The Brandeis Hoot, 03/01/2019

Volume 16 Issue 5

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

March 1, 2019

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Sodexo updates procedures after mislabeling

By Sabrina Chow and Ryan Spencer editors

PHOTO COURTESY ANNA BADALAMENTT

SHERMAN DINING HALL

Simple servings station serves students in Sherman dining hall.

A dining station in Lower Usdan displayed “gluten-free” labeling while listing and serving foods that contained gluten on Nov. 8 last semester. A student with celiac disease—an autoimmune disease in which the gluten protein causes harm to the small intestine—became ill.

The “gluten-free stir fry” station where the mislabeled foods were served is one of several changes to dining services made by Sodexo, Brandeis’ outsourced food service, in attempts to address the diversity of dietary restrictions present on a college campus. The Nov. 8 mislabeling is one of the many similar mistakes described to The Brandeis Hoot by students with dietary restrictions who often said improvements were visible,

but shortcomings were repetitive.

“They’ve done a better job this year of having more options for people in my situation,” Anna Badalament ’21 told The Hoot.

But since Badalament, who has celiac disease, ate from the mislabeled “gluten-free stir fry” station on Nov. 8, she said she hasn’t felt safe eating in any dining hall.

“When you see a station that has abundant signage suggesting that everything at it is gluten-free and says things like ‘all food prepared at this station is free of gluten,’ you tend to think you don’t have to read the very fine print,” Badalament said.

After her first bite of the Korean tacos being served at the station, Badalament said, she knew she had consumed gluten and, upon returning to the sign to see what she had eaten, she “discovered that every single item on the See SODEXO, page 7

Panelists question how far Univ. has come since Ford Hall 1969

By Celia Young editor

Alumni who led the Ford Hall 1969 protests that established the department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) gathered to celebrate its 50th anniversary on Feb. 8. But some of

the panelists expressed the feeling that Brandeis hasn’t done enough since the protest in 1969.

“The question I keep wondering is has the university really learned?” asked panelist Hamida Abdal-Khallaq ’72 at the end of the discussion.

Seven panelists gathered in front of the crowd of faculty, stu-

dents and staff that filled Levin Ballroom. Each had played a role in the Ford Hall 1969 protests, from negotiating with then university President Morris Abram to organizing the sit-in.

During their descriptions of Ford Hall 1969, panelists questioned whether Brandeis had learned from the protest, and the

same question was addressed by audience members after the panel.

Abdal-Khallaq spoke, saying, “I’m still not sure that Brandeis, besides possibly on these two days, has really… said this is what we learned that we have to do differently and not just for black students.”

The seven panelists together described what hap-

pened in January 1969.

Ford Hall 1969 was in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, whereafter students came up with a list of demands and later met with students in San Francisco State University who were protesting See FORD HALL, page 5

Second accessibility forum establishes priorities

By Thalia Plata staff

Students, faculty and staff discussed improving accessibility to Brandeis buildings, professor office hours, classrooms and residence halls on Wednesday as a follow-up on points brought up at the first accessibility forum held on Jan. 22.

Mark Brimhall-Vargas, chief diversity officer and vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion stated that the first accessibility forum gathered “an extraordinary interest.” The purpose of this second accessibility forum was to

prioritize issues and complaints brought up during the first forum.

Brimhall-Vargas divided the attendance into six groups: classroom issues, physical disability, transportation and parking, changing the culture, residence and dining and accessibility services. Each group was made up students, faculty and staff. The groups were tasked to pinpoint immediate and long term priorities.

The larger group broke away into smaller groups for 30 minutes to look through the list of comments made in the first fo-

Inside This Issue:

See ACCESSIBILITY, page 6

News: Union to hold special elections Ops: My campus isn’t ugly Features: Podcast looks to life postgrad Sports: Track and field competes at UAA EDITORIAL: Join the Student Union

ANGELA DAVIS ‘65 RETURNS TO BRANDEIS TO CELEBRATE AAAS ANNIVERARY

Swimming

Page 6 Page 15 Making waves at UAAs. Page 9 Page 14 SPORTS: PAGE 13 Page 10

Beautiful art Problematic artist.

ARTS: PAGE 17

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

March 1, 2019

Pluriversity, a new education

By Max Everson special to the hoot

Daniel Bryan says his lectures about the Pachaysana Institute are not supposed to feel like normal lectures. They’re meant to be odd, goofy, and unfamiliar—a tone he replicated when he spoke at the Shapiro Campus Center on Monday in a talk titled “From University to Pluriversity: The Fair-Trade/Decolonial Education Model.”

The Pachaysana Institute is based in Quito, Ecuador. Its goal is to remove colonial influence from education by offering study abroad curriculums that follow local values and practices rather than traditional European norms.

The Institute also offers training seminars to educators across all cultures, and a variety of other short term projects, according to Bryan.

The audience consisted of 10 members, with both students and faculty present. While explaining the organization, Bryan asked for audience participation often. He introduced the topic with a joke about Aristotle, Plato and Descartes, and asked for anyone to raise their hand and guess how the joke might connect to decolonizing education. The audience was hesitant during this initial

request, but by the end of the presentation almost everyone had volunteered.

Bryan explained decolonizing education by asking anyone that wanted to join him in a game.

In the game he asked everyone to stand up, walk around the room whenever he said “walk” and stop whenever he said “stop.”

Then he added the instructions to clap when he said “clap” and to say your name each time he said “name.” For a minute the group followed his instructions.

Then he stopped and told everyone to reverse the instructions.

He wanted the audience to stop when he said “walk” and to clap when he said “name”. The participants continued walking around the room, clapping and muttering to themselves, and frequently giggling as they made mistakes.

After Bryan asked everyone to return to their seats, he explained that decolonizing education is largely about unlearning what’s familiar to us. European education typically involves a strict routine of classes, assignments, rigid settings and schedules. This routine has been forced upon countries like Ecuador by colonists, but it isn’t the only valid way of educating. Bryan calls this idea “Pluriversity.”

He asked the audience to take a full minute to think quietly about

their own educational history.

Each person then shared parts of their experience that connected to Bryan’s descriptions of imposed systems of learning. Bryan explained that these colonial education systems are not only imposed, but ineffective. He said that education systems need to arise naturally within each culture to be useful to the people engaging with them.

Bryan spoke of his intense belief that Pluriversity is the way of the future. When asked by an audience member about the global progress towards a wider variety of education systems, Bryan responded, “what I can say is, it’s going to happen.”

Bryan lastly described the process of reaching Pluriversity as walking across a bridge. In front of the audience, he demonstrated how most people are used to walking. Then, he mimed walking across the bridge a second way, by stumbling, twirling and rolling to the other side of the room using his hands and feet. He said how unnatural and ridiculous it might look to us, but that we shouldn’t dismiss it. He said that part of this process is unlearning those reactions on our way to a better future, adding “we have to get comfortable on that bridge.”

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New online security added

By Sabrina Chow editor

Information Technology Services (ITS) have implemented Duo two-factor authentication in an attempt to better secure access to Brandeis University systems, according to an email sent to Brandeis students. With Duo, members of the Brandeis community must validate every login to their account, which “enables you to deny fraudulent login attempts to your account.”

David Albrecht, the Director for Network, System and Security at Brandeis, expects all students to be signed up for Duo by the next academic year, and said the authentication was partly implemented to decrease the number of compromised accounts on campus. “We look at the total threat landscape and as we look at the systems responsible for holding protected information based on state and federal guidelines, over the past few years, we have seen a fair number of compromised accounts,” said Albrecht in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot.

“Mostly those come from students, but we have had some staff and faculty, especially dealing with password related phishing attempts.”

Albrecht says that main reasoning for implementing the two-factor authentication system is to help the university “mitigate the risk” of more compromised accounts.

Once enrolled in Duo, individuals will be required to sign in with two forms of authentication: a username and password and a physical device. All Brandeis protected systems and services including Google Suite, LATTE, and Sage, among others, will have Duo au-

thentication added. According to Albrecht, since Brandeis’ security system is a single-sign on system, all applications will now have Duo. Duo will prompt an authentication through three different methods. When attempting to login, the user will be prompted to send a push notification to the Duo mobile app, available on both iPhone, Android and Windows Phones, which will allow the user to verify the login. A SMS/text message or a phone call can also be used to authenticate a login. A tablet or landline phone is also usable as a second device, if an individual is not in possession of a smartphone.

Students may also obtain a hardware token from the Technology Help Desk. Hardware tokens are devices that display six-digit passcodes at the push of a button.

Tokens do not require wireless access or data connection.

Once on the “Duo Authentication” page, students are able to remember their browser for 30 days. According to the website, “Two-step authentication is requested at least every 30 days for each computer and each browser you use to access Brandeis protected websites.”

If a student forgets their twostep authentication device and does not have access to a backup device, the Technology Help Desk will provide a one-time use password to access their accounts. Verification of identity is required.

Duo is currently not compatible with other authentication applications, such as Google Authenticator or LastPass Authenticator, according to the ITS website. It states that if a student has Google 2-step on their Brandeis account, Duo is meant as a replacement.

Both may be used together, but

it will prompt twice for a second authentication factor.

If a student is traveling to a location with limited, or no, cellular service or internet connection, they should obtain a hardware token from the Technology Help Desk prior to travel and have Duo send 10 different passcodes to their phone that can be used throughout their trip.

The IT department has had Duo for almost a year, according to Albrecht. It has also been slowly implemented with different faculty in certain departments, depending on their access to university services.

Albrecht says the main goal of using Duo is “to protect data and minimize the number of account compromises,” and it will hopefully help bolster more security awareness across campus.

“Higher education has always lagged behind in IT security,” explained Albrecht. “There are new threats every day and it’s hard to keep up with those threats and the only way to deal with that is to start to implement more security features to limit the risk, to provide more education for the community.”

According to the email, Duo is currently being rolled out to student workers in two different waves according to their department. By April 2019, Duo two-factor authentication will also be required to access Workday, according to the ITS website.

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The Senate meeting started with Student Union Vice President Aaron Finkel ’20 swearing in the rest of the new members. He also announced that there is a new sign-in sheet for senators to log their office hours.

The Senate also saw a presentation by the founder of the Running Club, who were hoping to get on the probationary period. The club is meant to gather students who want to go on runs but do not want to do so competitively. At the moment, there are around 30 people interested. The Senate voted to approve the club for the probationary period.

Senators discussed the idea of requiring all chartered clubs to have faculty advisors. The chair of the Club Support Committee, Noah Nguyen ’21, clarified that the advisors will not affect the autonomy of the club or have to be present at all meetings. They would be there as someone to go to when the leadership of the club is having difficulties.

The Rules Committee proposed an amendment to bylaws that would require a member of the Judiciary to be present at their weekly meetings, to find out what the judiciary does and to improve accountability. The Senate will vote on this next week.

The Senate passed an amendment proposed by Senators Jake Rong ’21 and Leigh Salomon ’19 introduced last week.

Now Senators can only cast a vote once, without the possibility of changing it.

The Senate passed two Senate Money Resolutions. They will go towards helping fund food and other needs for the sustainability student leadership symposium and the Social Justice and Diversity Committee’s event for Black History Month.

The Health and Safety Committee reported that the condoms and bowls are bought and condoms will be put in bathrooms within the next few weeks. There have also been reports of seven cases of rampant neglect in the Brandeis Counseling Center.

The Services and Outreach Committee reported that it is working on organizing the Midnight Buffet, which will most likely be in the SCC, and Meet the Union. The Dining Committee is working with Sodexo to get menus on the Branda app, which should come with the next update.

- Sasha Skarboviychuk-

PHOTO BY CELIA YOUNG/THE HOOT

March 1, 2019

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Secretary general of Israel’s Labor Party calls for a two-state solution

By Rachel Saal editor

Anyone who cares about promoting a peaceful relationship between Israel and its neighbors and wants to secure the future for Israel as a Jewish, Democratic state should be in support of a two-state solution, according to a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, who spoke in Upper Sherman on Tuesday.

The two-state solution calls for an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, as opposed to a one-state solution, in which a unitary, Israeli-Palestinian state would be created.

Yehiel Bar, Deputy Speaker of

the Knesset and Secretary General of the Labor Party, said that he supports a two-state solution because he wants to solve the conflict and achieve peace and security for Israel rather than only managing the conflict.

“I belong to those who believe human life and a better future is worth more than another inch or two of territory,” said Bar. “I strongly believe that we should aspire to have a respectful divorce with the Palestinians rather than this twisted bloody marriage that we’ve had for years. They will not disappear just like we will not.”

Bar said that while he supports the two-state solution right now, it would fail demographically because not enough Muslims would support it. However,

47 percent of Palestinians and 46 percent of Israeli Jews support a two-state solution, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The future of the conflict will most likely be heavily affected by the elections for the 21st Knesset that will be held on April 9. Bar said that he is hopeful that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be unseated this coming election.

Bar often opposes Netanyahu, who the Israeli attorney general announced on Thursday morning will be indicted on charges of corruption, pending a hearing.

“We have a chance to replace Netanyahu for those of us who want to unseat him, not like the previous election. With the mercy of the voters and God, we may do so, but it’s very complex,” said Bar.

There are 47 parties running in the current election, which has made the political climate more fragile and complicated, according to Bar. Bar served as an officer at the Communications and Electronics Headquarters in the Northern Command before he entered political life, according to his website. He said that he decided to join politics after the assassination of the former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. “It didn’t seem to me that the mission of any leader, right or left, should be stopped by three bullets in the back,” said Bar. “I entered political life after the army, and I have tried to help fulfill his mission to achieve peace between us and the Palestinians.”

Shayna Weiss, associate director of the Schusterman Center

for Israel Studies, said that she hopes a solution can be reached for the conflict and that “we don’t have the luxury of being cynics.”

“A two-state solution to the conflict would open up so many doors for social equality and relations with the rest of the Arab world,” said Weiss. “As Americans, sometimes it’s easy to lose hope, but we have to remember that these are real people with real lives.”

Weiss said that Brandeis has many opportunities to learn about what is happening in Israel and to stay informed. For more information, visit the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies located on the third floor of the Mandel Center for the Humanities.

Brandeis ranks 13th in precollege programs

By Thalia Plata staff

Brandeis ranks as 13th in precollege summer programs for 2019, according to College Consensus.

College Consensus judged precollege programs for high school students “based on a variety of criteria,” according to their website. The organization looked at whether the precollege program offered college credit, mentorship, residential experience and scholarship opportunities.

College Consensus, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, assures that prospective students “can trust that these programs have all the experience they could hope for.” The site is a unique college ranking and review aggregator that combines top publisher rankings with student reviews.

The site highlighted several Brandeis precollege programs: Service Corps, the Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine, Jewish Leadership, App Design, Jewish Arts and Queer Academics & Activism.

This year Brandeis is launching a new precollege program,

Queer Academics & Activism: A Seminar on LGBTQIA+ Histories & Futures. According to the Brandeis Precollege website this unique new “seminar adopts the template of Precollege offerings which empower participants to apply lessons learned in the classroom to issues they care deeply about.”

High school students can apply or be nominated by Precollege alumni, school counselors, educators, mentors, and exceptional teens. Programs are only available to students who are currently freshmen, sophomores and juniors in the 2018-2019 school

year. “Nominees will typically rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class with strong academic performance and a passion for their field of learning and/or art,” according to the Brandeis website.

Tuition for two week sessions ranges from $1,800 to $3,350.

The costs include activities and field-trips. All programs include field trips and recreational trips off campus. Destinations may include downtown Boston and the Harvard Square shopping area.

Limited financial aid is offered in the form of scholarships and need-based aid. More than 50

percent of participants received scholarships or financial aid, according to the Brandeis website.

Other schools on the College Consensus list included University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles, Wake Forest University and Johns Hopkins University. Other greater Boston area schools on the list were Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Boston University, ranking 9th and 18th respectively.

Panelists discuss prevention of violent extremism

By Sasha Skarboviychuk editor

Three experts on violent extremism from various backgrounds participated in a panel discussion on countering and preventing violent extremism, moderated by Prof. Jytte Klausen (POL). The discussion was focused on understanding the relationship between Islamophobia and countering violent extremism and preventing violent extremism policies.

Violent extremism is a challenge the contemporary world faces every day. The number of foreign terrorist fighters joining the Islamic State have been drastically increasing, becoming a large concern for governments.

In response to this, there has been a large number of policies created to prevent violent extremism, with a particular focus on Muslim youth.

Currently, there is a large emphasis put on partnership approaches as well as community engagement, to counter early signs of extremist radicalization and terrorist recruitment among young people. It is an issue that is impactful both internationally and domestically. Klausen started off the discussion with the main question of whether current efforts in countering and preventing violent extremism have been counterproductive.

Farah Pandith, an expert and

pioneer on countering violent extremism and political appointee under three presidential administrations, at the National Security Council, U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of State, responded first.

She started by telling the audience what countering violent extremism is in her eyes.

Pandith believes that countering violent extremism is not what people may think: The genesis of it today is stopping youth from joining these extremist groups. The cause of that, she believes, is the us vs. them phenomenon, which causes the othering of young Muslims. Pandith emphasized that understanding why youth are attracted to these groups is the first step in solving this issue.

This war of ideology is something that causes an emotional response in the youth, as they are faced with the question: Who am I? They are unsure whether they should identify with the culture with which they are surrounded or the religion they grew up in.

The struggle with solving these issues is trying to figure out how to stop this flow of ideas and influences. Pandith believes that paying attention to the environment of those who are most vulnerable to such influences is crucial to understanding the issue.

In response to how well countering violent extremism has worked thus far, Pandith simply said, “We have not done well.” She explained that there are too many

short-term solutions to issues that are not solvable overnight and not enough long-term efforts. She noted that extremists groups are recruiting from a demographic of a billion people and that “they are working 24/7: Why are we not?”

Pandith highlighted that countering violent extremism is not an issue that just the government should be working on. It must be a united effort of the government, civil society and the private sector, if the issue is to be solved.

Paul Turner, a leader in conflict prevention, mitigation and response, with a focus on violent extremism who promotes new approaches to local, national and international conflicts, emphasized how easy it is to fall into otherization without even realizing that you have done so. Throughout his work, he has been exposed to a lot of examples of this, which showed him that “killing the bad guys is not enough.” The key to solving the problem is prevention and integration.

Turner believes that the problem with the current approach is that it is not holistic. This was one of the factors that fueled violent extremism, both from outside and within. As an example, he highlighted Hollywood, where, since the late 90s, most of the villains have been Muslim terrorists.

Saida Abdi, the Associated Director for Community Relations at the Boston Children’s Hospital Refugee Trauma and Resilience Center (BCHRTRC), added that there has been a lot of “bad which

came from good intentions” when it comes to violent extremism. A lot of the programs created have been the biggest recruitment for these extremist groups because they send the message to Muslim youth that the West does not like them.

A large mistake made, according to Abdi, is that those trying to prevent violent extremism go to the Muslim communities and try to impose their views and ideas on the youth. Instead of mitigating the issues, this creates a larger sense of otherness. She found that in her own work, which focuses on supporting children and families impacted by violence and migration, they only received a positive response when the parents were told that they are not working for the government.

There has been a 10 to 20 fold increase in commited Jihadists globally, however, which seems to imply that countering violent extremism cannot do anything. In response to this, Pandith pointed out the flaws in the current data: It cannot be just about the youth who goes abroad to fight for these groups; this does not show the entire picture. Youth that have been radicalized but have not yet acted should also be accounted for, which would create a completely different picture. Turner agreed that the amount of hate globally has skyrocketed. A large cause of this, according to him, is that not many actually ask the members of the community how they believe the issue should be solved,

and they would be the ones that know best. Abdi agreed with that, saying that it is a “unique issue” that requires solutions that are “uniquely tailored to the community.”

Another question addressed to the panelists was that, since preventing violent extremism has not worked, would it not be better to dedicate the resources to other programs that are known to work? Pandith responded by saying that it is a very small issue in comparison to other violence, but a disproportionate amount of attention is paid to it. “We can work on many things at the same time; we do not spend a lot of money on this,” contrary to popular belief.

Just because the world will stop paying attention to these groups does not mean these groups will stop working or recruiting youth.

To conclude, Turner said that if we, as a society, are to embrace globalization, we must also accept responsibility for one another.

Pandith added that this is not just about Muslim youth; this is about all of us. If we want to solve this problem, everyone has to contribute.

The event was sponsored by a donation from Brandeis alumnus Ammad Bahalim ’04, The Bahalim Fund, International and Global Studies, the Politics Department, the Heller School and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

March 1, 2019

Angela Davis ’65 visits Brandeis to celebrate AAAS 50th anniversary

By Celia Young editor

Angela Davis ’65 spoke about her childhood experience at Brandeis as an undergraduate and subsequent years as an activist, communist figure, Black Panther Party member and professor, for the 50th anniversary of the African and African American Studies (AAAS) Department on Feb. 8.

Davis began by describing her life as one full of controversy in her conversation with Juliana Richardson ’76, an honorary degree recipient, lawyer and founder of a nonprofit aimed at developing video and oral histories of African Americans.

“I don’t know what it is. It seems like each time I’ve been at the center of public attention, it hasn’t necessarily been because of something I’ve done. I was fired from my job at UCLA. I didn’t expect to be fired. I didn’t expect that kind of controversy to emerge,” Davis said.

“Well, I could perhaps narrate 50 years of my life’s trajectory by saying ‘I did not expect,’” she continued. “Nobody would ever know my name had not it been for these amazing movements that developed,” she later said.

Davis spoke about how her father, who ran one of the only black gas stations in Birmingham, Alabama, encouraged her to finish high school and go on to college. Davis attended a high school taught by teachers that had been blacklisted in the public school system for their left-leaning political beliefs. “It was a largely Jewish high school and everybody wanted to go to Brandeis, but I was one of the few who got there,” she continued, to laughs from the audience.

At Brandeis, Davis described how she learned about Israel and

Palestine, and her support of Palestine which became controversial after the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, which the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute announced would be awarded to Davis in February 2018, was rescinded. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute announced that the award presentation was canceled because Davis’ statements do not “meet all of the criteria

ti-Semitic ideas and practices, and at the same time to speak out for justice for Palestine,” Davis said.

At Brandeis, Davis studied French literature and spent her junior year in France. Davis then spoke about her radicalization, saying there was no “one moment” where she became radicalized. “I think that I brought a sense of radicalism with me from the way in which my par-

learned from the time I was a very young child to imagine a different future and not to inhabit simultaneously a segregated world, but also to inhabit in my imagination a very different world.”

Davis said this was when she first adopted a critical approach to the world, an approach of “not accepting what is simply because it is given, to always recognize that things are going to change.

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

on which the award is based,” according to an earlier National Public Radio (NPR) article.

Richardson attributed the cancelation to Davis’ support of Palestine, which Davis first developed at Brandeis. “I simultaneously learned about how important it was to challenge antisemitism and to speak courageously against the continued perpetuation of an-

ents had taught us how to engage in a segregated society.”

Davis described questioning segregation, and asking her mother why she couldn’t do things like go to the library or the amusement park. “And she [Davis’ mother] would say that this is not the way things are supposed to be. And she would always say one day, they will be different. I’ve

And that as a matter of fact, we can be a part of the process that brings about the change.”

After Brandeis, Davis went on to teach at UCLA but was fired for being a member of the communist party. She has returned since to find that the university had a poster with her picture advertising UCLA. Richardson asked about the

turbulence of the 1970s, when Davis was on the FBI’s most wanted list and was a member of the Black Panther Party. Davis spoke about the Black Panther Party, emphasizing that there are “many women whose names are not known who really played critical roles in the Black Panther party.”

After Davis and Richardson’s conversation, the two took questions from the audience, including Brandeis alumni who told Davis that they went to Brandeis because Davis went there. Richardson agreed, saying, “I came to Brandeis because you had come here. Because my father was like, ‘That’s the school Angela Davis went to.’”

In an interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Chair of the AAAS department Chad Williams (AAAS) spoke about bringing Davis to campus, which he said was something the department had wanted to do for a long time. He described Davis as “absolutely formative” to the foundation of black studies. “She’s a part of our department’s history which we wanted to recognize,” Williams said.

Professor Faith Smith (AAAS, ENG, WMGS) also spoke to The Hoot about Davis’ focus on black feminist thought, and was glad that it was a central focus during the discussion.

Davis answered questions about her articles, the 2016 presidential election and Kamala Harris’ democratic presidential candidacy. Davis spoke about how in the 2016 election she voted for Hillary Clinton despite feeling that she wasn’t the right candidate. She also described how Harris’ history as attorney general troubled her, and called the presidential election pivotal.

Hortense Spillers ’74 PhD receives alumni achievement award

By Celia Young editor

Provost Lisa Lynch presented the Alumni Achievement Award to Hortense Spillers ’74 Ph.D. for her work as a literary critic, black feminist scholar and pioneer in the development of African American Studies.

Spillers, who is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, spoke about how black studies as a field was not unprecedented and how, from a young age, she remembers first learning about black history from her brothers. Black Studies as a discipline has a long history, Spillers said, explaining that black studies “is novel only in the context of predominantly white institutions.”

Spillers also spoke about her participation in Ford Hall 1969, a sit-in and protest to create the AAAS department that commemorated her and its 50 years at Brandeis on Feb. 8 and 9.

“I was among the occupants of Ford Hall, and I have always been happy that I overcame what fear I had,” Spillers said, echoing the Ford Hall panel-

ists who spoke about similar fears just a day before Spillers.

“I was actually afraid that the building would be invaded by police power, and I know that police power in the United States is not in love with people who look like me,” she continued. “So I was afraid of that, enough to break out in hives.

I’ve had hives twice in my life.”

“That’s the kind of fear we had.

Because the word was out that National Guard and a few other folk were raring to get in that building.”

Spillers also spoke about the growing forces of race hatred and racial divides that have recently been renewed. “But,” Spillers said, “We pledge today and repledge today 50 years later to run on toward the future and all the openness of possibility and potential that future evokes. So, what is to come?”

“Are we bound for the day when Black Studies are everybody’s studies?” she asked the audience.

Spillers spoke about the future of African and African American Studies as a discipline, describing it as a study that has made race lose its “unspeakable character.”

She said, “It has made race visible and accountable to critique.”

Spillers also echoed ques-

tions from the earlier Ford Hall 1969 alumni panel about what efforts Brandeis has taken to improve diversity on campus. During a question and answer session, she spoke about Brandeis’ lack of a diverse faculty.

“But I’ve been told that Brandeis has one percent indigenous black faculty here? Is that right? One percent. Come on, y’all.” Accord-

about the importance of pushing for change, speaking about her own experience in African and African American Studies.

Spillers also spoke in response to Randy Bailey, a participant in Ford Hall 1969, who asked about the exclusion of black studies from other disciplines. “What your work shows me is that the university’s ghettoizing of our

“We pledge today and repledge today 50 years later to run on toward the future and all the openness of possibility and potential that future evokes. So, what is to come?” ing to 2016 data from the Brandeis website, the university has one percent Black or African American full-time instructional faculty.

Spillers also took a question from a student member of the Brandeis Asian American Task Force, about the fight for an Asian American Studies major at Brandeis. Spillers spoke

work and our studies and giving us space to do that becomes a way of keeping the rest of the university from critiquing itself,” he said.

Spillers responded that black studies, women’s studies and other disciplines are increasingly becoming more involved in other areas of study, despite some resistance.

“I think that’s coming. So that women and minorities, that those positions are not simply add-ons, right? But that you have to talk about the whole structure in a different way. That’s happening.

That’s coming. And I think we’re in the midst of it right now,” she said.

Professor Faith Smith (AAAS, WMGS, ENG) introduced Spillers’ work in the field of black studies and its intersection with literature and language. Smith thanked Spillers, saying “Thank you for making us proud to be connected to spaces that have felt so alienating, so unhomely, and congratulations on receiving the Brandeis Alumni Achievement Award.”

Spillers is most known for her article “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book,” which many students asked her about throughout the talk. Smith described the article as one of the most powerful accounts of enslavement and gender.

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Panelists question discuss Ford Hall 1969, Ford Hall 2015 and Univ. progress FORD HALL, from page 1

for the creation of a black studies department. After Brandeis students met with some of the San Francisco students, they developed a list of 10 demands, the first of which was the establishment of an African and African American Studies Department.

were in it to win it, and we did.”

After the protest began, Dean of University Planning and Development Clarence Berger released a statement from the president, condemning the actions of the students. The faculty senate also passed a resolution with 153 votes to 18, condemning the black students’ actions, according to a time-

“I’m still not sure that Brandeis, besides possibly on these two days, has really… said this is what we learned that we have to do differently and not just for black students.”

Ricardo Millet ’68 and Roy DeBerry ’70, who both attended the panel, read the students’ demands at a news conference.

The next day, on Jan. 8, 1969, students occupied the Ford Hall building. Though not all the demands were met, the protest established the AAAS department.

Returning to Brandeis for the anniversary of the AAAS department, DeBerry felt that “The fact that we are here 50 years later is a legacy today.”

DeBerry also spoke about how, after a meeting with Abrams, he knew “some bold action needed to be taken.” Millet spoke about the experience during the sit-in at Ford Hall, saying, “There was nothing that could get me up, to give up that stand, because there would be nothing left of me if I did.”

Another panelist, Vere Plummer ’74, a Transitional Year Program (TYP) student, spoke about meeting with the administration and how “It was very apparent to everyone in that room what was happening. The university was giving us the runaround.” After realizing this, Plummer and other students felt that action needed to be taken and decided to take over the building. “We wanted to keep it peaceful; we didn’t want any violence,” Plummer said. “We

line of the occupation provided by the Archives and Special Collections department of the library.

The panelists described how they feared losing their scholarships, being expelled or even being arrested. Abdal-Khallaq spoke about how, in a meeting, President Abrams told Abdal-Khallaq that, “‘As of six tonight, all of you have been expelled, and as of eight, the police are coming…’ I sat there, and I said, ‘I guess I’m going to graduate from UMass.’”

Another panelist, Patricia Van Story ’72, described how she was contacted by the FBI and described the conversation.

The officer told her he would like to ask her a few questions.

“I said is this mandatory? He said no. I said have a good day.”

After the panel, the alumni answered questions from the audience, centering around what Brandeis had done since. And in a video presentation before the panel, R Remi Matthews ’19 spoke about how there seems to be a lack of awareness about Ford Hall 1969 and Ford Hall 2015 on campus. Ford Hall 2015 was a protest for more diversity, specifically students and faculty of color, inspired by the original protest in 1969.

“Ford Hall 2015 wasn’t random.

It didn’t just happen out of thin

air, and there is a foundation to it… There are a lot of people on this campus who aren’t even aware that there was Ford Hall 2015, but even worse, there’s people who didn’t know that Ford Hall ’69 happened at all,” Matthews said.

“I think that just speaks to a bigger issue at Brandeis. You know, what Brandeis as an institution actually cares about,” he continued.

A recent study by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute (SSRI) also described awareness of Ford Hall 2015. The survey compared the results of a survey taken two months after the Ford Hall 2015 protests to identical questions asked in 2018.

The survey found that, “By 2018, awareness of the #FordHall2015 protest was relatively low. Although awareness was higher among black students, only 52 percent of all new students had heard about the protest, and 43 percent of students who were on campus at the time of the protest had not spoken about it during the 2018 spring semester.”

The Brandeis Hoot spoke to Chair of the AAAS department, Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS), who said he wasn’t surprised about the lack of awareness of the Ford Hall protests, saying, “Brandeis is part of America, and America has a problem with historical amnesia.”

Williams spoke about remembering Ford Hall not just as a physical place but as an integral part of the history of Brandeis.

The Shapiro Campus Center (SCC) currently sits on the land where Ford Hall used to stand.

“If Brandeis purports to being an institution committed to social justice, to openness, to inclusivity, to truth unto its innermost parts, it has to take that seriously and to be introspective, to be honest, to engage in the type of critical reckoning with its past which is essential for growth,” he said.

“This is, I think, an important part of that process, but it can’t just be about celebrating our department. It can’t just be about Brandeis celebrating itself. It has to be part of an ongoing process

of looking in the mirror of being honest and courageous of what Brandeis aspires to be, the ways in which its fallen short of its aspirations and ways in which it can be better,” Williams continued.

Williams also spoke about the challenge Ford Hall posed to Brandeis, saying, “Ford Hall was about fundamentally challenging what a university should look like and how a university should operate.

And those are critical questions that still remain with us today.”

Associate Professor Faith Smith (AAAS, ENG, WMGS) also spoke to The Hoot about the evolution of the AAAS department in her 20 years at Brandeis, through the Ford Hall 2015 protest.

Smith has also cited institutional amnesia when speaking about the lack of awareness of Ford Hall and spoke about the importance of actively teaching about Ford Hall as well as questions of race. “Transformation is a doing; it’s not an abstraction,” she said.

Smith also described a sense of complacency within Brandeis

the mid ’90s, I did feel often that we were explaining more than we had to, to administrators and colleagues, that this was an important area of study. And it often felt—and I’m not saying that this has disappeared—but it certainly felt more so than it does now that very often colleges and administration saw the department as a kind of symbol of being ‘kind to the Negro.’ As if that was the value of the department, rather than an academic and scholarly partner.”

Though Smith described the department as still fighting for resources, she felt AAAS is not as pressed as it used to be to explain why it is important. “We had to kind of struggle or fight for a place, for resources. Again, small departments are often placed in this situation. At this moment we’re all still fighting for a place, but I don’t get the sense that we’re as pressed as we used to feel.” Smith explained that the growing national consciousness over race, especially in the wake of the Black Lives

“Ford Hall was about fundamentally challenging what a university should look like and how a university should operate. And those are critical questions that still remain with us today.” about race, citing the example of the firing of basketball coach Brian Meehan for racist behavior towards players which happened in 2018, three years after Ford Hall 2015. The process of addressing race and other issues at Brandeis is constant and Brandeis must be vigilant, Smith said.

Smith spoke about coming to the AAAS department 20 years ago, in the 1990s, and feeling that the AAAS department was pressed to justify itself and its importance. “When I came here in

Matter movement, has helped draw attention to the department.

Smith also described seeing part of Ford Hall 2015 when she was on campus, although she was on leave during most of that year. She described the powerful sight as students moved from the SCC to the quad outside the administrative buildings but also spoke about how it was unfortunate that students who had come to Brandeis for an education then had to educate the university itself.

$20k grant to increase diversity and inclusion in STEM classes

By Sarah Terrazano editor

Brandeis received a $20,000 grant from the Association of American Universities (AAU) to improve diversity and inclusivity in STEM classes. The goal is to create less of a barrier in STEM classes for students from all backgrounds and levels of experience.

The grant funding will provide for three to four student-faculty partnerships in select STEM courses over the grant’s two years.

The students and faculty members will work together to improve the educational benefits as well as inclusivity in classes. This will allow Brandeis faculty to better support STEM students, according to an article from BrandeisNOW. Before the Fall 2019 semester, the student-faculty partnerships will attend a series of workshops in preparation for the program.

In the fall, these students—who must have previously taken the course—will attend classes and

take notes on what the professors do well and how it could be improved. The classes have not yet been determined, but Professor Irving R. Epstein (CHEM) anticipates most of them to be introductory science courses, according to an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

The students and faculty members will also meet every week to share their feedback. In addition to identifying critiques of the classes, these meetings will allow students to share which aspects of the courses are most helpful for learning. “For example, a partnership might want to consider how to encourage greater participation in discussions from women or underrepresented minorities,” Epstein told The Hoot in an email.

“We are hoping that by incorporating real-time student feedback into our courses, we can begin to create more inclusive classroom environments that actively promote the learning and engagement of all students wishing to study STEM,” wrote Professor Melissa Kosinski-Col-

lins (BIO), a project leader, in an email to The Hoot. “We are hoping to create a situation where students are given an opportunity for their voices and needs to be heard, while faculty get the feedback they need in real-time to help inform their teaching.”

The workshops are designed by Alison Cook-Sather, an education professor at Bryn Mawr College.

The leaders of the student-faculty program are Epstein, Kosinski-Collins and Kim Godsoe, associate provost for academic affairs.

These faculty leaders will not be involved in student partnerships but will oversee the program.

The program will ideally increase retention of STEM majors, according to Epstein. “We know that nationally, less than half of the students who enter university planning to major in science, technology, engineering and mathematics actually complete a STEM major. We at Brandeis have been dedicated to improving our students’ ability to succeed in those fields,” Epstein not-

ed in the BrandeisNOW article.

This is the second grant within a year focused on fostering science education at Brandeis.

In June 2018, the university received a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence Initiative. This grant also focused on improving accessibility and support in STEM classes, as well as establishing low-enrollment practicum courses.

“I was delighted that such a prestigious organization is a) supporting improvements in STEM education and b) recognizing Brandeis for its efforts in this area,” noted Epstein in an email to The Hoot. The AAU invited member institutions to apply and ultimately awarded grants to 12 institutions. Brandeis is smaller than most AAU institutions, so the grant is expected to have a larger impact.

PHOTO BY THE HOOT

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March 1, 2019

Thirteen announce candidacy for special elections

By Celia Young editor

The Student Union is holding Special Elections to fill five empty seats in the Senate and two empty seats in the Union Judiciary. Interested candidates gathered at the Student Union Office to learn more about the positions on Thursday evening.

Elections will be held next

Thursday, March 7, from midnight to 11:59 pm. Campaigning began at midnight Thursday, with 13 running for the open seats. No candidate announced their intent to run for Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program Senator.

For the Judiciary, seven candidates are running for two available Associate Justice seats. Jack Ranucci ’22, Rachel Sterling ’21, Adrian Orduno ’21, Trang Nguyen ’19, Shivam Nainwal ’22, Ian Duffield and Steven Luo ’21.

Nathan Sayer ’22, Jonathan Ayash ’22, Zhengmao Sheng ’22 and Nancy Zhai ’22 announced their candidacy for the Class of 2022.

For the two seats open for Class of 2021 senator, only one candidate, Nakul Srinivas ’21 is running.

And for International Student Senator, Yuechen Ta ’21 is running unopposed.

Linfei Yang ’20, the International Student Senator recently recalled from the Union—which is what caused the available seat—spoke about the upcoming special election. Yang said that the election was to find his “successor,” rather than to fill the vacant position. Yang also would not rule out the option of filing and appeal at the Judiciary, but said he’d be willing to assist the winner of the election.

During the interest meeting, Union Vice President Aaron Finkel ’20 spoke about the responsibilities of the Senate, saying, “The Senate is what you make of it, you are a community leader.”

“This is an opportunity to make a possible change for the future of this school. So take that responsibility seriously,” he continued.

The around 30 students interested in running for positions then went around and said their name, class year and favorite meme.

After the introductions, Finkel then explained more about

PHOTOS BY CELIA YOUNG/THE HOOT

the rules of campaigning. Students are not allowed to spend money on a campaign, nor are they allowed to “facilitate voting.” This means that they cannot have students log in on a device to vote, but they can encourage students to vote themselves.

Students can make free, online candidate websites, but the campaign is paperless, meaning students aren’t allowed to hand out flyers or posters. This is meant to

keep all campaigns equal based on economic means, clarified Finkel.

Students cannot “dorm storm” or go into dormitory buildings and knock on doors to campaign.

Candidates and supporters are also not allowed to make libelous or slanderous statements about others, according to Article 10 of the Student Union Constitution.

Accessibility forum addresses complaints raised during first forum ACCESSIBILITY, from page 1

rum and analyze priorities.

The group, tasked with prioritizing physical needs, pinpointed making sure facilities kept up with handicap parking space maintenance and made sure that those were accessible to all.

The group also acknowledged that many professors’ offices are inaccessible to students with disabilities and that in order to be able to talk with their professors students would have to “out” themselves as having a disability. The group proposed having professors have an alternative

accessible meeting space with no questions asked. The group also proposed an immediate inventory of all handicap buttons and spaces to make sure that everything works. A long term goal the group pinpointed was having all buildings on campus be accessible, which the group realized was a multi-year goal.

The group discussing transportation and parking on campus expressed the need to have BranVan drivers trained with accessibility in mind, and should have lit up signs indicating whether they are a campus or a Waltham BranVan. The group also stated that there

should be an avenue to pay parking tickets online because the only way to do so currently is by going to the Public Safety Office, which might not be accessible to all.

The group reviewing ways on changing the culture highlighted the importance of coming together as a community to hold events promoting diversity. The group stressed the importance of empowering students with disabilities and making sure they felt part of the campus community.

Regarding classroom issues, that group pinpointed making syllabus language more supportive and inclusive when it comes to

disabilities as an immediate priority. Another immediate priority, according to the group, is educating faculty on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.) The group discussing student accessibility services acknowledged that the Student Accessibility Support website was not accessible to all students and that the website should include information educating the campus community on different form of disabilities. The group stated that having a Roosevelt Fellow-like peer for students with disabilities was an idea in the works.

Concerning the residence halls,

that group pinpointed including braille, laundry machines with voice feedback, and making the Department of Community Living website accessible as immediate priorities. The group also discussed having students with life-threatening allergies be able to opt out of the mandatory meal plan. They also discussed making vegan options more available on campus.

Each group took notes on their list of priorities and these ideas are to be reviewed by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in order to come up with next steps.

Online platform instituted to help unprepared graduate students

By Abigail Gardener editor

Last summer, Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management implemented a pilot version of an online platform that is meant to help incoming graduate students feel better prepared to participate in their programs when they arrive to start the semester.

The program came as a response to feedback received in January 2017 from many students, saying that they felt unprepared to

start their graduate programs before they arrived on campus, according to an Inside Higher Ed article. David Weil, the dean of the Heller School, immediately commissioned Heller’s associate director of academic affairs and innovation, Marc Kiredjian, to begin creating an interactive platform for that summer that would help students feel more confident about starting their graduate studies.

According to the Inside Higher Ed article, the first version of the platform had three main components: a professional writing

course, a suite of student resources (such as help with course registration, international student support and help with academic research and citations) and borrowed tutorials from Khan Academy on various topics. In future versions, the hope is that these tutorials will be made by the Heller School instead of borrowed.

In total, Heller spent approximately $15,000 to $20,000 establishing the platform, not including the time investments of faculty and staff, according to the article. The platform was presented to students as optional and free

of charge and was only offered to students in three of Heller’s “globally oriented programs,” the article said.

It was generally successful, but the team plans to analyze student data and student focus groups to make improvements in future versions of the program. Over 100 students accessed the platform at some point throughout the summer, which exceeded original expectations, and across the board, students found the writing course to be the most valuable. A maximum of 25 students participated in the discussion board section,

however, and some students only utilized the platform occasionally rather than throughout the summer. Funding was also limited, meaning staff and professional resources were limited.

Moving forward, Kiredjian hopes to expand the program to all six of Heller’s master’s programs, rather than the original three the pilot program was directed towards. Additionally, they hope to refine the program and make it more engaging and user-friendly.

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After dangerous mislabeling, Sodexo updated review procedure what she had eaten, she “discovered that every single item on the sign said that it contained gluten.”

Badalament said that she reported the sign to a dining manager “in a panic because I know that if I consume gluten I will be sick for upwards of two weeks.”

Two days later, when Badalament went to Sherman for dinner, she says she consumed gluten due to a mislabeled sign again. “I was already incredibly sick, that was already the first real meal I’d eaten in days,” she said.

Badalament told The Hoot that in Sherman she chose not to eat from Simple Servings, the allergen and gluten free station in the dining halls, where she usually eats because “Simple Servings is sometimes not what I’m feeling.” Instead, she said she chose to have taco meat from the regular part of the dining hall.

“I checked the sign, it said ‘contains soy and dairy’” she said.

But, Badalament said, after eating, she had a “sinking feeling,” so she asked an employee to check if the taco meat contained gluten.

After checking the recipe, the employee told her that it did but told her that she should have eaten at Simple Servings. Badalament told The Hoot that she thinks it’s problematic to label certain allergens but not all of them.

“I didn’t start feeling better for probably three weeks after that,” she said.

Since November, Sodexo has reviewed and updated their procedures for dining hall signage

goes into making sure that we are as close to perfect as we possibly can, every day, for the safety of our students, is paramount.”

Anna Cass ’21, another student with celiac disease, told The Hoot that she has worked with local and regional Sodexo administrators as well as some Brandeis administrators, to inform them about the issues she and others with dietary restrictions have faced in the dining halls.

“There’s been gross mislabeling for an entire year,” she said, “I’d been promised multiple times ‘we have a new plan, we know it’s a problem, we will fix it.’”

Cass said that she feels more confident that Sodexo has a system in place for allergen labeling in the dining hall after their latest update in procedure but noted the string of mistakes and shortcomings leading up to the changes.

She told The Hoot that before choosing to come to Brandeis she talked to the dining services to make sure they could accomodate a celiac diet but struggled to find gluten free options during her first days on campus during orientation.

She recounted mistakes in food labeling such as barley—one of the three gluten containing grains— being served in Simple Servings in fall of 2017. She noted several instances of dining hall mislabeling, including one which made her sick just before finals in fall 2018.

“It’s frustrating that I’ve spent over a year and a half of my time advocating for this very simple step one--which is to have things labeled correctly,” she

and food labeling, according to the general manager of Sodexo at Brandeis, Andy Allen. Jeff Hershberger, Director of University Services, told The Hoot that the last incident of mislabeling he was aware of was in November.

“If I could make one sweeping statement,” Allen told The Hoot, “I’ve been in college university dining now for 30 plus years and the number of folks who have identified as having food allergies has really escalated in the last ten years, so the amount of time and energy and training that

said, “and how many people had to get sick for that to happen.”

Cass also explained that upon arriving to Brandeis campus in 2017, she noticed that “the people didn’t have the training that they were supposed to have and if people don’t have the training that they’re supposed to have, then they don’t know the things that keep allergens out of the food that it shouldn’t be in.”

Allen estimated that as of a training in 2018, 33 percent of staff were allergen certified under a program called AllerTrain.

SODEXO, from page 1

Only employees with AllerTrain certification can work at Simple Servings and prepare allergen free dishes, according to Allen.

He explained in detail to The Hoot the procedures for menu creation and labeling in the dining hall which have been put in place since last November. According to Allen, all menus are created by the executive chef in each dining location and are then transferred to an electronic food management system. When the menus are created, the recipes for the dishes are taken out of a database and reviewed by Karen Jew, a registered dietitian with Sodexo, to ensure that all the recipes are up to date. If a substitution is used in the recipe, Allen said the substituted ingredient is labeled and brought to executive chef to ensure that the substitution is possible.

Before each meal period, “the executive chef in charge of each location is responsible for recipe adherence to make sure that the cooks are following the recipes as they’ve been planned through this process,” Allen explained. The executive chef and the sous chef also have a production meeting before meals to ensure that all the recipes were followed and that there were no problems, mistakes or challenges.

The ingredients used in the dishes are also reviewed and a taste panel is conducted during this meeting. Following a final allergen check, the highest member of the management team present at the meeting, usually the executive chef, manager or the operating director, signs off on every sign posted in the dining hall.

This happens for both the lunch and dinner services and menus.

The executive chef, operations director and manager in each dining hall are required to go through training to “make sure that they know how to properly manage allergens,” according to Allen. “If there are any challenges we will pull the item from the line to make sure that the sign matches the product, matches the recipes, matches the purchasing spec. Once the meal is done all of these premeal checklists are kept in a binder for audit purposes and the process continues.”

For students with more severe allergies, both Sherman and Lower Usdan have My Zone, a “campus ‘pantry’ where food items needed by students with Celiac disease or nut allergies are stored and prepared with precautions against cross-contact,” according to the Sodexo website. The website also stated the food in these areas are free of tree nut, peanut and gluten-containing ingredients and products.

My Zone in Lower Usdan is enclosed in a locked room that is available via swipe access, while in Sherman, it is the fridge located in the middle of the dining hall. The lock on the My Zone was installed at the start of Fall 2018 in order to provide increase protection from cross contamination, according to Allen, and, according to Cass, to prevent students without dietary restrictions from depleting the limited stock of foods meant for students with dietary restrictions.

Both Allen and Jew stated that it is more complicated to add similar swipe-access locks to the My Zone in Sherman due to the layout of the dining hall.

In an interview with The Hoot, Student Union President Hannah Brown ’19 told The Hoot she has a

severe gluten allergy as well as allergies to a variety of other foods.

In her time as a student, Brown says she found it “quite difficult to adjust to eating at Brandeis.”

She said she lost 15 pounds her first semester at Brandeis, back in fall of 2015. “The food was much worse when I first came to Brandeis, in terms of quality,” said Brown. “The options were dietary restrictions were lower. I survived off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

stations instead of the paper signage. “So let’s say we do make a mistake or where somebody on staff makes a mistake. Rather than having to take the sign down, reprint and bring it back out, they can simply go onto the software, make the change [and] it appears,” Hershberger told The Hoot.

According to Hershberger, if approved, this would be implemented in Sherman in

“It’s frustrating that I’ve spent over a year and a half of my time advocating for this very simple step one—which is to have things labeled correctly,” she said, “and how many people had to get sick for that to happen.”

When she came to Brandeis, Brown chose not to register any of her allergies with the university. “I tried to manage it on my own, and still do,” she said. While she appreciates that students are advocating for people with food allergies, she said did not want to be restricted because of her allergies. When she does come to the dining hall, Brown usually sticks to Simple Servings.

Brown said that while she appreciates that the MyZone room in Lower Usdan is locked to prevent people who do not have allergies from consuming the food, “it is difficult because you have to have a documented disability with the university to get in,” she told The Hoot. As a second semester senior, Brown said that she didn’t feel that it was worth the effort to register for access.

Students interested in obtaining access to My Zone need to fill out an application which can be found right outside of the room in lower Usdan. The application requires that students state their documented medical/disability dietary needs which would require My Zone access. The Dining Services Team and Brandeis Dietary Needs Committee decide on a case-bycase basis if a student is granted access, according to the form.

Brown was the chair of the dining committee her first year at Brandeis when she joined the Student Union.

With Sodexo as the only food supplier on campus, Cass believes they should be held accountable by the university. “Brandeis is capable of holding Sodexo accountable for a certain quality of service. Allergies lie in the details so if you are going to have a huge food production, where it falls apart is the details and unfortunately the life-threatening part is the details,” said Cass.

Hershberger also noted the administration’s role in accountability. “The administration’s role, really, is holding Sodexo accountable to their contract.

So part of their providing services is holding an acceptable standard and really going above and beyond,’ Herschberger told The Hoot in an interview.

He also talked about other possible improvements to the dining hall. He stated that a proposal for digital signage has been introduced into the budget process for the next fiscal year, though money has not yet been approved for the project. Starting with Sherman, Hershberger said he hopes to install monitors over all the food

Fall 2019, Lower Usdan in Fall 2020 and in Upper Usdan, Farber and The Stein in Fall 2021.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, an individual with a disability is defined as someone who “has a physical or mental impairment that seriously limits one or more major life activities.” This is upheld both in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Allergies and some conditions such as celiac disease are considered a disability under the ADA according to the site. Universities which receive government funding like Brandeis are required to adhere to the ADA and make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.

On campus, students with disabilities works with Student Accessibility Support (SAS) to assist with accomodations and “empower you to create opportunities for greater independence and self-advocacy,” according to their website.

Jew told The Hoot that the gluten-free stir fry station in Lower Usdan created based on feedback by students with allergies.

Even with all the steps that Sodexo is taking to accomodate students, Cass said some students are still hesitant. “A trust has been broken and needs to be rebuilt,” Cass told The Hoot.

“And I think Sodexo knows that.”

Badalament also hopes in the future that she will feel safe in a dining and not having to worry about what she’s eating. “I don’t want to have to worry what I’m eating will make me really sick and to not have to eat the same things every single day,” Badalament told The Hoot. “I want options that I can feel confident in eat. And feeling certain that if I asked someone on the staff about specific dishes that they could feel certain the answer they gave me was correct.”

Cass said she has maintained a relationship with Sodexo since coming to Brandeis and will continue to advocate for students with allergies.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

March 1, 2019

‘Sex in the Dark’ looks to promote sexual wellness

By Sabrina Chow editor

A little darkness always adds an element of mystery and excitement. “Sex in the Dark,” an event co-hosted by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) and Student Sexuality Information Services (SSIS), is a question and answer style event that will allow students to ask questions about sexual health and relationships.

According to Shira Davidson ’21, the External Coordinator for SSIS, “Sex in the Dark” has been introduced at other universities around the country and has received very positive feedback.

“The idea behind the event is that it will take place in the dark so as to maintain the anonymity of participants and to add a fun and unique spin to the event,” Davidson told The Brandeis Hoot in an email.

The event will be comprised of two main parts: a tabling fair and a question and answer. “A variety of organizations from the Greater Boston Area will be in attendance, as well as representatives from Brandeis who will be available to answer questions and offer resources, support and information to students on subjects spanning sexual identity, sexual health, sexual pleasure, abstinence and more,” Davidson said. Different

activities and light refreshments will also be provided.

According to the Facebook event for “Sex in the Dark,” some organizations that will be in attendance are: Please Pie, Good Vibrations, Planned Parenthood, The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ Youth, Brandeis Chaplaincy and the Brandeis Health Center.

Following the tabling event, event goers will attend a panel with various “sexperts” who are able to answer all questions about health, sex and relationships.

“The diverse panel is made up of professional sex educators, sexual pleasure experts, nurses, sexual rights advocates and more,” Davidson told The Hoot. To maintain anonymity, all questions will be submitted through the SSIS hotline.

According to Robin Donohoe ’19, the lights in the Shapiro Campus Center theater will be turned off. “Neon glow sticks will be placed to add to the anonymity and sexy allure,” explained Donohoe. The first 100 students in the theater for the panel will also receive a free “Sex in the Dark” T-shirt.

As the External Coordinator for SSIS, Davidson acts as a liaison between SSIS and the outside community. SSIS as a group hopes that the event will “provide Brandeis students with the opportunity to inquire, to seek support,

to learn, to feel understood and to get any and all of their questions answered in a space that is safe and non-judgemental,” said Davidson in an email speaking on behalf of all of SSIS. SSIS in general is working towards breaking down the “taboo” around sex and sexuality.

“We recognize that everyone is at a different place in their sexual journey and might not be ready to talk about it as openly as we are,” explained Davidson. “As such, we hope that the nature of the event and the anonymity of the questions will allow all types of people from all types of backgrounds to feel comfortable and welcome in this space. Everyone’s sexual journey is equally important to us, and we are honored to be able to offer any support that we can.”

Speaking personally, Donohoe confided, “I honestly have questions ready to ask the panelists anonymously … I hope it will be really fun and something that CAB and SSIS can continue to do for years to come.”

Davidson also added that SSIS hopes that “you walk away from Sex in the Dark with the understanding that your sexuality and sexual journey are valid and deserving of respect and support.”

CAB worked with SSIS to elevate the event and promote it to the Brandeis student population.

Donohoe also noted that this is

PHOTO COURTESY SSIS

the first educational event that CAB has done.

Donohoe told The Hoot that SSIS focused more on finding organizations to come to the event, and CAB worked on marketing

and other logistics.

“Sex in the Dark” is on Sunday, March 3 in the SCC. The tabling fair will be from 6 to 8 p.m. while the panel will begin at 8:00 p.m. and conclude around 9:30 p.m.

GirlUp raises awareness for human rights

By Polina Potochevska editor

In 2010, GirlUp was founded by the United Nations Foundation as a global movement of young leaders. As their website explains, the empowered young women go through leadership development training to transform themselves, their communities and the world around them. Along with a community of global partners, GirlUp works to achieve gender equality worldwide.

About four years ago, students founded Brandeis’ own branch of GirlUp, “geared towards raising awareness towards lack of access to fundamental human rights around the world, as well as focusing on how women are treated on campus and within college culture,” said the current president of the Brandeis chapter, Simran Tatuskar ’21.

Tatuskar is currently a philosophy and business major, with double minors in legal studies and chemistry. She became involved in GirlUp her first year at Brandeis as an event coordinator, when she planned two “food for thoughts” events to “raise awareness about lack of education in Ethiopia and the societal stigma surrounding reproductive health in India.” The club also hosted a large-scale open forum with the Brandeis Academic Debate And Speech Society (BADASS) and 12-13 other clubs and organizations to discuss “to what extent Brandeis has failed women on campus.”

This semester, GirlUp has a tightly packed schedule of events planned. On March 1, there is a Cupcake Gala from 2 to 5 p.m. in which over 50 female professors will be in attendance to talk with

students about their experiences “pursuing their field of work, the challenges they faced in higher academia and how they overcame them, or any insights you can benefit from,” according to the Facebook event for the Cupcake Gala. Tatuskar said that the event has been one year in the making, ever since she was an events coordinator.

GirlUp will be ordering 300 gourmet cupcakes from Antoine’s bakery, and pizza for kosher and gluten free attendees. The event is taking place across multiple rooms in Mandel and Olin-Sang, with “one on-going large scale panel throughout the entire event with rotating professors discussing everything and anything, and then six to seven rooms designated to smaller round-table discussions with professors mixing across every department to discuss particular issues,” wrote Tatuskar to The Brandeis Hoot.

She said the point of the event is to have honest conversation about difficulties that women at Brandeis have faced and are currently going through and how female undergraduate and graduate students can “take comfort in knowing the honest truth about issues that do exist and how to move past that and steps that they themselves took.” Some topics that will be discussed include gendered expectations, networking difficulties and work-life balance.

Earlier in the semester, GirlUp participated in Sharsheret’s Cake Wars. Additionally, GirlUp is partnering with Krav Maga for a self defense seminar on March 17, hosting a joint fundraiser with the South Asian Students Association (SASA) to raise money for GirlUp India and hosting a clothing drive on April 14 with Sigma Alpha Mu,

CAKE DECORATING

Members of GirlUp E-board participate in Sharsheret’s Cake Wars.

a fraternity on campus. Members of the group will also be attending the GirlUp Summit in Boston on March 31.

For Tatuskar, GirlUp is an important addition to the Brandeis community, as the organization focuses on the bigger picture of how women are treated across the world, not just in colleges, so that students can “realize how objectively privileged we are as women to be in the country we are and receive the education that we are receiving and realize our moral obligations to help women much less fortunate around the world to gain just a smaller semblance of human rights,” wrote Tatuskar.

She also mentioned that GirlUp is “the only club that draws attention to how women are treated in collegiate campuses these days…

We’re trying to draw a larger at-

tention to how women are treated both in a small scope and a large scope.”

Being the president of GirlUp “has brought [Tatuskar] laughter and tears, stress and exhaustion but also just such a feeling of accomplishment” that has allowed her to do so much more than she would have thought possible as an undergraduate student.

“Being able to assist those less fortunate in terms of civil rights as well as draw attention to collegiate difficulties definitely opens my eyes a lot more to how strong women are and how impressive it is that we handle the problems thrown at us. I love knowing that I am helping to open someone else’s eyes up to an issue they never knew existed and allow the root of the problems to be exposed rather than merely treating the

PHOTO COURTESY SIMRAN TATUSKAR

side effects,” she noted in an email to The Hoot.

“Over the last two weeks, I have talked to roughly 300-350 professors, and I can’t believe that was possible, having insightful conversations about their lives and their difficulties and learning so much about what life is like for a women in academia,” she continued about the values of being a member of GirlUp and how it will help her in the years to come.

For students who would like to become involved with GirlUp, they can attend GirlUp’s events this semester, get added to the Listserv, keep track of events on Facebook or email Simran Tatuskar for more details.

“I love people who want to get involved and am so excited to watch the club expand and expand,” said Tatuskar.

March 1, 2019

FEATURES 9

The Brandeis Hoot

New Minority and Philosophy chapter at Brandeis

By Shruthi Manjunath editor

What does one think of when they imagine philosophers? Maybe they think of the names Immanuel Kant, Noam Chomsky, Sigmund Freud, René Descartes and Karl Marx. What do all of these people have in common?

They are all white male philosophers that are well known for discovering some sort of theory, phenomenon or fact about the world. If someone were to examine the philosophy department at a university in the United States 200 years ago, they might find a majority of white male professors and students.

However, over the years, individuals such as Christine Korsgaard, Simone de Beauvoir and W.E.B. DuBois have broken the stereotypes and paved the way for future women and minorities to make groundbreaking changes in philosophy.

At Brandeis, specifically, graduate students Ripley Stroud (GRAD) and Lia Curtis-Fine (GRAD) have created a new Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) chapter that aims to create a safe space in which minorities can share their thoughts on philosophy. The meetings of this chapter are extended to everyone, not just people involved in philosophy, and attempt to create a support

system for women and minorities so that they can speak up about injustices they have faced.

Curtis-Fine explained that part of the reason she decided to create this chapter was that while pursuing her undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of North Carolina Asheville, she had resources that are not currently present at Brandeis, which really helped her find her voice and feel comfortable in speaking up and pursuing philosophy. This university has a small department for philosophy which allowed for small group meetings for women and minorities.

Furthermore, a mentoring program was present which provided individuals with information on what to expect from PhDs. At Brandeis, there is no mentoring program similar to this. Therefore, Curtis-Fine hopes that the MAP chapter constructs an environment that motivates women and minorities to continue pursuing philosophy and speak up for themselves in class when they feel underrepresented.

Stroud’s experience while pursuing her undergraduate degree in philosophy at St. John’s College was slightly different than Curtis-Fine’s. As St. John’s College is small, Stroud eventually became comfortable with the people around her and therefore had to speak up and fight for space. In addition, many of her classes were

PHOTO FROM AS.VANDERBILT.EDU

discussion-based. She found that individuals who come from privilege often feel like they have ample opportunity to speak with no filter on their words or no idea of the impact that their words may have on others. As a result, women and minorities who do not come from privilege feel like they do not have the ability to speak up and do not want to take up space in the classroom. The MAP chapter at Brandeis will provide individuals who feel trapped or like they are not included to feel more comfortable in speaking up for themselves.

The MAP chapter could also appeal to incoming students or students who are applying to graduate school and do not have a lot of information on the philosophy department by providing them with information on various programs in philosophy around the country. Other ideas include having panels or guest speakers who discuss their experiences while pursuing philosophy or movie nights with movies that highlight the lack of representation of women and minorities. Stroud and Curtis-Fine also discussed the idea of workshopping inclu-

sive pedagogy for faculty so that professors may create more inclusive environments for minorities in classrooms.

Currently, Stroud and Curtis-Fine have organized a monthly reading group in which individuals will read and discuss writing by female or minority philosophers. The group’s first meeting is March 11 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The effects of the MAP chapter could extend not just to the philosophy department but also to classrooms throughout Brandeis where individuals feel as if they do not have a voice to speak up.

Podcast looks into life after college

By Sabrina Chow editor

One of the most stressful times in a young professional’s life is trying to find a way to stay afloat after graduation. Professor Andy Molinsky (IBS), a professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management at Brandeis, used this as inspiration for his podcast, “From the Dorm Room to the Board Room.”

“For a long time now I’ve seen soon-to-be graduates at Brandeis stressing out about their careers—and have also seen recent graduates sometimes having a hard time transition from college to the professional world,” Molinsky told The Brandeis Hoot in an email. “I love podcasts because they really offer an opportunity to go deep into a topic and tell it with stories—which are relatable and memorable.”

Kevin Dikdan ’20, the podcast’s vice president of marketing and public relations, said that they are “trying to get diverse perspectives from professionals who made the

transition in different ways and gleam any advice or common threads.”

A group of undergraduate students—Dikdan, Yuechan Ta ’21, Allison Tien ’20, Sabrina Luu ’20, Ali Carney ’19 and Manas Maniar ’19—work alongside Molinsky in this project.

All the original students who helped bring the podcast to life were a part of Molinsky’s Organizational Behavior in Business class (BUS 120a). As the podcast has grown, a few other individuals have been brought on as a support team. Molinsky also told The Hoot that they have listeners now across the country and around the world.

The podcast has also assisted Molinsky in his personal research.

His first book, “Global Dexterity,” published in 2013 looks at “How to adapt your behavior across cultures without losing yourself in the process,” according to Molinsky’s website.

It received the Axiom Award (Silver Medal) for Best Business Book in International Business and Globalization. His latest

FROM THE DORM ROOM TO THE BOARD ROOM

Members of the production team of the podcast.

PHOTO FROM BRANDEISNOW.COM

PHOTO FROM BRANCHAN.ORG

ANONYMOUS POST ON BRANCHAN

Anonymous user posts image of KKK on Jan. 26.

PHOTO FROM BRANDEIS.EDU

book, “Reach,” published in 2017, looks at strategies to help “step outside your comfort zone, rise to the challenge and build confidence.”

“It’s been helpful for me to start to understand the challenges and the opportunities for successfully transitioning from being a student to being a professional,” said Molinsky. “It’s not research in the ‘classic’ sense, but it certainly is a deep intellectual dive into a very important and meaningful topic.”

As part of the original team that started the podcast, Dikdan was excited to see the project take off.

He explained that when the podcast was first starting, they were not specifically looking for people with name recognition, but people that were interesting.

“They had unique paths to success that don’t follow the typical storyline,” Dikdan told The Hoot. But as their podcast starts to grow, they are starting to get bigger names and are being approached by individuals who are looking to be interviewed from major companies, including Goo-

gle and LinkedIn. Dikdan also said that the people they interview have a common thread. “Everybody has the same story. They come out of college and their first job is never their dream job. But everyone finds in that job things that they do love and they move organically towards that,” said Dikdan.

Molinsky also highlighted on the non-linear path that comes with finding a meaningful career.

“Many of them wouldn’t have even predicted what they now do and what they’ve become,” said Molinsky in an email.

As the podcast continues to grow, Dikdan told The Hoot that they are hoping to start posting live events at Brandeis, perform more community outreach and bring some of these entrepreneurs to campus. A lot of the people that come on the podcast exemplify the value of a liberal arts education.

“These people weren’t just finance or economics majors,” said Dikdan. “They were doubling down on psychology and sociol-

ogy and it had a huge impact on how they look at the world and the ethics they believe in.”

All the students who have worked with Molinsky since November 2018 in creating the podcast have benefited from the project. “The connections that I’ve made and the experience that I’ve been garnering with leadership an organization is valuable to me as an internship,” said Dikdan. “The tasks that we are doing are not menial but require a lot of autonomy and a lot of professional development. I really can’t think of a better practical application for the skills we’re learning in school for bettering society.”

Carney also said in an email to The Hoot that she wanted to join the podcast because “it’s really helpful for students (and myself) to hear how established individuals got to where they are.” Carney is also interested in Organizational Behavior and the podcast has helped her develop qualities important to the field.

New episodes of the podcast come out every Tuesday.

EDITORAL

10 The Brandeis Hoot

Joining the Union: If not you, then who?

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Abigail Gardener Sarah Terrazano Managing Editor Emily Botto Senior Editor Ryan Spencer Copy Editor Natalie Fritzson Deputy Copy Editor Jennifer Cook News Editor Celia Young Deputy News Editor Rachel Saal Arts Editors Ben Beriss Noah Harper Opinions Editor Sabrina Chow Deputy Opinions Editor Sasha Skarboviychuk Features Editor Polina Potochevska Deputy Features Editor Shruthi Manjunath Sports Editors Zach Cihlar Shea Decker-Jacoby Layout Editor Candace Ng Social Media Editor Emma Lichtenstein Cartoonist Helen Wong

Volume 16 • Issue 5 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF Medjine Barionette, Emma Belkin, Lucy Braverman, Camila Casanueva, Kevin Costa, Katie Decker-Jacoby, Chris DeMena, James Feltner, Daniel Freedman, Jonah Koslofsky, Jackie Kostenko, Alex Kougasian, Jenna Lifschitz, Josh Lannon, Gillian O'Malley, Thalia Plata, Joseph Silber, Zachary Sosland, Sophie Trachtenberg, Rachel Wang, Hannah Wilson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 1, 2019

T

he barrier for involvement in the Student Union is not as high as it may seem. The Union might seem like an exclusive club from the outside, but is not that difficult to join.

While the Special Elections are this coming week, general elections will open later in the semester for positions in the next academic year.

But running for official positions on the Union is not the only way to get involved. The Union has eight committees that any student, or even faculty member, can join even if they are not in the Union.

Union committees include: Social Justice and Diversity; Campus Operations Working Group; Sustainability; Rules; Club Support; Dining; Services and Outreach; and Health and Safety. These committees work on a variety of issues and affect real change on campus. Committee heads update the Union at Senate meetings to keep their progress integrated.

In light of last semester’s Union controversy, now is the time to ensure that the Union moves in a positive direction and does not re-

peat its former mistakes. The only way to accomplish this is to add new people and ideas to the Union.

With the new round of general elections coming up, the arriving wave of elected students can effectively change from the outside what has for so long been a closed-off group.

The more people who are aware of and attempt to learn about the Student Union, regardless of whether they become part of it or not, the more prepared the student body will be to understand and react to the future actions of the Union. In addition, this awareness will increase the voting participation and competency of the student body.

The majority of beneficial campus initiatives come out of the Student Union and it is up to the general student body to inform the Union about any issues on campus that should be approved. The Senate Sustainability Committee hosted a Meatless Monday in Spring 2018 to help promote healthier eating and sustainability practices. The Campus Operations Working Group and the Health and Safety Com-

mittee worked together to bring the menstrual products initiative that brought tampons and pads to bathrooms all around campus for emergencies.

The Union has also headed initiatives that have not succeeded, such as the goal to put pianos in first-year common spaces. Many thought of this proposal as a waste of money, during a time when the budget for the Union was not enough to allow this extravagance. It is initiatives like these that show how we need new people in the Union, not only to bring new ideas, but to prevent the premature depletion of funds and promote responsible and ambitious modes of improving the university experience at Brandeis.

Anyone interested in making any sort of change on campus should join a committee and voice their opinions to the Union. As the governing body of the student population, our elected officials are the ones who are there to help turn your ideas into reality. Now is the time to throw your hat in the ring, because it can only go up from here.

WEEK IN PHOTOS

March 1, 2019

ENGAGEMENT

Swing dancing in the snow.

BREAK HIGHLIGHT

H.O.T. MESS

Dogs make everything better.

Can you do the can can?

The Brandeis Hoot 11

PHOTO COURTESY SOSHANA REICH

PHOTO BY POLINA POTOCHEVSKA/THE HOOT

VOICEMALE

VoiceMale performed at a temple in Miami, FL. over February break.

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

EIC

Spot the EIC...she’s really hard to find.

PHOTO BY ABIGAIL GARDENER/THE HOOT

PHOTO COURTESY DANI MICHANIE

12 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

March 1, 2019

Men’s basketball enters post season tournament

By Jesse Liberman special to the hoot

In the Brandeis men’s basketball final regular season game at Red Auerbach Arena, Corey Sherman ’19 scored 15 points and Latye Workman ’18 had five blocks to lead Brandeis to a 71-66 overtime victory against Case Western on Sunday, Feb. 10. Although Workman only scored seven points, he had three crucial blocks in overtime. The Judges held the Spartans to 1 of 8 shots in overtime and 27 percent overall. “I had to affect this game some way,” Workman said. “Tonight it wasn’t working on offense, but you can always affect a game on defense.”

Down 59-56 with six seconds remaining, the Spartans inbounded to sophomore Antonio Ionadi ’21.

Ionadi dribbled up the right sideline before being stripped. A loose ball ensued, where Case Western’s Ryan Newton picked it up and flung a half-court buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime.

Brandeis Lawrence Sabir ’21 opened the scoring in overtime with an and-one lay-up. He scored seven points in the period and made all five of his free throws.

Chandler Jones ’21 made two free throws with 11 seconds left to extend the Judges’ lead to 71-66 and put the game out of reach. Jones scored 21 points and gathered 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season.

After transferring from Dickinson College a season ago, Sherman primarily came off the bench, but was inserted into the starting lineup towards the end of last season. This season, Sherman has started every game and leads the Judges with 13.5 points per game.

Workman, who won UAA honorable mention last season, leads the Judges in blocks and steals. “It feels good to finally bring some wins back to Brandeis,” Sherman said. Sherman and Workman led the Judges to a 7-7 record in the UAA this season, their best finish since the 2012-2013 season. “For Tye and myself, our goal this year was to change the course of the program,” Sherman said. “We really just wanted to do anything we could to this place in a better spot than what we came,” he added.

When the teams shook hands

a small altercation took place between the squads, resulting in several players being restrained. Case Western coach Todd McGuinness said Brandeis players misunderstood his attempt to shake hands with them and the tension escalated from there.

The Judges next went on the road to the Midwest where they played the University of Chicago and Washington University. Sherman scored 17 points and Sabir scored 12 points and had five assists as the Judges defeated Chicago 72-52 on Feb. 15 at the Ratner Athletic Center.

Despite the game being close for the first six minutes, as Brandeis led 10-9 with 14:12 remaining, the Judges went on an 8-0 scoring run with 3-pointers coming from Sherman and Eric D’Aguanno ’20. The Judges shot 60 percent from the 3-point line in the first half and 57 percent overall as they ended the half with a 40-26 halftime advantage.

The Judges kept Chicago at bay in the second half, as the closest the Maroons got to the Judges’ lead was eight points. The Maroons struggled from the field, shooting 32 percent from the field and 21 percent on 3-pointers. D’Aguanno scored 15 points and corralled eight rebounds off the bench and Jones scored eight points and had nine rebounds.

The Judges then traveled to St. Louis to take on Washington University. The Bears were victorious with a 75-54 victory over Brandeis on Feb. 17 at the Sumers Recreation Center. After a layup by Workman to cut the Bear’s lead to 49-46 with 7:50:00 remaining in the second half, the Bears called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bears scored seven straight points to push their lead to 10 points. The Judges never recovered as they couldn’t get within eight points of the lead.

The Judges had been even with the Bears throughout the game before the Bears pulled ahead late.

The Judges had a seven point lead with 6:07:00 left in the first half following a three by Sherman. The Bears responded with 15-6 run to end the first half leading 29-28.

Although both teams shot similar percentages on 3-pointers, with the Bears shooting 35 percent and the Judges shooting 33 percent, the Judges shot only 31

CHANDLER JONES

‘21 Jones is the teams leading scorer and 14th in the UAA.

percent from the field. Sherman scored 13 points and Jones scored nine points with seven rebounds for the Judges. Freshman Kyle Downing ’22 scored eight points, a career high for him.

The Judges closed out UAA play with a trip to New York University on Feb. 23. NYU’s Dom Cristiano scored 15 points and added nine rebounds as the Violets won 5351 at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.

Following a 3-pointer by D’Aguanno with 16 seconds remaining. With a chance to tie the game, Jones missed a jump shot with two seconds left, sealing the win for the Violets.

Despite never leading in the game, the Judges hung around with the Violets. Down 50-42 with 3:39:00 left to play, the Judges rallied, scoring the next five points on a three-point by Colin Sawyer ’20 and a contested jumper by Sabir. Sawyer led the Judges with 16 points, while Sabir had eight points, a team-high nine rebounds and four assists.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Judges qualified for postseason play for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. The Judges are in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament. The tournament features 15 teams and is single elimination.

Sawyer went 6 of 12 on 3-pointers and Jones added 19 points as

the Judges advanced to the quarterfinals with a 75-49 victory over John Jay College.

Three Judges also earned AllUAA Honors. Sabir earned UAA Defensive Player of the Year, joining Tim Reale ’17. Sabir averages 7.1 points and a team-best 3.8 assists per game. He is recognized by the UAA for his 19 steals and averaged 3.8 rebounds per a game despite being one of the shortest players on the team. He lead the Judges lead in the UAA for scoring defense and 29th in Division III and second in the UAA in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage defense. Sherman also earned his first All-UAA accolade being named to the All-UAA Second Team. Sherman led Brandeis in scoring 10 times this season and was second in conference from the free throw line. Sherman earned MVP at the New England Big Four Challenge in December and is a two-time UAA Athlete of the Week recipient. Jones is the final Judges to receive a league honor with All-UAA Honorable Mention. Jones is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 12.0 points a game and leads the team with rebounds at 6.4 per game. He is ranked 14th in the UAA for scoring and 10th in rebounding.

Leading 36-25 with two minutes remaining in the first half, the Judges closed out the half on

PHOTO BY SHEA DECKER-JACOBY/THE HOOT

a 9-0 run to push their lead to 45-25. Following a 3-pointer by Sawyer with 16:34:00 in the second half, the Bloodhounds went scoreless for nearly six minutes.

The Judges led for the entire game, quickly getting out to an 8-1 run to start the game. John Jay would get no closer than four points following free throws by Doug Levy with 15:11 remaining in the first half. Sawyer scored 21 points, while Jones in addition to his 19 points added nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. The Judges shot 43 percent on 3-pointers, while winning the assist battle 18-4. Corey Sherman scored 16 points and Latye Workman led the Judges with three steals and also had two ferocious blocks. Freshman Nolan Haggerty electrified the Brandeis bench as well as the crowd with his dunk with 7:01 left in the second half.

The Judges stole the ball six times and blocked six shots as their defense harassed and suffocated John Jay. The Bloodhounds shot 28 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc.

The Judges held John Jay’s leading scorer, Essien Epps, who averages 16 points per game, to nine points on 3 of 16 shooting. The Judges will play Marywood University on Friday at Hood College, which is located about 45 miles north of Washington, D.C. for the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament.

Women’s basketball celebrates the class of 2019

By Emerson White special to the hoot

The women’s basketball team couldn’t hold off Case Western Reserve University on Senior Day for their last home game in the Red Auerbach Arena and lost 67-55 on February 10. The Judges honored four seniors: guard Sarah Jaromin, forward Joelle MarkAnthony, forward Gillian O’Malley and guard Ellery Riccio.

At their last home game of the season, Hannah Nicholson ’21 led the Judges with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Camila Casanueva ’21 added another nine points, and also contributed six rebounds and four assists.

MarkAnthony led the seniors with six points off the bench. The Spartans of CWRU held the Judges to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field and 26.1 percent

from three-point range.

After the game, Brandeis Associate Head Coach Scott Foulis said, “They’ve all had their own journeys. They’ve each persevered through injuries. A lot happens in a four-year career.” He also said he couldn’t be more proud to get the opportunity to coach them.

After closing out their home season, the Judges finished the regular season with three away games the following week. Over the break, the Judges faced the University of Chicago and Washington University St. Louis. In the Judges’ game against U Chicago, three players scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 23rd-ranked Maroons, and Chicago defeated the Judges, 85-68.

Casanueva led the Judges with 21 points, making this her third 20+ point game of the season.

Sarah Jaromin ’19 and Kerry Tan-

ke ’22 also each finished in the double digits with 14 points each.

They also were the top rebounders for the Judges, Tanke with seven and Jaromin with six, combining for 13. Casanueva and Jaromin also led the team in assists each with two. Next, the Judges traveled to Washington Univer-

SARAH JAROMIN ‘19

sity, where they suffered an 89-70 defeat. Again Casanueva led the Judges in scoring and finished with 24 points, 8-12 overall. Casanueva also had eight rebounds and had the team-high four assists and two blocks. Lauren Rubinstein ’20 tied her career-high with 17 points for the Judges, and

Jaromin averaged 9.5 points per a game.

PHOTO BY RANDEISJUDGES.COM

Tanke led the team in rebounds with 10.

Finally, the Judges faced New York University in their last game of the season on Saturday.

Brandeis tried to rally back in the fourth quarter, outscoring NYU 19-14, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Violets, and they lost 64-58. The leading scorers for the Judges were Jaromin and Casanueva, each finished with 10 points.

Casanueva also led the team in rebounds with seven and assists with five. Two other key players for Brandeis were Sophomore Samira Abdelrehim and junior Hannah Nicholson. Abdelrehim added nine points and six rebounds, and Nicholson had eight points and six rebounds.

The women’s basketball team ends their 2018-19 season with a record of 7-17 overall and 3-11 in the UAA.

March 1, 2019

SPORTS 13

The Brandeis Hoot

Tennis travels west for February break

By Sophie Trachtenberg staff

To start off their spring season, both the Brandeis University men’s and women’s tennis teams left the cold Boston weather behind and got to embrace the California sunshine over February break. The two teams are ranked nationally, at number 21 and at number 19 respectively, with each taking on and defeating the West Coast’s top competition.

The Judges faced the Beavers of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in their first matches. On the men’s side, Brandeis beat a number 32 ranked Caltech by a slim margin of 5-4, as the Judges had a very strong showing in their doubles matches to seal the victory. In the number one category, the tough duo of David Aizenberg ’20 and sophomore partner Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 were lagging throughout most of the match, but edged their opponents in the tiebreaker to pull off a win with a score of 8-7. At the number two spot, Jeffrey Chen ’22 and Adam Tzeng ’22 made their successful debut as doubles partners, beating the Beavers in an 8-4 fashion. Lastly, at the number three ranking, Rajan Vohra ’21 and Tyler Ng ’19 also won 8-6, completing the Brandeis doubles sweep of Caltech. With the singles matches, the Beavers went on to win four of six, with wins only coming from sophomore Nikhil Das ’21 at number three and Chen at number five. However, the wins in the double’s categories were enough to propel the Judges to a win over their nationally

ranked opponent.

For the women, who also opened their trip with a match against Caltech, their win was by a margin of 8-1. At the number one spot, the pair of Olivia Leavitt ’19 and Ana Hatfield ’22 won 8-6.

The Judges also beat the Beavers at the number two spot, with Keren Khromchenko ’19 and Diana Dehterevich ’20 just edging Caltech with a close score of 8-7, winning the tiebreaker by a margin of 7-2. In singles, Leavitt won at the number two spot by scores of 6-1, 6-1. Classmate Khromchenko was also successful in the number three ranking, winning her sets 6-0, 6-1. At number four, another senior, Sophia He ’19, swept her opponent 6-4, 6-4. Lastly, Dehterevich also saw a victory in three sets, coming back from a 0-6 start

DAVID AIZENBERG ‘20

to win the next two sets 6-1, 10-2.

Next, the men’s team took on Pomona-Pitzer College, pulling off an unbelievable upset over the number 12 ranked Sagehens.

Last year when these two teams crossed paths, Pomona-Pitzer stole the victory in a 5-4 fashion, but this year, the Judges returned the favor by the exact same score.

At number two doubles, Chen and Tzeng beat their opponents 8-5.

Tzeng and Chen were also victorious in their singles matches, with Tzeng winning his sets 6-3, 6-1 at number four and Chen winning his 7-5, 6-1 at number five. At number two, Coramutla beat the same opponent that he fell to on the doubles side, winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-2). To seal the win, Aizenberg won at the number one spot, impressively defeating his opponent

Aizenberg won the number one seat to complete the com-

back.

SOPHIA HE ‘19

He and partner seeded third.

6-4, 6-3.

On Saturday, both teams defeated their host, the University of Redlands, with the women picking up a win against a ranked opponent. The men swept their doubles opponents, with Aizenberg and Coramutla winning 8-6 at the number one spot, Ng and Vohra winning 8-5 for the number two ranking and Tzeng and Chen finishing it off with an 8-4 win at number three. In singles, Aizenberg, Das, Coramutla, Chen and Vohra were successful, making the final match score 8-1 to seal the win over the Bulldogs.

For the women, doubles partners Dehterevich and Khromchenko, as well as He and Hatfield won their matches at the number two and number three spots respectively. In singles, the Judges were off to a hot start, defeating the Bulldogs in the first five matches

PHOTOS FROM BRANDEISJUDGES.COM

without dropping a set. The wins came from Dehterevich, Leavitt and Khromchenko, as well as Lauren Bertsch ’21 and Rachel Zubrinsky ’21.

In the final matches of the weekend, both teams suffered 1-8 losses to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

On the men’s side, highlights included a win from Tzeng and Chen who played in the number one doubles spot for the first time, topping their opponents 8-6.

On the women’s side He and Hatfield got a win at the number three doubles spot in an 8-5 fashion.

After the week packed full of matches, the men improve to 3-1 while the women improve to a 2-2 record. The men face Division I Bryant University this Saturday, while the women head to Maine to take on Bates College on Sunday

Men’s fencing tops A record-breaking two weeks for swimming and diving MIT at Beanpot

By Camila Casanueva staff

The Brandeis University fencing team hosted the Beanpot tournament Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The men went 1-2 on the evening, beating MIT, while the women were 0-3. Harvard University won the meet with top ranked teams with the women ranked No. 2 in the nation by CollegeFencing360 and men No. 5. The Brandeis men finished in third.

The men’s scores were: Harvard 21, Brandeis 6 (S, 6-3; F, 9-0; E, 6-3), Boston College 14, Brandeis 13 (S, 5-4; F, 6-3; E, 3-6), Brandeis 18, MIT 9 (S, 6-3, F, 7-2; E, 5-4).

On the women’s side, they finished with scores of Harvard 20, Brandeis 7 (S, 8-1; F, 5-4; E, 7-2), Boston College 22, Brandeis 5 (S, 9-0; F, 6-3; E, 7-2), MIT 14, Brandeis 13 (S, 7-2; F, 2-7; E, 5-4).

The Judges were able to get two wins each against the second ranked Harvard, as sabre fencer Charles Catino ’20 and epee Chris Armstrong ’20 picked up wins. In round two, the Brandeis men got on the board against MIT, with an 18-9 win. Ian Quin ’20 went 3-0 for the foil team, while Sam Chestna ’20 and Jared Sugarman ’21 each went 2-1 as the squad finished 7-2.

On the women’s side, Joanna Carminucci ’19 led the foil squad

by going 3-0 against the Harvard Crimson The squad narrowly lost, 5-4.

The women then took a 7-2 win in foil, as Renee Pite ’19 went 3-0, while Carminucci ’19 and Hannah Mui ’20 were each 2-1.

In the final round of the day, the men were almost able to avenge the 18-9 loss to Boston College from the Northeast Conference meet, but the Eagles hung on to win 14-13. The Judges won epee, 6-3, but B.C. bounced back with a 6-3 win in foil, despite Quin going 3-0. In sabre, the visitors were able to clinch the victory with a close score of 5-4.

The women’s team also traveled to New Jersey for the FDU Invitational at Fairleigh Dickinson this past Sunday. The Judges won six of their seven matches, with their one loss being a close 14-13 score.

The scores for the seven matches were: Brandeis 14, Wagner 13 (S, 3-6; F, 4-5; E, 7-2), Brandeis 23, CCNY 4 (S, 9-0; F, 5-4; E, 9-0), Brandeis 21, LIU Post 6 (S, 9-0; F, 7-2; E, 5-4), Brandeis 21, FDU 6 (S, 7-2; F, 8-1; E, 6-3), NJIT 14, Brandeis 13 (S, 2-7; F, 7-2; E, 4-5), Brandeis 18, Lafayette 9 (S, 4-5; F, 8-1; E, 6-3), Brandeis 15 and Drew 12 (S, 2-7; F, 6-3; E, 7-2).

The squad teams finished with foil going 6-1, epee going 6-1 and saber, 3-4. Both teams return to action with the New England Collegiate Championships on March 2 at Wellesley.

By Gillian O’Malley staff

The past few weekends have been quite successful for the Brandeis University men and women’s swimming & diving teams, who traveled to the University of Chicago for the UAA Championships the weekend of Feb. 15-16, and then competed in the NEISDA Championship this past weekend at MIT. Overall, the Judges set 11 school records in all of the events.

CLAIRE XU ‘22 Xu

and placed 8th.

During the Judges’ first day at Chicago, they set four records.

Both Daniel Wohl ’21 and Tamir Zitelny ’20 advanced to the final sessions of the day after achieving record times in their first events.

Over on the relays side, the freestyle relay team of Wohl ’21, Marcelo Ohno-Machado ’21 and Chase Chen ’21 beat their previous record from earlier this year with a time of 1:25.03 to place seventh overall. For the women, a team of all first-years—Claire Xu ’22, Olivia Stebbins ‘22, Gazelle Umbay ’22 and Lauren Howard

competed in the 400-meter medley relay

PHOTO COURTESY JAN VOLK

’22, who competed in the 400yard medley relay—placed eighth, while breaking the school’s record by .75 seconds with a time of 4:01.50. The men’s foursome of Zitelny, Brendan Lu ’22, Matthew Arcemont ’21 and Wohl finished in 3:27.52, another record time which placed them sixth in the 400 medley relay event.

Zitelny shined on Thursday after setting three school records in the 100-yard backstroke, 100yard butterfly, and the 50-yard backstroke as well as scoring his first BCAA qualifying time this season. Joining Zitelny in moving onto the finals were Wohl in the 200-yard freestyle, Richard Selznick ’21 in the 400-yard medley, and Alex Wang ’22 in the 100yard breaststroke. The women sent first-year Claire Xu ’22 to the finals, who finished in 19th place in the 100-yard backstroke event. To finish the UAA Championships, the men finished in second place and the women placed third.

Following their successful performances in Chicago, the Judges had three top finishers on day two of the New England intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association, after the men finished in second place and the women finished third after Day 1. BUSDT completed their season during day three with four new school records, a meet record and four wins overall to place the men second and the women third.

14 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

March 1, 2019

Softball clinches four straight wins

By Shea Decker-Jacoby editor

The Judges started their softball season off strong, winning their first four games, two of which were away. They started the season in North Carolina against South Virginia and Frostburg State. On Feb. 16 Brandeis faced off against South Virginia. The Judges started the game with three runs in the first inning and continued their success in the second inning earning five runs. The Judges secured their shutout with Sydney Goldman ’22 kept the opponents three hits and no runs from the plate. The Judges won the game with a final score of 8-0. Goldman also hit the RBI that ran in all three runners. Seven of the eight runs were earned by rookies. First year third baseman Marley Felder drove in a two-run single in the first inning and an RBI triple in second inning.

Later in the day, they Judges they took the field again against Frostburg State and they held nothing back. The Judges scored in almost every inning earning a strong win with a final score of 14-6. The Judges also hit six doubles out of their 14 hits. Once again, the Judges started off the game with two runs in the first inning. Scottie Todd ’20 showed up big for the Judges. She was double trouble from the plate and from the mound. She earned four of the runs and earned a pair of home runs, which doubled her career homeruns. Catcher Keri Leh-

tonen ’19 and center fielder Melissa Rothenberg ’21 each had two doubles. Lehtonen’s was earned in the sixth inning, scoring on a wild pitch and scored on a walk off run. The Judges finished the game with a score of 14-6.

Two days later the Judges hit the field again for a double header against Salem (N.C.) to close out their February. They swept the Spirits 5-3 and 5-2. In the firstgame the Judges were first to get

KERI LEHTONEN ‘19

on the board with a run in the third inning on an RBI double

by Lehtonen. Salem got on the board in the fourth inning with three runs of their own. After two innings without any runs, the Judges closed out the game in the seventh inning with four runs to pull out a win. Felder hit the game-tying double and Lehtonen followed with her second-bagger getting two more runs. Todd retired nine of the 10 batters she

Lehtonen had 14 at bats and three runs with four hits in four games.

PHOTOS FROM BRANDEISJUDGES.COM

met at the plate.

In the second game, Salem gained the upper hand in the second inning scoring two runs, but the Judges answered back in the third inning scoring two runs of our own by a two run double by shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21.

Brandeis took the lead in the fifth inning with two more runs with a RBI by Marissa DeLaurentis ’19.

Caroline Sippin ’20 hit a single which gave another run for the

SCOTTIE TODD ‘20

Judges making the score 4-2. In the sixth inning the Judges closed out their win with a final RBI singly by Todd. The Judges had 19 hits, nine of which were doubles.

Three Brandeis pitchers held Salem to five runs on eight hits.

The Judges started the season with a 4-0 record and will be back on the field in March against Clark and will have their home opener with a double header on March 24 against Simmons.

Todd hit a double triple, which led to two runs.

Track and field digs deep at indoor conference meet

By Sabrina Chow editor

This past weekend, Brandeis hosted all the other teams in the University Athletic Association (UAA) at the indoor conference track and field meet. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed fourth overall in the stacked field of schools. This meet was the men’s best UAA performance since 2006 and the second time since 1999 that both teams finished in the top four.

According to the UAA website, “the top three finishers in each event receive all-association honors.”

On the men’s side, Regan Charie ’19 placed third in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.11.00 seconds, earning him all-UAA honors. He tied for third in the preliminaries with a time of 7.14.00 seconds. Teammate Lorenzo Maddox ’20 also qualified for the finals after placing eighth in qualifying. Maddox finished eighth in the finals as well with a time of 7.21.00 seconds.

Charie also succeeded in the 200 meter dash, finishing fifth in the finals with a time of 22.80.00 seconds. He placed fourth in qualifying at 22.64 seconds.

Rookie Dionysus Morris-Evans ’22 was the top performer in the 60 meter hurdles for The Judges with teammate Jack Allan ’20.

Morris-Evans finished fourth in the finals with a time of 8.71.00 seconds, while Allan finished fifth just 0.03.00 seconds behind Morris-Evans. Allan was second overall in qualifying, while Morris-Evans came in fourth. Washington

University in St. Louis swept the first three positions.

Allan and Morris-Evans also competed in the high jump and long jump competitions. Allan finished sixth in high jump with a height of 1.88 meters, hitting at new personal record (PR). He also finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 6.5 meters.

The Brandeis ‘A’ 4x400 meter relay team made up of rookies Aaron Portman ’22, Jamie O’Neil, Morris-Evans and Churchill Perry ’20 finished sixth in 3:23.37.

The Brandeis ‘A’ distance medley team of Josh Lombardo ’21, Perry, Jacob Judd ’20 and Dan Curley ’20 finished seventh with a time of 10:28.55.

On the field, The Judges excelled in pole vault and throws.

Teammates Breylen Ammen ’21 and Aaron Corin ’20 finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault. Ammen capped out at 4.28 meters, while Corin finished at 4.13 meters.

Perry also competed in triple

JACK ALLEN ‘20 AND DION MORRI-EVANS ‘22

jump and finished in fourth with a jump of 13.78 meters.

Scott Grote ’19 finished third in the weight throw competition with a distance of 18.84 meters, earning him all-UAA honors.

Grote also finished sixth in the shot put competition with a distance of 12.72 meters.

Teammate Jeremiah Fantroy ’22 finished seventh in weight throw with a distance of 13.15 meters.

Sam Charnizon ’19 finished 11th at 11.70 meters.

The Judges scored 55 points overall, earning fourth place.

Carnegie Mellon University won with 168 points, followed closely

by Washington University in St. Louis with 162 points.

On the women’s side, distance runners stood out. Rookie Devin Hiltunen ’22 had top finishes across the board. She finished fifth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.35.00 seconds after placing fifth in qualifying. Hiltunen also placed eighth in the 400 meter dash and finishing third in qual-

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

SCOTT GROTE ‘19

Grote competes in shotput and hammer

ifying.

Doyin Ogundiran ’19 ran her way to all-UAA honors with a second place finish in the 800 meter run in 2:16.45 after getting first in qualifying.

The Judges completely swept the podium in the one mile run.

Emily Bryson ’19 won the race by almost four seconds over her twin sister Julia Bryson ’19 with a time of 5:02.74. J. Bryson finished the race at 5:06.19. Rookie Jac Guerra ’22 finished right on the heels of J. Bryson at 5:06.61. All three runners received all-UAA honors.

E. Bryson, the NCAA champion in the 3000 meter, won the race with 9:48.13. Niamh Kenney ’21 finished eighth in the race with a time of 10:15.10.

Rookie Sonali Anderson ’22 finished sixth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.34.00 after finishing sixth in qualifying as well.

The Brandeis ‘A’ team finished third in the 4x400 meter relay.

Leinni Valdez ’21, Lisbeth Val-

PHOTO BY NOAH HARPER/THE HOOT

dez ’21, Ogundiran and Hiltunen made up the team, finishing in 4:02.01.

The distance medley relay team of J. Bryson, Ogundiran, Maya Bliss ’19 and anchor E. Bryson won the race with a time of 12.08.81.

E. Bryson finished her last indoor UAA track meet with two individual titles and one team title, increasing her career total to 10 conference championships, according to The Brandeis Judges website.

Overall, the women’s team placed fourth with 67 points.

Washington University in St. Louis won first with 170.5 points, while the University of Chicago finished second with 155 points.

The Judges head to Tufts University next weekend for the Tufts Last Chance meet to either qualify or improve their times for the NCAA indoor championships, which will be March 8 and 9 at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, MA.

OPINIONS

March 1, 2019

The Brandeis Hoot 15

Why is my campus ugly and why should I care?

By Sasha Skarboviychuk editor

As the college application season is coming to an end for high schoolers, I can’t help but feel nostalgic for when I was in their shoes, only a year ago. It was definitely a stressful time, full of essays and hard decisions; there were so many things to consider: the professor to student ratio, the major offers, the location of the college, the average graduation rate and so much more.

A factor that I do not remember being on any of my lists when comparing colleges was the beauty of the campus.

This is probably why I find it so shocking when I learn how many people actually take that into account, and place a large amount of significance on it. Maybe I am delusional, but I do not think that the way the campus looks is a big deal—but of course you choose the prettiest car and not the safest or most efficient car, right?

I agree that the quality of the dorms is a different question, but that is not what I am talking about. As long as the buildings serve their function, how they look should not matter.

When I was researching Brandeis, one of the top complaints that were mentioned was how ugly the campus is, and how people do not want to go because of that. I’m sorry, but you don’t want to apply to a school because you think the campus is ugly? So are you going to college to learn something or to stare at buildings?

Furthermore, when you graduate and have to go out into the “real world,” do you really think your future employers will care about how pretty your college campus was? Or would they care more about the quality of education or practical experience you were able to gain? I really hope that the latter is the case.

Another important thing to consider in this debate is the opportunity cost of having a pretty campus. Building new aesthetically pleasing buildings, maintaining lawns and other natural decorations, putting up new statues—all these things cost money, funds that could be used for many other things.

Just like everything else in the world, a school’s budget

PHOTOS COURTESY JORDAN DINERMAN

is finite, and every dollar that goes towards beautifying the campus is a dollar that doesn’t go to a more important cause.

Would I agree with you if you asked me if I think the SCC needs a paint job? Yes, definitely. But are there better things to spend that money on? Without a doubt.

There are so many things that are much more important to our education than how the buildings on campus look on the outside. The money could be spent on making the campus more green or accessible for students. Or to fund projects that would help students succeed in future, such as more resources to help students find internships (which in the long run would have a much greater impact than having the SCC look better).

Would you rather go to a school that spends a lot of money on making the campus look better or a school that focuses on providing its students with more opportunities?

Out of curiosity I presented a scenario to a group of my friends: Brandeis has a few million dollars left over that can be spent on something, and the spending

options were improving food, the career center, campus aesthetics or more club funding (things I hear the most complaints about).

Not a single person chose campus aesthetics as what they would spend the money on; it was a tie between food and the career center. I understand that this “survey” has very little legitimacy and does not by any means represent the opinion of all students at Brandeis, but I found it interesting that no one chose campus aesthetics as what they want the extra money to be spent on.

I also understand that a lot of beautifying is done to attract more students to attend the university, or at least that is often cited as the reason, but that doesn’t help me understand this. No matter what you say, everyone judges a book by its cover, but isn’t the most important part not letting that first impression get in the way of what is on the inside?

Personally, when I was making the decision of where to go to college, I was focused on what people said about the professors, the classes offered, the community, the people who go

there, opportunities for students, clubs and organizations. Even the food was a higher priority; then again, in my opinion, campus aesthetics should be one of the last things on one’s priority list when choosing a college.

The main job for my eyes in college is to look at what professors are writing on the boards, and not constantly judging the aesthetics of the buildings on campus. Maybe my opinion is weird; I don’t know.

If you think I am kidding, just Google “Brandeis is ugly.” You will find a lot people saying just how ugly the Brandeis campus is. Maybe they’re upset because they didn’t get accepted, or maybe their priorities really are on the physical appearance of a campus.

It is nice to have a pretty campus, but is it really that important?

Let me take a step back and say that I don’t even think Brandeis is that ugly in the first place.

Maybe the SCC or SSC are not the most aesthetically pleasing buildings I’ve ever seen, but they are by no means terrible. Most of the other buildings on campus are not bad looking. And yes, maybe if I was making a list of the top 10 most beautiful college campuses in America, Brandeis wouldn’t be on it; it might not even be on my list of top 100, but it would also definitely not be on the list of ugliest colleges either.

When I walk around Brandeis what captures my attention most is how embedded into nature the campus is. There’s grass and trees everywhere, and so much open space which allows for so many outdoor activities. There are many places on campus where you can go to just enjoy some peace in the small forests on campus. Also, how many college campuses have squirrels and rabbits running around? It’s one of my favorite things about the campus: I have a squirrel walking me back to my dorm almost every day. How great is that?

The campus is especially beautiful in the fall. Because of the amount of trees we have, when the leaves are changing color, Brandeis becomes one

large breathtaking mix of colors. Most of the time, the nature that is everywhere on campus takes all the attention away from the buildings themselves, regardless of what they look like.

Am I the only person who’s seen the Usen Castle? Or will someone tell me that it is ugly too? Maybe it is not as pretty as it was before, now that most of it is replaced by Skyline, but it is still a beautiful sight.

How many colleges have a castle that’s almost a hundred years old?

Many will argue that a lot of the buildings on campus do not match with each other, however I think that it is part of Brandeis’ beauty.

Is it weird to have an old castle right next to a modern building?

Sure. But that is exactly what reflects Brandeis’s growth and changes. You have a castle that has been here for longer than the university itself and a building that has been here for less than a year.

The same thing goes for most buildings on this campus: They are indicators of all the changes that took place at Brandeis and how the campus has changed in the 70 years since it was founded. The campus is also scattered with various statues, which you could also argue don’t go together with some of the buildings.

But those small things are exactly what make the character of the university: They show how willing Brandeis is to accept everyone’s creative movements and self expression.

So if all of these buildings are so important to our history and identity, why do they get so much crap from people? Would everyone really rather give all that up for new, expensive buildings, even if they are much prettier?

Would they really be worth all the money that would be spent on this? Is it really that important?

We are here to get an education, and to get an education you do not need to study pretty buildings: You need good professors and a good learning environment.

A pretty building is a nice thing to have, but by no means a necessity or something that should be the main focus of monetary spending.

16 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

March 1, 2019

Student Sexuality Information Services: advice column

By SSIS special to the hoot

Welcome back to the SSIS column, where we answer any and

I want to try having phone sex with my boyfriend because it’s too cold to walk to south campus from East. Not sure how to initiate this conversation, should we FaceTime?

Thank you for your question!

Initiating a new sexual activity with a partner can be somewhat daunting, especially if you’re not sure what their exact desires and limits are in this regard. With some self-reflection and an honest, non-judgmental conversation/negotiation with your boyfriend, you may be on your way to a remote, yet delightful, sexy situation.

all of Brandeis students’ questions about sex, sexuality, identity and relationships. If you have a question you’d like answered in our next column, email ssis@

brandeis.edu or leave a question in the Google Form link on our Facebook page (Student Sexuality Information Service). Any and all questions are welcome: There are

no bad, stupid or weird questions!

(Note: These answers are good-faith attempts by SSIS to be helpful to the Brandeis community, and are by no means

exhaustive or to be taken as universal. If these answers don’t resonate with you, either pay them no mind, or reach out to us with suggestions for improvement!)

A good starting point may be to think about what you want from this situation. What turns you on?

Are you a more visual person, or would you prefer a phone call? If you prefer to see your boyfriend, a Skype/FaceTime call may be the best option; however, some people are intimidated or self-conscious about this, and for them a phone call might be their best bet.

Since a phone call or Skype call is pretty different from an in-person sexual situation, think about your limits in this regard. What are you comfortable saying or doing?

What are some things that you would not be comfortable doing?

Once you know what you desire from the situation, it’s a good time to talk to your boyfriend about it.

Bringing the conversation up can be another challenge in itself, especially since you’ve expressed concern about it. A good rule of thumb is to bring something like this up when the two of you are on good terms and in a comfortable, safe environment, ideally alone together.

If you have this initial conversation with your boyfriend and it goes well, that’s amazing!

Now may be the time to think logistics. Try to find a time when both of your roommates are out of the room, if either of you have any (unless they don’t mind hearing this activity take place, but that opens up a whole other set of conversations).

It may help to set the mood: Warm, dim lighting may be nice,

or maybe a playlist that makes you feel sexy and relaxed. There are also sex toys that can be paired together and activated remotely, which means, if you’re interested, that they’d be perfect for this situation!

Using We-Vibe’s We-Connect™ App, for instance, your partner could theoretically control a vibrator in East all the way from South Campus! There are a ton of other brands and toys that would work, so, if you’re interested, this is definitely an option for further research.

However, it is important to realize that your boyfriend may not want to do this activity with you. Hopefully they’ve communicated this in a way that doesn’t make you feel judged or wrong for wanting to do this.

If you do feel judged or uncomfortable with the way your boyfriend reacts, please know that it’s not healthy for your boyfriend to make you feel this. Know that your sexual fantasies are valid, and be willing to stand up for yourself! If your boyfriend declines this idea in a respectful and healthy way, great! Remember to keep their desires and limits in consideration, and now you know that discussing things like this is an option.

We think it’s awesome that you are attempting to outsmart this heinously cold weather. If this is something you can pull off, that’s great! If it’s not, that’s totally fine too. Being able to have an honest and healthy conversation with your partner like this is an accomplishment in itself.

PHOTOS COURTESY SSIS

The subtle benefits of gatekeeping for communities

By James Feltner staff

When I think of a “community” I think about a group of individuals with shared interests and values unifying under a common label for a unique purpose. There is a distinct difference between liking something and being a part of its community. This much should seem obvious at a glance.

I may enjoy casting a rod into a lake for a few hours for fun now and again, but I don’t consider myself a fisherman; I may have deeply enjoyed “Black Panther” when it came out, but I wouldn’t say I’m invested in or a fan of the rest of the Marvel cinematic universe. Passive participation is not necessarily indicative of membership in a group.

So how can we decide who is or is not a part of a community if it is impossible to base it on behavior alone? The critics of gatekeeping would say that in every case the best way to tell is by asking the person in question. If they believe they belong to a community for some particular sort of entertainment, then they do. Nobody is hurt by the inclusion of as many

people as want to be included since it is all just for fun anyway.

This is a problematic approach for me.

Community members must all have a certain ideological consistency in order for their group’s name to mean anything. If people are allowed into a community while simultaneously rejecting its core values or showing lack of interest in its primary goal, the community will eventually dissolve into something meaningless. For example, a certain person claims they are a competitive chess player, but their idea of the rules are all wrong and they stubbornly refuse to conform. They want pawns to be able to always move diagonally, they think castling is cheating, and they only think someone wins if they take every single one of the other player’s pieces. Another certain person plays by the rules, but has no interest in beating their opponent, plays only when compelled by someone else and does not concern themselves with learning advanced techniques. Obviously neither of these individuals can be rightfully considered competitive chess players! It is a necessary truth that competitive chess play-

ers are invested in discovering who is the best player amongst themselves by using a universal and fair rule set—a truth that these example players fail to acknowledge.

Membership in a community, it seems to me, should be something typically bestowed upon someone by the respected and established pre-existing members of said community. Either someone trusted to represent the shared integrity of the community needs to vouch for an aspirant member or the latter must be able to demonstrate certain credentials or knowledge that are indisputable before they can be unanimously seen as part of the group. This should not be seen as an aggressive or antisocial proposition. Denying someone the title of ‘Trekkie’ because they don’t know Klingon from Vulcan is not (typically) done with the intent of telling someone they can’t think “Star Trek” is amazing, but to prevent the discussion of the well-researched and detail-valuing community to be marred with possible misinformation or retreading of tired arguments.

The ways in which a community contrasts itself with the rest of the

world is a primary way in which it maintains its identity. That is to say: communities are inherently negatively defined.

The concerned reader might be asking themselves why we should care so much about protecting communities from intruders at the expense of those just trying to enjoy their hobbies. I have two important responses. First, if you truly value happiness above all else, then what is gained in satisfaction by the person wrongly admitted to a community simply pales in comparison to what is lost among all a community’s members when they come to realize their group affiliation is now losing its value. Further, if too many are inducted with such laxness, thus making dissolution inevitable, it will be a complete loss for all parties: members and aspirants alike. Second, I believe there is something fundamentally necessary in human psychology that calls for group politics of this manner. A great deal of my personal identity is based on my own community affiliations e.g., religious, national, political and so on. If these groups had no gatekeepers, then they would cease to be meaningful labels to me

and, therefore, my own self-image would cease to be uniquely defined. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to extend the same importance my role as a member of my generation has to something like my role as an avid supporter of my favorite sports team.

These identities, if they are valued highly, are the sort of thing someone could be almost animalistically compelled to defend when threatened.

Clearly this isn’t a sort of cut and dry issue wherein boundaries are drawn in permanent marker.

Contrary to how it may seem, I think of membership in communities as a rather fluid concept in general. It is not always clear whether someone that wants an acknowledgment of membership shares group values or not regardless of any way in which they are tested. The topic at large is open to many exceptions to my argument.

That guy that told you you weren’t a ‘real’ Queen fan because you don’t like most of their B-sides is still a jerk, I just advise against fallaciously correlating him with gatekeeping as an insult before taking into consideration all the benefits you reap from gatekeeping yourself.

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March 1, 2019

‘One Foot Planted’ opening event presents beautiful art, but problematic

By Medjine Barionette and Noah Harper staff and editor

The Hadassah Brandeis Institute (HBI) has promoted art relating to Jewish women for nearly 20 years on the Brandeis campus.

This semester’s exhibit is a celebration of the female form and its relationship to Israel through cinematography. “One Foot Planted” is a series of videos by Israeli artists Ayelet Carmi and Meirav Heiman. The videos were a synthesized depiction of both Carmi and Heiman’s individual fascinations with the relationship between women and nature.

Though I have one preoccupation with one of the artist’s presentations at the exhibition’s opening event, “One Foot Planted” is a beautiful work of video art that I recommend Brandeis students visit.

Meirav Heiman has primarily worked with the media of photography and cinematography.

In her earlier works, she has photographed herself in different landscapes in a split position. The action of a split on the ground, in Heiman’s words is a, “feministic statement” about the painful relationship between the body, the land, the country and birth. Another photo series of Heiman’s depicts a variety of themed dinners with men she has gone on dates with, and people she has met online. In her collaboration with Ayelet Carmi, she continues her exploration of the body.

Carmi is a painter who has had work exhibited in her home country of Israel and abroad. She’s used oil paint and mixed media to create pieces that feel both classical and new, such as her paintings of mythical bodies using mixedup contraptions, a theme she employs in real life with her video work. Heiman and Carmi bring unique skills and sensibilities together for this exhibition, a series of videos that synthesize the two artists beautifully.

“The Israel Trail: Procession” comprises the majority of the “One Foot Planted” exhibit.

During the opening, we see at least fifty people of different body shapes, size and skin tones walking on a trail during the day.

They’re mostly women, though there are a few children and elderly men. The whole group seems to represent those left out by politics or from armed conflicts. As they walk, we see the sun move, from the beginning blues to the purple hues of sunset, creating stark silhouettes of the female forms.

The parade of women traveled on a multitude of mechanisms that prevented them from touching the ground. The decision to have their models walk in a variety of difficult contraptions depicts the complicated relationship between Israeli woman and Israeli land. “The Israeli Trail: Procession” conveys the impact that conflicts and politics have on Israeli women through alluring aesthetics.

Both women have a compelling and beautiful way of displaying the female body.

Truly, without being pretentious, the art was truly breath-

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‘The Visitors’ an immersive musical and emotional experience

By Sarah Terrazano editor

PHOTOS FROM HADASSAH-BRANDEIS INSTITUTE

taking. Elements of both Carmi and Heiman’s individual art styles and inspirations were present but meshed together beautifully like all true artist collaborations should be. You can see where Carmi’s individual art style and Heiman’s mastery of performance art and cinematography combine to create the beauty of “The Israel Trail: Procession.”

Both artists gave lectures on their particular styles for the event’s opening. For Meirav Heiman’s portion, she presented an accompanying PowerPoint with slides demonstrating the progression of her art. There was a “Red Dinner” where the guests were dressed in red with red wigs, a “White Dinner” where the guests were dressed in white wearing white wigs and drinking milk.

One of the themed dinners was a “Black Dinner,” where the guests were dressed in all black, had afros and were in black face.

It is important to say that this photograph is not a part of “One Foot Planted” but from one of the

artist’s portfolios. It was part of the PowerPoint used for visuals during Heiman’s part of her lecture on her individual art. But it’s troubling to think that HBI staff didn’t screen this ahead of time.

It should not take away from the beauty and importance of the exhibit, and it would be a shame if it did. However, it is difficult to ignore this photo. The discomfort was an unwelcome surprise. It was displayed to a room of people at Brandeis University in the United States, there can be no veil of ignorance to hide behind. While Israel is a country without the context and history of black face, the photo was presented at an American school, to an American audience that know all too well the implications of black face. The most disheartening thing about this is the fact that it did distract from the art. I felt sad sitting in a room surrounded by beauty but unable to clear such an ugly image from my mind. It wasn’t anger or simply discomfort, it was disappointment.

Ragnar Kjartansson’s exhibit “The Visitors” is a masterpiece.

Held in one gallery at the ICA, “The Visitors” is a sweeping ninescreen experience of video and audio recordings of a performance at a mansion in upstate New York.

Each screen features one musician, who are seated in different rooms of the house—one sits on a bed, one at a piano. Kjartansson himself plays guitar in a bathtub.

Each musician has a camera set up in front of them, and they all start playing and singing at the same but are recorded individually from each room.

The resulting musical composition is 64 minutes long. The performers, including other Icelandic musicians and Kjartansson’s long-time collaborator Davíð Þór Jónsson, each have a different instrument while they sing.

They are all singing together, yet in separate rooms, united by the headset each wears.

The result is an absolutely immersive experience for the ICA visitor. Each screen around the room projects one musician, and an accompanying individual speaker plays their recording.

Walking around the installation, you see into every room in the house, watching each musician play in a different place but at the same time.

The most beautiful moments are when the song reaches a crescendo, all the instruments blending together with the singers’ voices. It is a mesmerizing experience to hear each voice and instrument from all the speakers around the room.

As you walk around the exhibit, the nearest speakers will be louder than the rest, reminding you that they are all in separate rooms. But the experience created, of a unified performance, is only heightened by projecting each musician on a different screen around the room.

They are all distinctive—one sings mournfully in an airy pink dress as she plays the accordion; one plays guitar, dressed in all black in the library; one’s baritone rings throughout the installation. What the performers have in common is that they seem to play effortlessly, each in their own world of the song. As a viewer, you forget that they had an hour of music to learn.

The lyrics of the song are taken from the poem “Feminine Ways,” written by artist Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir, Kjartansson’s ex-wife.

For instance, the lyric “There are stars exploding” repeats in one of the more upbeat sections of the piece and is lifted directly from the poem.

The historic mansion housing the performance is a 43-room house at Rokeby Farm, built in

1815. Its expansive grounds overlook the Catskills. Often used for weddings and other formal events, Kjartansson’s performance made the estate look almost like a fledgling artists colony, an indie group of Icelandic artists living and breathing music in, as the exhibit description notes, a “romantically dilapidated” mansion.

As the song goes on, some musicians drift into other rooms— playing all the while—and sit with each other. Over a piano, three share a drink. Towards the end, the musicians leave their rooms one by one and all meet in the backyard, still singing (and a few, like a guitarist, still playing). They all traipse together through the yard into a field behind the house that opens onto a breathtaking view of the mountains. The camera lingers for several minutes, allowing the musicians to get smaller and smaller, and their singing softer. Only when they reach the edge of the field does the cameraman yell “Cut!” and the musicians all cheer.

What is further unique about the performance is its transparency in letting viewers see its process. At the beginning, each screen is animated one by one as someone turns cameras on in each room. The first five or so minutes consist of the musicians tuning their instruments, testing their headsets and talking with each other. Someone counts down and the performance begins, with slow notes of a cello.

At the end, each musician walks outside one by one while a technician turns off each camera, so that all screens black out except the one following the musicians to the field. This glimpse into the making of the performance not only shows the planning that went into it but also makes it seem more like a live performance—which requires set up, break down, timing—instead of just a video loop.

When I wandered into the exhibit, I did not expect to stay for as long as I did. Sitting in the dimly lit installation, music surrounding me on all sides, I closed my eyes and just listened. I wound up staying for nearly all 64 minutes, reaching the end and then waiting for it to re-start so I could see the beginning. And I would gladly go back and watch the whole thing again.

The ICA’s physical space also provides the installation’s final layer—the “visitors” in the museum. As the screens turn on and off, and especially at the end when all the musicians are in the backyard and filmed on one camera, viewers cluster around the screens that are active. By the end, everyone is around the same screen—coming together, just like the performers.

“The Visitors” is at the ICA until July 28. I highly recommend heading off campus and experiencing this one-of-a-kind installation.

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March 1, 2019

Turns out some good stuff has snuck onto Netflix indeed. “High Flying Bird” is a slam-dunk—just don’t expect to see one on-screen.

Yes, “Russian Doll” could have been a feature

PHOTO FROM THENEWYORKER.COM

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

Let’s face it: There’s a lot of crap on Netflix. On the level playing field of auto-playing thumbnails, it can be difficult to tell the good stuff from the bad. Netflix doesn’t care if you sink hours into reruns of “The Office” or another mess from Adam Sandler or the best movie of last year. But—perhaps in spite of itself—Netflix has been green-lighting some great stuff lately that isn’t “Big Mouth.”

With that in mind, here are some gems you can stream right now!

“High Flying Bird” is Steven Soderbergh’s best in years Needless to say, Steven Soderbergh is a brilliant director. From his “Oceans” trilogy to “Magic Mike” to getting Adam Driver to say “cauliflower,” the guy has been churning out good stuff for the last 30 years. Back in 2000, he beat himself to win Best Director (no joke). And his latest is not to be overlooked.

With “High Flying Bird,” Soderbergh sets his sights on “the game on top of the game.” In the midst of an NBA lockout, freewheeling agent Ray Burke (Andre Holland) is skating on thin ice: He only gets paid if his athletes get paid, including his latest signee, No. 1 draft pick Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg). The owners—a benevolent and wealthy group personified by Kyle MacLachlan—hold all the cards, unless Ray can find a

‘RUSSIAN DOLL’

way to maneuver power back into the hands of the players. Along the way, Soderbergh crosscuts to real NBA players discussing the game—not so much the sport but the challenges of being the face of an organization that sidelines you whenever possible.

The whole movie moves like clockwork. Working from a bulletproof script from “Moonlight” writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, “High Flying Bird” doesn’t waste a moment of its 90-minute runtime.

Watching Ray operate is always engaging, and the dialogue cuts and zings through boardrooms, bars and even a stray court. Imagine an Aaron Sorkin project actually punching upwards, and you’ll have some idea why this thing works so well. The performances do the screenplay justice; Holland’s a clear standout, and it’s nice to see Gregg outside his breakout role in the second season of “American Vandal.” Finally, Zazie Beetz shows up as Ray’s former assistant Sam, which (as usual) is a good thing.

Soderbergh just knows how to put these pieces together. His intricate style remains clean, even as he shoots “High Flying Bird” on an iPhone. Like “Tangerine” (another recent flick shot on a smartphone) the degraded image quality is compensated for with an unprecedented unity of theory and practice. Soderbergh understands that this story is about redistributing control into the hands of those who have been denied it, so it only makes sense to see it through a lens almost everyone has in their pockets right now. The game on top of the game

PHOTO FROM IGN.COM

“Russian Doll” is yet another “television” show that could have been a movie—over eight halfhour installments, this streamlined series tells the complete tale of Nadia (Natasha Lyonne), a woman who keeps dying on the night of her 36th birthday, only to come back to life at the same moment. It’s a more morbid version of “Groundhog Day,” but as time-loop stories go, this is one of the best.

Series creators Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler mine a lot of pathos out of Nadia and those around her, and there’s a good ratio of style to substance.

Instead of waking up to an alarm clock blaring Sonny and Cher, Nadia returns to life in a bathroom with an other-worldly feel, a vibe that extends to the whole of “Doll’s” New York City. Finally, Lyonne’s performance helps the show settle into a sardonic rhythm, with a tone that has equal room for comedy and drama (looking at you, “Killing Eve”).

I don’t really want to say more— the less you know going into the show the better. Things conclude on such a satisfying note that I’m not even sure I want to see a second season. Yes, “Russian Doll” could have been edited into a feature film, but there’s something fun about watching it bit-by-bit.

Take the plunge—it’s early, but I’d be surprised if this show doesn’t make it on to my “Best of 2019” list come December.

Terrifying and relevant, “Cam” packs layers of meaning Finally, there’s “Cam,” a bare-knuckle horror flick. Make no mistake—this is not my genre of choice, but “Cam” joins the ranks of last year’s “Get Out” as another superb, socially-conscious thriller, aiming much higher than a few jump scares. We follow Alice Ackerman (Madeline Brewer), a young woman clawing her way up the ranks of a cam site.

In a relatively short time, Alice has attracted a significant following, performing for her unsavory viewers on a sometimes-daily basis.

“Cam” innovates on two levels from the start. First, placing the viewer in the perspective of a sex worker (who we are meant to empathize with) is a bold and unique choice, humanizing a point-ofview rarely (seriously) examined across media today. But the film goes one level deeper: The marketplace Alice works for is structured in the vein of Uber or Airbnb; as Katie Rife of “The AV Club” points out, “It’s a gig economy nightmare as much as a sex industry one.” Alice may be extremely smart and driven, but that doesn’t mean she has control over the system through which she makes her living.

And as “Cam” enters its second act, Alice loses even more control: Locked out of her account, someone appears to be impersonating her own stream. And while the film lacks much of an explanation for its conceit (to a fault), it compensates by treading into accessible thematic territory.

There’s a dissonance between our representations of ourselves online and the people we are in person that you don’t have to be a sex

worker to experience. It’s the first feature from both director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei, and the pair construct painful tension as Alice’s incongruent

selves crash into one another.

“Cam” scares you to your core— comparisons to “Get Out” are high praise, praise “Cam” easily earns.

Let’s be honest: J. Cole

By Chris DeMena etaff

The Fayetteville rapper’s output post “2014 Forest Hills Drive” leaves us with a dilemma. J. Cole is an artist with no shortage of technical ability who we know is capable of putting together high-quality projects. And from his feature spots in that time we know he’s far from washed out.

But following two consecutive lackluster efforts, Cole is in a position where his next project really needs to come together. So what’s gone wrong? J. Cole’s image of himself has got in the way of his projects’ success.

He’s had no shortage of commercial success. Every one of his albums has peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. charts, and each is platinum certified. But Cole has been unable to replicate the success of his early projects. “Cole World: The Sideline Story” was an energetic and high quality debut. “Born Sinner” built on that success while putting more of Cole’s introspective slide on display. And “2014 Forest Hills Drive” is heralded by some as a classic. Personally, I am uncomfortable with that label; albums like Noname’s “Room 25,” Quelle Chris’ “Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often” and Brockhampton’s “Saturation” trilogy have the same strengths and more personality. But by all means, “2014” is a very good album, and Cole has not come close to it since.

“4 Your Eyez Only” and “KOD” were hurt by what made “2014” so good and the reputation J. Cole earned from it. J. Cole has seemingly internalized his “the deep rapper” image, taking it upon himself to portray how a life of crime becomes inescapable or the dangers of drug abuse.

Whether J. Cole is actually deep is neither here nor there, but his last two albums fall flat conceptually. For one, the “2014” approach of reclusive album crafting does not make artistic sense for either album. Often these albums feel monotone as repeated sounds and ideas make individual tracks indistinguishable. Such a process makes sense for a personal album like “2014” but on “4 Your Eyez Only” and especially “KOD,” the

lack of outside voices contribute to the shortcomings. Silly tracks like “Folding Clothes” and “Brackets,” boring tracks like “Motiv8,” “The Cut Off ” and “Déjà Vu,” or corny ideas like naming tracks “Kevin’s Heart” and “Window Pain” have a small chance of making it past a second set of eyes. In these concept albums too, often Cole’s focus is narrow, and he often has a hard time sticking to whatever concept he has. It’s as if he becomes distracted by the need to be J. Cole the mentor/lecturer.

And sometimes that’s going to look like 1985, which was the musical equivalent of that SNL sketch where an elderly Kenan Thompson tries to teach a youth about the streets and immediately gets clowned.

J. Cole, keeper of the old guard, may be tolerable in doses. Just in the last few months, he has appeared on 21 Savage, Offset and JID’s records and delivered quality verses. The feature on 21 Savage’s “a lot” both display his talents but subtlety expose his flawed outlook. On the track, Cole busts out a killer flow and some very sharp bars. But, in addition, he makes a point to bring up his concern for 6ix9ine and then Sixers point guard Markelle Fultz. For someone as supposedly concerned for the children as J. Cole, going out of your way to express your sympathies for a person who screws them over certainly seems odd. And feigning concern for Markelle Fultz was a well-established, cheap means of getting attention long before the track dropped. And when you add all this up, the picture begins to look more like an artist concerned with posture than positivity.

None of this is to say J. Cole is incapable of releasing another high quality album or even a great concept album. But it seems like the road to that is through more collaboration and fresh perspectives as well as letting go of his veteran, sit-downwith-the-youngbloods self-image which has gotten in the way of his messaging. This week it was announced that a Dreamville album is coming in April, and on it, I think we will hear a more engaging J. Cole.

PHOTO FROM BILLBOARD.COM

March 1, 2019

Duel Links: a(nother) card game review

By Stewart Huang special to the hoot

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links boasts one of the most engaging and rewarding competitive experiences I have had in a card game, aside from the real-life Trading Card Game (TCG) of the same name.

I say this outright because I want to recommend this game from the very start, for it is such an enjoyable experience. So much so that the rest of the review will be devoted to discussing the various aspects of competitive play of Duel Links (DL), and we have a lot to cover.

First of all, the variety of decks and play-styles that one can encounter on ranked is excellent.

This is thanks to the immense pool of roughly 2000 to 3000 cards and the frequent releases of new sets about every three to four weeks, which encourages players to experiment with new cards and consistently keeps the game fresh.

On top of that, there is no set rotation, instead, DL uses a forbidden and limited list. What this means is that old cards will always be usable and not be suddenly obsolete due to arbitrary time restrictions, yet at the same time, the meta is still constantly shifting every one or two seasons with the developer actively banning (there are currently no banned cards, though) and limiting cards to curb the most powerful decks. It’s worth noting that with such a system, cards are not nerfed, but merely limited in the number of copies available to use in deck, and cards that are limited could be released from the list if they are no longer as powerful as before.

Even though it’s true that there are always certain meta deck archetypes that can be popular, there are so many other viable “rogue” strategies to play or play against, as well as decks specifically designed to counter the meta decks by using gimmicky “tech” cards, such as stall decks or burn decks. In addition, the flexibility for players to tailor their decks to their preference, like having the choice of using anywhere from 20 to 30 cards in their deck, and the amount of different skills available, which is around 200, make it so that every match feels different, or at the very least, different enough when it comes to the highest level of competition, where there are only a few decks competing with each other. In contrast to the ranked mode of Hearthstone, where sets rotate out of standard mode every two years, where expansions happen only every three to four months, where balancing is often done poorly (all bad nerfs and no buffs), if at all, and where the meta can often feel stale, DL feels superior in every way.

But variety isn’t the only thing that makes ranked duels so much fun. There are quite a few mechanics that allow you to interact with your opponent on his turn, most notably “trap cards,” giving you incredible agency in the game state beyond your turn.

Trap cards are cards that need to be “set” on the field on your turn and can then be activated in subsequent turns, regardless

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of whose turn it is. For instance, you can set cards that can destroy your opponent’s monsters, lower their attack points, or straight up disrupt their attacks on his turn, so that he can’t One Turn Kill (OTK) you without resistance, unless he manages to destroy your set cards first. The same applies to you too, creating a backand-forth dynamic where board control can easily be outplayed by smart timing of these “quick effects.” Such amazing interactivity ensures that outcomes of games feel in control of the player all the time, which keeps the games fun, unlike in Hearthstone, where the only way to interact with your opponent on his turn are secrets, of which there aren’t many and you don’t have real control of as it only activates automatically.

Another thing I like about DL is the lack of game-breaking random effects in-game. There are, of course, a small number of cards and skills that contain these ef-

on ranked will have consistent, predictable effects, thereby once again putting control of the game state in the hands of you, the player, instead of some random number generator. And the more power the player has over game outcomes, the more skillful the game is. The more skillful the game is, the more satisfying and fun it is to win those games. That’s DL. But you might be wondering how to be competitive and enjoy ranked duels as a new/free-toplay player, for card games are, by virtue, noob-unfriendly and payto-play. No worries; the game really tries its absolute best to help players to collect useful cards and become familiar with the meta.

There are a ton of ways to get gems, the in-game currency for buying packs or pre-made decks, through completing quests and duel quizzes, leveling up characters (there are currently 39 unlockable characters, each with a max level of 45) playing and winning in ranked modes, participating in events, or simply logging in.

You even get 500 free gems every time a new set is released, which amounts to 10 free packs, which is 30 cards, and you don’t even need gems to get new cards. Through normal playing, you can acquire a significant amount of tickets that allows you to directly redeem the cards you want, even ones of the

PHOTO FROM KONAMI.COM

you don’t need into various jewels, which can then be used at the card trader to get those you do.

In regards to providing players knowledge of the best decks and most popular cards, the game features a global decklist tab, a most popular cards ranking on the ranked duel interface as well as the filter of the deck editor, and

PHOTO FROM REDDIT.COM

fects, but about 85 to 90 percent of them are just fun cards that hold no competitive merit. The best cards typically encountered

highest rarity. You can also farm Nonplayer Characters (NPCs) and events to get more cards. Alternatively, you can convert cards

the KaibaCorp (KC) Report in the card studio. The decklist tab showcases all sorts of decks from beginner to the most advanced,

meta decks used in KC cups, the highest mode of competitive play in which players compete to win and accumulate the most points.

The most popular cards ranking shows what cards people are using the most on ladder, from top 1 to 50, and is a useful reference for knowing which cards to redeem or pull for. The KC Report is like a combination of these two functions. It shows various stats about the last KC cup that took place: list of frequently used cards, frequently used skills and samples of decks used by high-ranking players. These are all helpful tools that greatly assist any player looking to become competitive.

There are still so many things I haven’t covered, like the staggering amount of single-player content present in game, the incredible voice works, the well-designed, easy-to-use User Interface (UI) and some minor flaws to the game like having no chatting function with friends or gold being basically useless.

But by just looking at the competitive experience of DL, that is diverse, interactive and easy to get into, I think it is perfectly safe to say that this game is a solid 10 out of 10. It has my glowing recommendation. Go and play it!

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The Brandeis Hoot

March 1, 2019

Hoot Crossword: Oscars Edition

Hoot Recommends Hoot Staff

“Head Above Water” She ain’t no sk8er boi anymore.

Since her more recent, self-titled album, “Avril Lavigne,” was released in 2013, Lavigne has really been laying low. And no, she was not replaced by a clone named Melissa. When she disappeared, I was honestly really disappointed because the album was not my favorite. Maybe her divorce from Chad Kroeger of Nickelback did some good for her because her new album, “Head Above Water,” is my favorite album of hers so far. Transitioning away from her “Girlfriend” and “Complicated” phase, Lavigne has really transformed into a musician that utilizes more acoustic and mellow beats and soulful lyrics. While I will always miss 2000s Lavigne, the new Avril is someone that deserves attention and recognition.

—Sabrina Chow

“Ugly Delicious”

Even though this Netflix food show came out almost a year ago, it still hasn’t received the love it deserves. It’s not food porn like Chef ’s Table; instead, each episode centers on a theme, like “Tacos” or “Barbecue.” Season opener “Pizza” is an excellent indicator: A globe-trotting exploration of what exactly pizza is, from Naples to Connecticut to Japan, Momofuku chef David Chang and food critic Peter Meehan look at food that people actually eat (they conclude that Domino’s is actually pretty good). A poignant look at culture through cuisine, “Ugly Delicious” is about challenging notions of posh, authentic food and connecting to people across cultures through the power of a really, really good slice of pizza.

—Noah Harper

“Beautiful Anonymous”

What if you could anonymously hear someone’s life story in one hour, during one phone call?

That’s the premise of the podcast

Across

Down

5) Daredevil climbing documentary winner.

6) Supporting actor winner, also won for Moonlight.

7) City of Stars.

10) Boston Globe reporters investigate Catholic sex abuse.

12) Movie about Bush 43’s right hand man.

13) “Shallow” singer.

14) In this band’s film, Rami wore fake teeth.

16) Polish, black and white, nominated for foreign film.

17) Street name of Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” follow-up.

18) Best supporting actress victor, Riley in “The Boondocks.”

19) Disappointing Oscar winner.

20) First Marvel movie to win Academy Awards.

1) Warner Bros. sued a Kickstarter trying to erase the rats from this Boston mob film.

2) Black and white Netflix film set in Mexico.

3) Multi-dimensional best animated film.

4) Miles Teller astronaut drama, won for special effects.

8) Spike Lee’s first win.

9) Leo, Kate, and an iceberg.

11) Emma Stone seduces the Queen, British spelling.

13) Jordan Peele’s first breakout film.

15) Dev Patel starred in this 2008 Best Picture Winner.

“Beautiful Anonymous,” hosted by comedian Chris Gethard. With the tagline “beautiful stories from anonymous people,” the podcast opens its phone lines to callers who hope they’ll get on the air and have the chance to tell their story. It has featured memorable episodes such as a 39-year-old grandmother, a gay Mormon, a white single mom raising her two black children and a college student making some extra cash through online sex work. Gethard is a thoughtful and engaging host throughout, and the podcast will make you wonder about the stories of people around you. —Sarah Terrazano

“The Rock Doc” by Fruit Bats Not feeling so hot? “You should go and see the Rock Doc.” At least that’s the advice Eric Johnson, a former guitarist for The Shins, offers in this catchy folk-rock tune. Sweet, warm and simple, if you can’t get an appointment with the Rock Doc, this song may serve as adequate medication for whatever is ailing you. Whether you’re caught in a heap of midterms and deadlines, had a plain lousy day, or—like Johnson and I—you “blew one too many spark plugs trying to love and be loved,” the two gentle guitar solos in this

song will lull your problems into non-existence. For this song, there is no recommended dosage. Take a mellow morning listen, then tune in again for some mid-afternoon zeal, pop those headphones

in yet again for a glow of warmth against the cold February night— or just turn the song on repeat all day as I have. You heard it here first, “The Rock Doc” is a miracle cure. —Ryan Spencer

Arts Calendar Friday, March 1 Rising Fine Arts Majors and Minors Exhibition Check out work by our rising majors and minors in studio art!

Dreitzer Gallery in Spingold.

Through March 20. Gallery open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

a preview of a scene from the upcoming play, The Effect. Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m. in Shapiro Lounge.

Sunday, March 3 Platinum Step Team Showcase: Step In & Stroll Out

SCRAMCo Coffee House Platinum Step Team is showcasft Lady Queen Paradise + ing the art of step for the first Raavi & the HP time at Brandeis University. LoSCRAM and BAMCO are hosting a night of live music at the Rose! Performances include a student opener, Raavi + the HP, and Lady Queen Paradise. Also, free snacks! Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum.

cal step teams and on-campus teams will join together to perform for a night of excitement in celebration of step. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 3 in the Levin Ballroom.

The Charles River SuperSolar Winds Quintet: MuShow Join the CAs of Charles River sic and Art Quad (Grad) for the first-ever Charles River SuperShow! Performing acts include: Voices of Soul, TBA Improv, Rather Be Giraffes, Crowd Control, Chak De!, Boris’ Kitchen, and Too Cheap for Instruments. Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Charles River Commons.

Brandeis flute instructor Jill Dreeben and company perform music by Libby Larsen, Robert S. Cohen and Mark Fish. Free for Brandeis students. Sunday, March 3 in Slosberg Recital Hall at 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 2

Thursday, March 7

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Opening Open Film Class / A WomEvent with special guest, en Take the Reel Festival Event: “Left on Pearl” DocJapanese Breakfast Come watch talented AAPI dancers, singers, poets, and umentary more & enjoy some delicious food! With a performance and reading by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast. Free tickets available at SCC Box Office.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2nd.

The Effect Coffeehouse+Fundraiser

STANISLAVSKY METHOD

’Mrs. Maisel’s’ Tony Shalhoub isn’t afraid to get moody.

PHOTO BY SABRINA CHOW/THE HOOT

Come enjoy performances by TCFI and False Ad, karaoke, and speeches on mental health awareness from members of Active Minds, while raising money for mental health research, with

“Left on Pearl” is a 55-minute documentary about a highly significant but little-known event in the history of the women’s liberation movement, the 1971 takeover and occupation of a Harvard University-owned building by hundreds of Boston area women. A Q&A with the filmmaker and producer will follow the screening. Thursday, March 7 at 12:30 p.m. in Liberman-Miller Lecture Hall in Epstein.