The Justice, February 7, 2012 issue

arts page 22

SPORTS Fencing squads tune up for Duke 16

ONE-ACT WONDER

FORUM Parking garage offers viable solution 11 The Independent Student Newspaper

the

of

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

Justice

Volume LXIV, Number 19

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Waltham, Mass.

Pool reopened following heat sensor failure Scholarlypursuits

■ Contractors worked

over the weekend to fix the temperature control unit that caused the problem.

By sara dejene JUSTICE editor

The pool in the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center was closed Friday evening after University Police received a report of a person “not feeling well” after swimming in the pool, according to a Feb. 3 police log entry. The entry states that the on-scene officers deemed the temperature of the water “too hot.”

According to Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Peter Shields in an phone interview with the Justice, a failed sensor on the Dectron unit caused the

water temperature to rise to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The machine, which controls dehumidification and pool water temperature, is used to keep the heat of the pool and natatorium between 80 and 82 degrees. Shields said that at 95 degrees, the pool water would not have been hot, but rather comparable to a “warm bath.”

In an email to the Justice, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan wrote that the pool life guards contacted the police dispatcher about the condition of the person, who is a graduate student. BEMCo and University Police responded and the student signed a refusal for further medical care.

Shields said that the Athletics department and the life guards determined that the safest decision

See HEAT, 5 ☛

Atlanta Posse members reflect on their first year By tess raser JUSTICE editor

Our first friendships at Brandeis are often with people who happen to be in our orientation groups or are extra-friendly in our UWS class. As a midyear, I quickly befriended other midyears. However, there is a group of University students who arrive on South Street with an already existent set of friends—a “posse.” The Posse Foundation has had a presence on campus for the past 11 years, but

last semester was the first that the University welcomed a Posse from Atlanta.

The Posse Foundation, founded in 1989, is a scholarship program that “identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes,” according to its website.

Posses are made up of around 10 students, all of whom are granted a full-tuition scholarship for all four years of college as well as an

PHOTO COURTESY OF AJAI SCOTT

FACILITIES

invaluable support system. Unlike other scholarship recipients, Posse scholars enter universities as just that: a posse, or a group that acts as a support system. The Posse Foundation has posses from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and Washington D.C. at universities across the country.

“The model used by the Posse Foundation, is there are a number of schools that have two, sometimes even three Posses, and the typical model is that you pull one Posse from one city and one Posse from another city,” said Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe in

See FEATURES, 7 ☛

STUDENT UNION

Union to hold elections for two open positions ■ The race for midyear

senator and senator for Charles River officially opened last Thursday.

By tate herbert JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Elections for the newly created position of midyear senator and the recently vacated seat of Senator for Charles River will be held next Monday, Feb. 13, following last Wednesday’s passage of an amendment to the Student Union Constitution that created the Midyear post and the resignation of former Charles River Senator Deena Horowitz ’13 three weeks ago.

The Midyear Senator amendment passed in a referendum by an overwhelming majority of 315

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

“Electric zoo” Students dance at “Jehuda Raveharz III: Rise of the Lawdance,” which took place last Saturday night and was sponsored by WBRS and Student Activities.

See VOTE, 5 ☛

New light on civil rights

Men stay in third

Sorensen fellows

Prof. Grace Leslie (AAAS) addresses details of the civil rights movement seldom mentioned.

 The men’s basketball team remained third in the conference standings with a 1-1 record last weekend.

 Six undergraduate students will intern at various places around the world.

FEATURES 9 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

to 52, with 10 students abstaining, according to an email sent to the student body last Thursday

by Student Union Secretary Todd Kirkland ’13. The measure needed two-thirds approval to pass.

The Charles River senator position opened when Horowitz resigned on Jan. 23, citing scheduling conflicts with the Belly Dance Ensemble and an a cappella club as well as an unclear understanding of her duties.

“I entered mid-semester because no one else was doing it. … Unfortunately, upon entering, I really had no instruction as to what I was actually supposed to do,” Horowitz wrote in an email to the Justice.

The race for both senatorial positions opened on Thursday, with four midyears officially announc-

Let your voice be heard!

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

INDEX

SPORTS 16

ARTS SPORTS

17 13

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 7

OPINION POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3 COPYRIGHT 2012 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

NEWS POLICE LOG

AP BRIEF

New inner city health center opens

BOSTON—On Monday, Governor Deval Patrick and others attended a ceremony dedicating Whittier Street Health Center’s new, $35 million state-of-the-art facility viewed by many as a model for efficient health care delivery to traditionally underserved urban residents. The six-story, 79,000-square-foot building has been described as a “one-stop” center for health care and social services, offering 19,000 residents everything from cancer screening to dental care to violence prevention programs.

Patrick said community health centers like Whittier are critical to the state’s twin goals of providing universal care while reducing costs.

“Part of the way to assure access and also part of the way to assure cost-containment is encouraging as many people as possible to get their care in lower-cost community centers,” he said in an interview last week. Patrick has been pushing lawmakers to approve a payment reform bill that would shift the health care industry away from a fee-for-service system based on individual tests and procedures and toward a so-called global payment system that stresses a team-oriented approach to patient care.

Construction of the new facility was largely enabled by a portion of the $80 million in federal stimulus funds the state received for eight community-based health centers: four in Boston and one each in New Bedford, Fall River, Fitchburg and Lowell.

Nationally, community-based health centers received about $2 billion in federal stimulus grants over the past two years, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Whittier first opened in 1933 to help care for newborn babies in a public housing development. The new building keeps the center’s original name, though it is now located on a former vacant lot on nearby Tremont Street, with more than twice the size and capacity of the previous facility.

“When you look at our mission statement it is about eliminating health and social disparities,” said Frederica Williams, Whittier’s president and chief executive. “You cannot cure someone’s illness and make them engaged if they are dealing with poverty or not making sustainable wages.”

Center officials say 60 percent of their patients live below the poverty level and 85 percent live in public housing.

Fewer than one in four patients have private insurance and about half receive Medicaid. In addition, 23 percent have no health insurance at all—a startling figure in Massachusetts, where 98 percent of all residents have health insurance because of the state’s landmark 2006 health care law.

“If other stressors in your life are preventing you from addressing care or seeing your doctors on a regular basis, then it’s hard to stay connected,” said Dr. Christopher Lathan, director of the Cancer Care Equity Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Lathan is one of five oncologists assigned on a rotating basis to a cancer clinic at Whittier that is run by Dana-Farber, one of the nation’s most prestigious cancer research and treatment centers.

Lathan pointed to statistics showing that AfricanAmerican men have the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world, and African-American women in the U.S. have higher breast cancer mortality rates.

According to Williams, the clinic, originally funded by a 2008 gift from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his late wife Myra, may be the first example of a major U.S. cancer center operating in a communitybased setting.

Monday’s dedication culminates Williams’s nearly decade-long quest to fiynd a permanent home for Whittier, yet she understands that the building itself doesn’t guarantee that all in the community will take advantage of its offerings.

That’s why, she said, the center employs roving “health ambassadors” in the neighborhood to seek out residents—particularly men—who might otherwise have no contact with doctors until a crisis lands them in a hospital emergency room.

“We are relentless in getting you in here,” said Williams. “Once we screen you for the first time, if there is an abnormal result, our patient navigators will follow you and call you until you have no choice but to come in.”

Medical Emergency

Jan. 31—A reporting party stated that a female who was holding a glass bottle outside Ridgewood A fell, causing a laceration to her hand. University Police and BEMCo responded; the party was treated on-scene with a signed refusal for further care.

Feb. 3—University Police received a call that a male in the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center pool was not feeling well, though he was conscious and alert. The police officers on scene reported that the pool water was too hot, and they would be closing the pool for the rest of the evening. BEMCo treated the party with a signed refusal for further care.

Feb. 4—BEMCo responded to a report of a cut finger in Sherman Dining Hall. The party was treated on-scene

by BEMCo and transported via ambulance to the NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care.

nAn article in News incorrectly stated that Phyllis Silverman Ph.D. ’69 is on the board of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and that the ADEC is an international group that meets every 18 months. In fact, Silverman is not on the board of the ADEC, which is a national group with international ties that meets annually. (Jan. 31, p. 3) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

Justice

the

www.thejustice.org

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods. Editor in chief office hours are held Mondays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Justice office.

Editor News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing

editor@thejustice.org news@thejustice.org forum@thejustice.org features@thejustice.org sports@thejustice.org arts@thejustice.org ads@thejustice.org photos@thejustice.org managing@thejustice.org

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

Jan. 31—University Police received a report that a University vehicle hit a wall near the Harlan Chapel on the previous day. The police compiled a report on the accident.

Jan. 31—A reporting party stated that he backed up into a parked car. University Police compiled a report on the accident.

Feb. 1—A motor vehicle accident was reported in the rear parking lot of the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. BEMCo went to the scene of the accident, and all units were cleared with signed patient refusals on any injuries that may have arisen.

The accident involved an Escort van and a sedan. University Police compiled a report.

Feb. 1—University Police received a report of a past motor vehicle accident that took place between the Usen Castle and the Usdan Student Center; they compiled a report on the accident.

BRIEF

Larceny

Zipcar grant awarded

Feb. 1—A student in the Foster Mods reported that her wallet was stolen from Mod 33. There were no suspects; University Police compiled a report on the theft.

Brandeis was awarded a $5,500 grant from a Zipcar program called Students with Drive, according to a Feb. 2 BrandeisNOW press release. The grant will go toward transportation, in the form of Zipcar credits, to off-campus sites for Experiential and CommunityEngaged Learning programs. Brandeis has Zipcars located near the Stoneman Public Safety and the Golding Health Center buildings.

As a result of the grant, students now have easier access to programs such as the Charles River Public Internet Center, Waltham Alliance To Create Housing’s Tenant Advocacy Clinic and Healthy Waltham. Zipcar is partnering with Ford to give grants to student groups around the country.

Ford has pledged $300,000 to give to universities and student organizations. They are giving away $5,500 to five winners in five different categories each month. At the end of the contest, Zipcar will choose one grand prize winner out of 35 total finalists to receive a larger award of $5,000 in transportation, $10,000 in cash and $10,000 for their school’s general scholarship fund. Brandeis won the December 2011 contest in the community involvement category.

“Ford’s alliance with Zipcar will not only provide students with access to Ford’s newest fuel-efficient vehicles,” said John Felice, general manager of Ford and Lincoln marketing, in a press release, “but now, through the Students with Drive program, we will help them give back, using these vehicles to help make a difference on their campus and in their communities.”

Caitlin Abber ’13, a program assistant for ExCEL, submitted Brandeis’ application.

Miscellaneous

Feb. 2—The community development coordinator reported having made contact with a student in possession of marijuana and smoking materials. University Police confiscated the contraband, and the CDC will seek judicial charges.

Feb. 4—University Police assisted the Waltham Police at an off-campus property with an intoxicated female Brandeis student. The student was transported via ambulance to the NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care.

—compiled by Marielle Temkin

—Sam Mintz

SENATE LOG Three clubs chartered

Super Sunday

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS nA headline in News stated that the faculty to student ratio rose to 10-to-1. The headline should have read “Student to faculty ratio rises to 10-to-1.” (Jan. 31, p. 1)

Traffic

JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice

Students watch Super Bowl XLVI in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium on Sunday night. A mix of New England Patriots and New York Giants fans attended the event, which was sponsored by Student Events and HerCampus Brandeis. For more coverage of the game, see page 14.

At Sunday’s Senate meeting, the Marketing Club successfully changed its name to Deis Marketing Group. The club aims to “provide opportunities for students to learn about the various aspects of the marketing and advertising industries through speakers, alumni networking, and related events,” according to the club’s constitution.

The first of three clubs to gain recognition and charter from the Senate was Wander: Brandeis Abroad, a magazine that highlights students’ trips abroad through essays and photos. According to the club’s constitution, “Though [studying abroad] is a formative part of the undergraduate experience for nearly half of each graduating class, the experiences of those who have studied, worked, and lived outside of Brandeis have yet to truly manifest themselves on the Brandeis campus.”

The second club chartered was the Korean Performing Arts Club, which passed by a vote of eight to five with two abstentions. The club aims to provide a community for students to partake in Korean traditional music and dancing. The club will teach students basic skills and host several performances during the year.

The final club to be considered by the senate was Brandeis FACE AIDS, which gained recognition and was chartered by a vote of seven to four with three abstentions. The club will be a recognized sub-chapter of the international FACE AIDS organization to combat poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS. —Sam Mintz

ANNOUNCEMENTS ’DEIS Impact

The International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life and the Brandeis Student Union present the first weeklong festival of social justice. Clubs and academic departments have planned dozens of events throughout the week featuring talks, performances, exhibits and discussions—even a Tae Kwon Do workshop that will include a speaker about gender violence. All events are free and open to the public. For the full schedule, go to http:// www.brandeis.edu/ethics/events.

Today through Friday at various locations on campus.

Preparing for communications careers

This forum presents the opportunity to meet representatives at the Communications Careers Forum on Feb. 9.

Learn how to research companies in advance, participate in the information round tables, and develop questions and responses that set you apart. Sponsored by the Hiatt Career Center. RSVP: B.hired>Events>Workshops Today from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Hiatt Career Center.

Orientation Leader info session

This is an information session about being an Orientation Leader. Hear from this year’s CORE committee regarding what the responsibilities entail and get an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the application process.

Wednesday from 8 to 9 p.m. in Polaris Lounge and Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Village TV Lounge.

Medical Anthropology speaker

Junjie Chen examines structural violence as a force that has conditioned and shaped rural Chinese women’s reproductive experiences over the past three decades. Documenting and situating village women’s reproductive stories in the broader context of China’s post-socialist transformation, this talk illustrates how the Chinese state’s recent “humane” birth control policy has become a hollow promise to ordinary villagers trapped by enlarging class-based social divides in postsocialist rural China.

Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center International Lounge.

One hundred years of kibbutz life

After offering some basic definitions, this lecture by Prof. Shulamit Reinharz (SOC) will have three parts: the story of the woman who should be credited with founding the first kibbutz, an overview of the principles that guided kibbutz life, and the ways those principles changed so that the kibbutz could survive. Sponsored by Women’s Studies Research Center.

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

Study Abroad funding workshop

This session will help you prepare financially for your time abroad. You’ll learn how study abroad program fees are billed and how to determine how much it will cost to study abroad. Attendance at one of these workshops is required for all students applying to study abroad at any point during the 2012 to 2013 academic year who receive financial aid. However, all study abroad applicants are welcome to attend.

Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center International Lounge.

THE JUSTICE

awards

the fellowship, which will cover their expenses for summer internships.

By danielle gross JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Last week, the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life published the list of six undergraduates who have been awarded Sorensen Fellowships. Jesse Hart ’14, Rachael Koehler ’13, Mangaliso Mohammed ’13, Karia Sekumbo ’14, Robyn Spector ’13 and Andrea Verdeja ’14 are the six students selected to receive a $4,000 stipend to cover all expenses for a summer internship anywhere outside of the United States, or $3,500 for one inside the United States.

In an interview with the Justice, Marci McPhee, associate director of the Ethics Center, explained the application process. “The students must apply through a very competitive process, which begins when they have an internship in mind,” she said. “The students begin the application process in November for the following summer, so they already need to have the internship lined up.

Ten students are selected, six fellows and four alternates,” she continued.

The students chosen must enroll in a spring class to fulfill the intellectual side of their internship. This is to prepare them for the internship process.

Once the students return from the summer internship experience, they are all required to take a related writing intensive class, which aids them in documenting and explaining their experience.

The only requirement for the summer internship is that the chosen organization must deal with issues of ethics and international significance.

Hart will be doing his internship with The Playhouse Theatre in Northern Ireland, a community theater that hosts progressive programs concerning the arts and conflict resolution in the region. In an inteview with the Justice, Hart reflected that winning the scholarship made him feel “excited and extremely relieved.”

Hart, who is from Worthington, Ohio, said that this will be his first time out of the country, which makes the internship that much more exciting for him.

Verdeja will be working for a nongovernmental organization in Israel,

Paidia International Development, which is a “community development program in Bethlehem. Basically, they work with children during the afternoon to provide them teamwork and leadership skills. They do this through working with gardening, construction work, and teaching English,” said Verdeja in an interview with the Justice. She is taking two classes in preparation for her experience this summer: “War and Revolution in the Middle East” and “Sociology of Israeli and Palestinian Confrontation.”

Mohammed will be interning with the Municipal Council of Mbabane in Swaziland. He will work on several projects, including finding suitable renewable energy sources for lowincome households and reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS, according to BrandeisNOW. Koehler will work with Beyond Skin in Belfast, Northern Ireland, an organization that works to promote racial and religious coexistence. She will plan her own coexistence festival and produce a religious understanding radio show.

Karia Sekumbo will intern with Opportunity International, a microfinance organization in his home country of Tanzania. According to BrandeisNOW, he hopes to “gain a more concrete understanding of the workings of microfinance and its important role in global poverty alleviation.”

Robyn Spector will report and take photographs for The New Times, an English-language newspaper in Kigali, Rwanda, according to BrandeisNOW. This program began in 1998 to honor Theodore C. Sorensen for his commitment to public service and to commemorate his 10 years as chairman of the Center’s International Advisory Board, according to a BrandeisNOW press release.

When asked what she hoped the chosen students would accomplish and get out of this experience, McPhee replied, “I hope they rock the world. I hope that this experience will allow them a broader and sharper focus in their professional lives—broader in the context of more professionalism in their work, and sharper in understanding particular regions and issues.”

—Sam Mintz contributed reporting.

Editor’s note: Robyn Spector ’13 is a Justice associate editor.

TUESDAY, February 7, 2012

3

IN YOUR FACE

Students win Sorensen award ■ Six students were awarded

●

JON EDELSTEIN/the Justice

Night of laughs Liquid Fun, of Boston University, performs at a night of intercollegiate improv comedy hosted by Brandeis’ TBA on Feb. 2. Groups from Tufts and Princeton also performed.

awards

Sprout Grant funds entrepreneurs ■ The grant, totaling

$50,000, will be shared by four teams or individuals.

By raquel Kallas JUSTICE contributing WRITER

February is the commencement of the Second Annual Sprout Grant Program. Aimed towards budding entrepreneurs in the fields of the Life Sciences and Information Technology, the grant provides Brandeis researchers with funding to bring their ideas and discoveries to commercial application. Associate Provost for Innovation and Executive Director of the Office of Technology Licensing Irene Abrams has high expectations for this year’s program.

According to the Brandeis website, there were 23 teams consisting of 60 applicants in 2011, and Abrams hopes that the numbers will be even greater this year. Funded by the Of-

fice of the Provost, the Sprout Grant totals $50,000 and will be divided among approximately four research teams or individuals. In an interview with the Justice, Abrams explained, “We’re funding something that is already in process. The goal is to put extra funds ... towards commercialization.” Brandeis can earn royalties based on the successes of the funded projects since the University owns the rights of intellectual property coming out of it.

Some of last year’s winners have achieved recent success. The team that created StudyEgg, Josh Silverman PB ’11, Jason Urton M.A. Computer Science, and Bill DeRusha M.A. Computer Science, were featured in Entrepreneur Magazine in November 2011. According to the feature, StudyEgg is an application that brings study exercises like flashcards and fill-in-the-blanks to students’ smartphones. The app’s creators have also secured addi-

tional funding and guidance from the Rhode Island based company Betaspring. In an email to the Justice regarding his experience with the Sprout Grant, Silverman said “As students, this was a great first experience for us in grant-writing and pitching.”

The Sprout Grant benefited candidate for Ph.D. in Molecular Biology Rory Coffey’s team as well, who focused on the mutated protein Ras, found in 20 to 30 percent of cancers.

In an email to the Justice, Coffey explained that the grant enabled him financially to test some of his ideas.

He conveyed that he has not yet had success, but there is still one more experiment to be done.

Abrams concluded, “I’d like to encourage people to apply. There are ideas at Brandeis, and we’d like to help them get to the market.” Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to apply, as well as those of post-doctorates, faculty and staff.

campus speaker

Dahl speaks about AIDS epidemic in Botswana ■ Bianca Dahl spoke about the “social consequences” of human intervention in Botswana’s AIDS epidemic.

By amanda winn JUSTICE contributing WRITER

Last Thursday, Bianca Dahl, a postdoctoral fellow in anthropology, population studies and the international humanities at Brown University, spoke about how Botswana orphans are affected by the AIDS epidemic during an event titled “From AIDS to Aid: Botswana’s Orphan ‘Crisis’ and the Aftermath of an Epidemic” in the Mandel Reading Room.

The event was hosted by the Anthropology department and the Health: Science, Society and Policy program.

Dahl’s research centers on the social consequences that follow human intervention in reaction to Botswana’s AIDS epidemic. Her work is aimed at orphans and HIV-positive children. Recently, Dahl received the 2012 Social Science Research Council Book Fellowship Award for the manuscript about her project.

In her lecture, Dahl discussed her manuscript and what she discovered while in Botswana. She started her talk by informing the audience about her observation in July 2006 in southeastern Botswana of a man marrying his deceased bride, who died from an AIDS-related illness a year prior.

She learned that the groom and his

JON EDELSTEIN/the Justice

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Bianca Dahl speaks about her experiences in Botswana. bride had children together but never formally married. Due to no payment of “bride wealth,” the children belonged by law to the mother’s family. According to national definition, the children had become orphans. By marrying the mother post-mortem, though, the father could transfer

lineage. As Dahl’s friend put it: The man was marrying the children.

Dahl continued discussing the shifting pressures on kinship and ideas towards social reproduction resulting from Botswana’s AIDS epidemic. She remarked how Botswanians of all backgrounds react-

ed differently, ranging from gratitude to resentment, to the presence of aid organizations that increased rapidly over the last decade. These organizations provide health aid but also reinforce the kinship problems associated with the epidemic.

Dahl explained that her manuscript focuses on “why orphans have risen as symbolically powerful imaginaries,” a population group consisting of villagers, international donors and children themselves.

As Dahl described, she looks at the epidemic sideways, as orphans are the second victims of HIV/AIDS. In her research, she asks herself what kind of crisis is present and how aid organizations influence distribution of material resources for village life.

She explained to the audience that she analyzes how emotions are influenced by aid organizations in new and destabilizing ways.

Dahl remarked in an email after her talk that she knew she wanted to study children while in graduate school. “Unlike most epidemic diseases (which target the very young and the very old), HIV disproportionately hits adults in their prime reproductive years—meaning that it is a disease that by definition creates a lot of orphaned children.”

Dahl wanted to go conduct her own research to try to make better sense of the effects of the aid organizations.

Faculty and students who attended the talk had various responses.

Avital DeSharone ’13 commented

in an email to the Justice, “She has done a lot of work for a single person which was really apparent in the more layered connections she spoke of between the people from the community she was doing her research in. Her analysis of the ‘emotional’ song performances that the orphans put on was fascinating.”

Casey Golomski, a doctoral student in anthropology whose research focuses on AIDS in Africa, stated through an email, “Dr. Dahl’s talk was very illustrative of the social, cultural and political-economic processes at play in Southern Africa’s time of HIV/AIDS. I was particularly struck by her argument that AIDS orphans are made to look sad and sing about parental loss because these emotions conform to what Western aid organizations understand as [an] appropriate affect.” He noted that development and aid organizations too often missed what others had to say about themselves from an anthropological perspective.

Dahl is a candidate for the Kay Fellow in Medical Anthropology, according to Laurel Carpenter, the senior academic administrator for the department.

The committee for the fellowship is searching for a scholar with a Ph.D. who analyzes “health, illness, medicine and/or healing processes” with an anthropological outlook and will become a lecturer at Brandeis, according to the job posting on the department’s website.

Follow us: @thejustice

SUMMER ABROAD WORLD-CLASS INTERNSHIP AND STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS.

APPLY TODAY! APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2011*

4bu.edu/abroad

*Exceptions may apply. See individual program descriptions at bu.edu/abroad for details.

An equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.

Check out the Justice on Facebook: facebook.com/thejusticeonline

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, february 7, 2012

5

Doctor lectures on the evolution VOTE: Four of drug-resistant tuberculosis students CAMPUS SPEAKER

■ Dr. Sarah Fortune

run for midyear senator

discussed early treatment of tuberculosis and its connection with HIV. By lUKE HAYSLIP JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On Wednesday, Dr. Sarah Fortune of the Harvard School of Public Health presented a lecture on the evolution of drug resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Prof. Lawrence Wangh (BIOL) introduced Fortune and presented a brief introduction on drug resistance in organisms, specifically bacteria.

Fortune began by discussing key facts of tuberculosis and its implications.

There are approximately 10 million cases of active tuberculosis annually and approximately two million deaths related to tuberculosis. About one third of the world’s population is thought to be infected with latent tuberculosis, meaning that new infections occur at a rate of about one per second.

In an interview with the Justice, Fortune spoke of her interest in the early 1990 HIV epidemic in New York City. “I was at Colombia Presbyterian Hospital and we had floors of the hospital that were full of people dying of HIV and TB together. … People weren’t focusing on TB the same way [as HIV], so I decided I would work on TB.” Fortune said in her lecture that tuberculosis is difficult to treat because it is an aerosol infection residing within the alveolar macrophages, and it uses the macrophages as a host but does not kill them. This means that the infection resides within the lungs and feeds off nutrients from the lungs, but does not kill the cells.

People in the developing world are more likely to contract tuberculosis because their immune systems are more likely to be compromised due to higher rates of HIV and AIDS, according to Fortune. Only about five to 10 percent of those infected with tuberculosis without HIV develop an active disease. In contrast, 30 percent of those co-infected with HIV develop tuberculosis.

Fortune said that the emergence of HIV has been consistently driving up the presence of multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant and fully drug-resistant strains of TB, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa.

CONTINUED FROM 1

JENNY CHENG/the Justice

EXPLORING IMPLICATIONS: Dr. Sarah Fortune of the Harvard School of Public Health examined the reliability of some antibiotics.

The World Health Organization prescribes those with the active disease a daily regiment of four antibiotics for two months, followed by two antibiotics for four to six months. For those diagnosed with latent tuberculosis one antibiotic is administered daily over a period of nine months. The two antibiotics most commonly used are isoniazid and rifampicin, and treatment can be prolonged, according to Fortune.

Talk is now circulating among scientists, including Fortune, about the long-term reliability of using only one antibiotic for latent tuberculosis, especially with the increasing risk of drug resistance among tuberculosis.

Fortune noted that “latent TB can most likely reactivate with only one antibiotic.”

A newly discovered form of tuber-

culosis, the Beijing Strain, has been proven to be more drug-resistant than both the Euro-American Strain and the Indo-Oceanic Strain.

Even with multiple variants of rifampicin antibiotic treatment, this strain retains a fourfold higher resistance rate over the Euro-American strain.

While such variants as the Beijing Strain leave scientists with further questions, other issues of TB are becoming clearer, such as early treatment lowering risk of drug resistance.

“Early, sensitive diagnostics are key to controlling TB and curtailing growth of drug-resistant TB,” noted Fortune.

Fortune commented, “There is an enormously strong connection between HIV and TB, so HIV is fueling the TB epidemic. TB is the single larg-

est cause of death in people with HIV.” Wangh agreed, noting that “the funding agencies, until recently, have funded ... the HIV people very well, and the TB people far less well, but rarely if ever, a combination. The first joint TB-HIV meeting [was only about two years ago], so the people weren’t even talking to each other, which is extraordinary.”

Fortune was impressed with the turnout and happy to have the opportunity to speak with interested students, Brandeis scientists and Professor Wangh, whose work ties in directly with her research. “[Wangh] is an expert on news type technologies for diagnostics, which I think are incredibly important for both limiting transmission and limiting the emergence of drug resistance.”

ing their candidacy by Monday night. No Charles River residents have declared their entrance into the race as of press time.

“It’s great that Brandeis gives midyears an opportunity to be a part of the Student Union, and I’m glad to be a part of the beginnings of this process,” said Zachary Bouchard ’15, one of the candidates for midyear senator, in an email to the Justice.

“I personally think midyears are focused on … getting to know students outside the midyear class, and in general getting involved in activities and student life,” said Bouchard of the interests that he would potentially represent.

Ethan Stein ’15, who is also in the midyear race, wrote in an email to the Justice that it is “kind of odd and disappointing” that Brandeis has not had a midyear senator position until now.

However, Stein, who was active in student government in high school, says he wants to carry on a high level of involvement.

“I … wanted to make my school the best place it could be, and that is what I want to bring here to Brandeis as well,” said Stein.

Derek Komar ’15 and Rita Cote ’15 are also running for the position.

This will be the first election for a Midyear Senator since the establishment of the midyear program.

The senator will represent the 108 midyear members of the Class of 2015 for the duration of this semester.

HEAT: BEMCo treated student who felt unwell at pool CONTINUED FROM 1

was to close to the pool for the remainder of the evening.

Shields said that the Office of Facilities Services had been monitoring the pool’s function all week and that they had noticed some “volatil-

ity” with the temperature control.

Contractors worked to restore the pool’s target temperature over the weekend and yesterday.

According to Shields, the pool was re-opened yesterday morning, and since then, there have not

been other problems. Shields also said that there have been no other reports about health concerns relating to the pool.

The incident follows the pool’s reopening Jan. 21 after over three years of disrepair. The pool was

closed in fall 2008 after mechanical and infrastructural issues such as broken heating and electrical systems and repairs were delayed due to financial constraints.

Last spring, the Board of Trustees approved a $3.5 million plan to reno-

N K A O U C O YO K YOU AD L ?

N R I S I E TH E TH T T

K A M

E B

vate the pool.

Updates included repairs to the mechanical, heating and electrical systems; newly renovated team locker rooms; new lighting and a newly renovated lobby and entranceway.

JOIN STAFF THE LAYOUT

Contact Nan Pang at layout@thejustice.org

Waltham Group Blood Drive Where: Sherman Function Hall When: Tuesday, Feb. 14 to Thursday, Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sign up online: www.redcrossblood.org (sponsor code 965) When you donate: • • •

Bring your ID Don’t forget to drink lots of water and eat iron-rich foods Not interested in donating but want to help out? Let us know and you can volunteer!

Questions? Contact Jess at jessf13@brandeis.edu.

just

features

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

7

VERBATIM | WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.

It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 1940, the second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premiered.

“Karaoke” means “empty orchestra” in Japanese.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AJAI SCOTT

SOLID FOUNDATION: Posse students, accepted and given full scholarships based on their academic strengths and skills, arrive at the University from all areas of the United States, from Los Angeles to Washington D.C.

POSSE: Scholars reflect on their semester transitioning from Atlanta to Waltham CONTINUED FROM 1 an interview with the Justice.

Godsoe is the Brandeis Posse liaison and explained that the University originally started its relationship with the New York Posse in 1998, and because of that relationship, the University initially continued to pull Posse Science students from New York, a group of students selected specifically to study science at the University.

“So when the opportunity to have [a] liberal arts Posse back on campus [came], we wanted to make sure that we were following the national model,” Godsoe said about the decision to add a Posse from Atlanta.

There are 11 members of the Atlanta Posse, all first-years: D’Andre Young, Zion Griffin, Jessica Hood, Kofi Hodge, David Wheaton, Jemesh Hunter, Jill Martin, Ajai Scott, Stacy Finley, Karina Ayala Casanova and Malika Imhotep, who were pulled from an extremely competitive group.

“I was nominated by a mentor of mine who teaches at the middle school I went to, and that was like my entrance to the Posse program,” said Malika Imhotep.

Imhotep did not know much about Posse before the nomination because she went to a private high school and the Posse Foundation usually reaches out to students in public schools. After her nomination, she went onto interviews but wasn’t too invested in the program until after the second round of interviews, when she was stuck on the choice between Boston University and Brandeis. She chose Brandeis because its small size was comparable to her high school’s size.

Imhotep also had an interest in social justice, but she had not really heard of Brandeis before the college application process.

“I think I might’ve read it in passing reading about Angela Davis, but that’s it,” she said.

D’Andre Young also had not heard much of the University before his Posse nomination and was more drawn to larger universities.

“I don’t think I chose Brandeis. Brandeis more chose me because [I was] nominated, and … got to the second round, and they were, like, pick your top schools, and BU was my top school, … but if Posse feels like that may not be the best fit for you, they’ll turn it around,” explained Young.

On campus, Godsoe is the Posse scholars’ academic advisor and is the scholars’ “eyes and ears everywhere,” said Jessica Hood. But Godsoe’s involvement and investment in the scholars began in Atlanta long before they ever arrived in Waltham.

“Kim Godsoe is a godsend for us. Even before we came to campus, she flew to Atlanta twice just to help us transition to help with the post-accep-

tance,” Young said.

Not only did Godsoe meet the scholars after they were chosen, but during the application process, Godsoe, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, Dean of Admissions Mark Spencer and some professors interviewed the scholars during the third round of the Posse application process.

or a higher business [person], you didn’t know about the [University]. So, it was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to be serious,’ but when you get here, … there are so many other things besides academics,” said Hood.

The program is interested in selecting community and high school leaders for the scholarship, which is perhaps why the Atlanta Posse scholars

PHOTO COURTESY OF AJAI SCOTT

BIG DECISION: While some members did not plan to attend Brandeis first, they are happy with their choice.

“It was between meeting the deans, hearing about student life, hearing about the stuff that Brandeis does, ... I was just like completely head over heels in love [with] going to Brandeis,” said Imhotep.

Beyond the East Coast and certain circles, the University is not as well known as other universities of its caliber, and these personal connections during the application process changed perceptions of the school for some of the scholars.

“We didn’t know what to think. Like I told people that I [got] a scholarship. They were like, ‘Brandeis? I hope you can’t wait to celebrate Hannukah,’” said Young.

Hood, who hopes to study Studio Art and Psychology, was uncomfortable with going to a university that she felt few successful professionals in Atlanta knew of.

“In Atlanta, if you aren’t a teacher, a principal,

are so involved in extracurriculars after just one semester on campus.

“I’m the [Intercultural Center] rep for [the Women of Color Alliance], treasurer of the [Black Student Organization], ... I work for the Phonathon, and I’m interested in joining the [Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society]. My main project that I really want to get involved with is the Student Union,” said Ajai Scott ’15.

Scott is not unique in her great participation after only one semester; all of the scholars are actively involved in clubs ranging from the poetry slam team to WBRS. The scholars said that their instinct to involve themselves on campus just comes naturally to them in the same way that their friendliness does.

Imhotep went to a small private school that was predominantly white and Jewish. She also noted that the school’s students were quirky and awk-

ward, just as Brandeis students tend to be.

“I didn’t have major culture shock, but the most shocking thing I had to get used to was the whole Northern, kind of snarky, fast-paced thing.

Things just operate so quickly,” Imhotep said.

“In the South, it’s laid-back, and you walk down the street and you speak to the person who’s walking toward you. Here, you walk away. … At first I thought it was just rudeness, but that’s how [Northerners] are,” added Hood.

For Scott, in addition to her frustrations about holding the door for people who then do not thank her, her observations of the differences between the South and the North have been eye-opening.

People commonly think that there are strong differences between Northerners and Southerners, broadly speaking, but Scott believed that there would be more similarities between Northern and Southern African Americans before her arrival.

“Black people up here, totally different than the South. I mean incredibly different,” said Scott, who has met many students of African descent at the University for the first time after only knowing African Americans. “[After] growing up in the South with African Americans who have the same accent as I do, [going] to the North is an entire 360 [degree change], but it’s an eye-opener,” she continued.

Not only is the experience an eye-opener for Scott and her Posse, but one for the University community.

“People perceive the South [in] certain ways and I think having us here kind of humanizes what the South is to the Brandeis community,” Imhotep said.

Despite the adjustments to college life, which all first-years must go through, and culture shock, the scholars are happy with the decision to attend the University that they made over a year ago.

New scholars from Atlanta have already been selected and have committed to the University for the upcoming academic year. The now-seasoned first Atlanta Posse advises them to make the most of their short time here in Waltham.

“Breathe,” advised Hood, “You notice everyone is double majoring. … Their pace is a lot faster.

Just relax, breathe, have fun, [but] make sure you’re responsible.”

Imhotep, who is looking forward to the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational competition in Los Angeles and her role in the Vagina Monologues later this month, advises the new scholars to branch out and make the campus what they “need it to be.”

“Our biggest fear was just kind of adjusting to the New England winter. It seems like it all worked out,” said Godsoe.

8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

Initiating connections PHOTOS COURTESY OF JESSICA CHRISTIAN

LASTING RELATIONSHIPS: A child imitates Jessica Christian ’13 (right) in Ullal Upanagar, India during her visit with the Right to Food campaign.

Students travel to India to provide aid to many villages with fellowship funds By jessie miller JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On the southern coast of India, in the state of Kerala, is a town called Kasaragod. There David Wilkerson ’12 discovered a rich and vibrant Hindu culture on an excursion during his trip to the city of Banagalore this past summer. He experienced visiting with a family of strangers amid the sound of pots and pans banging together and the smells of delicious food being served for Durga Puja, a festival in honor of the goddess of destruction.

Wilkerson, along with Jessica Christian ’13 and Melissa Donze ’12, are three members of the new BrandeisIndia Initiative Fellowship, a program designed to strengthen Brandeis’ ties to partner institutions in India through cultural and academic interaction, including students studying abroad and University President Frederick Lawrence’s current visit there.

All three students were based in the inland city of Bangalore. Christian and Donze worked for eight weeks with the non-governmental organization Milana, a network that helps unite people living with HIV to help them share and deal with the problems they are facing. The organization also promotes AIDS education and awareness.

Donze, who went on the trip as a Social Justice World of Work Fellow, a grant Brandeis awards to support unpaid summer internships, described Milana as a “family support network for people living with HIV and AIDS. They do awareness work ... and a lot of advocacy on behalf of certain organizations.” “[Milana] primarily work[s] with women and children. The women that I was working with everyday were all HIV-positive, and they were employed

by Milana as outreach workers, ... but at the same time, the organization was providing them with a source of income and they were able to go out and educate other people on their own experiences,” explained Donze.

Another aspect of Milana, Christian adds, is Chiguru, which means “sapling” in the native language, Kannada.

The group helps facilitate monthly meetings with 40 to 60 kids who get together and talk about the issues they are dealing with, such as discrimination. “A lot of the kids see Milana as the tree and the kids are the saplings,” said Christian, because the organization has given them the opportunity to grow and prosper despite the adversity they face.

Wilkerson spent his time in southwest Bangalore working for an organization called Hindu Seva Pratishtha-

na, specifically the Yuva for Sewa, “a program to help mainly grassroots and local volunteers in the Bangalore area,” said Wilkerson.

“I worked for their health team, so my work was primarily involved in doing medical camps in government schools and sort of acting as a liaison between corporate sponsors [and the organization],” explained Wilkerson in an interview with the Justice. On a daily basis, he did “a lot of number crunching … follow-ups and physicals for children,” he says.

Christian was first inspired to study in India when the president of Milana spoke in her Women’s and Gender Studies class during her first year at Brandeis. She also thinks that “AIDS is a very interesting thing to study over there, especially because of the lack of sexual education.”

Though born in America, Christian’s parents are from India, and her grandfather currently lives there. “[My experiences in India] helped me connect to my Indian roots as well, and I think that’s what made it so important—because these people look like me and I see them suffering and I take a great interest in helping them,” she explained.

While in Bangalore, Donze and Christian worked together coordinating meetings, creating the NGO’s website and completing other projects.

Specifically, Christian and Donze organized a program for the children “where we used art as a medium for them to express themselves and ... their futures, what their hopes and goals were, but also the kind of impact HIV has had on their lives. It was really awesome and telling,” said Donze.

Both were very proud of what they accomplished for the children. For Christian, it was important because the kids have “been through so much and dealt with things that adults in America don’t have to deal with, but they’re so resilient and they can still be happy and smile and enjoy life,” she said.

One memorable part of Christian’s experience was creating a questionnaire to give to the children. “Basically, we’re assessing their physical and educational needs and whether or not they were receiving enough sexual education, since sexual education is banned in India in schools. So it was important that we talked about those things so that we don’t perpetuate HIV in their lives.”

Christian also visited nearby villages in conjunction with the Right to Food campaign set up by multiple international NGOs that “take up their own initiative to bring grains and other nutritional supplements to certain

villages,” she said.

Looking back, Christian has learned to appreciate the little things we take for granted in America, such as a washing machine. In addition, she’s learned the importance of daily interactions with people. “I would be meeting new people everyday when I was in India, and I would cherish those memories because I knew I wasn’t going to see those people again,” she said.

Christian also emphasizes her growth as a leader and a newfound appreciation for service learning, which she is bringing back to Brandeis in her work with Girl Effect, an organization working to empower women in developing countries and again working with Milana to hopefully send more students to work in India like she did.

Girl Effect is launching a new program during February called “Love in a Box” in which students can write letters to the people involved in Milana that will be sent along with other supplies.

Wilkerson, a South Asian Studies minor, learned on his trip “that not everywhere in the world has the same type of work ethic and expectations and environment that we tend to have in the United States.” Long commutes are typical, leading to common tardiness. This taught Wilkerson “to be flexible and to think on [his] feet and to do what you can while you can and to not get frustrated by things not going as you expect,” he said.

Since being back in the U.S., Wilkerson has typed his journal from the trip, adding in photographs and other notes, like a homeopathic remedy for a cough he learned from his host mother, and published it for the India Fellows Project.

Donze is using her experiences in her role as president of the Students Global Aids Campaign, a U.S.-based network of student and youth organizations committed to the global fight against AIDS, according to its website. She has also published stories and photographs in Wander, the study abroad magazine on campus, and the Social Justice WOW booklet.

During her stay in India, Donze was searching for what social justice truly means. She especially values her conversations with HIV-positive women and their ability to connect with each other through common experiences.

“I had come in with this very American mentality of the idea that we have to save the world, that we have to make big changes to really have an effect on people, but what I came to realize is that it wasn’t the big things that mattered; it was the little things,” she said.

TEAM EFFORT: Milana provides grains and other supplements to Bangalore villages.

MORAL SUPPORT: Volunteers organize meetings with kids to discuss their concerns.

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

9

Prof. Leslie discusses lesser-known figures

By SELENE CAMPION JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice

NEW WAYS TO THINK: Prof. Leslie (AAAS) explains the difference between what is taught in the classroom and actual events.

A new

historical

perspective

Prof. Grace Leslie (AAAS) began her lecture with the iconic face of Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps the most famous figure of the civil rights movement. However, she did not begin by quoting his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Instead she drew attention to the controversy surrounding a quotation by Dr. King that the committee in charge of his memorial altered. It was still included on his memorial statue in Washington, DC. To celebrate Black History Month, the Black Student Organization sponsored a lecture Feb. 2 in the International Cultural Center to commemorate the civil rights movement.

The night’s only speaker, Leslie spoke about the disparity between the reality of events of the civil rights era, how it is taught in classrooms today and why this matters.

She first presented this lecture to her class, “The Civil Rights Movement,” last semester. Due to the class’s popularity and student support, she presented her lecture to an enthusiastic audience.

Throughout her class last semester, she returned to the same questions with her students, including “Why do we tell the history of the civil rights movement the way we do, why do we remember certain people so clearly at certain moments and not at all others, [and] why do we forget some people completely?”

Her lecture and class on the civil rights movement seek not to necessarily instantly find the answers to all of these questions but to investigate the past in order to redefine our present knowledge. “What are the real life consequences of our somewhat distorted memory of the civil rights movement, and how does that continue to echo into our present?” Leslie asked.

Leslie introduced three symbols of the Civil Rights Movement that she believes are the most important, beginning with the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools.

While most classrooms focus entirely on the positive implications of the Supreme Court decision, Leslie chose to explore the complicated history behind the case. She described that taking action in dismantling the “separate but equal” laws required “taking life in your own hands. … It was more of an opening shot in a coming battle opposed to the end of the war,” she said.

Leslie also discussed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the product of Rosa Parks’ resistance against daily discrimination towards African Americans on the Montgomery bus system. “The story is that she sat there and she was on the bus and she was tired. Rosa Parks was tired, but she wasn’t tired from a day’s work. She was tired from a lifelong work of activism.

Decades of hard, often thankless and dangerous civil rights work.”

Leslie focused on the rarely covered details that surrounded Parks’ struggle for civil rights. She reminded us that Parks’ defiance had been similarly demonstrated years before.

Leslie exposed the controversial decision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to choose Parks as their figure of civil rights instead of Claudette Colvin, who “wasn’t married, was pregnant and from the wrong side of the tracks,” she said. The NAACP believed her background would cause them to lose their court case, so they waited for another incident of discrimination, Rosa Parks’, before they presented their case to the Supreme Court. Leslie stressed that while Parks was the preferred story, there were other examples of defiance that were not deemed respectable because of the individuals’ backgrounds.

The last symbol of the civil rights movement she chose to speak of concerned Bayard Rustin, a little-known civil rights leader who taught Dr. King about Gandhi’s pacifist beliefs, but whose credibility diminished after his homosexuality was announced.

“In the Cold War, United States homosexuality was not only seen as perverted, but homosexuality was seen as a gateway to Communism,” she said. His community consequently excluded him and only the well-respected civil rights leader that acknowledged him was A. Philip Randolph. He asked Rustin to organize the legendary March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Despite his overwhelming success as deputy organizer, Leslie acknowledged that he is often ignored in classrooms because of his controversial history.

Students found her lecture to be eye-opening and said that their once-positive understanding of the civil rights movement had now changed, as they considered the new aspects mentioned in the speech. They agreed that rather than relying on well-known events, it is better to consider the era as a whole, from all points of view.

JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice

INTENT LISTENERS: Students consider Prof. Leslie’s (AAAS) lecture on obscure figures of the civil rights movement as she takes widely-known events and fills in the details that most students are not taught in school.

10

TUESDAY, febRuary 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

Justice Justice

the the

Established 1949, Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Established 1949

Emily Kraus, Editor in Chief Nashrah Rahman, Managing Editor Brian N. Blumenthal, Production Editor Andrew Wingens, Deputy Editor Alana Abramson, Rebecca Blady, Hillel Buechler, Eitan Cooper, Bryan Flatt, Rebecca Klein, Asher Krell, Fiona Lockyer, Tess Raser, Robyn Spector and Marielle Temkin, Associate Editors Sara Dejene, News Editor Celine Hacobian, Acting Features Editor Shafaq Hasan, Forum Editor Adam Rabinowitz, Sports Editor Ariel Kay, Arts Editor Emily Salloway, Acting Arts Editor Jenny Cheng and Joshua Linton, Photography Editors Nan Pang, Layout Editor Maya Riser-Kositsky, Acting Copy Editor David Wolkoff, Acting Advertising Editor

Campus in disrepair At its March meeting, the Board of Trustees will be discussing the budget for the fiscal 2013. The administration will give the board a list of their top-priority projects to which it believes money should be allocated. At the faculty meeting that took place last Thursday, the faculty representative to the Board of Trustees reported that the University has now deferred $170 million in renovations. In light of the upcoming budget decisions, we urge the administration and the Board of Trustees to keep in mind the following renovation projects, as their upkeep greatly affects living standards students: While Usen Castle’s primary function on this campus is to house sophomores, it is also an undeniably significant landmark for Brandeis. Built in 1928, it is the oldest building on campus and a major selling point for the Office of Admissions. An article in U.S. News and World Report named the Castle as one of “8 Cool College Dorms.” But what Admissions does not tell potential students and what U.S. News does not know is that the Castle is in a serious state of disrepair.

In January 2011, multiple students reported that their rooms in the Castle were leaking, and one student reported that “it was raining in my room” in a February 2011 interview with the Justice. Approximately 120 sophomores live in the Castle each year, making it a prominent and unavoidable residence hall for some students.

The building is also host to two social venues. Multiple clubs host coffeehouses at Cholmondeley’s each semester in order to raise money and awareness for their respective causes. The Punk, Rock n’ Roll club and WBRS often bring bands to play at Chum’s. Any club can rent the space for whatever use they wish.

Consider dorm renovations There is also the Castle Commons where events, meetings, activities and even classes—currently the Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies class “Inner Peace and Outer Peace”—are held.

Because the disrepair of the Castle is fairly well known among students, it has become one of the least-desirable dorms on campus. Though it would be a expensive project, it is one that the administration should not put off any longer and make its top priority during 2013 in order to continue housing students in a safe dorm and protect the Castle from falling into disrepair.

Other buildings are also in undesirable straits. Another sophomore dorm— East Quad—would benefit from the administration’s attention. Though East is not falling apart like the Castle is, students hold it in low esteem. In order to make the dorm that houses the majority of the sophomore class more appealing, bathroom renovations and modern updates should be considered in order to increase the general standard of living in East.

This would improve the housing situation for nearly 400 students. Similar repairs should be made in most first-year residence halls updating bathrooms, lighting fixtures and kitchens.

The recent interior renovations have made the Charles River Apartments a more desirable dorm. The bathrooms in the Foster Mods were renovated over this past summer. Now that the pool in the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center has been repaired, the administration can turn its attention toward fixing more dorms, because the majority of students live on campus and would benefit tremendously from these upgrades.

Reconnect with social justice This week, the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, along with the Student Union, is sponsoring the first ’Deis Impact. ’Deis Impact is a “weeklong festival of social justice.

Clubs and academic departments have planned dozens of events throughout the week, featuring talks, performances, exhibits, and discussions,” according to the program’s brochure. We appreciate the programming, which ranges from a Playback Theater workshop to a discussion led by Prof. Jane Hale (ROMS) on family literacy, that we feel strongly emphasizes a significant pillar of the University.

Although Brandeis students are often involved in “social justice” clubs such as the Brandeis Labor Coalition and STAND, it is especially impressive how well advertised ’Deis Impact has been over the past few months through emails, flyers and promotions from professors.

Because of all the advertising, we hope that there will be a large turnout at the events. The events cover a wide range of topics hosted by several campus groups including Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society, the Hiatt Career

Events reinforce principles Center, the Pre-Law Society and the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department—just to name a few, that surely any University student can find they have an interest in.

Many students came to the University because of its vibrant history in social justice and activism. Thus, we see this weeklong event as a great way for the University to uphold its beliefs in social and political consciousness. The Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life is committed to programming concerning social justice, but we are happy to see that they are not alone in putting on the event and that student leaders have taken an active position in co-sponsoring the event.

We encourage students to take time in their busy days to participate in programming during ’Deis Impact, when there are events daily from noon to 9pm.

With a high level of involvement and interest, ’Deis Impact can be the start of many thought-provoking and important conversations on our campus and hopefully the start of many more similar events.

SARA WEININGER/the Justice

Discern between perception and truth

OP-BOX Quote of the Week “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

—Simone Weil, a French

Hillel

buechler and so on

philosopher in a documentary about her that was shown on campus last Thursday (See Arts, pg. 19)

Brandeis Talks Back “FAKE! This is NOT an Israeli solider!”

If you were on Facebook last Wednesday and have a significant number of Jewish “friends,” then you may have seen those red words glossed on a photo of a soldier-type individual pointing a gun at a child. In fact, you might have seen it more than once. Perhaps it popped up incessantly on your news feed all day long, as it did for me.

At first glance, the whole thing seems like a textbook case of noble, pro-Israel fact correcting. But it might have been something else. In part, it might reveal a more notable reservation about the Israeli Defense Forces from among even the most ardent Israel supporters.

In case you missed it, the photo shows an individual in military garb (from the waist down) pointing a rather big gun at a rather little girl who is lying on the ground and upon whom the armed individual has also placed his booted right foot.

Equally prominent in the picture, to the right of the action, are the aforementioned words. Below, in the same loud red font as the earlier words, are two detail-specific clarifications that point out the ways in which this picture just cannot possibly be one of a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Some background: An earlier version of the photo apparently began making some viral rounds on Facebook earlier in the week.

According the English language website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in that earlier form, users posting the picture purported it to be of an Israeli soldier threatening a Palestinian girl.

This was a lie.

Fervent Internet users/Israel-defenders were quick to point out the extents to which the photo was a phony, resulting in the creation and widespread dissemination of the image covered with corrective red text.

According to the text of the counter-fake-picture iteration of the image, there were two very specific details that plainly proved the picture was a forgery: The alleged Israeli solider is holding an AK-47 assault rifle that is not used by that country’s army. And Israeli military uniforms have full jacket zippers, different from the one worn in the posted picture.

Eventually, an uncropped form of the photograph surfaced, proving with further finality that the photo was definitely, definitely not one of an Israeli soldier.

So was this just a case of active grassroots defense of Israel in the face of some increasingly anti-Israel world? Or was there something about the rampant postings that is telling in a different, more sobering way?

It’s impossible to really discern why any one person felt compelled to repost the corrected image. It’s the type of thing that even a well-worded poll wouldn’t truly capture. But having unwittingly seen the variety of ways in which people posted it, my hunch is that no single reason will suffice.

The “gotcha” mentality seemed quite prominent, as there’s quite a thrill in exposing an enemy’s blatant lie. For any pro-Israel activist of any sort, this seems to have been quite a win. The picture was a shabbily cropped forgery, and that’s that. It was an easy, indisputable victory among an endless cyber-world riddled with bogus allegations.

However, for some it seemed more as though reposting this picture was something of an awkward relief.

On Wednesday, we had the chance to see an image that was fortunately fallacious. But in some strange way, it was almost little more than a comforting coincidence—because if people look hard enough, they can find the real versions.

I’m not talking about some alternate original of this counterfeit. And I don’t mean to say that there exists some corresponding, real photograph of an Israeli solider stepping on and pointing his weapon at a Palestinian child—I gladly know of no such photo.

But Israeli military activity in the West Bank and Gaza over the last many years has provided far too many verified images and accounts of Israeli soldiers in less-than-flattering scenarios.

What we saw on Wednesday just wasn’t one of them.

And perhaps therein lies a whole different set of problems— problems that cannot be posted, shared or liked away. Or perhaps we all need spend just a little bit less time on Facebook.

What building do you think needs to be renovated on campus?

Zach Lachman ’15 “Shapiro slums.”

Darrel Byrd ’13 “The old science rooms, Gerstenzang.”

Juliette Flan ’12 “My freshman dorm, Reitman hall.”

Jane Qian ’15 “Goldsmith, the math building.”

—Compiled by Rebecca Klein Photos by Tess Raser/ the Justice

THE JUSTICE

Integrate the arts with social justice

●

TUESDAY, February 7, 2012

11

Garage offers parking solution

By KATE ALEXANDER SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE

The performing arts abound at Brandeis; there’s widespread love for plays, vocal performance groups, frat parties, concerts and musicals. It’s the love of escape and creation. A few moments of creative release for stress-busted students as they create, or escape to, a better world.

But at this university, founded on principles of social justice, I have to ask: What if the purpose of our arts didn’t end with applause? As the former Justice League Executive Director, I’ve been accused of being radical. So, here’s another radical idea: the arts and social justice aren’t different—not in the slightest. The arts challenge our perspective of world, create larger than life archetypes for us to live up to or defeat in epic struggles, provide space to examine and recover from trauma, and imagine worlds of incredible beauty.

Social justice gives us the capacity to challenge our political leaders, recognizes figures of incredible hope, like Ghandhi and MLK Jr., and challenges us to live up to their standards.

Social justice teaches us that we must confront evil in the form of Joseph Kony and other war criminals, and provides space for former enemies to reconcile their differences.

The romances imagined in the arts are lived in social justice efforts. Women who live in oppressive, patriarchal societies are denied the right to live on their own terms, let alone love on them. As a women’s rights activist, a social justice actor, I have the capacity to change the ending of their stories. Most of all, social justice challenges us; it challenges us to be better people.

Social justice gives us the opportunity to act and create a more-connected, peaceful world.

The arts may be the best means to achieve that goal. They grant underserved communities the agency to write their own social narratives, and even at Brandeis the arts can make difficult subjects accessible to a larger audience. I believe that access to the arts is a prerequisite for equal rights, and widespread love of the arts gives artists an incredible opportunity to not only create new worlds, but to shape for the better the one that we live in now. After all, before we can achieve a more peaceful world, we have to be able to imagine it.

But then again, maybe I’m biased. My parents are artists, and I grew up going to art school every summer. I also grew up seeing my parents fight for their studio space time and time again; they were fighting for the space to create better worlds, and so am I. The arts are my foundation for social justice, and I hope that ’Deis Impact week will show my Brandeis community that any discipline, any interest can be that foundation for any of us; all that matters is that we use that foundation for a greater purpose.

Editor’s note: Kate Alexander ’12 is a member of the Core Committee of ’Deis Impact.

Phillip

gallager back to basicS

As I sat down last week to begin writing this article in the Mandel Center for the Humanities, I noticed a car illegally parked across the street.

I imagine that the driver was frustrated by the lack of parking spaces on campus and decided to stop in the striped zone usually designated for pedestrians. Later that day, while walking to my dorm from the Shapiro Campus Center, I saw a car in the Science Lot with two wheels on the grass.

Again, there were not enough spaces available for all the faculty and staff, and the driver was clearly desperate enough to improvise and create his own space.

This type of parking hell is ubiquitous at Brandeis and requires a long-term solution, such as a parking garage.

Brandeis’ parking has two main problems: a shortage of spaces and an epidemic of people not parking in their assigned lot. In an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins said that the University has 2,299 parking spaces on campus. However, figures from the Office of Parking and Traffic indicate that faculty and staff alone have been issued about 2,100 parking permits. Students have been issued approximately 1,350 permits, which would bring the total number of permits well over the total number of spaces. And then there are guests that come to campus each day, such as prospective students and visiting lecturers, who probably drive cars too. According to this data, we are short over 1,000 spaces.

People also don’t park where they are supposed to park. According to the Office of Parking and Traffic, 6,927 parking citations were issued on campus in 2011. Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan explained over the phone that the majority of them were issued for “parking in a controlled area without the correct permit,” which basically means parking in the wrong lot, according to the Department of Public Safety. Understandably, no one wants to walk from the Theater Lot to Olin-Sang on a cold New England morning.

Shuttles, such as the campus shuttles that currently run throughout the day for students, ought to be arranged twice a day, at the beginning and end of the workday, for the specific purpose of transporting faculty, staff, and students between the parking lots and their respective buildings.

Maintaining a shuttle service around campus would allay people’s concerns of walking to their office across campus on cold or rainy days, especially if the parking garage is located near the Spingold Theater Center.

An ideal solution to these two problems is to

centralize parking by constructing a parking garage on campus. A parking garage would increase the number of spaces on campus without taking up additional land, which would help close the gap of spaces to parking permits. It would also provide a more central location for parking on campus from which campus shuttles could transport drivers to their respective buildings. This would cut down on illegal parking and reduce parking congestion in other lots.

Other benefits to a parking garage might be less obvious. Large plots of land behind the Spingold Theater Center are currently designated parking lots. The construction of a very large parking garage could eliminate the need for one of those lots, freeing up the land for the University to use for other needs, such as new dormitories or a field.

Additional parking could also bring the University’s parking standards in line with those of other schools. Many schools offer parking to sophomore students, which the university recently terminated. An increase in spaces could allow the University to reinstate sophomore parking. Several larger schools, such as Tufts University, Carnegie Mellon University, and

MARA SASSOON/the Justice

Vanderbilt University, have a parking garage to accommodate the large number of cars on campus. As Brandeis admits larger classes each year and hires more faculty and staff, the number of cars on campus will continue to increase.

It would be appropriate to construct a parking garage to accommodate this growth and prevent more traffic congestion.

The idea of building a parking garage has been considered and understandably postponed by the administration because of its excessively high cost and potential financing challenges. Collins estimates that the price per space of a garage could be upwards of $25,000, as he indicated in his email to the Justice. In such a case, a 500-space parking garage could cost over $12.5 million.

With that estimate in mind, it is worthwhile for the construction of a garage to be incorporated into the strategic planning process for consideration further down the road, especially given other projects that may be more immediately pressing. Nonetheless, the construction of a parking garage is very important. Parking may sound like a minute detail in the scheme of a university, but operating a university gets tricky if people can’t find a place to leave their car.

Broaden horizons by learning new languages

By Tasneem islam JUSTICE contributing writer

Brandeis offers 12 different foreign language classes overall, but how many of these are really worth taking if you can’t practice them in regular conversations with your peers?

The discussion over the purpose of learning foreign languages began in the late 1990s and early 2000s when many colleges and universities created a foreign language requirement for their schools. Since American businesses have broadened to many overseas markets, our global economy has permeated many cultures. However, amid all the cultural exchanges, the language barrier has become a hindrance. No matter how much we want to believe that English is the universal language because it is most commonly spoken in our melting pot of a nation, there are many other languages that are popular around the world.

According to a recent article in The New York Times titled “The World Has Changed,” Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese are a few of many other prominent languages that are commonplace in the global market. Even though English is currently the dominant language in the world, these other languages are growing at an exponential rate and could dethrone English

Write to us

The Justice welcomes letters to the editor responding to published material. Please submit letters through our Web site at www.thejustice.org. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted.

Letters should not exceed 300 words, and may be edited for space, style, grammar, spelling, libel and clarity, and must relate to material published in the Justice. Letters from off-campus sources should include location. The Justice does not print letters to the editor and oped submissions that have been submitted to other publications.

Op-ed submissions of general interest to the University community­—that do not respond explicitly to articles printed in the Justice—are also welcome and should be limited to 800 words. All submissions are due Friday at 12 p.m.

as the universal language in the future. Chinese could be this dethroner as, according to the article, the content of the Internet in Chinese is expanding incredibly quickly.

Becoming proficient in one or more of these languages can be only beneficial for your future.

Transcontinental companies want to hire employees who can adapt to different situations and help broaden their business by speaking mulitple languages. An article in The Washington Post last February reported that between 2000 and 2009, 2.4 million American jobs had been outsourced to overseas countries. If this trend continues in the future, multilingual individuals will automatically be favored over English-only speaking individuals.

Moreover, reaching out to a new company in a different country and being able to converse with business clients and associates in their language creates a friendly atmosphere. It adds a personal touch and flow to your conversation that you can’t get by using an electronic translator or hiring an interpreter. It makes business more comfortable for them. Being bilingual or even multilingual isn’t beneficial for just businessmen. It can help in a plethora of other professions as well. As a physician, you can create a more personal bond with your patient by speaking to them in his na-

Fine Print

The opinions stated in the editorial(s) under the masthead on the opposing page represent the opinion of a majority of the voting members of the editorial board; all other articles, columns, comics and advertisements do not necessarily. For the Brandeis Talks Back feature on the opposite page, staff interview four randomly selected students each week and print only those four answers.

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. Operated, written, produced and published entirely by students, the Justice includes news, features, arts, opinion and sports articles of interest to approximately 3,200 undergraduates, 800 graduate students, 500 faculty and 1,000 administrative staff.

In addition, the Justice is mailed weekly to paid subscribers and distributed throughout Waltham, Mass. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods.

Advertising deadlines: All insertion orders and advertising copy must be received by the Justice no later than 5 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the date of publication.

All advertising copy is subject to approval of the editor in chief and the managing and advertising editors. A publication schedule and rate card is available upon request.

Subscription rate: $35 per semester, $55 per year.

tive tongue. He will be more comfortable talking to you about their specific health problems. As in business, it adds that extra “personal touch” that you can’t get with a translator. Moreover, you would get assigned more cases because of your multilingual background. Other physicians would come to you for help when they had nonEnglish speaking patients and they could respect you more for your assistance. As a teacher, you can help non-English speaking students comprehend difficult lessons. Being a teacher with a multilingual background enhances your resume because your ability to help students extends further than that of any of the other monolingual educators.

What about languages that are used far less, such as Latin or Russian? Is there really a point?

I would answer that with an exclamatory “yes!”

Learning new languages stimulates new parts of your brain, and research shows that it aids in cognitive development. Bilinguals have the ability to process both languages at the same time. As a result, they are able to multitask better than monolinguals because their brains can organize and process information better and faster. Multitasking is a life skill that can help you in innumerable ways in your education, work and life.

Learning another language also creates a cul-

The Staff

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

tural experience that one can’t get by just reading about it. Being able to fully throw yourself into another culture involves understanding their customs and idioms. It’s important to be cultured so you can be open-minded and understand why certain cultures behave the way they do, such as why the Aztecs praised the sun as a god or why monks live humbly. In this way, you can fully explore and appreciate everything about that culture. Not to mention the vast arrays of literature that would then be opened and available to your access.

Becoming a polyglot requires practice and patience to maintain. It may seem like learning a language like Arabic won’t be useful in daily American life. However, if you consider how impressive it would look on your résumé, how healthy it is for your brain and how it can open your eyes to a new world of literature and a culture that you previously could never traverse or understand, it seems like an exciting challenge to take on.

So why not take that “Intro to German” class or that “Advanced Yiddish” class? All competitive job markets look for that special “something” that will set you apart from the crowd. If it’s proficiency in Greek or Mandarin that will differentiate you, it is a college investment worth making.

Editorial Assistants News: Tate Herbert, Sam Mintz Staff Senior Writers: Josh Asen, Aaron Berke, Wei Huan-Chen, Shelly Shore Senior Illustrator: Sara Weininger Senior Photographer: Alex Margolis News: Shani Abramowitz, Tyler Belanga, Jonathan Epstein, Danielle Gross, Luke Hayslip Features: Claire Gohorel, Rachel Miller, Jessie Miller Forum: Aaron Fried, Philip Gallagher, Tien Le, Diego Medrano, Sara Shahanaghi, Naomi Volk Sports: Julian Cardillo, Jacob Elder, Henry Loughlin, Jacob Lurie, Jacob Moskowitz, Becca Elwin Arts: Alex DeSilva, Olivia Leiter, Amy Melser, Leanne

Ortbals, Louis Polisson, Mara Sassoon, Ayan Sanyal, Viet Tran, Dan Willey Photography: Jon Edelstein, Lydia Emmanouilidou, Nathaniel Freedman, Yifan He, Josh Horowitz, Davida Judelson, Josh Spriro, Madeleine Stix, Diana Wang, David Yun Copy: Aliza Braverman, Jennie Bromberg, Patricia Greene, Max Holzman, Eunice Ko, Megan Paris, Christine Phan, Mailinh Phan-Nguyen, Leah Rogers, Amanda Winn Layout: Rachel Burkhoff, Jassen Lu, Denny Poliferno, Michelle Yi Illustrations: Mara Sassoon, Arielle Shorr, Tziporah Thompson

12

TUESDAY, febRurary 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Stop brain drain by lowering tuition Diego

medrano missing link

Americans overestimate the quality of our education. That is not to say that we don’t have worldclass colleges and universities, but as much as we value our own system, we underestimate those of other countries. If we continue in this trend, the United States will face a larger “brain drain” than we currently have.

So why am I attending Brandeis? Because I assume that the education I receive here will put me in a position to succeed in the future—more so than that at other universities I could have attended. So I take out loans and accumulate the debt along with my fellow classmates who are all operating under the same assumption. Well, we might be wrong.

Not exactly wrong, but we might be underestimating the need for the debt we accumulate.

More and more students are going overseas for their college careers to attend world-class universities at a fraction of the cost. Some are viewing this as an “outsourcing” of education. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that only 0.06 percent of U.S. undergraduates are currently pursuing their academic careers in universities abroad with about half of those students going to Britain.

Yet the OECD also notes that the number of students choosing to attend college abroad has been increasing while the number of students from other countries coming to study in the U.S. has been decreasing. While they cannot say exactly why those students are going abroad, the belief is that lower costs for education are a major draw.

The perception of U.S. universities is getting worse both inside and outside the U.S., and with schools abroad offering similar educations for a fraction of the cost, that 0.06 percent could grow into a much more significant number.

In the past few decades, we have also seen more and more companies outsourcing jobs to other countries. While that outsourcing used to tackle the laborious manufacturing of items, the actual development and innovation are now being outsourced as well.

The old justification for outsourcing was that it opens up higher-level jobs in the U.S., but that is quickly proving untrue. Even staples of American commerce like General Electric and General Motors have become known for sending jobs out of the country.

The same principle that we apply to keep jobs in the U.S. should apply to keeping students here as well. If the trend of outsourcing education continues, there is no guarantee that those students will return and then become productive members in our markets.

Just like a company is smart for hiring workers at the lowest costs, a student is smart for getting the best value for his or her education.

SHAFAQ HASAN/the Justice

The same way that economists have warned of a “brain drain” in the U.S. for outsourcing many of our engineering jobs, we need to be wary of this occurring at an even earlier stage. Students who receive a high-quality education at a reasonable price will feel more indebted to their universities or the country that provided the opportunity and want to give back. If an international university allows a student an opportunity that they would not have had here, they’re more likely to stay and contribute there.

What is likely keeping the majority of students in the U.S. is the cultural factor. College can be daunting enough without the culture shock of a new location or new languages, but the risk of moving to a new country may not outweigh the benefit of avoiding copious amounts of debt, and students may wise up to the idea of outsourcing their education. To avoid this, universities should take a cue from the recent histories of G.E. and G.M. While both companies are known for

being leaders in outsourcing their labor, they’ve recently shifted focus to growing their U.S. presence and work force.

What provoked the change? While there are plenty of reasons, subsidies and tax breaks are significant reasons. The same could work for students—a wider availability of scholarships, years of service to cancel debts, financial incentives to keep the U.S.’s top minds studying at local universities—all these ideas can work and can help ensure future success for the US. In my travels, especially around Europe, the attitude toward college seems different. In the United States, continuing education is seen as an obvious necessity to a certain level of success outside of manual labor.

Yet we still treat the institutions in a highminded bourgeoisie sort of way. We proclaim that everyone has the right to education, but that mindset stops after high school. Then we add the disclaimer that everyone deserves higher educa-

tion with a healthy dose of debt or at lesser universities. Plenty of universities around the world provide the same level of education at a price that is considerably more affordable. That’s because education, even higher education, shouldn’t be a privilege, but a right. And not at the risk of future financial hardship.

The U.S.’s position as an innovator and economic leader ensures that some of the greatest minds choose to study and work here. Yet this can’t be taken for granted. We need to change our attitude towards education and particularly education costs if we care about the long-term success of our country. As Americans, we are bred to be competitive.

We are competitive against each other, other cities, other states and especially other countries.

Capitalism tells us that if other countries offer the same quality education for a lower cost, it will only be a matter of time until our students choose to take their minds elsewhere.

Consider impartially representing drugs facts Aaron

Fried free thought

Here in the United States, parents demand anti-drug education. Despite this, drug use is not decreasing. In fact, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, marijuana use has steadily been growing.

Despite the years of anti-drug education classes in schools and “Above the Influence” commercials, individuals seem unfazed and determined to keep doing drugs. But why?

This seems to fly in the face of common sense, so it is necessary to back up and analyze what may be causing this. Are drugs becoming less expensive? No, the war on drugs has ensured that the cartel monopoly keeps drug prices artificially high. Are teenagers ignorant? No, teenagers today have a wealth of knowledge available to them at their fingertips the moment they choose to use it.

Perhaps, then, the anti-drug education most students receive fails to fully inform them of the risks in addition to the non-risks of drug use and thus cannot convince them to completely to refrain from this behavior.

How could years of health class lessons and

television commercial campaigns fail to communicate to students the dangers of drug use? To get an idea of what information was being told to these soon-to-be drug-using students, I visited Above the Influence’s website to read its drug information pages.

What I found was a lot of very useful information about truly dangerous drugs, such as alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and ketamine. Despite a clear bias against the use of these drugs (which is fine, they are entitled to their goals), they present a fair and largely factual case depicting the pitfalls associated with these risky drugs. They do not shy away from telling children that these substances can have horrifying effects and, in this case, do an admirable job helping to protect America’s youth from these very real health threats.

Unfortunately, Above the Influence is more concerned with furthering an indiscriminate anti-drug point of view rather than maintaining their educational integrity and impartially representing less dangerous drugs, such as marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and even LSD. Above the Influence could have made a compelling case against the use of marijuana by explaining to readers how being high can cause you to waste time and be unproductive. They instead chose to mention “an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia” on their website. This is misleading. To me, their intent is clear: Above the Influence is mincing language to trick children who have not yet been taught these statistics

into believing that smoking pot will make them anxious, depressed or schizophrenic. However, a cursory glance at the statistics they cite reveals that there is only a correlative link between marijuana and these disorders, not a causative link.

The facts clearly are not being represented accurately.

Similarly, on the pages for “magic mushrooms” and “acid,”Above the Influence distorts language and twists the truth rather than offering a clear explanation of what these drugs do. According to Drugs and Society: U.S. Public Policy by J.M. Fish, psilocybin and LSD are lethal when taken in doses over 1,000 times their normal dose —this ratio means that if two pounds of psilocybin will induce its psychoactive effects, it would take a ton of psilocybin to be lethal. Additionally, the human body builds a tolerance to these substances rather rapidly, which causes them to be ineffective if used frequently. This makes it rather obvious that these drugs, though powerful and risky substances, are not addictive or lethal along the same lines as heroin, crack cocaine or methamphetamine. However, none of these additional facts are listed on the website.

Above the Influence does not pay due diligence to these facts. Rather than addressing LSD and psilocybin’s intoxicating effects as freestanding arguments against the drugs, they choose to conjure up a smokescreen. In a section called “The Bottom Line,” they discuss acid’s effect on the brain. “As one of the most important organs of your body, your brain works tirelessly to oversee all of the feelings, actions and operations of your

body. When you think about it, LSD seems like a cruel and dangerous hoax to play on your brain.”

The implication here is obvious: Above the Influence is trying to convey the notion that LSD will prevent your brain from overseeing vital “actions and operations of your body.” However, the website would be more successful in deterring individuals from using LSD by just describing the psychoactive experiences of these drugs. In my humble opinion, the idea of being dissociated from reality and subject to hallucinations outside my control is horrifying enough to dissuade me from using these drugs.

If an intelligent teenager makes an honest inquiry into the effects of these drugs, it is impossible for him to take Above the Influence’s facts seriously. The site’s deceitful tactics in consciously omitting vital facts is a red flag to anyone willing to look deep enough; this weakens its credibility.

When organizations like Above the Influence are dishonest with those who they claim to protect, they undermine their own objectives. If they truly desire to protect children from gambling their lives for a high, they ought to not only inform readers of risks but also of non-risks. Even if it means some people choose to use “safer” drugs, maintaining the credibility necessary to defend teens against true dangers is worth the price. In their practice of obsessively and indiscriminately chasing down any intoxicant, Above the Influence has crippled their own ethos and become the Teletubbies of drug education. They would do better to adopt an old adage: “Honesty is the best policy.”

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, February 7, 2012

13

SPORTS

MBBALL: Judges pull out a vital conference win

PRIMETIME

CONTINUED FROM 16 Youri Dascy ’14 to five fouls each, the Judges were able to hang tough in overtime.

The extra period featured two ties and two lead changes. Carnegie shot 5-10 from the free-throw line in the period, a big factor in the Tartans’ loss.

Down 76-73 after a pair of Carnegie free throws, Freeman drove down the lane for a layup, cutting the lead to one with just 37 seconds left. Brandeis fouled, while the two misses set up Hughes’ game-winning heroics.

“In overtime, the game was back and forth, but Ty hit a great shot to seal the deal at the buzzer,” said Stoyle.

Kriskus led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting 5-9 from the field, 1-3 from deep and 5-5 from the charity stripe. He also contributed eight rebounds, two blocks and four turnovers in just 30 minutes of play.

Freeman was second on the squad in scoring, putting up 12 points off the bench. Guard Derek Retos ’14 and Hughes each scored 11 for the Judges.

Last Friday, Brandeis looked like a different team, losing to the lastplace Case Western Reserve Spartans by 91-68.

The win ended an eight-game losing streak for the Spartans and also marked their first UAA victory of the season.

JON EDELSTEIN/the Justice

EN GARDE: Épeest Alex Powell ’12 prepares to square off against Haverford epeeist Alex Bostick in last Saturday’s home meet.

Men and women head in opposite directions ■ The men’s squad had an

impressive 4-1 day at its home meet, while the women struggled with a 1-4 mark.

By HENRY LOUGHLIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Fencing may not be the most highlighted sport, but as sabreist Zoe Messinger ’13 noted, there is only one sport where athletes get to “play with swords.”

Hosting the Eric Sollee Invitational last Saturday, the Brandeis fencing squads showed they were quite good at just that.

The men grabbed the University Athletic Association crown, besting opponents such as Haverford College 18-9, Hunter College 25-2, UAA rival New York University 17-10 and Johns Hopkins University 14-1. While the men fell to the No. 7 ranked University of Pennsylvania fencing squad 21-6, they took solace in a victory over their UAA rivals NYU, their first since 2007.

Despite only earning a 1-4 record on the day, the women also fared well in a tournament filled with Division I powerhouses. While defeating Hunter College 19-8, the women would lose to Haverford 16-11, Johns Hopkins 19-8, NYU 20-7 and UPenn 22-5.

Coach Bill Shipman stated that the team is still experiencing growing pains, but they are doing well at

making adjustments as the season progresses.

“The women are relatively inexperienced in many weapons, but they’re definitely making improvements.”

Alex Powell ’12 went 11-4 to lead the team, including a thrilling bout to seal the épeéists’ win over Johns Hopkins.

In addition to Powell, sabreist Jess Ochs-Willard ’15 had helped the men’s saber squad to a 7-2 win over Johns Hopkins. His contribution would prove vital, as Hopkins would come back to edge the Judges in foil 5-4.

It also looked to be Brandeis’ only victory against the Blue Jays, as Hopkins jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in épeé.

However, Brandeis came through in the clutch. Epeéists Harry Kaufer ’13 and Mike Zook ’13 sealed key wins to set the stage for Powell to decide the Judges’ fate against Hopkins.

Powell made no mistake, blanking his opponent 5-0 to give Brandeis’ épeéists the win.

Powell was understandably happy with the Judges’ victories over NYU and Johns Hopkins, especially from the younger fencers.

“A lot of the younger guys stepped up and had very good days,” said Powell. “We lost to Penn, but we hung tough after that. That momentum allowed us to hang tough and beat NYU.” While the women did not prove to be as successful, there were still many quality performances. In the win over

Hunter, sabreists Messinger, Emmily Smith ’13 and Hallie Frank ’14 all went undefeated in their matches, as did épeéists Kristin Ha ’14 and Leah Mack ’14.

When asked how to best prepare for these Division I matches, Messinger explained that the ideal preparation strategy involves a emotional balance.

“I try to get my team pumped,” she said.

“We always have pump-up talks together. You have to get excited to a certain point. It’s a medium and you have to bring it together.

The Judges will head to North Carolina to the Duke Invitational, hosted

by Duke University.

While this weekend was a good indicator of where both squads lie relative to the rest of their competition, Shipman always relishes a chance to compete in this tournament. “[The invitational] is well-run,” he said.

“We’ve beaten Duke in North Carolina before, but we’re not sure if we can do it this time. Regardless, it will have some good opponents and we look forward to competing.”

Powell sent a warning out to the rest of the Judges opponents, saying the men’s team’s record might not do justice to how close the matches have been.

“None of our matches have been complete blowouts,” said Powell. “We have been competing well, and we’re starting to come into form.”

The first half of the game proved to be an even affair, with Brandeis down 36-35. The last three games between these two teams had been decided by a total of 12 points, but last Friday, this was not the case. In the second half, the Brandeis defense faltered, allowing Case to score a season high in points.

Case scored on each of its first seven possessions, while Brandeis failed to score on its first five. The Judges found themselves down 5143 after a Dascy layup with 13:40 to go, but Case went on a 10-0 run to pull away for the win.

The Spartans shot 70 percent in the second half, missing just nine out of 30 attempts, while shooting 57.1 percent overall for the game.

Brandeis shot just 36.2 percent and connected on only four of 14 shots from beyond the arc.

“We just came out with no energy and everything fell apart,” said Stoyle, referring to the second half.

“It’s as simple as that; we stopped playing with any kind of intensity or sense of urgency.”

Kriskus led the Judges with 16 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Dascy scored 13 points and recorded seven rebounds, while Freeman put up 13 points off the bench in just 18 minutes.

The Judges continue their UAA road trip against the University of Rochester this Friday at 8 p.m.

They then travel to face Emory University for another conference matchup on Sunday afternoon.

WBBALL: Squad fades on the road CONTINUED FROM 16 and a double-double from Hassan, the Judges did not have enough offensive firepower to seal the victory against Case last Friday.

Hitting 9-18 from the field and 2-2 from the line, Kendrew was the only Brandeis player who recorded more than two field goals.

Hassan achieved her double-double with 10 points on 2- 6 shooting from the field and a career-high 10 rebounds, three of which were offensive boards.

While the first half remained close, the Judges again allowed Case to jump ahead on game-chang-

ing runs, including a 19-2 run in the first half.

When down by seven in the second half, the Judges scored 10 unanswered points and managed to regain a slight lead.

However, the Case defense quickly pulled it together, holding the Judges to only five points on 2-16 from the field and going on a 21-5 run.

This weekend, the Judges will prepare for another weekend on the road against University of Rochester at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Brandeis will then travel to Atlanta to take on Emory University this upcoming Sunday afternoon.

TRACK: Teams face a reality check at meet CONTINUED FROM 16 the men’s long jump with a distance of 6.2 meters, while Viet Tran ’15 was 28th with a distance of 6.1 meters. Tran also placed 12th in the men’s triple jump.

For the women jumpers, Lily Parenteau ’14 had another notable day with her third place finish in the high jump at 1.52 meters.

In the same competition, Kim Farrington ’12 was eighth with a height of 1.42 meters, while in the triple

jump, she placed fifth with a distance of 10.46 meters.

Maser stated that the team, due to its relative inexperience, was still getting used to trying out new meets, but is confident that it has the talent needed to succeed.

“A lot of people are trying new events,” said Maser. “The talent, though, is absolutely there.”

The track squads will next compete at the Valentine Invitational, held at Boston University this upcoming Friday.

14

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

SUPER BOWL XLVI

Patriots experience a major case of the blues ■ The Patriots relived their

nightmare, losing Super Bowl XLVI in the final minutes to the Giants.

By JACOB LURIE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

In 2008, the New York Giants ended the New England Patriots’ perfect season with a victory in Super Bowl XLII, causing heartache in Patriots Nation. Four years later, the Giants and Patriots squared off once again, with the Patriots seeking to exact sweet revenge. However, it was déjà vu for New England, as the Patriots ceded a last-minute touchdown to the Giants that cost them the Super Bowl.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning earned the game’s MVP award, his second Super Bowl ring and the Giants’ fourth team championship.

On its first possession, New England quickly found itself in trouble, as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was pressured into throwing the ball away. An intentional grounding penalty was called and, just like that, the Giants were awarded the first two points of the game.

On the next possession, the Giants steamrolled past the Patriots’ defense, driving 83 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 24-yard dash from Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw. At the Patriots’ two-yard line, Manning was able to find wide receiver Victor Cruz over the middle for the score, extending New York’s lead to 9-0.

New England was able to counter, due to the heroic efforts of kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Brady led the Patriots from their own 28yard line down to the Giants’ 11-yard line on a 10 play, 72-yard drive. From here, Gostkowski was able to drill a 29-yard field goal. The field goal sparked a Patriots rally.

With about four minutes to go in the half, Brady and the Patriots marched 96 yards on 14 plays to score a touchdown and took their first lead of the night. While at the Patriots’ 15-yard line, Brady found tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 20-yard gain. At the Giants’ four-yard line, Brady threw a short pass to the left to Danny Woodhead, who slithered into the end zone, putting New England up 10-9.

The Patriots’ offense displayed more consistent production at the outset of the second

half, as New England launched an eight play, 79-yard drive to score another touchdown. At the New York 12-yard line, Brady hit tight end Aaron Hernandez on his left side for the touchdown. The score and subsequent extra point not only put New England up 17-9, but gave the Patriots all of the momentum.

The Giants chipped at New England’s lead on their next two possessions in the third quarter. Manning entered Patriots territory on both drives, but was halted by the inspired Patriots defense. Kicker Lawrence Tynes nailed two field goals to bring the Giants back to within two points of New England.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Brady launched a deep pass intended for Gronkowski, but the pass was intercepted by New York linebacker Chase Blackburn. Although the Giants were unable to capitalize on the turnover, this play would undermine the sure footing the Patriots had stood upon.

Later in the quarter, with 3:46 to go, the Giants initiated a drive from their own 12yard line. Manning lobbed a ball up to wide receiver Mario Manningham for a completion along the sidelines, but Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, seeing the game quickly spiral out

of control, made the controversial decision to challenge the play. The officials’ ruling all but handed the game over to the Giants, as they confirmed the completion. The Giants then devoured the clock, charging up the field to set up a David Tyree-esque play. With about one minute left, and the Super Bowl on the line, Bradshaw snuck into the end zone, giving the Giants a 21-17 lead.

The Patriots had 57 seconds left in the game to take the lead, but like four years ago, could not make the clutch comeback. After a 19-yard completion to wide receiver Deion Branch for a first down, after a fourth-and-16, New England fans jumped up with hope at the potential for some late-game magic of their own.

However, Brady missed the crucial Hail Mary and the Giants came away, once again, as Super Bowl champions.

Eli Manning, who before the season stated he was in the same quarterbacking class as Tom Brady and was subsequently met with skepticism, proved his doubters wrong by winning the Super Bowl not once, but twice.

Patriot Nation, on the other hand, will try to rebound from not one, but two demoralizing losses.

colonnade/Flickr CreativeCommons

AJGuelPhotography/FlickrCreative Commons

KeithAllison/Flickr Creative Commons

youraddresshere/Flickr Creative Commons

xploitme/Flickr Creative Commons

Super Bowl loss stems from inability to make big plays ■ The New England Patriots failed

to capitalize on game-changing opportunities in their painful loss.

By JOSH ASEN JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

Although they did not admit it, the New England Patriots sought revenge Sunday night in Super Bowl XLVI against the New York Giants after losing to them in both Super Bowl XLII four years ago and in Week 9 of the regular season this past year. Instead, the Patriots relived the same horror story.

The Giants made the big-time plays when they mattered. The Patriots did not. Giants quarterback Eli Manning drove his team down the field for a game-winning touchdown.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did not.

On the final play of the game, Brady’s Hail Mary pass was nearly caught in the end zone by tight end Rob Gronkowski. It would have been the greatest play in Super Bowl history and given the Patriots the win, but instead it hit the ground.

Giants 21. Patriots 17. Unbelievable.

“You share this with all the players, the

coaches and all the people that did a tremendous job to get us here,” Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s a marvelous feeling.”

On the losing side, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could do nothing but compliment his players.

“Can’t fault the effort of any of our players,” he said. “They played as hard as they could.

We could have just played a bit better. It was obviously a very competitive football game.”

The Giants dominated the first half of play, yet trailed 10-9 going into Madonna’s halftime show.

After the Patriots marched down the field to score a touchdown on the first drive of the second half, the Giants had given up 17 consecutive points. Yet they never wavered. Their vaunted pass rush began to disrupt Brady and the Patriots’ offense, halting Big Blue’s offense for the rest of the game.

The Patriots’ defense was criticized throughout the season for not stopping the opposing offense when it counted. Last night was their chance to right those who doubted them. The opportunity came, and they failed.

Again.

New England certainly had its moments to capitalize on two Giants fumbles, but not

one landed in the hands of a Patriots’ player.

The Patriots also committed the only turnover of the game, as Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn intercepted Brady’s deep pass to Gronkowski. Blackburn was one-on-one with Gronkowski deep into Giants territory, but Blackburn out-leaped the six-foot-six tight end to make a game-changing play.

Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham will forever be known as the new David Tyree, famous for his helmet catch four years ago, after he made a spectacular 37-yard tip-toe catch on the Giants’ final drive of the game with the Super Bowl on the line.

The catch moved the ball to midfield, where the Giants continued their offensive attack to score their second and final touchdown of the game.

Meanwhile, Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who led the league with 122 receptions in the regular season, missed the most important catch of his career with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

On second-and-11, Brady threw an overthe-shoulder pass to Welker that would have put the Patriots in the red zone. Welker had to jump and adjust his body, and yet, the pass fell right out from his hands.

He dropped it. He sulked with his head on the turf once the ball landed. He knew. Had Welker caught that pass, the Patriots would most likely be Super Bowl champions.

“It’s a play I never drop. Most critical situation, and I let the team down,” Welker said.

On the next play, Brady’s pass to wide receiver Deion Branch, another one that could have been caught, was incomplete. The Patriots were forced to punt to the last quarterback they wanted to see with the ball, with just a few minutes remaining.

It is official: Eli Manning, who was named most valuable player of the game, is an elite quarterback after all. With two championships, Manning is quickly closing in on Brady’s elite status.

“It’s been a wild game, it’s been a wild season, but we’ve got a great, tough bunch of guys that never quit and have faith in each other,” Manning said after winning his second Super Bowl MVP. “I’m just proud of our team.”

Big-time players were the name of the game, and the Giants’ players made more big plays than the Patriots did Sunday night. It was euphoria for Giants fans and dismay for Patriots fans yet again. Unbelievable.

Different year, same story.

THE JUSTICE

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS TEAM STATS

Points Per Game

Not including Monday’s games

Vytas Kriskus ’12 leads scorers with 11.9 points per game.

Player PPG Vytas Kriskus 11.9 Derek Retos 11.7 Ben Bartoldus 11.5 Youri Dascy 10.0

UAA Conference Overall

W L W L Pct. NYU 7 2 17 2 .895 WashU 7 2 15 5 .750 JUDGES 6 3 12 8 .600 Emory 5 4 16 4 .800 Rochester 4 5 13 7 .650 Chicago 4 5 11 9 .550 Carnegie 2 7 7 13 .389 Case 1 8 9 11 .450

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

15

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

Men’s BASKETBALL UAA STANDINGS

●

Brown saves best for last in college career

Rebounds Per Game Youri Dascy ’14 leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.

Player RPG Youri Dascy 7.2 Vytas Kriskus 5.4 Alex Schmidt 3.2 two tied with 3.0

UPCOMING GAMES Friday at Rochester Sunday at Emory Friday, Feb. 17 vs. WashU

WOMen’s basketball UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

Not including Monday’s games

Points Per Game

UAA Conference Overall

W L W L Pct. Chicago 9 0 20 0 .1000 Rochester 6 3 17 3 .850 WashU 6 3 16 4 .800 Emory 5 4 14 6 .700 Case 5 4 12 8 .600 NYU 2 7 10 10 .500 Carnegie 2 7 8 12 .400 JUDGES 1 8 8 12 .400

UPCOMING GAMES Friday at Rochester Sunday at Emory Friday, Feb. 17 vs. WashU

Morgan Kendrew ’12 leads the team with 12.9 points per game.

Player PPG Morgan Kendrew 12.9 Diana Cincotta 9.2 Hannah Cain 7.0 Shannon Hassan 4.8

Rebounds Per Game Samantha Anderson ’13 leads with 6.4 rebounds per game.

Player RPG Samantha Anderson 6.4 Hannah Cain 5.8 Shannon Hassan 3.7 Kelly Ethier 3.6

FENCING Results from the Eric Sollee Invitational last Saturday.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

SABER RECORD Jess Ochs-Willard 10--2

SABER Zoe Messinger

RECORD 6-0

ÉPÉE Alex Powell

RECORD 11-4

ÉPÉE Kristin Ha

RECORD 5-1

RECORD 6-2

ÉPÉE Leah Mack

RECORD 5-1

FOIL Noah Berman

NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/Justice File Photo

UPCOMING MEET: The men’s and women’s teams will next travel to Raleigh, N.C. for the Duke Invitational this upcoming Saturday.

FULL STEAM AHEAD: Chris Brown ’12 speeds through the mile run at the Reggie Poyau Invitational on Jan. 12, 2010.

■ Chris Brown ’12 has

made a statement in his final season of winter track, excelling in the mile run.

By HENRY LOUGHLIN

TRACK AND FIELD

JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Results from the Tufts Invitational last Saturday.

NOTABLE FINISHES (Men’s)

NOTABLE FINISHES (Women’s)

60-METER DASH TIME Vincent Asante 7.28 3000-METER RUN TIME Edward Colvin 8:46.28 HIGH JUMP DISTANCE Jeffrey Maser 5 ft. 11.25 in

60-METER DASH Brittany Bell 800 METER RUN Ali Kirsch HIGH JUMP Lily Parenteau

TIME 8.03 TIME 2:25.88 DISTANCE 4 ft. 11.75 in

UPCOMING MEET: The men’s and women’s track teams will next travel to Boston University to compete in the Valentine Invitational this upcoming Friday.

Running 200 meters in 24 seconds is pretty impressive on its own.

However, Chris Brown ’12 managed to do that after running over eight-tenths of a mile—at full speed. After running the first seven laps of the eight-lap mile at the Bowdoin Invitational on Jan. 14, Brown knocked off his last lap in 24 seconds flat to win the event in four minutes, 24.49 seconds. “[Success now] has been a culmination of four years of practice, learning and dedication,” said Brown, who would go on to run a scorching 4:08.45 in the Bill Squires Open Mile at the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational a

week later. “I’ve been more consistent in my training regimens, and that’s definitely showing on the track.”

Brown, who also runs cross country in the fall and outdoor track in the spring, ran 4:10.34 on Jan. 28 at the Boston University Terrier Classic.

He explained that his improvement at Brandeis has gone beyond the track.

“I’ve learned how to be consistent, show commitment and dedication to a certain task, and how to work with others—all of these skills will be particularly useful moving forward.”

In addition to teaching him valuable life lessons, being on the track and cross country squads has provided Brown with many indelible memories and new friendships.

“It’s been a great experience; I’ve really learned a lot,” he added.

“I’ve made close friendships on the team and will definitely miss having this team to rely on at the

end of the year.”

The Chelmsford, Mass. native is currently ranked fifth in the onemile in Division III. While fifth in the nation is a lofty accomplishment in itself, he has his sights set on improving that record as well.

“I could still work on placing well at [University Athletic Association Championships] and Nationals,” said Brown. “I’ve been improving my time, but I still need to work on being more consistent.

A little more training would definitely help with this goal.”

With what he’s already shown, it would be foolish to bet against that. If it comes down to the last 200 meters, his opponents will surely be scared of that trademark last-lap kick.

Brown will next compete at the Valentine Invitational at Boston University this upcoming Friday.

— Adam Rabinowitz contributed reporting.

boston bruins beat Bruins experience first cold streak of the new year, dropping two out of three matches at home Despite preparation for this weekend’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, the Bruins hoped to capture the attention of New England fans with another three wins at home.

However, after a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators, the Bruins faded for the first time this year, suffering two puzzling losses to the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last Saturday, the Bruins played against Pittsburgh, where the defenses would set the tone for the game.

With eight seconds left in the first period, Penguins center Evgeni Malkin capitalized on the power play, firing a goal past Bruins goalie Tim Thomas for a 1-0 lead.

After a goalless second period defined by missed scoring opportunities

from the Bruins, Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke broke through Boston’s defense once more, tapping a goal past the outstretched glove of Thomas for a 2-0 lead.

As the period progressed, the Bruins crowd grew increasingly silent.

With only six minutes, 45 seconds remaining, defenseman Joe Corvo would attempt to revive the Boston crowd, hooking a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to cut the lead to one goal.

Yet, the Bruins still failed to find the back of the net, resulting in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh.

Hosting the Carolina Hurricanes last Thursday, Bruins Coach Claude Julien knew that his team would want revenge after losing in its three previous matches against the Hurricanes.

It did not seem to make much of a

difference, however. The Bruins were shut out for the first time since Dec. 8.

“They’re a good team,” Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask said. “You look at the standings, and they’re not where they want to be, but. ... especially against us, they play some good hockey.

Although the Bruins outshot the Hurricanes 22-8 in the first period, Carolina capitalized, scoring the first goal of the game.

The Hurricanes would take advantage of a fading Boston defense, outshooting the Bruins 14-5. Carolina added their second goal from right wing Tuomo Ruutu with three minutes, 19 seconds left in the period.

The Hurricanes added their final goal of the game on a wrist shot from center Brandon Sutter three minutes, 14 seconds into the third period.

The Bruins began their marathon

week last Tuesday with a game that resembled so many others this season.

Despite facing a 3-1 deficit, Boston managed to once again pull out an inspired 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

“We need to clean up different parts of our game, but we played well in the third and hopefully we carry this into our next game,” said left wing Brad Marchand, whose third-period equalizer spurred the Bruins on to victory.

The Bruins would not be denied a goal in the first period. Defenseman Zdeno Chara ripped a slap shot into the bottom-right corner to send TD Garden wild just 11 minutes, 57 seconds into the game.

Thomas was beaten by center Colin Greening with one minute, 14 seconds left in the first to tie the game at one.

The Senators added on another two

goals to take a formidable 3-1 lead.

However, left wing Milan Lucic wasn’t about to let the period end without a goal, sending a laser to the top-left corner with 45 seconds left in the second period.

Marchand was on hand to tap the puck in the net after a missed shot, 17 minutes, 40 seconds left in the third period.

Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg put the Bruins ahead for good in the third period, ripping a shot from behind the blue line for a 4-3 lead.

After a Sunday afternoon win against the Washington Capitals, the Bruins will continue their recovery from last week’s three-game losing streak at Buffalo tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

— Henry Loughlin, Josh Asen, and Madeleine Stix

just

Sports

Page 16

DÉJÀ BLUE The Patriots endured their second crushing Super Bowl defeat in just four years, suffering a 21-17 loss to the Giants, p.14.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Waltham, Mass.

Men’S BASKETBALL

Judges split UAA road matches ■ The men’s basketball team dropped a key match against last-place Case before escaping with a victory over Carnegie last Sunday.

By JACOB MOSKOWITZ JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

With nine seconds left, Carnegie Mellon University sophomore forward Christian Manoli stood at the line, waiting for his second free throw. The Judges went for the foul, down 76-75 in overtime in Pittsburgh last Sunday.

Manoli missed both free throws, and forward Alex Stoyle ’14 then grabbed his third rebound of the game. Point guard Tyrone Hughes ’12 found himself with the ball in his hands, drove it into the lane and hit a bank shot at the buzzer to give the Judges their fourth overtime win of the season, 77-76.

The win propels Brandeis to 12-8 overall and 6-3 in the University Athletic Association.

Brandeis dominated the first half, leading by as many as 13 points, and ended the half with a 36-27 lead. The Judges shot 65 percent from the floor and hit five of eight from downtown, holding the Spartans to just 34 percent shooting and three of ten from three-point range.

The second half, however, proved to be a different story. Carnegie Mellon opened the half with a 15-5 run to take a 42-41 lead with 12 minutes, 47 seconds left, which was the team’s first lead of the game. The Tartans expanded their lead to six, ahead 6458 with 2:48 left in regulation.

“We came out of the half kind of slow and allowed them back into the game,” said Stoyle. “Late in the half, we picked it up and luckily managed to hold on in overtime.”

Trailing by six points and facing defeat, the Judges staged an inspiring run.

Guard Jay Freeman ’13 made the first of two free throws and then nabbed his own miss, putting it back to cut the lead to three. After Carnegie hit a free throw, forward Vytas Kriskus ’12 nailed a pair of jumpers, one on a three-point play, which put Brandeis up 66-65.

With 18 seconds to play, Brandeis fouled Carnegie, but the Tartans refused defeat, forcing overtime with a clutch free throw.

Despite losing Kriskus and center

See MBBALL, 13 ☛

live up to high expectations at last Saturday’s Tufts University Invitational.

By JACOB ELDER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

ALEX MARGOLIS/Justice File Photo

AIRBORNE: Guard Tyrone Hughes ’12 leaps ahead of a Case Western defender for the layup in a 78-74 victory on Fri, Jan 27.

Team fails to build on its momentum team continued its UAA struggles, losing another two matches on the road to Case and Carnegie Mellon.

By BECCA ELWIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Two tough University Athletic Association road rematches this week proved difficult for the Brandeis women’s basketball team to overcome, resulting in another pair of losses for a team that could ill afford it.

Facing off against Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon University for the second consecutive weekend, the Judges could not continue the momentum they had from a Jan. 29 win against

Squads encounter imposing hurdles at Tufts

■ The track teams failed to

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

■ The women’s basketball

TRACK AND FIELD

Carnegie Mellon. After the Dec. 31 win against Husson College, the Judges have never been the same, only winning one of eight conference matches so far this year.

With these losses, the Judges move their record to a disappointing 8-11 this season and 1-7 in the UAA. The women’s 65-56 loss against Carnegie Mellon proved frustrating, especially after a momentous win the previous weekend.

Although Brandeis committed fewer turnovers and had greater success from the free throw line, Carnegie Mellon dominated in field goal shooting percentage.

The Tartans made 47.1 percent of their shots, while the Judges only made 25.7 percent of the shots they attempted.

Trailing by seven at halftime, the Judges’ momentum began to wane

at the outset of the second half, falling behind by 10 points within the first three minutes.

Brandeis then went on a brief spurt, which after a three-pointer by guard Diana Cincotta ’11 MA ’12 with about eight minutes remaining in the second half, cut the deficit to one point.

However, they could not convert this small deficit into a lead.

Brandeis failed to recover after Carnegie regained offensive control of the game, eventually losing the game to mark a winless weekend.

Forward and captain Shannon Hassan ’12 acknowledged the Judges worked well against Carnegie Mellon’s defense but ultimately could not get the job done. “[Carnegie] was the first team to throw a zone on us this whole season for the majority of the game,” she said.

“We took advantage of it by making different cuts and improvising our offense to attack more in the middle. We also played very aggressively. ... Our defense was fierce and intense, and we seemed to play with heart until the very end of the game.”

Guard Morgan Kendrew ’12 proved to be the core of the Brandeis offense, scoring a team-high 18 points on 5-19 shooting from the field. Kendrew also contributed with seven rebounds.

Guards Hannah Cain ’15 and Kasey Dean ’14 each managed eight points and combined for six rebounds. Forward Courtney Ness ’13 totaled seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field with two rebounds off the bench.

Despite another outstanding 20-point performance from Kendrew

See WBBALL, 13 ☛

The men’s and women’s track squads have been accustomed to dazzling finishes at this year’s meets, and while many individuals still turned in top performances, each team placed in the bottom half of the standings at the nonscoring Tufts Invitational last Saturday.

The men finished 16th out of 22 teams, while the women placed eighth in a field of 19 teams.

Mik Kern ’13 notched an eighth -place finish in the 600-meter run with a time of one minute, 25.85 seconds. Marc Boutin ’12 impressed in the 1,000-meter run, finishing in third place with a time of 2:00.37.

“It was the fastest time I’ve run in [the 1,000-meter race]. … It’s a good indicator for the later meets,” said Boutin. “Everybody is getting their times faster.”

In the same 1,000-meter race, Michael Rosenbach ’15 was sixth with a time of 2:00.37.55 seconds.

Edward Colvin ’14 also ran a strong race in the 3,000-meter run, clocking out at a time of eight minutes, 46.28 seconds.

Kensai Hughes ’14 and Mohamed Sidique ’15 finished 22nd and 32nd, respectively, out of a field of 52 runners in the 200- meter dash with times of 24.28 and 25.17 seconds, respectively. In the 400-meter dash, Vincent Asante ’14 finished 19th with a time of 55.06 seconds, Jung Park ’14 notched a 24th-place finish with a time of 55.76 seconds. Josh Hoffman-Senn ’13 rounded out the field at 31st with a time of 56.86 seconds.

Brittany Bell ’14 headlined the female runners in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter run, placing fifth with a time of 8.03 seconds and second with a time of 26.84 seconds. In the 800-meter run, Kristi Pisarik ’15 placed fourth with a time of 3:00, 5.58 seconds. Ali Kirsch ’14 also ran a strong race in the 800-meter run, finishing in sixth place with a time of 2:00.25.88 seconds. Erin Bisceglia ’12 rounded out the Brandeis field with a seventh-place finish in 2:00.27.2 seconds.

Brandeis’ jumpers did not live up to past successes at the Tufts Invitational.

In the men’s high jump, Jeffrey Maser ’15 finished in eighth place at a height of 1.55 meters, his first jump since his 1.93 meter leap that earned him University Athletic Association Men’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors.

“It was nice to know that I’m still capable of getting up there,” Maser said.

Kensai Hughes ’14 was ninth in

See TRACK, 13 ☛

just

February 7, 2012

S T R A

e h t o t e m o c l e W

P. 20

Year of the dragon

Photos: Nathaniel Freedman and Lydia Emmanouilidou/the Justice. Design: Robyn Spector/the Justice.

18

TUESDAY, February 7, 2012 ● THE JUSTICE

POP CULTURE

INSIDE ON CAMPUS

19-21

■ ‘An Encounter with Simone Weil’19

Director Julia Haslett came to campus on Thursday to discuss her documentary about the influential French writer and philosopher.

■ ‘Mooladé’

19

This engrossing docudrama from award-winning African filmmaker Ousmane Sembene focuses on dangerous female circumcisions.

■ BC3’s Lunar New Year

20

■ Students make music video

21

One of the biggest cultural festivities of the year, Lunar New Year is always a colorful and fantastic spectacle of Chinese traditions.

BTV and BET combined forces to create a unique music video for Iron & Wine’s song “Communion Cups and Someone’s Coat.”

■ Fine Arts classes’ exhibition

21

Three students in painting, drawing and print Making classes discuss their works currently on display in the Dreitzer Gallery.

OFF CAMPUS

22-24

■ ‘Green Eyes’ review

22

■ VienneMilano fashion line

22

■ PlayStation Vita preview

23

■ Critical Hit

23

This sultry, violent Tennessee Williams play takes place in a real hotel room.

Brookline-based designer Vienne Cheung creates her latest line of thigh-high hosiery.

This newest system won’t be out until later this month, but justArts gets a sneak peak.

Nintendo’s ‘Pushmo’ is a fun, challenging puzzle game for players on the go.

CALENDAR

Interview

by Shelly Shore

I would love for someone to do a study comparing the number of times men and women divorcées are featured on magazine covers.

Does anyone remember the last time we saw a male celebrity in a post-divorce cover story?

“Russell Brand opens up about his feelings?” Nope.

“Seal tells People, ‘I’ll have kids on my own!’” Not a chance.

Post-divorce covers seem to be almost completely devoted to the female halves of divorced couples.

Case in point: this week’s issue of Life & Style magazine featured a beauty shot of Kim Kardashian with the headline, “‘I AM SO ALONE’”. The cover comes after the season finale of Kourtney and Kim Take New York on Jan. 29, during which Kim had a serious meltdown on camera and admitted that she felt “dead inside” because of her unhappy marriage to Kris Humphries. The breakdown of the marriage was filmed months ago, but since the split on Oct. 31—you may recall that Kardashian filed for divorce after just 72 days of matrimony—according to the article that accompanied the cover shot, Kardashian has apparently suffered as much privately as she has publicly, spiraling into “a serious depression.” Kardashian’s stepfather Bruce Jenner told Life & Style, “’It’s tough for a woman at 30—not married, no kids. Kim’s an idealist.’”

Jenner’s words capture a big part of what Hollywood seems to think about divorced women. Kardashian went from being known as “that girl who made a sex tape with Ray J” to being the main face of a multi million dollar clothing and reality TV empire in the space of a few years.

But what’s really important? She’s 30 and baby-less, while both of her adult sisters are in long-term relationships and planning for children: Khloé Kardshian and her husband Lamar Odom have been trying to conceive, and Kourtney Kardashian is expecting her

AraabMUZIK and Basic Physics hype up a dreary month

 The February concert provides a welcome respite from the winter blues courtesy of a hip-hop headliner and a DJ opener.

EVA RINALDI/Flickr Creatiive Commons

MOVING ON: The media tends to expose the female half of divorced couples, such as Kim Kardashian. second baby with boyfriend Scott Disick. I suppose it just goes to show that as much as Hollywood likes to put out a pro-woman image, the daunting number of magazine covers touting the no-baby-no-boyfriend-drama of divorced women (two words: Jennifer Aniston) shows that it doesn’t matter how successful a woman is until she’s popped out a few babies.

But seriously, Hollywood? That’s just wrong. It’s 2012. Time to join the 21st century.

As for Kardashian, I can’t say I’m too sympathetic to her, since I’m pretty sure no new marriage has ever thrived under reality TV cameras—she brought that extra pressure on herself. But girl, ignore the magazines that tell you you’re worthless because you’re 30 and childless—they’re stuck in the past. Keep that chin up: you’re rich, business-savvy and gorgeous. I doubt you’ll be single for long.

What’s happening in Arts on campus this semester

ON-CAMPUS EVENTS

‘Waiting for Superman’ screening

By taking a close look at the problems with public education and the lottery system for charter schools, this film addresses an issue that affects many of us. Following the screening of this award-winning documentary, a panel of experts in public education will lead a discussion with attendees.

Today at 6:30 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Lounge.

Swing dance in the Castle

In the 1920s, the high-energy set of dances affiliated with jazz music were all the rage.

Still popular today, Brandeis Swingers is giving you a chance to learn some new moves.

There will be time to learn, practice and then dance. The group will also be providing food to refuel after so much exercise.

Tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the Castle Commons.

‘!Women Art Revolution’ screening

The Women’s Studies Research Center will be holding a screening of this documentary which explores the Feminist Art movement through history. Afterwards, there will be a discussion defining the term feminist art and talking about how it can be used for social change.

Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Women’s Studies Research Center.

‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ screening

This original and colorful documentary tells the story of Jiro Ono, a man considered by many to be the best sushi chef in the world. Despite this high praise, Ono decided to create his own tiny restaurant in a subway terminal in Tokyo. The film follows Ono’s life and career within the restaurant as well as his relationship with his son and eventual heir to the sushi throne.

Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Wasserman Cinematheque.

Student Events presents AraabMUSIK

AraabMUSIK is the stage name of Sri Lankan hip-hop producer Abraham Orellana. His sound is full of drum machine beats and samples from popular music. AraabMUSIK will be giving a concert in the Levin Ballroom as part of Student Events’ spring 2012 programs.

Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the Levin Ballroom. Tickets are $5 at the Brandeis Box Office in the Shapiro Campus Center and $8 if purchased online or at the door.

James Parakilas music colloquium

James Parakilis is a music professor from Bates College with many years of piano playing and teaching under his belt. Parakilas has also written several books, including a work about Frédéric Chopin and one about opera. In addition to playing and teaching, he also studies neuroscience and psychology in connection to music.

Friday at 3 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center Room 212.

ROBYN SPECTOR/Justice File Photo

STRONG WOMEN: Each year the Vagina Club puts on ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ Eve Ensler’s series of monologues culled from interviews with women of all different ages, races, religions and backgrounds.

‘The Vagina Monologues’

It’s that time of year again—the awardwinning play will be performed by students at Brandeis and sponsored by the Vagina Club this weekend. The show celebrates female sexuality in a series of skits, some of which change each year.

Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for presale and $7 at the door.

Murder mystery party

Student Activities is hosting a murder mystery party in which attendees receive roles to play and all must determine who committed the crime. The theme of the mystery is high school reunion. Sign up in the Department of Student Activities in the Shapiro Campus Center, room 203.

Friday at 8 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center multipurpose room.

Illuminating Schütz in the 21st Century

The Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber Choir will be performing the work of Heinrich Schütz with members of the Brandeis Early Music Ensemble. There will also be a lecture-demonstration with speakers Markus Rathey, Scott Metcalfe and Eric Chafe.

Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Slosberg Recital Hall.

24-Hour Play Festival

This event—a combination of the 24-Hour Musical and Quickies—will keep the audience on its toes throughout the evening. The concept is simple: students have 24 hours to write, cast, direct and rehearse short plays, which will be presented the following night.

This Sunday will be the first time such a performance has been attempted at Brandeis,

and anything could happen.

Sunday at 8 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater.

Nimbaya!—Moving Peace with Drums and Dance

This MusicUnitesUS event features the acclaimed Women Drum and Dance Company of Guinea. The Company has broken boundaries by creating a space for females to drum and dance, arts that are typically reserved for men in Guinea. The performers will teach traditional drumming and dancing workshops.

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

OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS

Company One presents ‘Green Eyes’

Boston theater troupe Company One will be performing Tennessee Williams’ Green Eyes, its first site-specific show. Performed in a hotel room with an audience limited to 20, this experimental play portrays the impact of war on a couple honeymooning in New Orleans.

Through Feb. 12 at the Ames Hotel, 1 Court St., Boston. Ticket prices and show times vary.

‘Medea’

You may have read this classic Greek tragedy in middle school, but there’s nothing like seeing the show live. This bloody play, written by Sophocles in 431 B.C.E., tells the story of Medea, a woman who is so overcome by jealousy because her former husband has married another, that she plots to kill his new wife, and her own children so that he will never be happy again.

Running through March 4 at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., Cambridge.

JustArts spoke with Student Events’ Concert Coordinator Dillon Morris ’14 about Thursday’s AraabMUZIK concert. Morris explained how Student Events picked its headliner, what students can expect at the show and why you should get all your friends to pack Levin Ballroom The concert takes place this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the Brandeis Box Office and $8 at the door.

JustArts: What do you normally look for when planning a big concert like this?

Dillon Morris: Generally when planning a concert, I’d say there are a lot of different elements that go into it concerning the kind of talent that we’re going for [and] the level of exposure that the talent has received. Essentially, it’s finding that good balance, … especially for the February concert, which is kind of an opportunity for us I suppose to bring people who are more under the radar but who have the propensity to break out in the near future. It’s finding that balance between somebody who’s got a catalog large enough that they can provide a good show, but also somebody that not everybody knows but that, given the opportunity to listen to them, they’ll definitely find something that they like.

Obviously, the desire to appeal to as large an audience as we can also goes into it. But we also want to be able to give to the people that we find up-and-coming a chance to expose themselves, and the February concert plays a very integral role in allowing us to do that, as opposed to, say, looking at the fall concert or SpringFest, when we get to extend ourselves farther.

JA: How did you specifically choose AraabMUZIK and Basic Physics?

DM: Initially, going into looking for our headlining group (which ended up being AraabMUZIK), the planning process basically goes, “If you had all the money, who would you want to bring?” And so it definitely gives us a way where we introduce unrealistic choices, but it kind of helps all of us gage what kind of genre or musical ideas that we want to go for in this concert. And so for AraabMUZIK, it was one of those things where traditionally you’ve seen at the February concert DJs and mash-up groups.

We didn’t want to bring in a new mash-up group, but we did want to cater [the] dance scene that’s very popular right now, and give something that was I guess a bit more alternative. So if you look at somebody like AraabMUZIK, who uses a drum pad to simulate all his music, it’s actually something that’s very, very impressive. And so we were impressed with his talent, we all liked his music. We thought it was a performer that, if you’ve heard of him, you’re excited that he’s coming, and if you haven’t heard of him but somebody shows him to you, you get excited about it.

Once we selected AraabMUZIK, we then move on to the opener, who is Basic Physics. For that, we essentially look at what complements the lead artist the best; something that’s complementary but also differentiates itself enough from that artist that it provides a well-rounded show but still grounds things specifically in that genre that we’ve chosen to pursue. I think that Basic Physics fits that very well.

JA: What would you say are the unique aspects of these groups that are going to be fun for Brandeis students? Have you seen shows of theirs, either live or online?

DM: In the selection process a lot of it is watching online or live stuff to gauge how it is. I’ve never actually had the opportunity to see them live, so I’m very excited to now. I think it brings something very unique because it fills that void that, say, Pachanga’s leaving out. It gives you a really, really fun dance party that you’re able to go to, you’re able to enjoy. Even if the artist isn’t the reason you’re going, you’re going because you want to have fun. And I think AraabMUZIK’s musical style and the way that he performs is very lively, it’s very upbeat, and it’s just good music to enjoy yourself to. I think it fills that void that Brandeis has. We don’t really have a ton of fun on-campus activities that people can go to and consume and really enjoy.

Really, if you haven’t heard it, get a ticket and go. Because the thing about this artist is that the musical experience he provides is so heavily contingent on an amazing crowd experience.

And so the thing is, if we can pack Levin Ballroom, this is going to be a fantastic show. But it’s all contingent on getting there, getting to the show. Student Events knows that they’re going to enjoy it.

JA: What happens to the profits from the February concert?

DM: All of the profits from the AraabMUZIKshow will go towards SpringFest. So, I guess one way I could put it is, if you’re not interested in seeing AraabMuzik, consider it paying $5 a couple months ahead for someone really, really good at SpringFest.

—Ariel Kay

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, february 7, 2012

19

ON CAMPUS film

‘Simone Weil’ highlights activist’s life ■ Julia Haslett brings her

film to Brandeis, drawing attention to the ideas of change-maker Simone Weil.

By olivia leiter JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” — Simone Weil.

Filmmaker Julia Haslett was so profoundly touched by this quote that she decided to embark on a six-year journey in the hopes of understanding the inner workings of Weil, a 20th-century French philosopher.

Last Thursday, a sizeable crowd of students, faculty and other members of the Brandeis community gathered at the Wasserman Cinamatheque for the screening of An Encounter with Simone Weil, a film that tells the story of Haslett’s journey. The event was hosted by the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the Philosophy, History of Ideas and Romance Studies departments. Haslett herself came to the event and facilitated a discussion after the screening.

“I came across this quote of [Weil’s], and it just struck me very deeply. … I discovered that there was this totally radical, young woman who spoke about truth to power,” Haslett explained in an interview with justArts.

“I thought people should know about her. She is someone I will always be learning from; she is a lifetime project,” said Haslett.

Weil, born on Feb. 3, 1909, was raised by a wealthy family of intellectuals.

Always acutely aware of the suffering around her, Weil refused to eat sugar when she was five because the French soldiers at the front of World War I didn’t have any. Weil was fervently engaged in social and political matters throughout the rest of her life, writing philosophical essays and advocating on behalf of the poor and the disenfranchised. She even fought in the Spanish Civil War and quit her job teaching philosophy so that she could take a job in a factory and observe the dehumanizing effects of the machine. Weil responded to her experience in the factory by becoming involved in the workers’ movement and protesting against unfair labor practices. During the German occupation of Paris, Weil escaped with her parents to the United States in 1942, but refused to eat more than the official ration in occupied France.

Even when Weil was diagnosed with tuberculosis she refused to eat and receive medical treatment. This decision

MICHELLE WANG/the Justice

FILMMAKER TALKS BACK: Julia Haslett talks about her film ‘An Encounter with Simone Weil’ at the Wasserman Cinematheque. resulted in her early death at the age of 34. It is debated whether Weil’s death should be considered a suicide.

In An Encounter with Simone Weil, Haslett starts off by posing the following question: “What kind of a response does seeing human suffering demand

of us, whether the person is someone we know or a total stranger?”

Haslett’s film explores this question, though a concrete answer is never really provided. In fact, the film evolves into more of a personal narrative. The focus shifts away from Weil and onto

Haslett’s own family. Haslett’s father committed suicide, and her brother, Timothy, who earned his B.A. in African American studies at Brandeis in 1992, died unexpectedly from a prescribed medication overdose while Haslett was editing the film. Haslett ex-

plains, “I did not go into the film knowing how it would turn out, and I think most documenters do not know going in; they need to be open.”

Haslett’s voice came through in the movie, creating a powerful dialogue between her own convictions and Weil’s.

Haslett has a hard time grappling with Weil’s potential suicide, explaining that what Weil lacked was a sense of compassion for herself. At the end of the film, Haslett mulled over the question: Does it take just as much courage to leave the world as it does to stay in it? “Sometimes the most difficult thing is to be present,” says Haslett.

I appreciate the fact that Haslett studied Weil subjectively. Though her documentary did not provide the most scientific analysis of Weil’s life—she left out certain aspects like her subject’s sense of humor and sarcasm—what the film did deliver was a powerful story. Haslett did not present objective facts, but rather her own emotional discoveries. Haslett’s interpretation made Weil’s ideas come to life, especially when she drew parallels between Weil’s anti-war, anti-institution sentiments and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the corruption within the Bush administration.

While researching Weil before the film, I read various biographies that described her as a Marxist and a feminist, but I wondered how accurate these labels actually are. Haslett explained that Weil was not a feminist and that she often challenged Karl Marx. She changed Marx’s famous saying, “Religion is the opium of the people” to “It is not religion but revolution that is the opium of the people.”

Haslett explained, “[Weil’s] legacy was made by a lot of scholars. What she represents has been shaped by others. It makes sense that she has been labeled, as most of her life has been written for her.” Haslett did not try to understand Weil by reading what other people wrote about her, or by classifying her into different labels. Rather, the director tried to walk in Weil’s shoes by interviewing people that had known her and hiring an actress whose job was to “become Weil” so that Haslett could get a better idea of what she was like in real life. Haslett’s film may be as close as we can ever get to learning about Weil, because it takes on a more intimate, experimental approach. More importantly, perhaps learning about Weil is not the real aim of the film.

Maybe its true purpose is to use Simone Weil’s philosophy as the springboard for better understanding the problems of today and for coming to terms with our own internal struggles.

film

‘Mooladé’ addresses topic of female circumcision ■ The docudrama sheds

light on the controversial procedure by focusing on one Burkina Faso woman’s story.

By RACHEL GORDON JUSTICE contributing WRITER

“Purification” is a misleading word.

We normally think of this process as becoming free of undesirable elements, whether it is of a physical or emotional nature. The village people in Moolaadé, however, have their own definition of what it means it to be pure. Late last Thursday night, I dragged myself up the Rabb steps into Golding Auditorium for what I believed to be a dark documentary about the harsh facts of female circumcision. However, as the Anthropology Club introduced Moolaadé, winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, I realized that the movie was not a documentary, but rather a fictional film addressing the controversial subject of female genital mutilation, or “purification.”

Moolaadé, or “magical protection,” was written, directed and produced

by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene and is set in a brightly colored

Burkina Faso. In a mosaic of small huts centered around a mosque, the glowing village starkly contrasted with the dark subject matter of the film.

Moolaadé opens with the women of the village walking around with buckets of water atop their heads, wearing traditional African garb and going about the day’s work. A vibrant, womanizing, pedophiliac merchant (Dominique Zeïda) sells various items in the heart of the village. Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly), the hero of the film, is her husband’s third wife. Seven years prior, she radically refused to have her daughter circumcised, but now her daughter is trying to get married. She is shunned by the women of the village who hold the ritual to a high standard; a sacred ritual necessary for the maturation of their daughters and ability to wed. Six girls, ages four to nine, who have pending circumcisions, seek refuge with Colle. She casts a spell to protect them in the form of a rope barrier that is not to be crossed—the mooladé.

For standing up to her society and her husband’s support of the surgery, Colle is subsequently beaten in public.

During the beating, a girl dies from the circumcision procedure. The death illuminates the detrimental and tragic effects of the practice, and the village

women join Colle in rejecting it.

With a running time of two hours and four minutes, Moolaadé is a long film. At times I found myself having difficulty following the plot because of its length, and as I watched the movie unfold, the already small audience trickled out of the room. That being said, the film does a stellar job of addressing the hot-button practice of female genital circumcision and exposing the injustices of it without being graphic. From a purely visual aspect, the cinematography of the film appears to be very simple, but it is actually quite intricate in its usage, lending it a familiar feeling. Using minimal special effects and a combined fluidity of scenes felt as though the movie could have been in real time.

Female circumcision is a contentious topic, and when it comes in the form as something different than a docudrama, it is almost unfathomable. How else would it be possible to get all of the facts and case studies of these issues without being trite?

Additionally, it is nearly impossible for students not living in a society which supports these procedures to understand the multiple issues Colle faces. It is easy for us to stand back and be appalled at the notion of a community forcibly mutilating young

girls, but more should be required of a student than to simple watch these barbaric scenes unfold. A questionand-answer period was supposed to follow the screening, but the film ran too late. An accompanying discussion is critical to films like Moolaadé. Otherwise, it is too easy to let these images slip out of our consciousness.

Moolaadé manages to strike the right chord through Colle’s deliberate rejection of her people’s tradition and through the depiction of her slowly unraveling relationships as well as her status in the village.

Roger Ebert, who described it as one of the best films of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, said that Moolaadé “makes a powerful statement and at the same time contains humor, charm and astonishing visual beauty.”

Most enchanting, besides the humor of the councilmen’s debates in their confusion over Colle’s spell, is the role of the ritual. Colle’s magical protection, symbolized by a colorful rope guarding the young girls, serves as more than a barrier, but it also represents the isolation that separated the girls who have not had the circumcision from the ones who have. The rope demonstrates the potency of the ritual to the people of Burkina Faso and how one custom can tear apart a

society so gravely and thrust the village people into upheaval.

Sembane, who is critically acclaimed for taking African cinema to an international level, uses Colle, the everyday hero, as the vehicle to unearth the misfortunes of female genital modification.

While I found it challenging to see most characters beyond one dimension, the multitude of dilemmas Colle faces along with Coulibaly’s powerful acting helped me see the many layers of her character. Beyond protecting the girls, Colle faces the rejection of her village, the dismay of her husband, her daughter’s questioning of why she avoided the procedure and her exclustion from the external world when radio usage is banned in the village.

Despite the film’s critical praise, I did not think that Moolaadé held enough rising tension throughout the movie to keep the plot enticing for the whole two hours.

The extremely brilliant colors of the film, in opposition to the dark theme, reminded me of a beautiful watercolor composition. Moolaadé still evoked enough of an unsettling feeling and encapsulates what it means to be exiled by your society for rejecting such highly regarded and yet devastating practice.

20

TUESDAY, february 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

LUNAR NEW YEAR ACTS: (Clockwise) Karen Hu ’12, Ye Wang ’13, Tianye Zhang ’12 and Julie Yiu ’13 dance to a Chinese pop/Black Eyed Peas mix; a student band from Berklee College of Music performed several numbers; the lion dance is always highly anticipated; Students move to a love-themed number; Anita Kao ’14 showed off a traditional Chinese folk dance.

BC3

brings the Year of

the Dragon to life BC3 rang in the New Year with the arts By maya riser-kositsky JUSTICE editor

On Saturday night, Brandeis’ Chinese Cultural Connection celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year by showcasing ethnic performances that ran the gamut from the traditional to the modern. This year’s show featured both Brandeis’ own talented students as well as groups from around the Boston area. A lion dance team and kung fu artists from the Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy in Malden, Mass., a band from Berklee College of Music and an a capella group called Syncopasian from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all joined in the festivities.

The evening got off to an enthusiastic start. Audience members cheered for their favorite Chinese cities as images appeared on a slide show. Then the Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy took the stage, performing a traditional lion dance.

If you’ve never seen a lion dance, you are missing out on an extraordinary experience. Each ruffled, sequined and furred costume contained two performers wearing similarly shiny and furry pants to simulate the lion’s legs. The front person held the heavily decorated lion’s head, complete with a flapping mouth and ears and eyes that blink open and shut. The lion dancers pranced around the stage to the music of a large drum played with sticks and accompanied by cymbals. Two performers wearing silk clothes and giant heads painted with the faces of Buddha, and a girl danced with the lions. The climax of the dance came when the lions “ate”

oranges, red-packaged candy and lettuce and then threw all of the food into the crowd to the sound of crashing cymbals. The audience eagerly caught the flying nourishment.

Next came song and dance acts celebrating both traditional and modern Chinese culture. The most traditional act was a folk dance performed by Anita Kao ’14, who twirled around the stage while spinning sequined pieces of fabric on her fingers. On the more modern side, several groups danced to choreographed, music video-like Chinese pop songs. The fashion show was the last act before intermission.

It transitioned from traditional Chinese to modern, more western dress.

At the beginning, the models styled short traditional dresses in different prints and patterns. As the show progressed, the models showed off more modern clothes featuring asymmetry, translucent fabrics and denim.

Many of the later outfits looked like what stylish Brandeisians wear to class every day. Some of the students really owned the runway, blowing kisses and striking poses before turning and walking back off stage.

The “Girls’ Dance Performance”

by Karen Hu ’12, Tianye Zhang ’12, Ye Wang ’13 and Julie Yiu ’13 blended aspects of Chinese and American culture. They started by moving in unison to a Chinese song that then made an unexpected transition into The Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps.”

The style of dance and the sparkling costumes of the dancers, however, did not change, creating continuity even with the radical change of song.

Another performance that showed a mix of American and Chinese culture was the rap performance by Anson

Shao ’14, Jeffrey So ’14, Rayne Xie ’14 and Lei Li ’14. The performers, wearing black suit jackets, performed the originally American style of music in Chinese.

My favorite act was Kay Zhou ’13 and Summer Zhou’s ’13 performance of a song by Pomegranate Woman.

The announcer explained to the audience that the song is an expression of the heavy burden placed on the hard-working women of the Nu ethnic group. The sad lyrics were accompanied by the performers’ languid choreography: moving the long sleeves of their dresses in graceful arcs. When one of the microphones would not work, the girls teamed up to use the remaining one, inadvertently adding even more emotion to the piece.

Tang Yutian, who is working toward a master’s degree in Psychology played an entrancing song on a two thousand-year-old pear-shaped Chinese instrument called a pipa.

Her fingers plucked and strummed the strings at a seemingly impossible speed, creating ethereal crescendos.

A video, directed by Jeffrey So ’14 and shot by Lori Shen ’14, expressed, even to the audience members who could not understand Chinese, the emotions felt by a son frustrated by his mother’s inability to use technology but who still misses home while away at college.

These and many more performances graced the evening, showing a wide range of Chinese culture. The event was followed by a banquet of delicious Chinese food, allowing the audience to discuss and digest the many wonderful performances they had just seen.

PHOTOS BY NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/the Justice

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

21

“COMMUNION CUPS AND SOMEONE’S COAT”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADRIENNE KARLOVSKY

BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK: Myles Tyrer-Vasell ’12 (front, center) directed and filmed an Iron & Wine music video with the help of an all-student cast including Joanna Nix ’14 (front, center) and crew earlier this semester.

Student video bridges film and theater ■ Film and theater students

collaborated on a music video for the Iron & Wine song “Communion Cups.”

By emily salloway JUSTICE editor

At the staff desk in the Getz Media Lab, Myles Tyrer-Vasell ’12 and Joanna Nix ’14 are laughing together.

Tyrer-Vasell throws out a list of films he considers classics and proceeds to tease Nix for never having seen The Godfather. To an outsider, it would appear that these two are old pals, but they have only known each other for a few weeks.

Their friendship was born in a whirlwind of paint, bright lights and carpentry, alongside the creation of Tyrer-Vasell’s music video for folk band Iron & Wine’s “Communion Cups and Someone’s Coat.” “[Sam Beam of Iron & Wine] puts emphasis on the emotions and not so much … [on] specific details,” Tyrer-Vasell said of his interpretation of the song’s lyrics, which center on a man’s love for a girl he thinks is too good for him. “There’s violence

and anger, … but [he] just brush[es] it off, and that’s something everyone can identify with. It’s really vague but really romantic to me.”

The two-minute video is a first-time collaboration between Brandeis Television and Brandeis Ensemble Theatre, utilizing both the aesthetics of the stage and a whole lot of filmmaking magic. Said Tyrer-Vasell, “I really liked the feel of the set of the theater … it’s more skeletal and more … stripped down than a film set.”

Until he started the two week building process, it hadn’t quite dawned on Tyrer-Vasell how much manpower it would take to get the look he wanted. “Most of the time in … BTV you find a location and you just … shoot it, whereas in theater you have to make everything. …

Someone put 25 minutes of thought into how to paint a door for the set for this video, … and that doesn’t ever happen in film.”

That someone was Jessica Rassp ’13, who along with Adrienne Karlovsky ’12, served as set designer.

Rassp and Karlovsky had big ideas: “They started asking me all these questions about the characters,” Tyrer-Vasell said, “like what’s her

favorite color … Is he a shy person or is he much more outgoing?”

Although Tyrer-Vasell admits, “I’m just an unorganized person naturally,” he still pre-empted the building of the set with the creation of storyboards, in order to answer some of these questions for his more detail-oriented crew.

“The people in the theater had never seen storyboarding. So I brought that to them which is kind of cool that I could finally teach them something instead of them teaching me everything.”

And, admittedly, they did teach him a lot. Costume designer April Kolb ’12, for example, taught him about how to dress his characters and put up with him when he changed his mind at the last minute: “Two days before we were going to shoot, I said, ‘Wait. Instead of a blue dress, what if we had a red dress?’”

Robbie Steinberg ’13 dealt with Tyrer-Vasell’s indecisions too. “[Steinberg was] very accommodating of me saying, ‘No, no, wait. I’m sorry you have to change all your lights.’”

Tyrer-Vasell wasn’t the only one venturing into new territory with this project. Undergraduate Theater

Collective coordinator Katherine Teeter ’12, who had never worked on a film set before, planned the logistics for building the six-room set in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater.

“The audience of a play sees the entire set, so everything must look clean cut and intentional,” Teeter, who also served as master carpenter, wrote in an email to justArts. “[This] wasn’t too different from building a set for a show except I didn’t have to worry about what the camera wouldn’t see.”

But in “Communion Cups and Someone’s Coat,” it turned out there wasn’t a lot that the camera wouldn’t see. Tyrer-Vasell wanted to see how far he could push himself by opting to film the entire video in one shot.

He was successful after about 50 takes over the course of a day, with actors running from room to room and the sounds of Iron & Wine blasting on repeat over the loudspeaker.

“In some ways it was very theatrical because it was all in one take,” Nix, who portrayed the female lead, told justArts. “So you still got that continuous acting the entire time it’s filming … like how you are on stage.”

Tyrer-Vasell added, “You could

tell in auditions who was a theater actor and who was a film actor. …

For what I was doing you kind of had to be both.”

Nix has been acting for theater since she was little and continued her passion at Brandeis when she starred in Hillel Theater Group’s production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo this past fall. But she found it a unique experience acting for film, especially when the film lacked dialogue: “[We had to] just use our eyes and our body language. I think [the] film … was fun for me and I know there’s a lot of theater people who would want to do projects like this,” Nix said. “I think it would be very cool to have [a] collaboration [between film and theater] happen more often.”

Before his project, Tyrer-Vasell’s interaction with the Brandeis theater community was extremely limited, but, he said, “Now I feel like there’s a lot of people [I know] if I need any kind of artistic resources … I have a nice network.”

“I think the two worlds merged well,” Teeter agreed.

The video for “Communion Cups and Someone’s Coat” can be viewed at thejustice.org/arts.

fine arts

Studio Art students explain their love for painting ■ JustArts interviewed several

of the artists behind the painting exhibition currently on display in the Spingold Theater Dreitzer Gallery.

By Olivia Leiter JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Student works from the painting, drawing and printmaking classes are currently on display in the Spingold Theater Dreitzer Gallery.

Students from the beginning and intermediate levels have self portraits, still-life paintings, ink drawings and other works showcased at the gallery. It is exciting to see such a wide variety of student work out on display. JustArts interviewed three of the artists whose work is featured in the show: Estie Martin ’14, Paul Belenky ’14 and Lenny Schnier ’13.

JustArts: What do you have in the show and what was the assignment?

Estie Martin: I have three drawings that I made in “Intermediate Drawing” with [Prof.] Susan Lichtman (FA). My favorite is a black and white ink painting of bones. The assignment was to draw something from life and work on the negative

space. I had to start with the negative space to keep the bones white.

Paul Belenky: I have two paintings in the show. One is a painting of a man holding a fish. This was my final project for “Intermediate Drawing.” We had to make a series of six drawings from one newspaper photo. I liked the project. My other painting is of a pair of my dad’s hiking boots. We had to make something that looked [photographically] realistic.

Lenny Schnier: I have six paintings up in the show. Two were done during the fall semester and four were done during winter break. ...

I wouldn’t necessarily call these paintings “projects,” rather they are stages in my growth as an artist. The way “Intermediate Painting” is designed is not like any other art course I have taken before. You have a lot of free reign with your paintings, you can pretty much go in whatever direction you feel you want to explore. [Prof.] Graham Campbell (FA) assigns a title for you to choose from, you pick a title and you make a painting. So what is on display in Dreitzer are the pieces that I selected to be shown: “The Gathering,” which is the big one, and my self portrait done in the style of an artist who paints with broken brush strokes. … The four paintings were from a series of ten [pieces] I

did over the break. Graham gave us nine titles to interpret in any way we wanted and the tenth was free for us to come up with.

JustArts: What did you learn from the project or from this class in general?

EM: I learned a different approach to ink and to working with negative space. It’s a lot harder, because ink is very permanent.

LS: I have learned a lot from Intermediate Painting and Graham and my perspective on art and how it’s produced has also been altered, in a good way. I have been shown more complex ways to make paintings and think about paintings.

JustArts: Any final thoughts?

PB: I took my first painting class at Brandeis and I have loved all my art classes here so far.

LS: I love art and I love the Studio Art program … but in a perfect world we would have a bigger Goldman-Schwartz [building], seniors, post-baccs and underclassmen all in one location, and more classes—we only have painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and a few photography [classes] now.

Martin, Belenky and Schnier are all Studio Art majors concentrating in painting majors and have taken an extensive range of art classes while at Brandeis.

OLIVIA LEITER/the Justice

GONE FISHIN’: Paul Belenky ’14 painted this work based on a newspaper photo.

22

TUESDAY, february 7, 2012

●

THE JUSTICE

OFF CAMPUS THEATER

Sexy, tension-filled play heats up the stage ■ Tennessee Williams’

‘Green Eyes’ brings an unhappy couple to life in a hotel room in Boston.

By WEI-HUAN CHEN JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

You think you’re in love.

No, that’s not it. It’s more like a coolly unsettling mix of shock, lust and desperation.

You see the half-naked blonde inches in front of you, covered with bite marks and a flimsy bathrobe dangling off her shoulder. Her hair is in electric disarray from a fight with her new husband. She gets so close you feel her breath. Then, for a second, she looks directly at you— gulp. Your insides squirm, but you’re frozen in your seat. You want to look away, but it’s impossible to take your eyes off such an unwaveringly vulnerable performance.

That’s the feeling Mrs. Claude Dunphy (Erin Markey) stirs up in Tennessee Williams’ Green Eyes, playing at the Ames Hotel on Court Street, Boston until Feb. 26. Markey’s performance of this commanding yet fragile character is as good as it gets on a theater stage, and critics like The New Yorker’s John Lahr agree.

Directed by Travis Chamberlain, for Company One, Green Eyes is an intimate, 45-minute, one-act show in a hotel room with a maximum of 25 audience members. It’s also listed as 18-and-over only.

“Mrs. Dunphy’s traits are basically the art of femininity,” Markey said to me in a phone interview. “It’s a blend of gentle and domineering.”

Originally from the South, Markey moved to New York to direct and act.

On the phone, she certainly sounds like a normal, intelligent woman.

That’s why it’s hard to believe Markey is the person who, night after night, becomes the crazed vixen we see stretched out on a 1970s-style motel room bed. As Dunphy, she draws out her syllables, giving each word the trademark seductive New Orleans drawl you hear from A Streetcar Named Desire’s Blanche. It’s a more luscious and pleading version of Markey’s own South Carolina accent, and I couldn’t get enough of it during the play.

There’s just one other character in Green Eyes: the husband. Claude Dunphy, played by Alan Brincks, is a soldier on leave from the Vietnam War. Like Streetcar’s Stanley, he’s Tennessee Williams’ typical Southern brute, highly suspicious of others and always either brooding or yelling. He and his wife wake up the morning after their honeymoon, and the tension between them builds immediately. “Where did you get those bruises?” he asks. “You gave them to me,” she says. “No, I didn’t,” he says.

This conflict is the basic premise of Green Eyes, but it’s one that escalates into the chilling territory of domestic violence and sadomasochism.

The Ames Hotel is a fitting venue because claustrophobia is a major theme in the play. The Ames is an upscale boutique hotel with a cocktail lounge to the right of the lobby and two cramped elevators that lead to the redesigned bedroom. Located across from Old State House—where the Boston Massacre occurred—the hotel has narrow, dark-lit halls and an even narrower staircase.

The transformed room of Green Eyes takes the audience to 1970s New Orleans with a wooden-knobbed radio, a cheap rug, a forgotten brand of cigarettes and a handle of bourbon.

The stage lights, placed in the corners, accentuate Brincks’ and Markey’s various poses while throwing their shadows onto the ceiling. There are too many plants in the room. It reminds you of the Vietnam jungle.

Williams wrote Green Eyes in 1970, but the play went unpublished until 2008. Many regard his later plays, especially obscure ones like Green Eyes, as inferior to classics like Streetcar and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Chamberlain’s take on this short and brutal one-act proves that to be untrue.

Chamberlain sees Green Eyes as a way for Williams, who was outed in 1968, to respond to homophobic sentiments directed toward him at the time. Although this is what the director told me a few weeks ago, there are no obvious overtones of sexual transgression in the play. Perhaps Chamberlain snuck in a queer theme or two, but I didn’t notice it, nor do I think Brincks and Markey convey it in their performances—it’s how Green Eyes remains faithful to the writing while inviting multiple interpretations of what the play means at the same time. After all, the play hinges on subjectivity. It’s impossible to figure out what happened between Mr. and Mrs. Dunphy the night before or why. It doesn’t matter that they can’t get their stories straight, though, since they—and the audience—simply get caught in the moment. That moment, that 45 minutes of ruthless twisting and turning, is more visceral and memorable than any I’ve experienced in theater.

TRAVIS CHAMBERLAIN/Company One

LOVE GONE WRONG: Newlyweds Claude (Alan Brincks) and Mrs. Dunphy (Erin Markey) smolder in Tennessee Williams’ one-act.

FASHION FORWARD

PHOTO COURTESY OF VIENNE CHEUNG

LEGS FOR DAYS: Vienne Cheung has made a name for herself with her lines of thigh-highs. Cheung’s line, VienneMilano, includes a variety of patterns and styles.

Brookline designer modernizes a classic ■ Vienne Cheung created

a new accessory line specializing in thigh-highs.

By AMY MELSER JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

Thigh-highs are a type of hosiery that reach the mid-to-upper thigh as opposed to regular hose, which go up to the waist. When one thinks of these accesories, a sexy costume, perhaps for Halloween, may come to mind, as these items are often sold in costume shops. Or one may lump thigh-highs in the “pantyhose” category and feel as though the look is dated—even if the fashion-forward Duchess of Cambridge and her sister, Pippa Middleton, regularly don them. Lastly, one may envision thigh-highs as a part of an overall lingerie-inspired ensemble paired with a garter-belt and reserve them only for romantic evenings. However, young entrepreneur and designer Vienne Cheung is changing the image of thigh-highs for American consumers with her luxury brand made in Italy called VienneMilano.

Born in Hong Kong but raised in Brookline, Mass. since the age of six, Cheung always had a love for fashion, and especially for accessories. In an interview with justArts, Cheung remarked that she finds that accessories are “telling about your personality.” She also notes that accessories help to make an outfit appropriate for various occasions. Her claims regarding accessories could not have been more true as she complimented both my cocktail ring and the Italian bracelet my brother bought me.

Cheung originally wanted to be a teacher, but her parents recognized her creative talent and advised her to pursue art. At the University of Massachusetts Boston, she studied Fine Art and Psychology and then went on to receive a M.B.A. in Marketing from Bentley University.

Working in various design, fashion, international relations, online marketing and product launches throughout her time in and out of school provided her with the knowledge to start her own brand.

Her first collection was recently launched in fall/winter 2011 and could not have been possible without her “just do it” attitude.

Cheung embraces challenges and focuses on the bigger picture instead of dwelling on every problem that may come her way. She remarks that if she listened to every naysayer she encountered, her brand would not be in existence today. She recently shared her optimism for start-up fashion businesses with middle-school aged girls while at Lynn’s Girls, Inc., a non profit aimed at empowering young girls, last Wednesday. Cheung informed the girls that if they want to start a business, there is really nothing stopping them.

Cheung tapped into a niche market that is highly undervalued and underrepresented in America. She found that thigh-highs were never the right size or material. Moreover, she noticed that thigh-highs accompanied by the traditional garter belt were “painful” and trying. The silicone gel band on all of VienneMilano thigh-highs create a smooth look that lies flat against the leg as opposed to sticking to it and creating a “muffin top” effect.

The last thing a woman wants is to accentuate any inner-thigh bulges.

Nonetheless, for the spring collection, she created a hook for the garter belt that is much easier to snap into place.

While it is one thing to hear Cheung talk enthusiastically of her thigh-highs, it is another to try them on. She generously let me feel and see her collection firsthand in addition to allowing me to keep a pair. Each band is different and delicately unique as are the particular styles and denier—the thickness of the material. The names of the different thigh-highs come from traditional female Italian names such as Isabella, Valentina and Gisella. The argyle Mafalda, for example, draws its influence from a popular Italian comic book character who is studious yet mischievous. Since Cheung wanted me to experience her thighhighs right away, she gave me the Olivia, which are a microfiber pair in a smoke color. They are the highest denier she carries, 150, meaning they will keep me warm even in these cold February temperatures. I put the thigh-highs on with a leather mini-skirt, grey v-neck sweater, and over-the-knee boots.

While an onlooker would not know I was wearing thigh-highs, there is definitely a glamorous feeling that came over me knowing I had them on. Thigh-highs provide an interesting paradox: feeling sexier with covered legs than bare ones, in addition to adding a certain polish and sheen that even the best self tanner cannot achieve.

Cheung explains that she designs her clothes for an elegant woman who possesses particular attributes such as style, confidence, playfulness and sexiness. Both her designs and fabrics reflect the brand’s ethos with luxurious fabrics like cashmere in the Viola and microfishnets in the Giorgia. Cheung finds tiny fishnets are delicate and classy, whereas large ones look like you’re “catching guppies.”

Cheung and her team of four have already begun to transform the stereotypes connoted with thighhighs, from a launch party at the InterContinental Boston to her e-commerce site, www.viennemilano. com. All styles come in two sizes, small and large, and are typically purchased according to height.

Amazingly, they fit a variety of sizes and shapes and are not just for thin women.

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, february 7, 2012

23

gaming

Vita uses innovative technology for play ■ The newest handheld

gaming system from PlayStation takes touchscreens to the next level.

By aaron berke JUSTICE Senior WRITER

The PlayStation Vita is Sony’s latest in handheld gaming innovation, taking many elements from the Sony PlayStation Portable while also improving upon them. The Vita will be officially released on Feb. 22, but Sony has given fans an early gift: the Vita Hill Social Club has launched an exposé series. Since Dec. 1, 2011, the Vita has been available to play at select Sony-sponsored locations across the country, including one convenient stop right off Central Square in Cambridge. The Vita Hill Social Club is open seven days a week, with a handful of Vitas to try out at your leisure, along with select demos for upcoming games. The club also holds a variety of parties, social events and gaming tournaments.

There are many new fascinating features in the Vita—the system is sleek and compact, fitting nicely in your hand, and is the first handheld system to feature dual analog sticks, making gameplay more fluid than ever before. The system also features a full 3G wireless system, adding online play to its repertoire.

Additionally, there’s the new CrossPlay system, which allows the player to pause a PlayStation 3 game and resume playing it on the Vita. You can also use both systems for crosscompatible online gaming.

But what is most immediately impressive about the Vita is its adaptive use of the touch-screen format. Not only does it have an enhanced frontpanel touch-screen with the most responsive touch sensitivity I’ve yet encountered in a system, but it also has a back-panel touch-screen, a first in hand-held gaming. This addition may seem odd and unnecessary at first glance, but in practice it proves an addictive component. The most delightful example of dual touchscreen usage is featured in the game Little Deviants. The deviants are an odd group of tiny creatures who are

TOKYOSHIP/Wikimedia Commons

LATEST SYSTEM: Representative CEO and EDP of Sony Corporation Kazuo Hirai shows off the PlayStation Vita at a conference. out to fight against the evil “botz,” and you assist them in this fight through a series of mini-games. One of these games has the player gripping both the front and back screens, pulling on them in order to launch the deviants across a wrestling ring, while another has you using the back panel to form hills, across which you roll the deviants, guiding them in the desired direction. These games are brief in duration but virtually limitless in fun.

In addition to the touch sensitivity, the Vita also includes a motion sensor—by far the best I’ve seen in

a game system. Little Deviants also takes advantage of the motion sensor, but the most interesting usage of it comes in the new portable Uncharted game, Golden Abyss. The actionadventure series is already a powerhouse on the home consoles, but this portable version is shaping up to be every bit as good. The motion sensor also brings an added sense of danger to the Drake series, such as when you’re crossing a breaking bridge and must tilt the Vita back and forth in order to avoid falling. You also use the sensor during the excellent sniper portion of the demo, in which you

have to physically aim the Vita in order to find your target. This includes sometimes needing to actually move around 360 degrees, so the suspense is quite visceral. The graphics are also astounding, looking every bit as good as the original Uncharted game on the PlayStation 3. This is thanks to the Vita’s enhanced five-inch Organic LED screen, which can display approximately 16 million colors, and showcases graphics of extraordinarily high quality.

The Vita also features a front-andback camera system, which is useful not only for taking the perfect pic-

ture of yourself, but also for applying it to the Reality Fighters game, where you can actually graft the image of your face on a virtual fighter’s head.

You can then dress up your fighter, giving him whatever clothing, fighting style or weapon you choose, and set him off in a standard arcade fighting format. I can’t begin to describe the thrill of seeing my virtual little “Aaron” wearing a gi, dashing across the screen while unleashing Matrix moves and beating his enemy into submission with a rubber chicken.

While the three above games are examples of the great fun to be had with the Vita, they are also perhaps exemplary of the system’s limitations. There were two other games to try out at the Vita Hill Social Club, ModNation Racers: Road Trip and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, but they simply weren’t as interesting. Hot Shots is just plain boring (then again, what golf game isn’t?) and ModNation Racers disappoints heavily by not featuring any usage of the motion sensor, despite every obvious inclination to do so. It’s true that these releases are only demos, and perhaps such features will become available later, but right now the greatest risk this system finds itself facing is being dubbed as just another “gimmicky” gaming device. Like the Nintendo DS and the Wii, the most attractive features of the Vita are those aspects that don’t lend themselves to serious gaming, and, as a result, Sony may be hardpressed to find gamers taking the system seriously.

Then again, the handheld genre has never been about serious gaming. It’s about a fun diversion on boring subway rides or a distraction from work. And if fun is the goal, the Vita certainly succeeds. There’s a general vibe of sheer, all-encompassing joy that this system offers, which should make it a major crowd pleaser. All of these innovative qualities make the PlayStation Vita by far the best handheld system yet. Even if it’s not for serious gamers, it will no doubt earn Sony millions, in addition to satisfying fans of handheld gaming. The Boston Vita Hill Social Club will remain open until Feb. 27 and is located at 579 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge.

GAMING

Nintendo’s ‘Pushmo’ impresses with puzzles Dan

WILLEY CRITICAL HIT

When I first purchased the Nintendo 3DS, one of the features I was most excited about was the inclusion of the eShop, which allows gamers to purchase and download classic GameBoy games, as well as small-budget yet innovative new titles. Since the 3DS launched, a steady stream of games have appeared on the eShop, but none of the releases were particularly notable.

That was until the release of the first entry in a brand-new series, Pushmo, produced by Nintendo and developed by Intelligent Systems, the studio responsible for several entries in such popular series as Paper Mario, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars.

Pushmo is a clever puzzle game that puts players in the role of Mallo, the small, red, possibly human protagonist who, dressed as a sumo wrestler, attempts to save kids who have become trapped in the Pushmo, a collection of large block structures. These structures can be climbed if manipulated properly.

It is Mallo’s task to solve the puzzles, free the children and reach the children at the top. While the story is a bit convoluted, it is fortunately not a particularly important aspect of the game.

Pushmo stands out from other eShop releases because of its addictive puzzles, clever gameplay mechanics

and quirky style. The graphics are simple and the color palette is almost entirely pastel, but this adds to the game’s charm and character.

The puzzles, however, are not so simple: They will challenge some of the most experienced veterans of the genre. The game introduces new block types with special attributes, as well as new tactics that gamers will need to employ to traverse the Pushmo. It’s easy to lose yourself in the puzzles, which typically take no more than a couple of minutes to complete once you’ve figured out the level’s trick.

I frequently found myself wanting to play through just one more stage. This level format is great for a portable system because it doesn’t require a massive time investment for the gamer to get their entertainment fix. It’s perfect for on-the-go players who just want to get through a puzzle or two on the bus or train, which is really what a portable system is for, but which the 3DS has mostly lacked to date, with a large number of games that are structured more for a home console experience.

While Pushmo gets a lot of things right, it is significantly hampered by its pacing—like many Nintendo games, it is simply too slow to start.

The first several levels are incredibly easy, and it takes a significant amount of time to get to any level that truly poses a challenge. The makers of the game also felt compelled to include explanations for every control, which becomes frustrating quickly and is entirely unnecessary for a game this simple and easy to play. Nintendo obviously caters to gamers of all ages and abilities, but an option to skip

PHOTO COURTESY OF NINTENDO

THE PERFECT PUZZLE: This screen shot shows ‘Pushmo’s’ main character, Mallo, standing with a crowd of rescued children. the tutorial levels, or at least reduce their number, would go a long way towards keeping advanced gamers engaged. Beyond this, Pushmo simply has a limited appeal. The gameplay only changes so much throughout the game, and at certain points, I found my interest waning.

The game is definitely best played in short intervals over an extended

period of time.

Despite these few flaws, Pushmo is a very solid downloadable puzzler for the 3DS, and a game that I would recommend to any owner of the system who has an interest in the genre. This is the type of game that really sells the idea of using the 3DS as a portable gaming system as opposed to a home console

that just happens to be handheld. At just $6.99, Pushmo is a great value, costing significantly less than a full retail game, though it is still a bit more expensive than an iOS or Android game.

I am looking forward to seeing more titles like Pushmo launch on the eShop.

I give Pushmo a 7/10.

24

TUESday, febriary 7, 2012 ● THE JUSTICE

TOP of the

ARTS ON VIEW

TRIVIA TIME

CHARTS

1. What was the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show?

2. What rock group was featured in the documentary The Kids Are Alright?

3. In Norse mythology, who were the Norns?

4. Actress Shirley MacLaine played a nun in which movie?

5. What were the names of Daisy Duck’s nieces?

6. Who discovered that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes?

7. What was the first novel written by Raymond Chandler?

8. What company advised motorists to “trust your car to the star?”

9. What is a human being’s normal body temperature in degrees Celsius?

10. The tiny principality of Andorra borders which two European countries?

ANSWERS 1. “Love Is All Around” 2. The Who 3. Norse goddesses of fate 4. ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara’ 5. April, May and June 6. Dr. Walter Reed 7. ‘The Big Sleep’ 8. Texaco 9. 37 degrees 10. Spain and France

STRANGE BUT TRUE  It was American author James Thurber who made the following sage observation: “Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.”  If you’re a fan of the original The Wizard of Oz movie, you might be surprised to learn that the actress who played Glinda the Good Witch, Billie Burke, was 54 years old when the film was shot.  The award for the most needless war in history could very well go to Paraguay, whose president, Francisco Solano López, believed himself to be an excellent tactician. He was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte and wished to emulate the French emperor, but he had no wars to fight. To remedy the situation, in 1864 Lopez declared war on all three of his neighboring countries, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. His tactical abilities seem to have been of little use, however; it is estimated that 90 percent of Paraguay’s male population was killed during the course of the war. zDuring this time of election madness, “misology” could be a useful word to know. It means “hatred of reason.” zFrench novelist Marcel Proust’s magnum opus, Remembrance of Things Past, has been hailed as a literary masterpiece, but not everyone was a fan at first read. As Proust was trying, unsuccessfully, to find a publisher for his sevenvolume work, one publisher said, “I may be dense, but I fail to see why a chap needs 30 pages to describe how he tosses and turns in bed before falling asleep.”

The author finally published the first volume with his own money; after the book was hailed as a masterpiece by critics, the same publishers who had rejected Proust competed for the opportunity to print the other six volumes of his work.

Top 10s for the week ending February 5 BOX OFFICE

1. Chronicle 2. The Woman in Black 3. The Grey 4. Big Miracle 5. Underworld: Awakening 6. One for the Money 7. Red Tails 8. The Descendants 9. Man on a Ledge 10. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

NYT BESTSELLERS

ANNA YATSKAR/the Justice

WOMAN’S BEST FRIEND: Justice photographer Anna Yatskar ’14 quickly snapped this close-up shot of her pet dog, Gus, as he posed for the camera while in a playful and excited mood.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Bar bill 4. Perspire 9. Use a crowbar 12. Knight’s address 13. Actress Berry 14. Fish eggs 15. Alternative to a jail term 17. Eggs 18. Rhyming tribute 19. Vacuum brand 21. Salt companion 24. Opposed to 25. _Town 26. Congeal 28. Cord fiber 31. Cattle drive tool 33. Pooch 35. Location 36. Couches 38. Sphere 40. End for ball or bass 41. Western state 43. Basketball’s Mr. Mourning 45. PBS Street 47. Extinct bird 48. Spoon-bender Geller 49. Raise accompaniment, often 54. Id counterpart 55. Bounded along 56. That girl 57. Boxing promoter King 58. Contest submission 59. Cut the grass DOWN 1. Recipe meas.

2. Atmosphere 3. Kinsman, for short 4. Sunglasses 5. Irrigated 6. Inventor Whitney 7. Hawaiian greeting 8. Mortises’ mates 9. Conditional stipulation 10. Wander 11. 365 days 16. Jazz style 20. Elevator name 21. Bursts

Nonfiction 1. Ameritopia: The Making of America — Mark R. Levin 2. American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History — Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice 3. Steve Jobs ­— Walter Isaacson 4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking — Susan Cain 5. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever — Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

iTUNES

1. Kelly Clarkson — “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” 2. Adele — “Set Fire to the Rain” 3. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj — “Turn Me On” 4. Flo Rida — “Good Feeling” 5. Jessie J — “Domino” 6. LMFAO — “Sexy and I Know It” 7. Gotye feat. Kimbra — “Somebody That I Used to Know” 8. Madonna feat. Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. — “Give Me All Your Luvin’” 9. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown — “International Love” 10. Glee Cast feat. 2CELLOS (Sulic & Hauser) — “Smooth Criminal” 22. Modern-day money 23. Lavish supply 27. Also 29. The gamut 30. Letterman rival 32. Information 34. Frasier star Kelsey 37. Taste 39. Sanguinary 42. Egret’s cousin 44. Cheerios ingredient 45. Took to court 46. Therefore 50. Choose 51. Doctrine 52. Discoverer’s call 53. Fresh

BILLBOARD

Solution to last week’s crossword

King Crossword Copyright 2012 King Features Synd, Inc.

SUDOKU

1. Adele — 21 2. Tim McGraw — Emotional Traffic 3. Lamb of God — Resolution 4. Various Artists — 2012 Grammy Nominees 5. Ingrid Michaelson — Human Again 6. Kidz Bop Kids — Kidz Bop 21 7. Kellie Pickler — 100 Proof 8. Seal — Soul 2 9. Drake — Take Care 10. Kari Jobe — Where I Find You Top of the Charts information provided

by Fandango, the New York Times, BillBoard.com and Apple.com.

STAFF PLAYLIST

“No Worries”

By SARA DEJENE

Justice NEWS EDITOR

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.

Thought for the Day: “Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.”

— John Wilmot

Fiction 1. Taken — Robert Crais 2. Private: #1 Subject — James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 3. Death Comes to Pemberley — P. D. James 4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest — Stieg Larson 5. 11/22/63 — Stephen King

Solution to last week’s sudoku

Sudoku Copyright 2012 King Features Synd, Inc.

After a long and stressful day, nothing’s better than coming home to kick off your shoes and relax. Here are some songs to accompany you while you unwind.

THE LIST 1. “Aruarian Dance”—Nujabes 2. “Cherry”—Ratatat 3. “Fighters”—Lupe Fiasco 4. “17”—Youth Lagoon 5. “East Harlem”—Beirut 6. “Rivers and Roads”—The Head and the Heart 7. “The Girl”—City and Colour 8. “Darling Divine”—Wild Child 9. “Blood”—The Middle East 10. “The End” —Kid Cudi