ARTS Page 19
SPORTS Fencers look for NCAA bids 13
THEATER LEGACY
Focus Israel debate on peace 12
FORUM
The Independent Student Newspaper
the
of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXVI, Number 21
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
administration
REVIVING A CLASSIC
Assistant dean roles created ■ Dean of Students Jamele
Adams announced the appointment of two new assistant deans. By sara dejene JUSTICE editor
Dean of Students Jamele Adams announced in an email to the Department of Student Life that Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes and Director of the Intercultural Center Monique Pillow-Gnanaratnam will be promoted to the positions of assistant deans.
Waltham, Mass.
According to Adams in the email, two assistant deans have become “part of our design in the Office of the Dean of Students.” “These positions are part of a reorganizing of departments to best serve our students and meet goals of the strategic plan,” explained Adams in an email to the Justice. According to Adams, Grimes and Pillow-Gnanaratnam will continue to fulfill all their duties as directors while assuming new responsibilities in their roles as assistant deans. In an email to the Justice, Grimes wrote that she will now oversee New Student Orientation and “join the
See DEANS, 7 ☛
DINING SERVICES
Sodexo announces meal plan options ■ Sodexo will offer an
unlimited meal plan next year in addition to 17-meal and 12-meal plans. By SAMANTHA TOPPER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Jay DeGioia, resident district manager for Sodexo, sent out an email last Friday to the student body that elucidated the changes to meal plan structures that Sodexo will implement in fall 2014. According to the email, the changes to dining
services at Brandeis resulted from a request by the University for Sodexo to update the current dining program. DeGioia wrote that the new plans will provide students with increased flexibility in terms of where they eat and how they utilize their meal plans, according to the email. Though DeGioia wrote that student feedback relating to the meal plan changes has been positive thus far, the Senate Dining Committee reported at Sunday night’s Student Union Senate meeting that it is still trying to work with Sodexo to find meal plan options that are accept-
See SODEXO, 7 ☛
JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
Dave Benger ’14 (center) starred as Cyrano in a Hold Thy Peace adaption of Cyrano de Bergerac, which was performed this past week. For full coverage, see Arts page 21.
student ACTIVISM
McMahon and clubs draw attention to sexual violence ■ The Feminist Majority
By KATHRYN BRODY
Leadership Alliance staged a week of events revolving around assault and consent to raise awareness on the University campus.
JUSTICE editorIAL ASSISTANT
Last week, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance hosted Sexual Violence Awareness Week. The week was designed to address the issues surrounding consent and sexual assault on the Brandeis campus.
According to a report presented by Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) to the Faculty Senate for its Nov. 1 meeting, “over the four years of their undergraduate career, 95 Brandeis males and 385 females (they don’t account for gender nonconforming individuals) will have experienced attempted or complet-
ed sexual assault.” According to the Facebook event page for the week, FMLA wanted to focus specifically on “beginning a discussion on sexual violence on college campuses, educating each other about sex and consent, and making steps to create a positive culture around consent.”
See FMLA, 7 ☛
Shabbat gathering
Floor general
Judicial decision
Reconstructionist students from around the country paid a three-day visit to the University.
The women’s basketball team lost to Smith College in the ECAC semifinal on Saturday.
BLCU will have to change its name after the Student Judiciary’s rulings.
FEATURES 9 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
There were a series of events, including a workshop with Harvard Law professor Diane Rosenfeld concerning the legal tools at hand for students in acting upon a case of sexual assault. Allison Callahan ’16, a member of FMLA who attended the workshop,
Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org
INDEX
SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS
17 16
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 8
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2014 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.
2
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS SENATE LOG
Union president announces updates The Student Union Senate met on Sunday night to discuss its current initiatives and plans, including meal plans for next year, sustainability initiatives and upcoming events such as ’Deis Day and the Midnight Buffet. The Senate approved three Senate Money Resolutions, one for a new copy of Robert’s Rules of Order for the Senate, and the other two for several upcoming events. The first events the Senate approved funds for were Zivwoodstock and Modapalooza, occurring April 25 and 26 respectively. These will both be outdoor celebrations in the specified residential areas, and will feature food and activities. The other event the Senate approved funding for was the upcoming Midnight Buffet. Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14 announced in his executive report that plans have been almost finalized for a roundtable discussion between the administration and students about major issues on campus. This will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 20 and will consist of members from all areas of the community. Rosen also announced that ’Deis Day planning is well under way, and that the events will most likely be split between the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center’s Red Auerbach Arena and Chapels Field on Sunday, April 6. Rosen said that the event will feature many fun activities for students to participate in and will involve clubs and teams from all over campus, but said that those plans are still in the process of being solidified. Rosen also mentioned that several senators are currently in the process of revising the Student Union Constitution in order to make it more concise and effective with current circumstances in the community. Changes will most likely include cutting much of the unnecessary language, defining clubs in the constitution rather than the bylaws and adjustments to the capital expenditure fund, which will now be more accessible for clubs to propose community improvement projects on which to spend the fund. These changes, along with several others, will be up for a vote at the next Senate meeting. Rosen then reported on several transportationrelated initiatives. The task force created to deal with the issue of on-campus parking has been reviewing results from a survey sent out to the student body during the fall semester and is coming up with both short and long-term solutions. Plans to improve parking on campus may eventually include either purchasing more land for parking or building a parking garage. In addition, a bus shelter to be built at the Admissions bus stop has been fully approved and funded, and should be built by the end of the year. The Senate went on to discuss newer projects that are still in progress. Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf said that the Sustainability Committee was working closely with Sodexo to organize new initiatives, including an event during Earth Week in collaboration with Coca-Cola. She also said that there is a town hall event planned for 6 p.m. on March 18 in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium with local and sustainable food provided by Sodexo, at which all of the different environmental clubs will get a chance to speak and weigh in on the sustainability efforts on campus. The Senate Dining Committee reported that it is still trying to work with Sodexo to find meal plan options that are acceptable to the Brandeis community, and to get them to release possible prices. They are looking at meal programs at other schools and trying to build the best possible plan for Brandeis.
POLICE LOG
BRIEF
Medical Emergency
Mar. 5—The Brandeis Athletics department director reported that a 66-year-old male was in medical distress at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. University Police responded and transported the patient to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment. Mar. 6—University Police received a request for a psychiatric transport from Mailman House to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Officers later assisted at the scene without incident. Mar. 8—University Police received a report that a student in Renfield Hall injured his foot. BEMCo responded and, after treatment, the student refused further care. Mar. 8—A student in Ridgewood Quad reported that another student had been found comatose and unconscious on the fourth floor of the building. BEMCo responded and transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment. The community development coordinator was notified of the incident the next morning.
Larceny
Mar. 3—University Police received a report that approximately $5,200 of photographic equipment had been stolen from an office in the Shapiro Campus Center over the mid-
winter recess. Officers compiled a report of the incident. Mar. 4—University Police received a report that an unattended laptop had been stolen from the common room in Village B Residence Hall. Officers then compiled a report of the incident. Mar. 8—A student reported to University Police that a University-rented bicycle had been stolen from the steps outside of Sherman Function Hall last week. Officers compiled a report of the theft.
Miscellaneous
Mar. 4—University Police received a report that a suspicious white male entered the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center with an odd request to hire students to help unload his truck. The party had been advised to depart from the parking lot and proceed to the Route 128 rest stop. After several hours, the suspect finally departed from the parking lot. No further action was taken. Mar. 8—University Police received a report of two suspicious college-aged males in a black pick-up truck on Loop Road near Usdan Student Center. Officers were notified. No further action was taken. —compiled by Adam Rabinowitz
TEA PARTY
WIRE BRIEF
Duke student reveals story
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n The Arts spread failed to credit Rebecca Lantner for its design. (March 4, p. 20) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.
Justice
the
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The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods. Editor in chief office hours are held Mondays from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Justice office. Editor News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing Copy Layout
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Student Union representatives will host a “public, round-table discussion and forum” between themselves, senior administrators and members of the student body next week, Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14 announced to the Brandeis community via email Monday night. The forum will take place on Thursday, March 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center presentation room. The space seats 100, according to an October 2009 BrandeisNOW article. Rosen’s email stated that the forum was being held in order to address student concerns “on some prominent issues that affect current and future Brandeis students such as the [U]niversity’s allocation of funds, rising tuition expenses, and the recent changes to meal plans. “We feel that as your elected representatives, we are obligated to publicly address your concerns to our university administration, but wish to approach these issues as a discussion,” the email continued. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid will represent the administration at the event, according to Rosen. Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and Chief Legal Officer David Bunis ’83 was invited, but did not confirm his attendance as of Monday night, wrote Rosen in an email to the Justice. The first hour of the event is scheduled as a public discussion between Student Union representatives and Brandeis administrators, while the floor will open for students to ask questions during the second hour, according to Rosen. Rosen’s email also included a link to a Google form on which students can send questions or suggestions to the Union. They will be addressed at the March 20 meeting. The Justice, the Hoot, WBRS and individual administrators were officially invited to attend the event on Feb. 21, as it was still being planned and a date had yet to be determined. Flagel, de Graffenreid and Bunis, as well as several elected Student Union officials, were invited on the same date. —Tate Herbert
—Hannah Wulkan
n An in-house advertisement incorrectly spelled the name of the Justice Features Editor. Her name is Jaime, not Jamie, Kaiser. (March 4, p. 6)
Town hall set for March 20
GRACE KWON/the Justice
The Taiwanese Student Association held a Boba Tea Tasting Night in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge last Wednesday night. Students who attended tasted various types of tea and learned about the history of tea.
The Duke University freshman whose participation in pornographic movies sparked much campus discussion in recent weeks has revealed her photo and porn name. “Today, I am choosing to reveal my porn identity to the world,” the student wrote. “My name is Belle Knox, and I wear my Scarlet Letter with pride.” The student does not disclose her real name in the essay, saying she has been bullied since news of her porn career became public last month. “My birth name is one name,” she wrote. “It is the name I am enrolled in at Duke. It is what my family and friends call me. My porn name is another name. It is the name I use when I perform.” This is the second story the student has written for the website. In both, she says she is proud to perform in porn, and she takes to task another Duke student who she says revealed her identity on campus after seeing one of her movies. She also talks about the disrespect that she says female “sex workers” face. —McClatchy Newspapers
ANNOUNCEMENTS Eisenbud Lectures
The departments of Physics and Mathematics at Brandeis are incredibly excited to announce that this year’s Eisenbud Lectures in Mathematics and Physics will be given by the world-renowned theoretical physicist Cumrun Vafa, the Donner Professor of Science at Harvard University. Vafa is one of the leading figures in the fields of string theory and quantum gravity, and he has been on the forefront of the exchange between string theory and geometry that has revolutionized both fields over the last 30 years. He is known for his immense intuition, creativity and depth of thinking in physics and mathematics. The Eisenbud lectures are the result of a bequest by Leonard and Ruth-Jean Eisenbud, and this year marks the 100th anniversary of Leonard Eisenbud’s birth. Leonard Eisenbud was a mathematical physicist at State University of New York Stony Brook; upon his retirement he moved to the Boston area, as his son David Eisenbuid was a member of the Mathematics faculty at Brandeis, and was given a
desk here. The bequest is for an annual lecture series by physicists and mathematicians working on the boundary between the first two fields. The Eisenbud lectures consist of three lectures. The first is a colloquium-style lecture meant for a broad scientific audience. The following two lectures are more technical lectures meant for experts in the field. Today from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Abelson-BassYalem Building 131, tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon in in Abelson 333 and tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m. in Abelson 229.
Work Smart
Evelyn Murphy, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and founder of the Wage Project, Inc., a grassroots activist national organization dedicated to ending wage discrimination against working women will speak on how to get paid fairly for the work they are doing. Today from 4 to 6 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall in the Goldfarb Library.
Jay Pepose ’75 Award Lecture
Richard Masland, professor at Harvard University, will receive the Jay Pepose ’75 Award in Vision Sciences and deliver a public lecture, “The Neuronal Organization of the Retina: Answers and Problems.” Pre-lecture reception will take place at 3:45 p.m. Tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m. in Gerstenzang 121.
No Other Odysseus Will Ever Return
This talk by professor of Classics at The University of Texas at San Antonio Joel Christensen ’01 examines the Odyssey from three perspectives: its therapeutic treatment of fate and free will; the mythical patterning that illustrates how the stories we tell create our identities; and the echoes of the epic’s warnings about the dangers of narrative in Breaking Bad and the novel Infinite Jest. Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Lown Center for Judiaca Studies Auditorium.
THE JUSTICE
Judiciary votes on club verdict
the term “libertarian” from its name, as dictated by the Judiciary’s decision. By ANDREW WINGENS JUSTICE EDITOR
The Student Judiciary issued a decision Sunday night in a rare instance of a case going to trial; the justices ruled the Brandeis Libertarian Conservative Union must change its name “to better reflect the objectives of the club.” The decision followed a trial on March 6, during which two clubs disputed which one could use the word “libertarian” in its club name. The Brandeis Libertarians argued “libertarian” should be dropped from the name of the Brandeis Libertarian Conservative Union. According to the Judiciary’s decision, the name BLCU misrepresents the club’s activities on campus, and therefore the club must change its name. The new name also cannot include the word “libertarian,” although it can include “liberty,” wrote the Judiciary. The decision also requires both clubs to alter their constitutions to “reflect the objectives” of each club, according to the decision. In response to the decision, BLCU President Joshua Nass ’14 wrote the club is “thankful to the justices for affording our club the opportunity to incorporate the word liberty into our club’s name. “We are and will continue to be the premiere club on campus for those students looking to defend and preserve liberty,” wrote Nass in an email to the Justice. “We look forward to continue experiencing unparalleled amounts of success in all respects and to remaining the largest coalition of conservatives and libertarians on campus.” BL President Nelson Gilliat ’14
said that “BL is obviously pleased with the court’s ruling. “BLCU was an attempt to lump in libertarianism with conservatism, which obviously can’t work and therefore failed miserably.” At the trial, the Brandeis Libertarians, represented by club Vice President Aaron Fried ’14 and Gilliat, questioned the libertarian bona fides of the BLCU. Fried said the problem is that BLCU is a “conservative club marketing themselves as a libertarian club and this interferes with our mission.” Fried and Gilliat said something that is conservative by definition cannot be libertarian and that two competing ideologies cannot exist in one coalition. The BLCU defended the use of “libertarian” in its name and said it did not have a problem with the existence of the Brandeis Libertarians as a separate organization. Nass, representing the BLCU, fervently rejected Fried’s claims that the BLCU is a strictly Republican or conservative group, pointing to members of the BLCU who have interned on libertarian campaigns. “We are a coalition of libertarians and conservatives,” said Nass. The Brandeis Libertarians—until December 2013 called the Young Americans for Liberty—first petitioned the Senate to require the BLCU’s name change. The Senate, however, rejected the change. BL then appealed to the Judiciary. BLCU was called the Brandeis Republicans until its name change in spring 2010. Judiciary members presiding over the trial were Chief Justice Claire Sinai ’15, and Associate Justices Luky Guigui ’14 and Maris Ryger-Wasserman ’16. Associate Justice Sarah Park ’14 recused herself. Jane Taschman ’14 served as clerk of the court. Editor’s note: Aaron Fried ’14 is a columnist for the Justice.
STUDENT UNION
Senate strives to adopt new mailroom system
■ The Senate plans to
establish an electronic notification system for mailroom packages. By HANNAH WULKAN JUSTICE editorial assistant
The Senate is working to institute a new electronic package notification system on campus in order to make picking up packages at the mailroom more convenient, efficient and environmentally friendly, according to Class of 2016 Senator Jonathan Jacob. The University and Senate are working together to move to a system that sends either an email or a text message notification directly to recipients when packages arrive. Jacob pushed for this initiative because that he has had many frustrating experiences while trying to pick up packages and thought that the system could be improved, he wrote in an email to the Justice. He involved Executive Senator Annie Chen ’14 and Director of University Services Dianne Qualter with the project, and they have been working together to figure out the best way to institute this initiative, according to Jacob. “The [U]niversity is currently in a bidding process with different mail room providers,” wrote Jacob. “[T]he University intends to bring a ‘state of the art’ mailroom [to campus] sometime soon.” The current idea, Chen wrote, is that “students [would be] notified by email that they have a package in
the mailroom and they [would] walk up to the doorway with their student ID. A quick card-swipe then [would pull] up information on a monitor that [would tell] the mailroom worker whether the student has a package and, if so, where in the mailroom it is located.” This process will make the mailroom much more efficient, and hopefully eliminate the long lines that often develop, according to Jacob and Chen. The current system of package slips is also extremely wasteful, according to Jacob, as they are thrown away as soon as the student picks up the package. “We wrote our proposal considering the comparatively low implementation costs to a mailroom renovation and the possible benefit to sustainability, long-term costs, and general student happiness,” wrote Chen of the reasoning behind this initiative. Though this is only a model for the system that they hope to adopt, the committee said administrators in Procurement Services told them that the mailroom will be renovated by the beginning of next year, according to those involved in pushing the initiative. “I hope students will be receptive to this change and take advantage of it once implemented. No more walking from grad to the mail room with disappointment on the walk back!” wrote Jacob. He and Chen wrote that they have high hopes for this program, and through their collaboration with University Services, this new system should be implemented by the beginning of next school year.
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014
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MEDIEVAL MILITARIES
STUDENT UNION
■ The BLCU must remove
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ABBY KINECHT/the Justice
Dr. Ilana Krug ’96, associate professor of history at York College of Pennsylvania, discussed the impact of ancient Roman Vegetius’ treatise on medieval military strategy on March 5.
STUDENT UNION
University looks to establish WhoCash use for vending ■ The University plans to
partner with Coca-Cola to install WhoCash readers on select vending machines. By hannah wulkan JUSTICE editorial assistant
The University is working on a new initiative to allow students to use WhoCash to purchase from the CocaCola vending machines on campus, according to Chair of the Campus Operations Work Group and Class of 2014 Senator Andre Tran, . This development came about due to a combination of factors, including
student feedback, discussion with the Student Union Senate and a recent contract renewal with Coca-Cola, which opened up discussion as to how the system could be improved, according to Tran. Tran, who is trying to help push this initiative through, said that the purpose of these changes is to increase the usage of the machines. He wrote in an email to the Justice that the Senate is still in the initial phases of this project, but that the changes will hopefully be implemented sometime this semester. “This has been in the back of the mind of the Office of University Services for a while. It just makes sense to have WhoCash work on vending
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machines,” Tran wrote. According to Tran, Director of University Services Dianne Qualter initially brought this idea to the Senate at the biweekly Campus Operations Working Group Senate committee meeting on Feb. 28. The committee continued to work with her, as well as directly with Coca-Cola, to implement this new system. Tran wrote that the contract renewals with Coca-Cola were the final push to make this change to the system. As part of the renewal, many of the vending machines on campus were already updated or replaced. In order to make them able to accept WhoCash, they will install a card swiping mechanism at some point during this semester.
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THE JUSTICE
OPEN CONVERSATION
By JESSIE MILLER JUSTICE EDITOR
Speakers raise concern about sexism in service ■ Several students brought
up their own community service experiences during the conversation. By ZACHARY REID JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER
Last Tuesday, the Department of Community Service sponsored a discussion about scenarios in volunteer work titled “Sexism in Service.” The event was led by Lindsey Miller from AmeriCorps VISTA, member of an AmeriCorps program aimed at fighting poverty, working with the Department of Community Service and its higher education intern Jack Korpob. A diverse group of students and staff, including Associate Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life Marci McPhee and Director of the Department of Community Service Lucas Malo, attended the event. Opening the discussion, Kateri Spear ’15 shared an experience from her recent work with Habitat for Humanity over February break, during which she and other Brandeis students went to Pennsylvania to build a home. On the last day of the trip, Spear said the overheard an older volunteer make “demeaning comments about one of our female-bodied volunteers” due to the assumption that she could not perform the manual labor of constructing a house as effectively as he could. The experience was “very uncomfortable” for the volunteer, according to Spear. Miller noted that there are “always external factors involved” with working on a service project, and acknowledged that volunteers face the dilemma of how to address these sorts of situations in a respectful manner. Korpob also shared a similar story from his undergraduate study at the University of California, San Diego about a service trip to Belize that he helped lead. Once his group arrived, he noticed that the local workers and liaisons would only speak to him. At first, he said that he did not think much of it, but it soon became apparent that the local members of the organization would not interact with his co-leaders because they were female. “I told [a liaison] that service was the reason that we were there,” said Korpob, adding that “telling someone they can’t do the same service because they are female simply wasn’t going to happen.” While Korpob admitted this situation made the trip awkward, he said that his team “fought back” against this discrimination. “Sometimes, you have to be the person to say [something] is wrong.” Korpob added that volunteers working in another culture could encounter cultural norms that make it difficult to stand up for their beliefs. While he “saw it to be appropriate” in this instance, he acknowledged that often it is “very difficult” for vol-
unteers to feel empowered in foreign environments. McPhee also added that Sorenson Fellows—students who are given a financial stipend by the Sorenson Fellowship so they may serve abroad with an organization of their choice during a summer—often “feel like they sold out their beliefs” if they choose to accept the gender norms of a different country. The latter half of the discussion was dominated by a recent advertising campaign of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Boston, a service organization that pairs children with older role models. The advertising campaign, called “Chicks Dig Bigs,” is an effort to address the chronic shortage of male volunteers for the organization. In a video put out by the campaign, a female narrator claims “93 percent of women are more likely to admire a guy who volunteers with kids.” The campaign’s web page calls on women to “ask that special guy in her life … and urge him to help make a difference in a child’s life.” When the discussion turned toward the reasoning behind the campaign, McPhee acknowledged that a shortage of male volunteers has been an issue for BBBSB, but added that she didn’t know “what [she] would do to solve this problem, but [she was] not sure this was it.” Spear also called into question the reasons a person volunteers to serve, and remained unconvinced that an individual who joined after seeing this campaign would be “the best person to commit to mentor a child,” as opposed to an individual who opted to serve in order to create a meaningful relationship with a child. Sharon Passov ’15, a coordinator for Language and Cultural Enrichment, a branch of the Waltham Group that pairs Brandeis students with English language learners from the Kennedy Middle School in Waltham, stated that she found the campaign “silly” and that it played on cultural norms, but did acknowledge that it showed the “desperation that the [organization] faces” with regard to male volunteers. Passov added that male volunteers at Brandeis typically ask to be paired with male children, and desire to spend time in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center “instead of [doing] arts and crafts or other activities.” Sophie Brickman ’16, a coordinator for Brandeis Big Siblings said that Brandeis Big Siblings’ lack of male volunteers could be addressed in more productive ways, such as having “male volunteers speak to other males” to show them that “it is cool to serve.” She also said that Brandeis Big Siblings has started working with the Athletics department, and that having a male athlete attest to his experiences with the organization have been successful. This event was the last in a series of discussions put on by the Department of Community Service in an effort to promote dialogue about service.
5
Gilmore passes at 72 Gilmore (ENG) passed away on March 3 after battling an unspecified illness.
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014
OBITUARY
■ Prof. Emeritus Michael
SENSITIVE SUBJECT: Jack Korpob helped lead a discussion on sexism in service.
●
Prof. Emeritus Michael “Timo” Gilmore (ENG) passed away on March 3 at the age of 72 after battling an unspecified serious illness, according to a March 5 BrandeisNOW article. Gilmore retired from Brandeis two years ago after spending nearly 40 years building the English department’s reputation in American literature. Gilmore is remembered by his colleagues for his passionate character and intellectual achievements that range from publishing books to teaching at Brandeis. In his academic career, Gilmore authored or edited eight books that studied the relationship between American politics, social conditions and literature. Prof. Robin Feuer Miller (GRALL), who described Gilmore as a natural leader on cam-
pus in an email to the Justice, wrote that her favorite book of his is Differences in the Dark, a study analyzing American movies and English theater. Prof. Caren Irr (ENG) wrote Gilmore in an email to the Justice that “the unifying theme of his intellectual life was his passion for justice—not just fairness, but a deep historical justice,” and he was very aware of the inequalities present in America’s history. Irr, who said her office was next door to Gilmore’s, said that Gilmore will be remembered for both his writing and friendly demeanor. Gilmore’s propensity for advising students will also not be forgotten, as he leaves behind the legacy of students with whom he worked. He served as a graduate student dissertation adviser. According to Prof. John Burt (ENG), Gilmore deeply cared about Brandeis and “knew how to bring the best writing and thinking
out of his students, and he took pride in their accomplishments,” wrote Birt in an email to the Justice. Prof. John Plotz (ENG) wrote in an email to the Justice that Gilmore impacted his own advising style, explaining that “he taught me a lot about silence, about not overwhelming the student but listening, supporting them—and then throwing in that one crucial suggestion.” Scott Moore, a Ph.D. candidate in English, explained in an interview with the Justice that Gilmore’s “clear passion for his work electrified the connection between teacher and student.” Moore described Gilmore’s teaching style as demanding, all for the sake of helping his students achieve their best possible work. In an email to the Justice, Prof. Stephen Whitfield (AMST) described Gilmore as one of his closest friends on the University faculty since they met four decades ago. Whitfield wrote that “[h]is integrity was expressed in terms of both mind and character. His teaching and his scholarship were imaginative and insightful, and Timo’s death leaves a loss that cannot be replenished.”
PANEL
Symposium highlights Brazil ■ Four panelists discussed
the current situation and protests occurring in Brazil at an event last Tuesday. By JAY FEINSTEIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The Brandeis International Business School sponsored an event titled “Global Protests, Local Realities: Understanding the Massive Brazilian Street Protests of 2013” last Tuesday. Four panelists contributed different perspectives to the issue of recent protests in Brazil. The panelists were Elizabeth Leeds, a research affiliate for the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Prof. Richard Lockwood (Heller), Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Eneas International Ed Morata, and Executive Director of Brazilian Immigrant Center Natalicia Tracy. According to Prof. Moises Lino e Silva (IGS), who moderated the event, it is important to think about how Brazilian protests compare and contrast to other protests in the world. He spoke about Brazilian issues
such as high costs of transportation, resource distribution in the Amazon and the rights and protections of minority groups that have sparked recent protests. Lino e Silva said that in Brazil, “it’s not just about the bus fare, the Amazon, [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer] rights, indigenous rights and social inequality. It’s about all of these at once.” He said it is important to think about Brazil because the country will be in the international spotlight soon, as this year’s FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, both of which Brazil will be hosting, approach. According to Leeds, the protests stemmed from frustrations voiced by a new middle class. “There’s this whole class of people that doesn’t benefit from Brazil’s economic growth,” she said. She added that there is underemployment in Brazil, and that people claim Brazil is ignoring people’s basic needs while spending millions of dollars on the World Cup and Olympics. Morata assessed the issues from a business perspective. He emphasized that economic freedom and social freedom are not the same. Bra-
zil has a lot of natural resources, he said, but that the financial gain from these resources should be transferred from the government to the population. According to Tracy, a movement of this magnitude is unique. She spoke about how Brazil is perceived as a passive nation and how these protests question what Brazilians are capable of. “[The protests] shocked a lot of people,” she said. She said that people in and out of Brazil realized that Brazil’s middle class could have a voice. Lockwood said it is interesting to note that despite the protests, Brazil is at a food surplus. He said that in many protests, food prices are one of the first things to be targeted. “Brazil has many issues, but access and the price of food is not one of them,” he said. “Despite the flaws, this is democracy in action,” said Dean of IBS Bruce Magid, who provided closing remarks for the event. “People have a disposable income and food and are thinking past what a basic government should provide.” Magid said that he applauds Brazilians for looking at the country’s needs. “Because of this dialogue, the country will move ahead,” he said.
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
FOCUSED ON BRAZIL: Elizabeth Leeds of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was one of four panelists who spoke.
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FMLA: Bystander trainings held to inform students of signs
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CONTINUED FROM 1 said she found the event interesting, especially when Rosenfeld pointed out the power that the University possesses as a private university. Another event was a workshop titled “Crisis Response Training,” hosted by Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon, which focused on educating people on “how to respond to a crisis and help those who have been affected,” according to the official event description. McMahon was hired as Brandeis’ first sexual assault services and prevention specialist in 2013 in response to a call for Brandeis to act on several cases of sexual assault reported on campus. McMahon is an advocate of bystander intervention training, which trains students to instruct other students about intervening in potentially dangerous situations as well as educating their peers on consent. McMahon said in an interview with the Justice that the theory behind bystander intervention focuses on “widening the frame” and helping individuals to identify warning signs to look for in cases of potential assault instead of simply focusing on individual actions such as watching how much someone drinks. McMahon said that she is working on reaching out to clubs, varsity sports and other groups on campus to educate students on how to recognize a “compromising situation” as well as what it means to give consent. She is also currently working on incorporating bystander intervention training into orientation for all incoming first-years. A recent development in making Brandeis aware of sexual violence on campus was unaffiliated with the FMLA. SpeakOut! Brandeis, a student-led anonymous group focused on allowing anonymous submissions of stories from the student body concerning sexual assault, recently launched a Facebook page as well as a blog. The posts include stories of assault, of close misses and of support for what the blog is doing. According to the group’s Facebook page, SpeakOut! Brandeis’ goal is to “promote awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault” and provide a number of methods in which to submit online as well as through the intercampus mailbox system in order to give the submitters complete anonymity. Callahan said she saw this movement as a positive step for opening the discussion of sexual assault because this way people will be able to speak about their experiences without the “backlash.” McMahon also said that the students behind SpeakOut! Brandeis, some of which she has talked to, were “courageous” and were providing an opportunity for others to be courageous. She noted that it is a “social risk” to submit one's story, and said she even anticipates that some people will come out with their stories in person because of the growing support and community in the University precipitated by SpeakOut! Brandeis.
JENNY CHENG/the Justice
The Community Prejudice Task Force hosted a conversation on interracial and interfaith dating on Friday in the Swig Lounge in the Intercultural Center, the third installment of a discussion revolving around issues of prejudice.
DEANS: Appointees will also keep their current roles and positions CONTINUED FROM 1 Dean’s Office team in assisting with the daily management of issues that challenge our student body as well as assisting in crisis situations. “Students should also see increased collaboration between Student Activities and Admissions which creates the opportunity to create synergy between our recruitment and retention efforts,” she wrote. Pillow-Gnanaratnam was not able to respond to the Justice by press time.
According to Adams’ email to the Office of Student Life, Grimes has worked at Brandeis for 16 years, and was previously in Community Living as a quad director before working in Student Activities. Before directing the ICC, Pillow-Gnanaratnam worked at Northeastern University as its director for off-campus student services and later as assistant director for orientation. Grimes said she has already begun assuming her new responsibilities and is being “integrated into the
Dean’s Office.” Grimes wrote that she is “very excited” about her new role. “It will expand my knowledge base on campus,” she wrote. “Hopefully I can make a larger impact on student life at Brandeis, and I can use the my 16 years of experience at Brandeis to learn from the past to create a [sic.]impact in the future,” Grimes continued. “[T]hese promotions are exciting for our students and community,” wrote Adams in his email to the Jus-
tice. “Brandeis will continue to appreciate the experience, wisdom, energy and love Stephanie and Monique have for our students, student development and student success.” This change to the Office of Student Life follows changes to its leadership within the past year. Adams was appointed as Dean of Students over the summer, after University President Frederick Lawrence announced that Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer would be leaving Brandeis after 32 years.
SODEXO: Plan prices remain unknown CONTINUED FROM 1 able to the Brandeis community and to ascertain the release of possible prices. Part of this attempt involves the committee’s research of meal programs at other universities in order to build the best possible plan for University students. According to DeGioia’s email, the new meal plan structure includes four new plans designed to give students more meals each week as well as an increased number of points to use each semester. The reason for providing additional meals, according to DeGioia, has to do with value. “As we add the second all-you-careto-eat dining facility [in the Usdan Student Center], the thought was to give students the opportunity to visit more often, thus creating a better value,” DeGioia wrote in an email to the Justice. The University has not yet released prices for the new meal plans because prices have yet to be finalized, according to Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid. Finalization or announcement of prices cannot occur until the Board of Trustees approves next year’s bud-
get at a meeting to take place later this month, de Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice. According to Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an email to the Justice, the projected cost increase will reflect the change from the current meal plan structure to the new one, and will not be formulated from scratch. “I should add that, although the new plans have more meals and more points, that cost increase is still based on the charges from this year,” he wrote in an email to the Justice. According to de Graffenreid, “the overall goal is to keep cost increases around four percent across all aspects of the cost of attending Brandeis,” which includes tuition, fees, housing and dining. In an email to the Justice, Flagel wrote that “from everything I have seen, it seems that these new Sodexo plans offer the highest level of value for dining cost that we have ever been able to provide, while at the same time offering more venues, and with an expectation of a massive renovation in facilities.” Like the system of meal plans currently in place, the new meal plan structure will include different
combinations of meals, or “swipes,” and flex points. The unlimited plan will replace the 21-meal plan, the 17meal plan will be exchanged for the 14-meal plan, the 12-meal plan will replace the old 10-meal plan and the eight-meal plan will take the place of the five-meal plan, according to Flagel. The unlimited plan will allow students unrestricted access to Sherman Dining Hall and Usdan Café, which will soon be renovated as a resident dining hall similar to an all-you-can-eat buffet. The Unlimited Plan also gives students 175 Flex Points a semester to use at retail dining locations. While the unlimited plan offers no guest meals, the other three plans all offer the use of five guest meals per semester. In the current meal plan structure, all meal plans except the Village Plan include five guest meals. The 17-meal plan will provide students with 17 meal swipes to use each week at resident dining locations and 725 flex points per semester, while the 12-meal plan will offer 12 meals per week and 875 flex points each semester. Finally, the eight-meal plan will allow students to use eight meal swipes per week and 600 flex points
for the semester. Meals will expire weekly, according to DeGioia, but flex points will roll over from fall to spring semesters before expiring at the end of the academic year. Both Usdan Café and Sherman Dining Hall will continue to accept points as payment, and points will also be accepted at all dining locations including Sodexo’s food truck, DeGioia wrote. Meal equivalencies will still be accepted, but in a modified form. The new meal equivalency, called the “Take Three” option, will only be accepted as payment at the Hoot Market, according to DeGioia. Students will be able to use the “Take Three” option to purchase a sandwich or entrée salad, a side and a beverage at the Hoot Market, and pay for all three items with one meal swipe. Items available for purchase under the “Take Three” meal equivalency include sandwiches, salads, snacks, fruit, vegetables, hot entrée items, kosher items, gluten-free food, desserts and beverage selections, DeGioia wrote. This option may be used once per meal period, however, and students who chose the unlimited plan may not use this “Take Three” option at all, according to DeGioia.
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VERBATIM | JOHN GREEN Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we’re quoting.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1918, the first case of the Spanish flu was reported, the beginning of a global health epidemic.
A colony of 500 bats can eat approximately 250,000 insects in one hour.
Converting hurtful diction
Two Waltham Group clubs team up to eradicate casual “R-word” usage
SHAPING SPEECH: Tom Sannicandro, a state Representative, was a speaker at the Spread the Word to End the Word event on Thursday. PHOTOS BY RAFAELLA SCHOR/the Justice
By ADITI SHAH JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Students are out to prove that despite what some might believe, words can hurt. Two Waltham Group divisions, Brandeis Buddies and SPECTRUM, teamed up last week to promote a wider community sensitivity toward the casual usage of the word “retard” for Spread the Word to End the Word, an “R-word” awareness week. The areas of service the two groups focus on during the year are different but related. Brandeis Buddies works to build friendships between Brandeis students and adults with developmental disabilities who work at Brandeis, while SPECTRUM is a disability awareness group that aims to develop bonds between Brandeis students and families of children with developmental disabilities. Their complementing missions inspired them to collaborate. The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign is a national effort organized by the Special Olympics and Best Buddies International to raise awareness about the
dehumanizing impact of the word. The campaign is based on the idea that the words we use have large societal implications as well as dire personal effects. Throughout the week, both groups tabled in the Shapiro Campus Center and Usdan Student Center to get people to pledge not use the “R-word.” Estie Martin ’14, one of the SPECTRUM coordinators, shared at the beginning of the event that “a lot of people have been saying throughout the week that they either heard the campaign and did it in high school and really loved it or they’ve never heard of it and are really excited to learn more about it.” The campaign concluded with an event held this past Thursday at Pearlman Lounge and featured Massachusetts State Representative Tom Sannicandro, members of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy and speakers from the Watch City Self Advocates branch of Greater Waltham Arc Inc., an organization that serves people with developmental disabilities. Leah Igdalsky ’14, who has volunteered with both the GWArc and Brandeis Bud-
dies, also coordinated this event. “I wondered why Brandeis had never had any kind of event or campaign around this [issue] at a school dedicated to social justice,” Igdalsky said. “It seemed like something that was just kind of basic, and we want to make sure our campus and our community is aware of the fact that language matters and the way you talk affects the way you act towards different people.” At the Thursday event, Sannicandro spoke about his own experiences with the injustices that have been forced upon people with disabilities. While recounting the history of eugenics in America, he shared a personal story about his son, who was born with Down Syndrome. The school’s administrators told his son that he could not attend the same school as other children because of his disability. Instead, he was encouraged to look into the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, located in Waltham. Sannicandro took a tour of the school, and after witnessing the miserable conditions in which the people were
JOINT CAUSE: Waltham Group coordinators Leah Igdalsky ’14 (left) and Estie Martin ’14 (right) brought their clubs together for the “R-word” campaign.
living, he said “I thought I was going to vomit in the parking lot, it was that disturbing to me.” Although discrimination toward those with developmental disabilities has not ended, he thinks that society is progressing in the right direction as state legislatures work to eradicate dehumanizing attitudes. “You are [at] a point of history where times are changing very rapidly. You need to understand what happened before, and what happened before to say it was ugly was a gross understatement,” said Sannicandro. Sannicandro also addressed questions about what can be done to remdy discrimination going forward, saying that plans are in the works all across the country to change the structure of the K-12 system by allowing students with developmental disabilities to attend normal classes while receiving supplemental support. An attendee raised the question of how to respond when in conversation with someone who uses the “R-word.” While acknowledging how offensive the word is and that people may feel as though they need to do something out of guilt, Sannicandro says that, “it is most important to intrinsically understand what we are talking about” than to necessarily feel the need to react in such situations. After Sannicandro spoke, Martin and Igdalsky presented three short films which displayed the realities of people with disabilities. The videos featured interviews with people with developmental disabilities. The answers were heartwarming, as some of the interviewees responded “I wouldn’t change anything about myself.” This message of respect and equality was reaffirmed by the words of three leaders of the Watch City Self Advocates group, identified as Kristina S., Joe O., and Marci S. Kristina spoke about the slang meaning of the word and why it is demeaning to use that word to describe people with developmental disabilities. She said that those with developmental disabilities, like herself and the other advocates, “are so much more than that word; we are athletes, artists, dancers, workers, singers, teachers, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers and friends.” Aaron Yang ’14 who attended the event, said “my favorite part was hearing from the self advocates at the end, because it showed me another perspective from people with disabilities,” he said. Liz Soolkin ’14, another attendee, said, “People use so many words per day that they don’t think of each one as necessarily significant. The event was a great setting to have a discussion about the words that we use and in particular, words that carry a lot of pain for others.
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CULTURAL CONNECTIONS: Students learn Ghanaian music, one many programs organized for the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization’s “ShabBROton” convention. PHOTOS BY JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
By JAIME KAISER JUSTICE EDITOR
Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization hosts Shabbat intercollegiate convention By jAIME kAISER justice EDITOr
LOCAL LEADERS: Aliza Heeren ’16 (left) and Lily Siegel ’14 (right) are the current and former presidents of the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization, part of the umbrellla group Hillel.
MUSICAL MITZVAH: Three BRO convention attendees participate in a song session, one of numerous musical events of the weekend.
A couple of times each month, Jewish Brandeis students from a diverse mix of Jewish denominations and cultural traditions come together for a special Friday night service. On March 7, the guest list included a few new faces. On Friday, students from colleges across the country congregated with Brandeis students in Hassenfeld Conference Center for the beginning of a three-day “ShabBROton” hosted by the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization. This is the fifth “ShaBROton” that BRO, has hosted. The title is a clever spin on the Hebrew word “shabbaton,” a term employed to describe a celebration or educational event that takes place during the Jewish Sabbath. The majority of the attendees who were not Brandeis students were alumni of Camp JRF. Reconstructionism is a Jewish religious movement born in the 1950s that celebrates an ever-evolving, critical interpretation of the Torah and a contemporary approach to Jewish cultural life. The movement was born out of the ideas of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. Although Kaplan himself was rooted in the modern Orthodox Jewish community, Reconstructionism today is more closely associated with Reform and Conservative Judaism. To someone unfamiliar with Reconstructionist Judaism, the common ideas behind the movement might be difficult to identify. After all, one of the core tenants of Reconstructionism is its flexibility. “The fun thing about Reconstructionism is that the basis of it is that we question everything ... it looks different for a lot of different people,” said Aliza Heeren ’16, the current president of BRO. Further describing Reconstructionism’s place in the Brandeis community, Heeren explained that people often try to categorize it as a low-level form of observance or associate it with the Reform movement. “We don’t fit on a level because the whole point of it is that you think for yourself and find what you connect with and that’s what you observe,” Heeren said. For Lily Siegel ’14, the former president of BRO, Reconstructionism means making Judaism relevant to our time. “[Reconstructionism] grapples with old traditions and how we can take old traditions and see them in the modern day,” she said. According to Siegel, a small Reconstructionist chavurah or fellowship, existed at Brandeis a few decades ago, but died out for a number of years until a collection of Brandeis students who attended Camp JRF, which stands for Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, revived Reconstructionism on campus in 2009. BRO is one of four recognized religious groups under the Brandeis Hillel chapter. What started as a small group of passionate students who held monthly services has swelled into a much larger community. “We could never get a minyan week after week I first got here,” said Siegel. “Now we get 40 or 50 people every time.”
This interest has allowed BRO to begin holding Shabbat services twice a month as of last spring. Although BRO’s services are similar to those of other denominations of Judaism, there are a number of differences. They are the only group on campus that uses a Reconstructionist siddur, or Jewish prayer book. While the book contains many of the same prayers as other Siddurim, certain words and phrases have been changed to reflect Reconstructionism’s values. At each service, acoustic guitar accompanies many of their prayers. “I like it because it’s a way that I can pray the way I want to,” Siegel said. Quirky traditions prevail throughout the service as well. During the prayer “Yismechu” at the service last Friday, attendees partnered up and clapped together with the rhythm of the music. During the prayer “Lecha Dodi” attendees rose out of their chairs to dance around the room, holding hands in a kind of conga line. Another unique aspect of service came during a period of individual silent prayer. Attendees were encouraged to wander around the room and find a their own prayer space that made them feel comfortable. The theme of the convention was a cross between a “BRO-mitzvah” (Bar/Bat mitzvah) and mitzvot or moral deeds. The weekend consisted of song sessions and dancing, yoga and relaxation, an outdoor poetry reading, Zumba and a discussion of American and Jewish identity. Following lunch, Alan Brody, a student at the University of Virginia, led a session about Israeli soldiers and Ghanaian war music. Students learned the cultural significance and words of two Ghanaian battle songs. Unlike other Jewish religious groups on campus, BRO does not have a large core group of people who come to every service, which is something they are proud of. “People who come who have never been to a prayer service with guitar before—they end up having a really great time,” said Siegel. In explaining the inclusionary nature of BRO, Heeren compared Reconstructionist Judaism to a ladder. While the other denominations of Judaism are the rungs of the ladder, Reconstructionism can more accurately be described as the poles, uniting Jews from all different religious backgrounds. Heeren herself experimented with different services on campus but when she attended her first BRO Shabbat, she knew she was in the right place. “If I’m going to services I don’t want to just sit there and read the words—I want to feel something,” Heeren explained.“You walk into the room Friday night and everyone’s singing and they’re into it and they’re dancing ... they’re feeling it more than just the words —it’s a spiritual experience.” Editor’s Note: Josh Horowitz ’14 is a photography editor of the Justice and helped organize the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization convention.
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Tate Herbert, Editor in Chief Andrew Wingens, Senior Editor Adam Rabinowitz, Managing Editor Phil Gallagher and Rachel Hughes, Deputy Editors Rachel Burkhoff, Glen Chagi Chesir, Sara Dejene, Shafaq Hasan, Joshua Linton, Jessie Miller and Olivia Pobiel Associate Editors Marissa Ditkowsky, News Editor Jaime Kaiser, Features Editor Max Moran, Forum Editor Avi Gold, Sports Editor Emily Wishingrad, Arts Editor Josh Horowitz and Morgan Brill, Photography Editors Rebecca Lantner, Layout Editor Celine Hacobian, Online Editor Brittany Joyce, Copy Editor Schuyler Brass, Advertising Editor
Embrace test-flexible admissions Last Wednesday, the College Board announced major changes to the SAT, the standardized test used by many college admissions offices to determine if an applicant belongs at their school. The changes come amid years of criticism of the SAT for inaccurately representing college preparedness, being biased in favor of wealthy test-takers, and generating unhealthy amounts of stress among students. The revised SAT, to be first administered in 2016, will make the writing section optional, include more commonly-used vocabulary and focus math questions on linear equations, functions and proportional thinking. The changes to the SAT directly affect Brandeis: we are a University that accepts the SAT. However, the Brandeis admissions department has already mitigated the test’s flaws with its recentlyannounced pilot test-flexible admissions program, which allows applicants to substitute Advanced Placement exam scores, SAT Subject Tests or extensive writing samples for SAT scores. The new pilot program will hopefully allow skilled applicants to show off their true talents, specifically those talents that lie beyond the scope of the test itself. Moreover, this new admissions policy minimizes the test’s flaws regarding demographics, by not forcing the test upon all applicants. This SAT announcement—and implicit recognition of flaws—only emphasizes our applause for Brandeis’ test-flexible pilot program. Regarding the SAT changes themselves, we commend the College Board’s attempt
Question SAT revisions to correct the flaws with its test. Yet, we worry whether these changes are simply a feint to give the SAT the appearance of solving its problems. Many of the announced changes will make the SAT more similar to the ACT, a comparable test which has outsold the SAT for the past two years. These new similarities include making the SAT’s writing section optional and eliminating penalties for incorrect answers. Furthermore, the SAT’s writing section had only been introduced in 2005. Its early elimination from the mandatory test is troublesome: writing skills are critical to college life and beyond. The essay was marketed as a new way to fix the same problems which its elimination now supposedly corrects: ensuring that all students have an equal chance to show off their skill sets without being harshly penalized for their weaker areas. While we are happy that the essay remains as an option, we fear this contradiction may point to these new changes being similar smokescreens to give the illusion of a reformed SAT. We applaud College Board for attempting to fix the flaws in their test, yet we wonder whether these changes will address the many problems. The new SAT format only emphasizes our support of the test-flexible program at Brandeis as an alternative to the constantly changing test culture. We hope that the College Board will eventually improve the SAT in a meaningful way, but are proud of the University’s response.
Combat sexual assault at Brandeis In 2009, the Journal of American College Health reported that in a study of undergraduate women, 19 percent had experienced attempted or completed sexual assault in college. Since then, the issue of sexual assault on college campuses has only garnered more attention, Brandeis being no exception. This board commends the efforts of the administration and students alike to increase awareness, resources and preventative programming. In October 2013 the University hired its first ever sexual assault services and prevention specialist, Sheila McMahon. Moreover, members of the Brandeis student body have continued to stand up for one another and advocate for a safe environment at our University. Just last week, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance coordinated an entire week of programming on campus for Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2014In both its social media promotion and execution of the week’s events, FMLA took care to acknowledge that sexual violence is not only a sensitive topic, but an emotionally triggering one for many students—a consideration for which this board has immense respect. Chief among the topics discussed were sex and consent. FMLA approached the issue with the intention of creating a positive culture around consent. One of the highlights of the week included an event co-sponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, NARAL, Triskelion, the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project and Students Talking About Relationships, which featured a workshop with Harvard Law School professor Diane Rosenfeld. We support these sort of collaborations between campus groups to further the mission of events like Sexual Violence Aware-
Clubs promote awareness ness Week. Perhaps most shocking to Brandeis’ tight-knit community is a social media presence called SpeakOut! Brandeis that has established Tumblr and Facebook platforms to make students aware of sexual violence on campus, and provide safe spaces for students to anonymously confide about their experiences of sexual assault and violence. The students rallying to support these web pages further corroborate the importance of our safety to one another. We applaud the student body for taking not only their own safety, but also their peers,’ into their own hands in a wholehearted and respectful manner. This presence should serve as a wake-up call to those who think that our campus is impervious to sexual violence. This board also lauds the collaboration between students and staff during awareness week—exemplified by FMLA’s utilization of McMahon to educate students through two different events. The first, a crisis response training workshop, and the second, an empowered consent workshop, put McMahon in a position of trust to the student body—an important step in integrating her into the Brandeis community. Overall, this board is impressed with both our fellow students and University staff taking charge of our community’s sexual safety. Though we realize that Brandeis still has a long way to go toward destigmatizing and preventing sexual violence in our community, we recognize that as our campus becomes more responsive to trauma, our peers will have a safer environment.
TZIPORAH THOMPSON /the Justice
Views the News on
After a week of occupation by Russian soldiers, the government of Ukraine’s Crimea region voted Thursday night to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia. The referendum will be put to a regional vote in 10 days. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent soldiers to Crimea at the request of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, but Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has stated that Crimea “was, is, and will be an integral part of Ukraine.” Yatsenyuk denies seeking military aid from the United States, but both the U.S. and European Union have considered placing economic and political sanctions on Russia. How should the U.S. respond to the situation in Crimea?
Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) First, repeat simple facts. Russia invaded a sovereign state, seized its territory, then overthrew the elected government of the region it occupied. A referendum under those conditions won’t be worth the paper that Moscow’s fake ballots will be printed on. Russia pretends that its assault is the moral equivalent of Ukraine’s constitutional removal of a felonious president. We must not let Moscow’s smokescreens obscure its belligerence. Second, we should commit to the success of democratic Ukraine. Ukraine can’t take Crimea back, but it can make a mockery of Putin’s paranoid protection racket. Let’s help the Ukrainians secure their currency and make it easy for U.S. and European firms to invest in Ukrainian businesses. Let’s bring Ukrainian legislators to Washington, D.C. and Ukrainian students to Brandeis. Let’s pay for Yo-Yo Ma, Beyoncé, and Michael Chabon to visit Kiev. Let’s help Ukraine become the prosperous and free country that 104 people died dreaming of. Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) is the chair of the International and Global Studies program.
Lilia Leybova ’15 The situation in Ukraine is very dangerous and unsteady. The logical answer would be to figure out a way to reach a solution peacefully, however this would only be possible if Russia was [sic] willing to cooperate. I agree with the current actions that both the United States and the EU are taking to try and reason with Russia and pressure them into ending their current seize of the Crimean Peninsula. I do not believe that the U.S. should take any military action as this could easily escalate and lead to unwanted consequences. Hopefully, the current political sanctions, including issuing visa bans to those who are considered responsible for undermining Ukrainian sovereignty, being taken will cause Russia to re-evaluate its decisions. In addition, I think that it is critical for the U.S. and the EU to support Ukraine throughout this troublesome time while still trying to resolve it as peacefully as possible. Lilia Leybova ’15 was born in Ukraine. She is a Biochemistry major.
Elizabeth Zharovsky ’15 This is definitely a complex issue, especially given the history between the U.S. and Russia. The Crimea region was given to Ukraine under the Soviet regime because at that time, it didn’t really matter who the land belonged to. Now, Putin has decided he wants it back, presumably to use the land as leverage in negotiations with the new Ukrainian government. The United States and EU have tried to conduct peaceful talks with Russia. Honestly, at this point, the U.S. should stay out of it because our continued involvement will just further tensions between us and Russia. Whatever Putin has in mind has already been decided, regardless of what the U.S. has to say about it. Elizabeth Zharovsky ’15 is a Russian Studies minor and president of Russian Club.
Dan Rozel ’16 The situation in Crimea is a cause for concern throughout the entire international community, and like Kosovo and Abkhazia, there is no simple course of action for the United States as a world superpower. This is a particularly delicate situation for the United States, as the imposition of sanctions on Russia flies in the face of the American belief of self-sovereignty. One could say that these sanctions would be the United States essentially not acknowledging the right of the autonomous people of Crimea to choose their own associations. However, I am still of the belief that the U.S. and EU should impose sanctions purely based on the method by which the Russians “liberated” the Crimeans. Sending troops into an autonomous region to “protect” it, especially when that region subsequently votes to join the invading country, feels like an unacceptable return to imperialism and brute force colonization. Dan Rozel ’16 is an undergraduate fellow of the Brandeis Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry.
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Strategize and organize to plan effective protests
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Max
Moran The Bottom Bunk
Last summer, a few weeks before I first came to Brandeis, a bunch of my high school friends and I were sitting around in a basement thinking about what we wanted to do in college. There were the usual suggestions—party, sleep, wake up and party some more—until one girl chimed in. “I want to be part of a protest,” she said. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. An image of myself standing outside a government building, shaking a picket sign and chanting in unison with a massive crowd floated through my brain. It was a common enough daydream, one that I’d had before and which I share with many of my friends, regardless of whether they’ve ever been part of a real protest. A lot of it stems, I think, from the common idolization of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the great historical heroes of the modern age. He stood up against the most powerful and ingrained evils in his society, and was able to open the world’s eyes to them through nonviolent protest. King is an inspirational figure to many, and though he is certainly not the only cause, he is part of the reason why protest is so romanticized in our society nowadays. We want to be angry at something, to vocally express our most deeply held beliefs and shout in the face of authority, “We will not be silenced!” For some, what the protest is actually about doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it is happening, and that they can become a part of it. On Feb. 13, a group of students assembled outside the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center to protest the University’s executive payment practices. This was a protest I could get behind: It was time for the students to show their anger at President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz’s salary. We need to hold the Board of Trustees accountable for putting the ludicrous amount of money we pay toward making the rich richer. When I went to see the protest however, I was more than a little disappointed. The group of students stood huddled in a circle outlined by orange cones, the area specifically given by the University for the protest after the students submitted a formal request. They chanted slogans like “Fair Pay Today”
GABRIELA YESHUA/the Justice
and “Cut Jehuda’s Salary,” but also “F*ck the bookstore prices” and “Free tuition.” As heavy snow began to fall, fewer and fewer students passed by the protest or gave it any attention, and soon, some of the angry chanters began to pack up and head home. The event’s Facebook page even stated the incorrect amount of money being paid to Reinharz. If anything, the Feb. 13 protest made the University look better for allowing student discourse on campus. The protest was sectioned off in a little bubble of safety, where administrators could look down from their offices and admire the cute gang of angry children. Advocating executive pay changes is a goal that’s both admirable and achievable, but free tuition? Something that absurd devalues the whole protest, and delegitimizes the very real concerns that students have. Likewise, getting mad over something as petty as inflated bookstore prices is an exercise in futility. Brandeis is a university that has sanctified the phrase “social justice,” yet it has executive practices that create a class divide. That’s a very real ethical concern, but if the student body is only worried about having to pay a few extra bucks for their textbooks, who is going to listen? This is the critical difference between the romantic image of King-esque protest, and the reality of what King did. King was strategic. He
waved signs and sang songs, but he did so in ways that would specifically damage the institutions he was trying to change. The Montgomery Bus Boycotts weren’t successful because people said they were angry; they were successful because the public transit system was losing money. The protesters made it clear that Montgomery buses wouldn’t turn a profit until they changed their racist practices, and eventually the laws of economics prevailed. King didn’t start his civil rights work by running for president. He started by supporting one woman who refused give up one seat on one bus. He built his way up to big targets, earning a name for himself in the media and showing persistence in the face of challenges. But he didn’t just march in circles and hurl slogans in the air. All of the most effective protests of the Civil Rights Movement were deeply symbolic, and specified to the targeted goal of each specific protest. It was the way King was able to paint his opposition as so clearly in the wrong that he was able to earn followers and succeed in his goals. Who wouldn’t let a tired woman sit on a bus after a long day? Who wouldn’t serve a kid who had sat in a restaurant for hours on end? Who would dare to blast pressurized water at a group of peaceful men and women walking down the street and singing about freedom? The Brandeis student protest lacked any of
the strategy, symbolism and realistic aims that lead to successful protests, and which were at the heart of King’s victories. One has to start with demanding change on one specific issue and work up to sweeping reforms. Most of all, what the Brandeis protest movement needs is organization and clearly stated goals. Ten different people shouting 10 different slogans won’t earn anyone’s attention. Ten different people shouting one simple slogan (“Fair pay to janitors! Fair pay to janitors!”) for hours upon hours will turn a few heads. Then if 10 more people join in the next day, and 10 more the day after that, people will start to pay attention. Then when all 30 protesters refuse to spend at the bookstore, dining halls and other retail locations until their demands are met, and more and more students join in, who’s to say what could happen. Am I advocating anything as dangerous as the Birmingham Ala. boycotts? No, that would be inappropriate for the subject of concern. But if the student body wants to actually change Brandeis’ executive practices through peaceful protest, we need to be willing to be unsavory. An effective protest cannot be something that one walks away from at night and ticks off as just another event in a busy day. It cannot be something that you do for the thrill, only because it’s something people do in college. An effective protest is done to create change, even if it comes at a cost.
Before deciding on Crimea intervention, consider moral premise Aaron
Fried Free thought
The specter of a domineering Russia once again looms over Eastern Europe. Ukraine has been tossed into political turmoil with the ousting of its president Viktor Yanukovych, and its pro-Western factions are now grappling to keep the country from falling into the influence of Russia. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent armed troops into Crimea—a former Soviet territory—which is now turning toward his influence. This crisis has set the stage for an international diplomatic conflict between NATO and Russia that harkens back to memories of the Cold War. It is clear that Putin has ambitions to restore Russia to its old role as a major geopolitical force in Europe and Asia. Though he gained political capital from the Sochi Olympics, he seemed eager to spend it on an opportunity to expand Russia’s international reach and his own influence. On the sidelines of this crisis, many Americans are alarmed. Putin appears to be yet another narcissistic autocrat with a consuming lust for power. Prominent politicians are already comparing Putin to Hitler. Concerned citizens everywhere have begun to ask the perennial question in a time of crisis overseas:
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“What should we do about it? Americans have been asking this for many decades. What should we do about Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, the Soviets in Afghanistan, Libya twice, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan again, Iraq again, Libya again, Syria and now Ukraine? The answer usually varies, but the sentiment is the same: We should always do something about it. This repeatedly spurs America to intervene in conflicts, but the results usually fall short of expectations. In fact, the results are often outright horrifying mistakes that make matters worse than before we intervened. Yet, despite recurrent disasters, we continue to intervene—why? Why is it that a country can repeatedly follow the principle of intervention to failure, but only criticize the method by which each intervention was carried out, rather than the principle itself? The answer lies in philosophy, specifically in ethics—it is a moral premise. A moral premise motivates people to carry out an action for its own sake, even if the end result is not always immediately desirable. The notion that it is America’s obligation to intervene in crises like these relies on such a moral premise. The particular premise involved in this case is the dominant moral code of our society—the code of altruism. The essence of altruism is self-sacrifice. On the individual level, this means that a moral act entails sacrificing one’s own interests for the interests of others, specifically others in need. Politically, this necessitates the sacrifice of the individual to the state, and in international politics, altruism would dictate that a government sacrifices the interests of
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its people for the needs of those in another country. The government, whose only method is force, compels its citizens to assist, either materially through taxation sent as aid, or, if there is a draft, by sending them to fight and die in a war. This is precisely the pattern of every socalled ‘humanitarian’ intervention. Since there is a group of people in need in some country, in this case Ukraine, altruism dictates that Americans, who are living comfortably, are obligated to assist in some way. Altruism implies that Ukrainians, or anyone in need, hold a moral claim over the lives of anyone who is capable of helping them. It means that as long as there is a person in need in the world, those who are not needy are morally chained to them. Every human life ought to be regarded as a moral end in itself, not as a means to the end of someone else’s life, or worse, the fictional “collective” that treats humanity as some sort of a hive-mind organism. Humans are animals with free will. Each of us individually chooses our own values and picks our own path in life. All individuals own themselves and the decisions that they make, as well as the consequences that result from them. If morality governs choices, and the individual makes choices, then surely the beneficiary of morality should be each individual. Every person should be able to pursue his or her own goals for their own sake, but this is impossible under altruism, which places the individual’s goals behind others’ needs. If a person’s property is claimed through taxation by the government to fund a war to help another person, his or her goals are being interfered with—in essence, his or her life is be-
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ing interfered with. It is an act that initiates force against an innocent person—it is aggression. When people are forced like this to act in ways that they might not choose, and this is perpetrated under the guise of morality, it is the moral code that should be brought into question. Under a proper morality of rational egoism, no person is morally bound to help anyone in need; people are only obligated to pursue their own goals and happiness, on the sole condition that they do not commit an act of aggression against others. That is not to say that a person should not help those in need. If a person genuinely values helping people, as most people do, then a person would be betraying his or her own values by not helping. To force people who might not value helping others, by contrast, is an immoral act of the same kind as Putin’s aggression in Crimea, or any despot’s acts of conquest, only much smaller in scale. Aggression—even when performed with good intentions—is always immoral. As a result, to say that Americans have a moral obligation to assist those in need overseas, when this would entail aggression against them, is a corruption of morality. Since Crimeans are being aggressed against by Russia, however, anyone, regardless of nationality, has the right to defend Crimea, or provide material assistance in said defense. But people are not morally obligated to defend Crimea, so the government ought not to force anyone to do so. The policy prescription is clear: the American government must not intervene at all in the Ukrainian crisis, but should morally condemn the Russians for their act of aggression.
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TUESDAY, March 11, 2014
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THE JUSTICE
FORUM
SAT writing section is important test for all students Jassen
LU
A Judge’s View
When I heard that the College Board will be making the writing section from the SAT optional and returning to the original 1600 score scale, I was dismayed. Writing is an integral part of a student’s academic and professional career, and it should be emphasized just as much as critical reading and math. To preserve the importance of academic writing, the SATs should continue to make the writing section mandatory. No matter which career path a student pursues in the future, it is important for him to be proficient in formal writing. Most professional jobs will require applicants to submit cover letters, which need to be written in a logical and formal style. Even after securing the job, employees often must write communications and reports requiring formal writing skills, and in some career fields, such as academia and law, formal writing makes up the core of the job. Therefore, students need to develop proficient formal writing skills during their academic careers. The SAT writing section tests students’ skills in academic and professional writing. The multiple choice questions test their proficiency in grammar and writing constructions, as well as their ability to construct logical sentences and paragraphs. The section’s essay component tests each student’s ability to write essays with a thoughtful and argumentative thesis and to construct an argument. It also tests one’s ability to logically execute that argument with evidence and support. High-quality professional and academic writing requires students to demonstrate sufficient mastery of these skills. In the United States, students’ writing capabilities on average are already at unacceptably poor levels. According to a 2012 report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests students on their descriptive writing, explanation and argumentation skills, only about 24 percent of a sample of 28,000 high school seniors achieved a “proficient” level of writing. This level is not even the highest passing grade. About half of the seniors surveyed could only attain a “basic” level of writing skills, with additional 20 percent who could not even reach the basic level. A mere three percent of students were successful in reaching the “advanced” writing level. In the assessment, students’ writing submissions were graded based on “development of ideas, organization and language facility and conventions,” according to Dr. James Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Educational Statistics.
OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice
These numbers demonstrate that writing skills among American high school students are on average either substandard or insufficient for advanced academic and professional work. If the writing section is no longer counted in the SAT, it may give students a reduced incentive to focus on improving their writing skills, which take a long time to develop and learn. Retaining the writing section’s scores would at least give students a reason to study formal writing conventions and standards, and to gain more experience at composing written arguments under time constraint, which occurs quite often in college-level coursework. Every college student, regardless of major, will have to submit writing assignments at some point during his or her undergraduate career. At Brandeis, even if a student studies a subject that does not assign many essays and papers, the general University requirements that he or she must fulfill to graduate indicate the student must take at least one writing-intensive class. Many classes even have exams that require a student to write succinctly and logically within a limited amount of time, as is the case with the SAT writing section. Similar requirements exist
at numerous schools throughout the country, where students need to pass writing requirements to graduate. Discounting the writing portion of the test will not benefit students with poor writing skills when they actually have to write papers or otherwise write under time constraints in classes. One reason put forward for discounting the writing scores is that the 25-minute essay portion of the section cannot accurately reflect a student’s true writing skills. Some critics have argued that this period is too short for a student to produce the strong analysis and high-quality formal writing that are demanded in collegelevel papers, which often require longer time to perfect. However, as part of the new SAT changes, College Board has improved the essay portion, for those students who wish to take it, by doubling the time given to write the essay. In addition, the new essay design will ask students to write argumentative essays based on a given reading passage and to cite passage evidence, a skill that students will need in college courses requiring research-based writing. This change is an improvement in the test structure, and it should not be canceled out by entirely dropping
the scores for the section. Eliminating the writing section would eliminate other benefits of the test, such as the multiple choice section which tests students’ competencies in proper English grammar and logic structure. High-level writing requires students to at least have a proficient command of these skills, and eliminating this part of the test may result in a disincentive for students to hone them. This section can also be an integral tool in helping students recognize the level of their writing skills, and whether or not they need to improve upon them to be prepared for collegelevel work, such as with timed essay exams in college. It is true that test scores cannot capture all elements of a college applicant’s profile. However, students’ writing skills and competencies should not be discounted in testing, because college and professional-level work will inevitably involve writing. Is the SAT perfect in informing admissions counselors about applicants? No, but it still is one of the principle assessment mechanisms we have, and it is better to improve upon a troubled section rather than eliminate it entirely.
Focus Israel dialogue on ending violence, not blaming sides Glen
Chesir Chagi’s chop
Like many others at this University, I took a gap year between my high school graduation in June 2010 and my first year of Brandeis in September 2011. I spent the year in Mevaseret, the first suburb outside of Jerusalem along Route one, the highway that connects the Israeli capital of Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. I remember the day, March 23, quite vividly. A few friends and I had joined a gym, called “Jump,” located in Binyanei Hauma, an office complex in downtown Jerusalem a few months prior—we were going through our inevitable workout phase all teenagers seem to experience. As we were leaving the gym that day, we heard a large bang. A pillar of smoke erupted just across the street and mass chaos ensued. We were far enough away to not be engulfed in the hysteria that immediately occurred, but close enough to know what had happened. A bus had just exploded. The number 74 bus that runs from Talpiot to Har Nof had been bombed. Just a few moments later, the sirens began. In the days after, the numbers were finalized: one person was killed, 59-year-old Mary Jean Gardner, a Scottish Bible translator who was studying Hebrew at Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Rothberg International School. At least 24 others were injured, including four Americans. In September 2011, as I was starting my college career here in Waltham, four Hamas militants were finally arrested for the bombing, one of whom is a permanent resident of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority joined the U.S. and the U.K. in denouncing the attack. Hamas praised it.
Bus bombings, air strikes, rocket attacks, suicide bombers, counter-operations—these are the violent acts that characterize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. All those in the region want this violence to be stopped with a permanent peace deal. The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University estimates that 63 percent of Israelis support the two-state solution, and the Arab World for Research and Development estimates 54 percent support from Palestinians. Peace is the goal. This past week Students for Justice in Palestine hosted a series of events as part of the international movement labeled as Israel Apartheid Week. Although the Facebook event page’s description has changed many times—most notably it originally listed a falsely credited quote to Nelson Mandela—it now reads, “We wish to devote this International Apartheid Week to deconstructing this powerful word and the narratives that comprise it.” The week was about discussion, they say, constructive dialogue, social justice and most notably, ending the conflict and human rights violations, once and for all. Yet, it became clear that the week had nothing to do with dialogue. The sentence before the one quoted above in the Facebook event description currently reads, “Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine invites you to join them in wrestling with the reality of apartheid.” Let’s deconstruct these two sentences. First, all who attend Israel Apartheid Week events must wrestle with the reality of an apartheid Israel—as an objective fact. Only after accepting this matter-of-fact statement can we then proceed with the “deconstructing of this powerful word and the narratives that comprise it.” The mere labeling of Israel as an apartheid state is deemed a narrative, yet is only secondary to it being a matter of fact. The name of the week itself exudes the same sentiment: the week is not labeled in an inquisitory fashion such as “Is Israel an apartheid state?” Rather, the week is la-
beled again as a matter of fact: “Israel Apartheid Week.” The title forces an opinion regardless of the subsequent discussion. Compounding the implicit lack of productive discussion within the weeklong event was the highlight last Monday—the keynote speech of renowned author and journalist Max Blumenthal. Blumenthal spent the first half hour of his speech vilifying the “right-wing zionists” who had attacked him previously—including two Brandeis students specifically. His speech virtually echoed the highlights of his book Goliath: Life and Loating in Greater Israel. It is a highly disputed book that, for example, compares Israel to Nazi Germany—a claim Blumenthal did not dispute when asked. To add to the suppressive nature of the speech, Blumenthal inculcated seemingly endless ad hominem attacks on any person who has ever voiced dissent from his personal views, including but not limited to: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, University President Frederick Lawrence, Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz and Brandeis student Joshua Nass ’14. Even extreme left-wing Jewish Daily Forward writer J.J. Goldberg has labeled the Blumenthal book as the “I Hate Israel Handbook.” The intent of the speech had absolutely nothing to do with a productive conversation; the intent was to push a highly controversial and accusatory platform of anti-Zionism. An opinion Blumenthal is entitled to nonetheless—but to pretend the speech was promoting discussion is laughable. But say these problems are nitpicky. I’d rather not assume the worst of my fellow Brandeis students; rather let’s assume the sentence configuration was a mere oversight in a Facebook description, the lackluster name was simply following the title of the national movement, and the content of Blumenthal’s speech could not be controlled.
Let’s assume the intent of the week on our campus was in fact about discussion. Does the call for productive dialogue justify Israel Apartheid Week? Is the greater Israel Apartheid Week even associated with productive discussion? But we must first define why we place such an emphasis on discussion in general. Why do we constantly strive for civil discussion? Discussion breeds understanding of opposing views. Discussion fosters common ground on which opposition can disagree. Discussion helps us find a mutual ground on which we can agree; a ground on which we can move forward in productive fashion to resolve conflict. Brandeis Israel Apartheid Week is part of the international Israel Apartheid Week movement. A quick tour of IAW’s website—and by extension the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that Israel Apartheid Week lists as one of its two main goals—is not about reaching a fair solution that is beneficial for both sides of the conflict. As one of the founders of the BDS movement— and current Tel Aviv University student in Israel—Omar Barghouti stated in one interview, “‘If the occupation ends, would that end your call for BDS?’ No, it wouldn’t.” Israel Apartheid week is about ending the Zionist state of Israel, not reaching a mutually beneficial end to the conflict. Those with this end-of-Zionist-Israel mentality are certainly entitled to their opinion and to express themselves accordingly. However we at Brandeis must realize the flaws in the IAW movement. Curbing the violence I witnessed firsthand must be the focus of our dialogue on this complex issue. The goal of any discussion should be to end the fighting and death; not end the players involved. We must strive toward the solution that ends the conflict and violence, and fosters equality for all, not the solution that ends Israel. I invite those supporters of Israel Apartheid Week to discuss their concerns, and how to rectify those concerns, at any point—but Israel Apartheid week was simply not that discussion. Let’s call this spade, a spade—not a peace-yearning heart.
THE JUSTICE
BRIEF Teams play in UAA contests The softball team continues to prove its mettle in doubleheader action, securing its third straight sweep of the season on Sunday and improving to 6-0 on the season. The Judges defeated Penn State Erie, the Behrend College by a 10-8 score in the first half of the doubleheader and Salve Regina University by a 7-2 margin in the second game. Meanwhile, the baseball team suffered a 9-8 loss in walk-off fashion in the University Athletic Association Championship opener on Sunday and lost to Washington University in St. Louis by a score of 8-3 on Monday, dropping their season record to 4-4, 0-2 in UAA games. Starting pitcher Samantha Wroblewski ’17 came away with the win against Salve Regina to improve her record to 1-0. Wroblewski faced 14 batters in four innings and did not allow a hit or an earned run, also striking out five players. The Judges got on the board immediately in that game, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Center fielder Amanda Genovese ’15 got things going with a leadoff bunt-for-hit to reach first base. Genovese proceeded to steal second and third base, eventually reaching home on a single by right fielder Danielle Novotny ’16 for the first run of the game. After stealing second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Novotny came home herself off a single up the middle hit by designated player Melissa Nolan ’14. The team added two more runs in the third inning and one in the fifth to increase their lead to seven runs. Salve Regina scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth off Nolan, off a two-RBI triple by sophomore catcher Genevieve Benoit. However, it was not enough, as Brandeis held on for the 7-2 victory. The squad earlier used a late rally to defeat Penn St.Behrend, capitalizing on two run-scoring doubles and a passed ball to bring home three runs in the bottom of the eighth and lead the team to victory. The baseball team struck first against UAA rival Case Western Reserve University. First baseman Tom McCarthy ’15 drove in left fielder Brian Ing ’14 on a single to the left side of the field in the bottom of the first inning. Brandeis continued to pile on the runs, scoring at least once in each of the next six innings to head into the eighth with an 8-3 lead. Case came back with a fourrun eighth to cut the lead to one run in the ninth. After Brandeis failed to score in the top half of the inning, Case junior left fielder Will Meador hit the walk-off game-winning double and two runners scored to give Case the comeback win. On Monday night, the Judges resumed the tournament with an 8-3 loss to WashU. The Bears scored the first two runs of the game, on an RBI double in the top of the 1st inning and a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning to grab a 2-0 lead over the Judges. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, O'Connor singled up the middle to bring in the Judges first run. O'Connor brought in a second run in the seventh inning on a fielder's choice to cut the lead to 5-2. The Judges would pull within two runs in the eighth before WashU added three runs of their own in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Both squads continue the UAA Championships throughout the week in Altamonte Springs, Fla. —Elan Kane
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march 11, 2014
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WBBALL: Judges fall to Smith CONTINUED FROM 16 well-timed three-pointer, pushing their lead to 44-39 with 15:22 to play in the contest. With a 56-44 deficit to overcome, Rodriguez took over for Brandeis. She scored eight of her 13 points over the final 5:02, a time period through which Smith only managed six points as a team. Vitale put up a layup that pulled the Judges to within a 62-61 deficit with just 1:04 left. The teams then traded defensive stops before Dean committed a strategic foul to stop the clock and allowed Smith to push its lead to three with just four seconds left. Coach Carol Simon called a team time-out following the free throws and inserted Laskaris to attempt the
last-second shot. Laskaris shot 40.4 percent from three-point range, the second best percentage on team. When Laskaris’ shot bounced off the rim, the Judges’ postseason bid came to a screeching halt after a promising start on Wednesday. The Judges, squaring off against the top-seeded Emmanuel College Saints, used a standout defensive effort and strong post play from Vitale to overcome foul trouble and advance out of the quarterfinal matchup. While the Judges had previously defeated Emmanuel on the road in an 80-72 victory on Nov. 26, the team, according to Simon, did not change its approach in facing the Saints a second time. “I think the biggest difference is that we handled the pressure a lot bet-
ter,” she said. “[In] the first game we had 34 turnovers … and [tonight] it was just a matter of finishing in the post.” The Judges scored 30 points in the paint, including all 12 of Vitale’s team-high points. Vitale found the lane open throughout the game, allowing Brandeis to build a lead it would not relinquish. Vitale finished with a double-double, adding 14 rebounds to her dozen points. Dean added eight points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Judges, while center Angela Miller ’14 contributed six points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in just 14 minutes off the bench. Miller added a layup with 12:54 left to give the Judges a 39-38 lead and sparked a 6-0 run over the next two
minutes to push the team’s lead to 5744. Brandeis, following a seven-point outburst by the Saints, closed out the victory with a layup from Vitale and a handful of free throws from Dean. “I think it was just more that we wanted the game,” said Miller. “Coach always talks about composure and once we all relaxed foul trouble wasn’t a thing.” Simon pointed to the team’s improved pace and ability to drive to the basket as key factors in the victory. “[In] the second half … our pace was better, we were getting some easy baskets inside so I think it built our confidence,” she said. With a 14-12 finish, the team ended its 2013 to 2014 season with its first winning record since the team finished 16-8 in the 2009 to 2010 season.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE
JOSHUA LINTON/Justice File Photo
STRAIGHT SHOT: Noah Berman ’15 (left) attempts to gain a point against a competitor from Yale University during the Brandeis Invitational on Dec. 8 at home.
NCAA bids likely for multiple fencers ■ Caroline Mattos ’16
finished her qualifier tied for the top finish among Division III fencers. By Dan Rozel JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The Brandeis fencing team had another strong showing this week at the NCAA Northeast Regional Qualifier at Wellesley College on Sunday. By the end of the day, three Brandeis fencers—Caroline Mattos ’16, Adam Mandel ’15 and Noah Berman ’15—had a likely opportunity to receive three automatic bids for the 2014 NCAA Championships, which will be announced later today. Mattos starred for the Judges in the foil competition with a very successful day at Wellesley, paving the way for a second-straight bid to the national championship. Her fourth-place finish in foil tied her with Massachusetts Institute of Technology freshman saber Cordelia Avery for the highest finish
recorded by a Division III fencer in the women’s competition. Seeded 12th at the beginning of the tournament, Mattos dominated in her opening pool, going 5-1 overall to advance into the round of 21 as the No. 6 seed. She could not find the same dominance in the round of 21, managing a 3-3 record to secure 11th place heading into the finals. In the final round, Mattos ended with an impressive 7-4 showing and finished fourth, missing a medal on a tie-breaker. “Going into the final pool, I was extremely nervous about qualifying,” she remarked. “I knew I couldn’t give up because I’d regret it in the long run, so I just tried to get as many touches I could, and it soon became in my favor. I ended up going 7-4 [in the finals] which is my best finish.” After a seventh-place regional finish last year and a bid to the NCAA Championships, Mattos most likely secured her return to the national stage. The men, meanwhile, look to send multiple fencers to the national championship. Mandel, a saberist, as well as Berman, a foilist, are expected to rep-
resent Brandeis. Mandel started the day with a 5-1 record in his opening sabre pool, and then, replicated this result in the second round. In the finals, Mandel went 7-4, but only finished in fifth due to a touch differential that yielded a 0 indicator, 42-42. Berman stuck to his seeding throughout the foil event, translating his initial 11 seed with an 11th place finish. His opening round total of 4-2 left him in 14th place, but recovered to secure a spot in the finals. Even though he struggled in the finals, he managed to hold his initial 11th-place standing. Berman is likely to receive an automatically secured bid to the tournament. Harvard University had four fencers finish ahead of him and given only two can be selected as competitors from the same school, the junior should have the chance to make his first appearance at the national meet. Jess Ochs-Willard ’15, meanwhile, started the day as the 15th seed and worked his way up to the finals. The first two rounds yielded identical 4-2
results for Ochs-Willard, and while he stumbled in the finals, his 12th place finish was good enough for at-large bid consideration, though he may not make the cut. “I concentrated on learning my opponents while they fenced their other bouts, and was able to pull off four straight wins in the second round, which guaranteed a berth in the final pool,” Ochs-Willard said. “I held at the forefront the idea that in a first to five bout, anything can happen. I have a strong mental game, and focused on setting up each and every point before it happened.” The bids will be announced later today and all aforementioned fencers except Ochs-Willard are likely to get spots in the tournament. “I know it’s going to be a tough tournament, so I just have to focus on one bout at a time,” Mattos said For Berman, Mandel, Mattos and Ochs-Willard, the season will likely continue for one more weekend. The NCAA Championships will be hosted by Ohio State University from March 20 to 23 in Columbus, Ohio.
TRACK: Squads compete at Tufts and ECACs CONTINUED FROM 16 Thursday’s run in the Last Chance Qualifier lived up to its name, as Lundkvist and Whitaker qualified for the NCAAs with the times recorded at the meet. While Lundkvist and Whitaker rested their legs on Saturday, Sanford competed once again in the mile. She finished fourth at the ECAC meet, clocking in at 5:03.81 “I feel like I’ve peaked at the right time with my times improving over the last couple of weeks ... [and] I
have more in me to perform better than I have” said Whitaker. Whitaker’s and Lundkvist’s efforts on Thursday gave them the fifth and ninth best times, respectively, in Division III for the Championships. Sanford, meanwhile, has the 17thfastest time in Division III entering the meet, a 5:03.41 effort that she recorded earlier this year at the Tufts Stampede on Jan. 31. “The three of us are really close, and I’m really excited that Amelia is back to race at nationals, especially because of injuries,” said Whitaker.
“Not a lot of us were expecting Vicky to qualify so everyone was very excited about that.” Another competitor on the bubble of the NCAA Championships, Sidique, competed twice last week. In Thursday’s Last Chance Qualifier, he recorded a personal best of 6.48 meters in the long jump. In Friday’s triple jump at the ECAC Championships, he set a personal best of 14.28 meters, ranking at 18th in the Division III competition. Although he missed out on the national tournament, Sidique was
proud of his team’s performance at ECACs over the weekend. “Everyone pretty much didn’t have the greatest day, but did what they had to do,” he said. “This whole week the pressure of qualifying for nationals can be a lot, and we worked hard. You can’t be mad at that.” The NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships will be held in Lincoln, Neb. this upcoming Friday and Saturday. —Avi Gold contribted reporting.
Contact Morgan Brill and Josh Horowitz at
photos@thejustice.org
THE JUSTICE
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Tuesday, March 11, 2014
15
INTRAMURAL SPORTS
jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS baseball TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
Runs Batted In
Not including Monday’s games. UAA Conference W L Case 0 0 Emory 0 0 JUDGES 0 0 WashU 0 0 Chicago 0 0 Rochester 0 0
W 6 10 4 2 0 0
Overall L Pct. 1 .857 5 .667 3 .571 4 .333 0 .000 1 .000
UPCOMING GAMES: Tonight vs. Rochester Tomorrow vs. Case Thursday vs. WashU
Brian Ing ’14 leads the team with seven RBIs. Player RBI Brian Ing 7 Tom McCarthy 7 Connor Doyle 4 Max Hart 4
Strikeouts Kyle Brenner ’15 leads all pitchers with 16 strikeouts. Player Ks Kyle Brenner 16 Elio Fernandez 6 Liam Coughlin 3 Brent Edmunds 3
SOFTBALL TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
Runs Batted In
Not including Monday’s games. UAA Conference Emory WashU JUDGES Rochester Case Chicago
W 0 0 0 0 0 0
L 0 0 0 0 0 0
Overall W 20 7 6 3 5 0
L Pct. 0 .1000 0 .1000 0 .1000 1 .750 3 .625 0 .000
UPCOMING GAMES: Tonight vs. Case Tonight vs. WashU Tomorrow vs. Rochester
Liana Moss ’17 leads the squad with 10 RBIs. Player RBI Liana Moss 10 Danielle Novotny 7 Cori Coleman 6 Melissa Nolan 6
Strikeouts Emma Krulick ’17 leads all pitchers with 17 strikeouts. Player Ks Emma Krulick 17 Samantha Wroblewski 15 Nikki Cote 9 Melissa Soleimani 5
FENCING Overall results from the fencing squads this season.
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
SABER Adam Mandel
RECORD 92-14
SABER Nina Sayles
RECORD 62-27
ÉPÉE Ari Feingersch
RECORD 59-39
ÉPÉE Sonya Glickman
RECORD 66-46
FOIL Noah Berman
RECORD 76-30
FOIL Caroline Mattos
RECORD 98-21
EDITOR’S NOTE: Berman, Mandel and Mattos are all likely to gain a bid for the NCAA Championships held this weekend at Ohio State University.
TENNIS Overall records ending with the Middlebury Invatational on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
MEN’S SINGLES Michael Secular
RECORD 3-2
WOMEN’S SINGLES Emily Eska
RECORD 3-3
MEN’S DOUBLES Granoff/Secular
RECORD 5-1
WOMEN’S DOUBLES Bernstein/Lazar
RECORD 1-6
UPCOMING MEET: The women’s tennis team will host Wellesley College on Friday at 3 p.m., and both teams will travel to New York University on Saturday where both teams play at 1 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM RAND
CHAMPIONSHIP RUN: Members of Hoops! I Did It Again pose with their championship t-shirts following their win on Tuesday.
Intramural seasons end in exciting competition ■ Hoops! I Did It Again and Body-Team took the intramural basketball titles in a pair of close games. By AVI GOLD Justice EDITOR
The No. 3 seeds in both the men’s and women’s intramural basketball finals on Tuesday had an opportunity to secure the championship. And while neither team had an easy going in the championship, both No. 3 ranked teams came out on top. In the first game of the evening, the third-ranked Body-Team took down the fifth-ranked Patchworkers 55-51 in the men’s championship. In the women’s championship, the third-ranked Hoops! I Did It Again— fielding a lineup primarily of underclassmen—pulled off a 40-33 upset of the top seeded Dunkaroos. The Patchworkers used a sevenpoint run midway through the first half to jump out to a 16-7 lead. Body-Team, however, grabbed a 2019 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the first half. Then, with just seconds left, Karl Baptiste ’17 picked up a foul for BodyWork and the Patchworkers converted one of two free throws to keep the
game tied 20-20 at the half. Baptiste, the biggest player for Body-Team, finished the game with 11 points and a handful of rebounds, providing a presence in the post for the team. Without the size of Baptiste, who fouled out with 10 minutes remaining, Body-Team relied on the quick speed of its captain, Ernest Williams ’15 to pull away. Williams scored a gamehigh 23 points on the contest, including 19 in the second half to lead his team to victory. “After receiving a tough foul call to foul me out of the game with about 10 minutes left to play it was up to my team to play together and win us the game,” Baptiste said. “[The team] knew they were undersized but they used their desire to win to overcome this disadvantage.” Brandeis Athletics staff member Wouter van der Eng ’13 added a thunderous block—as well as 14 points of his own—to guide the Patchworkers team to a 36-35 lead with 7 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the game. The two teams traded baskets before BodyTeam reeled off a prolonged run to increase its lead to 43-38. The Patchworkers, trailing by a 53-48 margin, converted a long threepointer with 10 seconds left in the game to pull within two points. After an off-the-ball foul committed by the Patchworkers, Body-Team iced
the championship with a pair of free throws. “To win a game that stayed close the whole game long was a great way to show how poised and calm my teammates stayed throughout the whole game,” said Baptiste. In the women’s final, the top-seeded Dunkaroos, despite leading for the majority of the game, could not put away the third-ranked Hoops! I Did It Again. Casey Pearlman ’16 led the way for the Dunkaroos with 10 points on the contest, and yet, was matched bucket for bucket by the tandem of Kyla Gabriel ’17 and Leah Friend ’17. They each added a dozen points for Hoops! I Did It Again. The two teams traded baskets in a back-and-forth affair before Hoops! I Did it Again pulled away down the stretch to take the game 40-33, scoring their final four points from the freethrow line. Molly Pearlman ’17 contributed eight points for the champions, which, along with Gabriel’s seven points from the free-throw line, were key to her squad’s upset win. Brandeis students can next look forward to registration on March 16 for the intramural softball season. Editor’s note: Casey Pearlman ’16 is a staff writer for the Justice Features section.
BOSTON BRUINS BRIEF Bruins defeat visiting Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers in high-scoring games at TD Garden As the calendar flipped to March, the Boston Bruins continued their recent success with home wins over the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers. In a rematch of a Capitals victory on March 1, the Bruins took a 3-0 victory, capping a week of strong pla by Boston that included a 4-1 victory over the Panthers. The Bruins fired off three goals and allowed just 15 shots en route to a commanding victory on Saturday. “This was the best-played game for this team since break,” said center Patrice Bergeron. “We played well, we played tight, and when we do that, good things happen.” After a scoreless first period, it took the Bruins just three minutes, five seconds into the second period to find the net.
Bergeron fired off a pass to right wing Gregory Campbell, who then struck a one-timer past Capitals goalkeeper Braden Holtby, off the right post and into the net, handing the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The goal was Campbell’s fourth in four games. Five minutes later, left wing Loui Eriksson put home his seventh goal of the season for a 2-0 lead. At the end of the second period, the offense, with 27 shots, was firing on all cylinders. Yet, the more telling stat existed at the other end of the margin: just eight shots allowed by Boston’s defensive line in two periods to the high-scoring Capitals offense. Center Brad Marchand fired off an empty-net goal—his 21st of the season—with just 1:34 left to ice the 3-0
lead—and the game. The Bruins defense allowed seven shots against Washington in the third period, though none of the shots came close to challenging Bruins goalkeeper Tuukka Rask. “We battled hard,” said Eriksson. “This was a great team effort and we had some really good chances.” “Now we just need to keep doing that,” he continued Tuesday night, the Bruins dominated the Florida Panthers 4-1 in a game that Boston won comfortably despite not being on top form. The Bruins had several near misses in the first couple of minutes, shooting twice wide of Florida goalkeeper Tim Thomas’ net. Thomas, a former Bruins fan favorite and key member of the team’s Stanley Cup victory in 2011, did not have the
same success in his return to TD Garden on Tuesday Center Chris Kelly fired an effort on goal that had Thomas beat. Luckily for the goalkeeper, the shot sped just wide of his left-hand post. Boston got the jump just seven minutes, 29 seconds into the game. Center David Krejci skated in from the left side of the net toward the center of the goal and fired a shot into the right corner to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Krejci scored a goal midway through the second period to extend the Bruins’ lead, and completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal late in the third period. Boston was certainly dominant in its margin of victory. However, coach Claude Julien recognized that the team still has room to improve
its game. “I still thought defensively [we have] got to tighten up some more,” he said. “I felt the second period wasn’t a very good period for us. We kind of gave them an opportunity to get some momentum back even though we scored the only goal.” “They were probably the better team that second period.” The Bruins travel to Montreal tomorrow for a divisional matchup with the Montreal Canadiens before opening a three-game home stand versus the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and the Minnesota Wild next Monday. —Henry Loughlin and Adam Rabinowitz
just
Sports
Page 16
TAKING HOME THE TITLE The intramural basketball seasons ended with two evenly matched games in the men’s and women’s finals, p. 15.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
EDGING OUT THE DEFENSE
Waltham, Mass.
TRACK AND FIELD
Three Judges earn bid to NCAA meet ■ Kelsey Whitaker ’16
enters the national meet with the fourth-fastest time in the one-mile run. By HENRY LOUGHLIN JUSTICE Senior WRITER
While many athletes are looking forward to the changes synonymous with spring, certain members of the indoor track and field team are still in season. And for three of them, a spot was confirmed yesterday in this weekend’s NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Amelia Lundkvist ’14, Victoria Sanford ’14 and Kelsey Whitaker ’16 recorded top marks at the Tufts University Last Chance Qualifier, as well as at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship to qualify for the meet. Mohamed Sidique ’15 represented the men’s squad with record-setting jumps at the ECACs. “It’s a huge honor [to qualify] because it’s been a goal of mine for a while,” explained Whitaker.
“It was out of reach at the beginning of the season because I wasn’t running well. It was especially exciting for me because my dad went to the college that is hosting [the tournament] and [my parents are] already on their way out there.” Whitaker and Lundkvist on Thursday shattered the five-minute barrier in the women’s one-mile run. Whitaker took the top spot in four minutes, 57.15 seconds, while Lundkvist wasn’t far behind in 4:59.38, finishing in second place. The race marked the first time that either Whitaker or Lundkvist broke the five-minute mark in their strongest event. Those two times were converted for qualifying purposes at the NCAA Division III Championships which will run on a banked track— unlike the flat track of Tufts. Whitaker’s time converts to 4:54.24, four seconds behind the fastest Division III time this year, while Lundkvist’s time converts to 4:56.45. Lundkvist’s time, then, leaves her just a second behind the 10th-fastest time in Division III. Sanford wasn’t far behind in fourth with a finish in 5:06.77.
See TRACK, 13 ☛
TENNIS
Teams drop matchup to ranked competition ■ The doubles pair of
Michael Secular ’15 and Brian Granoff ’17 scored the team’s lone point. By ABIGAIL ROTHSTEIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
CLOSE QUARTERS: Guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14 brushes off a defender in the team's 64-55 quarterfinal victory last week.
Squad closes season in tournament semifinals ■ Guard Janelle Rodriguez
’14 nearly capped a doubledigit comeback, scoring eight of the team’s final 10 points. By Avi Gold JUSTICE editor
Guard Niki Laskaris ’16 put up a desperation three-pointer with one second left against Smith College on Saturday, looking to will her team forward on an unlikely run to the finals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The Judges, in their matchup with the third-seeded Smith Pioneers, nearly overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to make that a reality. Brandeis—seeded eighth in the post-
season tournament—upset top-seed Emmanuel College 64-55 on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals to get to that point. However, Laskaris’ shot with one second left in the game bounced off the front of the rim and Smith escaped with a 64-61 victory in the semifinal matchup, sending Brandeis packing in their first postseason appearance since the 2008 to 2009 season. Despite receiving double-digit scoring efforts from four of their five starters, Brandeis failed to complete a comeback against the Pioneers. Both teams failed to establish a lead in the early going, trading baskets over the first five minutes, 31 seconds and playing to a 13-13 tie. Smith then finished the half on a 2013 run to take a 37-30 lead into the halftime break.
Brandeis kept the game close down the stretch of the first half with a balanced scoring attack. Guard Kasey Dean ’14 contributed seven of her game-high 15 points in the opening half, while forward Maria Jackson ’17 and guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14 added six and five points, respectively, in the half. Center Nicolina Vitale ’14 contributed four points and three defensive rebounds while guard Paris Hodges ’17 scored four points and pulled down a pair of rebounds, including a bucket with 3:05 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 31-28. The Judges, though, stormed out of the gate in the second half, registering the first five points of the half and holding their opponents scoreless for nearly four minutes. Smith responded to Brandeis’ run with a
See WBBALL, 13 ☛
The men’s and women’s tennis teams knew, upon traveling to Vermont on March 8 and 9 for the Middlebury College Invitational, fierce competition lay ahead. The Middlebury Panthers men’s and women’s teams— ranked 10th and sixth, respectively— tested the Judges’ physical drive and emotional mindset. “The mindset was that we could beat them,” said coach Ben Lamanna. “We're not scared of anybody.” While both squads failed to garner an overall victory against Middlebury, the men’s team managed to leave the weekend with a win. Coming off of three consecutive victories, the men dropped their match 8-1 to Middlebury, while the 24th-ranked had similar struggles against the Panthers, losing 9-0. On the second day of the invitational, though, the men’s side regained its momentum, responding with a 6-3 defeat of Colby College. The women’s tennis team valiantly competed against Middlebury, but ultimately, their efforts did not produce a win. A glimmer of hope came for the Brandeis side as Carley Cooke ’15, at the No. 1 court, challenged Middlebury sophomore Ria Gerger. Cooke, ranked No. 17, showed great promise in the first set by leading 5-2, however, dropped the match in straight sets. The Judges failed to recover from the initial defeat. Ally Bernstein ’14, Roberta Bergstein ’14 and Simone Vandroff ’15 all fell to their Middlebury competitors. In a close match at the No. 5 court, Emily Eska ’15 matched her opponent shot for shot in the second set before
falling by a 6-4, 7-5 score. Middlebury built on their initial successes with a sweep in doubles competition, where Cooke and Vandroff lost to Middlebury 8-6. The men, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to break through against the Panthers. At No. 1 singles, Michael Arguello ’17 lost to senior Alex Johnston, ranked 39th nationally for Middlebury. Although Arguello fell to his opponent, he took Johnston to a tie-breaking round, eventually losing 7-5. “Arguello has improved by leaps and bounds since he arrived in the fall,” said Lamanna. “Particularly, his doubles skills have improved. He's a great competitor on the court and he does everything right off the court. When you watch him play, it's like watching a laser show. He crushes the ball.” Brian Granoff ’17 continued to improve with each passing match. Much like his class and teammate, Granoff could not pull off an overall win against Middlebury senior Brantner Jones, losing 6-4, 7-6 (2) to the 31st nationally ranked player. In the remaining singles positions, the Panthers defeated Ryan Bunis ’17, Alec Siegel ’15 and Michael Secular ’15. Bunis, however, managed to earn three points in his loss. “Arguello, Granoff [and] Bunis are all talented players who continue to impress with their hunger and fire for improvement,” said Lamanna. “We've got a great thing going right because the sky is the limit with this group. It's all about continual improvement and staying hungry.” The team responded with a win over Colby on Sunday, following a 6-3 victory from Siegel at the No. 5 position. The Judges went 2-1 in doubles and 4-2 in singles play. The women’s squad will welcome No. 30 Wellesley College on Friday before joining the men in New York to square off against New York University on Saturday.
JustArts Volume LXVI, Number 21
Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Waltham, Mass.
AYALA South East Asia Club presents a “neighborhood party” themed show >> 20
Institute of Contemporary Art Exhibit - Kentridge explores speeds of time » 23
INSIDE
Bob Moody Retrospective Exhibit Dreitzer Gallery showcases professor’s art » 19
‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ Hold Thy Peace diverges from Shakespeare performances » 21
Irving Fine Tribute Concert Violinist and pianist perform neoclassical works in tribute to Irving Fine » 19
18
justARTS
TUESDAY, march 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
CALENDAR
INTERVIEW
$
What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS Artist Talk: Mark Dion
American artist Mark Dion will come to the Rose Art Museum to discuss his object and collection-based practice and his recent sculptural installations. Best known for his use of scientific installations in his pieces, Dion’s work represents a field of visual art that is not seen every day. Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum. This event is free and open to the public.
Art and Gender
Sponsored by the Fine Arts department and the Brandeis Arts Council, this program will feature artist Mieke Bal, and include a lecture, film screening and reception. The lecture, “Resisting Resistance: Identity Politics Revisited,” will be given by Bal, followed by a screening of the film Becoming Vera. Thursday from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. in Mandel Center for the Humanities room G12. This event is free and open to the public.
Zuri Gordon ’15 The Clothesline Project raises awareness MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
This week, justArts had a conversation with Zuri Gordon ’15, who is the president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, about an event during the group’s programming for Sexual Violence Awareness Week.
Student Talent Show
Join Brandeis’ Russian Club to celebrate International Women’s Day with a student talent show. This is an annual event that traditionally brings together a large community of students, faculty and staff from the Brandeis community and beyond. Student performers will be singing, dancing and playing the piano. Refreshments will be provided. Thursday at 6:45 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall in Goldfarb Library. This event is free and open to the public.
JustArts: Can you tell me a little about the history of the clothesline project and how [the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance] adopted it? Zuri Gordon: This is our second Sexual Violence Awareness Week and last year was the first year that we started it, and The Clothesline Project was the last event in the [Shapiro Campus Center] Atrium so we decided to do it again this year. I know that The Clothesline Project was started in Cape Cod in the ’90s. It was about creating T-shirts that have slogans about gendered violence and about how to end it, combat it—T-shirts that had belonged to women who had been victims of this, [they said] things about these women and how to protect them. They were hung on a clothesline. And there were a lot of rules about the sort of ceremony that you would have for it and I know that the Boston Rape Crisis Center also has one up as well. To do it in the Atrium as part of our week, we provided T-shirts and provided paints and clothespins and lots of information about the project and so people who participated could just get a T-shirt and write something about rape culture or gendered violence and they’re hung up down stairs. JA: Can you tell me about what you think about the importance of public art, since the T-shirts are hung in the SCC and people can walk by and see them? ZG: FMLA has done some public art before. We had some burning bras a few years ago for Feminist Action Week. And I guess with something like feminism which not everybody understands or thinks is that important, something like art, which everyone can participate in and everyone can understand, is a way to make feminism accessible to people and make them understand how it affects their lives. [With] burning bras we had a big sign explaining what they meant. But for the T-shirts, they’re pretty selfexplanatory… and [people] can come to the SCC and see them and read the slogans like “End Rape Culture at ’Deis,” “Brandeis Loves Consent;” one said “Ask First.” So women or just survivors in general who have been affected by gender violence and sexual violence who didn’t really participate in this week’s events can see the shirts in the SCC and understand how feminism affects them or that there is a movement to advocate or support them. JA: What do you think the people who participated in creating the shirts got out of it? ZG: I think that Sexual Violence Awareness Week, just as the series of events that happens on campus, can be really heavy and hard to go to. I’ve done this sort of activism all my time at Brandeis and it can be really overwhelming sometimes … This is the last event of [Sexual Violence Awareness Week] and it’s something that’s more creative and interactive and you’re not getting horrible statistics or feeling hopeless about something. And you’re just making a craft to get your thoughts out about sexual violence and how you want to combat [it] and how it’s affected you or someone you know. I think that as the last event of a really long week of important events it’s a way to be part of the series of events that doesn’t take so much out of you … This is a way to participate that doesn’t make you feel like there is no end. JA: Do you hope to do The Clothesline Project next year, or expand it? ZG: I definitely hope that with FMLA, Sexual Violence Awareness Week continues to happen with different events throughout the week but I definitely think that the clothesline project should always a part of it and I hope that it is again next year. —Emily Wishingrad
Book launch and reception
In honor of the recent publication of a textbook volume on contemporary art by Prof. Peter R. Kalb (FA), the Fine Arts department is holding a book launch. Kalb will be joined for a panel discussion of his book, Art Since 1980: Charting the Contemporary, with Amsterdam University professor
Mieke Bal, New York artist Shimon Attie and Tufts University professor Eric Rosenberg. The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session, recpetion and book signing. Friday from 2:15 to 4 p.m. the Mandel Center for the Humanities miscellaneous space. This event is free and open to the public.
Student Events Film Series
Come join Student Events and watch the new release The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to take a break from studying. The action-packed movie follows Katniss and Peeta as their victory is cut short and the Quarter Quell puts them back into the Hunger Games for the second time. This event is free and open to students, and snacks will be provided. Friday and Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Mandel Center for the Humanities room G03. This event is sponsored by Student Events.
Giving Voice to the Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Sarah Pelletier, soprano, and pianist Lois Shapiro celebrate the poetry of Emily Dickinson in a recital of modern song settings. Some pieces will include Aaron Copland’s “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson,” a world premiere from Brandeis department of Music chair Prof. Yu-Hui Chang (MUS), as well as new Dickinson cycles by Ross Bauer and Eric Sawyer. This event is sponsored by the Music department. Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Poetic Overtures featuring New Music Brandeis
Join the Brandeis Music department for a performance of student composers’ premiere works inspired by poetry, performed by Sarah Pelletier, soprano, and Lois Shapiro, piano.
Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS Art Exhibit: ‘Correspondence’
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum recently commissioned artist Michael Van Valkenburgh to design a new four-season garden on the site of what Isabella Gardner called her “Monk’s Garden.” The redesigned Monk’s Garden, sited to the east of the historic palace, opened in September 2013 as part of the museum’s expanded campus. Correspondence features design process and construction drawings of the new garden, as well as communications between the design team and contractors responsible for its construction. The exhibition centers on a pair of letters between museum director Anne Hawley and Van Valkenburgh describing their aspirations for the new garden at the beginning of the design process. The exhibition also presents photographs that illustrate how greatly the garden has changed over the years. On view in the Fenway Gallery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston through Oct. 27. Admission ranges from $5 to $15.
Poor Old Shine
Fresh from composing original music and performing as part of the American Repertory Theater’s The Heart of Robin Hood, Poor Old Shine brings their fantastic sound to Oberon for one night only. Poor Old Shine is a roots band with a grassroots ethos. The Connecticut quintet prizes the human element that underpins their music, from songwriting to recording to album design and even choice of record label. Wednesday at 7:30 and 10 p.m. at the Oberon in Cambridge. Tickets range from $15 to $25 and are available online at http://americanrepertorytheater. org/.
Pop Culture n
ww Pop-culturites, I just know you’ve all been wondering this: are Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber an item again? Well, on Friday the dynamic duo were apparently spotted together in the town of McAllen, Texas. E! News later confirmed the sighting. Gomez, 21, and Bieber, 20, reportedly shared a very public display of affection during a meal at a Mexican restaurant. After that, the pair headed on a little shopping spree, stopping at a floral shop and a perfume store, where Bieber reportedly purchased two different colognes. The day before the Texas reunion, Bieber was in Miami for a deposition stemming from a suit filed against him by a paparazzo who alleges that one of the baby-faced singer’s body guards assaulted him. Numerous media outlets report that Bieber briefly stormed out of the six-hour deposition when he was questioned about Gomez. In other news, Kesha Sebert— yes Kesha, not Ke$ha (the singer announced this past week that she has officially dropped the dollar sign from her name)—is indeed yelling “Timber,” leaving the Chicago-area rehab facility Timberline Knolls after completing a two-month stint for the treatment of an eating disorder. Ever the one to make a statement, photographers snapped Sebert, 27, wearing a sweatshirt that read “Ima Survivor” when she arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday. Now, pop-culture people, are you ready for a blast from the past? You may have thought the Aaron Carter/ Hillary Duff romance drama was quashed long ago, but Carter’s Twitter feed tells otherwise. On Wednesday, Carter, 26, retweeted a photo of Duff, 26, and later wrote, “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to better myself to get back to her.” “I don’t care what ANY of you
By Mara Sassoon
CREATIVE COMMONS
POP $TAR: This week, Kesha announced that she is dropping the dollar sign from her name. think.” He tweeted, implying that he was talking about Duff in the original post. So, perhaps a reunion is possible. Duff recently split from her husband, former professional hockey player Mike Comrie, with whom she has 22-month-old son Luca. Carter dated Duff back in the early 2000s before he infamously broke up with her in pursuit of child actress Lindsay Lohan. In a recent interview, Carter detailed that he started dating Duff on his 13th birthday, and after a year or so in the relationship he became bored and moved on to Lohan. Oh teenage love. Whether this resurfacing of his feelings for Duff is
a publicity stunt or real, we shall see. Setting that early 2000s Disney drama throwback aside, last Monday, E! News confirmed that Scarlett Johansson, 29, is expecting her first child with fiancé Romain Dauriac, a French journalist. The actress is reportedly due in August. As she is set to begin filming Avengers 2 soon, the production will prioritize filming Johansson’s scenes. Her character, Black Widow, wears a skintight black suit, so hiding the pregnancy would likely prove difficult. And with the usual roundup of romance, scandal and celebrity, that’s this week’s pop culture news, Brandeis!
ARTS COVER PHOTOS: .JOSHUA LINTON, JOSH HOROWITZ, OLIVIA WANG and BRI MUSSMAN/the Justice, CREATIVE COMMONS. DESIGN: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice.
ON CAMPUS
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, March 11, 2014
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music
Duo performs centennial tribute concert By emily wishingrad justice editor
This year marks the centennial anniversary of the birth of Irving Fine, a composer and former professor at the University. Two years after Brandeis’ founding, Fine left his position at Harvard University to join Brandeis’ up-and-coming Music department—a risky move at the time. He proved to be an enormous asset to Brandeis as he expanded the Music department tremendously, bringing in talents such as Leonard Bernstein, Harold Shapero, Arthur Berger and Caldwell Titcomb dur-
ing his tenure. On Sunday afternoon, the University Concert Series held a performance in Slosberg Music Center titled “A Tribute to Irving Fine”— commemorating Fine’s work and influences. The concert highlighted Fine and Shapero’s professional and personal relationship, and the program provided photos of the two working together at both Brandeis and the Tanglewood Music Festival in the mid-1940s. The concert also featured works composed by both Shapero and Fine, both neoclassicalists of the 20th century, as well as works by Béla Bartók and Claude
Debussy, also 20th-century artists. Earlier in the year Sally Pinkas Ph.D. ’91 and her husband, Evan Hirsh, performed a memorial concert for Shapero, who passed away last spring. This Sunday, Pinkas returned to play again, this time in memory of Fine. Pinkas, solo pianist and professor at Dartmouth College, and Prof. Daniel Stepner (MUS), first violinist of Brandeis’ Lydian String Quartet, performed duets as well as solos from the early to mid-20th century. The concert began with Sonata for Violin and Piano, written by Shapero in 1942. The three movements
were drastically different from one another—the “Moderato” light, airy and playful; the “Adagio” sad, soulful and longing; and the “Alegro preciso” fast and frantic with a few melodic sequences woven in. Next came Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, written in 1944 and performed by Stepner. The program mentions that Bartók was highly influenced by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. The first movement, “Tempo de ciaccona,” “owes a great deal to the grand nineteenth-century manner of playing unaccompanied Bach,” the program commented. The piece featured many differing
BRI MUSSMAN/the Justice
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Sally Pinkas Ph.D. ’91 and Prof. Daniel Stepner (MUS) honored the late Irving Fine, playing a variety of works including Fine’s own compositions.
musical techniques such as chords, fast sequences of notes that ran up and down the instrument and pizzicato to create a complexity of sound. At one point in the piece, Stepner played pizzicato while still playing arco, a technique that required a great amount of coordination. Next, Pinkas performed Debussy’s Estampes, written in 1903. The movement, the “Pagodes” at times sounded like bells, the Pinkas playing the piano rapidly, scaling up and down the instrument and oscillating between notes. The next movement, “La soriée dans Granada” (The Evening in Granada,) felt much as the title of the piece suggested—like a party scene with many things happening at once, converging in a complexity of notes and rhythms. The piece drifted off at the end, reminiscent of a night on the town that was finally dying down with people returning home. The last piece the duo played was composed by Fine himself. Sonata for Violin and Piano, written in 1946, definitely had traces of the previous three pieces. The program mentioned that Fine said that his Sonata is “essentially tonal, diatonic and moderately dissonant, neoclassic in its formal approach and (according to some critics) neo-romantic in its expressive attitudes.” I could definitely hear some of the dissonant tones that Fine describes, especially in the “Lento con moto,” as notes diverged from the key signature. The piece was just as beautiful though, indeed embodying these “expressive attitudes” and romantic tropes that Fine described. The final movement of the Sonata, “Vivo,” was, as the title suggests, lively and very bold and rousing. At times though, the movement would transition into a more morose and intense melody. These breaks from the high energy of the piece allowed the listener to appreciate the liveliness and notice the fast, vibrant parts even more. The concert was very impressive—Pinkas and Stepner are clearly extremely talented and experienced with these composers and musical styles, and the concert did justice to Fine’s life and legacy.
art exhibit
Retrospective chronicles theater set design By matt manning justice contributing writer
Last week marked the opening of an exhibition to commemorate a lifetime of work by one of Brandeis’ own: Prof. Robert Moody (THA), whose professional career as a set designer and instructor has spanned over four decades. To celebrate Moody’s last semester of teaching, the Theater Arts department has staged an exhibit—Work, Now and Then—of pieces ranging from Moody’s set designs to his private sketches drawn with students, in Spingold Theater Center’s Dreitzer Gallery. While studying some of Moody’s figure drawings, I was surprised to be greeted by Moody himself as he walked down the stairs to the gallery, wearing a paint-covered apron, cup of morning coffee in hand. “It’s been an unbelievable joy,” he said, looking around the gallery. Moody called the exhibition and the reception he has received since it opened “one of the best events of my life.” Entering the gallery yields a view of four alcoves, each devoted to a different medium. Both the first and the second alcoves feature photographs of Moody’s finished set designs, completed from 1967 to 2008 and used in productions throughout the United States, from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast. Some of these feature Moody standing next to the finished products, while others stand alone and one captures a work in progress— the artist standing on the large canvas, the outlines of a landscape waiting to be filled in by an oversized
paintbrush that Moody holds up. In addition to photographs of the set designs, the exhibit features a selection of Moody’s charcoal and graphite sketches on medium-sized canvases. Many depict rural-looking buildings and towns with images that include lakeshores, seashores and fishing boats. The sketches, drawn on site, cover locales such as coastal Massachusetts, rural Maine, a New England town square and Martha’s Vineyard. Like his landscapes, the sketches include intricate details that come together to form a coherent and refined whole. “I’m a drawing addict,” Moody admitted while looking at the works. His other pieces using both pastel and charcoal demonstrate a mastery of sketching, but with additional vibrant, smooth coloring. In the middle of the gallery, separating the sketches from the landscape photographs, is a large set design for Michael Murray’s production of Love for Love (2002). The design itself is a reproduction of Rubens’ “Garden of Love,” (c. 1633) a baroque-style piece featuring playful cherubs, ornately gowned women and a background of detailed stone architecture. Unlike many of Moody’s set designs that function largely as landscapes, this one demonstrates his ability to capture human forms and likenesses. After speaking with Moody briefly about his work, he left the gallery, only to return a few moments later, offering to let me visit his undergraduate scene-painting course, “Introduction to Scene Painting.” Walking into the class area just
down the hall in Spingold, I saw his students painting beautiful pieces on large canvases. It was truly illuminating to see Moody’s investment in his students and in his sincere belief that they were capable of doing great things with scene painting. “It’s been such a joy working with students,” Moody said, “I can’t exaggerate that.” While more of his set designs hung in the class studio—a mountain landscape, a jungle, a fisherman’s town—Moody informed me that he did not want his students to mimic their teachers, but to develop their own pieces based on their individual talents and innate abilities. The Dreitzer Gallery also offers a glance into Moody’s work with his students. At the end of the exhibit is a wall of figure drawings, completed in charcoal on newsprint, drawn in class with his students. The drawings seem personal and honest, depicting a variety of nudes demonstrating various poses. In some, a man kneels, his head bent forward with redemption. In others, a woman leaps, her torso facing the viewer, her body strained. In the corner of the gallery is a small guestbook, already filled with thank-you notes offering Moody congratulations on a lifetime achievement in set art as well as gratitude for his guidance as a professor. Many of the entries are from former students, some even from the beginning of Moody’s teaching career, about 40 years ago. “The only time I will retire,” he said “is when I’m six feet underground—and maybe not even then.” The exhibit will be on view through next Sunday.
OLIVIA WANG/the Justice
WALK THROUGH: The Dreitzer Gallery is staged with paintings, drawings and set designs by Prof. Robert Moody (THA) to honor his upward of 40 years of teaching the medium.
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TUESDAY, March 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
PERFORMANCE STEP IT UP: Brandeis’ step team, So Unique, performed pieces to loud cheering and applause as they stepped in perfect syncronization. JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
AYALA creates forum for cultural display By catherine rosch justice Staff writer
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE: Eddy Zhang ’16 and John Deng ’17 produced a skit titled “The Thirst Games” in which students, representing South East Asian countries, fought for a water supply.
SHAYNA HERTZ/the Justice
SINGING BEAUTY: Frances Chang ’16 sung classic Disney songs in not only English but also Japanese and Chinese, accompanied by guitar.
A cappella. Dancing. Stand-up comedy. Coconuts. An American Idol contestant. These were only some of the numerous acts performed at AYALA, a variety show hosted by Brandeis’ South East Asia Club to raise money for communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan, a major tropical cyclone that devastated the Philippines in November. With the theme of barrio fiesta, meaning “neighborhood party” in Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, Levin Ballroom was full of students sitting at round tables, sipping on sparkling grape juice and enjoying a variety of Dum Dum lollipops. Lights and flags of a slew of Southeast Asian countries decorated the walls. Hosted by Sandra Luo ’15, Tony Tran ’17 and Kevin Wang ’14, AYALA got off to a hilarious start with an introduction of the SEAC executive board and AYALA committee through a video. The video, a spoof of The Avengers, followed the executive board and committee, each of whom represented a different Southeast Asian country, as they combined their superpowers, like telepathy and super speed, to restore unity to the world. Following the film, the organizers all introduced themselves, to cheers and applause. In a spoof on The Hunger Games, members of SEAC presented “The Thirst Games,” a skit produced by John Deng ’17 and Eddy Zheng ’16. “The Thirst Games” presented a story about
the need for water in Southeast Asia, tying in themes of love and unity, as representatives of each country were forced to compete for a coconut water supply. A budding romance and moments of betrayal lead the countries to realize that they should all share the water. The night continued with Frances Chang’s ’16 performance of two popular Disney songs. Chang started by signing “I See The Light” from the animated film Tangled. However, Chang mixed things up a bit by singing the song in a variety of languages, including Japanese and Chinese in addition to the its traditional language—English. She followed up with a rousing rendition of “True to Your Heart”, the credit song from Mulan. As she sang, four performers danced in the background, eliciting cheers and whoops from the crowd. Kaos Kids, Brandeis’s hip-hop dance group, had a hard act to follow, but they pulled it off with a routine that recently won second place at a Suffolk University dance competition. They wowed the crowd with a variety of amazing moves, including twerking. Following a brief intermission, So Unique, Brandeis’ step team, performed a number of pieces in perfect rhythm. Both groups got the audience to stand, yell and even clap in time to the beat. The night took a slightly more serious turn with Tom Phan’s ’14 stand-up comedy performance. His funny routine also included very heavy themes about his relationship with his father and the struggle of being multicultur-
al in the United States. Phan also shared a poem he wrote about his Vietnamese-American identity. The poem focused on “figur[ing] out where to give and take” when it comes to assimilating and staying true to your culture. The student performances ended with a dance number by SEAC members. The dance, choreographed by Stephanie Anciro ’16, Tammy Huang ’16 and Thai Le ’14, mixed a traditional Filipino coconut dance, the Maglalatik, with more contemporary moves, and was set to a mash-up of songs by Rhythm and Blues singer NeYo and Vietnamese pop group Justatee. Performed by the largest number of people out of all the performances, the dance beautifully combined traditional and modern techniques. The night ended with a special performance. JR Aquino, a Filipino-American YouTube musician who has appeared on American Idol and The Voice, performed a number of songs for the audience, ranging from some of his own compositions to Beyonce’s “Drunk In Love.” Playing a soft acoustic guitar as he sang, Aquino recieved numerous standing ovations, and stayed a while afterward to take photos, sign autographs and chat with students. AYALA managed to combine traditional Southeast Asian cultures and music with more modern American styles. The various student groups who performed only further illustrated the multiculturalism and diversity at Brandeis, and how people of all backgrounds can come together for a great cause.
JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice
MOVING AND SHAKING: The hip-hop club, Kaos Kids, performed a routine that recently won second place at a Suffolk University’s dance competition.
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, march 11, 2014
theater
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‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ reconsiders classic By carly chernomorets justice contributing writer
When I took my seat in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater on Friday for the second performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, I had no idea what I should expect from the production. Hold Thy Peace, Brandeis’s only Shakespearean and classical theater troupe, decided to take a break from Shakespeare for the semester and venture into some (slightly) more modern territory. Director Tziporah Thompson ’14 commented that the group has “only done really big works of Shakespeare [as of late], there’s a finite amount of works that you can do. I felt that it’s actually a good break for the club to step away from Shakespeare for a little bit.” Although HTP is mostly known for their Shakespearean work by the Brandeis commuunity, the choice to branch out from their norm was an incredibly strong one in terms of appealing to a wider audience. Cyrano de Bergerac, while still a classic, is much easier to understand than much of HTP’s normal repertoire. Written in 1897 by French dramatist Edmond Rostand, Cyrano features a titular main character with a big personality and a bigger nose. In the HTP production, Cyrano, played by Dave Benger ’14, is an actor in a theater company who is madly in love with fellow company actor and childhood friend Roxane (Allison Kaminsky ’17). Much to his dismay Roxane falls in love with a new member of the company, Christian (Ryan Mouton ’17), and Cyrano ironically ends up helping Christian woo Roxane through poetry. In HTP’s production, this whole calamity takes place during the final stages of the rehearsal process for the company’s play, which takes place during the second act. One of the most distinctive features of this production was Thompson’s directorial choice to modernize the show, and set it in a theater within the theater. The set consisted of a fake proscenium arch attached to a fake stage on the actual stage. Thompson also experimented with some pre-show improvisation, sending the cast into the audience before the show to mingle and remind viewers to turn off their cell phones. This choice served as a great device to help orient the audience with the setting and characters before the production even began. When the show started, Jody
LISTEN UP: Cyrano (center) addresses the other players as they relax at a local eatery.
(Deesha Patel ’16), the stage manager of the play within the play, took center stage to give directions for the dress rehearsal. Patel’s portrayal of a stage manager, who is fed up with her actors was hilarious. The best part about Thompson’s modernization of the text of the first act was her choice to leave Cyrano’s lines in their original old English style. The stark juxtaposition between Cyrano’s lyrical prose and the rest of the cast’s colloquial speech was highly effective in building Cyrano’s character. Cyrano came off as pompous and self-absorbed. Between the combination of his flowery lines and Benger’s supreme acting choices, Cyrano’s character was truly larger than life, and also larger than his most prominent facial feature. Although comedy frequently presented itself within this production, perhaps the funniest moment of the production featured Montfleury (Chris Knight ’14) giving a drunken monologue in one of the first scenes. Knight’s physicality and drunken slurring created a hysterical spectacle. A unique aspect of this production was the incorporation of technical staff and aspects into the onstage side of the show. Thompson chose to integrate some of the technical staff members into the production, giving them lines and allowing them to tinker around onstage, “building” things, acting as the technical staff for the play within the play. Showcasing the crew in this way was a brilliant choice, and a great way to give them the recognition that they quite often don’t receive. Despite being a bit slow at times, Cyrano de Bergerac was a wonderful production, and in my opinion, the best Hold Thy Peace production that has been done at Brandeis in my almost two years here. Thompson truly did the show justice by modernizing some of the language, and the set and costuming were superb. Editor’s note: Tziporah Thompson ’14 is an editorial cartoonist for the Justice.
PHOTOS BY JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
BEING NOSEY: HTP’s ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ starred Dave Benger ’14 as the titular character, an actor madly in love with a fellow actress.
HELP, I’VE FALLEN: Christian, played by Ryan Mouton ’17, is attended to by Roxane, played by Allison Kaminsky ’17.
Do you enjoy museums, music, theater or movies?
Write for Arts! Contact Emily Wishingrad at arts@thejustice.org
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, march 11, 2014
BRIEF Bedford one of Boston’s most stylish It’s not every day that the label “most stylish” is applied to members of the Brandeis University community—especially by one of Boston’s premier lifestyle publications. But in a March publication of the Boston Globe’s Style Magazine, one of Brandeis’ own made the cut. This year, the Boston Globe Style Magazine named the Henry and Lois Foster director of the Rose Art Museum, Christopher Bedford, as one of the “Most Stylish Bostonians 2014.” Joining the ranks of 16 other young professionals in the Boston area chosen by the publication, Bedford is recognized in a profile and accompanying video feature on the Style Magazine’s website. The Boston Style Magazine highlighted Bedford’s impeccable and forwardthinking taste—something that the Style Magazine sought out in all of the list-makers—and asked him questions about how visual taste influences his lifestyle. The online profile focused on the way that Bedford presents himself— what he wears to his own museum openings, what he looks for in new art acquisitions and which artists or designers influence him. When asked what he prefers to wear to openings at the Rose, Bedford answered: “I tend to wear at least one new thing. [At first] it was just an amusing habit, but now it’s become a good-luck charm, so now I have to do it every time. I think there’s an impulse to redo yourself just as you redo the museum for the public.” The two-minute-long video, published online along with the article, followed Bedford through a brief viewing of an exhibit of German artists Wols and Charlene von Heyl’s works in the Rose—one of the museum’s new exhibits this season. Bedford commented both on the works and on his personal style, and how he takes inspiration when dressing for museum events. This year’s “Most Stylish Bostonians” compilation marks the ninth annual list by the Globe’s Style magazine. —Rachel Hughes
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museum exhibit TIME WARP: The Insititute of Contemporary Art is currently featuring William Kentridge’s The Refusal of Time, which explores different speeds of time in the modern world. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN KENNARD
ICA exhibit explores notions of time using video and sculpture By kiran gill justice Staff writer
William Kentridge’s The Refusal of Time, which is currently on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, is a tour de force, combining sound and moving images in a installation utilizing a five-channel video and sculpture. Kentridge is an artist of Jewish and Caucasian ethnicity who was born and raised in South Africa and is currently based in Johannesburg. The exhibition explores the intersection of time and memory, science and globalization. Though these themes are frequently present in the South African artist’s work, the idea for this installation developed through years of discussion between the artist and Peter Galison, a professor of history of science at Harvard University. The five-channel video with sound, megaphones and metronomes, surrounds a wooden sculpture, which Kentridge refers to as an “elephant,” and a “breathing machine.” The piece is the product of a collaboration between
four individuals: Galison, composer Philip Miller, video filmmaker Catherine Meyburgh and Kentridge himself. Rustic, old world-inspired animations that evoke European colonialism and the early 20th century are gracefully utilized to inspire nostalgia in the piece. The five screens, which each play separate images, at times will randomly, but with panache, join together to play the same image at the same time. The drama of the installation, which places the viewer in the midst of a lost time, is heightened by both the time-ticking metronomes and the wooden sculptural “elephant” in the center of the room. In my opinion, however, the wooden sculpture does not resemble an elephant but rather a large bellows. Kentridge calls the sculpture an elephant, though, in reference to Charles Dickens’ novel, Hard Times, where machines can move “like an elephant in a state of melancholy madness.” In this way, the elephant does evoke a sense of grace as it is keeping track of time. However,
it is hard to know exactly how the machine is measuring time. The movements of the clunky contraption mimic the 19th-century Parisian method of regulating clocks by pumping air through tubes beneath the streets. As the machine moves forward and backward, to a slow, rhythmic beat, it appears slightly clunky—an anachronistic symbol in our world of fast cars and progressing technology. From the moving elephant sculpture to the metronomes, to the animations, which combine black and white images, it is apparent that the passing of time and our desire to measure time is at the center of this installation. Working within the framework of the relativity of time as articulated by Albert Einstein, the installation juxtaposes the relative nature of time in a world obsessed with measuring, fixing and standardizing, as reflected in Britain’s declaration of a universal time throughout its empire. This is just one instance of our refusal to work with time. As Kentridge writes, “Everybody knows that we are going
to die, but the resistance to that pressure coming towards us is at the heart of the project. At the individual level, it was about resisting; not resisting mortality in the hope of trying to escape it, but trying to escape the pressure that it puts on us.” On the global scale, refusal reflects “the European sense of order imposed by time zones; not only literally, but this refusal also referred metaphorically to the other forms of control as well.” An adjoining room that combines a series of drawings from Kentridge helps to contextualize Kentridge’s work as the artist has always argued that the root of his work is drawing. The charcoal and ink drawings and etches combined with the impressive installation render the viewer with pangs of nostalgia as the fleeting nature of time is revealed. It is through the exhibition that one realizes the transient nature of time. The days may feel long, but the years and decades, our arbitrary markers of time, are short. The exhibition is on view until May 4.
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Contact Tate Herbert at editor@thejustice.org
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TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
TOPof the
ARTS ON VIEW
Brandeis TALKS
CHARTS
Quote of the week
Top 10s for the week ending March 9
“I should add that, although the new plans have more meals and more points, that cost increase is still based on the charges from this year.”
BOX OFFICE
1. 300: Rise of an Empire 2. Mr. Peabody & Sherman 3. Non-Stop 4. The LEGO Movie 5. Son of God 6. The Monuments Men 7. 3 Days to Kill 8. Frozen (2013) 9. 12 Years a Slave 10. Ride Along
— Andrew Flagel, senior vice president of students and enrollment (News, p. 1)
What do you think of the new meal plan options?
NYT BESTSELLERS
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
GREEN LANTERN: Justice editor Morgan Brill ’17 created “Jericho Street,” a piece inspired by the city of Jerusalem, using Lino Block Print, a printmaking technique in which a linoleum surface is used as a base.
Alana Birnhak ’16 “I’m doubtful because the last time they said there was going to be change, there wasn’t.”
the justice wants to see your original artwork! Submit your photography or a photo of your original drawings, sculptures, paintings or works in other mediums to photos@thejustice.org to be featured in the next issue!
CROSSWORD
Karan Malik ’15 “I’m not worried because I’ll be off campus.”
Kyle Davis ’16 “The unlimited plan sounds really promising, but I’m questioning the quality of food.”
Marisa Albert ’17 “I’m excited but I’m not sure it will affect me. It’s cool that they’re changing things up, but I’ll have to ask my friends what they’re doing first.”
Nonfiction 1. The Future of the Mind—Michio Kaku 2. Unbroken—Laura Hillenbrand 3. David and Goliath—Malcolm Gladwell 4. Killing Jesus—Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard 5. The Sixth Extinction—Elizabeth Kolbert
iTUNES
ACROSS 1 Pet’s plaything 10 Syrian Ba’ath Party leader 15 Fools 16 Fool 17 Semi lubricant 18 Longtime Cleveland Orchestra conductor 19 Galaxy download 20 Baby bugs 21 Freight not permitted in some tunnels, familiarly 22 Edsel feature 23 Foolish 24 Two-player whistlike game 27 __ and Jack: kids’ clothing shop chain 28 2012 N.L. Manager of the Year Johnson 29 Prepare to compare 33 Eczema soother 34 Pool components 35 Wash unit 36 Numismatist’s concerns 38 Base boss 39 Something up grandma’s sleeve? 40 Snowsuit clip-on 41 Like some pot roast 44 Knitting rib 45 Beachgoer’s wear 46 Something to fill 47 Get dolled (up) 50 “For the Love of Mike” columnist 51 Sierra Mist flavor 53 Run the roast 54 Brand used by police in lieu of a sketch 26 Big name in romance novels artist 27 Inferior 55 Nobility 29 Spasmodic 56 Gridiron defensive rush 30 Dutch astronomer who found the first evidence of dark matter DOWN 31 Fragrant herb33 Sandler of 32 Fall 1 Fountain buy setting 2 Words of Hope 34 Mobs 3 Sch. whose mascot is Paydirt Pete 37 Tropical fruit 4 First of seven? 38 One in doubt? 5 Hotel extra 40 Molly who sells cockles and 6 Detroit Tigers great Al mussels 7 Brings (out) 41 Amoxicillin target 8 Mayberry sot 42 Jim who is the most recent mem9 Monogram on some high-end scarves 10 Old name of London’s Whitefriars district ber of the 600-home run club 43 Big name in luxury travel 11 Fajitas server 44 Lilith Fair performers 12 Boss’s terse summons 46 Overhaul 13 Traveler’s aid 47 __ bar 14 Fools 48 Drop 21 Help for those at sea? 49 Stan with a sax 22 One who doesn’t follow the crowd 51 1963 Cleo player 23 Auto detailer’s supply 52 __ Wolf: Big Bad’s son, in Disney 24 Dutch export Solution to last issue’s crossword comics 25 Colombian city Crossword Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, 26 Big name in
1. Pharrell Williams—“Happy” (from Despicable Me 2) 2. John Legend—“All of Me” 3. Katy Perry feat. Juicy J—“Dark Horse” 4. Bastille—“Pompeii” 5. Aloe Blacc—“The Man”
BILLBOARD
1. ScHoolboy Q—Oxymoron 2. Soundtrack—Frozen 3. Beck—Morning Phase 4. Kid Cudi—KiD CuDi presents SATELLITE FLIGHT: The Journey to Mother Moon 5. Romeo Santos—Formula Vol. 2 6. Dierks Bentley—Riser 7. Eric Church—The Outsiders 8. The Fray—Helios 9. Various Artists—NOW 49 10. Beyoncé—Beyoncé Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.
STAFF’S Top Ten
Car Models By PHIL GALLAGHER
Inc.
SUDOKU INSTRUCTIONS: Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.
Ryan Mulvihill-Pretak ’16 “All the stuff they offered we already have, so I’m not worried. P.S. I love sushi.” —Compiled by Lilah Zohar and photograhed by Morgan Brill/the Justice
Fiction 1. The Undead Pool—Kim Harrison 2. The Goldfinch—Donna Tartt 3. The Chase— Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg 4. Provate L.A.— James Patterson and Mark Sullivan 5. Concealed in Death—J.D. Robb
Solution to last issue’s sudoku
Sudoku Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.
justice EDITOR
As someone who has strived to keep up with car models since childhood, I wanted to share 10 interesting redesigns and newly-introduced car models for this year. New car models and redesigns are meant to reflect the interests and needs of contemporary drivers, so what do we, as today’s drivers, look for in a car? How do we want to drive? 1. Cadillac ELR 2. Cadillac CTS 3. Chevrolet Corvette 4. Mercedes S-Class 5. Acura RLX 6. Honda Fit 7. Mazda 6 8. Toyota Corolla 9. Volvo XC90 10. BMW X4