The Brandeis Hoot 11/2/2018

Volume 15 Issue 21

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

November 2, 2018

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Liebowitz shares framework for univ. changes

By Celia Young and Ryan Spencer editors

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

President Ron Liebowitz announces plans for university-wide changes.

President Ron Liebowitz shared a framework for changes which would bring university programs in line with Brandeis’ mission and the institution’s financial capabilities on Monday. He described the university as “far too complex an institution for our size and wealth.”

Liebowitz described the university’s mission as relying upon its founding values of inclusivity and traditional Jewish roots. He affirmed Brandeis’ dedication to intellectual pursuits and undergraduate research, describing a four point plan for these changes.

Liebowitz’s plans included creating a positive student experience through more social opportunities and reaffirming Brandeis as a leading research university

through funding research and supporting interdisciplinary programs.

“Ultimately we’re going to make the decision: what is it we’re going to do differently and what is it we’re going to do less of, in order to support future growth?” Liebowitz told reporters in a meeting after the speech. “The whole idea is sort of to get us into equilibrium so that we can actually look to the future and plan for the future.”

Brandeis is operating with an “ongoing structural deficit” Liebowitz stated in a speech outlining his framework. In the speech— which was live-streamed and is available on the Brandeis website—Liebowitz stated that his “vision for Brandeis is firmly rooted in the institution’s early commitment to openness and inclusivity” as well as “in the reality that Brandeis today faces some strong See SPEECH, page 3

Campus vigil held after Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

By Sasha Skarboviychuk staff

A campus vigil was held in light of the shooting at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27. The vigil included songs and prayers, led by Rabbi Liza Stern,

the director of the Department of Spiritual & Religious Life and was held on Oct. 30.

The vigil began with student volunteers from the audience who said the names of the victims and lit candles for them. Students also read short biographies of victims.

Stern read a letter of support from

the Islamic Society of Boston.

Eleven people were killed when Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, armed with handguns and a rifle, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Bowers had expressed his desire to “kill Jews” in the synagogue, ac-

cording to his indictment. Bowers was charged Wednesday for the shooting, according to The Post.

During the event, attendees were encouraged to have two-minute conversations with a person next to them, just to find out how the person next to them is feeling. In intermissions,

songs including “Peace, Salaam, Shalom,” “Sanctuary,” “Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu,” “Olam Chesed Yibaneh” and “One Day” were sung.

The speakers included Rabbi Seth Winberg, the Executive DiSee VIGIL, page 4

Students rally to maintain transgender rights

By Sabrina Chow editor

Members of the Brandeis community gathered outside the Usdan Student Center for a Trans Rights Rally following a memo that was released by the White House.

The memo stated that “Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth. The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genet-

Inside This Issue:

ic evidence,” according to a New York Times article.

If the law is passed, over 1.4 million Americans who have opted to recognize themselves as another gender from the one assigned at birth will not be federally recognized, according to the New York Times article.

Throughout the rally, the main organizer Charlie Atchinson ’21, called for the crowd to yell “we will not be erased” to empower not only the ralliers but also let passer byers and other members of the Brandeis community know that transgender people will not See TRANS, page 3

News: Greek life supports sexual assault survivors Ops: How should we use our privilege Features: New German course bakes cakes Sports: Women’s Cross Country #3 in UAA Editorial: Vote Nov. 6!

RALLY FOR TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

Documenting Immigration

Page 2 Page 6 Page 8 Photojournalists document immigration Page 11 Page 10 NEWS: PAGE 4

Students rally for transgender rights outside Usdan.

Toxic Toxic showcase energizes crowd.

ARTS: PAGE 14

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

Greek life members wear pins to support survivors of sexual assault

By Celia Young and Sabrina Chow editors

Members of sororities and fraternities could be seen wearing “these letters believe survivors” pins and apparel displaying their Greek letters on Tuesday, in solidarity with the national movement supporting survivors of sexual assault.

The idea for Greek life members to wear the pins started with Ricki Levitus ’20, vice president of programming in Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE), who wanted to do something to start a conversation within sororities and fraternities at Brandeis.

“This is something that is associated with [Greek life] so I thought standing by it silently isn’t okay anymore,” Levitus said. “That was really the motivating thing behind it, to have us all break the silence. This was just the first step of bringing everyone together to do this.”

Levitus brought her idea to Hannah Mui ’20, a member of DPhiE and the president of the Greek Awareness Council (GAC), an organization that acts as a bridge between Greek life and the Brandeis community. Levitus presented her idea to the 14 members of the council, which includes the presidents of the 10 Greek organizations on campus and four executive board members.

“She [Levitus] wanted to open it up to people not just in our sorority but to other Greek organizations,” Mui said. Mui

emphasized that she wanted Greek organizations to address the problem of sexual violence, saying “ignoring the problem isn’t going to make it go away.”

The idea received broad support from GAC members, according to Mui. “Almost all the organizations were really on board and super excited about the idea,” she said. “And since it wasn’t a huge financial burden there was really nothing to lose in this.”

After getting the idea approved, Levitus designed the pins and purchased them in bulk, and then distributed them to each of the Greek organizations. Greek life members could be seen in their letters with pins on Tuesday, Oct. 30 around campus.

“I wasn’t on campus a ton, but for all the times that I was, almost every single person that I saw who I knew was in a Greek organization was wearing their letters and wearing the pins,” Mui said. “I think it sort of painted the campus full of Greek letters and those pins.”

Levitus also spoke about seeing the pins, saying “I came in [the library] to find like Greek alphabet soup and pins everywhere. It was just really cool.”

The GAC has been introducing other initiatives to make Greek life safer for students, Mui said in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot. Mui spoke about the Sergeant of Arms position on the GAC, which was filled for the first time this year by Samantha Jean ’19. Jean works for the Prevention and Advocacy Resource Center (PARC) and has hosted bystander trainings for all the Greek organi-

zations and pushed for the angel shot initiative, according to Mui. Angel shots are a way for students at a party to ask for help if they feel unsafe. If a student asks a bartender for an angel shot, this alerts the bartender that the student feels unsafe and can then assess the situation and call them an Uber or remove them from the party, said Mui. Other Greek organizations have taken their own initiatives to support survivors of sexual assault.

After Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing began a national movement to “believe survivors,” the sisters of the Sigma Delta Tau (SDT) sorority began selling shirts that said “Believe Survivors,” as a fundraiser for End Rape on Campus (EROC). EROC is an organization that works to end sexual violence on college campuses through education and policy reform, according to the organization’s website.

November 2, 2018

IN THE SENATE: Oct. 28, 2018 •

The Senate passed a motion to fund the Social Justice and Diversity Committee’s event, which focuses on allowing the student body to learn more about different religions and how they can coexist together on campus. It will take place on Nov. 8.

•

The Dining Committee reported that they gave Sodexo student feedback and that soy sauce packets are now available in Usdan. Dining hall Thanksgiving working hours will be announced on Nov. 1. The report also urged students to attend the larger meeting in December to help create the menu for the dining halls. The committee is also trying to get a shelf for toppings for ice cream. The idea of having cones for ice cream was also discussed.

•

Senator Linfei Yang ’20 urged the Senate to endorse a letter written to President Liebowitz by the students who have a documented disability. The letter expresses their frustration because there are certain things on campus that are not accessible to them. Some of the demands in the letter include an open forum to discuss facilities and a position on Student Union to represent students with disabilities.

•

The Services and Outreach Committee is working on making sure that everything is ready for the Midnight Buffet.

The Health and Safety Committee is continuing their work on their tampon initiative. They also reported that there will be therapy dogs brought to campus during finals week.

The Sustainability Committee presented the idea of a swap shack, where students can leave behind clean microwaves and fridges at the end of the year, so someone else can use them the next year. They also reported that their meetings are now on Mondays.

•

The Club Support Committee urged the Senators to remind club leaders that they have to attend one of the upcoming training sessions to be able to get funding. It also reported that the Jewish Feminist Association presented to the committee and was given another probationary term.

The Union said that the association has not been having weekly meetings and has low interest in the club.

- Sasha Skarboviychuk

PHOTO COURTESY RICKI LEVITUS

Harvard professor gives lecture on climate change

By Thalia Plata staff

Harvard Professor James Anderson gave a talk on climate change through the lenses of chemistry, physics and applied mathematics to a crowd of students and faculty on Monday.

Anderson studies Earth’s climate by focusing on the primary mechanisms that couple chemistry, dynamics and energy in the climate system. His current re-

search aims to establish a high-accuracy record of global climate change by using an airborne ice penetrating radar to map glacial structures and a high-altitude, long-duration unmanned aircraft to study the stratosphere and troposphere.

Chemical studies in the earth sciences constitute an important component of his research. In the past few years, it has become clear that a pattern of chemical change of the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and terrestrial biochemical sys-

tems exceed natural bounds on methane, carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone.

Anderson has studied the effects of ozone depletion for decades, including his recent discovery of ozone loss over the U.S. in the summer from thunderstorm convective injection of water.

Anderson spoke about how climate change drives the refugee problem.“It is estimated that in the few decades, 13 million coastal dwellers could be displaced by climate change,” said Anderson.

Anderson estimates that 20 million people in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen are facing extreme drought, and many of these individuals are becoming refugees, forced from their homelands in search of stable food sources.

Anderson also talked about how in order to make a lasting change and combat climate change, the way universities teach introductory science courses needs to change.

“I had to reformulate the way

I taught freshman introductory chemistry,” said Anderson.

The way introductory science courses are taught scare students from further pursuing the sciences. “It wastes a huge amount of creative talent,” Anderson continued.

Anderson has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and is a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Harvard University.

He holds a Ph.D. in physics and astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado.

Professor discusses discrimination in Europe

By Hannah Wilson special to the hoot

Brandeis students and faculty joined Professor Rajesh Sampath (HS/COMH/HSSP) for a lecture which analyzed different types of discrimination, including racism, xenophobia, islamophobia and antisemitism in Europe.

The lecture, “Dismantling Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Antisemitism in Europe: The Case of France,” began with an

acknowledgement of the prominence of racism, xenophobia, islamophobia and antisemitism in the United States, highlighting the recent tragedy in Pittsburgh.

Sampath then transitioned to a discussion of the presence of these types of discrimination within Europe. As a scholar of European politics, he reflected that Europe is frequently overlooked in its engagement with racism, xenophobia, islamophobia and antisemitism.

Sampath pointed to two CNN articles, “The Global Right Surges

as Donald Trump Enjoys Victory” and “Abuse of Women in European Parliament Widespread, Study Shows,” to highlight the prevalence of discrimination in Europe.

He expressed concern with the “global rise of the right” evident in these articles.

To analyze the widespread influence of racism, xenophobia, islamophobia and antisemitism, Sampath pointed to French political theorist Emmanuel Todd’s article “Who is Charlie?” The article discusses the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo,

often considered islamophobic,

by Muslim extremists.

Sampath then considered how the pressure for secularism and egalitarianism by the French government, emphasized by actions such as the Burqa Ban, has increased violence within the country, especially violent actions pertaining to those of different religious views.

He reflected that one of the largest groups in France is Muslim immigrants and that the renunciation of religion by the government prevents French citizens

from accepting the views of these immigrants.

Sampath also discussed the right to free speech and how it can contribute to discrimination.

He stressed that, despite the positives of free speech, many use the concept as justification for acting or speaking in a discriminatory manner. Sampath concluded the lecture with an hour-long discussion. The discussion prompted topics such as antisemitism in the United States as well as a further analysis of the “Who is Charlie” article.

November 2, 2018

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Liebowitz announces plans for univ. in address SPEECH, from page 1

headwinds.”

A structural deficit, Liebowitz explained to reporters, means that on an annual basis the university takes more from its endowment than is prudent. “5 percent maximum, that’s what most endowments are advised to spend,” he said. “We happen to be spending approximately 5.7 to 5.8 percent.”

What this structural deficit is telling us, Liebowitz said, is that “we have too many things going on for the number of people and the depth and the amount of resources we have to pay for them.”

If over the last several decades, Brandeis had remained closer to this 5 percent maximum, “the endowment probably would have been 1.7 or 1.8 billion now instead of one billion,” Liebowitz said.

Liebowitz’s speech called for “increased support from alumni” and he stated that he hoped to raise alumni donations from 19 percent to between 30 and 35 percent in coming years. He also spoke of a future capital campaign which would help fund Brandeis programs and get the university’s finances back on track.

In response to a question from the audience, Liebowitz estimated that a future capital campaign would have to bring in closer to $1 billion than $100 million.

Three task forces—which Liebowitz announced would be appointed later this week—will each explore a different part of the university: student life, inquiry and research, and the university’s founding values.

“These groups will work during the next five or six months soliciting input from students, faculty

and staff through open meetings and from alumni, parents and friends through short surveys,” he stated in his speech.

“These task forces will submit a set of recommendations for a newly formed Committee on Strategy and Planning, which I will chair,” he said. There will also be a website where individuals can provide feedback and ask questions of the task forces, according to Liebowitz.

Liebowitz stated that the Committee on Strategy and Planning will “review the recommendations from the task forces and produce an integrated plan of prioritized action items, a financial model that estimates the necessary resources to achieve those action items, a proposed time that aligns our available resources, both financial and human, with our initiatives and a narrative on how we plan to acquire the additional resources to make the vision possible.”

Changes “will likely involve redefining job descriptions [and] reorganizing departments,” according to Liebowitz.

He told reporters that considerations as to which programs will receive funding and which will have funding reduced will be made based on two factors: the true costs of running the program based on a new financial model developed over the last two years and “how much the program or activity adds to the institutional mission.”

In his speech, Liebowitz emphasized that “finances alone will never determine what we do and don’t do.”

In an interview with reporters after the speech, Liebowitz gave the example of the classics de-

partment as a program that contributes almost no funds to the institution but is integral to a liberal arts education. As a result, Liebowitz said he wanted to protect the classics program.

In his speech, Liebowitz also discussed much-needed renovations and improvements to campus buildings. One building that was in particular need of repair, he told reporters, is the Edison-Lecks Science Building building, which was supposed to be renovated in 2007 and 2008 but was postponed for almost a decade due to 2008’s economic recession.

Liebowitz told reporters that he planned to bring in outside experts to evaluate the institution’s physical infrastructure and is evaluating the final three candidates.

In response to a question from the audience, he emphasized that complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a top priority when constructing new buildings. In an interview with reporters, Liebowitz stated that all future buildings would be fully ADA compliant.

He also gave the example of Skyline residence hall as evidence of his commitment to ADA compliance. The elevator in Skyline was originally only supposed to go up two floors, which technically complied with the ADA. Liebowitz said that, though the cost was more, he wanted the new residence hall to be fully accessible to students with disabilities.

In his speech, Liebowitz said he wanted to increase social opportunities on campus and introduced the idea of creating smaller dorm communities to achieve this goal. He plans on reexamining

Greek life’s role on campus and emphasized the positive experience some alumni have expressed they had participating Greek life.

In the interview after the speech, Liebowitz said he plans to get input from those involved with Greek life but was concerned that same-sex organizations may not be in line with the Brandeis mission and that having students go off-campus for their social opportunities might negatively impact social life on campus.

Brandeis University does not recognize Greek organizations.

After a question from the audience, Liebowitz also discussed an issue before the Board of Trustees: divestment of the university endowment from fossil fuels. The Board of Trustees is examining the issue and part of their November retreat from Nov. 26-27 will be dedicated to discussing the issue of divestment, Liebowitz said in an interview.

Liebowitz also emphasized that the Board of Trustees taking its time with the issue was a good

sign. He stated that only 5 percent of the endowment—about $50 million—was run by fund managers which the university had more control over, while the rest of the endowment was in commingled funds and much more difficult to divest.

Liebowitz explained that trying to divest the portion of the endowment in commingled funds could jeopardize financial aid at Brandeis. “There are real risks in doing this and there are real reasons why institutions have not divested. It’s not because they don’t believe in climate change,” he said.

“It’s because they way investments work, it would have a deleterious effect on your finances.”

The Committee on Strategy and Planning, which will create “action items” and develop a financial model after receiving input from the task forces, will be staffed by Provost Lisa Lynch, the Deans of the four schools, and six faculty who have been elected by their peers, according to Liebowitz, who will chair the committee.

PHOTOS BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

Ralliers voice importance of trans rights in U.S. TRANS, from page 1

be erased.

“I read the article that the New York Times released, and I knew I needed to do something,” Atchinson told The Brandeis Hoot in an email. “I was and am completely unwilling to lose my rights as a human being without a fight.”

Atchinson said organizing the rally was an act of “passion, fear and anger.”

“Trans people are people, and

they deserve to be acknowledged and protected on every level that they can possibly be acknowledged and protected,” said Atchinson to The Hoot. “The rally was just an extension of that.”

Along with Atchinson, Richard Weiner ’21, Jared Bour ’21 and Ryan Mishler, the program administrator of the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC), all spoke at the rally.

Weiner spoke about life as a Jewish and transgender individual. They highlighted the belief that “no matter who tries to erase

them, that they will be here.”

Bour served as the accessibility advocate at the rally. During their speech, Bour signed their entire speech for those who may have been hard of hearing. When the event was being organized, they wanted to make sure those who have disabilities were still able to participate in the rally.

Chairs were set up near the back of the rally for those who were disabled to have the opportunity to sit if they could not stand for long periods of time. Bour wanted to include this at the event when

it was being planned because of their personal experiences. “I have chronic pain in my legs, feet and back,” explained Bour in an email to The Hoot. “As well as ADHD, so I consider myself both physically and developmentally disabled.”

In their speech at the rally, Bour spoke about the intersection of the transgender and disability communities. They recalled how at multiple Pride Parade events they have attended, disabled participants were not given any places to sit if they could not stand

and were often required to walk long distances with the parade without any breaks.

Mishler spoke of all the resources that the GSC has for students, faculty and staff at Brandeis. “No memo, no law can erase trans people or outline our experiences,” Mishler reaffirmed in their speech. “The trans community has been here long before Donald Trump, and we’ll be here long after he leaves.”

GSC will be celebrating Trans Awareness Week Nov. 12 to Nov. 16.

Univ. hosts finance and administration meeting

By Noah Harper and Candace Ng editors

The second annual Finance and Administration Town Hall Meeting reflected President Ron Liebowitz’s campus address, “A Framework for our Future,” the day before. The event was held in the Usdan International Lounge on Tuesday, Oct. 30th.

The three main components of Executive Vice President of Admin and Finance Stewart Uretsky’s report were Financial Sustainability, Staff Engagement and Campus Modernization. He detailed a list of top ten goals, in-

cluding creating a framework for horizontal connectivity and finding funding for deferred maintenance, both of which echoed Liebowitz’s remarks on the subject.

After Uretsky, Jim Gray, vice president for campus operations, presented three points regarding the physical state of the campus operations. Brandeis exceeded its goal of 10 percent carbon reduction by 2.5 percent, bringing total reductions since fiscal year 2015 to 12.5 percent. Gray said that it was a “meaningful step forward for the Brandeis campus, a truly inclusive effort.” He added, “Fifteen percent is not the end of this path, it is the beginning.”

Campus Safety was next, with Gray relating new initiatives be-

ing put into practice. Over the summer, a major audit was held analyzing the state of emergency and safety preparedness. There was “a wealth of new ideas for ways that we can improve campus safety at Brandeis,” Gray said.

Chief priorities were the creation of a Campus Safety Committee, which would be comprised of a diverse group of persons who will meet twice a year to discuss best practices in campus safety.

Gray discussed implementing surveillance cameras over entrances and exits to student residential buildings. “Our video surveillance probably predates the iPhone a decade or two,” he said.

He also mentioned that they had hired a first director of emergency

preparedness and management.

“Third is the condition of our campus,” said Gray. He cited a recent Sightlines analysis of the state of Brandeis’ building stock and demonstrated with graphs the cost of decades of deferred maintenance. “Every generation or two you really need to do gut renovations of your buildings.” It was estimated that Brandeis had 15 percent more deferred maintenance than its peer institutions, with the total sum reflecting what needs to be spent to fix the institution’s buildings set at over $120 million. According to the report, “80 percent of Brandeis’ campus will be high risk by 2022.”

“Basically we had a good year,” he said, citing a $2 million sur-

plus. In the last year, Brandeis’ endowment crossed the $1 billion mark. A new budget, reflecting the goal of financial sustainability, will be submitted to the Board of Trustees in April.

An Information and Technology Services presentation from Chief Information Officer Jim La Creta detailed the planned Workday update, to be implemented in March 2020. ITS worked to increase security in the campus’ information systems. Currently 80 percent of staff use two-factor password authentication, however, faculty use is only at 20 percent. In order to promote network security awareness, ITS will be hosting a workshop on Nov. 14.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

Photojournalists document reality of immigrants entering Germany, U.S. Sabrina Chow editor

Students and members of the Brandeis community gathered to hear two photojournalists speak about their personal journeys through documenting the lives of immigrants in Germany and Mexico.

Jacobia Dahm is a German photojournalist who is currently based in Berlin, Germany, moving back after being in the U.S. for over a decade. Her current project, which started in 2015, documents refugees along their migrant trail across Europe from all parts of Africa and other Middle Eastern countries.

Gisela San Martin is a Spanish documentary photographer who is currently based in New York City. She graduated from the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography and received her masters degree in journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Photojournalists have a different perspective than other journalists, as they capture the events

as they happen. “We can never interfere with the picture,” Dahm explained during her presentation. “Photojournalists are mere observers, like a fly on the wall, just there to observe people and not interact,” Dahm said. “Staging a photo is untruthful, and we are telling stories as truthfully as we can,” said Dahm.

Dahm’s presentation focused on teaching people about the struggles that people immigrating have to face. As a photojournalist, Dahm followed four different groups of individuals, all from various backgrounds, for a few days, taking shots and capturing the journey they endured while immigrating. She went on to explain how doing this project helped her learn more about Germany’s underplayed immigration system, as well as the process in which it takes refugees to immigrate.

“Many of these stories are post-conflict stories, people having lost their home and their homeland, but they’re human just like you. I wanted to look at the human experience,” explained Dahm. Through her travels,

PHOTO COURTESY GRISELDA SAN MARTIN

Dahm also learned that many of the people who seek refugee in other countries, even Germany, are not necessarily granted asylum due to their situation. “A war in your home country is not a rea-

PHOTO COURTESY JACOBIA DAHM

son for asylum,” said Dahm. “You need to be personally targeted in order to obtain asylum.”

Dahm also noted that the German people noticed a shift in “warmth and good manners” as a result of the influx of refugees arriving in Germany. “We hope these stories make people understand that there’s no such thing as just an immigrant. There’s an individual that’s coming and bringing their family, and they want exactly the same things as we want,” explained Dahm.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, San Martin’s project was focused on the families that were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. She spent a majority of her time at “Friendship Park,” a section of the border that has been painted over by local artists, where family members from each side of the border are able to see and speak to each other. This area is the only official meeting spot across the entire border.

San Martin described the most touching part of the experience: seeing the interactions that the families could have. “They could only get their pinky fingers through the wire mesh,” San Mar-

tin recalled. A few times a year, “the door of hope” in Friendship Park was opened, relieving the border that separated the U.S. and Mexico. Over the watchful eyes of border patrol, five families were allowed to hug for three minutes each, some for the first time in decades. San Martin remembers the crowds of photographers at the door and struggled to take a photo while tears filled her eyes.

She also witnessed binational religious services between members of both countries and even yoga classes taught by instructors from both sides. “The wall has become a symbol for people who have gone through the struggle,” explained San Martin.

San Martin also wanted to highlight that the purpose of her narrative was to “let migrants know they are seen and important because they are often told they are not.”

The event, Picturing Immigration to Germany and the U.S., was part of the Campus Weeks events held by the Center for German and European Studies (CGES).

Professor Sabine von Mering (WGS/GRALL/ENVS) moderated the event.

Vigil brings community together after Pittsburgh VIGIL, from page 1

rector of Hillel, who said, “We are grateful that our students and their families are unharmed, but our hearts go out to the victims and their families and we grieve with them.”

He continued, saying that the “sense of connection to the Jews of Pittsburgh makes the pain of this tragedy all the more difficult to bear.”

Winberg concluded by saying, “We give each other strength when we show up for each other as we have done today. So thank you for showing up.”

Allison Cornelisse, the Catholic Chaplain, gave the room some encouragement. She discussed the despair that people may feel at this time but also said, “Yet as I pick up the newspaper, and I look at the pictures, as I read the stories as I hear people’s reflection, I see a world that is overflowing with love.”

Maddie Herrup ’22 is from

Pittsburgh and is well acquainted with the synagogue and the local Jewish community. She began by saying, “Things are not okay now.

I don’t know when things will be.” She then described the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and how this has affected everyone.

Herrup emphasizes that she has to “stand up for my faith; I have to stand up for my community.”

In a later interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Herrup said, “When I walk into a place of prayer, I feel safe and that will not stop. When I go back home, I will go to my synagogue, and I will stand proud, and I will find God for myself again.”

The vigil was held after President Ron Liebowitz released an email statement the evening the shooting occurred, in which he said, “I want to extend the Brandeis community’s profound condolences and prayers to the congregants, the brave law enforcement officers, and their families following today’s deadly attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue

in Pittsburgh.”

The email continued, “Out of an abundance of caution I have instructed our Brandeis public safety officers to be more visible and

vigilant during this trying period.

Please be attentive to your friends and colleagues who might need support.”

Rabbi Stern concluded the

event by saying, “May we find healing.” The vigil was sponsored by the Department of Spiritual & Religious Life, the Brandeis Hillel and the Dean of Students.

PHOTO BY SASHA SKARBOVIYCHUK/THE HOOT

November 2, 2018

OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Rally the alumni

By Renee Nakkab staff

Just a few days ago, President Ron Liebowitz spoke for 40 minutes on the future of our second home, Brandeis University. When looking at our university, I see a thriving youthful glow radiating around desires to achieve social justice and success. Brandeis has grown to a level of excellence, but even the most well-centered forces lose their footing. Through Liebowitz’s speech, it was the first time I ever felt like Brandeis was weaker than the strong, prosperous institution I have come to know.

It felt as though Brandeis is on stilts, trying to keep its balance while lumberjacks are hacking at our legs. As Liebowitz spoke about the strengths and improvements ingrained in Brandeis’ current state, I realized we will not be able to sustain ourselves.

Brandeis’ students have to do their part and be the catalysts of change our campus needs to not merely survive but thrive in years to come.

Firstly, it is imperative to touch upon the strengths that have been propelling Brandeis forward.

Brandeis’ faculty is of immense caliber with an immeasurable amount of intellect and passion.

Researching groundbreaking data, publishing numerous writings and winning accolades such as the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, our faculty is undeniably well established.

Yet, that is not the most unique aspect of Brandeis’ faculty—it is impressive within the very fact that these people are so esteemed that they make such an effort to connect with the undergraduate population.

It is practically unheard of for undergraduates to receive as much love and attention as we do. The faculty makes themselves accessible to us at all times and invites us to talk with them for as long as our hearts desire. This semester, two of my professors are the heads of their departments.

No matter how busy either of them are, they welcome us, students, to stop by their offices and

PHOTO FROM BBC.COM

REUNION BETWEEN FAMOUS ALUMNI

say hi. Not only have I gone to one professor before every essay to better my writing one-on-one, but I have also stayed for multiple hour-and-a-half chatting sessions with my other professor. I have friends who are bonding with their professors over multiple opportunities, including once-in-alifetime research, composing and philanthropic opportunities. But you already know all this. Undoubtedly, you have experienced a fantastic professor, and I am sure you can reflect on just how amazing an educator and person they are and how they have positively affected your Brandeisian experience.

The principles of inclusivity and acceptance that Brandeis was founded upon are a true testament to who we are and what we claim to be.

In 1948, when the university was founded, religious tensions were heightened after World War II, and many colleges were not accepting Jewish applicants solely because of their religion.

As Liebowitz identified, Brandeis, at the time of its establishment, was the only secular university founded by the American Jewish community. Being raised on the Jewish value of acceptance, the Brandeis community fosters a safe haven from bigotry and hate, very similar to what I saw back home. It encourages us to be our true selves and develop into the people we want to be.

Perhaps, some may find this to be an idealized interpretation of our core quality—however, I do believe that after attending Brandeis you will be a better person for it.

As some may take this for granted, how many people can truly believe this about themselves when they leave university? Yes, they may become a better academic and have all the necessities to find a job or move onto higher education upon completion, but the real question is whether or not they have grown as better people for it.

That leads to the last undeniable strength of Brandeis—us!

Brandeisians are some of the most intellectual, quirky, warm-hearted, inspiring and passionate people I have ever known.

It is as though I am at square one of a massive project in creating the next generation of revolutionaries. I feel it in the bathroom where I hear people discussing how they would lay out a better United States infrastructure plan, in the gym where I hear musicians discussing how they would alter jazz and modern rap to create a new style of music, in my law class where I hear people devising methods on how to mutate preexisting medicine to combat new illnesses.

This campus is filled with people who are seeking a better tomorrow and within my first two months on campus, I can affirmatively say that I have never been more motivated and determined to feed off my peers and strive for greatness.

Brandeisians have not only been recently outstanding, we have highly successful alumni

who created the shoes we have been triumphantly filling. Unfortunately, we as students are not doing our part to maintain this university we have all come to love. Brandeis is in need of a sturdy financial stream!

It is impossible to invest in infrastructure, technological equipment and giving faculty more of what they need to excel, without money! The way to keep Brandeis competitive with other institutions is to maintain and increase the financial aid, equipment and accessories available to students.

Alumni, Brandeis has given you some of the best years of your life.

It has influenced your career, it has been your home, it has been your family. Please do not forget about where you came from. I encourage you to donate to your alma mater—it needs you now more than ever. As we continue to grow and advance, it is only through your support that the next generation of students will see just how amazing Brandeis is and will continue to be.

The utility of general education requirements

By Alex Kougasian staff

Attempting to engineer education for the benefit of the student population reveals many challenges for the simple reason that not every student operates the same. I believe that the individualized nature of students requires an individualized education system. One of the challenges that must be considered in the face of this is whether general education requirements represent a necessity or a hindrance to a student’s academic development.

Given my philosophy that school should be individualized to each student, one would not be blamed for thinking I would be staunchly against general education requirements. However, this is not the case, and, to demonstrate why, I must present the schools of thought surrounding the issue.

General education require-

ments differ from college to college, but Colombia University and Brown University serve as perfect context for the debate. On the Columbia University website, the “Core Curriculum” is described as consisting of “five required courses in important books and works of art in the Western tradition” and exists “to prompt students to grapple with fundamental questions of human existence and to think deeply about how the contemporary world has been shaped by the past.”

Besides the five required courses, there are many other courses that must be taken from other disciplines, such as science and foreign language.

The Core Curriculum is fairly extensive in its requirements and labels some content as required material for every student.

It represents a strict set of general education guidelines. This is to be contrasted with the policy of Brown University, which makes

a clear note of having no general education requirements whatsoever. On its website, Brown’s explanation for this lack of a standardized curriculum reads, “unlike other American colleges and universities, Brown has no required core curriculum or distribution requirements that students must complete in order to graduate. Students at Brown have unparalleled freedom to shape their own education and to make their college curricula a more thorough reflection of their own interests and aspirations.” Brown University’s only requirement is that a student take 30 courses and complete a program that is equivalent to a major.

My issue with Columbia’s Core Curriculum is the same issue I have with most high school education. The goal of education in general and higher education in particular is to allow as much choice for the student as possible. Affording choice to a

student most efficiently allows a student’s education to be tailored to her needs. Such strict guidelines over what content a student should learn and over what classes a student should take move learning out of the hands of the student and, therefore, benefit only those whose learning tendencies happen to line up with those of the required classes.

However, I also find issue with Brown University’s completely hands off approach. The purpose of allowing students as much choice as possible is to help them learn to the best of their ability. Yet, a harmful byproduct of giving students too much choice is that they will refrain from exposing themselves to education outside of their specialty.

Aside from helping students learn what they want to learn at a good pace, colleges also have the obligation to make courses available from many different disciplines and to encourage stu-

dents to diversify the information they take in. This is why I believe that the best form of general education is having loose guidelines that force students to experience a multitude of different disciplines, while giving them complete freedom over how they do so.

It might seem contradictory for me to say “schools should make students diversify their thought” in the same breath as “schools should allow students as much choice as possible.” But it is important to remember that a school can foster the diversification of knowledge without sacrificing the individualized nature of each student’s curriculum. In the end, schools should want a student to be satisfied with the control they assert over their career while also being satisfied with what they have learned. I believe that both of those values can remain unhindered by a liberal, yet provocative, set of general education guidelines.

6 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

How to use our privilege for good

By Sabrina Chow editor

I was raised in an upper middle-class town outside of Chicago.

I walked a few blocks to elementary school when I was younger with my friends, not having to worry about my safety every step I took. I played park district sports and took dance classes with all my friends from school. But I was Asian, and they were white.

Of course, I was extremely lucky to grow up in a home where I did not have to worry about where my next meal would be coming from or how I could get to and from school safely. But, being an Asian American, I am technically still a minority population in the United States and oppressed like many groups of people.

People of my nationality are often overlooked as being oppressed because we seem to have everything—the smarts, the money— but we are still ridiculed like any other colored population, oftentimes being asked if I eat dogs or made fun of for my “Asian eyes.”

Yes, these are probably all jokes for the fun of banter but a lot of people take offense to this. Nevertheless, I consider myself privileged.

Just being able to attend college, we as students are privileged. We have the opportunity to spend years at a top-ranked university to study, earn degrees and make it big in the workforce.

We live so close to Boston, an amazing city with endless opportunity. We are so very privileged.

But not everyone is granted this opportunity. Through a few of my

classes and even attending oh-somany events for other sections of the newspaper, I realized just how privileged I was. I have a life so much easier than many, which is unfair because people cannot choose the life that they come into.

So I started to ponder. What could I do with the power and privilege that I have at my fingertips? I should be doing more with what I have, right? Just so that nothing goes to waste.

So I decided to do something.

If you’ve looked at a few of my previous opinions pieces, it is very obvious that I’m very invested in the climate change movement and making our world more sustainable, in any little way that I could.

People often overlook climate change; I always hear the complaint, “Oh, I’ll probably be dead by the time that climate change will really do anything harmful.”

But, my friends, this is so untrue.

According to an article released

by The Guardian, the authors of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that we as a world need to take serious measures to keep our temperature increase between 1.5 and two degrees Celsius to maintain the promises stated in the Paris Agreement.

If the temperature is raised too much, we risk melting more of the ice caps that have not been melted already, eliminating the habitat for many species. This increase in sea levels will also cause island nations to sink further and deeper into the waters, making them virtually unliveable.

So what can you do to stop this? Every action is

PHOTO FROM MY.LWV.ORG

one step towards a solution.

For one thing, take a few extra seconds after you’ve eaten in Upper Usdan or a non-dining hall to sort your trash! It’s honestly one of the easiest things you can do to make a difference.

The wrappers that sandwiches from SubConnections come in have to go in the trash because there is wax on the wrapper, which is not recyclable. The bowls that your salads and burrito bowls from Currito’s come in are compostable, fun fact. Just taking a second to compost any leftovers and sort your trash will do so much.

But a word for the wise, if you’re not sure about where to sort your trash, PUT IT IN THE TRASH CAN. Yes, it is sad that something that might be recyclable or compostable is ending up in a landfill, but if just one piece of trash is found in the recycling bag is not recyclable,

the entire bag is put in trash.

Just be cautious, and if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Another major topic that we can utilize our privilege for: voting! Go vote! We as legal adults of the U.S. have the right and privilege to have the ability to vote. Defending your point of view in an argument with your friend only goes so far; voting in the elections makes a difference.

Yes, you are just one person, and yes, you may think that your vote does not matter at all in the grand scheme of things, but that’s simply not true. Just like the quote, “It takes just one person to change the world,” it is so true. One vote can make a huge difference.

So I urge you to go vote in the upcoming election this upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 6, in whatever state you represent. The time for absentee voting has since closed, but sign up for the next election!

I filled out my absentee ballot as soon as I had the opportunity and fulfilled my civic duty to vote.

Even though I am personally not a resident of Massachusetts, the ballot in the upcoming election has some very serious questions that young people need to vote on! As a generation that is challenging the commonalities that society has put before us, it’s time for us to voice our opinion and make the changes that we keep speaking of. Campaigns such as “Vote Yes on 3” give people all across Massachusetts, the freedom to be proud of whom they are and express their gender identity without fear of discrimination.

Privilege is something that a lot of people take for granted. Please don’t. A little privilege goes such a long way, so use that privilege to help someone that may not be as privileged and give them the opportunity to be as privileged as you.

An introduction: Student Sexuality Information Services

By SSIS special to the hoot

Hello, Hoot readers, and welcome to the new SSIS Hoot column! We are so excited to be starting this column and answering student questions about sex and relationships, but first, we’ll go into a bit of background information about SSIS itself.

For those who don’t know, SSIS stands for the Student Sexuali-

ty Information Service. We are a confidential, student-run, volunteer-based resource that has existed at Brandeis since 1972.

Our aim is to cultivate a safe, sex-positive community while satisfying all Brandeis students’ sexual health needs. This includes running a comprehensive library, selling affordable safer sex and sexploration products (e.g. barrier methods, pregnancy tests, lubrication, sex toys, etc.), offering peer support and on-campus/

off-campus referrals and leading dorm raps and workshops for on-campus education. All members of SSIS are trained to provide support and information for a variety of topics including but not limited to: relationships (romantic, sexual, platonic, polyamorous, monogamous, etc.), sexuality and gender, sexual techniques (oral, vaginal, anal), BDSM and kink, birth control, STIs, products, sexual violence or trauma and mental health (Disclaimer:

Though we are a confidential peer resource, we must disclose in cases of elder and child abuse and intent to harm self or others).

Our office, located in SCC Room 328 (“all the way up and to the back!”), is a safe and non-judgmental space for all students. Our office hours are Mondays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. If none of these times are conve-

nient, feel free to text 586-ASKSSIS to set up an appointment.

Though we already offer peer support and education in person, by phone call and through text, we are excited to now be offering a weekly column answering students’ sexual health questions. We will be setting up an anonymous poll on our Facebook page, so please feel free to ask any questions about sex and relationships there, and we will do our best to answer them!

Below are answers to some of our most frequently asked questions:

How much are condoms? first floor of the SCC, if needed!

How much are pregnancy Are your condoms and tests?

Condoms, like all of our bar- pregnancy tests the same efrier methods, are ten for $1 fectiveness as what we could Pregnancy tests are 2 for $1 and find in a drugstore?

will respond within 24 hours.

However, if you need products or would prefer to meet an SSIS member in person, you can text the hotline times that would work and we will find someone to open the office for you!

Where can I get Plan B?

How can I join SSIS?

come with an information sheet.

Plan B can be purchased at most drugstores for around $50 though prices will slightly vary.

The health center also offers Plan B during their normal hours at no cost! (Note: They are only open Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm)

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept cash and checks!

There is an ATM downstairs on the

Yes, absolutely! Many of our products are the same as what you would find in a drugstore.

We are just able to offer them at a cheaper price because we buy them in bulk and they are subsidized by the Student Union!

Applications are open in the spring semester for admission in the following academic year and we encourage anyone who is interested to apply!

What if I can’t make it to any of your office hours but I want to plan an event with need peer support or prod- SSIS, how do I do this? ucts?

Great! Please email ssis@ We can be reached 24/7 for peer support through our texting hotline (586-ASK-SSIS) and

brandeis.edu with the details of your events and we’ll do our best to make it happen!

PHOTO FROM BRANDEIS.EDU

November 2, 2018

OPINIONS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Student responses: ‘The case against fossil fuel divestment’ Editor’s note: Members of the Brandeis community have reached out to The Brandeis Hoot with their reactions and responses to an article published Oct. 26 titled “The case against fossil fuel divestment.” We are open to any forms of critique and urge members of the community to share their thoughts with us in the forms of letters to the editor or opinion pieces submitted to the newspaper. For a detailed description of our submission policies, please look at the editorial page or our website.

By Maya Kattler-Gold special to the hoot

Last week, The Brandeis Hoot published an article titled, “The case against fossil fuel divestment” by Joseph Silber. In response, I’d like to start by explaining a bit about the history of the fossil fuel divestment campaign at Brandeis. I am a member of Brandies Climate Justice, the club behind the campaign. During this six-year campaign, student and faculty supporters of divestment have been meeting with the board to discuss the issue and in 2015, presented the board with a 174-page report. To divest at this point would certainly not be “to blindly give into protestors’ demands,” as the article says. The article also seems to make the assumption that the majority of the student body is not in support of divestment. There is no data to back up this assumption, and in fact, although unfortunately there is no recent data on

By Sam Charnizon special to the hoot

A recent opinion article titled “The case against fossil fuel divestment” claimed to be an indictment of the argument for divestment of Brandeis’ assets from fossil fuels. The article was anything but. Instead of offering a coherent, fact-checked analysis of the divestment proposal, the author chose to meander through a series of baseless claims that attacked and belittled the divestment supporters, not the merits of their plan. Not only did the author provide little in the way of substantive details regarding either side of the argument, but

student support for divestment, in 2013, there was a referendum in which students voted 79 percent in favor of divestment.

The article starts by talking about a recent boycott against the state of Maine in response to Maine Senator Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The article rightfully criticizes these boycotts as misdirected. The major victims are innocent business owners who had nothing to do with Kavanagh’s confirmation. The article then, however, compares this to fossil fuel divestment, saying this is another example of misdirected anger. He is undermining fossil fuel divestment legitimacy by comparing it to this boycott, but it’s simply a false equivalency. While Maine seafood did not cause Brett Kavanaugh, fossil fuels actually cause climate change. Fossil fuel companies have, in fact, spread misinformation about climate change for years, making them directly responsible for putting us all in more danger today. They also lobby against the transition

to renewable energy with billions of dollars, making the already difficult task of climate change mitigation nearly impossible.

The article says that “to divest a small amount from a select group of companies will achieve little-to-nothing in terms of turning the tide towards a more environmentally friendly planet,” so I will now explain what I see as the point of divestment because it goes beyond our endowment.

Although Brandeis’ endowment is small, we believe that by divesting, we can encourage other institutions to do so, eventually setting a precedent that no institution with an “ethical investment policy” (like Brandeis) should have money invested in fossil fuels. In this way, divestment could make a financial impact. But besides literally taking money from the fossil fuel industry, the act of divestment can do more. The act of divesting is also symbolic. It’s a protest against the fossil fuel industry. It’s saying that we will not put up with any institution that holds us back on climate change

action. Throughout the piece, the article talks about the importance of voting. I, along with the rest of Brandeis Climate Justice and environmental activists in general, agree that voting is enormously important (two of our core members are taking the semester off to canvas for the midterm election with an organization called the Sunrise Movement). But for great societal change, like the change needed to address the climate crisis, both direct and symbolic actions are needed.

The article’s first direct argument against fossil fuel divestment (besides simply saying that it is ineffective) comes when the author expresses concern about the low-income fossil fuel industry workers who could lose their jobs as a result of divestment campaigns. His concern for low-income workers is valid. As the article says, there is not enough being done to re-train these people in other fields. This is exactly why we need action, both by voting the right people into office and applying pressure through

civic actions like divestment, to make the transition to renewable energy happen as quickly and painlessly as possible. Environmentalists do not wish to “throw tens of thousands of workers under the bus” as the article says, but we also do not want to throw hundreds of thousands of people in low-income, frontline communities all over the world who are already feeling the harsh effect of climate change “under the bus.”

I implore everyone who does not feel the urgency of the climate crisis to read the recent IPCC report. We simply cannot have fossil fuel companies continue to be the insanely large and powerful players they currently are and still have a safe world. It’s not best for the coal mine and gas station workers who can barely put food on the table because as climate change continues, food scarcity will rise, which will, in turn, raise food prices. Divestment is just one thing we can do to stand up to the power of the fossil fuel industry and show that we want to take immediate climate change action.

he also attempted to undermine the position of activists by incorrectly conflating the issues of voter turnout and the wishes of the Brandeis community regarding the university’s future.

The author begins with what can only be seen as an unrelated anecdote regarding the boycott of Maine businesses undertaken by some Americans in response to Maine Senator Susan Collins’ support of President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

He rightly realized that punishing a state’s businesses for something their senator did is counterproductive. However, he is wrong to assert that there is more than a basic similarity between this situation and the one regarding divestment. His preposterous claim

contains no citations and offers no proof that the people employed in these industries cannot transition into roles within renewable energy industries. The author instead attempts to back his claim by insisting Brandeis students must be “smart enough” to recognize the plight of these workers. Not only is this an attempt to demean anyone who disagrees with him, but it also ignores the executives who profit from fossil fuels. Implying that the people chiefly hurt by divestment are lowly laborers while ignoring the wealthy executives attacking our environment is simply misleading.

He somehow goes on to insist that when a university aligns actions with student goals, it is somehow only acquiescing to

the demands of “the loudest students.” I take exception to the implication that impassioned students voicing their concerns are only “loud;” this pejorative reference to the dedication of climate change activists is an obvious attempt to delegitimize their voice.

Furthermore, he offers the baseless assertion that these students are “often on the political left.”

The piece culminates with the author’s insistence that voting is the best avenue by which students can express their opinions; “if you want to make your voice heard on environmental issues, vote this November. Don’t impose your political will upon the university.” He explains that when voter turnout rates are so low, protests hold little merit. The irony here is that pro-

testors need to act because elected officials in this country will not.

University divestments are tangible progress towards avoiding the very real danger that climate change poses; universities in fact often set the tone of social progress. The author’s paternalistic insistence that Brandeis students express themselves only by voting is his most fragile argument. He may be correct that voter turnout is of critical importance, but do not let that distract from his attempt to silence protestors. His thinly veiled attempt to invoke voter turnout rates to condemn protest must not be left to stand.

His thinly veiled attempt to invoke one issue as condemnation of another should not be allowed to stand.

FEATURES

8 The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

Create@Brandeis looks to bring departments together

By Sabrina Chow editor

The Office of the Arts recently launched their Create@Brandeis Instagram on Aug. 31 as a way to increase relations between varying departments across the university and spread the word about creative projects on campus.

This movement, created by Ingrid Pabon, the programs coordinator of the Office of the Arts, was a way for students to express outside the classroom setting, Pabon told The Brandeis Hoot in an interview.

“My vision for Create@Brandeis is that it’s somewhat of a movement,” said Pabon. “It’s a way for people to express themselves without any judgment and without a ton of commitment because all you need to do is post about what you’re working on our Instagram page.”

Since coming to Brandeis the previous year, Pabon heard around campus that students felt like there was not a space where students could take risks without worrying about being judged.

“Sometimes people feel uncomfortable in classes and through their academic work so I was thinking of a way for people to express themselves without feeling like they’re being graded or judged in a class,” Pabon said. “A lot of people are creative but don’t have outlets to show their creativity, and I wanted to create that platform.”

Pabon went on to describe what

creativity really means to the page and in general.

“Creativity doesn’t necessarily have to mean a painting or a photograph, it could be a science experiment that you’re working on or some innovative way to do problems in a business sector,” Pabon said. “Or it could be some beautiful plate of food you made that night, it’s not necessarily anything formal. It’s just a way for people to know there is a rich, diverse community of creativity here on campus and there’s a wonderful opportunity to bring light to that.”

The main goal is to ultimately “cultivate connectivity across academic interests and departments,” described Pabon.

According to the Create@ Brandeis website, the goals of the

space are to help build a sense of “creative community and understanding across academic interests, and to spark opportunities for collaboration.”

Those who choose to submit their pieces are welcome and encouraged to post a photo of themselves with the work, as the website states this helps “deepen our compassion and understanding of one another on campus.” It is also a non-curated page, meaning that all posts are welcome except for those with “hateful or violent content,” according to the submission page.

Those interested in submitting pieces to the Instagram page can go to http://www.brandeis.edu/ arts/office/createatbrandeis.html or email their submissions to Pabon.

CREATE@BRANDEIS

PHOTOS FROM INSTAGRAM.COM

Several photos from the Create@Brandeis Instagram page.

German grammar and baking combine in new Spring 2019 course

By Polina Potochevska editor

When learning a new language, some of the hardest skills to master are that of pronunciation and perfecting grammar. Professor Sabine von Mering (GER) has created a new course for the Spring 2019 semester titled “GER 102B: Küche, kochen, Kuchen–gucken; Advanced Grammar, Pronunciation, and Baking in Cultural Context,” combining difficult language concepts with baking!

Von Mering has been teaching at Brandeis for 20 years, but this is the first time she has incorporated baking into her courses. The German department holds coffee hours (Kaffeestunden) every other week where students can practice conversation in German and usually someone—von Mering, a different faculty member or student—bakes a cake or other type of dessert for the group to share. “My colleagues and the students came up with the idea that I should teach the students how to make the cakes,” said von Mering.

Held Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30 p.m.-4:50 p.m., the class is taught in German and has a prerequisite of GER 30 or the equivalent. The course was designed in response to student demand. It is great for those looking to review and refine their grammar and

pronunciation skills and also to refresh anything they may need help with in the language, including heritage speakers who speak German at home but have never studied German grammar. It is also great for students who have taken all of the required German language classes but would like to continue their education in the subject.

If you also have an interest in baking German cakes, this is the perfect class for you. Every other week, the class will meet in the kitchen of the Skyline Residence Hall for experiential baking sessions, where students will learn how to bake some of the most popular German cakes, including Vanillekipferl, Käsekuchen, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and six different versions of dough (Teig).

The course will also investigate the cultural history of German baking, cooking and food with emphasis on how various cuisines have been integrated into modern multicultural Germany.

These topics will be explored through German food films, as well as films and songs “dealing with critical aspects of today’s food industry, including food waste, animal agriculture and the politicization of food in rightwing populism,” according to the syllabus.

“We’ll also talk about sustain-

ability issues, because that’s something I’m very interested in with respect to food, and we’ll talk a lot about the ways in which different cultures have formed German food culture, especially now where Germany has become a lot more diverse so there’s a lot of different foods that have become a part of the German cuisine…and the growth of the organic industry,” said von Mering.

“I was moved to create this [course] because we heard last year how many students are not happy and lonely on campus, and I think having a course where you bake and eat together and improve your German language skills can really sort of help us get to know each other better and create community,” said von Mering. “I honestly wanted this to be a fun course, but in class we’re going to be dealing with grammar and working hard on our pronunciation, so it’s a little bit of everything.”

“I’ve always liked baking, I used to bake with my mom and grandmothers at home, I come from a very big family, and we never bought food, we always made all our food ourselves,” said von Mering. Most of the recipes used in the course are adapted from family recipes and classic German recipes. “Just dealing with grams will be a challenge for some students already, and dealing with a scale

rather than a cup measure, there are certain things that people just don’t do here,” explained von Mering.

In addition to GER 102B, von Mering will be teaching HWL 7: Your Brain on Carbon, a teach-

ing module discussing climate change and carbon reductions and GER 110A: Goethe und seine Zeit, a class introducing students to the literary periods of the enlightenment through the work of Goethe.

PHOTO FROM DARINGGOURMET.COM

PHOTO FROM T-ONLINE.DE

November 2, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES 9

Skyline Residence Hall features thematic art by Kizik and Mehovic

By Jennifer Cook editor

James Gray, vice president for campus operations, wrote to The Brandeis Hoot that he oversaw “the design and construction” of Skyline, which is how he got involved with picking out the two main art pieces within the residence hall. Multiple other people were involved, including Luis

Croquer, the Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose Art Museum. Students and faculty alike are in awe of the building itself, but very few people acknowledge the art inside of the building. These two works are meant to enrich the building’s appearance and were very carefully chosen.

The first piece, “Great Island Bar” (1985), was gifted to the Rose by Henry and Lois Foster. It was made by Roger Kizik. It is dis-

played within the residence hall side of the building in the main lobby and was picked out by Croquer and Gray himself.

“We were looking first for a work that was the right size for the spot but also had visual interest and a variety of colors that worked well with the interiors of the lobby space. We also wanted to highlight a local artist if we could and a local focus for the painting (Massachusetts seaside).

Given those criteria, this piece was the one we ended up picking.

We are, by the way, very grateful to Lois and the Rose for allowing this artwork to be used in the building.”

The other piece, displayed in the Commons side of the building in the main hallway, is titled “Boston Skyline Abstract Antique” (2014).

It was created “by a Serbian artist named Bekim Mehovic,” Gray wrote to The Hoot.

This piece was picked out by Dan Feldman, Brandeis’ Vice President for Planning and Institutional Research, “who is an accomplished artist in his own right,” according to Gray. Gray was also involved with picking this piece out.

“We wanted a work of art showing the Boston Skyline, as it was thematically consistent with the actual view of the skyline one has from the building, as well as the name of the project. We chose this print from a number of dif-

PHOTO FROM BRANDEIS.EDU

ferent artistic portrayals of the Boston skyline that we considered because we thought it was interesting in that it combined a bird’seye ‘map-like’ view of the city

with the skyline view,” Gray said.

Skyline is beautiful from the outside, but it is worth taking a peek inside to see the thoughtfully-placed art pieces.

Featured Events Calendar Zen Zone Peace Room, Friday, Nov. 2, 3-3:30 p.m.

Join the Department of Spiritual and Religious Life and student leaders in the Peace Room in Usdan to promote mindfulness in a non-judgmental awareness of the present moment.

ARTChurch Dinner Church Intercultural Center, Sunday, Nov. 4, 5-8 p.m.

Come experience the Holy through images, colors, themes and creative energies of art. Attendees will participate in some services and create new ways that God is speaking through experience. It will be an experience that will nurture the spirit and feed the soul.

Open Student Forum Hassenfeld Conference Center, Monday, Nov. 5, 4:45-5:30 p.m.

Is there an area of Brandeis you think needs improvement to help Brandeis’ overall identity? Come to the Open Student Forum to share your thoughts. If you’re unable to attend, reach out to your class senators to voice your concerns.

Ask an Expert: Careers in Sustainability Mandel Center for the Humanities 128, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 10-11 a.m.

Learn about different careers from sustainability professionals and listen to their stories either remotely or in person. Join Sophie Golomb ’13, a former sustainability intern at Brandeis, to hear her speak about her current position as the Assistant Director of Sustainability at New York University. It will be live-broadcasted from campus with the potential for remote participation via Zoom.

Biotech, Health & Science Resume Day Hiatt Career Center, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Are you looking for jobs or internships in the sciences? Join Hiatt advisors and staff to help you with your resume! Drop-in help is also available.

Multifaith Dinner Lurias, Hassenfeld Sherman Hall, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 5-6:15 p.m.

Join Mark Brimhall-Vargas, the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in a multifaith conversation. He will talk about his own personal spiritual journey and about what has contributed to his life vision and commitment to social justice.

How I Succeed in Science Rosenstiel 118, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 5:30-7 p.m.

The transition to college can be difficult, especially for science majors. Learn what is the best course load while still maintaining selfcare, mental health and extracurriculars.

National French Week Soirée SCC Atrium, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 7-8 p.m.

Join French Club as they celebrate National French Week with food and fun activities!

Kindness Day SCC, Thursday, Nov. 8, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Spot people all over campus and write Kindness Cards, participate in a community service project and get free food and swag.

Campus Conversations: Community Living and Housing Skyline Commons, Thursday, Nov. 8, 7-8 p.m.

Join the Student Union for a conversation with the staff from the Department of Community Living, Campus Operations and the Counseling Center about community living and housing.

- Compiled by Sabrina Chow

EDITORIALS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Abigail Gardener Sarah Terrazano Senior Managing Editor Elianna Spitzer Senior Editor Ryan Spencer Copy Editor Natalie Fritzson Deputy Copy Editor Jennifer Cook News Editor Celia Young Arts Editors Ben Beriss Noah Harper Opinions Editor Sabrina Chow Features Editor Polina Potochevska Sports Editors Zach Cihlar Shea Decker-Jacoby Layout Editor Candace Ng Editor-at-Large Emily Botto

Volume 15 • Issue 21 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

David Aizenberg, Juliana An, Caleigh Bartash, Camila Casanueva, Kevin Costa, Chris DeMena, Olivia Ellson, Daniel Freedman, Ariella Gentin, Kevin Healey, Jonah Koslofsky, Jackie Kostenko, Alex Kougasian, Emma Lichtenstein, Jenna Lifschitz, Ruoshi Liu, Renee Nakkab, Gillian O'Malley, Thalia Plata, Sasha Skarboviychuk, Zachary Sosland, Sophie Trachtenberg, Rachel Wang, Helen Wong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

T

November 2, 2018

Vote this election day: here’s how

his upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 6, is Election Day, and if you’re registered to vote, you should head out to cast your ballot in the midterms. It is imperative for students to fulfill their civic duty and vote in the election. Brandeis was founded on principles of social justice, and Brandeisians cannot be all talk on the issues that matter to them. So if you’re registered to vote in Massachusetts and haven’t already voted early, then Nov. 6 is your last chance.

For those of you that are registered to vote in Massachusetts, the nearest polling station is Banks School at 948 Main Street. They are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. There is also an early voting station at Former Bright School at 260 Grove Street in Waltham, open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2.

Being students, getting to the polls can be tricky, since most of us don’t have cars. But don’t fret; there are a variety of resources available to get you to the polls. Here are your options: If your polling place isn’t within

walking distance, you can always ask a friend to give you a ride. True friendship means helping each other fulfill civic duties. But if that is not possible, Uber, Zipcar and the Student Union are also offering promotions to make it affordable to get to the polls on Tuesday.

The Student Union is offering free shuttles on Election Day. They will drive from the main entrance of the university at the guard booth to the Banks School and will run on a 30 minute loop from 8-10 a.m. and then again from 4-8 p.m.

If those times don’t work for you, Uber will be offering $10 off a single ride to the polls on Election Day. According to the most recent update on their website, to make use of the discount, make sure you have the most recent version of Uber, use the promo code that will be provided in the app on Election Day and select the most affordable option available (Uber POOL, for example). Don’t forget you can carpool, so bring your friends!

If you have a Zipcar account, they want to help you vote too. You can earn $20 in driving credit if

you reserve a Zipcar and drive it to the polls between 6-10 p.m. on election night. Again, don’t forget to carpool!

The new LimeBike service allows students to ride a bike off campus to a Waltham polling location. You can then either ride the bike back or leave it outside, where it will later be collected, and head back to campus on the BranVan. If all else fails, your own two feet are always an option.

While it is too late to get an absentee ballot for the Nov. 6 election, absentee voting is something to keep in mind for your future semesters at Brandeis. Each state has its own policy for absentee ballots, but you can typically request an absentee ballot up to a month ahead of time. If you bring your ballot to the library, they will even give you an envelope and stamp and mail it for you. Whether you are registered to vote in Massachusetts or want to make your vote count for your home state, what’s important is that you exercise your civic duty and make sure your voice is heard.

There is no excuse not to vote.

SPORTS

November 2, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot 11

Women’s cross country earns third place in UAA Championship meet

By Zach Cihlar editor

The men’s and women’s cross country teams are in the home stretch of their 2018 season.

On Oct. 28, the teams travelled to Parkside, Wisconsin to compete in their UAA Conference championships. In the upcoming weeks, they’ll begin NCAA competition, first with their regional meet where they’ll qualify to compete in the NCAA national meet.

Last weekend, the women raced hard, earning the overall third spot in the UAA, led by a few strong individual showings.

Team captain Emily Bryson ’19 yet again led the charge for the women, completing the race

in second place behind a Washington University runner. This was Bryson’s fourth year in a row finishing within the top four and earning a spot on the UAA first team. She is the first runner in Brandeis history to achieve four UAA first team titles.

Close behind her, Julia Bryson ’19 continued Brandeis presence in the top ten. Finishing in tenth place, J. Bryson achieved an alltime personal best by over 30 seconds.

Two more runners finished in the top twenty of the UAA meet, propelling the Judges to the third place overall position. Danielle Bertaux ’20 finished 17th, a marked improvement from her last season’s performance where she finished 38th overall.

Her teammate, Niamh Kenne-

dy ’21, wasn’t far behind finishing 19th overall. In her rookie season last year, Kennedy finished 37th overall, improving her result by 18 spots.

On the men’s side, the team didn’t see such strong results.

They finished eighth overall, but secured one runner in the top fifty.

Josh Lombardo ’21 completed the race in 44th place, a 25 spot improvement from his rookie season.

The cross country teams have a weekend off before heading to Bowdoin, Maine to compete in the NCAA regional meet on Saturday, Nov. 10. In that meet, the teams will look to qualify runners for the NCAA national meet, which will be held in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 17.

EMILY BRYSON ‘19 AND JULIA BRYSON ‘19

Men’s Soccer drops two on the road

By Gillian O’Malley staff

The men’s soccer team battled it out on the road this past weekend as they traveled to St. Louis and Chicago to play UAA opponents Washington University and University of Chicago.

Unfortunately, the Judges returned without a win after losing 0-2 to Washington University and 0-2 to Chicago.

On Friday night, the first game got off to a slow start for the Judges. In the first half, the Bears secured the advantage, outshooting Brandeis 8-2, which included their first two goals in the 17th and 39th minute.

However, the men came into the second half strong, outshoot-

JARED PANSON ‘22

ing Washington University 13-10, four of which came from game leader senior Andrew Allen ’19.

Allen’s initial shot was blocked by the Bears’ defense and rookie Jared Panson’s ’22 follow up rebound was immediately cleared off.

Sadly, this momentum wouldn’t be enough to get them in front of their opponent and onto the board. Brandeis’ Noah Cohen ’20 finished with a career-high eight saves in net, falling to 2-3-1 for the season.

Days later, the Judges suffered another tough loss to University of Chicago. Brandeis could never seem to secure a lead after the Maroons scored twice within the first 14 minutes. Only trailing behind in 10 total shots on net versus Chicago’s 12, they tried to make a comeback in the 78th minute with the help of Panson,

who came close to scoring when his ball was cleared off the line by the defense. The corner kick advantage of 4-3 would not suffice and by the end of the game, the Judges were unable to close the gap, the final score thus remaining at 2-0 Chicago. In his hometown, Cohen made two saves in net.

With these losses, Brandeis came out of the weekend with an overall record of 7-8-2 while Washington University improves to 7-6-1 and Chicago improves to 14-2-1.

The Judges will look to close out their regular season in New York this Saturday, Nov. 3 at 12 p.m. verses UAA rival NYU. Currently, both teams are tied for fifth in the conference with a record of 2-3-1.

Brandeis fencing starts the season strong

By Sabrina Chow editor

The Brandeis Fencing team started their 2018-2019 season at Smith College this past Sunday, Oct. 28, at the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Invitational, nicknamed “The Big One” by participants. This tournament marked the collegiate coaching debut of the new fencing coach, Jennie Salmon.

Joanne Carminucci ’19 and Ian Quin ’20 both defended their titles from last year’s meet in the foil competition. Other top finishers for the Judges included Jessica Gets ’20, who received third in the foil competition and rookie Jada Harrison ’22, who received third in the saber competition, according to the Brandeis Judges website.

Carminucci was seeded fourth after going 5-0 in the elimination tournament with a +21 margin of victory and receiving four touches in the preliminary rounds of competition. On her way to victory, Carminucci defeated competitors from Vassar College and The University of Massachusetts.

In the quarterfinals, Carminucci defeated Kayla Moy and Lee Mad-

ison, both from Boston College.

She also took out top-seed Cindy Shen of Dartmouth, 15-9.

Quin remained undefeated in the preliminary rounds of competition and earned sixth with a +18 indicator. He easily took victories over UMass and MIT in the first rounds of the final bracket and defeated Frank Riccio of Sacred Heart University 15-10 in the round of 16, according to the Brandeis Judges website. Quin nearly fell to Cameron Mayer of Boston College but pulled out a narrow victory of 15-14. He easily took the win in the semifinals against Christopher Kiel of MIT and beat Zachary Hammer of Boston College at 15-9 to win the second consecutive title.

Gets was undefeated in the preliminary rounds earning a sixth seed placement with a +19 indicator. After defeating fellow teammates Wendy Mao ’21 and Renee Pite ’19 to land a place in the semifinals, Gets ultimately lost to finalist Shen from Dartmouth.

Rookie Harrison was also undefeated in the preliminary rounds, going 6-0 and receiving a fifth seed spot with a +18 indicator. Harrison quickly defeated opponents from Smith College and Worcester Polytechnic Insti-

tute (WPI) and narrowly defeated Anita Dey Barsukova of MIT 15-13. She lost to Sacred Heart’s Amanda Fischer before winning the third place match.

Seven other Judges received top ten finishes in the tournament.

On the women’s side, Pite placed seventh overall in the foil tournament, alongside Carminucci and Gets. Devon Brown ’21, the seventh seed in the saber competition, got sixth place, having lost

JOANNE CARMINUCCI ‘19

to Boston College’s Crystal Chen in the quarterfinals.

On the men’s side, Tristan Barca-Hall ’21 placed sixth in the foil competition, reaching the quarterfinals. Rookie David Hui ’22 placed ninth in the same competition.

Alex Holtmann ’21 tied for sixth place in the men’s saber while Leon Rotenstein ’19 finished ninth. Rookie Lucas Lin ’22 placed tenth in the same compe-

tition.

The format of “The Big One” follows typical USA Fencing six-weapon open tournament style, where all competitors compete as individuals, but each fencer must represent a specific institution.

Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams start back up again Nov. 17 for the first of two Northeast Fencing Conferences meeting at MIT.

PHOTO FROM BRANDEISJUDGES.COM

12 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

Volleyball celebrates eight seniors in final home game

By Sophie Trachtenberg staff

The visiting team from nearby UMass Boston swept Brandeis during their senior day celebration, dropping the non-conference match in an 0-3 fashion. Despite a push in a thrilling second set that was forced to 36-34, the Judges could not connect, with the first set ending 25-15 and the third 25-19. This loss puts Brandeis at a record of 11-16, as UMass Boston propels to 17-8 on the season.

In the first set, the Beacons got out ahead early, overwhelming the Judges with a 16-6 start.

Undeterred, Brandeis continued their attack, but could not fully come back, dropping the set by a margin of 10 points. In an effort to tie up the match, the Judges came out in full force for the second set, leading the Beacons 15-10 in the middle of the contest.

However, the visitors made a late push, forcing multiple lead changes that extended the set past the usual 25 point allowance.

There were eight set points, but ultimately, UMass Boston accepted the win over Brandeis with a score of 36-34. This was the Judges’ longest set of the season. Lastly, in the third set, Brandeis kept the competition close, but ultimately, the Beacons completed their sweep. The set was all tied up at 9-9, but the final score resulted in defeat for the Judges.

SENIOR NIGHT

Volleyball graduates eight seniors prior to playing their final home game.

From the stat line, the majority of the kills came from Emma Bartlett ’20 and Sports Editor for the Brandeis Hoot Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19, who had nine and eight respectively. With assists, Marissa Borgert ’21 totaled 16, while Marlee Nork ’19 added in another ten. Defensively, rookie Kaitlyn Oh ’22 had seven digs, and Grace Krumpack ’19 and Decker-Jacoby each contributed five.

Being the last home game of the

regular season, the Judges honored their large senior class, as they competed for one final time in Red Auerbach Arena. The graduates include: Yvette Cho, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Kirsten Frauens, Jillian Haberli, Grace Krumpack, Marlee Nork, Leah Pearlman, and Zara Platt.

When thinking back on their times at Brandeis, the class of 2019 reminisces on their four years spent traveling the country to play some of Division III’s best

PHOTO FROM BRANDEISJUDGES.COM

competition. For Decker-Jacoby, Nork, and Frauens, this also meant having the opportunity to compete in their respective hometowns, showing their family and friends what the team is really about.

These experiences go far beyond simply playing a sport, as Nork comments, “When going home to Chicago for UAA weekends, I got to show my teammates and best friends a place that means so much to me, all while playing vol-

leyball, which is something really memorable.”

Similarly, Decker-Jacoby feels that time spent on the road with her teammates is invaluable, as it is these moments that translate to life off the court. She says, “Every part of the travel experience is something I will never forget. The chance to get to know my teammates beyond the gym influenced me to become a better player, teammate, and person.”

Finding such pride and value in their connections with both the team and the sport itself, it is no surprise that this group has fundamentally changed the foundation on which Brandeis volleyball is built, using both their hard work and spirit to foster a new culture that will lead future Judges to success, even after they graduate.

As Frauens puts it, “We have built a culture of accountability, respect, and love for each other, and I hope that continues.”

Values such as these permeate every team member, setting the tone for how the Judges carry themselves, both on and off the court. Looking ahead to life after volleyball, Cho remarks, “I hope the team continues to lead by example, play for each other, and most importantly, be good people to one another.”

So, as a whole, the class of 2019 has helped to build the program into what it is today, leaving a sense of strength and positivity behind as they prepare for their lives beyond Brandeis.

Women’s soccer splits in a tough two game stretch

By Camila Casanueva staff

The 13th ranked Brandeis women’s soccer team faced a tough weekend, going against top-ranked Washington University and 10th ranked Chicago University.

In their first contest, Friday Oct. 26 in St. Louis, the Judges held off Washington University for most of the regulation time until the Bears scored with less than a minute remaining before overtime to take the conference match 1-0.

The Judges and Bears played a tight first half, with WashU. owning an 8-3 advantage in shots. The only shot on goal for the Judges came from Daria Bakhtiari ’21 in the 24th minute.

The Bears turned up their pressure in the second half, outshooting the Judges by 12-0.

Despite the big disadvantage, the Judges were still able to withstand the pressure of the Bears up until the final minute of play.

Sierra Dana ’20 finished with six saves for the game, one shy of her season best.

After flying to Chicago on Sat-

urday, Oct. 27, the Judges faced another tough UAA opponent on Sunday, Oct. 28. This time they came out victorious against the Chicago Maroons in a big win.

The teams went toe to toe in the first half, with eight shots each and a 4-3 edge in shots on goal for the Judges. However, Chicago had the 5-1 upper hand in corner kicks.

The second half was also a back and forth affair until Brandeis broke through in the 70th minute.

Rookie Lauren Mastandrea ’22 sent a terrific ball to Sam Volpe ’19. Volpe took a touch around

the charging Chicago keeper and fired the ball into the open net for her third goal of the season. The assist was Mastandrea’s fourth of her rookie campaign, all coming in UAA contests.

Chicago ended up outshooting Brandeis, 18-15, but the Judges put 10 of their shots on goal, compared to just six for the University of Chicago. Chicago did, however, hold the advantage in corner kicks with 8-2.

Dana was impressive in the box, playing in front of Chicago’s hometown crowd, she improved to 11-3 on the season with six

saves. It was the second straight game she finished one save shy of her season best, the shutout was Dana’s fourth of the season and 10th of her career.

Brandeis had not defeated Chicago since 2009 and had not won in the Windy City since 2008. The Judges reached the 12-win plateau for the fifth year in a row and improve to 12-3 overall, 4-2 in the UAA. The Judges close out the regular season next Saturday afternoon on Nov. 3 at New York University at 2:30 p.m.

Swimming and diving teams split in home opener

By Candace Ng editor

Brandeis swimming and diving team (BUSDT) competed in their first home meet against Wheaton College on Oct. 27. The men’s team beat the Wheaton College Lyons 122-66, whereas the women’s team fell Wheaton 134-69.

The men’s team won nine of 11 events to secure their 51-point victory. The men started the first event with a win—the relay team made up of Benton Ferebee ’22, Brendon Lu ’22, Matthew Arcemont ’20 and Daniel Wohl ’21 won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:38.84, a narrow hundredth second lead before Wheaton’s “A” team.

Of the five individual winners, the sophomore trio of Wohl, Chase Chen ’21 and Richard Selznick ’21 won two races each.

Wohl swept both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breast-

stroke events. He finished with a time of 22.67 seconds and a time of 1:01.97 respectively.

Chen won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.75 seconds and the 200-yard freestyle even with a time of 1:50.09. Chen out-touched classmate Marcelo Ohno-Machado ’21 in the 200 by 0.05 seconds.

The top performer of the day was Richard Selznick ’21, who remains undefeated in both distance freestyle events. He won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:10.28 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.72. Selznick won by 29 seconds and 13 seconds respectively.

Other top performers include single-winners Lu and Arcemont.

Lu swam the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.37, a slim 17 seconds faster than teammate Tamir Zitelny ’20. Arcemont finished the 100yard butterfly with a time of 55.14 seconds, 0.15 seconds before a Wheaton competitor.

On the women’s side, Kylie Herman ’19 was the sole winner, finishing the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:30.98. Herman also earned second place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:03.80.

The Judges took home second place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard individual medley (IM) and the 100-yard freestyle races. Uajda Musaku ’21 was runner-up in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.45 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57.29 seconds.

Rookie Claire Xu ’22 placed second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:20.24. The relay team of Lauren Howard ’22, Natalya Wozab ’20, Annie Huang ’21 and Herman finished the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:58.27.

Currently, the men’s team has a season record of 2-1, whereas the women’s team has lost all three dual-meets. Both the men and women’s swimming and diving

teams are back in action this Friday, Nov. 2 at Worcester, M.A. The teams will be competing against

KYLIE HERMAN ‘19

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Babson College, Smith College and Simmons College.

PHOTO FROM BRANDEISJUDGES.COM

ARTS

November 2, 2018

The Brandeis Hoot 13

‘Hookman’ captivates and unnerves audience

By Joshua Lannon special to the hoot

The Brandeis Undergraduate Theater Collective’s production of Lauren Yee’s “Hookman” is an excellent exploration of the human psyche through the guise of a slasher flick. This production, directed by Karina Wen ’20, seamlessly blends elements of horror and dark comedy to create a truly unique existential experience.

The story follows college freshman Lexi, played by Sofia Seufert ’22, as she seeks to find and face the truth about the death of her best friend Jess, played by Casey Bachman ’21, while escaping the grasp of a serial killer with a hook for a hand. As Lexi continues to seek the truth, the play gradually evolves from a comedic take on slasher films to a psychological thriller and coming of age story.

Over the course of this transition, the seventeen-year-old Lexi comes to terms with not only herself but also the titular hookman.

What makes this production truly unique is the fantastic dialogue between the characters.

The dialogue seems to be ripped straight out of some Hollywood B movie. The way Lexi talks is so stereotypically valley girl, that it feels as if you are watching a live-action slasher film. Yet this does not detract from her performance and instead makes Lexi’s interaction with Jess feel more authentic.

The other members of the cast

seem to emulate different stock characters of horrors films too.

Some stand-out performances include Seth Wolf ’21, who expertly portrays three different stock characters as Sean, the distant boyfriend, Adam, the stoner RA, and Kayleigh, a scared nerd type. Wolf transitions effortlessly between these three characters, making each one unique and hilarious in different ways. Another great performance was given by Hannah Novack ’22, who portrayed the annoying and at times morbid student Chloe. Novack portrays Chloe as shrill and unapologetically blunt, creating a character that is hilarious without becoming unbearably annoying.

The stock characters that make up the cast combined with the cringeworthy yet funny dialogue lends a sense of familiarity to the production that can connect the audience to its characters in order to better enhance the existentialism later on in the play.

The production does not rely too heavily on comic relief and fully explores the darker elements of the plot without becoming overly gory or risque. The production tackles many darker subjects like violence, sexual assault and guilt. Yet none of these subjects are discussed in poor taste.

Instead of merely being a morality play, “Hookman” fully explores each of these darker themes, and each one directly impacts Lexi’s journey.

While the play is a darkly comedic take of slasher films, it handles

the extreme violence common to that genre in fascinating ways.

Blood and gore is often represented by red lipstick and the attacks of the titular Hookman are shown as dances rather than violent assaults. When the titular Hookman, portrayed by Daniel Souza ’19, attacks Lexi’s roommate, Yoonji, portrayed by Ashley Kim ’20 and cuts off her face, we don’t get a gory, bloodfilled scene. Instead, Hookman assaults his victim through a macabre dance that ends with Yoonji applying lipstick around her face to represent the attack. This statement differentiated the play from your typical shock value slasher film and added a more existential and symbolic representation of violence.

The existential elements of Lexi’s journey are supported by excellent sound design by Talia Loeb ’21. The great sound effects such as the metallic slashing that ends every scene heightens the tension as the play builds to a climax. In addition to the slashing, each transition is accompanied by songs ranging from dubstep to The Beatles. These songs are also played during Hookman’s attacks.

The attack scenes involve no dialogue at all and instead rely on the music and macabre choreography to convey meaning. The tense atmosphere of these scenes are enhanced by the expert lighting design by Noah Mark ’19. What results from the combination of lights, sounds and movement are scenes that become manifesta-

PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK.COM

tions of Lexi’s inner guilt.

The phenomenal performances by the cast as well as excellent work from the crew truly creates a production that is comedic but

still explores darker themes. The show is more than a simple comedic take on slasher films; it is an existential look into how humans deal with loss and guilt.

Incendio celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

By Thalia Plata staff

Brandeis Latinx Student Organization (BLSO) held their third annual culture show, which celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month.

This year’s Incendio culture show, held this past Saturday, was in the style of the Premio Lo Nuestro, a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by Univision, a Spanish-language television network based in the United States.

The BLSO E-Board presented two awards that night: Best Dressed and Best Performance.

Incendio featured nine performers throughout the night.

The first performer was BLSO’s own Miranda Hurtado-Ramos ’19. Hurtado-Ramos is vice-president of BLSO. A native of Houston, Texas, with a Colombian and Mexican background, Hurtado-Ramos chose to honor her Tex-Mex roots with a traditional Mexican song, “Tú Sólo Tú.”

BLSO invited various groups from the Brandeis community, such as Kaos Kids, Brandeis’ premier competitive hip-hop dance crew. They perform and teach all over campus as well as other universities. Fitting for Halloween, the group had a monster bash theme.

Also performing was Toxic Majorette Dance Line, the first majorette style dance line at Brandeis. The 2018-19 academic year marks Toxic’s first year as an independent, university chartered club. In a nod to Latinx culture, Toxic danced to popular Latinx reggaetón artists, such as

PHOTO BY THALIA PLATA/THE HOOT

Daddy Yankee.

LatinXtreme, a dance group under BLSO, is the only dance team at Brandeis that represents all Latinx communities. The team tries to show the diversity of dance in the Latinx community, from traditional to Afro-Latino inspired dance, to reggaetón. In accordance with their mission, LatinXtreme performed a traditional dance as well as modern reggaetón.

Incendio also featured poets from the Brandeis community.

Imani Islam ’20 spoke on her experience as an Afro-Caribbean student. Kyrah Daniels ’22 talked about her Dominican heritage and growing up Latinx in New York City. Angela Mendez ’19 spoke about her educational journey and the duality of being bilin-

gual in America.

BLSO, in their effort to connect with the wider Boston Latinx community, invited performers from surrounding areas.

Sabor Latino has been a dance team for over seven years at Boston University, specializing in Latin American rhythms. They aim to fuse modern dance styles with traditional Latin dances such as salsa, bachata and merengue.

Another guest group was Milton Academy’s Ritmo. Ritmo is a student-led, student-choreographed Latinx dance group at Milton Academy.

Their goal is to educate the Milton community on Latin and Caribbean culture through dance and music. Incendio was Ritmo’s first performance outside of their campus.

Incendio was modestly attended, due to bad weather, however you would never be able to tell that from the cheering sounds of the crowd in attendance. The event relied heavily on audience participation, and BLSO members regularly engaged with audience members. “We didn’t want our audience to simply watch the show but feel a part of it and included in the community,” said BLSO Secretary Jennifer Manzano ’21.

BLSO also held a silent auction to benefit Border Angels. Border Angels is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that advocates for human rights, humane immigration reform and social justice with a special focus on issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Angels engages in

community education and awareness programs that include guided trips to the desert to place water along migrant crossing routes as well as to the border to learn about the history of U.S.-Mexico border policy and experience the border fence firsthand.

BLSO, founded as AHORA! in 1998 in the Intercultural Center, is a student-run organization whose purpose is to provide social, academic and emotional support for the Latinx community.

With various educational events throughout the year, BLSO aims to enlighten all who are interested in Latinx culture, history and current events. BLSO seeks to provide and maintain a safe space for all Latinx students to reflect and discuss concerns surrounding the Latinx community.

14 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

Toxic creates stunning showcase

By Ben Beriss editor

Toxic Majorette Dance Line, Brandeis’ first majorette dance line, celebrated their new status as an independent club with “Pick Your Poison,” a performance which brought together dance and performance groups from across campus to create one of the most exciting arts events of the year.

The show was fittingly started with a solo dance by Asia Hollinger ’18, who helped found the group under Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) in 2015 and choreographed their performances through her Brandeis career. She displayed the experience in a captivating performance, starting with subdued movements cloaked in a hoodie then exploding into a fury of defiant movement with a dramatic de-cloaking. With acrobatic movements, which seemingly broke some laws of physics but which flowed near-seamlessly into each other, Hollinger started the event off with a shot of adrenaline.

Her performance was succeeded by her Toxic successors, whose performance was equally exhilarating. Majorette dance, a staple of Southern black culture, evolved alongside the football teams and marching bands it’s often used to support. The variant Toxic dances incorporate elements reminiscent of hip-hop, cheerleading and

baton twirling to create a dance form with an energy level to match the most committed fans watching their team win. Led by captain and head choreographer Atia Butts ’19 and accompanied by a pulsing beat, the dancers created a tightly organized delta of defiance. Every movement was deliberate, from their confident parade onto stage to their synchronized movements. And though their first performance was over surprisingly quickly, they took the stage several times throughout the performance, each time bringing increasingly charged music and the moves to match.

They also brought almost all of Brandeis’ many dance and performance groups, who put on similarly impressive performances.

An early stand-out was the Platinum Step Team, led by Brianna Lackwood ’21, whose percussive dance demanded attention. With intimidating personas, they confidently clapped and stomped their way to a fluid rhythm mesmerizing to both listen to and watch.

Adagio’s Dance Ensemble slowed it down with a performance of a striking figurative piece “Drowning,” choreographed

by Rebecca Kahn ’19. The piece features pairs of dancers nebulously portraying some relationship between an abuser and victim. Smooth flowing movements show the dancers abstractly exploring their space, with one of the pair subtly blocking the other or not so subtly engaging in dra-

PHOTO BY POLINA POTOCHEVSKA/THE HOOT

matized mock violence. Set to the downbeat of Two Feet’s “I Feel Like I’m Drowning,” the piece provides an intriguing canvas just abstract enough you cannot help but project meaning onto it.

The Ballet Company performed a preview of their upcoming performance of the Nutcracker with the famous “Waltz of the Flowers,” a graceful celebration of youth. Following in the tradition of classical ballet, the dancers twirled their way across the stage with just enough flourish to show they were having fun without breaking the elegance of their form. In colorful dresses and tutus, their graceful swirls created a fusion of color and movement which exulted in the simple joy of Tchaikovsky’s waltz.

There were, in fact, too many performances to list in detail.

Chak De performed an amazingly smooth Bollywood dance, MAD Band showed what classic

pop songs sound like played by a (mostly) brass band, and Poetic Justice’s Kwesi Jones ’21 delivered socially conscious verses. Fafali showcased the unique rhythms of Ghana, and Rebelle, Up the Octave, LatinXtreme and Hooked on Tap and student musicians Jason Baddoo ’19 and Oran Rahamim ’20 all came together to create a massive compilation of Brandeis’ many, many impressive performances.

But the climax undoubtedly came with the guest performances of Bentley University’s African Student Association and Area 51, the only independent majorette team in the Boston area. They filled the stage with dancers in perfect sync, all of whom brought majorette’s uniquely defiant and supportive energy to the crowd.

Even the small children who accompanied them joined the routines, many even almost matching the impressive dance moves of the

older dancers.

It was this majorette energy which ultimately made “Pick Your Poison.” The audience, partially made up of performers’ family and friends, was beyond excited to see the show and not afraid to let anyone know. Slow performances were met with shouts of encouragement and during the peaks of the majorette performances, the stands came alive with cheering and audience members dancing along. With an enthusiastic community and even more impressive dancing, Toxic temporarily turned the gym into a catalyst for community.

Post-note; Brandeis really needs better performance spaces. As much as it is tradition for majorette to be performed in a gym, they and all the other groups who perform at Brandeis shine much more brightly when there’s no risk of a tennis ball rolling into the middle of the dance floor.

November 2, 2018

ARTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

‘Mid90s’ marks another solid entry in the A24 Cinematic Universe

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

A skateboard is a fascinating object. On the one hand, it’s an expensive, finely crafted tool, and there’s a real sense of intimacy between a seasoned skater and their board. At the same time, a skateboard has to take a fair amount of punishment on a daily basis, as does its rider. Shred a board too much and it becomes nothing more than a splintered piece of wood. But what are you supposed to do—ride a skateboard gently?

This paradox is at the center of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, “Mid90s,” a lean and efficient sendup of skate culture. Those bored of eighties nostalgia may feel refreshed by this lurch into

another decade, and the cast of Hill’s film could easily go toe-totoe with the “Stranger Things” kids in terms of sheer likeability. But the skaters at the heart of “Mid90s” come with more of an edge, starting with 13-year-old Stevie (Sunny Suljic), our POV character. Stevie is tormented on a daily basis by his abusive older brother and turns to skating for acceptance.

He starts to befriend a few older skaters—Rubin, “Fourth Grade,” “Fuckshit” and Ray, the oldest and coolest guy.

If any of these beats sound familiar, that’s because “Mid90s” checks a lot of the boxes one has come to expect from a flick from production company A24. Set against the backdrop of an impoverished L.A., this is another film

about a lonely protagonist working their way into and around a tough environment, a very personal story that shines a spotlight on a generally underrepresented group or subculture. For more, see “LadyBird,” “The Florida Project,” “Eighth Grade” or “Moonlight.”

Look, there’s no inherent issue with the A24 formula—I love all of those movies. But because “Mid90s” is so minimal (with a runtime of about 80 minutes), it’s hard not to notice the ways that it remixes elements of prior A24 outings. Case in point: “Mid90s” is shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio, and the last movie I saw in theaters with the same square framing was in “First Reformed,” another top-tier A24 release.

Unfortunately, the cinematography of “Mid90s” isn’t quite as creative as what’s going on in “Reformed,” though Jonah Hill proves himself a capable director. The square frame is more an extension of Hill’s minimalism, though the quality in the work comes less from delivering unforgettable shots and more from an unbreakable yet tasteful period authenticity. From “Street Fighter” t-shirts to specific aspects of the skater aesthetic, Hill does as good a job representing the skater experience as, say, Bo Burn-

Grad students debut music

By David Cohen staff

On Friday evening, various graduate students from the music department performed excerpts of their compositions for the Brandeis community in Slosberg Recital Hall. The performers were select members of Brand New Music, a contemporary concert series that showcases the works of Brandeis students, faculty and alumni composers.

Alex Bean (GRAD), the first and third performer of the concert, presented two vocal pieces, “Space and Breath I,” and “Space and Breath III: Voyelles.” Both pieces were part of a three-part series featuring atonal melodies with wordless meditation on the parts of the voice and the space within the piece itself.

In the first piece, there was no conformity to traditional styles of music involving text and pitch, as the selection of notes was chosen randomly during the performance in response to frequencies of the room, which were filtered to Bean through a headset. The resulting frequencies called for an interesting array of notes, as Bean’s intense counterpoint demanded the use of multiple vocal registers.

I was particularly impressed with his breath control during the performance, as Bean often fluctuated vowel sounds while staying on the same pitch, as well as belting sustained tones for many seconds. Likewise, I was fascinated by his percussive techniques, like clicking his tongue, because they emphasized the vast functionality of the mouth as its own tool in sound-making.

These techniques were undeniably pronounced in his third piece, “Voyelles,” which accentu-

ated the concept of space. Bean utilized electronics in this movement and produced his own robot-like sounds and melodic phrases, which evoked images of rockets flying and radars beeping.

His dynamic contrast was perhaps the most effective technique in this movement, as the frequencies of the room blasted so heavily at one point that many audience members had to cover their ears.

Ultimately, while I did feel more connected to the third movement due to its more identifiable theme, I appreciated Bean for challenging the notion of what defines music by establishing a work centralized with abstract musical components.

The second performer of the night, Tyler Adamthwaite (GRAD), showcased his piece “Interior/Exterior” for organ and electronics. Unlike random sequences of pitches as expressed in Bean’s work, Adamthwaite’s piece incorporated a recording of multiple human voices speaking with chords layered underneath. The eeriness of the chords was incongruous with the performance itself, as Adamthwaite periodically turned off the voices and exited the room while leaving the chord on, only to re-enter and present a new chord layered underneath the voices.

In the process of doing this, he often changed the color of his shirt as well as the lighting in the room. To add an even more seemingly comical effect, he also walked around the stage with unusual stomping gestures, even sitting in the front row a couple times as if to observe his own performance. The skit lasted for nearly fifteen minutes before he finally sat down at the organ to play a short atonal melody.

From a musical perspective, I thought Adamthwaite could have

integrated more melodic components to his work instead of solely maintaining drones, but similar to Bean, I think his piece functioned well within the realms of art. The changing lights certainly intensified the eeriness of the chords echoing from the organ, and the absence of voices each time he exited the room left me questioning how chords, despite their simplicity, can induce strong emotional responses.

The last composition of the night, “Starlight, Star bright,” was written by graduate student Inga Chinilina (GRAD) but performed by pianist Yucong Huang. Huang, an ardent advocate for new music with a wide range of repertoire, is currently pursuing a bachelor’s at the New England Conservatory.

She played Chinilina’s piece with caution, emphasizing complex rhythms and the calm low melodies with dissonant chords layered above. The purity of the piano in this piece heavily reminded me of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Drei Klavierstücke,” one of the first piano solos that paved the way towards the contemporary music era. To my surprise, this composition was entirely atonal as well, which shows just how liberal Brandeis composers truly are.

Although each piece offered a new lens to view the possibility of what defines music, Chinilina’s work contained a particular degree of stability and tightness due to modest interval progressions that made me favor it the best.

For anyone interested in exploring more of her compositions, her SoundCloud profile features numerous works that are open to the public without charge. The next concert in the Brand New Music Series will be Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m., featuring student compositions played by the Lydian String Quartet.

PHOTOS FROM IMDB.COM

ham did placing viewers in the perspective of an eighth-grade girl. Hill has already proved himself a serious talent with his two Oscar nominations, but his only prior directing credit is a bloody fun Danny Brown music video (which is great and also shot in 4:3). Let’s just say I far preferred “Mid90s” to the last thing I saw from an actor-turned-“auteur” (cough cough “A Star is Born”).

Then “Mid90s” screeches to a halt. Hill’s commitment to “less is more” means that the sight of the end credits was a bit jarring.

While the conclusion does cut a few corners, I worry that adding any more to the movie would have felt trite and half-baked.

Like with this summer’s “Sorry to Bother You,” I didn’t go bananas for the film, but it’s a confident de-

but, and I’m excited to see where Hill goes from here.

The enduring images Hill finds in his brief trip down memory lane center on abuse, a touchy subject matter that’s handled delicately here. Sunny Suljic’s performance as Stevie is pretty spot-on (his second solid turn this year after playing Atreus in the video game “God of War”), and A24 staple Lucas Hedges also does good work as Stevie’s older brother, Ian. You can’t help but wince when Stevie gets hurt, and the main arc of “Mid90s” subtly traces the psychological impact of Stevie’s abuse. And while he never stops loving his brother, perhaps Stevie’s connection to a hobby so mired in paradoxes should come as no surprise. Good job, Jonah Hill.

Arts Calendar Bad Grammer Relaxing Fall Comedy: Newbie Premiere Show!

The short-form improv group presents their fall comedy show. According to the organizers, “This is the comedy equivalent to eating an entire apple pie.” Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in the SCC Multipurpose Room.

“Noises Off” “A manic menagerie of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called ‘Nothing’s On.’ Doors slamming, on and offstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play.” Put on by the Undergraduate Theater Collective in the SCC Theater. Shows on Sat, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m., and Sun, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Looted Art for Sale A free interdisciplinary symposium featuring talks from lawyers, educators, art curators and former ambassador Stuart Eizenstat. Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Hassenfeld Sherman Hall.

Film Screening: “Because of the War” “In West Africa and North America, four Liberian women use their music to address injustice and inspire action for social change.” Includes a Q&A with director Tony Shapiro-Phim. Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. at the Wasserman Cinematheque.

20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: A Conversation with Joan Morgan

Joe Goodkin performs songs inspired by Homer’s “The Odyssey” with a discussion after the performance. Monday, Nov. 5 in Lown 002 at 5 p.m.

Feminist author and hip-hop journalist Joan Morgan will discuss her book, “She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

“Restitution: Art and Memory”- A Film in Progress

Artist Talk & Opening Reception: Anne Lilly

The Odyssey in Song: A Folk Opera by Joe Goodkin

An excerpt companion screening to the “Looted Art” symposium the next Tuesday with filmmaker John Friedman in attendance. Monday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. in in the Shapiro Admissions Center. Free online RSVP required.

Opening her joint exhibition “Half-Silvered” at the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center, Anne Lilly will discuss her sculpture work. Thursday, Nov 9 at 5 p.m. in Epstein.

16 ADVERTISEMENTS

The Brandeis Hoot

November 2, 2018

e r o m e r a s m r e t d i M ? s w n o o i n t k c e l e l a i t Did you n e d i s e r P n a h t t n a t r o p im

E T O V

6 R E B M E V O N , Y A D S E TU Problems voting? Call the Election Protection Hotline at (866) OUR-VOTE • (866) 687-8683

VOTE.ORG