The Brandeis Hoot - September 16, 2011

Volume 8 Number 16

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Alum victim of Waltham triple homicide

September 16, 2011

Attacks drug related, assailants still at-large

Univ sues over SmartBalance patents

By Jon Ostrowsky

By Nathan Koskella

Police found three men dead after an apparent homicide in a Waltham apartment Monday afternoon, Middlesex District GerComment page 12 Attorney ry Leone said, and a Brandeis alum was among the victims.

The deaths of Brandon Mess, 25, of Waltham; Eric Weissman, 31, of Cambridge; and Rapheal Teken, 37, of Cambridge, who graduated from Brandeis in 1998 and majored in history, shocked the quiet dead-end street off of Main Street, as dozens of community members gathered behind police tape Monday, searching for answers from one another while detectives from the Waltham and State Police began an investigation.

Just before 2:30 p.m. Monday, Waltham Police responded to a report of three dead bodies inside an apartment at 12 Harding Ave. Speaking in front of reporters Monday evening, Leone described it as a “very graphic crime scene.” Mess was the only one of the three victims who lived in the

Brandeis is suing more than a dozen national food companies for patent infringement and resulting monetary damages, contained in a Sept. 9 filing in the federal district court in Madison, Wisc. The patents at issue stem from the formula used for the popular SmartBalance brand butter substitute, developed by a Brandeis professor and researcher in 1995.

SmartBalance’s holding unit GFA Brands and the university have accused, in the case known as Brandeis University v. East Side Ovens, some of the largest and most famous companies in the nation of violating the brand’s exclusive right to use the formula as purchased from Brandeis, including Nestle and their Tollhouse Cookie Dough, Pillsbury’s biscuits and crescent rolls, and Kellogg’s “Keebler elf ” wafers and cookies.

All of the companies have been previously warned by the university and SmartBalance-GFA against illegally using the Brandeis-original formula. Since their use has continued, Brandeis and GFA have now brought suit seeking an injunction to force them to stop and repay profits made from it.

Brandeis’ patents “are based on the discovery made by Professor K.C. Hayes and research scientist Dan Perlman, which showed that a ratio of saturated fats to polyunsaturated fats lowered cholesterol better than only eating polyunsaturated fats,” Irene Abrams, associate provost for innovation and director of the Office of Technology Licensing, said. The patent was officially issued in 1998.

Hayes, still at Brandeis, developed the ratio and accompanying scientific discovery that saturated fats could actually be good for health in

Editor

Editor

apartment.

“Based on the present state of the investigation, it is believed that the victims knew the assailant or assailants, and the attacks were not random,” Leone said in a statement.

“There was a girl running out of the house saying, ‘There’s blood everywhere and there was like marijuana all over the bodies,’” a neighbor, Geoff Langston, said.

The three victims appeared to have been stabbed to death with knives or ice picks, according to media reports.

In autopsies, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the causes of death to be “sharp forced See CRIME, page 3

photo from 1992 brookline high yearbook photos by ingrid schulte/the hoot crime scene (Above) Neighbors gather at the intersection of Harding Avenue and Main

Street; (Right) officer puts up police tape; (Left) Rafael Teken ’98 in a 1992 yearbook photo.

Two weekends result in six alcohol-related hospitalizations

By Josh Kelly Staff

As new students arrived on campus and acclimated to Brandeis party life, the first two weekends of the semester left nine students requiring treatment by the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps (BEMCo) for alcohol poisoning, with six of them needing transports to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

These cases come after a year

when Pachanga, the International Club’s fall dance, on Oct. 23, 2010, led to a renewed focus on student alcohol abuse with the Alcohol and Drug Policy Committee.

The committee was established at the behest of then-President Jehuda Reinharz due to the fact that on the night of Pachanga last fall, nine students needed transports to local area hospitals. This incident led to a lack of available ambulances in surrounding towns, as resources were

Dining services union negotiates with Aramark over contract

By Connor Novy

Special to the Hoot

Dining Services workers met in Usdan Tuesday to solidify their position regarding contract negotiations with Aramark, which stagnated last week over health care, 401k benefits and wage increases.

The Union bargaining committee met with management during the summer for a routine renegotiation of the contract. Staff wanted a pay raise and management wanted to significantly reduced costs.

A considerable portion of the conflict is Aramark’s change in health coverage, which raises the co-payments and deductibles of workers.

According to Dana Simon, head la-

busy transporting Brandeis students to hospitals. The committee was established with the goal of reviewing university policies concerning drugs and alcohol to prevent future incidences such as those at Pachanga from occurring again.

Professor Leonard Saxe chaired the committee, with his experience in the field including a report he authored to Congress concerning the government’s role in dealing with alcohol abuse. The commit-

tee also included Director of Public Saftey Ed Callahan, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, and Alcohol and Drug Counselor Dawn Skop.

When asked about the nature of the problem of incidents related to drugs and alcohol, the rationale behind the creation of the committee, and whether last year had higher rates than other years, Saxe deSee ALCOHOL, page 6

‘The Wedding Tzinger’ delivers zings

bor negotiator, these increases in outof-pocket pay for the workers are so large that cost is limiting their ability to seek out medical attention. Other worker concerns include the revocation of 401k benefits.

“We only want three things. Eightyfive employees are not going to break a corporation like Aramark. They’re playing games with us. They think we’re going to be scared of them or back down, but we’re not … We’re not asking for six figures a year, just a decent raise to live on,” said Michael Cutler, a member of the Official Bargaining Committee.

Other issues include balancing shifts and work distribution—workSee ARAMARK, page 19

See PATENTS, page 6

24-hour musical The cast of “The Wedding Tzinger” assembles on stage. For more, turn to page 17.

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

September 16, 2011

Study abroad office promotes new Hague, Israel programs with more flexibility and access to a wider breath of study abroad organizations,” he added.

“The practicum will consist of an internship or independent research project. In addition to the two Brandeis designed courses and the practicum, students will choose one course at the University of Leiden,” Alyssa Grinberg, program manager for the Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) said.

The extended program will present more opportunities for students to learn in courses taught by Brandeis director of Legal Studies Richard Gaskins (AMST) and faculty from the University of Leiden.

Furthermore, “the semester program will integrate both academic and experiential learning that will relate strongly to the Brandeis curriculum,” Grinberg said, “enabling students to fully immerse themselves in the Dutch culture and the topics of the classes.”

The new study program in Israel and the extension of The Hague program is part of Brandeis’ long-term goal to “have study abroad programs in every region of the world,” said van der Meid. New programs, including options in

By Anita Palmer

Special to the Hoot

The Office of Study Abroad promoted its programs during the annual study abroad fair in Levin Ballroom on Thursday. It’s main initiative was to promote the new spring semester Hague program and another new program in Israel run jointly with Middlebury College.

The study abroad fair was also the venue of the debut of Wander, a student magazine featuring essays, photography and art produced

by Brandeis students who have recently studied abroad. The magazine was developed by Jake Laband ’12 and was supported by the Office of

Global Affairs and the Office of Study Abroad.

The Hague program was previously restricted to a summer session but students will be able to partake in a more extensive 15-week program beginning this spring. The new spring semester program will allow students to enroll in four courses and a practicum.

The expansion of the program was prompted by numerous factors, including accessibility to students.

“Financial aid is portable in the spring semester program and it allows students to explore study abroad options regardless of their financial aid abilities,” Director of Study Abroad J. Scott van der Meid said. “It provides students

Higher education in the news brandeis

univ. of mass.

yale

Brandeis rises to 31 in US News & World Report rankings

UMass Amherst community searches for missing Vermont teen

Yale music faculty member dies in apparent suicide

Brandeis University rose three spots to 31 on the U.S. News & World Report rankings of top national universities.

Ranked 34 last year, Brandeis tied for 31 this year with Boston College.

U.S. News ranked Tufts University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill just ahead of Brandeis and B.C., with William and Mary and New York University one spot behind.

“The biggest factors in the university’s 2012 overall rank include significant improvements in the categories of undergraduate academic reputation, six-year graduation rate and alumni giving rate,” Senior Vice President for Communications Andrew Gully wrote in a press release.

U.S. News mentioned highly ranked English and history programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and social policy, health policy, and management and international development programs in the Heller School that helped boost Brandeis’ rank.

Administrators provided a description of Brandeis to U.S. News, explaining the benefit of a liberal arts college and research university.

“Education at Brandeis is personal, combining the intimacy of a small liberal arts college and the intellectual power of a large research university,” they wrote.

Tuition and fees for 2011-12 are $41,860 and the fall 2011 acceptance rate was 35 percent, according to U.S. News. jon ostrowsky, editor

Investigators are recruiting members of the University of Massachusetts community for a ground search this weekend for 17-year-old Marble Ace Arvidson, of West Brattleboro, Vt., according to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

The high school senior went missing right before Tropical Storm Irene struck Vermont in late August, and now searchers have asked for the help of UMass community members in a “Hike For A Cause” search for any signs of Arvidson.

Authorities do not consider Arvidson a runaway and witnesses last saw him with an unidentified person.

Brattleboro police detective Paul Beebe said police have classified the disappearence as a missing persons case.

Two searches will begin at the Chelsea Royale Diner in West Brattleboro, Vt., Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.

The Burlington Free Press reported that a $1,000 reward is being offered for information about the teen.

Despite sporadic information about the case on social networks, the investigation has found no credible leads, according to the Free Press.

Arvidson’s aunt, Massachusetts Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Trish Kittredge, is assisting with the investigation. josh kelly, staff

Yale University School of Music faculty member, John Miller MUS ’07, was found dead this morning in an apparent suicide, after having jumped from a fourth story window of Hendrie Hall at 165 Elm St., to the pavement below.

Miller’s body was discovered early Thursday morning by two Yale custodians, followed shortly by firefighters, who tried to perform CPR, and police who took Miller to the hospital. The scene of the suicide has been sealed off to the public and Hendrie Hall is closed until further notice.

According to The Hartford Courant, Miller graduated from the Yale School of Music with a degree in trombone, and graduated from the Hartt School in trombone performance and music education, summa cum laude.

In addition to working at Yale’s Music School, Miller managed the school’s community programs and acted as music director at New Haven’s John C. Daniels School.

According to the Yale Daily News, “He spearheaded a program that sent School of Music students to teach at Daniels, which sends promising students to the selective Connecticut Music Educators Association Southern Regional Middle School Concert Festival annually.”

According to The Hartford Courant, Miller was know on the Yale campus and in the New Haven community for having been awarded the prestigious Teacher, Administrator, Parent and Support award from the New Haven Public Schools district. Miller was also appointed Southern Region Director for the Connecticut Music Educators Association in 2010. debby brodsky, editor

the Film and Health: Science, Society and Policy program, are currently undergoing planning and “still need to go before the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC),” added van der Meid. “We anticipate having more announcements next month.”

“Previously there was no forum through which people could express their study abroad experience or to show their pictures and tell their stories creatively,” Ben Kalman ’12, deputy editor-in-chief of Wander, said.

In the future “we hope that Wander becomes a staple of the study abroad experience at Brandeis and for it to gain national recognition,” Kalman added. “We’re really hopeful for the future.”

The study abroad fair also introduced the idea to newcomers to the Brandeis community like Rachel Hughes ’15 and Jonathan Beaver ’15. “I thought it was eye-opening to see all that was out there because I had never considered studying abroad,” Hughes said.

“It gave me an opportunity to look at various programs which can help me apply my Russian studies overseas,” Beaver said.

photos by haley fine/the hoot

Anita Hill takes job at DC law firm

By Samuel Kim

Special to the Hoot

Dr. Anita Hill, professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at the Heller School has taken a position at the Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll law firm based in Washington, D.C. She will serve as counsel in the large firm and plans to remain a professor at Brandeis.

Hill, who first gained national attention when she testified against Supreme Court nominee and future justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, is a scholar of social policy and management and has spoken on women’s issues for decades.

Before working with Thomas, who she famously charged with sexual harassment, Hill worked as a chairman’s assistant for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, taught at the O.W. School of Law and the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Suzanne Turner, a spokesperson for the firm, says Hill believes “this generation faces challenges that are institutional and require a broad view.”

Hill came to Brandeis in 1997, joining the Heller School for Social Policy and Management as a faculty member. Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll offered her the opportunity to further her role as a civil rights activist, as the firm specializes in civil rights and discrimination cases.

Regarding the new addition to the firm, Turner says Hill “was interested in the opportunity to bring her academic perspective to a firm that has such a broad range of expertise in protecting the individual.”

Hill plans to work as a full-time professor at Brandeis and will work with the law firm on “an as-needed basis.”

“Combining her expertise, the concept of the ‘Brandeis brief ’ and Cohen Milstein’s depth of practice areas will allow her and [the firm] the opportunity to look deeply at [civil rights] challenges,” says Turner.

September 16, 2011

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Rabbi discusses human trafficking trade in Israel

By Yael Katzwer Editor

“In the state of Israel, someone does not have sex with prostitutes but rapes sex slaves.”

Rabbi Levi Lauer, the founding executive director of ATZUM-Justice Works, reiterated this point repeatedly Tuesday at a lecture he gave at Brandeis University titled “When Hope Ends in Slavery: Human Trafficking in Israel.” The lecture was sponsored by the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism.

ATZUM is an Israeli nonprofit organization with four goals: helping Israeli survivors of terror attacks; assisting non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust; educating and assimilating Ethiopian youth; and ending the sex-trafficking trade in Israel.

ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking has been working for six years with the Israeli law firm Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar to change Israeli policy to prevent the trafficking of women and the slavery of women once within in Israel. The law firm’s pro-bono work with ATZUM allows ATZUM to spend “more time and less money” on this project, according to Lauer.

For their work, on May 8 Lauer and ATZUM received Hebrew Union College’s 2011 Roger E. Joseph Prize, which grants $10,000.

“There are 3,200 women annually who are going to be raped daily and brutalized in ways unimaginable,” Lauer informed the audience of about 40 people. Approximately 3,200 women—although there are no official statistics on this—are forced into Israel, stripped naked, sold on the block and distributed to pimps, mainly in Tel Aviv, Lauer said. “After 12 months, many of them are physically and emotionally useless.

They are dumped on the street, arrested and deported.”

The first group of men responsible is the slavers. These men lure women, mainly from the former Soviet Union, to Israel, where they sell them to pimps. “Some [women] came expecting to be pole dancers or lap dancers; they were not told they were going to be raped 15 to 20 times a day,” Lauer said. “And even if they were, should they be left to be brutalized?”

The second group of men responsible is the pimps. These men run the brothels and strip clubs.

The third group of men responsible is the customers. Of these men, 8 percent are foreign workers; 20 to 25 percent are Arabs; 30 percent are Haredi, ultra-Orthodox Jews; and the rest blur all lines.

The biggest aid to sex trafficking in Israel is lax border patrol in the south and the airports.

While Israeli officers patrol for terrorists and weapons, they turn a blind eye to enslaved women. The northern border is well-patrolled due to Hezbollah; the Jordanians patrol their own border—according to Lauer, “because the Jordanians were smart enough to dump the Palestinians in our lap and now they don’t want anyone coming back their way”; and trafficking via the Mediterranean is possible due to bribery but is expensive.

This leaves Egypt and the airports. Soldiers used to allow women smuggled over the Egyptian-Israeli to be picked up by Bedouins to be sold in Israel due to a tacit agreement that the Bedouins would not traffic in weapons. But now, with the political climate in Egypt changing, the non-compliance of the Bedouins and the imminent completion of a border fence, the Egyptian border is a less viable option.

This leaves the airports, where many women are brought in with fake identities in order to claim citizenship. “If [the airports become guarded], Bibi [Prime Minister Netanyahu] will get the Nobel Peace Prize for being the first country in the world without sex trafficking.”

According to Lauer, it is that easy.

While working to lock down Israel’s borders, Lauer and ATZUM are also working to institute a Nordic law, currently in place in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, which would “decriminalize the person providing services and criminalize those paying for services.”

ATZUM has matched 119 lobbyists with Knesset members to advocate for this change in the laws because, ultimately, this change would be more effective than closing the borders.

Firstly, not all sex slaves are foreign. “Increasing numbers of Israeli young girls and women, as young as 16, are more vulnerable to the sex trade,” Lauer said. “While we are trying to dry up the supply side externally, we have been unable to dry up the demand side.”

Additionally, a law like this “would allow the press to publish the names of those convicted— a column of ‘caught with your pants down,’” Lauer explained. “Ninety-five percent said that if there was a chance of family finding out, they wouldn’t do it because of the shame.”

It is shame that Lauer hopes will eventually end the sex-slave trade in Israel. It is shame that has kept the sex slaves primarily female. “The stigma associated with homosexuality and lesbians in Israel is still very strong,” Lauer said in an interview with The Hoot. Israeli men fear being caught with a male prostitute and Israeli women rarely buy sex.

Lauer has faced many barriers, however, in this fight. A common mantra he hears as he tries to enlist help is, “But Levi, you’re asking us to wash the dirtiest laundry of the Jewish people at this particularly sensitive time.”

He admits that this is true but always counters, saying, “The state of Israel is in trouble.

There will never be a time when there isn’t trouble for Israel. I say, let’s once and for all wash it and hang it out to dry.” He added, “Something worse than washing the dirtiest laundry of the Jewish people at this particularly sensitive time is wearing it.”

The fight against sex trafficking in Israel is not the same fight found in other countries, particularly the United States. The issue in the United States is ignorance of the problem. In Israel, “The only people that say they don’t know are either the men who compulsively rape sex slaves and say they are having sex with prostitutes or those who don’t want to know.”

A big problem in Israel is that the police do not enforce the laws. “Israel has some of the

photo by alex patch/the hoot

rabbi levi lauer

toughest anti-trafficking laws on the books but they are unenforced—most laws are,” Lauer said. “Too many people come from too many cultures where the laws never helped them, so [they think] ‘why should I follow them now.’ …

Routinely the Supreme Court tells the police to enforce them and they don’t.”

Lauer spoke of an incident in which he gave a list of the names of 40 slavers to a high-ranking police officer in Tel Aviv and the officer asked him how he had found these men’s names and personal information. He replied, “We did our job. We went out on the streets and asked.”

The men named on the list were not arrested.

Another problem Lauer faces is preconceived notions about Russian women. When he goes to officials to lobby for sex-trafficking law reformation, “at some point in the conversation they would ask ‘Levi, are any of these women Jewish?’ All they care about are Jewish women.

They think, all those women are Natashas, all Russians are loose,” said Lauer. “They, excuse my language, they really don’t care about these shiksas, these non-Jewish women.”

Another question Lauer frequently hears is: “What do they look like?”

“These are people’s daughters and sisters,” Lauer stressed. “They’re not Russian whores or Natashas who don’t deserve our respect.”

The first sex-trafficking case brought to Lauer’s attention six years ago was that of an Uzbek woman, who had escaped her pimp and slaver and wanted to go home to her mother. She was dying of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, weighed 36 kilograms and had been raped 15 times in the preceding 36 hours—she died 72 hours later.

Lauer has been working to get justice for her but continually runs into red tape and officials who don’t care. A judge even threw out a lawsuit

against the state of Israel on the grounds that the victim was not there to appear in court. “By that criteria, you can’t convict anyone of murder,” Lauer said.

Recently, however, after six years, ATZUM and Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar won 525,000 shekels and sent it to the woman’s mother. They now plan to sue the pimp and slaver.

The largest project ATZUM organizes is Woman To Go, which brings attention to the issue and seeks signatures for a petition to criminalize buying women. Woman To Go was featured on CNN after they placed actresses wearing revealing clothes, black eyes and bloody lips in storefront windows with price tags attached to them in a Tel Aviv mall.

Woman To Go may soon be seen in the United States as well. Karen McLaughlin, formerly of the Massachusetts Task Force on Human Trafficking and currently an adviser for Demand Abolition, praised Lauer’s initiative at the end of his lecture and asked his advice in bringing Woman To Go to Boston. “I want to bring sex slavery in Massachusetts—in the United States—to people’s attention,” McLaughlin told The Hoot. “After this lecture, I also want to bring attention to how it works internationally—here, in Israel, all over.”

This is exactly what Lauer hopes for. Lauer wants to destroy the sex slavery industry in Israel “and then let’s tell the whole world how we did it so they can emulate our success.”

This event was cosponsored by the HadassahBrandeis Institute, International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life; the Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies Program; the Social Justice & Social Policy Program; the Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University.

Waltham triple homicide remains unsolved CRIME, from page 1

district attorney gerry leone leaving the crime scene

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

injuries of the neck,” Leone said in a statement on Thursday.

On Monday, Leone told reporters that two people in the apartment earlier that day were no longer there, implying that the assailant or assailants are still at large.

A spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office said that police were searching for one or possibly more assailants. There were no updates on the investigation Thursday afternoon, she said.

The Hoot’s repeated attempts to obtain information about Teken and his time at Brandeis were unsuccessful on Thursday.

Teken graduated from Brookline High School in 1992 and while his photo appeared in the high school yearbook, it could not be found in the Brandeis yearbook from 1998. Several professors and administrators said they did not know Teken.

Less than three miles from Brandeis, Harding Avenue is a dead-end street off Main Street, past the intersection of Main and Moody.

“It’s a family street,” Langston said.

As dusk turned to night on Monday, families gathered behind the yellow police tape. Police detectives shuttled back and forth.

Leone drove away after his 8 p.m. press conference. Detectives continued to question neighbors and search for evidence. And reporters set up cameras for live shots to be shown on the nightly news.

4 The Brandeis Hoot

Views of The week

HOOKAH NIGHT

Hookah on the lawn BZA, BSI, the International Club and Namaskar join together to host Hookah Night on the Great Lawn on Sept. 13.

photos by alex patch/the hoot

September 16, 2011

WALTHAM GROUP

waltham group recruitment Students learn about the plentiful amount of volunteer opportunities on campus at Waltham Group Volunteer Recruitment Night on Sept. 14.

photos by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

September 16, 2011

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6 NEWS

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September 16, 2011

Student Union discusses 2011 agenda

By Debby Brodsky

PATENTS, from page 6

Staff

The Student Union seeks to improve the overall morale of students on campus and help club leaders access the university resources at their disposal, President Herbie Rosen ’12 said this week, as the Union set a new agenda for the academic year.

Thursday evening, the Student Union welcomed four new senators, at the first senate meeting of the year, including senator at large, senators for the classes of 2012 and 2014, and representatives as elected by the student body.

“I want the overall feeling of the student body to be a little more content,” said Rosen.

“I love Brandeis. It’s the best choice I ever made to come here. This year is the Student Union’s chance to impact the community.”

This week the Student Union hosted a club leaders conference on Thursday and will host another on Friday. The conference is cosponsored by Student Activities, and is designed specifically to help the leaders of each club on campus to understand how to access Brandeis’ resources, to avoid confusion during the year and to encourage efficiency as early as possible.

“We are doing a giant jump start meeting,” said Andrea Ortega ’13, Student Union communications director. “The conference will include a session with the Student Union treasurer about how to request funding for clubs and how to run events.”

Student Union Vice President Gloria Park ’13 expressed optimism about the Student Union’s agenda for the upcoming year. “At the Student Union, we want to move forward collectively this year. We are in the process of planning our annual Union retreat, which is our way of trying to get to know all of the new Student Union members,” Park said.

“In addition, we are making plans for the midnight buffet, the state of the union address and the turkey shuttles later this semester,” Rosen added.

Patents at issue in Univ lawsuit

president herbie rosen at senate meeting

“We are continuing our talks with campus dining services and with facilities to see how we can improve our residence areas. We are going to do as much as possible to celebrate Brandeis for everything that it is.”

Union leaders also continued to describe work the Student Union plans to develop with the Department of Community living, and plans to better advise students living off campus.

There are also plans for a Festival of Social Justice in February called “’Deis Impact,” sponsored by the Student Union and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Clubs, ranging form arts to athletics, are

photo by alex hall/the hoot

encouraged to participate and share how their definition of social justice has impacted the Brandeis community.

Off campus, Brandeis Student Union has been participating in the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council (BILC) for the past two years.

BILC’s goal is to bring student body representatives from Boston-area colleges and universities together, so they may seek inspiration from one another. In the past year, Brandeis has remodeled its Student Union website to reflect that of Tufts. According to Ortega, the website is now a much more interactive and resourceful place for Brandeis students.

his research on fatty acids and human lipids, in collaboration with Perlman. Hayes’ research continues and his work at Brandeis in both capacities is ongoing.

“This finding was surprising at the time because the belief [before] was that saturated fats were always bad for you and this proved that in the right ratio, eating saturated fats improved cholesterol,” Abrams said. She added that SmartBalance is based on this ratio and that since Brandeis has said it alone may legally do so, the university believes the larger companies to be in violation.

As a part of the contract that gave SmartBalance-GFA exclusive rights, Brandeis receives considerable royalty payments in exchange.

(The university makes at least $1.6 million per year from its more than 300 patents, and much of this amount is derived from this landmark one and its famous brand.)

And is the exclusivity provided to SmartBalance that empowered GFA to exercise its right, contracted to it by Brandeis, to enforce that privilege in court. Brandeis, as holder of the patent, is the named plaintiff in the case while GFA, as exclusive licensee, is leading the case.

Lawyers for both entities are involved, according to Andrew Gully, the university’s senior vice president for communications.

Brandeis University was also a plaintiff, along with the nation’s other top research institutions, chiefly Stanford, in another recent patent case, Stanford v. Roche. It claimed that universities had primary ownership rights to their professors’ inventions in all cases where the research involved federal funds. The Supreme Court, in a June opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, and with a 7-2 vote, ruled against the colleges and limited their patent ownership generally.

But Hayes’ research did not employ federal funds and thus will not be affected by the Roche decision at all, Abrams said, and Brandeis is confident this time of finding infringement by the food companies. Brandeis and GFA are also suing for recovery and even punitive damages against them.

Alcohol committee submits recommendations to administration ALCOHOL, from page 1

scribed a focus on the big picture rather than on isolated incidents.

“Incidents the night of the last Pachanga were the catalyst for then-President Reinharz creating the committee, but our focus was much broader,” Saxe said. “Nevertheless, the committee’s position was that the absolute number of incidents is less important than acknowledging the seriousness of the broader issue, one that faces campuses nationwide.

When a student is transported to the hospital, it indicates that there was a serious problem.”

Saxe acknowledged that last weekend had a higher rate of alcohol-related transports compared to others and also maintained that any such incidences are negative for the students in question and for the campus on the whole.

“Having four students sent to the hospital is a ‘bad’ weekend—regardless of whether it is more or less than other weekends, or more or less than at other universities,” Saxe said. “It means that the lives of four students were at great risk and that the environment on campus was disrupted. It is, however, a higher rate than most weekends.”

Saxe furthermore evaluated when these incidents happen most often, claiming that “incidents cluster—at the beginning, middle and end of each semester.

An issue to be concerned with is whether or not Brandeis has a unique culture when it comes to drinking. Perhaps there are issues specific to Brandeis that other schools do not have or issues that other schools have that we do not really need to be as concerned with.

According to Saxe, Brandeis does have a distinct culture, but this is no reason not to be concerned and take action.

“My sense is that our culture is somewhat different than other schools and the magnitude of alcohol problems at Brandeis may be less than at other campuses,” he said. “But students here are affected by the same trends

that affect students elsewhere and it would be surprising if there weren’t problems.”

All of the four transports last weekend to Newton-Wellesley Hospital were students aged between 18 and 19 years old. Furthermore, three of these reports were called in from first-year dormitories. Saxe commented on this trend of younger students having more of an issue with alcohol than older students.

The committee’s strategy relied on deliberation among the members of the group, a town hall meeting, the opinions of experts from both the Heller School and the National Institutes of Health, graduate student-run focus groups of undergraduates and interviews with a wide variety of Brandeis staff.

The Committee, according to Saxe, has been coming closer to reaching a point at which policy changes can be made.

“We submitted a draft report to President Reinharz and President Lawrence at the end of our deliberations,” he said. “Now that a senior vice president for students and enrollment has arrived on campus (he began two weeks ago), President Lawrence and he are considering our recommendations.”

New Senior Vice President of Students Andrew Flagel commented on the report as well as the issues leading up to the creation of the committee. Like Saxe, Flagel feels that this is a national problem. Flagel furthermore feels that Brandeis could potentially serve as a national model for how to cope effectively with issues related to drugs and alcohol.

When asked about his experiences arriving at Brandeis, Flagel explained that with regard to the issues addressed by the committee, he feels very positive.

According to Flagel, issues related to drugs and alcohol so often can have negative connotations, and yet when he observed the actions taken by Brandeis to form the committee and create a report, he found a positive energy in that something was already being done to address the issues.

“Brandeis has developed a very strong pro-

“ ” And would you like to know how many kids got hospitalized that night after the event? The correct answer would be zero.

President Frederick Lawrence on the Inaugural Ball

active environment,” Flagel said about the university’s already-effective support system.

He explained that he feels that students watch out for each other’s well-being.

Saxe said that a main goal in the report is to improve communication within the support system and to students.

Flagel said that there needs to be an on-going effort to research these issues, with more sophisticated data. Specifically, he finds that what we know about now is the worst incidences of drug and alcohol abuse.

We do not, in his opinion, know enough about other incidences. Flagel made it clear, however, that in this effort to research the issues more thoroughly, he does not want to become invasive in student privacy. Lastly, there will be an effort to continue to offer other activities to students.

When presented with the some of the report’s policy ideas, including the idea of providing more activities to students as alternatives to drinking, Zahin Huq ’14 responded with approval and yet a certain level of doubt.

“I think it’s always cool to have more activities available on campus,” Huq said. “I know they may plan something but there [are] so many events on campus already that nobody shows up to, so if they could do some more

research into what exactly the students want from these events that would be cool.”

Reflecting on his first eight months in office, university President Fred Lawrence said that community events without alcohol can help to address the issue of binge drinking, pointing to the successful and safe inaugural ball held in April.

“The Saturday night after the inauguration, when we had something like 1,800 kids down in Gosman for that inaugural ball,” Lawrence said in an interview with The Hoot last month. “And would you like to know how many kids got hospitalized that night after that event? The correct answer would be zero.

I mean that’s unbelievable.

“That tells me that there’s a real potential here for more things we can do as a community,” he said.

Lys Joseph ’14, however, responded with more skepticism.

“If somebody wants to drink, if somebody wants to do drugs or stuff like that then they’re always going to do it,” Joseph said.

“People are going to do what they want to do … even if you put so many restrictions on it people are still going to do what they want to do. … You can suppress it, but I feel like it’s always going to be there.”

EDITORIALS

September 16, 2011

"To acquire wisdom, one must observe."

Editor-in-Chief Alex Schneider Managing Editors Destiny D. Aquino Sean Fabery Yael Katzwer Jon Ostrowsky Senior News Editor Nathan Koskella News Editor Leah Finkelman Features Editor Morgan Gross Impressions Editor Gordy Stillman Sports Editor Alana Blum Hoot Scoops Editor Savannah Pearlman Copy Editor Steven Wong Graphics Editor Leah Finkelman Production Editor Nafiz “Fizz” Ahmed Photography Editor Ingrid Schulte Photography Editor Emily Stott Layout Editor Debby Brodsky Deputy News Editor Candice Bautista Deputy Arts Editor Suzanna Yu Deputy Copy Editor

Volume 8 • Issue 16 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Writing assessment a waste of time

A

dministrators who have recently introduced the first-year writing assessment would do well to reconsider the scheme.

Under new rules, first-years entering Brandeis must complete an online writing assessment, which is timed for most students, in the summer preceding the start of their first classes.

These are the same students who braved the writing portion of the SAT and ACT and who were accepted to Brandeis after a review of numerous essays, grades and letters of recommendation.

It is easy to subject these students to

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

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

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

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

STAFF Rick Alterbaum, Emily Breitbart, Haley Fine, Jeremy Goodman, Edwin Gonzalez, Paula Hoekstra, Adam Hughes, Gabby Katz, Josh Kelly, Christina Kolokotroni, Anthony, Ariel Madway, Estie Martin, Alexandra Patch, Lien Phung, Andrew Rauner, Alexandra Zelle Rettman, Ricky Rosen, Nate Rosenbloom, Imara Roychowdhury, Aaron Sadowsky, Jessica Sashihara, Alex Self, Brian Tabakin, Ryan Tierney and Alan Tran

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The Brandeis Hoot 7

I

more tests. They are new to Brandeis, certainly nervous about beginning the college experience and more than willing to please, even if it means spending 90 minutes typing yet another essay.

But is this the best way to allocate resources? For one, someone has to read these essays and that takes time, which inevitably costs the university money, not to mention the time and money that it took to set up the proprietary online assessment system.

(Remember, graders of standardized tests already did Brandeis’ work for the university.)

Writing is an important skill to have and requiring some students to take

a composition course before their university writing seminar (UWS) can be beneficial. But why create another requirement that only raises pre-college nervousness when other options for assessing writing exist?

The Hoot would submit that a threshold should be set based on the writing section of the SAT or ACT that automatically places students in or out of the composition course. Students could then petition the placement, based on a voluntary writing sample, after the start of classes. This process eliminates the need to subject all students to a test with limited utility while continuing the aims of the writing assessment program.

Time for alcohol policy committee to act

t comes as no surprise that the first two weekends on campus have brought an abundance of underage binge drinking. As first-year students transition into college, they suddenly find themselves living in an environment vastly different from high school.

No longer are parents watching every decision and controlling where their kids go to socialize and party.

At Brandeis, six students have been hospitalized for alcohol poisoning in the past two weekends. If administrators were looking for an appropriate time to renew a community-wide discussion around responsible alcohol use, to encourage the Alcohol and Drug Policy Committee to work transparently with students, and to prevent stupidity and tragedy before they occur, we believe they have found one.

To some, hospital transports for alcohol poisoning may sound routine at the beginning of the academic year. After all, it happens at colleges around the country on every weekend of the year.

But numbers alone do not tell the severity of the issue. Consider, for example what it means to be so intoxicated with alcohol that you need to be hospitalized. In many

cases, it means that had students not been transported, they would have suffered permanent serious injuries and possibly died from an overdose.

Such cases also beg the question, why are students taking six shots of vodka in an hour in the first place? Answers that only justify such actions with academic pressure and the freedom of college are naive ones.

Students drink for many reasons but, ultimately, they drink excessively because they are insecure—either with who they are at the moment or with the problems and issues they have to face each day.

Nearly a year has passed since this university woke up to the dangers of alcohol abuse, when it realized that nine students being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning on the night of Pachanga last fall is unacceptable. And nearly a year has gone by without any changes in policy or new programs to address the issue.

Some believe that the Alcohol and Drug Policy Committee was formed simply for publicity purposes, recognizing that there is little adults can do to prevent binge drinking on a college campus.

But they are wrong. The Committee can actively seek out student involvement

from different social and party cliques on campus, including athletics, Greek life, Community Living and the Student Union to determine when students get into trouble with alcohol, and what situations and responses will minimize their risk and maximize the protection of their safety.

Such a committee cannot afford to get caught up in the politics of an administration or the fear of promoting a positive public relations appearance. It simply needs to take bold initiatives, think outside the box and view this moment as a time to lead our community.

The university’s senior administration welcomed three new leaders this summer, including a new senior vice president for students and enrollment, provost and dean of arts and sciences.

If these new leaders were looking for their first major project at Brandeis, we believe they have found it. They should view the past two weekends as a sign of the challenge Brandeis and all colleges face when it comes to underage drinking in dorm rooms and fraternity parties.

The solution lies in reasonable and productive discussion. Inefficient committees won’t get us there.

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Writers, editors, photographers, layout designers and copy staff wanted!

It isn’t too late to join Brandeis’ community newspaper!

Stop by our offices on the third floor of the Shapiro Campus Center on a Thursday or send us an e-mail at join@thebrandeishoot.com

8 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

September 16, 2011

Volleyball goes 4-0 over tournament and home stand

By Gordy Stillman Editor

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

Whenever there is a tournament, many stories follow. Usually one story rises above the others and in the case of the Brandeis Volleyball Invitational the big story was how the hosts swept their opponents in their 3-0 weekend.

The Judges started off strong with their first match of the weekend against Babson College. Though the sets were close, the Judges maintained control and won 3-0 with sets of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-19. The closest the Judges came to losing a set was early in the first, when three errors allowed the Beavers to take a 9-5 lead, but a 5-1 run tied the set and kept the match competitive.

Babson took back the lead quickly and brought the score to 13-12.

The Judges fought back, scoring eight of nine points. Outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 contributed with two kills while setter Yael Einhorn ’14 served five of the points. After another point from blocker Lauren Berens ’13, the score was 20-14. The Beavers fought back with a threepoint run but it wasn’t enough to stop another 5-1 Judges run from ending the set.

In the second set, the match stayed competitive with early ties of 3-3 and 8-8. Brandeis managed to open a margin with kills by Berens, outside hitter Susan Sun ’13 and middle blocker Becca Fischer ’13 to get a three-point lead at 17-14.

The set eventually reached overtime, where the Judges won 26-24. By the third set the Judges were dominating. The Judges started the set 3-0, once let Babson get within a point at a 7-6 score, and then ran away with a 9-3 run on the way to a 25-19 win.

After a short break the Judges got

back to work with a match against Bates College. The Judges started well in the first match with the first three points, but a 5-0 run put the Bobcats ahead. The Judges were able to climb back thanks in part to a hot streak by Berens, who managed three of four points on the way to an 8-6 lead. After slipping and allowing the Bobcats to take the lead, the Judges tied it at 18 each before going ahead for the win 25-22.

In the second set the Judges kept the momentum going with a 6-1 lead. Right side Samantha Heller ’13 served as Hood managed six kills during an 8-0 run on the way to a commanding 25-14 win. The third set was much like the second, with a 6-0 run to start it off with serves by outside hitter Shemira Pennyman ’15 and five more kills for Hood.

On Saturday the Judges soared to a 3-0 victory against Rhode Island College, while Hood had a careerhigh 18 kills in the final match of the invitiational. Hood wasn’t the only one to earn kills: Fischer added six while Einhorn had 25 assists in the match. Libero Elsie Bernaiche ’15 tied her career-best 19 digs in the match.

In the first set the Judges got off to a fast start with a 7-1 early lead.

Hood had 10 of her 18 kills in this set alone. The second set started with a 5-0 lead. Rhode Island fought back with a three-point run, but the Judges ran away with six points for an 11-3 lead and eventually a 25-15 set. In the third and final set for the Judges, they kept the momentum going with a 6-0 start. The game got close when the Anchorwomen went on an 8-3 run to bring the score to 14-12 for the Judges; after a timeout the Judges went on a 4-0 run on the

way to the 25-18 victory.

The Judges’ streak survived an early setback on Wednesday, when they won their match against Endcott College 3-1. This was the Judges’ first match of the season to be decided by more than three sets. Endcott won the first set 2517, but the Judges bounced back to win the next three sets 25-19, 25-15 and 25-12 for the match win. Hood had 16 kills while outside hitter SiSi Henley ’14 added 10 and Sun had seven. Three of Sun’s kills came early in the second match at the start of the Judges’ comeback; she also had 17 digs on defense. Bernaiche had a career-high 27 digs in the match.

Einhorn also had a career-high with 39 assists.

The Judges’ next match is Saturday in New Hampshire. Their next home match is Tuesday when they host Tufts.

Volleyball Team

UAA

All

Washington

0– 0

10 – 0

Chicago

0–0

9–0

Emory

0–0

9–1

Case Western

0–0

7–2

Brandeis

0–0

6–2

Rochester

0–0

6–2

NYU

0–0

6–3

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

5–5

Box Scores Babson

Win

3–0

Bates

Win

3–0

Rhode Island College

Win

3–0

Endicott

Win

3–1

Women’s soccer loses to Springfield, Bridgewater State

photo by jingfei chen/the hoot

By Alex Bernstein Special to the Hoot

Anxious to play after their game against Tufts last Tuesday was postponed due to inclement weather, Brandeis lost 2-0 Saturday in their first game as a nationally-ranked team in an away game against Springfield College. Following their defeat Saturday, the Judges lost to Bridgewater State on Tuesday by a score of 1-0. The Judges, who were the ranked 18th in Division III, before Saturday’s

contest are now ranked 22nd.

Both games resulted in frustrating defeats. According to Captain Alanna Torre ’12, the Judges were unable to cash in on many opportunities to score in each game. “We had so many opportunities, but we just couldn’t score. We were unlucky,” she said.

In the first half, Brandeis goalie Francine Kofinas ’13 did a great job of keeping the Judges in the game, making three saves. In the 26th minute, however, Springfield’s co-captain, Katie Mantie, scored the only goal of

the half. Assisted by her co-captain, Jackie Moscardelli, Mantie was able to lift the ball over Kofinas.

In the second half, the Judges failed to take advantages of several scoring opportunities. Forward Hilary Andrews ’14 and midfielder Mary Shimko ’14 each had two chances to score in the second half, but came up short. The Judges can be encouraged, however, by the excellent play of rookie midfielder Sapir Edalati ’15, who scored a goal in the season opener and had three shots on goal in

the final 21 minutes of the game on Saturday.

In the 59th minute, things took a turn for the worse when Moscardelli added to the lead by heading one into the back of the net on a beautiful cross from Springfield’s Jenelle Jahoda. The problem, according to Andrews, was that the cross came in by an undefended player. After the game, Andrews recognized the “need to work out some things defensively, because both goals were scored in the same way.”

Torre looks forward to the opportunity to bounce back Tuesday night, when they hosted Bridgewater State.

“We need to come out hard, and try and score in the first five minutes.

With a bunch of games this week, we need to do a good job of maintaining possession so we don’t tire ourselves out,” she said.

While the Judges did maintain possession against BSU, controlling the entire game, they came up short, losing 1-0. Despite outshooting the Bears 25-3, once again Brandeis could not take advantage of its many scoring opportunities. The game’s only goal came in the 52nd minute. After Brandeis took the first four shots of the second half, BSU’s Megan O’Leary received a corner kick, and knocked it in on the far post.

After the goal, the Judges began putting more pressure on the Bears, but BSU goalie Kerry Condon continued making saves. In the 72nd minute, Torre made a nice attempt that was saved by Condon. Following the play, Judges forward Maddy Stein ’14 had another nice attempt that was saved by Condon yet again.

In the 79th minute, Shimko had a chance that just went wide, and moments later had her header saved by Condon. With less than two minutes left in the game, Brandeis’ Kelly Peterson ’14 missed a free kick just over the cross-bar, which was the Judges’ last real scoring threat.

“We dominated the entire game, but we had problems finishing,” Torre said after the game. Though Brandeis lost, Torre still seemed optimistic: “It’s OK to lose in the beginning of the season, because we now know what we have to work on. Nobody likes losing and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but now we’re motivated to win our upcoming games.” Brandeis, now 2-2 on the season, will travel to Brunswick, Maine, to face Bowdoin College on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Women’s soccer Team

UAA

All

Washington

0– 0

6–0

Rochester

0–0

5–0

Emory

0–0

3–0–1

Chicago

0–0

4–1

NYU

0–0

3–1

Case Western

0–0

3–1–1

Brandeis

0–0

2–2

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

2–2

Box Scores @Springfield

Loss

2–0

Bridgewater State

Loss

1–0

September 16, 2011

SPORTS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

Men’s soccer splits 1-1 for the week

By Brian Tabakin Staff

The Brandeis men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season to Clark University on Saturday this past weekend, Sept. 10. After scoring an astounding 10 goals in the first two games, the explosive Brandeis offense was unable to score a single goal and were shut out against Clark.

With the win, Clark improves to 4-0 while Brandeis falls to 2-1 for the season.

Both teams had several opportunities to score in the first half, but were unable to convert their scoring chances. This changed in the first few minutes of the second half when Clark’s Gianluca Ranallo chased down a ball on the left side of the field and crossed the ball to the back post, where Clark’s Josh Demers headed

photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

the ball past Brandeis goalie Blake Minchoff ’13 for the only goal of the game. Ranallo and Demers almost scored again on the same play in the 71st minute, but Demers’ header was too high and it went over the crossbar.

In the closing minutes of the game, the Judges were able to manage constant pressure in the offensive zone and threatened to score several times. The Judges’ best chance came when midfielder Sam Ocel ’13 fired a point-blank shot into the goal; however, Clark goalie Ryan King made a spectacular save to turn back the goal and preserve the shutout in the 87th minute.

The game consisted of 31 fouls between the two teams and two yellow cards were handed out in what turned out to be a very physical game. Although Brandeis lost, they held both a 17-7 advantage in shots on goal and

a 13-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Minchoff made a pair of saves for the Judges while letting in just a single goal. Ryan King, his Clark counterpart, turned aside five scoring attempts to record his first shutout of the season.

On Wednesday the Judges hosted their first home game of the season. Nine different Brandeis players scored points in a 5-0 rout of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as the Judges handed the Engineers their first loss of the season in a non-conference matchup on Gordon’s Field. With the win, the Judges improved to 3-1 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 4-1. Though the Judges could not muster any offense in their 1-0 loss to Clark earlier in the week, Brandeis spent most of this contest in the offensive zone.

The first half was played at a near

stalemate, though WPI held a slight advantage in total shots 6-5 and corner kicks 2-1. Despite, the even play of the two teams, Brandeis notched the only goal of the first half at the 15th minute. Forward Steve Keuchkarian ’12 dribbled through traffic and made a precise cross from the end line to set up the charging Kyle Feather ’14 with an easy tap-in. Feather’s goal was his third on the young season.

The game was very physical with both teams amassing a total of 35 fouls during the course of the game and WPI forward Jason Hopkins was assessed a yellow card. At the end of the first half, WPI sophomore Anthony Cicchetti incensed the home crowd by making an obscene gesture towards the bleachers.

Holding a slim lead at the beginning of the second half, Brandeis blew the game wide open with two early tallies and a total of four second-half goals.

Back Ben Applefield ’14 opened the scoring of the second half when he blew past three WPI defenders and blasted a shot into the lower righthand corner of the net for his first goal of the season and third of his career at the 51:16 mark. Less than 90 seconds later, forward Lee Russo ’13, who had drawn a foul moments before resulting in a free kick, put a very nice free kick right onto the head of midfielder Theo Harris ’12, who headed it home for his second goal of the season at the 52:45 mark.

The Judges’ offense controlled the tempo of play for the rest of the second half. In the 79th minute, shortly after WPI brought a majority of its players into the offensive zone to try to climb back into the contest, the Judges scored again. Back Matt Pea-

Advanced predictions on MLB awards

By Louis Berger

Special to the Hoot

As teams approach their magic numbers and the playoff races cool down, the races for Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards are just heating up. Some awards have clear front-runners while others are filled with superstar hopefuls, all seeking to polish that final resume before the Baseball Writers of America cast their votes. If I were a highly qualified sportswriter, these would be my votes: AL Cy Young: This category should be the easiest to decide, as Justin Verlander has clearly been the best pitcher in the American League and perhaps in all of baseball. Verlander is first in the AL in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, win percentage and WHIP (a measurement of a pitcher’s ability to prevent batters from reaching base). He is second in the AL in ERA with a 2.44, and his four complete games put him at third in the AL. C.C. Sabathia and Jered Weaver seemed like Cy Young favorites earlier in the year, but their win and strikeout totals are not at Verlander’s level.

AL MVP: At the moment, many would agree that Curtis Granderson of the Yankees leads the pack of MVP candidates. He leads the league in RBIs and runs scored, and is second in home runs with 39, but Granderson’s .265 batting average could deter voters. Jose Bautista is another favorite to win the award. He leads the AL in homeruns (41), walks, slugging percentage and OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging). His batting average of .305 is much more appealing to voters than Granderson’s but the RBI and runs scored numbers are not as impressive.

Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox also has MVP potential. He leads the league in batting average (.339), is second in RBIs, and is fourth in runs scored and OPS. I think Curtis Granderson has the edge over Gonzalez’s numbers and will earn more votes than Bautista because his Jays will not make the playoffs this year.

AL Rookie of the Year: Mark Trumbo of the Angels leads AL rookies with 26 HRs, 28 doubles, 80 RBIs, and a slugging percentage of .476, and he plays for a team that is in the middle of a tight division race. The Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson

has a solid 12-10 record, and leads AL rookies with a 2.96 ERA and 170 innings pitched. Ivan Nova of the Yankees has a better record at 154, but many would attribute that to the generous run support he receives (Nova has a run support average of 9.5 while Hellickson’s has just 6.29). This category is up in the air, but I have to give the edge to Mark Trumbo because nothing catches voters’ eyes more than home runs and RBIs. NL Cy Young: To be respectful to last year’s winner, I’ll start with Roy Halladay. He leads the NL in complete games (seven) and ranks third in ERA, win percentage and wins. Clayton Kershaw is another obvious candidate; he leads the NL in strikeouts, innings pitched and ERA. He ranks second in the NL in wins and WHIP, and he has pitched five complete games. Cliff Lee could also garner some votes, as he is second in the NL in strikeouts, innings pitched and complete games, and is third in ERA (tied with Halladay). While some voters might want to hand the award to the entire Phillies pitching staff, I’m going to have to give the Cy Young to the big lefty on the Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw.

NL MVP: We’ll start with Ryan Braun: The Brewer’s slugger leads the NL in slugging percentage, and ranks second in batting average, runs scored and OPS. He is in the top five in RBIs, plays an exceptional left field and plays for a team that will be in the playoffs. Ryan Howard of the Phillies could also make a case for MVP, as he leads the league in RBI (112) and is second in the NL home-run race. Dodgers’ superstar Matt Kemp has put together a fantastic season. He has the third most RBIs and runs scored in the NL, and ranks fourth in batting average and home runs. His 38 stolen bases and .561 slugging percentage are each second in the NL. I’m taking Ryan Braun because of his impressive numbers and playoff-bound team (just don’t trip over yourself rounding third base again).

NL Rookie of the Year: The pool for NL Rookie of the Year is a strong one this year, but I think Craig Kimbrel rises above them all.

He leads the NL in saves with 43 and has 116 strikeouts in just 70.2 innings. His teammate Freddie Freeman will also likely receive some

votes. He leads NL rookies in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage and RBIs, and is tied for first place in rookie home runs and runs scored. Voters, however, would expect better power numbers from a first baseman. The last rookie worth taking a look at is starting pitcher Vance Worley of the Phillies (big surprise, it’s the Phils again). He is 11-2 with a 2.92 ERA and has 103 strikeouts in 117 innings. I think the star-studded Phillies’ rotation overshadows Worley’s success. I’ll take Craig Kimbrel for this one.

I may have swung and missed on a few or possibly all of these picks, but that’s the best part about baseball—anything can happen. *Records and stats are valid as of Sept. 12.

body ’13 cleared the ball from his box high into the air. Midfielder Tyler Savonen ’15 collected the ball at the midfield stripe where he beat his defender in a one-on-one contest and WPI goalie Jeff Wong for his second career goal to put the Judges ahead 4-0.

Brandeis added a late goal with just 8.3 seconds remaining when Tudor Livadaru ’14 assisted forward Nick George ’14, who beat Wong one-onone.

Minchoff made five saves in the game, including a spectacular diving save in the 21st minute, in his third shutout of the season.

Brandeis had nine shots on goal for the game compared to WPI’s five and Brandeis also had a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Brandeis returns to action Monday, Sept. 19 when the Judges host MIT at 7 p.m.

Men’s soccer Team

UAA

All

Washington

0– 0

4–0

Case Western

0–0

4–1

Rochester

0–0

4–1

Brandeis

0–0

3–1

Chicago

0–0

3–1–1

Carnegie Mellon

0–0

2–2–1

Emory

0–0

2–3

NYU

0–0

1–3–1

Box Scores @Clark

Loss

1–0

WPI

Win

5–0

Gordy’s game guesses: week two

By Gordy Stillman Editor

Kansas City Chiefs at Detroit Lions Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers Arizona Cardinals at Washington Redskins Green Bay Packers at Carolina Panthers Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots Houston Texans at Miami Dolphins Cincinnati Bengals at Denver Broncos Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons St. Louis Rams at New York Giants Week one record: 9-7

Tennis in brief

By Brian Tabakin Staff

photo by alex hall/the hoot

The Brandeis women’s tennis team opened the 2011-12 season with a 9-0 sweep of visiting Simmons College. The Judges did not lose a single set and had four 6-0 sets in singles.

Alex Katz ’14 and Marissa Lazar ’14 each had impressive matches. Katz swept her opponent 6-0, 6-0 and Lazar won her match 6-2, 6-0.

Rookie Carley Cooke ’15 debuted in spectacular fashion battling back from down 5-2 in the first set to eventually win 7-6, 6-0. Cooke won the tiebreaker in the first set 7-2.

Nina Levine ’12 won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to defeat her opponent and Roberta Bergstein ’14 won 6-4, 7-5.

With the win, the Judges improve to 1-0 while Simmons falls to 0-3.

10 The Brandeis Hoot

This Week in History Brandeis

2005 Jamele Adams

becomes dean of student life, keeping students engaged through slam poetry ever since.

2008 Brandeis-bought

Zipcars become available for rental by students for the first time.

Massachusetts

1940 Paul Revere’s

bronze statue, shown riding a horse, is unveiled in front of 8,000 people.

2002 Dunkin’ Donuts

founder William Rosenberg, a native of Massachusetts, dies at the age of 86.

United States

1787 The United States Constitution is signed by 38 of 41 state delegates, replacing the Articles of Confederation.

FEATURES

September 16, 2011

The first and last religion major at Brandeis Alum reflects on his college experience and creating a major

By Rick Blum ’71

Special to the Hoot

The late ’60s were an interesting time to be at Brandeis and probably at any college. The ground felt shaky but the possibilities seemed endless. The prospects for disaster, such as being drafted to die in a civil war in Asia, were imminent, but so was the sense of hope. Many of us felt dizzy from trying to make the world change, but that same vertigo opened into a giant chasm of possibility. Indeed, we seemed to be somewhat successful in transforming the society around us. Yet, the prevailing culture was potentially dangerous in both its power of conscription and its hatred of all things hippie.

At the same time, our dominant responses to the U.S. scene were not ones of fear. Mostly, the world of those older than 30 felt boring to us, a mass culture of narrow roles and narrower media. Instead, we were into alternatives.

It was in that milieu that I decided that I should be able to become a religion major at Brandeis, although there was no such department. Religion was a big trend in the late ’60s.

No one seemed particularly interested in theology, at least as we understood it; rather, we had a widespread fascination with alterations in “human consciousness.” Psychedelic drugs seemed to be achieving that, of course, but so did certain Asian religions.

Knowing little about similar experiences available in Kabbalah, we thought that only the Advaita Vedantists (Hindu mystics) and the Buddhists (especially Tibetan and Zen) were exploring consciousness. The most popular authors stirring our interests at the time included Alan Watts, especially in “Psychotherapy East and West,” Hermann Hesse, especially in “Siddhartha,” and Huston Smith. Smith’s classic on

world religions was then called “The Religions of Man.” It made the rounds with those of us at Brandeis thirsty to learn more about Eastern religions. The fact that he did not understand Judaism only added to our impression that spirituality was only found in the East.

In truth, we felt uncomfortable even with the word “religion,” having negative associations with it. Most of us who were studying Asian religions would instead call them “Eastern philosophies,” “Asian sources of wisdom” or “Eastern meditation systems”—pretty much anything other than “religion.”

This fascination with changing the nature of consciousness and especially with Asian religions extended beyond students at Brandeis.

Some of our professors were getting into the act.

A little of it was in the Psychology department.

Although the department was focusing on sensory research under Sidney Stecher’s leadership, the subject was physiological bases of perceptions and certainly not the perceptual alterations brought on by psychedelics or meditation.

However, we had one course in “transpersonal psychology” (translation: “spirituality”). More of the action took place in the Sociology Department. Actually, most of the action at Brandeis in every revolutionary area was happening in the Sociology department, including the National Student Strike.

Morrie Schwartz, a Sociology professor, had interests in Asian spirituality, later described in Mitch Albom’s book about the last days of Morrie’s life. However, the biggest influence was through the classes of Larry Rosenberg. He later left academia to study Buddhist meditation, going on to found a meditation center in Cambridge focused on vipassana (usually translated as “mindfulness”).

While at Brandeis, Larry had come up with a

way to study the subject as a sociology course, which both amused us and intrigued us. As the spiritually minded psychologists had come up with “transpersonal psychology” to legitimize mystical inquiry, Larry called his course “The Social Psychology of Consciousness.” It was the class to take for any Brandeisian wanting to learn more about these subjects. It was where we learned about the alternatives in exploring mystical experience, it was where we met other students so inclined and it was also where we met Ram Dass.

Imagine walking into a sociology class and seeing a serene-looking, white-robed fellow with a reddish beard sitting in a cross-legged position. The class began with a riddle: What do Brandeis and this surprise guest have in common? The answer was that both were founded

by George Alpert.

Alpert was an early founder and chairman of Brandeis (1946-1954), and he was the father of our guest, Richard Alpert. Larry explained that Richard Alpert had been fired as a Harvard professor along with Timothy Leary for experiments with LSD. However, Alpert no longer espoused drugs. Instead, he had traveled to India, learned about Vedantic Yoga and had returned as Baba Ram Dass to teach about it. He went on to do just that, becoming a popular teacher, as well as writing a book that became another standard source for us, called “Be Here Now.” This class, however, was the first outing of Ram Dass. None of us could mention his appearance, because of the banning of Leary and Alpert, though he now advocated the practice of Vedanta, not the ingestion of psychedelics.

None of us said a word to the administration, but there was quite a buzz among the students.

See RELIGION, page 11

View From the Top

1862 President Abraham

Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually frees three million slaves.

World

1792 France’s Legislative Assembly votes to establish the First Republic in France and abolishes the monarchy.

1939 The Soviet Union

begins an invasion of Poland as part of World War II.

Photographer reflects on becoming ‘AJRphotography’

By Andrew Rauner AJRphotography

Dearest Brandeis Community, I’ve been asked to write a column reflecting on my time spent here, and I’d like to start off by being thankful that it’s not yet over. I’m not gone yet and I intend to savor my last year here.

That being said, in the last three years I think I’ve seen a lot, photographed a lot, and really taken in all that this wonderful community has to offer.

Coming in as a first-year, I really had no idea what to expect. I remember my mother being angry that I had decided to bring my camera, thinking I would misplace it or have it stolen, and my father asking me after a few weeks what I wanted to do with my life. Let me clarify now, though I’m rarely found without a camera, photography is not what I intend to do as a career, but rather a professional hobby. My first semester I quickly acclimated to the Economics and Computer Science departments as those were my academic interests (and now my majors).

Regardless, back then we had required USEM (now called the optional FYS) classes and my

photo by andrew rauner/the hoot

second semester I took “Thinking About Infinity” with renowned professor William Flesch (ENG). To this day, I still consider that class to be one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life and it inspired me to pick up a Philosophy minor, which seems counter-intuitive to my highly quantitative majors. First-years: Do NOT give up the opportunity to take a small class with a highly regarded professor, it’s well worth the experience and there’s more to life than finishing your major(s) before you can legally drink (though that isn’t a bad idea either).

Though my camera rarely left my side my first year—I spent some time getting used to school before photographing every second of my life here. I checked out the photography team at both of our illustrious school publications, and took photos from time to time for professors or friends who knew that photography was “my thing.”

Sophomore year is really when things hit.

I started AJRphotography back in high school as a means of going to concerts for free. Essentially, band managers gave photo passes and tickets to young photographers willing to work for just that. To this day I still shoot as many

local shows as I can. As a sophomore at Brandeis, I decided to try and build a photo-blog that would really capture the life here: from the events to the parties, from the athletics to the student body. The AJRphotography Facebook fan page has been live since the spring of my sophomore year. The first event I posted there was the off-campus fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau’s, spring semi-formal event. I posted it simply as a means of making sure every member was able to view and comment on the photos. Soon after, I brought my camera to Pachanga (the recently deceased rave that the International Club used to host). All hell broke loose.

I should take this opportunity to apologize to the Brandeis community—my initial policy on posting to Facebook was that of no censorship for anyone. I see that this may have caused some people some stress, given that some of the photos I took were quite racy. This was not my intention. My intention was and still is to show the real life of the Brandeis student (when it comes to photographing Brandeis events).

Regardless, instantly people were talking See PHOTOGRAPHER, page 11

September 16, 2011

FEATURES 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Alum reminisces about religious studies at ’Deis RELIGION, from page 10

It was in this environment that I thought I should get to be a religion major at Brandeis. I met with Leon Jick, the dean of students, and brought a list. I had tabulated all of the applicable courses, and there were more than enough for the eight required for a major, but they were distributed among several departments of the university. I called my prospective major “Religion and Human Consciousness.”

Dean Jick, after he asked me to stop touching things on his desk, was very patient with me. He looked at my list and said that they indeed did comprise a nice list of courses on the subject. Then he politely informed me that they could not start a department for me.

Confused, I inquired, “Why do I need a new department to offer these same courses, when we already have them at Brandeis.”

“That’s how it works,” he explained. “Only a department can establish a major.”

I felt disappointment for two or three seconds and then it hit me. “If only a department can establish a major, are they free to accept whatever courses they want as a major?”

“Yes,” he answered, “but they are expected to follow certain standards in doing so.”

I thanked Dean Jick and headed directly for the Pearlman building. Asking who was

in charge (if anyone could be considered to be running the Sociology department), I learned that there was indeed a chairperson, but he was on sabbatical. Approaching the acting chairman, I told my story and gave him my list.

A few days later, I had my answer. A few of the guys had run into each other in the men’s room, I learned, and decided I could do it. Recall that this was before e-mail and the Internet, so the decision was made there.

The next year, the chairperson, Phil Slater, returned. I thought it prudent to check with him, too, though it worried me to do so, as I had already proceeded with my individualized major. He explained that, in fact, he had now learned about this. “If I had been here, I don’t think I would have agreed to it, but I don’t want to take it away from you,” he said. I felt grateful and thanked him.

I officially graduated as a sociology major, but I never took a course in actual sociology, except Larry Rosenberg’s version of it.

Yet, I learned more that would benefit my later work than if I had slotted myself into any of the extant majors. I went on to study religion in graduate school and then earned a PhD in psychology. I love my work, partially because my style of practice is different from that of most of my colleagues. I attribute much of this to my days as Brandeis’ first and last religion major.

photo courtesy of rick blum

Dr. Rick Blum graduated from Brandeis in 1971 and went on to receive degrees from the University of Iowa, Syracuse University and Saybrook University. He currently has a fulltime psychotherapy practice in Connecticut and is the father of quadruplets. Blum recently published his first book, “The Tao of Your Psychotherapy Practice; How to Best Serve Your Clients While Maximizing Your Professional Freedom.”

The birth of ‘AJRphotography’

PHOTOGRAPHER, from page 10

about my photos. Under the pseudonym AJR, I was able to maintain some sort of separation between myself and my work.

To this day, I still meet people who go, “Oh that’s YOU?!” and I have more “fans” from Brandeis than I do friends at Brandeis. I took the hype as an opportunity to hit the ground running and start taking photos as often as I could. I went to concerts, formal events, Brandeis charity events and of course parties.

Since those early days, I’ve definitely started to clean up my act. I’ve tried to capture the life here without putting anyone’s social life, career or political future at risk. I’ve also

photo courtesy of andrew rauner

expanded into the more public eye, going out to shoot nightlife in Boston as well as having my concert work published (as my Facebook page is way more popular than my actual website).

My junior year I did a studio-style shoot with a student’s up-an-coming music business. Setting up a studio in the Shapiro Atrium and spending the afternoon taking photos with everyone walking by was quite a rewarding experience. Since then, the DJ in the shoot runs his own nightlife company in the Boston area (Flavor Media), the student who arranged it is now a professional talent manager (at eMuze) and that talent is our

very own sophomore-rap-star-wonder, Aziz.

It’s really amazing how diverse and successful the Brandeis student body is. You can’t study talent management or event planning in a classroom and yet these students are currently out there pursuing their dreams with a Brandeis degree to stand on.

Later in the year, I was honored to host a photo shoot that provided the cover of this past year’s Archon, the Brandeis yearbook.

That one was unique as it was all silhouette style, the students remaining anonymous. At every shoot I do, I get to meet new people, whether it’s for Adagio, various Greek organizations, Liquid Latex, the Student Union, The Girl Effect, Student Events or Kaos Kids.

It’s fun seeing how truly diverse this campus really is.

Whether the Brandeis community has realized it or not, they’ve really been the reason that AJRphotography has become a mild success. During the school year, I can boast almost 40,000 monthly impressions on my fan page, and a large portion of that comes from this campus. This past summer some of my concert work was recognized and run by some major online publications and I was given many opportunities to shoot because of the popularity of my page. Thank you!

If I were to sum up my experiences here, it would boil down to a few pieces of advice (I’m looking at you, first-years). First, don’t underestimate that interesting-sounding class that has nothing to do with the major you came into college expecting to pursue.

Take it; it’s worth it. Second, follow your passions. Aside from academic excellence, Brandeis is a great community in which to hone your skills and interests outside the classroom. Third, meet as many people as possible. This school is truly diverse and the relationships you make here will be important and interesting regardless of what job or life your friends and acquaintances pursue. Finally, realize that you can succeed at anything in this environment. Brandeis is a place small enough for one student to make an impact on the student body and yet an active enough campus to make that localized impact important on a huge scale. I never realized that walking into the library to see 40 computers all checking my page the day after a party would lead to really amazing photography opportunities outside of Brandeis.

Soak it up—and smile next time you look at a camera, it could be mine!

This column is the first in “View From the Top,” a series of pieces by Brandeis seniors reflecting on their experiences here. Seniors interested in contributing may e-mail features@ thebrandeishoot.com.

You Know We’re Right

Roommate resolutions: steps to super suitemate success!

Dear Leah and Morgan, I know that the year just started, but I’m already having some problems with my suitemates.

I have lived in traditional dorm-style housing for the past two years, in a double and then a single.

While I’ve always enjoyed my housing arrangement, I’ve been jealous of my friends in Rosenthal and Ziv who got to live in a suite with all of their friends. Luckily, this year, I was pulled into a Ridgewood with three of my best friends and two people who I don’t know, but my friends are super close with them.

I had my initial reservations about living with people I didn’t know, but my friends quickly assured me that it would be fine and convinced me not to worry about it.

I went into this year with an open mind, but now I just feel like everything is falling apart.

I can’t help but feel really isolated from my suitemates. They all have classes and activities together. They always seem to be coming from or going to a meal or meeting for discussion section together, laughing about some inside joke that I don’t get!

I know that they’re not doing this on purpose, but I can’t help but be a little bit upset.

I’ve never had any problems with roommates or housing situations before; I feel completely unprepared to deal with this!

Love, The Odd One Out Dear Odd One, It’s always difficult to transition into a new living situation, especially one that includes living with more that just one or two roommates.

The first thing to do is to start a conversation with your suitemates—if they don’t know how you feel, they won’t know to change their actions and the situation will continue unchecked.

With that said, we understand how hard it can be to confront your friends, especially if you’re living with them. Dragging out this type of problem will only prolong your suffering and drive you crazy!

We have a few ideas for how you can fix your problem and realize your dream of suitemate success.

Don’t Triangulate Confrontation can be difficult and sometimes it is tempting not to talk to your suitemates directly, but to talk and complain to mutual friends about your problem.

While this free therapy can be comforting, you don’t want to be that kid who forces her friends into the awkward position of choosing between you and your suitemates.

Also, if you don’t confront your suitemates directly, there’s a chance that they could hear about your complaints from one of your friends. Awkward.

Plus, we’re here to answer all of your questions—no need to complicate things by triangulating your problems with your friends.

Be Honest This is the most important piece of advice that we can give.

You know that there is something wrong with your housing situation, that’s why you came to us.

Don’t try to ignore or minimize the problem and don’t worry about what your roommates will think of your feelings, just make sure you communicate them fully so that your problem can be resolved.

Good luck!

Peace, Love and Great Advice, Leah and Morgan Have questions that you want answered by the lovely ladies of The Hoot? Submit your questions to advice@thebrandeishoot.com or at formspring.me/leahandmorgan! They will be answered by Leah Finkelman ’13, Features Editor, and Morgan Gross ’14, Impressions Editor.

We’re so excited to hear your questions!

12 The Brandeis Hoot

ImpressiOns

September 16, 2011

Editor’s Desk

Waltham triple homicide hits close to home

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

A first-year’s perspective: sublimely shocked

By Betty Revah

Special to The Hoot

When I left my hometown of Mexico City to come to Brandeis, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. As I said goodbye to my parents and hello to a world of independence, I was sure that I knew precisely what I was doing. But I couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Orientation began Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, and with it, the fun of endless ice breakers and rainy afternoons—which, of course, provided for such a bonding experience that no one could stay in the “I don’t know anyone here” stage for very long.

In fact, the accepting, happy and energetic Brandeis community proved so overwhelmingly welcoming that at times it felt weird not to be in an overly happy and extremely excited mode.

I assumed my first week at college would be a frightening and intimidating experience—for which I felt entirely ready. After all, not only was I in a foreign country, speaking another language and introducing myself to so many people that it became difficult to remember their names, but I was also a first-year getting lost on

Engrossing

the way to my home away from home, otherwise known as Reitman Hall. I was lost also when it came to meals, slang and living with a roommate. But somehow at Brandeis, none of these things were a problem.

Despite being far away from Mexico, I really felt at home—a home with slightly more french fries and slightly less chili that is, but still a home— where the people were so friendly and the girls in my hall so nice that it was hard not to think of them as family. Together we stepped into our first college party, our first Activities Fair—where we signed up for more clubs than others would consider normal—and our first trip to Boston where a great deal of shopping and eating was done.

After the fun of orientation, the challenge of classes began, and I found myself—always proud of my English-speaking skills—googling words my professors had said and which I had never heard in my life. I realized, only after changing my meal plan and my schedule—after swimming in a sea of reading assignments and re-thinking my life plan and potential major—that I was happier than I been in a long time.

It turns out that, at Brandeis, if life

gives you lemons and you make lemonade, there will always be someone there to drink it with you.

From international orientation, to hurricanes, to classes and friends, my first week at college was nothing like I had expected, but that’s only because the fun of new experiences, new friends and a new life is difficult to anticipate. While Mexico is not exactly like Brandeis (even though an alarming number of people can speak Spanish here), I don’t see why it should be. Sure, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I’m at home in my old room, only to realize that my family is still in Mexico and (for now at least) I’m not.

Sometimes I miss speaking Spanish fluently and I wish, time and again, that Sherman served chilaquiles, but somehow it seems wrong to go around missing things that I could easily get back while I’m having an experience I will never have again.

The thing is, I thought I knew what to expect from college and I thought I knew exactly what I was doing, but I really didn’t. All I know for sure is that, when it comes to college, I know nothing at all.

Sophomore year: finding your paraDeis

By Morgan Gross Editor

Sophomore year is not what I was expecting.

It’s sort of nice to see these words in print, no longer an abstraction—a cloud of doubt looming in the back of my mind.

It feels unnatural to be unsure of where I belong here at Brandeis, a place where (thanks to a year of hard work) I thought that my spot in the stratosphere was solidified. I spent my first year here, establishing myself: making friends, getting involved in extracurricular activities, doing work and generally carving out a place for myself in the Brandeis world.

After so many years spent in the confinement of high school and my parents’ house, it felt incredible to be independent (at least relatively so).

Never before had I been allowed to eat, sleep, study and socialize whenever and wherever I wanted, with no

questions asked and no judgment cast.

I found my new freedom intoxicating and took advantage of it in every way possible, filling my year with countless club meetings, pointless all-nighters, free pizza events, frat parties, late-night philosophical conversations and—perhaps, most frivolously—American Studies classes.

To say that I loved my first year at Brandeis would be an understatement.

I became infatuated with Brandeis culture and what it meant to be Brandeisian. While I wasn’t ignorant of the university’s flaws, I was excited to be a part of the force that changed them for the better. I was excited to be a student, to learn, study and make my mark here.

Mostly, I was just excited that I still had three entire years left in my newfound paraDeis, and I carried that excitement with me into the summer.

My summer—though pleasant—

was no substitute for my newfound bliss. Hot off of my first year at the university, I couldn’t help but compare my (lame) life at home with the exciting adventures that had filled my time, just a few weeks before. I couldn’t wait to get back to Waltham and the magic awaiting me there.

I moved in early—Aug. 21—to begin Orientation Leader training. After weeks of waiting, being reunited with friends was incredible. We laughed and hugged, shared stories about summer and excited sentiments about how awesome it was going to be living together in Rosenthal—and a penthouse suite, no less.

That first night, alongside the excitedness and adrenaline that come with reunion, I remember feeling something odd in the pit of my stomach. Unsure of this feeling’s origin, I chalked it up to exhaustion from the See SOPHOMORE, page 15

photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot

crime scene Neighbors gather at Harding Avenue in Waltham.

By Alex Schneider Editor

The scene Monday evening at Harding Avenue in Waltham was somber, as a community congregated in disbelief trying to understand the meaning behind the day’s events.

At least two-dozen neighbors, including both children and adults, and a slew of reporters and cameramen were on the scene, watching from behind police tape as officials went about investigating the murder of three men, Brandon Mess, 25, Eric Weissman, 31, and Rapheal Teken, 37. All were stabbed and found, according to media reports, covered in blood and marijuana.

The crime scene wasn’t difficult to find. Harding Avenue intersects with Main Street near the entrance to Bentley University, about two and a half miles from the Brandeis campus.

And yet, to those Brandeis students who even heard of the murder, the occurrence down the street in Waltham felt as though it were half a world away.

Distances are deceiving. The Hoot can confirm that Teken was a history major at Brandeis who graduated in the class of 1998.

At Brandeis, campus news again and again trumps community news; campus concerns are always more immediate than community ones.

South Waltham is much the same.

Moody Street is noticeably quieter in the summer months when classes at Bentley and Brandeis are not in session, but life continues. Brandeis campus headlines rarely make the front page of The Waltham News Tribune.

But our communities are interrelated. This week, Waltham’s top story appears above the fold in The Hoot.

Indeed, the lessons of this case

stretch beyond the immediate story of murder, drugs and a community left in disbelief. This is also a story of juxtaposition, the safety of Brandeis contrasted with the wariness now facing Waltham residents, especially neighbors of the victims.

A triple homicide in any community is no small occurrence. It is the kind of thing that brings the community together, the kind of tragedy that leads to more locked car doors and front doors.

These occurrences also raise fundamental questions with which the community must grapple. How is it, for instance, that Waltham has seen a handful of murders over the last few years, while a town like Weston or a city like Newton, both bordering Waltham, have crime rates so low and house prices so high that Waltham pales in safety by comparison.

Brandeis students may feel removed from local news, but many students live on city streets off campus and shop at city stores. Students driving to Watertown or points east on Route 20 have passed Harding Avenue, some multiple times per day. Why then has the wariness of the community not penetrated the Brandeis bubble?

At The Hoot, we believe students should know what happens in the area in which they live. Who knows, maybe a reader will be inspired to make a difference, perhaps, as an example, by working on a drug prevention program in Waltham for atrisk teens to help affect change in the community.

The first step is learning what actually happened on Monday afternoon.

That’s why we’ve dedicated space on our front page to covering this triple homicide that, although overlooked on campus, not only happened close to home but claimed the life of one of our own.

September 16, 2011

IMPRESSIONS 13

The Brandeis Hoot

The Katzwer’s Out of the Bag

An opportunity for better Egypt-Israel relations

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

By Yael Katzwer Editor

Last week on Sept. 9, thousands of Egyptian protesters tore down the security wall protecting the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Surging into the building, the rioters broke windows, set fires, spray-painted anti-Israel phrases and looted offices.

Israel was forced to evacuate their ambassador, Yitzhak Levanon, his family, and more than 80 embassy employees and their families.

While all of this may seem bleak, it really isn’t. Rather than being a catastrophe, this violence can be an opportunity to strengthen the IsraeliEgyptian bond.

Things are, as usual, complicated and tense in the Middle East. The

The Chosen Rosen

By Ricky Rosen Columnist

Do you ever watch a really awful YouTube video and say to yourself (or to the person who made the video): “Well, that’s two minutes and 45 seconds of my life that I can never get back?” That applies to other outrageous ways to squander time as well. Once time passes, it stays past. And until we can stop the aging process or build a time machine (one of which is bound to happen within the next 100 years), that’s the way that it will stay.

Now we all know that when you cross out a date on the calendar, that date is eliminated forever. But if you let this weigh on you, your mind will turn to peanut butter.

The date you just crossed off from your calendar, Sept. 15, 2011, will never again occur in history.

Many people let this fact go right over their heads, failing to realize just how quickly life is going by. For most of us, life is flying by before our eyes, and we are mere spectators, allowing it to happen. When one of our friends reminds us of the date, we fall out of our seats: How can it be the middle of September already? It feels like just the other day it was the end of August.

I think it was Ferris Bueller who said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I will be the first to admit that

recently dwindling Arab Spring worried many Israel supporters because, while many dictatorships in the region are not friendly toward Israel, they are not openly aggressive either, preferring to maintain the status quo.

The fear has been that populist governments will not be content to leave Israel alone.

This fear was certainly confirmed in Egypt last week.

Since Hosni Mubarak was ousted Feb. 11, hostilities have been growing between Egyptians and Israelis, evidenced by the attempted disruptions of the Egypt-Israel natural gas pipeline. It is important to remember that all of these were the actions of the people, not the government—this is not terribly comforting, however, since the people are currently trying

to seize control of their country.

This is an opportunity, however, for Egypt’s current government to show that they will continue to act in the best interests of their country. And it is in Egypt’s best interest not to dissolve their partnership with Israel.

This partnership began in 1979 with the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, signed by President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. Thirty-two years of peace have followed. It is a cold peace, but a peace nonetheless.

It is clear from last week’s clash that neither the Egyptian government nor the Israeli government wants to abandon this peace. This did, however, seem questionable at first—after the riot began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense

Minister Ehud Barak tried unsuccessfully for nearly two hours to reach Egypt’s Supreme Military Council head, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. It wasn’t until U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta intervened that action was taken.

But action was taken and that is the important part. Egyptian commandos rescued six embassy security guards trapped in the building. By the end of the hours-long ordeal, there were only three deaths, all of them rioters at the hands of Egyptian commandos.

This event could have been a bloodbath, sparking further bloodshed and death. But, by working in concert, both governments managed to quell the situation.

Israeli Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Army Radio, “From my point of view, the Egyptian commandos solved the situation and did this very well.” Israel is praising Egypt for taking care of the situation and Egypt is appreciative that Israel did not take matters into their own hands, starting a war.

Bouncing right back, Israel is already making plans for Ambassador Levanon to return to Egypt; Israel refuses to let this event sever diplomatic ties with Egypt. Similarly, Egyptian officials have stated that their ambassador to Israel will not be recalled.

Egypt has boosted the security surrounding the Israeli embassy to prevent this from happening again and Israel has boosted the security surrounding the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv to prevent retaliatory attacks.

Despite the signs of a continued peace, Netanyahu is worried. He called the Israeli embassy in Cairo “the axis of our peace.” He continued, “It is an axis to which there are objectors, who are appealing not against policy, but against Israel.”

Honestly though, there will always

be objectors to Israel—religion has been a hot-button issue for thousands of years.

Egypt and Israel need to take this as the opportunity it is and show the rest of the world, especially the other Middle Eastern countries, that they will not allow themselves to be ruled by bigotry but by intelligence. They must rule for their mutual and beneficial interests.

Israel must work to keep Egypt as a cool ally—the only type of ally Egypt will likely be, at least at the present time—especially in light of recent problems.

The fact that Israel even has an embassy in Egypt is a good sign. The only other Middle Eastern countries that house Israeli embassies are Jordan and Turkey.

Jordan, which officially ceased hostilities with Israel in the 1994 IsraelJordan Peace Treaty, is currently not too happy with Israel, especially since Israel asked the United States to veto Jordan’s nuclear plans. Turkey, the first Muslim country to recognize Israel and a long-time trading partner, is still on the rocks with Israel over the May 2010 flotilla incident, in which nine protesters were killed.

It currently seems that Israel’s alliance with Egypt could go the same way, considering the Aug. 18 border shooting in which five Egyptians were killed. (This shooting was in response to militants fleeing across the border into Egypt after firing upon Israeli vehicles and killing eight people, six of whom were civilians.) The Egyptian government worked to quell its people after this.

Both governments need to use this instance to show the world that they will not be ruled by intolerance. They must work to remain allies and to stop the violence. They must not let 32 years of peace become a curious footnote in a future history book.

Time flies­—don’t miss out!

I have missed a lot of my life. I’ve wasted so much time stressing out about things I didn’t need to, being angry for no reason, and playing those silly pop-up advertisement games (nab the thief and win an iPod Nano!).

Now this begs the question: What would be considered a constructive use of our time? Nothing.

All time is waste. It’s just a matter of choosing how we want to waste it and living with that choice.

Nevertheless, now is the time in our lives when we need to make the best use of our time. That means, as Ferris advised us to do, taking a break once in a while to look around. For many of us though, this is a physical impossibility. As I’ve written many times before, all of us jampack our schedules with clubs, classes and commitments.

And when you factor in the four hours per day we need to eat, shower and go to the bathroom (notice I didn’t put sleep into that category), that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time to follow Ferris’ advice.

The problem is that we are all compulsive overachievers. We feel obligated to sign up for every club on campus, to visit each and every one of our professors during office hours, and to study 28 hours per day. And while these things may lead us to have a great deal of future success and an inspiring work ethic, they will almost certainly not make us happy. And I think that many of us tend to forget that above all else, we’re here

graphic by ariel madway/the hoot

to be happy. We’ve come from all around the world to go to this university—granted, a great deal of us are from Long Island, New Jersey and Massachusetts. And ironically, those are the very same people

who plop their head in a book for four years and let their lives pass them by.

Now at this point, you may be thinking that it’s rather difficult to prance around in a field of daisies

when you have an organic chemistry exam coming up that you’re scared to death about. But believe See TIME FLIES, page 14

14 IMPRESSIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

September 16, 2011

Parking problems, part two: complications of commuting

By Gordy Stillman Editor

We’re about two weeks into the school year and I’m already noticing some fundamental problems that I never encountered when I lived on campus. There isn’t enough parking for commuters; many drivers don’t follow the posted traffic signs; many students don’t check for cars when they want to cross South Street; and the campus shuttle service can be unreliable at times.

On the topic of parking, I thought it was a gift from God when my schedule worked out with no classes before 11 a.m. It seemed great that I’d be able to leave my house around 10:15 a.m.—until I got to Theater Lot that first day. Each day now, I drive through the Athletics Lot, the other lot for commuter students and, after finding no spots, I make my way up to T-Lot, where I drive in the, at times annoying, one-way system.

I slowly make my way through the full parking lot. I find a spot maybe once a week. Once in a while I’ll find a good spot—maybe. Usually, I find myself driving past the very open X-Lot, where commuters aren’t allowed to park, and to the Charles River Overflow Lot. Once at Charles River, I wait for either the campus van, which is always full, or the cam-

pus bus, which always seems to be on break.

Thus, driving to school—which for me was among the better parts of high school—has become the bane of my off-campus experience.

It always appears as though most of the cars lack any kind of parking permit, not even a permit for another parking lot. While I doubt there’s enough parking for all the commuter students in that lot, a much greater percentage of us could actually park in our assigned lot if it were kept clear of unauthorized vehicles.

When it comes to driving in T-Lot, I’m surprised I haven’t been involved in a collision. So many people drive the wrong way along the one-way roads in an attempt to get to the one or two spots available. I understand that, if I drive down one of the first lanes to check for a hidden spot, I’ll inevitably wind up at the end of the line when I re-enter the main driving lane. I agree that the one-way lanes suck but, unless they change the roads, it is the system we all have to deal with.

The final problem with getting to campus in the morning occurs after I resign myself to parking at the Charles River Apartments. With a full backpack and the many hills of campus, I wait for the campus shuttle service to get up to Rabb. The problem is that it is frequently a van that shows

up, already half full and unable to fit the many students waiting, instead of the Crystal shuttle bus that can fit all of us. When I lived on campus, I didn’t take the shuttle often; I lived closer and the walk was manageable, but for students living in Charles River and commuters who are forced to park there, the shuttle is important in allowing people to get to the Rabb steps without being tired and out of breath.

Lastly, in the evenings and nights when driving home from campus on South Street, not far from the Mods, is a crosswalk. At the crosswalk, there is a button that students can push to notify drivers that they are about to cross. While I didn’t consider it very useful these last few years, I’ve since noticed that it is much easier to know someone is crossing when the lights are flashing. Additionally, many students linger near the crosswalk for extended periods before deciding to cross. When I see someone lingering, I usually assume that they are waiting for a friend or to finish a phone call.

It is especially useful for a commuter driver when the students who linger before walking make sure to press the button. It alerts a driver to slow down and stop.

When I got a parking permit, I thought I was lucky. I thought there were only as many permits as parking spaces and that, by applying early,

Is the organic food movement full of compost?

By Abby Vigderman Special to the Hoot

Maybe it’s due to my liberal arts education. Maybe I’ve been influenced by my friends. Perhaps my upbringing changed me in some way. I’m not sure which of these sources changed me, repulsed me to the point that I can say, with absolute certainty, that I hate organic food.

I seem to be the only person I know who has no preference between organic and non-organic foods. SEA supports the purchase of organic foods over non-organics, and my friends love to buy organic fruits that they get from markets that definitely don’t have a “super” prefix. Yet I find the organic food industry to be a complete waste of time and a hoax meant to steal the money of unknowing hippies and mothers who want their children to eat only “the best.”

What defines the best? I define it as food that is healthy for you and helps you live longer and maintain all your vital organs and limbs, among other things. What are “the worst” foods?

Any food that is unhealthy for you, meaning foods that give you cancer, foods with trans fats and anything in between.

I specifically have a problem with organic fruits. What I have been led to believe is that organic fruits are better for you partially because of their use of natural pesticides. Nonorganic fruit is grown with synthetic pesticides, which apparently cause the whole “third arm” cancer thing that we try to avoid. And, in that respect, I completely agree. We should not be eating foods that cause cancer or any other diseases. But that is why I support real research into healthy foods and eating habits, not armchair knowledge, which seems to be what the discussion of organic foods has become.

I’ve thought about the role that organic foods play in a healthy diet before, but I was always a skeptic. In a recent science lecture class, my professor made a little reference to this debate and did not seem supportive of the consumption of organic fruits at all. This got me thinking about the true health benefits of organic fruits in regard to synthetic versus natural pesticides, leading me to do a quick Google search, which led me to a New York Times article and, lo and behold, it was titled “Synthetic vs Natural Pesticides.” How convenient.

Finally, an answer to my prayers!

And by prayers I mean Google search and by answer I mean one man’s answer. Via citation of a scientific paper by a famous and well-respected scientist named Bruce Ames, the writer—John Tierney—argued that the synthetic pesticides humans ingest cause cancer no more than natural pesticides.

The article points out that, while synthetic pesticides are more likely to cause cancer, you eat such a small amount in your lifetime that it is very unlikely that they will cause cancer. At this point, I decided to read the actual scientific paper that Tierney cited, just to verify what the paper was actually saying.

I am as much a skeptic of articles from The New York Times as I am of organic fruits, so I came to this paper with no preconceived notions, except the notion that Bruce Ames is a wonderful scientist based on everything I had learned about him in science class. The paper seemed to have the same conclusion that the Times article had: Synthetic pesticides in the quantities we consume are no worse for us than natural pesticides. But the paper took it a step further; it claimed that organic fruits are actually causing cancer because they are taking focus away from eating habits that actually cause cancer like, oh, I don’t know,

not drinking soda every day. Or not going to Sherman every night and gorging yourself on eggs and toast (story of my life). Or not eating three bagels at a time because you have to use up a meal. Proper diet, meaning eating foods that are healthy for your body such as low-fat, low-calorie options, is a much larger determinant of whether or not you will get cancer.

By taking the focus away from proper eating habits, organic foods are truly the wool in sheep’s clothing of the food industry. And I never thought I would put those words together in a sentence, but crazier things have happened.

I take Ames’ argument a step further. Not only are organic fruits “causing” cancer, but I postulate that the organic fruit industry is nothing but a sham to play on the fears of unknowing customers who are led to believe, maybe by the organic fruit gods, that organic fruits are better for you.

These companies charge more money for products that, while costlier, most likely do not cost the large amounts that we see in supermarkets. I only have my speculations, of course—it’s not as if I actually know how much it costs to produce and ship organic fruits—but it’s at least a plausible situation. Isn’t it at least plausible that the organic fruit industry is feeding off of peoples desires to provide nothing but the best for their families? The funniest thing is that the people who buy organic would probably buy fruit anyway, so in that way the organic fruit industry would truly be scamming people out of their money.

I’m not saying that you have to agree with my thoughts, all I suggest is that you think about these kinds of things for yourself and do your own research so you can create personal conclusions about what to eat and how to live. In short, have an organic thought before you have an organic fruit.

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

I ensured that I’d be able to park on campus when I arrived for classes.

Instead I found full parking lots, cars without permits, people driving dangerously and unreliable shuttles. Ad-

ditionally, I’ve found that many students don’t observe basic car safety.

Driving to school was once a fun start to my day. Now it’s the bane of my life as a commuter.

Don’t let life pass you by TIME FLIES, from page 13

it or not, how you perform on the test will not leave any lasting impact on you, save for a tiny crimp in your GPA. And 15 years from now, you’ll remember the night you spent playing “Never Have I Ever” in your best friend’s suite more than you’ll remember the bad grade you got on one minuscule exam.

Case in point: During my sophomore year of high school, I had my AP World History exam the day after my 15th birthday. All my friends told me to go out and have fun on my birthday and not worry about the test. I considered doing just that, but the words of my teacher rang in my ears: “If you don’t get a five on this exam, you will never be successful” (or something like that). And, of course, I shrunk in fear of failure and spent my birthday locked inside my bedroom like a prisoner on death row, trying my best to absorb 6,000 years of world history.

Ironically, I did not get a five on the exam. All that work and studying and birthday-torture and I walked away with a four, which is the grade I would have gotten if I had spent my birthday running around with my friends. Needless to say, four years later I wish I had spent my birthday differently.

What I’ve learned from experiences like this is that it’s not worth it to waste the little time we have stressing over every little thing— especially when we won’t remember any of that in the future. We won’t remember the cramming or the late-night paper-writing. But we will leave here with the memo-

ries of how much fun we’ve had and how amazing these years have been.

I mean, that’s how everyone remembers their college years.

When you talk to your aunts and uncles about it, they almost always tell you two things: “Those were the best years of my life” and “It goes by quickly.” I always hear that one: “It goes by quickly.” When you talk to seniors graduating from Brandeis, they will tell you it feels like just yesterday they were petrified first-years trying to find their way to the SCC with a campus map in hand.

It feels like yesterday that I was that person and unloading my bags from my car to move into Reitman Hall. Even further back, it feels like yesterday that I was graduating from high school, sitting in the sweaty gymnasium listening to my principal mispronounce the name of my valedictorian.

So for your own sake, pull your head out of your calculus textbook, crawl out of your cocoon and take a moment to look around at where you are; consider where you came from and how far you’ve come.

College isn’t all about stressing ourselves out until we blow out all the arteries in our brain and our head falls off. If all we were here to do was learn, we would be better off taking online courses and living at home.

So here is my message to the first-years, who have four years ahead of them, as well as the sophomores, juniors and seniors who still have plenty of time left as well: Life is too short to have regrets. Life flies by too quickly; go out and experience it.

September 16, 2011

IMPRESSIONS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Altered Consciousness

Life in the aftermath of 9/11

By Rick Alterbaum Staff

Broken glass; shattered steel; collapsed towers; the passing of mothers, fathers, spouses, brothers, sisters and children—perhaps the most significant legacy of Sept. 11 was the devastating sense of loss that rippled throughout the nation.

Yet another lasting impact of that tragic day one decade ago was the birth of an intellectual and policy debate that continues to rage across the United States and the wider world to this day; a debate that focuses on the nature of radical Islam, the war on terror, American values and foreign policy.

As the dust at Ground Zero began to settle and September 2001 turned to October and November, U.S. citizens, from government officials to journalists to academics to average people, were asking themselves: “Why us?” What did we ever do to deserve such a ghastly fate? What can we do to ensure that such a heinous act never occurs again?

Reflecting on this period, it seems to me that two schools of thought emerged to answer these pressing questions: what I would term a confrontational school and a self-critical school.

According to advocates of a confrontational approach, Sept. 11 was unequivocally an act of evil and a declaration of war. It is useless and counterproductive to rationalize alQaida’s millenarian goal of global jihad in an effort to impose a worldwide Islamic caliphate governed by Shariah law. Instead, terrorism must be crushed and defeated, and the nihilistic ideology that fuels them must be sent to the dustbin of history.

Furthermore, the environment that serves as a breeding ground for terrorism—an environment of atrophy, decay, corruption, economic impoverishment and political repression under the iron fist of dictatorship— must be irrevocably altered.

In contrast, the self-critical school took a completely different approach.

Sept. 11, in their view, was the product of America’s foreign policy sins— its support for Israel, the sanctions against Iraq during the 1990s, and for regimes such as those found in Egypt and Saudi Arabia that robbed Arabs of their honor and dignity. The 19 jihadists on that fateful Tuesday morning were only reacting against perceived aggression, imperialism and oppression by the West. Therefore, the onus was on us, the supposedly arrogant United States, to assuage the Muslim world by apologizing for our past faults and reversing course on some of our policies in the Middle East. Invasion and occupation would be the wrong course of action to take and would only further antagonize the people to which we should instead be reaching out.

The endless controversies that ensued in the years following Sept.

11—Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, renditions, enhanced interrogation techniques, warrantless wiretapping, military tribunals, the Patriot Act— were in a sense clashes between these two worldviews. The confrontational school deemed the government must do whatever is necessary to protect American civilians and lives, that we were at war and that victory against Islamic extremists was our only plausible option. The self-critical school worried about offended Muslim sensibilities, and argued that we were only inflaming the clash of civiliza-

tions between the West and Islam, as well as reinforcing America’s negative image on the world stage.

And here we are, 10 years later, still dealing with the same issues and having the same sorts of debates. What then is the right course going forward? Which of the two approaches better depicts the reality the United States is faced with?

Ultimately, I find myself more in agreement, albeit not in perfect alignment, with the confrontational school.

The truth, in my view, is that we cannot wish away or appease the radical beliefs that fuel terrorism and jihad.

Even if the United States removed itself completely from Middle Eastern affairs, Islamists would not cease their unremitting hostility toward infidels and the perceived enemies of Islam, nor would the inter-Arab struggles that produce these extremists end. In fact, past U.S. withdrawals, such as in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia, have only emboldened the likes of al-Qaida and reinforced America’s image as, in Osama Bin Laden’s words, the “weak horse.”

Therefore, we should remain on the offensive in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Furthermore, we must be vigilant in ensuring that the balance of power in the Middle East does not fall sway to the Islamists— both Sunni and Shiite, including not just al-Qaida but the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and other groups—and Iran, especially given the recent uprisings and instability across the region.

Ideally, we could move beyond the legacy of 9/11 and the war on terror.

Given the nature of the situation with which we are faced, however, this would not be the wisest course of action to take.

photos by alex hall/the hoot

reflection Members of the Brandeis student body took time last weekend to reflect on the

Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Beating the sophomore slump SOPHOMORE, from page 12

journey to Waltham, or indigestion from Sherman.

I enjoyed my first few days back at Brandeis, but I couldn’t shake that feeling. As the days collected into weeks, I couldn’t help but wonder why I wasn’t struck with the same feelings of joy that had filled the days of my first year at the university.

I was spending time with the same people, frequenting the same locations and eating the same food, yet something was different.

I was suddenly annoyed by the piercing voice of a friend and overwhelmed by the possibility of studying abroad—let alone the pressure of having to declare a major in just two short semesters. I didn’t understand why my suitemates and friends couldn’t clean up their Asia-Wok leftovers or flush the toilet.

Why couldn’t things just stay the same?

Where had my pure and unadulterated joy of my first year gone?

What in the world had changed?!

With a few additional weeks of perspective, I think that I can say with confidence that I now understand the ailment was nothing other than the sophomore slump.

While the term is usually used in reference to the careers of athletes, Wikipedia informs me, “In the United Kingdom, the ‘sophomore slump’ is more commonly referred to as ‘second year blues,’ particularly when describing second-year university students.” In other words, gone are the carefree days of my first year, when Brandeis was filled with novelty and opportunity. Things are getting real and it’s time to figure out a way to deal with it.

As I enter our second year of acquaintance, I am coming to the hard realization that friends here are no longer objects of mystery and excitement, but people—flaws and all. With

this new insight, it is important to understand that quirks, which may have gone unnoticed in the novelty of our first year, are now impossible to ignore. While this phenomenon may be initially jarring, it is important to understand how important this process is.

Sophomore year is a time to figure out which of your friendships will last. With relationships spread all over campus, it is no longer an option to rely upon convenience to uphold friendships; it is necessary to make an effort to keep in touch and stay updated. Fake friendships—held together by shared classes or residence in the same building—fade quickly, leaving true relationships, where it is worth dealing with quirks and annoyances in exchange for real friendship.

Another rude awakening that accompanied the beginning of sophomore year was the reality of communal living.

After getting through the housing

lottery—and all of the craziness that it incurred—I remember feeling unilaterally excited about the prospect of a new living situation. I was so excited to be delivered from my cramped double in Massell to Rosenthal—the promised land. Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate how different life in Rosie would be from that in Massell.

The stresses of living with people you know and love can be intense— life is a bit more complicated when you’re not just worrying about retaining a roommate relationship, but also a friendship. It’s more difficult to ensure the cleanliness and presentability of a suite than it is a single room and it’s far more difficult to share the responsibilities of cleaning and decorating with eight people than it is with two.

It is important to realize, however, that none of these inconveniences are comparable to the joy that can come from living with people you love while having your own space in

which to study and hang out.

The most difficult thing to accept about my sophomore year is the fact that it is not my first year.

Growing up at Brandeis is all about realizing that things are constantly changing here. Relationships are evolving, expectations are shifting, workloads are fluctuating and years are passing. As hard as it was to realize, I know that I am lucky to have figured it out now as opposed to in a few weeks or months when I could have wasted weeks or months obsessing over the changes affecting my year.

Almost an entire month after that feeling first settled in my stomach, I can’t say that the slump has been shaken entirely—there are still days when I miss the simple carelessness of sunbathing and smoking hookah by Massell pond—but I can say that I am working to appreciate all of the small advantages of sophomore year and finding my paraDeis all over again.

16 The Brandeis Hoot

Arts, Etc.

September 16 , 2011

‘Sense of Wonder’ reveals real Rachel Carson

By Dana Trismen Special to the Hoot

Before seeing the one-woman play “A Sense of Wonder,” I knew only a few things about Rachel Carson; I’d heard of her most famous book, “Silent Spring,” and had even been to a wildlife sanctuary named after her.

I essentially knew she wrote about something involving birds, wildlife and the effects of DDT. But I never knew about Carson the person— that she had a son, wanted to major in English but ended up switching to biology or battled cancer. I was pleasantly surprised by “A Sense of Wonder” because it didn’t just recap Carson’s written works; it painted a portrait of the woman behind the book.

“A Sense of Wonder” is a onewoman play, created and performed

by Kaiulani Lee. She has performed this play for 21 years, traveling to many schools and universities along the way. The first act is set in Carson’s summer home in Maine in 1963. The second is set two months later in her winter home in Maryland. While the first act explores Carson’s personal life, the second discusses the impact of “Silent Spring” and her reaction to it. Carson never set out to write “Silent Spring,” but it eventually became a four-year labor of love that became an unlikely phenomenon that thrust her into the public eye.

“A Sense of Wonder” is a short play, yet it covers a lot of ground. It mostly presents Carson’s own words; Lee stitched together pieces of Carson’s journals, letters and speeches to create a coherent illustration of the scientist. It describes not only

“ ” Each cursory fact I knew about Carson unearthed another I didn’t yet know.

how Carson’s book brought the familiar lawsuits by chemical companies but also how her mother was the first to teach her about nature and how she was condemned for not showing up to important environmental events when, in reality, she was battling cancer. Each cursory fact I knew about Carson unearthed another I didn’t yet know. The play was not only scientifically educational but revealed Carson’s basic humanity. Carson was not just a “priest-like” scientist; she was also a mother, nurturing and willing to put her family above all else. The victory of “A Sense of Wonder” is not only the beauty of the monologues but also how Carson, as a person, emerges.

Before seeing “A Sense of Wonder,” I believed that one-man plays could easily become dry, even after the first monologue. Seeing Lee’s play changed that opinion. I never realized a one-woman play could become so intimate; I felt as though she were talking to me and me alone.

As a performer, Lee is a master at sinking into Carson’s skin. She speaks slowly but thoughtfully, just as Carson’s books maneuver. At the

question-and-answer session after the play, I had to remind myself time and time again that Lee was not actually Rachel Carson. In speaking about her own life, Lee describes that, after hearing about global warming, she wanted to do something for the environment.

She had grown up with Carson’s books and longed for other people to value Carson the way she did.

After assessing her life, Lee decided the best way to make an impact was through her own medium of theater, and set out to write and perform in a play about Carson.

Carson valued her privacy and “A Sense of Wonder” is not an invasion of it. It celebrates her life, her works and the woman she was. Lee was one of the people who brought Carson back into the public eye and helped get her books back in print. The public eye is exactly where Carson should stay. Her book made a difference: It led to environmental reform and helped wildlife and people alike. Lee channels Carson in such a way that she is brought back to life, here once again to teach the world a lesson it still sorely needs to learn.

photo by nafiz “fizz ” ahmed/the hoot

never silent Kaiulani Lee portrays activist Rachel Carson, best known as the author of

“Silent Spring,” in her one-woman show “A Sense of Wonder.”

Clinical ‘Contagion’ a smart but chilly thriller

By Sean Fabery Editor

While I was settling in to watch “Contagion” this past weekend, a guy in front of me pulled the classic yawn-and-stretch on his date, clearly aiming to get an arm around her. It worked, but then the film began with a carefully choreographed sequence in which the camera traces the journey of some suspicious germs: a cough, a touch of hands, and no hand sanitizer in sight. Pretty soon the smooth operator in front of me loosened his grasp on his date—I guess that’s what happens when date night involves a movie whose tagline is “Don’t touch anyone.”

“Contagion” is a rare thing, a global disaster movie with nary a zombie, alien or poisonous tree in sight. Instead, the mysterious illness at its center is essentially a really bad flu.

After a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) arrives at her Minneapolis home feeling a bit under the weather. She’s dead within days, leaving behind her stunned husband Mitch (Matt Damon). She’s Patient Zero.

Within a few months, a twelfth of the global population will share her disease.

That’s where a team of scientists enters the picture. The CDC’s Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) leads the charge, sending Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to set up quarantine shelters and commissioning Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) to

create a vaccine. The WHO, meanwhile, dispatches Swiss scientist Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) to China in the hopes of finding the illness’ point of origin. It’s a race against time, with the cities hardest hit by the catastrophe quickly devolving into anarchy. Fears are stoked by shock-blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), who alleges a government conspiracy is afoot.

“Contagion” is a clinical film. That analytical opening sequence is just one example and director Steven Soderbergh repeats the same trick several times throughout the film.

Every time we travel to a new city, the first thing that greets us is a caption which states the number of inhabitants—or, rather, the number of potential cadavers.

Because the film’s cast is so large, we don’t get to know any of these characters very well; instead, Soderbergh focuses squarely on the macro. There are riots and food shortages. Nurses strike after it becomes clear there’s nothing they can do for their patients. As a scientific study, it’s fascinating.

While “Contagion” isn’t a character piece, it boasts an exceptionally strong cast that features four Oscar winners and three nominees.

Damon functions as the film’s emotional center; we get a true sense of the disease’s human toll simply by examining his face.

Fishburne benefits from the most screen time and he doesn’t waste a minute of it. In his first scene, he strides confidently into his office building in a way that lets you know he’ll beat this—or die trying.

photo from internet source

‘contagion’ Jude Law plays a fear-mongering blogger in director Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” a film which depicts a global pandemic.

Law takes an obvious glee in bringing his bad blogger to life but his characterization never ceased feeling over-the-top. That’s partly the fault of the script; we never know if Krumwiede genuinely believes his accusations or if he’s simply taking advantage of the public’s vulnerability (at any rate, it feels reductive to blame the Internet for panic when there’s a major disease afoot).

Of the women, Winslet leaves

the deepest impression. Mears is a reserved woman but Winslet laces every line with a deep-seated compassion.

Ehle, meanwhile, imbues her character with an off-kilter glee as she sets out to concoct a vaccine that is, in a word, refreshing. There’s a particular moment in which she makes a surprising discovery in the lab; her face, lit by equipment, erupts into a smile that lights up an otherwise dour film.

Paltrow has little screen time, her role confined primarily to flashbacks.

The film completely wastes Cotillard. Not only does she disappear for only half the film but you also get the feeling that any French actress could’ve filled the part.

“Contagion” surely would have benefited from a slightly more emotional approach but, as is, the film is a smart, sleek peek at a global pandemic.

If that sounds appealing, then don’t miss it—just remember to wash your hands afterward.

September 16, 2011

ARTS, ETC. 17

The Brandeis Hoot

‘Wedding Tzinger’ impresses under duress

Behind the scenes of ‘24-Hour’

By Beth Green

Special to the Hoot

Ever wondered what it’s like to put on a show after only 24 hours of rehearsal? Up until this year, so did I. Though my journey as cochoreographer began last May, nothing quite prepared me for the madness that is the 24-Hour Musical. Those 24 hours may be over and done, but here’s a sneak peek at what went on behind the scenes.

7:41 p.m.: It is 20 minutes until the doors open and we announce the show. We (the production staff) are freaking out a little in the Green Room. We’re all really excited but can’t believe 24Hour is finally here. In order to keep our cast guessing what the show is going to be just a bit longer, we’re all dressed up like we’re from different musicals, and I’m representing “Cats.” Can’t wait to tell them we’re doing “The Wedding Singer!”

9:16 p.m.: We’ve just seen our schedule for the night and it is utter chaos in the theater. How come every time I get asked a question it’s one I don’t know the answer to? And is this all really going to fit in 24 hours? The schedule says so, but I’m already scheduled to teach two different dances in two different places at the same time. Uh oh!

10:03 p.m.: After realizing that I never ate dinner, I’m heading to Ollie’s in my down time. Nom nom nom …

Midnight: Just delivered a birthday cake to our lovely costume designer. Happy 21st Deirdre!

1:04 a.m.: Currently watching the first of many dance invasions of the Atrium. I have no energy to move. Herbie Rosen ’12 is carrying around a giant cellphone.

Huh? 2:33 a.m.: I just woke up from an hour-long nap. It’s a little disconcerting to wake up and realize there are a lot of people around that weren’t there when you fell asleep. Especially when they’re all looking at you and the couch they need you to get off of.

photos by ingrid schulte/the hoot

By Candice Bautista Editor

After missing last year’s 24-Hour Musical, I made sure to see this year’s performance. I got in line in front of the SCC at around 5 p.m., three hours before the curtains rose, and still found myself only halfway through line. From what I’ve heard, this year’s show was much better organized than last year’s. Official tickets were being given out in line to ensure no one could sneak in (I was ticket number 124), and there were several monitors making sure the line remained orderly. This was a very good decision considering that a considerable number of people were turned away.

After a long wait, the audience was more than ready to pile into the

SCC Theater, which quickly became packed with excited patrons. The atmosphere was also filled with apprehension for what the Hillel Theater Group and Tympanium Euphorium would have in store for us. We all knew that 24 hours was a short period of time in which to accomplish much of anything. How would their show do?

All in all, “The Wedding Singer”— or, as they called it, “The Wedding Tzinger”—was a fun play to watch, primarily because you could see how much fun the cast was having. While the musical is based on the 1998 Adam Sandler film of the same name, this performance incorporated a nice number of amusing Brandeis-related jokes that really impressed the crowd: BranPo was mentioned at one point and one

particularly intoxicated character had to get BEMCo’d. One of the highlights of the show was Herbie Rosen ’12, who shone in his numerous bit parts throughout the show.

One memorable scene involved him as a cellphone, leaving the audience rolling in hysterics.

All the actors rose to their parts admirably and showed considerable talent, especially considering they performed so well with only a few hours of sleep and little familiarity with the show. The occasional mistakes inherent in such a production really allowed the actors to show their improvisational skills. The show’s lead, Jason Dick ’14, particularly proved to be an adaptable performer.

Of course, music is key to any musical. The songs were all well-per-

formed, but the audience’s enthusiastic applause occasionally drowned out the singers.

The set and lighting also impressed, especially considering the time restraints placed upon them.

There was, however, one unnecessary bed onstage that seemed to be causing them more problems than it was worth. Every so often, the techies had to roll it on and off the stage, for no true purpose at all. Going along with this, one of the show’s few faults was the director’s seeming lack of sympathy for the three very overworked techies who received little help from their actors.

Overall, the show achieved what it set out to do, and that was to produce a fun, heartfelt, good time under challenging restrictions with generally impressive results.

3:11 a.m.: Nap-time the II. As a side note, the red couches in the Atrium are pretty darn comfy.

6:12 a.m.: I just brushed my teeth, so I’m feeling relatively human again. Breakfast time!

7:21 a.m.: Here begins the long haul. We’re now going to start the full-cast numbers and the larger dance routines, so here’s where I get real busy. I’ve got five numbers to teach before 5 p.m.

8: 46 a.m.: A moment of silence.

9:39 a.m.: Deirdre is running around with a hooded shark towel as a cape. There are no sharks

See TIME, page 18

18 ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot

September 16, 2011

Superhero summer not quite a bummer

By Gordy Stillman Editor

The last few summers have been dominated by comic book movies.

For example, 2008 boasted both “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight,” two of the most well-regarded movie adaptations for Marvel and DC respectively. Summer 2012 is already shaping up to be another comic book-filled season with the release of “The Avengers” by Marvel and the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy with “The Dark Knight Rises.” In the meantime, this summer featured a host of comic book origin stories: “Thor,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Green Lantern” and “Captain America.” While these four may have been origin stories, they all had their own strengths and weaknesses.

“Thor” was the first to hit theaters with a May release. The film explains how Thor—based on the Norse god of thunder—makes his way to Earth and eventually positions himself to join the Avengers, a team of superheroes. Unlike the other Marvel movies, it features elements of a space opera and travel between different realms (rather than planets). These realms include the palatial Asgard (home of Thor), the desolate world of “Frost Giants” and Earth, specifically New Mexico. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), in a display of youthful arrogance and brashness, travels to the realm of the Frost Giants and picks a fight with them in hopes of asserting his dominance. After barely managing to return home, his father (Anthony Hopkins) banishes him to Earth, stripping him of his powers until he is deemed worthy again. Needless to say, by the end of the movie he has become worthy and has also become interested in the film’s female lead, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).

The biggest problem with “Thor” was that it felt obvious that it existed as groundwork for future films. Despite this, it always retained a sense of “epicness,” particularly when Asgard and other non-Earth realms were shown.

Next out of the gate from Marvel was “X-Men: First Class,” a historical fiction film as well as a superhero flick. While four movies have already been released in the X-Men universe, this is the first one to tell the origins of Charles Xavier’s X-

photos from internet source

superheroes Hollywood has produced numerous films based on comic books. This summer boasted four films featuring superheroes: (clockwise from upper left) “X-Men: First Class,” “Cap-

tain America: The First Avenger,” “Thor” and “Green Lantern”

Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants. Aside from expanding upon Eric Lenshurr’s (later Magneto) time in Auschwitz, it’s largely a movie set against the Cuban Missile Crisis. While, as a fan, I fundamentally disliked how many characters’ origins were re-imagined, I did like that the film portrayed the missile crisis as being the result of an outside puppet master rather than deliberate Cold War antagonism. There were even parts that I both liked and disliked at the same time, such as the way Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) becomes crippled.

Overall, “X-Men” proved to be one of the better comic movies of the summer.

The third movie of the summer (and the only DC release) “Green Lantern,” was very much a space opera. Unlike “Thor,” I thoroughly enjoyed it. “Green Lantern” tells the story of how Hal Jordan (Ryan

Reynolds) becomes the first human member of the Green Lantern Corps, a space police group. He is bestowed a ring powered by the green light of willpower; anything he imagines, the ring constructs using the power of his will. While he learns to use his new powers, he also has to juggle his complicated relationship with his best friend— and boss—Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) while protecting the earth from an entity. This entity is called Parallax and is basically fear incarnate. As if that weren’t enough, he must also deal with a mentor (Mark Strong) who himself is interested in the corrupting power of the yellow light (fear). While the movie could be hard to follow for someone not already interested in the series, it did a great job of laying the groundwork for a series of films.

The last and certainly not least comic book movie of this summer

was “Captain America: The First Avenger.” This movie tells the story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a small, weak, young man who wants nothing more than to serve his country on the battlefields of World War II. He is chosen to be a part of an experimental super-soldier program; after passing numerous tests, which reveal his self-sacrificing nature, Steve is injected with an experimental serum that allows him to reach peak physical human potential. He’s stronger, faster, taller and fundamentally superior to his original form—and he’s also now able to take part in the war effort. Eventually he comes face to face with his arch-nemesis, the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a man who benefited from an earlier version of the supersoldier program, resulting in his red hue, who now serves as Hitler’s expert on the occult. Tying the movie to the rest of Marvel’s “Avengers”

universe, Red Skull’s mysterious power source appears to come from Asgard, the realm of Thor. While “The Avengers” were alluded to in the title, “Captain America” did a much better job than “Thor” in its ability to hold up as its own movie and not necessarily as a building ground for a future film. “Captain America” also did a better job than “X-Men” as a historical fiction piece by staying true to the original origin stories.

While there were plenty of movies that I did not enjoy seeing this past summer, including “Bad Teacher” and “The Smurfs,” I never fundamentally disliked any of the four comic book movies released this year. At the very minimum, I’m excited about the arrival of both “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Avengers” next summer, but these four also proved to be movies worth seeing.

No sleep, no time, no problem TIME, from page 17

in “The Wedding Singer” but Deirdre is not deterred.

11:21 a.m.: Things are really starting to come together. The opening and closing numbers are all taught and they look pretty good. It’s sort of scary to think that we might not run them again until we have an audience.

3:14 p.m.: Five hours to go and one last dance to teach. I’m feeling a little like the Little Engine that Could right now. I think I can, I think I can.

4:31 p.m.: I’m done teaching. It’s out of my hands. That’s simultaneously thrilling and petrifying.

1:41 p.m.: Has anyone seen the directors? There are three of them and I can’t seem to find any of them.

4:42 p.m.: Checking out the stage for the first time since 9:30 last night.

We have a set! Thank you awesome techies!

5: 25 p.m.: Our run-time on stage begins, and we will be running five numbers at most. That’s it. I have a whole new appreciation for our cast and their bravery.

2:47 p.m.: Like many of the cast members, I’m suspicious that I may not have a voice tomorrow. It’s not

6:03 p.m.: Our last break begins.

I’ve got one hour to shower, get dressed, hide the dark circles under

12:23 p.m.: Lunch time. Seven and a half hours until the show sounds like a lot of time to me right now, but I have a sinking suspicion it’s going to fly by.

graphic by steven wong/the hoot

like I need it for a class with the university’s president or anything …

my eyes and get back to the theater for call time. There’s not even time for a cat nap!

7:14 p.m.: Once again, I have made the Einsteins salad sacrifice to the theater gods. This entails buying a salad and bagel because you don’t have time to go anyplace else on campus, and then some days only having time to eat half of it. This is one of those days.

8:20 p.m.: The theater is open and the ushers are filling the last of the seats. I’m sitting in the front row with the rest of the production staff, and our excitement and nerves can hardly be contained. The crowd behind us has been waiting hours for this moment and I’m just as anxious as them to see what hilarity ensues. Our 24 hours of rehearsal are over, but I’m pretty sure the best part is just about to start.

September 16, 2011

ARTS, ETC. 19

The Brandeis Hoot

Close Looking examines special collections

Aramark negotiates with union photo by albee qian/the hoot

ARAMARK, from page 1

photos by ingrid schulte/the hoot

On Sept. 14, Brandeis hosted the first installment of the Close Looking series. Prof. John Plotz (ENG) and Harvard professor Leah Price (pictured, left) discussed the 1892 William Morris edition of “The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.”

The Brandeis Special Collections Department holds a copy of this classic text. Special collections librarian Sarah Shoemaker (pictured, top) was at hand to discuss the history of the text and its arrival at Brandeis.

Future events will focus on artwork in The Rose Art Museum in addition to other texts held by Special Collections.

ers “struggling to get 40 hours,” said Simon, but these issues were being resolved before the halt. The meeting was not a negotiation session and no Aramark representative was present.

Rather, it was a show of solidarity between the dining staff and supportive students, especially those in the Brandeis Labor Coalition who spread awareness through Facebook and lauded the efforts of the Union.

Aaron Bennos, an Aramark representative, declined to discuss specifics of the negotiations, as they are “confidential.” He did go on to say Aramark will “continue to bargain in good faith and hope to reach an agreement soon.”

Staff filtered in slowly as they got off shifts—the atmosphere was more similar to a family reunion than to a Union meeting. People laughed and smiled, asked after friends. Students were greeted familiarly and were often known by name.

Although they side with the Dining Services workers, most students were generally unaware of the particulars of the situation, as most of it had taken place during the summer, and only knew that there were issues with the contracts of the dining staff, said Student Union leader Alana Pallerito.

She believes things had been going well until last week.

The worker’s bargaining committee is waiting for Aramark’s answer to

their demands, said Simon, “and the answer needs to be yes.” They do not believe, however, that the current stasis is an impasse.

Rather, workers welcome an invitation back to the table, and are “waiting for management to return with a reasonable offer.”

“All of a sudden, it slowed down,” confirmed Julie Richard, who has worked at Brandeis in Dining Services for 34 years and is part of the the Union’s bargaining committee.

“We’re back to work now … but we need our insurance and a pay raise.

We need to live, like everybody else.

Maybe after today, with the people to support us, they’ll get this wrapped up.”

The staff is resolute in its position but hopeful that the situation will be resolved in the next few days. If not, the bargaining committee will be compelled, said Simon in his speech to the supporters, to “take some action,” which may or may not interrupt service. They explicitly said that they would not back down.

Robert commented that everybody on the dining staff enjoyed working at Brandeis but wanted to be ensured that they “would be treated fairly.”

Whether or not the conflicts will be resolved in the following days is uncertain, but the Union is not unwilling to negotiate and is very direct in its demands, as it was in the meeting.

The negotiations have been going on for four months.

Arts Recommends books

‘True Grit’ by Charles Portis

When last year’s adaptation of “True Grit” hit movie screens, many didn’t expect it to be so laugh-out-loud funny, but anyone familiar with the classic 1968 Charles Portis novel on which it’s based would not have been surprised. Mattie Ross, an old spinster, recounts her days as a thrifty 14-year-old in Arkansas, where she tracks down the man who killed her father; she gets help from an unorthodox (and often drunk) U.S. marshal named Rooster Cogburn. Mattie Ross’ self-righteous nar-

ration is hilarious, filled with accounts of her bartering with men three times her age and peppered with scriptural references.

One classic example: “I will go further and say all cats are wicked, though often useful. Who has not seen Satan in their sly faces? Some preachers will say, well, that is superstitious ‘claptrap.’ My answer is this: Preacher, go to your Bible and read Luke 8:26-33.” After reading “True Grit,” it’s not a shock that Portis has accrued a cult following over the years. sean fabery, editor

music

‘w h o k i l l’ by tUnE-yArDs

With unique African beats and distinct melodies that continuously play in your head after one listen, the distinctly spelled album “w h o k i l l” by tUnE-yArDs is a definite must-hear. tUnE-yArDs is a onewoman band featuring Merrill Garbus, though when listening to her music you wouldn’t be able to guess it was only one woman. Each song on the album is an eclectic collection of sounds and instruments ranging from ukuleles to different harmonies of her voice layered on top of each other. The songs work very well independently but work even stronger as an

photo from internet source

album, showing off Garbus’ strong views on feminism, among other things. “w h o k i l l” is actually a reference to the book “Women Who Kill” by Ann Jones, a novel about former female domestic abuse victims who kill their husbands. One particularly chilling highlight of the album is the opening song “My Country.” A melodic and thematic play off of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” the song presents Garbus’ views against abortion. The “w h o k i l l” tour is currently in progress, with a concert scheduled at Boston’s Paradise on Sept. 21 and is definitely worth checking out. candice bautista, editor

photo from internet source

20 The Brandeis Hoot

hoot scoops

September 16, 2011

By Leah Finkelman, Editor

Runway fashionistas rent out style to students While other students began to wind down from a long week of classes and prepare for the weekend, Emily Troge ’14 and Abby Hirsch ’14 spent last Friday organizing the first trunk show for Rent the Runway at Brandeis. That morning, five young national representatives drove from New York City to help set up the event in Sherman Function Hall. By the time people started arriving, there were racks of designer dresses and tables of jewelry for girls to try on.

Started in 2009, Rent the Runway is a New Yorkbased company founded by Harvard Business School graduates Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss.

After watching Jenn’s sister, Becky, work through a “closet full of clothes but nothing to wear moment,” they created Rent the Runway, a website where members can rent designer dresses for a fraction of the retail cost.

In order to better market to college students, a demographic that often attends formal events but is generally on a strict budget, Rent the Runway branched out to have College Runway Reps.

This semester, Jordana Gluck ’12 became the first Brandeis Runway Rep, quickly recruiting Troge

and Hirsch, who now oversee everything on the Brandeis campus.

“I was browsing the Rent the Runway Web page while searching for a dress and I came across an article that talked about a spring internship. After contacting Rent the Runway and speaking with their campus liaison, I found out that many students across the country were acting as the middleman between their school and Rent the Runway,” Gluck said.

“I thought it would be perfect for a small campus like Brandeis where one is sure to be spotted in the same gown twice. It also gives those girls who are not able to purchase designer dresses a chance to wear one at an affordable price.”

Although Troge is officially manager, the highest-ranking position, she and Hirsch, the PR representative, work closely to build up a team. In addition to raising awareness and membership of Rent the Runway, last week’s event was intended to entice other girls into applying for other positions on the soon-to-be committee; they are still currently accepting applications on Rent the Runway’s homepage.

“We’re trying to reach out to the Brandeis community,” Troge said. “We didn’t have much time to advertise the event, but a lot of people came anyway, which is great for our first event.”

The national representatives at the trunk show included College Coordinator Becky Hyman, whose sister Jenn was a co-founder of Rent the Runway. She also has a personal connection to Brandeis: It’s her parents’ alma mater.

“Brandeis prides itself on giving unsurpassed

access to students, both inside and out of the classroom.

Runway Reps are able to develop their leadership, marketing and entrepreneurial skills in the fashion industry by working closely with the marketing team at Rent the Runway.

I have been able to see firsthand the amazing opportunities that Brandeis has paved for its students by looking at my parents’ success ... I am determined to bring continued success to Brandeis’ campus with our College Runway Rep program,” Hyman said.

Word of mouth, Hirsch added, has been and will continue to be an important form of communication for the group, whether girls mention to their friends that they’ve signed up or see Facebook notifications about events and dresses.

The dresses at the event reflected the range of choices on the website, which run from dresses that retail for only a few hundred dollars to dresses that cost more than $2,000. None of the dresses had prices, but all of them can be rented for a fraction of their retail cost.

After the event, 15 girls were the first to show interest in applying on Rent the Runway’s website for committee positions like Social Media Rep, Greek Liaison and Event Coordinator.

At an information session and meeting on Tuesday, Troge and Hirsch met with three interested girls and began to map out the rest of the semester and the future of Rent the Runway at Brandeis.

“Because there isn’t a large presence yet, everyone on the team can be really hands on both behind the scenes and at events,” Hirsch said.

In between jokes and goofy and fun tangents, the team began discussing possible events for this semester and the more distant future.

Many people already involved in Rent the Runway are members of off-campus Greek life and need dresses for formal events, but the majority

of Brandeis students rarely have the opportunity to get dressed up, Troge said. With that in mind, one major goal of Rent the Runway at Brandeis, in addition to marketing the company, is to organize events to which girls can wear the dresses.

With a small budget passed to them from the company, Troge, Hirsch and the meeting’s attendees began brainstorming, coming up with ideas like a fashion show and dinner, a night out in Boston, and another trunk show to give students a taste of the dresses and accessories available.

“Right now we’re planning to team up with Rent the Runway at BC for the night out,” Troge said, explaining that it would help build up the name of the group as well as helping ease costs and have more people to help out.

“Next semester and next year, though, we’ll have a lot to do and so many people will be coming to our events that we’ll be able to have our own nights out in Boston,” she said.

The group also wants to hold an open semi-formal event on campus, possibly a fashion show of Rent the Runway dresses combined with dinner.

Until then, the committee, once finalized, will market dresses to attendees of on- and off-campus formal events, spreading awareness of the website.

“I’m really excited for this year and next year. I initially applied because I wanted to get more involved in something on campus, and this seemed perfect,” Troge said. “I’ve learned a lot about the company, and I’m happy to be representing it and bringing it to everyone else.”

photos by andrew rauner/the hoot