The Brandeis Hoot - 3/22/13

Volume 10 Number 8

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

March 22, 2013

Univ police investigating alleged sexual assault

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

photo by ally eller/the hoot

jake and amir CollegeHumor stars perform in Levin Ballroom on Wednesday evening.

Jake and Amir bring CollegeHumor to Brandeis

By Lassor Feasley Editor

Jake Huwitz and Amir Blumenfeld of the CollegeHumor web series, “Jake and Amir” came to campus last Wednesday, performing in Levin Ballroom to a sold out crowd of Brandeis students. “Jake and Amir”

first gained national attention in 2007, and since then the two have frequently performed at various venues around the world.

The comedic duo followed a fellow CollegeHumor associate, Streeter Seidell. While Seidell was billed as an accompanying act, many students acknowledged that he stole the show.

“This was a performance by Streeter Seidell, featuring Jake and Amir, rather than the other way around,” Jeffery Maser ’15 said. Jake and Amir introduced Seidell’s act and performed their own act afterward.

Although initially disappointed by

Brandeis University police are investigating an alleged sexual assault that occurred off campus and was reported to the department on March 14, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said.

“We’re reviewing it,” Callahan said in a phone interview Thursday. “We’re doing what we need to do to assist the parties involved.”

University police do not believe the incident happened in Waltham, he added, but declined to comment further.

The public safety media log lists an investigation into a sex crime of forcible fondling, an off-campus incident, reported on March 14.

According to public safety’s annually published Clery Act Compliance Report, which mandates crime reporting under federal law, forcible fondling is defined as “the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification” and listed as one of four forcible sex offenses.

In the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, students are prohibited from engaging in sexual misconduct, defined as sexual contact without consent, under Section 3.

No further information about the incident was available by press time.

In a separate case in January, the Waltham Police Department confirmed their investigation of an alleged sexual assault at an off-campus Dartmouth Street party.

Alum learns from anxiety

See COLLEGE HUMOR, page 2

Board approves 3.94 percent student cost increase for FY 2014

By Jon Ostrowsky Editor

The Board of Trustees approved a 3.94 percent overall increase in student costs as part of its FY 2014 budget, university officials announced Thursday evening.

Last year, overall student cost increased by 4.1 percent for continuing students and 4.85 percent for new students, making Brandeis the second most expensive college in the state, behind only Williams College, according to a Boston Business Journal report published last May. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel said that the university would continue

discussing ways to cut other costs and continue its commitment to financial aid.

“There is no doubt that student costs at Brandeis would be unmanageable without donor support, and the university also has an aggressive plan to improve efficiency in purchasing and services,” Flagel said in a statement. “There is also a drive to maintain our academic integrity and preserve our historic commitment to access through financial aid. All of these are areas that will continue to be subjects of robust discussion.”

Next year, for continuing students, tuition will be $43,980 and total costs, including tuition, the technology and health fee, student activity fee, hous-

ing and dining, will be $58,170. For new students, tuition will be $44,380 and total costs will be $58,570.

“The FY14 budget also includes extensive redeployment of resources through efficiency and procurement improvements, as well as sustaining aggressive annual giving and endowment funding targets,” Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid said in a statement.

“These initiatives are challenging but necessary to maintain student cost increases below four percent while maintaining our commitment to access and to academic excellence.”

Officials said the budget supports academic priorities of low class sizes and student-teacher ratios.

Anxiety expert Daniel Smith ’99 lectures on ‘Monkey Mind’

By Theresa Gaffney Special to the Hoot

Daniel Smith ’99 has not been inside Rapaporte Hall in the Goldfarb Library since 1998, when the Dalai Lama visited Brandeis. But that is where he was this Wednesday, reading excerpts from his new bestselling memoir “Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety.” The book tells a comical yet also very real account of Smith’s lifelong struggle with chronic anxiety.

Broken up into three parts, or “episodes,” the memoir features stories from Smith’s adolescence, time

Inside this issue:

at Brandeis, and his life as an adult.

Smith read passages from the first and second episodes. He began with the first chapter.

“It’s preceded by an epigraph by my grandfather, who said ... ‘If you really feel like you have to put another book out into a world already choked with books, at least have the common decency to begin it with a man and woman making love,” Smith said.

So that is what he did. Smith opens his first chapter, titled “Genesis,” with a memory of when he lost his virginity. “I am 16 years old. I have never before seen a vagina up close ... To

Editorial: Union Secretary out of line Week in photos: Archery aims high Arts, Etc.: Seussical tells child’s tale Opinion: Behind the tuition increase Sports: Kramer competes at NCAAs

Page 6 Page 16 Page 9 Page 15 Page 7

mark the occasion, I would like to shake the vagina’s hand, talk to it for a while: How do you do, vagina, would you like some herbal tea?”

Smith fills his memoir with this anecdotal humor. After he finished reading, Professor Stephen McCauley (ENG) asked him how he constructs his humor. “I think about it constantly,” Smith admits. Smith was part of the improv troupe False Advertising in his time at Brandeis, and for a while wrote a humor column for See ANXIETY, page 5

Liquid Latex

Students showcase their painted bodies at the annual Liquid Latex show.

Arts, etc.: Page 8

anxiety Daniel Smith ‘99 spoke on his book about learning from a personal struggle with anxiety.

Fashion on display SKIN Fashion Show dazzles audiences with new designs.

News: Page 4

photo by ally eller/the hoot

news

2 The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

McKenna delivers management lecture on philanthropic leadership

‘Jake and Amir’ visit campus

By Jaye Han

COLLEGE HUMOR, from page 1

Margaret McKenna, author, speaker and expert of issues such as educational access women’s economic empowerment, hunger and social change leadership, discussed components of good leadership at the 2013 MBA Distinguished Management Lecture, which took place at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management on March 19. McKenna was named president of the Walmart Foundation in 2007, helping to create and implement its signature ‘Fighting Hunger Together’ program, served as president of Lesley College in Cambridge, Vice President of Programing and Planning at Radcliffe College as well as having worked as a civil rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

McKenna explored aspects of leadership, asserting, “If you’ve worked at an organization that you think you’ve transformed and everyone loves you, you haven’t done enough, because change is really hard. And unless you’ve offended someone and made them really mad, you probably only have tinkered.” She further elaborated, “you don’t want to be loved but you do want to be respected and you will be respected if you can make really tough decisions for the right reasons.”

She emphasized the importance for courage and vision, highlighting the importance of seeing something and envisioning what would be possible instead of looking for things to fix.

“You have to have courage, real courage, to try to step out of the box. And to have people look at you funny,” McKenna said. She also noted, “You have to be able to accept ambiguity, because when you’re changing something you have a vision but you don’t have all the pieces there, and if you’re smart you will change your vision as you move along…you have to be able to say I made a mistake and I don’t know, you have to be comfortable with conflict.”

She reflected on her decision to close down the school of management in Lesley University even though it was profitable, saying “One

the limited airtime of the two headliners, students were ultimately forgiving, as Seidell proved to be a humorous and engaging host.

“He was off the hook, it was hilarious, that was maybe the best comedy I have ever seen,” Noah Litwer ’15 said.

“Once Jake and Amir were done with their brief set, Streeter came on and absolutely stole the show. He did a fantastic job relating to the college audience in front of him, and his enthusiastic performance was memorable,” Maser said.

Topics of their comedic set ranged from local humor poking fun at the Jewish population at Brandeis, to old standbys such as the crude sketch, “Old people at the gym.” Much of the act was unscripted, or at least only marginally rehearsed.

“You could see there was a lot of improvisation, because he was coming up with a lot of material that was circumstantial,” Litwer said. “You knew he was deviating from the script which made it more authentic.”

In the act, Jake plays a strait-laced, sober, straight arrow type, while Amir is the annoying, obsessive and bizarre type, whose antics inevitably lead to surreal and comedic situations. Their show takes place wherever they happen to be, and is shot with a regular consumer camcorder.

Often, the pair shoot from their office at the web conglomerate IAC’s corporate headquarters in New York.

Huwitz, in addition to his role at CollegeHumor, hosts the MTV show “Pranked” and even starred as Kumar in the 2011 comedy, ”Harold and Kumar.” Jake Blumenfeld, a Connecticut native, ironically dropped out of college before joining CollegeHumor in 2005. Streeter Seidell co-hosts “Pranked” with Huwitz, in addition to starring in “Hardly Working,” another CollegeHumor short which has recently been picked up by MTV in a traditional sitcom format.

Some attendees had never encountered Jake and Amir online before their performance. Others in attendance were die-hard fans who had followed them for years.

Special to the Hoot

photo by jesse zeng/the hoot

of the rules you learn in any organization is you should only do what you do as well or better than anyone else—and the School of Management was not that” McKenna stated.

“You can move people in a crisis. It is usually not the best time to make change because you’re doing it at a frantic pace to avoid something else.

So if you can transform something while thing are going well, it’s much better. It’s harder for you as a leader to do that, because people are content.

They’re not going to lose their jobs, things are going okay—but it is the right time to do that,” McKenna said.

In addition, McKenna argued the importance of having skills to accompany passion: “If you really, really care about something, first be successful…

To be good at what you do, if you really care about it, you have to have excellent skills…If you want to be a civil rights lawyer, first be the best lawyer technically you can be. Your passion is not going to help your client,” she said. “Passion doesn’t substitute your skills.”

McKenna articulated the importance of careful planning before starting a non-profit organization, mentioning the need for experience

and understanding of your goal. “Just because you spent a week bicycling around Uganda and now you feel very passionate about bicycles in Uganda, doesn’t mean you should start an organization,” she said. “Maybe you should work for a non-profit before you start one.”

McKenna stressed need, goal and impact in your actions. She suggested, “before you start anything, just ask yourself—is there a need?

Who else is in this race and what can I bring to the table? Because, what I want to know is, what is the impact of what you’re doing.”

Harvard Divinity scholar speaks on refugee trauma in Bosnia

By Victoria Aronson Editor

Exploring the implications of the trauma endured by countless refugees expelled from their home country during a period of bitter political and emotional turmoil, Dr. Zilka Spahic Siljak of the Harvard Divinity School presented the lecture “Women peacemakers on the ethnic borders of Bosnia Herzegovina” at the Women’s Studies Research Center.

Emphasizing the crucial role of compassion, Spahic Siljak depicted the convergence of Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Christian communities developing along the complicated borders of Bosnia. As a country divided among two entities and further subdivided into cantons, the political ramifications of such divisions contribute to the ethnic strife located along the borders.

Members of different faiths converge in these communities, as Spahic Siljak explained, “If you don’t want to be Bosnian Muslim, you’re immediately othered.”

Through ethnographic studies focused on nine women expelled from their homes during periods of political turbulence, Spahic Siljak discovered persistent stories of reconciliation and forgiveness among these victims. She emphasized the term merhamet, pertaining to compassion, and komsiluk, meaning neighborliness, to depict the potential for peace along borders previously stricken with tragedy.

Prior to war and turmoil, she asserts that relations between neighbors were often friendly, extending aid to one another and developing close personal ties. In fact, she revealed, “we did not feel any impediment against close friendly relations.”

However, upon the outbreak of the war, these relationships were severely questioned, as individuals were forced to flee to avoid violent attacks.

Spahic Siljak emphasizes the sense of betrayal felt by victims, who exclaimed, “Why didn’t our neighbors at least tell us, say go, leave your village…not a word.”

Attributing this failure to extend warnings to a deeply embedded sense of fear, Spahic Siljak describes the

painful process of returning to these border regions following the conclusion of the war. Despite feelings of betrayal and grief at the loss of loved ones, she claims victims realized that “you need to interact with your neighbors if you want to live.” Due to the division of the country, facilities are shared between members living alongside the borders despite ethnic, cultural or religious differences.

Expanding upon the capacity for forgiveness demonstrated by countless women in the area, she reveals the sentiments of village women who assert, “We don’t want to spend our lives in isolation enslaved by hatred.”

Only bearing minimal education levels, these women nevertheless realized the danger of isolation and discovered the capacity for reconciliation, utilizing the shared experience of pain as a common ground for peace-building initiatives.

According to Spahic Siljak, courageous members of the community frequented workshops designed to heal and reconcile traumatic experiences, at times facing the wrath of their husbands in consequence. By crossing borders and renewing rela-

tions with neighbors, women seeking peace-building initiatives were subjected to comments urging husbands to “discipline her”. Husbands were told that their wives were “transgressing ethnic and gender borders,” and that “it is a betrayal of the entire community.”

Describing the tension brewing within the community, one woman stated “it was not so hard to cross the border, it was hard to come back”, referencing the judgments perpetuated by family and community members.

Despite the precarious nature of the situation, Spahic Siljak reveals the heightened impact of religion following the conclusion of the war.

Although initially she recognized the struggle to believe in God or a higher power following the brutal loss of loved ones, violent rapes and other atrocities associated with war, she states that victims claimed to experience spiritual awakenings.

Due to gender binaries and cultural contexts, she shares the sentiment embodied by female victims of rape, confiding that “shame in this culture is the biggest thing that can happen to someone, not murder.”

Despite these plights, she claims “women found their inner peace, release of hatred and they were able to reconcile their communities.” Expanding upon the notions of merhamet and komsiluk, she asserts, “it seems to be extraordinary in human capacities for caring, how integrated they are into the culture.”

Through local workshops and other enterprises, women merged together under heightened religious devotion and sought to attain education for economic empowerment while rebuilding schools and seeking to reunite communities of distinct ethnicities and beliefs.

Stressing the importance of the mode by which the traumatic events are explained to children, Spahic Siljak acknowledges that “family experiences are important, but the story in school is disastrous, they are portraying each other as enemies.”

Stemming from the motivation of the women engaged in peace-building initiatives, she claims, “the sense for life and the desire to live seems to be much stronger than anything else, they didn’t want their children to be raised isolated or with hatred.”

March 22, 2013

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Cuenin attends conference on Catholic-Jewish relations

By Debby Brodsky Editor

Father Walter Cuenin, the Brandeis Catholic chaplain, attended a conference earlier this month that addressed the revolution in Catholic discussion of Jews. The conference, titled, “From Enemy to Brother: What Changed?” celebrated the publication of the book, “From Enemy To Brother” by John Connelly, a historian at the University of California, Berkeley, and featured Jewish studies scholar Susannah Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Sponsored by the Interfaith Center of New York, the conference focused on Connelly’s writings about the Catholic Church’s acceptance of Jews and official rejection of the idea that Jews were responsible for the killing of Christ. This doctrine was officially passed by the Vatican in 1965 and revolutionized the way of thinking for a people who had long been taught to view Jews as enemies. The doctrine established a much-needed brotherhood between Jews and Catholics following the Holocaust, when millions of Jews experienced violent anti-Semitism and brutality that was largely supported by the Catholic Church.

“After the Holocaust, the Church became more aware of its responsibility for the Holocaust itself. The Church was behind the teaching of hatred for Jews,” Cuenin said. “This doctrine repudiated the teaching that Jews were responsible for the killing of Christ, the teaching that was frequently used during Nazi period. We now believe that Jews don’t have to be baptized to go to heaven, and that God works in all religions.”

According to Cuenin, he attended the conference in New York because

he knows Susannah Heschel personally, and admires the teachings of her father. In addition, he spoke to attendees and was eager to meet other professors and people concerned with interfaith dialogue.

Cuenin also expressed the importance of interpreting sacred texts and scriptures in order to apply them to everyday life.

“In the religious world, the interpretation of sacred texts is a huge issue,” Cuenin said. “There are Christians who follow the scripture literally. If you don’t interpret scripture you get very negative stuff.”

As a Catholic chaplain at Brandeis, where at least half of the student population is Jewish, Cuenin plays a unique role among students and as a leader in the community. In addition to his role as the Catholic Chaplain on campus, Cuenin also coordinates the entire Brandeis Interfaith Chaplaincy.

“I need to be involved in the lives of Jewish students and students of all religions, too. I work with all kids; I don’t care what religion they are. At Brandeis we make a big effort to celebrate all religions. We want to be sensitive to Eastern religions as well as Western religions. Over the past few years, Brandeis has made a Muslim prayer space and a peace room for meditation,” Cuenin said.

Cuenin stressed that college is a time when many students explore their spirituality, and do not necessarily conform to traditional, organized religion. Cuenin is here to support all students in this respect.

Like Cuenin, there are several religious leaders that are part of the campus Chaplaincy who regularly demonstrate support for other religions.

Together, they are Father Cuenin, Dr. Imam Talal Eid, the Muslim chaplain,

College Notebook

Matt Carriker, the Protestant chaplain and Rabbi Elyse Winick, the Jewish chaplain. Like the chaplains on campus, President Lawrence, an observant Jew, attends Catholic services just as Cuenin, an observant Catholic, attends Muslim services. And at Brandeis’ graduation ceremony each year, the four chaplains perform a prayer together, each contributing a brief thought.

“University leaders attending one another’s services is a visual symbol of what Brandeis stands for,” Cuenin said.

The conference this past week about Connelly’s book, according to Cuenin, shows that the Catholic Church can change. Within the past century alone, the Catholic Church recognized Jews as religious brothers, and recognized freedom of religion for all people. As is evident, the Catholic Church, widely regarded as conservative and hard to change, is indeed capable of slow progress.

Editor

Riveting in its content and heart wrenching in its tragic portrayal of the horrors of child trafficking, the documentary “Not My Life,” directed

by Oscar nominee Robert Bilheimer, was screened to the Brandeis Community by the Women’s Studies and Research Center. Seeking to raise awareness, the documentary depicts the shocking prevalence of child trafficking and exploitation across the globe.

Mei-Mei Ellerman, a scholar at the Women’s Studies and Research Center and founding board director of the Polaris Project, an organization dedicated to combating human trafficking, introduced the film with abolitionist music. As the film screening commenced, recorded voices of individuals describing the tragedy of child trafficking flooded the room, describing it as “a very well organized industry” encapsulating “inequality, poverty, and vulnerability.”

Rebuking notions of child trafficking as an issue occurring in isolated areas, the film stresses the universal nature of this pandemic, quoting a woman who proclaimed “this isn’t always the land of the free.”

Forcing viewers to embark on a personal look at the exploitation of children, the film initiates with clips of young boys employed on fishing boats. Sold by their desperate mothers, these children endure grueling labor lasting for 14 hours a day, while only being provided with a single meal for sustenance. Despite laws against child labor, the lack of enforcement mechanisms and the extreme conditions of poverty subject these young boys to horrific working

conditions. According to the film, diseases such as malaria thrive along the fishing lakes, while infections can be fatal.

Despite the horrific conditions they are forced to endure, activist Kevin Bales stresses his amazement regarding the resilience of these children given the opportunity for recuperation, stating, “they can go from an almost zombie like existence of brutality to a pretty normal childhood.”

Beyond working on fishing vessels, children are also subjected to the roles of street beggars under the guise of being submitted to Islamic religious schools. Although traditionally such institutions stressed cultural traditions, criminal infiltration has lead to exploitation. As the camera focuses on the open wounds of a young boy, the potential for serious infections becomes evident. It is revealed children often perish from stomach and skin diseases, while others are beaten to death if they are not able to earn the desired amount begging.

In areas such as New Delhi, children are forced to work in landfills overflowing with hazardous waste, which according to some activists depicted in the film, can burn straight through the child’s bones upon contact. The constant need to bend over to sift through garbage and debris further bears negative health implications, while malnutrition and disease prevail as well.

Delving into the horrific conditions of brothels and the sexual exploitation of young girls, the film includes clips of imprisoned pimps who assert their lack of mercy for victims. One such individual recalls his initial entrance into the industry at the mere age of 14, despite stemming from a wealthy family.

With a smile playing on his lips, he

photo from internet source

By Charlie Romanow Staff

photo by staff/the hoot

Documentary by Oscar nominee Robert Bilheimer explores child trafficking

By Victoria Aronson

E-mail controversy at Harvard continues to grow

states “So I beat them…with my fist and my feet”, laughing as he explains “I don’t know, but I think they will have this nightmare for the rest of their lives.”

Sister Binetti, an activist who has seen the manifestation of such violence, recalls seeing young girls with breasts scarred by cigarette burns and others beaten to the point of paralysis.

Although these conditions are deplorable, it is not just abroad that these horror stories occur. Operation Stormy Night, conducted by the FBI between 2003 and 2007, resulted in the conviction of approximately 15 pimps guilty of human trafficking in the United States Midwest.

One such victim, Angie, was attending a private university when she found herself a victim of these activities and recalled the traumatizing memories. Amid numerous other young girls, some as young as eight or nine years old, she felt scared for her life and the safety of her friends if she failed to acquire monetary compensation for sexual services. Stating she “just wanted to die,” she recalls entering the truck of a man comparable in age to her own grandfather.

Demonstrating the prevalence of sexual exploitation even within the United States, her story reveals the universal presence of human trafficking. According to the film, approximately 100,000 underage girls are trafficked for sex in the US today, stemming from all economic and social backgrounds.

Sheila White, an activist and former victim of sexual trafficking, recalls being brutally beaten in the midst of Times Square only two years following 9/11, yet no one intervened to aid her. Stating “there is a point See TRAFFICKING, page 4

A scandal at Harvard University has recently expanded from accusations pertaining to students’ academic violations to new charges regarding the university’s invasion of administrators’ privacy. The situation began at the end of the Spring 2012 semester, at which time questions arose regarding plagiarism conducted on a take-home final exam for the course “Government 1310: Introduction to Congress.” Media attention at the Ivy League university and the manner in which the administration and advisory board handled the issue served to exacerbate the conflict.

Further problems arose when an email sent from a resident dean to two student advisees regarding the “Government 1310” was leaked to the media. As a result, the content of that email has became public knowledge and was made available to the rest of the Harvard community, The Boston Globe and Harvard Crimson reported.

This email consisted of information on how resident deans should advise students under suspicion of plagiarism. The administration reacted to this slip by searching through the resident dean’s administrative email accounts in pursuit of the source of the leak. This investigation, in turn, sparked further controversy.

The rules of the constituent school involved in the case, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, allows administrators to access faculty email accounts under “extraordinary circumstances such as legal proceedings and internal Harvard investigations,” according to Harvard regulations. A search can only be conducted after the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Office of General Counsel have approved of the review and notified the faculty members in question.

University information technology employees were instructed to look at emails that had specific subject lines.

Harvard has responded that they followed the set guidelines and informed the respective parties. Senior Resident Dean Sharon Howell expressed concern in a public letter to Drew Faust, president of Harvard University. In this message Dean Howell expressed her and her colleagues concern for privacy and integrity among members of the university.

“I hope that you will speak with us, and with the rest of the faculty, and let us know what your thoughts are about what was done, as well as whether you knew at the time how it was being handled,” wrote Howell.

President Faust has stated that she was not informed of the faults of the investigation until September when she was informed that the situation

had been taken care of. She has also stated that she was not aware that the secret search had been conducted in attempting to find the cause of the leak.

The fact that resident deans are technically not faculty, and are labeled as “House Staff ” is a gray area in regulation that has generated further confusion regarding Harvard’s privacy guidelines. Despite this, resident deans are voting members of the university and hold administrative appointments, which come with some faculty privileges and lecturing responsibilities. Searching faculty emails without notification is against the rules but doing so for those labeled “Staff ” is not. Some faculty and staff members, as well as students and alumni, feel that the university has unfairly invaded the privacy of members of the Harvard community.

In her message, Dean Howell brought up topics of privacy and responsibility of Harvard members. She believed that conducting such a search questions the legitimacy of a college and that forgoing open communication sets a bad example for students.

Dean Howell, as well as other resident deans, were deeply involved in the “Government 1310” case, working as intermediaries and supporters between the higher administration and the accused students.

The initial case arose after 125 of the nearly 300 students taking the government course were implicated in plagiarizing and inappropriately collaborating on a final take-home exam. Of those suspected, nearly 70 were asked to withdraw and nearly half of those that remained were placed on academic probation. Comments have been made about the class that bring up questions regarding the validity of the accusations against the students. Students in the class have reported that the course’s teaching fellows encouraged peers to collaborate with one another despite the instructions which directed students to not discuss the exam, and that the class was poorly taught and organized.

In addition, regardless of possible truth in the accusations, many students believe that the investigation into the situation was poorly performed. Students remained in a state of prolonged uncertainty before they were to find out if they would have to withdraw from the school.

The university has released a statement from Michael Smith, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Evelyn Hammonds, dean of the college.

“We understand that others may see the situation differently, and we apologize if any resident deans feel our communication at the conclusion of the investigation was insufficient,” the statement concluded.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

Celebrating anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright

By Dana Freitas

Special to the Hoot

Several esteemed figures, Associated Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Margot Botsford, university President Fred Lawrence, Director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services William Leahy and author of “Gideon’s Trumpet” Anthony Lewis had discussed the 50th Anniversary of the Gideon v. Wainwright at a panel discussion in Rapaporte Treasure Hall Monday evening.

In the 1963 case, the Supreme Court declared the right to counsel: that anyone who could not afford a lawyer in a criminal case before a state court would be granted one.

The speakers at the event described the challenges of upholding the decision today, such as the large amount of cases that public defense lawyers face having to defend a multitude of people. The danger becomes that the defense becomes less adequate for each of the accused, and the spirit of the law could begin to crack, they cautioned.

gideon at fifty Anthony Lewis, who wrote “Gideon’s Trumpet” in 1964, spoke in a panel discussion in Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Monday afternoon

Ethics Center hosts UN panel

By Cecilie Gromada Special to the Hoot

The International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life organized a discussion last week, featuring former South African Justice Richard Goldstone, on how the U.N. implements rule of law standards.

Led by Daniel Terris, director of the Ethics Center, the panel discussion focused on the 2012 proclamation by the United Nations, which says that “the rule of law applie[s] equally to all States and international organizations, including the United Nations.

All persons, institutions and entities [a]re accountable to just, fair and equitable laws, and entitled to equal protection before the law, without discrimination.”

Panelists were encouraged to consider how the U.N. has previously responded to charges of wrongdoing both internally and in conflict zones, as well as how the U.N. ought to react to future accusations in attempt to minimize scandal and preserve the legitimacy of the institution.

Specific incidences brought to attention were the Oil-for-Food Program with Iraq, reports of sexual violence and arms trafficking related to peacekeeping operations, as well as the current cholera epidemic in Haiti—supposedly brought by peacekeepers sent to the island. The panel consisted of members of the International Advisory Board of the Ethics Center, all of whom boast intimate connections to the United Nations.

Hans Corell, the former Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations, representing Sweden, regretted the lack of “a court that can adjudicate disputes between third parties and the U.N.” Corell elaborated that, “If you come to a criminal act, or if you come to a case where a staff member has acted in a matter where the contract has been violated, the U.N. itself has no institution to deal with this.”

Turning to the issue of peacekeeping, Corell argued that on the “complex question of the peacekeepers …

you cannot say that they are representatives of the U.N. They are part of a peacekeeping operation, but they do not represent the U.N. in a legal sense. But [the peacekeepers], by the general public, are perceived as U.N. representatives.”

The problem concerning responsibility for peacekeepers arises from the fact that “the military personnel are actually still under the jurisdiction of the sending state.” In contrast, if a civilian hasn’t behaved in a way they should, “that matter must be brought to the courts in the state that has contributed to this particular endeavor.

And of course, if there is a peacekeeping operation, the courts are not very functional, so there is a dilemma there.”

Yet, “There is work being done … because the situation is not satisfactory as it is … We cannot allow that crimes committed by peacekeepers are not addressed by courts,” Corell ensured the audience.

Up next was Richard Goldstone, retired Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Goldstone has been an active member for investigations on the U.N., including that of the infamous Oil-for-Food Program.

Goldstone described the details of the scandal, and how Kofi Annan, then Secretary General, staged an independent investigation of the affair.

By doing so, Goldstone argued, “The result was saving [Annan’s] reputation, and to a large extent the reputation of the U.N.” All but one senior official was cleared of charges and several recommendations were made to the U.N. by the investigators—although not all of them have been carried out by the institution as of yet.

The next panelist to speak was Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the President of the Center for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara, representing Mauritania. Abdallah focused on accusations of sexual violence perpetrated by peacekeepers, and brought up Bosnia and the East Congo as especially relevant examples. To address this problem, Abdallah says the “U.N. has done what it can. Its

commission in Geneva has appointed since 1994 a Special Rapporteur on sexual violence, because we know in conflict, sexual violence is a tool of war, a tool of domination.” This role of Special Rapporteur was renewed in 2006.

Abdallah regrets that in Africa, “the U.N. is losing ground. It is known as filthy or manipulative.” Abdallah is “very disturbed by the weakness of the U.N.,” and sees this as “also the weakness of the member states …

Most power centers are losing credibility and legitimacy, and with that, even efficiency.” Abdallah stressed the necessity of innovation in re-building and strengthening the legitimacy of the institution.

The final panelist was Gillian Sorensen, the Senior Advisor for the United Nations Foundation. Sorensen attested that she has a habit of telling her audiences that “the U.N. reflects the world as it is, not always the world that we want it to be.” Sorensen believes that when there is a problem or a scandal, it is best to “deal with it up front, and soon. Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Don’t pretend you can just put it aside, but address it, and early, and with a single message.”

She admitted “it is hard [keeping up these standards] when the operations are in the most far-flung areas of the world; when there are financial issues, but the standard or the transparency and credibility has to be just as sharp for the overseas operations as for those of the headquarters’ operations.” Sorensen assured that “We do, now, have much stronger inspector generals in almost every activity of the United Nation, and [she] thinks it is a more accountable organization than it used to be,” continuing to say that “[The U.N.] does try to hit the highest mark [it] can. It does serve the national as well as the global interests. And we do hold our people accountable.”

The panelists proceeded to discuss the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and the U.N.’s decision to reject claims for the direct compensation of victims before answering questions from the audience.

photo by ally eller/the hoot

Film screening tells child trafficking stories TRAFFICKING, from page 3

where you begin to feel numb”, she confessed “you really feel like you’re not even a person.”

Portraying a rescue mission in a brothel, the film reveals that more than one million girls are enslaved in brothels in India alone. Stressing the particularly horrific conditions in Cambodia, where young girls are kept at brothels catering to western tourists and other foreigners, the film focuses on a quote from an activist stating, “one hundred percent, the worst pedophiles are from the US.” Young women are often sole to the brothels as virgins, only to have their vaginas sewn up before they are raped again repeatedly by male clients. One of the founders of the Somaly MAM organization, dedicated to aiding girls rescued from such conditions, describes the pain she endures since her own daughter was kidnapped. Hearing the constant traumatic stories of the victims she works with, she confesses the constant painful reminders “you have a glimmer, a young girl that reminds you of her…..a song she used to sing.”

According to the documentary, over half a million children are forced to engage in armed conflict in 19 countries across the world. One such survivor, Grace, was abducted from

mei-mei ellerman

her school in Uganda and forced to endure killing, hunger, and rape on a regular basis. Describing an instance when another child attempted to escape, she describes being forced by militant leaders to beat the girl to death. Stating that “marching into the Sudan was like marching into a grave,” she states that children committed suicide, unable to endure the torturous physical and emotional pain any longer. Upon their seizure, children were at times forced to murder their parents or relatives on the spot, in essence demonstrating an attempt to strip them of their humanity.

Despite the utterly deplorable violations of human rights found across the globe, including the United States, the documentary concludes urging the need to combat the prevalent forces of child trafficking and sexual exploitation. Activists assert the need to implement preventive methods to halt such brutalities before they occur, stating that individuals who profit through child trafficking “exist because we allow them to exist.”

Drawing upon the individuals such as Grace, the escaped child solider who is currently pursuing a masters degree within the United States, the film urges “Hope is those who do not turn away, those who don’t forget. That life is my life. That child is my child. We are all members of the human family and it is time to come home.”

photo by staff/the hoot

March 22, 2013

NEWS 5

The Brandeis Hoot

Goldstein hears feedback on strategic plan draft

By Theresa Gaffney Staff

Several community feedback sessions took place last week so that students, staff and faculty could offer comments on the most recent draft of the strategic plan.

On March 14, an intimate discussion took place in Levin Ballroom in Usdan Center. The session was led by Provost Steve Goldstein, who forfeited the microphone to sit down at the round tables amid a group comprised of small variety: a graduate student, staff members and faculty. Some of these participants have attended all three of the feedback sessions, while others had not yet finished the lengthy read of the draft plan, but were still eager to give and hear feedback from the rest of the community.

Goldstein began the talk by establishing the goal of the feedback sessions. It was not only important to “highlight the parts of the draft that get it right,” but to point out the areas in which it could improve.

One of the earliest questions addressed to Goldstein was what will happen after the plan is finished. “Implementation,” he answered, “is, in fact, one of the exciting things for us.

The pages ... [emphasize that] just like the process itself, it’s going to be a collaborative process between the people doing the work, and the people trying to keep track of where we’re headed.”

The process of implementation will be run by the University Advisory Committee. Goldstein added that he thought it was important that leaders be defined as responsible for seeing the plan move forward. Goldstein insists that the question, “Are we achieving what we thought we would achieve?” needs to be asked frequently throughout the implementation of the plan.

The conversation followed the passions of the attendees. The positions of staff and faculty members was a frequented topic. Compared to staffing levels at other universities, “we are quite lean,” Goldstein admitted.

This is difficult for the university, and for the employees, as one member of the discussion pointed out, there are many professors doing things here that are done by staff members at almost any other university.

One young staff member in the room talked about his concerns for himself and his colleagues his age: “You’re going to lose us not to other universities, but to the for-profit industries because you simply can’t compensate us appropriately for the work that you’re asking us to do.”

The staff member qualified that it wasn’t that he “didn’t love [his] job,” but that Brandeis puts more money, and pages in the draft plan, towards tenured faculty members than the “very young talent” at the lower levels.

It was, however, acknowledged that

Alum explains anxiety lessons ANXIETY, from page 1

The Justice, but eventually found the column to anxiety provoking. However, what he found in his practices of humor, was that any joke “leads to specificity in the punchline.”

Smith told the audience that while writing his memoir, he wanted to “with as much sensory detail and descriptive evidence” describe “what it feels like to actually be in a body that’s hard wired for this sort of thing.” The humor helped him with the rhythm of the narrative, he said, making it easier not only for him to write, but for people who had anxiety like his to be able to read. The presentation of the experience of anxiety was important, and Smith did not want it to be contaminated by an excess of researched, book knowledge of anxiety.

The second episode, “People of the Book,” features Brandeis, where Smith said he fell into anxiety as soon as he arrived. The section read to the audience described Smith’s walk back from a traumatizing trip to the counseling center.

“The session made the college seem even more foreign and forbidding than before. Walking into the shadow of the science complex, I recalled a statistic that our guide had conveyed

inexplicably on our campus tour.

‘Each academic year at the university,’ she announced to the assembled families, ‘more mice are decapitated for experiments than students graduated.’ I scrambled back into daylight.”

Smith illustrated for the audience how his anxiety consumed him in his first year at Brandeis, and how he attempted to find solitude in the library among the novels. Philip Roth was his favorite, while authors such as Charles Faulkner only hardened the icicle of anxiety that lived in Smith’s chest.

When asked whether it bothers him that strangers know him because of this memoir, Smith responded simply that “It doesn’t bother me at all because they don’t.” While his anxiety disorder is a large part of his life, it is not all of it, he continued. The second episode only contains about a year of his career at Brandeis, as that was when his anxiety was worst. Yet despite his initial distaste for Brandeis, the “hatred quickly dissipated,” and Smith was excited to return to read to us.

Daniel Smith’s first book is “Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination.” His second publication, “Monkey Mind,” has been celebrated by the New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and NPR.

photo by ally eller/the hoot

40 percent of the faculty at Brandeis is over 60 years old. One question that needs to be answered, according to Goldstein, is why the faculty feels like it cannot afford to retire.

One issue concerning students did arise: the question of how better to assist international students in adjusting to life at an American university.

One answer is through Library and Technology Services, or LTS, who is eager to reach out to students through more than just University Writing Seminars.

Tufts University also just released their “T Ten” Planning for the next ten years, a similar plan to the Strategic Plan here at Brandeis. This makes

sense, explained Goldstein, as both are established, small and creative schools.

The next step of the plan is to absorb the community feedback: the UAC will discuss the draft this week and into the break. A final draft will be produced and will go to the Board of Trustees on May 17.

Students arrested in Keystone protest

By Rachel Hirshhaut Editor

On March 11, several Brandeis student activists were arrested for an act of civil disobedience. As part of a group that included students, members of the Massachusetts Methodist clergy, mothers fighting for their children, and concerned community members, 100 people marched into the Westborough, MA office of TransCanada Corporation and, in protest of the Keystone XL Pipeline, held a “funeral” for the loss of their future.

The students were arraigned and released two days later.

“The pipeline will transport the tar sands that climate scientists say will lock us into irreversible global warming,” said Matt Gabrenya ‘13, one of the student protesters.

Carrying a coffin with the words “Our Future” written on it, the protesters held flowers and sang an elegy as they marched in procession.

The protest came a week after the U.S. State Department released a

widely criticized Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Keystone XL. According to a blog post about the protest, on a website titled “Funeral For Our Future,” the document “minimizes claims about the pipeline’s impact on climate change and on communities who would be at risk for devastating pipeline spills like the 2010 Kalamazoo spill, from which the affected communities are still recovering.”

The blog post states, “The impact assessment also makes the assumption that the Alberta tar sands will be developed regardless of whether Keystone XL goes forward—an assumption that we stand with indigenous communities, whose treaties the Canadian government is violating by allowing development of the tar sands, in rejecting.”

“We did not act in isolation on this day, but as part of an escalating global movement to fight for a stable future, a livable planet, and for justice for affected frontline communities,” Gabrenya wrote.

In January, eight students had locked and glued themselves together

in an act of civil disobedience at the TransCanada office. Nationwide, the pipeline has already prompted civil disobedience outside the White House, direct blockades of construction from Texas to Oklahoma, and the largest climate rally in US history.

Indigenous communities, as part of the Idle No More movement, have been resisting tar sands extraction in Alberta, Canada.

This protest also kicked off a week of actions for solidarity with other protesters of the Tar Sands Blockade, this week from March 16-24. Protesters from across the country will target the offices of TransCanada and its investors.

“If the tar sands are extracted and burned, it will wipe out my future and the future of my entire generation,” said Will Pearl, a first-year student from Tufts University who was arrested. “If President Obama will not reject the Keystone XL pipeline, we will stop it ourselves. We will rise up and resist—from the backwoods of Texas, to corporate offices in Massachusetts, to the steps of the White House.”

New Board of Trustees chair elected

By Rachel Hirschhaut Editor

The Board of Trustees elected Perry M. Traquina ’78 as its new chair of the for a three-year term, beginning May 19, at their meeting this week.

Traquina, the son of Portuguese immigrants, is now the chairman and CEO of Wellington Management Company LLP. He graduated from Brandeis summa cum laude, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, in 1978.

As an undergraduate economics major, he studied abroad at the London School of Economics and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business

School in 1980.

Traquina will succeed Malcolm Sherman, the philanthropist and business executive who served as board chairman since 2007.

“Perry Traquina will continue a tradition of strong board leadership at Brandeis, combining the perspective of a seasoned and visionary business leader with the passion of a Brandeis alumnus. We are all extremely enthusiastic about Perry’s leadership,” President Frederick Lawrence said in a statement. “We are grateful to Mal Sherman for his leadership in a challenging economic environment. He has been a true partner as I assumed the presidency of Brandeis, helping spearhead a governance review and

the implementation of new governance rules.”

At Wellington, Traquina oversees an investment management firm with more than $750 billion in client assets under management and 2,000 employees worldwide. The company’s headquarters are located in Boston, and there are 11 other global offices.

Traquina is a chartered financial analyst, a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research and a trustee of the Winsor School, a private school in Boston. He was elected to the Brandeis Board of Trustees in 2002 and has served as co-chair of the investment committee and as a member of the executive committee.

editorials

6 The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

With poor judgment, Secretary out of line

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Jon Ostrowsky Emily Stott Victoria Aronson Arts, Etc. Editor Dana Trismen Arts, Etc. Editor Lassor Feasley Opinion Editor Morgan Dashko Copy Editor Nate Rosenbloom Photography Editor Ally Eller Photography Editor Jun Zhao Graphics Editor Rachel Hirschhaut Deputy News Editor Senior Editors Debby Brodsky Suzanna Yu

Volume 10 • Issue 8 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

staff

Shota Adamia, Emily Beker, Emily Belowich, Dani Chasin, Katie Chin, Dori Cohen, Gilda DiCarli, Ally Eller, Lassor Feasley, Ben Fine, Evan Goldstein, Maya Himelfarb, Paula Hoekstra, Brittany Joyce, Ari Kalfus, Sarah Sue Landau, Rebecca Leaf, Nathan Murphy Needle, Aliya Nealy, Alexandra Patch, Max Randhahn, Brendan Reardon, Zach Reid, Zoe Richman, Charlie Romanow, Alex Self, Alec Siegel, Diane Somlo, Sindhura Sonnathi, Jennifer Spencer, Matthew Tagan, Alison Thvedt, Coco Tirambulo, Yi Wang, Shreyas Warrier, Pete Wein, Lila Westreich, Linjie Xu

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.

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

ADVERTISE

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

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

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

CORRECTIONs

An article published last week, “‘Much Ado’ transcends time,” incorrectly spelled the names of actresses Emily Duggan and Samantha LeVangie.

An article published last week, “Students showcase 3D art designs,” neglected to identify the artist of the photo shown. Sarah McCarty’s artwork was featured in the photograph. unsolicited submissions

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.

R

esponding to an opinion article in The Hoot about Brandeis Hookups on Facebook last week, Student Union Secretary Carlton Shakes wrote a comment filled with profanity to address our writer’s post. Prior to Shakes’ comments, administrators of the Brandeis Hookups Facebook page had engaged in a respectful discussion, explaining the points they disagreed with while employing an appropriate and understanding tone.

But Shakes, who wrote, “Shut the fuck up BH is an anonymous forum for the Brandeis campus” before ending his comments with “Take your selfrighteous bullshit and the stick out of your ass, thanks,” showed a lack of respect and incredibly poor judgment.

Of course, Shakes has the same First Amendment right to free speech as anyone, but as a student government official he is held to a higher standard of behavior. Just because Shakes has a legal right to speak his mind, does not mean the student body cannot judge him for

what he says and hold him accountable when his words contradict the most fundamental university values of respect and decency.

Although Shakes posted the comment from his personal facebook account, it is irrelevant. His name and by extension, his position, are still attached to his words. He does not put aside his leadership role by logging into his personal account.

Certainly it is the responsibility of the voters in the student body, not a newspaper, to demand how Shakes should follow up on his disrespectful, inexcusable and offensive behavior.

In an email titled, “Campus Civility and Respect,” Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel cautioned students to exercise greater care and thought when posting online.

“This is particularly challenging in the environment of online and social media. The potential for harmful messaging online is compounded by the ease of casual, immediate response,”

Flagel wrote. “We have all seen some of the most media-savvy and polished professionals undone by their postings online, and none of us are immune to the dangers of being inadvertently offensive.”

In posting his comment with such a disrespectful tone, whether intentional or not, Shakes’ comment reflects very poorly on the Student Union.

But the larger issue now is one of distraction from the important topics.

In response to The Hoot article, students participated in an important discussion about sexual attitudes, stigmas and behaviors on campus. The substance of that discussion is now lost, as administrators spent many hours this week debating how to respond and react to Shakes’ online comment. And they should have. Such behavior should not go unnoticed.

But our leaders in student government should be driving and encouraging the thoughtful discussion, not turning us away from it.

Letter to the Editor

Shakes’ language unacceptable

Dear Editors, As a member of the Brandeis community, I had no words for Carlton Shake’s response to Alison Thvedt’s article. I thought it was beyond inexcusable for any Brandeis student to say this. But for the Secretary of the Student Union, it is beyond intolerable. As someone

who has had quite a bit of experience with journalism, I would hope that The Hoot Editorial board stand behind Alison and spearhead a campaign both through the newspaper and outside the newspaper for Carlton’s impeachment.

It is quite common for the secretary of the Student Union to be almost automatically elected President the following

year, and for Carlton to be the President next year would be a disgrace to the university. I sincerely hope The Hoot takes on the cause of removing Carlton from office with all of the vehemence that it demands.

--Dave Benger ’14

sports

March 22, 2013

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Kramer misses All-American mark at NCAAs, looks for redemption in outdoor season

By Dani Chasin Staff

For Alex Kramer ’13, the moment had finally come. Surrounded by the top runners in the division, he was preparing to run the race of his life at the NCAA Division III track and field Championships. Making a shot at achieving an All-American title, Kramer admits that the only thing going through his mind moments before the gun fired was, “pure excitement.”

The runner from Andover, Mass., continued to explain that what he was thinking is hard to put into words.

“There’s always kind of a fine line between being nervous and excited. I was just excited to be there and I felt great warming up, which is always a good sign,” Kramer said.

Although he felt good going into the race, Kramer missed the cutoff for the final by a mere three-tenths of a second and finished in 12th place.

In the first heat, the Brandeis runner, alongside six competitors, assumed a comfortable position in the back on the last lap. The leader for most of the mile, Tully Hannan ’14 from Bates College, lost his grip on the last lap as the pack caught up to him and Dan Sullivan ’14 of University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point flew past him to win the heat with a time of 4:16.39.

Kramer came in sixth place out of seven runners, with a time of 4:16.90, a few seconds slower than his personal best and qualifying time of 4:12.66, which he achieved a week before NCAAs at the Tufts University Last

Chance meet.

The second heat, which included six runners, proved to exhibit faster qualifying times than the first heat.

Hitting the half-mile mark at 2:09, the pack maintained a steady pace until Bowdoin College junior Colby Horowitz made a late surge to the finish line, forcing the other runners to speed up in the late stages of the race.

The outcome caused Kramer to lose the 10th qualifying spot in the finals to Hannan by a tight 0.32 seconds.

Sullivan, winner of the first heat, went on to win the finals with a time of 4:07.03, while Hannan came in ninth place with a time of 4:12.93.

Kramer confesses that he expected to perform a lot better in the race. He mentioned that in most races, it is much easier for him to maintain an even pace and then finish fast. But the other racers in the preliminary heat had a much quicker half-mile time, making it more difficult for him to break away from the pack toward the end.

“It was pretty disappointing. The race itself didn’t go as I was hoping, but I still have outdoor track, so hopefully I will get some redemption,” he said.

As for his missed opportunity at gaining the All-American label of which he longingly dreamed, Kramer is quick to place his confidence on the outdoor track season. After all, the Brandeis senior, who has been running competitively for eight years and was named the New England Champion in the mile in high school, understands the importance of maintaining a professional attitude and

photo courtesy sportspix.biz

looking forward to the future.

“I had a pretty good high school career. I ran the mile and the two-mile races at pretty competitive times, but my personal best time that I achieved this year was about 10 seconds faster than I had ever run in high school,” Kramer said.

Even 24 hours before a race, Kramer confides that it is absolutely necessary to keep a rigorous agenda to prepare for what the next day will bring.

After eating many carbs and getting enough sleep, he says that it is important to wake up at least four hours before the race, which is sometimes hard for him as he is “not a morning person at all.”

The next step is going for a light 10-minute jog to get his muscles going and then eating his favorite pre-

race breakfast: a “ridiculous amount of coffee and oatmeal. It’s always very difficult to eat the morning of a race because you have a nervous feeling and it’s always hard for me to eat a lot,” he said.

When asked if he thought of anything when he’s racing, Kramer answered, “Not really. But it’s always kind of this weird mental state where you’re in pretty excruciating pain but really focused at the same time.”

His favorite race of the indoor season occurred during the UAA Championships, where he finally came in first place in the mile run—after many tries in previous years—with a time of 4:20.23, while his buddy and teammate, Mik Kern ’13, followed him in second place.

So what’s next for Kramer? Beyond

college, he remains undecided, but considers going to law school as an option and is in the process of applying to paralegal jobs as well as Teach For America.

But the first thing on Kramer’s mind is the outdoor season. He also intends to set another goal for himself after making it to the NCAA Championship. And this time, he says, he has the right training going into the season to make it again.

“Missing the final in the indoor season has really motivated me to get back there. If anything, it showed me that I can compete with the best guys out there, rather than discourage me.

Getting there is the most important thing, and then actually being an AllAmerican would be the biggest goal for me,” Kramer said.

Baseball team leaves UAA tournament on low note

By Charlie Romanow Staff

The last week has not been what the Brandeis baseball team had hoped for. The UAA Tournament took place in Central Florida between March 10 and 17. Rochester, Case Western, Washington University and Emory participated in the contest, each playing eight games.

The Judges last game took place on Saturday against the Rochester YellowJackets. After beating Rochester five days earlier, Brandeis was not able to return to Waltham on a winning streak. The Judges led 2-1 in the top of the fourth, but were unable to maintain the lead for long. Rochester went on to score runs in each of the next four innings, finishing the game 7-3. The game was based on small ball, as each team had only one double. The YellowJackets scored their first run in the second after a costly walk and wild pitch. The Judges were unable to piece their hits together and helped Rochester by making three errors and ending their half of the inning by grounding into a double play four times.

One bright spot for Brandeis was their ability to force opponents to leave runners on base, as the YellowJackets left eight on base during the game. Brian Allen ’15 led the Judges in hits by going three for three, with Nick Cortese ’13 and Kevin Barry ’14 each contributing with two hits, the latter also pushing ahead two RBI’s.

Chris Ferro ’13 was able to score two of the team’s three runs. Brandeis’

starting pitcher Mike Swerdloff ’13 took the mound for a solid 6 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs, but another two unearned from errors. Rochester had a balanced attack on offense putting up 13 hits. Ethan Sander, Brendan Garry, Brian Munoz, Jake Meyerson and Evan Janifer each had two hits, while Sander and Munoz also had two RBI’s and Garry and Janifer each scored twice. The YellowJacket pitcher, Jon Menke, pitched a complete game allowing three earned runs and striking out four. Rochester leaves the tournament 4-4 overall and in conference.

Brandeis’ penultimate Florida game was a 9-4 loss to the Emory Eagles. The game began with a spring of offense with five runs being scored in the first inning. As seems to be the trend with the Judges, they made some costly errors and were unable to string along hits to develop a lead.

Emory only out hit Brandeis by two; 14 to 12. The Eagles subsidized their hitting by stealing five bases, four of which directly led to runs being scored.

The Judges offense was led by Liam O’Connor ’16 who had a career high four hits, and Kevin Barry who was three for four with two RBI’s.

Brandeis’ starter Kyle Brenner ’15 was able to stay on the mound for eight innings, allowing 14 hits and nine runs, but only five earned while striking out five. The Eagles hitting was led by Brandon Hannon, Jared Welch, Ben Vizvary, Jared Kahn and Chris Slivka, each getting multiple hits with the latter two getting three hits each. Slivka

led the game with five RBI’s and was only a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Emory’s starting pitcher went the whole nine yards pitching a complete game. The Eagles stand at 4-4 in conference and 10-9 overall.

The Judges lost the previous day to Case Western, after having defeated them in extra innings two days prior.

This game was not close, ending in an 11-0 shutout, marking the second time that Brandeis has been shutout this season. The Judges gave up three errors, walked four, allowed three steals, including one of home, and hit into four double plays. Brandeis had five hits in the game while the Spartans had 14. Elio Fernandez ’15 pitched six solid innings for the Judges, striking out three and allowing three earned runs, with another four being unearned. Jesse Link ’13 came in later to maintain the score with two innings allowing no runs.

Case Western put up a solid team with five players having multiple hits.

Cain Kerrigan was three for six, coming within a home run of hitting for the cycle. The Spartans are first in the conference with a 5-3 record in the UAA and 7-4 overall.

Brandeis lost their first doubleheader of the season with a 13-5 loss to Washington University and an 8-6 loss to Emory. The second game of the day against Emory was a back-andforth match with five lead changes.

The Judges greatest flaw in this game was that they left 14 runners on base.

The Eagles were able to capitalize on mistakes by the Judges including scoring two runs as a result of a walk,

bunt, wild pitch and sacrifice fly in the fifth. Emory also scored four runs in the seventh as a result of two walks, two errors and a wild pitch.

Despite leaving with the loss, Brandeis outhit the Eagles 15 to 9.

O’Connor went three for five with a double and three RBI’s as Cortese added with two hits of his own and Brian Ing ’15 also put forward three.

Kevin Barry reached base on all five at-bats with three hits and two walks.

The trio of Judges with three hits each set a career high in the category. James Machado ’16 began the game with six innings allowing six hits and five runs. Jesse Link was placed with the loss after coming into relieve for 2/3 of an inning and allowing two runs on two hits. The Eagles’ Wes Peacock, Slivka and Mark Lindemann had multi-hit games. Peacock, Jared Kahn and Jordan Selbach each scored twice.

Emory’s starting pitcher did not last long, leaving after 4 2/3, allowing three walks and three unearned runs on eight hits. Matt McMahon received the win after pitching 3 2/3 and Graham Bloomsmith earned the save.

Despite scoring five in the sixth inning, the Judges were unable to come back after Washington University.

They started the game with a run and then scored another six in the fourth inning. The Bears played small ball, attaining eight walks and 16 hits without having an extra-base hit.

Both teams had defensive troubles; Washington having four errors and the Judges having three. Each team also had difficulty capitalizing on base-runners; Washington University

left 13 on base and Brandeis left eight.

Cortese and Pat Seaward ’13 each had two hits, and Tom McCarthy ’15 drove in two. Bring Ing was saddled with the loss after pitching four innings, allowing six earned runs and five walks. The Bears first four batters in the lineup had multiple hits, along with two other players.

Washington University’s pitcher Matt Tracy pitched a complete game allowing three earned runs on nine hits. The Bears leave Florida 5-3 in the UAA and 9-6 overall. The Judges remain in fifth of six in the UAA, ahead of the University of Chicago. Brandeis is 2-6 in conference and 4-10 overall.

Case Western and Washington University shared the UAA Championship title. Brandeis has something to prove going into the next portion of the season after placing last in the UAA Championship in runs allowed, hits allowed, pitching strikeouts, fielding percentage, hits and walks.

O’Connor played well in the tournament hitting 14-32 (.438 average).

He has a .351 average overall. Nick Cortese holds a .410 average overall and Kevin Barry’s stands at .423. Cortese leads the Judges with a .511 onbase percentage. O’Connor and Chris Ferro each lead with eight RBI’s. Ferro and Cortese share the team-lead in runs with nine apiece. Starting pitcher Colin Markel ’14 leads overall with a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings.

The Judges will have a week to rest and will get back on the field on Sunday at Suffolk University. Brandeis’ two games this week have been postponed due to weather.

arts, etc.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

Liquid latex showcases student talent ByVictoria Aronson Editor

Amid the odor of fresh paint and the tightly packed balconies brewing with intricately painted nude bodies, Levin Ballroom was packed with students waiting in eager anticipation for the annual performance of Liquid Latex. Liberating and serving as a means of artistic expression, the event garnered excitement form the campus, as tickets sold out and students eagerly lingered hoping to sneak into the theater.

Opening with the popular song Thrift Shop, the performers claimed a strong presence on the stage, as the audience erupted in cheers. Encapsulating the concept of confidence and brimming with energy, performers engaged in flirtatious dance routines, renditions of popular cinema, and what can only be described as utterly comedic acts.

As one of the highlights of the evening, the lighting dimmed while music from the popular film “The Nightmare before Christmas” echoed across the theater. Capturing the eerie atmosphere so perfectly created by Tim Burton, paint depicting the skeletal figure and looming eyes of Jack Skellington transformed a student performer to the beloved Pumpkin King. Beyond merely preparing dance routines, this year’s show evoked high quality play acting, dramatizing scenes from the popular film in a theatrical rendition.

The artistic lighting techniques aided in stimulating an atmosphere reminiscent of Burton’s work, creating the classic image of Jack and Sally’s shadows outlined against the image of the full moon. Incorporating a fully clothed Santa Clause figure, the performers artfully recreated the simultaneously romantic and eerie quality of Burton’s film. Despite bearing no physical resemblance to the massive figure of the Boogeyman, the female performer who portrayed this character completely transformed herself. Through dance, she mimicked his movements flawlessly, lending herself to the persona of the Boogeyman with ease.

Demonstrating the diversity of dance routines merged by the students, the soundtrack to The “Nightmare before Christmas” faded only to be replaced by the unmistak-

liquid latex Student performers reanact “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

able beat of Dubstep. Incorporating a dance style equally jerky, the performers were illuminated by the pulsations of strobe lights. Breaking from synchronized movements, the performers one by one dramatically powered down the stage as if it were a runway, expressing sheer confidence

lost in reality Trevor Kafka ’15 designed and choreographed student dance routine.

and drama with each step.

Unique not only in the sense of its diverse content, Liquid Latex is a performance that fully engages and integrates the audience, garnering cheers, laughter and urging shouts of approval throughout the entire performance. Blending students of var-

ied dancing capabilities, performers painted in an array of classic sweets ranging from m&ms to colorful gumballs performed cartwheels across the stage. Echoing a dream like state, embodied by the presence of a single clothes girl suddenly thrown into a world of an elaborately decorated

photos by ally eller/the hoot

candy land brimming with dancing figures, the performance was whimsical in design. Complemented by the sound of Christina Aguilera belting out “Candyman”, the audience was transported to an alternative reality, brimming with color and backflips.

As the dream like state came to a conclusion, subsequent routines continued to serve as the epitome of the rich and diverse styles characterizing the evening. An entire routine dedicated to the songs of Britney Spears garnered laughter from the audience, followed by an elaborate belly dance routine lead by Deena Horowitz ’13.

Expanding beyond purely dance, several of the routines succeeded in rendering the audience transfixed, in essence conveying elaborate stories artfully translated through movement and artistic expression. Performers easily recognizable of the classic Disney films, including the Lion King, Tangled, and Beauty and the Beast, demonstrated the skilled level of painting behind Liquid Latex.

Brimming with confidence, the student performers at Liquid Latex incorporated a unique and diverse range of styles, echoing the eerie motif of classic films such as “The Nightmare Before Christmas” alongside the unmistakable sounds of Dubstep.

Through the intricacy of the artfully painted designs gracing their nude bodies, the student performers epitomized the image of confidence, commanding the stage with their dramatic presence and elaborate dance routines.

March 22, 2013

ARTS, ETC. 9

The Brandeis Hoot

Russian club celebrates International Women’s Day

By Shota Adamia Staff

Russian Culture Week, organized by the Brandeis Russian Club, Russian Studies Program and Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry, hosted events that gave students a terrific opportunity to explore even the meticulous details of Russian life. Hosting the screening of a contemporary interpretation of the Soviet youth subculture of the late 1950s, in the form of the film “Hipsters,” as well as organizing an authentic Russian dance party were

some of many highlights of the week.

Yet one of the most inspiring events was the celebration of International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is celebrated in more than 25 countries in the world, in most of which it is also a public holiday. Ironically, United States does not recognize March 8 as a public holiday; the event hosted in the Rapaporte Hall, however, surely gave homage to women through its unique performances.

The event raised funds for the Adamon Fund, which is dedicated to helping blind students in different parts of

Russia to gain ample opportunities for studies and social integration. Guests were served a wide variety of authentic Russian food and the concert was organized in the form of a talent show with Brandeis students who study Russian performing some of the most famous Russian numbers.

Students performed not only Russian songs but also a comedy sketch, which was a parody of a Russian dating show, presented by men dressed up as women. Professor Irina Dubinina (GRALL) also played a Russian folk song, “Meadowlands,” on accordion alongside John Nunes ’13.

Nunes, who has been studying Russian only for two years, has already advanced so much that he is the current B.U.G.S. tutor. Nunes and Dubinina’s performance was inspiring, creating a poignant mood in the audience.

The celebration featured a video specially made for the event by an YouTube celebrity: Baba Fira. Baba Fira is a Russian man who creates various videos impersonating a typical Russian “бабушка” – “granny.”

The video was accompanied by English subtitles and was hilarious with its incomparable Russian humor that did not even get lost in translation.

The event gave students in Russian classes, as well as those who speak Russian or are interested in the given field, to perform as well as to meet other Russophiles. Not only current students and friends were present at the celebration, but Brandeis graduates were also present. Alumnus Yakov Israel ’12 even performed one of the songs.

Maria Alkhazova ’14 and Joe Babeu ’15 hosted the celebration with rich humor and charisma. The night was well organized and left the audience inspired, as well as better informed about the values of Russian culture.

‘Seussical’ opens up a world of imagination

By Vinh Nguyen Staff

Dr. Seuss once said, “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” The enduring quality of a Dr. Seuss novel has always been its ability to transport readers to an incredibly imaginative world where valuable wisdom can come from even the smallest and unassuming person. Tapping into this message of nonsensical adventure, Hillel Theater Group’s production of “Seussical” truly brought the beloved and fantastical world of Dr. Seuss’s books to audiences this past weekend.

Directed by Helena Raffel ’14 and Bethany Greenbaum ’16, “Seussical” reconnected audiences to their childhood by bringing to the stage some of Dr. Seuss’s most iconic characters and novels, such as: “Horton Hears a Who!,” “The Lorax,” “The Cat in the Hat” and just for fun, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”—just to name a few—through the setting of a musical.

The story of Seussical fuses together these various novels into a fun amalgamation both humorous and uniquely whimsical that is part of the Seussical experience.

Despite combining such an array of novels, the plot of “Seussical” centers around the story of “Horton Hears A Who!.” One day, in the Jungle of Nool, the friendly and faithful elephant, Horton, played by Aaron Hentoff ’16, hears faint noises. Upon inspection, Horton eventually discovers the noise to be coming from the people of Whoville, who live on a tiny grain of dust.

Horton pledges to protect the Whos despite being thought of as crazy by the other residents of the Jungle of Nool. Hentoff was great as Horton, as he was able to bring out the genuine kindness and naivete of Horton that made audience root for the caring elephant. At the same time, his portrayal of Horton’s conviction to defend the Whos despite the ostracism from his friends was easily believable.

photo by maya himelfarb/the hoot

seussical the musical Students bring storybook figures to life.

As the plotlines progress, the lens of Dr. Seuss zooms into the microscopic world of Whoville where we meet Jojo, a boy character played by Nicole Wittels ’15, and his efforts to stop thinking “thinks” to please his parents. At this point, we also become more familiar with the ever-mischievous character of The Cat in the Hat (Jason Haberman ’15), who takes on the part of narrator throughout the show. Coaxed by The Cat in the Hat to keep on thinking his “thinks,” Jojo’s daydreaming eventually causes his parents to send him to military school led by the menacing General Schmitz (Matt Crowley ’15). From there, the

plot develops into a truly wondrous tale as the heroes overcome their individual doubts to realize the power of their own self-belief.

Despite such an intricate plot line, the actors of the production were fully committed to their roles that kept the musical clear and easy to follow. Wittels shined in her singing and unobtrusive sweetness as the character of Jojo. Through their acting, both Wittels and Hentoff brought out their character’s loneliness from being misunderstood from how they think in a way that was incredibly honest and sincere. In contrast to their subtle acting, Haberman was over the top and

larger than life, which made his performance as The Cat in the Hat memorable. With a beguiling smirk on the stage, Haberman showcased the spontaneity of his character that kept audience suspenseful on what crazy thing he would do next.

Other standouts included Kristi Freedman ’14 as Gertrude, Caley Chase ’16 as Mayzie, Valarie Timms ’16 as Mrs. Mayor, and Micheline Bellmore ’15 as the Sour Kangaroo. Freedman, as the single-feather bird Gertrude who has a little soft spot in her heart for Horton, was remarkable in her poise and beautiful singing voice.

For the same talent in singing, Chase

and Bellmore also gave some of the best vocals of the show. Channeling such divas like Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, Bellmore as the Sour Kangaroo was phenomenal in how she was able to belt out her sassy attitude and lines, while Chase was sinfully arresting as the devious Mayzie. Also worthy of note were Abby Kirshbaum ’16 and Courtney Comart ’16, as Thing 1 and Thing 2 respectively, who both entertained the audience throughout the show with their antics and endearing tomfoolery.

In addition to the cast members’ excellent performance, the contribution and hard work of the set and costume designers truly brought the colorful world of Dr. Seuss alive. The vibrant colors that splashed the stage in the characteristically concentric circles by set designer Barbara Rugg ’15 provided the perfect background for actors to dance, run, and cartwheel on. Equally impressive was the costume editing by Shayna Rubenstein ’16 and Fiona Merullo ’16, which helped make the show visually bright.

The live music ensemble that accompanied the actors was the last element that pulled the musical together.

At times, however, the ensemble was overpowering and actors without headsets were unable to deliver their lines against the music. Regardless, minor issues in acoustical balance did not take away from brilliance of the total production of the musical and the universality of its underlying themes that it presented.

10 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

Bestselling author returns to Brandeis, the ‘epicenter of anxiety’

By Dana Trismen Editor

This past Wednesday, New York Times bestselling author and Brandeis alum Daniel Smith returned to Brandeis, a place he deemed an “epicenter of anxiety.” Suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Smith penned a memoir recounting his experiences titled “Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety.” In a similar manner to his brazenly honest book, Smith spoke and read out loud to a full audience at Rapaporte Treasure Hall about his struggles, his successes, and how he never wanted to attend Brandeis in the first place.

Professor Stephen McCauley, the Associate Director of Creative Writing, introduced Smith, acknowledging the Creative Writing Department, the Brandeis magazine and the psychological counseling center, who all made the event possible. McCauley, who had Smith as a student, credits

him with a “major success in a field that is very difficult.” In his introduction, he mentioned that “Monkey Mind” was met with “unanimous praise” from such diverse sources as “People Magazine” and “Psychology Today.” McCauley praised Smith’s memoir as “most impressively hilarious and shockingly intimate and honest,” a text that is “a literary work and a scientific one.”

Smith began his reading by stating, “Last time I was here I stole a tin of Pringles from Usdan.” Crediting McCauley, Smith acknowledged, “I owe it to McCauley that I decided I had what it takes to be a writer.” He said that “Monkey Mind” is composed of episodes, “the three worst times I’ve struggled with anxiety in my life.”

While Smith has read hundreds of books on the topic, he wanted to pen “Monkey Mind” because he believed none of these writers had “sat down and described directly what it feels like to be in a body that’s hardwired for that sort of thing.”

Smith’s reading began with a sex

scene, with an amusing aside, “I should pause to point out that the first two times I read this my mother was sitting in the front row.” The scene describes how Smith lost his virginity to two girls, and the crushing sense of anxiety and hopelessness that followed. While Smiths’ is a book about a mental illness, the reason “Monkey Mind” succeeds is that he balances its dark side out with humor. In describing this sex scene, Smith personifies the vagina, saying, “How do you do, vagina, would you like some herbal tea?” and calls it “an impatient vagina, a bureaucratic vagina.”

Smith continued reading, slowly and expressively, captivating the audience. The second section described anxiety with a looming sense of doom. Smith recalls that “everything [felt like] a grave danger, an assault on consciousness itself.” A high school student at the time, he struggled because he was “totally focused on what was going on inside me.” Comparing himself to Macbeth and the turmoil this Shakespearean figure faced,

Smith believes anxiety tells you an unfortunate truth: “You are not at the wheel.”

Perhaps most intriguingly, the third section Smith read was from a scene that occurred at Brandeis, in the very same library in which he spoke.

Smith admits he had “paralyzing” anxiety while at Brandies, and that he feared that coming back to speak would bring him “dangerously close to waves of nausea.” Smith did not shy away from speaking the truth about Brandeis and his experience, despite the venue. “I fell in a state of really terrible anxiety as soon as I went to college,” Smith said. The scene he read out loud depicted his younger self finding solace in the library’s “cryptlike lower levels,” where he would read to distract himself. Stated in “Monkey Mind,” Smith’s original view of Brandeis is incredibly clear, and not something he was afraid to share.

“I don’t want to be here, I hated it here,” Smith read out loud. He recalls how his mother wanted him to go to Brandeis, but he resented the lack of

diversity the school offered. Growing up on Long Island in a Jewish household, Smith did not want to attend a Jewish school. While his mother told him he could be a “big fish in a small pond,” Smith remarked it was “a Jewish small pond.” While speaking at the institution that brought him so much stress, Smith acknowledged after the reading, “my hatred [of Brandeis] dissipated after that, and I thank everyone for inviting me here.”

In the question-and-answer following the event, McCauley probed Smith with questions about how he managed to remain entirely truthful in his memoir. “I don’t make anything up,” said Smith. “But memory is unstable and unreliable, and it’s going to alter in your mind, and as soon as you put it down on paper.” Smith acknowledges that other authors have gotten in trouble for penning memoirs not completely truthful, so he added an author’s note saying “Monkey Mind” is as truthful as he can remember it.

The author’s note included his personal email address. “I got so many emails,” said Smith. “I had to take it out of the paperback version. People wrote to me asking what medication I take, about my therapist, and to meet them for coffee. I try to write back to everybody.”

When questioned about his use of comedy and its structure, Smith referred to his past, mentioning that he wrote a humor column for the Justice and was in a comedy group at Brandeis. “[I had] hour long conversations about the funniest sounding consonants,” said Smith, in how he was interested in the science behind comedy. “I try to play it by ear,” he said. “It is in the details.” He believes humor is something that must be balanced, at once something that is sprung on the reader but not overdone. “Anxiety is the only funny mental illness,” Smith said. “You can’t make a good joke about paranoid schizophrenia without being insensitive.” Yet, Smith contends, anxiety is something that can be considered humorous because “you are aware that what you’re torturing yourself with is absurd.”

Now a high profile author, Smith states, “I still get anxious writing.” He believes that the only thing that has helped quell these feelings is writing everyday for the past 12 years. While Smith may not have enjoyed his time at Brandeis, today’s students appreciated this reading from an author that blends the tragic and the comic.

photo by ally eller/the hoot

daniel smith NY Times Bestselling author answers questions about mental illness and comedy.

Seminal Israeli poet’s work celebrated in new book

By Jess Linde

Special to the Hoot

Recently, Professor Ilana Szobel (NEJS) published her third book on Israeli poet Dahlia Ravikovitch, “A Poetics in Trauma: The Work of Dahlia Ravikovitch.” Last Tuesday, a group of students, faculty and other guests gathered in the Mandel Center to mark the release. After an introduction by Schusterman Director Ilan Troen, Szobel read from her book and discussed the life and importance of Dahlia Ravikovitch.

“A Poetics in Trauma” outlines and analyzes the poetry, stories and non-

fiction of Ravikovitch, an Israel prize laureate and peace activist whose works raise cutting questions about gender, national identity and victimhood.

Ravikovitch, who died in 2005, was a celebrity in Israel in the seventies and eighties, but was also intensely private. She did not believe that her personal life should define her work, something that Szobel kept close to heart while writing “A Poetics of Trauma.”

“Ravikovitch did not believe her biography deserved attention, and I have purposely kept her biography separate from her writing, which I believe Ravikovitch would have wanted,” Szobel told the audience.

An important aspect of this was

Ravikovitch’s gender. When her books were reviewed in Israeli newspapers, Ravikovitch was always referred to as “Dahlia,” and her childhood was referred to as an “explanation” for the dark nature of her writing, unlike male authors of the time who were always referred to by last name and whose personal lives were rarely mentioned.

Szobel then began a general analysis of Ravikovitch’s work, discussing how Ravikovitch had a miserable childhood and was victimized by the then-infantile foster care system in Israel. This influenced her work massively, giving her what Szobel believes to be a unique ability to identify and understand the suffering of others.

But the most interesting thing

about Ravikovitch’s exploration of victimhood, according to Szobel, was that while she suffered from depression and trauma throughout her lifetime, Ravikovitch made the fact that she was an outcast something she could use to distinguish herself.

When asked a question by an audience member who could not find a connection between Ravikovitch’s work and Israeli national identity, Szobel explained that national identity was a concept about which Ravikovitch herself asked many questions.

Ravikovitch herself did not understand where she, a victim of a parentless childhood and the terrible Israeli foster-care system, fit into the ideal of the Jewish state.

After Szobel finished her talk, there

was an open forum in which many asked questions about Ravikovitch, her life and work, and Szobel’s book.

Szobel addressed how she had identified with Ravikovitch’s dark poetry when she was growing up in Israel, and how she is fascinated with how Ravikovitch, a consistently dark and counter-culture writer, fit in as a celebrity in Israeli society. Ravikovitch seemed to be a talented and unique but troubled poetic voice, one who lived to defy the norm, a person whose work was hard to define using traditional taxonomies. Szobel “only hopes that [the] book will allow more people to discover and explore the work of Ravikovitch, and to enjoy and connect to Ravikovitch’s work as I did.”

March 22, 2013

ARTS, ETC. 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Abstract artist asserts his philosophy on social issues and art

By Jess Linde

Special to the Hoot

The Rose Art Museum welcomed Los Angeles abstract artist Mark Bradford as a special guest to discuss his process, his inspirations, and to answer student questions on March 19 . A group of students, teachers and off-campus guests gathered downstairs at the Rose in front of one of Bradford’s paintings, which has been housed at museum for much of the spring semester.

There, they listened intently as Bradford answered questions from Rose director Chris Bedford. Brad-

ford engaged the audience in each of his answers, telling jokes and anecdotes, and winning over those gathered.

“I hate the idea of falling into something; a pattern is bad for me...I like to keep moving,” said Bradford of his artistic process. Bradford first became known for making art out of colored paper stripped off of old billboards, but has since expanded into sculptures, painting, and performance art.

Throughout his artistic expansion, Bradford has always been sure to include significant social influences in his work. As someone who grew up with small businesses and in lowincome communities, Bradford has a unique take on art in that he has never felt at home in the traditional

art world.

Rather than create art to be sold for millions at auctions, Bradford has always desired a more local and intimate feel for his work. In the case of the billboard paper, Bradford said, “I wanted the colors to be recognizable in the way that someone might say, ‘That looks like that cheap lawyer billboard!’ I wanted them to be recognizable at a street level.”

Bradford also said that his greatest fear is becoming a pretentious artist who makes claims about the depth of his art that he cannot back up. This is a trend Bradford sees as too prevalent in the modern art world, and something that he wants to challenge.

One of the most engaging aspects of the discussion was when Bradford

embellished on his philosophy of social issues and art. He highlighted a story of his visit to New Orleans, only a few years after Hurricane Katrina. When Bradford arrived, it was his intention to create an art project that captured the local atmosphere, and to use the project for charity.

As he had hoped, the project gained enough attention from the art world to bring an art fair to the area, and many artworks were sold for charity.

However, Bradford saw the fair foremost as artists selling their work, only giving to charity secondly, and was disgruntled with the project despite its success. That was also when Bradford decided to include social justice and charity support as part of the art he produced. In his words, it was “the

moment I started to take some of the power back.”

Regarding his broader goals, Bradford told Bedford and the audience that he wants to “elbow his way to the table.” He noted that he, Mark Bradford, is a very small part of the artistic world; and as an African-American man, he is an even smaller part of the abstract movement that resides within the artistic world. Bradford wants to be recognized and well-known not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of the tiny worlds he feels a part of, to give them a voice in the art world.

He is trying to be revolutionary, but at the same time he is worried about seeming to try too hard. It is this personal honesty that gives Bradford’s words and his art authenticity.

‘SKIN’ fashion show both stuns and raises awareness

By Christine Darko Special to the Hoot

Brandeis Asian American Student Association (BAASA) brought a night of fashion to the Levin Ballroom March 16. The show, which was part of the celebration for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), showcased various fashion lines that were designed by Asian Americans. The lines they featured included FOB lifestyle & apparel, Angela & Roi, Rent the Runway, Enzoani and g.Kim—known better as Grace Kim, who is a Brandeis alumna—and a special feature by Brandeis’ own Fashion Design Club.

The show began with a fashion line

by Grace Kim, whose apparel presented outfits for the girl who likes to look effortless, yet glamorous while she is out and about on the town. It then transitioned to the FOB lifestyle & apparel line, which tailors its apparel for both men and women who are very laid back.

Designers Richy Orng and Sopheak Sam did not only take a term FOB— a term typically used to mock Asian immigrants—and transform it into a lifestyle to be proud of, but they also transformed the term FOB to advocate for social change and progression. The show followed with more elegant clothing and accessories by Rent the Runway and Angela & Roi. The show itself ended with two clothing lines by Brandeis’ own Fashion Design Club and Enzoani. Fashion Design Club showcased two lines that showcased different day and night looks for men: the day look represented the man who is humble and easy going, while the night look represented the man’s alter ego, someone who is confident and whom everyone wants to know. The Enzoani line ended the show with elegance, including beautiful gowns and dresses any girl would die for.

The transition into each line was executed very well and with the help of two amazing MCs, Holden Collick and Alex Schmidt, and the show progressed exceptionally well even with a few minor glitches.

After the show, BAASA treated their audience to delectable Asian cuisine and bubble tea, which exposed a different side of Asian American culture. In addition to the recep-

tion, students had a chance to take a closer look at the handbags that were modeled in the show and were able to purchase their own Angela & Roi handbag or buy apparel from FOB Lifestyle & Apparel.

Audience members were encouraged to donate money to A-Task, which is the Asian task force against domestic violence. Though this was a night of fashion, it was also a chance

for students to raise money and give back to the Asian American community. The idea of giving back to the community was also continued throughout almost every line that was presented in the fashion show, as each line had an overarching cause that they supported.

After weeks of hard work from everyone one who took part in the Fashion show, SKIN was a big success.

skin Brandeis students model designer brands.

photo by katie chin/the hoot

a night of fashion Students bring together art, design and social activism.

photo courtesy of calvin wang

photo by katie chin/the hoot

12 The Brandeis Hoot

opinion

March 22, 2013

University: the new welfare state

By Lassor Feasley Editor

We’ve all heard the same story. Rising prices of tuition at universities are spiraling out of control. Year after year, the increasing price of college has outpaced inflation, wages, the stock market, and pretty much any benchmark you could possibly compare it with. Look no further than our own university, where tremors of a four percent tuition and fee hike are causing a public backlash.

What is the cause of these perennial increases? If you ask a university administrator, the likely responses might range from increased spending on everything from instruction to research. Don’t buy it. The true narrative of the spiraling price of college is more convoluted and subversive than any university representative will admit.

While it is correct that the sticker price of college advertised in brochures and info-sessions have been flying off the charts for decades, the effect of this has been significantly more understated than most people have been led to believe. In reality, the net price students pay for college, after grants and scholarships have been awarded, has not increased at nearly the rate of advertised prices. In other words, if implemented, the net effect of a four percent tuition and fee hike at Brandeis, in all odds, will not raise school revenues by four percent, as a significant portion of that hike will be shouldered by financial aid.

Although, on average, the sticker price of private, nonprofit, four-year universities, such as Brandeis, has risen nearly 100 percent since 1991, the average net price has risen by only 25%, according to the College Board.

Still quite significant, but manageable, especially taking into rising incomes and other factors in that two decade period. This is referred to as the “high price, high discount” pric-

ing strategy.

Why are colleges doing this? Raising tuition significantly, only to return 75 percent of the gains in student aid? Sure, they still get to keep 25 percent of the bounty, but only at the expense of an outraged student body, as has been demonstrated by the antipathy many students expressed here at Brandeis after the hike last year and the possibility of another one this year. It hardly seems worth it.

One theory put forth by NPR’s Planet Money is that colleges with higher tuitions are generally perceived to be more elite than institutions which publish a budget oriented sticker price. Sort of like clubs which are exclusive for being exclusive; hardly a model we want to see Brandies align itself with. But I see a more maniacal intent behind the tuition increases which have come to shade college finances.

What happens when a college increases tuition? Families which would have been perfectly capable of paying for college without any aid whatsoever are forced to apply. This means creating detailed, and often time consuming financial statements and submitting them to the university for review.

As if it were not enough to expose your scholastic aptitude to the college, you now have to demonstrate your financial inaptitude as well. Even a prosperous family would feel violated if it had to share its financial background with the world. And because of the ridiculous sticker prices colleges demand, even families who are otherwise in good financial standing must apply for aid. So now the college has access to a growing proportion of its student bodies financial records and can make an “educated” decision on how much each family can pay.

To demonstrate how preposterous a system this is, lets compare it to a market outside of education. Imag-

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

ine if a car dealer worked in the same way. They would charge $100,000 for a model which cost $10,000 to produce. Of course, very few customers could actually afford such a vehicle.

So the dealer would demand to see their customers income statements and savings. Based on those records, the dealer would make a “need based” decision to issue grants and aid to customers. The dealer could then foot a “generous” 85 percent of the bill, call it charity, then pocket $5,000 in profit.

No one would ever agree to do business with such a dealer. Indeed, practices as corrupt and broken as those I described would never fly in the real world. Yet essentially, thats the method most colleges get away with every day. They intentionally charge more than the majority of their customers (students) can afford, then have the audacity to frame scholarships and grants as generous charitable giving.

The truth is Brandeis wouldn’t be

able to operate without financial “aid.”

When the university agrees to accept a reduced price from its customers, it does not necessarily mean that it is taking a loss. Students can pay significantly less than the advertised sticker price while still benefiting the university’s financials.

I’m certain that if universities could get away with it, they would demand to see the income of even its wealthiest students, then charge whatever they felt was the most possible they could get away with without incurring “financial hardship.” In raising tuition, that is basically what university administrators are trying to do. Well, what’s wrong with that, you might ask? Some people don’t see education as a commercial product, but rather as some unpriceable virtue.

I suppose there’s nothing inherently wrong with this viewpoint. As non-profit institutions, most universities will only be marginally sensitive to the market forces which keep most

organizations afloat. But if consumers don’t have some sort of pricing power, theres nothing to stop even the net price of college from spiraling further out of control.

So how do we counteract this trend? I would like to see the sticker price of college reduced to reflect the true value of education. This would make college more accessible to more families without forcing them to reveal sensitive financial information.

If universities were forced to publish the amount spent per student on instruction side by side with total tuition costs, maybe people would understand how preposterous the “high price, high discount” method of pricing is. While some may see virtue in forcing every family to shoulder the maximum possible monetary burden in order to send a student to college, I don’t think that the “high price, high discount” model is an ethical, sustainable, or fair method of attaining those ends.

Letter to the Editor

Rethinking sex culture with Brandeis Hookups and ‘Girls’ Dear Editor: I read last week’s piece by Alison Thvedt, regarding the Brandeis “community” Facebook page, “Brandeis Hookups” (March 8, 2013). On the heels of the brouhaha over the most recent episode of the much-heralded series, “Girls”, on HBO (Sunday, March 10, 2013), there seems to be a parallel at play.

For those unfamiliar with this series, produced by Judd Apatow, and created, produced, written by and starring Lena Dunham (of indie film, “Tiny Furniture” fame), it has garnered an audience of about a million weekly viewers (by its third airing on Sunday evenings—so this number is cumulative). A network airing of a “hit” series would grab ten million viewers. Surprisingly, more that half of the “Girls” audience is male. It purports to be the “voice” of this generation: early 20-somethings, making their way in the world.

There has been a lot of sexual activity among the residents of the “Girls” section of Brooklyn; it seems to be consensual. But in the most recent episode, Adam Driver’s character brings a young woman back to his apartment, after a night of drink-

ing (he had been in recovery from alcohol abuse for a year—until this particular evening). She is a new love interest for him, as he and Ms. Dunham’s character only recently broke up.

Almost immediately upon entering his apartment, he instructs the young woman to “get down on all fours.”

She appears dumbstruck, based on the expression on her face. This is a squirm-inducing moment, which evolves into a cringe-inducing scene.

The tweeting that took place subsequent to this interlude indicated I was not alone. The piece on the internet the next day, questioning whether HBO had lost its collective mind, convinced me that my response was not generational.

Which brings me to the “Brandeis Hookups” Facebook page. The March 2 post, as recounted by Ms. Thvedt, regarding a sexual act that a person did not enjoy (it apparently made her ill; I hope it was consensual), elicited a response from a male, who, based on his comment, perhaps hopes to become a staff writer on “Girls” (he might be happy to know that it has, in fact, been picked up for a third season). The other reprinted posts remind us who the biggest consumers of pornography are, demographically;

photo from internet source

and why many are incapable of having real connection with real people in a sexually intimate way (New York Times: “A Habit that Can Destroy Lives”, Nov. 11, 2012). As outlined in the New York Times piece, authored

by Professors Gail Dine, and Robert Jensen, just as we take our cues about what to eat and what to wear from the food and fashion industries, young

males (and an increasing number of females) learn about sex from the sex industry. The predominant theme?

Male dominance and female subordination, often cruel and degrading.

When sexual partners look to pornography as the standard, it can result in sexual experiences that are uncomfortable and painful, with verbal and physical abuse of the female being de

rigueur (per Dine and Jensen).

But perhaps one need no longer look to the porn industry for sexual advice. We now have “Girls” and “Brandeis Hookups”.

Constance McCashin, MA, MSW, LICSW, The Psychological Counseling Center

March 22, 2013

SECTION 13

The Brandeis Hoot

Self Shelf

Assad regime charged with the use of chemical weapons

By Alex Self Staff

This week marked a dubious anniversary in our nation’s history—the ten year anniversary of the decision to invade Iraq. After ten years, public opinion has calcified in opposition to the war and those who were the main instigators have been deemed badly misguided at best and war criminals at worst. The interesting fact regarding this anniversary is that it is the first major epoch in American history that I clearly remember following in the news. I had been too young to witness the 9/11 attacks or to truly comprehend their consequences—the Iraq War was the first time I had ever been a true witness to the country declaring war.

I can still remember sitting in class watching President Bush discuss the danger of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction on the student run Channel One News. At the time, I realized the country was going to war and was able to understand why (i.e. the threat of WMDs falling into the hands of AlQaeda), but I was not yet old enough to critique the decision. Nonetheless, I remember the news footage of cheering congressmen, and the rallying of America behind the decision. It may be hard to recall today amongst the cloud of anger and sorrow that has surfaced over the Iraq War but it had nearly unanimous support from the people at the time.

Ironically, during the very week that this anniversary surfaced, the world was notified of the potential use of weapons of mass destruction. A report came out released today that it was almost certain that the Assad regime in Syria had used chemical weapons against the rebels. Admittedly, this is not one hundred percent verified and,

after our experience with Iraq, further proof of this claim will be necessary. Nonetheless, if true, this report propagates a challenging decision to the United States on the eve of the remembrance of a brazen decision in the past. The United States has, time and time again, warned that it will not tolerate the use of weapons of mass destruction against the people of Syria. In the meantime, tens of thousands of people have died in what should probably be termed a civil war.

The United States, however, has had good reason to be cautious about taking any larger part in the conflict.

There is the fact that the rebel leaders are not necessarily our allies and could, if victorious, impose a radical Islamist government a la the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. There is the potential that any western involvement in the war could result in a proxy war between the west and the east, (i.e. China and especially Russia) which in the past has been supportive of the Assad regime. There is the potential for western engagement in the conflict to lead to escalation of the war and thus more civilian deaths. Additionally, there is potential for even a successful invasion to result in a costly occupation and ensuing insurgency a la Iraq. Finally, there is the potential for a massive loss of life and resources on the part of the United States at a time when the country is looking to curb expenditures—a prospect which engenders little political will amongst the population at large.

On the other hand, despite all of these drawbacks, I would argue that this report, if true, necessitates action on the part of the United States for several reasons. First, insofar as the use of weapons of mass destruction leads to a massive loss of life, the United States has an obligation to help prevent what could eventually be

photo from internet source

hundreds of thousands of deaths. In addition, the United States is a signer of the treaty which bans the use of chemical weapons—thus it has an obligation to intervene to enforce the treaty.

Also, there is the fact that allowing the usage of weapons of mass destruction in war would set a terrible precedent. his would most likely lead to further usage of these weapons, an outcome that inherently threatens global stability. Additionally, this would also most likely lead the further proliferation of these weapons due to their increasing usage in warfare, something that makes it more likely that these weapons fall into the hands of terrorists or other irrational actors who could potentially use them against the United States.

photo from internet source

Also, the United States would lose face as a geopolitical actor if it backed off of its pledge to draw the line at chemical weapons. While optical harms are often overblown, it seems fairly likely that other countries will watch the United States’ reaction to this situation to determine if its threats actually carry any weight. Doing nothing will send a bad message in this regard and will likely make it more difficult for the United States to prevent occurrences of this sort in the future. The arguments against intervention in Syria are compelling but can be largely mitigated if the United States proceeds in the correct manner.

The correct course of action, in this case, is basically the opposite of the Iraq War. Unlike that largely unilateral action, the United States should use a bilateral coalition in Syria. This means either somehow coercing the United Nations into action or, should that prove impossible, using NATO. Were these allegations of weapons of mass destruction to prove true, it seems likely that the countries of NATO (especially in Europe) would be willing to support some sort of action against the Assad regime in a similar manner to the way they supported action in Libya.

The next question consists of what action should be taken. In this case, the legitimate threat of a bilateral force could be enough to at least force Assad to the negotiating table. While

Russia may do its best to obviate the force, if it is made clear that military force is an option, it seems likely that even a slightly irrational actor would at least consider the proposals being put forward. At the very least, this would hopefully get Assad to stop using chemical weapons.

If this has no effect, however, a bombing campaign similar to that we saw in Libya would also be a reasonable option. While the Syrian air force and military are far stronger than those of Libya, it seems unlikely that they would be able to stand up to a concerted western attack. Additionally, considering the waning loyalty of these military branches, it is unclear how much efficacy they will have anyway. Finally, it seems probable that the west would have support from local actors in the region, including Israel and most likely Turkey due to the threat of the conflict bubbling over into its own borders.

Admittedly, there is the threat of a proxy conflict between east and west, but it seems that even Russia and China would have to bow out if the west and the local actors intervened in the name of preventing a genocide caused by weapons of mass destruction.

After the Assad regime was demolished, the west could then go about assisting in the creation of a viable government. While there is no guar See SYRIA, page 14

Four percent tuition hike untenable

By Emily Belowich Staff

Last month, members of student press and the Student Union gathered in the SCC multipurpose room to listen to Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel discuss the annual budget. On Thursday, the Board of Trustee’s meeting approved a 3.94 percent increase in overall students costs.

According to Flagel, Brandeis has an annual budget of roughly $320 million, slightly less than half of which is funded through the “undergraduate bill,” including tuition, housing, books, meal plans and other sources of income.

Roughly 87 percent of this budget is spent on staff and operating costs, salaries and benefits, and financial aid.

Essentially, that leaves 13 percent of the budget that the board decides how

to administer.

“There is not a massive amount of wiggle room,” Flagel said last month.

“It’s a constant process of figuring out how to weigh the importance.”

In recognizing that almost half of the annual budget derives from the undergraduate tuition bill, Flagel said that the university must sustain a growing student body in order to continue increasing the quality of education that students receive here at Brandeis.

In order for Brandeis to provide the type of education that it wants to, it must increase its tuition dollars. In reality, however, this increase does not correspond with Brandeis’ mission of embracing social justice and accepting students based on academic excellence. If Brandeis wants to be perceived as an institution that can be easily accessible to those who can contribute to the school’s vision,

it needs to start taking college affordability much more seriously and start creatively conserving its budget.

A four percent increase may be relatively small for one year, but the current first year class planning to enroll next year will experience an overall 8.79 percent increase in two years because of last year’s 4.85 percent increase on new students. It places the current undergraduate student body’s pocketbooks in peril; with another near 4 percent tuition and fee increase each year, by the time we graduate we will have paid a substantial amount more than we intended for when we first enrolled.

Flagel discussed the steps that the administration is taking in order to cut spending and increase efficiency.

Most importantly, the administration is considering altering the budget See TUITION, page 14

photo from internet source

14 OPINION

The Brandeis Hoot

March 22, 2013

Rethinking the runaway tuition TUITION, from page 13

photo from internet source

structure, increasing technology utilization, and assessing how much we get out of every dollar we spend in order to reduce costs. Some of the budgetary factors that will be highlighted include course overload, infrastructure and academic flexibility.

The tuition increases are expected to raise the number of financial aid dollars given, although this will not be finalized until admissions can predict the amount of financial aid that will be needed for the incoming first year class. This makes me wonder if Brandeis will have to look more carefully at applications that request fewer financial aid dollars than at applications that are in greater need of financial help. This is not desirable for Brandeis but might be unavoidable if we cannot find other ways to procure addition-

al funds for the budget.

As a younger institution, it is understandable that Brandeis is challenged with a smaller endowment than its competitors. It is important that the university instills a culture of giving and lifelong connection in its alumni because their support is crucial at an institution this new.

We attend a private university that is nationally ranked as one of the best institutions in the country. This is a constant challenge for the administration to keep the prices low and maintain the university’s needs. But if Brandeis wants to continue to stand out as a school whose mission is to provide an education with the based on the principles of social justice, it has to start radically shifting the way in which it considers the tuition bill.

And so we question, is increasing the tuition price the correct response to our institution’s desire to produce the world’s individual leaders?

Did Syria quell rebellion with WMDs? SYRIA, from page 13

antee that radicals would not take over, it seems that the west could at least have some credibility in preventing this from happening if they helped the government come to power. In addition, the situation in the status quo foments radicalism insofar as the civil war allows for a sort of petri dish of radical militants who are largely radicalized by the ongoing conflict.

Thus, if the status quo were to continue, there would most likely be more radicals in Syria and thus more of a threat of terrorism than if there was a successful intervention. If done correctly, this intervention would result in the end of the Assad regime with minimal cost and minimal loss of life.

The United States would have acted upon its word and, at the same time, saved tens of thousands of people from a miserable death.

This may strike one as an

optimistic appraisal of the merits of intervention in the Syrian situation, especially in light of the memories of Iraq, but there are two important differences which set the two situations apart. First, this would be a bilateral effort with widespread support from other countries due to the fact that Syria had flagrantly violated world conventions by using WMDs. Secondly, this would not be a rebuilding initiative in which American troops would be on the ground in force but rather an assist of sorts to the rebels, who would form the succeeding government.

All of this is, of course, contingent on the fact that these reports do verify.

If the future proves them false, I hope that this at least provided you with an interesting thought experiment. There are many lessons that we learned from Iraq and the United States’ foreign policy ought be more careful going forward. Nonetheless, when countries

flagrantly disregard the treaties and conventions of the world along with the warnings of the United States, it necessitates action.

A return to the isolationist stance of the 19th century should not be the goal of the United States and if we can prevent a travesty of genocidal proportions from happening at little to no relative cost, I would argue that we ought do so. The Iraq war was poorly planned and poorly carried out, and thereby deserves a poor reputation.

That does not mean that we should generalize this principle to all other conflicts, especially those where we have a strong obligation under binding treaties to intervene. If this action is successful (and all of the reasoning I have presented suggests such an outcome), it will be an action that we can celebrate in ten years, as opposed to a time to reflect upon the fact that we could have intervened to prevent a bloodbath but did not. photo from internet source

The great outdoors lost to college students

By Emily Scharf

Special to the hoot

photo courtesy brandeis.edu

As a first-year student, one of the first things I noticed about residing on a college campus is the increased amount of time I spent outdoors.

Living in a dorm, we are required to brave the elements to feed ourselves, go to classes, and participate in activities. This is quite the contrast to the high school experience, where the most outdoor time you might have gotten was the trip from the car to the school building, or those few minutes outside waiting for the bus.

The truth is, we are a quite sedentary generation. It’s not entirely our fault because all of the fun technology available to us that makes the indoors so appealing, but that doesn’t mean we can live our lives solely in front of a screen. America has the worst reputation for this: we are the fattest country in the world. Yet, we give ourselves this bad name. Fast food, an overabundance of technology and a disconnect from nature are the ingredients to a blue ribbon in obesity.

What our generation is failing to realize is the true benefit of nature.

The outdoor world is soothing and calming—time outdoors helps us focus. With the exception of locations prone to air pollution, fresh air is much healthier. There are countless amounts of chemicals found in our homes. Couches used to be doused with flame-retardants that can be harmful to your health. Though most of the dangerous chemicals have been phased out of manufacturing, the danger is never totally inescapable.

Most manufactured items contain one chemical or another that you should not be breathing in.

The outdoor world helps children develop. Young kids learn better and absorb more during time spent playing and learning in the environment.

What better way than to learn about construction and to earn the satisfaction of hard work than to build a treehouse? Isn’t the best way to learn about animals and plants to be face to face with them in their natural habitat? Life should not be lived only within the carefully constructed walls that divide us from our natural habitat.

See NATURE, page 15

March 22, 2013

OPINION 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Does Bloomberg’s sugar tax go to far?

By Naomi Soman Special to the hoot

America could be in big trouble if it doesn’t get its weight problem under portion control, but how should the government trim increasing waistlines without overstepping its boundaries?

State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling recently struck down New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s legislation restricting sugary drinks with more than 25 calories per ounce to no more than 16 oz. containers in restaurants, pizzerias, movie theaters, bars, and fast food joints. This would include energy drinks, sodas, slushies, sports drinks, juice drinks, smoothies, and others, although alcohol or milkbased products would be excluded.

He claimed the city’s Board of Health could only intercede “when the City is facing imminent danger due to disease.”

Whether obesity is classified as a disease or not, it’s certainly an imminent health concern. Sugary drinks are a leading cause of obesity and make up 11 percent of children and teenager’s calories, and when foods are sold in extreme quantities, people cannot exercise effective portion

control.

Posting nutritional facts is one thing, but restricting someone from purchasing a product that, while not healthy, is certainly not fatal, denotes for some the growing ‘nanny-state’.

Pundits have observed that the government is increasingly infringing on personal freedoms. It restricts smoking and drinking with a tax—but these certainly have the potential to do much more damage than sugary drinks. Plenty of healthy people enjoy sodas and slushies as a treat once and awhile.

However, I don’t think banning sugary drinks in restaurants is the best solution to obesity.

People can still purchase these drinks in supermarkets and convenience stores, probably the largest providers of such products, and 16 oz. of a sugary drink is still plenty of sugar. We don’t want to move towards a fascist state that dictates to its people what it can and cannot eat or how much of a certain food it should eat.

A major problem is that healthy food costs a great deal more than a typical fast food meal of burger and fries. New York City Community Health Surveys found city residents who live below the federal poverty line are twice as likely to be obese as

those who live in households with income at least six times the poverty line. A burger at a typical fast food chain costs 99 cents, but fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive. Government subsidies for healthy food in supermarkets and school lunches would provide a much more respectful and popular alternative to taxes for sodas and slushies.

Food isn’t the only issue though.

Kids need exercise just as much as they need healthy food. Sitting on the couch watching TV doesn’t provide any benefits, and research shows exercise can help improve mental and emotional health.

Mayor Bloomberg should spend more time on getting kids outside running around and playing ball.

Government-mandated school exercise requirements are legal, so increase the time kids have to spend in gym class or participating in intramurals and after school sports where they will also enjoy themselves and stay out of trouble.

Restricting drinks will probably have an insignificant effect on children’s health, but encouraging healthy food and exercise is a positive way to promote a nourishing, wholesome lifestyle. photo from internet source

Why we need to lighten up on MacFarlane

By Charlie Romanow Staff

It seems as if most viewers of this year’s 85th Academy Awards left the broadcast with the same attitude that they had going into it. Those that were fans of the Academy, Grammy and Emmy nominated host Seth MacFarlane believed that he put on a successful show and those that tended to not support him previously, disapproved of his performance afterword. I am a part of the former group, being a big fan of my fellow Nutmegger (Connecticut native) Seth MacFarlane after having seen every episode of his show’s “Family Guy,” “American Dad,” and “The Cleveland Show.”

Before hearing, seeing and reading all of the negative comments that MacFarlane was bombarded with after the show, my first reaction was one of surprise.

I was surprised that MacFarlane’s jokes were not more offensive and in-

appropriate. Any of the more than 400 episodes that MacFarlane has created of his three current shows includes material that many would deem as more unsuitable than his jokes during the Academy Awards. He performed in the manner that he should have been expected to perform. The nearly four million people that follow him on Twitter can see instances of this sort of comedy every day. While I am saying that his material can be seen as inappropriate by others, I do not believe it to be inappropriate myself.

The main source of criticism of the Academy Awards was MacFarlane’s early performance which many thought was misogynistic. While not the most empowering and enlightening song, it was not meant to be sexist.

It was meant to be funny, and many thought that it was. It was pre-taped so that current and previous award nominees Naomi Watts, Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron were all in on the act and thus not likely offended by it. The early usage of the vulgar song was used by MacFarlane to poke fun at himself as he would be doing

with others throughout the night. He identified and admitted what sort of humor he produces and did not try to hide or change himself.

A widespread disparagement of this song and MacFarlane’s entire performance was that it was immature for the sake of being immature, without putting forward a more profound point. It is true that jokes and acts were done for the sake of laughter, and nothing else, but that is what the host is supposed to do. They are supposed to entertain the viewers; not only the few celebrities that are in the crowd, but the millions that are watching around the world. If the host was meant to solely entertain and comfort the ceremony’s attendees, there would be no need to air it on television. Even using this criterion, it appeared as if many of the subjects of MacFarlane’s jokes were amused, including Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck.

Much blame has been put on MacFarlane for his joke about domestic violence between Chris Brown

and Rihanna. This was not meant to downplay the severity of domestic violence but only to make a comparison between a well-known celebrity incident and a nominated film. His usage of the joke emphasizes that abuse should not be accepted or promoted.

Combining humor with any topic can be helpful to understanding the subject and approaching it from a subjective and logical perspective. Bringing a topic into the public eye starts conversations about the controversial theme and allows people to think for themselves about it.

Further flak was placed on the host’s apparent homophobic comments. To say that these statements indict MacFarlane as a homophobe is ridiculous. In addition to joking about rumors of his own homosexuality, he is well known as a supporter of gay rights, which has brought him recognition from institutions like Harvard University, who named him the Humanist of the Year in 2011 for his support of marriage rights as well as other social justice issues.

Another disapproval of the cer-

emony was that MacFarlane’s performances were self-serving and self-indulgent. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

The entire idea and purpose of the Academy Awards and award shows as a whole is to promote, recognize, and focus on those that have already completed their job and have received their fair share of attention and compensation for their work. To say that MacFarlane was self-promoting during the awards is similar to accusing an employee of an international conglomerate of working only for the money. The individual is only doing what the larger group has emphasized.

Each one of us has a different opinion of humor and what should be deemed appropriate and inappropriate. MacFarlane’s jokes were not meant to be taken seriously; they were meant to amuse. Comedy groups and individuals over the years have battled with how far to take things by challenging or disregarding rules and expectations. This is the only way to advance the creative field.

The things we take for granted NATURE, from page 14

Parents are often wary of allowing their kids to play outside for obvious reasons. The world is a dangerous place. Not all families are able to live in a “safe” location, and tragedies occur even in neighborhoods hailed as “family friendly.” The media is always inundating us with issues of violence and kidnappings and other atrocities.

Not all families have access to parks, or the ability to get there. But nature is not dangerous­—people are. The outdoor world begs to be explored, and while we should approach it with caution, it is truly worth the risk.

Nothing is more peaceful to me when I am stressing about a paper or an exam than just taking a walk around campus. There are so many

parts of campus that beg to be explored. The Sachar Woods, named after Brandeis’ first president, are a wonderful place to take a stroll, especially if it’s a beautiful day. In 2009 the Greening the Ivory Tower class made a map of the woods and its trails, available online for student perusal and exploration. In addition, there is a web page from the biology department detailing all the edible plants on campus, including much information about the species of plant life to be found in Sachar woods. This information is a gold mine to any aspiring explorer—which I would hope would be the majority of us. We should all want to explore nature more; not only is the natural world our original home, but it is the only place we can really be truly at peace. Brandeis is our home away

from home for four years, so why not get to know everything it has to offer Nature is the miracle we’re searching for. It’s the key to happier and healthier generations. Why can’t hiking through the woods be as much of an adventure as any video game?

You cannot have better graphics than real life. Even if you can only appreciate nature in fair weather, then at least adventure outdoors on beautiful days. It is definitely understandable to stay indoors when it rains or snows or hails. I even understand that it can be too sunny. What I don’t understand is people who refuse to take in the gift of the life around us. This is college: Take advantage of all of the opportunities around you. Breathe it in. Just like the fresh air, it will only last for so long.

photo from internet source

16 The Brandeis Hoot

this week in photos

archery Brandeis hosted its first ever archery tournament March 17. At the indoor 70 meter shoot, 720 FITA ranking rounds were followed by Olympic style single elimination shoot offs.

GET AHEAD THIS SUMMER!

photos by sindhura sonnathi/the hoot

CREDIT CLASSES

at Delaware Valley College this summer •

Lessen your fall course load

•

Earn credits to graduate on time

•

Easily transferable to your college or university

•

Taught by full-time faculty and industry experts

We offer: •

Daytime, evening and online options

•

Six-week and 12-week terms

March 22, 2013

View our Summer Schedule at www.Delval.edu/summercourses Registration opens April 7, 2013 For more information contact:

Office of Continuing Education at: 215.489.4848 | conted@delval.edu 700 E Butler Ave. | Doylestown, PA 18901