The Justice- Aug. 25, 2009

FEATURES PAGE 7

FORUM Rethinking Brandeis activism 10

FRENCH RETIRING

SPORTS Volleyball team gains five rookies 16 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

the

OF

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SINCE 1949

Justice www.theJusticeOnline.com

Volume LXI, Number 1

Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

BUDGET

PITCHING IN

CONSTRUCTION

Univ projects Kalman FY ’10 balance lawsuit ■ Savings from

retirement benefit suspensions improved the financial situation.

By MIRANDA NEUBAUER JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

The University projects a balanced budget for fiscal 2010, primarily due to $7.4 million in savings from the one-year suspension of retirement contributions and a better-than-expected endowment return for fiscal 2009, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French wrote in an e-mail to the Brandeis community yesterday.

The University also raised $78.3 million in cash during fiscal 2009, according to Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship, despite an economic climate she characterized as the worst she

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

Team effort Brandeis athletes like Morgan Kendrew ’12 lent a hand Sunday to help orientation leaders, about 30 fewer in number than last year, move in a first-year class of about 825.

■ Executive Vice President

and Chief Operating Officer Peter French is among the departing staff members.

By SHANA D. LEBOWITZ JUSTICE EDITOR

Four key Brandeis administrators, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French, will depart this academic year. Personnel changes have also taken place at the Department of Community Living, formerly known as the Department of Residence Life, over the summer as part of a reorgani-

By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

zation effort intended to make up for departed staff members.

Along with French, other administrators who are leaving include Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva, Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles and Vice President of Financial Affairs Maureen Murphy.

Activities Advisor in the Department of Student Activities Becca Lehrhoff and Operations Specialist in the Department of Student Activities Mark Metevier left the University March 20.

According to Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer, the DCL’s new name emphasizes that its directors “will

See ADMIN, 5 ☛

portion of the new Carl J. Shapiro Science Center after late donor Julius Kalman.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

An injunction filed by the estate of Julius Kalman against Brandeis University claiming that the planned demolition of the Kalman science building violated Kalman’s will has been settled, according to a document filed in the Suffolk Probate Court Aug. 18.

The terms of the settlement require the University to name a research laboratory in Room 2-15 of the new Carl J. Shapiro Science Center the Julius Kalman Research Laboratory and to place a tribute plaque within the lobby of the Science Center.

Additionally, the University will also place a naming plaque, which shows that a specific room or area has been named after a particular person, outside the laboratory. The plaque will be consistent with the size and design of other naming plaques around the building.

Sumner Kalman, the greatnephew of Julius Kalman, filed the injunction against the University May 7.

The Kalman building is scheduled to be razed later this year as part of Phase 1 of the Science Complex Renewal Project, according to the Web site of the Office of Capital Projects.

According to the terms of the settlement, the University must install the tribute plaque on the ground-floor lobby of the Science Center within 30 days of the demolition of the Kalman science building.

Adjacent to the plaque will be a label on the wall. The label will read, “From 1957 to 2010 this plaque was hung within the Julius Kalman Science Center, which stood adjacent to this building.

Two generations of Brandeis scientists were trained within its walls for the betterment of humankind.

The Julius Kalman Research Laboratory within this building is named to pay tribute to Julius Kalman. Brandeis University is deeply grateful to Julius Kalman who had faith in this university in its earliest years.”

See FUNDS, 5 ☛

Rose lawsuit shifted to Suffolk court members of the Rose Board of Overseers will move to a probate court.

Four key administrators to leave the University

■ The University will name a

ROSE ART MUSEUM

■ The lawsuit filed by ADMINISTRATION

settled

has seen in 15 years.

According to Vice President for Budget and Planning Fran Drolette, the University closed the fiscal 2009 budget gap through a combination of budget reductions, added revenue and use of unrestricted reserves. The unrestricted reserves refer to liquid assets—money that is part of the endowment that the University can access. She stated that Brandeis used less of its reserves than was previously anticipated for fiscal 2009.

Additional budget relief came from the $6.3 million that mainly consisted of bequests solicited during the University’s fundraising effort. According to Winship, the bequests were one-time donations that will not necessarily repeat. “You can’t plan a budget based on bequests,” she said.

In March, the University projected an $8.9 million operating

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachussetts transferred a lawsuit filed by three members of the Rose Art Museum Board of Overseers asking that the University halt the closing of the Rose to the Suffolk Probate court Aug. 6, according to Emily LaGrassa, communications director for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

LaGrassa explained in an e-mail to the Justice that the probate court is the appropriate venue for the lawsuit because it is a fact-finding court, whereas the Supreme Court hears appeals after the trial has already occurred.

LaGrassa also wrote that a case management conference, a discussion of internal deadlines pertinent to the case, has been sched-

uled for Sept. 1. When asked about a trial date, LaGrassa responded that one would not be set for many months.

Rose overseers Jonathan Lee, Meryl Rose and Lois Foster filed the lawsuit July 27 in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachussetts.

The lawsuit states that the University’s decision to close the museum and sell its paintings would violate the museum’s ethical codes and Brandeis’ commitment to the Rose family to maintain the museum.

Thomas Reilly, the University’s outside legal counsel on the lawsuit, said in an interview with the Justice that the decision to move the case to the probate court implies a lack of urgency in the lawsuit.

“The Rose Art Museum is open.

The plaintiffs were claiming that it’s closed; that’s simply not true.

They were claiming that [there] was a sale of paintings that was imminent; that’s simply not true.

So there are serious misrepresentations in the complaint, but the bottom line is the Court wouldn’t

See ROSE, 5 ☛

See KALMAN, 5 ☛

Women’s soccer

Junot Diaz

JBS Proposals

■ The team gears up for the 2009 to 2010 season.

■ The author spoke to justArts ahead of his campus appearance.

■ Students can submit proposals for Justice Brandeis Semester programs.

SPORTS 12 For tips or info call Let your voice be heard!

Submit letters to the editor online (781) 736-6397 at www.thejusticeonline.com

INDEX

ARTS 19 ARTS

17

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 7

OPINION POLICE LOG

11 2

SPORTS LETTERS

NEWS 3 16 11

COPYRIGHT 2009 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Call for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

●

THE JUSTICE

NEWS POLICE LOG

BRIEF New Louis D. Brandeis stamp to be dedicated Sept 24 A commemorative stamp with the image of Justice Louis D. Brandeis will be released as part of the United States Postal Service’s 2009 commemorative stamp program at a dedication ceremony that will take place at Brandeis University Sep. 24.

The 2009 Commemorative Stamp Program is recognising the achievements of four prominent United States Supreme Court Justices. The other Justices whose images will appear on the commemorative stamps are Joseph Story, Felix Frankfurter and William J. Brennan, Jr. The Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in Arlington, Virginia oversaw the selection process for the justices. The stamps will go on sale Sept. 22.

University President Jehuda Reinharz and James Holland, the postmaster general of Boston, will dedicate the new Louis Brandeis stamp at the base of the statue of Justice Brandeis located on campus. Justice Brandeis’ grandson Frank Gilbert will speak at the ceremony, and William Bowen, the University’s “singing postman,” will perform at the event.

A commemorative program including a special cancellation for the Brandeis stamp will also be distributed during the event. Customer Relations Coordinator for the Boston District Barbara DunphyLundrigan explained that the Brandeis stamp can be canceled with the date of the dedication ceremony.

The cancellation will also feature the University seal, Dunphy Lundrigan added.

The stamp dedication is a part of the University’s “Brandeis Celebrates Brandeis” salute occurring in September. Brandeis Celebrates Brandeis will have another event Sept. 29, a Meet the Author program with Justice Brandeis biographer Melvin Urofsky regarding the publication of a new biography about Justice Brandeis.

“I’m grateful for the significant recognition from the government that Grandfather serviced,” said Gilbert in an interview with the Justice.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Reinharz wrote, “The statue of Justice Brandeis is the most prominent physical representation of Louis Brandeis on campus. It was at the suggestion of the Boston Postmaster, James Holland that the University was selected as the site for the unveiling.”

Gilbert briefly discussed with the Justice what he will address in his speech at the stamp dedication ceremony. “I would say the University would bring happiness to Grandfather. [He] considered himself an educator. He would be pleased by the scholarship of members of the faculty and want to read their books.

He would be pleased about the growth and potential of the students,” Gilbert said.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Reinharz stated that the Louis Brandeis stamp “is a reminder for the members of the Brandeis community of the values espoused by Justice Brandeis, which are reflected in the University’s core mission of academic excellence, social justice, non-sectarianism and support for the Jewish community.”

Bowen, who has worked at Brandeis since March 1979, said, “I think it’s a wonderful honor for Justice Brandeis. It’s really a monument to what he accomplished in his day and what we’re still trying to instill in the students that come through the school.”

Medical Emergency Jul. 8—University Police responded to a 911 call from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management construction site for a possible heart attack.

The party was treated on-scene and transported by ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Jul. 21—University Police received a call from East Quad stating that a staff worker had fallen and injured his face. The party was treated on-scene and transported by ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.

Disturbance Jun. 6—A caller reported that there was a loud group of people in the middle of the Foster Mods. The parties agreed to move indoors and lower their voices.

Jul. 4—University Police were notified of a person bang-

ing on the door of the reporting party’s apartment. The party was intoxicated and thought the apartment was a friend’s.

He was transported back to his residence by University Police.

Jul. 25—University Police drove by the lower Foster Mods and dispersed a party of approximately 100 to 150 people.

University judicial charges were sought against the summer residents responsible.

Larceny Aug. 3—A fake check was sent to a staff member from Brandeis University. Police followed up with the Treasury Office and compiled a report; an investigation will follow.

Aug. 6—A caller reported that a computer, scanner and small bookshelf were stolen from Friedland 10. A statement will be issued at a later date.

Harassment Jun. 17—Staff of the Alumni Relations department reported receiving a “strange” e-mail on June 15. The investigations office followed up on the matter.

Jul. 14—University Police were notified by a student of a white male hiding in the bushes by the Epstein building.

University Police checked the area but found nothing.

Miscelleneous

Trespassing

Jun. 25—University Police found a vehicle with a strong odor of drugs in Charles River Lot. The owners of the vehicle were given a verbal warning and sent off campus by officers.

Jun. 29—A University officer reported that two suspicious parties were engaged in intimate activity in Foster Residence Lot. The female party was identified as a Brandeis student. Both parties were sent on their way.

Jun. 29—University Police received a report of syringes at the gym. Police photographed the syringes and compiled a report. A safety officer disposed of the syringes properly.

Jul. 31—University Police found six people on the roof of Tower B of Usen Castle, including one Brandeis student. The suspects were arrested for trespassing and for being minors in possession of alcohol. University Police compiled a report.

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Aug. 4—A caller reported vandalism “of a strange nature” on a desk in the Sachar International Center. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

—compiled by Hannah Kirsch

AP BRIEF Hurricane Bill’s winds weaken as it nears US

—Reina Guerrero

The Justice is now on Facebook!

Vandalism

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

First year dance off The incoming first-years were welcomed with a Great Lawn barbeque, ice cream social and dancing orientation leaders at a hula-themed dance that brought island flavor to Levin Ballroom.

EDGARTOWN, Mass.—A weakening Hurricane Bill spun northward Saturday, churning up rough seas, creating dangerous rip tides and closing beaches to swimmers up and down the eastern seaboard, including President Barack Obama’s planned vacation spot, Martha’s Vineyard.

The Category 1 hurricane was expected to pass the mainland well off New England but was still packing high winds and waves that had safety officials urging extreme caution.

At Robert Moses State Park in New York, the beach was shut down as the high tide submerged the sand, though the beach opened later Saturday for sunbathing. Along some beaches in Delaware and New Jersey, no swimming was allowed.

“It’s just too dangerous right now,” Rehoboth Beach Patrol Capt. Kent Buckson said.

On Saturday evening, Bill had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph and was about 250 miles south-southeast of Nantucket and about 550 miles southsouthwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect Saturday night for Massachusetts, including the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, meaning tropical storm-force winds of 40 mph or more could hit the coastline in the next 24 hours.

The worst of Bill was expected to pass about 150 to 200 miles east of Martha’s Vineyard before Obama’s arrival on Sunday.

On Saturday, nearly all south-facing beaches on the island were closed to swimmers and large signs blocked roadways to shorefronts.

Meanwhile, lifeguards used caution tape to rope off access points, and police patrolled the beach to enforce the closings.

“The concern we have now is that the riptides are very strong,” said lifeguard James Costantini. “There’s a very strong undertow.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS Brandeis Energy-Saving Lighting Sale Students who want to buy energy-saving lamps, lightbulbs and smart buys can stop by the Lighting Sale. The Lighting Sale is held in conjunction with the first Move In Market, which will start at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26 from 12:30 to 5 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium. For more information, e-mail jannacr@brandeis.edu.

Move In Market Incoming first-years and upperclassmen who are in need of affordable kitchenware and electronics can attend the Move In Market. The Move In Market is a resale of lightly used items collected at the end of last semester. The items are affordable, and each purchase enters the buyer into a raffle to win a barely used Apple iHome.

All profits will support campus sustainability efforts and local nonprofits.Wednes-

day, Aug. 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

For more information, e-mail recycle@brandeis.edu.

duce including jams, jellies, organic juices, baked goods, used books and homemade soaps and lotions. This event is sponsored by the Natural Living Club. Sunday, Aug. 30 from noon to 3 p.m. in Athletics Lot.

Arts and Activities Fair Meet representatives from various Brandeis clubs and organizations at the activities fair. Students can sign up for club mailing lists and watch University performance groups showcase their talents at the fair.

Such performance groups will be holding auditions later in the fall. This event is sponsored by the Department of Student Activities. Sunday, Aug. 30 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the Great Lawn. The rain location will be in Levin Ballroom.

Brandeis Farmers Market Support local produce by stopping by the Farmers Market, which will sell local pro-

Study Abroad Info Session Attend this information session to get an overview of the off-campus study process at Brandeis. Tips for researching programs and destinations as well as information regarding the application process and financial aid will be discussed at the session.

Attending a general information session is mandatory for students wishing to study off-campus for the semester or academic year abroad. Monday, Aug. 31 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge, Usdan Student Center.

THE JUSTICE

Members of DCC selected members of the Dean’s Curriculum Committee will meet Aug. 30.

By MIRANDA NEUBAUER JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe has chosen the faculty and student members of the Dean’s Curriculum Committee, which will seek to implement the adoption of a new curriculum with fewer faculty members in the Arts and Sciences as recommended by the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee last semester.

This plan is part of a larger response to budget pressures in which the University plans to reduce its faculty by 10 percent over five years while increasing the number of undergraduate students by 12 percent. For example, the CARS report projects a decrease from 26 to 22 total faculty in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and 29 to 26 faculty in Biology.

Jaffe selected faculty for the DCC over the summer based on recommendations by the school councils for the humanities, social sciences, fine arts, sciences and faculty from interdepartmental programs. “I wanted people … who would be knowledgeable about the University and have a broad perspective on more than one department or program,” Jaffe said. The faculty representatives are Profs. John Burt (ENG), Jane Kamensky (HIST), Judith Eissenberg (MUS), Lizbeth Hedstrom (BCHM) and Richard Parmentier (ANTH). The student representative will be Supreetha Gubbala ’12, Student Union director of academic affairs. The committee will have its first meeting Aug. 30.

Jaffe said that the DCC will oversee a process taking place this December during which all Arts and Sciences departments will make two projections for their three-year curriculum plans instead of one; one projection will be based on the department’s current faculty size, and the other will be based on the new target size as specified by the CARS report.

The CARS report was released April 20, and a revised version with some corrections was released in May. The decision to form the DCC was made at a January faculty meeting.

As recommended by the CARS report, the DCC will also oversee a more systematic approach to the curriculum

plan update, with each department establishing its own curriculum committee to make recommendations.

According to Jaffe, the University aims to implement the CARS recommendations during the 2010 to 2011 academic year.

While students, therefore, should not see many changes resulting from CARS this semester, Jaffe said some evidence of last year’s budgetary challenges is visible in the number of new faculty hires and courses for first-year students.

There are fewer new faculty members this semester as a result of last year’s hiring freeze, according to Jaffe.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Jaffe wrote that six out of 18 faculty searches were completed last year and of these six, two were hired to start next year. “In addition to the four new hires, we have four people who were hired last year but delayed until this fall, resulting in eight new long-term faculty starting this fall,” Jaffe wrote. He declined to comment why the four faculty members who were hired before the 2008 to 2009 hiring cycle had been delayed.

This semester there are six new professors and assistant professors, compared to last year’s 15.

Jaffe said that some new faculty members were hired before the freeze took effect and that others were replacements for faculty who departed.

Despite the economic challenges, new professors, who were all hired as part of the hiring cycle of 2008 to 2009, are eager about their positions.

Prof. Elizabeth Brainerd, who was hired prior to the 2008 to 2009 hiring cycle, said she was drawn to Brandeis by her joint appointment to Economics and Women’s and Gender Studies. “It fits in really nicely with my research, and I’m really impressed with the quality of the WGS program,” she said.

Brainerd added that she is not very concerned about the financial situation. “All universities have gone through a really difficult year. … I’m not sure it’s really worse at Brandeis than everywhere else,” she stated. “I'm not concerned about the long-term viability of the University at all,” Brainerd said.

Hired during the 2008 to 2009 hiring cycle, Prof Charles Rosenberger (IGS) said that the University’s financial situation does not faze him. He stated that Brandeis has a “much stronger endowment than Boston University,” where he taught previously. “In some ways Brandeis is in very solid shape for the long term,” Rosenberg added.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

3

WORK IN PROGRESS

ACADEMICS

■ The newly selected

●

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

STILL IN DEVELOPMENT : The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center, above, will be ready for occupancy in early October.

Construction projects advance ■ The new admissions

center is nearly finished, and the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center is complete.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The new Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center is scheduled for occupancy in early October, and progress has also been made over the summer on several other oncampus construction projects, said to Vice President of Capital Projects Dan Feldman in an e-mail to the Justice.

Other changes on campus include the completion of the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center and the beginning stages of the Mandel Center for the Humanities. Demolition of the Kalman and Friedland Science Buildings has not yet begun, Feldman wrote in his e-mail.

Feldman wrote that improvements over the old admissions center include two larger waiting areas in order to accommodate the increasing number of visitors to the Brandeis campus and a “financial services satellite office to provide information to waiting parents and prospective students.”

Feldman added that the new building also included a 100-seat presen-

tation room with state-of-the-art presentation technology. University Provost Marty Krauss said that the new presentation room, which looks out over the Shapiro Campus Center, creates a “visible link to the center of campus.”

The Science Center, with a total project cost of approximately $75 million, will be fully operational in terms of classes, offices and research labs at the beginning of this academic year, according to Feldman. “There were many other components to Phase 1 of the Science Complex Renewal Project. Some of these are still in progress (e.g., renovations to selected areas in Bassine, renovations to what was the upper level of the [Gerstenzang] library, and the imminent removal of Friedland first and, later, Kalman). All of these together make up the total cost of a bit over $100 million for Phase 1 of the Science Complex Renewal Project,” Feldman wrote in his e-mail.

The University began moving furniture and equipment into the Science Center late last year, and Krauss said that classes have taken place there over the summer.

Krauss added that she was unsure of the status of the café that was planned for inside the center.

Feldman wrote that the current plan is to demolish the Friedland building between September and

October 2009 and to raze the Kalman building between January and April 2010.

Julius Kalman’s great-nephew Sumner Kalman had filed an injunction against the University on May 7 to prevent the demolition of the Kalman Science building, alleging that such an act would violate Kalman’s will. The University and Sumner Kalman reached a settlement Aug. 18 that calls for the University to name a section of the new Science Center in honor of Julius Kalman.

The design of the $27 million Mandel Center for the Humanities has been completed and construction is under way, according to Feldman. The center, which will be near the North Academic Quad according to Krauss, will be made of concrete.

Feldman wrote, that the concrete pouring process will take several months and that the center should be completed in time for the beginning of the 2010 fall semester.

Feldman wrote that “Given the tight financial constraints Brandeis (like every college and university) is facing, no residence halls received major renovation this summer. Facilities Services did, however, carry on with their regular program of maintenance to residence halls.”

ACADEMICS

JBS panel to receive community submissions ■ Students and faculty can

submit proposals for pilot Justice Brandeis Semester programs starting next year.

By DESTINY AQUINO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

A Justice Brandeis Semester committee will be formed to solicit proposals from students and faculty for up to 12 pilot programs that will begin in the summer of 2010 and continue through the academic year.

An additional JBS committee consisting of faculty members and administrators will be formed to begin reviewing proposals on a rolling basis Sept. 8. The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee must next approve of each individual JBS program. The final approval for the JBS program will come from Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong.

Justice Brandeis Semesters will form an experimental, immersionbased instruction program taught by Brandeis faculty that allows students in small groups of eight to 15 to earn 12 to 20 credits over eight- or 10-week summer programs or over regular semesters.

The JBS program was approved Feb. 26 by the UCC. The programt was then passed at the March 4 faculty meeting.

Many debates occurred at town hall meetings held by the Student Union and administration on several occasions last spring. Debates concerned how tuition would be covered by the students attending a JBS program, whether it would be run by the summer school and how faculty teaching these programs would be compensated for their time.

In a recent interview with the Justice, Student Union President Andy Hogan ’11 voiced his concerns about personal finance issues students would face due to a summer JBS program, such as housing costs.

“There are still a lot of things that need to be worked out, such as personal student expenses and financial aid. I hope that throughout the year these things are examined,” he said.

Justice Brandeis Semester proposals will be reviewed for approval based on the following criteria: academic coherence, excellence and feasibility, expected appeal to undergraduates and financial viability, according to the JBS Web site.

Proposals are due no later than Oct. 1 for summer programs and Dec. 1 for

those meant for fall and spring semesters.

Each JBS program must meet for 39 instructional hours both in and out of the typical classroom setting and will have a $20,000 maximum budget. Additional proposal format and submission information can be found on the JBS Web site.

In an interview with the Justice, Wong explained what types of experiences will be included in the JBS program: “The Justice Brandeis Semester will be offering a range of programs from all four schools of the University (Creative Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences), with a wide range of experiential learning opportunities from conducting ethnographic fieldwork to providing services to a greater Boston community to completing an internship or scientific research, to writing and performing a one-act play.”

Nelson, chair of the faculty JBS committee, said that in order for a student to craft a proposal, he or she must cooperate with a faculty member. “The best way for students to get involved is via faculty they know or via [an Undergraduate Department Representative]. The process for students helping to develop a JBS proposal would be very much like

students arranging an independent study or internship; they would need to get a faculty member to agree to work on it with them.”

Regarding the student proposal process, Wong advised, “They should start by discussing ideas with a faculty member and offering to collaborate. Some faculty and students will want to work together, and others will probably not.”

“

This is an opportunity for students to have a strong influence on the curriculum.

ANDY HOGAN ’11 Although Hogan stated that he will not base a Union project on encouraging students to submit proposals, he said that he wants students to take the initiative on their own accounts. He added that he hopes Union senators will support and publicize any important JBS-related news to their constituents.

Taking inspiration from his summer experience at a legal aid clinic, Hogan told the Justice that he plans to take advantage of the JBS program and propose the creation of a similar experience with the cooperation of the Legal Studies department. Hogan hopes that students follow his example of designing a JBS program based on personal interests.

In an interview with the Justice, former student member of the CARS committee and JBS subcommittee and current Director of Student Rights and Advocacy Lev Hirshhorn ’11 said, “ It is very much in the interest of the student body for JBS to succeed as a mandatory or exceedingly popular program. This will only happen if it is successful, which means that we need a lot of strong programs.”

Hirshhorn further explained that he feels this is the only solution to an overcrowded campus that would be caused by an already approved increase in the student body of approximately 400 students.

“This is an opportunity for students to have a strong influence on the curriculum. If a student is passionate about a topic or idea, I hope they get involved and create [a proposal],” Hogan said.

4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

●

THE JUSTICE

BREAKING THE ICE

ACADEMICS

MOSAIC program revamped ■ The new incarnation of the

program will continue to hold events throughout the academic year.

By NASHRAH RAHMAN JUSTICE EDITOR

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

Ice cream social The incoming Class of 2013 enjoyed ice cream sundaes while socializing with Roosevelt Fellows in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium Monday night.

The MOSAIC program for new student orientation will take place during regular orientation this year and include a yearlong mentor/mentee program.

The MOSAIC program is no longer a preorientation program for which interested students must arrive on campus early. This year the program will begin Aug. 25 during regular orientation in order to provide interested international students, athletes, community advisors, orientation leaders, as well as students involved with the Student Support Services Program and Transitional Year Program, all of whom are usually engaged in other programs during preorientation, the opportunity to participate, according to Director of Community Living for the First and Sophomore Year Michelle O’Malley. Preorientation began on Aug. 23 this year.

Additionally, the mentor/mentee program will engage a mentee with both a student and faculty mentor at least once a week throughout the year, according to Diversity and Social Justice Coordinator Andrew Mandel ’11.

“A MOSAIC mentor is sort of like an

■ The Wiser Plan, which

offers 35 meals and 300 Dining Dollars, will be available this fall.

By NASHRAH RAHMAN JUSTICE EDITOR

Dining Services is introducing the Wiser Plan, a new meal plan for students who are not required to have a full meal plan, as well as several other dining changes this fall.

The Wiser Plan, designed for students who live off campus and those who live in campus housing with full kitchens, offers students 35 meals and 300 Dining Dollars per semester. The plan’s price will be advertised in selected apartments and residences this fall, wrote Director of Dining Services Mike Newmark in an e-mail to the Justice. In the email Newmark explained that Dining Dollars are treated in the same capacity as points but can be purchased at any time, much like WhoCash. Students will benefit from purchasing the Wiser Plan because it offers a greater value through the combination of meals and Dining Dollars, wrote Newmark.

The Dining Services Web site states that Usdan Student Center Boulevard and Café will have added combo meals for under $5, an expanded kosher section in the Boulevard and an organic salad bar. “‘Home Zone’ has changed to a self serve ‘Comfort Classics’ station allowing you to select what and how much you want. Priced by the ounce allows customers maximum flexibility, convenience and value,” according to the Web site. Sherman Dining Hall will feature more gluten-free options and a new kosher stir-fry station. The Wiser Plan was created in response to student feedback about the Wise Plan, a similar meal plan that was introduced last fall, Newmark explained. the Wise Plan is also targeted at students who are not required to be on a meal plan and consists of 90 meals and 325 Dining Dollars per semester for $949. “Student feedback last year was they wanted less meals on a voluntary meal plan,” wrote Newmark in an e-mail to the Justice.

The Wise and Wiser plans can be purchased anytime during the year,

and the Dining Dollars included in these meal plans will expire at the end of the academic year, according to Newmark. “Dining dollars purchased separately by anyone at anytime carry over and only expire upon leaving the University,” Newmark wrote. He added that students will receive a 10-percent value upgrade to their online purchases of Dining Dollars, meaning that if a student pays $300, he will receive $330 in Dining Dollars.

Chair of the Dining Committee Jenna Rubin ’10 believes the new Dining Services Web site is also a significant change. “It’s definitely … an easier format to navigate and understand what kind of information is available, and a lot more questions about meals plan and dining halls have been answered through that Web site,” Rubin said.

“And now in the future when people have questions and come to the Dining Committee, we can tell them, ‘Hey, your question is actually answered on this Web site in the words of ... Newmark, and his answers are far better than ours,” Rubin said.

“Despite economic challenges, we are proud to deliver a world-class dining program for our customers/community by developing relationships based on service excellence, partnership and mutual understanding.

We make quality/service improvements each year based on the support and feedback from students, administration and the rest of the Brandeis community,” wrote Newmark.

Most students, however, did not respond favorably upon hearing of the Wiser Plan.

Eben Cottrelle ’10, who lives in the Foster Mods, a residence that has fitted kitchens, said that he is not currently on a meal plan. “I actually like to cook,” said Cottrelle, emphasizing that, for this reason, he does not wish to be on any meal plan.

Similarly, Jason Stoll ’10, who lives off campus, is also not on a meal plan.

Stoll explained that he does not wish to be on any meal plan “because meal plans consist of mostly campus dining, and the only time I’m on campus is for classes.”

— Brian Fromm contributed reporting

during the year. “MOSAIC Moments,” which are events for MOSAIC participants, will now be mandatory programs, such as on-campus ICC lectures, according to Gnanaratnam.

“One criticism of the MOSAIC program in the past was that it was just a three-day orientation program and that was sort of it,” Mandel said. By encouraging MOSAIC participants to interact with the Brandeis community through the mentor/mentee program, O’Malley believes that “it’s probably going to keep that feeling of the orientation-type program throughout the year.” Gnanaratnam added, “This is an opportunity for us to address and to take a look at some of the critical things students deal with in the first six weeks they come to Brandeis University.”

O’Malley said that it also made more sense to spend the MOSAIC participants’ mandatory orientation fees, set at $185 per new student, over the course of a year-long MOSAIC program rather than over a few days.

Jordan Warsoff ’11, who was a MOSAIC participant as an incoming firstyear as well as a MOSAIC leader last year, said that he found the program very interesting. Warsoff noted that although the MOSAIC program strove in the past to continue throughout the year, “MOSAIC Moments,” in his opinion, have been minimal. He added that the program could potentially be better this year as it opens up to the rest of the campus.

— Hannah Kirsch contributed reporting

CONSTRUCTION

Counseling program moves to library

DINING SERVICES

New meal plan added

orientation leader, but instead of just for orientation, [the MOSAIC mentor] is kind of just for the whole year. It’s sort of like a one-on-one mentoring experience,” Mandel said. Intercultural Center Director Monique Gnanaratnam added that MOSAIC, which previously did not serve as an acronym, now stands for Making Opportunities for Social Adjustment Interaction and Connections.

Students interested in participating in the 2009 to 2010 MOSAIC program were required to complete an online application. The program will begin Aug. 25 with the orientation resource workshop, “What’s MOSAIC?” There will be an on-campus retreat Sept. 13 during which students will take part in seminars on leadership and diversity, according to Mandel. Mandel stated that MOSAIC participants will be assigned to student and faculty mentors at the end of the retreat. “From there, we’ll have programs throughout the year that will help them with their adjustment, transition,” O’Malley said.

O’Malley explained that the MOSAIC program was re-evaluated after it was observed that the program only attracted between 30 to 40 students and did not allow students who would be engaged in other programs during preorientation to participate. “In the past, MOSAIC had established this unity among this 40-odd students and we said we were going to have ‘MOSAIC Moments’ throughout the year, but it never really happened that way,” O’Malley added, explaining that students became busy with other activities

■ The Genetic Counseling

Program is on the upper floor of the Gerstenzang Science Library.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The Genetic Counseling Program completed its move from the Kalman science building into the renovated upper floor of the Gerstenzang Library over the summer.

When the plan was first revealed last year, Prof. Judith Tsipis (BIOL) said that the library space would include offices for the Genetic Counseling Program faculty, a dedicated classroom for the program, a commons area and a conference room. Tsipis confirmed that all these renovations have taken place.

University Provost Marty Krauss wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that classes for the Genetic Counseling Program will take place on the upper floor of Gerstenzang this fall.

The Genetic Counseling Program is a two-year Master of Science degree program that focuses on “providing students with a solid scientific background, knowledge of counseling techniques and awareness of the social and ethical issues in human genetics today,” according to the program’s Web site.

For the 2009 to 2010 academic year, the program will consist of 23 students, including 12 second-year students and 11 first-year students, according to Tsipis.

Due to its deteriorating condition, the Kalman science building will be demolished between January and April 2010, according to Feldman in an e-mail to the Justice. The great nephew of Julius Kalman filed an injunction against the University May 7 to prevent the demolition of the building, alleging that such an act would go against his great uncle’s will. Both parties reached a settlement Aug. 18.

Krauss wrote that part of the newly renovated upper floor of the Gerstenzang library will be used as a graduate study center. “We have a large increase

in the number [of] Masters-level students on campus this fall, and we wanted to provide better support systems for them,” she wrote in the e-mail.

Krauss confirmed that the lower level of the Gerstenzang library will still function as a library.

Vice Provost for Libraries and Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Perry Hanson explained that all books that were previously housed on the upper floor are now accommodated on the lower floor of Gerstenzang and in the Goldfarb Library.

Hanson said that scientific journals, which were previously housed on the upper floor, have been accommodated elsewhere according to whether the journals are available online.

Upon seeing the completed facility, Tsipis said “Our space in Kalman was ... hideous, and people were all over the place in terms of space. And now we have a lovely, lovely center where we can teach our students.”

—Destiny Aquino and Brian Fromm contributed reporting

TECHNOLOGY

Sage software upgraded from 8.0 to 9.0 ■ The updated academic

record system includes prominent links to financial and personal information.

By DESTINY AQUINO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Sage, the academic record system used by students, faculty and staff transitioned from version 8.0 to 9.0 July 22.

The upgrade is meant to ensure that the various components of sage are now easier to use.

The upgrade features a new navigations toolbar, as well as visible links to finances and personal information areas. Many of the upgrades to sage are visible immediately upon logging in.

Director of the Department of Administrative Information Systems Lisa Demings summarised the upgrade in an interview saying, “It’s much easier to now find where you log in using your sage I.D. You also instantly know how much you owe the University.”

In a campuswide e-mail July 26, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marty Krauss notified the Brandeis community that there would be

limited access to sage between July 17 and July 20. The e-mail also explained that there would be no access to sage July 21 and that sage 9.0 would be complete and running July 22.

Krauss and Eddy sent out a second email once the system upgrade to sage 9.0 was complete. Many offices throughout the University coordinated under Eddy and Krauss’ leadership to complete the upgrade of sage 8.0 to sage 9.0.

Vice President and Vice Provost for Libraries and Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Perry Hanson said that the University server would not be able to support the necessary applications without the upgrade to sage 9.0. “ Once you get into these enterprise resource claiming tools, which we both use for financials and sage, then we have to upgrade on a regular basis, which is every few years depending on the system. We were close to the point in which the server would no longer be able to support us if we did not upgrade,” Hanson explained.

“I oversee many of the offices responsible for SAGE— the Registrar, admissions, financial services to name a few. These offices use SAGE extensively and provide services to incoming and current students, so making sure

that all of our data and functions could be replicated in the upgrade was really important to me,” wrote Eddy in an email to the Justice.

The University did not pay additional fees to upgrade to sage 9.0, according to Hanson. He added the University does not pay PeopleSoft, the server that created and maintains sage, for the upgrade. “We pay them maintenance, and the maintenance covers upgrades to the system,” Hanson explained.

Regarding future updates to sage, Hanson said, “We will be doing some behind-the-scenes stuff, but we hope that none of it affects what the students see and use, so for at least the next year things will stay the same.”

Nathan Koskella ’13 appreciates the informative and inviting look of sage 9.0. “Where the old layout was austere and cold, the new form is like a book” Koskella said.

However, other students, such as John Jesus Orr ’12, do not like the upgraded software.

“I think [sage 9.0] is confusing to navigate and that the construction of the initial menu and getting back and forth between pages could be done a lot better,” Orr said.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

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FUNDS: University projects FY ’10 balance CONTINUED FROM 1 deficit for the current fiscal year, French explained, and the administration presented a plan to close that gap to the Board of Trustees in May. That plan included the one-year suspension of the University’s matching contributions to employees’ retirement accounts.

At that meeting, French wrote, the administration also revised its endowment return projection to 20 percent from an earlier March projection of 30 percent. “The actual endowment return in FY 2009 was -17.3%,” French wrote. He added that “Brandeis’s [sic] endowment return compares favorably with many of our peers’.” French referred to a Bloomberg news report, which found that U.S. endowments on average fell 24 percent, with Brown and Yale University estimating a 24 percent decrease and Harvard University a 30 percent decrease due to the changes in the stock market in which they are invested.

Despite this projection, “there continue to be concerns related to key budget areas, including tuition, financial aid, investment returns, and fundraising,” French wrote. He stated that the University projects annual operating deficits for fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2014, ranging from -$7 million in fiscal 2011 to -$2 million in fiscal 2014.

“These projections assume that the University will be successful in its

KALMAN: Estate’s lawsuit settled CONTINUED FROM 1 According to the settlement, if the location of the plaque is ever removed due to renovations, Brandeis has agreed to place the plaque in an equivalent place within the Science Center.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Executive Director of Media and Public Affairs Dennis Nealon wrote, “Brandeis University is very pleased that the University and the Kalman family have reached an amicable agreement.

Under President Reinharz’s leadership, the University has made it a priority to update and replace older facilities in an effort to provide students and faculty with an exceptional educational experience and learning environment.

Julius Kalman’s magnificent generosity to the University will be appropriately honored by the placement of plaques in the new science building on the Brandeis campus.”

Emily LaGrassa, director of communication for attorney general Martha Coakley, said that she believed the attorney general’s office had not intervened after reviewing the situation.

Additional details were not available at press time.

Kalman said, “I think that it’s unfortunate that we had to get into litigation. That was certainly not my preferred method. We were working with [the Brandeis lawyers and representatives] in a cordial fashion and [came] to a resolution.”

“I had no assurance that [the original intent of the will] would be [honored], and now I feel that is being effectuated and that’s really what’s important,” Kalman said.

efforts to increase enrollments by 400 undergraduate students and decrease the Arts & Sciences faculty budget by $5M or by roughly 35 full-time equivalents,” he wrote. If this does not occur, deficits are projected to expand to up to $12.1 million in fiscal 2014.

The $78.3 million fundraising figure includes restricted and unrestricted money that flows through the operating budget in the current fiscal year or in a subsequent year, Director of Development Communications David Nathan explained in an e-mail to the Justice.

Funds for capital projects and that endowment are also part of the $78.3 million total, he added. The restricted and unrestricted funds used in the operating budget in fiscal 2009 included $11.6 million primarily for arts and sciences support, including financial aid; $13.2 million for targeted program support, including graduate education, the International Business School and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and $6.3 million from large bequests and one-time resources to help close the budget gap. With $11.6 million, the University beat its budget-relieving target by $600,000, Nathan wrote.

Winship emphasized that much fundraising support came from alumni, trustees, the Brandeis National Committee and other friends of the University, including members of the Jewish community. Funds were also

raised through the Phonathon program, which involves students making phone calls to alumni in order to solicit donations. Additionally, students spoke directly to donors and wrote them thank-you notes to encourage cooperation for the future.

Winship said that a significant contribution of $600,000 came from a Brandeis fundraising initiative called the Krupp Scholarship Challenge, which was established by Boston community leaders Liz and George Krupp. The Krupps agreed to contribute up to $1 million by matching $1 for every $2 raised for scholarships. According to Winship, other donors were encouraged by the promise of the Krupps’ additional contributions.

Winship said that raising money for student financial aid was her office’s highest priority. “Instead of soliciting someone for an endowed gift, … we instead asked them to give whatever they could give [for current use],” Winship said.

Winship said her office has also focused on student need in its outreach to donors, stressing student need online in particular by using viral marketing campaigns. “The Faculty Senate sent an e-mail to around 20,000 alumni and asked them for support; that was something we’d never done before,” she said. The office sought to engage alumni using online video seminars with Brandeis professors and created a video featuring Brandeis mascot Ollie the Owl

geared toward attracting younger alumni as well one focused on the importance of scholarships to students.

Given the financial challenges, donors over the past fiscal year were also less likely to make long-term commitments, said Winship. “Up until this year, people looked to the future financially, maybe making more and more, thinking their savings would be growing,” Winship said.

Another method the Office of Development and Alumni Relations used to solicit gifts this year was to obtain stretch gifts, Winship explained, asking donors to give slightly more than the original amount offered given the need that Brandeis faces. Winship expressed concern about using the same strategy for the coming year as “it’s very hard to tell [people] the same story again next year,” she said.

French wrote that the University would be engaging in a continued review of the financial and budget planning process with the Brandeis community before presenting updates to the fiscal 2010 budget and the fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2014 budgets at the October Board of Trustees meeting.

French explained that the administration always projects multiple financial scenarios, including worst, middle and best. “At the conclusion of fiscal 2009, the University’s financial status can be characterized as

ADMIN: Four administrators to leave CONTINUED FROM 1 look at residence life on this campus not about where people live, but more about how people live.”

Staff changes in the DCL are part of the Department’s efforts to involve other University organizations in its programming.

Financial restraints prevented the University from hiring replacements after three staff members in the DCL, including Rich deCapua, Kate d’Urso and Nicole Fadavi left Brandeis approximately one year ago. Instead, the University chose to reorganize its staff.

Jeremy Leiferman, formerly the co-director of ResLife, became the department’s senior director; Michelle O’Malley, formerly director of orientation and first-year programs, became the director for the first-year and sophomore classes; and Erika LaMarre, formerly the director of student development and conduct, became the director for the junior and senior year classes. Sarah Richardson, who previously served as one of the activities advisors in the Department of Student Activities, replaced Metevier. The department also appointed Dean Gendron as director of the newly renamed Office of Student Rights and Community Standards.

The University’s financial office will see the one of the most significant personnel changes among the offices and departments that will undergo reorganization, as French ends his 12-year career in Brandeis’ financial office at the end of this calendar year.

Jeff Apfel, formerly the vice president for administration and finance at Rutgers University, will

replace French as EVP/COO in October; until then, he will serve as vice president of financial affairs.

While French will officially retire in October, he will remain here through December as an adviser to Apfel and University President Jehuda Reinharz. “Every day I’ve been here has been a privilege,” French said in an interview with the Justice. “This is just a great institution.”

Murphy will leave Brandeis Aug. 31 after 12 years at Brandeis to become an associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer at New York University’s new institution in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. “I’m very excited about this opportunity, and Brandeis has prepared me well,” she said in an interview with the Justice.

The Office of Admissions will undergo similar transitions this year; Villanueva left Brandeis July 1 and is now the dean of admissions at the University of Richmond.

According to Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy, the University will enlist a search firm in February to find a replacement and plans to hire a new dean by July 1, 2010. Until July 1, Eddy will assume Villanueva’s responsibilities within the administration.

“The biggest accomplishment [Villanueva] made was in diversity issues for incoming classes,” Eddy said of Villanueva’s successful efforts to increase campus diversity throughout his four years at Brandeis.

Miles left Brandeis in the beginning of July to work at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The selection process for the position of senior vice president of

communications is in preliminary stages and will continue through September, according to French. “[Miles had] an incredible amount of energy and time devoted to her job,” said Dennis Nealon, executive director of media and public affairs, who worked closely with Miles.

Villanueva and Miles could not be reached despite repeated requests for comment.

Within the DCL, LaMarre will be responsible for supervising areas on campus where juniors and seniors live and working with campus offices that offer services to benefit them. LaMarre said she plans to help juniors and seniors by working with alumni as well as other Brandeis departments and organizations, including Academic Services, the Hiatt Career Center and the Study Abroad office.

DCL living is a “quality-of-life experience and an outside-theclassroom curriculum,” LaMarre wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

O’Malley will supervise areas where underclassmen live and create new programming for all classes. O’Malley said she expects to collaborate with departments like the Intercultural Center, Student Activities, orientation committees and the Department of Athletics.

According to Sawyer, this year Gendron will create a campuswide committee to review the student judicial process and improve the Bill of Rights.

“We [the Department of Community Living] hope that we are evolving with students as they progress through the University and provide them what they need and want,” Leiferman said.

Brandeis Administrators Move On

Peter French

Lorna Miles

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Senior Vice President for Communications

Maureen Murphy Vice President of Financial Affairs

Gil Villaneuva Dean of Admissions

slightly stronger than the middlecase,” French wrote. The University ended fiscal 2009 “with a modest positive operating result of $500,000” through increases in revenues and decreases in expenses.

Winship says that her office is already focused on fundraising for the new fiscal year. “You don’t really know if you’ve made [the exact total raised] until July 12, [after the books close]”, she said. “[But] as soon as we hit July we start at zero again.”

Looking into the future, “we’re just in the process of planning our strategy [for the coming fiscal year], but most likely our focus will again be to raise as much current use funds for student financial aid and student programs as possible,” Winship said.

Jeffrey Apfel, who will soon replace Peter French as EVP/COO, noted that “every institution works on integrating its fundraising opportunities with its overall financial goals.”

Apfel added that “what fundraising in higher education is all about is … finding ways to link donors’ passions to the mission and direction of the institution. From what I can see, Brandeis has done that well.”

☛ Read an expanded version of

this article on the Justice Web site at www.thejusticeonline.com.

ROSE: New court to hear suit CONTINUED FROM 1 take their case and didn’t take their case, ” said Reilly.

Lee, the chairman of the Rose Board of Overseers, said in an interview that he was not displeased with the court’s decision to transfer the case.

The lawsuit additionally claims that Brandeis has accelerated the process of selling works of art but does not provide any evidence of such actions. Lee would not comment on this particular aspect of the lawsuit but said that the complainants were gathering “lots of documentation.”

Reilly initially called this allegation premature in a comment to the press after the lawsuit was initially filed July 27 and has maintained that it is not an accurate assertion. “The plaintiffs have represented that [the University has accelerated the process of selling the art], but that is simply not the case,” he said.

Provost Marty Krauss said in an interview with the Justice that although she is not familiar with all of the legacies of the suit,“They didn’t give any evidence. I don't know what they're referring to,” she said.

According to Lee, the lawsuit’s assertion that Brandeis has a commitment to the Rose family and the complainants to keep the Rose fully functional as a public art museum stems from the founding documents that were written when Edward and Bertha Rose first prepared to donate money to create the museum.

Included in the lawsuit is a letter written in 1968 by Edward Rose stipulating that funds from the museum could only be used to purchase other artwork; the letter was signed by Abraham Sachar, Brandeis’ president at that time. “It’s clear that the president, Abraham Sachar at the time, and Ed and Bertha Rose made a compact to have a public art museum in the documents,” said Lee. When asked about that particular letter, Reilly said that he could not comment on specific documents but that “everything would unfold” during the litigation process and that Brandeis would have a chance to tell its story. He added that both he and other lawyers involved in the case have been in contact with the court.

THE JUSTICE

just

features

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

7

VERBATIM | Mahatma Gandhi Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

ON THIS DAY...

FUN FACT

In 1814, the U.S. Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces.

Lobsters have blue blood.

A meaningful contribution Executive Vice President Peter French retires this year

By HANNAH KIRSCH JUSTICE EDITOR

When asked what he will miss most about Brandeis University, soon-to-retire Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French answers instantly: “The people!”

“I’ve done quite a bit of reading about retirement,” says French, a stately, white-haired man of 65, “and a lot of what people say after they retire is … [they’ll miss] the people, and I think that’s high up on my list.”

French came to Brandeis in July of 1997, and immediately, what he saw of the Brandeis community struck him. “My number-one impression was the people here, and really the enthusiasm and the excellence and the sense of optimism,” says French. “I really felt that from when I first started to be interviewed, and that has carried through the whole 12 years.”

But French also noted major drawbacks to Brandeis that he soon set out to fix: “The other impression I had when I arrived was that the physical plant was in need of a lot of work. I know when I got here that July, the campus was just covered in all sorts of trucks for repair people who were working on different elements of the campus.”

Soon, French invested his time and effort in what he calls the “physical transformation” of the Brandeis campus. Indeed, since he took the position of chief operating officer, there have been 11 major renovations or construction projects, including the expansion of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, renovation of the Usdan Student Center and construction of the Shapiro Campus Center, Abraham Shapiro Academic Complex and Carl J. Shapiro Science Center. He credits in part University President Jehuda Reinharz and Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship for their fundraising and planning efforts in achieving these goals for campus renovation.

However, the expensive, wide-scale reimagining of the campus has not come without criticism. The Board of Trustees approved a budget deficit of $5.6 million in October 2003 in order to continue building projects, and Brandeis has traditionally relied on large-scale gifts and borrowing to fund its efforts. While a booming economy in the early part of the decade led to consistently positive projections for a balanced budget, and while the upcoming fiscal year’s budget is also projected to balance, a multimillion-dollar budget gap remains projected for the next few fiscal years even after extensive rollbacks. Fundraising to make up the extensive debt taken to construct the Science Center slowed after the recession and Madoff scandal took their toll, and work on the Safra Center for

the Arts has also stalled.

In the face of the Brandeis budget crisis, many have asserted that revamping the campus with a reliance on debt and gifts was imprudent despite the undoubted improvements the new buildings have brought. French responds to such criticism with a rhetorical question all too common today: “Who could have predicted the economic downturn?” He continues, “When you look at the University, I think you have to look at it in terms of a long-term point of view, and all of these buildings were conceived and designed and have been put in place to meet a perceived need, and I think when history is written of this, it will show that the right decisions were made.” Reinharz also disagrees with critics, saying in an e-mail to the Justice that “all of the major construction projects have filled critical needs at the University.”

Along with transforming the physical campus, French also set out to rework the management and financial systems in place at Brandeis. “I recall walking into this suite of offices … and one of the first things I actually did was move [my office] downstairs and take the doors off and put in glass so that people could see in.” This none-too-subtle metaphor represents French’s desire “to bring more visibility to what the administrative finance function does here and more organization and transparency. We really have been trying to do that over the past 12 years, and I do think that people have made some progress.” He also mentioned that the “lack of credibility in some of the numbers we were producing” was a direct result of lapsed financial information systems and muddled interactions among different University systems.

Initiatives to achieve these goals included the creation of a chief information officer position and involvement of PeopleSoft information systems to smooth out University management and organization. “I did a chart early on when we were here, and I attempted to map all the different systems we had, and it was this chart with all these different balloons that weren’t tied together,” says French. “It was basically a homegrown system, and it took us about five years, but we were able to turn that around and put into place a best-practice information system.” French emphasized that recruitment of talented staff and involving them in system changes was essential to the successful reorganization of Brandeis’ financial and management systems. “That was a huge effort and it was one of the key things we did here and we worked as a team to change things around,” he says, citing administrators like former Vice President and Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services Perry Hanson and the former Vice President for Financial Affairs and

RACHEL CORKE/Justice file photo

SPEAKING UP: Executive Vice President Peter French presents at a Jan. 28 forum on Brandeis’ budget.

Treasurer Maureen Murphy as instrumental in the team effort.

“I think we’ve got a really first-class team here,” says French, “and I'm really proud of that. I’d actually put that toward the top if someone says to me, ‘Peter, what are you most proud of?’ That's it.”

In an e-mail to the Justice, Reinharz said of French, “He has been at the center of every major construction project, he has participated in and contributed significantly to the University’s strategic planning efforts, and he has provided outstanding leadership of the offices reporting to him. He has been open and responsive to students and faculty, and his impact on the University will be felt for years.”

“In all of our interactions, he has been honest, fair and deeply dedicated to the students at Brandeis,” former Student Union President Jason Gray ’10 wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

Reinharz added that French “has been a terrific colleague to work with, a tremendous resource for Brandeis and ... he will be missed by all of us, including Trustees, who have had the opportunity to work with him.”

French will soon be replaced by Jeffrey Apfel, former executive vice president of the Rhode Island School of Design and chief financial offi-

cer of the Rutgers University and New Jersey State University systems. French notes that he crossed paths with Apfel while both were working in the New York state government system.

When asked if he set out to end up in higher education from the beginning of his career, French says that “the main thing that I focused on in those early years was I wanted to make sure that I was making a contribution. As I got older and matured, I began to understand what that means, and I related it to a mission.”

French says that it was the not-for-profit worlds of “particularly health care and higher education” that attracted him for their societal import and wide-ranging impact. “The key thing that motivated me was I wanted to make a contribution to something meaningful.”

As for where he'd like to see Brandeis go after he turns over the reins to Apfel, French says, “In a nutshell, I want to see the University realize its aspirations. … Excellence. Just excellence across the board.” And while French acknowledges that the last six to eight months have perhaps been the most difficult of his career, he speaks with complete conviction when he says, “I look back on all those years—I’ve been working since 1967—and I don’t really regret a day.”

Constructing a career Throughout Peter French’s 12 years at Brandeis, the campus saw 11 construction projects on buildings including the Usdan Student Center, Shapiro Campus Center and Shapiro Science Center. Below from left are photos of the construction in progress on the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center and the Mandel Center for the Humanities.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

8

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

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THE JUSTICE

ORIENTATION 2009

First-year fren

By SHANA D. LEBOWITZ JUSTICE EDITOR

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

Neatly stacked plastic crates, cardboard boxes of electronics and a rainbow of towels, sheets and prepurchased textbooks slowly crept out from all corners of the campus.

Laundry hampers and duffle bags moved from the trunks of vans specially rented for the occasion into the eager embrace of tree-colored orientation leaders. Head-bobbing tunes by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Blondie drowned out directions to one first-year residence hall or another as a voice from a megaphone echoed throughout South Residence Lot: “Welcome, Class of 2013.”

The celebrated entrance of Brandeis’ 51st class on Sunday marked the start of Orientation and Welcome Week 2009 for first-year students. This year’s orientation, themed “Here’s to the ones that can’t be ignored,” boasts an array of novel and traditional programs, including campus tours, the Boston Harbor cruise, academic and job fairs and a concert on the Great Lawn with performances by local bands.

Author Junot Diaz will visit campus Wednesday to speak to students about his book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which students read this summer. Among the newer items on the orientation agenda are a presentation by

Student Sexuality Information Services an munity service projects in Waltham. Pr year focuses on initiating conversation ab tolerance, with events such as the “Tunne an event designed to get students talking a dice, a dialogue on diversity led by A Student Life Jamele Adams and Trisk breakfast.

Orientation leaders meandered throug dence halls Sunday evening to pry new farewell embraces with parents and sibl began to set and the bubble of humid Brandeis campus slowly lifted, herds of ne led onto the Great Lawn for the annual N Prompted by a spontaneous eruption of da tation leaders leapt into an eclectic series twirls, jumps and flailing arms designed upbeat tone for the upcoming days of orien From the sighting of the first car rolling campus to the casual waves goodbye tha 1,000 students into their college careers, th day was as typically overwhelming as it wa gy-packed. These photos highlight the div that made up the cheerful chaos on campu

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

SETTLING IN: Top, at the New Student Barbeque Sunday, the Great Lawn and the area outside the campus center were dotted with orientation groups sitting in circles, getting to know each other through creative icebreakers and loud games. Above, new students arrived in cars filled to the brim with equipment for their first year of living in a college dormitory. Some students came up with especially innovative techniques for packing.

MA

DAVID SHEPPARD-BRICK/the Justice

MEETING AND GREETING: Brandeis administrators, staff and student employees and volunteers all pitched in to ma cess. Left, University President Jehuda Reinharz and a staff member speak with a community adviser as new studen idence halls. Above, community advisers stood out in bright red T-shirts and put on friendly faces as they handed ou students’ new residence halls. Right, the Great Lawn teemed with first-year students, orientation leaders, communit Brandeis staff at the New Student BBQ Sunday evening. Groups of students hung out on the Great Lawn with hamb veggie burgers and talked to their orientation leaders about Brandeis life. Orientation leaders surprised students wh performed a well-choreographed series of dance moves to some funky tunes and cheered for the opening of Orienta Week 2009.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Ju

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

HELPING HANDS: Left, new students were all ears at the Brande Beginnings ceremony, where Reinharz and Sawyer were among t speakers. Above, orientation leaders exhibited superhuman strength as they carried crates, boxes and other paraphernalia fo students’ first year living in college dormitories. Jeffrey Cornejo ’1 maintained a pleasant demeanor as he helped a new student moved in. Right, Wei Sum Li ’10 gave a new student and his mot er directions.

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ORIENTATION 2009

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nd a series of comProgramming this bout diversity and el of Oppression,” about racial prejuAssociate Dean of kelion’s LGBTQA

gh first-year resiw students from lings. As the sun dity covering the ew students trickNew Student BBQ. ance music, orienof choreographed d to set the wildly ntation. onto the Brandeis at launched near his year’s move-in as warm and enerversity of activity us Sunday.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

RAISING SPIRITS: University President Jehuda Reinharz and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer spoke to students about what to expect out of their four years at Brandeis at the Brandeis Beginnings ceremony in Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Above, Sawyer gets students excited for their Brandeis careers at the ceremony while Reinharz and other presenters look on in amuseument.

AX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

ake move-in day a sucnts move into their resut hundreds of keys to ty advisers and burgers, hot dogs and hen they spontaneously ation and Welcome MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

A NEW START: Above and below, students hugged families goodbye outside Gosman before the Brandeis Beginnings ceremony. Their tearful embraces marked the students’ official transitions to independence. Left, students were eager to finally see their new residence halls and move in as they dragged their luggage from the parking lots.

ustice

eis the

or 10

thMAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

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THE JUSTICE

the Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

HANNAH L. KIRSCH, Editor-in-Chief ANDREA FINEMAN, Managing Editor SHANA D. LEBOWITZ and DAVID SHEPPARD -B RICK, Associate Editors NASHRAH RAHMAN, News Editor REBECCA KLEIN, Features Editor REBECCA B LADY, Forum Editor IAN CUTLER, Sports Editor JUSTINE ROOT, Arts Editor JULIAN AGIN -LIEBES and MAX B REITSTEIN MATZA, Photography Editors B RIAN N. B LUMENTHAL, Layout Editor B RIAN FROMM, Copy Editor

Univ can use student help Brandeis finds its 2009 to 2010 academic year opening with tight finances and key administrators and staff members missing from University roster. To plug holes left by the departures of such big names as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French, Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva and Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles, many of the remaining administrators and staff have reorganized, broadening their own jobs to fill the vacant positions. While the reorganization of the Department of Residence Life into the Department of Community Living seems an effective cost-cutting solution, we are concerned that staff members will be overburdened and unable to serve the Brandeis community to their full potential. These jobs must be done by people who can make them a priority while still saving the University money. To accomplish this task, this editorial board suggests that the administration consider hiring students to perform administrative tasks in these dwindling departments.

While a Brandeis student obviously cannot act as a new full-time dean of admissions, positions such as departed staff members Operations Specialist Mark Metevier’s and Activities Advisor Rebecca Lehrhoff’s can be divided up into several part-time roles and shared by a number of students working for less pay than the University would have to spend on a full-time, adult staff member.

Brandeis would not be alone in adopting this suggested initiative.

According to “For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings,” a June 18 article in The New York Times, “Rhodes College in Memphis economizes—and gives students work experience—by hiring students in 25 professional staff positions, saving $725,000 a year.” To put this into perspective, a mere $90,000 saved by over one-third of Brandeis’ Arts and Sciences faculty taking a voluntary 1-percent pay cut last winter prevented two staff members from being laid off.

Lighten the burden on staff We must clarify that we are not advocating that Brandeis lay off existing staff members. We are encouraging Brandeis to seek to fill vacancies with part-time student workers where reasonable rather than redistribute work among existing staff members in the face of the current hiring freeze.

Brandeis already entrusts students to run several campus staples. Both the BranVan and Student Sexuality Information Services are completely— and competently—student-run.

Additionally, Student Events organizes a major concert, not to mention collaborates with the student-run WBRS on Springfest, every year with minimal input from University staff.

Students could take on some administrative duties in the non-student-run Student Activities—which already employs student volunteers for events like Fall Fest. Additionally, the Office of Admissions has trusted students to conduct admissions interviews for four years; Admissions could hire students into other positions where they would perform, in part, the roles of Admissions staff members at a lower cost to the University.

We realize that our suggestion is not a polished solution but simply a jumping-off point. The administration must decide how it would implement such a plan. But Brandeis should look seriously into following in the footsteps of schools like Rhodes. We recognize that our plan would cost the University more money than the current method of redistributing work among existing staff members; however, our plan will prevent Brandeis’ programming quality from suffering and will provide needy students with jobs on campus.

As Brandeis restructures some of its cornerstone departments following this summer’s wave of staff departures, it should restructure how its departments are staffed, increasing student involvement in the University and keeping money in Brandeis’ shrinking wallet.

Learn from rushed decisions Few of the last semester’s controversial issues have been resolved.

While the lawsuit filed by the Kalman family against the University was recently settled, a new lawsuit has cropped up, filed by three Rose Art Museum overseers to stop the closing of the museum. Brandeis has had a recent fiscal upswing thanks to assiduous fundraising and across-the-board cuts, but we are by no means out of the woods, and the costs of hiring outside counsel Thomas Reilly— plus other associated legal fees— cannot be paltry. If more care and foresight had been taken in the Rose and Kalman decisions, such costly legal imbroglios could have been avoided.

The University is paying both literally and figuratively for a unilateral Rose Art Museum decision and for rushing ahead with razing the Kalman building before researching donor intent and consulting with the late donor’s family. Time and money must be spent on the Rose Art Museum suit and on settling the Kalman suit, and in the meantime Brandeis continues to

More participation needed bask in the negative publicity of such decisions.

The continuing fallout of these moves should remind the administration that while the parades of faculty meetings and student/faculty joint committees may seem endless, they are more likely to prevent hasty decisions leading to legal battles or screams of protest. The administration has already taken this lesson to heart by seeking cooperation on Justice Brandeis Semester formulation and Curricular and Academic Restructuring Steering committee decisions. It should follow this model for future decisions affecting the entire University community.

As far as the Kalman suit, while we are glad a settlement has been reached relatively quickly and smoothly, a better-researched decision would have avoided legal problems altogether. We hope the administration continues to pursue the transparency and Universitywide cooperation that will leave this semester free of controversy.

A. ELI TUKACHINSKY/the Justice

Brandeis spirit demands rational dialogue on issues David

LITVAK REALITY CHECK

As students at Brandeis, we are charged with the pursuit of truth “even unto its innermost parts.” If we hold to those words, then we have a duty to insist on a civilized, rational discussion of policies that will affect our lives and the lives of our fellows. In this light, it’s worth considering the utter degradation of civilized discourse that transpired over this past summer, a summer that saw truth fall as the first victim to a most troubling form of vitriol and venom.

What an odd summer it has been. We have seen the U.S. president subjected to countless rumors and dark accusations lacking any foundation in reality, all apparently intended to delegitimize and undermine the administration. The president’s policies have been subjected to the crudest caricatures and painted as catastrophic abandonments of American principles; his supporters in government have suffered irrational attacks as well. According to his detractors, he is a socialist while he is somehow also a fascist; he was born in Kenya, thus ineligible for the presidency to which he was elected; he wants to euthanize the elderly; he is an ardent and unabashed racist. These falsehoods go on and on.

Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their ilk have pandered to the most ludicrous fears of a fringe element, broadcasting that paranoia to millions. Acting in pursuit of ratings, not improved policy or discourse, they recklessly endanger the public welfare, their actions contrary to a free exchange of ideas. Nothing is achieved by such ridiculous accusations of Nazism and nefarious intent except the abandonment of civility and the desertion of the social justice for which Justice Louis D. Brandeis so ardently fought. Respect for our democratic institutions and a commitment to vigorous and spirited debate are the vanguard of our American republic; however, these myriad efforts to exaggerate, sensationalize and outright lie to the American people have rendered any meaningful discussion impossible. Justice Brandeis wrote in 1915, “What are the American ideals? They are the development of the individual for his own and the common good; the development of the individual through liberty, and the attainment of the common good through democracy and social justice.” Limbaugh expressed a hope for the failure of the administration, but failure does not promote the common good; lies and distortions betray our democracy and restrict our true potential for social justice.

In this climate, absurd comparisons to Adolf Hitler are the rule, not the exception; those concerned about government policies are encouraged not simply to articulate opposing viewpoints but to shout down and intimidate officials at town hall meetings nationwide. Our country has seen obfuscation and distortion like this before: President Chester Arthur weathered rumors that he was a foreigner, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower was accused of being a Communist. Both the far left and far right have long and storied histories of misrepresentation and fear-mongering, but this most recent strain seems particularly troubling. The wild insinuations about the president and his policies that have propagated in recent months will inexorably chip away at the perception of his character. This is more than simple voter dissatisfaction; this is the systematic delegitimization of the office of the presidency and the man who holds it.

Why should we at Brandeis care? Because words matter. Language matters. And blind demonization of one’s opponents has consequences. The nation has found itself sliding into an economic abyss, descending deeper than any time since the 1930s. We have seen our university suffer dearly in this turmoil, and many of us have seen our parents suffer as well. As students, as citizens, we all have a stake in the success of this nation. Many of us voted last year, and regardless of whether we identify as Democrats, Republicans or Independents, our futures are intimately dependent on the success of our country. What we need now is not demagoguery but reasoned debate, a spirited discussion about the policies that will affect each of our lives. Only then can we begin to work toward securing our common good and achieving the social justice we seek.

OP-BOX Quote of the Week “I am disappointed that the work is being prematurely removed—it was meant to engage a variety of entropic forces, and being up only in the summer really limited the effect, meaning, and audience of the work. Campus politics certainly count as a form of entropy that acts on art.”

—-Prof. Peter Kalb (FA) about an art exhibition taken down early. (See Arts, page 21)

Brandeis Talks Back What do you think of the new Admissions building?

ZHILONG LIN ’10 “Hopefully it’ll be better when it’s done.”

NAOMI SPECTOR ’12 “I don’t know anything about it, really. As long as we’re not spending a ton of money on it.”

MICHAEL SAPP ’12 “I think it’s pretty cool. The structure of the building matches Shapiro, in a way.”

JORDAN KERT ’11 “It’s very nice. It’s a lovely testament to what the school stands for.”

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READER COMMENTARY Evidence will determine lawsuit’s end In response to your article “Rose overseers sue Brandeis to halt Rose closure” (Breaking News, Jul. 30): I agree that there is a standard of ethics that should be upheld. I also agree that it should be upheld; however, in a court of law it is the black and white evidence that defines the outcome. Is the Board of Trustees violating a criminal or civil law by selling Rose Art Museum artwork? I have not heard anything criminal. As far as civil matters go, this is based entirely on what is written in those contracts between the donating party and Brandeis University. If one could find a substantial number of contracts stating some clause as to help prove that the contract is being violated, then it is up to that person to sue the school.

—Nipun Marhwaha ’12

Univ’s decision on museum is final In response to your article “Rose overseers sue Brandeis to halt Rose closure” (Breaking News, Jul. 30): For three members of the Rose Art Museum Board of Overseers to file a lawsuit against Brandeis University in Massachusetts’ Supreme Court to halt the closure of the Rose Art Museum is like beating a dead horse. The Brandeis Board of Trustees voted unanimously in January 2009 to close the Rose Art Museum and convert its building into a fine arts teaching center. This decision is a legal one made by Brandeis’ governing board; consequently, the courts have no jurisdiction to change it. The Rose family and the Rose Board of Overseers must accept the fact that the closing of the Rose Art Museum is a fait accompli. Any action that they take to try to reopen it will be useless.

—George Patsourakos Billerica, Mass.

Rose lawsuit is not black and white In response to your article “Rose overseers sue Brandeis to halt Rose closure” (Breaking News, Jul. 30): The issue is not so simple.

First of all, anytime art has been sold or donated to a museum anywhere, not just at the Rose Art Museum, there are contracts and agreements involved. In some of those

agreements, there are provisions. Some provisions are explicit and clear cut, and some are tacit and/or ambiguous. A provision might be that donated art cannot be sold for the purpose of a profit, that the art must stay in a museum for a certain period of time, that it be kept safe by such and such a method, that it be viewed publicly or that the institution holding the art will not change in its nature etc. We should not speculate, since we have not seen those contracts. Maybe some have, which I would find amazing, but most people definitely have not. And even for those who have seen them, not everything is black and white. People, and boards, and trustees, change their minds.

—Daniel Baron ’09

Booker an impressive political figure In response to your article “Booker advocates responsibility” (News, May 19): I must say that after watching Cory Booker on CNN in the 11 a.m. hour on July 19 that I am extremely impressed. This young man has superior intellect and a good heart and shows empathy toward his fellow man. I had never heard his name until today. He is barely 40 years old. This young politician is a great speaker and is doing a wonderful job in New Jersey. I will be watching this up-and-coming star of the Democratic Party! I hope he will consider running for a higher office in 2016. I am very, very impressed with this impeccable leader from up North just as I was with President Barack Obama and his brilliant staff of young, high-tech workers like Corey Booker. I wish much good luck to a rising star in the Democratic Party.

—Jane Flanagan Dallas, Texas

One-year cuts better than faculty cuts In response to your article “Board passes retirement fund plan” (News, May 19): While I have never taken an Economics class and do not have any particular understanding of the way retirement funds work, I have to express a large amount of shock at the “Fire Jehuda” sentiment floating around. For the past months there has been so much talk of cut-

ting faculty and staff, that I was afraid that I would come to school one day and find that my bosses or my favorite professors had gone. If I am reading this correctly, it seems like this move will negate that possibility. We as students will continue to benefit from working for and learning from Brandeis faculty and staff, and the faculty and staff’s days aren’t numbered. This cutback is only for a year. I’m not a math student either, but if there’s a choice between cutting a bit of funding for a year or cutting someone’s funding indefinitely ... wouldn’t the possibility of future earnings negate whatever setbacks this causes?

—Dev Singer ’11

Retirement plan views misattributed In response to your article “Board passes retirement fund plan” (News, May 19): The Justice quotes me incorrectly. As I stated to a Justice reporter as I left the faculty meeting, I believe that this move is necessary due to the dire financial circumstances of the University. I agree with Jonathan Sarna that this is a socially progressive solution, since it will hit lower-paid workers less or not at all.

Although I agree that this move serves as a disincentive for very senior faculty to retire—especially faculty members whose salaries were low during past down periods in Brandeis’ history, I actually did not make that point in the faculty meeting. Another faculty member did. I did ask in the faculty meeting whether there were plans to reimburse the retirement accounts once our financial circumstances improve.

—Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS)

Building. The banner depicts a gorilla and reads, “King Kong died for our sins on your building.” A balcony-long banner reads, “be realistic—demand the impossible.”

Sorry, Ms. Klein and Ms. Moran, but this event was not a sit-in. It was, in fact, a called convocation of the entire Brandeis community to hear the latest news on the Brandeis presidency. Yes, it reflected student activism, but it occurred two months before the Kent State University shootings that resulted in the establishment of the national student strike center on campus.

How do I know this? Well, I didn’t cross the Alps with Hannibal or man an oar on a Titanic lifeboat, but I was at that Spingold meeting and in that photo. I’m in the orchestra somewhere. The previous September, when I entered Brandeis, the University held a welcome dinner in the Shapiro gym for incoming freshmen. One of the speakers was the president of the Student Council, a woman who, as I recall my impression, conducted herself with grace and savvy. I remember thinking, “no wonder she is student council president.” Her name was Kathy Power ’71, one of the five people suspected of murder and robbery.

—Paul Trusten, R.Ph. ’73

1970 Spingold gathering not a sit-in In response to your article “Idealism gone wrong” (Features, May 19): The black-andwhite photo printed with this article was taken in Spingold Theater on the evening of Feb. 25, 1970 in response to Morris Abram’s resignation as Brandeis president and the University-wide interest in choosing his replacement. The banner hanging from the balcony refers to then-Chairman of the Board Lawrence Wien, who owned the Empire State

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROBERT D. FARBER UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT

ACTIVIST ATMOSPHERE: Students filled Spingold Theater on Feb. 25, 1970 to hear the latest news about who would succeed Morris Abram as the next president of the University soon after he resigned.

The tumultuous narrative of the Rose Art Museum Hillel

BUECHLER AND SO ON

Welcome, largest-ever Class of 2013, to the frugal Brandeis University, home of the esteemed and ambiguously existential Rose Art Museum.

If you’re an infrequent reader of news, please embrace this delightful opportunity for me to update you on the flowery saga of Brandeis and the Rose.

The latest segment of the saga involves a blooming July lawsuit and the not-so-insignificant issues of donor intent and museum ethics.

But first, let’s take a brief journey back to the start of all this fun.

Our story began on a cold January day when the University Board of Trustees unanimously and impulsively voted to close the Rose Art Museum, which housed, and still houses, a rather pleasant and expensive (its estimated value is about $350 million) modern art collection.

That evening, University President Jehuda Reinharz sent out a heartwarming e-mail succinctly informing the Brandeis community of the University’s decision to close the museum and auction off its art for relief during its troubled, donor-dependent financial situation.

Within a very short period of time, Reinharz and others involved in the Rose close learned that a number of categories of people really like art and really didn’t like the idea of closing the Rose, including a) students, b) professors, c) The New York Times editorial board and d) the Rose Art Museum Board of Overseers, which includes individuals from several families of prominent museum donors. That last group is most important in the latest exciting chapter of Rosy action, which I’ll get to shortly.

Anyhow, following a media maelström and criticism all around, President Reinharz and the University revised its past position to one of sell-

Write to us

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/Justice File Photo

THE SOURCE OF CONTENTION: Since Jan. 26, the Rose Art Museum has been a hotbed of many of the controversial budgetary decisions made by the University. ing just a few pieces of art and re-emphasizing the usefulness element of closing the official museum. Also, a University committee was formed to look at the whole issue.

But this appeasement was rather ineffective, because apparently it’s immoral to sell even a few expensive pieces of art for the sake of sustaining a university.

Which brings us to the latest chapter of the saga.

At the end of July, three prominent members of the Rose’s Board of Overseers, including one with the noncoincidental last name Rose, sued the University to attempt to block, or at least stall, University action regarding the Rose.

The premise of the lawsuit is unsurprisingly about the possible legal and ethical ramifications

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of altering the Rose in any way—like, perhaps, closing it. The University, also unsurprisingly, is unhappy about the lawsuit. The legal fees and publicity associated with a lawsuit are certainly not good news for Brandeis.

Personally, I’m a fan of proceeding within legal parameters. But whether this lawsuit will enforce the pre-existent legal obligations surrounding the Rose remains to be seen. Sales of artwork require their own legal verifications without lawsuits, like checking up on donor intent, so there was automatically a check on current and future University actions in that area.

And to an extent, the same is true for how the boxy Rose facilities can be legally used by the University. This issue may be blurrier because the Rose family donated the building for use as a

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

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museum. But sorting through these legal problems should have been and hopefully was a prime concern for the University irrespective of any lawsuit.

This lawsuit likely won’t end with a nice plaque or two, the way in which a lawsuit against the University regarding the donor of the original Kalman building concluded earlier this month.

Yet the spirit of honoring a donor while acknowledging a changing situation will undoubtedly play a role in any court decision.

So where do we go from here? Maybe the Rose Board of Overseers will run out of money for legal fees before the University does. Or maybe there’ll be a sudden upswing in the economy and the endowment, and no one will have to sell anything. Stay tuned.

STAFF Senior Writers: Miranda Neubauer, Jeffrey Pickette, Melissa Siegel Senior Illustrator: A. Eli Tukachinsky News/Features Staff: Alana Abramson, Destiny Aquino, Sam Datlof, Irina Finkel, Reina Guerrero, Michelle Liberman, Ruth Orbach, Greta Moran Forum: Richard Alterbaum, Hillel Buechler, David Litvak, Zachary Matusheski, Ethan Mermelstein, Eileen Smolyar Arts: Wei-Huan Chen, Sean Fabery, Rachel Klein, Emily Leifer, Wei Sum Li, Daniel Orkin, Alex Pagan, Shelley Shore Photography: Rebecca Ney Sports: Andrew Ng, Sean Petterson, Adam Rosen Copy: Ariel Adams, Danielle Berger, Jacob Chatinover, Emily Kraus, Danielle Myers, Lauren Paris, Joyce Wang Layout: Karen Hu, Kathryn Marable

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THE JUSTICE

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Time for innovation from Deis activists

By SAHAR MASSACHI JUSTICE C0NTRIBUTING WRITER

Social justice. Don’t you hate that term? It is an empty catchphrase, a shibboleth, an obligatory nothing on this campus. We’ve been using the term too long and too often—a fact that is all too evident when every new University initiative is labeled a social justice program by default.

We should stop talking about social justice until we talk about the deeper ramifications of those words. What do they mean? What are our values? What do those values require of us? How can we make our vision into reality?

Brandeis has a long and rich history of student activism of which we should all be proud. Though the 1969 student takeover of Ford Hall is perhaps the most noted and celebrated historical example of that activism, Brandeis students through the decades have accomplished great things: heading the national student strike coordination center in 1970, leading the charge against apartheid in the ’80s and today’s Sudan divestment efforts are but a few distinguished examples.

The character of Brandeis activism has changed, however, and not necessarily for the better.

Brandeis’ most energetic and hard-working activist groups think of their mission as students and not as strategic organizers. As a student, you look to the great student movements of the ’60s and try to emulate them. As a student, you know you can easily invite speakers and plan events and protests, so that’s all you spend your time doing. As a student, you talk about the world as it should be; as an organizer, you make it happen.

The key to effective social action is articulating a vision for the future and a credible theory of change, examining the steps you can take to make that vision a reality. Too many Brandeis clubs fail to even discuss that vision, much less take the time to make sure their actions contribute to that goal.

These groups should be mapping out the power relations on campus, figuring out who can give them what they want and then figuring out how to put pressure on that power figure. These groups should be building e-mail lists and allies; they should know how to build power and have a media strategy.

But we can’t fault these groups; there is no institution or organization on campus that teaches students change-making skills.

Brandeis activism today increasingly concentrates around a few great figures who created professional organizations that operate mainly outside Brandeis. The examples are many: Aaron Voldman ’09 and Julia SimonMishel ’09 created the Student Peace Alliance, which boasts col-

MICHELLE STRULOVIC/Justice File Photo

ACTIVISTS UNITE: Nera Lerner ’12 and Matt Schmidt ’11 stand at the table of Students for Environmental Action, an activist group on campus, at an environment fair last February. lege chapters across the country.

Allyson Goldsmith’s ’10 ELEVEate works with girls in Senegal. Sam Vaghar ’02 developed the Millennium Campus Network, and Justin Kang’s ’09 LiveCampus last year put on a live concert on a college campus in every state in the union.

To be sure, these were the accomplishments of Brandeis students working together, and it would be a grave mistake to overlook the hard work of dozens of people in making these things happen.

Still, the tenor of Brandeis activism has changed. Our accomplishments consist of founding organizations that will soon escape any strong ties to the University.

Indeed, many of the most famous names in Brandeis activism come from alumni, who learned and honed their skills after leaving campus.

Andrew Slack ’02, Ben Brandzel ’02, Josh Peck ’02, Ari Rabin-Havt ’01. These recent alumni have done and continue to do great work consistent with the Brandeis ethos of social justice. Members of the progressive activist community constantly tell me that Brandeis has a reputation for smart, effective

online organizers. These people didn’t learn their organizing skills from Brandeis classes; by and large, they figured it out after graduating.

Brandeis alumni are counted among the best in the field.

Brandeis students, however, are not. There is raw talent here that needs to be trained and tapped. As a community, we must recommit to learning the skills, vision, and bestpractices for effective activism in the modern age.

I’ve been thinking about this idea: Brandeis is not simply a university but rather a two-stage experiment in social entrepreneurship that uses the legal and institutional structure of the University to interface with society. In the first stage, the Jewish community opposed discriminatory quotas in higher education by creating a new top-flight academy that would reject quotas and use competition to force other universities to follow suit. That mission has been successful.

The second stage is a work in progress.

Now that University quotas have been eliminated, the Brandeis experiment can move on to a broader goal: training and equipping the

next generation of social entrepreneurs and agents of change.

Brandeis talks a good game about social justice but neither defines it well nor empowers its students to foster it. Even the committed activist clubs on campus are stuck in a paradigm of community service and instinctive protest or the vague idea of “raising awareness.”

We can do so much more than that.

Brandeis should be a fountain of new ideas and new recruits for the broad social justice movement.

Brandeis should be a hotbed of new ways to organize, of students teaching students, of the next wave of activism. A Brandeis degree should mean more than just a liberal arts education. A Brandeis graduate should have the tools and knowledge to make the change that we believe in, to be a citizen in the most expansive sense of the term.

I humbly submit that now is the time to own up to our limits. We students are stumbling in the dark.

We don’t know or don’t talk about the values that underpin our vision for the future. We don’t really even know how to make this happen. It’s time for a change.

I want to see a world where organizers and activists from

across the country travel here to teach us and learn from each other.

I want to see a world where Brandeis is known again for its commitment to ethics, where students collaborate with the foremost change agents of our time, a Brandeis firmly rooted in the social justice movement.

Let’s not sit about and bemoan what Brandeis has become; let’s build it. Let’s invite alumni back to share their wisdom; let’s start organizing workshops and booking rooms to make that happen. Let’s have those late-night chats about our beliefs but also those earlyevening discussions with the leading organizers of our day. Let’s bring back the Brandeis spirit.

Let us learn how to make the change we wish to see in the world.

The Brandeis we wish to see may not be built by the time we graduate, but if we start now, maybe someday soon it will be.

The writer is a founder of the Justice Organizing Initiative, which seeks to promote a concrete vision of activism on campus. Visit the Web site at http://bit.ly/ JOI_Brandeis.

Univ should not begin to pursue online education Zachary

MATUSHESKI COMMENT IS FREE

In July, the Obama administration proposed $500 million to develop an online education plan for community colleges to open Web classes to the public based on course content and software developed by Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, should this plan succeed, “This type of course could become part of a free library available to colleges nationwide.”

But does Brandeis truly want to

pursue this path?

Online education is popular right now and also portends to be a big money maker should colleges eventually offer degree programs for online courses. University of Phoenix Online offers many of the same financial aid programs as Brandeis. With continuing budget problems, some may consider avoiding online education a bad move for Brandeis. Adding a few extra hundred students and going online could possibly fill some of the budget gap without having to build extra housing or hire extra faculty. Proponents of the online system claim that it could offer education to the poor and underserved. But despite all of these benefits, there are serious problems with online education.

The problem with online educa-

tion is a matter of parity. Those on campus get a much fuller education than those sitting in a remote location taking online courses. Most of the learning in college takes place outside of the classroom. Speakers come from all over the world to impart their knowledge to eager students and faculty on the Brandeis campus. Unless Brandeis were to film all of those moments and offer them to students, those taking Brandeis courses online couldn’t really claim to have the Brandeis experience.

Interactivity is the next problem.

In an online course, you can ask the professor questions and take part in group exercises. But talking with a group of fellow students over lunch is difficult if the participants are dispersed around the state or country.

First-class lecturers and interactivity create an atmosphere of ideas that is essential to the liberal arts education. One need go no further than the pages of the Justice to see how speakers and student groups can get people thinking and talking.

Episodes such as the controversy over Bill Ayers’ visit last April are central to learning and to an understanding of what your own convictions and values are. Opportunities for self-discovery are cut down in an online university.

Low graduation rates provide a more tangible problem. According to U.S. News and World Report, Brandeis has a graduation rate of 85 percent. The graduation rate for the University of Phoenix Online is abysmal: According to statistics from the California Postsecondary

Education Commission, only 281 students graduated out of 6,578 enrolled, putting the graduation rate at 4 percent. Those are the sort of numbers that could tarnish Brandeis’ reputation as a first-rate educational institution. Whether a student graduates speaks in large part to the quality of education being offered and whether or not the environment is an enjoyable one.

The real-world college experience cannot easily be brought online— from speakers to late-night bull sessions to being involved in extracurricular activities. Brandeis should not belittle the quality of its education by going online and putting its students in danger of the lower-quality education and higher dropout rates that define the online college experience.

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

13

SPORTS

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

PRACTICING HARD: The women’s soccer team scrimmages during practice last Monday in preparation for the upcoming fall season.

The joy of sports While many students have just unpacked their cars after a long drive up South Street, student athletes have already suited up to practice for fall, winter and spring sports alike. First-year athletes, as well as upperclassmen, hit the courts and fields yesterday across the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

BACK ON SERVE: Seth Rogers ’10 leans in for a forehand.

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

BACKHANDED RALLY: The men’s tennis team will square off against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in its season opener at home Oct. 3 at 11 a.m.

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

FRESH START: “We do have equally high expectations for this [rookie] class,” coach Denise Dallamora said. There are five new players joining the team.

KICKING AROUND: Said men’s soccer coach Michael Coven, “I think we’ve got some seasoned veterans and a good group of young freshmen, so I am hopeful that we will have a great season.”

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MEN’S SOCCER: “I think that this team is a lot better than the teams we have had the past couple years,” Coach Michael Coven said.

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

THE JUSTICE

JUDGES FALL SCHEDULE Cross Country Sept. 4 – Bentley at Weston High School, 3 p.m.

Sept. 19 – UMass-Dartmouth Invitational at Dartmouth, Mass., 10 a.m.

Sept. 26 – Connecticut College Invitational at New London, Conn., 10 a.m.

Oct. 10 – Open New England Championships at TBA, 10 a.m.

Oct. 31 – UAA Championships at Case Western Reserve University, 10 a.m.

Nov. 14 – NCAA Regional Championships at TBA, 10 a.m.

Nov. 21 – NCAA Championships at TBA, 10 a.m.

Golf Sept. 12-13 – Bowdoin Invitational at Brunswick Country Club, Brunswick, Maine Sept. 30 – Elms Invitational at Chicopee Golf Club, Chicopee, Mass., 11 a.m.

Oct. 10-11 – Trinity College Fall Shootout at Kensington, Conn.

Men’s Soccer Sept. 5 – Adidas Kick-Off Classic, vs. Rutgers-Newark at Wheaton College, 2 p.m.

Sept. 6 – vs. Southern Maine at Wheaton College, 2 p.m.

Sept. 12 – at Clark, 2:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 – WPI, 7 p.m.

Sept. 23 – MIT, 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 – Wheaton, 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 – Newbury, 4 p.m.

Oct. 3 – at Case Western Reserve, 11 a.m.

Oct. 8 – at Colby-Sawyer, 4 p.m.

Oct. 10 – Rochester, 5 p.m.

Oct. 13 – at Babson, 3:30 p.m.

Oct. 16 – at Carnegie Mellon, 5 p.m.

Oct. 18 – at Emory, 11 a.m.

Oct. 21 – at Springfield, 7 p.m.

Oct. 27 – Lasell, 7 p.m.

Oct. 30 – Washington University in St. Louis, 4 p.m.

Nov. 1 – Chicago, 11 a.m.

Nov. 7 – NYU, 11 a.m.

Women’s Soccer Sept. 1 – MIT, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 – Nazareth, 1 p.m.

Sept. 9 – at Babson, 4 p.m.

Sept. 12 – at Springfield, 12 p.m.

Sept. 15 – Bridgewater St., 4 p.m.

Sept. 20 – Clark, 12 p.m.

Sept. 24 – at Gordon, 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 30 – Wellesley, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 – at Case Western, 1:30 p.m.

Oct.7 – at Tufts, 4 p.m.

Oct. 10 – Rochester, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 16 – at Carnegie Mellon,7:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 – at Emory, 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 – at Bowdoin, 3 p.m.

Oct. 30 – Wash U., 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 1 – Chicago, 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 7 – NYU, 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 17 – vs. Carnegie Mellon at New York, NY, 10 a.m.; vs. Chicago 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 – University Athletic Association Round Robin II, vs.

Emory at New York, 9 a.m.; vs. New York U., 11:30 a.m.

Oct. 23 – vs. Hall of Fame Invitational at Smith College, 5 p.m.

Oct. 24 – vs. Hall of Fame Invitational at TBA, 10 a.m.

Oct. 30 – TBA, 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 – Judges Classic, Keene St., TBA; TBA, 11 a.m.; TBA, 1 p.m.

Nov. 6 – UAA Championships at Chicago vs. TBA at Chicago, Ill., TBA Nov. 7 – UAA Championships at Chicago, vs. TBA at Chicago, Ill., TBA

Men’s Tennis Oct. 3- Coast Guard, 11 a.m.

Volleyball

Women’s Tennis

Sept. 1 – at Babson, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4 – Springfield Invitational, vs. Roger Williams at Springfield, Mass., 7 p.m.

Sept. 5 – Springfield Invitational, vs. Lasell at Springfield, Mass., 10 a.m.; vs. Westfield St., 12 p.m.; at Springfield, 3 p.m.

Sept. 8 – at Wellesley, 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 – Brandeis Invitational, Williams, 4 p.m.; Rhode Island Col,.

8 p.m.

Sept. 12 – Brandeis Invitational, TBA Sept. 17 – at Endicott, 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 – Tufts, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25 – Amherst Classic, at Amherst, 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 – Amherst Classic, vs.

Westfield St. at Amherst, Mass., 11 a.m.; vs. Middlebury, 2 p.m.

Oct. 3 – vs. Wash U at Rochester, NY, 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 – vs. Case Western at Rochester, NY, 10 a.m.; vs.

Rochester (N.Y.), 11:30 a.m.

Oct. 10 – Coast Guard, 11 a.m.; Keene State, 3 p.m.

Sept. 9- at Wheaton, 4 p.m.

Sept. 12- Bowdoin, 11 a.m.

Sept. 13- at Simmons, 11 a.m.

—Courtesy of Brandeisjudges.com

The parting of ways was entirely amicable, according to Coven, “Baseball’s gain is my loss; Sean potentially could have been one of the greatest goalies [Brandeis] has ever had. … [O’Hare] is a quality kid and a wonderful athlete, and it was my pleasure coaching him last year.”

Taylor Bracken ’10—returning after a year away from the team—and Matt Lynch ’11 will compete for the goalkeeper position.

If the Judges have any chance at a return to the postseason, it will have to be through their improved depth and an increased team-first strategy.

“Right now I think we’ll have the depth so that if someone in our start-

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

15

WSOCCER: Judges hope to qualify for NCAA tourney CONTINUED FROM 16 “Pushing ourselves through the double overtimes and the overtimes [will help us get better] and really push ourselves those last 30 minutes and keep them from scoring and scoring goals ourselves—that’s one thing we had a problem with last year,” Pacheco said.

Dallamora believes the key for this season is for the team to come prepared to play every game.

“I think we have to make sure that we come to every game ready to play,” the coach said. “We can’t make any assumptions about the quality of the teams we’re competing against. We’ve got to come ready to play and ready to win. A lot of it is certainly hard physi-

cally on the practice field, but it’s also [about] being mentally prepared, too.”

Ultimately the players hope that if they improve enough they will qualify for the NCAA Tournament this season after just barely missing the mark the past two years.

“It all starts with preseason and working hard and getting out the little kinks here and there, and then we need to be really successful in the UAA and definitely more successful in our regional games [in order to make NCAAs],” Pacheco said.

The soccer team kicks off its season at home against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and then plays Nazareth College Sept. 6 at 1 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL: Team gains “fresh” players CONTINUED FROM 16

DAVID SHEPPARD-BRICK/the Justice

BUMP ‘N’ GO: The volleyball team hopes to get off to a strong start at Babson College Sept. 1.

MSOCCER: Men form plan of attack CONTINUED FROM 16

●

ing 11 gets hurt, we can replace them,” Coven said.

The Judges will face the RutgersNewark Scarlet Raiders on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Wheaton College to begin the season. The two are part of the four- team Adidas Kick-Off Classic, which will also feature the Southern Maine Huskies and the host Wheaton College Lyons.

’11 and Bridget McAllister ’10 finished first and second on the team in blocks with 120 and 58, respectively.

Rounding out the returnees is libero Lauren Polinsky ’11, who was fifth on last year’s squad with 1.99 digs per set.

The team did lose three players to graduation last year— libero Danielle Friedman, Ruggiero and outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach. Ruggiero served as one of the team captains last year and finished third on the team in digs and second in assists/sets.

But losing Wingenbach will be especially hard for the team to overcome. Last season she was also a team captain and finished first on the team in digs and second in kills.

She is also Brandeis’ all-time leader with 1,857 kills and is second all-time in aces and digs and was named an honorable mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association

her junior year.

“We’re definitely going to miss [the seniors], but I think this group is up to the challenge,” Kim said. “When we graduate a player or two who are very very good, it sort of opens up windows for other players to sort of step up their game and hopefully fill that position. … I think sometimes it promotes a little more of a team effort when something like that happens, when we graduate an All-American player.”

With all the rookies on the team this season, chemistry between the newcomers and the rookies will be a key, according to Carfagno.

“I think our goal for this season is really going to try and establish some good on-court chemistry because we have five new girls and we’ve only got six returners, ... so if we want to get anywhere, we have to have some good chemistry on the court,” Carfagno said.

The team opens up its season at Babson College Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.

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just

Sports

Page 16

PRESEASON PRACTICES Soccer, cross country and tennis gear up for the 2009 to 2010 season, p. 13.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Waltham, Mass.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

VOLLEYBALL

Women’s soccer gears up for fall

Squad’s rookies add depth

■ Last year’s rookie players

hope to hold their own during the 2009 to 2010 season.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

Last season the Brandeis women’s soccer team saw a strong performance from its rookie class.

All 16 rookies played in at least one game, and first-years made up three of the team’s top five pointscorers. But after coming up short in their goal of making the NCAA Tournament last season, the team hopes this year’s crop of rookies can have similar success.

“For the last two years, we’ve only been one game off [from making NCAAs], so I think we’ll play hard, work hard [this season], and winning will take care of itself,” goalie Hillary Rosenzweig ’10 said.

“We do have equally high expectations for this [rookie] class,” coach Denise Dallamora said.

Five rookies are joining the team this year, including one goalie, Francine Kofinas ’13. The other four players—Brooke Gruman ’13, Maegan Bautista ’13, Stevie Phillis ’13, and Zoe Siegel ’13 can play all over the field, according to Dallamora, who will take advantage of the newcomers’ versatility.

The rookies will join a squad that lost only one member to graduation—defender Meredith Milstein ’09. Milstein played in all 22 games last season, starting 14, and served as a leader on and off the field for the team last season.

“I think that it will be hard to replace [Milstein], but she’s still only one player,” said Rosenzweig.

“We have a lot of girls who I’m sure are excited to get her playing time and show what they have on the field.”

Despite losing Milstein, the defense, which shut out opponents in 11 of its 22 games last season, returns some key pieces, including defender Taryn Martiniello ’11 and defender/midfielder Francesca Shin ’12, who were both named

■ The volleyball team will

have five new first-years with only six girls returning.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice

HEAD ON!: The women’s soccer team opens the season Sept. 1 at home against Massachusetts Institute of Technology. honorable mention All-University Athletic Association.

On offense last season, the team was led by reigning Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament MVP forward Melissa Gorenkoff ’10, who was also named to the All-UAA second team.

Gorenkoff finished the year with team highs in goals and assists,

with eight and nine, respectively.

Fellow forward Tiffany Pacheco ’11 tied Gorenkoff with eight goals and tied for second on the team with four assists.

Also returning is starting goalkeeper Rosenzweig, who finished last season with 78 saves and allowed just 16 goals in 20 games.

While the team finished last sea-

son with a 13-7-2 record, they went 0-1-0 in overtime games, and 0-1-2 in double overtime games.

Pacheco feels that in order for the team to get to the next level, this season the players must learn to work through their exhaustion at the end of these long games.

See WSOCCER, 15 ☛

MEN’S SOCCER

Team tries for fresh start sans Premo ■ A year after one of the

team’s top scorers graduates, the men’s soccer team is crafting a new strategy.

By SEAN PETTERSON JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On paper, the men’s soccer team should have trouble replacing threetime Universal Athletic Association selection Ben Premo ’09, the fifthleading scorer in school history, but this year’s men’s soccer team expects an improvement in their disappointing 8-9-2 record last season. The 2008 to 2009 team failed to reach the postseason for the first time since 2005.

“Unfortunately, the last two years we were very average. I think that this team is a lot better than the teams we have had the past couple years,” said coach Michael Coven, who is entering his 37th year with the University. “I think we’ve got some seasoned veterans and a good group of young freshmen, so I am hopeful that we will have a great season.”

Coven hopes to feature a different attacking style this season to replace Premo’s goal-scoring ability. He believes his team’s offensive strategy

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

TEAM EFFORT: The Judges prepare for the fall season at practice last Monday. became complacent and predictable when focused entirely on their former star: “When you have a player of that caliber, everyone looks for [Premo] to score, and we became very predictable.”

The team will hopefully feature a more creative, multifaceted

approach this season.

“Without a go-to guy, we might have 10 go-to guys. I think we will be a better overall team with more players sharing the responsibility for scoring goals.”

Corey Bradley ’10 and Adam Guttman ’10 will serve as captains

for the Judges this season.

Bradley started 18 games for the Judges in 2008, and while he totaled only one assist in his midfield role, he earned All-UAA honorable mention.

“He was one of the top players in the UAA last year. He has the ability to take guys on one-on-one and really break down defenses, opening up the attacking third of the field with his speed,” Coven said.

Coven is optimistic about his incoming rookie class, especially center midfielder Joe Eisenbies ’13.

Eisenbies impressed Coven by winning the annual two-mile team run on the first day of practice Aug. 22, an “unusual feat for a freshman.” Coven also has high hopes for Sam Ocel ’13 and Lee Russo ’13, saying “[Eisenbies, Ocel and Russo] right off the bat will play quite a bit and maybe start. They have all been looking good.”

Sean O’Hare ’12, the 2008 to 2009 Justice rookie of the year, will not be returning to the men’s soccer team.

O’Hare won the starting goalkeeper position for the Judges in his rookie season but also played shortstop and centerfield for the baseball team.

O’Hare will only suit up for the baseball team this season.

See MSOCCER, 15 ☛

Last season, the women’s volleyball team did not have any firstyears join the team. This season they have the exact opposite scenario.

Five rookies have been recruited to join the squad for the fall season, hoping to help the team bounce back after a disappointing 19-13 finish a year ago.

“Recruiting is a funny thing where you could end up with little or you could end up with a lot,” coach Michelle Kim said.

“Obviously our initial pool of players that we were considering was definitely bigger [this year]. We had to, because we wanted to yield a lot of players. ... We had a lot of players visit earlier in the season, so they were able to get a good idea about us right off the bat as the application process was initially starting, and I think that helped us as well.”

Last year’s team was hoping to take the next step and make the NCAA Tournament after winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference New England Division III title in each of the previous two seasons. But injuries late in the year led to a fourth-place finish in the University Athletic Association and the team pulling out of contention for a return bid to ECACs. This year’s recruits come from all over the country, including Susan Sun ’13 from Acton, Mass., Becca Fischer ’13 from San Antonio, Texas and Anna Homitsky ’13 from Seneca Valley, N.Y. Two of the rookies come from Colorado—Lauren Berens ’13 from Boulder and Kristee Montijo ’13 from Colorado Springs. Berens played for Norsco Volleyball Club this past season, the same club team that setter Abby Blasco ’11 and outside hitter Paige Blasco ’11 played for in high school.

“I’m expecting [Berens] to be pretty good, because our club is pretty well-known in Colorado and has a lot of good athletes,” Paige Blasco said.

The newcomers will provide much-needed depth for a team that struggled when injuries caused girls to play out of position.

For instance, when Abby Blasco missed eight matches last season with a hamstring injury, libero Violette Ruggiero ’09 and outside hitter Piera Carfagno ’10 had to play setter in her place since the team had no natural backup setter.

The team lost six of those eight matches.

“Last year was a hard year because we had so many injuries,” Carfagno said. “We also didn’t have a big team, which makes practices hard to coordinate, and also if people start getting tired in the game, there are no substitutes.”

The rookies will join six returning members from last year’s squad, including the Blasco twins.

Paige Blasco led the team last year with 339 kills and 377.5 points, while sister Abby Blasco led the squad with 787 assists.

Also returning is Carfagno, who finished third on the team in assists and fourth in points last season. Middle blockers Nicole Smith

See VOLLEYBALL, 15 ☛

ARTS

August 25, 2009

just

Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch question modern ideas of permanence and impermanence in an installation outside the Rose, p. 21.

Photo: Max Breitstein Matza/the Justice. Design: Julian Agin-Liebes/the Justice.

18

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

●

THE JUSTICE

POP CULTURE

INSIDE ON CAMPUS

18-21

■ Interview with Junot Diaz 19 Before a forum with first-year students about his Pulitzer-winning novel ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,’ the MIT professor spoke to a Justice reporter about his work.

19 ■ Fall Theater Preview We took a look ahead at the Brandeis theater community’s diverse dramatic offerings for the fall semester.

21 ■ Rose Art Installation Two artists brought an exhibit about pollution to the Rose Art Museum sculpture garden.

OFF CAMPUS

22-24

22 ■ ‘Torchwood’ The ‘Doctor Who’ spinoff offered a summer miniseries that expanded the franchise’s fan base with thoughtful and realistic characters.

22 ■ Animal Collective A summer gig in Brooklyn frustrated fans looking for straightforward renditions of the band’s catchy tunes.

23 ■ Summer Movie Recap Some limited-release films were overshadowed by big-budget summer movies and deserve a second chance on DVD. 23 ■ ‘Inglorious Basterds’ Quentin Tarantino’s latest star-packed film squandered its talented cast and felt like a rehash of the director’s previous work.

CALENDAR

Q&A

by Shelly Shore

My goodness, Brandeis! What a fun summer we’ve had. The sun has been shining; the birds have been singing. We’ve swum!

We’ve hiked! We’ve camped! We’ve interned!

And while we were at it, Hollywood went crazy!

Just in case you’ve been out having a life this summer, here’s a brief recap of the most scandalous highlights of the past few months: Jon and Kate Gosselin divorced! Not quite as depressing as Michael Jackson dying, but a surprising number of people set quite a store by the reality show couple. The Gosselins filed for divorce in late June, paving the way for tabloid drama extraordinaire—affairs, separation rumors, oh-mygoodness-what-will-happen-to-the-children, etc. Jon and Kate, however, have been surprisingly classy about the entire thing— most of the comments have come from friends and family trying to make a quick buck rather than the couple themselves, but there is still no word on what’s going to happen to the show come next season.

Sex tapes, sex tapes, sex tapes! Well, not exactly, but there was a good deal of risqué material released this summer. Paris Hilton had a series of raunchy photos accidentally posted to her Twitter—well, we’re assuming it was an accident. With Paris, we never really know, do we? Twilight ’s Ashley Greene had a photo scandal of her own when three pictures of the actress in various states of nudity leaked online. And speaking of anatomy, Grey’s Anatomy ’s Eric Dane lived up to his Dr. McSteamy nickname when a sex tape featuring the actor, his wife Rebecca Gayheart and anoth-

Lefebvre looks at love in her creative thesis ■ Short story writer Heather

Lefebvre ’10 discusses her recent literary efforts, including a creative writing thesis that explores the many different kinds of love.

RICHARD DREW/The Associated Press

SUMMER SPLIT: TV reality star Kate Gosselin opened up about her divorce from husband Jon. er woman in some compromising positions spread like wildfire on the Internet. Fans have flocked to both Ashley and Eric in support. Fans of Paris have learned to expect this sort of thing and mostly just shook their heads in amusement.

There was plenty more action this summer and not nearly enough space to recap it here. If the summer’s any indication, though, this fall is already set to be jampacked with celebrity goodies.

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus

Improv Asylum at Brandeis Boston comedy group Improv Asylum will appear at Brandeis as part of Orientation 2009. The group, which hosts shows in its North End theater and headquarters several days a week, was founded in 1998 and performs a mix of sketch comedy and improvisational scenes. The group also offers classes.

Tuesday from 9:30 to 11 p.m. in Levin Ballroom.

Student Photography Poster Sale Brandeis Photography Club will be hosting a poster sale of 8x10 and 20x30 posters made from photographs by Brandeis students. The posters are $10 for the smaller size and $20 for the larger size. The Photography Club also holds darkroom hours several days a week; email Jessica Schaengold at jschaen@bran deis.edu for more information.

Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

New Student Book Forum and Discussion Sections First-years will have meetings to discuss Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao with faculty and their orientation leaders; then, Diaz will speak and answer questions. Diaz, currently a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, emigrated to the United States at the age of six from the Dominican Republic and, despite disadvantages, worked his way through college at Rutgers, ultimately receiving a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Cornell in 1995. His 1996 short story collection Drown and his 2007 novel Oscar Wao brought Diaz much acclaim, including a Pulitzer Prize. His work has been featured in The Paris Review, Story, The Best American Short Stories anthology series, and The New Yorker, which called him one of the 20 top writers for the 21st century.

Wednesday; discussion sections from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. in various locations and lecture from 8 to 10 p.m. in Spingold Theater Center.

‘What’s Up in the Middle East’ Brandeis’ Crown Center for Middle East Studies will be hosting its yearly panel discussion on current issues in the Middle East.

Middle Eastern food will be provided, and students can learn more about the Crown Center and related course offerings and get to

WHAT’S ON?

IMAGE COURTESY OF JESSICA SCHAENGOLD

PHOTOGRAPHER STUDENTS: Hannah Vickers’s ’10 photo, above, is one of many for sale at the Student Photography Poster Sale, hosted by the Brandeis Photography Club. know Crown Center faculty.

Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

Carnival, presented by Student Events and Department of Orientation and First-Year Programs The Departments of Student Events and Orientation will host a campuswide carnival to celebrate the end of the first week of classes. Expect carnival games and foods, a giant inflatable Twister board, a bungee run and other carnival activities.

Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on the Great Lawn, or, in the event of rain, in Levin Ballroom.

Fall 2009 Arts & Activities Fair Learn more about student groups on campus at this semester’s activities fair. Sign up for auditions or join mailing lists for Brandeis’ multiple student groups. Student arts groups will perform throughout the evening.

Sunday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the Great Lawn.

OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS ‘Pictorial Webster’s Dictionary’ Release Party Local bookstore Back Pages Books will team up with Lincoln Studios for a release party for Johnny Carrera’s Pictorial Webster’s Dictionary , which will include a gallery show featuring prints and engravings from the book. Back Pages Books was founded in 2005 by two Brandeis alumni and in 2007 moved to its current location in the Lincoln Building, which it shares with the Lincoln Arts Project gallery and Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts. The bookstore was called one of the “Best of the New” by the Boston Globe in 2005 and has hosted appearances by writers ranging from Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Pulitzer Prize winners Franz Wright (a former Brandeis English professor) and Samantha Power, as well as intellectuals like Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.

Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Back Pages Books and Lincoln Studios, located at 289 Moody St.

Heather Lefebvre ’10 is currently working on her senior thesis, a series of short stories about different kinds of love. She is also an Undergraduate Department Representative for the English & American Literature Department and a staffer for the campus magazine Where the Children Play . She maintains a blog at http://collegejolt.com/author/heather-l.

Lefebvre spoke to the Justice about her involvement with literary arts on campus and her ambitions for the future.

JustArts: How did you come upon this theme of varieties of love for your thesis?

Heather Lefebvre: Love stories are just what I do, I suppose. I’m a sucker for character-driven stories, and aren’t most stories driven by love in some way? What’s a better motivator than that?

JA: How did you decide to do creative writing seriously? Were you always interested, or did you decide to focus on writing after you came to Brandeis?

HL: I’ve always loved stories; I’ve been writing stories since I was four or five, since I could read. Until I was 14 or so there was a question of whether, exactly, that would be what I ended up doing—I was really into film and theater when I was a kid, so I oscillated between acting and singing and writing and directing until eighth grade or so—but once I hit high school it was clear I wasn’t interested in anything to the extent I was fiction.

JA: Tell me about the award you won last year.

HL: Prof. Thisbe Nissen (ENG) was kind enough to nominate a story I wrote, “We Welcome All Sorts,” for the 2008 to 2009 J.V. Cunningham Award, and I won in the Creative Arts category. I didn’t expect anything to happen, but apparently people enjoyed reading it! I’ve never won anything related to writing before, so it was incredibly exciting. The story should be on display in the Writing Center until May. JA: Can you describe “We Welcome All Sorts” a little? Also, can you explain what this award is?

HL: “We Welcome All Sorts” is a weird little story that just developed, seemingly of its own accord, last summer. It’s a quest story about a zombie named Thomas trying to make his way in the world, just like everybody else—except, of course, he’s not like everyone else. As for the J.V. Cunningham Award, it’s an annual competition Brandeis hosts for “excellence in writing,” wherein professors nominate student papers (in the categories of Creative Arts and Creative Writing, student stories) to a select committee who then chooses a certain number of winners—up to five. J.V. Cunningham himself was a poet who taught at Brandeis from 1953 to 1980.

JA: What do you plan to do next year? Are you going to continue with creative writing, or are you going to follow an entirely different career path?

HL: Right now the plan is to keep writing.

For the first couple years of college my standard “What are you going to do?” answer was that I wanted to work in publishing—which is true; I would like to work in the book publishing industry—but lately I have been leaning towards the magazine industry. I maintain a blog for an internship [with College Jolt, a college guidebook company] and really enjoy writing the articles. I dig editing, too. I would love to work on a literary magazine.

—Andrea Fineman

Top 10s for the week ending AUGUST 24

Box Office

College Radio

Billboard

WBRS

1. Inglourious Basterds 2. District 9 3. G. I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra 4. The Time Traveler’s Wife 5. Julie and Julia 6. Shorts 7. G-Force 8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 9. The Ugly Truth 10. Post Grad

1. Wilco – Wilco (the Album) 2. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm 3. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca 4. Dead Weather – Horehound 5. Sonic Youth – The Eternal 6. Regina Spektor – Far 7. Japandroids – Post-Nothing 8. Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanists 9. Yacht – See Mystery Lights 10. Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band

1. George Strait – Twang 2. Neil Diamond – Hot August Night/NYC 3. The Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D. 4. Cobra Starship – Hot Mess 5. Kings of Leon – Only By The Night 6. Various Artists – NOW 31 7. Maxwell – BLACKsummers’night 8. Daughtry – Leave This Town 9. Taylor Swift – Fearless 10. Justin Moore – Justin Moore

1. Jim Devlin – “Puerto Nuevo” 2. Don Grusin – “Zephyr” 3. B. T. F. – “Thugs in the Club” 4. Depeche Mode – “Any Second Now” 5. Elvis Costello – “You Belong to Me” 6. Talking Heads – “Life During Wartime” 7. The Beatles – “Let it Be” 8. Usual Suspectz – “Why they Hatin’” 9. Modern English – “Hands Across the Sea” 10. Thomas Dolby – “Budapest by Blimp”

Album information provided by Billboard Magazine. Box office information provided by Yahoo!Movies. Radio charts provided by CMJ.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

19

Q&A

Diaz dissects ‘Oscar Wao’ success ■ Slated to speak to firstyears during Orientation Week, the award-winning author and MIT professor talked to justArts about inspirations and impediments to his writing.

Author of 1996 short story collection Drown and 2007 novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz has garnered considerable critical fame for his work, including a Pulitzer Prize for Oscar Wao. He currently teaches creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On Wednesday, Aug. 26, he will address the 2009 Helen and Philip Brecher New Student Forum, a Brandeis orientation tradition. Oscar Wao was chosen as summer reading for incoming first-years.

JustArts: Your first book, Drown, was a collection of short stories published to wide acclaim. Was there a sense of expectation afterwards as to what your next work would be? Did that contribute to the subsequent writer’s block?

Junot Diaz: I wanted to write a novel. What it was about wasn’t clear, but I wanted to write a novel for sure. It just happened to take 11 years. I’m sure the expectations didn’t help but that wasn’t the real problem. The problem was that I was too hard on myself and on my book.

JA: In the 11-year span between the publication of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, you’ve mentioned that you wrote a lot of unsuccessful material. Is all of that related to what would become Oscar Wao or your upcoming novel? What other kinds of ideas did you pursue?

JD: All of it was for versions of Oscar. All of it terrible.

JA: Were the stories about Oscar and Trujillo always intertwined in your mind from the very beginning?

Did Yunior always narrate the tale?

JD: Yes, Oscar in some ways was the anti-Trujillo. And Yunior was always the narrator for reasons that are in my opinion essential to the book.

JA: Part of Oscar’s loneliness stems from his total isolation as this Dominican ghetto-nerd. If he had grown up with the Internet, do you think meeting and interacting with other fanboys would have made him less lonely? Could he have found some of the intimacy or connection he so craved?

JD: Oscar’s loneliness runs deeper than the non-networked ’80s. Oscar is a victim of a society, a culture that has losers and winners and his love for a “useless” art form and his atypical masculinity all helped to marginalize him as well.

JA: I was delighted when you referred to A Wrinkle in Time during your talk for Google. What other children’s books have influenced or

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUNOT DIAZ

‘WAO’ MAN: Junot Diaz will visit campus Wednesday to discuss ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,’ which was assigned to the Class of 2013. stayed with you? What is it about reading books or comics or imbibing other kinds of culture as a child or adolescent that causes them to leave such lasting impressions?

JD: Well, I don’t consider all comics to be children- or adolescentspecific, though some are. As a kid I adored Watership Down and a lot of John Christopher’s adventure books.

At that age I suspect we’re simply more open to fall in love with a narrative. As adults our sense of wonder is dulled, our willingness “to go along” is sometimes reduced. In the end books that touch us in childhood touch us forever and the why of it is still a mystery.

JA: Which other artists have influenced you as a writer? What are you currently reading or watching?

JD: So many artists made me.

From Stephen King to Maxine Hong Kingston. Right now I’m reading novels for the National Book Awards. I’m a judge. I can’t wait to get back to my own reading, though!

JA: The book is filled with allusions and footnotes, particularly in the beginning. What’s your advice for people who might not know as much about comic books, science fiction and fantasy as Oscar does? Does not understanding all his references dilute the experience or somehow improve it?

JD: My advice is that you should seek someone out who can help you understand the terms! It’s a nice way to build community, to meet new people. And this book can be [understood on] so many different levels. It’s ok not to understand whole chunks of it; the book still functions, as strange as that might sound.

JA: You’ve lamented the unidirectionality of genre writers before—how they’ll never become legitimate literary presences the way, for instance, Michael Chabon can when borrowing from a specific genre. Do you think this will ever change? And, if so, how? Does the success of your own novel—by no means a typical, high-handed, ponderous affair—improve these chances?

JD: Hard to predict. I want it to change but I doubt it will any time soon. One book can’t change a culture. But these conversations, if they happen enough, might.

JA: Ethnic writers, as you’ve mentioned before, are sometimes forced into the role of an ambassador for their culture. For some people, myself included, Oscar Wao was indeed an introduction to a previously unfamiliar aspect of Dominican culture and history. Do you consider that a kind of success? Or do you feel limited by the title of being a “Latino au-

thor”?

JD: I’m not an ambassador of any kind. I’m an artist. But a book has a mind of its own and if you learned a lot about Dominican culture and history that’s cool, but it’s not anything that I’m aiming for in my process.

I’m trying to address in largest terms the human condition through a Dominican lens, but native informant I am not. As for being a Dominican writer—it doesn’t limit me at all, because people are not one thing and I am not one thing. I’m a Dominican writer but I’m also a writer from New Jersey, an immigrant writer, a writer of African descent. I’m many things and I embrace each of them as long as I’m not limited to any of them.

JA: For you, what is the American Dream? How do some of your favorite characters define it?

JD: The American Dream is the dream of civil rights, of a more just, more equitable society. It is the dream of all the Latin American young people who got disappeared and tortured in the ’70s and ’80s for desiring a more just society.

JA: When you include the offspring of immigrants like Oscar and Lola, who simultaneously understand so little about their parents’ lives and are yet doomed to relive parts of it, are you trying to indicate

something representative of the immigrant experience? How much can the second generation manage to straddle two cultures successfully?

JD: Oscar and Lola are not doomed to repeat anything specifically because they are immigrants. It’s the silence in their family that invites the repetition; it just happens that some immigrant families have become geniuses at silences.

JA: I noticed you were scheduled for a lot of college visits in 2009. Have you enjoyed the experience? How have the student audiences compared to your usual students at MIT? JD: I love meeting readers from all over the country, from all over the world. Something I could only dream about when I was a young boy stuck in a nowhere town in Central New Jersey. MIT students are one of a kind. They are intense in ways that few students are, and they have to work in ways that few students have to work. Such a different culture. But young people share so much in this culture that the institutional differences don’t really loom as large as one would think.

JA: Any more hints about your upcoming novel, Dark America?

JD: It’s just coming slow. I’m trying to blow up the planet. So it’s taking a while to get going.

—Joyce Wang

THEATER

As classes resume, Deis actors get ready to study their lines ■ This semester, Brandeis

drama groups will stage a wide variety of productions sure to suit any taste. Here’s a look ahead at the diverse offerings in store for the fall season.

By BRYAN PRYWES JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The start of a new school year at Brandeis means many things: new classes, new first-years and new book purchases. One thing that should not go unnoticed is the incredible theater season that this semester promises.

Complete with two Brandeis Theater Company productions, three undergraduate straight plays, a Shakespearean play, an undergraduate musical, three sketch comedy shows

and a festival of student-written oneact plays, this semester will offer productions for those who have never seen a staged production and avid theatergoers alike.

As always, the Brandeis theater season begins with a sketch comedy show

by Brandeis sketch comedy troupe Boris’ Kitchen. On Sept. 25, BK will bring side-splitting laughter as they revive classic sketches from the depths of their archives for all to see in their Old Sh*t Show.

On a more serious note, the Brandeis Theater Company will begin its season with a production of Everything in the Garden, running Oct. 8 through 18. This lesser-known Edward Albee play centers around two suburbanites in the quest for the balance between happiness and material possessions. Directed by Eric Hill (THA), Everything in the Garden is an intriguing social commentary that questions whether money really is the key to happiness.

Oct. 15 through 18, Brandeis Ensemble Theatre will present Big Love, a contemporary tale of 50 brides fleeing their grooms. Based on The Supplicants by Aeschylus, this tale of mayhem, murder and romance will surely thrill and amuse all who attend.

Fall Fest weekend, Oct. 22 through 25, will play host to two remarkable productions. The Brandeis Undergraduate Theatre Collective will follow BET’s presentation of Big Love with Lot’s Daughters, staged by Brandeis Players. This remarkable tale of lesbianism in 1940s Kentucky explores the boundaries of love and authority set forth by social and religious norms.

If the verses of the Bard are more your cup of tea, Brandeis’ Shakespearean society Hold Thy Peace will present Shakespeare’s most beloved tragedy, Romeo & Juliet. This production will take the classic tale and present it in a more contemporary style.

Nov. 5 through 8, Tympanium Euphorium follows a group of aspiring

dancers and singers as they audition to be in the ensemble of a Broadway musical with its production of A Chorus Line. With such classic Broadway hit songs as “One” and “What I Did for Love,” this Tony Award-winning musical is sure to find a new home at Brandeis.

Nov. 12 through 22, BTC will end its fall season with The Game of Love and Chance. Directed by Janet Morrison (THA), this romantic farce deals with mistaken identities and is billed to be “as delightful as it is provocative.”

From Nov. 19 through the 22, Hillel Theater Group will present S. Ansky’s classic Yiddish play The Dybbuk. This tale of mysticism and exorcism tells the story of a bride possessed by a malicious spirit called a dybbuk on the eve of her wedding.

The Brandeis theater season will come to a close on Dec. 4 and 5 with BK’s 10th annual Sketch Comedy Festival. A refreshing theater expe-

rience after returning from Thanksgiving break, this show features sketch comedy troupes, both professional and collegiate, from around the country (varying each night), as well as the ever-humorous styling of Boris’ Kitchen.

If side-splitting sketch comedy is not enough to relieve the stress of your finals preparation, BET will stage its fourth annual Quickies One-Act Festival the same weekend.

This one-night performance showcases an always impressive collection of never-before-seen one-act plays written, directed and performed by Brandeis undergraduate students. Submissions will be accepted throughout the semester.

Sir Laurence Olivier once said, “A great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.” If all rings true in Sir Olivier’s statement, this fall semester of theater is sure to make the Brandeis community proud.

This advertisement does not necessarily represent the official views of the Justice.

THE JUSTICE

Flotsam and jetsam

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

21

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: Rubberized body parts pepper Trecartin and Fitch’s installation.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

Young artists tackle environmental issues

By ANDREA FINEMAN JUSTICE EDITOR

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MICROCOSM OF POLLUTION: Trecartin and Fitch’s pool of plastic and molded body parts represents a larger incidence of water pollution in the North Pacific, where ocean currents have trapped acres of garbage on and just below the surface.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

TILE COUCH: A black vinyl couch covered with ceramic floor tiles looks out over the pool of plastic.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

A LONG, STRANGE TRIP: Trecartin and Fitch’s installation, frontal view. A wooden sculpture in the Rose’s permanent collection stands in the background.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

PLASTIC PROTRUSION: A tower of Rubbermaid storage containers and puddles of epoxy rises from the pool.

This year’s class of new first-years may be perplexed while roaming the campus by a collection of strange items surrounding and filling an above ground pool in the Rose Art Museum’s sculpture garden, located to the left of the building’s main entrance. Rhode Island School of Design Class of 2004 Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch’s The Aboutthing (in the air) combines household objects and rubberized body parts with the outdoor elements to evoke “the flotsam and jetsam that you find in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest,” says current Rose director Roy Dawes. The work is inspired by a region of the North Pacific called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area where the currents of the North Pacific Gyre have trapped stray plastic and other garbage on and near the surface of the ocean.

According to Dawes, “this was a piece that [former Rose director Michael Rush] was approached to present here. Mr. Trecartin is a very well-known video artist, but this is an installation he had done in a gallery in New York.”

“I thought it was a remarkably inventive piece. I loved the layering of skins and chunks of flesh mixed with the trash, as well as the theater of it all,” said Prof. Peter Kalb (FA), assistant professor of contemporary art. While Rush declined to speak about the Rose Art Museum, he said about the installation, “Like many works of art, especially contemporary art, it has many layers of meanings, the two most evident being somewhat contradictory (which is also in keeping with much of contemporary art): ‘impermanence’ (as the piece is meant to disintegrate) and the impossibility of ‘impermanence’ in the face of environmental disasters such as non-dissoluble garbage on our land and in our waters.”

Trecartin and Fitch have requested that the piece be left up indefinitely; that is, until the work disintegrates. Brandeis officials have other plans.

“My feeling is … once we get to a point where the water is going to freeze I think we may have to let the sculpture go at that point. I think the pool will start coming apart. As

soon as I see anything like that taking place, that’s when it’ll go,” said Dawes. The Rose’s Web site lists the exhibition’s end date as Sept. 25.

Said Kalb, “I am disappointed that the work is being prematurely removed—it was meant to engage a variety of entropic forces and being up only in the summer really limited the effect, meaning and audience of the work. Campus politics certainly count as a form of entropy that acts on art. … New England with its ridiculous weather was a great place to have a work that deals with the power of the environment; it is a shame to see the impact of the piece so reduced.”

As visitors round the corner of the Rose’s Lois Foster Wing, they are greeted with a rubbery mask impaled through its temples, mounted on the crossbar of an archway leading into the sculpture garden. To the left is a potted palm, and to the right, a wooden viewing platform holding

“

I loved the layering of skins and chunks of flesh mixed with the trash, as well as the theater of it all.

PROF. PETER KALB (FA)

a modern-looking black vinyl couch upon which various ceramic tiles are plastered, all covered in a yellowish, dripping glaze. The couch faces an above-ground pool filled with murky water and a variety of plastic bags and storage containers, some of which are molded together to form a little mountain of Rubbermaid containers drizzled with purplish epoxy body parts and amorphous blobs. “The piece invites multiple thoughts and, hopefully, inaugurates serious discussion,” says Rush.

It embodies “this Buddhist idea of the duality of impermanence,” says Roy Dawes. “It too will become garbage of a sort.”

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 , 2009

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THE JUSTICE

TELEVISION

MUSIC

‘Torchwood’ fires up its fans

Animals of rock

■ The ‘Doctor Who’ spinoff

■ The eminent indie rockers refused to bow to audience expectations, much to the annoyance of concertgoers craving a catchy hook.

offered a midsummer miniseries with the same fast pace and thematic depth that its loyal viewers have come to expect.

By BEN SERBY JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By SHELLY SHORE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Picture the brilliant sci-fi storylines of the popular BBC series Doctor Who. Throw in a mix of characters ranging from the unkillable to the undead. Add a dash of sexuality—maybe a bit more than a dash—and a healthy amount of morbid humor and a serving of action, and you’ll have Torchwood.

Torchwood, a spin-off of Doctor Who, first aired in 2006 in both the United Kingdom and the United States While the presence of a wellloved Doctor Who character, the brash, attractive Captain Jack Harkness (played by Scottish-American actor John Barrowman) initially attracted a niche audience of loyal Doctor Who fans, the show quickly picked up speed, gathering an audience beyond the Whoniverse. Since its first airing in 2006, Torchwood has run a total of 31 episodes: two 13episode seasons and one five-night miniseries that aired this July.

How did such a small show gain such a devoted fan base so quickly?

And more importantly, why does it matter to Brandeis students?

Set in modern-day Cardiff, Wales, Torchwood revolves around the titular small, secret organization that is dedicated to the investigation, coverup and collection of alien life on Earth. “Outside the government, beyond the police, beyond the United Nations,” the show’s voice-over introduction informs its audience at the beginning of every episode. Cast aside any mental images of a whitewashed, secret government base, though—while the Torchwood headquarters is secret and hidden, it’s hardly the Batcave. The impressive technology and alien artifacts tend to be overshadowed by the well-used coffeemaker and ratty couches, and did I mention the pet pterodactyl?

There is a constant theme of the necessity of—get ready for the buzzword, Brandeis kids—truth. More than either of its previous seasons, the third season deals with the absolute vitality of truthfulness and honesty—and the difference between the two. Torchwood’s third season takes place over a five-day span dur-

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

DOCTOR WHAT?: The men and women of Torchwood investigate extraterrestrials. ing which the Torchwood team attempts to fight off an incoming alien invasion. The action turns explosive and the intrigue darkens in the first episode, but the pace of the season stays constant, with emotional blows coming at the audience from all angles. Without giving away too much of the plot, it’s fair to say that issues of truth and social justice—look, Brandeis, another buzzword!—run rampant.

While the sci-fi plotlines are impressive, if occasionally cheesy, it’s the characters that make the show so hard to quit. Fans of Doctor Who know that the show’s central characters are well rounded and impossible not to love, and that development carries over to Torchwood. The show has a constant GLBT presence as well—Torchwood is the only show on television with a bisexual main character played by a homosexual actor, and a good portion of the char-

acters identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The interpersonal relationships— friendships, romances, families—are painted realistically and poignantly, and if the sexual undercurrent of the show seems occasionally overt, it manages to stay tasteful. To say nothing of the fact that the show itself is brilliant (not that this particular journalist is in any way biased), Torchwood takes the underlying values of Doctor Who—the broad base of knowledge, the respect of foreign cultures, friendship and love—and sweeps them into a mix of subplots for a more mature audience.

Between personal relationships and government conspiracies, the importance of truth and the harmfulness of secrets, Torchwood is a great summer watch for anyone with a flair for the strange—or just an interest in what can happen when society stops caring.

The album Merriweather Post Pavilion, which was released in January, represented a new direction for the Brooklyn-based trio of musicians known as Animal Collective. The album was very well received by both critics and listeners (it got an astounding 9.6 on Pitchfork, if you must know), and it put the band firmly on the mainstream-alternative map with its unmistakable pop sound.

“Pop” is a striking label to apply to a group of musicians whose screechy, experimental sound has historically conferred on them an image of avantgarde exclusivity.

Nonetheless, nearly every track on Merriweather is seductively catchy, while several are even highly danceable.

During a show at the Prospect Park band shell in Brooklyn on Friday, Aug. 14, the three members of Animal Collective demonstrated that this newfound accessibility does not extend to their live performances.

Earlier, the opening act, Black Dice, pounded the defenseless ears of the audience with a full hour of self-described “experimental electronica” that sounded like the soundtrack to Satan’s inner monologue. Animal Collective took the stage alongside a bizarre, psychedelic, aquatic-themed art installation that elicited murmurs of delight from the crowd. But visual distractions aside, if fans hoped for something significantly more sonically agreeable than the headliner, they were sure to be disappointed.

The band’s sometimes perplexing performance consisted of a single continuous set lasting 90 minutes, and much of that time was filled with vague melodies, ambient noise and the band’s trademark dissonant fuzz.

Discernable songs were few and far between; one had to really listen and wait patiently to discover a point at which the seemingly endless and mind-numbingly repetitive transitions might evolve into something better-formed. From a participatory angle, this organic approach to the music left much to be desired—a fact that was clear to anyone who, like me, attempted to tap his foot in time and soon got bored.

Such indulgence was particularly cruel during “Daily Routine,” a song off of Merriweather that is distinguished by the soulful, drawn-out vocals at its conclusion, when singer Noah Lennox memorably repeats the line “just one sec more / in my bed.”

However, rather than playing it true to the song’s recorded form, Lennox (a.k.a. Panda Bear) tantalized the audience by holding notes past their expected duration and extending the song by another two minutes. Voices in the audience shouted out the lyrics at the moment that they expected to hear them, while hands went up and fists pumped pathetically in the absence of any corresponding bass thump or chord. Some listeners obviously felt cheated, creating a palpable atmosphere of disappointment.

A similarly aggravating pattern of deconstruction and rearrangement followed with what should have been a crowd-pleaser, a recital of “Brothersport.” Here, the lyrics were deliberately switched around, and the song structure was simplified in some sections but complicated in others. This made it unduly difficult to dance and nearly impossible to sing along. In consequence, people awkwardly tried to keep up with a song they had been eagerly looking forward to hearing all evening only to find that the music being played clashed with their expectations.

Time and again, the band made it a point to dangle a song or melody—a musical point of reference—only to take it away, displaying an almost sadistic refusal to conform to the recording. Often, such delayed satisfaction can bring spontaneous musical catharsis, particularly at live shows, but these gestures instead failed to inspire enjoyment or response. For instance, after teasing the drum riff to “Fireworks” for an interminable three minutes, whatever excitement was initially created had been completely used up with the unfulfilled anticipation that something might actually, eventually, begin.

Only at a few moments did the group’s experimentation beget something captivating, as during a vocal calland-response buildup in the encore, “Guys Eyes.”

Certainly, Merriweather Post Pavilion showed that Animal Collective is capable of crafting pop songs that are almost charitably catchy. But at this show, the trio expressed to its fellow Brooklynites a resolute refusal to be mimed, mimicked or predicted.

If you’ll pardon the cliché, they just simply won’t allow themselves to be “put in a box,” making their live performances something of a letdown.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

23

FILM

Excess blood dampens ‘Basterds’ ■ Even for a violence-loving fan of Quentin Tarantino, the director’s latest film about a group of American Jews killing Nazis during World War II proves a letdown.

By JUSTINE ROOT JUSTICE EDITOR

I did not go see Inglourious Basterds to observe how it differed from the 1978 Italian film of the same name, nor did I go see it because I was interested in Quentin Tarantino’s take on the Second World War. No, I went because the movie’s trailer implied that the film would include scenes in which Eli Roth went to town on Nazis with a baseball bat, and I’m a lady who enjoys watching films that feature attractive dudes performing acts of extreme violence, much in the same way that other ladies like watching romantic comedies where guys make papier-mâché flowers and cry, or whatever the hell it is men do in romantic comedies nowadays.

That said, it is probably obvious that I’m a fan of Tarantino’s work and consequently had high expectations for Basterds. Unfortunately, Basterds was a film as amateur as Hugo Stiglitz was a Nazi hunter according to Brad Pitt’s character, First Lt. Aldo Raine.

Now, before we continue, allow me to clarify: Basterds was by no means a terrible movie. If it had been made by any other director, I would have considered it an aboveaverage film. However, since it was directed by Tarantino, it ultimately came to represent for me Tarantino’s tumble into an artistic rut.

Over the course of the movie, I counted two musical tracks that were the same as those used in Kill Bill. Further, Tarantino divided the film into chapters—a technique that worked well in Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, but which was ultimately unnecessary for this particular movie.

And, maybe I’m nitpicking here, but the font used for the chapter titles

was the same as that used for those in Kill Bill.

In my mind, there is a fine line between trademark and repetition.

But I digress. There were an assortment of other similarities between Basterds and Tarantino’s earlier films (e.g., similar camera angles, death scenes, etc.), but unfortunately this latest work was missing the one common thread that should have been included: Tarantino’s dark sense of humor and clever plots. Ultimately, the film felt like a series of excessively violent events connected by implausible revelations. For instance, a poorly executed gunfight that lasted approximately five seconds was prompted by a drunken soldier’s observational skills—skills that would be impressive in a sober man and nonexistent in someone who was three sheets to the wind. The bloodshed was not the stylistic violence of other Tarantino films, but rather raw brutality included merely for brutality’s sake. If I had to estimate, I would say 90 percent of the movie’s “strong graphic violence” is either a) someone getting shot point-blank in the face or b) getting their brains bashed in with a baseball bat, which is less appealing than the trailers led me to believe.

And while the characters were memorable, some of their actions were just … well … stupid. While undercover, they sass superior officers of the opposite faction, and others loudly plot the demise of Nazi leaders while said persons chat in the next room.

The characters also lack any real depth; I felt like I was watching Fight Club, except it was Basterd Club and the first rule of Basterd Club is that you do not talk about yourself.

Want to know how First Lt. Raine got that scar on his neck? So do I, but we never find out.

Want to know why the eight Jewish-Americans composing the Basterds became Basterds? Me too, but Tarantino neglects to include any kind of backstory.

With regard to the cast, I felt as though the talents of a great many

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

HITLER HUNTERS: Eli Roth (left) and Brad Pitt lead a gang of American Jews on a quest for revenge against Nazi soldiers. fantastic actors were wasted.

Samuel L. Jackson is the film’s narrator, but he had approximately two lines throughout the entire film.

Further, only half of the Basterds had speaking roles, and while such excellent players as Harvey Keitel, Ludger Pistor and Christian Berkel had cameos, I only discovered this as I read the cast list after viewing the film—good luck finding them while you’re actually watching the movie.

What I found particularly disturbing (rather than simply unlikely or annoying) about the movie, though, was Tarantino’s sympathy for Nazi soldiers and distortion of Allied forces. At one point, the film’s primary Jewish protagonist ruthlessly threatens an innocent civilian at knifepoint in order to achieve her revenge against the Nazis, while in another scene a Nazi soldier and new father who has been promised safety are gunned down by an ally of the

Basterds.

They say familiarity breeds contempt, and perhaps I have just watched a few too many Tarantino works a few too many times. Thus, in the few remaining lines I have left, I will touch upon Basterds’ good points: I had recently come to regard Brad Pitt as a pretty face and little else, but I was pleasantly surprised by his abilities as a comic actor and his portrayal of First Lt. Raine. And Eli Roth not only swings a mean bat but is also an excellent player, although his character, Donny Donowitz, is predominantly shown committing acts of violence and doing little else.

The few lines Roth is permitted to deliver are imbued with a passion that many of the other characters lack despite the film’s heavy subject matter. Indeed, I would say Basterds is worth seeing just to view Roth’s efforts not only as an actor but as the

directorial force behind the filmwithin-a-film, A Nation’s Pride. The standout actor, however, was Christopher Waltz in his turn as Col. Hans Landa, a self-serving member of the Waffen-SS. It should also be noted that the last half hour of the film and the movie’s ending are incredible but not worth getting excited over if you’ve already seen the trailer for Basterds.

In regard to this, I would like to conclude with a statement aimed at the creators of movie trailers: Stop including footage of a movie’s ending in the trailers. Midway through the film, when you realize that you already know what’s going to happen in the closing stages because you inadvertently saw the conclusion on television, it is quite distressing.

So just stop it before I snag a baseball bat and go Donny Donowitz on your ass.

FILM

Summer flicks make rewarding rentals for fall ■ Some movies never made

it to your town and for others you never made it to the theater, but here are a few gems that stand to endure past blockbuster season.

By SEAN FABERY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Ah, summer—that lovely season in which every theater across the country is flooded with a deluge of blockbusters boasting wands and machine guns. Some of these blockbusters, like this summer’s Star Trek, turn out to be wonderful; others, not so much. For those looking for a temporary respite from the typical summer fare, it’s not always easy to find a suitable film. Sometimes a smaller film will come out of nowhere to suddenly become a box office success, but generally a film that gets a limited release will reach a limited audience—a shame seeing as some of these films are quite good and occasionally brilliant. There are certainly some films that I’m still waiting to see because they never quite reached my neck of the woods (Moon, I’m looking at you). The films that follow achieved varying degrees of success at the box office, but they uniformly made this summer at the movies more interesting and certainly deserve a second shot on DVD.

Drag Me to Hell No film this summer came anywhere close to being as entertaining as director Sam Raimi’s latest horror-comedy. Its plot is simple and rid-

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT

CRAZED CRONE: Lorna Raver (Sylvia Ganush) puts a curse on a young woman (Alison Lohman) who tries to evict her in the summer horror flick Drag Me to Hell. dled with genre clichés, but this is essential to its brilliance. Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a wellmeaning loan officer in search of a promotion, refuses an old woman’s request for an extension on her mortgage. Like anyone in her predicament, the woman physically attacks Christine and then places a curse on her—a curse that ensures that, within three days, our ingénue will be—you guessed it—dragged to hell.

Christine attempts to find a way out of her predicament with the assistance of a fortune teller, a medium and her boyfriend (Justin Long). The film is very much a love letter to the horror genre, as it melds a B-movie plot with classic visuals and a bombastic score to create a delicious, schlocky confection. It also gets bonus points for making animal sac-

rifice and embalming fluid funny again.

(500) Days of Summer In the opening minutes of (500) Days of Summer, the narrator declares that “this is not a love story.”

Instead, it’s a story about love, primarily of the unrequited and messy variety, as viewed through the eyes of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a romantic who falls for Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Their intrinsically different attitudes toward romance define them.

Tom believes wholeheartedly in fate and true love, while Summer doesn’t believe love really exists. Tom is sure that Summer is the one; his world consequently shatters when she breaks up with him. We see their relationship unravel before our eyes, but not in

chronological order—instead we see it as Tom experiences it, bouncing between warm and hurtful recollections and the realization that his expectations haven’t met up with reality (cleverly illustrated in one heartbreaking scene). Though this may sound depressing in print, firsttime director Marc Webb infuses his film with such charm and visual verve that it never succumbs to its melancholy. While (500) Days owes a great debt to films like Annie Hall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind thematically and structurally, it never feels derivative due to its direction and the sheer joy one gets from seeing Levitt and Deschanel in action. It combines its disparate parts to form a cohesive, charming whole that proves to be one of the most joyful cinematic experiences in recent years.

The Hurt Locker Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, numerous directors have attempted to bring the conflict to cinema screens, with little success.

Director Kathryn Bigelow succeeds where others have failed with The Hurt Locker, a suspenseful war drama which feels almost as real as any footage you’ll see on TV. Instead of tackling the conflict’s politics as others have, Bigelow focuses squarely on those fighting on the front lines. Her film follows three members of an elite explosives disposal unit as they serve the final days of their initial tour of duty in Iraq.

Not only do they face daily threats from insurgents, but they must also deal with the friction between the unit’s new team leader, Sgt. James (Jeremy Renner), and his fellow soldiers Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and

Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). Though James has disabled over 800 bombs, his reckless, daredevil attitude toward his work deeply troubles his partners, and while “war is like a drug” to James, the others simply want to get out alive. Bigelow brings a world to the screen in which even children cannot be trusted and silences almost always mean danger.

We, too, are made to feel under attack. Each member of Bigelow’s cast inhabits his role so completely that it’s hard to believe that these actors are merely characters in a narrative rather than real people in a documentary. Considering Bigelow’s intentions, it’s the highest praise you can give a film like this.

Summer Hours Those in search of quieter, more methodical cinema experience would do well to turn to Summer Hours, a French film which, in essence, eulogizes childhood in the face of the realities of adulthood. Three siblings (Juliet Binoche, Charles Berling and Jeremie Renier) gather together for their annual family reunion at their mother’s summer house. Their mother dies soon afterward, leaving them to decide what will happen to the house and its contents, including numerous paintings and pieces of furniture that have both great financial and sentimental value. Director Olivier Assayas’ vision is hard to capture in a few sentences, as he tackles so much—globalization (the siblings are scattered across three continents), the nature of nostalgia, the value of art both culturally and emotionally and more. It’s an incredibly moving, intelligent family drama of the sort that isn’t often seen.

24

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

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THE JUSTICE

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Technology snafus tax your patience. But before you throw that computer or other bulky hardware into the trash, take a deep breath and call someone knowledgeable for help.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Don’t be too upset if your generosity goes unappreciated.

These things happen, and rather than brood over it, move on. A new friend could open up some exciting new possibilities.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A loved one helps you get through an especially difficult emotional situation. Spend the weekend immersed in the body and soul-restorative powers of music and the other arts.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) You are pretty much in charge of what you want to do this week. However, it might be a good idea to keep an open mind regarding suggestions from people you know you can trust.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Another chance to shine (something always dear to the Lion’s heart) might be resented by others. But you earned it, so enjoy it. The weekend brings news about a family member.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A suggestion that never took off could become viable

ACROSS 1. Saxophone range 5. Nov. follower 8. Impale 12. Benefit 13. “— Yankee Doodle Dandy ...”

14. Ocean motion 15. Farmland measure 16. Ross and backup 18. Looseleaf-paper holder 20. Lucky dice rolls 21. Prison, in Portsmouth 23. Shriner's cap 24. 2007 comedy movie 28. Nary a soul 31. — out a living 32. Le Pew and Le Moko 34. Convent dweller 35. Catherine — Jones 37. Quash 39. Tokyo’s old name 41. Actress Gilpin 42. Straying 45. Some hosiery 49. Imagined 51. Press 52. Map 53. Past 54. One billionth (Pref.)

55. Longings 56. Director Howard 57. Radiate DOWN 1. Common rhyme scheme 2. Places 3. Undecided 4. Nervous 5. Strips 6. Ostrich’s cousin

again. Dust it off, update it if necessary, and resubmit it. In your personal life, a new relationship takes an “interesting” turn.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Confronting a new challenge to your stated position could work to your advantage by settling all doubts once you’re able to present a solid defense backed up by equally solid facts.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You enjoy doing nice things for others. But this is a good time to do something nice for yourself as well. You might want to start by planning a super-special getaway weekend.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Some changes you feel you need to make might be reasonable and appropriate. But others might lead to new problems. Think things through carefully before you act.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Good instincts usually keep the sure-footed Goat on the right path. So, what others might see as stubbornness on your part in fact reflects your good sense of what is worth supporting.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A period of introspection could lead to some surprising conclusions—and also equally surprising changes—involving a number of your longheld positions on several issues.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) The financially practical Pisces might want to take a sensible approach to spending as well as investing.

Being prudent now pays off later. A romantic situation moves into another phase.

BORN THIS WEEK: Your sense of curiosity keeps you continually alert for what’s new about people, places and things.

BRANDEIS

Through the Lens

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

Welcome Wagon 7. Uppercase 8. Spielberg or Bochco 9. Eastern or Pacific, e.g.

10. Mideast gulf 11. Harry’s first lady 17. Ump 19. O.K. Corral VIP 22. Drink, as a puppy might 24. “— you!”

25. Guitar’s island kin 26. Barrie boy 27. Trust 29. Greek consonants 30. Navy rank (Abbr.)

33. Agile 36. Tweaks 38. Angering 40. Yoko of music 42. Catch sight of 43. Hold the scepter 44. Despot 46. Exam format 47. Admonition to Nanette 48. Winter forecast 50. Id counterpart

King Crossword Copyright 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.

University President Jehuda Reinharz greeted the Class of 2013 on his new ride, an orange Vespa. Whether it was acquired

Sudoku Enter digits from 1 to 9 into each blank space so that every row, column and 3x3 square contains one of each digit.

Sudoku Copyright 2007 King Features Synd., Inc. ■ It is not known who made the following sage observation: “Conscience is the still, small voice which tells a candidate that what he is doing is likely to lose him votes.”

■ Cost-cutting is nothing new in the airline industry. Way back in 1987, American Airlines was looking to pinch a few pennies.

One of the measures the carrier decided on was to eliminate one olive from each salad served to passengers in first class. This seemingly minor move saved a total of $40,000 that year.

■ Before he became a fast food titan, the founder of the Taco Bell chain of restaurants operated a hot dog stand.

■ If you’re overdue for a snack right now, you might be hearing borborygmi. Those are the growling sounds made by an empty belly.

■ If you’ve ever been to an arcade, you’ve certainly seen a claw machine—the game in which you operate a lever to manipulate a claw in order to (hopefully) pick up a stuffed toy. Well, in Osaka, Japan, they’ve come up with a new twist. The Sub Marine Catcher looks just like a standard claw machine, except instead of stuffed toys, the plastic chamber is filled with water and live lobsters.

■ It was American comic book artist, publisher, writer and editor Bernard Bailey who made the following sage observation: “When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.”

■ In Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic 1960 film Psycho, that creepily realistic-looking blood in the famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup.

■ The Q-Tip brand of cotton swab was originally marketed under the name “Baby Gays.”

■ Next time you’re planning on taking a fishing trip, you might want to consider the whopper recently brought in by a Florida man. It seems that while fishing in the waters off the Panhandle, Rodney Salomon snagged a test missile. Although he wanted to keep the missile as a souvenir, the authorities insisted that the MacDill Air Force Base Bomb Squad dismantle it. Talk about the one that got away!

■ Legislators in Michigan thought it necessary at one point to pass a law making it illegal to be drunk on a train.

■ If you’re like the average American, you will eat approximately 60 quarts of popcorn this year.

Thought for the Day: “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.”—Napoleon Bonaparte

■ Do you know anyone who is xanthodontous?

If so, you might want to refer them to someone specializing in cosmetic dentistry.

Xanthodontous means “having yellow teeth.”

to reduce fuel emissions or revitalize his image, Reinharz’s Sun Chariot inspired much chatter among matriculators.