The Brandeis Hoot

Volume 9 Number 24

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

November 2, 2012

Altman appointed to chair state health panel

By Rachel Hirschhaut Editor

Governor Deval Patrick appointed Professor Stuart Altman (HS) to chair a new Massachusetts state board that will set health care spending goals and track health care providers’ success in reducing costs on Thursday.

The 11-member Health Policy Board was created to enforce a new health care reform law passed by Patrick. In August, Massachusetts became the first state to attempt to cap overall health care spending, both private and public, so that it cannot grow faster than the state economy.

This law will take effect on Monday.

The savings as a result of this law are predicted to be as high as $200 billion over a 15-year period, according to the New York Times.

“Altman’s experience in matters of health policy in both the public and private sectors is deep and unparalleled and will be an asset to the Commonwealth in our work to drive health care costs down,” Patrick said in a press release. “I thank him for his willingness to serve.”

Altman is a health economist with four decades of health policy experience.

The commission, which replaces the Health Care Quality and Cost Council, will hold its first meeting on Nov. 16 after Patrick appoints the other members. Altman will quit his position as a board member at Tufts Medical Center and non-paying positions in the state, because Health Policy Board members are not allowed to work for hospitals, health plans or other healthcare organizations in Mass.

Altman told the Boston Globe that he accepted the role of chairman because he believes that this is a historic and unprecedented opportunity for Mass. Time and again, state and national efforts to manage health care costs have failed, he said.

“It works for awhile and then it blows up. Then health care spending starts growing at much faster rates,” he told The Globe. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we can make it work here in Massachusetts and that eventually we will be the model for the rest of the country, because no other state is even trying. The federal government isn’t trying. So, we’re all by ourselves.”

hurricane sandy A fallen tree outside the Rabb steps marked the most severe damage to campus from

Minimal campus damage from Sandy

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

Temporary power outages on Monday evening and two fallen trees marked the extent of damage to the Brandeis campus from Hurricane Sandy this week. The storm struck the East Coast and killed more than

Waltham pharmacy closed after failed inspection

By Connor Novy Editor

A Waltham specialty pharmacy was shut down on Oct. 23 after a surprise inspection in which state inspectors found multiple sanitary violations.

Infusion Resource closed after being found in violation of national pharmaceutical standards and Massachusetts regulations. The conditions, officials said, could affect the sterility of the in-

travenous medications they provide.

The manager of the Infusion Resource was a former employee of Ameridose, according to Dr. Madeleine Biondolillo from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Ameridose is owned by the same individuals who ran New England Compounding Center, the Framingham-based pharmacy involved in the recent fungal meningitis outbreak.

“Because there appears to be a busi-

ness relationship between Ameridose and NECC, and as a precautionary measure … [the] FDA will review whether Ameridose has procedures and facilities necessary to assess the firm’s ability to safely produce and provide sterile drug products,” Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy, Deborah Autor said.

The fungal meningitis outbreak, See MENINGITIS, page 2

Students present Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’

macbeth Caitlin Partridge ’13 and Yoni Bronstein ’13 star in ‘Macbeth’ in a presentation from Hold Thy Peace on Thursday evening in the Shapiro Campus Center

Inside this issue:

Features: BEMCo EMTs utilize training Arts, Etc.: Hold Thy Peace delivers classic tale Sports: Men’s soccer falters on senior day Editorials: Sandy response: rethink dining News: Legacy fund sponsors poverty conference Opinion: We need more nice people

Page 5 Page 11 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 18

photo by brendan reardon/the hoot

Hurricane Sandy on Monday.

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

80 people nationwide, including 38 in New York City, with high winds, massive flooding and widespread power outages.

While the campus suffered minimal damage, administrators remained aware of the high population of students from the New York and New Jersey area.

“As we continue to pick up the pieces, we are well aware that Sandy did not just affect Waltham and surrounding communities,” Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer and associate deans Maggie Balch and Jamele Adams wrote in an email Thursday.

See SANDY, page 4

Students warned of funding cuts to state lab

By Dori Cohen Staff

A Jamaica Plain lab that examined drug evidence in criminal trials was shut down on Aug. 30 amid concerns that a former chemist mishandled thousands of drug samples, potentially tainting convictions. Three Brandeis students, however, voiced concerns about the lab two years ago.

In September 2010, Ben Ostrow ’10, Rebecca Ratner ’10 and Kayley Wolf ’12, wrote a paper for their class “Advocacy for Public Policy” about how insufficient funding for the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute could lead to an event much like the one that recently occurred. State chemist Annie Dookhan resigned after it was discovered that she may have mishandled tens of thousands of samples, casting a pall over thousands of criminal cases involving potentially tainted evidence.

“Recently, the Massachusetts House of Representatives released its Fiscal Year 2011 budget outline.

Among the many appropriations included, the Hinton State Lab Line Item (4516-1000) suffered a significant decrease in allocated funds,” the students wrote in their paper.

The Hinton State Laboratory Institute provides essential services to

hospitals, clinics and other health care providers in Massachusetts, in addition to aiding schools, prisons and law enforcement. These services include Tuberculosis testing, biochemical analysis, preventable disease control, as well as environmental services that allow for Massachusetts residents to have clean drinking water, safe food and quality air. According to the paper, with budget cuts, these services would be affected and the health and safety of all Massachusetts citizens put at risk.

“Without proper funding, there are several very important aspects of HSLI that are at risk of being cut or impacted. The safety that all lab technicians and staff require to perform their jobs is at risk due to budget constraints, as well as HSLI’s screening and outreach services.

Outreach workers go to those who have been tested through HSLI and provide them with their medication and support during their treatment process. Many of these integral people have lost their jobs, and even now, these employees are severely underpaid and overworked,” the students wrote.

The students attended budget hearings at the Massachusetts State

Show sets standards

Judges win and lose

Arts, Etc.: Page 10

Sports: Page 13

UTC presents brilliant performance of the Greek myths of Ovid in ‘Metamorphoses.’

Women’s soccer team finds themselves with a 12-4-2 record and one match left.

See LAB, page 3

news

2 The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

Students actively campaign before Senate election

By Debby Brodsky Editor

On Tuesday, Elizabeth Warren (DMA) and Scott Brown (R-MA) will compete for the title of U.S. Senator for the State of Massachusetts. Warren and Brown have been in fierce competition for months, campaigning over the radio, on television commercials and encouraging the support of Brandeis, among other colleges and universities.

Brown is the first Republican to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate since 1972. He aims to maintain a bipartisan and independent appeal and is motivated to work with both Democrats and Republicans to create jobs and put Americans back to work. Brown has served in the Army National Guard and was voted “America’s Sexiest Man” by Cosmopolitan in 1982.

Warren, a Harvard Law School professor of nearly 20 years, specializes in American bankruptcy law and has served as the Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury under President Obama. According to Time Magazine, Warren is “the new sheriff of Wall Street” and has twice been voted one of Time’s 100 most influential people in America.

Both Brown and Warren have made strong campaigning efforts in Massachusetts cities, including Waltham.

“There is a strong grassroots effort in Waltham driving Elizabeth’s cam-

paign. Hundreds of residents have signed up to volunteer and we have a local field office and organizer for the city,” Warren’s Press Secretary, Alethea Harney said. “Our grassroots volunteers in Waltham are focused on having one-on-one conversations with voters at phone banks and door-to-door canvasses, talking to their neighbors about how Elizabeth stands with working families and small businesses.”

Brown’s press secretary did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Brandeis, a traditionally liberal school, has shown strong support of Warren’s campaign, volunteering at her Waltham campaign office, encouraging other students and Waltham residents to register to vote on Nov. 6.

“At Brandeis University, students have been canvassing, registering voters and spreading the word about why Elizabeth is the best choice for young people in this election,” Harney said.

Brandeis clubs such as the Brandeis Democrats (’Deis Dems) and the Brandeis Libertarian-Conservative Union (BLCU) have demonstrated their support for Warren and Brown respectively over the past few months. ’Deis Dems has demonstrated its support for Warren by working closely with Gabe Frumkin, Warren’s Waltham-area field organizer, and by supporting Warren at her Sept. 8 kick-off rally in the Waltham Common to celebrate the Democratic Party’s Day of Action.

Similarly, BLCU has demonstrated

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

campaigning Students on campus have been campaigning for Scott Brown (left) and Elizabeth Warren (right, shown visiting Waltham’s Cafe

on the Common in August).

its support for Brown’s reelection by tabling outside the Shapiro Campus Center and encouraging other Brandeis students to volunteer for Brown’s campaign in his Waltham field office and in his Boston headquarters.

Like Warren, Brown places a strong emphasis on improving American infrastructure by helping Americans find work and by helping students afford their education.

Brown prides himself on supporting funding for Planned Parenthood, supporting the right for gay men and women to serve openly in the military and has made supporting Israel as an ally one of his top-priority foreign policy issues.

Meningitis outbreak forces Waltham Northeastern professor removed for offensive speech pharmacy to close

photo by marshall wolff/ap

MENINGITIS, from page 1

caused by unsanitary lab conditions in the Framingham pharmacy, prompted the inspection. The Waltham pharmacy is not linked to the meningitis outbreaks. Its closure resulted from an inspection prompted by the digressions of NECC. Governor Deval Patrick announced last week that the state would begin surprise inspections of all Massachusetts pharmacies as well as require annual reports on what they produce and distribute.

The Waltham pharmacy mixed intravenous antibiotic and nutritional IV medication for patients recently released from hospitals or prescriptions in forms or doses not usually on the market. While there is no indication that the medications distributed by the company are unsafe, its 40 patients have been asked to return any unused prescriptions as the company recalls all compounded products produced in the last month.

Upon inspection of the Waltham pharmacy, officials “expressed concern for the sterility of products,” according to Biondolillo, who also said inspectors observed an unlicensed area in the lab

meant for giving patients intravenous injections on site. Officials issued a cease-and-desist letter on Oct. 23 and the pharmacy voluntarily surrendered its license a few days later.

Biondolillo noted that the measures were precautionary and there was no evidence that any of the medications distributed by Infusion Resource were contaminated.

The Chief Executive Officer of Infusion Resource, Bernard F. Lambrese, released a statement last week that claimed the company would take immediate action to repair the transgressions identified by Massachusetts investigators.

Although investigators declined to state what the exact issues were, they noted the transgressions did not include any contaminated medication.

Lambrese includes on his to-do list a crack in a window, the condition of flooring in a clean room where drugs are mixed and a leak in a refrigerator drain hose. “No issues were cited relating to the integrity of our product,” Lambrese said.

Patients of the Waltham pharmacy are now being served from the company headquarters in Rhode Island.

The surprise inspection followed the

discovery of a severely contaminated Framingham lab, which was responsible for a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis. The outbreak was linked to a medicinal steroid made by the New England Compounding Company and taken mainly for back pain.

NECC was shut down after contaminated intravenous steroids from their pharmacy killed 25 people. Preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate, used to treat back pain, was shipped to pain clinics in 23 states. More than 14,000 patients were exposed to the potentially contaminated injection.

In the month of October, during seven inspections, investigators found more than 83 of 321 vials of the steroid linked to the nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis, containing “what appeared to be greenish black foreign matter,” investigators wrote in a recently released report on the pharmacy.

“Seventeen vials from the same bin … were observed to contain what appeared to be white filamentous material,” investigators wrote in their report.

According to the FDA report, there was also a clean room with “reddishbrown and cloudy substances,” a “greenish yellow” and “tarnished discoloration,” as well as “dark particulate” and “white, filamentous substances” lining and covering sterilization surfaces. The ground surrounding a leaking boiler was “soiled with thick white debris and thick black, granular material.”

According to the Legal Examiner, NECC personnel told FDA inspectors that the air conditioning was shut off during non-working hours overnight, which increases the risk of bacteria.

There was no record of NECC decontaminating or keeping its facility clean. Internal NECC clean room records noted the presence of bacteria and mold for some time.

By Rachel Hirschhaut Editor

A political science and Middle Eastern studies professor has been removed from the list of faculty at Northeastern University after a video made by Boston-based political organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) revealed anti-Israel views expressed in his classroom.

Professor Denis Sullivan, a tenured professor who is still director of Northeastern’s Middle East Center for Peace, Culture and Development, is no longer listed as a Jewish Studies faculty member, according to Charles Jacobs, president of APT. The 32-minute video, meant to expose rampant anti-Semitism at Northeastern, has already led to the removal of four professors from the university faculty. It showed a clip of Sullivan praising Hamas, listed by the United States as a “foreign terrorist organization” and one of Israel’s most active opposers, for “good health care and kindergartens.”

Jason Pressburg, former director of Israel programs at Northeastern University Hillel, said in the video that many of Sullivan’s students “tell me all the time about the incredible bias that he has and he will disagree with them and give them a bad grade because of it,” which constitutes an abuse of academic power. Although Sullivan claims to be unbiased, his views are “vehemently anti-Israel,” according to Pressburg.

Sullivan did not respond to an email seeking comment this week.

At Brandeis, students and faculty had a variety of opinions about the issue. Zahava Guz ’15, a board member of Brandeis Zionist Alliance (BZA), is

photo from internet source

“glad something is being done to raise awareness of the situation and to try to put an end to it.” She believes that any more drastic actions would have increased his anger and been counterproductive.

One of the required readings for Sullivan’s courses was the pro-Palestinian scholarly work “Al Haq Position Paper: Sixty Years of Nakba: Israel’s Continued Policy of Forcible Displacement,” according to the video.

Sullivan also led a school-sponsored trip to Cairo where he only introduced his students to Arab political and religious leaders, which students said provided a one-sided view of the conflict, according to Jacobs.

Jacobs wrote in an op-ed that Sullivan’s “lectures, syllabi, curricula and invited guests are shown to be clearly designed to poison the minds of students against the Jewish state.”

“It seems clear that Professor Sullivan has built his department to inculcate students with a hostile and demonized view of the Jewish state, with repeated comparisons to the Nazis,” Jacobs said. “Indeed, viewers will see that some of the core themes promoted in his courses are plainly antiSemitic, and are outright lies.”

November 2, 2012

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Campus pundits see a close election approaching

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

By Lassor Feasley Staff

As the presidential election approaches, Brandeis students from both sides of the political spectrum are primed for what promises to be a close race.

According to Gallup, Romney and Obama are in a dead heat, each clinging to 48 percent of registered voters. Although proponents of both candidates are ready to concede some weaknesses in campaign strategy, which will affect the outcome of November’s elections, neither side lacks confidence that their candidate can and will win.

One of the most important factors in the election will be the

candidates’ performances in battleground states. Politics major, Libertarian and conservative pundit Brett Vail ’15, sees Obama’s tight grip on Ohio as Romney’s greatest weakness.

“The President’s greatest strength going into the final week is that he is still holding onto the pivotal battleground state of Ohio. It has become apparent in this election that the winner of Ohio will win the electoral college and with all of the momentum that Governor Romney has gained he still has not yet turned Ohio into a lean, red state,” Vail said.

Naomi Volk, Vice-President of the Brandeis Democrats, hopes that the president’s long history with voters should buck that trend. She claims, “Obama will win, because

first of all, there is an incumbency advantage.”

The upcoming election’s results run deeper than the cold calculations of battleground performance and statistical advantages. Proponents of both candidates have strong policy expectations, which they believe will shade voter enthusiasm.

Volk ultimately believes voters will be seduced by Obama’s experience at the helm of the White House. “Obama’s greatest strength before the election is his record and plan, particularly compared to Mitt Romney.”

According to Volk, popular sentiment in the media tends to downplay his accomplishments, which she says have been quite robust.

“When you look at his record, it’s

actually outstanding. The Affordable Care Act, the Jobs Act, restoring American foreign policy, ending the War in Iraq—he’s done incredible things in this country.”

Vail, predictably, was less optimistic when it came to Obama’s strengths entering the election.

“He will have to deal with the public’s view on him, favorability polls have him below 50 percent and have done so for quite some time. It is rare for a President to be reelected with ratings as low as his.

Even George W. Bush enjoyed higher favorability ratings at this time in the 2004 election cycle.”

Vail does not think the incumbent effect will carry the election.

“The president will have to articulate clearly his plans for the future as well as how he is better suited to handle the economy than Governor Romney, which he has not yet done in the eyes of some voters.”

According to Gallup, the issue that holds the most weight with voters is the economy. Vail argues that “Based on his experiences as Governor of Massachusetts and as a CEO, Mitt Romney is much better suited to handle the economy and the deficit.”

On the other side of the isle, Volk contends that Romney’s plans are a wolf in sheep’s clothing and will ultimately put us back on the path that led to recession.

“We cannot afford to go back to the idea of trickle-down economics that got us into this recession in the first place. Tax cuts on the wealthy and a lack of regulation do not work and they’re why we’re having economic problems today.”

Volk additionally invoked Mitt Romney’s relatability as a major obstacle between him and the presidency. She believes Romney’s

Fallen trees and power outages from hurricane SANDY, from page 1

political machine has produced a confusing and muddled message.

“Romney’s greatest weakness before the election is his lack of conviction—the fact that he really does not have a platform to run on because his campaign constantly contradicts itself in its attempts to appeal to voters,” continuing to say, “I think once Romney’s lack of insight into the current political climate becomes clear, the American public will see the right choice is Obama.”

In a major coup from the last election cycle, proponents of Romney are banking on grassroots enthusiasm to provide a last minute boost to victory.

Brett Vail contends that “Governor Romney’s greatest strengths going into the final days is the large enthusiasm from his base and his momentum.

If he is able to capitalize these assets, he very well may be able to turn this into an electoral victory.”

Conversely, Volk worries that democratic enthusiasm will wane compared to last year’s turn out. “The greatest challenge facing Barack Obama before the election is mobilizing the vote.”

Neither democratic nor republican constituencies see a landslide election approaching. Despite his confidence in Romney’s policy choices, Vail admits, “Right now the election is a tossup and nothing that happens on Election Day regarding swing states would surprise me.”

National polls shed no further light on the outcome of next week’s election, with most reputable pollsters projecting a near dead heat.

Although voter turnout is expected to be tepid, a boon for the Republican party, no reputable pundit can claim a high degree of confidence in the victory of either candidate.

State lab funding cut LAB, from page 1

“Many of your families and friends may have, or are continuing to, struggle with the aftermath of such a natural disaster. It is heart wrenching to see the pictures and hear the stories.”

President Fred Lawrence canceled classes on Monday and the university closed but reopened on Tuesday with a full class schedule. On Sunday afternoon, when Governor Deval Patrick had already declared a state of emergency, Lawrence first wrote an email that anticipated the university would remain open. Lawrence changed his decision on Sunday evening after Patrick requested that schools, colleges and businesses in the state close to help with storm preparations.

“Late this afternoon Gov. Deval Patrick asked that all Massachusetts colleges and universities cancel activities on Monday,” Lawrence wrote Sunday evening. “Accordingly, we are canceling classes and other scheduled events on campus.”

The dining halls operated on a regular weekday schedule Monday with free pizza served from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. and the Goldfarb library closed early at 8 p.m. Einstein’s also closed earlier than expected.

Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins returned to campus Monday evening and worked overnight as several buildings lost power. On Monday, the Gosman Athletic Center, Charles River apartments and Mods apartments had partial electricity, Collins said. A backup generator powered the Village and 60 Turner Street with the Epstein building losing full power.

“Tough night but not bad in terms

photo by brendan reardon/the hoot

of some of the other horror stories on the news,” Collins wrote in an email, explaining that NStar managed to replace power in all buildings by early Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning, even though buildings had power restored the Charles River Apartments and 60 Turner Street were still experiencing voltage issues.

“While they do have power in these locations there is some additional work that NStar needs to do in order to provide us consistently with the appropriate voltages for each of these locations,” Collins wrote.

A tree fell near the Berlin Chapel, but director of public safety Ed Callahan said there was no structural dam-

age, according to BrandeisNOW. A large tree also fell near the crosswalk between the Rabb steps and Usdan.

In Waltham, 25 people were evacuated after the roof blew off the Glenmeadow Condominiums building on Lexington Street Monday evening.

Lawrence expressed gratitude for the community’s preparations and response to the storm but remained mindful that many families in New York and New Jersey suffered greatly.

“We are all grateful that there was no significant damage or personal injuries on campus,” Lawrence told BrandeisNOW. “At the same time, our hopes go out to people in New York, New Jersey and other states that bore the full impact of the storm, and we

extend our sympathy and support to the members of our community who at present are unable to communicate with their relatives and friends in those places.”

Sawyer, Adams and Balch reinforced the message in their email on Thursday evening.

“Please know we all care about you and your loved ones. If you feel the need to chat, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone—your Community Advisor, Community Development Coordinator, the Chaplaincy, the Counseling Center or feel free to drop by our office on the second floor of the Shapiro Campus Center. Please let us know how we can help!” they wrote.

House, meetings with State House staffers and press conferences for various organizations in order to obtain help for supporting the lab and similar programs, in addition to working toward increasing the amount of funding received.

The lab, however, did not receive increased funding, leading to the breakdown of the laboratory’s services.

Investigators have identified 1,141 Massachusetts inmates currently incarcerated in jails or prisons whose cases included evidence analyzed by Dookhan. At least 20 drug defendants have already been released or had bail reductions or sentence suspensions because of the chemist’s involvement and attorneys have said they are bracing for the possibility of dozens of legal challenges.

The student’s project was part of the Legal Studies program course Advocacy for Public Policy. The course, taught by Professor Melissa Stimell (LGLS), started in 2010 by the Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life as an “initiative designed to encourage citizens to bring moral and ethical insights to the process of making and revising laws,” according to the center’s website. The course combines an investigation of the ethical dilemmas that arise in the process of lawmaking with hands-on advocacy work with entities seeking to reform laws or to propose new ones.

Advocacy for Public Policy will be available for enrollment in the spring 2013 semester.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

College Briefs

By Debby Brodsky

BC students demand sexual health resource center This past Friday, Boston College Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH) began a petition for Boston College to have a sexual health resource center to be available to students, claiming that sexual health is a fundamental part of student health that has until now been ignored at Boston College.

The petition will be presented to Boston College administration at the end of the academic year, and currently has over 300 student signatures. BCSSH is demanding that the resource center offer contraception, free sexually transmitted

infection (STI) testing, information about sexual health resources and positive sexual decision making programming. Students hope that the resource center will be part of the Office of Health Promotion or through the office of Health Services. “We are not advocating for any kind of sexual activity. We simply want students to feel comfortable and have a safe and respectful place on campus where they can go to have these health needs met,” Lizzie Jekanowski ’13, the chair of BCSSH told The Heights. source: bc heights

BU public health student wins VH1’s Do Something! Award Boston University School of Public Health student Katia Gomez ’13 won the VH1 Do Something!

Award for creating Educate2Envision (E2E), a nongovernmental organization that builds schools and helps educate impoverished children in central Honduras. Ben Affleck presented Gomez with a $100,000 grant and a winged shoe trophy for her hard work and positive contributions to the world that will last many years. Upon accept-

ing the award, Gomez announced that her grant would go to Honduras, to help the young children she spent time with in 2009 as a volunteer over spring break. “As a young person fortunate enough to have gotten to this level in my education, I felt a sense of responsibility to help those who could barely make it past sixth grade,” Gomez said. source: bu today

photo courtesy educate2envision

Babson College named one of America’s top-rated green colleges Babson College has been chosen as one of America’s top-rated Green Colleges for 2013 by the Princeton Review. Babson was also selected as one of America’s Greenest Colleges by the Sierra Club. Babson was chosen for its increase in institutional and student-led initiatives during the past few years, which emphasize the importance of protecting communities and the planet. These initiatives include the creation of Babson’s living-learning commu-

nity, the introduction of campus Eco Reps Program, the implementation of single-stream recycling and replacement of traditional campus cleaning products with green alternatives, among other changes.

Babson was selected by Princeton Review and Sierra Club based on changes made to its academic offerings, food and water choices and overall preparation of students for environmental citizenship. source: babson college

UMass Amherst supports higher education in Afghanistan The School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst signed a $11.2 million agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development to continue its efforts to improve access to higher education in Afghanistan. The University’s School of Education Center for International Education (CIE) currently funds Afghanistan’s first functioning master’s degree program in 30

Voters to decide fate of assisted suicide Tuesday

By Connor Novy Editor

Editor

years. This grant more than doubles CIE’s current funding, which is designed to support educational institutions that combine academic and technical skills, much like an American community college curriculum. CIE’s goal is to work with the Afghan people and to build teaching and management skills.

Their current funding is more than $21 million. source: umass amherst

November 2, 2012

Massachusetts voters will decide Tuesday whether or not to legalize assisted suicide. If the ballot measure passes, it will allow “a physician licensed in Massachusetts to prescribe medication, at the request of a terminally-ill patient meeting certain conditions, to end that person’s life,” according to the language of the proposal. It is one of the most contentious state questions in the coming election.

Currently, there are similar laws on the books in Oregon and Washington State. Oregon’s own “Death with Dignity” law was enacted in 1994. Since then, approximately 930 people have had lethal prescriptions written.

Only 596 have passed away from the ingestion of those prescribed medications. According to Professor Gwendolyn Cadge (SOC), that only two thirds of patients for whom the medication is prescribed go on to take it, shows “it’s a comfort to have a choice.”

“People are used to being in control of their lives, want to remain in control,” explained Debra Poaster, director of the Brandeis Health Center.

According to Poaster, however, disability groups “feel that this opens the way to euthanasia in general.” Second Thoughts, a steering committee “for people with disabilities opposing the legalization of assisted suicide,”

says that the bill devalues the lives of people who live with disabilities that may hinder their functions, or elderly people.

The Second Thoughts group believes that current legislation allows for people determined to end their own lives: “Under current law, any competent person has the right to stop or refuse treatment, including food and water, even if they know that will lead to death.”

Cadge explained how Oregon residents have reacted to the law.

“The people in Oregon who have used this measure are at the end of their lives,” Cadge said. In order to obtain a prescription, a patient must have less than six months to live and be mentally competent.

Both the doctor prescribing the medication, as well as another providing a second opinion, must agree the patient is capable of making the decision. If a patient is diagnosed with depression, they are ineligible for the prescription: “Depression is a treatable condition,” Poaster said.

Despite fears that “in poorer groups there might be higher coercion,” Cadge said, a 2007 independent study in the Journal of Medical Ethics reported there was “no evidence of heightened risk for the elderly, women, the uninsured, people with low educational status, the poor, the physically disabled or chronically ill, minors, people with psychiatric illnesses including depression, or racial or ethnic minorities, compared with

background populations.”

According to Cadge, some feel the ballot fails to fulfill medical standards.

“It’s more important to improve the ways people die,” Cadge said, “rather than an easier way to die.” Cadge, however, believes the issue must be considered from the point of view of the patients.

“When you take it from the perspective of people who actually use it, rather than the philosophical stance,” said Cadge, who believes the question has “enough of checks and balances” to avoid abuse.

The Second Thoughts group feels that “the safeguards that are written into the Massachusetts bill are not strong enough to prevent abuses by family members, heirs or others,” especially in the case of people with long-term illnesses like diabetes or elderly people. They say the wording of the bill is unclear and could include individuals who rely on daily medications.

In Oregon, few people rate pain as a reason when asking for the medication, but rather limitations on activities and bodily functions.

The most recent polls show a narrowing of support for the measure.

According to a Suffolk University and 7 News poll released Tuesday, the “Death with Dignity” proposal is favored by 47 percent and opposed by 41 percent of voters. The margin has narrowed considerably since September, when the polls held a 37-point spread.

Sandel discusses the ‘Market Society’

By Lassor Feasley Staff

Harvard professor and Brandeis trustee Michael Sandel spoke on campus this Wednesday, promoting his new book “What Money Can’t Buy,” in which he argues that the past three decades have seen a transition from a market based economy to a market based society. He argues that civic duty and obligation has been commoditized to such an extent that it has lost its inherent value.

Sandel thinks we are testing the moral limits of markets. He points to Washington, where markets often determine access to political clout.

Lobbyists even pay the homeless to hold their spots in line at important hearings.

This may seem like anecdotal fodder, but Sandel sees markets systemically permitting every aspect of civil life. Should our nation, for example, sell corporations the right to pollute, hire mercenaries to fight our wars or

even pay children to get good grades he asks? In a world where civil obligation can be bought and sold like candy bars, says Sandel, the role of our nation’s social contract has become become vague and illusory.

Since the time that Sandel calls “the era of market triumphalism” (the past three decades), many obligations once taken for granted have been forced to conform to markets. Sandel points to schools that pay pupils to read books.

“Payment is the incentive and economics teaches that people respond to incentives … so why not use money as a further incentive? Might it be that the monetary incentive undermines the intrinsic one?” If students are paid to read, for example, Sandel asks, has the experience of reading the book been compromised?

Some goods, Sandel holds, are beyond valuation by committee markets, rather they must be valued in terms of dignity, respect, awe or virtue, rather than merely their trade

in market value. When education, politics, great works of art, natural wonders or even human beings are given a price tag, what happens? Sandel argues, “things are corrupted or degraded if we turn them into market commodity.”

“There’s been a growing faith in the idea that markets are the primary instrument for achieving the public good,” he said.

“When we as a society decide that certain goods may be bought and sold, what we are deciding is that those goods are properly valued as commodities, as instruments of profit and use.”

Sandel believes that since the late 60s markets have been permeating institutions that were traditionally governed by what he terms “non-market values.” Sandel believes the degradation of these institutions through market devices, whether they exist in politics, war, education or any other realm of public life, has impaired the lens of our national public discourse.

Kaplan brings 57 charges against Union; settles

By Connor Novy Editor

Dean Kaplan’s ’15 case against the Student Union after being defeated by the abstain option and consequently turned out of his position as offcampus senator ended in mediation earlier this month. Originally, Senator Carlton Shakes ’14 announced Kaplan as off-campus senator, and when Sunny Aidasani ’14 was named winner in a re-do election, “Dean originally said he was going to bring 57 cases against the union … the first two were thrown out and we agreed to hear the third,” Student Union President Todd Kirkland ’13 said. The other 54 charges were not articulated.

According to Chief Justice of the Judiciary Seth Brody ’13, “We were responsible for responding to Dean about the case after he filed it with Paige, the court clerk. The first case was for the impeachment of the judi-

ciary, the second against Carlton and we threw those out, since Dean didn’t meet the requirements for impeachment. The third was against Todd and we agreed to see it.”

Kaplan later agreed to mediation rather than a trial. “We put the option out there of starting a committee for off-campus issues, which Dean took,” Kirkland said. “Jesse Manning [Student Union Chief of Staff, ’13] explained the process and helped to start the paperwork, but we haven’t heard from Dean about whether he is going to follow through. It still might not happen.”

The off-campus senator position functions as a liaison between students living in the surrounding Waltham area and the Brandeis administration. While every on-campus quad has multiple CAs and a CDC, and on-campus services like BEMCo, Kirkland says students off campus have far less representation and offered services.

“While students are still subject to university regulations, there are significantly less services offered to those off campus.” The importance of the off-campus senator position, says Kirkland, is only going to increase as the larger undergraduate classes move off campus. “Brandeis hasn’t acquired new housing, so the number of students going off campus is only going to grow.”

According to Kirkland, Kaplan had been acting as Off-Campus Senator since the beginning of the year. “Sunny was elected off-campus senator. He didn’t come to the first meeting since he hadn’t been sworn in and Dean acted in the position,” Kirkland said.

“We’re happy that things worked out, had the case gone to trial it would have been a lot to deal with. I don’t think Dean handled it well, but I’m happy we reached a solution,” Brody said.

Dean Kaplan was contacted but was unavailable for comment.

FEATURES

November 2, 2012

The Brandeis Hoot 5

BEMCo EMTs balance student leadership roles

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

By Emily Belowich Staff

BEMCo is an entirely student-run service; the two supervisors, Hannah Goldberg and Paul Schneider, are undergraduate students who have experience working both on and off campus. These two supervisors alternate being on call every other day and there are always a total of four people on call at all times. All calls that BEMCo receives stay within the BEMCo network—meaning that BEMCo hao an obligation to Brandeis’ student body not to report to any faculty, staff or student about a BEMCo call.

“We take confidentiality extremely seriously,” Goldberg, BEMCo’s student director and clinical supervisor said. As supervisors, Goldberg and Schneider collaborate with their medical director to perform a weekly review of the calls. BEMCo does quality assurance with the health center but all of these calls are kept confidential.

“People are sometimes concerned when the police show up on the call.

They are there solely for BEMCo’s safety and they are usually really great about helping us maintain the call to solely a medical call,” Goldberg said.

BEMCo only responds to calls on campus and cannot give help to anyone off campus.

BEMCo does a medical assessment after the call to decide whether or not the student needs to go to the hospital. If so, the student is transported by the ambulance company of Waltham, AMR. BEMCo’s medical director, Dr. Debra Poaster, commends the students in BEMCo for their dedication and commitment, especially to the supervisors who are on call every other night.

“What other club makes you stay awake every other night?” Poaster said. “It’s a tough balance too, because you can’t have too many primaries because then people don’t get enough experience.”

She knows that for many of these students, BEMCo is not the only club that they belong to and on top of that, many of these students are pre-health and have lots of coursework in labs. Poaster says that BEMCo students are at a real advantage when they start applying to medical school. There are other ambulance services in the area, however, BEMCo has won many awards as a college EMS. “It’s so neat that they’re able to have that kind of interaction with patients. A lot of students who apply to medical school have never even talked to a patient before. It’s a unique experience that students at Brandeis have,” Poaster said.

There are students on call every hour of every day. The training to become a member of BEMCo is strenuous, but Goldberg says that she knows her hard work is worth it.

“Being on call so frequently is awfully difficult when managing your classwork, other clubs and a social life, but helping people that you sit next to in class every day is incredibly rewarding,” Goldberg said.

BEMCo, short for Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps, is Brandeis’ free emergency medical services. If you’re on campus at any hour of the day and you call BEMCo, the service will respond to your call immediately. In order to become a part of BEMCo, applicants must first take an EMT course to become certified, either offered through Brandeis or at an off-campus site in Massachusetts.

Currently, there are about 50 active Brandeis students who are

members of BEMCo, but they vary in experience and age. When members are first initiated into BEMCo, they are known as “tertiaries.” They are responsible for taking vitals and most of them have 1-2 shifts per month.

In the the next step of the process they are deemed “secondaries” and become responsible for demographics.

In order to be a secondary, a member must pass a written test and respond to mock calls. If a second simultaneous call arises, the secondary will respond to the second call with the supervisor.

They are responsible for these minor calls, in addition to minor assessments.

The next level, “primary,” is only granted to members who have served as secondaries for at least six months and who have had off-campus EMT experience for more than three months. Primaries must pass a very rigorous mock call that includes a number of complicated tactics. There are usually a limited number of primaries in any given year because there are many secondaries that do not pass the first time.

“The primary mock call is the most complicated call that we can think of in order to prepare them,” Goldberg said. “This includes combining a number of factors that make a call the most complicated.”

BEMCo currently faces a lack of primaries, which is mainly attributed to a lack of off-campus experience, Poaster said. She also notes that there is a declining number of places that are allowing students to volunteer and do part-time work, mainly because many fire and ambulance departments are now combined. Students from suburban areas in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York used to be able to find experience easily, but so many of these positions are being professionalized now, Poaster says.

“ ” We take confidentiality extremely seriously.

Hannah Goldberg ’13

“The possibility for students to do volunteer or part-time work is getting harder because you can’t be a public employee just for the summer,” Poaster said.

Since students are having more trouble finding placement, BEMCo is taking action by finding venues in Massachusetts. This is an accessible option for students looking to gain off-campus experience The student-led organization is driven to provide BEMCo members with the highest level of medical education so that Brandeis community members can receive the best care.

Poaster said that the university is incredibly supportive of BEMCo’s efforts. She said that people are always grateful, especially because they know that BEMCo has a short response time.

“I have letters from students, staff and administration who are all so appreciative of their expertise and professionalism,” Poaster said.

BEMCo is classified as one of Brandeis’ student clubs on campus.

Even though all BEMCo members are certified Massachusetts EMTs, the university has to authorize all

administered drugs. It receives funding through the Student Union that covers all of the expenses including medical supplies and its vehicle.

BEMCo now operates a 2012 Ford Expedition that is fully equipped with emergency vehicle lighting and basic life support equipment. They do not transport individuals on the BEMCo truck to off-campus sites, but on campus, the truck is put to good use.

“As you can imagine, this truck does a lot of starting and stopping and quick calls take on a lot of wear and tear,” Goldberg says. Upgrading to this new truck has been a major improvement for the BEMCo staff, who were previously driving a 2000 model.

Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps responds to more than 300 calls a year, about 20 percent of which are alcohol and drug-related.

“Surprisingly, there aren’t very many trends in our calls because they are so scattered. It’s a common factor of all EMS, that most calls are very random and come in sporadically.

We get calls from the science center, the Mods and the freshmen dorms,” Goldberg said.

6 FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

Pole dancing improves fitness and body image

By Alison Thvedt Staff

Laura Ben Moore ’14 first started pole dancing when she was looking for a new form of fitness. “I took classes at a fitness studio that specialized in fitness for women. So they had pole dancing and chair dancing, but of course they also had standard classes like pilates and yoga.” Now, with two years of experience under her belt, Moore launched the new pole dancing club on campus, called Firecrackers, this semester.

While it is still a new club, Firecrackers is doing very well. As president and instructor, Moore feels the first night of class, held on Oct. 25, went smoothly. “People told me they were sore [the next day] … I’m sore, and I practice for rugby seven days a week,” she said.

Pole Dancing is, after all, a full body workout. “Most people complain muscularly about their upper body and core,” Moore said. There are, however, also some other unanticipated aches and pains that come along with pole dancing. Pole burn, for instance, is one such unanticipated condition: “you’re holding onto the pole with your skin,” as well as hand pain—including muscle ache in your fingers from gripping the pole. “It’s definitely a workout,” Moore said, “and a very unique one at that.”

Moore enjoys pole dancing not only for it’s physical benefits, but for it’s emotional ones. “It creates a different relationship with your body. You’re staring at a mirror the whole time, not wearing that much … [pole dancing]

photos by ally eller/the hoot

firecracker E-board members of Brandeis Pole Dancing club demonstrate their skills.

is loaded for a lot of people.” She de- that it takes awhile to build this three- or her reflection, and his or her pole. scribed it as an evolutionary process, way relationship between a person, his That is why the pole dancing club is first and foremost about fitness—it is not a performance group; Moore wants to make sure the comfort and safety, both emotionally and physically, are put first, emphasizing that it is “crucial that there is no pressure [to perform].”

In fact, Moore and her team put a lot of thought into making sure all people can feel safe and comfortable in the pole dancing classes. Every Thursday, there is an all female class, an all male class, and a gender neutral class. Reasoning for this includes the fact that male and female tricks are different, and men may be looking to learn the more typical male style of pole dance. The E-board is working to accommodate “every type of need.”

Right now, the club is strictly pole dance, but Moore hopes to have special workshops or classes in things like sexy fitness and chair dancing. “Sexy fitness and pole dancing are two different things,” Moore said. Sexy fitness, she explained, is more like your typical fitness class—boot camp, ab blast—but with a twist. An example, Moore said, is that body rolls are incorporated into sexy fitness classes.

Moore also stated that she would like the club to get more involved in events; they already have plans to be part of Club Crawl on Nov. 12. The club is also working on fundraising.

Moore, however, made one thing clear: “We won’t be offering performances for money.”

So far, the club has been using Moore’s pole for classes, but the club

was just approved for funding for their very own pole. The poles, however, weigh in at a costly $300, including shipping. This is the second reason that classes are small—the first reason being that it is important to create a small, comfortable group without too many people.

The classes start off with the very basics of pole dancing. Pole dancing, Moore explained, is a sequence of poses with short dance routines in between. But for beginners, dancers stay close to the floor. Dancers in classes are asked to wear a t-shirt or tank top and shorts so as to maintain a good grip on the pole.

As explained in an email sent out to the listserve, “The scant outfits are not just for show. Unlike certain other aerial arts, in which skin protection is crucial, YOUR SKIN HOLDS YOU ON THE POLE.” When a dancer gets more advanced, he or she may need the skin of their inner thighs or stomach or armpit to help grip the pole. But in the classes here at Brandeis, this is not necessary.

Moore also wants to make sure her students feel safe, and does not want to ask them to wear anything that would make them feel uncomfortable, she added.

“I’m always looking for suggestions and feedback to make [the club] more inclusive.” Moore is currently the only instructor, but she said she would be thrilled to see more people get involved on that end. “Collaboration is huge … we’re trying to make it a more active and interactive community club.”

“ ” “Pole dancing is loaded for a lot of people.”

Laura Ben Moore ’14

the art of pole dancing Laura Ben Moore demonstrates moves on the pole.

November 2, 2012

The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

7

Rosenstiel award granted to Harvard professor

By Shreyas Warrier Staff

Harvard Professor and research scientist Dr. Stephen Elledge won this year’s Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science, founded by Brandeis and established in 1971. The $30,000 award honors scientists who discover mechanisms underlying disease and development.

“It is centered on … understanding the underlying cellular and molecular processes that allow cells and organisms to function,” Professor James Haber (BIO), the head of the selection committee for the Rosenstiel Award, said. “It has been given to scientists uncovering the basis of sensory perception, the regulation of gene expression, the basis of innate immunity and so on.”

The winner is selected by a panel of about a dozen scientists from the Boston area. Elledge stated his research involves addressing issues such as, “How does the cell know when its chromosomes are damaged? How does it sense the different types of structural alterations in the DNA of chromosomes, and once the existence of this problem is detected, what does it do about it? How does it communicate this problem to the rest of the cell to help ameliorate it?”

According to Haber, “Each year, the Rosenstiel Award committee solicits

and receives nominations from scientists all over the world, and then meets to winnow down the nominations to one or more recipients.”

Upon being notified that he was to receive the award, Elledge described his reaction as “very pleasantly surprised, as the past winners are a tremendously talented group of scientists and [I] am proud to be considered to be among them.”

Humble in his achievement, Elledge moved quickly to congratulate his graduate students and postdocs, “whose incredible talent and hard work was responsible for the discoveries we made over the last two years.”

He plans to donate some of the money received from the award to his high school, “in order to promote their chemistry program.”

The award is quite prestigious—according to Haber, the selection committee is known for it’s “remarkable record of identifying people before they have been awarded the most prestigious prizes such as the Lasker Prize or the Nobel Prize.”

About one third of the recipients of the Rosenstiel Award have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, including names such as Andrew Fire, Craig Mello, Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien, Carol Greider, Elizabeth Blackburn, Thomas Steitz, Jules Hoffman, Shinya Yamanaka and Sir John Gordon. Haber states that the selections of the Rosenstiel Award “greatly influence the awarding

of these other prizes.”

Strangely enough, Elledge came across the hypothesis of his research as a “complete accident.” While attempting to find a different protein in yeast, the eukaryotic version of the bacterial protein recA, he found a different protein, ribonucleotide reductase. Realizing that this protein, which he found using antibodies to recA, was “completely unrelated” to the protein he was searching for, his experiment had failed.

After some data mining, however, Elledge found that “this protein’s levels were highly induced in response to DNA damage,” leading him to believe in a signal transduction pathway that “senses DNA damage and transmits a signal to activate this protein.” This thought led him to research the protein he had found, believing that there was something important to discover.

Upon following this train of thought, Elledge found that “when damage to a chromosome occurs, a protein kinase cascade is activated that makes a lot of changes in the cell to promote DNA repair and survival.”

This discovery is made extremely important by the way many human diseases function—according to Elledge, in a large number of human diseases such as ataxia telangiectasia, Seckel Syndrome, Fanconi anemia and several types of cancer, most notably familial breast cancer, the “DNA damage response is defective.”

photo from internet source

the rosenstiel award This medal along with a $30,000 award is granted each year.

DNA damage response senses damaged cells and kills them by apoptosis or causing them to permanently exit the cell cycle by means of a process called senescence. Many chemotherapies trigger the DNA damage response. Other cancers, caused by

“partial defects in the DNA damage response can be killed by further inactivating the response in those tumors.”

Hence, Elledge’s discovery could eventually be used as a “therapeutic target for cancer under certain circumstances.”

Waltham group trick or treats for the hungry

By Zoe Richman Staff

While college-aged students may be too old to trick-or-treat on Halloween, Brandeis students defy this idea.

For the past 26 years, the Waltham Group’s Hunger and Homelessness program has offered a special Halloween opportunity for the Brandeis community. This year’s event collected more than 4,100 items of nonperishable food.

Each year, during the weeks preceding Oct. 31, the Hunger and Homelessness Program posts flyers around Waltham and surrounding areas, incentivizing residents to buy or gather non-perishable foods. On the night of Halloween, the members (using the BranVan), drive volunteers to local homes to knock on doors and pick up canned goods. That is, they trick-ortreat.

The Police Departments and the families who have compiled non-perishables are notified prior to Halloween. This way, the process runs both efficiently and without confusion.

The program works to battle hunger and homelessness in the local community under the leadership of Liz Stoker, Dianna Wang and Nate Shammay. Through various volunteer opportunities, the club works persistently to include members of the Brandeis community in the fight to alleviate hunger and homelessness.

In addition to the Halloween for the Hungry initiative, other programs include: Brandeis Be Our Guest, the Spring Sock Drive and the Waltham Community Garden Project.

Brandeis Be Our Guest gives students the option to donate their unused guest meals. In turn, Aramark, one of Hunger and Homelessness’ partners, donates these meals to various local soup kitchens. Students may then volunteer to deliver and serve the food to the soup kitchens and spend time with the recipients.

Through the Spring Sock Drive, students ask Waltham residents for socks and gently worn clothing to be donated to Boston’s Health Care for

trick or treat Members of the Brandeis Ultimate Frisbee Team participate in Halloween for the Hungry.

the Homeless Program.

The Waltham Community Garden Project allows students to help the Waltham Community Day Center with their garden—tasks vary depending on the season.

In addition to the annual events, “we have lots of little one-time things,” Stoker said, including relief events for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and Japan after the 2011 tsunami. The proceeds were sent to the Red Cross.

Providing volunteer effort opportunities to the Brandeis student body helps Hunger and Homelessness gath-

er support and promote their cause.

While working to combat hunger and homelessness is always necessary, it becomes especially important as the winter months approach, for obvious reasons. The current economic turbulence and recent changes in legislation regarding shelter qualification further the need for volunteers.

As a result of the new Massachusetts shelter regulations focusing on permanent housing, access to shelters has become increasingly difficult for those in need. At the end of September, “74 percent of families seeking shelter

were denied [of emergency shelter],” according to a column by Yvonne Abraham in the Boston Globe.

Although the program has generally run smoothly for the past 26 years, Stoker notes one minor glitch.

On Halloween night in recent years, not every household that has signed up has been knocked on. This hiccup, however, was easily remedied. The club leaders made a second round of pick ups, ensuring that all the food was picked up.

This fall, Hunger and Homelessness has been successful in recruiting

photo courtesy kyra borenstein

Brandeis volunteers to participate in Halloween for the Hungry. “We could always use a few more [volunteers], but we have lots of help from campus groups,” including Greek organizations, Stoker said.

Students not affiliated with specific campus clubs have also been eager to volunteer.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to sign up.

“Doing Halloween for the Hungry is a great way to get [help combat] homelessness, meet the coordinators and get into the Waltham group,” Stoker said.

8 FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

Alumna educates through YouTube

By Dana Trismen Editor

Alex Dainis ’11 has found a way to merge her passions in a way that is making her YouTube famous. During her time at Brandeis, Dainis juggled multiple majors and various activities.

Graduating with majors in biology and film, television and media, Dainis used her skills to create her own YouTube channel. The channel, called “Bit Sci-zed,” teaches science. Supported by the YouTube Next EDU Guru Program, the YouTube channel has taken off, educating people worldwide about the wonders of science.

While at Brandeis, Dainis describes that she originally intended to graduate with a biochemistry degree, but when her majors transformed she “couldn’t be happier with that.” Involved in many clubs, such as the Swing Dancing Troupe and the Catholic Student Organization, Dainis had an active presence on campus. She also fondly recalls her time spent in two different labs, Paul Garrity’s lab and as a teaching assistant for Dr. Kosinski- Collin’s biology lab. “I loved both labs,” Dainis said. “The Garrity lab taught me how to be a scientist and the bio Lab taught me how to communicate science.”

Upon graduating, Dainis admits she was on the lookout for media jobs. “I knew I wanted to go on to grad school for genetics … but I wanted some time to work on film for a while before returning to science.” To feed her interest in media, Dainis started the “Bite Sci-zed” YouTube series. “Bite Sci-zed started because I love talking about science,” she said.

She claims science makes the world a more interesting place, given that it surrounds our daily lives. She believes science is in everything, “from the chemistry of our food to the anatomy of our bodies.” In posting “Bite Sci-zed” on YouTube, Dainis hoped to share her love of science by helping others appreciate it while learning about it. In describing her process on creating videos, Dainis explains, “Bite Sci-zed takes the science that I think is interesting and transforms it into easily digestible videos that anyone can

bite sci-zed Alex Dainis educates viewers on science through her YouTube channel.

watch, regardless of their scientific background.

I cover topics relevant to daily life, form the science behind brain freezes to why we sneeze.”

Dainis believes there are definitely advantages to teaching through the mode of YouTube.

“Teaching through YouTube lets me reach so many more people than I’d be able to otherwise,” she said. She describes how it is normal that she would have scientific conversations with her friends and family, but the only way many other people would be able to share in this scientific enlightenment is through an online mode.

“YouTube lets me create my own classroom. It gives me the freedom to teach whatever I want, whenever I want,” Dainis added.

The YouTube Next EDU Program, which

chose Dainis and her videos, is a program that looks for 10 up-and-coming educational channels that are then brought to YouTube headquarters for their education summit. Dainis was flown out to California and describes how she met “some of the top YouTube educational content creators, like VSauce, MinutePhysics, SciShow, and Veritasium, as well as organizations like PBS and the Khan Academy who do amazing work in education already.” YouTube offered support to Dainis, giving advice on ways to improve her channel in order to reach a greater number of people. Dainis describes the experience as “invaluable.”

“The opportunity to talk with these people, to see their creativity and to share in their ideas …

photo courtesy alex dainis

I was honored that YouTube saw what I was doing and wanted to support it,” she said.

While Dainis is certainly succeeding in her YouTube ventures, she admits that she does have other future plans. “I’m currently working at a museum media company, but I am joining the Stanford Genetics department to pursue my Ph.D. in the fall of 2013.” While she is going on to continue her study of science, Dainis admits that she does not want to stray far from the idea of teaching science.

“Long term, I want to continue to be a public science educator, ideally through film,” she said. “I’m in love with science and think it’s something everyone should know a little more about!”

ExCEL class studies at Museum of Fine Arts

By Zoe Richman Staff

Fellows of the Brandeis Experiential and Community-Engaged Learning program (ExCEL) hosted an egg drop competition for Brandeis students on Wednesday. Participants were provided materials to build a contraption capable of protecting an egg dropped from the Shapiro Campus Center balcony.

ExCEL offers students and faculty unique opportunities to expand their learning and teaching potential beyond the classroom. Through ExCEL, students and professors can conduct independent research, take or teach ExCEL courses, intern off campus, participate in communitybased projects, create artwork and study abroad.

ExCEL opportunities allow students to take an active role in a constantly evolving society.

Professor Koloski-Ostrow (CLAS) uses experiential learning to enhance her course, Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome. “The Object Project,” a central component of the curriculum, helps her students see beyond routine classroom lectures.

The class spends an afternoon at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where they take interactive tours throughout the Greek and Roman exhibits.

“We are lucky to be at Brandeis [where we have] access to real Greek and Roman art,” Koloski-Ostrow said.

Each student selects one artifact from the era between 800 B.C. and fourth century C.E. “Whether it be a fountain basin, an everyday object like a strigil, a medical object such as a tongue depressor, an ear cleaner, or something more fancy like jewelry, a statue, or a wall painting,” the array of possibilities allows much room for creativity, Koloski-Ostrow said.

The students then research a specific link between a detail of their chosen object to a topic from a list of 40 possibilities including, religion, politics, daily life or ancient entertainments.

Compiling their drawings and research, the class collectively creates a catalogue of MFA artifacts. The historical analysis promises a more engaging product than many art catalogues.

museum of fine arts Exhibits serve as research topics for ExCEL students.

“I’m pretending that they are my little army of field researchers,” Koloski-Ostrow said.

She explains that she does not want to read a catalogue of already familiar ideas. “This is [their] chance to turn around [their] experience of the course and teach me something. It gives a lot of power to them.”

Koloski-Ostrow also incorporates an experiential learning environment inside her classroom. She showcases her own collection, which includes the jawbone of an 11-year-old boy killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 C.E. The class discusses the objects with a concentration on the underlying context and histories.

“Each one of the 54 [students] gets a little face time with him,” Koloski-Ostrow said.

In addition to Koloski-Ostrow’s personal collection, Brandeis has about 800 objects in the

Classical Artifact Research Collection (CLARC) including, religious statues, glass bowls and medical objects. Should students not find a piece for the “Object Project” from the vast MFA collection, they are welcome to choose one from CLARC. CLARC selects four student interns annually to work with Koloski-Ostrow as museum curators and create a yearly exhibit showcased in the library. The CLARC interns and the CLARC collection are a valuable resource for students in Koloski-Ostrow’s Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome course.

They learn to “appreciate what a wealth of resources our classical section of the library has,” Koloski-Ostrow said.

Koloski-Ostrow advises that the best way to learn is to never stop questioning. “You have to be so careful—always questioning yourself

photo from internet source

about what you know, what you think you know and what you want to know.”

Through the experiential learning portion of her course, Koloski-Ostrow translates her palpable passion for classical studies to her students. Nicknamed “A-OK-O,” she has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from students who note her enthusiasm, engagement and thirst for classical studies.

Not only is Koloski-Ostrow an anchor for the successes of experiential learning, but she is also an example of academic thrill. Students learn most effectively when engaged and excited about their studies. Even more powerful is the event where a professor shares this same ardency.

Koloski-Ostrow began teaching at Brandeis in 1985. “I love this place, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else,” she said.

November 2, 2012

arts, etc.

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Dor Guez engages with art and experience

By Juliette Martin Editor

This semester, The Rose has had the sincere pleasure of hosting the art of Dor Guez, a Christian Palestinian whose work, a collection of photos and videos, chronicles the tale of his family and their lives as a minority group in Israel. Guez’s work has been shown on a global scale and it is a unique privilege to work so closely with him here at Brandeis, given the sheer amount of activism and interest in the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He represents a unique view and an individual story rarely seen, especially here at the university.

The exhibit, titled “100 Steps to the Mediterranean,” has been on display since the beginning of the semester, and Guez himself visited campus last Tuesday to give an artist’s talk in The Rose, offering an opportunity to engage an up-and-coming, talented and globally aware young artist in

conversation regarding his work.

Guez opened the talk by speaking on the origins of the project exhibited—in part—at The Rose. “100 Steps to the Mediterranean” is the story of his own family, starting with his grandparents, who lived in Lod, a then old city rife with history, at the time of Israeli occupation. Their story, Guez told a rapt audience, was unusual: when Lod was invaded, most citizens were displaced, but approximately 1,000 people hid in the church and were able to stay in Lod—Guez’s grandparents were among them. The exhibit tells not only their story, but also the story of the family in diaspora.

Photographs of family events, which would usually be found in a family album, make up a major part of the exhibit. For it is in these photos (beginning with a set found stashed under his grandparents’ bed), which are edited for the maintenance of depth and realism, that the story is found. Inspired by his own family, Guez founded an archive of Pales-

tinian experience, and soon families began flooding his mailbox with photos. Although it is his own family that forms the substance of the exhibit, the archive is an important part of Guez’s work that was discussed at length in his talk at The Rose. Guez also discussed the modern state of Lod, which is one of the poorest cities in Israel; he expressed concern that ruins are becoming lost and unpreserved as a rich history is being built over and ignored. The archive, then, is some attempt to save what is slowly being lost through family and personal experience.

The talk itself took place deep in the heart of The Rose, creating a dim and cozy environment that encouraged an intimate conversation. This sense of intimacy, Guez explained, is in fact a part of the exhibit itself: Guez is not only a visual artist but also an exhibitionist and the layout of the exhibit is an important part of its comprehension. He described the way the entrance to the exhibit begins in reminiscence of a church, with a hal-

lowed and high ceiling, and then narrows to create the feeling of being in the family’s very own living room, experiencing videos of them discussing their story as if in person. The very layout of the exhibit, in this sense, takes the viewer through the family’s story, centered on the church in Lod. For the span of Guez’s talk, the audience sat in a relatively dark and intimate environment, before a series of photos and a real-time video of a beach in Lod. The setup encouraged a sense of immersion and connection with Guez’s work.

Throughout the discussion, Guez greatly encouraged audience participation, preferring to base his conversation on audience questions rather than lecturing. He expressed a clear disinterest in the political implications of his work. He emphasized, in response to an audience member’s query, that his intention is not to be an ambassador of the Palestinian experience, but merely to tell his family’s particular snapshot. For a portion of the presentation, Guez talked

in depth about a particular large piece on display. This particular piece, a photo of a pair of Palestinian riders in a pine forest, is apparently also a commentary on the altered landscape of Guez’s homeland: The pine forests are an artificial addition of the last few decades and have greatly hindered the growth of native plants.

Guez’s input was highly valuable in providing a deeper understanding of the art. The opportunity to listen to the artist regarding such a personal and fascinating artistic story was a rare chance to understand a unique story—a highly foreign experience to most members of the Brandeis community. As a presenter, Guez was eloquent and engaging.

Guez’s presence made for a wonderful artist’s talk, just as the presence of his art enhances the university’s museum and encourages open discussion of an often contentious issue, particularly at Brandeis. Although there will not be further opportunities to meet with Guez, his art remains a valuable addition to The Rose.

photo by shota adamia/the hoot

dor guez Speaking alongside Dabney Hailey, Dor Guez engaged with a rapt audience before a part of his exhibit last Tuesday.

Costumed composers provide an unsettling evening

By Max Randhahn Staff

Slosberg Recital Hall saw a decidedly strange performance last Saturday night. The first in this semester’s series of concerts hosted by New Music Brandeis, “Night of the Living Composers” showcased the compositional work of several graduate students in the Composition and Theory program, as performed by their peers.

The most prominent composers of the evening included Travis Alford, Victoria Cheah and Jared Redmond, whose original songs were performed and served as instrumentalists for the songs of others. All of the players were dressed in Halloween costumes, lending the concert a certain air of nonchalance. Given the close-knit nature of the performance, much of the audience consisted of the friends and family of the composers and musicians. That fact, along with the costumes, made for an experimental and informal production.

While the performers are all singularly talented musicians, the songs themselves were, though enjoyable from a technical standpoint, largely inscrutable and unengaging. Especially in the first half of the concert, most of the performances relied

heavily on dissonance as their main sounds, which would not be a problem if the pieces had a discernible structure or melody.

Each piece featured a different aspect that distinguished it from its contemporaries. The opening song, “Purple” by Yiguo Yan, made use of a computer to make Yan’s voice spectral, making her lyrics hypnotically unsettling. Yan used every part of the piano in her performance, plucking the inside strings and running a length of beads over them, cycling between series of notes and dissonant chords. “Quackers Get the Cone” by Frank S. Li was an immensely strange opera, with an absurd story about rabies and little to no lyrical rhythm, though Tina Tallon performed wonderfully as a soprano. “Os Justi” and “clancularia” (Cheah and Mu-Xuan Lin, respectively) build from chanting into rounds and create a spirit of invoking a greater power. Considering that “Os Justi” is adapted from a psalm, the comparison to spiritual and religious invocations is especially accurate. Rounding out the first half of the show was “Pas de replatrage, la structure est pourrie,” which roughly translates to “No replastering, the structure is rotten.” Composer Jared See COMPOSERS, page 12

Finding authentic food in unexpected places

By Ben Fine

Special to the Hoot

Taqueria Mexico, a mexican restaurant located on Charles street, is definitely worth taking a trip beyond the well-visited Main and Moody streets.

It may not replace some of the preexisting Brandeis mexican staples, but its authenticity and great deals give it a clear draw.

While the food at Taqueria is extraordinary, the atmosphere is considerably less appetizing. The plain wooden booths and tables, combined with unattractive plastic table sheets, dominate the restaurant. There are decorative plates lining the walls, and some artistic flare such as banners and paintings spread around the restaurant, but they are hard to see due to the room’s general darkness.

As a result, the mood would have been quite gloomy if not for the fantastic staff. Taqueria was also filled with a diverse group of Waltham residents. There were many couples, Waltham families, large groups and students: a wide variety that speaks to the restaurant’s broad quality and appeal. The wait staff continued to lighten the mood with their bubbly personalities and helpful advice. In pursuit of exploring the depths of the expansive menu, they created a relaxed and comfortable environment.

Parts of Taqueria’s menu may be too unfamiliar and foreign for most, but the majority of food consists of recog-

nizable staples of Mexican cuisine and comes with high quality and amazing value. For the brave few, Taqueria offers a few dishes with beef tongue or liver, but there are more than enough chicken, beef, pork, seafood and vegetarian options for all tastes. Every meal starts off with an endless supply of fresh tortilla chips and two types of salsa. This may not be the best appetizer for dieters, however, as the chips shimmer with delicious frying oil when they arrive. The two salsas, one a smooth red dip and the other a more chunky consistency, were both spicier than expected but not outside the average customer’s threshold.

While the appetizers and endless chips were fantastic, the quality of the main courses was beyond belief.

Many main courses, but not all, come with a side of rice, refried beans and a salad. It is the preparation of the meat, however, that makes each dish unique. The Mexican Chicken Plate, priced at $10.15, came highly recommended from the waitress—and with good reason. The chicken was cut into strips and cooked in a sweet red tomato sauce with a little kick. This was, without a doubt, the juiciest chicken I have had in Waltham, which is even more impressive given that chicken cut into strips is usually inconsistently cooked and rarely tender.

Along with the standard sides, the dish came with a separate plate of tortillas to wrap up the chicken, rice and See TAQUERIA, page 12

taqueria mexico Located on Charles street, Taqueria Mexico

provides delicious and authentic fare.

photo from internet source

10 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

‘Metamorphoses’ sets high standard with brilliant performance

By Juliette Martin Editor

The Undergraduate Theatre Collective struck gold with their production of Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses.” Based on the familiar Greek myths of Ovid, “Metamorphoses” is presented as a series of short tales connected by themes of love and loss, among others. Directed by the talented and creative Jessica Rassp ’13, the show boasts a twelve-person cast in which no one actor can be called the lead—the 12 performers switch off in a variety of roles. Each member plays between four and five parts as the show cycles between vignettes. “Metamorphoses” is a production about human nature and it has succeeded in so many ways: the show is poignant and thought provoking, stirring up deep questions without estranging it’s audience for even a moment.

“Metamorphoses” has an inherently broad draw thanks to the familiarity of the tales in which it deals. Of the 10 vignettes, there was not a single weak link. Particularly stirring was the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, starring Steven Kline ’14 and Rachel Benjamin ’14 in the named roles. The myth presents itself in multiple perspectives, telling slightly different versions of the story and finally culminating in an a capella and dance performance that captured the essence of the story in enormous beauty. Kline and Benjamin also performed particularly admirably in their roles as Midas and a dark, incest-inspiring Aphrodite, respectively.

The tales, though maintaining similar themes, often had drastically different tones, ranging from the tale of Alcyone (Rebecca Miller ’13) and Ceyx (Ray Trott ’16), the tale of a

perished sailor and his wife who are reunited as birds, to the incredibly dark story of Myrrha (Grace Fosler ’14), a girl cursed by Aphrodite to lust after her father, with an amazing performance given by the titular actor.

Equally captivating in its darkness was the story of Erysichthon (portrayed impressively by Ben Lewin ’16). In this particular story, Erysichthon was cursed with an insatiable hunger, personified by Mira Chakin ’14, who danced across the surface of the stage and clung to Lewin throughout his tale. The dark performance ends with Erysichthon turning to his own flesh for sustenance, and both actors carried out this horror with great skill. There was not a single weak performance among the entire cast, and each character was distinct, relatable and ultimately human, despite the mythological source.

In truth, each and every story and every individual performance, could be extolled at great length, as each showcased incredible acting ability and beautiful direction.

One particular element that truly enhanced the overall experience of “Metamorphoses” was the addition of music and dance. The show made ample use of the vocal talents of its performers, adding original a cappella musical numbers that were a great enhancement to the stories themselves. In addition to facilitating an even more intense emotional connection with the audience, the creative twist allowed “Metamorphoses” to stand out not only from the majority of Brandeis productions, but also from other productions of the same show. “Metamorphoses” is a show that truly defies categorization, and that status only served to make an already deep and emotional show all that much more effective.

Another aspect of “Metamorphoses” that helped lend the show its

incredible strength was the use of set and costume. Conceptually, one of the major ties between the themes of the vignettes is water, recurring both literally and symbolically throughout the show and apparent in the structure of the show itself: It is set up as a series of stories told by washerwomen at the stream, and water features heavily in many of the stories themselves. In traditional showings, “Metamorphoses” is meant to be performed entirely in a pool of water. Without this option, the creative minds behind “Metamorphoses” turned to some unique and effective solutions, such as utilizing a sunken pit of blue sand in the center of the set to portray this important element. The set as a whole was similarly successful, a simple but welldesigned set up that created a strong sense of place in which the stories could unfold. It also made creative use of silhouette: certain climactic moments—such as the well-known moment in which Midas turns his daughter to gold—happen behind a backlit screen.

The production of “Metamorphoses” has proven itself a great gem of Brandeisian theater. With an amazing talented cast, production staff and crew, the entire performance came together in a moving and poignant piece about love, loss and human nature. The remaining performances may well face a challenge in standing up to such an outstanding production.

metamorphoses A few members of ‘Metamorphoses’ twelve-member cast in their roles last Sunday.

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

November 2, 2012

ARTS, ETC. 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Hold Thy Peace’s ‘Macbeth’ delivers classic tale of ambition

By Zach Reid Editor

Thursday in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater, Brandeis’s Shakespearean society, Hold Thy Peace, performed “Macbeth.” Written by William Shakespeare, directed in this incarnation by David Benger ’14 and produced by Ben Federlin ’14, “Macbeth” tells a tale of ambition gone wrong, and the betrayals, murders and miscellaneous horrors that ensue.

A Shakespearean classic, “Macbeth” chronicles Scottish military captain Macbeth’s (Yoni Bronstein ’13) efforts to seize the throne after three witches (Julia Davidowitz ’15, Arielle Keller ’16 and Barbara Spidle ’16) prophesied that he would eventually be proclaimed king. Later, his wife Lady Macbeth (Caitlin Partridge ’13) prompts him to murder King Duncan (Brian Dorfman ’16) and ensure his new reign. The witches also prophesied his demise, citing his perish only by the hand of a man “not of woman born,” and the event that the Birnam Wood marches on his castle.

One of the most beloved aspects of Shakespeare’s works is the malleability and timelessness of their settings, and the fact that most shows can be portrayed in any time period without losing their meaning. “Macbeth” is no exception, and this production was apparently set in the era of World War II. Swords were as prominently displayed as pistols, and the characters’ costumes comprised of brown, olive-green and black trench coats and uniforms, bringing to mind a

more modern, camouflage-driven sense of dress.

The production’s technical aspects were well-developed and definitely enhanced the experience. The haunting melodies played during the scene changes, coupled by the utter blackouts that took place, enhanced the show’s already eerie feel and left the audience with a profound sense of “wrongness” in Macbeth’s actions.

The witches performed many of their chants in song, which were arranged

by Abigail Clarke ’13. The set kept with the show’s WWII-esque theme, and comprised of camouflage netting that covered the front of the stage and certain other set pieces, as well as a lavish castle setting for the scenes at court. There were a few technical hiccups, such as a banner that twisted over itself and the early onset of lights during a scene change, but they did not truly detract from the show.

In the lead roles, Bronstein and Partridge played off of each other brilliantly. During the first act, Macbeth demonstrated a mixture of bold action and panicked uncertainty as he wrestled with the notion of killing Duncan. During this, Lady Macbeth takes advantage of her husband’s uncertainty, and goads him into the murder. Afterward, she delivered an impassioned speech in which she bade him to wash the blood off his hands, and feign his innocence to avoid being caught. Once Macbeth is king, she defends his fits of guiltdriven madness, which extract a visible toll on her. Partridge portrays this marvelously, as Lady Macbeth loses some of her fiery passion in exchange for a scared, guilt-ravaged mentality as Macbeth’s madness

grows; Lady Macbeth’s eventual descent into madness is severely unsettling, as the famous “out, damn spot” frightens the audience. Bronstein ’13 portrayed Macbeth’s increasing madness by becoming more and more eccentric, as the mere appearance of a person could send him into an angry rage. This continued throughout the show’s entirety, and even at the final confrontation, Macbeth remains the defiant, twisted man the audience watched him become.

Not all of the characterizations, however, were spot-on. One of the few roles that could’ve used some improvement was Macduff (Stephen Badras ’13). While Badras did a fine job portraying the stoic and honorable Macduff, overall, the scenes where he was injured felt a bit over-acted, as it is tough to imagine a wounded man throwing himself across the stage with the zeal Badras exhibited. This is a small issue, however, with an overall well-acted role.

The passion that the actors, technical and production staff put into the show was highly evident. The actors very rarely seemed unfocused within a scene and were so committed to their roles that it truly felt as if the audience was right alongside Macbeth, watching him spiral downward into chaos. Benger’s directorial notes to the audience also reflected this, in which he said the cast had “a diversity of strengths,” praising their ability to “bring these complex, slippery characters to life.”

“Macbeth” delivers a classic tale through a re-imagined setting and highly impressive character portrayals. Any fan of Shakespeare should see it this weekend.

macbeth Re-imagined as a World War II era tale, HTP’s ‘Macbeth’ premiered Thursday in the Shapiro Campus Theater.

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

12 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

Experimenting in dissonance

Arts Recommends music

photo from internet source

Andrew Bird Being “indefinable” is a dubious blessing. It has connotations of saccharine whimsy or being generally unlistenable. Andrew Bird, however, continues to disregard the boundaries of genre with his newest release, “Hands of Glory.” With only eight songs, it might be too short to stand alone as an album, but works as a companion to “Break it Yourself,” his album from earlier this year. Released Tuesday, it is a subtle but significant change from his last few. Over the past few years, Bird was becoming increasingly relatable. His music, while still excellent, was more and more consumable by the masses. “Hands of Glory” is a testament to the unorthodox musicianship we saw from him in the 90s with Squirrel Nut Zippers and “Bowl of Fire.” Andrew Bird has returned to his bluesy roots. “Hands of Glory” is reminiscent of his earlier albums.

With characteristic quixotism, Bird abandons the dreamy folk-pop of Noble Beast and Break it Yourself, in favor for a morose, heavy base-lined Gothic Southern sincerity.

It is not regression, or falling back onto old material. While “Hands of Glory” sounds like “Thrills,” or his former group Andrew Bird and his Bowl of Fire, it is still new. He has grown musically, and become subtler with age. We get to hear, once again, his skill as a fiddler. His lyrics, always baffling and beautiful, have become wiser. The center of the album, “Something Biblical,” is especially impressive in what it takes from the past—not only of Bird’s, but of the American musical tradition and then modernizes with due reverence.

Bird might be consciously rebelling from the popular whimsy he has been pigeonholed with lately. “Hands of Glory” reads like a challenge to his recent work. Whether he has proved to himself that he can continue to push boundaries is debatable, but it is obvious he has not lost his touch.

connor novy, editor

books

photo from internet source

COMPOSERS, from page 9

Redmond succeeded in conveying the sense of a rotten structure, oscillating wildly on piano and guitar and descending into total chaos by the end of the song.

The songs after the intermission suffered the same faults as those in the first half, though they had more structure on the whole. Rebecca Sacks’ “Theme and Four Variations on an Ewe Melody” adapts a Gahu song into the standard jazz format, with great success. Richard Chowenhill’s “Three Ricercares on a Chord” falls into the trap endemic to the first half with jarring chords breaking up an otherwise continuous piece, although Chowenhill’s use of silence borders on masterful. “Ricercare,” a word that in noun form is the Italian verb meaning ‘to seek,’ is a lovely title for the piece, as all three Ricercares meander from tone to tone, occasionally to strange and dissonant places. Similarly, “I Felt a Funeral” by Travis Alford bears resemblance to Li’s “Quackers,” but uses an Emily Dickinson poem in place of original lyrics. “Funeral” starts out with more structure than “Quackers,”

but dissolves by the second stanza, in accordance with the poem’s structure and meaning.

The concert closed with two pieces performed by The Gentlemen’s Very (Very) High Art Society of South Waltham, consisting of Alford, Jessica Fulkerson, Peter Van Zandt Lane, David Dominique and Emily Koh, each member is a multi-instrumentalist.

The first piece they performed was “Election Mu$ic,” composed by Lane.

The song builds with staccato brass from Alford and Dominique, whose sounds are then manipulated by Lane to cue sound bites of politicians from his computer. The rest of the troupe continues to perform in jerky rhythm, making a tongue-in-cheek mockery of actual political debate. The night ended with Alford’s “Trickle Down Tango,” a sonorous, straightforward jazz piece that substituted Lane’s electronics skill for his talent with a bassoon.

All the compositions of the evening had artistic merit, but only a few of them came off as more than experiments. Nevertheless, New Music Brandeis does a fine job of showcasing the talents of the students in the graduate programs.

Taqueria Mexico proves a lesser-known treasure

photo from internet source

Interview with the Vampire In the last few years, the popularity of vampire fiction has exploded. Of course, there is a long-standing obsession in literature and other media with vampires, dating back to the decidedly unattractive “Nosferatu” of 1922. The modern, sexual and alluring vampire claims it’s popularity from 1976, with the publication of Anne Rice’s first novel, “Interview with the Vampire.” The novel, which was adapted into a movie in 1994, tells the life story of Louis de Pointe du Lac and his creator, the now iconic Lestat de Lioncourte. The dark novel, which presents the tortured soul in the form of Louis and the wild creature in the form of Lestat, deals with a multitude of themes, including family, maturity, morality and responsibility, as the vampires struggle to understand their relationships with humanity, their prey and their fellow vampires.

Though in her later years, Anne Rice’s quality had notoriously declined, this first novel is a masterpiece of an opening to a prolific career. The novel is ripe with rich prose, loaded with imagery and full of emotional, compelling dialogue. The book’s fan base has remained strong to this day, a testament to the its remarkable quality. Furthermore, “Interview With a Vampire,” as the precursor to a cultural obsession, is a key target for social observation and analysis—what is it about the vampire that has so captivated the modern day? The answer to such questions, if anywhere, may be found in Anne Rice’s best novel. juliette martin, editor

TAQUERIA, from page 9

beans. The tortillas provided some variety to the dish as they allowed for experimentation with different flavors on a smaller scale. Another favorite of the table was the Presidente, priced at $9.95. In addition to the rice, beans and salad, the Presidente came with two large enchiladas, which are stuffed corn tortillas covered in chili pepper sauce. One enchilada is filled with chicken and a green chili sauce while the other contains an entire red chili pepper stuffed with either cheese or beef and potatoes. Both enchiladas are served with a fair amount of cheese and sour cream on top The best valued item on the menu are the burritos. The burritos, which

photo from internet source

include meats or vegetables folded in a corn tortilla, are all priced at $5.20.

They are not served with sides but their size is more than enough to satisfy most customers, especially if price is an issue. The burritos are, in addition, far more varied than is generally expected, with options including zucchini, mushroom or Mexican sausage.

Taqueria Mexico is somewhat of an underground sensation that should be mainstreamed at Brandeis. They have no menus on campus but they do deliver and an online menu is available. It might be outside of the box for most, but it is certainly not an experience to be regretted. Taqueria Mexico has some of the finest authentic Mexican food in Waltham and should not be missed.

November 2, 2012

By Dani Chasin

sports

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Undefeated weekend leads to emotional sendoff for Judges’ seniors

Staff

Coming off of their wins at the Hall of Fame Invitational last weekend, the women’s volleyball team entered the Judges Classic with an assertive attitude, putting on a show-stopping performance on their home court. The three-straight wins that bumped up their season record to 19-11 proved to be bittersweet for the Judges as they finished up their home game schedule and honored the senior players.

The first game on Friday against the Lasell Lasers set the dominant tone for the Judges. Although they were able to get a head start in the game with kills, the Judges only managed to squeak by with a 21-25 win in the first set as the Lasers fought for a comeback. Steadying out their offensive attack, the Judges easily captured the second and third sets with scores of 13-25 and 7-25.

The high-scoring match for the Judges saw standout performances by a number of players. Leading the way in kills for the Judges, outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 recorded 11, while classmate middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis ’15 achieved her careerhigh with 10. Setter Yael Einhorn ’14 had 38 assists, while middle blocker Becca Fischer ’13 commanded the floor with four blocks and nine kills in only 14 attempts. Taking control of the defense, libero Elsie Bernaiche ’15 recorded the team-high 18 digs and defensive specialist Susan Sun ’13 added 12.

Saturday’s double-header against Keene State and Westfield State was welcomed by two victories for the Judges as well as a flower ceremony for the three seniors, Fischer, Lauren Berens and Sun. Brandeis defeated both teams, taking Keene State by a score of 3-1 and crushing Westfield State in three-straight sets.

When asked how she has changed since her first year on the team, Berens described the ways in which playing Brandeis volleyball has made her and her fellow classmates betterrounded players and individuals.

“Since my freshman year as a rookie I think that myself and my fellow seniors have all become more confident players and have helped the team

dynamic shift to a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. I have also played a variety of positions on the team and have had the opportunity to really learn the game from different points of view,” Berens said. “The most important things I have learned since I started playing are commitment, confidence and teamwork.”

Berens gave a terrific performance in both games, nailing 10 kills and a career-high six service aces against the Keene State Owls, as well as recording a match-high seven kills against the Westfield State Owls. With a record of 16-15, Keene State proved to be a more even-match for the Judges. Taking the third set 25-18 and winning the only set point against the Judges for the entire weekend, the Owls were unable to rebound in the fourth set, resulting in a 3-1 victory for Brandeis.

The scores for the match were 20-25, 22-25, 25-18 and 21-25. The other standout players were Hood who scored 18 kills and Bernaiche who contributed 19 digs.

Against the Westfield State Owls, the Judges managed an easy three set blowout. Carrying a record of 9-20, the other Owls were unable to firmly challenge the Judges, whose seasonwinning record doubles what it was last season. The set scores of the 3-0 match were 12-25, 18-25 and 13-25.

Behind Berens, Fischer managed to record a team-high four blocks, while Bernaiche added 15 digs and rookie setter Maggie Swenson ’16 chipped in six assists.

Although the Judges are still preparing for the upcoming UAA Championships, they have surely come a long way throughout the season and their three home victories show that they are a force with which to be reckoned.

Looking back on the emotional weekend, Berens said, “Sometimes it is hard to remember that you are playing for everyone else on your team, not just yourself. But this past weekend, everyone came together and played for each other. I could not be more honored to play with the girls on my team.”

“They are amazing players, amazing friends and a family away from home. I am going to miss them all so much,” she added.

going to the ground Maggie Swenson ’14 dives to save the point before the ball touches the ground.

at the summit Liz Hood ’15 goes airborne to spike the ball over the net.

Emory and CMU prove tough for Judges

By Evan Goldstein Staff

As the Judges tied with Emory and lost to Carnegie Mellon last weekend, the women’s soccer team finds themselves with a 12-4-2 record and one match left. Although the last week contained two trying matches that set the Judges back in the standings, they still have an opportunity to enter the championship tournament and play against some of the best teams in the nation. Emory and CMU were tough matches but they were against tough opponents as well. Emory was ranked No. 1 in the National Division III polls and CMU stood at No. 21.

Brandeis exceeded the expectations of many with their 0-0 draw in double overtime to the highly-ranked Emory squad. The 4-0 loss to CMU, however, was much harder to stomach for the Judges.

Both matches had similar traits, with Emory and CMU dominating the Judges in possession, scoring chances and shots. Through defense, they shut down the Judges’ offensive threats in Dara Spital ’15, Holly Szafran ’16 and Sapir Edalati ’15, causing the offense to become out of rhythm

Judges continue to shatter records in their return

By Brian Tabakin Editor

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

giving chase Allyson Parziale ’16 attempts to cut off the attacker’s angle.

and ultimately impotent. The only difference was that the Judges played good defensive soccer against Emory and kept a clean sheet while four goals were allowed during the CMU match.

The match against Emory, played on the Judges’ home pitch, saw a hypothetical David and Goliath match up, with the undefeated 11-0-4 Emory against the 12-3-1 Brandeis. On every paper except the score sheet,

Emory dominated the Judges. They outshot the Judges 22-9, with shots on goal at 5-2, respectively. Emory amassed 12 corner kicks to the measly two that the Judges received. This was a result of Emory’s dominating possession as they always had the ball near the Judges’ goal.

The first half of the Emory match See SOCCER, page 14

photos by ally eller/the hoot

The Judges hit the road last weekend as they traveled to Rochester for their first road meet of the season.

On the men’s side, Max Fabian ’15 continued his record-setting performance from the first meet of the season as he demolished another school record, winning the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:36.09, defeating Chris Wysocki of Carnegie Mellon by more than four seconds. Fabian’s time was more than eight seconds faster than the previous record set by Robert Morse in 2009. Fabian rounded out his day with a 10th place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:01.54.

Fabian transferred from Division III Connecticut College where he participated on their swimming team.

Additionally, he has been swimming competitively for the past 14 years.

He was attracted to Brandeis for other reasons but when he heard the team was being reinstated he inquired.

“I came down and met Coach Kotch and I was excited about the

program he was building,” Fabian said. “The entire team has a great attitude. People show up to practice and non-mandatory practices. Everyone is really close knit and is striving for the same thing.”

Brian Luk ’16 finished eighth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.69 seconds while also placing 14th with a time of 22.98 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

Holly Spicer ’13 excelled for the women’s squad with two top-eight finishes. In the 200 breaststroke, she came in fifth place with a time of 2:36.54, just 4.01 seconds out of first place. Her fifth place finish was the best result for the entire women’s squad and was behind Fabian for the best finish of the entire team.

Spicer also placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:11.91, only half a second from another top-five finish.

Diver Eliza Kopelman ’15 also turned in a pair of top-eight performances. She came in seventh in See SWIMMING, page 14

14 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

Judges hope for NCAA berth SOCCER, from page 13

was even worse for the Judges than the stats show. Not one shot was made for the Judges compared to the eight strikes for Emory.

The second half showed more strength for the Brandeis attack, with Spital and Mary Shimko ’13 finding some spaces and chances around goal. Spital and Shimko would keep running the offense into overtime, keeping at least some resemblance of an aggressive goal-scoring offense on Emory’s defense.

The only positive for Brandeis lie in the defense. Until they faced the Judges, Emory had not been kept off the scoreboard the entire season.

Miraculously, the Judges kept the ball out of the net for 120 minutes against a side that was skilled in keeping possession and moving the ball

up to the strikers. Part of this result was due to the usual tandem of keepers Francine Kofinas ’13 and Michelle Savuto ’15.

For a team that had not been kept scoreless this season, this was an amazing feat for the Judges. Despite the draw, the match proved to be a mental win for the Brandeis defense.

It was also momentous for the Judges as Emory’s clean sheet was the twelfth and record breaking clean sheet this season, showcasing the defensive acumen that the Judges have possessed this season. Ironically, however, the CMU match proved to be one of the defense’s worst matches.

The match against CMU was one to forget for the Judges. Although having a similar stat line as the match against Emory, with CMU asserting control in almost every aspect, the defense also failed the Judges, with

CMU outshooting the Judges 21-6 with 10 shots on goal for CMU and only two for the Judges. The fact that it was senior night also added to the disappointment that this match caused.

To make matters worse, the Judges’ performance worsened as the match went on, with CMU outshooting the Judges 16-3 in the second half. It appeared that the Judges could not regroup and fight against the adversity they faced.

Instead of going into the final match of the season with momentum, the Judges are now tumbling into their match against NYU with fading hopes for an NCAA berth.

The next match against NYU will likely be decisive in both whether or not the Judges receive an at large bid for the tournament and the seeding they receive in the tournament.

Brandeis falters on senior day; loses control of its own fate

By Brian Tabakin Editor

The men’s soccer team suffered its first home defeat of the season at the worst possible time this past weekend. With a chance to clinch the UAA and an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament for the first time in over a decade in front of fans and parents, the Judges were unable to grind out a win.

Despite scoring first, the Brandeis defense, which had been stellar all season, allowed Carnegie Mellon to score the equalizing and gamewinning goal less than three minutes apart at the end of the first half.

With the loss, the Judges fall to 15-2-1 (3-2-1 UAA) while the Tartans improve to 12-2-1 (4-1-1 UAA).

With sole possession of first place, the Tartans can clinch the UAA title with a win against Emory next week; however, since the Judges do not hold the tiebreaker against the Tartans, the Judges chances at a UAA titles are over.

The game started off at a rapidfire pace as both teams raced up and down the field between offense and defense with neither team able to establish sustained offensive pressure.

Brandeis finally broke through in the 15th minute when Robbie Lynch ’15, from the defensive zone, sent the ball to midfield.

Tyler Savonen ’15 gained possession of the ball and immediately dribbled it into the open space, ultimately sliding the ball past the Tartans’ keeper Christopher Madden, to put the Judges ahead 1-0. The goal was Savonen’s sixth of the season.

The majority of the next 20 minutes was played around midfield with neither team able to generate any offense.

The Tartans, however, broke through in the 39th minute in what proved to be the decisive three minutes of both teams’ seasons.

Cole Christensen played a cross to the left side of the field where John Crawshaw was waiting. Crawshaw then sent the ball into the box where Chris Wysocki tapped the ball past Blake Minchoff ’13 to tie the game at 1-1.

Feeding off of the momentum created by their game-tying goal, the Tartans scored the decisive goal just a few minutes later.

Max Tassano unleashed a rocket from 20 yards out that deflected multiple Brandeis defenders before taking an unlucky bounce into the goal past the diving arms of Minchoff.

The Tartans took a 2-1 lead into the half to go along with a 5-4 advantage

November 2, 2012

Colvin stars for crosscountry at UAAs

By Brian Tabakin Editor

Both the men and women’s cross country team traveled to the University of Rochester this past weekend for the UAA championships.

Ed Colvin ’14 earned his first career All-UAA honors, finishing in ninth place out of 78 competitors to gain second-team honors. Colvin, who burst onto the scene, winning the 2010 UAA Rookie of the Year award, finished the eight-kilometer course in 25:30.8 seconds, just four seconds outside of first-team UAA honors.

Colvin showed remarkable improvement, taking a full minute and five seconds off his time from the previous year, vaulting him 12 spots ahead in the standings.

Colvin had gone into the race hoping to earn All-UAA honors so he was pleased with the result. “It’s a really small field compared to other races but it’s one of the most competitive fields,” he said.

“You have to get out there with the top guys or you’ll get left behind and I was able to get out in third place.”

While the sport is driven by individual times, Colvin stressed that the team does not focus on their times during the race.

“In most of our meets time isn’t really an issue, it’s place. It’s really more about knowing which guys you want to be up with and then match their pace,” he said.

Alex Kramer ’13 finished in 33rd place, dropping 11 places from the previous year even though he was able to shave 30 seconds off his 2011 time of 26:10.09.

Michael Rosenbach ’15 improved 20 spots from his rookie season, placing 46th with a time of 26:30.05, while classmate Jarrett Harrigan ’15 finished in 51st place, jumping 24 spots in the standings from the past year, with a time of 26:36.5.

Mik Kern ’13 rounded out the scor-

ing for the Judges, finishing in 69th place with a time of 27:24.6 seconds.

On the women’s side, Victoria Sanford ’14 paced the Judges, finishing the six-kilometer course in 23:01.2 to finish in 21st place out of 77 competitors. Sanford had a sensational improvement in her performance, trimming more than two full minutes off her time from the past year to jump 40 spots in the standings. Her time was roughly 11 seconds shy of earning All-UAA honors.

Amelia Lundkvist ’14 came in 29th place for the Judges with a time of 23:14.6. Lundkvist was unable to compete last year but improved dramatically on her performance from her rookie season.

Ali Kirsch ’14, who was the Judges best UAA performer the previous year, dropped four spots to 43rd place even though she shaved her time by over two and a half minutes.

Maggie Hensel ’16 came in 58th place in her first collegiate championship meet with a time of 24:22.3, while graduate student Erin Bisceglia finished in 65th place with a time of 24:55.6.

Both the men and women’s squads finished in eighth place in a hypercompetitive field with some of the elite programs in all of Division III. The men finished with 186 total points, just 30 behind Emory for seventh place, while the women finished with 193 points, 66 points behind Emory for seventh place.

Colvin emphasized the difference of a smaller race compared to a larger race. In a smaller race, “It makes the beginning a little less stressful.” But in a larger race, “If you don’t get out in front, the entire field swallows you up.

Then if you hit a thin patch you just get stuck and the leaders get too far out ahead.”

Both squads will return to action on Nov. 10th when they travel to Westfield State University for the NCAA Division III New England regional championship.

Judges lay the foundation for continued success the one-meter event with a score of 160.90 and eighth in her first threemeter event of the year with a score of 131.40.

Fallon Bushee ’16 barely missed a top-10 finish in the 50 freestyle, placing 11th with a time of 26.29 seconds, only .05 seconds out of 10th place.

Fay Laborio ’16 rounded out the competition for the Judges, finishing

in 10th place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.43.

Brandeis once again showed that in their short time back, they can compete with the best competition as they faced Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, NYU and Rochester, all of which are among the top teams in the nation.

The Judges will face Roger Williams University this Saturday at home at 1 p.m. where they will look to build on their fast start to the season.

tunate that on the last home game of the season we lose our first home game of the year.”

“It hasn’t really resonated with me yet that this was the last home game. I’m still focused on getting to the tournament. Plus, depending on seeding, we could still have another home game,” Russo said.

Minchoff finished the final regularseason game of his career with two saves against two goals allowed, while Madden finished with three saves against one goal allowed.

In addition to Minchoff, this was also the final home game for Russo and Joe Eisenbies ’13; however, Sam Ocel ’13 is expected to return for another season since he obtained a waiver from missing his sophomore season with a medical hardship.

The Judges will finish the regular season on Saturday when they travel

to NYU for a match at 1:30 p.m.

While the Judges were unable to clinch the UAA with a win against Carnegie, the game against NYU is just as important.

The Judges are still very much alive in their hopes for a berth to the NCAA tournament; however, they now rely on the always unpredictable at-large bid. A win against NYU would go a long way to securing that at-large bid while a loss would throw their postseason hopes into complete chaos.

Russo emphasized, “The team is focusing on the NYU game. We have to treat it like a tournament game.

If we were to hypothetically lose the game, our chances wouldn’t be over but they would be lessened. If we win, we’re definitely in. We want to make it something that’s in our control as much as we can make it.”

SWIMMING, from page 13

claim your spot Tyler Savonen ’15 fights his defender for position in the box.

in shots.

Lee Russo ’13 stressed, “We can’t point fingers at anybody. The team as a whole had a lack of focus. We didn’t clear the ball when we needed to and the offense needed to keep possession. But credit [Carnegie Mellon], they were opportunistic with their chances.”

Brandeis came out of the half with a renewed vigor on the offensive end, applying continuous pressure on the Tartans’ defense as they outshot them 6-2.

Madden made a spectacular save in the 64th minute when he knocked

photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

a shot from Kyle Feather ’14 over the crossbar to preserve his team’s 2-1 lead.

Russo had the two best attempts to equalize the game for the Judges late in the second half. I n the 77th minute, Russo charged toward the goal on an odd-man break but his shot just missed to the right of the net while in the 89th minute of play, Madden denied Russo once again.

Russo reflected on his career at Brandeis, “We obviously would have preferred a different result. It was a good, competitive game. Just unfor-

EDITORIALS

November 2, 2012

Fix Sage: Signing up should be simple

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-Chief Jon Ostrowsky Managing Editor Leah Finkelman Emily Stott Associate Editors Nathan Koskella Brian Tabakin Connor Novy News Editor Debby Brodsky News Editor Rachel Hirschhaut Deputy News Editor Victoria Aronson Features Editor Dana Trismen Features Editor Juliette Martin Arts, Etc. Editor Zach Reid Deputy Arts, Etc. Editor Zoe Kronovet Impressions Editor Morgan Dashko Copy Editor Nate Rosenbloom Photography Editor Senior Editors Ingrid Schulte Suzanna Yu

C

ourse registration for the spring semester began this week, with the registrar opening enrollment on Tuesday for a term that will feature many first-time classes. While Brandeis is doing an excellent job of offering a variety of interesting courses, the system for signing up, Sage, demonstrated this week that it needs to be updated.

The process of a student’s most important function, taking classes, should be made easier—and more reliable. Sage was routinely down this week when we and other students tested it on Tuesday and Wednesday to pick classes. In the

Business Editor Gordy Stillman

Volume 9 • Issue 24 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

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

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

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

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To learn more, send us an e-mail at join@thebrandeishoot.com, or visit our website http://thebrandeishoot.com/join.

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The Brandeis Hoot 15

T

past, Sage has been clunky or slow, but this term it experienced entire shutdowns several times.

The problems with Sage can be more than merely inconvenient. Students could be delayed from signing up during their assigned enrollment appointment, defeating the whole purpose of the registrar’s scheme of distributing slots at random. And LTS could certainly do without being inundated by questions about Sage. We dare say that there are far more important technical problems.

Between the registrar’s office and

LTS, the university should make reforming Sage and the other student-online systems a priority. We can imagine a system that offers the benefits of Sage and LATTE together, or a system that is as easy to use as signing in to Brandeis email addresses. With so many different user interfaces, it is sometimes difficult for students to navigate. And even if some interfaces must be used, it is important that they work. Often when these systems fail—like Sage this week— they are the times when students need them most—when they have far more critical decisions on their minds.

Adequate hurricane response, but rethink dining options

he university demonstrated its preparedness for Hurricane Sandy this week, with many staff working overtime to provide students with a wide range of dining options, quickly restored power and facilities and public safety officials were to help through every hour of the storm.

Facilities staff and administrators under the leadership of Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins worked collaboratively with NStar to restore power by Tuesday morning to all buildings that lost it the previous evening.

While there are few major problems to critique when a university prepares well for a storm that caused minimal damage to our campus, we do have three significant concerns to voice.

First, administrators should reevaluate campus dining options during a severe storm, such as this one. Is it

truly necessary to keep all dining locations open and require workers, many of whom live far away, to drive and come to work, or stay overnight during the storm? Can students go one day without a quesadilla from Usdan?

We think they can. Consolidating dining options and developing a plan that relies almost extensively on student workers will ease the burden for staff who must leave their families and travel far distances in inclement weather so that students can enjoy the luxuries of everyday food with which they are accustomed.

We can survive with fewer options and more buffet style dining for a day or two.

Second, President Fred Lawrence should clarify the communication in his emails. On Sunday afternoon, he announced that classes would likely be held, before reversing the decision just

five hours later with a new email in the evening. True, the switch came after a request from Governor Deval Patrick, but university officials should recognize that once a state of emergency had been declared earlier in the day, announcing that classes would likely be held made little sense. It would have been better to wait until the evening and send just one email.

Third, we greatly appreciate the email from the deans of student life on Thursday, reaching out to the student body, regarding families struggling after the impact of the storm in New York and New Jersey. Yet, such communication should have come on Monday and Tuesday, not on Thursday.

The next time around, implementing these changes will ensure better communication with students and more respect and appreciation for staff in the dining halls.

features

16 The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2012

Legacy fund hosts poverty conference on ‘The Other America’

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

By Emily Belowich Staff

Professors, students and historians gathered in the Hassenfeld Conference Center on Thursday for a symposium on Poverty Since the Great Society.

The event, sponsored by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice, is a result of the collaborative work between students and scholars exploring poverty alleviation at the Heller School for Social Policy.

Founded by Jules Bernstein ’57, the fund supports Brandeis students and enhances campus life in efforts to support social justice ideals valued highly

by Louis D. Brandeis. These series of initiatives include, funding scholarships, sponsoring events and supporting projects that all address social concerns on and off campus.

The symposium honored the 50th anniversary of Michael Harrington’s

best-seller “The Other America: Poverty in the United States,” a short but intense novel that inspired the war against poverty in the affluent American society of the 1960s. It consisted of a luncheon, keynote speech, breakout sessions, a panel discussion and a plenary keynote speech.

The keynote speaker of the symposium, Professor Robert Kuttner (HS), noted that Harrington’s book was widely ignored until a critic named Dwight MacDonald published a review in the New Yorker magazine, which ultimately sparked the interest of both President Kennedy and President Johnson to demand a war against poverty.

“Rereading the book 50 years later, you can understand how it moved a whole generation and two presidents,” Kuttner said. “It is a narrative, combined with just enough statistics and social science. It has a sweetness and an idealism as well as a moral urgency

without ever becoming strident or selfrighteous. It calls America to its best, and shames what is worst.”

Bernstein, a Washington, D.C., based labor lawyer, has advocated for workers’ rights for more than half a century.

He serves on the board of directors of the National Labor College, Interfaith Worker Justice and the National Employment Law Project. He is also a member of the advisory board of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Bernstein briefly spoke about his relationship with Harrington and the importance of continuing to honor his legacy. As a close friend of Harrington’s, Bernstein emphasized the importance of the continuation of discussion and action in the fight against ending poverty. He described the labor movement in the United States as a leading force in fighting poverty.

Harrington, who passed away in

Still stuck deciding on classes? Here are a few suggestions, all of which are first-time or one-time offerings.

AAAS 160B: African American Military History Taught by new professor and department chairman, this course will look at the history of the nation’s armed forces throug the lens of race.

Professor Chad Williams

NBIO 152A — The Biology of Pain explores the biological processes of pain: what causes it, the brain systems that store such information, and examines treatment from a biological direction.

Professor Vincent Panzano

1989, wrote about the invisibility of the poor that resulted from most Americans living in rural isolation or in urban slums in the 1960s. His writing style, according to Peter Dreier, a politics professor at Occidental College, appealed to readers because it was “informal, accessible and morally outraged but not self-righteous.”

Kuttner, co-editor of “The American Prospect” and a distinguished senior fellow at Demos, has written several books, including the recent New York Times bestseller, “Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency.”

He has been an adjunct faculty member, on-and-off, during his years at Brandeis, but beginning next year he will join the Heller School as the Meyer and Ida Kirstein Visiting Professor in Social Planning and Administration.

Kuttner highlighted the progress made by Congress to take action in the war on poverty but that ultimately failed to end racism, universalize social insurance and solve the problem of the welfare trap, he said.

In 1964, President Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act that included several social programs to promote the general welfare of the impoverished population. Poverty rates succeeded to fall from 22 percent in 1959 to 11 percent in 1973 but then relentlessly began to rise again.

Kuttner juxtaposed the new hidden poverty of today to the old hidden poverty as described by Michael Harrington.

“Today, we have an invisible poverty in the form of the downward mobility of the working middle class,” Kuttner said. He spoke about the laws today that exist against the misclassification of workers, stressing that they are not enforced. More workers are being organized as contingent work because they allow employers to isolate workers and prevent them from joining unions.

Kuttner closed his speech by emphasizing the need for a movement to end poverty today in America.

He said that he never believed he would see the day when gays and lesbians could marry, the existence of disability rights legislation, women playing sports other than field hockey and half of the graduating classes of law and medical schools consisting of females.

So how can we explain these trends?

It’s simple, according to Kuttner. There was a gay rights movement, disability rights movement, a Title IX movement and a women’s rights movement—all aiming to achieve a common purpose and reality.

“That’s what it takes to accomplish social change in this country,” Kuttner said. “When you look back at American history, you never know when a movement is going to burst into flames.”

Kuttner argues that while the Occupy movement has made progress, the biggest thing is that it has given “a great narrative and a great slogan: the 1 percent.” The reason behind this, according to Kuttner, is that organizing is hard and there is a slight self-indulgence on the part of anarchists.

“It’s not accidental that the Occupy movement did not lead to a broader movement. I am still waiting for a movement that is not ashamed of having to organize, not ashamed of having leaders, not ashamed of having specific goals,” Kuttner said.

David Duhalde-Wade MPP/MBA ’14, discussed the importance of the youth becoming involved in grassroots campaigns that work on social justice issues. He said that the most important thing that students at Brandeis can do is become involved, face-to-face with others who share a common passion for fighting for social justice.

“What’s been lost in our current generation is this sense of individualism,” Duhalde-Wade said. “While I think that Facebook and Twitter are super important, I think that people coming together makes a lot more of a difference.”

new classes new classes 6 8 SPRING ’13

SPRING ’13 AMST 129A: From American Movie Musicals to Music Videos From the 1920s to the present, the class will look at song and dance as an American medium and lens for the nation’s culture.

Professor James Mandrell

ENG 42A: The War that Changed Everything: WWI and Literature From the edwardian era to wwI and early Modernist periods, this course examines war on British and colonial literature, questioning longstanding assumptions.

Professor Margaret Carkeet

HIST 136B: Project Colony: An Early American Historical Laboratory

PHIL 102A: Self-Love and What to Do with It: A Philosophical Analysis

students assume the role of english investors trying to establish an American colony in the new world. “Dispatches” throughout will keep the simulation life-like.

A brand-new philosophy course on moralist and rationalist views on masturbation, from a historical and modern perspective. only at Brandeis.

Professor Jonathan Decoster

Professor Robert Greenberg

LGLS 142B: Law and Psychology

FA 189B: From Broadsheets to Blogs: Reading Magazines Across the Twentieth Century

OPINION

November 2, 2012

The Brandeis Hoot 17

Abandoned in college: reading for fun

graphic by sindhura sonnathi/the hoot

By Zoë Kronovet Editor

College can mean no longer partaking in the activities or hobbies that made you happy in your younger years or the awakening of previously unknown passions. Extracurricular reading can fall into either of these categories. On the one hand, reading for fun is quickly abandoned into the collegiate experience due to time constraints, yet students at Brandeis are undoubtedly avid readers because of the mandatory reading that is re-

quired in our courses.

There is an important distinction between mandatory reading and extracurricular reading. While mandatory course reading has the ability to introduce us to new concepts, new favorite authors and new genres, it is done out of a sense of duty. Often times, a book that could have been incredibly appealing becomes less so because it is required. Reading for fun gives readers the ability to escape to another time, place, even world. Extracurricular reading is done out of a love of books and getting lost in a

world that is not your own.

The problem with college is that while it does provide the opportunity for the discovery of new passions such as Ultimate Frisbee, school journalism, political activism and poor fashion choices, reading for pleasure often falls to the wayside. It ends up taking a backseat to other desires.

Kicking it with friends and, occasionally, sleeping take precedence over 30 minutes of a good book before bed.

Thanks to all the mandatory reading we are required to do, suffering from reading-fatigue is not a rare condi-

tion. It’s hard to want to read J.K. Rowling’s new book “Casual Vacancy” because you just finished reading all of Dostoevsky for that humanities class and you can’t bear to hear the sound of a book spine cracking for quite some time.

To evaluate whether Brandeis students were able to keep up with their reading habit or incorporate casual reading into their collegiate lives, I took to the streets. Most students I spoke to agreed that the demands of their coursework left little time for pleasure reading. Even the ones who did read for fun did it sporadically— on plane rides home, on Hurricane days or when they really should be doing something else. Reading, for many students, has become a dirty pleasure.

Some students try to combat their reading-drought by taking classes with required reading in subjects or books that they like, even when it fulfills no requirements. Not all students, however, have this option. For a pre-med major who just doesn’t have the time to fit in an English course in between the seven science classes they are required to take, their extracurricular reading never takes place. Most of the students I spoke to admitted to not reading for fun since arriving at Brandeis.

Sadly, extracurricular doesn’t make the cut when college time is prioritized. This is upsetting. Professors suffering from an adorably obtuse sense of time-management and a justified infatuation with their own subject, pile words on words until, crumbling under the weight, students let their once-loved habit fade away.

This is unfortunate, because a love of reading is what brought most of us to Brandeis. And once here, it be-

comes an afterthought. When education becomes a duty rather than a joy, something great is lost. Try to think of the last time you browsed the fiction section of the library, looking for a title or a spine that jumped out at you. Who even knows where to find the fiction in Goldfarb. Does it exist?

As Mark Twain once said, “I never let schooling get in the way of my education.” Brandeis students would benefit from incorporating this Twain mentality into their lives. We spend so much time cramming ideas into our brain, spoon-fed by professors in LATTE posts, that we forget to go out and find new ones through our extracurricular reading. So much can be learned through extracurricular reading and as college students we are deprived of this experience.

Reading just for the sake of unwinding from a busy day to escape to another land in time is valuable.

Reading allows us to escape from dreary Brandeis days and too much work. Yet, the demands from our work allow us only to incorporate casual reading into our breaks and maybe weekends. Students, bogged down with the required reading for their courses, lose their ability to partake in casual reading because of collegiate demands.

These reading challenges are not just Brandeis specific. All college students struggle to find the time to incorporate extracurricular reading and the demands of their coursework.

Complicating matters is our generation’s infatuation with social networking. Speaking from experience, I will proudly admit that often times my desire to read The New York Times bestseller ends up losing out to scrolling through Facebook and Tumblr for an embarrassing two hours.

We’ve got spirit, yes we do The dangers of overindulging in caffeine

By Jennifer Spencer Staff

The term school spirit is tossed around campuses all the time, but how do we actually define it when colleges and universities are so different in size and focus? School spirit is a measure of school pride and liking of an institution. When you think of school spirit, appearance is thought of, such as people decked out in university apparel and colors, talking about how much they love their school, or campus wide sports attended by many student fans. The Huffington Post’s top-ranked spirited schools are all large universities with thousands of students. Yet that doesn’t mean that Brandeis doesn’t have a lot of spirit.

A quick Google search of the term school spirit immediately presents the word football. Sports have long been a point of pride for many schools, particularly for large universities. Many people at larger schools rally around their sports teams, filling stadiums with thousands of fans for each game. It’s easy to say these schools are “spirited” just by counting the amount of screaming fans in the bleachers. Sports provide a sense of community and an opportunity for students to interact with the excitement of rooting for the school team.

Many larger schools will invest millions of dollars in their sports teams because they feel that this is what attracts students to the school, keeps

them happy and engages alumni.

Consider then the situation at Brandeis, a small liberal arts school that has been “undefeated since 1959” in football? What happens when college sports are not the focus of the school, huge stadiums are nonexistent, and tailgates unheard of? Just because these external displays of spirit are not seen at Brandeis does not mean that there is no spirit. If you walk up to a random person on campus he or she—most likely—will be enthusiastic about Brandeis and the opportunities that exist here.

The school spirit here has a different way of manifesting itself than that of students gathering in large stadiums holding up signs for their favorite athlete.

Brandeis is unique as a relatively small, private, research university.

The ways we express spirit here are much different than that of a large, public, state university. The strong sense of community at Brandeis is a form of school spirit and one that is special to our university and made stronger because of our smaller student body. Proof of Brandeis school spirit publicly could be seen earlier this fall when, thanks to the efforts of the student body, we made a strong showing as one of the top six finalists for a chance to be on the Today Show.

Led by student events leaders, many students showed up in support of Brandeis and a chance to land a spot on the nationally televised show.

See SPIRIT, page 19

By Lila Westreich Staff

Last week, a young girl named Wendy Crossland died of a heart arrhythmia after drinking two large cans of Monster in 36 hours.

Her family filed a suit against the makers of Monster Energy for not clearly labeling the product with the associated risks. Lawyers for Monster argued that there is no clear evidence tying the girl’s death to their product and that they are not at fault.

Crossland’s family then requested for the FDA, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release all incident reports pertaining to the link between Monster Energy drinks and premature death. The reports stated that five people have died during the past three years after drinking Monster Energy drinks. In an interview with Shelly Burgess, an FDA spokeswoman, she stated that the agency had also received reports of other events following the intake of Monster energy drinks, such as abdominal pain, vomiting, tremors and abnormal heart rate, some of which required hospitalization.

According to a Monster Beverage spokesman, the company had not received copies of the FDA filings, apart from an incident in connection with the death of Anais Fournier of Maryland, who died in December from a cardiac ar-

rhythmia. In the autopsy report, Fournier’s death was reported to be “due to caffeine toxicity.” Monster responded to the incident by stating, “Monster does not believe that its beverages are in any way responsible for the death of Ms. Fournier.

Monster is unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks.”

To those of us who don’t drink energy drinks like Monster and Red Bull, crunching the numbers makes it easier to understand the effects of these drinks. In an 8-ounce cup of coffee, there are anywhere from 60120 milligrams of caffeine. Decaf coffee also contains a small amount of about 1-5 milligrams of caffeine in an 8-ounce cup. Espresso has 45-100 milligrams of caffeine in a 2-ounce cup. A 12-ounce can of Coke contains 35 milligrams of caffeine and an 8.3-ounce can of Red Bull has 76 milligrams. Just one of the 24-ounce Monster cans that Anais Fournier drank before her death had 240 milligrams of caffeine, as well as guarana, the seed of a tropical shrub that contains extra caffeine not included in the amount listed on the bottle label. Fournier had the equivalent of 28 cans of Coke in the two Monster drinks that induced her fatal heart attack.

I have never been a big fan of energy drinks. I started drinking coffee during the second semester of my first year at Brandeis and the only effect I noticed during those months was a caffeine crash during my 3 p.m. class. It wasn’t until

the beginning of my sophomore year that I decided to stop drinking caffeinated beverages. I noticed the difference almost immediately.

In situations where I had felt depressed, apathetic and pessimistic in the past, I found that I had a more positive outlook on classes, homework and my friendships. I wasn’t as tired, I never had a caffeine crash, and the mood swings I had always blamed on female hormones were gone. I even started to notice how small effects of caffeine in a can of Coke or a cup of caffeinated tea negatively affected me.

Knowing that just one cup of coffee will give me jitters and shakes, I personally cannot imagine the effects of ingesting 240 milligrams of caffeine.

Emergency room visits involving energy drinks increased to 13,114 in 2009, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

These hospitalizations also involved drugs or alcohol, meaning that these substances were used alongside caffeinated drinks. Anais Fournier didn’t drop dead of a heart attack on her last sip of Monster. It was hours before the caffeine took full effect in her bloodstream.

Considering that drinks like Monster and Red Bull are often associated with alcohol, the effect of just a few sips of these two substances together have the potential to be See CAFFEINE, page 19

18 OPINION

The Brandeis Hoot

Call Me, Tweet Me

November 2, 2012

We need more Mr. and Mrs. Nice Guys

graphic from internet source

By Leah Finkelman Editor

I was sitting in my car at the corner of Dartmouth and South, waiting to turn left onto South, toward Main.

The light at the next corner was red and traffic was backed up to where I was waiting. Perfect—I could pull forward into the intersection and then into my lane as soon as the light changed.

As cars inched forward enough for me to pull in, I glanced right to double check that the next car saw that I was ready to turn. Imagine my surprise when a woman in her 30s looked me in the eye and then rolled right into the intersection.

I’m used to getting cut off—90 percent of the driving I’ve done has been in the suburbs of Boston. I’m used to waiting at two-way stop intersections for what feels like forever. I’m used to being stopped on Main Street for ap-

proximately a year while I try to turn onto Wellington to get home.

What I’m not used to is someone being stopped, blatantly looking me in the eye and deciding it was easier to be stopped in an intersection rather than let me go.

The kicker? I had turned my signal off, deciding I was more likely to be let through if I just went down Dartmouth to Prospect. According to all outward signs, she made a conscious choice to pull into the intersection to block me, even though I just wanted to drive past her.

Anyone who has chauffeured me during my first three car-less years at Brandeis is surely sick of hearing me say, “That never would have happened in Ohio.”

Don’t get me wrong, there are terrible drivers and road rage in Ohio.

During one of my driver’s education in-car lessons, I yelled—and I mean yelled—at a jerk who crossed two lanes going 75 in a 55, sans turn sig-

nal, almost hitting me.

Those people (and me, I guess?) are the exception, not the rule.

Back home, we pride ourselves on our Southern-style kindness without the drawl. I was raised to believe that you were never in too much of a hurry to cut someone off, and there was no harm in letting someone pull in front of you.

Is basic human kindness just not a thing?

I can’t stand when people say that little, insignificant things have killed or reaffirmed their faith in humanity, but the one little incident at the intersection seriously bummed me out.

When I got home, I immediately turned to Calming Manatee. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, do yourself a favor and Google it.

Obviously, it made me feel much better.

A few days later, I moved past Calming Manatee and onto my newest obsession: EmergencyCompli-

ment.com. It’s the cutest thing ever (that I’ve discovered in the past few days) and got me thinking: Why aren’t people nice just for the sake of being nice?

In their book “On Kindness,” psychoanalyst Adam Phillips and historian Barbara Taylor explain that “real kindness is an exchange with essentially unpredictable consequences. It is a risk precisely because it mingles our needs and desires with the needs and desires of others, in a way that so-called self-interest never can.”

In other words, we are inherently self-serving, and being kind for the sake of others is uncharted territory, and not always worth it. I hope this isn’t true but I am starting to wonder.

I’m not at all trying to claim that I am the nicest person in the world or that I don’t have a mean bone in my body. Trust me, neither of those things are true. I’m also not trying to say that other people are just mean and terrible all the time. I’m not nice all the time, and I understand that I can’t hold unrealistic expectations of others, but it shouldn’t be so remarkable when people go out of their way to do kind things for other people.

Sometimes we do nice things, but too often it’s for our own eventual benefit, rather than just out of pure kindness.

Anne Frank is the one of few people I can think of who believed that people were inherently good. In her diary, she wrote, “It’s really a wonder

that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

Isn’t that beautiful? I wish more people believed in this. My friend Matt is one of those special persons who is just inherently good. The first thing I noticed about him is his eagerness to help people out, and it rarely benefits him in any way. Often, it actually inconveniences him.

When I started writing this column I asked him about that and his answer was perfect: “A lot of people go about their lives wondering if there’s actually any good out there and every day I want to do something, even if it’s small, to show at least one person that there’s someone else who cares about them … Helping others is the best thing someone can do. People deserve to be treated nicely, it’s as simple as that. That way they can learn from it and treat others nicely as a result.”

I refuse to believe that there is any true reason to go out of your way to be mean to people. I do, however, believe that there are infinite reasons to be kind, and remind the people around you that you care.

So Brandeis, I think you’re as sweet as a can of artificially flavored soda, and we all know how much I love my Diet Coke.

graphic from internet source

Doing the right thing: a choice and an obligation

By Matt Tagan

Special to The Hoot

It’s never too late to do the right thing. At some point, everyone gets themselves into a situation in which they feel they are in over their head.

In times like these, it is imperative to act carefully and think about the potential consequences of one’s actions.

Although the choice may be the most difficult decision in the world, holding on to one’s values with an unwavering grasp can be a person’s greatest asset.

I once had a friend who had a problem with the idea of letting people down. Every day, he would find a way to attempt to carry the burdens of everyone for whom he cared on his shoulders. Each and every one of his failures was a profoundly cumbersome brick, placed on a stack he held in his hands, and everyone around him knew that one day he was going to collapse from it.

For years his soul was brutally weighed down by potential decisions and questions and problems. In each situation, what was the right thing to do and what possible consequences could come from that decision?

Who in each circumstance would he potentially let down? If he were charged to stay up every night to tutor a classmate, he would accept (pro bono, of course) in a heartbeat. He made it his personal mission every day to attempt to accost all passersby

“

Although the choice may be the most difficult decision in the world, holding on to one’s values with an unwavering grasp can be a person’s greatest asset.

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with a roaring smile and a warm greeting. Any time any favor was asked of him, he immediately accepted. Needless to say, he found himself in quite a dreadful

position any time he felt he had done the wrong thing. For him, doing the right thing was life, and to stray away from that was to err at existence. This of course represents one extreme case of how one can incorporate doing the right thing into their being.

At the other end of the spectrum lay the belief that being a part of life means making mistakes. People mess up, and people do the wrong things.

The best judge of anyone’s character then is of course what they do to fix their faults, whether they are sheer faux pas or grave errors. The first step of correcting a mistake is caring enough about the people involved to want to right the wrong. Flippancy and apathy are one’s worst enemies when it comes to expressing regret.

Next comes applying every bit of character into pondering what actually would be the fairest, most just initiative to take. Sometimes a genuine, heartfelt apology can be the best way to show someone that they are important and wonderful and that they do not deserve to be treated poorly. In the case of my obsessively humanistic friend, constant apologies augmented by various posters and gifts of homemade candy also do just fine. The final, far more important

step, is an unadulterated promise to try one’s hardest to do the right thing in the future, and this promise must be fulfilled. The process is comprised of fairly simple and straightforward steps, yet actually acting nobly can often be tremendously difficult, especially if one’s own interests are compromised.

I’ve used the phrase “do the right thing” several times now, and though it seems like a simple enough concept to comprehend, I’d like to define it myself. Doing the right thing is making a choice when prompted that the doer, those affected and witnesses can both subjectively and objectively determine to be any mix of compassionate, fair, loyal, just, understanding or beneficial. Naturally, doing the right thing is good not only during the initial decision phase but also at any point during the effects of that decision. The Positivity Blog website states that two of the main benefits of doing the right thing are “raising your self-esteem” and “avoiding selfsabotage.”

In most situations, when people feel that they are being a good person, it raises their self-image. Also, people tend to let themselves continue to fail when they feel they have acted in an

improper way. As a result, doing what one believes to be correct improves the lives of not only the people affected by a thoughtful decision but also the person who actually makes that decision. Another piece of advice from that blog is to “Go for improvement. Not perfection.” Of course, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to be the perfect person, like my aforementioned friend. That can lead to disappointment and a digression from progress. Instead, focusing on slowly bettering the choices one makes can be much more effective at improving their overall virtue of character.

Doing the right thing is the fundamental nature of the incredibly complex design of benevolence. Without people submitting to their conscience conflicts, which would forever remain unresolved, and interpersonal relations of all kinds would cease to exist.

Honestly, the practice of attempting to do the right thing is much more fulfilling in practice than it is in analysis.

Do well in school, be kind, stay truthful and always consider your options. Do something kind for someone every chance you get. Who knows, you might just change the way they think about humanity.

November 2, 2012

Letter to the Editor

I recently read the editorial about the weekly emails from the union secretary. While some of the claims should be taken seriously, some of them gave me great concern. The editorial raised questions about the “appropriateness” of the emails being sent. It made no distinction between the content of the emails and the style in which they were written, both of which were indirectly addressed. As it is not up to me to decide, I will make no judgements about the appropriateness of the content of the emails. I will, however, take issue with the seeming disdain for Carlton’s specific style of communication.

As any of Carlton’s other friends would tell you, he has a big personality. His personality may not reflect that of the typical Brandeis student, but he is well-liked nonetheless. I think his personality is reflected in the way he communicates both in personal interactions as well as in his weekly emails. The emails of past union secretaries have reflected their respective personalities (perhaps to a different extent) as well.

OPINION 19

The Brandeis Hoot

In defense of the secretary I would argue that there were no qualms to be had with the emails of previous secretaries because they reflected dominant norms about

“

On a campus like Brandeis’, where the administration, faculty, and students are allegedly committed to inclusion, diversity, and “social justice,” why is Carlton’s voice one that needs to be silenced?

”

what is “professional.”

Interrogating the notion of professionalism, or acceptable ways of behaving and communicating, is not just pertinent to Student Union emails. It is important to interro-

gate the much deeper expectations about behavior and communication that permeate all aspects of life at Brandeis.

On a campus like Brandeis’, where the administration, faculty and students are allegedly committed to inclusion, diversity and “social justice,” why is Carlton’s voice one that needs to be silenced?

The article asserts that, “A bare modicum of professionalism is not too much to ask.” We need to ask the question, where does “professionalism” come from? And is this standard something we want to impose on communications within the student body?

My experience has taught me that “professionalism” is a loaded term with racial, sexist and classist dimensions. In dominant narratives, to be “professional” is to embrace the values of white culture. To be “professional” is to assert your masculinity and to devalue those things associated with femininity. To be “professional” is to appeal to a standard embraced by upper classes. To be “professional” means (in a short-

ened, simplified version) to aspire to the cultural habits of wealthy, white men. Are these the kinds of values that Brandeis students should aspire to? Should Brandeis students seek to devalue the voices of those who do not espouse these relative social privileges? I would hope not.

Secondly, what about the students for whom Carlton’s personality and method of communicating reflect their own? What is to be said for the student who appreciates the divergent voice on a campus that, despite its diversity, often perpetuates and privileges majority notions of acceptable communication. What are these students to think when they see this style institutionally devalued?

My goal is not to suggest that the editorial was motivated by racism classism or sexism, rather I want to foster a discussion about what modes of communication the Brandeis community finds to be acceptable. In doing this, we ought to explore the socio-cultural and historical attitudes that have informed these notions. We ought to

interrogate the privilege that allows the original editorial to be credible discourse on this campus. From here, we can, as a community, begin to deconstruct some of the notions of professionalism that marginalize certain styles of communication and the people who practice them.

Diversity is only as important as our ability to recognize and communicate respectfully across our differences.

Brandeis ought to be an environment that values diversity and inclusiveness; that emphasizes and promotes our differences. This editorial mocks the writings of a student because they don’t appeal to dominant notions of professionalism. Inclusiveness and the perpetuation or imposition of majoritarian ideas of acceptable forms of communication are not compatible. Despite our differences, I (and many others) respect Carlton for his originality, creativity and bright voice on the Brandeis campus. He ought not be criticized simply for being different.

-Clay Campbell ’13

Brandeis: Exemplifying a different kind of school spirit SPIRIT, from page 17

I’m not saying students here do not express school spirit through sports.

The UAA Division III conference that Brandeis participates in is a competitive one, and many students attend soccer and basketball games. Opponents such a Washington University in St. Louis and Emory are academically rigorous universities, but also contain a plethora of accomplished student athletes. Some of these athletes could have played Division I sports but chose to attend a school where academics would be the main focus. Student athletes practice hard every day and take competition very seriously. Regardless, sports are definitely not the focal point of school spirit at Brandeis.

Having transferred from George

Mason University, a public institution with more than 20,000 undergraduate students, I am familiar with large stadiums full of fans. A point of pride for most students was our Division I program and a basketball team that made it to the final four in the last decade. Students received free handouts at games, along with free food when a certain number of points was reached by the team. The electrifying atmosphere at games was one that brought students together. The school could easily promote the sports programs because they were well recognized.

Needless to say, the atmosphere in the classroom is much different in a large school with many large lecture classes. There is more spirit toward learning in the small but highly motivated student body that encompasses Brandeis.

Although sports may not be the

main lens through which our school spirit is shown, social issues and academic groups can be channels of school spirit. Students here are very involved and join many of the hundreds of club options on campus.

You can see students demonstrating the typical school pride by walking around in their Brandeis sweatshirts, but you also see students very passionate about volunteerism. Brandeis students care about making a difference in the outside community and do so through popular student run clubs such as Waltham Group. Many students are involved in these organizations and would not feel as happy about attending Brandeis if they did not have these opportunities.

You can’t mention spirit without mentioning parties, a diverse array of events hosted by different clubs, fraternities and sororities, and Student Events led spirit events such as “Bronstein Week,” which is centered on Brandeis spirit. All of these provide enthusiastic spirit on campus and provide fun dances, games and free stuff for students. There is always something fun going on and clubs with which to get involved.

Brandeis makes it easy for students to start a club if they are passionate about something and this is what many people really appreciate about the school.

Just because you may see more students at a volunteer event than a sports game does not mean Brandeis lacks school spirit. Many students here are proud of the education they are receiving and show their pride through their involvement in different activities.

Avoid caffeine for your own safety photo by ally eller/the hoot

CAFFEINE, from page 17

dangerous. The alcoholic, caffeinated drink Four Loko was banned from shelves for this exact reason.

So if you’re dead set on going to a party after pulling an all-nighter, I recommend skipping the energy drink and sticking with a safe number of pale ales and a good 12 hours of sleep. If you are not a part of the partying crowd, try grabbing a fruit juice or a good old fashioned bottle of water to hydrate your body and raise your energy level.

Avoid the Monster available in the C-store. The reasoning behind selling amounts of caffeine that have been proven dangerous, and in some cases fatal, remains unclear.

Many people choose to take 5-Hour Energy, a product marketed to give you five hours of energy without the crash. One 2-ounce bottle of 5-Hour Energy contains 138 milligrams of caffeine. If your argument in support of energy drinks relies

on the idea that 5-Hour Energy is a safer, healthier version of an energy drink, consider the fact that New York’s attorney general issued a subpoena to the company that produces 5-Hour Energy, Living Essentials, for information on its ingredients.

Given the fact that such strong measures have been taken against products like this, I would willingly choose to avoid them. The benefits of drinking a Monster do not outweigh the risks. It’s up to you to decide whether the risk of potential health drawbacks of drinking high levels of caffeine are worth the small energy burst and crash that’s sure to follow. As a society and a generation, I think it would be a good idea to redefine how we look at caffeine. I believe the best approach to caffeinated beverages is to use them in moderation and in small amounts, and not to rely on them to get through the day. So enjoy your coffee tomorrow morning. Just be aware of how much it affects your body in the long run.

20 The Brandeis Hoot

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS

November 2, 2012

Justice in Mandel photo by lien phung/the hoot

introducing Professor Bernard Yack (POL) speaks to the audience before Michael Sandel steps to the podium.

King Midas

photo by paula hoekstra/the hoot

photo by ally eller/the hoot

play to win the game Above: Kyle Feather ’14 eyes the ball. Volleyball sets up the point,

and Dara Spital ’15 cuts towards the goal. Right: Steven Kline ’14 performs in Metamorphasis

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot