The Justice, March 23, 2010

ARTS PAGE 16

FORUM Revamp room selection 9

HTG’S ‘CHILDREN’

FEATURES Engagement at Brandeis 5 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

the

OF

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SINCE 1949

Justice www.theJusticeOnline.com

Volume LXII, Number 22

Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ACADEMICS

STUDENT UNION

Changes proposed to UTA grading

Eight proposals approved

■ Under this proposal,

undergraduate teaching assistants will be allowed to grade in a limited capacity.

By MIRANDA NEUBAUER

■ Students voted on the

JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

amendments proposed by the Constitutional Review Committee last Thursday.

The Committee for the Support of Teaching is considering a policy change that would officially allow undergraduate teaching assistants who receive academic credit for their roles as teaching assistants to grade assignments in a limited capacity, according to a proposal discussed by department chairs March 11.

Under the new policy, UTAs would be allowed to grade assignments such as problem sets, multiple-choice questions, true/false questions and short answers but not essays with initial and ongoing supervision by the professor.

The proposal states that appropriate assignments for UTAs to grade are “problem sets that have minimal impact on the total grade, and for which grading standards are clearly specified” as well as “objective test questions that require minimal discretion on partial credit, e.g., multiple choice questions,true false or short answers in which specific points are assigned for specific portions of the correct response.”

Currently the official policy holds that UTAs, known as “peer assistants,” “may not assign grades for any assignments, but may assist in evaluating work under the close supervision of the faculty instructor,” according to the peer assistant registration form.

However, UTAs who either receive academic credit or payment for their work have been grading assignments out of necessity with success in departments such as Biology, Chemistry and Economics in situations where there are too few graduate teaching

See POLICY, 4 ☛

By CLARE CHURCHILL-SEDER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

resources at Brandeis. While he did not state any specific potential outcomes from the MarketMatch project, Collins mentioned that attention was being paid to Charles River residents, who lack a nearby Brandeis dining hall.

Collins said that dining services could be expanded to “offering bet-

Three of the 11 amendments proposed by the Constitutional Review Committee—including the amendment to secure Students for Environmental Action—did not pass because they did not receive the necessary two-thirds of the student vote last Thursday.

Both sections of the first amendment, which would have enacted major structural changes to the student government body, were rejected.

The second amendment would have changed the title of the Senator for Racial Minority Students and Finance Board member for Racial Minority Students to Representative for Historically Underrepresented Races.

Two clubs, Students for Environmental Action and Student Sexuality Information Service, were eligible to be secured through the amendment votes. While SSIS was approved, SEA was not.

Some of the other amendments that passed will increase funding for BEMCo and increase training for FBoard members and treasurers. An amendment to instate a student representative to the Board of Trustees was also passed, as was a proposal to change the way elections are held.

According to the latter proposal, students will be asked to rank their choices for elected officials so as to avoid holding runoff elections, which often have very low voter turnout, according to the ballot.

The CRC convened according to Article XIII, Section 1 of the Student Union Constitution, which states that, “Every four years there shall be established an independent Constitutional Review Task Force charged with conducting a full review of all aspects of the Union, including the operation of clubs, Secured Organizations, and Union Government.”

In addition to proposing to secure SEA and SSIS, the constitutional amendments also provided a definition for what a secured club at Brandeis should be. According to the CRC report, secured clubs are “those organizations that the student body recognizes as fundamental to the mission of the university.” Some currently secured clubs include the Justice and WBRS.

See DINING, 4 ☛

See REVIEW, 4 ☛

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

PEER HELP: Kanchana Ravichandran ’10, an undergraduate teaching assistant, helps a student in General Chemistry Lab.

DINING SERVICES

Collins explains MarketMatch project ■ The MarketMatch project

aims to improve University dining services by acquiring student and faculty input.

By FIONA LOCKYER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

More information has been released about the MarketMatch proposal, in which Aramark will work with the University to restructure Brandeis dining.

The MarketMatch project was created approximately three weeks ago and will consist of surveys; focus groups; and intercept interviews of students, staff and

faculty, said Vice President for Campus Operations Mark Collins at a press conference. The project is being conducted and paid for by Aramark and Collins is overseeing.

Collins said that MarketMatch will provide “real, non-anecdotal data” to help dining services improve while using pre-existing

Previous career

Winning home opener

Mediation solution

■ Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL) discusses his past as an actor.

■ The baseball team defeated Bridgewater State College 10-9 on Thursday.

■ A mediation resolution process has been proposed for a Student Judiciary case.

FEATURES 7 For tips or info call Let your voice be heard!

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

INDEX

SPORTS 12 ARTS SPORTS

13 12

EDITORIAL FEATURES

8 5

OPINION POLICE LOG

9 2

COMMENTARY

NEWS 3 9

COPYRIGHT 2010 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Call for home delivery.

2

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS BRIEF

POLICE LOG

More students choose to live in the Charles River Apartments

Medical Emergency

Students hoping to live on campus for the duration of next year participated in room selection last week with less housing available for upperclassmen as options were expanded for the larger sophomore class, according to Assistant Dean of Student Life Maggie Balch.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Balch wrote that the first room chosen in upperclassman housing was located in the Charles River Apartments, a different scenario than that in prior years.

Balch wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, “After [the first selection], I believe Ridgewood [Quad] and the Mods went next, then Ziv Quad then the rest of Charles River.” Despite the fact that some rooms in the Charles River Apartments were chosen last, “Students who had the higher lottery numbers were okay with [those rooms] as an option this year, which has been different from in years past.”

To make the Charles River Apartments more attractive to students choosing housing, the University plans to renovate all of them by the beginning of the next fall semester. The Department of Community Living has held open houses this semester in a model renovated apartment to show students what the facility will look like after the renovations are complete.

Because of the increased sizes of the rising sophomore and first-year classes, some sophomores will be housed in the Village, leaving less room for juniors and seniors. Further restricting available housing for upperclassmen will be the housing of study abroad students in Ziv. Balch wrote that it is very important for students who were placed on the housing wait list to ensure that DCL has their contact information over the summer, because that is when most housing becomes available.

“In the time I have been here (8 years) anyone who is on the wait list and wants to live on campus, has gotten a space; we just ask for their patience,” she wrote.

Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer deferred comments to Balch. Senior Director of Community Living Jeremy Leiferman could not be reached by press time because he is attending a conference.

Mar. 15—University Police received a report that an 18-yearold female was having a seizure in Hassenfeld Residence Hall.

University Police and BEMCo responded, and an ambulance transported the party to the Newton-Wellesley hospital.

Mar. 15—A 20-year-old female slipped and struck her head.

BEMCo treated the party onscene with a signed refusal for further care.

Mar. 16—A community development coordinator in the Stoneman Building requested an ambulance to transport a party to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for a psychological evaluation.

The ambulance transported the party to the hospital, and University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Mar. 20—University Police received a report of a male party

not responding on the floor of the bathroom in Usen Hall. University Police searched the building and found the party in his room. BEMCo transported the party to the Newton-Wellesley hospital.

books were stolen in the Golding Judaic Center. University Police arrested a suspect for larceny, and the party was transported to the Waltham Police station for processing.

Mar. 19—University Police received a report of a stolen wallet in the Usdan Student Center.

University Police compiled a report on the theft.

Disturbance Mar. 16—A caller reported a series of “loud bangs” coming from an area in Shapiro Residence Hall. University Police sent units to investigate, but the building and the area were quiet.

Mar. 18—University Police received a report that a group of people were playing loud music and dancing in their vehicle.

University Police spoke to the group, and the group went on its’ way without incident.

Harassment Mar. 17—A student compiled a written statement that an unknown party had sent an instant message to her AOL account in Reitman Hall. University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Traffic Mar. 18—A party reported that his car was struck while parked in Theater Lot. University Police compiled a report on

Larceny Mar. 16—A party reported his

The Justice is on hiatus for spring break. Our next issue will be published April 12, 2010.

Check our Web site at www.thejusticeonline.com for News updates.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS An article in Sports misrepresented an athlete’s participation in a sporting event. Alex Turner ’11 did qualify for Regionals but not for Nationals. (Mar. 16, p. 13) The Staff Playlist column in Arts misidentified the performer of a song. Java performs the song “We Rule the School,” not Augustus Pablo. (Mar. 16, p. 24) The Staff Playlist column in Arts misidentified the performer of a song. The Abyssinians perform the song “Satta Massagana,” not Bob Marley. (Mar. 16, p. 24)

The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction 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 are held every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m.

Main Line News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing

(781) 736-3750 (781) 736-6397 (781) 736-3746 (781) 736-3754 (781) 736-3745 (781) 736-3753 (781) 736-3751 (781) 736-3752 (781) 736-3567

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Mar. 16—A party reported he found a disturbing flyer in the male bathroom in the Golding Judaic Center. University Police checked the area, but the flyer was a political ad. No further action was taken.

Mar. 18—University Police received a report that a Web site was negatively depicting the Brandeis SunDeis film festival.

University Police compiled a report, and judicial charges will be filed. (see article, p. 3) Mar. 18—University Police received a report of unwanted physical contact in the Usdan Student Center. University Police compiled a report on the incident, and an investigation will follow.

—compiled by Alana Abramson

Hogan suggests ways to improve structure of Union

NOTE TO READERS:

A photo in Arts was misattributed. Yoseph Schaffel took the photograph, not Asher Krell. (Mar. 9, p.

24)

Miscellaneous

SENATE LOG

—Emily Kraus

The Staff Playlist column in Arts misidentified the name of a song. Number 9 on the playlist was supposed to read “Bob Marley Live at the One Love Peace Concert from 1978,” not Patrick Wolf’s song “Penzance.” (Mar. 16, p. 24)

the incident.

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

Spring weather arrives Students relaxing on the Great Lawn enjoy the warm weather. During the course of the weekend, the Great Lawn was filled with students eager to take advantage of the springtime atmosphere.

Student Union President Andy Hogan ’11 raised a discussion about last Thursday’s failed vote to change the new student government structure.

He mentioned the idea of creating an ad hoc task force to report on basic recommendations about improving the structure of the Student Union.

Tom Charging Hawk ’10 spoke about violations made to the Student Bill of Rights in regard to this year’s SunDeis Film Festival. He requested the Senate’s acknowledgment that since the administration has mandated Prof. Alice Kelikian (HIST), chair of the Film, Television and Interactive Media program, to head the festival, it was no longer solely “student-run.”

Senator for the Foster Mods Amy Mandel ’10 spoke on behalf of the senior senators who have been planning a senior bonding night prior to Senior Week.

She asked the Senate to sponsor an event that would bring 70 seniors to a Red Sox game. The senate voted to subsidize onequarter of the ticket cost, so tickets would be sold for $30 per student.

Mandel also reported that lamps will be installed in the Mods by the time students move in next fall.

Student Union Vice President Amanda Hecker ’10 informed the Senate that $315 was granted to the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps and University Police for a 5-kilometer run for Haiti and Invisible Children. The event is sponsored by Student Events as well as Phi Psi and will be held April 18 at noon.

It costs $5 to participate.

The Senate voted to charter the Economics Club, which will serve as a forum for discussion on current economic issues such as the national debt and unemployment rate. The Senate also voted to charter the Golf Club.

The Senate approved Senator for the Class of 2010 Jackie Saffir’s request to cover the costs of dessert, plates and cutlery for the Senate-sponsored charity water auction, which will be held on April 14.

`

—Erin Doniger

ANNOUNCEMENTS “Changing People in a Changing Climate?

The Ethical Implications of Climate Disruption”

Today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Shapiro Admissions Center.

A variety of disciplinary perspectives will discuss climate change and its ethical and educational challenges and strategies for reducing its causes and ameliorating its consequences. For more information, email ethics@brandeis.edu.Today from 2 to 5 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

Sociology Spring 2010 Colloquium Series featuring Nancy Naples

Employment workshop for international students Ruth Brigham will provide an employment workshop for J1 visa holders interested in pursuing internships and/or post-completion employment. For more information e-mail rbrigham@brandeis.edu.

Today from 4:30 to 5 p.m. in Kutz 215.

MLK Week 2010: “Remembering Ford Hall” Alumni who participated in the 1969 occupation of Ford Hall will be featured in a panel discussion commemorating the event.

Nancy Naples, professor of sociology & women’s studies at University of Connecticut, will give a talk titled “Sexual Citizenship in Comparative Perspective: Creating a Dialogue between Feminist and Queer Approaches.” Naples’ research entails interrogating the relationship between the state, market, other social institutions and citizenship to determine how social actors are affected by and resist extra-local economic and political structures and policies. For more information e-mail hanley @brandeis.edu. Thursday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Pearlman Lounge.

Brandeis Green Networking Event

Careers

Forum

and

The Hiatt Career Center, the Environmental Studies department and Students for

Environmental Action are collaborating to host the second annual Green Careers Forum and Networking Event to discuss professional paths in a diverse array of green career fields. This event will feature a panel of environmental experts and will be followed by an open networking session where students and alumni connect with employers and professionals about their missions, career paths and potential opportunities for internships and full-time positions. Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Hassenfeld Conference Center.

2010 Census For a couple of weeks in March, Student Affairs staff members will be encouraging students to participate in the national census, which happens every 10 years. It is important that students participate to ensure that Brandeis receives its fair share of political representation and government funding. For more information, e-mail Jenny Abdou at jabdou@brandeis.edu.

THE JUSTICE

STUDENT UNION

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

3

CAMPUS EVENT

Child soldiers focus of event Libel case to enter mediation ■ The film ‘Invisible

Children,’ about the plight of child soldiers in Uganda, was screened at the event.

■ A complaint was filed on

behalf of the Sundeis Film Festival claiming libel by the IndieLouie Film Festival.

By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The Student Judiciary will be implementing the mediation resolution process, which was approved as an amendment to the Student Union Constitution last Thursday, for the recent judicial complaint regarding a statement about the SunDeis Film Festival on the IndieLouie Film Festival Web site, according to an e-mail from Chief Justice of the Student Judiciary Judah Marans ’11.

According to an e-mail Marans sent to the Justice, Avner Swerdlow ’10 submitted a complaint to the Judiciary on behalf of the SunDeis Film Fesitval. The complaint was filed against Ilona Yuhaev ’11, who is part of the committee for the IndieLouie Film Festival, for making an allegedly libelous statement about the SunDeis Film Festival on the IndieLouie Film Festival Web site.

The statement on the IndieLouie Web site explains, “Brandeis used to have a film festival called SunDeis run by students. This year, SunDeis was taken over by the film department for fundraising purposes. IndieLouie is the new student film festival at Brandeis; it is run by students, for students.”

Swerdlow claimed in his complaint that there was no takeover of the festival by the Film, Television and Interactive Media program.

In an interview with the Justice, Swerdlow said that he filed the complaint because he believed Yuhaev was the head of the IndieLouie Committee but that the status of the defendants has since been extended to include all members of the IndieLouie Committee.

Nathan Robinson ’11, who is serving as the counsel for the IndieLouie committee, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that Yuhaev is not the head of the committee and that the committee has “no management hierarchy whatsoever.”

Swerdlow explained that he filed the complaint because he was worried about the misrepresentation of information about SunDeis. He explained that in prior years, SunDeis had been administered by Student Activities, but that Student Activities had not been al-

located the same amount of funding because of the economy. Thus, the Film, Television and Interactive Media program increased the funding it provides to the festival, he said. However, Swerdlow stressed that the festival was still completely student-run.

“The festival is more student-run this year then ever. The Film department had very little involvement and is just a source of funding,” Swerdlow said.

Robinson said in an interview with the Justice that the complaint came as a complete surprise.

“The statement on the Web site is innocuous and doesn’t comply with the definition of libel,” he said. He added that he did not understand why Yuhaev had been singled out for the complaint rather than the committee as a whole, and he was seeking clarification on that point from the Student Judiciary.

Marans explained in an e-mail that the Judiciary had decided to engage in a mediation resolution process rather than hold a trial, a decision to which both parties agreed. According to the constitutional amendment, a mediation resolution process entails a discussion between the accuser and the accused regarding the allegation with the Judiciary acting as a mediator.

“We are following this process for a rather straightforward reason: it is the required one spelled out in the constitution,” Marans wrote.

When asked about the length of the mediation resolution process, Marans responded that he did not now how long the process would take, as the Judiciary is still preparing for the meetings.

Robinson said that he was unsure about the details of the mediation resolution process and that the details of the process would determine his ultimate willingness to comply with it.

“We have agreed that we are open to it [the mediation resolution process] but will only go through with it depending on what the process will look like,” he said, further explaining that he hopes the administration and faculty are not involved in the process.

Marans also wrote that it would be “speculation” to assess what the outcome of this situation would have been had the amendment for a mediation resolution process not been implemented.

“We were not necessarily expecting an issue to arise, but are certainly not surprised that it has. Our role is, after all, at least inter alia, to address issues of the student body in order to help achieve a just result,” Marans wrote.

By JASON KARELIS JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Nearly a hundred Brandeis students at an event last week heard a Ugandan man named Innocent share the story of his abduction and escape from the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel army of northern Uganda. The documentary Invisible Children, which exposed the abductions and forced conscription of children in Uganda and the terror that has become ingrained in their daily lives as a result of civil war, was also screened at the event.

For over two decades, the government of Uganda has been at war with the LRA, led by Joseph Kony, and the government’s attempts to protect its citizens have failed. The LRA has resorted to kidnapping and brainwashing children to perpetuate its insurrection. Children have had to flee their villages every night to avoid being captured by the LRA. A few of these “night commuters” were directly interviewed in the documentary.

The Invisible Children Foundation’s goal is to end the war in Uganda by informing and inspiring as many people as possible and by raising money to provide education for a new generation of Ugandan children. The foundation makes documentaries that it presents all around the world. Innocent traveled 6,900 miles to tell his story to students all over the United States with Invisible Children.

Innocent recalled that 10 years ago, when he was 10 years old, a rebel army attacked him in his home and kidnapped him. He was brought to a training camp where he and other, mostly younger, children were given guns and taught how to use them. Despite an unsuccessful first attempt to escape that resulted in a brutal beating that left him disabled for a week and a half, he attempted to escape once again two months later after he was told that he would be killed if he dared to try again. He ran 100 kilometers and outsmarted his persecutors by making a U-turn so his path would not lead to where he slept.

Innocent shared that his goal now is “to make myself the happiest man but to bring happiness to a new generation.” The documentary featured actual footage of children in Uganda

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

INNOCENCE: Members of the Invisible Children Foundation spoke on Thursday. suffering and seeking refuge from the LRA, which forcefully conscripts and brainwashes small children in an attempt to overthrow the national government, according to the film.

In an interview with the Justice, Innocent said he wants every Brandeis student to receive a message: “We should join together. … Different people should come together to rescue these kids in northern Uganda. Just by offering them the scholarships so they can go to school and beyond that, … by telling other people about the war in Northern Uganda so the world can come to rescue … the kids.”

Christo Balmoyi, who came from Uganda to the United States to participate in a tour with Invisible Children, also spoke at the event about the different programs that the charity uses to ameliorate the situation in Uganda. Two of the programs Balyomi spoke about were “Schools for Schools,” a program that rebuilds schools destroyed by war, and the Economic Development Initiative, which provides economic opportunities for the people of Uganda.

Innocent was given an Invisible Children scholarship and was invited to Kampala International University in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where he is studying Statistics and Economics. Innocent hopes to become a member of Parliament and to eventually become the President of Uganda and bring peace to his homeland.

The event, which was arranged by Phi Kappa Psi; Mock Trial; B.A.D.A.S.S.; the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life; and the Student Union, elicited some strong student responses.

Douglas Kanovsky ’12 said he would “absolutely never” forget what he saw at the event. “Being at a school like Brandeis you hear about more of political problems … than things like these. … It’s dehumanizing what’s going on with these children,” Kanovsky said.

Ronny Chatterjee ’13 described his reaction to the entire event as “shocking.” Chatterjee added, “Obviously after watching that you want to help. … Hearing first-hand experiences from them … is very difficult.”

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

REVIEW: SEA not secured

TEA TIME

CONTINUED FROM 1 “Securing SSIS ensures Brandeis students have this same access to affordable safer sex products and information in future years,” wrote Matthew Shear ’11, coordinator of SSIS, in an e-mail to the Justice. As a secured club, SSIS may be able to increase services to students by offering more products, increasing programming, developing resources like the SSIS texting service and providing “perhaps even lower prices,” Shear wrote.

According to SEA coordinator Hannah Saltman ’12, SEA provides services that are integral to the University’s mission and should therefore have become a secured club.

Saltman said that because the University has ratified a climate action plan, sustainability is clearly part of the University’s mission.

However, Saltman also said that the fact that SEA’s actions on campus are not as visible as those of SSIS probably contributed to the failure of the amendment. “When you go to the salad bar, for example, you don’t see organic vegetables, brought to you by SEA, … and there’s a lot of lobbying within the administration which, again, is not necessarily that tangible,” said Saltman. If SEA had been secured, Saltman said, “Finding the most effective way to target students about sustainability would have been easier.”

The proposal regarding securing SEA only received 51.97 percent of the vote, according to the results released by the CRC. The first amendment would have changed the name of the Student Union Senate to the Student Union Assembly and created a separate entity called the Club Support Board.

The Assembly would have performed all the same duties as the current Senate with the exception of the oversight of club recognition and charters. The amendment would have also reduced the number of senators and eliminated quad representatives. The second part of the amendment would have had the vice president elected internally rather than by the student body.

CRC Chair Jessica Steinberg ’10 wrote in an email that she “was disappointed that the government restructure proposal did not receive 2/3 of the vote. A lot of time and thought was put into it, and it had the potential to affect some very positive change in the way our Union is run.”

However, Mark Trilling ’12, senator for Castle Quad, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he had hoped for the failure of the amendment because while he agrees that changes could be made to improve student government, he did not see the amendment as a “guarantee of improvement … and I think the student body understood that.”

According to the ballot, if the second amendment had passed, the new title of “Representative for Historically Underrepresented Races” was supposed to have had a more positive connotation and would have made it possible for students of any race to run for the position. However, only students of racial minorities would have been eligible to vote for the representative.

Kenta Yamamoto ’10, representative to the Constitutional Review Committee from the Intercultural Center, said that some people had raised concerns that the current title for the position, “Senator for Racial Minority Students,” somewhat marginalized the constituency.

JV Souffrant ’13, the current senator for racial minority students, also said that lack of support for the amendment was probably because students “only saw the name and did not see what the deeper issue was.” Yamamoto expressed hope that this year’s discussion about the position could be a stepping stone for the position to have a better name four years down the road.

About 230 students voted on the amendments, which, wrote Steinberg, reflected “the fact that students seem to feel disconnected from student government.” Steinberg wrote that while she was disappointed that not all the amendments were passed, “I’m proud of the hard work the entire committee put in, and I hope the changes that did get accepted will make an impact.”

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

Bubble Tea Night From left to right, Karen Hu ’12, David Fei ’12, Anushka Aqil ’12 and Dani Nguyen ’12 enjoyed making bubble tea, a sweet Asian beverage with tapioca pearls last Wednesday. Bubble Tea Night was sponsored by the Brandeis Asian American Student Association and Brandeis Chinese Cultural Connection in the Intercultural Center.

POLICY: UTA rules may change CONTINUED FROM 1 fellows to manage grading responsibilities, according to the proposal as well as interviews by the Justice with faculty, staff and students.

The new guidelines for undergraduate teaching assistants suggest that instructors meet with prospective UTAs before the start of the semester to make sure that that they have sufficient time to devote to the position.

In addition, it recommends that instructors hand out a memo to UTAs with teaching responsibilities and notes that undergraduates could participate in the same departmental training offered to graduate teaching assistants. The proposal recommends that UTAs and instructors meet regularly during the year to discuss grading in person or confer during the year by posting on LATTE. When the committee started undertaking a general review of the training and preparation of UTAs this past year, its members realized that “more grading was going on than initially realized,” Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong said. She said that before the policy change would become final, it would need to be approved by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, possibly later this semester.

At the department chairs’ meeting at which the proposal was discussed, “Chairs [felt] undergrads should not be grading essays but

that they can grade [other assignments] under supervision of faculty,” Wong said. “Everyone realizes that faculty ultimately have responsibility for grading.”

The proposal states “that the faculty supervisors report that undergraduates are typically their most conscientious and responsible graders, even in comparison with graduate Teaching Fellows.” It goes on to state that neither the graders nor the students being graded expressed any discomfort with undergraduates grading other undergraduates.

“Potentially difficult situations (e.g. “my roommate’s girlfriend is in my section”) have been handled by appropriate reassignment of students to other sections.”

Among the professors the committee consulted with was Prof.

Scott Redenius (ECON). “The ideal person for grading is someone who can make consistent differentiations between quality of work of different students,” he said in an interview. “It doesn’t strike me that that ability is unique to graduate students.”

Rebenius said he has had experience with both undergraduate and graduate TAs. One issue he said he pointed out to the committee is that “it’s very useful to have a grading rubric so you can tell the students who are going to be grading what the criteria are.”

Prof. Milos Dolnik (CHEM), whom the committee also consulted, said that in some of his larger classes, graduate graders evaluate

portions of lab reports that they can correct without having been present in the labs. He explained that he divided grading of the portions relating to lab work between graduate and undergraduate students who are present in the lab during experiments. “Undergrad TAs grade lists of equipments, lists of chemicals, purpose of the lab, observations and procedure,” he said, noting that they would do that grading each week the entire semester based on his answer key.

“They seem to be doing a great job.”

The difference between undergraduate and graduate students, Dolnik said, is in the graduates’ experience and their ability to answer more wide-ranging questions. “I try to select a good problem … that I feel the undergrad is able to grade,” he said.

Dolnik said he would not necessarily see the sense in having undergraduates grade final exams but that limited grading would be reasonable “if the policy is that the undergraduate can participate in grading with close instructor supervision.”

Shilpa Mukunda ’10, who served as a UTA in a physiology class last semester, said, “Prof. Kenneth Hayes (BIOL) told us at the beginning that we had to be very honest and that he was putting a lot of trust in us.”

She added that he gave her and the other UTA a lot of responsibility. “We maintained the class database of all the grades, and we entered the grades ourselves,” she

said. “A lot of the students in the class were friends and peers. … I always felt weird being able to enter a good friend’s grade and knowing that oh, they didn’t do well, but it would be wrong to change anything. We were both very honest.”

She said the UTAs graded two midterms and the final and the professor a curve at the end. The tasks all had clear right or wrong answers and were not subjective, she said. If students had concerns about the correct answer or wording of quizzes, she said she referred them to the professor.

Mukunda said she felt that professors should talk more with prospective TAs at the beginning of the semester about issues such as grading and honesty. “If they’re going to have this as an official policy, maybe there could be a oneday training.”

From her own experience in class with different kinds of TAs, she said she would be more likely to go to a graduate TA for more complex questions. She added, though, that unlike many graduate students, undergraduate TAs had taken the class before and been selected because they did well in them.

Mukunda suggested more of an application process for selecting TAs, noting that just having done very well in the course was not necessarily the best criterion for selection.

—Alana Abramson contributed reporting.

DINING: New project seeks student input CONTINUED FROM 1 ter meal plans, potentially.” When asked for more details, Collins declined to comment.

Collins said that the goal of the MarketMatch project will be to reevaluate dining at Brandeis by comparing student and staff “expectations versus what our [dining services] deliveries are” and creating a dining “master plan” that will restructure dining in a “three- to seven-” year project.

Collins stated that he expects preliminary results of surveys and 45second interviews, which will acquire information about dining habits and expectations from students, staff and faculty, in April.

Details on this project were released after students chose their meal plans for next year.

Nick Smith ’12 told the Justice that he has chosen not to be on a meal plan for his junior year because he prefers to cook his own food. He attributed his decision to

“the lack of consistently good vegetarian and vegan options [available on campus].”

When asked about his expectations of the MarketMatch program, Smith said that it would be “nice if dining could work more vegetarian options in and open a few more registers in some places.”

Stephen Cadigan ’13 told the Justice that he will be using the combo meal plan, which provides students with 10 meals a week and

$525 in points for the semester, and that “food quality and prices” could use improvement in Dining Services. “I believe that dining services could easily present a wider range of healthy vegetarian options,” Cadigan told the Justice.

He added that “it seems that MarketMatch would be very helpful in fulfilling the improvement” of dining services on campus.

—Alana Abramson contributed reporting.

THE JUSTICE

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5

VERBATIM | Mother Teresa Peace begins with a smile.

ON THIS DAY...

FUN FACT

In 1882, Congress outlawed polygamy.

Leading art historians believe Leonardo da Vinci used a fingerpaint technique to create the background of the Mona Lisa.

Caps and wedding gowns people, and we are really excited for what they are going to build together,” says Shani Rosenbaum ’12, a friend of the couple.

At the end of the weekend, the two families spent time together. Marks drove over to Simons’ house early Sunday morning, arriving with a large box wrapped in many layers. As Simons unveiled each new layer, she found a different line of a poem that Marks wrote himself. Finally, she got to the engagement ring, and Marks proposed. Simons said her reaction was one of sheer happiness. She began to cry and requested that ASHER KRELL/the Justice Marks ask her again. Although she expected him to propose, the timing of it was surprising.

The ring is conflict-free, says Simons. This means that the ring’s diamond was not acquired through the use of violence, human rights abuses, child labor or environmental damage.

Simons, just having learned about the importance of conflict-free diamonds, found out that the ring was made with one by coincidence after she had received the ring.

ASHER KRELL/the Justice “I really don’t know what I [would]

By SARAH GILSON HAPPILY ENGAGED: The recently engaged seniors talk about planning for marriage have done if it [wasn’t],” says Simons.

JUSTICE STAFF WRITER while dealing with the stress of Brandeis academics, clubs and other commitments.

Some would view college nuptials as surprising, immature or impulsive, Go to class. Meet with your adviser. Pick out invitations. servative home. Simons attributes some of her increased but for Simons’ and Marks, it’s the most natural decision Grab an Einstein’s bagel. Select floral arrangements. observance to Marks, noting that she did not become more in the world.

Study for the MCATs. Find the perfect dress. All in a day’s religious because Marks practices a religious lifestyle but “It’s not unbelievable. We’re not in shock. We had lots work? Not quite. But for Ariel Marks ’10 and Judith Sibecause he helped her make changes that she already of foresight. On the same note, it’s the most exciting thing mons ’10, this is life. wanted to make. we’ve ever done in our lives,” said Marks.

Marks and Simons met during their first year at Bran“Ariel helped precipitate changes toward Orthodoxy,” “It’s crazy, but it’s crazy exciting!” said Simons. deis in their USEM, “Seeking Justice: Jews and Germans.” says Simons, who had been making changes toward beThe couple agreed that there has only been one main Every day, Marks and Simons, aged 22 and 21, respeccoming more Orthodox since eighth grade. change in their lives since they got in engaged. “Now we tively, would walk back from class together and talk for “Ariel [and Brandeis] really opened up a world that I alare making wedding plans!” they said. hours. Thus began the romance between the two freshman, ways had wanted,” says Simons.

Marks and Simons believe that despite their young age, who talked all summer before they officially began dating In an e-mail to the Justice following the interview, Sithey are ready for marriage. in November of their sophomore year. The summer folmons furthered this thought by saying: “We feel very “A value of being committed in the Jewish community is lowing their sophomore year, they went to Israel together. strongly that Ariel’s decision to be Shomer Negiah (a Jewto create a Jewish home and perpetuate our community.

They dated all of junior year as well and spent the summer ish custom in which one refrains from touching members [Marriage] is not something to push off; it’s something to before senior year working at the Tikvah Program at of the opposite sex in an affectionate manner) is a fact of be excited over,” said Simons.

Camp Ramah New England together. Approximately two our relationship, but not a reason that we are deciding to “[When we get married] we become a family and a years after their first date, in mid-October of their senior get married now as opposed to later.” team,” noted Marks. year, Marks popped the question to Simons.

“Our Judaism did not precipitate our decision to get enSo what’s next for the future bride and groom? The wedSimons and Marks feel as though engagement is coming gaged, but our Judaism definitely made us more comfortding is set for Aug. 29, 2010, in Simons’ hometown, Pittsat an appropriate time in their relationship. able with the idea of getting engaged,” wrote Simons in an field. After, the couple is tag-teaming it; Marks plans to get “We knew it wasn’t something just for fun. We were not e-mail to the Justice. She followed up by saying, “Our aca job after graduation while Simons is in graduate school. looking for a relationship that was lighthearted,” comtual decision to get engaged in [and] of itself however, was Simons will get a job the following year in fall when mented Simons. They both agreed that they “wanted the made not because of our Judaism, but rather because we Marks goes off to medical school. This way, the couple will relationship to have gravity.” love each other deeply, and are ready to commit to spendbe in the same place and will be able to make sure that For Marks, the relationship had to have gravity; for a ing the rest of our lives together.” “someone is always making an income so that we can supcombination of primarily religous based reasons, he was Marks proposed to Simons last year in mid-October. Alport ourselves,” said Simons looking to be with someone long-term. Simons, similarly, though he had planned to ask Simons to marry him during “It’s true that in our society, people get married later. So started dating Marks with a certain amount of seriousness Thanksgiving weekend, when Marks’ parents visited the when people like us get married at a young age, it may because, as she noted in an e-mail to the Justice, of her perarea, he knew it was the perfect time to pop the question. seem crazy or different or weird or thoughtless even. But sonality : “I was never someone who felt comfortable in caMarks and his family stayed nearby at a bed and breakfast I think it’s right for different people. For many, they sual relationships.” in Pittsfield, and Simons and her family were at home. wouldn’t be ready. But if someone thinks they are in a Simons, a native of Pittsfield, Mass., and Marks, of “The entire campus was ecstatic when we heard Judith place where they’re ready, it’s okay. It’s not about age. It’s Miami, FL, are both Orthodox Jews now, although Simons, and Ariel were getting married. They are two remarkable about being mature and ready,” said Simons. who has always been an observant Jew, grew up in a Con-

Judith Simons ’10 and Ariel Marks ’10 discuss their engagement

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E-mail Sarah Bayer at artseditors@yahoo.com for more information.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

Faustus to philosopher

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREAS TEUBER

ACTING PHILOSOPHER: The philosophy professor talks about his experiences in the arts before coming to Brandeis as well as his current experiences with art outside of the Brandeis community.

Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL) discusses his passions

By DEBORAH SALMON JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL) would describe himself as a philosopher. He spends his time contemplating the world around him and looking into abstract matters. He applies this thinking to create a dynamic classroom environment in which he uses students’ ideas to gain fresh perspectives.

Prof. Teuber, however, once used a different kind of audience to gain fresh perspectives .

Before Teuber began teaching at Brandeis, he pursued his interest in acting and channeled his philosophical ideas into the various characters he played.

Teuber once worked with such acclaimed actors as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

While an undergraduate student at Oxford University, Teuber was part of the Oxford University Dramatic Society.

As part of a plan to raise money for a workshop, the society decided to ask Richard Burton, seen in acclaimed Broadway productions such as Camelot and in movies such as Cleopatra, to be a part of a production.

Burton decided to put on a play; Christian Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Elizabeth Taylor, his then-wife, played Helen of Troy, and Teuber was cast as Mephistopheles, a devil disguised as a friar.

“So there I was, this little kid, acting with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on a stage at the Oxford Playhouse,” Teuber remembers.

Later, when this play was turned into a movie, Teuber was cast as Mephistopheles.

Teuber says that Taylor and Burton helped him understand what movie acting was. After appearing in Doctor Faustus, Teuber featured as a guest actor on a number of television series,

RISHIKA ASSOMULL/the Justice

among them I Spy and The Big Valley.

Although cinema could be exhilarating, Teuber realized early on that his true passion was theater.

“After spending a number of months in Hollywood, I thought, ‘I don’t think I want to do this,’” he says.

Since both Teuber’s parents were academics, he was encouraged to pursue a career in philosophy.

Teuber excelled in philosophy as well, as he obtained both his B.A. and his Ph.D., though he never completely gave up theater.

“I think it’s important to go back and forth. For me the theater, the acting part, was much more like rowing. Like doing tennis. It was like getting to the right place in the court and hitting the ball. Not about thinking so much,” says Teuber.

Teuber always thought it was

important to keep his artistic and philosophic sides somewhat separate.

He never got involved in a theater production at Brandeis because he claims to have “a rather conservative view about something like theater.”

“If you want to do theater, you do it out in the world. It happens in the world,” he says.

Teuber was recently involved in the creation of a piece at the Guggenheim Museum in New

York that incorporated elements of acting and philosophy.

The exhibit consisted of participants of different ages stopping people walking up the museum’s ramp to ask them philosphical questions based on the theme of progress. The goal of the exhibit was to “bring philosophy out into the world,” Teuber says.

“That’s how philosophy started, with philosophers stopping people in the streets to ask them questions,” says Teuber.

The exhibit ran from Jan. 29 through March 10, 2010.

Any random visitor at the museum was approached by a kid, a graduate student or a philosopher and asked: “What is progress?” At the same time, visitors walked upwards in a counterclockwise ramp so that, even though they were being elevated, they were simultaneously going back in time.

“The cleverness of such a conflict,” says Teuber, “is that you start to think.” Teuber says he was able to balance his passions for theater and for philosophy. “[I] always thought you just go do what you want to do, and if you want it enough you’re going to be able to do it,” he says.

Even though Teuber had success in the acting world, he remains humble in the classroom.

“After watching his performance as Mephistopheles, I have to say I was a bit surprised by his ability to play such an evil character because it is so opposite of his personality.

[You’d think] Prof. Teuber would be arrogant, but he’s actually really humble and modest, [and] he knows how to get students’ attentions,” says Caitlin Abber ’13, Teuber’s student, in an e-mail to the Justice.

“You really cannot evaluate a life; this is something you can only do at the very end looking back,” says Teuber.

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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, Forum Editor J OSH ASEN, Sports Editor SARAH BAYER, Arts Editor ASHER KRELL and ROBYN SPECTOR, Photography Editors B RIAN N. B LUMENTHAL, Layout Editor EMILY KRAUS, Copy Editor B RAD STERN, Advertising Editor

Amendment voting was skewed Last week’s election on amendments to the Student Union Constitution was problematic in the way it represented information about proposed changes.

The election took place last Thursday and involved a number of amendments to the Union constitution developed by this year’s quadrennial Constitutional Review Committee.

Voting options not only listed arguments for and against the amendments under consideration on the ballot but unfairly listed several arguments against some amendments but not others.

The amendment calling for the securing of Student Sexuality Information Service, which passed, only listed arguments in favor of the amendment.

The amendment calling for the securing of Students for Environmental Action listed arguments both for and against that club being secured—and the amendment did not pass.

While this editorial board does not suggest that the failure of the SEA amendment is exclusively based on the presence of arguments against its passing on the voting ballot, it is evident that the amendment was not fairly presented.

It is commonly accepted that it is improper for candidates or their supporters to campaign at poll sites; this practice is prohibited by law in governmental elections in the United States. In the case of last Thursday’s election, however, the Student Union, and not the representatives of SSIS and SEA, unfairly campaigned for and against those clubs.

The voting ballot was also an inappropriate place for decisions about

Biased arguments listed securing clubs.

Although all students were given the opportunity to participate in the election, fewer than 300 students voted, and voters’ support for securing SSIS and SEA does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the student body in general. Instead, the Union should have presented these proposals separately in another open forum or a blog, for example.

This is not to mention the userunfriendliness of Thursday’s election.

Minutes after the polls opened at midnight on Thursday morning, Union President Andy Hogan ’11 sent an email to students explaining exactly how to use the online ballot. The email presented the entire list of amendments as a massive hyperlink, leading to a second landing page from which students could vote. Students should not need additional help voting in an online election, and the e-mail instructions might actually have served to confuse students.

The Student Union has contracted out its election system to BigPulse, an online voting software company, since the beginning of 2007, and complaints have followed ever since. The passing of an amendment in favor of Instant Runoff Voting will most likely see the demise of the current software, which cost $2,464 this year in subscription fees.

The current configuration does not allow voters to rank choices, which is central to IRV’s functioning.

We hope that the development of a new online voting system will correct technical and administrative errors in the future.

Judiciary aptly chose to mediate This week Avner Swerdlow ’10, representing the SunDeis Film Festival Committee, filed a suit in the Student Judiciary, formerly the Union Judiciary, against Illona Yuhaev ’11 and the IndieLouie Film Festival Committee.

Mr. Swerdlow claimed that the online description of IndieLouis, a new student-run Brandeis film festival, constituted slander against SunDeis. The SJ announced yesterday that it has declined to grant the case certiorari.

We believe the SJ made a sensible decision and hope it demonstrates similar practicality in the future.

As of last week, when the student body passed amendments to the Student Union constitution, the SJ also has the option to recommend that students participate in a mediation resolution process. Mediation is an ideal alternative for resolving precisely this type of dispute, and the student body was wise to pass this amendment.

Disputes such as this one are inappropriate grounds for SJ trials, and Swerdlow should not have filed a suit in the SJ. Instead, the mediation resolution process is a useful option for ending conflicts between small groups of people.

Students who elect to participate in

Trials should be last resort this process discuss this issue informally with the SJ, and if the discussions prove inconclusive, the SJ can try the case. Each party involved can express his or her opinion in a less stressful setting than an SJ trial would create.

Even outside of the mediation resolution process, students can easily find other ways to settle disagreements.

For example, the parties involved can hold private discussions until they reach a conclusion.

If students feel they cannot resolve the dispute independently, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams is also available to help mediate conflicts.

In conflicts that involve larger groups, students can organize open forums and allow other students to offer their perspectives.

After Mr. Swerdlow and Ms. Yuhaev approached the SJ, Chief Justice Judah Marans reminded them that they had the option to engage in this mediation resolution process.

It is the SJ’s responsibility to not only resolve conflicts but also to direct students elsewhere when a full trial is unnecessary.

In the future, the SJ should continue to alert students to the most appropriate type of resolution process for

A. ELI TUKACHINSKY/the Justice

Health care bill: more than a medical move Rebecca

BLADY MAELSTRÖM

After an epic weekend in Washington, the House of Representatives passed the long-awaited and much-debated health care bill, instantly inviting cheers of celebration and predictions for its future implications.

But did you know that health care reform wasn’t the only major legislation passed Sunday? The 219 representatives who voted in favor of overhauling the nation’s health system didn’t just establish a completely reformed health care system but also altered the way federal student loans work.

According to The Answer Sheet, a blog on the Washington Post, the health care bill “would end an expensive program by which the federal government paid banks and other private lenders to provide federally backed loans to students who chose this route. In this program, if students defaulted on their loans, the banks got paid by the government anyway.” In essence, banks will no longer act as intermediaries between the federal government and students, and the Education Department now has more than $60 billion left over to give to needy students that would have otherwise gone toward subsidiaries for private lenders.

Reason to rejoice? I think so. The money transfers directly into Pell Grants for low- and moderate-income families, allowing a greater number of students to get a college education. “We are choosing to spend scarce education resources on students and families, and not on subsidies to big banks,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), quoted in a March 18 article in the Washington Post.

This addendum to the health care bill has the potential to affect many students who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to pursue higher education. $60 billion will fund a lot of grants—and in time for the 2011 to 2012 school year, too, when the economic stimulus money will disappear. And as college enrollment continues to increase, even more students will be eligible for Pell Grants; according to Higher Ed Watch, “Congress needs to come up with at least a $30 billion appropriation this year if lawmakers want to maintain a $5,500 maximum Pell Grant for the 2011-12 school year. That’s more than double the $14 billion that went to the program just two years ago.” And this bill does exactly that: The new funds contribute directly to the Pell Grants without Congress needing to spend any new money or add to the deficit— and in this economy, I think we can all recognize the magnitude of this accomplishment.

So why doesn’t it have a place in the spotlight along with the health care bill? Granted, the overhaul of the health care system will undoubtedly affect millions more people than student loans; of course, Pell Grants apply to only one, highly specialized population.

But it seems strange that the Facebook statuses, the Twitter feeds and the endless conversation that transpired on this campus soon after the news broke, for the most part, did not even mention the most crucial development in the federal student loan system in four decades.

This legislation represents a major step for higher education in the United States and certainly deserves a place in campus discourse across the country.

The health care conversation is relevant to us at Brandeis in particular. As we students are well aware, the University requires us to have health insurance, either Brandeis insurance or that of our parents and guardians.

But as members of an institution with social justice at the core of its mission, let’s take the first steps toward raising awareness about the twofold nature of Sunday’s momentous accomplishment in Congress.

In addition to the widespread national excitement that arrives with revamped health care policy, we students should initiate the discussion about the secondary aspect of the bill that has been swept unnecessarily under the rug. Let’s get our peers enthusiastic about newly expanded access to higher education. Consistent with the traditional Brandeis value of social justice, this bill takes an excellent measure forward by offering newly represented communities from across the country access to colleges.

OP-BOX Quote of the Week “It’s crazy, but it’s crazy exciting!”

—Judith Simons ’10 on her engagement to Ariel Marks ’10 (See Features, page 5).

Brandeis Talks Back What do you think of undergraduate TAs grading your papers?

JASNAY SACHATHEP ’12 “I think that if they’re your friends that it’s awesome.”

AARON SADOWSKY ’13 “A necessary evil. I mean, it’s not unique to Brandeis.”

GUSTAVO PARDO ’10 “It’s hard for a peer to grade something when they’re not qualified to do so.”

SETH ROGERS ’10 “Absolutely not. If someone’s going to profess to know enough about either the field or the standards of grading, then they should have graduate experience.”

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

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Modernize room selection process

READER COMMENTARY Liquid latex review was lacking In response to your article “Ensembles show energy” (Arts, March 16): This is my third time being a model in Liquid Latex, so I am certainly familiar with the varying review styles people have in commenting on the show. Not once have I read an article in which not all acts were reviewed or at least mentioned. The issue I take with this article is that two acts weren’t included in even a token way that would acknowledge they were even a part of the show.

Common practice in writing reviews is that you either review all acts or roughly half to provide the standout highs and lows of the production. It would be one thing if this article were obviously talking about a handful of the author’s favorite pieces and the ones they thought didn’t belong onstage, but the structure of the article implies that all acts are included when in fact they are not. The fact that all groups were presented in order of their appearance in the show as well as the seemingly large amount of acts that were reviewed had me surprised that my own act, “1984,” was completely absent.

You can try and write me off as just bitter that my act wasn’t reviewed, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was upset along with the other members of my group, but the fact of the matter is that by neutral standards this review is poorly written. Check out the Justice archives, and you’ll see the difference. As a newspaper that will continue reviewing this show long after I’ve graduated, you should know that the performers in every act scramble to get their hands on the paper and see what has been written about the hard work they put into making the show what it is.

I’d much rather have had the newspapers forget to cover us, like they did last year during the craziness of the Festival of the Arts, than get another review of this quality in the future.

—Jessica Stearns ’10

Hillel

BUECHLER AND SO ON

I recently had a rather remarkable experience—at least a relatively remarkable one— at this year’s room selection.

As a rising junior lined up to study abroad, I was guaranteed housing. But that wasn’t what made the difference; I was guaranteed housing last year as well. The remarkable aspect of this year’s experience was my friend’s lottery number, 4F. We walked in, chose our Ziv and left. In and out.

All the pain and angst from last year’s selection process, which resulted in my sophomore single in North Quad, was avoided just by chance.

As long as there are better and worse places to live, any housing selection process will come with a certain quantity of delightful stress. But the system we all too intimately know and love at Brandeis is simply antiquated.

Rather than line Upper Sherman with community advisors and send students from holding cell to holding cell in a Disney World-style queue, the Department of Community Living should work toward finishing its entry into the 21st century.

It’s nice that room selection numbers are now distributed via e-mail rather than University mailboxes as they were a couple years ago. But as part of its attempts to increase the practicality of the current housing lottery system, DCL ought to seek greater assistance from Library and Technology Services in crafting a new and technologically superior system.

Though the University lacks the number of rooms necessary to house all its students, we can all think of at least a handful of ways in which the system could be drastically revamped, especially with a greater utilization of technology.

While I’m not nearly computer savvy enough to describe the exact ways in which the housing selection system could be revamped, I can propose at least several conceptual changes.

Most importantly, there is no reason for the actual process of entering a physical room to select your housing. We all have computers, and there’s no reason that we need to show up to a location in order to actually select our housing from a chart laid out on a table in front of us in some chaotic room. The University already has us electronically signing online contracts, such as the famous checking of the box on SAGE

Show’s description missed details In response to your article “Ensembles show energy” (Arts, March 16): Not only did the article fail to include a rev iew of the “1984” act, but it also did not mention the act, “The Beat of Beethoven,” both si gnificant and memorable contributions to this year’s Liquid Latex. Liquid Latex is perhaps Brandeis’ most highly attended performance each year, and should not have been gi ven such a careless review. I wish the article would have focused less on the few unrelated and insignificant details, avoided comparison between pieces and constructed meaningful reviews of the overall narratives, taking into account their separate and unique purposes and the incredible energy, talent, a nd ideas that went into each piece.

—Hannah Wellish ’12

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

SELECTION SCRAMBLE: Students at the this year’s room selection scanning living options for next year. (yes, for room selection), so that wouldn’t present an obstacle.

And each semester we select and manage our classes over the Internet through the University’s Web site—why can’t the same be done with housing?

Obviously the stakes with housing are a bit higher than with a class that you can likely just add to your schedule later on.

However, technologically and conceptually, room selection cannot be so drastically different.

For instance, especially for rising juniors and seniors, students could have the option of getting into groups of four or six, or perhaps smaller sizes for Charles River Apartments, and then receive a housing lottery number as a group. That situation doesn’t alleviate the randomness of the housing process, but it would at least partially rid the system of some of the factors that often affect interpersonal relationships during the nearly month-long period after students receive their lottery numbers until their actual room selection appointment. This system would be subject to certain problems; for instance, it might be difficult for students to estimate their chances of getting housing in a six-person group versus a four-person group. But any housing system will face certain issues. In any situation at this university, not all groups that apply for housing

would receive it. But that part is truly no different than the way it is now. What is different, however, is that you will already be bundled with a group of fellow students with whom you’ll maintain the option of living with in an off-campus setting.

Additionally, there really need not be any explicit housing lottery numbers at all. The current worksheet that DCL has students use to more clearly think out their housing selection preferences prior to their room selection appointment could be transformed into an electronic format that processes and prioritizes specific housing requests on a random basis. This way, the system remains fair without subjecting students to the unnecessary in-person hassles associated with the current system. This may not ultimately be an effective solution for rising sophomores, but it could likely apply to rising upperclassmen.

As the University’s student population continues increasing through at least the 2013 to 2014 academic year, I imagine that the University will have to find some magnificently creative ways to house as many of us as possible.

While the University—and more specifically DCL—searches for a more permanent housing solution, I urge them to consider updating the room selection system and making all our lives just a little bit easier.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict should have a greater role in campus discussions Eitan

COOPER DOWN TO BUSINESS

Like a few other Brandeisians, I attended a Jewish private high school. As part of my school’s intensely Jewish-focused curriculum, my teachers spent a lot of time covering the Middle East conflict. They stressed the importance of Israel advocacy on college campuses, and we even went on a trip to Washington to lobby congressmen to support Israel. We were told that once we leave the Jewish bubble of our high school and go off to our respective universities, no one would be there to coddle us and reinforce our pro-Israel opinions. In fact, we were warned that we would all most likely encounter strong anti-Israel sentiment in college.

However, having nearly completed my first year here, I feel my teachers’ warning has proven to be, for the most part, incorrect. Instead I have found that the issue that I expected many would be talking about is largely ignored; for the most part, Brandeisians seem to be indifferent about the conflict. Take three weeks ago as an example: Many universities (including Boston University, University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University) marked Israel Apartheid Week, the first week of March, by set-

Write to us

ting up mock checkpoints and bringing in every imaginable anti-Israel speaker to their campuses. Brandeis, though, to my knowledge did not even have a poster. And, while groups that support Israel on other campuses (including the University of Rochester, Harvard University and Cal. State Northridge) attempted to implement Israel Peace Week (a week to showcase Israel’s efforts to achieve peace) as a response to Israel Apartheid Week, the Brandeis Zionist Alliance and J Street U (Brandeis’ Israel advocacy groups) felt no need to plan such a formal week at Brandeis because of the lack of Israel Apartheid Week activities.

So to what can we attribute the lack of energy on our campus about this issue? The fact is that while there is a large population of indifferent students, there is another large crowd of people who support the state of Israel in one form or another. The population of Brandeis students more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, though, is much smaller than at many other universities. The greatest proof for this is that some of the classic anti-Israel protests that occur on college campuses around the country are largely absent here; on a daily basis, there are very few signs of life—to my knowledge—from organizations that support the Palestinians at Brandeis (such as Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine). Thus, since there are many indifferent students, many students that support Israel in one form or another and far fewer students who advocate solely for the Palestinians, the lat-

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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ter group has a pretty hard time making their voices heard; they get lost in the shuffle. And when there isn’t a great contingency of groups like BSJP, the students who support Israel have a much smaller agenda with which to deal.

What results is a relatively muted scene in which Brandeis students are not given the privilege of passing through a checkpoint on the way to class. Ultimately, no one really talks about the issue because no group of students provokes another; the students that tend to support Israel feel content and unthreatened, and the students that support the Palestinian cause don’t really stand a chance in the numbers game.

But ultimately, there are far more than two opinions about the conflict. Within the pro-Israel camp alone there are myriad different thoughts and disagreements. It’s a mistake for anyone who considers him or herself to be pro-Israel to think that everyone else who would associate with him or her would feel the same way about the conflict. The fact is that there is a tremendous spectrum of opinions. Most people, though, are indifferent or unaware of this because of the lack of energy generated on campus.

It was different last semester, when Justice Richard Goldstone and Ambassador Dore Gold gave their respective speeches. In the days before and after the event, the advantages of a healthy debate and dialogue were showcased: Many people could not stop talking about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The topic was on many people’s minds.

Those who normally did not engage in dialogue

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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suddenly did. Students were able to give serious thought to their own opinions, questioning themselves and fine-tuning their positions.

There was a major protest at the event and dozens of different students distributed pro- and anti-Israel fliers. But most importantly, there were many opportunities for students to find common ground. Since that one event, though, the debate has flatlined.

However, students should not succumb to the pervading indifference about the conflict. We need something to remind us that there are plenty of different opinions out there. The only way to do this, though, is to offer more chances for dialogue. The University and entities like the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies should up its efforts even more and create more Goldstone/Gold-like, politically charged events in order to get our juices going and resuscitate the issue.

But students need to do their part, too. Last week, the U.S.-Israel relationship took a turn for the worse when, during Joe Biden’s visit to the country, it was announced that 1,600 new Jewish housing units would be built in East Jerusalem.

The recent news of the deteriorating relationship between the two countries has brought the issue to the foreground. Now it’s the responsibility of Brandeis students to find opportunities to enliven the debate and find common ground through discourse. Students need to be politically active. We need to engage in dialogue about serious, real-world issues.

Matt Lawrence, Ethan Mermelstein, Liz Posner, 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, Jessica Christian, Jaxson Dermer, Nathaniel Freedman, Davida Judelson, Rozi Levi, Yosef Schaffel, Shaefali Shandilya, Tali Smookler STAFF Copy: Danielle Berger, Rebecca Brooks, Jacob Chatinover, Senior Writers: Miranda Neubauer, Melissa Siegel Senior Photographers: Julian Agin-Liebes, David Hilary Cheney, Jenn Craig, Camille Dolfen, Ariel Glickman, Patricia Greene, Rachel Herman, Liana Johnson, Daniella Sheppard-Brick Kohlhagen, Mailinh Phan-Nguyen, Zane Relethford, Senior Copy Editor: Joyce Wang Marielle Temkin, Amanda Winn, Liat Zabludovsky Senior Illustrator: A. Eli Tukachinsky Illustrations: Rishika Assomull, Stacy Handler News: Clare Churchill-Seder, Erin Doniger Forum: Eitan Cooper, Hannah Goldberg, Rebecca Kellogg, Layout: Nadav Havivi, Karen Hu, Nan Pang

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

NEWS: Alana Abramson, Fiona Lockyer FEATURES: Tess Raser ARTS: Bryan Flatt LAYOUT: Debra Friedmann ADS: Cody Yudkoff

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

10

SPORTS

BASEBALL: Team wins at home CONTINUED FROM 12 advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and then went to third on a pitch to the backstop.

Britton then gave up an RBI single and, after recording the second out, a two-run homer to junior left fielder Ian Williams before getting a strikeout to end the inning.

In the second, senior first baseman Tom Couet led off with a solo home run. Britton recorded the first out before allowing a single to left.

After just 1 1/3 innings, right-hander Nick Pollack ’11 came in, ending the inning with no further damage.

Brandeis got on the board in the bottom of the second when Ferro, after hitting a one-out single, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Malis’ sacrifice fly to center.

In the third, center fielder Nick

Cortese ’13 led off with an infield single and, after Deshler struck out swinging, moved to second on defensive indifference.

A 1-2 pitch caught shortstop Sean O’Hare ’12 on the arm. Designated hitter Jon Chu ’12 then grounded into a potential inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, but a throwing error allowed Chu to reach first, which scored Cortese from second.

Livada singled to center in the fourth, and Ferro drove Livada and himself in on a home run to left-center.

Despite managing to load the bases, Brandeis did not score any runs after second baseman Jon O’Brion ’10 grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Bridgewater State regained the lead in the fifth. Pollack’s streak of eight straight retired hitters ended with a one-out walk, hit batter and

two-run double. They scored a run on a single before right-hander John McGrath ’11 came on to end the inning.

Brandeis then scored three runs of their own on doubles by Ferro and O’Brion followed by a wild pitch from freshman reliever Bryant Warner.

Right-hander Drew Brzozowski ’10 came in for the Judges in the sixth and pitched three scoreless innings, working out of trouble in the seventh and eighth to leave five runners on base.

Meanwhile, Brandeis added runs in the sixth and eighth, on a Ferro single and sacrifice fly. Ferro’s single in the sixth caromed off of the pitcher’s leg to the second baseman.

O’Hare was able to score from second on a headfirst slide.

Brzozowski began the ninth trying to hold the lead and secure the

Brandeis win, but the Bears were finally able to get to him with a oneout single followed by a game-tying home run by freshmen pinch hitter Tyler Dennis.

Kyle Richie ’12 came in and was able to record the last two outs to preserve the tie.

Looking to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, Malis started off the inning getting hit for the second time in the game, stole second and advanced to third with one out when Zach Wooley ’11, pinch hitting for Cortese, reached on an error.

Deshler hit a grounder on the infield, and was able to beat the turn at first to score Malis for the winning run.

The Judges will play seven games between today and Sunday. The team’s next game will be at the Stein Diamond today against Wheaton College at 3 p.m.

SOFTBALL: Judges win as ranked team CONTINUED FROM 12 was 4-5 with four runs scored and two runs batted in.

“Brittany has been doing really, really well for us,” Cagar said.

“She’s been playing extremely well, and in the second game she was just clutch. She got in a great position and she did what she needed to do. … It was really a crucial point in that game, and she did a really good job.”

The Blue pulled within one run in the top of the fourth, but the Judges scored one run in both the fourth and fifth inning. Grimm drove in her third runner of the afternoon in the fourth, again scoring Schmand.

Schmand then recorded an RBI of her own in the fifth, singling home catcher Stacy Berg ’13. The game was then called due to darkness after the fifth inning.

The Judges only had one more hit than the Blue in game two, but Wellesley was undone by two errors to just one for the Judges, along with five walks, two wild pitches and a balk from Goldfarb in five innings.

Miller, who now stands at 2-1 on the season, had just three walks, one wild pitch and no balks in four innings of work.

“With anyone that you play you really want to magnify what mistakes they make or their weaknesses, so you want to exploit them in

that aspect,” Cagar said. “So if they give it to you, you definitely want to take advantage. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, as long as you take advantage. … You just have to really be aggressive and take advantage of it.”

In the first game of the day, Wellesley took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a leadoff homerun by Haladyna off Brandeis starting pitcher Emily Vaillette ’10.

The Judges stormed back in the bottom of the frame to take a 3-1 lead on a double from Berg and a two-run single from Ross. Brandeis then tacked on another run in the bottom of the third In the fourth, the Blue scored

eight runs on six hits and three errors, two of which came from Ross, who started at catcher for the game. Brandeis came back with three in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome the large deficit.

“They were hitting pretty well, and we just weren’t on our A-game [that inning],” Cagar added. …

“That inning we just didn’t play up to what we’re necessarily able to.”

The Judges play three doubleheaders this week, starting today at 3 p.m. at Suffolk University.

They then return home Thursday for a doubleheader against Lasell College at 3:30 p.m. before heading out on the road again to play Salem State College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

TENNIS: Teams split matches at Bates College CONTINUED FROM 12 The men began the week with a 7-0 loss to strong Divison I opponent Boston College on Wednesday. The Judges’ lone win came from rookies Milo and Yovanoff at the second doubles spot in an 8-5 victory over junior Adam Davidson and senior Brian Garber.

The score of the match does not reflect this win, because according to Division I rules, all three doubles matches count as one point combined. “[Milo and Yovanoff] came out relaxed and fired up, and when they reached the point of the momentum switch, the moment of truth, they were able to finish it,” Lamanna said.

White and Rozenshteyn both fell 16, 0-6 at first and fourth singles respectively. Milo, who played sixth singles, won three games in each set before falling to Davidson.

Simon Miller ’11 and Yovanoff both managed to win two games each off their Boston College opponents at the second and third singles slots, respectively.

At fifth singles. Nieman, who lost the first set 1-6, brought the second set to a 6-6 tie before narrowly being defeated 6-7.

The men’s team will play Amherst College at Babson College on Saturday, and both squads will then face University of Rochester at home on Sunday. The men start at 11 a.m. and the women begin at 3 p.m.

THE JUSTICE

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

5 4 14 5 11

RBIs for rookie left fielder Chris Ferro ’13 in the baseball team’s 10-9 victory over Bridgewater State College on Thursday.

runs scored by third baseman Brittney Grimm ’12 in the softball team’s two games against Wellesley College Friday.

-th-place ranking for the softball team in Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. It’s the first time that the team has been ranked.

matches won by the women’s tennis team in its victory over Bates College on Saturday.

hits recorded by the baseball team, resulting in 10 runs, on Thursday.

Women’s basketball guard Jessica Chapin ’10 became the first player in Brandeis women’s basketball history to be named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/State Farm All-America Team on Friday.

Chapin was one of 10 players from across the country named to the squad. She was selected by an eight-person committee, one from each of the eight geographical regions in college basketball.

“These 10 student-athletes have earned the distinction of being members of the 2010 Division III State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team,” WBCA Chief Executive Officer Beth Bass said in a press release.

“Each member of this group has had a successful season this year, and we want to recognize them for their accomplishments.”

Last year, Chapin was named to the WBCA/State Farm All-Region team.

Chapin is not the only player in recent years to be honored by the WBCA. Since 2004, Daniel Fitzpatrick ’04, Caitlin Malcolm ’07 and Jamie Capra ’08 have been selected as WBCA/State Farm All-America Honorable Mentions. Fitzpatrick was selected in 2004, Malcolm in 2006 and 2007 and Capra in 2007 and 2008.

Chapin, the University Athletic Association Player of the Year, earned several honors this year as a senior.

She was chosen as a fourth-team All-America selection

by D3hoops.com, and she was a first-team All-UAA, AllEastern College Athletic Conference and All-New England Women’s Basketball Association New England.

—Josh Asen

AP BRIEF ASHER KRELL/the Justice

used as the designated hitter.

Ferro also thinks that the team can build off of its road trips and its win against Bridgewater State.

“Playing [in Florida and Texas] definitely got us some more experience in

terms of playing with the current team, but we definitely need to pick it up,” he said. “I think that the win yesterday should spark us a little bit.”

—Jeffrey Boxer

UAA STANDINGS Baseball

Softball

Not including Monday’s games

Rochester Case Emory Washington JUDGES Chicago

UAA W L 4 1 4 2 3 2 1 4 1 4 0 0

Overall W L 6 2 9 7 10 9 9 6 3 7 0 0

Not including Monday’s games Overall UAA W L W L Emory 6 2 14 8 Washington 5 3 14 4 JUDGES 5 3 8 4 Rochester 4 4 7 7 Chicago 0 0 1 0 Case 0 8 5 13

TEAM LEADERS Baseball (hits)

Baseball (runs batted in)

Catcher Artie Posch ’10 leads the Judges with 13 hits.

Left fielder Chris Ferro ’13 leads Brandeis with 11 RBIs.

Player Artie Posch Tony Deshler Sean O’Hare Chris Ferro Nick Cortese

Player Chris Ferro Artie Posch John O’Brion Drake Livada Tony Deshler

Hits 13 12 12 11 9

RBI 11 9 7 5 5

Softball (hits)

Softball (runs batted in)

Third baseman Brittany Grimm ’12 leads Brandeis with 18 hits.

Catcher Stacy Berg ’13 leads the Judges with 14 RBIs.

Player Brittany Grimm Marianne Specker Stacy Berg Melisa Cagar Erin Ross

Player Stacy Berg Brittany Grimm Marianne Specker Erin Ross Carly Schmand

Hits 18 14 13 12 10

RBI 14 10 8 8 5

UPCOMING GAMES OF THE WEEK Baseball vs. Wentworth Institute on Wednesday Brandeis will face Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

13

runs scored by the softball team in two games against Wellesley College on Wednesday.

11

Chapin ’10 named to WBCA/State Farm All-America squad

■ The baseball team’s rookie left fielder went 4-5 with five RBIs in the team’s 10-9 victory over Bridgewater State College on Thursday. He also hit a tworun home run in the win.

Judging numbers

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

VARSITY BRIEF

Chris Ferro ’13

After two road trips, the Brandeis baseball team returned home and faced Bridgewater State College in the team’s home opener. Thanks in large part to the efforts of left fielder Chris Ferro ’13, the Judges were able to rally from an early 4-0 deficit to win 10-9 at Stein Diamond last Thursday .

Ferro went 4-4 with five runs batted in, three runs and a clutch two-run home run in the fourth inning that knotted the game at 4-4. He also had an RBI double and stole a base in the win.

Ferro has been a bright spot for the Judges in their first 10 games of the season. The rookie leads the team with a .407 batting average and 11 RBIs. He and catcher Artie Posch ’10 lead the team with two home runs.

He credited his quick start to his coaches and teammates giving him the opportunity to produce.

“I’m just capitalizing on the situation,” Ferro said. “I wasn’t playing at the beginning of the season, but now I am, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to knock in a few runs.”

The rookie has also succeeded despite balancing multiple positions and roles thus far. Ferro played left field for the game against Bridgewater State but has alternated playing as a starter and as a pinch hitter.

He even started at catcher against Case Western Reserve University on March 10 in place of Posch, who was

●

After defeating Bridgewater State College 10-9 last Thursday in the team’s home opener, the baseball team will look for further success at home when it takes on Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday at the Stein Diamond.

Last season, Wentworth defeated Brandeis 6-3 at the Stein Diamond.

Then-sophomore right fielder Doug Papuga went 3-5, scoring two runs and driving in three.

The Leopards are 6-4 on the season.

The team has won two of its last three games, including a 17-3 victory over University of Maine-Farmington on Saturday.

Papuga, now a junior, is one of the team’s most potent offensive threats.

He leads the Leopards with 18 hits and is third in RBIs with nine.

Senior catcher Pete Oggeri is batting .412, which is the highest mark on the team. He is second to Papuga in hits with 14. He leads the team with 29 total bases.

Mid-major uprising hardly the biggest NCAA Surprise Not so long ago, having No. 5 Butler and No. 6 Xavier among the last 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament would have spawned feel-good stories about the plucky mid-major conferences and the wonderful hoops democracy that is March Madness.

This year, those teams barely caused a buzz outside their own campuses, mostly because they’re regulars at a party with a rather eclectic guest list.

It starts with No. 9 Northern Iowa, the team that sent tournament favorite Kansas packing.

There’s No. 12 Cornell, pushing the Ivy League as far in the tournament as it has been since 1979.

There’s No. 11 Washington, a familiar name that was underrated because the Pac-10 had a dreadful year.

There’s No. 10 Saint Mary’s, a team that won its conference tournament to advance to the tournament, then validated that with two more victories.

How’s that for some good underdog stories?

“I think we get underestimated night in, night out,” said Saint Mary’s center Omar Samhan. “It’s hilarious and we love it. We like that people underestimate ourselves night after night. We don’t look like much. We don’t pass the eye test, but we know what it takes to win.”

As do Butler and Xavier—two of five mid-major teams to advance to the second weekend. But this was no big surprise. Butler is in its third regional semifinal in eight years, while Xavier joined Michigan State as the only two programs to make the second weekend for three straight seasons.

“I know I’m not taking it for granted, and I know my teammates aren’t taking it for granted,” said Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, the sophomore who dunked on LeBron James in high school in what quickly turned into a viral video. “I love the fact I’m getting a chance to do this, and hopefully we can take it further.”

Americans love underdogs, but many fans who filled out brackets suffered after this kind of uprising.

President Barack Obama was one of more than 2 million —that’s 42.7 percent—who picked the Jayhawks to win the national title in their ESPN brackets and now find themselves more or less relegated to also-rans. ESPN said there were no perfect brackets and only four of 4.78 million entries contained 15 of the 16 remaining teams.

Among those joining Kansas on the sideline: No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Georgetown and No. 3 Pittsburgh, three of six Big East teams to go out.

Last year’s national champion, North Carolina, didn’t even make the tournament, which leaves Michigan State, a No. 5 seed in the Midwest, as the only remaining program from last year’s Final Four.

Replacing Kansas as the odds-on favorite is Kentucky, which breezed through its two games and is listed at 2-1 in Vegas to win the championship April 5 in Indianapolis.

Before that, though, are the regionals.

In the Midwest on Friday, Northern Iowa will face Michigan State, and No. 2 Ohio State plays No. 6 Tennessee.

In the East on Thursday, No. 1 Kentucky plays Cornell —Big Blue vs. the Big Red—while Washington faces No. 2 West Virginia.

In the South semifinals Friday, No. 3 Baylor will play Saint Mary’s, while No. 1 Duke plays No. 4 Purdue.

And the West is mid-major country: No. 2 Kansas State advanced to play Xavier, and No. 1 Syracuse will play Butler on Thursday.

“I don’t think there’s the mid-major anymore when you get into the NCAA Tournament,” said Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who used to coach Xavier.

Helped by No. 13 Murray State and No. 14 Ohio, doubledigit seeds won 11 games over the first two rounds. Other double-digit winners included No. 10 Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast, Missouri of the Big 12 and, of course, Washington of the Pac-10.

No upset, though, had a bigger impact than Northern Iowa’s 69-67 win over Kansas.

The Jayhawks were the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed.

Though placed in what was widely regarded as the toughest region, they had the coach (Bill Self), the experience (2008 national title) and the talent (guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich) to be a Final Four heavyweight.

just

Sports

Page 12

A NEW MILESTONE Women’s basketball guard Jessica Chapin ’10 was named to the WBCA/State Farm All-America Team, p.11.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Waltham, Mass.

BASEBALL

Judges win in last at-bat in home opener ■ The baseball team won its

home opener against Bridgewater State College 10-9 on Thursday.

By TREVOR COHEN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The baseball team’s bats came alive during Thursday’s return to the Stein Diamond as the Judges won their home opener against the Bridgewater State Bears with a walk-off RBI by third baseman Tony Deshler ’11 in the bottom of the ninth.

The Judges came back from two deficits and broke two ties, finally securing the 10-9 victory in the last inning when Deshler beat out a double play attempt to score pinch hitter Zach Malis ’11 for the game-winning run.

The game’s standout was left fielder Chris Ferro ’13, who helped account for eight of the Judges’ 10 runs with five RBIs and three runs scored, including a fourth-inning home run that erased a two-run Brandeis deficit.

After failing to hit in his first few games, Ferro has come on strong to hold a team-leading .407 batting average, two home runs and 11 RBI so far.

Hitting coach Nick Gallagher noted Ferro’s hitting capabilities and his improvements.

“Before the season, he was our best hitter in fall practice,” said Gallagher.

“He got off to a slow start, but this is more of what we expected from him this year.”

“Coming into the fall ... right away, you could tell he was a hitter,” first baseman Drake Livada ’10 said. “He’s been hitting all spring and all winter, so none of us have been surprised by it.”

The home win was especially sweet for the Judges, who only clinched two wins in nine games on their road trips in Texas and Florida.

“It was definitely a relief to get that first win at home, especially after our two trips down south didn’t go as well as we hoped,” said Livada. “We’ve

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

ON THE MOUND: Right-handed pitcher Nick Pollack ’11 winds up to throw in the baseball team’s 10-9 victory Thursday over Bridgewater State College at the Stein Diamond. been saying since we got back that we’ll look at those trips as just us getting ready for our season up here, and as far as we’re concerned, we’re 1-0 right now back up in Boston.”

Livada believes that the Judges’ bats will be the key to their success

this season.

“If we make the routine plays and our pitchers throw strikes, we can hit with any team in the country,” said Livada.

Gallagher agreed with Livada, but also discussed how other teams have

TENNIS

potent offenses as well.

“We’re [going to] have to hit the baseball,” said Gallagher. “In this league, over the schedule we play, ... everyone can hit, so you have to score to win.”

The Judges’ pitching troubles,

which have plagued them for much of the season, started early on Thursday.

Right-handed starter Dylan Britton ’13 walked Bears’ senior shortstop Brian Medairos to begin the first. Medairos

See BASEBALL, 10 ☛

SOFTBALL

Women win, men lose at Bates College Nationally ranked squad splits with Wellesley ■ The women’s tennis team

defeated Bates College on Saturday, while the men’s team went 0-2 on the week.

By JONATHAN STEINBERG JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to Maine and faced Bates College, coach Ben Lamanna’s alma mater, on Saturday. The women walked away with a 5-4 win, improving their record to 5-5, while the men lost a close 6-3, giving them a record of 5-5.

The Judges, ranked No. 29 nationally, managed to take an early lead against Bates in doubles play, winning both first and third doubles.

The team of Faith Broderick ’13 and Rachel Rosman ’11 edged out the Bates team 8-6.

At third doubles, co-captain Ariana Sanai ’10 and Nina Levine ’12 took the match 8-3. Bates was able to take a close second doubles victory, winning 8-6 over the team of Mackenzie Gallegos ’11 and Sarah Richman ’12.

In singles play with the Judges leading 2-1, both teams earned three points, securing the win for Brandeis.

At first singles, Broderick faced senior Alex Piacquad, with

Broderick taking the first set 6-3 and falling 6-7 in the second set. With a tie score, the match went to a thirdset super-tiebreaker, in which Piacquad defeated Broderick 10-5 for the match.

At fifth and sixth singles, Bates was victorious, defeating Levine 6-7, 7-2, 6-2 in the fifth spot and defeating Richman 6-3, 6-4 in the sixth spot.

However, the Judges were able sweep second, third and fourth singles, with Rosman, Sanai and Gallegos earning easy victories and clinching the match for Brandeis.

“Our women’s team is showing a lot of heart and competitiveness,” said Lamanna. “They are really going to fight to the bitter end, and it all comes from leadership, from upperclassmen who step up [and] call people out when they need to and get the job done.”

Despite the win, the Judges learned that co-captain Emily Weisberger ’10, who had injured herself playing against Middlebury College, had torn her ACL and MCL, thus ending her season and her tennis career at Brandeis.

“She is a fantastic athlete who always brings a level of experience and consistency to the court,” said Lamana.

On Saturday, the men also faced Bates, whose men’s squad is ranked No. 30 nationally and No. 7 in the Northeast. The Judges, ranked No.

14 in the Northeast, lost to Bates 6-3.

In doubles play, the first doubles team of Simon Miller ’11 and Nick White ’11 won 8-5. At second doubles, the team of Steven Milo ’13 and Dave Yovanoff ’13 were heading toward a second Brandeis victory, leading senior Max Berger and sophomore Jeffrey Beaton of Bates 6-1.

However, Bates fought back to tie the match at eight games apiece.

Beaton and Berger eventually completed their comeback to win the match 9-8. “[Milo and Yovanoff] came out fired up, playing aggressive tennis,” said Lamanna. “We would overpower them on most points and force them to back up, but there was a little momentum, and ultimately they couldn’t finish the match.”

With the team of Steve Nieman ’11 and Michael Tatarsky ’12 falling at third doubles, the Judges were down 2-1 after doubles play.

In singles play, the Judges back end of the Judges’ lineup was able to earn the squad victory points, with Nieman beating his opponent in a third set super-tiebreaker 10-6 at fifth singles, and Milo easily winning 6-2, 6-1 in the sixth singles spot.

However, Bates was able to take the other four singles spots, defeating White, Miller, Yovanoff and Fred Rozenshteyn ’13 at first through fourth singles, respectively.

See TENNIS, 10 ☛

■ The nationally ranked

softball team split its two games against Wellesley College on Wednesday.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

After dropping its first-ever game as a nationally ranked team against Wellesley College on Wednesday, the softball team looked to bounce back in the second game of the doubleheader. But after getting out to an early lead, the Judges found themselves tied with the Blue after the top of the second inning.

Then third baseman Brittany Grimm ’12 singled in the bottom of the frame to give the Judges a lead they would not relinquish, as the Judges went on to win the game 6-3 in five innings, which ended due to darkness, after dropping the first game of the doubleheader 9-7.

The No. 14 Judges are now 8-4 on the season.

“It’s really just a great honor to be recognized, so we’re just hoping we can take that with us the rest of the season and uphold what our

reputation has been so far,” second baseman Melisa Cagar ’11 said.

The Judges got up early on the Blue in game two, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning on a double by designated hitter Erin Ross ’10.

But Wellesley came back in the second to tie it on a two-run home run by senior first baseman Alex Warren.

Judges starting pitcher Caroline Miller ’12 was able to limit the damage, however, and kept the game tied going into the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the second, the Judges took advantage of wild pitches from rookie starting pitcher Lauren Goldfarb to retake the lead.

Right fielder Carly Schmand ’11 got on base after an an error by sophomore shortstop Jessie Haladyna.

Cagar walked to put runners on first and second with two outs.

Grimm’s single then scored Schmand, giving the Judges the 3-2 lead.

Two straight wild pitches by Goldfarb then allowed Cagar to score.

Between the two games Grimm

See SOFTBALL, 10 ☛

just

ARTS

March 23, 2010

Talent shines through in Hillel Theater Group’s ‘Children of Eden,’ p. 16 Photos: Asher Krell/the Justice. Design: Andrea Fineman/the Justice.

14

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

●

THE JUSTICE

POP CULTURE

INSIDE ON CAMPUS

14-16

■ Brandeis Jewish Film Festival 15 The festival brings poignant films depicting Jewish experiences throughout history.

15 ■ Leonard Bernstein trio The 2010 Leonard Bernstein scholars played their final concert.

16 ■ ‘Children of Eden’ Hillel Theater Group showcased strong voices as it staged the Biblical musical.

16 ■ Historical novelists Authors Anita Diamant and Jennifer Gilmore ’92 will speak on campus April 13.

OFF CAMPUS

17-20

17 ■ ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ Boston Lyric Opera’s amusing production of the opera featured standout performances.

17 ■ ‘Make Flesh’ The new album by Extra Life serves as an accessible exploration of math rock.

■ Clink 19 The Boston restaurant’s delicious dishes were undermined by problems with ambiance and presentation.

19 ■ ‘Paradise Lost’ Despite skillful performances, Clifford Odets’ play was deemed undeserving of the American Repertory Theater’s update.

19 ■ The Field The Irish pub provides tasty burgers and beer at bargain prices.

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

by Shelly Shore

Looks like it might be another score for the Best Actress Oscar Curse.

Yes, the Best Actress Oscar Curse—possibly feared by actresses almost as much as premature aging—has struck again. It’s becoming almost a standard in Hollywood—someone wins Best Actress, and within the next few years, her marriage or relationship falls apart. Just look at the last 10 years. 2001—a win for Julia Roberts, who promptly dumped her boyfriend Benjamin Bratt. 2002, Halle Berry (goodbye, Eric Benet); Nicole Kidman (we all know that Tom Cruise story); all the way through till 2010. The only folks to avoid it? Helen Mirren, who won in 2007 and is still happily married to Taylor Hackford, and Marion Cotillard, who was single when she won in 2008. It might be jealousy (looking at you, Ryan Phillipe after Reese Witherspoon’s 2006 win), or maybe the girls develop a bit of an attitude after they win (just rumors, Hilary Swank, I promise), but while the statue looks great on the shelf in the living room, it just about spells breakup for Hollywood superstars.

The latest victims of the curse are Sandra Bullock and Kate Winslet, who won their Oscars in 2010 and 2009, respectively. This week, Winslet revealed that she and director Sam Mendes are divorcing after nine years together.

A rep for the couple said last week, “They’ve been pretty much living separate lives since the end of the summer. They realized some time ago that they were not a good fit. They were more like brother and sister.” A mutual friend told the NY Daily News, “The divorce is amicable, civilized, very British.”

Clearly the Curse is being gentle with Winslet. Bullock, however, isn’t so lucky. Just a few short weeks after her win for The Blind Side, she was, well, blind-sided by allegations that her husband, Jesse James, had been cheat-

Student actors to demonstrate talents in NYC ■ In an interview with JustArts, Linnea Sage ’10 discussed the showcase she and a number of other students will put on in New York City on April 5 to try and find acting representation.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

ACE ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in ‘The Blind Side.’ ing on her. Tattoo model Michelle “Bombshell” McGee (I kid you not) told InTouch Weekly that she had an affair with James and that their last sexual encounter took place “about eight months ago.” James issued a public apology on Friday, saying, “The vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded.”

“The vast majority” doesn’t sound like “all” to me, Jesse.

And so the Best Actress Oscar Curse strikes again. Helen Mirren, keep an eye on your man.

The Curse could hit at any time.

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus

ON CAMPUS EVENTS ‘Letters from Chicago’ with Uta Larky Letters from Chicago is a very personal film portrait of Jewish-American immigrants Lore and Gustav Frank from award-winning German documentary filmmaker Sibylle Tiedemann. Interviewing them in their Chicago apartment, Tiedemann chronicles the Franks’ lives from living in Ulm, to being forced out of Germany to the United States in 1939, to Gustav Frank returning back to Ulm as an American soldier in 1945 only to find his family had been murdered in the Holocaust. The film portrays images from their childhoods to the present day and the role of memory and what it means to grow old in exile.

Tomorrow from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Olin-Sang 207.

‘Soldiers of Peace’ screening Join Student Peace Alliance as they put on a free screening of the documentary Soldiers of Peace . The documentary, narrated by Michael Douglas, chronicles stories from 14 countries around the world and deals with the question of whether violence is a part of human nature and the worldwide war epidemic that is getting progressively worse.

Will war be with us forever? How can the world change to make peace? After the film, there will be a discussion of reflections on and reactions to the subject matter as well as of new initiatives the Student Peace Alliance is working on to address the growing issue of youth violence in the United States.

Thursday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Pearlman Lounge.

Drag workshop Join Triskelion and TransBrandeis as they host a performance/workshop with Boston’s premiere drag king troupe, All The Kings Men. The troupe will perform a few skits for all who attend and then teach how they do it.

As the Triskelion drag show approaches, this is a good way to learn new tricks and to just have a good time.

Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. in South Campus Commons.

SKIN Fashion Show 2010 Presented by BAASA and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), the SKIN fashion show celebrates diversity by exemplifying Asian-American designers’ talents while using models of different race, age and body type. All proceeds of the event will go towards The Hunger Project, a nonprofit charity that aims to end world hunger.

Along with many Brandeis students, the show will feature special performances by Nika Vizacarra and Kaos Kids.

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

Tickets will be sold in Usdan Café today through Thursday for $4 and for $5 at the door.

Middle East Photo Gallery Volume Two Experience members of the Brandeis community sharing their experiences with the various countries in the Middle East from home, vacation, study abroad and more.

Students are welcome to provide insight into

PHOTO COURTESY OF ONE TREE FILMS

WAR AND PEACE: Filmed in countries across the globe, the documentary ‘Soldiers of Peace,’ which will be shown Thursday in Pearlman Lounge, explores possible ways to put an end to war. their personal photographic experiences.

The gallery will open on April 6 at 7 p.m. and run until April 20 in the Shapiro Campus Center Art Gallery.

JEWISHFILM.2010 The National Center for Jewish Film is putting on its 13th annual film festival this year.

13 films will be shown as part of JEWISHFILM.2010, many of which are premiering at the event along with newly restored classic cinema from around the world. The festival brings in many visiting filmmakers and special guests for questions and answers and to talk about their films in depth. The Boston Phoenix calls the event “one of the season’s cinematic highlights,” so it is sure to be an event that you will want to save the date for. For more information, see article on p. 15. Tickets are free for Brandeis students.

Wednesday, April 7 to Sunday, April 18 in Wasserman Cinematheque and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Films showing at various times.

Scenes From My Alter Ego Come and listen to the vocal and acting stylings of many Brandeis students as they perform in a one-time-only event. The event will feature the piano stylings of student David Ferrazzoli ’13 as well as performances by 10 other students.

Sunday, April 11 from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Merrick Theatre.

Drag Show Triskelion, Brandeis’ GLBT/Queer Alliance group, is hosting and performing its annual Drag Show. The event takes place on Admitted Students Day, so if you are hosting any admitted students be sure to bring them for an experience.

Monday, April 12 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in Levin Ballroom.

The Personal and the Political Prof. John Plotz (ENG) will moderate a discussion between authors Anita Diamant and Jennifer Gilmore ’92. Diamant’s new novel, Day After Night , tells the story of four women living in a British internment camp near Haifa in 1945. Gilmore’s latest novel, Something Red, is partially set at a fictionalized version of Brandeis University. The two novelists will read from their books and discuss the role of personal and political themes in historical fiction. For more information, see article on p. 16.

Tuesday, April 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the International Lounge at the Usdan Student Center.

OFF CAMPUS EVENTS Boston Film Race 2010 Local filmmakers will race to create a 24hour short film based on a theme and one surprise element assigned at the start of the competition. It’s like Iron Chef with film. All of the completed films will premiere together, and the top films will compete for cash and prizes.

Thursday, April 1 starting at 9 p.m. at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge.

“Under the Skin” In 19th-century Japan, tattooing was an important feature of urban popular culture.

The tattoos, imagined by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi, were strongly influenced by woodblock prints of Chinese martial artists.

The exhibit, “Under the Skin: Tattoos in Japanese Prints,” explores the social background and visual splendor of Japanese tattoos through the prints that modernized the medium from the streets of 19th century Japan to the tattoo shops all over the world in the 21st century.

The exhibit begins April 3 and runs until Jan. 2, 2011 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

JustArts: So you’re hoping to move to New York? Do you want to go into theater or film?

Linnea Sage: I’ve sort of made the transition into film. Since I was 17 I’ve been working for it, and I’m SAG-eligible now to join the union. ... I’m going to move to New York.

After the showcase, hopefully, we’ll all find representation, and then they’ll basically be in charge of sending us places and managing auditions, and hopefully it will all work out.

There’s a really good mix between people who want to do film and people who want to do theater, so hopefully the people who come will be satisfied with us.

JA: How have you been reaching out to those people?

LS: We bought what’s called roster reports—it’s a list of all the casting directors and talent agents in New York. It gives you all their contact information and whether or not they attend showcases or, like, they’re just too good for you. First we got 500 postcards, and we labeled them and stamped them and sent them out, and we did the same thing again. Then we called all of them, and we also e-mailed all the ones who gave us e-mails, which was only like half of them. ... We’ve gotten some good responses so far, and we’ve still got two weeks, so hopefully it’ll work out.

JA: What’s the format of the showcase?

LS: Everyone can have four and a half minutes onstage doing whatever they want.

Most people are going to want to do a threeminute scene with someone else and a monologue to show variation and change character and show that they can work with other people and command the stage alone.

A bunch of people are doing that. We have one person doing one five-minute, one-man show-type thing, and he’s awesome at that, which is great. We have three scenes now and a bunch of monologues. One person’s doing a scene and she’s singing also, and one person’s doing standup comedy.

Everyone’s doing exactly what they want.

Most places that are run by the department have more strict rules, but I just figured we should all just have fun. We’re all spending our own money, so we should all get to do what we want.

JA: What’s the venue for this?

LS: It’s this great little theater. We ended up getting the nonprofit price.

JA: Are you all going down together?

LS: We rented a 15-person van. One of our members’ boyfriends had to rent it for us because you have to be 27 or 25 or something like that. The only place we could rent a 15person van was at Logan. Since we need to be there by 11, we have to pick it up at 5 in the morning. We’re going to start driving down there at 6. It’s going to be a really hectic day.

JA: And you have multiple shows in that day, right?

LS: We started with three shows, at 1, 5 and 7, but then we found out that Juilliard is also doing their showcase that day. They have 20 kids—their showcase is like an hour and a half or something. Ours is only 30 minutes because there are only eight of us—short and sweet. And their showcase is almost the same times that ours is. So we were like, “We can’t change the date, even though we should, but we’re just going to add more shows.” So we’re doing five shows now.

JA: What are you performing at the showcase?

LS: I am doing a monologue from the movie Wet Hot American Summer and then a scene with Eric Engelstein from the show Community: It’s a new show this year with Joel McHale. I’m really hardcore pursuing film and television, so I’m choosing to do that even though it’s not as deep or meaningful as some of the theater pieces we have.

JA: Have you guys been critiquing each other?

LS: Yeah, we’ve sort of been our own directors. We’ve had some students come in and guest direct, and that’s been really helpful. ... We have such a crazy diverse group of people. None of us are even close to being like anybody else. ... I think we have something that no one’s seen before. We produced it ourselves all out of pocket, and I think we deserve to have a really good showcase.

—Sarah Bayer

THE JUSTICE

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ON CAMPUS MUSIC

Bernstein trio bids a musical farewell ■ The 2010 and 2011 Leonard Bernstein Scholars performed a concert of pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven on Sunday.

By TESS RASER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

This Sunday, the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship Ensembles of the classes of 2010 and 2011 put on their final concert of the semester. As the Leonard Bernstein Scholars ’10 played their first notes, it became clear that Brandeis would be missing an incredibly talented group next fall.

The LBS ’10 trio began the concert with Beethoven’s Trio Op.1, No.1 E flat major. The piece was bright, upbeat and celebratory. The second movement of the piece conjured up images of tiptoeing as pianist Karen Lowe’s fingers pranced across the keys. Yoon-Jin Kim (cello) and Joshua Chakoff (violin) played energetically as well and conveyed a playful feeling to the Slosberg audience.

“They were terrific. We’re all so proud of them,” said Prof. Mary Ruth Ray, chair of the music department and the violist for the Lydian String Quartet, who acts as a mentor to the LBS scholars.

Following the LBS ’10 trio was the LBS ’11 trio. Their piece, was Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, Op. 9. It began upbeat and energetic and shifted to a more solemn, gentle movement before building back up to the original high-spirited feeling of the first movement. The trio, consisting of Ethan Valinetz, violin; Emily Gelb, viola; and Conner Massey, cello was engaging throughout the piece and played together harmoniously even though they did not have as much time as they would have liked to practice.

“We only had a few weeks to prepare, but we were pretty happy about it overall,” says Gelb.

After a brief intermission, the LBS seniors returned to the stage to play the piece “Ghost,” Piano Trio No. 5 also by Beethoven. The piece was the same piece they debuted with as freshmen in 2006. “[The piece] was a good gauge on how we improved,” says Kim. Chakoff adds that it was also fun to

MAX BREITSTEIN MATZA/the Justice

TRIUMPHANT TRIO: The 2011 Leonard Bernstein scholars, Ethan Valinetz (violin), Conner Massey (cello) and Emily Gelb (viola), performed Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor. play the piece that had started their musical careers at Brandeis.

The opus was beautifully played, as the scholars had a confidence in playing it that exceeded that of their first piece. The energetic first movement, played mostly in instrumental unison, moved into a slower movement that the audience became lost in.

“I get the chills just thinking about it,” says Ray about the group’s performance.

The piece was composed after Beethoven faced a series of hardships including the loss of his hear-

ing. The feeling is not sad, but instead highlights the fantastic program that is the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, which has been cut starting with this year’s first-year class due to budgetary constraints.

However, even though the funding will be cut, the program will continue as a fellowship where musicians can still train under and be mentored by the Lydian String Quartet.

As the three seniors look back at the program as an integral part of their Brandeis careers, they find that the experience has really shaped

them.

“I met with [the other scholars] to practice three times a week for the three years. It’s been such an opportunity to give our own concert together every semester,” says Chakoff.

In addition to the incredible exposure to music and the opportunity to grow as musicians, Lowe recognizes another crucial part of the program.

“The biggest thing was becoming friends [with the other scholars],” she says.

While current first-years and future students will still have this op-

portunity, the scholars as well as Ray worry about the effects the absence of the scholarship will have. “[The LBS scholars] are at music conservatory caliber, and the scholarship really swayed them,” says Ray, even though she is hopeful that the fellowship will still attract strong candidates.

Kim, the dynamic cellist, would not have attended Brandeis had it not been for the scholarship, but she is, of course, content in her decision to do so.

“It’s been a staple of [my college experience],” she says.

MUSIC

Film festival will celebrate Jewish experiences ■ JEWISHFILM.2010 is set

to feature a number of films about Jews across the globe and throughout history.

By ALEX DESILVA JUSTICE STAFF WRITER Film festival season is starting up at Brandeis! But before the studentcentered SunDeis and IndieLouies start, the season will kick off with JEWISHFILM.2010, the 13th annual festival by the National Center for Jewish Film, which will be running from April 7 through April 18 in Wasserman Cinematheque.

Since it began in 1997 to celebrate Israel’s 50th anniversary with a showcase of Israeli cinema, the festival has come to include films from all over the world, with this year’s movies coming from six different countries, including Israel, the U.S., Germany, France, Poland and Argentina.

Each year’s festival also features a film restored by the Center. This year’s is 1935’s Bar Mitzvah. With roots in the old Yiddish theater of New York and starring the famed Yiddish actor Boris Thomashefsky, the film comes to Brandeis on the heels of two sold-out screenings at

New York’s Lincoln Center.

Bar Mitzvah joins 12 other features, seven of which are documentaries, that will be shown at the festival.

The Justice has been able to preview five of them courtesy of the NCJF. Each one presents fascinating and unique visions of the Jewish experience that anyone, Jewish or not, would be sorry to miss.

The festival will open with the New England premiere of Berlin 36, a blend of sports movie and historical drama presenting the true story of Gretel Bergmann, a Jewish-German high jumper. It’s 1936, and the Nazis are in damage-control mode as America threatens a boycott of the Berlin Olympics if Jewish athletes aren’t allowed to participate. To remedy this, the Germans force Bergmann to train for the high jump to appease the Americans while doing all they can to make sure she doesn’t actually make it to the Games themselves. Their efforts at sabotage range from unfair treatment and threats to bringing in competition in the form of Marie Ketteler, a farm girl with a medical record that the Germans want no one, not even her coach, to see. What makes this different from other sports movies is the stakes: Bergmann is caught in the machinery of a government that will do any-

thing to keep her from competing and where even the smallest of victories matter for her. This context is what makes Bergmann’s resistance so heroic and what really makes the movie work.

The Wedding Song is another historical piece, though this one takes the audience to Tunisia in 1942, where Jewish Myriam and Muslim Nour are best friends who have opposing experiences with marriage.

Nour desperately awaits her wedding to the teenaged Khaled while Myriam tries to get out of a marriage of convenience to a 30-year-old doctor. Their tribulations all take place as the Nazis take control of Tunisia from the French, and the friendship between the two girls is strained as the policies of the Nazis stir up tension between the Arab and Jewish communities. This might be one of the highlights of the entire festival, a movie that is both a tender tale of friendship and a stunning look at the terror of the war. A combination of fast-moving camera work and a unique soundtrack of opera set to electric guitars creates a visceral look at the upheaval in North Africa during World War II. The parade of period pieces is rounded off by La Camára Oscura, an Argentine film about Gertrudis, an introverted Jewish woman in the

1920s who has settled into a life with her children and emotionally distant husband. This changes when a travelling photographer comes to her family’s farm and allows her to recognize her inner beauty for the fist time. Admittedly, this movie is pretty slow. Those who come expecting a fast-moving plot or drama will be disappointed, but those who come knowing this will find a good amount to like. The camerawork is very good, giving some great views of Argentina’s coutryside, as are the uses of animation and still photography that include some interesting examples of Surrealist photography.

One of the festival’s days, April 11, coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day, and this will be recognized by a screening of the Einsatzgruppen, documentary which is about the Nazi death squads that operated in conquered areas during World War II, killing 1.5 million people including Jews, Roma, Communists and others with the help of many local groups. This documentary goes into the history of the squads, their tactics and the aftermath during the Nuremberg Trials, and features interviews with witnesses and historians. It should be stated up front that this is hard to watch. There’s footage of killings, mass graves, local pogroms and other horrifying events. But it’s also

a moving remembrance of this dark time in human history, and without a doubt should be seen.

The festival also offers a fascinating glimpse into ultra-Orthodox Judaism in modern Israel. Gevald! and The Rabbi’s Daughter and the Midwife form a double feature that looks at Israel’s Haredi community, an ultra-Orthodox group that is commonly on the fringes of Israeli society. Gevald! follows two Haredi groups during an election, one protesting the secular state itself as heretical and the other trying to work within the system to benefit the community. The Rabbi’s Daughter and the Midwife concerns Adina Bar-Shalom, the titular rabbi’s daughter who has set up a university program for Haredi women. The midwife is “Bambi” Chalkowski, who also runs a large charity program to help Haredi families, many of whom live in poverty. Both women’s stories are followed as they try to help their community become more integrated into Israel’s society.

The films are an hour each and will be shown back-to-back on April 11.

Tickets to JEWISHFILM.2010 are free for Brandeis students, but they have to be reserved by April 5 by phone at (781) 736-8600 or by e-mail at jewishfilm@brandeis.edu. A full listing of the festival’s screenings can be found at www.jewishfilm.org.

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THE JUSTICE

BIBLICAL MUSICAL

BOOKS

Historical novelists to speak at Brandeis ■ Authors Anita Diamant

and Jennifer Gilmore ’92 will participate in a discussion about historical fiction.

By SARAH BAYER JUSTICE EDITOR

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

CROONING CAST: Cast members known as storytellers sing along with Yonah (Marti Dembowitz ’10, far right) during one of the musical numbers in ‘Children of Eden.’

HTG revisits ‘Eden’ with song ■ Hillel Theater Group’s

production of ‘Children of Eden’ featured a cast rich with talented singers.

By HANNAH LEVINGER JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Thursday night was the opening of the Hillel Theatre Group’s performance of Children of Eden, a musical reinterpretation of the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah and the flood.

The play took some serious liberties with the original plot line of Genesis. It made the God/Father figure into a fallible and more human character, making it far easier to relate to his emotions.

The play drew parallels between the Garden of Eden and Noah stories that were often heavy-handed. Noah and Adam were played by the same actor in order to correlate their experiences. The same was done with Cain and Japeth, as well as Abel and Ham. It was clear what the playwrights were attempting, but it came off as overbearing and detracted from the overall production. These drawbacks had much more to do with the script of the play itself rather than what the directors chose to do with it.

Children of Eden was directed by two first-years, Rebecca Miller and Viktoria Lange. It was the first Brandeis directing experience for both of them, and they did a very good job.

The staging was interesting with only three set pieces, mostly sets of stairs, and the costumes were simple white outfits with smatterings of color. The direction left a lot to the imagination of the audience, which I enjoyed. One of my favorite artistic choices was that the Tree of Knowledge was not a set piece but instead consisted of a few of the storytellers.

I thought this added a great new dimension to the whole Garden of Eden segment.

Among a generally cohesive and skilled ensemble, there were a few voices that were heard above the rest. Julie Stein ’11, who played Noah’s wife on the ark, sang with immense power and energy, leaving the audience wanting so much more from her. The leads carried the show and their voices made up for some of the lackluster performances of the rest of the ensemble. Nick Maletta

’13, playing both Adam and Noah, did a superior job with his songs and clearly deserved the lead roles in the play. Maletta sang beautifully and acted with enthusiasm. His counterpart for the first act, Zoe Novic ’13 as Eve, was able to match his virtuosity without any problem. She also looked exactly like Eve should look with her waist-length wavy brown hair.

In general, the music was a little repetitive with the same chord progressions and melodies in many of the songs. There were two specific songs that stuck out though, both of them taking place in the second act.

“Stranger to the Rain,” sung by Marti Dembowitz ’10, was hauntingly beautiful. She sang with emotion and poise, clearly conveying the message of the song. She sang of the pain that being part of the Tribe of Cain had caused her, but she was able to rise above everything and fall in love.

The other stand-out piece was sung

by Maletta and Ethan Goldberg ’12.

“The Hardest Part of Love is the Letting Go” was a gorgeous song both in message and in vocal performance.

For Father, Adam, and Noah it is difficult to let the children they want to protect make their own mistakes. If you had no other reason to go see the play, these songs would have been enough.

Although in theater they are rarely given as much credit as the singers on the stage, the musicians in the pit performed well. They played well together and usually did not drown out the voices of the actors. There were a few times, however, that the guitar was overpowering and distracting. It was also difficult as an audience member to only be able to partially see the pit. It might have been a good choice to hide them with a curtain or bring them more out into view.

There was a similar problem with the entrances and exits from stage. It would have been much less distracting if there had been some sort of curtain to block the actors backstage from the audience.

Overall, the play was a good and memorable performance. The directors and cast did a superb job with a sometimes-overbearing script. Children of Eden had many great singers and actors and left little to be desired from the cast. The art direction helped make the performance even more of a pleasure to watch. I left humming “Stranger in the Rain,” and I enthusiastically sent my friends to the closing performances on Sunday.

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

AGE OF INNOCENCE: Nick Maletta ’13 and Zoe Novic ’13 showed impressive vocal talent, as Adam and Eve, respectively, in Hillel Theater Group’s ‘Children of Eden.’

On April 13, Brandeis will host noted authors Anita Diamant and Jennifer Gilmore ’92 for readings of their books followed by a conversation about their writing. The event, titled “The Personal and the Political: Historical Fiction and the Jewish Experience,” is sponsored by the Creative Writing department with support from the American Studies department and will be moderated

by Prof. John Plotz (ENG).

Both authors first achieved recognition for novels dealing with historical Jewish experiences.

Diamant is a Boston-based writer whose 1997 debut The Red Tent , a reimagining of Genesis-era Jewish life, was named a New York Times bestseller. Gilmore’s first novel, Golden Country , was released in 2006. The story of immigrants living in New York City during the first half of the 20th century, Golden Country was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Diamant’s latest novel, Day After Night , tells the story of Holocaust survivors living in a British internment camp near Haifa after World War II. In an interview with the Justice, Diamant said that writing Day After Night posed new challenges due to the continuing emotional significance of the period.

She said her novel is “about survivors and resillience” and says that the extensive historical record from the period required her to balance these larger themes with the minute historical details she uncovered. “You sort of fall in love with those details, and you want to tell everyone everything you know,” Diamant said. Her research materials included newspaper accounts of the camps, memoirs of the experience and even a series of in-person interviews she conducted with former inmates in the camp.

According to Gilmore, her forthcoming book, Something Red, deals with the decline of radicalism and the meaning of political protest. The book follows the Goldsteins, a family living amid the changing political atmosphere of 1979 Washington, D.C. “I am really interested in the way history affects families,” she said.

Gilmore said that a fictionalized version of her alma mater was a natural choice as a setting for the novel. “Brandeis has this really rich history and it would be a really neat place to set the book,” she explained.

After earning her degree in English and American Literature and Creative Writing from Brandeis, Gilmore continued on to Cornell University for her Master of Fine Arts degree and now serves as a professor at the The New School. She said that it was challenging to conjure Brandeis in the time period shortly before her own time here, a task requiring “the same kind of research as if it was a different place.”

Still, she was able to describe some professors and buildings from memory. “Getting back into being that age was really cool,” she said.

Although the discussion on April 13 will focus primarily on historical novels, both writers emphasize that their interests extend beyond the confines of that genre. “In a way you’re always writing about the past,” notes Gilmore. Diamant says historical fiction is “not a category that I go looking for” when seeking books to read recreationally. Citing novels such as One Hundred Years of Solitude , she points out, “It’s either good storytelling or it’s not.”

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

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OFF CAMPUS THEATER

‘Ariadne’ is an offbeat operatic delight ■ Talented performers lent their powerful voices to the delightful Boston Lyric Opera production of Richard Strauss’ ‘Ariadne auf Naxos.’

By SUJIN SHIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

I had been to the Shubert Theater once before to see the Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Carmen. I always expect great shows from BLO productions and since Carmen did not disappoint last time, I was incredibly excited to be back to see the latest operatic production by the BLO, Ariadne auf Naxos.

This humorously self-deprecating opera starts out with the stage set like the backstage area of an actual opera. The composer begins fretting about the start of his opera, which is due to open in 15 minutes. The backstage is already a bit of a chaotic arena, with the opera stars bickering with the Commedia dell’Arte performers who are set to perform after them. The composer laments that the audience will lose the depth and profundity of the music to the circus performing after them. Then, the richest man in Vienna, who is the patron of both acts, says he wants the two performances mashed together so that a fireworks show can occur at exactly 9 p.m. At this, the composer nearly breaks down.

Only the music master is there to console him until Zerbinetta, the female leader of the comedy troupe, warms up to the composer and convinces him to allow the change. Finally, it is time for the curtain to go up, and in a last moment of confusion and despair of what he’s gotten into, the composer throws up his score in exasperation and runs offstage hoping for the best.

I could not stop laughing during the first act. The one-liners exchanged on stage and Zerbinetta’s witty and biting dialogue were more entertaining than most stand-up comedy I see nowadays. But I found this a kind of funny metaphor for life. Life is a completely unpredictable roulette. There are going to be serious moments as well as moments where you enjoy life to the fullest, laughing, cajoling and being happy.

The opera-within-the-opera begins in the second act with a beautiful and romantic overture. There is Ariadne singing of all of her torments and how she would like to die.

The Commedia dell’Arte performers jump in to cheer up the princess, though her role is to be depressed throughout the whole opera.

The story of Ariadne continues as Bacchus falls head-over-heels in love with her. But just before Ari-

adne and Bacchus’ final song together, Zerbinetta returns to poke fun at romances between women and gods. The opera ends with Bacchus and Ariadne embracing and transforming into constellations in the sky.

From reading the press packet before the show, I gleaned that Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, had a very professional relationship. They never addressed each other by name. They rarely saw each other—their correspondences were largely through written mail. And so I wondered, as a musician unfamiliar with much of Strauss’ work, if these unfathomably polite men would create a very “polite” score. Would the stiffness in their letters and correspondence come through as stiffness in the music? I was absolutely wrong.

When the music was romantic, it was the most romantic, most longing, most lovesick and most beautifully melodic that music could be.

When the music was dark, it was the heaviest, the most grounded, most deeply melancholic music in the score. And even though Strauss exaggerates his melodies, there are still seamless transitions between the different styles; occasionally the style shifted on the turn of a dime, but it still made sense. Hofmannsthal’s libretto complemented the music perfectly and the dialogue is witty, ironic and funny. And not what I like to call Friends funny, where funny situations just happen to the characters, but the type of funny that thoughtful and clever gibing would create.

Of all the theatrical and musical performances I ever attended, I have never seen a more eclectic yet finely synchronized band of characters and artists. All the main voices were superiorly toned and driven by the power of years of training. The woman who played the composer, Edyta Kulczak, gave a superb performance—her voice was rich and strong yet light enough to fit her amusing character, a nervous young composer who takes himself and his work a little too seriously. Jake Gardner, the music master, filled the theater with his thick and rumbling baritone, supporting the lighter voices with his heavy and full-bodied one. Julius Ahn’s voice was more than just strong; it was energetic. It drove confidently to the top notes with ease and quality timbre, one that fit his “leader of the troupe” character of the dance master. And Brandon Jovanovich, with his ringing and potent voice, rounded out his character, the god Bacchus. And though I commend all the performers of Ariadne auf Naxos, two performers of the cast particularly struck me and left me in awe of their talent.

Rachele Gilmore plays the lovely

JEFFREY DUNN/Boston Lyric Opera

BESEECHING BEAUTY: Zerbinetta (Rachele Gilmore) tries to calm the flustered composer (Edyta Kulczak) in ‘Ariadne auf Naxos.’ and caustic Zerbinetta. After hearing many women with voices that were beautiful yet heavy-toned, I was taken aback by Gilmore’s sweeter and much lighter voice. I realized with great joy that she is a coloratura soprano. Coloraturas are the power divas of the opera world— they are the ones who have the range, the dexterity and the incredible vocal capacity to handle superhigh F’s and blazing-fast 64-note runs or arpeggios. I sat in disbelief as her voice flew higher and higher.

“She couldn’t possibly…” I said to myself. And then she did. I was impressed beyond words, and so was most of the audience. It’s the mark of an incredible performer when people can’t even wait until the end of your aria to start clapping.

And then there was Marjorie Owens, the prima donna who played Ariadne, the woman whose voice’s sheer power and beauty struck me dumb. Her voice was clear and rich.

Her stage presence was arresting and strong. Owens’ voice incurred in me a feeling that few musical performers can. Goosebumps exploded all over my skin, and I couldn’t stop

smiling. But Owens didn’t just excite my musical ear; she also deepened my appreciation of the arts and the talent that I could be exposed to, all because her voice was so entrancing.

Of course, the performers wouldn’t be able to show off their taltents if it weren’t for the Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Erik Nielsen. The dexterity of the instrumentalists at the BLO never ceases to amaze me. I also appreciated greatly Nielsen’s sensitivity to the actors on stage. Not once did the orchestra overpower the singers, but also not once did the orchestra cripple under the vocalists’ gusto, even during the powerful and bombastic parts where the singers were giving it all that they could muster. Finely attuned to the rest of the show and also to his musicians, Nielsen gave a masterful performance himself, even if it was hidden under the pit with only a gleaming baton occasionally rising above the ground to signify his hard work interpreting Strauss’ operatic masterpiece.

Last time I visited the Shubert, I detailed my encounter with some-

one who I nicknamed Opera Diva. I didn’t want to embarrass myself again, so this time I took care to dress up and look presentable. But as I did, I felt slightly out of place in the Shubert. It was still too grand for me. And then I saw her again: Opera Diva, in all of her mink-coated, silkswaddled glory. But as she passed me to take her seat in the middle of the row, she looked down and said “Oh! Very pretty shoes!” I thanked her and admired my feet, suddenly feeling more comfortable in that theater than at any other moment in recent memory. I actually felt a bit like Ariadne; I only needed someone’s acceptance to feel like a bigger part of this world. And I am not special. Everyone can enjoy opera if they only put away their stereotypes and open themselves up to it. I decided that I won’t ever mention Opera Diva from this article on. To bring her up is to bring back my untrue stereotype of the traditional theater-goer. And that wouldn’t be particularly fair. Oh, Opera Diva, my experience of the Boston arts culture would not have been complete without you!

MUSIC

‘Made Flesh’ manifests accessible math rock ■ Extra Life’s album builds

on avant-garde influences to create an eclectic sound that rewards listeners not already familiar with the genre.

By ANDREA FINEMAN JUSTICE EDITOR

When I visited Extra Life’s MySpace for the first time and read that they had registered in the genre of “Experimental/Gothic/Classical Opera And Vocal,” I thought it was probably a joke. I hadn’t yet listened to the band’s upcoming second album, which comes out a week from today. After doing so, such a classification seems to be right on target.

The band’s math rock time signatures and geometric melodies might sound familiar to indie rock listeners used to the spiky, hiccupped

sounds of the Dirty Projectors. And indeed, band leader Charlie Looker has worked with the Dirty Projectors (on their 2007 album Rise Above) and released a split LP with Dirty Projectors bassist Nat Baldwin in 2008.

The album starts off with synthy arpeggios and thundering guitar sounds that wouldn’t be out of place on an album by a metal band. Listeners not familiar with math rock might, if pressed, define this collection of songs as a sort of over-enunciated, calmed-down metal album.

However, Extra Life’s repertoire contains more than just heavy guitars. The title track on Made Flesh includes elements that sound almost Renaissance or medieval, creating an effect not unlike the alt-rock band Tool. “Black Hoodie” features acoustic guitar and strings with Looker’s vocals in stark contrast with earlier tracks that rely heavily on synth and dark, blunt-sounding guitar. Looker’s bio on his Web site

curiously states that his “music and his modus operandi have always been an intuitive synthesis of diverse influences” and that “central to Looker’s music is the play between crushing severity and the lighter touch of Irony’s ladyfingers.”

Like the Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, he holds a degree in music from an East Coast college— an experience Looker describes even more curiously on his Web site: “Looker holds a B.A. in Music from Wesleyan University (2003) where he studied with Anthony Braxton, Alvin Lucier and Mark Stambaugh, however he still considers himself mostly self-taught.” Braxton, of course, is an acclaimed avant-garde jazz saxophonist and father of Tyondai Braxton, leader of Battles, one of the math-rock scene’s most visible players. Lucier is an avantgarde musician and electronic music pioneer, known for an experiment using voice and cassette tape enti-

tled “I am sitting in a room,” which, coincidentally, was composed during Lucier’s tenure at Brandeis as conductor of the University Chamber Chorus. Though Looker, et al. keep the music on Made Flesh traditional in terms of instrumentation, the spirit of the avant-garde is certainly alive in Looker’s vocals.

Looker’s tour blog (the band finishes up a U.S. tour this Saturday but plans no stops in Boston) is full of gems like these, painting an image of a strangely chipper goth dude having a great time promoting his pet project. For example he tells how at a party in Toronto, “We lurked in the corner and got drunk with this guy we met named Tommy Toast, an older ex-bike messenger guy from next door. He kept talking about this cooking show he’s starting where he’s going to chop everything with a chainsaw. He tried to bring his chainsaw into the party but it got confiscated by this dapper guy who

looked way less tough than him.” It’s worth a visit.

For those interested in learning about math rock (or helping their friends learn to like this rather unapproachable genre), this album might be a good first step. Unlike some math rock on the market these days, Extra Life’s Made Flesh avoids truly ear-piercing synths and other alien sounds. The gentle guitar of some tracks helps guide the listener into the warped melodies and thunky rhythms on the album. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for this band. With their scrambled rhythms and fermented melodies, they’re clearly not destined for the same kind of commercial success as MGMT or Passion Pit, but last year’s relatively successful run of the Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca (it debuted at No. 65 on the Billboard charts in June) may signal a new interest in sounds once considered too thorny for the average listener.

THE JUSTICE

NOT-SO-MODERN FAMILY

By HANNAH KIRSCH JUSTICE EDITOR

MARCUS STERN/American Repertory Theater

COMPLEX COUPLE: Sam (Jonathan Epstein) and Bertha (Prof. Adrienne Krstansky (THA)) hide motives in ‘Paradise Lost.’

‘Paradise’ lost in translation Theater’s production of ‘Paradise Lost’ proved that the 1935 play is not readily applicable to the realities of modern life.

By JOYCE WANG JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Having seen the American Repertory Theater’s productions this season of Gatz and Sleep No More, the first a wildly successful experiment in theatrical form, the second a slightly less-successful experiment in theatrical form, I expected its production of Paradise Lost to impress and astound.

Instead, it disappointed, even though nothing about it was overtly unsuccessful. In fact, the acting was uniformly solid and I actually enjoyed some of the directorial choices, such as incorporating huge video screens as close-ups of the actors, in addition to the expansive set design. Perhaps the combination of high expectations, an outdated script and other, more bewildering aspects of the direction led to my frustrating experience.

Paradise Lost, written in 1935 by then-Communist playwright Clifford Odets, would seem to offer compelling parallels to our own disheartening economic times.

The Gordon family, composed of Leo, Clara and their children, are small business owners who face a progressive decline in their financial security.

Leo’s partner, the coldly pragmatic Sam Katz (Jonathan Epstein), pushes Leo to ever-more-extreme measures to maintain their family’s relative wealth. Luckily Sam avoids becoming a cliché when his wife Bertha, played by Prof. Adrienne Krstansky (THA), upends the audience’s expectations in a single illuminating scene to reveal Sam as more than a wealth-obsessed business partner.

However, Leo, played with intelligent understanding by David Chandler, is not a businessman—he has dreams of something greater, a meaning to life based on human connections, not transac-

19

Clink combines class with flavor interrupt enjoyment of Clink’s complex recipes.

tions. He keeps asking, “What is to be done?” The trouble is, nothing can be done; the Great Depression is afoot, and it is no time to be a dreamer or idealist. When Clara (Sally Wingert) first says, “I married a fool” in the opening scene, it’s in the context of a congenial family gathering, stated with fondness a little teasingly. When she repeats it in the last act after the family has been evicted, her statement has a touch of resigned regret. Even when Leo makes a grand, uplifting speech at the very end of the play, a speech that is supposed to unite everyone, to inspire them to keep hoping despite financial reality, it sounds unconvincing. Though Chandler performs it as well as anyone can, it’s only rhetoric.

Odets simply can’t offer any answers as to why the American economy is collapsing or conceive of any realistic solutions to it, and he doesn’t make this lack of an answer into a compelling dramatic journey, either. Mr. Pike (Michael Rudko), the furnace man who drifts in and out of scenes to spout blue-collar socialist wisdom with gritty Bukowskian eloquence, isn’t enough, especially because his dialogues verges into the didactic.

The Gordon family’s live-in friend Gus Michaels (Thomas Derrah), isn’t enough either, even though he turns an initially comedic role into one filled with poignancy and sympathy.

The younger generation, comprised of the Gordon family’s children—piano-obsessed Pearl, former track star Ben, introspective-but-terminally-ill son Julie— offers no hope or answers, except unfolding tragedies and dying dreams. Pearl (Therese Plaehn) is a one-note character sketch who offers, at most, background music, as she lugs an electronic keyboard around the stage and hides behind headphones (a technologically anachronistic directorial touch that did not work). Julie is subtly acted by T. Ryder Smith but, again, is little more than a backdrop. And Ben (Hale Appleman) is supposed to be the golden boy but is so clearly set up for failure as he discovers he’s one of those men who peaked in life at 18 and can’t do anything to make a living, that even his wife Libby’s straying ways are boring, preordained and

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

FOOD

■ Abrupt ambiance changes

■ The American Repertory

●

ultimately uninspiring.

Some of these characters and many of these scenes could have worked well on their own, studied out of context in a classroom, but none of it coheres into a satisfying whole. You see the Gordon family and its friends gradually fall into financial ruin, but because the characters are so limited and the themes are too familiar, you don’t care as much as you should, and you’re even a little bored.

Certainly, director Daniel Fish tries to explore these themes in a novel way as he revives the 1935 play to something more fitting for 2010. For instance, at particular times during the play, characters begin to speak into microphones, altering their voices as if they’re using this exciting new technology called the radio, which provides mixed results, although it does tend to amplify important dialogue. During other important scenes, a giant backdrop shows close-up videos of actors’ actions, which I actually found useful, because you could really see subtle aspects of characters, like their faces or gestures.

Video is also used to great expository effect during certain scenes involving outside characters or flashbacks because it allows the play to quickly delineate information without breaking away from the scene. Unfortunately, other touches are painful attempts to remind the audience that this play is still contemporary—witness the Kerry/Edwards T-shirt Clara wears during the curiously modern eviction of the last scene, blatantly bringing to mind the foreclosures and real estate bust of our times.

I really wanted this production to be compelling, meaningful and worthwhile, but it fell just short, even though so many aspects of it did work. Odets has not aged well, and perhaps the rarity of revivals of this play is for good reason—it’s just difficult to pull off for a 21stcentury audience. And so many other, better plays have explored similar themes about what is essentially the American dream and its collapse that this one does not seem to offer anything exciting or different. The American Repertory Theater should continue to revive shows worthy of its time and effort.

Its too bad that about a quarter of the way into our meal, the lights in Clink were abruptly and drastically dimmed. Before the ambiance turned subterranean, the dining room was a pleasant mix of clean, minimalist furniture and tableware and warm New England touches.

We’d entered through the dignified gray stone façade of the Liberty Hotel, a former prison whose dark past remains only in iron bars on windows and a Panopticonal layout; we’d been impressed by the lobby’s combination of old-fashioned red brick and modern, earth-toned furniture and fixtures. The décor shares its blend of classic and contemporary with the fresh, earthy menu items, of which some of the most intriguing ended up on the Restaurant Week menu.

My friends were content with their choices of dishes, but I’m positive that I came out on top with each course. The Bluebird Grain Farms— Clink wants you to know the provenance of its dishes’ ingredients— farro soup with black cumin yogurt was pleasantly tangy, its combination of flavors slightly foreign to the tongue, although it benefited from an added dash of pepper. The roasted beet and mozzarella salad with arugula and white balsamic vinegar was a standard dish with exceptionally fresh ingredients.

My slow-poached duck egg with red lentils and brioche toast was irresistibly rich, though. At first bite, the lentils were too salty, but the combination of perfectly poached egg, lentils and sweet brioche toast

cut the brininess in favor of a complex meld of flavors. The brioche and the rather sweet bottle of Tupari sauvignon blanc we shared salvaged the lentils, leaving only indulgent bliss.

The classy, hearty character of the starters carried through to the main courses: Two members of our party ordered red wine-braised short ribs with Anson Mills polenta and horseradish gremolata that they said compared favorably to short ribs eaten two days earlier, and the wild striped bass with heirloom beans and sofrito was satisfying, if unremarkably spiced. But the housemade corn pasta with wild mushrooms and truffled breadcrumbs that I, along with the other three vegetarians in our party, ordered was the superior dish. The tender pasta was studded with lemony greens, and although the truffled breadcrumbs also suffered from an excess of salt— a surprisingly amateur mistake— they were an apt topping.

Tucking into our desserts revived us from the torpor of an hour of dining in the dimly lit room; from my green apple, rhubarb and raisin cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream, an updated and less-sweet version of cloying rhubarb confections, to the tangy candied citrus and ginger compote that topped a friend’s key lime panna cotta, the desserts rounded out the modernized Americana of the main courses and appetizers.

Clink was very good, and it was one of the better Restaurant Week menus offered this season, but neglect of several details caused it to fall short of greatness. Lazy presentation of the short ribs, a chilly and dim dining room and a heavy hand with the salt could be easily rectified; luckily, the sheer goodness of the ingredients and balanced complexity of the meal meant that we did not have to sweat the small stuff.

FOOD

Field fertile with deals ■ The Irish pub in Central

Square serves up delicious food and an extensive variety of beer at excellent prices.

By DAVID BENNETT JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

St. Patrick’s Day is, in my opinion, one of the greatest holidays. For one day a year, everyone is Irish, or at least pretends to be. In addition to fast fiddlin’, black watch plaid, William Wallace and too many great beers to count, the Irish have shared with us one of the single greatest institutions: the Irish pub. Whether as an intimate place to share a beer, a place to go and imbibe alcohol after a hard day or just to watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees, an Irish pub is the perfect place in which to do it.

One would think that an Irish pub steps away from the Central Square T stop would be a haven for tourists and gregarious frat boys. I am not sure how, but The Field has somehow avoided that crowd all together. Upon arrival, I noticed a cozy booth in the corner and seized it. The walls are heavily laden with vintage Guinness advertisements, and a rugby flag hangs proudly behind the bar. The view from inside looking out onto the street reveals people scurrying by, and I started to wonder how many times I have busily passed this great find without even a thought.

The bartender came over, immediately took our drink orders and returned promptly with two delicious pints of Guinness. One thing I have to point out is that most pubs in the greater Boston area charge between $6 and $7 for a pint of this wonderfully rich ale. Well, at The Field you can have this superb brew for a mere $5! They have a wide range of brews on tap such as Tucher, Belhaven Scottish Ale, Murphy’s Irish Stout and, of course, Guinness as well as the typical domestics like Coors, Miller and Pabst Blue Rib-

bon. However, their selection changes on occasion, so don’t count on your favorite always being available. They don’t have a beer list, so pay attention when your waiteress starts rattling off different kinds of beer. She’s not just playing “name that beer.”

At first glance, the menu feels sparse and uninspired; offering up the usual pub fair such as burgers, shepherd’s pie, beef stew and fish and chips. However, what are not typical about this menu are the prices. Not a single item is over $10! My wife and I both ordered cheeseburgers ($7.50). I must admit that at this point I was bracing myself for a culinary nightmare. I was already calculating my strategy on how fast I could gulp down my Guinness and find somewhere to get a decent lunch. $5 for a Guinness and a hamburger under $8?!

There had to be a catch. Just as I was preparing to start chugging my beer, our lunch arrived: perfectly cooked patties with a distinctly smoky flavor on a soft potato bun next to a very generous serving of crispy steak fries. One bite was all it took for The Field to make my short list of favorite New England pubs.

The money The Field has saved on such frivolities as drink lists definitely benefits its patrons when it comes to its inexpensive fare and drinks. One more important tip is that if you want to enjoy these extremely discounted pints, you will have to come prepared because this pub only takes cash. A variety of local bands regularly lull patrons into spending the evening bellied up to the bar, and there is never a cover charge; another rarity for the greater Boston area. There is also a back room where guests can enjoy darts, pool or a game of cards which is equipped with a 46 inch flat-screen television to watch all the big games.

The Field, like all great Irish pubs, provides a brief escape from the busy life that rushes by just on the other side of its doors. After one evening within the confines of this charming pub, anyone is bound to feel a little Irish. Its warm atmosphere and free-flowing ales have turned me into a regular.

20

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

●

THE JUSTICE

TOP of the

ARTS ON VIEW

TRIVIA TIME 1. By what pseudonym do most people know Esther Pauline Friedman?

2. What South American country lies between Colombia and Peru?

3. What are the two ingredients in a Black Russian cocktail?

4. What does the Greek suffix “gamy” mean in English?

5. What does the musical direction “estinto” mean?

6. In what year did test pilot Chuck Yeager break the sound barrier?

7. What is the name of the dog on the animated series Family Guy? 8. “The dogs kids love to bite” were made by which company?

9. What would an entomologist study?

10. What brother and sister had acting roles in Sixteen Candles?

CHARTS Top 10s for the week ending March 23 BOX OFFICE 1. Alice in Wonderland 2. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 3. The Bounty Hunter 4. Repo Men 5. She’s Out Of My League 6. Green Zone 7. Shutter Island 8. Avatar 9. Our Family Wedding 10. Remember Me

WBRS

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

LITTLE DIPPER: Students in Brandeis’ Post-Baccalaureate Painting and Sculpture program displayed their work in a show in Dreitzer Gallery titled “Prospect I.” In the artwork above, a doll hovers above a bucket of white paint until a viewer passes by, setting off a mechanism that submerges the doll’s head in liquid.

1. Ann Landers 2. Ecuador 3. Vodka and Kahlua 4. Marriage 5. Play as softly as possible 6. 1947 7. Brian 8. Armour 9. Insects 10. John and Joan Cusack ANSWERS

CROSSWORD

SHOWTIMES 3/26 - 4/2 The Hurt Locker Fri-Sun 12:45, 3:40, 9:25; Mon-Thurs 2, 4:50 Shutter Island Fri-Sun 6:30; Mon-Thurs 7:40 Chloe Fri-Sun 1:30, 4:20, 7:10, 9:35; Mon-Thurs 2:40, 5:10, 8:20 Green Zone Fri-Sun 1:10 The Bounty Hunter Fri-Sun 4, 6:50, 9:20; Mon-Thurs 2:20, 5:00, 8:00 The Ghost Writer Fri-Sun 1, 3:50, 6:40, 9:25; Mon-Thurs 2:10, 4:50, 7:50 Greenberg Fri-Sun 1:20, 4:10, 7, 9:30; Mon-Thurs 2:30, 5, 8:10 How to Train your Dragon in 2D Fri-Sun 1:40, 4:30, 7:20, 9:40; Mon-Thurs 2:50, 5:10, 8:30

The Embassy is located at 18 Pine Street in Waltham

ACROSS 1. Mid-month date 5. Get on 8. Tranquil 12. Ships’ warning noises 14. Solo by Sills 15. Time saver 16. Encounter 17. “Monty Python” opener 18. Type of monkey 20. String quartet member 23. Acerbic 24. — nitrate 25. Beauty contest, e.g.

28. Play on words 29. Wise ones 30. Dine 32. Frosty, for one 34. Long skirt 35. Knocks 36. Goosebump-inducing 37. Distance 40. Pismire 41. Neighborhood 42. Classical music lover 47. Carriage 48. Usual 49. Hotel furniture 50. Marble type 51. Needing crutches DOWN 1. Conditions 2. Homer’s interjection 3. Id counterpart 4. Piercing 5. Curved lines 6. Wildebeest 7. Female hormone 8. Paparazzi’s need 9. War god 10. Stead 11. Gymnasts’ surfaces 13. Beetle Bailey dog 19. Colors 20. Upper limit 21. Ostriches’ kin 22. Singer Loretta 23. Long stories

1. The Alkaline Trio – “Dead On The Floor” 2. Fang Island – “The Illinois” 3. Ten Foot Polecats – “Tears On My Windshield” 4. Hudson Mohawke – “Fuse” 5. Corinne Bailey Rae – “I’d Do It All Again” 6. Stefan Lievestro – “Mona Lisa Overdrive” 7. Travis “Moonchild” Haddix – “Getting Old, The Alternative” 8. Bomb the Music Industry! – “You Still Believe In Me” 9. Infected Mushroom – “Riders on the Storm Remix” 10. Ben Solee and Daniel Martin Moore – “Only a Song”

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

BILLBOARD

25. Brochure 26. Approach 27. Cab 29. Bat a gnat 31. Dead heat 33. Transplanted body parts 34. Kind of alcohol 36. MIT grad, maybe 37. Easter entree 38. Ontario neighbor 39. Require 40. From the top 43. Eggs 44. Oklahoma city 45. “— the Walrus” 46. Reuben bread

1. Ludacris – Battle of the Sexes 2. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach 3. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now 4. Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune 5. Gary Allan – Get Off On The Pain 6. Sade – Soldier of Love 7. Broken Bells – Broken Bells 8. Lady Gaga – The Fame 9. Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D. 10. Blake Shelton – Hillbilly Bone (EP) Album information provided by Billboard Magazine. Box office information provided by Yahoo! Movies. Radio charts provided by CMJ.

STAFF PLAYLIST

“Starstruck”

By BRAD STERN

Solution to last issue’s crossword.

King Crossword Copyright 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.

STRANGE BUT TRUE It was Benjamin Disraeli, 19th-century British prime minister and the first earl of Beaconsfield, who made the following sage observation: “The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.”

You’ve probably never heard of Hurley, Wisc., but if you lived in the area, you’d know that the town is home to a 15-foot-tall corkscrew. It can be found, appropriately enough, outside Corkscrew Liquors.

For reasons that aren’t quite clear, in Sweden it’s illegal to train a seal to balance a ball on the tip of its nose.

The Japanese ruling family is the oldest extant hereditary monarchy in the world. The current emperor, Akihito, is the 125th holder of the title.

Interestingly, he’s also a marine biologist and has published papers on ichthyology in both English and Japanese scholarly journals.

Except for the queens, all wasps die in the autumn.

It was March 15, 1952, when the largest amount of rainfall in a single 24-hour period was recorded. The island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean had the misfortune to receive a whopping 73.62 inches of rain on that Ides of March. That’s more than 6 feet of rain in a single day!

Feel like you have a lot more stuff than you used to? You’re not imagining things—and you’re not the only one. According to the Self-Storage Association, the number of businesses offering on-premises storage of all those things you can’t find room for at home has increased nearly 10 times since 1964.

Thought for the Day: “I no longer worry about being a brilliant conversationalist. I simply try to be a good listener. I notice that people who do that are usually welcome wherever they go.” —Frank Bettger

JUSTICE EDITOR

As the first warm signs of spring came shining through this week in Waltham, I wanted to put together a soundtrack tailored to a destination-less road trip under the stars. The artists range from Beyoncé’s much cooler sister to Swedish producers to Madonna. Characterized by dreamy vocals, electronic noise and warm synthesizers, these songs are perfect for soothing the spirits. This one’s for the late-night drivers and dreamers!

THE LIST 1. Angela McCluskey – “Hey You” 2. Moto Boy – “Nite Time Is My Time” 3. Solange Knowles – “Under Construction” 4. Ellie Goulding – “Fighter Plane” 5. Sade – “Skin” 6. Kleerup ft. Lykke Li – “Until We Bleed” 7. El Perro del Mar – “At Your Best (You Are Love)” 8. Madonna – “Sky Fits Heaven” 9. Sally Shapiro – “Moonlight Dance” 10. Björk – “Desired Constellation”