The Justice- March 2, 2010

FEATURES PAGE 9

ARTS Theater in peril 24

HAITI INITIATIVE

FORUM 2020 Report responses 14 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

the

OF

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SINCE 1949

Justice www.theJusticeOnline.com

Volume LXII, Number 19

Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

THEATER CUTS PROPOSED

CONSTRUCTION

Charles River Apts will be renovated ■ The major renovations

project will begin in late May and should be completed by fall 2010.

By BRIAN FROMM JUSTICE EDITOR

The Board of Trustees approved a major renovation project, which will include replacing kitchen appliances and installing more interior lighting and a new fire-protection sprinkler system as well as performing general repairs and refurbishments, for the Charles River Apartments at the Board’s Feb. 10 meeting, according to an article published the following day on the BrandeisNOW Web site.

Construction on the four six-story buildings is planned to begin in late May and should be completed in time for the start of the fall 2010

semester, Vice President for Campus Operations Mark Collins said in an interview with the Justice. Students also toured a renovated sample apartment at an open house last week.

The project is expected to cost about $9 million, according to the BrandeisNOW article.

The University recently issued $178 million in bonds, of which about $160 million will be used to refinance old bonds taken out to finance University capital projects. The remainder will be used to reimburse Brandeis for previous capital expenses, according to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Apfel. “Now we are going to take $9 million of that and we are going to use it for [the renovation of] Charles River,” Apfel said.

“We are going to fund it from our own money, but it’s money that’s being made available by the fact that

See GRAD, 6 ☛

ADMINISTRATION

Workload committee revises original proposals ■ The Faculty Senate

suggested creating a new set of guidelines to review faculty workloads.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITOR

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe, who chaired the Arts and Sciences Faculty Workload Committee, said that he has met with the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Senate and department heads in the Arts and Sciences regarding the Initial Report of the Arts and Sciences Faculty Workload Committee, which was originally published Feb. 3, and that the report’s original proposals for the creation of a new system of faculty reporting and a new committee to oversee faculty workloads are no longer being “actively considered.”

Jaffe said that although the ideas are not currently on the table, they may be revisited in the future.

The committee is a group of faculty and administrators tasked with creating a system by which the University can more effectively manage the distribution of faculty resources. Along with Jaffe, the

committee included Profs. Marc Brettler (NEJS), Bulbul Chakraborty (PHYS), Jerry Cohen (AMST) and Richard Parmentier (ANTH).

The original report argued that in order to make sure faculty workloads are evenly distributed and that faculty members are contributing effectively to both the internal and external missions of the University, Brandeis should create a “formal procedure by which all tenured faculty members in Arts and Sciences will report on their recent contributions to the University and their plans for the near future, which is updated and reviewed every five years.”

In a recent interview with the Justice, Jaffe said that while the UCC “did not have a whole lot to say about [the report],” the Faculty Senate and the department heads “both suggested that the goals of the committee could be achieved without creating the new review procedure and the new committee that are contemplated by the report.”

Prof.

Sabine von Mering (GRALL), chair of the Faculty Senate, said that a majority of Faculty Senate members agreed with the idea first raised during

See WORKLOAD, 6 ☛

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

NEXT STEPS: McCaela Donovan (GRAD), front, a student in the threatened Theater Design program, dances in “Suzuki” class.

2020 ideas discussed ■ Undergraduates and

graduate students voiced their opinions about the proposals at open forums.

By MIRANDA NEUBAUER JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

At a graduate student open forum about the Brandeis 2020 Committee’s proposals, master’s students in Cultural Production, MFA students in Theater Design and Ph.D. students in Anthropology spoke to Provost Marty Krauss and Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe against the closure of their programs, while undergraduate students also expressed some skepticism about the proposals at a separate forum. Both forums took place

last Thursday.

The Brandeis 2020 proposals, slated to save $3.8 million annually, include reorganizing the major in Hebrew Language and Literature and the minor in Yiddish and East European Jewish Culture as tracks within the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, reorganizing the science departments into a new Division of Science to reduce overlapping research areas and terminating the Italian major.

As part of the Faculty Handbookmandated deliberative process, the Faculty Senate, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Graduate Council reviewed the proposals last Thursday. The Faculty Senate has called for a special faculty-only meeting to discuss the proposals this Thursday. Krauss plans to release her final decisions about the proposals next Monday, before

the Board of Trustees meeting March 24.

Krauss addressed the timeline for coming up with and reviewing the proposals by March 8 in both forums. “I think that this truncated process has allowed for an intensity of communication, and I don’t see much need to go beyond that Monday.” She added that when Board of Trustees member Meyer Koplow ’72, chair of the Board of Trustees Budget and Finance Committee, set the plan for the committee in motion, he initially wanted the proposals to be released by early March before the University negotiated with him to get one more week.

Both Krauss and Jaffe addressed the factors affecting the decisionmaking process regarding the

See FORUMS, 6 ☛

K-Nite 2010

Receiving a bid

Aronin re-elected

■ Students showcased Korean culture from history to the present day to family and friends.

■ The men’s basketball team will play in the NCAA Tournament Friday against St. Lawrence University.

■ Former Secretary Diana Aronin ’11 was re-elected after being removed from office.

ARTS 25

SPORTS 20

NEWS 3

For tips or info call Let your voice be heard!

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INDEX

ARTS SPORTS

21 20

EDITORIAL FEATURES

12 7

OPINION POLICE LOG

13 2

COMMENTARY

13

COPYRIGHT 2010 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Call for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS BRIEFS

POLICE LOG

Student Union launches new Web site to connect with student body

Medical Emergency

The Student Union held a launch event for its Web site in the Shapiro Campus Center on Feb. 24. The event was attended by members of the Student Union and students.

As of this printing the new Web site was not yet activated.

According to the current Student Union Web site, the new Web site’s goal is to enhance the Union’s ability to connect with the student body. The web site encourages students to view various initiatives, programs, projects, and causes that the Union is facilitating.

The resources on the new Web site include an officer directory, announcements, course evaluation and information on Student Union elections, as well as increased resources for student clubs. The “start a club page” synthesizes all the essential information together to help students who are unfamiliar with the club-chartering process. A separate page is also dedicated to the process of clubs getting reimbursed through the new Student Union Management System for finances.

Students also can use the Web site to submit a request for storage space for their club or organization. Specifically, students will know when they can schedule the program, how much the program will cost, and what sound equipment will be available for the program.

Student Union President Andy Hogan ’10 told the Justice that the updated Web site is easier to maintain and has a more professional layout.

Feb. 9—University Police received a call from a student who was vomiting in Ziv Quad. University Police and BEMCo responded, and the patient was transported by ambulance to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Feb. 10—University Police received a report of a 19-year-old complaining of stomach pain and vomiting in Massell Quad.

University Police and BEMCo responded. BEMCo treated the party on-scene with a signed refusal for further care.

Feb. 23—University Police received a report that a 70-year-old woman was suffering a possible heart attack in the Epstein building. An ambulance transported the party to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Feb. 28—University Police received a report of an intoxicated 20-year-old vomiting in Ridge-

wood. The ambulance transported the patient to the NewtonWellesley Hospital.

University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Disturbance Larceny Feb. 9—A party reported a stolen iPhone in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

University Police compiled a report on the theft.

Feb. 25—University Police received a report of copper wiring theft from the Kalman Science Building. University Police compiled a report.

Feb. 25—University Police received a report of loud voices in North Quad. University Police checked the area but did not find anything.

Feb. 28—University Police received a complaint of a loud gathering in Ridgewood C. University Police responded and told the residents to quiet down.

Harassment Traffic Feb. 17—University Police received a report of a motor vehicle accident at Theater Lot. One vehicle sustained rear damage.

University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Feb. 28—Two branvans collided on Turner Street. No personal injuries were reported.

Feb. 26—A party in the Village reported a harsh encounter with a male party that had a Brandeis no contact order against him.

University Police compiled a report and advised the complaining party to contact the Detective’s Office for further assistance.

—Compiled by Alana Abramson

Amendments to be voted on this coming weekend

Credit agency lowers rating of Brandeis due to finances The Moody’s Investor’s Service credit agency recently downgraded its rating of Brandeis, citing the University’s financial and enrollment challenges. In its firstever analysis of the University, the Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency also offered a similar rating, noting strong demand for the University and strong fundraising but also pointing out the University’s low financial resources.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Apfel told the Justice that Moody’s and S & P are independent agencies that advise people who want to buy securities such as bonds by assessing the likelihood of repayment. Moody’s has now rated Brandeis’ bonds as A1, meaning “subject to low credit risk” down from Aa3, meaning “subject to very low credit risk.” The S & P rated Brandeis’ for the first time as A+, meaning it is “somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories.”

The ratings from both credit agencies came as the University issued $178 million in bonds as fixed-rate tax-exempt debt, of which about $160 million will be used to refinance on better terms old bonds taken out to finance university capital projects. Another $18 million of that amount is new debt that will be used to reimburse Brandeis for capital costs for which the University already paid, according to the two reports and Apfel.

Apfel emphasized that the rating does not mean the University’s financial situation is getting worse. “Bad things happened in 2008 to all institutions which affected us somewhat harder because we don’t have the financial base but we are taking steps to fix that, and that’s embodied in a plan,” he said.

—Miranda Neubauer

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS An article in Arts misidentified the graduation year of a student. Jackie Benowitz is a member of the class of 2012, not 2011. (Feb. 9, p. 18)

The reader commentary in Forum misidentified the graduation year of a student. Doug Nevins is a member of the class of 2011, not 2010. (Feb. 9, p.11)

Feb. 23—University Police received a report from a staff member at the Spingold Theater Center who no longer feels safe working at the University because of the publicity surrounding the protests over funding cuts. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Feb. 24—University Police received a complaint of a party shooting a pellet gun in Deroy Hall. University Police confiscated the weapon and compiled a report. Judicial charges will be filed.

Feb. 28—A caller reported several men fighting at an event in the Levin Ballroom. University Police checked the area but did not find anything. No further action was taken.

SENATE LOG

—Ryan Kuhel

A caption in News misattributed the photographer.

The photograph of the Activist Resource Fair photo was taken by Yosef Schaffel, not Robyn Spector. (Feb. 9, p. 2)

Miscellaneous:

MANSI LUO/the Justice

Internship Information Session A representative from the Hiatt Career Center provides tips, strategies and resources for students seeking summer internships at an information session that took place last Wednesday in the Hiatt Career Center.

Several amendments to the Student Union Constitution have been proposed as a part of the Student Union’s Constitutional Review process and will be voted on this coming weekend. The Constitutional Review Committee first decided on the proposals, and the proposals approved by at least 10 senators will go up for a student body referendum as potential amendments.

Among the changes being considered are switching the number of student representatives to the Board of Trustees from two to “at least two.” Another proposal was instant run-off voting for all elections, in which voters would rank several candidates by their preference rather than the multiple rounds that have been used previously. A third proposal is to change which clubs are considered “secure.” The Senate was unsure about how a club status of “secure” relates to finances. However, Jenna Brofsky ’10, director of community advocacy, stated that it was not about money but “the basis of their value to the University as fundamental organizations." Student Sexuality Information Services and the Environmental Sustainability Board are being considered for secured status.

The operations of Campus Operations Working Group, which is responsible for communal facilities, have been under review in the Senate.

The Senate debated the cost of an upcoming sophomore social event that will take place in the Intercultural Center. Mark S. Trilling ’12, senator for Castle Quad, and Abby L. Kulawitz, Senator for the Class of 2012 , proposed this idea at a cost of over $1,000. The Senate decided to lower the cost to $649.

The Senate agreed to contribute $500 to help subsidize the upcoming “I AM DIVERSITY” event, a six-hour workshop dealing with the issue of race on college campuses.

The new Student Union Web site will be up soon despite technological difficulties.

There have been problems with connecting the site to the Brandeis server, but the Web site is ready to be launched.

Kulawitz wants to bring a Haitian band to Brandeis and is organizing a committee to try to contact different Haitian bands.

—Jason Karelis

ANNOUNCEMENTS The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant corection or clarification.

E-mail justeditor@ brandeis.edu.

theJustice 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 will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to noon in the Justice office this week. Editor in chief office hours are usually held every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m.

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Employment workshop for international students Ruth Brigham will provide an information session for F1 visa holders interested in pursuing internships and/or post-completion employment. For more information e-mail rbrigham@brandeis.edu. Today from 10 to 10:30 a.m. in Kutz 215.

Cover letter workshop: writing career letters with purpose The Hiatt Career Center is providing a hands-on workshop to guide students through the goals, structure and language of the cover letter for jobs and internships.

Students must bring paper, a pen or pencil, and a copy of their résumé. Today from noon to 1 p.m. in the Hiatt Career Center.

JBS information session & pizza party This event will explain the summer opportunities with the Justice Brandeis Semester and the fall JBS Environmental Field Semester Program. Pizza will be

served. Today from 5 to 6:30 in Shapiro Campus Center 313.

Resumania A professional from the Hiatt Career Center will be critiquing résumés to ensure that they stand out. Wednesday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Hiatt Career Center.

2010 social impact career fair The Hiatt Career Center and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management are co-sponsoring this career fair featuring organizations in the fields of health care, social & human service, international development, consulting, policy, advocacy, and year in service. For more information, e-mail hiattcenter@brandeis.edu. Thursday from 12 to 3 in the Sherman Function Hall.

“How to Grow a Mind” The Psychology department is sponsoring a talk byProf. Josh Tenenbaum, a professor at the Department of Brain and

Cognitive Sciences in the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Tannenbaum will give a talk titled “How to Grow a Mind: Statistics, Structure and Abstraction.” Thursday from 3:30 to 4: 30 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge.

The 15th Annual Tillie K. Lubin Symposium Susan Faludi will speak about the different waves of feminism in a talk titled “The Mother-Daughter Power Failure: The Perils and Promise of Intergenerational Feminism.” For more information e-mail conron@brandeis.edu. Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Shapiro Admissions Center.

Anthropology Community Meeting The Anthropology department is holding a forum for participants to share views about the department and graduate program. Open to Anthropolgy graduate students, faculty and staff. Thursday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in Golding 101.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

ADMINISTRATION

STUDENT UNION

Reinharz speaks at Delhi climate summit

Aronin resumes post of Union secretary after special election

■ Brandeis President

Jehuda Reinharz spoke about the role of the liberal arts in solving world issues.

By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

During his trip to India from Feb. 1 to Feb. 13, University President Jehuda Reinharz spoke at the 2010 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, the first major convention on climate change since the Copenhagen Summit in 2009, according to Vice President of Global Affairs Daniel Terris, who accompanied Reinharz on the trip.

Reinharz also spoke at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai about the role universities could play in tackling global issues, visited the Jewish community in Mumbai and visited alumni in both Delhi and Mumbai, according to information about the trip posted on the Brandeis Web site.

Reinharz wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that his speech emphasized the benefits of a liberal arts education in solving global problems.

“Solving global problems requires the kind of big ideas and creative thinking that are natural outgrowths of a liberal arts educa-

tion,” he wrote.

Reinharz called for the establishment of a Global Student Research Corps, a network of undergraduate and graduate students who could generate data and advance progress on climate change.

He wrote that he received “a lot of positive feedback” about this idea.

“It is clear to me that we need institutions of higher education to think big, to bring all of our many resources to bear, including the talents, energies, passion and idealism of our students and young people in general,” he said during his speech at the summit, a copy of which was posted on the Brandeis Web site.

Terris, who had visited India twice before on behalf of the University’s advancement of relationships with India, said that Reinharz’s presence enhanced the University’s visibility on the trip and had increased publicity benefits, explaining that Reinahrz was interviewed by two major newspapers and a national television station.

“This trip reinforced our connections to Brandeis alumni and parents of current students, and it helped bring a higher level of visibility for the University within the country,” Reinharz wrote.

Reinharz wrote that, in an effort

to solidify the alumni base in India, the University is in the process of establishing chapters in Delhi and Mumbai to enable alumni to convene for Brandeis activities and to increase opportunities available for Brandeis students in India.

Prof. Harleen Singh (GRALL), the chair of the South Asian Studies program, also accompanied Reinharz on this trip. Singh had said she hoped the trip would advance the South Asian Studies program.

Singh said in a phone interview with the Justice that she is in the preliminary stages of speaking with academics, professors and artists to work on partnerships between Indian institutions and Brandeis students, and she is specifically working on a partnership with TERI University, the Energy and Resources Institute in Delhi.

Singh said “major progress” was made on this trip in regards to this specific partnership.

Singh also served as a liaison to Reinharz and said she tried to help highlight the benefits of bridging cultural differences.

“I hope I helped in some ways in getting [Reinharz] to understand the differences in cultural systems and how we can use this information to help our undergraduates,” she said.

■ The secretary, who was

impeached in January, was a write-in candidate and won by more than 100 votes.

By RYAN KUHEL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The student body re-elected former Student Union Secretary Diana Aronin ’11 Feb. 10 after her impeachment by the Student Union Senate and removal from office by the Union Judiciary in January. As a write-in candidate, Aronin received 220 votes. Abraham Wachter ’12, who finished second in the election, received 117 votes.

As stated in the Feb. 2 issue of the Justice, Aronin was impeached by the Student Union Senate for failing to submit a vote to the student body for a referendum on an amendment proposed

by Jonathan Freed ’09 to establish a midyear senator position.

As reported in the Dec. 1, 2009 issue of the Justice, the resolution to impeach Aronin, which was passed by a unanimous vote of the Student Union Senate, stated that Aronin “willfully corrupted and violated the duties set forth to her in the Constitution.” The Student Union Constitution reads, “The amendment referendum vote shall occur within fifteen academic days after the presentation of the amendment referendum proposal to the Senate.”

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The UJ removed her from office in a decision issued Jan. 31.

After her removal from office, several students began a Facebook group in support of Aronin that called for her re-election as a write-in candidate.

Regarding her re-election, Aronin told the Justice, “I had no intention of becoming secretary again. My friends started the [Facebook] group because they wanted to bring me some vindication and prove to the Union how ridiculous everyone thinks they are.”

Aronin added that “[the Student Union has] been welcoming, for the most part.” Reflecting on the response she received through the Facebook group, Aronin said that the group shows that the student body is on her side. Hogan told the Justice that he welcomes Aronin back to the Student Union and also added that no tension exists between the Union and Aronin.

Hogan continued to say that the Union would not get distracted by the re-election. He said the Union needs to focus on the “bigger issues” facing the student body.

“Honestly, I think it’s pretty funny.

Obviously there is a big base of student apathy. … We really don’t care about student politics at all. A small section of the student body makes a big deal about what she did, and then we reelect her anyway,” said Orin Nimni ’11.

—Miranda Neubauer contributed reporting

ACADEMICS

New master’s program begins ■ The Professional Science

Master’s Program in Biotechnology will combine science and business.

By EMILY KRAUS JUSTICE EDITOR

A new Professional Science Master’s Program in Biotechnology is currently accepting applications for fall 2010, the first semester that the program will be offered, according to Profs. Neil Simister (BIOL) and Susan Lovett (BIOL), the director and assistant director of the program.

The program is both a stand-alone two-year master’s program for graduate students and a five-year combined bachelor’s and master’s program for undergraduates. It focuses on both science and business, which Simister says will give its graduates unique qualifications in their fields.

“The graduates of the program will be hybrids—they’ll know about science and they’ll know about business—so we think they’ll be very well positioned for jobs in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals [and other similar fields],” said Simister. He went on to say that job applicants are often highly specialized in either business or science but that they lack experience outside of their specific areas of study. He said that surveys of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies show that it is difficult to find applicants who understand both business and science, so this program will give students an advantage in the job market after their graduation.

Lovett said, “It’s meant to prepare students in the best possible way to enter the workforce. … It’s not just classwork.” The PSM program also incorporates a mandatory internship between the two years of the program or after an undergraduate’s senior year.

According to the program’s Web site, the internship provides students with “real technical experience as well as a practical understanding of the issues and cultures in the biosciences workplace.”

Lovett said that the program is look-

ing to accept 10 students for fall 2010.

She said that while they would prefer to have half graduate students and half undergraduates, “If we have a lot of qualified Brandeis students, we’ll take those over the others.” According to the Web site, applications will be considered until all of the program’s slots are filled. Simister stressed that applicants need not be science majors as long as they meet the prerequisites for the program.

“We’re looking for some diversity in the student population. We’re looking for students who have a strong desire for this kind of position. We have kind of minimal prerequisites, … a year in biology and laboratory and a year of chemistry and laboratory,” said Lovett.

However, she also said that interested students who do not meet all of the prerequisites should apply, and the applications would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Simister said, “The business model for the program is that it will not require any expenditure by the University.” Courses will be taught by Biology, Biochemistry and International Business School faculty, and tuition should cover additional program costs such as adjunct faculty for business courses and a lab coordinator.

According to Lovett, there are only around 15 comparable programs nationwide. “We hope that this will serve as a model for similar programs like this in other fields [at Brandeis],” she said, saying that Computer Science and Environmental Science could benefit from similar programs. According to the Professional Science Master’s Web site, the organization that the Brandeis program is affiliated with, programs in these disciplines exist but are not offered at the University.

Lovett also said that there may be scholarships available for students who require financial aid if Brandeis is awarded a National Science Foundation grant. The program’s Web site states that undergraduates who enroll in the program will not have any changes in their financial aid for the first year and can apply for aid from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for the second year.

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

Do the Right Thing Harvard Professor Michael Sandel ’75, a Rhodes Scholar and former Brandeis trustee, discussed his book Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? at an event held last night.

The event was sponsored by, among others, Gen Ed Now and the Politics department.

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THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

CAMPUS EVENT

CAMPUS EVENT

Ben-Ami discusses J Street

Skinner describes the persistence of slavery

■ The issue of American

engagement in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict was discussed last Thursday.

■ Benjamin Skinner said

that slavery is present in countries like Romania.

By ERIN DONIGER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Executive Director of J Street Jeremy Ben-Ami pressed the need for American involvement in the IsraeliPalestinian debate at an event last Thursday sponsored by J Street U and Gen Ed Now. J Street is a self-described “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby with outreach programs at universities around the country.

Ben-Ami explained to his audience that J Street was established two years ago because “we believe in the concept of a Jewish home in the state of Israel” and that its security is at stake. J Street is meant to “enable a discussion in the American Jewish community around these issues,” he said.

J Street is routinely being challenged by pro-Israel organizations who feel that the organization is sending the wrong message about what is best for the Jewish state of Israel, BenAmi said. The Washington Post reported last April that J Street has “prompted criticism from many established Jewish advocacy groups, which say the project appears calibrated to grab attention and often goes too far in its critiques of Israeli policy.”

Ben-Ami explained that his organization promotes the idea that there is a lot of “gray.” He added, “I am proPalestinian because I am pro-Israel.”

Having returned from Israel just three days prior to the event, Ben-Ami stressed that he had never felt such a sense of urgency in the area. “The real chance for actually dividing this land … is slipping away from us by the month,” he said.

In an interview with the Justice after the event, Ben-Ami said, “The best thing that can happen is not that

By CLARE CHURCHILL-SEDER JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

MIDDLE EASTERN POLITICS: The executive director of J Street spoke last Thursday. we preach an answer but that we open up the discussion.”

President of J Street U-Brandeis Jeremy Sherer ’10, who introduced BenAmi, told the Justice in an interview after the event, “I really wanted to bring this approach to Israel advocacy to the campus. … Right now we are a senior-heavy organization, ... but I don’t think there is ever going to be a shortage of advocates for Israel at Brandeis University.”

J Street U-Brandeis was chartered by the Brandeis Student Union last fall, and “I could not have seen it going

this well,” Sherer told the Justice.

Sherer told the Justice that this event, which was attended by about 60 students, was highly successful in his opinion.

Other attendees also shared their thoughts on the event with the Justice.

Shirel Guez ’12 said, “I thought his criticisms of Israel were too harsh, especially when he blamed Israel for lacking strong leadership with peaceful initiatives.” Although she was less than pleased with Ben-Ami’s arguments, she said, “I do still think very highly ... of J Street U at Brandeis.”

“There are more slaves today than at any point in human history,” E. Benjamin Skinner, a journalist and senior fellow at the Schuster Institute of Investigative Journalism, told an audience of faculty and students at a Feb. 22 lecture.

Skinner spoke as a part of the Social Justice Leadership Series about his book A Crime So Monstrous: Face-toFace with Modern-Day Slavery. Skinner said that modern slavery is defined by humans who “are forced to work, held through fraud, under threat of violence for no pay above subsistence.”

Skinner explained that modern-day slavery is different from slavery of the 1800s. Whereas slavery had been a visible part of society in the 1800s—there were public auctions—most people know next to nothing about its modernday counterpart, Skinner said. Yet according to Skinner, approximately 27 million humans across the globe are still being held as slaves.

The highest concentration of human enslavement is in South Asia, where the vast majority of slaves are working to pay off debts—often debts from previous generations, according to Skinner. He recalled a man he had met in India who was being forced to work because of a 62-cent debt his great grandfather had failed to repay; the man’s family has been enslaved because of the debt ever since.

But slavery is not contained to South Asia, Skinner explained. Often acting undercover, Skinner witnessed slavery in 12 different countries including Haiti, Romania and even the United

5

States. “If I’m talking here for half an hour, on average, one more person will become a slave on U.S. soil within that half hour,” he said.

Skinner told the audience that Haiti, right off the U.S. coast, has one of the highest concentrations of slaves in the world and that there is no law against human trafficking there. Skinner recalled that on a trip to Haiti to investigate A Crime So Monstrous, “There were several men standing in front of this barber shop, and one of them came over and said, ‘Do you want to get a person?’” The asking price for a 12-yearold girl who would do domestic labor and serve as a “partner” was $100, Skinner said. He easily negotiated the trafficker down to $50, which, he told the audience, illustrated both the simplicity of bartering with slave traders and the devaluation of human life in desperately impoverished countries like Haiti.

Skinner reassured his audience that he had not followed through with the negotiations, as paying for a human life is “giving rise to a trade in human misery.” But he said that buying slaves to rescue them has been a solution adopted by some. According to Skinner, while these kinds of simple fixes are appealing, they are often ineffective. Slaves rescued in this manner often find themselves re-enslaved because the circumstances that led them into slavery have not changed, he said.

Legal structures need to change to make slavery more identifiable and punishable, and the circumstances that precipitate the slave trade also need to change, Skinner said.

The event was received positively, especially in reaction to Skinner’s ability to relay the realities of slavery.

Event attendee Jacob Peeples ’13 told the Justice that the most significant part of the lecture to him was “increased awareness of the atrocities of modern slavery.”

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UNIVERSITY REACTS TO BRANDEIS 2020 PROPOSALS

FORUMS: Students voiced concerns to Jaffe and Krauss CONTINUED FROM 1 Brandeis 2020 proposals. “We are a research university, … but I think the [Board of Trustees] feels that we already are not in graduate education in every area, so one of the ways to rein in our ambitions should be to think about being somewhat less ambitious about what we do in graduate education,” Jaffe said.

“We basically were told that if we didn’t do a serious job, the Board would decide to just cut the budget in Arts and Sciences to something that would probably require far deeper, across-theboard, more damaging cuts,” Krauss said.

“Frankly, one of my worries is that some on the board will feel like this wasn’t enough,” Krauss said.

Christopher Petrello, a first-year Cultural Production student, recalled at the forum that when he applied to graduate programs explaining his research interest, other universities directed him to their Art History or Anthropology departments.

When he wrote to Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH), director of the Cultural Production program at Brandeis, he said, “he not only said it would be a great fit, he seemed excited about it, which in turn made me excited to find other people who were interested in similar things.”

He added that he did not understand why the University did not seem to see the new Mandel Center for the Humanities as a good fit for the Cultural Production program.

“I’m not going to say it doesn’t fit. It many ways it would fit,” Jaffe replied.

“The reason that the majority of us are here is because there is nothing else like this out there,” Nicole March, another first-year Cultural Production student said.

She added that she was under the impression that the program earned money for the University and that it was the program’s expansion that would cause financial difficulties.

Jaffe said that beyond the cost of bringing in additional students,

the program “is costing the University more than it is bringing in.” He added that it would require more investment in the future to be a strong program. “Limiting the number of students does not control the cost of the program.”

In a follow-up e-mail to the Justice, Jaffe wrote, “I did not say [the Cultural Production program] does not earn revenue. What I said was that in the judgment of the committee, it has costs comparable to that revenue. I am not going to share specific numbers in that regard.”

In a follow-up e-mail to the Justice, Auslander wrote, “The CP program generates over $200,000 in revenue each year via tuition. Our understanding is that about $100,000 goes to help pay the salaries of faculty and administrators associated with the program, and to cover the expenses of the program. The remaining 100K goes to the Graduate School, and helps support Graduate School programs, such as stipends for PhD students.”

Benjamin Williams, an MFA student in Theater Design, stated that the Theater students acknowledged that the current state of their program was unsustainable.

If the design program were removed, “the MFA program in acting and the undergraduate program would have to be significantly restructured,” he said.

“If this is going to take place, we firmly believe that the design program can be included within the overhaul of the department,” Williams said. He continued to say that the program could work with the administration and the theater program to minimize production values of performances.

Carlos Martinez-Ruiz, an Anthropology Ph.D. student, said that the Anthropology program costs less than other programs.

Acknowledging that other programs are more expensive, Jaffe noted that “there is no serious research university that does not have a Ph.D. in English. There are serious research universities that don’t offer Ph.D.s in anthropology.”

Martinez-Ruiz went on to say

that the committee had not taken into account the department’s transition. “We chose Brandeis because it’s a small, up-and-coming department. ... It is quite surprising to us that it is throwing that all of that effort and investment out of the window at the moment when the department is beginning to see the fruits that the University invested.”

Jaffe stated that the committee did not apply the same criteria to all programs and that it was aware of the changes that had occurred.

Undergraduates also expressed concern about the University’s public perception and how the proposals would concretely affect them at their open forum.

At the undergraduate forum, Jaffe emphasized that it was the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department’s task to establish how to meet the proposals’ goals, there was no intention to reduce the frequency of Yiddish language classes and that few students pursued the NEJS minor.

“One of the reasons I wanted to come here was because I thought, wow, there are so many different kinds of majors here, and I thought that unique people would gravitate to this school,” Janette Myette ’13 said.

Jaffe noted that with over 40 majors and similar number of minors, dropping two or three “I really don’t think is a major change in terms of the breadth of possibilities.”

“I think the Brandeis 2020 Committee did a fairly good job of finding a balance,” Caroline Grassi ’12, an Italian Studies undergraduate departmental representative said, “While it’s disappointing for my department to face a cut, it’s understandable since the department’s only tenured professor will be leaving in the next two years.”

Jaffe pointed out that students could put together an Independent Interdisciplinary Major in Italian Studies through the Boston Consortium or Study Abroad but that the University didn’t want to be “claiming we have a major that we don’t really feel we have enough courses to justify. “ Pointing out the “fundamental”

GRAD: Board approves renovations CONTINUED FROM 1 we’ve replenished our checking account ... by virtue of the $18 million chunk of this bond issue.”

Director of Community Living for Juniors and Seniors Erika Lamarre explained in an e-mail to the Justice that only about 250 of Charles River’s 351 beds are currently filled. “Students have opted not to live in Charles River because it didn’t seem like an attractive option to them,” she wrote.

Collins and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer both shared Lamarre’s opinion. Sawyer said in an interview with the Justice that renovating Charles River “doesn’t change the number of beds. What it does, in our opinion, … is put Charles River back on the list of options for students when they go through room selection. … It will become relevant again.”

The BrandeisNOW article explained that the project is necessary to accommodate the growing student population and said that all of Charles River’s 140 apartments will be renovated.

Collins said he believed that the renovation project supports education via suitable infrastructure. “In some ways I see [the renovation] as a crucial element of our overall mission to provide housing for students,” he said.

Despite all the work that will be done to the 38-year-old complex, Collins stressed that a renovated building is still not the same as a new

building. “The renovation is going to be extensive, the renovation is going to be terrific, [but] it’s important for people to understand that we will still periodically continue to have problems in Charles River,” he said.

Feldman explained in an e-mail to the Justice that work has already begun on the renovation project. “We have just begun the Preconstruction phase of the project, during which we will be exploring options for the appliances. We are working with [Senior Director of Community Living] Jeremy Leiferman to get students’ thoughts about the various alternatives,” Feldman wrote.

To complete the renovation by the fall semester, Feldman wrote, “We are working with a Preconstruction Services Manager to study the requirements and schedule at the most detailed levels. The schedule will be structured to ensure that the work is complete in time for the start of the fall 2010 semester.” He added, “Until the schedule is fully developed at a detailed level, it is impossible to say whether there is added cost for meeting the tight schedule.”

Collins explained that the Board worked hard to approve the project in time for students to factor a newly renovated housing option into their decision of where to live for the next academic year. If the Board had waited until its next meeting to approve the project, Collins said, “Students would-

n’t have known whether Charles River was going to be done or not going to be done,” and would not have been able to plan accordingly.

In order to publicize the upcoming renovation to students before they choose next year’s housing, the DCL held an open house event last Wednesday afternoon in a renovated model Charles River unit. The model unit, which Collins said was renovated a couple of weeks ago, is a five-bedroom apartment with a common room, kitchen and two bathrooms.

Leiferman and Lamarre were present at the open house, during which students looked around the refurbished apartment.

Darren Sandler ’11, who attended the open house, thought the open house was “very nice” and appreciated the ability to give feedback but had mixed feelings about the apartment.

“Obviously any improvement is better than no improvement. However, I do feel that it still has a little bit of that depressing feel to it,” he said.

Lamarre wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that she felt the open house was “very successful,” with a large turnout despite the rainy weather.

“Students asked insightful questions, shared some great praise of the unit, and offered suggestions,” she wrote.

—Nashrah Rahman, Harry Shipps and Miranda Neubauer contributed reporting.

influence Anthropology Ph.D. students had on her classroom experience, Union Vice President and Anthropology UDR Amanda Hecker ’10 asked about the effect of the program’s closure.

“We do anticipate that there will still be teaching assistants in Anthropology,” Jaffe said, noting the continued existence of the master’s program.

Jaffe went on to say that he did not think the new Division of Science would be a change very visible to undergraduates because the individual departments would still exist.

“What we’re thinking of doing … is instead of each [of] those departments individually putting together their curriculum that would be coordinated at the level of the division.”

Jaffe said he could not yet say exactly how the plans for the theater program would play out. “Our goal is to have a terrific undergraduate theater curriculum that includes all aspects of theater, including design,” he said.

“Exactly how we’re going to do that and reconfigure the department … I honestly don’t know.”

With two new faculty hired already for next fall in addition to two hired through the Kay Fellows Fund, fellowships for postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and the social sciences, Jaffe pointed out that “we will be hiring many fewer faculty over the next few years” compared to the usual number of 12 to 15 per year.

Former Student Union President Jason Gray ’10, also a member of the Brandeis 2020 Committee, encouraged concerned students to reach out to faculty to help shape the new curricula with them.

“I thought they did a good job responding, and they made me not afraid of how the reputation of the school is going to be after this proposal and after there are major cuts,” Janette Myette ’13 said after the forum.

“My primary concern is why did we get to the point where we’re cutting majors, and what I want to know now is what can the University do to cut other things ?… I’m not terrified anymore.”

Faculty reactions

MARK AUSLANDER (ANTH) “[Faculty and graduate students] all feel this is a very unfortunate and poorly considered decision.”

JOYCE ANTLER (AMST) “[The proposal] was not a shock, but nonetheless, I have to say that we are disappointed.”

DEBRA BOOTH (THA) “I don’t really understand how the idea of production is going to happen if you don’t have design students either to design the [sets].”

PAOLO SERVINO (GRALL) “Many of our students ... will continue to study abroad in Italy to supplement their Brandeis studies.”

WORKLOAD: Original report revised after consultation CONTINUED FROM 1 Jaffe’s meeting with the department chairs that the committee should proceed by “establishing guidelines for examining workloads in different circumstances.”

Once those guidelines are established, according to the suggestion of the department heads and Faculty Senate, the review of faculty workloads should be done in conjunction with the annual merit review, which is already established, said Jaffe. He added that perhaps questions could be added to the already-existing retrospective activities report that faculty members are required to submit, which would deal with faculty members’ plans going forward.

Von Mering said that while she felt addressing faculty workloads is very important, she would expect that there are only a few instances of dramatic inequity of faculty loads and that the new system proposed in the committee’s report would create “a lot of work for a lot of people.” She added that the faculty is already overextended, and so there was a sentiment that the system was not the most efficient way to proceed.

Jaffe said that the motivation behind the consideration of faculty workloads came from the “sense, in

a number of places, that over the next few years as we decrease the number of faculty and increase the number of students that there are going to be strains on the faculty in terms of their responsibilities.” He said that it was very important for faculty morale to have a sense that there is equity in the amount of work being done.

The report states that faculty members make “contributions to the university’s missions in the areas of scholarship or creative work, teaching and service.”

With the University’s increase in enrollment and decrease in faculty hiring as a result of the financial crisis, the report says, there will inevitably be an increase in the “overall burdens borne by the faculty in terms of teaching and advising,” and this may create tension between “external and internal demands.”

According to the Faculty Handbook, the Dean of Arts and Sciences reserves the power to change faculty members’ teaching loads, but von Mering said that this has not been the practice in the past and that this renewed focus on faculty workloads may indicate a change in University practice.

THE JUSTICE

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VERBATIM | Mark Twain Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

ON THIS DAY...

FUN FACT

In 1790 Congress authorized the first U.S. census.

The pope’s official barber, who cuts only the pope's hair, earns an annual salary equivalent to $250,000.

Beating Brandeis blues

By LIAT ZABLUDOVSKY JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

While Brandeis students may be in the thick of midterms, Brandeis nutritionist Laura O’Gara and a counseling center psychologist, Dr. Karen Patrick, suggest that students use the resources available to cope on campus to help them cope. Below are their suggestions, as well as several other students’ and professors’ tips on balancing nutrition and wellness amid a crazy college schedule.

NUTRITION O’Gara can’t stress enough that from a nutritional perspective, staying sane during a time of pressure is simple in theory: As stress increases, so should the nutritional value of our food choices. She encourages students to develop a routine of eating well so that they will be ready emotionally and physically to fight the pressures of anxiety. Still, she understands that it’s hard to make the healthiest decisions on a campus full of unhealthy snacks. However, she emphasized that it is important for students to boost the nutritive value of their diet during times of increased stress. If students are having trouble establishing a healthy balanced diet, they can try these tricks to fight off anxiety when the deadline for that 10-page paper is looming close.

CARBOHYDRATES: FRIEND OR FOE? A balanced diet starts with carbohydrates, something that O’Gara has found Brandeis students tend to fear. With stigma from fad diets and a common belief that carbohydrates are equitable to weight gain, they are certainly not given the credit they deserve as a healthy option. “A lot of students on campus feel that carbs are just bad...Our brains really run on carbs,” says O’Gara.

She says that a bowl of pasta is a great choice but mentions that students should be careful not to overdo it. Carbohydrates can have sedative effects when consumed in concentrated, uninterrupted quantities.

O’Gara suggests balancing out a meal with a protein such as nuts, chicken or salmon.

Elizabeth Drikman ’13 has come up with a perfect option. When she’s stressed, she goes right to Usdan’s Tortilla Fresca station for a burrito, which can include rice, chicken, tortilla, beans and vegetables.

FATTY ACIDS: THE GOOD FATS Drikman also likes Usdan’s Balance station for their healthfully prepared salmon. Salmon, aside from being a protein source, has the added benefit of another important stress-buster: omega-3 fatty acids. This superfat helps keep stress in check and prevent stress surges. Eating it a few times a week can make all the difference in a student’s diet, and luckily it’s also found in walnuts and the canola oil used everywhere on campus, says O’Gara.

DAYTIME SNACKING Though it is most helpful to maintain a healthy diet all the time, fighting stress with nutri-

GENEVIEVE ARMSTRONG/ the Justice

HEALTHY HELPER: Laura O’Gara, campus nutritionist, is available for any questions involving nutrition, health and eating that students may have.

How to alleviate the stress of mid-semester tion does not have to be a fulltime commitment. It can be as small as choosing the right kind of snack while studying. O’Gara suggests eating something crunchy like raw vegetables or corn chips from the Provisions on Demand Market, which can help fight stress and get through a night of endless note-taking.

NIGHTTIME SNACKING Eating carbohydrates right before bed promotes a relaxing sleep, speeding the release of serotonin. A carbohydrate-based bedtime snack such as crackers or toast with jam can be the perfect way to end a night and enjoy some relaxing sleep. Another option is warm milk, which soothes and gives a big calcium boost. The calcium in milk eases muscle spasms and muscle contractions, providing a more restful and calm sleep, O’Gara says.

MENTAL HEALTH A study from by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge found an increase in the number of college students who report experiencing anxiety, depression and other mental disorders from 1983 to 1987. In addition to what students eat, the way they deal with stress psychologically can have a huge impact on how they feel under pressure.

Still, Patrick contends that when students are starting to feel overwhelmed by various commitments, there is a lot that can be done to soothe this stress away.

PREPARATION Mediating the anxiety, Patrick says, begins with anticipation.

“If you know things will be

when you’re feeling anxious.

Also, treating stress-relief as another assignment can make the difference between fighting stress and becoming a victim of it. Make a point to go to Gosman for a workout, take a hot shower or spend some time with friends.

Patrick emphasizes that the time spent away from studying and other responsibilities is just as important as the responsibilities themselves.

ASHER KRELL/ the Justice

CURBING STRESS: Elizabeth Drikman ’13 eats burritos for protein and carbs. stressful, plan ahead of time to have your laundry done,” says Patrick. Anticipating stress can really ease the blow of anxiety and help keep us calm. Having a routine and keeping outside responsibilities minimal during the period of strain can also be very helpful.

MAKE TIME FOR FUN Patrick does not advise, however, forgoing hobbies or other activities that students find enjoyable. Many students, such as Alexandra Daly ’11, choose to skip leisurely activities and study instead.

“When I have midterms,” says Daly, “I don’t really go to campus events. I get too stressed to do anything else but study.”

Patrick suggests trying to avoid this sort of behavior, explaining that studying uses the “academic brain,” and it is important to take a break from that kind of mental labor. Dancing, listening to music

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and especially projects such as artwork that allow students to use their hands are great stressfighters.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT If stress begins to get overwhelming, there are a number of ways to ease anxiety. What we tell ourselves dictates how stressed we are, so it’s important to keep a positive attitude. Patrick urges that students give themselves credit for what they finished and only think about what they have control over.

“Worrying is a terrible thing to do—you don’t get anywhere but more stressed,” says Patrick. Positive self-talk and reassuring thoughts can make a huge difference in how you’re feeling. Activities such as yoga and deep-breathing exercises can have extremely calming effects as well. If you’re a spiritual person, stay with this routine during a stressful time and use it more

HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON Prof. Michael Coiner (ECON) says that students should choose to sleep instead of cramming the night before a class and make sure to eat breakfast. “I can think of at least three instances where students who had little sleep and nothing to eat fainted during an exam and of many other instances where someone with little or no sleep wrote nonsense answers that they themselves would have recognized as such if they had had enough rest,” says Coiner.

STRESS IS NOT ALL BAD There are many things students can do to fight the effects of “bad” stress. It is important, though, to realize that “stress is not all bad,” O’Gara says. We need stress to motivate us and to provide incentive. The best thing we can do, according to O’Gara, is to make an effort to become stress-resilient by bolstering our mental and physical bodies, which means practicing stress techniques and making them a routine part of life. Sleeping, eating well, exercising and taking breaks to do fun things are all part of leading a happy, healthy life.

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SHEFALI SHANDILYAI/the Justice

MOTIVATED VOLUNTEERING: In the Waltham Group office on the third floor of the Shapiro Campus Center, Shaina Gilbert ’10 and Nate Rosenblum ’10 discuss the Clubs in Service Global Haiti Initiative on campus.

Combining clubs with the community

By MISSY MANDELL JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

From Feb. 1 to Feb. 12, the women’s club lacrosse team sold Valentine’s Day candy grams throughout the day in Shapiro Campus Center. The determined girls sat around a table with paper hearts, markers and bottles of glitter.

While one might expect the money to go toward new uniforms or equipment, the team will instead dedicate them to the Global Haiti Initiative on campus.

The lacrosse team is one of over 20 clubs working under the Clubs in Service initiative, a new program that pairs service organizations with sports teams or other non-service organizations in order to engage in community service projects, says Nate Rosenblum ’10. Rosenblum serves as the on-campus representative on the Waltham Group Committee, a representative on the Clubs in Service committee and a Clubs in Service facilitator.

Clubs in Service was started last year by Jason Gray ’10, then president of the Student Union.

“I think Clubs in Service gets at the heart of what Brandeis is about: engaging students and their clubs to make a difference in the community in which we live. Students at Brandeis are passionate about their clubs and passionate about impacting the community,” says Gray.

In order to put these projects into action, clubs can receive small onetime grants, which range from about $25 to $100, to help cover the costs of a Clubs in Service project. The amount of funds each club receives depends on the size of the project, the number of people participating and the impact the project will have on the community according to Rosenblum. Although these funds are available, the Clubs in Service committee encourages clubs to use their own funds to cover the costs to foster a greater connection with the community on which they are making an impact.

Any club or individual can participate in the Clubs in Service initiative, as it looks to connect students interests with community activities.

If there is not a community service project that interests a club or student, Clubs in Service accepts suggestions for new projects.

“One of our goals,” says Rosen-

blum, “is to get as many clubs as possible involved in service to benefit the Waltham community or any community that people feel connected to and get people who haven’t been involved in service more involved and connected.”

There are currently five ongoing Clubs in Service projects. Hospital Helpers knits and makes crafts to bring to patients in hospitals. The Boys and Girls Waltham Group spends time facilitating games with kids and the Junior Brandeis Achievers runs clubs at the Stanley Elementary School teaching the kids about any of their own favorite hobbies. Additionally, there is also General Tutoring for Brandeis students able to tutor in any subject in grades K to 12. The Waltham Alliance to Create Housing is looking for individuals who can help translate foreign languages and assist at the W.A.T.C.H. Clinic with non-English speaking tenants in Waltham.

JBA looks to pair other clubs with projects that involve educating children. For example, the Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society and one of the JBA volunteers worked to teach children from Stanley Elementary School how to be more comfortable with public speaking through fun poetry readings and stories, said JBA coordinators Heather Bernstein ’12, Lauren Gendzier ’12, Sarah Michael ’12 and Cecelia Watkins ’11 in an e-mail to the Justice.

JBA is also working with Brandeis’ chapter of the Foundation of International Medical Relief of Children to implement the “Body Works” club, designed to teach children about a healthy lifestyle along with a kid-friendly yoga component.

In the future, JBA will work with a few Brandeis dance groups for a new “Boogie Down” club to introduce the children to different styles of dance, say JBA coordinators.

“Because our program is relatively new...we were very interested in the Clubs in Service initiative right off the bat, as it is a great way to expand and incorporate many different ideas and aspects of education ... into our program,” the JBA coordinators wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

In response to the earthquakes in Haiti, a Clubs in Service committee quickly formed to raise money for relief. The Global Haiti Initiative, Brandeis Chapter now includes nonservice groups such as the club

Clubs in Service pairs non-service groups with the Waltham Group

ROBYN SPECTOR/Justice File Photo

COMMUNITY SERVICE FAIR: Through the Clubs in Service initiative, individuals and clubs can volunteer with the Waltham Group. lacrosse team, B-Deis records and other students who are not involved with a particular organization but want to contribute to the effort.

On Feb. 5, B-Deis Records held a benefit concert to raise funds for Haiti in the Shapiro Campus Center.

One of the performers, Ben Harel ’12, commented on the outcome of the concert, “There was a very good showing considering the small amount of promotion of the concert.

The audience was very supportive and enjoyed themselves, and I also

had a lot of fun performing.”

The committee does not plan on dissolving anytime soon. Instead, its members plan to dedicate their efforts toward other long-term projects that benefit Haiti.

Zoe Siegel ’13, who is working on the Global Haiti Iniative committee of Clubs in Service, says, “Even though we want to do things now that will benefit Haiti, we want the projects we start to always help Haiti. The people who want to be involved are looking to start projects

that will be long-lasting so that whatever we do now will still be helping Haiti in 30 years. We don’t want our efforts to become outdated.”

According to Jenna Brofsky ’10, Student Union director of community advocacy, a member of the Clubs in Service committee and a Clubs in Service facilitator, “As social justice is a pillar of our University, we want to make it easier for our clubs, which are in many respects the heart of social life here at Brandeis, to engage in service.”

THE JUSTICE

Amber Kornreich ‘12 has been president of Brandeis Democrats since the beginning of Spring semester. When Kornreich. an Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major, is not coordinating or participating in political activism, she volunteers for the Waltham Group, where she is a coordinator and co-founder of Brandeis Buddies, or writing for the Brandeis Law Journal, where she is chief features editor. Kornreich spoke to the Justice in an e-mail about her political views.

JustFeatures: When did you first get involved in politics, and when did you first identify as a Democrat? Why? Amber Kornreich: When I was a little girl I traveled with my mom as she campaigned for a judge, and since then I’ve been interested in and fascinated by politics. I worked on a political campaign in Miami the summer after my senior year of high school. Once I felt how electrifying campaign work could be, I was addicted. When I arrived at Brandeis, I was warmly welcomed into the community of political activists here, and they really showed me the ropes. I’ve really cemented my attachment to the Democratic Party in college.

JF: What do you think is the most important issue that Obama should focus on while he is in office and why?

AK: Jobs. With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, many American families are hurting. It is absolutely essential that emergency unemployment benefits be extended to these Americans. The cost of inaction is undoubtedly greater than the effect of any short-term increase to the deficit. The problem of unemployment is too large, and the impact on American lives is too real.

JF: What do you hope to accomplish from Brandeis students as president of the Democrats?

AK: I hope that Brandeis Dems meetings and events can continue to be an open forum for students to discuss issues of global, na-

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tional, state and campus politics and [we] keep on the tradition of being heavily involved in the campus world outside of politics ... I know we will keep gaining new members, and, no matter the size of the club, we’ll keep engaging in activism.

JF: How do you feel about the political atmosphere at Brandeis?

AK: I think the political atmosphere at Brandeis is invigorating. ... I’m always delighted at how available a quick political chat with students or professors around campus is, and virtually everyone, whether they choose to be involved in activism or not, has really considered their opinions about the state of the world. I love to hear a variety of perspectives.

JF: Who would you say were the top five best presidents?

AK: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Bill Clinton.

JF: Oftentimes, as people get older their political views begin to shift. Do you predict that this will happen to you? Why or why not?

AK: I do not want to rule out evolving emotionally, intellectually and therefore politically in the future.

I know that my values will remain constant and I want to work to ensure the party continues to represent those values.

JF: What do you view as the current strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic party?

AK: I think the strengths of the Democratic Party are, and will always be, its dedication to the pursuit of values of equality for all Americans, insistence on protecting civil liberties, and its flexibility to adapt its views to changing times.

—Condensed Schwartz.

and

edited

by

Arielle

NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/the Justice

PROUD DEMOCRAT: Amber Kornreich ’12 recently became president of the Brandeis Democrats.

The opposite ends of the

p

m

The President of the Brandeis Democrats and the President of the Brandeis Republicans voice their views Nipun Marwaha ’12 has been president of Brandeis Republicans since last spring semester. Marwaha, an Economics major and Legal Studies minor, is also a member of the Mock Trial team and a former senator of the Student Union. Marwaha discussed his reasons for becoming a Republican through a phone interview with the Justice.

JustFeatures: When did you first get involved in politics, and when did you first identify as a Republican? Why? Nipun Marwaha: I first got involved in politics halfway through freshman year. I lived next to a hardcore Republican. My roommate was an Obama maniac, so it evened out. I believe that personal responsibility is the most important thing that people need to have and that the government should not be responsible for people’s actions or inactions. I went to the election meeting for Brandeis Republicans last year, and I originally ran for vice president. Then the president resigned and I became the new president.

JF: What do you think is the most important issue that Obama should focus on while he is in office and why?

NM: The unemployment issue is the most important issue that Obama should focus on.

The government should start cutting taxes so people can start their own businesses and reinvigorate the national economy.

JF: What do you hope to accomplish from Brandeis students as president of the Republicans?

ROZI LEVI/the Justice

REPUBLICAN RED: Nipun Marwaha ’12 was also involved with Brandeis politics, as a former senator.

NM: I hope to start dispelling the image of [all Republicans being from] the Yosemite family. ... Not all Republicans are evangelical social conservatives. The Republican Party is actually about political conservatism. In other words, the government should be limited and the individuals should have more rights.

JF: How do you feel about the political atmosphere at Brandeis?

NM: Brandeis influenced my political beliefs the most. I found that at Brandeis, people often did not think about the practical outcome of their political beliefs. People need to do something in order for it to be done right. If the government keeps helping us, it is like giving a mouse a cookie. People become lazy and won’t want to do anything if the government keeps helping us so much.

JF: Who would you say were the top five best presidents?

NM: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

JF: Oftentimes, as people get older their political views begin to shift. Do you predict that this will happen to you? Why or why not?

NM: I don’t think so. Usually people shift from liberal to conservative over time. Since I’m already a conservative, I firmly believe in personal responsibility and freedom to choose one’s own path.

JF: What do you view as the current strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic Party?

NM: A current strength of the Democratic Party is the grassroots Astroturf that people are fighting against government so that the government will not control their rights. A current weakness of the Republican party is that the evangelicals are trying to control people’s actions, which is dissuading people from the party.

—Condensed Schwartz.

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edited

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THE JUSTICE

the Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

HANNAH L. KIRSCH, Editor in Chief J OANNA SCHORR, Senior Editor B RIAN FROMM, Deputy Editor ANDREA FINEMAN, Managing Editor ANYA B ERGMAN, REBECCA B LADY, SHANA D. LEBOWITZ and MAX B REITSTEIN MATZA Associate Editors NASHRAH RAHMAN and HARRY SHIPPS, News Editors REBECCA KLEIN, Features Editor HILLEL B UECHLER, Acting Forum Editor J OSH ASEN, Sports Editor SARAH BAYER, Arts Editor ASHER KRELL and ROBYN SPECTOR, Acting Photography Editors B RIAN N. B LUMENTHAL, Layout Editor EMILY KRAUS, Acting Copy Editor B RAD STERN, Advertising Editor

2020 offers productive proposals On Feb. 22, the University released the Brandeis 2020 Committee’s final report, which provided options for academic program restructuring or elimination for Provost Marty Krauss to recommend to the Board of Trustees next week.

While we were initially hesitant about endorsing the findings of a committee that was forced to work under such hasty circumstances, after reviewing the committee’s final report we can see that the members of the committee certainly rose to the occasion and produced a largely reasonable list of recommended changes.

We are pleased that the committee considered whether the University could continue to be “an elite research university/liberal arts college” if a given program were to be terminated before recommending alterations to it.

Considering that smaller departments such as Classical Studies and African and Afro-American Studies were at risk for elimination and interdepartmentalization, respectively, as recently as last year, this page is pleased with their exclusion from the latest proposed cuts.

Among the most reasonable and useful of the committee’s recommendations is the creation of a Division of Science under which the departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science could be more efficiently managed.

This is a prime example of budget-cutting reorganization that is mindful of maintaining the integrity and quality of academics. This is also the case with other proposed internal shifts within science-oriented departments as well as the proposed elimination of the current Hebrew Language and Literature major; we applaud the proposed move of the major into a track within the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Some ideas need reworking A. ELI TUKACHINSKY/the Justice

major, a money-saving idea that should minimally affect the overall major.

However, we are less satisfied with other proposed cuts. The elimination of the Master of Fine Arts program in Theater Design will have ramifications for the undergraduate program that appear to have been unrecognized by the committee; undergraduates have worked on Theater Design productions, such as the recent Funnyhouse of a Negro, and similarly, graduate students advise or assist with undergraduate shows. Similarly, a drastic reduction in the Brandeis Theater Company’s budget would also be detrimental for an undergraduate community with great enthusiasm for theater arts. We urge the provost to consult those running the Theater Design program, who have expressed their willingness to work with the University in crafting more appropriate cuts.

Additionally, we are dismayed by the prospect of completely eliminating the Ph.D. program in Anthropology.

Over the years, the University has committed a large quantity of resources toward building up that program, and Anthropology Ph.D. students often serve as valued teaching assistants and advisers to undergraduate students. While ending it would certainly save the University funds in the short and long run, we urge the provost to consider the past efforts to create the fine Ph.D. program that currently exists and to find a way to better utilize such programs, even amid budget cuts. Reducing the size of the program, as was suggested for the Computer Science and Chemistry departments, would be preferable to eliminating it altogether.

New program good step for Univ This page commends the University for encouraging the development of the professional science master’s in Biotechnology, a financially prudent option that will both distinguish the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and provide undergraduates with valuable professional experiences.

PSM degrees, according to the National Professional Science Masters Association, is an “innovative graduate degree that typically consists of two years of academic training in an emerging or interdisciplinary area of science, mathematics, or technology.

The PSM also contains a professional component that may include internships and ‘cross-training’ in business, management, and communications.”

The PSM is particularly welcome due to recent economic strife that has called for the downgrading of graduate programs. The new program allows both graduate and undergraduate students to combine their studies in sciences with business experience. It also uniquely qualifies its graduates to enter the workforce and gives Brandeis an opportunity to offer an attractive graduate program without incurring additional costs upon the University. Furthermore, this program is unique in its field; there are

Similar programs needed only about 15 similar programs across the country, but none have the specific focuses that this one offers.

We hope that with its interdisciplinary coursework the PSM will attract more graduate and undergraduate applications and increase Brandeis’ academic prestige.

We encourage the University to continue to think along similar lines as more academic restructuring takes place. While the University, as a liberal arts institution, should be reluctant before incorporating preprofessional majors and programs—as this page has previously advised—it should carefully consider all prospects for new courses of study for which we have sufficient resources and can maintain our academic philosophy.

Last year’s proposed major in Communications, Media and Society, for example, made the most of Brandeis’ existing faculty and course offerings while maintaining a balanced liberal arts curriculum. The University should bear in mind the potential for adding new, innovative programs that cost little, diversify academic offerings and boost its standing among colleges across the country.

Skip application videos

By LIZ POSNER JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The New York Times recently reported on Tufts University’s new admissions policy, which allows applicants to submit a short video via YouTube instead of or in addition to their optional written essays. You may already be aware of Tufts’ characteristically quirky essay questions (one of the questions for 2009 to 2010, for example, asks “Kermit the Frog famously lamented ‘It’s not easy being green.’ Do you agree?”).

The Times article treated the new video essay as just another example of this tradition. What the article didn’t do was explore the potentially harmful consequences of the video application.

There’s no immediate danger that video submissions will replace written essays as the primary medium of expression in college applications or elsewhere. The bulk of the application is still writing-based. And it is nice that Tufts is providing an alternative option for those applicants who don’t consider writing their strongest means of self-expression. But I think there is a looming danger to Tufts admissions’ consideration of video applications. It allows applicants to base their applications on personal charisma, and it potentially devalues academic strength and intellectual interest.

Most American universities consider a broad range of qualifications when considering an applicant. Extracurricular activities and personal essays are intended to give context to an applicant’s grades and test scores—to put a face to the name.

But the use of video may add too much color to an application.

The facts inThe Times’ article suggest that the admissions staff at Tufts is focusing on the wrong aspects of this technology.

Tufts Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said regarding the new video application, “You see their floppy hair and their messy bedrooms, and you get a sense of who they are.”

This seems like a terrible standard of evaluation to me.

Admission committees look at several areas of qualification when considering an applicant. Grades and test scores indicate whether a student is academically engaged, dedicated and able to “keep up” with peers. These are important because the university wants to maintain a certain intellectual standard in the classroom. Another consideration, which I discussed previously, is extracurricular interests. According to the Tufts Web site, “The admissions committee looks for ways a student may contribute to the community as a whole.” And on its own site, Brandeis says, “When we look at your application, we do our best to understand how you will fit into the Brandeis community.” Extracurriculars give admissions a sense of what kinds of activities an applicant will be involved in on campus. There is a good chance that the president of his high school’s environmental action club is passionate about environmental activism and will want to continue this interest in college.

Admitting passionate students significantly contributes to the environment on campus outside academics.

Though an applicant’s academic and extracurricular record will likely correlate with his personality, even together they do not paint the complete picture of the applicant. Maybe I’m just missing the point here, but why should the University care about what kind of music I listen to or what my sense of humor is like? Maybe in some indirect way they might influence the campus community, but directly factoring in personality seems to be a bit much. Seeing an applicant’s hair and bedroom may tell you about his attitude and mannerisms but is useless in explaining how he will contribute to the university. If anything, his “floppy hair” and “messy bedroom” tell me this applicant is irresponsible and neglectful of basic hygiene, which surely detracts from the campus environment.

Kidding aside, this kind of evaluation is at once both useless and dangerous. The admissions staff at Tufts seem to be caught up in the superficial elements of their applicants. The Times article also explained how the idea for the video application came to Coffin as he watched a video an applicant had sent in of his own volition. Coffin said, “I thought, ‘If this kid applied to Tufts, I’d admit him in a minute, without anything else.”’ Is there any logic to this statement? I don’t think so. Maybe Coffin didn’t mean this literally, but it still seems like a poor attitude for a dean of admissions at a prestigious university. It is important that admission committees consider how each applicant will contribute to the atmosphere of the campus, but Tufts is first and foremost a school. Academics should be the main factor in this decision. I don’t think an applicant with a sparkling personality but mediocre grades should ever outweigh an applicant with a lackluster personality and strong academic record. If admissions wanted to get a better since of who this applicant “really is,” a 20 to 30 minute interview in person would be a much better indicator than a heavily edited oneminute YouTube clip. But mostly, they should care about how the applicant did in school and whether he had demonstrated passions. Hopefully the admissions staff at Brandeis is aware of this and does not adopt a similar system in the future.

OP-BOX Quote of the Week “If they want to be the Brandeis Institute of Technology then I guess they’ll have to get their money from the scientists who are graduating.”

—Michael Lincoln MFA '79, in discussion about proposed cuts to the Theater department at a public lecture held last Tuesday (See Arts, page 25).

Brandeis Talks Back What do you think of the cuts proposed by the Brandeis 2020 Committee?

ETTA KING ’10 “I understand that the University needs to do what it needs to do, but I hope that it remembers that it’s making decisions for us and for future students.”

DAN DING ’11 “I definitely don’t like the changes that are going on with certain departments.”

THERESA SHEEHAN ’11 “I feel like I should have a stronger opinion, but seeing as I’m leaving in December, I don’t really have one.”

ELLYN GETZ ’13 “I came to Brandeis specifically to study in departments that are being cut, and I’m afraid that my education at Brandeis is being devalued.”

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

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Welcome to personalized medicine

READER COMMENTARY Shorter workweek can save funds In response to your article “Cut the fiveday workweek to four” (Forum, Feb. 9): A fellow classmate, Jourdan Cohen ’11, and I came up with this proposal last year for the CARS committee and got feedback from some faculty.

The main criticism was that Brandeis already has a dearth of both classroom space and offices, so taking out a day would only exacerbate the problem.

Also, I was told that it would be operationally and financially inefficient to have the school running fewer days, though it’s difficult to see that from purely the perspective of changes in the levels of energy consumption.

At the very least, it would be interesting to see some data from the registrar regarding the concentration of students in class during any given day and any given time.

Using this data, the registrar could nudge students into taking a more even spread of time blocks by putting important core courses for majors in less trafficked time blocks.

This, in turn, would give the registrar more leeway in assigning classroom space and create greater overall efficiency for the

By NICK IFTIMIA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Whether we realize it or not, medicine has touched all of our lives in many ways. We have come a long way since the days of driving out spirits and amputating without anesthesia, and yet for all our progress, we still have no real cure for cancer, diabetes or the common cold.

But now, breakthroughs in genome sequencing promise to revolutionize health care and open the door to personalized medicine.

Lord Turnberg of the Royal College of Physicians, England’s oldest medical institution, has stated that “medicine will change more in the next twenty years than in the past two thousand.” Now that 2010 is here, it is natural to wonder what changes the next decade will bring to the medical field. According to the Institute for Systems Biology, a nonprofit research organization, medicine will become much more “predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory”—what are known collectively as the “four Ps.” Modern medical practice is still largely based on a “one-size-fits-all” approach, and patients have little say concerning their treatment. The process is reactionary: We wait until a person is sick before we try to help. But this may soon change with the advent of fast and affordable full-genome sequencing.

An organism’s genome is its hereditary information. DNA, the “molecule of life” carries the necessary instructions to create another organism, turning an embryo into a healthy—or notso-healthy—adult. Normally, unless it is replicating, its DNA is tightly wound and coiled.

This allows more information to fit inside a given space, just as when you crumple up newspaper. Yet despite the vast amount of information stored in our DNA, scientists have labeled up to 95 percent of it as “junk.” The problem is figuring out which parts are important and how they are related to disease. In order to do that, however, we must first crack the code in a process known as DNA sequencing.

The Human Genome Project began in 1990 as an extremely ambitious international effort to map the genome of the human species.

Spearheaded initially by James D. Watson, codiscoverer of the structure of DNA, the project was funded by the U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health as well as other organizations worldwide. It involved major collaboration between several major countries. At the start of the project, Congress had set a timeline of 15 years for its completion. Yet by 1991, less than 0.1 percent had been finished, and had it continued at this rate it would have taken centuries to sequence the full genome. The project, however, was right on track, and by 2003 it was complete. The total cost was almost $3 billion, but as stated by the National Human Genome Research Institute, the project “will likely pay for itself many times over on an economic basis.” The whole sequence was immediately

University.

—Michael Laderman ’11

Changes to SunDeis are beneficial In response to your article “Students criticize plans for revamped SunDeis” (Arts, Feb. 9): I understand and applaud Illona Yuhaev’s ’11 commitment to student involvement in the SunDeis festival, and I share her position that students must be able to have a say in how the festival will run.

However I don’t think the festival has to be completely student run or bust—it’s still possible for students to have a voice even if the film department is involved.

It would be nice if the entire thing was by students for students the way it was originally intended.

But if the student body cannot give SunDeis a functional budget then we must look to other sources of funding, and if that’s the Film, Television and Interactive Media department, so be it—after all, the point of the festival is first and foremost to give student filmmakers a chance to exhibit their work.

I attended SunDeis last year and was very disappointed at the low turnout.

Perhaps with the Film department’s resources and publicity we will be able to attract more submissions and improve student turnout.

After all, films are worthless if they’re not seen.

—Daniel Liebman ’12

RISHIKA ASSOLMULL/the Justice

made available to the public. It can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Prof. James Morris (BIOL) wrote, “The Human Genome Project—sequencing the 3 billion bases of the DNA of a human—was a monumental task. But it was just a first step. With newer technology that allows us to sequence the human genome more quickly and cheaply than ever before, we are in a position to sequence not just the human genome, but your human genome.”

Indeed, the cost of DNA sequencing has since fallen dramatically, while its speed, accuracy and efficiency have continued to improve. In 2007, Watson became the first person to have his whole genome sequenced for a cost of $1 million in just 2 months. As of last year, a full human genome could be sequenced for only $5,000.

“I imagine that the day is coming soon when personal sequence data will be as common as a simple blood test is today. There are many medical benefits that will emerge from this information, as well as potential risks and unintended consequences. We need to be vigilant that the educational, policy, and ethical sides of the

equation are keeping up with this technology,” wrote Morris.

Picture this: In a few years you can go to your doctor’s office, give a blood sample, and in a matter of hours or minutes have your entire unique DNA sequence on a USB drive, along with expert analysis of your current health status and the probability of having a certain disease now and in the future. Are you at risk for osteoporosis? Increase your calcium intake.

Diabetes? Decrease your sugar. Drugs can be targeted to each individual. This personalized approach to medicine, tailored to your specific genetic makeup, would allow you to take preventive measures and participate directly in your own well-being.

Of course, like any technology, this also has the potential for abuse. What happens when employers, insurers, and other institutions have access to your information without your knowledge or will? Genetic discrimination may be the racism of the 21st century. One thing is certain: Commercial full-genome sequencing is poised to be a paradigm-shifting technology that will revolutionize health, science and society.

Undergraduates, remain calm: Proposed cuts will preserve our University

By AVI SNYDER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On Feb. 22, the Brandeis 2020 Committee released its long-awaited report, which proposes significant restructuring of many academic departments in order to achieve long-term annual savings of approximately $3.8 million. The committee was created to combat our growing budget shortfall and the unlikelihood that donations to the University will pick up in the near future. The proposals are bold and certainly controversial. Yet a serious consideration of their particulars shows that they are rather wise proposals, and that compared to what could have happened, undergraduate students got off pretty well. The bulk of the proposals that will affect undergraduates involve the consolidation of various tracks of study, administrative changes within certain departments like science, and certain heavy budget cuts to theater programs.

As an undergrad, I believe these cuts need to be addressed on three separate levels. First, are the University’s reasons for wanting this academic restructuring valid? Second, how will this restructuring affect the ability of undergraduates to pursue higher degrees and careers after graduation? Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, how will this restructuring affect the quality of our education?

The first question is certainly the simplest to answer. As I stated, the University is in real financial trouble. In the words of Chair of the

Write to us

Board of Trustees Budget and Finance Committee Meyer Koplow ’72, “Budget issues at Brandeis have been a never-ending saga.”

If the University is to ever pull itself out of financial trouble, it needs to look toward longterm budget cuts to achieve a balanced budget and financial stability, which is exactly what the 2020 Committee has done. If the University were simply to continue looking for short-term solutions at this juncture, then the University and the student body would most certainly suffer down the road. Should the University successfully act now and implement the committee’s recommendations, future generations of students and faculty will most certainly look back on this time in the Brandeis history with pride, knowing that we didn’t push our financial problems on the shoulders of the next generation as the University may have done in the past.

A more salient question is how these particular cuts will affect undergraduates in the long term, especially regarding prospects for graduate school admissions and career options. And truth be told, the committee’s proposals will have little to no effect in this area. Perhaps I am being a smidge ignorant and presumptuous, but I highly doubt that any graduate school or employer will cease to look favorably on a Brandeis alumnus because his degree is in the Hebrew Language track of a Judaic studies program rather than Hebrew language specifically.

In fact, most of the reforms are simply a matter of departmental reorganization and won’t affect

The Justice welcomes letters to the editor responding to published material. Please submit letters through our Web site at www.thejusticeonline.com. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted. Letters should not exceed 300 words, and may be edited for space, style, grammar, spelling, libel and clarity, and must relate to material published in the Justice.

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the fields in which Brandeis offers bachelor’s degrees.

One concern that may exist is that the University’s cuts to its graduate programs may result in fewer TAs for many classes. However, this isn’t a great loss, since many departments function adequately without TAs even now.

The chief objection that undergraduates may raise against the committee’s proposals is that they will adversely affect the quality of the student body’s education. As far as the most recent proposals are concerned, I think that argument holds little water. Most of the proposed restructuring would affect a very small portion of the student body. Yet the issue of an adverse affect on the University’s quality of education isn’t simply about the numbers. One of the factors that the Committee considered when evaluating what programs to cut or consolidate was “the symbolic and substantive significance of a given scholarly and teaching area.” No programs that would harm the University’s ability to provide a broad liberal arts education were cut.

Some may view the cuts to the Brandeis theater company as the University sacrificing its commitment to the arts. However, in response to such an argument, I will simply reiterate that the University is facing long-term financial instability, and this problem can’t be solved without making some substantive sacrifices. The University has not eliminated its undergraduate theater program, nor has it eliminated the theater company altogether. This is something to be

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

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thankful for, and if the University manages to pull itself out of its dire financial straits in the long-term, cuts like this are not likely to be permanent.

In other words, although certain departments, like Classical Studies, may not be popular among students, the University was unwilling to cut any program deemed essential to the mission of the University. Furthermore, having more academic departments and faculty does not guarantee a better quality of education. The key components to a quality education are teachers who love their fields and love to teach and students who want to learn. The department through which a class is offered is immaterial to the quality and level of the class.

The University has come a long way since its founding some 60 years ago. We are now a major research university with relatively prestigious undergraduate and graduate programs. But we do not have the large endowments of the Ivy League schools, and we have been plagued with financial troubles for many years. The University has finally taken steps to get us out of our dire financial straits, and it has done so in a way that does little to no harm to its undergraduate programs. Hopefully, should the 2020 Committee’s recommendations be implemented, the University can save itself from having to make substantive sacrifices in the future. The committee’s proposals were bold and relatively wise, and this is occasion to be proud of our University.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS NEWS: Alana Abramson FEATURES: Tess Raser ARTS: Bryan Flatt LAYOUT: Debra Friedmann ADS: Cody Yudkoff

STAFF Senior Writers: Miranda Neubauer, Melissa Siegel Senior Photographer: Julian Agin-Liebes, Rebecca Ney Senior Copy Editor: Joyce Wang Senior Illustrator: A. Eli Tukachinsky News: Erin Doniger Forum: Eitan Cooper, Hannah Goldberg, Rebecca

Kellogg, Matt Lawrence, Ethan Mermelstein, Leah Smith, Avi Snyder Sports: Quincy Auger, Jeffrey Boxer, Trevor Cohen, Max Goldstein, Jonathan Steinberg Arts: Rebecca Brooks, Wei-Huan Chen, Alex DeSilva, Elly Kalfus, Morgan Manley, Daniel Orkin, Alex Pagan, Bryan Prywes, Justine Root, Ben Serby, Sujin Shin, Shelly Shore Photography: Genevieve Armstrong, Maegan Bautista, Jaxson Dermer, Nathaniel Freedman, Davida Judelson, Shaefali Shandilya Copy: Danielle Berger, Rebecca Brooks, Jacob Chatinover, Hilary Cheney, Jenn Craig, Camille Dolfen, Ariel Glickman, Patricia Greene, Rachel Herman, Liana Johnson, Daniella Kohlhagen, Mailinh Phan-Nguyen, Zane Relethford, Marielle Temkin, Amanda Winn, Liat Zabludovsky Illustrations: Rishika Assomull, Stacy Handler Layout: Nadav Havivi, Karen Hu, Nan Pang

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THE JUSTICE

FORUM

DEPARTMENTAL VOICES Italian major crucial element of University

By ALEX BLUTINGER SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE

Naples, Italy: the epicenter of one of the most notorious crime syndicates in the world, the Camorra. It is a group responsible for the trash crisis in Naples, the murders of thousands and counterfeiting designer goods, among other things. We had just finished analyzing Gomorrah, the international sensation by Roberto Saviano, the first person to publicly denounce the the Camorra’s activities. I met Prof. Servino (ITAL), for the best pizza of my life at Pizzeria Vanvitelli. It was my first trip to Naples since analyzing Gomorrah, and for the first time, I saw it quite differently.

One of the major reasons I attended Brandeis was to pursue my Italian major in a program that provided a strong and balanced foundation for Italian language, literature and culture. But the Italian Studies major is slated to disappear effective with the class of 2015 based on the Brandeis 2020 Committee’s proposal. The proposed restructuring and reorganization will supposedly make the University “stronger and more flexible in the long run.”

Terminating the Italian Studies major will not make Brandeis a stronger and a more flexible institution; it will strip from itself an essential element of diversity and educational enrichment.

Since I began my Italian major four years ago, the demand for upper-level Italian courses has been unprecedented. As a science student, Italian is my only non-science academic outlet, and it has helped me succeed in every aspect of my education. Brandeis strives to produce well-rounded global citizens, and instruction that comes from Italian courses on Dante Alighieri and Jewish ghettos in Italy, for example, provides new perspectives and elements seldom found in the sciences or any other

major. The analysis and critical thinking developed in these courses transcend any other courses I have taken and are something to be embraced and prized, especially when they are so unique.

With limited resources, the Italian department has attracted and produced scholars with a passion for the culture, literature and language. The department is small, the resources are limited and yet the level of production is favorably disproportionate. The department has accomplished so much with so little that they have proven their ability to continue with the little resources available.

Rather than terminate the major, why not think of ways to salvage it, and in the process protect the interest of the students and maintain a strong and flexible Italian Studies program, which so many cherish?

After all the work that the Italian department has done for me and numerous other students, the prospect of terminating the Italian major is disconcerting and on a personal level undermines the hard work put forth in developing such a solid program.

The Italian Studies major is a critical part of this institution. It defines Brandeis as an institution that provides a “broad and critical education,” and though it is not the only major in jeopardy, it is the only major that I can vouch for as having personally enriched my life and allowed me to succeed as a world citizen. Giving the department a chance to outline a new structure for the program is not much to ask for given what it has accomplished. If at that point, the decision remains to discontinue the major, it will be upon review of a proposed solution and not without giving the well-deserved chance to faculty and students who have worked so hard to build it.

The writer is the undergraduate department representative for the Italian Studies department.

In defense of Italian Studies, the Master’s program in Cultural Production and the Master of Fine Arts in Theater Design

Keep Cultural Production

By PENELOPE TAYLOR SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE

Over the past year and a half, my life’s work has been significantly complemented and challenged thanks to the coursework and intellectual community I’ve been involved with as a student in the Master’s program in Cultural Production. I am horrified by the fact that the Brandeis 2020 Committee has recommended cutting this integral part of the Brandeis campus and community, and I implore all Brandeis students, staff and faculty to oppose the recommendation and work to retain a program that draws from many disciplines while generating original and important work. The CP program is particularly necessary at Brandeis: It lends to incredible consideration of the role and importance of remembering and commemoration, through museums, monuments and art, and such matters resonate strongly in the post-Holocaust Jewish identity. As I work on my final semester, I am proud of the program I have been a part of, impressed by faculty and fellow students and concerned that the supportive atmosphere and interactive academic programs might not be available to future students.

The Cultural Production program allows for an amazing combination of approaches to considering how art, memory, space, identity, existence and history intertwine across cultures and within each example of produced expression. While theoretical musings provoke challenging ideas and help tie together possible connections, the practical application of case studies on public memory, art education and imaginative pedagogical approaches is real.

Collaborations with fellow students have allowed me to appreciate their curatorial, artistic and pedagogical contributions. Every professor I’ve encountered through the program has presented amazing insight and suggested

new connections that have furthered my understanding of works of art and approaches to teaching.

They have also supplied modes of outreach and increased accessibility to ideas and programs, both the conceptual and the tangible and have meshed intellectual pursuits with important and often-absent community programming and projects.

I was overjoyed to find a graduate program that allowed for exploration of my two main academic interests: the anthropology of memory and museum education and curating. Through courses and engagement in conferences with various departments at Brandeis (such as Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Fine Arts, Education, Philosophy and Anthropology), I have had the privilege of approaching a broad range of topics, from a variety of perspectives, both focusing on the poetics of specific, detailed examples and positioning one system of relationships in a greater vision of global, personal and physical flows.

The program has prepared me in a unique way for current and future pursuits. Thanks to support from the Cultural Production community, I’ve been involved in outreach to Boston public schools with minimal arts programming through the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; appreciated amazing residencies with visiting artists that share their art practice and understandings of memory and history; enjoyed the depth and quality of the Rose Art Museum collection and gleaned from the ever-impressive observations of the museum’s staff and visitors; contributed to the many component parts of organizing graduate-level conferences and planning and promoting art and archive exhibitions; experimented with several approaches to museum education; and helped to organize a cell phone audio guide as well as gained experience

(through implication and conversation in related conferences) in utilizing new and social media to promote intellectual engagement with discussions on memory, museums and art. The CP program has challenged me to explore and practice skills that will lead directly to personal and professional pursuits that I will seek postBrandeis.

Thanks to the CP program, I know that my academic pursuits support my daily work and that my work informs how I respond to ideas shared with CP faculty and fellow students. Such a combination is incredible, and I would be extremely disappointed and upset to think that future students might be denied the opportunity for creative thought and important practice that the Cultural Production program has afforded me.

While the Brandeis 2020 proposal seems like a death sentence, I remain hopeful and proud of our program. Our upcoming interdisciplinary conference received over 25 brilliant proposals of papers, art and performances from several departments at Brandeis and from institutions across Massachusetts, all from individuals excited about the unique opportunity to share work offered by the CP-organized event. I invite everyone to stop by the Slosberg Recital Hall on Mar. 13 for a day of amazing ideas and examples.

I am beyond upset and disappointed that I must defend the very things I am proud of at this university. If the Cultural Production program and similar integrated and interdisciplinary programs are discontinued as recommended by the Brandeis 2020 Committee, I encourage everyone to reconsider before contributing to Brandeis academically or financially, lest they meet the same level of disrespect that I have felt while investing in something I care deeply about.

The writer is a student in the Cultural Production program.

Time for conversation about budget reduction—not extreme cuts

By DEBRA BOOTH SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE

Where am I? It is odd for a designer to emerge to the foreground. Mine is a quieter contemplation of sketches and models figuring out how to house a narrative and push it forward in action—creating a kind of illusion of time and space. It is not writing press releases or op-ed pieces for a newspaper. It is not setting up a Web site forum on Facebook, though I must admit I have a passing curiosity of the real identity of Thomas Morgan, the extremely well-informed writer on University matters who baited my colleagues on the site. He knows a lot.

I am glad he entered the debate.

There was a point where I said this is not my cup of tea. It makes me very uncomfortable. I cannot do this, but reluctantly, I pushed the button to launch the Facebook page. Click. The

modern Pandora’s box in the guise of my Macbook. A minor maelstrom in the scale of human events, but even I was surprised as those numbers climbed. My mind is a collection of snippets of image and conversation.

How did we get here?

My language tightens. My vision narrows until I am looking but not seeing much, not noticing much.

Boy, this is not my thing, particularly for someone interested in the longer view. I usually sit with the audience. I observe. The raw emotion is apparent, and I try to sit back to watch the considerable drama. Then something about it turns on in my designer head. There is a script here somewhere among all of this activity.

I want to tell one of my students that the banner is not good enough, to look at that gentle curve of the Spingold Theater Center balcony from this perspective in the parking lot and follow that with a long

slender slip in black and white. “You are thinking and not seeing—it’s not the same thing.” But I never get to say that. Again, things drain away.

There is a lot of sturm und drang.

Tempests. I smile. I have seen it a million times. It’s familiar territory.

And I stop again. I want to redesign, really redesign the story— the scenario is darker, the lights much more expressionistic, the entrances askew, the colors bluer, darker with red—no greener, more acidic for emphasis. Die Brücke. I recompose the stage picture.

Whatever does this mean?

I sit down again, blank roll of paper and pencil, in a bit of a panic that I can’t seem to find the physical presence of the story. It’s simpler I think.

There is some basic conflict; I am not sure of the resolution, but it’s always about

the resolution in the end. Sometimes I even work backwards from the end.

Where did it go wrong?

For all of the characters—has some misunderstanding become too solid to budge? I am honestly afraid that no one will believe or understand that it isn’t about the money—it never is— even in the theater. It’s always possible in the theater whether you have $50 or $50,000. Thomas Morgan, the Facebook cipher, said something about how we can’t afford Ferraris with Brandeis’ budget—if he only knew! It’s an illusion, buster! It’s first seeing what the story needs, not personal wants and desires, and going for it. Don’t students need that? I wonder if we don’t all need that— deserve that.

I want to stop this. I want to sit down and have a conversation and talk with people who I care about— which is just about everyone at this point—to see if we can figure this out.

We have this great thing that generates all this passion in so many people that has stood by them for many years—something that is intangible and active and fresh and above all “now.” We need “now” more than ever at this moment. “Now” can keep us safe to do the next right thing.

‘Now’ is impossibly creative and at the same time incredibly practical. It begins to slowly rise out of the searching: “Now” says lay out the possibilities of a new story line.

Everyone is a little more relaxed seeing there are choices. Everything lightens up. It is bigger and smaller at the same time. Bigger than Brandeis and as small as me. Above all, it’s very human. It is the loud sound of a society struggling with its principles.

Is there a better topic for Brandeis?

It’s change and it’s good.

The writer is an associate professor of design in the Theater Arts department.

STACY HANDLER/the Justice

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

15

SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL

Weldon’s shooting propels team to win ■ The men’s basketball team

came from behind to defeat New York University 69-62 Saturday afternoon.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

On an afternoon when the Brandeis men’s basketball team honored its four graduating seniors—forward Terrell Hollins ’10, center Rich Magee ’10, and guards Kenny Small ’10 and Andre Roberson ’10—it was the fifth member of that recruiting class who provided the spark the Judges needed to defeat rival New York University Saturday.

Guard John Weldon ’10 hit the goahead 3-pointer for the Judges with 8 minutes, 33 seconds left in the game to give the Judges a lead they would not relinquish in a 69-62 win on Senior Day. Coach Brian Meehan noted

MBBALL: Men advance to NCAAs CONTINUED FROM 20 season 16-11 despite starting the year 1-4, including losses to fellow NCAA tournament teams Middlebury College and Plattsburgh State University. But St. Lawrence finished the season on a five-game winning streak and scored 109 points in the Liberty League championship game against Hobart College.

Four of St. Lawrence’s players average between 11.8 and 12.6 points per game, while the Judges have four players averaging double figures—guards Andre Roberson ’10 and Kenny Small ’10 and forwards Terrell Hollins ’10 and Vytas Kriskus ’12.

The Judges finished the year 2-1 against NCAA Tournament teams, splitting their games against Washington, giving the Bears their only conference loss, and defeating Clark University 51-47 early in the season.

The Saints were 0-2 against NCAA teams with their aforementioned losses to Middlebury and Plattsburgh. The only common opponent the teams played this year was Vassar College, whom both teams defeated easily.

St. John Fisher finished the year at 22-5 and made the tournament as a Pool C bid after losing in the Empire 8 Conference Championship game. Despite the loss, the team finished the year as the top ranked team in the East Region and is currently ranked No. 22 in the d3hoops.com top 25 poll.

Brooklyn College finished the year 22-6 and won the City University of New York Athletic Conference tournament to secure its NCAA berth.

Meehan and his team are ready for the NCAA Tournament, but know they have to focus on fundamentals to advance “We need to play our kind of of game,” he said. We have to defend.

We have to rebound. We have to continue to move the ball on offense. The whole season is played in preparation for the tournament.

Our style of play is really suited for tournament play and that’s why we’ve done in the tournament.”

Weldon’s role and importance to the team.

“That’s [Weldon’s] job [to shoot 3pointers],” Meehan said. “When he gets in there we need him to contribute, the thing he does best is shoot the ball, and we were struggling. [Small] couldn’t find the hoop and [guard] Vytas [Kriskus] ’12 was struggling early on, so when Weldon hit those shots it kind of loosened us all up.”

Hollins echoed his coach’s comments, saying how Weldon’s shooting abilities have helped the team.

“Now [Weldon is] starting to shoot the ball real well, so coach is very confident in him. … We were really in a funk in the second half ,and he lifted us and just totally gave all the momentum to us and carried us through the rest of the game,” Hollins said. “He played a significant role and one we desperately needed.”

Weldon, whose points only came on those two 3-pointers, will return to the team next year as a graduate

student, as he took a redshirt season after missing most of his first two seasons with injuries, thus granting him a fifth year of eligibility.

The victory gives the Judges a final record of 19-6, 9-5 in the University Athletic Association, while also avenging one of their losses from earlier in the season.

Hollins finished the game one rebound short of a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He recorded the team’s two blocks on the afternoon.

Roberson contributed 17 points of his own and shot 60 percent from the field. He led the team with three assists.

Kriskus scored 14 points and converted on all six of his free throws.

He converted on two of seven 3-point shots.

Magee, Brandeis’ starting center, sprained his ankle Feb. 19 at the University of Rochester and missed Saturday’s game. According to Meehan, Magee will miss the entire

postseason.

“Rich [Magee], we’re going to miss him tremendously,” Hollins said.

“He’s one of our captains; he’s one of our leaders. He gets us going, playing hard in practice all the time. He’s one of our better post defenders. It’s tough now.”

Magee finishes his Brandeis career having played 99 games, starting 43 of them. He averaged 2.6 rebounds and 3.1 points per game throughout his career, including a career-high 100 points this season.

Like the first game between these two clubs, NYU came out strong in the first half, leading by as many as 9 points in the period while shooting 56.5 percent from the field.

Meanwhile, the Judges were only shooting 40.7 percent, including 0-5 from 3-point range. But a layup by Roberson and a dunk by Kriskus, after a steal by forward Christian Yemga ’11, pulled the Judges within five with the score 31-26 at the break.

Early in the second half the Violets

Men’s Sectional Bracket First Round March 4-5

Second Round March 6

Sectionals March 12-13

Semifinals March 19

at Williams (26-1)

WBBALL: Squad dominates in blowout CONTINUED FROM 20

at Bridgewater St. (19-7) March 4

Maine-Farmington (14-1)

Plattsburgh St. (21-7)

SUNYIT (24-4) at Plattsburgh St.

Medaille (23-4)

Nazareth (18-9)

Middlebury (24-3)

Gordon (24-4)

Rhode Island College (20-7)

led by 8 points on three separate occasions but the Judges continued to fight back. The last of these occasions, was with 13:59 left in the game, when NYU took a 43-35 lead on a 3pointers by senior forward Keith Jensen.

After that the Judges went on a 140 run to turn the 8-point deficit into a 6-point lead with 7:33 left.

The last 6 points in the run came from two 3-pointers from Weldon.

Brandeis shot 52.2 percent from the field and connected on five of the 11 3-pointers it shot. They missed two of the 16 free throws they shot, giving them a percentage of 87.5 percent.

With the seniors playing their last game at Red Auerbach Arena, the team still has one goal left: winning the NCAA tournament, as Meehan noted.

“They’ve won a lot games, they’ve done a very nice job for us, but tey’ve still got some work left to do,” Meehan said.

at Middlebury

Rutgers-Newark (20-7)

St. John Fisher (22-5)

Brooklyn (22-6) at St. John FIsher

BRANDEIS (19-6)

St. Lawrence (16-11)

COMPILED BY BRIAN BLUMENTHAL VIA NCAA.COM

lead is staying disciplined.

Still, he noted the impressive way the Judges managed to focus and overcome that difficulty. “[The women] were ready to play,” he said. “We played within ourselves and followed the game plan. We came in with a chip on our shoulder, which I think was a good thing.

Saturday afternoon was also Senior Day. Red Auerbach Arena was teeming with parents, alumni and fans.

Foulis commented on the electric atmosphere at the game.

“There were a lot of feelings for the game to send the senior class out with a win at home,” he said. “It’s really their year.

It’s a team effort, but everyone’s trying to work so [the seniors’] careers end on a positive note.”

Proving Foulis’ statement true, Strodthoff sentimentally revealed that she will miss her senior teammates after they graduate in the spring.

“I love the seniors. … I’m really going to miss these guys.”

With Chapin, Rashford, guard Carmela Breslin ’10 and center Kasey Gieschen ’10 playing their last contest, the Judges also battled for a spot in NCAA Tournament.

Although the team did not make the postseason, Breslin noted the factors that motivated the team in its victory over NYU. “NYU is our most vicious rival in the UAA,” Breslin asserted. “We want[ed] to go hard for the win against them.

Rashford commented on the team’s season, saying that her teammates battled hard.

“It’s been an up-and-down season, but this team has a lot of heart and we really showed it tonight,” she reflected.

Foulis related the season to one of growth.

“In a sense, that’s what every year is,” he said. “This year we had some new people in new roles. We had to replace those seniors from last year and integrate a big freshman class.”

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

17

SPORTS FENCING

Teams fall in season’s final dual-meet ■ The men’s and women’s

fencing teams dropped their matches at the Beanpot Fencing Tournament.

By TREVOR COHEN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Last Wednesday, the men’s and women’s fencing teams traveled to Cambridge to compete in the season’s last team fencing meet: the Beanpot Fencing Tournament hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The men showed impressive improvement, going 1-2, while the women ended a streak of successful team meets with a winless record of 03.

The men’s win came on a 16-11 defeat of the home team MIT. The Judges fell to Boston College 17-10 and lost 23-4 to Harvard University, which was undefeated for the tournament on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The last time the Brandeis and MIT men matched up, which was in November at the first Northeast Fencing Conference Meet, the Engineers took a close victory, 14-13.

The difference that led to Wednesday’s Brandeis victory, according to team captain épée Alex Clos ’10, was seen in the team’s enthusiasm.

“We did far better than we had done previously this season,” said Clos. “I think that all the squads were very psyched up before the tournament, seeing as this was our last school meet for the season, and so everyone gave 110-percent effort, and our win over MIT definitely showed that.”

That increased enthusiasm came despite a midweek, exam-time meet that precluded the attendance of a number of fencers, including foil Sam Kapon ’12 and saber Lucas Gelwarg ’13.

Clos thought that the team performed well despite the academic roadblocks.

“Because it was in the middle of the week, and there were a lot of curricular things going on, some people couldn’t be there and a lot of people were stressed,” said Clos. “But nonetheless, we were able to fence very well.

The Brandeis women went winless, starting with a 14-13 loss to BC, in which each weapon was decided by a

NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/Justice File Photo

BATTLE: The men’s fencing team competed with the women’s fencing team in the Eric Soilee Invitational at Brandeis Jan. 30. The men went 1-4, while the women went 5-0. single bout. The women then lost to Harvard, 20-7, and to MIT, 18-9.

“Maybe if we pulled a few more bouts together we could have won,” foil Vikky Nunley ’13 said of BC. “I don’t know about Harvard. That was the first time we’ve fenced them this season and they’re a tough school.”

Against difficult competition, Nunley was happy with the team.

“We fenced well, it’s just that we fenced a lot of good schools,” said Nunley. “But, we tried hard. It was a really tough. … [It was a] little group of good schools.”

While their record on the day may not show it, saber Anna Hanley ’11 was similarly content with the women fencers.

“The women fenced hard,” she said.

TRACK & FIELD

Individuals thrive in Boston ■ The indoor track and field

teams competed in the Open New England Championships last weekend.

By JEFFREY BOXER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Paul Norton ’11 and Suzanne Bernier ’10 led the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams with a pair of All-New England performances as several Brandeis runners competed in the Open New England Championships at Boston University Friday and Saturday.

The meet features the top performers from NCAA Division I, II and III from across the region.

Norton had the team’s best performance of the weekend, finishing sixth in the 5,000-meter run. His time of 14 minutes, 49.56 seconds was good for fourth among Division III competitors. Norton’s finish also gave Brandeis its only 3 points in the meet, allowing the team to finish 32nd out of 34 scoring teams.

The captain posted his best time in the event in December and has been slowly working to quicken his pace following hip bursitis, which kept him out over winter break and through much of January. His season-best time of 14:42.69 in the 5,000-meter race currently ranks 16th in the nation.

Coach John Evans noted Norton’s injuries but also his future.

“He’s missed some time and is not as fit as he would want to be, but he’ll be fine over the next few weeks,” Evans said. “He ran aggressively, and that’s really all we can ask for at this point. He ran a tough race.”

The two other men’s competitors were in the 1-mile race. Competing in his first New England Championships, Alex Kramer ’13 finished 18th with a time of 4:17.79. He was just 9 seconds behind the first-place time, and less than 4 seconds off of a top-10 finish.

“Kramer ran a really smart race” Evans said. “He started off in the back and moved up very nicely.”

“He’s been training for the [3,000meter run], so for him to have ran so well is really a great indication of his fitness,” Norton added.

Also running the mile was Marc Boutin ’12, who finished 23rd with a time of 4:20.85.

Bernier had the best performance of the day for the women’s sqaud. Her high jump height of 1.65 meters tied for the fifth highest jump on the day, which was the best height of any Division III participant. She earned seventh place overall based on the number of jumps. Bernier just missed her career high and Brandeis record of 1.67 meters, but she still ranks 10th in the country. Bernier’s effort gave the women their 2 points of the night, placing Brandeis 30th of 34 schools.

Another highlight on the women’s team was Beth Pisarik’s ’10 12th-place finish in the 1-mile run. Though she

did not earn any points, her time of 5:00.11 was good for third among Division III runners and bested her previous personal best by nearly 5 seconds.

The time places her in the top 15 in the nation for Division III runners and just missed the cutoff for an automatic invitation to compete in nationals.

“Beth ran a great race and is running really strong heading into these final few weeks for indoors,” Evans said.

Marie Lemay ’11 finished 15th with a time of 5:04.20.

Lucia Capano ’11 was the final Brandeis competitor. She finished 20th in the triple jump, posting a distance of 10.53 meters.

Brandeis chose to bring a small squad to the meet this past weekend, as the team’s focus is on the University Athletic Association Championships next weekend at Brandeis.

Unlike most of the teams at the recent meet, Brandeis has the conference tournament the weekend after.

“We had other runners who qualified, but a lot of them chose to take this week to train rather than compete in [the New England Championships],” explained Norton. “The team’s focus is really on doing as well as we can next weekend, so we brought a small squad to BU.” Those competing at UAAs will include Bernier, who will attempt to defend her title in the triple jump.

The UAA championships will be the team’s next meet. It will take place here at Brandeis Friday and Saturday.

“We had a few injuries and a few people were sick. So, even though we lost, I think we actually put up a better fight than we have in the past.”

In the school’s last team meet of the year, the women’s squad showed some signs of a long, taxing season in which they have competed hard and performed quite well, including undefeated victories at both NFC meets,

and at the Eric Sollee Invitational at Brandeis in January.

Now that the season has come to a close for team competition, the Judges set their sights on the NCAA Regional Championships at Brown University on March 14, in which the individual regional qualifiers will compete for a bid to the NCAA championships at Harvard on March 28.

SWIM: Teams compete, possibly for the last time CONTINUED FROM 20 Brandeis 12 points with a time of 7:00.88. That team missed out on NCAA qualification by 3.50 seconds.

Bennett was pleased with how both the men’s and women’s sqauds performed at the ECACs. “We had a lot to look forward to,” he said. “We took the meet head-on. We approached it as a final step in the road for the season. We gave it our best.”

The same team, minus Hershman and with Marc Eder ’12, earned an eighth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, finishing with a time of 3:31.77, missing out on qualification also by 3.50 seconds. This time is also a Brandeis school record in the event.

Eder was responsible for the other NCAA qualifier. His performance in the 200-yard breaststroke, in which he also timed in at a personal best and school record, earned him NCAA B qualification with a time of 2:07.59 seconds.

Other notable results for the men’s squad included Bennett and Liu. In the 200-yard butterfly, Bennett missed out on earning Brandeis points by 0.16 seconds but also missed out on NCAA qualification by 0.50 seconds. His time of 1:55.21 was also a personal best and school record. He set another school

record in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at 4:44.39.

Liu nearly earned NCAA qualification three times. In the 100yard butterfly, his time of 51.60 was only 0.25 seconds off of NCAA B standard.

In the 200-yard freestyle, he missed out on NCAA qualification by 0.50 seconds and missed out by 0.76 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. Regardless of the results, his performances remain personal bests.

The swimming and diving program is being disabandoned starting next year, making this the final dual-meet for the squads.

Despite this, Liu and Bennett knew that the team had to give it their all, possibly for one last time.

“We left it all out in the pool. ...

We wanted to show how dedicated we are. ... [It was important to show] how hard we trained and how hard we swam against other schools with amazing facilities.

“It’s tough knowing that this may be it,” Bennett said. “But this had a lot of emotion. ... It was an emotional rush and we put or hearts into it.”

Those who qualified for the NCAA Championships will next compete March 18. The location and time of the competition will be determined at a later date.

THE JUSTICE

■ Women’s basketball forward Shannon Hassan ’12 scored 19 points, and grabbed seven rebounds in the team’s 90-65 victory over New York University Saturday.

18

points scored by forward Terrell Hollins ’10 in the team’s win over New York University Saturday.

25

-point margin of victory in the women’s basketball game against New York University Saturday.

6

th-place finish for Paul Norton ’10 in the 5,000-meter race at the Open New England Championships last weekend.

12 90

lifetime best performances achieved by the men’s swimming and diving team at the ECACs last weekend.

percent of free throws made by the men’s basketball team Saturday.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

The other seniors include center and captain Kasey Gieschen ’10, guards Carmela Breslin ’10 and Lauren Rashford ’10.

Hassan is part of a core of underclassman looking to lead the team next year to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s going to be a different atmos-

phere, but I feel like everyone will pick up for the seniors we’re losing, like guard Morgan [Kendrew] ’12. We have great freshmen who haven’t really seen many minutes. I think we’ll be a quicker team next year, and that’ll help,” said Hassan.

—Max Goldstein

UAA STANDINGS Men’s Basketball UAA Conference WL Washington 13 1 JUDGES 9 3 New York 7 4 Emory 7 4 Chicago 7 4 Rochester 6 5 Case 6 6 Carnegie 1 9

Women’s Basketball W L 23 2 19 6 16 9 15 10 13 12 15 10 14 11 5 20

Overall Pct. .920 .760 .640 .600 .520 .600 .560 .200

UAA Conference WL Washington 13 1 Chicago 11 3 Rochester 9 5 JUDGES 9 5 New York 5 9 Case 4 10 Emory 3 11 Carnegie 2 12

W L 23 2 19 6 19 6 16 8 13 12 13 12 10 15 9 16

Overall Pct. .920 .760 .760 .667 .520 .520 .400 .360

TEAM LEADERS MBball (points)

MBball (minutes)

Guard Kenny Small ’10 led the team with 14.2 points per game.

Guard Andre Roberson ’10 led the Judges with 34.7 minutes per game.

Player Kenny Small Terrell Hollins Vytas Kriskus Andre Roberson Tyrone Hughes

Player Andre Roberson Tyrone Hughes Kenny Small Terrell Hollins Christian Yemga

PPG 14.2 13.6 11.8 10.9 9.4

MPG 34.7 32.2 31.3 27.5 24.4

WBball (points)

WBball (minutes)

Guard Jessica Chapin ’10 led the Judges with 16.9 points per game.

Guard Jessica Chapin ’10 led the team with 32.0 minutes per game.

Player Jessica Chapin Morgan Kendrew Amber Strodthoff Diana Cincotta Kasey Gieschen

Player Jessica Chapin Morgan Kendrew Amber Strodthoff Diana Cincotta Kasey Gieschen

PPG 16.9 10.1 8.3 6.8 6.4

MPG 32.0 28.0 27.2 24.8 19.8

UPCOMING GAME OF THE WEEK Men’s basketball vs. St. Lawrence University The Judges will travel and play in the first round of the NCAA Tournment Friday.

1

team win combined by the men’s and women’s fencing teams at the the Beanpot Fencing Tournament Wedesday.

19

Crosby’s goal wins gold, Canada beats U.S.A. 3-2 in overtime

Shannon Hassan ’12

Judging numbers

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

AP BRIEF

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

The women’s basketball team has won its last three games, largely due to the play of forward Shannon Hassan ’12.

The team had a blowout win over New York University Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. Hassan set the tone for the team early, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the first half, in addition to five rebounds.

She made seven of 11 shots and was five for seven from the free throw line.

In addition, she had one block and one steal in the win.

For the season, Hassan averaged 5.7 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Hassan’s game yesterday was a big step for her, considering that she has been plagued by injuries for much of the year.

“I hurt my foot, so I was out for a while, and then I suffered a concussion, and I was out for a month, so because I was injured for a while, this is big for me,” she said.

Hassan is proud of her team’s recent resurgence, as they have won the last three games of the season.

“Our [defense] has been great, we really played like a tea. Everyone contributed, and everyone made everyone else look better,” she said.

Hassan’s performance is especially important because the team is going to lose four seniors after this season, including leading scorer, captain and guard Jessica Chapin ’10.

●

The men’s basketball team will look to advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament when it faces Liberty League Champion St. Lawrence University Thursday at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y. This season, the Saints went 16-11 overall, with a record of 10-4 in the Liberty League Conference. They have

won nine of their last 11 games, including four in a row, all against Liberty League opponents. Most recently, St. Lawrence defeated Hobart College 10990 in the Liberty League Championship Saturday.

Senior guards Josh Sharlow and Andy Hoercher led the Saints with 11.8 points per game in the reguar season.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Sidney Crosby sized up goalie Ryan Miller in overtime and delivered hockey gold to a nation that not only craved it but demanded it, too.

Silver wouldn’t satisfy—Not in this sport and not in these Olympics.

Canada needed a pick-me-up to call the past 17 days a success. With a wrist shot Miller wasn’t expecting, Crosby wiped away a whole lot of hurt. The scoreboard read Canada 3, U.S.A. 2. A happy, relieved countryrejoiced Sunday.

The death of a luger before the Olympic cauldron was lit, disheartening glitches and a slow start in the medals race had Canada down on these games.

But after finishing tops among all nations with a Winter Olympics record 14 gold medals, including the one it wanted most, the hosts held their heads high.

“O Canada” surely never sounded as sweet as when the Maple Leaf flag rose above the ice to honor hockey’s latest champions.

And the way the Canadians pulled it off was truly dramatic. Crosby and Canada shook off a shocking tying goal by Zach Parise that gave the United States hope in the closing seconds of regulation.

“I’m very proud to be Canadian,” forward Jarome Iginla said. “You know what, I’m really proud of setting the gold-medal record for Canada.”

Remember the time: 7 minutes, 40 seconds into the extra session. That’s the moment Sid the Kid grew up on the world stage and scored the winning goal. It set off howls, chants, sobs and cheers inside a packed Canada Hockey Place that was so proud of the guys decked out in red and white.

“It’s a pretty unbelievable thing,” the 22-year-old Crosby said. “Being in Canada, that’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You dream of that a thousand times growing up. For it to come true is amazing.”

For the past few years, Crosby has basically been on loan. He plays below the border in Pittsburgh, a working-class American town that celebrated him and the Stanley Cup title he and the Penguins brought to the Steel City last year.

For the past two weeks, he was back home for Canada to reclaim him as its own. There could be no more fitting ending to the Vancouver Games than to have the favorite son bring home the gold medal to a country that loves hockey more than any other sport.

At times, it seemed as if the pressure and expectations on this group of Canadian hockey players might be too much too handle. There was the early scare against Switzerland that produced a victory, a scaleddown one in a shootout, and then the crushing loss to the Americans at the end of preliminary round play.

Canada was stuck in a play-in game just to get into the quarterfinals. Could they realistically be expected to win four times in six days to capture gold?

The answer was a resounding yes.

“We talked about not getting discouraged if the tournament didn’t go our way right off the bat,” defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. “Believe in each other and get our team game the way it needs to be to win, and we did it.”

To win, Canada withstood a remarkable and determined effort from a U.S. team that wasn’t supposed to medal in Vancouver, much less roll through the tournament unbeaten before losing in the first overtime gold-medal game since NHL players joined the Olympics in 1998.

“No one knew our names. People know our names now,” said Chris Drury, one of three holdovers from the 2002 U.S. team that also lost to Canada in the goldmedal game.

Miller graciously accepted the silver medal around his neck, but the disappointment was easy to read on his face.

“He was the main reason we were in the gold medal game and why we got it to overtime,” forward Ryan Callahan said.

Drury, Miller’s former teammate with the Buffalo Sabres, hugged the devastated goalie near the U.S. bench as the celebration roared all around them.

“He’s pretty down, but there’s no chance we’re here without the way he played the whole tournament,” Drury said. “It’s heartbreaking to lose in OT of a goldmedal game, but he should be proud of everything he did the last two weeks.”

Miller was done in on Sunday by a couple of costly mistakes by his typically sure-handed defensemen. The gaffes led to shots that gave the rock-solid goalie little chance to stop.

Even with an early 0-2 deficit, the first for the Americans’ in this stunning Olympic run, Miller proved to be as brilliant as he had been throughout the tournament.

A two-goal hole was already deep for the Americans.

Three would have been almost too monumental to overcome.

Miller knew it and never let it get that far. He watched from the bench after being pulled for an extra attacker and saw Parise net the goal that made it 2-2 with 24.4 seconds remaining that forced a most improbable overtime.

Ryan Kesler began the comeback when he cut the deficit to 2-1 with 7:16 left in the second.

Whatever momentum was gained by Parise’s exhilarating goal was mostly gone by the time the teams returned after a lengthy break before overtime.

“Once we got past about 10 minutes into the intermission we realized, ‘You know what? We’ve still got a chance here,’” Crosby said. “We just said, ‘Let’s go after it.’”

“I didn’t want to have any regrets.”

Canada was in control throughout extra time, keeping the puck in the U.S. zone and the pressure squarely on the young Americans. Their speed, the Americans’ greatest strength, seemed to slow as the game wore on under the constant hitting from the much-bigger Canadians.

At age 22, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup and the Olympics in less than a year’s time.

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Sports

Page 20

FENCING FALLS The men’s and women’s fencing teams were defeated at the Beanpot Fencing Tournament Wednesday, p. 17.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Waltham, Mass.

Men go on to NCAAs ■ The men’s basketball

team advanced to the NCAA Tournament and will play St. Lawrence University Friday.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

After a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Brandeis men’s basketball team will hope to improve on that performance this season, as it was granted a Pool C berth into the tournament for the fourth straight season. The team will travel to St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y. to play St. Lawrence University Friday night. The winner of that game will then play the winner of the St. John Fisher-Brooklyn College game Saturday.

Last season the Judges lost to host Franklin and Marshall College 65-63, nearly pulling off a miracle comeback in a game in which they once trailed 57-37.

Despite the loss, coach Brian Meehan reiterated that the team cannot think back to last year’s loss.

“Last year was last year,” Meehan said. “It was a whole different team. Every year in the tourment is like starting over. ... It’s all about preparation for the Tournament.”

Pool C berths are given to schools from conferences with automatic qualifiers who do not earn the automatic bid. Two-time defending national champion Washington University in St. Louis won the University Athletic Association automatic berth to the tournament by finishing the year with the best UAA record at 13-1. Brandeis finished second in the conference at 95, the only other team from the UAA with a conference record above .500.

Entry to the tournament is based primarily on statistics within a team’s region, which in Brandeis’ case is the Northeast. The Judges finished the year fifth in the region, ahead of three other tournament teams.

The primary criteria for selection include, among other factors, inregion strength of schedule, where the Judges ranked seventh in the Northeast. It also includes in-region results versus regionally ranked teams, and the Judges had a solid .500 record in this category.

Secondary factors include overall strength of schedule, which for Brandeis was the 60th toughest in the nation out of over 400 Division III schools.

By JONATHAN STEINBERG JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

played well as a team today.”

The Judges outpaced NYU, gaining a 7-6 lead 3:30 into the game that they would not concede. Brandeis outscored the Violets 47-23 in the first half, despite scoring only 1 point more in the second half.

The Brandeis defense held the Violets to a 23.3 percent shooting percentage in the first half.

In the second half, the Judges led by as many as 35, but an unrelenting NYU squad chipped away at the lead by utilizing a full-court press and forcing Brandeis turnovers.

The Violets improved their shooting percentage drastically, making 36.8 percent of their shots in the second half.

Scott Foulis, Brandeis’ assistant coach, remarked that the biggest challenge in a game with a large

The Eastern College Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Open Swimming and Diving Championships in Pittsburgh was where the men’s and women’s swimming and diving team looked to shine against over 20 strong schools from Divisions I, II and III. While the women finished 19th of 28 teams and the men placed 16th of 21 teams, Brandeis’ success can be appreciated by the impressive individual and team performances.

The swimmers were able to finish the championships with 12 lifetime best performances, three school records and 8 top10 performances.

“We were very pleased with this statistic,” coach Jim Zotz said in an e-mail to the Justice.

“But [we] also fully expected everyone to perform their best.”

On the women’s side, Angela Chui ’12 and Hollis Viray ’10 performed especially well. On Day 1, they earned 2 points for Brandeis in the 200-yard freestyle relay and another 4 points in the 400-yard medley relay later that same day. The team also finished strongly in the 200-yard medley relay.

Individually, they performed just as well. Chui earned the Judges 3 points in the 400-yard individual medley on Day 2 of the competition, finishing sixth of eight swimmers in the B heat final, clocking in at 4 minutes, 37.70 seconds, missing NCAA qualification standards by 1.00 second.

She also swam in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 2:09.52, once again missing out at NCAA qualification by a mere 0.26 seconds. Chui also added 3 points in the 200-yard IM. Viray had a number of NCAA qualifying near misses. In the 100-yard breaststroke, she clocked in at 1:07.93, missing NCAA standards by a short 0.11 seconds. In the 200-yard breaststroke, Viray swam even better, earning Brandeis 6 points for her third-place finish in the B heat finals. This time, she missed out on NCAA qualification by 0.19 seconds. In the 200yard individual medley, she missed out on NCAA qualification by 2.00 seconds.

The men’s squad had its share of near misses as well but also managed to qualify two of its swimmers for NCAA B Championships.

In his qualifying run, the 100yard butterfly, Daniel Danon ’13 clocked in at 51.17 seconds, setting a school record and adding a personal best time.

Danon was also a member of the 800-yard freestyle relay team that also consisted of James Liu ’10, Jesse Hershman ’10 and Aaron Bennett ’11, which gave

See WBBALL, 15 ☛

See SWIM, 17 ☛

ASHER KRELL/Justice File Photo

IN THE HUDDLE: The men’s basketball team comes together in its Nov. 29 game against Vassar College. Brandeis won 79-52.

With this résumé, Meehan was confident his team would make the tournament, telling the Justice, “We’re definitely in” after the team’s victory Saturday over New York University, before the brackets were announced.

Although St. John Fisher is just over 375 miles from Brandeis, the

Judges are used to traveling for the tournament, having played their two games last season at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn. about 360 miles from Waltham.

“We’re pretty prepared,” Meehan said. “We’re ahead of most teams when it comes to travel because we

do it all year.”

St. Lawrence University won the Liberty League tournament to get to the tournament for the 12th time in school history, losing last year in the Sweet 16 to eventual national runner-up Richard Stockton College. St. Lawrence finished the

See MBBALL, 15 ☛

Team wins finale but doesn’t make NCAAs team defeated New York University Saturday but did not recieve a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

By QUINCY AUGER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Following her second steal in less than half a minute Saturday, junior guard Jessica Chapin ’10 was fouled

by New York University’s Chelsea Blake on a drive to the basket with 9 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the first half of the regular season finale.

Chapin acrobatically put up a twisting, over-the-back layup, giving Brandeis a 26-12 lead over the Violets before adding a free throw

Squads shine in Pittsburgh at ECACs

■ The swimming and diving teams set lifetime bests and school records last weekend.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

■ The women’s basketball

SWIMMING & DIVING Tuesday, March 2, 2010

and another bucket.

The Judges crushed NYU, beating the Violets 90-65 at home on Saturday afternoon.

Brandeis improved to third in UAA standings (9-5) and 16-8 overall.

Brandeis swept the season series from NYU for the second season and the first time since the 2003 to 2004 season.

Still, the Judges were unable to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Against the Violets, Chapin led the Judges and notched another double-double with 20 points, 10 rebound, eight assists and three steals.

Chapin was complemented by forward Shannon Hassan ’12 contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and one block and steal.

Forward Amber Stodthoff ’11 paced the Judges with 4 points and

a team-leading 11 rebounds while point guard Lauren Rashford ’10 added 12 points.

Guard Morgan Kendrew ’12 scored 11 more and supplied three assists, two blocks and a steal.

Forward Shannon Ingram ’13 had a team-high four steals to compliment her 4 points and six rebounds.

The Judges’ intense play was matched by excellent teamwork.

The women dove for loose balls and fought for rebounds throughout the game.

Rashford attributed the victory to heart, commitment and determination.

“Even with our big lead at halftime we knew that NYU is a tough team and they can always come back,” she said. “So we made sure we came out in the second half motivated to get our win. We really

just

March 2, 2010

ARTS

Rising stars rock Brandeis

Photos: Asher Krell/the Justice. Design: Robyn Spector and Asher Krell/the Justice.

22

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

POP CULTURE

INSIDE ON CAMPUS

22-25

■ Alim and Fargana Qasimov 23 Azerbaijani musicians arrive for a residency.

23 ■ ‘Dimensions 3’ Students exhibit work from Fine Arts classes.

24 ■ Theater in peril?

After the controversial release of the Brandeis 2020 report, the theater community reacts to proposed budget cuts.

25 ■ K-Nite 2010 Students celebrated Korean culture through a showcase of dance and music from the past and the present.

OFF CAMPUS

26-28

27 ■ ‘Cop Out’ Starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan and Sean William Scott, Kevin Smith’s newest film unfortunately flopped as a lackluster script couldn’t be saved by its stars’ talents.

27 ■ John Mayer The apologetic pop-rock star showed off his musical virtuosity when he came to TD Banknorth Garden on Wednesday to perform a show full of rocking solos and catchy songs that reaffirmed his place as one of the best modern guitarists.

27 ■ ‘No More Heroes’ The sequel to the 2008 Wii video game of the same name, developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, lacked creativity.

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

by Shelly Shore

It was a fairly slow week in Hollywood— lots of celebrities were out and about, but unfortunately, no one was doing anything interesting. Well, Lady Gaga wore a threefoot antelope horn hat around in London, but that’s fairly normal by Gaga standards. So instead of the usual scandal-of-the-week report, here’s just a few interesting tidbits from this past week, in case you missed them.

Jim Carrey became a first-time grandpa on Friday. His daughter Jane, from his first marriage to Melissa Womer, welcomed her first child, Jackson Riley Santana, at 12:28 a.m. in Los Angeles. He weighed in at seven pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20 inches long, E! News reported. Jane and her husband, Alex Santana, were married in November 2009.

To any Twilight fans still clinging to the fantasy that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are having an in-and-out-of-character romance, you’ll be pleased to know that the two often grungy-looking stars were spotted out and about together in London this week. According to a (sober) eyewitness, they were “100 percent there together!” Take that as you’d like (and I’m sure you will).

On Friday, Gatorade announced that it is officially dropping its endorsement of Tiger Woods. “We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,” said a spokeswoman for the beverage maker. “We wish him all the best.”

Gatorade discontinued its Tiger Focus energy drink back in December. No one’s come out and said that the reason for the loss of sponsorship stems from Tiger’s sex scandal, but then again, some things just don’t need saying. What have we learned from this, Tiger?

John Mayer still talks too much about his

TCFI sponsors a folk festival ■ In an e-mail interview with the Justice, Becky Sniderman ’10 and Chaya Bender ’11 of Too Cheap For Instruments described plans for a folk festival during the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts.

MATT SAYLES/The Associated Press

SINKING SPOKESMAN: Gatorade dropped its endorsement of golfer Tiger Woods this week. sex life. This isn’t really news, other than the fact that he apologized for it—sort of. “Never, ever, in my entire life did I ever think that it would be a good idea to be an a—hole. But you know what? There’s plenty of a—holes who think the same thing, so I have to thank you,” he told his Madison Square Garden audience on Thursday. Not the best apology we’ve ever heard, but a start. Tiger, take note.

Slow news week, kids. But hey, the Oscars are coming up. That always brings out the drama.

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus

ON CAMPUS EVENTS ‘The Reckoning’ The Reckoning is a documentary that follows International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo for three years as he issues arrest warrants for rebel leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system and charges Sudan’s president with genocide in Darfur. Prof. Richard Gaskins (AMST) will comment on the task of fighting horrific crimes on the world stage and examine what the role of the ICC should be in these cases.

His remarks will tie the film into Brandeis’ Summer 2010 Justice Brandeis Semester in The Hague. Refreshments will be served.

Today from 5 to 7 p.m. in Lown Auditorium.

‘In the Family’ In this documentary, filmmaker Joanna Rudnick documents her experiences after learning at age 27 that she has the BRCA gene mutation, indicating a high likelihood that she will develop cancer.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Golding 101.

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

Alim and Fargana Qasimov residency As part of the MusicUnitesUs series, Alim Qasimov and his daughter Fargana, two of Azerbaijan’s most revered traditional vocalists, will perform Muslim Mugham music and Azerbaijani troubadour songs. Their accompanying ensemble incorporates such instruments as the tar, kamancha, balaban and naghara. Before the culminating World Music Concert on Saturday, the Qasimovs will be available throughout the week in a series of events, including a number of open classes on Friday.

At Thursday’s “Improvised Conversations,” they will discuss their lives and work. The residency is cosponsored by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture; the Brandeis Council of the Arts; and the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life. For more information, see article, p. 23.

Improvised Conversations Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Abraham Shapiro Academic Complex Atrium. World Music Concert on Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Slosberg Recital Hall.

Andrea Gibson Poetry Performance Andrea Gibson is an internationally acclaimed poet and activist who has won numerous slam contests, including the 2008 Women of the World Poetry Slam in Detroit.

Gibson’s poetry focuses on the politics of gender and sexuality. Her latest album, Yellowbird, incorporates original music and her unique lyrical sensibility.

Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. in Golding 110.

Musika Rox Musika Rox (which translates to “music” in Hebrew and “dance” in Arabic) is a new cross-cultural coexistence performance reflecting a partnership between B’yachad, Brandeis’ semi-professional Israeli dance troupe, and Mochila, Brandeis’ Arab jazz fusion band. The showcase seeks to bring together a variety of identities, talents and beliefs, as students focus on the possibilities of peace and coexistence during an evening

CULTURAL COOPERATION: Israeli dance group B’Yachad (shown above) and Arab jazz fusion band Mochila have partnered for Musika Rox, a showcase that promotes Arab-Israeli understanding. of cultural appreciation.

Saturday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Levin Ballroom.

‘Protektor’

Free Play Theatre Cooperative presents a production of Tom Stoppard’s classic play, a humorous and existential exploration featuring two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Admission is free.

Saturday’s performance will be followed by a talkback with cast members.

Saturday through Monday from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Schwartz Auditorium.

In this Czech film directed by Marek Najbrt, a married couple find their lives turned upside down by the German occupation and the beginning of World War II. The wife, a celebrated actress, sees her career decline as her Jewish heritage must be kept a secret, while her husband, a radio reporter, becomes the voice of Reich propaganda. The situation transforms the dynamics of their relationship. The movie is presented as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Today at 7 p.m. at the West Newton Cinema, West Newton, Mass.

The Day Life and Adrien and the Fine Print

‘Paradise Lost’

Both The Day Life and Adrien and the Fine Print played live sets on the WBRS radio show The Joint last semester. The bands will play a concert at Cholmondeley’s sponsored

by WBRS. Boston-based Adrien and the Fine Print adds a violin to the typical four-piece configuration, specializing in well-crafted, introspective lyrics. The Day Life, of Philadelphia, combines classic pop and folk rock for an always-fresh cheerful sound.

Saturday from 9 to 11:30 p.m. at Chum’s.

American Repertory Theatre continues its season with a production of the play Paradise Lost, written by Clifford Odets and directed

by Daniel Fish. First produced in 1935, the play depicts a family struggling in a failing economy and explores themes of self-interest and compassion that are still relevant to Americans today. Odets wrote, “It is my hope that when people see Paradise Lost they’re going to be glad they’re alive,” suggesting that this play will provide a meaningful and positive experience to audience members.

Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge.

‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’

Graduate musicologist recital Graduate students in the field of musicology will perform a variety of works.

Sunday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Slosberg Recital Hall.

The Oscars screening The Brandeis Finer Things Society will screen the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Oscar attire is encouraged and refreshments will be provided.

Sunday from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Airplane Lounge.

OFF CAMPUS EVENTS

Itzhak Perlman concert The legendary violinist performs at Boston’s Symphony Hall with pianist Rohan de Silva as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Celebrity Series. The program includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Sonata for violin and piano in F Major, K. 376”; César Franck’s “Sonata for violin and piano in A Major, M. 8”; Claude Debussy’s “Sonata for violin and piano” and additional works that will be announced from the stage.

Saturday 3 p.m. at Symphony Hall, Boston.

As members of the group Too Cheap For Instruments, an all-female a cappella group focused on folk music, Chaya Bender ’11 and Becky Sniderman ’10 are authorities on the folk genre. Thanks to a grant from the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts, the pair have led their a cappella group in curating a folk festival to take place on May 2. The festival, to be emceed by folk artist and Berklee School of Music professor Livingston Taylor, will feature performances by Grammy nominee Sarah Jarosz and influential Cambridge musician Geoff Bartley, among others.

JustArts: How did you decide to do this project?

Chaya Bender: The folk stage has been a dream of mine for a couple of years now. Since I was young, I have been going to various folk festivals, such as Falcon Ridge and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. I could really “dig” the atmosphere and artsy feel of the entire experience. Folk music, in its many forms, is a pure form of music that really speaks to a wide variety of people. A folk festival is not just about the music, but encapsulates the whole folk way of life. I thought that Brandeis would really benefit from and appreciate something like that.

I first presented the idea to Becky in the fall of 2008 while recording TCFI’s second album, Syllabolical. We both loved the idea, but didn’t think that it would be wise to plan something as time consuming as a folk festival while we were recording. So, one year later, Becky and I sat down together for a couple of nights and filled out the Festival of the Arts Grant. We figured that if we could get the funding and professional support from fantastic people like Shawna Kelley it would only benefit the project. When we received the grant I am pretty sure we both cried a little bit, or at least laughed for joy. It is really a wonderful feeling to have a dream come true!

We will be working directly with Shawna Kelley in planning the Folk Stage, and I am really excited for how things will turn out.

Becky Sniderman: As a folk a cappella group, we are very interested in exploring exactly what constitutes the genre of folk, how different people experience and perform folk art and music, and what the folk culture consists of. We would love to use the Folk Stage as both an exploration of the genre and culture of folk as well as a showcase and celebration of both local and Brandeis folk artists.

JA: How are you and the other singers in the group dividing up the responsibilities?

Who is performing at the Folk Stage?

CB: Becky and I are taking on primary responsibility, but the other members of the group, past and present, have been major players as well. Becky and I receive constant emails from TCFI members, as well as other friends and family members, regarding suggestions for artists to perform at the Folk Stage. As of right now, the group is excited about potentially having an idol of ours perform. This group is called The David Wax Museum, and they are a Boston-based MexoAmericano group.

BS: We are very fortunate to have the support and guidance of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis, particularly Shawna Kelley of the Music department, who has already been emailing Chaya and myself with some great advice and suggestions on possible artists to invite to the Folk Stage. We would not be able to put together this program without the help and support of these amazing individuals and departments on campus. As the Concert Program Manager at Brandeis University, Shawna is very knowledgeable in planning, organizing, and arranging concerts and I am confident that we can put together a program that will live up to our original vision for the Folk Stage from over a year ago.

AF: When is TCFI performing this semester, and are you performing off campus as well?

BS: We will hopefully be performing for the assisted living community at Sunrise Assisted Living in Natick, where one of our prior members volunteers regularly.

CB: We do not have any scheduled performances as of yet, since Coffee House dates have not been decided and Coffee Houses make up the majority of our performances. For the past two years we have had a “Carnival” during the second semester, which includes juggling acts by the Brandeis Juggling Society, carnival games and activities, and the support and attendance of adorable Lemberg children (as well as adorable Brandeis students). We will most likely hold our Carnival this year in March due to breaks in the academic schedule.

—Andrea Fineman

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

23

ON CAMPUS ART

Students explore new ‘Dimensions’ ■ Dreitzer Art Gallery hosts a display of works by students in Sculpture, 3D Design and Digital Photography classes, showcasing their hard work in areas outside their expertise.

By MORGAN MANLEY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On campus, one of the most popular and well-known art shows is the senior Studio Art majors’ exhibition that takes place at the end of each semester. In between these shows, however, students from a variety of levels of classes test their skills at different media and challenge themselves to not only meet the expectations of a given assignment but surpass them beyond even their own imaginations.

This is what many of the students featured in “Dimensions 3: Fine Arts Exhibition,” which opened this past Wednesday, were able to accomplish.

Featured in the Dreitzer Gallery in Spingold, the works were grouped by medium: sculpture, 3D design and digital photography.

The first work that stood out was amongst a collection of cardboard objects. It was an oversized spoon created by stripping cardboard and carefully shaping and gluing it into place.

The assignment, as one student explained to her friends, was to take an object and scale it down or up. The form of this spoon was so exact that upon first glance it could have been mistaken for a real spoon.

Another work that stood out was by Adina Moskowitz ’11. The composition featured a cactus that had wire roots extending beyond the stand, as if it were truly growing there and attaching itself to the stand. The project, as Prof. Tory Fair (FA) explained, was done in coordination with visiting artist Prof. Hoseob Yoon during his recent residency and was meant to explore environmental sustainability.

While there were several artists featured who were still trying to master the given medium, the overall quality of work was superior. This was especially true in a short film created by using stop-motion animation featuring origami being created. Seemingly folding and creating itself, the work flowed as if you could imagine it actually unfolding in front of your eyes. While the subject was simple, the process was obviously quite complex, as every detail was observed and wellthought- out.

Attention to detail was certainly not lacking in most of the other artworks in this exhibition. At the latter part of the gallery, for example, there were groupings of shoes and hands made of wire. One shoe, a stiletto, was so detailed that you felt you could cover it with leather and slip it right on. It was the perfect blueprint for a shoe you could see anywhere.

After I observed the works, Prof. Fair informed me that for many of these students the challenge was taking new media and turning it into the language of sculpture. By my own amateur eye, these students achieved just that. I invite the Brandeis community to visit the Dreitzer Gallery through March 14 and commend their classmates on an excellent display of works.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

DAINTY DANGLERS: Students in “Three-Dimensional Design” displayed scaled-up cardboard versions of common objects as part of the ‘Dimensions 3’ exhibit.

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

ENVIRONMENTAL ART: Above left, a painting on display in ‘Dimensions 3.’ Above right, a work made with the assistance of visiting artist Prof. Hoseob Yoon.

MUSIC

Azerbaijani spiritual singers visit campus ■ Famed father-daughter duo Alim

and Fargana Qasimov arrive this week for a residency co-sponsored by the Aga Khan Music Initiative as part of the MusicUnitesUS series.

By SARAH BAYER JUSTICE EDITOR

The tiny nation of Azerbaijan doesn’t often figure into class discussions or current events, and most Brandeis students probably couldn’t find it on a map. But thanks to a residency this week by world-renowned musicians Alim and Fargana Qasimov, the rich traditions of this far-off country will be brought into focus this week as students from many different disciplines come together for a unique cultural encounter.

The Qasimovs are talented singers whose lyrics carry spiritual elements often influ-

enced by the mystical poetry of Sufi Islam.

Through the residency, audience members will encounter a number of instruments that may be new to them, such as an ancestor of the violin known as the kamancha that’s common in Iran, central Asia and the Caucasus region, and a Turkish double-sided frame drum called the nagura. The father-daughter pair plays a type of Islamic chamber music known as mugam as well as troubadour songs native to Azerbaijan, embodying the confluence of traditions that results from the country’s location on the boundary between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

According to Prof. Theodore Levin of Dartmouth College, curator of the residency, the Qasimovs’ collaboration is unlike any other.

“He was a mentor for her and she’s sung with him ever since she was small,” Levin says.

“Women have performed mugam ever since the Soviet era when under Soviet cultural policies women were given a much more visible role in performance arts, but they mostly performed as solo singers. This father-daughter

duo is unique and it’s quite spectacular.”

Levin characterizes the partnership as “sort of like someone speaking and someone else finishing their sentences. … He sings a half a line and she completes it. That’s only possible in a relationship where you can really work together a lot and where you’re spiritually close.”

Levin, who describes himself as “a friend, a fan and a supporter” of Alim Qasimov, first brought the singer to the United States in 1988 to perform at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Since then, the Qasimovs have been in high demand to perform internationally, he says. After their residency is over they will continue to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall in a concert with the Kronos Quartet, an acclaimed contemporary music ensemble.

Levin curated the residency through his job as a senior project consultant with the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, an agency of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture that co-sponsored the MusicUnitesUS residency

along with the Music department, headed by Prof. Judith Eissenberg (MUS).

“One of the things I love doing as director of [MusicUnitesUS] is imagining how the music that comes from diverse traditions around the world will inspire and be inspired by conversations on our campus,” wrote Eissenberg in an e-mail to the Justice. She expressed particular excitement about the wide variety of disciplines that will participate in the residency events, including the Anthropology, Women’s and Gender Studies, English and American Literature, Fine Arts and Theater Arts departments.

Levin, too, feels that the Qasimovs’ music is relevant to a variety of academic pursuits. Referring specifically to students in the Fine Arts department, he said, “This music is all about the intricacy of drawing lines, whether it’s through sound or with a paintbrush.”

“I have heard these artists’ music before, and I know that I will be taken for a musical and spiritual journey that I will remember for a long, long time,” said Eissenberg.

24

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

THEATER

Theater community reacts to 2020 report ■ Proposed cuts concern

those with connections to the design program.

By SARAH BAYER JUSTICE EDITOR

Brandeis’ theater community was left reeling this week after the Brandeis 2020 Committee proposed drastic cuts to the design program.

The committee recommended immediate suspension of all admissions to the graduate Master of Fine Arts design program, which is responsible for costume, lighting and set design for Brandeis Theater Company productions, and the phasing out of this program after all current students have graduated. Other proposed changes include a reduction of the overall theater budget and further integration of undergraduates into the department.

While the report awaits approval by Provost Marty Krauss, members of the theater community have sprung into action. Over 2,000 alumni, professors, undergraduate and graduate students and other concerned individuals have joined a Facebook group titled “Save Theater at Brandeis.” Many have posted letters to the administration protesting the decision.

Prof. Debra Booth (THA), director of the design program, created the group after learning of the committee’s proposals through an e-mail from Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe. In an interview with justArts, she explained that Brandeis was one of the first to offer a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Design and that the program was paralleled only by those at Yale and New York University. “It’s really kind of amazing to me that Brandeis would be willing to give up something that is one of the best design programs in the country,” she said.

Booth feels that the committee’s proposal resulted from insufficient aware-

ness of the design program’s role on campus. “One of the weaknesses of [the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering Committee] is that you have people who are from vastly different fields. If you asked me to go in and tweak with chemistry I wouldn’t know what to do. … They don’t have the experience or the expertise to really be able to do that.”

Booth explained that the design budget is allotted based on a complex calculation of the needs of the acting program, so the funding actually supports both programs. “There’s always an educational process that I need to go through for people to understand how interconnected and how that balance sheet all works out,” she said. “We don’t function separately in that regard— those productions are a part of the whole. I don’t know how you expect an actor to perform without sets, lights or costumes.”

Michael Lincoln MFA ’79, now a professor of lighting design at Ohio University, says that the committee should have proposed changes that were “more surgical rather than amputation.” He questioned why his department had not suffered as many cuts as the one at Brandeis. “The irony to me is that Ohio University has undergone cuts for years because of the economy in the state, which is terrible. [The design department today is] facing bigger cuts, but we’re not facing that kind of draconian, and what really feels like an unfair, cut,” he told justArts.

Citing the Board of Trustees’ decision to close the Rose Art Museum, Lincoln added, “You can’t help but think that the arts are being marginalized at Brandeis.”

Office of the Arts Director Scott Edmiston, a professional theater director, rejects this sentiment, saying, “I know many of the faculty on the Brandeis 2020 committee, and they care about the arts.

I am glad that no cuts or reductions were proposed for the Department of Fine Arts or Department of Music.” Ed-

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PAULA HOEKSTRA/Justice File Photo

DILIGENT DESIGNER: Costume designer Deirdre McCabe (GRAD) plans a costume for a Brandeis Theater Company production. miston takes an optimistic view of the committee’s findings. “I support the committee’s proposal to increase opportunities for undergraduates in the theater arts department. The budgets may shrink, but we have a wealth of student talent at Brandeis that I would love to see on the Spingold stages,” he wrote in an e-mail to justArts.

Lighting Design student Benjamin Williams (GRAD), who has spearheaded the graduate student response to the proposed cuts, takes a similarly positive approach. After initially soliciting letters of protest from alumni and theater professionals nationwide, he says, “We realized that we, along with the University, have a unique opportunity to create something very positive out of this situation. We’ve taken a more

pragmatic approach in how we are addressing the administration and are asking for the opportunity to help them find a solution that will maintain the prestigious program that we are a part of while increasing undergraduate involvement across the board.”

Booth said the design program has historically provided a unique opportunity for students to work with professionals in the field. “Brandeis was always very interested in having professionals teach and participate with the educational process here at Brandeis,” she said. “That’s why we have a Bernstein Festival of the Arts, because [Leonard Bernstein] was very much involved along with a number of other professionals in theater and in music.”

Bridget McAllister ’10, a Theater

major specializing in costume design, is skeptical of claims that the proposed cuts provide an opportunity to improve undergraduate theater training. “The graduate program gave a lot of the undergraduates opportunities to work in a professional setting and really helped build resumes. The arts are hard enough [to pursue as a career] but this really is a major setback for everyone involved and the future of the theater at Brandeis,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

Lincoln agrees that the cuts will negatively affect current undergraduates if they are implemented. “If they want to be the Brandeis Institute of Technology, then I guess they’ll have to get their money from the scientists who are graduating,” he said.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

K-NITE 2010

AMY BISAILLON/the Justice

FANS OF FANS: Students beautifully performed a traditional, intricate Korean fan dance at K-Nite 2010, the annual Korean cultural showcase sponsored by Brandeis’ Korean Student Association.

Celebrating

Korean culture

K-Nite 2010 blended historical traditions and contemporary hits

By ELLY KALFUS JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Board-chopping. Fashion shows.

Singing. Where do all of these beautiful art forms come together? At KNite, the annual Korean cultural show hosted by Brandeis’ Korean Student Association. This year, KNite brought together the ancient art of tae kwon do and modern dance, the fashions of the old days and the new, traditional Korean songs and Korean pop and much more. People of all different nationalities were in attendance to watch the breathtaking performances and celebrate historic and contemporary Korean culture.

The show started with Tecktonik and modern dances and ended with a traditional fan dance, displaying the dancers’ talents at synchronization and wielding fans. The modern dance performance, which resembled a hiphop performance, included many different styles and songs all meshed together in a nice sequence. The fash-

ion show that concluded the first act stood out as well, as students paraded onstage in different traditional outfits, including wedding costumes and the garbs of a king and a queen. The costumes were extremely elaborate and of all different colors and cuts.

Perhaps the highlight of the show was the tae kwon do performance by Ku’s Tae Kwon Do Academy, which involved students of all ages performing a series of captivating stunts.

The martial arts students performed routines, sparred with each other and even leap-frogged over one another before breaking wooden boards in half with their feet. These epic feats each roused applause in the audience, especially for the young children who performed some of the astounding moves. Lastly, Master Rodriguez performed a move in which he kicked cigars completely out of three people’s mouths, coming within inches of their faces.

The music component was emphasized in the second act, when the

Poongmul (traditional Korean drummers) performed in a semicircle on the floor, followed by the KSA band, which performed modern Korean music with electric guitar, bass and a drum set. The contrast between traditional Korean music and modern Korean pop was evident in the juxtaposition of these two musical acts.

The first had a natural, spiritual feel, the second was more exciting and lively, and the two blended well together.

The K-Nite show was a success, combining old and new aspects of Korean culture and showcasing the KSA members’ dedication and talents. During intermission, KSA members handed out Korean flags and books on Korean culture and traditions, and after the show a Korean buffet was offered, encouraging people to take a sampling of the culture home with them.

Editor’s note: Justice staff writer Sujin Shin participated in K-Nite 2010.

AMY BISAILLON/the Justice

SASSY STEPPERS: A group of students skillfully performed modern Korean dance trends during the showcase.

JESSICA CHRISTIAN/the Justice

MASKED CRUSADER: Breathtaking costumes were on view at K-Nite.

AMY BISAILLON/the Justice

KOREAN CROONING: A student sings a contemporary pop song at K-Nite.

25

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Join theJustice Sports section and give us the scoop on all the latest games and events.

For more information, e-mail Ian Cutler at ianc@brandeis.edu.

THE JUSTICE

‘COP OUT’

By BRYAN FLATT JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSSTANT

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

POLICE RESCUE: Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan, center) and Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) rescue a hostage in ‘Cop Out.’

‘Cop Out’ humor offends comedy suffered from a poorly written script.

By WEI-HUAN CHEN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

I admit that the main reason I was saw Cop Out was because it starred Tracy Morgan. I began paying attention to the actor in the TV series 30 Rock, in which he pretty much plays himself as Tracy Jordan, the self-centered and immature star of a sketchcomedy series. Tracy Morgan’s humor in the show is frequently shocking, sometimes endearing, but always really, really funny. His role in Kevin Smith’s buddy-cop action-comedy as Paul Hodges is essentially the same. He frequently bursts out with crude one-liners about anything from taking big dumps to simian oral sex.

But it’s apparent from Cop Out that Morgan’s brand of humor doesn’t quite fit into a full-length feature film, and it doesn’t help that the movie itself is quite horrible. Actually, Morgan comes nowhere near close to saving what will probably be one of the worst movies of 2010.

Cop Out (originally titled A Couple of Dicks) is the first film directed by Kevin Smith that wasn’t also written by him, a fact that helps explain the movie’s uninspired plot. Morgan, as Hodges, is partnered with the coy

27

Mayer proves true to his Boston roots personal feel in his rousing arena show on Wednesday.

Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) to make an NYPD duo who lose their badges due to a failed attempt to track down some Mexican crime lords.

Without their badges, they’re forced to take on the criminals themselves after Monroe loses a valuable baseball card, a childhood possession he plans to sell to help finance his daughter’s wedding. The card ends up in the hands of Poh Boy, the leader of the same Mexican gang Hodges and Monroe were investigating. The two cops resort to making a deal with Poh Boy, who promises Monroe the baseball card in exchange for finding the gang leader’s stolen Mercedes. This leads to the discovery of a foxy ex-drug queen (Ana de la Reguera), who was kidnapped by Poh Boy and hidden inside the trunk of the Mercedes. Hodges and Monroe, with the help of a Parkour-loving thief (Seann William Scott), end up figuring out all of Poh Boy’s plans, killing all of the drug lords, saving the hot girl and earning back their well-deserved police badges.

And the ending should hardly be a spoiler here, considering Cop Out’s atrociously formulaic story. I expected no Scorcese, but the movie’s crime elements serve no purpose toward suspense or humor. For silly fare like Cop Out, the hilarity usually hinges upon the performances by the actors, which Morgan does deliver a few times. He has a lively and entertaining presence in the movie, espe-

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

MUSIC

■ The rocker maintained a

■ Kevin Smith’s buddy

●

cially during a couple of his ridiculous one-liners that come out of nowhere.

There are random funny moments here and there, but the time in between gets exhaustingly boring.

The subplot involving Hodges’ wife (Rashida Jones), for example, serves no purpose to the plot and lacks any capacity to generate laughs. The problem is that Tracy Morgan’s humor comes from his character’s childlike simplicity, which does not lend well to the development of his character. His relationship with his wife is hardly believable, and his suspicions concerning his wife’s loyalty don’t mix well with the Tracy Morgan persona.

Meanwhile, Bruce Willis and Seann William Scott do their usual thing as John McClane and Stifler, respectively, but they bring nothing to the movie. It’s painful to watch their characters suffer from the inane dialogue and trite situations. Have you ever squirmed in your seat from watching a movie that was just really, really stupid?

Anyone looking for Kevin Smith’s brand of humor found in Clerks or Mallrats should stay away from Cop Out, as hints of his input in the movie are hardly present. Seeing this might just make you hate the director, actually. And those like me who were initially drawn to Tracy Morgan’s starring role in the movie should take my advice and just keep on watching 30 Rock.

It was 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night.

I was on the commuter rail from Brandeis/Roberts to North Station. In my jacket pocket I had 21 pages of study notes because I had two midterms the next day and an essay due the day after.

So what was I doing on the commuter rail? Going to the John Mayer concert, of course. I worried that I wasn’t going to be able to focus on the concert with so much to do when I got back, but by the time I walked out of TD Banknorth Garden, music was the first thing on my mind.

I walked into the concert to sounds of the opener, Michael Franti and Spearhead, rocking out on stage to a song I had never heard but very much enjoyed. Michael Franti and Spearhead is not a household name, but after what I heard, it should be. All of the band members played well together, and you could tell there was a cohesive family feeling. Their music is fun and funky and just makes you want to jump around. As the band played its last song, “Say Hi (I Love You),” its first top20 hit in the members’ 30 years of playing together, they invited up all the kids in the audience on stage (I failed at passing for a tall 8-year-old). It was a very fun big finish to an altogether solid performance before the man of the night, John Mayer, came out.

After 30 minutes of setup and anticipation, sheer screens circled the stage to an uproar of crowd excitement. After about two minutes of dark silence, a classic movie countdown appeared and once it hit zero, successive images of John Mayer’s face, walking legs, and a shadow silhouette appeared as a light shone in the middle of the stage to reveal Mayer as he played his first song of the night, “Heartbreak Warfare.”

Though not my favorite song, as the opening song on his new album, Battle Studies, it was a fitting start to the concert. I do have to say that the sad attitude of some of the album’s songs comes across much better live when you can feel the energy of the artist of the stage. If there was any doubt of Mayer’s talent, his second song, “Good Love is On the Way,” instantly calmed the fears. A technically difficult song with lots of excitement and incredible guitar solos, it proved that Mayer is still the best at what he does.

The entire set list had incredible va-

riety, incorporating songs from his whole career and maintaining bluesy rather than sappy feel. The best song of the night, though, wasn’t even a John Mayer original. Mayer loves covering songs and making them his own, and on Wednesday night he did just that with “Ain’t No Sunshine” an incredibly smooth blues song that absolutely blew me away. As a Bill Withers fan, I’d say Mayer more than did the song justice.

Beyond the music, Mayer has a connection to Boston—he went to Berklee College of Music for two semesters—and that was very evident throughout the show. He prefaced his third song, “No Such Thing,” one of the only songs he played off his first album, with, “I wrote this in room 737 on 151 Mass. Ave.,” and later in the show he mentioned “walking along Newbury Street trying to figure out my life and dreams hoping to be a great musician some day.”

While his message was truthful and a really nice change to hear after a flurry of bad publicity these past few weeks, Mayer’s music outshone everything that entire night. His entire tabloid-filled past melted away as every single song was filled with deep solos that seemed like the music was directly ingrained in him. Playing to a sold-out crowd in a place where he used to just be a fan, he made everyone feel like stars by thanking the crowd and having them sing along to his music.

John Mayer is great, but so is his band. Steve Jordan, Mayer’s good friend and longtime drummer, played the most incredible drum solo I have ever had the pleasure to hear. The intensity and virtuosity of the solo is not even describable. While not every member took a solo, they all played excellently the entire night, backing Mayer in a show that not only rivals what you hear on the album but blows it out of the water.

I wrote in my review of Battle Studies that Mayer had lost his focus and created sappy songs for the heart instead of playing to the musician he truly is. Boy, oh boy: After his concert was I ever wrong for doubting him. He must have been holding back on his album to blow fans away live because the man I saw up on stage for two-plus hours with a microphone and guitar was better than anything I had ever heard on an album by the artist John Mayer. As I walked out of TD Banknorth Garden back to the commuter rail, back to Brandeis, back into my room with study notes in hand, I started studying again with a smile on my face and the faint sound of a solo still ringing in my ears.

GAMES

It’s a ‘Desperate Struggle’ to find fresh fun in this sequel ■ The new video game is rife

with clichéd characters and flawed technical design.

By JUSTINE ROOT JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Let’s face it, most video game sequels aren’t exactly paragons of originality: Final Fantasy’s writers are becoming progressively lazier with each installment in the series. It seems like every title features an androgynous protagonist with a weather-related moniker who has to overcome a scientific/spiritual source of doom with the aid of a ragtag bunch of loveable and/or annoying sidekicks. Similarly, most of the new games in the Mario and Zelda franchises only feature the bare minimum amount of alteration to the original game’s plot or setting.

But when I heard a follow-up to the 2008 action title No More Heroes was going to hit the streets in January, I dared to hope: How could the series’ creator, Suda51, possibly produce anything unoriginal?

Alas, Suda51 seems to have fallen victim to, for the first half of the game, at least the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality that plagues the aforementioned games and so many other titles in the video game medium.

For those unfamiliar with the prequel to No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, the original Wii title followed otaku Travis Touchdown as he battled the top ten killers of the United Assassins Association. In reality, the plot is of little import; what makes the game is its over-the-top brutality, twisted sense of humor and unique character personalities.

And, while I hoped Desperate Struggle would be much the same (just because the original was so fantastic), I still expected some innovation and a few improvements. Instead, Suda51 and his company, Grasshopper Manufacture, just took the best features of the original game (including its plot— Desperate Struggle is essentially the same journey, except with a briefly touched upon revenge element tossed in) and exaggerated them to an unappealing degree in Desperate Struggle.

In the first No More Heroes, for instance, characters were outrageous but frequently had some depth to their personalities. In Desperate Struggle, however, assassins are so extreme and so shallow that they sometimes border on uninspired stereotypes: There’s the jock and his legion of murderous cheerleaders, the poison-spitting nymphomaniac, two subservient schoolgirls (which is two more than I needed) and a bounty of other caricatures with no backstory and massive

cases of hero-worship. Fortunately, as Desperate Heroes progresses, the game moves beyond the “Whoa, Travis! I joined the UAA to fight you!” dialogue that dominates the first portion of the game; by the second half, in fact, it has been replaced by the witty banter and somewhat disturbing back-and-forth that made the original title so entertaining.

And, while I was fond of the first No More Heroes’ helter-skelter battle system and even enjoyed the button mashing it required, I expected Grasshopper Manufacture to come up with something a little more advanced for Desperate Struggle. But I hoped in vain: You still bring about bloodbaths by frantically pressing the A button and occasionally pulling off a randomly generated wrestling move. No combos, no Wii-remote-enabled swordfights and no innovation were involved in the making of this game’s fighting style, or in the layout of its “levels.” For, much like in the first title, each ranked assassin is preceded by a series of rooms filled with lackeys, although Desperate Struggle does occasionally switch things up a bit by throwing you right into the boss’ lair or by giving you an opportunity to ride your trusty steed/chopper, the Schpeltiger, into battle. And, for several brief periods of the game, you’ll get to play as a giant robot and also as Shinobu (who is now

one of the subservient schoolgirls I mentioned; what happened there?) and Henry, both of whom made an appearance in No More Heroes.

But, I suppose I shouldn’t complain about the lack of innovation in Desperate Struggle, as some of the title’s greatest flaws lie in its new features. When you do get a chance to fight astride the Schpeltiger, for instance, you’ll find yourself facing an opponent capable of performing donuts on his motorcycle while you’re stuck spending 15 to 20 minutes turning around to face him.

Don’t worry, though: If you’re having difficulty dealing the winning blow, just wait a bit, as chances are the boss will run himself off a cliff due to the game’s poor artificial intelligence. (No, really: I did, in fact, win a portion of the game after an assassin ran himself off of a cliff. The UAA’s standards are pretty low nowadays.) Further, while Shinobu’s jumping abilities make for a fun battle mechanic, they are next to useless while you’re trying to navigate the landscape of certain levels, as Shinobu is apparently physically incapable of grabbing ledges and thus slides off of the edges of half of the surfaces you attempt to climb.

Regardless, I have to give credit where credit is due. Suda51 fixed a significant amount of the original title’s greatest flaws. The money-earning mini-games are now fun throwbacks to

the eight-bit era, and the boring, empty Santa Destroy (the city in which both games take place) of yore has been replaced by a streamlined map from which you select your next destination, and Desperate Struggle is still a better title than 90 percent of those games that are currently available for the Wii— unless, of course, you’re a fan of titles composed primarily of mini-games featuring avatars with obese skulls. And, the boss battles are, at the very least, interesting and occasionally challenging to a frustrating degree: In the first fight, the room in which you battle will be filled with falling objects and lasers before finally catching on fire. However, don’t be fooled by your starting position as the 51st-ranked assassin in the UAA: By the time the game concludes, you’ll have engaged in only 13 ranked battles (two of which feature assassins from the first No More Heroes, if you have taken the time to play it) and two other “boss” fights, one of which is hidden.

Ultimately, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy another round of swinging ye olde Beam Katana. But, while the game is certainly worth playing for its endgame content, excellent soundtrack and characters who could only have been created by Suda51 himself, the title will most likely only feel fresh for those who missed out on Desperate Struggle’s predecessor.

28

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

●

THE JUSTICE

TOP of the

ARTS ON VIEW

TRIVIA TIME 1. What was the title of the theme song to the sitcom Cheers?

2. What state’s motto is “North to the Future”?

3. Who is known as the father of geometry?

4. What are Saturn’s giant rings made of?

5. What was the first Pixar film to receive a PG rating?

6. Where is the Isle of Wight in relation to England?

7. What is the more common name for the ailment officially known as “tinea pedis”?

8. What 1960s and ’70s product warned consumers to “be careful how you use it”?

9. What is the fastest known bird in the world?

10. What is the birthstone for April?

CHARTS Top 10s for the week ending March 2 BOX OFFICE 1. Shutter Island 2. Cop Out 3. The Crazies 4. Avatar 5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 6. Valentine’s Day 7. Dear John 8. The Wolfman 9. Tooth Fairy 10. Crazy Heart

1. “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” 2. Alaska 3. Euclid 4. Dust and ice 5. The Incredibles 6. Off England’s southern coast 7. Athlete’s foot.

8. Hai Karate after-shave 9. Peregrine falcon (recorded at speeds of 200 mph) 10. Diamond

WBRS

SOLOMON KIM/the Justice

ANSWERS

CROSSWORD

SHOWTIMES 3/05 - 3/11 Cop Out Fri-Sun 1:00, 3:50, 6:50, 9:25 Mon-Thurs 2:20, 5:00, 8:00 Alice in Wonderland Fri-Sun 1:10, 4:00, 7:00, 9:45 Tues-Thurs 2:30, 5:10, 8:10 Valentine’s Day Fri-Sun 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:35 Mon-Thurs 2:10, 5:00, 7:40 Shutter Island Fri-Sun 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30 Mon-Thurs 2:00, 4:50, 7:50 Precious Fri-Sun 1:20, 4:10, 7:10, 9:45 Mon-Thurs 2:40, 5:10, 8:20 Avatar Fri-Sun 12:50, 4:20, 8:00 Mon-Thurs 2:50, 7:20

The Embassy is located at 18 Pine Street in Waltham

ACROSS 1. I love (Lat.) 4. Recede 7. Detest 11. Overextended 13. Hair-salon item 14. First victim 15. Afrikaner 16. “— whiz!”

17. 57-Across site 18. Confused 20. On pension (Abbr.)

22. Commotion 24. Snapshots 28. Automobile framework 32. Bring forth 33. Sharpen 34. Matlock’s field 36. A Great Lake 37. Enola Gay payload 39. Units of measure 41. Pay 43. “Cool!” (Sl.) 44. Furtive call 46. Teeny-tiny 50. Dog bane 53. Pick a target 55. Counterfeit 56. Prison compartment 57. Floral adornment 58. Polynesian carving 59. Serene 60. “— Winterbourne” 61. Favorite

1. Rogue Wave – “Sleepwalker” 2. Los Campesinos! – “This Is A Flag.

There Is No Wind” 3. Smile Smile – “Beg You to Stay” 4. Dinosaur Feathers– “Vendela Vida” 5. You Say Party! We Say Die! – “Glory” 6. Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt – “Tokyo Drift” 7. R.J. Mischo – “Knowledge You Can’t Get in College” 8. The Album Leaf – “There Is a Wind” 9. Local Natives – “Sun Hands” 10. Matthew Stubbs – “Medford & Main”

COLLEGE RADIO 1. Beach House – Teen Dream 2. Spoon – Transference 3. Vampire Weekend – Contra 4. Hot Chip – One Life Stand 5. Yeasayer – ODD BLOOD 6. Magnetic Fields – Realism 7. Fourtet – There Is Love In You 8. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast 9. Los Campesinos! – Romance Is Boring 10. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

BILLBOARD

DOWN 1. Actress Jessica 2. Academic 3. Individuals 4. Omelet necessity 5. Cheers order 6. Censor’s sound 7. Quickly and in large amounts 8. Homer Simpson’s dad 9. Sleuth 10. Wapiti 12. Request for a bribe 19. Billboards 21. Definite article

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26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

35.

38.

40.

42.

45.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

Lubricate Ripped Grapes of Wrath type Gets a glimpse of Bloke Vagrant Unsigned (Abbr.)

Despondent Marry Clear the tables Prized possession Song of praise Layer Ante, maybe Autumn tool Leave out Media watchdog org.

Meadow Right angle

1. Sade – Soldier of Love 2. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now 3. Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D. 4. Lady Gaga – The Fame 5. Lil Wayne – Rebirth 6. Susan Boyle – I Dreamed A Dream 7. Alicia Keys – The Element of Freedom 8. Jaheim – Another Round 9. Josh Turner – Haywire 10. Taylor Swift – Fearless Album information provided by Billboard Magazine. Box office information provided by Yahoo! Movies. Radio charts provided by CMJ.

STAFF PLAYLIST

“High School”

By JOYCE WANG

Solution to last issue’s crossword.

54. Wrong (Pref.)

King Crossword Copyright 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.

STRANGE BUT TRUE It was longtime U.S. Congressman from Minnesota Eugene J. McCarthy who made the following sage observation: “It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember.”

You may not be surprised to learn that the portions offered in fast-food restaurants have increased in size during the past few decades, but you may find the amount of the increase to be shocking: Portions are now anywhere from two to five times as large as they were in 1980.

Because fortunetelling is considered to be a form of witchcraft in Australia, psychic readings are illegal down under.

Talk about a serious typo: In 2008, the Chilean mint issued thousands of copies of a coin with the country’s name spelled “Chiie” instead of “Chile.”

Tibet is the only country in the world whose national flag is not in the shape of a rectangle.

In December of 1811, parts of the Mississippi River flowed backward due to an earthquake in the region.

A survey of elementary-school kids reveals that 66 percent of youngsters think that glasses make a person look smarter, while 57 percent think people who wear glasses look more honest.

The world’s longest-lasting light bulb, which can be found in a fire station in Livermore, Calif., has been in use for 107 years. Experts say that the bulb’s extremely low wattage and the fact that it is rarely turned on and off have contributed to its longevity.

The world's most-filmed story is Cinderella, followed by Hamlet.

Thought for the Day: “The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.” —Jim Rohn

JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

When I listen to the songs I loved in high school now, I feel alternately confused and indifferent.

Sometimes, I can’t figure out what I saw in an artist besides what must have been a certain convergence in timing, mood or maybe a friend’s recommendation.

But all of the songs on my playlist still hold up well to me, and I suspect they contribute a great deal to what kinds of new music I currently enjoy.

1. The Walkmen – “Wake Up” 2. Belle & Sebastian – “We Rule the School” 3. The Decemberists – “The Engine Driver” 4. Broken Social Scene – “Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Half)” 5. Neutral Milk Hotel – “Holland, 1945” 6. The Arcade Fire – “Rebellion (Lies)” 7. Radiohead – “Subterranean Homesick Alien” 8. Xiu Xiu – “I Luv the Valley OH” 9. Patrick Wolf – “Penzance” 10. Wolf Parade – “I’ll Believe in Anything”