ARTS Page 22
FORUM President Lawrence reflects on 2011 12
DAILY HUMOR
SPORTS Men win first two conference matches 16 The Independent Student Newspaper
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Justice
Volume LXIV, Number 16
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
1933 – 2011
CRIME
Man spotted peering into locker room
■ Public Safety plans to
install a card reader in the Gosman lobby. By FIona lockyer JUSTICe editor
A man “described as a lanky, 6’ 3” white male with longish, light brown hair” was seen looking into a shower in the woman’s locker room at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, according to a Jan. 6 public safety advisory released by Director of Public Safety Edward Callahan ahead of the reopening of the Linsey Pool on Jan. 21. Callahan explained that a graduate student in the shower noticed that the intruder was looking into the showers. Using the closed-circuit television footage from Gosman, Public Safety was able to capture a picture of the intruder, which they then circulated to Athletics, Student Life, and Community Living. The intruder has not yet been located. The normal protocol for people wishing to use the Gosman facilities is to show a Brandeis ID to a student working for the departments of Athletics at the doorway of the main entrance. In an interview with the Justice, Callahan explained that a card reader will be installed at the entrance of Gosman to “tighten up security” in Gosman and the pool site.
Waltham, Mass.
Evelyn Handler remembered NEWS 5
“It would be right at the desk where the student monitor sits so there would be a card reader on the table where the person who wants to use the facility would have to swipe his or her card and that would be recorded in the computer system so we can determine through the card reader history who was in the building at a certain point in time,” he said. Recreation and Aquatics Director Ben White said in an interview with the Justice that the card reader will be installed today. According to White, the front desk staff has been trained in the use of the card reader system, which will allow Public Safety to track who enters Gosman. Next week, the building managers are scheduled to undertake training for the security of the building to ensure that only the front door is used as an entrance. According to Callahan, only the front entrance of Gosman is used for entry into the center, and all other exterior doors are locked. There is one back door, which can be opened only with card access by a staff member. “The intruder entered through the front door and left through the front door,” Callahan said, noting that a student had been at the desk when the intruder entered Gosman. Callahan noted in an email to the Justice that if anyone “encounter[s] any suspicious occurrence or incident to contact the University Police at ext 6-5000 or by cell 781-736-5000.”
ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice
Singing King’s praises Darlene Zephyrine ’12 performs during the annual memorial to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. At the ceremony last night, various student groups and outside performers came together to celebrate King's legacy in a packed Levin Ballroom.
ADMISSIONS
Obama promotes diversity, admissions policies unchanged ■ Brandeis administrators
described their continuing commitment to both diversity and academic excellence. By sAM MINTZ JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Obama administration released new college admission guidelines in December in an attempt to increase racial diversity on campuses across the country. However, members of the Brandeis administration do not expect the
guidelines to have any effect on admissions at Brandeis. “Most of the highly competitive universities like Brandeis that have a desire to remain accessible and diverse have gone to great efforts over the past several years to create [minority] recruitment programs and opportunities,” said Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an interview with the Justice. Dean of Admissions Mark Spencer also said that he did not think the guidelines will change anything about Brandeis’ admissions process and that attaining a diverse student body is something that Brandeis has been do-
ing well for years. “For a school our size, to have 3,200 students and over a hundred countries represented, and students coming from all these different backgrounds, it’s a pretty amazing thing to be able to have as diverse a population as we have,” he said in an interview with the Justice. Flagel also expressed pride in Brandeis’ success in achieving diversity. “In some ways, I think Brandeis represents the best of how affirmative action can be practiced in the admissions process,” he said. “In other ways, it’s a less pressing issue because we have
2 titled “Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity in Post-Secondary Education,” stated that “an institution may permissibly aim to achieve a critical mass of underrepresented students,” and that “postsecondary institutions can voluntarily consider race to further the compelling interest of achieving diversity.” In a Department of Justice press release that accompanied the report, United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder stressed the importance of diversity on college campuses. “Diverse learning environments
See ADMISSIONS, 6 ☛
Life during revolution
Women drop three
Dangers abroad
A student’s account of Cairo during a time of revolution and political protest.
The women's basketball team failed to notch a win so far this month, losing in all three UAA contests.
Schools are changing their policies toward study abroad programs in the Middle East.
FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
such a highly-qualified pool that we don’t have to make the adjustments that some other schools might have to make.” According to Flagel, nearly a fifth of the Class of the 2015 reported themselves as the first in their family to go to college. Statistics on the Brandeis website report that the class of 2015 is 49 percent Caucasian, 12 percent international, four percent African-American, 13 percent Asian, six percent Hispanic and two percent multiethnic. Students of unknown or unreported race make up 14 percent of the class. The federal report released on Dec.
Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org
INDEX
SPORTS 13
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 7
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
COMMENTARY
News 3 11
COPYRIGHT 2011 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.
2
TUESDAY, january 17, 2012
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS AP BRIEF
POLICE LOG
Director of UConn Research Center accused of forging data in reports
Medical Emergency
HARTFORD, Conn.—A U.S. university says a researcher known for his work on red wine’s benefits to cardiovascular health falsified his data in more than 100 instances. Nearly a dozen scientific journals are being warned of the potential problems after publishing the University of Connecticut professor’s studies. University officials say dismissal proceedings have started against Dipak Das, director of the UConn Health Center’s Cardiovascular Research Center. UConn says it started investigating Das’ work after receiving an anonymous complaint of potential irregularities in his research, and that it found 145 instances of fabricated, falsified and manipulated data. Das has gained attention for research into an ingredient in red wine that has shown potential for promoting health, though the university did not say whether the falsifications occurred in research on that topic. Das could not immediately be reached for comment.
Wahlberg says he wants to meet with reputed mob boss “Whitey” Bulger
Dec. 15—University Police received a report of a student possibly having a seizure in the Shapiro Campus Center. BEMCo and an ambulance were requested, and the student was transported to Golding Health Center.
Larceny
Dec. 14—A student in the Shapiro Science Center reported that his laptop was stolen from the lower level of the building. University Police compiled a report on the theft. Dec. 14—University Police compiled a report on a theft of a pair of headphones from the Shapiro Science Center.
Traffic
Jan. 4—An athletics staff member called to report damage to a University-issued vehicle that was parked in front of the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. University Police compiled a report on the damage.
Miscellaneous
Dec. 13—University Police served a trespass notice to a party who resides off campus. Dec. 13—A staff member in the Foster Biomedical Labs requested the removal of an unwanted party. The unwanted party left University property without incident. Dec. 13—A doctor from the Mailman House requested that a student living off campus be sectioned for evaluation. University Police assisted the Waltham Police Department, and the student was taken to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital via ambulance. Dec. 15—University Police received a report of marijuana in a room in Ziv 130. The CDC was notified, and University Police checked the area and found nothing. Dec. 20—University Police investigated a past domestic assault and battery that allegedly occurred on the third floor of the lab area in the Shapiro Science Center between a husband and wife.
Dec. 21—A University Police officer noticed a vehicle parked in the Admissions lot with its doors ajar and items strewn on the ground outside of the vehicle. University Police made contact with the owner; the vehicle was fine with nothing missing. Dec. 21—Resident staff in Ridgewood B found a bong while conducting room checks. University Police confiscated the contraband and compiled a report. Resident staff will file University Judicial charges. Dec. 21—Resident staff in Ridgewood B found drug equipment while conducting room checks. University Police confiscated the contraband and compiled a report. Resident staff will file University judicial charges. Jan. 6—A male party in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center was seen watching a female party showering in the female locker room. The suspect fled on foot when confronted by the victim. She reported him as a white male in his late teens/ early 20s with long, curly brown
nA caption in Sports incorrectly stated the name of a band. Michael Gliedman ’85 performed with The Moderns, not Occasional Sax. (Dec. 13, p.14) nAn interview in Arts failed to include a byline. The interview should have been attributed to Robyn Spector. (Dec. 13, p. 18) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.
Justice
the
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Disturbance
Dec. 20—An anonymous reporting party stated there was loud rap music in the Charles River Apartments. University Police advised the residents to lower the volume. Dec. 21—A reporting party called University Police stating there was a group of intoxicated individuals inside the vestibule of Ridgewood B; the reporting party did not believe the individuals were students. University Police found a group on the fourth floor of the building, and they were dispersed. —compiled by Marielle Temkin
AP BRIEF
BOSTON—Mark Wahlberg says he’s considering a jailhouse meeting with James “Whitey” Bulger, but victims’ relatives are criticizing the actor’s interest in the reputed former mob boss. Bulger has reached out to Wahlberg, the actor told Boston’s WAAF-FM radio Friday, and he speculated Bulger wants to give him rights to his story. “He wants me to come down and visit him. Maybe he’ll give me the exclusive rights to tell his story, because he knows, you know, we can do it better than anybody else,” Wahlberg said. Wahlberg grew up in South Boston, also Bulger’s home where he ran a local gang in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s while working as an FBI informant. Bulger, 82, is accused of participating in 19 murders before fleeing in 1995, allegedly after his FBI handler tipped him that an indictment was coming. He was caught in California last year after 16 years on the run. Wahlberg said his “heart goes out” to loved ones of Bulger’s victims but that the story has tremendous potential. “If there’s a story to be told there, and, you know, we can do it in the way we want in the way that we best see fit, then, you know, then it’s certainly something that we would explore,” he said. Patricia Donahue, whose husband, Michael Donahue, was allegedly killed by Bulger during a hit on another man, said Saturday that there is nothing she can do to stop someone from making a movie. But, she said, she prays the filmmakers don’t make Bulger a hero and “will portray him as he really is, the murderer that he is.” Donahue said she doubted Bulger would be honest with Wahlberg. “The government can’t get the truth out of him, nobody seems to be able to get the truth out of him, so why is he [going] to pour his heart out to Markie Wahlberg?” Donahue said. But Wahlberg’s local roots could help him sort through the lies, she added. “He has a pretty good idea of who’s who in this whole episode,” she said. Steven Davis, whose sister, Deborah Davis, was allegedly strangled by Bulger, told the Boston Herald that Bulger ruined “my whole family” and shouldn’t be glamorized. “I have a lot of respect for Mark [Wahlberg]. I would hope that he would reach out to us, too,” he said. A Massachusetts legislator, Sen. Stephen Brewer, has proposed a bill that allows only Bulger’s victims to profit from his story.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
hair, tan pants and a blue sweatshirt. University Police did not find the party upon their arrival. Security TV footage was reviewed, and a public notice was posted with a photograph of a possible suspect in the area. University Police compiled a report on the incident.
Court says head shake should stop questioning BOSTON—A head shake is just as good as words for suspects to tell police they want to invoke their right to remain silent, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled Friday. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the suppression of statements made by a man who shook his head from side to side after police asked him if he wanted to speak to them about an indecent assault and battery at a subway station. Later in the interrogation, the man signed a form waiving his right to remain silent and then made incriminating statements. Brandon Clarke was questioned by police for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in October 2008 after he was arrested for an indecent assault and battery that had occurred a few weeks earlier. The court found that the questioning should have stopped after the man shook his head. The court said that although federal law requires a suspect to invoke his right to remain silent “with the utmost clarity,” such precision is not required under the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. “When law enforcement officials reasonably do not know whether or not a suspect wants to invoke the right to remain silent, there can be no dispute that it is a ‘good police practice’ for them to stop questioning on any other subject and ask the suspect to make his choice clear,” Justice Barbara Lenk wrote for the court in a unanimous opinion. A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said the ruling may confuse police. “The high court now is rejecting the clear federal standard for a less clear standard,” Wark said. “It widens the gray areas in police interviews rather than creating a clear line for police officers to follow.”
JENNY CHENG/the Justice
“Occupying the Dream”
Latifa Ali, board president of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, speaks to an audience in the Levin Ballroom Monday as part of Brandeis’ seventh annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The event featured music, poetry and a reading of one of King’s speeches.
ANNOUNCEMENTS Physics department colloquium
Zvi Bern’s primary interest is in developing new methods for calculating and understanding scattering amplitudes. He is especially interested in applications to LHC physics and to maximally supersymmetric gauge and gravity theories. Today from 4 to 5 p.m. in Abelson 131.
Study Abroad info session
Navigating the off-campus study process and finding the best study program for you can be challenging, but fear not! The Office of Study Abroad is here to help. Each of the Study Abroad Information Sessions is designed to give you an overview of the offcampus study process at Brandeis including: tips for researching programs and destinations, the application process, getting credit for your work off campus, financial aid and resources and services our office provides. Attending a general information session is mandatory for students wishing to study off campus for the semester or academic year. After the session, we welcome you to set up an appointment with a member of the Study
Abroad staff. Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center International Lounge.
Study abroad re-entry meetings
Students just returning from abroad are required to attend this meeting. Information on credit transfer and reverse culture shock will be discussed, and there will be a chance for you to share your experience with others. Thursday from 12 to 1 p.m. and from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center International Lounge.
Making Waves
Celebrate the grand reopening of the Brandeis pool! Cheer on members of the Class of 2012 swim team and other student leaders as they compete for their respective charities. Then it’s a pool party! Drop by to swim, dance and become part of Brandeis history as the Linsey Pool and building come alive! Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Linsey
Pool.
India Study Abroad info session
Learn about your study abroad options and enjoy some warm chaha (chai) and Indian snacks. Monday from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in South Campus Commons.
“Sex Segregation in Israel Today”
The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Project on Gender, Culture, Religion, and the Law will host an evening to explore how women are “separate and unequal” in Israeli public life. The evening will begin with the New England premiere of the Anat Zuria film Black Bus, which documents the rise of sex segregation in Orthodox life, and will culminate with the fourth annual Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights. Noted legal historian Pnina Lahav will trace the relationship between women’s exclusion in religious and public spheres, both in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora. Monday from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Wasserman Cinematheque in Sachar International Center.
THE JUSTICE
ADMINISTRATION
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
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ALUMNI
Unsworth named CIO Office of Alumni and vice provost for LTS Relations starts ■ Unsworth, who previously
worked at the University of Illinois, will try to improve information outsourcing and research data digitization. By SARA DEJENE JUSTICE EDITOR
Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign John Unsworth will be the next vice provost for Library and Technology Services and the chief information officer, according to Provost Steve Goldstein ’78 in a Dec. 21 email to the Brandeis community. “I am delighted that John has accepted the position,” wrote Goldstein in an email to the Justice. “Technology and the library are at the center of the university and John’s leadership will be central to chart the best course for Brandeis.” Unsworth will be replacing Perry Hanson, who announced his retirement last April. Unsworth was selected by a search committee chaired by Vice President for Planning and Institutional Research Dan Feldman and Prof. Ann Koloski-Ostrow (CLAS). In an interview with the Justice, Unsworth, who will begin work at his new position mid-February, said that addressing “infrastructure issues” will be one of his priorities as vice provost and CIO. According to him, “challenges” like deferred maintenance to the library
are not handled, then there are collections that are potentially “at risk.” Unsworth also said that the University’s feature of combining library and information technolUnsworth ogy services under the LTS umbrella, as opposed to keeping them as separate entities, is “somewhat unusual” and presents itself as “both an opportunity and a challenge.” “What particularly attracted me to this job at Brandeis is that that combination, I think, can work really well together,” he said, “and when it does, [it] can provide really interesting work opportunities for staff [and] really interesting support opportunities for faculty and students.” Decisions regarding service and information outsourcing will also be addressed, according to Unsworth, particularly handing both control and cost-effectiveness of information outsourcing, publishing articles by researchers. In addition, Unsworth discussed the digitization of research data that encourages researchers to use computational methods for their analyses. “That, I think, will be one of the challenges for a combined library/ IT organization in the future,” said Unsworth. According to Goldstein, Unsworth will be “responsible for the
university libraries, technology infrastructure, administrative systems, academic and instructional technology, and user support in a period of transformational change in all these arenas.” Hanson noted in an interview with the Justice that Unworth’s role at the University of Illinois will be a major advantage to Unsworth as he begins at Brandeis, saying, “There’s a huge plus in having most recently been dean of the number-one library school in the country because he knows where library science is going, what it’s going to be, and I think that’s huge, because one of the hardest things going on today in higher ed is the role of the library.” “John brings a rare combination of experience and insight into both the library and technology fields,” wrote Goldstein. “Given we have a merged library and technology organization—considered the cutting-edge approach—John’s skills are an ideal fit.” Unsworth is a 1981 graduate from Amherst College, earned an M.A. in English from Boston University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia in 1988. When asked what advice he had for Unsworth, Hanson, who served as vice provost for LTS and CIO for 12 years, said, “Appreciate the strength of the LTS staff, how good they are, how funny they are, because they’re really remarkable.” —Andrew Wingens and Emily Kraus contributed reporting.
BOLD initiatives ■ The program, which will
feature events across the country, targets alumni who have graduated in the last 10 years. By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITOR
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations recently announced the launch of its new program, Brandeisians of the Last Decade, a series of initiatives designed to engage alumni who have graduated since 2002. Annual Giving and Parents Fund Officer Gayle Gordon ’08 and Director of Alumni Relations Leigh Creveling are leading the program. According to the initiative’s website, the BOLD initiative is “a young alumni program dedicated to addressing the unique needs and interests of undergraduate alumni during the first 10 years after graduation,” and it “seeks to strengthen the young alumni community, develop future alumni leaders, foster mutually beneficial partnerships between Brandeisians and their alma mater, and cultivate annual giving to Brandeis.” Allie Morse ’10, department coordinator for Alumni Relations, explained in a phone interview with the Justice that the program is de-
signed to foster alumni relations through various events, including kickoff events in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Washington D.C, Chicago and Northern California. Gordon said in a phone interview with the Justice that this initiative is crucial because the alumni of the last decade constitute 26 percent of the University’s total alumni base. “We didn’t think we were maximizing our opportunities to engage them; there was [sic] not many activities specific to young alumnae,” she explained. She added that this emphasis on aspects important to young alumni renders this initiative different from other alumni outreach programs. In an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship wrote “we are reaching out to [alumni] where they live–online, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.” According to Winship, the 10year period shifts every year with each new graduating class. Gordon said that university President Frederick Lawrence and Winship formed the idea for this initiative, but she and Creveling have been instrumental in its implementation because they are “more familiar with the social media and how it feels to young alumnae.”
STUDY ABROAD
Arab Spring raises questions about study abroad programs ■ Some schools, including
the University of Wisconsin and Middlebury College, have suspended their study abroad programs in Egypt. By TATE HERBERT JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Over the past year, the Middle East has seen the Arab Spring, the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and, in November, the arrest of three American students in Cairo. In the midst of many changes and ongoing violence, schools such as the University of Wisconsin and Middlebury College have suspended their study abroad programs in Egypt. Brandeis, however, has maintained its connections in the region and continues to send students there. The number of Brandeis students studying in the Middle East has increased over the past five years, according to J. Scott Van Der Meid, assistant dean of Academic Services and director of Study Abroad. Programs in Jordan, Morocco and Lebanon have become increasingly popular over the years. Brandeis has also approved study abroad programs in Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Oman, according to the office of Study Abroad’s website, and in Tunisia, according to Van Der Meid. The program in Egypt “has always been strong,” said Van Der Meid in an email to the Justice. While no Brandeis students studied in Egypt or Tunisia (the cradle of the Arab spring) last year, Van Der Meid said that Egypt has typically been the most popular Middle Eastern destination outside of Israel. Israel continues to dominate the list of Brandeis study abroad programs in the region, but Van Der Meid said he expects student interest in other programs to increase and the program in Egypt to be revived by the next academic year. After visiting Egypt in December to review Brandeis’ programs at the American University in Cairo and the University of Alexandria, Van Der Meid said that “should things remain on [their] current path, [I] hope to approve a few more options” for study abroad there.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAJIDA SYED
ARAB WORLD: Wajida Syed took this photo of Merdja Zerga, a lagoon in the town of Moulay Bousselham, while studying abroad in the North African country of Morocco. The office of Study Abroad “[has] not historically closed any programs or made students switch locations,” said Van Der Meid. However, if the U.S. State Department issues a travel warning for any location, students who wish to study there must sign a waiver. Travel warnings are currently in effect for Lebanon and Israel. Other universities have taken a different approach, particularly where Egypt is concerned. The Universities of Wisconsin and Connecticut suspended their programs there “until further notice,” according to postings on their study abroad websites. Washington University in St. Louis is accepting ap-
plications to study abroad in Egypt in 2012, but warns on its study abroad office’s website that it “reserves the right to suspend these programs should conditions warrant.” The heightened risk and awareness of security for Americans abroad is not unique to one area. “This is not just focused in the Middle East, but all regions of the world as more and more students have begun to study outside of Western Europe,” Van Der Meid pointed out. A Worldwide Caution notice issued by the State Department in July of 2011 also described a risk to American travelers “in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa
and the Middle East.”
For a student’s account of her winter break in Cairo, see Features pg. 8. Some precautions are taken for all students studying abroad, regardless of where in the world they go. According to Brandeis’ Study Abroad website, the purchase of international sickness and accident insurance is mandatory. Brandeis also employs International SOS, a service that aids international
students with anything “from telephone advice and referrals to full-scale evacuation by private air ambulance,” as described by the Study Abroad website. “I feel safe going to Lebanon,” said Sarah Geller ’13 in an email to the Justice. While Geller, an Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major who is studying abroad this year at the American University of Beirut, said she was “a little anxious” about the upcoming trip, she also expressed her confidence in the program. “If something were to happen while I am abroad, [the office of Study Abroad] will help me get through the situation,” said Geller.
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TUESDAY, january 17, 2012
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THE JUSTICE
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Awards
Prof recognized for advances in neuroscience ■ Prof. Eve Marder (BIOL)
has been studying variability in the neuronal circuit structure and function of crabs and lobsters. By amanda winn JUSTICE contributing writer
The Cognitive Neuroscience Society has named Prof. Eve Marder (BIOL) the recipient of the 18th Annual George A. Miller Prize. Founded in 1995, this prestigious award honors the pioneering work of George A. Miller, whose work had a great impact on the field of cognitive neuroscience. In an email to the Justice, Marder noted her surprise upon receiving the award, as she does not categorize her group’s work as cognitive neuroscience. She explained that her research has centered on better understanding the mechanisms that control the function of neuronal circuits, specifically in crabs and lobsters. For the last seven years, her group has studied the variability in the neuronal circuit structure and function found in normal, healthy animals of the same species. “This clearly has importance for how the human brain processes information,” she commented, “so I was extremely flattered to feel that scientists working directly with humans would see the relevance of our mechanistic studies to human brain function.” According to the society’s website, the recipient is chosen based on a career that is “characterized by distinguished and sustained scholarship and research at the cutting-edge of their discipline and that has in the past, or has the potential in the future, to revolutionize cognitive neuroscience.” Marder’s research has fulfilled this description, as, according to the Brandeis science blog, her work has been critical for defining fundamental concepts regarding functions of the brain and nervous system. Specifically, the blog noted, Marder’s work has focused on looking at the stomatogastric ganglion, a small crustacean motor circuit, from different perspectives, first looking at circuit development and modulation of neurons and more recently analyzing the importance of variability in the physiology of this circuit. Several Brandeis faculty agreed with the society’s nomination this year. Prof. Paul DiZio (PSYC), department chair, remarked in an email to
the Justice that the award Marder is receiving “recognizes that progress in cognitive neuroscience depends on the kind of foundational, interdisciplinary studies she has pioneered.” He continued, writing that former recipients of the award have conducted work on tasks with humans or primates, oriented toward better understanding higher cortical functions such as memory, decision and complex pattern recognition. Marder’s research investigates small systems of neurons that regulate invertebrate motor behavior, ranging from a molecular to behavioral understanding. “This award recognizes that her work has redefined what neuroscience means by the term ‘complex system.’ The questions she has chosen to ask and the principles she has uncovered are so fundamental that they have already had a great impact on people studying attributes which we consider most human and will in the future improve our understanding of mental function and dysfunction,” he added. He noted that another aspect of the nominee the society looks for is a commitment to training future cognitive neuroscientists. Additionally, Prof. Susan Birren (BIOL), dean of Arts and Sciences, stated, “I am delighted that she is receiving the [award]. It is a richly deserved honor recognizing Professor Marder’s innovative and distinguished research over the course of her entire career.” She further commented that Marder’s “insight, excitement and persistence in working on hard problems in Cognitive Neuroscience has contributed to her success and makes her a wonderful role model for young scientists at Brandeis and every place else.” “It is a wonderful time to enter the field of neuroscience,” Marder commented. “New techniques have opened up the possibility of doing remarkable experiments relevant to the function of healthy brains and that will allow us to understand the underpinnings of many devastating neurological and psychiatric disease.” She also encouraged students to research problems that really captivate them. “Science is the process of discovering new knowledge, and it is inherently difficult. It is exceptionally rewarding to see or do something for the first time, and to help unravel one of the mysteries of the universe. But the struggle to learn something new can be frustrating, and therefore it is really important that young scientists be truly fascinated by what they are doing.”
JENNY CHENG/the Justice
Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Students and local community members sit down at a brown-bag lunch before leaving to partake in community service projects in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Alumni
Abelman to lead foundation ■ David Abelman has worked
for the Tufts Health Plan Foundation since 1999 as an attorney and director. By Shani Abramowitz JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Former Executive Director of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and Brandeis alumnus David Abelman ’82 is being promoted to president by the Foundation’s board of directors, according to a Jan. 3 news release. The Tufts Health Plan Foundation works “to promote healthy aging, and with the 10,000 Americans per day turning 65 years old (as reported by the Pew Research Center), the need for health care support is very great,” according to Abelman in an email to the Justice. “My job, with the guidance of our great board of directors, is to be sure we have the right strategic approach, operational infrastructure and financial management, to enable us to effectively and efficiently promote the health of older adults,” Abelman wrote. “At its most basic level, we need
to be sure that we are wisely distributing about $3 million in annual grants to community organizations,” Abelman continued in his email. “Beyond the grants, we promote healthy aging through agenda building, advocacy, convening, and education.” When asked about his reaction to his promotion, Abelman wrote, “Well, I probably had a big smile on my face. First and foremost, I thanked the Tufts Health Plan CEO Jim Roosevelt for the opportunity. Then I called my wife Marilyn, to give her the good news.” Abelman joined Tufts Health Plan in 1999, according to a press release, and as executive director held senior responsibility for the operations and strategic activities of the Foundation. “For most of my career, I was a litigation attorney,” said Abelman in an email to the Justice. “During the 1990s, I spent several years as a federal prosecutor, handling health care fraud matters, among other things.” With his background in litigation, Abelman joined Tufts Health in 1999 as the Plan’s senior litigation attorney. Abelman now serves as Deputy Counsel General, in addi-
tion to his role as President of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation. According to the Jan. 3 news release, Abelman has led the Tufts Health Plan Foundation since its creation, when it had an endowment of $38 million and one staff member. The endowment has subsequently grown to $75 million and the Foundation now has a staff of four. In 2011, the Foundation continued its strategic focus to improve the lives of seniors and it provided grants to 76 organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the news release stated. “David’s appointment reflects his strong credibility and significant contributions to growing the Tufts Health Plan Foundation,” said James Roosevelt Jr., president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan and board member of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation in a press release. “Under his leadership,” continued Roosevelt Jr., “the lives of many seniors have improved due to the foundation’s Healthy Aging programs and grants.” Abelman continues to oversee staff and various activities, which include investments, grant making, and administrative functions.
obituary
Trustee and member of first graduating class passes away ■ Robert Shapiro ’52, the
son of a founding trustee, supported University initiatives and served on the boards of several Jewish and philanthropic organizations. By NASHRAH RAHMAN JUSTICE editor
Trustee Robert Shapiro ’52, a member of the University’s first graduating class, passed away Jan. 6 at the age of 81 after battling cancer for a year, according to a Jan. 7 campuswide email sent by University President Frederick Lawrence and Chairman of the Board Malcolm Sherman. “Robert was a man with a generous spirit who embodied the values of Brandeis in so many ways,” Lawrence and Sherman wrote in the email. Lawrence could not be reached by press time for further comment.
Shapiro, the son of founding Trustee Abraham Shapiro, was involved with the University throughout his life. According to the email, Shapiro served as a reunion organizer, donor, fundraiser, president’s councilor, fellow and finally as a trustee in 1979. Along with his wife Valya (Kazes) Shapiro ’61, whom he met during his time at Brandeis, Shapiro supported a number of University initiatives, such as the construction of the Abraham Shapiro Academic Complex and the Robert and Valya Shapiro Endowment for Sephardic and East European Jewish Studies. Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship, who was Shapiro’s neighbor and also worked with him at Brandeis for 18 years, wrote in an email to the Justice, “In my first years here, when fundraising was difficult and Brandeis was in a precarious financial situation, Robert was always there for his alma mater, generous with both his time and his financial resources.”
Shapiro was also involved in Jewish and philanthropic organizations. He had served on the boards of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Temple Israel of Boston, the Boston Association for the Blind and the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, according to a Jan. 7 BrandeisNOW press release. “Robert was a kind, gentle, modest man whose deeds were great but his interest in taking credit for them miniscule. He genuinely cared about people and their well-being,” Winship wrote in her email. In an email to the Justice, Lawrence wrote, “He will be remembered by all who were privileged to meet him as a man of kindness, decency and an enormous generosity of spirit.” Shapiro is survived by his wife, two sons, Bram and Steven, and five grandchildren. Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of an article posted online on Jan. 6. MIKE LOVETT/BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
—Sara Dejene contributed reporting.
TRUSTEE: Robert Shapiro died at the age of 81 after a yearlong battle with cancer.
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A PRESIDENT REMEMBERED
Evelyn Handler struck by car; dies at 78 ■ Former University President Handler was the first female president at both Brandeis and the University of New Hampshire. By ANDREW WINGENS JUSTICE EDITOR
Evelyn E. Handler, 78, Brandeis’ fifth president, died Dec. 23 after being struck by a car in Bedford, N.H. Handler served as president of the University from 1983 to 1991 and is the only woman to have held that position. Before joining Brandeis, she served as the first female president of the University of New Hampshire. Bedford police said Handler was walking across South River Road to meet her husband, Eugene Handler, when an oncoming vehicle struck her at about 5:20 p.m. Dec. 23, according to the Nashua Telegraph. “On behalf of the entire Brandeis community, we extend our deepest sympathies to the Handler family,” wrote University President Frederick Lawrence and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Malcolm Sherman in a campuswide email announcing the death on Christmas day. John Hose, associate vice president for university affairs, worked with Handler in various roles since 1972—11 years before they came to work at Brandeis together in 1983. From 1980 to 1983, Hose was an executive assistant to Handler at the University of New Hampshire. “Evelyn Handler was a woman of principle, strong convictions and creative vision. Both the University of New Hampshire and Brandeis are better institutions today because of the standards she set and what she was able to accomplish in the course of her presidencies. She had amazing personal strength,” wrote Hose in an email to the Justice. During her tenure, Handler sparked controversy when she introduced pork and shellfish to Usdan cafeteria in what she termed an attempt to diversify and accommodate minorities at Brandeis. Pork and shellfish are prohibited under Jewish dietary law and their introduction sparked outrage from many in the larger Jewish community. Handler also removed the names of Jewish holidays from the academic calendar and scheduled Founder’s Day Convocation on a Saturday, the Sabbath, in 1987. These changes all contributed to the fear among some that Handler was trying to diminish the University’s Jewish nature.
JANE ROTHSTEIN/Justice File Photo
PRESIDENT PROMOTES: Handler met with Celtics President Red Auerbach in 1988 to promote the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Some donors, Board members and students believed these acts to be an affront to the Jewish character of the University. Handler characterized her actions as an attempt to diversify the Brandeis student body and be more welcoming of international students. “I intend to turn the face of the University outward, to broaden our appeal to the best and the brightest of our country’s young people,” said Handler in her inaugural address. As president, Handler’s accomplishments included the opening of a multi-million dollar science center and the strengthening of life sciences programs at the University, according to her profile on the Brandeis website. Handler also gained the University admission to the Association of American Universities and Brandeis became a founding member of the University Athletic Association under her guidance. “She made the case that by any measure, Brandeis deserved to be in the AAU despite its youth and relatively small size,” said Sherman, chairman of the Board of Trustees, in a BrandeisNOW press release. Handler was born in Budapest, Hungary, in
FIRST FEMALE: Handler, below, speaks with Dartmouth College President James Freedman and above she holds a baby. She served as Brandeis President for eight years.
1933. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1940. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College, master’s and doctoral degrees from New York University and a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center. Handler began her career in education as a biology professor and dean of math and sciences at Hunter College in New York. She then came to Brandeis after serving from 1980 to 1983 as the first female president of the University of New Hampshire. Taking office on July 1, 1983, she replaced former University President Marver Bernstein. Kriss Halpern ’83 served as a student representative to the Presidential Search Committee that ultimately chose Handler to replace Bernstein. Halpern wrote in an email to the Justice that he remembers meeting Handler in her office at the University of New Hampshire: “Evelyn Handler was extremely warm and charming on first meeting her and it was easy to like and respect her immensely.” Halpern commented that Handler satisfied both Board members who wanted a president with a strong fundraising and management
“ “
background and those who wanted one with strong academic and progressive credentials. “She was seen as having a very substantial academic and fundraising background. The fact that she was a woman was something that I think satisfied some concerns with Brandeis moving forward in a more progressive and inclusive direction,” wrote Halpern. Handler announced her resignation June 15, 1990 and was succeeded by interim President Prof. Stuart Altman (Heller). Altman served as an interim president until former President Samuel Thier was chosen. After leaving Brandeis, Handler was a research fellow and associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She was the executive director and CEO of the California Academy of Sciences from 1994 to 1997. Handler is survived by her husband, Eugene; her two sons Bradley Handler and Jeffrey Varsa; a sister, Adrianne Gluckmann; and three grandchildren. Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article originally posted online Dec. 25, 2011.
Evelyn Handler was a woman of principle, strong convictions and creative vision. JOHN HOSE
I intend to turn the face of the university outward, to broaden our appeal to the best and the brightest of our country’s young people. HANDLER, AT HER INAUGURATION
Justice File Photos
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THE JUSTICE
VOLUNTEER FEST
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
For their entertainment Students enjoy a puppet show put on by a fellow volunteer yesterday. Several students participated in community service events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
ADMISSIONS: Univ aims to sustain diverse student body promote development of analytical skills, dismantle stereotypes and prepare students to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world,” he said. Flagel echoed this sentiment, saying “in my experience in higher education, we really believe that a more diverse student body, representing divergent views and backgrounds, is advantageous to students themselves.” He also noted Brandeis’ historical commitment to diversity. “[Brandeis is] an institution that was founded on the idea that higher education ought to be…open to students based on their merit and potential. Consistent with
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Sarna awarded for publicizing religious studies
also the chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History.
our mission we need to remain constant and vigilant about providing that access,” he said. Part of Brandeis’ mission statement is that the school “seeks to build an academic community whose members have diverse cultures, backgrounds and life experiences” and “believes that diverse backgrounds and ideas are crucial to academic excellence,” according to the University’s website. Both Brandeis administrators and the federal guidelines stress the importance of the holistic admissions process, which takes applicants’ backgrounds and stories (which are often indicators of race) into account. The guidelines state that “when an
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institution is taking an individual student’s race into account in an admissions or selection process, it should conduct an individualized, holistic review of all applicants.” They also warned against weighing the factor of race too heavily, saying that “race cannot be given so much weight that applicants are defined primarily by their race and are largely accepted or rejected on that basis.” “If we just wanted to admit students based on SAT scores, we wouldn’t need admissions officers,” said Spencer. “So these different life experiences are what come through the application. It’s why you ask for essay questions and recommendation letters.”
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By DANIELLE GROSS JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The American Academy of Religion awarded Prof. Jonathan Sarna (NEJS), Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, the 2011 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. According to the AAR’s website, the Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion was established in 1996. The award recognizes extraordinary strides and contributions to the public's understanding of religion. The notable contribution can be of any medium, so long as it is scholarship based in religion. The AAR puts stress on the fact that “the award is given to those whose work is eloquent and relevant, not only to scholars, but to the public as well.” In a phone interview with the Justice, Sarna expressed his excitement about receiving the award. “I am very honored to have won this award. While I am grateful to even have been nominated, I am largely honored because of the list of honorees, [which] includes some of the most significant names of those who have studied religion in America. These are all very important people in my field.” Among those previously bestowed with the Marty Award are: Martin E. Marty, professor at
the University of Chicago; Cornel West, professor at Harvard University; and Diana Eck, Harvard University, among others. Sarna is a graduate of Brandeis University, the Hebrew College, Mercaz HaRav Kook and Yale University. He obtained his doctorate in 1979 from Yale. Sarna has authored and edited more than twenty books, some of which have been turned into television documentaries. Among some of his other credentials, Sarna is chief historian of the new National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. He is considered an influential person in his field, and writes widely about issues affecting the American Jewish community. He also is chair of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis. In a phone interview with the Justice, Sarna disclosed that he became interested in religious studies because it seemed to him that most of those who study American Jews look into peoplehood and ethnicity. He was especially interested in looking at Jews from the perspective of American religion. He also revealed that his largest influence was one of his Yale professors, Sydney Ahlstrom. When asked how this award would affect Sarna’s career, he said that winning the award is too recent to have had any significant effects on his career. However, Sarna said that he “hopes having won will lead to more people reading and being influenced by my work. That would honestly be the ultimate gratification. I also hope it serves as a reminder that Judaism is a big part of American religion.”
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VERBATIM | ARISTOTLE If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1929, Popeye the Sailor Man first appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
More Monopoly money is printed in a year than real money throughout the world.
Rebuilding
ruins
PHOTOS BY ASHER KRELL/the Justice
CONSTRUCTING COLUMNS: Rachel Mayo ’14 (left) and Rachel Strax ’14 (right) help with construction while on the Hillel service trip to Alabama during winter break to help rebuild houses destroyed by tornadoes in April.
Students helped rebuild Birmingham homes over winter break By TESS RASER JUSTICE EDITOR
A porch, to many, is simply the shelter on the front of a building or what they step onto to get inside their house. University students who went on a weeklong service trip from Jan. 1 to 8 learned that a porch could mean much more, especially to a family that has lost every remnant of their home. “When a porch is gone, you realize how integral [it is]. We weren’t just giving him a porch, but his back porch back,” said Eliana Light ’13 on the work she did helping rebuild a man’s porch in Birmingham, Ala. Hillel at Brandeis teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and the Jewish Disaster Response Corps, a national organization in its second year that, according to its website, “provides a Jewish partner for institutions and individuals to work with, thus filling the gap between disaster response and the Jewish community’s commitment to help others.” Ben Lovenheim ’15, Rachel Strax ’14, Rachel Mayo ’14, Eliana Light ’13 and Daniel Yahalom ’15 helped rebuild houses destroyed by the string of tornadoes that hit the South last April. The group woke up daily around 6:30 a.m., made breakfast and traveled to their jobsite. Each day, led by the Habitat worker, Justin, they went out to a different jobsite and worked until almost sundown. Most of the houses the group worked on were in their final stages of construction. “We weren’t doing demolition or anything like that. So in one house, we were putting on trim and doing some interior work. On another, we were doing some exterior painting, and that house is pretty much done,” Lovenheim explained. In addition to wanting to help those in need,
Lovenheim was drawn to the trip because he has always wanted to perform manual labor. When he was younger, his interest in construction and woodwork was spurred on by his love of the show This Old House, even though he has never done anything like the work featured on the renovation show. “I had this fear I’d go through my whole life just doing work sitting down at a desk. I wanted to know what else was out there,” he said. Although the labor-intensive project was exciting to the group, it was not without its challenges. Strax enjoyed painting, but even that task was not as simple as she originally thought it would be. “It was really hard because the first day painting it was freezing out,” she said. “I was terrible at using the nail gun,” said Light about her experience with placing pickets for a fence. She said that the work could have been done in 10 minutes by an experienced carpenter, but there was more to gain than just the new fence. “It was a sense of accomplishment. … [At the end,] my arm was shaking, and it was good shaking. I [had] worked this arm to its full capacity,” she continued. Light is from Memphis, Tenn., a four-hour drive from Birmingham. She remembers that when the storms passed Memphis she huddled in a closet, the only room without windows in her home, with her family while she waited for the tornados to pass. “[We were] so incredibly grateful that nothing had happened, and then when I heard about the trip coming up it really felt like an opportunity for me to express my gratitude and to try to be there for those who weren’t as lucky as me,” she said. The impact of the tornadoes was massive not
FORMING THE FRAMEWORK: Eliana Light ’13 connects beams to the railings of the porch on the worksite.
SAVING STRUCTURES: The students on the Hillel trip work on repairing a porch damaged during the storms. only in its physical destruction, but also, as all participants on the trip expressed, in the way it affected individuals and their families. The group was most moved by their interactions with families affected by the storms and the remnants of destruction still visible in Birmingham. The participants spoke fondly of a man named Alfonso, for whom they built a porch. “He came out and talked to us for a while and told us what the experience was like having the tornado go right over his house, seeing the roof collapsing on him and people being thrown up into the air,” said Lovenheim. Light and Strax were able to visit Alfonso’s family at one point as well. “The second time we went there, we went back, just the two of us, and ... Alfonso’s mother-in-law and his wife [were there,] thanking us profusely, telling us their personal stories,” said Strax. “What really struck me was how grateful they were, ... they all said, ‘We are so incredibly blessed. Thank God that we’re alive, and we have our families and that we’re going to be okay.’ That was such a beautiful, beautiful sentiment. It really spoke to the deep faith that people had, which I think is very characteristic of the South in general,” added Light. The interactions with families were something that all group members identified as being powerful, but in addition to the spoken, personal narratives, there was also physical evidence of the destruction left behind by the storm. “What was especially unbelievable to us, were [that] certain parts of the city were untouched, [while] some parts had so much rubble, [nine] months after the storm,” said Mayo. “You could go through neighborhoods and see where the tornado had gone through. … There’s
also one of these eerie sites we saw, quite frequently, where the stairs that were supposed to lead up to the front doorway were still there but the house wasn’t,” Lovenheim described. Light expressed the shock of seeing bare trees in the usually always-green South, a single shoe or a pen in the middle of these now concrete neighborhoods. “It’s the little things like that that make up someone’s life,” she explained. The five students on the trip, not all friends or even acquaintances at the beginning of the week, were able to share and process their feelings by debriefing at the end of each day and relying on each other for support. “Mentally, it was a lot to go through. It was really overwhelming at times, so each day we kind of sat down together and had a discussion about what we saw. Just to get our thoughts out there,” explained Mayo. The group not only discussed their experiences, but also more broadly applicable ideas—such as the difference between sympathy and empathy. Light said that the ability to empathize with someone, or as she says, “crying with them instead of crying for them” was especially interesting to her, and she hopes to somehow bring that message back with her at the University. For a lot of the team members, this was their first service trip. Not only do they all express interest in going on other service trips in the future, but they would encourage other University students to do the same. “On the application, someone said, ‘Why as a Jewish person do you think you should take part in this?’ And my response was, ‘It’s not something for a Jewish person to do, it’s something for a person to do,’” Strax said.
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Continuing life in Cairo Egyptians adjust to life amid protests and political turmoil By Nashrah Rahman JUSTICE editor
My winter break began with the sound of gunshots. I heard them at the brink of dawn and woke up in a daze, forgetting for a few seconds where I was. As the gunshots continued, I struggled to decide what to do: Should I wake up everyone else? Were we safe inside the house? Most importantly, what was going on? Then I remembered what my mother had told me the night before when she picked me up at the airport: “The situation is still unstable; some of [the] neighboring houses have been burgled and fights between protestors and military forces often break out early in the morning. Egypt’s revolution has not ended.” My family moved to Cairo in the summer of 2010 due to my father’s job as a diplomat. Once a stranger to Egyptian politics, I began to follow the news on Egypt ardently and shared the Egyptian people’s joy when President Hosni Mubarak finally resigned in light of the protests and the military took control. In a bizarre way, the revolution helped bring me closer to the country that is now my home. The situation in Egypt took a turn for the worse in December 2011 with the beginning of free parliamentary elections. After the first round of elections saw Islamists dominate votes, the military justified extending its ruling power as a way to protect Egyptian society from a potential Islamist takeover. Protestors returned to Tahrir Square in Cairo to challenge the continued military rule only to be greeted with armed violence. Mass demonstrations broke out once more as tension increased between protestors and military forces. Amid such volatile developments, I returned to Cairo for winter break. The media, caught up in reporting the events in Tahrir Square, did not prepare me for what to expect of everyday life in Egypt. When we first moved to Cairo, one of my favorite discoveries was Khan-el-Khalili, a marketplace bustling with restaurants, coffeehouses, souvenir shops and street food vendors. I loved walking down the narrow alleyways that rang with the sound of shopkeepers engaged with tourists and locals in lively bargaining. Khan-el-Khalili today is much quieter. The shopkeepers are less jovial and more determined to get the price they set in order to make ends meet in a country that is economically unstable. Last summer, when the mood was still jubilant after Mubarak’s resignation, the Egyptians I met were excited to speak about the revolution. I remember befriending two women while waiting for an appointment at the dentist’s office and starting a casual conversation about the protests. Seeing that I was not Egyptian, the women were
curious to hear my opinion and listened politely even when they did not agree with my views. However, when my mother and I accompanied my brother to the barber shop this winter, even a vague reference to the revolution was marked with tension. My mother asked if they were open on Fridays with the intention of making an appointment for my father. One of the barbers flashed us a tight smile and replied, “Why wouldn’t we be open? Yes, of course we are open!” He thought she was implying that business might be disrupted because protests are generally scheduled for Fridays. Such protests usually begin peacefully with the gathering of thousands of Egyptians from all sectors of society and professions, but they often end with military violence. The barber’s pointed remark made me recognize another source of contention that arguably rivals that between the demonstrators and the military. There is a disconnect between the demonstrators and a large number of the people they claim to be representing. I realized over the course of my stay this winter that the latter group—consisting of shopkeepers in Khan-il-Khalili and small business owners like barbers—is the one economically affected by the turn of events in Egypt. The drop in tourism and disruption in business have made it hard for them to wholeheartedly embrace the ongoing revolution. As a result, I returned this winter to reports of burglaries—desperate attempts undertaken by some to sustain their livelihoods in the middle of renewed violence. The intertwining sectors of tension in Egypt manifest most visibly in the epicenter of the revolution: Tahrir Square. The area is always filled with protestors huddled in several groups and street vendors trying to sell T-shirts commemorating the revolution. I drove past this point of modern history several times this winter, always awestruck by the protestors’ dedication to their cause. I also knew that not everyone who drove by felt the same way as I did. The gunshots I heard my first morning in Egypt continued for nearly 10 minutes straight. Later that day, my family asked the guards who protect our residential compound if they knew what had happened. “Don’t worry. These things happen nowadays; it was probably a scuffle between protestors and others in support of the military,” was the nonchalant response. Even in such troubled times, life in Egypt goes on. People go to work, spend their afternoons in coffee shops and their weekends shopping. Tourists still visit, albeit in reduced numbers, to see the Giza pyramids. With the military’s latest announcement on Jan. 1, 2012 to accelerate the election timetable in response to the protests, one hopes that Egypt sees real peace soon.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NASHRAH RAHMAN
ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: The Great Sphinx of Giza stands on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.
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Underground
explorations
SOLVING SYSTEMS: Donald Slater examines artifacts and hieroglyphics inscribed in the caves left behind by the Ancient Mayas in Mexico.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DONALD SLATER
Donald Slater Ph.D. ’13 excavates Central Yucatan caves By tyler belanga JUSTICE staff WRITER
Children have a variety of far-fetched plans about what they will be when they grow up. Would-be astronauts grow up and become accountants; basketball player aspirants go to dental school. Donald Slater, a doctoral candidate at Brandeis, imagined exploring hidden caves, studying ancient wall carvings and paintings and collecting artifacts that have not been touched for hundreds or even thousands of years. Now studying the culture of the ancient Mayas in Central Mexico, Slater has spent the last few years exploring the caves of Mexico with a grant from National Geographic. As a child growing up in Massachusetts, Slater was always highly intrigued by paleontology, a science similar to the study of archaeology, to which he has devoted his professional career as a result of the influence of his father, uncle and grandfather. “They were always engaging in conversation and interested in all types of sciences and travel, and archaeology was just something we would talk about a lot. It’s been something I’ve been interested in since a very early age,” Slater said. In addition to intellectual conversation, Slater’s grandfather continuously passed National Geographic magazines on to him, sharpening Slater’s interest in ancient cultures. Then, in 2010, Slater was awarded the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grant, which is designed to aid individuals working on promising fieldwork. “Winning the award was really a dream come true for me; it was something I had hoped to achieve since being a little kid. … To think that I was being awarded a grant from National Geographic was pretty surreal and a high point of my studies,” Slater said. Slater graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2000 with a degree
PHOTO COURTESY OF DONALD SLATER
CRAWL SPACE: Slater studies and explores the Mesoamerican carvings, caves and culture. in Anthropology, of which archaeology is a sub-discipline. Several years later, he enrolled at Brandeis and began to work on his dissertation titled, “At the Heart of the Turtle: Caves, Power and Liminality in Ancient Central Yucatan, Mexico.” “In some of the hieroglyphic inscriptions, the earth is actually referred to as a turtle. Considering my project focuses on cave research, and Mesoamerican people believe that entering a cave is to enter into the place we were born, this name was appropriate [for the project],” Slater said. From 2008 to 2010, Slater made four separate trips to Mexico’s Central Yucatan, during which he worked closely with other archaeologists and skilled local cavers as he traversed many caves that may have been unexplored since the Mayas themselves used them. “The adventure aspect of archaeology
is something that is one of my favorite parts of the discipline. I love going out into the field and treading on new ground,” Slater explained. “It’s exciting and you never know what you will find. You’ll see, handle and excavate things that no one has seen or touched in two or three thousand years,” Slater said. The money awarded to Slater from the NGS/Waitt Grant has helped advance certain areas of his research that he otherwise would not have had the funds for, including hiring experienced archaeologists to work alongside him and professional cavers with the experience and expertise to get him safely into and out of caves that are less accessible than others. “The money enabled me to expand the project and make it larger,” Slater said. “It’s expensive to take down a team of people because you have to pay for flights, housing, food—certainly the
expenses can add up,” he said. Although all of the mapping and excavation is now complete, Slater will return to Mexico once more for about a month in order to conduct further lab analysis. After that, he will work on interpreting and writing about what he has found, and hopes to present his dissertation at the end of the 2013 academic year. For Slater, the support he has received from Brandeis faculty and students has been instrumental as he has developed and moved forward with his Ph.D. work. “My adviser at Brandeis, [Prof.] Javier Urcid (ANTH), is absolutely unbelievable; he is the best teacher I’ve ever had. But really every teacher I’ve had at Brandeis has been great. The cohort of students that I’ve worked with have all been very supportive; it’s a collegial department where people really function well together and get along,” Slater said. In addition to exploring ancient Maya caves and analyzing the artifacts he finds there, Slater is busy teaching at the Museum of Archaeology at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., the only high school in the country that boasts an on-campus archaeology museum. Despite his expertise in Maya culture and history, Slater teaches a variety of subjects at Phillips Academy, including Math, Spanish, Biology and History, and he supplements his classes with archaeology lessons whenever possible. Slater also leads several expeditionary learning projects in Phillips Academy. He guides his students on the Bilingual Archeological Learning Adventure trip in Mesoamerica. On these trips, Slater takes students down to Belize, Mexico and Guatemala to explore ruins and caves as well as to experience the modern culture and language of the area. “I definitely want to continue to teach as well as continue researching; they are the two things I love the most.”
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Justice Justice
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Established 1949, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Established 1949
Emily Kraus, Editor in Chief Nashrah Rahman, Managing Editor Brian N. Blumenthal, Production Editor Alana Abramson, Rebecca Blady, Eitan Cooper, Bryan Flatt, Rebecca Klein, Asher Krell, Fiona Lockyer, Tess Raser and Robyn Spector, Associate Editors Sara Dejene and Andrew Wingens, News Editors Dafna Fine, Features Editor Shafaq Hasan, Acting Forum Editor Adam Rabinowitz, Acting Sports Editor Ariel Kay, Arts Editor Jenny Cheng and Joshua Linton, Acting Photography Editors Nan Pang, Layout Editor Marielle Temkin, Copy Editor Cody Yudkoff, Advertising Editor
Considering Fred’s first year As students prepare for the start of another semester, we look back at University President Frederick Lawrence’s first year at Brandeis. We consider his initial accomplishments as well as future goals and challenges we would like to see him undertake. The past year has shown that Mr. Lawrence has dedicated himself to remaining an approachable figure in the Brandeis community. Aside from sending emails to relay important information, Mr. Lawrence has also created a Twitter account that he regularly updates. While Mr. Lawrence maintained his blog, “Brandeis First,” through the summer, we wish he had continued to update the blog throughout the semester. We admire his genuine interest in interacting with the campus community, as seen with his Thanksgiving dinner for international students and his support of the Brandeis men’s soccer team during its championship games. Last year’s inaugural ball allowed Mr. Lawrence the opportunity to immerse himself into student life. We’re glad the administration is continuing to hold this ball to allow Mr. Lawrence to engage with students. Mr. Lawrence is also working to improve the University’s global image by traveling to Israel and India to create and strengthen connections with international institutions. While still building upon Brandeis’ Jewish ties, Mr. Lawrence has begun to expand the University’s global scope to further diversify our student body.
Continue interest in students While it is important that Mr. Lawrence work to overcome the challenges facing the University internationally, the campus housing difficulties certainly merit his attention as well. As the administration continues to fulfill its goal of increasing the student population as part of the strategic plan, we ask Mr. Lawrence to consider the consequences of a larger student body. The increase in forced triples in the current first-year students forecasts additional housing accommodation issues for the coming years. In the next years of his presidency, Mr. Lawrence should realistically consider the effects of this goal. In addition to strengthening his connection with Brandeis students and administrators from schools abroad, we also encourage Mr. Lawrence to look beyond the campus into Waltham. With a number of students living in Waltham among its other residents, we are part of their community. On Jan. 9, Mr. Lawrence reached out to the local community when he spoke to the Waltham West Chamber of Commerce. We urge Mr. Lawrence to continue these efforts. We understand these goals will take several years to accomplish and perhaps not all during Mr. Lawrence’s presidency. However, we hope Mr. Lawrence will create the foundation to tackle future housing problems as well as continue working abroad to build lasting relations with international universities.
Remember Handler’s legacy This board remembers former President Evelyn Handler, the first and only female president of Brandeis who tragically passed away last month. She was responsible for multiple important contributions to the community: Ziv Quad, the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center and a greatly improved financial situation from the initial crisis she inherited at the start of her term. Her death provides opportunity for reflection on her legacy as president, as well as where the University stands today. It has been 20 years since Dr. Handler resigned her post amid great controversy. Accounts in Justice articles from her presidency depict a leader who was sometimes unwilling to compromise on important issues. Perhaps most famous is Dr. Handler’s push to “diversify” the campus community. Her desire to shake the image of a solely Jewish university and to serve pork and shellfish in university cafeterias angered many Jewish supporters. While Dr. Handler was met with resistance, our campus is now more diverse than it perhaps has ever been before. This board is confident that University President Frederick Lawrence will continue with Dr. Handler’s initiatives while remaining mindful of our roots as a nonsectarian Jewish university. We can always do more to improve our image as a diverse campus, and marketing Brandeis as a global research university and Mr. Lawrence’s upcoming trip to India are causes for excitement and
Remain open with students lasting reminder of Dr. Handler’s legacy. She had many unpopular initiatives during her presidency. Among them was her push for a strategic plan to increase in class size. One cannot help but compare the tension felt then to the University’s current dilemma: How do we retain our small liberal arts culture in economically difficult times? This board has previously cautioned the administration to avoid a dangerous increase in student population because we do not have the resources and cannot sacrifice our core principles. While in the weeks after her inauguration she was known as a friendly president, eager to connect with students, she later secluded herself and didn’t see much interaction with the student body. This board hopes that Mr. Lawrence does not fall into the same trap that Dr. Handler, and to an extent, Former President Jehuda Reinharz, did. The “honeymoon” period for a university president shouldn’t exist; it’s crucial that our president maintain close ties with faculty and students. While Dr. Handler may not be seen as the most loved president in our university’s history and many disagreed with Dr. Handler’s goals and decisions, this board acknowledges the benefits of her legacy. We mourn her loss and appreciates what she brought to the University. We trust that the University will be able to learn from both her mistakes and successes moving forward in 2012.
SARA WEININGER/the Justice
President Lawrence’s reflections on 2011 By Frederick lawrence special to the justice
A year ago, I began my presidency with great excitement and a tremendous sense of possibility, joining students, faculty, staff and alumni who were as eager as I was to write the next chapter in the narrative of this unique university. As we enter my second year, I feel even more excitement and an even greater sense of what is possible at Brandeis. I now possess deeper understanding of the university than I did at this point last year, and that knowledge fuels my optimism. I focused on many things in my first year, but chief among them were bringing several new members to the senior leadership team of Brandeis, more fully engaging the Board of Trustees, reaching out to our alumni, friends and potential students in a sustained and deliberate way, gaining a true grasp of University development, budgeting and operations, making my first presidential trip to Israel, securing the future of the Rose Art Museum, re-opening the Linsey Sports Center and launching a strategic plan review. As I reflect on 2011, I am proud to say all of those key priorities have been or are being addressed. We are extremely fortunate to be joined by people who will have enduring impacts on Brandeis for years to come. Provost Steve Goldstein ’78, Dean of Arts and Science Susan Birren, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff David Bunis ’83 have already provided invaluable contributions to Brandeis. Meanwhile, our development and financial teams are steering us through very challenging times. Together we have taken several steps to engage our trustees more fully, including increasing the interactive nature of board meetings and conducting a full review of our governance procedures. We have organized 17 presidential rollout events around the country and the globe, including not only Boston, New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta, but also Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. These gatherings have provided an important opportunity to connect with the Brandeis family. My trip to Israel last summer successfully laid the foundation for partnerships with prestigious academic institutions, a strategy about to be repeated in India. The re-opening of the newly renovated Rose Art Museum in October was one of the great events of the year. I look forward to a similar celebration when we re-open the pool this coming weekend. Last but not least, the strategic planning process is fully under way and will dominate much of 2012. I am very pleased with the information that has been gathered, the suggestions that have been made and the genuine soul-searching that has taken place during a host of gatherings held on campus for faculty and staff. This is Brandeis at its best. Summaries of those sessions will soon be available for public review and discussion. We also intend to form task forces that will delve more deeply into some key areas, like, for example, budget and finance. As I said when we began this effort, it is a time to dream big dreams and to envision Brandeis 10, 20, 30 years ahead. We are all eager to see what comes of this much-needed examination. Even as those exciting efforts continue, we will focus on other key priorities. Soon we will welcome our new Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services and Chief Information Officer John Unsworth, who will breath new life into a vital area of the university. I want to continue to promote school spirit. The successful men’s soccer team run to a title last fall was a great chance for a community-wide coming together. When our men’s basketball team recently traveled to New York University and grabbed a win, there were more Brandeis fans in attendance than NYU fans. That spirit extends beyond sports, of course, to events like the 24-Hour Musical, the community singing of Handel’s “Messiah” and our myriad community service programs. We also want to put energy into our global initiatives, being thoughtful and strategic. As I mentioned, I am traveling to India with faculty at the end of this month to enhance relationships that already exist and to build new ones. Efforts to broaden and deepen our relationship with our alumni—in the end perhaps our greatest ambassadors—will continue throughout 2012 and beyond. With the provost and faculty, we will also work to sharpen our focus on the excellence of our academics and research and the fullness of our undergraduate and graduate student experience. It is an exciting year, full of challenges and opportunities for us all to work on together for Brandeis. I look forward to those efforts; I am ever grateful for the support of the Brandeis community and the honor and opportunity to be part of this great institution at this pivotal moment in time. Editor’s note: the writer is the president of the University.
OP-BOX Quote of the Week “Evelyn Handler was a woman of principle, strong convictions and creative visions. Both the University of New Hampshire and Brandeis are better ... because of the standards she set.” — John Hose, the associate vice president for university affairs on the passing of Former President Handler (News, pg. 5)
Brandeis Talks Back What are you looking forward to the most about the first day of classes?
Alicia Ball’15 “Seeing what friends are in my classes.”
Elise Stern ’15 “The change in scenery; the new professors and subjects.”
Paul Sukijthamapan ’13 “Working together with my friends in and out of class.”
Haemee Kang ’13 “Figuring out which classes to keep and which professors to connect with.” —Compiled by Shafaq Hasan Photos by Jenny Cheng/ the Justice
THE JUSTICE
READER COMMENTARY President Handler’s legacy is skewed To the Editor: As I wrote in my condolence letter to Gene Handler, Evelyn was “my president,” my own terms as Alumni Association president-elect and president having fallen fully within her tenure at Brandeis. As alumni president I was a voting member of the Board of Trustees. In these usually complementary and occasionally conflicting roles, I worked closely with Evelyn and we became friendly. Evelyn was the first woman to lead a major coeducational university and the first Brandeis president to be of an age with alumni. She immediately upgraded the Office of Alumni Relations and was eager to treat us as adults, and as an important constituency. She consulted with me regularly on matters affecting alumni. When we disagreed, she was respectful. Evelyn did not come to the presidency with unanimous board support; some trustees gave her a hard time early on. From my observations, they were problem people, not she. It is most unfair that “pork and shellfish” is considered the hallmark of her presidency by the New York Times, The Justice and other obituaries. The “pork and shellfish” affair came about when a trustee committee proposed a new strategic plan, one small portion of which was entitled, “International Dining.” I was not on this committee and do not know if Evelyn promoted this. The report was passed by a unanimous board; it created one dining hall that would serve pork and shellfish while simultaneously also upgrading the kosher dining facility. Students who would skip breakfast came for bacon and eggs, and clam chowder became a favorite lunch dish. A group of students accused Evelyn of trying to undermine the Jewish identity of the university. The issue of removing Emet from the seal was a distortion. Trustees who did not support her jumped on this development. The alumni board voted unanimously to support Evelyn in the face of these charges. One of my fellow trustees at the time now believes Evelyn was not sensitive enough to Brandeis’s Jewish supporters—and hypersensitive to criticism. Another feels she was a poor administrator. Both question her management of the University’s finances. But each of them agrees with me about the unfairness of “pork and shellfish” as a centerpiece of her legacy. Evelyn worked tirelessly on behalf of Brandeis and her ouster was followed by slander. It proved difficult to attract a successor. My time as alumni president remains a highlight of my life. My relationship with Evelyn Handler helped to make it so. —Jeff H. Golland ’61 Editor’s note: Jeff Golland was the president of the Alumni Association during President Handler’s term and writes from Bronx, N.Y.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
AP credit obstructs learning
11
Naomi
volk et cetera
We, as a school, pride ourselves on the liberal arts aspect of our academic program. We all need to complete certain general requirements that, at least in theory, allow us to get a well-rounded education that is not solely focused on one specific field. This kind of focus relates more to the original concept of an American college a place to gain knowledge, rather than a stepping-stone to a career. However, we also allow students to circumvent this foundation by using Advanced Placement credits to place out of general University requirements. In a recent article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Michael Mendillo, a professor at Boston University, said that credit from AP tests should not count toward general education requirements in college. And while this seems like a harsh punishment for all of those who labored through AP classes and tests, Mendillo makes a good point. Using AP credits to get out of requirements threatens our foundation as a liberal arts institution. Mendillo argues that by allowing students to use AP credits from high school in lieu of college courses to fulfill general education requirements, universities are doing their students a disservice. If students are able to place out of requirements in fields they are not majoring in, chances are that those students will never take a class in those fields. A science student with humanities credit may never take a college humanities class and vice versa. I understand how tempting it is to use AP credit to get out of requirements—I’m planning on doing it myself to fulfill the School of Science requirement. But I still wonder if I’m doing myself a disservice by not taking a science class while at Brandeis. I was never a huge lover of science in high school, and if I’m not forced to take a science class, I know that I never will. But how much am I missing out on by doing this? I am breaking one of the fundamental rules of a liberal arts education; I am not taking classes in a certain field in order to make my program of study more specific to the things I am genuinely interested in. And while it’s good to be interested in what I’m studying, it robs me of the broader base of knowledge a liberal arts education is supposed to provide. From my experience at Brandeis so far, I can say that the AP classes I took way back in high school cannot compare to the type of education you get from a class at Brandeis. The English and
TZIPORAH THOMPSON /the Justice
Social Studies AP classes I took in high school were nothing compared to the way an English or History class at this University challenges, informs and engages students. The truth of the matter is that AP classes, while terrifying and challenging for high school students, are not the same as college classes. Would AP credits be a waste if they didn’t count towards general university requirements? No. These placement tests probably not only helped us get into Brandeis, but also prepared us better for the college academic experience than lower level classes could have. However, the amount of AP classes and credits available to students varies greatly based on the high school and school district students attended. This leaves some students who did not have the same opportunities to take AP classes at a greater disadvantage than other students who can place out of these requirements. If we believe in the necessity of a wealth of knowledge that spans fields, like
a liberal arts education, does it really make sense to have students from different districts have a different type of experience? In some ways, those from districts without as many APs are given a chance for a liberal arts education that students with a lot of AP credits are somewhat denied. By not counting AP credits towards general University requirements, the administration would make the overall academic experience at Brandeis more in line with our liberal arts foundation. We call ourselves a “liberal arts university,” but are we really staying true to this statement if we allow students to bypass general university requirements with credit from high school? It is too tempting for students to specialize their education and avoid classes that they would have to take without AP credit. Staying true to our liberal arts values means making every student have an education founded on knowledge that spans the disciplines.
Utilize uncertainty of recession to create change Rebecca
blady Maelström
Today in history, Operation Desert Storm began in Iraq, back when it was still a novel idea to engage that country militarily. And long before that, on Jan. 17, 1974, O.J. Simpson got the Male Athlete of the Year Award. Yet prior to that, in 1949, the first Volkswagen Beetle, known then as “the people’s car,” arrived in the U.S. from Germany. Jan. 17 was also the date of the first jazz concert performed at Carnegie Hall (1938), the defeat of the Nazis in Warsaw (1945), Eisenhower’s last speech (1961) and extreme winter storms in the U.S. (2007). You see what I mean. Of course, all of these events were crucial developments of our time. But none was more crucial than one particular thing that transpired four years ago today, Jan. 17, 2008: The first sure signs of a possible recession, verified by economists, the federal government, politicians and, according to thepeoplehistory.com—the site from which I am obtaining all of this information—the renowned authority, “everyone else.” Now, you might be skeptical of my highlighting America’s financial screw-ups at the expense of focusing on foreign
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policy screw-ups or even infamously screwed-up athletes, but I promise this will make sense. In fact, it has even more to do with January 17. For the Class of 2012, January 17, 2012 is their last first day of school. Today marks the final opportunity Brandeis seniors have to begin a semester. Today, seniors will write bucket lists, have panic attacks and cry as they bite into their last first Einstein’s bagel. Today, many seniors will probably also trudge to the Hiatt Career Center, probably discover the earliest appointment available is not until midMarch, probably cry some more and acknowledge the likely prospect of a prolonged period of unemployment. You know why? Because four years ago today, the recession started. And now, in perfect parallel, seniors begin their last semester of college on the exact same date. Any of those seniors can tell you with certain aggravation that the recession has dictated some decision they made in college, guided their postcollege planning or changed some perspective they have on college education in general. With the sad knowledge that job prospects are “grim,” the market is “competitive” and living is “expensive,” terrified college seniors who must begin to think about making it on their own start to learn the answers to the questions now pervading their sleep: Did I take the right class? Did I get a high enough GPA? Will this job make enough money for me to support myself? And pay off all my loans? Yes, it’s scary from this angle. But watch-
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ing friends cope with the onset of the new reality reminds me every day how important today’s January 17 really is. Like it or not, the recession played a part in not only generating a climate of profound desperation but also developing certain components of our character. More than anything, the recession made it known that the world outside our Waltham campus is tough. The notorious “next year” is harsh, and it’s inevitable. So what have we done? We studied. We began the job search, the graduate school search or the search for the alternative lifestyle. We talked to our peers and our professors, and we educated ourselves. Overall, we did the best we could. I would venture to say the recession only pushed us harder. And when that push comes to shove, that might not necessarily be so bad. But, seniors, as of today, January 17, you’re going to college one last time. I’m not about to tell you to take advantage of all the classes to take, professors to know or books to read, all of which are nevertheless exciting things to take advantage of today. Instead, take advantage of the fact that you are in an ideal position to revolutionize a reputable institution. And by that I mean the following: Think about what you want to change at Brandeis. Change it. You can own the results. You, having spent nearly four years here, have answers. And more importantly, after working hard enough to try to beat the recession, you know how to beat the system. So why not take the
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skills you’ve garnered trying to rise above the recession and apply them to perfecting Brandeis as much as you can? You know how you would theoretically improve the Usdan Student Center, Hiatt, Goldfarb and Farber Libraries and Brandeis Counseling Services. You know exactly what’s wrong with the Politics department, the Economics department, the Psychology department and the Health: Science, Society and Policy program. And you definitely have a word about your first-year dormitory. Well, there’s no better time than now to raise your voice; thankfully, we’ve got many receptive administrators, considerate professors and a new strategic planning committee, all waiting for you to initiate. As we go out into the world with our head full of thoughts on our college experience at Brandeis, I guarantee you it would be far more productive to tell a professor or an administrator these thoughts while you’re still here than to wait to vent until you’re out. I know as well as you how hard it is to turn away from your job search, even for just a minute, considering the economic baggage you picked up starting almost four years ago. But it would be worth your while—and a lot of other people’s while, for sure—to resolve to focus on this place this semester as much as you can. We have the power to make real productive changes before we leave. And thankfully, unlike the hierarchical workplace, at Brandeis, people listen.
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TUESDAY, jANUARY 17, 2012
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THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Separate emotion from your opinions Diego
medrano MISSING LINK
At one point or another, every one of us will face someone who has such different views from our own that our first reaction will be purely emotional. Sometimes we can’t help that sort of reaction; it’s excusable, but it’s never the most effective way to get a point across. Generally, once one person has caved into his or her emotions, the other side has won. Yet educated college students still fail to realize just how detrimental this sort of reaction is to proving a point. Professor Paul Derengowski of Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas recently resigned after two Muslim students disrupted his World Religions class and the college refused to fail the students in the class. According to the report, the students were yelling at the professor, scaring other students and making them uncomfortable. The two students who protested were offended by the professor’s lectures on Islam and claimed that he was only focusing on the negative aspects of the religion. While Derengowski says that all of his lessons are approved by the department administrator, he also runs a website in which he names Islam, Mormonism and Scientology as cults. Still, he claims that his teachings are purely based on fact and that his own personal opinions have no bearing on the content of his lessons. Situations like these usually have to be treated delicately. Religion tends to have roots in many aspects of one’s life, and even something that does not seem offensive can rub someone the wrong way. The more invested someone is in a topic, especially religion, the more vigorously they tend to defend their position. Yet we all have issues that affect us personally more than they may affect others, and what may seem like a lack of common sense to one may seem reasonable to another. In this particular case, it doesn’t seem like we know enough to judge whether one side was objectively right or wrong. I find it hard to believe that the professor’s opinions wouldn’t affect his teachings, even if it’s something as simple as what material he chooses to cover. I also doubt the effectiveness of yelling and screaming at a professor in front of an entire class. Still, it doesn’t matter who’s right or who’s wrong. We know that our professors have opinions,
MARA SASSOON/the Justice
and it’d be foolish to deny it. Those opinions will likely permeate the teaching of the course at least in subtle ways, but as long as the professor doesn’t lie or skew facts and presents a fair picture, there shouldn’t be an issue. Our job as students is to learn, and the more we learn, the more critically we should think. Therefore, we should constantly question the opinions of our instructors, the way in which they present the information and the perspective they may be coming from. It’s not a lack of respect; it’s a sign that the university as a whole has been providing us with a strong enough education to think for ourselves. As for the students who protested, they should know better. A huge part of the reason why we go to college is to arm ourselves with enough knowledge and opportunities to stand for something. Rather than get in a professor’s face if you disagree with his teachings, be civil, discuss and assert your knowledge and your opinion respectfully. Remember the students
walking out of Noam Chomsky’s lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Their anger was evident, but I learned nothing of use from their gesture except that those students are unable to separate emotion and opinion. The party that keeps their cool will always look better. If the Muslim students really wanted to paint a different perspective of Islam for the class, they shouldn’t cause such a scene that other students become fearful. They should have intelligently and calmly asserted their points and combatted the instructor in a oneon-one discussion. Instead, they gave the professor an “I told you so” moment. Something else to remember: Other students will likely side with the party that isn’t yelling and already has his Ph.D. The fact of the matter is that emotion is the enemy of reason. That doesn’t mean that we should be robots about topics that personally touch us, but we should use that connection to fuel our passion in learning about a topic and becoming
involved. That emotion can motivate us, but our emotion alone won’t make others care and it certainly won’t win over those who disagree. They want you to become emotional because it means that they’ve exhausted your knowledge and that you are admitting defeat. Once you do something like walk out of a respected person’s lecture or yell at your professor, you are making a poor decision in the moment and the future as well. Those sorts of actions make you seem irrational and send the message that you have no interest in hearing the opinions of others. Instead of passion, people see immaturity and closed-mindedness. There are issues that infuriate me. They make me want to yell at those who disagree, vandalize their property and let everyone know how I feel. But I’ll never do that because it only empowers those I oppose. Sure, reading books, informing people and getting involved in righting wrongs may not be terribly cathartic, but it’s progress.
Research candidates beyond media’s depiction Aaron
fried free thought
In 2008, Ron Paul’s supporters created the Tea Party movement. Since then, the Tea Party has energized the conservative grassroots, which caused them to pay a lot more attention to Washington and the Republican Party’s politics. They have successfully advocated a return to small-government conservatism by engineering a landslide victory in the 2010 Congressional midterm elections for the American Right. Moderate incumbent Republicans were challenged and often ousted from their seats in primaries—even Senator John McCain nearly lost a hotly contested primary in Arizona—and they were often replaced by political neophytes whose only credentials were their sworn allegiance to the United States Constitution. Much of this grassroots activity was fueled by the Internet, which allowed for rapid coordination, spontaneous fundraising and efficient dissemination of information. It seemed that, finally, the conservative right in American politics had stepped into the 21st century and had begun to utilize the Internet. The Internet has allowed communities of like-minded individuals to easily organize for a cause and, perhaps more importantly, avoid media bias by providing users with the ability to actively pursue information rather than passively receive it. If used properly, the Internet has the capacity to
remove the spin found in the old mainstream media–that is, television, radio and newspapers–and can potentially create an independently informed populace. Unfortunately, former Senator Rick Santorum’s statistical tie for first place in the Iowa caucuses proves that much of the American Right continues to rely on the old media as its primary source of information and is thus utterly misinformed. Now, some of you may be balking at my choice to paint most of Santorum’s 30,007 Iowan supporters as misinformed, so let’s take a look at the Republican Party’s constituency. Historically, the Grand Old Party has stood for limited Constitutional government, economic freedom and, to some degree, personal freedom. To a certain extent, it was a political party based on the premise of individual liberty. Since the 1960s, the GOP has drifted from these views toward a more authoritarian “big government” mindset. The Tea Party sought to reclaim the Republican Party as a bastion of liberty. They wanted to re-imbue it with their conservative values and viewpoints. As a result, these new activists rallied against all wasteful spending, anything that is not explicitly authorized by the Constitution and, most importantly, corruption in Washington—arguably the largest and most dangerous impediment to liberty in America today. Since the race for the GOP nomination began, we have seen a litany of candidates “surge” in the polls and then wither away. We saw names like Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich propped up by the old media and marketed to
the Tea Party as strong, reliable, “electable” conservative alternatives to the moderate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Once each of these candidates eclipsed Romney for the lead in the national polls, they came under more detailed scrutiny and were revealed to be ideologically and/or intellectually lacking. Each time, these phony frontrunners saw their leads collapse like a house of cards. They were, if you will, “campaign bubbles,” suspended only by the illusory notion that they were popular—according to the talking heads on television. After Gingrich’s campaign bubble burst, the only conservative option left for the media to inflate–other than Ron Paul, of course–was Rick Santorum as the “anyone-but-Romney” candidate. But is Santorum actually a conservative, as the media said he was? Or is he, like the others, ideologically lacking? Upon actively pursuing the information on my own, I found that even a cursory examination of Santorum’s record showed that Iowans were not told the entire story. A Google search revealed that Santorum’s “conservatism” was mere froth, no substance. While claiming to support free markets, Santorum voted against National Right to Work legislation. While claiming to support the Second Amendment, Santorum voted to increase restrictions on gun ownership. While claiming to support lower taxes, he has voted to raise them. Despite preaching for a smaller federal government, Santorum voted to double the size of the Department of Education and add another entitlement program to the federal budget. Perhaps his most egregious fibs are his
claims of being a “Reaganite.” In an interview, Santorum said, “I am a Reagan conservative. I am not a libertarian. And the people who are calling me a big government guy are libertarians.” This shows him to be utterly ignorant of the man of whose philosophy he purports himself to be a disciple. In 1975, Ronald Reagan said the following: “The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.” How is it possible that Tea Party conservatives, given all of this knowledge, could have been corrupted into supporting this man who repeatedly stood opposed to all that they fight for? The answer, as I said, is simple. When a group’s main source of information blatantly lies by omission, the group will inevitably be misled. If the mainstream media had not distorted the truth, or if, preferably, voters began actively pursuing their information from the Internet rather than resorting to the intellectual sloth that is watching television news, they would have been properly informed, and Rick Santorum would have remained at the bottom of the polls where he belongs. Instead, the only consistent and trustworthy candidate in the Republican field would have risen to the top of the Iowa caucuses. If they had taken the initiative to pursue the facts online, Republican voters would have been able to proudly vote for a reliable conservative stalwart who is, incidentally, the only legitimate contender to Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. The man I am talking about is, of course, Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul.
THE JUSTICE
●
TUESDAY, January 17, 2012
13
SPORTS
XC: Teams finish strong at their first invitational
DRIVING IN THE FAST LANE
CONTINUED FROM 16 As a first-year, Maser was unsure how the month-long hiatus between the Reggie Poyau Invitational, held on Dec. 10, and this meet would affect his performance. However, in addition to citing the help of coach Mark Reytblat, Maser stated that Parenteau was also immensely helpful in preparing him for Bowdoin. “She has been huge in helping me,” said Maser. “We were both really nervous going into the meet, as we had only had a few days of high jump practice, but things worked out. I owe my recent success to Lily.” The teams will not compete until Jan. 22, when they participate in the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational, hosted at Harvard
University. Though they might not possess the same depth in numbers as many of the Division III collegiate squads, the teams stick by their motto: quality over quantity. Kirsch noted that while the density of the schedule may prove daunting at times, the squads have been preparing well. “We have a meet every weekend leading up to the [University Athletic Association Championships] in New York in late February,” said Kirsch. “Everyone wants to keep getting faster and excelling in their respective event.” With commitment and notable persistence already on display this year, one can bet that these qualities will form the basis for the success of indoor track and field this year.
AP BRIEF
Patriots notch elusive home playoff win versus the Broncos
ASHER KRELL/the Justice
OPEN ROUTE: Guard Hannah Cain ’15 pushes past an Emory defender en route to the basket in last Sunday’s 70-40 defeat.
Judges fail to find their rhythm in the new year ■ The women’s basketball
team has struggled to find its chemistry, losing all three of its UAA matches. By Becca elwin JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
After a blowout win over Husson College on Dec. 31, the women’s basketball team looked to build that momentum into an explosive start to the new year. However, after a threegame losing streak to kick off the year, the Judges are still struggling to reestablish themselves in 2012. The women’s basketball team dropped all three University Athletic Association matches last week against Emory University, the University of Rochester and New York University. Brandeis drops to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play with the losing streak. The Judges missed many key scoring opportunities last Sunday, letting Emory dominate the tempo of the game en route to a 70-40 defeat. Guard Morgan Kendrew ’12 led the Judges’ scoring effort with 11 points, which was still not enough to best the Emory offense. Starting forward Samantha Anderson ’13 expressed her disappointment with the team’s inability to fight back in crucial situations. “We get down and we stay down,” she said. “We need to fight our way out in those types of situations and today we just couldn’t do that.” Coach Carol Simon was very impressed with the talent that Emory brought on both sides of the court.
“Emory is a very athletic squad that can put a lot of pressure on the opposing team both on the offensive and defensive end,” she said. Last Friday night, the Judges continued their struggles against conference opponents, suffering a tough 77-56 loss against the No. 5 and undefeated University of Rochester YellowJackets. At halftime, and after 11 lead changes and five ties, the Judges trailed by 2 points. Yet, the YellowJackets pulled away in the second half despite a season-high 18 points from Kendrew. First-year guard Hannah Cain ’15 also put forth a tremendous effort with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. While outrebounding a Rochester team known for dominating the boards, the Judges still could not handle the offensive pressure the YellowJackets brought to the game. Starting guard Kelly Ethier ’12 stated the recent string of losses stemmed from periodic lapses throughout games that the Judges fail to recover from. “It’s not a matter of how hard we’ve been working; we just haven’t been able to finish and play,” said Ethier. “We play with teams every game; it’s just that we have lapses every four or five minutes and don’t really recover.” Simon was impressed with the tenacity and persistence that Rochester displayed in the match. “This is a team that is well disciplined and executes their stuff very well,” said Simon. “They are also very deep so they can wear you down.” Simon’s statement proved true in last Friday’s match, as the Judges ultimately could not keep up with Roch-
ester’s consistently efficient offense. In their first game after an impressive rout over Husson, in front of a packed crowd at New York University’s Coles Sports Center, Brandeis could not seal the deal in a 66-57 overtime loss to NYU last Saturday. Although the Judges led by as many as five points in the second half, NYU seized offensive control of the match in the last few minutes of the game to notch the win. Simon was proud of her team’s physicality and determination in the game, despite the loss. “Our squad played a very physical game, as both teams battled hard to take this match.” Although Kendrew ignited an 11-0 run for the Judges with a 17-point scoring effort, her individual heroics could not carry Brandeis to victory. Guard Dianna Cincotta ’11 MA ’12 drained 15 points in the match, while forward Courtney Ness ’13 contributed six points and seven rebounds in the loss. Simon noted the Judges’ failure to score the ball in overtime was the main factor in their loss. “It really came down to the last five minutes of the game, and in that time, we did not execute as well as we needed to on the offensive end.” While the Judges look for their first conference win this weekend, Anderson stated this slump could actually help the Judges. “It comes down to motivation,” said Anderson. “Losing three in a row gives us huge motivation to prove ourselves in future games.” The Judges next travel to St. Louis to face another UAA foe, Washington University, occurring this Friday at 7 p.m.
FOXBOUROUGH, Mass. — Tebowmania had no chance against Tom Brady’s playoff pedigree. All the heroics, all the big plays and quite a few records belonged to Brady and the New England Patriots on Saturday night in a 45-10 rout of overmatched Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the first half, putting the Patriots into the AFC championship game and silencing the nationwide frenzy around Tebow. The Patriots (14-3), winners of nine straight games, will host either Baltimore or Houston next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl. Saturday night’s romp snapped a three-game postseason losing streak, two of those at Gillette Stadium, and lifted the Patriots to the verge of their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 seasons. They’ve won three of those, two with Brady as the game’s MVP. “We came in and started fast and it was a big win for us,” said Brady, who even got off a 48-yard punt on third down. “I have no idea about records and stuff like that. Anytime you score 45, obviously with the help of our defense, and special teams played great - hopefully we can go out next week and play even better.” From the first snap in 24-degree temperature (wind chill of 12), this was a mismatch. The Patriots were not going to make the same mistakes the Steelers made against this team. “He’s been around the block a few times,” cornerback Champ Bailey said of Brady. “He knows how to win games. If you’re not ready to punch him in the mouth he’s going to eat you up all night.” A nation transfixed by Tebow’s play, if not his religious beliefs, tuned in Saturday to see if he had any more magic. He had nothing left as the Patriots made this must-see TV only for those who live in New England. “Any time you’re getting beat like that, it doesn’t change how you fight,” Tebow said. “It didn’t matter whether it was the first play or the last play or whether we’re down by 42. ... I wanted to be the same player.” With New England up 42-7, the fans began their derisive “Teeeebow” chants. On the next play, the Broncos quarterback was sacked for an 11-yard loss- one of five sacks for New England’s 31st-
ranked defense. “We went out and played very hard and good things happened,” defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “A great team win.” And so ended one of the season’s most exciting story lines - one that began when Denver was 1-4 and made Tebow a starter. The one-time third-stringer promptly won six in a row and seven of eight, with a string of stunning comebacks. “A lot of ups and downs,” Tebow said of his second NFL season. “Overall, it’s been a very special opportunity for me, something I’m really thankful for. There’s a lot of things we’re proud of. Obviously, it’s hard to see them all right now.” That winning surge ended with a 41-23 home loss to New England, and the Broncos dropped their next two, backing into the AFC West title. But they rebounded nicely in their first playoff game since the 2005 season with the longest overtime touchdown in playoff history, an 80-yard catch and run by Demaryius Thomas against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like everyone else on the Broncos’ offense, Thomas was invisible against the Patriots. Denver couldn’t cover or tackle All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who tied a postseason mark with three touchdown catches, all in the opening half. Brady toyed with the Broncos (9-9), throwing more TD passes than Tebow had completions (three) in the first 30 minutes. “We were playing complementary football, and it was awesome,” Gronkowski said. “Obviously, you can’t start off the game any better than that.” Brady’s sixth TD was to tight end, Aaron Hernandez, as the quarterback tied Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica for the most in a postseason game. The two-time league MVP threw for 5,235 yards during the season, second in NFL history to Drew Brees’ 5,476 in 2011. He looked ready to get that much against the Broncos as he moved to third place in career touchdown passes in the playoffs with 36, trailing Joe Montana (45) and Brett Favre (44). Brady was 26 for 34 for 363 yards and Gronkowski made 10 catches for 145 yards as the Patriots gained 509 yards in all. In stark contrast, Tebow was 9 for 26 for 136 yards in the loss.
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THE JUSTICE
Men’s BASKETBALL TEAM STATS
Points Per Game
Not including Monday’s games UAA Conference Overall W L D W L D Pct. WashU 3 0 0 11 3 0 .786 Emory 2 1 0 13 1 0 .929 NYU 2 1 0 12 1 0 .923 Chicago 2 1 0 9 5 0 .643 JUDGES 2 1 0 8 6 0 .571 Carnegie 1 2 0 6 8 0 .429 Rochester 0 3 0 9 5 0 .643 Case 0 3 0 8 6 0 .571
UPCOMING GAMES Friday at WashU Sunday at Chicago Friday, Jan. 27 vs. Case
TUESDAY, January 17, 2012
15
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS UAA STANDINGS
●
Derek Retos ’12 leads the team with 13.3 points per game. Player PPG Derek Retos 13.3 Ben Bartoldus 13.1 Youri Dascy 10.8 Vytas Kriskus 9.9
Cain starts her Judges career off with a bang
Rebonds Per Game Youri Dascy ’14 leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game. Player RPG Youri Dascy 8.4 Vytas Kriskus 5.4 Alex Stoyle 4.2 Alex Schmidt 3.5
WOMen’s basketball UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS
Not including Monday’s games
Points Per Game
UAA Conference Overall W L D W L D Pct. Rochester 3 0 0 14 0 0 .1000 Chicago 3 0 0 14 0 0 .1000 WashU 2 1 0 12 2 0 .857 Emory 2 1 0 11 3 0 .786 NYU 1 2 0 9 5 0 .643 Case 1 2 0 8 6 0 .571 JUDGES 0 3 0 7 7 0 .500 Carnegie 0 3 0 6 8 0 .429
Morgan Kendrew ’12 leads the team with 11 points per game. Player PPG Morgan Kendrew 11.0 Dianna Cincotta 9.8 Hannah Cain 7.5 Kelly Ethier 5.9
UPCOMING GAMES Friday at WashU Sunday at Chicago Friday, Jan. 27 vs. Case
Rebounds Per Game Samantha Anderson ’13 leads with 7.1 rebounds per game. Player RPG Samantha Anderson 7.1 Hannah Cain 6.4 Kelly Ethier 4.4 Courtney Ness 3.7
FENCING Results from the Brandeis Invitational at home on Sun. Dec. 5
TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)
TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)
SABER RECORD Jess Ochs-Willard 7-2
SABER Zoe Messinger
RECORD 7-2
FOIL Julian Cardillo
FOIL Vikki Nunley
RECORD 8-4
ÉPÉE Alex Powell
RECORD 8-4 RECORD 4-1
ÉPÉE Emily Mandel
RECORD 3-1
UPCOMING MEET: The men’s and women’s teams will next compete at the second Northeast Conference Meet at Boston College on Jan. 28.
JOSHUA LINTON/Justice File Photo
FADEAWAY: Guard Hannah Cain ’15 pulls back for a jumper over the outstretched arm of an Endicott defender November 19.
■ Hannah Cain ’15 has made
a statement in her rookie season, guiding the team at the shooting guard position. By JACOB LURIE JUSTICE STAFF writer
TRACK AND FIELD Results from the Bowdoin Invitational last Saturday
NOTABLE FINISHES (Men’s)
NOTABLE FINISHES (Women’s)
60-METER DASH Vincent Asante MILE RUN Chris Brown HIGH JUMP Jeffrey Maser
1,000-METER RUN Ali Kirsch HIGH JUMP Lily Parenteau TRIPLE JUMP Miriam Stulin
TIME 7.15 TIME 4:24.49 DISTANCE 6 ft., 4 in
TIME 3:08.22 DISTANCE 5 ft., 2.25 in DISTANCE 10:24.93
UPCOMING MEET: The men’s and women’s track teams will next compete at the GBTC Invitational in Allston, Mass. this Sunday.
In basketball, the point guard is always referred to as the decisionmaker on the court. She must bring the ball up the court, find an open player and maneuver the ball around swarming defenders to score game-saving points. This season, Hannah Cain ’15, a first-year out of Gloucester High School in Massachusetts, has been Brandeis’ decision-maker. Cain, in just her rookie season, has been a huge force for the team, guiding the Judges to a 7-5 record, including a 4-2 record at Red Auerbach Arena. In Cain’s first season with the Judges, she feels her transition
from high school basketball has been very smooth. “Coach Simon, Coach Foulis and my new teammates have been really supportive in helping me learn the plays,” she said. Cain’s comfort on the court is also due in part to guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14. Cain and Rodriguez played on the same Amateur Athletic Union team, the Bay State Blizzard. “We have been playing together since we were 12 years old, so we had automatic chemistry when we got back on the court together.” In December, Cain led the Judges with 22 assists. She gave a lot of credit to her teammates for getting open and finding scoring opportunities. “I think that after playing together for a while, we all have a better idea of where each other’s sweet spots are on the court,” she said. “My teammates do an excellent job of relocating if the defense col-
lapses, and so by them freeing up, it makes it easier to hit them with the pass.” In Cain’s final game in December, she posted 11 points, accompanied by 12 rebounds and seven assists, both career highs. Her near triple-double performance on New Year’s Eve powered the Judges to a 77-45 victory over Husson University. With the Judges’ season at the halfway mark, Cain and company are looking to build on the progress they have made. Cain explained that improvement starts in practice and will ultimately lead to better production during games. “Throughout the rest of the season, we are hoping to up the tempo of our overall game, be more physical, limit our turnovers … and continue to push one another in practice.” The Judges will travel to face Washington University in St. Louis this Friday at 7 p.m.
Boston Bruins beat Bruins rebound from a high-stakes loss with two thrilling victories over the Jets and Canadiens The biggest news in the Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadians last Thursday night at TD Garden came from off the ice. After playing the first two periods of Thursday’s game, Canadiens’ left wing Michael Cammalleri was pulled out of the lineup and subsequently traded to the Calgary Flames. Despite Cammalleri’s tirade about the team’s laziness, Montreal General Manager Pierre Gauthier said the leftwinger’s comments did not result in the trade being finalized. “No, they did not influence the trade at all.” Gauther said. “And you know, I didn’t make a big deal about that, but there’s emotion around the team, somebody says something. I’d rather see emotion than people who don’t care.” On the ice, though, the Bruins
struck first against their hated rivals just one minute, 23 seconds into the first period of the match. Right wing Jordan Caron, who had just been called up from minor-league affiliate Providence that day, scored his second goal of the season, off a bad bounce from the glass. Caron skated toward the puck, capitalizing on an empty net for the goal. “I saw [Jonny Boychuk] was going to rim it around, and I wanted to get on the fore-check, and it bounced in front so I was just there for an easy tap in,” Caron said. Neither team scored in the second, a period defined by tight defense and few scoring chances. In the final period of the game, the Bruins extended their lead on a goal from left wing Milan Lucic. Bruins right wing Nathan Horton, standing
next to the left post, passed to Lucic, who battled for the puck near the crease and backhanded it past Price for his 15th goal of the season. The Canadiens cut the Bruins’ lead to one on a power-play goal from defenseman Yannick Weber, whose wrist shot from the right side sealed the 2-1 win. Looking to rebound from a demoralizing 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks the previous Saturday, the Bruins sought revenge against the Winnipeg Jets last Tuesday. Though it took two periods to get going, Boston would not be denied, upping the ante in the final period of the game to skate past the Jets in a 5-3 victory. “We knew we weren’t playing our best hockey in the first and second,” said Horton, who scored two goals that
night. “But it’s nice to get that quick goal at the beginning, and obviously when forward [Tyler] Seguin scored, it gave us a little momentum.” Boston displayed a shooting clinic early on, yet was unable to capitalize on any of their shots on goal. Winnipeg capitalized with 3:07 remaining in the first period, as defenseman Zach Bogosian’s slap shot found its way past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. However, TD Garden was sent into a frenzy when Lucic slid the puck across the face of the Jets goal, where a waiting Horton was on hand to tap it home. To start off the second period, the Jets jumped back out to a 2-1 lead. Less than five minutes afterward, forward Shawn Thornton knocked in emptyshot goal to tie the match at two with 14:44 left.
Later in the period, at the 11:11 mark, Winnipeg right wing Tim Stapleton fed fellow wing Eric Fehr, who slotted the puck past Rask for the Jets’ third goal of the night. After two periods, the Jets defied expectations and were up on the Bruins by a score of 3-2. However, Lucic and Horton worked their magic a mere eight seconds into the period, putting forth the equalizer. In the next three minutes, forwards Tyler Seguin and Benoit Pouliot fired goals past the Jets goalie to secure the 5-3 victory. Boston now sits at a 28-11 record with 57 points, putting them at second place in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins next travel to Tampa Bay, squaring off against the Lightning tonight at 7:30 p.m. — Josh Asen and Henry Loughlin
just
Sports
Page 16
NEW YEAR, NEW STRUGGLES The women’s basketball team has yet to earn its first win this month, encountering stiff competition in its UAA foes.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Waltham, Mass.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
track and field
Men impress in conference play Squads
surprise in first meet of the year
■ The men’s basketball team
won its first two conference matches last week before falling to Emory on Sunday. By JACOB MOSKOWITZ JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Heading into 2012, the men’s basketball team seemed to have finally righted the ship. After a 2-5 start to the season, Brandeis reeled off six straight wins, including two notable wins against University Athletic Association rivals University of Rochester and New York University. While snapping the streak in a 95-58 blowout loss to No.4 Emory University, the Judges have left reason for fans to be optimistic. Last Friday, they handily defeated Rochester by a margin of 77-64. To open up the conference portion of their schedule last Saturday, the Judges topped NYU in a 52-49 overtime victory. Despite the two UAA wins and a notable six-game winning streak, the Judges finally met their maker– a dominant Emory offense that was not going to be tamed by a previously lockdown Judges defense. Emory roared right out of the gates, posting their best offensive effort of the season against a Brandeis team that had shut down other UAA offenses. In the first half, the Eagles shot 60 percent from the field and a startling 90 percent from behind the three-point line, good for a seasonhigh 61 points in the first half. While the Judges limited Emory’s offense in the second half, holding the Eagles to 34 points and 11 of 29 shooting, it was a valiant effort that proved to be too late. Brandeis also outrebounded Emory by a margin of 34-30, but the Judges allowed too many second-chance opportunities to capitalize. Guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 noted the team regrouped in the second half, but ultimately the effort proved futile. “Our team stepped up and brought the energy and confidence in the second half, but ultimately could not get the job done.” Forward Alex Stoyle ’14 recorded an impressive effort off the bench. In just 18 minutes, the sophomore forward dazzled, scoring 12 points with a career-high seven rebounds. Bartoldus and forward Vytas Kriskus ’12 also added 12 points. In a game featuring the top two three-point shooting teams in Division III, the game between Brandeis and Rochester did not disappoint. The Judges pulled away from the YellowJackets in the second half en route to a 78-64 victory. Brandeis put up a notable 50 points in the second half, outscoring Rochester by 15 points in that stretch. The first half proved to be a thrilling seesaw affair. During the first 20 minutes, there were five ties and four lead changes, the biggest lead by either team standing at five points. Rochester began the game on a 5-0 run, and after the Judges took their biggest lead of the half, 25-20, Rochester rolled off nine points in a row, taking a 29-25 lead. Brandeis would down a three-pointer to close the gap at 29-28, heading into halftime. The second half, however, was a different story. After Rochester took a 37-35 lead, Brandeis went on a 10-0 run, jumpstarted by reserve guard Jay Freeman ’13, who nailed a put-back on a missed three-pointer. With three steals, the Judges pulled ahead 45-37. After a small run by Rochester, the Judges went on another charge, rolling off a 10-3 run to extend the lead to 55-43 with eight minutes, 24 seconds left. Brandeis sealed the
■ The indoor men’s and women’s track teams posted notable results in their first meet of 2012. By hENRY LOUGHLIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
SANDWICHED: Guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 attempts a dunk while pressured by three Emory defenders in last Sunday’s 95-58 loss. deal after that key run, stretching the lead to an eventual 78-64 win. Coach Brian Meehan’s halftime speech fueled Brandeis’ improved play in the second half. “At the half, coach reminded us of our prior defeats against Rochester,” Bartoldus said. “He told us we needed to bring the energy for the second half.” The Judges led by as many as 18 points in the second half, shooting 61.3 percent while holding the YellowJackets to just 46.7 percent. Brandeis also outrebounded Rochester 19-10 in the half and held a dynamic offense - at 51.9 percent on the season—to just 42.6 percent and 33.3 percent (6-18) from three-point land. Kriskus led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds. Bartol-
dus scored 14 points, his seventh game in a row in double digits. Forward Anthony Trapasso ’13 had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, while point guard Tyrone Hughes ’12 tallied nine points and a team-leading eight assists. Last Saturday, Brandeis knocked the New York University Violets from the ranks of the unbeatens, coming away with a 52-49 victory in the Judges’ UAA opener. Brandeis did not trail in the game after the 13:45 mark in the first half. In a game of runs and outstanding defense in the second half, Brandeis snuck out of the Coles Sports Center at NYU with a close win. They led 49-42 with 5:06 left, but neither team was able to score over the following four minutes. With 41 seconds left, NYU cut the
deficit to five, 49-44. Hughes and guard Derek Retos ’14 went three-offour from the free-throw line, sealing the game. Bartoldus led Brandeis with 12 points. Kriskus scored eight and coled the team in rebounds with eight. Center Youri Dascy ’14 also grabbed eight boards, in just 16 minutes of play due to foul trouble. Center Wouter Van der Eng ’13 had his most productive game of the season, scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Judges will look to regain their momentum this Friday in St. Louis, when they tip off against Washington University in St. Louis at 9 p.m. — Adam Rabinowitz contributed reporting.
With 2012 only one week old, the men’s and women’s indoor track teams already faced one of their most daunting challenges of the year at the Bowdoin Invitational last Saturday. Among an impressive field, the Judges squared off against Bowdoin College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Southern Maine. Despite an event in which both teams did not field their full squads, both the men and women notched impressive results. The women’s team scored 42 points while its male counterpart racked up 38 points. Bowdoin, however, won the meet by a commanding margin, notching 241 points and 231 tallies on the women’s and men’s side, respectively. Middle distance runner Ali Kirsch ’14 noted the team’s cohesiveness as a main factor in the team’s surprising finish. “We are really close as a team, and we do all of our training runs and workouts together,” said Kirsch. “We encourage one another and are always there for support. Everyone travels to the meets, so it is really nice to have the teams cheering you on.” For the women’s squad, Lily Parenteau ’14 and Kim Farrington ’13 achieved impressive second-place finishes in the jumps. Parenteau leaped 5 feet, 2.25 inches in the high jump, while Farrington launched 34 feet, 5.75 inches in the triple jump. However, the runners on the women’s squad stole the men’s spotlight. Kirsch took second in the 1,000-meter run at three minutes, 8.22 seconds,, just ahead of Kristi Pisarik ’15 at 3:08.59. Erin Bisceglia ’12 notched points with a fifth-place finish at 3:11.07. Miriam Stulin ’15 and Gabriella Guillette ’15 also picked up points in the mile and 800-meter run, respectively, finishing in third and fourth, with times of 5:18.54 and 5:41.80. The men’s squad also exhibited an impressive showcase at Bowdoin, featuring three individual winners. Jeffrey Maser ’15 took first in the high jump at six feet, four inches. Chris Brown ’12 used a blistering last lap to outkick the field and win the one-mile in 4:24.49. Vincent Asante ’14 displayed his sprinting prowess, taking first in the 60-meter dash at 7.15 and the 200-meter dash at 23.57.
See XC, 13 ☛
18
TUESDAY, january 17, 2012 ● THE JUSTICE
POP CULTURE
INSIDE ON CAMPUS
18-21
■ “Blue” by Naoe Suzuki
19
■ Spring art classes preview
20
■ Martin Luther King Jr. service
21
Suzuki, a Japanese-American artist, debuts her newest collection, “Blue,” in the Women’s Studies Research Center gallery.
Still not sure which classes are right for you? Try shopping one of these seven art-related courses that cover a wide range of subjects.
Students and community members gathered together to commemorate King’s legacy. The event included poetry, dances and speeches.
OFF CAMPUS
21-24
■ ‘The Daily Show’
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■ Winter pop culture recap
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JustArts visited the set of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show to watch a live taping and an interview with author Craig Shirley. Pop Culture columnist Shelly Shore tackles the entire winter break, covering Britney Spears’ engagement, Katy Perry’s divorce and a Kardashian faux pas.
■ Critical Hit
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■ ‘The Iron Lady’
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Nintendo revamps the Zelda franchise for its latest Wii game, ‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.’ It features better character development and improved settings. Meryl Streep’s latest film, a biopic of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, features one of the screen legend’s strongest performances to date.
CALENDAR
Interview
by Shelly Shore
Hello Brandeis! It’s been a mild break here in Waltham, weather-wise, but in celebrity-land things have been anything but uneventful! We’ll get to the biggest in-case-you-missed-it moments in a few pages, but for now, let’s focus on the number-one story this week: the arrival of Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby girl. Baby Blue Ivy was born on Jan. 8 at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. (Fun fact: Her name was originally going to be Ivy Blue, which I personally think has a much nicer flow to it. Another fun fact: Celebrities rarely consult me on their baby name choices, which is a travesty.) Blue was barely out of the womb before TMZ and celebrity gossip blog Oh No They Didn’t began reporting complaints from patients and workers in the hospital that Jay-Z and Beyoncé had pulled some serious diva behavior at Lenox Hill. The first reports (which, granted, came from the New York Daily News—not the most reputable of sources) claimed that Jay-Z and Beyoncé had rented a luxury maternity suite at the hospital and also stationed security around the rest of the maternity ward and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, preventing doctors, nurses and even new parents from entering without going through security first. Patients reported having to turn in their cell phones and cameras, and one source inside the hospital said that security “taped over hospital cameras.” Putting aside the fact that most of that behavior is illegal at worst and inviting dozens of malpractice suits at best, the Internet erupted. Online battles (looking at you, Tumblr) raged between Beyoncé fans defending her right to privacy, anti-fans accusing her of being an entitled diva and a few sane individuals pointing out that no hospital could ever get away with those sorts of actions, regardless of how much a celebrity paid for a private suite. Lenox Hill released a statement on Jan. 9 denying any wrongdoing and clarifying that,
Music men bring bands to Brandeis
Punk, Rock n’ Roll Club is one of the most popular groups on campus. JustArts got the scoop about the club’s past, present and future.
ASTERIX611/Flickr Creative Commons
BABY BLUE: Singer Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z welcomed their new daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. while Beyoncé did reserve a luxury maternity suite at the hospital and did bring her own security, hospital security was still in charge and access to the maternity floor was not blocked to doctors, nurses or other patients. When the Lenox Hill statement was totally ignored, the New York Department of Health finally investigated the complaints and, after about six hours, dismissed them. Lenox Hill announced on Jan. 12 that it would be conducting its own investigation into the reported mistreatment of other maternity patients. Welcome to the world, Blue. Sorry about the drama. At least your dad’s written a song promising never to use the word “bitch” again!
What’s happening in Arts on campus this semester
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS
“Blue”: new work by Naoe Suzuki
Painter Naoe Suzuki’s works, currently on display at the Women’s Studies Research Center, are stunning combinations of mineral pigment, graphite and sculptural materials depicting abstract images of water, organs, machinery and plant life. Suzuki was inspired to create the series when she began studying the ways in which water is used and misused throughout the world. Running through March 2. Opening reception on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Women’s Studies Research Center gallery.
Hillel’s Beit café and activities fair
Join Hillel at its kickoff event of the semester. Hillel’s own performance groups, including vocal and theater ensembles, will show off their skills, and the many organizations under the umbrella group will give out information about upcoming events. Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Usdan Student Center Alumni Lounge. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S STUDIES RESEARCH CENTER
Company B auditions
Brandeis’ oldies-focused coed a cappella group is holding open auditions for this semester. The group asks that performers choose a verse and chorus of a song that shows off their voice. Sunday at 5 p.m. in both the Polaris and Shapiro Lounges and Monday at 5 p.m. in the Polaris Lounge.
Sex Segregation in Israel event
The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law is hosting a screening of Black Bus, an Anat Zuria film addressing the rising gender separation in Orthodox life in Israel. Following the film, Pnina Lahav, noted legal historian, will give the 4th Annual Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights. Her speech will discuss the growing segregation in both the religious and personal spheres between men and women in Israel and other parts of the world. Monday at 7 p.m. in the Wasserman Cinematheque.
‘Feminism, Fiction and the Creation of Women’s Diaries’
Rebecca Steinitz, Ph.D., will discuss the false idea that diaries are mainly for women by looking at the history of the diary and how fiction has feminized the diary in previous centuries. Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. in the Epstein Lecture Hall of the Women’s Studies Research Center.
Dusk ’til Dawn movie marathon
Student Events and Student Activities are presenting a marathon screening of ‘Despicable Me,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II’ and ‘The Hangover,’ with 15-minute intermissions between each film. Free popcorn, snacks, drinks and giveaways will be provided.
“BLUE” PERIOD: Naoe Suzuki worked with ink, pen and pigment to create abstract paintings such as the one above. She was inspired by the ways in which water use affects the world around us. Friday, Jan. 27 from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater.
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS
Company One presents ‘Green Eyes’
Boston theater troupe Company One will be performing Tennessee Williams’ Green Eyes, its first site-specific show. Performed in a hotel room with an audience limited to 20, this experimental play portrays the impact of war on a couple honeymooning in New Orleans. Tomorrow through Feb. 12 at the Ames Hotel, 1 Court St., Boston. Ticket prices and show times vary.
‘As You Like It’
The American Reperatory Theatre is revamping Shakespeare in this wild version of As You Like It. Set in France, Rosalind and her friend Cecily escape from a conspiracy into the freedom of nature. This pastoral comedy recounts the friends’ adventures as they meet new people and experience unconventional romance. Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. through Jan. 29 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge. Tickets are $15.
‘Sugar’
Robbie McCauley performs her one-woman show about her experiences with diabetes, using sugar as a metaphor for race, class, gender and health as part of Emerson College’s arts series and in collaboration with Artists in Context. Friday through Jan. 29 at the Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the Paramount Center, 559 Washington St., Boston. Ticket prices and showtimes vary.
‘The Rocky Horror Show’
The rock musical that inspired the cult classic film will be performed onstage. Janet and Brad, caught in a storm with a flat tire, seek help from Dr. Frank-n-furter and his outlandish friends. Friday at 10:30 p.m. and Jan. 27 at 8 and 10:30 p.m. at the Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. Table seats are $55 and standing room tickets are $35.
‘American Idiot’
In this musical, based on the soundtrack by Green Day, three friends must choose between following their dreams or staying within the safety of their hometown. Jan. 24 to 29 at the Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston. Ticket prices and show times vary.
‘Cabaret’
The Woodland Theatre Company is putting on ‘Cabaret,’ a musical about Nazi Germany and the relationship between English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and American writer Cliff Bradshaw. Brandeis’ own Jackie Theoharis ’14 will be playing Fraulein Kost and Fritzie. Jan. 27 to 28 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m. at The Lowell Mason Auditorium on the campus of Medfield High School, 88R South St., Medfield. Tickets are $30.
Kathy Mattea concert
Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Kathy Mattea will be performing her classic country hits, touching upon her life in Appalachia. Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. at the Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. Ticket prices vary.
Punk, Rock n’ Roll Club has been providing the Brandeis campus with musical nights since 2006, inviting bands from all genres to Cholmondeley’s to play concerts. JustArts emailed with executive board members Adam Levitt ’12 and Alexander Pilger ’13 about the club’s plans for this semester. JustArts: How does the band selection process for Punk, Rock n’ Roll work? Adam Levitt: First, when the time comes around when we get our budget, we start encouraging our club members (via listserv and meetings) to start contacting bands and seeing if they can come to Brandeis and finding out how much they would cost. Alexander Pilger: Our funding is allocated as best we can to maximize the number of shows while balancing small acts with somewhat larger ones. ... In Punk, Rock n’ Roll Club, bands are selected for each semester based on a majority vote during two separate voting sessions. AL: The presidents count the votes and choose the highest-voted bands that fit our budget. Often bands will cancel, so in that case, we pick the next highest-voted band. JA: What do you think Punk, Rock n’ Roll does for Brandeis that no other club does? AP: The great thing about our club is that everyone who attends meetings has an equal say as to what shows they want to see at Brandeis. This has resulted in a wide variety of acts including rap groups, indie rock bands, experimental groups and much more playing at Chum’s. AL: We offer students a musical outlet. Since there’s no other way to get funding for bands students want to come, it’s a unique opportunity to get a band that may cost up to $3,000 without having to pay them yourself. Also, we give students the opportunity to choose who comes even if they didn’t contact bands just by showing up and casting a vote at the voting meeting. JA: What has been your favorite past Punk, Rock n’ Roll show? AP: My favorite show to this point had to have been the joint PRnR/WBRS sponsored by South Brandeis 2010, where Best Coast, Phantogram, Freelance Whales and DJ Rupture all played one mini-festival weekend in April. AL: My favorite Punk, Rock n’ Roll show was Mount Eerie last semester. Mount Eerie is my favorite band and their set was my second favorite live performance I’ve ever seen. This is really the power of Punk, Rock n’ Roll; you can bring your favorite band to you just by talking to them and getting them voted highly. JA: How can students get involved in Punk, Rock n’ Roll? AL: Students can get involved in Punk, Rock n’ Roll very easily. Joining the listserv is probably the most important first step, since all our information is communicated to the club members through email or meetings. AP: If students want to get involved with PRnR and have a say in what shows come to Brandeis, they can join our email list at rockn-roll@lists.brandeis.edu. AL: Our meetings are open to everyone, and they are held in room 313 in the Shapiro Campus Center every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. However, students can also get involved just by going to our shows —more people means more fun. JA: What makes a show great? AP: I think a great show requires two very important factors: the energy of the band and the energy of the crowd. If either of those are lacking or are a little off for some reason, a show is very rarely great. But when they both are, something amazing can happen. No matter what kind of music or how talented the musicians, if there’s good energy in the room everyone can feel it. AL: What I look for in a Punk, Rock n’ Roll show is a performance I feel is special. It’s best when you can make something happen that appeals to a lot of people too. So I think the quality of the performance and the enthusiasm of the audience are the key factors in what makes a show great. JA: What does Punk, Rock n’ Roll have up your sleeves this semester? AP: This semester, we got a solid sum of funding from [the Finance Board] and we’re going to use it to bring a bunch of acts to Chum’s. We haven’t made final decisions on what bands will come yet, so people can still get involved for this spring. Hopefully, I’m sure we will, get a good haul of bands that students will enjoy and remember for a long time. AL: We had both Atlas Sound and John Maus selected to come this semester, but they both canceled. So we have Laura Stevenson & the Cans, and The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die coming so far. We will have much more in the works soon.
—Emily Salloway
THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
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FINE ART
Suzuki’s show opens spring art season ■ Artist Naoe Suzuki’s
exhibition “Blue” features pen and ink drawings as well as several sculptural installations. By AZIZ SOHAIL JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
While water usually evokes images of healing and calm, the artist Naoe Suzuki chose to twist its healing power and focus on the contamination and degradation of water in her latest exhibition, titled “Blue,” which opened at the Women’s Studies Research Center Jan. 12. Michele L’Heureux, curator and director of arts at the WSRC, organized the show. Suzuki, born in Tokyo, is now a resident of the United States. She got her master’s degree in fine arts at the Studio for Interrelated Media in the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout New England and beyond, including at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Mass. She is also a senior program coordinator for the Peacebuilding and the Arts program at the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life. Suzuki’s current work was inspired by her residency at the Blue Mountain Center, “where she [was] able to swim in a lake every day.” Her current works were also created there. She experienced the cleansing and renewing power of the water and also began thinking a lot about the terrible condition of water throughout the world. She explores the themes of environmental degradation and the connection between nature and humanity in her works by including imagery of trash, organs, cells, bottles and antiquated machinery. The centerpiece of the show, titled “Blue,” and the other three works on paper in this exhibit called “Intueri I, II and III,” were particularly related to this theme. Suzuki, with exquisite craftsmanship and fine detail, at once captures the beauty of the blue water and the harm extraneous ele-
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S STUDIES RESEARCH CENTER
FEELING “BLUE”: This detail of the exhibit’s centerpiece, “Blue,” evokes the artist’s residency at the Blue Mountain Center. ments do to it. The water abounds with grotesque images of eyes, monsters and organs, so detailed that they seem to jump just right out of the page and overwhelm the very water of which they are a part. In this exhibit, Suzuki chose to work on paper rather than on canvas, a more commonly used surface, and she used ink, pen and pigment as her primary mediums. She was able to draw minute details with breathtaking clarity and beauty and, as a result, draws the viewer deep into her work. At the same time, the message that she tries to depict about the contamination of water and the
consequences of our current actions comes through strongly. Each drawing of filthy water seems meticulously planned and executed. The show’s palette is also rather limited. The color blue, of course, is a predominate color in Suzuki’s work, and various shades are apparent not only in the works on paper but also in the several site-specific installations that are part of the exhibit. Apart from blue, the works are composed of browns and blacks with some splashes of red. This limited palette serves to contrast the beauty and soothing nature of color with the harshness of the black and brown. It
also serves to draw attention to the detail of Suzuki’s work and is one of the show’s strengths. Her site-specific installations— titled “Raindrop Jewel,” “Last Splash” and “Blue Falls”—are direct contrasts to her work on paper. The installations are composed of Elmer’s poster tack. “Last Splash” also includes wires. These installations contrast the works on paper not only because of their ephemerality and the media used, but also because they showcase the healing power of water, as opposed to its dirtiness and misuse. “Raindrop Jewel” is a beautiful installation in the shape
of a raindrop, while “Last Splash” and “Blue Falls” served to capture a moment of the flow of water: unimpeded, beautiful and clean. The cleanliness of these installations, as opposed to the detail of the works on paper, also brings to mind that water is beautiful in its simplicity. L’Heureux has also done a superb job as a curator. The positioning of the works, which highlights “Blue” as the central and largest piece, serves to create a climactic experience for the viewer. This, in turn, enhances the beauty of the artwork and allows the viewer to be in an almostlonely meditation on the state of the natural world. With an exhibit so profound and of such high quality, it was difficult to decide which work moved me the most. Each work was important and essential to the exhibit and contributed to the experience of the viewer. “Blue” was by far the most impressive, not only because of the size and the scale of the work, but because it was the drawing that inspired the exhibition. I was confused by one work in the exhibit, titled “Division Switch.” This was also a site-specific installation, but it was placed on the opposite side of a wall, and therefore removed slightly from the rest of the pieces. According to Suzuki’s written statement at the gallery, “‘Division Switch’ incorporates overlay maps from the US Army Air Defense School.” Suzuki had these maps for about 10 years and “wanted to use them for something.” The artist was inspired by the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars, and used these maps to “tie [the piece] in with the subject of the water.” While this installation undoubtedly deals with issues of water, gender, war and national boundaries and adds an additional and different layer to the exhibition, its very difference also makes its relevance questionable. All in all, this was a very strong exhibit. It runs through March 2 and the opening reception is on Thursday, Jan. 26 from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with an Artist’s Slide Talk on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 12:30 p.m.
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THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, january 17, 2012
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ON CAMPUS Seven arts classes to explore
THA 142B: “Feminist Playwrights: Writing for the Stage by and about Women”
By WEI-HUAN CHEN JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER
Professor: Alicia Hyland Current enrollment: 12
Prof. Alicia Hyland’s (THA) brand-new course in feminist theater represents a new venture by the Theater Arts department to offer more literature-based and interdisciplinary courses to theater majors and non-majors alike. Themes such as motherhood, reproduction and sexuality will form the focus of the course, as well as the role of theater in social activism and human understanding. Why did these authors write these plays and how can their works be interpreted from a feminist perspective? Like Prof. Joyce Antler’s (AMST) course, (bottom right) students will immerse themselves in an exciting genre of theater, and will be expected to produce works of their own. Hyland, who teaches theater lab courses at Brandeis, has always been interested in feminist playwrights. But having spent the past four years raising a daughter, her own ideas of feminism have changed.
If only the Time-Turner existed in real life. You know, the time-traveling necklace Hermione used in the third Harry Potter book to take more classes. This spring, Brandeis is offering an array of interesting, underrated courses focusing on the arts. Students can play the first modern instruments created; examine the role of visual art in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; study one of the most significant literary families in history with Prof. Kathy Lawrence (ENG); and learn why, out
Prof. Alicia Hyland “I am learning that for women to have an equal and respected place we must allow men more freedom to grow beyond the roles they have been assigned as well,” said Hyland in an interview with justArts. “I think that is why in so many of the plays we will be reading, I am even more interested in hearing from the students about how the men are portrayed and how, or why, the playwright chose to assign certain attributes.”
FA 68A: “Israeli Art and Visual Culture: Forging Identities Between East and West” Professor: Gannit Ankori Current enrollment: 8
Prof. Gannit Ankori’s (FA) credentials speak for themselves. Prior to coming to Brandeis, Ankori was the chair of Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Art History department and published several papers about Frida Kahlo and Jewish and Palestinian art. She served as visiting professor at Harvard and Tufts Universities. In 2006, she wrote an award-winning book titled Palestinian Art, which is distributed around the U.S. by the University of Chicago Press and forms an important part of her course’s syllabus. “In a region subsumed by turmoil and conflict,” she writes in an older version of the course’s syllabus, “Israeli and Palestinian artists have been tenaciously engaged in the
Prof. Gannit Ankori creation of vibrant and innovative works of art. Characterized by diversity and boldness, these paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, films, performances and videos both reflect and transcend the violent contexts in which they are being produced.” The course will address issues such as home and exile, national identity, war and peace, the role of artists in the peace process and the historic events of 1948.
2012 Spring
Course Preview ENG 77A: “Screening the Tropics” Professor: Faith Lois Smith Current enrollment: 12
If you’re taking Prof. Faith Lois Smith’s (AAAS) course, which focuses on the role of “the tropics” in film, photography and fiction, you might notice that certain locations appeal to an “exotic, picturesque, primitive [and] irrational” model. “Whether it is a James Bond film or a representation of Duvalier’s regime in Haiti, the screen is always compelling,” Smith said in an interview with justArts. “As part of my teaching and research, I think about how popular culture appeals to some of our deepest fears and pleasures, and this film course will allow me to explore this.” Students will study films such as Y Tu Mamá También, Island in the Sun, Wide Sargasso Sea and The Constant Gardener and learn how the theories of Hegel and Gianluigi Buffon help explain what it means to screen the tropics. Smith, who specializes in literature of the Caribbean and the African Diaspora,
ENG 156A: “Local Rebels: Cambridge Authors Against the Grain” Professor: Michael Gilmore Current enrollment: 4
This course finds inspiration in the historic and exciting city of Cambridge. A resident of Cambridge, Prof. Michael Gilmore (ENG) has always been interested in the city’s authors, particularly ones who rebelled against popular thought. While most people think of Concord and Boston as hotspots for political and social unrest, the Harvard-dominated Cambridge is commonly seen as “arid and academic,” Gilmore says. “I think that view is mistaken,” said Gilmore in an interview with justArts. “In the nineteenth century, Cambridge was a stronghold of dissent, for reasons that will come out in the course.”
of the eight women in history put on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List, two of them were Brandeis students. The only problem, of course, is deciding which course to take. Many of these courses engage students in experiential activities, such as performing. They are also frequently the culmination of the professors’ identities, their lifelong studies and their passions. Whether you want to fulfill your Creative Arts requirement or get the most out of your education, try these courses in the next week. It might lead to a new major or artistic passion.
ENG 156B: “When Genius is a Family Affair: Henry, William, and Alice James” Professor: Kathy Lawrence Current enrollment: 5
If genius runs in the James family, then a passion for teaching runs in the Lawrence family. University President Frederick Lawrence’s wife, Kathy Lawrence, will be leading a course on Henry James, the forefather of literary realism and modernism, and his two influential siblings, William and Alice. Lawrence is an expert on James and an editor of the upcoming Cambridge Edition of the Complete Works of Henry James. She has published various articles on James and will offer students a literary, historical and experiential context of the American-born author. A friend of fellow Bostonian Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry James spent much of his time in Boston pondering the American paradox: How can a country bent on capitalist growth maintain its constitutional promise of liberty? In what ways does progress undermine equality? Students will visit the very sites where he wrote on such subjects. In fact, Lawrence spent much of her life following in the footsteps of
Prof. Kathy Lawrence Henry James, from staying in the Venice hotel room where he wrote the final chapters of The Portrait of a Lady to visiting James’ social clubs in London. Class trips to James’ former Boston residencies will be an integral, though not required, portion of the course. “Henry James is my great passion,” Lawrence said in an interview with justArts. “But the reasons for teaching the class go much deeper than my own expertise and passion. James … represents the culmination of the 19th-century American literary tradition. Even more important, his work explores the subtle secrets of the human soul and heart.”
MUS 80B: “Early Music Ensemble” Professor: Sarah Mead Current enrollment: 7
After joining a Renaissance dance troupe in high school, Early Music Ensemble director Prof. Sarah Mead (MUS) decided to dedicate her life to the study of 16th- and 17th-century music. Mead arrived at Brandeis in 1982 as the leader of the viola da gamba group, and over the years the ensemble expanded its instrumentation to voice and horns, taking the form of the Early Music Ensemble. The ensemble has come to fill an entire room filled with instruments such as the crumhorn, the vielle, the recorder and the rauschpfeife, an ancestor of the bassoon. Standing inside the space feels like being in a museum where you can touch and play everything on display. This summer, Mead will be in Delaware organizing a group of 300 viola da gamba players, the largest group ever to play together. This feat will be recognized by the Guinness World Records. Students in the Early Music Ensemble will be presented with challenges that aren’t present in a modern-day orchestra, from reading music in its original 16thcentury notation to figuring out the instrumentation of pieces themselves.
Prof. Sarah Mead “Often, people assume the modern violin is the pinnacle,” Mead said in an interview with justArts. “Each instrument in its own time was its pinnacle. The instruments in the 16th century weren’t unfinished or unsophisticated instruments. Just as the painters of the time were at the top of their form, so were the musicians.”
AMST 128B: “History as Theater” Prof. Faith Lois Smith will be teaching this course for the first time. This could be an eye-opening chance to fulfill that Non-Western requirement with a fascinating course, or simply an opportunity to explore foreign film.
“In the 19th century, Cambridge was a stronghold of dissent, for reasons that will come out in the course, ” sais Gilmore Students will learn how the Cambridge community fostered a dynamic collection of writers, including Margaret Fuller and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the Prof. Michael Gilmore roles these writers played in a larger American discourse. “[The course] helps us to see how a nearby community stood firm against the American grain on issues like slavery, feminism, racial justice and imperialism. In my opinion, that’s an inspiring story,” Gilmore says.
Professor: Joyce Antler Current enrollment: 9
“Documentary theatre is not only a technique; it’s a way of thinking and above all an instrument for acquiring knowledge about the world,” wrote Polish playwright Pawel Demirski. What is documentary theater? This quote, which appears at the beginning of a draft syllabus of Prof. Joyce Antler’s (AMST) course, is a first step in explaining the role of this theatrical form in understanding events of the past. The topic of this semester’s project is more relevant than ever, with the U.S. still tangled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Students will act as both historians and playwrights, and delve into the anti-war protests of Brandeis’ most radical students in 1970. As a result of their violent protests, which caused the death of a police officer during an armed robbery, Susan Saxe and Katherine Power became two of eight women in history ever put on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. “They were decidedly a fringe group of radical students here and elsewhere who turned to violent means in their opposition to the Vietnam War,” explains Antler. “It was a difficult moment for the majority of Brandeis activists whose approach was nonviolent.” To recreate these events, students will interview faculty and alumni as well as access FBI reports and materials from the National
Prof. Joyce Antler Strike Information Center from Brandeis’ Special Collections. The Saxe trial transcript was also specially made available for the course. Prof. Antler is a published documentary dramatist and has been teaching this course since the 1980s. However, this is the first time this course has been offered for several years. “The process of research and writing this play will enable [students] to understand how documentary theater engages multiple, interacting, historical perspectives and complicates our knowledge of what is ‘fact’ and ‘truth,’” she said in an interview with justArts. “This process will also allow the class to contemplate the changing meanings of social justice ideals and activism on the college campus.”
THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, january 17, 2012
Performers unite at King commemoration Dance troupes, singers, poets and other artists gathered to celebrate By FIONA LOCKYER JUSTICE EDITOR
So you’re sitting in a packed Levin Ballroom, plastic chairs and cold floor, squeezed in with the person next to you. You look up and see prayer flags made by elementary school children, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s all vaguely reminiscent of MLK, but you’re missing a real connection to the meaning behind a day dedicated to his memory. He had a dream. The theme of the evening is “Occupying the Dream.” As for you, you’re perhaps dreaming of being somewhere else. And then, one phrase sticks out and drills into your ear: “I don’t love you because there’s something I want from you. I love you because you need my love.” The speaker is explaining the theology of love, the importance of a “universal, unconditional” caring for someone else. It’s the Rev. Liz Walker, an award-winning tele-journalist and co-pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston. She’s speaking about her work in Sudan, her desire and efforts to help others even when her ability to make real change seemed uncertain. Her speech follows a performance by a group of five white women playing West African drums and singing blues music, the audience clapping in time and singing along. In that moment, you get a brief glimpse into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dreams. According to members of the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries present at last night’s event, 300 community members from the Boston area joined together for a day of service, helping others in a
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
REMEMBERING A HERO: Several women play traditional traditional African drums.
diverse swath of areas—from orphans in the Boston area to Haitians affected by the 2010 earthquake to greening projects in the Waltham community. This is showing love: unconditionally, universally, unfailingly. In Levin, artists walk on stage and give their heart’s work to the audience, sharing themselves to help others understand their passion for the topic. It isn’t that they need something from the audience but that the audience needs something from them. The event opens with a slam poem by Assistant Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams and the president of the Slam Poetry Team, Usman Hameedi ’12. The pair, representing Dr. King and Mohandas Gandhi, respectively, questions the motivation of today’s youth in the struggle for equality. As the event continues, performances by poets, dancers and musicians flow into each other seamlessly, stitched together by witty interim remarks by Adams. Most of the pieces focus on themes of today’s urban youth and the struggles of the disadvantaged, both in America and Africa. The night’s theme, “Occupying the Dream,” manifests itself through what Louise Grasmere—a jazz singer who performs smooth yet nontraditional versions of blues songs including Blind Willie Johnson’s “What is the Soul of a Man” and the folk song “We Shall Not Be Moved”—says as she works her way through her performance: The space is being occupied with music and with the message of Dr. King. There were audience members near me singing along to “We Shall Not Be Moved,” people who
may never have had the opportunity to know the emotion and the spirit of Dr. King’s movement, who may never have understood the meaning of the day aside from just a day off from work or school. We are choosing, together, to take part in a celebration that both memorializes and promotes the idea of serving others, not because you need to serve, but because serving is needed of us. The event ended with a moving poem by Claudiane Philippe ’13, using music from the previous performances as a backdrop for her accented, rhythmic words and calling to AfricanAmericans to take pride in their heritage. In an interview with justArts, the Rev. Alex Kern, executive director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, was pleased with the turnout of the second-annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Interfaith Service and the seventhannual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial service. “It was extraordinary,” he said, explaining that using the words of a friend of his, he felt that he had been “blessed by the best.” The day truly was a “day on” instead of a day off for many Brandeisians and area community members: Brandeis was one of 200 campuses chosen by the Obama administration to take part in the president’s Interfaith Cooperation and Community Service Campus Challenge. The plan for next year? “Do the same but more and better,” Kern and Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries member Omar AbdulMalik said. Hopefully, the event can continue to be as inspiring and meaningful as this year’s creative and service-oriented “day on.”
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
OCCUPYING THE PODIUM: Assistant Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams gave an inspirational speech honoring King.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
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THE JUSTICE
OFF CAMPUS COMEDIC CHARACTER
POP CULTURE
The year concludes with a slew of celebrity scandals ■ Brandeis may have been
on break, but celebrities were busy making headlines. Here’s a recap of the biggest events. By shelly shore JUSTICE senior writer
NORMAN JEAN ROY/Comedy Central
POLITICS MAJOR: Stewart’s show has increasingly become an influential new source.
Stewart mocks 2012 election, gets big laughs ■ JustArts went to a taping
of ‘The Daily Show,’ which included an author interview and “Indecision 2012.” By Adam Rabinowitz JUSTICE editor
Taking a seat in the packed studio on West 11th and 52nd Street in New York City for Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, I readied myself for an experience like no other. I was about to see a show, live, that I have come to appreciate for its reporting of political news, ironic for a Comedy Central program. As I grew enamored with the world of politics, and, conversely, distrustful of the biased coverage of Fox News, MSNBC and other news outlets, I turned to an unlikely source—The Daily Show. With factual reporting of the major political developments of the day expertly coupled with scathing satires of the sometimes laughable inadequacies of American politics, it is a can’t-miss show. After years of ritually turning on the television to Comedy Central at 11 p.m., I received my reward: an opportunity to see the taping of the Jan. 5 show at the New York City studios. Naturally, I jumped at the chance—for a free show that requires a reservation six months in advance, how could I not? That day, after waiting for two hours in the bitter Manhattan cold, I finally gained entrance to the iconic set of The Daily Show. The audience only seats 150 people, and it looked to be an extremely intimate experience—mere feet away from the news desk of Jon Stewart. The show started with an opening act from comedian Paul Mercurio, used to ratchet up the energy level of the audience before Stewart’s turn on set. Mercurio almost ended up rivaling the headliner himself, using the audience to shape his act. He targeted various people in the crowd—the lone investment banker in a flashy suit, a tattoo artist and a sailor, to name a few—confronting them directly with crude one-liners and raunchy punch lines. The technique did the trick, eliciting endless waves of laughter from the audience. By the time Mecurio departed, we were not only ready for Stewart, but unsure if he could even compare. I was immediately proven wrong. Walking onto the stage, Stewart captivated the audience from the first moment with his self-deprecating humor. Before the taping began, he fielded questions from the crowd, ranging from “What is your favorite childhood food?” to “Sarah [Palin], Hill-
ary [Clinton], Michele [Bachmann] … which one [is your favorite]?” He answered each with his off-the-cuff, incisive wit, gearing the audience up for what would be an unforgettable night. After the question-and-answer period, it was showtime. From the moment the lights dimmed and the cameras zeroed in on Stewart, The Daily Show lost its informal, coffeehouse-like atmosphere. Instead, the audience became a tool for Stewart’s humor, cued to laugh and clap, in the massive operation of The Daily Show, a program broadcast to over 1,000,000 homes. Stewart began the program with his opening “Indecision 2012” rant, reliably amusing given the bedlam of the Iowa caucus a day earlier. He then cued to one of his “correspondents,” John Oliver, for “Indecision 2012,” one of the main segments of the show. Drawing upon the news that President Obama had selected Richard Cordray, the former Attorney General of Ohio, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a day earlier, Stewart and Oliver did what they do best. Integrating real-time video clips and advanced special effects with a heated, uproarious debate between the two analysts, the audience was caught in fits of hysterical laughter. After a commercial break, Stewart then moved to his other main piece of the program. Guiding the audience to a pre-screened interview, he proceeded to issue a scathing satire of the Republican Party. In this instance, he highlighted the rejection of a MuslimAmerican citizen in Florida to the Party, despite meeting the criteria for admission and idolizing its ideals. This illogical scene nearly brought the audience to tears. Stewart rounded out the program with his daily interview, often the most serious part of his show. In this episode, he sat down with author Craig Shirley to discuss his new book, December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World. This discussion was intriguing for the history buffs in the audience—namely me—but seemed to appeal less to others who were looking for the hysterical laughs that usually define Stewart’s show. After some parting remarks from Stewart, the lights returned, thrusting me back into the real world. Walking out into the busy Manhattan traffic, I felt enlightened. I had laughed more than I could remember recently, yet felt more knowledgeable about politics than I would from tuning into CNN or NBC. Jon Stewart does the American citizen a service, delivering world-class, high-quality news reports in an enjoyable way.
Welcome back to Brandeis, dear readers! Let me start out by making a correction to my last article of fall semester, where I mentioned that my mother’s favorite television show is Teen Mom. This is apparently not true, and she only watches it with my sister because it is, and I quote, “the best birth control ever!” My tuition may depend on this paragraph making it into JustArts. (Hi, Mom!) The last month has been very exciting for those of us following the world of celebrities. Engagements! Divorces! Lawsuits! Politics! Babies! Libel! Slander! I don’t have enough space to talk about all of the big events of the few weeks we were away on break, but let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories. First off, and as a middle-of-finals gift to some of us, the fabulous Britney Spears got engaged on Dec. 16. Spears’ boyfriend of two years (and former agent), Jason Trawick, made it official in Las Vegas, where Jason popped the question with a (remarkably tasteful, for Hollywood) diamond engagement ring that he designed himself. “Jason is a romantic and when I asked him to tell me about Britney and what the ring would represent to them so I could find inspiration, his response was always the same—she is his princess!” said celebrity jeweler Neil Lane, who helped Trawick with the design and made the ring. In the engagement photos and all of the candid shots since the
announcement, Spears has been positively glowing, and as a long-time Britney fan (“Baby One More Time” was my jam in fourth grade), I admit that I teared up a bit. No news yet on what Spears’ conservatorship—she is still legally dependent on her father, meaning he has control over her finances and other legal matters— means for her upcoming nuptials. Barely two weeks after Spears and Trawick celebrated their engagement in Vegas, another out-there pop star, Katy Perry, and actor-comedian Russell Brand ended their 14-month marriage. Brand served Perry with divorce papers on Dec. 31, finally confirming trouble-in-paradise rumors that had begun to swirl around the couple when candid photos showed them spending Christmas apart. “Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends,” Brand tweeted the evening of the 31. Perry and Brand married in India in 2010 in a high-profile Hindu ceremony featuring elephants, a tiger and henna. In other celebrity marriage news, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor ended her fourth marriage after just 14 days on Dec. 27. I have no words. I really don’t. The final days of 2011 also played host to several legal events, including the Kardashians’ decision to sue the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights over claims that the Kardashian clothing line is produced in sweat shops in China that use child labor. Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute, issued a statement that really just said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the Kardashians just let us check out their factories and made sure everything was cool and no one was getting abused.” (not a direct quote). Kernaghan’s statement came after documented reports that Bebe, a product line the Kardashians endorsed
and profited from, treated workers as barely-paid slaves and that China Labor Watch criticized the Kardashians by name in its report on Bebe. However, instead of saying, “Oh, what a nice idea, it would be great to make sure we’re not profiting from the abuse of children,” Kris Jenner, matriarch of the Kardashian clan, announced intentions to sue not only the Institute but also Star Magazine, which reported the claims, for libel. Yes, suing a human rights organization. What a great way to make yourselves look good in the press, Kardashians. Another magazine took major flack from a celebrity this year, but unlike Star, which might have actually been trying to do something good for once, Jackie, a Dutch fashion magazine, deserved everything it got. The issue arose when Editor-in-Chief Eva Hoeke used the n-word to describe Rihanna’s fashion sense in a late December article. She stated that she attempted to use the word as a compliment (oh girl, don’t get me started), but understandably, the black community in the Netherlands and most of the rest of the magazine-reading world were seriously ticked off. Rihanna responded viciously over Twitter, and within a few days Hoeke announced her decision to resign. I’m almost out of space, so let’s do the “We Didn’t Start The Fire” version of the rest of the big stories from break: Kelly Clarkson endorsed Ron Paul on Twitter and made some seriously dumb remarks about how voting for a politician doesn’t mean she agrees with him; Lily Allen had a baby; Kourtney Kardashian is pregnant; George Lucas called Hollywood racist (three words, George: Jar Jar Binks); Teen Mom Leah is pregnant again; and the star-studded movie of Les Miserables is going to be awful. And that’s what you missed on Glee.
CARNVALRIDEXX/Flickr Creative Commons
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM: Britney Spears became engaged to her former agent Jason Trawick. This will be her third marriage.
THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, January 17, 2012
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MODERNIZING A CLASSIC
PHOTO COURTESY OF NINTENDO
SWORD AND SHIELD: ‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword’ occurs before the other games in the series. In this newest installment, players use the Wii’s remote to control protagonist Link’s sword and other weapons.
Zelda game ends Wii’s reign on a high note Dan
WILLEY CRITICAL HIT
As Nintendo prepares to launch its new console, the Wii U, sometime in the near future, fans of the company are already experiencing a sharp decline in the quality of games released for the soon-to-be outdated Wii. Fortunately, gamers can still enjoy at least one more high-profile Wii release: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The game’s release marks the 25th anniversary of the beloved Zelda franchise while simultaneously pushing it into the future by introducing modern gaming conventions that improve on the series’ classic formula. Despite several new additions to the series, Skyward Sword is still, at its heart, a Zelda game. Gamers will once again take on the role of Link as
they attempt to rescue Zelda and save the world. The game’s developers have stated that the game takes place before any other game in the Zelda timeline, though the developers have previously stated that the games do not form one narrative or universe. Regardless, Skyward Sword’s story is one of the best in the series. Nintendo has once again crafted a narrative on an epic scale but has done a much better job developing key characters and weaving emotion into their stories this time. Nintendo has done an even better job revolutionizing Zelda’s gameplay. Combat is now controlled entirely by motion with Link’s sword mirroring the Wii’s remote 1:1. The addition adds considerable quality to the gameplay. Not only do the controls more fully immerse the player in the action, but they also bring a whole new element of strategy to the combat segments. Gamers have to aim their strikes in the correct locations and swing in the right direction to take advantage of enemy vulnerabilities. The combat is engaging and feels
very intuitive. It would be great to see more Wii games take advantage of this type of gameplay, and it’s truly unfortunate that gamers have had to wait until the end of the Wii’s life cycle to see a game that truly capitalizes on the premise of the console. Besides combat, players will explore dungeons, uncover new gadgets and weapons and take on epic bosses, all of which is standard in any Zelda adventure. This time, there are fewer dungeons and Link returns to areas far more frequently than in previous games, but Nintendo has cleverly built the overworld into a dungeon of its own. Link needs to engage enemies, utilize new gadgets and solve puzzles just to reach the dungeons. This expands the gameplay in a unique way and makes up for the smaller number of settings. Unfortunately, despite several amazing successes, Skyward Sword hasn’t completely overcome all of the dated conventions of its past iterations. The game’s revolutionary controls also mean that the game has a very slow start. The beginning of
Skyward Sword is simply tedious as the game over-explains every aspect of the controls and gameplay. While I can understand moving somewhat slower given the changes to the combat mechanisms, other elements simply do not need to be explained and indeed would not be in other, more modern games. This problem crops up throughout the game in bizarre ways; for example, every time Link acquires a new item since the last time the game was shut down, the game explains in detail what the item is, even if it has been collected before. This includes every one of the various denominations of Rupees, the game’s currency, which becomes incredibly annoying. Skyward Sword insists on holding the gamer’s hand well beyond what is necessary or standard in modern games. Skyward Sword also feels slightly outdated when it comes to Nintendo’s decision to once again forgo employing voice actors to help deliver the story, instead using text that appears on the screen. Given how much Skyward Sword has attempted to bring
a more modern feel to the game, the move is a disappointing decision. At this point, voice acting is incredibly common in the industry, and it’s hard not to feel that it would have helped bring an extra level of emotion to an already amazing tale. Even with these questionable design decisions, Nintendo has created a truly incredible game in Skyward Sword and has set the course for the game’s future by modernizing its storytelling and gameplay for the better. I found myself finally understanding how motion controls can steer gameplay and improve on it instead of just serving as a neat gimmick in a game that otherwise would function with a normal controller. I can’t wait to see what moves the series makes going forward, but I’m thoroughly convinced that 1:1 motion control is a basis Nintendo should build upon. While it would be nice to see Nintendo modernize the series in other ways, the game is still a huge step forward and one of the best games on the Wii and in the series. I give Skyward Sword a 9.5/10.
film
Meryl Streep awes in otherwise flawed film ■ ‘The Iron Lady’ is classic
Oscar bait, but its focus on Margaret Thatcher’s later life is too heavy-handed. By DIEGO MEDRANO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The Iron Lady will probably get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and director Phyllida Lloyd knows it. Meryl Streep will definitely get a nomination for Best Actress, and you had best believe that she knows it as well. That’s because the movie was clearly made to coast into Oscar season. The aesthetic even follows that of last year’s winner for Best Picture, The King’s Speech, with its dull grays and matte British scenery. Where The King’s Speech had an original, relatively unknown story that was only made better by a strong cast, The Iron Lady takes the established icon and story of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and only has one interesting addition to offer: Meryl Streep. The Iron Lady appears to have been created purely to showcase Meryl Streep’s talent as an actress. She commands every scene, and the only other character ever truly established during the film is Denis Thatcher, her husband, who is played by Jim Broadbent. While Broadbent adds some much-needed energy to the film, he is overshadowed by the titan that is Streep. Unfortunately, his role is to play Margaret Thatcher’s imagination of her late husband. As in, Thatcher is
senile and can’t stop imagining that her late husband is with her. This is where the movie hits its first bumps. Lloyd doesn’t seem to know what kind of movie The Iron Lady is supposed to be. If we’re supposed to see an uplifting tale about overcoming the odds, seeing Margaret Thatcher in her current-day senility and dependency doesn’t really send that message. Instead, it makes the movie feel like a depressingly nostalgic tale about the tragedy of aging. Nor is this film about the necessity of strong leadership in trying times, despite its title that points to the contrary. Even as we see Thatcher through the “greatest hits” of her political career, they’re always juxtaposed with a Thatcher that appears on the verge of death. So much attention is focused on Thatcher’s decay that it detracts from the specifics of her leadership. Streep’s portrayal of Thatcher is either over the top or accurately unflattering. She comes off as so intense in every situation that you can’t imagine how her leadership could have been effective. Thatcher was historically a polarizing figure, but the film makes it seem as if she doesn’t even appeal to her own constituents. Instead, just about every other character is cannon fodder to set up inspirational quotes or moments of defiance from Thatcher. When U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig (Matthew Marsh) presses Thatcher about avoiding the Falklands War, he mentions how a person’s decisionmaking may differ once someone has actually been to war. The
next line is a trailer-making retort: “With all due respect, sir, I have done battle every single day of my life.” By this point, you’re rolling your eyes. Not because the line is untrue but because just about every one of her interactions seems like a perfect setup for a knockout statement. There are plenty of references by movie television and radio clips that claim Thatcher is a controversial figure but, in the film, everyone else is such a caricature that we’re forced to side with her. The film briefly touches upon Thatcher’s sacrifices for her career and the strain on her family and marriage, but these scenes seem like shallow attempts at uncovering larger, potentially more enthralling, stories. We know who Margaret Thatcher was as a leader, but less so as a wife and mother. Instead, this aspect of her life is glossed over and feels like an attempt to let Meryl Streep showcase more emotions. Thatcher’s love for her late husband eventually takes center stage and, once it does, we’re left wondering exactly what this movie is about. You can’t help but get the feeling that everyone involved in the film knew the source material was compelling enough to only require a stage-stealing actress to push it to greatness. Unfortunately, they put in so little extra effort that based purely on one strong performance and an undeniably interesting story, they made only a good—instead of a great— movie. What results is a film that doesn’t quite do justice to Margaret Thatcher. They spend more time cutting her
ALEX BAILEY/Film4
FIRST LADY OF FILM: Meryl Streep’s performance has been hugely acclaimed by critics. down than they do praising her victories, and the victories they do show leave little room for debate. Thatcher is a complex historical figure; this is a simplistic historical movie that just barely tries to be complex. The scope is so large that we only see the tip of each aspect of her life. Because the camera never loses focus on Streep, we wonder if it’s really about the performance
and not about the actual legend. The implications of Thatcher’s actions are so significant that even clips of people rioting over her decisions don’t break through the film’s nearsightedness. The Iron Lady is a fine movie but balancing the complexities of Margaret Thatcher’s story would have made a great movie. Instead, they seem content being just a nominee.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
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THE JUSTICE
TOP of the
ARTS ON VIEW
TRIVIA TIME 1. What color is lapis lazuli? 2. Where is the Apennines mountain range located? 3. The order Hymenoptera would encompass what types of insects? 4. Who founded the Christian Science Church? 5. William H. Bonney was better known by what name? 6. Where is the mitral valve located? 7. In the United States, what is a more common term for “conscription”? 8. What was the original function of the schipperke, a Belgian dog breed? 9. What is the capital of Michigan? 10. In English history, which monarch did Cavaliers support?
ANSWERS 1. Blue 2. Northern England and southern Scotland 3. Bees, wasps and ants 4. Mary Baker Eddy 5. Billy the Kid 6. The heart 7. The draft, a requirement that people of certain age serve in the military. 8. Barge watchdogs 9. Lansing 10. King Charles I in the English Civil War
STRANGE BUT TRUE It was venerable American newscaster David Brinkley who made the following sage observation: “The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.” oAccording to Guinness World Records, the oldest cat in the world was named Creme Puff and lived to the ripe old age of 38 years and 3 days. If you do a lot of printing, you might not be surprised to learn that if you calculate the cost by volume, the average ink cartridge for a printer costs seven times more than Dom Perignon champagne. On an average day in the United States, 90 million cans of beer will be consumed. If you’re planning a summer jaunt to Atlantic City, N.J. this year, you might want to stop by Margate City, just a couple of miles south of the gambling mecca. While you’re there, you can see the oldest zoomorphic structure in the United States. Lucy the Elephant, built in 1882 by James V. Lafferty, is 65 feet tall and has served at various times as a cottage, a business office, a restaurant and a tavern. In 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. It was United Airlines that hired the first stewardesses for its flights back in 1930. In addition to being attractive and charming, stewardesses had to be registered nurses.
CHARTS Top 10s for the week ending Jan. 15 BOX OFFICE
1. Contraband 2. Beauty and the Beast 3D 3. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 4. Joyful Noise 5. Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows 6. The Devil Inside 7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 8. War Horse 9. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked 10. We Bought a Zoo
NYT BESTSELLERS
ASHER KRELL/the Justice
VROOM VROOM: This HDR photo was taken by Justice Associate Editor Asher Krell ’13 while he was wandering the streets of Milan at dusk during his travels over winter break. The car’s reflective hood captures the blue lights of the building and the deep blue sky above.
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Symbol of intrigue 4. iPhone download 7. Nut job 12. Actress Longoria 13. Meadow 14. Foreigner 15. Part of UCLA 16. Beatles ditty 18. Schuss 19. Heavens above 20. “Phooey!” 22. Green prefix 23. Castro’s home 27. Young fellow 29. Trafalgar admiral 31. Daniel who’s played 007 34. Prepared 35. Gilligan’s boat 37. Scratch 38. Carry 39. Simile center 41. Entanglement 45. Its participants must form a line 47. Spring mo. 48. “The Swedish Nightingale” 52. Conk out 53. Alaskan islander 54. Nourished 55. Cozy lodging 56. Boston newspaper 57. Wayne and Worth (Abbr.) 58. Roulette bet DOWN 1. People of Pontypridd 2. Bring forth 3. Fundamental 4. Swiss range 5. Cheated at hide-and-seek 6. “War of the Worlds” effect 7. Methods 8. Every iota 9. Spy-novel org. 10. Jennings of Jeopardy! 11. Inseparable 17. Night light? 21. A Fish Called Wanda Oscar winner 23. Office worker
iTUNES
1. Adele — “Set Fire to the Rain” 2. David Guetta and Nicki Minaj — “Turn Me On” 3. Flo Rida — “Good Feeling” 4. LMFAO — “Sexy and I Know It” 5. Kelly Clarkson — “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)” 6. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris — “We Found Love” 7. Bruno Mars — “It Will Rain” 8. Jessie J — “Domino” 9. Katy Perry — “The One That Got Away” 10. LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock — “Party Rock Anthem”
BILLBOARD
1. Adele — 21 2. Drake — Take Care 3. The Black Keys — El Camino 4. Young Jeezy — TM:103: Hustlerz Ambition 5. Coldplay — Mylo Xyloto 6. Rihanna — Talk that Talk 7. SafetySuit — These Times 8. LMFAO — Sorry For Party Rocking 9. Various Artists — Now 40 10. Florence + the Machine — Ceremonials
24. N.A. portion 25. Physique 26. Whatever number 28. Past 30. Historic time 31. Nashville-based MTV offshoot 32. Carnival city 33. Pismire 36. Cry like a banshee 37. Fridge decoration 40. Check for smells 42. Bottom 43. Put one’s two cents in 44. Pollster’s find 45. Info measure 46. Toteboard tally 48. Show that spawned NCIS 49. Right angle 50. Ultramodernist 51. Gist
Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, BillBoard.com and Apple.com.
STAFF PLAYLIST
“Distinctive Voices” By ARIEL KAY ARTS EDITOR
King Crossword Copyright 2012 King Features Synd, Inc.
SUDOKU
Those who study such things say that in ancient Mesopotamia, it was not unusual for those of the wealthy classes to crush semiprecious stones and adhere the powder to their lips. nThe average human produces 25,000 quarts of saliva in a lifetime, enough to fill two swimming pools. Thought for the Day: “In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst.” —Oscar Wilde
Fiction 1. Private: #1 Suspect — James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 2. Love in a Nutshell — Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly 3. Death Comes to Pemberley — P.D. James 4. 11/22/63 — Stephen King 5. 77 Shadow Street — Dean Koontz Nonfiction 1. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson 2. American Sniper — Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice 3. Killing Lincoln — Bill O’Reilly 4. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman 5. Unbroken — Laura Hillenbrand
Sudoku Copyright 2012 King Features Synd, Inc.
When listening to the radio, it can be difficult to tell different artists, or even different songs apart. This list is made up of songs by musicians who have a style all their own. THE LIST 1. Patsy Cline – “Walkin’ After Midnight” 2. Tracy Chapman – “For My Lover” 3. Reel Big Fish – “Drunk Again” 4. Shakira – “La Pared” 5. 10,000 Maniacs – “Because the Night” 6. Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train” 7. Ugly Cassanova – “Things I Don’t Remember” 8. Modest Mouse – “Black Cadillacs” 9. Titus Andronicus – “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ” 10. The Raconteurs – “Steady as She Goes”