the
Justice
Volume LXXIV, Number 6
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
BUSINESS
CTO, Assaf Feldman, shared insight into the Israeli startup ecosystem. By ELLA RUSSELL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
TAMID Group at Brandeis, a “business organization that develops professional skills through hands-on interaction with the Israeli economy” as described on the club’s website, virtually hosted a guest speaker, Assaf Feldman, on Oct. 4. Feldman is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Israeli security company Riskified. Feldman talked about his life and the circumstances that prompted him to found the company, lending insight into the realities of the Israeli entrepreneurial ecosystem. Feldman had a relatively late start to programming. After a frustrating experience at age 10 with a lagging Massachusetts Institute of Technology coding program that moved a robotic turtle, he “never touched a computer” until his mid twenties. Instead, he explored a variety of subjects in high school and at university, particularly philosophy, math and film. He recounted viewing a lecture in New
York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts about the ways in which video can be combined with computer-generated graphics to track actions such as the movement of a dancer, shaping film in new ways. This lecture inspired Feldman to pursue studies in computer science, seeing computer graphics as the future of film. Eventually, “I realized I would not be the new … hope of Israeli cinema,” Feldman admitted. Around the time he graduated from MIT, the internet boom was in full swing, and Feldman joined a startup of friends from film school. They were working on a proto-YouTube style online system that would allow users to share and comment on videos. However, while working on these ideas, computer technology was not yet advanced enough to support what would eventually become the domain of YouTube. Feldman remarked that in hindsight, the failure of their ideas was a good example of the vital importance of proper timing for entrepreneurial success. Feldman moved with his fellow entrepreneurs to New York, but quickly had to extricate himself with the burst of the internet bubble. Uncertain about his next move, Feldman applied to MIT’s Media
See BUSINESS, 7 ☛
BRIEF
Univ. preps for flu with vaccine clinic Approaching fall and winter seasons, the University held multiple flu clinics in preparation for flu season. The Health Center website says that “flu season starts in the fall and usually peaks in January or February.” The University has been holding flu clinics for the Brandeis community for many years, including last year’s open walk-in flu clinic during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first clinic was community-wide and took place from Oct. 4 to 6, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Hassenfeld Conference Center, according to the Flu Shot Clinic website. This clinic was open to the whole Brandeis community, including students, staff, faculty, family, friends and the Waltham community. To sign up, individuals just clicked on a link on the Flu Shot Clinic website, which showed a calendar with available appointment dates and times. The website listed rules for individuals coming to get the vaccine: bring their consent form for the vaccination and an insurance card and wear a mask at all times. Similarly to other on-campus locations,
Brandeis community members had to show a green or yellow campus passport, while visitors had to fill out the Daily Health Assessment and have proof of their results. In addition to administering flu vaccines, the clinic offered free COVID-19 booster shots for those who were eligible.The website `clarified that no separate appointment was necessary. If qualified, an individual could receive the booster shot at their flu vaccine appointment. The second clinic took place from Oct. 7 to 8 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Golding Health Center, located in the Stoneman Building, and was specifically for Brandeis students to receive free flu shots. In order to book an appointment, students could either call the Health Center number or sign up via the secure patient portal. On the website, it says that, in addition to this clinic, students can also receive a flu shot at any other time by scheduling an appointment with the Health Center. —Jacklyn Goloborodsky
Waltham, Mass.
BRANDEISWOMEN EVENT
TAMID club brings cofounder of Israeli startup ■ Riskified founder and
Waltham, Mass.
ISABEL ROSETH/the Justice
ALUMNUS SPEAKER: Jefferson spoke about how her years at Brandeis impacted her professional career.
Pulitzer Prize writer speaks about her academic and professional experiences ■ Margo Jefferson ’68
answered questions about her time at Brandeis as well as her journalism career. By ISABEL ROSETH JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Wednesday, Oct. 6, Brandeis Women’s Network hosted a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Margo Jefferson ’68. The event was held over Zoom and was moderated by Trustee Barbara Dortch-Okara ’71. Over the course of the event, Jefferson discussed her time at Brandeis, the trajectory of her career and answered some questions from the community. Jefferson is known for her work as a critic at Newsweek and The New York Times, and for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1995. She wrote a biography about Michael Jackson titled “On Michael Jackson,” and her book “Negroland: A Memoir” won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award. The event began with DortchOkara asking Jefferson about her memoir, “Negroland.” The book was published in 2015 and details her childhood in a privileged Black community in Chicago during the 1950s and '60s. When asked how she decided on the title, Jefferson explained that while she had doubts about it, she ultimately wanted the title to “stand for the histori-
cal period that [she] had been very much a product of.” The term “negro,” she explained, was once a respectable term, and had a tone of “stalwart uplift” and “keeping your shoulders high.” She tied it in with land to represent where she grew up, which was “largely segregated, though with a little integration.” Neighborhoods in Chicago were and are largely separated by race, and this segregation, or “even cruel divisions,” shaped her life for many years. Jefferson then discussed how she, a Chicagoan, had ended up at Brandeis in the first place, saying, “There’s a long line of Midwesterners, you know, all generations, who, if they think of themselves as artistic, they [sic] have always wanted to go east.” Jefferson was one of those, and had aspired to go to college on the east coast since before she started high school. Her family stumbled upon Brandeis when her elder sister, who also aspired to study in the east, was touring colleges. Jefferson shared that while on a train, “my parents got talking to someone who was a graduate student at Brandeis, and he said, you know, maybe not this daughter, maybe another, think about Brandeis.” She ended up enrolling in 1964. What stuck out about Brandeis to Jefferson was its “feverish coed intellectualism.” In the '60s, the University was a hotbed of activism. The anti-war movement was revving up, and Jefferson said that
she and her classmates were “very involved in civil rights.” When she enrolled, the women's movement had not quite begun, and she explained that the Black Power movement was not quite there yet either. “There were always exciting speakers around, too,” Jefferson added. “And there was so much talk going on, you know, in class, in dorms. But the thing that was so interesting was to be on that, that shift [to the civil rights movement].” The events of the late '60s shaped her experience at Brandeis. The Black Panthers’ emergence in 1966 prompted Black student organizations to form, and the March on the Pentagon in 1967 was another formative event for that generation. Laughing, Jefferson recalled that the birth control pill became available when she was a first-year, which was very significant for women at the time. Jefferson also shared her most memorable times at Brandeis. She reminisced about going to Cholmondeley’s, the coffee house in Usen Castle, “sitting around all closely packed together,” listening to what she described as “to us then, groundbreaking folk singers.” Student bohemian life was very big at the time, and she laughed as she commented that there was “a lot of grass around.” In addition to student life, Jefferson also talked about courses she remembered. While not particularly focused on political science,
See ALUMNUS, 7 ☛
Transgender Inclusion
Kahlo Exhibit
Washington Post "TikTok guy" gives advice
The Justice learned more about Athletics Transgender Inclusion Policy from student athletes.
The Rose is hosting ongoing exhibition "Frida Kahlo: POSE."
By LEAH BREAKSTONE
Post-pandemic high school nostalgia
By ATHENA LI
By LAUYRN WILLIAMS
By NATALIE KAHN
NEWS 3 FORUM 9
Judges have tough homecoming weekend Image Courtesy of ALEXANDER WICKEN '23
FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
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Make your voice heard! Submit letters to the editor to letters@thejustice.org
ARTS 19
By AKI YAMAGUCHI
COPYRIGHT 2021 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 16
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021
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NEWS
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS JUDGES HOMECOMING
SENATE LOG
WALTHAM BRIEF Waltham High School Class of 2022 celebrates Homecoming The Waltham High School Class of 2022 celebrated their senior year with a Homecoming Parade throughout the town on Saturday, Oct. 9. According to the posts on the Waltham city website, the route began in the Kennedy Middle School parking lot and led to Leary Field. Students filed through the town until the kick-off of the varsity football game against Cambridge at 1 p.m. The parade included Waltham fire and police vehicles, classic cars, Waltham High School sports teams and any willing participants from the senior class. Students were encouraged to decorate their cars and share their school spirit. The school cheer team danced through the streets, and the Waltham High School mascot, a giant hawk, sat atop a red convertible. As usual, the Waltham Farmers’ Market ran on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to the early afternoon. New vendors to the fair this week included Aaronap Cellars, Mei Mei Dumplings and Heavens Harvest Farm, according to the market’s website. The market will close for the season on Oct. 30. This year, the team worked to rebuild their SNAP match food pantry system by asking for online and in-person donations. Looking ahead, the Waltham Fields Community Farm will host the 11th annual Farm Day on Oct. 16. The free festival, according to the city website, celebrates “locally grown food and agriculture alongside our community members.” Visitors of all ages are welcome to participate in hands-on farm activities, educational lessons on farming and agriculture, carrot picking, field tours and games. Tick Tock Trolley Service will provide free rides to the event on 240 Beaver St from the Waltham Common. The event sponsors include Mass General Hospital, Waverly Oaks Nutrition Services and the Waltham Cultural Center.
Student Union senators vote to charter club and amend Union bylaws After the Student Union Senate voted not to charter the MAD Band on Oct. 3, the group returned to speak to the Senate on Oct. 10 to make its case yet again. No MAD Band representative was present at the meeting. Instead, Sen. Charlotte Li ’24, chair of the club support committee, presented for MAD Band. MAD Band is one of four clubs under the umbrella of the larger organization MARIMBA. Last week Sen. Joseph Coles ’22 said that MARIMBA should apply to be chartered if its clubs want funding, rather than having the Senate charter each club under its umbrella individually. However, Li said this week that MARIMBA is inactive — its Presence website was removed and the three other clubs under its umbrella are already chartered. The Senate chartered MAD Band by acclamation. Social Justice committee chair Yael Trager ’24 said that, at her committee’s meeting this past week, they discussed improving access to mental health resources for international students who cannot access offcampus mental healthcare. Dining committee chair Ashna Kelkar ’24 said that togo sauce containers and cups are on the way, but worldwide supply-chain shortages will delay their arrival. Coles proposed an amend-
ment to the Union bylaws which aim to clarify and streamline the impeachment process. Additionally, the amendment would create a single document with all of the bylaws.Coles said that although the Senate was not in the process of impeaching any official, he wanted to prevent future ambiguity and confusion. The amendment would require that all parties involved in the impeachment be notified 72 hours before the trial so that the Union official on trial would have time to prepare a defense.The amendment also gives both the presenter — the Union official presenting charges — and the respondent — the Union official on trial — 10 minutes to make their cases before the Senate. Coles also asked the Senate to expedite the vote on the amendment so that they could vote on it before the next meeting. The Senate approved that motion unanimously. The Senate also voted by acclamation to accept the bylaw amendments. Sen. Nicholas Kanan ’23, the senator for 567 South Street and Village, said that he will be reaching out to Community Advisors in his dorms about making his contact information available to residents as a way to improve transparency and give them an opportunity to submit feedback.
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
Visitors pose for a photo with the Brandeis Judges mascot at the University’s homecoming celebration on Oct. 9.
ATHLETES CELEBRATE
—Max Feigelson
HORSING AROUND
—Gemma Sampas
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice Image Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
A Brandeis student rides a pony at the University homecoming.
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A child shares her snow cone with a pony at homecoming. Athletes and spectators alike enjoyed a visit from ponies.
@theJusticeNewspaper CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS ■ A Sports caption incorrectly stated that it was Jake Davis ’22 in the photo. It was corrected to Gabriel Haithcock ’25. (Oct. 5, Page 12) ■ An Arts and Culture article miscaptioned two photos from the Marla McLeod exhibition. The captions were switched to the correct photo. (Oct. 5, Page 16) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org.
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THE JUSTICE
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NEWS
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TUESDAY. OCTOBER 12, 2021
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Student-led group fosters Washington Post ‘TikTok guy’ healing through activism JOURNALISM
speaks to Journalism dept.
■ The Justice speaks
with PARC’s Community Engagement Group student facilitators. By ARIELLA WEISS JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
■ Dave Jorgenson shared his
experience working for the Post and provided advice for journalism students. By LEAH BREAKSTONE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Social media has become a primary news source for many Americans, especially for younger generations. According to the Pew Research Center, 86% of Americans receive their news from a smartphone, computer or tablet, with about 53% of those people using social media as their news source. Adapting to the ways in which news is consumed has become a goal of many news sources, such as The Washington Post. Dave Jorgenson, also known by many TikTok users as “the TikTok guy,” spoke to the Brandeis Journalism program on Wednesday, Sept. 6 via Zoom. Jorgensen runs The Washington Post’s highly successful TikTok account, which currently maintains one million followers. Jorgenson was hired at The Washington Post to work in creative videos to help reach younger audience hrough their YouTube channel, known as The Washington Post Department of Satire. Jorgenson’s work was led by the question, “How can you make a funny video with a point and some satirical edge and still make it seem like it’s from The Washington Post?” he explained. The Washington Post started their TikTok in 2019. Jorgenson was not met with much hesitancy when he pitched the idea — the response was mainly “what is TikTok?” The
Post was also more open to being on other media platforms, because they were already present on other apps such as Reddit. According to Jorgenson, “TikTok is just the next natural evolution of how we use our phones and social media.” Having learned to edit videos on Vine, Jorgenson had an advantage in using the app. “The learning curve for me was making it look like everything else on the app,” meaning making videos that were filmed to be shown exclusively on a smartphone, he said. The TikTok account uses popular culture to try and get as many people interested in the news as possible. The goal is, in part, to help combat the misinformation in the news by sharing current events in a way that piques the interest of the viewer. The aim of the short 15 second to 3 minute videos is to “hook [the viewer] with one thing that’s really interesting and hopefully they’ll want to learn more,” leading them to read more in an article from The Post, Jorgenson said. To find newsworthy content, Jorgenson thinks about “what story is the most important story today and how can we best explain it?” The next steps are determining what the hook is, what the important story is about and how that can become a TikTok. “When [news stories] are more boring it’s more interesting to see if we can make them fun,” he added. While other news organizations can also be found TikTok, they often just post relevant images and clips from the day. The Washington Post’s approach on the app is a little different, using pop culture and the current trends on the app to depict important news. “It’s much cooler if you’re not trying to repurpose
your own stuff and showing that you understand the app,” Jorgenson said. He scrolls through the app for about 15-20 minutes a day to find what audios are getting a lot of engagement and jumping on trends before others. He also has an intern who compiles a weekly report on what is trending. Jorgenson is focused on debunking misinformation and getting the viewers to trust and read The Post. “More important than the followers is the engagement themselves,” he said. “Some people hadn’t even heard of The Post before the TikTok account,” and the viewers now trust The Post more because of the TikTok account, Jorgenson said. Additionally, the TikTok account has accumulated a community that is highly important to Jorgenson, who tries to interact with the followers by responding to comments, of course while thinking to himself, “Would my manager be okay if I commented?” Jorgenson also shared some advice to students who might find themselves working for a publication in the future. He discussed that one might be met with some hesitancy in regards to innovation, but it is important to “understand it’s not so much that people are resistant to you or new media... it’s just that they were trained on something completely different.” Furthermore, Jwworgenson mentioned the effects of “saying yes to anything” while working, because “once you show yourself as a team player, other people want to be a team player to what you’re working on later on,” he said. He also reminded the students to “have fun with [your work and], don’t take yourself too seriously.”
JORGENSON GIVES ADVICE
When summer internships were cancelled at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brandeis’s Prevention, Advocacy & Research Center offered its peer advocates the opportunity to intern with the organization for the summer. Eva Bohn ’22 and Sarah Baum ‘22 participated in the summer 2020 internship program, bringing what she learned with they into them academic year. Each student worked on a project to present to PARC at the end of the summer. “I was researching the anti-violence movement and the way that led to the grassroots feminist movements of the 1970s. These feminists worked in [womens’] shelters with the dual processes of providing services and engaging the community in political activism against violence,” Bohn explained. Bohn said that she initially pitched a support group to PARC, but “[Sarah and I] are not therapists. We’re not qualified to lead a support group.” As she researched grassroots activism, she noticed a need for a student-based discussion and advocacy group on campus. “PARC lets [student] peer advocates be a resource for people who’ve experienced things similar to what others experienced and that can be really rewarding,” Baum said. However, PARC peer advocates have to apply and be accepted into the peer advocate position. “You can have that rewarding experience, but not everyone on campus can. And sometimes people don’t need or want to be in a support position [like a peer advocate],” Baum said. She continued, “There’s not a space on campus for people to bring in their own experiences [of violence] and draw on them in listening to other people.” The PARC Community Engagement Group emerged from a need for a student-led and engaged space. The organization receives funding from PARC’s budget, but is entirely student-led. In spring 2021, Baum and Bohn facilitated a Zoom group of four community members who experienced sexual violence or assault, and at the end of the semester, they developed a “zine,” or selfpublished magazine – a project the members decided on collectively. In the zine, the members of the entire Brandeis community were invited to submit letters to “their
past or future selves, or to their perpetrators,” Baum explained. She continued,“Our intention in making the zine online was to allow people to make submissions later on if they felt they wanted to. People could share as much or as little as they wanted to because it’s difficult to relive those horrible experiences.” In an email correspondence with the Justice on Sept. 27, Baum wrote that PCEG focuses on “colearning.” When asked what PCEG means by this term, Baum said, “we [as facilitators] are not in a position to teach community members [who’ve experienced sexual assault].” Instead, “co-learning comes from our intent to allow everyone in the group to teach and learn from each other.” This semester, Baum and Bohn are working to recruit a second year cohort for PCEG, and in the spring, they plan to work on a new project. They have started by reaching out to student publications and plan to table on campus. However, unlike last semester where the group was exclusively open to survivors of sexual assault, this semester they are expanding the group to include “people who’ve experienced violence in general, directly or through family, friends or their communities,” Baum said. Speaking on adjusting from a remote group to in-person, Baum said, “Logistically, we need to find an in-person space where people will feel protected... the nice thing about being on Zoom was that you could turn off your camera or leave if it was too difficult of a conversation.” She explained that she’s looking forward to returning in person, but “this is something we have to be very intentional about.” Since sexual assault is such a sensitive topic, she said that “a lot of what we did was trying to let people take space, not pushing them to come to meetings or contribute to the project.” Since Baum and Bohn will both be graduating in the spring of 2022, they plan to have Priya Sashti ’24 and Tali Gordon-Knight ’24 take over as facilitators. “Teaching new facilitators is about being transparent about what we did and didn’t do well as we plan curriculums — we share everything that doesn’t have confidential information,” Baum said. Baum said she’s looking forward to taking her past experience and applying it to this year’s project. “The prospect of being together in a community-building sense and creating something everyone is passionate about is so exciting,” she said. “We’re doing this to create a space for people to self advocate, and that’s really powerful.”
STUDENT-LED GROUP
JACK YUANWEI CHENG/the Justice
JOURNALISM: Jorgenson gave advice to students looking to work in the journalism field after graduating Brandeis.
Image Courtesy of PCEG
PCEG 2021 FINAL PROJECT: PCEG community members made a zine.
Capture the Capture the best best parts parts of campus
Meeting: Meeting: Tuesdays Tuesdays at at 7:00 7:30 p.m. p.m.
Join Photos! Email Noah Zeitlin and Sarah at at Email JackKatz Cheng photos@thejustice.org photos@thejustice.org Illustration by MORGAN MAYBACK/the Justice, NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice; Photos by ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice, NATALIA WIATER/the Justice, YURAN SHI/the Justice, NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice, SARAH KATZ/the Justice, ZACH KATZ/the Justice
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 ● NEWS
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THE JUSTICE
CREATIVE WRITING DEPARTMENT HOSTS BOOK TALK
LGBTQIA+ MONTH
New director of GSC speaks about center’s role and current activities ■ The GSC director and student Pride Reps explained the center’s goals. By DALYA KOLLER JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
GEMMA SAMPAS/the Justice
BOOK TALK: Author Torrey Peters speaks about her newly published book to the University community last week.
Torrey Peters speaks about new book, ‘Detransition, Baby’ ■ Peters spoke about her new book in a discussion held by the Creative Writing Department. By GEMMA SAMPAS JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Author Torrey Peters spoke at Brandeis in the latest installment of the Creative Writing Department’s Brandeis Readings on Wednesday, Oct. 6. Moderators of the Zoom event included codirector of the Creative Writing Program Professor Stephen McCauley, Brandeis Ph.D. candidate Holly Robbins and Creative Writing co-director, author and English Professor Elizabeth Bradfield. Peters’ new, acclaimed novel “Detransition, Baby” served as the focus of the conversation and reading. Peters previously published “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” and “The Masker” on her website and through in-print selfpublishing. Both works are set to be revised and rereleased through Random House in 2022. “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones,” a short novel, revolves around the life of a trans woman character named Lexi and her relationship with a second character, Patient Zero, in a dystopian setting. “The Masker” is a novella on the protagonist’s contemplation on transitioning from man to woman in
a society where one has to reckon with their gender identity due to the fact that all civilians must take hormone medications. Peters published the two works online in 2016. Both stories serve as installments to the greater movement of trans women in urban settings, writing pieces without concern for perfect representation, emphasizing a specific, inclusive style which they can all understand. In an article with the magazine Them, Peters said she was inspired by author Imogen Binnie to write messy, honest trans characters. “Detransition, Baby” is Peters’ breakout novel. Buzz for the work has been comprehensive in the media, with reviews and features for Peters in The New Yorker, The Guardian and Vox. Reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, with the novel garnering acclaim and awards such as the Women’s Prize for Fiction, which is especially monumental given that Peters, a trans woman, serves as a reminder that both her personal identity and her work is valid and free to exist in its true form. During Peters’ appearance on the “Kobo” podcast, the author said she began reading a range of fiction at a young age, a habit her parents always encouraged. When she moved to Brooklyn and found a community in a circle of fellow trans women artists, she felt inspired to begin self-publishing her work and chose to focus on
telling real stories of the trans experience. This, in turn, offered an escape from the confines of giving relentlessly positive, empowering representation to the trans community through her characters. In the first chapter of “Detransition, Baby,” Peters outlines a “Sex and The City” analogy for the realization many women come to upon turning thirty. Likening each decision to a character in the iconic show, Peters writes that some women at this point in their lives decide to make large domestic decisions, such as having a child or getting married; some put all of their energy into their career or make some sort of art. Peters plays with this social observation of womanhood by holding the common pathway of cisgender women up against the experience of a trans person, one who aspires to have access to those opportunities and shifts in life. Next up for the Brandeis Creative Writing Events will be the “Brandeis Novel Symposium: Espionage, Empire and the Novel” on Friday, Oct. 22. According to the symposium’s website, “this one-day conference has a dual focus: both on a particular novel and on theoretical and scholarly questions raised by the novel more generally.” The text for this year is “The Quiet American” by Graham Greene, a mid 19th century novel on Vietnam and French and American influence.
Over the last few years, the Gender and Sexuality Center at Brandeis has hired new staff and student leaders, created new programs for students and is working towards establishing a strong program with a multitude of opportunities and resources for students. In honor of LGBTQIA+ Month, the Justice spoke with the new inaugural director of the Gender and Sexuality Center, Julian Cancino, as well as two student Pride Reps, Tanner Eustace ’24 and Kyla-Yen Giffin ’23. In an email interview with the Justice, the Gender and Sexuality Center defined their mission as working “to build a diverse and inclusive institution for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and asexual (LGBTQA+) faculty, staff, and students.” A goal of the Center is to foster and build a strong community of students. To achieve this, they run two separate, compensated educational opportunities: the Pride Reps Program for undergraduate students and the Student Worker Program for graduate students. Pride Reps gather in a small student cohort to learn, as well as assist, in developing and implementing opportunities for fellow undergraduates. The Student Workers Program provides graduate students an opportunity to pursue an innovative project of their choosing each semester. Giffin, a GSC Pride Rep, spoke about how they and the other Pride Reps spend time studying and learning about different topics surrounding queerness, such as “sex and dating, coming out, intersectionality, and working together to figure out how to use this information to positively impact the queer community at Brandeis and beyond.” They further expressed the role of the GSC on campus, commenting that “this really attests to the commitment and care that the GSC puts into the students in our community ... I’m so proud and grateful to be a part of this mission.” The Center works with campus partners, stating that they engage in “direct advocacy to promote inclusive policies at the institutional level,” and holds training and educational sessions for faculty and staff to build inclusive classrooms and campus communities. Additionally, the Center deeply cares about aiding students in affirming their identities and staying healthy. The Brandeis Counseling Center’s Community therapy program
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provides free, confidential mental health services from a certified therapist who specializes in working with LGBTQIA+ communities. These services are available in person at the Mailman House. Eustace, another GSC Pride Rep, explained that he works to “advocate for the Brandeis community, create a safe atmosphere where people can be authentic” and also simply talk with each other: “my fellow Pride Reps… inspire me with their personal stories and broaden my mind to struggles beyond my own… Simply talking about issues can be the most important part in paving the way towards social justice.” Eustace said, “it feels really good to know that my input can make a difference in the center.” Cancino, inaugural director of the Center, provided a brief history of LGBTQIA+ activism and student groups on campus. In 1975, students formed the Brandeis Gay Advocates, the first LGBTQIA+ centered student group on Brandeis’ campus. In the following decades, the first AIDS Awareness Week, Homophobic Awareness Week and Coming Out Week were all implemented at Brandeis. There have been multiple student rallies and campaigns surrounding LGBTQIA+ issues on Brandeis’ campus. In 1998, Triskelion’s office (now the GSC) was vandalized and over 700 students, faculty and staff rallied in support of the LGBTQIA+ community at Brandeis. There was a rally in support of an out lesbian Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies professor, a campaign for gender neutral bathrooms and mock weddings to protect the Defend Marriage Act. In 2012, the Senate voted unanimously for funds for a new Gender and Sexuality Center, which officially opened in 2014, and hired Cancino in 2020 to serve as inaugural director of the Center. The Gender and Sexuality Center is located in the Usdan Student Center, on the ground floor to the right of the Levin Ballroom. The Center is open Monday through Friday, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. In the office you can also find the Rainbow Room, a place to study, nap or hang out with friends, which is also available to reserve for club meetings or other events. There is also a lending library of many genres of LGBTQIA+ affirming books, including Young Adult fiction, academic publications, children’s books, comic books, romance novels and much more. The Center is working on planning events for more students to get involved, which can find out more about from their newsletter or their Instagram, @brandeis_gsc. For any questions, ideas, reservation inquiries and more, the Center’s email address is gsc@brandeis.edu.
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BESTSELLER: Peters’ book, featuring a modern cover art.
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BUSINESS: Co-founder of ALUMNUS: Israeli startup shares his story Virtual event with CONTINUED FROM 1 Lab for graduate school on a whim, and to his surprise, got in. At the Media Lab, he said that he fell in love with machine learning, “the idea that you're teaching a machine to do something and it does it at scale.” After graduate school, he applied his new skills to a series of startups that would consistently not get enough traction within the market due to the lack of a market fit. At this point, Feldman had married and returned to Israel for his wife’s career in the film industry. Continuing to work at startups, he struck up a friendship with coworker Ido Gal, who had his own idea for a startup for e-commerce security. Feldman remarked that this was a case in which the timing worked out perfectly for him. Just as his wife’s career in Israeli film was taking off, Feldman started Riskified with Gal in 2013, seeing that the market fit was perfect for their ideas. Feldman then shared about Riskified in greater detail. According to Feldman, Riskified’s main function is fraud detection for ecommerce. He explained that “every e-commerce system basically screens the orders to see if the order is fraudulent or legitimate,” or in other words, if the “order is done by someone who doesn’t own the payment information.” If they fail to catch an unauthorized payment, then the liability is on the merchant, who must pay a chargeback fee in compensation. “We realized though, early into the game, that the problem is not the fraud. The problem is the fear of fraud and the lost money due to being overcautious about it and not accurate enough,” Feldman said. Because of this fear, “merchants were declining orders and letting go of legitimate users.” While previous fraud companies generally offered tools for companies to deal with the fraud by themselves, Riskified promised to take on the entire burden. Merchants could accept risky orders with the assurance that Riskified would
screen the order and provide compensation in case of mistakes. The “second lesson I learned about execution was to try to bring out a service as soon as possible,” Feldman said. Although their security program took some time to be completely finalized, Riskified had a product out in three months. Because of the nature of machine learning, they needed data to train their model. So in the beginning, the founding members had to start out with “manual work,” Feldman explained, showing an image of the members hard at work in a cramped apartment. Nevertheless, within four months, Riskified was able to train a stable screening model, “and from there it just grew and grew,” Feldman said. The company went from handling the orders of companies on Shopify worth $10 million to merchants worth $100 million, and soon enough Riskified was managing the orders of multinational companies such as Footlocker, Macy's and Wayfair. “We really caught e-commerce when it was booming,” Feldman remarked. According to him, Riskified started in an era when companies were starting to take larger risks in order to stay competitive with Amazon, and thus required the use of a reliable security system. They were one of the first in the field, giving them a high degree of leverage for business activities such as mergers and acquisitions. After Feldman’s lecture, he answered several questions about working as an entrepreneur. He said that in searching for a business idea, he finds it essential that “the passion in the early days should come from the passion to build a product,” and it is “best to think of something you have experience in … that will make sure you will build something that is to the point.” Good business ideas and startups are formed when “you solve a problem for someone and you build a good product,” Feldman said. He explained that even in the early days of Riskified, his commitment to the startup was such that the possibility of liquidation never
crossed his head. Feldman said of his experience at Riskified that “for me this whole journey was one big learning experience of solving one problem after another.” Every stage has a different set of problems, he explained. According to Feldman, in the beginning it was not clear that they could build a sufficiently accurate machine learning model to be financially sustainable — in other words, a model that was wrong once in a thousand decisions. After the stable model was developed and Riskified grew larger, there were thoughts of scaling up and establishing a proper company hierarchy. In response to a question of his motivation to work in startups, Feldman explained that “startups are a great way to learn a lot of new things, [because] you can wear many hats and you can really figure out what you like the most. There’s also the side of being close to the product, so you’re working on the most important stuff.” He added that when he was at MIT, he worked in Nokia research for a summer, and this experience convinced him that he did not want to work for a large corporation again. Regarding his relationship with the other Riskified executives, he explained that because of the need for founders to perform many tasks in the beginning years, their eventual position in the company is “what they make out of it.” For a company to progress, it is necessary to bring in new members at every level, even at the top executive level. Nevertheless, Feldman stressed the importance of maintaining a solid basis of teamwork for a company to run smoothly, and argued that this teamwork must start from the top.
—Editor's note: Jacklyn Goloborodsky is an editor on the Justice and a member of TAMID club at Brandeis. She did not contribute to the reporting or editing of this story.
CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS
writer and academic CONTINUED FROM 1 she enjoyed a politics lecture in a course she took her first-year, and she recalled an English professor who was a poet named Allan Grossman. Her junior year, Jefferson took a course “we would call a Black studies course'' taught by Sociology Prof. Lawerence Fuchs. “That was the same year that the Black student organization was starting, so, you know, that was significant,” she said, adding, “Everything that mattered wasn’t at Brandeis, but it started there.” Next, Dortch-Okara asked Jefferson if she had had any mentors that she had looked up to at Brandeis or early in her career, and if so, if any of them were women. Jefferson said that she had been talking about this with some very close writer friends, and their shared experience was surprising: none of them had any true mentors early on. “We all went to college, you know, in these years, and it seemed we are all writers. But it seems very few of us were consistently mentored,” Jefferson said. There were very few women in journalism at the time, which had limited her options. Jefferson then talked in depth about her professional journey, starting as a writer for Newsweek to becoming an acclaimed journalist, critic and writer. She described it as a “linear” trajectory. After five years, she said she was getting “stale,” doing the same thing every week, and that she needed something more. She wanted to have a more varied voice. She tried to earn her Ph.D. at Yale University, but dropped out after one semester. “You weren’t afraid to walk away,” Dortch-Okara observed, to which Jefferson agreed. She taught journalism and began to freelance, and “work[ed] with [her] voice in different ways.” Her career continued to change when she joined the Times as a critic. “I wasn’t free, I wasn’t writing enough, I realized,” Jefferson said, explaining that she had been too nervous to venture back. When she did, though, she was incredibly successful. She began as a “beat” critic and was promoted to the Sunday theater critic. After winning her Pulitzer, she began her own column, “where [she] could write about anything.” After a while, however, she left the Times and
began to write books. “On Michael Jackson” was published in 2006 and “Negroland” followed it in 2015. She also touched on her current project. “I would call it a collage,” she said, explaining that it is an “intermingling of lessons and thoughts and fantasies” about the jazz musicians that she listened to as a child. When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, both personal and professional, Jefferson quickly said, “Be braver.” She added, “don’t second guess yourself.” If she had been braver, she explained, it wouldn’t have taken her so long to write her first book, and she may have found more mentors. She told the audience, “Keep looking for ways to challenge yourself.” Next, Dortch-Okara asked Jefferson questions from the audience. The first one addressed what extracurriculars she was involved in at Brandeis; in particular, if she had written for the Justice. Jefferson said that surprisingly, she had not. “I was very interested in writing and literature, but I wasn’t thinking of myself as a writer yet, and I wasn’t thinking of myself as a journalist,” she answered, explaining that she “hadn’t yet made that link between loving literature and reading and writing and writing about music.” A significant question from an audience member was whether she felt comfortable on campus as an African American student. There were about 10 in her year, she said, and that in a “daily way,” they felt secure on campus. “In general terms, I was comfortable,” she continued, but said that she felt “angry or more alienated” in 1967 and 1968. Similarly, Jefferson was also asked if the movement for change on campus made her uncomfortable, and if she saw a disconnect “between the liberal rhetoric and real substantive change” while at Brandeis. She explained that she had white friends, but throughout the tumultuous years of 1967 to 1968, “[she] lived this life as, you know, a Black student at Brandeis who was a young Black person.” The final question was similar, asking if her being uncomfortable was specific to Brandeis or if it was the events happening outside. Jefferson answered that the “cataclysms” were definitely due to the world outside, and that those events “came caving in” on her life at Brandeis.
Do you have a nose for news? Want the scoop?
JACK YUANWEI CHENG/the Justice
Prof. John Plotz (ENG) moderated the Critical Conversations event "Other Minds: Forming Community with Nonhuman Animals" which focused on how nonhuman species can inform how humans approach challenges.
Contact Jacklyn Goloborodsky and Hannah Taylor at news@thejustice.org
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 ● FEATURES ● THE JUSTICE
just
VERBATIM | JOHN LENNON Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1984, August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” premiered in New York City.
A pharaoh once lathered his slaves in honey to keep bugs away from him.
For transgender student-athletes, new policy is more than just rules and guidelines The Justice spoke to Jac Guerra ’22, Alexander Wicken ’23 and Director of Athletics Lauren Haynie about the Brandeis Athletics Transgender Student Inclusion Policy that was released last month.
By NATALIE KAHN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
As captain of two varsity teams, track and cross country, and a double major at Brandeis, Jac Guerra ’22, who identifies as a man with transgender experience, is no stranger to taking on challenges that others might find daunting. But even for him, navigating the National Collegiate Athletic Association guidelines while taking steps in his personal transition was not a simple task. “Transitioning while being a student athlete was intense in terms of figuring out how to make sure everything I have been doing is allowed in the eyes of the NCAA,” Guerra told the Justice in an Oct. 10 interview over Instagram direct message. This is one of the main issues that the new Brandeis Athletics Student Inclusion Policy, released on Sept. 10, attempts to address. In it, the guidelines set by the NCAA for trans athletes — including their options for which teams they can participate in based on their assigned gender at birth and whether or not they choose to receive hormone treatments — are clearly laid out. During Guerra’s first year at Brandeis, he competed on the women’s teams, as he had done in high school, but it wasn’t long before he started thinking about transferring to the men’s teams. At the time, Guerra wasn’t even sure if this was an option for him. “I personally was a bit in the dark when first considering joining the men’s side,” he said. He explained that having a document that explained his options, like the newly released policy, would have been a “great tool to have [back then].” In February 2020, during his sophomore year, Guerra told his coach that he was planning to begin the process of switching from the women’s to the men’s teams. Cross country and track coach Sinead Evans was immediately supportive, according to Guerra. At the time, no comprehensive policy existed for trans student-athletes pursuing NCAA waivers in order to move from a women’s to a men’s roster, or vice versa. But by the fall of 2020, the Athletics department had begun working on creating a policy. In an interview conducted over email on Oct. 8, Director of Athletics Lauren Haynie said that this was in response to a student who had made the decision to transfer rosters, though she did not name the student. Guerra said that he was among a group of students who had the opportunity to give their input on the policy before it was finalized. “Associate Director Lynne Dempsey and Athletic Director Lauren Haynie reached out to different students like myself for thoughts and comments. I thought that that was a really effective way to have LGBTQ students
Photo Courtesy of ALEXANDER WICKEN ’23
FENCING: Wicken poses for the camera on media day this year.
address the policy before it was publicly announced,” Guerra said. With the new policy document, Brandeis students in positions similar to Guerra’s can be confident that they will receive full support from their coaches, the Athletics department and the University. Haynie explained that under NCAA rules, each school has the choice of whether they will support student-athletes who are transitioning in the process of obtaining the necessary waivers. “Through our creation and release of this policy, Brandeis is publicly acknowledging that we are an institution that will be supportive of students as they pursue opportunities to affirm their gender identity,” Haynie said. “While each college or university retains institutional autonomy in pursuing the waiver process, Brandeis Athletics is committed to assisting student-athletes considering gender transition,” the policy states. Guerra praised this component of the Inclusion Policy, saying, “This policy makes it clear that transgender student athletes are welcome to work with their coaches to get the NCAA’s support in allowing them to compete.” Alexander Wicken ’23, also a transgender student-athlete, shared his personal experience at Brandeis with the Justice in a Zoom interview on Oct. 6. Wicken is a member of the Brandeis fencing team. He first came out as transgender when he was 13, but waited until his sophomore year of high school to come out to his fencing teammates, and it wasn’t until senior year that he came out to his high school team’s coaches. When Wicken first started at Brandeis, he said he didn’t know which fencing team he wanted to join, in part because he wasn’t sure about which medical steps he would be taking in his transition, such as hormone treatments and surgery. He spoke to his coach, Jennie Salmon, before the start of the season. Like Coach Evans, she was completely supportive, telling Wicken that he could be on whichever team he chose. Since the Transgender Student Inclusion Policy didn’t exist at the time, Salmon took the time to look into the NCAA’s policies and speak to the athletic directors to make sure that both she and Wicken were clear on the guidelines regarding which team he could play for if he decided to begin hormone treatment or take other medical steps in his transition. Photo Courtesy of JAC GUERRA ’22 Thanks to the efforts of CROSS COUNTRY: Guerra runs during a cross the Athletic department country meet. and the other departments and individuals involved
Design: Emily Braun/the Justice
in developing the policy over the past year, student-athletes with situations similar to Guerra’s and Wicken’s can now look to the Transgender Student Inclusion Policy — which can be accessed easily on the Brandeis Athletics website. The new policy document explains the Brandeis-specific policies that respect students’ gender identities through inclusive language, dress codes, uniforms and facilities. It also includes a section on additional resources at Brandeis and a section on education, which states that a Transgender Participation Committee will be established at Brandeis: “Members of the committee will represent a cross-section of the institutional staff with student well-being interests,” the document reads. Wicken said that the new Brandeis policy makes the NCAA rules more accessible and comprehensible for students and coaches than the original NCAA document. “It makes it much easier for current student-athletes who are thinking about transitioning or for prospective student-athletes to see their options clearly,” Wicken said, adding that having easy access to information that this policy provides would have eased some of his anxieties when he was first entering Brandeis. Eventually, Wicken made the decision to fence for the women’s team. “That was where I would, from my own understanding, most likely find the most success,” he said.
Athlete Advisory Committee, student-athletes and administrators. Bailar made history during his four years on the Harvard men’s swim team as the first openly transgender man to compete on an NCAA Division I men’s team. Guerra spoke about this event and said that it was a “huge moment” for him. “Having a prominent trans athlete come and speak at an event hosted by my own school felt really profound,” Guerra said, suggesting that the Athletics department could consider hosting more events with guests from diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC athletes and coaches. “I think a meaningful way to deal with gender discrimination is [through] education,” Wicken said, adding, “Specifically gender discrimination regarding trans people … you can always learn more … that, ‘Oh, these are just human beings living their lives.’” He spoke about the way that education can help to humanize the trans experience and combat the lack of understanding that he feels affects people’s perception and treatment of trans individuals. Wicken said that this is one of his main intentions with the event he is currently planning for the upcoming Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. The event will be hosted by Brandeis over Zoom, and will bring together speakers and attendees from colleges across the nation. He described the event as focusing on support for trans athletes and centering the conversation on the trans
Photo Courtesy of ALEXANDER WICKEN ’23
ON GUARD: Wicken competes in a fencing match during his first year at Brandeis.
Wicken appreciates the overall lack of gender separation in fencing at Brandeis, explaining that the women’s and men’s fencing teams practice together and go to the same competitions. “What matters to me isn’t the gender designation in the sport. It’s just fencing and having fun and being accepted by a team,” he said.
“
Brandeis is the first school in the UAA to have such a policy, meaning that this department is willing to break new ground in order to support student athletes JAC GUERRA ’22
Both Guerra and Wicken also spoke about the importance of education and the value of having guest speakers and events centered on transgender people in athletics. In 2019, Schuyler Bailar, who graduated from Harvard University that year, came to Brandeis to speak at an event attended by the Student
athlete experience. Wicken said that when he brought this idea to the Athletics department, they gave him their full support and immediately started putting aside funding to make sure the event would be able to happen. Haynie also mentioned the event, explaining that Athletics is working with students to develop a panel discussion for Transgender Day of Visibility. Guerra noted that no other schools in the University Athletic Association — the athletic conference that Brandeis is a part of — have a specific policy for transgender student-athletes. “Brandeis is the first school in the UAA to have such a policy, meaning that this department is willing to break new ground in order to support student athletes,” he said. Wicken also spoke about the important message that this policy sends to Brandeis students: “Having the policy be easily accessible and public makes it known that Brandeis supports you as a trans individual and as an athlete.” The Brandeis Athletics Transgender Student Inclusion Policy isn’t going to change the way that the University’s sports teams, athletes and coaches operate on a day-to-day basis. While this might lead some to believe that the policy is insignificant, for students and faculty that make up the Athletics department — especially for the transgender students who are part of Brandeis teams — it’s anything but.
THE JUSTICE ● FEATURES ● TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021
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A sport from the wizarding world comes to campus The Justice spoke to the Brandeis Quidditch team to learn more about the sport.
By ISABEL ROSETH JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
It may come as a surprise, but Brandeis has a Quidditch team. Yes, you heard that right — the sport is no longer reserved for the wizarding world of “Harry Potter.” While lacking in witchcraft and wizardry, the University’s team is very real and a welcoming space for anyone who wishes to join. Founded in 2010, The Judges’ Quidditch team is one of many club sports, which are independent and student-run at Brandeis. They play against other universities in the college division of US Quidditch and
Photo Courtesy of BRANDEIS QUIDDITCH
LOGO: A picture of the Judges’ Quidditch team logo.
Photo Courtesy of ZACH KATZ ’22
QUIDDITCH: A player attempts to score, while another tries to block him.
have previously gone to nationals. Brandeis Quidditch, however, is about more than just playing a sport. It’s about inclusivity, teamwork and — when it comes down to it — having a good time. Because the players’ feet stay firmly on the ground, you may be wondering how exactly the game is played. While not identical to the games played in the “Harry Potter” series, the rules are similar, allowing players and spectators alike to take part. The Justice spoke to Quidditch team secretary Bryn Zilch ’24 on Sept. 14 during a practice to learn about the game. “Basically, you’ve got a game of handball with a game of dodgeball running around the middle, with a game of flag football in the background,” Zilch said. The team is made up of seven players: three Chasers, who score points by throwing the Quaffle (a volleyball) through one of three hoops on a given side of the field; two Beaters, who attempt to thwart the players on the other team by hitting them with Bludgers (dodgeballs); a Keeper, whose job is to stop the other team from scoring; and finally, the Seeker, whose responsibility is catching the ever-elusive Snitch (more on that later). There are many aspects of the game to keep track of, each one more entertaining than the last. While the players do not get to fly around any of the name brand brooms from the “Harry Potter” series like a Firebolt or a Nimbus TwoThousand, they simulate the experience. Each player must keep their plastic pipe “broom” between their legs at all times and if it falls, they must run back to their team’s post and touch it to tag back in. The teams’ posts consist of three hoops, used for scoring goals on either side of the field. It’s also a full contact sport, meaning that tackling is very much allowed. There are many other rules, but Brandeis Quidditch is not only about regulations: they play on the team to make friends and to have fun — but also to win.
The most notable element of Quidditch is the Snitch: the object which the Seeker is tasked with catching. In the “Harry Potter” books, the Snitch is a walnutsized golden sphere with wings that flies around the field. In USQ, however, the Snitch works a bit differently. Its role is played by a runner who dresses in yellow with a “tail” — a golf ball in Photo Courtesy of ZACH KATZ ’22 a sock — attached to the back of their SNITCH: A player attempts to “catch the shorts. The Seeker’s job is to catch said snitch.” “tail,” for which they earn points. It’s quite the sight, and that part of the game is a fan favorite according to many players on the team. Brandeis’ Quidditch team is a welcoming one, with a lot of comradery and a lot of heart. “When we were [doing warmups], everyone was cheering each other on. Everyone is super nice,” Caitlyn Pennie ’25, a Chaser, said. According to the official rules, anyone is welcome and encouraged to join the team, regardless of year, gender or athletic ability. In general, the US Quidditch league advocates for gender inclusivity. While J.K. Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” books, is known for her transphobic statements, the sport veers in the opposite direction. The league has condemned Rowling’s comments and spoken out against anti-trans laws, such as those in Florida and Utah. In addition, no tournaments, regionals or other major games are held in states with anti-trans laws. The game itself is gender inclusive — no more than four players of one gender can be on the field at once. On the US Quidditch website, under Title 9 ¾, it cites their aims to, “Use the growing popularity of quidditch to challenge the way our world thinks about gender in sports and athletics,” and “Inspire other sports leagues and athletes to reconsider their gender regulations and in turn effect broader positive change in gender equality worldwide.” The Judges stay true to these goals, making sure that every player is respected and welcomed into their ranks regardless of their gender.
Design: Emily Braun/the Justice
10 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 ● FORUM ● THE JUSTICE
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Sofia Gonzalez Rodriguez, Editor in Chief Cameron Cushing, Managing Editor Gilda Geist, Senior Editor River Hayes, Deputy Editor Leeza Barstein, Jen Crystal, Gabriel Frank, Megan Geller, Hannah O’Koon Associate Editors
Jacklyn Golobordsky, Hannah Taylor, News Editors Juliana Giacone, Features Editor Abigail Cumberbatch, Forum Editor Noah Zeitlin, Photography Editor Thea Rose, Acting Photography Editor Jane Flautt, Lynn Han, Copy Editors Aiko Schinasi, Ads Editor Samantha Goldman, Online Editor
EDITORIALS Campus transportation needs improvement With students back on campus after a year of mostly online classes, and with the colder months approaching, having a reliable transportation system around campus and beyond is crucial. Since the start of the semester, all of the transportation services available to students from before the pandemic have returned, along with their accessibility and timeliness issues. This board calls on the University to find better ways to organize its transportation system so that students can continue to rely on the services provided. Per the Department of Public Safety website, there are two types of oncampus shuttle services: the Daytime Campus Shuttle, which runs on the weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the BranVan, which runs on the weekdays from 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and on weekends from noon to 2:30 a.m. Both shuttles run every 15 minutes, making stops all over campus. While the schedules are posted online, students have had issues tracking the shuttles in real-time through the Branda app and Samsara, the official live tracking software used by the University. Without proper live tracking of the location of the shuttles, it is nearly impossible for students to know if the shuttles are late to the marked destinations. Since many students rely on shuttles to get to class, lack of knowledge about potential delays hinders students’ ability to find alternative transportation. This board calls on the University to implement better live tracking technology and ensure that students are aware of any issues that prevent the shuttles from arriving on time. This board is also aware that the Department of Public Safety is looking to hire more students to drive the BranVan and urges
the Department to continue advertising the position. Students have also noticed issues with the Boston/Cambridge shuttle, which runs from Thursdays to Sundays. This board would like to thank the University for bringing back a useful, free tool for students to explore Boston and Cambridge during the weekends. However, the current schedule does not appear to take into account rush hour and traffic, making it difficult for shuttles to arrive on time, and leaving students to wait for over 30 minutes at times. This is especially worrisome late at night when students might not feel safe waiting at the bus stop for extended periods. Not to mention that as the weather gets colder, waiting outdoors will not be as easy. This board asks that the University draft schedules that better reflect the traffic patterns in Boston during the weekend so that drivers can arrive at their destinations on time. Additionally, there have been complaints about the way the University communicates shuttle delays with students, which is mostly done through Instagram stories. We ask the University to find a means of communication that is accessible to all students, as some may not have social media or may not have access to their accounts without Wi-Fi. Despite hiccups with the transportation system, we ask students to be kind and respectful to shuttle drivers who are not to blame for any problems with the system and work tirelessly to ensure students can get around safely. We would also like to thank the students who are part of the Branda team for continuing to work on incorporating useful features to help students navigate campus and beyond.
Brandeis must continue to work toward a more sustainable campus On Sept. 29, the Brandeis Office of Sustainability posted on their Instagram that the University has an Oct. 25 deadline to “save our compost.” Since then, the office has engaged in a campaign to raise awareness of the deadline, deploying its ambassadors to speak in classes, pushing social media content and adding a slew of new signage to campus. For several weeks in a row, Black Earth Compost, the company that processes Brandeis’ compost waste, has rejected most — if not all — of the pickups due to contamination. The company has given Brandeis until Oct. 25 to reverse this trend, or else they may cancel our contract and remove compost bins from the residence halls. This would be a massive shame — according to the Department of Agriculture, food waste is the single largest contributor to municipal landfills, which account for 14% of U.S. methane emissions. Composting food scraps prevents much of that waste from ever entering landfills, both reducing methane emissions and helping to create new, fertile compost soil.
The Office of Sustainability has a variety of useful guides on their website, detailing which type of waste should go into each bin: trash, recycling or compost. At its simplest, only food waste and items clearly marked as compostable should go into the green compost bins. Recycling is more complicated, but a Recyclopedia tool lives on their website, explaining whether various items are recyclable or not. The most important thing to note is “when in doubt, throw it out” in the trash. It is natural to want to recycle things that are not able to be recycled — called “wishcycling” — but the practice is very damaging, as the entire bin must then be thrown into the trash. The same is true for compost. To prevent this contamination, throw away items unless you are absolutely sure they can be recycled or composted. We appreciate the University’s commitment to sustainability through compost, and call on students to do better in educating themselves on what can and cannot be recycled and composted, and separating their waste more effectively.
We understand that it may be a challenge at first, but the resources exist to educate oneself, and refusing to do so has profound impacts on the campus’s carbon footprint. In other sustainability news, University President Ron Liebowtiz sent an email to the Brandeis community on Oct. 6 with updates on the sustainability of the University’s endowment. Liebowitz reported that the Board of Trustees voted to unanimously extend the University’s policy of not making new investments in fossil fuel companies, “deepen our efforts” to invest in
the green sector and develop an analysis tool for tracking the University’s direct and indirect emissions. Liebowtiz also stated that the University would continue to liquidate investments in fossil fuel companies as the securities mature to their natural end. This board appreciates that the University has committed to not investing in any more fossil fuel private limited partnerships. However, we strongly urge the University to divest from fossil fuel companies and to continue to evaluate ways to decrease the University’s carbon footprint.
on Views News the
Oct. 11, 2021 marks Indigenous Peoples Day, a time when many recognize and honor the history, heritage and experiences of Indigenous and Native American populations. As early as 1990 and in recognition of the past and ongoing genocide experienced by these communities at the hands of colonists such as Christopher Columbus and other non-Indigenous populations, Indigenous activists around the world have been pressing states and countries to adopt the commemoration’s title change in honor of these communities and the realities of their lived experiences. To this day, 36 U.S. states still do not recognize Indigenous Peoples Day as an official holiday, including Massachusetts. How will you spend this day? What is the significance of commemorating this day in Massachusetts, and/or as a nation as a whole (in the United States or otherwise)? The University recognizes the day and staff do not work in observance, but faculty and students still attend classes. Should the University be closed on this day in commemoration?
Prof. Cristina Espinosa (Heller) Indigenous peoples refers to all those populations that after the colonial encounter survived genocide, dispossession and exploitation, resisting ethnocide or forced assimilation imposed by colonial and postcolonial states and by institutions promoting market expansion under Western modernist hegemonies. Indigenous peoples remain invisible, marginalized and under attack since their territories are rich in biodiversity and natural resources, which are valued commodities in times of globalization. Brandeis, with their commitment to social justice, cannot ignore the rights of Indigenous peoples to maintain their distinct cultures, languages, spirituality and ancestral territories. They should be recognized as key stakeholders in the building of democratic and pluriethnic states, and inclusive, fair and sustainable development. The rights of Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities should be added to Brandeis’ agenda for social justice, along with gender, racial and social justice and religious tolerance and diversity. These topics should be incorporated within the curriculum through mandatory courses or assignments. If Brandeis made Indigenous Peoples Day a holiday, students could attend different celebratory events organized across programs and submit an assignment for specific regular courses that could make room to include this topic. From 2011 to 2020 I taught Master’s in Sustainable International Development program within a graduate seminar on “Indigenous Peoples and Development: Challenges and Synergies.” Unfortunately, the struggle of Indigenous peoples and their contribution for a holistic, fair, ethical and sustainable solution to our environmental and social crisis still remain ignored by the majority of professionals and the public. It is time to change that within Brandeis.
Cristina Espinosa is an associate professor at The Heller School for Social Policy & Management who lectures in gender and development, globalization, Indigenous people and ethnicity in development, among other areas of focus.
Prof. Gannet Ankori (FA) This Indigenous Peoples Day, I will be returning from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands from the exhibition “Viva La Frida” that I co-curated with my colleague and dear friend Circe Henestrosa, an Indigenous Mexican fashion scholar and curator. The show highlights Frida Kahlo’s paintings, dresses and accessories that deliberately celebrate indigenous Mexican cultures. Upon my return, the Rose Art Museum will be announcing artist Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (b. 1954, Cheyenne/Arapaho) as its 2021-2022 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence. The Rose team and I know that the violent dispossession, enslavement and dispersal of multiple Indigenous communities and individuals by settler-colonialism facilitated the very existence of our museum here, on this land. This residency will support the permanent installation of the artist’s spatial interventions series, Native Hosts — the first in New England — which, in collaboration with this land’s native communities, insists that the forced seizure of native lands and the sovereignty of these grounds be brought into contemporary conversations. As we strive to repair relationships with native peoples and their land, we commit to actively learning from, respecting and amplifying native voices by pursuing partnerships with Indigenous artists and communities. Inviting Edgar to the Rose is but one step in this long and necessary journey towards healing and justice.
Gannet Ankori is a professor of Fine Arts and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies who lectures in modern and contemporary fine art and gender, nationalism, trauma, religion and other topics. Photos: Mike Lovett/Brandeis University
THE JUSTICE ● FORUM ● TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021
11
Reckoning with post-pandemic high school nostalgia By LAURYN WILLIAMS JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I miss high school. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write in my entire lifetime. Believe me, I was ecstatic to graduate. I practically skipped across the stage with my diploma in hand. But there is a part of me, now on my own at college, that misses the morning 8:20 bell and our school announcement detailing a weird meat “surprise” for lunch that was definitely last week’s leftovers. I dreaded walking up the three flights of stairs to get to my first class of the day but now I think back to it with fondness. High school came and went and as I spent over a year of it inside my home, begrudgingly logging into Google Classroom and treating every class like it was a personal podcast. I remember when the pandemic first hit. It was the middle of junior year, with exams lurking around the corner. I was squared away in the library hoping for a release, a break. And then it happened. March 13, 2020: the announcement blared on the intercom stating that all students would be sent home early and more information would be available soon. I was relieved! I dodged a biology test and I was granted an extra week of spring break. But as the days droned on and the news became increasingly grim, it was clear that life was coming to a halt. I spent the following months consuming every type of media avaliable: the TikTok dances, “Love is Blind,” “Tiger King” and countless other documentaries. Atlanta, my hometown, was on lockdown and it felt like the only thing to do was sit still and collect my bearings. As junior year ended, my favorite teachers sent out goodbye emails, my extracurriculars reconvened with a final Zoom meeting and I said goodbye to the seniors I hoped to see again. Then I clicked out of every tab I had opened and shut my laptop. The summer of 2020 was a whirlwind. My eyes were glued to the news, as it seemed like there was a never-ending laundry list of social issues that needed to be addressed and the rising health crisis that direly needed to be fixed. I was filled with endless questions about my future. I didn’t know where I wanted to go to college or if that would even be an option. My school counselors frantically sent a hundred emails that
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summer about applying to safety schools, SAT cancellation dates and how to write our summer essays so we could get a perfect score on our International Baccalaureate exams. I strangely felt supported by my high school in an unpredictable time. I spent the rest of the summer pondering what would stand out on my college application and outlining my Common App essay. Then senior year began. It was my last first day of high school. I sat perched at my dining room table and logged onto my computer. We started with an array of different icebreakers: our new favorite pandemic activities, our quarantine daily routines and how we felt about adjusting to a new normal. I had hoped that classes would feel energetic and inspired, almost like nothing had changed. My teachers tried to create a sense of normalcy—they even had us listen to morning announcements and create our own digital lockers. But I had a
nagging sense of dread, like I just wanted to go home even though I was in my room. This feeling was persistent throughout the entirety of my senior year. I didn’t have homecoming, I didn’t see anyone from classes and sometimes I wouldn’t even get ready in the morning. I would just log on, turn my camera off and fall asleep in my pajamas. High school began to feel like more of a suggestion, as the prospect of college was right around the corner. Every time I submitted a college application I held my breath in anticipation. It was my chance at a whole new experience, an escape from my room. The end of senior year arrived with a haste and restrictions began to ease up as more students got vaccinated. I was able to go to prom, an event that I had dreamed of since middle school. It felt like a rite of passage, a nod to the fact that I could celebrate all the months of grueling work. The DJ played the
“Cha Cha Slide” and many other household favorites. The night felt like closure, it felt like what I had been missing out on for the past year. As the night was coming to close, I distinctly remember sitting in my pink prom dress with my high heels in hand. I took in that moment, everyone waving goodbye and hopping into their cars. I thought about what I wish the year had looked like, what I wish I could’ve had. I saw so many people that I never even knew I had missed. I was so busy working to get out of high school that I never really appreciated it until it all stopped. We are taught that phases of our lives are temporary, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hold importance. High school, while a stepping stone to other great things, allowed moments of teaching and growth. Instead of filing those memories away, I believe that it should be commemorated in all of its awkward-filled glory.
For the love of horror: a tribute to the horror film genre By ANASTASIA OWEN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
I honor Halloween more than most holidays. The horror, thrilling and gory genres across movies, television shows, books and other forms of storytelling have provided me an outlet since childhood to dissect some of my most isolating and terrifying moments better than any other commemorative day or cinematic medium. Nevertheless, I regularly struggle with the available content I consume. I have never really wanted to dwell on it prior to this, because I do find it strange to enjoy Ryan Murphy’s gruesome “American Horror Story” as often as I do. To make myself feel better on rough days, it is normal for me to sink into the gore of “The Walking Dead.” For fun or introspection, I watch shows or films that come wrapped in titles like “Evil,” “Get Out” and “Hereditary” with daunting, foreboding advertisement posters of gloomy heads plastered over foggy skies or darkened rooms. On nights I cannot sleep, my partner often finds me dozing off to the ghouls of “The Haunting of Bly Manor” or finding solace in the vampirical frights of “The Frankenstein Chronicles” or “Penny Dreadful.” I am uncomfortable at how it comforts me to escape through characters’ gruesome tales of doom, with inconceivably harrowing endings and no relief in sight. In what universe would these tales comfort such an anxious heart? What does that say about me as a person? Am I simply an adrenaline junkie, or am I the “twisted” one? At some point while watching an episode
of “Ratched” this past year, I found clarity with the extent to which characters of horror dramas resonated with me. Sarah Paulson’s queer depiction of Nurse Ratched had hit a turning point in the show’s plot, finding herself at a crossroads of choosing to either live openly or continue to hide her sexuality and queer relationship from the heteronormative violence of the hospital where she worked. Amid the show’s ghastliness surrounding the tension of this challenge, complete with other concurrent gore and terror typical of the genre, Nurse Ratched explores the collective emotions of each of these horrors, though she never really flinches from seeking their resolution. And then it clicked. It is not about the gore or even the terror or thrill for me. Rather, I realized that to respect and explore the dreariness, the dark and the terrifying around me is both to accept a heavy part of life and create room for its unpacking. Like a good Halloween celebration, I adore a unique horror movie or show that takes me out of my own world and thrusts me into different storylines and caricatures of survival. It is within these spaces and times of both celebrative as well as cinematic or gameplay horror where I am best able to decompress along with my own nightmares, and to explore and decipher both the real and fantastical gore and terror that frightens many of us. For me, the more unsettling the stories, the better. Watching Michonne conquer both the perils of an ongoing zombie threat and the complications of leading hoards of people in creating an entirely new city and community in apocalyptic circumstances is a different kind of empowering.
Seeing Jamie and Dani find some semblance of happiness in a loving queer relationship after enduring a slew of hauntings from the ghosts of their pasts is more than gratifying. For queer people, women, non-white viewers and others, survival often looks a lot less “safe” and “kid-friendly” than most mainstream viewership and television ratings would pay attention to, much less promote. We are regularly forced to both imagine and pursue our survival — both real and imaginary — outside of normative, safe or mainstream parameters. Unfortunately, that survival often looks bloody, hits hard and fast and feels excruciatingly terrifying. Horror can feel close to home; the unraveling of a thrilling plot can provoke a therapeutic processing of real-life traumas. This is not to say iterations of the genre don’t still get it wrong at times – the aforementioned shows included – and play into offensive stereotypes and illusions like any other kind of cinema. Horror television and gaming often miss the mark as much as any genre in honoring respectful representation across identities of race, sexuality and gender, and we need more diverse depictions within those intersections of identity than we have now. But responsible horror television can provide an honest outlet to feel the very real and systemic pains wrought on these identities in a creative environment that embraces those dubbed as “other”: an outlet that prioritizes the heaviest emotions, shocking images and hard truths of marginalized life that are otherwise erased or watered down in entertainment for others’ comfort. I find sanctuary in stories and atmospheres that are honest about evil and trauma.These
are explorative spaces where I can imagine triumph for the oppressed amid these very real terrors. It is a space where the “weird” can be strange, and it can be a universe in which the marginalized are allowed to fight for their own survival while overcoming the most gruesome horrors the human mind can imagine. For some viewers, horror cinema, much like Halloween, offers room to become or perceive someone or something else: a small escape from expected stereotypes and performances and a reprieve from the experience of being ostracized in the worlds they are told they must inhabit. I find while watching things like “Pan’s Labyrinth” or “Midnight Gospel” that I am offered a mirror into what people might be capable of surviving and enduring, no matter how grisly the circumstances. And more than that, the best ones present a picture of what life could be like after the “hell” is conquered, for all of us. I sometimes yearn for a day when my thrillseeking and methods of processing my traumas and lived experiences might be satisfied by tamer Halloween idols such as pumpkin patches, and less so by gruesome representations of the worst of human terror or the horrors of marginalization. But for now, I must find some comfort in depictions of unbridled outcasts persevering amid the ghosts and gore.
-Editor’s note: This article was originally published online on Sept. 21, 2021.
The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.
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THE JUSTICE ● SPORTS ● TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 13
GRAND PRIX: Season revs up CONTINUED FROM 16 Constructors’ Championship over Red Bull, where Mercedes seemed to have a fairly strong grip on Red Bull. Nonetheless, the Drivers’ Championship battle between Verstappen and Hamilton has taken another turn with yet another change in the lead. This season being the last year of the current regulations means that we are in for a big change in the competitive order of the sport. Because of this, it may be the first and last time that Hamilton and Verstappen, widely considered the two most talented drivers in the sport right now, face off against
HOMECOMING LETDOWN
one another in equal machinery. If Hamilton is able to win the championship this year, he would win his eighth championship, beating the record for the most Drivers’ Championships in history. Meanwhile, Verstappen winning the championship would be not only his first championship but the first non-Mercedes driver to win the championship since 2013. Ending one of the least competitive periods of Formula 1 with what is already a close fight for the championship is certainly a welcome surprise for fans who previously would consider any race that Mercedes didn’t win to be a “good race.”
MEN’S SOCCER TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
NYU WashU Emory Chicago Case Carnegie JUDGES Rochester
UAA Conf. W L D 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0
Overall W L D Pct. 8 1 1 .850 7 1 1 .833 6 1 3 .750 8 3 1 .708 6 3 1 .650 5 1 3 .682 6 2 1 .364 5 2 3 .650
UPCOMING GAMES:
Goals Player Evan Glass Andres Gonzalez Max Horowitz John Loo Jared Panson Khalil Winder
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
KICKIN’ IT: Judges’ Isaac Mukala ’22 dribbles the ball during the game against Case Western this past weekend.
DEFENSE, LET’S ROLL
Assists Max Horowitz ’24 leads the team with two assists. Player Max Horowitz Michael Burch
October 15 at Chicago October 17 at WashU
Goals 1 1 1 1 1 1
Assists 2 1
WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
Case WashU Carnegie Chicago Rochester Emory NYU JUDGES
Overall W L D Pct. 11 0 0 1.0 9 0 1 .950 9 2 0 .818 10 0 2 .917 5 3 2 .600 8 3 1 .708 7 4 0 .636 5 3 2 .600
UAA Conf. W L D 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0
UPCOMING GAMES: October 15 at Chicago October 17 at WashU
Goals Yasla Ngoma ’24 leads the team with five goals. Player Goals Yasla Ngoma 5 Daria Bakhtiari 4 Juliette Carreiro 3 Makenna Hunt 3 Assists Juliette Carreiro ’21 leads the team with five assists. Player Assists Juliette Carreiro 5 Caroline Swan 4 Sydney Lenhart 2 Lauren Mastandrea 1
VOLLEYBALL UAA STANDINGS NYU Emory Chicago Carnegie WashU Case Rochester JUDGES
UAA Conf. W L D 5 0 0 4 1 0 4 1 0 3 2 0 2 3 0 2 3 0 0 5 0 0 5 0
TEAM STATS Overall W L D Pct. 16 0 0 1.0 14 3 0 .824 11 6 0 .647 8 9 0 .471 11 7 0 .611 8 9 0 .471 5 13 0 .278 5 14 0 .263
UPCOMING GAMES: October 17 vs Chicago October 17 vs Rochester
Kills Lara Verstovsek ’25 leads the team with 179 kills. Player Kills Lara Verstovsek 179 Kaisa Newberg 130 Stephanie Borr 120 Digs Ella Pereira ’24 leads the team with 217 digs. Player Digs Ella Pereira 217 Lara Verstovsek 152 Ines Grom-Mansenecal 151
CROSS COUNTRY Results from the Keene State College Invitational on October 2.
TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)
TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)
5-Mile Run
5-Kilometer Run
RUNNER Matthew Driben Walter Tebbetts Casey Brackett
TIME 25:39.2 26:26.4 26:40.9
RUNNER Erin Magill Natalie Hattan Juliette Intrieri
TIME 18:41.0 19:05.8 19:31.14
UPCOMING MEETS: October 16 at Connecticut College Invitational October 30 at UAA Championships, University of Rochester Data Courtesy of THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION and the BRANDEIS ATHLETICS WEBSITE; Images Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
JACK YUANWEI CHENG/the Justice
TOUGH DEFENSE: First-year Ali Karafotias contributed to the Judges' defense against the Case Western Spartans.
SOCCER: Judges yet to win a UAA game CONTINUED FROM 16 at Gordon Field. The Judges were outshot by the Spartans 9-15 but had more corners, 8-4. However, they fell early in the first half and were unable to equalize in the second. The Spartans’ leading scorer, Jacob Hall, put away both goals and secured the win for the Spartans. Off a through ball, he struck it in the net past the goalie,
Aiden Guthro ’23, for the first goal. Later in the game toward the end of the second half, Hall put a second one away when he scored off a oneon-one. Although Guthro finished the game with five saves, the Judges were unable to break the Spartans’ clean sheet. Senior Michael Burch ’22 came close early in the second half after he hit the post on a fast attack. Ultimately, the Judges fell to a 3-6-2 record and a 0-1-1 UAA record.
Upcoming Schedule This coming week, the men are scheduled to face #20 University of Chicago and #9 Washington University in St. Louis on the road. Playing Friday night and Sunday afternoon, the Judges have two UAA games on the line. The women’s team will be facing #7 University of Chicago and #3 Washington University for two tough matchups away on Friday and Sunday.
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THE JUSTICE
VOLLEYBALL: Judges volleyball loses Homecoming games
● SPORTS ●
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 15
■ The Judges lost against Babson College and Endicott College at their Homecoming games on Oct. 9. By NOAH ZEITLIN JUSTICE EDITOR
Photos by NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
BANG THOSE GAVELS: The mascot, Justice Louis Brandeis, visited the game and sat on the bleachers with students in the stands.
GO TEAM: Teammates cheer after scoring a point against Endicott College.
READY OR NOT, HERE IT COMES: Brandeis’ Ines Grom-Mansenecal ’24 sets the ball to a teammate during the Judges’ game against Endicott College.
GETCHA HEAD IN THE GAME: Brandeis’ Kaitlyn Oh ’22 gets ready to return the ball.
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just Sports Page 16
Valterri Bottas wins Turkish Grand Prix By TAKU HAGIWARA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After Mercedes decided to fit Lewis Hamilton’s engine with a new internal combustion engine and faced a 10-place grid penalty, Valterri Bottas inherited pole position and started first on the grid with Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso behind. Given the wet conditions, all drivers started with the intermediate compound of the tire. Other than an entanglement between Alonso and Pierre Gasly at the first corner, the start and opening laps of the race had no significant incidents. The leaders up front were able to quickly take the lead and because they did not need to take a pit stop for new tires due to the weather conditions, they were able to maintain the lead for a significant amount of time. Hamilton, who was coming forward from 10th place, battled his way through the field, finding the most trouble passing Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri and Sergio Perez of Red Bull. While other racers eventually passed both drivers, Tsunoda and Perez both made a valiant effort to try and hold him up. Once Hamilton moved towards the top five, the race leaders began to pit for new tires. Hamilton's team
Judges Volleyball falls to 5—14 over Homecoming, p. 15. Waltham, Mass.
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
PRO SPORTS
■ Bottas takes his first win of the season in a drying Turkish Grand Prix with both Red Bulls scoring a podium.
Women's volleyball fights hard JUDGES PLAYED KEEP-AWAY OVER THE WEEKEND
suggested he follow the leaders and pit for new tires as well, to which he vocally disagreed. Eventually, Hamilton agreed to come into the pits but finished in fifth place when he was third with seven laps to go. Clearly, there was some kind of miscommunication between Hamilton and his team which he responded to with frustration over the radio. Ferrari had a fairly strong race, with Carlos Sainz managing to get to eighth place after starting from the back of the grid with an engine penalty. Leclerc was at some points leading the race, and seemed to be on track to finish on the podium, but after a poor call into the pits, his chances of scoring his second podium of the season went down the drain like the rain did during the race. Red Bull did well to capture two podium finishes for the team despite coming into the weekend with a subpar package. The strategists used Perez effectively to hold up Hamilton for as long as possible and give Verstappen an opportunity to get ahead. While the team did not have the most exciting race, they made the best out of the situation and came away with a result that should be very helpful in their fight for the Constructors’ and Drivers’ championships. The engine penalty incurred for Hamilton meant that should nothing significant happen over the next races, neither Hamilton nor Verstappen have to take an engine penalty. Moreover, Mercedes was able to maintain their lead in the
See GRAND PRIX, 13 ☛
MERCEDES DRIVER TAKES FIRST
JACK YUANWEI CHENG/the Justice
FAST FEET: Judges’ Juliette Carreiro ’22 moves the ball down the field in a game against Case Western on Oct. 9.
Judges soccer lose out at Homecoming games ■ Tough matchups led to the Judges falling short in both soccer matches over the Homecoming weekend. By AKI YAMAGUCHI JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
WINNER, WINNER: Bottas takes his first win of the season in Turkish race.
The Brandeis Judges fell to Case Western Reserve University this past weekend in both men’s and women’s soccer. The women’s team faced the nationally ranked #10 Spartans who had a 10-0-0 record going into the game. With the Judges ranked #25, it was a showdown between two top 25 teams and a University Athletic Association game on the line. Alternatively, the men’s team faced
the 6-3-1 Spartans with their 0-1-0 UAA record. The teams duked it out for Brandeis’ Homecoming, which featured the two games, as well as the varsity volleyball and alumni games. Women’s Soccer Spartans 2, Judges 1 The Judges hosted the Spartans for their first conference game at Gordon Field. Despite outshooting the Spartans with a 17-2 overtake, the Judges were unable to score a second goal to match them and fell to a record of 5-3-2, 0-2 UAA. In the first half, the Spartans struck first with a goal in the 29th minute. Yet, the Judges outshot the visiting team 9-1 with an offensive push for most of the half. Late in the half, Brandeis was able to put one in the back of the net after winning a corner kick. The Judges’
Caroline Swan ’23 crossed the ball into the box for Yasla Ngoma ’24 to finish it to the back of the net. The goal was Ngoma’s fifth, and Swan’s fourth assist for the season. However, early in the second half, the Spartans put away a goal for the game-winner. After a through ball spiltting the backline, a one-onone put the ball away past Judges' goalie Hannah Bassan ’25. Through the half, Bassan had no stops with the opposite team making nine saves to secure their win. The Spartans’ win broke a seven-game streak for the Judges in their headto-head matches in previous years. Men’s Soccer Spartans 2, Judges 0 For the UAA home opener, the Judges hosted CWRU at their home
See SOCCER, 13 ☛
October 12, 2021
Vol. LXXIV #6 Vol. LXX #2
September 12, 2017
just
Waltham, Mass.
Images: Noah Zeitlin/Justice File Photo, Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo wearing a magenta rebozo, 1939. Chromogenic color print. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021; Frida Kahlo, Itzcuintli Dog and Me, 1938. Oil on canvas. Private collection. © 2021 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021. Image courtesy of the Rose Art Museum; Nickolas Muray Frida Kahlo doubled, 1941. Gelatin silver print. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021. Image courtesy of the Rose Art Museum. Design: Noah Zeitlin/the Justice.
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER| ARTS 12, 2021 I ARTS &JANUARY CULTURE I 31, THE2017 JUSTICE THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY,
MUSIC
‘We need a resolution’ Aaliyah’s posthumous music release coincides with R. Kelly’s conviction
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Aaliyah’s self-titled album was released in 2001.
By JASON FRANK JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Content warning: this piece includes frank discussions of sexual abuse and child abuse. This month was the first time I was able to bask in Aaliyah’s discography, and what a month it was to start listening. Aaliyah was an R&B singer during the ‘90s and early 2000s, who stood as the face of the golden age of R&B, all while constantly pushing the genre forward. She tragically died in a plane crash two months after the release of her third studio album, the self-titled “Aaliyah,” but her legacy has lived on. Despite her lasting influence, this September marked the first time her music was released on major streaming platforms. Her record label, Blackground Records, run by Aaliyah’s uncle, Barry Hankerson,
has released her music after an eralong streaming drought. Despite the protests of Aaliyah’s estate — run by other members of her family — Blackground partnered with Empire Records to allow a new generation of music fans to hear her music. It can be hard to believe, that in the face of an angry estate run by Aaliyah’s mother, this is a good thing, but I am grateful. While this music release was happening, another part of Aaliyah’s life was being reintroduced to the world. On Sept. 27 of this year, R. Kelly was found guilty of all charges brought against him by the Eastern District of New York, and a large part of the case against him included Aaliyah. Kelly was her abuser. One witness testified that she saw Kelly performing sex acts on Aaliyah when she was 13 or 14. The New York Times reported that during the trial Kelly was also found “responsible for the bribe of a government employee that al-
lowed him to marry Aaliyah in 1994 when she was 15.” That marriage was later annulled, but two years later Kelly, a pedophile, was on the soundtrack for the children’s movie Space Jam. Those two events, Kelly’s conviction and Aaliyah’s own re-release, have brought narratives about Aaliyah back into the spotlight, but for the first time in many years, it’s possible for her narrative to not be subsumed by her victimhood. When Aaliyah debuted in the ‘90s, she was closely associated with Kelly. Writer Naima Cochrane noted that even the music industry’s toxic instincts to pit women against each other, as happened to her peers Brandy and Monica, were kept at bay due to Aaliyah’s image being defined by her close proximity to Kelly. At the time, the stories of her abuse were treated as industry weirdness, not a serious crime. Jon Caramanica, who worked at Vibe Magazine at the time which published the marriage certificate, recently discussed on The New York Times Popcast that nobody wanted to care about Aaliyah’s wellbeing because it was easier to brush it off. To me, as a member of Gen Z, Aaliyah’s story has always felt defined by her two great tragedies, especially in the absence of her music. I have never consumed music without using streaming as the dominant methodology. When I was first connecting to R&B of the ‘90s, I could only hear about Aaliyah, never listen to her. I’ve known every word to Brandy and Monica’s “The
Boy is Mine” since middle school, but I heard Aaliyah’s song “More Than A Woman” for the first time just this month. Meanwhile, her art has gone on to inspire modern R&B artists. Aaliyah’s vocals inspired singers like Tinashe and SZA, whose performances have Aaliyah’s same sense of low-key cool. Drake is obsessed with her: he’s interpolated her music, written letters to her, even gotten an Aaliyah tattoo. Yet, before the past few months, that inspiration was understood by our generation. Without Aaliyah, it feels like the current R&B sensibility had much less history to it, like it appeared out of the ether. Her absence was a hole in music history and that hole was felt even by those of us who could not experience her brilliance at the time. Amplifying this tragedy is the fact I’ve known Kelly’s music my whole life. From the continued omnipresence of “I Believe I Can Fly” all the way to Kelly’s appearance on Lady Gaga’s “Do What U Want” in 2013, he has remained in the public consciousness. It feels, looking back, like Aaliyah’s lack of presence was a requirement of his continued stardom. 20 years later, Kelly’s star power is finally on the decline, and Aaliyah can reemerge. What is most amazing is that, despite her legacy being defined by tragedy, when I listen to Aaliyah now, I do not feel sad. Instead, I feel immense joy at hearing a woman find her voice and find it so powerfully. When I listen to her second album, “One in a Million,” I hear
how, instead of being defined by the constant Kelly collaborations of her early career, Aaliyah found her perfect collaborators in Timbaland and Missy Elliot, people who pushed her artistry into eradefining brilliance. When I listen to “Rock the Boat,” I marvel not only at Aaliyah’s controlled, sensual performance, but also at her ability to create a positive sexuality after her abuse. Listening to her music, it’s clear that the narrative that’s been created of Aaliyah as a solely tragic figure does her a disservice. Yes, there is tragedy, but there’s also a once-in-a-generation voice that triumphed. Kelly was finally convicted this month, more than 20 years after Aaliyah’s death. While he was being tried, there was a billboard promoting the rerelease of Aaliyah’s music across the East River, watching over the proceedings. On the opening track of her selftitled album, Aaliyah repeats the words “we need a resolution.” Now, as her music gets heard by a new generation for the first time and Kelly finally pays for his actions, a resolution can finally be reached.
Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
Aaliyah’s fans remember her life today through her music.
CULTURAL EVENT
GARBA CELEBRATION Students give each other henna tattoos at the event.
Garba is a form of dance that comes from Gujarat, India. Per the Brandeis events website, Garba is traditionally a part of the Hindu festival Navratri. This multiday festival is celebrated annually in the fall. Photos Courtesy of RACHNA RAGHAVAN
A student serves themself food at the Garba Celebration
Design: Megan Liao/the Justice
Participants at the Garba Celebration event do a Garba dance while wearing traditional clothes.
THE JUSTICE | ARTS | TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 I ARTS & CULTURE I THE JUSTICE
EXHIBITION
Frida, in a New Pose The Rose Art Museum welcomes a novel look into the life and works of iconic painter Frida Kahlo. Photos Courtesy of THE ROSE ART MUSEUM
Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo doubled, 1941. Gelatin silver print. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021.
Frida Kahlo, Itzcuintli Dog and Me, 1938. Oil on canvas. Private collection. © 2021 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. /Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkPhoto by Mel Taing, 2021.
By ATHENA LI JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Frida Kahlo. Her face, paintings and aesthetics are undoubtedly embedded in our pop culture. But who is Frida Kahlo really? Despite the amount of attention dedicated to her work, to this day, much of her vibrant backstory remains either unfamiliar or oversimplified to the majority of the public who consume her art. “Frida Kahlo: POSE,” an ongoing exhibition at the Rose Art Museum, seeks to challenge common assumptions and misconceptions about the painter and her life. It also breaks down an overview of Kahlo’s life and identity through a mesh of different lenses, including, but not limited to, exclusive archival footage, rare photographs and a selection of her own paintings and drawings. Located in the Lois Foster
Ring of the museum, the exhibition opened on June 25 of this year and will be available until Dec. 19. Past events included a screening of “Frida Kahlo” (2020) in July, a documentary about Kahlo’s life and work, featuring both a variety of primary sources and interviews of several scholars and curators. One of the scholars was Gannit Ankori, director and chief curator of the Rose Art Museum. She is also the co-curator of “Frida Kahlo: POSE.” Renowned for her expertise on Frida Kahlo, Ankori specializes in modern and contemporary art, specifically Mexican and Middle Eastern art. Having received her Ph.D. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she had previously served as the Henya Sharef Professor of Humanities and Chair of the Department of Art History before coming to Brandeis in 2010. On Oct. 28, there will be a free virtual tour of the exhibition offered over Zoom. “I will take
[the attendees] on a virtual tour of “Frida Kahlo: POSE” with my co-curator Circe Henestrosa, a brilliant Mexican fashion scholar,” Ankori explained. “We will walk the viewers through the show composed of five overlapping sections: Posing, Composing, Exposing, Queering and Self-Fashioning.” Staying true to a key theme of the exhibition, Ankori plans on discussing a sometimes hidden, more personal side of Kahlo — for example, her queer and disabled identities — and how they intertwined with her work as an artist. “We will focus on Kahlo’s diverse modes of creativity and explain how she used photography, fashion and art to construct her own complex identities. Through her art and ways of being, she explored her ethnicity, disability and gender fluidity in transgressive ways that speak to the current moment,” Ankori said. There are many reasons why Kahlo’s nuanced identity, despite being so integral to the art she created, is for the most part disregarded in the public sphere. Ironically, Ankori believes this might be partly due to Kahlo’s widespread appeal and unforgettable, idiosyncratic outward appearance — she had become a pop culture icon, with her face plastered on posters
Frida Kahlo, Itzcuintli Dog and Me, 1938. Oil on canvas. Private collection. © 2021 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021.
Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo wearing a magenta rebozo, 1939. Chromogenic color print. © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021.
Design: Megan Liao/the Justice
and murals, but with relatively fewer people engaging with her beneath the surface level. “Kahlo’s popular appeal often overshadows the complexity and multi-layered aspects of her brilliant art,” Ankori said. “Popular culture zooms in on external features like the unibrow or the titillating details— real or imagined — of her marriage to Diego Rivera.” “A deep look at Kahlo’s art reveals how she transformed personal experiences into pro-
foundly significant visual compositions that explore the human condition. Her art teaches us about the fragility of the body, about love and death, about hybrid cultural identities, and more. Her bold resilience imagination and refusal to let her disabilities define her are an inspiration.” One major lesson Ankori believes viewers could take from Kahlo, a path-paving woman ahead of her time, is the courage to be true to themselves.
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait Drawing, c. 1938. Pencil on tracing paper. Private collection. © 2021 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Mel Taing, 2021.
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THE JUSTICE I ARTS & CULTURE I TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021
STAFF’S Top Ten
NOAH ZEITLIN/the Justice
Top 10 ways to waste an afternoon By JENNIFER CRYSTAL JUSTICE EDITOR
In need of creative, new ways to procrastinate? Here are some tried and trued ideas 1.Perfect your signature 2. Start up a contentious political debate with someone you dislike 3. Reupholster some furniture (brownie points if you hardly change the upholstery color) 4. Scavenge for plants or discarded items on the side of the road 5. Name all of your worldly possessions 6. Knit a set of coasters 7. Clean your fridge/pantry for no apparent reason 8. Color code your wardrobe 9.Make a miniature vintage TV using a magnifying sheet to enlarge the image ever so slightly on your phone 10. And a classic: start a new show on Netflix
MEGAN LIAO/the Justice
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1. point _ to _ 4. icy and speedy shoes 5. the wheels on it go 6. pizza or french fries way of thinking about a winter sport 7. cow sound 8. cat sound 9. dog sound 10.you wouldn’t take this horse for granted, would you? 11. Kitty Hawk invention 14. my favorite way to travel :) 16. a word of exclamation 17. 3rd planet 20. may cover your head with it 21. what you may seek, or what you’re reading right now 22. gas guzzler
2. two wheeler 3. can fly in place 5. surf, long or skate 8. what a carrier may have 9. see ya 12. waiting...waiting… 13. gym class fun on these wheels 15. without hesitation 18. utter amazement 19. number that makes this sequence possible: 1,2,4,8,16,32 20. what’s up
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
MIRANDA SULLIVAN/the Justice