The Brandeis Hoot 11/06/2015

Volume 12 Issue 21

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

November 6, 2015

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Lynch addresses sustainability and next steps after Climate Survey at Town Hall

By Abigail Gardener staff

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

Around 12 students gathered at a Town Hall to pose questions to top administrators and hear about updates on campus initiatives. student town hall

Sarkeesian lectures on exclusion of women from gaming world

By Emily Sorkin Smith editor

Anita Sarkeesian, founder of “Feminist Frequency” website and YouTube channel and avid gamer, argued that video games’ portrayal of women reflects and contributes to sexism during a Martin Weiner Lecture in Computer Science. Sarkeesian’s lecture focused on the role of video games in education, offering ways to transform the world of gaming to better include women. The talk took place on Nov. 2 in the Wasserman Cinematheque after being rescheduled from Feb. 9 due to snow.

The world of videogames, as Sarkeesian explained throughout, caters to a straight, white male audience, creating a sometimes hostile environment to those outside this group.

She explained that the portrayal of women in video games, like in many other forms of mass media, is often hyper-sexualized.

“It is no secret that most games are made by and for straight white men,” Sarkeesian asserted.

Even in her childhood, Sarkeesian said, the world of video games felt closed to women. The titles of gaming systems, like the popular “Game Boy,” reinforced the sentiment that “games were for boys.” For many years, she refrained from calling herself a “gam-

Inside this issue:

er.”

“I bought into the bogus myth that in order to be a ‘real gamer’ you have to play Grand Theft Auto” or other “testosterone-fueled” games, she said.

Since then, Sarkeesian said that male-dominance in the gaming world has only gotten worse. “In the last four years, we’ve seen an increase in intense and violent hostility” toward women in video game sphere, she argued.

She discussed how the recent “Gamergate” controversy, in which women gamers such as Sarkeesian were subject to harassment, including rape and death threats, represents the overarching problems in gaming culture.

The “abrasive reactions” that Sarkeesian and others experienced “are an attempt, conscious or unconscious, to preserve male-dominance.”

Sarkeesian herself received death threats, leading to an investigation by the FBI and other authorities.

To enter the room for her lecture at Brandeis, everyone had to go through a metal detector and leave any water bottles behind in TSA-style security.

“There have been periods in my life when the constant sexism and alienation … became too much,” Sarkeesian said. To educate on and combat sexism prevalent in video games, she See SARKEESIAN, page 3

News: New Union website promotes transparency Opinion: SEED misrepresents campus diversity Arts: ‘Intimate Apparel’ holds auditions Features: JBS offers alternatives Editorial: Vote ‘yes’ to Union amendment

At a student Town Hall on Wednesday night, Nov. 4, Interim President Lisa Lynch discussed a flyer campaign to raise awareness about services for survivors of sexual violence and said it is up to the new president to make any decisions related to divestment.

Around 20 students attended the event with Lynch and other administrators in the Admissions Center presentation room.

Prior to this, Lynch held two other town halls, on Sept. 9 and then on Oct. 8. to discuss the results of the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct. The most recent event was meant to be a continuation of prior town halls, as well as an open invitation for students to pose their concerns and questions to the administration and become updated on

initiatives.

Major topics discussed include the Campus Climate Survey, sustainability and divestment, Castle renovations and the student financial assistance survey.

Lynch emphasized her dissatisfaction with some of the results of the Climate Survey, assuring students that the Task Force for Sexual Assault Response Services and Prevention is currently taking the results of the survey and working on the next steps that need to be taken. She told the task force to expedite work in two areas, raising awareness about resources for survivors of sexual violence and prevention training for graduate students.

One statistic that concerned Lynch was the fact that about a quarter of undergraduate respondents and about 50 percent of graduate students did not know See TOWN HALL, page 4

Union proposes A-Board expansion amendment

By Charlotte Aaron Editor

Today students are voting to modify Allocations Board by increasing the number of members on the Board and offsetting elections.

A-Board is a branch of Student Government with members responsible for allocating $1.7 million to student clubs and organizations. It is composed of five voting members, all elected by the student body.

Club leaders and members of other

branches of student government criticized A-Board after it released club funding information in mid October.

Club leaders were frustrated, as they did not understand how A-Board decided which clubs should receive funds, said Nathan Greess ’19, class of 2019 senator.

“Many clubs have felt personally attacked, and the A-Board has been made to look very unprofessional,” said Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 at a Union press conference last Friday in an address to the student body about upcoming chang-

es to Board.

In her speech, Macklin announced the resignation of three voting members of A-Board, positions which will be filled in mid year elections, according to the student union website. Macklin was “very, very sorry to see them go,” and blames other “time commitments” and “need to practice self care” for their resignations.

It was “folks just not really realizing that marathon could be a consuming process,” said Justin Carlisle ’16, chief See A-BOARD, page 2

Brandeis Players presents ‘Ruined’

‘ruined’ Brandeis players plays up dark themes in play about women’s purity set in the Congo. For more, see page 16.

the neighbourhood Online Band releases hauntingly bad new Page 12 album.

Page 14 Arts: Page 15 Page 5 Page 10

women’s swimming

Joanna Murphy ’17 makes headlines in women’s freestyle.

Sports: Page 6

photo courtesy oyemen ehikharmhen

2 The Brandeis Hoot

Michael Walzer ’56 lectures on community and socialism

By Ryan Spencer Staff

Brandeis graduate Michael Walzer ’56, now a political theorist, returned to Brandeis to give a critical lecture on Martin Buber’s book “Paths in Utopia” and discuss different types of socialist communities. The lecture, presented by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice, took place in Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Monday, Nov. 4.

Walzer recalls reading Buber’s book years ago when he was “a young socialist” and finding it impressive. Looking at it now, more than 60 years later, he continues to find it impressive but believes it “requires a revisionist critique.”

Walzer summarizes the book as “a sharp attack on State Socialism represented by Marx and Lenin and a strong defense of communitarian socialism best represented

by Landauer.”

Gustav Landauer argued that groups of people should form small socialist communities together, favoring this approach over statewide socialist programs.

Buber cites the Israeli kibbutz system of collective living as an example of this sort of socialist community.

To find what “remains of value” in Buber’s work, Walzer contrasted his communitarian socialism with the state socialism seen elsewhere. Eventually, Walzer came to the conclusion that Buber’s “Paths in Utopia” suggests that citizens must press their state to limit its power and in doing so create a sort of community.

Interim President Lisa Lynch called Walzer “one of America’s foremost political theorists and a leading public intellectual” during her introduction. She recognized his involvement with the democratic socialist magazine Dissent and as the author of over two dozen books. She even recalled reading Walzer’s book “Just and Unjust Wars” when she was a college student.

In her introduction of Walzer, Lynch took a moment to remind current students that “the paths that many of us follow … are rarely straight lines.” Walzer wanted to be a lawyer when he first enrolled at Brandeis but he changed his career path after becoming “so enamored with the Brandeis faculty.”

Jules Bernstein ’57, the founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice, recalled his friendship with Walzer during their years at Brandeis together.

He remembered being “involved in a great battle [on campus]... about the showing of the movie ‘Birth of a Nation.’” Some students thought it should not be shown because the 1915 film set in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction period was racist and offensive. Bernstein and Walzer were both in favor of showing the film but lost the battle with the university.

Professor Bernard Yack (POL) added to Lynch and Bernstein’s praise of Walzer. He said, “The really great things that Lisa and Jules said about Michael are not hype … [Walzer] really is one of the two or three leading political thinkers in the world.”

NEWS

November 6, 2015

Senate encourages students to engage with off-campus community

By Hannah Stewart Staff

This semester, under the leadership of Student Government President Nyah Macklin ’16, the Brandeis University Student Union has rededicated itself to improving service to the student body by increasing transparency and efficacy.

This dedication spans all parts of Student Union, ranging from the Executive Board to the Committees of the Senate, such as the Outreach Committee.

Paul Sindberg ’18, the Class of 2018 Student Union Senator, is now also the Chair of the Services and Outreach Committee has three initiatives for this semester.

“Traditionally, the role of the Services and Outreach Committee, which is one of several committees that are in the Senate of the Student Union, has been to coordinate a couple of different events … they’ve been the Turkey Shuttles … and the Midnight Buffet,” Sindberg explained.

The committee intends to re-establish Brandeis within its community, ensure that the Midnight Buffet is “purposeful and efficient” and actively engage with the student body.

Sindberg describes the first goal as a response to how the Brandeis community can be a “very insular community.”

“Our interactions with Waltham and the surrounding community … there’s something that can be built on and so we wanted to make sure we were do-

ing the outreach,” said Sindburg.

To accomplish this, the committee is partnering with local businesses and inviting residents of Waltham to come to performances by the Brandeis events such as theater performances, poetry readings and even student events focused on including the broader Waltham community.

To continue encouraging student involvement with the broader community, Services and Outreach Committee teamed up with the help of Senator at Large Lucy Wen ’18 to host tables in the SCC where students could register to vote. Paperwork was available for any students who were interested in registering, and the Committee mailed the paperwork to voter registration locations to be processed.

The second goal, which regards the Midnight Buffet, is rooted in promoting social justice and channeling student energy into productive avenues by engaging Brandeis students with the local Waltham community.

According to Sindberg, “In the past, the Student Union has had concerns about the Midnight Buffet because … we want to make sure we live up to the social justice mission of the university.”

Sindberg recognized that the Midnight Buffet in the past has only benefitted the Brandeis community, but this year he hopes to change this by engaging students with the Waltham community and supporting local organizations through education.

Although he cannot provide

further information about the specific organizations that will benefit from the buffet as he does not want to ruin the buffet theme reveal, Sindberg is excited that this year’s buffet will have greater impact than on just Brandeis students.

The Midnight Buffet will be held on Dec. 9, which is the last day of classes. This is a traditional evening to host the Buffet.

Sindberg’s third initiative for the committee aims to facilitate communication with the student body about what kind of programming it wants to see. “We believe it’s not enough to just say ‘We’re available.’ We want to make sure that we’re actually acting on that availability.”

Sindberg invited all members of the Brandeis community to sit in on Student Union meetings on Fridays from 2-3 p.m. in room 301 of the Shapiro Campus Center, which is just inside of the Student Union office.

Non-Senate members are also highly encouraged to become a part of the committee. Many of the other committees are also looking for additional non-Senate members to get involved. There is no application process.

Sindberg will be holding office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2-3 p.m. and on Sundays from 5-6 p.m. in room 301 of the SCC. All other committee members will also have office hours which will be posted on the new Student Union website.

Amendment proposes staggered A-board elections A-BOARD, from page 1

of staff. “The demand couldn’t be met at a time we really needed it to.”

Marathon, a process in which club leaders request funds from student government and meet individually with A-Board members, takes days, as money to fund events, club supplies and other programs is requested, said Uros Randelovic ’18, one of the recently resigned A-Board members.

This year, clubs submitted over 530 proposals for funding, all of which had to be reviewed by A-Board members.

Over the course of the club funding process, A-Board members spend hours determining which clubs to fund, explained Randelovic. In addition to reviewing each item clubs request money for, ranging from food to custodial fees to travel expenses, the Board has to consider how much any given club was funded in the past and when the various event will occur.

“We have to consider the events happening on campus across multiple weeks,” said Randelovic. If A-Board approves funding for events all occurring during the first part of the semester, there will be too few events for students to attend during the second half, said Randelovic.

In an effort to revamp A-Board, the changes being voted on, if passed, will increase the Board from five members to nine, and retain the two members from the Treasury and the Senate, said Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 in his presentation to

the Senate on Sunday regarding the A-Board changes.

“There was something troubling about that small amount of people being in charge of $1.7 million,” Herbstritt said.

If the amendment passes, three A-Board members will serve three semester terms. Elections for these positions will be staggered and occur during three different semesters over the course of two years, said Herbstirtt.

“We want to have three A-Board members that run three semester terms as part of a way to keep institu-

tional memory so we don’t have constant complete turnover of the board.”

In addition, six two semester seats will exist, with elections for three of the seats held in the fall and elections for the other three seats held in the spring.

Herbstritt hopes this will hold A-Board more accountable, as the public can “get in there … change how it works, and get active in the student government” if students have issues with the way the Board is run.

Further, two of these six positions will be filled by two racial minority representatives, one more than in

previous years, and two clerks, responsible for helping to “get decisions made faster” and lessen the work burden, said Herbstritt.

Among other changes, the Chair of the Board will serve one semester terms, so if the Chair is doing a bad job, student can vote for a new student to serve in the position, said Herbstritt.

“I’m really hoping that this whole expansion process will make it so that students are actually getting more involved in this process. We want to make sure the campus can trust and support what we’re doing and

graphic by allison plotnick/the hoot

that they can restore faith into the A-Board,” said Carlisle.

Macklin, Herbstritt and Carlisle were all very active in developing the proposed changes. Other students involved included Class of 2019 Senator Kate Kesselman, A-Board Chairperson Millie Wu ’19, Secretary Shuying Liu ’16, Senior Trustees Representative Grady Ward ’16, and Junior Trustees Representative Emily Conrad ’17.

The polls, accessible by email, opened last night at midnight and will remain open until midnight tonight, Friday.

November 6, 2015

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Sarkeesian hopes to improve gamer culture SARKEESIAN, from page 1

began making videos that discussed common tropes for women in games.

One frequent issue gamers come across is the lack of female characters. Often, there will be one female character among an ensemble of male characters. While the male characters have varied personalities, body types, values and skills, the female character will be defined by her gender.

Sarkeesian described these often “hyper-sexualized” characters in detail, emphasizing their skimpy clothing.

“Lingerie is not armor,” Sarkeesian said, at which point the audience clapped loudly.

To combat the alienation of women gamers, Sarkeesian has a list of “eight things [developers] can do to make games less shitty for women.” For example, female characters should make up at least half of the characters in a game and should have diverse body types and traits. Their clothing could be modelled after female athletes, she suggested.

In trying to change the status quo of videogame culture, Sarkeesian has

faced backlash. One of the most popular counter arguments is the “what about the men” argument, one that she finds can be easily challenged.

Male characters are presented with much more diversity, she argued, and don’t face a “long-standing oppressive construct” that defines them by their gender or hyper-sexualizes them.

Though Sarkeesian finds many faults in the way women are portrayed in video games and in broader culture, she still considers herself to be an avid gamer. “You can love something and be critical of it,” she explained. The importance of mass media in shaping culture can be harnessed to combat sexism, and video games can be a tool for involving women and groups not well-represented in computer science into the discipline.

The Computer Science department invited Sarkeesian to speak at the Martin Weiner Lecture in Computer Science, co-sponsoring the event with several other offices and departments within Brandeis.

In the Senate: Nov 1

Dennis Hermida ’17, vice president, informed the Senate that after discussions with Sexual Assault and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon, clubs must sponsor sexual assault bystander training for their club members to receive any type of funding.

• “Brandeis is taking this issue a lot more serious,” said Hermida about bystander training.

David Herbstritt ’17 and Lorenzo Finamore ’18 spoke with a graduate student about future collaboration with the Graduate Student Union Association.

• The Senate is hoping to increase relations between the two Unions and share resources such as an off-campus housing in Waltham guide the Graduate Student Union provides. $4,000 was found in the Senate banks accounts unexpectedly.

• After a brief investigation, the money was determined to be leftover money raised from past Turkey Shuttles. for more in the senate, see online

Schusterman reflects on 20th aniv. of Rabin assassination

By Jess Linde Editor

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies held a discussion and panel reflecting on the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin this Wednesday, the 20th anniversary of the assassination itself. Rabin was killed on Nov. 5, 1995. Before being killed by Israeli right-wing extremist Yigal Amir, Rabin focused his tenure on making peace with the Palestinian leadership.

This culminated in the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, for which Rabin, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Rabin also served in the Israel Defense Forces for 27 years and was instrumental in assuring Israeli victory during the Six-Day War in 1967. Since his assassination, Rabin has become a symbol of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, was violently opposed to the Oslo Accords.

Standing in the atrium of the Mandel Center for the Humanities, Schusterman chair David Ellenson addressed a crowd made mostly up of older community members and guests, with some students also in attendance. “Like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Rabin’s assassination is a day seared into history,” Ellenson said. Ellenson then read an excerpt from Rabin’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, and introduced the event’s three speakers. First, visiting Schusterman Professor Uri Bialer (NEJS) spoke on Rabin in a military and historical context. “I was ten meters away when Rabin died,” Bialer began,

photofrom internet source

drawing gasps from the crowd. “We were there to see him speak because we believed in his peace, and but I most remember everyone diving to the ground when we heard the shots.”

For the majority of his speech, Bialer focused on Rabin’s career as a general, which Bialer considered unique. “[Rabin’s dedication to peace] was not a gimmick,” Bialer said. “Despite his army ties and record, Rabin was not a warmonger.” It was this dedication, and Rabin’s patriotism, that made Rabin effective as a general and a peacemaker. “The tragedy of Yitzhak Rabin was that he prepared the Israeli army for war, but could not touch war,” Bialer concluded. “Rabin was a builder.”

The second speaker was Professor Gannit Ankori (FA), Chair in Israeli Art at Brandeis’ Fine Arts department. Ankori called Rabin “a martyr” and “a fallen soldier in the war for peace,” before presenting on artistic reactions to the assassination. Ankori showed a PowerPoint presentation featuring paintings and sculptures, pointing out how most of the artwork featured motifs of blood and bullet

holes. Many of the works were abstract, expressing what Ankori called “the assassination of the peace process,” and the collective grief in Israel.

Ankori ended on a sad note, remarking lament at the current political climate in Israel. “We are far from the legacy of Rabin,” she said.

Finally, Brandeis associate professor Yehuda Mirsky (NEJS) spoke on the power Rabin’s death had to bring change. “The death of Yitzhak Rabin changed my life,” Mirsky said. Mirsky told the audience of his religious zionist upbringing, and how Rabin’s peace work helped make his own outlook more open. Mirsky discussed the political climate of Israel leading up to and after the assassination as “rigid.” “If meaningful self-criticism is equated with the intent to destroy you, there won’t be much meaningful self-criticism,” Mirsky said. Following the individual speakers, there was a short question and answer session during which the speakers clarified certain points, and encouraged the audience to continue to reflect on Rabin’s death.

First-year students begin work to improve quad life through new hall council system

By Hannah Schuster Editor

Promoting sustainability is a major goal of the North Quad Hall Council, a group of eight students elected to represent their fellow residents. The hall council system, implemented in North and Massell Quads this year, allows students to take on leadership roles, create programs and build community in their quads, according to students and the Area Coordinators (ACs) who presented the program to them.

“Want to host social programs?

Have creative suggestions for the housing facilities? Enjoy being a leader to your peers?” Habiba Brahma, AC of North, asked in an email introducing the program to North residents on Sept. 9. After the election process, students have begun meeting and crafting goals for the semester. The councils have a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer and a representative from each of the four buildings in the quad.

The North Council met on Monday Oct. 26, with President Grace Barredo ’19 and the entire council discussing initiatives for the betterment of the quad and expectations for the year.

At their meeting on Monday, the students’ proposals to improve sustainability in North included installing hooks in the bathrooms for students’ personal towels to reduce paper towel use, a suggestion that came from Jasmine Olins ’19, the Cable Hall

representative. The council will also organize a free throw contest with recycled water bottles found in trash cans on Friday at 8:30 p.m. Prizes will be LED lightbulbs and frisbees made from recycled material.

The event will serve as a way to introduce the council and some of their initiatives, as well as a bonding event for North residents, according to Halley Geringer ’19, the secretary.

The councils have a $1,000 budget from DCL for the year and will organize at least one quad event per semester, while implementing their other initiatives.

Massell’s first event will be a variety performance, “Massell’s Got Talent” held on Nov. 12 in Shapiro Lounge, according to Benji Kemper, president of the Massel council.

The hall councils work with the Department of Community Living (DCL), including the ACs and several Community Advisors (CA), who attend council meetings.

“We get to work with the Department of Community Living, which gives us access to a lot of resources, including CAs,” said Kemper in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

The North Council also hopes to implement an alcohol awareness program, to teach students about what happens when the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps (BEMCo) is called and when a student has to be transported to the hospital. Tayla Shatzky ’19, the

treasurer, suggested hosting an obstacle course or free throw contest where students wear the goggles that simulate intoxication.

The students plan to distribute cards that correlate factors such as body weight and gender with a number of drinks to help students determine how impaired they are.

In an interview with The Hoot, Barredo said it upsets her to see students struggle with alcohol, and she, along with the council, hope to encourage responsible habits.

The North Council wants to publicize their existence so students know they can reach out to the members with concerns or suggestions. The North Quad Facebook group has around 60 people in it, but the council members want to increase membership and use Facebook, email or events to inform students of their activity.

Brahma and Massell AC Jay MacDuffie introduced the council system after the senator elections for the Student Union. With the multi-member councils and representatives from individual buildings, Barredo noted there are now more people for students to go to in addition to their quad senator.

“It’s good to have more resources,” Barredo said, in case the senator is ever overwhelmed or has other Union responsibilities to tend to. Union members also have office hours and can serve on committees such as the dining committee.

photo by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

Geringer was interested in the Student Union, but she likes being able to balance her position on the hall council with other activities. It doesn’t have to be the “one thing” she does on campus, she said.

Joining the council “seemed like a good way to be involved … especially in the more intimate setting of North Quad,” said Geringer.

Kemper also drew a distinction between the two governing systems. “The Massell Council is much more focused on event planning than the Student Union,” he said in his email.

In joining the hall council, Barredo wanted to “work with other students and have some sort of impact on the quad.” She hopes to make the quad a better place

for first-year students.

“I ran for Massell Council because I wanted to represent the greatest quad on campus,” said Kemper. “From the ping pong masters who train in the Shapiro Lounge, the heroes that wake up and pay attention during 8 a.m. classes and the Spartans who trek up the Rabb steps everyday, it is clear that Massell has the best group of students found on any campus worldwide.”

Last year, students in Deroy Hall in Massell piloted a residential government. The council, linked to DCL, allowed students to improve leadership skills, plan events and launch initiatives, according to a Hoot article from October 2014.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 6, 2015

College Notebook: Climate Survey results at Boston schools

By Elianna Spitzer staff

Brandeis joined the ranks of many universities nationwide when they released the results of its “Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Violence” on Oct. 8, 2015.

The initiative to conduct Campus Climate Surveys was put forth by the Obama Administration, in January of 2014 when they launched the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The task force produced its first report in April of 2014.

This report encompassed ways in which schools across America could improve their handling of sexual assault cases, including assessment, prevention and response.

When it surveyed its students in April, Brandeis reported a response rate of 34.3 percent, a percentage was similar to that of other schools in the Boston area. “The Association of American Universities (AAU) reported that their survey response rate was 19.3 percent,” to a fact sheet released

by Brandeis read. “Harvard’s was 53 percent; MIT’s was 35 percent; Boston University’s was 22 percent; and Tufts University’s was 28.7 percent.”

Though the response rates were somewhat similar, the surveys themselves were each different.

This semester, the AAU and universities across the country released the results of their surveys. Schools chose to display their results in different ways.

Wellesley College, for example, displayed its survey results in three pages, while Harvard University’s climate survey spanned 253 pages. Wellesley asked broad questions such as whether their students had experienced sexual assault and presented the results in colorful graphs. 14 percent of students at Wellesley answered that they had in fact experienced sexual assault.

One survey similar to Brandeis’ is MIT’s climate survey. Both surveys featured a section on students’ experiences on campus, both inside and outside classrooms. “We asked questions about ‘sense of community’ among our students and about perceptions of gender issues that we believe important to understand,” said Brandeis Sexual Assault and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon in an email to the Hoot. “MIT, which also conducted its own survey, included similar lines of questions.”

Both surveys asked students if someone had “made sexist

remarks or jokes about women in [their] presence” or if someone had “told you about their sexual experiences when you did not want to hear them.”

Both MIT and Brandeis used explicit language when referring to sexual misconduct or assault. MIT asked its students if they had experienced sexual assault, but further narrowed the question into sections: sexual touching or kissing, attempted oral sex, oral sex, attempted sexual penetration and sexual penetration.

“Overall, eight percent indicated being either sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and/ or raped,” according to MIT’s survey results. In its survey, Brandeis used parentheses in its questions to define terms such as rape and sexual assault.

Both sets of survey results used a mixture of graphs and text.

Brandeis’ results were broken into two categories: sexual assault and rape. “22 percent of women, five percent of men and 35 percent of students who identify as trans* or other indicated they had been sexually assaulted, including inappropriate sexual touching, fondling, grabbing and groping,” wrote Interim President Lisa M. Lynch in the release email.

“Of undergraduate respondents, six percent of women and one percent of men said

they had been raped (non-consensual penetration).” Lynch also added that “overall, 1.3 percent of graduate student respondents indicated they had been sexually assaulted or raped.”

Harvard’s survey also chose to break terms such as sexual assault into categories. It first asked if students had experienced penetration, then whether it had been by physical force, incapacitation or both.

Harvard also asked whether the act had been “completed” or “attempted.”

Harvard’s results were presented in block format, dominated by text and tables. The results of the Harvard survey said that “4.2 percent of all students who responded to the survey reported that they had experienced some form of ‘nonconsensual sexual contact’ during the past year.”

“By senior year, 29.2 percent of female undergraduates reported experiencing non-consensual penetration or sexual touching by force or incapacitation,” read a statistic highlighted by Harvard.

Harvard used a survey developed by the UAA. The AAU implemented a version of the task force’s survey at 27 universities in April of 2015. “Overall, 11.7 percent of students across the 27 universities reported

experiencing non-consensual penetration or sexual touching by force or incapacitation since enrolling at the [institution of higher education],” according to their results.

According to McMahon, any comparison of results between universities or with an average is difficult. “With different universities using different survey instruments, it is impossible to exact comparisons,” she said.

“That said, the numbers are all in the same ballpark, and they are all too high … any number of sexual assaults on campus is too many.”

Members of the Brandeis community are looking for ways to better address the results. “As painful as these data are, we are not afraid of the self-examination and action they demand,” wrote Lynch in a later email to the Brandeis community.

In response to the results, McMahon wrote to The Hoot that Brandeis is “committed to redoubling our efforts to improve our education programs and make information more understandable and accessible.”

She added that Brandeis would put more effort into outreach programs for the undergraduate trans* and other communities, as well as for graduate students.

Lynch engages in back-and-forth with BCJ students TOWN HALL, from page 1

where to turn if they needed support services associated with sexual assault. “That has to get corrected,” she said.

“We’re going to put flyers everywhere so that people can see if something happens, here’s who you can turn to,” she said.

Lynch also brought up the issue of renovations to the Castle. It is the oldest building on campus and as Jim Gray, vice president for operations, has pointed out, although it is certainly iconic, it was constructed without the help of an architect or engineer.

When the Castle was first purchased by Brandeis in the 1940s, Lynch said one of the major concerns was the “appalling state” of the Castle, which at that time was only about 20 years old.

“There is a review process both internally and with a management team and the Board of Trustees to see what our options are with respect to the Castle, the goal being to find a way … to preserve the iconic parts [of the Castle],” she said.

Preserving the entire Castle and bringing it up to the proper state would possibly be too expensive

of an endeavor, she said, so there is a chance parts of the Castle would be taken down.

However, the earliest anyone will be affected by Castle renovations would be spring 2017, according to Lynch and Andrew Flagel, vice president for students and enrollment. Nothing will be happening this year.

Lynch also reiterated the university’s commitment to financial aid. She thanked Emily Conrad ’17, who was in attendance at the meeting, for her work on putting together the financial assistance survey with Grady Ward ’16. She promised to redistribute copies of the report to the board members with a note on it from her asking them to pay special attention.

“Students put a lot of time and care in both constructing this survey, filling out this survey, please take some time to read this survey,” she said.

“We need more assistance on financial aid, and we’ll continue the discussion with the Board of Trustees about other things that we can do; there’s some great recommendations in that report,” she said.

Two members of Brandeis Climate Justice (BCJ) also attended

the meeting, and were interested in hearing about Lynch’s position on divestment. One student said sustainability efforts must be “two-fold,” incorporating on-campus efforts and divestment.

Lynch commented on the issue, “It’s an important decision to be made by the Board of Trustees in consultation with the president,” but she believes the issue is “important to leave to the next president.”

There will be an announcement as to who the next president will by the end of this calendar year or beginning of the next, said Lynch.

Although BCJ expressed their concern that the university “can’t wait that long,” Lynch held firm.

She also emphasized the steps the university is taking to improve sustainability on campus, like “Turn it Off ” days and the firstyear quad sustainability contest.

Lynch has also commissioned a task force to reduce Brandeis’ carbon footprint.

A BCJ representative expressed concern that “Turn it Off ” days were not enough to combat climate change outside of Brandeis’ campus.

“Don’t be dismissive of [Turn-

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

it-Off Days],” said Lynch, explaining the program reduced Brandeis’ normal peak consumption by about 25 percent.

Lynch believes actions taken on campus can have a large impact, and the students reaffirmed agreement.

Lynch advised BCJ to be prepared for any meeting with the Board, and to not present a “best and final offer.” BCJ students believe they are prepared for a productive conversation, after research and thoughtful consideration of the issue, they said.

BRIEF: Adjunct faculty will vote on potential union

By Hannah Schuster and Emily Sorkin Smith Editors

Over 200 non-tenure track professors at Brandeis will soon vote on whether to form a union after filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a press release sent by union spokesman Jason Stephany on Wednesday. The union would be affiliated with the Service Employees International Union

(SEIU), an organization that has worked to establish unions at schools and universities around the Boston area. Faculty hope to join the “Faculty Forward” section of SEIU Local 509.

Voting typically takes place four to six weeks after faculty members file with the NLRB, according to the Brandeis Faculty Forward website. Members will pay union dues of “1.5 percent of [their] gross salary,” but only after they have negotiated and approved their first union contract, according to their Frequently

Asked Questions page.

Adjunct faculty at Brandeis will seek greater compensation for their courses, longer contracts, improved benefits, the chance to interview for new full-time positions and a seat at the table with administration. Non-tenure track professors often have year-to-year contracts or must teach at multiple schools, according to the Brandeis Faculty Forward website.

In the Boston area, faculty from several schools have already unionized, including Boston Uni-

versity, Tufts University, Northeastern University and Bentley University.

Adjuncts at Tufts were the first to unionize with the SEIU, securing a 22 percent salary increase over three years and compensation for work done outside of the classroom. The faculty also seek benefits for professors teaching at least three classes and the chance to interview for full-time positions, according to a Brandeis Hoot article from Oct. 16.

In May 2015, adjuncts at Lesley University approved a union

contract with the SEIU. The contract includes an approximate 33 percent raise in salary per course, representation at University Council and Faculty Assembly meetings and compensation of 15 percent their salary when a class is cancelled in the first three weeks of the semester among other points, according to Lesley’s Faculty Forward webpage.

The administration has eight days to respond to the petition, according to Lisa Lynch speaking at a student town hall on Wednesday evening.

November 6, 2015

FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Meet Assistant Dean Stephanie Grimes, a vital fixture in bettering student life

By Jacob Edelman Editor

If there’s a face of an administrator that Brandeisians see around and recognize at student events, chances are good that it’s Stephanie Grimes. Grimes is the assistant dean of students and the director of Student Activities, so she finds herself involved in student life on a daily basis.

In charge of overseeing the Department of Orientation and the Department of Student Activities (DSA), Grimes also serves in her capacity of assistant dean as a liaison between the students and the university.

Grimes was born and raised in Augusta, ME, and attended Bryant College (now Bryant University), intending to major in accounting before graduating with a degree in business management.

In her time at the college, she was heavily involved with campus programming, and held several leadership roles on the student programming board, which is similar to the Student Events organization here at Brandeis. Before long, she ended up serving as the New England regional student representative to the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA.) Following her time at Bryant, she attended Northeastern University to obtain an M.S. in college student development and counseling, while at the same time working full-time as a student activities advisor and as a resident hall director at Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts.

After graduating from Northeastern, Grimes moved to North Carolina to serve as the assistant director of student involvement at Chowan College, before deciding to return north. She had received a call from a colleague from NACA who suggested she

apply for a one-year position at Brandeis. Grimes went for it, and before long was offered the position. However, she waited until she could interview on site before accepting. Seventeen years later, Grimes is still at Brandeis, albeit in a different post than she was in originally.

Following her tenure at the year-long job, Grimes found that there was a vacancy in the equivalent position of area coordinator for Usen Castle residence hall.

Simultaneously, she stepped into a newly created position of working in Student Activities and residence life, leading her to hold two different roles with two different supervisors. Finding her passion as always having been with Student Activities and program planning, Grimes ended up remaining as student activities director following structural changes made within the campus life division.

In 2004, Grimes was named the director of student activities, and in February 2014 she stepped up to also serve as an assistant dean.

Grimes described her job in two parts, saying, “The Student Activities part of my job works with students outside of the classroom, whether it’s through clubs, programs or activities that they’d like to be involved in outside of the classroom. With the assistant dean role, it’s all of that and then some.” She went on to detail that the job of assistant dean involves challenge and crisis management, as well as working with students to advocate for their needs and working through difficult circumstances to see how the university could provide the necessary resources to assist.

Grimes also oversees Orientation development in a supervisory capacity. The Department of Orientation recently selected the Core Committee for next fall, so the work for next fall’s Orientation has just gotten underway.

Currently, the Orientation department is also focused on midyear Orientation. “Just about two weeks ago we sent the midyears a pre-arrival guide … and they’re planning the final details of the Orientation program. We’re getting them all psyched up to be here and thinking about making sure they’re in tune with their academics and transitioning to campus,” Grimes said.

There are a lot of areas that are under Grimes’ purview that many students might not realize. For example, student businesses fall under the domain of Student Activities. The Student Service Bureau and Chum’s both come under this umbrella, and there is even a policy in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook that details policies on student commercial enterprises. Grimes meets with entrepreneurial students and approves

photo from internet source

or disapproves their businesses.

There have been businesses dealing with smartphone repairs, t-shirts, mobile apps, websites and even students seeking to represent outside businesses on campus.

In overseeing Student Events, Grimes takes on different roles depending on the sponsor of the event itself. If it’s a program that the department itself is sponsoring, it will be entirely run by the DSA with Grimes and other staff members managing, marketing and staffing. If the programs are sponsored by an organization such as Student Events, she might be present with others from DSA to act as agents of the university to make sure university guidelines (such as venue capacity) are followed, as well as serve as support for club leaders. “On the Fall Fest comedian, for example, we’re

acting in both capacities, advising a group of students who essentially take the Fall Fest from start to finish.”

In her role as an assistant dean in handling crisis management, Grimes’ role shifts greatly. If there is a student in some form of crisis, be it physical or mental health related, or a family challenge such as a death, her office is one that can work with students under such circumstances. “We’ll often interact with students and try to get them connected with managing the situation, having the conversations that need to be had, talking with people about how they can be supported.”

There are emergency situations that can arise that could have varying consequences. “Sometimes it’s a situation on campus and we’ll need to put some kind of emergency action into place,” said Grimes. As an example, she recalled a time when there was a boil-water order issued for all water on campus the same day as Springfest, which added a major stress on a day in which there were already campus guests and 2000 students all gathered in one location.

Considering the best part of her job, Grimes thinks about the fact that no single day is the same.

“You think you’re going to come in and get a day as my Google calendar prescribes, but depending on an interaction with a student, or learning about information or having to react to campus life, a day can change like that.”

Grimes continued, “Sometimes [my day] changes for the good, and sometimes for the worse, but having to think on my feet and change my demeanor and style to connect with the people sitting in front of me, is really what drives me every day.”

Fall semester JBS opens program to wide audience

By Albert Reiss Staff

Every year during course selection, we as Brandeisians go through the monotonous process of finding the classes that meet our academic needs. With the intense pressure of fulfilling major requirements, we are often pigeonholed into taking courses that satisfy a major requirement and may not interest us. But not anymore, because this year Brandeis has introduced a Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) titled Environmental Health and Justice. Unlike traditional classes that rely on a lecture style framework, Environmental Health and Justice uses experiential learning.

It facilitates learning about “environmental health issues, particularly how they disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities,” said Jay Feinstein ’17.

JBS are nothing new for Brandeis. However, the Environmental Health and Justice JBS is currently being offered this fall semester, in contrast to most, which are normally offered in the

summer. Professor Laura Goldin (ENVS), the head of the program, wanted to provide the opportunity for students who might not be able to afford paying for summer classes. Many students are also unable to participate in summer JBS programs because of other commitments. Annie Fortnow ’17, a current student in the course, said that “Taking the JBS during the school year allows students to pursue internships or other opportunities during the summer.”

Many of the students in the program have a strong interest in environmental issues, but have not had the opportunity to experience these concepts first-hand.

Feinstein commented that his enthusiasm for the JBS stems from the fact that “it puts everything that I’ve learned in the classroom throughout college into a real world context. Instead of seeing something on paper, I see it faceon. I think that’s really special.”

Environmental issues affect all of us on a daily basis, so any opportunity for students to engage with nature is both valuable and illuminating for those in the program.

Even more than acquiring a greater appreciation for environmental issues, the Environmental Health and Justice JBS offers students a unique learning experience. Fortnow said, “JBS allows students to learn in the field through working with different people dedicated to their topic of interest. It also lets students gain experience that will stick with them through life by way of working directly with outside organizations and conducting a research study.”

Most importantly, the format of the Environmental Health and Justice JBS is uniquely structured so as to maximize students’ studies in the field. “For the first part of the semester, we worked with different community organizations to get a broad sense of the topic … for the second part of the semester, we worked on an environmental health study about a critical issue in nearby communities,” says Fortnow. This unique arrangement makes it easier for students to study the areas of Environmental Health and Justice that pique their interest.

The course features an overnight trip, which for many students is

an example of mountaintop removal mining

the highlight of the JBS. Through the JBS program, Feinstein was afforded the opportunity to go to Harlan County, Kentucky to see the effects of coal mining techniques, like mountaintop removal mining.

Programs such as the Environmental Health and Justice JBS are few and far between. The true value of the course is measured by the engagement that its distinct format allows. Fortnow said,

photo from internet source

“I did not expect to become so emotionally invested in environmental justice before embarking on the JBS. I also did not expect to bond so much with my peers.”

Through this program, students enjoy learning about the pivotal role the environment plays in our daily lives. Feinstein said, “I want to do everything that I can to help these communities, and I believe the first step is learning about them.”

SPORTS

6 The Brandeis Hoot

November 6, 2015

Joanna Murphy staple member of swim team

By Lily Wageman Staff

The Brandeis swim and dive teams are well underway in their 2015-2016 season. The team is led by head coach Mike Kotch, assistant coach Eric Thurston and diving coach Charlotte Rea ’09.

Fallon Bushee ’16, Theresa Gaffney ’16 (Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Brandeis Hoot) and Fay Laborio ’16 are the captains for the women’s team. While the team has no overall victories yet this season, the start of the season has brought many individual achievements. Joanna Murphy ’17, a distance freestyle swimmer won the 1000-yard in the first dual meet of the season, only adding to a list of impressive accomplishments in her collegiate swimming career.

Murphy’s victory in October was not the first time the swimmer has made headlines for the Judges; last season she was recognized for placing in the UAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

She was one of two scorers at the Championships for the women’s side, placing 15th overall in the 1650. The Hoot was fortunate enough to be able to conduct an email interview with Murphy, gaining insight to her life in and out of the pool.

Murphy says that she has always loved the water, since childhood.

When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to a new town with a fantastic swimming

photo courtesy joanna murphy

photo courtesy joanna murphy

program, and her father encouraged her to try out. She was “all about it.” Currently a junior, Murphy is pursuing a major in Film with a double minor in Theater Arts and Social Justice and Social Policy.

One of her favorite classes at Brandeis is one that she is taking this semester with Professor Nemon, Social Justice and Philanthropy. In this class, Murphy says

that she is learning about the government and social problems that the United States faces, topics which she feels very passionately about.

When she’s not in class or in the pool, Murphy partakes in a range of hobbies, from dancing to editing film, baking, reading—all with laughs in between. So how does a top athlete balance her academics, social life and swim

career? According to Murphy, for her it’s a “week-to-week struggle to balance academics and school.”

But her brother, with whom she is quite close, has just given her his Lokai Balance bracelet, a gift which she believes will “make all the difference.”

Some past accolades for Murphy include breaking two Brandeis distance records during her first year in the 2013-2014 season. Murphy broke the record in the 500 yard Freestyle, 1000 yard Freestyle during the UAA Swimming and Diving Championships of that season. Her win early this season was a nice surprise since Murphy said that she was not able to swim as much as she would have liked to over the summer and was happy to know

that she could still help out the team. Her quick additions to the Judges’ record book have been a highlight of her collegiate swimming career. This season a major goal for Murphy is to place top eight at the NCAAs in the 1650.

Although Murphy says that she has no pre-race rituals, two of her favorite athletes which she draws inspiration from and allow her to channel her competitive edge are Muhammad Ali and Ronda Rousey. Ultimately, Murphy loves the Brandeis community and the friends that she has made through it.

The Brandeis Swimming and Diving team has their next meet this Sunday, Nov. 8 in Worcester against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Babson and Smith.

Volleyball falls to Babson, Vassar on senior day

By Zach Cihlar Staff

The Brandeis women’s volleyball team hosted both Vassar and Babson colleges for their senior day on Saturday, Oct. 31.

The Judges kicked off the game honoring seniors Summer Koop, Maggie Swenson and Maddie Engeler for their contributions to the Brandeis team throughout their collegiate volleyball careers.

The Judges started the day facing off against the Vassar Brewers.

The first set saw a strong start as Brandeis took an 18-13 lead. Lauren Ninkovich of the Brewers then served up 12 straight points to steal the lead and the first set for the visiting team in an impressive run featuring one ace and four kills. The Brewers continued their momentum, clinching the second set as well. The Judges managed to win the third set of the game 2518, but fell in the fourth to lose the game 1-3.

Some key players of the Vassar game from the Judges’ side were Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 and Zara Platt ’19, who led the Judges with seven kills each. Allison Hemsworth ’19 also contributed with great sets to tally 14 assists at the net. Brandeis libero Yvette Cho ’19 racked up an impressive total of 20 digs throughout the three sets.

The second game of the day saw the Judges playing the Babson Beavers, who held an impressive record of 23-8 before their match against Brandeis. The first set was tight until 11-12, when the Beavers suddenly surged ahead with a 12-22 lead. The visiting team would take the first set 17-25.

In the second set, the Judges quickly went down 1-7 due to a

four-point serving streak from Mary Donahue, who served two aces in the four point succession.

Brandeis responded with a ninepoint streak served out by Cho, who hit three aces but ended the streak with a service error to make the set 10-8. The set would never see another lead greater than two points from either team until the Beavers took the lead at 20-23 to help secure their second-set triumph over the Judges with a score of 22-25.

The third set started off promising for the home team. Decker-Jacoby served for the Judges in an eight-point streak, which featured three aces from the firstyear. Brandeis successfully secured the lead until the Beavers tied up the set at 20-20. Babson’s Elizabeth Sullivan ’16 would serve out the game, winning five straight points to obtain the victory for Babson. The final game score ended at 17-25, 22-25, 2025.

Cho and Decker-Jacoby won big points off the serve for the Judges in the second game of senior day, both hitting five service aces to increase pressure on the Beavers. Jessie Moore ’17 contributed to the game with nine big kills for the home team’s offense.

Women’s volleyball ended the Saturday matches with a fall to 5-24 record as they near the end of the season. They are scheduled to travel to Rochester to play the UAA championships beginning on Nov. 6. The women will begin the tournament facing off against Emory University at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Emory has an impressive 30-2 record (7-0 against UAA opponents) going into the first round against Brandeis volleyball.

photos by sophia he/the hoot

November 6, 2015

By Sarah Jousset

The Brandeis Hoot

Men’s soccer dominates on the road

SPORTS 7

Editor

The men’s soccer team clinched two key victories this past weekend, beating Emory University on Friday and the University of Rochester on Sunday.

The Judges beat Emory 1-0 in the University Athletic Association match up. The win marked the Judges’ first-ever victory in Atlanta against Emory.

The only goal came in the 58th minute when midfielder Josh Ocel ’17 launched a cross off a free kick that found the head of forward Patrick Flahive ’18, who buried the ball in the back of the net for his second game-winning goal of the season.

The Judges continued on to Rochester, New York for their last road UAA conference game of the season. The Judges beat Rochester 2-1, clinching Brandeis’ first-ever outright win of the University Athletic Association championship.

The win improved the Judge’s overall record to 15-2-1 and 5-1 in conference play. As champions of the UAA conference, the men’s soccer team earned an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III tournament. The Judges knew the importance of this win, as seven of the team’s players on the inactive roster drove the six and a half hours to Rochester to see the game and support their teammates.

The Judges wasted no time in the contest against the University of Rochester. They capitalized on their first scoring opportunity of

photo from internet source

the game in the 29th minute of play. Josh Handler ’19 dribbled the ball up the left side of the field, before leading Josh Berg ’17 with a pass. Berg then shot the ball from six yards out, finding the back of the net for the first goal of the game and Berg’s third of the season.

Rochester answered just six minutes later with a goal off a free kick from 30 yards out, which was initially saved by Brandeis goal-

keeper Ben Woodhouse ’18. However, Rochester’s Samuel Cekala ’18 was positioned in the right place to score on the rebound of his teammate’s free kick to tie the game at 1-1.

With the game so close, both teams turned to aggressive play.

As a result, two yellow cards were given out in the first half and four in the second, for a total of six. However, Brandeis seemed to dominate in aggressive play, com-

mitting 21 fouls over the course of the game, compared to Rochester’s 14.

Although Rochester threatened with two close plays in the second half, it was Brandeis who would come out victorious. The game winning goal came in the 79th minute of the game. Ocel added another assist to his stats with a corner kick that found Kyle Robinson ’17 open at the far post.

Robinson knocked the ball into

the net for his first career goal.

Ocel’s assist marks his ninth of the season, leading the UAA in assists. Five of Ocel’s nine assists have come from conference action.

The Judges are back in action this Saturday, Nov. 7. The Brandeis men’s soccer team will honor their six seniors before their last game of the regular season against New York University at 1:30 p.m. on Gordon Field.

photo from internet source

8 The Brandeis Hoot

WEEK IN PHOTOS

November 6, 2015

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

photo by karen caldwell/the hoot

photo by karen caldwell/the hoot

BIRDS Faculty present projects funded by grants

photo by sasha ruiz/the hoot

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

November 6, 2015

WEEK IN PHOTOS

photo by adam lamper/the hoot

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

FALL Changing leaves are visible from Gosman

The Brandeis Hoot 9

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

EDITORIALS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Andrew Elmers Theresa Gaffney Senior Managing Editor Jess Linde Senior Copy Editors Mia Edelstein Julie Landy News Editors Charlotte Aaron Hannah Schuster Arts Editor Sabrina Pond Opinions Editor Zach Phil Schwartz Features Editor Jacob Edelman Sports Editor Sarah Jousset Hoot Scoops Editor Emily Sorkin Smith Copy Editor Allison Plotnik

S

Student body should approve of Allocations Board amendment

tudent body should approve of Allocations Board amendment Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 held a press conference last week announcing changes to the Allocations Board, the student-run body that determines club funding. Responsible for the nearly impossible task of trying to spread a limited amount of funds among a multitude of clubs, A-Board has been disappointing.

Their communication with club leaders regarding why certain requests were denied has been sub-par, leaving some feeling “personally attacked,” according to Macklin. While it is sad that three members of A-Board have had to resign this semester for personal reasons, changes had to be made.

A proposed amendment to the Union Constitution concerning A-Board governance has been sent to the student body for a vote, the details of which are covered in an article in The Brandeis Hoot this week. When faced with the alternative of the status quo, the student body should approve of this amendment.

Senior Layout Editor Sasha Ruiz Layout Editors Lisa Petrie Ludi Yang Photo Editor Karen Caldwell

In the Oct. 30 issue of The Brandeis Hoot, the article titled “‘As You Like It’ Bostonian

Clayre Benzadon, Rachel Bossuk, Sharon Cai, Zach Cihlar, Talia Franks, Zachary Gordon, Emma Gutman, Curtis Zunyu He, Sophia He, Daniel Kang, Emma Kahn, Naomi Klickstein, Nabi Menai, Monique J Menezes, Santiago Montoya, Joon Park, Nicole Porter, Albert Reiss, Emily Scharf, Marian Siljeholm, Eliana Sinoff, Ryan Spencer, Elianna Spitzer, Hannah Stewart, Sarah Terrazano, Michael Wang, Katarina Weessies MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information.

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

SUBMISSION POLICIES

The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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Justin Carlisle ’16. Having some members of the Board stay on for three semesters, instead of two in previous years, creates the opportunity for senior members to train new additions to the Board, never allowing a completely new Board to be in charge. Students will also be able to vote for new members of the Board each semester, allowing fresh voices to come onto the Board. Board members will also be able to re-elect the chair each semester, a welcome change.

The amendment does not mention the possibility of impeachment for members of the Board, something that should be addressed by the Union in the future if these changes do not prove to be fruitful. In the meantime, however, the student body should welcome these proposed changes to Allocations Board in the vote that is currently open. The allocations process is long and strenuous, and the most recent marathon has proven that it requires large-scale changes to be more responsive to student feelings. This amendment is a step in the right direction.

theme falls short” was incorrectly attributed to Alana Hodson.

The article was written by Amanda Ehrmann.

Autumn Soundtrack

Volume 12 • Issue 21 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

The addition of new voting members to the Allocations Board, increasing from five to nine, is the greatest benefit of this amendment. With a larger representation of the student body deciding on club funding, student interests can be better met. Previously, with only five members making the decisions, entire sections of the student population were not heard in regards to their funding requests. While an extra four students still will not completely represent the community, it is an improvement.

Additionally, a second racial minority position on A-Board allows for better representation. We appreciate the fact that minority representation was a consideration with the expanding size.

The staggered term limits outlined in the amendment provides for balance of power, while allowing certain members of the board enough time to understand the intricacies of the process.

The A-Board members who resigned were unaware how consuming the allocations process was, according to Union Chief of Staff

Correction

Deputy Video Editor Matt Kowalyk

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

November 6, 2015

By Naomi Klickstein staff

ACROSS 1. Victor over rock 3. Buddhist priest 7. Like mammal’s blood 11. Type (abr.)

12. Black and white cookie 13. Michelle Obama doesn’t want you to be ____ 17. Non-profit (abr.)

18. Separate 19. Black Eyed Peas Fall remix 20. Noah’s vessel 21. English rapper 22. Indigo or cochineal 24. Choose 25. “Mind the ___” 28. Currency 30. Employs 33. “__ and behold” 34. Madonna Fall remix 40. Nintendo __ 41. Circular toy 42. Marry on a whim 44. Take advantage of 45. “Eureka!”

47. Pasture 49. Herpes, etc.

50. Actress Longoria 53. Michael Jackson Fall remix 57. Home of Nessie 59. Against 60. December visitor 61. Cornish saint 62. Carpe ____ 63. Bull 64. Adolescent 65. Arid 66. Hard candy DOWN 1. Support 2. Stink 4. Steer clear of 5. e.g. Jesus 6. Debate 7. Expression of awe 8. e.g. 51 9. Backside 10. Word with brass or business 14. Collide 15. Give off 16. Spot for relaxation 23. Mouse cousin

24. Verbal thumbs ups (abr.)

25. 1976 Disney film 26. Like Mount St. Helens in 1980 27. Pod resident 29. Neither partner 31. Coy 32. Kesha track “Boots and ____” 35. German band 36. Egyptian slitherers 37. MLB player Gehrig 38. Narrow creek 39. Historical period 42. Perferation 43. Bully 45. One who makes things right 46. Like prey 47. Directs 48. Later 49. Chalkboard 51. Cast a ballot 52. Pain 54. Silent entertainer 55. 17-across synonym (abr.)

56. Listeners 58. Rooster’s mate

OPINIONS

November 6, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot 11

Athletics conference affiliation less than ideal

By Andrew Elmers Editor

Brandeis celebrated its annual Homecoming a few weekends ago, inviting alumni back to campus and hosting both the highly-ranked men’s and women’s soccer teams in competitive UAA conference matchups. While it is great when students can support the Judges in high-stakes conference matches, it usually isn’t quite as easy as it was during Homecoming. That same weekend, in fact, the volleyball team was at their UAA Conference Tournament at Case Western Reserve University.

While being part of the University Athletic Association is a great honor and increases the connection the university has with other highly-ranked research universities, the major drawback is the distance between members.

With member institutions located in Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and obviously Waltham, the UAA is more spread out than some NCAA Division I conferences.

The travel costs associated with the conference forced one of the founding members—Johns Hopkins University—to leave the conference and join the more localized Centennial Conference.

Associations with schools such as the University of Chicago and Carnegie-Mellon are great academically; the UAA is the only conference in the country to have every single member affiliated with the Association of American Universities. The geography of the conference, however, make it a pain for traveling. While the majority of conference events and matches occur over weekends during the season, which allows the athletes to not miss tremendous amounts of class, being part

of the UAA makes it nearly impossible for student fans to travel to away games.

Looking at other college athletic programs, regardless of the division, there is usually a strong showing of support from fans and students traveling to the away games. This is impossible to accomplish with the current structure of the UAA; the closest conference rival is NYU, roughly four hours away by car. After that, the University of Rochester is six hours away. I could never imagine a group of students traveling that far over a weekend to support the soccer team, nevermind heading to St. Louis or Chicago.

What makes this set-up even more absurd is the incredible number of colleges in New England. As part of the out-of-conference schedule, the Judges compete against local institutions like Tufts, Lasell, MIT and cross-

town rival Bentley in virtually every sport. Of course you can’t immediately create a conference with all of the closest institutions, since these schools already have their athletic affiliations in place, but there are conferences already created that might be open to add a new member.

One such possibility is the New England Small College Athletic Conference, which would be the ideal situation for Brandeis. Comprised of some of the top liberal arts institutions in the country, such as Williams, Bowdoin and Amherst, the NESCAC currently has 11 members across New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. That’s an odd number, meaning adding a 12th member to the conference could even out the schedule and create a greater level of competition. Brandeis, being half research university and not totally a liberal

photo by sophia he/the hoot

arts college, wouldn’t even have the largest enrollment were it to join. That distinction would still belong to Tufts, a member of the NESCAC since the conference’s inception in 1971, when Tufts was still seen as a liberal arts college and not the research institution it is today.

In an interview last week with The Brandeis Hoot, Vice President of Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel said he wanted to see the level of school spirit shown during the 24-Hour Musical and Orientation to be matched at sports games. If away games were closer, school spirit would be able to travel to those games.

Additionally, fans for the visiting teams would be able to come to Brandeis to support their team, creating actual rivalries. Rivalries would increase the interest in the athletic teams and school spirit at the same time.

Multiple Division I conferences are mocked for their absurd conference structure (Rutgers and Nebraska are both in the Big 10 for example), and the UAA features the same illogical setup.

Even though Brandeis’ athletic affiliations haven’t been a real problem for the university, school spirit can be much improved with a different alignment. The constitution of the UAA states that members wishing to leave the conference have to notify the governing body two years prior to departure. The athletics department should file this notification as soon as possible and look to join a conference that is much more local.

Meal equivalencies should be truly equivalent

By Zach Phil Schwartz Editor

When in a rush between classes or when strapped for time, some students on a meal plan lack the luxury of being able to sit down in a dining hall and eat. The availability of points is helpful, but they’re only useful until they’re gone. This year, dining services expanded the availability of meal swipes to include locations such as The Stein, Louis’ Deli and the C-Store. However, these additions are extremely limited and do not reflect the value of a meal swipe in a dining hall.

In Lower Usdan and Sherman, a meal swipe for lunch and dinner costs $12.50 and $13.50, respectively. A meal swipe should be valued in the same way during lunch and dinner periods anywhere, but this is not the case. In Louis’, the maximum price for an item available for a meal swipe is $6.99. At The Stein, where only three items are available on a meal plan, the maximum price is $7.99.

This discrepancy makes it clear that a meal is not valued in the same way in all relevant dining locations.

It makes very little sense for students to set different values to a single meal swipe; a meal swipe in the dining halls gets students all they can eat while a swipe at Louis’ gets students a small selection of sandwiches, a bag of chips and a drink. The payment, a meal swipe, is the same in both scenarios, but the swipe is worth less at

the deli.

There are several items on the menus at Louis’ and The Stein that, while under $13.50, are not available on the meal plan.

Further, some of these items are available in the dining halls. Why should a meal swipe be able to obtain something in a dining hall but not be able to obtain the same item in another location?

If you wanted any of these items, you’re going to need to use either points or money. Given that a meal is worth up to $13.50, the discrepancy is unacceptable.

This semester, dining services

stepped up and answered student calls to have expanded availability for meal swipes around campus dining locations, but the upgrades have not gone far enough.

The university and Sodexo can use these changes as a basis for further development, but they cannot continue to raise meal plan prices and lower point totals without offering substantial dining upgrades.

First, the university and Sodexo need to pin a fixed value to a meal swipe for any specific dining period that can apply to any campus locations that accept meals.

Those items on the menu equalling or priced lower than the meal period’s price should be listed as a meal, which will significantly improve the selection available to students in a pinch.

Further, the current setup of on-campus options for meal swipes is limited to upper campus and The Stein, which is only open late on certain days. This limited availability creates a dilemma for students in a run on lower campus. Although there are several good dining options other than Sherman, none of them offer food purchases with a meal swipe. In a

time where meal plan prices are rising and the number of points is dwindling, the university cannot limit dining options to hurried students.

While it is foolish to expect the university and Sodexo to jump headfirst into these suggestions, we need to remind them that many students do not have time to use all of the meal swipes they have in the dining halls. The recent changes represent an excellent step forward. It’s now time to take the next step.

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

12 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 6, 2015

SEED—Embracing or misrepresenting diversity?

By Sarah Terrazano Columnist

This past week, the Admissions Office held its Students Exploring and Embracing Diversity program, or SEED. From Nov. 1-3, several dozen high school students (term of endearment: SEEDs) were brought to campus and stayed in the dorms of volunteer student hosts. They attended a slew of programs, from sample classes to seminars about student life to a fireside chat with the Dean of Admissions Jennifer Walker that showcased the diversity and inclusivity of Brandeis.

According to the Admissions website, the purpose of SEED is to “celebrate multiculturalism and social justice at our dynamic university.” Preference to becoming a SEED is given to first-generation, low-income and minority high school students. Scholarships were given for transportation costs to those who needed them, and all SEEDs received meal vouchers for the dining halls so

they didn’t have to pay for any meals.

SEED is one of the most beneficial programs run by Admissions. They hold several “Fall For Brandeis” days throughout October and November for high school students, but SEED is the only program in which prospective students’ transportation to campus is provided for. This gives many students an opportunity to visit campus that they wouldn’t otherwise have. For prospective students who live far away, it is difficult to visit campuses before applying, which makes an already-stressful college application process even harder. All SEEDs also attended Admissions workshops and interviews with senior interviewers, helpful opportunities to bolster their applications.

SEED accounts for the many backgrounds that the prospective students identify with. They visited the Gender and Sexuality Center, where they could pick up a pin with their preferred gender pronouns. Monday evening also featured a “Black is…” discus-

sion in the Intercultural Center.

Hosted by the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO), the discussion was an inclusive environment in which the SEEDs were encouraged to share their opinions in a safe space. Questions such as “Who is black?” and “Where is blackness found?” were written on large posters around the room, and students were able to walk to each poster and write their answer, after which BBSO members led a discussion about some of the answers.

But despite the benefits of SEED programming, some current Brandeis students feel that SEED does not accurately portray campus life. According to an anonymous former SEED, now a first-year student, SEED is a “false reality.”

“SEED gives an ideal, not that Brandeis is something that it’s not, but that the diversity is different,” she said to The Brandeis Hoot. “It tries too hard to make the high school students feel like they’ll fit in without taking into consideration that once they come here,

the events they’re doing during these three days [of SEED] aren’t typical for every day.”

More specifically, “When we came, there were so many more black people—or so it seemed,” she says. This problem arises because SEED is centered around promoting diversity, so all its programming is geared towards “diverse” aspects of campus. Last week, this included the Gender and Sexuality Center and BBSO. But this misrepresents the reality of day-to-day life at Brandeis, which is not nearly as focused on diversity programming.

The concerns highlighted by this student represent a broader truth throughout campus. Even though Brandeis prides itself on being diverse, and its student body comes from myriad ethnic and cultural backgrounds, white students hold the plurality. According to Fall 2014 enrollment statistics, 48 percent of undergraduate students are white, while only 6 percent are Hispanic and 5 percent are black. This is not counting the 2 percent of students

who are “multi-ethnic” or the 6 percent whose race or ethnicity is unknown. I calculated these percentages; on the Brandeis website, only raw numbers are given to make the statistics seem better.

Despite its flaws, SEED is still an immensely beneficial program. It has well-meaning intentions and provides a unique opportunity to many prospective students, but its execution could be improved. This is not to say that SEEDs should be bombarded with Brandeis’ enrollment demographics upon arriving, but that a more accurate representation of daily campus life should be given.

It is not coincidental that SEED fell at the beginning of “Black is” Week.

Every system has its flaws. It is important to recognize the valuable opportunities of SEED, while also acknowledging both SEED’s shortcomings and the true reality of diversity on campus.

Both admin. and students can improve on communication

By Jacob Edelman Editor

Effective communication is vital to our campus community.

When Lisa Lynch stepped up this year to fill in as the interim president of the university, her office made an announcement that they would be holding regular town hall discussions with students and administrators. Additionally, her office announced that they would be inviting a number of students to a series of lunches at the faculty club to dine with her. These initiatives were intended to better communication between the universi-

ty and the student body. However, I would assert that the results so far haven’t been optimal.

At the town hall discussions, there are issues of turnout, and this results in a decrease of event quality. At the most recent town hall Wednesday night, fewer than 20 students attended, many of whom were campus media members. The lack of students in attendance can have multiple consequences.

First, the lack of students present lends a bad taste to the event.

If so few students show up, administrators may believe that there is a lack of interest in student’s desire to know more, and could

conclude that such events aren’t necessary. This would be a bad precedent to set. Forums where students can air their grievances and learn the reasons behind big decisions are necessary to good functioning of a university founded on principles of social justice.

Second, the lack of students also leads to a lack of substantive questions. At a university of more than 3,000, there are conceivably hundreds of students who would want to ask a question to their administrators, but simply aren’t present to do so. If only 20 are in attendance, what important things are there that need to be asked that, resultantly, aren’t be-

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

ing answered? Beyond ensuring the continuation of such an open forum, larger student turnout also ensures that a wide range of questions are asked and a wide range of viewpoints are expressed.

At the lunches with the president, another dilemma of effective communication is encountered.

These lunches are held at the Faculty Club, with white tablecloths and the best food prepared on campus available, all in a fairly isolated environment. Why aren’t these meetings held in one of the dining halls? If the president seeks to dine with students and talk with them about their views on the university, these meetings should be held in a location iconic of the students themselves.

Moreover, the university could take additional steps toward maintaining an open, active backand-forth channel of communication with students. Many students are no doubt unable to attend town halls and many of the official “open communication” events that are held, so video recordings of the event should be made generally available to students online for their own review. Campus media can report on what goes on, but if the university seeks to step it up on communicating effective-

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Write a letter to the editor to express your views on our writers opinions and see yourself featured in next weeks issue! Submit to letters@thebrandeishoot.com Have a piece you want published? Submit it to us at eic@thebrandeishoot.com Have an idea for a column? Contact join@thebrandeishoot.com

ly, it needs to make an effort to go above and beyond in allowing these events to be accessible.

Effective communication between the university and the student body is incredibly important.

Not only does communication answer questions, but communication also does the very important task of preventing misunderstanding. Misunderstanding breeds contempt, and contempt breeds bad feelings and ensures difficulty in future dealings. If everyone talks to each other, they’ll surely understand each other a little better. If the university makes a poor decision without immediately realizing it, and they clearly hear about it from the student body, it may be able to quickly and effectively deliver a solution.

If the student body misinterprets a university motive and requests clarification or explanation, such a response may be re-tuned before damage is done and mistrust is sown. Effective communication is the silver bullet for improving the quality of campus operations and university education and must constantly be continued and bolstered for the betterment of us all.

SUBMISSION POLICIES

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Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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November 6, 2015

ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot 13

‘Home Within’ captivates audience with artistic harmony

By Adam Lamper Staff

Long has it been known that music, with its esoteric fundamentals, can serve as the ultimate form of storytelling for those to whom the language of music comes as naturally as their own mother tongue. However, both the study and practice of such a skill have become less sought-after as we fall headlong into the age of visual media. This being said, there are still a select few pioneers in the field of music who are constantly reshaping the art form.

Among them are Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh and accompanying visual artists and filmmakers Kevork Mourad and Khalil Younes, whose live audiovisual performance brought our senses to the forefront of the Syrian revolution and its aftermath this past weekend in Slosberg Recital Hall.

As part of the World Music Series of Brandeis’ own Music Unites Us program, both Azmeh and Mourad were invited to perform their newest project, “Home Within,” a seven-movement, solo-clarinet piece that

pairs Azmeh’s musical virtuosity with Mourad’s real-time, speed drawing technique. The result is a mesmerizing feast for the senses that abstractly and emotionally portrays contemporary issues involving the Syrian revolution, while simultaneously providing a semi-concrete example through its visuals.

Opening the night was a pre-concert talk featuring Professor of Applied and Social Theater Dr. James Thompson. The lecture, titled “Art, Beauty, and War: A Short History,” was brief yet incredibly dense in information and thought-provoking questions.

Spanning from the censorship of onstage violence in the plays of the ancient Greeks to Picasso’s view of painting as an instrument of war, Thompson covered the historically convoluted relationship between war and art, eventually arriving to the endemic outpour of creativity among many contemporary Syrian artists, among whom there exists an extremely diverse range of media, including hip hop, finger puppet satire, mobile phone film festivals and, of course, Azmeh and Mourad

themselves.

The first piece of the concert was a world premier of one of A–– zmeh’s latest pieces, “Don’t RipEat after me,” featuring the Lydian String Quartet. In the background of the musicians was one of Younes’ abstract animations, a kaleidoscope of different imagery that served to set in stone the story that the music was intending to portray. Accompanying the music of the strings was a dark, electronic and ambient backtrack that aligned perfectly with the performers and video alike, demonstrating clearly the high levels of dedication and work that were put into this production in order to get such perfect timing.

However, the most spectacular portion of the performance was the diverse and symbolic variation in sounds from the quartet, which at times mimicked sounds of warning sirens, further adding to Azmeh’s balance of art and war.

Though the openers were far from flat, they shone pallid against the enchanting combination of Azmeh’s haunting melodies and Mourad’s visual flare in their hour-long piece “Home

Within.” Like the Lydian String Quartet’s performance, the majority of “Home Within” contained backing tracks that varied from movement to movement and ranged from 8-bit-esque to being composed of human speech and previous recordings of Azmeh himself. Also contributing to the humanistic aspect of the performance were the numerous figures that Mourad created to give further depth to the stories behind the music. Armed with only two bottles of ink and a surplus of paper, Mourad gave animation to his still images through his use of smudging. This also served to imbue the images with a smoky texture, perhaps signifying the destruction caused by the revolution, or to further perpetuate the semi-abstract theme of the performance. The projection of Mourad’s drawing, in accordance with the echo effect added to a significant portion of Azmeh’s playing, had a ghost-like effect on the motion that added to the fluidity of their work.

Only once in a while does a performance as inspiring and beautiful as this come along to remind

us of the truly cohesive, informative and transformative power of art. As the concert came to a close, audience members were reminded of the “200,000 Syrians and still counting” to whom the performance was dedicated, and as they pensively filed out of the hall past the reception and the “Soup for Syria” fundraiser, they were, in a way, altered by the unfathomable violence faced by so many Syrians on a day-to-day basis. Through its universal admiration, art, in contrast to Picasso’s perspective, can be viewed as an instrument to end war by bringing important matters to those who have the capability and willingness to incite change.

photos from internet source

Reflections on art’s place in peace sponsored by CAST

By Emma Kahn Staff

The Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) program hosted a lecture by James Thompson titled “In Place of War: Digging Up Stories in Ondaadtje’s Sri Lanka.”

Cynthia Cohen, director of the program in Peacebuilding and the Arts and former director of Acting Together on the World Stage, introduced Thompson as a close colleague and practitioner of applied theater in zones of conflict. The two met at a conference in Jordan, where they were both surprised to discover that much of their professional work complemented each other’s in several ways. Both were thrilled to collaborate on the similar projects and for Thompson to speak here at Brandeis.

In his presentation, Thompson presented stories of his past work in Sri Lanka to express the importance of promoting artistic possibilities and bringing together artists in modern areas of conflict. His project “In Place of War” is a product of a 10-year effort to build a network in which artists can collaborate and express their work. Not only does the project support the continued work of arts projects in conflict zones around the world, but it also supports Thompson’s research into the many ways that art mediates war narratives and cre-

ates identity. He seeks to understand why art persists and is prioritized in times of conflict, and also what the role of art is in society as a whole, which perhaps can be learned from the ways that art operates under duress.

Thompson concisely illustrated the political, social and ethnic backgrounds of the region dynamically, using hand gestures to articulate the geography of Sri Lanka without the use of other visual aids. Despite the heavy subject matter, Thompson expressed the horrors of war with little euphemistic language, yet kept the audience engaged while setting the difficult scene of tragedy.

In an effort of deep humility and reflection, Thompson centered his discussion around three distinct failures he has encountered in his social justice work. Namely, the challenges of working in an unfamiliar war-torn zone allowed for artistic spaces to be in flux, which undermined his efforts to restore theatrical expression. Devoid of the persistent international aid rhetoric in which tragedies are recounted in order to garner sympathy and assistance, Thompson recounted his experiences only to articulate his process of research and understanding. His third story of efforts gone wrong tells of the massacre of 29 child soldiers with whom he had been practicing theater performance.

The small audience in attendance,

scattered across the Rapaporte Treasure Hall, could nevertheless feel the abounding palpable optimism in Thompson’s lecture.

Thompson concluded his presentation by making four points about his stories from his work in war-torn Sri Lanka. First, he proposed that war zones are “full of competing groups in search of an audience.” Both violence and art performance, he observed, can fulfill the need to promote a narrative. He then argued that art in war zones reveals individual narratives and desires, and is not about presenting an empirical truth. His next point was that war is a narrative competition of stories, promoted against one another by violent means. Layered over one another at times of war, stories are especially important for the preservation of a societal collective memory; these layered truths are constantly pulled apart and analyzed so that one competing story may trump another. Finally, Thompson suggested that as an artist, visitor, anthropologist and peace activist, he was unable to remove himself from the story and from a part of the conflict. “I carry the ghosts of British colonialism. I can’t take that away from myself. War zones demand partisanship,” Thompson said. Despite intentions to bring back an artistic identity to a war zone, visitors to the area bring their own baggage of political and ethnic identity.

Ending on a less gloomy note, Thompson turned then to express the importance of his work, despite its issues. The role of literature and art is for “perspective-taking rather than the truth” and situates itself at an oblique angle, in which “the story [fills] a vacuum of what was not known … [offering] a means to fill the emptiness of what was lost.”

In a final comment that epitomizes Thompson’s humility, he alluded to his youthful, limited understanding of his Northern Irish roots, and stated that “believing one story is true is what continues a war.”

Thompson truly tackled challenging content in a new way, bolstering his argument with field observations and engaging the audience with excited remarks that illuminated the importance of art in peacebuilding.

Thompson concluded his lecture by

dedicating the talk to his former theater students, the child soldiers massacred in 2000, and detailed his work on creating a memorial that would honor their memory.

Cynthia Cohen’s final remarks encapsulated the tone of the presentation, praising Thompson specifically for his self-reflecting and self-critical work, and promoting his novel, a “classic in the world of peacebuilding and art.” Thompson spent several days at Brandeis workshopping and hosting various free student sessions on campus. He also promoted CAST’s curriculum designed to support Brandeis undergraduates with interests in the arts and creative expression, as well as commitments to understanding and advancing social justice and the transformation of conflict.

photo from internet source

14 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 6, 2015

Distinguished poets reinvigorate interest in language through poetry

By Sabrina Pond Editor

Whoever argues that everything worthwhile has already been said and that humans have exhausted language to the point of unoriginality forgot something crucial: poetry. This fact had never been more apparent than at “School of Night Presents: A Reading by Andrea Cohen and Alexandra Teague,” an event sponsored by the Creative Writing Department that occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 5:30-7 p.m. in Pearlman Lounge.

Andrea Cohen and Alexandra Teague are both poets in their own right and, despite their very different prose styles and subject matter, are well-established and have garnered praise for their work. As a spectator it was incredibly interesting to see the dialogue generated between the two poets as they read aloud their individual prose while the other poet sat alongside the crowd, reacting to the poetry, shaking their head in agreement at differing intervals.

Despite their innumerable differences, Cohen and Teague could still appreciate the other person’s poetry with commendable grace.

Andrea Cohen, known for her more recent publications, which include titles like “Furs Not Mine,” “Kentucky Derby” and “Long Division” breathed life into the dusty volumes of her various collections with a rich and intriguing reading.

Far from dull, Cohen’s recitation

of her poems—most of which was from memory—materialized in a piercing way Cohen’s contemplations and reflections on life.

Reading mostly from “Furs Not Mine,” her most recent publication, Cohen gave the audience a glimpse of the range of subject matter that she has written about, with poems such as “Butter” and “My Raincoat Opens Doors for Me.” Embracing her wild side, Cohen also read a few poems that she had written that same morning, explaining that though she may regret this course of action, it pays off to experiment with prose and present the raw version of her work.

One of Cohen’s poems, titled “Clasp,” read more like a short story than a poem, each line intrinsically connected to the next, resulting in a rapid fire recitation of the piece. A poem mostly about the significance of her mother’s necklace clasp, which she mentions is “preparing me for the fumbling/ that inheritance presents, meaning death.” Her drawn reading of the piece coupled with the potent symbolism played off of each other to generate an intriguing performance that begs further contemplation.

Alexandra Teague, whose most recent collection of poetry, “The Wise and Foolish Builders,” has received several accolades, made a memorable appearance and an altogether captivating reading of that same work. Before reading the first line of prose, Teague gave

a short summary, explaining the backstory and connective tissue between the poems in her collection. Inspired by the legend, Sarah Winchester, the wife of William Winchester, believed that her family was cursed by the ghosts of all the people who had been killed with the Winchester rifle. Mediums and spiritualists are said to have advised her that if she continued adding on to her luxurious home she would appease the spirits, and in a true superstitious nature believed that if construction ever stopped she would meet an untimely death.

Full of hauntingly beautiful imagery and allusions to the paranormal, Teague’s poems fit in well with the season considering that Halloween had passed only a week ago. With references to bloody knives, sheets of blood and ghosts, Teague read absolutely harmonious lines of prose, such as “We came for this/ Ghosts disappearing into walls/ like pocket doors sliding on invisible rails” and “We want you to play our pulse like piano/ keys in long-locked rooms,” both of which are excerpts from “Claims.”

Jokingly Teague mentioned that if she had to describe her work many would say she has a fascination with death—but that’s not something she shies away from.

Despite consistently low turnout rates, the “School of Night” events give Brandeis students the opportunity to experience firsthand the creative abilities

of well-established authors and poets, and at the very least raffle off several books, or in this case, poetry collections, at the termination of the event. There’s something undeniably beautiful about poets engaged in their craft, reading off their own prose, exposing

photos by adam lamper/the hoot

Auditions for ‘Intimate Apparel’ promising

By Alana Hodson Staff

This year, the Brandeis theater scene welcomes two plays by the renowned Brooklyn playwright Lynn Nottage, whose refined works have examined cultural and personal identity, political injustice and the subtle effects of unexpressed intimacy in social interactions. Auditions for one of her plays, “Intimate Apparel,” were recently held on Saturday, Oct. 31, drawing in a talented crew of passionate Brandeisian actors.

“Intimate Apparel,” written in 2003, was inspired by a photograph Nottage found of her great-grandmother, whose life and character was entirely unknown to Nottage, aside from the fact that she had been a seamstress. Determined to understand the life of this familial stranger, Nottage embarked on a journey to discover the missing link in her lineage, and, as a result, “Intimate Apparel” was created.

The play is set in 1905 and is centered on a black seamstress named Esther who makes elegant pieces of lingerie for both high-end Fifth Avenue boudoirs and the more salacious scene of Tenderloin brothels. It deals with themes like gender and independence while Esther is torn amid the struggle of a love hindered by the societal restraints of social status. “Intimate Apparel” and its accompanying play “Fabulation” (2004) have earned an impressive collection of awards and commendations, including the 2004 Steinberg New Play Award and the OBIE Award.

There is really no question as to

why Nottage’s most famous work inspired such an impressive turn out for auditions; “Intimate Apparel” has certainly won the favor of audiences across the country.

Her creation of dynamic and captivatingly deep and unique characters is another alluring facet of the play.

Laura Goemann ’19 auditioned for the role of Ms. Van Buren, the mistress of the rooming house in which Ester lives, remarking, “She is a wonderfully complex character and her scenes with Esther are really interesting, filled with unspoken motives and subtle undertones.”

Another actress, Keturah Walker ’18, pursued the lead role of Esther. “She seems like she is unaware of herself and is still fighting to find herself,” Walker explained.

“That is an issue to which women in my family around her age can relate, so I thought it would be cool to play a character who is searching for herself and on a journey of life.” For the challenge of taking on a new type of role, Walker also auditioned for the deviant role of Mayme, a fiery “lady of the night,” who wears Esther’s lingerie well. Both Goemann and Walker also recently starred together in the BET presentation of “The Love of the Nightingale” as Niobe and Philomele, respectively.

Boston’s Jacqui Parker is directing “Intimate Apparel” and has taken on many roles in addition to being a director, including being a playwright, an actress and a founder of Boston’s annual African American Theatre Festival.

She has received the Elliot Norton award, the 2004 Boston Theater Hero Award, and she is a six-time

winner of the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award.

Parker’s vision for the play is to display all of the intricate aspects of “Intimate Apparel.” “Every scene of ‘Intimate Apparel’ is titled after fabric. Beautiful, fragile, complicated fabric that is hard or almost impossible to get. This spoke to me because all of the characters are these things; their relationships are layered in all of these ways,” Parker said. “My vision is to work really hard to show how fragile, complicated and beautiful we are as human beings, their soft and rough exteriors.”

With her extraordinary collection of honors and impressive range of skills, Parker is a inspiration to many, and her presence has already influenced several Brandeis students, including Goemann. “This show, particularly, seemed like a great opportunity because a professional director from Boston is directing … [she] worked with me in the initial audition, giving direction and suggestions, which doesn’t always happen,” said Goemann.

“It’s also more fun to work with the director in the audition, especially when she is as warm and encouraging as this director was!”

The auditioning process can be an arduous and nerve-racking process for both the auditionees who laboriously prepare for their roles and for the director who must decide the ideal person for each role from the unique pool of talent. However, it can also be an enjoyable endeavour.

“Auditions for every show are different depending on how the director works,” explained Management Assistant for the theater

their own internal monologues to the world. Even if it remains to be understood, poetry is an immensely engaging creative form that continues to tingle the ears of the listeners as they experience language in a whole new way.

department Alyssa Avis. “Sometimes the director wants to see a memorized monologue, sometimes the director wants the actor to read sides with a reader in the room.” For “Intimate Apparel,” Parker chose to hold group auditions in which people auditioned by reading their lines together.

The people auditioning were given eight scenes selected by Parker that showcased each character, and then they, depending on the role they were trying for, could choose which scene to use. Although the scenes did not have to be memorized, familiarity with the text was highly encouraged.

Some auditionees also relied on additional methods to prepare. “I prepared for auditions by reading the play and researching YouTube videos on the scenes that I liked and watching how the actors delivered certain lines,” said Walker. Group auditions have many advantages over the traditional reading of monologues, because, “I wanted to watch them learn and adjust in the moment.

I looked for courage, hunger, patience and how well they listened to me as well as the other actors,” explained Parker. “In the end, I cast those who I felt would take this road of hard work, giving of themselves to others. Especially since this play is all about relationships.”

“Intimate Apparel” will hit the stage on March 3-6 in the Laurie Theater in Spingold. Another of Nottage’s plays, “Ruined,” goes up this weekend Nov. 5-8 in the SCC Theater.

Surving Sodexo: What’s in your grilled cheese?

By Charlotte Aaron Editor

Unlike other sandwiches, grilled cheese keeps its name even when the contents within it change. This week, Surviving Sodexo features two different grilled cheese sandwiches that can easily be made in Lower Usdan with the panini press. When using the panini press, don’t forget to use wax paper on both sides of your sandwich, as Marie always reminds students!

Say Cheese Take two slices of bread, and butter one side of each slice. Toasting the bread is optional depending on whether or not you like your grilled cheese crispy. From here, go to the hamburger bar and place four slices of cheese on the bread. To add more flavor, sprinkle cheddar cheese from the salad bar between your slices. You can also add slices of tomato and spinach to spike your vitamin intake. Take the sandwich to the panini press and grill away!

Apple & Cheese The first step is to slice a green apple into thin slices, says Allison Plotnik ’18, an editor for The Hoot and the genius behind this dish. Spread cream cheese from the bagel station on one slice of bread. Plotnik suggests spreading only a thin layer, as too much will overwhelm the sandwich. Layer apple slices on top of the cream cheese, enough to form one layer of apple over the cheese. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese from the salad bar on the other slice of bread.

When complete, flip the cream cheese and apple slice on top of the cheddar cheese slice to close your sandwich.

Take the sandwich to the panini press and cook until the cheese is visibly melted.

November 6, 2015

ARTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

The Neighbourhood’s new album experiments with the meaning of music

By Lisa Petrie Editor

If you listened to the radio in the spring and summer of 2013 then you have definitely heard The Neighbourhood’s smash hit “Sweater Weather.”

The alternative group snuck their way from indie-rock circles to the popular scene with their beach-inspired, dreamy song but has been pretty much off the radar since then, in both popular and indie circles.

On Oct. 30, The Neighbourhood released their new album, “Wiped Out!” which includes 11 tracks and is an interesting amalgamation of beach themes, electronic dreamy sounds and throwbacks to the traditional rock ballad. Although the beach inspiration and dreamy background of The Neighbourhood’s one-hit wonder can be noted in many of the tracks in this album, much of “Wipeout!” explores new sounds, themes and instruments and brings an entirely new feel to their overall aesthetic.

Their theme becomes music that is anti-music in most aspects, rife with dissonant background music, disorienting sounds and jarring transitions.

The first “song” is called “A Moment of Silence” and consists of 30 seconds of silence. The first actual song of the album is called “Prey,” which sets the mood for the rest of the album. It begins very slow and haunting, then abruptly is interrupted with gritty electric guitar and tambourine. The guitar and bass lines are very intriguing and the grungy sound of the instruments catches your attention. There are many elements of indie rock and alternative in this first song that follow the beach sound The Neighbourhood is known for. The contrast of the verses and the chorus is very cool and keep the song from getting boring. The third track of the album is called “Cry Baby,” which starts off very similar to “Prey” but is a lot more dissonant from the start and has a slightly faster tempo.

The next track is the title track of the album, “Wiped Out!” which has a distinctly different feel than the previous two songs. The beginning is very light-sounding and dreamy, and sounds more like the ethereal beach feel of “Sweater Weather.” The song becomes different halfway through turning into eerie echoey noises that sound like moans or a wailing guitar.

After this, the song breaks down even further into siren sounds and disorienting static noises. Or if you would like my unedited first impression: This song sounds like a post-apocalyptic nightmare. This title track in my opinion attempts the biggest break from traditional popular music, and I personally am not a fan.

photo from internet source

The next song is called “The Beach” and could prove to be one of the more popular songs of the album in time.

This song is also very echoey, but what sets it apart is the use of piano and Auto-Tune, which makes it very atmospheric, dreamy and relaxing.

Not a stand out, but definitely a song that could find its way onto fans of beachy indie rock’s playlists.

The next track is “Daddy Issues” and is easily my least favorite song on the album. It is very starts with a scratchy record noise and has an electronic track in the background that is discomforting and sounds ugly to a musically inclined ear. The singing is hushed and sexual and makes the entire song sound like a “hipster dream lullaby love song,” as I said in my hurriedly scratched notes. The lyrics are also extremely concerning, as can be discerned from the title of the song.

The next song is “Baby Came Home 2/Valentines” which starts differently from the rest of the album, with just an acoustic guitar and a male voice singing. Quickly an eerie chorus comes into the background, but there aren’t any crazy electronic noises.

About two minutes in, it becomes a bit like an electric guitar rock solo, then fades out and becomes another song. The end of the song is bongo drums, the sound of waves and distant voices in the background.

The next three songs in the album are “Greetings from Califournia,” “Ferrari” and “Single,” and I don’t

particularly like any of them. Main points from these songs include a creepy, dissonant piano line in the background of “Greetings” which “gets stuck and suddenly dies at the end,” that “Ferrari” sounds like a haunted house or a scrap yard, and “Single” starts off sounding like Justin Bieber’s older songs, but I really liked the chorus and thought it was catchy.

The last track of the album is definitely the best. It’s called “Rip 2 My Youth” and has a very cool organ track in the background, interesting lyrics, a very catchy chorus and an ethereal ending. This is the other song I can see getting really big in the indie scene, so we’ll see how my prediction fares in the future.

Overall, “Wiped Out!” as an album plays with a lot of cool new musical ideas in a search for a unique sound, but often comes off as discomforting, creepy and not pleasant to listen to.

So if you’re interested in having a new musical experience and enjoy albums that are anti-music and avant-garde, give this album a listen. If you’re more a fan of songs that are relaxing and more popular, stay far far away from this album.

Video artist explores themes of war and media in series talk

By Adam Lamper Staff

In contemporary art culture, there undoubtedly exists a fervent push toward the application of new-age media and social activism. As part of Brandeis’ “Art, Race, Activism” integrated art project, Israeli guest speaker and award-winning author Nevet Yitzhak was invited to talk about the symbolism and meaning behind some of her most popular installations.

First and foremost a video artist, Yitzhak’s works chiefly focus on themes of war, media and global interactions, primarily those that occur between Eastern and Western nations.

The first piece introduced was Yitzhak’s 2014 installation, “WarCraft,” a culmination of three projected panels, harboring an intense amount of detailed imagery designed to resemble the “war rugs” first created during the decade-long, Soviet-Afghan war of 1979.

“One of my goals was to maintain and to preserve the composition, to preserve the colors to preserve the visual image, but I do have my own tools, and I can do something else with it. I can make the pictures move, interact them with each other and, of course, create fire,” Yitzhak said. Most intriguing, however, was Yitzhak’s incorporation of three-dimensional animation of war within the tessellated images of tanks, aircrafts and other various combat-themed figures. The mixed-media vibe of the installation was reminiscent of Linda Bond’s “Reconnaissance,” another installation that harmoniously meshed the beauty of art with the cruel hardships of war, which was on display in the earlier this month at the Women’s Studies Research Center in Epstein.

Another important theme that Yitzhak discussed was the desensitization and dehumanization of violence within the cutting-edge world of videogames, as well as the ever-present shift in popularity toward games

focusing on aspects such as first-person shooter and other senseless acts of violence. Yitzhak reflects this in her work through the utilization of three-dimensional graphics and audio that were taken directly from the videogames themselves. With her evident mastery at manipulating digital graphics, Yitzhak was able to have each of the three panels interact with each other on a perfectly-timed loop, creating a synchronized, 270-degree view, punctuated intermittently by an occasional explosion and, subsequently, an animated fire also taken directly from a videogame.

“When you enter the gallery space, it’s actually surrounding you in a way,” Yitzhak said. “As a viewer you are in the middle of the situation; you are experiencing the video not as an outsider.” At first glance, one is

almost certain that the audio coming from the installation is a combination of recordings from the numerous battlefronts of the Middle East. However, in order to further perpetuate her idea, Yitzhak again uses only computer-generated sounds of violence.

The second installation introduced

by Yitzhak was titled “Orient Express” and featured various forms of Eastern artifacts, from Israel to India. Like “WarCraft,” this installation was composed of individual, synchronized projections that flaunted Yitzhak’s extraordinary editing skills and keen eye for detail. Each individual projection was a black-and-white animated rendition of specific historical artifacts that Yitzhak had originally encountered which, at the end of the loop, would burst into vivid color, reminiscent of and inspired by the

first full-color movies of Egypt.

In contrast to her previous installation, “Orient Express” featured numerous effects and videos that were not created through animation.

One of the pieces, “Beggar’s Bowl,” features a dancing street performer, whom Yitzhak had encountered through one of her regular visits to YouTube for inspiration, superimposed over the picture of the artifact.

Other pieces featured videos of animated, three-dimensional models, as well as clips from classic Arabic films and American television shows.

Likewise, there was a wide variation in the audio portion of each piece, again, blending classic Western tunes with traditional Israeli music, signifying the intercultural influence of Western nations in times of wartime violence.

If you missed this event, be sure to attend the four upcoming talks part of the “Art, Race, Activism” series, starting next Thursday, Nov. 12 in the Alumni Lounge from 12 to 1:30 p.m. These talks will feature interesting and contemporarily significant subject matter, with topic names like “Contemporary African Art as a Paradox: Is ‘Afropolitan’ the Answer?” and “The Fugitive Present: Sweet

photos from internet source

16 The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS, ETC.

November 6, 2015

photo courtesy oyemen ehikhamhen

Nuance of ‘Ruined’ brings life to SCC Theater

By Sabrina Pond Editor

Don’t let the sparkly Christmas lights that line the stage fool you. They may brighten up the brothel, seeming to shroud the stage in an ethereal glow, but as anyone who watched the premiere of Brandeis’ Player’s “Ruined” knows, that initial multi-colored lighting is a little deceiving. Not a happy-go-lucky performance, “Ruined” contemplates dark themes—an advisory in the pamphlet warns against self-harm, violence and alcohol abuse, all of which are evidenced throughout the play—and is very telling of the brutal realities that women who live in the Democratic Republic of Congo face.

As the director Oyemen Ehikhamhen ’17 rather aptly describes, “The play is an unapologetic and raw in the discomfort of viewers who too often look away from horror stories of distant wars. Instead, ‘Ruined’ provides real content and genuine hope that the future of distant ‘strangers’ are in our hands.”

Written by Lynn Nottage, “Ruined” tells the story of Mama, played by Racheal Odusanya ’17, a businesswoman who takes two young women, named Sophie (Kristen Taylor ’17) and Salima (Bernice Appiah ’18), under her wing in the midst of political turmoil and economic strife. Though they are subjected to servitude and are forced into prostitution, there is an understanding that their current circumstance is the

best possible outcome. Sophia and Salima try to make the best of their situation, calling upon their individual talents—Sophie is a powerful singer—to get them through.

The standout of the performance, Odusanya playing Mama, made a tremendous impression on the stage from start to finish, the epitome of a professional completely invested in her craft. Without a doubt the best of the night, Odusanya’s delivery couldn’t have been any more emotional and relatable. Mama’s sassy persona, strong personality and witty dialogue all worked together to create one of the most memorable characters that Brandeis’ theater has seen in quite a while. To add to that praise, Odusanya’s understanding of Mama is evident in

her ability to nuance her character, avoiding complete demonization while also making questionable decisions. She, like all of us, is just another person trying to navigate through a difficult circumstance and uses her wiles to maintain some sense of control in a world where men walk in her pleasure house with an automatic gun strapped to their waists.

Appiah was able to relate a range of acting ability that is uncanny given the few scenes that she makes an appearance in, especially in the second act. Her portrayal of Salima is particularly diverse and life-like, as her initial appearance shows her as a vulnerable, soft-spoken and very much broken individual, yet upon subsequent scenes she relates a whole other side that is hauntingly des-

photo by mennen gordon/the hoot

perate, but also incredibly powerful at the same time. Her monologue is marked for its conveyance of biting emotion and suffering.

Despite minor jitters in the opening performance, on Thursday, Nov. 5 in the SCC Theater, “Ruined” couldn’t have been performed more flawlessly and with such laudable grace. The blood, sweat and tears of the performers showed throughout as performers took a chance and fully propelled themselves into the role, even if that entailed yelling, groping another cast member or having an emotional breakdown. Though they weren’t always as successful at eliciting an emotional response in the way they intended, these short intervals gave audience members a sense of comic relief that was very much necessary.