The Brandeis Hoot 10/20/2017

Volume 14 Issue 16

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

Play canceled following student and alumni protest

By Ryan Spencer and Elianna Spitzer editors

conversations with the dean Former

See NEWS, page 2 for more.

October 20, 2017

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

photo by emily sorkin-smith/the hoot

D.C. mayor Anthony William’s discusses his career with Heller Dean David Wiel.

“Buyer Beware,” a controversial play set on the Brandeis campus, will not be performed at Brandeis following a “mutual decision” between the Theater Department and the playwright, Michael Weller ’65, according to a statement from the Theater Department.

“Buyer Beware” will premiere at an off-campus location in New York with professional actors performing the play, according to the Theater Department’s statement.

Originally planned to take place this semester, “Buyer Beware” bypassed the “play selection committee,” the normal process for adding plays to the line-up. It was later rescheduled to the spring semester, then it was reconstructed

as a Spring course, before its cancellation earlier this week.

The decision to cancel the play comes after weeks of criticism which included emails to President Ron Liebowitz, Facebook posts to raise awareness and a phone and email campaign led by Brandeis alumna Ayelet Schrek ’17.

The event page had hundreds of invites and was scheduled for Oct. 2 to 6, according to Schrek.

It is unclear how many calls and emails were sent as part of this campaign. The page provided phone numbers of three Theater Department professors as well as two of their emails, the email for another theater department professor and emails for Dean of Students Jamele Adams and President Ron Liebowitz so that those invited to the page knew who to See BUYER BEWARE, page 4

Univ. tests free menstrual products on campus

By Samantha Lauring staff

Free menstrual products are available in six women’s and gender neutral bathrooms around campus, as part of an initiative that students began in the fall of

2016. The trial period will last from Oct. 13 to Dec. 9 and aims to demonstrate the need for free menstrual products on campus.

During the trial period, free menstrual products, including pads and tampons, will be available in the women’s restrooms in the first floors of the SCC, Man-

del, Farber and the mailroom bathroom in Usdan. They will also be in the Goldfarb gender-neutral restroom and the SSIS office.

The Campus Operations Working Group (COW-G) and the Health and Safety Committee of the Student Union, as well as Brandeis Students for Reproduc-

tive Justice (BSRJ) are leading the initiative.

“The overall goal of this trial phase is that we can demonstrate to the university that there is a need for freely accessible menstrual products and that the university should invest in providing for those menstrual products,”

stated Lexi Ouellette ’18, a student with BSRJ. The money for the trial-period products is coming from a Senate Monetary Resolution (SMR) that students drafted and submitted.

Volunteers check the bathrooms See TAMPONS, page 3

Nixon biographer chronicles legacy of former president

By Celia Young staff

Faculty and students gathered Tuesday, Nov. 17 to hear John Farrell discuss his recent biography of Richard Nixon, titled “Richard Nixon: The Life.” Farrell answered audience questions and drew comparisons between Nixon’s administration and the current administration.

The 50th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s political comeback is coming next year, spurring new coverage and evaluations of Nixon’s presidency. In addition, the similarities between the Trump

and Nixon administrations gave Farrell’s talk a greater sense of importance.

John Farrell, a prize-winning biographer, worked at The Boston Globe with Brandeis Professor Eileen McNamara, who introduced Farrell on Tuesday. He has since worked as career journalist at The Denver Post and National Journal and has contributed to Politico Magazine and The Atlantic.

Farrell gave a short history lesson, both of Nixon’s rise to political fame and of the Nixon administration itself. Farrell delved into Nixon’s psyche, describing how

Inside This Issue:

See NIXON page 3

News: Bystander training no longer required Ops: Problematic response to Weinstein Features: The values of BEMCo Sports: Cross country team stays strong EDITORIAL: Go see Kimberlé Crenshaw

Emma, played by Haia Bchiri ’20, in the Theater Department’s latest production. See ARTS, page 16, for the review. fefu & her friends

Bomb threat responses

Page 2 Page 10 Ed Callahan discusses Page 6 campus safety Page 12 Page 7 FEATURES: PAGE 5

Crowd Control Improv comedy troupe shows off comedic talent ARTS: PAGE 15

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

Former mayor of D.C. speaks with Dean at Heller

By Emily Sorkin Smith editor

Former mayor of D.C. Anthony Williams spoke about his career in public policy and his work during Washington’s fiscal crisis at the Heller School on Oct. 16.

The talk was part of the Conversations with the Dean series, which brings people who have impacted public policy and worked for social justice in conversation with Heller School Dean David Wiel.

The crowd at Williams’ conversation with Wiel filled the plastic chairs in the atrium of the Heller School and extended onto the staircases and balconies. Students and professors alike gathered to hear the former mayor’s perspective on public service and social policy.

During Williams’ two terms as mayor, D.C. was recovering from a fiscal crisis, one which Williams himself was instrumental in solving.

In 1995, then-Mayor Marion Barry hired Williams to be the city’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).Williams faced many challenges in his new position; D.C.’s budget had reached record low of $355 million dollars.

Though his friends and the facts of D.C.’s fiscal situation initially discouraged Williams from applying for the CFO position, he landed an interview with Barry and turned the city’s deficit around. The budget crisis seemed insurmountable, but, Williams explained, “In order to do a good job, you have to get the job.”

In 1996, the city’s audit came back to Williams, who had only recently begun work as CFO, and was, as he expected, full of problems. Instead of resigning himself to his new reality, Williams announced that he would, in the space of one year, work on

the budget and produce a “clean” audit for the 1997 fiscal year, he said. Williams and his whole staff agreed to step down from their jobs if they failed. The move proved so successful that Williams was vaulted to fame and onto the campaign trail.

Williams told the audience that his campaign for mayor began without him. A “Draft Anthony Williams” movement convinced him to run for mayor.

Residents of D.C. had begun moving out of the city and taking money and economic opportunity with them. Williams crafted a plan to combat that, taking control of D.C.’s economic situation back from the federal government and beginning a series of efforts that would revitalize downtown D.C. and the economy.

His plan to revitalize the city was both cultural and economic.

The decision to bring the Montreal Expos in as the new Washington National’s baseball team, and to build a new stadium in

the Anacostia watershed area, not only created jobs but a sense of unity in a city with history of tense race relations and class divisions. The deal with the Montreal Expos was finalized when they began playing in 2005.

To get support for his bold plans, Williams had to earn the trust of Washingtonians. He and his staff answered phones, both literally and symbolically, showing constituents “somebody’s home,” as he said. The public would have to know the man they elected to office was working for and with them, and he did this by making ambitious promises and staking his reputation on them.

It was Williams’ bold, ambitious plans for Washington that earned him success and an influential legacy in the public policy world.

The next policymaker to be featured in Heller’s “Conversations with the Dean” series is Chris Lu, deputy Secretary of Labor under President Obama, who will speak about his career Nov. 29.

October 20, 2017

IN THE SENATE: October 15, 2017 •

Results from CEEF elections: Kate Kesselman ’19 elected representative from A-board • Vice President Hannah Brown ’19 brought concerns to President Liebowitz

• Where is money going from summer donation?

• Where is endowment money?

• Updates on Freedom of expression meeting?

• President Leibowitz’s emails are too long —

people are not getting important information • A-board

• Working so students don’t have to pay to go to fall

concerts (tickets are $15) • Senator-at-Large Aaron Finkel ’20 presented E-board Report

• He wants to address housing, dining, tuition, school

reputation, social life, community and transportation • Senate Chair Committee Reports

• Shaquan McDowell ’18 (COW-G)

• Positive feedback after placing menstrual

products in six bathrooms on campus; still

looking for volunteers to record numbers

• Samantha Barrett ’20 (Health & Safety)

• Proposed initiatives: helping disabled

students, first aid kits in all residence halls,

improving alcohol safety, RCC hotline over breaks

• Yuxuan (Jonathan) Chen ’20 (Dining)

• Price adjustment for Hoot Market (C-Store)

• Aaron Finkel ’20 (Services and Outreach)

• Turkey Shuttles - a bit over $9475 in total

• Final cost of tickets to New York

Penn Station, Newark and back to

Brandeis is $30 (according to Face book event) • Voting to de-charter of clubs that haven’t filled out anti-hazing forms.

• Twenty clubs haven’t filled out forms. Some clubs

died out after leaders graduated and no one took over.

• Senator Reports

• Racial minority senator Hangil Ryu ’20 & Sena tor-at-Large Shaquan McDowell ’18

• Protect/work with DACA students

• McDowell met with Elias Rosenfeld ’20 to

see how Union and university can help with DACA - Samantha Lauring, Staff

photo by emily sorkin-smith/the hoot

Union rolls back bystander requirement as OPS looks to improve policy framework

By Hannah Schuster editor

The Student Union is rolling back the requirement for all club leaders to undergo bystander intervention training, as the Office of Prevention (OPS) considers best practices to improve the implementation of this type of policy. OPS is studying how the program could have a more organized system for measuring compliance and be more trauma-informed, according to Paul Sindberg ’18, the Coordinator of Community Engagement at OPS. The bystander requirement came out of collaboration between the Union and OPS. It first took effect last fall, having been approved the year before. The rule, a Union bylaw, stipulates all members of a club’s E-board need to complete the training annually or the club risks de-chartering.

OPS came to the Union early this semester asking them to roll back the mandate, and they are now conducting research about students’ experiences with the

program.

“I’m really proud of all the work that we put into that initiative... and of a lot of the different results we got,” said Sindberg, but the office has identified certain areas where the program could use improvement.

Last year, OPS held trainings designated specifically for club leaders. These students registered with a Google form and signed in at the training. “We were able to... piece that implementation process together, but we faced a number of challenges,” said Sindberg.

One issue with the system, however, was that it is difficult to compile a complete and accurate list of Brandeis club leaders—or even chartered clubs for that matter, said Sindberg. Much of this large effort fell to Sindberg, who was Vice President of the Union last year, and Ryan Tracy ’17, last year’s chair of the Senate Club Support Committee.

The office also hopes to make any future requirement program more trauma-informed.

Sindberg’s message announcing the program last year read,

“We want our sexual assault prevention efforts to be trauma-informed, so please feel comfortable contacting our team with any concerns.”

There was a “no questions asked” opt out process, but still, there are issues of confidentiality.

“There are certain implications that come with an exemption. So, if a student has access so data and can see that, this person received an exemption...that’s a confidentiality issue,” said Sindberg describing lists of participants.

He also said, if there is going to be a database of something like club leader participation, he would like a professional staff member to manage this. He hopes this would be a new staff person, as opposed to assigning this duty to the new head of OPS. OPS has released a survey asking club leaders who participated in the program last year to describe their experience with the training itself, and asks them to describe how informed they were about the requirement, whether it was stressful, how well they felt it was implemented and how well it

“center[ed] the needs and voices of survivors of trauma.” OPS also intends to host focus groups this semester.

For now, they are leaving their options “open ended,” planning to gather research and brainstorm possible structures for a new program. The club leader requirement will not necessarily come back, said Sindberg, but there could be a new initiative that has similar goals of reaching a wider audience with the material.

The Union and OPS introduced the bystander bylaw with the intention of spreading the training to more people on campus, specifically student leaders. It stemmed from the realization that bystander training was “self-selecting,” and mainly students who were already passionate about these issues signed their clubs up for training. The bylaw helped “include people who might not otherwise have gotten involved,” Sindberg said.

“Club leaders…have a really important role in setting the tone for the people who are a part of their group,” said McMahon in an

interview in fall 2015.

At the beginning of the semester, OPS approached the Union.

“They suggested...it would be the best possible course to not require every club leader to be trained, but to still...push it as a great practice for clubs and student groups to take up,” said Union President Jacob Edelman ’18. He is pleased with the statistics on how many leaders completed training, but heard OPS on their concerns.

Edelman also liked the system where clubs would schedule trainings for all of their members. “A lot of people base their social experiences through their club,” he said, which can make it beneficial for students to be trained “among their clubmates, rather than in sort of randomized groups.”

He further hopes the university will support OPS and the RCC with the professional staff it needs. There is much student effort supporting programs, he said, but for them “to be at their most effective, there needs to be institutional continuity,” which is aided by having professional staff, he said.

October 20, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot

Nixon biographer compares Trump and Nixon administrations

NIXON, from page 1

his self-conscious personality affected his politics.

“He was plagued by doubt and intense and painful insecurity.

Nixon was the Ago to his own Othello,” he said, referencing the Shakespeare play. “[Nixon] was constantly whispering in his own ear, ‘you’re no good…they don’t like you, they’re operating against you,’” Farrell said of the former President, “and it came to me that the original title of the book was “Richard Nixon: An American Tragedy” because…this took on tragic proportions.”

In discussing Nixon’s rise to political power, Farrell focused on the similarities between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, who, he argued, had comparable childhoods. Moving on to Nixon’s later life, Farrell examined how Nixon came to be known by the famous moniker “Tricky Dick,” due to his evasive strategies with the press.

He had a tendency to deny his statements or change his story after the fact.

In a brief anecdote, Farrell described how the press began carrying around tape recorders, which were quite large at the time, to catch Nixon’s exact wording.

The advent of television affected Nixon as a politician, as Farrell ex-

plained, saying, “With television though, Nixon, this very awkward person, had found his way out… the response from journalists in his fumbling attempts at oneon-ones was just awful… And

so television became his way to evade them, to get around them.”

Perhaps one of Nixon’s greatest TV successes was the “Checkers Speech” where Nixon used TV to present himself an everyday man.

Farrell painted a picture of Nixon more complex than what may be found in a usual history book. He dove into Nixon’s personal insecurities and anxieties, describing how Nixon’s personal

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

NEWS 3

struggles were so pervasive in his life that Farrell almost named the book after that topic.

Farrell noted the attitudes present in both Nixon and Trump’s administrations which vilify the press as the enemy of the administration, and in today’s case, the nation.

“You have a president who just last week tweeted that NBC should be investigated,” Farrell said of Trump. The president’s statement that his government “should take away [NBC’s] broadcast license because of its reporting very reminiscent of what Nixon did, although Nixon did it in secret.”

Farrell concluded by taking questions from the audience on Nixon’s history, the Trump presidency, and current political culture. Though the questions were wide-ranging, there was a clear focus from the students in attendance on how the strategies President Trump employs in communicating with the press are very similar to Nixon’s in their evasive and distracting nature.

“Richard Nixon: The Life” has been reviewed favorably by publications including The New York Times and National Public Radio (NPR), organizations that praise the biography’s relevance to current politics and Farrell’s writing style.

Handwritten notes express appreciation for free menstrual products in public restrooms

TAMPONS, from page 1

daily and re-stock when supply runs low, according to Samantha Barrett ’20, chair of the Health and Safety Committee.

People have shown their appreciation for the free menstrual products by leaving handwritten thank you notes in the containers holding the products. “I know that people are utilizing the resources available!” said Barrett.

To measure its success, leaders of the movement are looking for a steady use of the products.

Funding and scope of the trial phase are limited, so success will not be measured necessarily by the amount of products used, but rather that they are being used at a consistent rate.

“We argue that consistent use constitutes an exhibited need for menstrual products,” said Ouellette.

“Our overall goal of success is to provide free menstrual products to students, and right now, we are doing this,” noted Ouellette. “Today, if someone was able to access menstrual products and that access alleviated some stress or anxiety, we were successful. It is important to reflect on our day to day successes as we work with the administration to implement this access long-term.”

The administration is waiting to discuss potentially funding a menstrual produce program until after the trial phase is complete, so it is unclear as to what the initiative will look like after the trial period.

If the administration decides to not go forward with funding the menstrual products, leaders hope to request funding from the Student Union to continue providing

products, while addressing any limitations the university has.

Several students have expressed concerns that the menstrual products are only available in women’s restrooms.

Free menstrual products are currently available in two gender-neutral locations, including the Goldfarb library gender-neutral bathroom and in the SSIS office. There are currently no free menstrual products in men’s restrooms.

The inclusion of products in men’s restrooms is a larger goal for implementation after the trial phase, said Ouellette. The trial phase has limited funding and resources, so products have been limited to certain prominent locations on campus.

“I’ve had productive conversations with students regarding the current lack of menstrual products in men’s restrooms, which is the feedback I’ve taken the most to heart, because criticism of our trial is important to moving forward with a better, more inclusive plans given the ability to expand,” stated Ouellette.

Organizers of this project hope to expand the scope of the initiative after the trial phase, as the trial phase “is not meant to replicate what we want going forward,” said Ouellette. “Its current manifestation does not include products for all gendered restrooms, which is not as trans- inclusive as it should be.”

Conversations with the administration about full implementation of the initiative would include which gender restrooms would include the menstrual products.

“Until the end of this trial, there’s very little that we can say about what steps moving forward will

be, as the administration did not want to re-engage with this issue until we had completed a trial period,” claimed Ouellette.

Students have been talking about free menstrual products on campus since last fall. Student organizes like Ouellette and Union members met with Jim Gray, senior vice president of campus operations.

Gray initially said he was not sure how much demand there was for this program, and he also expressed concern that students might abuse the supply. He first asked students to release a survey.

After seeing the survey results, Gray said the only real way to gauge interest in a program would be to hold a trial.

menstrual products The trial phase of the free menstrual products initiative placed tampons and pads in bathrooms around campus.

photos by allison plotnik/the hoot

NEWS

4 The Brandeis Hoot

October 20, 2017

Spring course on controversial art to replace on campus production of Buyer Beware BUYER BEWARE, from page 1

contact. “[“Buyer Beware”] positions a white man as the brave protagonist and a black man (and BLM) as the over-reacting, violent antagonist,” Schrek wrote in a Facebook event page which called on anyone opposed to the play to join in a “CONGRESS STYLE PHONE CAMPAIGN.” Schrek, who lives in San Francisco, California, told The Brandeis Hoot that she’s never read the script. “I trust the people who told me about it. I don’t need to read the actual language to know what it is about,” she said in a phone interview with The Hoot. Schrek argued that the department wanted to put it on for “political gain” and in a Facebook post wrote, “It is an overtly racist play and will be harmful to the student population if staged.”

The Hoot obtained a copy of the script titled “rehearsal draft.”

Sitting outside a dorm, the main character, Ron, repeats what he hears on his MP3 as he listens to audio recordings of Lenny Bruce, a white stand-up comedian who drew national attention in the 1950s and 60s for his obscenity-laced performances and unyielding commitment to free speech. Ron found the audio in the Lenny Bruce archives in the Brandeis library.

The supposed quote contains eight uses of the n-word and four other slurs which are also repeated.

“Imagine if we just kept saying these words over and over again,

sooner or later they’d become meaningless noise,” says Ron quoting Bruce, in between chains of slurs. A black student overhears Ron’s quotation of Lenny Bruce and then takes to Facebook to express himself.

Outside of the Lenny Bruce quote, the n-word is used two other times by a black student named Tan. Ron plans a comedy routine in the style of Lenny Bruce but does not intend to use Bruce’s exact language. The Brandeis administration threatens him with academic probation in hopes he will cancel his performance so that student protests do not fall on the same night that a wealthy alum, who has criticized student protests including Ford Hall 2015, visits campus.

At the climax of the play Ron performs and students protest.

In his comedy routine he cracks a joke about the Israel-Palestine conflict, suggesting Israelis, “give the Palestinians the land you took, just give it back, but rent it back.”

In the play, his comedy performance is a direct challenge to the Brandeis administration. “If Lenny Bruce came to life right now, for one day, and he was booked for a gig on campus. How would the administration react?” he says.

Lenny Bruce is described on the Brandeis website as a “Freespeech pioneer. Satirist. Cultural Icon.” His life is chronicled in an exhibit in Farber Two in the Brandeis University Library.

“The issue we all have with it is

that [Weller] is an older, straight [sic] gendered, able-bodied and white man. It isn’t his place to be stirring the pot,” said Andrew Childs ’18 in a phone interview for a Hoot article published on Sept. 29. Andrew Childs is an Undergraduate Department Representative for the Theater Arts Department and a member of the season’s “play selection committee.”

Rather than put on a performance of “Buyer Beware,” the School of Creative Arts will offer a course in the spring “devoted to the challenging issues Michael’s work evokes.”

Weller will still be honored this spring with the Creative Arts Award to “celebrate his significant body of work, which includes over 40 works for the theater,” according to the statement.

Brandeis established a contract with Weller when he came to campus last fall to complete his residency. A residency is traditional for recipients of the Creative Arts Award, though it is not required.

During these visits, Weller spoke with members of the Brandeis community and spent time in the Lenny Bruce archives.

There is no contractual obligation for Brandeis to perform “Buyer Beware” nor is there an obligation to talk about the play in the course, according to Brandeis Director of Media Relations Julie Jette.

The “team-taught” course will explore “the role of the arts in opening up dialogue and conversations about contentious, sometimes offensive and important

issues such as freedom of expression, academic freedom and artistic genres that provoke discomfort,” according to the statement.

“The instructors of the course will determine which readings and art works will be included in the syllabus. They have complete academic freedom to do so,” clarified Professor Susan Dibble (THA), the interim theater department chair.

The course will not contain the script of “Buyer Beware” unless the University chooses to obtain the copyright permission to do so, according to Dibble who is also a member of Brandeis’ Task Force on Free Expression.

During an Oct. 2 meeting on Free Expression, a professor asked Task Force members whether they thought the decision to turn “Buyer Beware” into a course fit the principles listed in the Free Expression guidelines announced early in September. At the time, Dibble referred to “Buyer Beware” as an ongoing situation.

The Draft Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression state that Brandeis should not exercise prior restraint. “The university has a responsibility to encourage the airing of the widest range of political and scholarly opinions, and to prevent attempts to shut down conversations, no matter what their topic,” according to the draft principles.

When Childs created a Facebook post to express concern over “Buyer Beware,” he cited principle three of the draft principles which reads, “All members of the Brandeis community bear the

moral responsibility for their actions and the impact those actions have on the community.” Childs wrote, “Reevaluating our responsibility to the campus community as a whole is not censorship.”

In addition to the award from Brandeis, Weller has received the NAACP Outstanding Contribution Award, a Drama Desk Award and Academy Award nomination for his works in theater and film.

His most famous works include “Moonchildren,” “Loose Ends” and “Ragtime.”

Weller could not be reached for comment despite multiple attempts to contact him.

The 2015 recipient of the Creative Arts Award, Tony Arnold, helped students earn music internships and provided on-campus music lessons to fulfill the educational aspect expected in exchange for the award.

Brandeis received the Lenny Bruce Collection in 2014 with a grant from the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation. The collection includes an archive of documents as well as 65 recordings on reelto-reel audio and compact cassette tapes. The tapes have been digitized with the help of a grant from The Grammy Foundation Grant Program. All documents and recordings are available in the Brandeis library.

Professor Adrianne Krystansky (THA), who first provided The Hoot with the department’s statement, declined to comment further on the subject. President Liebowitz is traveling and could not be reached for comment as of press time.

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October 20, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Brandeis Security

By Sara McCrea

A conversation with Chief Callahan

staff

As Director of Public Safety, Ed Callahan has a lot to do every day.

From overseeing 70 undergraduate BranVan drivers, the parking office, the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps (BEMCo) and the University Police where Callahan is the Chief of the University Police, Callahan is responsible for all aspects of safety on campus for students, faculty and staff.

According to Callahan, the Department of Public Safety is currently reviewing measures to enhance their closed circuit television (CCTV) monitoring and surveillance system on campus.

Last month, Callahan sent out a campus wide email to the Brandeis community regarding property defacement on campus, including two swastikas that were drawn on a whiteboard in a residence hall. Callahan’s staff is still working with the Department of Community Living (DCL) to determine who was involved.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Callahan is a core member of the university Campus Assess-

ment Response and Education (CARE) team, which is a multidisciplinary group of administrators that evaluates and determines disciplinary measures for instances of behavioral misconduct. He is also the official liaison to municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies relative to university police and security concerns. Despite the many hats he wears, Callahan still finds time to connect with the community.

“My favorite part of my job is working with students and seeing them prosper in their academic and professional careers,” Callahan told The Brandeis Hoot. “Many of the students that I work with keep in contact with me and have become quite professional in various fields including medicine, law and business. I love hearing from alumni I’ve known over the years.”

“We are always reviewing our policies, procedures and infrastructure designed to protect the safety of everyone on campus— students, faculty, staff and visitors,” he said, adding that, “Over the course of the year we undertake upgrades as a matter of course.”

The Brandeis webpage on Emergency Preparedness explains

the various systems to provide students, faculty and staff with immediate information in case of an emergency. In the case of an imminent threat from severe weather or a chemical spill, sirens will alert students to seek indoor shelter. The Department of Public Safety would send an update through the Brandeis emergency notification system with further instructions for precautions, and a more musical “Westminster” siren will sound for a minute when the situation is clear.

Callahan emphasized the importance of awareness of personal safety in keeping students and their peers safe.

“College should be a great experience and we do everything we can to keep students safe,” Callahan said. “We need students to do their part by doing simple things like locking doors, not leaving property unattended and using crosswalks. Prevention efforts like these are really helpful to my staff and to the overall goal of keeping Brandeis safe.”

The Department of Public Safety released the annual Fire Safety and Security report in September. The report details emergen-

photo from brandeis.edu

cy policies and core values of the Division of Student Affairs, including citizenship, civility and the embrace of diversity.

“Maintaining the safety of the community involves 100-per-

cent participation by everyone.

This entails reporting suspicious incidents, exercising personal safety by securing electronic devices and personal property and always thinking safety first.”

DCL pro. staff prepared to respond to bomb threats

By Charlotte Aaron editor

During the August bomb threat, Department of Community Living (DCL) Director Tim Touchette was one of the point people for the team clearing residential buildings and evacuating student. Under directions for Chief of University Police Ed Callahan, “DCL’s main goal was to ensure that all students were appropriately evacuated to the designated area,” wrote Touchette in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

While the team was able to ensure that all residential areas were cleared, DCL staff did run into students who did not evacuate as asked. “Each student found was referred [to] the office of Student Rights and Responsibilities for additional education about campus and personal safety,” Touchette explained, as every student who fails to evacuate slows the process of evacuation and clearing.

In the event of a bomb threat, the Brandeis webpage for Emergency Preparedness gives a detailed set of steps for both students and faculty to follow. It explains that after calling the emergency number it is extremely important to notify an authoritative figure, such as a Community Advisor (CA). Then, you should take only the most essential personal belongings that can be grabbed without jeopardizing personal safety before evacuating at least 100 feet from the closest building and awaiting further instruction.

Following evacuation, the DCL and Student Affairs team was responsible for ensuring students were fed and comfortable.

“This is no easy task, but the two groups did an incredible job of keeping things moving so that students who were evacuated could have the resources needed to have as productive of a day

as possible,” wrote Touchette.

In line with recommendations by the Educator’s School Safety Network (ESSN), a Crisis Management Team exists at Brandeis to help in cases of emergencies. One part of this team is the Department of Community Living, which, according to Touchette, regularly trains for a variety of crisis situations.

“From time to time (and with the bomb threats) we are part of a team that is tasked with securing residential spaces,” wrote Touchette in an email to The Hoot.

“When students receive information about sheltering in place or evacuating to a specific area, we ask that they treat that request with urgency. The process of securing residential areas is time intensive on its own, and if students ignore warning messages and directions it complicates the process and slows the overall process of clearing/securing residence halls.”

The ESSN is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that studies and provides training, consulting and resources on school safely.

They reported in 2016 that since Nov. 2011, there has been a 1,461 percent increase in bomb threats to schools. In the 2015-2016 academic year, Massachusetts had experience the most threats of any state, accounting for 10.7 percent of all bomb incidents.

According to the study on eschoolsafety.org, 44 percent of all threats are directed at elementary schools and one percent of threats are directed at higher education, putting Brandeis in a small group of colleges and universities who have had to respond to a bomb threat, relative to the 99 percent of threats directed at K-12 schools across the country.

photo from brandeis.edu

Primary evacuation destinations and emergency transportation staging areas are circled in green, while various other sections of campus are given their own colored zones. campus evacuation map

photo by elianna spitzer/the hoot

bomb threat procedure

Gosman.

On Aug. 26, after the news of a bomb threat, students were evacuated and gathered on the field in

6 FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot

By Polina Potochevska

October 20, 2017

A medical perspective on safety

editor

The Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps (BEMCo) is a completely student-run volunteer group dedicated to emergency medical services on campus. Michele Etzbach ’20, an HSSP major, joined BEMCo this fall semester during their new member orientation, after training last spring to be certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

During BEMCo’s orientation, new members receive specific training for the Corps. The orientation is an only weekend long because all BEMCo members have to be Massachusetts-certified EMT’s before joining. Etzbach explained that a lot of students choose to take EMT training separately from Brandeis’ program, then officially join BEMCo. BEMCo has about 50 active members, most of whom are at the tertiary level, which according to BEMCo’s website, refers to a new member who partic-

ipates fully until being promoted to the secondary level.

Students are trained as a BLSEMT, which stands for a Basic Life Support EMT. The majority of ambulance trucks are run by two BLS-EMTs, according to Etzbach, who explained that she hopes to work in an ambulance over the summer. “We’re completely certified to handle whatever sort of incident a normal ambulance would get, but we’re not paramedics.” In a case where a paramedic, a more advanced provider of emergency medical care, is needed, BEMCo does all they can before calling for their assistance.

BEMCo members are consistently updated on emergency procedures. For example, after the bomb threat that occurred during this year’s orientation, BEMCo had a meeting to update and go over procedures, so they are impacted by what happens on campus.

BEMCo members are prepared for a multitude of situations. While 20 percent of calls are due to intoxication, Etzbach

photos from brandeis.edu

mentioned that “It’s not the only thing we do,” and that they have trained for a lot of different medical emergencies such as students with serious allergies who need help, students with intense migraines who may not be able to get back to their rooms safely, or injuries caused by someone slipping on ice, for example.

Etzbach hopes to go to nursing school after graduation and is taking medical classes outside of Brandeis to build up her transcript, although she is not receiving credit for them. She is also involved with club volleyball and is a member of LACE (Language and Cultural Enrichment) within Waltham Group, which connects Brandeis students with children who have recently immigrated to the United States, providing the new Waltham residents with English language help and playing games with them.

Despite her busy schedule, Etzbach explained that BEMCo can be a low-time commitment once members are EMT certified because they can take as little as one shift a month or even one shift a semester. “It’s really good for any sort of medical career you want to go into, having EMT experience always looks good.”

Etzbach told The Hoot that the reason she was drawn to EMT work and “helping people in the worst day of their lives,” because having to call for emergency medical services can be a traumatic experience.

She has worked only two shifts so far and says that she is “really excited about it.” She explained that there’s a bit of anxiety in waiting for a call, and not knowing what to anticipate during the 24-hour shifts where she is

on-call. “Going to bed at night and not knowing if I’m going to wake up to my alarm or my pager is kind of stressful,” in addition to the potential of being pulled out of class to help a student.

Shifts are pretty flexible among students, and Etzbach explained that active students can arrange their shifts so they are not on call if they have to take a midterm in class, for example. There is always a team of four BEMCo members on call at all times: a supervisor, a primary, a secondary and a tertiary member. Going up from the tertiary level, each student has more experience and training with medical emergency situations within BEMCo. Etzbach mentioned that higher positions require more shifts and that she hopes to take

the exam to become a Secondary member in the near future.

“I think BEMCo is really special because it is only for Brandeis, and we respond faster than any other ambulance company,” she said.

BEMCo is also more intimately knowledgeable of the campus and the various buildings, and all BEMCo members memorize the building codes so they can arrive to help students as fast as possible.

“It’s very community oriented, and I really feel like I know the people that I’m treating and know where they’re coming from, more so than if I worked in an ambulance for the greater Boston area.” Etzbach said of the program. BEMCo members are highly trained and professional, student passionate and ready to serve their community.

Students reflect on safety measures during threat

By Zach Cihlar editor

On Wednesday, Aug. 26, Orientation Leaders (OLs) and Community Advisors (CAs) sat in the SCC Theatre as senior faculty members from the Department of Community Living (DCL) cut off a presentation given by the Brandeis Counseling Center (BCC) to announce that the university had received a bomb threat.

DCL began to implement evacuation procedures, and filtered the students on campus out to the sports field across South Street.

There was an air of uncertainty and confusion, according to some OLs, who did not know in the moment whether they were in serious danger or not.

Ushered quickly from the SCC to the field, student leaders guided the group across the street, aided by a few public safety officers while a majority of the DCL staff held back to be-

gin inspections of the campus.

“There was not much time to think about what was going on in the moment, we just had to move and hope to get more information later,” said OL Lily Eligator ’19.

After reaching the soccer field, all present on campus congregated while they waited for further information from public safety and the professional staff. During this time, facilities handed out water and food for the students, Eligator recalled.

“I felt safe the whole time,” she said about the entire experience. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but wonder “about the tons of JCC bomb threats,” referring to Jewish Community Centers which had recently received bomb threats. She reflected her fear that the threat at Brandeis may have some relation to those directed at the JCC. Despite a lack of information regarding the updates of the inspections, the BCC staff helped students handle the stress of the day.

Working jointly with student leaders and professional staff, the BCC counselors attended to students needs through dialogue, mindfulness and stress-relieving activities, Eligator said.

The rush to get off campus created congestion on Loop Road, slowing the evacuation process for those attempting to leave in their vehicles. An anonymous student working at Brandeis reported that “a bunch of people were panicked,” but the slow speed of evacuation for the individual quelled the panic.

“It made me hope that if it was a legitimate threat that they would have a different evacuation plan,” the student said.

Joel Hemsi ’19, a Roosevelt Fellow, learned about Brandeis’ bomb threat while on the plane to Boston Logan airport. Connected to Wi-Fi on the plane, she read through the various emails Public Safety sent out to the entire student body announcing the closing of the school. Fam-

ily and friends attempted to contact her to ensure her safety and to learn more information about the events at Brandeis.

As a student living on campus, Hemsi had to worry about finding a place to stay in Boston until the campus opened again.

Ultimately, the Roosevelt Fellow stayed with family in the area until she felt safe to move into her on-campus housing and proceed with training the next day.

Jorge Chavez ’20 experienced the threat while in training to mentor in the Student Support Services Program (SSSP).

Like Eligator, he was satisfied with Public Safety’s response.

“To be honest I did not feel scared at all. I felt that the school took the correct precautions and kept the situation under control,” the sophomore said.

The people on the field shuffled into Gosman after Public Safety did a thorough inspection of the athletic facility. Various departments across campus

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worked together to ensure a sense of safety among the students on campus. Among them was also the Athletics Department, which housed the students in Gosman for the remainder of the day.

From the beginning of the threat, Brandeis administration remained transparent about the situation and frequently updated the students affected, Eligator said. Despite the confusion about the motive, students were assured they were safe and that public safety was investigating with the utmost care, the OL recalled.

After spending a good portion of the day in Gosman gym waiting for the buildings across South Street to be cleared, the students enjoyed lunch catered

by Sodexo and a pizza dinner ordered in courtesy of Brandeis Athletics. Students were able to return to residence halls and had access to the rest of campus in the evening shortly after dinner.

Zach Cihlar was on the Orientation CORE committee.

EDITORIAL

October 20, 2017

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

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

Volume 14 • Issue 16 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

STAFF

David Aizenberg, Emily Botto, Jordan Brodie, José Castellanos, Anindita Chanda, Sabrina Chow, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Daniel Freedman, Ally Gelber, Rebecca Goldfarb, Noah Harper, Sophia He, Kevin Healey, Daniel Kang, Jonah Koslofsky, Matthew Kowalyk, Samantha Lauring

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

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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.

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Don’t miss Kimberlé Crenshaw’s events this week

K

imberlé Crenshaw, the woman who coined the term “intersectionality,” will be on campus next week.

Crenshaw will be at Brandeis to receive the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize, an annual award that recognizes lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic and/or religious issues. The prize includes $25,000 and a medal, which are presented at a public ceremony and lecture. Crenshaw will be on Brandeis for several days next week, attending various events and discussions before the presentation of the award.

Crenshaw, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, is one of the nation’s leading scholars on critical race theory and black feminist legal theory.

She has facilitated workshops for human rights activists in Brazil and for constitutional court judges in South Africa. She pioneered the scholarly work on intersectionality, the idea that social identities do not exist separate from one another, but intersect to create a more complex, nuanced understanding of oppression and marginalization.

She is an incredibly accomplished woman and it is an honor to

welcome her to campus. Everyone should take advantage of the following events this coming week.

The first event Crenshaw will attend is the “Ebony Axis” zine launch on Monday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. “Ebony Axis,” a poetry zine for Black women founded by LaShawn Simmons ’18, marks its third installment this semester.

Published with help from a Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) grant, its launch ceremony will be in the Intercultural Center (ICC), and Crenshaw will be in attendance to respond to student work On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Brandeis will host “Sharing at the Intersections: An evening of art, identity, and lived experience with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw” in the SCC Multipurpose Room. Students will present various forms of art such as spoken word poetry and photography that relate to the intersecting parts of their identities. Crenshaw will attend the event to witness and respond to student work, providing a more relaxed, informal setting for students to interact with Crenshaw.

Crenshaw’s Gittler Prize award presentation culminates in an event titled “Race, Reform, Retrench-

ment Redux: Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality Beyond Post Racialism.” On Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Crenshaw will receive her award and discuss critical race theory during the post-civil rights era, as well as how to apply intersectionality in the risks of post-racialism during Trump’s presidency.

Crenshaw will also speak to Women, Genders, and Sexuality and Black Feminist Thought classes.

Having Crenshaw on campus is a not-to-miss opportunity that students and faculty alike should take full advantage of. An often-cited scholar, Crenshaw’s work is on the syllabi of many classes at Brandeis, and this is a unique opportunity to engage with a leading scholarly figure. The number of attendees varies at Brandeis events. While some draw crowds in the hundreds, other see only a handful of guests.

Take a look at your schedules, and try to make it out to these events.

Many big names will be at Brandeis in the coming weeks, but don’t just go see Colin Jost and X Ambassadors—make sure to check out Kimberlé Crenshaw’s events as well.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

week in turkeys

WEEK IN PHOTOS

Two turkeys gobbling around campus, feeling the cool fall air.

October 20, 2017

photo by emily sorkin smith/the hoot

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

“old shit show” Boris’ Kitchen entertains attendees at their first comedy show of the year in the SCC.

castle

chalk

The pace of construction remains quick as new scaffolding is raised each day.

photo by candace ng/the hoot

To spread the word for Breast Cancer Awereness month, students wrote in pink chalk right below the Rabb steps.

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

Campus Activities Board hosts a fun day with rock-climbing, bungee trampolines and a mechanical bull. x-lawn

photo by candace ng/the hoot

OPINIONS

October 20, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Make free menstrual products at Brandeis more trans-inclusive

By Amanda Ehrmann special to the hoot

Brandeis University is running a trial period for a free menstrual product initiative.

Although this initiative is not representative of what the project will look like if ever fully implemented, the trial is extremely trans-exclusive.

Right now, there are two places on campus where trans and nonbinary members of the Brandeis community can access menstrual products: the gender inclusive bathroom in the Goldfarb library and SSIS. However, this forces a trans man to go out of his way to access these products and may even reveal outing himself as trans. Placing products in bathrooms labeled Men (or even better, in individual stalls) would reduce this risk greatly. Everyone who experiences menstrual cycles knows that they are not always directly on schedule, and when faced with unpredicted arrivals of a cycle, these products need to be available.

Lexi Ouellette, a member of the overall menstrual products initiative, pointed to some of the nuances of this issue.

“This is an eight week trial period and the amount of products we have are low. We had a slightly

under $1000 budget and are considering requesting more money,” said Ouellette. “We have six total locations and are hoping to expand to a seventh. We looked for places that have high traffic (library, SCC, Usdan).”

While the lack of money provided obstacles for the number of locations and number of products used in the initiative, the initiative had plenty of time to try to plan around this obstacle. Ouellette mentioned that the initiative was started last semester. I am not arguing that students involved in the initiative should have used all their resources and time to raise money for expanding to men’s bathrooms. However, if they had mentioned that men’s restrooms would be excluded from the trial period to organizations such as TRISK or other LGBTQ+ groups on campus, they may have been able to increase collaboration and made the effort more inclusive, and possibly also synchronize budget and fundraising events.

Throughout my conversation with Ouellette, I positioned a series of questions about the purpose of the trial period. I asked, “If you are aiming to show places where the products will be used, why don’t you show them being used in men’s bathrooms?” Ouellette responded, “It’s not necessarily that we need to show each

location where they will be used.

We wanted the administration to provide funding for this, but they wouldn’t talk to us about it without a trial phase.” The goals of the trial are to demonstrate interest and see what products student use, said Ouellette; “The trial phrase may not indicate what is used moving forward.”

If the trial phase is not used to quantify product usage and collect financial data for later years, but only for interest, then why can’t they simply place products in bathrooms labeled men?

I asked, “What if, hypothetically, the administration would point to the fact that the initiative worked in women’s bathrooms and therefore only implement it there?” Ouellette responded, “I doubt that they will immediately take action based on this trial.

It’s a process, and also what we demonstrate in the trial period will not necessary translate to what the university decides to implement.”

Ouellette then discussed the initiative’s course of action if the university refused to fund products in non-women’s bathrooms, stating that “we would explore possibilities to move to men’s bathrooms. For example, we have, for this trial, requested money from the Student Union, and we can request money from the Stu-

dent Union again if the university refused to consider allocating funding to cover all gendered restrooms on campus.”

Ouellette also said she hopes that because there are already coin-operated product dispensers in gender neutral bathrooms that the administration would be “open to discussing and implementing free products in men’s restrooms.”

The trial is being used to show the administration that people use menstrual products and would benefit from a continuation of the program, and they did not base the decision to exclude products from men’s restrooms on the idea that they would not be used there. So why not expand to a restroom labeled men for the seventh location instead a bathroom labeled women? It is fair to say the products should be placed where they are needed the most, but I hope most people who use bathrooms labeled women would agree to a small sacrifice in the trial period (when free products have never been available in that location prior) if it would help our school protect trans people and their rights.

Although this is only a trial period, and the overall aim is for the products to be available in every restroom, trans and nonbinary people need to know that they do

not have to suffer in the meantime just because they do not identify as women, but still menstruate.

Earlier this semester, the Theatre Department implemented a similar program in all of their bathrooms in Spingold. They made baskets with signs stating: “If you need a pad (tampon), take one! If you have a pad (tampon), give one!” All of the bins have been stocked since the beginning of the semester with a variety of products. This kind of communal system could easily work in bathrooms labeled men. Additionally, Spingold replaced the signs labeling the bathrooms men and women with signs stating what is in each room, e.g. three urinals, one stall, one sink. Obviously, the students working on the free menstrual product initiative have no say over the label of the facilities, but this rebranding would allow freedom of identity expression and equal access to the products.

To make free menstrual products more trans accessible, Brandeis students will need to make a group effort to raise money and increase awareness. If you want to help remedy this issue, you can contact me or the Student Union. The Brandeis community can work together to make sure trans and nonbinary students have access to the menstrual products they need.

Brandeis, it’s time to turn off the lights

By Doron Shapir special to the hoot

I love Brandeis. It provides me with superb education, many opportunities and an endless number of interesting people to meet and connect with. I especially admire this school because of its strong commitment to values such as social justice, equality and adherence to protect the environment and gradually cut consumption.

ridgewood quad

Nevertheless, at least in terms of environmental protection, Brandeis often does not stand for its own values and keeps over-consuming energy and wasting resources.

My three years at Brandeis made me realize we really need to improve the way things work now.

Almost every night, when I finish doing homework, I find myself turning off lights and projectors that were left on for hours after the last class ended. As I finally leave campus, I go outside and see

countless buildings, including the library, with virtually all lights on, with no real use. Though student groups have attempted to solve this problem, it remains.

Recently I saw that one of the hand dryers at gym was constantly on. As a good citizen and a good Brandeisian, I drew the attention of the gym workers to this issue right away. Three days later, as I am writing this piece, the dryer is still on. Regardless of the exact reason why this problem has yet to be taken care of, I personally

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

see it as one more incident which calls our deep attention and care.

Brandeis is our house. We are the ones who live in it, we are the ones who keep building it. Making many efforts and devoting tremendous financial resources, we, the students, make this university better each and every day.

Hence, we should not let a culture of waste to control our home; we should not let neglect and lack of attention become the rule in this campus. Instead, we need to take responsibility and prevent such

mandel humanities quad

small and big incidents from happening.

All of us shall talk and explain to our great professors, to our beloved staff and to each and every visitor that we do truly believe in our values and when we, for any reason, fail to stand up for them, we take action and change the situation. Brandeis: The time has come to make sure our school does not only preach to protect the environment, but truly does so.

photo by adam lamper/the hoot

10 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

October 20, 2017

Famous men and their hypocritical responses to Harvey Weinstein

By Katarina Weessies editor

After the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal broke, men all over Hollywood have come out against the influential producer. While some of these men mean well, their statements are often hypocritical and hurtful. One key example of this is a recent Ben Affleck tweet about Weinstein. On Oct. 10, Affleck tweeted, “We need to do better at protecting our friends, sisters, co-workers and daughters.” He suggests that it is only because of their relationships with men that women are important, and not simply their humanity. This puts the impetus on sexual assault prevention on the personal connections women have with men, rather than a basic understanding that women are human and should not be assaulted.

Beyond this lack of understanding, Affleck’s comments were shown to be hypocritical, as Affleck himself has a history of sexually harassing women.

Female celebrities were quick to point this out, pointing out one instance where he grabbed actress Hilarie Burton’s breast on live TV. In 2004, during an interview for the Canadian television series “Box-Office,” Affleck pulled his female interviewer onto his lap and talked about her breasts in a sexually explicit manner. Other lesser-known actresses and media

representatives leveled groping allegations against Affleck. He apologized for his treatment of Burton, but did not speak on the other allegations.

Matt Damon has made similarly problematic statements about Weinstein. In an interview with Deadline Hollywood, he said, “Look, even before I was famous, I didn’t abide this kind of behavior, but now, as the father of four daughters, this is the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night. This is the great fear for all of us.”

With this statement, Damon limits his understanding of sexual assault to whether or not it will happen to his daughters. He implies that he did not have the same emotional understanding on sexual assault before he had daughters. Before his daughters he “did not abide this kind of behavior,” but it also didn’t keep him “up at night.” Like Affleck, Damon’s personal-relationship-centric view of sexual assault corresponds to problematic behavior.

After the Weinstein scandal broke, former New York Times writer Sharon Waxman revealed that in 2004, she attempted to publish a story about sexual harassment involving Weinstein and one of his associates. She said that at the time, Damon and Russell Crowe called her to defend the men and persuade her to axe the story.

Men like Affleck and Damon

clarify why the view of sexual assault that centers men’s “friends, sisters, co-workers and daughters” is not an effective deterrent to sexual assault. This is because it relies on the emotions of men within the context of their personal relationships with women, rather than respect for the women themselves.

It is easier for men like Affleck and Damon to look the other way when faced with people like Weinstein, since they might not be close with the affected women. Affleck’s “sister, co-workers and daughters” are only protected from assault because of their brothers, male co-workers and fathers.

Unfortunately, this attitude about sexual harassment and assault also shows up in our nation’s politics. After Trump’s “grab ‘em by the pussy” comments were leaked during the 2016 presidential campaign, many politicians remarked that they were horrified by the comments because of their relationships with their wives and daughters.

In particular, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that “as the father of three daughters,” he was horrified by Trump’s statements. Of course, these “wives and daughters” comments did nothing to stop Trump’s political rise. He was elected president only months after the “grab ‘em by the pussy” comments were leaked To prevent men like Weinstein

harvey weinstein

and Trump from harassing and assaulting women, men like Affleck, Damon and McConnell need to include more women in their empathy. Women are dis-

photo from wikimedia.org

empowered when men only care about them because of their relationships with others, rather than because of their intrinsic worth and right to equality.

Chargers’ move to Los Angeles: an epic failure

By Joseph Silber columnist

In 1995, NFL football in Los Angeles came to a screeching halt.

Both the Raiders and Rams, who had relative success during their tenures in Southern California, were leaving to Oakland and St. Louis, respectively.

Over the past decade, there had been rumors about the NFL’s interest in bringing football back to Los Angeles. In 2016, those whispers became a reality, when the NFL announced the Rams’ return to Los Angeles.

Just one year later, the NFL

the chargers playing in los angeles

added a second team to relocate to Los Angeles, this time the San Diego Chargers.

That decision has proven to be a major mistake.

There were already major concerns about the size of their stadium. Their future stadium, Los Angeles Stadium, which they will share with the Rams, will not be completed until 2020. In the meantime, the Chargers are stuck using the StubHub Center, which holds just 27,000 fans, the smallest in the NFL. Unlike the Rams, the Chargers are faced with the task of playing in a brand new city. Many Los Angeles Rams fans stayed loy-

al to the team throughout their tenure in St. Louis, and naturally returned to supporting the Rams when they moved back to Los Angeles. Most Chargers fans, on the other hand, remain in San Diego, and the costly 120-mile trip from San Diego to Los Angeles doesn’t help attract fans to the StubHub Center.

Worst of all, not only have Chargers fans been absent at games, but fans of the visiting teams have filled up the StubHub Center.

In their home opener in Week Two, the Chargers fell to the Miami Dolphins, 19-17, and Dolphins players felt a friendly crowd during the game. The Dolphins’

wide receiver Jarvis Landry enjoyed the atmosphere at the StubHub Center: “It was perfect for us…I’m always so happy when we touch L.A. because we always get a good turnout. It’s always good to take over somebody else’s stadium.”

But the game against the Dolphins wasn’t unique. Their next home game was against the Kansas City Chiefs, known for having a well-traveled fan base. Chiefs fans filled the StubHub Center that day, to the point where there were noticeable, “CHIEFS! CHIEFS! CHIEFS!” chants throughout the crowd. Things got so bad, according to Ryan Phillips

photo from boltsfromtheblue.com

of USA Today, that the Chargers “didn’t even do player introductions over the public address system due to fears their own players would get booed.”

And after the Chargers’ third (and most recent) home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles defensive tackle Jason Peters told reporters: “It’s almost like the Chargers got 16 road games.

It’s going to be tough sledding for those guys.”

Yes, we all know the NFL is a business, and team locations will be chosen according to their ability to sell tickets. But at some point, Roger Goodell needs to look himself in the mirror and realize a team like the Chargers getting booed off the field every week is bad for the game. Isn’t having a passionate fan base more important to the league than making a few extra bucks?

The current situation is nothing short of an embarrassment.

As one Chargers fan put it to The Washington Post, the lack of support at the StubHub Center is “nauseating.” He added, “Everyone knows we’re not wanted here.

L.A. doesn’t want the Chargers.”

And the most surprising statement of all came from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “The NFL needs us more than we need them,” said Garcetti, who added, “Both the Raiders (who are moving to Las Vegas) and the Chargers could have stayed put where they are, because Oakland and San Diego have huge fan bases.”

And when asked directly about Chargers’ move to Los Angeles, Garcetti bluntly stated, “I think we could have been happy with just the Rams.”

The NFL flopped on this issue— the Chargers belong in San Diego.

SPORTS

October 20, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 11

Men’s tennis surprises with tournament win

By Sarah Jousset editor

The men’s tennis team continued their fall season with the MIT invitational this past weekend.

In an unexpected turn of events, second seeded doubles pair David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 beat out the number one in the nation-ranked Amherst pair to win the doubles section of the MIT Invitational.

Aizenberg and Coramutla won a series of close matches to secure the invitational on Sunday afternoon. The pair made it through

the first round against MIT rookies Victor Cheng and Albert Go, winning 8-4. Saturday’s play brought about the second round and quarter-final of the Invitational. In the second round, the Judges edged Wesleyan out of the competition with an 8-6 win, while also taking the quarter-final competition from seventh-seeded Williams College, 9-8.

Aizenberg and Coramutla secured their place in the semifinals with a win in a quarterfinals tiebreaker by the score of 7-4. Of the four teams to make it to the semifinals, Aizenberg and Coramutla were the only teams not from

david aizenberg ‘20 and preeth coramutla ‘21

Amherst College. The semi-finals saw the Judges beat Amherst’s Nathan Kaplan and Sean Wei, 8-6.

Ultimately, the Judges outlasted all Amherst squads, beating Amherst opponents Jayson Fung and Ethan Hillis in the final by a score of 8-6.

Aizenberg and Coramutla were not the only doubles pairing for the Judges in the MIT Invitational. In the main draw, Ethan Saal ’18 and Benjamin Wolfe ’20 reached the second round of the tournament, with an 8-4 win over an MIT duo in the first round before falling to the tournament’s fourth seed in the second round.

In the back draw, Jackson Kogan ’19 and Rajan Vohra ’21 defeated their opponent from Bowdoin 8-1, to reach the semifinals before falling 9-7, to an MIT duo previously defeated by Aizenberg and Coramutla in the main draw.

On the singles side, three Brandeis players won first-round matches, but none continued further in the competition. Coramutla defeated his Middlebury opponent, 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round before losing in the second round of the tournament, 2-6, 4-6. Kogan beat his Wesleyan opponent in the first round, after a long match with scores of, 6-4,

6-7 (5-7), 6-3. However, Kogan couldn’t make it past the second round of the singles play, as well.

The third Judge to round out the trio was Nikhil Das ’21 who won in the first round with a three-set win in his match against Wesleyan with scores of 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

However, Das, like his teammates, didn’t continue on after the second round. Aizenberg and Vohra each won a round in the singles back draw after losing their opening match.

The Judges will finish their fall season this coming weekend with an away tournament at the Bates College Wallach Invitational.

The doubles team won the 32-team bracket at the MIT Invitational.

photo by zach cihlar/the hoot

Soccer teams travel for UAA conference match-ups

By David Aizenberg staff

The Brandeis men’s soccer team picked up a key win in their away victory over the Emory Eagles this past weekend. Patrick Flahive ’18 scored the most important goal of his career with Brandeis University in the second overtime period to give the Judges a 1-0 victory.

With the victory, the Judges are tied with the Eagles for first place in University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play.

Flahive’s fifth goal of the season came off nice plays from Josh Ocel ’17 and Dylan Hennessy ’20.

Ocel’s throw-in to Hennessy was followed up by a Hennessy pass into the box. Flahive emerged from a group of Emory defenders and put a perfect header into the back of the goal.

Brandeis star goalie Ben Woodhouse ’18 continued to protect the goal for the Judges as six of his eight saves came in the second half. After denying the Eagles of a goal a mere 35 seconds before Flahive scored, Woodhouse picked

up his astonishing 19th shutout of his career (and 35th career victory).

The Judges played their last non-conference contest on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Clark University, dominating the opposing team 5-1. Key players included rookie Noah Gans ’21, who put two in the net, as well as Ocel, Bernardo Ponte ’18 and Max Breiter ’20.

The Brandeis women’s soccer team faced a minor bump in their season as they fell to the UAA conference opponent Emory Ea-

gles 3-0. Goalie Sierra Dana ’20, recent UAA Defensive Player of the Week, collided with an Eagle player late in the first half and was taken out of the game just two minutes into the second half.

With that, the Eagles found a hole in the Judges roster. The home team was able to take advantage of Dana’s absence and poured in three second half goals to secure the win.

Despite the loss, the Judges still boast an impressive record of 102-2. The Judges returned home on Wednesday to take on West-

field State at 7 p.m. The women bounced back from their 0-3 loss to Emory, winning 4-1 without either of their two rostered goalies.

Sasha Sunday ’19 scored three of the four goals for the Judges.

The men’s team will play three conference opponents, all at home in the coming weeks before a likely NCAA national tournament berth. The women’s team will spend the next game away at Elms College on Sunday, Oct. 22. It will be their last non-conference game prior to a possible NCAA berth.

Volleyball drops four in UAA Round Robin

By Zach Cihlar editor

Brandeis women’s volleyball hit the road again for the University Athletic Association (UAA) Second Round Robin just two weeks after Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) hosted the First Round Robin in Cleveland, Ohio.

This time, the Judges set off for Chicago, Illinois, to play at the University of Chicago. The Judges encountered two top 20 teams on the four-game schedule, all played on Saturday, Oct. 14 and Sunday, Oct. 15.

Entering the weekend, the Judges faced an imposing challenge due to a back injury which kept pivotal Outside Hitter (OH) Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 out of the rotation for a short stint. Decker-Jacoby’s absence created a gap in the lineup until her return for the final game of the weekend against New York University (NYU).

First on the game schedule, the Judges faced unranked CWRU on

Saturday morning. The Cleveland team, though unranked, has put up a competitive record over the season, going 14-8 and securing two wins against UAA conference opponents. The Judges dropped the match in three sets, with the final score tallying at 17-25, 1625, 11-25.

A few hours later, the Judges returned to the stage to play #20 Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University has played tough in recent games, especially against UAA opponents.

The St. Louis team held a 3-1 record in conference match-ups prior to playing Brandeis.

After a slow start losing the first set 12-25, the team improved throughout the match, applying pressure to Washington University in the second and third sets, though ultimately dropping them 21-25 and 20-25, respectively.

Despite the loss, the Judges had a good showing against a strong team that has made a dent in the national rankings. Later in the weekend, Washington University

upset the #4 ranked Emory University in five sets, upending the UAA standings.

Early Sunday morning, play resumed at the University of Chicago. The Judges’ first game had them set to play #10 ranked Carnegie Mellon University, a team boasting an outstanding record of 22-1. Carnegie Mellon’s sole loss resulted from CWRU when the Cleveland team hosted the First Round Robin. Carnegie Mellon would later upset Emory University in five sets in the Pittsburgh team’s second Sunday match.

The Judges, however, were unable to make much of a dent in the scoreboard, dropping the game in straight sets 13-25, 18-25, 21-25.

The final match of the UAA Round Robins pitted Brandeis against their UAA opponent NYU. At the time of their meeting, both teams had yet to secure a UAA conference win. Brandeis had an edge in their season record, posting a 10-9 record going in compared to NYU’s 4-19 record.

With Decker-Jacoby back in for the final game of the UAA Round Robin, the Judges hoped to return to a comfortable formation, and take advantage of her strong hits. The Judges quickly took the lead in the first set, securing a six-point advantage as early as 9-3 in the scoring. Once up 11-7, the Judges found themselves in a slump, giving up nine points to NYU. The women were unable to recover from the deficit and lost the first set 22-25.

The entire second set saw the Judges struggling to gain enough momentum to secure a lead.

Throughout the set, NYU dominated the Judges and, with little stress, won 20-25.

The third set proved to be the longest and most tightly contested between the two UAA teams.

Brandeis and NYU exchanged leads throughout, neither team ever seeing greater than a fourpoint lead over the other. Coming to the close of the set, the Judges led NYU 24-23, but were unable to convert the match point when

an NYU hitter put in a kill to tie it up. An error from the Judges and another kill from NYU handed the match over to NYU with the final set tallying at 24-26.

Over the four games, some key players on the Brandeis team helped out in staying competitive against the tough UAA draw.

Marlee Nork ’19 helped out with double-digit assists in the three games she played, reaching a high of 15 against Washington University. Libero Yvette Cho ’19 played tough defense, racking in digs at high frequency in each of the four games. Zara Platt ’19, Marissa Borgert ’21 and Clare Meyers ’21 all put in a ton of point-winning kills as hitters at the net.

UAA contest is not over yet for the Judges, though. The team will seek redemption on Nov. 3-4 at the UAA tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.

With six games left in the regular season (all away), the Judges have plenty of time to work out kinks and get healthy before returning to the UAA stage.

12 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

Cross country gives top performance

By Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

The rain in New London, Connecticut, this past weekend did not stop the Judges from giving a stellar performance against nationally ranked cross-country teams. The #35 ranked women’s cross country team took sixth at Connecticut College’s meet on Oct. 14, 2017, and the #28 ranked men’s team took fifth.

The women’s cross country team ran a 6-kilometer course for the first time this season. Twin sisters Emily and Julia Bryson ’19 were the top runners for Brandeis.

Emily Bryson placed sixth overall with a final time of 22:18.6, while her sister Julia placed seventh with a time of 23:32.7. Rookie Niamh Kenney ’21 finished third finishing 46 in 23:55.1, while teammate

Meaghan Barry ’19 placed 60 with a time of 24:14.9 after sitting out at the Keene State meet. Doyin Ogundiran ’19 finished for the team with an 84 place finish with a time of 24:37.0. The team finished sixth out of 21 teams with a final score of 185. The women’s cross country team is looking for another strong performance at UAA Championships in two weeks, which will showcase some of the most talented teams in the country.

For the Brandeis men’s cross country team, Ryan Stender ’18 led the judges for the third time this season with an eighth place finish and a time of 25:31.7 His teammate Mitchell Hutton ’18 was the second Judge to cross the finish line, placing 17 overall with a time of 25:27.0. Liam Garvey ’18 came across the finish line in 35 places with a time of 26:26.3.

Rookie Luke Ostrander ’21 came

close behind Garvey by 1.5 seconds to put him in 37 with a time of 26:27.4. Classmate Mark Murdy ’21 was the team’s fifth man to finish for Brandeis with a time of 26:47.7 for 55 places. Brain Gao ’20 was Brandeis’ sixth runner in 61 with a time of 26:51.5. His run was a three-second personal record for the eight kilometer distance with much tougher conditions than his previous best.

Rounding out the varsity squad was Brian Sheppard ’18 with a 65th finish at a time of 26:54.6.

These were the best team places for Shepard and Gao this season. The Judges placed fifth in the overall team standings out of 20 competing schools earning a score of 142 points.

The men and women’s cross country teams compete in the UAA Championships the following week at Garret Mountain Reservation in New Jersey.

women’s cross country

October 20, 2017

Brandeis Swimming kicks off season

talia bornstein ‘21 (left) and richard selznick ‘21 (right)

By Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

The Brandeis swimming and diving team opened their 20172018 season with a dual meet on Oct. 14, 2017, against the Wheaton College Lyons. Combined, the teams won 11 races: eight for the men and three for the women.

The men earned a victory with a final score of 156-138, which is their first victory against the Lyons since their program was rebooted. The women fell 104-191.

On the men’s team, Richard Selznick ’21 won three individual events and one relay. He took the 200 with a time of 1:50.84, the 500 in 5:01.93 and the 200 butterfly in 2:05.11. Chase Chen ’21 took victories in the 50 freestyle in 22.64 seconds and the 100 in 49.64 seconds. Zach Diamond ’18 earned

photos from brndeisjudges.com

the Judges a sweep of the freestyle events with a win in the 1000-meter race with a time of 10:50.11.

The Judges also had a 1-2-3 finish in the butterfly events. Tamir Zitelny ’20 captured a victory in the 100 fly with a time of 55.1 seconds. Matt Arcemont ’20 earned second and Daniel Haid ’20 earned third in the same event. In the 200, Arcemont and Diamond finished behind Selznick, who placed first.

For the women, the Judges’ victories were all earned by rookies.

Talia Bornstein ’21 earned two wins in the 500 and 1000 freestyle with times 5:39.95 and 11:39.83 respectively. Emily McGovern ’21 captured the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:33.97.

The Judges return to the pool with their road trip to New York at the Hartwick College meet on Oct. 20 and at Vassar College on Oct. 21.

Celtics’ promise turns to rough start

By Robert Banks staff

On April 16, 2017, an emotional Isaiah Thomas suited up in the green and white of the Boston Celtics just one day after his sister’s tragic death. The star point guard left his heart and soul on the floor for his team as he once again shouldered the Celtics’ burden, scoring 33 points in the Celtics’ Game One loss to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

A mere 150 days later, in a deal that sent shockwaves across the league, the Celtics finalized a trade to send the face of their franchise to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

To say the Celtics’ offseason was a whirlwind would be inadequate. In fact, it would be more appropriate to describe the Celtics’ past few months as a revolving door. Boston lost 10 players from last year’s team, including three of their top four scorers; Thomas (28.9 points per game in the regular season), starting small forward Jae Crowder (13.9 points per game over the 82-game regular season) and Thomas’ former backcourt partner Avery Bradley (16.3 points per game in the same period) have all left Boston via trades, with Crowder joining Thomas in Cleveland and Bradley set to feature for the Detroit Pistons. On opening night, over 70 percent of the team will be donning Celtics uniforms for the first time. This changing of the guard and subsequent lack of familiar-

ity among the Celtics will result in growing pains that the team must overcome quickly in order to build on last season’s progress.

Defeated by the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge evidently felt his squad had reached their ceiling. This, combined with the now evident truth that Ainge could not wrap his head around paying Thomas the five-year maximum contract worth approximately $180 million he desired, led to the dismantling of the team that had finished the previous regular season first place in their conference. Usually reserved for basement-dwelling, perennially average teams, Ainge’s decision to shake up his roster represents a rarity in professional sports.

That said, Celtics fans should trust the process Ainge has set into action. “A wizard in stockpiling draft assets,” the famously savvy, forward-thinking Ainge decided to reshape the roster this past summer, allowing for the subsequent influx of fresh talent in Beantown—which is arguably necessary for the franchise’s title aspirations to come to fruition.

As the famous adage goes, the Boston outfit went out with the old and in with the new. As a result of the Isaiah Thomas trade, the Celtics brought in arguably the most prolific haul of the NBA offseason: Kyrie Irving. Regarded

by Danny Ainge as “one of the best scorers in the NBA [whose] best years are ahead of him,” Irving is a transcendent offensive

talent who finished in the top four in the league in minutes per game, points per game, field goal percentage, three point field goal percentage and free throw percentage among point guards last season.

Perhaps most well-known for his clutch performance in Game Seven of the 2016 NBA Finals, Irving is a battle-tested leader who is capable of putting the Celtics on his back in adverse situations.

In addition to Irving, the Celtics splashed the cash in order to bring in All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward on a four year, $128 million contract this past summer.

Reunited with his college coach in current Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, the former ninth overall draft pick looks ready to build upon his career year last season.

Hayward averaged career highs in

boston celtics start season 0-2

points and rebounds for the Utah Jazz a season ago, with 21.9 and 5.4 per game, respectively. With a points per game total that has increased during each year of his career, Hayward is a constantly improving scorer who fits seamlessly into Boston’s offense strategy.

The additions of Irving and Hayward, coupled with the drafting of third overall pick Jayson Tatum, who is “a really skilled player [and] a really talented scorer” according to Stevens, have Celtics fans excited for this coming season (nba.com). Despite their talented pieces, the Celtics will endure some growing pains at the start of the 2017-2018 campaign. Fans won’t mind this, however, if Ainge’s master plan comes to life in the form of a seventeenth championship banner hanging

down from the rafters of TD Garden.

Following their 102-99 loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night this past Tuesday, the Celtics showed they still have work to do to stake their claim at the top of the Eastern Conference this season. Unfortunately for the Celtics, Tatum’s solid regular season debut (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Irving’s team-high 10 assists were overshadowed by some darker news. In the first quarter of his Celtics debut, Gordon Hayward landed awkwardly on his left leg, ultimately leaving the game with a fractured tibia and left ankle.

With Hayward sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Celtics’ championship hopes certainly have taken a brutal blow.

photo from usatoday.com

ARTS

October 20, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Rose Fall Opening Celebration welcomes two more exhibitions

By Noah Harper staff

The Rose Art Museum hosted its Fall Opening Celebration to commemorate a new season of art exhibitions, on Saturday, Oct. 14. The event, free and open to the entire community, featured food trucks, a beer garden and an open art museum. It was great getting to see so many people come together to celebrate the Rose.

The museum was open late, until 9 p.m., and guests were free to roam back and forth between the food and the art. The new director of the Rose, Luis Croquer, was present, along with artist Joe Bradley, who has a considerable amount of work on display.

Two new exhibits opened Saturday: Tony Lewis’ “Plunder,” a large, outward-facing mural comprising of screws and graphite-dipped rubber bands—a team of Brandeis students helped to assemble the piece—that resembles an alphabetic symbol, and, Joe Bradley’s work—a plethora of sculptures, canvasses, and spontaneous drawings from marker, pen, and crayon, among others.

Bradley’s canvasses are large scale with striking areas of colors.

The artist paints on unstretched canvas laid flat on the floor—similar to the technique of Jackson Pollack. In some of the works, the viewer can even see Bradley’s footprints in the paint.

Adjoining Bradley’s sizeable exhibition is a room of the artist’s selections from Rose’s collection.

“plunder by tony lewis”

A group of Brandeis students helped create this mural.

Titled “Buckdancer’s Selects,” Bradley’s curation ranges between sculptures and paintings such as Cezanne’s “Nu de Jeune Baigneur,” and Reginald Marsh’s “Coney Island Beach #2.” It was a fascinating opportunity to get to see both an artist’s work and then the kind of art that they think are important.

To me, the Fall Opening Celebration demonstrated that the Rose Art Museum doesn’t really receive its due. I’d forgotten how great a collection the museum has—works by artists such as Chagall, Dalí, Ernst and Magritte, among others. The current exhibits of contemporary art, too, are quality: I stood for forty minutes watching all of John Akomfrah’s gorgeous video work “Auto Da Fé,” and I was really moved by Syrian-Armenian artist Kevork

Mourad’s gripping and grotesque paintings of tragedy and trauma. The curation of works here was excellent, both relevant and high-caliber.

I was so amazed by the new exhibitions that I told my friend that I’d forgotten I was at Brandeis for a second. I was excited—and a little surprised—at how interesting and engaging the art on display was. I wish I’d known about Akomfrah and Mourad’s work a month ago when they first went on display.

I think this might speak to something about Brandeis as a whole. As President Liebowitz termed it in a recent email, our “excessive institutional humility” can lead us to ignore or forget the great resources we have on campus, and I think student perception of the Rose is no exception.

The Fall Opening Celebration

photos by yarisa diaz/the hoot

demonstrated to me that the Rose Art Museum is an excellent institution with a great collection and quality curation that we should all appreciate and take advantage of.

I enjoyed seeing all the people enjoying the museum during the reception, but you have to admit that the area is usually pretty barren. It doesn’t help that the museum is a bit secluded—if I wasn’t a Brandeis student and didn’t walk past it every day, how would I know how to get to it?

It is great to have events like Saturday’s that showcase the Rose and bring so many different people together to engage with the works inside and sit and hang out on the Light of Reason. It was also great to see young kids, college students and older people all enjoying the institution and the space together, and it would be

awesome to continue this trend.

But I also think that some of us—including me—might need to work on an attitude adjustment as well—to realize that we have a quality art institution right here on campus and then take advantage of what it has to offer. We need to unequivocally demonstrate to the university that we value the Rose Art Museum and that it’s an institution here on campus that’s legacy should be preserved and impact fostered.

Saturday’s Fall Opening Celebration proved to me how great our on-campus art museum is.

Brandeisians have no excuse for not visiting; space needs to be used more. It’s such a benefit that we’re getting exposed to worldclass art (for free!) right here—but don’t take my word for it, go and see for yourself.

T.V.’s best drama returns as ‘Mr. Robot’ enters its third season

By Jonah Koslofsky staff

When it comes to “Mr. Robot,” my objectivity has been compromised. But then again, that’s kind of the point of the show. If my headline didn’t give it away, I absolutely adore USA’s highbrow hacker drama, which returned for it’s third season last Wednesday. Go watch it. “Mr. Robot” isn’t perfect, but with a strong anchor in protagonist Elliot (in a career defining performance from Rami Malek), and a truly cohesive and coherent vision behind-the-

scenes, this show is worth your attention.

There’s a term in film criticism known as “auteur theory.” Basically, the idea is that good pieces of art are the product of a single, committed, creative individual.

“Mr. Robot” proves the merits of auteur theory. The entire show comes from the mind of the oneand-only Sam Esmail. Esmail, whose only other IMDB credit is the tiny indie movie “Comet,” actually envisioned the show as a feature film before adapting it for television, and acts as the show’s creator and showrunner, as well as single handedly writ-

photo from refractionsfilm.files.wordpress.com

ing and directing every episode of the second and third seasons.

This is inherently a risk for any network, because what if this guy—who’s essentially making the entire show—can’t handle the magnitude of his responsibilities on set? What if his vision creates something that’s not very good?

But USA’s risk ends up paying off abundantly, because Esmail gives “Mr. Robot” this unique, consistent and extremely compelling aesthetic.

The filmmaking here is top notch, with a visual language that speaks to the viewer as much as any of the dialogue. In a lot of ways, “Mr. Robot” is a show about loneliness, which Esmail (along with cinematographer Todd Campbell) illustrates by shooting conversations in a very unconventional style: When a character speaks, their head is usually in the bottom corner of the frame, whereas “normal” camerawork places the actor’s head in the middle/top of the frame (this is a part of conforming to the rule of thirds). Esmail’s also got a love of impressive single-take shots.

This is the type of quality that you generally only see in films like “Birdman” or “Children of Men,” but here it is on basic cable, underscoring the surreal nature of Elliot’s world.

Most of the people I know who’ve seen this show have only watched season one, and that’s

understandable. The first season is a brisk 10 episodes, while the second gets bogged down with 13 and includes some installments that are self-indulgently over an hour. But like I said, in season two, Esmail got the chance to experiment and expand his world, as well as his filmmaking tools.

Season two isn’t nearly as good, especially the first five episodes, but it’s back half ratchets up the tension while doing a lot of setup for things to come. Furthermore, the second season had an emphasis on show’s ensemble of female characters that so few shows are interested in providing. It’s clear that season one was Esmail proving himself, the whole first act of the “Mr. Robot” story, while season two was Esmail off the leash, doing and making exactly what he wanted, supplying that impressive aesthetic at every turn.

More than any other show, “Mr. Robot” respects the intelligence of it’s viewers. I have to touch on the beginning of the third season, so spoilers from here for the first two seasons. Still with me? Basically, season three looks like it’s going synthesize a middle ground between seasons one and two, to pretty great effect. Season two ended with a lot of questions and a bullet in Elliot’s gut, but Esmail seems to be moving the story slowly but surely towards answers. More importantly, the pace has sped up. After an imperfect

season premiere that spent a little too much time with Elliot and verged on self-parody, the second episode might be one of my favorite “Mr. Robot” installments of all time. It’s brisk and engaging, and a major death rearranges the show’s chessboard of characters to great effect. But what really got me so into season three is the evolution of Elliot and Mr. Robot’s relationship. While the pair used to share the screen constantly, these two sides of Elliot’s personality have broken and gone their separate ways. The result is that every character on the show—including the character that only exists in Elliot’s head—is working against our protagonist. Like I said, much of the show is about Elliot’s loneliness, and three seasons in he’s more alone than ever. In the end, the true test of the third season is going to be whether or not Esmail can incorporate science fiction elements into the show without compromising his grounded tone, but aside from a misstep or two in the first episode, I’m remaining optimistic that he can.

In a golden age of television, “Mr. Robot” exemplifies exactly what T.V. should be: an engaging masterpiece that isn’t afraid to take risks, backed by a strong cast and well-rounded female characters. It might not be perfect, but it has a creator who seems to know exactly what he’s doing, and that’s what matters.

14 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

October 20, 2017

Boris’ Kitchen annual Old Shit Show, high-spirited and hilarious

By Katie Decker-Jacoby and Polina Potochevska editors

Brandeis sketch comedy troupe Boris’ Kitchen performed to a full house at its annual Old Shit Show, on Friday night, Oct. 13 in the Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room. Boris’ Kitchen performed sketches from the past 30 years of the group’s existence and welcomed three new members, Dane Leoniak ’20, Anderson Stinson III ’21 and Jessica Cocomazzi ’21 into its family.

Sarah Sharpe ’20, the show’s assistant director, told The Brandeis Hoot that the Old Shit Show is usually meant to showcase the new members’ skills and give them the spotlight.

This time around, the annual event was called “The Old Shit Show: Slightly Spookier” with Halloween decorations, costumes and mentions of death galore.

Perry Letourneau ’20 directed the show and Claudia Davis ’19 produced it.

A golden life-sized furry dog statue wearing a black mask, golden chain and top hat welcomed event goers into the multipurpose room, giving guests a taste of what humor was to come. A jar with a floating brain as well as a tombstone lined one of the walls of the room. Glowing orange lights dangled above the props table behind the set and a makeshift coffin rested at the center of the set.

The black rectangular coffin had the “Boris’ Kitchen” logo painted in white on the front.

Though spooky decorations would suggest a frightening night lay ahead for audience members, the skits were anything but scary—they were hilarious. What did align with the Friday the Thirteenth, Halloween and the spook fest theme were the costumes and

frequent fake deaths across all of the sketches.

Boris’ Kitchen opened the show with a skit about the power of pizza bagels. Two young boys, eating lunchables, discuss the question of times when you can’t eat pizza bagels. This emerges into a longer set of skits with various scenarios playing out this question. For example, during a surgery procedure a doctor (Sharpe) is giving directions to her nurse (Yael Matlow ’18), saying “Scalpel, syringe, pizza bagel!” When the nurse is confused by this, the doctor says very seriously that this is a matter of life or death, and unfortunately during this time the patient (Leoniak) on the operating table passes away. When this occurs, the next skit involves none other than pizza bagels resurrecting him.

The most relatable sketch spotlighted Brandeis’ own organic chemistry department. A professor (Mira Garin ’19) tells a student (Stinson III) he’s failing her course and there is no withdrawing from the class. The professor scolds her student for failing to notice the disclaimer on Sage.

“Nobody reads that,” the student replies.

The professor says organic chemistry is only offered “life, death,” a riff on the traditional “pass, fail” nature of some classes at Brandeis. A skeleton ghoul (Letourneau) donning a black robe with a scythe in hand enters the room, announcing himself as the campus executioner, to dispose of the failing student. Funnily enough, a few seconds later, the teaching assistant (Rodrigo Alfaro Garcia Granados ’18) notifies the organic chemistry professor that he made a mistake in grading the now dead student’s test. “Oh well, too late now,” the professor replies with no change in emotions.

Another sketch featured a trial between defendant Steven Spiel-

photo by kofi owusu-koranteng/the hoot

berg (Alan Omori ’20) and plaintiff Mr. Rexman (Leoniak), who is a dinosaur from Spielberg’s Jurassic Park movie series. Dressed in a smart tie, Mr. Rexman advocated for the Dinosaur Rights Movement and accused Spielberg of defamation of character.

The dinosaur explained that he used to be a kindergarten teacher, but now parents don’t trust him with their children. Spielberg, who did not even realize dinosaurs are still alive, was clearly not having it. The judge (Sharpe) ruled that dinosaurs can speak, that we should all love and support each other and that Spielberg owes Mr. Rexman $10 million along with an official apology. After everyone except for Spielberg and Mr. Rexman exit the courtroom, Spielberg approaches Mr. Rexman offering him a role in a Jurassic sequel. “Have your people call my people,” Mr. Rexman responded.

In another skit, Satan (Stinson III) complains about a problematic colleague to his wife, Wanda (Cocomazzi), after a long day at work, saying, “It’s not easy to be the embodiment of all evil!” The couple’s daughter, Jenny, enters the room, welcoming her father back home, making noise and, well, being a kid. Satan abruptly

uses his supernatural powers to silence her, along with the Amazon delivery guy who comes to deliver a J. Crew fleece pullover (Jason Kwan ’20.) The characters fall to the ground, motionless, which puts Satan at ease. Wanda offers him a frappucino and suggests a vacation to de-stress, but Satan says he can’t go on a trip because he is expected to speak at the Republican National Convention. This remark elicited a lot of laughter from the audience.

Ultimately, Satan heads to Chickfil-A, leaving his paralyzed, breathless daughter and delivery man on the floor, promising Wanda that he will resurrect Jenny after their date.

Another notable sketch consisted of a doctor named Dr. Carol Flanders (Sharpe) who was leading a group therapy session with Bruce (Stinson III), Paul (Davis), Fred (Omori) and Jeffrey (Leoniak). Bruce gets unreasonably emotional over the closing theme song of “The Incredible Hulk.”

Paul is physically unable to use urinals. Fred theorizes about world conquest, what he calls “The Plot,” specifically how the green M&M is evil and conspiring against the other M&Ms and the rest of the world, says the guy with the pointy hat made of alu-

minum. Then there’s Jeffrey. “I like to eat and kill people,” he easily divulges to his therapy group.

Dr. Flanders gets flustered by all of her nagging and irrational patients, but gets frantic after Jeffrey reveals his murderous and cannibalistic habits. Suddenly, Bruce gets up in anger and shoots everyone except for Jeffrey. They settle with leaving and grabbing food together.

Sharpe assistant directed the show with the director Perry Letourneau, and explained that their dynamics as a team helped the show to be successful because they “were on the same page” and were able to understand each other’s perspectives, “we fed off each other’s energy.” Sharpe’s favorite skit of the night was “Group Therapy,” because she explained that the quick back and forth lines were difficult at first to act out correctly and in time with everyone in the scene so she was most nervous to perform it, but says that, “It turned out amazing and I feel really proud of that.”

In the end, there wasn’t a single skit that failed to entertain and elicit laughter from audience members. The members of Boris’ Kitchen look forward to their next show, which will take place in December.

Rising artists make breakthroughs across many genres

By Rebecca Goldfarb staff

There is an abundance of rising singers and bands who have just broken out or are on the verge of making a breakthrough from across all genres of music. No matter what your music taste is, here is a list of artists to look out for this school year, from beyond the mainstream of popular music.

In the hip hop scene, television star and social media personality Cardi B recently broke through with her debut single, “Bodak Yellow.” The song reached number one in the United States this past summer, making her the first solo female rapper to achieve this feat since Lauryn Hill. Growing up in the Bronx, New York, she turned to stripping at the age of 19 to escape her abusive relationship with her boyfriend and financial difficulties.

However in 2013, her videos on Vine and Instagram began to go viral. Cardi B began her music career in late 2015 on a collaboration record with Jamaican artists, Popcaan and Shaggy. Her powerful vocal tones in her rapping reflects her confidence as a

performer, creating an enjoyable listen for anyone who enjoys hip hop music. After her breakout single accomplishment within the past months, it is difficult to imagine Cardi B as a one hit wonder. She will go far this year as an artist at the rate of success she is achieving.

Magic Giant, an indie rock band from Los Angeles, is slowly beginning to break into the alternative music scene. The band is fairly new, having formed in 2014, and performed at various music festivals and went on summer tours opening for several indie solo artists. Their debut album, “In The Wind,” was released back in May. The band cites Bruce Springsteen and Queen as two of their influences. Their single, “Set On Fire,” became a top 30 hit on the alternative airplay charts. Critics have compared the sound of the band to many of today’s popular alternative rock bands, including Imagine Dragons, Walk The Moon, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.

Over the summer, Rolling Stone magazine named the band as one of the 10 Artists You Need To Know. For any fan of alternative or pop rock, this music group is

a guaranteed emerging band to watch that could potentially have more alternative hits in the next year.

Switching gears towards country, there is one particular artist who is highly recommended to check out, Walker Hayes. Hayes is a 37 year old country singer from Mobile, Alabama. He began releasing songs in 2010 through Capitol Records, but lost his record deal in 2011 after his album was shelved. After six years of financial struggles, working at Costco and feeling heartbroken, he lost his chance to achieve his dreams, Hayes was finally able to sign on to another label, Monument, at the beginning of 2017.

His first single with Monument, “You Broke Up With Me,” is rising on the country charts as a surefire hit. The song itself has a catchy beat, with whistling in the background and a comical chorus that makes the listener want to sing along. At first, it might seem like the song is about a romantic relationship, but Hayes explains the song is actually aimed towards Capitol Records, and how he no longer needs them since they “broke up” with him.

CNCO is a Latin American boy

band who got started in their career after winning the first season of La Banda, a Latin American singing competition show, in 2015. Their song, “Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)” has become a global hit, reaching the top spots in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. The remixed version of the song with British pop group, Little Mix, another singing reality show competition winner, has allowed the song to reach the top 10 across countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This song is on the verge of crossing over in the United States, following trend of the remixed latin songs featuring artists that currently exists in the mainstream.

Charlotte Cardin, another reality show contestant, is a 22 year old artist from Montreal who was a final four contestant in 2013 on “La Voix,” the francophone Canadian version of “The Voice.” Her music is a fusion of pop, soul, electronic and jazz. Her most recent single, “Main Girl,” is on its way to becoming a hit song in Canada. The song is a soulful cry about being taking advantage by a guy using her to cheat on his girlfriend. Critics have compared her

voice to powerful pop vocalist, Amy Winehouse. For those who enjoy singer-songwriter pop artists such as Sara Bareilles and Ed Sheeran, Cardin is an exemplary artist to look into this upcoming school year.

For fans of electronic dance music, pop and world music, Axwell & Ingrosso is the artist to look into. The duo consists of two of the former members of Swedish House Mafia, Axel Hedfors and Sebastian Ingrosso. They formed in 2014 and performed for the first time as a duo at the Governor’s Ball Music Festival that year. Though they have produced huge hit songs throughout Europe and Australia, including “Sun Is Shining,” “I Love You” and more recently, “More Than You Know,” they have yet to chart in the United States. Their sound is more progressive house, driven by a synthesized base, crescending hi-hats and solid drops during their choruses.

Out of all the rising artists out there, these six artists are standouts. These musicians will establish their personalities as artists in the world of their specific genres in the upcoming year.

October 20, 2017

ARTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Incendio: Breaking Borders, a vibrant, inspirational culture show

By Katie Decker-Jacoby editor

Brandeis LatinX Student Organization (BLSO) hosted its second annual culture show called Incendio, on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 18, in a packed Levin Ballroom. This year’s theme was “Breaking Borders,” chosen in response to recent national and global occurrences which have drastically shaken up America’s political landscape and left many unsettled, alarmed and concerned. BLSO’s Incendio 2017 served as the group’s collective response to everything happening in today’s world.

“Last year’s election has impacted so many people and the political climate around immigration, healthcare, blunt racism and so much more has made this country unwelcoming to many. As a club, we support all our members regardless of their identities in this country and together, we choose to break the borders that try to halt us,” the event program stated. BLSO strives to break down tangible and intangible borders, intangible borders being identity, culture, language and knowledge, as BLSO Vice President Miranda Hurtado-Ramos ’19 put it.

While all of the performances

succeeded in bringing together various cultures, the backdrop, designed by BLSO President Lopez-Landaverde, was visually stunning. A map of the United States, Central America and South America sat on top of the American flag on the left side of the giant backdrop. And paper butterflies, which represent the countless immigrants who came to America, traveled around the map as well as on other parts of the backdrop.

Most notably, an illustration of President Trump occupied the right side of the backdrop, holding a sign with an alien on it and the word “Illegal!” above the green figure. The silhouettes of protesters rested beneath President Trump, standing beside police officers. Trump and the officers were roped off with yellow caution tape. The protestors outside of the tape held signs that read, “Black Lives Matter,” “I Stand with DACA!” and “Made

by Immigrants!”

Various Native deities and Catholic figures floated on a cloud at the top and center of the backdrop, two of which were the Virgin Mary and Santería. Three different graduates stood at the bottom and center of the backdrop, all with different skin tones, illustrating diversity within Latin

photos by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

America, the ability to achieve one’s goals and the ability to pave the way for those to come in the future.

Julavic Marquez ’18 performed an interactive spoken word segment. She immediately asked for the audience’s participation in her performance. She taught event attendees the chorus of her piece, which was “Ee oo Epiritú Santo e,” sung twice in a row numerous times throughout. The spoken word performance chronicles the life of a sex worker, and through it, the correlation between sex-tourism and economic income in the Dominican Republic. Both subjects are prominent in Caribbean countries.

Raw emotions filled the performance and could be easily sensed through Marquez’s heated tone and passionate gestures and body movements. During her performance, she weaved her way in between and around all twelve of the tables that audience members occupied.

“The economic support of this / country I have it between my legs.” “But you don’t know what it means / to bring $100 dollars home in one night.” “I have learned / To carry with me two things / Christ and a condom / Caribbean Protection.” These are a few examples of the words Marquez spoke with such power.

What made her performance memorable and meaningful was when Marquez asked that all audience members walk around Levin—just walk. She wanted event goers to feel the ground they were walking on and make eye contact with those they passed, tasks seemingly ordinary and simple, but tasks most people often fail to do without glancing at their phones or at the ground.

These easy instructions made people seriously think about everyday life and those who constantly surround us, compared to the life and company of the sex worker she spoke out for.

Platinum Step Team delivered the most intense performance of

the evening.

Together, all eight members fiercely commanded the stage.

“Step [is] a form of art in which they use their bodies to make powerful rhymes and sound, as a form of expression,” the event program explained. The troupe mesmerized and energized the entire ballroom with its synchronized routine. Each member’s stomping, clapping and tapping contributed to a unified movement and sound, and an overall seriously impressive performance. Each and every member of Platinum Step Team exuded vigor, strength and drive.

Like Marquez, Marcelo Brociner ’18 went down the spoken word path. He performed two songs off his debut album, “Price of Paradise,” but in a cappella. Both reflect on being stuck or lonely, but ignoring those negative voices in order to come out on top.

“It gets rough, but still we stand up, it’s difficult when they don’t want you to get your hands up.”

“We gotta keep fightin’, and doing progressin’, cause you know this is just a whole new lesson.” “I’ve been straight stuck, but I gotta get it movin’, cause they’ve been trying to stop the dance, but we keep groovin.’” These are a few among many of Brociner’s sincere, clever and motivational lyrics.

Anastasia Christelles ’18 played

“De Colores” and “Cancion Mixteca” on her flute, an instrument she’s been mastering for the past 10 years. Incendio 2017 marked Christelles’ first solo gig, and her performance was very soothing and upbeat.

LatinXtreme brought the heat with its dances to “Magalehna” by Sergio Mendes, “Sobredosis” by Romeo ft. Ozuna and “Mi Gente” by J-Balvin. The dance group performed all three numbers with intensity, passion, attitude and energy.

Incendio also featured Samantha Bareno-Schulman ’21 singing an original song called “Falling,” which touched upon loss and dreams, among several other feelings, and it even got the crowd clapping along during the choruses. Another singing performance, Hurtado-Ramos sang “Breathe” from a musical called “In the Heights.” Her powerful voice captured the attention of everyone in the room.

With flags hanging from the balcony and stage, vibrant tables and table decorations, a fun photo booth area, colorful balloons and tassels, live performances and delicious foods with roots in the numerous cultures LatinX represents, Incendio: Breaking Borders succeeded in celebrating and bringing together several cultures from around the world.

Crowd Control’s first show of the semester fills Chum’s with laughter

By Emily Sorkin Smith editor

“Sex with me is like hiking...”

Gabe Adler-Cohen ’18 joked, standing with one foot on the chair placed center stage. “When you’re done you have to check yourself for bugs.” The crowd, packed into Chum’s on Friday, Nov 13, burst into laughter and applause as Crowd Control, one of Brandeis’ improv comedy troupes, kicked off its first show of the semester.

The group’s semester-opening performance was energetic and fast-paced, a welcome respite from midterms. Moving as a cohesive team, the performers of Crowd Control built scenes from the ground up, sometimes making jokes inspired by audience suggestions and perfectly delivering each joke.

The two warm-up games engaged performers with the audience, using a noun or, in the case

of the first game, a verb, prompting the comedians to deliver their take.

Creative directors Roy Shakerchi ’18 and Adler-Cohen led the show, deciding when to end one scene and making sure the sketch’s ended at the perfect moment. Their direction kept the show moving smoothly from one joke to the next, allowing just enough time for the joke to land but never giving the audience a break from their laughter.

The main portion of the show was devoted to long-form improv, including a stand-out performance by Sussman as “Dr. Beet,” a celebrity pediatrician whose wordplay-heavy treatments require parents to beat their children with beets. The child in question, played by Adler-Cohen, remained uncured by his unusual prescription, but the joke was well-received. His parents, Maryam Chisti ’20 and Matthew Patton ’20, played their respective roles well, complimenting Suss-

man and Adler-Cohen’s performances with their own humor.

Each member of Crowd Control added their own unique brand of comedy to form the team, playing off each other’s jokes.

The performance exemplified improv’s central rule of “yes, and,” as performers took the wacky scenes that came before them and added another layer of complexity.

Crowd Control is relatively young; out of 10 performers, four are new to the group. To prepare their team for the performance, Shakerchi and Adler-Cohen decided to delay their first show until this past Friday. The later date gave the team time to “really hone in on the basics,” Shakerchi said in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot.

“We strive to start scenes with what we call ‘big choices’, then we ground them with relationships and motivations,” Shakerchi said. After setting out the scene’s foundation, for example, a crazed

photo by sandra casarez/the hoot

pediatrician with unconventional treatment methods, the performers built complex relationships and tied in previous themes from the show.

The jokes have to be grounded and connected to each other,

however subtly, or else an improv show can turn into a long series of one-liners, said Shakerchi. The performers of Crowd Control are constantly practicing to build their comedy skills, and their efforts clearly paid off.

16 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

October 20, 2017

‘Fefu and Her Friends’ explores complex emotions and relationships between women

By Ben Beriss special to the hoot

Brandeis’ newest production, “Fefu and Her Friends,” serves as an example of how powerful realist drama can be with its emotional portrayal of women’s lives.

The 1977 play, written by María Irene Fornés follows the titular characters through a day they spend rehearsing for a presentation they will be giving to help raise money for their educational charity. As the day progresses their interactions become more dramatic as they share more, revealing how their romances have been interrupted or how they have fallen into the grips of anxiety and depression. As these issues come to light, the atmosphere becomes more tense until it ends with an explosive climax.

When the play was first performed it was hailed for its alternative staging and strong portrayal of women’s societal issues.

Though the Brandeis production leaves out the alternative staging, which involved rotating sections of the audience between different scenes being performed simultaneously, the feminist themes are conveyed with an impressive strength and subtlety.

The core of Brandeis’ staging, created by director Adrianne Krstansky (THA), comes from the way the actors switch between conversational moods, from casual small talk to deeper and more intimate conversations that betray their true situation.

When the play starts, the performance is mainly reminiscent of conversations between friends, with a self-deprecating tone surprisingly like post-millennials’ conversations. But as the friends

open up, their portrayal becomes more reminiscent of 1 a.m. conversations as the actors lose their veneer of calm and become more possessed by their psychological horrors.

These transitions are heavily aided by deft technical design, particularly the work of lighting designer Jeff Adelberg and sound designer/composer Dewey Dellay. Each level of tension is accompanied by a separate lighting scheme which sets the tone for the scene, such as a sickly green which comes with the uncanniest scenes.

Transitions and emotional moments are similarly set by Dellay’s deftly distorted and disturbing musical accompaniments. The simple set, designed by Cameron Anderson (THA) and consisting of a striking backdrop of a house and simple furniture, places the show in 1930s New England

without drawing attention from the action of the stage. Similarly, the costume design by Mary Hurd (THA) places the show while also reinforcing and revealing details about the characters, such as the dramatic flair of Fefu’s theatrical friend Emma (Haia Bchiri ’20).

The actors match this impressive technical suite with remarkable performances of their own.

Rebecca Myers ’18 as Fefu, the eerily violent hostess, and Sara Kenney ’18 as Julia the shell-shocked cripple, head the show with a slow transition into desperate distress which drives home the suffering they live in.

They are contrasted by Roopa Boodhun ’18 as the “conformist” disturbed by the others’ energy and naked anguish. Alex Wu ’19 is similarly impressive as Cecilia, with a hesitation and forced calm typical which belie her detachment and lack of emotional at-

tachment to the others. This is the opposite of Emma who embraces a passion and lack of shame to become the flamboyant center of the group’s energy.

At its core, “Fefu” is a play about eight women talking to each other. At Brandeis, Krstansky used it to exemplify the potential such a play about everyday life has to make us confront the realities of our society. This performance forces us to confront the realities of our situation and does so without heavy-handedness or lecturing.

“Fefu and Her Friends” is playing through Oct. 22, 2017, at 8 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, in the Laurie Theater in Spingold Theater Center.

For tickets, call 781-736-3400, buy them in-person at the SCC or Spingold box offices or get them online.

photos by matt kowalyk/the hoot