The Justice, April 8, 2014 issue

ARTS Page 19

FORUM Ali degree insults Muslim students 11

JAY PHAROAH

SPORTS Tennis teams complete strong week 13 The Independent Student Newspaper

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

Justice

Volume LXVI, Number 25

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

FACULTY

Waltham, Mass.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

After buyouts, rollout revisited ■ University President Frederick Lawrence also reported on the progress of the Catalyst Fund.

JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

Froy Steinhardt, featuring, left to right, Ryan Gebhardt ’17, Austin Koenigstein ’17 and Antoine Malfroy-Camine ’17, performed on Chapels Field for the Battle of the Bands during ’Deis Day Sunday. See Arts page 19 for full coverage.

By HANNAH WULKAN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The faculty convened for a meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss and address ongoing issues and concerns, as well as to announce the winners of several teaching and academic achievement awards.

The meeting began with a tribute to Prof. Emeritus Joachim Gaehde (FA), who passed away on Nov. 24, 2013. Prof. Nancy Scott (FA) said a few words in his memory.

University President Frederick Lawrence then spoke about the early retirement plan that was offered to staff over the age of 60 this January.

“The early retirement plan has generated discussion on campus, some of it critical, but most of it positive,” said Lawrence, though he did admit that the plan could have been communicated to the Brandeis community more effectively. “I will take responsibility for a rollout that was less than optimal.”

Most of the vacated positions will be brought to a committee that will

COMMENCEMENT

Degree recipient triggers outcry ■ Ayaan Hirsi Ali's

nomination has sparked controversy given her past Islamophobic comments.

By ZACHARY REID JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

See MEETING, 7 ☛

Numerous members of the University community have expressed outrage at the selection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient for its 63rd annual commencement ceremony, which was announced last Monday along with

the names of the other recipients and the individual who will deliver the commencement address.

Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born women’s rights activist who has campaigned against female genital mutilation but is also well known for her critical view of Islam; she has at various times called Islam a “backwards religion” and a “destructive, nihilistic cult of death” that legitimizes murder. She formerly lived in the Netherlands and was a member of Dutch Parliament until it was discovered that she had provided false information on an asylum application to gain entry

into the country. In response to this, Hirsi Ali claimed that she lied on her asylum application because she was fleeing a forced marriage.

She had also previously disclosed inaccurate information through several sources before the controversy, including through her book The Son Factory.

After resigning from her position due to the ensuing scandal, she moved to the United States to join the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute—an organization dedicated to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free

enterprise according to its website—where she is now a visiting fellow.

The decision to award her an honorary degree has drawn strong reactions from many members of the Brandeis community, especially faculty and students. Prof.

Mary Baine Campbell (ENG) said in an interview with the Justice that she believes this decision is not in the University’s best interest. “Hirsi Ali represents values that Brandeis, in naming itself after Justice [Louis] Brandeis, … was founded in noble opposition to,”

See ALI, 7 ☛

STUDENT LIFE

Group drafts letter to address sexual assault on campus ■ Students Against Sexual

Violence are advocating for a rape crisis center on campus.

By TATE HERBERT JUSTICE EDITOR

Yesterday morning, a group of students self-titled Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence delivered a letter to top administrators outlining the need for a more concerted effort to address sexual violence on campus.

The signatories said that they hoped to spur a conversation and to work with administration to put their proposed changes into action.

Copies of the letter, signed by 20 undergraduates, were hand-delivered to the offices of University President Frederick Lawrence, Provost Steve Goldstein ’78 and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel early Monday morning. It was released online the same night.

The letter includes 11 proposed changes to campus life, ranging from providing students with additional by-

stander intervention training to the establishment of a permanent rape crisis center on campus.

In its closing paragraph, the letter states that “[a]s the semester is quickly coming to an end, we certainly do not want to see this crucial initiative fall by the wayside,” and asks for “a formal response from the administration in a timely manner, and to reach out to [SASV] before April 14th to set a date for further conversations” in the hopes of implementing changes by the start of the fall semester.

“We’re not giving them a deadline, of

course, but we hope that they’re going to be responding ... before the break,” said Shota Adamia ’15, who signed and helped draft the letter, in an interview with the Justice.

Later last night, SASV also emailed the letter to Dean of Students Jamele Adams, Associate Dean of Student Life Maggie Balch, Assistant Dean and Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes and Assistant Dean and Director of the Intercultural Center Monique Pillow-Gnanaratnam.

As of Monday evening, signatories to the letter said they had not received

See SASV, 7 ☛

The hearing relived

Speed demon

Bol shares story

 Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) speaks about the new film that documents her testimony.

 The men’s baseball team ended the week on a three-game winning streak.

 Mangok Bol M.S. ’13 is back at the University after his trip to South Sudan.

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

a reply from the senior administrators.

“Our goal is of course not to call out the administration; we are trying to work with them,” Adamia said.

Adamia said that the group formed and began drafting the letter around the time that SpeakOut! Brandeis launched, in reaction to the blog and the response it was generating.

SpeakOut! is a Tumblr blog and Facebook page that allows Brandeis community members to submit anonymous posts about their experiences with sexual violence, assault and ha-

Let your voice be heard!

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

INDEX

SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS

17 16

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 8

OPINION POLICE LOG

10 2

News 5 COPYRIGHT 2014 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS BRIEF

Alumni association grants three awards On Feb. 26 the Brandeis Alumni & Friends Network announced that Rabbi Eric Yoffie ’69, Prof. Eve Marder ’69 (BIOL) and Wakako Hironaka M.A. ’64, Honorary ’87 are the recipients of this year’s Alumni Achievement Award. The award, which is the highest honor reserved for alumni, is given by the Brandeis Alumni Association to alumni who have significantly impacted their fields of work. The three join the list of winners including Robert J. Zimmer ’68, Bonnie Berger ’83 and Jon Landau ’68, who won last year’s award. University President Frederick Lawrence will formally present the three with the award at the 2014 alumni reunion on June 7.

Hironaka is a prominent political leader in Japan.

She served in the Japanese House of Councilors, which, along with the House of Representatives, forms the Japanese Diet, Japan’s legislative body, from 1986 to 2010. She has also served as vice chair of the Democratic Party of Japan, state minister and director-general of the Environmental Agency in Japan. After benefiting from the Wien International Scholarship Program, which funds the studies of international students with significant financial need and academic achievement during their first years, Hironaka served on the Brandeis Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1997. Due to travel, Hironaka was unavailable to comment by press time.

Yoffie, who was the president of the Union for Reform Judaism from 1996 to 2012, now lectures about Jewish, religious and Israel-related issues at universities, synagogues and Jewish organizations. He writes for the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz about Judaism and Israel and for the Huffington Post about religion in America.

Yoffie wrote in an email to the Justice that he “was a bit surprised, but of course delighted and honored” when he received a letter from Lawrence informing him that he had received the award.

This will only be Yoffie’s second reunion, since he has had to miss past dates due to conflicts with the Union for Reform Judaism’s national conference. “I will enjoy receiving the award, but reconnecting with classmates that I have seen rarely or not at all in the almost 50 years since I entered Brandeis is what I am looking forward to the most,” Yoffie wrote.

Yoffie was president of the student council during the infamous student occupation of Brandeis’ Ford Hall in January 1969 and spoke at then-University President Morris Abram’s inauguration, but wrote that his most memorable moment from his time at Brandeis is meeting his wife, Amy. Yoffie also mentioned other highlights of his Brandeis experience.

“Being a Brandeis alumnus means many things to me: At Brandeis, there was a certain intensity about politics and social justice that influenced me throughout my life,” Yoffie wrote. “In addition, Brandeis was the place where I was inspired by great teachers of Judaism and Jewish history.”

Marder is currently the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience at Brandeis and was appointed to President Barack Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative in April 2013. Marder wrote in an email to the Justice that she became interested in neurology during her junior year at Brandeis, when she took a course in abnormal psychology. “I ended up doing a research paper on inhibition in the nervous system and its potential relevance to schizophrenia. It was the reading I did for that course that made me decide I wanted to be a neuroscientist,” Marder wrote.

Marder, who also served as president of the Society for Neuroscience in 2008, wrote that during her time as an undergraduate, she did not anticipate someday teaching at Brandeis. “The idea never crossed my mind,” Marder wrote. Marder also met her husband at Brandeis, and wrote that she is looking forward to “seeing old friends and classmates” at the reunion. Her advice for current students is to “follow the dreams that come from unexpected moments.”

POLICE LOG Medical Emergency

April 2—A student in Rosenthal Residence Quad who was reported to have a high fever was treated by BEMCo before refusing treatment and being transported to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital by University Police for further care.

April 3—A reporting party in Deroy Residence Hall stated that he slammed his hand in the trunk of a car and requested assistant from BEMCo. BEMCo treated the party on the scene whereupon he signed a refusal for further care.

April 5—University Police and BEMCo responded to a report of an intoxicated male party in Rosenthal North Residence Hall.

An ambulance was called for the party, and he was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital without incident.

April 5—University Police and BEMCo responded to a party at the Foster Mods who reported that he and his friend were fooling around when they heard a snap in his friend’s arm, and the party felt severe pain, possibly

breaking the bone. An ambulance was called for the party, and transported him to NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care.

April 5—University Police and BEMCo received a report of an intoxicated male party at Usdan Student Center. The party was said to have vomited and passed out. An ambulance was called for the party, and he was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital without incident for further care.

April 5—University Police and BEMCo received a report from a party in Scheffres Residence Hall who sustained an accidental eye injury via tweezers. BEMCo provided care on the scene, then the party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.

April 6—An on-duty Community adviser in Cable Hall called University Police to state that he was with an 18-year-old male party who was intoxicated but still conscious and breathing normally. University Police and BEMCo staff responded. The

party was transported by ambulance to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment.

Harassment

March 31—University Police received a call from the Shapiro Campus Center stating that a female party was receiving calls and text messages from her exboyfriend after asking him to cease communication. University Police compiled a report on the incident, and will attempt to serve a no-contact order to the party involved.

Larceny

March 31—A Sodexo employee reported that gasoline was taken from his car, which was parked in the Theater Lot. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Drugs

April 5—A party in Ziv Quad reported that his roommate was possibly smoking marijuana with friends in the common area of his suite. University Police

COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

—The State/MCT

NOTE TO READERS

n An article in Features claimed that Twaweza provided access to basic resources, but it actually provides social services. (April 1, p. 8)

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

—compiled by Rachel Hughes

A former Francis Marion University student who was hospitalized in 2011 following a night of fraternity hazing was awarded a $1.6 million verdict this week, his attorneys said Friday.

Daniel McElveen said in a 2013 civil suit filed against Maurice Robinson—an active Phi Beta Sigma member, FMU alum and Florence high school teacher—that he was brutally beaten with paddles to the point of suffering acute renal failure at Robinson’s home during the fraternity initiation’s “Hell Night.” McElveen was hospitalized for several days following the incident and dropped out of school.

The Florence County jury returned on Thursday night a verdict for $600,000 actual damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages.

McElveen claimed in the suit that he was seriously and permanently injured on Oct. 23, 2011, during the fraternity’s “Hell Night” initiation process for Phi Beta Sigma’s Francis Marion chapter.

The final night of initiation was the culmination of a pattern of hazing, the lawsuit claimed, that included McElveen being forced to eat unidentified foods, being blindfolded and driven off campus, wearing the same dirty clothes each night as part of Sigma Educational Training and being deprived of sleep.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

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

April 1—University Police received a report of an Asian male, about 5’6” tall and wearing a green jacket, walking around in the East Quad Lot area in East Quad. University Police investigated the parking lot, and the individual was a student changing a car light bulb. No further action was taken.

April 2—University Police received a report of a person yelling in the Theater Lot and investigated surrounding areas (Ziv Quad, Ridgewood, the Village, South Residence Lot and Theater Lot). The person was not found.

April 4—A student at the Stoneman Building requested a no-contact order to be served against another Brandeis student. University Police compiled a report and served the party involved without incident.

Student wins hazing lawsuit

n An article in Features should have identified Twaweza as a civil society organization, not a human rights organization, as was previously stated. (April 1, p. 8)

n A photo caption in Sports incorrectly identified the subject as Karina Patil. Her name is Karina Patino.

(April 1, p. 15)

Miscellaneous

WIRE BRIEF

—Ilana Kruger

n An article in Features stated that HakiElimu was the first organization Rakesh Rajani ’89 founded. In fact, it was the second. (April 1, p. 8)

checked the area and found that the parties were no longer there, and there was no marijuana at the scene.

GRACE KWON/the Justice

Student Events hosted a barbecue on Chapel’s Field as part of the ’Deis Day celebration on Sunday, April 6. The day also included a parade through campus and a concert series of student bands.

The Justice is on hiatus for Spring Recess.

Our next issue will be published on April 29.

Check our www.thejustice.org for updates.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Just In Time Job and Internship Fair

This is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students of all class years to meet with recruiters from over 50 employers who are actively recruiting for immediate full-time positions and summer internships.

Attending employers will represent diverse fields in the for-profit, non profit and government sectors. Similar to the Career and Internship Connections that Brandeis students can attend over winter break, the Just In Time Fair will have two key components: a career fair in the morning, followed by opportunities for on-site interviews in the afternoon.

Today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Levin Ballroom in the Usdan Student Center.

A Critical Anthropology of Successful Aging

The Women’s and Gender Studies program presents the 2013 to 2014 Distinguished Faculty Lecture, featuring Prof. Sarah Lamb (ANTH) on “Ageless Aging or Meaningful Decline? A Critical Anthropology of ‘Successful Aging.’”

Today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the International Lounge in the Usdan Student Center.

Latin American Writing of the 21st Century

Born in Lima, Peru in 1977, Carlos Yushimito del Valle is regarded as one of the most original voices to emerge in Latin American literature in recent years.

In 2010, Granta Magazine featured him among “twenty-two literary stars of the future” in Spain and Latin America, and in 2008 Casa de las Américas and Centro Onelio Cardoso in Cuba selected him as one of the best writers of a rising generation. Yushimito has published five short-story collections.

His fiction has been translated into English, French, Italian and Portuguese. This talk will be in English.

Tomorrow from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Pearlman Hall Lounge, Room 113.

Take Back the Night

Take Back The Night is a candle-lit march to raise awareness about sexual violence. It

serves as a safe space for the Brandeis community to come together and share their stories and to support those who have encountered sexual violence in their own lives or those close to them. Although everyone is welcome to participate in this event, we recognize that it is very emotional. If you plan on participating, we ask that you be aware of possible triggers during the event and understand and respect if you cannot attend.

Tomorrow from 8 to 10 p.m. on the Rabb School of Continuing Studies’ steps.

The Future of the European Union

Panel discussion on “The Future of the European Union.” Panelists will be Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL), Marc Bentinck, a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and Michalis Psalidopoulos, the Karamanlis Chair in Hellenic and European Studies at Tufts University.

Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

THE JUSTICE

STUDENT UNION

Senate positions will be filled after a student body vote at the end of the week.

By SARA DEJENE JUSTICE EDITOR

This Friday, students will vote in the first round of the Student Union’s spring elections. Open positions include president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and seats on the Finance Board, representatives to the Board of Trustees, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board.

President

This year’s Student Union presidential candidates are Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia ’15, Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf and Terrell Gilkey ’15.

Walia said in an interview with the Justice that her platform is “student-focused.”

While it includes goals related to more specific issues such as dining and transportation, Walia said that she also wants to focus on “tangibly” achieving transparency between the Union and the student body, encouraging student participation in committees and supporting co-sponsorships of clubs and large campus events.

In an email to the Justice, Gilkey wrote that he wants to “make sure that every student at Brandeis … know[s] that someone cares enough about what matters to them to try to make sure that every one of their concerns with Brandeis has been addressed and hopefully resolved.”

In an interview with the Justice, Bessendorf said that she is “passionate about ... improving the day-to-day lives of students,” including issues such as dorm renovations, meal plan prices, BranVan schedules and transparency on executive compensation.

Vice President

Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina ’16 and Sofia Muhlmann ’16 are running for the position of vice president.

DePina said in an interview with the Justice that she wants to focus on clarifying the processes of club recognition and chartering, improving the quality of dining stations and showcasing diversity of the student body through clubs.

In an interview with the Justice, Muhlmann, who has not had experience on the Student Union, described herself as a mediator and “intense problem solver.”

Muhlmann, a community advisor, said that she believes she can serve as a liaison between the Executive Board of the Union and the Senate.

While Muhlmann’s Facebook page outlines her specific goals, she said that she believes she would need to address the “broader” objectives of the position before focusing on more specific goals if she were elected.

Secretary

The candidates for secretary are Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco ’15 and Arlene Cordoves ’17.

In an email to the Justice, Franco wrote that she “wanted to be in a position where I could not only effect change on the University as a whole, but for the Union itself.” Franco wrote that she wants to focus on providing additional materials in the Romper Room, a rental system for clubs to borrow equipment from the Union and a review of the club system and club recognition and chartering processes.

“I will continue to be a voice for the students with administration and push for further transparency on decisions that are being made that affect all of campus,” she wrote.

Cordoves did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Treasurer

The sole candidate for treasurer is current Assistant Treasurer Andrew Miller ’16.

In an interview with the Justice, Miller said that he wants to “clean up a lot of the treasury” by utilizing all its resources and improving organization, and expressed a desire to make the Romper Room more accessible to club treasurers.

Finance Board

There are 12 candidates running for the four seats on F-Board.

In an interview with the Justice, Class of 2016 Senator and Director of Communications Jonathan Jacob said that while the University is home to several clubs, some clubs do not “receive the funding they need or the funding they deserve.”

Specifically, Jacob said that he wants to promote cohesion on F-Board, help performance clubs receive funding and educate smaller cultural clubs on how to obtain more funding.

Several candidates are running on experience as club leaders. Elad Ohayon ’17 wrote in an email to the Justice that as a board member of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization, he has found the allocation process to be “confusing and quite lengthy” and hopes to make that process “smoother.”

Judy Nam ’16, who has been running for a position on F-Board since her first year, wrote in an email to the Justice that she would aim to make F-Board an “open, friendly resource for clubs.”

Specifically, she wrote that not only would she like to increase funding for clubs, but she also would want to educate clubs about alternative sources of funding.

In an interview with the Justice, Andrew An ’16 also expressed a willingness to be an approachable resource for clubs. A treasurer for the Brandeis Asian American Student Association, An wrote that he understands that a club treasurer’s “work isn’t easy.”

Ari Ben-Elazar ’17 wrote in an email to the Justice that he “see[s] potential for change with respect to smarter spending,” working with clubs to help them to take advantage of their funds and increase efficiency. “Rather than

just allocating funds, I hope to connect with clubs and make their budget work for them, especially if it isn’t already,” he wrote.

Jeffrey Cherkin ’16 wrote in an email to the Justice that he would “maintain and increase the extracurricular opportunities on campus” for all students. “Every club on campus deserves to receive a fair portion of the Student Union budget to achieve its specific academic, athletic, or social goals,” he wrote.

Alex Mitchell ’17, who is a current F-Board member, wrote in an email to the Justice that he originally ran because there were no first-years on the board and he feels that it is important to represent “all four classes” on the board.

Mitchell wrote that he hopes to work with clubs on more “big-ticket capital items or major events,” which “can affect the entire campus.”

The other candidates for the position, Andre Bourne ’16, Evelyn Beard ’17, Hanchen Zhao ’16 and Evans Agbonsalo (TYP) did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Xinyu Annie Li ’17, an executive board member of the Brandeis Chinese Culture Connection, is the only candidate running for the racial minority F-Board position. Li wrote in an email to the Justice that she would aim to be “highly involved in the financial cases of students’ group.”

Board of Trustees

There are three candidates for the one junior representative to the Board of Trustees position. In separate emails to the Justice, both Zachary Anziska ’16 and Grady Ward ’16 wrote that they would like to focus on increasing budget transparency and sexual assault prevention. The third candidate, Shaoleen Khaled ’16 wrote that she would like to see more funding for renovations of residential and academic buildings, as well as improving meal plan and dining options.

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

There are two candidates running for the position of junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Zack Weaver ’16 wrote in an email to the Justice that as an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Physics department, he is aware of the difficulty of scheduling classes to meet various requirements. Weaver wrote that he would like to see the University expand its cross-registration network.

Class of 2016 Senator Kathy Nguyen wrote in an email to the Justice that she would like to “bring a greater diversity of courses offered on campus to attract more interest in students.”

There are no candidates running for the two open seats for the representatives to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board.

—Jessie Miller and Marissa Ditkowsky contributed reporting.

Editor’s Note: Zachary Anziska ’16 is a Justice staff photographer.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

3

MAKING IT BIG

Elections to take place on Friday after debate ■ Several Student Union

●

ABBY KNECHT/the Justice

Johnny Earle, founder of T-Shirt brand Johnny Cupcakes, spoke to students about how he achieved success in Hassenfeld Sherman Hall last Thursday night.

DINING SERVICES

Sodexo announces meal plan prices ■ The new meal plans for

the 2014 to 2015 academic year and their respective prices were finalized.

By RACHEL HUGHES JUSTICE EDITOR

Sodexo released a complete list of new meal plan options for students for the 2014 to 2015 academic year, including the prices that were approved by the Board of Trustees. Sodexo Resident District Manager Jay DeGioia sent out an email to the student body on April 4 providing the details of the new options and addressing some questions that students have been voicing.

Due to the changes in the housing selection process implemented this year, meal plan selection will also be completed on the University’s new MyHousing online tool. The new plans reflect impending changes in service and physical remodels of existing dining facilities, specifically Usdan.

In his email to the student body, DeGioia wrote that “[w]hile many models were considered, we ultimately chose plans that are representative of the new dining structure that will be in place next year after our first phase of construction.” He cited flexibility and value pricing as priorities during Sodexo’s planning process.

As the changes begin to be implemented, DeGioia maintained in his email that Sodexo will be closely monitoring how students adapt to the new plans and overall system. “Through our partnership with the Administration and the Student Union, our threepart team will be meeting regularly throughout next year to evaluate these plans and continue to evolve them as we enter … Summer 2015,” he wrote.

Changes will also include the Uni-

versity’s forthcoming implementation of mandatory meal plans for all students living on campus, a change that will be phased in for the entire on-campus population within the next few academic years.

For the upcoming academic year, meal plans will only be mandatory for students living in residence halls without kitchens, including North Quad, Massell Quad, East Quad, Usen Castle, the Village and Ziv Quad, DeGioia’s email states. Voluntary meal plans will be available for purchase by students living in apartment-style campus residences including Ridgewood Quad, the Foster Mods, the Charles River Apartments and 567 South Street apartments, as well as for faculty and staff, DeGioia’s email continues.

In a March 10 email to the Justice, DeGioia wrote that, although door prices for the all-you-can-eat facilities had not yet been decided upon by Sodexo, “we are meeting on door prices this week and will have that [information] out shortly. For Brandeis students this cost will only be slightly higher (based on approval) than this year’s door rates.”

DeGioia clarified Sodexo’s upcoming policies in relation to questions about methods of payment in soon-tobe renovated dining facilities. “[Dining] points can be used in all Dining locations including Resident Halls and the Food Truck,” he wrote.

Since meal equivalencies will no longer be accepted at retail locations, DeGioia confirmed that “[p]oints would be used to pay the door rate [at Usdan and Sherman Dining Hall] and allow students to enjoy the all you care to eat menu” in an email to the Justice “Points would equal a dollar here just like in the retail locations.”

—Samantha Topper contributed reporting.

STUDENT UNION

Secured clubs oppose proposed constitution amendments ■ WBRS drafted an official

statement speaking out against the proposed allocation amendments.

By KATHRYN BRODY JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Clubs including WBRS, Student Events, Archon, Brandeis Television, Brandeis’ men’s ultimate frisbee team Tron and the Brandeis Boxing Club are opposing the Student Union Constitutional Review Task Force proposal to amend the constitution due to concerns about the language in the amendment that would institute a cap on secured club funding.

Currently, the constitution states

that the Finance Board is responsible for allocating funds to secured clubs whose funding would be based loosely around certain benchmark allocations.

F-Board, however, is allowed to exceed these benchmark allocations should a club require additional funding. In the proposed amendment, the benchmark funding would constitute a cap for a range of allocations that would be different for each club. Furthermore, sports clubs, whose funding has been handled separately from secured clubs, would now have a set allocation range.

In an official joint statement between the clubs that oppose the amendment, which WBRS released to the Justice, the clubs note that having such a cap would be “short-sighted in terms of incentives for clubs to better themselves.” According to WBRS business manager Carl

Lieberman ’16, the statement is to be released to the Brandeis student body when the student vote takes place. In an interview with the Justice, Lieberman stated that the main issue with the amendment is how the changes would “undermine the nature” of the way in which secured clubs are funded.

The clubs state that the amendment would also remove any flexibility in funding. By “locking the clubs” into a set range of funding, the secured clubs will not be able to adjust to any increases in the Student Union budget as the University increases student tuition.

Lieberman also said that the range does not “reflect particular technical expenses” that clubs such as WBRS may encounter. In this past year, he said, WBRS received more funding than its usual allotment to repair the

sound board, which he said was expensive but “vital” to the function of the club.

When asked whether the Constitutional Review Task Force or the Student Union consulted WBRS about the range of funding, Lieberman said that they did not.

Lieberman also noted that the range of funding seems to be based on “incomplete information.” He said that the constitutional amendment dictated funding for WBRS that was comparable to this past year’s allotment rather than examining club funding over the past couple of years. This year’s allotment was significantly higher than usual because of the repairs, he said. “As a Brandeis student,” Lieberman said, he would want each club to be funded with an “appropriate amount of money.”

Members of the CRTF who proposed these amendments and allocations did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Lieberman went on to recommend that the constitution increase club feedback “between the F-Board and the secured clubs … rather than simply capping the secured clubs.”

The vote that was supposed to go to the student body on whether or not to implement these amendments yesterday has been postponed to an unannounced later date because of a “need to look at additional facets,” according to an email that Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia ’15 sent out to the student body on April 7.

—Marissa Ditkowsky contributed reporting.

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THE JUSTICE

STUDENT ACTIVISM

still searching for his nieces and nephew, who were abducted from their village.

By PHIL GALLAGHER JUSTICE EDITOR

Mangok Bol M.S. ’13, the academic administrator of the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the International and Global Studies program, returned on March 25 to the University from his three-week journey to South Sudan. He made the trip to search for his nieces and nephew, who were abducted from their village of Kolnyang when their parents, Bol’s brother and sister-in-law, were murdered amid ethnic conflict in the region.

In an interview with the Justice, Bol explained that he had two purposes for his trip. First, he had not returned to his home village or seen his family there in 26 years, and felt that it was imperative that he return to console his mother and other immediate relatives in the wake of the tragedy. Upon arriving in South Sudan, he attended the funeral of his murdered brother. “When the funeral was taking place that Saturday, I saw my mom there and other members of my family, so to them it was not full relief, but when they saw me, most of them were a bit relieved from what they were going through and what I was also going through,” said Bol, explaining the feelings that he and his family shared upon seeing each other after so many years.

Bol’s second purpose was to provide information and assistance to non-governmental organizations searching for his nieces and nephews. He explained to the Justice that the NGOs did not have details on the abduction that had occurred in his village. “Some of these organizations already had heard about what happened but they didn’t have the specific details of how it happened and the children who were abducted, so I was able to provide them with the information that I had: the names of the children, the age[s] and ... the appearance from the pictures,” he said.

At this time, Bol says that they have not located the children, but he is being kept up-to-date about the searches via email. “I’m very hopeful something will come out, but at the same time, it could take forever,” he recognized. He also noted the importance of finding the children soon because of their ages. “The time urgency is also an issue. These children are young. If they stay there for more than two years, they may forget [who their parents really are],” he said.

According to a Feb. 14 article in the

Boston Globe, his three nieces are eight, six and four years old, respectively, and his nephew is two years old.

While he was in South Sudan, Bol received substantial support from both the Brandeis community and the larger local community. For instance, an online fundraiser has raised over $31,000 for use at his discretion, such as funding travel back to South Sudan, supporting the search or to support the children should they be found. Bol explained that, following the publication of the Feb. 14 article in the Boston Globe about his journey, he was contacted separately by two women in the Boston area who had read the article and were asking to give him money to support his travel expenses to South Sudan.

Following advice from a friend on how to handle the women’s offers, he asked another friend, Hannah Kahl, who attended University of New Hampshire with Bol, to set up the online fundraiser. Bol also mentioned that Kahl had been to his village in South Sudan and had met his family.

Bol expressed appreciation for the gifts that he has received, especially from people who he has not even met.

“I would go to every door to door to say thank you, but honestly, I have it in my heart that it is amazing that people who didn’t know me just went in and put their money,” he said.

He further noted the actions of one donor to the online fundraiser who donated from his allowance. “I saw a message from an 11-year-old boy who said, ‘Look, Mangok, I have read about South Sudan. I also read about the Lost Boys of Sudan and then now your story, so I’m giving you my allowance, $14, to donate to you.’ That is powerful from this 11-year-old boy.

It just amazes you,” Bol said.

In addition to community support, Brandeis also supported Bol with official letters signed by University President Frederick Lawrence, which helped to support his morale.

“I had received letters from the president and the president’s office, showing me wherever I was that I was a member of the Brandeis community and that the Brandeis community was behind me in whatever I was doing,” he commented. Holding these letters, he said, gave him the “strength to go there and try to find these children.”

Right now, Bol said that he asks for strength from friends at Brandeis, as the tragedy is still present. “For me to feel that the case didn’t just disappear in the head of people, that there is a sense that one of the employees is still going through this and he’s continuing to look for his [nieces and nephew], I think that is a way to keep me really focused,” he said.

BRIEF University’s plan for mailroom renovations remains uncertain Despite planned renovations to the Usdan Student Center this summer, there are still no confirmed plans to renovate the mailroom. However, the University is planning updates to the student services offered in this facility. Though the University is still in the preliminary stages of planning, it is currently evaluating several proposals for a mailroom service provider, said Director of Strategic Procurement John Storti in an email to the Justice.

“One of the things we are looking at for the mailroom is upgrading technology in order to send alerts to students via text or email when you have mail or packages,” Storti wrote, stressing that the overall goal is to improve services to students.

Storti wrote that student feedback would be a major factor in choosing a vendor. “Proposals

are evaluated based on factors like student feedback, features and benefits that students have indicated that they would like to have, cost effectiveness, and experience serving a university of our size,” he wrote.

When asked about how the renovations to the dining areas may affect the mailroom, Jay DeGioia, the regional district manager for Sodexo, wrote in an email to the Justice, “Our plans are still in the approval stage, so it would be premature to say how they would affect the mail room.” Though the University has yet to finalize any vendor contracts, the University is hoping to have the new system in place by next fall, according to Student Union Executive Senator Annie Chen ’14 in an email to the Justice.

—Hannah Wulkan

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

5

STREET ART

Bol back from South Sudan ■ Mangok Bol M.S. ’13 is

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NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/the Justice

Students gathered on the Great Lawn on Friday afternoon while artists personalized graffiti trucker hats as part of Bronstein Week. The event was titled “Hip-Hop Happiness.”

Academics

HOID will offer core course ■ Women’s and Gender

Studies will also undergo a name change next semester.

By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR

For the fall 2014 semester, students can expect to see several changes and new course offerings. In addition to the Women’s and Gender Studies program changing its name to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, introductory courses will be offered in both Religious Studies and History. As well, the History of Ideas program will be offering a seminar in critical theory that will function as a core course for the program.

In an interview with the Justice, Prof. Wendy Cadge (SOC), who chairs the Women’s and Gender Studies program, said that the push to include sexuality in the program’s name came from its faculty.

Prof. Thomas King (ENG), who chairs the Sexuality and Queer Studies program, was supportive of the inclusion of sexuality in WGS’ name, saying in an interview with the Justice that the program “should have made that move a long time ago.”

Cadge said that WGS faculty members are hoping that the name change will help to strengthen its relationship with SQS, which became a minor four years ago. As to whether Cadge sees the two programs combining in the future, she said that “we need to wait and see.”

King said that the WGS faculty was concerned about keeping the integrity of the minor despite this change, and that SQS will be a “sustained track within WGS.” He said that he does not see these programs combining, but said that “any program over time has to decide if it’s still meeting student needs.”

King also added that he does not foresee numbers of SQS minors decreasing due to the inclusion of sexuality in the WGS curriculum, but rather that more students would enroll in Women’s and Gender Studies due to the inclusion of “non-normative genders or queer sexualities.”SQS, he said, “gives students a more concentrated focus on sexuality” and “tends to raise more theoretical questions about what sexuality is.” Although he said a “small number” of students declare the minor, “the enrollments in the courses are fairly substantial.

Cadge said that the program had considered several other names for the recent change. Gender and Sexuality Studies is a common name for such programs, she said, but many students and faculty “felt very strongly that ‘women’ should remain in the name.”

“Historically, women have been understudied and underrepresented

in a lot of scholarly discourse as well as public life, and a number of people feel that if women are removed from the title of the programs, from the titles of names of courses, it’s very easy for them to continue to be ignored or to not have the appropriate amount of attention paid,” said Cadge.

Women’s and Gender Studies was originally titled Women’s Studies, but was changed and voted on by the program faculty in spring 2005, according to Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG).

The new program name will appear on students’ diplomas starting in 2015.

According to Cadge, one requirement to major in the program did change—students must now take one elective course that focuses largely on sexuality. The minor requirements, however, did not change, according to the program’s proposal to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

The History of Ideas program will offer a new course titled “Introduction to Critical Theory,” which will be taught by lecturer in the History of Ideas Patrick Gamsby this fall.

According to Prof. David Engerman (HIST), who chairs the program, despite what the course title implies, it is not intended as an introductory class within the program.

In response to questions about whether or not such courses would be offered in the future, Engerman wrote that “[w]e may offer other courses in the future in circumstances such as those for [f]all 2014.”

However, he wrote that there are no current plans for Gamsby to offer this particular course again.

The introduction of the course follows accusations of alleged misuse of funds donated for the History of Ideas program, which were chronicled in a Nov. 26 Justice article. The conditions of the donations, given to the University in 1995 and 1999 by the Hannah Oberman Trust as two separate installments, stated that if the program were to be discontinued, the money would have to be redirected to the Cambridge Public Library.

According to the article, in the past 10 years, the History of Ideas program has not offered any of its own courses; it has only offered courses that are cross-listed in other departments. The last time the core course “HOID 127A: Seminar: History of Ideas” was offered was in spring 2003, the article states.

The Religious Studies program will also offer a core course this fall, titled “REL 107A: Introduction to World Religions.” According to the program chair, Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS), the Religious Studies program is “reinstituting [sic] this—we had offered it in the past, but not in the last few years.”

Brettler wrote in an email to the Justice that the program stopped

offering the course because it “was hard to find the right person to offer it.” However, the current demand for the course contributed to its reinstitution, specifically from students and faculty of the International and Global Studies program.

According to Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) in an interview with the Justice, the request for this course to be offered was “based on strong student interest in the relationship between religion and world affairs.

According to Rosenberger, IGS will fund the adjunct professor who will be teaching this reinstated course, Kristen Lucken.

Brettler wrote that he hopes the course will continue to be offered in the future. “I am very excited that this will happen, and that it will foster greater interest among Brandeis students of the importance of religion to contemporary society and to societies past,” he wrote.

The History department will offer an introductory course titled “HIST 10A: Not Even Past” during the fall 2014 semester. Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST), who chairs the department, described the course in an email to the Justice as an “exciting introduction to the historical roots of modern dilemmas, and to historical thinking more broadly.”

Kamensky wrote that the department expects to offer the course annually. Although she wrote that this course will not be required, she wrote that “it will be a good gateway for potential History majors, and for a wide range of other students who want to understand the present and the future by thinking more deeply about the past.”

According to Kamensky, the department has offered several introductory surveys of particular times and places, including East Asian history, Latin American history, United States history, world history and a two-term European History sequence. However, the department has not featured an introduction to history “as a way of problem solving and thinking about the world,” she wrote. “We thought such an option would serve a diverse array of history-curious students, especially but not only first-years.”

The course will be taught by a team consisting of Profs. Govind Sreenivasan (HIST) and Abigail Cooper (HIST), according to Kamensky.

Other faculty members will rotate into the course in future years.

According to Kamensky, offering the course was made possible through a grant from the Mandel Center for the Humanities. “The grant from Mandel is small and directed at the team-teaching of this particular course but we have several other new courses debuting in the fall, as we do virtually every semester,” she wrote.

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Students crafted macaroni picture frames in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium last Tuesday night at Bronstein Week’s “Ah! To Be a Kid Again,” hosted by Student Events.

MEETING: Birren announces winners of teaching awards decide which positions will be restructured, which will be eliminated and which will remain as is. Lawrence commented that “[w]e will be in a position to accomplish twin goals: early retirement and restructuring.”

Lawrence then reported on the progress of the Catalyst Fund that was launched in January as a part of the University’s capital campaign. The University has raised one-third of its $100 million goal so far, and hopes to reach the goal by December 2016.

Provost Steve Goldstein ’78 spoke about the 2014 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, which will run from April 24 to April 27.

He then moved on to speak about the University budget. Goldstein said that due to the fact that Brandeis is exceeding its financial goals, the University wants to “put our funds into the things we judge to be the priorities of the institution.” The University is planning to increase funding for the arts and sciences for research, to move some adjunct professors to full-time faculty status and to increase the library budget.

Goldstein continued with a report that the capital budget increased fourfold as a result of strategic planning exercises. He said that the funds from saved expenses will go toward renovating several buildings on campus.

To date, the University has close to one million dollars to renovate Mandel Quad, plans to finish the Schwartz Auditorium renovations on schedule and

will put more money into renovating the Brown Social Science Center. The new building for the Lemberg Children’s Center is projected to be finished on time, and the University is also planning to put more money into dormitories, specifically Ziv Quad.

He then said that the 2U online class program would be ending, effective after its summer 2014 session. 2U unexpectedly ended the online semester program on Wednesday night because there was not high enough enrollment in the program to make it profitable.

“For Brandeis, it provided what we were hoping it would do, which is one of the many ways we get some experience with what works and what doesn’t work with online education,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein concluded by saying that the University Budget sub-committee of the University Advisory Council is investigating the issue of fair wages. The committee will continue to do so over the summer so that they have a better sense of the issues at hand before reporting back in the fall.

Then, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren announced the winners of several teaching and achievement awards.

There were two teaching awards given out to Heller School for Social Policy and Management faculty. The Heller Teaching Award was given to Prof.

Mari Fitzduff (Heller) and the Heller Mentoring Award was given to Prof.

Theodore Johnson (Heller).

Four Arts and Sciences teaching awards were also presented. The Mi-

chael L. Walzer ‘56 Award for Teaching was given to Prof. Xing Hang (HIST), the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching was awarded to Prof. Laura Goldin (AMST), the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer ’69 Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring was won by Prof. Marion Smiley (PHIL) and Prof. Jonathan Sarna ’75 (NEJS) won the Dean’s Mentoring Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Birren also announced the five students chosen to receive the Brandeis Achievement Award, an award for rising juniors. These awards were first given out in 2004 to students who have had over a 3.5 grade point average every semester at Brandeis and provided several recommendations. They were awarded $5,000 per semester for the rest of their time at Brandeis. The winners this year all had over a 3.8 cumulative GPA The winners were Samantha Chin ’16, who is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies; Ian Christie ’16, who is working toward a B.S. in Computer Science and Neuroscience; Caro Langenbucher ’16, who plans to double major in English and Women’s and Gender Studies; Eric Lin ’16, who is majoring in Psychology and Art History and Shane Weitzman ’16, who is majoring in Anthropology and South Asian Studies.

—Rachel Burkhoff and Avi Gold contributed reporting.

SASV: Students call for crisis center CONTINUED FROM 1 rassment.

“We of course support the work of SpeakOut! but we are not connected to them. But we highly support them and we think that their work is amazing,” said Adamia.

According to both the letter and to members of SASV, the group’s main goal is to eventually establish a permanent space for a rape crisis center on campus, as part of an overall effort to coordinate and centralize existing resources.

“We understand that this isn’t going to happen during next semester ... that takes time and a lot of money,” said Adamia. “But what we’re trying to do before that is having still more coordination and more cooperation between the resources” on campus.

Their other requests and proposals include a call for “[c]lear and accessible information on existing reporting paths, options, and resources,” a permanent, on-call crisis response counselor, a psychologist at the Psychological Counseling Center who specializes in sexual violence and trauma counseling, further training of staff, faculty and administrators on their Title IX

rights and reporting responsibilities, “pro-social bystander intervention” workshops offered throughout the year, sexual assault response training for University Police, added steps to the on campus party registration process and an extensive campaign to combat and promote awareness of rape culture.

Sheila McMahon, sexual assault services and prevention specialist at Brandeis, helped the group significantly with feedback and advice, to “pinpoint” where improvement was needed and where structures were already in place, according to members Ava Blustein ’15 and Andrea Verdeja ’14.

McMahon, who started work at Brandeis this past November, has since coordinated outreach and education programs, including bystander intervention training, for clubs and other student groups at Brandeis, as well as during first-year and midyear orientation, according to a March 11 Justice article.

“Brandeis already does have so many resources and initiatives that do deal with this, so the idea is to bring them all into a coordinated effort,” said Verdeja in an interview with the

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

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ALI: Honorary degree choice sparks debate

FUN AND GAMES

CONTINUED FROM 1

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Justice.

According to Blustein, PillowGnanaratnam also advised that “we should be adding on to existing things, not just reinventing the wheel basically. So we’re not starting over, we’re just proposing improvements and expansions,” Blustein added.

SASV is an independent group; it is not a chartered or recognized club in the Student Union. Adamia said that SASV’s members have no plans to institutionalize. Instead, they envision it as a loose, ongoing coalition of interested students.

However, some members and signatories of the letter are currently connected to other clubs on campus with interests in sexuality and sexual violence, such as the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the Queer Policy Alliance.

“This is a very exciting week for us because we’re finally doing this,” said Adamia. “It’s been very exhausting for the past couple of weeks. ... It really has consumed our entire lives. But we are very happy, and this, the letter to the administration, is the beginning of the dialogue, essentially. This is not the end of our work but rather the beginning.”

said Campbell.

Campbell also said that she was concerned about the awarding of the degree because of a lack of consultation with the faculty during the selection process. In an email to the Justice, she wrote that she was “astonished to find out that this choice, to honor Ms. Hirsi Ali for her contributions to ‘women’s rights,’ had been made without consulting the WGS Core Faculty.” s=She noted that the core faculty in the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program had not been contacted either.

In a statement issued on behalf of the administration, Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid wrote that University President Frederick Lawrence “is aware of concerns that have been expressed following the announcement of the selection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient.”

She also added that Lawrence was reaching out to members of the Brandeis community to discuss the controversy, but did not respond to requests for comment on which individuals have been contacted by press time.

In addition to vocal opposition to Hirsi Ali, there have been more tangible measures to oppose her presence at commencement.

A student petition at www. change.org, started by Sarah Fahmy ’14, calls on Lawrence to rescind the offer of an honorary degree. As of Monday evening at 11 p.m., the petition had over 600 signatures.

Faculty members also organized to protest the decision through a letter to Lawrence. The letter calls on Lawrence to rescind the offer because of her “virulently antiMuslim sentiments,” as well as re-institute a faculty committee to review potential candidates before honorary degrees are awarded, since such a committee could have “warned [Lawrence] about the horrible message that this [decision] sends to the Muslim and nonMuslim comminutes at Brandeis and beyond.”

The letter was sent to the faculty on Sunday evening, and by late Monday had received over 75 signatures from various faculty members.

Prof. Jytte Klausen (POL) wrote in an email to the Justice that giving Hirsi Ali a degree “undermines years of careful work to show that Brandeis University promotes the ideals of shared learning, religious toleration and coexistence, irrespective of religion.”

She further wrote that Hirsi Ali should be invited to speak on campus since the University allows individuals of all views the opportunity to express them but that honorary degrees should only be given to “people who promote our mission of learning and toleration.”

Klausen also expressed concern that Hirsi Ali’s presence would detract from the overall experience of commencement, which is “not a hard-edged talk show or forum for confrontational endorsement of extreme views,” but rather “a celebration where all should feel welcome.”

She also called into question Hirsi Ali’s political career, saying that it had been built on “complaining about refugees and immigrants” and calling for harsher measures to be directed at these groups.

Klausen also noted that Hirsi Ali’s false statements on her Dutch refugee application and citizenship request was an offense “severe enough for the Minister of the Interior … to annul Hirsi Ali’s [Dutch] citizenship.”

In addition to condemnation, the announcement has prompted Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG) to call not only for the award to be rescinded, but for a public apology issued by Lawrence to the greater Brandeis community. In an email to the Justice, Lanser wrote that she believes Hirsi Ali “is not worthy of a doctorate of humane letters from a university that claims to be committed to justice, respect, diversity and truth to its innermost parts.”

She added that her outspoken views on Islam “foment an intolerance that is wholly antithetical to Brandeisian values.”

While many faculty members and students are decrying Hirsi Ali’s being offered the honorary degree, some are coming to her defense. Bernard Macy ’79, an alumnus who came forward to defend the selection of Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient, sent an email to Lawrence, numerous faculty members and the Justice expressing his support. Macy wrote that he was very impressed that Hirsi Ali “had the courage to speak and act out against an extremely vicious form of violence toward women, which, until recently, had been a topic that had not been politically correct to discuss.”

Macy further expressed hope that “protection of women from this insidious form of mental, emotional and physical abuse” would be in line with the values of the University and firmly stated that Hirsi Ali is very deserving of an honorary degree.

Students have also expressed concern about the University’s selection. Alina Cheema ’15, copresident of the Muslim Students Association, said in an interview with the Justice that she and the MSA perceive Hirsi Ali’s receiving a degree as alarming. “[Hirs Ali] is well-known for her [anti-Islamic] beliefs … and this is a slap in the face by the administration. Are they saying that we don’t belong on this campus?”

Cheema said. “How can the University claim to be so focused on social justice when they award a degree to someone with such radical views?”

Cheema also added that this situation has made her personally feel very uncomfortable as a Muslim on campus. “How am I supposed to tell a prospective Muslim student that [he or she] will be accepted on this campus … when the administration condones this?”

When asked if the MSA was preparing a response to the announcement, Cheema said that the MSA had been talking about the issue since the news broke on Monday.

“We will not be quiet about this,” said Cheema. “Any opportunity we have to work against this, we will take advantage of.”

In addition to the perceived disconnect between Hirsi Ali’s values and the University’s, some have criticized the decision for damaging the University’s reputation.

Campbell wrote that she is worried this will be a “[public relations] disaster, and a step down a road we cannot take without losing our identity [as a university].”

Prof. Mitra Shavarini (WGS) also told the Justice in an email that the offer is not in line with the University’s mission, unless it wishes to “incite hate, mistrust and division among its community.”

She further stated that Hirsi Ali’s approach to discourse “collapses thought in obscure, noncontextualized allegations that have no intellectual merit”— something Shavarini believes is radically opposed to the University’s values of “intellectual exchange and the challenging of one’s ideas.”

8

features

TUESDAY, april 8, 2014

just

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THE JUSTICE

VERBATIM | ELEANOR ROOSEVELT Friendship with one’s self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 1730, Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in North America, built its first synagogue in New York.

Female ferrets die if they cannot find a mate after going into heat.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY MCCABE

STARTING DIALOGUES: Prof. Anita Hill discussed her recently released documentary “Anita” at an alumni event at the Landmark Embassy Theater on Thursday.

Using past for progress

Prof. Anita Hill speaks at a Waltham screening of new film

By JAIME KAISER JUSTICE editor

At 7:31 a.m. on a Saturday morning in 2010, nearly 20 years after she spoke out against the sexual misconduct of the then soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) received a voicemail that at first, she thought was a prank. On the other end of the line was Virginia Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas.

“I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.”

That phone call was the opening footage of Hill’s new documentary Anita. Hill participated in a question-and-answer session moderated

by Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid following a screening of the documentary on Friday at the Landmark Embassy Cinema in Waltham.

The film was directed by Academy award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock.

Hill also appeared at an event related to her book on Thursday moderated by Florence Graves, director

of the Schuster institute for Investigative Journalism.

The showing was one of a string of recent media appearances Hill has made, including an appearance on The Daily Show in march since the film’s commercial release one month ago, though the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

Hill is a senior adviser to the provost at Brandeis and a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She graduated from Yale University with a law degree in 1980.

Much of the film pulls viewers back in time to Hill’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Hill’s testimony exposed a history of habitual harassment by Thomas.

During the two years she worked for Thomas, she was subject to a slew of inappropriate behaviors and remarks. She terminated her work in 1983, but when Thomas was nominated by former President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall as Supreme Court Justice, Hill was called to testify.

However, the hearing had the opposite outcome from what many

expected. Although many were horrified by the brutal and sexually explicit interrogation, many were encouraged to speak out. “It pushed people to have conversations and women to start telling their stories in ways that they had never told before,” Hill said.

“When I was approached by Freida Mock to make this film, an entire generation had either left the workplace or was on the verge of moving into the workplace where many of the behaviors we had thought we had gotten rid of were still happening,” said Hill during the questionand-answer portion of the night.

According to Hill, workplace sexual harassment lessened directly after the hearing. “I figured that if it’s possible 22 years ago then it’s still possible today for there to be change and so maybe this film could spark or inspire us to take the next step,” Hill said.

The film caused viewers to relive some of the more uncomfortable moments of the testimony. The distance of time allowed audience members to laugh at the absurdly hostile nature of certain members of the committee, most notably that of Sen. Arlen Specter.

Rather than simply recounting the events of the hearing, the docu-

MCT

BRAVE TESTIMONY: Hill testifies during the Senate Judiciary hearings of 1991, setting a precedent for women to speak against harassment in the workplace.

mentary reflects on the progress made in transforming the conversations and policies around sexual assault. “The film is not about as I like to say ‘relitigating’ the hearings of 1991,” Hill said. “It gives us an opportunity to look at what we saw in 1991 and examine that against what processes are in place now.”

The film also highlights aspects of her personal life, drawing from footage and interviews of her family and friends. But in addition her closeknit support system, she had something else supporting her during the hearing that she considers crucial.

“I had an education and developed skills that made me feel like I could undertake the challenge of testifying,” Hill said.

A strong support network is something Hill has valued since becoming a professor at Brandeis in 1998.

“The people I have met since moving to the Boston area have been critical to my even being able to make this film,” she said.

Hill stressed the importance of having the tough conversations with the future generation. “We’ve spent years preparing women and giving them the tools and the skills and the knowledge to come forward when they’re experiencing sexual harassment. ... We talk to our

daughters now, but do we talk to our sons?” she said.

For Hill, just because the situation has improved since 1991 doesn’t mean we don’t have a long way to go.

“Everybody is better off when we’re working in a place that is free of sexual harassment of women,” Hill said. “We need to imagine a workplace where [sexual harassment] is not the norm but where it’s an anomaly.”

Julia Karant ’14, who attended the screening, felt a sense of pride for being in the same community as Hill.

“I’ve never actually seen Anita Hill speak before even though I’ve gone to Brandeis for four years. ... The documentary presented a lot of sides of the whole situation and I feel very lucky to go to a school where she teaches,” she said.

In the present, a public hearing would probably not become the media spectacle that it was in 1991, as it would be dealt with privately before reaching a public hearing. But for Hill, the essential question regarding the hearing doesn’t dwell in the past.

“My question is not whether that confirmation hearing would be repeated so much as are we repeating some aspects of that in the ways we process cases today?” Hill said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY MCCABE

LOOKING BACK: During a recent alumni event in Waltham, Hill participated in a question and answer session that featured inquiries from the audience.

THE JUSTICE

Trashing

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TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014

MANAGING WASTE: “Weigh Your Waste” week at Sherman Dining Hall allowed students to measure their leftover food, increasing awareness about food waste.

SHAYNA HERTZ/the Justice

wasteful conventions

A dining hall waste project promotes the future of composting campus food

By ADITI SHAH JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

JAIME KAISER/the Justice

NEW SYSTEM: Casella is the new waste management company on campus as of January, handling many aspects of waste management including composting.

SHAYNA HERTZ/the Justice

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: Elena Stoeri-D’Arrigo ’16 participates in the environmental initiative, placing her leftover food into a bin with other students’ waste.

Composting is just one method to help preserve and protect the environment, but it is a method many students rarely take part in. Knowing this, several students decided to host a week-long event called “Weigh Your Waste Week”, which took place at Sherman Dining Hall during dinner time from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every day from Monday, March 31 to Thursday, April 3.

The week is a partnership between the Eco-Reps and the Senate Sustainability Committee. The premise of Weigh Your Waste Week centers on composting, the process of decomposing wastes, particularly food waste, into soil and fertilizer.

The goal of the project was both to educate students about composting as well as motivate students to produce less waste. “We still want to make students aware and try to reduce waste,” Deanna Heller ’15 said.

The week is Heller’s project through the Eco-Reps program. Eco-Reps are a group of paid students hired by Brandeis Facilities to promote and coordinate campus sustainability improvements. Heller is part of an Eco-Rep program called Green Corps, a program in which students work 10 hours a week to implement a specific sustainability project of their choice.

Initial plans for this project began when Heller and student representative for Sodexo and Chair of the Senate Sustainability Committee Anna Bessendorf ’15 collaborated after finding out about the impending changes in the composting system. The duo also teamed up with registered campus dietician Kate Moran as well as student volunteers from Students for Environmental Action and Green Corps.

Waste Week volunteers set up a table in Sherman with containers to collect people’s waste and a scale to weigh their refuse in pounds. The table supervisors requested that diners dump all that was remaining on their dinner plates, including napkins, into the waste bins to be weighed.

The project coincides with the University’s recent switch to Casella, Brandeis’ new waste disposal company. They emerged on campus this semester. With Casella as our full-time waste contractor, the University is able to manage food waste through composting on a comprehensive scale.

So far, according to Heller, “Casella has started composting in the kitchens” and in the future, there are plans to expand this system throughout campus.” Casella has the intetnion of expanding to include dining locations on campus and residence halls.

Previously, any composted waste from Usdan Student Center and Sherman has

traditionally gone to the WeCare commercial composting site in Marlborough, Mass. The food wastes collected from Weigh Your Waste Week will instead now be going to smaller farm-based facilities.

The waste from the week will be going to Brick Ends Farm in South Hamilton, Mass.

At these compost sites, the waste is sorted and composted, and since the facilities are larger, meat and dairy products may be composted as well. This is usually not possible at a smaller home or private composting system.

This switch of waste disposal providers coincides with a statute passed recently

by Massachusetts requiring all cafeterias and dining halls of a certain size to implement a compost system. The statute will go into effect in July. They were using the “Weigh Your Waste Week” to “test the waters,” Bessendorf said.

Elizabeth Casella, Waste Systems business development manager stated in an email to the Justice that logically, Rocky Hill is preferable to the WeCare facility.

“Rocky Hill is a farm based site that creates high quality compost that can be applied to fields for the growth of produce, used as a soil amendment, turf dressing, erosion control or potted plants,” she wrote.

Because of the new statute, the Campus Sustainability Initiative at Brandeis will also be implementing a new three-bin system. The three bins will be for trash, compost and recycling and will have different colors to designate each kind. “The system will standardize what happens with waste throughout campus,” Heller said.

The total weight of the waste collected on Monday, March 31 amounted to 51.1 pounds, 8.5 pounds on Tuesday for half an hour, 33.7 pounds on Wednesday and 58.6 pounds on Thursday.

Heller noted that part of the project’s success stemmed from strong student response. “Many students who saw the compost table the night before and how much food was being wasted decided to reduce their food waste the following night,” Heller said.

Haley Orlofsky ’14, a student who helped supervise the table, witnessed a similar student response. “People ask what it is and once they know more about it, they appreciate it,” she said.

For Heller, the project works toward more than one goal. “I am very passionate about this because it is very multi-layered,” she said. It’s not just about saving the planet, there are people starving and here we are wasting so much food.”

Heller noted that composting was part of her upbringing. “Compost makes sense, to use waste to make food rather than just dumping it in a landfill,” she said. “The fundamental reality is that we all share this planet with other people.”

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10 TUESDAY, april 8, 2014 ● THE JUSTICE

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Tate Herbert, Editor in Chief Andrew Wingens, Senior Editor Adam Rabinowitz, Managing Editor Phil Gallagher and Rachel Hughes, Deputy Editors Rachel Burkhoff, Glen Chagi Chesir, Sara Dejene, Shafaq Hasan, Joshua Linton, Jessie Miller and Olivia Pobiel, Associate Editors Marissa Ditkowsky, News Editor Jaime Kaiser, Features Editor Max Moran, Forum Editor Avi Gold, Sports Editor Emily Wishingrad, Arts Editor Josh Horowitz and Morgan Brill, Photography Editors Rebecca Lantner, Layout Editor Celine Hacobian, Online Editor Brittany Joyce, Copy Editor Schuyler Brass, Advertising Editor

Disinvite Hirsi Ali from commencement When the University announced this year’s honorary degree recipients, one choice stood out—Ayaan Hirsi Ali. As a Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Hirsi Ali has raised awareness of violence against women, focusing on honor killings and female genital mutilation.

Hirsi Ali, however, has been outspoken about her Islamophobic beliefs. We urge University President Frederick Lawrence to rescind Hirsi Ali’s invitation to receive an honorary degree at this year’s commencement.

We understand that the Board of Trustees as well as Lawrence would initially find Hirsi Ali a compelling candidate to receive an honorary degree. One aspect of her story, in which she escaped an arranged marriage in Somalia and later worked to protect women’s rights, corresponds with the social justice mission of our University. Yet, her derogatory comments toward Islam warrant a closer look at the administration’s choice to award her a degree.

In her 2010 memoir Nomad: From Islam to America, Hirsi Ali states that Islam is “not compatible with the modern Westernised way of living,” that “violence is an integral part [of Islam],” and that “Muhammad’s example is terrible, don’t follow it.” These comments ignore the fact that there are multiple views of Islam, insist that violence is inherent in Islam and that one culture is fundamentally better than another.

Her remarks alienate not only our University’s Muslim community, but also run counter to the beliefs of our entire campus.

Her phobia does not fit Brandeis’ ideals or values of our inclusive community and the goal of reflecting “the heterogeneity of the United States and of the world community whose ideas and concerns it shares,” according to Brandeis’ mission statement.

Defend Muslim students The selection of Hirsi Ali threatens to taint what should be a celebration for seniors and their friends and families. Graduating seniors should not have to sit in the presence of their University’s support for a message that devalues an entire religion.

Addressing concerns about a hateful rally held at Al-Quds University in November 2013, Lawrence wrote on his blog, “We are committed to accepting students of all faiths and nationalities into our community and we are proud of the deep roots we have in Middle Eastern Studies on campus and around the world.” If this is true, Hirsi Ali’s comments about Islam directly clash with Lawrence’s words. To be consistent with the values of our University, we urge Lawrence to disinvite Hirsi Ali. By presenting Hirsi Ali with an honorary degree, the University applauds all aspects of her work. An honorary degree validates the good she has done for women’s rights, yet it also condones the comments she has made against Islam, and therefore against a valued portion of our community.

A faculty petition to rescind Hirsi Ali’s invitation to commencement has gained 76 signatures in under 48 hours. In addition, a separate student petition on change.org has gained over 560 signatures.

Withdrawing invitations to honorary degree recipients and commencement speakers is not unheard of. It has happened recently at peer institutions, including at Northwestern University in 2008, when Rev. Jeremiah Wright was disinvited from receiving an honorary degree for his inflammatory statements on race, 9/11 and then-Sen. Barack Obama.

While we recognize that her Islamophobic views are only one facet of who Ayaan Hirsi Ali is, we cannot separate her accomplishments from her personal politics.

Her character is informed by these views.

Withdrawing her invitation to receive a degree would be only just and appropriate.

Review assault prevention letter Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence is a newly formed coalition aimed at addressing the issues victims of sexual assault face in our community. According to a letter they have sent to the administration, they want to reform the current attitude surrounding sexual assault as well as the resources available for victims.

We commend the students for taking the initiative to craft this proposal. However, while we find several of the ideas discussed in their letter compelling, we urge the group to hone their proposal and work with the administration to move forward in the most productive manner possible.

As the letter proposes, we would like to see sexual assault prevention workshops made available for students, Public Safety officers, staff, faculty and members of the administration. Such programs would raise awareness of sexual assault, teach students how to help victims and understand the resources offered by the University. As most of our sexual assault resources are student run, we support the letter’s suggestion to include a permanent on-call crisis response counselor and a psychologist who specializes in sexual assault trauma. Further, we would encourage the University to partner with the “Circle of 6” application which creates a safety network

Find feasible implementation of six friends that one can use in an emergency, as well as include University safety numbers for easy access.

However, overall, we ask the readers of the letter to critically consider the suggestions presented and the feasibility of their implementation. For example, the group calls for a permanent rape crisis center.

Finding an empty area to house the counselors and provide resources may pose a challenge. Perhaps the existing space in the Psychological Counseling Center building could also include the crisis center. Considering the sensitive nature of sexual assault, the building would be better situated in the PCC’s secluded location.

However, finding the funding to employ a full-time staff may also be problematic.

These are issues that the administration should address; however, in order for these ideas to be fully realized, the students leading this initiative as well as the rest of the community must actively participate in the process, consider the coalition’s suggestions and provide feedback for the next steps. We hope that Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence works with the administration to find concrete solutions to best aid survivors on campus.

TZIPORAH THOMPSON /the Justice

Views the News on

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court eliminated restrictions on how much money individuals can donate to election campaigns during twoyear cycles. While it is still illegal to donate over $5,200 to a single politician’s campaign, potential donors can now give money to unlimited numbers of campaigns across the country. The maximum amount had previously been capped at $48,000 in total donations. Conservatives have hailed the ruling as a victory for free speech, but critics are concerned that extremely wealthy contributors may now have even more political sway during elections than they already do. What do you think about this ruling?

David Clements ’14 The Supreme Court’s decision marks a step in the wrong direction for America and the democratization of the electoral process. The court’s understanding that money equals speech is not only dumbfounded, but is also misguided and counterproductive to free speech. By equating money with speech, the court essentially establishes that those with more money have more speech. This decision not only empowers the super-wealthy to continue to dominate national politics, but also marginalizes those who cannot afford to give thousands—and even millions—of dollars to campaigns. The issue of free speech must be understood with the pretense that one’s influence should be determined by the merit of one’s ideas alone. While wealth can certainly amplify a message, it by no means shall be the determinant of the merit of one’s ideas. Consequently, by equating money with speech, the court legitimizes a practice that is not only full of corruption, but also marginalizes the input and influence of a majority of Americans.

After all, money doesn’t equal speech; money equals money.

David Clements ’14 is the Student Union chief of staff.

Nelson Gilliat ’14 Campaign finance would be neither a moral nor legal problem—if we had a proper government, strictly limited to the protection of individual rights (life, liberty, property) via the courts, police and military. That way, individual rights could not be voted away by the tyranny of the majority, or sold to the highest bidder. The existence of lobbyists and special interests who buy influence, presupposes a government that sells individual rights for some unspecified collective goal, be it the public interest, public safety, or the common good. Since nobody’s rights are safe under such a system, special interests, both to protect themselves and to get benefits they could not otherwise achieve voluntarily, lobby politicians in order to influence legislation and attain some special favor, privilege, exemption, contract, or subsidy.

Nelson Gilliat ’14 is the president of Brandeis Libertarians.

Daniel Koas ’16 Money continues to be poured into American elections at astronomical rates, and the recent decision by the Supreme Court to loosen limitations on big political donors has paved the path for even more monetary influence in our political system. By allowing a tiny sliver of the nation’s wealthiest citizens to have even more sway than they did before, the Supreme Court is both potentially corrupting campaigns and silencing the voices of the other 99 percent of the country. While the argument that money is equivalent to speech is tempting, the fact of the matter is that money is merely a way to fund and amplify speech; it helps individuals express themselves, but does not carry the same power as a vote. In fact, by allowing billionaires to drown out the voices of other Americans, the Supreme Court is actually undermining the intentions that the framers expressed in the First Amendment of allowing all voices to be heard and establishing America as an open marketplace for ideas to be shared.

Though the playing field can never be truly level, our government should be taking steps to protect the voices and rights of the people, not giving them away to the wealthiest few.

Daniel Koas ’16 is an American Studies major.

Catherine Rosch ’16

While I can’t say that I’m surprised by the Roberts Court’s decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, I am very disappointed by the ruling. By getting rid of maximum donations an individual can give to a party, the Supreme Court is essentially equating money and speech as being the same thing. This dangerous precedent not only favors wealthier Americans over the rest of the population but could also potentially be used to justify getting rid of any campaign finance limits. Money and speech are not equivalent and should not be treated as such. There is already way too much money in politics.

This ruling will only allow money to play a bigger role and does not benefit the majority of Americans. I do not support McCutcheon and I hope Congress is able to pass legislation to limit money in politics.

Catherine Rosch ’16 is the legislative affairs coordinator in Brandeis Democrats and a Justice staff writer.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali degree is an insult to Muslim students By alina cheema and yasmin yousof Special to the justice

The Brandeis Muslim Student Association has worked endlessly to integrate itself into the Brandeis community, to be an active club on campus and make the student body more comfortable with Islam. It is with great sadness that we learn of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s selection as an honorary degree recipient. We see this decision as a personal attack on Brandeis’ Muslim students, and as minorities at a predominately white, Jewish university, many of us feel isolated and unwelcomed.

The irony of Brandeis University’s motto, “Truth, even unto its innermost parts” and the University’s decision to bestow an honorary degree on Ali, a woman whose political and public platform is anti-Islamic, is startling, unacceptable and intolerable.

We understand what Hirsi Ali has gone through. She has overcome horrific experiences in her lifetime, and she has the right to share her experiences however she sees will benefit society.

However, Hirsi Ali’s personal tragedies do not give her the absolute right to attack Islam as a religion. In her book Infidel, she states, “I wanted secular, non-Muslim people to stop kidding themselves that Islam is peace and tolerance.”

Hirsi Ali has called for the usage of military force to ensure the destruction of Islam, has vehemently reinforced the assumption that patriarchy and violence against women is unilaterally unique to Islam and non-Western nations and perpetuates the appalling presumption that Prophet Muhammad was a pedophile.

There is a fine line between freedom of speech and hate speech. Hirsi Ali has shamelessly passed this boundary as her remarks no longer regard her experiences, but rather condemn an entire religion and other minorities as a result of her prejudices and biases.

Instead of encouraging respectful discussions and debates, she incites and supports insensitivity and irresponsibility by abusing freedom of speech as a way to justify her hate speech.

Hirsi Ali’s work sells itself on helping women in Muslim majority countries. We want to highlight the many Muslim women working from within Islam to oppose violence toward women and children and to promote human rights in all of their aspects.

What these female scholars are doing has been so much more effective than what Hirsi Ali has done.

Let us take, for example, the issue of female genital mutilation in villages in Somalia and sub-Saharan countries; female and male Muslim activists, such as the non-governmental organizations 28 Too Many and the Desert Flower Foundation, have successfully persuaded village elders in sub-Saharan countries to repudiate FGM in their villages.

Another example is Hauwa Ibrahim, a lawyer with roots in Nigeria. She has successfully and beautifully defended women accused of adultery in Shari’ah courts and has now published a handbook for lawyers working in Shari’ah courts.

Moreover, we are now beginning to see a surge in interpretations of the Quran and Hadith via female scholarship.

It is important to note that Hirsi Ali’s work has been continually challenged by reputable, feminist Muslim scholars who insist that her work does not reflect the variety or the complexity of Muslim women’s lives or our social and political aspirations.

As Prof. Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (ENG) said in a letter to University President Frederick Lawrence, “the very women whose identities, experiences, and political needs that Hirsi Ali purportedly represents, are those who will be most demeaned by her receipt of this honor.”

To again quote Professor Abdur-Rahman, Hirsi Ali’s narrative and political and public

“stance of Western modernity and cultural superiority that depends on antiquated racist logics that present people from the Middle East and Africa as culturally backward and in need of the civilizing influences of the West” is inexcusable on the part of Brandeis.

The University presents honorary degrees so as to “identify the University with the values expressed through the work and accomplishments of the honoree” and “draw positive attention to the University as an institution that respects and encourages such values and the manner in which those values are expressed.”

It seems as though the selection committee has grossly ignored the values expressed through Hirsi Ali’s work while subsequently choosing an honoree who will not bring positive attention to the University as an institution. We are questioning what value this University wishes to uphold.

“

Hirsi Ali’s personal tragedies do not give her the absolute right to attack Islam as a religion.

We are receiving the message that Brandeis University believes Ayaan Hirsi Ali, her ideology and radical Islamophobia, are worthy of respect, celebration and encouragement.

How are we to understand this as students of Brandeis University?

As Muslims on this campus and as students who contribute greatly to this University, we deserve respect and rights that every other student has—respect and rights to which,

according to this institution itself, every student is entitled.

The selection of Hirsi Ali is a great disrespect to the Muslim students and moreover to the entire campus as a whole, to the faculty and students who truly embody the values and morals of social justice. Brandeis is isolating its Muslim students by bringing to commencement, one of the largest public gatherings under the name of this institution, a woman whose fame and public image lies solely on anti-Islam sentiments. This decision will certainly dampen the joyous occasion that the commencement ceremony is supposed to be for many Muslim graduates, non-Muslim allies and their families.

It is also important to consider how this will affect Brandeis Muslim chaplain Imam Talal Eid’s presence at commencement as well. Brandeis has unapologetically disregarded the extremely uncomfortable position that Eid would be placed in sharing a ceremony with Hirsi Ali. The administration has failed to comprehend the cruelty of this decision and recognize the long-term ramifications of its selection of Hirsi Ali, both on current students as well as prospective students.

This act on the part of the administration is completely disrespectful and hypocritical. Just as Islam Awareness Week 2014 has passed, we have seen an inspiring surge in solidarity from Brandeis toward the Muslim community on campus. We truly hope the Brandeis community can support us again (and anyone else who felt a personal attack through this decision) in asking University President Frederick Lawrence to rectify this appalling decision.

—Alina Cheema ’15 is the President and Yasmin Yousof ’15 is the Secretary of the Brandeis Muslim Students Association. This article was a joint effort by multiple other members of the Brandeis Muslim Students Association.

Commencement speakers should reflect Brandeisian values

By Jessie miller JUSTICE editor

Who is Geoffrey Canada? Before Brandeis announced him as our 2014 commencement speaker, I had no idea who this man was. After a quick Google search, I learned that Canada, like many of our own Brandeisians, is an activist. Currently, he is the president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an organization that works to increase high school and college graduation rates among children in Harlem, N.Y. through various support services. Canada clearly deserves this honor bestowed upon him.

By recognizing someone who isn’t trending on Twitter or in the spotlight, the University is acknowledging individuals whose hard work could have otherwise gone unnoticed.

There’s always the argument that Brandeis doesn’t attract big name speakers because we’re a smaller school, but I think it’s OK that we don’t top the list of most famous graduation speakers if Brandeis continues to welcome individuals like Canada.

After growing up in the inner city himself, Canada has used his Harvard University education and personal story to change the lives of thousands of children. Canada’s work has also impacted public policy, including President Barack Obama’s pledge to create more centers like the Harlem Children’s Zone across the country.

Canada clearly demonstrates the qualities that Brandeis holds dear: social justice, opportunity for those often overlooked and community.

Why, then, are students generally not looking forward to his speech, even if it means doing some research on him? Why, year after year, do students lament that other universities have a better, more famous, name brand speaker?

Yes, it would be quite exciting for Ed Helms, who is speaking at Cornell University this year, or John Legend, University of Pennsylvania’s speaker, to grace our commencement stage, but these individuals don’t represent Brandeis.

We deserve someone who reflects Brandeis’

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values and history, rather than Joss Whedon, who spoke at Wesleyan University last year, or Peyton Manning, who will speak at the University of Virginia this May. I’m not saying some name recognition is a bad thing—it does boost the University’s image, or at least its press coverage. Think Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of State, who will speak at Dickinson College this year. Or Bill and Melinda Gates who are speaking at Stanford University’s graduation this year.

Being famous is one thing and being qualified to deliver a commencement speech is another—and if an individual fits both those categories, that’s great. Although Canada may not be recognizable by the general public, I think Obama’s recognition of Canada’s work illustrates his growing image. Though having a famous speaker is exciting, the most important aspect of a commencement speaker is his or her message.

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Being famous is one thing and being qualified to deliver a commencement speeech is another.

Furthermore, Brandeis higher-ups have recently done a pretty good job at inviting speakers who I probably wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.

Last year, Brandeis honored Dr. Rick Hodes, who works in Ethiopia helping people with serious illnesses and is the medical director of Ethiopia for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

In 2007, Hodes was a finalist for the respected “CNN Heroes” program that consistently recognizes individuals for their humanitarian efforts.

If he’s good enough for Anderson Cooper,

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MOZELLE SHAMASH-ROSENTHALw/the Justice

Hodes clearly deserved to be Brandeis’ commencement speaker. You don’t need to be a famous comedian or movie star to have a story to tell.

Margaret Marshall, first female Supreme Court justice in the Massachusetts judicial court, spoke in 2005. Marshall is from South Africa, where she advocated against apartheid as a leader in the National Union of South African Students. She also wrote the majority opinion statement on the court case that declared same-sex couples could marry in Massachusetts, making it the first state to do so.

Ideally, an individual is chosen to speak at a graduation because he or she has something meaningful and thought-provoking to say— whether they are a comedian or founder of a nonprofit.

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That being said, you can’t judge a commencement speaker by their career or background and it’s possible that speakers like Manning or Whedon will give equally memorable speeches.

But as for Brandeis, considering our conception as a harbor against discrimination, we should honor individuals who display a similar passion for social justice.

Speaking at commencement is an honor that reflects back on the University and our values.

By choosing Canada, we are saying that we value those individuals who are often underappreciated, who make a difference in the world through activism and philanthropy.

We are saying that despite your background, you can become someone who changes lives.

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TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

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Overdose treatment drug is a stopgap, not a solution

By Jennie bromberg JUSTICE staff writer

Every day in the United States, 6,748 people are treated for drug overdoses in emergency rooms across the country, according to the Center daily for Disease Control. Another 105 die daily from these overdoses.

In order to combat this problem, the Food and Drug Administration approved a handheld device last Thursday that can be prescribed to and used by families and friends of drug abusers in case of an overdose, according to the New York Times.

The device is called Evzio, and has a concept similar to that of an EpiPen. It can be carried around in a pocket or a purse, and is administered to those who are unconscious and have stopped breathing as a result of opioid drug abuse, according to the New York Times. Opioids are a category of chemicals that include opiates and synthetic substances, and are one of the groups of drugs commonly prescribed as painkillers. Heroin is an opioid, as are oxycodone and morphine.

Evzio contains naloxone, a drug that can counteract the effects of opioids and is already carried in hospitals, but being so far removed from the patient, it is often too late for it to be used. Although the administration of naloxone from Evzio does not make additional treatment unnecessary, it does buy some crucial time for the patient and ultimately has the potential to save many lives.

But Evzio comes with a long list of complications. To begin, how does one decide who can get a prescription for it and who can administer it?

According to the New York Times, some states have administered pilot programs to let emergency medical workers or those who witness a drug overdose use the device.

The article also seems to imply the intent for a widespread distribution of Evzio, reaching out to family and friends of drug abusers. But these programs still leave open questions as to how one would obtain a prescription for such a device.

Additionally, there is not yet an industry price set for Evzio, and to be effective, it would need to be affordable for those who would need it. This further brings up the issue of whether or not Evzio would be covered by insurance companies.

Beyond the legal and technical issues surrounding the distribution and use of Evzio, it needs to be noted that this treatment does not hit the crux of the issue at hand. Drug abuse is one of the most preventable causes of death and hospitalizations. Unlike a congenital defect or an environmental hazard, one needs to somehow be able to obtain the opioid on which they overdose.

Opioids come in many forms, including her-

GABRIELA YESHUA/the Justice

oin and prescription drugs; one of the major sources for obtaining opioids is from prescriptions written by doctors.

In order to really make a difference and effectively save lives from drug overdoses, policies need to focus on primary prevention, which, in this case, would prevent people from obtaining illegal opioids in the first place.

Yes, this is a great drug that saves lives, but it is also a drug that can overshadow the root of the issue and lead people away from getting further help. If people could not get the opioids to abuse, it would be impossible to overdose on them, and there would be no need for Evzio.

Although this is an improbable and ideal situation, there are still measures that can be taken to decrease the amount of opioids prescribed and used. Additionally, even moving the focus to helping those who are abusing drugs before they overdose would reduce the occurrences of overdoses.

Although there is currently a necessity for Evzio and it can be used to save lives, it does nothing to prevent the causes of drug overdose as a societal problem, and may even work toward the opposite. Being able to carry around an EpiPen-like device that can be used to save lives during an overdose may lead to a false sense of security.

It may lead people to be less careful with regard to how much of the drug they’re using.

Evzio does nothing to discourage opioid abuse.

Additionally, those whose lives have been saved by Evzio may end up overdosing again and again, since there is no system in place for any sort of preventative measure. While the importance of Evzio in instances of overdose should be noted, it should be used as part of a treatment plan rather than just a backup plan.

One solution that could be implemented is some kind of mandatory counseling that comes with the prescription of Evzio.

This would make Evzio part of an overall treatment process rather than simply a backup plan for when an overdose occurs. Additionally, there should be mandatory training on the underlying issues surrounding Evzio for doctors who prescribe the drug.

We must also take stricter measures when prescribing opioids and doctors who prescribe them should go through additional training to learn about alternative pain treatment methods.

While Evzio does have benefits, it is not any kind of solution to drug overdosing. There are too many complications about how it would be distributed, and it doesn’t provide any sort of preventative measure against opioid overdose.

The benefits are short-term, and the real issue at hand has gone untouched. At the end of the day, Evzio will save lives, but it will not help fix any problems surrounding opioid abuse.

Examine Rwandan president’s role on 20th anniversary of genocide By jESSICA gOLDSTEIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The streets of Kigali, Rwanda were soaked with blood and littered with broken bodies 20 years ago, as the country spiraled into the “crime of crimes.” Beginning on April 7, 1994 Rwanda was engulfed by a genocide uncharacteristic of any other in history due to its speed. Within a period of 100 days, the venom that its propaganda took hold of the Hutu people, reigniting ethnic conflicts with the neighboring Tutsi people that date back to the days of colonialism.

The Hutu mercilessly wielded their machetes, fired their AK-47s and hurled their grenades at their neighbors, their family, their friends and their relatives. An estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were slaughtered. The anarchy only came to an end when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi militia bent on destroying the Hutu-dominated government, “saved” the country and the Tutsi people.

Current Rwandan President Paul Kagame was a military leader of the RPF and became known as the “master of psychological warfare” by Roméo Dallaire, the force commander of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda.

Since the government’s forces were more focused on the genocide than the fight for the capitol, Kagame was able to capture Kigali more easily and end the war.

The RPF’s efforts in ending the genocide have largely shaped the light by which Western politicians currently view the country and its government.

Kagame ensured great success for Rwanda.

He diverges from the concept of an archetypal African leader, one who robs his own people and cares more for power than his country.

He is seen as the savior of his country by many. Perhaps this is the explanation behind the mutually beneficial relationship between the international community and Rwanda:

the country receives one billion dollars in aid annually.

In turn, the international community can point to Rwanda as an example of how aid money can work in Africa.

According to Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times, “Kagame’s government has reduced child mortality by 70 percent; expanded the economy by an average of eight percent over the past five years; and set up a national health insurance program.”

However, the government is run primarily by the minority Tutsi population. It is probably due to greater access to “affirmative action” programs that favor Tutsi with college scholarships and high ranking jobs.

Paul Kagame doesn’t want to create an ethnic war in Rwanda. He wants what is best for his country.

He fears the potential consequences of letting go of power and allowing for significant free speech. Ethnic rivalries before and during the genocide were aggravated largely by broadcasts on the radio calling for the deaths of “cockroaches.” Much like a stereotypical African leader though, Kagame hopes to seek a third term in 2017. He would have to change the constitution in order to make this legal.

He is the kind of leader who speaks softly and carries a big stick. Often characterized by his brutal tactics, his country is kept in his tight grip while the region surrounding falls apart.

Kagame was integral in the invasions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Congolese Wars during the late ’90s and early 2000s. In the name of keeping his homeland safe and gaining mineral wealth, Kagame’s government, allegedly, funded the March 23 Movement, a rebel group that haunted the DRC until recently.

According to Raise Hope for Congo, M23 was responsible for the displacement of 800,000 civilians, the rape of hundreds of women, the abduction of children and the execution of civilians.

However, we must recognize why he remains in power. Though Kagame’s power is not illegal, he would never hold the presidential seat if the United States and the Western world disapproved.

Paul Kagame exists as the savior of Rwanda because the Western world and former President Bill Clinton failed miserably in the prevention of the genocide that ravaged the country 20 years ago.

“

Another leadership role should be provided for Kagame because he knows how to make Rwanda work.

They hopefully feel tremendous guilt, and his status as a public icon and ender of genocide would put the Western world in an unpopular light if they ever try to forcibly remove him.

However, following the genocide the country rebuilt itself, and exists as a sound investment on the continent. Kagame, a proud Tutsi who grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda, is a true example of a success story.

His country ascended from failure to success as well. Licking the wounds of a disjointed society following a genocide, and rebuilding it without the intervention of the “white man” perhaps supplants the expectations of Western leaders.

There is no doubt that Rwanda would not have survived without the strength and audacity of Kagame. Rwanda is described as the Singapore of Africa, one of its greatest success stories, a bit of serendipity for a continent perceived in a negative and inaccurate

light. Can the state of Rwanda succeed without a strongman?

At this point, free expression regarding the president is very limited within its borders.

This stems from the reality that the government is extremely powerful in Rwanda. The streets are not littered by garbage as the government has outlawed litter. Crime in Rwanda is very low because criminals have been transferred to an island in the center of Lake Kivu.

On a more personal level, many village officials have banned dressing in dirty clothes.

People argue that freedoms of speech and expression are not important in the midst of war.

An elder in a Rwandan village once expressed in a New York Times interview: “80 percent of people support him [Kagame], 20 percent don’t. But those 20 percent don’t speak, because they are afraid.”

As the elections come to rise in 2017, we must recognize that the Rwandan people cannot be subject to another power struggle based off of ethnicity. But power should lie within the hands of the Rwandan people.

Kagame is the strongman who helped Rwanda get back its feet. He knows struggle, and he works endlessly to stretch the resources he has in order to provide Rwanda a place on the world stage.

However, the means by which he pursues this success does not always serve the best interests of his people. In the coming election, Kagame should not push for a change in the constitution to allow him seven more years in office.

However, the country may not be prepared for such a significant shift in governance.

Another leadership role should be provided for Kagame because he knows how to make Rwanda work.

After 20 years of remembrance, we must say “never again” to the genocide, quite conscious of the fact that Rwanda might have outgrown its savior.

THE JUSTICE

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APril 8, 2014

13

TRACK: Squads race at regional meeting

WIND UP

CONTINUED FROM 16

JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

TO THE PLATE: Starting pitcher Melissa Nolan ’14 throws a pitch against Wellesley College during the Judges’ 9-6 loss at home in the first game of a doubleheader.

SOFTBALL: Offense falls short in game two of doubleheader CONTINUED FROM 16 lead they would not relinquish.

Novotny said the lack of offense displayed by the Judges approved to be more of a result of a mental gap than a lack of talent. “[Our offense] is a very mental thing, when we can string our hits together everyone jumps on board,” she said. “To make that all work we need to get on the same page and have energy and enthusiasm and

have confidence in what we’re doing at the plate.”

In their home-opening doubleheader last Thursday, the Judges failed to string together enough offense to take down the Wellesley Blue, dropping the first game 9-6 and the second game 11-1.

Kamber led the Judges’ offense in the opener with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning, handing the Judges a 4-1 lead at the time. However, a seven-run sixth

would swing the game in favor of the Blue. Pitcher Nikki Cote ’15 picked up the loss, giving up five runs in 1.2 innings of work.

The second half of the doubleheader was no better.

Wellesley scored nine runs in the first two innings to quickly put the game out of reach, eventually taking the game by a score of 11-1.

Genovese recorded the Judges’ only hit on the game, a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the first,

later coming home on a sacrifice fly

by Kamber.

Even though the offense struggled, Novotny said she still believes in the team’s ability to record wins.

“We’re a fundamentally sound team and we know we can beat anyone,” she said.

The Judges return to action today in a doubleheader at Lasell College before traveling to Salem State University for another doubleheader on Thursday.

with my teammates.”

The men came into the day with more competitors than the women but finished with some mixed results.

Much like the women, the men’s best event was the 1500 -meter run. Grady Ward ’16 finished in 16th place overall out of 84 competitors with a time of 4:06.59, and Quinton Hoey ’17 snuck right behind him and into the top 20 with a time of 4:07.88.

Matt Doran ’17 also competed in the event, finishing in 42nd place with a time of 4:16.95.

Both Ward and Hoey ran the prelimanry round in 4:05:00 flat, though the pair could not match their time in the final round.

In the 200 and 400-meter dashes, a promising pair of first-year sprinters represented the Judges.

In the 200-meter dash, Nick Wactor ’17 had a strong showing with his 21st place finish in 23.26 seconds while Jeremy Wilson ’17 came in at 39th with a time of 24.42 seconds. Wactor improved on his time of 23.88 seconds he recorded in the prelimanry round.

Wactor followed his 200-meter race with a time of 53.30 in the 400-meter dash, putting him at 32nd for the event. Wilson, meanwhile, finished in 52nd with a time of 54.55.

The men also had a strong overall showing in the long jump, despite the inability of Mohamed Sidique ’15 to place in the top 10 and earn any points in the event.

Sidique came up .08 meters short of his seed distance of 6.48 meters, putting him in 11th place in the finals for the event.

Sidique came two-tenths of a meter from finishing in 10th place for the event.

Adam Berger ’16 and Franklin also competed in the long jump, finishing with distances of 5.95 and 5.62 meters respectively.

Both the men and women will travel to Brown University on Saturday afternoon to take part in the Brown University Springtime Collegiate Invitational.

TENNIS

Teams complete strong week with wins over regional foes ■ The women’s tennis team

took home fifth place at the Nor’Easter Bowl, an event the team co-hosted.

By AVi gold JUSTICE EDITOR

The men’s and women’s tennis teams each completed successful weeks, highlighted by a fifthplace finish for the women in the Nor'Easter Bowl, an event they cohosted with Wellesley College. The 24th-ranked men swept their week with matches against Babson College, Clark College and Wheaton College to push their record to 8-4 overall while the 24th-ranked women sit at 6-8 overall.

Michael Arguello ’17 said he was proud of the week the men had, especially considering the strength of the teams the Judges faced. “[These were] teams that could have given us trouble, especially Babson,” he said. “I thought it was

really good that we got through the week with all wins.”

The women dropped a 5-4 decision to No. 19 Skidmore College last Friday to open the Nor’Easter Bowl but picked up all four of their wins on singles courts. Roberta Bergstein ’14 lost the deciding match on court No. 3 in three sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, which gave Skidmore a 5-3 lead. Carley Cooke ’14, Emily Eska ’16, Simone Vandroff ’15 and Alexa Katz ’14 all picked up victories for the Judges in singles play.

The Judges matched a win over Babson last Tuesday with a 7-2 win in the Consolation Semifinals on Saturday. The Judges went up 2-1 after doubles competition and never looked back, dropping only a single match in singles competition. Vandroff needed three sets to take a win on court No. 5, eventually winning 4-6, 7-5, 10-6. Hannah Marion ’16, not to be outdone at the No. 6, took her third-set tiebreaker a step further, winning by a score of 6-7, 6-3, 10-7.

In the fifth place match against Wellesley, the Judges fell behind 2-1

after doubles play. Only the pair of Allyson Bernstein ’14 and Marissa Lazar ’14 managed to defeat their Wellesley competitors.

The Judges gained momentum in the opening match of singles competition, though, when Vandroff recorded a double bagel, 6-0, 6-0, over Wellesley senior Kendall Tada on court No. 5. From there, the Judges won on three of the final five courts to claim the victory and fifth place.

Eska clinched the victory in a 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 6-3 marathon victory on court No. 4.

The men completed a dominant week with an 8-1 win over Wheaton on Sunday in which all singles matches fell in the Judges’ favor.

The Judges began the day in a 1-0 hole as the pairing of Arguello and Danny Lubarsky ’16 dropped the opening match of doubles play by an 8-3 margin.

The team then rattled off eight straight points to claim the dominant win.

Michael Secular ’15 was taken to a third-set tiebreaker after easing his

way to a first-set victory. Secular, who took the tiebreaker 10-7 and the match by a score of 6-2, 4-6, 10-7, was the only member of the Judges who was taken to three sets.

Lubarsky rolled over Wheaton sophomore Will White 7-6, 6-1 on court No. 3 and Brian Granoff ’17 closed out a victory on court No. 1 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Wheaton sophomore Jonah Feit.

On Friday, the team put forth a dominant effort in a sweep of Clark 9-0. The margin for a doubles match came no closer than an 8-3 victory and no singles match proved to be as tight as a 6-4, 6-4 victory for Ryan Bunis ’17 on court No. 3.

In the win over Clark, no game went more than two sets.

Granoff defeated Clark senior cocaptain Dan Stein 6-1, 6-0 in an unexpected victory in the No. 1 slot.

The team battled through a 2-1 deficit after doubles against Babson last Thursday, taking five of the six singles courts to win the match 6-3.

Alec Siegel '15 and Secular led the charge for the Judges with respec-

tive straight-set victories.

Arguello said that the Judges rallied behind their teammates to overcome the 2-1 deficit against Babson.

“I don’t think we came ready to fight for those matches, so it was really great to see everyone turn it around,” he said.

“You have to credit the whole team to get behind each other and support each other; when I was playing my match I was still cheering for my [teammates].

“I think that really helped us and carry momentum into the weekend facing two teams that could have given us trouble.”

Bunis rallied past Babson junior Connor DeFiore after dropping the first set, winning the match by a score of 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 on court No. 4.

The men return home for a match against Bryant University tomorrow before welcoming Trinity College on Saturday.

The women will look to continue their success on the road at Wheaton on Thursday before welcoming Bentley University on Friday.

A E S K I A H T Why choose M N U A Summer Term AN YO AD TH ?

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THE JUSTICE

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Tuesday, APRIL 8, 2014

15

ATHLETE PROFILE

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS baseball TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Runs Batted In

Not including Monday’s games.

UAA Conference

W L Case 6 2 Emory 6 2 WashU 4 4 JUDGES 2 6 Rochester 2 6 Chicago 0 0

W 18 21 11 9 8 4

Overall L Pct. 6 .750 9 .700 13 .458 12 .429 11 .421 13 .235

UPCOMING GAMES: Today at Worcester State Thurs. vs. Western New Eng. Fri. vs. Bridgewater State

Tom McCarthy ’15 leads the team with 15 RBIs. Player RBIs Tom McCarthy 15 Brian Ing 11 Connor Doyle 9 Liam O’Connor 9

Strikeouts Kyle Brenner ’15 leads all pitchers with 35 strikeouts.

Player Ks Kyle Brenner 35 Colin Markel 15 Elio Fernandez 13 James Machado 9

SOFTBALL UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

Not including Monday’s games.

Runs Batted In

UAA Conference

W L Emory 5 3 Case 5 3 WashU 5 3 JUDGES 3 5 Rochester 2 6 Chicago 0 0

W 31 19 16 11 7 13

Overall L Pct. 6 .838 9 .679 9 .640 9 .550 7 .500 1 .929

Anya Kamber ’15 leads the squad with 23 RBIs. Player RBIs Anya Kamber 23 Cori Coleman 14 Danielle Novotny 13 Liana Moss 13

Strikeouts Samantha Wroblewski ’17 leads all pitchers with 25 strikeouts.

UPCOMING GAMES: Today at Lasell (DH) Thurs. at Salem State (DH) Wed., Apr. 16 vs WPI (DH) *DH=Doubleheader

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

Brenner makes impact in lineup and on mound

1500-METER RUN Kelsey Whitaker Amelia Lundkvist Maggie Hensel Maddie Dolins

■ Kyle Brenner ’15 is tied for second among all UAA pitchers with 35 strikeouts and seventh with a 3.14 ERA.

Player Ks Samantha Wroblewski 25 Melissa Nolan 23 Nikki Cote 19 Emma Krulick 17

TRACK AND FIELD Results from Yellow Jacket Invitational at American International College.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s) 1500-METER RUN TIME Grady Ward 4:06.59 Quinton Hoey 4:07.88 Matt Doran 4:16.95 100-METER DASH TIME Adam Berger 11.68

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

OVER THE PLATE: Starting pitcher and first baseman Kyle Brenner ’15 readies for contact versus UMass Dartmouth on Monday.

TIME 4:41.39 4:45.98 5:03.40 5:04.76

By Elan kane Justice staff writer

UPCOMING MEET:

The men’s and women’s track and field squads will travel to the Brown Collegiate Springtime Invitational at Brown University on Saturday.

TENNIS Updated season results.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

MEN’S SINGLES Michael Secular

RECORD 7-3

WOMEN’S SINGLES Carley Cooke

RECORD 8-4

MEN’S DOUBLES Granoff/Secular

RECORD 9-3

WOMEN’S DOUBLES Bernstein/Lazar

RECORD 6-9

UPCOMING MEET: The men’s tennis team will next host Bryant University tomorrow at 3 p.m. and the women’s tennis team will travel to Wheaton College for a match at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Starting pitcher Kyle Brenner ’15, picked up his third win of the season Sunday with a dominating pitching performance in the first game of a doubleheader against Framingham State University. He then transitioned smoothly to his second role as batter in the second game, scoring a run that would eventually allow Brandeis to come away with another victory.

Brenner is not an average college baseball player. Just take a look at his overall season statistics: they fill up the stat sheet in just about every category possible.

When Brenner is not collecting strikeouts and wins as the ace of the baseball squad, he is compiling runs batted in and hits as a middleof-the-order hitter.

Brenner has been an athlete since he was young, playing a variety of sports ranging from baseball at six years old to basketball and football later on.

After graduating high school and receiving recruiting interest from a number of Division I programs, he considered pursuing a collegiate athletic career centered on football.

Brenner’s decision to play baseball at Brandeis instead of Division I football ultimately came down to three key advantages: its baseball program, its academic rigor and the proximity of Brandeis to his hometown in Brookfield, Mass. “[Brandeis] was potentially one of the best schools that I could get into and it was close to home and [had] a rich baseball tradition,” Brenner said.

Although Brenner’s pitching statistics are impressive—he has pitched 48.2 innings this season with 35 strikeouts and an ERA just above 3.00—he actually came into Brandeis as a catcher.

“I pitched a little bit in prep school, but I was a catcher when I came in freshman year,” he explained. “So coach said ‘no more catching because it’s too much on your body’ so I originally was in the outfield, then I hurt my leg and moved to the infield. Now it’s first [base] and pitcher.”

Still, Brenner managed to secure a spot in the pitching rotation as a first-year.

Then, as a sophomore, he was vot-

ed as a captain of the squad by his teammates. Brenner said he still knew his place as an underclassman but embraced his position of captain to help the team succeed.

“It was such an honor…that people older than me voted for me to be the captain,” he said.

“Being on the mound and having that much trust from your teammates makes you feel just that much more comfortable out there.”

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Brenner’s pitching performance is his ability to produce with a bat. This season, he has a .298 batting average to go along with a .365 on-base percentage.

Brenner said that hitting has not inhibited his pitching or vice versa.

In fact, Brenner thinks that being a two-way player has helped him succeed in both areas.

“Because I hit, I see people’s approach to the plate, so I think, ‘where would I be the weakest?’ [which is] where I like to throw,” he explained.

Brenner looks to compete in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament this season and move on to the NCAA tournament next season.

He will do his best to help the team achieve that goal one pitch— and hit—at a time.

BOSTON BRUINS BRIEF Bruins defeat the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference The Bruins brought home their second victory in one week over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. The 5-2 victory also guaranteed the Bruins the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins did not put themselves on the scoreboard until 15 minutes, 56 seconds into the first period as center David Krejci broke through after a several-second struggle around the crease to get the puck past Flyers goalie Ray Emery.

Bruins left wing Milan Lucic and right wing Loui Eriksson were attributed with the assists.

The first period ended 1-0 in favor of the Bruins. Boston registered eight shots on goal and Philadelphia had nine.

Both the Bruins and the Flyers,

though, gained momentum in the second period. Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, approximately four minutes into the second period, received a two-minute penalty for interference, giving the Flyers another power play opportunity. Philadelphia, however, failed to score during the power play once again.

Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds tied the game at 1-1 with less than 10 seconds left on a power play at 14:36 of the period. The Bruins answered less than 20 seconds later with a goal scored by Lucic and assisted by Krejci and Eriksson.

The Flyers tied the game once again at 16:21 with a goal from Jay Rosehill, ending the second period in a 2-2 tie. The Flyers had 18 shots on goal while the Bruins had 20.

The third period was back-and-

forth between the Bruins and Flyers, who both worked to break the tie and secure a lead. Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk put the Bruins ahead for good with a goal under six minutes remaining.

Bergeron picked up the assist.

Lucic secured the lead less than one minute later at 14:25 of the period, putting the Bruins ahead by a 4-2 margin. Torey Krug and Eriksson were attributed with the assists.

A two-minute minor penalty called against Flyers right wing Claude Giroux for slashing at 15:24 ensured the Bruins victory.

The Flyers pulled Emery from the goal, allowing Bruins center Chris Kelly to score an empty net goal with only 20.7 seconds left in the game and hand the Bruins a 5-2 win.

Eriksson picked up the assist.

“We knew from how last game went, especially how it finished in that third period in Philadelphia that they were going to…try to be physical and try and to make a statement off of that, but, you know, that’s our kind of game,” said Lucic of the Flyers’ plays during the game.

In addition to the goals that secured the Bruins victory, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was responsible for 24 saves throughout the entire game, many of which were on noteworthy scoring attempts created by the Flyers.

The game ended with 41 shots on goal for the Bruins and only 26 shots on goal for the Flyers.

Eriksson’s assists during the game, meanwhile, garnered a lot of attention, especially from Bruins coach Claude Julien.

“We hadn’t seen [Eriksson] at his best until after the Olympics where he’s gotten much better,” said Coach Julien. “[He] has recovered and now you’re seeing the real [Eriksson] that everybody’s been talking about, and he’s such a smart player he adapts to any line he’s with.”

He’s been a great asset to that third line with [left wing] Carl Soderberg and [center Chris] Kelly.

He was a great asset tonight with Krejci’s line … It means a lot in terms of what he’s capable of bringing to our team.”

The Bruins will welcome the Buffalo Sabers for their final home game of the regular season this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

—Marissa Ditkowsky

just

Sports

Page 16

LEADING THE WAY Kyle Brenner ’15 has excelled for the Judges this year from both the plate and the mound, p. 15.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

SOFTBALL

BATTER UP

Judges open home schedule with win ■ Amanda Genovese ’15

recorded her 100th career steal during the Judges’ victory at home.

By Avi gold JUSTICE EDITOR

The softball team entered the month of April without much action on the season, enduring a two week gap between games due to weather cancellations.

Although the weather finally allowed the team a full week of games, the Judges went 1-3 in their first week at home, dropping both parts of a doubleheader to Wellesley College on Wednesday, 9-6 and 11-1. The squad also only managed to split Thursday’s doubleheader versus Endicott College, winning 9-6 and losing 11-1.

Right fielder Danielle Novotny ’16 alluded to the extensive gaps in scheduling as a contributing factor for the three losses.

“Between the Florida trip [in mid-March] and our first season games [last weekend] it was a little hard between playing every day in Florida and having two weeks off,” she said. “Fundamentally we’re sound and we’re a little bit rusty getting back.”

Thursday’s win over Endicott was not without a milestone. Center fielder Amanda Genovese ’15 recorded her 100th and 101st career stolen bases in the Judges’ 9-6 win in the first game. However, the squad’s offense was quieted in the second game against the Gulls, only managing a single run in a 9-1 loss to push the Judges record to

11-9 for the season.

Genovese went three-for-five in the win with two runs scored, part of a seven-for-15 week from the plate in which she scored five of the Judges’ 17 runs.

Starting pitcher Melissa Nolan ’14 picked up the win on Thursday, recording six innings of work in which she gave up only six hits and struck out six batters. Nolan also went one-for-four from the plate in the win, scoring on a three-run home run by left fielder Madison Hunter ’17 that capped a six-run sixth inning by the Judges.

The Judges scored in bunches in game one of Thursday’s doubleheader, crossing home plate three times in the third inning on a fielder’s choice by Hunter, a double by Genovese and a single by shortstop Anya Kamber ’15.

Kamber picked up her second RBI in the sixth inning with a single to set the table for a two-run single by first baseman Cori Coleman ’15. Hunter eventually ended the scoring frenzy with her first long ball of the season. Novotny went two-for-four on the day, scoring on Hunter’s fielder’s choice in the fourth inning.

Pitcher Emma Krulick ’17 came on in relief of Nolan to lock up the game, working out of a jam with two runners on and nobody out to retire the side and seal the victory.

The Judges could not keep their momentum going in the second game. Only Nolan and Kamber recorded multiple hits and the team was rung up for seven strikeouts.

The Judges also fell victim to the long ball, ceding a pair of Endicott home runs to hand the Gulls a 4-0

See SOFTBALL, 13 ☛

TRACK AND FIELD

Runners take top spots over strong opponents ■ Kelsey Whitaker ’16 and

Amelia Lundkvist ’14 took the top two spots in the 1500-meter run.

By daniel kanovich JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The men’s and women’s track and field teams took part in the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted

by American International College under cold and windy conditions on Saturday. The squads came away with some impressive solo finishes, even though overall the teams had mixed results.

The men finished with just 0.5 points earned in the high jump.

Mark Franklin ’17 tied for ninth place with a jump of 1.73 meters.

The women fared slightly better, finishing in 14th place with a total of 18 points.

The 18 points all came in the 1500-meter run as the Judges took first and second in the race. Kelsey Whitaker ’16 and Amelia Lundkvist ’14 took the top two spots with times of four minutes, 41.39 seconds and 4:45.98 respectively.

Maggie Hensel ’16 and Maddie Dolins ’17 also managed to finish in the top 25.

Hensel placed 19th overall in the race with a time of 5:03.40, a drop behind her time of 4:55.00 she re-

cording during the seeding race.

Dolins finished the race in 22nd out of the 91 competitors with a time of 5:04.76 in the finals.

Whitaker felt that it was important to get her first race of the spring season out of the way and she tempered her expectations coming into the race.

“Since it was the first race of the season, the main goal was to just get the first outdoor race out of the way and to establish a starting point for the season,” she said.

“The plan was to just run with the top pack and finish strong. I knew I could stay with the front runners but I did not go into the race expecting to win.”

The women only competed in one other event on the day—the javelin throw.

Ashley Klein ’16 finished in 13th place with a throw of 28.55 meters while Selena Livas ’17 was right behind her in 20th place with a throw of 19.73 meters.

Whitaker said that she hopes to continue her success as the spring season moves on.

“I'm excited for the rest of this season,” she continued. “I am hoping that we can perform well as a team at [the University Athletic Association Championships].

“Individually, I hope to continue improving my performances and hopefully qualify for NCAA's again

See TRACK, 13 ☛

Waltham, Mass.

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

SQUARED AWAY: Outfielder Ryan Tettemer ’17 (left) awaits a pitch during the Judges’ 4-3 win over UMass Dartmouth on Monday.

Squad closes week with three straight victories ■ The team defeated

Framingham State University on Sunday despite only one hit recorded by the offense.

By avi gold JUSTICE Editor

The baseball team responded to a four-game losing streak this past week with a sweep of their home-opening doubleheader on Sunday and a tight 4-3 victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Monday afternoon. Brandeis, in losing midweek games to Rhode Island College, Endicott College and Tufts University, stumbled before ultimately reeling off the two key victories. The Judges’ record now sits at 9-12 overall.

Designated hitter Tom McCarthy ’15 lashed out an RBI single to right field to stake the Judges to a 2-0 lead on Monday. Starting pitcher Elio Fernandez ’15 and UMass Dartmouth sophomore starting pitcher Matt Russell then were locked into a pitching duel until the seventh inning. UMass Dartmouth sophomore catcher Mariano Suriel broke through with a twoRBI double to tie the game at 2-2. After Brandeis and UMass Dartmouth traded runs, third baseman Greg Heineman ’16 laced a game-winning RBI single to right field to seal the 4-3 win.

Meanwhile, with runners at first and second in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday, infielder Rob Trenk ’15 initiated the late-game heroics with a ball up the middle. Although the Rams were able to keep the ball on

the infield and record an out at second, they could not convert the double play and allowed second basemen Dominic Schwartz ’15 to score the game-winning run after a throwing error.

Designated hitter McCarthy brought in a pair of runs with a fifth inning double while pitcher James Machado ’16 picked up the win with a scoreless 10th inning. The Judges put up runs in every inning from the fifth through eighth to climb out of 3-0, 4-3 and 5-4 deficits before Trenk sent the team home with a win.

First baseman Kyle Brenner ’15, who pitched the opener, attributed the win to timely hitting.

“Game two was the same situation [as the first]—we fell down early and then came back and we hit when we needed to," he said.

Although the team managed only one hit in the first game, it was enough for Brenner, who scattered five hits in seven innings, allowing one run and striking out seven batters. The two teams then traded runs in the third inning. Framingham State sophomore infielder Mark Mainini singled home a run for the Rams before right fielder Ryan Tettemer ’17 scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. McCarthy’s sixth-inning single gave the Judges a 2-1 lead before third baseman Heineman stole home to give the Judges an insurance run and the 3-1 decision.

Brenner said he had a calm approach on the mound, relying on his defense to remain in the game until the offense came through with a hit. “[I] knew they were going to be swinging so I figured I'd just throw strikes and let the defense do what

they need to do,” he said. “We had one timely hit when we needed it so we came back with the win."

The team stumbled earlier in the week with three games in three days, suffering a 3-2 loss to RIC on Thursday, a 10-4 loss to Endicott on Wednesday and a 2-1 loss to Tufts last Tuesday.

Starting pitcher Colin Markel ’14 took the hard-luck loss to RIC, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out seven while walking just one batter. The Judges generated offense from the top of their lineup as the first through fourth batters all recorded a hit, and scored both runs.

Center fielder Liam O’Connor ’16 powered the Judges’ offense in the loss to Endicott, going three-for-four with two RBIs. Starting pitcher Brian Ing ’14 picked up the loss, allowing four runs over 1.2 innings of work.

On Tuesday, the team could not climb out of a 2-0 hole against Tufts.

Brenner pitched a complete game and struck out four batters. O’Connor scored on a single in the eighth inning but it was not enough to beat Tufts “We left eight guys on base,” Brenner explained. “The hits were there, we just couldn't manufacture [runs]. But in terms of the defense, they weren't hitting the ball hard and the ones that they did hit hard we made the play.”

The team plays at Worcester State University tomorrow afternoon before welcoming Western New England State University and Bridgewater State University on Thursday and Friday respectively.

—Elan Kane contributed reporting.

JustArts Volume LXVI, Number 25

Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Waltham, Mass.

'Killer & Me'

Original production follows a detective on her tragic path for truth and love >> 20 ‘Interrupted, a Theater Piece in Pieces’ - MFA student reimagines memoir on mental illness » 21

INSIDE

Artist Talk Charline Von Heyl discusses her work with Rose curator-at-large » 19

Jay Pharoah ‘Saturday Night Live’ comedian presents closing act for ’Deis Day » 19

South Asian Architecture Professors take the podium to discuss their current research » 23

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justARTS

TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

$

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week

ON-CAMPUS EVENTS A Commemoration in Words and Music

The Ghetto in Lodz 1939-1944 is sponsored by the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, the Center for German and European Studies, the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Hillel at Brandeis and the Office of the President.

Today from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall in Goldfarb Library. This event is free and open to the public.

Carlos Yushimito del Valle

Born in Lima, Peru in 1977, Carlos Yushimito del Valle is regarded as one of the most original voices to emerge in Latin American literature in recent years. In 2010, Granta Magazine featured him among “twenty-two literary stars of the future” in Spain and Latin America. Also, in 2008, Casa de las Américas and Centro Onelio Cardoso in Cuba selected the literary prospect as one of the best writers of a rising generation. Yushimito has published five short-story collections: El mago (2004), Las islas (2006), Equis (2009), Lecciones para un niño que llega tarde (2011) and Los bosques tienen sus propias puertas (2013). His fiction has been translated into a series of languages that include English, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Pearlman Hall Lounge, Room 113. The event is free and open to the public.

John Schnorrenberg ’14 Senior directs and writes ‘Killer & Me’ JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

This week, JustArts spoke with John Schnorrenberg ’14 who wrote and directed a play that premiered on Friday and ran to Sunday in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater.

JustArts: Can you discuss the inspiration for your show?

John Schnorrenberg: I was procrastinating (that seems to be how a lot of things start for me)… on a project I had for a playwriting class and I was supposed to be writing a monologue. I saw this Charles Manson video … he said something that really drew me in, and that got me [thinking about] Ted Bundy. I did a lot of research on Ted Bundy. And something about it really captured me. It wasn’t so much about Ted Bundy as the women in his life—one in particular who he was dating for a long time, a co-worker of his. [She] had been working with him at the Seattle Police Department and he got married to [her] during his trial for murder. That screamed to me “this would be a great drama, this would be fantastic as a drama.” So I had my final project for this class in mind ... and I wrote a monologue about Ted Bundy murdering a woman. I was excited to see all the gasps and horrors in class. Instead … people laughed. And that was offputting at first but the more I thought about it the more I thought that this is where I should go with it. So it went away from Ted Bundy and just to the generalized idea of a romantic comedy about a serial killer and a police detective.

JA: How did you balance the comedic and heavy aspects of the play?

JS: I think the heavy topic is more in the subtext. There are a couple of times where [the heavy topics come] out in a very obvious way such as some of the murders—to really reinforce the point that “this is not a good person, this is not the way it should be,” but for me, I wanted to tell the audience, “this is a bad thing” and then make them forget with light comedy and make them fall in love with the characters and maybe root for the relationship. It has been interesting to see how people respond to that. I’ve gotten a variety of responses—some people “ooing and ahhing” when they kiss and others laughing because of the absurdity. But I really wanted to bookend it between the comedy with the more intense ending … showing how this is horrible. Showing [that] at the end, she’s happy but how ridiculous it is for her to be happy.

JA: What was your biggest challenge in both writing and directing this play?

JS: Some characters came to me really easily. Some of them, though, were much harder. It was tricky because a lot of my characters are stereotypes— [part of] the whole [romantic comedy] tropes … and some of those, it was hard to [think about] how much is a stereotype and how much is the real person and also how to make it unique and originally funny and also working to help those actors to find something that I wasn’t quite sure how to do myself, that was a bit of a challenge. But I’m happy with the way it came out and I am excited to keep working on it more and also brood more now that I have those voices in my head.

JA: Do you have plans for the play after Brandeis?

JS: I’m going to take a little bit of time back now … These past two months have been a lot of focusing on [the play].

I’m going to take a breather. But I’m going to return to it. It’s been very helpful to have people working very hard, really turning themselves into the characters for a couple hours every night. And with that in mind, maybe bring some of their [improvised] lines in, maybe even ask them for some of their opinions, workshop it more.

What I haven’t decided is if I want to keep it a play and submit it to different playhouses or if I want to turn it into a screenplay and maybe try to submit it to various film production companies.

JA: Can you put into a few words the message that you hope the audience will get out of this play?

JS: First and foremost, I just entertained. But, ultimately after always think about what you’re taking it at blank-face.

want people to be that, make sure you watching instead of —Emily Wishingrad

Close Looking Series

Join us for a close look at Fernand Léger’s painting “La Femme Bleue” (1929), with talks by Profs. Lucy Kim (FA) and Sabine von Mering (GRALL).

Close Looking is an interdisciplinary event offering in-depth discussion of some of our University’s greatest treasures from the library’s Special Collections and the Rose Art Museum.

Each session will include a viewing of a particular work, presentations

by two faculty members, thoughtprovoking conversation and refreshments. The event is sponsored by the Mandel Center for the Humanities in collaboration with the Rose Art Museum and the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department and is free and open to the public.

Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Rose Art Museum.

‘Hairspray’

The 1950s are out and change is in the air. Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, is a familyfriendly musical piled bouffant high with laughter, romance and deliriously tuneful songs.

It’s 1962 in Baltimore, and the lovable plus-size teen Tracy Turnblad has only one desire—to dance on the popular Corny Collins Show. When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star. She must use her newfound power to dethrone the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin and integrate a TV network without denting her ‘do.

Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater.

Making a Feminist Documentary Film

Women’s Studies Research Center Scholars Susan Rivo and Rochelle Ruthchild have worked on the documentary film, Left on Pearl: Women Take Over 888 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, for over 10 years.

They will discuss the production process, interviewing, research, plot development and show some clips.

Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Epstein Building of the Women’s Studies Research Center.

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra

The Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra performs the Gregson Tuba Concerto and Mozart’s “Exsultate, Jubilate,” featuring Aaron Zuckerman ’14,

winner of the annual concerto competition. Prof. Neal Hampton (MUS) will conduct.

Saturday from 8:30 to 10 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Brandeis Early Music Ensemble

Delight in the repertoires of 15th, 16th and 17th-century Europe, ranging from both madrigals and dances to motets and fantasias.

Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Poetic Overtures

Susan Snively, published poet and scriptwriter for two films about Emily Dickinson and a guide and writer for the Emily Dickinson Museum, will give a talk about Emily Dickinson, which will be followed by the world premieres of Brandeis student composers’ works inspired by the acclaimed poet, performed by Sarah Pelletier, soprano, and Lois Shapiro, piano.

Sunday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.

OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS

‘Quilts and Color’ Quilts and Color celebrates the vibrant color palette and inventive design seen in the acclaimed Pilgrim/ Roy Quilt Collection. The exhibition features nearly 60 distinctive quilts from the renowned collection and is the first to explore how, over five decades, trained artists Paul Pilgrim and Gerald Roy searched out and collected quilts with bold, eye-popping designs that echoed the work of mid20th century Abstract Expressionist and Op Artists.

Showing until July 27 in the Ann Graham Gund Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, and free with a Brandeis ID.

Pop Culture n !

wwcouple months ago, the NBC lateA night talk show landscape was altered dramatically. Jay Leno retired back in February, leaving Jimmy Fallon to take over The Tonight Show. Then Saturday Night Live alum Seth Meyers took over Fallon’s former hosting position on Late Night. In the weeks following, it looked like things were calming down on late-night shake up front.

Well, folks, that’s not the case. In fact, the epidemic of departure has spread to CBS. On the Thursday night broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman, David Letterman broke the bombshell news that he plans to retire soon. People Magazine reports that Letterman’s director only broke the news to the staff moments before he announced it to the cameras. Reportedly, many staff members were in tears as the host shared the announcement.

Interestingly, Letterman, 66, led the revelation of his retirement with a humorous story about a fishing trip with his young son. Indeed, he emphasized spending time with his family as a primary motivation for his decision. He made it clear, though, that there is not an exact timeline for his departure from his late-night post.

It will occur “sometime in the not-toodistant future 2015,” he said.

Letterman has been a staple of latenight television for over three decades.

He began hosting the Late Show back in 1993, but previously hosted Late Night for 11 years. In 1992, when Johnny Carson retired from the The Tonight Show, fans expected Letterman to take over. However, NBC gave that position to Jay Leno and Letterman was then given his own Late Show on CBS. In addition, Letterman owns the production company Worldwide Pants Inc. It has produced primetime comedies like Everybody Loves Raymond in addition to producing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (which airs in the timeslot following Letterman’s show).

Now, media outlets are speculating about who will replace the television

By Mara Sassoon

CREATIVE COMMONS

THE LAST SHOW: On Thursday, Late Show host David Letterman announced his retirement. veteran, throwing around names like Ferguson, Stephen Colbert, Chelsea Handler and Ellen DeGeneres. One thing’s for sure—Letterman’s own brand of dry, sardonic humor will certainly be inimitable.

Moving on from late-night chaos, on Friday Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies re-arrested a man who was arrested the previous Sunday on suspicion of trespassing in Selena Gomez’s Calabasas, Calif. home. Che Cruz, 20, admitted on Wednesday to trespassing and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and ordered to stay away from Gomez. Yet, he apparently returned to the vicinity of Gomez’s house, leading to his second arrest on

Friday. The Associated Press reports that Cruz’s jail records show that Friday’s arrest just eight hours after he was released from an only seven-day stint in jail for the trespassing case.

In other news—news I know all you pop-culturites were just so eager to hear—former Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi announced on Friday that she is pregnant with her second child with fiancé Jionni LaValle. She revealed in a blog post on her website that she is due this fall. Snooki, 26, and LaValle, 26, were engaged in 2012 and are parents to 19-month-old son Lorenzo Dominic. Reportedly, the couple’s wedding is still on for this upcoming fall as well.

ARTS COVER IMAGES: MORGAN BRILL, JOSH HOROWITZ, JOSH LINTON and Abby Knecht/the Justice and Fllickr, DESIGN: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice.

ON CAMPUS

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

19

comedy

Jay Pharoah brings ’Deis Day to a close

By Rachel hughes Justice Editor

Saturday Night Live comedian Jay Pharoah performed a comedy show on campus to round out an afternoon packed full of activities and school spirit for the Student Union’s second annual celebration of ’Deis Day. The early evening show lasted for about an hour on Chapel’s Field, drawing a massive crowd of both current and recently admitted students.

Before Pharoah took the stage, two students announced to the crowd the results of ’Deis Day’s Battle of the Bands that took place earlier that afternoon—the group Froy Steinhardt, composed of Antoine Malfroy ’17, Austin Koenigstein ’17 and Ryan Gebhardt ’17, won the contest.

Along with their winning title, the group will get to play at the beginning of this year’s annual SpringFest concert.

Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14 followed the Battle of the Bands announcement with an outwardly happy speech to conclude ’Deis Day, the organization of which was largely an effort that he shouldered. “This day has been everything we could have hoped for and more.

The parade this morning was amazing,” he told the crowd.

Rosen then introduced Pharoah, who burst onto the stage as the song “All Me” by rapper Drake played. “This my sh*t!”

Pharoah yelled over and over, pumping up the crowd.

Pharoah’s routine for ’Deis Day drew upon several elements familiar to fans of stand-up comedy: stereotypes, technology and popular culture. However, some of his sketches were borderline offensive, often drawing upon negative racial, ethnic and social stereotypes. Although the more brusque parts of his routine may have edged off some audience members, those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves, letting off waves of uproarious laughter during the set.

The first sketch in Pharoah’s routine had perhaps the most visceral potential to offend the audience—focusing on racial slurs against black people. Pharoah used the slur countless times throughout this first part of his routine and the entirety of the hour as well.

He started in saying, “Let’s break down the situation.

Whether you white, black, purple, Nicki Minaj—whatever you are.” He moved on to crack jokes about television personality and celebrity cook Paula Deen, alluding to the scandal she has been ensconced in since earlier this year when several racially offensive comments she made in one of her restaurants were publicized. “For the people who think she owes us something—black people something—she ought to bake us a

thousand Popeye’s biscuits,” he said, trying to cast some humor on the situation.

Pharoah then moved to focus on several topics that the average person finds annoying in daily life such as the failure of technology that we rely on. A sketch about smartphones versus “dumb phones” got the crowd laughing wildly, as Pharoah yelled “shout-out to everybody here right now that got a smart phone with a cracked screen,” and went on to joke about the popular, addicting cell phone game Candy Crush.

It was Pharoah’s impressions of famous people, though, that often made the audience laugh the loudest.

He imitated the distinct voices and intonations of several other comedians, ranging from Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle to Eddie Murphy. He also delivered a hilarious—albeit distasteful in light of certain sexual innuendos—impression of President Barack Obama and sang rap songs in the voices of musicians Drake and Lil Wayne.

Although Pharoah’s material was not the most familyfriendly, and some of the jokes he made were indeed extremely offensive to certain groups, some would argue that the bristle comes with the territory of stand-up comedy.

On the whole, the audience seemed to really enjoy Pharoah’s routine which closed out ’Deis Day with a bang.

JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

GETTING LAUGHS: Saturday Night Live comedian Jay Pharoah rounded out the ’Deis Day festivities on Sunday evening with a hilarious, wide-ranging standup routine.

rose art museum

Von Heyl discusses her experimentation with art

By Emily Wishingrad justice editor

The Rose Art Museum’s Lower Gerald S. and Sandra Fineberg Gallery was packed full last Wednesday evening as Charline Von Heyl, one of the two artists featured in the current exhibit The Matter That Surrounds Us, spoke about her work.

She participated in a question-andanswer session with Katy Siegel, the curator-at-large for the museum, and the two engaged in dialogue about the exhibit, Heyl’s artistic process.

The Matter That Surrounds Us features Von Heyl’s drawn, painted and collaged pieces, staged with works in similar mediums by early-20th century German artist Wols. The exhib-

it is one of the first initiatives of the Rose Projects, a program created by museum director Christopher Bedford. When he introduced the speakers and the exhibit on Wednesday, Bedford said that the project strives to “look thematically across the history of art” and focus on the “voice of the curator.”

Other Rose Projects include the video installations such as Rose Video 03, now on view in the Lee Gallery, which pairs Mary Reid Kelley’s current work with Maria Lassnig’s mid20th century work.

The gallery itself presented a very interesting visual space for the talk. Attendees sat in the center of the space, encompassed on all sides

by The Matter That Surrounds Us.

Looking up from their seats, they got an artistic perspective of a winding staircase leading up to the baby blue walls of Chris Burden’s exhibit, Master Builder, which is staged on the ground floor of the museum.

Siegel started off by recalling the first time she spoke with Von Heyl about possibly pairing her work with Wols’ work. At first, Siegel reflected, the artist was against the pairing. On Wednesday, Siegel asked Von Heyl to recall her thoughts when first presented with the idea. “I didn’t see how it would directly link to my work,” Von Heyl remembered.

Von Heyl eventually came around to the idea, though, and she is now very impressed with the way the exhibit, as she says, “changes [a view-

er’s] way of looking.”

Siegel questioned Von Heyl about her, as she called it, “improper,” technique, noting how in her art, she does not make a point to distinguish between the mediums of drawing and painting.

“I don’t see it as improper,” Von Heyl stated She rather sees herself as a scientist, experimenting with art, she said. Von Heyl also noted that it is not important for her work to fit in a category, and suggested that the concept of a category appears to be a “dated” one.

Seeing The Matter That Surrounds Us for the first time, the contrast in size between the Wols pieces and the Von Heyl pieces is striking. Wols’ pieces are extremely small, intricate

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

CURATOR AND CREATOR: Artist Charline Von Heyl (left) engages in dialogue with Rose Art Museum curator-at-large Katy Siegel about her work in The Matter That Surrounds Us.’

and intensely complex while Von Heyl’s pieces stand massive and engage with broader strokes as well as with smaller ones.

In the talk, Von Heyl discussed this discrepancy in size between her own work and Wols’. She always liked small-scale, intricate works, she said, but wanted to translate these smaller works into larger paintings. Von Heyl said she paints most of her paintings on a “human scale,” that is, when you look at a one of her paintings, it fills your vision completely. It “[takes] over your visual space,” Von Heyl commented.

Von Heyl also talked about the visceral aspect of painting. For Von Heyl, painting is a bodily experience.

She is drawn to painting because of the way in which it engages with your whole being as you paint brushstrokes from one end of the canvas to the other. It is clear how Von Heyl would definitely need to use her whole being in painting the life-size canvases with which she works.

In spite of this, Von Heyl does not discriminate against smaller-scale art such as drawing and collages simply because they do not inherently lend themselves to a full, corporeal experience. Von Heyl makes use other ways of engaging her being in her smaller-scale pieces. With her collages that are on a smaller scale, Von Heyl described how she would lay out a large array of torn paper pieces and sit down among the pieces, arranging them until she liked the way they looked.

During the question-and-answer session, a member of the audience asked Von Heyl about the differences in technology that Von Heyl is able to use today compared to when Wols was alive.

Von Heyl responded by saying that “if Wols would have had an Epson printer, he would have been crazy about it too,” suggesting that technology does not inhibit art but rather adds an extra convenience.

In addition to her work shown at the Rose, Von Heyl’s collages are currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

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TUESDAY, april 8, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

Theater

PHOTOS BY JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

SNEAKING AROUND: Sarah Duffett’17, who stars as protagonist Detective Rachel Amelia, uses love to trap a mass murderer, a mission that backfires on her.

LOVE GAMES: Rachel (Sarah Duffett ’17) and Ted (Andrew Agress ’17) share a tender moment despite her suspicious motives behind choosing to date him.

‘Killer & Me’ presents comedic tragedy

By Rachel Liff justice Staff writer

There are lots of things to consider when diving into a relationship: morals, prejudices, goals and… murder? Lights up on two women in a bar: Ashley (Micheline Bellmore ’15) is sobbing into her drink about a breakup while Rachel (Sarah Duffett ’17) consoles her. Just as the audience begins to sympathize with Ashley, she reveals that she’s upset over Rachel’s breakup, not her own. Rachel, on the other hand, is surprising cavalier about her position. As Rachel’s ideas about love unfold, so does the hilarious play that is Killer & Me, written and directed by John Schnorrenberg ’14.

After the lights go down on the bar, we enter the office of Detective Rachel Amalea as she attempts to crack the case of the San Francisco strangler. On her way home from work one day, she bumps into Ted Bunstein (Andrew Agress ’17). Rachel, who is

trying to be more open to love and opportunities, follows Ted to his apartment where she quickly discovers that he is the serial killer she is looking for. Instead of closing the case then and there, Rachel develops a plot to take down Ted by herself, proving to her extravagant partner and boss, Doug Carson (Isaac Rabbani ’14), that she neither needs nor wants his help. Rachel decides to date Ted and collect all of the evidence she needs to solve the case by herself. That, however, is when things get complicated and Rachel quickly falls in love with Ted, even though she knows his true identity.

The most impressive part about Killer & Me was the actors, who were as genuine as they were hilarious.

Duffett gave an impressive performance, balancing comedy with her character’s moral struggle. Agress’ portrayal of a serial killer was equally as convincing and funny, while also frightening at times. His sincerity and comedic timing made his character come to life, and as hard as it may seem, likable in his sincere affection toward Rachel. For me, however, is was Bellmore who truly stole the show. Her ability to quickly snap from ridiculously emotional to serious performances left the audience laughing hysterically.

I found myself

TRYING SOMETHING NEW: John Schnorrenberg ’14 wrote and directed Killer & Me, his full-length script that eventually ran in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater.

wanting to hear more from Ashley throughout the show.

In general, however, the cast had trouble with stopping after comedic lines to allow for laughter. Actors were continuously drowned out by the audience’s response, not pausing long enough or at all for the viewers to appreciate a funny moment. In contrast, the transitions between scenes took too much time.

Although it can be difficult to transition between scenes in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater due to the space and the small amount of time the crew has to prepare during tech week, the moments between scenes could have been better orchestrated.

An addition of music to keep the audience engaged would have been beneficial.

The plain but functional set was compensated for by the props and costumes used. An eyecatching painting splattered in blood hung in Ted’s apartment, acting as the eerie background of Ted’s murders as well as his blossoming relationship with Rachel. The clever costumes, designed

by Fiona Merullo ’16, changed in color as the characters developed. For example, Ted start-

ed the first act in red, but changed to match the green dress of Rachel as they fell in love. Although the furniture, costumes, characters and patterns highlighted in the production were cohesively reminiscent of the 1970s, the period of the play was vague due to some pieces of modern technology and contemporary popculture references.

The script itself included some issues. The minor roles, although well-acted, felt like stock characters.

They worked to promote the comedic aspects of the play, but they were not as multi-dimensional as other characters. In the second act, Rachel reveals to Ted why she was dating him, basically retelling the plot of the play. This leaves the audience far ahead of the action, allowing for their minds to wander away from the show. Once the ending does arrive, I was not convinced

by Rachel’s decision of whether

or not to stay with Ted. I felt that more time could have been spent watching her struggle over her morals and her feelings.

However, it is important to note that Killer & Me is Schnorrenberg’s first full-length play, which alone is impressive. His script excelled in its farcical nature. While most of the humor was slapstick, some of the jokes were also metaphysical, using the play to make fun of the play.

Other jokes were geared toward Brandeis specifically. The funniest point was when one of the characters said that murder is “not at all something to be taken lightly.” The cast broke the fourth wall to stare at the audience, poking fun at the play.

Overall, the successes of the cast and production staff outweighed the weaknesses within the production.

The hard work of those involved carried the show through the minor rough patches, making for a truly wonderful, thought-provoking and hilarious production. Killer & Me may need some revisions before it moves forward in the theatrical circle, but is a hysterical first endeavor at a play full of potential.

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

21

Performance

Pageant raises $2,000 to fight cancer

ALEXANDRA ZELLE RETTMAN/the Justice

CROWNED KING: Joe Robinow ’14 was named winner of second annual Mr. Brandeis Pageant this Wednesday, an event to raise money for the fight against cancer.

By catherine rosch justice Staff writer

Throwing pies, strutting in suits and dancing to choreography are not normally part of the fight against cancer. However, all these things were part of the second annual Mr. Brandeis Pageant, a fundraiser co-hosted by Brandeis’ Relay for Life group and Student Events. This year, 15 of Brandeis’ most eligible bachelors competed for the coveted crown of Mr. Brandeis.

The pageant started off with 14 of the contestants dancing to Vanilla Ice’s hit “Ice Ice Baby” and the Vengaboys’ “Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!” The contestants, dressed in jeans and dark jackets, took turns showing off their solo moves, including a Dirty Dancingesque lift from Morris Didia ’14 and Joe Robinow ’14.

Following the opening number, the event’s masters of ceremonies, Madeline Stein ’14 and Ethan Berceli ’14 explained how the night would run. The pageant was broken down into three sections: fashion, talent and a question and answer session. The dance portion was worth 60 points and formal wear and swimwear were worth a total of 100 points.

The top 10 contestants were then able to participate in the talent portion of the evening, worth 200 points. Finally, the questionand-answer section, open to only the top five, was worth 400 points.

Throughout the event, audience members could donate to their favorite contestant to drive up the

number of points they had.

Points were awarded by a panel of judges, all of whom were either Brandeis alumni or current students. Amanda Kelly ’08, who won Miss Massachusetts in 2009 and Patrick Seaward ’13, the winner of Mr. Brandeis from last year, served as the experienced pageant winners on the board, while Sneha Walia ’15 and Mohamed Sidique ’15 represented the current students’ voice.

Because Max Berner ’16 was not present for the swimwear and formal wear competition due to a basketball game, the audience was shown pre-recorded videos of Berner modeling a suit and a pair of neon animal-print swim shorts.

The rest of the contestants strutted their stuff down the runway in person. Most of the contestants wore traditional suits or blazer and khaki combinations, but a few stepped out of the box. Robinow wore a lacy black dress and Victor Carreras ’16 jazzed things up with bright red suspenders and a snazzy bowtie. In the swimwear portion, Ryan Molloy ’16 and Felix Liu Ku ’15 earned laughs as they walked down the runway in a dress and sunhat ensemble and a large apron, respectively. Many audience members also clearly appreciated Joe Babeu ’15 and Joe Graffy ’15, the only contestants who wore Speedos as bathing suits.

Unfortunately, only 10 contestants were able to move on to the talent portion of the evening. Some contestants, like Berner and Liu Ku sang hit songs while others took a more unique approach to show-

ing off their skills. Andrew Savage ’16, a member of Crowd Control, invited others in the group to come on stage so he could take running jumps over them. Many people gasped or looked away as he barely managed to clear the heads of several members. Robinow and Didia worked together to set the world record for the number of pies in the face in under one minute. The two of them were able to reach 63 pies in one minute.

Only five contestants were able to make it to the final round, the question-and-answer section. Liu Ku, Graffy, Robinow, Berner and Molloy lined up and, to the delight of the audience, started to strip down to their underwear. They cheerfully told the audience that it was an improvised performance, something the MCs were quick to back up.

There were two rounds of questions. The first round was much more serious and focused on Relay for Life and why the contestants were competing in the Mr. Brandeis Pageant. The second round of questions included the contestants’ choices from the sexiest man alive (Ryan Gosling, according to Liu Ku) to their favorite building on Brandeis campus to their dream Disney date, to which Molloy eagerly responded with a selection of the Beauty and the Beast villain Gaston.

Following a short break, the winners were announced. Graffy was crowned as Mr. Congeniality while Robinow, who wowed the crowd with his dress and pie smashing, won the Mr. Brandeis

title. Following the crowning ceremony, 12 of the contestants came back for a date auction. Jonathan Bywater ’17 charmed the crowd with his South African accent and won the most money at the date auction. His final bid was for 45 dollars. The Mr. Brandeis Pageant raised over $2,000 according to this

year’s co-chair of Relay for Life, Lindsay Fitzpatrick ’15.

The Pageant was loud and silly, with students cheering on their friends and whooping every time a contestant came on without a shirt. Although the event did run a little long, everyone had a good time in the fight against cancer.

ALEXANDRA ZELLE RETTMAN/the Justice

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The second-to-last portion of the pageant was a talent competition. Here, contestant Grady Ward ’16 and Sandra Luo ’15 dance together.

theater

Play explores images of mental illness institutions By jessie miller and maia rodriguez-Semp

justice Editor and Contributing writer

Sarah Elizabeth Bedard M.F.A ’14 pulls inspiration from three personal accounts of mental illness to format her Studio Series short play: the personal accounts of Susanna Kaysen, poet Anne Sexton and works by poet Sylvia Plath.

Interrupted, a Theater Piece in Pieces’ storyline centers around Kaysen’s novel, Girl, Interrupted, in which the author draws on her time at McLean Hospital, a Belmont, Mass. psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Similarly, Sexton and Plath both spent time at McLean in being treated for depression. The play incorporates pieces of all three of their lives, but the main characters are based on Kaysen’s novel.

The actors at times dramatize the direct text of the novel, which includes some pages from Kaysen’s actual psychological diagnosis from McLean as well as doctors’ notes about her diagnosis, while also us-

ing Sexton and Plath’s writings.

Bedard wrote, directed and choreographed the play. She also played the role of Lisa, who is a diagnosed sociopath with unpredictable behavior. Bedard combines Kaysen, Sexton and Plath’s writing with dance movements and music to alter Kaysen’s more traditional book into an alternative style performance. Girl, Interrupted is transformed from a memoir into both a provocative and thought-provoking piece on how mental illness can affect women.

If not familiar with all three women’s work, the play can be confusing because it is unclear from where Bedard is drawing inspiration, especially when she quotes different poems. However, this could easily have been resolved with a more thorough program detailing the sources used. Regardless, Bedard incorporated different perspectives on mental illness to create a sensory collage about women and mental illness within society.

As for the overall structure of the play, it consisted of mostly disjointed scenes that revealed challenges of the different characters and their

time spent at McLean. Bedard sticks to Kaysen’s original characters, but her use of dance, supplementary poetry and music develops the characters much more thoroughly than Kaysen’s original memoir.

Bedard chose five characters to focus on: Susanna (Alex Johnson MFA ’14), the protagonist and author; Nellie (Caley Chase ’16), who is a lesbian and seemingly the most sane of the group; Lisa (Bedard), an uncontrollable sociopath who frequently leaves the hospital; Sylvia (Liz Tancredi M.F.A. ’14), who was not in the memoir but suffered from a dissociation with reality due to childhood sexual abuse and Polly (Sara Schoch M.F.A. ’14), who acts like a child after being scarred from lighting herself on fire.

Throughout the play, Bedard also emphasized conflict, both internally within a single character and externally between the women. At times, you could feel the tension in the play, as well as the struggles of one woman battling mental illness.

Each character had a “solo” scene that featured music, poetry recited in the background or a monologue and interpretative dance. One of

the highlights was Schoch’s performance in which she completely embodied Polly’s fragile psyche and child-like behavior. Her solo started with a brief, yet powerful moment in which Susanna entertains her with a notebook, while Susanna talks—essentially to herself—about a deeper issue that goes beyond Polly’s understanding.

It is a tender moment that also reveals some of Susanna’s fears and issues. Polly then launches into telling the audience a story about a lonely butterfly who just wants to be surrounded by beautiful butterfly friends. After her accident, all Polly wants is to feel beautiful and loved.

The song “Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby” by Alison Krauss played in the background, adding to the tragic tone of the scene.

Bedard used Sexton’s poem titled “Housewife” to develop Sylvia’s character and her two personalities: one that seems to be her real self who is in love with another woman despite the pressure to conform and another who is devoted to “extreme housewivery,” as Lisa puts it.

At one point during her solo, the other girls also danced around her

to the upbeat song “Sunshine Cake”

by Frank Sinatra and Paula Kelly, which contrasted with Sylvia’s depression and subsequent suicide.

Susanna’s character is interesting because there is little answer to whether or not she is sane. She obsesses over the bones in her hands during her suicide attempt, trying to prove that she exists, but that is the only indication that she might be struggling with reality.

Overall, Susanna seems to serve as a tool to question how society defines mental illness. She fights her diagnosis, but by the end of the play, she is the only one who has recovered. During her scene, Susanna appears to grow stronger and more confident as seen through the type of dance. Johnson successfully conveys Susanna’s struggles and triumphs while she recovers.

The converging texts, music and performance tie together the idea that normative American society damages women and then punishes them for reacting to the damage.

Interrupted was a startling re-imagination of Kaysen’s memoir and was incredibly well performed by all of the actors.

Do you enjoy museums, music, theater or movies?

Write for Arts!

Contact Emily Wishingrad at arts@thejustice.org

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

23

lecture

Symposium brings architectural experts

By Emily wishingrad justice editor

ABBY KNECHT/the Justice

ARCHITECTURAL FINDINGS: Four professors from outside universities spoke on Friday about their research in South Asian Architecture.

Speaking on topics that ranged from centuries-old rural Indian temples to Sri Lankan modern architecture, four professors from esteemed universities took the podium this Friday evening in the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center. Professor Tamara I. Sears, from Yale University, Professor Alka Patel from the University of California, Irvine, Professor Sussan Babaie from the University of London and Professor Elizabeth Dean Hermann from the Rhode Island School of Design each had 45 minutes to speak, and their lectures were followed by a dinner reception.

The event, titled “Architectural Exchanges in South Asia: Medieval to Contemporary Period,” was a symposium jointly funded by the series of Soli Sorabjee Lectures in South Asian Studies and the Richard Saivetz ’69 Annual Memorial Architectural Symposium.

The Soli Sorabjee Lectures, an initiative sponsored by the South Asian Studies program and the BrandeisIndia-Initiative, engages with themes of justice in South Asia. Likewise, the Richard Saivetz ’69 Annual Memorial Architectural Symposium is a program funded by the Saivetz family in honor of Richard Saivetz, an architectural student at Brandeis, who in his post-graduate years suffered an untimely death.

The fund aims to perpetuate interest in architecture, annually funding symposiums in the field.

Prof. Talinn Grigor (FA) has been in charge of organizing the Soli Sorabjee

lectures since 2009. When she was asked last year to be responsible for the Saivetz lecture series as well, she decided to combine the programs into one event.

“The speakers were among the leading scholars in the field of South Asia and architecture. I wanted [them to cover] topics from medieval to modern hence my pick of the speakers,” Grigor wrote in an email to the Justice.

In a fascinating opening lecture, Sears spoke about rural temples in India. Sears put the focus on sites of worship in which imperial leaders were not the center of attention.

Traditionally, Sears noted, scholars have looked at “rubrics of royal patronage” when examining temples from this period. However, Sears set out to decenter the emphasis on royal patronage when looking at Indian temples ranging back to the 13th century. Sears spent most of her lecture examining Kadwaha, a temple on the rural outskirts of India. Instead of emphasizing a royal connection to the temples, Sears put the emphasis on, in her words, “a distinctly frontier architecture” in looking at the edifices. She looked at the temples’ humble appearances and their engagements in and relationships with their natural surroundings.

In gathering information about the temples as they stood hundreds of years ago, Sears looked at accounts of various travelers through the region.

At the end of her lecture, Sears noted that the region of Kadwaha still sustains a local population today—it is a “lived place,” said Sears. Kadwaha was not beholden to larger dynamics and administration, a facet that allows for

its current habitation today.

Next, Babaie began noting the common theme of “fluidity of cultural exchanges in South Asia,” in the scholars’ lectures before hers. This note provided a perfect introduction to her own lecture—a lecture that discussed the fluidity of art and architecture between India and Iran.

Babaie spoke about how Iran’s conquest of India in the mid-18th century influenced Iranian architecture. According to Babaie, there has been very little scholarship on this “extraordinary transmission” of artistic designs and ideas from India to Iran—Babaie sought to fill in those gaps where the scholarship is lacking.

Babaie spoke about Nadir, the Shaw of Iran at the time and the leader of the conquest. From his palace, Kalat-e Naderi, one can see evidence of a reshaping of architecture toward Indian influence. Babaie looked closely at the materials used, as well as stylistic elements of the palace, in her lecture. It turns out that in addition to pilfering Mughal treasures from their conquests, such as the famous Peacock Throne, Nadir also brought back hundreds of workers from India to work on the new architecture in Iran. With a knowledgeable and skilled crew, materials and new architectural ideas, Nadir was able to create Kalate-e Naderi, what Babaie calls a “showcase for his admissions.”

After the lectures, Grigor invited the attendees to a dinner featuring South Asian foods and encouraged them to then speak in intimate groups, discussing the topics and questions raised in the lectures.

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contact Tate Herbert at

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24

TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

TOPof the

ARTS ON VIEW

Brandeis TALKS

CHARTS

Quote of the week

for the week ending April 6

“I would go to every door to door to say thank you, but honestly, I have it in my heart that it is amazing that people who didn’t know me just went in and put their money”

BOX OFFICE

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2. Noah 3. Divergent 4. God’s Not Dead 5. Muppets Most Wanted 6. The Grand Budapest Hotel 7. Mr. Peabody & Sherman 8. Sabotage 9. Need for Speed 10. Non-Stop

—Mangok Bol, Academic Administrator for the International Global Studies, on his appreciation for the support of the Brandeis community (News, p. 5)

What advice would you give the incoming Class of 2018?

NYT BESTSELLERS

RACHEL BURKHOFF/the Justice

GOOD COOKIN’: In honor of Passover, beginning April 15, Justice editor Rachel Burkhoff ’14 captured Nava Chein preparing a freshly roasted lamb with help from her father, Chabad Rabbi Peretz Chein.

Dennis Hermida ’16 “Let yourself be surprised.”

the justice wants to see your original artwork!

Submit your photography or a photo of your original drawings, sculptures, paintings or works in other mediums to photos@thejustice.org to be featured in the next issue!

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because at the end of the day, you are your successes and not your failures.”

Yael Shapiro ’16 “Make sure to get a meal plan with a lot of points.”

Jenna Kahane ’15 “Get involved with as many clubs as you want because that’s the way you’ll make lifelong friends.”

1. Pharrell Williams—“Happy (from Despicable Me 2)” 2. John Legend—“All Of Me” 3. Idina Menzel—“Let It Go” 4. Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J)—“Dark Horse” 5. Jason Derulo (feat. 2 Chainz)— “Talk Dirty”

ACROSS 1 Actor Clark __ 6 “__ Vegas” 9 To no __; fruitlessly 10 __ 99; Barbara Feldon’s role on “Get Smart” 12 “Cagney & __” 13 Captain Hook, for one 14 Bit of sooty residue 15.“__ the Explorer” 16 __ up; relaxed 19 “Cold __” 23 “The __ King”; hit animated film 24 “Brown __ Girl”; song for Van Morrison 25 Burnett and Channing 28 Actress Robin __ 30 Sharif or Epps 31 Downey of “Touched by an Angel” 32 Tim Daly’s sister 33 Family car 34 Mary-Kate, to Ashley 36 “Harper Valley __” 39 “Harry __ and the Sorcerer’s Stone” 42 Late film critic Roger __ 44 Zodiac sign 45 Capital of Oregon 46 “The Whole __ Yards”; Bruce Willis movie 47 Spreads for fancy crackers DOWN 1 Celebration 2 Gardner and her namesakes 3 “The __”; reality dating series 4 “__ to Me”; Tim Roth series 5 Ron of “Sea Hunt” 6 Actress Thompson 7 “The Atom __ Show”; cartoon show of old 8 Sault __. Marie 10 “Up in the __”; George Clooney movie 11 Role on “The Mentalist” 13 Pea casing 15 Comfy room 17 Be in poor health 18 Distress signal 20 Certain vote 21 Title for Feinstein & Hatch: abbr.

22 Begley and Bradley 25 Rollaway bed 26 Actress Brenneman 27 Galloped 28 “__ Bless America” 29 “__ Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!”

31 “The __ & Stimpy Show” 33 Title for Alec Guinness 35 Jazz guitarist __ Montgomery

BILLBOARD

1. Soundtrack—Frozen 2. Shakira—Shakira 3. Johnny Cash—Out Among the Stars 4. Memphis May Fire— Unconditional 5. Pharrell Williams—Girl 6. Erica Campbell—Help 7. YG—My Krazy Life 8. Barry Manilow—Night Songs 9. My Chemical Romance—May Death Never Stop You: The Greatest Hits 2001-2013 9. Lorde— Pure Heroine Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.

37 “One __ Hill” 38 Machines that give $20 bills, for short 39 Emcee Sajak 40 Miner’s discovery 41 “The Adventures of Rin Tin __” 42 Sixth sense, for short 43 Sheep’s cry

STAFF’S Top Ten

New York, New York Solution to last issue’s crossword Crossword Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.

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

Cyrus Wright ’17 “Bring your own desk chair.

Changes your life.”

—Compiled by Lilah Zohar and photographed by Grace Kwon/ the Justice

Nonfiction

1. Thrive—Arianna Huffington 2. A Call to Action—Jimmy Carter 3. Uganda Be Kidding Me—Chelsea Handler 4. 10% Happier—Dan Harris 5. Not Cool—Greg Gutfeld

iTUNES

CROSSWORD Adrianne Wurzl ’14

Fiction 1. NYPD Red 2—James Patterson and Marshall Karp 2. Missing You—Harlan Coben 3. The Goldfinch—Donna Tartt 4. Blossom Street Brides—Debbie Macomber 5. The Invention of Wings—Sue Monk Kidd

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Sudoku Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.

By Lilah zohar justice staff

As I am about to graduate, I have been constantly asked about what I’m doing next year. Well, to answer your question: I don’t have a job just yet. But the one thing that is for certain is that I plan on living on the incredible island of Manhattan.

Here are some of my favorite shows, both past and present, that take place in my soon-tobe home: 1. Friends 2. Girls 3. How I Met Your Mother 4. Sex and the City 5. 30 Rock 6. Seinfeld 7. Mad Men 8. Nurse Jackie 9. Million Dollar Listing: New York 10. Law & Order: SVU