The Brandeis Hoot - Feb. 14, 2013

Volume 10 Number 5

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Rose celebrates new exhibits

Brandeis facilities hold strong through snow storm

By Debby Brodsky Editor

photo by coco tirambulo/the hoot

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

The Rose Art Museum celebrated the opening of three new exhibits Wednesday evening by artists Ed Ruscha, Walead Beshty and Sam Jury.

The exhibits on display included “Walead Beshty: On the Matter of Abstraction” an exhibit Beshty co-curated with Bedford, to develop a creative design of a cracked, mirrored floor.

Others displayed were “Ed Ruscha: Standard,” and “Sam Jury: Coerced Nature.”

For director of The Rose Art Museum, Christopher Bedford, the opening reception presented the opportunity to showcase an exciting time for the museum after two years in which The Rose received mainly negative media attention surrounding the selling of art and lawsuits.

See ROSE, page 11

February 14, 2013

This past weekend, Nemo hit Waltham and many other New England towns hard, burying homes and cars under nearly two feet of snow. In any extreme weather condition, Brandeis, like all universities, has the unique responsibility of acting quickly to ensure that students are both safe and fed through inclement weather.

Not only did Brandeis have to plan accordingly to make sure that it would have an adequate supply of food for the blizzard, it also had to staff all necessary dining facilities and facilitate a clean up effort across campus. Aaron Benos, Brandeis Director of Dining Services was in charge of organizing a core crew of dining workers this past weekend, in addition to driving several workers through the snow to campus.

“It was our priority to open Sherman, Usdan and the POD, which we were able to do. We also were able to open the library,” Benos said. “Some of the managers and cooks including myself stayed overnight in the faculty club lodge rooms and at local hotels so we could be here Friday night and early Saturday morning. I was able to pick up six employees

who live in Waltham. Having fourwheel drive came in handy.”

According to Benos, the dining facility employees have an arrangement in the collective bargaining agreement that determines when they will work if school is closed, and are therefore not paid extra to work during extreme weather conditions. Blizzard Nemo was no exception. Benos explained, however, that Aramark and Brandeis do provide incentives to employees who go above and beyond their everyday duties.

In order to prepare for the incoming snow, Brandeis made sure to order enough food to last the weekend, thus avoiding any shortages on days when transportation would be especially difficult. Brandeis also took care of the hotel costs and taxi fares to help employees arrive to work.

According to Benos, in the 12 years he has worked at Brandeis, through hurricanes, water main breaks and blizzards, dining facilities on campus have always remained open.

“When [the blizzard] ended, [I knew] the team came together and performed tirelessly and heroically. I am proud to be associated with such a group of dedicated individuals. We See STORM, page 2

photo by calvin wang/the hoot

Study abroad application deadline and bills draw near

By Debby Brodsky Editor

This Friday marks the application deadline for students who plan to study abroad next fall and spring.

Students, the majority of whom are sophomores, must scramble to meet the approaching deadline and continue the lengthy application process for the next several months.

Although the exact number of students studying abroad varies by year, this year about 45 percent of the junior class is expected to study abroad, and about one third of those students will be studying abroad this coming fall, according to J. Scott Van Der Meid, Brandeis Director of Study Abroad.

The study abroad application process not only prepares students to live successfully abroad, it also prepares both students and their parents to pay for the study abroad experience in its entirety. While foreign universities may charge far more or less than Brandeis tuition rates, students must pay Brandeis tuition rates in order to earn Brandeis credits while abroad.

Inside this issue:

This is common for many New England colleges as well. Students must also prepare to encounter extra costs while abroad, including airfare, housing, food and travel costs.

“Any money above a program’s tuition rate is used for student financial aid for study abroad. This is the same way that the university uses one tuition rate on campus even though each major costs the university a different amount to run. It’s averaged into one large sum and then redistributed to meet the needs of all students,” Van Der Meid said.

In order to aid students and parents with the sometimes overwhelming costs associated with studying abroad, Brandeis and private and governmental organizations offer student scholarships specifically for studying abroad. The Brandeis Office of Study Abroad website offers a long list of scholarship opportunities for undergraduate, postgraduate and graduate students who wish to pursue a range of different studies, while seeing the world at the same time.

According to Van Der Meid, one

Editorial: Impressive snow response Scoops: Social justice as a career Arts, Etc.: Analyzing Grey’s anatomy Opinion: Justice in Wayland Sports: Fencing wraps up dual meets

See ABROAD, page 2

Page 6 Page 16 Page 10 Page 12 Page 5

photo by ally eller/the hoot

Laptop thefts reported in Goldfarb

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

Two students reported laptops and book bags stolen from the bottom floors of the Goldfarb Library Tuesday evening, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said.

Callahan said it was possible more laptops were stolen, and university police would add extra patrols as a precaution. He also advised LTS staff to secure computers and bags left unattended.

“If they see unattended property,

Rebellion to revolution

Students reenact Brandeis history through theater.

Arts, etc.: Page 9

just hold it and take it to the desk until somebody comes back,” Callahan said.

In an email to the campus community Wednesday afternoon, Callahan said his staff were investigating the reported thefts.

“The University Police are investigating several reports of property theft from the Goldfarb Library,” Callahan wrote. “The reported incidents occurred last evening within the lower sections of Goldfarb. Each incident involved the theft of unattended laptops and personal property.”

But to avoid theft, he reminded stu-

dents that the best precaution is not to leave property out and unattended.

“Take your property with you,” Callahan said. “Just don’t leave it.”

The reports of theft come after other safety concerns reported last month in the library. A female student reported unwelcome advances made by a suspicious male that created safety concerns. From security camera footage, university police were able to identify the suspicious person.

Callahan said that there was no available footage from the security cameras showing the laptop thefts.

More money, more PEDs

High salary contracts lead to more PEDs in baseball.

Opinion: Page 13

news

2 The Brandeis Hoot

February 14, 2013

Excess study abroad fees cover financial aid ABROAD, from page 1

of the biggest challenges students in the application process will face, is keeping up with the application schedule in order to meet additional upcoming deadlines.

“For students who are applying to go abroad in the fall or for the full academic year, their biggest pressing need is to finish their external program application over the February break so that they will have an admissions decision in term for the Brandeis April 8 Notification deadline. Spring students do not need to apply to their programs until the summer. Once the deadline closes on Friday, we will be in touch with each group with an email on next steps,” Van Der Meid said.

Fortunately for students, the Office of Study Abroad offers a wide range of resources to assist students in the decision making process.

The most thoughtful resources pro-

vided by the Office of Study Abroad perhaps, are student Study Abroad Ambassadors, who can offer valuable advice to students in the often stressful and nerve-wracking planning process.

Rebecca Sanders ’13 studied abroad last spring in Paris, France, with Academic Programs Abroad (APA), a French immersion program. As a Study Abroad Ambassador, Sanders answers student questions about the application process and about the study abroad experience in general.

“We are there as a resource for them—they can ask us questions or just talk through their ideas. We can talk about our experiences and help students figure out what types of programs might be a good fit for them. We also help plan events to promote study abroad,” Sanders said.

According to Van Der Meid, the majority of students applying to study abroad through

Brandeis are granted permission to study abroad, and thus begin the external program application process.

“There is no guarantee that all students will be accepted to study abroad, but if the student has been working with our advising staff and their academic advisor, most students prepare a solid application to study abroad. Sometimes students do not get into their external programs due to applying late, not having the required prerequisites or have an active judicial matter on their record. Most students who approach the process in a serious and academic manner have no problem being accepted to study abroad,” Van Der Meid said.

With a host of university staff and peer resources available to students, the application process, while stressful, will be tremendously rewarding just a few short months in the future.

“It’s worth it to finish the application. Don’t let an application stand in the way of an incredible experience!”

Sanders said.

photo courtesy rebecca sanders

bonjour Rebecca Sanders ’13 studied abroad in Paris, France.

Facilities work overtime in storm Atlantic writer talks on civil rights STORM, from page 1

have a great bunch of folks here.

It was also great working along with facilities, Peter Shields, Dennis Finn and all those shoveling who got us plowed out. Those folks worked unbelievably. So it was memorable to see how all operations on campus came together as we usually do in crises situations,” Benos said.

In addition to providing regular meals to students on campus throughout the blizzard, Brandeis also oversaw the non-stop shoveling and plowing efforts of facility workers and private companies for more than three days of work. A huge effort was put forth by all involved to clear campus roadways, sidewalks and parking lots during the snow and after the snow had stopped.

According to Peter Shields, Director of Facility Services, it is impossible to know the total cost of Nemo-related clean up efforts at this point, as they are ongoing.

“Unfortunately, the costs will be high because of the amount of labor and equipment that was required (and is still required) to provide safe access throughout the campus. Snow management is a combined effort with Facilities Services staff and external vendors,” Shields said.

Brandeis’ shoveling efforts even benefitted those living off campus in graduate student housing, including Laura Mandel ’13.

“The roads and the basic part of the parking lot was shoveled pretty quickly, the same timeline as the Mods. I was actually pretty impressed with their snow blowing through the paths in between buildings in Grad. I appreciate having the Crystal Shuttle since the BranVan doesn’t like this weather, but the drivers have not been very good so there is a lot of waiting around,” Mandel said.

By Rachel Hirschhaut Editor

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at The Atlantic, came to Brandeis on Wednesday to deliver a lecture on “Civil War and Emancipation in The Age of Obama.” Coates, a Civil War scholar, spoke about how photos by jun zhao/the hoot

his upbringing taught him to link his intellectual pursuits with social justice. Coates said that even after President Obama’s election, the African-American struggle for civil rights continues. He spoke about how America must work to close the achievement gap for African American children and change the educational policies that “produce failure in black kids.”

February 14, 2013

this week in photos

The Brandeis Hoot 3

Taking Feminism to the Stage

photos by ally eller/the hoot

exhibit The Rose Art Museum opened with three new exhibits Wednesday night

photos by calvin wong/the hoot

4 The Brandeis Hoot

sports

February 14, 2013

Men’s basketball splits road trip

photos by paula hoekstra/the hoot

By Charlie Romanow Staff

The Brandeis men’s basketball team went 1-1 for the second straight weekend, losing to Case Western Reserve University on Sunday and defeating Carnegie Mellon University on Friday. The Judges defeated both teams at home last month. The game against the Case Western Spartans left the Judges on the losing side of a 56-47 game and the win against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans was close at 73-68.

During the Sunday afternoon game, the Judges contended against Case Western who had already suffered a profound loss to Brandeis, 77-58, in January. Coach Brian Meehan previously stated that to put a successful campaign together, teammates have to play well with each other. Unfortunately, injuries and illness left Brandeis shorthanded and at a loss without three of their top four scorers. Alex Stoyle ’14 was sick, Ben Bartoldus ’14 suffered an injury in Friday’s game and Derek Retos ’14 suffered an injury early in the game.

Without some of their usual starters, the Judges needed to look for support elsewhere. Youri Dascy ’14 came through with an impressive doubledouble: 16 points and 11 rebounds, six of which were on the offensive side of the court, providing opportunities for second-chance points.

This was Dascy’s second doubledouble of the season and seventh of his career. The season’s lead scorer Gabriel Moton ’14 also played a strong part with 12 points and six rebounds. Other reserve players also contributed more than usual because of those injured.

“Injuries and sickness are an unfortunate part of sports, which we cannot control,” Meehan said. “Certainly they play a part in how games are decided but you just move forward with the guys that are healthy and available and hope that different players will rise to the occasion and provide productive minutes in the place of whom they are replacing.”

The game was close at times as the Judges came out with an early 12-7 lead in the first half. The Spartans took advantage of an eight-minute point-free span by the Judges to lead

26-18 at halftime. After starting the second half strong, Case Western led throughout the rest of the game; however, Brandeis did come back, scoring the final 12 points of the game.

The Judges played a worthy second half. They were outscored by only one point, but this was not enough to come back from the deep first-half deficit.

The Spartans lead scorer, Austin Fowler had 15 points, with David Thompson contributing four blocks, Dane McLoughlin putting up 12 points and Julien Person contributing a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, the latter of which is quite rare for a guard.

After shooting well over 40 percent from the floor last weekend, Brandeis was only able to make 29.5 percent of their shots, culminating in the fewest points that they have put up since the season opener.

The Judges were close to Case Western in terms of total rebounds, assists and turnovers, and even led with more points in the paint, fast break points and points from the bench.

The momentum was not good for the Judges, however, with the Spartans’ largest lead coming to 22 points. Case Western left the weekend 11-11 overall, 4-7 in conference.

With Friday’s game, Brandeis entered the Steel City, facing Carnegie Mellon who started the weekend with only one UAA win. The Judges had previously beaten the Tartans 69-62.

After being down by four at the half and down by 12 with 3:17 remaining, Brandeis came back to end the game on a 25-7 run. They steadily shrunk the lead, possession by possession with an array of players contributing in different ways.

Jay Freeman ’13 scored eight points in the last 90 seconds; Retos made two 3-pointers in a one-minute span down the stretch; and Dascy came up with some clutch free throws to pull ahead of Carnegie Mellon. There was not one shot missed in the last 2:49.

Retos led the Judges with 19 points and played the entire game for the first time this season. As with Sunday’s game, the Judges played shorthanded as Moton and Stoyle were not able to play and Bartoldus had to leave in the first half. Connor Arnold ’14 led the game with a career-high nine rebounds. Freeman and Dascy,

both off the bench, had 18 and 16 points, respectively.

Freeman scored more points in this contest than he had cumulatively during the season.

Rashaun Riley, Andre Moore and Asad Meghani each scored more than 14 points for the Tartans. Meghani also contributed five assists while Moore had four steals. The home team shot well, making 51 percent of their field goal attempts, a higher percentage than any team had put up against Brandeis this season.

The Judges shot well from all sectors, and outrebounded Carnegie Mellon 34-24, as well as leading in second-chance points 15-4, points in the paint 32-22 and having their bench outscore the opponents by a monstrous 35 points. The difference in this game was clearly the bench scoring, their clutch play at the end of

the game and their ability to capitalize on offensive rebounds.

After starting conference play with a strong five-game winning streak, Brandeis has gone 2-4 since.

The results have forced them out of D3Hoops’ top 25 rankings. Although the Judges didn’t have their ideal weekend, they should be encouraged by their strong performances despite missing some key players. If they can come so close without playing perfectly, then they can surely win

against stronger teams when all of the moving parts are together. Their impressive 9-1 home record speaks to the potential success awaiting them if they take that mindset on the road.

They finish the weekend 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the UAA, tied for third in the conference.

They stay at home this weekend with games against the University of Chicago and Washington University as the regular season begins to wind down.

February 14, 2013

The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS 5

Judges go 0-2 on the road against Carnegie Mellon and Case Western

By Dani Chasin Staff

After bouncing back with a win against the University of Rochester that broke their seven-game losing streak, the women’s basketball team suffered two losses on the road this past weekend. The weekend’s losses against Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve—the Judges’ second matchup with both teams since facing them on their home court earlier in the season—result in an overall record of 8-14 and conference record of 2-9.

Compared to last week’s strong offensive performance, the Judges barely managed to break away from their opponents in the second half as they struggled to find their groove in the paint. Although they managed to stay in fairly close range of the other team in both games, they were still unable to come out on top, resulting in a 5850 loss against Carnegie Mellon and a 50-36 loss to Case Western.

In Friday’s matchup against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans, the Judges got off to a slow start, resulting in 26 points at halftime and gaining 24 in the second. The Tartans had 31 points in the first half and added 27 more in the second, resulting in an eight-point win over the Judges. Although both teams had similar field goal percentages—Brandeis went 37 percent from the field while CMU went 38 percent—the Tartans were able to keep

their momentum high enough to get a strong lead over the Judges throughout the game.

The biggest lead for the Judges came in the first half when they were trailing 9-14 with 13 minutes on the clock and an impressive 3-point jumper by guard Kasey Dean ’14 triggered a shooting spree by the Judges.

With eight minutes left on the clock, the Judges secured the lead at 21-16, but were unable to hold onto it for long as the Tartans came back to outscore them.

The Tartans managed to stay in close range at the end of the first half, but their big stretch came early in the second half as the Judges fell behind by as much as 14 points. The Judges struggled to maintain control of the ball on offense and managed to turn the ball over 23 times compared to the Tartans’ 15 turnovers.

Leading the Brandeis team in scoring, senior forward Erika Higginbottom nailed 12 points and tied with Dean for team-high honors with three assists. Behind her in scoring, sophomore point guard Hannah Cain recorded 11 points and achieved a team-high with three steals. Senior forward Samantha Anderson and junior guard Janelle Rodriguez led their team in rebounds by securing nine apiece.

In Sunday’s matchup against the Case Western Reserve Spartans, the Judges struggled to come together on

offense, scoring 15 points in the first half and 21 in the second. The Spartans had 23 points in the first half and gained 27 more in the second, shooting 31 percent from the field while holding the Judges to 19 percent.

With a slow start into the game, the Judges managed to miss their first 12 shots from floor, nailing only two points by the 13th minute. Even though they were never able to hold a lead over the Spartans, the Brandeis team stepped up their shooting performance in the second half.

Senior guard Angela Miller had a breakout performance for the Judges, leading the team with 10 points, nailing two in the first half and scoring eight more with less than two minutes left in the game. Cain led the team with nine rebounds and four steals.

Altogether, the Judges managed to out-rebound the Spartans, securing 51 compared to their 47 rebounds. Indeed, both of these games presented a challenge for the Judges, but it wasn’t the first time the Brandeis players battled these teams in the same weekend.

In their previous matchup, the Judges fell 65-60 against CMU and 50-46 against Case, a much different offensive turnout than their performance this weekend.

With only three games left in their season, the Judges are preparing to face what’s left of the UAA competition and hopefully finish with a few more wins in their pocket. photo by hans glick/the maroon

Fencing takes second and third at Beanpot Tournament

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

The men’s fencing team finished in second place and the women took third place at the 2013 Beanpot Tournament at Boston College on Tuesday evening.

The men lost to seventh-ranked Harvard 21-6 but beat MIT, 15-12, and Boston College, 14-13. Adam Mandel ’15 went 8-1 on the saber squad, along with saberist Jess Ochs-

Willard ’15 who went 7-2. After completing the dual-meet part of their season, the team holds a record of 14-9.

The women defeated BC 15-12, but lost to MIT 14-13, also losing to Harvard 19-8. Foil Caroline Mattos ’16 led Brandeis with an 8-1 record. The women’s team is 16-11 at the end of the dual-meet part of their season.

After break, the Judges will compete in the New England Fall Collegiate Championships at home in the Gosman Center on Feb. 23. photos by annie kim/archon

editorials

6 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Jon Ostrowsky Emily Stott

T

Impressive snow response from facilities and dining staff

he logistical challenges presented

by Blizzard Nemo vexed maintenance crews across the coast, with snow drifts piling up to nearly Connor Novy News Editor Victoria Aronson Features Editor three feet in some regions. Much sleep Dana Trismen Features Editor was lost as crews mobilized to keep the Lassor Feasley Opinion Editor nation’s infrastructure operational to Morgan Dashko Copy Editor whatever extent possible. We commend Nate Rosenbloom Photography Editor Ally Eller Photography Editor Brandeis Facilities for their excellent Jun Zhao Graphics Editor stewardship of the campus during this Rachel Hirschhaut Deputy News Editor difficult week. Despite snow drifts that Senior Editor sometimes accumulated to heights more Debby Brodsky than six feet tall, Brandeis University’s roads and walkways were kept reasonably clear. While many regional schools Volume 10 • Issue 5 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university and businesses were offline days after 415 south street • waltham, ma Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman the storm hit, the university was fully operational by Monday morning.

In the midst of the storm, which resulted in the cancelation of all classes staff last Friday, facilities managed to keep a Shota Adamia, Emily Beker, Emily Belowich, Dani wide variety of dining options available Chasin, Dori Cohen, Gilda DiCarli, Ally Eller, Lassor to students. Dining staff, who risked Feasley, Ben Fine, Evan Goldstein, Maya Himelfarb, the possibility of closed roads preventPaula Hoekstra, Brittany Joyce, Ari Kalfus, Sarah Sue Landau, Rebecca Leaf, Nathan Murphy Needle, Aliya ing their return home were resilient in Nealy, Alexandra Patch, Max Randhahn, Brendan their efforts to keep Usdan and SherReardon, Zach Reid, Zoe Richman, Charlie Romanow, man fully functional. Road crews and Alex Self, Alec Siegel, Diane Somlo, Sindhura Sonnathi, Jennifer Spencer, Matthew Tagan, Alison Thvedt, Yi Wang, Shreyas Warrier, Pete Wein, Lila Westreich, Linjie Xu, Suzanna Yu

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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We welcome unsolicited submissions from members of the community sent by e-mail to eic@thebrandeishoot.com. Please limit submissions to 800 words. All submissions are subjected to editing.

February 14, 2013

shovelers risked the same peril, yet they maintained the same safety and security on campus that we would expect under regular conditions.

On Friday afternoon, Governor Deval Patrick banned driving on all public roads, effective Friday at four o’clock.

The hiatus remained in place until Saturday afternoon.

President Fred Lawrence sent an email to the Brandeis Community on Monday applauding Public Safety, Facilities and Dining Services. “[They] have worked tirelessly—many staff went without sleep for more than 24 hours— to ensure the safety of our students and our campus.” He continued to congratulate Community Living and Student Activities for their rapid response to the storm. “[They] adjusted to the weather conditions and made campus a great place to be snowbound.” While the roads in Waltham were filled with snow on Sunday and part of Monday, campus roads were cleared as soon as possible.

Students were able to remain productive despite blizzard conditions

because the Library maintained special hours in Farber during the weekend.

Even LTS was up and running throughout Friday. Understandably, Campus Shuttle operations to Boston were canceled, although the Waltham Shuttle continued service Friday and Saturday.

Our only concern is whether it’s truly necessary to keep Gosman open, requiring additional staff to risk dangerous travel and lose sleep so students can exercise. We think students can go a day or two without the gym.

We attribute the nearly flawless response to Blizzard Nemo to excellent planning and communication between the many bodies that keep Brandeis running. These meetings resulted in a response without a hitch: plows circled Loop Road and snow shovelers could be seen working through the night. The dedication and resilience of the crews and the competence of their administrators minimized the disturbance of the storm to students and brought us back to full operations by Monday.

Arts, etc.

February 14, 2013

The Brandeis Hoot 7

‘Vagina Monologues’ depicts the stuggles of womanhood

By Victoria Aronson Editor

Evoking emotions of compassion amid performances laced with an artful blend of humor, tragic suffering and self discovery, student performers portrayed the violent plights suffered by women globally through their rendition of “The Vagina Monologues,” by Eve Ensler, this past weekend.

With a diverse cast of students, stemming from departments across the university, the production transitioned between factual information revealing startling statistics of brutalities suffered by women and personalized monologues elaborating upon these themes. In dedication to V-Day, an activist movement aimed at raising awareness of violence against women of all ages, including rape, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery, the production was not only theatrical, featuring the unique talents of student performers, but informative and inspiring as well.

Jessica Hood ’15, who performed the monologue “Because He Liked to Look At It,” exerted a commanding stage presence through her seemingly effortless ability to embody the persona of her performance.

Through her realistic rendition of the lines, perfectly timed and spoken in a blatant matter of fact manner, she effortlessly garnered laughter from the audience. The monologue captures themes of insecurity plaguing women regarding their bodies and sexuality, and the process of freeing oneself from these constraints.

Delivering lines such as “In order to survive, I began to pretend there was nothing between my legs,” she captured the sense of insecurity and self hatred torturing countless women. Connecting with the audience, her rendition of humorous lines such as, “Whenever a man was inside me, I pictured him inside a mink-lined muffler, or a Chinese bowl,” not only evoked laughter and appreciation from onlookers, but served to foster a sense of understanding through her ability to connect to the audience.

Other standout performances include Ashley Lynette’s rendition of “The Woman Who Liked to Make

my vagina was my village Student performance portrays accounts of rape.

Vaginas Happy,” a monologue centering on a woman who specialized in pleasuring other females. Lynette’s fearless and dramatic performance seized the attention of the audience, while her rendition of the various types of sexual moaning experienced by women was not only intriguing but humorous as well. Ranging from the high-pitched elegant moan to the machine gun moan, the portrayal of sexual pleasure and moaning as a form of liberation was further enhanced by the silhouettes cast against the curtain during the performance, echoing the distinct moans emitted during different sexual experiences.

Personalizing the performance, Ly-

vagina monologues Stephanie Ramos and Jessica Hood bring feminism to life.

nette referenced the “Brandeis Moan,” saying, “I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on Judith Butler,” stimulating bursts of laughter from the audience.

Through lighting alterations and music, the mood transitioned to a more serious tone, depicting violence against women. Revealing startling statistics regarding the rape of between 20 and 70,000 Bosnian war refugees, Yuxin Yang, a first time participant in “The Vagina Monologues,” set the scene for the dramatic portrayal of dance and song that followed. Queen White and Bronte Velez seized the attention of the audience as they gracefully danced across the stage in har-

mony with the tragic music playing in the background. Telling the traumatic story of women brutally raped by male soldiers, the performance was both shocking and emotional. Velez and White’s beautiful rendition of the story evoked a strong sense of emotion, as their movements mirrored the increasing sense of despair and anger entangled in the performance.

Beyond the emotional portrayal of the brutal violence inflicted upon these women, the monologues proceeded to emphasize other, more subtle, yet evident assails of society against female sexuality. Through her angsty performance of “The Angry Vagina,” Samantha Cortez re-

vealed the subjection of the vagina to countless forms of discomfort, ranging from the insertion of tampons to vaginal examinations with cold, steel metal equipment. Dramatic yet believable, Cortez commanded the stage, perfectly embodying the sassy attitude necessary to encapsulate the tone of the monologue.

Incorporating music, dance and monologue to portray serious issues plaguing society, “The Vagina Monologues” featured an assemblage of talented student performers who effortlessly mingled humor with the emotion necessary to encapsulate the gravity of the violence threatening women across the globe.

photo by ally eller/the hoot

8 The Brandeis Hoot

This week in photos

February 14, 2013

Brandeis Braves Blizzard

photos by ally eller and jun zhao/the hoot

February 14, 2013

arts, etc.

The Brandeis Hoot 9

‘Rebellion becomes revolution,’ a surprising tale of forgiveness

By Vinh Nguyen Staff

In Hebrew it’s called emet. In English, however, perhaps most of us know it better as truth.

At Brandeis, we encounter this word daily. It’s thrown around in conversations and pursued in campus clubs. Other times, students have protested for it. Mostly, at Brandeis, we search for truth as a way to realize social justice—in all of its forms— through the education we have created for ourselves. Truth, after all, is engraved in the very motto of our university.

The rich history of students seeking truth at Brandeis was articulately retold at “When Rebellion Becomes Revolution: A Play of Protest, Murder, Denial and Atonement” that was well performed during this past weekend in Schwartz Hall. Presented with sponsorship by the Free Play Cooperative, the American studies program, and with support from ’Deis Impact 2013, the play was entirely student written and produced.

Originally written in the spring of 2012 by the students of Professor Joyce Antler’s History-as-Theater class, “When Rebellion Becomes Revolution,” it paints a historical landscape of Brandeis during the anti-war movement—specifically those against the Vietnam War starting in the late 1950s.

The play utilizes a cast of 14 actors to depict more than 50 historical figures. The main narrative, however, is that of two radical Brandeis students, Susan Saxe and Kathy Power, and their involvement within and outside of campus during this tumultuous period of American history. The two are also among eight women to have ever made the FBI’s most wanted list.

Most famously, and in which the play centers heavily on, is the robbery of a Brighton Bank that resulted in the death of Boston Police Walter Schroeder by the duo and their accomplices. In the process, the play outlines an informative tale of Brandeis students engaging in their individual vision of social justice. This includes turning Pearlman Hall into a major strike center and the taking over of Ford Hall by the Brandeis Afro-American society, just to name a few.

With such an endearing legacy of social involvement at Brandeis, the play makes a valiant effort of not only getting the story right, but also presenting an extensively long history within the standard length of a play.

In drafting the script, Amanda Stern ’15 and Julian Seltzer ’15—two of the play’s original co-authors—dug deep into the archival records of Brandeis to collect newspapers, flyers, interviews and a myriad of other primary documents to accurately capture the history and social climate in which “When Rebellion Becomes Revolution” takes place. Their dedication to the research, as well as being co-directors and producers, was displayed in how well the play was able to vividly recount an entire era.

Building off the hard work of Stern and Seltzer, the second part of the equation to what made “When Rebellion Becomes Revolution” so stunning and successful was the 14-member student ensemble cast. Ranging from those who have never acted before coming Brandeis to seasoned thespians, each cast member truly committed to bringing his or her historical figure alive. The amount of work they invested into this production was highly evident. This was clear from the eloquent performance by the entire cast. All 14 members of

when rebellion becomes revolution Barbara Ayala Rugg brings hisorical characters to life.

the cast were terrific in the way they treated each of the characters they played as separate individuals with unique idiosyncrasy, particularly of the performances from Steve Kline ’14, Jen Largaespada ’16 and Phil Skokos ’15. Kline, having played a total of six different characters, was a true chameleon in the way he was able to shift from tossing around the murmuring Boston accent of Police Commissioner Edmund McNamara to embodying the stoic intensity of former Brandeis President Morris Abrams, and even to the calculating coolness of Prosecutor Gaffney.

Brian Dorfman ’16 gave a very believable performance as the younger, though still characteristically laid back, Gordie Fellman. The two reporters, Julia Doucet ’16 and Gabe Guerra ’14, were great in their ability to help narrate and transition between the scenes.

Two standouts, however, were Stern as Susan Saxe and Barbara Spidle ’16 as Claire Schroeder. Being a part of eight total women to make the FBI’s most wanted list, playing Susan Saxe meant depicting a fearless, strong, intelligent woman, unyielding to her own ambitions and goals. Stern, who on top of helping produce and direct the show, played Saxe with all of these qualities. Most impressive was the passion and belief in the delivery of her ending monologue to the first half of the play, in which she vehemently voiced protest against America’s actions during the war, crying: “America, your children hate you!”

Spidle, as Claire Schroeder, brought great contrast to Stern’s performance.

Depicting another strong woman figure as the daughter of Walter Schroeder, Spidle skillfully instilled a fragility and vulnerability to her character.

She was able to show Schroeder’s

struggle between choosing to forgive Saxe and Kathy Powers (Barbara Rugg ’15) for the murder of her father, or remaining angry with them. Spidle’s performance as Claire Schroeder is also noteworthy in that it brings a refreshingly surprising message to the play, one about finding forgiveness as a way to peace. This was clear in Spidle’s performance as Claire as well as from Stern and Rugg who showed the journey of their characters realiz-

ing their actions, atoning for them in their own way, and ultimately forgiving themselves.

There was very minimal prop use throughout the play and actors kept their costumes simple. Indeed, it was not the vintage vest worn by David Friedman ’15, nor the fringed poncho donned by Jess Plante ’16 that captured the time period. Instead, it was the ability of the cast to give a voice to the story of Susan Saxe and Kathy

student performers Gabe Guerra and Jen Espada

Powers that made the production truly stunning.

“When Rebellion Becomes Revolution” lives up to the legacy of Brandeis students seeking to realize their own vision of social justice through doing what they believed to be right. In the end, “When Rebellion Becomes Revolution” was powerful in the history it revealed and each cast member’s passion resonated in the core themes presented.

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

10 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

February 14, 2013

‘Grey’s’ season nine brings repetitive drama

By Emily Beker Staff

As new seasons of television shows get into the thick of the drama, “Grey’s Anatomy” is no exception. The show ended last season with a major cliffhanger—a tool that the show uses to engage the audience each season— and this season picked up right where it left off. The most recent epic cliffhanger was a plane crash where the lives of all of our favorite doctors are at stake, including Dr. McDreamy,

Meredith Grey, Dr. McSteamy, Lexie Gray and Arizona Robins.

It wouldn’t be a new “Grey’s Anatomy” season without the expected dramatic results from last season. This has become the pattern. Now into the middle of their ninth season, the drama has grown larger and larger and less contrite, but still important. The eventual result is the heartbreak of viewers, as one of their favorites plays victim to the drama. As last season ended and this season began, the exit of two beloved characters came along with it: Lexie Gray and Mark Sloan,

also popularly known as Dr. McSteamy. Both of them exit the show, giving into the injuries they received from the plane crash.

With their deaths, as with every dramatic event that happens in the show, comes the effects on other characters. The aftermath of the crash is still unraveling, even 13 or 14 episodes into the season. With the departure of some of the viewer’s favorite characters, other loved characters’ lines have improved and some story lines have improved. Along with the new story lines, as with every season,

comes new interns.

Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), Shane Ross (Gaius Charles) and Heather Brooks (Tina Majorino) are the new interns at Seattle GraceMercy West. The new interns at the hospital are, surprisingly, the easiest characters to fall in love with and enjoy watching. The drama surrounding their flings with the residents, who now consist of our regular favorites, Meredith Grey, Alex Karev and Christina Yang, are a less important aspect of the episodes. The relationships do happen, as with every season on “Grey’s Anatomy,” but compared to the plane crash and the aftermath of our beloved doctors, they are a subplot.

It has been a nice change to see the Meredith and Derek drama subside now that the season is underway. For the first time in a few seasons, Derek, Dr. McDreamy, is no longer the focus of the director’s drama and turmoil.

The refreshing change has now placed the focus on other characters. The immediate effect of the accident placed a focus on Callie Torres’ and Arizona Robin’s relationship. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) was required to look after Arizona Robins (Jessica Capshaw), whose life drastically changed after the accident. With Robins distraught over her amputation, their relationship has become strained.

The beginning of season nine very much follows Arizona’s transition to her old life and routine. The focus on her strained relationship with Callie got tiring and petty after a few episodes. There was far too much focus on Arizona’s sulking and not allow-

photo from internet source

ing Callie, her wife, to help her. As a viewer, this became frustrating.

The focus also moved to Christina, who, at the beginning of the season, chose to transition to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The show continued to follow her and her new relationships with the doctors. This season held a cameo by William Daniels, popularly known as George Feeny on “Boy Meets World” and Steven Culp, who is cast as head of surgery. When she does return to Seattle Grace-Mercy West, the drama does not stop. Viewers then see her and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), who is now Chief of Surgery, sort out their relationship, which at this point is beyond complicated.

This season also brought back other favorites, Jackson Avery, Miranda Bailey and Richard Weber. These characters have had a constant storyline, making them favorites. Their stories follow the life of the hospital and their fellow doctors. They have become characters that do not have quite as clear a subplot as others but they do have humorous twists that link their stories.

These recent developments have rattled life in the hospital and the well-being of our favorite cast members, some of which have just gotten back up on their feet after the drawnout season premier. The constant drama the directors choose to add to the show gets tedious. The result of the most recent twist being developed these past few episodes will determine the tone for the following episodes, and how this season pans out for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Four months later, ‘Community’ seeks to make up for lost time

By Sydney Reuben Editor Emerita

Happy October 19 everyone!

“Community” is back. After a nearly four-month delay, one of the best shows on television is back. It remains to be determined for how long, but at least for the present, my favorite study group has returned.

The fourth season’s premiere episode was solid, though not stellar. All the usual elements of a “Community” episode were there: the insane dean antics, the fun pop culture references, Troy and Abed in the Morning.

I think, however, that they tried to cram too much into the episode.

Honestly, I can’t fault them for it.

“Community” is very much in danger of cancelation. Its creator Dan Harmon was removed at the end of last season and replaced by Moses Port and David Guarascio. Chevy Chase, who played one of the main characters, left the show in November. And the season’s premiere was delayed several months.

Thus, it would be a fair assessment to say this show has been through the ringer. This brings me back to my original point—the premiere simply tried to do too much. There were “Hunger Games” references. There was an imaginary sitcom followed up by an imaginary Rugrats-esque show.

There were pranks. There were wishes. There were a bunch of balls. What I’m saying is that there was a lot.

What was lacking was character development. I get that there is only so much that can fit into a 30-minute show, but still, I would have liked to have seen more interaction between the characters than just outrageous

photo from internet source

antics. Not that I don’t love antics. I would certainly major in it if I could.

Still, I find the show is at its best when all the characters are together.

I also found it lacking in the dialogue department. I appreciate when I can walk out of an episode of one of my favorite shows with a handful of very quotable or, at the very least, memorable lines, and that was simply not

the case.

The worst offense of this episode though, considering that a season premiere sets the tone for the rest of the season, was that the take away message was that it is okay for things to change (in this case, by them coming to an end). I’m no Hollywood writer, but if I worked on a show whose future was this uncertain, I would avoid

any reference to things ending.

Still, I enjoyed myself. I was eternally grateful to return to the world of Greendale. I had missed my little study group and couldn’t wait to get the gang back together again.

I am very much looking forward to the rest of the season. I have complete faith that “Community” will return to being the perfect 30 minutes it has

always been and I can’t wait for this season’s paintball episode.

Watch the season premiere (and the show in general if you do not already) and appreciate the fact that such an outstanding show has been given another lease on life. Take in as much Greendale as you can, because who knows how long it will stay on the air.

February 14, 2013

ARTS, ETC. 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Rose museum unveils three exhibits and a new floor

By Dana Trismen Editor

This week, The Rose Art Museum celebrates the opening of three new exhibits from artists Ed Ruscha, Sam Jury and Walead Beshty. In Beshty’s exhibit, titled “On the Matter of Abstraction (figs. A & B)” and “Walead Beshty: Untitled” he has transformed the floor of the gallery into a mirrored glass floor where viewers are participants in the art themselves.

Beshty, born in 1976 in London, England, is a longtime Los Angeles, C.A., resident. He has experimented with many forms of art ranging from photography to sculpture. Many of his themes involve examining the condition of today’s material culture, as well as exploring perspective and the use of objects. His work has become the focal point of The Rose, exhibited at the Gerald S. and Sandra Fineberg Gallery.

While his abstract art adorns the walls, it is the cracked-mirror floor that astonishes viewers.

“I reacted to the building, to the floor being part of the building,” Beshty said. “The floor was an institutional choice, not my choice.”

Beshty’s astonishing floor, where viewers can stand on cracks, is actually placed on top of the old floor that existed at The Rose. Talking at a reception for the opening of the exhibit Wednesday evening, viewers commented that it seemed to be an experiment with altering perception.

“Well, I don’t want to disorient or hurt people,” Beshty said. Beshty’s makeover of The Rose is fascinating because it looks like an entirely different building. Instead of encouraging visitors to be passive, his floor, combined with the art on the walls, thrusts viewers into an entirely different world, one that demands to be explored from many angles.

While Beshty is a skilled artist, he is not a well-versed orator. The Rose hosted a three-part lecture series starring Beshty, running from Feb. 7 to the 13. Beshty’s numerous and varied skills do not include public speaking. Non-engaging and speaking entirely from his notes, Beshty spoke so quickly that it was not uncommon for audience members to forget the first part of the sentence before it reached its end. He included numerous quotes from other artists and philosophers, without bothering to explain or expound upon the quote and its meaning. While these talks covered important artistic issues, his lecture was too difficult to follow.

Beshty’s talks circled around what constitutes abstract thought and how

photo by calvin wang/the hoot

mirror floor Beshty’s art covers many surfaces, from his abstract art on the walls to this interactive floor.

art interacts with objects. “Flatness is an essential quality of painting,” Beshty said, and then discussed the dispute over where does a painting dissipate into the world of objects. He spoke on the curious nature of painting and how humans are the only animals who seek to represent itself to itself. In this way, it is a sort of selfishness, art as the constant search for representation of true life, but it constantly falls short.

Beshty discussed how pictures are not the same as images, as “images are likenesses; they act like verbs and describe a relationship between things.

They are meaningless without this relation.” Pictures on the other hand, help out images and “give them body” as well as “helping us order the word, and give them meaning beyond relations,” Beshty said.

He went on to lecture about perception, and how it can lead to abstraction. He believes perspective is something humans are taught to see, for it was invented. He gave visual aids of perspective art on the screens in the Admissions Center, as well as showing Greek columns when discussing

angles of viewing. “Pictures [are] illusions rather than a thing unto itself,” he said. Yet, Beshty’s talk was again very difficult to follow, as he sped through it, never looking up from his notes or expanding upon his topics.

Listeners’ attention was easily lost, as he abandoned audience members to their confusion.

Ed Ruscha’s exhibit, called “Standard” in the Foster Gallery, concerns itself with everyday objects and the relationships they inspire. Born in 1937 in Omaha, N.E., Ruscha was raised in Oklahoma and held his first art exhibit in Los Angeles, C.A., in 1963.

Associated with the “Pop Art” movement, he has worked with paintings, printmaking, drawing, photography and film. The exhibition displayed at The Rose is a continuation of a show that began at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and boasts paintings, videos and paperwork from throughout his long career.

An art icon, Ruscha’s exhibit is given the space it deserves as it takes up the bottom part of The Rose Museum. On display, are exhibits such as pictures

with the lithograph “Gas,” created in 1962. “[This] is the first work in which Ruscha deployed a word as the central image,” claims the exhibit sign.

Ruscha’s exhibit is composed of words being displayed as art, exploring how words can twist and turn and become images with deeper meanings. A standout is his piece “Sin” with giant gray and black clouds, created in 1991 with oil and acrylic on canvas. The sign reads that this “Sin” can be read “as either a reference to the Christian notion of being without sin, or as a translation of the Spanish word for ‘without.”

Sam Jury’s exhibit is titled “Coerced Nature.” She examines the environment and themes of trauma though video that is projected onto other forms. Her art is on display in the Lee Gallery, as well as throughout campus in public spaces. A British artist, after receiving her M.F.A. from Cornell University, she served as a Fellow at the Royal Academy Schools in London and an Artist in Residence at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Jury’s exhibit

is very small, consisting of one piece of art on the wall and a video screen.

The exhibit boasts of Jury’s skill in many mediums, including photography, painting performance and video, all of which are combined in her video shown at The Rose. Jury’s video is fascinating; exploring many themes such as the pressure the subject of the film endures. Her characters survive despite the stress from being viewed by the artist herself, and then by the visitors to the exhibit. The Rose sign also declares that Jury is skilled at exploring the “fraught relationship between human beings and the natural world.”

The opening itself was very pleasant and well-attended. Food and drinks were served, and it was preceded by another talk by Walead Beshty. Jazz music played in the background as students, faculty and visitors explored the museum’s new exhibits. The atmosphere was exciting, as people explored exhibits slowly and stopped to talk to the artists who were present.

These three exhibits will be on display at The Rose until June 9, and they are definitely worth seeing.

Arts Recommends

By Zoe Richman Editor

‘Memphis’ Audience after audience was left in awe after the Boston Colonial Theater’s production of “Memphis” this winter. The plot of “Memphis” is based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Philips,

who was one of the first white DJs to play African American music in the 1950s. Huey Calhoun (Bryan Fenkart), a quirky white man, falls in love with Felicia (Felecia Boswell). As he falls in love with Felicia, he also falls in love with her powerful music and makes it his sole mission to play her music on the radio. Huey receives brutal public scrutiny as he fights to launch Felicia’s musical career, and his romantic relationship with Felicia only plants more obstacles. The musical’s combination of upbeat songs and inspiring messages created a theater uplifted with energy.

‘Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking Susan Cain’s book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking” pays tribute to an often undervalued group: introverts. With historical evidence, personal examples, and stories of real people, Cain foils introversion and extroversion. By incorporating examples of today’s successful introverts, she

argues that introverts have leadership potential and other distinct qualities that are often overlooked. She claims that introversion does not always deserve the criticism it often receives, and extroversion does not always merit the praise it frequently garners. Cain offers advice on how to best handle introvert-extrovert relationships and on how younger children can best handle their introversion. “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking” is a fresh perspective that forces us to rethink how we view ourselves and how we see this world of introverts and extroverts.

12 The Brandeis Hoot

opinion

February 14, 2013

Why I plan to stay: the truth about study abroad

By Lassor Feasley Editor

Years ago, right when you were applying to Brandeis University, a statistic caught your eye, but without a second glance, it drifted unnoticed through your consciousness. An ephemeral fantasy, something too abstract, too far into the future to even quantify.

You were accepted to Brandeis. Everything was going as planned. But then, the unthinkable.

Sophomore year you notice a disturbing trend. Juniors are dropping like flies, as if by magic, out of sight and out of mind. Once gleaming examples of excellence in scholarship, once your close friends, once your staunch allies, disappearing into the abyss.

“What is this witchcraft,” you ask yourself as you return second semester to find that individuals who were pillars of the Brandeis community just weeks ago have somehow been swallowed up by a new world. And then, it happens.

One day, as you are walking to class, a flyer is thrust upon you. At first you are suspicious, the broad, gleaming words, “Study Abroad” beaconing, like a stranger offering you candy on the street. Despite your better judgment, your eyes widen as you open the pamphlet. And now there’s no turning back.

You begin to read, slowly at first, but then faster, almost greedily you try and take it all in. Just what’s being offered to you here? THE WORLD, at your fingertips. China, the Netherlands, France, its yours, all yours!

And no one can stop you now. You go to the office of study abroad. Like an

graphic by linjie xu/the hoot

addict, you collect piles of documents advertising different locals, this one to Rome, that one to Paris. Anywhere.

Everywhere but Brandeis!

Hook, line and sinker, you take the bait and run. You attend information sessions and lectures. You plan, you plot, you scheme your great escape.

Away from the icy New England blizzards! Away from the steep hills and endless traverses of campus. You’re going to a better place, a softer place, a place with no boundaries. You’re go-

ing abroad!

Congratulations. I wish you the best of luck in your travels and travails. But wherever you’re going, you won’t see me. Here’s why.

In high school I spent hours, even days, agonizing over which institution could best support my needs.

The due diligence required in choosing Brandies required endless research and contemplation, applications and essays. There is a reason for that commitment: it ensured that I

didn’t wind up at a university where I was alienated. I remember that as I parsed statistics and testimonials, I was never quite satisfied with the depth of information I could gather about any school I studied.

Often, I felt as though I was being pitched a product, rather than researching an education. Some schools would manipulate facts and figures so shamelessly that I felt I could never even approximate what my perspective experience would be like there.

This tendency to market a program in only the best light is doubly true of the way study abroad vendors advertise their product. Despite the colorful booklets and edgy websites promising an educational adventure, very little is actually known about any of the abroad programs when compared to the comprehensive data available for domestic schools.

After investing so much time and effort to decide that Brandeis was the school for me, going abroad seems almost reckless. While some programs offer a well-curated stable of educators and curriculums, few can match Brandeis, and the bulk of them don’t even come close. That alone makes it a deal breaker for me when it comes to study abroad. But the wild card of academics is just the tip of the iceberg.

My second primary rationale for staying at Brandeis is a social one. The bonds of friendship formed in college are often lifelong. Spending years together in the same institution will do that. Spending three months with the same group of peers is hardly enough to build the foundations of trust and camaraderie necessary for a lifelong relationship.

I have enough fair-weather friends and ephemeral acquaintances, thank

you. I have no use for the loose social ties that such a temporary single semester arrangement offers. I only have a few short years to cement the friendships I make at Brandeis as it is. Why would I sacrifice half a year spent with friends who might potentially last me my whole life for a semester spent with acquaintances who I might never see again. What use is that to me? It just doesn’t add up.

Passing on study abroad is not a popular option, especially at Brandeis, where more than 40 percent of students will participate sometime in their college careers. In fact, I have been encouraged to take a semester abroad by many of my mentors and confidants, even my parents have urged me to give it a second look. “It will be fun,” they say, “You’ll never have another chance to see the world like this again.” Perhaps that’s true; studying abroad probably confers a special status on travels somewhere between expat and tourist. But none of it appeals to me.

Without a reason, or purpose for being abroad, how could I justify my presence there? I don’t want to go somewhere just to be a sightseer for three months. I want to belong. Yet that seems like the only remaining reason one would go abroad. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe study abroad is a truly dimensional experience; maybe it offers a wealth of meaningful relationships and academic excellence, as well as intercultural experience. Maybe a truly authentic experience can be had for a nominal fee and a time commitment of three months. I hope my peers who choose to go abroad find this to be the case. But I have my doubts. So, come junior year, you’ll know where to find me. You won’t have to look far.

With spotlight on murder trial, address dating violence

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

It’s July 2011, I’m riding the Metrobus to my internship in Washington, D.C., skimming the news headlines from The Boston Globe on my iPhone as I usually do on the morning commute. A photograph, a school portrait of a teenager, stands out on the screen.

The face of Lauren Astley looked familiar. I had seen her many times during tennis clinics, lessons and camps at the Longfellow Club in Wayland, Mass., where high school athletes trained on afternoons during the school year, exchanging rallies in games of baseline 21 or olympic doubles and traveled to tournaments on the weekends. A place where we learned the basic values of hard work and sportsmanship, the foundation of any athletic success.

And now the photograph of Astley, who prosecutors say was strangled and slashed to death by her former boyfriend Nathaniel Fujita, suddenly appeared over the evening news and the front pages of community newspapers.

Fast forward nearly two years later and Fujita is on trial for first-degree murder. The quiet town of Wayland, shocked by the horrific murder in 2011, now faces the intense media spotlight of a high-profile trial.

In opening statements Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern argued to the jury that Fujita, who dated Astley for three

years, killed her after she had broken up with him.

“Evidence will show you that the man you just heard sworn before you, Nathaniel Fujita, a man Lauren Astley had known and cared for, a man she had gone out with in high school for three years, coldly, cruelly killed her, because she wounded his ego,’’ McGovern said to jurors, according to The Globe. “This defendant attacked Lauren to get her back to hurt her, and to nullify her in a purposeful and deliberate way, calculated not only to inflict pain but to end her life and also to cover up what he was doing.”

Fujita’s attorney, William Sullivan, plans an insanity defense, recognizing there is no doubt about what happened and who committed the crime.

“What you will hear is that the defendant was not able to control himself or really understand what it was that he was doing,’’ Sullivan said to the jury.

Fujita, a star athlete and collegebound senior from a wealthy Boston suburb now finds himself facing life in prison without parole if convicted.

And if not, commitment to an institution, complete with period evaluations, according to The Globe.

I admit to not knowing much about the legal requirements for an insanity defense.

But the facts here are clear. If in three weeks, Fujita is found not guilty by reason of insanity, it would be a gross miscarriage of justice. Eighteenyear-olds must be held responsible for their actions. Perhaps there are cases for which the insanity defense applies, but not here. Fujita planned the murder, then tried to cover it up. His

photo from internet source

actions convey a level of brutality beyond words.

This murder trial will likely last about three weeks. After jurors hear the evidence about gruesome violence, about text messages and emails and high school dating, they will be faced with a decision of justice.

But long after this trial, whether Fujita is found guilty or not, responsible through a psychiatric defense, the issue of dating violence will continue in high schools and colleges across the country.

Surely, there are prosecutors and courts to administer justice after

horrific crimes and tragedies have already occurred. But what our society so desperately needs is for parents and teachers and coaches and students, for guidance counselors and friends and school principals to recognize that dating violence and abuse happens in their communities and circles.

I don’t, in any way, mean to imply that this tragedy was preventable or intend to place blame on any groups or individuals. But the point is that this trial will end with a verdict.

And it’s up to communities affected by this case and immersed in the

media spotlight to address the issues that arise. Teachers should not shy away from discussing the case in their classrooms simply because it is challenging, distressing and uncomfortable.

It may be true that horrible things happen in our society, for which, sometimes, there are few explanations. But it’s also true that the basic value of human decency and goodness can go a long way in developing healthy, fulfilling and balanced lives. And the more adults we have to spread those values, the safer our communities become.

February 14, 2013

SECTION 13

The Brandeis Hoot

More money, more PEDs

By Charlie Romanow, Staff

America’s national pastime yields four times as many television viewers per season as the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association. What began as a casual game established in Hoboken, N.J., has burst into an international business. It involves trillions of dollars in tickets and merchandizing and several professional teams are worth more than one billion dollars.

The business extends from baseball cards, jerseys, hats and memorabilia to video games, books and movies.

While each individual baseball game does not receive more attention than the average NFL game, the number of baseball games that each team plays in the regular season, 162, makes baseball better known around the world than the NFL and NBA with 16 and 82 regular season games, respectively. As the nation’s first major professional sport, baseball has had historical moments that have gained the attention of many outside the sports world. The sport has had a turbulent past, from Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in MLB, to the Negro and Women’s leagues. Despite its illustrious place in American history today, steroids and performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are marring baseball’s long cultural heritage.

I could go on and on about all of the historical moments in baseball history, but I’ll stick with two key points: PEDs and the rising salaries of players. In its early days, playing baseball was looked down upon as a profession lacking in prestige, although many athletes earned a comfortable living. In the Hall of Famer Ty Cobb’s 1911 MVP season, he earned $9,000, which, after inflation, would be about $200,000 today. In the earlier years of baseball, injuries were more prevalent and difficult to treat and diagnose.

The lifestyle conditions that players could afford were much rougher than the first class hotels and flights that today’s players enjoy. Because of this, players in the 20th century

photo from internet source

deserved the high pay that they received. These incomes had to be saved and spread out during the course of a lifetime, as most baseball careers did not last long. Historically, professional baseball players have not received a proper higher education to make a healthy living after retiring from play.

The minimum salary in 2013 is $490,000, more than most college students will go on to earn as a salary during their life spans. I believe that the use of PEDs and rising salaries are related.

Although I have no concrete evidence to corroborate this, I believe that the chain of events follow logically. As salaries rose, more public and professional pressure was placed

on players to perform well. What had once been a fun game that players enjoyed became much more stressful as the advancement of technology (radio, television, computer and fantasy baseball) put athletes in the cultural limelight. Due to the increased pressure, players felt more competition from their peers and pressure from managers and owners, which led to using performance enhancing drugs.

These substances could enhance their success, earning potential, professional longevity and value to the club.

The New York Yankees GoldGlove-winning first baseman Mark Teixeira admitted last month that, “My first six years, before I was a free agent, I was very valuable. But there’s

nothing you can do that can justify a $20 million contract,” referring to the lower salaries that younger, sometimes more successful players earn next to their veteran counterparts.

Although first coming to the nation’s and even the world’s attention fairly recently, steroids and other PEDs have been used for more than a hundred years. A survey taken at the 1972 Summer Olympics in West Germany found that 61 percent of competitors in the games had taken anabolic steroids in the six months leading to the games. Steroids were not banned by the MLB until 1991, so PED use by baseball players prior to that did not break any rules.

Steroid use is not solely a base-

ball problem, nor is it exclusively an American issue. Some of the public attention to steroids may have been due to the outsized compensation that the athletes receive but it seems commonsensical that one would cause the other. It can never be known with 100 percent certainty who took what steroids at what time. Fortunately, Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and numerous other athletic governing bodies around the world are taking a proactive look at PEDs and the scorn that sports reputations receive from it. We can only look to the future and encourage the young crop of burgeoning athletes to not feel the temptation to cheat.

The limits of online learning

By Sara Shahanaghi Special to the Hoot

Online higher education in the United States, while growing in influence during the past decade, has attracted considerable controversy.

Opponents of online courses have criticized the quality of education they provide. However, online education has significant advantages: it is especially cost-effective and allows for more time flexibility than its in-class counterpart. Historically, it is precisely these qualities that have largely made online courses a for-profit college venture.

But while online courses have been offered by for-profit colleges such as University of Phoenix and Devry University, highly reputable schools are following suit. A recent New York Times article documents the offering of large-scale online courses by many private institutions, including MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. These online courses cannot be taken by the college’s students for credit, but rather are intended for the wider global community. The courses are free and have attracted millions of participants.

These massive open online courses have the potential to greatly benefit both educators and students. For one,

Online education has significant advantages: it is especially cost-effective and allows for more time flexibility these classes can serve as a valuable learning resource for students who benefit minimally from a course instructor, textbook and other traditional learning materials. In this sense, these courses can do for higher education what the Khan Academy has done for primary and secondary education. Furthermore, because the courses are instructed by professors at acclaimed universities, they are especially promising.

Instructors, too, can find the online courses useful in formulating their own courses. Whether adopting the courses’ printed materials or adopting their instruction methods, courses can serve as a valuable tool for instructors, both at the college and high school level. More generally, open courses have the potential to make instruction much more collaborative than it currently is. Instead of instructors independently deciding how to teach a course, they can work with the most popular online lessons to develop their own lesson plans.

This could both save instructors time

and improve the quality of lessons they administer.

Finally, these classes are perhaps the most beneficial to individuals not enrolled in a degree program. Whether seeking to learn something for a career or future academic endeavor, or simply out of interest, these online courses are ideal because they are free and can be worked around an individual’s schedule.

Needless to say, however, private colleges are not investing in free online courses merely to benefit the public. Many of these courses are offered through third-party companies such as Coursera and Udemy, who ultimately seek to profit from them. They are experimenting with different ways of monetizing the courses, including charging instructors for adopting the course materials in their own lessons and offering students certificates of completion at a price. What’s particularly compelling is that, as noted in The New York Times, some colleges, such as Antioch University, are allowing students to take Coursera classes for credit toward their undergraduate

degrees.

While most colleges have limited students’ abilities to gain transfer credit from online courses, as elite universities begin to offer them, this raises the question: Should these online courses be an option for undergraduate students?

Despite the quality of the lesson plans and materials provided by online courses, there are certain benefits to be reaped from in-class instruction that are not possible for online classes. The benefits of a four-year degree go far beyond the content learned in class. For many college classes, especially those in the humanities, class discussion plays an important role in the learning process. While some online courses seek to simulate in-class discussion through discussion forums, teacher input in the discussion is harder to find.

Beyond classroom instruction, being part of a real class allows students one-on-one attention. Students in humanities classes often rely on teacher feedback before and after writing papers, but this type of one-on-one attention is especially useful in classes that involve problem solving, such as math, science and economics. When class lectures and materials aren’t enough to clarify materials for a student, visiting the professor or teaching assistants during office hours can be a

vital means of dissolving confusion.

Online open courses do not provide this assistance. For-profit colleges have attempted to curb this problem by allowing students to ask questions virtually. It is hard to believe, however, that students receive the same benefit from this form of assistance as they would in a one-on-one meeting with an instructor.

Perhaps the most significant weakness of the online course in the context of an undergraduate education is that it doesn’t allow students to become part of a learning community.

A college education is certainly about more than classes and assessments.

Interacting and working with others that share common educational interests not only helps students excel, but also realize and grow their interests.

Developing the ability to interact with others on work-related matters both inside and outside the classroom is important when those students enter the workforce.

So, while large online courses offered by reputable institutions have the potential to provide society with many benefits, colleges should hesitate before allowing students to take them for credit. Regardless of an online course’s quality, in-class instruction provides students with less obvious learning benefits that cannot easily be realized in an online course.

14 OPINION

The Brandeis Hoot

Self Shelf

February 14, 2013

Getting lost in the snow

By Alex Self Staff

During the weekend, I was able enjoy my first true snowstorm at Brandeis University in four years of residing on campus. I do not mean to confuse you. I am not referring to the scattered flurries or glorified dustings we have gotten in previous years. No, I am talking about the all-out blizzard that, as a weather-hardened New Englander, I have come to expect during my winters. I label last year, which lacked even a one-foot snowstorm, an abysmally boring aberration in the New England weather pattern. It was nice to see another blizzard and even nicer to see it finally at Brandeis (we had had large snowstorms in the past four years but never when I was at Brandeis).

My favorite part of a snowstorm is always the sense of endless possibility it evokes within me. This is probably due to memories of sledding and snow days in my youth—a sort of inlaid instinct within my persona at this point. Like a family gathering at Thanksgiving, nothing brings back the warm nostalgic malaise of childhood like a strong snowstorm. All the stresses of my life found themselves obscured, much like the outside world. As the world got lost in the snow, my cares went along with it.

At the height of the storm, a few of my more courageous friends and my own winter-hardened self went sledding. The entire world was covered in a panoply of swirling white. When it was windy, one could barely see more than a foot in front of one’s face.

Squinting into the distance proved entirely useless, as one could not face the wind without feeling the thousand stinging pains of a freezing, heavy,

windblown snow. After an hour of fighting against the storm, even I was ready for some warm clothes and hot chocolate.

The day after the storm, I took a walk outside to see our brave new winter-blasted world. A few glimpses of the world outside showed me that we had indeed gotten two feet of snow for once. I meandered my way through a shell-shocked world (I was able to walk down the middle of South Street due to the driving ban) and slowly made my way toward my car in J lot. As I headed to where I thought my car would be, I heard the sound of laughter. There, about two feet from the pile of snow that was my car, a girl had apparently seen it in all of its snowy glory and could not repress a derisive chortle. As I approached the car, even I could not keep from laughing. The car was so utterly covered that I could not make out most of its features and actually ended up checking the license plate to double check it was mine.

After spending a few futile minutes trying to clean off my car, I headed over to the library to see how the rest of the campus was doing. By the library, I discovered a long line of people waiting to sled down the library hill. Overall, the entire campus seemed to have a sort of carnival atmosphere about it, although people’s reactions to the storm varied. There were two types of reactions to the storm and they generally varied based on geographical origin. The first was what I call the northern reaction. This consisted of people exclaiming excitedly about the snow and oftentimes engaging in snowball fights or playing in the snow. The second reaction was generally one that ranged from bemused stupefaction to downright

frustration, and seemed to largely confine itself to those from more southern latitudes who had never seen so much snow before. Having friends from both areas, I sympathized with those frustrated by the storm but ultimately identified with those celebrating it.

I love snow and will continue to derive satisfaction from it, despite the fact that it always seems to congregate in irrationally large piles on top of my car. I eventually got to the library, only to find that it was mostly closed.

Somewhat disappointed, I set out for the treacherous path back down the hill toward my suite in Ridgewood.

As I was walking back toward the residence, I got a call from my parents. They had hunkered down in our home near Providence but their power had been knocked out, and the street had yet to be plowed. This apparently had not stopped my mother from attempting to visit the neighbors for some coffee and breakfast (they apparently had a generator).

Unfortunately, her car got stuck, and a neighborhood-wide rescue operation involving several plows had to take place before she could get her coffee. Ultimately, mom reported to me, it was definitely worth it. I reflected upon the idea that perhaps my friends who thought New Englanders were crazy might have a point.

I was concerned about my parents, however, as the heat also went with the power. My parents were not worried though—they had been through far worse in past days. That is another strange aspect of New Englanders. A storm is never bad unless it is worse than the worst storm of all time (in this case, usually the Blizzard of 1978). If it does not measure up to that, it is just another petty obstacle

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

to get through, regardless of how destructive the storm actually is. Thus, my parents merely reassured me that they would be fine and told me to take care of myself.

I returned to my suite and attempted to do work for a little while but eventually ended up playing in the snow with friends. During that time, I managed to somehow dig out my car, along with my friend’s car, using only our boots and a small

broom that we had found nearby.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, it occurred to me that this situation was ludicrous but my New England upbringing told me it all made sense.

So ended my experience with the Blizzard of 2013, Nemo, or whatever else they are calling it these days.

I am truly grateful to have had this experience before I graduate and I hope to experience it at least once more in the coming months.

Ranking rankings

By Jennifer Spencer Staff

People like to look at college rankings. Whether out of competitive spirit or inquisitive nature, the U.S. News’ top 100 rankings of national universities and liberal arts colleges is widely followed by students and administrators alike. U.S. News ranks Brandeis at 33 out of all national universities with a 40 percent acceptance rate. This placement is lower than previous years, and behind nearby Boston College. While the accuracy of these rankings is hotly contested, I do not feel that the experience at Brandeis can be captured in the ranking system. I believe that Brandeis should continue to focus on serving the student rather than cater to a ranking system or to increased selectivity.

Love them or hate them, the rankings are around to stay, and many schools attempt to increase their ranking scores in an effort to pull in more prospective students. In previous years, several colleges have been accused of manipulating rankings by fabricating SAT scores.

It’s crazy how much importance people assign their own rankings, but then again, it’s unlikely these standards would exist if parents and high schoolers didn’t pay such close attention to them. While many downplay the importance of rankings, all are equally responsible for their significance in the selection process.

It’s no surprise that Brandeis is a selective university with a strong academic reputation that places it in the top 50 national universities. Students pride themselves on the academic standards upheld at this university.

graphic by sindhura sonnathi/the hoot

But can we do better? The question is, in a school that strives for social justice and diversity, should we aim to be even more selective and achieve a better ranking?

Having gone through the application process and looked at rankings myself, I don’t see them representative of what a school is really like. Cliché, I know, but true; what you put in once you arrive is what you will get out of any top school.

Students strive to get into schools with the most elite reputations, yes, but I really feel that the whole ranking system should be taken with a grain

of salt. Many college-hunting high school students come into the hunt looking to see where schools stack up, but this does not necessarily give the best view of what the school is like.

Schools ranked just one and two places ahead of Brandeis on the U.S. News scale accept much closer to 30 percent of students. Emory University, which caps off the top 20 schools, accepts just around 26 percent of applicants. So clearly the correlation between exclusivity and ranking is weak at best.

The ranking is not what gives Brandeis its unique and tight knit

community feeling. This, more than anything, is what fosters student involvement and learning within the student body. We will have the small class sizes, good class discussions and top professors we are known for, whether we are 33rd on the rankings or 25th. To me, rankings don’t seem to make much of a difference.

If Brandeis only focused on rankings and accepted students only to enhance rankings, then the student body would be specifically chosen to match the formula U.S. News uses in its rankings. Selecting applicants based on a super limited set of SAT scores

will not make a college classroom experience all that it is.

We learn much from the diversity of Brandeis and gain worldly experience.

We have a wide variety of students from all over the world with different backgrounds. While we have taken larger first-year classes during the years, this has allowed us to bring in a wider variety of students.

Brandeis is by no means uncompetitive today. All of us are familiar with the hard work it took to be accepted (and perhaps even a bit of luck).

While 40 percent may not seem impressive initially, think of the approximately 60 percent of applicants who were declined. You have to be a top student and show admissions officers you would succeed and contribute on campus. So by keeping the rate at 40 percent, rather than limiting the rate to the confines of smaller percentages, we are still taking in top students. I think this is something Brandeis students are aware of as they see the intelligence level of peers and professors.

The idea of the importance of social justice and diversity that remains at Brandeis’ core are what really impressed me about the university. I think the more focus one places on selectivity, the more one loses sight of these values. The key in maintaining the balance, where our admissions officers seem to excel, is looking at the overall student not just the test scores.

Just as students can’t judge Brandeis based on a number, we can’t entirely judge high school students on their stats. After all, I love the Brandeis experience and would not consider transferring to a different school merely for the sake of rankings, and I think the majority of students on campus would agree.

February 14, 2013

OPINION 15

The Brandeis Hoot

The moral of this year’s Oscars

By Rachel Hirschhaut Staff

Award show season has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Watching the superficial pomp and circumstance of the red carpet and the lavish ceremonies that celebrate the pinnacle of the past year’s art and culture makes me feel like a party-goer at one of The Great Gatsby’s celebrations (if only that were true).

But this year, with the Academy Awards fast approaching, I feel something different. Almost all of the nominees for Best Picture (“Lincoln,” “Argo” and “Les Miserables”) either retell historical events, or use history as the backdrop for universal human stories. Maybe I’m feeling more inspired than usual because of the many ’Deis Impact events I attended this past week, but I firmly believe that there are social justice lessons we can learn from all of these films, and acting on those lessons could make the world a better place today.

As a friend pointed out, one can draw a parallel between the French Revolution as depicted in “Les Miserables,” and the Occupy Movement today. Even though the present-day movement is much less violent—and less focused or cohesive, if you listen to critics of Occupy—look carefully and you can see the same ideas at play. “Les Miserables” is about more than the French Revolution, or even the story of one broken man finding redemption. It is really about the conflict between change and the status quo, and the universal struggle of the many against the few.

“Les Mis” is the story of a society that is worn down by injustice and

photo from internet source

inequality, one that knows that the state of affairs must change, but does not know how to actually bring about change. So they fought against injustice the only way they knew how, by violently overthrowing one king, which failed miserably (and then another king took over the throne, and the situation did not change or improve at all). This idea reminds me of one of the most pressing social issues of our time: the problem of gun violence.

I believe that the hotly-debated so-

lution of arming every teacher will not solve the larger problem of violence; it will only perpetuate the problem. Violence does not end violence, it creates a cycle that leads to more violence while failing to address the underlying problem. I don’t claim to know how to solve this problem, but I do know that something must change and that problems must be addressed without resorting to further violence.

And then there are the parallels between the American government as seen in “Lincoln,” and the government

today. “Lincoln,” even more so than “Les Mis,” is a story about the struggle between social change and the status quo. Here is another instance where society knew it had to change, but was held back by the people who fought to preserve tradition—in this case, slavery. But Lincoln’s famous words are truer than ever today: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” An America divided by partisan politics cannot succeed in repairing society’s problems.

So, what does it all mean? Maybe

the collection of films this year is a reflection of these uncertain times, where we can look to the wisdom of the past to figure out how to solve challenges for the future. Our generation must become more like Lincoln and the rebels in “Les Miserables.” To move forward as a society, we must be kind and ready to give up some of ourselves to help others in need, like Jean Valjean. But even that is not enough: we must be cognizant of the world’s problems and be ready to rise up and fight the injustices around us.

16 The Brandeis Hoot

hoot scoops

February 14, 2013

Panel discusses incorporating social justice into careers

By Emily Belowish Staff

Students, scholars and alumni gathered in Hassenfeld Conference Center on Monday evening for Brandeis’ 2nd annual SoJust Leadership Forum, thereby concluding ’Deis Impact, the weeklong “festival of social justice.”

Sponsored by the Hiatt Career Center and in partnership with the SoJust Leadership committee, the forum brought together mostly alumni who have applied what they learned about social justice to their everyday work. More than 30 representatives from non-profit organizations, corporations and fellowships spoke with students about the power of social justice in their work and steps that students can be taking now to have a successful and meaningful career.

Sam Vaghar ’08 spoke about the power of social justice on his life beginning at 19 years old, when he decided to read two books, “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder and “The End of Poverty” by Jeffrey Sachs.

“Take a risk for what you believe in most,” he said. “Social justice means having a vision.”

After reading Sachs’ book, Vaghar picked up the phone and called Sachs. Before he knew it, he was meeting with Sachs’ team in New York City, discussing his vision for a national network for global poverty.

Two years later, Vaghar proposed that his coalition receive about a few

thousand dollars, but instead, his organization was granted $30,000.

“Too many times we settle. When I was 18 or 19, my goal was to get into politics. It still is, but I’ve realized that to be honest, none of that matters,” Vaghar said. “The most important thing is to have a vision.”

The first part of the forum was a panel represented by five individuals, all of whom have strong ties to Brandeis and have shown a commitment to social justice in their work.

Professor David Cunningham (SOC), Chair of Brandeis’ Social Justice and Social Policy Program, moderated the panel.

Sarah Emond M.P.P. ’09, shared that social justice, to her, meant a commitment to a quality. In her time at Heller, she spoke about how she learned about the finite time we have to take action. Emond also shared that it wasn’t until much later that she found her vision.

“Finding my vision came in graduate school. Let yourself off the hook if you don’t find your vision until later,” Emond said.

Jodi Rosenbaum, not a Brandeis alumna but a woman whose nonprofit is situated in Waltham, spoke about her time at school as helping her find her passion.

“The foundation I run now, More Than Words (MTW), was forged when I was a junior in college. I had an internship in a child advocacy office for the state department,” Rosenbaum said. “They were so reliant on me, the intern, that I could tell how little they actually emphasized their motto of having a holistic approach.”

Rosenbaum spoke about meeting kids in foster care one day, and the next day meeting them in the courthouse. Her work with the juvenile court turned into her writing her senior thesis, and eventually working there even longer than she had expected.

“It just goes to show you that you shouldn’t underestimate the power of an internship,” Rosenbaum said.

Additionally, Rosenbaum spoke about the effect of her work on her personal life.

“Right now, my vision is learning how to be a good mom. As you think about what you want for your whole life, you need to learn there is a difference between working and being effective.”

Other panelists spoke to students about the various skills needed for their careers as well as the relationships they have formed in making a difference.

Ronald Glover ’73 said that it was the interactions he had with his fellow peers and professors at Brandeis that completely changed him. He said that what he ultimately gained from his experience at Brandeis was learning how to interact with people who had completely opposing viewpoints with him.

In his senior year, he was partnered with a professor to write his senior thesis that had a completely opposite viewpoint from him.

“He challenged me to challenge my assumptions. I will never forget him saying to me, ‘You better learn to listen and think.’ That advice was invaluable,” Glover said.

State Representative Tackey Chan ’95 added that there are certain skills necessary to do meaningful and powerful work.

“First, you must have intelligence.

Second, you can’t socially interact unless you have social context. You are going to have to learn to pick up little things along the way.”

Following the panel, students joined representatives for a mininetworking session. Representatives included young alumni, executive directors, CEOs, co-founders and many others ranging from The Harry Potter Alliance to JP Morgan, City Year, Mass General Hospital and more.

Many students attended the forum as a way to learn more about how to apply social justice in the workplace in addition to making connections and networking.

Senior Reed Zuckerman ’13 said that although he didn’t meet anyone specifically that he was interested in working for, he met a number

of alumni who spoke openly about continuing a conversation with him to help him with his job application process.

“The forum was a great place to introduce yourself to alumni and pioneers in various fields who have incorporated social justice into their careers. Just conversing and meeting with all of the representatives that attended the forum allowed me to gain a lot of helpful information and guidance about the job application process after Brandeis,” Zuckerman said. “I learned a lot about how to incorporate the value of social justice in the workplace and how to make myself stand out amongst other applicants in terms of my cover letter and resume.”

The SoJust forum was intended to be a place for a conversation about the importance of social justice.

“Activism at its most fundamental is completely personal,” Vaghar said.

“Change starts in our personal lives.”