The Brandeis Hoot - April 27, 2012

Volume 9 Number 13

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

April 27, 2012

Student questions univ response to alleged rape case Title IX compliance in doubt

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

Alleging she was raped by a Heller School student at their off-campus apartment nearly a dozen times from October 2010 through January 2011, an undergraduate student now on medical leave said the university cared more about closing the case than listening to her story and protecting her safety.

Advisers for both students doubted whether Brandeis sufficiently fulfilled its legal obligation to conduct a campus investigation following the complaints, according to emails sent last May to Scot Bemis, the university’s Title IX coordinator.

The facts of the case are fogged in a he-said, she-said story. But a yearlong investigation supported with several documents and emails obtained by The Hoot reveal an administration more fearful of lawsuits than student concerns and officials more willing to defer questions than to answer them directly.

“The school was more interested in

protecting its image than removing the hostile environment for me. They were afraid of being sued [by my alleged assailant],” she said. “I think they did not care about my safety at all.”

The Hoot interviewed her multiple times since May but has withheld her name and his to protect privacy. The paper’s attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. University officials declined to comment, citing federal privacy laws.

It was a case of his word against hers. She said her assailant and his friend currently enrolled at the Heller School repeatedly threatened

and sexually assaulted her. He filed a criminal complaint that she threatened to kill him, a claim she denies.

In response to the rape allegations, he provided a Word document of instant messages to university police showing her aggressive pursuit of him. She said the Word document was heavily edited and falsified.

Although the student conduct board found him responsible for nine of 11 code violations in Rights and Responsibilities, including section 3.1, which prohibits sexual contact without consent and an appeals comSee ASSAULT, page 2

Policy change needed

S

exual assault on college campuses rarely makes the news. There’s no wonder as to why: Cases are often difficult to prove and many aren’t even reported. When assaults are reported, they often devolve into a he-said, shesaid back-and-forth. That doesn’t mean sexual assault isn’t happening. When it does, we must pay attention.

In this case, administrators acted in a manner inconsistent with federal law, community standards and social justice.

They gave this student the run-around, threatened her with suspension, ignored See EDITORIAL, page 3

Breaking the silence on mental illness and attempted suicide

By Tali Singer Staff

an early commencement Jesse Beal MA’12 and Alwina Bennett embrace at the graduation ceremony.

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

LGBTQ grads recognized at ‘Lavender’ awards

By Alana Blum staff

Sporting shades of lavender, the graduating members of Brandeis’ LGBTQ family paraded into the Intercultural Center lounge amid cheers and cello music on Tuesday. With

excitement and nostalgia, Brandeis commenced its first Lavender Graduation.

Lavender Graduation is a ceremony specifically set aside for the graduating members of the LGBTQ community and their allies. It celebrates the contributions and accomplishments

Kirkland ’13 takes presidency

By Connor Novy Editor

Todd Kirkland ’13 was elected Student Union president last Friday, edging out Dillon Harvey ’14 by a narrow margin of less than 100 votes. This is the first year in many that the race has been so close, due both to low voter turnout, 32.85 percent, down from 44 percent last year and 50 percent the year prior to that. The straight decline in voter turnout and the increase in candidacy narrowed margins all around, steep change from the landslide victory of last year’s president, Herbie Rosen ’12.

Changes to the constitution are imminent in the face of a number of

this community has achieved for the past four years.

The LGBTQ and ally community at Brandeis appreciates the recogniSee LAVENDER, page 5

August 31, 2010, was one of the most frightening nights of my life.

When my roommate, Lily NagyDeak, left our suite, I had no idea that a few hours later we would receive frantic phone calls from her friends that something was wrong. Did we know where Lily was? Soon thereafter, there was a loud knock on our door from the campus police. But it wasn’t until I walked through the door of Lily’s room—she had left it open—that I finally pieced it together. That’s when another roommate and I found it, sitting on her desk: a suicide note. Thankfully, we got a call later that evening that Lily had been found; she was alive and safe. The police stopped by the suite again, and this time they emerged with a large Ziploc bag filled with assorted bottles of pills.

When Lily returned to campus after her hospital stay, we never spoke about her suicide attempt. A yearand-a-half later, I spoke with Lily via Skype and she told me her side of the story. She told me not only about

that one August day, but also about how she has lived with bipolar disorder. Lily could have chosen to speak anonymously, but she felt that doing so would defeat her whole purpose: to combat the stigma and silence surrounding mental illness.

Below is an excerpt from my conversation with Lily. To hear her full story listen to the extended podcast version at www.thebrandeishoot. com. Hearing Lily’s voice conveys her story in a way that words on a page cannot.

Tali Singer: What was your first encounter with mental illness?

Lily Nagy-Deak: I think my first encounter was actually my own experience. I remember it was sort of jarring, because my freshman year, I described what I going through and how I was feeling, and a friend of mine said to me, “Isn’t that just bipolar?” And I looked at him, and I was like, “What? No, I don’t have that.

That’s something serious. What are you talking about?” […] Ironically, he turned out to be right.

See MENTAL ILLNESS, page 2

Designing the knuckle sandwich with food art

amendments, which Rosen sent to the student body this past week. The seven amendments include eliminating a student-elected alumni association position because, according to the dossier explaining the amendments, “the truth is that the position is largely ineffective if the representative is not a member of Future Alumni of Brandeis (FAB) … We want to ensure efficiency and better, stronger representation of students towards the Alumni.”

Kirkland is largely concerned with the efficiency of the Student Union.

As president, he plans to eliminate a number of unfilled positions on See ELECTION, page 7

campus center studio Kelsey Elvelrum ‘12 displays her food art display in the Shapiro Campus Center.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

inside this issue:

Amendments

Culture X

A war story

Editor critiques the proposals for constitutional changes.

Our review of the annual display of dance, music and spoken word.

Hoot editor tells grandfather’s story surviving WWII.

Impressions , p. 13

Arts, Etc. , p. 16

Features. , p. 10

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

April 27, 2012

Student: liability, not safety the concern in alleged rape case ASSAULT, from page 1

mittee later upheld the board’s ruling, prosecutors at the District Attorney’s office decided not to charge him.

Administrators faced a challenge of credibility—two international students, one a graduate in his mid-30s and a medical doctor and the other an undergraduate in her early 20s.

When a student life official contacted her regarding her assailant’s criminal complaint, she felt intimidated by his response to her claim and pressured to complete a referral and police report in order for the university to respond. The official also warned that the process could end with her suspension.

“He treated the situation like a disagreement between two students,” she said. “He thought the issue should be over by now—that I shouldn’t have any more complaints. I felt that he was trying to silence me.”

Questioning their response in emails and meetings, the student voiced repeated concerns about her safety on and off campus. A student life official advised the student to have her parents contact the university’s lawyers. When the student did meet with university police to report the multiple sexual assaults, a detective categorized the complaint as a “tempestuous relationship,” according to a May 8, 2011, email sent to Bemis.

Before the female student’s interview at the District Attorney’s Office in Woburn, the university police officer met privately for more than 15 minutes with an assistant district attorney. He also presented the Word

document containing the instant messages that the student claims were falsified, according to the email to Bemis.

“He never questioned the authenticity of the evidence he presented,” she said. “… [He] was so determined to prove that he did nothing wrong and make it go way that I felt my safety was not his concern.”

Alwina Bennett, associate provost for graduate student affairs and a public contact for the rape crisis hotline, served as the male student’s faculty adviser during the student conduct board process.

Bennett’s role as a contact for the crisis hotline poses a conflict for students. Although encouraged to speak to her peers at the hotline, this student then saw Bennett advising her alleged assailant in a conduct board hearing.

Few faculty members are willing to serve as advisers in student conduct board cases regarding sexual assault.

The student said at first she had no advocate and felt intimidated because Bennett had been defending her alleged assailant from the beginning.

She later found a faculty adviser for the student conduct board process.

In addition, a case file in the office of student rights and community standards contained no evidence of a university police investigation, a Title IX requirement, according to the email sent to Bemis.

In an email sent to Bemis the next day on May 9, a different university employee agreed that the university had not fully complied with its requirement to investigate the case un-

der Title IX and Rights and Responsibilities. Had the outcome of such an investigation been completed, she wrote, there would be insufficient evidence against the male student.

When the student met with university police to file a no-contact order and expressed safety concerns about listing her address on the form, an officer promised her it would be redacted, she said. Yet a student life official showed her alleged assailant the full report with her new address.

Professor Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) proposed an amendment at a faculty meeting on May 24, 2011, urging her colleagues to reject the list of proposed degree candidates. She did not refer to any details or to the specific conduct code violations in question.

The amendment read: “This vote to award the degrees does not extend to a student whose name appears on this list of degree candidates but has been accused of serious violations of Rights and Responsibilities and whose disciplinary process has not yet been concluded. Should the process be resolved in favor of said student, the vote of this body would extend to the student.”

Then-Provost Marty Krauss spoke out against the amendment and Brooten’s motion failed when it came to a vote.

The case posed a range of decisions requiring the entire senior leadership team, including police, student life, academic officials and President Fred Lawrence to be briefed on the case.

Brandeis reported three sexual assaults between 2007 and 2010, according to campus police.

“ ” [He] was so determined to prove that he did nothing wrong and make it go away that I felt my safety was not his concern.

Last April, the Department of Education sent a new guidance letter, reminding school administrators of their obligations to comply with Title IX. One of the most important requirements is the obligation for universities to conduct internal investigations when they hear of sexual assault or harassment. University policies shifted to a lesser burden of proof for cases of sexual assault heard before the student conduct board. Like many other universities, prior to the April guidance, Brandeis used a “clear and convincing standard” as opposed to a “preponderance of the evidence standard” required by Title IX and applied in this case.

The student conduct board last May found him responsible for violating section 3.1, which prohibits sexual contact without explicit and clearly communicated consent, according to an email obtained by The Hoot. He was found not responsible for violating sections 3.2, prohibiting consent through incapacitation, and 3.3, prohibiting consent through prior sexual

activity or relationship status.

Following the board’s recommendations, the Dean’s office announced a suspension under Section 21 effective immediately until commencement on May 20 this year. Stipulations during the suspension period include that the student’s official transcript and diploma be withheld from him until May 20. The decision also banned him from university property and accessing university services, according to the email.

The dean also prohibited him from enrolling at the university while she was here, and prevented him from ever living on-campus should he reenroll in the future.

On May 20 her alleged assailant’s suspension will end. But she has spent more than a year trying to talk to administrators, growing only more frustrated with the tone of their response.

“They’re very defensive of the university instead of trying to minimize the impact on me,” she said. “I raise an issue, I get a reply from an administrator saying that the university did nothing wrong.”

Speaking out on mental illness and suicide MENTAL ILLNESS, from page 1

TS: After your friend said that, what did you do next?

LND: I did what any 21st-century person would do, and I Googled it. […] The more I read about it and the more thought about it, how I’d been feeling for the past semester, semester-and-a-half, it really felt like I could identify with what I was reading. […] Realizing that it was a possibility that I had this didn’t make me not angry about it, but made me feel like the next thing I needed to do was find out more information about it instead of just sort of putting it off as, “This is somebody’s suggestion, and he’s not a doctor so he couldn’t know what he’s talking about.”

TS: What were some of the experiences you were having that fit with what you were hearing about bipolar disorder?

LND: I would have a week where I wouldn’t sleep. And I don’t mean, “I only got five hours of sleep each night.

I drank a cup of coffee and I was fine.”

I mean, I would not sleep. I would be so wired, caffeine-less and wired, and just leave my room at three o’clock in the morning and go for a walk around campus. […] I didn’t feel a need to rest ever, for a week or two at a time.

But to go along with that abundance of energy was the inability to communicate well with people. I’d get angry very quickly. […] I also would get into this feeling that the world wasn’t moving as quickly as I was. One of the reasons communication was so frustrating was that I couldn’t get words out as quickly as my mind was moving, that the thoughts in my head were already thought and gone by the time I was able to voice them aloud.

So that was the one side. […]

The second part of it was the de-

pression part. […] It would feel like, not even that the world was falling in around me but that the only thing to do was to kind of just shut down mentally to things. I’ve realized that a lot of people think of depression as being sad, the solution to that being to do something to cheer yourself up.

But for me, it was a matter of disconnecting with everything around me.

I wasn’t interested in classes that I previously had been. I would make excuses not to attend a meeting or a class or a rehearsal of things that I loved being at, of things that I cared about. But I was so disconnected and I was so shut off mentally and emotionally from everything that the idea of actually getting up and going to something was too much. All I had was the energy to make an excuse that I wouldn’t be there.

TS: How did you cope with those things?

LND: At the beginning, I didn’t cope with any of those things well.

Maybe in the past 12 months I have been able to say that I can actually cope with those things better than I used to. The depression side of it, I really didn’t even know how to begin to cope with that. I couldn’t recall another time that I had felt that upset on a long-term scale. I really didn’t know how to do that, and I ended up sort of emotionally leaning on my boyfriend at the time. […]

By the second semester, I had started going to go to […] the Psychological Counseling Center and meeting with somebody. The thing with that is, bipolar is hard to diagnose, because oftentimes, people will only go talk to a counselor—this is not just in college; this is everywhere—people will come and talk to a counselor when they’re feeling depressed. And they might get diagnosed with depres-

sion. When I had been home on winter break of my freshman year, I had gone to a doctor to talk to her about the not sleeping and the energy and all of these other things, the other side of the bipolar, the hypomania. Since she was only seeing that, she was like, “You have an anxiety disorder.” […]

I’ve never had full-blown mania and I hope that I never do, because it doesn’t sound like any fun. The hypomania, which is what you get when you’re bipolar II, which is what I am, is like mania except with no hallucinations and a little down-scaled from mania. And that, I never felt like I needed to deal with. This is totally typical for someone with bipolar to say, “I feel great. I don’t need to sleep and I have all this energy and I have all these great ideas and feel like I can take over the world and save everything and do everything.” I never felt like that was a bad thing until I would crash from it, almost like a sugar rush, when you give a kid lots of sugar and then they crash 20 minutes later. I would be really up there, and then a week later I would just fall back down into the depression part of it.

TS: Are there any experiences of that that stand out, being on this high and then crashing?

LND: My junior year of college, I had this hypomanic episode triggered. What triggered it was, I had been home for spring break and had some dental surgery and then they had given me Vicodin. And there are a lot dental medications that are usually used as painkillers that aren’t as good for people who have bipolar disorder, and the Vicodin triggered this hypomania for me. And I got back from break and within a couple days I realized I hadn’t been sleeping often. I wasn’t really hungry often, but I had all this energy, which was good

because I was going into a show. I was executive stage-managing a show, and so the fact that I had all this energy was really good. I got through the show and I was in the theater way later than I should have been at night, with everyone else, but not feeling tired like everyone else was. And I felt like I could get everything done, that I was superwoman that two or three weeks. And then the show ended, and a couple days later […] I just got so depressed. I got so, so depressed and I really appreciated at that point the friends I had made working on this production, because they really came through and really helped me keep it together to get through the last two weeks of school my junior year. I got so far one night, I just sat down on the floor of my room and I was just crying and I couldn’t stop crying and a friend of mine who had been talking to me on the phone and then I hung up on her because I couldn’t talk anymore, called [a quad director] just to check on me. […]

And then, also during that week […] I got so far one night, I just felt so shut down, and I was so disconnected from everything and I didn’t want to be there anymore that I wrote a four-page note to my friends and to my family. And I don’t know what I was going to do. When you talk to doctors as a mental health patient and they say, “Have you ever thought about committing suicide?” If you say yes, they go, “Well have you ever come up with a plan?” And you say, “Yes I did, this is what I was going to do,” or “No I didn’t.” […] That sort of separates it between I don’t want to live, and I want to kill myself and that there’s separate ideas between a passive desire to be done, and an active take-it-into-my-own-hands-I’mgoing-to-end-this.

This night I wrote this four-page

letter in one of my notebooks and I never came up with a plan, but I just sat there holding it in my hand until a friend of mine, who had randomly called to say hi, called me, and I said, “I’m in a really bad place right now, I don’t want to talk.” And he was like, “I’m coming over and I’m going sit with you, and we’re going to get you through whatever’s going on.” And I didn’t tell him about the note. I’ve actually only told a couple people about that. That was the first time I [wrote a suicide note], and I don’t even know how I got through my finals that semester. I don’t know how I finished that semester and didn’t end up in the hospital. I probably should have.

I was so shut down and so depressed at that point. I had some really good friends that pulled me through it.

TS: It sounds like your friends were a big part of getting through those challenges.

LND: Yeah. It’s funny, because I have some texts on my phone from two really close friends. We had sort of known each other when we started working on the show junior year, and we became such good friends. And then our friendship became much deeper and more personal when I was going through this time. I actually still, two years later, I still have some of these texts on my phone from them that say, “You’re a strong person,” “We love you,” “Please take care of yourself,” “You have all these people that care about you,” that they sent me two years ago. But I’ve kept them because they’re universal good messages for me. And other times over the past two years, when I’ve really been feeling upset about life, that I feel like I can’t handle what’s going on around me, I’ll actually just look back at those texts in my saved folder and reread and get that strength that they gave me again.

EDITORIALS

April 27, 2012

The Brandeis Hoot 3

Attitude change needed for defunct sexual assault policy “To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-Chief Jon Ostrowsky Managing Editor Yael Katzwer Alex Schneider Editor Emeritus Connor Novy News Editor Morgan Gross Impressions Editor Candice Bautista Arts, Etc. Editor Brian Tabakin Sports Editor Ingrid Schulte Photography Editor Nate Rosenbloom Photography Editor Emily Stott Layout Editor Steven Wong Graphics Editor Leah Finkelman Production Editor Suzanna Yu Copy Editor Gordy Stillman Business Editor Deputy Section Editors

Victoria Aronson Morgan Dashko Zoe Kronovet Juliette Martin Dana Trismen

Senior Editors Destiny D. Aquino Sean Fabery Nathan Koskella Savannah Pearlman

Volume 9 • Issue 13 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

EDITORIAL, from page 1

conflicts of interest and disingenuously made promises that they did not keep. They acted with the expectation that she would go away.

This week, The Hoot is publishing the story of a female international student who alleges that she was raped repeatedly by her roommate at their off-campus apartment. We print the story because she brought it to our attention—not because she particularly wanted her story to be public but because no one else was listening.

As journalists, we believe that every community member deserves a voice.

But it is absolutely pathetic that a campus newspaper is the only place where a student can feel comfortable sharing her story.

We subscribe to the view that better reporting leads to better policy.

Cases such as this one are shrouded in secrecy given federal privacy laws and the potential for lawsuits. But in this case, the Brandeis administration has hid behind these laws to protect itself, not the students involved in the case.

Given her openness to The Hoot dur-

ing the past year, we doubt she would object to the university discussing the case. That is, in the end, what she is asking of them.

Students don’t often have the resources at their disposal to bring costly civil lawsuits or to hire representatives. In this case, the female student is on a study visa, her parents are not in this country and she has limited resources. Advocating for herself was all the more difficult.

Last fall, President Fred Lawrence told The Hoot, “I don’t think that we have as serious a problem as some other institutions do, which is not to say that we don’t have an issue that we have to focus on as well. But I’m glad that we don’t have the issue to the degree that some other schools do, and that they’ve had to deal with it in a very public way.”

All this student wanted was for the university to deal with this issue in a public way. Instead, in describing the response of one student life official, she told The Hoot, “I felt that he was trying to silence me.”

We don’t presume to know all the facts in this case. But we do know that whichever details of this case adminis-

trators wish to contest the fact remains that a Brandeis University student approached university officials alleging that she was repeatedly raped. She spoke with fear about her safety on and off campus, the product in many cases of decisions police and student life officials made.

Brandeis has an obligation to clean up its act. Students deserve a clearer policy on sexual assault, an administrator tasked with oversight over such cases and a greater emphasis on providing information to students, not on making cases go away.

It wasn’t easy for the female student to go public. And it won’t be easy for Brandeis to make significant policy changes that address inconsistencies at the multiple levels of this case. But sexual assault is a real problem even in our modern world and especially on college campuses, and it must be addressed at all levels. Ignoring this case any further would only be a disservice.

We understand that rape cases are complicated. But we also understand that social justice requires doing the right thing, even when everyone else wants you to turn away.

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 Senior Staff Nafiz “Fizz” Ahmed Alana Blum Debby Brodsky Sam Allen, Rick Alterbaum, Emily Beker, Alex Bernstein, Emily Breitbart, Marissa Budlong, Justin Burack, Adam Cohen, Haley Fine, Jeremy Goodman, Rachel Hirschhaut, Paula Hoekstra, Adam Hughes, Gabby Katz, Josh Kelly, Samuel Kim, Zoe Kronovet, Arielle Levine, Ariel Madway, Estie Martin, Adam Marx, Anita Palmer, Alex Patch, Lien Phung, Zachary Reid, Betty Revah, Zach Romano, Ricky Rosen, Aaron Sadowsky, Jessica Sashihara, Sarah Schneider, Alex Self, Naomi Shine, Tali Singer, Diane Somlo, Sindhura Sonnathi, Ryan Tierney, Alan Tran, Yi Wang, Rachel Weissman, Lila Westreich and Linjie Xu

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GIVE A HOOT, JOIN THE HOOT!

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The Hoot is on hiatus through Commencement on May 20, 2012, when we will print our last issue of the semester.

Look sharp for that interview!

4 The Brandeis Hoot

WEEK IN PHOTOS Coffeehouse for a cause

photos by alex patch/the hoot

performing for a cause Project Plus One, a non-profit

organization to develop a community garden in East Timor, put on a coffeehouse at Ollie’s Thursday night. This was the last of a series of successful coffeehouses this semester, all organized by Dotan Horowitz ’12.

April 27, 2012

April 27, 2012

FEATURES 5

The Brandeis Hoot

LGBTQ grads recognized at ‘lavendar’ awards LAVENDER, from page 1

tion since it speaks to the numerous difficulties the community continues to face.

“It’s recognizing the efforts of those who are trying to create a space for people who generally don’t have much of a space,” Lavender graduate Dan Flores ’12 said. “The LGBTQ community tends to deal with issues that are outside the normative experience.

There are issues such as coming out.

There are issues of constantly having to explain your identity. People who are generally considered heterosexual don’t have to explain their erotic interests; they don’t have to say ‘Oh I came out to my mom and dad when I was 17 years old.’”

Liberal universities and colleges across the nation have been gradually developing their own versions of Lavender Graduation. When Jesse Beal became Brandeis’ first program coordinator for sexuality and gender diversity this year, she decided to bring Lavender Graduation to Brandeis.

Members of the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ allies, and Brandeis’ faculty and staff were overjoyed to participate in the ceremony.

“The fact that this is happening for the first time here is momentous because it shows we’re moving from being an openly accepting student body to being an openly accepting campus,” Lavender graduate Simon Zahn ’12 said.

Lavender Graduation is named after the queer community’s long history with the word “lavender.” According to Beal, the phrase “Lavender Scare” was used in reference to the persecution of gays and lesbians in the 1950s. Furthermore, a feminist in the late 1960s supposedly coined the term “Lavender Menace” in reference to the lesbians who she believed were infiltrating the feminist movement.

The queer community reclaimed the term for its own use as a source of pride.Consequently, the Intercultural Center lounge was adorned with lavender balloons, lavender streamers and even a few lavender plants as Brandeis faculty and staff thanked the graduating seniors and graduate students for their dedication to the LGBTQ community. Involved in a variety of leadership roles within the community, these students deserved to receive recognition.

“We’re constantly working with people one-on-one, with the administration and with professors to get our

participants celebrating at lavender graduation

voices heard. And having Lavender Graduation is just a way to thank people who work tirelessly but otherwise don’t get recognition,” said Lavender graduate Cynthia Simonoff ’12.

Dean Jamele Adams took the stage with a slam poetry performance. His rhymes spoke of the pride, diversity and accomplishments of Brandeis’ graduating LGBTQ family.

Following Adam’s performance, Vice President of Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel delivered the keynote speech.

“Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, I was in all the cool things; band, debate, the chess team,” he said, to the crowd’s laughter. He then continued on a more serious note, explaining how the contributions of Brandeis’ LGBTQ community have created an atmosphere that enables hopeful applicants to see Brandeis as a safe-

haven. Specific students were also selected to give words of encouragement. Each graduating senior and graduate student then received a certificate of recognition and a rainbow tassel. Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” sounded throughout the lounge as the ceremony concluded. The students now hope Lavender Graduation will become an annual event at Brandeis.

“The student reaction to this has been overwhelming. They’re thrilled and honored that we have this. I didn’t have to do much to get them here … My line the whole time has been ‘this is our opportunity to thank you for your four years of service, for all the achievements you’ve had, for making this a safer campus for all of us,’” Beal said.

Some of the graduating students also expressed how privileged they

feel to have been able to attend a university that has a well-developed Women’s and Gender Studies department and a growing Sexuality and Queer Studies department. According to Flores, many of the students who take courses within these departments begin to rethink their original understandings of sexuality and gender.

“These departments bridge the gap by giving a voice to those who haven’t had a voice for a long time,” Flores said.

Although Brandeis possesses a growing Sexuality and Queer Studies department and a relatively open student body and administration, the LGBTQ members of Brandeis hope that people will still recognize the everyday discrimination they continue to encounter. While Brandeis as a university has made major steps by opening up gender-neutral bathrooms and introducing a Sexuality and Queer Studies minor, students look forward to future improvement.

“As a whole, Brandeis is a very open and accepting institution; however, that does not mean that we’re perfect.

There are still some changes that need

to be made,” Zahn said. “As of now, we have a part-time program coordinator for sexuality and gender diversity [Jesse Beal], but making this position full-time would allow more to be accomplished. Also, our campus is in desperate need of some genderneutral bathrooms in certain buildings. These are just two things that we need to further Brandeis along the path to being the perfect open and accepting institute.”

As Lavender Graduation demonstrated, the LGBTQ community at Brandeis has acquired the set of tools necessary to make these types of changes. Involved in leadership roles throughout the community, the Lavender Graduation participants are prepared to take their endeavors to make Brandeis a safer campus into the outside world.

“I think the queer students on this campus and the ally students have done amazing work without a lot of institutional support,” Beal said. “And now that they’re getting institutional support, I really think the sky is the limit and I’m excited about what’s going to happen in the next couple of years.”

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

jamele adams

6 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

April 27, 2012

Annual Bernstein Festival opens with music and yarn

By Ben Federlin

Special to the Hoot

Brandeis community may have already noticed some changes around campus as preparations for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts begin. The campus and lamp posts around the SCC have been yarnbombed with vibrant multicolored knit. Kinetic sculpture pieces have been put up within the student center itself.

More observant Brandeisians may have even noticed Sarah Bierman’s ’14 tiny copper people hanging out in trees on

the humanities quad.

On Thursday, the Creative Arts festival officially began with the Art Activation, an opening celebration that took place in the atrium of the Shapiro Campus Center. The event began with a musical performance by an eclectic group of musicians consisting of violins, violas, hand drums, a wooden wind instrument and a Turkish oud. As the ensemble played as a group of dancers clad in black clothes took center stage and performed a lively circle dance featuring jumping and clapping. Once

the music stopped the dancers left the center of the atrium rhythmically chanting while walking in procession. As the dancers filed out students and faculty members alike loudly declared the various ways in which “Art Activates!” The overall effect was that of an enormous, chaotic, slam poetry performance which echoed around student center. As the declarations died down into a steady chant of “Art Activates You!- Art Activates Me!” A string trio began playing a classical piece as a single dancer took the center of the room and performed mod-

ern dance to accompany the music.

The dancer interacted with both the music and the musicians themselves before bringing out a member of the audience who turned out to be a lead in the next performance.

The final performance was a rendition of “Carnaval del Barrio” from the Tony award winning musical “In the Heights”. This group of dancers, singers and rappers took the stage by storm, delighting the audience with their performance of the lively musical number. Their dances which were accompanied by the waving of

flags of various Latin countries and concluded with a conga line that exited the atrium. The group had previously performed together as part of Brandeis Cares. At this performance there was much more audience participation as the onlookers took to clapping along with the music as it was performed. The opening celebration closed with provost Steve Goldstein declaring the festival officially open. With such an exciting opening ceremony it is certain that the 60th anniversary celebration of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts will be one to remember.

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

arts, festival Students sing, dance and play instruments to welcome in the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts.

Home Depot co-founder stresses philanthropy for businesses

By Emily Belowich Staff

Ken Langone, an investment banker who co-founded Home Depot in 1978, delivered this year’s second annual Saul G. Cohen Memorial Lecture in Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Monday afternoon.

Elisabeth Cohen, Saul’s daughter, introduced Langone to the crowd as a man who has “great respect for people in all walks of life” and as someone who appreciates attention to detail and excellent service at every level.

“Ken is a passionate individual with enormous enthusiasm, compassion and integrity,” she said.

In 1978, Langone co-founded Home Depot and remained on the executive committee of its board for 30 years. Early on in his career, Langone would stock the shelves during the holidays and his dedication to the company eventually created more than 325,000 jobs. He is the founder and current CEO of Invamed Associates, a brokerage and investment banking firm specializing in health care and high tech companies, and serves on various boards for both large and small companies.

He also serves on the board of many educational, service and health care organizations, including Bucknell University, Ronald McDonald House, Robin Hood Foundation, the Harlem Children’s Zone and New York University, where he is a trustee, overseer of the Stern School of Business and chairman of the board at the NYU Langone Medical Center.

Langone’s talk fulfilled its title, “When Doing Well Means Doing Good,” by sharing the meaning of true philanthropy and emphasizing the world’s need for more people dedicated to giving their time and knowledge.

Langone shared a personal anecdote regarding one of his family members asking him about his charity. After he gave his first significant contribution to Bucknell, he was asked what he had to give up in order to make that gift. He responded by saying he didn’t have to give up anything, and in turn, he was told that his contribution was not charity.

“And so I learned right then and there that charity is when you go without for someone else. I will never forget that,” Langone said.

His family had a significant influence on his passion to give back to others. He said that he constantly reminds himself of how successful his parents and grandparents were even with so few resources and strong language barriers.

He continued to talk about the importance of volunteerism, sharing stories about students who have benefited from scholarships funded by him and his wife. He said that those students are the true leaders of our world today because they have learned how to use scarce resources to share their gifts of time and knowledge to make a larger difference.

“I happen to think that we as Americans are generating a disservice to ourselves,” Langone said. “We can’t cure every problem that exists, and

even if it’s taking a small amount of water out of the Atlantic Ocean, I can at least say that I made the effort. That is what most people do who give of themselves call charity.”

Langone said that, when he meets with these students, he is overwhelmed by their gratefulness. Each time he meets with them, he tells them that the best way to thank him is to give back to others. He said that their time will be the most valuable thing that they can give and they should continue to give that to others for as long as they can.

“There’s a million different ways that people can share and give back.

Regrettably, it always seems to dwell on the check-writing side of the exercise,” he said.

Langone talked about philanthropy as a great American phenomenon but commented that Jews have for years acknowledged philanthropy as a part of their culture. He emphasized that this must be rewarded, not in the form of medals or awards, but with appreciation for the fact that “the world is better because they were here.” He said that dedication and passion for making the world a better place demonstrates that they are “good” people.

Langone shared what he has gained during the years by giving back to those in need. Being a philanthropist helped to boost his self-confidence because he finally realized that he could make a difference in someone’s life.

“It gives you a sense of self-respect you might not otherwise get. The

thing that is most precious about success is what you do with your selfrespect and confidence,” Langone said. “I am the beneficiary of my own charity.”

Lastly, Langone shared his key to success as noticing the people around you.

“Surround yourself with people who are better, smarter and more able than you,” he said.

After his talk, Langone shared his personal advice for Brandeis students with The Hoot.

“Do the best you can, but most of all, believe in yourself. If you can develop a sense of confidence, part of which means being able to know when you have failed, you will be very successful.”

“When we think about the model of Brandeis, that special blend of a small liberal arts college embedded in the heart of a great research university, that was his vision,” President Fred Lawrence said of the professor, faculty dean and lecture-series namesake Saul Cohen.

The lecture series is co-sponsored by the Brandeis Investment Club, the Brandeis Economics Society and the Brandeis Entrepreneur Club. It was established last year in honor of Saul G. Cohen, a former Brandeis science professor who died in 2010, by Cohen’s family and friends, all of whom have worked to generate conversation about pressing issues in the world today with leading experts of academia, arts, business, politics, law and science.

After graduating summa cum laude

from Harvard in 1937, Cohen found that being Jewish deterred him from having a career in education in his chosen field of chemistry. Instead, he went to work for Land at Polaroid in 1945 and solved the organic chemistry problems that led to developments in instant photography.

After leaving the Polaroid Corporation, Cohen joined the faculty and began teaching at Brandeis in 1950. At Brandeis, he became the first chairman of the chemistry department and the science school, as well as the first dean of faculty and the first university professor.

In his opening remarks on Monday, Lawrence described the Cohen lecture as one of the “hallmark events in the academic, intellectual life of Brandeis University.” Lawrence stated that he believed Cohen would have greatly appreciated hearing from Ken Langone, who Lawrence described as a “giant of philanthropy.”

He has received numerous awards on behalf of his work, including most recently the Horatio Alger award, given to individuals who have overcome difficult circumstances early on in their lives but have persevered to achieve excellence and to serve as their community’s leaders.

“Although his financial contributions to the NYU Medical Center have been transformative, my husband and I would proudly say that his daily contributions of his time, insights, experience and unswerving commitment to excellence are far more magnificent,” Elisabeth Cohen said.

April 27, 2012

NEWS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Activists hold teach-in to educate about Occupy movement

By Gilda Di Carli Staff

Students for a Democratic Society joined with their peers in a group led

by Professor Gordon Fellman (SOC), hosted a teach-in in the Shapiro Campus Center atrium on Tuesday.

This teach-in incorporated a series of speakers as part of the group’s Occupy Brandeis Spring Week.

Fellman’s team spent six weeks organizing the teach-in. The idea of a teach-in originated in a conversation Fellman had with Provost Steve Goldstein.

“Since the sixties and seventies, I have been taken with that form of education and stimulating awareness and thought, and this seemed like a rich and complex enough topic to warrant dusting off the old teach-in template and seeing where we might be able to go with it now,” Fellman said. “I hope it raised awareness among people who attended of the realities of US society that Occupy addresses, of some of the movement’s actions and ideas, and of the General Assembly method of discussing and moving forward.”

The speakers spoke on topics ranging from media coverage of the Occupy Movement, to environmental issues regarding unequal appropriation of wealth, to the annually celebrated strike, May Day, to women’s and gender issues within the Occupy movement. For organizer Seth Grande ’12, though, one of the most important parts of the teach-in was the Occupy Harvard teach-in.

“I think looking to them for tactics, for demands, for strategies, models can be really helpful,” Grande said.

Specifically, sophomore at Harvard, Sandra Korn, discussed the history of student protests at Harvard and how over the past year, they have pro-

gressed into developments with the student worker action movement on the Harvard no layoffs campaign.

One of the sessions at the teach-in students commented on at the General Assembly was President Lawrence’s talk on the recent tuition hikes. Many students felt frustrated by what many felt were avoidances to basic questions about the process, while others sympathized with the financial restraints on Brandeis as an institution.

Students voiced their hopes of what this week’s teach-in could do for the Brandeis community.

“I think it’s particularly relevant at Brandeis because so many people pride Brandeis as this social justice institution. Well, where? We’re talking about this very vague notion of social justice,” Shea Reister ’12 said. Reister urged students to be more mindful of workers’ rights at Brandeis, where how exactly their money is being spent.

Students expressed enthusiasm for the teach-in. “What’s beautiful is just that it’s a radically different kind of event,” Reister said. All of the teachin sessions culminated to the general assembly, where all attendees could discuss how they felt the day went as well as what issues they would like to address moving forward.

At the assembly, participants were urged to use communication methods used at Occupy sites around the country to promote a progressive, allinclusive and cooperative dialogue amongst attendees. Twinkle fingers replaced handclaps, raising an index finger to provide a point of information replaced disruptive interruptions and mic-checks, a device based on call-and-repeat, magnified certain points of dialogue and brought onlookers into the conversation.

One of the demands brought up at the teach-in was to add a requirement

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

occupy at brandeis Students for a Democratic Society and other groups held a teach-in, featuring Prof. Gordy Fellman.

for Brandeis students in which a social justice portion is incorporated into every concentration curriculum.

Student Union President Herbie Rosen ‘12 encouraged students to get involved in the Student Union. “Have a plan set in motion for next year so we can get students more involved in that process.”

SDS political platform also calls for more student communication with administrators. In a flier protesting the recent tuition increase, the group wrote, “The financial actions of universities including Brandeis have significant social ramifications. We all have the right to be involved in how Brandeis uses and invests its funds.”

Sahar Massachi also urged students to reflect back on Brandeis’ roots to set goals moving forward.

“Now it’s time for phase 2. The reason that all these great professors came to Brandeis before it was accredited by the American Association of Universities was because we were meant to be a laboratory for social justice,” Massachi said. “Our job was to teach people how to do good and then send them out to do good.”

One student claimed there’s a problem with that fact that students aren’t aware of Brandeis’ history of social justice. “It’s wrong that you can get out of Brandeis and never ask those questions.”

“I’ve learned a lot of what’s wrong with the world, but I haven’t learned very much at all about how to change it. And I think we should make a difference by changing that part of Brandeis. And I think we can,” admit-

ted Massachi.

Many students involved with SDS have ties to the national Occupy Movement. “I’ve been involved in Occupy since the first day on Occupy Wall Street. It’s extremely important to me that it continues. To me it’s primarily raising consciousness that we at any time can stand up and say hey, we have a voice. We’re not going to silently while all these things around us happen and effect our lives,” Reister said.

“I’m a first generation college student and a first generation American. My involvement with SDS has allowed me to look back at my family’s history and the way my family thinks and reflect on the unknowing restraints on their ideologies,” sophomore, Jaclyn Gill ‘14 said.

Union President-elect to take office next week, promises reforms ELECTION, from page 1

the E-board, including social justice coordinator and the community advocates positions, a drastic change to previous president Herbie Rosen’s Executive Board, almost double the size of Kirkland’s.

As president of the Student Union, Kirkland claims he plans to focus on communication between the administration, the Student Union and the Brandeis student body. Like every other of the presidential candidates, Kirkland’s platform centered on transparency and communication

with the student body and the administration. He does, however, focus heavily on the use of social media.

His campaign was boosted by weekly emails sent to the student body as Union secretary, detailing each week’s events in the Union. In such a short election, Kirkland felt that his name recognition gave him a significant boost.

In an interview with The Hoot, Kirkland explained his support of the amendments drafted by Rosen.

The amendments include more frequent review of the constitution by the Judiciary. “It’s bad we only look at

it every four years. Every four years is a whole new student body,” Kirkland said. “It gives the Judiciary more responsibility.”

“We need a position that is always monitoring our Constitution,” reads the amendment proposal, “making sure it remains flexible and appropriate.”

Other amendments propose a non-voting senior representative to the board of trustees, who will hold a town hall meeting two weeks prior to meetings of the board of trustees so that students may raise any concerns they wish to bring to the board.

“If feasible,” the amendment proposal reads, “the student representatives in collaboration with the University President, or Chief Student Affairs Officer, will provide insight on issues to be discussed at the next Board of Trustees meeting.”

Current President Rosen explained the timing of the newly drafted amendments. “[I] put them right in time for the next Student Union to implement them. These are some things I spent some time working on as president and … I wanted to see them happen before I left.”

Hillel election results announced

By Ben Federlin

Special to the Hoot

After more than a day of voting that was open to the entire study body, regardless of religious affiliation, Allie Saran ’13 was elected president of the Hillel Executive Student Board.

The new campus relations coordinator Maddie Crilly ’13 and the social events and culture coordinator Ilana Pomerantz ’13 are also both members of rising senior class. Several rising juniors also gained executive positions including Adena Morgan ’14 who has been elected to the office of education coordinator as well as Joey Rosen ’14 the new Shabbat and festival meals coordinator.

A few underclassmen also succeeded in obtaining offices on the Hillel Executive board. Jillian Hoenig

’15 will now be serving as the tzedek/ social justice coordinator and Adam Ossip ’15 will take on the mantle of the religious life coordinator.

Jake Altholz ’15 succeeded in pursuing a write-in campaign and gained the position of Israel programs coordinator. He is currently the only candidate who won office through a write-in campaign. According to Saran there is still a position available as the finance coordinator. Saran explained that the finance position is currently looking for candidates, and can submit a half-page platform. The president-elect will review these platforms and appoint a position. This is in line with the Hillel constitution as is necessary to fill the as-of-yet unfilled position of finance coordinator.

Official installations will occur a week from Friday at Hillel Shabbat dinner.

Congratulations!

The Hoot took second place in the 2012 New England College Newspaper of the Year Contest, sponsored by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.

David Fisch, newly-elected senator for the class of 2013, explained why.

“There’s a turnover every year, nothing gets finished.” By scheduling the amendments to go through at the end of the spring semester, Rosen hopes they will continue to move forward at the beginning of the fall semester.

Kirkland believes that his experience as Union secretary will allow him to be a more efficient and effective leader of the student body, because he needs less time to adjust to the office or learn the ropes. His position on the undergraduate planning committee to the strategic plans, he said, help his connections to the university administration.

In response to the brief election cycle, Kirkland felt it would benefit Brandeis not only to have a longer campaign season, but for voting to be open multiple days, which he says he has seen at many other schools, where campaigns last for up to six months.

His narrow margin could have been due to low voter turnout.

Regarding contentious issues, including the Department of Community housing shortage, Kirkland hopes to act as a liaison between the administration and the student body.

“The university knows that housing is an issue. I would gather student input and then talk to administrators.”

Bringing up the issue is not, he says, “a shot in the dark” and administrators already aware of the issues.

His plans include streamlining the Union and making it more open to students, but “I don’t think the Union should take itself too seriously,” Kirkland concluded, “the student body isn’t like that.”

8 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

April 27, 2012

Softball goes 1-2 during weekend as season winds down

By Brian Tabakin Editor

This past weekend the Judges faced Clark and Tufts in a day-night doubleheader. The Judges split their doubleheader with Clark before losing to Tufts. The team is now 19-14 (3-5 UAA) on the season.

The first game of the doubleheader was a classic pitchers’ duel. Starting pitcher Caroline Miller ’12 gave up just one hit while striking out seven and her Clark counterpart Nicole Meuse gave up only two hits while striking out four.

Neither team managed a hit until the fifth inning when outfielder Lauren Porcaro ’12 led off with a double.

Meuse settled down, however, and retired the next three batters to get out of the inning unscathed. Clark’s only hit of the game came in the sixth inning when junior Mel Melkonian doubled into left field, but Miller retired the next two batters to get out of trouble.

Miller ran into trouble in the ninth inning. Sophomore Shawna Amatucci drew a leadoff walk and rookie Molly Clark immediately came on as a pinch runner.

Senior Stefanie Kettenacker sacrificed Clark over to second base and then Miller lost control. Miller issued another walk to senior Maureen Coakley to put runners on first and second. Facing sophomore pinch hitter Heather Figula, Miller threw a wild pitch, letting the runners advance to second and third and then threw another wild pitch that allowed the winning run to score from third as Brandeis fell 1-0.

The second game of the doubleheader featured much more offense.

In the first inning of play, Porcaro blasted a grand slam to put Brandeis on top 4-0 and the Judges never looked back going on to win the game easily. Clark scored single runs in the second and third innings on a home run from sophomore Tatiana Chunis and an RBI double from Melko-

photo from brandeisnow

nian respectively. The Judges got the two runs back in the fourth inning on a two-run double from Brittany Grimm ’12.

Clark scored another run in the bottom half of the fourth inning and Brandeis scored two more runs in the sixth inning as the Judges won 8-3.

The following day, the Judges returned home to face ninth-ranked Tufts University. Brandeis got 10 hits from nine different players but was ultimately unable to recover from an early six-run deficit.

Sophomore catcher Jo Clair was the offensive star for Tufts, going 3-of-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Clair blew the game wide open in the top of the fourth when she blasted a three-run shot to put Tufts on top 6-0.

Brandeis refused to go down without a fight, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth. Porcaro singled to shortstop with one out and then Anya Kamber ’15 singled to left field. The Tufts outfielder misplayed the ball allowing Porcaro to score from first base.

Unfortunately, Tufts added two unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning, loading the bases on an error, a single and a walk. Then Tufts scored on two consecutive wild pitches by relief pitcher Melissa Nolan ’14 to go ahead 8-1.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brandeis got its first sustained offensive pressure of the afternoon as they scored three runs. The Judges loaded the bases on two walks and a

single from Grimm. Then Marianne Specker ’12 drilled a two-run double to left field. With the two RBIs, Specker now has 105 in her career, moving her into the top-five in program history. A wild pitch from Tufts pitcher Rebecca DiBiase allowed Grimm to score and moved pinch runner Mimi Theodore ’12 into scoring position. A sensational defensive play from Tufts centerfielder Lizzy Iuppa, however, prevented several runs from scoring and kept Tufts ahead 8-4.

After holding off Brandeis’ offensive onslaught, Tufts scored two more runs in the top of the sixth on an error and an RBI single to ice the game.

Brandeis scored another run in the seventh inning but it was ultimately meaningless as they fell to Tufts 10-5.

Softball Team

UAA

All

Emory

6–2

33 – 3

Washington

4–4

26 – 12

Rochester

4–4

25 – 12

Case Western

3–5

25 – 14

Brandeis

3–5

19 –14

Chicago

0–0

20 – 8

Box Scores @ Clark

Loss

1–0

@ Clark

Win

8–3

Tufts

Loss

10 – 5

Men’s tennis ends disappointing season with three straight losses

By Brian Tabakin Editor

This week the Brandeis men’s tennis team lost its final two regular-season matches as well as the opening round of the UAA championship.

On Thursday morning the Judges faced 17th-ranked Washington University in the first round of the UAA championships in Florida. The Judges were only able to earn one point as Washington easily dispatched Brandeis 8-1.

The Judges’ sole point of the contest came at No. 2 doubles in which Josh Jordan ’13 and Steven Milo ’13 defeated Parker Chang and Kareem Farah 8-6.

The Judges came close to winning two other points but could not prevail in either of them. In No. 1 singles Milo lost 6-4, 6-4 and in No. 6 singles Michael Secular ’15 fell 6-4, 6-3.

The loss drops the Judges to 4-13 on the season; however, eight of their 13 losses came at the hands of nationally ranked teams or Division I opponents.

On Monday, Brandeis traveled to Tufts for the final match of the regular season. Unfortunately, they were unable to defeat Tufts, falling 6-3.

In the match, all three of the Judges’ points came from juniors. In No. 2 doubles, Jordan and Milo defeated Ben Barad and Sam Laber 8-4. The

Judges had close calls at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles but could not win either as they fell 8-6 in No. 1 doubles and 9-8 (9-7) in No. 3 doubles.

In singles action, Milo defeated Barad 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in No. 1 singles and Jordan beat Andrew Lutz 6-2, 6-4 in No. 2 singles to give the Judges a brief 3-2 lead.

Unfortunately, the Judges lost at No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles as Tufts came away with the victory.

In the first game of the week, the Judges lost 10-5 to Division I opponent Bryant College.

With both teams using their entire rosters, Bryant was able to use their superior depth and talent at the bottom of the roster to earn the victory; however, if the match had been scored using traditional Division 3 rules, with the top six singles and top three doubles teams competing, Brandeis would have won 5-4.

A group of first-years earned three of the Judges’ five points. In No. 2 doubles, Alec Siegel ’15 and Secular earned an 8-4 win over Vidith Huot and Joshua Rubinstein.

In singles, Secular also earned a victory in No. 4 singles, defeating Juan Gonzalez-Paz 6-3, 6-0 and Ben Fine ’15 defeated Rubinstein 7-6, 6-3 in No. 6 singles.

Jordan was involved in the other two match victories for the Judges.

In No. 1 doubles, Jordan and Milo defeated Ernesto Arguello and Gon-

zalez-Paz 8-4, while in No. 1 singles, Jordan dispatched Zachary Morris 6-2, 6-4.

Evan Berner ’14 and Matthew Zuckerman ’14 came close to winning at No. 4 doubles but ultimately fell 9-7.

Additionally, Zuckerman battled hard in No. 8 singles before losing 7-5, 6-3. Jon Ostrowsky ’13 dropped a first set tiebreaker at No. 9 singles and eventually lost 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.

Men’s Tennis Team

UAA

All

Emory

0–0

18 – 0

Washington

1–0

14 – 5

Case Western

1–0

14 – 7

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

12 – 6

NYU

0–0

9–5

Rochester

0–0

6 – 13

Brandeis

0–1

4 – 13

Chicago

0–1

2–6

Box Scores Bryant

Loss

10 – 5

@ Tufts

Loss

6–3

@ Washington

Loss

8–1 photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

April 27, 2012

SPORTS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

Baseball ends season on a high, beating Bowdoin

By Brian Tabakin Editor

After a disappointing and painful season, the Brandeis baseball team managed to send its seniors off with a win in the final home game of the season with a 14-7 rout of Bowdoin College. With the win Brandeis improves to 8-29 (1-7 UAA) on the season behind a strong 2-1 stretch against teams coached by former Judges players.

Brandeis and Bowdoin were tied at 3-3 going into the fifth inning. In the top of the frame it appeared that Bowdoin was taking control of the game as they scored three runs to go ahead 6-3; however, in the bottom of the frame Brandeis plated six runs.

Then after holding Bowdoin scoreless in the top of the sixth, Brandeis scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning as the Judges scored 11 of their 14 runs in the two frames.

Third baseman Sean O’Hare ’12 went 2-for-3 with two walks, two doubles and three runs scored batting in the leadoff spot. Since returning to the lineup five games ago, O’Hare is batting .400 (8-of-20) with seven runs scored, three doubles and three home runs with a 1.000 slugging percentage. Catcher Kenny Destremps ’12 went 2-for-4, scoring three runs and with an RBI batting out of the twohole in the lineup while designated hitter Pat Nicholson M.A. ’12 had a game-high four hits going 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored in the three-hole.

Rounding out the senior class, right fielder Zach Malis ’12 went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and left fielder Joe Galli ’12 reached base twice after getting hit by a pitch, scoring once and driving in a run.

Center fielder Chris Ferro ’13 boosted the team going 2-for-3 with three RBIs thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies.

Although Bowdoin outhit the Judges 15-14, the Polar Bears could not come up with timely hitting to plate enough runs to overcome Brandeis’ juggernaut offensive performance.

Furthermore, the Judges’ senior class was extremely effective out of the bullpen. Alex Tynan ’12 allowed five hits and just one run in 3.1 innings of work while striking out three, and then Andrew Weissenberg ’12 retired the only batter he faced on one pitch. Nicholson closed out the game getting the last Bowdoin batter to line out to first base.

Kyle Brenner ’15 earned the win to improve to 3-7 on the season.

Brenner gave up 10 hits and six runs, five earned.

Earlier in the week, the Judges faced Endicott College. In a pitcher’s duel, Endicott defeated the visiting Judges 2-1 behind a stellar pitching performance from six different pitchers.

Both teams were only able to muster a single hit through the first four innings. Endicott scored, however, in the bottom of the fourth. After Tad Gold drew a walk and stole second, Colin Sitarz drove Gold in with a RBI single to right field.

The Judges got their lone run of the

Track and field teams shine as season nears end

By Brian Tabakin Editor

In a meet featuring 16 teams at the Eric Loeschner Invitational, hosted

by Fitchburg State University, both the Judges men’s and women’s track and field teams recorded stellar performances. The men finished with six great times to earn 46 points and fourth place while the women earned 49 points and fifth place.

For the men, sprinter Vincent Asante ’14 gave Brandeis its first topthree performance of the day, finishing third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.79 seconds, only .07 seconds off the pace of first place. With his finish, Asante beat his previous best and moved up to seventh in the UAA in the event.

Distance runner Alex Kramer ’13 had the best performance at the meet for the Judges. He came in first place in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:00.96. The closest competitor to Kramer was almost two seconds behind him. Ed Colvin ’14 finished third in the same event with a time of 4:03.1, .07 seconds off the pace of second place, giving the Judges two of the top three finishes in the event.

Kensai Hughes ’14 kept up the Judges’ success, earning a third-place finish in the high jump with a distance of 6.11 meters. Viet Tran ’15 rounded out the individual events for the Judges, coming in fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 12.42 meters. Tran’s performance vaulted him into ninth place in the UAA in the triple jump.

Finally, in the 4x100 relay race, the team came in third place with a time of 44.48 seconds.

On the women’s side, Kristi Pisarik ’15 set the tone for the Judges with a time of 2:29.41 to earn second place in the 800-meter race, the first event of the day. Amelia Lundkvist ’14

dominated the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:50.88, earning her first place. Her time was almost six seconds faster than all other competitors.

In the same event, Victoria Sanford ’14 finished only .08 seconds off the pace of second place with a time of 4:56.29. Erin Bisceglia ’13 was nipping at Sanford’s heels, finishing in fourth place with a time of 4:57.95, while Ali Kirsch ’15 rounded out the Brandeis competitors in the event with a time of 5:04.92, earning a sixth place finish.

In the field events, Lily Parenteau ’12 earned third place in the high jump with a jump of 1.58 meters. Her vertical beat her previous season best and moved her into sixth place in the event in the UAA. Kim Farrington ’13 earned a third-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 10.86 meters, moving her into fourth place in the UAA. Finally, Brittany Bell ’13 secured some points for the Judges with a 5.11-meter leap in the long jump that moved her into ninth place in the UAA. Additionally, during the weekend two Judges’ runners also competed in the Princeton Larry Ellis Invitational.

Distance runner Chris Brown ’12 competed in the 1,500-meter race, finishing with a time of 3:47.94. His time was good enough to win his heat and netted him a 19th-place finish in a field of mostly Division I opponents.

His time was first among all Division III competitors at the event, was the second-fastest time in the UAA this season and was the third-fastest time in Division III this season.

Distance runner Kate Warwick ’12 competed in the 5,000-meter race, finishing with a time of 17:29.17, earning her a 40th-place finish. Her time was the sixth-fastest in the UAA this season and was the 27th fastest time in Division III this season.

game in the seventh inning, though the Judges could have blown the game open in the frame. After loading the bases with three hits and one out, Brian Allen ’15 tied the game with an RBI lineout. Unfortunately, Endicott would get out of the inning without any more damage as the next Judges’ batter harmlessly flied out to right for the final out of the inning.

Brian Ing ’14 pitched a stellar game for the Judges, going seven innings and giving up just five hits and a single run. Ing left the tied game in the eighth inning earning a no decision.

Endicott scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning after a Judges error allowed a routine groundout to reach base.

The Judges will close out their season this weekend with a doubleheader against Trinity College starting at noon on Sunday.

Baseball Team

UAA

All

Emory

7–1

24 – 11

Washington

5–3

25 – 12

Case Western

4–4

26-14-1

Rochester

3–5

10 – 18

Brandeis

1–7

8 – 29

Chicago

0–0

19 – 10

Box Scores @ Endicott

Loss

2–1

Bowdoin

Win

14 – 7

photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

Women’s tennis finishes successful regular season on a low note

By Brian Tabakin Editor

This past week the 20th-ranked women’s tennis team completed the regular season, dropping the final two matches.

The first match came against 19thranked Wellesley University. In a hard-fought match on both sides, Wellesley came out ahead, snapping the Judges’ three-game winning streak.

In No. 1 doubles, Carley Cooke ’15 and Faith Broderick ’13 earned the only doubles victory for the Judges, defeating Sojung Lee and Marie Watanabe 9-7. In singles action, Broderick earned the easiest point of the afternoon with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Erica Choo at No. 2 singles.

After falling behind in No. 6 singles, Roberta Bergstein ’14 fought back to earn the victory over Kendall Tada 1-6, 6-4, 6-0.

The two deciding matches came at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. In No. 1 singles, Cooke suffered a defeat in a third-set tiebreaker 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (119) while at No. 3 singles Allyson Bernstein ’14 fought hard but eventually bowed out 0-6, 7-5, 7-5.

A few days later, the Judges returned home to face 28th-ranked Trinity in the final home game of the season. Unfortunately, the Judges eventually fell 6-3.

Cooke and Broderick got the Judges off to a good start defeating Hillary Hoyt and Senzosihle Mauve-Maphisa at No. 1 doubles, 8-4; however, the Judges lost at No. 2 doubles 8-2 and No. 3 doubles 9-7.

After winning the final two doubles matches, Trinity carried that momentum into singles action. At No. 1 singles, Hoyt defeated Cooke 6-0, 7-5, and at No. 2 singles Mauve-Maphisa

photo from brandeisnow

dispatched Broderick 6-2, 6-3. Bernstein earned the first point in singles action for the Judges at No. 3 singles with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Regan Cherna, while Bergstein earned the Judges’ final point at No. 6 singles with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Frances Cameron.

Trinity clinched the match victory with a pair of tiebreaker wins at No. 4 and 5 singles. Kelly Semrod defeated Simone Vandroff ’15 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) at No. 4 singles while Alexa Katz ’14 was dispatched by Elizabeth Gerber 6-3 7-6 (7-2) at No. 5 singles.

The Judges will return to action later this week at the UAA championships in Florida. As the fifth seed, they will face 13th-ranked Washington University in the opening round.

Women’s Tennis Team

UAA

All

Case Western

0–0

17 – 4

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

15 – 3

Brandeis

0–0

13 – 4

Emory

0–0

13 – 4

Washington

0–0

13 – 6

Chicago

0–0

9–1

Rochester

0–0

8–4

NYU

0–0

0–9

Box Scores @ Wellesley

Loss

6–3

Trinity

Loss

6–3

10 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

April 27, 2012

‘We will remember them’: a story of World War II

By Alex Schneider Editor

Samuel Edward “Eddie” Hatch— my grandfather—has lived a long time, 86 years. None was as pivotal in the story of his life as the year 1944.

It is a story my family knows well.

Teddy Booras, his best friend and army “buddy,” switched tasks with my grandfather and offered to clean their barracks at Sloane Court in Chelsea, London, for an inspection. It was a Monday morning, July 3, almost one month since D-Day. My grandfather exited to the street and attempted to board the company truck that was waiting to bring the soldiers to their workstations but, by chance, the truck was full. That’s when he heard someone yell, “buzz bomb.”

My grandfather’s reaction was immediate: “I ran to my left, and I saw my mother’s face in my mind. I ran, and I hit the ground. I was thrown up against something. That was it. I lived and he died, that’s the story.” The bomb decimated my grandfather’s chemical processing company, killing all the men on the truck, the commander of the company and Teddy Booras in the basement of the billet.

My grandfather was spared.

It has been a year now since I visited Sloane Court and stood at the spot of the blast.

What a visit. Forget quiet reflection—I was startled to hear a fire alarm roar to life. Within minutes, the students of the Garden House School lined the street, talking, giggling and waiting for the all clear. Had these students ever read the memorial plaque so close to their classrooms?

“In memory of the 74 American military personnel of the United States Army and three civilians who were killed on the 3rd July 1944 by a ‘V-1’ Flying Bomb in Sloane Court East.

We will remember them.”

These students are not the only ones likely unaware of that bombing.

Wartime censorship prevented the attack from reaching the press. My grandfather was not even allowed to tell his parents what had happened until he returned home.

As a result, historians have nearly ignored what was the greatest loss of life for American servicemen due to a V-1 bomb. Today, there’s almost no mention of the bombing on the Internet or in the Army’s official history.

Fragments remain, though. Among the mess of government files at the National Archives, one folder is titled, “CWCO-130-0.1, History, 24 Apr 1943 - 25 Jan 1946.” Inside, my grandfather’s story comes to life as part of the official history of his army unit, the 130th Chemical Processing Company.

“This was the greatest single disaster of United States Army and Personnel in the London area,” the history states.

It is all there: Sloane Court, the truck, the decimated company and the destroyed billet. But nothing compares to the logbook. There, in bold typewriter font are lists of every day in 1943 that my grandfather took a furlough, as well as the names of his army buddies of whom he always spoke so fondly.

Then there are fragments at the Local Studies Department in Chelsea, London. For instance, aside from the 63 members of my grandfather’s company, I learned that eight neighbors died when their apartments imploded from the blast. Today, those apartment buildings clearly look different, their architecture more modern and out of place.

One other mention of the event at Sloane Court appears in the biography of the famed bandleader Glenn Miller, who was

PHOTOS BY ALEX SCHNEIDER/THE HOOT

the plaque that marks the bombing Unveiled on Oct. 4, 1998.

actually stationed at Sloane Court.

What luck—the man had requested a transfer out of the city due to his fear of buzz bombs and the transfer took place July 2.

But that’s pretty much it. Almost no one else remembers what happened at Sloane Court.

Except for one man, Bill Figg, a longtime resident of Chelsea who died about a decade ago. I wish I had met Figg. Leaders at the Chelsea Historical Society tell me he was passionate about finding out more about the blast. In fact, he wrote to the White House and U.S. government for years but was unable to find out who had actually died in the blast. He also paid for and installed the plaque now hanging at Sloane Court. My grandfather had all the answers and this man wanted to know more, but the two were never able to connect.

That’s why I’m so fascinated by the story, and why it means so much to me. Because it meant something to Figg who witnessed the attack, and it means something to my grandfather who lost his friend Teddy Booras on that day.

For 18 years prior, my grandfather had lived a quiet life in a small town in Western Massachusetts, in the home of first-generation immigrants of modest means, until the Army of the United States of America changed the course of his life.

On Nov. 3, 1943, my grandfather became Samuel E. Hatch, Technician Fourth Grade of the 130th Chemical Processing Company, and was sent south to Alabama for basic training.

Within months, my grandfather had toured the world, moving through one of the suburbs of London known as Chelsea, the volatile countryside of Alsace-Lorraine, and the small island of Luzon in the South Pacific.

Twenty-seven months and 12 days later, on Jan. 25, 1946, my grandfather returned to Western Massachusetts, where he resides to this day.

Of all the moments and memories my grandfather carries with him, the images of 1944 are the most real and deserve the greatest attention.

Instead of going to college, my

diagram illustrating bomb damage

grandfather and his buddies shipped off to Europe, where, within a month, half the company would be dead. My grandfather was a part of the other half—the lucky half. The half that never really left Sloane Court.

When he discusses the bombing of July 3, my grandfather inevitably talks of chance. “What were the odds?” he asks. “We could have been billeted anywhere else in London, but we were billeted right there, right there where a V-1 flying bomb stopped right there on our street. … It could

have stopped anywhere; it could have stopped over Buckingham Palace.”

The odds were unseemly. My grandfather had been in London less than two months when devastation struck, but those two months and the many that had laid ahead pale in comparison to the one morning my grandfather faced true active combat. Indeed, while the year 1944 was, without any doubt, a critical time filled with new experiences and travels for my grandfather, the year truly began and ended for him on July 3.

In the spirit of the army barracks tune, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” my grandfather says, “Old soldiers never die, they just keep telling war stories.” I see nothing wrong with continuing to tell that story. Few moments are as central to my grandfather’s life and to my family’s history.

I will not let his story fade away.

Alex Schneider ’12 runs http://londonmemorial.org, a website dedicated to remembering the bombing at Sloane Court on July 3, 1944.

April 27, 2012

FEATURES 11

The Brandeis Hoot

’Deis equestrians unique team, not club

By Dana Trismen editor

Describing Brandeis’ equestrian team, captain Madeline Brown ’14 insists that many people “don’t understand the fact that it is a huge commitment and it is an athletic sport.”

She classifies the group as a team, not a club, despite some of its unique components.

On the team, Brown explained that there are people who possess a “wide range of experience. I, for example, have been riding for 12 years but we also have people who have never ridden before.” This presents unique challenges to a team whose riders compete at different levels. While the team only requires members to attend one riding lesson per week, the time commitment remains daunting.

The riding stable is about 40 minutes away, so in a club sports van, the full trip lasts four to five hours. While each lesson itself is relatively short, the amount of time spent driving or at the stables is not. Brown does admit that “some people come to the club not knowing the commitment.” These people usually drop out but “the people who have ridden before are super enthusiastic.”

The concept of an Equestrian Team challenges the conventional meaning of the term “team.” While members may wear the same sweatshirts and ride in vans to lessons together, it is an individual contest with the horse when competing. Brown emphasizes the value of the relationship a rider has with their horse, a bond that no other sports team possesses. While riders usually get different horses each lesson, Brown acknowledges that she “definitely has favorites.” She believes in the power different horses have to teach various skills, explain-

ing that “if you are having a specific problem, there is usually a horse that can help you fix that.”

Brown admits that it is “a little more difficult to bond with the team because not everybody goes to the same practice.” The team, therefore, holds dinners and fundraisers in order to connect with each other. She also mentioned the team’s sense of solidarity. Horseback riding clothes are expensive, and team members are connected enough to share clothing.

Brown said, “If someone is the same size as me and they need a jacket, I would loan it to them for a day.” At times a unified team and at others a single competing horse-and-rider, the Equestrian Team is required to face both fronts.

The team also allows students a chance for leadership. The coach lives far from campus and it is up to students to arrange lessons and enter competitions. Brown is technically “lesson captain” and her role includes to scheduling lessons and communicating with team members. This team is driven entirely by the motivation of students.

While the number of equestrian teams on college campuses are growing, the program at Brandeis still stands out among its peer schools.

Brown said that the “club sports department is hugely supportive of us.

This year especially they gave us a lot of funding.” This funding helps team members pay for lessons, which are personalized instruction sessions that would strain the budget of the average college student. Brandeis’ team is one of 11 in the Greater Boston Area.

Brown described the team’s success, noting that this year the team finished seventh in the region, compared to fifth last year. Five people qualified for regionals and two qualified for zones.

brandeis equestrian team members Winning ribbons at Wellesley competition.

She further explained that for upperlevel horseback riding, zones is the step immediately before nationals.

After graduating college, horseback riding becomes a recreational activity for most. Brown noted that “you can ride after you graduate because they have alumni divisions at horse shows.

A few seniors this year are hoping that if they stay in the area, they can still ride with us in the alumni division.” Despite becoming less competitive after college, the team emphasizes its dedication to each other and to its animals. Performing well at high-level competitions, Brown says the Brandeis equestrian team should not be disregarded as merely a club but rather it should be viewed as a functioning athletic team.

competing in jumping events

photos contributed by madeline brown

View from the top: Sean Fabery

By Sean Fabery Editor

When I arrived at Brandeis in the fall of ’08, I had no idea what I was doing. I was only sure about one thing: I was not going to be an English major.

What’s my major now? English.

Any senior can tell you that’s hardly an uncommon occurrence. Plenty of people I know began their Brandeisian careers as pre-med, only to transform into a funky sociology or IGS major after a semester or two of chemistry.

Of course, that doesn’t make it any less unexpected when it happens to you. That first semester, I took calculus and computer science, convinced I was going to end up programming to my heart’s content for four years.

Fast-forward a month into the semester: I wasn’t enjoying myself, or at least I wasn’t enjoying the part of me that stayed up late stressing about exams I knew I would do fine but never great on. At the same time, I was taking an English course—Twentieth Century American Comic Novel— and loving the time I got to spend with Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth and Dawn Powell.

Toward the end of the semester I spoke with my English professor at the end of class. When he asked me what I wanted to study, I impulsively told him I was majoring in English.

“My God,” he said. “Now why would you want to do a thing like that?”

He was kidding—I think. At any rate, it’s not a decision I regret. Many of the best instructors I’ve had at Brandeis have been in the English department, and I’m certainly a better writer, reader and—dare I say—person for it.

That’s not to say I regret experimenting with math and computer

science. I genuinely thought I would enjoy them, and I did—to an extent. I just happened to find something I enjoyed even more, and isn’t that great?

When you’re making your next schedule, remember to pursue something you enjoy learning about. It’s fine to think practically, but that doesn’t mean you should stay in your safe zone. I’ve heard too many people lament the English, psychology or Yiddish class that got away. Don’t be one of them.

When I arrived at Brandeis in the fall of ’08, I had no idea what I was doing. When my plane landed at Boston Logan, it was only my second time in New England … ever.

I’m from Georgia—and no, I’m not from Atlanta or even the suburbs of Atlanta. I’m from Columbus, a city on the border with Alabama. Columbus is the hometown of novelist Carson McCullers and Ma Rainey, the mother of blues. If you ask the right person, they’ll swear that Dr. John Pemberton—a veteran of the 1865 Battle of Columbus—invented Coca-Cola right in our city (you’re welcome).

Few people there have heard of Brandeis. After graduation, my high school published a list of universities that its students were attending. Mine was the only one that necessitated that the city and state be listed next to it.

Before December 2007, I also had no idea what Brandeis was. I only applied after a friend recommended it to me, figuring I’d find the history program interesting. When I did my own research, I was immediately attracted by the number of merit aid programs Brandeis offered. Remember, this was before the Great Recession kicked in. So I applied. When I got in, I accepted. Why not leave Georgia for a while?

fabery with hoot friends

It’s a decision I don’t regret. There are a few things I miss about the South. There’s the food—the barbecue, the sweet tea, everything fried.

There’s the hospitality factor; there’s something comforting about everyone exchanging “sir” and “ma’am” all day. In the winter I sometimes even miss the weather.

To be honest, though, it’s not as different as some people think. I’ve had people look at me incredulously when I describe Georgia and it doesn’t sound like a third-world country. That reminds me: Don’t judge other places when you come from Vermont.

When I arrived at Brandeis in the

photo contributed by sean fabery

fall of ’08, I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn’t very involved.

Instead, I spent most of that first year with my roommates in our forced triple. Luckily we all got along, joined by a shared appreciation for “Lost” and marginally funny YouTube videos.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I joined The Hoot. Remember how I made it sound like becoming an English major was the best decision I ever made? Well, scratch that: Joining The Hoot was the best decision I made.

I began my Hoot life as a news writer, but I also dabbled in the arts section, then known as Diverse City (groan). Before I knew it, I was some-

how the arts editor.

To anyone who’s ever considered arts journalism, do it. In the last three years, I’ve gotten to see so many great Brandeis theater productions and art shows. I’ve also discovered just how much I like writing about film. College is all about learning about yourself, and you’re certainly forced to do that when you have to commit 800+ words on a weekly basis.

I wish I could tell you that, behind the scenes, The Hoot is all sex, drugs and hipster music, but it’s really bagels, caffeine and awkward 3 a.m. conversations. In short, it’s Brandeis.

It’s a little weird, but you meet a lot of cool people.

12 The Brandeis Hoot

The Katzwer’s Out of the Bag

ImpressiOns

April 27, 2012

High time for the Olympics to honor murdered Israeli athletes

By Yael Katzwer Editor

The Olympic Games have served since the late 1800s as a meeting ground for countries, a place where they can put aside conflict, differences and all the other things that drive wedges between nations. Rather than use the competition at the Olympics as an excuse for hatred and intolerance, the athletes, coaches, trainers and so on come together in brotherhood. For example, in 2008, when Nino Salukvadze of Georgia won the bronze medal in the 10-meter air pistol competition, she embraced silver-winner Natalia Paderina on the medal podium, despite the fighting between their countries.

The Olympics rarely let politics interfere with the games, although sometimes the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to make concessions. Most notably, the 1916 games were canceled due to World War I and the 1940 and 1944 games were canceled due to World War II. The IOC, not wanting to disrupt the games, even continued the 1972 Munich games after 11 Israeli competitors were murdered. They held a short memorial service and then refused to mention it again.

While we cannot go back in time and yell at the IOC for continuing the games so quickly, we can hold them responsible for their refusal to hold a minute of silence in memory of those 11 Israeli athletes and coaches who were murdered.

Ankie Spitzer, the wife of murdered fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, has been trying for the past 40 years to get the IOC to hold a minute of silence in memory of those who died. The IOC has done nothing, not even deigning to respond to her.

For those of you unfamiliar with the “Munich massacre” (or who have never seen the Eric Bana movie “Munich”), at 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 5, 1972, eight men with the Palestinian terrorist group Black September entered the Olympic Village, went to the Israeli team’s lodgings and

grahic by diane somlo/the hoot

took hostages. When it had all ended on Sept. 6, six terrorists were dead and all 11 Israelis taken hostage were dead.

The response from the IOC was dismal. They held a memorial ceremony on Sept. 6 during which IOC President Avery Brundage said little about the murdered athletes and instead chose to discuss the strength of the games and defend the IOC’s decision not to allow Rhodesia to compete. The remaining Israeli team members who had not been taken hostage

returned home. The teams from Egypt, the Philippines and Algeria left as well as did some members of the Dutch and Norwegian teams.

Nevertheless, the games continued with startling alacrity. Dutch distance runner Jos Hermens said, “You give a party, and someone is killed at the party, you don’t continue the party. I’m going home.”

Continuing their trend of trying to sweep the Munich massacre under the carpet, the IOC has been ignoring Ankie Spitzer for the past 40 years as she has tried to get the IOC

to hold a minute of silence. Spitzer, with help from the Rockland JCC in New York, has created a petition on change.org to send to the IOC asking for a minute of silence at the Olympics in London this summer, which marks the attack’s 40-year anniversary.

In the petition, Spitzer reminds people that “these men were sons; fathers; uncles; brothers; friends; teammates; athletes. They came to Munich in 1972 to play as athletes in the Olympics; they came in peace and went home in coffins.”

Spitzer is not asking for the IOC to

take the blame for what happened or to force the IOC to make a broad statement denouncing the movement responsible for the deaths. All she wants is one minute of silence to honor those who died, one minute of acknowledgement. “Silence is a fitting tribute for athletes who lost their lives on the Olympic stage. Silence contains no statements, assumptions or beliefs and requires no understanding of language to interpret,” Spitzer wrote in the petition.

See SILENCE, page 14

Altered Consciousness

Contemplations and concerns of a graduating senior

By Rick Alterbaum Staff

After nearly four years at Brandeis University, I will be graduating in several weeks along with the rest of the class of 2012.

Certainly, I have benefited from my experience here in a number of ways. I have learned a great deal as a Politics major, about a range of topics

from American government to public policy, political philosophy, law and international relations. The faculty is devoted to the well-being of the students and I’ve had very few professors who I would assert are inferior or sub-par in any major respect.

Compared to where I was when I originally matriculated, I have become a much better writer, communicator and researcher. I can analyze and critically examine complicated

texts and ideas. I’ve developed a more cohesive worldview and perspective on national and international affairs.

My main concern though, even at this late point shortly before commencement day, is how I will be able to apply the skills I have acquired going forward.

At the heart of this matter is that the job market is not strong at all. For liberal arts majors who seek to work for a few years before entering gradu-

graphic by sindhura sonnathi/the hoot

ate school, searching for a career is a miserable and even dehumanizing experience. All your life experience is boiled down to one of thousands of resumes sitting in a dusty pile on some desk in a cubicle. There is too little supply of available positions, especially given how weak this economy is, and far too much demand.

Furthermore, the vast majority of jobs out there are not appealing. Sales jobs are always plentiful. Yet selling insurance of some sort, for instance, seems like an awfully frustrating and monotonous endeavor. Lots of IT positions are available—yet one does not learn about the intricacies of Java by taking courses on Middle East politics.

Then there is the social justice career that Brandeis seems to fetishize with some do-gooder not-for-profit.

If you feel that you can save the whales and would be willing to do so despite making less than the minimum wage and working 60-hour weeks, be my guest.

There are some well-paying, intellectually stimulating, rewarding jobs out there, yet it’s like finding a needle in a haystack—one need only look at websites like Career Builder or Monster to see what I mean. And although my Brandeis education has been valuable, I cannot say it has definitively

distinguished me from tens of thousands of other students in my exact same position who probably found the same things for which I’ve been applying.

Personally, I’m not doomed, I will not become homeless and I have backup plans. Yet my angst is palpable.

The problem though rises beyond Brandeis and the woes of the class of 2012; fundamentally, the American Dream is dying. The notion that this upcoming generation will have higher living standards than the prior ones seems ludicrous to me. I personally doubt that I will ever become as financially successful as my parents.

A malaise has set over this nation.

Our expectations are lower and 7 or 8 percent unemployment with stagnant incomes and wages seems like the new norm. As a patriot, I still try to be cautiously optimistic, do not believe decline is destiny, and hope that America will overcome this rough patch. Yet the rejection letters that I have received from the companies I’ve interviewed with—in my view, as good a symbol of larger trends as any—cause me to think otherwise.

My challenge then to the class of 2012: Prove me wrong, if you can.

Congratulations, and welcome to your new life.

April 27, 2012

iMPRESSIONS 13

The Brandeis Hoot

Hanging up on a free cruise: the emotional toll of doing the right thing

By Alex Schneider Editor

IIt isn’t easy to hang up when a telemarketer offers you a free cruise. But you’ll be happy you did.

This past week, I received a call from 503-468-5198. I rarely pick up when I don’t know who’s on the other line, but I was at Hannaford Supermarket grabbing a few items, I was bored and I had a few minutes to talk.

A recording answered, and it said the word “political survey” before I could hang up. Political survey? As a politics major, I was curious what the survey would be about. Then the recording offered a free cruise trip.

Not expecting much, I kept listening, completed the short political survey on Obama and the Keystone Pipeline and then was connected to a polite, albeit scripted woman representing Caribbean Cruise Line. It was a little too easy.

The woman began by asking for my name but I stopped her. What were the hidden costs? What was the catch?

She didn’t exactly answer. Reading from a script, she began to explain that the cruise line wanted to advertise and it offered free trips as a way of spreading the word about it’s vacation packages.

“Have you ever been on a cruise?” she asked me.

No, but I really wanted to. The weather this week in Waltham hasn’t exactly been ideal.

The telemarketer began to describe the cruise in detail, from the casino to the open bar to the all-inclusive meal package.

It’s all free, she said. At that point, although I knew it was obviously a

scam, another part of me was pretty much ready to do anything she said.

“There is a $59 government-mandated port fee per person,” she continued. And it would need to be paid in advance. Then, I’d be able to take advantage of the cruise anytime in the next 18 months.

Despite asking numerous times, she told me I had to pay for the cruise port fee then and there, and I would not be able to call back to confirm. If I wanted to see the offer in writing, I would need to have her send an email while I was on the phone and complete the deal soon after.

Disappointed, I explained I couldn’t commit, but she wouldn’t budge. So I gave up.

“Can we call you about future deals?” she asked.

And waste my time again? No, that’s alright, I replied. Thanks anyways.

It turns out I made the right decision. Type “political survey car” into Google and the search engine suggests, “political survey caribbean cruise.” Hundreds of thousands of Google search results pop up.

If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Caribbean Cruise Lines has a D+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the company has dealt with 1,160 complaints and has “failed to resolve the underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints.”

The bureau describes the $59 per person scam. “The only fees mentioned are the port fees in the amount of $59 per person. Some consumers state they are not told of additional fees or that they must attend a two hour timeshare presentation as a part of the agreement.”

The bureau continues, “Requests

graphic by yi wang/the hoot

for a refund result in rude customer service and a refusal to issue the refund as mentioned in the sales presentation.”

The company promises a free trip, but the details are far less enticing.

I can’t confirm whether or not the cruise would have actually happened.

Online, a number of consumers report frustration with the process.

Most never received their free trips after paying the up-front fee.

The cruise line company likely did not break the rules of the Do Not Call

Registry either. According to the registry, telephone surveyors are exempt from do not call limitations. By using the political survey as an initial ploy, the cruise line skirts pro-consumer laws.

Scammers are smart. They want to entice, to make you think you’re better than everyone else, that you deserve a free cruise even though you probably never even entered your name in any sort of contest. They make you decide on the spot to increase the pressure and to force you

to either make a costly mistake or hang up. Just remember: The best opportunities in life aren’t going to catch you by surprise in the supermarket.

In the next 18 months, I’d really like to go on a cruise. It’s going to be expensive, but I’m willing to save up and pay. It could be really fun, too.

I’m looking forward to it.

But if I find I can’t afford the trip, then I won’t go on a cruise. No one else is going to foot the bill. That’s how things work in this world. It’s as simple as that.

Union’s proposed amendments would only make things worse

By Nathan Koskella Editor

The Student Union needs complete, systemic reform. But the great number of amendments to the Con-

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

stitution proposed this week by the Executive Board (including and with the full support of President-elect Todd Kirkland) does not reflect this reality.

The package would largely preserve the existing problems, like the ones noted with elections, of the increasingly unwieldy student government.

There are a few good ideas contained in the presidents’ email, and members of the undergraduate community should vote for them. One proposal calls for the integrating of the representatives to the board of trustees—often overlooked yet probably the most important office after the presidency— into the e-board structure. The representatives will still be elected, which is important, and they shall still have power independent and not subject in any way to orders by the president.

But now they will be completely aware of all e-board actions so, theoretically, the Union could someday make an attempt at a strong, unified voice.

Similarly, the representatives to the board of the Brandeis alumni association will now have to be members of the joint student club-administration venture, Future Alumni of Brandeis.

This is welcome, as aware as we are of the great uncertainty surrounding the position in the last year. The position is important, and the change makes sure the responsibility is not taken lightly again.

But the core proposals students are being asked to approve will likely only entrench the paralysis of our government. One of them adds to the responsibilities of the Union Senate. But when that most venerated and respected of bodies comes to students’ mind, as it unfortunately must from time to

time, none of us ever express a belief that “if only the Senate controlled more things we do,” student life would be improved. The Campus Operations Working Group, which is a group of students that tries to argue for better campus facilities, has so far having achieved only modest success.

But it is nonetheless a refreshing idea. Whomever disagrees should receive great credit for killing it: as with all good ideas, the best way to stop it is to refer it to a committee. That is what the amendment giving power to the Senate would do.

The lack of transparency and accountability of the caustic F-boardTreasury tryst is hardly helped by the proposed addition of a student life staff member to try and help, and is made worse in a measure that would require the Union’s chief financial officer to have been a member of it or else merely appointed an assistant to it the year before. The funding of clubs at Brandeis is unique, decisions theoretically made my students for students.

But F-Board allocations are as mysterious as ever, and the Treasury has in the last year proved particularly inept at explaining why such power is given to so few (or even in holding on to the great amount of money entrusted to it).

Finally there is Rosen and Kirkland’s plan to completely revamp the quadrennial Constitutional Review process. I absolutely agree that the constitution should be easier to change (and it needs many changes).

But just as devolving power to the Senate would take us in the wrong direction, bringing new vigor into a Judiciary that is best when lifeless is a

terrible idea.

A constitutional review should be taken, like most things, whenever students demonstrate a desire for it. Such things are easy to measure at Brandeis, and, also like most things, are simply more effective when done by the most visible office, the presidency. The proposed reforms will bring the student body more surveys, more speeches, more posturing, except now from all three branches.

The Union needs to change direction completely. The current steps however dig us deeper into gridlock.

The Brandeis community deserves an effective, unified government, with the same people as the go-tos for the few changes a year any student government is capable of making. Dueling, competing branches of government only ensure that little gets done. We need system-wide change, but not in the direction of diluting the only members with any clout in favor of increasingly irrelevant offices that serve only as resume-builders.

This is not a matter of fighting over deck chairs on the Titanic; it’s trying to save a plummeting airplane by adding chairs to the cockpit so you can hold a multi-branch debate over who’s to try and grab the steering wheel.

The Kirkland team would do well, instead, to come up with a short list of policies it wants to see enacted. Students don’t care who has the power to lobby or ask or beg for them, we don’t care about the allocation of Union prestige. A very simple list of changes to the Brandeis administration and the student experience is what we all need.

And a very simple Union capable of effecting them.

14 IMPRESSIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

April 27, 2012

Call Me, Tweet Me

I see London, I see France: what I learned during my semester abroad

By Leah Finkelman Editor

By the time you read this, I will probably be back in the United States after spending the past three and a half months in London. I absolutely love this city and a part of my heart is breaking a little bit at the thought of leaving it.

This isn’t my first time in London.

I came with my family for a week in 2004 and it was awesome. It was the first time I had traveled outside North America, and I still remember doing all the touristy stuff—a tour of the Tower of London, a visit to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, tea in the Orangerie at Kensington Palace, the Changing of the Guard. I absolutely fell in love with the city after walking down countless narrow streets, eating more pain au chocolat than I should have, and watching the sun set over

the Thames.

Fast forward seven years. It’s 2011, and I’m a sophomore at Brandeis. As a NEJS major, I had always planned to study abroad in Israel, but when I dropped the major I knew I wanted to study in London. It was a combination of a lot of factors: the connection I felt with the city the first time I was here, the fact that my mother had studied abroad in London in college and still talked about it, and knowing that Prince Harry was still single.

I got a little delayed in the planning process, and my best friend ended up choosing my program for me: the Boston University Internship Programme, so that I could complete my journalism internship while abroad.

In order to prepare for my semester abroad, I studied everything I could get my hands on. Luckily for me, that included movies like “Notting Hill,” “What a Girl Wants” and “Winning London,” as well as cheat sheets of

photo courtesy of leah finkelman

British slang, travel blogs and blogs of British students. At one point I think I even Googled “what to pack when studying abroad in London.”

When I got here, I was already looking forward to all the things I wanted to do. First on the list was dinner (Indian, of course) with my best friend, who is currently studying at University College London.

That night, though, I lay in bed and thought about everything I had given up to be in London for the semester.

Gone were Thursdays at The Hoot.

Gone was seeing my little in Usdan and running into her arms. Gone were classes with professors I knew, and whose classes I knew how to get the most from. Gone were Ollie’s waffle fries and using my meal plan to pay for food.

Most importantly, gone were American customs that I was so used to, I overlooked them. Maybe I was too young to experience culture shock in 2004, maybe I just wasn’t here long enough. I didn’t eat bacon then, so I would have had no way of knowing how awkward and thick it was until I ordered a BLT in my first week back.

Luckily, the local grocery store has Oscar Mayer. Also, not stopping for sirens? I saw a police car get struck by a car that didn’t realize the cop was about to run a red light.

It’s sometimes hard to understand the thicker accents, and because Brits can all tell I’m American, sometimes when they crack a joke and I ask “What?” they just smile and say never mind. I promise, I have a great sense of humor … I just didn’t understand you! But the weather? I’m from Ohio.

I know how to deal with completely unpredictable weather.

This semester certainly wasn’t perfect. I spent too much time in McDonald’s and not enough time in museums. I didn’t travel as much as I’d wanted to, and by being on an allAmerican program, I didn’t meet too many British people. I also never saw the royal family, which isn’t really my fault, but still disappointing.

Although I missed some cities I wanted to visit, I got to live the MaryKate and Ashley European adventures (“Winning London,” “Passport to Paris” and “When in Rome”). I tried something called “Black Death” in Iceland. I hiked through snow in Rome (four times in 40 years, and I was there). I spent a beautiful but hot Parisian weekend with my pseudofamily. I visited Switzerland, and saw a friend I never thought I’d see again. I was able to celebrate Passover in Israel with my best friend’s extended family and visit friends living and studying there. Throughout my travels, I had the opportunity to reconnect with and meet a lot of amazing people from all over the world. I doubt we’ll keep in

photo from internet source

touch forever, but I’ll always remember them.

Wow, hundreds of words about culture shock and missing The Hoot … It wasn’t all bad, I promise. I love the people here. I love their food, their accents, the fact that one pound is a coin. Once I got used to looking right, left, right as I crossed the street, I learned to love walking around my neighborhood, South Kensington.

I love the children, especially when they’re on the Tube in their school uniforms practicing their American accents. I love the ease with which I can get around the city, and I love how helpful everyone is when it’s not quite so easy.

I had an amazing semester, and even during the rough patches I knew I had made the right decision. I have grown so much just in the past few months, from someone who laughed at the thought of living off-campus and not having a meal plan to someone who cooked almost every meal for herself for a semester.

Being on my own in a big, beautiful city has also given me a lot of time for self-reflection, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

To quote Amanda Bynes in my favorite London movie, “The truth is sometimes things aren’t exactly what you always imagined … they’re even better!”

IOC must hold minute of silence SILENCE, from page 12

As beautiful as this sentiment is, the IOC has yet to respond. As of press time, the petition had reached 16,000 signatures. That is a lot but it is not enough. It is shameful that the Olympic Games have never held a moment of silence for Munich 11.

It does not matter what your political ideology is: Any reasonable person knows that these attacks were brutal, immoral and unforgivable. King Hussein of Jordan spoke out against the actions of Black September, calling their actions a “savage crime against civilization … perpetrated by sick minds.” Even

if you believe that the Israelis have greatly mistreated the Palestinians, that does not excuse the murder of innocent men. These men went to Munich to show their pride in their country and themselves and to join with other athletes in peace. They went to Munich to engage in an international tournament and to put aside differences. They did not go there to make a political statement or to harm anyone. They did not go there to be murdered.

And yet, the IOC has never fully recognized the brutality of this attack and it is time they did. They may be 40 years late but late is better than never.

The men who died at the 1972

Summer Olympics in Munich deserve their minute of silence and deserve to be remembered—not as the murder victims of Black September—but as decent men who engaged in an international competition to show brotherhood with their fellow man.or those who died, one minute of acknowledgement. “Silence is a fitting tribute for athletes who lost their lives on the Olympic stage. Silence contains no statements, assumptions or beliefs and requires no understanding of language to interpret,” Spitzer wrote in the petition.

As beautiful as this sentiment is, the IOC has yet to respond. As of press time, the petition had reached

16,000 signatures. That is a lot but it is not enough. It is shameful that the Olympic Games have never held a moment of silence for Munich 11.

It does not matter what your political ideology is: Any reasonable person knows that these attacks were brutal, immoral and unforgivable.

King Hussein of Jordan spoke out against the actions of Black September, calling their actions a “savage crime against civilization … perpetrated by sick minds.” Even if you believe that the Israelis have greatly mistreated the Palestinians, that does not excuse the murder of innocent men. These men went to Munich to show their pride in their country and themselves and to join with other ath-

letes in peace. They went to Munich to engage in an international tournament and to put aside differences.

They did not go there to make a political statement or to harm anyone.

They did not go there to be murdered.

And yet, the IOC has never fully recognized the brutality of this attack and it is time they did. They may be 40 years late but late is better than never.

The men who died at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich deserve their minute of silence and deserve to be remembered—not as the murder victims of Black September—but as decent men who engaged in an international competition to show brotherhood with their fellow man.

April 27, 2012

IMPRESSIONS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Roughin’ it: a midyear experience

By Zoe Kronovet Editor

Being a midyear is not easy. As the admissions office’s decision and the consequences of being admitted halfway through a school year settle, the panic also begins to set in. It has been said before but, despite the various pamphlets, most midyears end up with a complex.

Many conspiracies float around the halls of the Village as we ponder why it is we were forced to endure the midyear experience. Some suspect that it is because our SAT scores were poor, but that was quickly dispelled when one of us had an incredible score overall. Some of us in possession of an unshakeable ego think that midyears are just a way for Brandeis to make more money and that we are all qualified students who were just picked at random to suffer.

The real origin of the midyear program is greed. Looking for a quick way to make a buck and expand their student class, Brandeis decided to make room for another hundred students, which makes this year’s 2015 class size unsustainable and risky.

For many midyears, it is a struggle to figure out what to do for the gapsemester. Due to financial restraints some midyears are forced to stay at home and attend community college so that when they finally arrive on Brandeis’ campus in the dead of winter

they aren’t as far behind.

Those with the resources attend one of the Brandeis programs that were outsourced to other universities with international programs so Brandeis doesn’t have to deal with the logistical nightmare that is transferring international credits for new students. A few pack their bags and hit the streets of Tel Aviv, Bangkok or Florence in an attempt to squeeze as much excitement into a semester as possible before they settle down in dreary Waltham.

Friendships established during the midyear semester are built under pressure. While all first-year relationships often don’t withstand the trials of time, midyear friends are especially prone to falling apart. Choosing your housing a month after you arrive forces you to make quick decisions to live with people you have known for a mere six weeks. Subsequently you end up rooming with your midyear buddy who seems to be reasonable and sane at the time but as the next semester progresses ends up being completely different.

Already now as our midyear semester is coming to an end, the cracks in cliques and friendships are beginning to be exposed. Too bad you’ve already pulled them into your hall and will be forced to look at their faces every day of sophomore year.

Brandeis touts the incredible involvement and participation of the

photo from internet source

midyear class in extracurricular activities; that happens because we feel so lost. Some midyears turn to Greek life to find inclusion and community as they flounder socially outside of the midyear community. We are searching for a way to fit into a student body that may be “excited” for us to arrive, don’t really understand why we are here or what it means. Accidental derogatory slips of the tongue pepper our days for the beginning of our time here as other first-years describe themselves as “normal” first-years.

There are serious flaws in the

midyear program. For most people who don’t feel as though five classes per semester is beneficial for their college experience—a summer semester is necessary. If you participated in a Brandeis-sponsored study abroad program or took classes at a community college during your gapsemester, however, you are not allowed to take summer classes to fill university requirements, which adds more stress onto your already packed schedule. Since Brandeis rejects most high school AP credits, most of us come into school with many credits, but it amounts to nothing.

Pre-med students, especially, can have a difficult time managing all the prerequisites and required classes.

Furthermore, our options for future study abroad opportunities are limited. The study abroad office informed us that if we choose to take advantage of the study abroad option during our gap-semester then we cannot take a full year of study abroad later on at Brandeis.

I’m not sure I would recommend the midyear program to anyone who isn’t in possession of a backbone and a strong desire to attend Brandeis at any cost.

Lovin’ it: a midyear experience

By Lila Westreich Staff

Being a midyear is not easy. When I imagined my college experience it didn’t include beginning second semester. High school taught me that college was four years in which you might manage to learn something in between keggers and commencements. The school I envisioned for myself was a big, based in a college town, and reliant on football games and school spirit. Instead, I found myself walking the tangled streets of London for a semester and then thrown into a school that had none of these novelties.

My first semester was not similar to most of my midyear friends, even

Engrossing

those that attended my London program with me. The midyear program is about throwing yourself out of the safety net and out into the world.

Because I was forced into a situation in which I had to determine for myself what I was going to do for my gap-semester, I found that I had the courage to live by myself in a foreign country (as foreign as England can be). Through this process I learned a lot about myself. I traveled through Europe, something still leaves my friends back home envious and amazed. This doesn’t mean that you have to go across an ocean to learn something about yourself. Many of my close friends spent their semester in different states, in internships in the capitol, or branching out and taking classes at their local colleges.

My personal view is that if you are

Editor

During the course of the past couple of weeks, I have increasingly noticed how many people complain about being bored all the time.

On an unrelated note, I have also

from the other first-years, but it gave us a place to call home with a group of like-minded people, many of whom also benefitted from having a semester off to decompress and explore their identities outside of school.

The most surprising part of my first few days were how many people I found in the Village that shared my views and experiences. Coming in to Brandeis with a safety net of other students I had met and befriended in London helped to ease the transition into a new environment. Going on a Brandeis sponsored study abroad program is not possible for everyone, but even meeting up for coffee in a nearby city would have been nice before coming into the mass of students at school.

Overall, I wish every student had the chance that I did. I want every

Bored? Get out and do something

photo from internet source

By Morgan Gross

given four months away from homework, midterms and finals, then you need to take a leap of faith and try something scary and new.

Taking my first semester off cleared my head and for many other midyears they did the same. After the mess of high school, it was a refreshing twist to be granted with some time off before I jumped back into the ebb and flow of schoolwork. It was also energizing to have a break after the countless AP tests and final exams of high school. When I arrived at Brandeis in January, I felt ready for college in a way I do not think I would have if I had come directly from high school. When I arrived, I found that there were 100 other people in the same position. Placing the midyears within the same housing may have caused some disconnect

noticed how unbelievably annoying it is to listen to people complain about being bored all the time.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I too have experienced the malaise that fills my peers and have been similarly convinced that there is no remedy for my paralyzing boredom.

What I have learned from these ex-

periences with boredom is simple: It’s all in your head.

Boredom has nothing to do with what’s going on around you and everything to do with how willing or unwilling you are to get creative.

While I understand that Brandeis isn’t exactly a wonderland of exciting things to do, I also know that part of our tuition goes toward making sure that students have the resources that they need to have fun!

These resources come in many forms. First are the dozens of productions and performances that take place on campus. Included in this category are coffeehouses, plays, musicals, movie screenings, a cappella and dance shows that happen on campus every day. The next time you convince yourself that there is nothing to do at Brandeis, take a look at your event initiations on Facebook and try to make that claim again with a straight face.

While it’s true that going to see a semester show might not be your idea of an awesome Friday night, don’t underestimate how much fun it can be to go and watch your friend or floormate perform. Also, don’t underesti-

mate how much fun it can be to go and watch people make total fools out of themselves in public, not that this would ever happen in a performance on Brandeis’ campus.

If you’re not interested in the arts, then we can turn our attention to the hundreds of other interest-based groups that Brandeis always boasts about on admissions tours. There are 260 of them and as it turns out, those clubs aren’t just for the purpose of statistics. There really are tons of ways to get Brandeis to pay for you to do the things that you actually enjoy.

We have opportunities to mountain climb, ski, cook, ice skate, develop photographs, skydive and more, all on the university’s dime—or at least highly subsidized by it.

If none of these things entice you, then Brandeis makes it almost ridiculously easy to get free money to spend on whatever you want to do.

If you doubt this, then consider that a few of my friends recently founded the Brandeis Tie Dye Club and were awarded an almost absurd amount of money to hang out and make tie-dye shirts.

If for some reason, you find the

student to have the opportunity to leave his or her comfort zone. I took the biggest leap of my life, and found out who I was. I always thought that that was what college was for, but who says you can’t find yourself on your semester off? Maybe I didn’t find a party school in a college town and a champion football team. Instead, I found a group of people who share my views and my passion for travel.

Most importantly, I found a group that had the opportunity to discover themselves before they got to college.

The fact that they know themselves makes it easier to get close to them, which is what allowed the midyears to bond so quickly. We all appreciate the time we’ve had, understand the challenges to come, and realize that we are capable of taking on anything college can throw at us.

Brandeis campus abhorrent, then consider the fact that Brandeis provides us with free transportation into Waltham and Boston—and the fact that we have decent access to public transportation. Discovering the Boston area is awesome. In addition to the popular tourist spots like Newbury Street and Harvard Square, there are tons of places to shop, eat, walk around and generally explore.

There is a big difference between having nothing to do and being too lazy to take advantage of the resources available. Not taking advantage of the resources that Brandeis provides is a waste of tuition and also a personal problem.

More importantly being bored is a huge waste of college. Time that you spend being bored is also time that you could be spending hanging out with your friends, sleeping or, if you have truly exhausted all other options, working on those four essays that you’ve been complaining about but putting in no effort toward.

So, the next time you’re sitting around complaining about how bored you are, stop complaining and do something about it.

16 The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS, ETC.

April 27, 2012

Author David Bezmozgis discusses his novels on campus

By Dana Trismen Editor

David Bezmozgis, renowned author of the novels “Natasha” and “The Free World,” came to campus this past Wednesday. He was invited by the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry. While Bezmozgis is wellknown for his gifted prose, he has also shed light on what many feel is an ignored community.

Before reading from sections of both his novels, Bezmozgis explained how the past 10 years have been a journey: an attempt to chronicle the experience of a community of Jews.

These people, who emigrated from Soviet Russia, are following in a long tradition of exiled Jewish people. Bezmozgis’ heritage is complicated: He is Jewish, born in Riga, Latvia, and, at the age of six, moved to Canada.

Since then, he has also spent a large amount of time in the United States.

His internalized understanding of the trials of adapting to the culture of a new country is reflected in his novels.

Bezmozgis reads out loud slowly, letting the impact of his words seep into every audience member. He first read from his novel “Natasha,” which is actually a collection of short stories about a particular family. The narrator is the son Mark, who ages as the stories progress. In the story Bezmozgis chose to read out loud, Mark is 13 years old, struggling to understand his identity as a Jewish son in the land in which he was not born. In the story, his family has immigrated to Israel.

photo from internet source

david bezmozgis David Bezmozgis came to Brandeis this week to discuss and read from his two novels “Natasha” and “The Free World.”

His mother insists he attend Hebrew School, despite the teasing Mark encounters.

Mark is an aggressive child, frustrated with his surroundings and strikes out by attacking the children who bully him. This almost leads to an expulsion, and Mark’s sinking feeling from the thought that his parents’ hard-earned money will be entirely wasted on his schooling. Mark is also questioning whether or not he possesses a “Jewish soul,” a sort of internal searching that brings even more depth to the short story. At the close of the

story, Mark is accused of acting like an animal at a Holocaust memorial, even though he has finally and completely acknowledged his heritage.

Bezmozgis’ prose is masterful.

Writing in the mindset of a child is difficult, given that children have experienced less and understand the world through a far different lens than adults do. Yet Bezmozgis’ portrayal of Mark is completely in tune with his age. Mark talks and interacts like a 13-year-old boy. He is lively, springing off the page. Bezmozgis also succeeds in his crafting of plot. Tensions run

high as audience members wondered whether or not Mark would be expelled. By causing listeners and readers to care truly about his characters, Bezmozgis has proved himself a true author.

Bezmozgis did read out loud from his other novel, titled “The Free World.” Bezmozgis declared that he desired to write this book because he was still invested in the topic and that there were ideas he could not cover in “Natasha,” given Mark’s young age and the short story format. Bezmozgis was also interested in Jewish people who

“dropped out,” an Israeli term for Soviet Jews who chose not to immigrate to Israel upon leaving Russia. These people usually went to Rome, which became a sort of odd in-between location. This is why “The Free World” is set in Rome: Bezmozgis’ curiosity about these people and their exodus was only satisfied by writing about it. “The Free World” also centers on family dynamics. Bezmozgis read sections out loud that explained the relationship between the two brothers.

Bezmozgis refers to the characters in this family as a “merry band that is traveling together.” This “merry band” goes on to experience various cultures across different nations, forced to adapt throughout their exodus.

The topics covered in Bezmozgis’ novels are very close to home for some at Brandeis. Sylvia B. Fishman, chair of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, along with Ira Krakhman, moderated the discussion of Bezmozgis’ novels.

Krakhman is a Brandeis-Genesis Institute fellow and is pursuing her master’s degree. She gave a very moving opening, describing how this presentation of Bezmozgis’ novels allowed her to embrace her heritage. Krakhman, who is Ukrainian and Jewish, describes how she wanted to confront her identity in a similar method to a train wreck—both publicly and graphically. By embracing Bezmozgis’ themes, Krakhman is able to connect them to herself and her own exodus to the United States. While Krakhman describes herself as obsessively chasing her memories of being in transit, Bezmozgis and his work has given her some peace.

At Culture X, diversity makes for a stunning show

By Emily Stott Editor

Every spring, Culture X brings a combination of the campus’ best dance, music and spoken word groups to a common stage. And there was no exception last Saturday as a sold-out crowd watched this year’s “Culture X: The World is Our Stage” performance in Levin Ballroom. It’s easy to forget the incredible talents students have amid textbooks and exams, but the performances that night were an amazing display of artistic expression; 25 acts and almost three hours later, the audience walked away with a new appreciation for student talent.

The dance performances were so impressive that two of them received standing ovations from the audience.

Brandeis Bhangra and the Women of Color Alliance both had incredible performances, injecting the crowd with energy and fascinating the audience with their talent and enthusiasm. Bhangra performed an Indian dance that involved a lot of jumping and quick footwork. The smiles on the dancers’ faces had the audience laughing along with them. Toward the end, Hyder Kazmi ’12 ran onto the floor below the stage as a surprise.

Culture X was the first performance of the newly formed Women of Color Alliance, and it was a testament to their hard work and personality that it was such a success. Wearing vibrant colors and dancing to Beyoncé, WOCA dancers were the most spirited performers of the night. They looked confident and proud of themselves, as they rightly should have been. They left the stage to a roar of applause.

Other dance performances were excellent too. So Unique Step Team

culture x At Culture X last weekend, 25 acts showcased Brandeis talent and cultural appreciation.

made their own music by clapping their hands and stamping their feet, using an amusing skit as the background story for their steps. The group dynamics made the performance funny and enjoyable to watch, but the speed at which they moved showed their true talent. Adagio and Haiti Initiative were both calmer performances, but they added their own unique beauty to the evening. The gracefulness of the dancers gave their movements fluidity.

KSA and BAASA had strong performances: Students danced to the intricate choreography with precision and energy.

Brandeis Breakdance Club showed the community their incredible tal-

ent, which was complete with choreography that included spinning on their heads, tumbling across the stage, flipping over each other and spinning on their hands. Their bodies appeared to defy gravity. Kaos Kids closed the show with an amazing act. The dancers were perfectly in time, and they moved faster and were more flexible than it seemed to be possible.

There were a few strong spoken word performances. Performers put their hearts into their words, bringing the words to life with their vocal inflections. The most impressive performance was by rapper Saz.É (Osaze Akerejah ’14). His lyrics were more mature than I would ever expect from a college student: The entire rap was

photo by alex patch/the hoot

about how much he is “soon to be a black father, can’t help but want a pretty black daughter.” I can’t imagine that most students are even thinking about how they want to be parents or how to hold their children’s hands yet, but even so, that is what Saz.É rapped about. His lyrics were moving as he exclaimed how he wanted to show his daughter a beautiful and happy world, protecting her innocence and knowing that she will be “smart.”

Although most acts were polished and smooth, there were a few groups that did not quite live up to the rest.

Ballroom Formation Team was one such group. The whole performance just seemed awkward, as if none of the dancers were comfortable on

stage. The female dancers were significantly better than their male counterparts, if only because they had more confidence and were in time. The stage didn’t seem big enough and it looked like they were running into each other. The choreography was interesting with the dancers spinning and the boys catching the girls but, at times, it seemed as if a few girls were almost dropped. The Brandeis Argentine Tango Society also had an underwhelming performance. Dancing as quickly as they did in high heels is impressive, but the posture of the dancers and their hesitant faces took away from the performance.

This year, several groups were cut from the Culture X program during auditions, and some were groups that were always traditionally presented in the performances. The 25 large groups already made the evening long, but perhaps some of the groups could have been shortened or perhaps people in the groups that were cut could have been added to the groups scheduled to perform. It was unfortunate that such an exciting night left some talented students out, but a four-hour performance would not likely be appreciated.

Culture X was a wonderful performance that highlighted the talent of Brandeis students beyond the classroom. Stephanie Lee ’13, co-president of BAASA, said, “Culture X is a good opportunity for lots of people to come together to share their talent.” Vicky Lee ’13 added, “It allows us to celebrate our culture and what we love to do. The best part was bonding with my group … and messing up together.”

The performances on Saturday night proved just how well a diverse community can come together to put on an incredible show.

April 27, 2012

ARTS, ETC. 17

The Brandeis Hoot

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

next to normal From top left, clockwise: Natalie (Sarah Hines ’15) and Henry (Nick

Maletta ’13) smoke from an apple bong ; before Diana’s (Abigail Clarke ’12) ECT, with Dr. Madden (Dotan Horowitz ’12) and Gabe ( Jared Greenberg ’13); Gabe jumping; Diana looking at the musicbox. Bottom: the lovely Clarke.

Free Play’s ‘Next to Normal’ overwhelms and impresses

By Candice Bautista Editor

I have to be honest: I walked into Schwartz thinking I would hate Free Play’s production of “Next To Normal.” “Next To Normal” is one of my favorite musicals, and I actually saw it on Broadway about a year and a half ago, a month before it closed. When I saw it, I started sobbing about halfway through the show and did not stop until 10 minutes after the show had ended. When I walked into the same hall as my neuro lectures, all I could think was, “God help Free Play if they think they can even try to make me cry like that again.”

Well, I didn’t cry tonight, but I was one of a few who didn’t tear up at tonight’s performance. In “Next to Normal,” Diana (Abigail Clarke ’12) and Dan (Justy Kosek ’14) are the parents of Natalie (Sarah Hines ’15) and Gabe (Jared Greenberg ’12), both difficult

teenagers. Diana suffers from bipolar disorder. The entire show is about her and the rest of her family continuously fighting for and against her disease.

While doing this, each of them try to figure out what they each want separately from Diana. The musical illustrates the very different ways Dan and Natalie deal with her, as well as the different ways Diana tries to get cured.

This synopsis is intentionally vague because much of the show is the flow of the storyline and the songs used to illustrate it, and that is something Free Play pulls off very well. “Next to Normal” is the type of show that transitions from song to song rather than relying on segues in dialogue to begin a song. This type of production is particularly hard to pull off because a lot of action is needed to keep the stage from being dull, and David Benger ’14 does a very good job at keeping his actors busy.

Whether the characters are set-

ting up the kitchen table, mimicking a therapy session or pretending to be a rock star—the body language of the actors alone was phenomenal.

Additionally, the flow of the action combined with the flow of the songs kept the audience invested in the show, not even having time to applaud after a majority of the songs. By the time Clarke was singing “I Dreamed a Dance,” tears were falling.

Abigail Clarke, you lovely woman.

This role was made for her. It is a very difficult role. Diana is a very complex character suffering from a mental illness. She has to portray the correct balance of unstable and vulnerable to be a sympathetic character or to even be believable, and that is exactly what Clarke did. From the very first song, “Just Another Day,” she draws the audience in with simply how authentic she is in her role. And that’s not to mention her voice. Clarke definitely shone in this performance, hitting ev-

ery note that was thrown at her, and fleshing out every feeling in every song. When the audience cried and kept crying, it was a testament to how beautifully Diana was played.

Clarke was also in very good company. The family was very well casted, as was Dotan Horowitz ’12 as Diana’s psychologist and Nick Maletta ’13 as Henry, Natalie’s boyfriend. With a cast of six, the chemistry among them was exceptional, which translated into incredibly powerful songs. Their acting was spot-on, and their singing was even better. Projection at times was a little off—Schwartz hall doesn’t have the best acoustics—but overall, the actors did well and Brian Yorkey’s beautiful lyrics were understood. I did have a couple issues with Kosek’s abilities to hit high notes at certain moments, but this was easily shrugged off when Clarke made her way back on stage.

Another notable part of the production is the music supplied by the

five-person orchestra. Bryan Belok ’12 did a great job with the music, and it was fantastic to see playing the piano and bouncing around while conducting the songs. A very good addition to the orchestra was junior Gloria Park’s cello playing, which lent itself to a lot of the emotion felt in the show. Again, because the show was essentially one song after another, it was crucial to have a strong orchestra and under Belok’s direction, they delivered.

Free Play did an amazing job with their interpretation of “Next To Normal.” They were able to keep their intimate setting and do-it-yourself feel while keeping the spirit of the show alive. Whether it is the bare set of four chairs and a table, or Greenberg’s very faithful portrayal of Gab—each decision made was the right one. Rarely do I praise a show this highly, but this production deserves it. See “Next To Normal” this weekend: Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m.

18 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

April 27, 2012

24-hour Improvathon worth the all-nighter

By Nathan Koskella Editor

Working at Chum’s, one gets to see a lot of shows, plays, performed poems, stand-up routines and bands of all stripes. Once, a band I saw on shift had packed the entire house and proceeded with some of the worst metallic rubbish I have ever heard, quickly emptying the place and greatly decreasing my workload for the night.

I have received more than one musical tribute from our stage guest at the stroke of midnight, as it is a sort of cliche at Chums to salute those of us humbly standing behind the counter.

But few events in my years working at the best job on campus compare to the annual Improvathon show, the 24-hour nonstop improvisation event held Saturday through Sunday.

I worked the most grave of graveyard shifts, from 4 to 9 a.m. The very first thing I was treated to, upon groggily entering, was the most loud and even more inappropriate song dedicated to my soon-to-be-graduate fellow Chumster. Sexually risque parody is perhaps the most enduring feature at Chez Cholmondeley, but I revised my hopes for this wee-hour entertainment on the basis of this welcome. I was not disappointed.

Improvathon’s only rule is that the stage must be occupied at all times.

That and nothing can be pre-choreographed. My favorite part of all improv performances makes use of this challenge, inviting random, often lurid phrases from the audience. The

ragtag group, counting the minutes until the sun came up Sunday morning, tackled make-believe romantic exploits with the likes of the Founding Fathers and Michael Jackson (harder than it sounds), and even recounted a rhetorical menage-a-trois with Winston Churchill.

The audience can make all the difference in these exchanges. The 5 a.m. slot of games, for example, made a member of the audience, which was of a dwindling number, feel like an equal cast member in a lively, irreverent production.

The marathon joke-makers could do a solo too, in what was perhaps the most difficult improv skit of the show: the hour-long non-stop exposition. There were no new ideas, no scene cuts—just an hour of the same straight idea that after 25 minutes you may regret suggesting to the somehow-still-smiling stagehands. Few groups can keep it funny after the first half-hour, and although it dragged at times earlier in the night, once the quick games returned, the show rebounded.

One-liners are what we remember most from Improvathon. Many cannot be printed in this newspaper.

Perhaps one of the beauties of Improvathon is that this sunrise-shift reviewer may have had low standards on such little sleep. But there were at least several hours in which I was laughing out loud, even if it was only sleepily-hysterically or simply to avoid falling over.

I admit that I could not help from dozing for about 45 minutes on the worse-for-wear sofas in Chum’s, but

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

kim jung eel Brandeis improv groups performed at Chums in a 24-hour Improvathon.

the fact that when I awoke to a loud shouting of my name involved in the act on stage is a measure of Improvathon’s fun. Clearly now that I was the last audience member, I was to be the subject of some tribute, or more likely, the butt of jokes. But at least I resisted the urge to get on stage with them. It was hard work too, because when I woke up, after so brief an interlude, I had more than an hour and a half left of viewing, and that was only if I stayed for what I had to do.

I didn’t need to be paid to enjoy this

show. Not only was this act after my forced power nap even funnier than the midnight, dark-outside acts, but I almost forget about the sun that had now completely risen.

Unlike me, the improvisers got more interesting the more tired they became, and after I could no longer suggest ideas for them, they did an excellent job merging the self-exposition with the quick, one-line games.

We supplied them with props from the kitchen in Chum’s (always sterilized before and after, of course …)

while they made some on their own.

The group with chief star David Getz ’15 made my maximum tolerable portion of Improvathon great fun. The fact that this group had been on hours before me and would go on all day only increased the pleasure and wonder of a viewer. When I left mid-morning on Sunday, I couldn’t believe that I’d been there more than six hours or that I still had the very unprintable tribute to Ynbal Landesman stuck in my head as I finally got to bed.

Oops! We’re doing it again: Why are the ’90s back?

By Sean Fabery Editor

Are you living the ’90s dream? The IFC sketch-comedy series “Portlandia” poses that very question in its first scene, a musical celebration of all the things that decade promised. “You know how people were talking about getting piercings and tribal tattoos?

And people were singing about saving the planet and forming bands?” the show’s star, Fred Armisen, remarks with equal measures of delight and derision. “Well, there’s a place where that idea still exists as a reality, and I’ve been there—Portland!”

In Portland, we’re told “flannel shirt[s] still look fly” and “all the hot girls wear glasses.” It’s not just Portland, though: ’90s culture is increasingly making a resurgence well beyond the Pacific Northwest. If you went to the movies earlier this month, you’d have been forgiven for thinking yourself in a time warp. Of the two new wide releases, “American Reunion” corralled the otherwise obscure stars of that decade’s raunchiest teen comedy, while “Titanic 3D” brought three-dimensions to the two-dimensional denizens of the big blockbuster.

At first glance this carries the air of coincidence, but something more is happening here. The ’90s have slowly but surely started creeping back into our pop culture, demanding to be taken seriously again. Or rather, we’ve been demanding—clamoring even— for the return of its culture. First came fashion. Hipsterism, after all, is really just another wave of grunge—sleeker but based on the same basic principle of weirdness. The jeans are tighter, the glasses more retro than lo-fi, but plaid is just as ubiquitous. Fashion always borrows from the past when stitching together the future. Things have gone beyond clothes, though—it’s televi-

dream of the ’90s IFC show “Portlandia” is one of many current pop culture items bringing up ’90s nostalgia.

sion, movies, music, even politics. After all, how else do you explain Newt Gingrich?

Nineties nostalgia has arrived.

Nostalgia is nothing new. In fact, its presence is constant: No matter how good things may seem in the present, some will find solace only in the idealized past. When doctors first described nostalgia in the 17th century, it was a physical ailment initially diagnosed in Swiss mercenaries far away from their mountainous Heimat. In some cases, death resulted.

Now that nostalgia is no longer considered deadly, it’s safe to indulge—and oh, do we indulge. The nostalgia market wields enormous influence. Seemingly half the infomercials on TV gear themselves toward selling commemorative plates bearing Elvis’ likeness. Of the nominees for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, at least three—“Hugo,” “The

Artist” and “Midnight in Paris”—directly appealed to our appetite for periods most of us never personally experienced, with only the Woody Allen film questioning the ethics of nostalgia.

What makes ’90s nostalgia so strange is its timing: It’s premature.

Nostalgia for a particular era usually arrives 20 years after that period has ended. Once the eldest members of a generation hit middle age, that fuzzy feeling kicks in—hence at the end of the ’80s interest in ’60s sitcoms revived, with couch sores like “The New Leave It to Beaver” and “The Munsters Today” as the result.

That hasn’t been the case with the ’90s. It’s been little more than 10 years since the decade ended, and the strangeness of this becomes even more striking when you realize that the current crop of nostalgia concerns itself more with the latter half of the

decade than the first. Think Destiny’s Child, not Salt-N-Pepa. Rather than being led by the elder statesmen of the so-called millennial generation, the people serving as catalysts are in their early and mid-20s—the kinds of people who normally should be all about the present, not thinking about what was cool in elementary school.

In a time of iPads and “Angry Birds,” it’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to return to the dark ages of AOL and dial-up, but in fact technology has helped expedite nostalgia. At the forefront is YouTube, increasingly a makeshift archive of material previously confined to dusty VHS tapes.­In the past you were out of luck unless you recorded a TV program yourself or a station aired reruns. Now entire online channels dedicate themselves to resurrecting the relics of the recent past. Have a hankering for “Woops,” the short-lived 1992 sitcom about

photo from internet source

the six sole survivors of a nuclear holocaust? Well, YouTube’s got you covered. For less obscure fare, legal streaming services like Netflix transform the analog past into a hi-def present.

This has had the effect of creating online nostalgia communities composed of users who gather to relive programs they enjoyed as children.

In particular, 10-minute installments of old Nickelodeon shows are among the most popular offerings on YouTube, garnering hundreds of thousands of hits. Sprawling, largely inane convrsations result, their substance capable of being boiled down to a comment like “whyd [sic] we ever lose the 90s,” as though the passage of time can be avoided, more akin to the loss of a favorite keychain than a See NOSTALGIA, page 19

April 27, 2012

ARTS, ETC. 19

The Brandeis Hoot

’90s nostalgia arrives early

Arts Recommends books

photo from internet source

‘Dune’ photo from internet source

the backstreet boys Boybands are one of many ’90s phenomena making a modern comeback.

NOSTALGIA, from page 18

natural process.

Nickelodeon holds a special place in the hearts of many children who grew up in the ’90s, a time period when it was among the first basic cable networks to target kids. Knowledge of the Nickelodeon canon is widespread, with many still able to recite the programs aired by the network circa 1996: “Doug,” “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and “Clarissa Explains It All,” among others. To recognize “Hey Arnold!” is to be a member of a special club, one that just happens to count virtually an entire generation in its membership. There’s something comforting about the homogeneity of our childhoods, this basic-cable conformity that unites us.

Hushed, reverent conversations about favorite characters and plots aren’t uncommon. I still vividly remember a particular episode of “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” a show about two redheaded brothers who share a name and a penchant for tartan button-ups. One day, Little Pete takes a shortcut while cycling to school which takes him past an unfamiliar house, where he discovers a garage band playing a song that’s simultaneously potent, crinkly and weird.

He falls for it instantly, but no matter how many times he returns to the garage he never hears the song again. “I just want my song back,” he frets, but these perfect moments are ephemeral and often the most difficult to capture for posterity.

For a six-year-old viewer, this is profoundly sad.

Nickelodeon takes a markedly different approach to nostalgia than the creators of “Pete & Pete”: We can go back, the conglomerate tells us.

Last year, executives at Viacom finally noted the vast online presence of Nickelodeon nostalgists, with more than 15 million people joining Facebook groups supporting these shows. When a group of college-aged interns pitched a retro programming block to TeenNick, one of Nickelodeon’s spin-off channels, executives endorsed their proposal. In July 2011, a two-hour block of old Nickelodeon shows began airing weekdays between midnight and 2 a.m., that twilight time between homework and sleep for college students. Ratings in the time slot increased by 850 percent. That same year, executives at MTV, another Viacom cable network, returned to the air “Beavis and Butthead”—one of the most quintessentially ’90s shows in existence. Van Toffler, the network’s president, reasoned that the world was missing “the point of view only Beavis and Butthead could bring.”

Nineties nostalgia is now leaping from small screen to big. Hollywood, always hungry for more cash, now increasingly re-releases ’90s blockbusters. Though the arrival of VHS and then DVD limited film revivals to art-houses, the advent of 3D has changed all that. “The Lion King,” “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” and the aforementioned “Titanic” have received 3D releases in the last year. For studios, this is merely another chance to make money off of films that achieved profitability long ago.

This is especially lucrative in expanding markets overseas; “Titanic” made more in its first 3D weekend in China than it did in its entire original run there. For American moviegoers, it’s an-

other chance to relive a past in which disaster epics still possessed some semblance of plot.

When it comes to actually reuniting with iconic ’90s characters in the present, audiences have been more reluctant. From this month’s “American Reunion” to last year’s “Scream 4” and 2008’s “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” none have proven to be box office smashes. The “American Pie” teens received a tentative welcome, but the reunion of FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully was greeted with the kind of collective shrug that would have been unthinkable in 1998. Later this summer, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will reunite in the longawaited third installment of the “Men in Black” series. Should it bomb, further ’90s reunions seem unlikely.

The reinterpretation of old formulas is proving more lucrative in music. While the ’90s didn’t invent the boyband, the decade certainly perfected the kind of glossy, manufactured group acts that dominated top-40 radio for years, like the Backstreet Boys, ’N Sync and a host of imitators. They virtually all disbanded overnight with the dawning of the new millennium, their bubblegum sweetness too much for a more ironic era. Now nostalgia’s brought them back: Last summer, the Backstreet Boys toured with New Kids on the Block. 98 Degrees—one of those aforementioned imitators—threaten to do the same later this year.

But the boyband phenomenon refuses to be confined to the archives any longer. With sugary songs like “Baby” and “Boyfriend,” Justin Bieber made the world safe for bubblegum again. Others have followed in packs. Bands like One Direction and The Wanted are now climbing the charts with their own personal blends of chaste romance and immaculate hair.

The question remains: What unleashed this wave of premature nostalgia? (Or, as one Nickelodeon exec odiously dubbed it, “newstolgia.”)

Nostalgists crave simpler times, and in this respect ’90s nostalgia is no different. Creaky as they can be, the aforementioned cultural artifacts serve as reminders of a time before 9/11 and the Great Recession. In a world where college grads face increasing economic uncertainty, there’s something safe and concrete about old TV shows and movies. You get comments like these online: “The thing is I would love to get stuck in the 90’s [sic] permanently and forget the 2000 era ever existed …” In a sense, it provides a structure for perpetuating childhood— it’s no accident that old Nickelodeon programs have been the focus of attention.

In an increasingly splintered culture, there’s also something comforting about the hegemonic influence of “Titanic” and boybands. Today we’re confronted by an almost overwhelming array of choices; two people can conceivably consume 40 television shows a week without any overlap. At least back in the ’90s you could distance yourself from the culture, with smartphones still a distant dream. In retrospect, it’s a decade that seems gloriously disconnected.

Of course, all nostalgia carries the risk of delusion. Nineties nostalgia, still in its infancy, has avoided this so far, but surely ugly trends will return. We’re lucky to be almost rid of Newt Gingrich again, but it may be more difficult to ditch the Backstreet Boys the second time around.

It has often been said that Frank Herbert’s “Dune” did for science fiction what Tolkien did for fantasy. Published in 1965, “Dune” codified and revolutionized the genre, and is truly an epic novel in its own right. “Dune” is set in the far-flung future, in which planets are united in a feudal system under a single emperor, and centers on a particular planet, Arrakis. Arrakis is the only planet in the universe that produces an incredibly valuable commodity called Spice, which is both highly addictive and a vital element in space travel. The story unfolds as the family that owns Arrakis, the Atreides, becomes embroiled in conflict with a rival house, and a conspiracy unfolds that leaves the Atreides house destroyed and its young heir, Paul, cast out into the desert. Paul becomes the messianic leader of the natives, the fremen, rising up out of the desert to reclaim his inheritance.

Truly, this summary does little justice to the vast complexity of the hefty novel, which integrates an incredible amount of thematic weight. The Spice can alternately be taken as a metaphor for oil or drugs, depending on interpretation, and there are endless discussions of politics, power, manipulation and religion. The writing, though dense, is intensely immersive. Furthermore, “Dune” has been an influence on countless modern science fiction texts, and is thus a worthy read for any sci-fi fan (or any appreciator of good literature), if only to start seeing it everywhere. Though old, “Dune” and its themes are still highly relevant to the modern era, and most likely will continue to be for years to come. juliette martin, editor

films

photo from internet source

‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a 2006 film from director Guillermo del Toro, set in the fascist Spain of 1944. It tells the story of a young girl named Ofelia, who moves with her mother to the forest home of her new stepfather, the vicious and misogynistic Captain Vidal. “Pan’s Labyrinth” chronicles two entwining stories, as the captain treats Ofelia and her mother viciously and Ofelia discovers a fantasy realm at the heart of a labyrinth in the forest, guided by an ambiguously moraled (and beautifully styled) fawn, completing various tasks to claim what the fawn says is her birthright as the princess of the fairy realm he is from. Though fanciful, the superimposition of the real world in terms of the cruel Vidal and the harsh conditions of fascism, the movie is extremely dark and, even in the fantasy elements of the film, Ofelia faces truly terrifying villains.

What makes the film most interesting is the ambiguity in which it thrives.

Throughout the movie, it is unclear if Ofelia’s adventures are true magic, or simply the overactive imagination of a young girl seeking escape from a brutal life. The question becomes particularly poignant as the film reaches its climax, creating an air of mystery that stays with the viewer long after the credits have rolled. As both a fantasy and a gritty story about a cruel political system and a destroyed family, “Pan’s Labyrinth” is intense, well paced and as frightening as it is beautiful.

juliette martin, editor

20 The Brandeis Hoot

ART FOCUS

‘Cymbeline’ stands strong, but doesn’t amaze

By Juliette Martin Editor

A later work of William Shakespeare’s, “Cymbeline,” which is simultaneously considered a romance and a tragedy, tells the story of Imogen (Gabrielle Geller ’12), princess of Britain and daughter of King Cymbeline (Andrew Prentice ’13), and her banished lover Posthumus (Stephanie Karol ’12). In the play, it comes to light that Imogen’s stepmother, Queen Hareth (Alison Thvedt ’15), has been manipulating Cymbeline and tearing apart his family in order to get Imogen to marry her oafish son Cloten (Ben Federlin ’14), thereby securing him as the future king of Britain. The drama unfolds, through the usual series of Shakespearean trickery and misunderstanding. Posthumus becomes convinced that Imogen has been unfaithful, sparking a series of accidental forest run-ins, attempted revenge murders and various deceptions of identity, eventually culminating in the reunion of King Cymbeline’s shattered family.

Even though “Cymbeline” is very much a standard Shakespearean story, Lenny Somervell ’12 made a subtle but important change to the play for her senior project. In this production, Posthumus is not only played by a woman but is in fact portrayed as a woman, increasing the barriers that others have put up between Posthumus and her lover Imogen.

The modification of such a relationship certainly modernizes the play but does not shift the show’s central focus to being a play about gender and sexuality. In the end, the decision to portray Posthumus as a woman adds an interesting new element to

“Cymbeline,” making it more relevant (despite being set in the rather distant past) without changing the show’s central focus. And, after all, why would it? “Cymbeline” is ultimately (as discussed in the show’s playbill) a story about love in all its forms, be it romantic or familial.

Performed in Ridgewood Commons, “Cymbeline” worked within a limited space and with limited opportunity for set. What pieces they did have were put to good use, however, and the two main settings of the show (the forest and the king’s court) were simply and cleverly differentiated.

Despite the lack of a complete set, enough was done to show the change in setting to prevent undue confusion. A more complex set would have been welcome, but the group clearly did excellently within the constraints of the resources they were given. Additionally, the costuming was very well done, effectively grounding the actors in their parts and within the setting of the play as a whole.

Overall, the acting throughout “Cymbeline” was quite strong. Particularly impressive was the tender relationship portrayed between Posthumus and Imogen played by Karol and Geller respectively. Primarily through body language, the two created a truly heart-wrenching picture of affection and devotion. This was particularly poignant at the end of the play, when the two were finally reunited and thus came to understand the falsehoods that created tension between them in the first place. Similarly memorable was Federlin as Cloten. Though Cloten is not the largest part that “Cymbeline” has to offer, Federlin’s portrayal was subtle and amusing. Also of note is Alex Davis ’15 as Iachimo,

the Italian nobleman who seeks to tear apart Posthumus and Imogen for a bet. He played Iachimo with quite the dramatic flair, which was at times very funny but grew slightly tiresome as the play wore on.

Perhaps the best part of “Cymbeline” was the final scene, in which the love that had been so endlessly challenged throughout the story was at last allowed to come to fruition, as Posthumus was accepted into the king’s court as Imogen’s wife and the king himself was at last reunited with his lost sons (a subplot of the play), Guiderius and Arviragus (Samantha LeVangie ’15 and Sari Holt ’15 respectively). The scene was full of poignant emotion, as each actor seemed to bring out his or her full ability. Ultimately, it was a highly touching resolution that the cast gave full justice.

Although the play seemed to drag at points, especially toward the middle, the strength of the final scene certainly compensated for that weakness.

The director’s note in the playbill of this production of “Cymbeline” opened by telling the audience that “Cymbeline” is, in many ways, a play about the things we do for love.” This is truly an apt distillation of the play, and one which the cast and crew have clearly put great effort into portraying. I think it can be said that the goal of performing a play about love was certainly achieved. Although certain love-centered sub-plots at times felt slightly lost, the overall message finally came together very neatly, as the family of King Cymbeline was brought together, free of Queen Hareth’s manipulations. Although it had its flaws, the show overall was strong and enjoyable. I look forward to seeing more of them in the future.

photos by maya himelfarb/the hoot cymbeline Andrew Prentice ’13, Alison Thvedt ’15, Gabrielle Geller ’12, Stephanie Karol ’12, Ben Federlin ’14 and Alex Davis ’15 as King

Cymbeline and the members of his court.

April 27, 2012