The Brandeis Hoot - November 4, 2011

Volume 8 Number 22

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Search for chair shows health of AAAS

By Connor Novy Staff

The African and Afro-American Studies (AAAS) department began looking for a new chair this year despite the university’s plans to turn the department into a program and reduce resources under the 2008 Curriculum and Academic Restructuring (CARS) Plan.

With a rich history, AAAS and its affiliated faculty viewed the threat of downsizing as especially painful.

“The department here at Brandeis is one of the oldest in the country,” Professor Ibrahim Sundiata (HIST)

said. “It was born out of struggle.”

The struggle continued as the university found itself in need of funds after a global economic recession.

Through the “impassioned appeals” of faculty, AAAS averted any action to change the department to an intercurricular program, department chair Faith Smith (AAAS) said. Beyond the loss of autonomy, the demotion to a program could have harmed the curriculum and units offered, diminishing the attention and resources AAAS receives.

“African and Afro-American Studies, given its history in the university—and because it’s always been un-

der-resourced—we thought it would be best to remain a department. As a program, we would attract even less attention,” Smith said.

While AAAS was ultimately not turned into a program, the department is still struggling with a smaller number of faculty than other departments. It needs an African-American historian to teach classes, and their new search for a department chair allows them to “return to normal level,” as they replace a retiring position, Smith said.

The new hire in the AAAS is anSee AAAS, page 1

Rose media coverage rebounds after reopening

photo by alex hall/the hoot

the rose art museum after its official reopening and commemoration

By Rachel Hirschhaut Special to the Hoot

What a difference two years makes.

This was the common sentiment among not just Brandeis University students and faculty last week, but for the media and art aficionados as well.

The Rose Art Museum reopened its doors to the public Thursday, Oct. 27, more than two years after it nearly closed permanently due to financial difficulties. Back in 2009, at the height of the current economic

crisis, Brandeis was reported to be struggling financially. The university’s endowment had dropped 25 percent, it faced millions of dollars of debt and fundraising prospects were grim. So university trustees voted to close the museum and sell the 6,000 works of art housed in The Rose. Then-President Jehuda Reinharz said that the museum, a “hidden jewel,” did not receive enough foot traffic and there was just not enough space to display all of its great works.

The media acknowledges that “it

hasn’t been easy for the school to move past all of the bad press and bad feelings that followed its proposal to sell its stellar art collection and close The Rose,” as Andrea Shea wrote in a WBUR story last week. Still, they celebrate the events with optimism. As Geoff Edgers wrote in a Boston Globe article, “Rose Art Museum Revival,” “They will gather on campus for a different occasion: to celebrate the Rose’s 50th anniversary, stroll through the See ROSE, page 4

Research upends wisdom on women in politics

By Victoria Aronson Staff

As exemplified by the concept of “Republican motherhood” and Sarah Palin’s recent “hockey mom” campaign, motherhood has long been associated with a set of moral values or ideals thought to translate into more pressing issues of political significance. Professor Jill S. Greenlee (POL) has explored the connection between motherhood and its possible implications within the political sphere through her essay “Soccer Moms, Hockey Moms, and the Question of ‘Transformative’ Motherhood.”

In conducting her research, Greenlee has focused primarily on whether or not the progression into motherhood bears any impact on views concerning drug legalization, military, police, partisan identification

and ideological orientation. Greenlee based her research upon a random sampling of high school students selected in 1965, who were then interviewed periodically throughout their lives in 1973, 1982 and 1997. In doing so, Greenlee was able to focus on the direct shifts in attitudes that may have occurred in response to major life changes, such as parenthood.

Greenlee’s research “explores the diversity and commonalities among women, as well as an understanding of the nuances of gender.”

Greenlee discovered subtle but prevailing trends in the attitudes of mothers compared to their childless female counterparts. For instance, on the issue of marijuana legalization between 1973 and 1982, the effect of becoming a mother signified a lean toward conservative views. Yet, between 1982 and 1997, mothers actually became

jill greenlee

photo from internet source

more liberal regarding this issue, suggesting that the inherent effects of motherhood upon political views are also greatly dependent on shifts in public opinion and societal beliefs.

Furthermore, Greenlee deduced that the distinctions between mothers in See GREENLEE, page 3

November 4, 2011

News Analysis

Authorities helpless in Sept murder investigation Triple homicide details still largely unanswered two months later

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

Nearly two months after police officers rushed to 12 Harding Ave. on a September afternoon and found three men dead in a triple homicide; nearly two months after reporters from every Boston TV station stood behind the yellow crime scene tape, surrounded by flashing red and blue lights, demanding updates from Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone and airing interviews with neighbors on the nightly news; and nearly two months after three men under the age of 40 were stabbed to death in the neck just three miles from Brandeis University, law enforcement is still searching for answers, officials said Thursday.

The seasons have turned since the warm night on Sept. 12 when detectives began an investigation into the triple murder of Brendan Mess, 25, of Waltham; Erik Weissman, 31, of Cambridge; and Raphael Teken, 37, of Cambridge, who graduated from Brandeis in 1998 and majored in history. Updates on the investigation have not been noticeable.

After describing the apartment that night as a “very graphic crime scene” Leone later released a statement saying that “based on the present state of the investigation, it is believed that the victims knew the assailant or assailants, and the attacks were not random.”

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Leone said there was an “ongoing investigation” and “no further updates at this time.” When prompted for more information, she declined to comment, repeating the same line.

Waltham Police Sgt. Tim King said the District Attorney’s Office and State Police were working on an investigation with his department but have no new updates to report.

Although the Waltham police cruisers, state police detectives dressed in dark suits and Leone’s black Chevy SUV no longer crowd the intersection of Harding Avenue and Main Street, King said he was certain that officials were still investigating the case.

But for the families of Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman and Raphael Teken the pace of that investigation reflects the painful truth that the headline of a triple homicide in the city of Waltham with three bodies found covered in marijuana sounds different than an innocent

photo from internet source

erik weissman, raphael teken and brendan mess

life slain in the suburb of Wayland or Weston.

A murder in the suburbs appears on the front page of The Boston Globe and the nightly FOX 25 news for an entire week, demanding a search for answers from a public outrage. Murders in the city make the headlines and nightly news for one day and then they disappear. And at Brandeis, students feel a world apart from the families and young children who stood behind the yellow police tape in awe on Sept. 12, asking how such a brutal murder could occur See HOMICIDE, page 3

NEWS

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November 4, 2011

Kathy Lawrence to offer English class in spring

By Sarah Weber Staff

Beginning this spring, Kathy Lawrence, wife of the president, will be teaching an English class titled, “When Genius is a Family Affair: Henry, William, and Alice James,” focusing on how the James siblings represent human interactions, perception and suffering in their writings.

William James was an American psychologist and philosopher, his brother Henry was a novelist and regarded as one of the main figures in 19th-century literary realism, and his sister Alice was known for her insightful published diary.

Teaching is not a new profession for Lawrence, who previously worked at George Washington University. “I gave up teaching at GW and am not on the payroll at Brandeis. I’m doing this to contribute,” Lawrence said, explaining that she will serve as a part-

time professor at Brandeis.

Her husband is teaching his first class this semester; President Lawrence is teaching a seminar class called, “Crime and Punishment.”

The president has apt knowledge on this topic, as an expert on civil rights, free expression and bias crimes. His class covers a range of material on the topic of crime in the law. The class is for undergraduate students only and is primarily lead by the students. It is discussion-based but the discussions do not stem from President Lawrence’s lecturing but by students’ questioning. Despite the fact that the president of the university teaches the class, none of the students, in a class visit by The Hoot, seemed to be intimidated by their famous professor.

The atmosphere of the class is very informal and students are encouraged to speak up and take initiative.

Kathy Lawrence said she hopes students will “learn to love Henry James

as an author,” understand the context and significance of the authors and learn the “elegance of written and spoken expression.” In addition to reading the works of the authors students also watch film adaptions.

Lawrence has a B.A. in 19th-century American Literature and discovered the joys of Henry James upon entering college. “I felt like I was a character in his novel … I could step into his novel as though it was a looking glass …

James understood my childhood, even growing up in L.A.,” she said.

Lawrence’s passion for the “timeless” subject influenced her to write early publications all related to Henry James.

In school, Lawrence’s favorite classes included a seminar on contemporary poetry and a class on Milton.

She also took classes on Melville and Emerson that helped spark her passion for literature. Some of her favorite writers include Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman and Dickinson.

Governor, univ president to speak at ADL

By Connor Novy Staff

President Fred Lawrence will join Governor Deval Patrick, Elie Wiesel and ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman on Monday for a discussion in Boston on anti-Semitism.

Lawrence previously chaired the ADL’s national legal committee and had been a prominent civil rights activist before he came to Brandeis. As dean of George Washington University Law School, he focused research on free speech and social activism.

“My work in ADL, as a National Commissioner and a former chair of the National Legal Affairs Committee, has focused on combating hate crimes and discrimination, and protecting religious liberty and free expression,” Lawrence wrote in an e-

mail to The Hoot.

The Anti-Defamation League works “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” according to the organization’s charter, signed in 1913. It is one of America’s “premiere civil rights/human relations” agencies and though it has recently come under fire for controversial support of Israel, the league has been instrumental in prosecuting hate speech in the Supreme Court.

Lawrence has long been involved with social justice. He was head of the civil rights unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and performed scholarly work at Boston and George Washington universities. His Yale law school classmates include Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor and

Brandeis professor Anita Hill.

A member of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Hate Crimes Task Force, appointee to the regional ADL board and chairman of the ADL’s National Legal Affairs Committee, Lawrence has co-authored amicus curiae briefs that have been submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Anti-Defamation League.

Lawrence said he believes that his scholarly work could have more of an impact than his work as a lawyer. He says that college campuses are important venues of hate crime discussion and that Brandeis’ sense of social justice is particularly conducive.

“In many ways, these are aspects of the social justice mission at Brandeis and I knew that my work on these issues would find a welcome home here,” Lawrence wrote.

India’s LGBT facing tough discrimination, visiting professor finds

By Debby Brodsky Editor

Simmons College Professor Jyoti Puri spoke on campus Wednesday about her studies and fieldwork in New Delhi, India, on radicalized communalisms, criminalized queers, the police and the sodomy law in the Indian Penal Code, explaining discrimination that the LGBT community faces.

The sodomy law, or section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, was decriminalized in the Indian Supreme Court in July 2009. Puri, speaking in Rapaporte Treasure Hall, argued that police play an unclear role in India and that society still lacks the information to understand police enforcement of the sodomy law.

“I have been following Section 377 since 2002,” Puri said. “If you think about how sexuality is being produced by the state and the ways sexuality rights activists are imagining what will persuade the state, you will see that the two are mutually productive.”

Puri described Indian police as racist against Muslims and Sikhs, singling them out as religious cultural minorities and acting violently toward them. In addition to Muslims and Sikhs, the Hijra community is the victim of unwarranted violence and hostility under the legacy of section 377 of the penal code.

Hijras are transgender male-bodied people or male-bodied people who have undergone castration as a form of self-identity, Puri said. The police view the Hijra identity as criminal and Hijras are subject to police surveillance and constant discrimination.

Puri described her discussions with the New Delhi police at length, explaining many described the “crime of unnatural sex” and only a few advocated the legalization of consensual sex. While the police emphatically repeated that Muslims and Sikhs commit sodomy more frequently than Hindus, Puri said that Muslims and Sikhs could not possibly account for most of the crime in India, as Hindus make up 84 percent of India’s population.

Puri said that racism against Muslims and Sikhs is a growing problem in India, exemplified through section 377, as Sikhs and Muslims receive much of the blame for “the crime of sodomy.”

Although in Europe and America race is distinguished by physical appearance and skin color, in India, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are classified as different races through differences in diet, hygiene and religious practices, despite similar physical appearances.

“I strongly hold the approach that race ought to be reserved for the colonial process,” Puri said. “Racial

lawrence teaches criminal law seminar

photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

Once slated to be cut, AAAS now growing AAAS, from page 1

ticipated for next spring. Sundiata has begun to review the applications and believes that a “superlative” candidate will be found. He is excited about the faculty-involved hiring process because the current faculty want to make sure that their new chair will “be a Brandeisian.”

They are looking at not only a combined department chair and AfricanAmerican historian but they are also considering applicants in other fields.

“We have a good number of really great applicants,” Sundiata said.

Throughout the university, the cuts were not limited to humanities or social sciences, as Smith had previously believed.

“As you begin to hear more and more from your colleagues and work on cross-curriculum committees … we’re all over extended. It’s a matter of feeling more or less tired.” These strains are not uncommon for private universities, but national media outlets have targeted Brandeis’ financial troubles because of its controversial decision to sell art from The Rose Art Museum in 2009.

The publicity created controversy in hiring. Smith explained, “One of the first questions that I get from colleagues at conferences is ‘Were you that school who was going to sell off all your art?’”

Now The Rose Art Museum has recently re-opened and Smith hopes that the university will discover a new and positive image, especially with

the new administration’s commitment to the humanities.

Smith said she values the openness of the new administration and appreciates that officials recognize the research of faculty, hoping that these qualities, and not the previous stories of The Rose and draconian budget cuts, will rebuild Brandeis’ image and reputation in the academic community and across the country.

A renewed attention on the humanities, however, did not begin with a new administration. After the financial crash in 2008, the university has begun to refocus gradually on its mission of liberal arts and social justice.

Under former President Jehuda Reinharz, Brandeis received $22.5 million from the Mandel Foundation to build the new Mandel Center for the Humanities, which opened last fall.

“The existence of the Mandel Humanities Center has created a sense of excitement. With the center, there has been a renewed sense that what we do counts,” Smith said.

Appreciation for the liberal arts and humanities expanded when the university enabled AAAS to search for a new chair and maintain their current number of faculty.

While Smith said the department is glad they were “given the chance to get ahead in line,” faculty feel a sharp sense of survivor’s guilt, and the future is still tenuous. “It’s hard to celebrate for two things. It’s hard to understand that you’re a survivor when others didn’t make it. And you’re surviving at your previous shaky level.”

photo from internet source

professor jyoti puri

differences are conceptualized as colonial differences. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are not phenotypically different, so how can they be different races?”

Puri suggested that differences among people, even within the same race, are natural, inheritable and enduring. She found through her talks with the New Delhi police constables that the majority of officers feared the decriminalization of section 377 because “unnatural sex acts” will increase.

Recognizing that the police of New Delhi are neither unitary nor homophobic as a unit, Puri said that with increased dialogue between outreach workers from feminist organizations and the police, India can raise the possibility of fractures and inconsistencies of the monolithic unit of the state.

Magid to accompany governor to Brazil

By Nathan Koskella Editor

The International Business School Dean Bruce R. Magid will accompany Gov. Deval Patrick on an official state trip to Brazil in December, on a trade mission seeking to highlight the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ appeal to foreign business’ investment.

Magid, the Martin and Ahuva Gross Chair in Financial Markets and Institutions, has joined the governor on an international trip once before.

Earlier this year, Brandeis was one of two academic institutions to participate in the Massachusetts Innovation Economy Partnership Mission 2011, and Magid went with the group to the

United Kingdom and to Israel.

Next month’s Brazil trip will include participants from the academy, the arts, business, and government and public service. It’s mission is to shore up strong ties Massachusetts already has with Brazil and to provide new opportunities for mutual benfit on trade, investment and job growth.

The trip also will allow Magid to press forward with Brandeis’ efforts to attract more students from South America, and to find more information about opening up more opportunities there for internships and jobs for graduates.

“This trade mission recognizes the See TRADE, page 4

November 4, 2011

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Experiential learning expanding, more popular than expected

By Nathan Koskella Editor

At the recent Experiential Learning Expo on Oct. 25, students back from abroad, fresh off an internship or relying on other forms of nontraditional education presented their experiences to mostly like-minded fellow learners. But the university is heavily pushing this “experiential learning,” and it extends beyond the obvious out-of-classroom potential of studying in a foreign country.

“Experiential learning is a model of learning that engages you in the real world,” Audra Grady, the program’s administrator, said, “and does it with activities that directly connect you to academic theory, while at the same time using reflection that learning concrete.”

Brandeis’ experience-based learning incorporates, in addition to studying abroad or taking an internship, classes in more than 22 programs that have an experiential-learning component or more. Some classes have an additional “opt-in,” two additionalcredit practicums, where students will do research, test the material they learned in class or apply social theoretical models to real-world subjects.

There are more than 30 different practicums and add-ons in this manner, with such diverse majors and minors as Sociology, Biology, Comparative Literature and Music.

“Experiential learning can be applied in multiple different settings,”

across learning styles, Grady said.

“What sets experiential learning apart is being able to reflect on the outside-the-classroom experience and make a link between it and your discipline of study,” she added.

One of the experiential learning opportunities that has received the most publicity in recent years are the new Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) programs. Initially conceived with multiple priorities, including a goal toward replacing their students’ fall or spring semester with a summer session, which has since been abandoned, the program has grown past initial reorientation and has had several successful runs.

According to Alyssa Grinberg, the program’s manager who also works on other experiential learning projects, there are three spring programs and one fall program for each of the years 2010 and 2011, with the programs’ enrollment holding steady or even increasing as JBS has evolved.

There will be at least three JBS programs next year.

Also in Grinberg’s portfolio, if not a JBS, is the Brandeis in The Hague program. It has now run two successful pilot summer programs, and will take almost 30 students between two sessions during a semester-long session next spring and another summer program immediately afterward.

“Increased participation in experiential learning means students are experiencing more of what Brandeis has to offer,” in terms of a variety of

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

experiential learning expo

learning opportunities, Grinberg said. She also added she feels that more students are participating in EL internships than ever before.

Both Grinberg and Grady stressed that reflection was what made the difference between EL and traditional pedagogies, and between learning at other schools and Brandeis’ unique offering.

“Reflection can be included in either a final assessment or take place periodically throughout the program or project being experienced,” Grinberg said.

Grady said that Brandeis encourages students to use their experience

“on an ongoing basis,” and to reflect so that skills can be used long after the experience to further career aspirations. She estimated that nearly every Brandeis student did something experiential, almost every one, and that many did more than one internship, EL class or other activity.

But she also stressed that experiential learning was not just for professional or career motives but can be combined with academic theory.

“It serves the purposes of faculty who want to learn just to learn, while also serving to highlight skills that

students can use for life,” Grady said.

Such lives can incorporate academic work or work in the real world, outside the academy.

And one of the many experiential learning divisions is a large research component, Grady said, and more than 60 faculty have individual or small-group research offerings registered with experiential learning.

More than 200 classes in the registrar’s 1,200 have the ordinary experiential learning component designation as well, meaning the class uses significant out-of-classroom time.

Greenlee challenges political consultant article of faith GREENLEE, from page 1

regards to age and culture, among other factors, demonstrated subtle themes as well. For instance, those who prior to 1973 became mothers at a younger age possessed more conservative views than those who became mothers later in their lives.

Those who remained childless possessed the most liberal views.

Although Greenlee recognized a trend toward conservative views in her research, she acknowledges the societal and cultural factors that influence political beliefs as well.

For instance, according to Greenlee, “The effects of motherhood on political ideology emerge between 1982 and 1997—the height of the family values movement.” As a consequence of the political environ-

ment of the time period, Greenlee claims certain “emphasized themes may have resonated with mothers.” For instance, she asserts the increased positive feelings toward military involvement between 1973 and 1982 may directly correlate to the conclusion of the Vietnam War rather than to a shifting view dependent solely on motherhood itself.

Furthermore, gender in itself leads to distinctions in political views, regardless of parenthood.

When asked if a similar study had been conducted on the role of fatherhood upon political views, Greenlee responded that she did not expect to discover such a trend.

In her essay, she claims “running the same set of analyses for men, I find that for only one attitude—

views about marijuana—are the effects of fatherhood similar to those of motherhood.”

Greenlee’s research, although demonstrating subtle themes in regard to the effects of motherhood upon political views, signifies that such trends are also influenced by a wide array of cultural, societal, gender and economic factors.

Greenlee’s findings demand that these influences must be considered to understand truly political campaigning geared toward motherhood values in a way that have thus far been ignored.’

“The historical appeal to female voters through the lens of motherhood is not without empirical basis,” Greenlee said, “but it requires further inquiry to be fully understood.”

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

Answers elusive in aftermath of triple homicide HOMICIDE, from page 1

just steps from their quiet homes that fill the neighborhood.

A Facebook tribute page for a young girl found murdered in Wayland gets nearly 20,000 people to like it. Raphael Teken’s page gets only 71.

“You were a good man with a good heart and never deserved anything like this to happen to you,” one friend of Teken’s wrote on the Facebook page in September.

At Brandeis, The Hoot has been unable to find anyone who knew Teken, but classmate John Bohn told The Brookline Tab about Teken’s passion and kind spirit.

“Rafi got addicted to most of the things he enjoyed and he put all of his effort and energy into them, understanding them to their core, be-

coming an expert. For all of the talk about him never doing anything with his time or his life, you have to recognize that he put more effort into his hobbies than I ever put into anything in my life,” Bohn told The Brookline Tab. “I think what most people will never know about Rafi is that he was a good friend, a sweet and fun-loving guy who wanted to help people. He just couldn’t figure out how to turn that into a socially acceptable endeavor,” Bohn said.

As the high holidays brought a season to reflect on the preciousness of life, families like the Tekens in Brookline are still grieving, searching for answers and meaning to the irreplaceable hole in their lives. And police are still investigating.

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November 4, 2011

Emory and Stanford profs win ’Deis $25k Gittler prize

By Debby Brodsky Editor

Brandeis University selected Emory University Professor Emerita Frances Smith Foster and Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson as winners of its third annual Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize. Led by President Fred Lawrence, the Gittler Prize selection committee awards recipients $25,000 for their intellectual excellence and this is the first year the prize will be shared between two winners.

President Fred Lawrence said it was the “quality, creativity and lasting impact in their respective fields of inquiry” that originally interested him in Foster and Carson’s work.

“The committee was very impressed with the scholarship that Professor Foster and Professor Carson have produced,” President Fred Lawrence said. “There was a consensus that they were both highly deserving and that their research interests are, in many respects, complementary.”

The Gittler Prize was founded by Joseph B. Gittler, a sociologist who taught at many leading universities and also honors his mother, Toby Gittler. Previous recipients of the prize include George Washington University Professor of Islamic Studies Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Princeton University Professor of Philosophy Kwame Anthony Appiah.

Carson was selected in 1985 by the late Coretta Scott King to edit and publish the writings of her late husband. As the director of the King Papers Project and the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, Carson has spent decades producing six volumes of King’s speeches, sermons, correspondences, publications and unpublished writings. At the Research and Education Institute, Carson works to make King’s writings available to various

frances smith foster

clayborne carson

audiences.

“We try to make it available to anyone of any age,” Carson said. “As well as globally available on the Internet.

Our task is to make sure the research on all of the educational work is really solid. Once we have the research, we want to make sure it doesn’t just stay in the world of scholars.”

Carson described Mrs. King’s request for him to work on her late husband’s writings as a pleasant surprise.

“I did feel at the time it was a great responsibility,” Carson said. “I wasn’t sure I wanted that responsibility because it requires spending most of your career studying one person. I don’t think I would’ve done it for anyone other than Martin Luther King Jr. I felt this was something special that I should do.”

Carson said he will give his prize money to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. “I feel like it’s not just a prize for me, it’s for the institute,” he said.

Foster, an authority on African-

American family life and slavery narratives, has published more than a dozen books on her research and is a fellow of the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project at Brandeis. Foster is also a fellow of the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Religion at Emory Law School and a past fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard.

Foster said she went into the field of African-American studies by both chance and choice.

“I was an English major who graduated without having studied any[one] but Euro-American writers, mostly male,” Foster said. “I had, however, gone to racially segregated schools and I knew there were African-American writers. I knew, too, that there were women writers.”

After she graduated from Miami University, Foster traveled south to a historically black college with a class in African-American literature.

“It was the ’60s and I believed that knowledge is power and that the rev-

olution needed teachers who could teach more of the truth,” Foster said.

In addition to teaching classes on African-American and women’s literature and culture at Emory, Foster has edited works including The Oxford Companion to African American Literature and The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.

“My research has changed my life,” continued Foster, “by giving me empowering information and I am thrilled when others tell me they never knew what I’ve told them, that they have reconsidered or reconstructed their lives in light of what they have learned.”

Unlike Carson, Foster plans to use the Gittler Prize money for personal use. “I am going to take my family on an outing,” Foster said. “I have a son and daughter-in-law in Ohio, a daughter and son-in-law in California, and four grandchildren. We have never had a vacation together. I think we might go to Disney World!”

Unlike many academic awards, the

Newly reopened Rose now receiving positive press ROSE, from page 1

renovated museum when it reopens with exhibitions showcasing the collection, and send a very public message that the Rose is reborn.”

The possible demise of The Rose was met with extreme surprise, shock, anger and outrage from people of all walks of life, from Brandeis students to art scholars. Students gathered outside the museum to protest the administration and staged a sitin inside the museum when the announcement was made in 2009. They even created a Facebook group, “Save The Rose Art Museum,” which grew to more than 7,000 members.

The news had an impact far beyond Brandeis’ campus. The media and art world at large were also shocked and devastated by the news. The Rose Art Museum, highly regarded as one of the best university art museums in New England, also served as “one of the artistic and cultural legacies of American Jewry,” as museum chairman Jonathan Lee told The New York Times. It was unfathomable that anyone could simply close the museum.

Some art scholars feared that it would open a “floodgate” of university museum closings. Others called it a “stark statement of priorities,” an insult to all that art represents, and even compared it to a death.

Brandeis art history and studio art majors were especially distressed, as the closing of the museum seemed to send a message that their field of study was useless in today’s society,

that art could just be disposed of to raise money for other academic disciplines. Similarly, art experts reacted with concern to the fact that art programs in universities are gradually becoming smaller and getting less attention, and fine arts are often the first programs to be cut in times of financial challenges.

But since last Thursday, the world has seen The Rose in a much different light. Now that the museum has reopened to the university community and the general public, the story of The Rose is being hailed as a triumphant victory. The Art Newspaper even compared it to “Lazarus rising from the dead” and praised the museum’s “renewed commitment to its art.”

Last Thursday’s event was really “a three-pronged celebration,” Roy Dawes, artist and director of museum operations said in an interview with The Hoot. “We’re celebrating the reopening, the renovation of the place and the victory of being able to keep it open.” About 900 people attended the opening, including iconic artist James Rosenquist.

Dawes hopes the newly renovated facility will take on a more “integral” and prominent role in daily life at Brandeis. He hopes that the museum will become a center of academic life for all departments, not just for art students, and that more people will recognize how important it is to Brandeis’ goal of interdisciplinary learning.

“Before the museum closed, we had many different types of students

photos from internet source

Gittler prize is awarded as a surprise to recipients and does not have an application process.

Foster said she was stunned to receive the phone call telling her she had won the Gittler Prize.

“I felt, I think, like those who win a MacArthur Award. I had no idea I had been nominated and of course I wondered who did this and why.

When it was explained to me, I felt gratified and fortunate,” Foster said.

Carson too welcomed the surprise.

“I was surprised,” said Carson. “I was recommended for the prize and I am very grateful. You don’t often get recognition or support for your work unless you spend a lot of time promoting yourself. This is the kind of prize you enjoy the most because you feel like you’re doing useful work.”

Foster will receive the Gittler Prize and deliver a lecture to the campus community later this month and Carson will do the same in mid February.

Trade mission update TRADE, from page 2

the rose art museum

coming in here. We had an economics class come in to study advertising images in art. This is what we’d like to see more of,” Dawes said. “Our goal now is to make people feel comfortable just coming into the museum and bringing themselves into the art-

photo by albee qian/the hoot

work.”

Dawes added, “There is a silver lining to this whole situation: that people and the art world realized how important The Rose was to Brandeis and to Boston as a whole.”

growing impact of Brazil on the global economy,” Magid said in a BrandeisNOW interview. “We are eager to strengthen our relationships with this country and to expand the opportunities for job creation. We want to emphasize the benefits of working with the innovators and higher education institutions here in Massachusetts.”

Magid’s participation will foreshadow the second Annual Global Trade Summit, to be held at the university in April. The summit’s program will feature Brazil as one of the countries included to discuss the interconnected global economy. The first summit, held earlier this year, focused on expanding exports and building international partnerships with foreign businesses.

Magid of course has a background in international business and he brings his academic acumen to the mission. The dean also worked for many years in several South American countries, including Brazil.

Brazil is the largest economy in South America and the seventh largest in the world. U.N. and other global indexes expect it to become the fifth largest in the near future. With so much expected growth, the country’s markets are being heavily courted by many countries, both established and developing.

The commonwealth already has strong trade connections with Brazil, with Bay State exports to the country totaling $396 million in 2010, a 31 percent increase from the prior year.

November 4, 2011

views of the week

iLouisLouis off to a ‘cool’ start

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Trick-or-treating in the atrium

photos by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot

reliving childhood The Department of Student Activities and Campus Center team provide Halloween treats in the Shapiro

Campus Center Atrium Oct. 21.

SPECTRUM hosts brain awareness event

photos by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot

ice ice baby Students skate at an iLouisLouis, Brandeis’ fall spirit week, event in Levin

Ballroom on Nov. 2.

photo by alex patch/the hoot

busting myths A student writes her answer to the prompt “What I think of when I think of the BRAIN” on a poster at the second annual brain awareness event on Nov. 1. The event was hosted by SPECTRUM, Brandeis’ disability awareness and community service group.

6 The Brandeis Hoot

The Katzwer’s Out of the Bag

ImpressiOns

November 4, 2011

Mississippi: fertilized eggs should not be ‘persons’

graphic from internet source

By Yael Katzwer Editor

“The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

This is the wording of a proposed Mississippi amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot. The proposed amendment aims legally to make fertilized eggs “persons.” While this amendment may seem benign, it could have farreaching effects, most of them negative.

Proposition 26, the proposal’s name, is a sly attempt to circumnavigate the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v.

Wade ruling. If a fertilized egg were legally declared a person, abortion and certain forms of birth control, such as the IUD and the morning-after pill, would become illegal because they would now be classified as murder. This would apply in cases of rape or incest, as well as cases of women just not wanting their babies.

Now, I need to clarify my position on abortion before I go any further. I consider myself to be pro-choice but anti-abortion. I feel that abortion is wrong and should only be resorted to in the extreme circumstances of rape or medical need. Despite this, a woman should still be able to decide if it is something she wishes to pursue.

That being said, Prop 26 is a mis-

take and should not pass. Unfortunately, both of Mississippi’s would-be governors have thrown their weight behind it, making it more likely to pass.

Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant is a cochairman of Yes on 26, the campaign to pass Prop 26, and Democratic candidate Johnny DuPree, the mayor of Hattiesburg, Miss., says he will vote for the proposition despite some misgivings. Both of these men are just trying to cozy up to Mississippian voters, as the election for governor will be held Nov. 8 as well.

Among those misgivings, DuPree cited the amendment’s possible impact on medical care and contracep-

tion—serious issues. For example, if a woman is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy, a medical condition in which the fertilized egg implants itself in the fallopian tube rather than the uterus, could she and the doctor be arrested for murder if they abort it? To clarify: Ectopic pregnancies can be fatal to the pregnant woman. Even if the amendment becomes more specific and eradicates these issues, doctors may need to check the wording of the amendment and that moment of hesitation could cost lives.

Even some diehard pro-lifers are against the proposal. National Right to Life and the Roman Catholic Church have refused to promote the proposition, citing the recklessness of the proposal and the possible backfire. While pro-choice activists fear this amendment could set a precedent for other states and cause anguish for pregnant women, some pro-life activists are worried that it will be overturned and will set back their platform.

James Bopp Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life, said the proposal will certainly be overturned by the Supreme Court because it contradicts the rights given to women in Roe v. Wade. “From the standpoint of protecting unborn lives it’s utterly futile,” he said, “and it has the grave risk that if it did get to the Supreme Court, the court would write an even more extreme abortion policy.”

Anti-abortion activists prefer to fight abortions by hampering access to abortions by restricting the length of time in which women can receive an abortion, forcing women to view ultrasound images of their fetus, cutting government funding to clinics that perform abortion, etc.

It seems that the only people who are truly supportive of this amendment are people who want to be elected to public office or people who have no real knowledge of biology or the law, a.k.a. the people who are voting for the first group.

Dr. Randall Hines, a Jackson, Miss.,

On the omnipresent hipster

By Mariah Voronoff Special to the Hoot

For those that know me well, I really hope that, after reading this, you don’t run after me with metaphorical pitchforks, calling me a hypocrite for writing this, because I will perpetually dig my heels into the ground and insist time and again that I am not a hipster! I stand by that statement, despite the fact that I dressed up as a “hipster” one night this Halloween weekend by using all my own clothing.

Now, for those of you not quite up to date with current colloquialisms, a hipster is a person who has a very specific and long-winded definition. I promise you, if you are in college, you have met, worked with, are friends with or know of a hipster. So, if you are unaware of what to look out for, here is my checklist of qualities becoming of a quintessential hipster.

The age bracket of hipsters ranges from late teens to early 30s, and they are typically fairly well educated and opinionated individuals—not a bad thing.

They absolutely love obscure indie bands and can talk for hours about art house and cult classic films at length.

It is quite possible that you have seen

their lengthy, abstract photo albums on Facebook where everything is shot in black and white and heaven forbid if someone smiles. It is incredibly easy to spot a hipster.

Their standard uniform, for both men and women, usually encompasses a few of the following items: RayBan wayfarers, John Lennon or Elvis Costello inspired sunglasses, skinny jeans about two sizes too small, vintage t-shirts of indie bands or ironic slogans sometimes found at Salvation Army and almost always paired with a plaid, flannel shirt.

As far as headgear is concerned, you will most often see hipsters wearing fedoras or saggy knit hats (even in the summer time). Footwear consists of Converse sneakers that are falling to pieces, beat up combat boots, postironic oxford loafers or any other type of vintage shoe of which you can think.

The hipster hair-dos usually range from the ever-popular man bangs to a faux-hawk, and you will often see hipster males with heads strategically shaven in places and left long in others in a seemingly stylish manner.

For the swanky ladies, there are three things that you must remember when choosing a hipster girl hairstyle: bangs, bangs and bangs.

They have side bangs, front bangs, multicolored bangs and any other kind of bangs-related style you can

imagine. The more of the face they cover, the more successful the female hipster.

Many male hipsters will also have ironic facial hair (no explanation needed). While hipsters are for the most part intellectuals, many will have unnecessary, thick-rimmed, glasses—yes, fake lenses so they can appear to be actually visually impaired. If it is chilly outside, the savvy hipsters will add a tattered scarf to the uniform.

Now that you have a visual idea of what to look out for, let me go back to the characteristics. Like I’ve said before, hipsters are smart and they know it.

That being said, many have an air of perpetual sarcasm and some even like to claim “how ironic they are.”

Many hipsters pride themselves on the fact that they are in fact “original” and reject “mainstream culture.”

I hate to break it to you, my hipster darlings, but if you’re all rejecting mainstream culture and cultivating originality together, then aren’t you back at square one?

So my advice to you, my patient readers, be wary of self-proclaimed hipsters and, if you run in their circles, give them a pat on the back because, as you can see, it takes a lot of time and effort and meticulous calculation to be that effortlessly cool, laid back and original.

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

fertility specialist working against Prop 26 with the group Mississippians for Healthy Families, pointed out that most fertilized eggs do not implant in the uterus or develop further than that stage.

“Once you recognize that the majority of fertilized eggs don’t become people, then you recognize how absurd this amendment is,” Hines said, lambasting the “ignorant” people who are trying to get Prop 26 passed.

While one can argue that this “death” is natural as opposed to abortion, would you consider these failed fertilized eggs to be people? Would you hold a funeral if you “miscarried” after one day?

Most women do not even know they were pregnant when this happens. But, suddenly, an IUD or a morning-after pill are murder, as they prevent implantation.

To stray even further into the ridiculous, questions have been raised by some regarding the ages at which many American milestones occur.

If you become a person at the moment of conception, does that mean you can vote when 17 years and three months old? Can you drink when you’re 20 years and three months old?

If only Mississippi and the few other states considering this proposal pass it, then will these national standards become defunct?

Before the proponents of this amendment can even hope to be taken seriously, they need to think through some of these issues and provide answers.

While I agree that babies should not be killed, we are talking about fertilized eggs that may not even become babies anyway.

I hope the Mississippi voters will be able to set aside their religious fervor for a moment, as the Roman Catholic Church has done, and think long and hard about the effects this amendment could have.

Unfortunately, Prop 26 will probably pass; I look forward to seeing the Supreme Court smack it down.

November 4, 2011

IMPRESSIONS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

A Goodman is Hard to Find

Healing the economy means dealing with debt

By Jeremy Goodman Columnist

The entire industrialized world is dealing with the after-effects of recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared it started in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, with many analysts calling it the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Banks are being rescued by the federal government, families are walking away from their homes and unemployment rates are the highest in decades.

The last two depressions (199091 and 2001) both lasted only eight months. In comparison, this last recession lasted nearly two years and its effects are still being felt. Others believe this is just a small bump in the road, nothing near what America faced in the early 1900s. Mark Vitner, the CEO of Wachovia, described the recession: “The Great Depression was like a hurricane.

This is really a bad storm.” Vitner has no doubt in the scale of this “setback.”

There are hundreds of different theories about how this recession came about. There is one concept behind them all: debt.

Debt appears to be the root of all evil. The first of many theories is the surfeit of mortgages that were sold to people who couldn’t afford them.

There seems to be two sides to this argument: One, consumers failed to evaluate what they were buying, and two, the industry defrauded consumers through unclear contracts and promotions. I believe the industry is to blame.

Before taking a side of any argument, a well-informed person must understand the facts. In 2005, housing prices around the world peaked.

Little did homeowners know that real estate increases are historically followed by decreases. In 2006, housing prices plummeted.

When the prices began to fall lower than expected, many families saw a shift between mortgage payments and home values. As a result, homeowners saw “negative equity.” Negative equity occurs when a mortgage debt is higher than the value of the home. As a result, homeowners could no longer pay off their mortgages, leaving them in debt and forcing the banks to foreclose the properties. Many made the decision to abandon their homes and “walkout.” The cost of staying and paying their mortgage was more than their equity.

Homeowners realized that selling the house would leave them with more debt than before. There

Chosen Rosen

By Ricky Rosen Columnist

The past few weeks I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep. That’s actually putting it mildly—I’ve been going to sleep past sunrise every night (including the weekends) and I’ve had to wake up a few hours later for class. My typical night usually involves club meetings and extracurricular commitments until around 10 p.m., at which point I head down to the library or to the Shapiro Campus Center study room to start my various assignments. But by the time I leave the SCC when Einsteins is opening in the morning, I find myself in exactly the same situation as when I started.

Needless to say, this is a pretty

graphic by diane somlo/the hoot

seemed to be no other way out. As the foreclosure rates increased, banks began to see losses. They had lent out money as mortgage loans and now had no way to get it back.

You all have seen the television commercials promising “low equity rate” mortgages with “little money down.” They’re marketing traps.

These false promotions put many ho-

meowners in negative equity situations. The industry used unclear promotions to get buyers to sign unclear contracts that eventually trapped them. The consumer doesn’t understand economics as well as an economist and doesn’t read contracts like a lawyer, so why should they make decisions and sign papers like they were? It’s the industry’s fault we en-

tered a recession.

An economic crisis is happening right now—globally, nationally and locally; everyone’s felt the effects. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the cause of the recession, filled with blame and despair. We need to stop looking at what caused it. We have no way of going back to fix it.

We must unite as a global com-

munity and make repairs. It is our responsibility to bring our economy back. We have recovered before from far worse circumstances and will do so again, becoming stronger and healthier than before. As a country we will pull through, make a difference globally and learn from what happened. Through knowledge of our past, we can control our future.

The problem with productivity bad habit to get into. Especially on nights when I absolutely need to get work done. Usually when I have a paper due, I am able to buckle down and get my act together. But it takes me a while. At around 3:15 a.m., I’ll come to the realization that I seriously need to get off Facebook and actually write more on my Microsoft Word document than just my name.

At that point, though, not only am I feeling hopeless about the prospects of getting an A on my paper, but I am feeling the physical effects of fatigue. My neck is sore from sitting at a computer for so long, my eyes are burning with dryness, my face is thick with exhaustion and the worst part is that I have worn myself out doing absolutely nothing.

I then ask myself: I got out of class

at 3:30 p.m., what in the world have I done in the last 12 hours that was more important than a paper that’s worth 35 percent of my grade? When I find myself in that position, I have a hard time remembering how I’ve wasted the entire day.

Believe it or not, I’m not the only person here insane enough to stay up all night without having completed any work. If Facebook is any indication, tons of college students suffer from the same disease. And this isn’t procrastination. This isn’t us dancing in the hallways in a blatant attempt to waste time. This is the mother of procrastination. This is out of our hands; whether it’s putting our extracurriculars (which do not get factored into our GPAs, guys!) ahead of our schoolwork or being a slave to technology,

we find ourselves wasting time in ways we cannot control.

A lot of people blame their lack of productivity on the addictiveness of Facebook and Twitter.

And yes, it is true that the Internet was practically invented for putting off assignments in college.

But we are at fault in this, too. It’s one thing to take quick five-minute breaks when writing a paper but it gets out of hand. Every time we find the courage to open Microsoft Word and stare at the blank document for a moment, we reward ourselves with a Facebook break. We type in our login quickly, telling ourselves we just want to put a short status up, complaining about all the work we have yet to do.

But then we get click-happy and, not long after, two hours have passed.

It’s like eating potato chips—you tell yourself you’ll eat just one but, before you know it, the whole bag is gone.

The key, as with many things in life, is self-control. Do you honestly believe that you are only going to have one potato chip? In the same way, do you honestly believe you will only be on Facebook for 30 seconds to post a status? If the answer to that question is no, then don’t bother going online at all. Why not take a break and respond to a text message? Or take a walk outside and back? When you desperately need to be productive, the Internet is a mouse trap, plain and simple. And the key to avoiding mouse traps is not to go near them.

Another contribution to this diSee SLEEPLESS, page 19

8 IMPRESSIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 4, 2011

The right to vote is sacred, but the GOP doesn’t think so

graphic by linjie xu/the hoot

By Sam Allen Columnist

The right to vote is arguably America’s oldest and most important tradition. With the exception of the Civil War, our national conflicts have been resolved with ballots, not bullets. At

the time of our nation’s founding, only white men who owned property had the right to vote. The institution of voting, however, has been consistently expanding throughout our nation’s history to include first all white men, then white women and finally, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, legal barriers to voting were dismantled for every American. That

is why it is so tragic that during the past few years Republican governors and state legislatures across the country have turned back the clock by passing a series of laws that inhibits the ability of Americans to exercise their right vote.

Ari Berman, who writes for Rolling Stone, wrote about some of the most outrageous examples of voter sup-

pression laws, such as Florida’s law imposing restrictions on voter registration drives. This new law, signed into law by Republican Governor Rick Scott, requires anyone that registers a new voter to turn in the appropriate forms within 48 hours or face fines of up to $1,000 and the potential of being prosecuted as a felon. Nobody who helps American citizens register to vote should be a treated as a criminal but, because of this draconian law, organizations such as Rock the Vote are going to have to end voter registration drives in Florida because of the fear that their volunteers will be prosecuted.

Other anti-democratic laws that have been passed include cutting the amount of days available for early voting in Florida and Ohio, as well as banning early voting, specifically on the Sunday before Election Day. By ending early voting on Sunday, many black churches will no longer be able to mobilize their congregants with “souls to the poll” events that have been a tradition for decades. The only reason Republicans passed this law was to suppress the turnout of African-Americans, who historically vote in large numbers for the Democratic Party. It is despicable that, instead of trying to win African-American votes by appealing to them, Republicans are instead trying to suppress their ability to vote.

Sadly, these laws are just the beginning. Many other states are now passing laws requiring photo IDs to vote.

The problem with this is that many elderly, minority and young voters lack such IDs. Additionally, many of the new laws make the use of student IDs unacceptable for voting. For example, in Texas a concealed weapons permit will allow someone to vote but a student ID will not. A Wisconsin law, which was signed by Scott Walker, requires the identification to contain specific information not found on student IDs.

Because young people voted predominantly for Barack Obama in 2008, the Republican Party wants them barred from voting this time.

To give themselves cover while passing all of these anti-democratic laws, Republicans have been bringing up the specter of voter fraud.

Voter fraud is not even close to the problem the Republicans have made it out to be. There have only been a few hundred convictions for voter fraud in the past eight years; meanwhile, in the same time period, millions of people have been denied the right to vote due to confusion over where their polling place was located.

Then there are the millions of people who have been unable to vote because of long polling lines and confusion about voter registration. Clearly we need to make it easier for citizens to vote rather than implementing barriers to disenfranchise millions of Americans.

Of all the questionable policies the Republican Party and the conservative movement have embraced in the past few years, their fervent support for anti-democracy laws sticks out as particularly egregious. Conservatives should be ashamed of themselves for trying to suppress the right of American citizens to vote. Using voter fraud as the reason for such laws is a smokescreen because the real reason these laws are being passed is to prevent people who traditionally vote Democratic from voting at all.

Instead of resorting to such underhanded tactics, the Republican Party should do what political parties normally do in a democracy: try to appeal to voters through your party’s platform and message.

For a political party that loves to talk about patriotism and love of country, the fact that Republicans are trying to limit our most sacred institution makes them at best hypocrites; at worst, it makes them anti-American.

Israel’s decision saddening but not surprising

By Rida Abu Rass Special to the Hoot

Last week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accepted Palestine as a legitimate member, causing something of a political storm. As you would expect, Palestinians rejoiced in light of this decision, which further legitimizes them in the international arena and strengthens their position as a possible full member of the United Nations. The Israelis, on the other hand, responded in a rather infantile manner. Their response: building 2,000 new, illegal housing units in East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and Maale Adumim.

To me, this response seems outrageous, funny and expected, all at the same time. First, it is outrageous since expanding settlements is one of the core issues on the negotiations table.

Even the United States, Israel’s most powerful ally, has condemned this decision (although I must also mention their cutting all funds to UNESCO, which amounts to around one quarter of UNESCO’s total funds). It is diplomatically outrageous because

Israel is holding the Palestinian Authorities responsible for UNESCO’s generous decision to include them in their organization, damaging the peace process.

Second, this was a very funny decision to me, simply because of its extremely infantile nature. Many of The Hoot’s readers must already be aware of recent “price tag” activities—“price tag activities” being a euphemism to refer to violent crimes committed against Palestinians by Israel’s growing extreme right wing, mostly settlers. They include a recent mosque burning and the destruction of Palestinian olive fields. In the Israeli rightwing lexicon, however, these “price tag” activities have become synonymous with “acts of revenge,” justified, even when there is no defined preceding act that they are avenging. In the light of these “price tag” activities, Israel’s decision to increase settlements is funny because it is the diplomatic equivalent of “price tagging”—seemingly operating on the ideology that you’ve gain something, so I shall hurt you in response.

Ultimately, this is also a very expected response, simply because of the saddening shift to the (extreme) right in Israeli politics. This becomes very apparent if we, for example, look

at the new laws the current government made; “The Nakba law,” for example, forbids any publicly funded organization to be sad on Israel’s independence day, in which Palestinians commemorate “the Nakba,” their exodus in 1948 during which, according to UNRWA, 711,000 Palestinians were removed from their homes. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it actually says in this law that a publicly funded organization cannot mourn on this day. Another example of such antidemocratic, borderline fascist laws is the “boycott law,” according to which whoever aligns themselves with the boycott movement may be sued in court; in other words, be careful if you publicly say bad things about settlement products if you are in Israel.

So my point is, ultimately, that such infantile, counter-productive decisions should not surprise anyone in light of the actions of Israel’s current infantile, counter-productive government. It is a “counter-productive” government because it continuously makes irresponsible decisions, hurting Israel’s interests in the long run diplomatically. The current situation, in which Israel and the United States fight desperately against the rest of the world, must stop. It simply does not make sense to me to keep on acting

against the international consensus in an increasingly globalized world, despite the obvious benefits of cooperating with such a powerful ally. We are running out of time: Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to resign and dismantle the Palestinian Authority following 20 years of fruitless negotiations and false promises, and the

Palestinian people are becoming dangerously frustrated. If this does not stop, we may enter a circle of intifadas and price tags. Israel must normalize its relations with the Arab world, perhaps accepting the proposed Arab Peace Initiative, which will solve the conflict and bring economic stability to the Middle East.

graphic by linjie xu/the hoot

November 4, 2011

IMPRESSIONS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

‘Why do we like boys so much? Honestly, I don’t know.’

By Betty Revah Columnist

There comes a time in every girl’s life when she wonders why boys are so complicated. For me, that time came a few weeks ago. I was studying—and by studying I mean watching “Gilmore Girls” with a friend— when I realized, thanks to Rory and Dean, that boys are incredibly difficult to understand. They say that girls are undecipherable and unreasonable and that, when they say yes, they actually mean no but, in every no, there is potentially a yes. But what about boys?

Have men ever stopped to think about the potential meanings behind every one of their words and every one of their actions? Personally, I don’t think so. They are as difficult to decipher as we are, if not more so. Well, OK, maybe not more difficult than us girls, but still very difficult. When a guy asks a girl what she wants to do or where she wants to go and she says “whatever you want,” we all know that she doesn’t really mean whatever he wants, she means “you know what I want to do, so say that you want to do that too and make me happy.” Now that is not so difficult to remember, is it? But what about when a girl asks a boy how he feels about

something and he answers “I don’t know.” First of all, of course he knows!

Everyone knows how they feel about everything. Second, that statement alone is so ambiguous that it gives the girl nothing! So is he not sharing his opinion because he is ashamed to admit that he actually has feelings? Or is it because he doesn’t want to seem girly and ruin his “macho” personality? Or is he saying, “I’m not interested, please stop talking to me”?

See what I mean? It’s not just girls, boys are complicated, too. And what about sports? I don’t—and probably never will—understand a guy’s fascination with yelling at the TV while they are watching a game (a TV, they should know, will not physically transport them or their voices to wherever the game is taking place.

No matter how hard they yell or curse at it or how much advice they give to the athletes, they simply will not be heard).

Boys let a bad score—not on a test, but on a football game—ruin their whole day and then they call girls crazy and oversensitive when they cry at the movies. How is that fair? I have no idea.

When a girl pours her heart out to a guy, she runs the risk of hearing “yep” or “mmmmm” for answers. When she spends hours on her hair and makeup and a considerable amount on a new dress, boys don’t even notice.

graphic by yi wang/the hoot

When she wants them to be serious, they are funny, and when she wants them to make her laugh—well, that’s an exception because they make her laugh anyway. When she thinks she is “just his friend” ... lets just say he has different thoughts. So why do we like boys so much? Honestly, I do not know.

Maybe it’s because, even when they say all the wrong things, even when they act crazy and goofy, even when they embarrass us, when they make us mad, when they are impossible to understand and when they refuse to say what they are feeling, there is an honesty to them that girls don’t have.

When you matter to them—not that

you would ever know, because it’s impossible to know what boys are thinking—you really matter, and when you need them, complicated or not, boys will always be there.

It may be time to face the truth, if we can’t live with them and can’t live without them, we might as well love them.

Innocent until proven guilty?

By Josh Kelly Staff

As an American, I am expected to be proud of our nation’s lofty principles including freedom of speech, separation of church and state, the right to privacy and the general right to have some say in how we are governed. America is such an awesome society that we supposedly even treat our criminals fairly by allowing them the right to a fair and speedy trial with a jury of their peers. While in other countries someone could get their hand cut off or be stoned to death without question for supposedly wronging someone else, in America we are better than that. That is the theory at least.

Upon thinking about our justice system, however, I keep coming to the same conclusion. Whenever I watch the news coverage of major trials— and there have been a lot of widely publicized trials recently—I feel that we are failing ourselves with one of our major legal principles.

I first became aware of this failure while studying in the Netherlands this summer in the Brandeis in The Hague program. With this program, I attended classes about the fundamentals of international law and visited major institutions of The Hague, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice and the Special Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

During one visit to the ICC, we saw the hearing of two men accused of recruitment of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Later that night, I messaged one of my old friends from high school via Facebook, telling her about the trial I had seen. I told her in particular about the trial because, back in high school, she had been involved with Invisible Children—an organization with the goal of ending such practices as the recruitment of child soldiers in Uganda. When I told her about the trial, her reaction was simple: “Oh, I hope he got convicted.”

Some of you might not see why this is a problem. Certainly recruiting child soldiers is a horrible crime and, if someone is found to be guilty of it, then they should face the full extent of the legal code’s punishment. What my friend unknowingly revealed, however, is a cultural tendency of ours to think in terms contradictory to what our legal code prescribes.

Our country is based on the principle of presumed innocence until guilt is proven. My friend assumed there wasn’t even the possibility of innocence. They were guilty. End of story.

This demonstrates a contrast between our societal emphasis on due process and fair trial, and the widespread instinct to feel otherwise. It seems that as soon as someone is accused of a horrible crime, they are instantly presumed to be guilty by the public. The challenge isn’t finding out the truth of the matter, as much as figuring out how to outmaneuver the defense counsel to keep an obviously guilty man from escaping the law.

One example of prejudice in the political sphere is found in the reactions toward the deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi.

They were different people, killed in very different ways, and yet share the similarity of not seeming worthy of a trial. While I would not go so far as to suggest that I doubt these two were guilty of horrible crimes based on overwhelming evidence suggesting that they are guilty, both were killed in illegitimate and essentially unlawful ways. Was there massive protest in the United States about either of them not being sent to the ICC? Not really. While there was some talk in the media about whether or not they should have been brought to trial, as well as some investigation into Gaddafi’s recent death, people were not that angry. This seems to be a perfect example of people being willing to bypass legal structures in declaring guilt without actually proving guilt.

Someone killing an innocent man is the same murder charge as someone killing a man guilty of killing others.

Yet it was just assumed by the public that these people deserved to die and that there was no need to confirm guilt.

The first thing to do once we see this is a problem is to delve into the source. Why is it that when we see a criminal being brought to court in handcuffs on the morning news, our instant thought is “oh, how awful that that person did that horrible thing.

I hope they got locked up in a dank, dark cell with bad plumbing,” when our thought—as prescribed by the core of our legal structure—should be “oh, if that person’s guilty I hope they serve their due penalty but, if they’re innocent, I hope they go free.”

I’m guilty of this too. Just last night as I was watching the news, I pre-judged someone—even when I was planning on writing an article lambasting this kind of behavior. A man was accused of touching a woman inappropriately in a bar. My thought was “oh, he was probably drunk. Still doesn’t excuse him.” Once again, there was the assumption of guilt. So why do we do this?

First of all, I think that we do this specifically with the worst crimes.

When someone is accused of child molestation, we have a more visceral reaction to the crime, simply because it is such a horrible crime that we aren’t thinking so much about who to blame as of our desire to blame someone. Certainly such an awful crime cannot go without someone being punished. Therefore we trust whatever stone-cold face we see on CNN. With other less serious crimes, there is not that urgency to place blame.

Furthermore, assuming that someone is guilty before a trial ensues, is partially due to the previous knowledge of the people observing the person in question. There is no doubt that there are horrible people in the world who commit awful acts upon society and, when we see that someone is accused of a car bombing, we do not just see them. Our mind instinctively connects them with others accused of similar crimes. The more

similarities between the two that we see, the more we are inclined to think that if one is guilty, the other is guilty as well.

So why is it so important that we rid ourselves of this tendency to convict internally before trial? It is simply because of how serious many of these crimes are for which people “pre-convict.”

Some would read this column and suggest this viewpoint is being soft on crimes of an atrocious nature, but it is simply because I understand the gravity of these crimes that I think it is so crucial to judge appropriately and without bias. First and foremost, we should consider the possibility of an innocent person being sent to jail. This is bad not only for that person whose life could potentially be unjustly destroyed, but for the victim of the crime as well, because they did not receive the authentic and appropriate justice that they should have received. The person who did them wrong is still at large.

Even if the person appears to be guilty based on overwhelming evidence, we should still provide them an unbiased atmosphere. If not to uphold our principles, then simply for the sake of the great expanse of information that can be gained from a legitimate trial.

What it comes down to is that our justice system is designed not to be emotional. Aristotle once said that “law is reason free from passion” and, while it is embarrassing to admit that the first time I heard that quote was in the film “Legally Blonde,” it still rings true.

I see a book of laws much the way I see a book of medicine. For a disease

graphic by sarah sue landau/the hoot

there is a prescription. If someone has a certain ailment, the doctor can prescribe certain fixes to the problem.

There can be multiple prescriptions and the doctor can improvise a little bit but, all in all, the doctor should be bound by what has been proven to be effective in the past. Similarly, a law has prescriptions.

If you commit a certain crime, the judge should be able to prescribe you a certain punishment based on what has been done in the past. They can choose from a list of various ideas but everything needs to have a logical reason behind it. The rationale for this is to avoid situations in which our natural human emotions steer us in the wrong direction. Our emotions could steer us toward wanting to give the benefit of the doubt to a guilty man who is more likeable and more pleasing to us, while not doing so to a man who is cold and unappealing to us.

All should be equal under the legitimate and unemotional code of laws, and it is for this reason that we really need to hold ourselves to our standard, and uphold the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

10 iMPRESSIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

Editor’s Desk

The premium cost of eating on campus

By Alex Schneider Editor

The numbers speak for themselves: The costs of basic food items in the Usdan convenience store are nothing short of outrageous. Simply by purchasing food and convenience items oncampus, students pay far more than they do at the local Hannaford supermarket.

But that’s only the start. Many items are poorly marked and unit pricing is unavailable, mak-

Brandeis C-Store

November 4, 2011

ing price comparisons difficult.

For students on meal plans, the cost of basic items is even more steep. This discrepancy is best seen in the $1,400 per semester points plan.

The plan costs $2,669, meaning that each point is equivalent to almost $2. While the meal plan pays for more than just food, including the high costs of running campus dining halls, the highly inflated costs of basic food items exacerbates the lack of parity between dollars and points.

The high cost of food at Brandeis never both-

ered me in the past. But some weeks back, I went to the convenience store to purchase a drink and a yogurt, and the price came out to nearly $5. For around $5 at Dunkin Donuts, I’d be able to get a much larger drink, a bagel with cream cheese and a donut. For $5 at Hannaford, I would at least be able to purchase two drinks and two yogurts.

Below is a sampling of items and their costs both on-campus and off-campus, as well as the percent price increase for eating on-campus. The

items have been randomly selected from those available in the C–Store.

I suspect that students will not be surprised by the sampling of food prices shown below. The same cannot be said of community members­— whether parents, staff or visitors—especially those who have never shopped in our on-campus convenience store.

And likely, after reading this page, they will take their business elsewhere. Unfortunately, students on meal plans just don’t have that luxury.

Dairy: Chobani yogurt

Cleaning supplies: Lysol

Brandeis C-Store

$5.99

$1.99

Hannaford Supermarket

Hannaford Supermarket

Price increase

Price increase

$2.99

$1.19

100%

67%

or $3 per item

Brandeis C-Store

or $0.80 per item

Cereal: Lucky Charms

Snacks: Oreo cookies

Brandeis C-Store

$6.09

$6.39

for 16.6 oz.

for 11.5 oz.

Hannaford Supermarket

Hannaford Supermarket

for 15.5 oz.

for 16 oz.

$2.99

$3.49

Price increase

Price increase

90%

154%

or $0.17 per oz.

Pasta

or $0.34 per oz.

Orange Juice

Envelopes

Lack of unit pricing on labels

cost per unit Unit pricing, as seen in orange above, indicates the cost of an item per

unit. Unit pricing can be beneficial, especially when comparing products within and between stores and when determining whether prices have changed when a product has been downsized. Brandeis is not required to implement unit pricing due to the size of the convenience store but doing so would be more consumer friendly and transparent.

Brandeis C-Store

Brandeis C-Store

Brandeis C-Store

Hannaford Supermarket

Hannaford Supermarket

Hannaford Supermarket

Price increase

Price increase

Price increase

$2.29

$1.19

92%

or $1.10 per item

$5.49

$3.39

62%

or $2.10 per item

Labels difficult to find

$2.09

$0.99

111% or $1.10 per item

how much is that? In some areas of the Usdan convenience store (left), prices are not listed on labels attached to shelves, making choosing products based on price more difficult. In comparison, Hannaford Supermarket (right) labels all items.

FEATURES

November 4, 2011

Tour guide talks

View From the Top: Daniel Liebman photo courtesy of daniel liebman

By Daniel Liebman Special to the Hoot

When I arrived at Brandeis for my first semester, I had a number of immediate goals for myself. I wanted to pass my first chemistry exam, which I did. I wanted to keep the “freshman 15” off, which I did not (I blame proximity to Sherman and having Asia Wok on speed dial). I wanted to have people with whom to eat lunch from day one so that I wouldn’t be a lonely firstyear, which Shapiro 1A supplied plentifully. And I wanted to become a tour guide.

I was always the kid in grade school whose report card perpetually contained a teacher comment mentioning my “consistent inability to stop talking when class is in session”—that’s a quote.

My suite mates will certainly tell you that little has changed since those days and they’d probably be correct. I like to talk. After learning as a high school senior that someone can actually get paid to walk around campus while schmoozing with prospective students, it was a foregone conclusion that I would become a tour guide myself once I got to college. Sure enough, three weeks into my first semester, I marched down to Admissions to sign up (although back then, it was more like marched “down”—the office was still in the basement of Bernstein-Marcus while the spaceship new Admissions building was under construction).

Spending the majority of my time at Brandeis as a tour guide has, I think, given me a vantage point of this school that I would not likely have otherwise had. As students, we’re frequently so See SENIOR, page 12

Sophomore travels to Morocco to discuss Holocaust

By Leah Finkelman Editor

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September, again implying a belief that the Holocaust had never happened, Aaron Weinberg ’14 was doing the opposite at a conference organized by Ahmedinejad’s fellow Muslims.

At Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, a group of Muslim students organized “Mohammed V, Righteous Amongst the Nations: The Holocaust and the Jews of Morocco,” recognized as the Arab world’s first conference remembering the Holocaust, with a focus on Morocco’s involvement.

Weinberg, a Sociology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies major and a Chicago native with strong ties to the Jewish community, learned of the conference after participating in Kivunim, a gap-year program. The program, based in Israel, attempts to promote a “world consciousness” and develop an “abiding appreciation for difference, pluralism and mutual respect” in students, according to its website.

While in Israel, students study Jewish communities in other parts of the world, ending units with visits to those countries, 10 in total, Weinberg said.

During the winter of his gap year, Weinberg studied Morocco, which he described as an Arab country that throughout history has peacefully coexisted with its Jewish community. “I was

blown away by that,” he said. “It served as an incredible and telling model of how [the world] can function.”

While studying Morocco, Weinberg learned of King Mohammed V, for whom the conference was named. The king ruled Morocco during World War II, when the Vichy French government controlled his country and, unlike many heads of state, he refused to turn on his Jewish citizens. “When the Vichy government wanted to give out stars to the Jews of Morocco, he said ‘order 50 more for me and my family,’” Weinberg said.

To Weinberg, King Mohammed V’s story speaks to the possibility of peace between Jews and other communities, particularly in Arab countries. Rather than looking at Morocco’s history as a country with two separate groups of people getting along, he considers it a representation of one society with many similarities who simply practice different religions.

Weinberg learned of the conference from Peter Geffen, founder and executive director of Kivunim. Last year, with Kivunim participants, Geffen visited Al Akhawayn University, meeting with the Muslim students in the Mimouna Club.

After stories of his grandmother’s childhood in the Jewish quarter of Casablanca prompted 24-year-old Political Science major Elmehdi Boudra to learn more about the Jewish history of Morocco, he and several friends founded the Mimouna Club, which delves into MoroccanJewish culture and heritage.

When Geffen spoke to Boudra, the younger

photo by ben perlstein/tufts university

From left, royal adviser André Azoulay, Al Akhawayn University President Dr. Driss Ouaouicha, Kivunim Founder and Executive Director Peter Geffen, and Al Akhawayn Geography Professor Eric Ross.

man asked if Geffen would be able to help with a Holocaust conference the club wanted to hold.

“The whole power of it is that it was their idea,” Geffen said. “Here’s a group of Muslim students, 20-, 21-years-old, on an Arab campus in the Arab world. And to have an intuitive recognition that opening the discussion in the face of widespread Holocaust denial is a major human step forward.”

Geffen, Boudra and others worked for several months to plan the conference, which was held in September. The three-day event included introductions and welcomes by Al Akhawayn President Dr. Driss Ouaouicha, Boudra and Geffen, speakers like Holocaust survivor Elizabeth Citron and André Azoulay, a Jewish adviser to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, and lectures on topics about the history of Jews in Morocco and other Arab countries and the importance of maintaining those cultural and historic memories.

During his introduction, Geffen read the Royal Proclamation on the Holocaust, a statement released in March 2009. In the statement, King Mohammed VI, grandson of King Mohammed V, pointed out the lack of world knowledge of the role Morocco played during the Holocaust.

“We perceive [the Holocaust] as a wound to the collective memory, which we know is engraved in one of the most painful chapters in the collective history of mankind,” the king wrote.

While reminding the world of his grandfather’s heroism, he went one step further, promoting dialogue and asking citizens of the world to “reassert reason” and remember the potential for an ideal world, in which “words of dignity, justice and freedom will express themselves in the same way and will coexist … regardless of our origins, cultures or spiritualities.”

“I think [the proclamation] is one of the most amazing documents ever created,” Weinberg said. “It should be plastered to the hall of every school in the world.”

During the conference, Azoulay addressed members of the Mimouna Club, switching to English to be understood by all.

“You have decided [to do this] by yourself. No one asked you to do it. It was your decision, your vision, your commitment,” he said, reminding attendees that without the initiative of young people who choose to remember, the atrocities of the Holocaust will be forgotten, especially in the face of deniers.

Weinberg pointed out that his generation will be the first to teach their children about the Holocaust without the first-hand accounts of survivors.

“We have a responsibility to tell this to our kids as an example of what the world around us can be,” he said. “There are stories of evil cruelty but we must also tell them of the heroism and the peace and the possibilities for the future in order to build a better tomorrow.”

The Brandeis Hoot 11

You Know We’re Right

Confused and clueless about classes?

Dear Leah and Morgan, I just finished my first semester and it’s time to choose classes for next semester. I liked my classes this year but I didn’t really love any of them (Intro to Econ, Intro to Psych, UWS and a NEJS class). I thought I wanted to be a Psychology major but I don’t think so anymore. I’ve picked a few classes just so I don’t waste my appointment slots but I’m not very excited about them and I want to switch. How should I go about picking classes with no major?

Sincerely, Stressed About Spring Dear Stressed, Wait, you didn’t like UWS? Why not?

Just kidding … we feel you. Here are our tips for a killer schedule: Ask around What have your friends taken? Especially talk to older students. Even if you’re not good friends, people are generally willing to rave about the classes and teachers they’ve loved and rant about the ones they’ve hated. You might have different interests but it’s a step in the right direction.

Review your requirements Check out the list of university and distribution requirements, and see what you’ve already done. You don’t have to completely everything next semester, but looking at non-Western classes being offered might spark an interest and knowing you’re satisfying a requirement might make it even more enticing.

Balance it out The best schedule combines a few different things. Initially, find a class you love.

Try to get at least one or two that satisfy a university requirement. If you have a potential major or minor, take at least one class toward it. That way, either you’ll be one step closer to declaring or one step closer to knowing you want to switch majors. Take a class with someone you’ve heard is an amazing professor. The best professors can make obscure and boring topics interesting, and you might be able to get a mentor or adviser out of it. You might be tempted to take an easy-A class but search for a class that will challenge you as well—you don’t want to be too stressed in the spring, but there’s no point in wasting your tuition on classes you can sleep through.

Take what you love Start by searching through classes until you find one that sounds interesting, whether it’s a topic you’ve studied previously, something you’ve always wanted to learn about or something of which you’ve never heard in your life.

The best way to pick a major (in our humble opinions) is the way we did it: Take a few semesters of interesting classes, make a spreadsheet to map everything out, and see what majors and minors you’re already on your way to completing. You might be surprised with what you end discover but don’t be discouraged if your results don’t match up with what you think your life plan is. For starters, your life plan can always change and the beauty of a liberal arts education at a university like Brandeis is that it prepares you not just for a career path but to be a productive, functioning member of society wherever you end up.

Best of luck!

Peace, love and good advice, Leah and Morgan

Have questions that you want answered by the lovely ladies of The Hoot? Submit your questions to advice@thebrandeishoot.com or at formspring.me/leahandmorgan! They will be answered by Leah Finkelman ’13, Features Editor, and Morgan Gross ’14, Impressions Editor. We’re so excited to hear your questions!

12 FEATURES

This Week in History Brandeis

2005 Catholic chaplain

the Rev. David Michael announces he is leaving Brandeis to serve a nearby community.

2006 200 students stuff

themselves into Chum’s to hear and dance to GirlTalk, a.k.a. Gregg Gillis, a mash-up artist.

Massachusetts

1872 A fire starts in a

dry goods store and spreads across Boston, nearly destroying the city’s business district.

The Brandeis Hoot

November 4, 2011

SE ‘plays’ up Louis Louis

By Leah Finkelman Editor

Louis Louis Week, a staple of Student Events programming, opened Wednesday with a traditional Wake and Shake in the morning as students were heading to class, followed by faux ice skating that evening in Levin Ballroom. Thursday brought a night of bingo and the promise that Louis Louis wouldn’t disappoint.

This year’s Louis Louis Week is themed “iLouisLouis Playlist,” and each event is based on a popular song: the “Wake Me Up Before You GoGo” Wake and Shake, “Ice Ice Baby” ice skating and “When I’m 64” bingo. Upcoming events include “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” today in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium, the “I Want Candy” Munchie Mobile tonight, and “I’m Too Sexy,” Saturday’s dance in Sherman Function Hall co-sponsored by Triskelion.

The Wake and Shake, as usual, provided hot chocolate, coffee and Munchkins, as well as free t-shirts, cups, shot glasses and beaded necklaces. There was also a life-size cutout of Justin Bieber, dressed in a Louis Louis t-shirt.

According to Director of Social Events Eva Ying ’12, more than 500 students went “ice skating” in Levin on a synthetic ice rink rented from Party Vision, a local entertainment company. “A lot of people were excited about ice skating and came just to see how it would work,” Social Coordinator Rita Tobias ’14 said.

The week was planned by Ying and Social

Coordinators Tobias, Sivan Levine ’13 and Nina Godles ’13 with help from other members of Student Events.

“Louis Louis is a spirit week to honor Louis Brandeis,” Tobias said. “Free stuff makes people happy and we remind them it’s Louis Louis to remind them of the reason we’re celebrating.”

The theme, iLouisLouis Playlist, was chosen after a brainstorming session because the coordinators believed they would be able to “mix up everything to appeal to all types of Brandeis students. These are events no one has seen on campus,” Ying said.

First-time events include the ice rink and the mechanical bull that will be featured today at “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.” This week is also the first time Student Events has collaborated to host Student Activities’ bingo night. The prizes were quadrupled, including a pair of tickets to the sold out Jay-Z and Kanye West concert, won

by Ami Merker ’15.

Beginning at 2 p.m. today, the Shapiro Campus Center atrium will be transformed into the Wild Wild West, complete with a mechanical bull, a photo booth, Boston Market food and more.

Saturday’s dance, the conclusion to Louis Louis Week, will feature DJ Sensation of NuEra.

1986 Massachusetts

becomes the first state to repeal a 10-month-old fined mandatory seatbelt law.

United States

1969 “Sesame Street”

debuts, teaching generations of young children the alphabet and how to count.

1994 George Foreman

becomes boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion at 45 after defeating Michael Moorer.

World

1895 Wilhelm Conrad

Rontgen becomes the first person to observe X-rays, naming them for their unknown nature.

bieber fever Prizes at iLouisLouis “When I’m 64” bingo, guarded by Student Events’ unofficial mascot, one of two Justin Bieber cutouts.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

Union president and others jailed Wednesday to fundraise for Relay

By Leah Finkelman Editor

“I’ll let you send the next Union e-mail! Well, not the next official one, but I’ll let you send an e-mail saying you helped most in bailing me out … with a YouTube video or something,” Student Union President Herbie Rosen ’12 shouted to anyone who would listen.

“I’m the new Chief Justice and I’ll make sure you get impeached. Bail ME out,” Shirel Guez ’12 quickly retorted as Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan watched, looking remarkably similar to a protagonist in an old detective film.

“I just want to make your lunch,” Marie “The Sandwich Lady” Martin pleaded.

1962 The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South African apartheid.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot sandwich lady Marie Martin begs to be bailed out.

Rosen, Guez and Martin were joined by Marc Eder ’12, Kelly Ethier ’13, Jason Dick ’14 and Professor Tom Pochapsky (CHEM) in the purple crepe paper prison, calling out to passersby in the Shapiro Campus Center atrium on Wednesday. By calling out for bail money (or donations to keep others in), the group hoped to raise money for and awareness of this year’s Relay For Life, to be held March 17 in Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

The event was the first of its kind for Brandeis Relay For Life efforts and raised more than $1,400, organizer and Survivorship Committee Chair Alison Fink ’12 said. Fink organized the event with Ari Boltax ’14, choosing people from various groups and clubs on campus to maximize word-of-mouth advertising.

“We really appreciated people volunteering for the event and participating,” Fink said. “We couldn’t have done it without them! I am so happy we raised so much money in just two hours.”

The money is a first step toward the group’s goal of $75,000 after raising $65,000 last year, Relay For Life Event Chair Hannah Katcoff ’12 said.

Jail and Bail followed the Relay For Life Kickoff, a coffeehouse in Chum’s Tuesday night. Performers that included Saz.E and Starving Artists attracted enough people that 20 signed up for Relay For Life at the reduced registration fee of $5, compared to the usual $10.

“We weren’t focusing on fundraising at the coffeehouse,” Event Co-Chair Rachael Pass ’13 said. “It was just the kickoff, but a lot of people showed up who were really excited for Relay and our upcoming fundraising events.”

At the coffeehouse, the committee also started selling tickets for Rumba, the International Club’s replacement for Pachanga. Relay For Life is cosponsoring the event Nov. 12, which will feature 5 & A Dime and other performers. All proceeds will benefit Relay For Life and tickets are $5 in advance and $7 the night of the event.

Lessons from a Brandeis tour guide SENIOR, from page 11

busy/overworked/so-tired-I-seriously-am-going-to-fall-asleep-in-the-middle-of-lecture-nojoke that we get a kind of tunnel vision, focused on our work and activities and not much else.

This is certainly true for me around midterms— my roommate used to joke that he could tell when I had a major test or paper coming up just by how messy my side of the room was, since my propensity to forgo cleaning while I studied usually turned my desk into an area that would probably quality for FEMA disaster aid.

Working as a tour guide has meant, however, that, at least once per week, every week, for the last four years, I put down my pen and my notes for at least an hour to spend time with a visiting group of prospective students, excited at the idea of visiting colleges and curious about our school. Once a week, I set aside paper deadlines, chemistry recitations and theater rehearsal schedules and introduce students and their families to Brandeis for the first time. When I’m with visitors, I see Brandeis, not just through my own eyes, but through theirs—and, in the process, I’m brought back to my own first visit to Brandeis and the reasons I chose this school in the first place.

It’s so easy to take Brandeis for granted—the friendliness and sincerity of our student body, the accessibility and enthusiasm of our ridiculously accomplished professors, the sheer number of clubs and activities available to us despite our relatively small size.

Giving tours to prospective students has a knack for reminding me how special Brandeis is.

Seeing the looks on my group’s faces when I casually mention the time Professor Katz sat down with me for an hour at the last minute to go over material on the upcoming behavioral neuroscience exam or how my USEM, which contained six students, was taught by the dean of arts and sciences reminds me that these are not “normal” occurrences in the grand scheme of things.

Watching visitors react to the list of guest speakers coming to campus the next month, or the fact that my professor recently invited the class to his house for dinner, or the fact that my first semester professors during my first year included a former member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the then-president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, or even the fact that we have a freakin’ castle on our campus reminds me that these things to which we are so accustomed are not run-of-the-mill, even in the world of higher education.

It’s practically ingrained in the Brandeis tradition to gripe about Brandeis—believe me, I’m as good at it as anyone (for example, it would be just super if my room in the Mods would settle on a temperature suitable for human life instead of jockeying between sub-freezing and the melting point of lead).

I think this tendency is actually a plus. On my tours, students and parents often marvel at the level of access and communication we have with university administration (or, for example, how I received a personal response from President Lawrence signed “Fred” when I sent him an email earlier this year) and I attribute this accessibility to the fact that our student body isn’t afraid to be vocal when we see something we could improve upon as a school.

At this point I would say I’m not one to give advice, except that would be a lie since I am, after all, a talker and am never shy to give an opinion—so, here’s my advice. Don’t stop griping when something needs to be changed, and don’t stop focusing on your assignments when there’s a due date coming up—you’re paying enough to be here that you better do both of those things when necessary. But, from time to time, put your textbook down and forget about the terrible water pressure in your shower for a minute. Try to see this place objectively. You’re at Brandeis University. You take classes with professors who are literally the best and the brightest in their fields.

Your classmates will be going on to do amazing things. You get the chance to dance around in front of a huge audience wearing nothing but latex paint for heavens’ sake! Savor it for a moment because it won’t last forever. Then, get back to your physics problem set—it’s due in 24 hours and you haven’t started it yet because you were too busy writing a senior column for The Hoot.

EDITORIALS

November 4, 2011

"To acquire wisdom, one must observe."

Editor-in-Chief Alex Schneider Managing Editors Sean Fabery Yael Katzwer Jon Ostrowsky Senior News Editor Nathan Koskella News Editor Debby Brodsky News Editor Leah Finkelman Features Editor Morgan Gross Impressions Editor Gordy Stillman Sports Editor Candice Bautista Arts, Etc. Editor Alana Blum Hoot Scoops Editor Savannah Pearlman Copy Editor Steven Wong Graphics Editor Nafiz “Fizz” Ahmed Photography Editor Ingrid Schulte Photography Editor Leah Finkelman Production Editor Emily Stott Layout Editor Brian Tabakin Deputy Sports Editor Suzanna Yu Deputy Copy Editor Destiny D. Aquino Senior Editor

Volume 8 • Issue 22 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Pondering the purpose of The Pulse

W

e applaud the Student Union for its initiative, The Pulse, to capture student input through a series of online surveys that will take place this coming week. Student input is certainly a good thing, especially in helping Union leaders justify their initiatives to administrators.

But at the same time, The Pulse assumes that the answers to the questions posed are not presently known. The Union has conducted polls in the past but, more importantly, it has held a slew of elections and students have had a chance to vote on the initiatives of the Union when they chose their representatives.

It’s time to implement those changes—the promises from elections and campaigns—which students considered

when electing their Union representatives.

Union leaders have every right to feel that they don’t represent the entire student body considering low student turnout in elections. But consider President Herbie Rosen: He was elected with 44 percent turnout. Why would Union leaders assume more students will vote in The Pulse than in an election with 44 percent turnout? (If the rationale is the random prize drawing for participants, perhaps that’s the answer to low election turnout).

Many of the changes that the Union has been proposing are pretty straightforward: increase in hours, options and programs. The administration will naturally counter those proposals by saying they need proof. At a certain point, this

back and forth becomes a game. Student surveys will always suggest that student want longer hours, more options and more diverse programs.

The key is for Union leaders to negotiate for reasonable demands with the underlying understanding that by holding their position they have a mandate to represent students.

If administrators won’t recognize Union leaders without surveys such as The Pulse, that problem can’t be fixed by more and better polls.

The Pulse is a great step toward gaining student input but we’re not convinced the Union will learn anything new. We hope that once the poll ends, the Union won’t get the run around anymore, that data will back up ideas and that we’ll finally see some real changes implemented.

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

Mission As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information.

Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events. Recognizing that better journalism leads to better policy, The Brandeis Hoot is dedicated to the principles of investigative reporting and news analysis. Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

SUBMISSION POLICIES The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@ thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words. The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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Campus hotel would bring revenue

n his fall 2010 farewell letter, former President Jehuda Reinharz wrote about his achievements and shortcoming as the leader of Brandeis for more than a decade.

“I had also hoped to be able to renovate the Castle, build a campus parking garage, create a conference center with hotel-quality overnight facilities, and bring Brandeis’s U.S. News & World Report ranking into the twenties,” Reinharz wrote in December 2010. “These challenges await my successor.”

Building a hotel and conference center for Brandeis would be an effective use of funding and a worthwhile investment

on multiple levels. It will undoubtedly take several years to raise the money for such a project but in the long-run it will be a thriving source of revenue for the university. On commencement, move-in and fall visiting weekends, parents will pay high rates to stay on campus. This is especially true at Brandeis, as many families observe Shabbat and now have to walk to the Newton Marriott after attending services on campus.

Many larger universities have hotels, including Syracuse and Georgetown. When Brandeis holds conferences, it will allow guest speakers and lecturers to enjoy more conveniently their visit.

Clearly, a hotel is a long-term investment. In the short term, it will take leaders who have the vision to plan a future for Brandeis that goes beyond just the next five years. A hotel would also attract local businesses to advertise and restaurants to open inside. Furthermore, the university would receive funding from the athletic teams that travel to play at Brandeis nearly every weekend.

These type of projects take time to plan and they take leaders who can weigh the short-term costs and long-term benefits of financial investments. Now that Brandeis is on stable financial ground, it’s an ideal time to revisit what Reinharz wrote last year.

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14 The Brandeis Hoot

sports

November 4, 2011

Men’s soccer splits games at Emory and Carnegie Mellon

photo by nate rosenbloo,/the hoot

By Brian Tabakin Editor

The Brandeis men’s soccer team picked its first road victory over a UAA opponent as the Judges defeated Carnegie Mellon 2-1 in double OT. With the win, the Judges improved to 11-5-1 (2-3-1 UAA), their best record since the 2002 campaign, on the season.

Carnegie Mellon got on the scoreboard first in the 22nd minute. Senior midfielder Kyle Young found junior forward Alex Abedian open

on the right side of the box. Abedian immediately shot the ball and snuck it inside the near post past Brandeis goalie Blake Minchoff ’13 for his third goal of the season. Despite letting it in the goal, Minchoff kept the Judges in the game by stopping the next three shots on goal in the first half.

The Judges’ play was much improved in the second half and overtime outshooting Carnegie Mellon 9-7 the rest of the game. After Minchoff turned aside two potential goals in the 70th and 71st minutes, the Judges tied the game in the 75th

minute. Tartans sophomore goalie Christopher Madden made a stop on an initial shot from midfielder Tyler Savonen ’15, but midfielder Theo Harris ’12 deposited the rebound past Madden for his fifth goal of the season. With the goal, Harris became the fourth Brandeis player with at least five goals this season and Savonen’s assist gives him five on the season and a team-leading 17 points.

The Judges pressured the Tartans in their offensive zone for the final 15 minutes of regulation, gaining three corner kicks and three more shots.

Madden, however, stoned Savonen in the 87th minute to preserve the tie heading into overtime. Brandeis had two corners and only one shot in the first overtime but the game-winning goal came in the second overtime.

After gaining a free kick, forward Lee Russo ’13 kicked the ball toward the far post of the goal. A Carnegie Mellon defender got his head on the ball but unfortunately he deflected the ball in the wrong direction, catching Madden off guard giving the Judges the victory on an own goal.

Minchoff finished the game with six saves against one goal while Madden finished with four saves against goals. The overtime loss was just the first Carnegie Mellon suffered this season. They had gone 2-0-1 in their first three overtime games.

Earlier in the week, the Judges visited Emory for a UAA matchup.

Despite outshooting the Eagles 2210, including a 15-5 advantage in the second half, the Judges were unable to score. The Eagles scored the game’s only goal in the 60th minute of play to get a 1-0 victory.

Midfielder Sam Ocel ’13 and Russo each tallied five shots, giving the pair as many shots as the entire Emory team. Ocel paced the Judges with two shots on goal while Russo suffered some bad luck having his shots deflect off the crossbar.

Emory sophomore goalie Andrew Goldblum made seven saves for the Eagles. It was just the second time this year that an opposing UAA goalie had made at least seven saves against the Judges.

Emory’s only goal came just five minutes after Goldblum denied mid-

fielder Kyle Feather ’14, who pushed a rebound just wide after an initial save by Goldblum. The Eagles scored their goal via some sensational passing. Sophomore forward Andrew Jones passed the ball through the box to senior forward Zach Samuels, who then crossed the ball to the waiting head of junior defender David Garofalo. Garofalo then headed the ball past Minchoff for his first goal of the season. Brandeis took 10 of their 22 shots after the Eagles scored that goal but Goldblum made two saves to keep the shutout alive. Minchoff made two saves in the losing effort.

Brandeis will wrap up their regular season Saturday afternoon when the Judges host NYU at 12 p.m. With a win over NYU, the Judges would secure their first 12-win regular season since 2000.

Men’s soccer Team

UAA

All

Washington

4–2

13–3–1

Case Western

4–2

13 – 4

Emory

4–2

10 – 7

Rochester

3–2–1

9–4–2

Brandeis

2–3–1

11–5–1

Chicago

2–4

9–6–2

NYU

2–4

7–8–1

Carnegie Mellon

2–4

6–8–2

Box Scores @Emory

Loss

1–0

@Carnegie Mellon

Win

2–1

Cardinals top Rangers in memorable World Series

By Samuel Gorelik Special to the Hoot

In what can only be called the closest World Series matchup in recent memory, the St. Louis Cardinals edged out the Texas Rangers to win their 11th World Series championship. In the end, it came down to who had more fight in them, and the St. Louis Cardinals proved they could face anyone and beat them. For the first two games, one run separated the winner from the loser. In the third game, the St. Louis bats came alive and crushed the Rangers’ pitching.

The Rangers’ pitching came back the next game with an impressive pitching performance by Derek Holland.

Game five turned on a miscommunication between Tony La Russa and his bullpen. His inability to communicate the right people to warm up led Marc Rzepcynski to pitch to Mike Napoli, instead of their right-handed closer, Jason Motte, and, as Napoli has done this whole season, he came up big for the Rangers. After game five, many people thought the Cardinals were done, as they had their backs against the walls in this series.

Then came the epic game six, arguably the best World Series game ever played. After rain postponed the game for a day, the Rangers and Cardinals started their game. For the first six innings each team matched the other point for point. Then, in the seventh inning, the Rangers jumped ahead to a three-run lead. After getting one run back in the eighth inning on an Allen Craig homer, the Cardinals went to bat in the ninth, with their season on the line. David Freese, an unlikely hero for the Cardinals this postseason, came to bat with the Cardinals down 7-5 and runners on first and second with two outs. Down

to his final strike, David Freese hits a two-run triple off of Rangers closer Neftali Feliz to tie the game. Then in the 10th inning, Josh Hamilton slammed a two-run homer, despite his much-publicized injury, to give the Rangers another two-run lead.

Once again the Cardinals came back, however, this time with the help of a Ryan Theriot’s RBI groundout and a Lance Berkman RBI single. In the 11th inning the Rangers failed to score, and David Freese tomahawked a ball from Rangers pitcher Mark Lowe in the bottom of the inning to give the Cardinals the win.

In game seven, as usual, the teams matched each other run for run. As the middle innings went by, it was clear that the Cardinals were in control of the game. The game, the series, and the season ended on a Jason Motte fastball that David Murphy hit to left field. Luckily, Allen Craig tracked down the ball for the Cardinals and grabbed the ball for the third out making the Cardinals the 2011 champions.

Inconsistent playing and their coace, Adam Wainwright losing his season during spring training, led the Cardinals to be 10.5 games out of the wild card in late August and into September. The Cardinals pulled off what can only be remembered as one of the most epic comeback in baseball history. Once their parade and partying are done, the Cardinals GM, John Mozeliak will have his hands full in this offseason. His top priority will be to convince the face of the franchise, Albert Pujols, to stay with the team.

Albert Pujols is by far the best player among the current generation. He consistently provides the Cardinals with a true leader on and off the field.

His statistics speak for themselves, 445 home-runs and more than 1,300

RBIs, while the effect he has on the city of St. Louis is quite remarkable as well. The only problem is that keeping him could force the Cardinals to stretch out their checkbooks. Some rumors have said that his contract could go upwards of 10 years and $30 million, something few teams could afford. Now people are wondering how the retirement of Tony La Russa, the legendary coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, will affect the team and Pujols going forward. It will be important for Mozeliak to choose the right coach because that could also affect Pujols’ decision.

For the Rangers, they face another off-season where they will focus on fixing their weaknesses, so that they can finally try to get over the hump next year and win their first championship. The main issue that they face is whether they want to re-sign pitcher C.J. Wilson. He has been an effective number one starter for the past couple of seasons now and he feels that it is time for his salary to be comparable to those of other aces.

If the Rangers are unable to re-sign him, they will have to decide who will replace him and how their rotation will look next year. Some rumors have mentioned their talented young closer, Feliz, moving into the rotation. He would be part of a long line of recent Rangers who have made the switch from bullpen to rotation. Another issue is the fact that Hamilton will be entering the last year of his contract. This means that in order to avoid losing another face of the franchise (Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Juan Gonzalez, etc.), the Rangers will have to dish out a large amount of cash for him to stay.

Of course, winning a championship next year, would help the Rangers efforts to keep him, and manager Ron

Washington must be thinking about that in the back of his mind. It will be interesting to find out how this

off-season plays out, since off-season trades and free agents can make or break a season before it begins.

Men’s and women’s cross country place fourth and seventh in UAA championships

By Gordy Stillman Editor

In the men’s competition, along with fourth place as a team, two Judges, Chris Brown ’12 and Marc Boutin ’12, earned All-University Athletic Association honors at the UAA championships in Chicago.

Brown earned second-team honors with his ninth overall time of 26:00.05 in the 8K race, about 10 seconds shy of seventh place and first-team honors. Compared to last year he improved his placement by 13 spots with a time improved by more than 20 seconds. Boultin came in 14th to claim the final AllUAA honors, beating out the 15th place runner by less than two seconds with a time of 26:20.20. Boultin’s honors outdid his previous best, his rookie placement of 19th place that earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2008.

Last year’s Rookie of the Year, Ed Colvin ’14 came in 21st place with a 26:35.23; three spots better than last year. In 22nd place Alex Kramer ’13 finished 26:40.10 in his first UAA race.

Other runners included Taylor Dundas ’14 at 59th place with a time of 27:57.38, Michael Rosen-

bach ’15 in 66th place with 28:15.02 and Greg Bray ’15 in 67th place, 4.4 seconds behind Rosenbach.

In the women’s events the Judges earned seventh place on the lead of Kate Warwick ’12 who finished the 6K course in 23:22.82 for 17th place. She was 15 seconds shy of all-conference honors. While missing honors, its worth noting that she improved her time by 20 seconds and placement by 20 spots compared to last year.

Second among the Judges was Miriam Stulin ’15, finishing 31st with a time of 23:55.86. It was her first time running the 6K in college and she was eighth among rookies.

Ali Kirsch ’14 placed 37th with a time of 27:08.73, improving by 56 seconds and 22 spots compared to last year. Victoria Sanford ’14 had a time of 25:14.65 good enough for 61st place. Closing out the Judges were Monique Girard ’12 and Kristi Pisarik ’15 earned 67th and 69th place respectively with times of 25.55.17 and 26:13.20.

The Judges next compete closer to home when they attend the NCAA New England regional championships at Bowdoin College this weekend.

November 4, 2011

SPORTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

With one game left, women’s soccer still winless in UAA Women’s soccer Team

UAA

All

Emory

5–0–1

14–0–2

Washington

4–2

14 – 4

Case Western

4–2

12–3–2

Carnegie Mellon

3–3

9–6

Chicago

2–2–2

9–5–2

NYU

2–4

11 – 6

Rochester

2–4

8–7

Brandeis

0–5–1

6–10–2

Box Scores

photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

By Alex Bernstein Staff

During the weekend, the Brandeis women’s soccer team dropped both of their games, 3-0 at Emory University on Friday night, and then 1-0 at Carnegie Mellon on Sunday afternoon. After getting shut out by both of their University Athletic Association rivals, the Judges returned from their road trip with a record of 6-10-2.

Just 35 seconds into the game on Friday night, the fifth-ranked Emory

Eagles got out to an early lead when sophomore Claire Mullins scored her fifth goal of the season. Emory never looked back, adding some insurance in the second half, when Eagles midfielder Lidija Baraiskas scored in the 57th minute. Then, in the 70th minute, Mullins put the game away when she scored her second goal of the game.

Although Emory outshot Brandeis 20-8, the Judges were encouraged by the play of midfielder Mary Shimko ’14, who led the team with three shots. Goalie Francine Kofinas ’13,

who played the first half, and Michelle Savuto ’15, who played the second half, each saved four shots for the Judges. It was not enough, however, and Emory remained undefeated on the season, improving to 13-0-2, including 4-0-1 in UAA matches. The Judges looked to turn things around and left Atlanta ready to face Carnegie Mellon on Sunday.

In the match versus CMU, Brandeis was dominated in the first half, getting outshot 14-1. Kofinas, however, kept the game scoreless, recording three saves. Midfielder Alyssa Fenen-

bock ’15 took the Judges’ only shot of the half, which occurred in the 35th minute.

Brandeis finally got a shot on goal in the second half, when defensive back Kelly Peterson ’14 had her shot saved in the 54th minute. Savuto moved into goal and received pressure from the Tartans almost immediately, saving three shots early in the half. In the 61st minute, however, the Tartans broke through when rookie forward Savina Reid scored on a corner kick from sophomore defensive back Rachel Contopolous. The goal

@Emory

Loss

3–0

@Carnegie Mellon

Loss

1–0

was Reid’s sixth of the season.

Down a goal, the Judges then started advancing the ball better and were able to put more pressure on Carnegie Mellon’s defense, outshooting the Tartans for the remainder of the game.

Judges forward Hilary Andrews ’14 nearly scored twice, including shots in the 67th and 73rd minutes. The Judges could not connect though, as sophomore goalie Anna Albi came up with five saves to preserve her team’s lead and seal the victory.

Just like the match versus Emory, the Judges were outshot big, this time by a margin of 23-10. Savuto saved four shots and Kofinas saved three, while Tartan goalie Albi finished with six saves to earn the shutout. Carnegie Mellon improved to 9-6 overall with the win.

The Judges, who are now 0-5-1 in the UAA, and have won only one match in their last seven tries, will play their last game of the season this weekend. They host New York University on Saturday afternoon, when they look to finally earn what would be their only UAA victory of a disappointing season.

Volleyball drops home finale to UMass Boston

By Brian Tabakin Editor

In their final regular season home match of the season, the Brandeis volleyball team lost to UMass Boston, ranked 18th in the country in straight sets 25-19, 25-14 and 25-19.

Brandeis kept up with UMass in the early stages of the first set with neither team able to win more than two consecutive points. The Beacons took a 10-8 lead on a service ace by junior setter Frana Burtness-Adams; however, the Judges responded with six of the next eight points. Behind a pair of kills from outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 and service aces from setter Yael Einhorn ’14 and outside hitter Susan Sun ’13, the Judges took a 14-12 lead, their largest lead of the match.

A Judges’ error halted their momentum and the Beacons took advantage and went on a 9-2 run.

Sophomore outside hitter Corrine Porter and rookie middle hitter Kirsten Morrison had two kills each to highlight the run that gave UMass a 21-16 lead. The two teams traded the next five points before senior middle

hitter Molly Ratigan closed the set out with back-to-back kills for the Beacons.

UMass Boston dominated in the next two sets, never trailing. The Beacons opened up early leads of 8-4 in the second set and 8-3 in the third set. The Judges were able to close within 10-9 in the second set, but two straight kills by UMass junior middle hitter Shannon Thompson halted the Judges’ momentum as UMass went on to close the second set on a 15-5 run. In the third set, the Judges trailed 16-9 to the Beacons but after a time out the Judges were able to cut the deficit to four on multiple occasions but could never close the gap further.

Hood set the pace for the Judges’ offense with 11 kills, her 15th match with double digit kills on the season.

Outside Hitter Si-Si Hensley ’14 added eight kills and posted a .368 hitting percentage. Hensley also led the Judges with 12 digs, her sixth match of the season with at least 10 digs and Einhorn contributed 22 assists.

Thompson led UMass Boston with 18 kills, including eight kills in the

Gordy’s game guesses, week nine

third set alone. Ratigan had eight kills and four block assists. Senior setter Cassy Hanneman tallied 33 assists while junior libero Kayla Wilson had 16 digs.

The Judges dropped to 9-18 heading into the UAA tournament starting this Friday and the Beacons improved to 24-4 as they wait for the Little East tournament to begin.

Volleyball Team

UAA

All

Emory

7–0

32 – 3

Washington

6–1

29 – 1

Chicago

5–2

27– 4

Case Western

4–3

21 – 8

NYU

2–5

18 – 14

Rochester

2–5

19 – 14

Carnegie Mellon

2–5

14– 13

Brandeis

0–7

9 – 18

Box Scores UMass Boston

Loss

3–0

Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs Atlanta Falcons at Indianapolis Colts Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints New York Jets at Buffalo Bills Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans San Francisco 49ers at Washington Redskins Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders New York Giants at New England Patriots

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals Green Bay Packers at San Diego Chargers Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles Byes: Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars Last week’s record: 10-3 2011 Season: 66-34

16 The Brandeis Hoot

Arts, etc.

November 4, 2011

Last Friday night: becoming a Goth dancing queen

By Candice Bautista Editor

When one thinks Goth club, the following imagery may come to mind: a cold, damp room in some obscure basement, the floor covered in dust and spiders, and angst-filled teenagers bathed in black and eyeliner. There may or may not be dancing, if by dancing you mean shuffling back and forth in one spot, or sipping blood-red wine from goblets while glaring at others in the room.

Or at least, that was what I was expecting when my friend Tiffanie told me she was taking me to a Goth club.

There were only three things I knew about the club: It was called Xmortis, it was 18+ and it was a Goth club. That sounded like enough information for a Friday night, so I agreed to go. “Oh yeah,” she added, “dress code is all black.”

Xmortis is actually a monthly Goth night held on the second Friday of each month started by “Latex Lily” and “Patman the Avenger,” a long time couple in the Boston Goth scene. It continued at the club Manray until its closing in July 2005. At that point, it moved to its current location, wellknown rock club T.T. The Bear’s Place in Central Square.

Although Xmortis is a Goth night, the events typically have a different theme each month such as X-Mortis (comic book night), Monster A-GoGo (Gothic greasers and vintage horror) and Fashion Victims (a night of all Gothic fashion shows).

The night I went was Devil Night, in honor of Halloween weekend.

Having no black clothes of my own, I had to go oer to Tiffanie’s house to get ready, which in itself was an adventure. Tiffanie’s closet was similar to one you’d see at a theater: hectic, disorganized and extraordinarily

photo from internet source

you can dance Xmortis is a special Goth event held once a month at T.T. The Bear’s Place in Central Square.

flamboyant. While I settled into a pair of black jeans, and a black shirt with a laced back and laced sleeves she owned, Tiffanie wore black lingerie along with black fishnet leggings, a devil tail and red boa for garnish.

She called the look “Bloody Burlesque Skank.” As I stared at her, I knew I would be out of place. “Don’t worry, here’s some devil’s horns and fake blood,” Tiffanie said, as she put on a ridiculous tiny red top hat. I donned the devil’s horns and noted that I looked like a Viking.

Two other friends came along with us, one dressed like a tiny witch (“You didn’t tell me it was Devil’s night! I’m going to be the only witch there!”), while the other personified my middle school years thrown together in the form of Tripp pants and

angst. This motley crew was going to a Goth club.

By car it was pretty close, amounting to a 20-minute drive. As we approached Xmortis, my tummy began hurting. It didn’t help that Tiny Witch could not stop verbalizing how afraid she was of being judged for being a tiny witch. When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was in there. Granted, it was a club, but the walls were black and the overall demeanor was dark as well. To the left there was a pretty standard looking bar with some admittedly trendy looking bartenders. Over on the far left was, similar to a Renaissance Faire, a table selling Gothic items such as masks, studded chokers and all things leather. To the right was the dance floor, something I was not

quite yet ready to face.

As I walked around the bar, slightly self-conscious of the X’s on my hands, I couldn’t help but stare at everyone.

Most people were not as decked out as Tiffanie was, which was relieving.

Regardless of what they were wearing though, they almost always had a really great outfit, which was something I could only ever dream of seriously pulling off. One man had on a suit, a cape, a top hat, a cane and monocle. He resembled the Penguin and it was fascinating. There were women dressed in extravagant black gowns that were so elaborate, it looked as if they were going to a Gothic ball.

The most surprising part, however, was how friendly everyone was. They weren’t spitting at me or glaring at

me at all. Instead, whenever someone caught me staring, they’d make eye contact and offer a smile. Admittedly, this at first was disconcerting, especially when it was someone with especially gruesome facial makeup, but you could see the allure of a place like Xmortis.

After some time, I knew I had to face the music—literally. I had to make my way onto the dance floor if I was to able to say truly I had gone to a Goth club. I eyed the dance floor. There was a good amount of people but the bizarre thing was that no one was really dancing with someone else. With the heavy industrial music pulsing in the background, there was a pretty steady beat to get people dancing—and people were dancing! But no one made eye contact, no one even acknowledged there were other people around them. They just jutted back and forth and flapped their arms to the music in whatever way they saw fit. After getting over the initial awkwardness that accompanies making your way to a dance floor soberly, I got into it pretty quickly. I spazzed to the music and stopped feeling self-conscious. Pretty soon, or so it seemed, it was already really late and we decided to call it a night.

The true allure of Xmortis is how genuine everyone was. Especially in a generation marked by irony and indifference, it’s really difficult to do something just because you want to and not because of how it appears to others. At Xmortis, everyone is there to have a good time and, whether that means dancing or just sitting by the bar, it’s all good. As it turns out, Xmortis was a surreal experience not because it was a Goth club, but because everyone was sincere. I’ll be sure to head back there next week for Black Mass.

Getting heavy with The Lightweights

By Adam Marx Staff

While trying to find new bands to listen to, I’ve come across some truly unique new acts that I find mind-blowing—not because of their sounds but because it seems that no one is aware of them. Case in point, The Lightweights, a pop-punk powerhouse from San Antonio, Texas, reiterate everything that Blink-182 bashed forward with in 1994.

True to the power-trio ethic of pop-punk greats like Blink-182, Green Day and Eve 6, The Lightweights is comprised of members Danny Kittrell (vocals and guitar), Markí Vallejo (bass and vocals) and Max Oliver (drums and vocals).

With an intense guitar-driven sound mixed with chewy chunks of bass and drums rhythm, The Lightweights take a stab at revamping a sound that has taken a backseat in recent years to overly auto-tuned pop and generic R&B. With their full-length release “We Invented Awkward,” The Lightweights move in on recreating the sound reminiscent of their early playing.

From the start of the record and just by going through a few snippets of its tracks, I am already enamored with the song “Time.” If nothing else, what this song has going for it is a real rush of old-school pop-punk snot and sneer. Raw with plenty of energy packed into Vallejo’s jutting baselines, “Time” makes for one of the most entertaining, if not exceptional, tracks on the album. With Kittrell’s guitar

photo from internet source

lightweights not messing around The Lightweights members Michael, Danny and Max might be the new punk voice to follow in the footsteps of bands like Green Day and Blink-182.

chords raggedly rasping at the sides of Oliver’s drumbeats, the mixed vocal performance of Kittrell, Vallejo and Oliver certainly adds a dynamic to the song clearly reminiscent of Blink-182.

Clocking in at just more than four minutes, “Time” is one of the songs on the album that has the raw crossover potential of which pop-punk bands dream.

Blink-182 and early Green Day fans will also find a classic track with the song “My Best Friend’s Girlfriend.” A slightly different take on Rick Spring-

field’s song “Jessie’s Girl,” “My Best Friend’s Girlfriend” dances around in classic juvenile insults and immature lyrical content. Yet, for some reason, it seems to work and, in the same way that Blink-182 made snot-nosed immaturity cool, The Lightweights take their cue from “Cheshire Cat” and marry blunt and funny lyrics with raw instrumentation that proves this trio really means business. Oliver’s drumming is one of the highlights of this track, as his beats bang through your head as Kittrell’s guitar chords drill

through skull-bone to brain-matter.

Vallejo’s bass chords line the rhythmic pockets of this diamond-inthe-rough song and, with tracks like these, The Lightweights are sure to find an audience in those of us longing for good old sneering pop-punk.

The song concept also reaches out to anyone who has ever had a best friend with a girlfriend who he or she couldn’t stand. The Lightweights truly outdo themselves on this one.

Still, The Lightweights prove themselves to be more than simple

punks with three-chord progressions.

Songs like “Tell Me” and “Shocking Amount” show an acute amount of raw talent just waiting to surface.

“Tell Me” in particular has a quality about it that is altogether hard to pinpoint but one that everyone can understand. The chord progression is melodic in a way that’s almost reminiscent of a ballad-esque song and, coupled with the lyrical content and the intermingled vocals, it hints See LIGHTWEIGHTS, page 19

November 4, 2011

ARTS, ETC. 17

The Brandeis Hoot

‘Cinderella Waltz’ puts new spin on old tale

By Dana Trismen Staff

“Cinderella Waltz,” staged by the Brandeis Ensemble Theatre (BET) this past weekend, was definitely an event to which I looked forward this parents’ weekend. One of Fall Fest’s sponsored events, this witty play with a cast of only nine actors succeeded in entertaining not only me, but my parents and grandparents as well.

The play, first published in 1978, was written

by American playwright Don Nigro. Designed to meld different Cinderella stories together—think Perrault’s clean version and the Grimm brothers’ more brutal one—“Cinderella Waltz” offers Cinderella a choice. In the typical fairytale, the prince is the only option, and why not: Prince Charming is perfectly fine, right?

Yet in “Cinderella Waltz,” an interesting alternative emerges in Zed, the village idiot who turns out to be not so stupid after all. This play gives Cinderella—in this case, a character named Rosey Snow—a chance to choose her own future. The traditional fairytale has Rosey pick the prince but in “Cinderella Waltz” she tosses the shoe that would fit her foot and determine her future down a well. Instead, she makes the startling choice to grow up instead, remaining behind with the village idiot. Indeed, her stepsister Goneril ends up with the handsome prince but this is a choice with which Rosey is content.

“Cinderella Waltz” employs wit effectively, making fun of fairytales while still play-acting one. Rosey constantly asks if she should follow the “typical fairytale motif.” This line itself seems to get at the heart of the play (Should she follow the typical fairytale?) while at the same time

mocking typical fairytale endings.

The script also makes fun of idealized characters. For example, at one point, the pure fairy godmother acts like an alcoholic. In a disturbing turn, Rosey’s father proves the opposite of nurturing and betrays some incestuous feelings, telling her, “You’ve got a real nice body; I think about it all the time.” He also cannot ever find his pants, so he is obviously not a strong parental figure. The characters also occasionally seem aware they are in a play, asking, “What the hell is all this stage whispering about?” effectively breaking down the fourth wall.

BET is known for its non-traditional approach to theater, incorporating not only main stage shows but also ones written by students. They welcome unconventional and even controversial shows, a category under which “Cinderella Waltz” definitely falls.

In terms of acting, every single person was well cast. Everyone onstage excelled at physical acting, whether through strong facial expressions or the use of motions to convey feeling.

The best actor by far was Yoni Bronstein ’13, who played Zed, the village idiot. While many other parts in the show were easy to play (for example, the fairy godmother acted drunk while the stepsister acted consistently like an idiot), Zed is a very complex character. At first, he’s very much a physical character, spitting his words out with a violent stutter and scampering around the stage. By the end of the play, he has become more verbal and calm. I personally loved this face he would make while concentrating as the village idiot: a sort of pouting, sad, gruff look.

Once Zed teaches Rosey how to dance, he becomes more sophisticated and no longer has his puppy dog appearance.

What also interested me about the acting was the way the characters played off each other. The stepsisters Goneril and Regan, played by Emily Rubin-Falcone ’13 and Hannah Simms ’14 respectively, constantly reacted to each others lines and performance onstage. While Regan is hilariously simplistic, Goneril is a dark Goth, and this contrast allows viewers to see them as more than just the normal static stepsisters.

Another favorite was Daniel Liebman ’12, who played Rosey’s father, Mr. Snow. While his character was pretty basic, he offered many witty lines that helped shape the play. Liebman’s success stemmed from his ability to make Mr. Snow not only funny but also loving. It is clear he is meant to care about Rosey despite his deteriorating mental state.

The stage production crew ran the show very smoothly. Every character was audible and all of the sound effects worked very well (for example, throwing something into the well would result in a splashing sound). Though there was only one set, the actors used it and the props to full advantage, sitting on different parts of the set such as the steps and using varied props from pants to rubber chickens.

Additionally, the lighting cues were always timely. It must also be noted that the show was run very smoothly—intermission was an appropriate 10 minutes and tickets were collected at the door. Professional in every way, the production crew succeeded in making “Cinderella Waltz” an experience unmarred by bad sound or light quality for the viewers.

“Cinderella Waltz” was very justly chosen as a showpiece for parents’ weekend. Well produced and well acted, it indicated to both students and parents the full abilities of Brandeis students.

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

bibbidi-bobbidi-boo At top, Troll (Ross Johnston ’14) is surrounded by, clockwise from left, Rosey (Zoe Novic ’13), Goneril (Emily Rubin-Falcone ’13) and Regan (Hannah

Simms ’14). At top right, Mrs. Snow ( Jamie Perutz ’13) cradles Regan. At bottom right, Mother Magee (Lili Gecker ’13) drinks with Zed (Yoni Bronstein ’13). At bottom, Rosey rejects Zed’s attempts to teach her how to dance.

18 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

November 4, 2011

Brandeis alum Gondelman releases comedy album

By Juliette Martin special to the hoot

With each and every track, Brandeis alum Josh Gondelman’s new comedy album “Everything’s The Best,” to be officially released Nov. 8, is a wonderful and attentiongrabbing experience.

The album features smart, modern humor that people from all walks of life will find amusing and relatable. Much of the routine is drawn from Gondelman’s own experiences, particularly in his day job as a preschool teacher, but still remains relevant. “Everything’s the Best” creates a wonderful portrait of a comedian through a brilliant routine that listeners will find highly relatable and entertaining.

What first struck me was the infectious laughter in Gondelman’s voice.

It spreads rapidly through the audience from the very first punch line, and it remains a constant presence throughout the routine.

Throughout the album, Gondelman utilizes the best kind of humor: he makes fun of the things he enjoys.

Touching on movies, sports, the exploits of his students and the humorous happenings of his own life, he crafts an album in which things are made fun of with the utmost love. He easily weaves references and broad cultural opinions into his own stories and jokes, making the album as personal as it is relatable.

For example, at one point, Grondelman pokes fun at homophobia by expressing his own desire for a lesbian daughter: It would, at least, rule out a teenage pregnancy. This creates a wonderfully good-natured tone throughout the album that makes

photo from internet source

the best Brandeis alum Josh Gondelman’s new comedy album “Everything’s the Best” releases Nov. 8, featuring self-deprecation and poking

fun at preschoolers.

the experience all the more entertaining because, on the part both of the comedian and the listener, Gondelman’s routine is a truly happy experience.

Furthermore, much of the humor in the routine is amusingly self-deprecating: Gondelman is not for one instant afraid to make fun of himself. In fact, much of the key turning points of the routine pivot upon jokes which are, in the end, entirely about himself. This creates a friendly tone in which jokes are made with love and never taken all too seriously.

Gondelman is certainly not afraid

to laugh at himself, a worthwhile skill for anyone, but particularly for a comedian. In the early part of the album, he frequently looks back to poke fun at a younger, stereotypically geeky self who seems to be somebody many of us (particularly here at Brandeis) will relate to. In fact, he probably is laughing at himself as a Brandeis student when he reflects. I was particularly struck by a series of jokes in the first track in which Gondelman laughs at his own affinity for books: He comments that he thought himself cooler than the comic book geeks, because they only read words

in small segments.

The album itself is very wellstructured, with a great flow from one track into the next. Despite the fact that each segment of the routine has its own distinct topic, they all flow together remarkably well, with later tracks calling back to earlier ones and connected topics that aid in creating a well-rounded portrait of Gondelman as a comedian and as a person.

Each track title is obviously well thought-out, offering a hint at the humor within without giving away any of the punch line. Gondelman

also makes great use of suspense in his jokes, allowing the audience to build up anticipating and predict direction while still always delivering surprising humor.

I particularly enjoyed the way Gondelman uses his day job as a preschool teacher to fuel his comedy. I was especially amused by a particular segment about a child who decides to be a magician, and proceeds to perform a magic trick which simply amounts to opening his hands and proclaiming, “nothing in my hands!” Grondelman then uses that story to segue into a joke in which he performs the same trick on a homeless man.

The exploits of children is something anyone can enjoy, and that fact is utilized to its fullest throughout the album. He uses the ideas and antics of small children to poke fun at some very serious issues, including adoption, the modern treatments of racism and homosexuality and, funnily enough, our society’s fixation on being politically correct. All of this humor is done with remarkable and good-natured respect, making it quite decidedly unobjectionable as Gondelman gently pokes fun at all sorts of topics.

With jokes on everything from geeks, hip-hop, sports, children and more, there’s truly something for everyone on Josh Gondelman’s “Everything’s the Best.” The comedian is candid and unafraid of self-exposure or criticism, and makes gentle fun both of himself and the world around him, often easily blending the two. With such an amusing comedy album, Gondelman’s goodnatured humor is clearly something of which Brandeis can be proud.

Don’t reap ‘Grimm’ yet, grant it a second chance

By Yael Katzwer Editor

If we’ve learned anything from the Grimm fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood,” it’s that strange men are wolves out to destroy the innocence of wayward young girls. Unfortunately the writers of NBC’s new series “Grimm,” which premiered last Friday, did not receive this lesson, making their pilot episode’s villainous big bad wolf a man who loses control of his supernatural side when he sees red.

Regardless, “Grimm” has real potential. Perhaps, as the show develops, it will delve into the life lessons enmeshed in the old German fairytales rather than focusing on the blatant personifications used to frighten generations of young children.

The show focuses on Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli), a young police detective for whom everything is going well … that is until he begins to see demons. Through a few somewhat confusing and rambling explanations, we learn that Nick is descended from Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, the two men who collected the German folktales referred to today as Grimm’s fairytales, and, due to this, he has the ability to see demons where normal humans cannot. It now falls to him to maintain the balance between the human world and the world of the demons that inhabit our worst nightmares. Sadly for him, he has very little experience with this and will have to learn as he goes along.

Throughout the episode we are introduced to the cast of characters and, honestly, most of them are underwhelming. Giuntoli’s Nick was somewhat yawn-inducing and blank-faced. He just is not cute enough to get away with that. With some better writing, however, Giuntoli could certainly step up to the

why so grimm David Giuntoli and Russell Hornsby star in “Grimm,” which premiered Oct. 28 on NBC.

plate and deliver a spectacular performance; he just did not have any lines that made me sit up and take notice.

That is really the main problem; the writing just does not let the characters shine. Russell Hornsby as Nick’s partner fell into the archetypal black sidekick mold and he could be so much more. (I am not even going to tell you his name because he was so trivial that I couldn’t remember it from scene to scene.) Nick’s almostfiancee, played by Bitsie Tulloch, was much the same. Every scene with her was almost instantly forgotten once it had ended. She was given no interesting dialogue and seemed to be more of a prop than an actress.

That being said, the writers did score a home run with the character Eddie Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell).

Eddie, a blutbad (a kind of werewolf, if you will), had fun and engaging lines and was expertly portrayed by Mitchell. I am already a Mitchell fan due to his work as Donny on “My Name is Earl” and as the bumbling arms dealer Seymour on “Burn Notice.” He continued his trend of being the funniest man in the room on “Grimm.” Not only was he given funny lines to say (unlike the other characters) but he delivers them all in this genuine manner guaranteed to make the viewers smile.

The biggest problem with this show is the lackluster script. I am aware that I only saw the pilot and a lot of shows have rocky pilots, so I still have hope that “Grimm” will improve.

When I first heard about the show I was ecstatic. I love supernatural shows and am always on the look-

out for my next paranormal fix. I was especially thrilled when I heard that producer David Greenwalt would be working on it; he worked on the fantastic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its thrilling spinoff “Angel.”

Unfortunately, the producer has nothing to do with the script and the main genius of “Buffy” was its scripts, written by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, etc. The “Grimm” writers are clearly trying to emulate Whedon and Espenson (now the main writer for SyFy’s fun and wacky “Warehouse 13”) by writing a supernatural dramedy. Sadly however, these writers are not as talented and are having trouble finding the right mix between drama and comedy.

One minute we hear Eddie make a joke that cracks us up and the next we see the little girl who was taken

photo from internet source

by the big bad wolf crying, making us cringe in horror.

While shows like “Buffy” and “Supernatural” prove that this duality can be achieved, “Grimm” has not hit the right balance yet. By trying to do both, neither is done to perfection.

All this being said, “Grimm” should definitely be given a second chance. It is an interesting premise and I look forward to seeing where it will go.

With more time, the writers may develop the characters more and grow more comfortable writing for them.

When I first tried to watch “Supernatural” I did not like it; it took time for me to see what a great show it is. I am hopeful that the same will happen with “Grimm.”

Give “Grimm” a second chance with me and tune in to watch it on Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

November 4, 2011

The Brandeis Hoot

Lightweights impress

photo from internet source

LIGHTWEIGHTS, from page 16

at a deep intensity just begging to emerge. It is songs like this that make me excitedly curious to hear future recordings.

Yet, what is so intriguing about The Lightweights is not merely their sound or their influences but also how closely the two, when linked together, can highlight possible future events.

Early Blink-182 and Green Day fans will hear in “We Invented Awkward” the same sound they fell in love with when they heard “Cheshire Cat,” “Dude Ranch” and “Kerplunk.” The sound with which The Lightweights are now experimenting is one that is tried and true but for some rea-

son or another seems to have been forgotten in the recent decade. Perhaps, though, that is what is the most exciting thing about hearing The Lightweights pick it up again: Hearing that raw snot-nosed sneer dusted off after all these years is something about which true pop-punk fans get excited.

What is the most electrifying thing about hearing a band whose most recent album sounds like “Cheshire Cat” or “Dude Ranch” is wondering and fantasizing about where such a band’s sound will go next. After Blink-182 put out “Cheshire Cat,” newly converted fans wondered where their sound would go next.

Then came “Dude Ranch” and an evolutionary trend was established. Two years later, in 1999, Blink-182 followed “Dude Ranch” with “Enema of the State,” a pop-punk classic solidifying the genre and catapulting Blink-182 to super-stardom.

Now it seems like the same evolutionary trend is starting to establish itself for The Lightweights. Their sound as of yet is just rough enough to retain its garage-rock integrity but polished enough to warrant radio-play. Indeed, I myself am giving The Lightweights the radio-play they so clearly deserve on my own radio show. With the nitty-gritty guitar chords and multi-vocal dynamics that drew me to Blink-182, The Lightweights show too much promise to ignore.

I can’t help but entertain the question of what their next album will sound like. If this one is like a “Cheshire Cat”/“Dude Ranch” combo, will the next one be their momentous “Enema of the State?” I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.

Impressions

Sleepless and unproductive

SLEEPLESS, from page 7

lemma is our short attention spans. As college students, we can only focus on something for so long without getting bored and disinterested. It’s for this reason that we seek out distractions. In the middle of writing a report, we will lose focus and lose interest in the topic. And that’s when we head over to YouTube Land to watch College Humor videos for the rest of the night. After all, watching College Humor is simple and doesn’t require thought or effort or anything. And, if you watch the right ones, you might even laugh.

Would you rather tire yourself out writing a 10page paper on the history of the Middle East, or watch funny videos instead? The issue is that we need to know when to stop; otherwise, by the time class rolls around, you could still have your name on the Microsoft Word document and nothing else. And then 35 percent of your grade will be a zero.

Another thing that causes this is our sociability. For me, I’ve always found it difficult to get things done when doing work with others.

This is why last year, as a first-year, I would bury myself in the cave in the library to do my work alone and in silence. For the most part, I managed to get everything done. This year, though, I’ve had something of a sophomore slump. I have devoted less time to my studies and more time to, well, everything but academics. And so, in the rare occasions I do work, I find myself working next to my friends in computer labs, which are notoriously loud and not conducive to serious studying. And I can attest to the fact that I do find it difficult to be productive working in this environment, especially when compared to “The Cave” that I worked in last year.

As a result of my struggles to be productive, I have found myself staying up all night every night, and making the dreaded walk back from the SCC study room to my room with the scarlet letter U taped to my sweatshirt—U for Unproductive.

The thing is, I am perfectly willing to stay up incredibly late in order to be productive. I actually thrive in those situations; working late at night in high-pressure situations, I tend to do my best work. I tell myself that if I can maximize my time and be as productive as possible, it’s almost worth falling asleep in my classes the next day.

But in the situation I’ve described, if we are getting absolutely nothing done, is it even worth it to stay up at all? We would probably be better off going to sleep at 10 p.m. and being fullyrested for the next day, rather than spending the next 8 hours browsing through profile pictures of our ex-girlfriend’s best friend’s sister’s boy-

friend.

But for many of us, there’s no time in the day to do work, and so we need to do it at night. The problem is: How do we resist the urge to screw around aimlessly on Facebook or make smalltalk with everyone in sight? This urge is almost seductive—whenever you have something to do that you’re averting at all costs, it’s almost satisfying to comply. After all, as Mary Wilson Little declared, “There is no pleasure in having nothing to do. The fun is in having lots to do and not doing it.” Basically, wasting time is only fun if you’re doing it when you should be doing something else.

And whether you agree with my words or not, the idea I’m trying to convey to you is one that is implicit in our nature. It is embedded in our genes and inherent in our brain chemistry. Human beings are naturally lazy. Forcing ourselves to do work feels unnatural and compulsory because it is. Resisting our impulses to eat and sleep to stay up all night fumbling over a textbook is not natural. We have a natural tendency to be lazy, to do nothing but eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. But DNA is not destiny and we can, in fact, overcome this.

It starts with planning. If you plan your schedule out, leaving ample time for breaks in between each activity, nothing can go wrong … as long as you stick to your schedule, that is!

You also need a sound work ethic. My work ethic, as a sophomore this year, has taken a hit.

As a first-year last year, I did every single one of my assignments both semesters. Granted, I did fall behind in some classes and, in one of my classes, I put off every single one of the readings in the course until the day before the final, but I did complete them. And my grades last year reflected my diligent work ethic.

This year, on the other hand, I have lost the motivation to do every assignment. I only really apply myself on the papers and just before exams. I just do not see, in the grand scheme of things, why I need to do every reading I am given if I am not being tested on them (a part of me wishes I knew this before spending $500 on textbooks that I have not yet opened).

In spite of this, I still fill up my backpack to the brim with every book I could find on my desk and head over to the SCC or the library.

Deep down, I know that I will end up walking back to my room, disappointedly, at 6 or 7 a.m., having done nothing but browse through old Facebook pictures or reply to celebrity tweets.

Yet I do it anyway. You can call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can call it a bad habit. Whatever you call it, I’d like to stop doing it. And so, if this applies to you, plan ahead before staying up all night. And if you do choose to stay up, make sure you actually get a thing or two done.

ARTS, ETC. 19

Arts Recommends film

photo from internet source

‘Husbands and Wives’ When people discuss Woody Allen, they tend to classify his films into two categories: funny Woody and serious Woody. “Husbands and Wives,” his 1992 effort, falls somewhere in between, its dramatic confrontations punctuated by moments of the bitterest humor.

Gabe (Allen) and Judy (Mia Farrow) have been happily married for years until their friends Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) unexpectedly announce their separation. Suddenly, Gabe and Judy begin questioning their own marriage, which quickly begins to disintegrate as they examine its foundation.

Although “Husbands and Wives” received plenty of attention for its backstory—Allen’s relationship with Farrow ended during production after she found out he had feelings for her adopted daughter—it also stands on its own as one of Allen’s best works.

Allen and Farrow turn in some of their most brittle, affecting performances as characters you don’t necessarily like, yet intuitively understand. Davis, however, is the standout as temperamental Sally, full of anger and vitriol and a deep, violent need to be loved.

sean fabery, editor

books

photo from internet source

‘Revolutionary Road’ by Richard Yates A plot synopsis of Richard Yates’ 1961 novel “Revolutionary Road” reads like a summary of seemingly every book published in the 1960s and ’70s in that it chronicles the dissolution of a suburban marriage anchored in a false belief in the American Dream as savior.

April and Frank Wheeler have been married nearly 10 years and they’ve fallen into something of a conformist rut. April chases the ghost of her dying acting career, while Frank daydreams about his days as a soldier in Europe.

A plan to move to Paris brings them closer again, but this dream—and the possibility of it not coming to fruition—only irreparably damages their marriage.

“Revolutionary Road” is a deeply affecting novel; as Yates himself once noted, it’s about how “most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy.” Critics praised Yates’ work but it went largely unread during his own lifetime; thankfully, that’s changed this last decade. If you saw the 2008 Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio adaptation and hated it, take heart: That film failed to capture just how rich and sad the inner lives of these characters are, as well as the humor ingrained deep within that hopelessness.

sean fabery, editor

hoot scoops

20 The Brandeis Hoot

November 4, 2011

The Brandeis Peace Vigil

Reminding students to be mindful in a time of war

By Alana Blum Editor

It was 2007 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to have no end date. Out of a growing concern for both the United States and Iraqi and Afghan civilians, the Brandeis chaplains felt something had to be done to focus Brandeis’ attention to the issue of peace. They decided to begin a weekly nonsectarian peace vigil. That January, Protestant chaplain Alexander Levering Kern, Catholic chaplain the Rev. Walter Cuenin, Muslim chaplain Imam Talal Eid and thenJewish chaplain Rabbi Allan Lehmann gathered on a Friday to rededicate their time to peace.

Now into its fifth year, the weekly peace vigil has taken on a special role within the interfaith community. Beginning at 12:10 p.m. every Friday, the peace vigil starts with a moment of silence and is followed by a brief discussion between students and staff. It then closes with a song for peace, the lyrics of which are simple: “peace, salaam, shalom.”

“It really became a vehicle—beyond just being mindful of the war in Iraq—to be mindful of all the issues in our society that keep us from being at peace,” Cuenin explained.

Indeed, although the peace vigil began in response to war, it deals with a number of interconnected issues. The topics discussed at each vigil range from racism to homophobia to environmental concerns. As Liz Stoker ’13, a regular attendee of the vigil, points out, the vigil takes into account sources of violence other than war. Throughout her attendance of the vigil, discussion topics have also included prejudice, poverty and institutionalized oppression.

This semester the Brandeis chaplains implemented a new element to the peace vigil in which they invite different clubs, academic departments and classes to co-facilitate themed vigils. Throughout the past months, the peace vigil has given representatives from Occupy Boston, Hunger and Homelessness, the Queer Resource Center (QRC) and the Muslim Student Association a chance to present their work to like-minded students.

Each group represents the notion that peace is not solely an antonym for war. The term “peace” can also answer the challenges facing American society, such as poverty, homophobia and racism. As Kern pointed out, both Hunger and Homelessness and the QRC help contribute to social change in a non-violent manner. This type of endeavor

for social justice is in itself a step toward peace.

Upcoming cosponsors of the weekly peace vigil this semester will include the Sociology of Empowerment class, Kindness Week representatives and the QRC again in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Next semester, Kern hopes to have a Haiti Earthquake remembrance vigil, an Earth Day vigil and a Black History Month vigil.

“What may seem like a potpourri of peaceful offerings is in fact a very mindful, coherent set of opportunities to remember, to reflect and to rededicate ourselves to taking action,” Kern said.

While the number of participants varies greatly from week to week, the chaplains have found that having these clubs cosponsor the vigils greatly improves levels of attendance. Even so, whether there are three students present or 30, the chaplains still feel their mission is being upheld. Students walking by the bright sign, which reads “Peace Vigil; Mindful in a Time of War,” will still be reminded of issues of peace and justice.

“If it’s negative-20 degrees and there are only three of us out there, it’s still important to be there, to be present, to bear witness to the suffering and injustice in the world,” Kern explained.

The peace vigil has also proven useful during times of crises. For example, the peace vigil was utilized as a community gathering following a student’s suicide last semester.

It was also used as a space of reflection following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai a few years ago and after the vandalism of the Muslim prayer room. A special peace vigil at Chapels Pond was held on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Brandeis chaplains and participants of the weekly vigil experience a strong sense of spirituality and inspiration on a weekly basis. There are also certain moments, however, that stand out as especially powerful and inspiring.

“One vigil dealt with the treatment of Muslims who openly practice their faith,” Stoker said. “It really brought my attention to the struggles that some people face for exercising their right to practice their faith. I feel much closer to our campus Muslim community after hearing about the challenges that they deal with.”

Meanwhile, Cuenin was particularly impressed by the capabilities of the peace vigil preceding Michael Oren’s visit to Brandeis two years ago. The decision to have Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United

photo from internet source

photo by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot peace, salaam, shalom The peace vigil takes place on the Peace Circle, which contains a multitude of lan-

guages and symbols conveying peace.

States, speak at the 2010 commencement had sparked a great deal of debate among the Brandeis community. This debate gave Cuenin and the other attendees at the peace vigil a context in which to discuss the issue of Israel and Palestine from a peaceful perspective. Cuenin could not help but admire the respectful and comfortable way students discussed this usually heated topic.

Brandeis has long remained committed to social justice. The peace vigil offers students opportunities to stand back and explore the connection between peace and social justice.

In just 20 minutes, Brandeis students are given the chance to discuss a variety of challenges facing American society. The fact that the United States is now approaching its 11th year at war is just one of the many topics that students can absorb.

In Kern’s words, “The peace vigil provides a wonderful and all too necessary opportunity to pause in the midst of our harried and hurried lives to center, reflect and rediscover the source of peace within ourselves.”