The Justice, May 25, 2010

ARTS PAGE 20

FORUM Respect Ivy League judges 11

GIRAFFES SING

FEATURES Thinking “positive” about development 7 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

the

OF

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SINCE 1949

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Volume LXII, Number 27

Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

ACADEMICS

59TH COMMENCEMENT

Science Posse to expand with grant ■ The grant will enable

Science Posse students to help local middle and high school students.

By FIONA LOCKYER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute awarded Prof. Irving Epstein (CHEM) a $600,000 grant to broaden the Science Posse program, a scholarship program that encourages New York City highschool students to pursue the sciences in college, according to a May 20 University press release.

The program will expand to admit more Posse scholars and develop community outreach programs.

Epstein said in an interview with the Justice that the first uses of the new funding will be to “strengthen the Science Posse at Brandeis, bring in more Science Posse students and also to help other schools who are interested in starting Science Posses.”

Epstein created the Science Posse program four years ago with funding from a “highly-competitive million-dollar grant” from HHMI, according to the

press release.

“The funding started four years ago, but there was a year of planning and there was a year of recruitment and training,” Epstein said in an interview with the Justice.

The first 10 Science Posse scholars, chosen out of a pool of candidates in New York City, were admitted two years ago and are now in their sophomore year at Brandeis.

Science Posse scholars complete a two-week intensive “Science Boot Camp” before their first semester and are required to enroll in introductory science and math courses in their first year of study at Brandeis, according to the Posse website.

Expanding the Science Posse program also entails the creation of two outreach programs to the Waltham community in which Posse scholars would work alongside other Brandeis students to mentor high school and elementary school students, according to Epstein.

One of the outreach initiatives involves the aid of Let’s Get Ready, a Boston-based organization that empowers students to go

See GRANT, 3 ☛

ACADEMICS

Faculty vote in favor of AMST changeover ■ The change from a

department to a program will be reviewed in the 2016-2017 academic year.

By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITOR

At their May 21 meeting, the faculty voted to replace the current American Studies department with an interdisciplinary program in American Studies, a change suggested by the Brandeis 2020 Committee that will take effect July 1.

The motion that Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe presented at the faculty meeting stated that “effective July 1, 2010, the existing undergraduate major in American Studies be administered

by a new interdisciplinary program in American Studies for a period of seven years. In academic year 2016-2017, a review will be conducted by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee on the question of the program’s continuance.”

The agenda for the faculty meeting, a copy of which was obtained by the Justice, explains that the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities deemed that closing a department does not require a faculty vote but that a faculty vote is necessary to establish a program to replace that department.

The Brandeis 2020 Committee, which was established last January to implement academic changes that would help improve the financial situation of the

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

FULFILLING AMBITION: Oren emphasized that students should maintain their dreams even when times are turbulent.

Oren to grads: Dream and take responsibility ■ The Israeli ambassador

spoke of “transformative” moments during his commencement address.

By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITOR

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren spoke about the correlation between dreams and responsibilities during his keynote address as part of Brandeis’ 59th commencement exercises on May 23 in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

The graduating Class of 2010 included 803 undergraduate students, 675 of whom received Bachelor of Arts degrees and 128 of whom received Bachelor of Science degrees; additionally, 701 students received master’s degrees, and 70 students received doctorates.

“Do not let any obstacles, personal, political or economic,

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE: Paul Simon sang “The Boxer” during graduation. impede you. And once you’ve fulfilled your dreams, know that is when you’re liable to confront the greatest challenges,” Oren told the graduates during his speech.

Oren began by recounting his

See COMMENCEMENT, 5 ☛

See AMST, 3 ☛

Brandeis quidditch

Softball season ends

■ Student fans of ‘Harry Potter’ played quidditch on Chapels Field.

■ The softball team was eliminated from the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament.

FEATURES 9 For tips or info call Let your voice be heard!

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

experience as an Israeli paratrooper and analogizing the apprehension he felt in that role with the feelings of the graduating class. He explained that “at such anxious

INDEX

Simon on stage ☛ View a video of Paul Simon’s performance of “The Boxer” on our website at www.thejusticeonline.com.

SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS

17 16

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 7

OPINION POLICE LOG

11 2

COMMENTARY 11

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2

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

NEWS POLICE LOG Medical Emergency

Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

May 12—A 19-year-old male came into the police station reporting chest pains. An ambulance transported the party to the NewtonWellesley Hospital.

May 5—University Police received a report that a staff member at the Brown Social Science Center had electrical burns on his arm. He was treated by BEMCo on-scene with a signed refusal for further care.

May 7—A 19-year-old female in Schwartz Residence Hall reported feeling faint. University Police and BEMCo responded. The party was treated on-scene with a signed refusal for further care.

May 8—A caller reported that their roommate was very ill and vomiting. BEMCo and University Police responded to the call. The party was treated on-scene by BEMCo with a signed refusal for further care.

May 9—A reporting party in Ridgewood B stated that she was not feeling well and that she was having difficulty breathing. University Police and BEMCo responded. An ambulance transported the party to the

Larceny May 5—A student reported that his laptop was stolen from his room in Reitman Hall. University Police compiled a report on the theft.

May 11—An Aramark manager at the Usdan Student Center reported that a student removed food items from the annex. The party was escorted back to his or her residence hall by University Police and advised to remain there for the night.

University Police compiled a report on the incident.

May 14—University Police received a report from Waltham Police Department that a group of people jumped into a limousine, stole alcoholic beverages and then boarded a bus. University Police investigated

the matter and arrested a male Brandeis student for disorderly conduct.

The party was transported to the Waltham police station for processing.

May 14—A student reported that his or her bicycle valued at $550 was stolen from Ridgewood C.

Harassment May 4—A staff member reported a threatening voicemail on his or her work phone at the Rabb Graduate Center. University Police compiled a report on the incident with an investigation to follow.

May 4—A staff member at the Volen National Center for Complex Systems reported receiving harassing phone calls on his work phone.

University Police compiled a report.

May 14—A male tried to force his way into a female’s car on South Street. Waltham Police notified University Police. The victim reported to University Police that a black man wearing dark clothes had attempted

to enter her car. Waltham police attempted to locate the suspect and compiled a report on the incident.

Traffic May 5—University Police towed a vehicle in Hassenfeld Lot that was involved in an arrest by the Waltham Police. At the time of the tow and arrest, a pink 18-speed Panracer bicycle was also confiscated.

May 6—A BranVan escort coordinator reported that a BranVan hit a rock and damaged the side of the van. The driver filled out a statement, and University Police compiled a report.

May 6—University Police requested BEMCo and ambulance support to an automobile accident at the main entrance. A report was compiled on the accident.

May 6—A woman reported that another party threw a rock into her van window and broke it. University Police responded and discovered that the act was accidental. A report

was compiled on the incident.

Trespassing May 13—University Police arrested a male party for trespassing after receiving a notice in Ziv Quad.

The party was transported to the Waltham Police Department for processing.

Miscellaneous May 3—The Waltham Fire Department and University Facilities staff responded to reports of a transformer catching on fire on the soccer field at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. The situation was resolved.

May 9—University Police received a report that individuals in front of Pomerantz Residence Hall were smoking marijuana.University Police searched the area but did not find anyone.

—compiled by Fiona Lockyer

BRIEF

BRIEF

Construction projects around the new Mandel Center begin

Sophomores awarded for academic achievement

Construction work around the new Mandel Center for Humanities began yesterday, according to an email to the Justice from Vice President of Capital Projects Dan Feldman.

The work will include the installation of a granite curb and sidewalk along Tower Lot and Loop Road areas in front of the Mandel Center. The construction of a new entry vestibule at the main entrance to the Olin-Sang American Civilization Center, construction on the Mandel Quad, formerly called the North Academic Quad, and construction of a new service drive to the quad, according to a May 21 e-mail to the Brandeis community from Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Apfel.

Feldman said in an interview with the Justice that the construction in the Mandel Quad will focus on the landscaping within the quad. He said that the idea of renewing landscape was first proposed a couple of years ago and was then put on hold, but he said that the idea has been refreshed in connection with the construction of the Mandel Center. “We have refreshed the idea in light of the changing circumstances; for example, the entry to Olin-Sang now becomes an important point of entry into the Mandel Center as well, so it is an especially important part of the quad,” said Feldman. He continued to say that the project will create more level open space within the quad and that the project will be completed over the summer.

Because of the construction, there will be no parallel parking available along the section of Loop Road in front of the Mandel Center between May 24 and June 10: vehicular access to Mandel Quad will be limited between May 24 and Aug. 15, but pedestrian access to all buildings will be maintained, according to the e-mail.

University Police will be on hand to direct traffic as necessary, according to the e-mail.

As previously reported in the Justice, construction on the Mandel Center began last fall, and the $27 million center is scheduled to open in time for the beginning of the fall 2010 semester.

—Harry Shipps

NOTE TO READERS: The Justice is on hiatus for summer break. Our next issue will be published Aug. 24, 2010. Check online for Breaking News updates.

Log on to our Web site at www.thejusticeonline.com.

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

Waiting to walk Excited graduating seniors gathered together in line and waited to receive their diplomas at the Humanities mini-commencement on May 23 in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Fina Amarilio ’12, Philip Braunstein ’12, Alyssa Kerr ’12, Tamar Levkovich ’12, and Jordan Talan ’12 were granted the Brandeis Achievement Award, an annual award that recognizes sophomores for outstanding academic achievement, at the May 21 faculty meeting.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe announced the recipients of the award at the meeting, although only Kerr and Levkovich were present at the announcement.

According to the statement Jaffe read at the meeting, a copy of which he provided to the Justice, the Office of Students and Enrollment formulated the Brandeis Achievement Award in conjunction with the Student Union and the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. The award was first presented in the 2004 to 2005 academic year, and 60 awards have subsequently been given out. The scholarships are worth $5,000 a semester.

Jaffe’s statement goes on to explain that in order to be considered for this award, applicants must have a grade-point average above 3.5 and not already be the recipient of a merit award. The recipients of this year’s award have been named to the Dean’s List every semester, and their GPAs range from 3.773 to 3.973.

Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he was not responsible for the selection process and deferred questions to Dean of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette.

Giumette was not available for an interview by press time.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Amarilio expressed extreme gratitude for receiving the reward. “I am beyond grateful for this award; I think it’s wonderful that Brandeis has a way of recognizing its students’ hard work while in college, because it seems that most scholarships are awarded upon entering the university,” she wrote.

Levkovich wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that she learned she was a recipient of the award in April and that she was “shocked” when she found out.

“I heard that the award was especially competitive this year since so many incredible students applied, and although I was awaiting an answer, I didn’t really think I would get it,” she wrote.

—Alana Abramson

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS An article in News misspelled the given name of a student. It is Rephael Stern, not Raphael. (May 4, p. 2) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. E-mail justeditor@ brandeis.edu.

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AP BRIEF States approach federal railroad officials to expand Northeast Corridor of railroad BOSTON—A coalition of 11 states asked federal railroad officials on Thursday to develop a plan to dramatically upgrade highspeed passenger rail service along the Northeast Corridor during the next four decades, part of an effort to relieve strangling traffic congestion and airport delays in the region.

The Northeast Corridor is the nation’s busiest passenger and freight rail network from Boston to Washington, D.C. Amtrak has estimated that passenger rail ridership along the corridor could double to 28 million by 2030, with a four-fold increase to 60 million riders possible by 2050. Much of the growth was expected to occur in the region’s smaller and medium-sized cities.

The 11 states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont—are proposing a

three-year, $18.8 million study of possible enhancements to both intercity rail service, such as Amtrak’s Acela Express and local commuter rail systems that use portions of the Northeast Corridor track.

No cost estimate was given for any of the improvements that might emerge from the study, but the states acknowledged funding limitations and recommended that railroads and other agencies that would benefit from the upgrades contribute to the eventual cost.

“We look forward to continuing with our regional wide partnership as we move forward with the goal of developing the next-generation Northeast Corridor, including expansion of high-speed rail services,” Joseph Boardman, Amtrak’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

The coalition said the FRA should identify both short-term and long-term projects that were outlined in a recent Northeast Corridor

Infrastructure Master Plan. They included an expansion of rail service to smaller cities, including Hartford, Conn., and outlying areas, such as the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, as well as improving Acela travel times by 20 to 30 minutes between Washington and New York City and between New York City and Boston.

The states noted that while the corridor encompasses an area that makes up only 2 percent of the U.S. land mass, it is home to about 20 percent of the nation’s population and generates 20 percent of its gross domestic product.

“We applaud the commitment shown by these states in seeking the FRA's guidance and expertise, and I hope Congress takes notice of that commitment to create a world class train network as they work on next year's budget for Amtrak and high speed rail,” said Sean Jeans-Gail, a spokesman for NAPA.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

3

STRESSBUSTER

ACADEMICS

Watson chosen as new Dean

■ Prof. Malcolm Watson will

replace Prof. Gregory Freeze as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITOR

Prof. Malcolm Watson, current chair of the Psychology department, will become the new dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences effective July 1, according to a May 6 University press release.

Current Dean of the GSAS Prof.

Gregory Freeze (HIST) will be stepping down, effective at the same time.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Freeze wrote that he was due for his sabbatical and wants “to return full time to my research and teaching.”

Watson wrote, in an e-mail to the Justice, that his name was suggested for the post after Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe called for the nomination of faculty members, although he wrote that he “did not aspire to the position and took some time to decide to accept a nomination.”

In the past, he served as the department director of Graduate Studies, but he has not recently been directly involved with the GSAS, Watson wrote in his e-mail. He went on to write that in his 33 years at Brandeis, he has normally worked with both doctoral and master’s degree candidates.

Watson wrote that “the biggest task for GSAS is funding for the graduate programs to keep the entire program in the black.” In a separate e-mail to the Justice, Freeze wrote that “primarily by increasing the enrollments in master’s and certificate programs,” the GSAS was able to transform a $1.8 million deficit in the 2008 to 2009 academic year to a $739,000 surplus during the 2009-2010 academic year.

In his e-mail, Watson identified six priorities that, he wrote, “will guide me as I make decisions on what we do in the GSAS office.” Included in these priorities are the maintenance of an organized and functioning GSAS staff; the continued funding for graduate programs; an increase in advertisement and marketing of graduate programs as a means to recruit new graduate students; ensuring that graduate programs meet the needs and provide a service to students that is worth their time, effort and money; frequent evaluation of the standards used by departments and programs in awarding Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees; and ensuring a high quality of life for graduate students.

In his e-mail, Freeze counseled that in order to maintain a high level of educational quality while increasing enrollment, the GSAS must generate a larger applicant pool.

According to the University press release, Freeze oversaw the review of graduate programs as part of the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee and Brandeis 2020 committee. Freeze wrote that he supported most of the committee’s proposals, which, he said, have more to do with improving efficiency than with cutting or downsizing. Watson wrote in his e-mail that the recommendations of the CARS and Brandeis 2020 committees “are part of the need to keep the graduate programs on a strong financial footing.”

Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, “Dean Freeze has done a sensational job. … Prof. Watson has been a terrific citizen of the University, and I expect he will continue the strong leadership that Dean Freeze has shown.” In his e-mail, Freeze wrote, “We are on the right track, have an excellent staff at GSAS, and found an excellent replacement in Professor Malcolm Watson.”

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

Relieving stress Students relax before finals by experimenting with henna tattoos at Stressbuster, a program organized by Student Events designed to alleviate stress for students before the final exam period. Interested students could also get a free massages during the event. Stressbuster took place Wednesday, May 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Great Lawn.

GRANT: Scholarship program will grow CONTINUED FROM 1 to college.

The press release states that Brandeis students will be connected to Boston-area and Waltham youth through college preparatory mentoring with the help of some Science Posse scholars, a Saturday morning science lecture and discussion series by Brandeis faculty and internships.

The Science Posse program will also work to create a version of the United States Biology Olympiad, originally a Biology competition

for high school students. The outreach program will instead target Boston- and Waltham-area middle school students. Brandeis professors and students will develop examination materials and laboratory exercises appropriate for a middle school biology competition, and the top 50 schools will advance to the “finals” at Brandeis, according to the press release.

To apply for the funding, Epstein said in an interview with the Justice that he had to “describe what we had done with

the first four years of HHMI support,” explaining that the goals of “improv[ing] ‘General Chemistry’ and implementing the first Science Posse program in the country” had been achieved since the project’s creation.

In the press release, Epstein noted that minority enrollment in introductory science courses has increased as a result of the Posse program, and several Science Posse students have become campus leaders.

Usman Hameedi ’12, one of the first students to be accepted into

the Science Posse program, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he would like to see the increase in funding provide Science Posse students with more internship opportunities.

“By having internships that truly test our knowledge, we can show that we are much more than our grades. In addition, these internships can help future Science Posse students develop a passion for the sciences in a way that a textbook could never accomplish,” he wrote.

AMST: Department will transform to program CONTINUED FROM 1 University, initially recommended transforming the American Studies department into an interdisciplinary program in its final report, released in February. Provost Marty Krauss accepted this recommendation in March. The first motion to change the major was approved at the April 15 faculty meeting.

Prof. Joyce Antler, the chair of the American Studies department, said in an interview with the Justice that the transition from a department to an interdisciplinary program would not alter the American Studies curriculum in any way.

“There are no changes being made to the curriculum. Nothing is going to change except in terms of growth,” she said, explaining that professors would continue operating in their current offices and junior professors would ultimately be tenured in American Studies.

Antler explained that the transformation into an interdisciplinary

program entailed that as American Studies faculty retired, they would not be replaced with new American Studies faculty and that the major would grow “by drawing on expertise throughout the University.”

Antler also said that, in an effort to enhance the major, the faculty would add “affiliates,” which Antler said are faculty members from other departments that can make valuable contributions to American Studies.

She said that this year, the American Studies faculty included Profs. James Mandrell (ROMS), Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (ENG), Arthur Holmberg (THA) and Carmen Sirianni (SOC).

“We looked to people to fill in gaps where we didn’t have faculty,” Antler said, further explaining that she envisioned the addition of 15 to 20 affiliates within the next two years.

At the April 15 faculty meeting, Antler said in a statement to the faculty that the American Studies faculty was in no way protesting this recommendation but that they

wished they had been incorporated into the discussion about transforming the department into a program.

“We understand that all the parties in the complete B2020 process acted according to their beliefs about Brandeis’ best interests …

But for those of us on the other side of that table, these procedures never allowed us to communicate our ideas about alternative structures; curriculum possibilities; the timing of the transition; and more,” the statement read.

Antler said that she did not believe this change would affect the number of students interested in the major.

“I don’t think the students will see any difference or think about American Studies differently.

Students don’t care if a major is a program or a department,” she said.

The American Studies faculty recently revised the core requirements for American Studies majors, eliminating the “Foundations of American Civilization” class (AMST 10a) and

incorporating the content of that course into AMST 100a and 100b, changes that Antler said the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approved in the middle of the spring semester. However, Antler emphasized, “It would be wrong to tie together the changing of the status to the changing of the curriculum,” explaining that these changes were unrelated to the recommendation from the 2020 Committee and were merely designed to give students a broader option of courses.

Jennifer Abidor ’11, an American Studies major, said in a phone interview with the Justice that she thinks this change will ultimately diminish the value of the major itself.

“American Studies is interdisciplinary because it represents all facets of American society, but having it as a department defines it as a unique program. I think that transforming it into a program detracts from American Studies as a legitimate course of study, which it definitely is,” said Abidor.

4

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

COMMENCEMENT 2010 ACADEMICS

Burt addresses new honorees ■ Seventy-five seniors and

six juniors were inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honors society Saturday.

By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITOR

Prof. John Burt (ENG) gave the Phi Beta Kappa address to this year’s inductees into the Brandeis chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the induction ceremony held last Saturday in the Spingold Theater Center.

This year, 75 members of the senior class and six members of the junior class were elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honors organization in the United States, according to information given to attendees of the ceremony. According to the official Phi Beta Kappa website, “The ideal Phi Beta Kappa has demonstrated intellectual integrity, tolerance for other views, and a broad range of academic interests.” Each year, about 1 percent of college students are invited to join Phi Beta Kappa, according to the website.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe welcomed initiates after a brief introduction from Prof. Andreas Teuber, chair of the Philosophy department and president of Brandeis’ chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Mu chapter of Massachusetts.

“This group of students are our most outstanding academic accomplishers,” Jaffe said.

After Jaffe’s welcome, Prof. Patricia Johnston (CLAS) called the initiates up one by one, and Jaffe presented them with their awards and honor cords During his address, titled “Suffering and the Old Masters,” Burt read the W.H. Auden poem “Musée des Beaux Arts.” He suggested that the “ostensible subject” of the painting upon which Auden based the poem, Pieter Breughel’s “‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,” appears only as a single part of a much larger story.

According to Burt, Dutch artists during Breughel’s time widely embraced the idea of depicting the world as it appears in the here and now-what Burt deemed the “thisness” of the world. This was important to Auden, suggested Burt,

because Auden wrote this poem as he was realizing that no idea, no matter how large, can substitute for the “here and now … of actually, worldly experience.”

The lesson to be learned from this poem is not only that people must “refrain from brutalizing the world, this world, in the name of big ideas that transcend that world,” said Burt, but also that one should not entertain an idea unless one holds it with a “certain skeptical detachment.” Burt said that poet John Keats’ term for this sort of stance toward ideas is negative capability.

In an interview with the Justice, Teuber added that some people have their best ideas when they take their mind off the task at hand and that sometimes discovery must be unconscious.

In an interview with the Justice after the ceremony, Burt said that the inspiration for his address came from the idea of “negative capability, by which I meant the ability not to be imprisoned by your own big ideas.”

He added that in his view, education has always been about cultivating negative capability and that it is something that everyone must learn. He added that he thought induction into Phi Beta Kappa was a very high honor because it is not simply about grade-point average: the faculty “has to say, ‘Oh yes, that is someone we think of as very special.’”

Teuber said in his interview, “The very fact of receiving the award itself expresses a truly extraordinary accomplishment.” He said that Phi Beta Kappa honors scholarship in a way that is unique at the University because it requires a breadth of academic interests along with a good GPA. Ethan Meltzer ’10, a Phi Beta Kappa inductee, said that it was nice to have this honor at the end of his time at Brandeis and that he found the ceremony interesting. Meltzer noted however, that the sciences were not widely represented by those who spoke during the ceremony.

Another inductee Clarence Friedman ’10 said, “It’s definitely an honor. … It’s sort of a pretentious society, but we’re all happy to be in it.”

CELEBRATING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

STUDENT ADDRESS: Justin Pierre-Louis ’10 referred to his classmates as a group of “champions” in his speech.

Pierre-Louis praises grads ■ Justin Pierre-Louis ’10

was selected by his fellow classmates to give the student address.

By FIONA LOCKYER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Student commencement speaker Justin Pierre-Louis ’10 imparted heartfelt words of encouragement, respect and praise in his student commencement address to the Class of 2010.

Reflecting upon his speech in an interview with the Justice, PierreLouis explained that he chose the accomplishments of his class as one of the focuses of his commencement address.

“We’ve already done so much,” he said, “and we’ll only do more going forward. We’re all champions.”

In his speech, Pierre-Louis enumerated the formative moments of his years at Brandeis, reminiscing on first-year debates about dining, sophomore course selection, the standardized tests of junior year and the sadness he felt when preparing to leave Brandeis. He categorized his fellow classmates

as “champion” fighting for “progression growth, and the fulfillment of potential.”

Pierre-Louis was nominated by his classmates to serve as the 2010 student commencement speaker.

To select the student speaker, competing students first e-mailed their speeches to a committee comprised of Brandeis faculty, which selected 11 essays. The committee submitted those essays to the Class of 2010 for a vote.

Five finalists out of the 11 were chosen for a final vote, and PierreLouis was selected out of the five finalists by his peers to be the student commencement speaker.

A Posse scholar, Pierre-Louis graduated as an English major, with minors in both Legal Studies and African and Afro-American studies. On campus, he served on the Union Judiciary during his junior year, and recently participated in BTV projects and served as the public relations officer for VOCAL, a student organization that promotes poetic arts and activism.

Pierre-Louis explained in his address that he had sought advice from Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams when he began writing his speech. “I wanted him to be my living-breathing edition of

How to Write Awe-Inspiring Speeches for Dummies,” he said, going on to explain that Adams did not give him easy answers. “This was, of course, not the case, nor has it ever been at Brandeis,” he noted.

“Answers have never been given to one on a silver platter here,” Pierre-Louis said in his speech.

In an interview with the Justice, when asked why he had wanted to be student commencement speaker, Pierre-Louis replied, “I never want to forget Brandeis. I wanted to make this day unforgettable.”

Pierre-Louis’ speech ended with words of thanks to Brandeis faculty and the families of the Class of 2010.

After a loud proclamation of congratulations to the class of 2010, applause followed the speech as Pierre-Louis returned to his seat.

Class of 2010 graduate Jeffrey Cornejo said in an interview with the Justice that he enjoyed PierreLouis’ address. “He chose his words carefully while still making it meaningful and inspirational at the same time,” he said.

“I’m so happy to see a Posse scholar up there,” noted Lynda Bachman ’10. “I think he was the perfect person to represent our class.”

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

The graduation ceremony ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

Above left: Members of the Class of 1960 mark the 50th year since its’ graduation. Below left: Seniors await their ceremony. Above: Pres. Reinharz addresses the audience.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

5

COMMENCEMENT 2010

COMMENCEMENT: Oren says, “Be courageous” CONTINUED FROM 1 times, it helps to think back and remember the transformative moments in your life … that inspired or motivated you and animated your dreams.”

Oren subsequently described how the 1967 Six-Day War served as a transformative moment for him; it inspired him to join the Israeli Defense Forces and work for the Israeli government under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Oren highlighted his personal experiences to articulate the connection between dreams and responsibility, explaining that “transforming your dreams into reality often incurs a cost, especially when those dreams take shape during times of great challenge,” saying that as Israeli ambassador he faces frequent criticism from the media and on college campuses.

“Whether as a soldier or an ambassador, I’ve had the supreme honor that comes with shouldering responsibilities for one’s people and for the causes of security and peace,” he said.

After depicting his own experience to illustrate how dreams fuel responsibility, Oren described how that axiom pertained to the Jewish nation as a whole, stating that “the connection between realizing dreams and accepting responsibility for them has long been a theme in Jewish history.”

To exemplify his point, Oren cited the challenges the biblical figure Moses encountered while leading the Jewish people through the desert in the aftermath of their enslavement. Oren then shifted to modern Jewish history and cited Austrian writer and Zionist Theodore Herzl and Justice Louis Brandeis. Oren stated that Herzl embodied the concept of fulfilling a dream, explaining that when Herzl and other European Jews were encountering anti-Semitism, they did not succumb to the despondency but instead “created the Zionist movement that inspired millions of people—Jews and nonJews—worldwide.”

Oren then spoke about Justice Brandeis, saying that “Brandeis reached for his dreams, and through his dreams he assumed immense responsibilities on the highest court of this land.”

After focusing on the creation of the State of Israel, Oren described how the peace process epitomized the relationship between dreams and responsibilities: The fulfillment of a Jewish state entailed a responsibility of ensuring a peaceful regional atmosphere in regard to relations with their neighboring countries.

Excerpts from the graduation speeches Michael Oren “Once you have fulfilled your dreams, know that ... that is when you are liable to confront the greatest challenges.”

“We have the responsibility of seeking peace in spite of painful setbacks and potentially excruciating sacrifices.”

Jehuda Reinharz “What you say and how you say it can make all the difference in the world.”

“You have learned the great lesson of the liberal arts; namely, to think on your feet, to speak effectively and to act appropriately.”

Justin Pierre-Louis ’10 “As long as we live fighting for what we believe in, we live lives worth fighting for, and we remain champions.”

“We accept the responsibility of seeking peace, and to that end, we’ve joined with Palestinians who have for so long dreamed of attaining their own independent state of their own and who are now building the institutional groundwork for that state in a truly Brandesian manner,” he said.

Oren concluded by telling that graduates that “the very fact that you are receiving Brandeis degrees today … shows that you indeed have the will and the readiness to accept responsibilities.”

He also urged the graduates to complete their dreams, explaining, “It may necessitate a measure of bravery and a leap into the howling darkness, but I urge you to pursue your wildest ambitions.”

Prior to Oren’s address, University President Jehuda Reinharz spoke to the graduating class about the benefits of a liberal arts education. He explained that in today’s fast-paced world, citizens need the skills to respond to unexpected situations and think on their feet, and he said that a Brandeis education provides students with such skills.

Reinharz described a past commencement ceremony in which the keynote speaker asserted that undergraduates should not be honored because they had not yet accomplished anything substantial. He described how the student speaker, in her address immediately following the keynote speech, was able to extemporaneously refute the speakers’ argument, and how her ability to do so embodied the benefits of a Brandeis education.

“I believe that after four years at Brandeis, every one of you would be able to do the same. Why? Because you have learned the great lesson of the liberal arts; namely, to think on your feet, to speak effectively and to act appropriately,” Reinharz said.

In addition to delivering the keynote address, Oren also received an honorary doctorate from the University.

Social activist and physician Paul Farmer, former chief judge of New York Judith Kaye, acclaimed author Antonio Muñoz Molina, special assistant to the president Dennis Ross and renowned singer Paul Simon also received honorary degrees.

Simon performed his hit song “The Boxer” at the conclusion of the ceremony. Reinharz announced that Simon would perform at the ceremony in an Apr. 28 e-mail to the graduating class.

To bring about this performance, Amanda Hecker ’10 and Michael Weil ’10 formed a Facebook group to publi-

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

SERVICE: Ambassador Michael Oren said that serving Israel has been difficult at times but called the opportunity a priviledge. cize the students’ desire to have Simon sing.

Elliot Handler ’10 said that he enjoyed Simon’s performance but that he thought it was too short, stating that he “would have loved to hear him sing one or two more.”

When asked about Oren’s speech, Handler said that he “thought it was pretty interesting.”

The selection of Oren to address the graduating Class of 2010, however, had been the cause of recent controversy.

Since the University’s Apr. 20 announcement that Oren would serve as the keynote speaker, students opposed to his address held protests publicizing their opposition, and students supporting Oren gathered signatures for a letter of support, as reoirted by the Justice

in an Apr. 27 article.

Daniel Orkin ’10, who had previously met with Reinharz during Reinharz’s office hours to express opposition to Oren’s selection, said that while he did not find Oren’s speech “explicitly political,” it “still had enough tones of Zionism and political undercurrents of Zionism to demonstrate that his speaking was a definitive political gesture by the University.”

Outside of the commencement ceremonies, protesters held up signs in opposition to Oren, with statements such as “Oren=apologist for Israeli war crimes.”

By the time the graduates and their families exited the building after the ceremony, the protestors were already gone, and no protests took place inside

during the ceremony.

There was also a letter slipped into some of the graduation programs stating that “the selection of Michael Oren as Brandeis commencement speaker is both inappropriate and offensive,” and claiming that extending an invitation to Oren to serve as the keynote address was a partisan action.

“I am upset that the school is identifying itself so closely with Israeli policies and Israeli positions and I think that [Oren] is essentially a war criminal. It embarrasses me to see the college invite him as their speaker,” said Robert Schwartz ’66, one of the protesters.

—Harry Shipps and Emily Kraus contributed reporting.

Profiles of five honorary degree recipients Dennis Ross

Judith S. Kaye

Dennis Ross, special assistant to the president of the United States and senior director for the Central Region of the National Security Council, was awarded the Doctor of Laws.

Ross played a central role in Middle Eastern peacekeeping efforts during the administrations of presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, before serving under current president Barack Obama; he brokered several peace agreements including the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty in 1995. He is the author of The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace and Statecraft.

He has taught at Brandeis, Harvard, and Georgetown Universities.

Judith S. Kaye, the former chief judge for the State of New York, received an honorary Doctor of Laws.

Kaye was the first woman appointed to that position and was also the first women appointed to the New York Court of Appeals, where she served for a decade before accepting her appointment as chief justice. She retired from that post in 2007 but currently chairs the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children. She also serves on the boards of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the American Arbitration Association, the Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration at New York University Law School, the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Volunteers of Legal Services.

Paul Simon Paul Simon, one of the most celebrated American singer-songwriters and social activists of the past 50 years, was presented with the Doctor of Humane Letters. Simon is the recipient of 12 Grammy awards as well as the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and the Kennedy Center Honor. Simon’s album Graceland, which featured South African musicians, helped fuel the anti-apartheid movement in that country. He is the supporter of several charitable organizations such as Little Kids Rock, The Fund for Imprisoned Children in South Africa and the Nature Conservancy. Time magazine recently named Simon one of the “100 People Who Shape our World.”

Antonio Muñoz Molina

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

HIGHEST HONOR: Dennis Ross, center, is presented with the Doctor of Laws.

Paul Farmer Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization that provides health care services to impoverished countries, received an honorary doctor of humane letters. PIH began in Haiti but now provides services to 10 impoverished countries. Farmer also serves as the United Nations deputy special

envoy for Haiti, working under former president Bill Clinton, the special envoy. He is also the Presley Professor of Social Medicine and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is the head of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Antonio Munoz Molina, a novelist, journalist and social critic, was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters.

Molina was born in Ubeda, Spain in 1956 and studied journalism in Madrid and Art History in Granada.

He published his first novel, Beautiful Place, in 1986, and subsequently published 12 books within a span of a decade. His second novel, Winter in Lisbon, gained worldwide acclaim.

His most recent work, The Nights of the Times, studies the Spanish Civil War and the Franco era from the perspective of a Spanish exile living in New York.

THE JUSTICE

just

features

●

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

7

VERBATIM | Tom Lehrer I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up.

ON THIS DAY...

In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

FUN FACT $203 million are spent on barbed wire each year in the U.S.

The strength of x

signatures

Positive Foundations collects signatures to promote Millennium Development goals

By REBECCA KLEIN JUSTICE EDITOR

From April 19 through April 23, Allyson Goldsmith ’10, the former executive director of Positive Foundations, eagerly approached various groups of people in the Usdan Student Center and asked them, “Would you like to help end world poverty? If so, then please sign this petition to demonstrate your support for the Millennium Development Goals as part of the Commit in September Campaign.” By the end of the week, Goldsmith and other members of Positive Foundations, an on-campus group that promotes extra sustainable development, had collected over 650 signatures.

The MDGs are eight international goals that were outlined in the United Nations Millennium Declaration in September 2000. The goals aim to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015, and according to Goldsmith, they include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and creating a global partnership for development.

According to its website, the Commit in September Campaign aims to demonstrate young Americans’ grassroots commitment to the MDGs ahead of this September’s United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit.

At the summit, world leaders will come together to enhance efforts to achieve the MDGs. Goldsmith says, “The Millennium Development Goals are up for review [at the summit], which means that they’re going to extend the timeline to complete them. The timeline to complete them by was 2015, and most countries are not on track to complete the goals, so hopefully they’re going to renew the goals so each country has to review their commitment to them.”

For example, while some members of the U.N. have committed to giving 0.07 percent of their Gross National Product to help achieve development goals, some countries, like the United States have not fulfilled that commitment, says Goldsmith. This, among many other factors, has helped impede the completion of the development goals.

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

COLLECT SIGNATURES: Allyson Goldsmith ’10 (right) and Positive Foundations collected signatures for their campaign by approaching people’s tables in Usdan.

Still, according to the U.N. website, countries such as China are on track to achieve the goals of universal primary education, improved maternal health and ending extreme poverty and hunger.

The Commit in September Campaign hopes to collect 25,000 signatures to send to President Obama and the U.S. Congress in order to ensure the government’s continued support for the MDGs. The campaign was launched by the Millennium Campus Network, an umbrella group that brings together student organizations that are dedicated to ending extreme poverty and achieving the MDGs. The group was cofounded by Sam Vaghar ’08 and Seth Werfel ’10 in 2007 during the beginning of Vaghar’s senior year at Brandeis. Campus groups dedicated to reducing poverty from 19 different universities in Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. are now a part of the network.

The network’s board of advisers include leaders such as musician John Legend; Columbia University health policy and management Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, who is the former Director of the U.N. Millennium Project and served as a Special adviser to former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan; Senator John Edward; and medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer, who received an honorary degree at last Sunday’s commencement.

Although Positive Foundations only has about 10 to 15 active members, the group collected the most signatures of any other group

involved in the Commit in September Campaign. Vaghar says that the campaign has so far collected “a little over 3,000 signatures on paper, … so the fact that [Positive Foundations] got [650] out of 3,000 is amazing.”

Goldsmith, who has bouncy black hair to match her enthusiastic demeanor, says that Positive Foundations took a proactive approach when trying to get signatures. Unlike many on-campus groups, members of Positive Foundations did not sit behind a table in Usdan and ask students to sign a petition as they passed. Instead, they energetically approached groups of students sitting in Usdan and spoke with them about the MDGs and the Commit in September Campaign.

“We basically tabled and dormstormed, and instead [of] tabling we walked around to each table and most people signed,” says Goldsmith.

Vaghar sees Positive Foundations’ strategy as unique and believes that it helped “put Brandeis at the forefront of leading this effort” in the campaign.

He says that Positive Foundations’ contribution to the campaign has been outstanding because “they’re proactive and aggressive and really stand up for what they believe in. I’ve seen a lot of student groups just sit at a table and wait for people to approach them. In Positive Foundations’ case the students initiate the conversation. I haven’t seen anyone do it better.”

Marisa Turesky ’13 is the Millennium Campus Network representative to Positive Foundations. She commutes into Cambridge twice

a month to take part in Millennium Campus Network regional conferences and networking meetings. She attributes Positive Foundations members’ successes in getting signatures to their dedication.

“We were able to achieve this because, although we are not a very large group, every one of our members is dedicated to the U.S. recommitting to the MDG in September and showed this by getting copious signatures!

This drive and the support of the student body has made it relatively easy to get the number of signatures that we did,” said Turkesky in an e-mail to the Justice.

The Commit in September Campaign will conclude on the eve of the United Nations Millennium Goal Summit with the Millennium Campus Conference from Sept. 18 to 20. The conference will take place at Columbia University and is the “culmination of the Commit in September Campaign,” says Vaghar.

“We’re going to be inviting some real-world leaders and celebrities and more than 1,000 students.”

Turesky says that being a part of the Millennium Campus Network helped motivate Positive Foundations to get signatures for the Commit in September Campaign. She says, “Knowing that there are hundreds of college students across the country working toward the same goal creates a unity and cohesion among all of the activist[s] and participants who are working on this campaign. We are working with more than just the Brandeis campus in this campaign, and that in itself is motivating.”

Photo by Robyn Spector/the Justice

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

9

Wizardry

on Chapels Field

STUDENT WIZARDS: Quidditch, a new club started this spring at Brandeis, is a recently created collegiate sport that takes the magical game from the ‘Harry Potter’ novels and adapts it for play by muggles (humans).

Student ‘Harry Potter’ fans start the Deis quidditch league

By JULIA JERUSALMI JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’ve read all of the books, seen all of the movies, own an array of Potter-themed clothing (including a Harry Potter bra … don’t ask) and can whoop anyone’s butt in a game of Potter trivia. Though my high school friends accepted my Potter passion, none of them ever fully grasped why spending a Saturday night at home Googling Ron and Hermione fan art was my idea of a good time. They just thought it was weird. You can only imagine my excitement when I found out that Brandeis was starting its own quidditch team.

Walking onto Chapels Field and seeing my fellow Brandeisians running around the “quidditch pitch” awkwardly holding brooms between their legs, I knew I had finally found my place.

In the Harry Potter books, quidditch is a popular game in which wizards and witches flying on broomsticks try to accumulate the most points by throwing enchanted balls into goals. “Quidditch Fest”—the name chosen for the first practice— took place on Chapels Field and was meant to inform curious Brandeis students about the logistics of muggle (human) quidditch. Besides reviewing the instructions and giving a brief history of college quidditch, the quidditch board encouraged curious students to get out on the field and play.

Not surprisingly, considering that many Brandeis students would consider themselves Harry Potter fans, around 60 students showed up ready to learn how to play a game in which the main activity involves flying around on enchanted broomsticks.

Quidditch Commissioner Harrison Goldspiel ’13 tried to give everyone an idea of what to expect, as he informed the crowd, “Quidditch is a very heavy physical- contact sport, sort of a combination of rugby, European handball and dodgeball.”

Though no one was quite sure of what he or shewas doing, everyone was eager to try it out. Goldspiel reassured the crowd, stating, “Don’t worry.

None of us has ever played quidditch before.

We’ve just thought about it in theory.”

The game is played with seven players on each team: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker. There are also four balls in the game:

a quaffle, two bludgers and the snitch. Chasers are the team’s main offense, and it is their goal is to throw the quaffle, an enchanted, heavy, bright-red ball, into their opponent’s goal. Beaters are the team’s main defense, and their job is to prevent their opponent’s team from scoring by hurling bludgders, heavy iron balls, at them. Seekers try and win the game by catching the impossibly fast golden snitch, and keepers are the goalies.

Muggle quidditch here at Brandeis is played in almost the same way as magical quidditch with only a few minor exceptions. It has the same positions and the same rules, but instead of flying on broomsticks, students run on the ground holding broomsticks between their legs. Additionally, instead of a small airborne ball, the snitch is a very fast runner dressed in head-to-toe yellow with a sock strapped to the back of his or her shorts. In order to win the game, the seeker has to catch the seeker and pull the sock out.

The Brandeis quidditch team set up its makeshift quidditch pitch on Chapels Field to resemble that of Hogwarts’. Hula hoops duct-taped to traffic cones served as the goals, blue plastic brooms and wooden poles served as broomsticks and volleyballs served as the quaffles and bludgders. Teams were chosen simply and diplomatically. “Alright, guys!” shouted Goldspiel, “We need 14 volunteers to play. Take a broom and pick a side!” Though one might expect nerdy Harry Potter bookworms to act timid while picking their teams, the crowd could not have been more vigorous. Ecstatic shouts of “Woo!” “Let’s go!” and “I want a blue broom!” could be heard through the group as participants rushed to play in the first game. During the first round, one team chose to be called, “The Skrewts” (for those of you unaware of the magical creatures featured in Harry Potter, the name came from “The blast-ended skrewt”−a highly dangerous and hideous creature that resembles something between a grey crab and a giant scorpion). Team two chose to be called “Rumbleroar,” a less vicious but arguably more regal choice that played on the name of Dumbledore, the much loved Hogwarts headmaster.

Though muggle quidditch was incredibly entertaining to play, it was even more entertaining to watch. Besides the hilarity of watching people simultaneously trying to run around on broom-

sticks while throwing volleyballs into hula hoops, the snitch/seeker dynamic (picture a person dressed in bright yellow running on and off of a field while someone else runs after him, trying to catch a sock bobbing on the back of his shorts) is in itself a recipe for success. Additionally, since the snitch’s space is not limited to the field, he or she can run as far off as they please, sometimes even leaving the field altogether. The announcer, Josh Seiden ’13, stood on the sidelines of the pitch, megaphone in hand, maintaining a constant stream of commentary regarding the snitch’s wayward progression such as, “Oh, there he is! He’s back! And now he’s gone off into the woods again!” and “What makes this game particularly enjoyable is that literally no one is chasing the snitch!”

Though the snitch’s succession was entertaining for everyone else to watch, since the game can’t end until the seeker catches the snitch, some of the tired players had to bring in substitutes after 15 minutes of constant running.

Though one might think that quidditch isn’t a real sport, it is actually extremely exerting. “I would make them run with a broom for 20 minutes chasing a cross- country runner. [Tell] me they aren’t physically exhausted,” says Goldspiel.

Though the snitch doesn’t need to be a cross-country runner, he or she must be able to run extremely fast for an extremely long period of time.

Throughout Quidditch Fest, it was common to, hear phrases such as, “Oh my god, I’m dying,” “Anyone wanna sub in for me?” and “This is such a good workout!” coming from the team. Besides being physically strenuous, quidditch is considered a serious intercollegiate sport. College quidditch was started in 2005 by a group of friends at Middlebury University and has since exploded into a worldwide phenomenon. As the quidditch executive board informed the Justice by email, over 200 colleges, high schools and communities play Muggle quidditch. Brandeis is the most recent addition.

The Brandeis community’s response to the quidditch team has been unsurprisingly and overwhelmingly positive. According to Goldspiel, “Students have been either supportive or really excited about quidditch. In one night after creating the Facebook group, we got 200 members. Students rushed to sign our club petitions when we

started tabling in the Usdan and Sherman dining halls. Our first event was a huge success, with over 60 people who attended with lots of enthusiasm.”

“I’m so glad we made time for this,” one student remarked to her friend as they jostled through the throng of people trying to sign up for the team’s listserv. “I’ve been in the Harry Potter closet for too long,” she continues.

For many students, the quidditch team feels like a community within a community. Melanie Steinhardt ’13 said, “I’ve loved Harry Potter since I was eight years old. My Bat Mitzvah was Harry Potter themed, so to have muggle quidditch is like having a brotherhood of people who are all as insane as I am.”

As a result of all the responses, the quidditch team has no plans of stopping.

“Our goal is to create an intramural quidditch league next semester. Students will be able to organize their own teams and play in the league, which will lead up to the Brandeis Quidditch World Cup. Once we gain enough interest and dedication, we will organize an intercollegiate team to play other schools,” says Goldspiel.

Though there is little debate on whether the quidditch club will be able to gather enough dedication to play intercollegiate, there is still some disagreement on what its going to be called.

“We’re thinking, ‘Brandeis Basilisks.’ But the name is subject to change. Other suggestions have been the Wizengamots, the Boggarts and the Greathorns,” said Goldspiel, naming different creatures and institutions from the Harry Potter series. Whatever name they choose, Brandeis is sure to welcome the quidditch team with open arms. As Quidditch Intramural Campus Coordinator Ingrid Schulte ’13 believes, “Brandeis is already the perfect school for a Quidditch team–I mean, we have a castle!”

Watching my fellow Brandiesians leave the quidditch pitch, brooms in hand and humming the telltale notes of the Harry Potter theme song, I couldn’t help but recall my friend’s comment when I told him I was going to Brandeis. “You’re going to Brandeis?” he asked with a trace of derision in his voice, “I hear all the kids there walk around waving wands and wearing capes.” How right he was.

MUGGLES OR WIZARDS?: Students ran around with brooms between their legs instead of flying on them (as they would at Hogwarts) and played such positions as chasers, beaters, keepers, seekers and snitches.

PHOTOS BY ASHER KRELL ♦ the Justice

10

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

the Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

B RIAN FROMM, Editor in Chief REBECCA B LADY, Managing Editor B RIAN N. B LUMENTHAL, REBECCA KLEIN and NASHRAH RAHMAN, Associate Editors HARRY SHIPPS, News Editor ALANA ABRAMSON, Acting News Editor TESS RASER, Acting Features Editor HILLEL B UECHLER, Forum Editor J OSH ASEN, Sports Editor B RYAN FLATT, Acting Arts Editor ASHER KRELL and ROBYN SPECTOR, Photography Editors DEBRA FRIEDMANN, Acting Layout Editor EMILY KRAUS, Copy Editor C ODY YUDKOFF, Acting Advertising Editor

Despite debates, seniors united In the weeks leading up to commencement, the Brandeis community found itself at the center of a debate regarding the University’s identity after the announcement that Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren would serve as this year’s keynote commencement speaker. Despite differences in opinion, though, the student body displayed the characteristic maturity and unity that defines Brandeis University as a institution of outstanding intellectual discourse.

Prior to graduation this past Sunday, some students participated in protests of Oren’s presence at commencement, while others presented University President Jehuda Reinharz with a letter of support. Discussions on Facebook and other online forums showed that Brandeis students’ thoughts regarding Oren varied a great deal; however, students maintained an admirable level of respect in their interactions even though their viewpoints differed. The spirit of open dialogue on campus showed that, as usual, the Brandeis community at large can count on students to express themselves in an educated way and learn from controversy.

While this spirit of academic curiosity and respect is in no way surprising, it is striking when juxtaposed with the actions of some of those outside Brandeis. Various media outlets misconstrued students’ reactions to Oren’s presence at commencement, claiming that student opinions were polarized and based on politics and identity crises when in fact they stemmed from complex reasoning and myriad motivations. These oversim-

All remained levelheaded plifications of the discussions occurring on campus sought to cast the student body in an unfavorable light, but the actual events at commencement demonstrated that the community is above petty argument when the time to unite comes about.

The Facebook petition regarding Paul Simon singing at graduation represented an instance of the student body coming together to achieve a common goal, and Simon’s resulting performance was a memorable experience for graduating students and their families. In the same spirit was the dignified behavior within commencement itself—even that of students who disagreed with the politics. Protesters were able to express themselves outside of the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center without harassment, and the entire audience listened respectfully during Oren’s speech, putting aside their differences in order to celebrate the collective achievements of the Class of 2010.

Central to Brandeis University is the sense that different viewpoints should be respected and engaged with intelligently to encourage debate. While this board still feels that commencement did not represent the appropriate venue for a figure who represented Middle Eastern politics and that a more neutral commencement environment would have been a better sendoff to the Class of 2010, the Brandeis community rose above a tenuous situation and displayed levelheadedness upon which the seniors should pride themselves as they conclude their time at Brandeis.

Thanks to our Justice graduates This board would like to recognize all of the seniors who have contributed their time and energy to the Justice during their years at Brandeis.

Hannah Kirsch, the Justice’s immediate past editor in chief, formerly served as Copy editor and also contributed to the Arts, News, Features and Forum sections before serving as an editor. Her wide breadth of knowledge and her excellent leadership were incredible assets to the paper.

Joanna Schorr, who served as Layout editor before elected editor in chief, was the Justice’s senior editor this past year. In all her roles, her experience in journalism and layout was an excellent resource to the entire staff, and her presence in the office will be greatly missed next year.

Andrea Fineman was managing editor for nearly two years as well as a former Arts editor. Her organizational skill and attention to detail kept the paper running smoothly, and her awareness of cultural events in the area has been a great resource for the Justice staff and the Brandeis community.

Anya Bergman, News editor prior to being associate editor, worked tirelessly to improve the News section by working closely with writers and the entire staff throughout her tenure.

Shana Lebowitz’s features shed light on many different aspects of Brandeis.

As Features editor, she provided interesting glimpses into the University, and as associate editor she worked to

We appreciate your work expand and improve the section.

Sarah Bayer served as Arts editor this year, bringing innovation and creativity to the paper. Her descriptive writing and astute reviews have significantly contributed to the paper.

Max Breitstein Matza took countless photos on and off campus as Photography editor and associate editor. He helped photographers improve the quality of photojournalism and ensure that people would have records of their fondest Brandeis memories.

Brad Stern was the Justice’s advertising editor, and his work helped to connect students with off-campus programs and opportunities. In his entertaining column Pop Muse, he kept students up-to-date on developments in pop culture and notable musicians.

Miranda Neubauer, though not an editor, played an invaluable role as senior News writer. Her knowledge of Brandeis’ inner workings ensured that everyone remained informed of important stories, and her thorough reporting incorporated all perspectives.

We wish the best to all of the graduating seniors who have worked on the paper—including previous editors Julian Agin-Liebes, Courtney Breen, Simona Fisch, Julie Ganz, Raquel Greenberg, Kathryn Marable, Justine Root, Devorah Rotter and David Sheppard-Brick—and we know that their many talents will bring them success in the future.

A. ELI TUKACHINSKY/the Justice

Politics got you down?

Play some music to lighten the atmosphere Rebecca

BLADY MAELSTROM

OP-BOX Quote of the Week “You’re going to Brandeis? I hear all the kids there walk around waving wands and wearing capes.”

—The friend of a recently accepted Brandeis student unknowingly describing the activities of Brandeis’ new quidditch club (See Features, page 9).

Brandeis Talks Back Music is almost never a focal point of any graduation.

Rarely, if ever, do I read or hear about the soundtrack of a university commencement or even the tunes playing during the processional as graduates march into their last ceremony. It’s essentially assumed by most graduation attendees that graduates will walk to the traditional, melodious tearjerker composed ages ago.

Brandeis, however, has made it clear that the classical melody doesn’t fit at its own commencement exercises.

Rows upon rows of people dancing to the rhythmic Hindi beat playing as the Class of 2010 paraded into the room showed how a song from one of the more significant films of our generation could get everyone excited about celebrating the accomplishments of around 1,500 total graduates. If “Jai Ho” wasn’t enough to get everybody’s juices flowing, the Lion King classic “Circle of Life” instilled in friends and family members of all ages a nostalgic yet familiar life cycle sentiment. And the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” to cap off the recessional certainly put the audience in a festive mood. Even a techno remix of “Hava Nagila” mixed in with the rest of the music emphasized the essence of Brandeis’ interaction with modernity: a traditional song with a digital twist.

And the crowd continued to dance.

I must say that with all of the heavy melodrama surrounding Michael Oren’s role as the University’s commencement keynote speaker, the music truly—thankfully—seemed to put a 180-degree spin on everyone’s attitude. Contrary to the expectations of many around the world watching out for controversy, sitting in the audience was actually a good time. As far as I could tell, all the angst building up to the big event fled the room as the graduates entered to the music. The aura shifted from worried anticipation to simple pleasure as everyone present successfully identified with an element of pop culture and joined in one massive, unified celebration.

This precisely was the beauty of Paul Simon’s guest performance. With the performance cleverly (or cruelly?) scheduled for right at the ceremony’s end, almost all audience members remained fixed in their seats, waiting eagerly for one of the best musicians in recent history to sing.

Not speak. Not opine on the pressing issues of our time.

Not even award degrees to students who spent years working toward their diplomas.

Just to sing.

“When I left my home and family I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers in the quiet of the railway station running scared,” Simon sang. For the five or so minutes during which live music filled the echoing gymnasium in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, nothing except Simon’s innocent lyrics, his genuine strum of the guitar and the crowd chiming in with the chorus could have made everyone in attendance more upbeat and lighthearted.

Sure, he wasn’t really there to sing. He was there to receive his honorary degree. Michael Weil ’10 and Amanda Hecker ’10 just managed to pull a few strings to grant us this bonus.

But why not celebrate someone who deserves recognition for a career that has thrilled pop culture consumers for decades? Why not take the extra step to unite people of all ages, races, ethnicities and cultures? Paul Simon’s mini-concert was out of the ordinary, but perhaps musical performances should be considered for future commencement ceremonies. Simon seems to have been a smash hit at Brandeis, anyway.

Atypical, modern, unexpected—with just a hint of sentimental. That’s Brandeis for you. Let the sound of Sunday morning’s music ring in your ears for years to come, and remember our University for these unique and invaluable traits.

What did you think of the main commencement ceremony?

PAUL GALE ’12 “A fitting sendoff.”

LEO GUYSHAN ’10 “I was surprised by the lack of response from students.”

EMILY SMIZER ’11 “I would have liked to see a different theme for the main commencement speech.”

KAMARIN LEE ’12 “The student speaker was very good.”

THE JUSTICE

READER COMMENTARY Distant education offered by online classroom settings can be effective In response to your article “New online program to launch” (News, May 4): Stanford University offers online classes at the graduate level.

Some departments allow fully online degree programs, while others have a few oncampus requirements. The requirements for the degree are determined by the department.

The online classes are regular university classes where the lectures have been videotaped and streamed over the Internet. The rest of the materials are delivered to the remote student via any number of suitable means.

The remote student is required to do the same work and must complete all assignments and exams at the same time as the rest of the class. In essence, the major classroom difference between on-campus students and remote students is the method of delivery for the lectures.

Student participation in discussions is quite interesting. Students who are active in the classroom may become silent in online forums, while students who are passive in the classroom will come alive online. There is, of course, the third type of student, who doesn’t participate in either medium.

The Stanford Center for Professional Development supports online classes and master’s degree programs. See this website for a complete listing of classes and degrees: http://scpd.stanford.edu. The Biomedical Informatics Program is one program that offers a fully online master’s program.

It is difficult to duplicate the full campus experience; therefore, we encourage our distant students to come to campus to participate in some of the program events. But even with limited or zero exposure to the campus experience, our alumni find the training valuable.

I am delighted to report that some of our distant students have applied and been accepted to the Ph.D. program. I have great confidence that distance education, if managed properly, is excellent education.

I will close by mentioning that distance education is expensive. The overhead in equipment, facilities and specialized support staff is nontrivial. I have no doubt many online programs are limited to certificate programs and classes with high demand due to financial bottlenecks.

—Betty Cheng The writer is the Ph.D. associate director at the Distance Education Biomedical Informatics Training Program at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research.

Students should see similarities between Israel and Brandeis Univ In response to your article “Commencement reactions continue” (News, May 4): Both Brandeis and the state of Israel were established in response to the scourge of antiSemitism. While these actions alone have not solved the problem, they have empowered the Jewish people and offered some measure of recourse.

It is fitting, therefore, to have Mr. Oren speak now more then ever. At a time when virulent anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, it is appropriate that someone like Mr. Oren speak about this growing threat, as I hope he will.

Too many students at Brandeis influenced by hard-left propaganda are deliberately ignoring these facts. Mr. Oren’s message should sound a warning to them that if they continue to follow this course, they, like their American grandparents, are doomed to repeat their mistake of sitting on their hands while their brothers and sisters in Europe were being exterminated.

—Peter Brand The writer is the father of Alexander Brand ’10.

Thanks for presenting the true essence of the Brandeis experience In response to your article “After four years, Brandeis’ influence shines through” (Forum, May 4): Wonderful article, Shana. I think you really embodied the essence of Brandeis University.

—Nate Rosenblum ’10

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

11

Embrace the possibility of a court filled with Ivy League graduates Avi

SNYDER VOICE OF REASON

Like so many other Brandeis students, this university was not my first-choice college. I am an Ivy League reject. However, my rejection from Columbia University has not left my ego too scarred, and I wouldn’t dream of transferring out of our beloved university.

All this being said, however, I still admit to harboring feelings of both jealousy and resentment for those who have been privileged to get the elite education that the Ivy League schools offer.

It is with that feeling of resentment that I, along with many others in the country, greeted the news of President Obama’s appointment of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Should Kagan be confirmed—as she likely will be in the heavily Democratic Senate—every justice on the nation’s highest court would be a graduate of an Ivy League law school.

Why, I thought, should the Supreme Court be composed of nine individuals who are totally unrepresentative of the country as a whole? Why should the graduates of only three law schools—Yale, Harvard and Columbia—be the ultimate interpreters of the United States Constitution? Why is a graduate of Harvard any more qualified for that job that a graduate of any other law school?

And then I realized how silly I was being.

Yale, Harvard and Columbia are the first-, second-, and fourth-ranked law schools in the country, respectively, according to the U.S. News and World Report Graduate School Rankings. They are the most selective schools with the strongest reputations and the most intensive academic programs.

Simply being admitted to Harvard or Yale Law School is already a pretty good indication that someone is a gifted student, and graduating is, of course, an even greater accomplishment.

My point is that I want the nine people who are tasked with interpreting the Constitution to be the greatest legal minds

STACY HANDLER/the Justice

in the country. I want them to have been admitted to the most selective schools in the country. I want them to have the best legal training this country can offer.

I often feel that there is a latent anti-intellectualism in America.

Politicians are criticized for having degrees from elite universities, and many Americans can’t get enough of “down-toearth” public figures like Sarah Palin or Scott Brown. And there is nothing wrong with this when it comes to politics. In a healthy democracy, politicians represent the people. Thus, it is inappropriate for an elite group of Ivy League-educated individuals from the Northeast to dominate the halls of Congress or the Presidency.

But the Supreme Court is not a super-legislature; its job is not to represent the people. The Supreme Court is tasked with interpreting and applying the constitution of this country, and that should not require geographic, intellectual or educational diversity. It should require unmatchable legal training.

Some may still argue that an Ivy Leaguedominated Supreme Court is more likely to be left-leaning. Ivy League institutions are infamous for having a left-wing bias, and in the rest of the country outside Brandeis,

this is seen as the cause of an alleged leftwing bias in the Court. However, the four conservative justices on the Court are all graduates of Harvard and Yale Law Schools.

The current outgoing justice, John Paul Stevens, a graduate of Northwestern University Law School, was known to be the liberal anchor of the Court, and Harvard graduate Kagan’s appointment likely will not change the left-right composition of the Court.

In fact, it seems that the all-Ivy League Supreme Court may shape up to be one of the most right-leaning Courts of the past century.

I do not mean to imply that there are not stellar law schools in the country that aren’t part of the Ivy League. Nor do I mean to imply that one cannot get a phenomenal legal education anywhere but Harvard or Yale.

The message that I do wish to convey, though, is that the most important and influential legal body in the United States of America ought to be composed of those who excelled intellectually at the best law schools in the country. That is why I will feel safe, happy and proud should my Supreme Court be made up entirely of Ivy League graduates.

Flawed campus mindset caused Oren debates

By DANIEL FINK SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE

Brandeis University served as the center for my intellectual development and remains close to me. I have written letters of recommendation for prospective students, linked a Turkish community with Brandeis’ summer Genesis program and encouraged my sister to apply. Today, however, there are elements of this community that make me think twice about these decisions.

I am sure that members of the administration have spoken with trustees and alumni who are incredulous over the controversy surrounding the invitation of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to be commencement speaker. I am writing to explain why I could have predicted this outburst 10 years ago.

Though masquerading as a statement against Israeli policy, this debate is the predictable (yet surreal) culmination of an intellectual atmosphere which scorns particularism, deconstructs all elements of identity and which is nauseated by the notion of Jewish power. We are all implicated in this as alumni, students, faculty and administrators.

I am not unfamiliar with the community behind these recriminations: I was once part of it. At the height of the Second Intifada, I was a regular attendant of teach-

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Fine Print

ins and peace rallies in support of the Palestinian cause. I attended vigils for Palestinians (they were never held for dead Israelis) killed during Israeli military operations and read Rashid Khalidi with Prof.

Gordon Fellman (PAX). I was a consummate progressive Jewish Brandeisian. I thought Fran Fanon had a right to take up arms but Vladimir Jabotinsky did not and cited as often as I could that Brandeis, though built on Jewish values, “was not a Jewish school.” When I found out my first-year roommate was Indian, I was relieved.

My familiarity with this community allows me to understand that the debate over the Oren selection is not out of spite but that it stems from the close relationship that exists between Brandeis, its students and Judaism. Brandeis is where a number of Jews are exposed to substantive critiques of Israeli policy for the first time. Armed only with mediocre day-school defenses of the Jewish state, this soon spirals out of control. The debate is no longer about Israeli policy. It is about identity.

How are students supposed to react when their intellectual development takes place in an environment in which professors insist that all identity is a social construct?

Torah school memories of Herzl’s “If you will it, it is no legend” fail in the face of Weber or Adorno.

Many Jewish Brandesians lack the vocabulary to defend Jewish sovereignty. Add to this the global

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aversion to Zionism, and some of us don’t stand a chance. Pretty soon, a school founded on Jewish values is protesting the invitation of an official from the only true democracy in the Middle East. No such debate took place when Jordan’s Prince El Hassan bin Talal spoke in 2006.

Brandeis was founded on the basis of embracing the particularities of identity. Its premium on nonexclusion was a way for students to express their identities without having to deconstruct or apologize for them.

The debate on campus might suggest that Brandeis is succumbing to a trend in which every perspective is legitimate, all national identities are a social construct (except if you are Tibetan, Iraqi, Afghani or Palestinian) and the Jewish state still requires a defense.

Israel is not a rogue state, and Ambassador Oren is no war criminal. These are facts, situated in reality, that require no deconstruction. What are in need of deconstruction, however, are the forces behind the Oren debate, which Brandeis has a responsibility to confront if it wants to fulfill the mission it inherited from its namesake.

Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the Class of 2004 and is currently a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies.

Arts: Rebecca Brooks, Alex DeSilva, Julia Jerusalmi, Elly Kalfus, Morgan Manley, Alex Pagan, Bryan Prywes, Sujin Shin, Shelly Shore Photography: Genevieve Armstrong, Amy Bissaillon, Maegan Bautista, Jaxson Dermer, Nathaniel Freedman, Davida Judelson, Rozi Levi, STAFF Mansi Luo, Yosef Schaffel, Shaefali Shandilya, Tali Senior Writer: Melissa Siegel Smookler Senior Illustrator: A. Eli Tukachinsky Copy: Danielle Berger, Rebecca Brooks, Jacob News: Clare Churchill-Seder, Erin Doniger Chatinover, Hilary Cheney, Jenn Craig, Camille Features: Sarah Gilson, Deborah Salmon Dolfen, Ariel Glickman, Patricia Greene, Rachel Forum: Hannah Goldberg, Rebecca Kellogg, Herman, Liana Johnson, Daniella Kohlhagen, Kim Ethan Mermelstein, Liz Posner, Leah Smith, Avi Dela Cruz, Mailinh Phan-Nguyen, Zane Relethford, Snyder Marielle Temkin, Amanda Winn, Liat Zabludovsky Sports: Jeffrey Boxer, Trevor Cohen, Max Illustrations: Rishika Assomull, Stacy Handler Goldstein, Jonathan Steinberg Layout: Nadav Havivi, Hilary Heyison, Nan Pang

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS NEWS: Fiona Lockyer FORUM: Eitan Cooper ARTS: Wei-Huan Chen

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

13

SPORTS TRACK & FIELD

Teams compete before NCAA Championships

SOFTBALL: Judges win twice in first NCAA Tournament CONTINUED FROM 16

■ Members of both track and

field squads participated in the MIT Last Chance Qualifier last Saturday.

By JEFFREY BOXER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

With the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships coming up, several Brandeis runners competed in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Last Chance Qualifier in hopes of qualifying. Though no new Brandeis runners qualified, the meet yielded several top finishes and a new Brandeis record in the women’s 1,500meter race.

For the third time this season, Grayce Selig ’11 broke the school record in the 1,500-meter race. She finished in 4 minutes, 30.81 seconds , shaving more than two seconds off of her previous best time of 4:32.96.

Her record now stands nearly five seconds ahead of the previous school record, Mariko Tansey-Holbrook’s ’03 time of 4:35.56.

“We just wanted her to improve her time and the automatic qualifying time [for nationals], and she was able to do that,” said Coach John Evans.

Teammate Lucia Capano ’11 echoed her coach’s thoughts, saying that Selig “looked really good out there.”

Beth Pisarik ’10 and Erin Bisceglia ’12 also competed in the race. Pisarik finished fourth in the meet with a time of 4:40.68, while Bisceglia grabbed sixth

with a time of 4:56.84.

Aaron Udel ’10 set a personal best in his final race at Brandeis. Udel finished the 800-meter run in 1:53.97, the first time that he had broken the 1:55.00 mark in his career.

“We had been waiting for him to break [the 1:55 mark] for a while, but he hadn’t had the luck to do it. There was great weather, and he was very strong all the way through the finish,” Capano said. “[Udel] has been so consistent all year, and he finally got the time that he is capable of.”

Brandeis’ only first-place finish came from the men’s team, where Devon Holgate ’11 won the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:00.59. Holgate bested Yale sophomore Julian Sheinbaum by 0.04 seconds, while Marc Boutin ’12 grabbed third place with a time of 4:01.63.

Capano thought both Holgate and Boutin ran a competitive race at the meet.

“It was a really exciting race,” said Capano. “[Holgate] and [Boutin] were right on their tails the entire way, and in the last 100 or 200 meters, [Holgate] pulled up and they were fighting for the lead the rest of the way.”

The win for Holgate followed a disappointing finish the week before. Hoping to qualify for nationals, the junior was tripped midway through the race.

“He was on pace to qualify, and it looked like he was going to, but then he was tripped,” Evans said, adding that Holgate still “had a great race [and] a great season, and he will come back stronger next year.”

Capano was the final Brandeis com-

petitor at the meet, finishing fourth in both the long jump and the triple jump with distances of 5.16 meters and 11.14 meters, respectively. Unfortunately, a bruised heel prevented her from even matching her personal bests, killing any chance of earning a trip to Marietta, Ohio for nationals next weekend.

“She had a great season, and she jumped great at [the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships] the week before. She couldn’t jump as far this week, but she already qualified provisionally [for nationals], and she will have a great next season,” Evans said.

With nobody earning qualifying times in the last meet, the duo of Selig and Suzanne Bernier ’10 will travel to Ohio to represent the Judges at Baldwin-Wallace College in the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held from Thursday to Saturday.

Selig will run the 1,500-meter race, while Bernier will compete in the high jump, an event that she holds the Brandeis record in. Selig and Bernier both won their respective events at the University Athletic Association Championships earlier this spring.

Evans recognizes that both girls had tremendous years and are ready to represent the school.

“Both had great seasons, and both were UAA champions,” Evans said.

“For Grayce, it will be her third nationals of the year, and it will be a great experience for her to get to go. For [Bernier], she’ll be representing our great senior class, and it is great for her to go out like this.”

Rathbun] were All-American, and it seemed like for the most part they had a handle on our hitting,” Berg explained. “Both of the pitchers … were rise-ball pitchers, so I think it seemed difficult for us to lay off that and wait for the pitch that was really our pitch,” she said.

Prior to that game, the Judges faced Coast Guard. The Judges trailed the entire game but stayed close thanks to 20 illegal pitches called by the umpire against Feindel.

Brandeis scored four of its first five runs on illegal pitches and trailed 6-5 going into the sixth inning despite producing only five hits.

Second baseman Melisa Cagar ’11 then came through with perhaps the biggest hit of her career, a two-RBI single with two strikes to give the Judges their first lead of the game.

Miller, who had come into the game in the top of the sixth, closed it out in the seventh for the win.

In the first round of the tournament, the Judges defeated Endicott 8-0 in five innings in a game shortened by the mercy rule, their 12th mercy-rule win of the season.

Vaillette gave up just two hits in five innings of work with no walks and four strikeouts. It was her 16th win of the season.

The winning runs scored when left fielder Brittany Grimm ’12 executed a successful suicide squeeze

bunt to score Korp from third base.

With the season now over, the Judges have lost four seniors to graduation—Vaillette, Mussen, Korp, and catcher/designated player Erin Ross ’10.

Vaillette is the program’s alltime leader in ERA with a career average of 2.36 and in shutouts with a total of 10. She also leads Brandeis with 85 appearances and 67 stars.

She is second in wins with 39, innings pitched with 406.0 and strikeouts with 265.

Mussen finishes her Brandeis career with 16 wins and a schoolbest four saves.

Korp started a school-record 171 games in her career at Brandeis.

She is second in school history in assists with 318 and at-bats with 514.

Ross is second in school history with 739 putouts, and she and became just the second player in school history to earn AllUniversity Athletic Association honors in four straight seasons.

Despite losing core members of this year’s team , Berg believes that the team has the talent to win games next year and hopes to make the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season.

“It’s going to be an adjustment [playing without the seniors next year], but I think that we’re a talented enough group that hopefully it won’t take us too long to be able to get back,” Berg said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get to NCAAs again next year.”

WBRS: Expanding and improving sports radio at Brandeis CONTINUED FROM 16 our résumé, as a sports department, of things we’ve done,” said Rosen. “Hopefully, guys in the future will continue to have new ideas and to build off of what we’ve done the last few years.”

Cohen, who got his groudning in broadcasting with WKCR radio at Columbia University, also stressed the importance of making connections in the professional world.

“Part of what you learn as a young adult in college is how to have the confidence and the personal wherewithal to assert yourself and sell yourself,” said Cohen in a telephone interview with the Justice. “Any time that a college student has a chance to go into the real world and make contacts and get a better taste of what it’s like to perform that task in real life—I think that’s all for the good.”

Cutler, who takes the reins as next year’s sports director, attributes Rosen’s success to his blend of networking and passion.

“That’s something I think is important to have,” said Cutler.

“I’m going to try to bring that as much as I can.”

While Cutler is skeptical about his ability to match Adam’s muchrenowned level of devotion, he aspires to display a similar amount of dedication.

Just like Rosen, most people who first step into the WBRS office do so with no prior experience.

The task may seem daunting at

first, but according to Rosen, the station’s hierarchy of exposure helps to ease the transition.

“Truthfully, we really don’t get a lot of listeners to our radio shows. It really is mostly friends and family,” said Rosen. “Keeping that in the back of your head helps.”

For the particularly nervous beginners, overnight shows are a less stressful way to gain experience. However, with experience and hard work, students can, like Rosen, move up and become sports director.

In his sophomore year, Rosen developed comfort speaking on the air as a panelist on one of the several sports talk shows WBRS streams between games. Then he worked his way into the station’s featured basketball broadcasts, keeping statistics and doing halftime shows. By his junior year, he was doing seamless play-by-plays and color commentary.

“That’s the beauty of college radio,” Cohen said of the experience that he, Rosen and countless others have had. “The best way to learn how to be a broadcaster, no matter what role you ultimately fulfill, is to learn by doing. … It really serves as a training ground for people who have really had no contact with broadcasting before.”

Besides doing every home basketball game, WBRS does a number of baseball games and, for the first time this year, softball games.

Rosen and Matt Kessler ’10 ended up broadcasting the Brandeis soft-

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ASHER KRELL/the Justice

THE SENIORS OF WBRS: The six seniors of WBRS sports contributed to the station’s expansion over their time at Brandeis. ball team throughout their run in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, the team’s first ever appearance in the tournament.

“I have a couple of friends on the softball team, and they’ve all been nagging me that we should do games over the past few years,” said Rosen of the station’s decision to begin broadcasting softball games. “When I was finally elected sports director, … I realized it was possible.”

Rosen also vied for and was granted a budget increase to travel more with both basketball teams, and WBRS consequently broadcasted more road games this year than ever before, travelling to University Athletic Association rivals Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University and Rochester

University. They then followed the men’s basketball team through the entirety of its Elite 8 NCAA run to St. John Fisher College and Williams College, where the team played its games.

Although Rosen is graduating, his radio savvy likely will not be left behind in the WBRS office.

Rosen hopes to carry the experience he’s gained at WBRS into the professional world and is applying for jobs in sports broadcasting.

“People say that you should do something that you love, and I know that I’ve definitely loved doing radio here. It’s definitely been the highlight of my college experience,” said Rosen. “If the right opportunity came up, it’s definitely something that I’d have to consider.”

As he leaves behind the radio

station to which he has lent so many hours of work, thought and preparation, Rosen is confident about the future of WBRS sports and the Brandeis students whose task it will be to realize it.

“Even if I haven’t taught anybody anything about sports or broadcasting—although I like to think that I have—at the least I hope that my enthusiasm has rubbed off on people and that people will take that same initiative.

Because it is possible; as a college radio station, there’s a lot of opportunities of things you can do.

It’s just a matter of how aggressive you are and how badly you want to do it.”

Editor’s note: Gary Cohen is the father of Trevor Cohen.

THE JUSTICE

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

1 16 2 4 17

st-place finish in the 1,500-meter race for Devon Holgate ’11 with a time of 4 minutes, 0.59 seconds in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Last Chance Qualifier. runs scored by the softball team in four NCAA Tournament games.

They scored 15 runs in two wins, compared to only one run in their two losses.

women’s track and field runners to be represented at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Suzanne Bernier ’10 and Grayce Selig ’11 will compete for Brandeis.

RBIs recorded by second baseman Melisa Cagar ’11 in four games. She drove in two runners in each of the team’s two wins.

runs given up by Brandeis softball pitchers in four games.

ASHER KRELL/ the Justice

She will be one of four seniors on the team next year, and she hopes the team can take its game to the next level in her final season at Brandeis.

“We definitely have the talent to do well again,” Cagar said. “We have a lot of

great returning athletes, so I think it will be a very good year next year, and as long as we just stay together and play like we can, I think we’ll just be just fine.”

—Melissa Siegel

UAA STANDINGS Baseball

Softball

Not including Monday’s games

Rochester Case Emory WashU JUDGES Chicago

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

Overall W L 29 12 24 18 19 20 17 15 11 24 18 16

Not including Monday’s games Overall UAA W L W L Emory 6 2 25 16 WashU 5 3 37 11 JUDGES 5 3 29 9 Rochester 4 4 22 19 Chicago 0 0 25 15 Case 0 8 9 33

TEAM LEADERS Baseball (hits)

Baseball (runs batted in)

Third baseman Tony Deshler ’11 and left fielder Chris Ferro ’13 led the team with 44 hits this year.

Left fielder Chris Ferro ’13 led the Judges with 25 RBIs.

Player Tony Deshler Chris Ferro Sean O’Hare John Chu Artie Posch

Player Chris Ferro Jon Chu Artie Posch John O’Brion Tony Deshler

Hits 44 44 42 40 34

RBIs 25 22 22 17 16

Softball (hits)

Softball (runs batted in)

Left fielder Brittany Grimm ’12 and first baseman Marianne Specker ’12 led Brandeis with 52 hits.

Catcher/designated player Stacy Berg ’13 led the Judges with 43 RBIs.

Player Brittany Grimm Marianne Specker Melisa Cagar Stacy Berg Erin Ross

Player Stacy Berg Marianne Specker Brittany Grimm Erin Ross Melisa Cagar

Hits 52 52 42 41 39

RBIs 43 35 31 29 23

UPCOMING GAME OF THE WEEK Women’s track at the NCAA Championships Suzanne Bernier ’10 and Grayce Selig ’11 will compete in the championships.

14

strikeouts recorded by Emily Vaillette ’10 in four appearances.

15

Perfect night: Braden gets key to city in hometown

■ The second baseman drove in the game-winning runs against United States Coast Guard Academy on May 14 in a NCAA Division III Softball Regional championships.

Judging numbers

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

AP BRIEFS

Melisa Cagar ’11

After trailing the entire game against United States Coast Guard Academy in the second round of regionals in the NCAA Division III Tournament, the softball team found itself with the go-ahead runs in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, second baseman Melisa Cagar ’11 headed to home plate for the biggest at-bat of her college career.

“I had already grounded twice out to the shortstop, so coming into this at-bat, I knew that I had to put the ball in play,” Cagar said. “The pitcher was very good; she threw very hard. ... So all I was just telling myself was [to] shorten up my swing and just make contact with the ball.”

Despite having two strikes in the count, Cagar came through, hitting a single between first and second base to give the Judges their first lead of the game. “[After the hit], I finally was able to breathe again,” Cagar added. “I was really nervous up at bat, and after I got on base I was like, ‘Phew, I’m glad I got the hit,’ so it felt really good.”

Brandeis held on for the 7-6 win before dropping its next game against Eastern Connecticut State University and a subsequent rematch against Coast Guard in the loser’s bracket to end its first-ever NCAA Tournament run.

Cagar was just one of three Brandeis players to start all 39 games and was fifth on the team with a .341 batting average.

She led the team with 44 runs scored.

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At Baldwin-Wallace College in Marietta, Ohio, the women’s track and field team will be represented by Suzanne Bernier ’10 and Grayce Selig ’11 in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championsips. The meet will begin Thursday and end Saturday.

Bernier, in her final competition for Brandeis, will compete in the high jump, while Selig will fun the 1,500meter race.

Bernier holds the Brandeis record

in the high jump with a height of 1.68 meters, which she reached in the University Athletic Association Championships last month. She broke her own personal best of 1.65 meters in January with a height of 1.67 meters.

Selig recently broke her own school record in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Last Chance Qualifier this past weekend with a time of 4 minutes, 30.81 seconds. She has broken the school record three times this year.

STOCKTON, Calif.—It was another perfect day for Dallas Braden.

The Oakland Athletics pitcher returned to Stockton on Saturday night, sharing his slice of baseball history with a hometown proud to call him one of its own.

A sold-out crowd roared as Braden received a key to the city before a Class-A game at Stockton Ballpark, where he pitched for the Ports five years ago on his way to majorleague fame.

The left-hander was honored for throwing the 19th perfect game in big league history, the culmination of two whirlwind weeks for the 26-year-old pitcher after his 4-0 gem against the Tampa Bay Rays May 9.

“I’m speechless for the first time, really,” said Braden, who still lives in this central California city of 290,000 and commutes to the Bay Area to play for the A’s. “It’s something that I never would have imagined. This is my close family. This is my friends. This is where I come from. It just doesn’t get beat.”

Braden is a symbol to this working-class community, grinding it out as an unheralded prospect during his rise to celebrity status. He had a 17-23 record in the majors before retiring 27 batters in a row on Mother's Day. Braden was raised by his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, after his mother died when he was a teenager. Lindsey was part of the large contingent that hovered around Braden on Saturday as he signed countless autographs for rows of fans.

Braden was 6-0 with the Ports on his rise through the Oakland organization, so this was the ideal place to celebrate his perfect game with those close to him.

Appropriately, he threw out the first pitch. It was high and outside.

That was after he received the key to the city from Mayor Ann Johnston and a congressional resolution honoring his accomplishment.

“You’re a product of your environment, and it makes you who you are,” Braden said. “There’s a lot of positive things going on in this town, and it’s all about what you make of it. I was given nothing but an opportunity from the townspeople and everything else in this city.

Everybody and everything had a hand in where I am today.”

Braden is one of few athletes to receive such an honor from the city, but his indelible mark on baseball made him a natural pick for the award.

“He made baseball history, No. 1, and he’s from Stockton, which is the most important thing,” Johnston said. “We don’t have many hometown heroes that make history like that. He stands as representing the best of Stockton and the best at what he does. We’re so proud that he’s proud of Stockton, because we sure are proud of him.”

Braden is active in the community and works out during the offseason at Stockton Ballpark, where he often instructs Little League players who were once like him.

He thanked the crowd and told fans he would stand up for any of them.

“I mean, the key to the town that I grew up in, it’s ridiculous, right?” Braden said. “To have this all culminate back here where I grew up is pretty special. It just doesn’t get any better than to do this in your own backyard.”

Former MLB pitcher Jose Lima dies LOS ANGELES—José Lima, the energetic right-hander who was a 20-game winner and an all-star during a 13-year major league career, died Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 37.

Lima, who won 13 games with the Dodgers in 2004, died of an apparent heart attack, according to the Aguilas Cibaenas, a winter ball team that Lima had played for in the Dominican Republic.

“Lima was an exceptional man. This is a great loss for Dominican baseball and the country,” Winston Llenas, the team’s president, said.

Referring to his often high-energy outings as “Lima Time,” Lima posted his best season in 1999 when he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a Houston Astro. He went 21-10 in 35 starts with a 3.58 ERA for the National League Central champion Astros.

In 13 major league seasons, the native of the Dominican Republic was 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA. He hadn’t pitched in the major leagues since a four-game stop with the New York Mets in 2006.

“He was a man full of life, without apparent physical problems and with many plans and projects on the agenda,” his wife, Dorca Astacio, told ESPNdeportes.com.

On Friday night, he attended a game at Dodger Stadium, where he was introduced between innings and received an ovation from the crowd.

Lima went 46-42 with the Astros between 1997 and 2001, and he was a 20-game winner and an all-star with the Houston team.

With the Dodgers in 2004 and 2005, Lima had a record of 13-5, with a 4.07 ERA. In the 2004 National League Division Series, Lima pitched a five-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in front of a sell-out crowd at Dodger Stadium. It was the Dodgers’ first postseason win since Game 5 of the 1988 World Series.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt called Lima’s electric personality “unforgettable.”

“He had the ability to light up a room, and that’s exactly what he did every time I saw him,” McCourt said in a statement Sunday.

McCourt said Lima further endeared himself to fans when he sang the national anthem prior to a home game in 2004.

Former Dodgers teammate Guillermo Mota said Lima loved to spend time with fans.

“He would sign autographs all the time and ask the kids, ‘What time is it?’ They would answer, ‘Lima Time!’ I can see it right now,” said Mota, now a Giants reliever. “He had so much energy. I used to play catch with him, and I’d be laughing on every throw.”

Lima also spent two stints with Detroit and Kansas City.

“This is a shock for us, because Lima was a young man who seemed healthy, and nobody imagined this,” said Tomas Jimenez, manager of the Aguilas Cibaenas.

Funeral arrangements are pending as of press time.

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DRIVING IN RUNNERS Softball second baseman Melisa Cagar ’11 recorded the game-winning RBIs against Coast Guard on May 14, p. 15.

Waltham, Mass.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

SOFTBALL

Judges go 2-2 in first NCAA appearance ■ The softball team made

the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s history and went 2-2.

By MELISSA SIEGEL JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

After a 7-6 comeback victory over No. 3 United States Coast Guard Academy on May 14 in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Regional championships at Wellesley College, the Judges found themselves trailing Coast Guard again two days later, this time in an elimination game.

But Brandeis could not rally two days later, losing 4-1 to bring its historic season to a close. It was the first time in school history that the team advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and on Thursday, May 13 the Judges won the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game in an 8-0 victory in five innings over No. 7 Endicott College.

The team went 2-2 in tournament, finishing its best-ever season with a final record of 29-9-1.

After losing to No. 1 Eastern Connecticut State University in the winner’s bracket on May 15, Brandeis, which was seeded second, had to defeat Coast Guard in the loser’s bracket to advance to the regional finals.

The team would have had to defeat Eastern Connecticut State twice in order to advance to the next round.

In the Judges’ second game against Coast Guard, Brandeis got off to a 1-0 lead after first baseman Marianne Specker ’12 singled against Bears sophomore starting pitcher Hayley Feindel and came around to score on three illegal pitches.

When an illegal pitch is called, the

ASHER KRELL/the Justice

LOOKING FOR CONTACT: Left fielder Brittany Grimm ’12 swings in a doubleheader against Framingham State College on May 2. pitch is ruled a ball and all runners advance one base. Unlike during the regular season, the rule was strictly enforced in the NCAA Tournament.

But Coast Guard came back in the bottom of the inning, tying the game

on an RBI single by senior third baseman Courtney Wolf. Wolf then hit a three-run home run in the next inning to chase Brandeis starting pitcher Emily Vaillette ’10 from the game.

Reliever Allie Mussen ’10 did not

allow any runs, keeping Brandeis in the game, but the Judges could not muster any offense against Feindel.

Rookie catcher/designated player Stacy Berg ’13, who led the team with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs on the sea-

son, did not play in the elimination game.

“I wasn’t hitting very well in the tournament, so my coach made the right decision to designate Lara [Hirschler] ’12 as designated player, who ended up going 2-for-3 in the last game,” said Berg. “She really produced for us.”

Berg was 1-for-7 in the first three games of the tournament with the one hit coming in the first game against Endicott.

On May 15, the Judges also struggled against another of the region’s toughest pitchers, sophomore Molly Rathbun of Eastern Connecticut State, who had a record of 27-1 record and a 0.61 ERA for the year.

In Eastern Connecicut State’s 3-2 victory over Brandeis on Aprill 22, Rathbun pitched seven innnings, giving up three runs while striking out six batters.

Brandeis managed only one hit against Rathburn in the NCAA Tournament, which came off of Specker’s bat.

The Warriors, on the other hand, were able to get seven runs and 11 hits against the Judges’ pitching combination of Vaillette, Caroline Miller ’12 and Mussen.

Coach Jessica Johnson removed Vaillette from the game after Vaillette gave up three runs in four innings.

Vaillette was replaced by Miller, who gave up three runs and four hits in the fifth inning before being replaced by Mussen in the sixth.

Berg explained the difficulties in facing both Feindel and Rathbun in the tournament, which saw Brandeis score only one run in their two losses against Coast Guard and Eastern Connecticut State.

“Both of the very good pitchers we faced in the tournament [Feindel and

See SOFTBALL, 13 ☛

Propelling sports radio to a higher standard The progression of WBRS sports

By TREVOR COHEN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Wide-eyed first-year Adam Rosen ’10 stepped into the WBRS office with no radio experience and only a love of sports as his guide. Four years later, Rosen is leaving behind a legacy of enthusiasm, accomplishment and professionalism that drove the substantial growth of WBRS sports during his tenure as sports director.

The Division III status of Brandeis athletics, the prime focus of WBRS sports, may not carry the prestige or recognition associated with mighty Division I programs. However, this did not hold Rosen back from trying to elevate his station to a major-league level.

“It’s all about your perspective and how you view yourself,” said Rosen. “People kind of make fun of me about it, but I try to treat WBRS like we’re ESPN Radio. I think you’ve got to view yourself like you’re the best if you want others to perceive you that way. It all starts with that mentality.”

Little thing like buying matching ClimaCool polo shirts and printing up business cards have

underscored major accomplishments: WBRS’ multiple encounters with current Philadelphia Phillies pitcher/former New York Mets pitcher and Brandeis alumnus Nelson Figueroa ’98, for example, and scoring an on-air shoutout from Mets television announcer Gary Cohen. In February, the station brought in David Halberstam, a former Miami Heat radio broadcaster and the father of Manny Halberstam ’10, a member of the WBRS sports staff, to speak to the staff and announce a Brandeis basketball game with his son.

Rosen considers the station’s connection with Figueroa, the only Brandeis alumnus ever to play in Major League Baseball, his proudest accomplishment. It started Rosen’s sophomore year when he found out that Figueroa was making his first major league start with the Mets.

“I mentioned it to the sports director at the time, [Steve Gross], who was also a huge Mets fan,” reflected Rosen. “I was like, ‘Steve, maybe we should think about applying for some kind of media credentials, see if we can cover the game.’ He kind of laughed at me at

first, … and he was like, ‘You know, I think I’m probably going to take a pass, but if you want to give it a shot, go ahead.’”

Rosen took the initiative and was granted credentials for the game. The WBRS team drove to Shea Stadium in Flushing, N.Y., where it went to the pregame press conference with Mets manager Willie Randolph, interviewed Cohen and managed an exclusive post-game interview with Figueroa.

Rosen reminiced about his first interview with Figueroa.

“Nelson is the nicest guy you could imagine,” said Rosen. “It was his first start in the bigs in like four years, and he had a ton of family at the game, but he still took 15 minutes out of his time to talk to us.”

Rosen and the crew made two more trips to Queens during Figueroa’s tenure with the Mets and showed the major leaguer their own home turf when Figueroa returned to Brandeis to have his number retired last October.

Rosen and Ian Cutler ’11 brought Figueroa up to the WBRS studio, which moved in 2003 from its orig-

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ASHER KRELL/the Justice

IN CHARGE: Adam Rosen ’10 was the sports director at WBRS this past year. inal home in the Usdan Student Center, where Figueroa was once a student disc jockey to the third floor of the Shapiro Campus Center. Their 26-minute interview can be heard at http://wbrs.org.

“Whether it’s bringing in the professional broadcaster or a major league player, part of what I wanted to do was bring more credibility to WBRS—just to add this to

See WBRS, 13 ☛

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Arts

May 25, 2010

s p u o r g a l l e p p a c A nd off seniors se

Photos: Davida Judelson, Tali Smookler, Robyn Spector, Asher Krell/the Justice. Design: Robyn Spector, Asher Krell, Debra Friedman/the Justice.

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

POP CULTURE

INSIDE ON CAMPUS

18-21

■ Voices of Soul 19 The members of the soulful a cappella group brought noise and funk as they wished farewell to all of their graduating seniors.

20 ■ BTC Movement Project The Brandeis Theater Company performed the graduate students’ movement project.

20 ■ Rather be Giraffes The coed a cappella group turned into alter ego superheroes for its semester show.

21 ■ VoiceMale Brandeis’ award-winning all-male a cappella group introduced new songs among familiar classics.

21 ■ CoLab Theater Company Two Brandeis grads started a unique theater company to benefit rising Boston actors.

OFF CAMPUS

22-24

■ Nikki and Rich JustArts interviewed the progressively popular and genre-defying music duo.

22

22 ■ Pop Muse Former X Factor contestant Diana Vickers’ new album is an impressive debut.

23 ■ ‘Iron Man 2’ The sequel to the 2008 blockbuster lacks the appeal of the original.

23 ■ Summer movie preview Five summer films seem like outstanding offerings.

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

by Shelly Shore

What a year! Hollywood had cheating scandals, plastic surgery, trials and more sex rehab than could ever be healthy. But to end the year on a high note, let’s talk weddings!

Well, first let’s talk marriage scandal,because that’s more intriguing. David Boreanaz, known to fans as Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel), or, more recently, as Booth on Bones, recently came clean to his wife about an affair with Rachel Uchitel, who you might remember as one of Tiger Woods’ many flames. According to this week’s issue of People, Boreanaz’s wife, Jamie Bergman, is willing to try and make the marriage work. “I’m not saying everything’s okay,” said Bergman. “I’m still angry. I’m still mad. I am still hurt.” She went on to say that she and Boreanz will continue therapy, where they have been working through their marital issues over the past year. Boreanaz agreed that it would be a slow road to recovery. “What’s working for us [is] taking our time,” says Bergman, “moment to moment, day to day.”

In lighter marriage and wedding news, this was a week of romance for some of the more stable couples in Hollywood. Seth Green and his longtime girlfriend, Claire Grant, were married May 1 in a private vineyard in California.

Heidi Klum and Seal renewed their wedding vows this week for the fifth time. The couple has made a tradition of renewing their vows every year since their wedding in 2005. This year marks the couple’s sixth trip down the aisle—but it doesn’t seem to be losing its charm.

“We love to renew our vows,” Heidi told Redbook. “It’s our time—a lovely family time.

It’s about remembering this moment of love we gave to each other and reinforcing it.”

Taking a leaf out of Heidi and Seal’s book, Tori Spelling and husband Dean McDermott also renewed their vows this week. Friday was

Talking music with WBRS ■ JustArts spoke to WBRS Comusical Directors Ben Stein ’12 and Jake Blair ’13 about their experiences with the club.

MARKUS SCHREIBER/The Associated Press

VOWS SEALED: As an annual tradition, Seal and Heidi Klum recently renewed their wedding vows. their fourth wedding anniversary, and the couple seems determined to put those pesky divorce rumors to rest. “We have our fights,” Tori told The Today show. “We have our ups and downs. … It’s a real relationship, and I’m happy to put that out there to my fans, because we’re a normal, relatable couple. We’re not perfect.”

We started the semester with Tiger’s dishonesty, and ended with Tori’s words of wisdom.

Have a great summer, Brandeis—and keep an eye on the celebrities. I certainly will.

What’s happening in Arts off campus

OFF CAMPUS EVENTS ‘Johnny Baseball’ From shame to fame, the world premier of new musical Johnny Baseball explores the source of the Red Sox’s “curse” until the team’s thrilling World Series victory in 2004 while blending in the magic of the game that is baseball. Johnny Baseball follows the origins of the curse through a collision of three orphaned souls: Johnny O’Brien; his idol, Babe Ruth; and a fantastic AfricanAmerican blues singer—the love of Johnny’s life, Daisy Wyatt. The fun musical is not just for Red Sox fans: It also includes thoughtful commentary on American social history.

Until June 27 at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge.

‘A History of the American Film’ Become immersed in the vibrant and intriguing story of poor orphan Loretta Moran as she finds herself the unlikely and accidental tour guide through a technicolor timeline of popular American films. With a supporting cast of recognizable Hollywood arechtypes such as the tough guy and the wisecracking broad, Loretta must use her satirical prowess as she stumbles through history, musical numbers and a hilarious rendition of Hollywood.

Until Saturday at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge.

‘The Bagel: An Immigrant’s Story’ Enjoy spending a memorable evening with renowned director Joan Micklin Silver (Loverboy, Crossing Delancey) as a special part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Have some free popcorn and drinks as you learn about Silver’s career in film and his intriguing new project that everyone can relate to—the history of the bagel in America. The film, titled The Bagel: An Immigrant’s Story, wanders from the darkest holes of Eastern European Jewish life to the modern innovations that helped turn the bagel from a delicacy into a mainstream American food enjoyed by all, young and old.

A question-and-answer session and an additional dessert reception will follow the presentation.

Today from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m at the Stuart Street Playhouse, Boston. Special young adult tickets cost $20.

Reunion weekend 2010 You don’t need to be a Harvard graduate to enjoy the slew of classic films put on by the Harvard Coop and Brattle Theatre over the week of Harvard graduation. The reunion itself has nothing to do with Harvard but is instead a cinematic reunion celebrating films’ 25th, 50th and 75th anniversaries. This year, aside from a special visit from The Action Pack (a group of lunatics who put on sing-alongs at the Coolidge Corner Theatre) to celebrate films and music of the 80s, many great films are being featured. 25th anniversary films include The Goonies and Real Genius. The 50th-anniversary double feature is La Dolce Vita and Ocean’s 11. The 75th anniversary includes two famous romantic comedy hybrids, The 39 Steps and Top Hat. For film lovers, this is one weekend event

MARCUS STERN/American Repertory Theater

OUT TO THE BALL GAME: Hardcore Red Sox fans sit on the bleachers of Fenway Park during ‘Johnny Baseball,’ an original musical that explores Red Sox history from cure to champions. that you do not want to miss.

Friday until Monday. The 25th-anniversary films will play Friday and Saturday, the 50thanniversary films will play Monday, and the 75th-anniversary films will play Sunday, all at the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge.

Visiting Masterpieces series Admire some timeless and priceless artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which has just recieved the Van Gogh masterpiece “The Sower” on lend from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Painted in Arles, a town in southern France, in November of 1888 by Van Gogh himself, the painting is juxtaposed with Jean-Francois Millet’s monumental canvas “The Sower,” painted around the 1850s––a work Van Gogh had only known through reproductions. This painting is part of the “Visitng Masterpieces” series, which aims to exhibit works from many artists and cultures from various time periods and countries. “The Sower” will join three other works from the MFA’s Van Gogh collection: “The Postman Joseph Roulin,” “Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roul in Rocking a Cradle,” and “Ravine.”

Until Sunday, August 8 in the Rabb Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

125th Pops anniversary celebration Join the historic Boston Pops in their 125th anniversary as they pay tribute to “America’s Orchestra.” During the performance, the Pops will salute the legacies of Arthur Fiedler, John Williams and Keith Lockhart. The program will include many memorable pieces by the composers, such as Williams’ songs featured in popular films as well as George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Conductor Keith Lockhart and pianist Armen Babakhanian are the featured artists

of the night and are sure to provide an excellent experience.

Saturday, June 19 at 8 p.m. in the Symphony Hall of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Design a City: Boston in Your Hands Free-thinkers and dreamers are invited to come experience and learn about the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston’s unique architecture. The goal of the project is to envision the future of the city of Boston by manipulating a specially designed model of Boston created by MIT urban designer James Rojas. See Boston like never before from above, below, inside-out and upsidedown, and put on your architectural hat on to sketch out your own vision of Boston’s future. Who knows: your idea for projects such as the Boston waterfront, among other exciting renovations, might create a true impact on the architecture of Boston for years to come.

Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Institute of Contemporary Art with free admission to the museum for two adults per family with children 12 and under.

Black and White ballet Back by popular demand in an unprecedented move by the Boston Ballet, Black and White, a program by Jiří Kylián, one of the world’s most fascinating and celebrated choreographers, is a five-ballet program that made its Boston premiere in February 2009, providing audiences with a view into Kylián’s unique and potent vision. The Boston Phoenix raves of the performance, “The energy was palpable everywhere. The [theater] was full and the curtain calls were enthusiastic. So much for the notion that Boston is interested only in classical story ballets.”

Until May 30 at the Boston Ballet.

JustArts: When did you start getting involved in WBRS? Ben Stein: I came here last year as a midyear, and during the first club fair I signed up to become a DJ. Then I accidentally went to one of the meetings and decided I wanted to be on [WBRS’ executive board]. The music director at the time was named Sophie, and she needed a co-director, so after being very persistent she finally made me her [co-director]. She transferred to NYU last semester, and now I am music director.

Jake Blair: There is a similar story for me. [I signed up to be in WBRS during the club fair and] was in the studio pretty much within the first week or so. When first semester was coming to a close and Ben was becoming music director, ... like Ben, I asked, because that was what I wanted to do.

JA: So what drew you guys to radio and WBRS? BS: I love music and new music a lot, but that is what draws you to radio: a love of music and wanting to be more involved in the industry and being able to play what you love and have other people hear what you love.

JA: What do you think radio as a source offers that other mediums can’t?

BS: Many things, but first and foremost portability: You listen to it in your car, and when you turn it on music is just there. It is also personal. ... When you are in your car, they will say, “Make requests,” and you will call in and hear your voice on the radio.

JB: I agree, there is a gap between conversation on the Internet. E-mail is not direct, while radio feels like a direct conversation.

JA: You guys rose up in the ranks of WBRS pretty quickly. Were there any difficulties you face and had to overcome?

BS: Not many difficulties, [but] more individual tasks like accessing the [College Music Journal] website that is very unresponsive. It is fun, though. We get to deal with promoters from record labels pushing their bands on us, and it’s fun to listen to lots of bands and see what we like best.

JA: How do you balance the airplay of indie bands and Top 40s?

BS: Our job is mostly the new and indie bands because the Top 40s don themselves upon the DJs. JB: As music directors, we don’t tell people what to play. People play what they want to play, and we give suggestions pushing them in different directions. I’ve found if you say nothing about the Top 40, the airplay usually balances out.

BS: We put up suggestions every week trying to show people new music they might like.

JA: What shows do you guys host?

BS: We have a live show every week called Liberation Frequency that is hosted by the music directors. It is a two-hour show, so the first hour we just play new music, and during the second hour we play our personal choices.

That’s the only show I’m currently doing now, but when I first started I had a show called Indie-cent Exposure.

JB: Right now I have a show I’ve been doing since last semester called 25 Watts from Nowhere that is a variety show with a focus on local bands. Sometimes you are in here and nobody will have a show, and you can do whatever you want. Last semester, Jackie [Benowitz] ’12, our live music director, said that she wanted to play some vinyl 33.5 RPM records, and so together we just made an impromptu 45-minute show.

BS: At the station, we have one of the largest vinyl collections in the Northeast. … You can just go in there with your computer and not come out for hours finding all this new music.

JA: Do you have any ideas for the future of WBRS? JB: We are trying to reshape the way we take music to the station and get lots of people involved [by creating] a genre-coordinator system where we get certain people who are interested in all different types of genres. We are obviously not experts in everything. For example, … all heavy metal sounds similar to us, though I’m not opposed to it, … so having someone here who can tell us what is good and bad and if it is worth keeping or not [would be a positive change].

BS: I’m personally excited for the digital switch, ways to make music distribution easier for the DJs. In the office, there are [tons] of CDs and I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it is all digital.

JB: The big project this semester is moving our library into a digital format.

BS: We have a lot of fun planning the big concerts, like SpringFest with Student Events. But we also have a small budget for [Cholmondoley’s] concerts where we get to display indie music and show the bands we have a lot of passion for.

—Bryan Flatt

THE JUSTICE

ON CAMPUS

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

19

MUSIC

Voices of Soul closes year on high note ■ In its final concert of the

semester, Voices of Soul sang hits from its history.

By ROBYN SPECTOR JUSTICE EDITOR

Soul music tends to incorporate a wide variety of musical genres. It is rooted in gospel and rhythm and blues, dating back to Curtis Mayfield and the outbreak of “sweet soul” that swept the northern inner cities of the United States 40 years back. On Thursday, May 6, the same “call and response” R&B music from the contemporary likes of R. Kelly, Janet Jackson, Black Eyed Peas and more echoed through the South Campus Commons as Brandeis’ coed a cappella group Voices of Soul presented its annual spring show.

Since its inception in 2001, Voices of Soul has been highly regarded at Brandeis for its contagious rhythms and unique compilations of contemporary R&B. It is no secret that a cappella at Brandeis, with a plethora of musical competition, is a large time commitment; to be the best, members of such a cappella groups often meet several times a week for practice, performance and publicity purposes. But the most distinguishing factor of Voices of Soul is not so much its wealth of talent as the admirable accomplishments of its current members. Jeremy Sherer ’10 established the Brandeis branch of J Street U, an Israel advocacy group for college campuses. Lisa Fitzgerald ’10, the group’s current musical director, implemented a nonprofit support network for Quito, one of Ecuador’s many women’s shelters, during her time abroad there last year. Lexi Kriss ’11, the group’s unassumingly talented and energetic main beatboxer, was heavily involved in orientation last fall and Ji Yun Lee ’11, who has also served as an orientation leader in the past, has been noted around campus for her impeccable sense of style and continues to be an active participant in Brandeis’ Korean Student Association. And while the list

ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice

SOULFUL TUNE: Rani Schloss ’11 performs a solo during Voices of Soul’s recent spring show. The group performed songs from R. Kelly and Janet Jackson, among others. of involvements continues to grow for the group’s 16 members, this semester show aimed to introduce the audience to both the group’s musical talents and its array of diverse participants.

The group began the show with one of its most recognizable pieces, “Black or White,” originally sung by Michael Jackson. Fitzgerald’s soprano solo set a high energy level for the show’s opening with her expressive style, complemented by harmonies by Rani Schloss ’11 and Kriss’ highly energetic beatboxing.

The group’s humorous choreography garnered giggles from audience members at various points throughout the evening, as when the group “got down” in recovering its rendition of Jay Sean’s “Down” from the struggling vocals of its beginning soloist. Alicia Keys’ “No One,” however, needed no recovery with a vivacious and powerful solo from Stephanie Johnson ’13, whose ability to reach and connect a varying

scale of notes sent a chill across the room and caused audience members to cheer throughout the song. Following Johnson’s outstanding introductory solo, Kriss switched the stage lights off, and all that lit the South Campus Commons was an incandescent light from above. The group formed a semicircle and danced with attitude to the beat as Sherer entered the foreground, rapping about themes of discrimination, terrorism, love and humanity. Other individuals stepped into the center, continuing the group’s original free-flowing rap to the piece.

In the group’s performance of “Together Again,” a song popularized by Janet Jackson, the energy started low with a solo from Geraldine Rothschild ’12. Her strong, controlled voice served as a natural progression to the upbeat key change that the audience anticipated from familiarity with the original song. As the song progressed to a faster pace, I found it hard to fully appreciate

the group’s unique harmonies with the sopranos in front overshadowing the tenors and altos in the back row. The group’s configuration throughout the show, however, was in no way stagnant. For the next song, “No Diggity”

by Blackstreet, the male group members shuffled to the front of the stage while the ladies took their places in the back. With soulful runs and lively instrumentals of “hey-yahs” and repetitive “no diggitys,” the song incorporated several soloists who gave audience members an extensive taste of the eclectic voices within the group.

While some of the baritone solos were slightly muffled and rushed, others exhibited all that Voices of Soul had to offer: Lucas Silva’s ’13 featured an impressive falsetto; Joshua Kahane’s ’12 displayed his finely tuned vocals; and Darlene Zephryne’s ’12 had a sultry twist.

As occurs in most of Brandeis’ spring semester shows, Voices of Soul

reached moments of bittersweet sentiment as the group bade farewell to its longstanding senior members. Sherer, whom Kriss called the “godfather of the group,” and Fitzgerald, who claimed she found she found her soul in the group, performed the fitting Al Green classic “Just the Two of Us,” which was followed by emotional speeches from the group’s younger members, who recounted their personal and professional interactions with the soon-to-be graduates. While Lee will continue her role as president of the group, the responsibilities of musical director will be divided between Kriss and Schloss.

Although group members expressed doubt in their ability to continue without the guidance and support of their beloved seniors, the songs performed at their semester show leave me with faith that Voices of Soul will continue to improve and thrive on the talents and enthusiasm of its rising leaders.

If you have an interest in theater, consider writing for the Arts section of theJustice. the

Justice is looking for writers to both preview and review shows.

E-mail Bryan Flatt at artseditors@yahoo.com for more information.

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

MUSIC

Giraffes balance silliness with skill

■ A cappella group Rather

Be Giraffes took on alter egos as they transformed into superhero singers for their semester show.

By GLORIA PARK JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Saturday, May 8, a medley of superheroes filled the Golding Auditorium. Although their superhero powers were questionable, the members of Rather Be Giraffes most definitely proved themselves not only as respectable singers but also as exquisite entertainers with lots of pep and quirks.

At first, the audience was amused by the variety of costumes as the group hustled into the classroom-style auditorium. With a dusty blackboard with chalk drawings depicting a courtroom in the background, the singers in mismatched outfits beamed with great anticipation to conclude RBG’s year, which was filled with exceptional performances and lasting, unforgettable memories with its graduating seniors.

After the brief introduction that consisted of a Nickelodeon medley, the judge (Talya Davidoff ’11), dressed in her black robe and white wig, began the session by declaring, “Order, order!

Court is now in session! I will now hear the civil disputes surrounding the superheroes in the consortium named RBG: Rag-tag Bunch of Guardians.”

Upon hearing the absurd alternative meaning of the acronym, the audience released a few giggles. According to the judge, the superheroes of RBG were appearing in the court to resolve a number of disputes within the group.

With that said, the first case involved No-Pants McGanse and Hobo, played by Jordan Talan ’12 and David Frederick ’11, respectively. Their conflict resulted from Hobo’s natural tendency to collect anything the other heroes threw away and McGanse’s ability to send his pants wherever he wants. McGanse yelled in contempt, arguing that despite how his pants could “make the world a better place, … fight crime … [and] feed the hungry,” recently they could never go anywhere he wanted them to because “this mangy bum has been intercepting [his] pants.” After presenting the scenario, McGanse complained, “How am I supposed to wear my suit without my pants? ... It’s enough to make me want to start a riot.” Not surprisingly, the group went on to sing its first song, “Zoot Suit Riot” by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, a ’90s punk, jazz, funk and ska band. Swinging to the beat, the group successfully recreated the song with added comedic details in the performance. After McGanse’s solo perform-

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ASHER KRELL/the Justice

SERIOUSLY SUPER: Though members’ superhero talents caused conflicts within the group, Rather Be Giraffes remains united at the end of its vocally brilliant semester show. ance, Hobo spread his arms out and begged for the audience’s sympathy: “I’m a Hobo! I don’t mean to make trouble, but I’m all about making things simple,” and began singing “Easy” by The Commodores.

The next case presented Anton McSyrup (Ben Oehlkers ’12), a prizefighter who sweats syrup, and Aunt Jemima (Colleen Troy ’12), who claimed McSyrup as her painstakingly executed creation and simply wanted to “put Anton McSyrup in a cage, make him run on a treadmill 31 hours a day, bottle his sweat and sell it for a profit.”

However, Jemima admitted a crucial fact: “Every time I’m near him my heart goes all aflutter until I make some waffles.” The two sang “Return to Pooh Corner” by Kenny Loggins and “Breathless” by Corinne Bailey Rae, feeding the audience with soulful melody and delightful harmony. Following after the duo were Jimothy Clean Jr. (Savannah Wallace ’13) and Francisco Fernando Filth (Sophie Golomb ’13) complaining about each other’s overly enforced cleanliness or complete lack thereof, each singing “Other Side of the World” by KT Tun-

stall and “Scar” by Missy Higgins.

The next case introduced Corporal Flex (Jeremy Weinberg ’12), who filed a restraining order against Beatrice Withers (Marti Dembowitz ’10), who purposely put herself in dangerous situations for Flex to waste his strength to rescue her from “a lion’s den, an active volcano and the mythical underwater city of Atlantis.” Flex confessed that every time he uses his power, he hears the song “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” in his head, at which everyone gasped. Flex sang “National Express”

by The Divine Comedy, with the group lined up in two rows to represent a train.

After cutting to the chase and singing “Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color for Your Eyes,” soloed by both Elena Korn ’13 and Christy Kang ’13, the next case involved determining the right to the throne of the land of Nod between Pillow King (Ryan Heisler ’10) and Countess (Rachel Copel ’11). After Heisler’s solo of “The Way” by Fastball, Lady Cattitude (Lynda Bachman ’10) rocked “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. After striking dramatic cat poses, Bachman left the scene for

Droopid (Debra Fricano ’10) to tell the audience that although she dreamed of becoming like Cupid and shooting happiness-inducing arrows, she has turned people to be apathetic instead, singing “Never Had a Dream Come True” by S Club 7. The following solo of “Flagpole Sitta” sung by Dr. Baguette (Elana Sandler ’10) produced an explosive reaction from the audience: She walked down the aisles to serenade and surprise audience members while maintaining a dramatic tone during the song. The act concluded with Dembowitz’s solo of “Somebody to Love” by Queen, explaining to the audience that the old Beatrice Withers just wanted to be remembered and loved. After the official act, the nongraduating members of the group gave a custom-designed memory box to each graduating senior and sang them a farewell song while emphasizing the newbies’ chance for “singing [their] solos.”

Overall, the performance was successful not only because each member was multitalented but also because the group was visibly united and enthusiastic, which graduating seniors Bach-

man and Fricano agreed were among the group’s greatest strengths. The group devotes seven hours per week to rehearsals and carefully chooses songs that best highlight the soloists’ voices and styles. With no genre restrictions, the group’s current repertoire is, according to Bachman, “a pretty eclectic mix of musical genres with lots of ’90s and modern rock/pop/indie and a little bit of the ’70s.”

Fricano explained with great fondness and love for the group: “With a name that is a grammatical anomaly and makes reference to a tall, fuzzy, peaceful creature, how could we not be weird? ... RBG was founded on [the] principle of being different than the norm, and staying strong—having fun by doing our own thing—and I think that that comes across. … We are legitimately having fun with each other making music. Before performances, we promise to have fun with each other and to share that with the audience.

When people show up to see our shows, it is always a pleasant surprise. … To impress the musically proficient or entertain the average ear—it’s so rewarding!”

THEATER

BTC expresses profound themes in movement ■ BTC explored dualities

through movement and lighting in the Spingold Theater Center May 9.

By BRYAN FLATT JUSTICE EDITOR

How can one describe movement?

Something so purely visual, sensual and interpretive made of lights, sounds, limbs and emotions needs to be experienced for the impact of the performance to be fully and wholly grasped. So, too, it is difficult to describe light. A simple sense that, from vibrant and bright to soft and dull, can affect mood and atmosphere to a great extent but cannot be put into the proper words. So, on May 9 at the Mainstage in the Spingold Theater Center when I prepared to watch the Brandeis Theater Company’s Movement Light Project, I was met with a difficult question. How does one review something so visual and interpretive? Luckily, the fears inside me easily subsided as the 12 performances were expertly performed, danced and acted. Each movement onstage felt collected and contemplated; with each step, the dancers/actors and actresses were in full control of their bodies and

fully aware of the space between themselves and the others onstage. Exploring “images and themes based on heaven and hell, light and dark, good and evil, life and death and various opposing themes that are reflected in … the duality of human nature,” as Prof.

Susan Dibble, the chair of the Theater Arts department, described the performances in the program, cannot be so easy to portray onstage without any plot or vocals, but all of the performances were excellently executed and quite intriguing.

While each and every dance was interesting and deep, my favorites were titled “Snakes and Ladders,” “Withdrawal” and “The Secrets of Hell, Keeping Secrets to Keep Heaven.” I found that the performances that had either lyrical songs to which the dances related or elaborate costumes and sets were the ones that were most easily interpreted, and therefore those were the most powerful for me. While performances such as the opening dance, “Heaven and Hell,” featured incredible choreography by the graduate actors, I often found it difficult to understand the dualities these performances were attempting to explore when they were enhanced only by sporadic bouts of classical music. “Snakes and Ladders,” the fourth dance of the show, was the

first that blended acting, movement and emotion together in a way that I could relate to. Choreographed by Jesse Hinson (GRAD) and lighted by Julie Rautenstrauch (GRAD), the performance played out a cruel game of musical chairs to the very specific vocals and crescendo of Radiohead’s song “Sit Down. Stand Up.” As the tension in the music grew, so did the worry and need of the performers to be in a chair until total madness broke out with nobody to “arrange us,” as the song demands. The chaos of withdrawal and need for order that they had just broken away from explored a scary and thought-provoking theme: Do we sometimes need to be controlled to survive?

On the theme of withdrawal, the aptly titled “Withdrawal” gave a scary look into addiction and the sad results of too much dependence. Ben Rosenblatt (GRAD), who was also the choreographer, and Equiano Mosieri (GRAD) stunningly portrayed an entire spectrum of desire, attachment, longing, need and withdrawal through just one simple blue shawl. The soft lighting designed by Jake Bray (GRAD) used an earthy green backdrop to show tranquility that soon turned into madness.

Throughout the performance, the cast members wrapped themselves in the blue shawl, slowly becoming more and

more trapped until the shawl was taken away. The need for the shawl overcame the addicted, and with one loud boom, the performance ended but with only one of two very addicted cast members standing. The performance was powerful and impactful and left a lasting impression.

“The Secrets of Hell, Keeping Secrets to Keep Heaven” was by far the most relatable on so many levels. Dealing with the all-too-present issue of adultery, the performance, choreographed by Japonica Brown (GRAD) and lighted by Chesapeake Westveer (GRAD), opened with two apparently normal couples on opposite sides of the stage passionately grasping each other to Luther Vandross’ song “If Only for One Night.”

Soon it was revealed that these were not two couples but one couple, a man and a woman, who had both cheated on their partners. As the title insinuates, the rest of the time the two partners were dramatically laying next to each other contemplating the benefits and major drawbacks of revealing the burden they had created for themselves.

The performance was highly physical, emotional and dramatic and created an eerie emotional and moral question.

What if, sometimes, it is better to keep secrets than to tell the truth?

The performance with the most in-

credible lighting was the second of the show, titled “Dis.” Choreographed by Rob McFadyen (GRAD) with lighting design by Westveer, the performance used lighting to create a depth and effect onstage I was not expecting that instantly impressed me. Opening to a shadow of a bird, it was soon revealed through slow and subtle lighting cues that the image on stage was not a shadow nor a bird, but instead a person whose peace was thrown into gradual chaos. The darkness of the stage combined with the slow lighting cues really lent to the performance’s deep emotion.

While I have only highlighted a few performances, every single performance of the show was no less than incredible. The skill and body control of so many performers was astounding, the way lighting was used to so accurately portray calm with cool and earthy tones or anger with harsh and vibrant reds was eye-popping and the choreography was extremely wellthought-out. While each performance, from the very dark “The Moment Before” to the clown-riddled goofy and comedic finale, “Dance of Death,” differed from the others significantly, the central idea of opposing themes continued throughout the production, and it was executed with apparent perfection and ease.

THE JUSTICE

TAKING NOTES

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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MUSIC

VoiceMale amazes with rich vocals ■ Audience members were

wowed by the mix of songs that VoiceMale performed at its final semester show.

By ROBYN SPECTOR JUSTICE EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF KENNY FUENTES

AN EDUCATION: Boston-area actresses take notes in a CoLab Theatre Company classroom during one of the many free workshops offered to help improve acting skills.

CoLab teaches through criticism ■ Alums Kenny Fuentes ’09

and Erika Geller ’09 created CoLab Theater Company to train Boston-area actors.

By SARAH BAYER JUSTICE EDITOR

Around this time last year, Kenny Fuentes ’09 was confronting a fear common to many recent college graduates: “I seriously thought that I would never work again,” he recalls. Fuentes, who majored in History, knew that he wanted to pursue a career in theater but had never so much as auditioned for a professional theater role.

Since graduating, not only has Fuentes managed to land acting gigs and keep a day job, but he also serves as an artistic director of the CoLab Theatre Company, a group he co-founded with Erika Geller ’09.

The company seeks to provide training and networking resources for Boston-area actors.

CoLab has yet to stage a play, although Fuentes says a production of an original work is planned for the end of the summer. Instead, Fuentes, Geller and a third collaborator, Mary-Liz Murray, have focused on bringing together local actors in a series of free workshops focused on developing audition skills.

“We don’t direct the actors,” Fuentes notes of the workshops, which routinely bring in as many as 15 actors at a time for a simulated open audition. “We give them observations; we give them ideas— the theory being that an audition piece is such a personal expression that the actor needs to be their own director.”

This philosophy of constructive criticism reflects the niche that CoLab’s founders hope it will fill in the Boston theater scene. “I think people are too polite here,” Fuentes explains, describing his experiences at area auditions. “There’s a close, tight-knit community, which I’m in love with, which you’re not going to find in some of the larger theater cities. But the downside of that is that people are scared of rubbing each other the wrong way, stepping on toes.” Fuentes hopes that by allowing actors to discuss their work with other actors, CoLab’s workshops will yield a

higher quality of performance.

The collaborative process of New York’s Group Theatre served as a source of inspiration for Fuentes, Geller and Murray as they formulated their company’s unique mission. The collective, founded in the 1930s, included many legends of American theater, such as Elia Kazan, Stella Adler and Clifford Odets. “These were people who worked very closely together and respected each other a great deal but who were not afraid to bicker and not afraid to criticize,” Fuentes explains.

The company is founded on a similarly supportive yet honest atmosphere among its directors.

Fuentes and Geller established a strong rapport while serving as cocoordinators of Brandeis Ensemble Theater and later took on Murray after it became clear she was dedicated to the same collaborative vision.

Although they share the title of “artistic director,” CoLab’s staffers also serve as de facto marketing directors for the budding company.

Fuentes, Geller and Murray take turns supplying near-daily updates on the company’s blog at colabtheatre.blogspot.com, which Fuentes cites as an important tool in spreading news of the company’s projects. He praises the hard work that has been put in so far, saying, “It’s one thing to pay people to do something. It’s another thing to have them believe in the mission so much that they’re willing to give away their very scarce time and energy.”

CoLab’s cooperative approach has attracted interest in the company as its reputation spreads. “I think the most exciting thing in the world is when somebody comes to our workshops who we have no connection to,” Fuentes says. “We’ve had people show up on faith alone.”

He hopes to convert this small following into a money base for the company, speaking of plans for a letter-writing campaign, a cabaret fundraiser and possibly levying a fee for certain workshops.

As CoLab prepares for its second year on the Boston theater scene, Fuentes says it has already surpassed many of his goals and expectations. He says, “I’m a big believer that the spoils often go to who shows up. If you have the drive and the confidence and the wherewithal to just try, that’s half the battle.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF KENNY FUENTES

OPEN AUDITION: An actress stands in front of a group of CoLab actors as part of the simulated open audition program CoLab runs to help refine actors’ skills.

While it is not often a word used to describe a group of men, beautiful is the only adjective that accurately depicts the butter-smooth voices of VoiceMale, Brandeis’ award-winning all-male a cappella group. Audience members cheered wildly on Saturday, May 8 as the group members’ eight dark profiles walked onto the blue-lit stage of the Carl J. Shapiro Theater for their spring semester show, TestFest. With finely pressed suits anddecorations in blue and white—the group’s signature colors—VoiceMale was ready to perform familiar favorites and new compilations while paying homage to the group’s president and sole graduating senior, Douglas Friedman ’10.

VoiceMale delivered a powerful and exuberating showcase of talent, as expected from one of Brandeis’ premiere on-campus a cappella groups. As usual, Nick Maletta ’13 won listeners’ hearts during his seductive solo for the VoiceMale original song “Please Don’t Go.” Similarly, audience members delighted in the group’s rendition of Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me”

by Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards Best Male Collegiate Solo nominee Adam Levine ’11. New songs were also popular with Chase Hiller’s ’12 arrangement of Eric Hutchinson’s original song “You’ve Got You” performed with bubbly enthusiasm by soloist Jared Greenberg ’12, the group’s musical director. Dotan and Aidan Horowitz ’12 also got girls giggling in their energetic rendition of “Listen” by Beyoncé. One girl in particular, Michelle Barras ’10, rejoiced in a serenade from Jason Sugarman ’13, who performed his baritone solo “In the Still of the Night” as her reward for winning a silent auction at A Night for Haiti on May 1 by bidding $23 for the performance.

In the past year, VoiceMale has been nominated for several CARA awards including Best Male Collegiate Album for this year’s Suit Up, Best Male Collegiate Song for “Where’s the Love” and Best Scholastic Original Song for “Time (Bring It On).” The latter track was also recently included on Sing Six: Sunny Side Up compilation album released by the Contemporary A Cappella Society. Furthermore, VoiceMale has started to record a brand-new album and even sold a digital download of its first completed track, “Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough,” originally performed by the New Radicals. From watching the interactions of the group members, it is clear that the time spent on the road has been a bonding experience, from early morning coffee runs preceding performances to parental enthusiasm and constant support.

The comical “Gaga Mash-Up,”created by two of the group’s newer members, Sugarman and Eric Freeman ’12, featured choreography and echoed the sultry moves of the Lady herself.

Along with Levine’s soulful rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” the mashup was part of a “senior roast” that led the group into sentimental and melancholy farewells.

Friedman soloed in two of the night’s classic hits, the Goo Goo Dolls’ country-style “Big Machine” and his final performance of “Here Comes Goodbye” by Rascal Flatts. With each song, the audience gained insight into the familial relationships that have developed from the daily rehearsals, performances, recordings and logistical coordination that lie at the heart of VoiceMale’s success: relationships which will make saying “goodbye” to the group’s senior president a difficult task.

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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THE JUSTICE

OFF CAMPUS MUSIC

A musical duo unlike any other ■ In a telephone interview

with the Justice, Nikki and Rich discuss their unique sound, their rising fame, their partnership and recording their first album.

By BRYAN FLATT JUSTICE EDITOR

What do you get when you cross a pastor’s daughter born in California, forbidden by her father from listening to anything other than gospel music, with a born-and-raised New Yorker who burst out onto the DJ scene at the ripe age of 16? The newest and coolest sound on the music scene. Nikki Leonti and Rich Velonskis—who goes by his stage name, Rich Skillz—have been writing and producing songs for some of the biggest acts in the industry for some time now, but they only recently came together to create the genre-defying duo Nikki and Rich.

“We all met a few years back,” Nikki said in an interview with the Justice.

“We were writing for other people for about a little over a year, and so we started getting into a routine and writing all the time. At that point, the music that we had was stuff I didn’t want to give away and he didn’t want to give away, so we said, ‘Forget this!’ and we decided at the time that we should just do it ourselves and make Nikki and Rich. It’s been about three years now.”

Soon to release their first album, Nikki and Rich are starting to gain popularity, but they received some deserved recognition well before this summer. Fans of Entourage and 90210 may want to rewatch some of the last season to hear snippets of the group’s first track together, “Cat and Mouse.” Rich explained that the song “helped define this whole process for us. ... It was so distinct that we [as a songwriting team] didn’t even want to pitch it or know who we could pitch it to. From that song a bunch of different songs came. ... It grew to more R&B and into this kind of record.”

Furthermore, the duo’s track “Dreaming” was the title song of the brand new Queen Latifah film Just Wright, and their biggest song, “Next Best Thing,” (which Rich called the group’s “baby” in an interview with the Justice) was featured on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and on promos for ABC’s new sitcom Romantically Challenged.

With such a quick rise in popularity and recognition, one would assume that hearing their songs playing on TV feels standard to Nikki and Rich by now, but Rich says, “I don’t think it will ever get

KURT ISWARIENKO/Reprise Records

NEXT BEST THING: Pop sensations Nikki and Rich will release their new album ‘Everything’ in June before they kick off their busy summer filled with a cross-country tour. old or that it ever does; it’s just, like, cool to see something you made then translate to the big screen or TV onto shows we actually watch.” Nikki certainly agrees: “Oh, it’s exciting,” she exclaimed. “I think it’s more exciting for me when my brothers and sisters see and they are like, ‘I heard your song,’ or they are blasting it and they are excited to hear, so it’s fun to see how people react to it.”

The people’s reaction is exactly what will define the duo’s place on the pop charts this upcoming summer, when its highly anticipated album, Everything, is slated to be released.

The duo’s sound, a whole new genre of music that combines oldschool doo-wop with a very modern feel, is one that has a lot of potential and might finally break the dancepop mold that currently commandeers the Top 40. On their website, Nikki and Rich describe their sound as, “Lauryn Hill meets The Supremes while hanging out with Alicia Keys listening to Outkast’s ‘Hey Yah.’” If one thing is for sure, by description alone one can tell that they are definitely different than the

popular songs and sounds of Ke$ha and Lady Gaga.

Integration into this singular sound is what will be the real test, but Nikki and Rich don’t seem too worried. Nikki recognizes, “There are definitely a couple songs on the record, like ‘Cat and Mouse’ and ‘Next Best Thing,’ that incorporate some of that throwback sound in there, but it also has that modern appeal with Rich’s production.” For Rich, though, more than a diverse album is the opportunity to truly become the “Next Best Thing.” “I think, in regard to Top 40 radio and all that, it always is the first thing that comes along that defines what the radio will be playing, … so it’s sort of interesting for us that we can bring up this sort of sound and let that dominate. … It’s about, sometimes, not doing exactly what’s being played on the radio and fit it but being passionate and doing what we love, … and [we hope] there will be more of a mixed batch on Top 40 radio instead of it just being really similar, like right now.”

Putting out an album isn’t all about the postrecording process:

Years of writing, recording, perfecting and deciding factor into the present album. While the two of them used to work seperatly, Rich as a producer and Nikki as a backup singer, they are both discovering the ups and downs of the collaborative creation process.

Nikki and Rich both agreed that the most difficult part of the process was condensing the material they recorded into one album. “It was hard, because we all have our favorites.” Nikki said, “I go to that for certain songs that I’m really passionate about, and Rich goes to that for songs he is really passionate about. We think it is coming together and a meeting of the minds and deciding which 10 to 12 songs after all the work that we’ve done are the songs that we want people to hear.”

Now that the album is almost out, the true fun begins. As much as they agreed that the studio experience was just as much about “bonding and a get-together and having a good time … and being creative” as the “6 a.m. drives home from a long night in the studio,” summer tours are where the true talent of the group

shines through. With such a plethora of modern voice-changing technology that many performers require to sound good on stage, Nikki and Rich are able, as Nikki put it, to “bring the quality of sound in the live performance that is as good as the record, if not better at times.”

With a radio tour this June and more cross-country shows planned, there should be many opportunities for fans to experience the sheer power and talent of Nikki and Rich.

After such a whirlwind ride, have they had their “big moment” yet?

Rich put it perfectly when he said, “Well, we would like to hope so! [laughs] We are just really excited! I wish we could say about the future, but we just want to keep doing what we are doing and perform and keep making music and hope people respond to it and love it like we do.” If their currently released tracks are any indication of what is to come, what they are doing should keep fans as well as music lovers responding positively for years to come.

—Hillel Buechler contributed reporting.

MUSIC

Vickers’ album outshines previous competition Brad

STERN POP MUSE

In December 2008, 19-year-old singer Diana Vickers was prematurely eliminated from the fifth season of the U.K.’s The X Factor. Within months after her departure, however, the young singer was already creating a healthy amount of buzz around her debut—nearly enough to overshadow the efforts of her former competitors, Alexandra Burke and JLS. The buzz was due to an ever-expanding rumor list of drool-worthy collaborators and musical legends, including Guy Sigsworth, Starsmith, Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis. As the news trickled down, the promise of these recording sessions grew

greater as fans waited to hear what the quirky singer was quietly cooking up in the studio.

Then came the release of the singer’s debut single, “Once,” an instantly catchy and thrilling rush of explosive choruses and big-bass beats. The single proved that Vickers’ odd, hushed delivery and near-broken vocals lend themselves perfectly to pop, causing the song to rocket to the number-one spot on the U.K. Singles Chart in late April 2010. Her debut album soon followed on May 3, which also hit the top spot on the U.K. Album Chart the following week.

Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree is an incredibly solid electropop package colored by an unconventionally raspy voice and a youthful spirit.

Neither dance music nor torchsong balladry, Vickers’ album is a refreshing blend of bright electronic hooks and classic crooning that refuses to be characterized in either direction.

With glittering, multilayered elec-

tronica-inspired songs like “You’ll Never Get To Heaven,” “My Hip” and “Remake Me & You,” Vickers follows in line with such artists as Ellie Goulding and Imogen Heap in forging the somewhat newly founded genre of indie electropop. The songs, which feature extensive production and wild, whizzing noises, mesh together to create a whimsical soundscape complimented by cheerful crooning and dizzying melodies.

“The Boy Who Murdered Love,” set to be the next single released from the album, is among one of the most immediate standouts on the record.

In the song, Vickers recounts a love gone sour with the most biting lyricism and pained delivery: “You’re the boy who murdered love,” she begins, “Cold hands and a heart of stone / You’re a Midas in reverse, you’re the king of pain and hurt.” Everything about the song burns with broken-hearted anguish, resulting in one of the most delicious of the electropop

confections on the record.

“My Hip,” which features Vickers herself taking a turn on the trumpet, is another highlight. Taking a break from the lush, ethereal electronic sounds for a brief foray through frantic, skipping beats and trumpet flares, the singer charms her way through a gleeful crush. It’s both adorable and addictive.

Vickers’ only cover on the album, The Sugarcubes’ “Hit.” is also a delightful surprise for music fans. Vickers’ version blends in effortlessly with the rest of the record, replacing the groovier original beats with bright, poppy synthesizers and swirling electronic beats. As it (unsurprisingly) turns out, the singer’s voice takes well to Björk’s throaty yelps, making it sound more like an original selection than a mere karaoke attempt.

The ballads, however, are a bit more temperamental than the uptempo offerings. “Four Leaf Clover,”

for instance, is an overly soggy misstep that, aside from the song’s lonesome verses, never fully redeems itself from a rather clichéd chorus.

The same applies to “Me & You.” It is only with “N.U.M.B.” and “Notice,” two incredibly sophisticated slices of adult pop, that Vickers truly raises the bar for the rest of the album and firmly establishes herself as more than just a pretty voice. The proof comes 3 1/2 minutes into “N.U.M.B.,” as Vickers tackles the final repetition of the chorus with expert delivery, emitting a soaring, heartbreaking final note that comes crashing down. Chills.

Vickers’ debut is far more exciting than most of what’s come out of The X Factor/Simon Cowell hit machine as of late. Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree is a highly listenable, engaging album of lush electronica that proves why Vickers is much, much more than simply a finalist on some reality show.

THE JUSTICE

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TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

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FILM

Summer movies are full of stars ■ This summer brings films

from a slew of genres that will satisfy many students’ cinematic appetites.

By BRYAN FLATT JUSTICE EDITOR

Oh, school year, you have come and gone again. At the end of every semester, I feel an emptiness that accompanies the calm after the storm we call “exams.” Luckily, though, the longest break of the school year coincides with the most exciting movie months of the year. To fill the welcome void of workless nights, there are always a few things that we exitedly anticipate: In my case, the top five movies that I can’t wait to stand in line and see. The genres are eclectic, but I seriously hope that, unlike many of the films on my equivalent list last semester, they do not disappoint.

MacGruber Take one part action hero, one part secret agent and one part total buffoon, and what do you get? MacGruber. For those who are unfamiliar with MacGruber, he is a ridiculous MacGyver-like character who is the result of Will Forte’s hilarious and ridiculous imagination.

I have been curious since this project was first announced how the filmmakers would turn the alwayshilarious 15-second Saturday Night Live regular sketch into a film. After seeing the trailers online and in theaters, the transition looks flawless and, more importantly, hilarious.

With an incredible cast featuring the aforementioned Will Forte as well as Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer as the evil villain Dieter Von Cunth (a name that already begs some laughter) and with direction by SNL writer and one third of the comedy trio The Lonely Island Jorma Taccone, this film is one that I hope delivers some gut-busting laughter. If early feedback is any indication, certainly does so. Released last Friday, you can get in on the laughs right away.

Toy Story 3 Disney and Pixar, you have done it again. Ever since I was five years old, I, along with millions of people around the world, fell in love with the loveable talking toys that we wished we could bring into our homes. The joys of youth that could be loved and appreciated by everyone from toddlers to seniors were captured in Toy Story, and the last 15 years have brought many other consistently incredible films by the powerhouse animation duo. Now, older and (hopefully) wiser, I still cannot

EVAN AGOSTINI/the Associated Press

FUNNY MAN: Will Forte brought his popular recurring ‘Saturday Night Live’ character to the big screen May 21 with a supporting cast of talented actors and actresses. contain my excitement to be reunited with Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky and a whole bunch of familiar and brand-new characters in the newest installment of the Toy Story series voiced by its stellar all-star cast. In this film, Andy is sent off to college, and all of his toys—including the mistakenly included Woody–have been sent to a day care. With a new location come new experiences, tons of new toys and lots of new drama as the toys try to band together to break free and reunite with their longtime owner.

Though trilogy films have tended to be overblown cash grabs (ahem, Spiderman 3, ahem), Disney and Pixar have never let me down in either animation or story, and I expect many laughs, tears, smiles and jeers during the 86-minute ride.

Toy Story 3 will be in theaters June 18.

Inception “Your mind is the scene of the crime.” For months, this was all I knew of the upcoming blockbuster Inception. Well, that and the fact that blockbuster director Christopher Nolan took part in it, and it has

an all-star cast including the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Michael Caine, Joseph GordonLevitt, Cillian Murphy and more.

While this alone would have been enough to get me into the theater, as more details slowly leaked out, my excitement has just grown more and more.

Apparently, the film is a tale of the subconscious, set in a world in which technology exists that can enter dreams and thoughts can be the most important or most dangerous things in the world. While cryptic, the action, adventure and mystique of the trailer along with the sheer talent of Nolan’s writing and direction indicate Inception should not only hold off fans until Batman 3 comes out, but will most likely become the most talked-about film of the summer. What a follow-up to The Dark Knight—I see no way this film can disappoint!

Inception will be in theaters July 16.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World I kept hearing buzz about this film for a long time through many websites and entertainment magazines I

normally read. But the things I heard and read didn’t seem all that exciting. Based on a comic series by Bryan O’Malley, the movie is about a man named Scott Pilgrim who has to defeat his new girlfriend’s “seven evil ex-boyfriends” to win over her heart.

So how did it make it to my top five movies of the summer? For starters, the trailer is nothing less than awesome. It combines action, humor, a comic-style fight sequence and some crazy special effects that make this film look like nothing I had imagined. Second, Edgar Wright, director of the hilariously clever films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, directed it. Third, the cast is a mix of big names and up-andcoming actors and actresses.

Michael Cera, as Scott Pilgrim, seems to have finally been able to break out of his “awkward indie star” mold, and has a supporting cast that includes Mary Elizabeth Winsted, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman and upand-coming Toronto native Emily Kassie among many, many more.

While not knowing that much about the film itself, having Jason Reitman

categorizing the film as a “gamechanger” certainly helps sway me into getting very excited.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World jumps off the panel and into theaters on Aug. 13.

The Expendables Sly Stallone, you’ve done it again.

At 63 years old, Sylvester Stallone has managed to not only write and direct but also costar in the most kickass-looking movie of the summer, if not of the year. About a team of mercenaries headed to South America to uphold democracy and overthrow a dictator, the film looks to be so much more than a tale of American values. With many seasoned action veterans like Jet Li, Jason Statham, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Danny Trejo, Randy Couture and even Arnold Schwarzenegger, the amount of action and testosterone pumping through this film’s veins is endless. If you are looking for a one-stop mindless blowout great time, The Expendables is for you.

The Expendables explodes into theaters on Aug. 13.

FILM

‘Iron Man 2’ is action-packed but lacks focus ■ The high-action sequel to

the 2008 blockbuster is plagued by a plethora of character subplots.

By WEI-HUAN CHEN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSITANT

Sometimes seeing the narcissistic playboy get superpowers as well as all the girls, money and fame can be very entertaining. It was certainly fun in the first Iron Man movie, in which Tony Stark partied it up in his stripper-pole-equipped private jet and later donned his superpowered suit to save the world from Obadiah Stane. Stark may be a cocky bastard, but he realized that his armor’s unparalleled might comes with the obligation to use it responsibly.

And so it’s annoying to see Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr., get into all sorts of trouble as both the Stark Industries CEO and Iron Man in Iron Man 2, as if he forgot any lessons he learned in the last film. As a sequel, I had hoped that Iron Man 2

would bring the billionaire industrialist closer to realizing what it means to be a superhero while tackling more difficult challenges than he had previously. What we end up with, though, is a mishmash of underdeveloped subplots which include a disappointing half-romance with assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow); an involvement with the superhero agency S.H.I.E.L.D. that could confuse viewers who aren’t fans of comic books and a conflict with the generic though admittedly badass villain Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke).

Despite his possession of the world’s strongest financial and technological assets, there’s a lot going against Tony Stark in Iron Man 2.

His heart, for one, is failing due to contamination from the power core plugged into his chest. In an attempt to find an antidote for the rising toxicity in his blood, Stark looks to the company’s history and encounters another problem: His father, former owner of Stark Industries, seems to have left him enigmatic clues regarding the Stark legacy. Things aren’t going too well within the com-

pany, either, as Stark struggles with Potts in managing both the company and their relationship. And it doesn’t help that the United States government is out to seize his power suit, attempting to claim it for military purposes. A rival weapons manufacturer, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), is also out to get the Iron Man suit and eventually seeks help from the main villain of the film, reclusive Russian scientist Ivan Vanko. Vanko poses the largest threat to Stark, as the villain has built a formidable suit equipped with lightening-powered whips.

Amid these trials and tribulations, Stark still finds time to party and get drunk. After a particularly irritating scene in which he shows off his suit at a party, I began to wonder how, exactly, this behavior will pan out. An intervention from Nick Fury, played by an adequate Samuel L. Jackson, seems to be the answer to Stark’s ego, but the subplot involving S.H.I.E.L.D. gets pushed to the side too quickly.

The issue is that there are too many conflicts in Iron Man 2, and none of them get adequately fleshed

out. Ivan Vanko, particularly, lacks a satisfactory backstory, and we are left to understand him as the prototypical villain with all the expected traits: wants to kill a superhero, is a mad scientist, has an Eastern European accent and a grudge against the world, etc. It’s a huge shame, considering the potential of both Vanko’s original character and Mickey Rourke’s exceptional ruggedness.

Another underplayed role is Scarlett Johansson’s mysterious Black Widow. The combination of her mystifying sexuality and action-movie vigor makes for an impressive performance, but I’m left questioning her importance in the movie. Sure, as a member of Fury’s clandestine organization, Black Widow contributes to foreshadowing the upcoming Avengers film (slated for a 2012 release), but in terms of the central plotline, we are left just as confused as Stark about who she is.

And while I’m nitpicking about roles: Don Cheadle was miscast as Iron Man’s sidekick, James Rhodes.

Director Jon Favreau might not have been directly involved in the replacement of Terrence Howard,

who played Rhodes in the first film, but he should have realized that Cheadle is not exactly an action star.

Cheadle’s performance as Rhodes is so drastically different than Howard’s that I considered the colonel in Iron Man 2 as an altogether separate character. A change in actors, whether the filmmaker’s choice or not, creates an awkward disassociation from the first movie.

Since Iron Man 2 is first and foremost an action film, the most important question may merely be, “How is the action?” Though the battle sequences are less exciting than in Iron Man, they are nonetheless entertaining and help drive the plot forward. The special effects are impressive, but the flying sequences are hardly jaw-dropping compared to fare like Avatar. As far as action movies go, Iron Man 2 is by no means boring, but it lacks the depth of story and character development that I loved in the first film. Go if you are a fan of the comic book series, but the overstuffed plot and underdeveloped characters prevent this movie from being remembered as a satisfactory sequel.

24

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010

●

THE JUSTICE

TOP of the

ARTS ON VIEW

TRIVIA TIME 1. Which United States president served the shortest term?

2. Who said, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please”?

3. What is the science of classifying things called?

4. How many zeroes are in 1 billion?

5. When was Andrew Young appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations?

6. What does it mean when someone “bloviates”?

7. How many days is the Tour de France bicycle race?

8. Who was the first female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?

9. Who was the oldest performer to win an Oscar for Best Actor?

10. Which Muppet character lives in the garbage can on Sesame Street?

CHARTS Top 10s for the week ending May 23 BOX OFFICE 1. Avatar 2. Edge of Darkness 3. When in Rome 4. Tooth Fairy 5. The Book of Eli 6. Legion 7. The Lovely Bones 8. Sherlock Holmes 9. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel 10. It’s Complicated

WBRS

RISHIKA ASSOMULL/the Justice

A FOND FAREWELL: With the semester coming to a close, the campus empties as graduating students prepare for commencement. The weather gets warmer and the grass grows greener as summer approaches and seniors don their caps and gowns, preparing for their future endeavors.

1. William Henry Harrison 2. Mark Twain 3. Taxonomy 4. Nine 5. 1977 6. Speaks pompously 7. 23 days long 8. Sandra Day O’Connor 9. Henry Fonda (He was 76) 10. Oscar the Grouch ANSWERS

CROSSWORD

SHOWTIMES 5/21 - 5/27 Mother and Child Fri-Sun 1:20, 5:05, 6:50, 9:40 Mon-Thurs 2:20, 5:00, 7:50

The Ghost Writer Fri-Sun 1:00, 3:45, 6:40, 9:35 Mon-Wed 2:00, 4:50, 7:40 Date Night Fri-Sun 1:50, 4:35, 7:20, 9:30 Mon-Wed 2:50, 5:10, 8:20 Iron Man 2 Fri-Sun 1:10, 3:55, 7:00, 9:45 Mon-Thurs 2:10, 5:00, 8:00 Please Give Fri-Sun 1:40, 4:25, 7:10, 9:25 Mon-Thurs 2:40, 5:10, 8:10 Shrek: The Final Chapter in 2D Fri-Sun 1:30, 4:15, 6:30, 9:20 Mon-Thurs 2:30, 4:50, 7:30

The Embassy is located at 18 Pine Street in Waltham

ACROSS 1. Crazed 4. Cabin components 8. Pushpin 12. Inventor Whitney 13. Last write-up 14. Turkish bigwig 15. Active person 17. MRI forerunner 18. “A mouse!”

19. Cow catchers 21. Insignia 24. Fond du —, Wisc.

25. Court 26. “Uh-huh” 28. Birth-related 32. “Desire Under the —” 34. Peregrinate 36. Infant 37. Change your offer 39. Intimidate 41. Barbie’s companion 42. Period 44. Highway stopovers 46. Patella 50. Lummox 51. Tittle 52. 1950s dance resembling an elaborate patty-cake 56. Tart 57. Piece of work 58. By way of 59. Read quickly 60. Simple 61. Ostrich’s cousin

1. Vampire Weekend – “White Sky” 2. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp” 3. Massive Attack – “Splitting the Atom” 4. Eels – “The Beginning” 5. Screaming Females – “I Do” 6. Vampire Weekend – “Horchata” 7. The Bynars – “Party All Night” 8. RJD2 – “Let There Be Horns” 9. Yukon Blonde – “Blood Cops” 10. Charlotte Gainsbourg – “IRM”

COLLEGE RADIO 1. Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind (EP) 2. Tom Waits – Glitter and Doom Live 3. Tegan & Sara – Sainthood 4. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be 5. Real Estate – Real Estate 6. Flaming Lips – Embryonic 7. King Khan & BBQ Show – Invisible Girl 8. BlakRoc – BlakRoc 9. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures 10. Compilation – Daptone Gold

BILLBOARD

DOWN 1. Blanc or Brooks 2. “The Greatest” 3. Attack forcefully from above 4. Mellow 5. Sapporo sash 6. Y chromosome lacker 7. Filch 8. Urban transport 9. Slumdog Millionaire site 10. Converse 11. Kyser and Thompson 16. Moray, for one

20. Skedaddled 21. Ornamental pitcher 22. Double agent 23. Face 27. Atl. counterpart 29. Relax a bit 30. First victim 31. Photog's choice 33. Type of baseball pitch 35. Comic DeLuise 38. “What's up, —?”

40. “Give a hoot, don't pollute” owl 43. California-Nevada lake 45. Trump casino-hotel 46. Smooch 47. Cranny 48. Needle holder 49. One of the Three Bears 53. Greek consonants

1. Various Artists – Hope For Haiti Now 2. Susan Boyle – I Dreamed A Dream 3. Lady Gaga – The Fame 4. Spoon – Transference 5. Various Artists – 2010 Grammy Nominees 6. Vampire Weekend – Contra 7. Alicia Keys – The Element of Freedom 8. Ke$ha – Animal 9. Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D. 10. Taylor Swift – Fearless Album information provided by Billboard Magazine. Box office information provided by Yahoo! Movies. Radio charts provided by CMJ.

STAFF PLAYLIST

“Odd Timing”

By WEI-HUAN CHEN

Solution to last issue’s crossword.

54. Energy 55. Water (Fr.)

King Crossword Copyright 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.

STRANGE BUT TRUE ■ It was French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who made the following sage observation: “In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.”

■ You may consider the bikini to be a modern phenomenon, but in the ruins of Pompeii, which was buried by ash from an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., there are murals depicting people in two-piece bathing suits.

■ Are you a librocubicularist? If, like me, you like to read in bed, then you are.

■ Academy Award-winning actress Bette Davis was evidently so concerned about the possibility of gaining weight between roles that in the 1940s she took out an insurance policy on her waist, in the amount of $28,000.

■ According to statistics from the Social Security Administration, about one-third of people who claim to be more than 100 years old aren’t telling the truth.

It seems that people aged 75 and older tend to add

years when asked how old they are, while those under age 75 tend to say they’re younger than they are.

■ Beer steins have covers to keep flies out.

■ Last year, much was made of the Obama family’s plan to adopt a dog. Many first families have had pets, though, and some presidents have not been content with a run-of-the-mill dog or cat. For instance, Thomas Jefferson kept two bear cubs in a cage on the front lawn of the White House, and Theodore Roosevelt had a zebra. An alligator was the pet of choice for John Quincy Adams, and James Buchanan kept an elephant.

■ Jujiro Matsuda was a blacksmith before he founded the Mazda automobile manufacturing company.

Thought for the Day: “The kiss originated when the first male reptile licked the first female reptile, implying in a subtle way that she was as succulent as the small reptile he had for dinner the night before.”

—F. Scott Fitzgerald

JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSITANT

The vast majority of music is either in 3/4 or 4/4 time, but can’t that get a little boring?

Sometimes a song can be compelling because the downbeat comes right before or after you expect it. Odd or changing meters are found in almost every type of music, but some artists seem to enjoy using irregular time signatures more than others to throw listeners off or to showcase their creative sense of rhythm. Regardless, it’s easy to enjoy these tracks even if it’s hard to clap your hands to them.

THE LIST 1. Dave Holland — “Vicissitudes” 2. The Dave Brubek Quartet — “Take Five” 3. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones — “Blu Bop” 4. Frank Zappa — “The Black Page” 5. Rush — “Tom Sawyer” 6. Gentle Giant — “Free Hand” 7. Pink Floyd — “Money” 8. The Grateful Dead — “The Eleven” 9. The Beatles — “Happiness is a Warm Gun” 10. Jerry Bergonzi — “Giant Steps”