The Brandeis Hoot - December 9, 2011

Volume 8 Number 26

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

December 9, 2011

Security footage unavailable in Union theft $620 allegedly stolen from Union safe

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

Treasurer Daniel Lee ’12 noticed more than $600 was missing from the Student Union safe last month. Now

a lack or urgency in communication among Union officers, university officials and employees at a private security firm that monitors the Union’s video camera surveillance footage leaves a multitude of questions with few answers.

Lee noticed the money missing from the Student Union safe last month but couldn’t find the incident on security camera footage because

it was automatically programmed to delete tape after four days, he said in an interview Thursday.

Only 11 people, including assistant treasurers, have access to the safe. The most likely scenario for the theft is that one of them accidentally left the safe open, then someone saw that and stole the money, Lee said.

“The last thing I expected was for someone to come in and steal from

the Union,” Lee said. “If you know that there’s a camera and you’re being watched, why would you take the money?”

Unable to recall the exact date, Lee said that on a Wednesday in November he came into the office and found the Union safe open but assumed that someone had forgotten to close it, not See UNION, page 2

College Notebook

Tragedy strikes again at Virginia Tech

photo paul kurlak/collegiate times

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

A university police officer and one other man died from gunshot wounds at Virginia Tech early Thursday afternoon, less than five years after the campus suffered the deadliest school shooting in the nation’s history. The April 2007 massacre that left 33 students dead sparked new debates at colleges across the country, including here at Brandeis, about emergency preparedness, mental health policies and possession of firearms by campus police.

When gunman Seung-Hui Cho opened fire and killed 32 students before killing himself at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, former President Jehuda Reinharz, along with an advisory

panel, decided to arm Brandies Public Safety officers in September 2007, providing them with firearms before the 2008-09 academic year.

On Thursday, Virginia Tech police officer, Deriek W. Crouse, 39, of Christiansburg, Va., was conducting a traffic stop in a campus parking lot when a man approached and shot him before fleeing the scene, police said.

“The loss of any human life is a tremendous tragedy that is felt by the entire community,” Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said at a press conference. “This brings back some difficult memories of the past.”

The massacre in 2007 revealed a university unprepared to respond quickly to the emerSee NOTEBOOK, page 3

photo obtained by brian tabakin

a campus on alert A photo taken from a VA Tech student’s win-

dow shows an officer pointing a gun at a student who is not believed to be associated with yesterday’s shooting.

Univ criticized for medical testing

By Connor Novy Staff

Brandeis is home to a large scientific research center, making strides in cancer, aging and circadian rhythms and, in order to comprehend these scientific systems, animals are often used in the research, a process that animal rights groups such as PETA oppose.

Though the animal rights activists have named Brandeis as one of the country’s most vegan friendly campuses, they criticize the university’s use of animals in the lab, arguing it is cruel to use animals in medical research, and opposing nearly all experiments that use animals.

These experiments, and the creatures they include, however, are imperative to the scientific process, Eve Marder, head of the science division said. Precautions are taken to ensure humane treatment of the animals and they are often treated better in laboratories than on farms, or even in some zoos, she said.

“When an experiment requires the use of animals, we all try to use as few as possible, and as low on the biogenetic scale as possible,” Marder said.

Brandeis currently houses stocks of rodents, worms, crabs, lobsters, yeast and fruit flies for testing. “There are very strict procedures for caring and euthanizing animals, and disposing of animals,” she added.

Many of PETA’s criticisms of animal testing concern the welfare of animals. Funding experiments, or product testing, with which they are far more concerned, are “wasting precious dollars on cruel, irrelevant experiments on animals instead of spending the money on promising human-based research,” according to the their website.

Marder disagrees. “If we are to deSee SCIENCE, page 2

Rosen delivers first Union address Admit rate climbs, more students on campus

By Connor Novy Staff

President Herbie Rosen emphasized transparency, efficiency and reforms in financing and voting methods in his first State of the Union address Thursday evening, calling the State of the Union address a “town hall forum,” and urging students to voice their concerns at the open forum following the speech.

More than 50 students and administrators attended the speech in the Mandel Atrium. Faculty members, student senators and fellow Brandeisians flocked to listen to the speech, which was followed by a very brief question-and-answer panel and then a workshop about strategic planning.

He lamented the “hindered” elec-

tions in which, Rosen said, “the option to abstain had a statistically better chance than an actual candidate.”

Measures have been taken to “clarify contradictions, especially concerning voting.” A constitutional convention will be held two years early to address grievances and potentially re-brand the Union as a “necessary part of student life.”

“The Student Union entered this year with the intention to become more transparent, efficient and better representatives for the students,” he told the attendees, but maintained that there were, and still are, problems with Brandeis’ student government. “We are very much aware of our faults, and we are moving to corSee ROSEN, page 4

Class of

2013

Class of

2014

Class of

2015

Applicants

6766

7694

8917

Accepted

2866

2881

3566

Admitted %

42.665

37.44

39.99

Total enrollment

717

756

858

Matriculation

27.62%

26.24

24.06

source: division of students and enrollment

By Nathan Koskella Editor

Brandeis this year saw its acceptance rate increase and then matriculation rate yield of those accepted students fall compared to last year’s class, Senior Vice President of Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel announced at Thursday’s faculty meeting as part of the annual presentation on the statistics for the incoming class.

The 39.99 percent acceptance rate is up from last year’s 37.44 and our yield dropped below a quarter of all students offered admission.

But Flagel explained that the news was tempered by the fact that this See ADMISSIONS, page 3

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

DOJ, DOE offer new road map for attaining diversity

By Nathan Koskella Editor

The Obama administration released new guidelines this week detailing its interpretation of the law, under a series Supreme Court cases, on affirmative action and race-based admissions decisions in college admissions.

The open memo by the federal Departments of Justice and Education replaces the version by the George W. Bush administration that denounced the use of race as an explicit factor—and thus changes the posture of the federal government in terms of lawsuits it would be willing to file or support if a college did use race as a factor in admissions.

Instead, the Obama executive branch now encourages other means or leeway in between the lines of the Supreme Court decisions to achieve more campus and accepted student diversity.

It is now the government’s view that “learning environments comprised of students from diverse backgrounds provide an enhanced educational

Animal rights groups fault science research

experience for individual students,” and that “interacting with students who have different perspectives and life experiences can raise the level of academic and social discourse both inside and outside the classroom; indeed, such interaction is an education in itself.”

Brandeis University officials referred interview requests and questions to Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel.

Flagel did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

The guidance goes on, “By choosing to create this kind of rich academic environment, educational institutions help students sharpen their critical thinking and analytical skills.”

The memo suggests schools could, for instance, give favorable admissions points to preselected high schools that could account for, among other factors, “racial composition of the school’s student body.”

In this way, schools could “broaden their applicant pools and thus increase their percentage of underrepresented groups. While recruitment and outreach efforts do not guarantee or increase the likelihood of admis-

president barack obama with education secretary arne duncan

sion for any applicant, efforts that are more inclusive can assist postsecondary institutions to increase the diversity of their applicant pools.”

The Obama administration also suggested a range of other tactics beyond admissions that are not opposed to Bush interpretations but just show a marked commitment to achieving better racial diversity on college cam-

sert the “compelling state interest” states and schools have in diversity in higher education. That type of state interest is code in Supreme Court jurisprudence for something that meets the constitutional standard and is acceptable affirmative action.

Critics of such plans call the system unfair to individual applicants and worry about the use of “quotas.”

University investigation into missing cash continues UNION, from page 1

SCIENCE, from page 1

velop new therapeutics, either new drugs or devices, they first must be researched on animals before they’re used on humans,” she explained.

Moreover, the distinction between product testing and scientific research is a drastic one. “In order to get reliable data, the animals have to be healthy. Every good scientist treats their animals humanely because they want high quality data,” Marder said.

Behavioral studies, on which many labs at Brandeis focus, are especially applicable. “If you want to assess a drug on behavior, it’s important for the animals to be healthy, because you want them to behave normally,” she said.

Institutions at Brandeis ensure the humane treatment of animals, dean of arts and sciences Professor Susan Birren (BIOL) said.

“Animal use at Brandeis is strictly regulated to maximize animal welfare and is based on the principles of reducing the numbers used, replacing animals with alternative approaches when possible, and refining procedures to minimize pain or distress,” Birren said. Birren was a board member of Brandeis’ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), which regulates research involving live subjects. A multitude of paperwork and proof that animals are treated well is required to obtain subjects.

Marder insists that the gains from basic scientific research using animals far outweigh the costs. “We sacrifice to learn. We don’t sacrifice them unnecessarily.” The path to FDAapproved drug treatments can take up to 15 years, and the research that the medications were derived from can take place even 50 years prior.

Without the basic research like the kind conducted at Brandeis, she says, many life saving medications would not be available.

“People are clamoring for a cure to Alzheimer’s. We may not be able to use yeast to study direct effects, but we look at how proteins fold and how cells die, and that’s the first step.”

puses.

Schools should sponsor mentorship and retention programs to keep students who are in danger of not finishing or fulfilling their program’s requirements (a statistic especially high among minority groups).

The new guidelines also suggest that when openly trying to increase race-based admissions, schools reas-

photo from internet source

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

safe in union office

that money had been stolen.

When counting deposited money with Budget Analyst Steve Costa the following day, they observed that a cash deposit in a plastic bag was missing about $620 of the $1,200 deposit amount listed in the book, Lee said.

On Nov. 21, Lee filed a report with university police.

The security camera on the ceiling of the Union office is managed by a firm called CGL Electronic Security.

The firm sent a manual to Lee and a technician assisted him in retrieving the footage but, because Lee and Union officials did not watch the tape within four days, they could not find the incident.

O’Neil sent a follow up e-mail to Lee on Tuesday, explaining that staff at CGL were out of the office on Nov. 21, the day the incident was reported to university police, and unable to

show the Union how to retrieve the video footage. In the e-mail, she asked if Lee had watched the video, but in a phone interview Thursday morning, said she had not yet received a response from him.

Along with a new lock combination, the camera setting has now been changed to record and store footage for one month. Lee said he heard from other treasurers that the storage time was two weeks and not only four days.

Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said that the case appeared to be a theft, not a bookkeeping or organizational error.

“As far as book keeping measures, I’m sure that they went through a … methodical process,” Callahan said in an interview. “I would hope that would be the case that it [the money] was misplaced but nothing indicates that this time.”

Waltham man killed by hit and run

By Debby Brodsky Editor

A Waltham resident is dead and another has been charged with vehicular homicide after a hit-and-run car crash near the intersection of Church and School streets before Thanksgiving.

Waltham resident Blanca Contreras, 29, struck 39-year-old Scott “Scotty” Coxall with her Nissan Pathfinder SUV, around 6 p.m. on Nov. 23. Contreras failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection and fled the scene traveling approximately 60 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, according to The Waltham News Tribune.

Police found Coxall unconscious at the scene, and he was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital with serious injuries to his head, upper right leg and internal organs, and suffered a fracture in his right leg. One week later on Dec. 1, Coxall died at Mas-

sachusetts General Hospital.

Contreras currently faces a slew of charges including reckless vehicular homicide, driving without a Massachusetts driver’s license, driving to endanger, leaving the scene with property damage, leaving the scene with personal injury, using a motor vehicle without authority, speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign and failure to stop for a pedestrian at a crosswalk.

After Contreras first fled the scene of the accident, police later found her at her home and brought her to the Waltham Police Station for questioning. Upon investigating further, police discovered Contreras that is an illegal alien from Guatemala who has been living in the United States for 11 years, according to The Tribune. Contreras was brought before the Waltham District Court this past Monday, and was held on $50,000 bail.

Although Contreras held a clean

record prior to the Nov. 23 accident, District Attorney Ceara Mahoney classified her as a “flight risk,” fearing that she might try to flee the country.

Contreras was also accused of providing police with several conflicting stories, first denying involvement in the incident and then later admitting to the crime. As a result, her attorney Gerard Walsh was unsuccessful in his attempt to lower Contreras’ bail from $50,000 to $2,500.

“While she did admit to being involved in the accident, I would suggest that she was never completely forthright with the officer regarding the incident,” said Mahoney.

Contreras is currently under 24hour surveillance, and an electronic bracelet is monitoring her movement at her home. She was asked to surrender her passport and is not permitted to drive, according to The Tribune.

Contreras will next appear in court on Jan. 3 for a pretrial hearing.

December 9, 2011

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Class of 2015 stats improve Brandeis’ academic averages ADMISSIONS, from page 1

is among the most highly-qualified classes Brandeis has seen when taking GPA, SAT score and high school class rank comparisons.

“Triangulating the data—while this is one of the largest classes Brandeis has ever had—yet it is also one of the highest-caliber classes ever enrolled,” Flagel said.

He also said that there must be something a bit wrong about how “we are externally judged by how many people we deny.”

“Instead, we got better applicants and so we got a slightly higher acceptance rate,” Flagel added, “even if it makes us looks strange in U.S. News—one of the reasons U.S. News’

[with its famed rankings] is flawed.”

Indeed, both in terms of all of these statistics, Brandeis’ mean SAT scores and GPA increased this year, belying the negative news from the admit rate.

Flagel joked that the statistic was “about as statistically significant [to what constitutes high-profile applicants] as shoe size.”

“But,” he added, “it is one way we are looked at in rankings.”

He said that clearly Brandeis can be known for its excellence beyond just how many students we reject.

The class of 2015 is the third and latest class in the four-year financial plan of the university to increase the size of the student population. The class of 2015 contains 858 first-years,

up from 756 last year and 717 the year before.

The total target after next year will be about 3,600 to 3,700 undergraduates, Flagel and Fran Drolette, the university’s chief financial officer, said.

Several professors had questions about the statistics, and the admissions report made it one of the most lively faculty meetings in months.

Philosophy chair Professor Jerry Samet asked if there was a reason for the acceptance rate being “39.99 percent … Is 40 a bad number to have or did it really happen to come out to exactly three-nine-point-nine-nine?”

He said this to much laughter.

Flagel said that it truly did come out that way, but admitted jocularly,

“Yes, and I’m going to try my hardest to make sure it doesn’t get to 40, it’ll be 39.99999.” He added seriously that while a higher number is bad news for rankings, “it’s not worrisome unless it continues in the wrong direction.”

“But it’s also very unusual to have a class with that acceptance rate with the caliber of class we have,” Flagel said.

Another professor asked if the negative news in acceptance rate and yield has anything to do with the reduction in merit aid in favor of need-based financial aid, and Flagel said that there was some evidence that it did. But also, the class of 2015 was still so high-caliber after all, so Brandeis’ total academic competitiveness increased rather than decreased.

When the conversation turned to the number of students at Brandeis who considered the university their “top choice,” Flagel said that the assumed low percentage was something that needed to be combated but was confident that it could be.

He said that Brandeis needs to have “the steak and the sizzle,” referring both to the attractive marketing and to the branding campaign to show students accurately what is great about the university—the sizzle—and the steak, which is the actual value of Brandeis—which no one the room disputed.

“We will succeed,” Flagel said, adding that the numbers will get better in the future and “I am not arrogant, but I am very confident.”

Two dead, including police officer, in VA Tech shooting NOTEBOOK, from page 1

gency threat of a gunman on campus.

Virginia Tech administrators were in Washington, D.C., this week for appeal hearings at the Department of Education over a $55,000 fine issued to the school for failing to notify students immediately about the 2007 shootings.

Following the tragedy, Virginia Tech implemented emergency alert systems, including the use of text messages to communicate with students.

On Thursday, communication was everywhere—including on Twitter, cell phones and the school website.

Shortly after the shooting at about 12:15 p.m. in a parking lot by McComas Hall, the university sent a text message alert before 12:30 p.m., informing the community that gunshots had been fired and to stay inside buildings and lock doors.

Virginia Tech student Jimmy Brewbaker ’13, who lives in an off-campus apartment, said that he was confused by the first alert.

“I didn’t really know if that meant that a gun had been fired or somebody had been hit,” Brewbaker said in a phone interview Thursday night. “I wasn’t thinking of anything like 2007.

At the time I was just thinking I’m not going to go anywhere.”

Law enforcement officials declined to say with certainty on Thursday that the second man found dead was the gunmen, but admitted they believed that was the case.

“We have recovered clothing items that would lead us to believe that he would be one and the same,” Major Rick Jenkins, deputy director of the Virginia State Police’s bureau of investigation, said in a conference call Thursday night, The New York Times reported. “We are not in a situation to say that definitively at this point.”

At a press conference earlier in the day, when asked by reporters whether the shooting was a murder-suicide, a police officer responded, “You can read between the lines, but I can’t comment.”

With the 2007 tragedy in its memory, the university entered lock-down mode Thursday, calling in hundreds of police officers and SWAT team members with machine guns before announcing at 4:30 p.m. that there was “no longer an active threat” on the campus.

“Once again, the campus and the community that we love so well have been visited by senseless violence and tragic loss. Tragedy again struck

Bates College names Harvard VP new president

Virginia Tech in a wanton act of violence where our police officer, Deriek Crouse, was murdered during a routine traffic stop,” Steger wrote in a letter to the campus community. “…

My heart goes out also to all of you, members of a strong and tightlyknit community that has had the sad misfortune to have weathered these storms before.”

Brewbaker said that national media instantly drew comparisons between the shooting Thursday and the one in 2007, even though they were different

By Nathan Koskella Senator of the Class of 2014 Ricky Rosen successfully negotiated with Dining Services to test a pilot expansion of the C-Store hours, extending Saturday night from midnight to 2 a.m., and the university announced that the opening was successful and would now become part of the convenience store’s permanent hours next semester.

For the last few Saturdays, the CStore tried the program and found it to be profitable and beneficial. So now

Editor

Bates College named Ava Clayton Spencer, Harvard University’s vice president for policy, as its new president. Spencer will begin work as Bates’ eighth president on July 1.

A Winchester, Mass., native, Spencer has worked closely with the presidents and deans of Harvard, and was previously a lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Spencer also previously served as the chief education counsel in the United States Senate, as well as the executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and has served at Harvard since 1997.

“Bates has made a brilliant choice,” University President Drew G. Faust wrote in an e-mail to Harvard faculty and administrators, according to The Crimson. “Clayton ... has been an astute and always forthright adviser to Harvard’s presidents, deans and governing boards for the last 15 years.”

She graduated magna cum laude from Williams College, earning a theology degree from Oxford in 1979 and a master’s degree in the study of religion from Harvard in 1982.

Spencer later graduated from Yale

photo from internet source

ava clayton spencer

Law School, and currently serves as a trustee at Williams College and as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Following her time at Yale Law School, Spencer served as an assistant United States attorney in Boston, and later worked on Capitol Hill.

Spencer will succeed Nancy J. Cable, Bates’ interim president, following the resignation of Elaine Hansen, who left Bates to become the executive director for the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University.

situations.

“I think people nationally were [writing we’re] in a 2007 repeat but we’re really not.”

Thursday was a study day before finals for students at Virginia Tech and with no scheduled classes. The university said exams on Friday would be postponed, according to The Times.

Six months after the massacre that reawakened the entire nation to the threat of violence on a college campuses, Deriek W. Crouse joined the Virginia Tech Police Department.

And now, less than five years later, he is gone.

“I can only say words can’t describe our feelings. Our hearts are broken again,” Steger said on Thursday.

Now Deriek Crouse’s family—his wife, mother, brother and five children—are left searching for answers in the wake of grief and shock as a college community tries to recover once again from tragedy and heal the wounds it leaves.

Alex Schneider contributed reporting.

With Union prodding, C-Store hours expanded Editor

By Debby Brodsky

photo courtesy trevor white/collegiate times

officers at virginia tech on thursday

students will be able to buy things from the convenience store in Usdan for two additional hours on the weekends—a time when no other campus food outlet is open.

Rosen reached out to Dining Services because he felt students would appreciate expanded hours in what is, after all, a convenience store. And especially given the fact that, on Saturdays, there is no other way to use a meal or campus meal points at that time.

In another effort by the Student Union, the student government has reached out to the office of the dean

of arts and sciences and there will be expanded study spaces during finals period. Olin-Sang and even parts of the Hassenfeld Conference Center, like the Lurias and Levine-Ross, will be open during the finals period until 6 a.m.

The Division of Administration under Senior Vice President Mark Collins and the Office of Conference and Events Services, of which Angela Garger is director, were also involved in securing the facilities and buildings at these special times of night allowing for more study spaces.

Happy Holidays from The Hoot!

The Brandeis Hoot will be on hiatus through the holiday break. Our next issue will be Jan. 20, 2012.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Union president Rosen touts semester success ROSEN, from page 1

rect all of the inconsistencies and organizational errors.”

While not all events were unmitigated successes, like the Riverside shuttles, Rosen lauds the union for a “particularly active semester.”

Achievements included helping to plan Rumba, the extension of C-Store hours to two a.m. on Saturdays and, finally, a full senate without vacant positions. Additional study spaces, which many students asked for, are opening in Olin-Sang and Upper Sherman for finals, but the proposal has been met with skepticism due to the choice of location.

Next semester, Rosen said, more elaborate changes are planned. Muchneeded renovations to sophomore housing in the Castle and East quad are being discussed. Rosen plans to hold more “fun campus-wide events,” including color-wars and a potential campus-wide pillow fight. Finally, “a fun event on behalf of charities for Somalia and Turkey may involve

something to do with ‘Harry Potter’ and the Castle, I can’t really say.”

“While we don’t take ourselves seriously,” Rosen said, “we take our jobs seriously,” which elicited chuckles from the row of senators.

Following other dining successes, Rosen plans to move onto potentially increasing Einstein’s hours on the weekend, and is in talks with Aramark representatives about using more “real food” in the dining halls.

Food that is “fair trade, ecologically sustainable and organic,” as well as more Kosher dining options at halls other than Sherman.

Rosen also plans to instigate midyear senators, midyear committees and a mixer to integrate the incoming students into the other first-years’ social circles.

The Finance Board representative further emphasized their intention to increase their transparency, both in terms of the student body and club leaders, who often need help filling out finance forms. “We just want to make sure that all students are on the

same page at the beginning of each semester, having a complete understanding of the F-Board scope,” added Rosen.

The trustee liaisons will publicize meetings and hope to increase the participation of trustees in campus events.

Thematically, the Union address was geared toward creating a sense of future transparency and solidarity between the student government and Brandeisians. Students often feel that the student government and their senators do little besides discuss plans that do not come to fruition or battle against an immovable administration. Rosen claims to have worked tirelessly to battle this perception and make real changes in the Brandeis community and connect the university to the outside world, including a council-ship on the Boston Intercollegiate Assembly (BIA), which meets at Tufts, and a potential community service competition with nearby Bentley University.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

herbie rosen

Brandeis volunteers in service program at Waltham school

By Victoria Aronson Staff

Volunteers from the Brandeis and Waltham community came together Monday evening at the Stanley Elementary School to host Stanley Family Night, an event featuring nearly 30 activity booths for children as part of the university’s involvement within the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

Proposed by President Barack Obama, the campus Interfaith Challenge encourages individuals of diverse religious and cultural views to collaborate together to solve community issues and foster relationships.

“There were many overarching goals of Family Night, but I would say generally that we hoped to give students and parents a fun night out together, to expose children to ideas and activities that might have been novel for them, and to increase family awareness about what Brandeis University can do for them and their families,” Rachael Downs, the community service coordinator of the Brandeis Interfaith Group, said.

Nearly 200 volunteers attended the event and ran a total of 28 activity booths for the children in the community. Groups affiliated with the event were the Waltham Group, the Brandeis Interfaith Group, the Interfaith Chaplaincy, Clubs in Service, Ultimate Frisbee, Student Events, Rather Be Giraffes and the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.

“Teaching Frisbee at Stanley night inspired me to become more involved in community service at Brandeis. I realize that taking one night out of my week to play with kids can make a huge impact on their lives,” Mira Smith ’15, a member of the Ultimate Frisbee team, said.

Activities at the event included puppet theater, arts and crafts, planting, spin art and hula hoops. Volunteers also read to students in English, Spanish and Creole.

Downs said the event was successful because students communicated well with administrators at the Stanley School.

“Junior Brandeis Achievers is but one part of the Waltham Group that speaks to this continuous relation-

ship,” Downs said. “Principal Jenn Hacker is one of several adults that we communicated with regularly from the school, and she was totally supportive of our vision from the beginning.”

With support from the director of community service, Lucas Malo, and the efforts of Allie Joseph from the Waltham Group and Clubs in Service at the event, Downs said she hopes to continue fostering new relationships with the Waltham community.

Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, Waltham Superintendent Susan M. Nicholson and members from the Waltham Public School Committee were in attendance as well.

Following Stanley Family Night, more than 30 students volunteered to host a reflection dinner and discuss service in conjunction with the collaboration of varying faith systems.

Downs said that as part of the Interfaith Challenge, student clubs are planning activities in collaboration with Protestant chaplain Alex Kern for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.

volunteers at stanley family night

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

December 9, 2011

views of the week

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Senior art put on display

photos by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot

studio reception Students enjoyed free food, wine and art by Brandeis seniors in sculpture and painting in Spingold on Dec. 7. Kelsey Grab ’12 stands with her work (bottom right).

SEA promotes awareness

S.T.A.R. event de-stresses

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

reduce, reuse, recycle Students for Environmental Action encourages sustainability and the use of reus-

able water bottles with a display outside the Shapiro Campus Center on Dec. 8 surrounded by signs with facts and slogans such as “Brandeis students bought 4,500 plastic water bottles over two months,” “Recycling is not always the answer; stop consumption” and “Drink tap water; it’s yummy”.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

study break Students participate in the activities provided by Students Talking About Relationships in the Shapiro Campus Center on Dec. 8 as part of their “S.T.A.R. Study Break” event.

ImpressiOns

6 The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Altered Consciousness

Focusing our attention on Iran

By Rick Alterbaum Columnist

Three recent events have underscored the severity of the Iranian threat.

Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report that provided copious amounts of evidence supporting the conclusion that Iran has been working to develop a nuclear weapon since 2003.

In blatant violation of international norms, Iran attempted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States and also considered plans to attack the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. Also, a week ago, members of the Iranian Basij militia stormed the British embassy in Tehran with tacit support from the Iranian regime, a scene highly reminiscent of the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979.

The danger that Iran poses even without a nuclear weapon to not just Israel but the world at large is indisputable. The apologist case for the Islamist regime there has no merit whatsoever and concerted action on the economic, diplomatic and political fronts short of a full-out military strike—though we should maintain this as a very credible option—must be taken as soon as possible. For these reasons, I have been greatly disappointed by the policy of the Obama administration in regard to the country.

Obama’s decision not to sanction the Iranian Central Bank in favor of U.N. Security Council sanctions that will never be effective without Russia and China is baffling. Recently, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment that would prohibit financial transactions with the bank.

The president opposed it on the grounds that it would disrupt world oil markets, despite the fact that the bill allows him to grant waivers to exempt certain organizations from the

ban. Regardless, what is more troubling for Obama? A slight increase in gas prices in the short-term or a nuclear Iran that would, among other things, potentially disrupt the crucial shipping lanes along the Persian Gulf, thus driving prices skyward in the long-term?

Obama has also failed to show a commitment toward regime change.

In 2009, under the pretext of his ultimately unsuccessful policy to “engage” the Iranian government, he missed a golden opportunity to support the Green Movement both rhetorically, diplomatically, and by providing them with tools to help them communicate with one another and organize. Since then, he has cut funding for democracy promotion programs.

Additionally, Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle East has helped Iran expand its influence throughout the region. Because he is running for re-election next year, he has decided to completely withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, leaving the country to the tender mercy of its neighbor to the East. Obama’s alternate policy of stationing additional troops in Kuwait is an inadequate substitute. Furthermore, Iran may be able to bolster its influence in Afghanistan once American troops withdraw from there as well.

Obama has not maintained intense diplomatic pressure on the Assad regime in Syria, which is Iran’s closest ally in the region and access point to the Mediterranean Sea. He has also done little to weaken Iran’s proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. In regards to the former, he supported the loosening of the Israeli embargo on it and has called for the creation of a Palestinian state that, under current conditions, would probably be taken over by Hamas very quickly, like what happened in Gaza a few years ago. On Hezbollah, as far as I know, he has failed really to do anything as the group has more or less dominated

graphic by diane somlo/the hoot

Lebanon.

In regards to the Arab uprisings in general, Obama has taken a sympathetic stance toward Islamist forces by, for instance, recognizing and legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood and supporting openly Islamist rebels

in Libya. The Sunni-Shiite and ArabPersian divides would drive Islamists in countries like Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia apart from Iran. Nonetheless, if given the ability to formulate their respective countries’ foreign policies, as they almost definitely

will, they would be far friendlier toward Iran than leaders such as Hosni Mubarak were.

Iran is a menace to the entire world yet, judging by the evidence, our president does not seem to agree, despite what his rhetoric suggests.

A Goodman is Hard to Find

Experiencing culture, broadening horizons

By Jeremy Goodman Columnist

As humans, experience is a crucial part of our education. Experiences not only teach us, they change us as people. Sometimes our collisions with other cultures can be educational in and of themselves.

When I arrived at camp for my last summer as a camper, I was greeted by a crowd of staff members. This summer camp has a program set up with an agency in Israel. The agency sends approximately 15 Israelis to the United States to become counselors for the summer. Not only will this help teach the children about their “homeland”—Israel—but the counselors will also learn just as much from the campers about the United States and our different culture.

Once we settled down, they divided us into cabins, with each cabin being comprised of about 10 individuals of the same age. One of our counselors was an Israeli named Guy. When I first heard his name, I wasn’t sure whether they didn’t know it or that it was his actual name. After he introduced himself, I couldn’t determine whether Guy was a nickname or his

real name. It was his real birth name.

Guy wasn’t exactly the kind of person I would stereotypically think was from Israel. He was a skinny, pale, white guy. Personally, when I think of Israel, I think of a dark-skinned, big, buff guy. Guy was the complete opposite. From then on, I realized stereotypes were almost never true.

Throughout the three weeks we really got to know each other. Guy told us about where he lived and about his life at home. We shared with him stories of our growing up in the United States.

I remember when we were all just sitting around the cabin talking and we all started to ask Guy about how Israelis stereotypically thought about Americans. What he told us was almost exactly the opposite from what we are really like in the United States.

This reinforced my idea about stereotypes and made me aware that stereotypes work both ways.

Another moment that I can clearly remember was when Guy decided to shave his head. It was just getting dark when I heard Guy talking about how hot it was. So a kid in my cabin who had very short hair suggested he should just shave his hair off. Surprisingly he agreed and it was set: That

night, at around 10 p.m., we would help him to perform the task and the two boys’ bunks in the unit were going to watch. That evening, about 20 guys crammed into the bathroom with their cameras. “Before” pictures were taken, and then they began. As they made the first pass of the electric razor across his head, everyone cheered with excitement. I was up on the bench taking a video from above.

After the event finished, Guy stood up looked in the mirror and gave a weird smile. It seemed as if he couldn’t believe what he had just done. We all took “after” pictures and as we passed to go to our cabins for the night, we all rubbed his freshly shaved head, as if it were Buddha’s. He was fine with it the next day. He told us about how his Israeli friends approached him at the staff meeting that evening. He said that they couldn’t believe he actually did it. They too rubbed his shiny, freshly-shaved head.

Guy was one of the first foreign people I had ever met, and certainly the first one with whom I had a real relationship. I have never been to another country except for Canada, so meeting Guy was an experience See CULTURE, page 9

December 9, 2011

Engrossing

IMPRESSIONS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

The obligatory ‘end of semester’ review

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

By Morgan Gross Editor

Sophomore year has been interesting, so far, for a couple of reasons.

There is something strange about being new, but not so new to Brandeis. I’m not settled on what I’m studying or what my leadership roles are, and I can’t even begin to imagine

what I will do in two and a half years when I graduate. My year and a half here at Brandeis, however, has taught me a few things.

I’m aware that it may be a bit indulgent to write an article summing up my experience thus far at Brandeis (seeing as I haven’t been here for very long). I have decided to risk this indulgence, however, in order to reflect on what has been an exceedingly dif-

ficult (and important) semester.

At this mid-point in the year, I am comfortable summing my findings into a few conclusions. I hope that you will excuse my indulgence and that you will find these points useful in navigating the rest of the year and your time at Brandeis.

Communal living It is a huge transition going from first-year to sophomore-year hous-

ing for a couple of reasons. First of all, there is a big difference between living in a hall of people whom you are just meeting, and living with your friends with whom you chose to live.

Friendships are getting real and the honeymoon phase is disappearing.

Most of the time, it’s awesome. Living with people whom you love means there is always someone around to edit a paper for you, off of whom to bounce ideas, with whom to watch a movie or from whom to steal food.

Having someone with whom to talk at all times has been one of the best parts of this year and something that has kept me sane when I was dangerously close to a breakdown.

Living with friends, however, also comes with significant challenges.

The fact that my friends are never more than a stone’s throw away has changed the nature of my friendships considerably. When your best friend is also your next-door neighbor, it can be hard to find time for yourself, and even your favorite people in the world will get annoying after a while.

Also, in communal living situations, your messiness is not just your problem. When living with friends, every forgotten sock and dish left a day too long becomes a potential source of conflict. The obvious solution for this problem is to clean up for yourself, but we all know that this isn’t always a reality. The next best thing is to be honest with your friends and make sure that you communicate your issues and take responsibility for your mess!

Keeping a balance It has taken me until this point in my Brandeis career to realize that classes really are the most important part of my life here. (See, Mom and Dad?! I figured it out!)

While this may seem intuitive (and

like something that I should have known already) it is a hard conclusion to which to come, when extracurriculars, new friends and free pizza events beckon.

I did reasonably well last year, but not as well as I could have if I would have paid an appropriate amount of attention to my classes.

This semester, I got invested in the classes that I was taking. I got to know professors and really paid attention to what I was studying. I can honestly say that I have learned so much with this new perspective. The best way to make work easy is to make it enjoyable. If you like what you’re doing, then you’re not working.

College is a time when we get to focus our time studying the thing in which we are most interested. Sometimes that perspective is helpful to retain focus on what really matters.

Put yourself first So, what I said before about classes being the most important part of life here at Brandeis was sort of a lie.

The real most important thing here will never be something external, because if you don’t take care of yourself, then nothing else matters.

This semester has been really difficult. I have never been as busy as I have been for the past few months. I have pushed my body’s ability to stay awake and watched the sun rise over Chapels Field through my common room’s window more times than I feel comfortable admitting in writing. It was not fun.

Sleep is so much more necessary than we realize on a day-to-day basis, that is a lesson that I learned the hard way, and one that I (after too many all-nighters in a row) will never forget.

On working with others

By Mariah Voronoff Special to the Hoot

As we quickly progress through life and its many stages, we come to a few roadblocks. We are faced with real world challenges such as taking crap from your bosses, absolute rejection in your work places and a whole host of disappointing things. Before we can get to this place, however, we must learn to work with others. Unlike kindergarten, we are not policed by an educator who is making sure we’re “playing nice” in the dolly corner. Because, when you’re an adult, no one is planning on playing nice.

Working with others is an interesting experience when you’re on the brink of your adult years because it holds a whole new set of challenges.

Growing up, I was taught to stick to my beliefs and strive for my goals. I believe it was my parents’ goal to raise someone who would shake the world, but I could be wrong. I was not taught, however, that others were going to do the exact same thing. When you put two strong-minded individuals together in a work environment there are going to be intellectual explosions of epic proportions. So why do we do it? If you are a “type A” individual, much like myself, you get a lot back from chairing a committee or spearheading a campaign. Maybe it’s because, whether we admit it or not, we all live by the mantra “My way or the highway.” As strong leaders, we like to see things done our way. Let’s face it, our way is probably best. I’m just kidding, but only slightly.

Anyway, I digress. In the real world it is common practice to have some-

one by your side with the exact same responsibilities as you. This being said, we are only human and we are prone to a few personality flaws; we are going to have some serious problems with people trying to steal the spotlight. I hate to break it to you, but there are going to be these dreaded personalities who are going to do their very best to push you to the brink of your sanity.

The title given to these frightening individuals is often preceded by the most horrifying prefix invented: “co.”

So to what does the term “co” actually refer? It can be “co-chair,” “co-president” or “co-I’m-here-to-completelypsych-you-out.” It is almost impossible for two people with similar tactics to work together. It is not natural and it is not healthy. There is going to be one person who makes a decision with which the other is not OK. They will even make this decision behind your back and implement it without you even knowing. You will have meetings where you have the unnatural urge to lunge yourself across the table and gouge out their eyes. Obviously you would never do this because then they would cart you off in a straitjacket with you mumbling, “Who’s going to confirm the event location …” If this is ringing a bell for you, then you know the feeling of complete psychosis when you are on the brink of completely blowing your cool and going on a crazy rampage. So fantasies of creative ways to slightly “maim” your co-person are a natural byproduct. So how do you learn to work well with your co?

Do you find ways to retaliate by pushing every mental button you find?

Or do you try and kill them with kindness? Quite honestly, I still don’t know

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

the answer. I have learned, however, that sometimes it’s not worth it to get your way all the time. I know it’s sur-

prising if you know me. Is it worth completely alienating people just to be able to say that you got the job done?

All I know is that we must suck up our pride, take a deep breath and try our very best not to go absolutely nuts.

8 IMPRESSIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

On life’s important questions

graphic by linjie xu/the hoot

By Pete Wein Staff

I’m sure all of you wonderful readers have heard by now that Congress recently passed their ruling on pizza and determined

that it is, in fact, a vegetable. This is a pretty curious thing even to bother with right now, considering the national and world economy are both teetering on the brink of collapse, along with presidential campaigns under full swing and multiple wars to boot. But I sup-

Learning from experience CULTURE, from page 7

in itself. That summer Guy wasn’t just a counselor, he became a real friend. Through learning about his background and culture in Israel, I became conscious about exactly how different yet alike people are.

Before meeting Guy, I would have thought that, if someone lived in a different country, they would also be different. After meeting him, I realized that we are all basically the same even if we are raised in different places with different cultures and experiences. Not only did I end up appreciating his differences and similarities after spending three weeks with him, I wanted to get on a plane and go experience what he talked about for real.

Guy totally changed my perspective on the world. My experience with him transformed me from a normal U.S. citizen to a global one. As a global citizen, I now truly

photo from internet source

know to appreciate others from different cultures. In fact, people from different cultures educate others about themselves. I now yearn to learn about other cultures throughout the world, no matter how varied. I just cannot get over how little I haven’t experienced and I have yet to experience.

After leaving camp for the last time after those three incredible weeks I not only had a great time, I was inspired. Ever since my introduction to Guy and the different culture he has, I now want to travel all over the world. I suddenly have the desire to go to Italy, Spain, England and many other places. I can say honestly that a huge part of why I’m going abroad next semester was my experience with Guy that summer. Through Guy, I developed the desire to know about other countries I have yet to experience in my 16 years so far. Guy shaped the way that I think about the world and the way that I relate to other people.

pose I am getting ahead of myself; if I keep trying to figure out the motivations of a politician, my head will inevitably explode.

So, to the real question that needs to be asked: Is pizza actually a vegetable?

I’m a math kind of guy, so I’m

going to stick to what I know: equations.

A pizza (and I’m going to assume it is only a cheese pizza, since that’s my favorite) is basically made up of three things: dough, tomato sauce and cheese.

OK, Mr. or Mrs. Congress-person, we aren’t starting with a SINGLE vegetable in there. But that’s quite alright, many of the foods we currently make today love to change the food group to which they belong.

After all, I’ve seen some of the materials they use at the sandwich station in Usdan and it is usually not what it appears to be.

So, if we keep up with the math theme, we have grains + fruits + dairy = vegetable. For some more accurate assessment of the pizza college students eat, let’s throw up about a pound of grease and whatever seasoning is within arm’s reach. And we end up with a vegetable … how?

Beats me.

Upon further research, it seems that this entire confusion arose because of the way pizza sauce (or paste, depending on from where you hail) is counted in terms of servings of vegetables.

This, along with a few fairly logical steps, would lead to the conclusion that pizza is a vegetable. That, however, is never mentioned in the article on which Congress voted.

So, I have an excellent runnerup question: Why is a tomato a fruit and tomato paste a vegetable? Why is the tomato even

a fruit? I suppose this is what you get when you try to replace foundational societal understandings with some of our basic preconceived notions. That is to say the tomato is a vegetable no matter how many scientific facts you throw out at me.

Yes, of course this is an extremely hypocritical stance. But let’s be serious for a moment; at what point do you draw the line?

When do you let little ol’ Pluto just stay a planet? At no point have I ever thought of making a fruit salad with tomatoes in it or covering a tomato in some chocolate sauce as an aphrodisiac to seduce some attractive woman (nor do I need any sort of aphrodisiacs). No, I eat tomatoes with salad, another awful vegetable, or as soup. Or, as crazy as this may sound, when I want to eat some nice comfort food with a blatant disregard for my health or well-being.

You and anyone else are more than welcome to try to convince me that pizza is a vegetable and that, according to the USDA’s food pyramid, pizza is a good food to eat. And my response will always be the same: NO. If this were a more informal situation, there would probably be more expletives.

I’ve essentially ended where I started. I don’t think pizza is a vegetable and very few people genuinely do but, if my mother allowed me to substitute asparagus for pizza, I would without hesitation.

Still Writing

Advice I never got: words of wisdom regarding finals

By Gordy Stillman Editor

In the next week, I have five papers and four finals to wade through, beginning today and ending next Monday night. I am only taking four classes, but somehow I wound up picking four classes that all had papers and exams at the end of the semester.

Now to be fair, I didn’t expect this even after looking at syllabi.

One of my classes listed quizzes and a take-home final. In that class the final quiz is on the last day of classes and covers two-thirds of the readings and is worth around 20 percent of the grade, hardly different from an exam. A week into finals, I then have to write two threeto-four-page papers replying to two of three essay options. For another class I have an eight-page paper due Monday followed by an exam next Friday. My third class has a short paper due Wednesday and a final exam that night. My fourth and final class has a research paper due on Monday and an extensive exam next Monday night.

While I kind of knew about the work ahead of time, I did not expect one of my classes to have only two quizzes all semester and didn’t expect the second quiz to cover the final two-thirds of the readings. I did not expect one of my class’ final papers’ to be assigned right after Thanksgiving when all the previous papers were handed out with at least three weeks to write them.

I did know that I’d have two extensive papers due, and that was not

on its face overwhelming; having three other papers to write while also studying for finals made it overwhelming.

In all of this I noticed that there were a couple key pieces of advice that I never received in my first two years at Brandeis. The first bit was actually to look for classes with detailed syllabi. For example, one of my classes listed most of the readings organized by unit, but did not account for when each unit started or ended. I went to class every day, but it got to the point where we were being told to read two units ahead of everything we were discussing in class. After getting through everything on the syllabus the professor simply decided to add readings to the class. Never mind that when I signed up for the class, a factor in that decision was the less than lengthy list of readings.

One of the biggest things to look for is whether a course has an extensive final paper, a final exam or both. Now that may seem like a given, but it’s really not that hard to overlook when final papers are due and when exams are administered.

The value of looking into the end

of the semester calendar at the start of the semester becomes increasingly apparent as finals appear on the horizon.

I know that there are people who have more work than I do, and I know that I had bad luck picking four humanities classes (breakdown of three philosophy and one history). With next semester approaching, I wanted to take the chance to offer one piece of advice that I certainly would have valued getting earlier in my life at Brandeis. Don’t just look at a syllabus for how many papers you have to write or how much reading to expect per week. Actually look at the end of the semester (and this is why you should value detailed syllabi) and get a sense for how much work you’ll have to do at the end of the semester.

In the spirit of the Occupy movement, Internet jokes have recently been popping up along the lines of “1 percent of the semester controls 99 percent of the stress.” If people plan ahead and consider this when picking classes so that their work will be more evenly divided, maybe final periods won’t have to be a “hell week.”

photo from internet source

December 9, 2011

IMPRESSIONS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

The self-proclaimed holiday grinch

By Gabby Katz Staff

Now during the home stretch of this semester in a caffeine-induced delirium, I can’t help but laugh at all the ridiculous and commercialized holiday events to which I get to look forward over break. The more I think about these practices, the funnier they seem. Can anyone tell me what clogging my arteries with fried, shredded potatoes has to do with the Maccabees? How does illuminating your house with a billion-dollar electric bill celebrate Jesus? Kwanzaa?

Yeah, I guess you could call me the holiday grinch as my skepticism often overshadows all the cheery little chipmunks singing Christmas songs in knitted sweaters. But really there is just one part of the holidays that is absolutely ludicrous: wrapping presents.

The idea of gift giving, in my opinion, is to brighten a loved one’s day by giving them an object that makes them happy. Before you see the person, they don’t know what the gift is.

So really, there is no additional element of surprise by bringing the gift

in the plastic bag you walked out of the store with versus bringing it in colored paper. I have no other conceivable thought for why wrapping a gift could be important.

From a purely financial standpoint, the time between you handing the present to the person and the wrapping paper being ripped off and thrown away is probably 15 seconds.

You paid $3 for 15 seconds of enjoyment? Einstein’s coffee is cheaper than that and you enjoy its effects even after you’re done drinking it!

With that concept, why not use a roll of paper towels with which to dry yourself off every time you shower.

Honestly, whoever created this business is a genius and probably rich.

Now that I ragged on what I think are the dumbest customs of all the holidays, I’ll give you what I think is a reasonable solution. Newspaper.

Not only do you save money by using The Hoot as your gift paper, but you also enlighten your loved one with the knowledge and opinions of The Hoot staff; clearly the best gift of all and much more useful then sparkly snowflakes. Also, it’s a green solution, great for all the super-hippie, crunchy granola Brandeisians.

All things aside, I respect all the holidays and customs this time of year, and really want to make sure companies don’t scam you this season. Just some food for thought as you watch your credit-card bill skyrocket. Have a great break and happy holidays!

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

The Katzwer’s Out of the Bag

Yearbooks should be sentimental, not shrug-inducing

By Yael Katzwer Editor

The end of fall semester means something different to me this year than it has in past years. As a senior, not only can I feel my Brandeis career entering its final stages, but I am getting ready to say goodbye to my friends who are graduating early. I have been making promises—which I probably will not keep—to stay in touch and have been desiring mementos, such as photos.

Although you will never see a copy of it in your four years at Brandeis, we do have a yearbook: Archon.

It is a very nice publication but it is rather obsolete. With Facebook these days, everyone already has college pictures of their friends. The other purpose of yearbooks is to have your friends sign them with funny or encouraging messages so that years from now you can look back and say, “I remember that; what a card!” or “I remember that; what a bitch!”

But the Archon is sent to the previous year’s seniors at some point in October, after they have already moved on and when they no longer really care about their college yearbook. They occupy that in-between stretch of time when graduation happened so long ago that they do not really care and yet graduation happened so recently that they are not nostalgic yet.

There are no signatures. There is no traditional passing around of yearbooks. There are no trite messages from people who do not really know you but are pretending they do because they know they are supposed to.

The reason the yearbooks are sent so late is because graduation photographs are included in it. Is this really necessary? Sure, it is nice but, by including this, Archon is depriving seniors of the pleasure of receiving their yearbooks before the class fragments. My high school yearbook did not include graduation and I liked it just fine.

If Archon is really desperate to publish graduation photos, they could print a small, separate booklet of graduation photos. They could

then sell these to make a profit, funding the booklets. Trust me, parents would buy them; most parents love their children, especially their reasonably successful children who graduated from Brandeis.

Another problem with the yearbook is that only seniors appear in it.

This is not high school, where oddly enough the other grades did make an appearance. At Brandeis we mingle with everyone. We are in clubs with people from all years. We are in classes with everyone from first-years to seniors—even graduate students.

Although we are identified on school records and in the school papers by the year in which we will graduate, that is not how we define ourselves. I am a Brandeis student, not a Brandeis ’12 student. I have friends in all the other years and it saddens me that they will not be in my yearbook.

Additionally, I am not friends with everyone in my year. I do not even know a lot of people in my year.

Of course, not every senior will even appear in my yearbook. One of my best friends never got her picture taken because she said she just did

not care about being in the yearbook.

While this is not technically Archon’s fault, perhaps if they upped their presence on campus and incentivized people to want to be in the yearbook, this would not be the case. My friend said she just did not care. She will not receive the yearbook in a timely manner and, without her friends’ signatures, what is the point?

Also, getting your picture taken for the yearbook does not guarantee you will be in it. According to Archon, 19 students from the class of 2011 were left out of the yearbook. Archon, which was not to blame for the screwup, was very apologetic and reprinted the yearbook free of charge for those 19 students and other who want it.

“I realized my senior portrait was left out of the yearbook only when I received it in the mail,” Michelle Miller ’11, one of the students left out of the yearbook, said. “I noticed that it had one ‘Miller’ and then it just skipped my friend (Chris Miller) and me. Initially, I was pretty disappointed; my mom was livid. She kept saying that I worked hard for four years at this university and that I won’t be able to look back and see it, that no

one will be able to look back and see me. I was pretty disappointed but I knew that there wasn’t much that I would be able to do now. Everyone already received that particular copy.”

Michelle took it a lot better than I would have. Perhaps her calm acceptance, however, shows how insignificant students think Archon is.

“Overall, it’s disappointing but life moves on,” Michelle said. “My friends and I just make jokes about it. Then again, I don’t really feel attached to the yearbook at all, and I wonder if that’s an unfortunate result.”

Suwei Chi, co-editor-in-chief of Archon, apologized for the error and explained that the error occurred on the part of the publisher.

“Since the discovery of this error, I have been working closely with Jostens (our publishing company),” Chi explained. “We sent out the classwide e-mail and allowed the class of 2011 to decide for themselves if they wanted another copy that would include all the graduates who took the portraits, whether or not they knew the 19 students. From this, I received 85 requests for new books, and I have requested for Jostens to reprint 120

copies total. These additional copies will be distributed to the archives, the Office of Alumni Relations, the Department of Student Activities and for Archon itself.”

Although the new copy is being offered to all 2011 graduates, let’s be honest, most will probably not avail themselves of the offer, as can be seen by the limited response Chi received to her e-mail. Michelle and 18 of her classmates will not be in the rest of the class’ yearbooks. While I am sure Michelle and the others will be remembered by everyone despite this slip-up—even I remember Michelle just from the one class I took with her—it is still just sad.

Not only was no one able to sign their friends’ yearbooks, but some people will not even appear in their friends’ yearbooks, whether through their own fault or not.

Yearbooks can be lovely mementos but if Archon truly wants to be a part of the Brandeis experience, it needs to step up its game. Archon needs to build hype, making people want to get their pictures taken, and it needs to publish during graduation weekend, not months later.

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

features

10 The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Students dance all night for Miracle Network

By Debby Brodsky Editor

Brandeis students boogied through the night at Adagio’s second annual dance marathon on Saturday to raise funds for Children’s Hospital Boston.

Toward the end of the semester, while most students are furiously studying for finals, a small group of Brandeis students led by Adagio’s Dance Ensemble broke away from their work to organize a successful dance marathon.

Not only was Adagio’s executive board and the Dance Marathon Committee joined by Brandeis students, they were supported by the greater Waltham community, and together raised sev-

eral thousand dollars.

Dance marathons have been popular for nearly a century; however, in 1973 Penn State and Northwestern universities began hosting two-daylong dance marathons to raise proceeds to fund research for children with cancer. Decades later, Brandeis is following in the footsteps of Penn State and Northwestern to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, a national organization dedicated to serving children with cancer.

“Through our partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network, all proceeds raised from the event go to Children’s Hospital Boston,” said Camille Dolfen ’12, co-director of the Brandeis Dance Marathon. “Specifically, they are donated

Still stuck deciding on classes? Here are a few of our favorites, most of which are still open. Since you’ve probably already chosen a few that count toward your major, one of these can be your “just for fun!”

ENG 60B—The Films of Disney This is the only class on our list that is full, but getting yourself on the waitlist is in your best interest. Consider choosing a pass/fail option, because why would you want to think too hard about why the lion sleeps tonight or what happens when you wish upon a star?

ENG 20B—The Art of Flirtation: Reading Romance from “Pride and Prejudice” to “Harry Potter” Come on … we’ve all been over-analyzing Harry and Ginny’s relationship since before we had our own first kisses. Why not get graded for it? Bonus: daydreaming about Mr. Darcy.

AMST 170A—Conspiracy Theory Nothing beats a Jerry Cohen class, and this is our top choice of his offerings. What really happened at Roswell? Who killed JFK? Explore potential conspiracies throughout American history all the way until today.

COSI 133B—Internet and Society This team-taught course changes each year, studying intellectual property, privacy, censorship and other Internet-related topics. Best of all, your academic inquiries about Facebook (and maybe a few tweets) will satisfy your science requirement.

MUS 27B—Music and Ecstasy This. Sounds. Awesome. It probably doesn’t involve much experimentation, but for something that satisfies not one but TWO distribution requirements this sounds incredible. It’s a special one-time offering, so don’t miss out!

to what is called the Children’s Fund, a general fund available to patients and their families for any needs they have.”

Since the ’70s, Penn State has been setting an excellent example for colleges and universities, like Brandeis, that are just starting to host dance marathons of their own. Raising close to $10 million annually since its inception, the Penn State “THON” has raised close to $78 million for The Four Diamonds Fund, a charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research at the Penn Sate Hershey Medical Center Children’s Hospital.

Brandeis’ dance marathon is taking its cues from Penn State and is growing quickly. “As part of a program that was founded in 1991,

Children’s Miracle Network-affiliated dance marathons are one of the fastest-growing philanthropic events right now. The number of high schools, colleges and universities involved grows each year, but there are roughly 150 schools currently involved,” Dolfen said.

According to Dolfen, this year’s dance marathon was a great success that saw a tremendous amount of support from individual students, student-run dance groups, local restaurants and guest speakers. Roughly 200 students danced from 7:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following morning, as Adagio’s Dance Ensemble, B’Yachad, the African Dance Club, the Ballroom Dance Team, See MARATHON, page 12

9 FALL ’12 TOP classes

SOC 165A—Living and Dying in America: The Sociology of Birth and Death This class, though it can get really depressing in its second half, offers incredible insight from an amazing professor, and you won’t regret taking it. Your friends might, though, when all you can talk about is babies.

WMGS 5A—Women and Gender in Culture and Society Some of the people who take this might be a little intimidating, but it’s one of the most incredible, eye-opening classes you will ever take. You’ll explore women’s and gender studies from all perspectives in all parts of the world.

PE 44A—The First-Year Experience / PE 45A—The Senior-Year Experience In one, learn how to be a functional Brandeisian with other newcomers.

In the other, prepare for life after Brandeis. You have to learn at some point and you might as well learn while getting a PE credit.

AAAS 135B—Global Hip-Hop This creative arts requirement looks at the international and social reach of the genre, including worldwide localized contexts and its effect on politics.

We can’t imagine what the homework would be … but it probably involves listening to hip-hop.

December 9, 2011

Editor’s Desk

FEATURES 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Reflections on a year in the trenches

By Alex Schneider Editor

Volume eight of The Brandeis Hoot doesn’t look like the other volumes.

The paper itself is brighter, the dot gain finer, the text tighter and the masthead considerably longer.

But one thing hasn’t changed: The Hoot’s mission as always is to strive to be a source of “deep, insightful, meaningful news coverage and commentary about interests of direct concern to Brandeis students, staff, faculty and alumni.”

Thanks to the work of a dedicated staff of editors, writers and photographers who have taken risks and put in countless hours of their time, our young newspaper has become—in a word—consistent.

Whether or not you agree with our articles, you’ve had a chance to pick up a copy of 26 issues of The Hoot, each filled with news and feature stories, opinion columns and coverage of campus arts and sports.

My hope is that you have enjoyed what you have read; that you have judged us not on our promises but on our product; and that, as The Hoot moves into its ninth volume, its value to the campus community only continues to grow.

— I joined The Brandeis Hoot’s fifth volume the second week of my first year. I began covering the news, including Student Union elections, Union Judiciary trials and the now infamous closing of The Rose Art Museum.

Prospective students take notice: From the beginning, The Hoot gave me some pretty incredible experiences. Among my favorite interviews, I have spoken with the late Ted Sorensen, Justice Richard Goldstone, former Governor Howard Dean, President Fred Lawrence and, just last week, Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy.

I’ve also taken full advantage of the opportunity to write what is on my mind. When dorm rooms all around me were flooding, when new student fees were to be introduced, when obnoxious protesters interrupted high-profile campus speakers and when I realized that I was paying double for a six-ounce yogurt at the C-Store, I was able to share my concerns with the community.

Thursday nights became Hoot nights. As a first-year, I delved right into helping with production, which in practice meant standing over Max Price’s shoulder as he painstakingly pasted together the articles of the former Diverse City section onto an old Dell computer that never quite did what you wanted it to do. I believed then and still believe that layout is the source of the brunt of the editorial message of a newspaper, cueing readers to what’s most important. The prominence of articles; the size of headlines, bylines and captions; and the use of accompanying photos all contribute to how the community learns about the news.

— Of course, The Hoot has been The Hoot only because of the individuals—my friends—who have dedicated so much to the paper.

As volume eight draws to a close, I’d like to thank them one more time.

The news section, led by Jon Ostrowsky and Nathan Koskella, with the help of Debby Brodsky, Josh Kelly and Connor Novy; the arts section led by Sean Fabery and Candice Bautista with the help of Alex Patch; the copy editing section led by Yael Katzwer (who tells me she reads every word in the paper, and I somehow still be-

This Week in History Brandeis

2005 The Department of

Admissions decides no longer to offer rolling early decision as an acceptance option.

2005 Funds are secured

to keep SCC open 24 hours during final exam periods.

Massachusetts

1636 In an effort to fend

off Indians, the Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes what would become the National Guard.

1976 7.6 million gallons of crude oil are spilled when a tanker ship runs aground on the Massachusetts coast.

United States

1799 General George

Washington, the first president of the United States of America, dies.

1993 The movie

“Schindler’s List” opens, eventually earning Stephen Spielberg his first Oscar.

World

1913 The Mona Lisa, da

Vinci’s signature work, is recovered in Florence, Italy, after disappearing.

1939 The Union of Soviet

Socialist Republics is expelled from the League of Nations.

the staff of the brandeis hoot

lieve her) and Savannah Pearlman with the help of Suzannah Yu; the impressions section led by Morgan Gross and carefully put together by Emily Stott; the sports section led

by Gordy Stillman and Brian Tabakin; the photography section led

by Ingrid Schulte and Nafiz “Fizz” Ahmed, with the help of the flexible schedules of Alan Tran, Nate Rosenbloom, Paula Hoekstra, Haley Fine and Lien Phung; the graphics section led by Steven Wong; the back page led by Alana Blum; and

photos by ingrid schulte, alex schneider and david handler/the hoot

of course the features section, website, social media and something else, all diligently organized by Leah Finkelman.

A more personal thank you to editors who have left their mark: Leah Lefkowitz, Vanessa Kerr, Max Shay, Bret Matthew, Alison Channon, Danielle Gewurz, Hannah Vickers, Max Price, Kayla Dos Santos, Adam Hughes, Sri Kuehnlenz, and of course, our current alumni coordinator, Ariel Wittenberg.

We also have a long list of com-

mitted staff members published each week in this paper, all of whom deserve thank yous.

A special thank you also to the business editor and the social events committee, whoever you think you are, and to all those who actually learned AP style and used it.

Of course, the close of this volume isn’t an end by any means.

Volume eight might have been an improvement, but I’m betting on volume nine.

12 FEATURES

You Know We’re Right

Reasons for advance roommate agreements

The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Dance Marathon supports Children’s Hospital

Dear Leah and Morgan, I’ve had a pretty good semester. I have been hooking up with someone consistently since the beginning of the year.

It’s nothing too serious, but we’ve been together for a while and it’s fallen into a sort of casual relationship. I’m really content at the moment, but I can’t help but think about what’s going to happen after next week when the semester ends and I go home for winter break.

My ex-girlfriend and I are still close, and I am going to be spending the majority of my break with her. The only reason that she and I are not together is the fact that neither of us wanted to commit to a long-distance relationship. We still talk regularly and I can’t wait to go home and see her, because more than anything, she’s my best friend.

I know that the guy who I am currently with and I aren’t exclusive, but I’m not sure if I should feel bad about hooking up with my ex over break. Also, I don’t know if it’s worth it to tell my current hook-up what’s going on and if it’s wrong if I don’t.

Help me out!

Sincerely, Struggling to Juggle Dear Struggles, We know that it’s hard to hear, but there is no clear answer in this situation. You have to make a decision based on your own discretion.

When you haven’t defined your relationship with a boy, there is no clear-cut course of action. A good marker for these decisions, however, is to base them off of your own feelings about the relationship.

If there is any doubt of whether or not you should feel bad about hooking up with someone else, it is probably a good idea to take a second and think about it.

This isn’t to say that you can’t, or even that you shouldn’t get with your ex, just that you need to consider a few things before you make your decision.

Weigh the consequences Before making any quick conclusions, take a quick survey of the situation. Be realistic about how serious your relationship is and how invested each of you are in it.

The best and most supported decision is one that you have really considered and in which you feel confident.

If you are sure that what you have on campus is casual, then don’t worry about it! If you’re aware of an inequality in her feelings for you and your feelings for her, then take that into account. Be aware that even if you’re not that into it, this could be serious for her and that her feelings are at stake as well in this situation.

Trust your gut The best advice we can give here is to be honest with yourself.

In your gut, you know if what you’re doing is cheating or not, and it’s your responsibility to make a decision if it’s right or not, as you’re the only person who has to live with the consequences of your decision.

Be honest with yourself and don’t make any excuses. If you would feel cheated if she hooked up with someone else, then don’t try to play it off. Be honest, and ultimately: Take responsibility for your action Whatever you do, make sure that you’re honest with yourself and everyone involved.

Even if you decide not to tell your girl on campus, you have to consider what will happen in the event that she finds out.

You also have to consider your potential emotional reaction to seeing your ex-girlfriend. Dredging up old feelings can be dangerous and it is important that you are aware of that risk.

Be prepared to deal with all emotional fallout.

We hope our suggestions help and that the situation gets better!

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!

having fun helping Students enjoy arts and crafts at 2011 Brandeis Dance Marathon.

MARATHON, from page 10

Brandeis Swingers, the Belly Dance Ensemble, Hooked on Tap and Kaos Kids were featured throughout the night.

Not only did the dance marathon feature performances from Brandeis students, it also hosted guest speakers, and students were able to meet a patient from Children’s Hospital Boston as well.

“One of our guest speakers was Kerry Demone, a development officer at Children’s Hospital Boston who worked closely with Adagio to help plan the event,” explained Dolfen. “We also brought in an actual patient—an adorable five-year-old named Carla—and her parents to

speak about their experiences with the hospital and to enjoy some of our games and activities.”

As Dolfen continued, she described the most rewarding part of the dance marathon as being able to impact the children’s lives by doing what she and other student dancers love: dancing.

“One of the highlights of the night was meeting Carla and her parents. The story they shared with our community was truly touching, and this night of dancing makes it possible for us to give back to an amazing hospital that has helped families like Carla’s in every step of the way.”

According to Dolfen, there was a slight decrease in student participation this year, perhaps due to the dance marathon’s scheduled time so close to final exams. There was, however, a great

photo by debby brodsky/the hoot

increase in support from both national sponsors and from the Waltham community.

“Papa Gino’s and Cappy’s donated salads and pizzas,” Dolfen said. “Brandeis Dining Services contributed punch and dozens of cookies. We were able to raffle off gift cards to local restaurants, movie theaters and spas. Tom Can Cook also held a two-night fundraiser, where 10 percent of proceeds from dinner patrons were donated to our cause.

“The Adagio executive board and the Dance Marathon Committee would like to thank the Brandeis community for all of its support and enthusiasm,” Dolfen said. “Our second annual Dance Marathon was a success and we hope to see everyone again next year!”

Ollie’s holds first ‘coffeehouse’

By Beth Green and Connor Novy Special to the Hoot and Staff

The first Ollie’s coffeehouse was sparsely attended at first, but this might have been a trick of perspective due to the room being larger than the back of a van and, while Chum’s might be nostalgically collegiate, Ollie’s coffeehouse has a number of unforeseen benefits: There are no suspicious liquids on the floor—though that may only be because of the plush carpet.

The interminable battle between Lizzy’s Ice Cream and waffle fries raged on. The acts were good, too. The comedy was exceptional and, though the poo jokes are no better at Ollie’s than they are at Chum’s, jokes like “I’m not lactose-intolerant, I just don’t want them in our schools” add a touch of sophistry to the evening.

A performance by KAOS KIDS, now with enough performance space, surprised and delighted, as did Starving Artists’ rendition

of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

An Ollie’s coffee house is the sophisticated, urbane cousin of a Chum’s coffee house.

Though it is a little less indie-punk, it perhaps promises a better overall time.

As the waiters were fond of continually repeating, if the event garners sufficient popularity—they consistently reminded students to make sure to sign in at the door—the coffeehouse may be held on a regular basis. The statistics will be presented to the management and, if it brings in enough revenue, they might accept it. Ollie’s provides opportunity for clubs looking to put on events, as currently they do not charge for the space and will coordinate with the performers to set up sound. Especially now, when the idea is still in its first days, any club can book the venue.

Considering the turnout by the end of the night, the prospect of a regular event seems likely. The pub was full; people hovered by the door and sat on the ground for want of tables. Waiters took orders “as discreetly as possible” while bands and troupes per-

formed. The organizers are unsure whether the Thursday night slot is a boon—Brandeisians may, hypothetically, have more promising things to do on the weekends but nothing to do on a Thursday—or a hindrance to attendance rates.

The performances were all above expectation and the venue was more conducive to crowds. Though Ollie’s might be better for comedy and dance performances, Chum’s has a dance floor and a charmingly “Animal House”-like atmosphere. Still, nowhere can a coffeehouse escape the melodies of the blender.

The coffeehouse fosters with the sale of $2 beers, which, for those able to buy them, is always a good thing and the ever-popular waffle fries.

And of course, at any venue, student body President Herbie Rosen’s impression of the late First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is priceless, as was the following and disconcertingly accurate impression of Rosen himself by a Bad Grammer performer.

EDITORIALS

December 9, 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 Brian Tabakin Sports Editor Candice Bautista Arts, Etc. Editor Alana Blum Hoot Scoops Editor Savannah Pearlman Copy Editor Gordy Stillman Business Editor Steven Wong Graphics Editor Nafiz “Fizz” Ahmed Photography Editor Ingrid Schulte Photography Editor Leah Finkelman Production Editor Emily Stott Layout Editor Suzanna Yu Deputy Copy Editor

Volume 8 • Issue 26 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

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.

STAFF Sam Allen, Rick Alterbaum, Victoria Aronson, Louis Berger, Alex Bernstein, Emily Breitbart, Adam Cohen, Morgan Dashko, Haley Fine, Jeremy Goodman, Edwin Gonzalez, Paula Hoekstra, Adam Hughes, Gabby Katz, Josh Kelly, Samuel Kim, Christina Kolokotroni, Sarah Sue Landau, Arielle Levine, Ariel Madway, Estie Martin, Juliette Martin, Adam Marx, Connor Novy, Anita Palmer, Alex Patch, Lien Phung, Andrew Rauner, Betty Revah, Alexandra Zelle Rettman, Ricky Rosen, Nate Rosenbloom, Imara Roychowdhury, Aaron Sadowsky, Jessica Sashihara, Alex Self, Diane Somlo, Ryan Tierney, Alan Tran, Dana Trismen, Sarah Weber and Linjie Xu

connect phone • (781) 330 - 0051 e-mail • editor@thebrandeishoot.com online • thebrandeishoot.com twitter • twitter.com/thebrandeishoot facebook • facebook.com/thebrandeishoot

Advertising information Advertising in The Brandeis Hoot helps spread your message to our readers across the Brandeis campus, in the Waltham community and beyond through our website.

All campus organizations receive a 25 percent discount off our regular prices. We also design basic ads for campus organizations free of charge.

To reserve your space in the paper, contact us by phone at (781) 330 - 0051 or by e-mail at ads@thebrandeishoot.com.

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Take steps to improve crosswalk safety

A

nother Brandeis student was transported to the hospital last month after getting hit while crossing South Street.

Enough is enough. Brandeis and Waltham ought to implement new procedures to ensure student and driver safety.

Last week, Police Chief Ed Callahan warned students via e-mail to use the designated crosswalk or pedestrian bridge when crossing South Street.

But that misses the point.

Why are drivers speeding down South Street in the first place? And why are so many students unable to look both ways before crossing the street?

And, for crying out loud, why don’t students cross at the crosswalk and activate the pedestrian lights to warn drivers?

The answer: a precedent of haphazard safety measures and miscommunication with students.

We propose four changes that are sure to decrease the number and severity of accidents moving forward.

1. Increase the number and prominence of crosswalks. Currently, there are two: one near the commuter rail and one by Linsey Pool. There should be more large warning signs indicating

W

photo by alex schneider/the hoot

pedestrian crossings, including at the main driveways into campus. Warning signs 50 feet and 100 feet before crosswalks should warn drivers that they are approaching a pedestrian crossing.

2. Install speed bumps. No, we don’t like them either, but the speeds of some cars on South Street are outrageous.

Speed bumps are proven to slow cars down and would help warn drivers of the densely populated zone they are entering.

3. Display permanent warning signs reminding pedestrians to use crosswalks on the sidewalks near South Street.

4. Improve lighting near crosswalks.

The crash that occurred last month happened in the evening in poor lighting.

Brighter lights would help drivers see pedestrians crossing the street.

Stationing police officers near the crosswalk has been a positive change, but we hope the administration will consider our proposals. We won’t pretend to have all the answers. But our community can’t be naive.

Crosswalk safety requires real changes because the alternative is waiting for a more serious accident and by that time it will be too late.

Mourning the loss at Virginia Tech

e mourn the loss of Virginia Tech police officer Deriek W. Crouse, who died in a campus shooting on Thursday. Crouse joined the university police force in 2007 following the deadliest school shooting in our nation’s history. And now violence has claimed his life.

Police officers place themselves in the line of duty to protect their communities. Their careers and their lives are defined by public service—sacrificing their own security to protect others. In 2007,

the nation mourned with Virginia Tech, shocked at the unspeakable massacre that ended with 33 students dead.

Colleges throughout the country have learned much from that tragedy. They have learned how to better prepare for emergencies too horrific to imagine.

They have learned the importance of transparent and instant communication with students during times of crisis. And they have learned to re-evaluate the balancing act on college campuses between liberty and security when it comes to

arming university police officers.

But when tragedy strikes as it did on Thursday, there is little we can say or do that will ease the pain and suffering and grief Deriek Crouse’s family now suffers.

All we can do is hope that in the coming days, we will discover some way to make our colleges safer, some way to learn from this violence. In tragedy, we must search for answers and truth, no matter how painful it is and how challenging it seems.

14 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

December 9, 2011

Judges go 2-1 over week as coach wins 300th game

photo by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot

By Brian Tabakin Editor

The visiting Brandeis Judges dominated the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts with a 83-68 thrashing.

The Judges scored the first five points of the contest and never trailed for the rest of the game.

Brandeis had four players in double figures for the game. Guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 led the Judges with 22 points while guard Derek Retos ’14 added 21 points. Both Bartoldus and Retos each drained four three-pointers during the game.

In stark contrast to previous games,

the Judges were not plagued by a slow start. Bartoldus scored the opening basket of the contest and, after a defensive stop on the other end, Retos knocked down a three-ball to give the Judges an early 5-0 lead. The Judges never had to attempt to rally from an early deficit as they led by 15 points, 27-12, midway through the first half.

Their lead ballooned to as many as 18 points, 45-27; however, MCLA made a mini-run to pull within 14 points, 45-31, at the end of the first half.

MCLA came out strong in the second half and pulled within nine points, 66-57, with 6:10 remaining in the game off of a layup from

sophomore forward Tito Pizzaro, but the Judges quickly pushed their lead back to 12 points with another threepointer from Retos. After Retos’ shot, MCLA never made a serious rally again.

Brandeis held a significant advantage from the free-throw line shooting 27-of-37 for the game while MCLA only shot 11-of-19. Forward Vytas Kriskus ’12 and center Youri Dascy ’14 joined Bartoldus and Retos in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Dascy also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Guard Tyrone Hughes ’12 tallied six assists in the win as well.

Earlier in the week, Brandeis men’s basketball head coach Brian Meehan finally won his 300th career game.

Since a close overtime win against Becker on Nov. 19, Meehan has been trying to reach the 300-win milestone.

He had been stuck at 299 for three weeks as the Judges endured a fourgame losing streak; however, this past Sunday, Meehan finally reached the milestone as the Judges snapped their losing skid with a 61-53 win against Babson in the consolation game of the New England Big Four Challenge hosted by Salem State. Meehan becomes the 61st active Division III coach in the nation with at least 300 wins. Meehan, who was previously the head coach at Salem State from 1996 to 2003, is now 300-122 in his career (.711) with a record of 140-83 (.628) at Brandeis.

After a tight first half, Brandeis went into the half down three, 25-22.

Brandeis opened the second half on fire with a 16-8 run to take a 38-33 lead. Retos finished off the run with his fourth three-pointer of the game, as the Judges held the Beavers to just three field goals in the first eight minutes of the second half.

Babson was able to stay in the game with great defense as they went on to hold Brandeis to just one field goal during the next six minutes of play.

After a spectacular layup from firstyear forward John Wickey, Babson re-gained a 43-42 lead. Later, with the game knotted up at 48-48, the Judges took the lead for good after Dascy drove home a layup and then converted the three-point play after being fouled. With the Judges holding a 54-51 lead, Kriskus drained a three-pointer to give the Judges a commanding six-point lead with just two minutes left in the contest.

Retos led all scorers with 17 points, including 13 of the Judges’ 22 firsthalf points. He connected on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and was named to the all-tournament team for his performance. Bartoldus chipped in 14 points, including 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, and Dascy finished with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and his second in a row.

The Judges shot 50 percent from the field (18-36) while the Beavers shot just 38.6 percent (18-46). The Judges also finished with a 33-25 advantage on the glass.

Earlier in the week, the Judges fell to Salem State, 65-57, in the opening round of the New England Big Four Challenge as junior guard Nate Simpson paced the Vikings with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Simpson scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half

to deny Brandeis an entry into the championship game.

The Vikings took an early firsthalf lead, 19-10, behind two threepointers from junior guard Justin Nieves and three baskets from senior forward Brian Clark; however, the Judges rallied from their early deficit behind the hot shooting of Retos and Bartoldus who combined for all 17 points in a 17-7 run that allowed Brandeis to take a 27-26 lead. Unfortunately, sophomore forward Ryan Salvador scored just before the half to give the Vikings a 27-28 lead heading into halftime.

Simpson sparked the first run of the second half for the Vikings scoring nine of their 13 first points. A jumper from Clark gave Salem State a 10-point lead, 46-36, their largest lead of the game.

The Judges proceeded to chip away at the deficit once again and were able to cut the Vikings’ lead to just two, 53-51, with 5:20 left in the contest; however, Simpson then drained his only three-pointer of the game to put the Vikings ahead 58-53. Bartoldus then responded with a runner to pull Brandeis back within three, 60-57, with just two minutes remaining in the game, but the Judges were unable to get over the hump as Simpson and senior guard Apollos Wade connected on 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

Clark joined Simpson in double figures for the Vikings with 14 points while Wade had six assists. Bartoldus, Retos and Dascy combined for 47 of the Judges’ 57 points with 17, 16 and 14 respectively. Dascy also grabbed 13 rebounds.

Brandeis will attempt to reach .500 again when they host second-ranked Amherst College this Saturday at 7 p.m.

Men’s basketball Team

UAA

All

Emory

0–0

8–0

NYU

0–0

5–0

Rochester

0–0

7–2

Washington

0–0

6–2

Case Western

0–0

5–2

Chicago

0–0

5–2

Brandeis

0–0

4–5

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

3–4

Box Scores @ Salem St.

Loss

65 – 57

Babson

Win

61 – 53

@ MCLA

Win

83 – 68

Three women’s soccer players named to All-UAA honors

By Brian Tabakin Editor

Three members of the Brandeis University women’s soccer team have earned All-University Athletic Association honors for the 2011 season.

Tri-captain midfielder Alanna Torre ’12 and tri-captain midfielder Ali Maresca ’12 were both named to the second-team All-UAA while back Kelly Peterson ’14 received an honorable mention.

Torre was selected to the All-UAA second-team for the second year in a row. In 19 games of action this year, Torre scored two goals and tallied an assist while leading the team in 60 shots. Torre’s two goals came in nonconference games against Wellesley and Babson, where she scored the game-winning goal. Torre finished her collegiate career with 10 goals and nine assists for 29 points in 79 career

games. Torre was also selected to represent Brandeis at the 2011 New England Women’s Intercollegiate Soccer Association Senior All-Star Game at Merrimack College this past Sunday.

Torre is a 2008 graduate of American Heritage School; she is the daughter of Carmen and Florencio Torre, Weston, Fla. Maresca, who received an All-UAA honorable mention as a sophomore, was the centerpiece and anchor of the Brandeis defense playing every minute of every game this season scoring two goals. She scored her two goals against Gordon College and Wellesley, where she tallied the game winner. In her career, Maresca played in 76 games, starting 73, and finished with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Maresca is a 2008 graduate of Ramapo High School; she is the daughter of Sandy and Warren Maresca, Wyckoff, N.J. Peterson was recognized by the

photo from internet source

ALANNA TORRE

ALI MARESCA

KELLY PETERSON

UAA for the first time in her career.

Like Maresca, she played every minute in all 19 games for the Judges where she tallied a goal and two assists. She scored the game-winning

goal against Gordon College and assisted the game-winners against MIT and Babson. Peterson often created scoring opportunities for the Judges despite them being long distances

from the goal. Peterson is a 2010 graduate of Clear Lake High School; she is the daughter of Doug Peterson and Randa McCartney, Houston, Texas.

December 9, 2011

SPORTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Judges ride two-game winning streak to get above .500

By Yael Katzwer and Brian Tabakin Editors

The Brandeis women’s basketball team crushed visiting Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) 64-38 on Dec. 5, winning their second game in a row and improving their season to 5-4.

The ENC Lions fall to 4-4. This game did not affect Brandeis’ conference standings.

The Judges spent the first quarter neck and neck with the Lions; with 12:13 left in the first half, the Lions led with 13-12. After nearly four scoreless minutes, Judges’ guard Diana Cincotta ’12 made a fast-break lay-up, putting the Judges ahead. The Judges maintained this lead for the rest of the game.

At approximately the five-minute mark, the teams traded three-pointers on three-straight possessions, and guard Morgan Kendrew ’12 scored a basket between two from Lions’ rookie guard Kori Sorenson, bringing the score to 21-19 Judges, just 4:44 before the break.

The Judges then outscored ENC 10-2 for the rest of the half, going into the break with a lead of 31-21, which would prove insurmountable for the Lions.

Just more than eight minutes into the second half, the Judges had outscored the lions 16-6, leading the Judges to dominate the Lions by 20 points, with a score of 47-27; six of the Judges’ 16 points came from Kendrew.

Not only were the Lions unable to take the lead again but they never even approached taking the lead again; the Judges beat the Lions 6438, a 26-point lead.

Cincotta led the Judges points-wise for a second-straight game with 13 points, 11 of which she scored in the first half. Cincotta hit 5-of-8 overall with a three-pointer and two free throws. Kendrew was a close second, however, in her first start of the season, with 11 points on 5-of-9 with a trifecta.

Reserve Kasey Dean ’14 led the Judges with eight rebounds and guard Hannah Cain ’15 led the Judges with seven assists, matching her career-

high, and helping the Judges set a season-high with 20 assists on 26 baskets.

ENC was led by junior forward Shardae Brown, who scored 11 points—six after the break—and collected six rebounds. Sorensen contributed nine points off the bench, hitting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Sophomore forward Dianna Bonds tied with Brandeis’ Dean for gamehigh honors with eight rebounds while also leading the Lions with two assists, two blocks and two steals.

Brandeis outshot ENC in field goals at 40.6 percent (26-of-64) as opposed to ENC’s 25.4 percent (16-of-63), despite the fact that both teams were tied at 49 rebounds apiece. What truly allowed Brandeis to pull ahead were their 20 assists, as opposed to ENC’s five, and the fact that they only had 13 turnovers, which resulted in five points for ENC, as opposed to ENC’s 22 turnovers, which resulted in 10 points for Brandeis.

Earlier in the week, the Brandeis University women’s basketball team rallied from an early 12-point deficit in the first half en route to a convincing 75-59 win over Daniel Webster College. Cincotta led the Judges with a career-high 20 points as she paced her team to a non-conference victory.

Daniel Webster raced out to a surprising 29-17 lead about 11 minutes into the game behind streaky threepoint shooting. The Eagles drained seven of their first 10 three-pointers, including back-to-back three-balls from senior forward Ali Chojnacki, to gain their early 12-point lead. Both senior guard Alyca Gervais and rookie guard Allyssa Marson also knocked down a pair of three-pointers to help the visiting Eagles in the early stages of the game.

After a time-out by head coach Carol Simon, the Brandeis defense tightened up on the Eagles’ perimeter shooting. The Judges outscored Daniel Webster, 21-6, for the rest of the first half holding the Eagles to 2-of13 shooting with the only two shots coming from deep beyond the arc.

During the same run, the Judges also held a 13-7 advantage on the glass.

Kendrew grabbed four of the 13 re-

bounds during the stretch to help the Judges re-establish momentum.

On the offensive side of the ball, seven different Brandeis players paced the scoring. Back-to-back shots from beyond the arc from guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14 and Cincotta put the Judges on top, 33-32, with 2:37 left in the first half. Daniel Webster sophomore guard Jennifer Fredericks responded with the Eagles’ ninth three-pointer of the contest, but Brandeis guard Cain finished the half with a traditional three-point play off of an offensive rebound and put back to give the Judges a 38-35 lead at the half. Gervais, Chojnacki and senior guard Sarah Paternostro led Daniel Webster with eight points each while Brandeis forward Samantha Anderson ’13 had eight points and eight rebounds.

Daniel Webster made an early run to tie the game at 41-41 after a Paternostro layup less than four minutes into the second half; however, Brandeis quickly responded, scoring 10 of the game’s next 11 points, including six from Kendrew. A jumper from Kendrew off of an assist from Dean made it a 51-42 game. Though Daniel Webster scored the next four points to pull within five, 51-46, with 10:29 left in the contest, the Eagles only managed to score two field goals for the rest of the game as the Judges pulled away. Cincotta helped put the Eagles away by scoring eight-straight points during the final 10 minutes of the game. The Brandeis lead expanded to as many as 21 points before two late field goals cut the Brandeis lead to 16 points.

Cincotta scored 14 of her careerhigh 20 points in the second half. She connected on 5-of-10 from the field including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Anderson also had a strong performance finishing with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double with nine of her 15 rebounds coming on the offensive glass. The Judges systematically dominated the Eagles on the boards out-rebounding them 53-25, including 22-5 on the offensive glass, which in turn gave the Judges a 21-2 edge in second-chance points.

Bell wins UAA athlete of the week honor

By Brian Tabakin Editor

The University Athletic Association selected Brandeis University sprinter Brittany Bell ’13 for the Women’s Track and Field Runner of the Week.

This is the first time that Bell has won UAA Athlete of the Week honors. Bell is being honored for her performance at the 2011 Jay Carisella Invitational, hosted by Northeastern University on Dec. 3. In her first meet of the 2011-12 season, Bell finished in second place in the 55-meter dash against a field of Division I, II and III student-athletes. After running the

photo from internet source

event in the seventh-fastest time, 7.47 seconds, in the preliminaries, Bell finished with a time of 7.41 seconds in the finals, which trailed only one runner from the Division I Northeastern.

Bell’s time of 7.41 seconds ranks

10th in the nation in Division III since they converted to the 60-meter distance that is used at NCAA championships.

Bell also finished 10th in the long jump with a distance of 4.78 meters.

Men and women fencing struggle

By Brian Tabakin Editor

Both the men’s and women’s fencing squads struggled at the Brandeis Invitational tournament this past Sunday going 0-4 and 0-5 respectively. The men lost 11-16 to Brown, 10-17 to North Carolina, 7-20 to St. John’s and 10-17 to Yale while the women lost 7-20 to Brown, 8-19 to North Carolina, 1-26 to St. John’s, 11-16 to Yale and 7-20 to Cornell. Despite not winning a single match, there were still some solid individual performances.

The men’s saber squad had the best performance beating Brown 5-4 and North Carolina 6-3. Saberist Jess Ochs-Willard ’15 finished 7-2 on the day and classmate and saberist Adam Mandel ’15 also had a solid day finishing 6-4. Foil Julian Cardillo ’14 had a strong outing winning 8 of his 12 bouts. Finally, epee Alex Powell ’12 accounted for four of the epee squad’s nine wins.

Saberist Zoe Messinger ’13 led the women’s saber squad winning seven of the squad’s 14 points, including the only point that Brandeis scored

against St. John’s. Foil Vikki Nunley ’13 had a strong performance as well, winning eight of her 12 bouts. Epee Emily Mandel ’12 was the top performer on the epee squad, winning three of the squad’s nine bouts.

The men’s team returns to action Jan. 28 for the second Northeast Conference Meet at Boston College against Brown, Sacred Heart, Dartmouth, Vassar and the hosts. The women’s team will return to action Jan. 25 when they travel to Wellesley College.

photo by alex hall/the hoot

Kendrew finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, one shy of a career-high, while guard Kelly Ethier ’12 and Cain each tallied six assists tying and setting personal-highs respectively. Center Courtney Ness ’13 blocked three shots as the Judges blocked an impressive eight shots during the contest.

Daniel Webster had four players in double figures. Paternostro led the team with 18 points, scoring 10 points in the second half, to go along with a team-high five assists. Gervais finished with 15 points and led the visitors with six rebounds. Both Paternostro and Gervais shot 3-of-6 from three-point range for the game.

Marson scored 11 points off of the bench and Chojnacki chipped in 10 points as the pair combined for five three-pointers.

Brandeis returns to action again

Saturday at 1 p.m. with another nonconference game at Roger Williams University.

Women’s basketball Team

UAA

All

Rochester

0–0

8–0

Chicago

0–0

6–0

Washington

0–0

6–1

Emory

0–0

6–2

NYU

0–0

5–2

Case Western

0–0

5–3

Brandeis

0–0

5–4

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

3–4

Box Scores Daniel Webster

Win

75 – 59

Eastern Nazarene

Win

64 – 38

Gordy’s game guesses: week 14 Kansas City Chiefs at New York Jets Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Jacksonville Jaguars New England Patriots at Washington Redskins Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens Philadelphia Eagles at Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals Buffalo Bills at San Diego Chargers Oakland Raiders at Green Bay Packers New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks Last week’s record: 8-7 2011 season’s record: 98-59

16 The Brandeis Hoot

Arts, etc.

December 9, 2011

Boris’ Kitchen celebrates comedy with annual sketch show

By Arielle Levine Staff

Boris’ Kitchen is fairly well-known around campus. You can spot a member of the group coming from a mile away. From their members’ iconic black shirts with signature font worn around campus, to the simple design sets in their shows, Boris’ Kitchen is unlike anything else at Brandeis. With this in mind, it’s hard to believe that they’ve only been holding an annual sketch comedy festival for 12 years.

Last Friday and Saturday nights, Boris’ Kitchen and their groupies occupied the Shapiro Campus Center.

The first half of the show consisted of opening acts; on Friday, Yale’s Fifth Humor and EVIL, a duo of Brandeis alums, began the show with well-written sketches. Saturday had even more opening acts with Cornell’s Skits-oPhrenics, Tufts’ Major: Undecided and the professional troupe Pangea 3000.

I can’t vouch for the Saturday night openers but I heard they were just as comical as Friday’s openers were.

Fifth Humor started out the night with a sketch that follows an awkward “morning after” involving two college kids getting breakfast. In this situation, the boy requests to say grace before the meal. This is all good and well, but the grace goes on for an incredibly long time, much to the chagrin of his one-time bedfellow. As he starts to pray for the “Lord’s blessing” in case he decides to start a new life as a result of the previous night, things start to get really awkward. “Keep that life to yourself!” ends the sketch as the female screams towards the heavens.

It was refreshing to hear a joke incorporating Christianity for once.

EVIL gave a peek into the future of only the most talented Boris’ Kitchen members. Consisting of alums Amy Thompson ’11 and Sam Roos ’09, EVIL began with a game of Russian roulette. They followed this with a little diddy about David Crockman; set to the Davy Crockett theme song, David Crockman is the lawyer on the wild frontier. Their final sketch featured a giant—composed of Amy sitting on Sam’s shoulders, who was wearing a large coat that went to his ankles—walking onto the stage.

Questions were given to the audience before the show.

“Do you practice religion?”

“No … I’m already great at it!”

“What do you do with a Brandeis education?”

Sam pops open the coat, “You’re

photos by paula hoekstra/the hoot show me the funny Boris’ Kitchen presented its annual sketch comedy festival last weekend. Performers included, at top left, Louis Polisson, Paul Gale and Adam Lapetina. At right, EVIL,

featuring alums Amy Thompson and Sam Roos, appeared as part of Friday night’s program.

lookin’ at it kid.”

After a brief intermission, it was time for the main event. The lights rose to Briana Bensenouci ’12 as a cat asleep in pajamas. The rest of the sketch plays off of “the cat’s pajamas.”

Boris’ Kitchen doesn’t take themselves too seriously, with troupe members heckling from the audience.

One of my favorite sketches is what’s called a “runner.” A “runner” is a running joke that involves small sections of the sketch that appears several times during the show. It’s all from the point of the literal elephant in the room, played by Rachel Benjamin ’14, whom everyone refuses to appreciate.

In the second section, the elephant meets a donkey whose tail has been pinned one too many times. In the finale of the runner the elephant has decided to seek professional help. “Do you know how hard it is to NEVER be acknowledged?” the elephant cries.

The back of the therapist’s chair is toward us. “How should I know?” As she begins to turn around she says, exasperated, “I’m just a silly goose!”

Unfortunately for those attending the Friday night showing, there were some slight technical difficulties. One of the sketches, number 13 to be exact, was a video sketch. Something decided not to work, so we missed it

altogether. Thankfully it was fixed by Saturday and the video is now available online.

The video sketch, the full brilliance of which I was not able to enjoy since I had to watch it on my computer, was about a couple. The boyfriend (Yoni Bronstein ’13) bakes a cake for his girlfriend (Talya Davidoff ’12), then leaves said cake alone with his roommate (Paul Gale ’12). If anyone knows any Brandeis students, they would have realized that this was a poor choice. The temptation is too great and an eating love affair begins between the roommate and the cake, a truly romantic and sensuous rela-

tionship. When the landlord (Christopher Knight ’14) walks in on the commotion, he pauses to question and then joins right in, devouring the cake with Gale, both like animals. Finally the boyfriend gets home with his girlfriend in tow. She is astonished. Astonished enough to join the feast. All I can say is that I’m glad this skit wasn’t filmed in my kitchen.

Every single sketch Boris’ Kitchen performed was written for this show, a common occurrence at Brandeis events. In the Boris’ Kitchen annual sketch comedy event, the talent of the writers, actors and those behind the scenes really shone.

Voices of Soul brings boogie to semester show

By Amalie Kwassman Special to the Hoot

I walked into the Ridgewood A commons on a chilly December night to see a group of performers dressed in tank tops, shorts, dresses and flip flops. Voices of Soul was holding its annual concert, which it dubbed its “December Beach Party.” The group’s 13 members wore an assortment of beach attire and had arranged themselves into rows, with the women standing in the front and the men in the back. All the chairs were filled, with people standing along the walls and sitting on the tables, waiting for the concert to begin.

Josh Kahane ’12, wearing a red tshirt and white shorts, played a harmonica intro before stepping to the center and starting off with TLC’s hit song “Waterfalls.” The rest of the group joined in, singing the chorus and harmony. In the middle of the song, Stephen Cadigan ’13, wearing shorts and flip-flops, started rapping, which elicited cheers from the crowd.

The next song was Justin Timberlake’s signature song “Cry Me a River.”

This song was accompanied by a Justin Timberlake of our own, complete with falsetto and beat-boxing ability: Lucas Silva ’13.

This was followed by a rendition of Blu Cantrell’s classic “Hit ’Em Up Style.” The song focuses on a woman who catches her man cheating, so she is going to “pay the bills too late” and use his money to “go on a shopping spree.” At this point the microphone malfunctioned, but Danielle Pulton ’12 didn’t need the microphone for her loud voice. As she paraded around the front of the stage, shaking her finger and swishing her hips, the crowd cheered. The song’s sass was aided by her embodiment of a strong woman who would not be the victim when her “man went buckwild.”

Following Pulton came Stuart Davis ’12, decked out in American flag shorts and flip-flops. He wowed the crowd with a rendition of Ne-Yo’s “So Sick.” His voice was smooth and elegant, much like Ne-Yo’s own, suit-

ing the song’s depiction of a man who is sick of hearing love songs because they remind him of the woman he lost.

Even before Emma McAffe-Hahn ’13 went to the front for her solo, the crowd starting cheering for her. Singing “Black & Gold,” McAffe-Hahn swayed back and forth in a blue dress, along with the chorus behind her.

After an intermission featuring chips, salsa, cookies and loud chatter, Stephanie Johnson ’13, who has been singing since “she was four-years-old,” took the stage. The entire crowd was transfixed by Johnson’s voice, as she made her way from one side of the floor to the other, her big voice heard in every corner of the room.

Other performances included a soulful rendition of Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby.”

During the performance given by Geraldine Rothschild ’12, she played with the audience, pointing at different people in the audience for each repetition of the line “you’ll always be

my baby.”

In the second-to-last performance, all the girls turned their sides to the audience and began snapping their fingers in tune to a rendition of “Valerie” given by Morgan Gross ’14.

The last song, which emphasized the importance of family and the fact that “love don’t have to change,” featured solos by both Johnson and Andrew O’Brien ’13. With the girls holding hands and the guys with their arms around each other, they seemed more like a family than a musical group.

This family feeling isn’t accidental. Johnson, for instance, has been with the group since her first year and personally recruited Davis to the group. Both Davis and Johnson remarked how much they love the “group dynamic” and “singing for the fun of it.” All the members of the group seemed to share this feeling of “family.” Silva, the beat-boxer who has been in the group for two-anda-half years, credits his beat-boxing skills to the group. He learned beat-

boxing while at Brandeis. He remarked that he loves the “way we sound when we are in sync,” going on to note that “when everything is right, we sound amazing.”

McAffe-Hahn, who, like Johnson, has been singing since she could talk, commented that this semester—her first with the group—was “great fun.”

Kahane, meanwhile, was recruited to the group his first year through the encouragement and recruitment of a friend. Rothschild recruited Kahane because she “heard I could sing.” Although Kahane said he “doesn’t listen to this music at all,” he still loves the people and the “fun.” Rothschild, for her part, described the group as “a good break from studying and really relaxing.” She also encourages people to join, saying that the group is “for everyone” and that anyone can audition.

With their knack for wearing shorts and flip-flops in winter, this soulful group is as inviting as it is talented.

This group has got more than just soul, they’ve got each other—they’ve got family.

December 9, 2011

The Brandeis Hoot

‘Proof ’ explores insanity and mathematics

By Candice Bautista Editor

“Too often evidence is confused with proof.” This is what director Jessie Field ’13 wrote in her director’s note about Free Play’s “Proof,” put on last weekend. It is an apt line to keep in mind when thinking about the show.

The play begins with Catherine (Jamie Perutz ’13), a pretty but tiredlooking 26-year-old woman sulking in her house, having fallen asleep after drinking alone. Her father Robert (Dave Benger ’14), clearly an intellectual as indicated by his sweater vest and tweed jacket, awakens her by greeting her with a happy birthday before trying to convince her to live differently. The way he talks to her, it appears that she has been idle for about a month now. As she defensively argues with him about her lifestyle choices, it is suggested that she perhaps has mental issues just like her father does. Once Catherine verbalizes these fears out loud, it is revealed to herself and the audience that Robert is actually dead.

This is the groundwork of the plot: Catherine deals with her father’s death and learns how to take care of herself after taking care of him for years. Robert was a very famous mathematician who went insane about five years before his death. As a result, Catherine dropped out of college to take care of him while he spent his time reading books, looking for alien signs in the call numbers and scribbling nonsense into more than 100 notebooks. One of his old students, Hal (Jonathan Plesser ’12), refuses to believe, however, that his notebooks don’t have at least one monumental find that could possibly lead to leaps in the field of mathematics and, more importantly, in his own deteriorating and lackluster career.

Soon after, Catherine and Hal begin a relationship and Catherine shows him a notebook that contains the very proof for which he’s been looking. But

when she claims it as her own work, Hal is forced to question the authorship. This relationship, combined with the presence of Catherine’s on the surface pleasant but deep down unbelievably threatening sister Claire (played by an incredibly malevolent Caitlin Partridge ’13), weaved into a nonlinear plotline that made “Proof ” a show that stayed in mind even days after seeing it.

“Proof ” is definitely a drama, but its actors put it on with the personality and comedic tidings of real life. Even when life is at its worst, humans tend to mock it, something the cast wasn’t afraid to do.

The foundation of the show rested on Catherine’s character and Free Play did an amazing job by choosing Perutz. Catherine is inherently a complex character; although she clearly loves her father, she manifests this love by being incredibly defensive and even at some points aggressive in order to protect him. This leads her to be snarky and unpleasant but damned if she’s not the heroine. Perutz’s facial expressions combined with her deadpan tone were a huge part of why the show was enjoyable, as she clearly made Catherine her own. Whether she was questioning her sanity, having an interaction with her father or falling in love with Hal, Perutz was always exactly on the mark.

In fact, though the cast only had four members, each was very wellchosen and each shone brightly in their roles. Partridge’s prissy but dominating role as Claire was pulled off to perfection, and caused the audience to simultaneously seethe and quietly question whether Catherine was crazy or not. And it seems that no one could have pulled off a better Robert than Benger, what with his neurotic little tics that made Robert real, from pressing his fingers against his temples to going on breathless tangents, spouting analogies.

It may be due to everyone else being spectacular that Plesser was not as impressive playing Hal. Indeed, Hal and Catherine’s relationship was probably the most grating part of the play. Their relationship seemed a little contrived at its start, but it might have been because the full extent of their relationship was not revealed until later in the play. That aside, there was something almost too real about the couple, or maybe it was just because they were too “Brandeis,” on account of Hal’s being a mathematician. From Plesser’s walk to the constant presence of his foot in his mouth to his “aw shucks I’m awkward” aura—though it was at first mildly endearing, his character soon got too familiar. In addition, after the start of their romance, there was more making out and gleeful gazing than was necessary for any play.

If the amount of make-outs is one of the few complaints of a play, however, that says something about the quality of the production.

The other complaint of the show is the setting of the show. It took place in Schwartz Auditorium, where others have been able to pull off successful productions. For one reason or another, Free Play decided it would be best to utilize the space by bringing in chairs for the audience on the main floor and to have the play take place on a slightly elevated wooden platform. This was probably one of the worst decisions they probably could have made. From the third row in the audience, it was necessary to peer over heads or otherwise lean to the left or right depending on whether the viewer wanted to focus on Catherine or Hal. This would not have been so terrible if the main stage up front had been used, but other than Robert sitting on it once, it went untouched.

Save some uncomfortable moments and an awkward setting, “Proof ” was moving and thought-provoking, largely due to an incredibly talented cast.

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

‘proof ’ of life Clockwise from top: Catherine ( Jamie Perutz) and Hal ( Jonathan Plesser) discuss the proof; Claire (Caitlin Partridge)

patronizes Catherine; Hal examines Catherine’s proof; and Robert (Dave Benger) excitedly discusses mathematics.

ARTS, ETC. 17

18 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Break away from the boring: exceptional X-Mas movies

By Yael Katzwer Editor

’Twas the month before Christmas, when all through the land, more Christmas movies were airing than even I could withstand.

In the month before Christmas, every channel on television pulls out their Christmas movies and plays them again and again until you become quite sick of them. There are a lot of Christmas movies out there, most of them pretty awful—ahem, ahem, ABC Family, I am looking at you. But, of course, there are some really great Christmas movies out there, too.

Here is my list of the top five Christmas movies.

But before we get there, when people discuss their favorite Christmas movies, the first two usually to come up are 1946’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and 1947’s “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Now don’t get me wrong, these are good movies. But they have been done to death. “Miracle on 34th Street” is a sweet movie that gives us all a chance to see a very young Natalie Wood but, nevertheless, it is not in my top five. As for “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I have two issues: First, nearly every show has done an episode based off of this movie.

While this should not affect the original, it does. I cannot watch it without thinking of all the tacky ripoffs (or homages as I am sure they call them) that clog our televisions.

Second, (SPOILER) Potter gets away with stealing all that money. I know it’s Christmas and that Jesus was all about forgiveness but this is a movie; I expect my villain to get his comeuppance.

So, without further ado, my top five Christmas movies: “A Christmas Story,” director Bob Clark’s 1983 classic, sets the gold

standard for Christmas movies.

The story, set in the 1940s, revolves around Ralphie, a young boy who wants nothing more for Christmas than an Official Red Ryder CarbineAction 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle. “A Christmas Story” is at times funny and at times sweet—but mostly funny. This movie has everything, from a kid accidentally dropping the F-bomb in front of his dad to another kid freezing his tongue to a pole, from the worst possible Christmas gift (if you’ve seen the movie, you know to what I am referring) to bizarre fantasy sequences.

My family does not celebrate Christmas but it has become our Christmas tradition to watch this movie—all day. Thanks to TBS, that is possible. Starting at 8 p.m.

Christmas Eve and going until 8 p.m. Christmas Day, TBS has an “A Christmas Story” marathon in which they show the movie again and again for 24-straight hours. It is fantastic.

It has gotten to the point that I can miss the first hour, see the middle half-hour, then catch the first 20 minutes, then see the last 15 minutes, then the middle hour, so on and so on, until by the end of Christmas I have seen that entire movie. It’s great.

Also, “A Christmas Story” shall forever live in glory for having the repeated line: “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

Another classic Christmas story is Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” There are so many movie versions of this but the best by far is 1988’s “Scrooged” from director Richard Donner. “Scrooged” follows the basic format of “A Christmas Carol” but does so in the wackiest, zaniest way possible. Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a veritable scrooge, who is the worst person. He fires Bobcat Goldthwaite on Christmas Eve. He refuses Alfre Woodard

photo from internet source

the most wonderful time Peter Billingsley stars in 1983’s “A Christmas Story,” which airs

the entirety of Christmas day on TBS.

a raise even though she is a widow raising five kids. Three spirits come to abuse him (physically, in the case of the Ghost of Christmas Present) and show him the errors of his ways.

While this movie keeps you laughing almost constantly, there are some truly sweet moments that shine through and that may have you reaching for a tissue box. As with “A Christmas Carol,” the main character needs to be shown a dismal past, present and future in order to affect him. “Scrooged” does this exceptionally well and is able to break up the comedy effectively without making

the viewers feel that the movie has switched gears.

The only thing “Scrooged” is missing is Judge Reinhold; luckily the next movie on this list did not make that mistake.

Disney’s 1994 feel-good Christmas movie “The Santa Clause,” directed

by John Pasquin, gets me every time.

I honestly just love this movie; also, it is worth noting that this movie is appropriate for the entire family, which not all the movies on this list are. “The Santa Clause” taught me as a young child that if one is to scare Santa and make him fall off the roof,

one must assume the responsibility, title and girth of Santa. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) does this admirably.

While this movie has some funny moments, its true power comes from its heart. Scott Calvin is struggling to find a place in his child’s life after his ex-wife remarries—remarries Judge Reinhold. This movie is about family, believing and the magic of Christmas. It sounds sappy—and it is—but that is not a detractor.

Also, in order to maintain journalistic integrity, I feel I should disclose that the head elf at the North Pole is played by David Krumholtz. I used to have a huge crush on him.

Director Jon Favreau’s 2003 comedy “Elf ” is also pretty sappy at points but holds its own through its comedy. “Elf ” follows Buddy (Will Ferrell), who works in Santa’s workshop, on his trip from the North Pole, where he does not really fit in because he is not an elf, to New York, where he meets his father. This movie could have been incredibly stupid, as is the case with most Will Ferrell movies. But, as usual, Will Ferrell salvages it with his adorable innocence. He is the only giant in Hollywood that could have played this role; him walking down a New York street eating discarded gum off of a railing makes me both cringe and laugh every time.

This movie’s main strength is its stellar cast; “Elf ” stars Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel. The actors play off of each other perfectly and add a sense of belief to the disbelief.

Also, this movie gave me one of my favorite things to say: “He’s an angry elf.”

2003 was a good year for movies; not only did “Elf ” come out but so did the final movie on this list.

See X-MAS, page 19

‘Community’: Why is no one watching TV’s best comedy?

By Sean Fabery Editor

Last month, the Internet—or at least pop culture blogs—collectively gasped as a result of the latest news from NBC: The struggling network was placing the sitcom “Community,” now in its third season, on indefinite hiatus after its Christmas episode.

Fans immediately feared the worst.

Things looked—and still look—dire, with increasingly frequent whispers that the show would go the way of “Arrested Development,” another acclaimed comedy that was plagued by criminally low ratings and yanked off the air after three superb seasons.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer show. “Community” focuses on a ragtag study group at Greendale Community College, one of the most pathetic institutes of higher learning you’ll ever encounter. None of the group’s members actually want to be there, especially its de facto leader Jeff (Joel McHale), a lawyer disbarred after his undergraduate degree is revealed to be a fake. His study group (a “Community,” if you will) consists of a strange assortment of people. There’s annoying activist Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and oblivious millionaire Pierce (Chevy Chase), alike only in that they possess the ability to irritate everyone else in the group. There’s also deeply religious single mom Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), overachieving ex-pill popper Annie (Alison Brie) and former jock Troy (Donald Glover). Abed (Danny Pudi), a film student obsessed with pop culture, rounds out the group.

Aside from its setting, “Community” didn’t start off that differently from a show like “The Office” or any

photo from internet source

don’t miss out From left, Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover and Chevy

Chase star in “Community,” which will be going on an indefinite hiatus after this month.

number of sitcoms. Strange, oft-conflicting characters forced to inhabit a single space? That’s a classic sitcom formula.

Gradually, though, the show increasingly laced its episodes with pop culture references and narrative tricks, becoming more and more selfreferential and meta. One episode served as an homage to “My Dinner with Andre,” while another explored the concept of alternate timelines using Greendale’s finest. Abed once predicted the end of an episode based purely on his own encyclopedic knowledge of TV tropes.

In short, “Community” became something more than the average sitcom—it’s perhaps the closest thing the sitcom world has to a purely au-

teurist vision, with the show springing largely from the mind of its creator, Dan Harmon.

As the show has become brazenly experimental, its acclaim has only increased—yet, at the same time, its ratings have only dropped. In its first season, “Community” averaged five million viewers, barely cracking the top 100 at the end of the season. This year, that figure has dropped to 3.7 million viewers, lower than the viewership of NBC’s most recently canceled program “Prime Suspect.”

Why such a disconnect between ratings and reviews? The answer may lie in one of the show’s chief strengths: its sense of humor.

In some ways, “Community” is the epitome of postmodern television,

deconstructing the usual character types found on sitcoms while simultaneously employing them. Critics and fans have gobbled this up; one person I know is even writing her senior thesis on “Community,” using narratology as a lens.

If history is any indication, though, the typical viewer is not exactly entranced by the show’s penchant for meta humor. While the show is certainly unique, its spirit is not unlike that of “Arrested Development” or “30 Rock,” neither of which have ever had a large audience. “Arrested” barely lasted three seasons, while really only the star power of Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin has helped keep “30 Rock” alive through its sixth season. Unfortunately, “Community” possesses nei-

ther the stars nor the award-winning prestige of these examples.

With “Community” seemingly destined always to remain a cult favorite, fans have every right to be worried about its future. Today, most shows peak during their first or second season in terms of audience; if a show isn’t immediately a hit, it’s lucky to last 13 episodes. When there was less competition, networks could afford to let shows like “All in the Family” or “Cheers” grow an audience. With TV viewing increasingly fractured among hundreds of channels, there’s little opportunity for that to happen.

It’s not all bad news for “Community,” though.

Ostensibly, it will return at some point this spring, as 12 episodes remain unaired. Additionally, the show is owned by Sony, an anomaly in an environment where networks primarily order shows produced by their partner studios. This means that Sony, having no connection to NBC, will be more likely to strike a deal in terms of the show’s budget, because “Community” needs at least one more season before Sony can sell it into syndication. The same thing happened to the much maligned sitcom “’Til Death,” which lasted four seasons on Fox only because Sony essentially paid the network to keep it on the air.

Considering that NBC has little in the way of marquee shows, it may also be in the network’s interest to keep a show on-air that at least has a cult following. Few of its other shows can claim even that.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t gotten the chance to check out “Community” yet, do so now. After all, isn’t catching up with TV what winter break was designed for?

December 9, 2011

ARTS, ETC. 19

The Brandeis Hoot

James Baldwin’s prose still awe-inspiring

By Dana Trismen Staff

As a prospective English major, it was upon first signing up for classes that I learned I was required to take Intro to Lit. This fact first frustrated me—I had just taken AP English and I did not have any desire to retake an intro class. Yet, since it’s required for the major, I took the class. My fears were not entirely unfounded—upon beginning the course I found I had already read 80 percent of the novels we covered—but I did discover a novel in our curriculum that has partly changed the way I view the world and the way I want to write in the future: “Another Country” by James Baldwin.

I had read James Baldwin before but admittedly only his short stories, with “Sonny’s Blues” being a quite famous one. Baldwin was born in Harlem in 1924 and had a rough upbringing. Coping with an abusive stepfather, he became a renowned child preacher at age 14 despite his own religious doubts. Soon after, he realized his true love lay with the arts. During his teenage years, Baldwin also came to terms with his own homosexuality, although he constantly faced prejudice both against his sexuality and, as a black man, his race. This caused him to flee to Paris, where he wrote until he eventually returned to the United States. Although Baldwin is best known for his largely autobiographical first novel “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” he went on to experiment with many literary forms such as plays and essays.

The novel we covered in Intro to Lit opened my eyes to a side of Baldwin that is not thoroughly expressed in

his short stories. “Another Country” is an epic novel dealing with sexuality, repressed desire and race. It changes location from the United States to France and back again, with each of the characters searching for redemption but usually ending up destroying themselves. As opposed to a short story, “Another Country” flourishes because of its ability to cover so much ground in its 400 pages. Though two of the main characters are dead within the first 100, the novel is able to deal with the aftereffects of grief and coping in its varied detrimental and uplifting forms.

While reading “Another Country,” I fell in love with the combination of Baldwin’s writing and storytelling. I believe that skilled writing and storytelling do not always go together; J. K. Rowling for example is an amazing storyteller, but her writing is not as excellent as, say, William Faulkner.

Baldwin astonishes me in the way that he is able to all at once craft elegant sentences while also making the plot so interesting I cannot put the book down. While some complain that the characters in “Another Country” are whiny and self-absorbed, I simply think Baldwin is reflecting human nature accurately, a fact about humans that many people are afraid to confront.

When reading his work, it is also important to note Baldwin’s social activism. His works often serve a purpose: to illustrate to others the constraints of American society and what could possibly be done to fix them (especially in regard to sex and race). Baldwin himself became involved with the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent

Coordinating Committee upon his return from France. He entered the civil rights movement with abandon, meeting with other central figures in the movement and marching in protests. Baldwin called the movement “the latest slave rebellion,” insisting like Malcolm X that since he was a citizen, he should not have to be labeled as fighting for his civil rights.

Baldwin died in December 1987 from stomach cancer while in France.

Though nowadays his novels are not entirely popular and consistently read, he still receives recognition.

“Sonny’s Blues” is included in most anthologies of short fiction, and Hampshire College has established a scholars program in his name. Toni Morison, herself a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, is influenced by Baldwin and has edited volumes of his fiction.

After reading “Another Country” for class, I dove into Baldwin, reading “Tell Me How Long The Train’s Been Gone” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone” is much like “Another Country” in its sprawling, artistic way of describing passions and strained desires and how they intermix within different sexualities and races. “Go Tell It On the Mountain” reminds me just how much Baldwin based many of his works on his own experiences.

For someone who wants to be a writer like me, this is a useful lesson. An author should write about what they know, what they have experienced, in order to make a book more truthful and heartfelt. My discovery of Baldwin has already made me a better writer, and I will henceforth look to him as an example.

photo from internet source

‘go tell it’ James Baldwin is best remembered today for writing the novels “Go Tell It on

the Mountain” and “Another Country.”

Crushed hard by 49 Stones

crowded The band 49 Stones recently released their debut album, “Turn It On.”

By Adam Marx Staff

I’m more than pleased to be able to present this band, as they’re one of a new breed that will soon take over the alternative scene. Their sound is done so well that I can’t wait to hear what else comes blasting from their speakers on their next record.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Enter 49 Stones, a new alternative-rock powerhouse that will redefine everything you thought you knew about music in the post-Nirvana age. Hailing from Kansas City, Mo., 49 Stones stomps onto the scene in true hardrock fashion. Composed of hardrocking members Emma Jo (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Brett Cox (lead guitar and backing vocals), Garrett Cox (bass and backing vocals) and Kyle Scheel (drums), 49 Stones is a hurricane of alternative prowess, combining Pearl Jam-esque guitar solos with Garbage-inspired vocals and

a Smashing Pumpkins-like rhythm section.

From the start of their debut album “Turn It On,” 49 Stones has something unique that just drives me to crank the volume up all the way. The first song I listen to from the record is also my immediate favorite. “Crowded” is the song on which I’d bet my teeth is going to launch this band into the stratosphere. The second the meters start ticking, Emma’s vocals are haunting and soul-splitting, slick and sultry, but brutal and definitely not to be trifled with. With Garrett Cox’s bassline-blasts coming down around me like cannon fire, Scheel’s intense drumming keeps me moving hard through the night of this heavy masterpiece. Cymbal-cracks and snare-snaps ring back against the bass-pumps, and all the while Emma’s voice is riding shotgun high and mighty. Then out of nowhere comes Brett Cox’s high-octane guitar in a searing spectacle, shredding off what-

photo from internet source

ever preconceptions I might have had before. One of my favorite things about this song is hearing Brett Cox just make that guitar scream halfway into each chorus. There is nothing I’ve heard since Alice in Chains that is so hauntingly brilliant, and that would simply be enough for this song to be a number one hit.

But 49 Stones are only halfway done and, just as Emma’s vocals of “let’s dance” ring out, Garrett Cox lets loose on a bass solo that completely blows my mind. Yes, bassists can solo, and hell yeah does this guy pull it off! With Scheel blasting on his snare in time, the Cox-Scheel rhythm section is one for all other bands to envy. As I sail into the last minute of the song riding the coattails of Brett Cox’s guitar notes, Emma has to blow my mind just one more time. The carnal shriek that this girl rings from her body literally makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. What a wail this

girl has and she nails every single bit of it! “Crowded” has been on repeat in my iTunes since I got this album, and all I can say is that this song is Garbage-meets-Alice in Chains in a cataclysmic mashup of sheer power.

“Are You Listening” has a more hard-rock crunch than “Crowded,” but still emits an alternative vibe in Emma’s smooth yet firm vocal roar, and alongside Brett Cox’s fretwork, 49 Stones make this one of their best performances. Scheel is going crazy all over his kit, and the 3 Doors Downesque tempo set up by the Cox twins and Emma just kicks down anything standing in their way. Emma’s voice is like a sonic battering ram, crashing through my senses like an earthquake of raw power.

Then the earthquake turns into a tsunami of epic proportions as I move to “Indigo,” and Emma trades up her battering-ram vocals for something different. With Brett Cox’s guitar notes ringing high overhead, Scheel keeps time as my face melts off, skewered by these soon-to-be alternativerock gods. Another five-star track on an album of five-star tracks, “Indigo” just solidifies my belief in this band.

With other mind-blowing feats showing up all over the album, 49 Stones continue to impress me. Brett Cox’s guitar solo on “Devil All Along” is not to be ignored in the slightest, and the rhythm team of Garrett Cox and Kyle Scheel bangs life into all parts of this album. Emma’s breathy vocals continue to blow my mind even after the album is done, and I have to play it again just to make sure I didn’t miss a single thing. The heavy tapestry woven throughout “Turn It On” is vivid and powerful, and a critical force with which to be reckoned.

If you’re looking for the next big thing on the alternative rock scene, here they are: loud, brash and brilliant.

Perfect X-mas films X-MAS, from page 18

“Bad Santa,” directed by Terry Zwigoff, is the most obscene Christmas movie imaginable. “Bad Santa” follows a mall Santa/safecracker-thief (Billy Bob Thornton) as he gives in to his depression, alcoholism and penchant for kinky sex. He expropriates the house of an elderly woman (Cloris Leachman); verbally abuses thirdgrader Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly); and has terribly inappropriate sex with a Jewish bartender (Lauren Graham). Despite being one of the most un-Christmas-like movies ever, this is one of the best Christmas movies.

While most of the movie is Santa pissing on himself, falling down drunk and having sex in the mall’s changing rooms, the movie does have heart, a must for Christmas movies.

Of course, the heart is rather small and was only added to the movie after original test audiences complained.

Still, see this movie. And, whatever you do, watch it on a channel that will not cut scenes or bleep out the curse words. They curse every other word; you will miss half the movie.

Also, this was John Ritter’s last film role before he died and he does a phenomenal job.

So, before you sit down with your family to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” for the hundredth time, try one of these, if not all of them. I promise that you will not be sorry. I look forward to being home at Christmas time and re-watching these movies with my family as we eat our Chinese food and debate which kinds of Christmas lights are the prettiest.

Art focus

20 The Brandeis Hoot

December 9, 2011

Musical ‘Urinetown’ makes a splash

By Juliette Martin Staff

The wonderful thing about “Urinetown: The Musical” is that it knows not to take itself too seriously. Tympanium Euphorium’s production, directed by Johanna Wickemeyer ’12 with assistant director Lizzy Benway ’14, truly took that to heart; the actor’s comedic deliveries of even the most serious-sounding of lines make the sometimes dark musical ultimately amusing and wildly entertaining, eliciting great laughter from an engaged audience.

“Urinetown” is a rather absurd musical in which a 20-year drought has left people under the thumb of business tyrant Caldwell B. Cladwell (Daniel Liebman ’12), who charges hefty fees in exchange for access to public toilets. Many of the town’s poor cannot afford these fees, but they have little other choice: Those who pee anywhere but in a public toilet or refuse to pay the fee are carted off to Urinetown, a vague and fearful place

from which none return.

The musical begins with our young hero, Bobby Strong (Jason Dick ’14), watching his father get carted off to Urinetown for refusing to pay the fee at the toilet where Bobby works as a janitor. Shortly afterward, he meets the beautiful and naive Hope Cladwell (Jackie Theoharis ’14), who encourages him to follow his heart as the two fall in love, planting in Bobby the seeds of a revolution that erupt into the revelation that Urinetown is not just some distant, elusive place of punishment.

Although the musical ends on a grim note, “Urinetown” is a comedy and should be treated as such. The goal of the musical is to spread laughter, and this particular production yields plenty.

The show’s actors incorporated the correct measure of passion and lightheartedess, making “Urinetown” an enjoyable and unique experience.

The group that portrayed the impoverished revolutionaries was particularly impressive, their dynamic body language showing them languishing

under the iron rule of Mr. Cladwell.

As the revolution grows stronger and the revolutionaries come under moral scrutiny, they begin oozing appropriate amounts of sleaze and desperation, which particularly shined through in their performance of “Snuff That Girl.” I also loved the particularly modern touches that this production brought to the revolution, with signs declaring “Occupy Urinetown” featuring quite prominently in their protest.

I was notably impressed by Theoharis’ vocal performance. The role requires both great range and power, both of which were flawlessly delivered. Theoharis brought a beautiful softness to what can sometimes become a screechy and abrasive role.

The fearful crooning of Bobby’s name as he carries her away to become a piece in his revolution adds great texture to the character as she struggles to find her place between her righteous lover and her pragmatic father.

This truly shined during her reprise of “Follow Your Heart” as she is alone

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

occupy urinetown At top, Bobby Strong ( Jason Dick) and Penelope Pennywise (Abigail Clarke) toil. At bottom left, Officer Lockstock

( Justy Kosek) and Little Sally (Aliza Sotsky) share wary glances. At bottom right, Hope Cladwell ( Jackie Theoharis) looks into the distance.

in captivity, showing a soft, scared, naive and sweet girl trying to decide where she stands in a conflict much larger than herself.

Equally impressive was the performance of Aliza Sotsky ’15 as Little Sally, who serves as half-character, half-narrator alongside Officer Lockstock (Justy Kosek ’14). Each time Sotsky took center stage, she commanded the audience’s attention with her comedic delivery and some particularly wonderful facial expressions.

Kosek played off of her remarkably well, the two forming a narrative duo that got most of its laughs making fun of the play itself. Similarly enjoyable was Liebman’s performance as Mr. Cladwell in his number “Don’t Be the Bunny,” a song that utilized his deep, strong vocals to great effect as he sung about bunnies being turned into stew.

Dick, meanwhile, brought great passion to the story’s central character, the idealist Bobby Strong. I was particularly struck in the final moments, in which he exclaims: “Why did I listen to my heart?” The deliv-

ery of this line, despite the overarching comedy of the show, is ultimately hopeless and heart-wrenching, which, though buried under a thick layer of laughter, cannot be denied as being the heart of the musical.

Thus, in this line the actor managed to capture the entire show. Dick’s vocals shone during his performance of “Run Freedom Run,” but seemed strained at points, particularly during “Act One Finale” as he sung over multiple characters and during some particularly long and powerful notes, as is often required by the role.

“Urinetown: The Musical” flawlessly toes the line between self-referential comedy and hopelessness. This particular production shined with depth and texture, unafraid to present both sides of the show without losing the fact that it is, in the end, supposed to be funny. The show was obviously well-rehearsed and the performance flowed without any hitches and with a constant passion. As a huge fan of the musical, Tympanium Euphorium’s production did not disappoint.