The Hoot - August 23, 2013

Volume 10 Number 12

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

August 23, 2013

Univ mum on Sawyer resignation Jamele Adams is new Dean of Student Life

By Dana Trismen Editor

Former Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer left Brandeis at the end of July.

Since his arrival at Brandeis in 1981, Sawyer served 32 years at the University, witnessing changes as the school matured. And while President Frederick Lawrence’s email to faculty, staff and students wished Sawyer well, it neglected to disclose one detail: Sawyer did not retire, he chose to resign.

“I concluded my time at Brandeis was complete, and it was a resignation on my part,” said Sawyer in a phone interview last week. “This wasn’t the way I hoped my time at Brandeis would end.”

Sawyer believes his legacy is the student affairs model, which Brandeis held in place from 1984 until 2011.

“When I got there in 1981, there wasn’t really much of a plan. In 1984, my mentor and former dean and I booked the model that was in place,” Sawyer said.

It may have been changes in this

policy that prompted Sawyer’s departure. “With the arrival of new people in senior administration, they have a different vision of the future,” he said.

Sawyer built the entire orientation program for first-year students. At the beginning of each semester, he would often walk outside his office to see orientation leaders discussing homesickness and the policies of the university with their AIDE groups, or wave to CORE leaders as they walked by. But this year, Sawyer will not be on campus to witness as the class of 2017 learns from a program he created.

He is proud of the changes he made to the orientation program. “Constructing and growing an orientation program became one of my most favorite parts, a lot of great memories with that,” he said. Sawyer also oversaw multiple departments within the Division of Students and Enrollment.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Rick Sawyer has had a transformative impact on student life at Brandeis,” wrote Lawrence in his email.

Sawyer served under six different presidents of the university (Marver H. Bernstein, Evelyn E. Handler, See SAWYER, page 2

photo by theresa gaffney/the hoot

changes to c-store The POD Market is renamed the “Hoot Market,” along with many other changes occurring in dining services following

the switch to Sodexo from Aramark. New options include Starbucks, Russo’s Market and an expanded Einstein’s Bagels.

Sodexo replaces Aramark

By Lassor Feasley Editor

In a much anticipated culinary coup, Brandeis University has changed its food service provider to Sodexo, terminating a long and often mixed relationship with Aramark.

Sodexo, a French company, won the contract in a competitive bidding

Popular restaurants to arrive in Waltham

By Theresa Gaffney Editor

Coming soon to 1030 Main Street in Waltham: Five Guys, Chipotle and Panera Bread. The arrival of these restaurants has been in the works for almost two years. Although they hadn’t selected a location at the time,

Five Guys and Panera Bread both announced their plans in December 2011. With Chipotle added to the mix, Waltham awaits the openings of the three chains.

Construction mistakes have delayed the opening of the restaurants, according to WalthamPatch, in addition to obtaining “special permits” by the Waltham City Council in order to reduce

the number of parking spaces on the site.

Five Guys is scheduled to open at the beginning of September.

There is, however, no word from the other two establishments as to when they will open.

1030 Main Street is 1.4 miles from the Brandeis campus, providing students three more local off-campus dining options.

New tables around campus

outside dining New outdoor tables have been placed outside Usdan and the SCC.

Inside this issue:

Editorial: Sodexo improvement in dining Week in photos: Changes to campus NEWS: Babson apologizes to Brandeis Arts, Etc.: Show demonstrates life in prison Opinion: Rap stars play God Sports: Hernandez accused of murder

photo by theresa gaffney/the hoot

Page 10 Myra Kraft Page 8 TYP is named for Myra Kraft ’64 Page 3 after $5 million gift.

Page 7 News: Page 2 Page 15 Page 11

process that took place throughout the past several months.

New options include Starbucks Coffee, which will be served at existing cafes, although renovations will take place in order to install a fully licensed store in the library. The CStore, renamed the “Hoot Market,” will feature fresh produce provided in collaboration with the Watertown

based Russo’s Market.

Einstein’s Bagels is projected to enlarge its current mini-franchise in the SCC into a fully serviced store. Guy Ferrari on Campus is in late stages of development, and plans for its installation are tentatively scheduled for the upcoming winter break.

See SODEXO, page 3

Todashev suspect in 2011 Waltham triple homicide

By Jaye Han Staff Theresa Gaffney Editor Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot dead in May 2013 during an interrogation with an FBI official and two Massachusetts State officers regarding the triple homicide in Waltham in September 2011. He was shot by an FBI agent after allegedly attacking the man.

There is some conflict over the moments before Todashev was shot. One official told the Washington Post that Todashev was shot after trying to take the agent’s gun, while two others reported that he reached for a knife and was shot as he tried to attack the agent. FBI officials have said recently that it was not clear what had happened.

According to reports, Todashev was about to sign a written confession implicating himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the Waltham triple homicide when he allegedly attacked the FBI agent, who shot and killed him.

Todashev was an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston marathon bombing suspect who was killed during pursuit in Watertown, MA in April. Todashev’s

Alien Attack

attorneys claim that although Tsarnaev and Ibragim Todashev attended the same MMA gym, they were not friends.

On August 13, about three months after his son’s death, Todashev’s father, Abuldaki Todashev, came forward at a press conference to claim his son’s innocence and demand an explanation for his death. He explained that his son had undergone knee surgery just two weeks prior to when he was killed, and therefore was not capable of “lunging and attacking” an agent. His father claimed that Todashev “didn’t do anything wrong. He was simply not capable of doing it.”

Attorneys claim that Todashev was shot seven times in his Florida home, including once in the back of his head. Media reports citing anonymous sources provide conflicting reports as to whether Todashev was armed at the time of shooting.

The FBI said that they have continued to investigate the shooting since it occurred in May. As of August 9, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had compiled a See TODASHEV, page 3

Pacific Rim and other action movies hit the big screen this summer.

Arts, etc.: Page 5

news

2 The Brandeis Hoot

Adams to replace Sawyer as Dean of Student Life

SAWYER, from page 1

Stuart H. Altman, Samuel O. Their, Jehuda Reinharz, and Frederick Lawrence), though in his email, President Lawrence only mentioned that he had worked under four of the eight Brandeis presidents.

“The president was a little bit inaccurate; there have been six presidents since 1981,” said Sawyer. “Brandeis went through a lot and I went through almost half of its life in that place. I watched an institution get through some growing pains.”

Sawyer made it clear that he is not retiring. “I was still some years away from any retirement plans,” he said.

While he is currently spending time with family and friends, in the near future he intends to have conversations about re-entering the academic field.

Faculty at Brandeis refused to disclose information on why Sawyer left Brandeis, or to discuss his time there or any memories of his service. “We don’t share personal matters due to confidentiality,” said Ellen de Graffenreid, senior vice president for Communications.

While Sawyer also did not disclose the exact reasons why he chose to depart, he did mention feeling unhappy.

“The university and I had different views on what I should do as we move on, my role in my deanship was being changed, and [it] wouldn’t have given me the happiness and feeling of continued achievement.”

In August, the university hired Jamele Adams to replace Sawyer as the Dean of Students. Adams has nine years of experience at Brandeis.

“I have never in my career found any individual so able to give voice to students’ emotions, especially around challenging issues,” wrote Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an email to faculty, students and staff. “I have every confidence that he is the right leader for this critical role at Brandeis.”

photo by the hoot

August 23, 2013

Transitional Year Program named to honor Myra Kraft ’64

By Rachel Hirschhaut Editor

45 years ago, the first Transitional Year Program (TYP) students enrolled at Brandeis as a means to help them afford and succeed in higher education. Now the TYP program has been named in honor of Myra Kraft ’64, an alumna and trustee who passed away in 2012.

The Kraft family made a $5 million dollar gift to Brandeis in her honor, to secure the future of the TYP. “Myra was a humanitarian in both a personal sense and a community sense, and she believed that young people with motivation, determination and focus shouldn’t be held back because they lacked opportunity,” President Frederick M. Lawrence told BrandeisNow. “She had a unique way of relating individually to everyone she met. She loved helping people unlock their inner potential to have an impact on the world.”

TYP is a yearlong program for 20 high-achieving students who have not had access to adequate resources such as AP courses in their schools. After they are admitted into the program, they learn in small and intimate classes and receive mentoring from faculty.

The program develops students’ academic and leadership skills, laying the

groundwork for future success.

“This gift will have a lasting impact at Brandeis, as the Kraft TYP will continue a 45-year program that enables young people, who otherwise may not have had access, the opportunity to explore new possibilities for their lives,” Lawrence said. “By opening the doors to Brandeis, we help them change the arc of their lives.”

Wife of Robert Kraft, owner of the Boston Patriots, Myra Kraft was best known for her work as a philanthropist. She supported many charities, focusing on poverty and human services, through both the Kraft Family

Foundation and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation.

“Myra loved Brandeis University and nothing would have made her more proud than to have her name associated with the Transitional Year Program,” said her husband. “It has been helping underprivileged students achieve greatness through higher education for decades. The investment in these aspiring students each year will continue to have an immeasurable impact in our communities for generations to come. The TYP personifies what Myra’s life was all about.”

photo from internet source

photo courtesy brandeis

myra kraft typ Students graduate with the Class of 2012 through the Transitional Year Program.

August 23, 2013

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Einstein’s to expand, Starbucks in library SODEXO, from page 1

Jay DeGioia, Resident District Manager, described the station changes around campus. “In the upper Usdan area, the old grill area is getting taken out and the Grill @ Usdan concept is coming in for opening, an Asian station with Pho, a Meatball madness station, Slice of Life Pizza station and a Juice station will all be there for opening,” he said.

“In Lower Usdan we will have a traditional Salad bar featuring Russo’s produce. AFC sushi will be rolling fresh sushi,” DeGioia said. In addition, there will be “a N.Y. style Deli that will use Kosher meats, “Melts” Grilled Cheese concept that is also open for breakfast, and Mex to the Max which will feature burritos and nachos.” New kosher options will be available in Sherman and the Faculty Club will have refreshed options. Also confirmed is a potential “model for occasional food truck use.”

Senate Dining Committee member Noah Litwer ’14 is hopeful that Sodexo will serve a more robust service than has previously been provided.

“I hope to see greater overall student

satisfaction when it comes to campus eatery options. Food is such a critical determinant of quality of life,” he said. As to why the university made the change, he says, “Aramark had been offering Brandeis a plan that was not satisfactory in quality or price for a majority of students, and ended up actually costing the University more than the revenue generated by dining plans.”

“The recommendation from the administrative review team focused on the dynamic management team and the enterprising vision that the Sodexo team proposed to align dining services with improved campus experience, campus values and institutional reputation,” said Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid.

Sodexo promises to continue where Aramark left off in regard to measuring student satisfaction and internalizing unanticipated needs and preferences. “We want to partner with the entire community to create the dining experience that will make Brandeis a truly special place that leads our industry in innovation, customer satisfaction and also sets the bar as

College Notebook

Sodexo’s premier location,” DeGioia said.

Sodexo plans at least three new initiatives to back this claim. “One tool we will roll out soon is ‘Staff Ranker,’ which is an online tool to give students the ability to leave compliments and concerns on their experience.”

Degioia also anticipates additional high tech solutions to managing student suggestions. “We will also open with a great program that will allow students to text comments, concerns and compliments using their smart phones allowing our team to respond quickly, track trends and solve issues in a timely manner.”

The new dining plan suggests a new, more robust platform in regard to considering student culinary habits. The new resources being rolled out may enable a more efficient and higher quality experience than students had previously come to expect.

Although the suspect quality of Aramark’s service had become a joking matter to some on campus, the transitional team at Sodexo is determined to take a more active role in accommodating the needs of the Brandeis community.

Babson apologizes to Brandeis for 35-year-old slurs

By Victoria Aronson Editor

As tensions rose during a 1978 soccer match against the predominantly Jewish Brandeis University team, members of the Babson College team hurled anti-Semitic words against their opponents, shouting “Holocaust” while wearing swastikas emblazoned on their uniforms.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to combatting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, students hung signs spelling “KTJ”, short for “Kill the Jews,” while a poster displaying the message “Happy Holocaust” was allegedly discovered in the gymnasium the day following the match.

On June 26, 35 years after the offensive incident, Babson president Len Schlesinger issued a public apology at the New England Headquarters for the Anti-Defamation League, addressing the shocking anti-Semitic actions of several students during the 1978 match.

Babson’s response at the time of the

incident neglected to include a formal or public apology to the Brandeis community. According to the Boston Globe, Schlesinger commented during a press conference at the AntiDefamation League center. “Public acts require public apologies, and we are now in the business of being very clear, that I actually don’t believe there is any time duration that is too long to address that wrong,” he said.

In addition to the public apology, President Len Schlesinger sent a letter to President Fred Lawrence on June 11. Lawrence accepted the apology on behalf of the Brandeis community, According to Ellen de Graffenreid, senior vice president for Communications at Brandeis University, he “praised Babson’s new partnership with the Anti-Defamation League of New England to bring the ADL’s Campus of Difference program to Babson College.”

Through participation in the Campus of Difference Program, campus leaders and students will explore the impact of stereotypes and seek to implement policies to combat racism,

bias and hate. Babson has announced that in collaboration with the ADL it will establish an anti-bias training program for 500 first year students this fall.

According to the ADL press release, ADL New England Regional Director Robert Trestan, stated that “acknowledging the past provides the entry point to institutionalize lasting change. We are grateful to Babson for recognizing that anti-bias and diversity training play a critical role in sustaining an inclusive and respectful college campus environment.”

photo from internet source

Pittsburgh researcher accused of murdering wife by cyanide

photo from internet source

By Charlie Romanow Staff

Dr. Robert Ferrante, neuroscientist and co-director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for ALS Research, has recently made headlines for his involvement in the murder of his wife, also a Pitt researcher. The 64-year-old is charged with the homicide of 41-year-old Dr. Autumn Marie Klein, chief of women’s neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an assistant professor of neurology, obstetrics and gynecology.

The case began in mid-April when Klein suddenly fell ill after collapsing in her home in the Oakland. She remained in a coma for the next few days and passed away on April 20 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital. Initially, the doctors were not sure what caused Klein’s drastic decline. The initial toxicology screening did not turn up anything unusual, (wasn’t there a high acidity level in the blood?) but a post-mortem test for cyanide returned positive. The difficulty of obtaining cyanide along with the its rare crime usage leaves it out of standard toxicology screenings.

“Cyanide, which can kill a human in a few minutes, is difficult for the average person to get hold of. But within the scientific community, cyanide is relatively easy to obtain,” wrote Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh PostGazette.

Ferrante asked for his wife to be cremated soon after death, perhaps as a way to hide the cause of death. He is also accused of delaying his wife’s treatment as he wanted her to be taken to a hospital that was one mile further from their home, although the closer hospital was well-regarded and included a Level I Trauma Center. Witnesses at the hospital report that Ferrante spoke of his wife in the

past tense although she was still alive at the time.

Ferrante is accused of poisoning his wife after asking a lab colleague to have 250 grams of potassium cyanide shipped overnight using his university credit card, two days before Klein collapsed in her home. While the substance is commonplace in some research, none of Ferrante’s work was using cyanide. A witness had heard him say that he wanted to buy “the best and purest cyanide he could get.”

Most purchases using a university credit card are assigned to a specific grant or project, but this was the only one of Ferrante’s 145 purchases that was not.

Ferrante’s motive is believed to stem from anger and jealousy. Ferrante believed that Klein had been having an affair, and friends of Klein have said that she was considering leaving her husband of 12 years. Ferrante may have inserted the poison into an energy drink that his wife routinely drank. Ferrante allegedly told her that the drink would help their chances of conceiving a baby.

Dr. Klein had been an expert in treating pregnant women with neurological diseases. She became interested in science at a young age and graduated from Amherst College before receiving her M.D. and Ph.D. from Boston University. After graduation she worked in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital, as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and Chief Resident at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital. She met her husband at the VA Hospital in Bedford, MA. She is survived by her parents and six-year old daughter. Her parents currently have custody of her daughter.

Ferrante stands charged with criminal homicide and has been extradited to Pennsylvania after being arrested in West Virginia.

Dept. of Justice investigates Todashev’s death TODASHEV, from page 1

preliminary report on the circumstances surrounding Todashev’s death. Florida State Attorney Jeff Ashton received the report for the DOJ and is beginning an investigation of his own. Ashton and Abdulbaki Todashev met this week to discuss the case. On Wednesday, Abdulbaki met with U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley for over an hour to further discuss the investigation.

Director Hassan Shibly of the Florida Council on American-Islamic Relations spoke to ABC News about the intent of the investigation.

“We are really conducting an investigation to see if his civil rights were

violated, was an excessive, unlawful use of force used against him, and how can we protect other Americans from having to worry about getting killed by federal officers,” he said. “This is about protecting due process of all Americans.”

Shibly said that the federal investigation will focus on the potential violation of Todashev’s civil rights, and the state investigation will focus on Florida’s use of force laws.

As The Hoot has reported previously, the triple homicide of Brendan Mess, Eric Weissman, and Raphael Teken was committed just a few miles away from the Brandeis campus in September 2011. At the time, the homicide was written off as a drug related murder. No sus-

pects were named and no arrests were made.

In April 2013, Tsarnaev’s friendship with one of the victims, Mess, raised suspicions of his involvement in the Waltham homicide. Tsarnaev and Mess knew each other from high school; Tsarnaev had previously described Mess as his best friend. Todashev’s friendship with Tsarnaev led the police to question him regarding the bombing and the homicides.

Todashev was not involved in the Boston Marathon bombing. He did admit, however, that he played a direct role in the Waltham killings and indicated Tsarnaev’s involvement as well. Todashev told the investigators that the three men were

killed during a drug ripoff because he and Tsarnaev were afraid they would be able to identify the friends and tell the police what happened.

The investigation of the Waltham

triple homicide is still in process.

The Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan declared that the Waltham murder investigation is “by no means closed.”

photo from internet source

ARTS, ETC.

4 The Brandeis Hoot

August 23, 2013

‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘2 Guns’ bring action to cinema

By Shreyas Warrier Staff

Two action movies came out this summer that caught the interest of moviegoers across the nation: “Pacific Rim,” directed by Guillermo del Toro, and “2 Guns,” directed by Baltasar Kormákur. “Pacific Rim” grossed nearly $100 million at the box office, while “2 Guns” grossed approximately $60 million.

The strength of “Pacific Rim” was not in its storyline, which possessed some gaping logical holes, but in the special effects and filmography. Set in a world where the Pacific Ocean holds a giant portal to other lands, humans have been dealing with the emerging threat of the Kaiju— massive, Godzilla-like creatures—for years. To combat these powerful foes, they create the Jaegrs, a force of automatons controlled by two partners.

To control these enormous robots, the human fighters have to be linked telepathically, a process called drifting. In this state, they become one consciousness, able to react and fight together. Slowly, the Kaiju coming through the portal become more and more powerful, and the Jaegrs start to take on frightening casualties.

Humans choose to do the only thing that seems to make sense—instead of upgrading the enormous robots that were proven Kaiju vanquishers, they build an enormous wall in the Pacific Ocean, a wall that is breached no less than thirty seconds after it went up.

As a result, the remaining Jaegrs are quickly called back into action, this time to stop a much more powerful threat. While a team of two scientists work together haphazardly to find a way to destroy the portal, the Jaegrs get sliced down.

Finally, with no other plans on how to solve the problem, they decide that the best thing to do would be to send a nuke somewhere and hope that fixes things. Into the forefront of the movie again comes some awkward character development, a sort of faint cry saying, “Look, we still have a plotline!”

There comes the love story between the best Kaiju fighting human and the rookie, who was originally stopped from being a ruthless Kaiju killer by

her adopted father, the Kaiju-killing boss. The two fall in love immediately after seeing each other, although the two actors have no chemistry whatsoever. In between moments of cinematic splendor, they have time for a quick awkward chat in which neither can confess to the feelings that clearly weren’t there.

The strength of the movie is in how it made the audience believe that they themselves could control the enormous Jaegers and fight the Kaiju monsters. The movie did an excellent job of making you feel like a kid again.

“Pacific Rim” was not watchable for its plotlines, but rather for its fantastic science fiction world and cinematic effects. It allowed you to imagine that these creatures could exist, and more importantly, made you feel powerful enough to stop them.

“2 Guns,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, is a western-style gun blazing adventure that leads two secret agents, one from the DEA and the other from the Navy, to work together on a tenuous agreement. Their friendship is originally shattered by the revelation that both are double agents using the other as a fall guy. Wahlberg and Washington hold an easy camaraderie, interacting in short snippets of casual speech amidst a hail of bullets. As they rob banks and create money laundering deals, the duo get chased by their own men, who end up turning on them to conceal all leaks.

The strength of “2 Guns” is in the actors’ abilities. Wahlberg and Washington light up the screen with their wisecracks and smart attitude. Nothing fazes them—from the explosion of a diner to the death of a girlfriend.

The villains and the plotline don’t attract a lot of interest, but the actors save the movie, as Wahlberg hits on the ladies and Washington blows up expensive cars.

Summer is often filled with action movies, as this year also brought us “Wolverine,” “Superman” and “World War Z.” But if you choose to watch any of them on DVD, your best bet is either giant automaton robots or the bromance between Wahlberg and Washington.

Editor Dana Trismen contributed to this article.

aliens and men “Pacific Rim” features aliens and fighting automatons, while “2 Guns” is all about wise-

photos from internet source

cracking characters.

Escape into the “Wild”

By Zoe Richman Staff

One of the best parts about summer vacation is the freedom to slip

into stories that aren’t your own. As you turn pages, meeting new protagonists, everyday worries fade away.

With the first sip of green tea in your favorite coffee shop at the end of the workday, the specters of unfulfilled

get lost The author Cheryl Strayed and her backpack.

major requirements disappear.

This summer, Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” took me away from the sweltering furnace that is Washington D.C. in July. In “Wild,” Strayed recalls her journey hiking the Pacific Crest

photo from internet source

Trail, commonly referred to as the PCT. The PCT is a long-distance hiking trail running from the US border with Mexico to the Canadian border on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia, Canada. The trail covers California, Oregon, and Washington in the US and runs for 2,650 miles.

In 1994, at the age of 26, Strayed set out to hike the PCT after her mother’s death and her own divorce. Emotionally spent, she wanted to challenge herself physically, but also emotionally by means of independent thinking.

Her ultimate goal was to carve out a new life for herself on the other end of the trail.

Yet Strayed began the hike having done only minimal research and was almost immediately blindsided by the realities of the trail. To start, she overpacked her backpack—nicknamed “Monster”—which put her at a physical disadvantage beginning of the first mile.

Strayed’s scramble, as she descended mountains, climbed hills, set up campsites and confronted the wear

and tear on her body, taught her to focus on the elemental needs that keep us going: food, water, shelter and human companionship.

She was so thoroughly alone that each period of social interaction, no matter how brief, was heightened in importance. The hikers she met, all of whom were characters, shared their stories and their supplies. Many were shocked that she was hiking alone as a young woman; in turn, she recognized that she was treated differently than male hikers.

No matter who tells it, a story like this is one of survival against the odds, and Strayed’s is no exception.

We root for her to take each step, despite the pain, the cold, the heat, the broken equipment and the fear.

At times, given her determination to be completely independent, I found her emotional dependence on other people frustrating. But that is an easy criticism from the vantage point of a Starbucks in Georgetown. I’m currently researching hiking boots and planning some fall hikes. Blue Hills, anyone?

August 23, 2013

ARTS, ETC. 5

The Brandeis Hoot

Shakespeare in the Park brings stories to life in Buffalo

By Naomi Soman Staff

Whether you love Shakespeare’s plays or you hate them, everyone loves Shakespeare in the Park. Shakespeare in Delaware Park has been a Buffalo, N.Y., tradition since 1976.

Free and open to the public, performances take place Tuesday through Sunday in a beautiful park in the city of Buffalo. This summer, hundreds of Buffalonians came out to watch “Hamlet” from June 20 to July 14 and “Measure for Measure” from July 25 to Aug. 18.

“Hamlet” is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known, iconic tragedies.

In this play, Hamlet’s father, the king, dies and the king’s brother Claudius marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude.

He assumes the crown shortly after his sibling’s passing. The ghost of the former king haunts his son to tell him that Claudius murdered him, and to encourage Hamlet to avenge his father’s death. With his suspicions confirmed, Hamlet devises a plot to expose his treacherous uncle. Unfortunately, he ends up in a sword fight against Claudius’s henchman Laertes.

As in all Shakespearean tragedies, almost everyone ends up dead on the stage when all is said and done, including Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude.

I read “Hamlet” twice during the past two semesters, so I was intrigued to see this interpretation of the play.

The set and costumes were quite impressive for a free, outdoor theater.

The set consisted of multiple levels and staircases, which allowed the actors to hide from other characters or create more space and dimension in the scene.

While Claudius (Tim Newell) had a great stage presence and played his part well, Hamlet (Shaun Sheley) fell a little short. Shakespeare did not specify Hamlet’s age in the play, so critics debate whether he is more of a whiny teenager or a young man in his upper twenties or early thirties. The actor, Sheley, was much older, and while he had a lot of acting experience, he did not quite fit the part. For one, it looked strange to see someone as old as himself pouting and throwing temper tantrums at his deceased father.

Throughout the text, Hamlet borders on insanity, forcing the reader to decide whether or not he has lost his mind, but this director chose to portray him as cool and collected as if he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time.

And even though the director cut scenes from the text, the play was still a bit too long. It ran for more than two and a half hours, which is a long time to sit on a hill at night. Overall,

the performance’s ending was very well done, with an exciting sword fight and dramatic finish.

Shakespeare in Delaware Park always puts on a comedy to balance out the tragedy, and they assume a lighter mood and play around with theme. This year’s comedy, “Measure for Measure,” took place in what appeared to be America’s Wild West, though they claimed it to be Vienna.

Complete with music, a sheriff and saloon girls, this production was a blast to watch.

“Measure for Measure” is not as well-known as “Hamlet,” yet the plot is more similar to a modern soap opera than sixteenth century literature. In Shakespeare’s version, a duke decides to go undercover to see what will go on during his absence.

When he puts his deputy, Angelo, in charge, Angelo decides to enforce the rules—which includes persecuting premarital sex—with an iron fist. To set an example, he arrests and plans to execute Claudio, who impregnated his lover Juliet. When hearing of this, Claudio’s sister and soon-to-be nun, Isabella, begs Angelo to reconsider.

He decides to comply, ironically, only if Isabella sleeps with him. Remaining chaste, she enlists the help of the undercover duke to trick Angelo into sleeping with his former lover Mariana, only revealing the tricks and the duke himself.

photo from internet source

shakespeare in the park Performers deliver a rendition of “Hamlet.”

In this musical adaptation, the duke was a sheriff and the play was full of saloon girls, cowboys, western accents and country western tunes. Although many traditionalists do not like tinkering with Shakespeare’s original script, the play lent itself quite well to the theme change. The set was not elaborate and the smattering of props did the trick. The audience not only laughed at the sprinkled sexual humor throughout but also sang along

with the popular melodies including “Home on the Range,” “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and “Happy Trails.”

Pompey (Ray Boucher) took the spotlight with his endearing comedy and Lucio (Zak Ward) brought a spark to the performance with his charisma.

Shakespeare in the Park is popular nationwide, but Buffalo’s own in Delaware Park is one of the city’s gems; the cast and crew proved itself again with these two wonderful productions.

JBS students develop innovative video games

By Victoria Aronson Editor

This summer, students enrolled in the JBS computer science program collaborated to develop innovative computer games and mobile apps, transforming their technical skills into creative expression. While exploring 2D and 3D game design, the twelve students selected for the program simultaneously took courses in mobile application development and software entrepreneurship.

Professor Thomas Hickey (COSI) taught “Mobile Applications and Game Development.”

“The course was designed to give students the conceptual foundations they need to understand how video games are created on a wide variety of platforms, as well as the technical skills to start building their own games,” he said.

Students worked individually and collaboratively to design 2D and 3D video games, creating their own avatar, foes and jewels amid a 3D virtual environment, complemented by sound effects and music. On a technical level, Hickey taught students to use the Visual Programming Interface to control the way in which avatars and other components of the game react to input, such as the click of the mouse controller.

One of the products developed during the session is a game titled “Crafty Hunter,” in which the player must evade foes, such as wolves, while dodging fire and arrows from shooters. Obstacles placed within the game’s environment complicate the task of locating a randomly placed room, which the player must enter in order to defeat the boss and win the game. With a classic feel evocative of traditional video games, “Crafty Hunter” is just one of the impressive products designed by Brandeis students.

Taking the breadth of virtual design beyond the scope of web games, students explored the design of mobile games as well, accessible on de-

professor thomas hickey Students design 3D video games and mobile applications.

vices including phones and tablets.

Teams worked to develop the android app FollowInk, which traces your footsteps using customized brush colors across a virtual map as you travel in real time.

Other successful projects include a drum application and an interactive mobile tool designed to aid high school students studying at Brandeis for the summer, featuring schedules, maps, alerts and dining information. Collaborating with Professor

Robert Sekuler of the psychology department, select students developed games designed to study auditory and visual processing.

The sheer complexity behind the development of these programs is remarkable, while the ingenuity used to create innovative products brings to light diverse opportunities within the field of computer science. “I think all of the games the students created were quite exciting and have potential!” Hickey said. “They are all in ei-

photo courtesy of brandeis.edu

ther the alpha or beta stage and not ready for commercialization yet, but with a lot of work and a lot of luck many of these projects could become the next ‘Draw Something’ app.”

“Draw Something,” a popular mobile game, has been downloaded over 50 million times since its release.

Hickey reflected on the skills students attained through the JBS computer science program. “They now have a much better sense of their own self-agency and are much more con-

fident in their ability to develop software applications even when it means they will need to learn the technology on their own and work in a group to develop the project,” he said.

For the upcoming fall semester, Hickey encourages students to enroll in CS65a: Introduction to 3D Animation, which will explore 3D animation, 3D modeling, and 3D Game Design, leading to a 3D Game and Film Festival near the conclusion of the semester.

6 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

August 23, 2013

Department of Theater Arts offers something for everyone

By Dana Trismen Editor

From portraying an artist in love to celebrating 365 plays, Brandeis Department of Theater Arts plans to willkommen, bienvenue, welcome all to the fall semester.

Brandeis Theater Company will put on three major productions this fall, the largest to be “Cabaret” the musical. All students, regardless of major, are invited to audition or enroll in a

drama class. As the semester begins and auditions start up, advice on how to achieve the perfect performance seems simple.

“Auditions can be nerve-wracking, but if you prepare, you’ll be fine. Have your monologue or audition material memorized (if that’s what’s asked of you), be confident, make direct eye contact,” said Alyssa Avis, Management Assistant and House Manager for the Theater Department. “It’s an interview of sorts and you want to

show the director that you can play this role, that you’re right for the part.”

The season will open with a performance of “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov, on October 3-12. “‘The Seagull’…is a new translation, which is really exciting,” said Avis. The play illustrates what it means to be an artist. Auditions are scheduled for after the start of classes, according to Avis, who also recommends checking times and dates on the Facebook page for

priestess Iphigenia (Sara Schoch) makes sacrifices to the Gods in last years show “Visions of an Ancient Dreamer”.

Brandeis Department of Theater Arts.

Brandeis will be transported to 1930s Berlin, Germany through this year’s largest show, the musical “Cabaret.” Based on a book by Joe Masteroff and with music by John Kander, the show will hit Brandeis on November 21-24, on the Mainstage Theatre.

“With ‘Cabaret’, we’re looking for a wide range of students. That’s going to be a really big production,” said Susan Dibble, Director of Theatre Arts.

Dibble recommends that students of

photos courtesy mike lovett

all talents audition. “We love to have all levels of students, you don’t have to be a theater major or theater minor,” she said.

In the world of “Cabaret,” the two main characters Clifford Bradshaw and Sally Bowles fall in love, while outside, the world begin to fall apart around them. Trapped in the decadence of cabaret and the Kit Kat Klub, the characters must decide if love is truly what is most important to them.

The final large production this fall is set for December 5-8. Pulitzer-prize winner Susan-Lori Parks, wrote one play every day for an entire year. Her final product is titled “365 Days/365 Plays.” While Brandeis will only show a selection of her work, the production will cover a much of what was written.

“They range drastically in themes, so there’s really something for everyone in there,” Avis said.

“365 Plays’ was chosen to support diversity,” Dibble said.

Each production will have different requirements for auditions, so students should keep an eye out for more information. “It could be anything from a contemporary monologue to a few bars from a musical, or both,” Avis said.

For those students who may not feel ready to leap forward into auditioning, Brandeis offers many theater classes, some of which are new this year. Dibble is looking forward to one specific class titled “Making Mirth: Building Psychological Resilience Through the Power of Play.” Dibble, in collaboration with the psychology department, will teach the class with peer assistant Rocky Reichman.

“It is collaboration with theatre and psychology working together,” said Dibble. The course is a new offering for Fall 2013.Other notable theater art courses offered this semester include “Modern Drama: Theatres of Rupture, Resistance and Engagement,” “Stage Combat,” “Vocal Gesture: The Expressive Use of the Voice” and “Signifying Character: Creating Meaning Through Costume and Production Design.”

“Orange is the New Black,” a sentencing of thoughtful humor

By Vinh Nguyen Staff

For many, summer spells out beach going, backyard barbecuing and the occasional night stargazing with friends. For me, the dog days of summer can be said in three words: television binge watching. The months of summer bring on the rare opportunity of guilt-free television watching that eludes most of us during the busy academic year. It’s a chance to catch up on favorite shows and find out what perils our favorite characters have found themselves in, as well as what new adventures await.

This summer, I’ve picked up a few new shows but none have been quite as addicting, entertaining or thoughtful as Netflix’s critically acclaimed series “Orange is the New Black.” Premiering in July exclusively on Netflix, the show is created by Jenji Kohan—who is also the brain behind Showtime’s “Weeds”—and is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name about her experiences behind bars.

“Orange is the New Black” follows the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) whose comfortable uppermiddle class life with fiancé Larry Bloom (Jason Biggs) and burgeoning

artisan soap business are put on hold when she surrenders herself to an upstate New York prison. Her sentence is 15 months in prison for carrying drug money for her then post-college girlfriend. In prison, “Chapman” struggles adjusting to her new life with set rules both spoken and unspoken. On her first day, she gets a crash course on power structure when she accidentally insults the prison food in front of the head cook, and is consequently starved until she can set things right.

Along the way, Chapman encounters an eccentric cast of characters as well as the person whom she never expected to see again: the international drug cartel leader and ex-girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Pepon of “That 70s Show”).

Incarceration shows are not entirely new to television, with predecessors like HBO’s “Oz” and Fox’s hit series “Prison Break,” but what makes “Orange is the New Black” truly groundbreaking is not only that it’s the first show to feature women in the prison environment but it also offers a fresh characterization of social privilege, gender, and sexuality. Chapman’s difficulties learning the ropes—although very comical and entertaining to watch—shed light on the privilege Chapman has that many of her fellow

inmates do not. We see Chapman becoming aware of her white privilege to which she uses to gain the favor of the head correctional officer, Mr. Healy (Michael Harney), because they are “not like the others.”

As the show progresses, Chapman becomes aware of the privileges that she possesses, and is humbled by them.

While Schilling gives a solid performance as Chapman, the real heartfelt moments of the show come from an ensemble of incredibly well-written characters that are all realized by an equally memorable cast. Notable is

the story of the transgender inmate Sophia Burset’s (Laverne Cox, co-host of VH1’s “TRANSform Me”) hardship in maintaining the body she was always meant to have while in prison, along with the story of Miss Claudette (Michelle Hurst).

Although the show is centered on Chapman—a thin, blonde, college-educated, white woman—such themes about drug addiction, sexual orientation, education, and motherhood are pulled to the foreground through these side characters and their touching backstories. The show does contain nudity and suggestive scenes. The

jail time Main character Piper Chapman sits with a fellow jail inmate.

way prison sex scenes are portrayed, however, is not voyeuristic but reflects the bleak reality and need for human interaction.

Indeed, creator Kohan has a subtle hand at humanizing these criminals not as bad people, but people who made bad choices in difficult environments. At the same time, Kohan does not romanticize their plight, as it is clear that they all must serve time and come to terms with both past and present realities. It is the way that the show is able to capture both of these aspects that makes “Orange is the New Black” a sentencing worth serving.

image from internet source

August 23, 2013

ARTS, ETC. 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Treat yourself to “Parks and Rec”

By Alison Thvedt Staff

I’m not the type of person to follow multiple shows, or even one show, when they’re actually being televised, but I do like to have a show on Netflix or iTunes that I can watch in my down time. I went around asking those I trust for advice, and a friend of mine recommended NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”

The show was so good, I decided to follow the advice of two characters, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Donna Meagle (Retta): “Treat yo self.” I treated myself and watched all five seasons a second time—and this time, I got my family to follow along with me.

Not only has the mockumentarystyle series itself been nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Comedy Series, but starring actress Amy Poehler has also received two Emmy nominations for her individual involvement.

She was first nominated for writing an episode of the show, and has most recently been nominated in July for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, is a driven, quirky, loving and passionate government employee dedicated to the task of improving the series’ fictional and all-American city, Pawnee, Ind. Working first as deputy director for the city’s Parks and Recreation department, and later as a female city counselor, Knope faces many challenges. Whether dealing with a small budget, with a boss who believes the government shouldn’t exist, accidentally marrying two male penguins in a publicity stunt at the zoo, or debating with her sexist male colleagues in the city council, Knope handles every situation with aplomb and an almost annoyingly optimistic attitude.

photo from internet source

“parks and recreation” The cast of the hit television series captivates viewers.

Knope’s boss, the self-identifying masculine Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), lends humor to the show by playing a libertarian government employee who wants nothing but an ineffective department. After hiring his young intern, April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) as an assistant, the two work to ensure that the department spends the least amount of money on improvements, no one can make appointments to better the city, and as much work as possible is deferred to others. Important work, such as actu-

ally improving the city’s parks, is met with opposition.

Haverford brings life and excitement to the series with his selfdescribed “entrepreneurial spirit.”

Primarily pursuing pipe dreams, he works with his flamboyant and obnoxious friend, Jean-Ralphio, to invest in nightclubs.

Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), a nurse, is Leslie Knope’s best friend and later gets involved in the city’s public health department. Donna Meagle adds sarcasm, confidence

and sass to the Parks and Recreation office, while Jerry Gergich is the department’s klutzy clown. Finally, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), an idiotic but lion-hearted musician, shoeshiner and assistant, Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) join the series as city managers. Traeger is overly-active, overlyhealthy, overly-optimistic and overlyemotional, while Wyatt is a nervous nerd who later loosens up and marries Knope.

Creators Greg Daniels and Michael

Schur made a fantastic show. The first season may not be up to par with the rest of the series, but it’s only six episodes long and critics now agree that the show is hilarious.

The Emmy-nominated show was deemed the number one television series in Time Magazine’s 2012 year end issue. The writing is outstanding, and each actor delivers his or her lines with impeccable comedic timing.

Looking for a new show to watch?

Treat yo self to some “Parks and Rec.”

Arts Recommends

By Victoria Aronson Editor

Portraying the traumatized faces of two innocent children abandoned in the wilderness by their murderous father, the film “Mama” is a thriller that intertwines psychological terror with supernatural entities to haunt viewers.

Presented by Guillermo Del Toro, creator of Pan’s Labyrinth, “Mama” transcends the tactics of a basic horror film to disturb viewers on a deep psychological level.

Discovered at an abandoned cabin in the woods years after their disappearance, two young girls, Victoria and Lily, scuttle across the floor like savage animals, their speech severely impaired. As they lurk in the shadows, angelic faces distorted by distrustful eyes and the unidentifiable sounds that emanate from their throats, their harshly impaired development instills a deep sense of unease.

It quickly becomes apparent that the survival of the two young girls is not merely a fortunate stroke of luck, but resides in the disturbing presence of a supernatural guardian figure they deem “Mama.” Entrusted to a psychologist, Victoria, the older of the two girls, begins to retain glimpses of humanity, slowly wishing to distance herself from the Mama figure.

The film becomes truly unsettling as the figure of Mama seizes prominence, emerging not as an illusion of childhood imagination but as the psychologically ravaged ghost of a mental asylum patient who unintentionally caused the death of her infant child. As her rampant jealousy leads to the violent infliction of harm towards adult figures in the girls’ lives, and

ultimately the girls themselves, the themes of childhood innocence, murderous parental figures and deep psychological impairment combine to leave viewers with a lingering sense of dread.

photo from internet source

“mama” The jealous spirit unleashes her rage.

ByDana Trismen Editor

For those who focus on the lyrics of their music, Matt Nathanson is an artist to watch.

A man who has been on the scene since 1993, with 10 albums under his belt, Nathanson is no rookie. He has a smart mouth, a great stage presence and lyrics that can hit home. His newest album dropped July 16, and he will be swinging by Boston at the House of Blues in November. The album, titled “The Last of the

matt nathanson

Great Pretenders” is more focused on romantic interests and relationships than Nathanson’s albums usually are. This isn’t a negative, just unusual for a man who usually chooses to focus the message of his songs on enjoying the little things in life. Nathanson’s album does not disappoint long-term fans, and despite having turned 40, his music is as relevant as ever. The tunes are great for car rides, and even to play in the background while hanging out with friends. Tracks to get: “Mission Bells” and “Kinks Shirt.”

photo from internet source

8 The Brandeis Hoot

this week in photos

August 23, 2013

Welcoming new students

did you notice New changes have been introduced to outdoor areas and residence halls over the summer. Exercise equipment in East, astroturf near Usdan, and picnic tables at the SCC and Usdan are here to welcome new and returning students.

photos by theresa gaffney/the hoot

August 23, 2013

The Brandeis Hoot

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS 9

Sodexo makes changes

photos by theresa gaffney/the hoot

delicious additions As the new campus dining partner, Sodexo has made changes across campus in

dining halls. A sushi station, allergen-free station, and new name for the C-Store are introduced with the new school year.

10 The Brandeis Hoot

EDITIORIALS

August 23, 2013

Sodexo to partner with student community

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-Chief Emily Stott Lassor Feasley Managing Editor Victoria Aronson Managing Editor Dana Trismen Managing Editor Morgan Dashko Copy Editor Theresa Gaffney Copy Editor Suzanna Yu Copy Editor Nate Rosenbloom Photography Editor Jun Zhao Graphics Editor Katie Chin Online Editor Rachel Hirschhaut Deputy News Editor

Volume 10 • Issue 12 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

staff

Shota Adamia, Emily Belowich, Dani Chasin, Katie Chin, Ben Fine, Evan Goldstein, Jaye Han, Maya Himelfarb, Brittany Joyce, Eli Kaminsky, Rebecca Leaf, Nathan Murphy Needle, Vinh Nguyen, Aliya Nealy, Alexandra Patch, Max Randhahn, Zoe Richman, Charlie Romanow, Emily Scharf, Alec Siegel, Naomi Soman, Diane Somlo, Sindhura Sonnathi, Jennifer Spencer, Matthew Tagan, Alison Thvedt, Coco Tirambulo, Yi Wang, Shreyas Warrier, Pete Wein, 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.

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

V

ital to the health of a University is the quality of student life. Candidates for admissions will not attend a school that does not promise a rich, vibrant and wholesome college experience. Foremost among the barbs frequently lodged at Brandeis’ management of campus life is its food service.

Students complained that food provided by the auspices of Aramark was of a quality that did not justify its price.

A visitor to a typical Brandeis cafeteria would likely complain of long lines, limited options and infrequent rotation of menus. Patrons of the POD Stores often complained that prices were inflated compared to similar items sold at the nearby Hannaford’s and Walgreen’s.

While some improvement was seen during the 2012-2013 school year, many students attributed Aramark’s heightened sensitivity to customer satisfaction to the fact that its contract was up for renewal instead of a genuine dedication

to excellence. Regardless of the changes, University food service remained a conspicuous symbol of the state of community life.

We applaud the administration for taking what is hopefully the first of many steps toward a higher quality of student life. The decision to switch culinary providers from Aramark to Sodexo emphasizes the fact that administration is taking an active role in increasing the quality of student life. While it is yet to be seen if the switch truly anticipates a new chapter in student life, our interactions with Sodexo personnel have led us to adopt a cautious optimism.

A nutritious and robust food service is one of the most important determinants in student life. Much of the Brandeis population hails from communities where meals are the anchor of community life and social interaction. The university and Sodexo must acknowledge the potential for their decisions to influence all facets of student well-being.

The ambition of Sodexo’s plans is heartening. Among the many promised improvements are new franchise locations on campus including Starbucks, Guy Fieri on Campus and Einstein’s Bagels (which previously only serviced a mini-franchise in the Shapiro Campus Center). In addition, we are promised overhauled dining halls, new kosher options and even the potential for oncampus food trucks.

We are encouraged by Sodexo’s willingness to listen to our feedback and to take action to remedy complaints. These include a method of providing input via mobile phone, a platform which we hope will streamline the feedback process.

If the administration is truly committed to overhauling student life, its attention should not be limited merely to food service. Other areas that deserve equal attention include housing and facilities.

sports

August 23, 2013

Patriots’ Hernandez charged with homicide

The Brandeis Hoot 11

Soccer teams ranked No. 12 in nation

By Theresa Gaffney Editor

By Charlie Romanow Staff

Former New England Patriots Pro Bowler Aaron Hernandez was arrested at his home in North Attleborough, Mass., on June 26 and subsequently charged with murder. The arrest followed an investigation into the June 17 death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, an employee of a landscaping company and semi-professional football player for the Boston Bandits.

Lloyd’s remains were found in a gravel pit in an industrial park less than one mile from Hernandez’s suburban home. Keys to a car that Hernandez rented were found in Lloyd’s pocket. Lloyd, a resident of Dorchester, Mass., was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancé.

Hernandez’s history of criminal activity throughout his high school days in Bristol, Conn., and college career in Florida were likely the fuel that ignited the fire behind the orchestrated execution.

An unsolved double homicide took place last summer in Boston’s South End that is now believed to be connected to Hernandez. Police believe Lloyd may have been aware of the event. The two men had been out earlier on June 14 at Rumor, a club in Boston. A few days before his death, Lloyd had spoken to some people who were not on good terms with Hernandez; this may have angered the NFL player.

Hernandez and two friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, reportedly left Lloyd’s home at 2:30 a.m. on June 17 and headed to North Attleborough. Ortiz and Wallace each have prior criminal offenses.

While in custody, Ortiz has claimed that Wallace told him that Hernandez fired the shots. Ortiz had fallen asleep in the car before Hernandez, Lloyd and Wallace exited the vehicle. Shots were then heard by Ortiz and bystanders between 3:22 a.m. and 3:27 a.m. Hernandez and Wallace then returned to the vehicle without Lloyd and the three men drove to Hernandez’s home.

Personal surveillance cameras show Hernandez and one other man carrying a gun, although the weapon used for the murder has not yet been found. Footage from the six to eight hours after the crime was erased. The available footage shows Hernandez walking to and from his basement multiple times. Lloyd texted his sister at 3:23 a.m. informing her that he was with Hernandez, possibly moments before he was shot.

The rented car used by the men was later returned and found to contain empty shell casings that match those of the .45 caliber found near Lloyd’s body as well as his fingerprints. Additional .45 caliber ammunition was found in Hernandez’s SUV and in an apartment he leased in nearby Franklin, Mass. The SUV is believed to be linked to the double homicide last summer. In the Franklin apartment, police found the white hooded sweatshirt and hat that Hernandez had been seen wearing at Rumor.

Recent documents state that after returning to his home, Hernandez put his guns into a black lock box in his basement. His fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, was seen taking an empty trash bag down to the basement and returned with something in it before borrowing her sister’s car and then returning without the bag an hour later.

When approached by police officers at his home the following day,

The Brandeis men’s and women’s soccer teams each have been recently ranked as the No. 12 teams in the nation for Men and Women Division III Soccer for this upcoming season. The placement comes from the National Soccer Coaches Association of American Preseason Top 25 Poll.

The recognition is a continuation of the success last season saw, when the women’s team made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The girls finished the 2012 season ranked No. 8, with a record of 16-5-2.

The boys also saw success in 2012, after making it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament, with a record of 18-

3-1.

The women will compete this year with 10 of the 11 starters from last year’s team, while the men will retain eight of last year’s 11, according to BrandeisNOW. This includes stand-out player Dara Spital for the women, who earned the title of third-team All American, and first-team All UAA selection with 33 points in 2012. For the men, Sam Ocel will play another year as a “second senior,” with one more year of NCAA eligibility due to an injury his sophomore year, says BrandeisNOW. Other UAA teams that made the rankings for women include Emory at No. 2, Washington at No. 4, Carnegie Melon at No. 5 and Chicago at No. 25. The men outscore the division, only joined

by Carnegie Melon at No. 18.

photo from internet source

Hernandez was unaffected. On Aug. 19, a gun was confirmed to be found in a woman’s car after a crash in Longmeadow, Mass., that is believed to be have been used in last year’s double homicide.

A locked safe box found in the vehicle may hold more clues to the murder of Odin Lloyd. Jailene DiazRamos, the driver of the vehicle, has a Bristol, Conn., address, which is also Hernandez’s hometown. She told the police that the items were left in the car after she gave a ride to some people that she did not know, but described as football players.

Twenty-three-year-old Hernandez won a national championship with the University of Florida and compiled 18 touchdowns, 175 receptions and nearly 2,000 yards in his brief

three-year stint with the pass-heavy Patriots. Questions about the young star have surrounded him since his high school years. The pre-draft screening for all draftees had marked Hernandez with the lowest possible score for “social maturity,” and indicated that he liked to “live on the edge of acceptable behavior.” While these factors may have been a red flag for the team’s drafting decision, the recent discoveries could not have been expected.

The Patriots released Hernandez from his five-year, $40 million contract after his arrest. Wallace is currently charged with accessory to murder after the fact and Ortiz is charged with a weapons charge. Investigations continue in Connecticut and Massachusetts. photo from internet source

opinion

12 The Brandeis Hoot

August 23, 2013

The issue with “Blurred Lines”

By Emily Scharf Staff

While I was at my favorite sub shop picking up dinner, I was irritated to hear the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke come on the radio behind the counter. Before I even had time to think about how much the song irritated me, the muscled man making my sandwich grumbled, “I hate this song with a burning passion.” I don’t know whether the sexist, degrading lyrics are what caused that man to loathe the song, or if it was simply the melody itself. Regardless, it was refreshing to hear.

It seems that the world has mixed reviews concerning the single that has gained the title of longest-running No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 this year. While the song held No. 1 spot on iTunes’ top selling singles list until dropping to No. 2 this week, listeners’ responses vacillate between love of the music to outright disgust at Thicke’s lyrics and methods. One iTunes reviewer states, “Albeit catchy, I can’t support a person who actively tries to degrade women and then defends himself for it. I don’t care if it’s his choice as an artist and trying to be ‘edgy’ doesn’t cut it. This song, and the intent behind it, is sick and a huge disappointment to what could have been a good song.”

The lyrics to the song are disturbing; some of them so much so that it is uncomfortable putting them in print, much less having children hear them on the radio. Some of the less risqué lyrics compare women to animals, claiming that the singer “tried to domesticate” the woman to whom he is singing. This is upsetting because it puts the listener in the mindset that it is okay to treat a woman as less than a man. It puts forth the claim that women need to be tamed, that women are subservient and need to be controlled. In this day and age, it is abhorrent that women and men still are not perceived as equals.

Another line of the song says, “The way you grab me, must wanna get nasty.” This claim simply feels downright creepy. It attempts to validate the notion that if a woman so much as touches a man she is consenting to

sex. It provides listeners with the false belief that something less than verbal consent is acceptable. The song also choruses the line, “I know you want it.” This seems to undermine a woman’s refusal of consent, implying that “no” doesn’t always mean “no.” It is reasonable to say this song condones rape culture, and that is despicable.

The first time I heard “Blurred Lines,” it was in a commercial for Beats Pill, a portable stereo by Beats

by Dr. Dre. At the time, I did not know the song, I did not know that Robin Thicke was actually in the commercial and I did not know that the commercial was a parody of the song’s music video. My initial reaction was horror; why was it necessary to sexualize a non-sexual product? Why do women need to parade around nearly naked to sell stereos? Why turn a simple product into something phallic?

When I saw the actual music video, I was equally horrified.

The “Blurred Lines” music video comes in two forms: the regular version and an unrated version. I found it disconcerting enough that in the regular version women were seen, barely clothed, draping themselves all over the men singing and rapping.

Some women weren’t even clothed at all, just concealed by arms or animals.

One woman’s only clothing is a nudecolored thong. Yet, the unrated version takes it a step further. In nearly every scene of the unrated video the women are topless and wear only a nude-colored thong.

Another problem for me, evident in both versions of the video, is the statement, spelled out in balloons, that “Robin Thicke has a big D.” I fail to understand why a musician needs to proclaim this to the world. All this statement serves to do is propagate the age-old, self-esteem hazardous myth that size matters. The video seems to promote false ideas of what both men and women should look like.

Women have been grappling with the media’s image of what they should look like long before the advent of Photoshop. We see nearly all there is to see of the women in the music video. What many people fail to see is the effect this has on young women who see this. It presents the false notion

school news This fall and spring Brandeis will pilot the availability of two graduatelevel courses to seniors. The two courses are 10-week, online courses offered through Graduate Professional Studies (GPS), a Division of the Rabb School.

RVTM 101: Foundations of Virtual Management across Cultures and Geographies :

rabb graduate center

that the women in the video are the norm in terms of body size and shape; it teaches young girls that if they do not look like the models then they are not worthy of love and attention. That is unacceptable.

The models’ nudity gives men and boys the same idea: that all girls should look like the women in the video. In this sense, it could cause men not to appreciate all women, regardless of their outward appearance.

In addition, the way the men drape themselves all over the women gives the impression that men are entitled to do so. I sincerely hope that this song gives no person the idea that they are entitled to access any part of another person without his or her consent. Each of us is our own person and we have the right to our own personal space. Finally, if the women are nearly naked, why aren’t the men? Why is it okay for the men to be dressed in dapper suits, while the women parade around in their underwear? If clothing is a sign of status in this video, no woman could appreciate the message.

Thicke’s record label did not support “Blurred Lines” right away. They didn’t understand it and had no desire to support it. They didn’t pay for the music video; though, after seeing it, they jumped on the bandwagon.

What shocked me was the simple fact that a woman directed the music video. Diane Martel, who has directed numerous music videos, sought to gain attention for Thicke with the video. She said, “I think if ... we do a funny, silly video with topless girls, everybody’s going to have to know who Robin Thicke is.” She certainly succeeded in gaining him attention, though I cannot comprehend how the video is any way funny or silly.

Yet, this has been Thicke’s idea of the video as well as the song. The way he views it, both he and Pharell Williams, co-writer and singer in the video, are happily married, making them the perfect people to make fun of the numerous taboos in the video. Thicke recognizes that the video is derogatory toward women, yet, amazingly, he finds no fault with it. As Elizabeth Day of the United Kingdom’s Observer has said, the video is “eye-poppingly misogynist.”

robin thicke

photo from internet source

The Hoot recommends: senior online classes

This course introduces an analytical framework for assessing the complex and varied geographic, cultural and regulatory environment(s) in which virtual and globally distributed team members work. The course covers strategies for recognizing, anticipating, and responding to cultural and individual diversity; relevant local, state and regional regulatory struc-

tures; and ethical dilemmas that may emerge in the management of virtual teams, particularly in the context of globalization.

At the end of this course the student will be able to: Employ a variety of resources for assessing the geographic, cultural, and regulatory environment(s) across which virtual teams operate.

photo from internet source

Anticipate a set of challenges, ranging from geographic to communicative to ethical, associated with the management of diverse virtual teams.

Manage these challenges consciously and systematically using a skill set that is both structured and flexible.

Use this knowledge to develop and apply techniques for strengthening communication and building virtual teams.

Evaluate and adjust language to more effectively communicate about diversity RHIN 110: Perspectives on Health/Medical Information Systems This course serves as an introductory course in the Health and Medical Informatics curriculum. Students interested in the Health Care field will be able to gain the fundamental understanding of Health Care Systems, from provider types to vocabularies to efficiencies, and the impact of Information Technology on the Health and Medical Informatics discipline.

Through key assignments, case study analysis, and a research project, stu-

dents will be able to explore and gain perspectives on Health and Medical Informatics in the context of their own interest fields. Additionally, actual applications of IT in the Health and Medical Informatics domain, from clinical information systems to e-Health, will be analyzed.

At the end of this course students will be able to: Understand the fundamentals of health care systems including providers, payments, and spending.

Be able to assess the impact of technology on health care and the role of health informatics in improving patient care, administration, and education.

Describe computerized patient records, interoperability, and adoption issues.

Identify the principles of health information technology including IT infrastructure.

Discuss risks and privacy issues in introduction to health information security.

Analyze various types of health information including data, vocabularies, and standards.

August 23, 2013

OPINION 13

The Brandeis Hoot

Children focus too much on gender stereotypes

By Alison Thvedt Staff

I spent my summer surrounded by children, working at both a musical theater summer camp and for a nanny company.

Spending nine or more hours a day with kids was a learning experience in more ways than one. What surprised me the most was learning about the way that children perceive and experience gender. I was disappointed to learn, during the course of the summer, how children speak about gender. Clothing, toys, board games— pretty much everything made for children create a deep gender divide using colors and decorations to separate the sexes.

The theater camp was divided into two sessions: the first was for elementary-aged children and the second was for middle-school aged children.

Through the nanny company, I became a regular babysitter for a fiveyear-old boy. In addition, I signed up

for various on-call assignments for families that only needed a babysitter for a day or evening.

Because I worked with children in both elementary and middle school, I met children of many different ages that ranged from six months to 13 years. Across the many ages, I was struck the most by the gender differences prevalent in elementary-aged children.

Girls, for example, wore pink—almost all the time, and this is not an exaggeration. When they were not wearing pink, they were wearing sparkles or flowers, and their clothes were form-fitting.

Boys, on the other hand, wore what you see most adult males wearing: shorts, especially running or cargo shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes.

Their shirts featured superheroes and graphics more than I’ve seen men my age wear, and simple, bland colors: lots of blues, blacks and reds. There are other colors too, but almost never pink.

The multitude of board games, video games and cartoon TV shows

school news

held Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.

Vietnam: America’s War at Home: offered by a professor from Boston College. Class starts August 29. Live class will be held Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.

All of these courses will count toward the 32 courses required for the Brandeis B.A., but the courses may not count toward the requirements of certain majors.

If enrolled, the student will “meet” (synchronously, or online with not more than 20 other classmates and the instructor) once a week for 80 minutes. Other materials and assigned readings are expected to be completed. The courses will end by December 13.

The add drop period runs until September 6. There will be one week without live meetings, over Thanksgiving break (November 25-29).

religion rises Study Christianity in an online class.

americans in vietnam A war that hit close to home.

egory—boy or girl—as early as elementary school or maybe even before then? Why are we taught that clothing defines a person’s gender, and why do we care so much about what gender people are?

I don’t understand why the boy I babysat said one day, “I can talk like a girl! Listen!” and then proceeded to speak in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. Most children all sound the same, but he didn’t understand that.

He had it in his head that girls sounded differently from boys and was imitating a girl’s voice as a form of humor. It seems that boys sounding like girls is very funny in elementary school.

I believe this deep gendering of children is not only problematic for boys and girls, but for children that do not identify with their anatomical sex and/or gender stereotype as well.

A year before, I worked at a summer school, and there was a young female who identified with “boy” things.

She had a “boy” haircut, wore “boy” clothing and had a Batman backpack, but she still went by her “girl” name

and liked to play with both genders on the playground even though many children prefer to play mainly with others of their own gender.

The other children were confused as to why someone who, in their eyes, acted so obviously like a boy would use the girls’ bathroom. They viewed gender based on how this child looked, not on her name or how she often liked to play with other girls at recess. They placed so much worth in trying to understand the child’s gender instead of just playing with her as a new friend.

Too much emphasis is placed on children identifying with their born sex. I don’t know where it comes from, but this deep wanting to fit into the gender binary is problematic.

Perhaps if there wasn’t such a deep divide in the way children dressed, then calling a child by the wrong gender would not be considered an insult.

Perhaps then would more adults learn to overcome their fear of not looking feminine or masculine enough so that they can learn to be more secure in their own skin.

John Unsworth named to council

Learn from professors across the nation In a special opportunity only offered only to seniors, next spring Brandeis will begin offering online courses taught by Professors Marc Brettler and Ellen Wright. Classes are held through the 2U Semester Online Consortium. But this fall, get in on the action early.

For classes that begin the week of August 26, Brandeis will offer “scholarships” that would enable students to enroll in courses offered by other consortium schools at no additional cost.

Only a very few students will be able to participate.

The three courses are: History of Religion in America: offered by a professor from Emory University. Class starts August 27. Live class will be held Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Rise of Christianity: offered by a professor from Notre Dame. Class starts August 27. Live class will be

struck me too. Characters or players in these were dominantly male.

Sometimes there would be a supporting female, but she had something definitively feminine about her. Many of the girl cartoon characters had long eyelashes, as if that was the defining characteristic of being a girl.

I was also fascinated by the way most children would used pronouns.

I noticed how the kid I regularly babysat always used “he” unless, just like in the games he played and shows he watched, unless the character had something fitting the feminine stereotype such as a high voice (even though all children have higher voices) or long eyelashes.

I don’t get it.

I don’t understand why adults feel the need to instill this skewed sense of gender in our children at such a young age.

Why does that matter so much?

Why are we taught to identify with our gender and to judge other people based on their gender from such a young age? Why are we taught that people have to fit into a certain cat-

Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services Chief Information Officer John Unsworth has been appointed by the White House to serve on the 26-member National Council on the Humanities. This is the advisory group of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The NEH provides grants to universities to help fund projects such as television and radio programs, libraries, and individual academic endeavors. It is one of the largest funders for

Humanities studies in the country.

Unsworth will serve a term of six years for the Council.

His responsibilities will include advising the program director on policies and procedures and reviewing grant proposals.

Unsworth is very excited to begin his work with the Council. “This is a particularly important time to be assisting the NEH,” he told BrandeisNOW. He explained further that “proposed House legislation” puts the

program at risk of losing half of its funding.

Unsworth has plenty of experience working with NEH; for 20 years he has applied and received grants from them. He has also recently served as a consultant on making the Office of Digital Humanities permanent. At Brandeis, he also teaches as an English professor.

On the committee, Unsworth is replacing a Brandeis alumna, Jean Elshtain Ph.D ’73.

Doctors become leaders Through the collaboration of The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and The Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership in Maine, The McAfee Fellows Program has been created to provide educational opportunities for leaders in health care, thereby generating a supportive network of physicians.

The program, aimed at improving health care within the state of Maine,

will bring members of the Brandeis faculty to the area, thereby reducing financial and time constraints placed upon physicians. As of March, 36 physicians had completed the advanced program, which addresses a wide scope of areas including business, management skills, increased partnership and developing trends prevalent within the field of health care. An anticipated, 26 doctors have enrolled in the program for the up-

coming 2013-2014 year.

By building a cohesive system of physicians, the training program is designed to provide leaders in the field of medicine with the tools to excel. Dr. Chilingerian (HS), academic director at the Maine Program, states “This program is a superb fit with our mission of creating new knowledge and insights in health policy and management,” according to BrandeisNOW.

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

the heller school for social policy and management

photo from internet source

14 OPINION

The Brandeis Hoot

August 23, 2013

Learning to appreciate the journey

By Jake Weiner

Special to the Hoot

On the night of May 19, after a whirlwind day of caps and gowns, diplomas and subtle donation requests, I left my friends at the Alpha Delta Phi house as a college graduate. But rather than smile at my accomplishments, I was struck with paralyzing fear. As I walked across the street on the 100-foot journey from my friends to my apartment and went to sleep, I worried that when I woke up, I’d look out the window and the place that I had just left would be gone. Not physically, as though the corner of South and Dartmouth was the island from “Lost,” but gone as if I’d never be able to get those experiences and those memories back.

In time, I accepted that although there was change in my life, I would adjust and find success in the “real world”—because this had all happened before. Four years ago, I sat on my front steps in Philadelphia after packing the car for college and had the same fears. I was worried that I’d lose the places and the people that mattered most to myself and my identity, traveling 300 miles away.

The members of the Class of 2013 will all follow different paths. My journey to adjust to life outside of Brandeis is unique to me. This is coupled by the fact that this is the second year in a row that I haven’t had to enroll in fall classes. Last year, I did this by choice when I felt the calling to work full time on a campaign. I’ve already had to find housing last minute and worry about holding down a schedule without my friends prodding me to go to class—much like a first-year adjusting to life without parents controlling his/her schedule.

Additionally, I’ve adapted to the new expectations of my life because I’m in the same line of work as I was a year ago, and I still live in Waltham.

You’ll never see me running around campus grabbing coffee from the library before waiting on line for Pachanga tickets, but I can’t hide for long from the proximity, even if I want to.

That’s what’s specific about my journey: it’s helped me adjust to new experiences that life has thrown at me. When you get to college, leave college, get married, or follow life’s other big journeys in the “real world,” there will be factors like these for everyone. Here are a few things that I’ve learned from some of the smartest people around me in my times of transition, and which I’ve found helpful when adjusting to most situations: Be the nicest person you can be for the first week in a new environment, and you’ll be set for life. (And be nice after that, too.) Half of the people living in my house as graduates are kids who lived in my quad as first-years, and one was someone I met on my first day at school.

Fill the abundance of free time with new or exciting pursuits. When I first started college, I signed up for every group imaginable: auditioning for a cappella, captaining a flag football team and trying out a radio show.

I used to joke to my friends that I signed up for both the college Democrats and the college Republicans.

Some activities lasted, such as my involvement in political groups and my fraternity, while others fell by the wayside. As a graduate, this past June I got a camera and started learning how to use it. I also started learning how to brew beer with my roommate and caught up on reading. In the long run, these interests may become passions, just as I fell into certain activities in my undergrad years.

graphic by jun zhao/the hoot

Self reflection

Allow your interests and employment status to be narrowed and more defined; it’s not necessarily bad. Even when I started with 1,000 aforementioned extracurriculars, by my senior year I was spending most of my time on politics, fraternity and music, while trying to find a job and a personal life that had the right combination of these.

Always keep an eye out for something else on the horizon. If it’s time to move on, do it with confidence and grace. For me, this has been true of friendships, club involvement, employment and subjects I chose to study.

Don’t let the “perfect” get in the way of the “good.” I spent the first few months of this summer in a state of “funemployment,” and to cope, I tried to get as much done as possible on things in my life that I thought were “imperfect”—I cleaned and reorganized my house, dabbled in diets and made lists of tasks I wanted to accomplish, all to fill my time until I got a job.

While I got a lot done, I would have been just as happy in the long run to have waited until the next day to accomplish a task. Striving for excellence is important, but not to the detriment of your success. In the workforce, there’s usually at least one task that can wait another day, and

with the exception of any deadline, it’s usually the task on which you find yourself stalling late at night when you should be relaxing.

Be a good person. It’s easier for teachers, mentors and employers to identify a good person whom they can train in a skill or engage in a passion, than to find a talented individual who needs to be trained in kindness and compassion.

Stay healthy. Eat, sleep, get your flu shot. If you’re in any sort of rewarding career, you’re not working nine to five every day for the next 20 years— you’ll probably end up working some overtime. Keep healthy, and get adequate sleep when you can because you’ll need the collective rest when you can’t.

Keep in touch with the people you care about most, no matter how you do it. They were there before you journeyed toward the “new,” and they’ll be there during the adjustment, after you’ve settled and when you’re ready to move on again. That’s primarily what keeps me local: I want to hold onto the best parts of what I’m leaving behind. But every day, I become more aware that one day I’ll be ready to physically move elsewhere.

For now, my experiences, memories and the connections I have can be as easy to navigate and recall as walking across South Street.

hats in the air Students celebrate graduating.

photo from internet source

August 23, 2013

OPINION 15

The Brandeis Hoot

New communication methods intend to innovate, not replace

By Lassor Feasley Editor

As the torchbearers of the future, our generation is never at a loss for “constructive” criticism provided by our aged predecessors. The culture we have adopted seems to be under attack from all sides; nothing is safe.

The lash of our detractors tongue, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, even the new slang which peppers our language is under a constant barrage of judgment. It seems nothing we do can withstand the fickle tastes of those who came before us. We are accused of deficiencies in discipline, manners and plain common sense.

Sometimes the accusations of inferiority leveled against us contain a grain of truth. Even I am occasionally confounded by the conduct and preferences of my peers. Various strains of counterculture have emerged among today’s youth focused on nostalgia and reversion to the past. Take our obsession with vintage clothing and classic rock, for example. Yet even the most ardent apologists of our generation could hardly find the more vocal critics of generation Y justified.

The most frustrating charge we are accused of is that the art of correspondence has degraded under our tutelage. “In the old days we knew how to communicate. We had letters,” declare our self-appointed baby boomer mentors with the pomp and confidence befitting a cat presenting a dead rodent to its master. “Today, what with the Facebook and the

Twitter and the Skype, the soul has been taken out of communications.”

If one thing defines our generation, it is the way we communicate. We have opportunities to network with one another which put the landline bound phone conversations of our parents’ days to shame. Yet rather than recognizing the inherent superiority of our communications, many greying members of the old elite insist that our methods of communicating with one another are inferior to the mediums of the past.

Their arguments usually go something like this: In messaging forms of communication such as Twitter, instant messenger or texting, we are limited in the quantity of words we can use and thus the quality also suffers. Emails are never quite so thoughtful as snail mail, and video conferencing mutes the intimacy of face to face conversations. In general, they argue that digital communications are dehumanizing and dumb down the quality of our words. They are unengaging and even corrosive to the attention spans of the people who use them.

What these critics fail to see is that the new forms of communication are not designed to imitate the old forms.

Video calling, in my opinion, is not just tone-deaf in-person conversation. Email and messaging are not just regular mail on steroids. Such analogies are misleading and uninformed. These are entirely new ways of connecting.

Think of it this way: The closest digital equivalent to having lunch with a friend is to Skype them in-

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stead. How does this change the dynamic? When I Skype someone, I can passively use my computer in ways which would be impolite in person.

I can end the conversation abruptly and focus my attention elsewhere without committing any faux pas. If I were hosting a friend for lunch, I would be compelled to lend them my undivided attention for the full duration of the meal. One can hardly say that one mode of communicating is inferior to the other; they both have their purposes and advantages in various situations.

I personally enjoy getting into a spirited debate via text message. It al-

lows me to think on my feet as though I were speaking, but also allows me to hold my opponent accountable for false statements and logical fallacies as though I were responding to a written argument. This does not mean that the spoken debate is obsolete, but I would go so far as to say that having a vibrant variety of mediums through which to communicate allows me to more thoroughly express myself.

Though I often respond to messages with a curt “OK,”’ I also write long form emails and keep comprehensive correspondence with several friends.

The point is that we should not think of digital media in terms of old

media comparisons. While members of the “greatest” generation bristle at the thought of a new standard of communication to which they may never be fully initiated, they should not search for inadequacies in our methods.

Deeper understanding does not come from a contrarian outlook on innovation and change. Yet that is exactly the route with which many have chosen to approach the twentyfirst century. Nostalgia for an archaic status quo that our forefathers could better understand may validate their generational self worth, but it counters the world we want to create.

Glorified swag with Kanye and Jay Z

By Eli Kaminsky Staff

As the summer of 2013 ran its course, the music world exploded with huge new albums, singles, concert tours, deaths and lawsuits. Amid all the drama, however, one conversation in particular has risen above all: the comparison of new releases

by Jay Z and Kanye West, two of the biggest names in hip-hop today.

Jay Z has been at the top of the genre since 2009’s “The Blueprint III” reignited the fire that started with “The Black Album” of 2003. In comparison, Kanye only truly gained similar success in 2010 after the release of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” brought him out of the darkness created by his “808s and Heartbreak” of 2008. In 2011, the world learned that Jay Z and Kanye

kanye west

view each other as equals, thanks to their collaborative “Watch The Throne.”

It is only natural to compare Kanye’s newest album, “Yeezus,” to Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.”

Now that the world has been able to digest these releases, it is time to beg the ultimate question: who dropped the better album?

Several years ago, both rappers began to advertise themselves as selfproclaimed deities. The artists reveal their shared obsession with classical and religious themes in Kanye’s “Power” video, set at the pearly gates, his side project “Cruel Summer,” and also in the angelic, gold album artwork for the collaborative “Watch the Throne.”

“Yeezus” and “Magna Carta Holy Grail” continue this trend, suggesting that humility is not encouraged at this level of hip-hop.

Considering the directness of the

photo from internet source

title “Yeezus,” the album is visually quite plain. The blank CD is packaged in a clear, plastic case decorated with one red square. On the contrary, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” a less glaringly named record, is decorated with images harkening back to ancient Greece and Rome. While Jay Z’s more graceful title places him in a poetic light, Kanye West prides himself on his directness. It appears, however, that both albums suggest the arrival of similar, ferociously confident, religious musical epics. Thematically, both “Yeezus” and “Magna Carta” discuss superstardom in a divine light, but the releases could not be more different.

“Yeezus,” which hit the record stores on June 18, is by far West’s most innovative album to date. The rapper and his production team, headed by Rick Rubin (who was also involved with “Magna Carta”) composed “Yeezus” with a stripped-down approach.

The album could probably be released without any vocals as a solely instrumental record reminiscent of a cross between Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails and Crystal Castles. The beats hold their own far more than Kanye’s raps.

Daft Punk themselves produced the record’s first track, “On Sight,” which starts with frantic synthesizer warbling before dropping into the edgy, keyboard-driven beat. About a minute and a half later, though, Kanye screams curses just as the beat abruptly changes to resemble swirling, psychedelic indie music for ten seconds before returning to the initial electronica. It is evident that West refuses to abide by any rules, simply unleashing his anger accompanied only by a few snares and synthesizers. His lyricism in the first track alone is candid and obnoxious, sporting cheap,

tactless, Lil Wayne-worthy punchlines such as “We get this b*tch shakin’ like Parkinson’s,” and “One last announcement: no sports bra, let’s keep it bouncing.” “On Sight” warns listeners that they will be in for one wild ride.

Luckily, the beats remain strippeddown and interesting throughout the remainder of the record. The lyrics, however, continue to sound rushed, cocky and disagreeable. Kanye reaches the point of no return on the third track, “I Am a God (feat. God)” when he interrupts the perfectly subtle bass line by repeating “I am a god” over and over again. If Kanye had even tried to establish some lyrical integrity and soul, he might have had an incredible album. The creativity of the album’s music is negated by the sloppy and pretentious lyricism.

Jay Z is just as sure of himself on his new album as his protégé, though he shows it with a little more class. While Kanye strayed as far as possible from his familiar sound, Jay Z stood strong by his world-renowned swagger on Magna Carta, busting out 16 recognizably Jay Z tracks. “Holy Grail (feat.

Justin Timberlake)” opens the record as properly as “On Sight” opens “Yeezus.” The song leads with a dark piano hook written by longtime Jay Z collaborator Timbaland, and a wailing feature by Justin Timberlake before dropping into a classic rap beat. The song is exactly what one might expect from the Brooklyn-bred MC, which is a general trend for the album.

“Magna Carta” is filled with wonderful beats, powerful hooks and swagger-filled lines, highlighted by “Holy Grail,” “Oceans (feat. Frank Ocean),” “Picasso Baby,” “Tom Ford,” “Heaven” and “Nickels and Dimes.”

“Oceans” is soulful tune about

racism that gently but dramatically brings to light the deep pain caused by slavery and prejudice, unlike “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on “Yeezus” which also touch on the same topic. Kanye merely frustrates listeners with his angry tone, but Jay Z pushes for sympathy and understanding, telling a more sorrowful narrative. After “Holy Grail (feat Justin Timberlake),” “Oceans” is probably the strongest song, though “Picasso Baby” comes close, brought down only by its more materialistic lyricism about wealth and ambition.

That’s really what makes “Magna Carta” imperfect. The album’s lyricism becomes redundant at times, jumping back and forth between Jay Z’s wealth, superstar status and godlike appeal. On “Crown,” the rapper even stoops as low as Kanye, declaring, “You’re in the presence of a king/ Scratch that you’re in the presence of a god.”

“Yeezus” is simply Kanye West’s ego on absolute fire. It’s more a piece of performance art about how great he is, whereas “Magna Carta” is a commercial rap album ready for distribution.

Neither album is perfect. What the final judgment comes down to is the ease of listening and that award goes to Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.”

While the instrumentation of “Yeezus” achieves feats that few other artists could hope to near, the album is unorganized. Though “Magna Carta” is no perfect album, it is consistent, filled with 16 rap tracks that sound like Jay Z. The listener experiences no struggle when listening. Jay Z doesn’t try to be something that he is not. On the contrary, he tries to glorify all that he is with more swagger than anyone else in the game.

16 The Brandeis Hoot

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August 23, 2013

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