The Brandeis Hoot 12/1/2017

Volume 14 Issue 19

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

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

December 1, 2017

University finances ‘secure’ but ‘constrained’

By Elianna Spitzer editor

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

send-off Editors

and writers in their junior year say goodbye to The Hoot as they prepare to study abroad, and newly designated deputies begin to take over their positions.

Financially, the university is “secure” but “constrained” and needs to generate higher revenue to achieve goals, according to members of Brandeis’ Finance and Administration senior leadership team, who held an open meeting on Wednesday in the International Longue to address the financial sustainability and provide updates for ongoing campus projects.

Stew Uretsky, executive vice president for Finance and Administration, began with an overview of university finances and future goals. The top ten goals for finance and administration in the 2018 fiscal year include develop-

ing plans for reviewing university finances, ensuring stability and addressing issues such as divestment, campus construction, deferred maintenance and staff benefits.

Uretsky hopes the financial side of the institution will be seen as a “trusted partner” and an “agent of change” in service to the academic community of Brandeis.

Uretsky praised President Liebowitz’s “strong leadership” in supporting the ten 2018 fiscal goals.

The financial leadership team will make push to be more transparent in achieving their goals, said Uretsky. Uretsky cited the open meeting itself as a show of transparency.

Residence hall construction and deferred maintenance See FINANCES, page 3

Proposed tax bills may affect Brandeis

By Ryan Spencer staff

In a Nov. 17 campus-wide email, provost Lisa Lynch urged members of the Brandeis community to contact their congressional representatives to express their views regarding tax proposals which may have a “damaging

impact” on universities.

The email came the day after the House of Representatives passed a tax-reform bill. On Tuesday, a similar bill passed the Senate budget committee and is making its way to a vote.

Both the House and the Senate bill would change the ways in which universities and graduate students are taxed.

The Nov. 17 email noted that the Brandeis administration has received emails and notes which express “great concern about the negative impact these legislative proposals would have on Brandeis and Brandeis students.”

Lynch expressed concern over the tax bill “potentially increasing an individual student’s income tax by thousands of dollars.”

According to George Hall, a professor of economics at Brandeis, what would affect students the most is the part of the House bill which treats tuition waivers for graduate students as taxable income.

Universities often have tuition waivers when they employ a graduate student who may teach or conduct research in addition

to taking classes. Tuition waivers give graduate students money off tuition in return for this work.

The House bill wants to tax these tuition deductions as if they were income.

But, according to Hall, tuition waivers are not income, per se. He compared the difference between See TAX REFORM, page 2

Sarna gives Univ. Prof. lecture on Jewish political identity

By Ariella Gentin staff

On Monday, Professor Jonathan Sarna ’75 (NEJS) spoke about the history of Jewish political identity in America at a lecture celebrating his appointment to University Professor, the highest designation awarded to Brandeis professors.

Sarna first came to Brandeis University at the age of 10 when his father Professor Nachum Sarna became a part of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS) staff. Sarna went on to become a member of the class of 1975, and returned a number of years later

Inside This Issue:

to teach at Brandeis. This is his 27th year as a faculty member, and between him and his father, the Sarna family has contributed to Brandeis for about half a century.

President Ron Liebowitz introduced Sarna, explaining that Sarna was awarded the honor because he is a “star in the world of American Jewish scholarship.” He praised Sarna as a “quintessential Brandeisian” and “not just a historian of American Judaism, but the historian of American Judaism.” The University Professional distinction is given to faculty who See SARNA page 2

women’s basketball Members

prize

Page 3 winners Page 9 Exploring past Nobel Prize recipients Page 5 Page 15 PAGE 5 EDITORIAL: Transparency cannot be in name only Page 7 News: Professors debate merits of nuclear energy Arts: Open-mic covers misreading Features: History of Brandeis Nobel winners Sports: Fencing gears up for weekend invitational

of the Women’s basketball team compete page 14.

Mela 2017 The SASA puts on their annual show to great success ARTS: PAGE 8

photo by matthew kowalyk/the hoot

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

December 1, 2017

Tax bills could make graduate school less affordable TAX REFORM, from page 1

the list price of graduate school and what a graduate student might actually pay with a tuition waiver to the difference between the list price of a car and what someone actually pays for a car.

“Just because you pay a different price, don’t call that difference income,” Hall said.

In addition to considering tuition waivers as income, the House bill would eliminate the tax deductibility of student loan interest, reduce the American Opportunity Tax Credit, eliminate the Lifetime Learning Credit and increase the cost that schools like Brandeis would have to un-

dertake to borrow funds for infrastructure and maintenance on campus, according to the email from Lynch.

A tax credit is a credit that qualified individuals can subtract from the taxes they owe.

Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Eric Chasalow told The Brandeis Hoot that the tax bill, if it became law, “would make affording an education even more challenging than it currently is.”

Chasalow expressed hope that the provisions affecting graduate students will not make it through the legislative processes, stating that if they did they would “do great harm to the entire American university community.”

Under both the Senate and House bill, many universities would have to pay a tax on the net-investment income generated by college and university endowments.

The provision applies to universities that have endowments worth at least $250,000 per student. Brandeis’ endowment breaks down to $154,000 per student, said Stew Uretsky, the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, at a Nov. 29 open meeting on Brandeis’ finances.

Lynch noted that the Brandeis endowment as it stands falls below the proposed threshold for the bill .

Lynch explained that this tax

“may become a binding constraint for our university in the future.”

In her email, Lynch said that Brandeis is working with the Association of American Universities (AAU) and other university groups who are speaking out against the potential these bills have to harm institutes of higher education.

The AAU has released statements on both the House and Senate proposals.

The statement on the House bill argues that by making “higher education less affordable and less accessible to middle- and low-income Americans” the bill “undermines the very workforce Congress seeks to support.”

The AAU statement on the Senate proposal suggests that by eliminating the state and local tax deduction, Congress would “discourage state investment in public colleges and universities.”

The final version of the tax bill, if a bill passes through the Senate, would have to reckon with any differences between two bills and it remains to be seen what provisions would be made into law.

In an email to The Hoot, Lynch noted that the impact of any tax changes will vary on an individual basis.

“Taxes paid will vary person by person and family by and for international students on the basis of bilateral tax treaties,” Lynch said.

Sarna discusses newly found documents showing Jews as political body

SARNA, from page 1

have achieved “exceptional scholarly or professional distinction” and “whose appointment will enhance the reputation and prestige of the university.”

Professor Sarna’s lecture, titled “Jews and American Politics: Historical Ideals and Contemporary Realities,” addressed the question of “Jewish politics,” meaning whether or not Jews have historically had a political identity as a people. Sarna opened his lecture by saying that this topic would have “shocked and horrified an earlier generation of Jews, in this country as well as in much of Western Europe” because Jewish figures had always asserted that the Jewish people as a whole do not have a political identity.

Sarna quoted a letter from 1864 written to Abraham Lincoln by

the editor of the New York Jewish Messenger, which said “the Jews as a body have no politics.”

At the time, Jews were scared that political power could endanger newly found rights acquired from the Jewish Emancipation, Sarna explained. As a result, Jews in Europe tried to shed their traditional communalism in favor of individualism, and that individualistic attitude followed them to the United States.

A newly discovered letter from 1864, however, showed that some Jewish political groups did exist, despite the traditional “no Jewish politics” stance. The letter was addressed “to our Jewish brethren” by the Jewish Union Republican Association and urged Jewish voters to cast their ballots in favor of Abraham Lincoln. The document was evidence of an organized Jewish political group, even

though previously found papers show Jews denying political affiliations as a people, said Sarna.

Following the 1864 election, there were many occurrences of Jewish thinkers persuading Jews to vote one way or another. One example Sarna shared occurred in 1868, the next election following the letter to Lincoln. In the election—between Ulysses S. Grant and Horatio Seymour—a Jewish newspaper published a debate between two Reform rabbis about who the Jewish vote should go to. The election was contentious for Jews, because during the Civil War, Grant had expelled Jews as a class from his war zone in General Order No. 11. As a result, many Jews were considered voting against Grant, but were also nervous they would be accused of dual loyalty if they cast their vote based on that reasoning.

One of the rabbis, Rabbi Adler, made the case that Jews should not vote based on their own ethnic interests, and even went as far to say that if he thought it would be better for the welfare of the country, he would “vote for the party of Haman” (the evil character in the Purim festival story).

Rabbi Wise opposed Adler’s view and expressed that identity could not be compartmentalized, and that Jewish concerns must be taken into account when voting. Sarna characterized that election as a turning point for American Jews, who finally felt they had a voice in the electoral arena.

Sarna went on to give more examples of how the “Jewish vote” has manifested itself through American history. He also spoke about the Jewish trend to vote Democrat, which is still true today, but is less unanimous than

it once was in Jewish American history.

The “Jewish vote” is sought after for multiple reasons, according to Sarna: Jews vote in higher percentages than other populations, campaigns are often heavily funded by Jewish donors and large populations of Jews happen to live in swing states. Lastly, Sarna addressed this past election, and noted that 75 percent of the Jewish vote went to Hillary Clinton. Sarna ended his lecture by saying that even addressing the topic publicly of Jewish politics nowadays shows that “Jews have moved, in recent decades, from fearful outsiders to confident insiders.”

After the talk, there was a reception in honor of Professor Sarna in the Shapiro Campus Center.

The last professor to be awarded the University Professor title was Prof. Anita Hill (Heller).

Professors debate whether nuclear energy should be considered clean energy

By Sabrina Chow staff

Members of the Brandeis community convened at the International Lounge on Monday, Nov. 27, where Professor Kerry Emanuel and Professor Christoph Stefes debated about whether nuclear energy should be considered clean energy.

This event was the third and final debate hosted by the Center for German and European Studies in the “Campusweek Initiatives” program, a yearly program started by the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. Emanuel is a Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT and was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences this past April. Stefes is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Denver.

He specializes in political development with a focus in the former Soviet Union, but one of this most recent achievements was co-editing the essay, “Germany’s Energy Transition: A Comparative Perspective.”

Nuclear plants have been in effect around the world since the early 1950’s and have been especially prevalent in the United States in the recent years. Since the 1970’s, German citizens in different environmental activist groups have protested under the banner “Atomkraft? Nein Danke,” which translates to “Atomic Energy? No, Thanks.”

In recent years, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, against the decision of her own party, decided to shut down half of the country’s 17 nuclear reactors, and eliminate all reactors by 2022.

The United States, on the other hand, utilizes 104 nuclear reactors around the country and harvests around one fifth of national energy from nuclear energy sources.

Emanuel and Stefes spoke about the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which works with 35 member nations to research and develop economically beneficial policy solutions.

Emanuel and Stefes agreed that the largest problem with energy growth is the method in which non-OECD member nations obtain their energy. Non-OECD na-

tions are developing nations that rely on outside energy sources as sources of power. From an economic standpoint, nuclear energy sources have shown to have significantly lower costs per kilowatt hour compared to other energy sources. This is more beneficial to developing nations, as Emanuel believes that “we must allow for large per-capita energy growth in non-OECD nations.”

Emanuel highlighted the fact that the “next generation of nuclear fission plants are more advanced than the 1960’s technology.”

While these plants are more advanced and much safer than the older plants, the largest exporters of nuclear plants, Russia and China, are still utilizing the older technology, which is far more detrimental to the environment.

The debate over the use of nuclear energy and non-carbon renewable sources ultimately lead back to politics. Emanuel and Stefes agreed that removing the subsidies provided to all energy sources will lead to a stronger push towards more renewable energy sources and move the United States specifically away from fossil

fuels. In the United States, “Fossil fuels get lots more subsidies compared to renewable energy sources and nuclear energy combined,” said Emanuel.

Emanuel and Stefes also agreed that the largest problem that needs to addressed is nuclear energy waste management. Stefes is a strong proponent of the belief that “We cannot just use renewable energy, we have to reduce our energy waste. That means looking at energy efficiency.” The largest issue that surrounds nuclear energy is the half-life of the material after it has been used and effect it has on the human population if not handled correctly.

One of the audience members, Eric Grunebaum, an energy advisor, agreed with Stefes. “Wherever possible, we should move the pathway towards renewables and efficiency. But there may be cases in which we should keep researching nuclear and safer reactors. There may be a need for baseline power and it may be nuclear,” said Grunebaum.

Among the audience members, there was not a clear divide between those supporting nuclear energy and those supporting re-

newable energy sources—most were in agreement that both should be incorporated. Evan Abramsky, a teacher at the Harvard Kennedy School, said he supported nuclear energy because “in the short run, it is not economically feasible to shut down the remaining nuclear plants in the near future. They should act as a bridge while we continue to invest more in more renewable sources of energy because they present a non-carbon producing form of energy that is dependable and dispatchable.”

Stefes understands the need for nuclear energy because it is one of the leading non-carbon energy sources that has produced a substantial amount of energy.

But Stefes looks to use nuclear energy as a bridge technology, “something that you can use until you find something later.” Stefes hopes that the use of smart grids and other technologies will create a “transition towards truly green and sustainable energy systems,” he explained. “Therefore the real bridge for me towards renewable energy is renewable energy. The problem is that we need to focus on one energy source.”

December 1, 2017

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Administrators lay out top ten financial goals for univ. at open meeting to increase transparency FINANCES, from page 1

Construction of the new residence hall in place of Usen Castle is on schedule and on budget, confirmed Jim Gray, the vice president for campus operations.

Brandeis took out a $50 million bond to finance the project. Uretsky revealed at the open meeting that only $40 million will actually be devoted to that project. The other $10 million will go towards deferred maintenance.

Deferred maintenance refers to upkeep and updating that need to take place around campus. Forty-six percent of the buildings on campus are over the age of 50, and 33 percent of buildings are between 25 and 50 years old.

In 2015, the university found its buildings use 25 percent more energy than comparable schools, based on building characteristics and climate, according to Brandeis’ Climate Action Plan.

A large amount of Brandes’ emissions come from building energy use, according to a November 2016 Hoot article, which relates to their age and lack of efficiency. Investing in more efficient

windows, roofs or mechanical systems could help improve this, according to the plan.

The oldest building envelopes are “crumbling,” according to Gray, but the university does not currently have the money to fix all of them.

The Heller School is the only building from the post-war era that has been updated. Gray offered a preliminary list of building updates for the 2019 fiscal year project plans.

Financial standing and understanding Over the summer, the Finance and Leadership team began combining budget models to create one that better suited the functionality of the university.

Brandeis is a people-driven-institution, according to Sam Solomon, the Chief Financial Officer.

Fifty-seven percent of the university’s total revenue is student-driven, meaning that tuition and housing makes up over half of Brandeis’ annual revenue.

In terms of annual expenses, the salaries and benefits of staff and faculty make up over half of all expenditures. “We are a people driven business,” Solomon con-

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

cluded.

Brandeis does not have a lot of room to raise tuition on top of current increases, according to Solomon.

The cost of attendance needs to stay similar to comparative universities for Brandeis to remain attractive to prospective students.

Solomon recognized that a high cost of attendance can deter students who have trouble navigating financial aid forms.

In a list of comparable institutions, Brandeis has the second highest cost of attendance at $68,443.

The University of Pennsylvania costs slightly more, ringing in at $68,600, and New York University costs slightly less at $68,400.

The median cost of attendance for comparable universities listed in Solomon’s presentation is $67,897, making Brandeis about $500 more expensive than the median cost.

The university is running with a surplus of $1.2 million, which is considered small, but higher than the $1 million surplus from the 2016 fiscal year. The surplus is not enough for the university to achieve some long term goals associated with its mission statement, Solomon explained.

The endowment is projected to grow, but that growth might be negligible based on current spending levels, according to Solomon. Brandeis has done a lot to increase donor contributions, but matches the higher contributions with increased spending. “It’s a testament to the ability that everyone here at Brandeis has... to raise money but we need to actually store that money better and preserve the purchasing power of that endowment.”

“The good news is, we are financially secure, but we are constrained and we need to look for new ways to do things,” said Solomon.

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

Divestment The Board of Trustees will discuss the possibility of divesting the university endowment from fossil fuels in January, said Uretsky. Faculty voted to support divestment on Oct. 20 during a monthly faculty meeting, and on Nov. 17 students and faculty marched across campus to demonstrate support for divestment.

Staff benefits review Listed in the top 10 goals is a review of the benefits and wellness program offered to staff and faculty. As of Nov. 30, the program does not include paid parental leave or a 457B program.

Finance and Administration added vision to the benefits package this year. A review of the overall program will continue over the next few years, according to Uretsky. Members of Finance and Administration have already begun reviewing the existing retirement plan.

Staff advisory council Finance and Administration successfully launched a staff advisory council about a week ago which will seat staff elected from 13 newly created districts on campus. Councilmembers will represent the interests of their districts

to help Finance and Administration make informed decisions.

This change is part of an effort to increase communication levels between departments on campus.

Information and technology services updates The university currently runs PeopleSoft, a software that offers human capital management business solutions. PeopleSoft is over 20 years old, which means “there are large security risks involved with continuing to run a system that’s outdated,” said Gray.

After receiving input from about 200 staff members across campus and viewing two demonstrations from different companies, ITS decided to implement Workday as the new software platform.

The Workday implementation will take place in two phases.

Phase one began this semester and will run through Oct. 2018.

That phase handles Human Capital Management and Finance, Grants and Gifts. The second phase, transitioning student systems to Workday, will begin Jan. 2019 and is projected to conclude April 2020.

A forum concerning the switch over to this new system will be held on Dec. 12.

Brandeis Pro-Choice aims to work with administration and Student Union on wellness vending machine

By Celia Young editor

Brandeis Pro-choice, a student organization, plans to install a wellness vending machine containing free Plan B by the end of the academic year. After receiving a grant from Planned Parenthood to fund the project, the student club has been working with administration and the Student Union to finish the project.

In October, Brandeis ProChoice received a $5,000 grant from Planned Parenthood’s national college program, Planned Parenthood Generation Action, to purchase and supply a wellness vending machine to be installed in the Shapiro Campus Center (SCC). The machine is intended to contain free Plan B as well as other health products, such as menstrual products and ibuprofen.

Since then, Brandeis-ProChoice has contacted the administration and Student Union to discuss the logistics of the project.

The organization is a chapter of Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts (PPAF) and has been advised by PPAF since the start of the project.

The logistics of the vending machine remain to be determined.

Brandeis Pro-Choice hopes to solidify the location, funding and sustainability of the machine with Campus Operations and other administration officials.

The organization hopes that the machine will remain funded and stocked after the grant money has been exhausted, according to Abigail Belyea ’18, Brandeis ProChoice’s Events Director and a Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies major who has been with Brandeis Pro-Choice since her sophomore year.

Brandeis Pro-Choice has also presented the idea of a wellness vending machine to students in the SCC atrium and circulated a petition to gauge student support. The petition currently has approximately 130 signatures, according to Belyea. They have reached out to other clubs asking them for support in letters or testimonials. The organization has also received support from the administration.

The vending machine is expected to be installed by May; however, according to Belyea, contacting the administration has been difficult due to how busy the schedules of all parties’ are as the

semester ends.

“They’re busy especially this time of year so it’s definitely been maybe a little slower than what we would want… but they’ve been encouraging,” Belyea said.

“I think once we can finally meet with them and actually talk about logistics it will be more concrete.”

Brandeis Pro-Choice originally pursued this project because of the lack of access to Plan B on weekends, as the Health Center is only open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday through Friday. Belyea cited other benefits of the machine as well, including the ability for either a male or female partner to pick up Plan B, the price (free) and the anonymity of getting Plan B from the machines.

“People don’t really want to be seen doing that and they don’t really want to have that face to face contact while doing that [getting Plan B],” said Belyea. “I think that… having that 24/7 access is really, really important because if…you are in a position where you need Plan B and you can’t easily get to Walgreens or CVS and you have to wait until Monday… that’s almost 72 hours that you have to wait…and it’s [Plan B] more effective the earlier you take it.”

The Health Center currently offers free Plan B within business hours to students. As the Health Center administers Plan B, only a female can pick up the contraceptive. Plan B, commonly referred to as the morning after pill, is an emergency contraceptive more effective the sooner it is taken after intercourse.

Brandeis Pro-Choice also hopes

to put up flyers on the machine directed at victims of sexual assault, detailing resources for counseling and assistance. Formerly known as Brandeis for NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League), Brandeis Pro-Choice works on a variety of projects, including supporting and campaigning for local politicians.

photo by emily sorkin-smith/the hoot

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

December 1, 2017

President Liebowitz hosts open meeting on Brandeis’ future, adresses financial concerns

By Emily Sorkin Smith editor

President Ron Liebowitz convened the first open meeting on Brandeis’ direction as an institution, including discussion of self-reflection reports produced by schools, departments and centers across Brandeis and high-level strategic priorities. The meeting began a nine-month process outlined in the document sent to the community and intends to “draw the major contours of the university’s direction over the coming years,” the document read.

“We’re at an inflection point,” Liebowitz argued. “This is the time when Brandeis should put a stake in the ground and decide that it’s going to make some pretty crucial decisions about its direction so that it can be among the elite and best institutions in the country.”

Of the issues Liebowitz discussed, financial concerns and institutional identity dominated.

He also addressed the role of Judaism in Brandeis’ institutional identity, challenges presented by aging infrastructure and faculty and the need to adapt to changing demographics. Brandeis, Liebowitz argued, has a strong reputation, but some participants in the self-reflection process expressed concerns that Brandeis is “living

on our coattails, that this was a reputation that was built up over decades.”

“Let’s be sure that we don’t lose that reputation,” Liebowitz said.

Despite the strength of Brandeis’ reputation as an academic institution, some raised questions about identity and values. The university’s struggle to convey just how much Judaism influences Brandeis’ identity comes off as confusing to outsiders and needs clarification. Liebowitz wrote, in the document titled “A Guide to Upcoming Open Meetings on Brandeis’ Future,” “The inability or decision not to define who we are has hurt us and created confusion for prospective students, alumni and our longtime friends who have generously supported the institution since its founding.

Are we a ‘Jewish’ institution?’”

“We espouse openness, collaboration, optimism, innovation.” Liebowitz expressed concern from the reflection that these values are “a lot of talk, that in many ways the institution has not lived up to those values.”

Part of the confusion regarding institutional identity is the centrality of social justice and what that means in theory and in practice. Liebowitz argued “social justice in 1948 and social justice today may not be the very same thing,” and conveyed what he sees as student confusion or misun-

derstanding of social justice. He presented an anecdote from one of his lunches with students to exemplify this confusion.

The student told Liebowitz, “You could really help me. You see, everybody here has a cause, and I’m wondering if you can give me some ideas of what I can protest…. Everyone has these great causes and I don’t have one.”

In addition to questions of identity, Liebowitz discussed funding and the limitations presented by Brandeis’ already high-tuition.

“Major sources of revenue are more or less at their limit,” he said.

Much of Brandeis’ budget comes from tuition, but the university is already among the most expensive in the nation (#37 on CBS’ list of the 50 most expensive U.S. colleges). Tuition can’t be raised much more, Liebowitz said, and the university has been drawing more from the endowment than peer institutions to balance the budget.

Despite the financial constraints, physical infrastructure needs updating and maintenance cannot be deferred much longer, Liebowitz argued.

After speaking, Liebowitz opened the meeting to audience questions.

“What are we doing to improve the experience for non-Jewish students?” one attendee asked Liebowitz, who conveyed his re-

Highlights from the November Board of Trustees Meeting, Nov. 13-15, 2017 General Summary • • •

The board passed three resolutions from the Academy Committee.

Olga Papemmanouil, in computer science, was given an associate professorship with tenure.

The Board approved a new Master of Science program in robotic software engineering in the Rabb School of Continuing sciences was approved.

• They approved a Master of Science program in business analytics in the International Business School.

• The Board talked about the discussion among students and faculty about the General Education requirement proposal. The faculty voted to approve the requirements last month, but the trustees must still vote to officially approve them.They would take effect for the entering class of 2019.

Committee Summaries • •

•

•

Nominating and Governance Committee • They reviewed a list of potential trustee and trustee-emeritus status candidates, and approved a proposal to appoint a senior administrator to serve as university treasurer.

Risk Management Audit Committee • This committee reported on the resolved internal audits and received an update on the affirmative action plan audit from the U.S. Department of Labor, and the conciliation agreement that was executed Nov. 13.

Resources Committee • They discussed the 2017 fiscal year budget results, which yielded a small surplus and the national tax legislation’s potential effects on Brandeis. The House bill includes a tax that could affect Brandeis’ almost 1,800 graduate students.

• The resources committee also discussed financial analyses such as an indirect cost allocation study, plans for debt restructuring, and a framework for future endowment spending.

Administrators also discussed these matters at an open forum on Nov. 29.

Advancement Committee • This committee summarized the fundraising results for the 2017 fiscal year, raising $99 million and discussed strategies for future fundraising and engaging alumni.

Retreat Summary • • • •

The Board of Trustees reviewed how the board is organized and its interactions with the president, administrators, faculty and campus community.

They focused on trying to define the roles and responsibilities of a trustee in the university.

They held a two hour executive session discussing the forfeit of university retirement contributions during the recession and the divestment of fossil fuels from Brandeis’ endowment.

The Board says they will need to “engage both issues as a full board and come to a resolution, if not total agreement on each.” They will continue discussing the issues at their January meetings, engaging with faculty, staff and student representatives.

spect for an “historic and natural” connection between Brandies and Judaism. “We want to signal that we are not becoming unfriendly, as many institutions are, to Jewish students; you can’t deny that anti semitism is on the rise, there’s no doubt about it.” He added, however, that the administration’s review of student life will be “focusing on all of our students.”

“There is something very special here, but it needs significant attention and care to thrive, or even simply to survive in the long term,” Liebowitz wrote.

The open meetings are set to continue until March 2018, before moving into the second stage, when Brandeis will release a new “vision statement.”

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

Liebowitz speaks to the Brandeis community for the first time in January 2016.

welcome reception

Matthew Sheehy appointed Univ. librarian

By Elianna Spitzer editor

Matthew Sheehy was appointed to the position of University Librarian, according to an email from President Ron Liebowitz to the Brandeis community.

Sheehy has been serving as Interim University Librarian since John Unsworth stepped down from the position in June 2016.

Prior to his role as Interim University Librarian, Sheehy was the Associate University Librarian for Collections. Sheehy has also

held positions at the New York Public Library and in the Harvard Library. A search committee reviewed over 40 applications from candidates across the country and determined that Sheehy was the best candidate. The committee included 10 members from multiple departments and schools.

“His background, experience, work with other universities, and management skills all make him more than qualified to take on this position in a permanent capacity,” Liebowitz wrote, “Please join me in congratulating Matthew on this appointment!”

December 1, 2017

FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Reflecting on past Nobel Prize winners

By Polina Potochevska and Sara McCrea editor and staff

With the recent awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Brandeis professor Michael Rosbash (BIOL) and professor emeritus of biology Jeffrey Hall for their work on circadian rhythms, The Brandeis Hoot explored other members of the Brandeis community who have won Nobel Prizes in the past for their revolutionary work in their field, as mentioned in President Liebowitz’s email to students on Oct. 2. Two such members include Saul Bellow, a Nobel Prize winner in Literature, and Roderick MacKinnon, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry.

Saul Bellow: 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature Saul Bellow served as the Hiatt Visiting Professor of English in 1977. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976, and then went on to teach at Brandeis during the fall semester. According to an article written by Laurie

Hays of the Harvard Crimson, the chairman of the Brandeis English department of the time, John H. Smith, said that Bellow was given the opportunity to “teach whatever he would like.”

Born in 1915, Bellow was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature since author John Steinbeck won the award in 1962. In an article written by The New York Times in 1976, Bellow’s writing style was described as going through two stages, the first “representing an “emancipation” of American writing from the “hard-boiled” but increasingly “routine” style of the 1930’s,” while the second represented Bellow’s “improvement on himself.”

The official Nobel Prize website cited the reason for Bellow’s win as “the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.” A Pulitzer Prize winner in 1975 for his work of fiction, “Humboldt’s Gift,” Bellow did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin and served in the Merchant Marine during World War II. A memorable character type in his short stories is the “anti-hero,” unique to Bellow in the way he conveyed their cour-

age which gave the stories their “lasting stature,” according to the New York Times review. While he did not teach for a long time at Brandeis, he surely left an impact.

Roderick MacKinnon: 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry When Roderick MacKinnon, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, transferred to Brandeis for his sophomore year, he had what he described on the official Nobel website as an eye opening experience. “For the first time in my life I was in a seriously intellectual environment. The classes tended to be small, intense and stimulating. I discovered that I had a passion for science, and that I was very good at it,” he wrote for his Nobel biographical.

MacKinnon’s work centered around the structure and ion selectivity of potassium ion channels. Before his research, the molecular architecture of potassium ion channels was only speculative, but MacKinnon and his colleague Peter Acre were able to determine the three-dimensional structure of the channels

jeffrey hall, michael rosbash and michael w. young, nobel prize winners in physiology or medicine (2017)

photo from i.guim.co.uk

photo from nihrecord.nih.gov

photo from img.thedailybeast.com

roderick mackinnon ‘78, nobel prize

saul bellow, nobel prize winner in

winner in chemistry (2003)

literature (1976)

and the exact ion selectivity process using X-ray crystallography.

MacKinnon is currently a professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University in New York City.

nels. These studies led him to an assistant professorship at Harvard in 1989. But when MacKinnon learned of new methods of protein purification and X-ray

“For the first time in my life I was in a seriously intellectual environment.”

MacKinnon graduated Brandeis in 1978 as a biochemistry major and wrote an honors thesis on calcium transport and the cell membrane as an electrode with Professor Chris Miller as an advisor. In a Brandeis physics class, MacKinnon met Alice Lee, a classmate who would become an organic chemist and MacKinnon’s wife.

Despite Miller’s advice to not pursue medicine, MacKinnon went on from Brandeis to pursue his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.

However, he ultimately made the difficult decision to follow his passion in scientific research.

He returned to Chris Miller’s lab at Brandeis for his postdoctoral studies, where he conducted biophysical studies on K+ chan-

crystallography, he gave up his tenured position at Harvard for a position at Rockefeller University, where he conducted the majority of his prize-winning research.

On Nov. 30, President Liebowitz updated students through email about the Nobel ceremony taking place on Sunday, Dec. 10, for Michael Rosbash and Jeffrey Hall. The Brandeis professors will be honored with their Nobel Prizes in Stockholm, Sweden. To celebrate the event, there will be a campus viewing party in Levin Ballroom at 10:30 a.m. with food, giveaways and “plenty of Brandeis pride” according to Liebowitz. The email also included a link to register for the event, which is hosted by the administration and the Student Union.

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

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

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Join the Features Section to engage with the Brandeis community and become part of a new one.

6 The Brandeis Hoot

OPINIONS

December 1, 2017

The power of kneeling during the national anthem

By José Castellanos columnist

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and San Francisco safety Eric Reid came under fire from rightwing citizens and news outlets alike over their September 1, 2016 decision to take a knee during the national anthem. Though they were alone in their action for a while, the act of peaceful protest soon spread around the sports world as players took a knee to protest racial injustices in the United States. However with this came even more backlash.

The backlash featured sporting elites such as Houston Texans owner Robert C. McNair, who warned that the players should follow his orders because “We can’t have the inmates running the prison” (which actually only led to a full-team kneel during the anthem), and NBA Commissioner and Barnacle Boy lookalike Adam Silver, who stated that players who decided to not stand

during the anthem would be met with harsh discipline. Silver also stated that individual teams have no power to decide whether or not players could take a knee during the anthem.

The issue is clearly contentious and further evidence of a growing sociopolitical divide in the United States. It goes past commissioners and franchise owners and into our daily lives. For example, a Brandeis Hoot opinion piece titled “Politicization of sports has brought this country to a new low” was published this past October. The article argued that sports in America function as a form of escapism, and that athletes kneeling during the anthem robbed Americans of an important escape from political issues.

I thought that this article misunderstood the issue of kneeling as protest, and argued a view that I found regressive. The issue here is that many people, especially those who are directly affected by the racial violence that athletes are protesting, do not have the privilege to simply ignore what’s going

on around them.

This becomes an even more contentious and complicated issue when one considers that some people have more socioeconomic and sociopolitical privilege, which means that they can use their status to enact meaningful change through these protests. Instead, many relatively privileged people simply choose to ignore the peaceful protests, or more often than not dismiss them as unreasonable and disrespectful.

Their reasoning is that both sides are complicit in perpetuating antagonisms, and that kneeling athletes catalyze these antagonisms.

This view is illogical, especially because the act of taking a knee is a peaceful protest that in no way disrespects veterans or the flag. Frankly, all citizens should consider taking a knee during the national anthem.

Kneeling during the national anthem doesn’t represent disrespect for veterans. Besides the fact that the tune of the anthem is a direct transposition of the British song “To Anacreon in Heav-

en”, the Star-Spangled Banner is a literal reference to the flag of the United States flying following the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

While one could argue that this is a perfect metaphor for the resolve of the United States and its veterans, wouldn’t a better metaphor for patriotic resolve be the continued protesting of racial injustices in the face of harsh adversity? Patriotic resolve isn’t a blind acceptance of antiquated ideals and refusal to speak out against wrongs. Patriotic resolve is recognizing that society has wrongs that shouldn’t be accepted but rather confronted and overcome.

This isn’t even taking into account the fact that NFL teams coming out to the field and standings for the national anthem is a new practice. Teams didn’t start standing for the anthem until 2009.

The practice didn’t become widespread until 2012, when the United States Department of Defense began their “Paid Patriotism” procedure by paying NFL teams to come out and stand for

the anthem.

Many say that players shouldn’t engage in peaceful protest because, to many, football is an escape, and this is hindering on those people’s rights to enjoy a pastime. However it’s not unreasonable to say that certain issues have priority over sports. Yes, people have the right to enjoy their games and watch the Browns go 0-16, but the act of peacefully protesting racial injustices doesn’t in any way compromise their ability to watch a game of football given that the game and the anthem don’t overlap at all. I ask that Brandeis students in positions of power use their relative privilege to stand up against racial injustices by refusing to stand. During public national anthems, choosing to kneel makes a powerful and peaceful statement. More attention needs to be drawn to issues of racial violence, and these brave players need to be shown support in the most effective and peaceful way possible: taking a knee during the anthem.

NCAA gymnastics rules favor wealthy athletes

By Katarina Weessies editor

After the 2016 Olympics, many of the nation’s elite gymnasts went off to college, where they now compete for NCAA teams.

Madison Kocian, who won one gold and one silver medal in Rio, just began her sophomore year at UCLA. British Olympian Ruby Harrold is one of the stars of the gymnastics program at LSU. Many of the NCAA stars are elite-level gymnasts who fell short of the Olympics, and are using college athletics to redeem their careers. Most notably, last year’s NCAA champion Maggie Nichols tore her meniscus months before Rio, just barely missing out on her Olympic dreams.

Many athletes find NCAA gymnastics to be uplifting and therapeutic. Former elite gymnasts are celebrated in NCAA. You can

find athletes like Maggie Nichols leaning into the audience during competitions to sign autographs and posting thankful messages to their thousands of Instagram and Twitter followers.

This can help athletes who struggled at the elite level or were plagued by injuries throughout their elite careers regain confidence and redeem themselves.

Despite the fanfare over former elite gymnasts, the bulk of NCAA gymnasts were not international elites, but competed at state and local meets and the Junior Olympic level.

In collegiate gymnastics, Junior Olympic level gymnasts compete at the same level as the former elites, earning much of the same praise, and sometimes beating them out for titles. Many gymnasts find that NCAA gymnastics boosts their confidence and contributes to their mental health.

Unfortunately, many elite level

gymnasts never get the chance to experience the confidence-boosting effects of college gymnastics.

This is because the NCAA has an “amateurism requirement”, or a rule that all athletes competing must never have played their sport professionally.

This means that athletes cannot do paid endorsements or appearances until after they finish college. For more traditional sports like football or basketball, the amateurism requirement makes sense. It prevents colleges from recruiting adult professional athletes to boost their rankings.

However, the career trajectory of a gymnast is different from those of other athletes.

Gymnasts can begin competing at the international elite level when they turn sixteen. They typically compete at this level for three to four years before retiring from the sport.

After they retire for elite gym-

nastics, some American gymnasts will go to college and compete as an NCAA gymnast, while others will choose to “go pro”, or accept endorsement money during their elite careers. It is extremely rare for athletes to return to elite competition after college.

Wealthier gymnasts can afford to decline endorsements in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility, but for gymnasts with less money, it’s a difficult choice.

Gymnastics is an expensive sport. Elite gymnasts train from six to eight hours a day with a personal coach. They usually require regular care from a physical therapist, and many choose to see dieticians or massage therapists.

This type of medical care can go on for long after their athletic careers are over. Gymnasts often have pricey workout and practice equipment at home, and a high-quality competition leotard can cost hundreds or even thou-

sands of dollars.

This puts an enormous financial burden on the families of gymnasts, putting lower income elite gymnasts in a difficult position.

NCAA gymnastics is a rewarding and healthy experience, but if they “go pro”, they can support their families, and finance their own gymnastics careers.

For traditional NCAA sports like basketball or football, it’s reasonable to require that all athletes be amateur. After all, these athletes can begin lucrative careers after they graduate.

But for gymnasts, the amateurism requirement is deeply unfair. It forces lower income gymnasts and their families to choose between college sports and much-needed endorsement money. The NCAA should make an exception in the amateurism requirement that allows for gymnasts to accept money before their collegiate careers.

Brandeis students should care more about sports

By Matt Kowalyk columnist

There has been a lot of talk among our campus’ student leadership over the past few months, mainly among the members of the Student Union and in some talks with administrators, concerning how to increase ‘school spirit’. There are ideas floating around about campus events, bigger discounts on Brandeis gear at the store, engagement with sports, overall trying to encourage students to do what students often do at schools with a more cohesive and lasting brand.

I have been harping on about this since 2015 in the first article I ever wrote for the Opinion section, mainly plugging for the spirit band, now the MAD Band, in which I serve as Assistant Director. I stand by all of the arguments

I made in that piece, including the fun, the fervor, the unity, and I am glad that there have been moves to attempt activities to encourage school spirit as mentioned previously. However, though I absolutely believe it is part of the solution, depending on the school alone to generate school spirit will take time and surely will seem inauthentic.

So many Brandeis students are not good at interacting with other people. I have decried and maybe slightly exaggerated the social and ideological bubble we may create for ourselves here, but it is interesting when I go off campus and see how some people interact with the real world.

It used to confuse me to see Brandeis students act strangely to regular people in awkward exchanges at restaurants, with cashiers, soliciting help with a map, etc., and I cannot imagine what a

splintered social structure would do to students who already have a tough time getting around in the world. Some of it is mental prejudice and becoming stuck in habitual worldview perpetuation, it is true, but it can be very hard to break.

That’s why we need people to like sports.

Some people at Brandeis do like sports. They are the athletes, primarily, and the small fan clubs that occupy the student section. I hear tales of a time when Brandeis had a stronger and more present student section at soccer and basketball games, yet for some reason it has gone away. It disappeared just before my class arrived, as I understand it. However, it should come back somehow, either through the efforts of Athletics (which they are doing a great job at encouraging students to show up with new initiatives),

better advertising on the part of university communications, Student Union attendance (we’re doing our best), or the arbitrary actions of students who want to have more fun, cheer on fellow students, and project a (probably) repressed need for competition onto those who make it the most interesting.

This could bind disparate social spheres together in a common environment and have at least something that we could call common ground. It’s a way to get out of your room and across South Street for something other than Mod activities. It is a way to blindly and fully support other people from Brandeis as they represent our athletic capacity.

At least at basketball games, there often will be majorette dancers, a pep band, and cheerleaders all working together to make it a good time. It is too bad so many

people missed the men’s soccer team reach the Final Four, which should be available for streaming later on the day of this article’s publishing. Our teams are solid, making for a lot of fun at games.

I would follow the mantra of the ‘find-yourselfie’ college student and try something new in this case. Just find a schedule taped to a wall somewhere, look online, download the We the Jury app that Athletics just released, and find a game to attend. Sports are fun and God knows we need something to make us come together and be less sad around here.

It may seem forced now, but I guarantee the long-term payoff would do more than just increase attendance numbers at games.

It could be a real way to make Brandeis life fuller and happier, all while being together.

EDITORIALS

December 1, 2017

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Hannah Schuster Emily Sorkin Smith Senior Managing Editor Allison Plotnik Senior Editor-at-Large Charlotte Aaron Senior Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano News Editor Elianna Spitzer Deputy News Editor Celia Young Arts Editor Katie Decker-Jacoby Opinions Editor Katarina Weessies Features Editor Polina Potochevska Senior Sports Editor Sarah Jousset Sports Editor Zach Cihlar Photo Editor Yarisa Diaz Layout Editor Candace Ng Editor-at-Large Ryan Spencer

Volume 14 • Issue 19 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

David Aizenberg, Juliana An, Emily Botto,Jordan Brodie, José Castellanos, Anindita Chanda, Sabrina Chow, Kevin Costa, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Daniel Freedman, Natalie Fritzson, Ariella Gentin, Rebecca Goldfarb, Noah Harper, Kevin Healey, Daniel Johnston, Daniel Kang, Jonah Koslofsky, Matthew Kowalyk, Samantha Lauring, Sara McCrea, Jerry Peng

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

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

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

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

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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.

P

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Transparency cannot be in name only

resident Liebowitz and the Brandeis administration have taken steps to improve transparency on campus. But transparency is only valuable if it is accessible. While the administration has been sharing information through a series of open forums, they could do more to encourage attendance and reach more students with this information.

We appreciate Liebowitz’s efforts to expand transparency. The open forums he has hosted throughout the past three semesters provide a wealth of important information about the university.

This semester alone, there have been three different open forum topics. Wednesday’s presentation on Brandeis’ finances discussed the school’s endowment and the large quantity of deferred maintenance—all those construction or cosmetic projects on campus that sit unfinished.

There have been meetings on the draft principles on free expression, exploring major contemporary issues of free speech or controversy surrounding conservative speakers on college campuses.

On Tuesday, Liebowitz hosted a meeting on the future of Brandeis,

where he spoke about obstacles the university faces and possibilities for the future.

These meetings are important, and we appreciate Liebowitz and administrators sharing this information. For the most part, the administrators are candid and detailed, and we respect that Liebowitz thinks we can handle having this information. For once, we are getting information not written in sugar-coated public relations language.

However, while these meetings are transparent, they are not accessible. The finance meeting was held at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday. The meeting on Brandeis’ future was held at 12 p.m., which is perhaps the most common time to have class. Levin Ballroom was packed on Tuesday for that meeting, but not with students. It was filled with staff and faculty, and fewer than 10 students attended.

These meetings are not accessible when they take place in the middle of the day. Students have class or work, things they cannot reschedule. It is not enough to host these presentations if no one is able to come to them.

This responsibility rests, to a certain extent, with students. Not all students were in class at this time, and we encourage everyone to attend these meetings and be proactive in learning about their school. Still, these sessions could be much more accessible if they were held at a different time. It is also the responsibility of the university to take steps to encourage and allow for higher attendance.

Brandeis has hosted open forums in the evening in past years, and even these are not as well-attended as one would like.

Brandeis could take other steps to encourage attendance, including publicizing them via other mediums than email. As much as we, as journalists, are eager to open every campus-wide email, others will just scroll by. Publicizing the event on Facebook or Instagram could reach more students.

We encourage Brandeis to consider hosting forums in the evening. We recognize this is after business hours, but even if the meeting were around 4 p.m., fewer students would be in class. Improving Brandeis as an institution takes everyone’s knowledge and effort.

ARTS

8 The Brandeis Hoot

December 1, 2017

MELA 2017 soars to new heights with a truly impressive and vibrant program

By Katie Decker-Jacoby editor

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka—all these beautiful cultures were celebrated at the South Asian Students’ Association’s (SASA) most anticipated event of the semester, MELA 2017. This year’s theme was “Masakali,” which translates as a dove symbolizing love, peace, hope and liberation. These themes were wholeheartedly embraced throughout the evening, sending positive and uplifting messages to everyone in a packed Levin Ballroom, on Sat, Nov. 18.

The room teemed with eager students and community members as well as overjoyed SASA members. But the room itself was also stunning. The backdrop had a grand reveal at the end of the e-board dance, which was short but sweet and a perfect way to set the mood for the evening.

Pink sparkling flowers, gold glittering doves and a dazzling silver bird cage covered the giant backdrop that faded from light blue to black. A brown tree, “Masakali” and “Dare to Fly” also coated the ombré background. Additionally, an illuminated banner reading “MELA 2017” hung from the foot of the stage. The decorations were beautifully crafted.

Glitter aside, MELA 2017 featured impressive dancing, with performers who truly knew how to dance and excite the crowd.

Throughout the night, each class year presented its own complete dance number. If the audience underestimated the freshman dance because its participants are newest to the SASA, they were mistaken. The freshman dance started the night off strong. Snapping, pounding on the ground and clapping, the freshman performers dressed in gold and yellow came to impress.

The sophomores brought the energy from the get go. Flecks of gold and blue danced across the stage in fast-paced motions and

photos courtesy bill mccormack

to a heavy beat. The junior dance toned it down a bit. The red lighting gave the performance a cool flair.

Last but not least in the class year performances, the seniors flooded the stage with extreme pride, passion and enthusiasm.

The dance started slow, but eventually sped up and concluded with the seniors posing all together with a cute sign saying “Seniors up, up & away!”

In addition to the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior performances, several other dance troupes took to the stage to wow the audience. Members of the Classical Indian Ensemble traveled across every inch of

the stage wearing bells on their ankles. There were slight but sharp movements and as the music gradually became faster, the group matched the music’s pace and stayed on beat.

Brandeis Bhangra flew across the stage to western hip hop beats and eastern dhol rhythms. The performance involved several different geometric formations that allowed the group to command the stage in a very effective way.

Hip hop dance group Stop Motion seriously energized the crowd. Using the entire stage space and staying in sync, Stop Motion was amped up from the start. They danced to throwback hip hop classics like “OMG” by

Usher ft. Will.i.am and “New Flame” by Chris Brown ft. Usher and Rick Ross, among others, which the audience received with excitement.

Bollywood Fusion dance team Chak De! blended dance styles from India and the United States in what turned out to be an incredibly entertaining dance production with a storyline running throughout. The dance illustrated the relationship between a mother, queen of the kingdom, and her daughter, a princess who resists her royal responsibilities. During a battle scene, dancers split the stage to show the divide and stomped to the beat. High kicks and fluid movements packed a punch, and of course, the queen and princess ultimately settle their differences. Chak De! left audience members wanting to see more.

The Stud dance, consisting of five upperclassmen male students, let loose in towels, pajamas and sweatpants, with rainbow strobe lights shining upon them.

It might not have been the most in sync, polished dance of the evening, but the dancers clearly had fun with it and so did the crowd.

Along with plenty of dancing, two singing acts entered the spotlight. Radhika Jangi ’18 sang two songs from two different Bollywood films: “Kehna Hi Kya” and “Jiya Jale.” SASA co-president Vineet Vishwanath ’18 strummed his guitar in the background of Jangi’s strong but gentle voice.

In addition to the duet, a band called OTO, made up of Brandeis SASA alumni, incorporated their South Asian backgrounds with hip hop. Blending the two together resulted in a memorable piece about liberation. “Waiting on you setting me free,” was repeatedly sung in the smooth chorus alongside a catchy beat. It was nice to see how SASA fosters such a tight-knit community where alumni want to continue to be a part of the cultural group.

Another highlight of the night was SASA’s fashion show, where SASA members showcased the

latest South Asian trends. Flashes of gold, emerald green, burgundy, royal blue, orange, pink, yellow, purple, black and white mesmerized the audience in an upbeat, free-flowing, bright runway show.

It was enlightening to be exposed to South Asian style on top of South Asian dancing, music and meanings.

Charity Pro Bono Counseling Project, which strives to provide mental health care access to those who might not be able to get it, presented at Mela. Presenter and SASA co-president Mrudula Gadgil ’18 discussed the need to shed more light onto South Asian mental health and the stigma around it. SASA collected donations for this charity all throughout the evening.

Dean of Students Jamele Adams also made an appearance on stage, performing slam poetry connected to the theme of the night, “Masakali.” Adams’ powerful verses were delivered with exceptional intensity and conviction. It was nearly impossible to receive his message on liberation and perseverance without getting chills.

What was perhaps most touching were the the co-presidents’ speeches given towards the end of the show. SASA co-presidents Vishwanath and Gadgil thanked everyone for attending. A few e-board members also took the time to express their gratitude to the co-presidents. It was easy to see that SASA has created such a warm, welcoming, genuine community at Brandeis and beyond.

MELA 2017 was a night to remember and it couldn’t have been so without the help of emcees Taminder Singh ’20, Farzana Parveen ’19 and Rebecca Cohen ’19. The trio’s games, spiels, interactive activities and frequent witty banter thoroughly entertained audience members and tied the show together seamlessly. Dancing, singing, laughing, emceeing, learning and celebrating galore, MELA 2017 was a massive success that could not have been a better way to wrap up this year’s I Am Global Week.

‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ is packed with emotions, yet parts of the plot remain uncertain

By Noah Harper and Jonah Koslofsky staff

Noah: Last week we both went and saw “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and I have to say we were both kind of floored by it.

Just a little bit of set-up: It’s the third film by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges,” “Seven Psychopaths”) and it starts off with a woman named Mildred Hayes, played by Frances McDormand, putting up these billboards outside of her rural town in Missouri. Her daughter was murdered months ago, and it seems like nothing’s been done to find the killer, so she puts up these really provocative statements on billboards, and things go from there.

The movie is hilarious, violent

and heart-breaking. The characters feel real—there are multiple dimensions to them.

And even though there’s a lot of anger, violence and hatred thrown around, I never really felt like there was a “villain” in one sense of the word. There are some really terrible people that do some really terrible things, but you kind of empathize with them. What did you think about the movie, Jonah?

Jonah: Well Noah, I won’t sugarcoat it: This movie made my cry. Three times. The story here is just so perfectly tragic and honest that I couldn’t stop myself.

This is the peak of what I’ll affectionately refer to as “sadboy” media, a superior version of last year’s “Manchester By The Sea.” I’m unfamiliar with director Martin McDonagh, but his writing and direction here is top notch, and brought to life by some really incredible performances. McDor-

mand is great, but the real standout is Sam Rockwell, who turns in a career-high performance. Rockwell is playing a bad, mama’s-boy police officer, but he really sells the role, always earning the right amount of sympathy from the audience.

This is a story about how violence breeds violence. Common sense, right? But McDonagh illustrates that point, and really makes you feel how sad that simple fact is.

“Three Billboards” is a great movie, but honestly, I’m not sure I can recommend it. Great filmmaking for sure, but like I said, it’s just so sad that I can’t say that everyone will want to experience it.

What do you think, Noah? Who is this movie for? Can you recommend it?

Noah: You know Jonah, I’m just not sure. I tried to get my family to go see it over Thanksgiving, but they just wouldn’t bite (they went

to see “Ladybird” instead). Part of me wonders if it’s just one of those movies that doesn’t quite have the “breakout” appeal, like “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”—one of those films only big independent cinema buffs will go see.

But I have had a little more time to think about it, and I’m not sure if the “violence just begets more violence” theme quite vibes with me.

It’s almost been two weeks and I’m not sure if McDonagh, even though he’s admitting that idea’s triteness and trying to move past it, is quite able to.

Part of me wonders if Frances McDormand’s character is actually able to accomplish anything by putting up the titular three billboards—or is it about something else entirely? What do you think?

Jonah: I’d argue that the titular three billboards are an extension of that cycle of violence that McDonagh is so interested in explor-

ing here. They—the three billboards—are blunt and bleak, just like the movie as a whole. When that’s done right, as it is here, that’s a good thing. But to answer your question, Noah, I don’t think putting up the billboards accomplishes anything. The question the film is grappling with is whether or not people can break out of this cycle of violence, and it’s answer is perfectly ambiguous (I’m pretty sure we had radically different takes).

That being said, I feel like I have to call attention to the fact that this movie is pretty funny, I guess?

I mean, I was definitely laughing, but this is far from a comedy. It isn’t all entirely sad.

It’s a blend of tragedy, humor and, most of all, grief. McDonagh, or more specifically his character Mildred, confronts the absurdity of the world in a film that’s honest, bleak and very good. It’s just not for the faint of heart.

December 1, 2017

ARTS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

2017 American Music Awards, a night of dazzling performances and uplifting messages

By Rebecca Goldfarb staff

Self empowerment was the main theme of the 2017 American Music Awards (AMAs), broadcasted on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. Stars shined throughout the evening as many different artists across all genres were recognized for their achievements and impact in popular music throughout the year.

The awards honored legendary women like Whitney Houston and Diana Ross for their successes and influences on music throughout the decades. There was no drama between artists like there often is at MTV Video Music Awards.The AMAs solely focuses on the celebration of music and extraordinary artists.

The show was hosted by actress and model Tracee Ellis Ross, who carried on the show with charisma and enthusiasm. Ellis Ross is the daughter of Diana Ross, making Tracee and Diana the first mother/daughter pair in history to host the American Music Awards.

Tracee wore many unique outfits throughout the night each time she made an appearance on stage.

Her main outfit highlight was a ruffled gold dress formed in the shape of a turkey during her introduction speech at the beginning of the Awards Show. Another piece she wore that stood out was an outfit Diana Ross wore along with Michael Jackson for one of her musical specials.

Performances played a significant role in this award show, and most of the performances stood out as numbers that have never been done before. P!nk and Kelly Clarkson each performed twice during the AMAs. These female pop sensations opened the night covering R.E.M’s rock ballad, “Everybody Hurts.” The duo’s well-delivered performance oc-

photo from imdb.com

curred after many first responders on stage were honored, so this song fit the context of the mood by singing for hope.

P!nk’s performance later in the show is by far one of the most stellar ones of the night. She performed her new hit song “Beautiful Trauma” while hanging from a wire on the side of a building executing death-defying stunts. She performed alongside aerial stunt dancers and sung, astonishingly, without a hint of fear in her voice, flipping through the air the same way she would have sung if she was standing on stage.

Some of the best performances took place in the middle of the award show. Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” performance was definitely a surprise. The recording of the song itself is mediocre, but the live performance incorporated guitars, turning the generic pop recording into dynamic, impressive rock performance. The performance served as a step up from his past award show performances.

Lady Gaga performed her latest song “The Cure” live at her concert in Washington, D.C., and her

performance was broadcasted on the screen of the AMAs. Since this performance was targeted more for an arena and not for an award show, she had more freedom with what she could do, so the performance included an abundance of lighting effects and choreography.

Her outfit was gorgeous and her powerful vocals carried through in her live performance, just as they would in the her recordings.

Macklemore and Skylar Grey followed up right after Gaga, who also carried out an amazing performance. Macklemore had so much energy as he continued to rap his verses while simultaneously engaging with the crowd, allowing for everyone in the audience to sing along to the chorus.

Portugal. The Man was another standout of the night with the delivery of the band’s sleeper hit, “Feel It Still.” At the beginning of the performance, there was a sign that said, “No Computer Here, Just Live Music,” highlighting the group’s musical authenticity.

The performance had a nostalgic vibe to it, with visual effects that made the song feel as if it was from the 1960s. In addition to the band, there was an entire backup

orchestra, which included saxophones, french horns and violins.

Another exceptional performance was the collaboration between Khalid and Imagine Dragons mashing their respective hit songs “Young, Dumb, And Broke” and “Thunder.” Both of the choruses to these songs mesh well because they both repeat the titles to these songs throughout the chorus in a catchy way. The instrumentation of “Thunder” complemented the verses to “Young, Dumb, And Broke.”

Having seen Imagine Dragons live in Boston a few weeks ago, they continue to stay at the top of their game whether performing at the TD Garden or an awards show. Khalid was very comfortable on stage and performed well for it being one of his first major award show performances. Korean pop group BTS was another new group who made their major award show debut with their performance of “DNA.” Their charisma and energy excited the audience.

Two powerful female singers who have had a major influence in American music were honored for their work. Christina Aguilera

paid tribute to Whitney Houston and her film “The Bodyguard.”

Houston has received the most American Music Awards than any other female in history, with over 21 AMAs. Aguilera’s performance started off slow and subtle by singing “I Will Always Love You” with intense concentration. She sang “I Have Nothing,” with clips from “The Bodyguard” drifting across the screen in the background. This song, as well as “Run To You,” really brought out Aguilera’s intense vocal range and provoked a standing ovation from the audience.

The tribute concluded with “I’m Every Woman,” supported by a choir. This was by far one of the best songs in the tribute, as it brought all of the women in the audience to their feet to dance, sing along and celebrate. Starting off slow and ending in commemoration, Aguilera honored Whitney Houston’s work. Before Diana Ross received her well deserved Lifetime Achievement award, she concluded the performances of the night by singing a compilation of her iconic hit songs, including “I’m Coming Out,” “Take Me Higher,” “Ease On Down The Road,” “The Best Year Of My Life” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Her phenomenal performance put a smile on everyone’s face in the audience, as everybody celebrated her achievements and the influence of her career.

Overall, this year’s AMAs established how strong and powerful people can be in music, particularly women. It was also an important way to reward the artists who made this year a pretty satisfying year in music, compared to 2016, which was a mediocre year for music.

Nonetheless, the AMAs focused on music, celebrating the music of the year and female vocalists from the past.

Storytelling open-mic night presents students’ fascinating stories on misreadings

By Noah Harper staff

“Everybody has stories that they don’t know they have within them,” said Brandeis English Professor David Sherman, who organized Tuesday’s Storytelling Open-Mic night with the English Undergraduate Departmental Representatives (UDR). “Giving each other space or situations to tell them is just really important,”

he added.

The event, held in Chum’s, had a cozy, intimate feel, with the couches turned in a semicircle and an encouraging, supportive audience. It was emceed by English UDR Rachel Moore ’19, who started things off by introducing the event’s theme: “Misreadings.”

It was a perfect opportunity for students to hone their storytelling skills in the company of a boosterish audience. We heard seven stories, all at least tangentially related to the idea of a “misreading.”

photo by noah harper/the hoot

This ranged from a friend mistakenly purchasing Coachella tickets to someone singing loudly during an “Annie” interlude as a young child.

“The Moth” is probably the best way to describe the event. Though people went up onstage by themselves, it wasn’t standup—there were funny moments, but the point was to tell a good story that somehow related to the theme, not to just get laughs.

My personal favorites came from stories about being mistaken over things involving their significant others in high school.

One student discussed practicing BDSM with a girlfriend, though she would only use a non-leather belt (she was vegan). The girlfriend, just as unaware as he was, thought it was normal that her hand had turned purple. I especially liked the description of one of the girl’s friends walking in on them and taking far too long to figure out what was going on.

There was another great story about a girl with a high school crush who was kind of a self-admitted sociopath. She unabashedly described her early high school persona with aplomb. “I would

wear fedoras unironically—my most prized possession was a gray cashmere feathered fedora.” I also liked how she would chronicle her crushes: “I’m going to write about this in the Google doc I have about my feelings.” Because let’s be honest—who doesn’t do that?

It turned out the guy kind of was a sociopath, flirting openly with her and her friend at the same time.

We heard stories about forgetful, prejudiced suburban moms and aged, meth-addled grandpas.

It was hilarious hearing about how one girl’s grandpa had once been in a gang and now was in a senior citizen service group of the same name. She also used some great descriptive language to describe him, saying he “looks like the fucking Crypt Keeper” and “lives in a Norman Bates murder house.”

There’s something powerful about a storytelling event like this.

The intimate, impromptu feel allows people to share their stories in the spur of the moment, without fear of judgement. Some of my favorite stories from the night were from people who made the split-second decision to go up and share. I think this is a great com-

munity to foster on campus.

I really admire Professor Sherman’s efforts to develop a community of storytellers at Brandeis.

“The ambition is to create a storytelling culture on campus and around Waltham,” he said. “The Brandeis Storytelling Brigade is kind of how we put ourselves, and the idea is to use an academic class to learn something you can use far beyond the classroom,” he explained.

“There’s a lot of amazing natural storytellers at Brandeis…They’re just really observant of the world and they have interesting interpretations of it…It’s just taking advantage of a lot of raw, natural talent and letting people share their talent with each other,” he continued.

For those interested, they can find out more about the Brandeis Storytelling Brigade on the group’s Facebook page. It’s a really warm, welcoming environment, and I’d encourage any storytellers on the fence about it to just give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen?

Sarah Terrazano, a senior copy editor for The Hoot, is an English UDR.

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The Brandeis Hoot

December 1, 2017

‘The Disaster Artist’ depicts the making of ‘The Room’ with stellar cinematography and acting

By Zachary Sosland staff

“The Disaster Artist” is a biopic about “The Room,” the most iconic “so bad it’s good” movie of all time. This story revolves around aspiring actor Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) who befriends another aspiring actor named Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and moves with him from San Francisco to Los Angeles so they can both pursue their dreams. After many failed attempts at finding acting roles in Hollywood, the two decide to make their own movie, but doing so becomes crazier than expected. Now the question still remains: Did this biography, which is also based on a nonfiction book from Sestero of the same name, live up to the hype? Absolutely.

I’ve known about “The Room” for a few years now but only watched the movie for the first time towards the end of the summer and loved it for what it was: a

feature that fails on all filmmaking while at the same time is so entertaining because of how those involved tried to make a quality film. Watching “The Room” made me even more excited for “The Disaster Artist,” and while attending a special screening of the former, I was invited to an advance screening of the latter.

Knowing that “The Room” is famous for late night screenings in packed theaters, I was excited to participate in this experience for the first time and it was definitely better than the movie itself, calling out on-screen flaws such as out-of-focus shots, yelling quotable lines such as “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” and especially throwing plastic spoons at the screen whenever a picture of a spoon appeared made seeing “The Room” in theaters truly memorable.

On a technical level, “The Disaster Artist” is better made than the movie it’s about. Brandon Trost’s cinematography often features a noticeable glare and there-

photos from imdb.com

fore gives the Southern California setting authenticity. James Franco also directs the film and makes the wise choice of using handheld camera to give it a much-needed documentary feel. The editing in “The Disaster Artist” is also surprising; there was one scene transition in particular that appealed to me as an aspiring screenwriter.

To prove how passionate Franco and company are about the source material, the film ends with sideby-side comparisons of iconic scenes from “The Room” with “The Disaster Artist” actors re enacting those scenes and they look indistinguishable from each other; that alone is worth the price of admission.

In terms of performances, each actor brings their character to life no matter how much screen time they receive. Many critics who saw “The Disaster Artist” at film festivals said that James Franco should receive an Oscar nomination for playing Tommy Wiseau, and I agree. From his voice to his mannerisms, Franco genuinely captures the essence of Wiseau and as the film progressed, I could no longer see the actor but only the person.

Dave Franco is also noteworthy as Greg Sestero, Tommy’s best friend and one of the leads in “The Room.” He hasn’t played many reserved roles throughout his career but thankfully plays this one well, which is especially important because the story is told through his perspective.

Although some may think that casting Dave Franco as Sestero is nepotistic, he and James’s brotherly relationship presumably helped create their terrific onscreen chemistry. Other supporting actors include Alison Brie,

Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer, all of whom deliver despite having minor roles. Similarly, “The Disaster Artist” features many celebrity cameos (which I won’t spoil in this review) and some of them were random in the best way possible.

The film’s screenplay from “(500) Days of Summer” writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber exceeds my expectations.

Although “The Disaster Artist” is intentionally hilarious, it also has plenty of heart which I did not expect.

Instead of merely using “The Disaster Artist” to poke fun at Tommy’s many mistakes, the filmmakers celebrate why “The Room” is so successful, answering long gesturing questions surrounding this unintentional comedy while also keeping that same shroud of mystery behind it. Several behind-the-scenes stories that I’ve heard aren’t present in the film but what is there is integral to the story and never interrupts the steady pace of this 103-minute feature. Wiseau has famously claimed that Sestero’s

book is only 40 percent accurate to what actually happened, but has recently stated that the film, in comparison, is 99.9 percent accurate.

Nonetheless, the film probably had to take liberties with its source material in order to tell a coherent narrative. “The Disaster Artist” also presents an inspirational message about following dreams in a fascinating manner.

Tommy Wiseau wanted to become famous and he did even if it’s not how he intended. For that reason, anyone who’s passionate about anything should definitely see “The Disaster Artist” because it will make them want to fulfill their goals even more regardless of how they interpret the film’s messages.

“The Disaster Artist” is one of the best films to come out this year. An inspirational story with an amazing lead performance and respect for the source material. If this film receives one Oscar nomination, I sincerely hope that Tommy Wiseau appears at the Oscars ceremony in all his football throwing glory.

New ‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ disappoints and fails to bring the fun

By Noah Harper staff

I love “Star Wars.” No matter how pretentious I pretend to be, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Jedis and lightsabers.

As a kid, I loved playing the video game “Star Wars Battlefront II.” It was the coolest thing ever: You could be a battle droid or a stormtrooper in essentially a giant sandbox, re-enacting your favorite “Star Wars” stories or creating new ones. I’ve since gone back and played the 2005 “Star Wars Battlefront II”—it’s a really simple, almost lazy game, but it’s Star Wars, and that’s all that matters.

This is why when I criticize 2017’s confusingly identically-titled “Star Wars Battlefront II.” I’m not coming from a place of being uppity, but absolute disappointment as a fan. I really wanted to like it.

The game feels like three separate games mashed together— which makes sense, since it was developed by three different studios: DICE, Motive Studios and Criterion Games. DICE did the heavy-lifting, focusing on the biggest component, the multiplayer, while Motive developed the single-player story, and Criterion did the space battle portions.

I’ve played the game for about

10 hours total, most of it unhappily. I was one of those people that signed up for the beta—the pre-release testing phase of the game’s development when people can first try things out—so I’ve been following things until its current state. I was really excited to play this new “Star Wars” game, and then I turned it on.

The multiplayer portion is just not as much fun. DICE has created something in between the fastpaced, instant respawn gameplay of Call of Duty, and the longer, more strategic aspects of their own Battlefield series, and the result is something that sucks all of the joy out of “Star Wars.”

The game encourages us to collaborate to achieve objectives— like shooting down an AT-AT walker on Hoth. However, every time I die, it puts me in a new squad—I can’t spawn with my old allies, like in “Battlefield I.” Any coordinating edge we might have had is gone when I respawn—I’m just spit back out into the match with another bunch of random players. Sometimes one of them is flying a spaceship, so they’re not even on the ground with me— there’s no communication or collaboration and it’s all a big mess that makes me sad.

The quick respawn interrupts the rhythm of things: Just when I’ve gotten into running around

with my squad and working together, I inevitably get shot by an Imperial Snowtrooper and then I have to wait an arbitrarily-long time just to get back into the game. In faster, simpler shooters, like a Call of Duty or Titanfall, there’s virtually no respawn time, and this helps to enable that addicting feeling of wanting to get immediately back into the action.

“Star Wars Battlefront II” can’t decide if it wants to be a strategic or fast-paced, and so we’re stuck here in the middle with neither.

In the first three or four missions, you get to play as Iden Versio, who’s a special ops Stormtrooper for the Empire. Things start after Episode VI ends, with the Empire in ruins, and you get to sneak around with a little droid and hack things and kill rebels— which is pretty fun.

The most fun I’ve had in “Star Wars Battlefront II” has been with the spaceship battles. Developer Criterion Games gave the player control of both the x and y axis in space, making it feel like you’re really controlling a starfighter.

This gives the dogfighting a realistic feel, and these have been some of the most fun space battles I’ve had in a Star Wars game since the original Battlefront II. The biggest problem I have with this game is its price. The game itself isn’t terrible but it’s definitely

photo from gamewatcher.com

not worth $59.99.

To unlock a character like Darth Vader, you had to originally play for 40 hours—or pay real money for “crates” that might contain an in-game currency that you could then amass to get the character.

Suffice it to say, this is a greedy, greedy game that preys on people’s inherent love of “Star Wars” to make them pay for something that they’ve already bought.

I’ve been playing using a 10hour trial I get for being an EA Access subscriber on my Xbox, and I’m glad I didn’t pay full price before trying, because 2017’s “Star Wars Battlefront II” is a cynical

mess. I wanted it to be fun, but the game itself just doesn’t come together into an overall enjoyable experience. There are bits and pieces there, but it’s so fragmented and artificially-engineered to make you pay money that all the freedom and happiness are gone.

In sum, don’t buy this game.

Instead, if you want a good single-player story shooter, get “Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus,” or just download 2005’s “Star Wars Battlefront II,” which has a heck of a lot more content and fun to it—and just costs a measly $10.

I think I’m going to go play that now to cheer myself up.

December 1, 2017

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The Brandeis Hoot

‘Justice League:’ an inoffensive mess

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

I am not a DC fan. Personally, I’ve always preferred Marvel comics over their older counterparts.

But I’ve always respected the archetypal nature of DC heroes.

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are larger than life, and were big well before audiences were familiar with Iron Man or Thor. DC is also (indirectly) responsible for the best comic book movie of all time, as after nearly 10 years of the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe, no one has been able to match the brilliance of “The Dark Knight.”

But DC—or more specifically their parent company Warner Brothers—has consistently failed to create a connected universe that can actually compete with Marvel. Now when I say “failed,” I don’t mean that the recent DC movies don’t exist—unfortunately they do—it’s that DC has failed to establish a cast of characters worth caring about over multiple films. And this failure continues in “Justice League.” Of the five recent DC movies (“Man of Steel,” “Batman v. Superman, “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman” and now “Justice League”), “Justice League” is shortest at only two hours, and the result is a movie that probably won’t make you mad (unlike some of the earlier entries), but it’s not worth remembering either. And it certainly isn’t worth seeing in theaters.

The plot, the little that’s here, is a poor man’s version of “The Avengers.” An alien threat is approaching, it’s bigger than any single superhero can face, there are too many explosions—you know the drill by now. But un-

photos from imdb.com

like “The Avengers,” which was an unparalleled success, these characters don’t have magnetic personalities that we’re familiar with from prior movies. Don’t get me wrong, Wonder Woman is still awesome, but the movie she’s in is a lot worse than her solo outing this past summer. “Justice League” tries to set up three brand new characters: Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. The problem is that Aquaman and Cyborg are totally lifeless, but I had a bit of a soft spot for Ezra Miller’s Flash, who’s actually likeable and interesting.

Speaking of lifeless, it’s not much of a spoiler to say that Superman shows up for the back half of the movie, but he’s lacking anything resembling an arc or a reason for us to care about him (but hey, that’s true for just about everybody in the movie). And then there’s Ben Affleck’s Batman, a role the actor is desperately trying to leave. The worst part is that Affleck was actually better in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” than he is here, as “Justice League’s” script essentially decided that he’s Tony Stark, which

just doesn’t fit. Instead of brooding or carrying the responsibility that rests on Batman’s shoulders, Affleck becomes this upbeat hero who always has a funny quip. At least he doesn’t murder anybody in this movie (looking at you, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”). But nobody’s as awful as the villain, Steppenwolf, an entirely CGI grey mess that is totally devoid of charisma or motivation.

He just sort of shows up, and is the worst villain I’ve seen in a superhero movie since we had to watch Thor fight elves.

The problem with reviewing “Justice League” is that I’d much rather talk about the drama behind-the-scenes because it’s much more interesting than anything that happens in the movie. The film was supposed to be directed

by Zack Snyder, who also directed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Man of Steel,” and has, up until now, been the driving creative force behind DC’s recent movies. His style involves a lot of darkness, overly long runtimes and a reliance on gratuitous slowmo shots. Snyder has never been

very good at telling a story, but he’s pretty good at making things look cool. Why Warner Bros entrusted its billion dollar cinematic universe to him is a mystery.

However, Snyder had to leave the project in March after a family tragedy, and Joss Whedon (director of the two “Avengers” movies) was brought on board to direct the parts of the film that had to be re-shot. Reshoots are a normal aspect of filmmaking, but another director taking over a film this late into production isn’t. What’s more, the reshoots happened to take place while Henry Cavil, the actor who plays Superman, was still filming “Mission Impossible 6.” The problem? Cavil’s Mission Impossible character has a mustache, and his contract determined that he couldn’t shave until filming of “Mission Impossible” concluded. This meant that the “Justice League” visual effects team had to digitally remove Superman’s mustache, and the results aren’t… good. For most of the movie, Superman’s face looks really weird, and it’s kind of hilarious.

Between the digital mustache removal costs and the reshoots, “Justice League” ended up costing around $300 million (plus another $150 million in marketing!), making it one of the most expensive movies of all time. It’s an investment that isn’t paying off, with an opening weekend gross of $93 million in North America, which fell far below expectations. It’s unlikely the film will turn a profit, leaving the future of DC movies in serious jeopardy. What’s the point of making these things if they don’t make money? It clearly isn’t to tell a good story.

But honestly, aside from the Superman mustache shenanigans, there really isn’t anything memorable about “Justice League.” With two directors and a shortened runtime that sucks out any sign of life, all that’s left is a movie that’s nothing but an inoffensive mess.

There are some signs of improvement, and I’d watch more Flash or Wonder Woman, but in general DC continues to fail to impress.

Adagio’s fall show celebrates dance at

By Katie Decker-Jacoby editor

Students and community members crowded into Levin Ballroom to watch Adagio’s fall show, themed “Throwback Thursday,” on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 16. The show also featured wonderful performances by Hooked on Tap, Ballet Company and B’Yachad.

Adagio, the biggest student-run dance group on campus, has been planning for a year and began to seriously start putting the show together this past August. Adagio’s comprehensive preparation and rehearsal definitely shined through and paid off.

In terms of planning the theme, Adagio co-president Brooke Granovsky ’18 shed some light on the dance company’s decision process. “Our show was on a Thursday, so that inspired the name ‘Throwback Thursday.’ But we actually arrived at that idea after a discussion about dance’s history at Brandeis… We see Adagio as part of a longstanding Brandeis dance history, an incredible feat of literal and figurative coordination, and an important part of inclusivity on campus,” Granovsky explained.

Maura Koehler ’19 and Yvette Sei ’20 choreographed “Carmen,” which included a part where dancers lined up behind each other in a straight vertical line and all moved as one unit while strik-

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

ing different poses. At one point, all of their arms were extended outwards and vanished one after the other. Then, they all dipped in consecutive order, making for a cool visual effect. Dancers also performed repeated pirouettes during the fast-paced instrumental bit at the end of the song.

Adagio slowed things down a bit with a dance to one of Rihanna’s more recent hits, “Love on the Brain.” Choreographed by Emma Hanselman ’18 and Danielle Cohen ’18, the performance featured a well-executed flip. A highlight was when the dancers dropped to the ground and were on their backs, showing the sometimes exhausting nature of romantic relationships and having internal battles over love.

“Human,” choreographed by Julie Joseph ’18, explored the topic of domestic violence. Half of the

dancers wore black shirts and the other half wore red shirts. Some of the choreography included literal visual representations of the song’s meaning, while other choreography was more figurative.

The dancers used chairs to serve as symbols of possession in the relationship between victims and abusers.

“Still Roaming,” choreographed

by Amanda Ehrmann ’17, featured impressive lifts and matched the pace of the song as it gradually got faster and faster. This group additionally did a great job at utilizing the entire space, truly commanding the stage.

Adagio also performed to songs such as “Gimme All Your Love” and “Cosmic Love.” The former, choreographed by Liv Molho ’20, included many extended arms and legs, and drawn-out movements to match the downtempo

song. The latter, choreographed

by Samantha Jean ’19 and Haley Director ’20, was equally graceful, but had more of a dramatic effect due to the flashing colored lights throughout the performance.

The Adagio show featured a powerful piece set to a spoken word track with an instrumental background. “Body Love” choreographed by Hannah Suib ’19 and Jean touched upon body image and the tough emotions that go hand in hand with the issue.

Dancers’ movements symbolized these heavy emotions, with Mary Lambert’s powerful song playing in the background. While there were several parts where the dancers stood in hunched over positions, signifying insecurity, there were several parts where the dancers stood tall with confidence.

“Body image issues are something that I, like a lot of dancers, struggled with growing up and continue to wrestle with today, so I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to use this song,” said Suib. “The song is so powerful and speaks to so many people in a similar way that Samantha and I were able to easily settle on certain movements and shapes to create on stage,” added Suib.

Renee Korgod ’20 choreographed to a rap piece called “Talking to Myself,” written by George Watsky, which tells of his constant internal battle with his own thoughts. The dancers best translated the lyrics into move-

ment when Watsky rapped in the second verse, “Cause you get up in the morning get ahead, get to bed and then you do it all again until the moment that you drop.”

The dancers continuously spun in circles and then abruptly dropped to the floor on the word, “drop.”

And when Watsky’s rapping accelerated later in the second verse, the five dancers nervously wandered center stage, grasping their heads which were pointed downwards in frustration. The dance moves were at times sharp and at times fluid. “Talking to Myself ” definitely conveyed the song’s message in an effective way.

Suib also choreographed “Cell Block Tango.” The dance was theatrical and sensual, and the five dancers stayed in character throughout the entire performance, captivating the audience with their portrayal of the “merry murderesses of the Cook County Jail.”

Ultimately, Adagio put on a spectacular fall show with well-choreographed dances, meaningful messages and lots of passion. Those who missed the show but would like to see the dancing for themselves can check out Adagio’s YouTube channel for recordings of the fall show.

Hannah Schuster, an editor-in-chief for The Hoot, is in Adagio. Polina Potochevska, features editor for The Hoot, is also in Adagio. Sarah Terrazano, a senior copy editor for The Hoot, is in Hooked on Tap.

WEEK IN ARTS

December 1, 2017

‘human’choreographed by julie joseph ‘18

wbrs at chum’s

throwback thursday

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

stein night

mela

Dancers perform in the Adagio Dance Company’s Fall DanceFest. The theme was “Throwback Thursday.”

The Brandeis Hoot 16

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

photo courtesy bill mccormack

photo courtesy pavla berghen-wolf

SPORTS

December 1, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Men’s soccer entering the Final Four

By David Aizenberg and Zach Cihlar staff and editor

The Brandeis men’s soccer team extended their postseason two weeks longer with two wins on Saturday, Nov. 18 and Sunday, Nov. 19 in the NCAA national tournament.

The team won their third round against Drew University with a 1-0 win. Entering the game, Drew had an undefeated record, going 21-0-1 for their entire season.

Brandeis ended both their perfect record and season with a goal from Mike Lynch ’18. The senior scored the only goal of the game with a header into the net off an assist from captain Josh Ocel ’18 in the 52nd minute. It was Lynch’s 12th goal of the season and his fourth game-winner of the season.

The Judges dominated the offense for most of the first half, leading in shots throughout the half. Though slipping on offense a little in the second half, they were able to capitalize on a Drew foul

and earn the goal around seven minutes after the blow of the whistle to start the second half.

The rest of the second half saw back-and-forth possession between the two teams, splitting in shots 5-5 in the half. The Judges held off the opposing team to earn the Elite Eight berth.

In the goal, Ben Woodhouse ’18 held off two shots on goal from the Drew team, with his third straight shutout and the 22nd of his career.

The Brandeis men’s soccer team continued their stellar run in the Division III NCAA national tournament by knocking out the Tufts Jumbos 1-0 in the Elite Eight, pushing the team into the Final Four for the second year in a row.

In another hard-fought game, team captain Patrick Flahive ’18 scored the lone goal of the game with time running out in the second overtime period. With the win, the Judges knocked out the defending national champions and booked their spot in the Final Four on Friday, Dec. 1 against Messiah College in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 5 p.m.

As both teams traded shots

mike lynch headed the ball into the net against drew university in the third round

patrick flahive ‘18 scored the game-winner to put the judges in the elite eight

throughout the game, senior goalie Woodhouse shined brightly for the Judges yet again, finishing with seven saves (six of the saves coming in the second half) on his way to the 39th win of his career.

Woodhouse’s solid play gave way

photo from uaasports.com

for the Judges offense to excel, and the Judges were rewarded off a Flahive goal with just over one minute left in the game.

A long pass from Josh Berg ’18 led to an up-for-grabs ball for Lynch and the Tufts goalie. Flahive ended up with the ball and scored on a 30-yard shot. Despite being outshot 17-12, the Judges took the offense in the overtime periods, outshooting Tufts 3-2.

The Judges goal was only the second goal allowed by Tufts all season. The goal secured Brandeis’ spot in the Final Four for the second consecutive year.

The victory over Tufts was the Judges’ second time in as many years knocking out the defending champions in the Elite Eight (the Judges defeated Amherst last year). Further, this is the first season for head coach Gabe Margolis, who replaced the legendary coach Mike Coven at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

The Final Four game has Brandeis scheduled to play Messi-

photo from brandeis.edu

ah College, a team from Mechanicsburg, PA. Messiah College has an 18-2-0 record for their season, and defeated University Athletic Association team University of Rochester in their path to the Final Four.

United Soccer Coaches ranked Messiah at ninth in the country, a full nine spots ahead of the Judges. Calculated prior to the start of the NCAA tournament, Tufts received a ranking of third in the country, an incredible win for the Judges in the Elite Eight.

Using the momentum from the statistical upset, the Judges will travel to North Carolina to earn a chance to enter the Championship game. NCAA’s GameCenter has the odds in Messiah’s favor in its result prediction, giving a 73 percent likelihood of a Messiah win against the Judges.

The game will begin at 5 p.m. and can be live-streamed at brandeisjudges.com.

Women’s basketball takes two over break

By Sarah Jousset editor

The Brandeis women’s basketball team took two of three games centering Thanksgiving break.

The Judges started their Thanksgiving break with a game on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at Emmanuel College, winning 66 to 55.

The game was closer than the final score led on, with the Judges trailing Emmanuel at halftime, 23-27. Emmanuel maintained their lead through the third quarter, with the two teams tied at 2121 for scoring the third quarter.

However, the Judges, determined not to leave with a loss, produced some of their strongest defense of the night, holding Emmanuel to just two free throws over the first seven and a half minutes of the final period. The Judges’ offense seemed to come alive as well, shooting 41 percent from the floor and 64 percent from the line to secure the win over Emmanuel college in the final quarter of the game.

The underclassmen delivered for the Judges against Emmanuel.

Jillian Petrie ’21 was the game’s high scorer with 16 points and eight rebounds, while teammate Katie Goncalo ’20 earned 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.

katie goncalo ‘20

However, the effort was not completely on the two young starters’ shoulders, with all five starters scoring in the game, and four girls off the bench contributing to the win as well. Starter Hannah Nicholson ’20 was the leader in rebounds with 11 in the game, and guard Camila Casanueva ’21 produced a career best five assists in her performance off the bench.

In the Judges’ game against the undefeated Tufts University on Sunday night, the women’s basketball team finished off their Thanksgiving break with a tough 41-62 loss against the rival

photo from brandeisjudges.com

university at home. Tufts started the game strong with a 13-0 run against the Judges. Brandeis threatened to close the gap in the second quarter, but the Tufts Jumbos started the second half of the game the same way they started the first half, with a quick run to secure the lead that carried them through to the end of the game.

The Jumbos did not only outscore the Judges, but outrebounded them, 36-28, while maintaining the advantage in blocks and steals as well.

Nicholson had a standout performance for the Judges against Tufts, tying for high score with six

points and leading the team in rebounds with 10 for the game. Eva Hart ’18, Lauren Rubenstein ’20 and Sarah Jaromin ’19 tied Nicholson for high score, each contributing six points of their own toward the losing effort.

This past Tuesday night the Judges were determined to redeem themselves in a home game against Salem State. The women’s basketball team beat their opponent 68-48, leading the Salem State University Vikings in every quarter. The Judges pulled just ahead of the Vikings in the first quarter, leading 16-14 at the end.

Even though the Judges main-

tained their lead throughout the game, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they were able to pull solidly ahead, keeping their opponent to only six points in the fourth quarter.

The Judges outshined Salem State in every category, including rebounds, assists and field goal percentage, with Brandeis shooting 40.7 percent in the game versus the Vikings’ 28.1 percent.

Goncalo led the team in scoring, with a career high 18 points, including two three-pointers, while also racking up eight rebounds.

The Judges had 10 players contribute to the win, with Jaromin contributing 13 points off the bench and Joelle MarkAnthony ’19 earning a career-high 11 points. Six of MarkAnthony’s points came in the second quarter as a crucial part of the team’s nine point lead going into halftime. Petrie hit double digits in rebounds for the Judges, establishing a career-high 10 boards.

Goncalo was close behind Petrie in rebounds, while Nicholson and Casanueva produced six rebounds each in the effort against Salem State.

The Brandeis women’s basketball team goes into their next game with a 4-2 record so far this season. The Judges will face off against Babson on Monday, Dec. 4 at home in Auerbach Arena at 6 p.m.

14 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

By Sarah Jousset

Men’s basketball secures first win after rough start to the season

editor

The Brandeis men’s basketball team has started off rocky with only one win in the first four games of their season.

The Judges dropped the second game of the season and home opener to Becker on Saturday, Nov. 18, losing by one point in a close game. The Judges began the game against the Becker Hawks neck-and-neck before pulling away with at most a nine point lead and heading into halftime with a solid 42-36 lead over their opponent. The Judges managed to maintain the lead throughout the majority of the second half. It wasn’t until the last four minutes of the game, with Brandeis leading 80-71, that the Hawks went on a 13-0 run sealing their victory over the Judges, who didn’t have time to recover. The Judges dropped the heartbreaker 83-84.

Eric D’Aguanno ’20 led the scoring for Brandeis with an impressive 24 points to accompany his three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Co-captain Nate Meehan ’18 scored 13 points in the game, nine of which were three pointers. Co-captain Latye Workman ’18 earned nine points for the Judges while also contributing seven rebounds and a block in the effort against Becker. Workman tied with Akim Sanni ’21 for most rebounds in the game.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

lawrence sabir ‘21

Before heading into Thanksgiving break, the Judges earned their first win of the season on Monday, Nov. 20 against Lasell College in an 82-77 victory at Lasell. The Judges were losing by five points going into halftime. They went into halftime coming off a run that had significantly cut their deficit against Lasell, giving them momentum going into the second half of the game.

With 12:30 left in the game, the Judges sparked a 10 point run against Lasell to gain the advantage. Brandeis led their opponent

by as much as 10 points in the second half, before Lasell narrowed their deficit to 80-77 with 10 seconds left in the game. However, Corey Sherman ’19 sealed Lasell’s fate with just eight seconds remaining in the game, making two free throws to secure the Judges’ their 82-77 win.

Rookie Lawrence Sabir ’21 had a standout performance for the Judges against Lasell. The guard was the high scorer, scoring 26 points and earning an 81.8 percent shooting percentage. Workman also proved vital to the Judges’

win, tying his scoring career-high with 16 points, and earning a new career high in rebounds with 15 against Lasell. Sabir wasn’t the only rookie to provide a strong performance against Lasell.

Semih Say ’21 contributed four steals and a career-high 14 points, while classmate Sanni also set a career-high with 10 points.

The Judges did not play again for over a week, dropping this past Tuesday’s game to UMass Dartmouth, 70-76. The Judges started the game strong, leading all the way through the first half.

December 1, 2017

Brandeis had the 11-point advantage heading into halftime with a score of 40-27. However, it was UMass that came out ready to go in the second half, scoring the first eight points to come within three points of the Judges. Although Brandeis attempted to pad their lead with a 8-5 run, the UMass Corsairs managed a six minute run with a little over nine minutes left in the game. The Judges led by two with just under four minutes left in the game. However, the Corsairs quickly answered with a 3-point jumper to take the lead.

UMass Dartmouth only extended their lead with little time left on the clock, and the Judges weren’t able to recover.

Judges put up big numbers in the loss against UMass. Sabir earned 26 points for the second game in a row, earning top scorer, and was the team leader in assists with three. Meehan collected 11 points for the Judges, while Workman earned 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals.

Chandler Jones ’21 and D’Aguanno were close behind Workman in rebounds with seven each in the effort against the Corsairs.

The Brandeis men’s basketball team is back in action this weekend in the New England Big Four Challenge hosted by Tufts. The first game of the tournament for the Judges is Saturday at 1 p.m. against defending national champion Babson College.

Brandeis cheerleading brings more than pep

By Sarah Terrazano editor

Basketball isn’t the only sport you’ll find on the Gosman court— it’s also the stomping ground of the Brandeis cheerleading team, a club sport that cheers at basketball games and enters local competitions.

Cheerleading is a fun yet challenging sport. Brandeis cheerleaders are trained in stunts, dance choreography, jumps and tumbling, combining school spirit and gymnastics in routines that may look effortless but require a lot of skill.

The team practices three days a week, cheers at home basketball games and heads off-campus to compete.

This season, the team has been working on hitting higher level stunts and helping new members get accustomed to their positions.

Specifically, they’ve been working on “an extended lib followed by a single or double twist down,” said Co-President Jordyn Seri ’18 on behalf of the cheer board.

In non-cheer terms, “An “extension” is a stunt that is held above the bases’ heads. A lib is when the flyer is held in the air on just one foot. A twist down is a dismount during which the bases throw the flyer in the air and she twists her body so that she spins,” Seri clarified.

The team has also been training new members on more advanced tumbling, or gymnastics––things like flips, tucks or walkovers.

The team cheers on the sidelines

of home games, tailoring their cheers depending on the action in the game. They keep the crowd engaged during 60-second timeouts by performing short stunts before gameplay resumes, using “preps, extensions, libs, extended libs, show-and-goes and cheers to captivate the crowd,” said Seri.

“Some members tumble across the court during these time outs, which really excites the crowd.”

The team will facilitate giveaways, throwing small prizes into the crowd during timeouts. They will also execute a more organized halftime routine that they adapt from their competition routine.

Aside from supporting the Judges’ basketball teams, Brandeis cheerleading is a competitive team. This season, they competed in the New England Andy

Yosinoff Cheer and Dance Competition on Nov. 11 in Boston and proudly took home second place.

They faced off against Providence, RI, in the College Co-Ed division, the highest division for college cheer teams.

Competitions hold much more pressure for the team than basketball games. In a competition, the team performs a routine of cheers, dance, stunts, tumbling and jumps that they hire a professional to create.

With just one chance to perform and wow the judges, “Everything that we do is scrutinized and if we don’t perform well just that one time, the score we get won’t reflect our true abilities,” Seri noted. This heightens the pressure for the cheerleaders, “especially because we compete

against other schools with very talented athletes.”

“There is pressure to perform well at basketball games, but not the way there is at competition,” said Seri. Home games have an exciting but less stressful atmosphere “because there is a smaller crowd, we aren’t being graded and we know that there will be many more opportunities to prove ourselves.”

The cheerleading team likes to provide a fun and welcoming environment, and no experience is necessary to join the squad. In addition to attracting new members, the board has been working harder, Seri said, “to keep growing closer as a team. Being on a team creates a sense of unity and we want to make sure that every member feels that.”

photo from facebook.com

December 1, 2017

By Zach Cihlar editor

The Brandeis fencing teams spent the entirety of Saturday, Nov. 18 in Providence, RI, sparring against other northeastern schools in the first Northeastern Fencing Conference Meet.

The women had a longer day than the men, facing off against a total of seven teams. Ultimately, the women finished with a 6-1 result, dropping their only match to Wellesley in a tight 13-14 match.

The women racked in their most points in the foil weapon, earning a total of 52 points in that category over the course of the day. The squad went undefeated for the entire day, going 9-0 in three performances.

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The Brandeis Hoot

Fencing teams champion in Northeastern Conference Meet Joanne Carminucci ’19 earned the most points for women’s team during the course of the day, racking in 16 total points with only one lost with the foil weapon.

Carminucci’s fellow foilist Renee Pite ’19 earned the second highest number of points, going 12-3.

The fencing teams will host the Brandeis Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 3. They will host Yale University, St. John’s University, University of North Carolina, Cornell University and University of the Incarnate Word for the day. Last year, both the men’s and women’s teams went 1-4 with the teams they hosted. With a slightly different roster of teams attending the meet, they’ll look to have greater success than past years in their home gym.

The men’s fencing team faced a

total of five teams, knocking off every opponent by at least five points. Their greatest competition came from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who took the match to 16-11. But they saw their peak dominance against the University of New Hampshire (UNH) with a 26-1 match score.

Brandeis earned a majority of its points in the saber category with a total of 41 over the course of the day.

Three men’s fencers racked in seven or more points for the Judges on Saturday, all from either the saber squad or the foil squad. Saberist Leon Rotenstein ’20 went 7-0 throughout the day, earning the University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week title for his performances at the meet. He posted a notable win

against New England Champion and NCAA qualifier Tzer Wong ’18.

Foil fencer Elishua Litle ’18 also contributed to the Judges’ win, going an undefeated 7-0 for his weapon with a notable triumph over NCAA qualifier from Sacred Heart University Tyler Endee ’18. Senior captain Kyle Berney ’18 put up the most wins for the Judges, going 8-1 for the day in the saber weapon.

The team this year is working with a deep roster, according to senior captain Berney. Each weapon squad has seven or more people to work with, “providing tons of variety for competition and improvement in practice,” he said. Underclassmen represent a large portion of the team, offering a young and eager presence, Ber-

ney added.

“We can’t wait to compete against some of the top-10 teams to try and dent the rankings,” Berney said, looking forward to the rest of the season. One of the team’s main goals is to end a “3year dry streak” of NCAA qualifiers. The team will tackle regionals in March, towards the end of their season, which will help determine whether any qualifications may be possible. Until then, “There is a lot of excitement in the air” concerning the prospects of the 201718 fencing season, according to Berney. After having an undefeated meet, it’s too soon to tell where the team will focus their energies for improvement, according to Berney. They will instead use the momentum to build confidence for the next meet.

Cross country sends two runners to NCAAs

By Sarah Jousset editor

Two members of the Brandeis cross country team geared up for the NCAA Division III Championships at Principia College in Elsa, IL, on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Co-captain Ryan Stender ’18 from the men’s cross country team and co-captain Emily Bryson ’19 from the women’s cross country team represented the Judges at the pre-Thanksgiving national championship. The athletes endured rain and wind up to 20 m.p.h. on

By Kevin Costa

a particularly hilly course to compete in the meet. Both Stender and Bryson earned All-American honors, marking the first time that both the Brandeis men’s and women’s cross country teams have produced All-American runners since 1995.

Bryson gave her best performance at the national championships in her three years as a collegiate athlete, gaining her third All-American title. She finished the the race in 21:13.1 minutes for a 20th place finish overall. Her finish also put her fourth among University Athletic Association

(UAA) runners at the national meet, which is the same place she finished in at the conference championships. As for Bryson’s All-American honor, the title makes her the third woman and fifth person in Brandeis athletics history to earn three All-American honors in cross country, the last person to achieve this graduating in 2003.

For the Brandeis men’s cross country team, Stender earned his first All-American title in his senior year. Last year, Stender just missed all-American honors, placing 37th, with the top 35

runners earning All-American honors. Although the NCAA increased All-American standards to include the top 40 runners for Division III, Stender didn’t need the expansion to earn the title.

Stender completed the race in a time of 24:49.33, placing 28th overall. Stender finished fifth among New England regional runners, placing one position higher than he did at the regional championships. As for UAA runners, Stender placed third after finishing fifth at the UAA conference championships. The time was his third best personal time

Giants bench Eli Manning

staff

It’s the end of an era in New York. Eli Manning, the face of the Giants for 14 years, will not be starting next Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. On Tuesday afternoon, head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese announced their decision to bench Eli Manning in favor of starting Geno Smith.

Manning, at 36 years old, is not the player he used to be, and especially not the player that led the Giants to two Super Bowl championships. For the last few season, he has not played at an elite level. In last Sunday’s loss to the Redskins, Manning struggled with 13-27 completions for 113 yards and an interception.

The Giants at 2-9 are set to finish with their worst record since 2003 when the team finished 4-12. However, the onus should not fall solely on Manning for the team’s disappointing season.

Injuries have riddled the offense that is fifth from last in yards per game and averages a meager 15.9 points.

At the bleakest part of the season, the Giants lost four of its five top receivers in a game against the Chargers. The two more noteworthy players from that core, Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall, are out for the season. In addition to these offensive woes, the defense has allowed the second-most yards per game.

Fans have met the decision to bench Manning with poor recep-

photo from nydailynews.com

eli manning

tion, and McAdoo and Reese’s rationale for making made this quarterback change are still unclear. McAdoo managed to say, according to the New York Times, “Geno will start this week. Over the last five games, we will take a look at Geno [Smith], and we will also give Davis [Webb] an opportunity.”

Giving Smith the start seems of little use. He will likely not turn the team’s fortunes around for five remaining games of the season.

Nor is it likely the Giants are confident Smith will be able to inherit the starting job next season, or the team would have signed him to a contract extension. During his time with the Jets, he had issues on and off the field. Through four seasons with the team, he posted

a 12-18 record and a career passer rating of 72.3, lower than Manning’s 84.1 passer rating for the current season. Also, Smith broke his jaw in a fight with teammate, IK Enemkpali. Allegedly, Smith owed money to Enemkpali’s charity.

The Giants may intend to evaluate third-round rookie Davis Webb. The only reason McAdoo might be starting Smith is to give Webb more practice time before he takes his first NFL snap. In draft evaluations, Webb demonstrated powerful arm strength, but had problems with accuracy and decision making. With more practice reps with the first-team offense, Webb will be able to adjust to the fast pace of the league.

However, many criticized McA-

doo and Reese for benching the team’s franchise quarterback in such an unceremonious way. To ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham, the move not only showed that the best players are always disposable, but also that teams forget how hard it is to find true franchise quarterbacks. Finding a quarterback that can thrive in the NFL has more to do with luck than actual scouting or analysis. Eli Manning belongs to a rare group. He is one of only 12 quarterbacks to win two or more Super Bowls. Seven of the other 11 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The remaining four are noteworthy names: Jim Plunkett, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. In addition, Eli has played 210 consecutive

for an 8-kilometer distance; however, given the course and weather conditions, this was arguably one of Stender’s best races of his collegiate career.

The NCAA National Championship meet concluded the cross country season. However, indoor track and field will begin this weekend at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston with the UMass Boston Invitational.

Stender will compete in distance races for the men’s track and field team, while Bryson will run distance for the women’s track and field team.

regular season games dating back to Nov. 21, 2004, the same year he entered the league. His streak ranks second for quarterbacks behind the 297 consecutive games

by Brett Farve.

As the Giants begin the search for another franchise quarterback, they will likely be reminded of how improbable it was that the team chanced upon a quarterback like Manning. The Giants, or any team, will be hard-pressed to duplicate his clutch performances in the Super Bowl (which included the throw down the sideline to Mario Manningham) or his durability throughout the years.

As a gesture towards Manning and his consecutive starts, coach McAdoo offered to continue playing Manning during the first half of games.

Manning declined the proposal, saying, “Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play. My feeling is that if you are going to play with the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak.”

To ESPN staff writer Bill Barnwell, McAdoo and Reese must have known Manning would not agree to the proposal. It would have made Manning appear more concerned with his legacy than with the team.

Still, Manning will likely land a starting position with a new team and with the opportunity to add to his storied career.

WEEK IN PHOTOS

December 1, 2017

photo by polina potochevska/the hoot

Здравствуйте! Professor Plotz’s students made expiriential learning projects to build their own fantasy worlds.

keeping up with the castle

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the castle!

photo by allison plotnik/the hoot

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

Don’t worry—Jimmy’s a prospective student.

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

The recently chartered Brandeis Drawing Club put up a display featuring club members’ artwork in Upper Usdan. student art

photo by maggie mu/the hoot

Annie Storr, a scholar at the WSRC, gives a talk on her methodology, Exercises for the Quiet Eye. living bravely in the unknown

hey jimmy!

The Brandeis Hoot 16

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

women’s basketball

The Judges played the Eastern Nazarene team in a rousing game before Thanksgiving break.