The Brandeis Hoot 10/13/2017

Volume 14 Issue 15

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

October 13, 2017

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day teach-in inspires discussion

By Juliana An staff

photo by juliana an/the hoot

teach-in Faculty,

students and outside organizations assembled to take an in-depth look into the culture of indigenous populations worldwide.

Faculty, Massachusetts Bay organizations and student groups hosted programs at the Second Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Teach-In in the Intercultural Center on Monday, Oct. 9. The event featured presentations and lead informative discussions.

In one of the six presentations, Roba Bulga, a Sustainable International Development student, showed a video on a short case study of Indigenous Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. The video showed how indigenous peoples created a successful business enterprise producing camel milk.

Bulga explained that the concept of business in indigenous cultures is not profit-driven, but com-

munity-driven. Their perceived needs are derived from cultural values. According to the case study, the misconception that competition drives enterprise leads to exploitation of resources, energy, and spirituality/identity.

In addition to the case study, Dr. Cristina Espinosa, associate director of the Heller School, spoke about the changing work dynamic for indigenous people.

According to Espinosa, the history of capitalism led to genocide and ethnocide against indigenous people, but in recent years, social responsibility has increased awareness of indigenous peoples’ struggles. Espinosa believes that if the paradigm of sustainable development achieves sustainability and justice, then opportunities for See TEACH-IN, page 2

Students compete in sustainability contest to learn, improve habits and win prizes

By Samantha Lauring staff

SaveOhno, a competition to improve and promote sustainability efforts on college campuses, is happening at Brandeis from Oct. 9 to Oct. 21, coinciding with

Global Climate Change week.

Students can earn points by signing petitions, attending campus events, eating vegan for a day and more, working to support the environment and earn prizes from Patagonia.

SaveOhno, a national organization that runs competitions at

many schools, works to advance environmental awareness including land and ocean conservation, air pollution and climate change, according to the their website.

Dylan Husted, who graduated from Babson College in 2017, created SaveOhno during his sophomore year with help from

his roommate and close friends.

Husted reached out to Mary Fischer, the manager of sustainability programs at Brandeis, to hold a SaveOhno at Brandeis.

Several students Nick April ’18, Charlotte Lang ’19, Cameron Bechmann ’19 and Victor Bianchi ’19, students of Prof. Laura Gol-

din’s (ENVS) “Greening the Ivory Tower” class, are leading SaveOhno with Mary Fischer.

“SaveOhno.org uses gamification to motivate college students on climate change. Each participant has their own ‘Ohno,’ who See COMPETITION, page 3

Women’s soccer team protests police brutality

By Ryan Spencer staff

In a demonstration meant to reflect the NFL protests that have sparked national controversy in recent weeks, the Brandeis women’s soccer team held hands during the singing of the national anthem before their home game against Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday.

A less controversial statement than kneeling during the National Anthem, goalkeeper Sierra Dana ’20 and forward Minjee Lee ’19 told The Brandeis Hoot that they

chose to hold hands rather than kneel in order to keep the conversation focused on issues such as police shootings of unarmed black men and racism instead of on disrespect for the flag.

During the national anthem the Brandeis team was arranged in two lines. The starting lineup stood in one life halfway between the spectators and the benches while the rest of the players stood at the benches on the far side of the field from the crowd. Players aligned front to back to face the flag, and each player held hands

Inside This Issue:

See SOCCER page 3

News: Comparing Brandeis’ gen. ed. requirements Arts: Food and culture at TSA Nightmarket Features: UWS examines fandom culture Sports: Homecoming holds athlete alumni panels EDITORIAL: Be sustainable, Save Ohno!

protests The

Woyzeck

women’s soccer team joins hands to show solidarity with NFL protests.

Page 2 Page 11 Production move audience with emotion Page 4 Page 7 ARTS: PAGE 12 Page 6

Men’s Soccer Team takes on Carnegie Melon and wins 2-0 SPORTS: PAGE 7

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

October 13, 2017

Second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day invites outside organizations to campus

TEACH-IN, from page 1

indigenous people will increase.

“Opportunities are culturally bounded. Now, there are different ways of doing business. The traditional definition and concept of entrepreneurship has changed.

Some view the term ‘indigenous entrepreneurship’ as a contradiction, an oxymoron, but actually it is not. Indigenous enterprises are made for indigenous people by indigenous people,” Espinosa said in an interview.

Madeline Lopez, director of the Intercultural Center, spoke about the purpose of hosting a teach-in.

“We wanted to have discussions not to be antagonistic or accusatory but rather use it as an opportunity to learn campus wide,” Lopez said “We had scholars and accomplished members in their fields, but we wanted to make sure students felt that they could bring in their knowledge and their interests.”

Students from the Brandeis Asian American Task Force and the Brandeis Climate Justice participated in voicing their opinions of their respective campaigns.

The other event presenters included scholars, faculty and students. Dr. Mandell, from Truman

State University, spoke about shifting images of indigenous people and notions of race in America from 1600 to 2000. Darius Coombas, director of Wompanoag Eastern Woodlands, and members of the nation ran a simulation and performed interpretative training.

Dr. Mushy Lesser, director for the Upstander Project, spoke about her First Light Documentary and led a discussion. The student group, Brandeis Climate Justice gave a presentation on the role of indigenous people as environmental protectors.

Lopez hopes the lessons of the teach-in would encourage stu-

dents to be active participants in the field of indigenous studies.

“I would hope that students would come out of the day wanting to empower those communities. Finding ways to include the perspectives of indigenous communities in decision-making processes and in pushing for indigenous studies at Brandeis, so it’s not just one day or a section of a class,” she said. Different from the first annual event, this year, members outside the Brandeis Community presented as well.

The movement to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day at Brandeis

began when Sophie Warren ’18, student leader of the coalition, worked with former Student Union senator Lorenzo Finamore ’18 to submit a resolution before the Senate.

The next October, the coalition created a Change.org petition that garnered over 600 signatures and promoted awareness on social media and through flyers. The University Advisory Committee votes on changes to the Brandeis calendar, but the body moved to bring the question to a full-faculty vote. After a unanimous vote at the Oct. 7 Faculty Meeting, Brandeis approved the change.

photos by juliana an/the hoot

How Brandeis’ new gen. ed. proposal compares to Boston-area colleges

By Ariella Gentin and Ryan Spencer

special to the hoot and staff

For the first time in 23 years, Brandeis is fully revising its General Education Requirements.

If the new plan is approved the number required courses will change from 11 to 13, with the addition of requirements in Digital Literacy and Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the U.S. The new requirements would take effect in 2019 for the incoming first-year class.

A number of previously required courses will be altered as well. The University Writing Seminar, for instance, will require students to attend two “critical conversations” led by professors and an out-of-class experiential learning project.

In the report, the Task Force named a number of reasons they are adjusting the requirements.

The primary reason was that as the world changes, the skills graduates need to navigate their careers and future, will change.

As such, the new requirements add classes with a focus on technology, a globalized world, and

climate change. The report also states “examining requirements and changes at other institutions” played a role in their decision to revise Brandeis’ curriculum.

Last March, Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences approved a new General Education program which will begin in the Fall of 2018. The program will allow students to take up to half of the program’s requirements’ pass-fail, according to the Harvard Crimson. Brandeis allows students to take one general education requirement pass-fail, which will not change under the new guidelines.

Harvard University’s new requirements ask students to take one course in each of their four General Education categories: Aesthetics and Culture; Histories, Societies, Individuals; Science and Technology in Society; and Ethics and Civics. In addition, Harvard students must take at least one class in Arts and Sciences, Science and Engineering, Social Sciences and a Quantitative Facility requirement. This is similar to Brandeis except that Harvard does not require an Arts distribution and Brandeis does not require Engineering.

The Task Force noted in their

report that at least 12 of Brandeis’ peer institutions have roughly the same number of general education requirements. Among the examples cited were Harvard University, Tufts University, Boston University, New York University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Though the number of requirements may be similar, the course content required is not necessarily.

At Boston College (BC), for instance, there are 15 core requirements, and students must take two courses in Natural Sciences (i.e. biology, chemistry), two courses in History and two courses in Theology. BC is a Jesuit university; Brandeis is non-sectarian.

Tufts University has school distribution requirements similar to Brandeis and requires two semesters of college writing to be completed during students’ first year plus a non-western requirement. Brandeis also has a Writing Intensive and non-western requirement. Tufts mandates the equivalent of third-semester college level language—the same way Brandeis does. However, Tufts students must also take an advanced course in the same language or a course in a differ-

ent language and distribution requirements in non-western world civilizations.

Boston University has similar requirements. Students at Boston University are required to take two semesters of academic reading, writing and research, up to a fourth semester level of foreign language and a mathematics course. Students also must complete a six-course set of breadth requirements in Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science and Natural Sciences. They can opt instead to take a set of eight “Core” courses that provide a “strong intellectual foundation,” for students and result in an annotation on the graduate’s transcript, according to BU’s website.

The Digital Literacy requirement was designed so most students can fulfill it through their major requirements. The goal of the course is to have students acquire technology skills that may vary depending on the major.

Digital literacy aims to incorporate the use digital media and software. Neither Boston College or Lasell College have a similar Digital Literacy requirement, despite having similar requirements in other areas like social science

and history.

No schools compared in this article had a diversity in the U.S. or a Digital Literacy requirement.

Brandeis’ new Gen. Ed. curriculum still includes Physical Education (PE), but the PE requirement will now be placed into a broader category of health, wellness and life skills from which students must take three half-semester modules addressing topics such as financial literacy, team building and crisis management.

Other schools compared do not have PE or Life Skill type requirements.

At the other end of the spectrum, Brown University does not have general education requirements. Instead, they have an “open curriculum,” which “challenges [students] to choose [their] own core” curriculum. The only requirements are to complete at least one major (or “concentration” at Brown) and take two writing-designated classes throughout your college career.

“Our open curriculum ensures you great freedom in directing the course of your education, but it also expects you to remain open to people, ideas, and experiences that may be entirely new,” their website reads.

October 13, 2017

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Varsity soccer protest echoes NFL players SOCCER, from page 1

with the player in front of them and behind them.

The women’s soccer coaches were supportive of any actions the players wanted to take, according to Lee. In addition to holding hands during the national anthem, the women’s soccer team arranged for a moment of silence to “think of those whose lives have been impacted and stand with us in solidarity as we hope for peace” in “challenging times,” according to the announcer who called for the moment of silence on Tuesday. A similar moment of silence was held before the men’s game against Carnegie Mellon earlier Saturday morning.

Players in the National Football League kneeling during the National Anthem has led some, including President Donald Trump, to criticize their actions as unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag. Colin Kaepernick was

the first NFL player to spark controversy when, in 2016, he chose not to stand for the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” as an act of protest against police shootings of unarmed black men. One weekend in September, AP counted 102 players kneeling or sitting during NFL games.

Other NFL players have chosen to lock arms during the anthem to show support without raising controversy about disrespecting the flag. The protests have spread to other professional and highschool level sports, including members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

Dana said that she hopes to continue demonstrations throughout the season, especially during home games.

This weekend was Homecoming weekend at Brandeis, drawing above average crowds of spectators to Brandeis sports, and a more impactful opportunity to send a message to students and alumni alike.

team huddle

Women’s soccer team huddles during their Homecoming game.

photo by yarisa diaz/the hoot

Lisman lab discovers key to long term memory, furthering research on Alzheimer’s and addiction

By Celia Young staff

Since the 1980’s, Professor John Lisman ’66 (BIOL) has investigated the relationship between memory and calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase (CaMKII). On Sept. 27, Lisman’s Lab’s breakthrough study demonstrating that CaMKII stores longterm memories was published in the online edition of “Neuron,” a peer-reviewed neuroscience journal.

The discovery, achieved through experimentation on rats by the lab of John Lisman, who is also the Zalman Abraham Kekst Chair in Neuroscience, is a testament to research at Brandeis, as the first seven authors of the paper are Brandeis undergraduates.

The neuron paper was coauthored

by Tom Rossetti ’18, Somdeb Banerjee ’20, Chris Kim ’19, Megan Leubner ’18, Casey Lamar ’18, Pooja Gupta ’16, Bomsol Lee ’15, Rachael Neve (of Massachusetts General Hospital) and Lisman.

“That kind of structure isn’t something that you would get

at… many universities... It’s the combination of the amount of trust that…the lead investigators [and] that doctor Lisman has in his students. But also it’s a testament to the type of support that Brandeis is giving, [and] the type of opportunities that Brandeis is giving,” said Lamar, who worked on the study.

By demonstrating the link between memory and CaMKII, the study holds possible answers to topics that have baffled neuroscientists for ages, such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and addiction.

CaMKII has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease in the past, and a further understanding of the enzyme could help understand how the disease affects memory.

In theory, the results could also be used to edit memories and unlearn the associations that addicts have with their addiction.

According to Lamar, Lisman and his team were a model of perseverance. “For him, for a lot of these scientists it’s more about [how] they’re never satisfied...

They’re never satisfied with the answers they have. They’re nev-

er satisfied with the explanations that… other people have given…

Its more about…trying to search out every answer for themselves.”

Lisman himself did not give up, despite when, in 2009, a study from SUNY Downstate Medical Center showed that another kinase enzyme was key to memory storage (though later studies soon cast doubt on those findings).

Even the day after publishing the study, the team assembled for another meeting to explore how calmodulin, the protein that binds to CaM-kinase, might be affected by other inhibitors.

CaMKII helps maintain a process that strengthens synapses, which are the connections between neurons that allow them to communicate with each other. A memory is essentially the path—from neuron to synapse to neuron—that an electrochemical signal follows. The more that pathway is strengthened, the more likely the memory is to become a long-term memory.

The experiment was conducted using rats as test subjects. The rats were placed on a rotating platform with a shock zone that was

marked by visual cues on the wall adjacent to the platform, and the rats learned to avoid the shock zone.

After the learning period, the rats were injected with a Herpes simplex virus, which stopped CaMKII from working in the rodents’ brain when expressed.

When they placed the rats back on the platform, the research-

ers found that the rats no longer avoided the shock zone. The memory of the shock zone had been erased.

To confirm that it was the memory that had been erased, not the ability to have or make memories, the researchers tested the rats again and showed that they could form new memories.

photo from brandeisnow.com

SaveOhno offers prizes from Patagonia COMPETITION, from page 1

represents the user’s future grandchild. They need you to act today in the real world to improve their future world, and SaveOhno provides a host of actions for participants to start doing that,” said April.

“The Goal of SaveOhno is to engage many students, who may not be normally active in sustainability, in real action that will measurably change their understanding, attitudes and behavior, and have a significant and lasting impact on sustainability at Brandeis and beyond,” said Fischer.

In the competition, there are various ways for participants to

earn points, which try to make them become increasingly active in being sustainable. Students can start by signing petitions, and liking pages on social media, then move to volunteering, participating in events—like deiSic or an event on the rooftop farm—and more, according to April. Students can find new actions daily on the SaveOhno website.

There was a screening in the SCC on Oct. 11 of the documentary “True Cost,” which is about how the fashion industry makes their products.

Other ways to earn points include performing environmentally friendly actions, such as eating vegan meals, turning lights off

and attending events like deiSic, the rooftop farm or a Students for Environmental Action (SEA) meeting, which meets Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

Brandeis has 30 teams, with 22 actively participating, who, combined, have earned more than 98,000 points from 1,000 actions in three days, noted April. Any club, department, club or group on campus can form a team to participate. Team sizes are unlimited and can include students, faculty and staff.

The first place team with the most points will win custom embroidered Patagonia fleeces and the second place team will win reusable bamboo to-go utensils.

Fischer is working closely with DCL to run another SaveOhno competition between the firstyear residence hall quads. This competition will launch in November and “will be focused specifically on getting our first-year students engaged in sustainability to help shape their knowledge and understanding for the rest of their time at Brandeis,” noted Fischer.

This is the first time Brandeis is holding a SaveOhno competition, and if students enjoy it and find it valuable, they can submit a Brandeis Sustainability Fund (BSF) proposal online in order to fund future sustainability competitions, claimed Fischer. BSF is fund that students can use for

campus sustainability projects.

Several other college campuses, such as Wellesley, Harvard and Middlebury have had SaveOhno competitions on campus and North Carolina State University is launching one this November, said April, who also noted that “with the help of strategic sponsors, SaveOhno is looking to bring in 10 new colleges this spring, and hundreds after that.”

Brandeis has hosted other sustainability competitions in the past, including competitions between the first year quads, upperclassman buildings or academic/ administrative buildings to reduce their energy usage and waste production.

4 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

October 13, 2017

First-Year University Writing Seminars A new writing class for scientists

By Sara McCrea staff

For the more scientifically inclined first-year, a required writing seminar may seem a little daunting. Luckily, Brandeis’ diversity of seminars includes classes that stray from a typical literature course—-classes like “Darwinian Dating: The Evolution of Human Attraction.”

Professor Elissa Jacobs has a Ph.D. in biological anthropology, focusing on primatology and evolutionary biology. She has taught in the Harvard Writing Program for eight years before coming to Brandeis as a lecturer in the UWS program.

“Everybody writes, in every discipline. Scientists publish their findings, they write grant proposals and they also have to communicate their research to the general public. Good writing facilitates all of this. No matter what you do in the future—-science, medicine, business, etc.— you need to be able to clearly communicate with others,” Jacobs wrote to The Brandeis Hoot.

The course syllabus reads, “Among animals, individuals choose mates based on biologically informative features such as long colorful tail feathers, large canines or a red, swollen posterior. We typically assume that human attraction (and love) is much more nuanced and complex… but is it?” This UWS course explores

stereotypes of beauty through an evolutionary perspective.

“I’m interested in the sciences, so it’s the perfect class for me. I’m not as English oriented, but it’s more science oriented with English tied in,” said Ethan Knapp ’21.

“Our teacher is teaching us how to write scientifically, as opposed to how we did in high school.”

While some students may find scientific work and writing practice at odds with one another, Jacobs wrote that she finds the fusion to be not just natural, but necessary.

“By offering science-themed classes, I hope to appeal to a wide variety of students who are curious about the world and eager to learn about writing in an interdisciplinary context,” said Jacobs. “While my courses focus on scientific topics, I still engage with the critical elements of academic writing, such as evidence, analysis, argument, organization and citation use, in the same manner as humanities or social science-based courses.”

The class revolves around three units: applying evolutionary theories of attraction to human behavior, principles of female attraction and principles of male attraction. Like all UWS courses, students must write a close reading essay, a lens essay and a research paper over the course of the semester. Jacobs grades first-draft assignments based on completion and gives students an opportunity to revise their work

after they have seen her feedback.

“It’s really nice of her and it’s a way for her to genuinely help us instead of just giving us grades,” said biochemistry major Pallavi Goel ’21.

Now that the class is in its second unit, the students are analyzing data papers on what governs human attraction.

The second essay of the semester requires students to critically assess contradictory theories and answer the question of whether women want a nurturing “nice guy” or an alpha “bad boy.”

“I’m an currently a biochemistry major so I guess it makes sense that I’m interested in a scientific type of UWS,” Goel said.

“The material is very interesting, but I’m not too much of a fan of some of the stuff that we read because I like reading what flows nicely, and with this material it’s hard to be absorbed.”

While many first-year students come to Brandeis with knowledge of academic writing, the course specifically focuses on a scientific form of writing, including proper scientific citation.

“I really enjoyed learning about how biology and anthropology mix together in a new way and learning how to write about scientific data papers rather than novels like I’m used to,” Hannah Borgida ’21 wrote to The Hoot.

In the syllabus, Jacobs implemented a policy for an inclusive learning environment, encouraging students to come to her

photo from brandeis.edu

if they ever feel uncomfortable.

She then continued to highlight the bias of the subject matter.

“Ideally, science works to be objective. However, like many topics in academia, science can be subjective and is often built on privileged voices. I recognize that many of the ideas and readings for this course come from white, straight, cisgender men,” said Jacobs. “More specifically, historically biological discussions of attraction and reproduction have focused on heterocentric and male oriented perspectives. We will discuss these biases throughout the semester and challenges to these approaches are welcomed.”

Although many students taking “Darwinian Dating” are interested in pursuing a more sci-

ence-based area of study, Borgida signed up for the class as a way of getting out of her comfort zone.

“I took the UWS course because it looked like a really interesting way to learn about human nature as well as writing, and because I’ve never been really interested in science,” Borgida wrote. “I knew it would be a good way to challenge myself to take a science-based UWS rather than stay in my comfort zone.”

Knapp already feels that the class has made a difference in his writing and analytical skills, specifically in how he approaches scientific writing.

“I feel like I’m already a better writer,” Knapp said. “It’s preparing me for a different writing style that I really will use.”

Learning to write through popular culture

photo from brandeis.edu

By Zach Cihlar editor

As part of the undergraduate general university requirements, first year students are required to take a University Writing Seminar (UWS) for the purposes of coaching students on how to write in a university setting. Though re-

quired courses such as the UWS class are frequently dreaded by students, UWS offers a variety of topics offered by English and History Ph.D. students who have used the best part of their creative imaginations to conjure interesting ideas for students to write about.

One such class happening this semester in three sections is instructor Ms. Bofang Li’s UWS

31A: Britney, Bronies and Beliebers: Fans, Culture and Society. The course guides students through a sociological study of fandom and fan culture behind the societal crazes that sweep through the country. The study of these topics is meant to foster the progress and development of the student’s writing abilities through the practice of critical writing about fan culture. Exploring fan devotion to mainstream trends, the course allows students to focus on interests from pop culture stars to science fiction film series to sports teams.

The instructor of the course, Li, lectures in the Brandeis University Writing program. Her interest in popular culture has developed throughout her undergraduate and post-graduate studies. In her master’s program, she wrote a dissertation on fan culture, which she used as her basis for the creation of her UWS courses. She maintained this research interest in media cultures while at Yale, where she taught similar first year writing courses.

Her interest in popular culture influenced the creation of “Britney, Bronies and Beliebers.” Like all other UWS topics, the subject focus is a means through students practice analytical reading and academic writ-

Always curious? Enjoy writing?

ing skills. Students taking UWS courses have the option to select from a diverse group of topics to meet the goals of the course.

When Li created this class, she underwent a proposal process that gauges how the subject fits into the diverse range UWS topics—preventing large overlaps between the different courses offered. Another important factor in the building a UWS is the scope of the subject, said Li. They must allow for creative freedom while remaining focused and purposeful.

Each of the UWS courses has a set format featuring three essays—a close-reading essay, a lens essay and a research essay. In this way, “UWS has a single identity” across the different courses, Li said.

“It’s important UWS has a recognizable identity,” Li said, touching on its identity as a general university requirement that all first year students must take.

Since every student must take UWS, she said, uniformity to a certain extent is important so that students can gauge their experience in relation with their peers.

The format of UWS is meant to guide students through writing essays in a university setting, also emphasizing good analytical reading skills as a part of becoming a better writer. Li

also seeks to develop critical thinkers in her UWS courses.

“It’s so easy to consume pop culture without being critical about,” she elaborated. “Britney, Bronies and Beliebers” asks students to examine popular culture under a closer, more critical lens.

Students are expected to analyze popular media and what the “fan objects reveal about the workings of social, economic gender hegemonies,” rather than as a form of basic entertainment, according to the course description.

“I love being surprised by my students,” Li said when asked about her favorite thing about teaching the course. She is frequently and pleasantly surprised by the topics her students come up with for their essays, as well as their varied interests and the specific topics students delve into under the umbrella of “Britney, Bronies and Beliebers.”

“UWS is a vital part of one’s time at Brandeis,” Li concluded. Good sophisticated, writing is an important skill to have going forward in students’ career studying in the university and beyond, Li emphasized. Students should not take for granted the opportunity to take a UWS course, especially one like Li’s “Britney, Bronies and Beliebers.”

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

October 13, 2017

FEATURES 5

The Brandeis Hoot

The value of taking a composition course

By Polina Potochevska editor

As all Brandeis students come to know, in the summer before arriving on campus they must write a timed essay in order to be placed into a University Writing Seminar (UWS), a requirement for all students. However, some students must first take a Composition course before enrolling in a UWS their second semester.

Professor Marsha Nourse, an Adjunct Professor of English in the University Writing Program, is currently teaching COMP 1B: Eco-composition: Environmental Issues and Nature. This is her second year teaching at Brandeis, but she is well experienced in composition, having taught for 35 years, mostly at Dean College.

She also served on the executive committee for the CCCC (also known as the 4 C’s), which stands for the Conference on College Composition and Communication, a national organization for composition studies. “I got to look at composition programs at a lot of colleges, particularly two-year colleges,” said Professor Nourse of the position, who is clearly experienced in the

field. She also looks forward to teaching a UWS course in the following semester at Brandeis.

The theme of Professor Nourse’s class is environmental literature and ecocritical theory. Eco-criticism, she explained, is a field of criticism that was developed and promoted in the 1990s but has roots in others decades. Essentially, “a group of scholars came together to study how they can analyze literature from an ecological viewpoint of the interaction of people with nature.”

Students in the class are reading a variety of works, including poems, memoirs and research texts relating to environmental issues.

There are two different types of COMP: 1A and 1B. 1A is usually meant for international students who learned English as a second language, but not necessarily, and 1B is more of a mix of students.

COMP students then take UWS the following semester. Nourse explained that while a professor who teaches both sections may use the same reading material, the 1A section may spend more time with learning to adapt to the challenges of writing in your second language, like expressions or syntax, and then focusing on the content. However, students

can request to move into a different section of COMP if they so choose. Both types of COMP classes are capped at 12 students.

COMP is beneficial for those students who feel like they need some more experience writing a college-level paper; its the smaller class size and usually having a Brandeis faculty member as opposed to a graduate or Ph.D. students as the instructor give the students more individual attention on their writing skills.

Goals for the class are to prepare students for UWS, but there is also more emphasis on writing instruction and building confidence in their writing and research, because for many students, a majority of grades comes from writing papers so it is a vital skill to have.

Nourse explained that she really enjoys teaching and “encouraging students to write well... last year I saw a lot of improvement as the year went on.” According to the syllabus, the writing process includes three stages of drafts, peer review and conferencing which all lend to a stronger paper.

While some students may feel frustrated with being placed into Composition, Nourse said it is possible for students to switch their level, since the first day of

photo courtesy professor marsha nourse

class often involves a short writing exercise to gauge the writing level of each student. She also mentioned that taking a Composition class can really build skills and confidence in writing before a UWS, which assumes that students are ready to jump into the

content quickly. Nourse said that students who took AP or IB classes have also been in Composition courses, and in an anonymous survey that she sent out to her students last year, almost all of them said that they found taking the class to be worthwhile.

As a senior reflecting on your time at Brandeis, how did your UWS class impact your college career?

“More so than the content of what I studied in the course, I really learned a lot from the...formatting of the whole thing. I never again had to write a lens essay, but I always felt confident that I would be able to do it if I needed to, and I also knew a lot more about resources I could go to. So I understood what a writing center was and how to go there and how to use it. And I just really was able to develop what I already knew more fully, so even though I personally wasn’t interested in the subject matter that I was studying, I still learned a lot from the course itself.”

-Aynsley O’Neill ’18 “I guess I don’t really know because I didn’t really take writing courses after UWS. I was so focused in the sciences because I’m pre-med, so I didn’t see the impact it did, I guess, until I took a writing course later on sophomore year and I was like ‘Oh wait, what’s the accurate way to say these words.’ Because I know with UWS, we use lenses and all that stuff, and I guess now, senior year, I’m taking a AAAS class and it’s different from UWS, but it’s kind of similar because we have to use our articles and use them through a lens, and so the only thing I can remember from UWS is the whole lens aspect of using something and creating another piece to make your own...UWS...didn’t really impact my college career because I only needed it twice in my other writing skills. I don’t think it helped with the science stuff. It did help me be exposed to the writing center, because with UWS I had to go to the writing center often so I [could] make sure that my grammar was correct, my words were the way that I wanted them to be, and...I used the Writing Center for my bio lab research stuff, and so that was great, and I used the writing center for my applications that I would write.”

-Herlyne Das ’18 “It didn’t impact [my college career] at all. The class was about looking at the stories from the Bible and determining if they were truth or fiction…[T]he actual premise of the class was... very interesting, but I thought the class was structured terribly.

For our close reading essay, she explained what it was, we wrote the paper, we turned it in, she gave us the grade back and then went over how to do a close reading essay and...we weren’t really taught any of the techniques until after the fact, and so I thought the class was really pretty poorly run.”

-Ben Rosenfeld ’18

“I think it was a bit of an inconvenience for me because I have a very strong English background. I did IB in high school, International Baccalaureate, so I was pretty well versed in English and to do it as a requirement...it’s [also] not anything I’m into; I’m studying business and economics, so it was a waste of time for me. Maybe I read about a few matters that I wouldn’t have otherwise, but from a writing perspective, I don’t think so.”

-Divyant Sapra ’18 “I thought UWS was the biggest waste. I feel like the way my teacher—I mean, I’ve heard different from other people—but the teacher I had was pretty bad. The things she told us to do and her expectations were not the same as the rest of the teachers here in all my other classes. The things she asked for didn’t make that much sense, and her grading system was so much harder than the rest of the teachers. I did everything I could and got a C+, and I usually get all A’s and B’s on my writing at least. So, I didn’t know what I could do to please her to be honest. I met with her a lot, and I just felt like no matter what she did, she...didn’t explain what she really wanted out of something. I just felt like I...kept writing the same way I always did and that worked in all my other classes. Other people I know had good experiences with it, so... it might have just been my teacher.”

-Nate Mehan ’18 “I took a linguistics-based UWS. It was called Lost In Translation and it got me more interested in the humanities. I’m only studying science here at Brandeis, like two science majors, so I liked the variation even my freshman year. It was a nice break from gen chem. I think that [it was valuable] in terms of—maybe not so much improving my writing skills— but some of the concepts that it exposed me to, especially... looking at language. I thought that that was more valuable than the actual writing skills themselves.”

-Anisa Haque ’18 Compiled by Charlotte Aaron, Editor

EDITORIALS

6 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

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

Volume 14 • Issue 15 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

Faria Afreen, Juliana An,Emily Botto, David Aizenberg, Jordan Brodie, José Castellanos, Elizabeth Cayouette-Gluckman, Anindita Chanda, Brianna Cummings, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Sanin Dosa, Daniel Freedman, Ally Gelber, Rebecca Goldfarb, Noah Harper, Sophia He, Kevin Healey, Daniel Johnston, Daniel Kang, Jonah Koslofsky, Matthew Kowalyk, Samantha Lauring, Sara McCrea, Katharine Mound, Faiyaz Rahman, Ryan Spencer, Joseph Silber, Lily Wageman, Celia Young

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

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

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

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

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

B

October 13, 2017

Take action to Save Ohno

randeis is taking part in the Save Ohno competition this October. SaveOhno, a national organization that holds competitions at many universities, encourages students to improve their sustainability efforts and raise their environmental awareness. By fostering healthy competition between students—and with the added bonus of Patagonia prizes for the top three teams—SaveOhno is a great way to get more Brandeis students involved in sustainability.

Once you’re part of a team, you can begin competing on your online SaveOhno account. You can earn points for a variety of tasks, ranging in terms of commitment, such as liking Sustainable Brandeis on Facebook, filling out a survey, attending campus events or volunteering at Brandeis’ rooftop farm.

Points can also be earned by signing petitions for causes like setting a national price on carbon, helping protect monarch butterflies, adding vegan burgers to the McDonald’s menu and phasing out plastic water bottles on campus. The top ten

point-earners of the winning teams are eligible for prizes.

The SaveOhno competition is a great initiative for the university to take on. For a university so concerned with social justice, Brandeis is drastically lagging behind in terms of sustainability. While it may take the allure of Patagonia prizes to get students interested, at least the SaveOhno competition is getting students to think about environmental issues and the myriad ways they can contribute to sustainability. Students who have never given a second thought to the rampant use of plastic water bottles might now be more conscious and use a reusable bottle, and those who liked new environmental activism Facebook pages will now see their posts on their feeds for long after the competition ends.

Since the competition is mainly all online, it is also extremely easy to participate. Students are already on a computer for at least a few hours a day, so logging onto your SaveOhno account to sign petitions or upload pictures for your actions can be just

an extension of existing daily habits.

And the tasks that require venturing away from your computer are not too strenuous—like attending a documentary screening on waste in the fashion industry or attending farming hours on the rooftop farm, but they are informative and enjoyable.

SaveOhno was founded to help address the gap between public opinion and public action regarding climate change. Lots of students acknowledge the dire environmental issues we are facing, but not many know how they can tweak things in their daily life to improve sustainability. With SaveOhno, students can fit activism into their everyday life and learn how small changes can make a big difference. We hope the competition will teach students new sustainable habits that they’ll keep up even after the competition and whether they win Patagonias or not.

The competition ends on Oct. 21, which is fast approaching—but it is not too late to join a team and get involved.

SPORTS

7 The Brandeis Hoot

October 13, 2017

Men’s soccer wins in 2-0 shutout

By Sarah Jousset editor

The men’s soccer team took on Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in a University Athletic Association match-up this past Saturday as part of the Homecoming festivities. The Judges are ranked #18 by D3soccer. com, while CMU is ranked #12

by D3soccer.com. However, the Judges proved themselves worthy competitors with a 2-0 shutout win Saturday.

The Judges struck early, with their first goal coming in the ninth minutes of the game. Alex Walter ’20 headed in the first goal of the game off a pass from teammate Dylan Hennessy ’20. Walter’s goal was the first of his college career.

The Judges secured their 2-0 victory with a second goal in the 32rd minute. Josh Ocel ’18 curled a corner kick into the net from the left side to secure the team’s

second goal, and Ocel’s third of the season and 17th of his career.

Defensively, Ben Woodhouse ’18 was in goal for the Judges for the entire game. Woodhouse had a career high 11 saves in the game against Carnegie Mellon.

The loss for Carnegie Mellon was not for lack of trying, as the team had 22 shots in the game, and 12 on goal, versus the Judges’ 8 goals, with 5 shots on goal. The Judges’ victory snapped a ninegame winning streak for Carnegie Mellon University, who had not given up two goals since their season opener against Kenyon.

The Judges improve to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

The Brandeis Men’s soccer team is back in action this Friday, Oct. 13 in a UAA conference game against the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The Judges continue their road trip with a second UAA conference match-up Sunday against Emory in Atlanta, Georgia.

christian hernandez goes for the header

photo courtesy hannah mui

Women’s soccer ties Homecoming game

By David Aizenberg staff

The Brandeis women’s soccer team, winners of nine out of their last 10 contests, faced a conference rival in the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) on Saturday, Oct. 7.

The game, played on Brandeis’ home turf, was filled with alumni and students watching as part of

the athletics department’s Homecoming festivities.

A game that was hard-fought until the end, the final score ended in a draw with a score of 1-1.

With Saturday’s result, the Judges now boast a record of 9-1-2.

After the 44th minute, Becca Buchman ’19 had enough and put the ball in the back of the goal off a pass from Katie Hayes ’20.

Sophomore goalie Sierra Dana ’20 owned the CMU shooters,

saving a career high 14 shots.

CMU scored their lone goal in the 90th minute just before the game ended, pulling the two teams into overtime play.

After a pair of overtime periods, both teams were unable to break the tie.

Despite being outshot by CMU 29-5, the Judges’ defense proved impeccable throughout the game.

Dana has proved to be a huge asset for the Judge’s defense as she

has earned a 0.82 goals per game average. She later earned University Athletic Association’s Defensive Player of the Week for her work protecting the Judges goal over the weekend. The clear starter in the goal, the Judges have relied on Dana’s tenacity on defense on their quest to continue their stellar season.

Next for the Judges is a matchup at the University of Rochester against the Yellowjackets on Oct.

13, followed by another away game against the Emory Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 15.

Both games are UAA conference match-ups and should test the team’s record on the field, creating a competitive, exciting game for all to watch.

In the 2015 season, the Judges tied with both UAA conference opponents in the regular season, though Brandeis edged out both teams in the 2016 season.

Brandeis Athletics hosts Hall of Fame induction

By Zach Cihlar editor

The weekend of Oct. 7-8 was a big weekend for Brandeis Athletics as it hosted a variety of events honoring the “homecoming” of alumni across all programs. The events catered to both the returning alumni, looking to reconnect with their achievements in the athletic realm, as well as current student-athletes, who were able to engage with the legacy of their own programs.

Saturday Oct. 7 had a heavy schedule with alumni sporting events kicking off the festivities in the morning. Starting off at 10:00 a.m., Swimming and Men’s Basketball hosted their annual alumni games, along with the first ever tennis alumni tournament in recent Brandeis tennis history.

In past years, the event hasn’t taken place due to a fall season tournament at Bates College, which normally falls on homecoming weekend.

This homecoming marked a special occasion for Brandeis Tennis, however. The current Men’s Tennis team welcomed back the 1989 University Athletic Association conference champions as they returned to accept their induction into the Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame.

At 11:00 a.m. Men’s Soccer hosted UAA conference opponents Carnegie Mellon University for the premier homecoming game, with a special halftime cer-

emony dedicated to the 1977 Hall of Fame baseball team.

Simultaneously, the Alumni Association offered a cookout and carnival next to the soccer field.

Complete with inflatables, a petting zoo, pony rides, and a beer garden, the carnival was a major success in creating a fun and energetic atmosphere for all the proud alumni to return to.

The Alumni Association’s carnival remained open to alumni and students through both the men’s and women’s soccer games (the men earning a win while the women walked off the field with a tie to Carnegie Mellon).

Inside the gym, Women’s Volleyball stomped out two visiting teams 3-0 (Gordon College and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth), offering the returning alumni an energetic and positive vibe for their homecoming games.

At 4:00 students and a select few alumni joined together for an Alumni-Athlete Career Panel hosted by Hiatt Career Center.

Part of Brandeis’ homecoming tradition, the panel got current student-athletes in contact with graduated student-athletes with footholds in the career-realm.

Students listened to how playing sports at the collegiate level shaped the alumni’s careers.

The panel spotlighted four alumni from varying career fields and sports. The first, Jessica Bergman ’91, was a tri-sport athlete who competed in basketball, softball, and track, and now works in

finance. The other panelists were, James Collins ’09, a program manager and former member of the Men’s Baseball team, Maria Ellis ’85, member of the Women’s Soccer team currently working in medicine, and Brett Fitzgerald ’08, the former baseball player and co-founder of Northeast Mountaineering, a professional mountain guiding company based out of New Hampshire.

Shortly afterwards, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony began, celebrating the athletic achievements of one team and five individuals.

The entire 1989 men’s tennis team was inducted into the Hall of Fame for their championship UAA tournament season, NCAA Division III national berth, and the 1988 NCAA national singles champion Noel Occomy ’89.

Led by head coach Tom Foley, the team inducted nine players who returned to Brandeis with “as strong a bond as ever”, the players said in conversation with the current Men’s Tennis team.

Men’s Soccer inducted Jon Fobia ’73, who played various positions on the field, and even racked in 13 goals in 11 games for one of his seasons.

Men’s track and field inducted Greg Steelman ‘91, known to be one of the greatest discus throwers in school history. He set a NCAA Division III record in 1986 on his way to the earning the championship, and his record still stands today. Michael Mayer ‘94 finished fourth in the nation in

photo from brandeisjudges.com

the saber event for fencing in his junior year, becoming the highest achieving fencer in Brandeis Athletics history.

More recently, Michael Goldman ’03 graduated with 12 New England titles and ten school records in men’s swimming, earning him an induction into the Hall of Fame.

Sara Albert ’04 was the last to be inducted. Albert ranked second in Brandeis softball history in triples, home runs, and RBIs. After the Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, alumni from many graduating years gathered together with the current Athletics staff and students for a final Gosman Party, celebrating the legacy and

history of the many student-athletes who dedicated their college years to representing Brandeis in their sport.

The final event of the weekend, on Sunday Oct. 8, was a softball alumni game, with returning players from various graduating years. The game unfortunately was cut short due to inclement weather.

The events of the packed weekend integrating the current athletic community at Brandeis with its legacy, and Brandeis Athletics set a good tone by achieving good results in the scheduled varsity games, not one of which resulted in a loss for the homecoming team.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

OPINIONS

October 13, 2017

Expanding the Brandeis bubble

By Matt Kowalyk columnist

The socio-cultural conditions at Brandeis create a community starkly different from the rest of the country, and we should be aware of that.

I come from a town east of Pittsburgh, on the border of what some call “Pennsyltucky.” “Pennsyltucky” refers to the center and northwestern regions of Pennsylvania, the more rural portion of the state. When people speak about Pennsylvania, they are almost certainly talking about Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. People hardly pay attention to the center or the northwestern region, where there is not much of interest to our urban-centric country.

Granted, the center of the state is home to Penn State University, one of the largest universities in the country, but it is surrounded by the Appalachians and the farmland between them. In the view of most people, there is not

much happening in central and north Pennsylvania.

“Pennsyltucky” is the home of the dissatisfaction that elected President Trump and turned the Rust and Coal Belts solidly toward him at the polls. Our school has “social justice” in the abstract embedded in our coursework and culture. Parts of the country are suffering from social injustices due to entrenched economic interests and the vicissitudes of the world market as well as inefficient welfare services. However, the problems we see in the news still focus mainly on urban centers and not on the flyover states.

It is almost as if the cities are just waiting for the rest of the problems in the country to “go away,” while college students engage in the more “elite” issues of the cities.

Talking about the 2016 election at this point might appear like beating a dead horse, but the lessons I learned about my own political beliefs, where I grew up, where I go to school and what our political system is truly able to accomplish (or not) have no equal

in my experiences so far. I did door-to-door election polling in my home state and the surrounding region during the summer of 2016, and it was clear Trump struck a chord months before anyone thought he would win, especially in former manufacturing areas.

Before this election, people where I grew up did not feel either party represented them, which caused tension between them and the left-leaning elites who they felt were ignoring them. The past election let the tension loose, and its result is a bunch of journalists pretending to care about these people, a few books being written in a way that seems to patronize and romanticize those who live outside of the cities and suburbs and a new political climate that may not produce any substantive change for them.

Poor, rural communities in Pennsylvania are suffering from a lack of opportunities and a lack of hope. Not only are communities wrecked without jobs, but they are dealing with a widespread

opioid epidemic, which is claiming so many lives, and there still has been no substantial action.

The opioid epidemic has been persistently worsening for at least the past eight years or so, and it has been reduced to a talking point. Too many lives have been lost and only a few on the state and local level have the resources to combat the problems right in front of them.

And here we are, at a school where very few students have experienced the issues faced by rural Pennsylvanians. We come mostly from coastal regions, New York, Massachusetts and California. Many of us have the same left-leaning political persuasions, usually only varying in how radical they are. We might care about issues like the opioid epidemic, but they don’t hit too close to home. The crisis affects all levels of income, but it hits the poorest the most. Oddly enough, there has not been much talk in the campus activist community about how to attack this huge problem.

This is not the only rural-centric

issue that our community could address, but it serves as a pressing example of a problem not we are not discussing on elite college campuses.

The Brandeis curriculum could help expand the minds of our students beyond the city. In particular the DEIS-US requirement regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the United States could expand the horizons of future students.

If the new Gen. Ed. requirements are implemented as they are looking now, there could be an opportunity to introduce these issues into our social justice consciousness. Things like this make me wonder what kind of activism our courses encourage if they allow people to be so unaware of what the rest of the country is dealing with. Then again, few people here have ever lived farther away from any city other than the suburbs, and many of us are not even from the States. Hopefully, future Brandeis students will be exposed to the issues the rural Americans face.

Brandeis should not be performing ‘Buyer Beware’

By José Castellanos columnist

On Sept. 26, 2017, the Brandeis Department of Theater Arts and Brandeis administrators held a meeting in which they decided to reschedule “Buyer Beware,” a play written by Brandeis alum Michael Weller ’65 and directed by Sam Weisman ’73, from Nov. 2017 to Feb. 2018. The reason for the play’s delay and eventual rescheduling was its subject matter. The play features a white male student at Brandeis University who wanted to perform a Lenny Bruce-inspired comedy routine with heavy use of the n-word, among a number of other racial slurs. The rescheduling followed weeks of controversy and outrage from the student body, with many theater majors threatening to withdraw their theses, boycott and protest shows the Department puts on and even drop their theater arts majors should the show go on.

At time of writing, it seems that it will.

The conflict at the core of “Buyer Beware” centers the protesting of the white student’s comedy routine. In it, black student activists, who are heavily racialized in an offensive parody of both the Black Lives Matter movement and the Ford Hall 2015 student activists, are the central antagonists.

The student activists are subject to an harsh, negative portrayal, and the show concludes with the student activists being silenced and the show continuing as planned, all due to the help of a wealthy white donor taking pity on the white student.

Frankly, it is not Weller’s place to be writing such a racially charged piece. In writing this piece, Michael Weller, an older white male, is trying to tell people of color and other historically disenfranchised groups that their reactions to racism and racially-charged language are unwarranted and unnecessary. He claims that people give words power, espousing this in a monologue where the play’s leading student drops sev-

enteen racial slurs in the span of three sentences when addressing audience members. However, what Weller does not understand is that it is not his place to determine whether or not offensive language has power or consequence when people of color hear it. Even if we were all to suddenly stop giving weight to racial slurs, that act would not erase centuries of subjugation and discrimination against people of color and black people in particular.

Additionally, it is not director Sam Weisman’s place to be involved in this inflammatory piece, especially given his public attitude towards discrimination. In a story he wrote for the Feb. 5 2016 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Weisman attacks the efforts to diversify the Academy Awards, stating that he was the real victim.

“The current stress the Academy (and the entire business) is under regarding the diversity issue is troubling, to be sure. However, as an older white male currently in the crosshairs, and one of a group generally being blamed for a lack of nominees of color, I wish to add my voice to others who feel wrongfully attacked. I also wish to make a case for my relevance.” It’s therefore not a stretch to say that Weisman sees himself as taking a stand for similar “older white males” in directing this show, despite the controversy surrounding it.

The fact that Brandeis administration and the Department of Theater Arts are allowing this show to continue is extremely troubling; however, it is not surprising given recent administrative proceedings.

Not long after he was inaugurated, Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz stated that he would be creating a “Presidential Task Force on Free Expression” to “assess the condition of free expression, peaceful dissent, and mutual respect at Brandeis” and “create a community that is … fully inclusive of those groups who have long been excluded from the free exchange of ideas on campus.”

The administration’s words here allude to their potential view-

spingold theater, where buyer beware is scheduled to show

points on “Buyer Beware.” This is the viewpoint that “people give words power,” and thus words should not be restricted in any case.

The Task Force on Free Expression is a great example of the problem with the supposedly “pro-free speech” side of the debate. The task force has horrendously disproportionate representation for people of color on campus. Including President Leibowitz, there are 17 faculty and staff on the Task Force. Of these 17, 12 are men, seven of whom are white men. Of the remaining five female members, only one is a woman of color.

To continue production on “Buyer Beware” would be an insult to the student body of Brandeis, which has repeatedly

shown opposition to the play and its offensive and casual usage of racial slurs by the white protagonist.

Administration has known that students are against this show, yet are still allowing its presentation, going so far as to coincide the production with a spring semester course that will “explore the provocative issues raised in the play and provide an educational context for the work,” as if Weller’s piece needs any context beyond the fact that it is a white man’s lackluster attempt to further stir the pot.

If the show continues, it would symbolize institutional endorsement of white students using racial slurs despite the objections of the people that they target, as well endorsement of vilification of

photo from brandeis.edu

black student activists.

Remember, the “satisfying conclusion” of the show is the comedy routine going on as scheduled and black student activists being silenced. The Brandeis of “Buyer Beware” and the Brandeis we all know are different from each other in their level of acceptance and activism.

The racialized and parodied student activists of “Buyer Beware” are not the real Brandeis students from a diversity of backgrounds who have expressed their disgust with the show.

They have expressed to the administration their will to keep fighting until the play is no longer permitted on our campus. At Brandeis, hate has no home, and neither does “Buyer Beware.”

October 13, 2017

OPINIONS 9

The Brandeis Hoot

Only sustained public pressure can end Reddit hate speech

By Katarina Weessies editor

Americans are reluctant to take Reddit seriously. They see the website as primarily populated by mid-twenties male losers living in their parents’ basements, typing racist rants while covered in Dorito dust. Americans don’t want to associate themselves with this part of their society and so they refrain from discussing the site’s important, and sometimes disastrous, political influence.

Despite the widespread silence, Reddit is the sixth most popular American website by page views, just behind Wikipedia, and more popular than Amazon, according to Alexa digital traffic rankings.

During the 2016 election, many Americans, particularly young Americans, deferred to Reddit as a form of alternative media to voice their political opinions.

Reddit is divided by topic into subreddits. The most politically relevant subreddits serve as an echo-chamber to spread false information, violent rhetoric and bigoted ideas. Most notably, r/ the_donald, a pro-Donald Trump subreddit with over 500,000 sub-

scribers, is famous for frequently posting racist and antisemitic memes and fabricated news stories about violent crimes by Muslims, African Americans and leftist groups. For many subscribers to the infamous r/the_donald, the subreddit is their most trusted news source. Like Trump himself, these redditors see the mainstream media (and alternative left wing media) as corrupt and biased. Their entire worldview is built on the violent and bigoted posts they see on Reddit. Reddit’s administrators have the power to completely shut these subreddits down. However, they have thus far refused to restrict many of the subreddits based on false justifications regarding freedom of speech. The only way to fight these hateful subreddits is by making it financially unjustifiable for Reddit’s administrators to keep the subreddits intact.

Many Americans see the bulk of subscribers to r/the_donald as the archetypical Reddit losers with little power to influence politics outside of the internet. Though evidence supports the demographic makeup of reddit users, stereotyping the site’s users only hurts the fight against hate speech. Accord-

ing to a 2016 Pew survey, 42 percent of Reddit users have a college degree, compared to 24 percent of American adults. Additionally, Reddit users are 70 percent white and 67 percent male, indicating that they are a disproportionately privileged group and relatively young, with 64 percent of users under 29 years old. According to these statistics, at least some of r/ the_donald’s 500,000+ subscribers are wealthy and influential, people with political capital to spend. Assuming they are disempowered basement-dwellers impairs the country’s ability to work against the subreddit’s potentially influential subscribers.

The stereotypes of Reddit users are also a way for white Americans to conveniently ignore the prevalence of racism in American society. Americans can tell themselves anyone that violently racist must be some sort of loser who they can freely look down upon.

In reality, the racist “losers” on r/the_donald are also white.

They are their friends, coworkers and family members. In order to fight the racism of subreddits like r/the_donald, white Americans have to face the fact people they know might be taking part in the

hate speech.

Reddit’s administrators have been pressured numerous times to shut down the more offensive or violence-provoking subreddits. This pressure comes partially from the online media and partially from anti-hate speech subreddits specifically dedicated to disempowering hate-based subreddits. The Reddit administrators justify their refusal to shut down these subreddits via “free speech.”

This justification makes no sense. Reddit is a privately owned website with no legal obligation to allow all types of speech. Speech that explicitly advocates for violence is not protected by the Constitution. Reddit’s administrators are not actually stopping the hate speech posted to their website, they are just removing a convenient platform for its expression.

Another false justification for the sustainment of the hate subreddits is the argument that bigoted Redditors will simply find somewhere else to post their hate speech. Reddit is a uniquely convenient, consolidated and legitimate forum for hate speech. As a mainstream, popular website, Reddit pushes the content of its

subreddits into the center of popular culture. Without sites like Reddit, online bigots might have to resort to far less mainstream personal blogs or fringe Neo Nazi forums to express their hate.

The real reason Reddit refuses to restrict these subreddits is the increase viewership and ad revenue the subreddits provide.

Without bigots, Reddit might not be the sixth most popular American website. It also might not make the amount of money that it makes from advertisements.

No amount of pressure from anti-hate subreddits or alternative media will motivate Reddit to restrict such a lucrative form of bigotry.

The only way to stop this type of hate speech is to counteract the financial worth of hate subreddits.

This can be done through widespread public attention to Reddit that persuades internet users not to create Reddit accounts, and by advertisers pulling their ads from the site. If hate subreddits are shown to cause a net loss in revenue, we might see the massive hate subreddits like r/the_donald be restricted or shut down.

Politicization of sports has brought this country to a new low

By Joseph Silber columnist

For many Americans, watching sports is an escape. Whether it be to avoid politics, a stressful situation at home or simply a way to relax after a long day at work, sports give many people a necessary break from the various stresses that consume their everyday lives.

That’s why President Trump’s comments and the subsequent reaction by various sports figures hit too close to home for many Americans that simply watch sports to avoid the political chaos.

On Saturday, Sept. 23, President Trump sent out the following tweet: “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our great American flag (or country) and should stand for the national anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED! Find something else to do!”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this tweet was in-

appropriate. Whether or not one agrees with the protests, the First Amendment grants every American the right to express themselves freely.

However, the response by numerous athletes, most notably LeBron James, has only made this situation worse.

James, the face of the NBA, sent out a tweet later that day in which he called President Trump a “bum.” This is disrespectful to the office of the presidency, no matter what one’s political views might be. Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, said that the president is “an embarrassment to the world.”

They got their views out, which they have a right to do. But are they are not helping to bridge the deep divides in the country or set a good example for others to follow. And what is most troubling is not the amateurish back-andforth between sports figures and the President of the United States itself, but the negative effect it is having on ordinary Americans that want sports to remain apolitical.

One avid NFL fan and veteran, Kevin Williams, wrote a heartfelt letter that appeared in Sports Illustrated: “I hate politics. It’s all over social media, television…I can’t even go out anymore without overhearing people having heated political discussion. Football used to provide me an escape from all that crap. Now politics has infiltrated something I used to love.”

The first Sunday after President Trump’s comments, in anticipation of more national anthem protests, Williams decided to turn off the television set. “I think I may have watched my last NFL game.”

Williams may not know it, but his powerful words resonate with many across the country, who are disgusted by the politicization of the game they love.

And this problem isn’t just happening on the football field.

ESPN, for example, has had internal scandals in which sports analysts were either disciplined or condemned by the network for getting too political. Curt Schilling, the former Red Sox great,

was fired by ESPN last year after posting a video that many saw as offensive toward the LGBTQ community.

And this past month, the network condemned and subsequently suspended SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill after she called President Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter.

Some may blame President

Trump for his immature tweeting.

Others will criticize LeBron James for calling the President a “bum.”

The bottom line is that both sides are complicit in the growing polarization throughout the country. And just like Williams, many are finding it harder and harder to turn to sports as an effective way to distract themselves from the hardships that life can bring.

photo from cavsnation.com

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October 13, 2017

‘Blade Runner 2049’ lives up to expectations

By Zack Sosland staff

“Blade Runner 2049” is the the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic “Blade Runner.” The story this time around is set 30 years later and revolves around a new “blade runner” detective named K (Ryan Gosling). After making an earth-shattering discovery, K must now uncover an even more shocking secret with the help of former blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), the lead from the first film.

I went into “Blade Runner 2049” with high expectations because the first is one of my alltime favorites and I was curious to see how director Denis Villeneuve would follow that up. Much to my surprise, this film blew me away.

Similar to its predecessor, “Blade Runner 2049” is a technical marvel. Villeneuve blends CGI and practical effects together to create a grimy looking dystopian world that’s easy to become lost in, proving once again that he’s one of the best directors working today.

Moreover, the way this world has evolved over the last three decades is fascinating, especially for fans of the original, such as myself. Roger Deakins’ gorgeous cinematography adds to that authenticity, and I sincerely hope it leads to his first Oscar win.

Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s musical score is commendable because it features that atmospheric, synth heavy Vangelis sound while still complementing the filmmakers’ much bleaker vision of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas.

photos from imdb.com

Hearing that Villeneuve’s frequent collaborator Jóhann Jóhannsson was no longer involved made me nervous, but I’m glad to be proven wrong.

Characters and performances are likewise bright spots for “Blade Runner 2049.” Gosling demonstrates why he’s a terrific leading man. His portrayal of K is so nuanced and well-realized that picturing anyone else in the role is rather difficult.

Harrison Ford is also fantastic as older Rick Deckard, retaining many of the traits that made the character so memorable. Yet he feels more vulnerable than he

did 30 years ago. In fact, another viewing could put this performance above Han Solo in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The supporting players which include Ana de Armas, Robin Wright and Jared Leto all deliver great performances.

De Armas in particular stands out as the surprisingly complex female lead Joi, and even though I can’t discuss her character without delving into spoilers, I can’t wait to see more of this actress in the near future.

As amazing as the visuals are, the writing of “Blade Runner 2049” is remarkable. Hampton

Fancher and Michael Green tell a story that functions well on its own as opposed to simply continuing the original. For that reason, anyone going into this new film without seeing the first can probably understand what’s happening, although I still recommend seeing the renowned predecessor.

“Blade Runner 2049” clocks in at 163 minutes and moves at a deliberately slow pace with not much action interspersed throughout. Many people may see that as a turn-off, but I felt that the film earned its hefty runtime with how it expands on the in-

tricate themes of perception and humanity that made the original so iconic. The film leaves much of the intrigue from the first film untouched while also asking new questions that will encourage discussion for quite some time.

I can’t yet say that “Blade Runner 2049” is better than the original, but it’s still probably my favorite film of the year and one of the best sequels ever made.

Denis Villeneuve crafts a well-acted, visually stunning blockbuster that respects its predecessor, but can still stand on its own. The more I think about it, the more I want to see it again.

Brandeisians tackle Kafka in stunning adaptation of ‘The Metamorphosis’

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

photo from free play theater

“When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” That’s the first line of Franz Kafka’s deeply unsettling 1915 masterpiece novella, “The Metamorphosis.” As the first line and the title elude, the story follows a down-on-his-luck salesman who–somehow–gets transformed into a gigantic insect. It’s a weird premise–and just as weird when it’s performed in the SCC theater one hundred and two years later.

Directed by Sivan Spector for the Free Plater Theater Cooperative, this adaptation of “The Metamorphosis” get a lot right, and is bolstered by some fantastic performances. It’s an extremely claustrophobic piece–neither the novel nor the play leave the small house occupied by Gregor Samsa and his family. Gregor (now a disgusting bug), his mother, father, and sister Gretta are basically trapped in this house, and that means that actors have to do a ton of work to both convince you Gregor is as disgusting as he’s supposed to be, and make this absurd situation feel real.

‘The good news is that everyone measures up – Maryam Chishti shines as Greta, arguably the most sympathetic (human) character. Greta gets the biggest arc in the story, going from caring and put-upon sister to exhausted honesty, and Chishti really sells her evolution. Anderston Stinson III and Renata Leighton are both quite good as Gregor’s parents, with Stinson expertly capturing the villainy of Gregor’s father. Finally, Amber Crossman appears in a dual role, appearing as Gregor’s boss the Chief Clerk, and a tenant. I especially enjoyed the former, with Cossman donning tap shoes to further ratchet up the tension in her scene.

But, unsurprisingly, the real star of the show here is Norma Stobbe, who gives a tremendous performance as the bug boy Gregor.

Stobbe captures and conveys Gregor’s lameness as a human, and totally sells Gregor’s movements as a bug. At the end of the day, the story needs a compelling Gregor most of all, and Stobbe delivers.

That all being said, one of the problems with “The Metamorphosis” is that it’s a bit too long, and that goes for the book and the play. I think this may be by Kafka’s design, putting you into the never ending pain of the Samsa family, as

it’s a short story that still feels like it just keeps going. It’s pretty obvious that whatever force turned Gregor into the bug isn’t going to turn him back, which means that the only resolution for the story is Gregor’s death. However, what kept the novel engaging, at least for me, is the black comedy Kafka infuses throughout. The absurdity of Gregor’s situation, his family’s response, and the picture of modern society Kafka paints is tragic, but it also can be comical. There’s a scene where monstrous Gregor is beat with a broomstick back into his room that I found absolutely hilarious, but it didn’t really seem like that was the director’s point. This adaptation is much more focused on viewing Gregor’s transformation as a placeholder for a disability (which I know because of the director’s note), and the tone of the play does flirt with being comedic at times.. My only note is that had this adaptation fully embraced the comedy, it’s hour and ten minute run time might not have felt quite as long.

That’s a small nitpick in the midst of a large success. With a stellar cast and great ambiance, I think Kafka himself would have approved of this adaptation. “The Metamorphosis” is weird, but in this case, it’s weird done right.

October 13, 2017

By Candace Ng

ARTS 11

The Brandeis Hoot

TSA’s Nightmarket brings authentic international cuisine to campus

editor

The Taiwanese Student Association (TSA)’s annual Nightmarket lit up the Fellows Garden outside of the SCC on Saturday, Oct. 7. For an evening, the Garden was transformed into a traditional night market, complete with string lights hanging on trees and pop music playing over loudspeakers. In traditional night markets in Taiwan, vendors set up stalls on sidewalks and streets to sell different foods and drinks, an idea the TSA recreated with its own free food tables.

Students, faculty, staff and even family and friends were invited to join in on the fun of this annual Brandeis tradition. Nine additional clubs, all under the umbrella of the Intercultural Center (ICC), joined TSA to share their respective cultures and cuisines with the greater Brandeis community.

As one of the largest events with free food on campus, it was no surprise that the line began to form before the sun had set that evening. By the time Nightmarket officially began at 6 p.m, the line that started at Fellows Garden had reached the area near Massell and Rosenthal Quads.

According to TSA Treasurer Candice Ji ’20, a total of 1,002 people attended the event, breaking the record of 900 people the year before, even though this year’s event seemed less hectic than the previous year. Perhaps it was because attendees did not crowd around the tables at the front of the line, blocking other guests from getting to the tables on the other side of the space close to Gerstenzang Science Library.

The hosts for the evening, TSA, served fried rice, fried noodles, Taiwanese fried chicken, green beans, boba tea, Taiwanese sausage, fish cake stew and minced pork over rice. Other clubs’ contributions to the menu included sweet buns from the Brandeis

Asian American Students Association (BAASA) and assorted skewers from the Brandeis Chinese Cultural Connection (BC3).

There were also custard buns and egg tarts from Club Cantonese (C2B), Cha Gio (fried spring roll) and Thit Lui (lemongrass beef) from the Vietnamese Students Association (VSA) and Japanese curry rice from the Japanese Students Association.

The Southeast Asia Club (SEAC) served drunken noodles and mango sticky rice, the South Asian Student Association (SASA) served mint pakoras and chutney, the Brandeis Korean Students Association (BKSA) served galbi (grilled ribs) and the Brandeis African Student Association (BASO) served samosas and plantains.

“My favorite part was serving all the different people who stopped by my food station and seeing Fellows Garden become a lively, animated place,” said Rachel Wang ’21, a volunteer for TSA. Wang is from New Jersey, but her parents immigrated from China. “I definitely think cultural events like Nightmarket are important because they bring exposure and validation to minority cultures in a really accessible and approachable way,” added Wang.

Although the event was intended to last until 9p.m, all the clubs had their tables cleared long before then. The majority of clubs have run out of food before 8 p.m.

The food was no longer hot by the time I reached the majority of the tables, but regardless, it did not disappoint and was worth the wait. TSA’s boba tea, C2B’s egg tarts and VSA’s Thit Lui especially left a lasting impression.

For an international student like myself, it felt comforting to have foods from my hometown, which is almost 8,000 miles away from Brandeis. It was also amusing watching my friends try some of the foods I grew up with for the first time. After all, as the saying goes, the best way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.

My favorite part of the night,

by far, was observing the interactions going on between the students around me. The grassy areas, benches and tables surrounding Fellows Garden and the SCC were filled with groups

of friends. First-years, seniors and even staff members alike sat together, conversing and eating off paper plates overflowing with a coalesce of savory and sweet foods. Nightmarket is an occasion

that brings community members from different backgrounds together, highlighting the sense of community that drew many students to Brandeis in the first place.

photo from facebook.com

the line forms

Eager students wait in the growing line for food at TSA’s annual nightmarket.

photos by candace ng /the hoot

The brilliance behind FX comedy series ‘Better Things’

By Noah Harper staff

Last fall, two new high-profile comedies premiered on FX. One was “Atlanta,” a mold-breaking comedy series by actor/rapper/ wunderkind Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino), that became acclaimed by both audiences and critics pretty much right out of the gate. But the other innovative show—one that placed women at the forefront—was Pamela Adlon’s “Better Things.”

Now in its second season, “Better Things” follows Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a middle-aged divorced mother of three. Though plenty of examples of its inverse can be found, “Better Things” is rather unique in that there are no central male characters; women are at the forefront.

Pamela Adlon wears many hats for the show. She co-created it, in addition to executive producing, writing, sometimes directing and starring as the main character. She does have a little bit of help—Louis C.K. is the other show’s creator, but Pamela Adlon is very much central to its production.

“Better Things” might take some getting used to at first, though the show’s format is similar to that of “Louie.” There are usually several different vignettes in each episode, sometimes self-contained, sometimes not. Despite the disjointedness, it’s the show’s strong relationships and dark comedy, that grounds things.

In one recent, memorable episode, Adlon’s character Sam returns home to find that one of their dogs has died. “You want to help me with the dog, honey?”

Sam asks her youngest daughter, Duke (Olivia Edward). “I need some time alone,” Duke sniffles, before exiting. Sam carefully waits for her to leave the room before wrapping the dead dog up in the carpet and cumbersomely dragging it away. There’s a dry, macabre humor to the scene, but it’s not lacking in emotion.

To me, what sells the series is this tension between Sam’s real affection for her daughters and her stubborn, no-nonsense outlook on life. Sam Fox is a badass who loves her kids. Her attempt to reconcile her acerbic personality with the needs of three difficult kids lends gravity to the drama

and makes the comedy work.

The series opens with Sam sitting on a bench in a mall, with her youngest Duke next to her crying. Instead of trying to placate Duke, Sam’s looking at her phone, somewhat annoyed. To the judgemental woman who has been eyeing her, she says, “Do you want to buy her the earrings? Because that’s why she’s crying—because of six-dollar earrings she has at home already. You should go into that store and buy them for her, because I’m not doing it.”

Sam’s unique approach to raising her family obviously takes a toll on her. In the pilot, after a long day, followed by cooking dinner, feeding the dogs and then cleaning up after the girls, Duke asks Sam to lay down next to her after she’s been tucked in. “Oh no baby, I can’t lay down,” Sam says.

“It’s late, I have too much to do.”

Of course, Sam quickly falls asleep after laying down—and then has to live with the consequences the next day.

Duke is the easiest kid deal with. Frankie (Hannah Alligood), an eighth grader, is as smart and unrelenting as her mother. “Can we adopt a Syrian refugee baby?”

she asks. After Sam says no, Frankie responds with, “Mom, they’re dying every day—you’re literally murdering a baby by not adopting one right now.” Sam tells her to get out.

Max (Mikey Madison), the eldest, often causes the biggest problems. The first episode of the second season involves Sam dealing with her 16 year old dating a 36 year old Spanish man.

“I’m in over my head,” she admits to Sam. In the pilot, she asks her mom to get her marijuana: “Don’t you want me to have clean, organic pot?” she asks. Sam says no, that she shouldn’t be so open about it. “These things are normal, but you should be ashamed of them.”

Sam seems constantly overwhelmed, but she’s able to keep things together. Managing three kids who are constantly causing issues and working at the same time is no small feat. She’s an actress, doing voice-acting for cartoons primarily (in real life Adlon played Bobby on “King of the Hill”), but still, effectively managing all of these things isn’t easy.

Practically, it means sacrificing romantic relationships in favor of

taking care of her family.

In a recent episode, she’s forced to confront this dilemma, telling a friend she has bad news about a new guy she really likes. “I don’t want it. I feel mad and scared and upset, and it gives me anxiety...It’s screwing up my life.” “You don’t get to break up with him,” her friend Rich (Diedrich Bader) tells her.

Stubborn, brutally-honest Sam Fox is such a great character. She anchors the show—Adlon plays her with a committed authenticity. I can’t think of any other characters on TV to compare her to, which is what makes “Better Things” so unique. It takes what might seem (in our admittedly male-dominated media landscape) boring—a single mother raising her daughters—and turns it into something fresh, poignant, and hilarious.

I love “Better Things.” The show’s empathetic dark comedy, matched with the inimitable Pamela Adlon, makes it truly something special. “Better Things” is currently in its second season, which airs Thursday nights at 10 p.m. Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu.

October 13, 2017

ARTS 12

The Brandeis Hoot

Masterfully directed and performed ‘Woyzeck’ fills theater with emotion

By Polina Potochevska editor

Paranoia. Guilt. Infidelity. Peas.

What do all of these things have in common? This past weekend, the Brandeis Department of Theater Arts presented the play “Woyzeck” by Georg Büchner in the Merrick Theater of the Spingold Theater.

The opening night performance on Friday, Oct. 6 was packed, with chairs forming a semicircle on the floor of Merrick. The intriguing hour-long play was directed by Raphael Stigliano ’18 and stage managed by Tres Fimmano ’18.

Stigliano wrote in the director’s note of the program that he was interested in directing “Woyzeck” due to its flexibility and its discussion of “class, religion, relationships and abuse.” After 22 rehearsals, the program states that the play included so much more than Stigliano “ever anticipated.”

“Woyzeck” is loosely based on a true story about a soldier in Leipzig who murders his romantic partner, according to the program. This version of the play told the story of Franz Woyzeck (Dan Souza ’19), a 30 year old rifleman and military barber who is overcome with paranoia and is said to be “possessed” with various hallucinations and troubling thoughts of his wife’s affair.

A local doctor, played by Ryan Sands ’19, takes advantage of Woyzeck and experiments on him

by having him eat nothing but peas for three months to test its effects on the mind and body, as he believes it will be revolutionary. Sands’ portrayal of the crazed doctor is both intense and “sinister,” as written in the program of the characters, and his interactions with Woyzeck, who is not in a healthy state of mind, often feel dark and ominous, such as during Woyzeck’s checkups.

The play began with an emotional partnered dance between Woyzeck and Marie, while ensemble member Karina Wen ’20 skillfully and emotionally narrated a mysterious story about an abandoned child that left the audience wanting to learn more.

Throughout the play, Woyzeck hears voices in his head that convince him he needs to take revenge on his wife, Marie (Gabi Nail ’18), for having an affair. The audience hears his voices to at point, a cacophony of words and sounds. It seems that everyone around him, including the Doctor and his Captain (Sophia Massidda ’20), knows of Marie’s affair with the Drum Major (Ben Astrachan ’19), and tease him mercilessly about it.

As Woyzeck’s paranoia grows, he becomes increasingly violent with Marie, shoving her in one intense scene where she has to push him off her and powerfully reprimands his aggressiveness. The power in both of the actors in this scene and their portrayal of anger and hurt made it gripping for the audience.

photos by yarisa diaz/the hoot

The program warned there were moments of physical violence, domestic abuse, animal cruelty, suicidal imagery and brief strong language.

After her affair with the Drum Major, Marie is seen wearing golden earrings which she tells Woyzeck that she found in the street. But it’s clear that he does not trust her.

This scene was done cleverly, as Massidda, also an ensemble member, acted as Marie’s reflection in the mirror, and mimicked her mouth and body movements from across a table to make the action clear. Both Massidda and Nail artfully displayed the anguish so present in Marie’s relationship with Woyzeck through their facial expressions.

The music in the show, directed by Emily Politi ’19, was very compelling and helped the audience understand what Woyzeck was feeling. For example, when the Captain is riling Woyzeck up about Marie’s affair with the Drum Major, performers played in the background with increasing pace and speed, signaling Woyzeck’s temper rising. This recurs throughout the play and helps bring Woyzeck’s character and intense emotions to life.

The drum is also used for sound effects, such as in the scene where the Drum Major is throwing rocks at Marie’s window. It is a moment of comedic relief in the play, as the Major sneaks onto and around the stage while hushing Wen, who carried the drum with her. Every time he mimed throwing a rock, Astrachan looked over to Wen, who then promptly hit the drum once to signify the sound of it hitting Marie’s window, and the audience couldn’t help but laugh at their facial expressions and teamwork onstage. The ability to act both seriously and humorously within an intense play such as Woyzeck truly shows the wide skill of the actors and the director for portraying so many different emotions into a one hour play.

There was also a capella singing, as in the beginning when Marie is singing a lullaby to her baby, a puppet in a light blue onesie, which is later reprised in a more

eerie tone by Woyzeck at the end of the play. Woyzeck’s friend, Andres, also played by Sands, sings a tune near the end of the play as Woyzeck’s paranoia and insanity truly takes over him. These moments were well done by the actors, musically and emotionally, and the tension was tangible in the room.

The set was laid out with a table, chairs, a stool and a bench placed around the stage. While this setup was not extravagant, it fit the story and allowed the characters and their passion to fill the room with the few important props they had. The actors also used the balcony in the Merrick Theater, which made the setting feel real. The lighting of the show, done by Noah Mark ’19, helped artfully transition between scenes and showcase the darkness in Woyzeck’s mind.

The costumes, designed by Haia Bchiri ’20, were simple yet elegant and fit each character’s personality well. Woyzeck’s military uniform was crisp, along with the Captain’s overcoat and Marie’s flowing dress and tight braids that gradually unravelled as the story went on, a subtle but clever representation of her state of mind.

Bchiri also choreographed the various fight scenes in the play, between the Drum Major and Woyzeck, and between Woyzeck and Marie, which were expertly done and both looked and felt real in the moment.

Souza’s performance as Woyzeck was truly captivating and believable. His final moments

where he hears voices telling him to “stab the she-wolf dead” culminated in a powerful scene that left the audience on the edges of their seats, especially as this followed a passionate scene where Nail, as Marie, ripped pages from a Bible, spurred by the guilt of her infidelity. All of the actors filled the room with their emotion and dedication to the play and it was visible that their hard work had come to fruition.

Wen told The Brandeis Hoot about her experience being in the production of “Woyzeck.” She explained that, “The process was amazing. I loved the way we were able to deconstruct the text and let the show constantly evolve.”

This adaptation of Büchner’s story was a fascinating view into a strained relationship and the fragility of human beings, and was executed beautifully.

While the play had free admission, Stigliano addressed the audience before the show began to let them know that the cast would provide the opportunity for the attendees to donate money to “Unidos Por Puerto Rico,” an organization that is dedicated to hurricane relief for Puerto Rico. A donation box was placed outside of the theater before and after the show for people to donate if they so wished. At the end of the weekend, it was posted on the Facebook event page that $358 were raised for the cause.

during a small section of the song when paying really close attention to it.

I was enticed into listening to this album because I had been playing the album’s lead single, “The Man” on repeat all summer long. This song begins with a 70s inspired disco-rock driven beat that carries through the whole song. The song is built around Kool & The Gang’s song, “Spirit Of The Boogie.” and also pays tribute to David Bowie by pulling a sample from his song, “Fame.”

The catchy funk beats are not the only factors that contribute to the astonishment of this song. The lyrics dive into frontman Brandon Flowers creating a satire on the arrogant man he used to be. The song indirectly reflects on how he has come to terms with whom he once was and how he has now changed for the better. While this song is one of the most prominent off of Wonderful Wonderful, it is my personal favorite track off the album.

The title track off the album is also well made. It opens up with

a dark bass guitar and drum beat as it starts to describe the story of a motherless story. The song demonstrates a new sound for the The Killer. Flowers performs in a wider vocal range that contrasts other songs.

“Run For Cover” is filled with an abundance of energy throughout. This song was written back in 2008, originally intended for “Day & Age,” but the band completed and updated the lyrics by incorporating relevant political terms.

These lyrics dig into the issues of domestic violence as the song centers around a woman trying to run away from her abusive husband while she has the chance.

The entire song is uptempo from beginning to end. The added synthesizers in the background creates an enjoyable listen and highlights the creativity that the band is capable of making.

Another amazing track on this album is “The Calling.” This song is styled as a western rock song with thick, nasally cowboy lead guitars and a heavy bass drum.

The song opens up in a spoken

word verse by Woody Harrelson reading bible verses, Matthew 9:10-12. The verses are also spoken, which a haunting quality to the song. The style of this song is unique to this particular time period, as it is one of the songs that stands out the most on this album. As a result, it provides the listener with a newer, refreshed sound in music.

The Killers have blown away their audience with this record.

They had been silent for five years, but it is refreshing to see they are back and sounding better than they ever have before in this decade.

The Killers have leaned more towards a new wave sound with this album, compared to the pop punk sound that was dominant within the alternative rock genre during the mid 2000s.

The instrumentation and production within the band complement Flowers’ vocals overall, which enhances the messages that are coming across in the lyrics and creates a lively and pleasant listening experience.

‘Wonderful Wonderful’ lives up to its title

By Rebecca Goldfarb staff

There has not been a scarcity of well established indie and alternative artists releasing new music within the past few months. New releases this past spring and summer from Lorde, Imagine Dragons, Queens Of The Stone Age, Portugal. The Man, Foo Fighters, and Halsey clearly justify this statement. One particular artist in the indie scene has kicked off the fall and blown people away with one of their most essential albums since the mid 2000s: The Killers.

The Killers are a Las Vegas based rock band that formed in 2001 with Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboard, bass) and Dave Keuning (supporting vocals, guitar). The band completed its lineup in 2002 when Mark Stoermer joined on bass and supporting vocals and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. on precession.

The Killers achieved instant commercial success after the re-

lease of their debut studio album, “Hot Fuss,” in 2004. They went on to release two more albums, “Sawdust and Day & Age,” in 2006 and 2008 respectively, before taking a year long hiatus. The Killers released their fourth studio album, “Battle Born,” in 2012 shortly after their return. This brings us to “Wonderful Wonderful,” the Killers’ fifth studio album and their first album to be released in more than five years. Every major fan of this band has been anticipating for this release for an everlasting time period.

The musicianship and effort The Killers put into “Wonderful Wonderful” has made this album worth the wait.

The album itself represents a shift in the band’s lyrical content.

The Killers are notorious for crazy, silly rock songs, while on this record the lyrics are more personal, giving the album more maturity than their previous record.

Each song on “Wonderful Wonderful” has its own surprises as well, whether it be a sudden guitar riff or a drum beat that will occur