The Justice, March 18, 2014 issue

ARTS Page 19

SPORTS Softball defeats Emory 16 FORUM

CHILD’S PLAY

Web surveillance fears are overblown 12 The Independent Student Newspaper

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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 22

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

STUDENT LIFE

EDUCATING ON AL-QUDS

Flagel consults Greek leaders ■ Students have been in talks with Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel.

OLIVIA WANG/the Justice

Profs. Daniel Kryder (POL), Susan Lanser (ENG) and Daniel Terris discussed the Al-Quds partnership. See News, page 3.

Administration

By TATE HERBERT

Lawrence earns near $1 million

JUSTICE EDITOR

In an ongoing conversation surrounding the status of Greek life on campus, leaders in the Greek community, as well as Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel, say that the desire for Brandeis to officially recognize fraternities and sororities has gained steam.

However, in separate interviews with the Justice, Flagel and current presidents of Greek organizations at Brandeis disagreed on the source of this push for recognition.

“There seems to be a group of [members of Greek life at Brandeis] that are particularly interested, at this moment, in recognition,” said Flagel in an interview with the Justice. “And that ... seems to kind of ebb and ... flow depending on who’s in leadership roles in those organizations, but right now there seems to be some energy behind it.”

Abe Feldan ’14, president of the Greek Awareness Council, said in an interview with the Justice that he first became aware of an initiative to recognize Greek organizations early in the fall semester. “As far as I know, one individual in the administration is pushing for this: Andrew Flagel,” said Feldan.

Feldan said that he had not personally spoken to Flagel, but added, “I know for a fact that he has contacted individual presidents.”

Of the eight presidents of fraternities and sororities at Brandeis, only one, the president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, Joe Robinow ’14, agreed to be interviewed by the Justice. Robinow said that he became aware of a conversation surrounding the possibility of recognizing Greek life near the start of this semester, but that he knew little else.

Lisa Katsnelson ’15, president

■ The chair of the Board of

Trustees shared executive compensation statistics at the faculty meeting.

By KATHRYN BRODY JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The first-ever annual report from the Board of Trustees to the University faculty took place at last Thursday’s faculty meeting. Perry Traquina ’78, the chairperson of the Board of Trustees, revealed the specific numbers that the

Board was examining in its review of Brandeis’ policy on executive compensation, including University President Frederick Lawrence’s salary and his receipt of a $199,020 bump in compensation from 2011 to 2012.

The report was instituted as a method of increasing transparency and as a response to concerns raised by University faculty, students and alumni over the salary paid to President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz. Traquina, the chair of the Board, presented to the faculty the methods by which the trustees examined Brandeis’ policies concerning executive compensation.

Lawrence’s total compensation, including the salary, bonus, housing and the value of other benefits, adds up to a total of $757,479 for 2011, $956,499 for 2012 and $996,492 for 2013, according to the board.

In order to compare the salaries of the presidents and the senior staff with their peers at other institutions, the Board created a peer group of 28 similar colleges and universities, including schools such as Brown University, Lehigh University, Middlebury College and Colgate University. These were considered similar to Brandeis in either their size or liberal arts programs,

or both aspects.

Using this peer group, the trustees examined the salaries of college and university presidents, as reported in their annual tax forms, within the peer group and created a ranking system.

They found that Lawrence ranked in the 41st percentile among the presidents of the peer group in 2011, 55th in 2012 and 59th in 2013.

Lawrence’s ranking, when compared to the presidents of all schools within the Association of American Universities, was 45th in 2011; the data for 2012 and 2013 were not available, accord-

See REPORT, 6 ☛

FACULTY

Academics say adjunct compensation falls short ■ Adjuncts around the

Boston area have begun to unionize, though plans for Brandeis remain unclear.

By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR

See GREEK, 6 ☛

Adjuncts across the country and throughout Boston have been unionizing due to a general lack of benefits and low wages. Although the Brandeis Fair Pay Coalition has taken an initiative in meeting with a representative from the Service Employees International Union and several adjuncts have expressed concerns about the current situation at the University, no specific plan to unionize at Brandeis could be

confirmed by the Justice.

Adjuncts at the University currently receive about $6,000 per course in the Arts and Sciences, according to Prof.

Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) in an email to the Justice. Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice that $6,000 is the minimum that adjuncts are paid per course, but that disparities can exist between adjuncts’ pay based upon areas of expertise and experience.

An adjunct is “someone whose primary employment is not at Brandeis,” de Graffenreid wrote. Adjuncts were first introduced in higher education so that universities could hire professionals to teach a course as a unique opportunity for students.

The University hires adjuncts in or-

der to fill in for a faculty member who is on leave or sabbatical, to bring specific expertise to Brandeis “often in more applied fields … because those people bring real-world experience to students in a way that is really usefu (sic)” and to “fill out the curriculum in areas where there is a need for a specific course in a major or program,” according to de Graffenreid.

However, a lecturer, who requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic and job security concerns, explained that many adjuncts have doctorates in their fields from prestigious universities. “We’re getting top quality—trained professionally— academics to do these sort of jobs that were traditionally done by adjuncts to come in and go,” the lecturer said in an

interview with the Justice.

According to de Graffenreid, two courses per semester is considered half-time employment, and there is not an hourly requirement. De Graffenreid wrote that this means that faculty members hired on a per-course basis teaching as few as two courses may be eligible for benefits their first semester at the University.

According to Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Michelle Scichilone in an email to the Justice, the University offers benefits to any faculty member who is “classified as halftime or more regardless of title.” Such employees are eligible to participate in the University’s health and dental insurance “and pay the same premium as

See ADJUNCTS, 6 ☛

Kosher debate

Doubling up

Union changes

Dining services has a variable track record on serving pork and shellfish on campus.

 The women’s tennis team defeated both Wellesley College and New York University.

 A task force proposed new changes to the Student Union Constitution.

FEATURES 7 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

Waltham, Mass.

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

READER COMMENTARY

News 3 11

COPYRIGHT 2014 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

●

THE JUSTICE

NEWS SENATE LOG

Union discusses constitutional review The March 16 Senate meeting opened with an executive officer report from Student Union President Ricky Rosen ’14.

Rosen encouraged all Senate members to sign up to participate in the upcoming ’Deis Day. He also stated that he would be postponing the presentation of a list of proposed changes to the Student Union Constitution by the Constitutional Review Task Force until March 23, after they had met with members of the Finance Board to review the list.

Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco ’15 later reminded senators that after the constitutional review is complete, a review of the bylaws will also need to take place.

Rosen also provided executive compensation information from the Faculty meeting this past Thursday (See page 1 for more information).

Rosen and Franco also urged all Senate members to attend the upcoming March 20 roundtable discussion with members of the senior administration.

Rosen reported that Chief of Staff David Clements ’14 met with members of Student Events, who will be making changes to their club that will be implemented next year.

General meetings for Student Events will be open to the entire student body, students will be able to give input to a committee headed by Student Events directors and open to volunteers, and elections for Student Events leadership positions will be open to the student body.

Franco reported that construction projects for The Stein and the Usdan Student Center are moving forward. She also encouraged senators to participate in ’Deis Day, as well as a series of additional events coming later this semester, including the April 28 State of the Union and an appreciation event for Sodexo and Facilities employees.

During the Committee Chair Reports, Sustainability Committee Chair and Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf announced that she is working on an amendment to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund constitution.

According to Bessendorf, the change would ensure that proposals relevant to sustainability efforts are included in the process.

Additionally, she is working to put together a sustainability fair in April, in which Coca-Cola will participate.

Class of 2017 Senator and Chair of the Senate Dining Committee David Heaton brought up concerns of access minors may have to alcohol now that Usdan Cafe serves both beer and wine Thursday through Sunday nights. According to Heaton, alcohol will stop being sold if anyone under the age of 21 is served.

The committee will be meeting with members of the administration to examine measures to help ensure that will not happen.

A motion to skip senator reports was unsuccessful, with six senators voting in favor, eight opposing and five abstaining.

During senator reports, Class of 2016 Senator Jonathan Jacob announced that the promotional video for ’Deis Day had been completed. Several first-year senators reported that they are working on an event for first-year students.

Charles River/567 Senator Michael Stein ’14 announced that he is moving forward with a protest on Admitted Students Day and ’Deis Day regarding a “lack of budget transparency.”

According to Stein, the protest has been “tentatively approved” by Dean of Students Jamele Adams. Class of 2014 Senator Andre Tran announced he is working with Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid on a new Brandeis logo. According to Tran, everything but the seal will be touched.

POLICE LOG Medical Emergency

Mar. 9—University Police received a report that a student may have broken his nose while playing basketball in the North Quad parking lot. Officers arrived at the scene and eventually assisted in a transport of the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment.

Mar. 13—University Police received a report that a student at 164 Charles River Road injured her foot. BEMCo arrived on scene and transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment.

Mar. 13—University Police received a report that a student in Gordon Hall incurred head trauma. BEMCo responded and transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Mar. 13—University Police received a call that a student injured his left hand at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

BEMCo responded and facilitated the transport of the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for

further treatment.

Mar. 14—University Police received a report of a student in Rosenthal North that had difficulty breathing and experienced symptoms relating to a panic attack. BEMCo responded, and after treatment, the student refused further care.

Mar. 14—University Police received a report that a student at Sachar International Center collapsed and required medical attention. BEMCo responded and the student was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment.

Mar. 14—University Police received a report from the Massachusetts State Police that a student at 164 Charles River Road requested medical attention for severe back pain. BEMCo responded, and from there, facilitated transport of the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. The community development coordinator on call was also notified.

Mar. 15—University Police received a report of an intoxicated

Mar. 9—University Police received a report that a suspicious white male pointed his finger at assorted persons and alarmingly yelled “bang bang” in the North Quad parking lot.

Officers arrived at the scene but were unable to locate the reported individual.

Mar. 13—University Police received a report of a suspicious elderly male approaching the campus’ main entrance.

Officers later determined that the man had been searching for the Brandeis-Roberts commuter rail station.

Fire

Traffic

Mar. 12—A staff member notified University Police of a fire in Golding Judaic Center. Officers arrived at the scene along with the Waltham Fire Department but later determined that the fire, which was caused by a piece of photographic equipment, had been extinguished before they had arrived.

The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

Justice

the

www.thejustice.org

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods. Editor in chief office hours are held Mondays from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Justice office.

Editor News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing Copy Layout

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

—compiled by Adam Rabinowitz

University guest missing

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

n A photo caption in Arts should have included Bambara as one of the languages Trio da Kali spoke at the event, in addition to French. (March 4, p. 22)

Mar. 14—A member of the community reported to University Police that his car had been damaged while parked in Kutz Lot on March 12.

Officers compiled a report of the incident and noted no injuries had occurred.

BRIEF

WORK SMART

—Sara Dejene

n An article in Sports incorrectly identified Wouter van der Eng ’13 as a member of the Athletics staff.

He is actually a research assistant in the Politics department. (March 11, p. 15)

Miscellaneous

male student in Rosenthal South.

BEMCo responded and from there facilitated the transport of the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. The CDC on-call was also notified.

Mar. 16—University Police received a report of an intoxicated female student in Shapiro Residence Hall. BEMCo responded and transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Mar. 16—University Police received a report of an intoxicated female student in Shapiro Residence Hall. BEMCo responded and transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

OLIVIA WANG/the Justice

Evelyn F. Murphy, former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts and founder of the Wage Projec t, Inc., spoke in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall last Tuesday to discuss wage discrimination against working women.

Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan sent an email to the Brandeis community on Monday night, informing members of the community that a guest of a University student had been reported missing.

The guest had been hospitalized for self-inflicted injuries, the nature of which remain undisclosed, prior to his disappearance.

The individual was taken to an unidentified hospital, but his present location is currently unknown.

Callahan’s email identified the individual as John W. Randall but did not include any information as to where he was from.

The email describes Randall as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. It also states that Randall stands six feet tall and weighs 178 pounds.

The incident during which the individual allegedly wounded himself occurred on Sunday evening, according to the email.

The individual was a guest of a University student, although the email did not specify where the student resides on campus.

The guest was involved in an incident in the Charles River Road Apartment that led to inflicting himself with wounds that required hospitalization.

The individual was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment following the incident.

According to Callahan, the University was informed that the individual left the hospital premises against medical advice.

Callahan stated in the email that the University is engaged in an ongoing effort to locate the individual.

He explained in the email that the University intends for the individual to receive further medical treatment if he is found by the authorities.

Callahan also wrote that there is no immediate threat to the Brandeis community or its members posed by the individual at the time of the email.

However, he advised individuals to call the University police if they encounter Randall.

Callahan’s email to the community did not specify where Randall would be treated if found.

—Jessie Miller and Avi Gold

ANNOUNCEMENTS Strange Bedfellows

Frances Perkins helped Harry Bridges defeat the Communist “witch hunt.” She was so sure he wasn’t a Communist that she bet her career on it, and was impeached because of that. She was vindicated in the end. Participate in a discussion on these occurrences.

Today from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Kniznick Gallery of the Epstein Building.

Gender Nonconformity

This workshop will be facilitated by a student involved in the Queer Education Group at Brandeis and will focus on expressions of gender nonconformity across multiple cultures.

Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. in Intercultural Center Multipurpose Room.

1914 and the History of the Middle East

Join us for in-depth discussion on how new findings have changed our understanding of World War I and how the war

dramatically transformed the Middle East.

Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Irving Schneider and Family Building.

Relay for Life

Come join the campus community to celebrate survivors, remember those who have been lost to the disease, and fight back against cancer.

Relay For Life benefits the American Cancer Society, which funds cancer research, education, advocacy, and patient and caregiver services.

Join us in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center to fight cancer, watch student performance groups, hear inspirational stories and participate in the fight against cancer.

Sunday from 2 p.m. to Monday at 2 a.m. in the Red Auerbach Arena in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

The Intersection of Service and Your Career

Join your fellow Brandeisians as they

share reflective first-hand experiences of how service work has impacted their professional careers.

A panel of both seasoned and young Waltham Group alumni will share how they capitalized on their volunteer work while at Brandeis and how their experiences launched them into graduate school, helped them secure fellowships or helped them obtain their first job.

Are you curious about how to talk about your volunteer work in a medical school essay or how to include it on your resume and cover letter?

Are you interested in learning about how best to reflect upon your community service work to share examples during a professional interview?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then this event is for you.

Complimentary snacks and refreshments provided.

Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room.

THE JUSTICE

STudent union

undertaken a constitutional review to address areas of concern in its organization.

By Sara Dejene JUSTICE Editor

A committee comprised of Student Union members and one alumnus, which was formed to review the Student Union’s Constitution, announced in an email to the Justice that it has come up with a sizable list of proposed changes, about half of which pertain to the Union’s finances.

The Constitutional Review Task Force was formed last fall after an amendment to create a constitutional review system, which calls for an independent review of the constitution every four years, was approved by 82 percent of the student body in a vote. Members of the Constitutional Review Task Force include Student Union Vice President Ricky Rosen ’14, Vice President Charlotte Franco ’15, Chief of Staff David Clements ’14, Class of 2014 Senator Andre Tran, North Quad Senator Brian Hough ’17 and former senator Ben Beutel ’12.

The task force originally planned to present its proposal to the Senate during its March 16 meeting but postponed it until March 23 in order to first discuss it with the Finance Board. If approved by the Senate, the proposals will go to the student body for a vote.

Out of the nine potential changes, five regard how the Union will distribute its money. According to the proposal, the Capital Expenditures & Emergency Fund, “reserved for predominantly finance emergencies or capital expenditure projects,” will be expanded to also fund projects proposed by any member of the student body.

CapEx would be renamed the Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund.

A maximum of $200,000 would be allotted to the projects for which students can apply, while a set amount of $50,000 would be reserved for time-sensitive projects that “would warrant an emergency status” or in cases in which the potential $200,000 may not serve as enough to fund all the projects, Rosen explained in a follow-up email to the Justice.

In an interview with the Justice, Rosen, who argued in favor of the amendment to create a review system and sits on the task force, explained that the potential $100,000 being added to the fund would come from the Union’s surplus and unused “rollover” funds.

If those funds exceed the maximum of an amount of $200,000, then any extra money will roll over into the next semester or year for FBoard to reallocate.

Several of the finance-related proposals concern the F-Board specifically. In one proposed amendment, the F-Board would be renamed the Allocations Board. According to the proposal, the name change would make the board’s function “clearer” to students and avoid confusion of its role with that of the Treasury.

According the Student Union’s website, the F-Board makes decisions on how funds are distributed to clubs, while the Treasury is responsible for verifying and processing club transactions.

Two changes would increase the Senate’s involvement with FBoard. According to one of them, at the beginning of the year, the Senate would choose a member to sit on the Board to act as “a liaison in the allocations process” in addition to their standard responsibilities as a senate member. Accord-

ing to Rosen, this member would receive the same training as regular board members and would ultimately make the F-Board “more representative of students” by providing a route for members of the student body to voice their questions and concerns to the F-Board.

“Students can vote and elect an F-Board member, but we think that the face of the Union, the closest link that students have to the Union is through their senator,” said Rosen. “[With this change], students can bring their concerns to their senator and the senator would relay them to the F-Board representative on the Senate, who will have their voices heard in the F-Board process,” he explained.

The Senate would also be able to “confirm the Allocations Board’s decisions.” Along with that change, the Student Union president’s current ability to veto F-Board’s decisions would be eliminated. According to Rosen, the Senate would confirm F-Board’s allocation decisions as a whole at the end of the marathon period.

“Our goal ... here is making the branches more balanced, is having a better system of checks and balances,” Rosen said.

Rosen also explained that the president’s current capacity to veto F-Board allocation decisions is “almost never invoked.”

“Giving the Senate responsibility to approve F-Board allocations in whole, that’s almost a positive step to add to the process,” he said.

In an email to the Justice, FBoard Chair Mohamed Ali ’14 wrote that the F-Board will discuss the proposed changes this week.

In another proposal, the amount of funding for a secured club would be defined as a percentage of the Student Activities fee, rather than a set amount. This would remove the need to update those amounts every year.

As for non-finance related changes, one proposal would include the addition of intra-union meetings, a policy already implemented by Rosen to increase “collaboration between Union branches.”

Changes to the language of the constitution consist of the addition of the definition of recognized, secured and chartered clubs to the constitution. These edits are not just limited to the bylaws; there is also a removal of a section regarding petitions and simplifying the language of the constitution overall.

According to Rosen, the removal of the petitions section is the least significant change. According to the text of the proposal, the removal of this section would not prohibit petitions. Because of its “ambiguous” language, Rosen said that the task force decided it would be better to remove the section.

Other changes discussed by the task force that did not make the list of provisions to re-consider were the formation of club associations overseen by councils and altering the structure of the Senate to a bicameral, or two-chamber, system.

In March 2013, a committee unveiled a proposal to group the University’s 275 clubs into 12 associations based on their missions and interests, while still maintaining each club’s individual existence.

Each association would be overseen by a council of seven members, elected from the clubs within the association and a faculty or staff member would be appointed to work with each association.

While the proposal received feedback over that semester, Rosen said that the task force chose not to include it in its list of changes, Yet, he stated that other senators or task force members might tackle the issue next academic year.

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

3

PROVOKING DISCUSSION

Constitutional review expands scope of Senate ■ The Student Union has

●

JENNY CHENG/the Justice

CHALLENGING IDEOLOGIES: Ilya Feoktistov, the producer of ‘The J Street Challenge’ speaks with students on Wednesday night.

Film contests J Street ideas ■ Zevvy Goldish ’15

invited the producer of ‘The J Street Challenge’ to campus for a discussion.

By HANNAH WULKAN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

On Wednesday night in the Wasserman Cinematheque, there was a screening of the recently-released film The J Street Challenge, which criticized the organization J Street, a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization as identified on their website, for being too liberal and trying to persuade the United States government to intervene in Israel. The viewing was followed by a question-and-answer session with the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, Noah Pollak, who was interviewed in the film. The Emergency Committee for Israel is “committed to mounting an active defense of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” according to its website.

Zevvy Goldish ’15 brought this film to Brandeis for a screening because he thought it was important for people to see. He wrote in an email to the Justice that he reached out to the producers of the film, and they funded the screening on campus.

“I think people need to know what

kind of organizations they are getting involved in, and a film like this really exposes what the organization is about,” Goldish said in an interview with the Justice, when asked about his reasons for wanting to screen the film. The event was not sponsored by any group on campus.

The film opens by questioning whether J Street is truly a pro-Israel group, and throughout tries to undermine that message by interviewing experts and students and by showing clips of J Street’s leaders making contradictory statements.

After the film had finished, the producer, co-writer and co-director, Ilya Feoktistov, briefly addressed the audience of about 30 people.

“All we want is an open debate and an open dialogue,” he said. However, no members from J Street were present to propose and offer their views in the discussion.

Then Pollak held an open question-and-answer section. “There’s just something not so honest or forthright about what they are up to,” he said. “The real purpose [of J Street] is going after the right, and having some means of a moral high ground while they are going after the right.”

Pollak was critical of a two-state solution in his discussion and later said in an interview with the Justice that “[t]his is a problem for which

there is no solution right now.”

J Street U Brandeis was not in attendance at the event, but Catie Stewart ’16 wrote in an email to the Justice that J Street’s regularly scheduled meeting was at the same time as the screening. “Instead of attending the screening of what is clearly a smear film in a space that would not be conducive to productive dialogue, we decided to move forward with our regularly scheduled meeting,” she wrote.

When asked why he believed it was important for people to view the film, Goldish said that people need to learn more about the purposes of their organizations and that this film offered an unheard point of view on a hot-button subject.

“There’s an unspoken division; we’re afraid to talk to each other…

I’m hoping that this film will encourage people to stand up for what they believe and show that we do stand up for what we believe, we’re here to hold each other responsible,” Goldish later stated in an interview with the Justice.

Stewart said she also believes it is important to have a dialogue between those with different viewpoints but wrote that “screening a film that is openly hostile towards J Street does not promote ‘open dialogue’ with J Street U students.”

PANEL

Students host discussion on Al-Quds ■ Three faculty members

spoke about the University’s academic partnership with Al-Quds University.

By Kathryn brody and rachel hughes JUSTICE Editorial assistant and editor

Three Brandeis professors who visited Al-Quds University after the Nov. 5 demonstration added to the attention given to the suspended relationship between Brandeis University and AlQuds over the past few months, updating the community about the relationship between the two institutions in a panel discussion last night. Profs.

Daniel Kryder (POL), Susan Lanser (ENG) and Daniel Terris, the director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, recounted the history of the partnership and told the audience of students, faculty and community members that they had gone on an additional trip to Al-Quds in January.

J Street U Brandeis hosted the discussion, titled “The Al-Quds Question: a Panel Discussion About Brandeis’ Relationship with Al-Quds University,” which was moderated by Viktoria Bedo ’15.

As the three faculty members at the forefront of the Al-Quds-Brandeis partnership, Kryder, Lanser and Terris compiled a report in November 2013 about the universities’ relationship.

The panel discussion touched largely on topics that were outlined in this report, and gave attendees a chance to ask questions about items on the report that they wanted to know more about.

Lanser began the discussion, giving a history of Al-Quds and then a recounting of the Nov. 5 rally at Al-Quds

by Terris. Demonstrators at the rally, Terris recounted, wore black militarystyle masks, carried faux weapons and performed a fascist salute with the raising of their arms. The demonstrators reportedly stomped on a chalk drawing of the Israeli flag. The next day, on Nov. 6, the Al-Quds administration released a statement in English, calling the rally “not acceptable on our campus.” Then, on Nov. 18, University President Frederick Lawrence called for a halting of the partnership between the two institutions.

Kryder, Lanser and Terris originally visited Al-Quds at the end of November, for a trip that was planned before the rally occurred. That trip allowed the three to speak with Al-Quds administrators about the rally and gather information necessary for them to compile an initial report. Their most recent trip to Al-Quds, which they made in January, however, was planned to gather information for Brandeis’ administration to use as it considers how to proceed with Al-Quds. It was also designed to maintain an active and continued conversation with Al-Quds faculty.

When asked what Brandeis will gain from the partnership, the panel-

ists affirmed that it directly impacts students, and that, moving forward, it will extend the “University’s broader values” toward a “stronger society and stronger world.”

Noam Cohen ’16 asked if, in the professors’ opinions, it would be “ethical for us to resume the partnership with Al-Quds if they do not understand why we were hurt by what happened.”

Lanser started her response by noting that stories have multiple perspectives. Lanser went on to say that AlQuds, by denouncing the incident and beginning an immediate investigation into who was involved in the rally, acted as Brandeis would have to “condemn intolerance [and hatred].” She reasoned that if Brandeis had acted in the same way, which she believes it would have, that “we might be hurt.”

Terris went on to say that he and his colleagues did discuss why Brandeis was hurt by the rally and that the faculty and students at Al-Quds have participated in discussions about what happened and why Brandeis responded the way they did.

Kryder, Lanser and Terris also noted the cultural and practical differences between Brandeis and Al-Quds in regard to how information is disseminated on campus. These differences were a reason why official statements, such as on the Al-Quds website, were delayed.

The professors also suggested that students who feel passionately about the issue speak to the decision makers on campus and advocate for the reinstatement of the relationship.

Contact Morgan Brill and Josh Horowitz at

photos@thejustice.org

Contact Schuyler Brass at ads@thejustice.org for more information

THE JUSTICE

library & technology services

Library will forgive late fees for overdue books ■ The library has initiated a

plan to decrease its number of missing books before revamping its collection.

By SARAH RONTAL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Starting last Saturday, and lasting until April 15, the University’s library will be accepting overdue materials without fines, save for short-term course reserve materials and short-term equipment loans.

The initiative was proposed “five or six months ago” by the library administration as a method to decrease the number of missing books before the library initiates a plan to change its collection, according to Goldfarb Library Associate Director for Public Services Patricia Flanagan in an interview with the Justice.

With more books accounted for, the library will be able to better determine shelving accommodations, said Flanagan. She added that the current number of missing books is no higher than usual, numbering at around 1,000. According to

Flanagan, the whole collection includes about 1.2 million books.

Eventually, missing books are taken off of catalog records so as to remove “dead ends” from the catalog search. Once returned, the library will recreate records of the books.

The initiative is intended to be both a goodwill gesture to the community and a chance to get lost books back, according to Flanagan.

Flanagan said that popular books are often the more valuable items in the collection.

“If it’s gone missing that might be a good indication that it is useful information, and therefore we would want it back.”

The University library has never attempted such an initiative before.

Both Flanagan and Vice Provost, University Librarian and Chief Information Officer John Unsworth noted that many university and public libraries have implemented similar programs.

“It’s more important to retrieve missing materials than to collect fines,” wrote Unsworth in an email to the Justice.

Flanagan expressed little concern about the loss of funds from fines that would ordinarily be collected. “The point of having library

fines isn’t to make money, it’s to encourage books to come back so that people can have access to them again,” she said.

Furthermore, fines go into “general university streams” and only come back to the library through what Flanagan described as “some kind of a budgetary addition,” through which the library may replace books.

The library has plans to shift around its collection during this semester and after final examinations, according to Flanagan.

Current plans are to move materials from Goldfarb floor two to floor one to fix sequencing of call numbers and to move some materials from the Gerstenzang Science Library to the main library to “permit easier access to them,” according to Flanagan. Most of the materials will be moved after final examinations, she said.

Flanagan said that the initiative is purposefully scheduled in advance of end-of-semester returns, which often number around 20,000.

If enough materials come back with the initiative the library will be able to shelve the returned items before end-of-semester returns arrive, according to Flanagan.

FACULTY

Levisohn assumes new post ■ Prof. Sharon Feiman-

Nemser (NEJS) will step down as director of the Mandel Center after 12 years.

By ZACHARY REID JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

The University recently announced that Prof. Jon Levisohn (NEJS) will be assuming the role of director of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education in early July.

Levisohn will be replacing Prof.

Sharon Feiman-Nemser (NEJS), who is stepping down after leading the center for 12 years.

Levisohn is a member of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, and is currently the Associate academic director for the center. His main areas of academic focus are the philosophy of education and the philosophy of Jewish education.

In an interview with the Justice, Feiman-Nemser said that she is very enthusiastic about this new transition in leadership. “[Levisohn] has wonderful ideas, and I feel that there will be a lot of continuity in what we’ve been doing.” She further added that it “feels like time for a new face [in this role].”

When asked why she would be stepping down as director, FeimanNemser said that she feels it is time for new leadership. She also said that she believes this transition will give her “more time to do research and write, and not be so involved in administrative responsibilities.”

Levisohn said that he is eager to take on new responsibilities.

“Sharon and I have worked closely for much of my time [at the center], and I am excited for this transition,” said Levisohn.

He said that he hopes to help the center heighten Levisohn its focus on the learning aspect of the educatorlearner relationship, in addition to focusing on educators.

In addition to continuing old initiatives, Levisohn said that he wants to Nemser move forward with new initiatives for the center.

One such initiative is an undergraduate fellowship through the center that would allow students to be involved in research on Jewish education. “We know that there are a number of undergraduates … who are interested in Jewish education,” said Levisohn.

He added that the fellowship would be a “nice opportunity for [the students] to get some experience with research” and provide the center with “ongoing contact with people who are interested in coming up in this field.”

During her time at the center, Feiman-Nemser oversaw many initiatives, including the Delet Program, which offers the opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and a Massachusetts initial teaching license in 13 months, according to the program’s website. The program allows students

to choose from multiple tracks, all of which include elementary general and Judaic studies, middle and high school Bible or general studies and Hebrew.

Feiman-Nemser said that Delet is “the only program in the field of Jewish education that combines serious academic and professional studies with a year-long mentorship at a local day school.” She added that she is extremely happy with the program, as it has not only “prepared over 100 teachers over the last 12 years,” but also serves as a “model for the field [of Jewish education].”

Overall, Feiman-Nemser said that she has greatly enjoyed her tenure as director of the Mandel Center.

“I feel like we have accomplished a great deal,” she said. “The main projects I started are either coming to fruition or winding up… and I think it’s probably time for new leadership.”

This transition does not mean Feiman-Nemser intends to stop working, however. “I intend to continue to be a part of the center and contribute to the work going forward,” she said. After the transition, Feiman-Nemser will continue her work with the NEJS department and the Education program, as well as with the center.

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education was started by the Mandel Foundation, a group created by the Mandels with the mission of “helping to provide outstanding leadership for the nonprofit field,” according to the foundation’s website.

The foundation can be located in the Abraham Shapiro Academic Complex.

Write for News!

Contact Marissa Ditkowsky at news@thejustice.org

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

5

EXPLORING NEW DIMENSIONS

JENNY CHENG/the Justice

SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS: Cumrun Vafa delivered one of three Eisenbud lectures last week, all of which sought to honor Leonard Eisenbud’s 100th birthday.

Vafa delivers Eisenbud lecture on string theory ■ The lectures occur once

a year due to a donation from Leonard and Ruth-Jean Eisenbud, whose son was a Mathematics professor at the University.

By ABBY KNECHT JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The University’s Mathematics and Physics departments celebrated Leonard Eisenbud’s 100th birthday on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week with three lectures on the use of geometry in string theory. The Eisenbud lectures, which happen once a year, are a result of a donation from Leonard and RuthJean Eisenbud, whose son, David Eisenbud, was a Mathematics professor at Brandeis. The donation allows the Mathematics and Physics departments to have a leading mathematician or physicist give a lecture on topics pertaining to the boundary between the two fields.

This year’s recipient, Cumrun Vafa, the Donner Professor of Science at Harvard University, has his own connections to Brandeis. His dissertation adviser was Brandeis alumnus Edward Witten ’71.

Vafa is a leading string theorist who studies the geometry behind the tiny, vibrating “strings” that supposedly make up the universe.

The strings themselves are simply an interpretation of the abstract mathematics that surround string theory. The math behaves similarly to the vibrating strings on a violin and so physicists named the theory after them. Vafa studies the physical consequences of these strings to describe unexplained phenomena such as the entropy behind black holes, duality and quantum fields.

The first of these lectures was an introduction to Vafa’s research called “String Theory and the Magic of Extra Dimensions.” String theory is a hypothesis that tries to combine the incredibly small scale of quantum mechanics with the immense mass of Albert Einstein’s general relativity. The theory asserts that the substances that make up fundamental particles, such as quarks, or particles that make up protons and neutrons, are made up of tiny vibrating strings. One of the main hindrances of string theory is that these so called strings are approximately a nonillionth of a meter with energy of around a 10 quadrillion tetra-electron volts.

Today’s scientific equipment cannot measure anywhere near that scale; the Large Hadron Collider

in Switzerland measures particles with energy approximately 10 tetra-electron volts. That, however, has not deterred theoretical physicists exploring the consequences of string theory.

Vafa discussed how string theory was a “re-emergence of geometry” in physics after the “fuzziness” of quantum mechanics. He described how the interactions between strings are not described by a complex set of equations, but a simple geometric picture. He added that where geometry seems to fail in string theory is its requirement of 10 dimensions. The math behind string theory fails unless there are 10 dimensions whereas classical physics only uses four dimensions: length, width, height and time.

If the universe actually consists of 10 dimensions, string theorists wonder why only four are used in classical physics. Up until recently, physicists have ignored this question claiming that the extra six dimensions are “curled up” and unobservable. Vafa advocates that scientists use them to explain other puzzles in physics such as black hole entropy. “When [physicists] get something extra, we don’t throw it out,” explained Vafa as to why his research involves a particular focus on the existence of these extra dimensions.

Vafa also explained M-theory during his lecture, a recent advance in string theory that Witten suggested in 1995. M-theory, or membrane theory, is the idea that rather than the 10 dimensions previously described, there is another dimension hidden within.

It is similar to looking at the cross section of a plane and only seeing a line, but then by shifting slightly one can see the whole plane. In M-theory, the lines scientists thought of as strings become flat planes known as membranes, or “branes.” The membranes follow the same simple geometrical models that the strings do but have fixed some of the problems of string theory.

The two lectures following the one on Tuesday went into more detail of Vafa’s work on M-theory and, more specifically, the geometry of interacting membranes.

When asked why scientists do not stop at the 10 dimensional strings but continue to study Mtheory as well, Vafa replied that this is how physics progresses.

While M-theory currently answers all the puzzles given to it explained Vafa, there may be other puzzles not yet thought of that it cannot answer. As Vafa said, “that’s why [physics is] good, otherwise it would be very boring.”

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

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THE JUSTICE

REPORT: Faculty members express concern on pay CONTINUED FROM 1 ing to Traquina.

However, when the trustees compared Lawrence’s salary to the presidents at private colleges and universities within the AAU, Lawrence’s salary, as shown on the slide presented by Traquina, was said to have been at the “bottom” his first year, rising only to the 20th and 25th percentile in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The Board also calculated the aggregate senior executive compensation; $4,362,000 in 2011, $4,592,000 in 2012 and $4,885,000 in 2013.

Traquina showed that the aggregate senior executive compensation when compared to the aforementioned peer group, AAU and AAU private institutions was ranked 19th in 2011, 17th in 2012 and 20th in 2013 among the AAU privates. Against the AAU, the aggregate senior executive compensation was ranked as 54th in 2011, 57th in 2012 and 55th in 2013.

On average over the past three years, Traquina noted, the total compensation for all of the senior executives consists of 1.56 percent of University expenses.

Traquina also showed the breakdown of two members of the executive staff, Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship and Chief Investment Officer Nicholas Warren. Winship’s base compensation and benefits were at a total of $428,485 for 2012, while Warren’s was a total of $565,000 in 2012.

All members of the board voted in approval and the faculty and student representatives approved the presidential compensation, Traquina said.

When Traquina opened the floor for questions, Prof. Lawrence Bailis (Heller) noted that the numbers suggest that the gaps between executives and faculty “is not just a Brandeis issue,” but a national issue. Bailis then suggested that Brandeis should “play an extraordinary role ... rather than slipping into the norms” of paying University senior staff and executives significantly more than faculty.

Prof. Steven Burg (POL) said that “given the obscenity of compensation nationally in AAU universities,” he didn’t see a problem with being in the respective percentiles. Burg then went on to note that the presentation did not

touch upon any sort of evaluation by performance and wanted to see “some articulation” of how the executive staff members are judged.

Traquina responded that Lawrence is held accountable for “fundraising [and] the quality of his team,” among other responsibilities.

In its calculations, the Board found that Brandeis employed half as many staff members as the peer group average, a third less than the AAU average and a little over a third as many employed by schools in the AAU privates average. Traquina also said that the faculty to student ratio has slipped from one to eight to what it is presently: one to 10.

Prof. John Plotz (ENG) asked Traquina if the University had considered looking at the “ratios between the lowest decile earners and the highest decile earners.”

Traquina said that the board did not look at the lowest decile to highest decile ratio because the University “would never get a president here” if the presidential compensation was “handcuffed” to the lowest paid staff member.

ADJUNCTS: Unions a palpable solution

CONTINUED FROM 1

our full-time faculty members,” according to Scichilone.

All half-time faculty are also eligible to participate in the University’s flexible medical and dependent care reimbursement accounts, the group life insurance plan, 403(b) retirement plan, the Employee Assistance Plan, and discounted auto and homeowners insurance, among other benefits.

Despite the availability of benefits for part-time faculty members, the anonymous lecturer said many adjuncts and individuals who get paid per-course can only teach one or two classes per semester, depending upon time constraints. This individual said that he or she only teaches an average of two courses per semester, and that grading papers, responding to emails, answering student questions and other responsibilities are not accounted for in the pay per course. “I’m always here in my office around 8:30 in the morning. I leave around 1:30 after I teach, I send some emails out, but then I go back, at night I spend from 6 to 9 [p.m.] again behind the computer, so I think I work a full-time job,” the lecturer said in an interview with the Justice.

In addition, the lecturer must work additional jobs apart from his or her employment at the University.

“There’s no way you could make ends meet on $6,000 a course per semester.

That’s $12,000 a year, way below poverty,” the lecturer said. The lecturer said he or she knows of other colleagues who also work other jobs outside of the University. The lecturer added that students should also be fighting for appropriate pay and benefits for adjuncts because adjunct pay could affect the quality of education for this reason.

One reason adjuncts may begin working at a University is the hope that they would eventually be able to land a tenure-track position, said the lecturer.

Adjuncts such as Prof. Peter Gould (PAX), who co-teaches “Inner Peace/ Outer Peace,” continue to return to the University as adjuncts despite the lack of benefits—he only teaches one course that meets for three hours per week— and low pay. Gould has been an adjunct professor at the University since 2009, and shares half of $7,000 to teach this course with an “equal co-teacher,” he wrote in an email to the Justice. The course generally attracts 35 to 40 students, according to Gould.

“It is not a financially wise arrangement, but I am willing to do it because I am very good at what I do, I take pride in the work, I get great response from students, and I love the work, the students, the material, and the stimulation,” Gould wrote in an email to the Justice. “The [U]niversity knows all this, so that puts me in a weak position, since, they know I will likely continue, although I am underpaid, and they also know that there are probably lots of people out there, more desperate than I

am, who would love to step into my job if they had the opportunity.”

Gould wrote that he receives no University benefits. In fact, according to Gould, “the benefits are minus.” Gould wrote that he has to pay all his travel expenses to work to Brandeis, with his “long trek” from Vermont.

Gould acknowledged that the need for adjuncts does exist, but he said adjuncts should receive more pay. “If [the University has] these very believable reasons why they hire adjuncts, they should bend over backwards in showing their appreciation by paying these specialists a reasonable reward for their work,” Gould wrote.

The anonymous lecturer added that many universities hire adjuncts because there is no required long-term commitment. The lecturer said that those who maintain a certain number of students in their classes might be able to teach that course again, but that those who do not have no job security.

The lecturer’s contract is on an annual basis.

Differences in standing

According to de Graffenreid, there is a distinction between contract status and rank. Contract status would define whether or not an individual is, in fact, an adjunct. Rank would determine whether or not the individual is an instructor, senior instructor, lecturer, senior lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor or professor.

De Graffenreid defined a lecturer as a “rank.” Although the anonymous lecturer has an annual contract, de Graffenreid wrote that there are longterm, or five-year, contracts for lecturers, as well.

In regard to the claim that the anonymous lecturer was paid per course like an adjunct, de Graffenreid wrote that her “understanding is that per course vs. salary depends upon their individual contract.”

According de Graffenreid, there are 202 tenured faculty members, 59 faculty members on the tenure track, 103 long-term and full-time faculty members and 46 adjuncts.

Adjuncts that fit the part-time criteria comprise 11 percent of instructional faculty, according to de Graffenreid.

Comparing salaries

According to the 2013 American Association of University Professors Faculty Salary Survey on the Chronicle of Higher Education website, full professors at Brandeis make $131,400 per year on average, while associate professors make $93,400. Assistant professors make an average of $83,400 and instructors make $59,000 per year. According to these figures and the Chronicle of Higher Education, Brandeis has the 14th highest paid faculty in Massachusetts.

By comparison, adjuncts typically make $6,000 per course. If “a person were able to piece together four courses at different schools—which itself

is hard to line up, that person, with a doctorate and the resulting high student debt, would be earning $24,000 per year, without benefits,” Brooten wrote in an email to the Justice. The $24,000 per year figure assumes the adjunct only teaches four courses in one year, or two courses per semester.

The SEIU, a union that is currently working with adjuncts to unionize, published a report through Adjunct Action titled “The High Cost of Adjunct Living: Boston.” The report states that the average annual pay in 2013 for a tenured professor at a private research university in the United States was $167,118, while the average pay per course reported by adjunct faculty was $3,000. According to the report, by 2009, nationally, tenure and tenure-track positions had declined to about 33.5 percent of faculty positions, leaving 66.5 percent of faculty ineligible for tenure.

Unionizing efforts

Efforts have recently taken off for adjuncts to unionize at universities in the Boston area, including a successful vote last month to unionize at Lesley University.

Adjunct Action through SEIU “is a campaign that unites adjunct professors at campuses across the country to address the crisis in higher education and the troubling trend toward a marginalized teaching faculty that endangers our profession,” according to its website.

According to a Feb. 24 post to the website, the Lesley University adjuncts voted to join SEIU. The post states that 84 percent of adjuncts across the four campuses were in favor of unionizing.

Tufts University adjuncts voted to join SEIU last September, and are currently bargaining their first contract, according to the website.

“Quickly rising tuition has resulted in record levels of student debt, putting higher education out of reach for more and more working families,” the SEIU website reads. “At the same time, … being a university professor, once the quintessential middle-class job, has become a low-wage one.”

Andrew Nguyen ’15, one of the student leaders involved in the Brandeis Fair Pay Coalition, said in an interview with the Justice that the group had been working to meet with an SEIU leader who had helped to organize adjuncts into unions at other colleges in the area. According to Nguyen in the interview, the coalition had not met with many adjunct faculty members, although some were invited to attend the meeting. Nguyen did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the results of the meeting by press time.

“I have not heard about a union, more than in some news stories, but I would be happy to join in an organization working for the general benefit of adjunct teachers at Brandeis and throughout the world of education in the US,” wrote Gould of the possibility of unionizing adjuncts at Brandeis.

SUCCESS IN SIGHT

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

Professor Richard Masland of Harvard University discussed the neuronal organization of the retina upon receiving the Jay Pepose ’75 Award in Vision Sciences.

GREEK: Reactions to initiative mixed CONTINUED FROM 1 of Delta Phi Epsilon, and Carolyn Williams ’15, president of Kappa Beta Gamma, also stated in separate emails to the Justice that while they had limited knowledge of ongoing conversations, Flagel was leading the initiative.

Flagel, however, regarded this as “a big misperception.”

“There’s no initiative that I’ve launched or started, other than talking with many Greek representatives ... in response to their inquiries about how that might work,” he said regarding recognition of Greek organizations at Brandeis.

Flagel would not name any of the individuals with whom he had spoken on the matter, which he said included multiple students and alumni, but did say that he had met with the presidents of two fraternities on campus: Zeta Beta Tau and Phi Kappa Psi. “Both have raised concerns about whether or not recognition would be in their interests, and we’ve had conversations about it,” said Flagel.

Oren Saskin ’16, the current president of ZBT, wrote in an email to the Justice that he “will not be able to answer any questions on the matter.”

Joseph Botsch ’15, the current president of Phi Kappa Psi, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“There’s nothing that this administration is doing to seek Greek recognition,” Flagel said when asked about these meetings with Greek leaders.

“We have not in any way initiated any activity, although I’m perfectly willing to meet with any groups about what it might involve to support the University and come into alignment with our organizational values.”

Flagel was himself a member of Phi Sigma Kappa as an undergraduate at George Washington University and served as an adviser to a fraternity and a sorority for about 10 years while he was a dean at George Mason University, prior to his arrival at Brandeis.

Flagel remained ambivalent when asked whether he would like to see recognition of Greek life at Brandeis.

“As I’ve said, there’s elements of the best of Greek life, when I see philanthropy, when I see commitment to one another, when I see them participating in school spirit in various events across campus, that really make me believe in how ... that could be a powerful, positive addition to the University,” Flagel responded.

“I’m also very well aware of the negative sides of Greek life. So I’d only want to see that happen if we could do it in a way that was distinctly Brandeis,” he added.

Feldan said that, among the fraternity and sorority presidents, there are a range of views on whether or not Greek life should be recognized at Brandeis. However, he said that the range is “very much skewed” to

the negative side. “And I’ve spoken to them all individually,” added Feldan.

“This is not a hunch.”

Flagel said that he has heard from the presidents of some of the Greek organizations at Brandeis, and that he agrees with Feldan’s perception of general opposition.

“I think the fear of these organizations is once recognition is in place at the University, if you’re not recognized you lose your charter from national,” said Flagel, referring to the national umbrella organizations of each individual fraternity and sorority.

Robinow, of AEPi, also mentioned the national factor in each organization’s calculation, but said that ultimately, he supported recognition.

“Personally, for my group of guys ...

I think it would benefit us,” said Robinow. “I trust the administration to be able to handle it well. I don’t think it would get out of hand.

“I understand a lot of concerns from students that it would change the culture on campus. But I think if the administration and the people that run the Greek life organizations do it together, on both of their terms. ... I think if they do it well, it can work.

And I think it can be a positive thing for the Brandeis campus.”

The University formed its official stance on Greek life in 1988 when the Board of Trustees resolved that “social fraternities and sororities, in particular, are neither recognized nor permitted to hold activities on campus or use University facilities” due to their exclusionary and secretive nature.

Robinow and Feldan both questioned the effect a non exclusivity policy would have if applied to Greek life.

“I think that for the university to consider recognizing Greek life, there would need to be some sort of nonexclusivity principle, which would, I think ... destroy the integrity of the organizations,” said Feldan.

According to Robinow, a non-exclusivity agreement would present a unique problem for his organization, as the Brandeis chapter of AEPi actively decided to maintain its entirely Jewish membership with this semester’s pledge class, in keeping with a national AEPi initiative.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place if the University requires us to allow everyone that goes into the program, but our nationals says, ‘Oh, you can’t have 70 percent of the people in the organization be not Jewish.’

That’s a problem,” said Robinow.

However, Flagel took a different stance. “Is being exclusionary necessary in order to sustain a strong organization?” Flagel asked. “I would argue that it’s not.”

Zachary Romano ’15, president of Alpha Delta Phi, Alicia Ball ’15, president of Sigma Delta Tau and Ben Davis ’16, president of Sigma Alpha Mu, did not respond by press time.

just

features

Inconsistent kosher criteria

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, march 18, 2014

VERBATIM | LEMONY SNICKET Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 1969, the U.S. Congress repealed the requirement for gold reserve to back U.S. currency.

Google rents goats to mow the lawn of their Mountain View, Calif. headquarters.

PARTIALLY PROHIBITED: Pork and shellfish are currently banned from being served at Usdan, but the regulation does not apply to outside vendors such as Dunkin’ Donuts.

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

Nonkosher food items once again prohibited from dining halls

By PHIL GALlAGHER JUSTICE EDITOR

Brandeis University students have been able to purchase pork and shellfish products from Usdan Student Center over the past several years.

This year, however, students were surprised to learn that pork and shellfish had been removed from the menu, only being served on campus by vendors and food trucks. Since 1987, the University has shifted back and forth between serving and not serving pork and shellfish on campus with a highly variable degree of student input. Consumption of pork and shellfish are expressly forbidden

by Jewish dietary law, although the University defines itself as a Jewishsponsored nonsectarian institution on its website. Prof. Marc Brettler ’78, Ph.D. ’86 (NEJS) provided an alternative definition in an email to the Justice. “I prefer ‘nonsectarian Jewish-founded’ to ‘sponsored.’ In fact, we now receive significant support from outside of the Jewish community,” he wrote.

Senior Vice President for Communication Ellen de Graffenreid told the Justice that the University has had a “longstanding policy” that prohibited the sale of pork and shellfish in University dining halls. However, on Jan. 21, the Justice reported students lamenting the disappearance of pork and shellfish this year from Usdan when they recalled it being served just last academic year.

This is not the first time that pork and shellfish have allegedly disappeared from campus dining halls.

In fact, the University’s policy has been changed or forgotten a couple of times since 1987, when pork and shellfish were first introduced to campus.

Handler and Ad Hoc Committee Back in 1987, a small committee of the Board of Trustees chaired by Gustav Ranis ’52, known as the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Academic and Financial Implications of the Strategic Plan, had written its “Final Report” in 1987 to provide feedback on the strategic plan submitted by then-President Evelyn Handler, who died in 2011. At the time, Brandeis was facing declining academic standards for admission,

likely in part because of “an increasingly liberal admissions policy with respect to Jewish applicants in other quality schools,” according to the report. Additionally, the report takes note that “[m]ost potential applicants today, including a majority of the affirmatively Jewish, ... would strongly prefer a student body which is more diversified.”

In order to appeal to a more diverse, and ideally higher-quality, applicant pool, the report recommended “consultation with relevant student groups” to establish an international kitchen facility that would “better serve Asian and other ethnic and religious groups’ preferential tastes.”

“Our current offerings clearly represent a deterrent to able East Asian and South-east Asian applicants, to cite but one example,” the report reads. Noting the complexities of explicitly catering cuisine to other ethnic groups, the report estimates that “if these changes are implemented carefully and sensitively, they should not present a problem” to Brandeis’ relations with the American Jewish community. The report contains no explicit mention of serving pork or shellfish as a part of this International Kitchen facility. Ranis, the primary author of the report, died in 2013.

A Sept. 3, 1987 article in the Justice reported on the arrival of pork and shellfish in Usdan Café and Boulevard. Pork and shellfish had previously been unavailable at Brandeis but, that year, were being included as part of the regular menu, the article explains.

Scott Williamson, then-associate director of food services, said in the article that the new cuisine was meant to “[accommodate] the palates of international students.” The article also identified the wide range of reactions among the student body. Some kosher students were quoted in the article as expressing “dismay” at the new food, while “many were not offended or particularly concerned.”

Rabbi Albert Axelrad, the thenJewish chaplain, was quoted saying that “if some Brandeisians want shellfish and pig products, that deserves to be satisfied.” Axelrad, however, also said he opposed serving

pork and shellfish in Sherman Dining Hall, the location of the kosher facility.

Rod Crafts, the dean of student affairs at the University from 1984 to 2000, wrote in an email last month to the Justice that the introduction of pork dishes was well-received and the result of an appeal from AsianAmerican students. “Students of all backgrounds were positive about the introduction of pork dishes in Usdan. They understood that this was in response to a direct request from Asian-American students,” he wrote. John Hose, who at the time served as executive assistant to Handler, was unable to confirm that such a request occurred, in an interview with the Justice. He did, however, recall a variety of reactions to pork among students, ranging from praise to displeasure. According to the minutes of a Dec. 3, 1987 meeting of the University Board of Trustees from the University Archives, the Student Senate was in support of the new policy to serve pork and shellfish.

Hose also noted a strong response from individuals off campus regarding the serving of pork and shellfish.

“There were about 175 letters that were received,” recalled Hose. “They were virtually equally divided between for and against. Virtually all of the people who wrote—and this is with the exception of two—were Jewish. Many alums but not all alums.”

Furthermore, the same minutes from the Dec. 3, 1987 Board of Trustees meeting indicated that the University did not suffer financially from the new policy. “The issue has consumed a great deal of staff time answering the letters that have been received, yet an analysis of the letterwriters’ giving records reveals that the letters are not coming from substantial donors,” the minutes state.

Paul Levenson ’52, one of the authors of the Ranis Report and a trustee emeritus of the University, said in an interview with the Justice that he felt Handler was inappropriately criticized.

“When I first heard about the uproar that was being focused on Dr. Handler, my immediate reaction was, ‘Wait a minute. She did not originate this idea. It was handed to her.’ And that was what I thought was extremely unfair,” he said.

7

Altman and the Policy Change At the conclusion of the 1989 to 1990 academic year, Handler announced her intention to step down from the University presidency at the end of the following academic year, according to a June 22, 1990 article in the Justice.

In September 1990, the University announced that Prof. Stuart Altman (Heller) would serve as the interim president for the academic year, taking over for Handler. The Justice reported in a Sept. 11, 1990 article that Handler would leave campus on Oct. 1 to take a sabbatical for the remainder of the academic year until her term as president concluded.

Altman said in an interview with

the Justice that he ended the policy of serving pork and shellfish on campus during his tenure as interim president because it became “a much bigger issue than the reality,” he said, in that pork and shellfish was only available in Usdan; it was not being served in all dining halls across campus. Altman explained that the decision was not a big affair.

“We just quietly ended the policy and it stopped.” Altman also recalled the decision being made by a consensus of “leading administrators.” “We didn’t go to the Board. We didn’t get a vote. I remember there was no major issue,” he said.

See KOSHER, 9 ☛

JOSEPH TROTZ/Justice File Photo

PORK REAPPEARS: Pork and shellfish were introduced to the dining menu for the first time 26 years ago, as explained in a 1987 Justice article (photo above).

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THE JUSTICE

SCHOLASTIC CENTER: The city of Jerusalem is home to Hebrew University, where Gendelman is currently enrolled and where Ayoun stayed during her winter break visit.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Inspired abroad studies The first recipients of a new Israel grant reflect on travels By jAIME KAISER AND rOSE GITTELL JUSTICE EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

As a junior, Frances Taylor Eizenstat ’65 studied abroad in Jerusalem, where she cultivated an intimate relationship with Israel.

She would go on to become an advocate for low-income families and children. Her accomplishments include chairing several Jewish foundations and charitable organizations. After her death in 2013, her husband, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat created The Frances Taylor Eizenstat Israel Travel Grant Program through the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies to help students cultivate the same kind of lifelong relationships with Israel as Eizenstat did.

The first two recipients of the grant, Mirit Gendelman ’15 and Kochava Ayoun ’14, used the $2500 grant for drastically different kinds of abroad learning.

Gendelman views her time studying abroad in Israel as directly following in Eizenstat’s footsteps. “It’s amazing to feel that I’m doing exactly what she did. I’m going to Hebrew University, exactly where she studied. She proposed this grant, and it’s great to see the Brandeis-Israel relationship develop because of it.”

Hebrew University is one of Israel’s largest academic centers located in the heart of Jerusalem, an international hub for culture, religion and business.

Gendelman is completing a double major in Business and International and Global Studies, and during her time in Israel she is taking an intensive Hebrew language immersion course called Ulpan, a public policy class, an entrepreneurship class and a class about negotiating peace in the Middle East.

She is taking classes at the university’s business school, as well as the Rothberg International School.

Gendelman stressed the uniqueness of studying at an international school that acts as an intersection between a multitude of cultures and nationalities, while also retaining a distinctly “Israeli” feel. “I’m taking classes with Israelis, as opposed to just Americans. I love being with Israelis in the classroom, and not just inside an international student bubble,” she said.

Although Gendelman herself is following in Eizenstat’s footsteps, the grant design encourages students from a variety of fields to travel to Israel and pursue their individual interests and goals. “This grant is very flexible —if you want to work, if you want to apply for an internship, if you want to go to school—anything you want to do in Israel this grant can be applied towards [it],” Gendelman said.

Gendelman beleives she received the grant because of her significant involvement on campus in clubs related to Israel, as well as an internship at a consulting firm in Tel Aviv that she had secured before submitting her application. The grant has not only furthered Gendelman’s academic goals but has inspired her future career. “I now am interested in coming to Israel for business school after Brandeis, and returning to work in the high-tech world in Israel,” said Gendelman.

The grant certainly lived up to its potential for diverse applications with the first round of recipients. Ayoun chose to use the grant toward a three-week trip to Israel this winter break in order to conduct research for her senior thesis which is about international treaties as they relate to women and children. Her thesis will be published through the International and Global Studies program, which incorporates elements of Anthropology and Sociology as well as Psychology, her second major.

“I chose to write about international treaties with women and children because, for me at least, it’s the most striking example of where they can go wrong and all the limitations,” Ayoun said. Her paper focuses on the Hague Adoption Convention, an international convention meant to address issues of child trafficking and international adoption.

For Ayoun, Israel was an ideal case study through which to examine this area of international law. “Israel is a mix of secular and religious law, the religious courts and the civil courts. The issues that arise from Israel trying to adhere to the [Hague] convention shed light on the inherent issues of the convention.”

Much like Gendelman, Ayoun was also surprised by how accommodating the Schusterman Center was, indicating that “There really weren’t any strings attached, which I was really surprised about. It’s open-ended. … I think sometimes you do need more structure, but for me it worked out well.”

The grant gave Ayoun the funding she needed to attend the International Family Law with Emphasis on the Work of the Hague Conference on Private International Law from Jan. 1 to 3, 2014 in Hos Hasharon, Israel. The conference happened to be held in Israel that year, and she had only learned about it by chance, four days in advance.

“I got really lucky, that’s the only way I can explain it,” Ayoun said. The youngest attendee by at least a decade, Ayoun had the unique opportunity to have lunch at the UK ambassador’s house and hear from high profile speakers that included Israeli Supreme Court Justice Neal Hendel. The conference allowed Ayoun to make professional connections and gain access to the academic papers of those who spoke at the conference.

Following her undergraduate career, Ayoun hopes to attend law school and pursue international law.

So far, the grant seems to have been successful in deepening student’s relationships with Israel. In the case of Gendelman, the grant has succeeded in furthering her career goals in the Israeli business world.

For Ayoun, the grant was an opportunity to enrich her senior thesis through primary research. “[Eizenstat] was intimately involved in Israel, and I think it’s important for Brandeis as an institution to become more involved in Israel,” Gendelman said. “I hope students travel to Israel, I hope students take advantage of the Israel experience through this grant,” she said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIRIT GENDELMAN

IMMERSIVE LEARNING: Mirit Gendelman ’15 is using her grant money to take business and language classes at Hebrew University, furthering her international business ambitions.

THESIS RESEARCH: Kochava Ayoun ’14 put her grant toward primary research for her senior thesis about public and private international treaties.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KOCHAVA AYOUN

THE JUSTICE

Rabbi reforms policy

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID MILLER

ABLE ADVOCATE: Stephanie Kolin ’01 is using Jewish teachings she learned in rabbinical school toward social advocacy goals that include immigrant rights.

Kolin’s ’01 immigration initiative scores in the political arena

By CASEY pEARLMAN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Stephanie Kolin ’01 always knew she was interested in becoming a rabbi. However, she did not predict that her involvement in Jewish community building would lead to a career in political advocacy.

“I knew that I lived in a broken world that is incredibly unfair, but I didn’t know I was going to get the chance to work inside of a system that allows us to change those things,” Kolin said.

Kolin is a rabbi and leader of the Reform Jewish community who, upon teaming up with other social justice organizations, recently scored a victory with the passage of the Trust Act, a law that limits local law enforcement’s ability to detain peopel for dpeortation signed by California Governor Jerry Brown.

As a Sociology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies double major, she recalled two classes in particular that impacted her future. One was “The Sociology of Birth and Death;” She enjoyed the class so much she became the teaching assistant to the professor for two years after taking the class.

Taught by former professor Maury Stein, the class focused on “the connections between human beings and the imagination of our world as a web of relationships, … a vision of the world that has never left me,”

Kolin said. The class “influenced my life, my heart and most definitely my rabbinate,” she said.

Kolin was also personally affected by a Jewish liturgy class taught by Prof.

Reuven Kimelman (NEJS). The class focused on the Amidah, a prayer Kolin described as, “the central backbone of Jewish prayer.” The way Kimelman taught the class, “totally changed my relationship with prayer and affected my world view,” Kolin said.

While at Brandeis, Kolin was a major participant in the Brandeis Reform Chavurah. As vice president, Kolin was involved with a new part of the program.

“We would take the leftover food from Shabbat dinner and deliver it to a local food bank ... which became a great way to weave justice into the ritual parts of Shabbat,” she said.

After graduating from Brandeis in 2001, Kolin went on to rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, the first year of which she spent in Israel before completing her final four years in New York.

Following rabbinical school, she became the rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston. Four years later, Kolin moved to California, where she has been for the past three and a half years. She is a co-director of Just Congregations, a community-organizing

program of the Union for Reform Judaism.

Kolin is also the lead organizer of Reform California, a partnership between the Union for Reform Judaism’s Just Congregations, the Religious Action Center and the central Conference of American Rabbis Peace and Justice Committee. She described it as a “campaign of the California Reform Movement to work together, in partnership across lines of race, class and faith, on issues of social justice toward systemic change in California.”

Most recently, Reform CA has focused its efforts on the passage Trust Act, a piece of state legislation that was passed and implemented at the start of this year. It prevents the detention of people, mainly immigrants, who are not violent felons. The legislation would counteract Secure Communities, which according to Kolin, “was intended to apply only to people who have committed violent and serious crimes; but the effect has been that it is a net for anyone who comes into contact with local law enforcement.”

Kolin explained that the Trust Act protects those who could be deported under Secure Communities for lesser crimes or no crimes at all. Some of the reasons one’s fingerprints might be taken include reporting abuse, reporting a crime, having a broken taillight and selling food without a license. “Should something small like that

lead to an adult or parent being torn away from their family?” Kolin said.

Kolin said that immigration issues are deeply connected to the Jewish narrative.

“We are strangers everywhere that we’ve been. It wasn’t that many generations ago that we were strangers in this country,” Kolin said.

“For the most part, the people working in these organizations were Latino or Asian American. To bring a Jewish voice to this conversation was something different and new.”

Kolin and Reform CA have already begun the process of finding a new cause to which to devote their time. They are careful about choosing how to apply their efforts. “If we were to participate, we actually want to have an impact. We want to find that campaign where it could pass, it will be a tough fight, and if we’re in that fight, we can be a value added in that campaign,” Kolin said.

The most rewarding part of the work for Kolin is the change she observes within others. “It’s the moments where people find their voice, they find that they are not alone, and they find that if they take action as part of a community that they too can act powerfully—that changes someone’s life,” Kolin said. “I feel really grateful that my job allows me to encounter moments like that all the time.”

KOSHER: Removal of pork and shellfish speaks to 27-year dining inconsistency CONTINUED FROM 7 Prof. Emeritus Saul Touster (AMST), who served as councilor to interim president Altman, recalled people expressing concern with the introduction of pork. “I know of a lot of people who expressed their views in favor of the pre-Handler traditional cuisine,” he wrote in an email to the Justice.

Crafts, in an email to the Justice, wrote that he was aware of Altman’s decision at the time but was not consulted.

He recalled that students, particularly AsianAmericans, were upset by the decision. “This decision was viewed as antithetical to the founding principles of Brandeis (openness to all),” he wrote.

Prof. Jonathan Sarna (NEJS) recalled serving on a committee with Altman and Touster to end the policy of serving pork and shellfish, he said in an email to the Justice. Neither Altman nor Touster were able to confirm the existence of a committee, and Altman did not recall Sarna’s involvement.

In an interview with the Justice, Hose said he believed that any decision to serve or not serve pork and shellfish could have been decided without formal documentation and approval.

The 1990s and a second arrival Despite Altman’s decision to end the policy of serving pork and shellfish, the foods found their way back to campus. The timeline is unclear as to exactly when they returned. Mark Collins, senior vice president for administration who left the University in December, as explained in an interview with the Justice that pork was served in Usdan. “There was bacon and pork. It was in Usdan through last year, absolutely,” he said.

When asked when pork was first served, Collins recalled it being served throughout his tenure. “I took over dining in 1998 or in 2000— somewhere in that ballpark—and I’m not aware that we weren’t [serving pork in Usdan] as far back as that,” he said. Collins could not recall who led dining before him.

Collins clarified that neither Sherman Dining Hall, the Faculty Club nor catered events on campus served pork during his tenure per his understanding of University policy. He described Usdan as more of a “universal facility” that was used by a wide variety of students with different dietary preferences.

Prohibited Once Again However, this year, pork and shellfish were

again no longer served in Usdan. De Graffenreid has told the Justice that the University did not serve pork and shellfish in campus dining halls out of respect for the University’s Jewish heritage. Jay DeGioia, the director of campus dining services, said in a Jan. 21 article in the Justice that “during the bidding process it was clear that not allowing pork or shellfish to be served in the dining halls would be part of the new contract.”

Collins explained to the Justice that during the request for proposal process for a dining services provider, which began in Fall 2012, a University committee worked in concert with a consultant to compose the RFP and communicate with prospective vendors. De Graffenreid said she did not know which University staff members were involved with the committee.

In response to a vendor question that following February of 2013 about the possibility of serving pork in the nonkosher section of Sherman, the consultant sent a response to the vendors as part of a larger addendum to the RFP saying, according to Collins, that “no pork or shellfish is served at any location on campus.” Collins said he had no idea why the consultant sent that response.

John Storti, director of strategic procure-

ment, explained in an interview with the Justice that the policy, as he understood it, allowed for student groups and outside vendors, such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Sodexo food trucks, to serve pork and shellfish, which struck a balance between not serving pork and shellfish in dining halls but still providing it to interested students.

Storti also wrote in an email to the Justice that Usdan may not have technically been considered a dining hall because of its a la cartè style of service “with many models for various food stations.” Such a classification would have permitted Usdan to have served pork and shellfish under the current understanding of the policy. Sodexo and the University announced that Usdan Café will be renovated this summer to become an all-you-can-eat style cafeteria similar to Sherman, according to a Jan. 28 article in the Justice, which would be classified as a “dining hall.”

Storti explained in an interview with the Justice that a Currito Burritos vendor is expected to open in Usdan Boulevard as a part of dining hall renovations this summer and will serve pork. Storti emphasized in the interview that no dining plans are carved out in stone and that he welcomes student input.

10 TUESDAY, March 18, 2014 ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice

Brandeis University

Established 1949

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

Probe concerns in constitutional review The Constitutional Review Task Force, which was formed last semester to propose changes to the Student Union constitution, announced its list of suggested changes to the Union’s constitution this week. The changes include a restructuring of the current Capital Expenditures and Emergency Fund, changing the name of Finance Board to Allocations Board, appointing a senate liason to Allocations Board and giving the Senate the ability to confirm all Allocations Board decisions. While this committee commends the CRTF for its revision of the constitution, we remain skeptical of the Senate’s newly proposed power to confirm allocations made by the Allocations Board.

The CRTF proposal adds a senator to the Allocations Board, which would be the new name for the current Finance Board. The proposal also requires the Senate to approve Allocations Board’s decisions. This change is potentially troublesome because it should not be the Senate’s responsibility to double check every decision made by the Allocations Board. F-Board currently exists as an independent decision-making body. Implementing Senate oversight will add a layer of bureaucracy to an already cumbersome and arduous process.

We also call into question the qualifications of the Senate to make judgments on Allocations Board decisions. The members of F-Board are put through extensive training over the summer in order to properly carry out their position. While we understand that the single senator assigned to the Allocations Board will be required to undergo the same training as F-Board members, the Senate as a whole may not have the requisite knowledge of the finance

F-board oversight not needed decision-making process. Granting the Senate this additional power will create an imbalance among the branches of student government.

Another substantial change is the restructuring of the CapEx fund. In its current state, the CapEx fund contains $150,000 that is set aside for emergency funding, as well as capital expenditure projects. The changes proposed to CapEx would change the name to the Campus Enhancement and Emergency Fund and increase the cap of the fund to $250,000. Up to $200,000 of surplus from the Student Activities fund would be used for community improvement projects and another $50,000 in case any projects are time sensitive or the surplus is not enough.

The new structure would allow students to submit ideas once a semester on how to improve the campus, which would then be voted on by the Allocations Board. We applaud the Senate for giving students the opportunity to propose ideas to better the campus, and we hope students make effective use of this new process.

The constitutional reforms proposed by the CRTF are largely beneficial.

Particularly, eliminating unnecessary phrases from the governing document and cutting its length by half will make it more accessible to students and elected officials. This committee appreciates the process of the constitutional review as it is long overdue.

We encourage students to seriously consider all of the changes being proposed by the CRTF as they will affect the Union’s governance procedures and the financing of clubs on campus.

Learn from Hill documentary Few students on campus today were alive in October 1991; none of us were old enough to witness the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It is no surprise then that Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) may not be immediately recognizable to our generation of students. But to many, Hill is known for her outspoken and courageous testimony alleging sexual harassment by Thomas. Over 20 years later, the documentary ANITA—which premieres in select cities March 21—tells Professor Hill’s story and it reminds us of her legacy. We hope that the Brandeis community takes to heart the lessons of Hill’s experience.

Hill’s 1991 testimony before an allmale, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee sparked a national conversation on harassment in the workplace. A recent New York Times profile said that her legacy “is in creating a vocabulary for Americans to talk about sexual harassment, where none existed before.”

We are glad that Brandeis can provide a home for Hill. Her courage is the kind that should be modeled by our clubs on campus. The film, directed by Academy Award winner Freida Mock, provides an opportunity for students here to learn about Hill’s experiences.

As this board wrote last week, Univer-

Destigmatize sexual violence sity students and staff have taken valuable steps toward destigmatizing and preventing sexual harassment and violence. Those efforts come on the heels of the conversation first pioneered in 1991 by Hill.

Even with the media circus and defamatory remarks aimed at her, Hill emerged as a voice for the voiceless. In a New York Times interview, Hill said that “something positive” has come out of her testimony in 1991. That positivity can be seen in the slow but sure progress we have made in changing the conversation surrounding sexual harassment. Today there is a White House task force dedicated to protecting students from sexual assault, and here at Brandeis there is a new staff member devoted to advocating for survivors of sexual assault.

ANITA opens at the Landmark Embassy Cinema in Waltham on April 3, where Hill will participate in a question-and-answer session with the Brandeis community. We encourage students to watch the film and educate themselves on the actions of the past so that they can continue to pursue a brighter future.

TZIPORAH THOMPSON /the Justice

Views the News on

Lean In, a group that advocates for women to achieve their career goals and hold positions of power, has partnered with the Girl Scouts in a new campaign to end the use of the word “bossy.” The “Ban Bossy” campaign argues that when young girls assert themselves and are called “bossy,” it discourages them from pursuing positions of leadership, and may potentially lead to major self-confidence issues. The campaign has earned endorsements from public figures such as Beyoncé and Condoleezza Rice, but critics wonder whether banning “bossy” may lead to the word holding a more negative connotation, making it more hurtful when used. They also question whether the campaign actually addresses the underlying issues of sexism in the workplace. What do you think about the “Ban Bossy” campaign?

Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST) When my older son was in first grade, the kids used to call him “Teacher Calvin.” He was (and is) a smart kid, and he liked to tell his classmates how to improve their work. He was, in a word, bossy.

But nobody ever called him that, because his gender didn’t match the adjective. I’m bossy too: “Teacher Jane.” I set deadlines and I stick to them. I expect my students to show up on time, prepared and ready to work. Bossy means taking my job seriously. Can feminists like me find a way to reclaim “bossy”? Writing in The New Yorker, Margaret Talbot argues that we should appropriate the word, making bossy the new queer: a term of in-group pride, a label for women who embrace leadership. Bosses are bossy. And every day, more women become bosses. How about a T-shirt that says, “Yeah, I’m Bossy, Deal with It!” Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST) is chair of the History department and the Harry S. Truman Professor of American Civilization.

Zuri Gordon ’15 I’m sure “Ban Bossy” has the best of intentions but I find it to be problematic. I think Girl Scouts is a cool and radical organization that could create legitimate change for young girls, but Lean In just puts a Venus symbol over capitalism and corporations and calls it feminism, when obviously so many women do not have access to those institutions, or those institutions have failed them. So I think that the kind of feminism that Lean In promotes does more harm than good, and I don’t believe that their “Ban Bossy” campaign will be successful. I would be more interested if they pushed for reclaiming words like bossy or at the very least trying to dismantle a cultural inequality that unfairly targets girls and women for being assertive. I definitely understand how “bossy” has negative connotations but I would rather see campaigns allow girls more freedom in how they chose to define themselves rather than restricting them from words.

Zuri Gordon ’15 is president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.

Joseph Babeu ’15 Most advocates in the feminist movement know that the misogyny embedded in our popular culture runs far more deeply than challenging a single term would fix. After all, what does terminology matter if pay is still not equal across genders? However, it is not feasible to expect the entire country to jump from institutionalized sexism to equal pay overnight. Advocates must start with the lowest common denominator—those who may not understand why using “bossy” may have a negative impact on young women, or even those who agree with its use. To make any substantive progress, it is essential that these people be educated on issues of gender discrimination. Furthermore, this education does not begin with a radical push. It begins with advocates meeting people where they are and taking a first step, together. Lean In is taking this first step with “Ban Bossy”.

Joseph Babeu ’15 works for the Lemberg Children’s Center.

Christa Caggiano ’17 I love Beyoncé. She is an excellent performer and an ultra-successful businesswoman, and I think deep down, all Americans want to be just a bit like her. So, when Beyoncé joins a campaign like Ban Bossy, people pay attention. Average Americans see Beyoncé’s video campaign and then share it on Facebook or email it to their nieces. These are people who have no reason to think about feminist theory in their daily lives, who are now thinking about why there are not that many female leaders, or why they call their daughters “pretty” but not “smart.” In my opinion, this discourse is infinitely more important than actually banning the word bossy. I think this campaign is about changing the tide of our culture, forcing people to really think and talk about the role women play in leadership, and not necessarily about altering the modern lexicon. If it takes a sassy Beyoncé in a viral video to make people have those conversations, I am completely okay with that.

Christa Caggiano ’17 is a student scholarship partner at the Women’s Studies Research Center.

THE JUSTICE

READER COMMENTARY U.S. foreign policy is not altruistic In response to your article “Before deciding on Crimea intervention, consider moral premise” (March 11): We are concerned that Aaron Fried ’14’s recent article on the American foreign policy approach to Ukraine, in pursuit of isolating a moral premise, applies a standard to Putin’s geopolitical actions that is unrealistic and clouded by bias toward American objectivist dogma. We should discuss the underlying motivations of Putin’s Crimean maneuvers, but we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that the outlook of the United States, and by extension its NATO alliance, is dictated by an inflated notion of altruism to the people of Ukraine.

It was not altruism that brought us into Vietnam, it was not altruism that funded the Taliban in the ’90s, and it was not altruism that funded the Contras in Nicaragua. It is not altruism that is installing NATO missile systems in Eastern Europe pointed at Russia. The great failure of contemporary political philosophy in America is its inability to apply the realpolitik lens with which we’ve come to interpret the actions of Putin in Russia to our own leaders who are undeniably motivated by the same concern for geopolitical dominance, not lofty notions of altruism.

—Zachariah Thal ’14

Be consistent on human rights issues In response to your article “Consider the ethical issues with Texas gay marriage victory” (March 4): Despite the fact that the author’s figure of 37 percent approval of gay marriage is outdated and that the more recent figure is 59 percent, the real issue here is that you seem to have confused what is right with what is popular.

You ended your last article with the words: “Everyone has certain unalienable human rights. We as a people need to recognize that.” I’m surprised that you are so ready to proclaim the universality of human rights to criminals in jail but not lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in Texas.

If you truly believe the heart of social change is not in policy, I urge you to write a column also asking for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act and Brown v. Board of Education to see how people react to that. If you truly believe morality is subjective and nobody can morally condemn anyone else, I urge you to try applying that to your life instead of in your college newspaper and inform us how well that works.

—Noah Horwitz, University of Texas at Austin ’16 and former Justice columnist

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TUESDAY, March 18, 2014

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Ending good soldier defense is long overdue Catherine

Rosch Cynical Idealist

Imagine you are a soldier. You are sexually assaulted by one of your comrades and are able to bring the issue before a military court. The person who attacked you, though, has never committed any sort of offense before. He uses his impeccable record in his defense, as justification for why he should not be punished. And, much to your horror, it works. He gets away scot-free.

Since World War I, military tribunals and courts recognized the “good soldier defense.”

It is, or was, a commonly accepted and used defense. The somewhat oxymoronically named legal precedent allowed for soldiers to cite their lack of past discipline and military record as a defense before the court. This testimony was accepted as legitimate evidence in the same category as DNA or eyewitness testimony. Although, in theory, the “good soldier defense” could be used in any court-martial situation, overwhelmingly it was used during cases of sexual assault, as a way to both prevent the victim from getting justice and keep the attacker in good standing.

The “good soldier defense” protects highranking officers at a much higher rate than other soldiers, the very officers to whom sexual assault victims often have to report. By and large highranking officers are male, and these officers are the ones who are most likely to assault fellow soldiers in the first place.

The United States Senate voted 97-0 this week on a military funding bill that included an amendment to prohibit the “good solider defense” from being used in court-martials or legal proceedings. The bill also gives new legal protections to victims and works to end retaliation within the ranks against those who report sexual assault.

It’s momentous that the Senate, a body that has often proven itself unable to simply keep the government from shutting down, was able to pass a major overhaul of military law, and with no dissent. Clearly, if both political parties in the Senate can agree on working to get rid of the “good soldier defense,” then it must be truly abhorrent.

I am, of course, horrified that such a law was still on the books, but I cannot say I am especially

DREW SHENEMAN/MCT

surprised. Even though women can now hold any combat position in the military, America’s armed forces are still very reminiscent of a boys’ club. Leadership positions are overwhelmingly held by men. Commanders, like Sergeant Major Gene McKinney, one of the highest ranking officers to be accused of sexual assault, have used the “good soldier defense” and have been completely acquitted, even if a number of victims testified otherwise.

This repeal in the Senate is a good start, but it is not enough. Speaker John Boehner has yet to state if he will encourage the appropriate committees to have this bill go up for a vote in the House of Representatives, even though Politico and Slate, among other news outlets, have predicted that the bill will easily pass. Without a vote from the House, the bill is dead. This needs to be dealt with, and unless the House addresses this topic directly, nothing will change. House Republicans have nothing to lose and everything to gain from passing this piece of legislation. After all, the Republican Party has struggled to attract female voters, with women going for President Barack Obama over former Governor Mitt Romney by nearly 10 points in 2012, and passing a bill to help female soldiers would certainly be a boon for them.

While it is promising that the Senate has repealed the “good soldier defense,” there are other pressing bills on the issue of military sexual assault that have been overlooked. Kirsten Gillibrand, the junior senator from New York and a champion of the issue, has been working to move sexual assault cases from the chain of command

to civilian courts through a measure of reforms including having military lawyers, not unit commanders, in charge of prosecuting or denying charges. Military officials staunchly oppose this bill, the Military Justice Improvement Act, as they think it would strip officers of their authority and hurt unit cohesion by bringing civilians into military proceedings. I personally do not think there is any validity in this argument against MJIA, since officers and the military have been unable to adequately address the problem. Unfortunately, in the latest Senate vote, the bill was five votes short of the 60 needed to quorum and failed. Gillibrand said she would bring her bill up for a vote again, although it is unclear if it will pass on a second attempt.

The “good solider defense” might have been good for the troops who used it to get off without punishment, but I hope the majority of Americans would be disgusted if such a defense was allowed in civilian courts. Some leaders in the military make the argument that civilian interference hurts cohesion and prestige, but I disagree. I respect the men and women who serve to protect the United States, but I don’t necessarily respect how the military deals with its flaws.

And I certainly don’t respect an institution that allows sexual assault criminals to get away with their crimes.

If the Pentagon makes serious changes to the way it handles sexual assault, while working with Congress, the military will have prestige.

Until then, we must do everything we can to help the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Max Blumenthal and Israel Apartheid Week: no laughing matter

By PROF. HARRY MAIRSON (COSI) Special to the Justice

My respect and even affection for Glen Chesir ’15 compel me to offer a response to his essay from last week (“Focus Israel dialogue on ending violence, not blaming sides”, Mar. 10). I believe that he did not understand the significance of Max Blumenthal’s talk that began Brandeis’s Israel Apartheid Week.

That Glen began his essay, as he did his question to Max Blumenthal, by recounting a bus bombing he witnessed near Jerusalem, isn’t surprising. Personal experience is compelling. His wish for “ending violence” is surely motivated by that frightening, tragic event. But one must ask, where is the capacity and propensity for violent action?

Who has the trained military force, fighter jets, white phosphorus bombs, drones, guided missiles, nuclear weapons, elaborate counterintelligence, extensive foreign service and media influence, $3 billion annual foreign aid from our country, and the Dahiya Doctrine (massive attack on civilian infrastructure, enforcing deterrence through collective punishment)? Who has the rock and Molotov cocktail throwers, rockets without navigational guidance systems or significant payloads, suicide bombers, kids throwing tear gas canisters back in the other direction, BDS, observer status at the UN, and no status at the International Criminal Court?

How many readers would want to change sides, based not on ideology, but solely on the comparable force strength? Napoleon said that God favors the side with the heavier artillery. Zionist supporters call this, without apology, Israel’s “qualitative military edge.” The reason to have an edge is to use it.

There’s an analogous, parallel qualitative rhetorical edge at Brandeis. We have a phalanx of centers devoted to institutionally supporting Israel—including the Crown Center, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, the Steinhardt Social Research Institute—with significant endowments, access to the University seal, webpage

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and other public relations machinery, funds to put on high-visibility conferences with ideologically friendly speakers, power to frame the discussion, and so on. The goal of these centers, quoting ex-President Jehuda Reinharz, their creator, is hasbara: to address “Israel in the eyes of Americans—a call to action.” The Crown family, Mrs. Schusterman, and Mr. Steinhardt funded these institutes because they, and their institutes, support Israel as is.

So does Brandeis University, which institutionally contravenes its own Mission Statement, falsely asserting that we “cherish...independence from any doctrine or government.” Why have a Mission Statement saying what we repeatedly, intentionally don’t do?

Some relevant data points: University President Frederick Lawrence just attended the AIPAC annual meeting, has photo ops with Shin Bet directors and goes to Friends of the IDF dinners. Speaking at a 2012 Birthright Israel conference, at Brandeis, he proclaimed himself a proud Birthright parent, asking “How do we grow this?

How do we take it to the next level?” His Chief of Staff David Bunis is on the board of The David Project, which fought against the establishment of a mosque in Boston, and now devotes itself “to positively shape campus opinion on Israel.” Our ex-Board of Trustees chair, Stephen Kay, told the Faculty Senate Council during a Board meeting, in unambiguous terms: “We support Israel”—not individually, but institutionally.

Mr. Kay was hardly the first Board chair with such views and matching actions. The most renowned of Board chairs, Abraham Feinberg, arranged funding for President Harry Truman’s 1948 whistle-stop campaign, Israel’s nuclear bomb facilities in Dimona and facilitated its end-run around President John Kennedy’s efforts toward nuclear non-proliferation. Former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion called Feinberg— and the Dimona benefactors he assembled—the makdishim, the consecrators of a holy thing.

Feinberg endowed our Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life. Are his life’s actions an exemplar for the goals, underlined in the center’s title, of

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promoting ethics and justice?

John Judis’s recent book, Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict, analyzes Feinberg’s leverage; Judis calls AIPAC “a thousand Feinbergs.” When nuclear proliferation prevented Ben-Gurion’s wish for a state visit to Washington, Feinberg organized an honorary degree convocation at Brandeis (BenGurion spoke on “Science and Ethics”), and an ensuing private meeting with President Kennedy.

It’s a Brandeis tradition, with which Glen’s essay fits in well. The first words of his title (“Focus Israel dialogue”) identify his focus. It’s about Israel, not Palestinians.

In the face of that qualitative rhetorical edge, the other side of this in-name-only “dialogue” was held up, for one week, by Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine and Max Blumenthal. Aya Abdelaziz ’16, the primary undergraduate organizer of the Blumenthal event and Israel Apartheid Week, conducted herself with personal dignity, decorum and derech eretz.

She told me of a Brandeis student friend whose Palestinian great-grandparents were shot by Zionist partisans, whose grandparents were run off their land, and when the friend recounted this tragic history to an undergraduate supporter of Israel, he responded with personal vulgarity that can’t be printed here. Aya continues to endure a deluge of similar abuse for organizing Israel Apartheid Week. Her father, who flew in from Beirut to support his daughter and attend this event, works for the United Nations in the Middle East, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Max Blumenthal was prepared, precise, and unapologetic. Did Glen expect Max to fall, honorably, on his own rhetorical sword? Max wasn’t a moderator: he promoted discussion by holding up his end of it. Why would Glen write that “to pretend the speech was promoting discussion is laughable?”

Hold your derision. I think that what he really and maybe unconsciously sensed was, instead, this: that for one night at Brandeis, in one room holding around a hundred people, the prevailing

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wind was not blowing in the traditional, friendly, liberal Zionist direction. That’s no laughing matter.

Terrorism, as Glen witnessed and recounted, is a way of killing people. So are other violent, military means involving state-sponsored uniformed soldiers and weapons of destruction. Terrorism is a military strategy, not an ideology. The key issue regarding implacable political adversaries and “ending violence,” and a first principle of international relations, is comprehending what the adversaries want, and why they want it. To conflate strategy with ideology is a misleading form of propaganda.

Peace and “ending violence” are necessary, as Glen observed, but not sufficient: an oppressor can impose both, without justice. Similarly, “civility” at the University is easy when in a political environment, speech is chilled. And “blaming,” as he calls it, is an emotive description better put as “holding people responsible for what they’ve done.” Responsibility is an essential component of justice.

When we pledge allegiance to “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all,” we enunciate universal principles. The Declaration of Independence says that everyone, not just Americans, is created equal with inalienable human rights of life, liberty and happiness. Universal principles, human rights, “truths that we hold self evident,” all mean the same thing, elsewhere and for everybody, that they do here.

Ari Shavit wrote in his recent book, a panegyric paean of praise to liberal Zionism, “either reject Zionism because of Lydda [i.e., the brutal, catastrophic Nakba ethnic cleansing of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes], or accept Zionism along with Lydda.” His answer, verbatim: “I’ll stand with the damned.”

I won’t stand with the damned. Neither will Max Blumenthal or Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine. That, in large part, is what their week’s worth of events was about.

Since when does our conception of justice, “social” or otherwise, include standing with the damned, about anything?

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12

TUESDAY, March 18, 2014

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THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Protect, aid and educate imperiled children in Syria

By Jessica Goldstein JUSTICE contributing WRITER

Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a child? Remember how you never believed that your parents would suspect your secret hideouts within the clothing racks? Then, they went about their tasks, leaving you behind. They knew they could do this, and in a moment you would find them.

Your connection to your parents was—and is—not merely biological. They were your home.

Never could you imagine living an instant without your parents. Those few moments apart, believing that you would be lost forever in seemingly endless aisles, likely, struck you with fear.

Now, imagine for an instant that this loss was not merely for a few minutes, but for a lifetime. According to UNICEF,, an Nongovernmental Organization tasked with helping children, since the Syrian Civil War began three years ago, at least 8,000 children, presumably fleeing the violence, have traveled to the country’s borders without their parents.

Children are being forced to grow up much too soon.

According to the United Nations, 10,000 children have died as a direct result of the civil war.

In the past year, the number of displaced children has tripled, reaching from 920,000 to three million. 1.2 million more have become refugees. But the tragedy isn’t just in the statistics, it is in the paradigm shift in the eyes of the children affected.

No longer are there games to play and school to attend. Children take odd jobs on farms, in cafés and car repair shops, in mines, or become beggars on the street. Due to the difficult times, many young girls are being forced into premature marriages in order to provide them with protection or to give parents one less child to provide for.

Additionally, lack of resources has created a rise in cases of life-threatening malnutrition along with an inability to treat every child’s injuries.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have become more frequent in recent months as families have become unable to provide enough food for their children due to inflation and rising unemployment. The people are at risk of potentially fatal diseases due to unsanitary and crowded environments. The war has destroyed many healthcare facilities, and oftentimes, doctors and medicines are inaccessible or expensive.

However, the emotional and physical effects of the conflict are the most jarring. UNICEF cites that in areas with some of the worse violence—including Aleppo, Homs, and rural Damascus—98 percent of parents report disturbing behavioral changes in their children.

Parents speak mournfully of the loss of their children’s innocence.

Kinana, a mother of six expressed, “My children see weapons and they can label them. They know the names of each weapon, because they’ve seen so many.” UNICEF interviewed a 10-year-old named Fatima in a refugee camp in Jordan. She expressed: “Sometimes I dream. I dream I am carrying a dead man. And when I look at the children living here, I feel like they have lost their

MARISA RUBEL/the Justice

hearts.”

Other children live in a constant state of fear. Exposure to such violence can only stunt or reverse children’s social and psychological development.

Oftentimes, it seems as if those who are the adults in the world act most like stubborn children, unwilling to share their toys and good fortune.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will never consider a transition government, and the disorganized rebels are unprepared for leading a bloodied country. Syria cannot very well be run by a leader responsible for crimes against humanity, and it cannot very well be run by a group of people whose primary goal is merely to depose Assad.

Children are punished by their parents, but where is the international community to punish the perpetrators of the violence in Syria?

This question should fill our minds as we notice the politicians and the reporters who turn a blind eye to these victims’ stories. The mainstream media can only keep its attention on Syria for a limited amount of time.

Violence in Syria has continued to occur; this past Saturday marked the third anniversary of the conflict.

It is not something that simply paused as the mainstream media moved onto the new story of the day.

Something can be done to alleviate the immediate needs of those affected by the conflict. UNICEF calls for a distribution of aid in the form of funds as well as greater access to civilians on the ground by humanitarian organizations to Syria itself and the nearby countries that have been taking in Syrian refugees.

As a short-term solution, this aid package should be required to provide an education for the children who are the future of Syria through education in refugee camps. This would be similar to the work of the Darfur Dream Team, an NGO which provides education to child refugees who are currently living in Chad. War in Syria can only bring about the destruction of the fundamentally significant strides the country had taken in the realm of education. Education was a pillar of Syrian society for a generation, leading to a literacy rate of over 90 percent according to UNICEF. The international community must demand for the integration of educational opportunities within the refugee camps as a part of a po-

tential foreign aid package. Syrian children should not have to worry about their day to day survival, they should be thinking about building a successful future for their country.

Next, the international community should step up to ensure that peace talks are successful for the next round. Only once peace is established can the process of recovery begin.

This could include the help of organizations as large as the United Nations or as small as the Cambridge-based organization RefugePoint to work with the most vulnerable refugees. Recovery for children would of course include restoration to family members.

Although children will never recover from the loss of their guardians, they must find a safe place to call home, preferably with a family member. In the United States, we have the privilege of childhood, of identity. Now, it is the responsibility of the world to restore humanity. After absolving the conflict of foreign aid, we must pressure our leaders to change the equation for Syria. No one can undo what has been done in Syria.

Children in Syria will forever play hide and seek, never to find their parents. Now, they must find their way out of the store on their own.

Concern about web surveillance and N.S.A. is overblown Kahlil

Oppenheimer Unedited Justice

Last week, I heard a colleague from the Computer Science department mention that his job is to monitor the campus’ downloads and streaming (yes, this includes porn). Apparently, the Brandeis community makes some, and I quote, “exotic” choices in their Internet browsing material.

A guy next to me freaked out upon hearing this. “Isn’t that a violation of our rights, or something?”

Rights to privacy have been hotly debated since Edward Snowden revealed last June that the National Security Agency was maintaining electronic records of American citizens, without us knowing. Libertarians and liberals alike have been outraged at this infringement upon their perceived right to privacy.

I have no issue with Brandeis’ monitoring of our Internet traffic (in fact, it’s not prohibited by the Fourth Amendment because it’s a private institution), or with the NSA monitoring our phone calls.

I also have no issue with Edward Snowden—

in fact, I think his disclosure of information makes him one of the bravest, smartest and most Time Person-of-the-Year-Worthy people out there. I have no issue with keeping what the NSA is doing private or public, I only have an issue with the notion that any of what the NSA has been doing is news, or that it even matters.

We’ve all known from the start that anything we put online was fair game. Those of us who grew up around the Internet have been given fair warning by parents, teachers and anyone else with formal experience with the Internet that anything that’s put on the Internet is not private.

Remember the Patriot Act? Sure, Facebook has privacy settings, but faith in such a contract is naïve at best. Whether we like it or not, anything we put on the Internet (social media in particular) is for other people or society to see. After all, why else would we put it there?

This monitoring also does not affect us at all on a daily basis (we didn’t even know it was happening until we were told it was). Many of us have gone everyday before last June, and even past it, illegally streaming Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and Lord of the Rings movies.

The only way it would’ve affected us is if we committed an act of terror (or illicit pirating, in the case of Brandeis’ monitoring) and got unexpectedly caught in the act. It appears we’ve lost the right to break the law in private.

People will cry “Big Brother” and demand

recognition of our dystopic, apocalyptic state.

Now that the government knows our plans for this Friday night, they can more easily ruin our lives.

The sad truth is that unless one is flagrantly posting about their planned terrorist activities, no one (not even the NSA) cares about what is on their Facebook accounts, in their messages to significant others or on their blogs.

“

Regarding an intrinsic right to privacy, I believe that we have one, but not when it comes to the Internet.

In fact, there aren’t any NSA agents sifting through our messages and electronic paraphernalia at all. There are computer algorithms that will flag anything worth reading.

No human eyes will ever see any of our stuff unless it gets flagged (and it hasn’t been, if you’re reading this newspaper).

What the NSA does care about, however, is protecting us against violent, terrorist attacks.

Many liberals I talk to find protective mea-

sures like this unnecessary, stating that they encourage discrimination and infringe upon our intrinsic right to privacy.

But these people have often never been in any sort of actual danger.

They’ve accrued the belief that any protective measures are superfluous because they’ve been brought up in extremely privileged, protected places because of agencies like the NSA. How often do we have to worry about school buses with our children being blown up? How often do we have to worry that our homes will no longer be standing when we get back from school or work?

Regarding an intrinsic right to privacy, I believe we have one, but not when it comes to the Internet. If you want a private conversation, have it in person. If you want a photo or video to remain private, don’t post it on the Internet.

Anything posted on the Internet publically is a cry for attention and we should not conflate our desire for attention with a “right” for privacy.

There are serious issues in the world, and there are places where people wish they had the resources for their government to monitor Internet traffic to stop bombs from going off in the streets.

While the dissent toward the NSA comes from a good place, it’s important to remember that we’ve known it’s been happening all along, it doesn’t actually affect us, and, in effect, it doesn’t actually matter.

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march 18, 2014

13

SOFTBALL: Squad prevails against UAA opponents

BACKHAND STROKE

CONTINUED FROM 16 innings combined, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Emory freshman infielder Hannah Sendel. After Brandeis tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, Kamber stole second in the seventh inning, setting up the potential walk-off hit.

Right fielder Danielle Novotny ’16 came up with the big hit, a walk-off double down the right-field line. The double brought in pinch runner Leah Shapiro ’17 to clinch the victory.

The 19th-ranked Bears kicked off Friday’s game with two runs in the first inning. The Judges responded in force in the bottom of the inning.

Gagnon struck a home run to center field, her first of the season. Kamber, playing right field, hit a two-run, twoout home run to keep the momentum and hand Brandeis a 3-2 lead.

After the Bears tacked on six runs in the third inning, the Judges found it difficult to play catch-up, trading runs in the sixth inning.

Novotny turned in an RBI single in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 9-5, but the Judges could not get any closer than that.

Starting pitcher Nikki Cote ’15 gave up five earned runs in the game while the pair of Melissa Soleimani ’17 and Emma Krulick ’17 allowed two runs— one earned—in four innings of relief.

“Honestly, each and every player

had a critical contribution at some point throughout the week,” Johnson said. “Whether it was timely or big hits, highlight-reel type catches or plays, key baserunning read or slides, every one of our active players did something to help us be successful.”

In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, the team dropped an 8-4 loss to Rochester. First baseman Melissa Nolan ’14 had the team’s only RBI on a seventh-inning home run to right field.

Thursday’s win over Case took 10 innings, but at the end of the game, featured 31 hits between the two teams. The Judges were led by Sullivan, who went three-for-four from the plate with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Novotny had a team-high four RBIs on a third-inning grand slam.

Johnson maintained that even with the 3-5 record over the tournament, the week was nonetheless a positive one. She noted that the team beat every UAA opponent at least once except for Rochester. “[The week was] up and down and not as consistent as we would have liked,” she said.

“It was a positive week; it set the tone for the season. We need to bring our A game constantly and work on all three aspects of the game.”

The Judges will try to continue their success on Saturday in a doubleheader at Clark University.

BASEBALL: Judges drop final contest to Emory CONTINUED FROM 16

SHAYNA HERTZ/the Justice

ON THE RETURN: Carley Cooke ’15 sends a shot during the Judges’ home victory over Wellesley College on Friday afternoon.

Teams split matches on road with conference foe ■ The women defeated No. 30

Wellesley College at home on Friday in a match that required six-and-a-half hours.

By daniel kanovich JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The men’s and women’s tennis teams both traveled to the Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Park in the Bronx, N.Y. to square off against University Athletic Association rival New York University on Saturday.

The men’s team nearly came away with an upset over No. 24 NYU before falling 5-4. However, the women followed a 5-4 win at home versus No. 30 Wellesley College the previous day with an 8-1 victory over the Violets.

The men’s team came out strong against the Violets and took an early 2-1 lead after winning the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches. Brian Granoff ’17 and Michael Secular ’15 won on the No. 2 court 8-2 while Jeff Cherkin ’17 and Alec Siegel ’15 prevailed on the No. 3 court by the same margin.

Siegel noted that the team in practice emphasizes the importance of making a statement in doubles play.

“Doubles is definitely a strength of ours, and this is something we plan on improving as the season progresses,”

Siegel said. “My partner Jeff and I were firing on all cylinders in doubles.

We broke their will early on and just kept playing better and better.”

After a loss by Granoff in singles competition, Siegel and Secular pushed the men’s lead to 4-2 with victories of 6-4, 6-4 and 6-1, 7-5, respectively.

Both men earned 2-0 marks in their respective matchups on the day.

“I started my singles match very slowly, and was down big in the first set,” Siegel said. “Once all the jitters were out I started playing my game and my opponent cooled down a bit.

I had a really nice day against NYU.” The men, though, struggled to maintain their early success and went on to drop their last three matches, losing by a final tally of 5-4.

Siegel was disappointed by the loss but stated he was eager for a possible rematch with the Violets.

“This was a team we knew was primed for the taking and we came up short,” he said. “Our team is young and will grow from this loss, but this is one that will stick with us all until a potential rematch at UAA's.”

The women’s team experienced a far different outcome in their matchup against the NYU Violets. The women cruised to a 3-0 mark in doubles action and dropped just one singles match.

Four of the five singles wins came in straight sets as well. The only excep-

tion proved to be at the No. 1 where Allyson Bernstein ’14 defeated NYU sophomore Alison Wang 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

The match against NYU was a stark contrast to the day before, though, as the women took part in a marathon match against Wellesley that lasted six-and-a-half hours.

Brandeis got off to a strong start in doubles play by jumping ahead 2-1.

Carley Cooke ’15 and Simone Vandroff ’15 in the No. 1 matchup as well as Marissa Lazar ’14 and Bernstein in the No. 2 matchup secured wins before Wellesley notched an 8-6 victory in the third and final matchup of doubles.

Both teams then went back and forth in their respective singles matchups. Bernstein suffered defeat in the No. 2 matchup to Wellesley freshman Carina Chen 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, eventually ceding a 7-4 tie-breaker.

The match, then, was decided in another intense back and forth between Wellesley freshman Lina Ye and Vandroff. At the end of the day Vandroff prevailed, winning by a score of 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

The women are now 3-5 on the season and look to continue their winning streak at home against Bentley University on Friday.

Meanwhile, the men sit at 4-3 and will try to bounce back from the loss at the United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday.

out a fight though, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the ninth and loading the bases with two outs.

Fernandez, who relieved starting pitcher Brian Ing ’14, then secured the save, forcing a WashU batter to fly out to left field to end the game.

The Judges lost to Case 16-6 Tuesday, falling prey to an impressive offensive performance that included a total of 10 runs in five innings.

Though Brandeis endured mixed results throughout the week, Brenner said there were a number of positive takeaways from the trip.

“Our starting rotation looked really strong over the span of the week,”

he said.

“Our young bullpen [also] got a lot of experience over the week and we had some timely hitting.”

Brenner did admit, though, that the team has a number of areas it needs to improve on moving forward in the season. “[We need to play] a clean nineinning game [and] make sure we’re in the game the whole time, because like we saw, the game can shift at any moment,” he continued.

“If we’re in it, we know we can compete with anybody, as we saw this weekend.”

The Judges home opener versus Bridgewater State University today has been rescheduled.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

15

ATHLETE PROFILE

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS baseball TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Runs Batted In

Not including Monday’s games.

UAA Conference Overall

W L W L Pct. Case 6 2 11 3 .786 Emory 6 2 15 7 .682 WashU 4 4 5 7 .417 JUDGES 2 6 6 8 .429 Rochester 2 6 2 6 .250 Chicago 0 0 0 0 .000

UPCOMING GAMES: Tonight vs. Bridgewater State Tomorrow vs. Wentworth Friday vs. WPI

Tom McCarthy ’15 leads the team with 12 RBIs. Player RBI Tom McCarthy 12 Connor Doyle 9 Brian Ing 9 Greg Heineman 6

Strikeouts Kyle Brenner ’15 leads all pitchers with 22 strikeouts.

Player Ks Kyle Brenner 22 Elio Fernandez 10 Colin Markel 7 Liam Coughlin 5

SOFTBALL TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Runs Batted In

Not including Monday’s games.

UAA Conference

Emory WashU Case JUDGES Rochester Chicago

W 5 5 5 3 2 0

L 3 3 3 5 6 0

Overall W 25 12 10 9 5 0

L Pct. 3 .893 3 .800 6 .625 5 .643 7 .417 0 .000

UPCOMING GAMES: Saturday at Clark (DH) Sunday at Norwich (DH) Tues., Mar. 25 vs. Emerson (DH) *DH=Doubleheader

Liana Moss ’17 leads the squad with 13 RBIs. Player RBI Liana Moss 13 Danielle Novotny 13 Anya Kamber 12 Melissa Nolan 10

Strikeouts Samantha Wroblewski ’17 leads all pitchers with 25 strikeouts.

Player Ks Samantha Wroblewski 25 Emma Krulick 17 Nikki Cote 16 Melissa Soleimani 8

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 each received bids for the NCAA Championships held this weekend at Ohio State University.

TENNIS Updated season results.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

MEN’S SINGLES Michael Secular

RECORD 4-2

WOMEN’S SINGLES Emily Eska

RECORD 5-3

MEN’S DOUBLES Granoff/Secular

RECORD 6-1

WOMEN’S DOUBLES Bernstein/Lazar

RECORD 3-6

UPCOMING MEET: The women’s tennis team will host Bentley University on Friday at 3 p.m., and the men’s team will travel to the United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday at 1 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLINE MATTOS

LEADING THE WAY: Caroline Mattos ’16 (left) and teammate Emilia Dwyer ’16 (right) pose for a photo earlier this month.

Mattos looks to build upon national results ■ Caroline Mattos ’16 heads to Ohio State University for the NCAA Championships after a successful sophomore season.

By adam rabinowitz Justice EDITOR

Foilist Caroline Mattos ’16 entered the final pool of the 2014 NCAA Regionals at Wellesley College on March 9 with all of the momentum on her side.

She secured a 5-1 record in the opening round and made her way to the finals on the heels of a victory over Harvard University senior Alex Kiefer, the tournament’s eventual silver medalist.

In the finals, however, Mattos hit a wall and limped to a 2-3 start in the final pool.

“My greatest challenge has been controlling my head game,” she said. “Keeping a cool mind at all times is a crucial aspect of every sport, especially fencing.”

In that pivotal sixth match, she rose to the challenge.

“I knew that I would have to calm myself down and just focus for each touch if I wanted to start winning,” she said.

Mattos rolled off five wins in her

next six matches to earn a fourthplace finish among all women’s foilists in the tournament.

In the process she qualified for her second-straight NCAA Championships, to be held at the Ohio State University on Thursday.

For Mattos, the journey to Columbus—and fencing on the national stage—has been an unexpected one.

A native of Cumberland, R.I., Mattos initially never set her sights on the sport of fencing.

Then, her father spotted a recruitment advertisement from Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club in a local newspaper. He encouraged her to begin lessons with club coach Alex Ripa.

One decade later, the rest of her story is history.

“It was with Alex’s help, as well as the motivation I received from my other teammates at the club, which pushed me to work hard and get to the level I am at now,” Mattos said.

Two years ago, in heading a core of foilists that include Eva Ahmad ’16, Emilia Dwyer ’16 and Chaya Schapiro ’16, she seamlessly translated her skills and lessons from the club level to the collegiate stage.

Mattos contributed to two straight New England Conference Championships, earned a bid to the NCAA Championships in San Antonio in

her rookie season and has posted an impressive 67-13 record this season.

While her fencing style has mostly remained the same since her time with Ripa, Brandeis head coach Bill Shipman has imparted intangible skills to Mattos that have proven to figure prominently in her collegiate success—confidence, ambition as well as perseverance.

“Coach Shipman has been crucial in my motivation to continue to train hard, and has kept me focused on my goals,” she said.

“Coach has also taught me to be more confident with my actions.”

This is especially critical as Mattos sets her sights on her second appearance at Nationals. She noted how in her first national appearance in San Antonio last March, a lack of confidence and a concern for meeting lofty expectations resulted in a loss of focus.

However, this year, with previous national exposure, Mattos is ready to make a statement.

“Since this is my second time attending I now know what to expect,” she said. “I am going to try to stay cool and think of each touch within each bout. As long as I stay focused and fight hard I know I will do well.”

If history is any indicator, Mattos will look to take her own advice to heart this weekend at Ohio State.

BOSTON BRUINS BRIEF Bruins take down Carolina Hurricanes and Phoenix Coyotes at home to push win streak to eight games With the playoffs sitting just over a month away, the Boston Bruins have won eight straight games and are heating up at the right time. The Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Saturday afternoon and the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 on Thursday night.

The Bruins struck first against Carolina midway through the first period. Right wing Milan Lucic scored at the 15 minute, 28 second mark to give the team a 1-0 lead.

With five minutes, 53 seconds left in the second period, Bruins right wing Jarome Iginla scored the Bruins’ second goal of the game. With only 34.5 seconds left in the second period, a penalty was called against the Bruins, leaving the team shorthanded going into the third period.

Although the Bruins did not allow

a power-play goal, the Hurricanes scored just seconds after the penalty expired, cutting the lead to 3-1.

At 8:23 into the third period, Bruins right wing Reilly Smith received the team’s final penalty of the night, a two-minute minor for tripping.

The remainder of the third period resulted in several hits both for and against the Bruins. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton showed his dominance, knocking an unsuspecting Hurricanes right wing Jeff Skinner to the ice.

“I think I’m working on my game and trying to be physical and stuff, but I’m not sure there’s many big, nice hits anymore and those are pretty rare,” said Hamilton of his hit. “I think we can be pretty intimidating when all four lines are rolling, if we’re trying hard, and hitting

I think puts the other team on their heels, and … our team’s pretty good at that.”

The Bruins added third-period goals from center Chris Kelly, Iginla and defenseman Torey Krug to seal Boston’s 5-1 victory.

The Bruins edged the Coyotes on Thursday night with a final score of 2-1 due in large part to a strong performance by goaltender Tuukka Rask and active offensive involvement from their defensemen.

Rask’s workload was not particularly heavy, confronting just 23 shots, but the shots that he did face were often very difficult to fend off.

The Coyotes hit the post a few times during the home stretch of the game, just missing out on a few goals.

Defensemen Zdeno Chara opened the scoring first at the 14:06 mark in

the first period following a mistake from a Coyotes defensemen.

After intercepting a clearing attempt, Chara floated the puck over Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith’s blocker for his 16th goal of the season. The scoring continued for Boston toward the end of the period.

Iginla redirected a point shot from defenseman Johnny Boychuk with just 2:29 left in the first for his 21st goal of the season.

“Yeah, I think we’re playing well,” Iginla said. “I think there have been different types of games. I think a big part is, you know, we’ve had great goaltending all year and we had that in this [game].”

The closest Phoenix came was a single goal from left wing Lauri Korpikoski. He tipped in a shot at 8:14 into the third period. While the sec-

ond period was tightly contested, it yielded just five shots total between the two teams.

The victory was coach Claude Julien’s 300th win as the head coach of the Bruins.

Julien stated that it did not matter in particular, but nonetheless, he enjoyed the win.

“It’s great. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great,” he said. “I’m happy it’s happened here and I’m happy to have that, but at the same time ... I’d rather look forward to hopefully a lot more than just that.”

The Bruins travel to Newark for a road game against the New Jersey Devils tonight before a weekend swing through the West Coast.

—Marissa Ditkowsky and Dan Rozel

just

Sports

Page 16

RETURN TRIP Foilist Caroline Mattos ’16 will return to the NCAA Championships this weekend for the second time in as many years, p. 15.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Softball

HOME STRETCH

Judges end week in strong fashion ■ Danielle Novotny ’16 hit a

walk-off double to break an 11-11 tie and defeat Emory University on Saturday.

By Abigail Rothstein JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Last week, the women’s softball team traveled to Florida for the weeklong University Athletic Association Championships, ultimately producing a mix of wins and losses. The Judges, however, left the Sunshine State with a statement win, edging the No. 9 Emory University Eagles in a wild 12-11 walk-off victory for the first time in the history of their rivalry.

The team began the week with a 2-0 win against Washington University in St. Louis and followed that victory with 10-6 and 14-6 losses against the University of Rochester and Emory, respectively, on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday the Judges began the second half of the tournament with another 12-11 win, this time over Case Western Reserve University.

Although the team struggled in the beginning of the week, the Judges closed out their conference slate of games on Saturday afternoon in an exciting fashion.

Waltham, Mass.

The win over Emory put an end to the Eagles’ 30-game winning streak in the rivalry.

Coach Jessica Johnson attributed the team’s win to the confidence they maintained throughout the course of the game.

“I think more than anything [the team] realized that we were playing as the stronger team in the game and they went back to that,” she said.

“We were confident in the ability to score runs. After we got up to eight runs we were playing tight like a onerun game.”

The Judges got off to a fast start in the first four innings, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits.

Center fielder Amanda Genovese ’15 opened the game with a single and came around to score on a single from catcher Madison Gagnon ’16 just one batter later.

Genovese struck again in the bottom of the third with a two-run triple, extending the lead to 5-2. Second baseman Anya Kamber ’15 stretched the lead to 8-2 after doubling in a run in the fourth inning. Third baseman Madison Sullivan ’16 hit a two-run homer, her first of the season, to bring Brandeis’ run total up to 10.

The Eagles, however, fought back with nine runs in the fourth and fifth

See SOFTBALL, 13 ☛

baseball

Squad gains a pair of wins in UAA contests ■ The Judges defeated

WashU 5-3 on Thursday behind eight innings from pitcher Brian Ing ’14.

By elan kane JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The men’s baseball team closed out its week in Florida at the University Athletic Association Championships with a 4-1 loss to Emory University on Sunday. After starting the Championships with a pair of losses, the Judges went on to post a 2-4 record in their final games, sending their record to 6-8 overall and 2-6 in UAA play.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Brandeis fell to the University of Rochester by a score of 7-6 on Friday and split a doubleheader on Thursday. The Judges defeated Washington University in St. Louis 5-3 before losing 10-6 to Emory in the second game.

The men then lost to Case Western Reserve University 16-6 on Wednesday, but secured a 3-2 win against Rochester on Tuesday.

Brandeis took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game on a sacrifice fly from shortstop Dominic Schwartz ’14 that drove in first baseman Kyle Brenner ’15. Emory responded in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single from freshman shortstop Jack Karras to tie the game. The Eagles went on to score two more runs in the sixth inning and one in the seventh, holding on for the 4-1 victory.

Starting pitcher Elio Fernandez ’15 took the loss for the Judges, allowing four hits and two earned runs in five innings.

In Friday’s match against Rochester, Brandeis came close to a miraculous comeback in the ninth inning.

The Judges, trailing 7-3 in the ninth

inning, capitalized on two Rochester errors to score three unearned runs.

However, it was too little, too late as Brandeis fell 7-6 to the Yellowjackets. Although Brenner picked up the loss, he threw a complete game, throwing 82 of his 101 total pitches for strikes.

While Brenner allowed 15 hits, he explained that he was pitching for contact, entrusting that the defense would make the key plays.

“I felt like I had good control on the ball,” he said. “I was just trying to get the ball inside. I gave up a lot of hits, [but] I was trying to get a little more contact and just let the defense do their job behind me.”

Thursday’s game against Emory was more of an offensive slugfest than Sunday’s duel against the Eagles. After trailing 3-0 in the third inning, Brandeis got on the board with an RBI double by second baseman Rob Trenk ’15 to drive in Schwartz from third base.

Designated hitter Tom McCarthy ’15 launched a single past second base, but after an Emory throwing error, Trenk took advantage and crossed home plate to bring Brandeis within a run. However, Emory went on to score one run in the fourth before scoring a combined six runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Though the Judges produced a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth inning, it was not enough as Emory held on for the 10-6 win.

In the first game of the double header on Thursday, Brandeis narrowly escaped with a 5-3 victory over WashU. The Judges were locked in a 1-1 tie heading into the ninth but then added four runs on a pair of two-run singles by Trenk and left fielder Sam Miller ’16.

The Bears did not go away with-

See BASEBALL, 13 ☛

LESLIE KAMEL/Justice File Photo

SPRING IN HER STEP: Amelia Lundkvist '14 (front) leads the pack, including Kelsey Whitaker ’16, at the UAA Championships.

Runners square off at NCAA Championships ■ Amelia Lundkvist ’14,

Victoria Sanford ’14 and Kelsey Whitaker ’16 all raced in the one-mile run.

By Henry Loughlin JUSTICE Senior WRITER

For many Division III collegiate track and field athletes, qualifying for the NCAA Championships represents the ultimate achievement.

Since most events only accept between 15 and 20 competitors nationally, qualification is incredibly selective. Given the elite nature of the event, it is usually impressive for a school to have one competitor qualify to compete on the ultimate stage.

Hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University, this year’s NCAA meet saw three Brandeis competitors wearing the blue and white stripes.

Amelia Lundkvist ’14, Victoria Sanford ’14 and Kelsey Whitaker ’16 competed in the semi-finals of the women’s one-mile run, representing the first time in Brandeis history that the women’s squad sent three competitors to the same event.

And while none of the three made it to the final—which consists of the top three competitors in each semifinal plus the next four best times— they were simply thrilled to be there.

“Just to make it [to nationals] was awesome,” said Lundkvist, whose

winter season was greatly limited due to an injury.

“I thought my season was over only a few weeks ago, so to only race three times and workout four times and qualify is pretty awesome,” Lundkvistcontinued.

“I wanted to do better, obviously, but remembering how little training I've had makes me feel better and more excited for outdoor.”

As many national-caliber track competitions do, the race began at a conservative pace. In an effort to save their energy for the finishing stretch—another key characteristic of tactical races such as the mile— the trio sat in the middle of the pack, biding their time.

With two laps to go, Lundkvist— as Whitaker and Sanford trailed not far behind—surged, moving up to fourth place. However, two competitors passed her in the final stages of the race leaving her in sixth place— less than three-quarters of a second from a berth in the final.

Ultimately, Lundkvist led the Judges’ charge, placing 12th overall with a time of four minutes, 59.78 seconds. It was the second time in just over a week that she shattered the five-minute barrier, building off of a 4:59.35 second effort at the Tufts Last Chance Qualifier on March 6.

Whitaker finished just behind Lundkvist, crossing the line in 5:02.20 for 13th place.

Sanford, who received the final

bid to the championships, placed 15th in 5:02.54. In addition to recording a personal record, Sanford bettered her seed by two spots.

Having qualified as a team for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in the fall, the trio had previous experience on the national stage.

However, the experience still proved to be incredibly enjoyable.

“I felt like a pro!” joked Lundkvist.

“It was fun. The experience was really cool. We had our badges and hospitality room and baskets for our gear before the race so it was cool. I can't wait for [our outdoor season], though; I’m hungry for more!”

Despite qualifying for the season’s biggest occasion, there is little time for the Judges to rest on their laurels. The outdoor season is set to begin at the Tufts University Snowflake Classic on March 29. Given her results during the indoor season, Lundkvist—an All-American in cross-country—is aiming for more come spring.

“I'll be focusing on getting stronger, building mileage, and being able to finish [the race] better,” she said.

“I also want to focus on not only making it to nationals but being AllAmerican [as well].”

Given the experience that she gained in the NCAA Championships last weekend, there is a very real possibility that she could make her goal a reality.

JustArts Volume LXVI, Number 22

Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Waltham, Mass.

‘Becoming

Vera’

Film and lecture explore themes of identity and culture looking at a three-year-old girl >> 19

INSIDE

‘Soul of Korea’ - Korean Cultural Society of Boston brings concert to Brandeis » 23

Arts Council Council decides what to fund for the upcoming year » 19

Senior Festival Students discuss their experiences of writing their own works for the Senior Festival » 20 and 21

‘Little Cheese’ Professor collaborates with Brandeis graduates in his first children’s book » 23

18

justARTS

TUESDAY, march 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

$

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week

ON-CAMPUS EVENTS

‘The Light That Shines Inside Us’

Author Marguerite Bouvard, Woman’s Studies Research Center Scholar, will read from her eighth poetry book, The Light That Shines Inside Us. She is a “world poet” and will read about Syria, Somalia, her place of birth Trieste, Italy, borders, wars and reverence.

Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Epstein Lecture Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

The Music of Keeril Makan

Join the Music department for a colloquium with composer Keeril Makan, who is an associate professor of music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Luciano Berio Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, he has also received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Music Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Aaron Copland House, the Utah Arts Festival, the Fulbright Program and American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

His work has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, American Composers Orchestra, Harvard Musical Association and Carnegie Hall, among others.

Thursday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center, Rm. 212. This event is free and open to the public.

Miriam Esther Goldman ’14 Original screenplay nominated for festival JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

This week, justArts spoke with Miriam Esther Goldman ’14, who co-wrote a screenplay that has been chosen as a nominee for the Madrid International Film Festival 2014.

JustArts: Congratulations are in order! Would you tell us about the screenplay. What is it called?

Miriam Esther Goldman: It’s called The Ruins of Oz. In the books following The Wizard of Oz, which is the start of a series of 14 books by the original author and 40 books overall, it’s made clear that people can’t die in Oz. It’s part of the magic. So what became of the Wicked Witch of the West?

My script begins with this mild-mannered archaeology professor who’s longing for a bigger, more important job than the one he has at a small Kansas college. He is called on when these strange ruins appear in the middle of a Kansas corn field. As it turns out, the Wicked Witch of the West has returned, and is a threat not only to Oz, but to the Earth as well. Eliot, our hero, teams up with Glinda the Good [Witch] and the Scarecrow and a couple other Oz-zy characters to confront the Witch of the West and restore order. But when romance develops between Eliot and Glinda the Good, complications arise as it turns out that once Oz and the earth are separate, they really will be separate again.

JA: Was this a writing endeavor that you went about on your own?

MEG: No, I collaborate on all my scripts with my dad.

Actually, the [Film Festival’s] website only lists him [as playwright]. They always do that. I’m going to be generous and assume that he actually emails them and submits the applications most of the time, and not that it’s some sort of sexism. That happens a lot. It’s frustrating.

JA: So how many festivals or submissions would you say you guys have done together?

MEG: I lost track a while ago. I’d say it’s somewhere between 60 and 100. We’ve only written four full-length scripts. We’ve been writing together since I was in seventh grade, and we won our first award when I was in eighth grade. … We’ve never had anything produced, but we’re trying to step it up and interest agents and managers and branch out into the international film festival circuit.

JA: How long has The Ruins of Oz specifically been in the works?

MEG: That was the first one we wrote together, so I thought of the idea I think when I was in sixth or seventh grade.

The original basis of it was the idea of Oz appearing as an archaeological ruin. Oz books—not necessarily L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, but the books that people have written since the books became public domain—often start with some crazy, wacky way of finding Oz because Glinda made Oz invisible after the sixth book.

JA: What was the most difficult part of the process for you?

MEG: This particular one we did a little bit differently than most of them in that, since it was the first [we wrote together], my dad did a lot of the groundwork. We plotted it together and he wrote a bare-bones first draft, and I’ve rewritten it about seven or eight times. I think the most difficult part of the writing process for this one is breaking out from scenes that don’t add a lot or aren’t interesting, but further the plot.

And not being too self-indulgent in the Oz mythos, and trying to relate it to the Oz that people are familiar with from the MGM movie without actually running afoul of the copyright holders of the MGM movie. It’s complicated because I have a real love-hate relationship with the MGM movie. I didn’t see it until I had read I think 10 of the 14 Oz books, because I saw it when I was seven.

JA: Is screenwriting something that you’d like to do after you graduate?

MEG: If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said “definitely”—I love writing screenplays. I love the whole process. But I’m also really invested in theater. I think it all boils down to whether I am willing, able and have the funds to move to California, because I’m based on Texas. There’s a great film scene in Austin, but, as this clearly exemplifies, I tend to write things that are a little more expensive. …

I’m also very interested in acting as a career, and classical singing and poetry—although, money.

—Rachel Hughes To read the full interview, visit http://thejustice.org/arts.

Musicology Colloquium

This colloquium on Schumann’s continuous expositions and the sonata tradition with musicologist Peter Smith is sponsored by the Music department. Smith comes to Brandeis from University of Notre Dame, where he is a professor of music and departmental chair. His research includes the instrumental music of Brahms and related composers, Schenkerian approaches to analysis and theories of musical form and

expression.

Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Film screening: ‘A Band Called Death’

In 1970s Detroit, three brothers formed a band that was too punk for their time. 40 years later, their children rediscovered their recordings in an attic, and brought A Band Called Death to the big screen, a documentary that memorialized the musical saga of the Hackney brothers. WBRS is bringing A Band Called Death, as well as Rough Francis, the Hackney children’s band formed in honor of Death and their fathers, for a show and question-andanswer session.

Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. in Cholmondeley’s. This event is sponsored

by WBRS and is free and open to the public.

SKIN Fashion Show

SKIN Fashion Show is the second of three events for the Brandeis AsianAmerican Students Association’s celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. SKIN showcases Asian-American designers and celebrates their fashion and artistic achievements within the United States. This year’s theme is “Seams of Color,” and embodies a message of empowerment and community among people of color.

Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. Free tickets are available for pick-up at the Shapiro Campus Center Box Office.

Poetic Overtures featuring New Music Brandeis

Join the Brandeis Music department for a performance where works by student composers will be premiered.

The works are inspired by poetry, and will be 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 ‘Cinderella’

Presented by the Boston Ballet at the Boston Opera House, Cinderella is a timeless fairytale classic featuring brilliant choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton and an enchanting score by Sergei Prokofiev. This particular production is widely considered the greatest staging of this charming tale, and is a company premiere for Boston Ballet. Presented in three acts, Ashton’s Cinderella tells the triumphant story of a young girl who encounters magic, love and a dazzling ball.

Showing from Wednesday through Sunday at various times in the Boston Opera House. Tickets starts at $29.

Brody Stevens

Stand up comedian Brody Stevens comes to Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant and Music Club. Stevens is the star of Comedy Central’s series Brody Stevens: Enjoy It, co-created and produced by Zach Galifianakis.

Stevens has appeared on many shows, including Conan, Chelsea Lately and Tosh.0.

Thursday from 8 pm to 10 pm at Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant.

Tickets are $20.

‘Drawn to Daily Life’

Some 50 lively drawings and watercolors by leading 17th-century Dutch artists from the superb Maida and George Abrams Collection bring to life the faces, figures, pleasures, pastimes and labors of Dutch people.

Works by Rembrandt, Hendrick Avercamp, Abraham Bloemaert, Jacques De Gheyn II, Jan van Goyen, Adriaen and Isaac van Ostade, along with a host of others, bring the century to life and highlight the prominence of drawing during the era.

On view through July 6 in the Frances Vrachos Gallery at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Admission ranges from $10 to $25 and is free with a Brandeis ID.

Pop Culture n

ww Brandeis pop culture enthusiasts, you may have missed all the breaking Tinseltown news while caught up in your Purim costume preparations last week. Here is a roundup of some of this (admittedly rather slow) past week’s celebrity headlines.

This past week saw another Spears wedding take place. No, it wasn’t Britney who walked down the aisle, but her younger sister, Jamie Lynn, 22. E! News confirms that on Friday, she wed 31-year-old businessman Jamie Watson in New Orleans. There were in fact not one, but three Jamies present at the wedding, as Spears’ father, who is also named Jamie, walked her down the aisle.

Spears and Watson dated on-and-off for three years before getting engaged last March. Reportedly, Britney attended the wedding with her boyfriend, David Lucado, who works at a Los Angeles legal firm.

The younger Spears sibling gained fame in her own right while starring on the hit Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 in the early 2000s. She announced to stunned fans back in December 2007, at the age of 16, that she was expecting a baby with then-boyfriend Casey Aldridge.

Her daughter Maddie, now 5, was the flower girl at the wedding ceremony this past Friday. Now, Spears is focusing on pursuing a country music career, having released her debut single this past November.

People magazine reports that retired professional wrestler-turned-actress Stacy Keibler took the under-the-radar approach and wed tech entrepreneur Jared Pobre last Saturday in a quiet ceremony in Mexico. Keibler, 34, and Pobre, 39, had been friends for almost five years before they began dating this past fall. This is the first marriage for both of them. Keibler famously dated George Clooney, but she split with the actor last summer. Looks like it didn’t take long for her to find her happily ever after!

In other news, it was a bad week for two different celebrities named Chris.

First, reports surfaced on Wednesday

By Mara Sassoon

CREATIVE COMMONS

DISASTER DOWN UNDER: Chris Pine was charged with a DUI while filming in New Zealand. that actor Chris Pine was charged with driving under the influence in New Zealand back at the beginning of March.

Pine, 33, was reportedly pulled over shortly after leaving the Blue Pub bar in Methven, a small town in the South Island of New Zealand, around 2:30 a.m.

The actor was in the area filming Z is for Zachariah. Pine, who has starred as Captain James T. Kirk in the last two Star Trek movies, now must make his first court appearance this week.

As for our second Chris, after allegedly getting kicked out of rehab, singer Chris Brown was arrested on Friday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to People Magazine that the 24-year-old was taken into custody for a

probation violation that stems from his infamous 2009 assault on Rihanna, his then-girlfriend.

Since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder as well as post-traumatic stress disorder back in February, Brown had been spending time in a Malibu rehab facility under court order before supposedly violating the program’s rules and then getting the boot. The recording artist is now being held without bail at the Inmate Reception Center in the Los Angeles County jail.

All in all, Brandeis, it was a quiet week for the celebrity gossip mill.

Perhaps this next week the headlines (and the weather—wishful thinking?) will heat up!

ARTS COVER IMAGES: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice, Courtesy of Martin Levin and Elizabeth Davenport, Grace Folser, and Mike Lovett. DESIGN: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice.

ON CAMPUS

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, March 18, 2014

film

19

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: Becoming Vera follows Vera LoumpetGalitzine, a three-year-old girl from France with mixed heritage, as she travels from Cameroon to Moscow and back to Paris.

FILM STILL FROM ‘BECOMING VERA’ COURTESY OF MIEKE BAL

Documentary reveals young girl’s reality

By Emily wishingrad justice EDITOR

Imagine seeing the world through the eyes of a threeyear-old girl—and not just any three-year-old girl but through the eyes of Vera LoumpetGalitzine, a girl who has grown up in France with a father who is the nje, or prince, of the Bamun kingdom in Foumbaun, Cameroon, and with a mother who is a descendent of a royal Russian lineage. She is a lively girl with an expansive imagination, a strong sense of self and an adventurous drive to explore her world.

Seeing the world through the innocent but perceptive eyes of Vera is what students and faculty experienced on Thursday night, as they watched Becoming Vera, a documentary directed by Mieke Bal, a Dutch cultural theorist and artist.

Bal then gave her lecture titled “Resisting Resistance: Identity Politics Revisited” in conjunction with the film.

The event was part of the series Art and Gender: Global Perspectives, which is funded by the Brandeis Arts Council and the Women’s and Gender Studies program.

Prof. Peter Kalb (FA) sat front and center, next to Judith Wechsler, a professor in the fine arts department at Tufts University. Many students and faculty from other universities attended, in addition to members of the Brandeis community. Prof. Aida Yuen Wong (FA)

was also in attendance.Last semester she gave a talk for the Art and Gender lecture series, titled “Shaping Female Beauty in East Asian Societies.”

In her film, Bal explores themes of identity and belonging by tracing the experiences of three-year-old Vera. At the beginning of the film, the young girl finds herself in a traditional Bamun ceremony in her honor, as she is the oldest daughter of the nje.

She visits Moscow and the estate where her mother’s ancestors lived. She takes ballet lessons in Paris and attends a dance class in Cameroon. She talks constantly throughout— making up and telling stories and engaging with everybody around her.

Bal said that the film is about a child becoming the person she is—becoming Vera—through many different experiences and understanding and exposure to her complex heritage.

Bal suggested, however, in the question-and-answer session after the screening, that Vera’s identity is not fragmented. Rather, she has a cohesive identity that is uniquely comprised of her different heritages and experiences. “Becoming Vera is the child’s way of negotiating boarders that adults erect around her,” Bal told the audience in her lecture.

Bal’s lecture was in essence a close reading of both the film and the little girl’s actions and speech, in an effort to reconcile how the audience began to un-

derstand her identity. Bal noted that the film is not a biography however. Becoming Vera is not about telling Vera’s story.

For Bal, the documentary was more about an investigation into the way culture shapes identity—and she does this by immersing Vera into artificial situations and seeing how she will react.

Bal openly admits, though, to the fact that she put Vera in situations in which she would never have been if not for the documentary.

Interestingly enough, the film’s plot progression is not linear. It jumps from place to place, season to season, during a time span of one year—Vera’s third year of life.

Kalb noted this lack of a linear structure in a question directed at Bal after the screening. Bal said in response to his claim that the film presents an attempt to allow the audience to imagine what Vera also sees, thinks and imagines.

Vera will not remember these events chronologically—as memory is not chronological, the viewer should not experience them in a chronological fashion.

The film is simply a melding of experience to create a story, and ultimately it shows how an identity is made.

The film and lecture presented an opportunity to examine constantly discussed themes of culture and identity through a new kind of gaze—in this case, the gaze of Vera.

SPEAK UP: Prof. Gannit Ankori (FA) introduced Mieke Bal, director of Becoming Vera, before she gave her lecture, “Resisting Resistance: Identity Politics Revisited,” on Thursday.

GRACE KWON/the Justice

funding

Arts Council annual meeting decides on funding

By CATHERINE ROSCH justice Staff writer

Have you ever taken a photography class at Brandeis, participated in the Senior Festival or enjoyed a MusicUnitesUS performance? If so, it is probably thanks to the Brandeis Arts Council.

The Brandeis Arts Council was founded in 2007 by Scott Edmiston, the director of the Office of the Arts.

In an interview with the Justice, he explained that the council currently gives around $100,000 each year to the School of the Creative Arts for special performances and courses with the goal of funding exhibitions and programs for the Fine Arts, Music and Theater departments.

For the 2014 to 2015 school year, Edmiston told the Justice in an email that the council plans to fund several

art studio workshops, global art programs, the Art and Gender: Global Perspecives lecture series, a new program called “Art from Africa and the African Diaspora,” two Brandeis Theater Company productions with a focus on clowning and dance theater, an improvisation festival and a composer residency by Sound Icon.

The council is made up primarily of alumni and parents of students.

During the 2013 to 2014 academic year, the council gave around $30,000 to the Theater and Music departments and $36,000 to Fine Arts for a variety of events, including a speaker series on art and gender, Master of Fine Arts actor showcase, the Brandeis Theater Company’s production of The Seagull and a residency for the Talea Ensemble.

According to Edmiston in a phone interview with the Justice, beyond

funding the arts, the council’s goals are to “invite the [current Brandeis] students then to pay it forward” and to help establish new courses within the arts at Brandeis, such as a class on feminist playwrights or music tours to Europe.

Not every art initiative can get council funding, though, Edmiston said, detailing some of the criteria that a project must meet in order to receive funding. He said that the council aims to give “direct benefits to Fine Arts, Music and Theater students.” They are also “looking for a potential impact on the broader Brandeis community” as well as “unique, curricular, artistic needs beyond the scope of the academic budget.” Each department is allowed to submit up to three projects for funding, although this year, the Theater department only submit-

ted two funding requests. Requests are a collaboration between professors, students and each department as a whole. Edmiston explained that while this year the council had $95,000 to allocate, the total requests they received came out to $128,000.

The council will rarely fully reject any one project, but does “just trim a little bit off of each program,” he said, and see if the rest of the money can be obtained through other grants or foundations.

At least once a year, the council also meets with various departments and students who are studying the arts. Generally, the members only meet with students who have declared majors in Fine Arts, Theater or Music, rather than those part of the myriad extracurricular art groups. Edmiston explained that “because this program really funds

needs within the academy—within the arts departments, as opposed to the clubs—they will meet faculty and students who are in the departments… that doesn’t mean they have to be a major or a minor. Sometimes, they aren’t.” In past years, the council has met with M.F.A. theater students, Fine Arts majors who attended the senior trip to New York City, another Brandeis Arts Council initiative and students who are enrolled in new arts courses such as “Introduction to Printmaking: Silkscreen.”

Although most students, even those who are engaged in the arts, don’t know very much about the Brandeis Arts council or even that it exists, the council continues to fund some of the most innovative arts courses and programs offered at Brandeis.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

theater

Senior playwrights discuss their projects I asked them how the process has affected them and where they think it may lead.

Fosler said, “This has really solidified my decision to pursue playwriting. I’m applying to graduate programs for creative writing with a concentration in script writing.

It has taught me a lot about just the writing process in general.” In fact, her work is already being produced elsewhere. The Elephant in the Room will be featured at the PortFringe festival, a week-long theater festival in Portland, Maine this June.

Kosek says, “[this process has] definitely affected me. I guess what I’ve realized is

Emma Lieberman ’14 Emma Lieberman’s ’14 play, My Morning, addresses perhaps the most personal topic. “A bit more than three years ago, here at Brandeis there was a girl who took her own life. She was a friend of mine, so this play is technically fictionalized but it’s about the experience of dealing with that,” Lieberman said in an interview with the Justice. She worked with her director Gabby Lamm ’17 to strike a balance between fictionalizing her story and staying true to what actually happened.

Lieberman noted that her biggest challenge as an actress was “separating [herself] from something that is so personal and making it about someone else.” If the play was about her, she said, “it would not only be tortuous for me, but also wouldn’t work as well for the audience.”

Lieberman said her greatest challenge as an actress and writer is separating what she calls “the multiple personalities of me.”

She said, “ordinarily there is the hierarchy of the playwright, who makes the show, the director, who follows what’s in the script and the actor, who follows whatever the director says. But as I am both actor and playwright, those roles get switched around.”

Lieberman and Lamm hold separate meetings with “Emma the Actress” and “Emma the Playwright” to create a clear system.

“Every other time,” explained Lieberman, “‘Emma the Playwright’ just goes away.”

that it’s a much bigger thing to translate an idea from one person’s head into a lot of people’s heads than I ever imagined. That’s very different from acting—you have to fit a role when you’re acting and find a niche when you’re directing. But when you’re a playwright and sharing your work and working on your work with people it’s a much more intense process than I knew.”

“It’s given me a new kind confidence in myself,” says Lieberman. “I am a published playwright and it’s work that I can be proud of and it’s work that I can display everyone.

Not that I’m not proud of other things I have

Justy Kosek ’14 Justy Kosek’s ’14 original play, All You Need, tells the story of a family torn apart. It begins with the uncanny image of the son, David, walking into his room in a blood-stained tuxedo.

The rest of the play recounts what led to that moment and traces the history of his parents and friends. The themes focus on how different kinds of love affect a family and an individual, Kosek started writing All You Need for fun when he was a firstyear at Brandeis.

“These are themes I’m sort of obsessed with,” he said in an interview with the Justice. “Themes of memory and personal history are very interesting to me so I knew right away I wanted to do a piece about memory, and the way that we perceive memory and the way it differs from reality.”

For Kosek, the challenging parts of the process have been consolidating his original vision with those of his director (Jonathan Young MFA ’14) and design team.

However, he told the Justice that this particular challenge was “also the most exciting part” “[To have] people looking at my work and having opinions on it,” he said, “it’s honestly been the greatest thrill of my life.”

Kosek says, “[this process has] definitely affected me. I guess what I’ve realized is that it’s a much bigger thing to translate and idea from one person’s head into a lot of people’s heads than I ever imagined.”

done, but this is on a whole new level. On top of that it’s helped me connect to writing theater on a whole new level that I hadn’t quite reached. It’s increased my confidence and increased my ability by leaps and bounds. It’s something I can take forward with me to the rest of my career.”

Catch these pieces and all of the work being showcased at the senior festival Tuesday, March 18, through Saturday, March 23, in the Spingold Theater Center’s Laurie Theater. Find the full schedule on Facebook and on the Brandeis Theater Company website.

Grace Fosler ’14 Grace Fosler ’14, whose project is titled The Elephant in the Room, both wrote and directed her thesis.

“My play is a satire on animal cruelty and exploitation in the United States,” she said. “I’ve been interested in animal rights for a very long time. I’ve felt like an advocate for them and felt that animal rights hadn’t been explored in theater as much as I would like them to be. I think comedy and satire are very powerful tools and are a non-aggressive form of activism, which is something I think is very important.”

Fosler’s play, inspired by George C. Wolfe’s 1986 play The Colored Museum, is a series of vignettes depicting different forms of animal abuse. Her concept, she said, is to humanize animals.

When asked what challenges she faced, Fosler mentioned that at times she found it difficult to find the right way to portray the situation on stage, and throughout her process she realized how hard it is to write about something so close to your heart. When asked about her experience as both director and writer, she said “I kind of forget that I wrote the play while I’m directing it. At times I forget that if something isn’t working I can change it. I have the power to go in and change things.” But the most exciting part for Fosler is watching her play come to life. “When I finally put faces to my characters that was really, really exciting.

They have come to life to me and that’s awesome.”

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014

By rachel liff justice Staff writer

Each March, a group of seniors finishing up their degrees from in Theater Arts direct, perform in and create pieces for the department’s Senior Thesis Festival. Unlike other written theses, playwrights must devise their concept and a large portion of their script before their senior year. They draft a piece that stems from their passions, then, over their last two semesters at Brandeis, they workshop, edit and revise their work. In the winter, the department holds open auditions and

after about two months of rehearsal, more revisions and working to coordinate the production of numerous other pieces in one space, the festival finally opens.

This year, there are six seniors participating in the festival. While Jason Dick, Lizzy Benway and Levi Squier decided to direct, act in, and devise pieces already in the theatrical cannon, Justy Kosek, Grace Fosler and Emma Lieberman elected to examine topics they care about by writing original plays. Earlier this week, I sat down with each of them to learn more about their projects.

‘The Elephant in the Room’ Written and directed by Grace Fosler ’14

Today at 8:30 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m and Sunday at noon

‘Make Me a Song’ Music by William Finn Conceived by Rob Ruggiero Starring Jason Dick ’14

Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 8 p.m.

‘All You Need’ Written by and starring Justy Kosek ’14

Thursday at 9 p.m.,

Saturday at 10 p.m and

Sunday at 5 p.m.

‘My Morning’ Written by and starring Emma Lieberman ’14

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m and Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

‘Necessary Targets’

By Eve Ensler Directed by Lizzy Benway ’14 All showings are in Laurie Theater, Spingold Theater Center.

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Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 4:30 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m.

‘MICHAEL BROKOWSKI’ Devised by Levi Squier ’14 and ensemble

Today & Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday at 9:30 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE LOVETT

DRAMA CLUB: From left to to right, seniors directing in the Senior Thesis Festival: Jason Dick, Lizzy Benway, Justy Koseck, Grace Fosler, Levi Squier and Emma Lieberman pose together.

Design by REBECCA LANTNER/the Justice

Do you enjoy museums, music, theater or movies?

Write for Arts!

Contact Emily Wishingrad at arts@thejustice.org

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, march 18, 2014

23

faculty

University trio publishes children’s book

By EMILY WISHINGRAD justice EDITOR

In collaboration with two Brandeis graduates, Prof. Martin Levin (POL) published his first children’s picture book this past December titled Little Cheese: The Brie that Brought Sunshine to Chicago.

Levin has been a professor at the University since the 1970s and has taught a wide range of courses, including classes on political leadership, the politics of the novel and policymaking. In an interview with the Justice, Levin said that during his time at Brandeis, Levin has published nine books in political science and public policy.

Little Cheese is Levin’s first published book of fiction, however, and when asked how writing children’s fiction compares to writing academic work, Levin equated the two, saying that in both, you have an “idea and you explain it.”

The book is a new take on an old story—the story of the ugly duckling.

In the book, a piece of Brie cheese living with his loving parents in France has only one problem: he is yellow.

Yellow is apparently a stigmatized color for Brie in France. “[The French] want their brie to be creamy white,” Levin writes on the first page of his book.

Levin plays with a pun as he states that the Little Cheese could never become a “Big Cheese” if he stayed in France, due to his unfavorable color. Thus, Little Cheese takes a journey to Chicago—where people are not so picky about the color of their cheese—and embarks on an adventure in which he finds solace and comfort in imagination and discovers his true passion: cooking.

His yellow color actually helps him in the end, since only yellow cheese, as mentioned in the book, is “able to stand the heat” of the kitchen.

Little Cheese finally becomes a “Big Cheese,” working in a restaurant in Chicago.

Elizabeth Davenport’s ’08 playful illustrations add context and emotion to the story—portraying the Little Cheese content in his home in Paris, struggling to fit in as he wanders the streets of Chicago, and finally finding his place within the kitchen.

The inspiration for the book’s unusual cast of characters came from a single image: a piece of halfeaten Brie cheese sitting on a table with other half-demolished food at a child’s birthday party. The “idea generates momentum,” Levin said. He had an idea about a piece of cheese and went with it—finally creating a story around the idea.

“I thought of the Brie coming from France and right away I had in mind the scene that the book touches on— it’s the ugly ducking story. It’s about an outsider. It’s about an immigrant.

It’s about loss,” Levin said.

Levin wrote the book for his grandson, Emilio, who is now 10 years old and has read the unpublished story since his childhood. He wanted to create “a story that would make sense to him,” and thus, Levin tailored it specifically to his grandchild, setting the novel both in Provence, France where his father grew up, and in Chicago, where Levin’s side of the family is from.

Levin discussed his collaboration with his co-author and editor, Nathan Porteshawver ’09, and illustrator, Davenport, a post-baccalaureate student. Levin said that he has been in touch with many of his former students over the years. “I consider my students my equals and my colleagues… and I learn from them.”

In an email to the Justice, Porteshawver mentioned that he took Levin’s course in the Politics department, “134A: Politics and the Novel,” and wrote a paper during an independent study under Levin’s advisement. “Even then he treated me like a collaborator, like he does with most of his students,” he said.

Porteshawver mentioned that he and Levin are currently working on an article called “The Collaborationist” that, he said, “takes on the authorship debate surrounding Shakespeare’s work. In a way, this article will describe how Marty and I view collaboration in general,” he said.

Levin is currently working on a memoir of his father, living in Chicago, a character that he compares to Willie Lowman in Death of a Salesman—only successful. He is also in the process of writing another children’s book for his second grandchild.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN LEVIN AND ELIZABETH DAVENPORT

SAY CHEESE: Prof. Martin Levin (POL) collaborated with Nathan Porteshawver ’09 and Elizabeth Davenport ’08 on his book.

concert

Performance delivers traditional Korean culture By nate shaffer justice Staff writer

This past weekend Slosberg Recital Hall served as host to yet another wonderful world music concert. The Korean Cultural Society of Boston brought “Soul of Korea” to Slosberg Music Center for a night of traditional Korean music. The Korean Cultural Society, established in 2012, is a non profit organization that seeks to introduce and promote Korean culture and art into the Greater Boston area. Although the concert featured solely Korean music, it touched on several distinct stylistic traditions that brought in starkly contrasting music.

Between the pieces, Hilary Vanessa Finchum-Sung, a visiting professor of ethnomusicology from Seoul, South Korea, spoke about the pieces, giving reasons for why and how the different performance styles and musical aesthetics developed. Some of the mu-

sic came from folk traditions; others were created to be concert music. The atmospheres of the different styles varied strongly and offered many different moods, timbres and affects.

The sounds created by these traditional instruments weren’t too unfamiliar. A few different types of piri were played—a wind instrument that has a dry and harsh woodwind type of sound, at times like a singular bagpipe, other times more like a soprano saxophone. There were a few types of untuned percussion instruments (that is, an instrument without a specific pitch, like a drum set, unlike a xylophone) among them the jing and the janggu. However, by far my favorite instrument to watch was the gayageum, a plucked instrument that resembled an oversized Appalachian dulcimer. It was played with the fingers and quite a bit of vibrato. Watching the intricate choreography of the fingers and hands unfold with the music was something like watching

a pianist’s hands move up and down the keys. It produced a dry, plucked sound that most of us might associate with music from somewhere in East Asia.

The first piece presented a very laid-back style that had been developed by and for the Korean aristocracy. It featured an ensemble of janggu, piri, daegeum and gayageum players.

As this music was made for aristocrats to play themselves, it didn’t feature much virtuosity. Its purpose informed the aesthetic as well: this piece, made for accompanying times of relaxation and meditation, moved at a very slow pace. Although there was no melody, as is typical of Western music, it still had structural development—clear cadences at the end of sections. Instead of developing harmonic or melodic material, the ensemble fell more or less out of phase with each other at the end of these sections. As the piece progressed, these moments of convergence result-

ed in longer pauses, which became shorter as the piece continued. Given the stasis in the music, these silences had an intense effect.

My favorite piece was dynamism the third, a duet between vocalist Yiho Ahn, and percussionist, Sori Choi.

Ahn exhibited a startling dynamicity in his performance; the highly expressive style of storytelling caught me off guard. The combination of different uses of the voice, along with the volatility of rhythm and vocal style made this a captivating adventure. There were freely sung tones similar to a Broadway performer, but scratchy raspy sounds similar to something from hard rock, like Guns N’ Roses or Alice in Chains more specifically.

It featured some straight talking, and other ‘sing-talking’ that reminded me of Stephen Sondheim.

The interplay between vocalist and drummer was engaging to watch. Instead of the percussion taking on a role as accompaniement, the relation-

ship between the instruments had developed as an equal partnership. As in other pieces in the performance, the drummer shouted out words of encouragement to the other performers. As is traditional, the audience was asked to cheer on the performers as well.

As a member of Brandeis’ Improv Collective, I find it amazing how this music reminds me of the sounds of free improvisation (a strategy for improvising that has no orientation toward style). Although Western classical music has developed a huge amount of diversity and unity within the sort of music it creates, it excludes a lot of sounds and forms featured in other world music traditions.

It is really a treat to have such wonderful musicians from other cultures share their gifts with a Western audience. It’s humbling to know that there is always further musical beauty that lies outside of what we’re familiar with.

Can you make a better ad than this? contact Rebecca Lantner at

layout@thejustice.org

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

TOPof the

ARTS ON VIEW

Brandeis TALKS

CHARTS

Quote of the week

Top 10s for the week ending March 16

“There seems to be a group of [members of Greek life at Brandeis] that are particularly interested, at this moment, in recognition. And that ... seems to kind of ebb and ... flow depending on who’s in leadership roles in those organizations, but right now there seems to be some energy behind it.”

BOX OFFICE

1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman 2. 300: Rise of an Empire 3. Need for Speed 4. Non-Stop 5. The Single Moms Club 6. The LEGO Movie 7. Son of God 8. The Grand Budapest Hotel 9. Frozen (2013) 10. Veronica Mars

— Andrew Flagel, senior vice president of students and enrollment (News, p. 1).

NYT BESTSELLERS

How was your Purim experience?

JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice

PUMPIN’ PURIM PARTY: Editor Josh Horowitz ’14 took this lucky shot right as the light machine flashed in front of his camera at the Hillel Purim Party on Saturday night in the Hassenfeld Conference Center.

Nonfiction

1. Uganda Be Kidding Me—Chelsea Handler 2. The Future of the Mind—Michio Kaku 3. Killing Jesus—Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard 4. Unbroken—Laura Hillenbrand 5. David and Goliath—Malcolm Gladwell

the justice wants to see your original artwork!

Miriam Fink ’15 “It’s hard to sum up in appropriate terms.”

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

Xander Abajian ’17 “It was great from what I can remember.”

Pierre Denizard ’17 “Never heard of Purim before, but it was brilliant.”

Ellie Rosenthal ’16 “It was great, but I’m biased.”

(Rosenthal is on Hillel Board)

ACROSS 1 Williams’ partner in paint 8 Vivid 15 Former and current Yankee Alfonso 16 “How sexy!”

17 *Doing more than is necessary 19 Decorates on mischief night, briefly 20 Norwegian saint 21 Bad marks in high school?

22 *Where secrets are kept 26 MD’s “Pronto!”

29 Habituate 30 New York governor before Spitzer 33 Prefix with tarsal 34 Mean: Abbr.

37 *“The Elements of Style” coauthor 39 *“We’re even!”

41 OK hours 42 Hot stuff 44 Toady 45 “Blue Jasmine” director 46 Map speck 47 *Words before a flip 53 Household name in household humor 54 Bologna bone 55 Local center?

58 Celebration suggested by words that end answers to starred clues 63 Frequent park statue visitors 64 “Show Boat” (1936) standout 65 Gives a kick 66 Hanging in the balance DOWN 1 Army NCO 2 Earring shape 3 Most massive known dwarf planet 4 Dog star’s first name?

5 It may be covered 6 “__ Chicago”: 1937 Tyrone Power film 7 Exploding stars 8 Brit’s oath 9 Balderdash 10 Contented sigh 11 “Say __” 12 Contrive 13 Actress Massey 14 French royal name of yore 18 Violinist Zimbalist 22 The Colorado runs through it 23 R.E.M.’s “The __ Love” 24 Bonkers 25 Use a Pink Pearl 26 Project detail, briefly 27 They’re run at bars 28 Chem lab abbr.

31 Defeats, as a bill 32 European prefix

iTUNES

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. Idina Menzel—“Let It Go”

BILLBOARD

1. Rick Ross—Mastermind 2. Pharrell Williams—Girl 3. Soundtrack—Frozen 4. Lea Michele—Louder 5. Eli Young Band—10,000 Towns 6. Beck—Morning Phase 7. Lorde—Pure Heroine 8. ScHoolboy Q— Oxymoron 9. Eric Church—The Outsiders 10. Ashanti— Braveheart Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.

34 Green machines?

35 Medical lab vessel 36 Item in a pool 38 “Did you __?!”

40 Surplus store caveat 34 Mobs 37 Tropical fruit 38 One in doubt?

40 Molly who sells cockles and 43 “Three Sisters” playwright Chekhov 45 Bits of advice from gramps, perhaps 47 Jalopies 48 “Sesame Street” striped-shirt wearer 49 Cuban girlfriend 50 Latin stars 51 Enjoys a lucky streak 52 Editor Marshall and singer Lisa 55 Toledo thing 56 “Star Wars” creature 57 Kin of -ess 59 “Woo-__!”

60 Old Opry network 61 1942 FDR Solution to last issue’s crossword creation Crossword Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, 62 Asian occasion

STAFF’S Top Ten

Beyoncéisms By marissa Ditowsky

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.

Nate Rosenbloom ’14 “I watched 12 Years A Slave, got into an argument with my girlfriend, then went to bed.”

—Compiled by Lilah Zohar and photograhed by Josh Horowitz/the Justice

Fiction 1. Words of Radiance—Brandon Sanderson 2. The Bootlegger—Clive Cussler and Justin Scott 3. The Goldfinch— Donna Tartt 4. The Invention of Wings— Sue Monk Kidd 5. Private L.A.—James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Sudoku Copyright 2013 MCT Campus, Inc.

justice EDITOR

I don’t know if many people know this about me, but I think Beyoncé is pretty great.

Here are some of her sassiest and most inspiring lyrics.

1. “I sneezed on the beat and the beat got sicker.”

2. “I’ll bet it sucks to be you right now.”

3. “Surfboart.”

4. “You can’t fix what you can’t see: it’s the soul that needs a surgery.”

5. “I woke up like this.”

6. “I don’t know much about algebra but I know 1+1=2” 7. “To be or not to be… NOT.” 8. “Who run the word? Girls.”

9. “I could care less what you think.”

10. “I won’t lose a wink of sleep, ’cause the truth of the matter is replacing you is so easy.”