness.

To say these domestic terrorists are mentally ill or that mental illness “drove them” to commit these atrocities is inaccurate on two fronts.

It reinforces the idea that all mentally ill people are violent and are controlled by their mental illness, which only leads to taboos against speaking about mental illness or even getting help. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services found that only five percent of violent crimes are committed by mentally ill people while people with mental illness are 10 times more likely to experience violence than the general population. But, more troubling, it ignores the motivations of these anti-abortion murderers.

Robert Lewis Dear clearly was motivated by violent anti-abortion rhetoric. He had a history of violence against women — an ex-wife, Barbara Michaux, called the police on him in 1993 after he beat her, and a woman who worked at a local mall accused him of sexually assaulting her at knifepoint after she turned him down in 1992. Michaux told NBC News that she had “no doubt in my [her] mind” that Dear was motivated by anti-abortion rhetoric when he committed his act of terror.

This trend is not unusual. Hill, Kopp, Salvi and Roeder all had histories of radical antiabortion activism before they committed murder. In fact, Roeder put glue in the locks of a clinic’s doors the day before he brutally murdered George Tiller. Hill was affiliated with the militant Army of God, an anti-abortion group

labeled as a terrorist organization by the FBI. Salvi was also loosely affiliated with the Army of God, a Christian anti-abortion group that condones terrorist activity. Kopp was part of the Christian terrorist group the Lambs of Christ.

Roeder had met with Army of God members and was closely tied to Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group whose leader, Troy Newman, has justified the murder of abortion providers as self-defense.

Dear himself seems to have been a supporter of David Daleiden, the head of CMP, the very group that first made the inflammatory claims that Planned Parenthood sells baby body parts. As an aside, violence and threats against Planned Parenthood clinics have escalated since the release of CMP’s deceptively edited and possibly illegally obtained videos, and there were nine criminal or suspicious incidents on Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics from late July, when the videos came out, through early September, when the FBI released a report on an uptick in anti-abortion attacks. Daleiden and his supporters — including presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina, who told outright lies about the doctored Planned Parenthood videos during the first Republican debate — cannot and should not be held responsible for this terrorist attack; they should be held responsible for their rhetoric and its consequences, just as how Troy Newman should be held responsible for calling for the execution of abortion providers.

What happened in Colorado Springs was an act of terrorism. It was not caused by mental illness and it did not happen in a vacuum.

Until we, as a nation, come to terms with this and label these atrocities as what they are and hold those who directly encourage this violence accountable, I do not think that these attacks against Planned Parenthood, abortion clinics and the doctors who put their lives on the line to help protect a constitutional right will end.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, Decmber 8, 2015

13

WBBALL: Squad

SECOND CHANCE

narrowly loses against tough rival CONTINUED FROM 16

by Sodine, who had 14 points on 7-9 shooting, who also contributed a solid number of rebounds. Guard Frankie Pinto ’17 contributed 12 points, draining nine of them on 3-pointers. Hodges added 11 points, notching nine of them in the second half. Hodges tied for the team-lead with four steals.

The Judges forced 24 turnovers, turning them into 23 points.

Guard Kyla Gabriel ’17 also had a solid performance, finishing with six points, four assists and four steals.

The star of the game, however, was Forward Emma Curnin ’19. The six foot, two inch rookie-forward nearly finished with a double-double.

Curnin put up eight points and

MIHIR KHANNA/Justice File Photo

COAST TO COAST: Center John Powell ’17 takes a contested layup against two Curry College defenders in a victory on Nov. 13.

MBBALL: Men fall by ten to Babson during tight match CONTINUED FROM 16 lead. The Judges could only come as close as six points the rest of the game.

Brandeis’s bench outscored Babson’s bench 26-10 behind the play of guard Colby Smith ’16 — who scored nine points — and Fay, but Babson outrebounded the Judges 38-27. Vilmont emphasized the importance of rebounding in the loss.

“The key to our loss against Babson was being out-rebound. They were more physical than we were that day,” Vilmont said. “Also, they were hitting some tough shots.”

Judges 79, Becker 58 Vilmont led the Judges with a team-

high 19 points, but Brandeis had 10 players score at least one point as they never trailed in the game in the tournament’s opener.

A layup from Workman with 11:01 remaining put the Judges up 21-11.

Becker got to within four points at 2319, but Brandeis finished the half on a 16-5 run to go up 39-24 at halftime.

Guard Nate Meehan ’18 scored all of his 13 points in the first half on four-offive shooting.

The Judges kept the momentum in the second half, leading at one point by as many as 23 points. Smith scored eight points in the half, and Fay and Dowden both scored five points.

Brandeis shot 51 percent from the field and limited Becker to just 32.4

percent shooting. The Judges also hit nine three-pointers, compared to just four from Becker.

The Judges return to action tonight on Tuesday as they host No. 4 Amherst College at 7 p.m. in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Last season’s contest against Amherst proved to be the Judges’ high point of the season.

On the road in the 2014 to 2015 campaign against the No. 2 team in the nation, the Judges throttled Amherst by twenty points.

The upset was one of the biggest in program history and made waves around the Division III landscape.

Powell led the team with a total of 17 points in that matchup.

grinded out a tough game-high of eight rebounds, both career bests.

Thanks to Curnin’s tenacity on the boards, the Judges out-rebounded the Sharks, 41-29, for the game.

This rebounding advantage led to a comparable advantage in second choice points, with the Judges cleaning up the glass for 21 points, seven times more than the lowly three second chance points of the Sharks. Because of game-flow, the Judges bench had time to shine.

The Judges are now 4-3 on the season and are back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. against the Babson College Beavers.

The team only has four more nonconference contests before they face University Athletic Association conference teams.

TRACK: Both teams grab gold and silver in one-mile run in meet CONTINUED FROM 16 races at the meet.

The men’s team fared equally as well, dominating in the one-mile race during the competition.

Roger Lacroix ’18 took first place, running three tenths of a second faster than second place finisher and teammate Grady Ward ’16. Max Whitmore ’18 was right behind, finishing in the top five with a 4:34.24 mile.

The men posted just two more top-ten finishes during the weekend. In the 800-meter run, Matthew Becker ’18 placed fifth in just over two minutes.

Brian Sheppard ’18 also cracked the top ten in the 5000-meter race, finishing in just under 16 minutes.

Before the meet, Sheppard noted, “From what I've seen, this is going to be the sprinters, mid-distance and jumping groups’ best year in a long time.”

Sheppard seems certainly cor-

rect in his prediction, with Evan Scott ’16 boasting a high jump of 1.85 meters, good enough to reel in a seventh-place finish.

Although both the men and women’s teams dominated the track in the one-mile and long distance races, the team has much to improve upon in the other events.

The men did not finish above 14th in any of the short-distance races, while the women reached only 16th.

The teams will have to put in the hard work in order to be ready for this week’s meet.

Both teams will be running at the University of Southern Maine Open this coming Saturday. This will be a new venue for the Judges, as they did not race at the USM Open last season.

The Judges will look to continue their marked success in the longdistance races and improve in their peripheral events to solidify themselves as a title contenders.

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jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS

●

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

15

FENCING

Men’s BASKETBALL UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

Points Per Game

Not including Monday’s games UAA Conference

W L NYU

0 0 WashU 0 0 Carnegie 0 0 Chicago 0 0 JUDGES 0 0 Rochester 0 0 Case 0 0 Emory 0 0

Overall W L Pct. 5 0 1.000 5 1 .833 4 1 .800 6 2 .750 5 2 .714 6 3 .666 4 3 .571 4 3 .571

UPCOMING GAMES: Today vs. Amherst Dec. 30 vs. Fitchburg State Jan. 2 at Bates

Robinson Vilmont ’17 leads the squad with 16.6 points per game.

Player PPG Robinson Vilmont 16.6 John Powell 11.9 Jordan Cooper 9.6 Tim Reale 7.4

Rebounds Per Game John Powell ’17 leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game.

Player RPG John Powell 8.3 Jordan Cooper 4.9 Robinson Vilmont 4.1 Colby Smith 3.7

WOMen’s basketball UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

Not including Monday’s games UAA Conference

W L W NYU

0 0 7 Carnegie 0 0 6 Rochester 0 0 6 WashU 0 0 6 Chicago 0 0 5 Emory 0 0 5 JUDGES 0 0 4 Case 0 0 3

Points Per Game

Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 0 1.000 1 .857 1 .857 1 .833 1 .833 3 .571 5 .375

UPCOMING GAMES: Tomorrow vs. Babson Dec. 31 vs. Husson Jan. 2 vs. Endicott

Paris Hodges ’16 leads the team with 12.0 points per game.

Player PPG Paris Hodges 12.0 Sydney Sodine 11.3 Maria Jackson 9.0 Heather Cain 8.5

Rebounds Per Game Maria Jackson ’17 leads with 8.3 rebounds per game.

Player RPG Maria Jackson 8.3 Sydney Sodline 7.0 Paris Hodges 4.9 Emma Curnin 4.0

track and field Results from the University of Massachusetts Boston Invitational

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

One-Mile Run

One-Mile Run

RUNNER TIME Roger Lacroix 4:27.69 Grady Ward 4:27.99 4:34.24 Max Whitmore Brad Payne 4:39.15

RUNNER TIME Kyra Shreeve 5:13.59 Ashley Piccirillo-Horan 5:16.59 Maggie Hensel 5:30.54 Meaghan Barry 5:40.34

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

ON POINT: Epee Liz Feller ’18 (right) reaches for the touch at the Brandeis Invitational this past Sunday against Division I competition.

Squads engage against tough teams at home ■ Elishua Little ’18 led the Judges with an overall score of 10-3 during the day’s difficult tournament.

By noah hessdorf Justice editor

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Judges will have their next meet on Jan. 9 at the University of Southern Maine Open.

SWIMMING AND DIVING Results from a meet at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Dec. 5

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s) 500-yard freestyle

SWIMMER TIME Zach Diamond 4:56.62 Taku Harada 5:02.80 Sam Scudere-Weiss 5:33.97

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s) 200-yard IM

SWIMMER TIME Fay Laborio 2:27.83 Sabrina Greer 2:31.48 Audrey Fein 2:35.84

UPCOMING MEETS:

Jan. 10 at Colby Jan. 12 at Merrimack Jan 16 vs. Trinity

The men and women’s fencing team hosted the Brandeis Invitational this past Sunday as the men recorded a 3-2 record, while the women finished 2-3. The tournament consisted of six rounds with competitors Johns Hopkins University, Drew University, Cornell University, St. John’s University, Yale University, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The invitational began with two tight 14-13 victories against Johns Hopkins. The men were defeated 4-5 in epee and clinched the win on the backs of 5-4 victories in sabre and foil. The women fell to the Blue Jays in sabre and epee by the scores of 4-5 and 2-7, respectively.

Fortunately, the foil squad came up strong, dominating its competition 8-1 to bring home the victory for the Judges. Saberist Kyle Berney ’18 continued his stellar start to the season with a perfect 3-0 record

in the competition for the men.

Foilists Caroline Mattos ’16 and Zimeng Xue ’16 were also 3-0 during the match for the women’s side.

In the second round against Drew, both squads won with a dominating score of 21-6. Foilists Toby Gray ’16, Elishua Little ’18 and Charles Wells ’19 all posted 3-0 records to lead the foil squad to an overall record of 9-0. Saberists Nina Sayles ’17 and Deborah Abiri ’16 also recorded 3-0 records for the women. Sayles was joined by Rosa Zhang ’16 and Liz Feller ’18 from the epee squad, who both put 3-0 scores on the board.

In the third round, the Judges suffered their first defeats of the afternoon, falling to Yale. The men lost 11-16, while the women were narrowly edged by a score of 13-14.

The only category in which the men were able to come up victorious was in epee. Captain and epeeist Tom Hearne ’16 and epeeist Albert Reiss ’17 each went 2-1 against Yale.

Little had another big match in which he went a perfect 3-0.

The women performed better than the men as the epee team went 7-2. The team was led by Gwen Dolyn ’16, who won all three of her matches against the Bulldogs.

Feller and Sonya Glickman ’16 each went 2-1 during their matches

as well. Abiri and foilist Joanne Carminucci ’19 also recorded 2-1 scores to tighten up the close competition. After the loss, the teams were faced with the daunting task of going up against one of the top five teams in the nation last year, St. John’s. The Red Storm was able to control throughout the afternoon, beating both sides by a combined score of 23-4. Little again was the bright spot for the Judges, going 2-1 during the match.

Foilist Guillermo Narvaez ’18 and saberist Curtis Wilson ’18 were each able to add a point for the men’s four total points. Foilists Mattos, Xue, Emilia Dwyer ’16 and Feller each recorded a point for the women’s side. During the final bout against Cornell, the men came out victorious with a score of 16-11, while the women fell 6-21.

The sabre and foil squads for the men both posted scores of 6-3, and epee lost by the close score of 4-5.

Berney and Narvaez led the Judges with 2-0 perfect scores. In the loss, Glickman and Mowell, who each went 2-1, led the women.

The teams will be off until next semester, when the women take on Wellesley College on Jan. 20, while both teams will face off in the second Northeast Fencing Conference on Jan. 23.

Swimming and Diving Men and Women compete at Worcester Polytechnic Institute Invitational against strong opponents ■ Edan Zitelny ’17 scored in five different events during the course of the invitational to lead the Judges.

By avi gold Justice editor

The men and women’s swimming and diving team swam to a number of solid individual finishes at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gompei Invitational over the weekend, anchored by a strong day from Zach Diamond ’18. The men’s squad ended the invitational with 825.5 points, good for seventh place, while the women swam to a 10thplace finish, scoring 408.5 points in

the process.

Men’s squad (825.5 points— 7th place) Diamond’s strong day was led by his sixth-place finish in the 1,650yard freestyle race, during which he stopped the clock at 16 minutes, 43.42 seconds. Diamond’s sixthplace entry was a full 10 seconds out of fifth place but more than 15 ahead of the next competitor. The race was a touch faster than his 4:22.63 time in the preliminary round and just two seconds behind the seventhplace finisher. Diamond managed 13th in the 500-yard freestyle, good for third overall in the B Final, swimming to a time of 4:55.80. He also managed a top-15 finish in the 100-yard individual medley, covering the course in 56.81 seconds.

Diamond swam the third leg of the 11th-place 200-yard medley relay quartet, along with Edan Zitelny ’17, Adib Milani ’18 and Cam Braz ’17. The four totaled a time of 1:40.42 and missed out on the top 10 by less than a second.

Zitelny turned in a solid performance for the Judges, grabbing a trio of top-15 individual finishes at the meet. His time of 1:59.42 in the 200-yard backstroke was 14th overall and fourth in the B Final, a shade over one second out of the top three in the race. He won the B Final of the 100-yard butterfly race, touching the wall at the 53.56 mark, two-tenths of a second faster than the next competitor. His time was better than three of the swimmers in the A Final as well. Zitelny managed a 12th-place finish in the 100-

yard backstroke, stopping the timer at the 55.07 mark.

Women’s squad (408.5 points —10th place) The women’s squad saw a number of swimmers turn in solid swims at the meet. Kylie Herman ’19 turned in a strong performance in the B Final of the 500-yard freestyle race, claiming 14th overall with a time of 5:17.30. Herman also managed 16th overall in the 100yard butterfly race, stopping the timer at the 1:01.93 mark, a half-second improvement on her time from the preliminary race. Herman was just out-touched for a spot in the top-15, losing out by three tenths of a second. She also swam to an 18thplace finish in the 100-yard freestyle race, turning in a time of 55.98 sec-

onds. Less than seven-tenths of a second separated Hermann from a third-place finish in the B Final of the 100-yard freestyle, but she did manage to touch the wall a full halfsecond ahead of the next competitor. She rounded her day out with an even 2:00.0 finish in the 200-yard freestyle race, earning a sixth-place finish in the race’s B Final.

Fallon Bushee ’16 took home a good performance, earning 10th place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.64 seconds. She was closely followed on the timer by Amy Sheinhait ’18, who swam to a 25.71 finish, good for 13th overall, and tied for third in the B Final of the race. Both squads will return to action following an extended break with a meet at Colby College, scheduled for Jan. 10 at 1 p.m.

just

Sports

Page 16

HITTING THE TARGET The men and women’s fencing team hosted the Brandeis Invitational this past Sunday, p. 15.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Waltham, Mass.

mEN’S BASKETBALL

BEARING DOWN

Judges cruise past Salem State in big win over weekend ■ Guard Robinson Vilmont

’17 scored 20 points in a dominant victory over Salem State University.

By elan kane JUSTICE staff writer

The men’s basketball team went 2-1 this past week, defeating Salem State University 83-63 on Sunday, losing to Babson 75-65 on Saturday and beating Becker College 79-58 last Tuesday.

With the victory on Sunday, the Judges improve to 5-2 overall.

Judges 83, Salem St. 63 The Judges never trailed in the consolation game of the New England Big Four Challenge.

Center John Powell ’17 tallied a double-double in the game, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Brandeis started the game on an 8-0 run as a result of two three-pointers made by guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 and forward Samuel Dowden ’17 and a layup from guard Tim Reale ’17.

The Judges were up 26-22 with roughly five minutes remaining when guard Jack Fay ’17 hit a freethrow to start a 17-4 run to end the half. Fay finished the game with five points, all coming from the foul line.

In the second half, Vilmont led the Judges with 12 of his total game-high

20 points.

Powell also chipped in with six points in the half, along with nine rebounds as Brandeis led by at least 15 throughout the half.

Vilmont said the win was a result of a team effort. “The main focus Sunday was to play team basketball and not break [that] mentality,” Vilmont said. “If we play our game, we can beat anyone in the country. Everyone played a huge role in our win against Salem State.”

The Judges shot 55.4 percent from the field and limited Salem State to 41.2 percent shooting.

Judges 65, Babson 75 Fay scored a team-high 11 points for the Judges in the New England Big Four Challenge Opener, but Brandeis could not erase an early second-half nine-point deficit as they fell to Babson. Forward Latye Workman ’18 hit a jumpshot with 10:45 remaining in the first half to cut Babson’s lead to eight.

Vilmont followed on the ensuing Judges possession with a layup.

Brandeis outscored Babson 21-15 to end the half as the teams were tied 4040 at halftime.

After a free throw from Vilmont put the Judges up 47-46 in the beginning of the second half, Babson reeled off nine straight points to take a 55-47

See MBBALL, 13 ☛

TRACK AND FIELD

HEATHER SCHILLER/Justice File Photo

LOW CROSSOVER: Guard Heather Cain ’16 dribbles the ball against regional rival Tufts University on Nov. 21 at home.

Women take decisive win in blowout game ■ Guard Paris Hodges ’17

scored a game-high 19 points, with 9-9 shooting from the foul line.

By MAX BYER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The Judges split their two games this week, blowing out Simmons College 72-38 at home before losing 71-65 to Johnson and Wales University on the road.

Johnson and Wales 71, Judges 65 The Judges came close, but they were unable to beat the Johnson and Wales Wildcats in Providence, RI. The Wildcats led 16-10 after the first quarter of regulation.

After a 19-18 second-quarter scoring edge, the teams went into halftime, with the Wildcats up by five.

The Judges were outscored by three, 14-11, in the third quarter before outscoring the Wildcats, 25-23, in a highscoring fourth quarter.

Despite a close score line, the Judg-

es as a team were dominated on the box score.

The Judges shot a low 35.5 percent from the field, compared to 47.1 percent by the Wildcats. The Wildcats edged the Judges 43-32 on the glass and more than tripled the Judges in assists, 16-5.

On the bright side, the Judges took care of the ball, only turning it over 12 times, compared to the 22 turnovers they forced the Wildcats to commit over the course of the contest.

A strong inside presence persists for the Judges, who combined for 32 points in the paint.

The Judges were led in scoring by guard Paris Hodges ’17, who was the game’s leading scorer, with 19 points, a career high.

Hodges was able to do so with a shooting percentage of 50. Nearly half of her scoring came from the charity stripe, where Hodges was a perfect 9-9.

Forward Sydney Sodine ’17 added 15 points, while center Maria Jackson ’17 neared a double-double, finishing with eight points and ten rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive side of the court.

Judges 72, Simmons 38 The Judges protected Red Auerbach Arena, dominating the Simmons College Sharks, as they led from wire to wire.

The Judges opened with a 10-2 lead in the game’s first four minutes. They maintained that lead throughout the first quarter, which ended 17-5.

The Judges stayed hot in the second quarter, shooting 11-17 from the field en route to outscoring the Sharks 246, giving the Judges a 30-point halftime lead, 41-11.

Simmons responded well after halftime, outscoring the Judges 18-14.

However, the fourth quarter was more like the first half than the previous quarter; the Judges outscored Simmons 17-9.

In a true team effort, nine of 11 active players scored for the Judges, with all 11 players playing at least 10 minutes.

The team went 29-60 from the field, shooting 48.3 percent, vastly greater than Simmons’ shooting percentage of 31.3 percent.

The Judges were led in scoring

See WBBALL, 13 ☛

Teams win big in meet with three golds ■ First-years Doyin Ogundiran ’19 and Julia Bryson ’19 took home gold in the 800- and 3000-meter, respectively.

By JERRY MILLER JUSTICE Editorial Assistant

The Judges’ track and field team began its season on the right foot this past Saturday, looking to improve upon their mediocre 2014 to 2015 campaigns.

Last season, both the men and women’s teams struggled, posting a best finish of sixth place for each.

While the Judges were off to a great start last season, scoring five top-three finishes in their debut at the University of Massachusetts Boston Invitational, their success tapered off as the season progressed. Despite tough losses in graduating seniors Mo Sidique ’15, Jarret Harrigan ’15 and Kristi Pistarik ’15, the new-look Judges persevered and were able to replicate last season’s finish at the UMass Invitational.

Before the meet, Tove Freeman ’16 noted some of the team’s strongholds, explaining, “We are hoping to get a few national qualifiers both individually and in our relays, specifically in the Distance Medley and the 4x400 [meter relay].” Freeman was spot-on in her evaluation, with the women dominating the one-mile and 3000-meter runs, along with a strong top-ten

finish in the 4x400 meter relay.

The women’s team stole the onemile race, nabbing first and second place along with four top-ten finishes. Kyra Shreve ’18 broke the tape with a 5 minute, 13.59 second mile, narrowly edging out teammate Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 by three seconds. Maggie Hensel ’16 was not far behind, placing sixth and running a 5:30.54 mile.

The first-years racked up the hardware, boasting two gold medals in the meet.

The 3000-meter run was a breeze, with Julia Bryson ’19 taking home the gold. Bryson cruised to the finish line in her first race of the year with a 10:54.90 time, beating the second-place runner from Bentley College by a cool 16 seconds.

The next first-year, Doyin Ogundiran ’19, ran her best of the day in the 800-meter race. Ogundiran finished the race with a 2:25.75 time to take home Brandeis’s second gold medal of the day.

The Judges sneaked into the top ten, finishing ninth during the 4x400 meter relay. The women’s A team finished a mere half of a second before Bridgewater State’s B team crossed the finish line.

Unfortunately, the Judges were unable to crack the top ten in any of their remaining races. The women were able to win big in a few of their races.

However, they could not make an impact in any of their weaker

See TRACK, 13 ☛

Vol. LXVIII #12

December 8, 2015

justARTS

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Waltham, MA.

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Images: Tommy Gao/the Justice, Creative Commons. Design: Michelle Banayan/the Justice.

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THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, december 8, 2015

Performance

BK brings laughs in annual sketch festival

By Lizzie Grossman justice Staff writer

Friday was the first of the two nights of the 16th annual Sketch Comedy Festival, featuring opening acts by Skidmore College’s Sketchies and Yale University’s Fifth Humor, and Brandeis’s beloved Boris’ Kitchen.

The Sketchies opened with a few humorous sketches. One sketch portrayed a group of students talking about their semesters abroad and focused on a girl talking about her gap year in Israel. Her peers were making fun of her by accusing her experience abroad as not being as authentic and different as theirs. This was clearly an allusion to Brandeis and it was captivating to see another college play fun at the culture of the University.

Fifth Humor presented quite a number of hilarious and memorable sketches and the sketch that they closed with was extremely popular.

In the scene, a boy wants to take a condom from a table with a sign on it that says “Free Condoms” but worries about anyone seeing him take one. It is parents’ weekend at college, so the boy struggles to take a condom in secret because there were several parents, including his own, on campus. The boy makes several hilarious attempts to grab a condom from the table, each time being interrupted by a parent on campus.

The show continued with the

much-awaited performances by Boris’ Kitchen. They performed 15 hilarious sketches, several of which were written by Brandeis students who were not part of the troupe.

Many were fairly short, but did not fail to make the audience laugh.

One of the short sketches was entitled “Chicken,” and was written

by Rachel Zhu ‘18, and featured Yael Matlow ’18 and Ayelet Schrek ’17.

Matlow tells the well known “Why did the chicken cross the road?” joke to Schrek, who responds with a very scientific response. When Matlow counters “To get to the other side,” Schrek analyzes this answer for a few seconds and then bursts into uncontrollable laughter. Matlow laughs along with her at first, but Schrek cannot comprehend how hilarious it is and continues to laugh long after Matlow had stopped. Matlow, very concerned, looks at her and then at the audience and exclaims “It’s not that funny!”

The last sketch of the night, which was one of the most memorable, was entitled “Wank Robbery” and was written by Andrew Agress ’17. It depicted Mira Garin ‘19 and Rodrigo Granados ’18 as parents going to a sperm bank to get a sperm sample so they could have a child. Jason Kasman ’16, the receptionist at the bank who is assisting them, leaves a sippy cup on his desk while he momentarily leaves the room. Suddenly, a robber — Dennis Hermida ’16 — runs on stage with a gun, threatening to kill

MAKING A DEPOSIT: A couple hoping for a child is threatened in a sperm bank by a robber who is trying to steal from the ‘bank.’

DAISY CHEN/the Justice

the parents if they do not give him money. Garin and Granados explain that it is a sperm bank, not a regular bank, but Hermida grabs the cup and presents a variety of threats to Garin and Granados, threateningly holding the gun to the cup each time they refuse to follow his orders.

Eventually, they give the robber a gold watch to compromise, and the robber returns the cup to them.

When Kasman returns to the room, he proceeds to open the cup and start

to eat it with a spoon.

Garin and Granados nervously try to stop him, but he says it is his breakfast in the cup. Garin and Granados proceed to groan at how many sacrifices they made to the robber when it wasn’t even their sperm sample in the cup that had been at risk.

The sketch comedy festival was an absolute delight to watch. The show was Zephry Wright’s ’17 first time ever directing, and he did a fan-

tastic job. In a director’s note in the program for the event, he described how he almost gave up as director many times, but the whole troupe was always there to support him. “If this had been any other cast, I can say with full confidence that I would not have survived this process,” said Wright. “I may be the director of this year’s Fall [Sketch Comedy] Festival, but without Mira (Garin ’19) and the rest of this group, it wouldn’t be a show worth watching.”

DAISY CHEN/the Justice

FEELING CRABBY: In a sketch mocking Buzzfeed, a girl receives absurd advice from a doctor who was trained by Buzzfeed.

performance

Fafali showcases Ghanaian drumming and dancing By jaime gropper justice editor

A beat from a single drum, an atsimevu, preceded an onslaught of rhythm from the students of Brandeis’s Ghanaian drum and dance ensemble in Friday night’s biannual “Fafali: Music and Dance from Ghana.” The class showcased the Ghanaian dance-drumming they learned this past semester in a spirited night of drumming, dancing and singing. The concert in the Slosberg Recital Hall also featured the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society and the Brandeis Spirit Band.

Directed by Prof. Ben Paulding (MUS), Fafali is an experiential learning course that focuses on the music, song and dance of the Ewe people of southeastern Ghana. Having lived in Kumasi, Ghana and drummed for national audiences with groups such

as Ashanti King’s Fontomfrom Ensemble, Nsuase Kete Group and the Centre for National Culture, Paulding has extensive experience with Fafali. He also currently serves as the Drum Leader for the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society.

Supported by drummers from the ADDS, the class opened with a piece of the Kinka genre, a social genre of dance drumming from the Southern Ewe people of the Volta region. The focus in this piece was placed purely on the complex rhythms produced by several types of drums, bells, also known as gankogui, and rattles, also known as axatse.

The class transitioned to the Agbekor genre for the second piece, which saw the addition of dancing and singing. Felicia Sandler, who teaches Mile Norvisi, a class on West African Music at the New England Conservatory of Music, Laura Parks

and Richard Preston sang while ADDS drummers also supported the Fafali students. Paulding introduced the piece by explaining that Agbekor is traditionally a war dance from the Volta region and that its oral history is enacted through drumming, dancing and singing.

The piece started slowly with the beat of one drummer and quickly gained momentum as a succession of drummers joined in and the singers began their powerful chanting. The dancers entered from off-stage after the music was underway and used a medley of synchronized sweeping side-to-side movements, rigid hand and body motions and jumps.

The dance had a mix of smooth and jerky elements in it but maintained an overall flow that kept in time with the music. According to the program, the dance movements were supposed to serve as reenactments of battle-

field scenes and present elements such as shooting, hiding, clearing grass to set up camp and listening to spiritual advice from ancestors.

The Brandeis Spirit Band along with Fafali students, performed a unique piece that blended the sounds of Fafali with those of a brass band. Ken Fields, the director of the Brandeis Spirit band, was absent for the performance. Fafali students played traditional Kinka rhythms on Ewe drums while the Spirit band, decked out in capes, played traditional Ewe melodies on brass instruments typically unfamiliar to Fafali.

ADDS’s solo performance was of the Sikyi genre, a recreational dance-drumming genre from the Akan people of south-central Ghana.

Attah Poku, the artistic director of ADDS, is from the Ashanti Region of Ghana, joined the Ashanti king’s drum ensemble when he was ten and

has performed with several other renowned groups all across Africa.

Currently, he also directs the Kiniwe African Music and Dance Ensemble at Tufts University. ADDS’s dance featured two pairs of couples who were dancing in flirty ways. The dance had a cheerful and lighthearted air to it, and their interaction was intimate yet fun. The singers sang in a call-and-response form. Although it was not actually the audience who responded, this singing strengthened the connection felt to the dance by all.

At the end of the concert, Paulding invited the audience to the stage to learn how to play. Fafali students demonstrated a particular instrument and explained the significance behind a particular rhythm. The concert served as a small glimpse into the world of traditional African dance and music.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 | THE JUSTICE

tHEATER

BRIEF Rose’s Lee Gallery dedicated to reflection on #Fordhall2015

TOMMY GAO/the Justice

THERE WILL BE BLOOD: Lady Macbeth washes blood off of her hands after tampering with a murder site to get her husband closer to the Scottish crown.

Modern ‘Macbeth’ puts the drama at home

By Anna stern justice staff writer

Walking into the Laurie Theater on Saturday night, I could not help but feel as if I had entered a completely different space.

The theater had been transformed into a modern day kitchen — complete with a sink, kitchen island, cabinets stocked to the brim with food and drink, mostly resembling alcohol, and a refrigerator.

The right of the stage resembled a traditional entryway into a house, complete with a key-bowl, a coat rack and even a working answering machine.

This was the set of director Zoë Golub-Sass’s ’16 production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”

“Macbeth” is about the titular soldier and his friend Banquo who meet three strange witches who prophesize that Macbeth will eventually be king. The play follows Macbeth and his wife’s descent into madness as they try to make the prophecy come true.

Golub-Sass took the traditional regal setting of “Macbeth” and transformed it into a modern domestic drama. In her director’s notes, Golub-Sass writes that what

19

drives the Macbeths to take the throne is their “absence of children/heir.” Therefore, Golub-Sass found that to make these seemingly complex issues more relatable it was appropriate to place Shakespeare’s seemingly domestic drama into a physical modern day home.

One would never think to see Lady Macbeth (Caley Chase ’16) in jeans. In fact, in the scene after Macbeth (Raphael Stigliano ’18) first encounters the witches and hears his prophecy, he delivers his first monologue to Lady Macbeth not in person but through an answering machine.

The dining room was set up so that while dinner parties were happening, the characters could retreat to the kitchen and discuss other pressing matters. At the back of the stage, a room was set up to look like a living space. However, this was the area where all the characters who died during the show went to. This juxtaposition was most notably evident in the scene where Macbeth has a vision of Banquo at his dinner party.

Instead of leaving it up to the audience to see Macbeth’s madness, Ben Astrachan ’19, who played Banquo, sat in an empty seat at the

TOMMY GAO/the Justice

ROYAL PAIN: Macbeth (Raphael Stigliano ’18), knowing the witches prophecy that he will be King, struggles with his conscience as men are killed for him.

table and started drinking along with the rest of the party. After the scene he retreated back to the “other world” making the audience feel just as spooked.

The attention to detail was remarkably evident in the scenery, and it strengthened emotional components of the drama. GolubSass made the Macduff family seem incredibly realistic. When Lady Macduff (Yaznil Baez ’16) expresses her frustration about the situation in the kingdom, she still manages to do her duties as a mother, such as sending her youngest child to a time out.

Young Macduff (Danielle Frankel ’17) started off Act II as if he were coming home from school and taking out his notebook to do his homework, only to be bothered by his little sister, Youngest Macduff, who was played by third grader Fiona Hyland, daughter of Senior Academic Administrator in the Theater Arts Department Alicia Hyland. When the three murderers come into the Macduff home and violently slaughter the family, the combat and blood effects were incredibly realistic. The entire audience felt an overwhelming sense of grief as this realistic family was slaughtered in front of the audience’s very eyes.

Three of the standouts were the three Witches, played by Mira Kessler ’16, Kylie Underwood ’19 and Talia Bornstein ’19.

The witches’ roles were transformed from enchantresses to NICU nurses who performed their incantations to an empty baby carriage.

The witches also played the traditionally male role of the Porter, the town drunk who adds comic relief.

Out of all the other supporting characters in the show, Matt Hoisch’s ’19 portrayal of Malcolm stood out with his passionate monologues.

The realistic grief, particularly in the scene when he finds out that his father Duncan has been killed, that Hoisch brought to the production and the shift of his grief into spite for Macbeth were remarkable to watch.

The actors interacted with the audiences in the front rows and played out their monologues to each audience member. Performing in a “theater in the round”-type setting is difficult, and Stigliano and Chase performed their roles with ease, thanks in part to the brilliant staging by Golub-Sass.

The use of space and the attention to detail added extra meaning to a show written and set in another era.

By placing the show into a modern context, the audience was able to connect to the old language in a way in which a 2015 theater-going individual would better understand it. It just goes to show that in both Shakespeare’s time and in 2015, the role of family relationships is as complicated and timeless.

The Rose Art Museum recently announced that it is dedicating its Mildrid S. Lee Gallery as a place to foster conversation about social issues.

The initiative was inspired by #FordHall2015, a twelveday occupation of the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Building by students who were calling for expansion of racial diversity and inclusion on campus.

“The space was conceived as a place of reflection and dialogue, in which works … might serve as catalysts for conversation about issues relating to cultural bias, race, and the intersection of art and activism,” said Chris Bedford, Henry and Lois Foster director and Assistant Curator Caitlin Rubin in an email to the Justice.

“The museum seeks to create a sustainable space and program that our community can rely on, in times of both peace and conflict.”

The space will display pieces from the museum’s permanent collection, in keeping with the tradition of the Lee Gallery.

The museum’s newsletter states that the space will also be used for “teach-ins, workshops, and close looking sessions related to racial injustice and inequality.”

Currently on view are works by Al Loving, Melvin Edwards and Ellen Gallagher.

Bedford and Rubin say, “We hope that this selection elicits some important questions, such as: what is the relationship between abstraction and the body? Is there a black abstraction?” The works on view are accompanied only by quotes from their artists.

The Rose was one of the many bodies on campus that issued a formal statement in support of the #FordHall2015 sit-in.

—Emily Wishingrad

NEW SPACE: A recently opened art space in Usdan is currently showing artworks by Prof. Levin (SOC) MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

BRIEF Family works by Marty Levin occupy new art space in Usdan Students visiting Usdan Dining Hall will now be able to enjoy art as they eat.

Beginning last month, a small space to the right of Louis’ Deli was designated for student and faculty art. The first installation, last month, was a photography exhibit of work created by students who participated in various University-sponsored programs abroad. Currently in the space are two historically inspired paintings by Prof.

Martin Levin (SOC).

The space came about as a response to the closing of the Shapiro Campus Center Gallery, which was dismantled in order to make way for the newly created Dharmic Prayer Center. Acting Director of the Office of the Arts Ingrid Schorr told the Justice that she worked over the summer to “locate and prepare a new space for the art exhibitions” and with the sign-off of Interim Provost Irving Epstein, Schorr was able to start preparing the space.

Schorr said she sought out Levin after seeing his work presented at a few of the biannual faculty exhibitions in the Dreitzer Gallery.

“His use of family photographs will resonate with viewers of all generations, particularly those of us who are far from our families,”

said Schorr. “I hope that people sharing the Usdan space for study, food and conversation will enjoy the company of these portraits.”

His pieces on view, “Easter Sunday 1965” and “Coming to America 1910,” are paintings based on photographs of his wife’s family and his own, respectively.

In January, he will show two more paintings inspired by the same themes. One will depict what he imagines his wife at age seven or eight would have looked like while walking to school.

Since he has no photograph of his wife, however, Levin has based the painting on Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With,” which depicts Ruby Bridges breaking conventions by walking into a historically segregated school, accompanied by policemen. Levin says he came to art through attending adult-learning classes at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for about the last decade.

Schorr and Levin both expressed a desire for more student submissions.

They hope to collaborate with the Storytelling Brigade, a club currently being formed, in order to increase submissions.

—Emily Wishingrad

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 | THE JUSTICE

Brandeis TALKS

INTERVIEW

What’s your plan of action for the Midnight Buffet?

Raphael Stigliano ’18

Stigliano talks playing Macbeth JAIME GROPPER/the Justice

This week, justArts spoke with Raphael Stiglianio ’18, who played Macbeth in the Department of Theater Arts’ production of “Macbeth.” The show set the story of Macbeth in a modern, domestic setting.

Sam Laney ’16

“Normally my plan of action is to make friends with the tall guy.

But I’ll be working that night.”

JA: What was the audition process like?

ALI SANTANA/the Justice

Farzana Parveen ’19 “Eat real swell.”

CROSSWORD ACROSS

Niv Tal Mor ’17

“I’m short, so I just kind of squeeze in the line and use my height as an advantage.”

Karina Meythaler ’19

“Get real fat!”

—Compiled and photographed by Michelle Banayan /the Justice.

STAFF’S Top Ten

Jewish Comfort Food

By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITOR

It’s that time of year again; Chanukah season is upon us, and with it comes loads of delicious holiday foods.

In honor of the festival of lights, pour yourself a glass of manishewitz and dig into some of these top ten Jewish comfort foods: 1) Latkes 2) Matzah Ball Soup 3) Bagel and Lox 4) Rugelach 5) Knishes 6) Sufganiyot 7) Kugel 8) Brisket 9) Challah 10) Hamantaschen

JA: What part of the story did you most enjoyed getting to play as Macbeth?

1 Happy, nonsensically 8 It is often mailed in 14 Enjoyed heartily 16 Deletes a drawing, perhaps 17 Like Holden Caulfield 18 Deadly, nonsensically 19 Spying gov’t org.

20 Set of principles 22 Laments 26 Sing to lovingly 30 Plants that provide seeds for buns 32 Less like Felix and more like Oscar 33 Additions to 55-Across, in commercials 35 Colbert’s title during the “Cheating Death” segment of the Report 36 “Woohoo!”, nonsensically 42 Santo Domingo greeting 43 Jazz artist Loren 44 Daunting, nonsensically 49 Someone who gets you 53 Belief in the goodness of human nature, perhaps 55 Mexican beer 56 Youtube offering 57 Navigational tool 58 “______ stars” (dazed) 61 Spelunking necessity 66 Claim 67 Chosen one?

68 He debuts in “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” 69 Inventor of the nonsense words found in this puzzle DOWN 1 Coca-Cola and Nike, to name two 2 “The ______ Weensie Spider” 3 Places where a sacrifice might occur 4 Nintendo avatar 5 Quasi 6 Female pronoun 7 Female pronoun 8 Midnight Rider?

9 Slowly destroys 10 Nobles below Viscounts 11 Cleopatra’s bane 12 Beverage consumed around 4:00 PM 13 Not a native speaker of this tongue 15 Google service similar to Microsoft Word 21 Band that exclaimed “And I feel fine!”

23 Sheer nerve 24 “Law and Order” character played

by J.K. Simmons 25 Missouri sch.

27 Verdi opera 28 Fly in the face of 29 We are currently in the Cenozoic

RS: Mainly the challenge was looking at all of these different sections of dialogue they had given us for Macbeth, who, just looking at all of these sections they had given us, is a completely different character in each scene we were given. From one to next it was hard to see how it would congeal into a single character. Even after I had gotten the part, that was still a question for me, quite how that progression goes.

RS: One of the most fun things to do was definitely the second half of the show when Macbeth is really starting to — I don’t quite want to say losing his grip on reality, but definitely his mental state is changing and maybe decaying. That was definitely much more fun to play and had a lot of dramatic switches in tone and emotion level and energy. And that, of course, had the fight scenes which is always so fun to do … I think if I had to say a favorite scene, I really enjoyed finding my way through the tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow speech. It’s in Act 2 and which is obviously this big, wellknown speech that I was terrified to even try in the beginning but ultimately I was very happy with what happened.

JA: What was the biggest challenge that you had playing Macbeth?

one 31 How webistes get to the top of Google (abbr.)

34 Librarian’s admonishment 36 Wearing something 37 Tops 38 Model-T, for example 39 Baldwin of 30-Rock 40 Stitch’s friend 41 Father of Goneril, Regan and Cordelia 42 French friend 45 “X-Men” namesake 46 Raccoon relative 47 Ray’s obsession in “In Bruges” 48 Opposite of WNW 50 “Same thing”, when said twice 51 Hardest substance in the human body 52 What SWAT teams often do in movies 54 Hardness scale 58 Sucker 59 Chess rating system 60 Yale grad 62 “i carry your heart with me” poet’s inits.

63 Similarly to 64 Berlin article 65 Ruger double-action wep.

CROSSWORD COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

SOLUTION COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

SUDOKU INSTRUCTIONS: Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Sudoku Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service, Inc.

RS: Finding the character was so much of it … how he’s so different from scene to scene. Beginning of the show Macbeth compared to end of the show Macbeth is such a huge difference. So I think my biggest challenge was making it the same character but also finding a way to make sure Macbeth is still, on some level anyways, a sympathetic character because he really does go through such dramatic changes and starts doing such terrible things that it’s hard, in Act 2, to think ‘oh, he’s still the main character of the show.

He’s still the good guy’ when he’s killing children and losing his mind.

And some of the things we did during the show, like during the closing scene … I think that did a lot for humanizing him and realizing just how hard they had fallen and calling back to who he was at the beginning of the show.

JA: How did playing Macbeth compare to other Shakespeare roles you have played?

RS: This was the first big dramatic, non-comedic Shakespeare role that I’ve had. I’ve had a couple big roles in comedies for Shakespeare, but this I’ve found in comparison to Shakespeare roles but also just in comparison to other roles I’ve played, I feel like I did find the emotional story and the emotional transformation of the character is much more than I did before. I just remember after the first couple of runs with the set and the props, at the end of the tech week that we did, really feeling like I had found some story within this character that had resonated with me.

—Jaime Gropper