The Brandeis Hoot 1/19/2018

Volume 15 Issue 1

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe” www.brandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

January 19, 2018

Brandeis climate groups to meet with Board of Trustees

By Celia Young editor

science center The

Shapiro Science Center after the first snowfall of the new calendar year.

photo by matthew kowalyk/the hoot

Students from Brandeis Climate Justice (BCJ) and faculty members from Faculty Against the Climate Threat (FACT) will meet with the Board of Trustees and President Leibowitz to discuss divestment from fossil fuels Jan. 31, according to members of both organizations.

The talks are part of a long campaign by both organizations for the divestment from fossil fuels, or taking away Brandeis’ endowment funded investments in companies who support or distribute fossil fuels. Brandeis invests a small percentage of its endowment in energy investment portfolios which include fossil fuels.

On Jan. 8, members of BCJ and members of FACT met with President Liebowitz to organize a meeting, scheduled for Jan. 31, to present their case for divestment in front of the entire board of Trustees.

This will be the first time either climate group has met with the entire board. Brandeis Climate Justice’s last meeting with a part of the board of trustees was in March of 2016.

Students and faculty members of each group will hold a presentation at the meeting, followed by a discussion where board members will be able to ask questions. Cacildia Cain ’18, a member of BCJ since her first year at Brandeis, and Sabine von Mering, See DIVESTMENT, page 3

Brandeis installs new solar panels on library roof

By Hannah Schuster editor

The university installed new solar panels on the library roof this winter break. The panels generate 25 percent of the library’s electricity usage and have doubled the amount of solar power on campus.

The library now has 665 320watt panels that produce 270,000 kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity per year, according to a press release from the Library and Technology Services blog.

To acquire the panels, Brandeis entered a Power Purchase Agreement with Dynamic Energy Solutions, a solar company. Under the agreement, Dynamic de-

signed the array and continues to own and maintain them, while Brandeis pays a fixed rate for electricity. The developer generally sells the solar-generated electricity for a lower cost than the local utility’s rate, according to Solar Energy Industries Association.

“This gives Brandeis a lower, predictable fixed price for electricity, which is highly valuable for the

overall University utilities budget,” according to the blog post.

The university chose the library for solar arrays because “its roof is large and brand new,” which are qualities that make a location amenable to solar panels.

Brandeis’ ability to expand solar power is limited to the quantity of available roof or parking lot space. Approximately 46 percent

of Brandeis’ buildings are more than 50 years old and 33 percent are between 25 and 50 years old, which can rule them out as candidate for solar arrays, said administrators at presentation on university finances in November.

Solar energy can only produce a small percentage of campus elecSee SOLAR, page 2

Brandeis hosts 8th annual MLK Day of Interfaith Service

By Juliana An staff

On Jan. 15, Brandeis University hosted its 8th Annual Martin Luther King Interfaith Service Day, an event to reflect and honor King with a meal packing project and an “Educational Justice Fair.”

The more than 120 attendees took turns packing meals and attending workshops on social justice topics hosted by different community groups.

“Giving back through service projects are very important to me, especially [while] preserving MLK’s memory. It’s important

that we are continuing to fight for peace, social justice, racial equality especially at a time of turbulent political atmosphere,” said Esther Brandon, who works in Library and Technology Services.

Brandon attended the very first MLK Interfaith Service event as a student and has been on the organizing committee for the last two years as a staff member.

At Brandeis, the Interfaith Chaplaincy and the Waltham Group co-sponsored the service day along with the group Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM) and the Mass Service See MLK SERVICE page 2

Inside This Issue:

News: New course to analyze controversial art Arts: Entertainment events to see in Boston Features: Students set New Years resolutions Sports: Vikings upset Saints in NFL playoffs EDITORIAL: Students must engage with univ.

waltham group recruitment Students

Hiatt Center

Page 2 Page 12 Hiatt looks to engage with first year students Page 4 Page 6 Features: PAGE 4 Page 5

photo by emily sorkin smith/the hoot

attended Waltham Group Recruitment night to learn about Brandeis service.

Memorial performance Students celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. through performance Arts: PAGE 12

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

January 19, 2018

MLK Service honors King and encourages charity MLK, from page 1

Alliance.

“I’ve definitely seen our participation grow. We developed ties with community groups, church groups, high school groups, and campus groups including the MLK fellows and the Myra Kraft TYP students. The people who come make it what it is, so it’s great to see different parts of the community coming together today,” she said.

One of two sessions at the service day was devoted to packing

meals for food pantries, including the Framingham Food Pantry, Waltham Community Day Center, First Church in Cambridge, Common Cathedral and Church on the Hill.

Walker Bristle, who works for an organization that fights child hunger, led the meal-packing project. According to Bristle, approximately one in seven children do not know where the next meal is coming from.

“We try to do a little thing to help them know where one of those meals are coming from. I’ve eaten these meals. They’re good.

They’re not perfect. They are meant to help people get back on their feet…people with families, people looking for work. Some are going to be packing oatmeal and others are going to be packing rice and beans today,” said Bristle.

The Educational Justice Fair included sessions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Interfaith Youth Initiative, the Brandeis MLK fellow group, faculty members and the Brandeis Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

photos by juliana an/the hoot

Ombuds services now available The future of to faculty and staff chromosomal research

By Celia Young editor

The Brandeis University Ombuds office, an informal mediation group, has been expanded to allow faculty, staff and alumni to access conflict resolution assistance.

This function was previously only available to students.

Ombuds are confidential employees trained to explain university policies, facilitate communi-

cation and to provide information about sources to address conflicts or disputes.

Ombuds are authorized to break confidentiality in situations involving risk of serious harm, according to a University wide email distributed by Mark Brimhall-Vargas, the chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Ombuds are not a source of legal mediation and instead advise visitors on who to approach with

an issue as well as facilitate communication through informal mediation.

The members of Ombuds include Don Greenstein and Cathy Burack, who serve the entire Brandeis community, and Elena Lewis whose focus is on undergraduate and graduate students.

Ombuds can be reached during their office hours, as listed on their website, or by appointment. Their office is located in Shapiro Campus Center room 316.

there will be panels on the roof of the new residence hall on the site of Usen Castle. The new residence hall will be the most sustainable building on campus, according to the project summary. Solar panels will partially power the residence hall and “provide a small amount of carbon offsets against our carbon footprint inventory,” according to summary. Beyond solar, a 30-40 well geothermal system will heat and cool the dorm, making it the first building on campus to use geothermal energy.

The library consumes the ninth most energy of any campus building, 1,152,776 kwh in fiscal year 2016, according to numbers from Sustainable Brandeis. The number one energy consumer is the Shapiro Campus Center, using 5,108,064 kwh in 2016.

Brandeis reduced its carbon footprint by eight percent between fiscal years 2015-16, the first reduction in footprint since

Brandeis signed a pledge in 2007 to reduce its energy consumption and move towards carbon neutrality.

As part of this pledge, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, Brandeis released a climate action plan in 2009. However, the school’s carbon footprint increased by one percent between 2007 and 2015.

As part of a renewed sustainability effort, President Lisa Lynch commissioned the President’s Task Force on Campus Sustainability.

This group released the new CAP in 2016 setting short term goals of “reducing our energy-related emissions by 10% by fiscal year (FY) 2018, and 15% by FY 2020, over a baseline of FY 2015 emissions.”

Community members can track how much energy the solar panels at the library and Gosman are producing by visiting an AlsoEnergy website.

Library solar panels part of efforts to reduce carbon footprint SOLAR, from page 1

tricity consumption, according to Brandeis’ most recent Climate Action Plan (CAP), released in 2016.

“The average solar installation is only approximately 15% efficient,” according to the CAP, meaning the new panels could only account for between one and two percent of the campus electricity needs.

With the addition of the library solar arrays, solar power comprises around 1.5 percent of campus electricity use, according to Mary Fischer, the campus sustainability coordinator.

“Nevertheless, adding solar to campus is still an opportunity to show leadership, improve resilience, add renewable energy to the electric grid, and help reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere,” the CAP says.

There are also solar panels on the roof of the Gosman Gym, and

By Sabrina Chow staff

Students and faculty gathered in one of the lecture halls in the Gerstenzang Science Library on Tuesday, Jan. 16 for a joint biology/neuroscience colloquium with Dr. Job Dekker titled “Folding, unfolding, and refolding genomes.” Dekker is a professor in the Program of Gene Function and Expression as well as the co-director of the new Program in Systems Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

He performs his research as Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

During his postdoctoral research, Dekker created chromosome conformation capture (3C) technology that allows for genome-wide analysis, which led to the construction of the first 3D map of the human genome.

This was one of the biggest accomplishments in genetics since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. Symposium host Jim Haber referred to Dekker as “unequivocally the father of a field [3C technology].”

The Human Genome Project was one of the first major international projects that focused on learning about the nucleotide base pairs that make up the DNA in humans and mapping out all the possible genes that come from people’s genomes. The project was started in 1990 and was officially completed in April of

2003. Though only about 90 percent of the human genome was sequenced, this project remains the world’s largest collaborative biological project, according to the Human Genome Project’s website.

The origin of 3C technology comes from Dekker’s desire to develop a way to determine the folded structure of a chromosome in high resolution, Dekker said.

The technology analyzes the organization of the chromatin that make up the cell. The progression of the 3C technology led to the creation of 4C, 5C and Hi-C, all different variations of the original 3C prototype.

A majority of the talk highlighted the interconnection between 3C technology and contact maps.

Contact maps are used to demonstrate the distance between every amino acid residue pairs of 3D protein structures using a 2D matrix. Amino acid residue pairs are types of organic compounds that contain an amine and carboxyl functional group, along with a R group side chain, that is specific to each amino acid.

Next Tuesday, Jan. 23, there will be another joint biology/neuroscience colloquium in the Gerstenzang Science Library, where Dr. Ken Norman will be giving a talk entitled “Tracking brain activity during continuous perception and recall.” The following Tuesday, Jan. 30, the physics department is hosting a colloquium with Dr. Daniel Harlow called “Black holes, holography, and quantum error correction.”

January 19, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot

New creative arts class explores provocative theater and art

By Celia Young editor

Aiming to explore controversial art and theater, CA 125: Provocative Art: Outside the Comfort Zone is a new course offered this spring. The course is taught by Professor Gannit Ankori (CA) and Chief Diversity Officer Mark Brimhall-Vargas plus a variety of guest lecturers. It comes in place of a theater department production of the play “Buyer Beware”

by Michael Weller ’65.

Weller was named the 2017 recipient of the Brandeis Creative Arts Award and commissioned to write a play for the theater department. After obtaining a draft script, however, some students objected to the play’s language and treatment of minority characters.

Brandeis originally announced plans to offer a course alongside the play’s production, but ultimately, due to student opposition and difficulty in coordinating

with the administration, Weller decided to withdraw his work.

Weller will still accept the Creative Arts Award on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and the course plans to discuss the issues raised in “Buyer Beware.”

Brimhall-Vargas described the role “Buyer Beware” played in creating the class, stating, “The turbulence around provocative art made us realize that in fact a venue, a setting to actually explore provocative art in an academic way was missing from campus.”

He continued, “We realized that this is a good opportunity to bring students through a structured process, to engage intentionally difficult material, and to provide students an opportunity to view it through a variety of lenses.”

The course plans to discuss and analyze provocative works of art, as well as the issues they raise, ranging from major themes in works of art to the larger context of freedom of speech, civil discourse and expression. The class does not have the rights to “Buyer

Beware,” so the play itself will not be used in class. However, Ankori is hopeful for Weller’s participation.

“Since many of our students expressed interest in hearing Weller’s perspective, we’re hoping that he would be willing to come towards the end of the course to engage with students,” said Ankori, adding that a visit by Weller scheduled to take place Jan. 24 is slated to be an extra-credit activity for students of the class.

Professor Thomas Doherty (AMST) is hosting Weller on campus in an event sponsored by the American Studies Program and Division of Creative Arts on Jan. 24. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in Levine-Ross at 10 a.m.

Provocative Art: Outside the Comfort Zone is taught by Gannit Ankori, a member of the Brandeis Creative Arts Faculty for the last seven years, and Mark Brimhall-Vargas, the Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Ankori is teaching several other arts courses this semester and has taught classes on difficult topics such as violence, rape and the Holocaust in the past. For Brimhall-Vargas, whose background is in facilitating and mediating discussion, this course will be his first.

The course plans to engage with a variety of content, including a discussion of the legacy of Lenny Bruce and a discussion of race and gender with visiting Native and African-American artist James Montford.

Ankori elaborated on the content, saying, “We’re talking about difficult materials that relate to sexuality, to gender, to identity in general, to race… violence, death.

I mean, we’re not talking about art as just something that’s aesthetically pleasing. We’re talking about art that addresses profound issues that relate to the complicated and often conflicted experience of being human.”

Many Brandeis employees will assist with the course. Students

NEWS 3

will discuss spoken word with Dean Jamele Adams, study Anne Sexton’s “Briar Rose” with Professor Dawn Shorszewski (ENG) and explore gender and art in the Middle East with Dean Eric Chasalow, according to the syllabus.

The course will take students out of the classroom several times, venturing to the Lenny Bruce Archives with Professor Emeritus Stephen Whitfield and the Rose Art Museum with director Luis Croquer.

The course is comprised of participation in class discussions, weekly journal writing assignments and a final presentation where students will choose an artwork and elaborate on why it is provocative and important.

CA 125 meets between 2 and 4:50 on Fridays in Shiffman Humanities Center. The class is currently at the student limit with 35 students enrolled, and others, according to Ankori, are requesting to join. The course will be offered again in Spring 2019.

Liebowitz notes impact of tax bill on Brandeis and higher education

By Hannah Schuster editor

The new Republican tax bill may negatively impact Brandeis and higher education as a whole, but “to the relief of many,” certain provisions which could hinder accessibility of education—including a tax on graduate student tuition waivers—were absent from the final version, said President Ron Liebowitz in an email to the community on Friday, Dec. 22.

President Donald Trump signed the $1.5 trillion tax bill into law on Dec. 22, the largest revision of the tax code in 30 years.

The final version of the bill eliminates, or scales back, many of the provisions which threatened to impact Brandeis. The proposed tax on graduate tuition waivers which appeared in the House bill passed on Nov. 16 was not present in the Senate or final versions of the bill.

Graduate students qualify for tax waivers by working on campus (as teaching assistants or in university labs), but the House provision would treat these waivers as taxable income. With augmented taxable income, the bill could have pushed graduate students into a higher tax bracket.

When the House passed the

bill, Provost Lisa Lynch sent a campus-wide email encouraging community members to contact their representatives about the bill, warning of negative consequences such as the potential to “[increase] an individual student’s income tax by thousands of dollars.” The Graduate Student Association was also active in opposing the tax bill, organizing phone banks and attending rallies in Boston.

The House bill included the same tax on employee tuition benefits, but it was likewise excluded from the final version. “Employers—including Brandeis—can continue to offer employee tuition benefits on a tax-free basis,” said Liebowitz. These benefits allow for university employees to take courses on campus and for employees’ children to attend Brandeis at a reduced rate. Graduate students can also put tuition benefits from their employers towards their studies at Brandeis.

The final bill maintains the student loan interest deduction, which allows students to receive a tax deduction on loans they take out for education. The House bill had eliminated this deduction.

Another portion of the bill has to do with bonds that Brandeis uses to finance campus projects. Previous versions of the bill

eliminated Brandeis’ ability to issue tax-free bonds. The final bill maintains this ability but eliminates some “money saving procedures,” that allowed the university to avoid the risk of fluctuating interest rates (which Brandeis put pay on its bonds).

“Nonprofits like Brandeis work with government agencies to issue tax-free bonds to support capital improvements, such as our new residence hall, decreasing our borrowing costs,” said Liebowitz.

Companies can issue bonds for investors to purchase, essentially loaning the company money.

Brandeis took out a $50 million bond to finance construction of the new residence hall, though $10 million will go towards deferred maintenance.

The item in the final tax bill which has caused the greatest upset in the world of higher education is less urgent to Brandeis.

The bill includes a 1.4 percent tax on university endowments of at least $500,000 per student, but Brandeis’ endowment equates to $154,000 per student, said Stew Uretsky, the SVP for finance and administration at a presentation on university finances in November.

The university’s endowment would have to approximately triple in size to reach the threshold,

said Liebowitz, though he commented that “many significant institutions of higher learning will be hit with this tax, which we think is counterproductive and wrong, because it harms institutions’ ability to invest in vital programs and student financial aid.”

Administrators of many top universities and the Association of American Universities have made similar arguments in speaking out against this provision. Lynch advised in her Nov. 17 email that the provision could “become a binding constraint for our university in the future.”

President Liebowitz signed on to an AAU letter in early November condemning the legislation’s

impact on higher education and also sent his own letter to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and Congressional leaders.

Liebowitz also probed the possibility for the tax bill to affect donations to Brandeis. The changes to available tax deductions may reduce the incentive to make charitable deductions, and thus to donate to nonprofits like universities. Liebowitz further noted the “portion of an estate that can be passed down tax-free was expanded from $5.6 million to $11.2 million per individual,” but it is difficult to estimate what impact this will have on “donors’ estate planning.”

photo from hoot archives

Faculty and student groups will attend upcoming meeting on divestment from fossil fuels

CLIMATE GROUPS, from page 1

a member of FACT and the Director for the Center for German and European studies will be attending the meeting.

Nick Warren, the Chief Investments Officer for Brandeis University, will also be presenting following the environmental groups with regards to the financial process of divestment, von Mering said.

According to Cain, BCJ plans to invoke Louis Brandeis’ legacy as a supporter of social justice in presenting to the board. “It’s just not

right for a school or an institution that claims to be so… committed to social justice to be profiting off of climate change or the fossil fuel industry,” Cain said.

However, Cain expressed concern that the board may not see divestment as a priority or financially feasible.

BCJ and FACT hope to move towards full divestment of the endowment from fossil fuels. von Mering outlined FACT’s goals for the meeting, saying, “We want the Board of Trustees to stop investing in fossil fuels and we want them to make a public statement about that... We cannot use or

students’ money to destroy our students’ future…Our goal is to make them understand that.”

Both groups campaigned last year for divestment. BCJ, a student run organization formerly known as Brandeis Students for Environmental Action (SEA), held a march and petition for the divestment campaign. FACT also gained support though a petition and a resolution in October of 2017, which had majority support from the group.

BCJ meets at 8 p.m. on Mondays in Schwartz 103 and will have a general interest meeting on Jan. 22.

FEATURES

4 The Brandeis Hoot

January 19, 2018

Hiatt engages with campus community

By Polina Potochevska editor

The Hiatt Career Center, located in the Usdan Student Center, is a resource for both students and alumni that assists with searching for jobs and internships, checking resumes and cover letters and much more. As their web-

welcome to hiatt: New

site states, “Hiatt helps Brandeisians know who they are, what they want, and how to get there.”

Jon Schlesinger, director of Hiatt, has been at Brandeis for two years and manages the “day to day operations” of the center as well as overseeing the career development team and Hiatt’s engagement with the campus community.

As the new year and spring

semester begin, Schlesinger and the rest of the staff at Hiatt hope to continue working towards the center’s goals. “There are a couple things we’re really focused on. One is working with first year students” and helping first years and mid-years become familiar with the office and online resources, Schlesinger explained.

“Career is not a one-off de-

photo by polina potochevska/the hoot

installation of alumni quotes and advice at the entrance of the career center.

cision, it’s multiple decisions that people make, and we want to work with students through those changes and help them explore those different kinds of opportunities,” said Schlesinger.

Hiatt has been working with the Department of Community Living (DCL) to spread messages through the residence halls in effort to reach more first-year students. The advantages of firstyears using Hiatt as a resource are not only to kick start their thinking about the future, but also to give them time to meet the Hiatt staff and form relationships that will last through their time at Brandeis and beyond. Hiatt services are “for life,” and are open to alumni.

Hiatt also works with plenty of students from each class year, regardless of whether they have visited Hiatt before, or if they are coming for the first time during their senior year. A program primarily for seniors, but open to all students, is the upcoming Career Accelerator Week from Jan. 22 to 26. It will help seniors “[accelerate] towards their goals and thinking about post-Brandeis opportunities.” Other events coming up include a week of programming on marketing at the end of February and the “Just In Time” fair in March, where professionals will come to recruit students for internships and jobs.

The beginning of the new year, for many industries, is a great time to begin thinking about and applying to summer internships.

“This is a great time to come in, start brainstorming, collaborate with somebody from Hiatt and talk about how to strategize for your summer internship search,” said Schlesinger.

“We can work together to talk about resources, and to make the search more productive.”

Hiatt has been working on achieving many goals, the biggest being efforts to build relationships and connect with the Brandeis

community. “We are really interested in ways that we can collaborate.” Schlesinger said that the center hopes to continue its outreach to student groups and clubs and “encourage them to come to Hiatt with ideas for connecting with the community and alumni,” as well as partnering on career-related events and programs.

Schlesinger also mentioned Hiatt’s social media efforts, led

by Kristin Menconi, which bring “humor into the office” and help provide information to students in an accessible way. Another one of Hiatt’s resolutions for this year is to update their office, adding new artwork, alumni quotes and a new collaborative table space.

Hiatt’s newly revamped website includes helpful new tools for students to explore. Under the heading “Majors and Careers,” the Identity at Work section gives students resources and information that will help enhance career development.

Also under “Majors and Careers,” the interactive Beyond Brandeis tool is an collection of data that Hiatt has compiled from Brandeis alumni since 2008.

Schlesinger said that many students want to know what other Brandeisians have done with their majors. With this tool, students can see what alumni with their majors have done post-graduation, including what job titles they have, their employers, their location within the United States and the percentage that have gone to graduate school.

Schlesinger’s advice to students who have not yet visited or fully explored Hiatt is to “get started and try something.” Students can come for a drop in meeting or schedule a ‘Welcome To Hiatt’ appointment through the Handshake page. “That’s the best way to figure out what it is that you’re interested in, whether that is exploring summer internships, volunteer opportunities, or just taking a new class.”

Brandeisians set goals for the new year “One of mine was to try to not eat bread “I’m trying to be patient with people I

“I want to improve my Spanish before I

for a month, but that hasn’t been working care about and myself, so in any situation, rather than blowing up or feeling bad, I out very well. Yesterday I had a bagel.” try to take a step back and think things — Libby Eisenberg ’21 through.”

go back to Cuba.”

— Sam Schulman ’21 “My New Year’s resolution is to continue setting goals for myself every three months.”

“My resolutions generally are to make the coming year better than the last year. It’s more working on my perspective. I try to

— Victoria Fille-Aime ’19 change my outlook with each year.”

— Nicole Zador ’20 “To operate out of love rather than guilt, because it’s more sustainable.”

— Gabriel Fontes ’19

“My New Year’s resolution was to spend more time studying.”

— Emma Wolters ’21

— Marcelo Brociner ’18 “To be more productive and manage my time better.”

— Zosie Busé ’20 “I set a resolution to do better and work towards having better mental health. I’m sleeping more hours and making sure to spend an hour and focus on myself, whether that be reading or writing or going on a hike.”

— Ilana Krill ’20 Compiled by Sara McCrea, Editor

EDITORIALS

January 19, 2018

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Hannah Schuster Emily Sorkin Smith Senior Managing Editor Allison Plotnik Senior Editor Sarah Jousset Copy Editor Emily Botto News Editor Celia Young Arts Editors Ben Beriss Rebecca Goldfarb Opinions Editor Katarina Weessies Features Editor Polina Potochevska Deputy Features Editor Sara McCrea Sports Editor Zach Cihlar Deputy Sports Editor Shea Decker-Jacoby Photo Editor Yarisa Diaz Layout Editor Candace Ng Editors-at-Large Katie Decker-Jacoby Abigail Gardener Ryan Spencer Elianna Spitzer Sarah Terrazano

Volume 15 • Issue 1 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

David Aizenberg, Juliana An, Caleigh Bartash, José Castellanos, Anindita Chanda, Sabrina Chow, Kevin Costa, Daniel Freedman, Natalie Fritzson, Ariella Gentin, Rebecca Goldfarb, Noah Harper, Kevin Healey, Daniel Johnston, Daniel Kang, Jonah Koslofsky, Matthew Kowalyk, Samantha Lauring, Sara McCrea, Jerry Peng, Elana Rombro

MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information. Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events.

Recognizing that better journalism leads to better policy, The Brandeis Hoot is dedicated to the principles of investigative reporting and news analysis. Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

SUBMISSION POLICIES The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon.

Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words. The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

CONNECT phone • (781) 330-0051 e-mail • eic@thebrandeishoot.com online • brandeishoot.com twitter • twitter.com/thebrandeishoot facebook • facebook.com/thebrandeishoot

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

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

To reserve your space in the paper, contact us by phone at (781) 3300051 or by e-mail at ads@thebrandeishoot.com.

GIVE A HOOT, JOIN THE HOOT! Writers, editors, photographers and graphic artists wanted to join The Brandeis Hoot, your weekly community newspaper.

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

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

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Meet admin. halfway and engage with your university

I

n our final editorial of the fall 2017 semester, we asked President Liebowitz to take student schedules into account when hosting important meetings on Brandeis’ future. In the editorial titled, “Transparency cannot be in name only,” we expressed appreciation for Liebowitz’s efforts to expand transparency by sharing summaries of Board of Trustees meetings and hosting a series of open meetings. We argued, however, that transparency is of little value if students and other members of the community are unable to access it.

Shortly before the break, administrators hosted a meeting on university finances, and Liebowitz led a session on the future

of Brandeis. At this meeting, he spoke about obstacles the university faces, including financial constraints and deferred maintenance, as well as the school’s institutional identity and ongoing campus projects. These events were held at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday and 12 p.m. on a Tuesday, very common times for students to have class. Though there were many employees present, only a few students attended.

In the coming weeks, Brandeis will host a second round of open meetings on the future of Brandeis. There will be two events, the first on Wednesday Jan. 24 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and the second on Wednesday, Feb. 14 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. We

appreciate the university for making these presentations more accessible, but now it is the responsibility of the student body to attend and take advantage of this opportunity to become educated about our school.

Students deserve a role in shaping the future of our school, but we must be active in asserting this role. We thank the administration for organizing meetings at a time that is more accessible to students, but now it is our turn—to share ideas and to be informed about the administrative policies that affect student life. We must come to open meetings and forums prepared to listen, question and engage.

6 The Brandeis Hoot

not a snow day

WEEK IN PHOTOS

Students braved the wind and snow to head to class, even though they wished for a snow day.

photo by kofi owusu-koranteng/the hoot

the love that h8 cant stop Elba

Valerio,from the Intercultural Center, recites poetry at the memorial performance for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

winter involvement fair

photo by matthew kowalyk /the hoot

Different clubs fight to win over the midyears.

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

recruitment night

Waltham Group coordinators share different ways to get involved with the local community.

January 19, 2018

just brandeis things

Explore without boundaries.

photo by emily sorkin smith/the hoot

photo by polina potochevska/the hoot

SPORTS

January 19, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Track and field teams earn second at home meet

By Zach Cihlar editor

Brandeis Track and Field hosted the annual Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational Meet in Gosman gym on Saturday, Jan. 13. In combined team scores, both the men’s and women’s teams earned second place behind the visiting University of Southern Maine (USM) teams.

In the first scored meet of the 2018 season, Brandeis men’s track and field racked in a total of 120 points, just 11 behind USM’s 131 points. On the women’s side, the Brandeis team saw a greater gap between their score and the victors, earning 99.5 points to USM’s 152 points. The men’s team beat out six other competing teams, including neighboring Bentley University, while the women beat out five other competing teams.

The Brandeis teams both scored a significant chunk of points in the mile contest. The seniors on the men’s team represented well, stealing the first four spots of the

event. Led by senior captain Ryan Stender ’18, three other seniors followed with Mitchell Hutton ’18 taking second, Max Whitmore ’18 taking third and Liam Garvey ’18

track gives strong performance

earning his personal best time of 4:31.34 at fourth.

The women saw even greater success in the mile run, securing the top five spots of the heat. Ju-

Doyin Ogundiran ‘19 competes in Saturday’s track meet.

Women’s basketball goes 2-2 on the road

By Shea Decker-Jacoby editor

The Brandeis Women’s Basketball team kicked off the new year with four games, three of which were University Athletic Association (UAA) competition. On Jan. 2, the Judges faced off against Regis College in Weston, MA. The Judges took an early lead in the first quarter with a 13-11 score and stayed ahead the entire game against their local rivals to secure the win with a final score of 6050. This has been the Judges most successful non-conference season since the 2014-2015 season with a record of 8-2. The Judges secured the win in the fourth quarter when they went on a 9-3 point run. Lead by rookie Jillian Petrie ’21, the run gave the Judges a 15-point lead, the largest of the game. Hannah Nicholson ’20 lead the team with 12 points and nine rebounds. Katie Goncalo ’20 ended the game with six rebounds and Joelle MarkAnthony ’19 followed close behind with five of her own and four off the glass.

Noel Hodges ’18 lead the team with three assists.

After a solid victory, the Judges headed to New York City to face off against the Violets at NYU on Jan. 6 for their UAA season opener. In the first quarter the Judges gave up a ten-point lead to the

judges take two wins

lia Bryson ’19 led the pack with a 5:24.06 run, earning the top spot by over nine seconds. Behind Bryson, rookie Andrea Bolduc ’21 barely edged ahead of senior

Violets trailing 17-27. In the third quarter the Judges cut a 20-point lead down to only five points with the assistance of guard Camila Casanueva ’21 and Nicholson.

Casanueva stopped the Violets 12 point run in its track with a rare four-point play.

The Judges were unable to stop the Violets’ strong close. Casanueva earned the top spot, scoring 17 for the first time in her career. She hit 5-of-10 field goals, 4-of-9 from the three-point line and hitting 3-of-3 on the line. Sarah Jaromin ’19 had 13 points of her own coming off the bench, just shy of her career best. Hodges led the team in assists at three and five steals.

Despite having lost, the team geared for more games six days later in St. Louis against Washington University on Jan. 12. The Judges came up with a huge win against the Bears with a score of 92-84. They fell behind by two in the first quarter, but quickly turned it around with a 13-4 run in the first 5:41 minutes of play, outscoring the Bears in the second quarter 26-11. The run started with back-to-back three pointers by Casanueva and Goncalo, securing Brandeis’ lead.

Petrie started the second half by securing a 15-point lead with an easy layup. In the fourth quarter, Brandeis prevented all field goals from the Bears for an entire six minutes. With Jaromin’s three-pointer, the Judges earned

the largest lead of the game 63-46.

Casanueva lead the team with 17 points and Nicholson lead with 11 rebounds.

The final match of the trip was against the University of Chicago on Jan. 14. The Judges fell behind in the first quarter, ending with a score of 14-23, but came back strong in the second quarter finishing the half with 30-33. Hodges hit two free-throws, evening up the score at 52-52 with nine minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the Maroons had a very strong defensive finish and defeated the Judges 72-63. Jaromin led the Judges with 12 points, seven of those earned in the fourth quarter. MarkAnthony earned nine points and nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.

Nicolson led the Judges with a career high of 16 rebounds—the most by a Brandeis player since Nov. 17, 2015—while also adding eight points.

The Judge now advance their record to 9-4 with a 1-2 in league play. The Judges have two full weekends of UAA matches. This coming weekend at home the Judges go against Rochester on Friday Jan. 19 and Emory on Sunday the 21st. The following weekend they will face off against Case Western on Friday Jan. 26 and Carnegie Mellon on Sunday the 28th.

Camila Casanueva ‘21 earns a rare four-point play against NYU.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

photo from brandeisjudges.com

captain Kyra Shreeve ’18 to earn the second place finish. Behind Shreeve, Meghan Barry ’19 and Rose Monahan ’19 took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Doyin Ogundiran’s ’19 first place performance in the women’s 800 meter run was the most impressive result from a Brandeis competitor. Her time 2:20.14 led to her receipt of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week title. Her impeccable time has her placed at the top spot in Division III for the 800 meter event.

The Reggie Poyau Invitational marked the beginning of the indoor track season for the Brandeis Judges. Their next meet will be at the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational, held at Harvard University on Sunday, Jan. 21. The meet is a non-scoring event, and last year Irie Gourde ’17 secured the only event win for both the men and the women. Gourde will return to compete as a graduate student for the 2018 season.

Men’s basketball drops two over long weekend

By David Aizenberg staff

The men’s basketball team continued their University Athletic Conference (UAA) play with a 84-56 loss in the first of two road games to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) this past Friday. After a difficult first half, the Judges faced a 20-point deficit to the number six team in the country ending with a score of 4323. The Judges were able to turn it around for a solid second half that served as a building block for their upcoming games but took the loss against the WashU Bears.

The Judges began the second half strong going on a 14-3 run to cut the WashU lead to eleven points. However, the Bears showed why they have earned the number six spot in the nation as they responded with a 13-3 run to put the game out of reach.

Senior Nate Meehan ’18 shinned for the Judges coming off the bench to score a team high twelve points. The Judges anchor in the center, senior Latye Workman ’18, put together a solid game, scoring eleven points while

judges lose two.

adding two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Following a tough loss to WashU two days prior, the Judges bounced back with a solid effort in a loss to the University of Chicago Maroons 77-67 on Sunday afternoon. Despite the loss, there were many bright spots for the Judges. Rookies Chandler Jones ’21 and Lawrence Sabir ’21 put together strong performances. Jones, who played a career high 36 minutes, scored eleven points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out three assists. Sabir, who notched 30 minutes of play, poured in thirteen points, going a perfect 2-2 from the three point line while adding four assists.

A close game at the half (the Judges trailed 39-34), the Maroons pulled away in the second half as their lead ballooned to as many as 17 points in the second half. Despite falling by ten points, the loss marked the first time this season that all five Judge starters scored more than 10 points—a positive sign as they look to close out the season in strong fashion.

Next up for the Judges is a matchup at home against the University of Rochester on Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.

Nate Meehan ‘18 shines against WashU. photo from brandeisjudges.com

8 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

January 19, 2018

Women’s swimming and diving earns first home win

By Sarah Jousset editor

The Brandeis women’s swimming and diving team competed against the Merrimack College Warriors this past Saturday at the Linsey pool. The women’s team competed alone, beating Merrimack 151 to 140 in their first home victory of the season. The Judges now have three wins and six losses this season, while finishing eighth in the Gompei Invitational at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The first-years came out strong for the Judges with Brandeis winning the opening event of the day, the 200 yard medley relay. The relay team of Audrey Kim ’21, Annie Huang ’21, Rachel Goldblatt ’21 and Amy Sheinhait ’18 finished first with a time of 1:57.55.

The team took seven out of 14 events and the Judges were the only team to enter divers in the competition. Rookie Huang took home two additional victories, placing first in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:13.63 and in the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:39.27. Huang gave a stellar performance, beating her competitors in the 200 breaststroke by over five seconds. Goldblatt also had an impressive performance Saturday, with two first place wins of her own. Goldblatt won the 100 yard individual butterfly with a time of 1:02.88 and the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:22.50.

Goldblatt earned her first place

spots, finishing with more than a two second lead in both races.

Kylie Herman ’19 secured two wins for the Judges as well. Herman narrowly finished first in the 200 yard freestyle race with a time of 2:04.10, with only a .82 second lead over the number two swim-

women’s swimming beats merrimack Annie

mer. Herman also took home the first place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a more cushioned lead of just over eight seconds, finishing in 5:30.31.

The Warriors took first place in the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle relay, but Brandeis

secured their 11 point win with second and third place finishes in both events.

In diving action, the Judges held two events with only Brandeis divers entered. Julia Tartaglia ’19, Genna Karp ’18 and Tessa Carreiro ’21 competed for the Judges,

finishing in that order.

Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are back in action this Saturday, Jan. 20 at Bridgewater State University. The Judges will face Bridgewater and Keene State University at 1 p.m.

Huang ‘21 earns three first place finishes for the Judges in Saturday’s meet.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

Vikings edge out Saints in final seconds

By Kevin Costa staff

The matchup between the Vikings and Saints on Sunday was one for the ages. The game, though it featured four lead changes in the last three minutes, will ultimately be remembered for the 61-yard walk-off touchdown from Keenum to Diggs to give the Vikings a 29-24 victory. The play is being called the “Minneapolis Miracle” and marks the first time any team during the postseason has scored a game-winning touchdown at the end of regulation.

At first, kicker Wil Lutz appeared to have sealed a Saints’ victory on a go-ahead 43-yard field goal in the final minute of the game. However, the Vikings, with the ball and trailing by only a point, still had a fighting chance.

The offense, led by quarterback Case Keenum, needed to drive roughly 50 yards to give kicker Kai Forbath a chance to regain the lead. Keenum managed to complete a 19-yard pass, to the Vikings’ own 39. The game came down to a third and 10 with 10 seconds left and no timeouts. According to The Ringer, the Vikings ran the play call “Seven Heaven,” designed to send receivers Stefon Diggs, Jarius Wright and tight end Kyle Rudolph on corner routes.

The play would allow them to gain enough yardage to get the Vikings into field goal range and to run out of bounds.

Though the Vikings normally practice this play and had already ran it a few times earlier in the game, the outcome was shocking to say the least, a fluke rather than a well-executed result. New Orleans rookie Marcus Williams, who had a good performance overall,

including an interception late in the third quarter, failed to tackle Diggs.

Perhaps Williams was trying to avoid a pass interference call which would have automatically put the Vikings in field goal range.

Williams reacted to the play in advance but was already on Digg’s back before the ball reached its target. Williams seemed unable to stop his momentum and seemed to dive out of the way.

Unfortunately, in the process he took down his own teammate and Diggs caught the ball while keeping his feet in bounds and turned up field. Vikings players on the sideline were shouting at him to run out of bounds to stop the clock. Diggs later said “I took a [mental] picture before I turned around to catch the ball and there was only one guy there. If he slips, then I’m going to try and stay up.”

Right as time expired, he walked into the end zone, took off his helmet, and stretched out his arms to a home crowd in pandemonium.

This is the first time the Vikings have been on the winning end of a heartbreaking postseason finish.

As recently as 2015, the Vikings have experienced playoff woes, losing a wild card game against the Seattle Seahawks when kicker Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal attempt. There are other similar moments where Minnesota’s season ended in disappointment: the Brett Favre interception in the 2010 N.F.C championship game that propelled the Saints to the Super Bowl, the missed Gary Anderson field goal in the 1999 N.F.C. championship game, Darrin Nelson’s drop in 1987 and Drew Pearson’s Hail Mary catch in 1975.

This year, the Vikings hope to craft a different story. Minnesota

has yet to win a championship despite making it to the Super Bowl four times. On Sunday, the team will play the Eagles in Philadelphia for a trip to the Super Bowl.

If the Vikings advance, they will be the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium, which will be a huge advantage over the representative A.F.C. team.

Still, the Eagles are a formidable opponent and Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is aware that his team must focus on preparing to play in Philadelphia and not get caught up in its thrilling divisional round win. For one, the Eagles have a stronger defense than the

Saints. Philadelphia leads the league in rushing defense (79.2 yards per game) and ranks fourth in both points allowed (18.4) and yards allowed per game (306.5), ESPN reports. Also, during a 2016 matchup, the Eagles beat the Vikings 21-10. Though both quarterbacks who started that day, Carson Wentz (Philadelphia) and Sam Bradford (Minnesota) will not play next week Sunday, the game was a defensive affair.

Both offenses stagnated, though the Eagles were able to capitalize on three Vikings’ fumbles.

Mike Zimmer who, following the victory over the Saints, lead

a “Skol” chant during his press conference, on Monday was business as usual. On the podium, he listed what he disliked about his team’s performance. This included Case Keenum’s interception, and the defense’s inability to prevent Drew Brees from converting a fourth and 10 late in the game, which would have sealed the win.

“We can’t make these mistakes in playoff games or we’ll be going home,” Zimmer said, according to ESPN. “There’s always good and always bad in some of the games, but we made some critical errors in that game that could have gotten us beat.”

Minnesota Vikings beat New Orleans Saints in the final seconds of NFL playoff game this past Sunday, vikings upset saints

photo from rantsports.com

OPINIONS

January 19, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Prolonged Mueller investigation plays directly into Putin’s hands

By Joseph Silber columnist

When Vladimir Putin and his associates interfered in the 2016 presidential election, they had one goal in mind: to cause chaos throughout the United States.

Mission accomplished.

The investigation into Russian interference and the potential collusion between the Trump campaign team and the Kremlin has turned into a political sideshow.

Anxious to impeach President Trump, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has been calling on Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III to expand the existing Russia probe into Trump’s finances, hoping for evidence of money laundering and illegal business dealings on the part of the President to surface. A growing number of Republicans in the far-right House Freedom Caucus, on the other hand, are calling for the probe to be shut down altogether, arguing that it is a direct attack on the legitimacy of the Presiden It seems both parties misunderstand the main purpose of this investigation: to find out what the Russians did in 2016 and how to prevent it from happening again in future election cycles.

Nearly one year into the Russia probe, there have been no direct updates from the Special Counsel himself. By keeping quiet, Mueller is allowing the media to speculate

on the prospects of collusion and obstruction of justice on the part of the President, which is only furthering the divide throughout the country, to the delight of the Kremlin.

Mueller, meanwhile, has expanded the scope of the probe, investigating financial ties between members of the Trump campaign and Russia. The Special Counsel has issued several indictments, most notably charging former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort with money laundering while working as an advisor for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. Mueller has also looked into the President’s finances, issuing a subpoena to Deutsche Bank, which provided millions of dollars worth of business loans to Trump’s family, including his sonin-law, Jared Kushner.

In addition, the FBI and the Special Counsel’s office are investigating the 2008 sale of Trump’s Palm Beach mansion to a Russian oligarch, and the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow, which Donald Trump helped organize.

The investigations drag on, allowing tensions in America to continue to rise, with a deluge of uninformed, passionate opinions on all sides regarding the validity and extent of Trump-Russia collusion.

While the investigations into Manafort and Trump’s business dealings may seem intriguing to some, the reality is that the dealings took place before Trump launched his presidential cam-

paign in June 2015, raising questions as to whether or not Mueller is overstepping his authority as Special Counsel.

According to John Dowd, one of Trump’s attorneys, information regarding the President’s finances and previous transactions are “well beyond the mandate of the Special Counsel; are unrelated to the election of 2016 or any alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and most importantly, are well beyond any Statute of Limitation imposed by the United States code.”

To be fair, the Special Counsel has highlighted relevant information that took place during the campaign as well, such as the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyers, where Trump Jr. was looking for damaging information on his father’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

But the cloud that continues to hang over this entire investigation is Donald Trump himself.

The country wonders whether he encouraged or was aware of any meddling. All indications from members of the Congressional Intelligence Committees, the FBI and members of the Special Counsel’s office reveal no proof of collusion between Trump and Russia during the campaign. If that continues to be the case, then the Special Counsel ought to directly address the nation as soon as possible and exonerate the President. Once that occurs,

Congress will be able to focus on implementing sound cybersecurity measures and enacting additional sanctions to punish Putin and the Russians for meddling in the election.

If Special Counsel Mueller continues to drag out the Russia probe for the rest of the year, it could impact our government’s cybersecurity and therefore our election results. The midterm elections this November are a prime target for Russian hackers,

and if members of Congress remain consumed with the investigation, they will have little time to pass much-needed legislation to fix the holes in our cybersecurity system. By dragging out the investigation, Mueller is making our democracy vulnerable to interference.

The prolonged Russia Investigation has caused gridlock and inflamed tensions throughout the U.S. Government, which was all part of Putin’s plan.

photo from cnn.com

special council robert mueller

Larry Nassar and the limits of #MeToo

By Katarina Weessies editor

Ninety eight women and girls are scheduled to give victim impact statements during this week’s sentencing of Larry Nassar, the former sports doctor who molested them. The sentencing comes after a deluge of over one hundred accusations, mostly from women who he molested as young gymnasts. These victim impact statements come after Nassar pled guilty to seven counts of sexual assault. During much of the leadup to Nassar’s day in court, he was planning to plead innocent, arguing the molestation was valid physical therapy. However, immediately after Olympian McKayla Maroney came forward as a victim, he changed his plea.

In addition to McKayla Maroney, Olympic gold medalists Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles came forward as survivors of Nassar’s abuse.

Before these famous Olympians came forward, the Nassar story featured primarily in local news, with little coverage from national media outlets. During this period, many prominent figures within the gymnastics community defended Nassar, claiming the survivors simply misunderstood his medical treatments and that they were not being molested but instead receiving an unconventional form of physical therapy.

But once famous survivors came forward, the tone of the Nassar

investigation changed dramatically. The national news media picked up the story, pushing Nassar to plead guilty and encouraging prominent employees of USA Gymnastics who had previously stayed silent to speak out.

The bravery it took for famous gymnasts like Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney to speak out is admirable, but the fact that they had to speak out for the gymnastics community and the national media to take the case seriously speaks volumes about the way our society addresses sexual assault. If only Nassar’s less famous victims spoke out, he might have successfully plead innocent, and there would probably still be people who don’t believe the survivors.

For the many celebrities who came forward as sexual assault survivors as part of the #MeToo movement, the situation is similar. The more famous the accused and the victim are, the more likely the story is to get press attention, and the more likely the accuser is to get investigated or punished.

Sexual assault survivors whose traumas are unrelated to anyone famous have no recourse within the #MeToo movement.

The #MeToo movement centralizes social media as a means for sexual assault survivors to speak up. This means that any survivor who wishes to come forward must not only be willing to discuss their trauma publicly, but also must have the following for their #MeToo post to generate

attention. Although the #MeToo movement has inspired many sexual assault survivors to come forward in less public ways, the public focus of the movement centers the testimony of celebrities over the testimony of those without massive followings.

The reason that this burgeoning movement is so social media-centric is because survivors feel using a public platform is the only

larry nassar at his sentencing

way they can hold their assailants accountable. In the case of Larry Nassar, survivor Aly Raisman came forward on Twitter, explaining that USA Gymnastics, the organization that governs competitive gymnastics, originally did nothing to protect athletes or hold Nassar accountable, forcing her to go to the public for help.

In a more just world, no one would have to come forward as a

sexual assault survivor on social media, because the institutions around them, whether it’s the office where they work or their local police station, are prepared to take their accusations seriously.

Until assailants reliably face consequences for accusations that are not publicized on social media, people without a large social media following might not find justice in #MeToo.

photo from nytimes.com

10 OPINIONS

By Sabrina Chow

The Brandeis Hoot

January 19, 2018

One day at a time: observations from a first-year

columnist

For me, 2017 was a whirlwind of a year. After finishing all my college applications, graduating high school and a stressful vacation to Europe, the most exciting point of my 2017 came halfway through the year with my arrival on campus.

Since the beginning, I have loved my experience at Brandeis.

I loved all my classes, even my unfortunate 9 a.m. classes. I loved all my professors, but I especially loved all the friends I made collectively complaining about our professors and expressing our lack of understanding for their lectures. I loved desperately looking for someone to get food with just so I would not be alone in the dining hall. I loved staying up late in the lounge with my friends, and instantly getting quiet when we thought our CA would come yell at us.

This first semester of college has taught me quite a bit: 1. Orientation is low-key the best There is only one word that I could can use to describe to my orientation experience: overwhelming. For me, the highlight of orientation occurred during This Is Our House with Jamele Adams, when Brandeis sticks 900 freshman, most of whom are living away from home for the first time, and almost 100 overly-enthusiastic Orientation Leaders in a theater together. Being the only person from my town, I knew if I did not force myself to be social, I would struggle to make friends.

Luckily for me, I found a few of

my closest friends in my orientation group. I have come to realize that everyone is freaked out about orientation. None of us really knew what was going on, but we went with the flow and were rewarded with great friendships.

2. You don’t actually know anything about your future We call ourselves a research university, but let’s be real here, we are a liberal arts school at heart, and the university’s general education distribution requirements force us to explore new interests. Before coming to campus, I was dead set on the exact things I wanted to accomplish during my undergraduate career. I thought I knew exactly which majors/minors, clubs and extracurriculars I would choose. Man, was I wrong.

Experiences in my classes and clubs and conversations with individual professors have led me to doubt, change and rethink my educational aspirations countless times. This allowed me to flesh out my interests and discover new passions that I would never have discovered at a different school.

3. Step out of your comfort zone Ask anyone I know: I hate social interactions. But probably one of the best things about college has been that it forced me to put myself out there. Being the first person from my town coming to Brandeis caused a lot of stress for me. After coming to Brandeis and attending the activities fair, I was extremely overwhelmed and socially pressured into joining way too many listervs. I did not know what to expect so all I could do was sign up for clubs upon clubs in almost every speciality. At that time, I did not yet realize what I

found interesting or what impact I wanted to make on campus. By putting myself out there, I was able to connect with different groups of people.

4. Appreciate your roommate more I’d never had a roommate until I got to college and to be honest, I felt awkward for the first few weeks living with another person.

But you live and learn through your mistakes. It was not until I went home, alone in a bedroom for the first time in months, that I realized how great it actually was to have a roommate. Knowing there is someone there every night to hang out with when you don’t feel like going to bed so soon, jamming out to some music or gossiping about the drama of

brandeis students during orientation

the day gives me a feeling of safety and security.

My college experience so far has been extremely fulfilling and brimming with unexpected twists and turns. But my biggest takeaway is that you should take everything one day at a time. As my high school tennis coach would say, it is not about where you get in the end, but how you get there.

photo from ebrandeis.edu

Paid distributor position with The Brandeis Hoot!

The Hoot needs someone to distribute papers around campus on Fridays. Pay is $300 for the semester.

Contact eic@thebrandeishoot.com ASAP.

Have you filled out the Features survey yet?

The Features Section is exploring religion at Brandeis, how it affects students, and the prevalence of religion on campus. There’s still time to take our survey!

All questions are optional and anonymous, unless the respondent chooses to add any personal information if they feel comfortable doing so.

Scan the QR code to access our poll, or check it out on our Facebook page!

ARTS

January 19, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot 11

A guide to Boston arts events

By Ben Beriss editor

We all know Boston is a center of artistic expression. However, with so many options, it can be difficult to choose what to do and where to go. To help solve that dilemma, we’re bringing you a selection of some of the best arts events and exhibits in the next week: Shakespeare in Love: The Speakeasy Stage Company’s production of “Shakespeare in Love” follows an imaginative retelling of how The Bard found inspiration and love. An adaptation of the Academy Award winning movie, the show combines both Shakespearean and theatrical tropes to create a testament to the fun of the creating theater and the power of a beautiful love. Though a lack of student tickets makes this one of the pricier options, it is still an excellent piece of theater.

“Shakespeare” runs through Feb.

10 with talkbacks on Sundays.

There is also a party with the cast, crew and free food Friday, Feb.19.

Mala: The Huntington Theatre Company’s production of “Mala” is similarly impressive, a one-woman show about family and our attempts to define ourselves as ‘good.’ Created by renowned Boston playwright Melinda Lopez, the show talks about the first-generation and Cuban-American experiences in order to make larger points about our humanity. With glowing reviews, seating is limited but student tickets run only $20. The show runs through Feb. 4.

Road Show: If you want a classic musical experience, Lyric Stage’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Road Show” will satisfy with a classic Sondheim score and an adventurous story. Following two brothers seeking to fulfill the American dream in the 1800s, the show illustrates the difficulty and dangers that follow any such dreamers. Though darker than

typical Sondheim at times, the show largely preserves the musical spirit of extravagant fun and is held together by the classic Sondheim song. Student rush tickets are $10.

Black Spaces Matter: In a less theatrical vein, Boston Architectural College’s exhibit ‘Black Spaces Matter’ explores an 18th century abolitionist town in order to better understand race, architecture and the climate of the time. Massachusetts banned slavery more than 80 years before the Thirteenth Amendment but faced difficulties enforcing this in the slavery dominated U.S. The neighborhood on display at BAC, however, was able to uphold its ideals and prevent any ‘reclamations’ of its freed slaves. The architectural focus of the exhibit gives a unique perspective on one of this nation’s most important issues and makes it highly compelling to those interested in any of the exhibit’s themes. Admission is free.

Museum of Fine Arts: The MFA is a classic Boston attraction, and with free admission for Brandeis students and staff, it’s even more intriguing. There is a wide range of oddly specific exhibits on display right now, from ‘Black and White Japanese Modern Art’ to ‘Masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish Painting,’ and ‘The German Woodcut.’ Other exhibitions include “(Un)expected Families,’ which uses photography to explore the concept of family, a gallery of work from master Mark Rothko, and ‘Landscape Abstracted’ which presents a contemporary reinvention of landscape art.

Also, exclusively during January, the museum is screening rare classic movies, tickets to which college students can buy the day of for $5.

Museum of Bad Art: If you are not interested in fine arts, consider the Museum of Bad Art, which displays “Art too bad to be ignored.” The MOBA seeks to display exclusively the talentless, the

poorly done and the tasteless. The results are, as one would expect, disappointing but if you have ever wanted to visit a museum where you can laugh at the art, feel better about your own artistic abilities, or wonder what exactly makes are “good,” the MOBA is the perfect place. The museum has three locations. Admission to two is free while another, located in a movie theater, is free with the purchase of a ticket.

Improv Boston: Improv Boston is a classic comedy club, showcasing all kinds of shows designed to make you laugh. With glowing reviews, a different show every night, and student discounts at the door, it is one of the best places to go for your dose of funny in Boston. Details about their performances can be found online, but with shows ranging from ‘Naked Comedy’ to ‘You’re All Gonna Die: An Improvised Dystopian Game Show,’ there is something for everyone.

‘Jumanji’: an unlikely comedy and highlight of the holiday season

By Rebecca Goldfarb editor

The holiday season is a hub for movie releases. This year had many standouts. Of all the comedy movies released during this season, “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle,” is the real gem. I am not the biggest fan of action movies, but the amount of comic relief this movie delivers makes me forget about all of that.

“Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” is a reboot to the 1995 film, “Jumanji.” Though the sequel will never live up to the original, it is an enticing way to draw this decade’s young adult audience into the Jumanji franchise. Even if you have not seen the original film from the 90s, all of the characters and plot events are brand new, so you would still be able to under-

stand the new movie.

The film opens up in the year 1996 when a jogger mysteriously discovers the Jumanji board game, washed up on the beach.

When his son, Alex Vreeke (Mason Guccione), refuses to play the game, it turns into a video game.

When Alex starts to play, he vanishes into the game.

The film then flashes forwards twenty years later to a typical day in the lives of four different teenagers. Each of them fits into a stereotypical label, nerdy Spencer (Alex Wolff), popular Bethany (Madison Iseman), athletic Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), and shy Martha (Morgan Turner). When they all have to serve detention together, they find an old video game when cleaning out the basement—Jumanji—and get sucked into the game. They are each transformed into the video game avatars they chose, which are the

complete opposite of their normal personalities. Different actors now portray the characters as avatars. Spencer is transformed into Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a muscular archaeologist; Bethany transforms into Professor Shelly Oberon, an archaeologist and cryptologist (Jack Black); Fridge becomes the vertically challenged zoologist, Mouse Finbar (Kevin Hart); and Martha becomes the athletic martial artist, Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan).

Each character, like any other video game avatar, has special skills and weaknesses that they use to their advantage as they try to escape the game together.

Along the way, they are rescued by another avatar, Seaplane McDonough (Nick Jonas), an enigmatic pilot and explorer. The other characters learn that Seaplane is the avatar of Alex Vreeke, who

has now been trapped into the Jumanji video game for more than twenty years. When the characters realize their own survival depends on escaping the game, they become more determined than ever to overcome their differences and succeed.

The humor is the most extraordinary aspect of the movie. Each of actors portraying avatars execute their roles in ways that act like their teenage alter egos, while still using the skills and resources that are included with their avatars. Both Jack Black and Kevin Hart generate the largest laughs in the audience. Black’s portrayal of a teenage girl, from him whining about the loss of his phone to him teaching Martha how to flirt, serves as comic relief from the stress of the characters’ survival. Hart also steals the show, complaining about his height and strength and exploding when eat-

ing a piece of pound cake.

The cinematography in this film is phenomenal. Since all of the video game scenes were filmed in Hawaii, the landscape serves as an appropriate background for the movie. The special effects in the movie fit well with the video game theme. While the stunts and fight scenes can be intense, they are carried out well, but they are definitely not a serious feature of the movie.

This movie has so many different genres that can be applied to it that almost any type of movie fan can enjoy it, whether you like science fiction, action or romantic comedies. With this film being one of the most highly anticipated releases this past holiday season, if you are looking for some comic relief to add to your day this month, I highly recommend seeing “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.”

‘Camila’ offers consistency, but maybe too much

By Caleigh Bartash staff

Former Fifth Harmony group member Camila Cabello’s debut solo, self-titled album released on Jan. 12 with 10 different tracks ranging from delicate, melancholy tracks like “Consequences” and “All These Years” to the slow anthem and lead single, “Havana.” Cabello shows great promise in vocals and lyrics, but the final result leaves a lot to be desired in material and memorability.

With recent hits like “Crying in the Club” and “Havana,” Cabello inspired anticipation from old and new fans alike. Cabello released “OMG” and “Crying in the Club” prior to the full album as potential promotional singles, but later scrapped them from the track list.

Although her debut is primarily based in the pop category, Cabello considers elements of form from other musical genres, pairing lyrics in Spanish with Latin-inspired

beats. As she did in Fifth Harmony, Cabello incorporates some R&B techniques into her music, featuring rapper Young Thug as the only voice other than her own in the entire album, in “Havana.”

Cabello’s album appears both more soulful and sorrowful than her former band’s hits; some of the songs, however, blend together, despite the different titles. They may have distinctly appealing lyrics and instrumentals, but with few exceptions like “Havana,” Cabello maintains a style almost too repetitive. Her vocals, while clear and sweet, do not have much versatility, at least on this album.

Considering “Camila” is her first full solo effort, Cabello demonstrates impressive unity in regards to songwriting voice.

Transitioning from having little creative control over Fifth Harmony’s music to writing on every song in her album is quite a feat.

The album is seamless, but could be more exciting if it was more diverse in sound. Cabello’s record certainly has some distinctions

across tracks, but as a whole she draws too much from the same few experiences. She evidently learned a lot from her time with Fifth Harmony;her next album effort, however, would benefit from a more varied body of emotional inspiration instead of the same romances.

Many songs on the album allude to Cabello’s love life, with the first track, “Never Be the Same,” specifically exploring an intoxicating romance which she compares to a drug addiction. Based on lyrics in many of such songs, Cabello has not had entirely positive experiences with romance. In “Consequences,” she reminisces soberly about a particularly unfortunate relationship, saying “Loving you was dumb, dark and cheap/Loving you still takes shots at me.”

While she is certainly practiced in writing songs about heartbreak, Cabello’s album might have been more interesting if she sourced her lyrics from a wider variety of experiences.

“She Loves Control” and “Real

Friends” are a good starting points for Cabello to expand her lyrical content. She proves she has the ability to move past simple love songs with confidence. Evidently, she needs to understand and express herself more than she needs to comment on the same few relationships. Women writing songs about their boyfriends is nothing new, nor is it shameful, but Cabello could benefit if she looked beyond romance for inspiration. At only 20 years old, she might have fewer experiences than a more senior artist, but her life as a young pop star coming in to her own should provide more than enough song material.

Overall, “Camila” is more serious than upbeat. It does not feel very inspiring or enlivening to listen to, but it is beautiful. The album does not sound common, it seems very specific to Camila Cabello, but manages to remain somewhat forgettable. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what to feel while listening to the assortment of slow ballads and odes to Cabel-

lo’s past. The album definitely has more niche appeal than potential for popular appreciation and is better taken in pieces than altogether.

The singer caused controversy a year ago when she made the decision to quit Fifth Harmony, a girl group she had been part of since 2012. Conflicting accounts of Cabello’s break with the band from herself and her former bandmates especially stirred up conflict. But in “Camila,” Cabello moves past this controversy and the restrictions of her former group to go back to her roots. She renamed the album from “The Hurting, the Healing, the Loving” to “Camila” to represent how she came back to herself, though the content of her album still fits with the original title.

Though Camila Cabello’s first solo album is in many ways a success, especially in terms of lyrical prowess, she has work to do in regards to emotional subject matter, general catchiness, and broad appeal.

12 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

January 19, 2018

Standout performances make for a powerful MLK memorial

By Caleigh Bartash staff

Brandeis’ thirteenth annual Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, titled “The Love That h8 Can’t Stop,” opened its doors in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater Monday night to an enthusiastic audience. Hosted by Dean of Students Jamele Adams, the memorial featured a variety of music, poetry and dance acts. Together with the audience, the performers exemplified the Brandeis’ community’s appreciation of Reverend King’s work.

Early on, Nichol’s scholar and soloist, Justin Cox, owned the stage as he let out a sweet, but strong serenade. After Cox finished showing off his powerful

vocals, Brandeis’ very own Platinum Step Team took control and fired up the crowd. Platinum introduced themselves, starting with impassioned shouts of “Do you know who we are?” and following up with intense sequences of rhythmic stepping and clapping.

Popular dance groups, Rebelle and Toxic, also drew cheers from the audience during their own sets as they showed off their moves to the music. Members of Toxic, Brandeis’ own majorette force, put on a a high-energy performance with impressive stunts and amazing costumes.

Meanwhile, dance troupe, Rebelle, brought the heat with their experience and exciting formations, turns and use of levels.

Michelle Dennis ’18 performed

photos by kofi owusu-koranteng/the hoot

an interpretive dance solo set to soft a instrumental piece with child’s voice reading the names of black victims of police shootings.

Her choreography was a beautiful blend of ballet and contemporary, combing fluid motions and impressive leg extensions with sharp, broken lines and powerful jumps.

One of the most impressive performances came from musician scholar Bethel Adekogbe ’20. Adekogbe demonstrated a unique technological skill set as he created rhythms on the spot while reading facts about Reverend King. With just a keyboard and a computer, he spontaneously developed beats and melodies to go along with his statements. He concluded his moving set with recordings of the famous “I have a dream” speech.

Bilingual poet Elba Valerio, Program Coordinator for the Intercultural Center, recited an original poem, first in Spanish, then in English. She was accompanied by a slideshow of personal images, including one with her husband,

whom she recently married. She finished with some of her favorite quotes from Reverend King.

A highlight of the night was the address by activist and poet Wil Jones ‘18. He delivered a keynote speech, discussing topics such as the polarization of good and bad through the scope of history while giving plenty of shoutouts to his mom in the audience. He offered an interesting discourse on MLK. He discussed how King was an important figure for him as a young boy, but also pondered how to interpret the legacy of Reverend King after revealing the underlying sexism of King’s movement, saying “How can I celebrate in the name of equality when women in the civil rights movement received little recognition, in public and private, for their leadership and contributions?” Jones also considered the sanitized version of history he had been given in elementary school, but recognized that learning about Reverend King was the only time he learned about his own history outside of the Civil

War. His final message, however, was one of accountability. As he declared “Accountability doesn’t have to be about knocking our faves off their pedestal. It doesn’t mean that Gandhi didn’t do all of the amazing things that he did, but it does mean we have to look at some of the negative aspects and attributes of their tenures as well.

It does mean that if we begin to look holistically at their strengths and their weaknesses then maybe we can piece together futures that dont consist of-- well,what they consist of now.” Jones clearly had more to say as he later stated, but concluded his address anyway to thunderous applause.

The show also featured a stunning performance from the DMJ United Voices of Praise Choir.

Their bold, powerful voices filled the entire theater and kept the crowd on their meet for much of their performance.

The final acts included thought-provoking art from Lizzy Topper ‘21 and recitation of one of King’s speeches by Kwesi Jones ’21.

‘Hellboy’ meets ‘The Help’ in ‘Shape of Water’

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

In Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” the camera never stops moving. Even in the seemingly conventional scenes, there’s always a subtle jitter or a slow pan. This constant motion makes for a vibrant—yet inconsistent— film that is the very embodiment of good, but not great. While Del Toro has crafted a movie that is simultaneously ironic, schlocky and beautiful, it does have a few issues that hold the movie back.

“Shape of Water” is the story of Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute janitor at a classified Cold War government facility. When a captured gigantic, amphibious beast (Doug Jones) arrives, Elisa and the creature slowly fall in love.

This element parallels a weirder, yet better version of the live action “Beauty and the Beast” that came out last March.

There is a lot more going on, however, as Del Toro weaves in elements of the spy thriller genre, as well an ode to cinema itself (and that’s really where the schlock comes in).

But make no mistake, Del Toro is a great director and a master of genre: he has made everything from big action blockbusters (“Pacific Rim,” “Hellboy”) to gothic horror (“Crimson Peak”).

More than any other genre, Del Toro loves dark fairy tales, which is most clearly displayed in his best movie, 2006’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

“Shape of Water” is a slightly worse version of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” another beautiful film about the triumph of “old” humanity against a faux-futuristic totalitarian force.

In fact, Del Toro practically reuses a “Pan’s Labyrinth” character in “Shape of Water”—the fascist Spanish captain in the former is resurrected in the latter as Michael Shannon, who gives a fantastic performance. Shannon plays Richard Strickland, the colonel assigned to oversee the merman, and he is downright terrifying.

At the same time, Del Toro and Shannon have a lot of ironic fun at the expense of early sixties futurism and American exceptionalism, making Shannon into a genuinely great villain who also provides some laughs.

The acting is pretty top notch across the board. Sally Hawkins does some great voiceless work as Elisa in a very charming performance, and Doug Jones (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) successfully brings the amphibious man to life.

Neither Hawkins nor Jones can talk, but both of their characters are endearing and sympathetic, which is a testament to the quality

of their acting.

That said, Hawkins did get too quirky for my taste, but perhaps that is more of a personal aversion. I would also love to give a special shout out to Michael Stuhlbarg, who gives a solid supporting performance as Dr. Hoffstetler, one of the lab’s scientists, but overall, it is definitely Shannon who steals the show.

Where the film falters is in its grand congratulation of cinema.

A lot of “Shape of Water” is about giving a voice to those who cannot speak—be it the mute custodian or the amphibious monster.

Del Toro argues that movies, especially old classic movies, can give a voice to the voiceless, however, he isn’t entirely convincing.

While I agree that the 2017 movie “Shape of Water” gives a voice to unheard portion of so-

ciety, the old-school Hollywood cinema which the film references was more interested in reinforcing traditional societal roles than it was in subverting them.

Del Toro’s love for cinema is clear, and I doubt he would be a much of a master of genre without it, but so much of this movie feels like it is being devoted to sending up older film. The homages “Shape of Water” pays make it seem like Del Toro is looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses, and perhaps over-inflating the positive effects of film historically.

And yet, there is still a lot to like in this film. For example, I love the set up: in any other movie featuring the amphibious man, the main character would be some scientist or military member, but here, we’re following the clean-

ing crew. Furthermore, the movie looks amazing. There is so much texture in every shot: Del Toro compresses so much deep color into every frame that everything appears gorgeous. The camera is always moving, so there is a real exploration of the space that looks very pretty. Add to that a superb score that speaks when our protagonists cannot, and you have a film where a lot of the individual sequences are quite engaging and well done.

I worry that I am being too hard on “Shape of Water.” At the end of the day, it is a very good movie, but it does not quite reach the high bar set by “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which covers a lot of the same ground more effectively. “Shape of Water” is good: it has some fine performances and it looks phenomenal. It is just not great.

photo from imdb.com