ARTS Page 20
SPORTS Runner sets school record 13 FORUM
BEATS OF PEACE
Correcting Brandeis grade inflation 12 The Independent Student Newspaper
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B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXVI, Number 19
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
STUDENT LIFE
Faith dialogue yields progress ■ Hindu and Protestant
members of the Brandeis community discussed faith and space in Harlan Chapel. By MARISSA DITKOWSKY and ZACHARY REID JUSTICE EDITOR AND SENIOR WRITER
A ceremony originally organized as a dedication of a new Hindu altar last Thursday in the Harlan Chapel became a discussion on faith and space sponsored by the Interfaith Chaplaincy after some concerns were raised by Protestant members of the Brandeis University community regarding sharing the space. Students, administrators and members of the Chaplaincy attended the discussion. In an interview with the Justice, Rev. Matt Carriker, the Protestant chaplain, said that some
Waltham, Mass.
INSPIRING HOPE
students had voiced concerns after an email to the community about the impending Hindu services, and that after a meeting last Monday with both Christian and Hindu members of the community, it was decided to have a discussion about Hinduism to further explore the issue. Sharada Sanduga ’14, president of Namaskar—a group established to promote Hindu, Jain and Sikh culture and spiritual heritage— began the discussion with a brief explanation of how Hindu students could share the space. According to her, participants in Hindu services would “keep deities in the back room [of the chapel], bring them out for services, and put them back at the end.” However, after a meeting last Monday including the Protestant and Catholic chaplains, the Hindu adviser, a few students and one professor who had raised concerns about space
See ALTAR, 7 ☛
STUDENT ACTIVISM
Protest on executive salaries to take place ■ The protest will occur
on Thursday outside of the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center. By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
A group of students has organized a protest against executive compensation at Brandeis. The event, which, as of press time, had 38 respondents listed as planning to attend the event on Facebook, will take place outside of University President Frederick Lawrence’s office in the Irving Presidential Enclave in the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center, on Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. The students organizing the event are Aaren Weiner ’16, Elaine Mancini ’16, Joy Brenner-Letich ’16, Guy Mika ’17, Abbie Goldberg ’16, Iona Feldman ’17 and Mitch Mankin ’16. The group is not a club that will be recognized, according to Weiner, but an organized group of individuals. “We want the protest to involve everyone and not
our specific ideology. We don’t want to alienate anyone,” wrote the group in a statement sent to the Justice. The group wrote that “[t]here is no way to predict what will happen” in terms of the response that the protest will receive among members of the Brandeis community and how many participants will attend. “It is a test rally,” the group wrote. “We are creating a movement.” The Facebook event description states that the University wants to raise tuition by four percent and still pays President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz over $300,000 per year, although the Justice could not confirm that tuition will increase by four percent. Additionally, Reinharz’s annual salary as a half-time professor will be $180,000 as of June 2014, according to a Nov. 19 Justice article. In addition, it states that Lawrence makes over $700,000 per year. “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. In order for Brandeis to live up to its reputation as an aware and progressive institution, THIS INJUS-
See PROTEST, 7 ☛
JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
AT THE PODIUM: Ndaba Mandela delivered the keynote address, along with his cousin Kweku Mandela-Amuah, on Wednesday.
Mandelas deliver keynote ■ Nelson Mandela’s
grandsons spoke about their work in Africa as a part of ’Deis Impact. By KATHRYN BRODY JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
On Wednesday, Kweku MandelaAmuah and Ndaba Mandela, the grandsons of Nelson Mandela, delivered the ’Deis Impact annual keynote address. The address is the pinnacle of the week of events designed to celebrate and understand
social justice. The cousins founded the nonprofit Africa Rising Foundation in 2009 as a way to encourage African pride, as well as to encourage people from all over the continent to become innovative entrepreneurs. According to the organization’s website, Africa Rising’s goal is "to create a new legacy and understanding of Africa as a continent showcasing the tremendous potential and unprecedented growth” and they are partnered with the African Bank to accomplish this goal. Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS)
See MANDELA, 7 ☛
Legacy leaders
Lunging ahead
Pushing for ASL
The grandchildren of Nelson Mandela continue his struggle for justice in Africa.
The men’s fencing team defeated Duke University at the Duke Invitational on Saturday.
The American Sign Language Club is advocating for the University to offer courses.
FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
started off the evening by discussing Nelson Mandela’s legacy. He described Mandela as “the greatest freedom fighter in modern history” and “revolutionary [because of his] ability to change and evolve with the times.” This year marks the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s first open elections. Mandela, as Williams went on to say, not only changed South Africa, but inspired a new generation of leaders in the country, as well as in other nations of Africa. Andrew Flagel, the senior vice
Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org
INDEX
SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS
17 16
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 9
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2014 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS SENATE LOG
Senate discusses dining and facilities
The Senate began its meeting on Sunday by recognizing a new club. The Undergraduate Composers Collective Series seeks to support undergraduate students in composing as well as in learning how to compose. It includes lectures by graduate students and faculty and a performance in which members can have their pieces performed. The Senate approved the recognition of the new club. Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco ’15 next addressed the Senate concerning dining changes. She said she met with Sodexo last week concerning the plans to reconstruct the Usdan Student Center. Usdan Café will become an all-you-can-eat buffet with stations including a delicatessen, a Mongolian grill, a salad station and a vegan station. Usdan Boulevard will increase in the number of stations and will be one of the retail eateries on campus, in addition to existing chains Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. The construction will be taking place over the course of this coming summer and is planned to be completed by the beginning of the 2014 to 2015 academic year. The Stein is to be reopened in the week following February break. The Student Union is also organizing a committee to work with Kim Godsoe, the assistant provost for academic affairs, in discussing possible ways with which to update vacations and the number of days off in relation to religious holidays. The Union is also working to organize a meeting with the administration in order to discuss “certain issues brought up in the [Boston] Globe,” that were unspecified, which have been noted within the student body. The Senate said the meeting will include a representative from the Justice, the Hoot and the Student Union. The Senate then moved on to the committee chair reports. The Sustainability Committee reported on future plans for a green revolving fund. The funds would function as a receptacle for the money saved on sustainable projects such as the installation of dual-flush toilets. The money would then be funneled back into other green projects. The committee is also working to repurchase credits earned from the solar panels installed on the Charles River Apartments over the summer. Other projects include distributing reusable water bottles in collaboration with Tap Brandeis, a campus-wide initiative that calls for the reduction of water bottle sales on campus, as well as increasing hand dryers on campus to replace paper towel dispensers. The Ways and Means Committee is continuing to work on rewriting the bylaws of the Senate’s constitution. The committee also hopes to create a think-tank style committee for which there would be a senator dedicated to examining the sustainability and functionality of each committee. East Quad Senator Andrew Savage ’16 discussed the plans that are being initiated in response to the multiple reports of a student reportedly peering into the showers in East Quad. Campus facilities are in the process of installing locks on the bathroom doors that students will be able to unlock using their room keys, according to an email to East residents from Community Development Coordinator Stephanie Crane. The bathrooms are also being modified to increase the ventilation. Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf addressed the Senate about many campus safety issues that have come to light in recent events, including the fire in Ziv Quad and the accident involving three students at the crosswalk in front of the Linsey Sports Center. She is meeting David Bunis ’83, the senior vice president, chief of staff and chief legal officer, to discuss these issues today.
POLICE LOG Medical Emergency
Feb. 2—University Police received a report of a student who struck her head on a window curtain rod in Pomerantz Hall. BEMCo responded and the student was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital for further treatment. Feb. 3—University Police received a report from Mailman House that a student requested a transport to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for a voluntary psychological evaluation. University Police complied and assisted in the transport. Feb. 5—University Police received a report of a male student with a fever. BEMCo responded, and after treatment, the student refused further care. Feb. 5—University Police received a report of a student at Charles River Road who suffered from a sore throat. BEMCo responded and the student was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment. Feb. 8—University Police re-
ceived a report that a student entered Stoneman Building with an alarming face rash and requested medical treatment. BEMCo responded and the student refused further care.
Fire
Feb. 8—University Police received a report that a resident on 110 Angleside Road accidentally set a towel on fire while cooking on the stove. The fire was quickly extinguished and officers compiled a report of the incident.
Traffic
Feb. 3—University Police received a report that a University vehicle had been engaged in a car accident in front of the Rose Art Museum. University Police arrived at the scene and compiled a report of the incident.
Larceny
Feb. 4—University Police received a report that a student in Reitman Hall had experienced credit card theft. A report on the
incident was compiled and the card was thereafter cancelled. Feb. 4—University Police received a report that a student in the Shapiro Campus Center had her iPhone stolen. A report was compiled on the theft. Feb. 9—A student in East Quad reported the theft of a coat left unattended. University Police compiled a report of the incident.
Drugs
Feb. 4—University Police received a report that three students near the Village were possibly smoking an illegal substance. Officers arrived on the scene and could not locate the students. Feb. 6—University Police received a report that there had been excessive noise and possible drug use from a resident across the hall at Charles River Road. Officers arrived at the scene, advised the resident to turn down the music and failed to localize the source of the marijuana.
n Views on the News incorrectly stated Lisa Lynch’s title. She is the dean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy. (Feb. 4, p. 10)
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 2 to 3 p.m. in the Justice office. Editor News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing
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The Justice Brandeis University Mailstop 214 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3750
—compiled by Adam Rabinowitz
Fewer students applying to seven or more colleges
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
n An article in Arts misstated ticketing information for winter concert. Students must bring their IDs in order to enter the concert, although students can purchase more than one ticket with an ID. (Feb. 4, p. 19)
Feb. 4—University Police received a report that a mother was unable to coax her child from the lower roof of the Goldfarb Library. University Police arrived, and while able to trace the footsteps of the child, were unable to locate the mother or child. University Police later received a call that the mother and child were safe and no further action was needed. Feb. 8—University Police received a report that students had been suspiciously loitering by the Chapels Field pond. Officers arrived at the scene and could not locate the parties. Feb. 8—University Police received a report from a student that a “small blue car” parked near the Castle looked suspicious. Officers arrived at the scene and were unable to locate the vehicle.
BRIEF
EXPLORING ENERGY POVERTY
—Kathryn Brody
n A photograph in Arts incorrectly identified the student featured. Danielle Balanov ’17 was pictured, not Cassidy Swartz ’16. (Feb. 4, p. 19)
Miscellaneous
JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
Haley Orlofsky ’14 spoke about the cost of fuel and energy and its health repercussions at a Students for Environmental Action event, which took place in the Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room last Thursday.
The panic in the college application process may be easing a bit. That’s the way some experts are interpreting statistics in a new report that shows a slight decline in the number of high school seniors who apply to seven or more colleges. That decline in 2012 was the first in 20 years, according to the study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. It had swelled from 9 percent in 1992 to 29 percent in 2011. Then the share of students applying to seven or more schools declined to 28 percent. “In good news, there are some indicators that there may be an end in sight to the application scramble among students and colleges,” said the report, entitled “2013 State of College Admissions.” It also said that anecdotal evidence suggests some colleges are “curbing efforts to bring in as many applications as possible, in favor of more focused targeting of ‘good-fit’ students who would be likely to attend.” In related matters, the study found that colleges continue to consider students’ grades in high school college prep courses by far the most important factor in admissions decisions. Those grades were described as considerably important by 82 percent of colleges in 2012. Admissions test scores were considered very significant by 56 percent of colleges. After all the anxiety surrounding application essays, it may come as a surprise or a relief to some students that essays were deemed very important by just 20 percent of colleges. Counselors’ recommendations was judged crucial by only 16 percent. More than 440 colleges participated in the survey. —Los Angeles Times/MCT
ANNOUNCEMENTS Allies Brown Bag
This event will be a relaxed space to discuss variations in sexual orientation. Come to appreciate the company of others, learn some new terms and enjoy some homemade treats! Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.
A Jewish Reading of the Gospel of John
In this lecture, Adele Reinhartz will approach the Gospel of John as a Jewish reader, that is, outside the faith community for which the Gospels are sacred scripture. She will explore what it means to read from a particular (and this particular) point of view, and consider the ways in which such readings can enhance our understandings of sacred texts and their ethical consequences. Reinhartz is a professor in the Department of classics and religious studies at the University of Ottawa in Canada. Thursday from 1 to 1:30 p.m. in the Lown Center for Judaica Studies room 203.
Networking Etiquette 101
Networking—what is all the fuss about? Undergraduate students are invited to learn basic networking skills and get some great networking tips. This workshop is perfect for students who feel confused or intimidated about networking. RSVP through B.hired. Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Hiatt Career Center.
Workshop: Applying for WOW Funding
Undergraduate students are invited to learn about the World of Work summer internship funding program and how to put together a strong application. RSVP through B.hired. Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Hiatt Career Center.
Doki Doki Choco Time
The Japanese Student Association will be hosting its second annual Valentine’s Day event—Doki Doki Choco Time. Come make and decorate chocolate-covered fruit, fold
origami and watch a movie. Thursday from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.
Louis D. Brandeis’ American Zionism
Join Prof. Stephen Whitfield Ph.D. ’72 (AMST), beloved teacher to generations of Brandeis students and alumni and prolific author for a conversation on Louis D. Brandeis’ American Zionism: A Forgotten Chapter in the Story of American Cultural Pluralism.� Justice Brandeis helped the nation define a place for Jews and other minorities in the broader society. His perspective �that Zionism on American soil, far from threatening the American body politic, would actually strengthen it is a provocative and forgotten chapter in the story of American pluralism. Please RSVP for this complementary session by Feb. 20. Sunday, Feb. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Mandel Center for the Humanities room G03.
THE JUSTICE
FOOD AND CLASS
By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
RAFAELLA SCHOR/the Justice
Students for Environmental Action sponsored an event titled “The Sustainability of Food: Should Who You Are Define What You Eat?” as a part of ’Deis Impact on Sunday.
STUDENT ACTIVISM
CAC promotes ‘smoke less’ Colleges Against Cancer is working to change smoking policies on campus. By SARAH RONTAL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The Brandeis University chapter of Colleges Against Cancer, a nationwide collaboration of college students dedicated to the implementation of the programs and missions of the American Cancer Society, is seeking campus-wide support for a smoking policy that would limit smoking to designated areas around campus. CAC chapter President Elizabeth Allen ’14 said the club is looking to demonstrate community support for its initiative by speaking with members of the University administration, gaining the support of the Student Union, seeking acceptance of the proposal from the Rights and Responsibilities Committee, and surveying behaviors and opinions of student and faculty populations who were underrepresented in its past survey. Current University policy prohibits smoking in buildings and less than 30 feet away from buildings. According to a report by the Brandeis chapter of CAC dated Dec. 16, 2013, the policy “is ineffective at eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke in most places on campus.” Between April 22 and 25, 2013, CAC, with help from the Golding Health Center, conducted a survey sent to all undergraduate and graduate students that collected data on smoking habits of students and general interest in prohibition of smoking except in specially designated outdoor areas. The survey received 1,006 responses. Only one percent of respondents were graduate students, while nine percent of respondents were international students as compared to a reported 14 percent international undergraduate population. According to the survey, 28 percent of responding students said they smoked daily, three to five times a week, one to two times per week, or occasionally. “Occasionally” was the largest category for those who smoked, carrying 18 percent of respondents.
3
ASL club looks to start course Club members have been working to bring ASL courses to Brandeis.
Findings from the survey included in the Brandeis CAC’s December 2013 report indicated that 73 percent of respondents reported having been bothered by secondhand smoke. Seventy-three percent also supported prohibiting smoking on campus, except in specifically designated outdoor areas. The policy proposed by CAC to the administration and the Rights and Responsibilities Committee reads: “Smoking and vaporized tobacco products are prohibited in all University buildings (including the residence halls), in University vehicles, and in all outdoor areas except those clearly marked as designated areas.” According to Allen, details like the location and number of designated smoking spaces has yet to be determined. Before working out the details, she said that CAC would “rather get the whole campus to be like, ‘we really want this to happen.’ We’d rather have the administration excited about making a new change.” The group’s immediate goal is to demonstrate campus-wide support in order to encourage the administration to adopt this policy. Allen reported that the administration, including Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Assistant Vice President for Health and Wellness Sheryl Sousa ’90, has given the CAC a generally “positive” response regarding the proposal. Sousa and Flagel did not respond to requests for comment by press time. Allen said CAC also plans to seek support from the Student Union for the second time. The first time CAC sought Student Union support, the Senate “voted to not pass a resolution on the smoke-less initiative,” wrote Student Union vice president Charlotte Franco ’15 in an email to the Justice. The Student Union chose not to do so for three reasons, according to Franco: the initiative could isolate students who smoke, particularly “a large international population” because “smoking is a large part of other cultures;” the University’s enclosed campus, unlike smoke-free urban campuses, would be prohibitive to those who smoke; and the Senate sought to “protect the rights of students to smoke if they choose [to].” According to Franco, “senators
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
ACADEMICS
■ American Sign Language
■ The Brandeis chapter of
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were instructed by myself to reach out to constituents in any way possible to gain more of an [insight] on the issue.” Class of 2014 Senator Andre Ve Tran said in an interview with the Justice that he spoke to “both friends and acquaintances who smoked and who didn’t, both formally and informally,” as well as with his brother who was a residential advisor on a smoke-free campus. While he said he supported the initiative personally, he “could not support the plan as a whole.” Class of 2014 Senator Annie Chen also favored speaking with constituents: “It was decided that we would spend a week speaking to the students we represent to garner different perspectives on the issue and return to make a more informed decision.” Reducing smoking privileges on U.S. college and university campuses appears to be a national trend. According to a report by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, currently 1,182 colleges and universities have 100 percent smoke-free campuses. “This number has grown from the 586 campuses of which we were aware two years earlier (October 2011),” according to the ANRF website. The CAC effort has involved the work of many undergraduate students, including four CAC board members, about 10 club members, two Sociology practicum students and students from a Common Cause Community, according to Allen and Health Center Nurse Manager Diana Denning. Denning said the Health Center shared information with CAC members showing “that other schools had started with some surveying to gauge community tobacco and nicotine use, interest in cessation programming and support for a policy change.” The center also recommended that CAC bring their proposed policy changes to the University’s Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force. According to the CAC report, the task force recommended that the CAC utilize focus groups, continue to seek the support of the Student Union, gather information on implementation costs and present sample policy changes to the Department of Student Rights and Community Standards, Faculty Handbook committee and Human Resources.
The American Sign Language Club is currently lobbying the University to offer American Sign Language as a course, and to ensure that the course would help to fulfill the language requirement. “Our goal is to have the first semester have 10a, second semester have 20 and then the third semester have 10 and 30, just having it so that it fulfills a language requirement and in seeing what the interest is,” said ASL Club President and Co-Founder Jaclyn Kellner ’16 in an interview with the Justice. According to Kellner, the club’s goal is to at least have ASL fulfill the language requirement “because Brandeis doesn’t like offering languages that don’t fulfill the language requirement and students don’t like taking languages that don’t fulfill the language requirement.” Kellner also added that it would be “odd” to start learning a language and “not get to a level of good, solid conversation before you stop.” The ASL Club was formed and recognized by the Student Union last year, but at that point, according to Kellner, advocating for an ASL course was a potential goal, not the primary goal of the club at that time. The ASL Club recently created a Qualtrics poll to gauge interest in the course, should it be offered in the future. The survey, according to CoFounder and the club’s Class Coordinator Brittany Lerman ’14, was posted to Facebook groups affiliated with Brandeis and was sent out to members of the club’s listserv. Although the survey was sent to Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia ’15 to include in the weekly email to the Brandeis community, according to Kellner, the survey did not make the deadline for Walia’s most recent email. Kellner said that the poll would be open for “another week or so.” As of Sunday, 119 students who participated in the survey were in favor of Brandeis offering ASL classes, six replied “maybe” and six replied that they would not be in support. However, when asked whether or not they would enroll, given that the course would count toward the foreign language requirement, 87 responded that they would, 25 responded that they might be interested and 10 responded that they would not be interested. According to Kellner, creating a survey was not something the Brandeis administration told the ASL club to do, but is rather “one of the steps as to show that there’s interest.” However, Kellner was unsure of how many students must express interest for the administration to consider offering ASL. The officers have been working with Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences for Undergraduate Education Elaine Wong. Currently, students who are interested in taking ASL have traveled to Harvard University to take a class held on Sundays. According to Kellner in an email to the Justice, Brandeis students pay a part of the fee, or about $15, to take the class, but it is discounted by the Student Union. Transportation to the class is available through the Cambridge Shuttle Service and a BranVan funded by the Student Union. Approximately 20 Brandeis students are currently taking the class at Harvard, according to Kellner.
However, this option is not sufficient, according to Lerman. “I know that there are plenty of students on the Brandeis campus that would be interested in taking the Harvard ASL classes but it doesn’t work in their schedule to go all the way to Harvard and take classes, so that’s why having it at Brandeis would be very convenient so we do have a lot of support,” said Lerman in an interview with the Justice. Although the officers explained that there is no particular deadline, they expressed that their goal is to have the University offer ASL as a class by fall 2014. According to Kellner, all coordination and steps to plan the class would need to be completed by March in order for this to occur. “[I’m] not sure how feasible that is at this point just because months keep going by, but the sooner the better,” said Kellner. Kellner described the process that the club must go through in order for the University to offer ASL as a course. First, a department under which the course would be listed needed to be decided. According to Kellner, the Language and Linguistics program agreed that if there were an ASL course, it would fall under Linguistics. Linguistics Chair Prof. James Pustejovsky (COSI) could not be reached for comment by press time. The second step, Kellner said, is gauging interest, which is what the club is attempting to do through the Qualtrics poll. Another step is writing a sample syllabus. Kellner said that she started to contact professors of beginning ASL at other universities in order to do so. Lerman added that finding an adjunct professor would be another step. “When we met with administration to talk about this, they were really supportive in seeing that apparently there’s been (sic) ASL clubs in the past, and they would like to see ASL at Brandeis, however, if it were to be a professor, to my understanding, it would be an adjunct professor,” Lerman said. Lerman added that the club planned to work with administration to locate funding for an adjunct professor. Finding the funding for a professor to teach the course is the main issue now, according to Wong. “I think that at the moment, it’s unlikely to happen next year, unless funds from an outside donor are identified,” Wong wrote in an email to the Justice. Kellner said that the question remains as to whether or not the club is going to come up with part of the funding for a professor through grants or through fundraising, or whether the club will ask the University to take care of the funding “because there are a lot of classes that different departments want to have offered and they don’t just hire new professors all the time,” she said. According to Wong, there are no current faculty members who have the time or expertise to teach ASL. “In order for a new instructor to be hired to teach an ASL course, a department or program has to request that such a course (or sequence of courses) be offered, and the university must then identify funds to pay for the new instructor,” Wong wrote. According to Kellnerm, the ASL club has not yet found any grants specifically intended to start ASL classes at universities. However, according to both the ASL officers and Wong, administrators are in support of providing ASL courses. “Speaking for myself, I think it would be wonderful if we had the resources to offer ASL for credit at Brandeis. I believe that other members of the administration feel the same way,” Wong wrote.
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of 2015 onward will still have the option to declare a minor in Italian Studies. By TATE HERBERT JUSTICE EDITOR
This year’s graduating class, the Class of 2014, will mark the last group of Italian Studies majors to leave the University. As a result of cuts to the program made in 2009, while effects of the recession were acutely felt by the University, students from the classes of 2015 onward will only be able to declare a major in Italian Studies as an independent interdisciplinary major. Declaring an IIM requires a formal proposal and three faculty to serve as advisers for the major. The Italian Studies IIM, however, will follow a pre-set program of courses that is similar to the former major. Designating Italian Studies as an IIM, even when still structured as a major, is somewhat unique. According to Julia Moffitt, academic advisor and IIM coordinator, IIMs are normally student-driven and independently designed, as per the name of the program. “The Italian [S]tudies major was one of several programs lost during the last recession, at the recommendation of the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring [Steering] Committee, chaired by former Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe,” wrote Elaine Wong, senior associate dean of arts and sciences for undergraduate education, in an email to the Justice. “Italian Studies had been an IIM for many years and returned to this status upon the faculty acceptance of the CARS recommendations,” added Wong. “It was a very tough financial time for the university, and several [Master of Arts], minors and majors were affected.” There are five Italian studies majors slated to graduate this year. Three students from the Class of 2015 have declared an IIM for the following year so far, according to Sophia Baez ’15, an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for Italian Studies. Seventeen Italian Studies minors are currently declared. Italian Studies currently has two
faculty members tied primarily to the program: Profs. Paola Servino (ROMS) and Silvia Monteleone-Wasson (ROMS). Servino and Monteleone-Wasson are contract faculty and do not hold doctorate degrees. In comparison, Hispanic Studies has 11 affiliated faculty, four of which are in the tenure structure. French and Francophone Studies has nine faculty members, three of which are in the tenure structure. Since the spring of 2010, Prof. Emeritus Richard Lansing (ROMS) has taught only one course at the University—a class that was in the Comparative Literature program rather than the Italian Studies program. To fill the gap in upper-level instruction, according to the University’s Course Catalog, Servino has taught an upperlevel Italian literature course every semester since then. This semester, she is teaching ITAL 120b: “Modern Italian Literature.” Servino also cochairs the program in Italian Studies with Prof. Ramie Targoff (ENG), a scholar of Renaissance literature. According to Wong, there are currently no plans to replace Lansing, who retired at the end of last academic year, according to a May 20, 2013 Justice article. “Tenure track requests must come from departments; the Dean’s office has not been able to authorize the majority of annual requests since the university has been in budget deficit,” wrote Wong. Currently, Italian Studies is the only language program at Brandeis besides Korean that does not have a tenured or tenure-track professor teaching the corresponding literature courses. Programs in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Latin and Greek, meanwhile, all have tenured or tenure-track professors teaching the upper-level literature courses. Baez said in an interview with the Justice that she believes a drop in student interest has contributed in part to the decline of the program. In addition, having to take extra steps to declare an IIM as opposed to a regular major might be a deterrent for some people, according to Moffitt. However, said Baez, the program’s “small, comfortable feeling” breeds the high rate of retention among the students that it does attract.
BRIEF Angela Glover Blackwell named Richman Distinguished Fellow Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PolicyLink Angela Glover Blackwell has been named the first Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life, according to a Feb. 6 BrandeisNOW press release. According to its website, the fellowship was created by Brandeis Trustee Carol Richman Saivetz ’69 and is hosted by International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life on behalf of the Office of the President. The goal is to recognize individuals who have made “significant impacts on improving American society, strengthening democratic institutions, advancing social justice or increasing opportunities for all citizens to realize and share in the benefits of this nation.” As part of her appointment, Blackwell will receive a $25,000 award funded by the Richman and Saivetz families and will come to campus on March 24 and 25 “to discuss the field of social justice and to provide insight on effective social justice advocacy” with students and faculty. During her time here, she will also hold a public lecture, according to the press release. According to the mission statement found on its website, PolicyLink is a “national research and action institute” founded in 1999 that aims to develop “sustainable communities of opportunity that al-
low everyone to participate and prosper.” The organization seeks to make federal policy “more equitable” to improve the lives of people of color and people from Blackwell low-income communities, by increasing their access to “quality jobs, affordable housing, good schools” and other benefits. “[Blackwell’s] contributions span multiple areas of public policy but follow a common thread that links advocacy goals to tangible improvement of public health, economic vitality and neighborhood infrastructure,” said University President Frederick Lawrence in the press release. According to PolicyLink’s website, Blackwell, who earned her bachelor’s degree at Howard University and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, was a senior vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation. Currently, she co-chairs a task force on poverty at the Center for American Progress and sits on the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. —Sara Dejene
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
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ONE WAY OUT
Italian major reduced to IIM ■ Students from the Class
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OLIVIA WANG/the Justice
SECRET RAILROAD: A speaker, who asked that he and his organization remain anonymous, discussed his work in North Korea.
Event examines North Korea ■ The Brandeis chapter
of Liberty in North Korea sponsored an event through ’Deis Impact on Thursday. By hannah wulkan JUSTICE contributing writer
On Thursday, students gathered to hear about the humanitarian issues in North Korea at an event called “The Secret Underground Railroad Out of North Korea,” hosted by the club Brandeis Liberty in North Korea as part of ’Deis Impact. The event addressed North Korea’s status as one of the most secretive countries in the world and the problems that accompany that fact. The film and speaker explained that North Korea accepts no assistance of any kind from other countries and is under a strict Communist regime that brings with it many issues, including oppression of human rights and a devastating food crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have died so far, and many people try to escape by fleeing to China. However, the Chinese government claims that they are illegal immigrants and will deport them back to North Korea, where defection from the country is a capital offense that is punishable by death. The event began with an hour-long documentary called Seoul Train, which discussed the acts occurring in North Korea from a humanitarian perspective, as opposed to a political one, and how certain individuals are addressing those issues. The founder and director of Helping Hands Korea, Tim Peters, said in the film that there is an underground railroad to get people out of North Korea that is very similar to the one that existed during the Civil War in America and further commented that, “lives are in the balance, not only the lives of refugees, but the lives of activists.” The film followed several groups that attempted to escape North Ko-
rea, some successful and some not, and was mostly filmed in secret because it is illegal to film there, the documentary explained. Though all in horrific and terrifying situations, the one common trait among the subjects of the film was how hopeful and excited they seemed to feel about their future outside of North Korea. “I leave everything up to God,” one of the refugees commented, saying that she felt guilty about leaving friends and family behind but was excited for the future. The film ended by saying that though several success stories were shown, thousands of people did not make it safely out of North Korea, and there are still many who are under this oppressive rule and need help. Brontte Hwang ’15, the president of the Brandeis chapter of Liberty in North Korea, introduced the speaker after the film ended, commenting on how personal an issue it is for her because she is Korean. “It’s so easy to forget when you don’t see it,” she said of the North Korean crisis. “North Korea is so small and so dangerous to get involved with. It poses so many threats to us, so why get involved? That’s why our government hasn’t gotten involved, why other governments haven’t gotten involved, and so we need to talk about it.” The speaker then spoke and explained his organization’s efforts to assist in North Korea, though he requested that both he and his group remain anonymous due to the complicated issues and danger in North Korea. He explained that his organization is one of the few that are legally allowed to enter the country, and that he himself has visited twice. The organization works to help fund orphanages and grow sustainable trees and crops such as shiitake mushrooms in order to assist the nearly 75 percent of the population that is starving to death. He said that when he visited orphanages in North Korea, the children were an average of four to five
inches shorter than their American counterparts due to protein deficiency, which also caused them to have scars and sores. The speaker said that the government is in turmoil and would most likely collapse soon. “They have been on their last limb for a long time,” he commented, adding that he believed that it was practically inevitable that the regime would eventually fall. Though he said that chaos would ensue if that happened, he also said it seems the only possible way to eventually liberate the nation. In a conversation with the Justice after the event ended, Dianna Carlson ’15, a student in attendance, said that “this is not only an interesting topic but an important topic and I like to hear things that are swept under the rug like this.” Morgan Winters ’17, who also attended the event, said that she learned that “there are problems in the world other than what we see in the news.” This sentiment that awareness is necessary for the movement was a prevalent one among students in attendance and was also prevalent in the speaker’s and the film’s messages. The Brandeis chapter of Liberty in North Korea was founded last spring, and Hwang took over as president this past fall. Hwang described the Brandeis organization to the Justice, explaining that it is a chapter of the larger organization, LiNK, which is the only grassroots organization in America that is focused on this crisis in North Korea. “This is a huge violation of human rights … we focus just on the danger that the North Korean government poses to us and we don’t know what is happening to the North Korean people on the inside,” said Hwang, explaining why she sees the issues in North Korea as so pressing. “I want to get it out there and in people’s faces so that they know what is happening. … Just because North Korea is a small country doesn’t mean it won’t affect us.”
BRIEF University implements new traffic safety protocol The University has implemented several new measures to improve pedestrian safety after three students were struck by a car on South Street and sent to the hospital on Feb. 2. Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said in a phone interview with the Justice that the Waltham Police Department has increased its presence by the crosswalk near the Linsey Sports Center to enforce speed limits and encourage students to use the flashing crosswalk lights. Additionally, he said that he would be meeting with a traffic engineer from the city of Waltham to review the design of the crosswalk. Senior Vice President for Com-
munications Ellen de Graffenreid expressed the importance of working with the city of Waltham. “We are committed to working with the city to ensure that upgrades happen as fast as possible,” she wrote in an email to the Justice. Stephanie Guyotte, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney’s office, said that the investigation into the crash is still ongoing. Two of the three students involved in the accident were released from the hospital last week. Neither Guyotte, Callahan, nor de Graffenreid could confirm that the third student has been released from the hospital. Dean of
Students Jamele Adams could not be reached for comment by press time. These initiatives have been a response to an accident that occurred on Feb. 2, during which three students were struck by a car crossing South Street near the Linsey Sports Center. The three students, an 18-year-old male, an 18-year-old female and a 22-yearold female, were all transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with injuries. The driver, a 42-year-old Belmont, Mass. resident, was not found to be impaired by any substances. —Phil Gallagher
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PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUE
OLIVIA WANG/the Justice
HINDU ALTAR: The Interfaith Chaplaincy hosted a discussion about faith and space in the Harlan Chapel on Thursday.
ALTAR: Chaplains host interfaith conversation in general, how space could potentially be shared and the legality of sharing the space due to the donor’s intent for the chapel, they concluded that “it would be better to have discussion about the ceremony and sharing space and how space functions on campus in terms of religious ceremonies and religious practice,” Sanduga said in an interview with the Justice. Camille Reynolds (M.A.) and Prof. Judith Dean (IBS) both expressed concerns about the potential of sharing the Protestant chapel. Sanduga noted, however, that “we clearly understand and we completely respect” the concerns. According to Reynolds, she and Dean were concerned when they first received the invitation to the Hindu ceremony because there had been no discussion within the Protestant or Christian community about utilizing the space for the ceremony. “We just saw it about a week or two before the actual ceremony was announced, so we were also concerned that the Protestant Christian community in some respects were never notified about this change,” Reynolds said in an interview with the Justice. Carriker said in an interview with the Justice that he believes some of the rationale for making this discussion about faith and space rather than the establishment of the Hindu altar was because originally the chapel was built as a space for Protestants. Carriker said Northeastern University is an example of a university with a multi-faith sacred space, which all re-
ligions share. Reynolds confirmed the sentiment that had the chapel been built as a multi-faith worship space, there would be no issue. “If that’s true and all the groups know that it’s for common use and it has to be shared, I think there’s no expectation when you open the door that it’s going to be one thing or the other, we all recognize we need to share it. So that would have been a very different situation,” she said. According to Carriker, combining the Catholic and Protestant chapels to make Harlan multi-faith has come up as a potential resolution, in addition to finding another space for the Hindu community to worship on campus. Although Reynolds and Dean said they would accept this compromise, they questioned the legality of changing the function of the Protestant chapel due to the donor’s intentions and wishes for the building. Carriker wrote in an email to the Justice that, at the moment, the Chaplaincy is investigating the contract and donor agreement. Vaishali Gupta, the Hindu adviser, acknowledged during the course of the discussion that problems could arise from having Hindu services in “a space built for Christian worship” due to the inherent differences between monotheistic Christianity and polytheistic Hinduism. Dean explained in an interview with the Justice that, ideally, the ceremony that Gupta wanted to perform is “an establishment of the permanent presence of the gods and goddesses for people to come and worship. “So she was not, as I understood
her, ... particularly happy with having to redo her ceremony in other places, because the whole point of the ceremony, even in [its] Hindu name, is establishment,” Dean continued. Carriker told those in attendance that it is “always a tough question when talking about sharing space” and that this “can prompt tension in interfaith dialogues.” Initially, Carriker was in favor of sharing the space with Hindu students. “Personally, from my own faith, I’m fine with it being in this space, but that’s kind of the tough part about interfaith dialogue, is that, even within Christianity there’s many widely different beliefs,” Carriker said in an interview with the Justice. Coordinator of the Interfaith Chaplaincy Rev. Walter Cuenin elaborated on the nature of the conflict. “The issue is sharing with a religion that some people believe is incorrect,” Cuenin told the audience. He stated that the Hindu faith “is different, and most don’t know much about it. It scares some people.” Toward the end of the discussion, David Elwell, director of the International Students and Scholars Office, acknowledged the difficulties of finding an available space for Hindu worship, but expressed his belief that the University needs “other spaces to be able to have events for people of all faiths to learn.” According to Gupta, this was a productive means of discussion, as learning about others who have differing opinions “gives one an opportunity to go deeper into [his or her] own thinking.”
PROTEST: Students organize rally against current executive salaries CONTINUED FROM 1 TICE MUST BE ELIMINATED,” the event information reads. Although the members of the organizing group wrote that they believe that budget transparency is appreciated, the University’s recent policy changes to increase transparency actually incensed the members to organize this rally, as it “explicitly show[s] how corrupt the executive pay process is. “The administration has said they plan to negotiate these huge executive packages and come up with fairer numbers, but that hasn’t happened yet. We are demanding that these proceedings happen NOW and that [they] result in a truly fair decision as to how much the executives will be paid,” the group wrote. The group wrote that it felt that although a number of students on campus are upset, in order for anything to occur, the members had to address the issues and come for-
ward to organize a protest and express these sentiments themselves. “We want everyone to know that the only way things are going to change is if we demonstrate that we NEED them to. This is something that affects what every Brandeis student pays each year and if Brandeis is really concerned about social justice, we need to make things right on our own campus,” the group wrote. Section eight of the 2013 to 2014 Rights and Responsibilities Handbook addresses campus protests and demonstrations. Members of the Brandeis community are allowed to hold protests “provided such protests or demonstrations do not disrupt University operations or obstruct physical movement to, from, or within any place on the campus, including University property located off the main campus,” the handbook reads. In addition, the handbook states that the senior student affairs officer or designee must be notified in
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MANDELA: Speech headlines festival for social justice CONTINUED FROM 1
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advance, and “may instruct organizers regarding the guidelines for such activity.” According to Weiner, she contacted Dean of Students Jamele Adams and he asked her to set up a meeting with him through his secretary. However, as of Sunday, Weiner had yet to hear back from her. “The administration is aware, but nothing further has happened,” she wrote. Adams confirmed in an email to the Justice that the meeting is currently being scheduled, but wrote that the group must meet with him in advance in order for the protest to occur. “I can’t offer any statement to you at this time, as I haven’t met with the students yet. But in regards to protest itself on campus; the ability for students to use the vehicle of protest to express opinion and bring notice to matters of concern is valued and has often been the cornerstone of many great movements and changes throughout the history of our fine University,” he wrote.
president for students and enrollment, then took the podium. Addressing the audience, he honored Jules Bernstein ’57, who is one of the sponsors of ’Deis Impact. Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14 was next to speak. He began with the question, “What makes the University special?” In a round table discussion, students noted the high number of serviceoriented clubs and the number of leadership positions at Brandeis held by students. However, Rosen pointed out that although these are accomplishments of which students should be proud, Brandeis is about more than numbers. He said one of the great things about Brandeis is that “we don’t stand for things, we move them,” meaning that Brandeis students will work to change injustice rather than remain passive. Rosen noted that this idea was shared by Nelson Mandela and now by his grandsons, who want to spread Africa’s story and history to people who “don’t see the whole picture of Africa” through education. Mandela inspired people by his “unwillingness to look away when faced with injustice,” but, Rosen went on to say, looking to the future of Africa, the world can see “hope in Kweku and Ndaba’s fight.” Mandela-Amuah began his address by asking the audience to look at their neighbors. He asked, “What do we all have in common?” He then answered, saying that “each of us has a thirst for social justice.” Furthermore, he said that humans are able to accomplish the impossible, resulting in man walking on the moon, the ability to travel around the world and even produce technological advancements such as cell phones and computers. By putting these two together, the innovation and the belief in social justice, Mandela-Amuah said that “there is hope for us yet.” He asked audience members to make this choice, to find a balance between individual needs and giving back to the community. Mandela-Amuah called for “new hands to lift the burden,” specifically students at Brandeis and at other universities who are motivated to fight for social justice. “When I think about Brandeis, I think about the degree to which magic can really happen at an institute like this,” Mandela-Amuah said. Referring to the movie Inception, Mandela-Amuah said that Africa Rising is about planting ideas in the youth because, in his opinion, it is the youth who hold the future. Mandela-Amuah admitted that pursuing social justice is not easy and that it “takes blood,” but it is the pursuit of it that will lead everyone to a stronger future. Ndaba Mandela took the podium next. Mandela focused on cases of discrimination in history as well as the present day. He talked about the unlawful seizure of aboriginal land in Australia and how the government said nothing, how Africans are harassed on the streets by policemen in many countries, how black people in Brazil are treated as second-class citizens because of the color of their skin and that "the American government supports the Israeli army in a dispute over the land against Palestine.” All of these are cases of discrimination, Mandela said. Furthermore, when Africans are “seen as hopeless, poor, backward, uncivilized people, unable to lead themselves” this too is discrimination, said Mandela. Mandela pointed out that people do not care to differentiate between Nigerian or South African, instead labeling everyone with dark skin as simply African. Mandela then went on to say that he hopes to use
the label of “African” to unite Africa and to “tell [African] stories from [an African] point of view.” The American Dream, as Mandela observed, is a powerful concept as a propelling force for American society. He said that there is no equivalent to the American Dream in Africa, which he hopes to change with Africa Rising. Africa Rising reaches out to people of all classes and ages in Africa, from high school students to heads of states, and helps to define what people want to see Africa become in the coming years. Mandela notes that the continent is the most diverse continent and has the most potential for growth compared to the rest of the world. Within Africa Rising is a branch that consists of a resource center to provide young Africans with the information, guidance and expertise necessary to found successful businesses. One of the major resources that Mandela-Amuah and Mandela hope to make available to all of Africa is computers. Furthermore, Africa Rising wishes to show that “black people are not just the best athletes,” but are musicians, scientists and lawyers. Audience members were then allowed to ask questions. Williams asked about the cousins’ opinions on what it means to be African in this day and age. Mandela-Amuah replied that it has to do a lot with pride. Africa has “confidence issues” due to the fact that its history is “distorted” and doesn’t include all of the accomplishments that African civilizations achieved, he said. Mandela replied that “an African is someone who respects his culture” and that each African culture has a long history. Growing up in South Africa, he saw many of his peers grow up with their parents being staff in mansions, but they were still proud of their parents because they “understood the context and situation.” Parents weren’t condemned for the fact that they grew up in a time where they were unable to receive an education and were a source of pride for their achievements under oppressive circumstances. He compared this pride of parents to pride in Africa. The first question from the audience was from a Brandeis student who wanted to know the cousin’s opinions on how useful a pan-African view of African pride is in the long run. Mandela-Amuah said that there is a need for respecting national and cultural histories, but also said that Africa would be benefited by a unified monetary system. Mandela said that the boundaries between the nations of Africa were not created by Africans, but by Europeans who were dividing the continent according to their own negotiations and national interests rather than where the boundaries naturally fell. Pan-African pride would somewhat alleviate the tensions caused by these boundaries, he said. Another question concerned a student’s own experience with returning home to her family Africa. The student felt that there was a barrier between her as someone who is being educated in the United States and others who did not have that opportunity. Mandela-Amuah, in response, quoted his grandfather, saying that “if you speak to a man in his language, you speak to him in his heart.” Mandela-Amuah, in discussion of his own experience of living in the United Stated and moving back to South Africa, said that one cannot expect to maintain the same lifestyle in different places in the world and with understanding, there is not as much of a difference as one might think.
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THE JUSTICE
VERBATIM | ERICH FROMM Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1942, the first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller for “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”
Mascara wands cause the most injuries per year out of any cosmetic instrument.
STEADY LEGACY: Ndaba Mandela (left) and Kweku Mandela-Amuah (right) are the grandchildren of Nelson Mandela and this year’s keynote speakers of ’Deis Impact. JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
The Mandela cousins
Kweku and Ndaba’s activism has elevated the lives of Africans By CELINE HACOBIAN JUSTICE EDITOR
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
BREAKING BARRIERS: The Africa Rising Foundation was created by Mandela and Mandela-Amuah in order to address the obstacles and stereotypes that plague the African people to the present day, continuing their grandfather’s legacy of social justice activism.
Bloemfontein, South Africa, did not used to be the cultural center it is today. Many businesses had moved outside the city and it was not a desirable place to live. Then, 10 years ago, a man named Adam Levy bought 10 blocks of the city and started developing them one by one. The city became full of art institutes, cafes, galleries and clothing stores, and will now also become home to the new offices of the Africa Rising Foundation, a group launched by cousins Kweku Mandela-Amuah and Ndaba Mandela, the grandsons of Nelson Mandela. The Africa Rising Foundation, which Mandela and Mandela-Amuah started in 2009, strives to clarify misunderstandings about their homeland and its people. The Mandela cousins were the keynote speakers for this year’s ’Deis Impact, the University’s third annual festival of social justice, sponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life and the Student Union. Mandela grew up with his grandfather, Nelson Mandela, who he says was a huge inspiration to him as a child, and continues to be today. Ndaba studied at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations. He was the senior political consultant at the Japanese Embassy in Pretoria before founding Africa Rising. Mandela-Amuah grew up in Amherst, Mass., Hartford, Conn. and the East Village in New York, before moving back to South Africa in 1993 and attending the Academy of Photogenic Arts International Film School in Sydney, Australia. “Growing up as a young kid, I went through different incarnations of what I wanted to be, from Batman to Superman to a fireman, but I think early on, I landed on film,” he said. “I watched a lot of films, I learned about them, and I was inspired by them,” Mandela-Amuah said. Today, Kweku owns one of the largest film and TV production companies in Africa, called Out of Africa Entertainment, a company he started in 2003. Like Africa Rising, it also focuses on the idea that people need to learn about the real Africa, so he helps create films he “feel[s] audiences in the world need to see,” he said. In 2009, after a few years of feeling the need for such a group, Mandela and Mandela-Amuah began to work on the foundation. They conceived of the idea as they had traveled all over the world and encountered questions they did not expect, ranging from whether they had lions in their backyards, to whether they played football. Mandela and Mandela-Amuah wanted to continue to address the misconceptions about Africa by starting the foundation. “We knew it wasn’t going to change overnight, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we felt it was something we needed to start vocalizing, something we needed to start projecting, to the world,” Mandela-Amuah said. “We were well aware that a lot of people didn’t have enough information about our continent, didn’t really know what was going on, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that the media doesn’t show those things,” Mandela-Amuah said. After their travels, the duo decided that they needed to help promote transparency and knowledge about life in South Africa. “Enough was enough.
Something had to be done,” Mandela said. To begin the process of creating the foundation, they iniSee News, page 1 ☛ tiated a conversation with about 20 of their friends, but soon found that many more people wanted to be involved. 200 people attended the first meeting. “That was kind of reinforcement to what we had been talking about and now established,” Mandela-Amuah said. Starting the foundation was not without its challenges and obstacles. It lost two of its members in 2012, at which point they “lost quite a bit of momentum … [and] fell into a bit of a slump,” Mandela said. Mandela and Mandela-Amuah have both recognized the teamwork that it takes to create and sustain an organization such as Africa Rising. “This was about young Africans and we need young Africans to make it successful. And we’ve been very lucky to meet passionate, young Africans who have volunteered their time to make this what we all want to see it become,” Mandela-Amuah said. One of the projects that Mandela is especially passionate about is a resource center, which provides academic support to youth in South Africa. One of the center’s first projects was bringing in a professional who could help students with study skills and assist teachers in managing their classes, but due to the cost, they were not able to continue these workshops. This year, they have two new programs in the resource center, which they hope will allow youth in rural areas will be able to learn computer literacy skills. “We feel in building a generation of the 21st century in terms of new African leaders is being really proficient and efficient in computers. … Some of them finish high school without even having any computer classes at all,” Ndaba said. Other programs they are working on include incorporating general interests into their programs, including agricultural development and business programs, which the youth have suggested. “The youth are interested in dancing, they’re interested in fashion, music, so what we will do is really just facilitate getting the professionals and the mentors who can contribute to the rural communities … and really be mentors for the kids,” Mandela said. Mandela-Amuah, meanwhile, is heading a campaign entitled African Dream. “One of our key pillars is to tell African stories because it’s always been Africa, the sad, dark, poor continent, and with this campaign, what we really want to do is talk about what kind of Africa we want to see,” Mandela said. “We know the American Dream … but what is it that Africans want to see two three generations from now?” The final product of the campaign will be an experimental short film about Africa in 2015. Through their foundation, the Mandelas will continue to reach out to “people of African origin, people who wonder about the African continent and those who want to contribute to the positive development of the continent ... would like to see ourselves as ambassadors, as a bridge for people here in America,” Mandela said. “They can contact us, get information about how they can make an impact on the ground and expand our network with people in academia, with critical thinkers and people who would be able to also criticize us and make us better.”
For more on the Mandelas,
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Deliverance from death row
Sister Helen Prejean has a storied anti-death penalty activist career By CASEY PEARLMAN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Imagine being asked to become a pen pal with a prisoner on death row. Would you accept the offer, or shove it off as a ridiculous suggestion? This question became real for those in Levin Ballroom last Thursday night as a result of the experiences and thoughts shared by Sister Helen Prejean, a nun from New Orleans, during a lecture titled “Dead Man Still Walking: A First Hand Account of Death Row.” The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism along with 12 other campus groups sponsored the event as a part of this year’s ’Deis Impact. Prejean was also a featured lecturer in the ‘Deis Impact college, a series of open lectures on a wide range of topics. Founding director of the Schuster Institute Florence Graves introduced Prejean as “the country’s most famous advocate for ending the death penalty,” and “an extraordinary activist and human being.” Prejean became well known in this country after writing her 1993 best seller, Dead Man Walking. The book was later adapted into a film and starred Sean Penn as Matthew Poncelet, the character inspired by Prejean’s prisoner pen pal, Patrick Sonnier, and Susan Sarandon, who won best actress for the role as Prejean. Prejean also wrote a second novel, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.
After presenting a poignant clip of the Film Dead Man Walking, Prejean began her lecture by explaining that her activism stems from Justice Louis Brandeis’ work for justice. “You drew me here because of [what] Brandeis is as a university,” Prejean said. “You bear the name of a man of justice.” She then began her story of how her book was transformed into an award-winning movie. After receiving a phone call from Sarandon, who was the first person to express that she wanted to transform the book into a movie. Prejean agreed to a meeting with her. She then praised Sarandon with her performance as an actor. “Susan Sarandon defines the vocation of acting as in forced compassion, getting inside people’s skin and their lives. I just want to hold up that the acting profession is a worthy,” she said. “Anything we’re gonna do … to understand about a dimension about human rights and to get that word out there is worth doing, is worth giving our lives to. “None of them could see [the book] as a box office success,” Prejean said on how all the Hollywood studios turned down the screenplay. Little did these studios know that the film would receive four nominations and Sarandon would win an Academy Award. Prejean started her work as an anti-death penalty activist when she was leaving the adult learning center in New Orleans and was approached by a man who worked in the prison coalition office. He asked her if she would be interested in
becoming a pen pal to a prisoner on death row. Prejean accepted the offer, and wrote a letter to Patrick Sonnier who, along with his accomplice and brother, Eddie Sonnier was charged with raping and murdering Loretta Ann Bourque and murdering David LeBlanc. She eventually became the spiritual adviser to Sonnier. “I wrote that first letter never dreaming that two, two and a half year later he [was] going to be killed in the electric chair and I [was] gonna be with him when he dies,” she said. After visiting him and gaining a trusting relationship with Sonnier, Prejean realized, “we’re all just human beings, that’s all we are.” In addition to describing the relationship she built with Sonnier as well as his brother (who was also convicted for rape and murder although not sentenced to death), Prejean also explained the relationships she formed with the families of the victims who were killed by the Sonniers and the lessons they taught her. Prejean was especially fond of David LeBlanc’s father, whom she described as the hero of the story. “[Mr. LeBlanc] was the first one who taught me that what forgiveness means is not letting hatred overcome you,” Prejean said. Prejean further reflected on the feelings of the victim’s families, saying they realized that “they are not going to honor their name by having the government using the name of the victim and then kill a human being,” she said. She then recalled some families saying, “death penalty re-victimizes us.”
Prejean concluded the event with a question and answer session. Among these questions included how Prejean suggests others take action on this issue. “It never hurts to write the mayor to your city, and you say well he doesn’t have any kind of legal power. But when you’re talking about the voice of the people, you talk about discourse in the community … never underestimate that [power],” she suggested. In response to another question she was asked, Prejean responded with a question of her own: “Does the death penalty deter crime?” To which the people in the audience replied no. “If you look at the track record of the states that have practiced the death penalty the most … and you look at the violence rate, its roughly double that than in the states that don’t have the death penalty,” Prejean said. Although obviously a woman with a religious background, attendees of the lecture were impressed with her ability to avoid religious beliefs in her lecture. “It was very good to hear from somebody who is in a religious position but was very nondenominational and secular, who didn’t bore us with statistics but gave us stories and actual accounts of people who have suffered firsthand the injustice that is the death penalty,” attendee Arlene Cordorez ’17 said. “She’s the best person I’ve ever met,” Terrell Gilkey ’15 said. “It takes a great person to see the humanity in a person who has done things like that. But she looked into his eyes and saw a human being, and that’s amazing.”
Serving up justice A food competition highlights hardships of a low-income budget By ELIOR MOSKOWITZ JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ABBY KNECHT/the Justice
COOKING EQUALITY: A student competitor slices tomatoes for a ’Deis Impact competition to create a balanced meal on a typical low-income budget.
Things heated up this Saturday night as students competed in an event titled, “Magic Can’t Create Food, Can You?” It was hosted by the Harry Potter Alliance, a club on campus that uses pop culture to promote activism and community service. The event was part of ’Deis Impact, and was aimed at raising awareness about hunger and nutrition in America. The event, which took place in Hassenfeld Conference Center, was inspired by one of the cardinal rules of magic in the Harry Potter series, which dictates that magic cannot be used to create food. The competition featured three four-person teams, which were: “Student Union,” “MERC” and the “Gourmet Goblins.” They competed in a nail-biting culinary challenge. The teams’ budgets represented those of low-income American households, as calculated by members of the Harry Potter Alliance board. Each team was allotted a budget of eight virtual dollars to spend at the local “market” (a table set up at the side of the room) which contained foods that were realistically priced. Canned fruits and vegetables were purposefully juxtaposed on the table with their fresher, pricier substitutes, posing a conflict of interest for contestants choosing between nutrition and affordability. “You don’t really notice those little things until it’s a decision you have to make everyday,” said Sneha Walia ’15, secretary of the Student Union. While the teams got cooking, a number of speakers informed the crowd on topics related to nutrition and food inequality in America. Among these were Sodexo Executive chef Dave Lafleur, Brandeis’ registered dietician Kate Moran, Marilyn Lee-Tom of the Community Day Center of Waltham, Elena Huang ’15 of the Natural Living Club and Jaclyn Kellner ’16, who runs the Garden Club on campus. The event was emceed by Carlton Shakes ’14, who elicited many laughs from the crowd throughout the night with his interviews of the contestants and the judges. The judge panel featured Lafleur, Prof. Gordie Fellman (SOC), who has a long history of involvement with the Harry Potter Alliance, Moran and Dean of Students Jamele Adams. The event seemed to be running smoothly for the contestants until about 20 minutes in, when a twist was introduced: if the teams were willing to sacrifice one member of their team, or “household,” to “work an extra shift” for 10 minutes, they could earn another dollar to add to their budget. Co-presidents of the Harry Potter Alliance Emily Greenwald ’16 and Sarah Zoloth ’14
elaborated on the key messages of the event. “It’s not cheap to eat healthy,” said Zoloth. “Hunger is a problem in a lot of places, but we live in a place where it shouldn’t be a problem, financially speaking; we have enough money to feed everybody. So it’s that juxtaposition and the food inequality that some of our speakers talked about that we wanted to highlight.” “Also location is really important when it comes to food,” Greenwald said, “because when you think about where you are, certain foods are more expensive and you don’t have as much access to them.” Greenwald went on to explain the problem of food deserts, areas where there are no nutritious food options for the people who live there. Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14 reflected on the experience, saying “It gives us a good perspective on the difficult balance between having a nutritious meal and a flavorful meal on a limited budget that a lot of people take for granted. “It’s especially easy to forget on a college campus,” said Zoloth, “where there’s a dining hall on one end, a dining hall on the other end, every coffee branch that could exist…it’s easy to not think about not having access to food.” The event, which the HPA had been working on since last year, was the first one of its kind directly planned and organized by Zoloth and Greenwald. It was not, however, the first social justice initiative that the club had organized. Last year, founder of the national HPA organization and Brandeis alumnus Andrew Slack ’02 led a workshop talking about connecting social media with social justice, which is HPA’s main mission as an organization. Both Zoloth and Greenwald were surprised by the outcome of the competition. Neither of them had expected the students to perform to the extent they did. “We were really expecting it to be like a comedy,” said Greenwald. “We were really worried that they would make the exact same thing, because they had access to the same ingredients, and we were so surprised and impressed the whole time, not only by the variety of what they made, but so much of it was so good and so creative,” Zoloth said. The contestants struggled to create meals that were not only nutritionally balanced but also original; in the end, many of them pulled it off. Even the event coordinators could not resist sneaking bites of the dishes as the judges discussed their thoughts. The judges declared the Student Union team the winners, but it was made very clear they had thoroughly enjoyed all three of the teams’ creations. All of the leftover, untouched ingredients from the event were donated to the Waltham Community Day Center.
10 TUESDAY, February 11, 2014 ● THE JUSTICE
Justice Justice
the the
Established 1949, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Established 1949
Tate Herbert, Editor in Chief Andrew Wingens, Senior Editor Adam Rabinowitz, Managing Editor Phil Gallagher, Deputy Editor Rachel Burkhoff, Glen Chagi Chesir, Sara Dejene, Shafaq Hasan, Joshua Linton, Jessie Miller and Olivia Pobiel Associate Editors Marissa Ditkowsky, News Editor Jaime Kaiser, Features Editor Max Moran, Acting Forum Editor Avi Gold, Sports Editor Rachel Hughes and Emily Wishingrad, Arts Editors Josh Horowitz and Morgan Brill, Photography Editor Rebecca Lantner, Layout Editor Celine Hacobian, Online Editor Brittany Joyce, Copy Editor Schuyler Brass, Advertising Editor
Create new ASL language classes For the past several months, student leaders Brittany Lerman ’14 and Jaclyn Kellner ’16 from the American Sign Language Club have been spearheading an initiative to integrate ASL courses into the University’s curriculum. As would be seen in the implementation of any initiative, the students have been running into issues of funding and staffing that would be necessary to get the program off the ground. We encourage the University and the students to continue working together to institute an ASL program given the academic benefits and opportunities that would be made available to the student body. According to the latest survey by the Modern Language Association from 2009, ASL is among the most popular language classes offered at universities, ranking fourth just behind Spanish, French and German, respectively. Brandeis University could join other schools that have already invested in an ASL program, including Boston University, Brown University and Northeastern University. These universities have already recognized the potential benefits of ASL classes, including the cognitive benefits of learning a language visually, according to Dr. Evie Malaia, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Aside from becoming fluent in both a spoken and sign language, ASL courses also create new career paths for students. After students were able to successfully obtain a grant last year, Korean language classes were made available for this academic year. The push for the initiative was the largely due to the substantial interest
Coordinate with students students expressed for the courses. The ASL club already helps around 20 students take ASL classes at Harvard University every Sunday, paying for the class partly by themselves with help from the Student Union. Moreover, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the ASL club, 87 out of 122 students also said they would be interested in enrolling in the classes if they counted toward the foreign language requirement. As the interest level appears substantial enough to have a class, we urge the University to do what it can to to help students secure the funding for the courses. While the student leaders can fundraise themselves given the encouragement they have been receiving from the community, the University should be able to afford the $6,000 salary of one adjunct professor that would be needed. Moreover, we are proud to see that the Language and Linguistics department has agreed to sponsor the ASL classes, if the funding can successfully be secured. Including the program in another department will reduce the amount of funds and administrative clout necessary to instate the courses. Successfully establishing ASL courses within the next few years will need substantial coordination from both the community and the administration. We commend the students for their proactivity, and hope the administration fully cooperates to ensure the classes are available in the future.
Bill student insurance to boost funds The University is currently in discussions to put in place a new billing method for health and wellness services on campus, according to an email from Assistant Vice President for Health and Wellness Sheryl Sousa ’90. The Golding Health Center is currently funded by a flat health fee paid each semester by all undergraduates. In addition to that fee, a Hodgkins Beckley Consulting LLC report on health services commissioned by the University recommends that the Health Center and Psychological Counseling Center begin to bill students’ insurance plans for all medical and psychological counseling services. This board believes billing student insurance plans while maintaining the health center fee to act as a ‘secondary payor’ is a promising method of bolstering the financial position of the University’s health services while not substantially increasing access cost to students. The health center fee would work in tandem with students’ insurance providers to cover costs not reimbursed by the insurance plan.This model appears likely to be adopted by the University, although the administration would only say that it is “one such possibility we are exploring,” according to an email to the Justice from Sousa. But before the administration imposes any major reforms, we hope that Sousa and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel engage students in a dialogue about these changes.The well-being of our community is in part dependent on the accessibility of medical and psychological services.
Keep SHIP premiums low
Ensuring unrestricted access to care for the entire student body, regardless of insurance status or income level, must be a core tenet of Brandeis’ model of care. As such, any proposals to reduce costs for Brandeis must not hinder access. It is encouraging that both the Hodgkins Beckley report and Sousa indicate that a “secondary payor system,” which is the proposal to combine a health center fee with insurance reimbursements, would not pass on additional costs in the form of out-of-pocket payments to students for visits to the HC or PCC. However, the proposal would likely increase premiums for the Student Health Insurance Program provided by the University. The report suggests the SHIP premiums would increase by $85, which is about six percent of the cost of 2013 to 2014 coverage ($1,389). This is yet another cost increase that would fall on to students, especially low-income students that may not have their own health insurance plan, and the administration must take it seriously. A secondary payor model is a promising way to cut costs for the University while not preventing students from seeking the care that they need. But before we wholeheartedly endorse such a plan, we encourage the administration to provide students with more information about its considerations such as what Health Center costs will look like and how much SHIPs will increase. Transparency requires full disclosure before policies are enacted.
TZIPORAH THOMSON /the Justice
Views the News on
The 2014 Winter Olympics opened in Sochi, Russia on Friday. The games have been mired in controversy since before they began: Sochi is only 180 miles from an ongoing war zone in the Caucasus Mountains, which is why the games will have the largest security force on any Olympics in history. Russia’s homophobic laws have led many to boycott and protest the games. Journalists have been given rooms in hotels that are not fully constructed, with undrinkable water and poor facilities. How do you feel about the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi?
Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL) I agree with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, that the Olympics are about building bridges to bring people together. And in my opinion, the focus should be on athletes first. But the hosting country also comes into the spotlight months before the games even open. The spotlight can promote the country in the eyes of the world, but it also exposes its problems. The promotion is precisely what Russia sought (please don’t think that only Putin wanted these games to happen in Russia!). An overwhelmingly negative coverage in the Western media is what Russia got. Don’t take me wrong: there is much to criticize about the Russian society, from the unprecedented scale of corruption to the homophobia of most Russians and more! There are also documented problems with the state of preparedness which brings shame to the Russian organizers. But there is a thin line between criticism and schadenfreude in which much of the American media is engaged turning the Russian Olympics and the country itself into a joke. The only issue that is not a joke to anyone is the threat of terrorism, but even this topic does not often receive an impartial coverage. Yet if we are to find the much needed solution to our common problem of terrorism, we desperately need each other, and schadenfreude is not the way to build bridges. Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL) is the director of the Russian Studies program.
Prof. Peter Gould (PAX) In the past, Olympic games have been held close to war zones. There have been local problems, international threats, fierce objection to the politics of the host country and the oncoming or receding tides of war. While protesting or boycotting the games could be a strong statement, it takes away from the dedication, and long years of training, of the participating athletes. I lived through the 1980 summer Olympic boycott—he U.S. protested the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. No matter how sensible it might have seemed, no matter how intense the feelings we had about murderous Russian troops sacking Afghan homes, most people today only remember that athletes’ hopes and dreams were shattered, that the decision proved an unpopular embarrassment to President Jimmy Carter, and, anyway, in the next generation we invaded Afghanistan and did the same things. Send all our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer, etc. athletes to Sochi and show the world that in this matter at least we lead freely. Prof. Peter Gould (PAX) is a lecturer in Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies. He teaches PAX 120b: “Inner Peace and Outer Peace.”
Joseph Babeu ’15 As a Russian Studies major and LGBTQ advocate, my feelings regarding the Sochi Winter Olympics are mixed. On the one hand, I want for the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Russia to be something other than a joke about the Soviet Union—a hugely successful Winter Olympics would help do that. On the other hand, the Russian government has made some truly horrendous policy decisions regarding the queer community. While the games’ success may not be as relevant to this problem, I feel as though simply having the Olympics in Russia is. It provides a focus on Russia that I do not think would otherwise be present. In today’s day and age, keeping oneself informed about international events seems to be becoming less and less common. Without these games, I am sure that the righteous outrage now directed at Russia would not be present. Joseph Babeu ’15 is the president of the Russian Club.
Molly Gimbel ’16 From my eyes as an LGBTQ+ activist, I can understand the resistance and hesitation from the countries participating in the games, as the newly implemented laws in the country are considered homophobic by these countries’ standards. That being said, I also believe that having the games in Sochi is forcing much of the U.S. to recognize other LGBTQ+ issues— besides the fight for marriage equality. The unity of much of the world is showing to express their disapproval with Russia’s new laws is a promising sign. It shows many people within the LGBTQ+ community that there are many people who want to help fight for equal rights. Hopefully, their unity on this issue can be utilized to create a more unifying group to fight for the more basic issues and needs of those in the LGBTQ+ community across the world and the states. Molly Gimbel ’16 is the general coordinator of Triskelion, Brandeis University’s GLBTQSA student group.
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Find practical solutions to rampant grade inflation Kahlil
Oppenheimer Unedited Justice
Last December, I read an article about Harvard University’s grade inflation in their school newspaper, the Harvard Crimson. According to the article, Harvard University Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris released the median grade as an A- and the most received grade as an A. I laughed. How silly was it that such a prestigious institution could have such low standards? Last week, I picked up a copy of the Justice and saw an article titled, “Median fall grades released to the public.” I grew excited at the chance to shove Brandeis’ higher academic standards in Harvard’s face. According to the article, however, Brandeis students received a median grade of an A- and maintain an average grade point average of a 3.4. I was ashamed and humiliated. All of my pride about working hard in classes to achieve high grades began to dissipate; what did this mean for me as a student? Did this mean that I was taking easy classes and that my grades simply reflected that? Brandeis Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid defended Brandeis’ grade inflation by stating, “The averages and the distributions have been remarkably stable over time, which would not indicate a pattern of grade inflation.” Are we supposed to feel better that grades have always been inflated and that this isn’t simply a recent trend? To make matters worse, she later added, “The averages at Brandeis are consistent with those at other elite colleges and universities.” Adapting the old “If you can’t beat them join them” ideology is not permissible. Rather than conform to the norm, we should be setting new trends and maintaining non-inflated grades. Some might offer that everyone receiving high grades simply means that everyone is just doing really well in their classes. But this is incorrect. A high median grade simply indicates that grades have lost value as an intellectual currency. Best put by Syndrome, the evil villain of Disney’s The Incredibles, “When everyone’s super, no one will be.” There are valid arguments as to why grades shouldn’t exist in the first place: they cause competition in an area where some believe competition isn’t necessary, they don’t always accurately represent what people actually
MARISA RUBEL/the Justice
know and they often yield bias to those who test well, among other reasons. But those arguments are irrelevant because, whether we agree with them or not, grades are currently the main metric by which students are evaluated. Grades are weighed heavily on applications for internships, graduate schools and even jobs. It is concerning to think that we would be disadvantaging our students by issuing comparatively lower grades than other universities. However, if we come out publicly in strong opposition to grade inflation, and call out other elite institutions on their grade inflation, the issue will become more well-known among employers and recruiters, and the issue as a whole can begin to be solved. It’s the other
schools, not us, who will be disadvantaged. Additionally, Brandeis could even distribute “adjusted for inflation” grades which compare current Brandeis grades against the school’s past inflated standards, or against a national average. This would map the C a student might receive against the A- they might have received before Brandeis became conscious of the issue. Rather than passively accepting the standard around grades as a necessary evil, we need to correct it through leading by example. Grade inflation also provides a ceiling for learning—a point at which one becomes complacent with his or her current progress. This is ironic since one of the original purposes of academic assessments was to provide a floor
for the basis of knowledge that someone should possess. For example, when lifting weights, you don’t set a finite goal of 100 pounds, then reach it and stay there. You constantly increment the weight once your current weight becomes too easy. The process never ends; it’s simply revised at each iteration. If an A- or A is easy to reach, students are able to stop working once they’ve reached it. And why should this ever be a lesson educators encourage? Learning has no definite starts or stops. But providing an easy-to-reach maximum grade perpetuates the falsehood that it does. As educators, as students, as lovers of learning, we need to hold ourselves to higher grading standards.
Maintain healthy skepticism toward partisan political studies Aaron
Fried Free thought
During the 2012 presidential election campaign, there was a memorably amusing moment at the first debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. As they both quibbled over whose grand plan would save the country and launch us into a new age of American prosperity, Obama decided to tag science into the ring; he claimed to have a study which proved that his plan would be successful. With well-rehearsed ease, Romney quickly retorted that he had six studies to disprove the president’s. On both sidelines, each candidate’s committed partisan voters felt confident and at ease—economics and the social sciences were on their side. These partisans, happily vindicated, paraded the existence of their side’s studies to anyone who would listen; they would be powerful cudgels in their heated dinner table battles of red versus blue. Meanwhile, the undecided voters gained nothing from the exchange, other than perhaps a vague uneasiness about whether this would complicate their choice further. They continued to trudge forward in tentative confusion, refusing to accept fully either side of the story, muttering that “these studies nowa-
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days can prove anything.” In all likelihood, very few viewers ever went to check up on these studies. It is even more likely that neither candidate knew or cared what the contents of the studies were. This exchange between the presidential candidates is but one high-profile case of an epidemic of title-citing that now takes place in lieu of genuine analysis of science. For rhetorical purposes, it has become enough simply to point to the cover page of a study, and rely on the public’s faith that the contents of such a study are honest and correct. It is commonplace to hear arguments made by pundits which, instead of elucidating some scientific fact learned from a study, simply point to the study as an argument in itself. Obviously, this opens the door to trickery from anyone who can take a title out of context. A similar example of this phenomenon in politics is the recent controversy surrounding driving safety in Colorado, which recently legalized recreational marijuana. A series of conflicting stories came out discussing the dangers of ‘high driving.’ One notable story, published by CBS Seattle, offered a headline of “Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled.” The story cited one study from the American Journal of Epidemiology, which claims that one in nine fatal car crashes involve a driver who would test positive for marijuana—and no other significant contents from the study. Conspicuously absent is the fact that a person can test positive for marijuana for months after ingestion.
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 last page of the newspaper, 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 3,500 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.
In both cases, the public discussion ignores the methodology of the studies and whether or not they satisfactorily prove a point. Instead, it is fueled primarily by the titles of the articles and quoted remarks from the scientists involved. In the case of the presidential election, little attention is paid to the studies outside of the mere fact of their existence. A critical eye is never applied to the science itself. Both controversies were shrugged off, like most studies, because few readers bother to read further than the titles. When all scientific studies are reduced to the claim in their title, it is no wonder that people believe that “anyone can prove anything.” This growing mentality of chronic skepticism is a disease which is festering deep in the American psyche. The logical conclusion of this mentality can best be illustrated by observing a crucial implication of the notion that “anything can be proven.” If anything can be proven, and “anything” includes the false and the misleading, then it follows that fiction can be proven. This negates the meaning and value of proof, and the sum in the mind of anyone who accepts the first idea will be that nothing can be proven. Such a toxic idea is an agent of mental paralysis. After taking hold, it acts as a yoke on the mind of those who unwittingly accept it, and restrains analytical thinking. As a result, it prepares them to be led obediently into all sorts of deceit by any demagogue with sufficiently manipulative rhetoric. It helps to create the sort of mentality that gleefully accepts
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anything which validates their blurry view of reality, and recoils with anger and outright hostility toward any idea that presents a fundamental challenge. The disease begins with the acceptance of a seemingly innocuous idea that experts are not to be questioned by non-experts, and should be trusted. After all, they spend their whole life studying a topic—how could anyone of lesser expertise question them? While intimidating, this emotionally loaded argument exploits a combination of naiveté and intellectual humility that provides the exact opposite of a proper approach to dealing with factual disputes in any sort of debate. Imagine if jurors in a courtroom approached a murder case with the same sort of skeptical humility. If the prosecution and the defense brought conflicting expert witnesses, the court would immediately be faced with a hung jury. Since the jurors are not experts, they would have no way of discerning who is telling the truth. Yet, such a scenario is ridiculous, and it is equally ridiculous when applied to any individual caught between two conflicting claims. Any such person should have confidence in his or her own mental efficacy and approach all claims as an honest juror would: with a critical, impartial eye and an active mind. Evaluate the science and hold the scientists accountable; read the studies themselves. The only cure for our current plague is for each of us to take individual initiative and exhibit a juror’s willingness to make an independent judgment.
Editorial Assistant News: Kathryn Brody Staff Senior Writers: Jacob Moskowitz, Henry Loughlin News: Jay Feinstein, Ilana Kruger, Zach Reid, Sarah Rontal, Samantha Topper, Rachel Uemoto Features: Rebecca Heller, Hee Ju Kang, Casey Pearlman, Aditi Shah Forum: Jennie Bromberg, Daniel Koas, Aaron Fried, Noah M. Horwitz, Kahlil Oppenheimer, Catherine Rosch Sports: Elan Kane, Daniel Kanovich, Dan Rozel Arts: Aliza Gans, Kiran Gill, Arielle Gordon, Rachel Liff, Zachary Marlin, Alexandra Zelle Rettman, Mara Sassoon, Nate Shaffer Photography: Zach Anziska, Jenny Cheng, Annie Fortnow, Wit
Gan, Annie Kim, Abby Knecht, Bri Mussman, Leah Newman, Chelsea Polaniecki, Rafaella Schor, Adam Stern, Olivia Wang, Xiaoyu Yang Copy: Aliza Braverman, Kathryn Brody, Melanie Cytron, Mara Nussbaum Layout: Ashley Hebard, Elana Horowitz, Jassen Lu, Maya RiserKositsky, Lilah Zohar Illustrations: Hannah Kober, Marisa Rubel, Tziporah Thompson
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Coke ad controversy turns advocates into advertisers Max
Moran The bottom Bunk
The Super Bowl is a curiously American tradition; Friends and families gather together around the TV, with some watching for the football game itself, but others watching only for the advertisements. This year, one ad in particular stood out. Kicking off a new campaign called “America is Beautiful,” Coca-Cola aired a 60-second commercial showing attractive children and young adults laughing, playing, hiking and drinking Coke together. The interesting part—and for a certain portion of viewers, the controversial part—was the audio. Accompanying the visuals are a group of young women who sing different sections of “America the Beautiful” in seven different languages, from English to Mandarin to Hebrew. While I didn’t watch the game this year, I sure did see the ad, as Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators shook their fists and popped their forehead veins over the ad’s multicultural message, keeping it in the news for days after it aired. Satirizing the controversy is not especially difficult. Comedian Doug Walker noted on his Facebook page that making fun of the angry masses is “like shooting brain-dead bigots out of a Coke bottle.” Stephen Colbert summed it all up nicely in his bit on the issue: Screaming and throwing his hands to his ears, Colbert furiously proclaimed “Only English can give that song its certain je ne sais quoi! The last thing I want to be is a prima donna, but I am full of schadenfreude over this!” Both Walker and Colbert hit the nail on the head: the fact that this controversy even exists is ridiculous. Apparently Limbaugh and his compatriots were unaware that “America the Beautiful” does indeed have Spanish, French and Arabic translations, but the response against the outrage has been overwhelming. The video has over 10,000,000 views and 40,000 likes on YouTube, the most of either metric for any Coca-Cola video, and an extended version aired during the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. Evidently, the advertisement has affected a lot of people, either filling them with rage or national pride. But what does it mean that we’ve been so deeply affected by something designed to get us to buy soda? Last year, Coke began being sold in Myanmar for the first time in 60 years, meaning the only countries left in the world without the iconic cola are Cuba and North Korea. According to a National Public Radio feature, Coke’s ad executives had to go back to their company archives and look at Coca-Cola ads from the 1880’s to rediscover how to sell their product to people who had never tasted it before. Coke ads in Myanmar center around two words—“delicious” and “refreshing.” They also offer free samples of the drink at Buddhist festivals, and give out instructions to “Chill the bottle” and “put three cubes of ice
ZUMA PRESS/MCT Campus
in the glass” in order to best enjoy Coca-Cola in a country with bad refrigerators. As more and more Burmese start drinking Coke, the Coca-Cola company has established itself as both the world’s wealthiest and most widespread soft drink company. Coca-Cola, like most soft drinks, is correlated to weight gain. In addition, two of the ingredients that create its caramel color are known to cause cancer. These ingredients are purely cosmetic, but despite numerous petitions, Coke refuses to extract them from the soda’s formula. Coke’s numerous artificial sweeteners also don’t break down in water treatment plants, meaning that pouring Coke down the drain can cause water pollution. It takes a lot to get people to keep buying a product that they know is bad for them. In 2010, Coke spent a whopping $2.9 billion on advertising, more than Microsoft and Apple combined. The majority of Coke ads have nothing to do with the drink itself: they center around icons like the American flag, young
people having fun at night or the cute and cuddly polar bears who serve as the company mascots, and who got a short animated movie produced by Ridley Scott last year. Coke hires some of the best advertisers in the field, men and women whose job it is to make you want to drink what is essentially liquid garbage. Out of all of the executives who must have had a hand in designing the Super Bowl ad, I find it hard to believe that not one of them ever predicted that their multicultural message might generate some harsh reactions from a certain part of the American community. It is hard to get anything noticed in the information era, where news updates, apps and advertisements flash at us every second we are online. Look at how much attention Coke has gotten after the Super Bowl: many of the pundits who would usually criticize CocaCola for its unhealthy products value racial tolerance more than they value health issues. Suddenly, liberal commentators find themselves in the position of defending a major
soda conglomerate, giving it more and more press time, while video shares, tweets and Facebook posts surge. Coca-Cola is now releasing several “Behind the Scenes” videos, interviewing the young women who sang in the ad about what they think it means to be an American. Apparently people really do want to know everything they can about a 60-second video designed to make them thirsty. Whether or not any of this controversy was intentional is honestly irrelevant. It is fascinating to note how the media scandal has become the best way to get everyone talking about your product. For years now, Coke has no longer sold its soda but its own image, but this recent kerfuffle has somehow made the American people into Coke’s own advertisers. The media, both social and traditional, is what perpetuates the conversation around this ad, giving Coca-Cola more and more and more free advertising. And as advertisers have said for decades, “any press is good press.”
Consider the potential benefits of taking unpaid internships By andrew hart Letter to the Editor
I believe the author of “Internship courses raise controversy” (Jan. 28) brings up important ques-tions about: 1) The role of internships (paid and unpaid) in students’ academic and pro-fessional development, 2) If and how universities should award academic credit for unpaid internships and 3) The overall quality of instruction in all university courses, not just internship courses. However, I am concerned that the author failed to present a more subtle and balanced picture of the “internship experience”—at least at Brandeis. As internship instructor for the Health: Science, Society and Policy program—one of the largest majors at Brandeis that oversees 70 to 80 percent of its students as they undertake internships each year—I believe it is important to present a more nuanced view of the internship experience. Regarding points one and two, the author has the legal issue partly (but significantly) wrong. The real issue is about unpaid internships at for-profit enterprises, not unpaid internships in general—an important distinction. Within the HSSP program, the lion’s share of our students intern at nonprofit organizations, many of which operate on a
shoestring budget. When students intern at a well-known organization in good (or great) financial health, it is not safe to assume that the financial health of all departments within the organization reflects that of the overall organization. For example, within hospitals’ research arms, most of the funding is a patchwork quilt as well as grant-based—so-called “soft money.” Beyond the financial component, it’s not clear to me that organizations are exploiting academic credit as a vehicle for compensating their interns. In fact, in my conversations with potential internship organizations, I can’t think of one that hasn’t been surprised that students can receive academic credit— and has thought about how to make the internship all the more meaningful as a result. My impression is these organizations really would like to provide the students with something substantial to grapple with both during the internship itself and during their coursework. Additionally, experience has shown me that internship organizations are impressed that the HSSP program has the level of supervision it does over its students during their internships. Neither the internship organizations nor the HSSP program treat the internship expe-
rience as “just another box to check.” Regarding point three, I think of the internship course as an opportunity to slow students’ thinking down—perhaps the only time in most of their adult lives they’ll have the opportunity to be this deliberate—and to get them to really consider where this experience fits in their academic, professional and personal development.
“
It’s not clear to me that organizations are exploiting academic credit as a vehicle for compensating their interns. Last time I checked, staff development was at least on the list of priorities in most workplaces. I understand not all students may be enthusiastic about that sort of reflection, but I strongly believe it’s important for all professionals—young, mid-career and seasoned—to take a step back every now and then and see if
they can make sense of the bigger picture and make adjustments as necessary. In one-on-one conversations with a number of resolute premed students, I’ve seen their eyes light up when they realize that being a physician isn’t the only (or best) way to approach medicine, health care or human welfare. I believe such profound moments of self-awareness are a direct result of the opportunities HSSP students are exposed to—both on and off campus. Not all internship experiences are created equal. That the author of the original Justice article begins from the premise that they are is a disservice to the many, many organizations that care deeply about their interns’ intellectual and professional development, to the academic programs that invest substantial time and energy in complementing internships with deliberate reflection and to the students who deserve a pragmatic and fair discourse about the role of internships and internship courses during their time at institutions of higher learning. —Andrew Hart is a Lecturer and internship instructor in the Health: Science, Society and Policy program, and a Ph.D. Candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
THE JUSTICE
FENCING: Early wins pace team during meeting CONTINUED FROM 16 not have been happier with the results of the day. “I’m very satisfied,” Cardillo said. “It’s the first time this season we’ve swept a meet and gone undefeated. The [guys] were consistent all day long and the foil team absolutely dominated [today].” Cardillo mentioned that the team singled out the Duke meets as a mustwin matchup to take home after all was said and done. “We’ve come so close [to defeating Duke] my four years and every year we circle that meet because that’s the top team,” he said. “Of the four years, this is the strongest team Duke has had, so we needed all three [of our] teams to be their strongest [as well].” The initial lead against Duke came in part due to the efforts of Tom Hearne ’16 who picked up two of his weapon’s four wins in the épée bouts against the Blue Devils. Even with the lead at 12-9, the team still required the wins by Mandel and Ochs-Willard to clinch the victory. Mandel swung momentum back in the Judges’ favor to push the Judges to within one point of winning. OchsWillard then clinched the win with a 5-3 victory to seal the match.
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IN TRAFFIC
Mandel added a victory in his final bout for the good measure of a 15-12 overall win. Cardillo stressed the importance of having Ochs-Willard and Mandel to close out the victory, additionally noting that the extra point of breathing room went a long way. “Having them to close out is huge,” he said. “Adam was in a position to increase the lead from 14-12 to 15-12 which is great because you want some breathing room. He wiped the floor with them. The fact of the matter is we had a cushion at the end of the day.” Both squads return to action tomorrow in the Beanpot Tournament, hosted by MIT, and Cardillo thinks the team is improving at just the right time of year. “I’m a firm believer that this team always fences well but we heat up in February and March,” he said. “We’re all smiles now but the season is winding down but we have our goals and we are going to use this meet as a booster to finish strong. We’re fencing Harvard [University at the Beanpot Tournament] and that will be a tough challenge.” Based on the performances turned in by both squads at Duke this weekend, their competitors in upcoming tournaments will have a strong opponent in the Judges.
Track and Field
Squads show spirit at Valentine competition ■ Kelsey Whitaker ’16 broke
a school record in the 1,000 meter run that had stood for two decades. By Henry loughlin JUSTICE senior WRITER
This winter, the men’s and women’s indoor track and field squads have tested themselves against some of the top competition from not only Division III but Division I. The Judges passed yet another test on Saturday during the Valentine Classic at Boston University. The men’s 60-meter dash featured five Judges. Vincent Asante ’14 led the way, covering the distance in 7.11 seconds for 23rd place. Chi Tai ’16, Adam Berger ’15 and Ben Pomerantz ’17 finished 109th, 110th and 111th while Makalani Mack ’16 fell right in line, placing 116th. Seven Brandeis competitors turned in notable finishes in the 200-meter dash. Nick Wactor ’17 placed in 23.88 seconds, Jeremy Wilson ’17 finished in 24.34 and Pomerantz fell just behind, crossing the finish line at 24.51. Berger placed in 24.61, Tai ended in 24.93, Mack closed in 25.63 and Brandon Odze ’16 rounded out the field with a finish of 25.71. Wactor and Wilson then picked up 145th and 154th, respectively, in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 52.51 and 52.83, respectively. In the distance events, three Brandeis competitors broke the 4 minute, 30 second barrier in the men’s mile. Quinton Hoey ’17 placed 125th in 4:25.10 and Grady Ward ’16 fell just behind in 4:25.63. Matt Doran ’17, meanwhile, had the 187th best time of the day, crossing the line in 4:27.08. Berger proved to be the lone representative in the field events, producing a 23rd place finish in the triplejump with an effort of 12.29 meters across the three jumps. Matthew Becker ’16 finished seventh in his heat and 168th overall of
233 competitors in the 800-meter run, timing in at 2:01.47 Though the only competitors on the women’s side were four distance runners, they made their mark in the longer events. Kelsey Whitaker ’16 took eighth of 84 competitors in the women’s 1000-meter run, clocking a scorching 2:55.73 for the five-lap race. Her time was nearly four seconds better than her previous best and broke a school record for the race in the process. Kristi Pisarik ’15 and Molly Paris ’16 both broke the six-minute barrier in the women’s mile. Pisarik’s 5:25.21 was good for 119th, and from there, Paris took 156th in 5:43.25. In other distance-related events, Maddie Dolins ’17 narrowly missed breaking the 18-minute barrier for the 5000-meter run, completing the 25-lap race in 18:06.18. With the University Athletic Association championships will be held at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center in just three weeks, it is important that the team maintains its focus throughout the upcoming winter break. According to distance runner Victoria Sanford ’14, who rested the Valentine Classic, the UAAs mark the beginning of the postseason. It is here where the team hopes to be in its top form. “[UAAs are at] the beginning of the championship season, so it is where we want to start to peak,” she remarked about the upcoming meets. “Our goal [is] to continue to peak throughout the rest of the season.” Additionally, Sanford says that the team is excited by the prospect of hosting the marquee conference event this year, an opportunity that the Judges have not had since the 2009 to 2010 season. “The team is really excited that UAA’s are at Brandeis this year,” Sanford said. “We are looking forward to some strong individual performances.” The Judges will compete next on Saturday at the Tufts University Cupid Challenge.
OLIVIA WANG/the Justice
TIGHT DEFENSE: Nicolina Vitale ’14 attempts a shot over a Carnegie Mellon defender during the team’s 66-56 win on Sunday.
WBBALL: Judges defeat Case and Carnegie in home games CONTINUED FROM 16 shooting gave them a slight lead in the beginning of the first half, and yet, the Tartans would not go away. The Judges led the entirety of the first half, but ultimately they could only extend the lead to six points. Guard Paris Hodges ’17 drained a three-pointer with time running out of the first half to make the score 32-27. Laskaris alluded to timely shooting as a key component of the Judges’ offensive game plan over the win streak. “We’ve come together recently and we’re staying with our motion offense and taking the open shot,” she explained. The second half played out much like the first as neither team managed to find a way to run their offense efficiently. Carnegie managed to pull ahead 35-34 with 17 minutes, 21 seconds left to go in the game on two free throws by Carnegie sophomore forward Liza Otto. Guard Samantha Mancinelli ’16 fittingly responded with a threepointer to give the Judges a lead they would not relinquish. At a critical juncture in the second half with 3:28 left to go, cling-
ing to a one-point lead, Brandeis responded with a sudden offensive surge. The women pulled away in the final minutes of the game, attacking the basket and forcing the Tartans into bad shots and turnovers on the other end. The Judges relied heavily on the outside shot, shooting six-for-15 from the three-point line, and staunch defense down the stretch to hold onto the lead and win the game by a score of 65-56. On Friday, the women went up against a weaker Spartans team, and while the result was similar, the game played out in a much different fashion. The Judges got off to a very slow start on Friday, turning the ball over and committing fouls on defense that allowed Case to go up by as many as 16 points with 4:04 left in the first-half. Two three-pointers by guard Frankie Pinto ’17 helped cut into the lead, but ultimately, the women still went into the half down by a score of 39-30 and their recent streak of success against UAA opponents stood in jeopardy. Laskaris singled out the Judges ability to speak up while on defense, a feature the team used to climb back into Friday’s game.
“[We’ve been working on our] communication on defense,” Laskaris remarked. “We try to talk to the whole team, so even if someone misses a beat or is tired, it rattles the other team when everyone is together.” Coming out of the half, the Judges got off to a quick start, reeling off a 9-0 run to tie the game up after less than three minutes of action. Brandeis then put together a 12-2 run, highlighted by aggressive offense and multiple appearances on the free-throw line. With a 64-51 lead with 4:20 left in the game, the women had gained control on both ends of the floor. The Judges gave up 19 points to Case in the entire second half due to solid team defense. In fact, Case endured scoreless stretches for four or five minutes at a time. Brandeis cruised in the final minutes of the game, winning by a score of 71-58. The Judges will look to extend their solid conference play and their winning streak with two more conference games this week. The hosts welcome No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis to town on Friday and the University of Chicago on Sunday.
Contact Morgan Brill and Josh Horowitz at
photos@thejustice.org
THE JUSTICE
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CLUB SPORTS
jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS Men’s BASKETBALL UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS
Points Per Game
Not including Monday’s games UAA Conference W L W WashU 9 0 18 NYU 5 4 15 Emory 5 4 13 Chicago 5 4 12 Case 4 5 12 JUDGES 3 6 11 Carnegie 3 6 10 Rochester 2 7 8
UPCOMING GAMES: Friday vs. WashU Sunday vs. Chicago Friday, Feb. 21 at Rochester
Gabe Moton ’14 leads scorers with 17.3 points per game. Player PPG Gabe Moton 17.3 Ben Bartoldus 13.4 Derek Retos 9.9 Alex Stoyle 8.4
Overall L Pct. 2 .900 5 .750 7 .650 8 .600 8 .600 9 .550 Rebounds Per Game 10 .500 Gabe Moton ’14 leads the team 12 .400 with 5.7 rebounds per game. Player RPG Gabe Moton 5.7 Ben Bartoldus 4.2 Youri Dascy 3.8 Alex Stoyle 3.8
WOMen’s basketball UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS
Not including Monday’s games UAA Conference W L W WashU 8 1 18 NYU 7 2 18 JUDGES 6 3 12 Chicago 6 3 12 Emory 4 5 15 Carnegie 2 7 11 Rochester 2 7 8 Case 1 8 7
Points Per Game
Overall L Pct. 2 .900 2 .900 8 .600 8 .600 5 .750 9 .550 12 .400 13 .350
UPCOMING GAMES: Friday vs. WashU Sunday vs. Chicago Friday, Feb. 21 at Rochester
Nicolina Vitale ’14 leads the team with 10.4 points per game. Player PPG Nicolina Vitale 10.4 Kasey Dean 10.2 Maria Jackson 9.4 Niki Laskaris 9.0
Rebounds Per Game Nicolina Vitale ’14 leads with 5.1 rebounds per game. Player RPG Nicolina Vitale 5.1 Maria Jackson 5.1 Paris Hodges 5.0 Kasey Dean 4.3
FENCING Results from the Duke Invitational held this past Saturday
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
SABER Adam Mandel
RECORD 12-1
SABER Ashley Jean
RECORD 6-8
ÉPÉE Ari Feingersch
RECORD 10-5
ÉPÉE Sonya Glickman
RECORD 7-8
FOIL Julian Cardillo
RECORD 15-0
FOIL Caroline Mattos
RECORD 13-2
UPCOMING MEETS: Tomorrow at the Beanpot Tournament in Cambridge, Mass. Friday at the USA Fencing Junior Olympic Championships Feb. 22 at the New England Collegiate Championships at Holyoke, Mass.
TRACK AND FIELD Results from the Tufts University Stampede held on Saturday
TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)
60-Meter Dash RUNNER TIME Vincent Asante 7.11 Chi Tai 7.78 Adam Berger 7.81 Ben Pomerantz 7.81
TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)
1-Mile Run RUNNER TIME Kristi Pisarik 5:25.21 Molly Paris 5:43.25
1000-Meter Run RUNNER TIME Kelsey Whitaker 2:55.73
UPCOMING MEETS:
Saturday at the Tufts Cupid Challenge at Tufts University Feb. 22 at the New England DIII Championships at Springfield, Mass. Feb. 28 at the UAA Championships hosted by Brandeis University
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROHAN NARAYANAN
FAST START: Members of TRON, the men’s ultimate frisbee team, pose for a photo at the Warm Up Tournament on Saturday.
TRON plays against top squads at tournament ■ TRON, the men’s ultimate frisbee team, impressed at the DIII Warm Up tournament in California on Saturday. By abigail rothstein Justice staff WRITER
Ultimate frisbee, a staple of collegiate club athletics, has also shown a strong presence on Brandeis’ campus. TRON, the men’s ultimate frisbee team, took their squad westward on February 8 and 9 to compete in the Division III Warm Up tournament in Riverside, Calif. TRON went 4-4 this past weekend, competing against top-caliber teams such as the University of Puget Sound, the Claremont Colleges, and St. Olaf College. The team fell to Claremont by a mere three points while snagging victories over Westmont College, St. John’s University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. TRON entered the competition as the eighth seed and left California in seventh, a positive accomplishment as the team looks forward to the rest of the season. Although the ultimate frisbee season does not officially begin until spring, the DIII Warm Up gave teams
a unique opportunity to demonstrate their skills in preparation for what looks like a promising season. The tournament was exciting and spirited but also competitive. TRON and the other teams assembled for the tournament are nationally recognized as elite frisbee squads. For a team trapped indoors by harsh winters and polar vortexes, TRON did not let the cold Bostonian air interfere with their competitive edge. After missing last year’s DIII Warm Up due to plane delays and severe weather, TRON went to California this year with a brigade of talented and experienced players. TRON captains Nadav Pearl ’14, Clarence Lee ’15 and Max Zaslove ’16 helped carry the team throughout the tiring eight-game tournament. Returning handlers Zaslove and Pearl continued to have successful debuts on the season. However, it was rookies Mike Humbert ’17, Brian Gzemski ’17 and Zephry Wright ’17 who played an impressive role in the competition. “Our younger crew is talented [and] athletic, and I’m very proud of how they performed this weekend,” Pearl reflected. TRON’s skills were tested in a field of talented squads, including the University of Puget Sound and Claremont teams who took first and
second in last year’s competition. Both teams are projected to be top contenders at the USA Ultimate Nationals competition in May. Out of the eight matches played, TRON played extremely close games in six of them. Luckily, the trip to sunny California allowed TRON to work out some kinks before moving on to the season. Pearl did not let the outcome of this weekend’s tournament damper his high spirits for TRON’s upcoming season. “Results in February don’t show where we’ll be come April and May,” he mentioned. “Our mentality heading back home is positive, but ready to work hard and do better come Division III Easterns.” The DIII Warm Up tournament offered a glimpse of what future competitions will look like for TRON as the team begins to transition into the spring season. In late March, TRON will travel to the DIII Easterns in North Carolina that will feature teams similar to those that competed at this weekend’s tournament. TRON returns to Brandeis with a positive approach for the future. The team, ready to hit the gym and the field, is excited to continue to improve as a successful group in the spring season.
BOSTON BRUINS BRIEF Bruins maintain home dominance in victories over Ottawa and Vancouver before Olympic break The Bruins continued their trend of success before the National Hockey League broke for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, securing home wins over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. As they have done so often this season, the Bruins got off to a hot start on Tuesday versus the Canucks, scoring just five minutes and 12 seconds into the game. Center David Krejci broke down the right and fed left wing Milan Lucic at the back post. Lucic then blasted a lefthanded shot into the roof of Canucks goalkeeper Roberto Luongo’s net for a 1-0 advantage. Lucic, a Vancouver native, saw the win as a response to a 6-2 loss to the Canucks in December. “They beat us the last two times
and also they had a pretty easy win against us back in December,” he said. “So you know, it was nice to get that one against them after losing the last two.” The Bruins extended their lead when defenseman Zdeno Chara fed left wing Jarome Iginla at the far post, who then slotted the puck past Luongo with 12:01 remaining to hand the hosts a 2-0 edge. The Canucks did not go away so easily though. In just three and a half minutes, Vancouver defenseman Raphael Diaz slipped a shot into the Bruins net to cut the team’s lead in half. Boston responded, though, with 2:54 left in the second period. when right wing Daniel Paille found himself one-on-one with Luongo. He successfully fired the puck past the
visiting goalie to make it 3-1 heading into the third, a scoreline that held true for the remainder of the game. Coming off of a tough road loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, the Bruins came back to TD Garden on Saturday for an impressive performance against the Ottawa Senators. The Bruins pushed the pace from the beginning of the game and the pressure paid off at the 11:36 mark in the first period. Center Patrice Bergeron scored a power-play goal to record a lead that the Bruins would not relinquish. After a second Bergeron goal at 4:55 of the second period to make the game 3-0, Boston faced its only real resistance on the day from Ottawa. Senators forward Bobby Ryan went uncontested down the left side of the ice and put a shot into the net
to make the score 3-1 with 2:45 left in the period. The comeback was short-lived, though, as only a minute later Iginla tipped in in a pass from Krejci to end any hopes of the Senators climbing back into the game. The rout continued from there with three third-period goals registered by Lucic, left-wing Brad Marchand and left-wing Carl Soderberg. The goals made the final score 7-2 in favor of the Bruins. The goal by Marchand was the winger’s 19th of the season, the most by any member of the Bruins. Marchand is followed in team-leading goals by right-wing Reilly Smith, who enters the break with 18 goals, and a tie between Iginla and Lucic who both sit at 17 goals scored on the season. Smith picked up his 24th as-
sist on Saturday. Bergeron shared his mindset going into the extended break. “The guys that have the break, [need] to rest and make sure they’re ready when we get back,” he said. “And for us going to Sochi, just keep obviously playing well and things will take care of itself.” The players weren’t the only ones with Sochi on their minds, though, as the crowd at TD Garden issued a standing ovation amid footage of Bruins’ defenseman Zdeno Chara in Sochi representing his home country of Slovakia. After the hiatus, the Bruins return on Feb. 26 to a road match against the Buffalo Sabres. —Daniel Kanovich and Henry Loughlin
just
Sports
ON THEIR TOES The men’s ultimate frisbee team, TRON, traveled to California for their season opener to face several top Division III teams, p. 15.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
LASER FOCUS
Judges extend win streak with victory ■ The team held Case
Western Reserve University to 19 points in the second half of Friday’s victory. By DANIEL KANOVICH JUSTICE STAFF WrITEr
The women’s basketball team came home this week following a quick two-game road trip and extended their winning streak to six games, recording two close victories over Case Western Reserve University on Friday and Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday. Brandeis won 65-56 over Carnegie on Sunday and 71-58 over Case on Friday, nearly identical scores to the road victories over the two teams last weekend. The Judges, with the wins, improve to 12-8 overall and 6-3 in University Athletic Association games while moving to third place in the conference.
The Judges struggled on offense against the Tartans on Sunday and never got into a rhythm but used a stifling defense to take the victory. Only two players—center Nicolina Vitale ’14 and forward Maria Jackson ’17—managed to shoot over 50 percent from the field for the game, going three-for-five and five-foreight, respectively. As a result, the team shot 33 percent for the game. Fortunately, the Judges defense held up against Carnegie throughout the game, forcing the Tartans to shoot 26 percent from the field. Guard Niki Laskaris ’16, who contributed six points in the win, pointed to the defense as a catalyst for the recent win streak. “We followed the game plan, took care of business, and we’re feeling good right now,” she said. “Our defense is where we pride ourselves and we try and keep the games low-scoring.” The Judges’ timely three-point
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
Men end rough stretch with big wins at home ■ The squad beat Carnegie
Mellon University on Sunday without leading scorer Gabe Moton ’15. JOSHUA LINTON/Justice File Photo
GAINING A POINT: Julian Cardillo ’14, who went 15-0 on Saturday, takes on a Yale fencer at the Brandeis Invitational last December.
Squad overcomes rally from Duke in tight win ■ The men’s fencing team
defeated the No. 10 Duke University Blue Devils for the first time since 2006. By AVI GOLD JUSTICE EDITor
The men’s fencing team found themselves in a bind on Saturday afternoon during the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. The Judges led the host Blue Devils, needing just two victories from the sabre squad to clinch the match over the 10th ranked team in the nation. However, Brandeis was reeling, dropping four straight decisions to see their 12-5 lead dwindle down to 12-9. Captain Julian Cardillo ’14, who finished with an impressive 15-0 record in his foil bouts on the day, maintained that he had the utmost confidence in his team’s ability to beat Duke University. “We’ve known all along we could take them down,” he said. “This wasn’t going to be one I was going to let go, and I knew it was going to be hard but this is one we had to do. “[At 12-9] our entire men’s and women’s team was watching, but at
that point you see the lead diminished. The sabre guys talked among themselves and did what they needed to do, which was take it one fencer at a time and pick up wins, since two wins out of nine was manageable.” The Judges got those two wins, and one more, from Adam Mandel ’15 and Jess Ochs-Willard ’15 to defeat the Blue Devils 15-12 and cap a perfect day at the meet. It was the Judges’ first win over Duke since the team secured a 16-11 victory in February 2006. The men went 5-0 on the day, adding wins over Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Air Force Academy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the win over the Blue Devils. The women’s squad also had a strong tournament but did not enjoy the same overall success as the men enjoyed, posting a 2-3 record over the course of the weekend. The women’s day began slowly against No. 8 Temple University, dropping the first meet of the day 24-8 to the Owls before defeating Air Force 15-12 and MIT 14-13 prior to the lunch break. The Judges, sitting at 2-1 at the beginning of the afternoon session, could not keep up with Duke and UNC, drop-
ping an 18-9 match to Duke and a 17-10 match to UNC. Cardillo stressed the high caliber of completion both teams faced during the meet. “We’re one of the only teams to have that opportunity to face Division I opponents,” he said. Although the women only managed a pair of wins for the tournament, their 2-3 record matched UNC for the weekend and outpaced MIT. Caroline Mattos ’16 led the way for the women with an overall record of 13-2 in her foil bouts. The men’s squad, however, was nearly flawless en route to the 5-0 record on the day. The team began the day with an 18-9 win over Johns Hopkins, encompassing identical 6-3 records for all three weapons—épée, foil and sabre. A pair of 17-10 wins against UNC and Air Force, respectively, set the scene for a lunch break—and a matchup with arguably the hottest fencing squad in the country. Duke defeated then 10th ranked Stanford and then fourth ranked University of Notre Dame the previous weekend. Following the win over Duke, the men capped their 5-0 day with a 16-11 victory over MIT, and Cardillo could
See FENCING, 13 ☛
By JACOB MOSKOWITZ JUSTICE SEnIor WrITEr
After a tough three game conference losing streak, the men’s basketball team got back on track with two University Athletic Association home victories over the weekend, cruising against Case Western Reserve University by an 85-74 margin on Friday and routing Carnegie Mellon University by an 87-62 margin on Sunday. The Judges are now 11-9 overall and 3-6 in UAA play. Forward Ishmael Kalilou ’15 maintained that the victories came from improved play by the Judges. “The losses came from our own mistakes that we could correct, and we learned a lot from those losses,” he said. “We corrected those [mistakes] on Friday and Sunday and came up with the wins.” On Sunday, the Tartans scored the first basket of the game, but guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 knocked down two free throws to tie the game and the Judges led the rest of the way. Brandeis led by as many as 14 in the first half, producing a 23-9 lead at one point in the game. The Judges first half lead proved to be the product of a balanced attack and eight points from guard Derek Retos ’14. Brandeis then took a 38-32 lead into halftime. The Judges broke the game wide open in the second half, surging to a 12-6 run to start the half. The Tartans kept chipping away but there was little they could do to stop the Brandeis attack. Bartoldus contributed 19 points on six of nine shooting in just 20 minutes. Retos added 14 off the bench and knocked down two three-pointers—just two away from tying the Brandeis all-time record for three pointers made in a career. Carnegie senior starting guard Rashaun Riley left the game just eight minutes and did not return the rest of
the way, a serious blow to the offense. The two combined for 43 points last weekend against the Judges in a Tartan victory, and on Sunday, their combined 18 minutes of playing time proved to be a key factor in the Judges’ victory. Star guard Gabe Moton ’14 played just four minutes on Friday and did not play at all on Sunday, though Kalilou mentioned that Moton has been battling nagging injuries all season. Kalilou explained that a team-first mentality has helped overcome the loss of Moton. “Everyone on the team knows they have to preform and rise up to the occasion, because it’s been a tough season,” he explained. “Everyone’s ready to go out and lay even toward the end of the season.” On Friday night against the Spartans, Brandeis started slowly, falling behind 13-4 in the early going. A Retos three-pointer with five minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the first-half capped an incredible 28-4 run by the Judges. A nine-point deficit suddenly turned into a 15-point lead. Brandeis was able to weather the storm to end the half and proceeded into halftime with a comfortable 36-26 advantage. Retos scored 11 points in just six minutes in the first half, including three for three from downtown. Smith rocked the box score with four rebounds and five assists, both of which led the Judges in the first half. The second half was more of the same. Brandeis continued to build on the lead, and yet, the Spartans made a run to bring it close again. The Judges led by 16, cruising to a 53-37 margin with 13 minutes, 50 seconds to play. Yet, the Spartans wouldn’t go away cutting the lead to six with 9:26 left to play, but could never close the gap. Retos scored a game-high 24 points, knocking down eight of 10 shots, including four out of five from deep and four out of four from the line. Kalilou scored 13 off the bench while forward Alex Stoyle ’14 added 11 points of his own. Brandeis looks to continue their winning ways in home games versus No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis on Friday and the University of Chicago on Sunday.
JustArts Volume LXVI, Number 19
Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Waltham, Mass.
‘A View from the Bridge’ Brandeis Theater Company spins drama >> 21 LENDING A HAND - ’Deis Impact event promotes women’s education » 19
INSIDE
BEATS OF PEACE Drum circle engages students in dialogue about tolerance » 20
‘TIME AND THE TAPESTRY’ Professor writes historical children’s novel » 19
‘DIMENSIONS 2’ Students’ paintings, prints and drawings on display » 23
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justARTS
TUESDAY, february 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
CALENDAR
INTERVIEW
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What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS Lecture: Art and Gender
This artist talk, presented as part of the spring lecture series “Art and Gender,” features artist Mika Rottenberg. Rottenberg’s residency on campus is in conjunction with her solo exhibition Bowls Balls Souls Holes, which opens at the Rose Art Museum on Thursday evening. At the Rose’s opening reception, museum director Christopher Bedford will award Rottenberg the Perlmutter prize and talk with the artist about her work. This lecture is sponsored by the department of Fine Arts, Brandeis Arts Council and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. For more information, contact Prof. Gannit Ankori (FA) at gannit@brandeis.edu. Tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Mandel Center for the Humanities, room 328. This lecture is free and opent to the public.
Antoine Malfroy-Camine ’17, Ryan Gebhardt ’17 and Austin Koenigstein ’17
The Gentle Art of Musical Forgery
In a presentation titled ‘The Gentle Art of Musical Forgery: Reconstructing and Re-investing Lost Music by 17th-Century Women,’ there will be discussion of the evidence of the musical accomplishments of 17th-century European women, both as performers and composers. But many of their compositions survive incomplete, and some can only be speculated about. Composer, performer and 17th-century specialist and Women’s Studies Research Center Scholar, Dana Maiben presents her work with the texts and music of the prolific Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, a cloistered nun, and the fascinating Lady Mary Wroth, who was anything but. Thursday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Epstein Building’s Multipurpose Room. This lecture is free and open to the public.
First-years form alternative band Froy Steinhardt MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
This week, JustArts sat down with Froy Steinhardt, a band formed by Austin Koenigstein ’17, Ryan Gebhardt ’17 and Antoine Malfroy-Camine ’17. JustArts: Would you tell us a bit about how the three of you started Froy Steinhardt? Antoine Malfroy-Camine: Austin and I are roommates, and we started jamming. I’m a cellist and he’s a guitarist and I guess since the first day of school we just started messing around on our respective instruments. Austin met Ryan … through a mutual friend. Ryan Gebhardt: First semester we weren’t really together, and second semester we started. Austin Koenigstein: We’ve all been jamming though for months now. Because we’ve been friends for the whole year but we had the idea for a band [during] winter break.
A Cultural History of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Theater critic Alisa Solomon discusses why a show about tradition has itself become a tradition, and shares reflections on the writing of her recently
JA: What sort of music do you play? AK: It’s eclectic. It’s like indie. There’s jazz, there’s funk in there. There’s a little bit of everything, we’re inspired by [everything]. Antoine is a classical musician. Ryan grew up listening to blues and I played jazz a lot in high school ... I think hip hop would be a good way to describe it. No, that’s a joke. JA: What has been your biggest challenge in getting the group off the ground? RG: We’re just taking it slow. We’re trying to play as much as possible. We look online for open mic nights in Boston or Cambridge. We’ve got a few of them. AK: We’re shooting for one or two [each] week, if we can. We like to get as many songs performed as possible, get [them] polished. And I think the hardest thing is maybe finding the time but we have been getting a lot better with that. RG: And also getting people to know [us]. AK: Which, right now, is a big issue, I mean it’s an issue for any starting [band]. RG: College is a good place to start. AMC: We’re on Twitter. We’re on Facebook; we have a page. And we have a bunch of likes on Facebook already. JA: Obviously you hope to play together through your time at Brandeis, but do you hope that this will continue after college? AK: We’d like to see what [could] happen. … We don’t want to limit where this can go. So we’re keeping our minds open, we’re doing as much as we can right now to make sure that people get to hear our music and that we are giving ourselves a platform to play in. RG: And we all love music more than anything so there’s nothing we would rather do with our lives. AK: Yeah I realized that last semester that a desk job [would] be a very difficult thing for me. AMC: Because I guess the one thing that really makes us similar is that we’ve been playing for a long time. I’ve been playing for 14 years. ... So we started at a very young age so we were raised around the importance of music. I mean we’re at a school where the Music program isn’t super funded, you know, it’s not very famous but we’re still trying to keep with it, hoping that people like our music. AK: One of the bigger problems is that there are four practice rooms and there are more than four musicians who want to play at the same time. AMC: We’ve been posting recordings on Facebook and hopefully people like them. And we have a performance actually at [Cholmondeley’s] on March 5 and we’ll be playing probably at lounges—in Polaris Lounge in North [Quad]. RG: We want to play for anyone. We really don’t care where. AK: It was fun! —Rachel Hughes Read the full interview online at thejustice.org.
released book, Wonder of Wonders. This event is sponsored by Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, the program in American Studies, the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, the Theater department and the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Tuesday, Feb. 25 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall. Refreshments will be served and dietary laws will be observed. For more information, contact Elizabeth DiNolfo at edinolfo@brandeis. edu. This event is free and open to the public.
Department of Theater Arts—‘Play On!’
This musical production, created and performed by Laura Jo Trexler MFA ’14 is part of the department of Theater Arts Studio Series, and can be described as a one-woman musical romp with Shakespeare’s heroines. The production will be directed by Prof. Marya Lowry (THA). Showing Thursday, Feb. 27 through Saturday, March. 1 at 8 p.m. and also at 2 p.m. on March. 1 in Spingold Theater Center’s Merrick Theater. This production is free and open to the public, but the department asks that viewers arrive early to secure a seat, as seating is limited.
World Music Concert: Trio Da Kali
Three outstanding musicians from the Mande culture of southern Mali take audiences back to the roots of the griot tradition—undoubtedly some of the finest, most subtle and sublime music to come from the African continent. The members of Trio Da Kali bring a contemporary and creative twist to their performance, breathing new life into this ancient art form. “Da Kali” means “to swear an oath”—in this case, the griots’ pledge to maintain their art. This show offers a rare glimpse into the soul of a griot’s art. This concert and residency events are part of the department of Music’s MusicUnitesUS program, supported in part by the Aga Khan Music Initiative and the Massa-
chusetts Cultural Council. Saturday, March 1 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for the Brandeis community and $5 for students, and are available at the Brandeis Ticket Office.
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS Dawit L. Petro—‘Sense of Place’
Part of an annual series of Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions focusing on Schol of Museum of Fine Arts graduates of the past decade whose work has achieved international acclaim, Dawit L. Petros: Sense of Placs features the photographs, video art and sculpture of this 2007 SMFA masters degree recipient. Petros was born in 1972 in Eritrea, Africa; the protracted Eritrean-Ethiopean conflict led his family to move internationally several times. Petros’ experiences as an immigrant, vagabond, intrepid explorer, and an outsider inform his practice. Join assistant curator Al Miner for an engaging look at the exhibition on Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through April 13 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Admission ranges up to $25, and is free with a Brandeis ID.
Boston Ballet: ‘Close to Chuck’
Close to Chuck is an artfully curated trio of works, showcasing three ballets from some of today’s most visionary choreographers. The program features the return of Jirí Kylián’s transcendent Bella Figura, the company premiere of resident choreographer Jorma Elo’s C. to. C (Close to Chuck) with music by Philip Glass and sets by renown American artist Chuck Close, and a groundbreaking world premiere by José Martinez, former Paris Opera étoile, and current artistic director of the Spanish National Ballet. ‘Close to Chuck’ opens Thursday night and performances last through March 2 at the Boston Ballet. Tickets range from $29 to $137 and are available online at http://boxoffice.bostonballet.org/.
Pop Culture n
ww Hey there, Brandeis! Here’s your pop culture breakdown for this week: On Wednesday, reports surfaced alleging that singer/actress Selena Gomez spent two weeks at the Arizona facility Dawn at the Meadows back in January as part of a secret rehab stint. Though rumors have swirled that Gomez, 21, was admitted for an addiction to alcohol, marijuana and the prescription Ambien, her representative tells People Magazine that the “Come and Get It” singer “voluntarily” went to the rehab facility and specified that her time there was “not for substance abuse.” In December, Gomez canceled her Australian tour, articulating in a statement that she needed to “spend some time on [her]self.” Still, many are blaming the singer’s rehab stint on her rekindled relationship with former beau Justin Bieber, a headlinemaker in his own right. The two were famously photographed early in January riding Segways around Bieber’s neighborhood in Calabasas, Calif., fueling reports that they had gotten back together. Just a few days after this scooter outing, Gomez checked into rehab. Of course, Bieber also found himself in the headlines again this week. On Jan. 29, just six days after his infamous Miami Beach arrest, Bieber turned himself into Toronto police, and was subsequently charged with assaulting his limo driver. The arrest stems from a Dec. 30 incident, during which the driver of a limo transporting Bieber, 19, and five other people from a nightclub, was hit on the back of the head multiple times. Reportedly, the man who struck the driver left the scene before police arrived. Bieber’s court date is set for March 10. It doesn’t end there. On Friday, Jan. 31, Bieber and his entourage (including his father, Jeremy) flew on a private jet from Canada to Teterboro, N.J., in order to attend Super Bowl festivities in the New York area. How-
By Mara Sassoon
CREATIVE COMMONS
RUMOR HAS IT: Reports have just surfaced that Selena Gomez attended rehab last month. ever, NBC News reported that the plane became so filled with marijuana smoke that the pilots were forced to wear oxygen masks in order to avoid risking a secondhand high. Reports filed after the incident also indicate that Bieber and his entourage were verbally abusive to a flight attendant, who was forced to hide out in the plane’s cockpit. Members of the flight crew weren’t willing to press charges, but authorities allegedly later searched the plane and found bags that appeared to contain marijuana at one point. They could not, however, link their findings to Bieber or his traveling companions. After all the SelGo and JBiebs talk,
here is a kind of restoration story of sorts involving none other than Dirty Harry himself: Clint Eastwood. On Wednesday, Eastwood was attending a party for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Monterey, Calif. when he saw that Steve John, the tournament director, was choking on a piece of food. Eastwood, 83, swiftly performed the Heimlich maneuver and, according to John’s public statement, “saved [his] life.” Eastwood told the local newspaper, The Carmel Pine Cone, that it was his first time ever performing the Heimlich—what a scene that must have been.
ARTS COVER PHOTOS: JOSH HOROWITZ, LEAH NEWMAN/the Justice and Creative Commons. DESIGN: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice.
ON CAMPUS
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, february 11, 2014
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faculty
PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE LOVETT
JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
NEW TERRAIN: Prof. John Plotz (ENG) is now in the process of publishing his first children’s novel, Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure.
READING HISTORY: Prof. John Plotz (ENG) has studied William Morris, a textile designer and writer in 19th century England, in an academic setting. He is now exploring this interest in his first-ever children’s novel.
Plotz breaks mold with children’s novel By phil gallagher justice editor
Most college professors write books and articles for an audience of intelligentsia, keeping their prose precise and the ideas strictly academic. Prof. John Plotz (ENG), a scholar of Victorian literature, has quietly bucked the trend with his forthcoming children’s novel. Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure, Plotz’s first work of fiction, will be published in May. “Fundamentally, the book is set up as a time-travel narrative where kids from the present fall back into the past,” Plotz explained in an interview with the Justice. His novel centers around the journey of siblings Jen and Ed who must find the missing pieces to their grandmother’s old tapestry so she can sell it and save her house. Jen and Ed fall back into the tapestry and find themselves back in 19th-century England, where they meet William Morris, the famous English textile designer and Jen’s personal hero,
and formulate a plan to complete the tapestry. Plotz explains that his motivation to write a children’s novel comes from the fact that he has young children himself. “It comes out of sitting around with my kids and telling stories and reading books with them and rediscovering all those books from my childhood that I loved,” he says. The Wizard of Earthsea, the Madeleine L’Engle books, The Hobbit, just remembering what incredible joy you can get if you lose yourself in one of those stories.” The focus on William Morris, however, comes from Plotz’s academic background. “I’ve worked on William Morris in the academic context for a really long time and I am always excited to talk about the things I love about him and his socialism and his … amazing forms of art, and I noticed there had never been a children’s book written about it,” Plotz explained. The story’s focus on William Morris comes from Plotz’s background in Victorian literature and
culture, in which William Morris is a significant figure because of his socialist ideology, his textile designs and his publications as a science-fiction writer. “I got interested in him, I think, because the ways that he thinks about what he hates about the capitalism of his day seem very relevant to the critiques of multinationalism capitalism today,” Plotz said. In addition to being a textile designer, William Morris was also a writer and wrote News from Nowhere, which Plotz described as a “wonderful science fiction” book that considers the idea of “an England after capitalism had disappeared.” Plotz has kept the process of writing his new book very quiet, describing it as “a labor of love off in its own world.” However, he did seek advice from Prof. Stephen McCauley (ENG), associate director of the Creative Writing program, on how to shift gears from an academic prose and write more creatively. “Steve McCauley said probably the
most important thing to me. We were talking about the book early on and he said ‘yeah, it’s clear you know a lot. You probably want to forget some of it too,’” referring to Plotz’s background on Victorian culture. “Talking to people like Steve McCauley at Brandeis really helped in terms of thinking about what is different about that kind of writing. But dialogue was for sure the hardest part,” he commented. Having just spent about a year and a half writing and editing his first novel, Plotz is already starting a second, this one directed toward young adults. Although it is too early to give many details, he explained that the second novel would focus on author Mark Twain. “I can say that it’s going to be about the old Mark Twain looking back at the stories of his childhood ... in a way, it’s going to be set in two times,” said Plotz. Despite enjoying the process of writing fiction, Plotz doesn’t plan on giving up his academic studies. He explained, “I really enjoy my scholarly work and I can’t see giv-
ing it up, for sure. I enjoyed this a lot, whether that means I can keep doing it, I don’t know. My kids gave me the thumbs-up,” Plotz has authored two academic monographs and is currently at work on a third tentatively titled SemiDetached: The Aesthetic of Partial Absorption, the research for which has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship. Other professors have published literature or poetry alongside their academic work. Profs. John Burt (ENG), a scholar of American literature, and Mary Baine Campbell (ENG), an expert in literature of Early Modern Europe, have each published books of original poetry. In the history department, Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST), an expert on early American history, co-authored Blindspot, a 2008 romance novel that takes place in the era of the American Revolution. Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure is illustrated by Phyllis Saroff and is scheduled to be published in May by Bunker Hill Publishing.
’deis impact
Students embroider to promote women’s education By catherine rosch justice Staff writer
In an initiative for women’s education in the Middle East, students and guests gathered in the Shapiro Campus Center on Saturday for a morning of hands-on activism. Everyone was hunched over, squinting a little, as they embroidered handprints onto white canvas bags. The silence was occasionally broken by discussions of education in war torn regions. We were there as part of ’Deis Impact’s interactive event, “One to One: Lending A Hand to Women in Afghanistan.” “One to One” is a collaboration between Barakat, Inc., a nonprofit group located in Cambridge with the goal of improving education in northern Pakistan and rural Afghanistan, and
Women’s Studies Research Center scholar Linda Bond. Bond started by giving a bit of background on the issues facing women and girls in Afghanistan. She explained that through learning more about the problems, she realized that “humanity [is] in conflict” and that her background in art could help bring concern for that conflict to American audiences. That was how the idea of One to One was born. Bond saw the symbol of hands and the art of embroidery as a connecting force between cultures around the world. She saw “the hand as a powerful image” and used that as her inspiration to embroider the outlines of hands onto simple drawstring bags. Angha Sirpurkar-Childress, the executive director at Barakat, spoke af-
ter Bond. Barakat currently operates five schools, three in northern Pakistan for refugees and two in Afghanistan, as well as many literacy centers for women and girls in remote parts of Afghanistan. Sirpurkar-Childress explained that, unlike other non-governmental organizations in the region, Barakat tries to work at a community level with local leaders in the hopes of “empowering the most vulnerable” through education. Her hopes are that Bond’s project will raise awareness at both Brandeis as well as in the United States about education and Barakat. Following Sirpurkar-Childress’ presentation, the attendees received a blank white bag and a physical demonstration of three different embroidery stitches, running stitch, back stitch and loop stitch. From there,
participants traced their hands, some with fingers splayed, some in fists. Some people just did a simple outline in a single muted color, while other people covered every inch of the bag with flowers, spirals or geometric patterns. The bags we decorated were not the only bags in the room. Bond also had bags made from women and girls in Aghanistan with her. The Afghani bags were richly decorated with intricate stitching and looked flawless. Bond plans to use the bags both from the U.S. and from Afghanistan to create an instillation piece. Ideally, she explained, she would like to host workshops where participants would pay a low price to embroider the bags. The money raised from the workshops and the exhibition would go to Barakat, which would in turn
send the money to the various schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. When asked what she would do with the bags after the exhibitions and instillation, Bond did admit that she wasn’t entirely sure, but she was thinking of digitally uploading the designs and then reprinting them as a way to keep raising money for Barakat. “One to One: Lending A Hand to Women in Afghanistan” served as an interactive event that also raised questions of social justice and the need for women’s education. Although the event was mostly focused on the physical act of decorating bags, there was also some discussion about how audience members felt about different issues and why they were lending a hand to women around the world.
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TUESDAY, february 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
’deis impact
Drum circle fosters new approach to peace
PHOTOS BY JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
PEACE TALKS: Cynthia Cohen, the director of Peacebuilding and the Arts, spoke about how communal drumming can be used to assist peace talks between groups in conflict.
By emily wishingrad justice editor
The beat of 10 drums filled the Alumni Lounge of the Usdan Student Center on Tuesday evening as musician and educator Toussaint Liberator led a group of Brandeis students in a drum circle. In a collaborative effort by Brandeis Beats and ’Deis Impact, the event Beats of Peace aimed to enlighten students about the power of drum culture and how drumming can be used as a tool for peace. During the first half of the event, Cynthia Cohen, the director of Peacebuilding and the Arts, a program affiliated with the University’s International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, spoke about how music, and in this case, drums, can be and have been used for peacemaking. Cohen told a story of two drummers, one of the Hutu tribe and one of the Tutsi tribe, both
living during the Hutu-Tutsi conflict. Part of the same drumming group, the two traveled together to different parts of Burundi, some Hutu parts and some Tutsi parts. The two took it upon themselves to protect one another when the band performed in their respective ethnic neighborhoods. Their shared identity as drummers were more important than their identities as Hutu and Tutsi, Cohen explained. In her lecture, Cohen drew heavily from the writing of two of the former fellows in the University’s Peacebuilding and the Arts program, Nicholas Kotei Djanie and Lena Slachmuijlder. During their fellowship, the two traveled to Rwanda, Brundi and South Africa to explore the effects of drumming and music on relationships, trust and healing. In their writing, Djanie and Slachmuijlder spoke of the power of drumming in unison—how it acts to synchronize the breath
and the heartbeat. They spoke of drumming as an equalizing mechanism and of the ability of drums to open up a nonverbal space for expression and communication. Cohen described how, in peace talks, words are sometimes inadequate for communication. She described how discussions sometimes fuel wars and disagreements, a phenomenon which she called “conflicthabituated discourse,” a phrase coined by artist Louise Diamond. During the second part of the event, Liberator took over, leading an interactive drum circle. He started by telling the story of his humble beginnings when he used to sit in the subway for eight hours a day playing a simple rhythm on a Djembe drum and singing. Since then, Liberator’s drum playing has gained worldwide attention—he has traveled to places such as Japan, Brazil, Honduras, Puerto Rico and
TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM: From left to right, Nicholas Medina ’14, Samuel Porter ’14 and Jonah Trout’ 15 practiced their newly-learned rhythm techniques in a workshop style drum circle last Tuesday.
Guantanamo Bay to play with his group, Toussaint and the China Band. Liberator has impressively appeared onstage with renowned performers such as the Rolling Stones, the Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer. Liberator began the drum circle by talking about the Nyabinghi, a rhythm that, he suggested, is at the root of all rhythms. Liberator noted how the Nyabinghi mimics a heartbeat and connects the drum to life. He then began teaching the group, in a workshop style, some traditional beats: the Cuckoo from Mali and the Yankadi from Guinea. Liberator would get the circle running with a steady beat and then layer on more complex rhythms with his own drum. Closing out the event, Liberator added singing to the mix as he started singing gospel hymns while the drum circle continued with the Nyabingi rhythm. Liberator sang hymns includ-
ing “This Little Light of Mine,” Every Little Thing” and one of the gospels that Mahalia Jackson famously sang at the March on Washington—a song that drove home the message of how music can be used as a tool for peacemaking. By the end of the event, I somehow felt close to the other members of the circle, even though I had never met most of them. When the drum circle started, the beats of the drums were not coordinated—each drum, a little bit off from one another, each drummer drumming to his or her own beat. By the end of the drum circle, however, when the group had been playing for a little under an hour, the drums began to sync and the room filled with a single beat—a communal heartbeat. “It feels good, doesn’t it?” Liberator asked when he looked around and saw the ring of smiles in the final minutes of the drum circle. It did.
JAM SESSION: Toussaint Liberator, musician and educator, led a drum circle on Tuesday evening in which he taught the Brandeis community some simple, traditonal rhythms from different countries in Africa.
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
theater
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RAISE ME UP: Brandeis Theater Company’s production of A View from the Bridge starred senior members of the Master of Fine Arts class. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIKE LOVETT
BTC production resurrects the past By rachel liff justice STAFF writer
TALK IT OUT: Catherine, played by Sara Elizabeth Bedard MFA ’14, offers some kind words to Rodolpho, played by Eddie Shields MFA ’14.
WAIT A MINUTE: Beatrice, played by Sara Schoch MFA ’14, cautions Eddie, played by Jonathan Young MFA ’14 as he walks away.
If you had walked into Spingold Theater Center’s Laurie Theater this weekend, your first thought would have been “Toto, we’re not in Waltham anymore!” The Brandeis Theater Company successfully created a time capsule of drama this weekend with its production of A View from the Bridge, directed by Michael Hammond, who is a visiting professor of acting from the Boston University School of Theatre. Written by Arthur Miller in 1955, the play covers a range of controversial topics, such as homophobia, immigration and gender roles. The set, visible to the audience before the start of the play, immediately brought the scenes into Red Hook, Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1950s. Although the house was dirty and decrepit, the design was undoubtedly beautiful. The two-story structure, which cleverly resembled a bridge, served as the immobile main unit of the set throughout the production. The action of the production revolves around an overly protective and possessive man, Eddie (Jonathan Young MFA ’14). Eddie’s family initially consists of his wife, Beatrice (Sara Schoch MFA ’14) and niece, Catherine (Sarah Elizabeth Bedard MFA ’14). Their family quickly grows, however, when Beatrice’s Italian cousins illegally immigrate to the United States. Marco (Sam Gillam MFA ’14) and Rodolpho (Eddie Shields MFA ’14) have snuck their way into the country to find work. What was supposed to be a civil environment turns into something much more complicated when Rodolpho and Catherine discover that they have romantic feelings toward each other. Throughout the play, Eddie grows increasingly agitated with the situation. He seeks advice from Alfieri (Alex M. Jacobs MFA ’14), a lawyer and the narrator of the production. He claims that Rodolpho “isn’t right,” alluding that he is gay and is only going after Catherine for citizenship. In the second act, his marriage deteriorates, his household turns violent and he even expresses incestuous feelings toward Catherine. All of his feelings lead to betrayal, anger and a shocking final scene. It would be easy to portray the characters as simply angry and one-dimensional,
but the director and actors succeeded in creating multi-faceted people. What was most impressive was how easy it was to simultaneously sympathize with and hate each character. Although it was easy to hate Eddie for his jealous nature, something about Young’s performance commanded pity. When Beatrice had the choice of acting independently or standing by her husband, her choice to support Eddie was justifiable. These actors, Young and Schoch, as well as Shields, were the most engaging members of the cast—despite occasional fumbles and mistakes. What highlighted the tragic nature of the play was the lighting and sound design. Long, ominous shadows grazed the stage and covered the actors. Menacing sounds and sharp lighting queues highlighted foreshadowing. Besides the more dramatic elements, the lighting and sound contributed to the convincing staging of the place and period. From dogs barking in the distance to a streetlight like atmosphere, the theater resembled Brooklyn in every form. The costume design also helped establish the time period of the piece. Using mostly cuts and colors characteristic of the 1950s, the costumes emphasized the setting of the play. Although many of the colors were muted, most likely due to the economic status of the family, some of the characters started off vibrantly and became subdued throughout the production. Catherine and Beatrice, for example, appeared first in bright colors, and although their happiness was reflected in their dress at times, their ultimate despair was evident from their costumes in the final scenes of the play. Despite minor problems, the Brandeis Theater Company’s production of A View from the Bridge was a successful telling of a captivating, thought-provoking and ultimately depressing story. The plot was distressing—even for Miller, a playwright known for his cynical realism. Although the faces of the audience were somber as the theater emptied, their expressions could only mean one thing: the production staff and cast had created a truly magnificent experience that encouraged viewers to think critically and grow, not only as theater patrons, but also as human beings.
LET’S SHAKE ON IT: Marco (left), played by Sam Gillam MFA ’14 and Eddie share a laugh and handshake.
Do you enjoy museums, music, theater or movies?
Write for Arts! Contact Rachel Hughes and Emily Wishingrad at arts@thejustice.org
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, february 11, 2014
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restaurant review
In a Pickle continues to offer unique menu EMILY WISHINGRAD/the Justice
BREAKFAST CREATIONS: Above, the pancakes have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups chopped and stirred into the batter; bottom left, the El Diablo Omelet is made eye-wateringly spicy with salsa, Jalapeño slices and Sriracha sauce; bottom right, The Ringer combines scrambled eggs, a choice of meat and home fries.
By emily wishingrad justice editor
At 2 p.m., an hour before closing time, the In a Pickle Restaurant was still bustling with customers wolfing down breakfast foods and parties were still waiting to be seated. Likely the most popular breakfast spot in Waltham, this quirky diner-style eatery is situated smack in the middle of Moody Street in downtown Waltham. Less than a year ago, the restaurant moved from Main Street to Moody, a move that doubled the size of the location, adding an extra room and a bar. With the extra space, the excruciatingly long waits at its former location were expected to be less of a problem. However, at In a Pickle on Moody, the waits can still sometimes be up to an hour, especially on special occasions such as Mother’s Day. But many are willing to wait for the mouth-watering food in a fun, casual atmosphere. While In a Pickle has traditional lunch options as well, they are most well known for their extensive breakfast menu. From omelets to pancakes to breakfast sandwiches, the copious options are all packed with flavor and incredibly satisfying. Possibly some of the most unique items on the menu are the candy-bar-stuffed pancakes. Filled with Reese’s, M&Ms and Snickers, the cakes are incredibly luxurious and very sweet. The pancakes themselves are light and fluffy but still have a substantial texture to them and the candybars chopped into the batter add the cherry on top for the sweettoothed customer. The Reese’s pancakes were a little too salty however, probably due to the peanut butter. The El Diablo Omelet, “The Devil Omelet” is an omelet that is mouth-wateringly spicy and packed with flavor. With Srira-
cha sauce, salsa and jalapeño slices, this omelet is a dish spicelovers cannot pass up. The menu even suggests that customers add Tabasco sauce to their dish to spice it up, a move only a true hot-foodie could handle. While the omelet did not have a completely unique flavor—most of the actual flavor came from the Sriracha sauce—it was still incredibly delicious. The various omelet combinations with names like Meaty One Omelet, Santa Fe Omelet and Supreme Omelet, come with home fries and toast, the home fries were very well seasoned, flavorful and just the right texture—not too firm but not mushy. And the toast was buttered to perfection. The food is very reasonably priced—entrees range from five to nine dollars and the plates were extremely substantial and filling. The themed décor added to the casual but lively atmosphere. A few walls in the restaurant are painted a bright green, adding pops of color to the atmosphere. The tops of the upholstery for the booths are a subtler green and have the bumpy texture of a pickle—how fitting. The staff was very friendly and attentive. However, I was a bit disappointed with the rushed service as the clock ticked near 3 p.m., the restaurant’s closing time. Ten minutes after the food had arrived, the check was placed down on our table, a gesture that slightly took away from the comfortable dining experience. About 10 minutes after that, while enjoying the pancakes, we were asked if we would like them to go. A few seconds after, our plates were quickly swept away. While possibly a little heart clogging and a meal that will without a doubt put you into a “food coma,” In a Pickle is worth every single minute waiting for a seat and every bite of delicious breakfast creations.
art EXHIBIT
Students’ newest artwork on display in Dreitzer By RACHEL HUGHES justice EDITOR
LEAH NEWMAN/the Justice
DIFFERENT STROKES: The Dimensions 2 exhibit of student artwork that is currently staged in Dreitzer Gallery features a range of portrait works.
Marking the newest installation in the frequent exhibitions of students’ work, sponsored by the department of Fine Arts, Dimensions 2: Work from Classes in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking opened for public viewing this past week. On view through Feb. 26 in Spingold Theater Center’s Dreitzer Gallery, the exhibition presents the works of students in a range of Fine Arts classes from the past semester. The Dreitzer Gallery was staged with a large volume of work that was packed closer than I’ve ever seen it. From the front of the gallery to the back, each of the alcoves distinguished a different body of works that was organized by medium. At the front of the gallery, in the first alcove, hangs a collection of paintings on canvas. The paintings’ subjects incorporate an array of still life settings, involving stagings of shells, lemons, nude models and metal trophies. Along the inside wall, there is also a series of mounted portraits; the multidimensional colors and layering of paint shades and coats serve to express texture, depth and light. In the portraits especially, colors range from true-to-life flesh tones to bolder concoctions of primary colors and darker hues that give the works a less realis-
tic, more fantastic feel. Heading into the next alcove, which was hung with paintings on canvas, I recognized that all of the works depicted scenes from the University’s campus—one focuses on a view of Waltham from campus, and several others show glimpses of the Sachar Woods at the edge of campus. On the next wall, smaller paintings on paper stock are all completed with equally belabored detail as their larger counterparts and show parts of campus during different times of the day. The paintings in the first part of the gallery contrast pleasantly with the works hung on its outer wall: several large charcoal and pencil drawings, depicting both people and still life scenes. Some of the black and gray scale works also incorporate brown and tawny colored pencil, adding emphasis and depth to certain elements of the works. The pencil gives a greater variety to the depiction of faces and features than in the paintings— some are soft, some hard, some with true-to-life proportions and some dramatized. Moving into the middle alcove in the gallery, a group of still life pen and pencil drawings on large paper fill up an entire wall. The works use stippling and shading techniques to create scenes that include unexpected details that draw the viewer into the subject matter. For instance, one pen drawing shows an open suitcase,
and inside it, there are stickers and notes pinned up, the largest of which reads “self care is a revolutionary act—Audre Lorde.” A copy of Angela Davis’ Race and Class is tucked inside the suitcase, next to the note. In the far end of the gallery, several of the larger and more brightly colored canvas paintings are hung, showing an impressive differentiation of style. The works range from using bolder, defined lines and regions of color contrast to softer, layered dabs of paint that evoke an impressionistic style and feel as if they are from another time. The farthest wall is covered with a smattering of smaller paintings on canvas, each square or rectangular, and much smaller than a piece of printer paper. These smaller works feel more like snapshots into everyday moments for each artist. They depict meals, landscapes, pets and even song lyrics. Though the exhibition’s scheduled opening date—last Wednesday—was delayed because of the inclement weather, none of the works are labeled yet, and plenty of works are still leaning against the gallery’s walls, not yet hung up to display. Nonetheless, Dimensions 2 wonderfully showcases an incredible versatility of medium within the works of painting, drawing and printmaking in the works of students in the Fine Arts department.
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TUESDAY, february 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
TOPof the
ARTS ON VIEW
Brandeis TALKS
CHARTS
Quote of the week
Top 10s for the week ending February 9
“When I think about Brandeis, I think about the degree to which magic can really happen at an institute like this.”
BOX OFFICE
1. The LEGO Movie 3-D 2. The Monuments Men 3. Ride Along 4. Frozen (2013) 5. That Awkward Moment 6. Lone Survivor 7. Vampire Academy 8. The Nut Job 3-D 9. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit 10. Labor Day
—Kweku Mandela-Amuah, delivering the ’Deis Impact keynote speech on Wednesday (News, p. 7).
In honor of Valentine’s Day, what is your favorite pick-up line?
NYT BESTSELLERS
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAGGIE KINZEL
FINGER PRINTING: Maggie Kinzel ’15 created “Time is the speed at which past decays” by thumb-printing a photo from a Holga camera with oil and then editing it with extreme color changes in Adobe Lightroom.
Vincent Familia ’17 “How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice! Hi, I’m Vincent.”
the justice wants to see your original artwork! Submit your photography or a photo of your original drawings, sculptures, paintings or works in other mediums to photos@thejustice.org to be featured in the next issue!
CROSSWORD
Flora Wang ’15 “Can I Slyther-into your Chamber of Secrets?”
Alyssa Green ’14 “Are you tired? Because you’ve been running through my mind all day.”
Sandra Luo ’15 “We should be like cheese and grow mold together. Get it? It’s cheesy.”
ACROSS 1 Froth makers 7 Mil. honor 10 River that rises in the Vogesen Mountains 14 Alert on the road 15 “Well, it sure beats me” 17 Anatolian metropolis 18 Propose for an office 19 “The Joys of Yiddish” author Leo 20 Lures with music 21 One may be imaginary 22 Joy, for one 23 Touchy, as a subject 25 “Sons of Anarchy” co-star Katey 27 Bump on a log 28 Brand with Ultra Leakguards 29 Woman’s name derived from an Old Norse word for “holy” 33 Moreover 35 “I cast to earth __ ...”: Tennyson 36 Little redhead on vintage TV 37 Maven 39 Occasional presentations? 41 Largely factual entertainment genre 46 Have a go at 48 __ fever: tween “malady” 49 One who can hold her own 50 Hurly-burly 51 Rude 52 Utterly senseless 53 Coastal resident 54 Ball game official 55 “Tepper __ Going Out”: Calvin Trillin novel 56 End of the block? 57 Charming people? DOWN 1 Moors at a dock 2 French cartoonist Daumier 3 Finishes, as a cartoon 4 Penguins’ footwear 5 Tolstoy heroine 6 Assume battle stations 7 “That’s a touchy subject” 8 “Where?” 9 Passé copier 10 Old timers? 11 Parkay, to butter 12 Church porch 13 Small deer 16 Fare reductions? 24 The Bitterroot Range runs along its E. border 26 ’60s counterculture substance 29 Road animal? 30 Paragons
Fiction 1. The Invention Of Wings—Sue Monk Kidd 2. The Goldfinch—Donna Tartt 3. Still Life With Breadcrumbs— Anna Quindlen 4. First Love— James Patterson and Emily Raymond 5. Sycamore Row—John Grisham Nonfiction 1. Duty—Robert M. Gates 2. David and Goliath—Malcolm Gladwell 3. Things That Matter—Charles Krauthammer 4. Killing Jesus—Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard 5. Lean In— Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell
iTUNES
1. Katy Perry—“Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J)” 2. Pharrell Williams—“Happy” (from Despicable Me 2) 3. Passenger—“Let Her Go” 4. A Great Big World—“Say Something” 5. Aloe Blacc—“The Man”
BILLBOARD
1. Soundtrack—Frozen 2. Various Artists—2014 Grammy Nominees 3. Lorde—Pure Heroine 4. Of Mice & Men— Restoring Force 5. Beyoncé—Beyoncé 6. Casting Crowns—Thrive 7. Bruno Mars—Unorthodox Jukebox 8. Imagine Dragons—Night Visions 9. Katy Perry—PRISM 10. Daft Punk—Random Access Memories Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.
31 100 years or more, for a giant tortoise 32 Makes too many wrong turns, maybe 34 Parisian peer 35 Theater group 38 Refuse 40 __ Razberi: flavored vodka 41 Conveyed by pipes, as heat 42 Yankees rival 43 Like klaxons in action 44 Not as nice 45 Weapons suppliers 47 One-named writer of “Under Two Flags” 49 Not finalized, in law
STAFF’S Top Ten
Solution to last issue’s crossword Crossword Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.
SUDOKU INSTRUCTIONS: Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.
Katie Jacobs ’16 “I wish I was DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes.”
—Compiled by Lilah Zohar and photograhed by Morgan Brill/the Justice
Solution to last issue’s sudoku
Sudoku Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.
Tony Winners By RACHEL LIFF
justice STAFF WRITER
The Tony Awards are my favorite day of the year. As a Theater major, I care (maybe a little too much) about who wins that silver, spinning statue and how they accept it. 1. Alice Ripley, Next to Normal, 2009 2. Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights, 2008 3. Steve Kazee, Once, 2012 4. Nikki M. James, Book of Mormon, 2011 5. Billy Porter, Kinky Boots, 2013 6. Stephen Sondheim, Company, 1971 7. Nathan Lane, The Producers, 2001 8. Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, 2012 9. Bernadette Peters, Annie Get Your Gun, 1999 10. Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful, 2012