The Brandeis Hoot 04/15/2016

Volume 13 Issue 11

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

April 15, 2016

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Penny-jammed doors at Grad a security and financial problem

By Emily Sorkin Smith and Hannah Schuster editors

Brandeis has spent over $5,000 this semester to repair locks on exterior doors of all four buildings at the Charles River (Grad) apartments that students have jammed with pennies or other objects. The Department of Community Living (DCL) announced Monday they would bill every Grad resident to cover the costs of repair, but DCL does not intend to bill students unless the problem persists.

DCL hopes the email will serve as warning and encourage students to stop jamming the locks, says DayShawn Simmons, the Area Coordinator for Grad and the Foster Mods. He confirmed they do not want to charge residents, but will have to explore this option further if the issue does

not stop.

There have been at least 60 work orders this academic year, most involving coins, but also woodchips and other small objects that have been jammed into doors to stop them from locking. Repairs cost at least $30, requiring Facilities to send a locksmith to look at the doors, though individual incidents have cost as much as $120 when there was damage done to the door, according to Simmons.

He estimates repairs costs have exceeded $5,000 this year. This number is increasing, with at least three more work orders filed since DCL sent the email on Monday.

The number of work orders also may not reflect the actual number of incidents, as police officers, DCL or Facilities staff can sometimes remove the pennies on their own, according to DCL. No stuSee PENNIES, page 3

PENNY-JAMMING Exterior doors at Grad have been penny-jammed by residents, causing the

Asian American Studies course returns after five years with new prof.

By Samantha Lauring staff

Patrick Chung, an adjunct lecturer, will teach the new course on Asian American Experience, said members of the Brandeis Asian American Task Force (BAATF) at a town hall event this past Monday. The course is part of the anticipated Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) minor that students and faculty are working to design.

Chung graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from Penn

State University in 2010. He is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Brown University writing a dissertation on U.S.-Korean relations post-World War II, according to a Brown website.

“His expertise fits the subject and he has taught variants of the course before,” said Professor Thomas Doherty, chair of the American Studies Department in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot. He had someone in mind to teach the class, but she was unavailable and recommended Chung. Members of the Brown American Studies program sug-

gested him as well.

As of now, Chung is only scheduled to teach the class for the fall 2016 semester. “The ideal situation is to get someone at full time harness, because they are there all the time advising students,” said Doherty, but Chung will bring the study of Asian American history back to Brandeis after five years without a professor to teach the subject.

Larry Fuchs, the founder of the American Studies program at Brandeis, “founded and taught the first Asian American studies See TOWN HALL, page 2

TOWN HALL BAATF hosted a Town Hall on Monday to talk about the new course on Asian

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

American history and the anticipated minor in Asian American Studies.

Inside this issue:

News: Peeping Tom Harrases East Residents Opinion: Stock menstrual products at C-store Arts: Exhibition kicks off Creative Arts Festival Features: Grad. union advocates for students Editorial: Take our survey!

Page 3 Page 6 Page 8 Page 14 Page 10

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

university to spend over $5,000

undefeated since

1948

Adagio Dance Company absolutely shines in dance routines

ARTS: Page 8

Jonathan Sarna (NEJS) named Univ. Prof.

By Elianna Spitzer and Abigail Gardener editors

Professor Jonathan Sarna ’75 was named University professor, the highest ranking position a professor can receive. Sarna specializes in American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS).

He has been teaching students at Brandeis University since 1990 and has held chairs in the department three separate times. He is now the chair of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program and the Academic Advisory and Editorial Board of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.

Sarna comes from a family of educators. His father, Nahum Sarna, was also a chair of NEJS at Brandeis University. “My father was a professor. I think that people always assumed that I would be a professor. When I went to summer camp, my nickname was ‘Professor’,” said Sarna. He leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head. The professor laughed, “I was apparently the only camper at Camp Ramah with a subscription to The New York Times.”

Sarna developed an interest for his field at a young age. “I became interested in American Jewish History in high school. Perhaps

because on the one hand, [my] family was deeply involved in Jewish Studies—my late father was chair of Jewish Studies at Brandeis at one time—and then at the same time I was the first member of the family born in America.” Sarna felt that his passion for American Jewish History created a connection between his American and Jewish roots. “The idea of being able to spend a lifetime studying, reading, teaching, writing and so on seemed very appealing,” said Sarna.

The professor was not disillusioned when entering his field.

“There were actually very few positions in American Jewish History in the United States,” he said. As a result, Sarna has put his studies to work through writings.

He has significantly contributed to the body of work in his field.

“I think I’ve reached and influenced a much broader audience; obviously one influences students, teaching at Brandeis. I’ve done several books that have sold more than 10,000 copies,” said Sarna.

Sarna is always working on new projects. “At the moment I’m working on a new edition of ‘American Judaism,’ which is my history. It’s been 12 years since that appeared.” Next year, he will be working on a project with the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies. The project will surround a See SARNA, page 2

housing lottery

The Castle will be closing in Spring 2017, meaning all the rising-sophomores who selected rooms in the Castle during the housing lottery will have to move out mid-year.

NEWS: Page 4

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

April 15, 2016

American-Jewish History prof. reflects on time at Brandeis SARNA, from page 1

19th century Jewish woman poet.

The professor smiled proudly as he recalled that he had just completed a project: “An article dealing with immigration of Orthodox rabbis to America after America’s gates were closed in 1924 … with a former student of mine [Professor Zev Eleff] I’ve written about the significance of that and how it happened and unraveled it all,” said Sarna.

Sarna has expanded his field through more than just his body of work. “I’m very gratified that I’ve had over 30 Ph.D.s written either fully or partly under my direction, and today some of the leading figures in the field of American Jewish History are my students,” said Sarna.

Sarna was a student himself

at Brandeis in the ’70s. “In 1975 Brandeis was still deeply involved in some of the causes that began in the late ’60s; the Vietnam War was just ending … Civil Rights was still a big issue, the Soviet Jewry movement … this was a big center of Soviet Jewry activities,”

“I was apparently the only camper at Camp Ramah with a subscription to The New York Times.” said Sarna. Sarna felt that students at Brandeis have a history of being passionate about social causes.

They also have a history of committing to coursework. Sarna said that this was part of the reason that he was enthusiastic about taking on a position at Brandeis.

“It was clear to me that at Brandeis one would have the opportunity to teach a very broad group of students but also to help to shape a new generation of Jewish leaders.

Brandeis has traditionally been a university that trains Jewish leaders. I was very happy to be able to do that,” said Sarna.

His new role as university professor will allow him to expand on his body of research and his ability to share his ideas with students. “[There’s] a lot of people you can influence with American Judaism … you know, you suddenly realize that can have a huge, huge impact,” said Sarna.

photo courtesy johnathon sarna

Students meet to discuss new Asian American Studies course and minor TOWN HALL, from page 1

course at Brandeis in the 1980s,” said Doherty. He wants students to be aware that what is happening today, in terms of the Asian American Experience course, is not a new concept and is in fact 35 years old. Fuchs taught the course for a “couple of decades,” according to Doherty, and the Asian American Experience class has been in the Brandeis course catalog before.

“Larry taught the course for a long time and then he retired and we got a junior replacement in the field and she taught the course until she left five years ago,” said Doherty, noting, “This is a bit of history students should know about.”

Doherty said he has made repeated efforts to encourage the university to replace this position and expertise, which is “vital to the area of American Studies,” but the university has refused. In regards to hiring a full-time professor for this position, Doherty said his ideal candidate would be “someone who can teach the [American Studies] core courses, as well as courses in their own expertise,” like Larry Fuchs and his successor did.

Around 20 people attended the town hall event to hear about the Asian American Experience course being offered. BAATF discussed the next steps it wants to take in the future, including encouraging the university, in combination with a faculty student committee, to hire a Florence Levy Kay Postdoctoral Fellow, which brings young postdoctoral scholars to campus for two-year appointments in interdisciplinary programs.

BAATF also mentioned the possibility of opening a new Asian American Center on campus.

The new course will focus on the hidden history of Asians in the United States and examine the “political, economic, social and contemporary issues” related to Asian Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to present, according to the course description in the Brandeis course catalog. The course is listed under

American Studies (AMST 140b) and will fulfill the university’s oral communication and social science requirements. The class has 30 students enrolled.

BAATF is a grassroots student organization that led a campaign for an Asian American Studies Department last semester. The group sent a list of demands to administrators and held a “Day of Action” outside the Bernstein-Marcus administration center. In late December, Interim President Lisa Lynch announced the creation of a committee to work on creating a new minor.

Speakers at the Town Hall could not share many details about other minor requirements, as they are still in the planning stages.

The committee and BAATF are involved in its design.

At the town hall event, BAATF stated that the Brandeis community could support the Asian American Studies program by checking BAATF emails, its Facebook page and coming to BAATF meetings and events, which would fix the gap of the lack of knowledge on campus.

Lauren Chin ’19 said she would like to see BAATF hold mixers with other schools such as Tufts,

photos by matt kowalyk/ the hoot

which has an Asian American Studies minor.

BAATF stated that the American Studies program is holding an event April 20 at 5 p.m. in Schwartz 112 with Heather Lee, who received her Ph.D. in American Studies at Brown University

and is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT. Lee has written articles on transnational Asian American history and a book project on the social history of Chinese restaurants through a case study of New York, according to the American Studies Department page. She

will discuss “New Directions in Asian American Studies: Chinese Restaurants through a Transnational and Digital Lens.”

The BAATF will hold its next meeting Tuesday, April 19 in room 313 of the Shapiro Campus Center (SCC).

April 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot

Students express frustration over penny-jamming issue at Grad PENNIES, from page 1

dents have been charged, and staff at Facilities and DCL reiterated that their primary goal is to stop students from tampering with the locks.

DCL staff said safety is their chief concern in this situation.

“In conducting health and safety inspections recently, the [Community Advisor] staff and I noticed that many of you do not lock your suite doors,” said Simmons in the email sent to Grad residents on Monday. “Having the swipe card doors propped and not locking your suite doors presents a serious security risk for our community.”

Grad is university-owned housing but is located off-campus, just under half a mile from the edge of campus by the Village. Safety issues involving indecent exposure, vandalization and other incidents of harassment have heightened concerns about student security this year.

After they were told they would be charged for the lock repairs, residents took to social media to express their frustration, arguing it was wrong for every resident to be penalized for the actions of a few students. David Lazarovich ’16 created a petition urging DCL not to charge residents, which as of Thursday has 95 signatures.

Students who commented on the petition criticized the cost in addition to what they pay for housing, and one suggested Brandeis install security cameras.

Lazaravich said he would have preferred Brandeis charge residents to upgrade the security of the locks, rather than for repairs.

He called on DCL to improve security at Grad, saying, “If DCL was seriously concerned about the security of Grad, they would have invested money… in security cameras.”

There are three security cameras at Grad, in the parking lots and along Charles River Road, but none that could capture students

tampering with building doors, according to Ed Callahan, the director of Public Safety.

“A lot of times the administration puts band aids on things instead of actually going in and fixing or curing the problem,” Lazaravich argued.

When there is damage in student living areas that “cannot be attributed to specific party,” Brandeis has the right to bill residents of the area equally, according to Rights and Responsibilities.

R&R prohibits students from tampering with locks, and states the “responsible students may be subject to financial charges and

other sanctions.”

Valarie Timms ’16, the Senator for Grad and 567 South Street, is meeting with DCL director Tim Touchette on Friday to discuss the issue.

Last semester, residents of Ziv 127 had to pay $23 each to cover $2000 worth of repairs after someone cut wires damaging fire panels and the “opening arm of the electronic door mechanism,” according to an email from Tim Touchette, the director of DCL. - Elianna Spitzer contributed to reporting

editor

An unidentified person has been looking into women’s showers in East Quad while residents are using them, Area Coordinator Ariel Hernandez confirmed in an email to quad residents. This “peeping Tom” incident has been the sixth reported since Dec 2012.

Since that date, electronic key

Senate Box: April 10, 2016 The Volunteers Around the World club came before the senate for recognition.

- VATW had previously been denied recognition following debate about potential duality of purpose with other clubs.

- The club would be focused on dental health instruction and art outreach volunteer service work in foreign countries.

- Following the presentation by members, a Q&A took place, which included questions addressing whether VATW has a parent organization (it does), the cost of trip per student (~$1200) and when the first trip was scheduled to take place (estimated to take place summer 2017).

- Following discussion, the club was recognized by the senate.

Executive Officer reports: - Vice President David Herbstritt ’17 reported that he had released applications to serve in appointed presidential positions next year.

- Executive Senator Paul Sindberg ’18 reported a productive Executive Board meeting, and stated that housing and dining rates would be publicized as soon as possible.

Committee chair reports: - Sindberg reported that the Services and Outreach Committee was functioning well and that Midnight Buffet is coming together.

- Dining Committee Chair Hannah Brown ’19 reported that there would be a microwave installed by Einstein’s soon.

- Sustainability Committee Chair Matt Smetana ’17 reported that the committee’s film project was finally coming together.

Unfinished Business: - Voting on the proposed energy management policy - Smetana noted that the policy was based on numbers followed by peer institutions and that students would still retain ability to control temperatures in their dorm rooms.

- The Senate passed the resolution - The Senate voted to approve the Midnight Buffet SMR Chief Justice of the Judiciary Brian Levi Dorfman ’16 introduced a proposed amendment to the constitution that would clarify and define the role of the Judiciary as compared to the rest of the union, codifying further responsibilities for the Judiciary.

- The amendment would ensure maintenance of communication with the union, clarify duties of the chief justice, granting the Clerk of the court the role of historian of the Judiciary and additional clarifications.

- There was a motion to recess, as the SCC multipurpose room was about to be used by another club, and the motion was passed. Senate adjourned early.

- Jacob Edelman and Zach Phil Schwartz

a warning to residents

unlocked doors.

New signs at Grad warn students about the safety concerns of

photo by julie landy/ the hoot

BRIEF: Peeping Tom harasses East Quad residents

By Emily Sorkin Smith

NEWS 3

swipe access has been installed in East, and bathroom doors have been locked to all but residents of the two buildings of East.

Only one report of a “peeping tom” has been made this year, Hernandez said.

“As some of you may know, this is something that has occurred in the past in East due to its proximity to the greater Waltham area,” he wrote.

DCL will be increasing the number of building walkthroughs

and patrols outside East to mitigate these incidents. Though all bathroom doors in East should be locked at all times, some locks are broken, other doors are propped open or jammed.

DCL will be checking these locks and removing any props, Hernandez said.

“Do not prop bathroom doors.

The locks on these doors ensure that only East Quad residents have access to the facilities,” Hernandez advised students.

photos from innermostparts.com

4 NEWS

The Brandeis Hoot

With Castle construction planned, Class of 2019 considers housing options

By Max Gould staff

With the upcoming construction planned for Usen Castle, rising sophomores had to consider that the building will be closed next spring when selecting housing in the lottery last week. Housing selection for the first-year class began Monday, April 4, and while East Quad, North Quad, Massell Quad and 567 South Street will be available all of the 2016-2017 academic year, the Castle will close at the end of the Fall 2016 semester.

“At the end of the Fall semester, DCL will work with students to place them in new assignments for the Spring 2017 semester,” according to the Department of Community Living’s website. The new assignments will consist of Ziv, the Village and East, though these are subject to change due to availability.

Castle residents will have two options when moving out after the first semester. Either students can leave their items in their rooms over winter break and move them into their new housing when they return, or they can move out their items before the break. On-campus housing is guaranteed for first-years and sophomores.

Castle doubles are usually filled earlier in the room selection process than they were this selection.

Castle doubles were completely full by numbers 284 and 480 in 2014 and 2015 respectively, but they have not yet been filled in this year’s lottery. North and Massel singles, which are usually taken 400 to 600 spots later in the lottery than Castle doubles, were also left unfilled by the end of the lottery.

The popularity of Castle suites has seen a slight decline in the past two years. In 2014 they were taken by spot 57, and in 2015 by spot 191. This recent shift has impacted the selection of suites in Rosenthal Quad, which have historically been selected after Castle suites. With the decline in popularity of Castle housing, the Rosie suites now require a lower lottery number. Between 2014 and 2015 the number declined from 90 to 75, and 61 in this lottery.

Jonas Tjahjadi ’19 will live in a Castle suite next semester with friends. Tjahjadi and his group were planning to live in a Rosenthal suite and thought their number, 62, would guarantee them a spot. However, they missed the Rosie cut-off by one spot. “The news of the Castle tearing down kind of just influenced every-

body’s pick on Rosies instead of castle suites,” said Tjahjadi.

Tjahjadi said that moving out halfway through the year bothers him and the others in his suite, but explained that “part of the reason we chose the Castle suite was that it was an impulsive pick after we didn’t get the Rosie,” he said.

Renee Pite ’19, who had number 476, will be living in a Castle single next semester. This shows a shift from last year’s selection when Castle singles were taken by spot 403.

Not all rising sophomores living in the Castle next semester are unhappy about the move.

Pite picked a Castle single to live near a friend and is hoping that they could live together after first semester. “My friend and I are planning on moving into nicer housing come midyear in January because they said online that they would move us,” said Pite. She and her friend hope to be moved into Village or Ziv. Many of next year’s sophomores will be facing unique housing situations. Some will be moving from suites to singles, or vise versa, half way through the academic year. “I think we’re looking forward to it,” said Pite.

photo by jacob edelman/the hoot

April 15, 2016

Prof. George Ross returns to Brandeis to discuss European Dream

By Zach Phil Schwartz editor

The European Union is in a state of multiple crises, according to George Ross, the ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet at University of Montreal-McGill Center for Excellence on the European Union. Having taught in the Sociology and Politics departments and International and Global Studies program for 40 years, Ross returned to Brandeis on Tuesday, April 12 to deliver a talk titled “The State of the Great European Dream.”

Ross was introduced by Sabine von Mering, Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Director of the Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis.

Speaking in Levine-Ross to a packed audience, Ross discussed the issues that the European Union currently faces: the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis and the possibility of a British exit from the union proper. He explained how these problems have dragged down and muddled the initial “dream” of the European Union: to bring about a unified Europe with open markets and less nationalist sentiment.

The Eurozone crisis, according to Ross, has spurred disenchantment with Germany and the Union itself among those countries wallowing in debt, such as Greece. Essentially, as the effects of the economic crisis and the European Union’s response took root, the popularity of the regional entity plummeted.

The issues posed by the Eurozone crisis, Ross explained, are exacerbated by the current migrant crisis and the looming British referendum on the United Kingdom’s future involvement in the European Union.

The migrant crisis is further separating the Union into factions with different stances on the is-

sue, which has resulted in what he differentiated as the “generous,” “overburdened,” “the nyets” and the “leave us alone” groups, Ross argued. Factored into the already growing disenchantment with the current state of the Union, this factionalization fractures the “dream.” The xenophobia correlating with the migration crisis, Ross explained, only serves to fuel euroscepticism, further decreasing the legitimacy of the Union.

Euroscepticism is the root cause of the last crisis that Ross discussed, the possibility of a British exit from the European Union. He explained how the United Kingdom never shared the “dream” and has very much been “reluctant” with the Union in the past.

Ross explained that the possibility of a “Brexit” would be “risky and economically dangerous for everyone, including the British.”

At the end of his talk, Ross discussed how these problems fit into the wider context of a faltering European Union. The consequences of a factionalized and disillusioned European Union do not bode well for its future, which is now unclear, he explained.

With populism and euroscepticism on the rise, he continued, the future becomes all the more foggy. Ross asserted that people are growing disillusioned with the dream--it no longer “catches people’s’ imagination.” He ended his talk not with a prediction of what will happen to the European Union, but rather with a discussion of its problems.

The discussion that followed further reaffirmed the uncertainty surrounding the future of the European Union. Although the future is very much unknown at this point, Ross stressed that the current “inability [for the Union] to move forward is serious.”

All that is for certain is that the “dream” Europe once had is fading, and that the European Union is in serious trouble, he said.

News Week in Photos

Students donated blood at the third annual Boston Strong Blood Drive hosted by the Waltham Group

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

Prospective members of the Class of 2020 took a tour of campus during Admitted Students Day 2016.

photos courtesy mitchell beers

OPINION

5 The Brandeis Hoot

Don’t make the library your home during finals week

By Gabriel del Carmen columnist

That time of the year has, once again, come to pass. Finals week.

The week where you will not see many of your friends for over two and a half months and you spend time buried in your textbooks. It is as inevitable as the end of the year is: The library is your new home.

Maybe this is not how it should be. Unfathomable, I know.

Brandeis students are so academically inclined that the mere notion of spending some parts of finals week—dare I say—not studying seems ludicrous at best and dangerous at worst. But it is important to spend the week balancing the different aspects of your life and not sleeping in the library.

Now, I am not saying you should not study during finals week. I know I am going to be hunched over a table somewhere in Farber 3 cramming an entire semester of Gen Chem into my skull for the better part of the week. Studying

is certainly important to strengthen understanding of course material. But studying incessantly is not only unhealthy, it is also counterintuitive. If you take breaks, your brain is better able to retain and organize the information you have been feeding it for hours. If you do not take breaks, your memory processes will fail to recognize the information as relevant/important (and, therefore, will not think to store it) and you will be wasting time in front of your professor’s PowerPoint.

Short walks have not only shown to help relieve stress, but they also aid with the encoding of memory. Taking breaks every once in awhile is both healthy and necessary for proper studying. Incessant cramming has also been shown to not help with the processing of information so as to encode it. And it comes as no surprise to anyone that decent REM sleep is required to retain and organize the memories of the day. It makes no sense, then, to skimp out on sleeping at the risk of studying. What I am getting at is that the way many people study

for finals is actually counter-productive and is wasteful of time.

And fellow pre-med/science students—I know that this opinion piece may not seem like it is for you. There is far too much to learn, and there is no way to balance it. But when you get into medical school (and chances are, you will, so relax), you are going to need to find that balance in even more stressful situations.

Otherwise, you will not be able to make it through med school.

While it may initially seem counterintuitive, effective studying takes less time than ineffective studying. There is no need to sacrifice your mental health for an A. The former ought to come first.

Students on this campus tend to generally freak out when it comes time for finals. And I understand the concern, obviously—I do go to Brandeis, after all. But not only is this detrimental to mental and physical well-being, it also comes at the price of proper studying.

Try to balance your workload during finals week—I promise it is worth a shot.

April 15, 2016

Brandeis students need to be less stressed about stress

By Alex Mitchell

special to the hoot

Brandeis students feel they face a lot of stress. Given the sheer number of stressors in their life— troubles with school, friends, family, substances, health and so on can really make a student stressed. But as far as I can tell, nothing causes a Brandeis student nearly as much stress as stress itself.

Brandeis students need to be less stressed about stress. Now I am not saying stress doesn’t exist.

It does. There is plenty of it to go around, but I don’t think people appreciate exactly what stresses them out. I’ve been here for almost three years now, and I have to say that the greatest stress doesn’t lie with courses or over-exertion, but with people. In the course of your college career, people will cause you more stress than every orgo exam and econometrics problem sets put together.

Of course, interpersonal stress is often complicated and sounds a lot less sympathetic than class-

work. If someone asks you what’s wrong, it’s a lot easier to just say “research paper” than to relate the subjective pain of whatever drama you may have stumbled into.

Moreover, something just feels wrong about blaming friends for stress when your homework makes for a much more convenient and less conflicting scapegoat. But people should cause us a lot of stress. If we truly care about someone, their actions and emotions certainly have a strong bearing on our own. Getting more stressed from our friends and family than classes shows that we value our loved ones above schoolwork, as it should be. When you identify what causes the stress in your life, and you no longer rely on poor excuses to cover up your stress, you will find your stress is much easier to manage.

Psychologists use three categories for approaches to stress response: solutions-based approaches, emotions-based approaches and avoidance-based approaches.

Solutions-based See STRESS, page 6

Univ. must remain responsive to student opinion

By Zach Phil Schwartz editor

It is no secret that many facets of Brandeis University’s operations are in need of improvement, from student relations with the administration to the food currently served at Sherman. At this time of year, complaints are often geared at the Department of Community Living (DCL) due to the housing selection processes. This year, the DCL heard student complaints about the way the system works and responded with a few proposals. Although these proposals were rejected, they nonetheless showed a response to student opinion. We need to see more responsiveness to student views if we are to see student-guided change at Brandeis.

When it comes to responsiveness, Sodexo has of late been extremely receptive to opinion.

In an opinion piece published to the Feb. 5 edition of The Brandeis Hoot, Editor Emily Sorkin Smith ’18 expressed a desire to have feta cheese installed in the dining halls. Shortly thereafter, Sodexo put feta cheese in the dining halls.

In a column published to the April 1 edition of The Justice, it was argued that gouda cheese should also be added to the dining halls. No word yet from Sodexo on the implementation of gouda.

If we are to see change at our university, it is important that the students here have a say in it.

Sodexo and the DCL are opening up to student views. When we see student protests, it is important that the university swiftly recognize the goals of the students and quickly work to come to a mutual understanding. Unfortunately, this does not always happen.

When organs of the university do not hold themselves accountable to the student body, a mutual animosity grows. Students have the right for their voices be heard, not silenced by a distanced entity. It is in these situations—where

student voices go unheard—complaints arise, and with good reason. Brandeis is not just where we go to school and take classes; it is our home. It is our community. When students feel that they have no say in what direction their home and community are heading toward, they should have a right to do something about it.

After all, any university’s goal is to prepare new members of an educated adult citizenry for the real world. As entities devoted to their students, universities like Brandeis should be accountable

the administration center

to them.

Student opinions can be found almost anywhere on campus, including in campus media. You’ll find a great number of students looking to voice their view for change in both The Hoot’s Opinion section and The Justice’s Forum. You’ll see it in other campus publications and in social media as well. Cases of swift change stemming from published opinions, however, are more rare. The feta cheese case was a pleasant surprise, but more an exception to an often noticeable rule. I have

noticed that a great many of the changes that my peers and I have proposed over my two years writing for The Hoot have largely gone unnoticed by authorities with power to make those changes.

This does not have to be the case.

If Brandeis administration and other campus services can remain responsive and accountable to students, there would be more constructive dialogue between authorities and students—something we badly need. I am aware that some of the changes that I have proposed in the past can

border on infeasible, but that should not preclude any and all dialogue. What we need to see is an administration that is as responsive as Sodexo was to the feta cheese opinion.

Without someone to hear an opinion, the expression of views basically devolves into shouting into the void. We cannot have students feeling as if their opinions are going unheard and unappreciated. The Brandeis way is for everyone’s voice to be heard so that we can make real and substantial change in our community.

photo by matt kowalyk/the hoot

6 OPINION

The Brandeis Hoot

April 15, 2016

Maintain a steady supply of menstrual products at C-store

By Katarina Weessies columnist

Brenda was going about her Saturday when she had a surprise visit from Mother Nature.

She had started her period, but she had run out of feminine care products. She decided to buy tampons from the C-store. Unfortunately, the only menstrual products available were super tampons. Brenda tried to use the super tampons, but found them painful. She ended up borrowing tampons from a well-supplied friend in order to spare herself an incredibly painful period.

Cecile cannot use tampons for health reasons. This means that she frequently has to walk to Walgreens to purchase maxi pads, since the C-store almost never has any in stock. “It can be very frustrating to have to go off campus to buy pads,” claims Cecile, “especially since so many people prefer them.” In general, the supply of menstrual products in the C-store is incredibly lacking. The C-store has a very limited variety of pads

and tampons, and is sometimes completely out of menstrual products.

The lack of menstrual products is especially shocking at Brandeis, since 50-60 percent of Brandeis undergraduate students have periods. An important function of suburban universities is to provide their students with living essentials in the absence of stores within easy walking distance.

These essentials include things like food, some basic over-thecounter medications and hygiene necessities. Especially at Brandeis, where most students living on campus don’t have cars, it is extremely important that the school sell living essentials. The C-store, the shop on which most Brandeis students depend, has an enormous supply of goods like potato chips, tissues, granola bars and deodorant. But they rarely have a steady supply of menstrual products.

Menstrual products, the most popular of which are tampons and maxi pads, are an extremely important to menstruators’ mental and physical health. Struggling

to find these menstrual products on campus might lead to stress, embarrassment, financial strain and problems with hygiene. For many menstruators, periods are unfortunately a source of shame.

Those with insecurities about menstruation might have an especially difficult time coping with the lack of available products on campus.

It might be argued the menstruators at Brandeis should buy their tampons in large quantities at convenience stores like Wal-

greens or CVS. Unfortunately, this is not always realistic. Menstrual products are often an emergency purchase. Menstruators buying menstrual products at the C-store might have forgotten to bring them to class, or they may have unexpectedly started their period at an inopportune time.

Because of this, declining to reliably stock menstrual products in the C-store puts an unfair burden on Brandeis’s menstruating population. Without easy access to menstrual products, Brandeis

students might have to miss classes or spend an unfair amount of time traveling to off-campus stores. This can cause undue stress and negatively impact their grades.

Brandeis would be a much more hospitable place for menstruators if the C-store kept a steady supply of a variety of menstrual products. Increased availability of menstrual products will lead to improved academic performance, increased free time and decreased stress among menstruators.

photo by emily sorkin smith/the hoot

Acknowledge and respect all emotions, even negative ones STRESS, from page 5

approaches seek to confront the chronic stressor. These might be studying harder for the next exam, going on a diet to lose some weight or some similar strategy.

Such strategies work when the stressor is within the power of the individual, but in cases where the individual is powerless, such as a bad breakup or the death of a family member, emotions-based approaches can help. Instead of trying to change the situation, you seek to come to terms with the stressor and its place in your life, a process that can be painful.

We are sad when we lose someone close, and we feel pain when we end a relationship. But there is nothing that can be done, and coming to terms with that, accepting it and moving on in life is critical to your happiness.

Both of these strategies are useful in coping with stress, but I find that Brandeis students tend to prefer avoidance-based approach-

es instead. Avoidance-based approaches seek to distract you from the stress, typically with activities you find enjoyable. Not getting an interview should be answered with chocolate ice cream. Breakups are best suffocated by casual hookups. Poor grades in Gen. Chem. require a thorough drowning in vodka. Such strategies seem like they should work. They feel good and natural and distract us from the pain, however ephemerally. But in the long run such strategies only bring misery. For one, they fail to correct or address the problems, or in any way mediate the response to them. They train students to feel less responsibility for their own actions and encourage hedonistic behavior as a temporary escape. It’s no wonder that studies from multiple subfields of psychology have shown avoidant coping has numerous negative effects on mental health.

When we de-stress, we have to de-stress smarter. I meet too many people whose idea of de-stressing is to hedonistically

indulge: curl up with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s and Netflix, or to try to drown their worries in alcohol on the weekends. Both supposed “solutions” are anything but. Indulging, or “treating yourself ” has been shown to be ineffective at coping with stress. If anything, it hurts. We become more complacent, more sated. We do not want to leave the pleasures of Venusberg to face the uncomfortable realities of the scary world. But indulgence leads to weakness. As we butter ourselves up, we train ourselves that the response to adversity is comfort, not confrontation. This in turn makes us weaker for the next confrontation, and inevitably leads to a vicious cycle.

To overcome this conflict aversion, we need to teach ourselves to respect our emotions, even the negative ones. We should not respond to emotional situations by covering up legitimate emotions. We have to recognize that some things in life are not that enjoyable. We feel badly when we do poorly on exams. We feel

sad when we think about friends struggling with different issues.

We feel anxious when we think about the future. But that’s okay.

That’s how we’re supposed to feel!

While the emotions themselves are not pleasant experiences, they reflect reality, and they give us a chance to understand ourselves and our own minds.

College is a time of exploration, of stretching boundaries and growth. But growth only happens when we reach our limits. When we recognize we are insufficient for the task at hand, we improve our minds and bodies to meet the challenge. But that first requires facing a challenge, often one associated with any number of unpleasant emotions. We will be stronger as a student body when we learn to embrace these emotions, and to accept the discomfort they bring. Only then can we truly flourish as individuals and as a campus.

I do not intend this piece to be a chiding of the already burdened Brandeis student body, but rather

an exhortation. I have seen firsthand the amazing creative accomplishments Brandeis students can do. We boast an incredible population of scientists, artists, tinkerers, writers and other eclectic types.

Looking around, I see so many amazing people doing unbelievable things, but also lost potential.

I have friends who founded nonprofits in high school, toured the world or built their own computers while in high school, but have since lost their drive. I have asked a few of them why they have lost their old spark, and they all attribute it to the same culprit: stress.

Not that they are stressed, but that they are afraid of stress. They are afraid of the pain that comes with discovery and the adversity of adventure.

We have to liberate ourselves from our own arbitrary limits.

We have much more potential than we give ourselves credit for.

By pushing our limits and dealing with our stress better, we can emerge as a much stronger student body.

Honesty, working for others defines Brandeis spirit

By Jacob Edelman editor

The first time I visited Brandeis, I came away with the sense that I couldn’t possibly end up coming here.

The architecture was ugly.

1960s era architecture mixed with early 2000s, and everything in between? Brandeis looked like its buildings were pulled out of a grab bag.

The student offerings didn’t stick out as exceptional. Every college I visited had its own schtick. Sailing on the river right next to your residence hall, Division I sports empires and the greatest festivals in the country. What did Brandeis offer uniquely from all the others?

I could not see anything specific.

Maybe it was an overcast day, or possibly an unengaged tour guide, but at that point I strongly felt as though I could cross this school off my list. I left carrying the impression that I would not return.

Several weeks later, on March 13, I received an acceptance. Vir-

tual confetti fluttered from the top of the notice, and just that little touch of creativity made me want to visit again.

I drove out to Waltham once again on Admitted Students’ Day of spring 2014, breaking the idea I had formed weeks earlier that I wouldn’t return. The campus was abuzz with activity. The smoky barbecues, scintillating entertainers and arced balloon columns on display were clearly staged in large part to impress visiting students. However, it wasn’t any of the exhibition that began to have an impression on me. It was the students who were helping to put it on.

I missed the last tour of the afternoon. As two friends and I walked through Massell Quad, a student (who I later got to thank) seemed to recognize that we weren’t with a tour group. He was an off-hours tour guide and went out of his way to offer us a personal tour, to which we excitedly agreed.

Zach the tour guide was witty, upbeat and personal. He showed

us the best parts of what Brandeis was, and didn’t fail to air worthwhile criticisms of the institution that he was trying to convince me to attend.

Following this tour, I made my way down to the Gosman Convocation Center where I was matched with a host for the evening. It would be my first—and only—college overnight experience.

Friendly, informative and energetic, Jake the host not only made sure I had a place to stay that night, but he took up the responsibility for taking care of three other prospective students who were seeking hosts as well.

At first, he kept us busy through the most awkward game of Cards Against Humanity ever, but soon eased up and began to show us an honest portrayal of what a day in the life of a Brandeisian looked and felt like.

Jake the host was my first friend at Brandeis, and with that he became a friend who I have held over the past two years. Now that he is graduating, I feel pretty bit-

tersweet.

As clichéd as it sounds, the thing that thoroughly convinced me to come to Brandeis was not a barbecue, or a column of balloons or being fed the latest creation out of Sodexo’s kitchen; it was the people.

People such as Zach and Jake, who went above and beyond to make sure that their guests were taken care of, were what stuck out to me the most. Everyone at Brandeis seemed similar in that regard—they cared for things beyond themselves.

It was apparent from interacting with them that it was the quality of individual—not the pageantry—that made Brandeis the place to be.

This past weekend, I signed up to take on an admitted student for an evening. I was honest with him about everything that he asked, and I encouraged him to ask the questions that he might not have otherwise put forward. How is the food, actually? What are the parties like? How do the first few days really feel?

By the end of his stay, he had made a firm decision to commit to Brandeis. I felt pride, and I felt happiness, just to know that many of the same joys, ups and downs of attending this institution might be his to start experiencing less than a year from now.

Like nearly all of the students that I have encountered during my time at Brandeis, I got the sense from my admitted student that he too believed in actively caring for things beyond himself.

Good job, Brandeis. You have successfully convinced me that despite all of your difficulties, missteps and failings, you are doing something absolutely right.

That is, accepting students of the best kind, quality and virtue of anywhere else.

Our peers are the sailing club, the Division I sport and the unforgettable festival. They are the best offering you have to give us, and for that I offer profound appreciation.

April 15, 2016

OPINION 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Work to end the disconnect between students and admin.

By Matt Kowalyk editor

Questioning free speech on college campuses is quite popular these days, with outlets like The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and others discussing whether college students are “coddled” or not. At least on our campus, I would not say that I see this notion manifesting itself in any ways other than fierce reactions over inviting controversial speakers like Ben Shapiro last year. We are not a school that has too much attention always paid to it like some of the Ivies or bigger state schools, by which I mean we would not find ourselves in a position to be a metric for schools across the country. We find Brandeis mentioned in “Gilmore Girls,” by Woody Allen, by Kyle MacLachlan in Twin Peaks and on an Al Jazeera graphic about how expensive college is in the U.S. (I have mentioned this in a previous OP). However, when we are used as a Litmus test, it never seems to be positive.

Take for example sometime in early August 2014, weeks before move-in, when I received a newspaper clipping from my local newspaper concerning free speech on college campuses.

This was before many of the larger demonstrations and debates about the subject began; either that or I knew very little about the subject. It detailed instances from three recognizable—but apparently mostly not memora-

ble—institutions, one of which was Brandeis. The article on the clipping explained its view on the rescinding of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s honorary degree. I was not happy about my grandparents having given me this article, being that it was talking negatively about the school I chose to attend after much anxiety and debating.

However, since then, student protests intensified, viral videos of activists have spread everywhere and so have videos like Fox anchors walking around Yale asking students if they think the First Amendment should be repealed.

There has been a lot of craziness, a huge lack of understanding and a massive amount of this generation’s insecurity becoming evident on both the student and administrative sides of many universities, including ours. We have had our own share of protests and issues on the same topics, but the impact was not the same, nor as nationally spread. There have been incidents of students and administrators finding themselves at a disconnect with what they think the campus needs to do. On the student side, we have had protests for greater inclusion and climate justice, sometimes using tactics that would not allow for much visible, open dialogue.

On the administrative side, we have had controversial dealings with students when it comes to parties, sexual assault, DCL and leaving students protesters out in the freezing rain for over an hour before meeting with them.

Many who are not up to date

with administrative dealings (as in a student’s daily duties, why would you need to be? Classes reliably proceed on schedule without bad weather) are left to question why these tales of improper treatment on both sides takes place. Why do protesters interrupt administrators? Why are we not given full information about the usage of our tuition increases? Why were the people who tore down banners belonging to groups they disagree with not punished to anyone’s knowledge?

From these events, our values as students and the values of the administration certainly come into question.

The problems found in the culture of the U.S. citizenry have manifested themselves in the political arena, with political disagreements erupting in violence.

In some cases, it really is a lack of understanding that precipitates these incidents. In others, it is a disagreement between two or more people that have no respect for each other. This culture that is covered extensively and amplified by national media easily finds its way into higher education. With youth looking for a cause to anchor their identities to, emancipation from their problems at home and educational culture focused on attracting parents and students with the fun of college and security, problems are bound to happen.

Our university is small and its reputation for being current on a wide range of social issues put those who run it in a unique position: cater to those who come

here to cause ‘trouble’ by keeping out of issues that will be more widely decried if left alone, or leave students to their discourse and moderate it to keep it healthy.

This is where the inconsistency in policy comes from. We are an institution which needs to appear stable enough and open enough to attract all types of students, while promoting debatable social agendas (in the eyes of most, except in the opinions of some activists) put forth by its population.

I have worked for The Brandeis Hoot for almost a full academic year now, and have had friends on it for longer than that. I have watched protests, had lunch with administrators, seen plays presented here, heard speakers and read articles in Brandeis’ publications, past and present. It seems to me that there needs to be a greater deal of respect on both sides, and values and policies that are not applied inconsistently. If there is an organization that gains permission to fly a banner, those who tear it down should be punished, or at least a statement should be released. If a student commits sexual assault, it should be dealt with fairly and harshly.

If administrators do not respond to sweeping demands given only a day in advance, of course they cannot do that. If students elected to essentially a well-financed club position are not making efficient use of their funds to make the campus more sustainable, then maybe they should not receive the money. If someone has filled the requirements for an honorary

degree, they should have it given to them. If someone tweets something controversial, the campus need not get involved unless they cause problems to campus security. Students are more capable than their older superiors give them credit for, but few students give their superiors credit where credit is due.

What should definitely be acknowledged is the fact that this is all natural. This has happened before, on numerous campuses for decades. However, given that we are young, grappling with figuring out who we are, and that this institution claims to care about social justice (however ambiguous), we all need to take the time to figure out how we can break this cycle. The administrators cannot do everything for us, nor do they have the ability. If we, as students, want to make change, we need legitimate channels to be used first, and take a little more time. We can be organized, not yell or give into passion, and our administrators will be human in response. Sometimes we should remember that all individuals deserve respect, that disagreement most likely does not come from a place of true hatred and that practicality is something we all need to keep in mind. It is a very good thing that we are only listed as a “yellow” school on FIRE’s list of schools with ambiguous speech policies, which means there are few rules in place preventing new, constructive and critical exchanges from happening.

The housing lottery: where the odds are never in your favor

By Carolyn Rogers special to the hoot

Dealing with the Department of Community Living (DCL) housing lottery is the bane of my existence at Brandeis. It is how I imagine many people feel about dealing with the IRS. Many people have already discussed the problems with the amount and quality of housing, but my beef is with the system of choosing itself.

I voted against both of the changes DCL proposed several months ago, but I still do not think the current system is a good one.

Students have made a running joke out of comparing the Brandeis housing lottery to the Hunger Games. At first, this seems easy to laugh off because the Hunger Games represent such an extreme situation. The problem is that fundamentally, the joke is funny because it’s

true: The housing lottery creates an atmosphere where people are incentivized to compete against each other for housing. It creates an every-person-for-themselves mentality that makes people’s behavior exclusive, cutthroat and downright not Brandeisian.

Part of the problem is that the process takes so long. The numbers come out a full month before upperclassmen start choosing their rooms, but so much intervening time is unnecessary. It does not take that much time to tour the different styles of housing, and most of the group formation happens during the last week anyway.

The whole procedure should take no more than two weeks: Numbers should come out on a Friday, people should have one week to form groups and decide where to live, take the next week to choose housing and then we can all get on with our lives. The

extra time in the current system does not allow people to evaluate their options more thoroughly; it just gives them time to tell their friends “maybe” instead of a solid “yes” or “no” which creates a tangled web of miscommunication and jockeying for spots in groups that may or may not be full. The process is so miserable partly because of the weeks spent competing with friends to get into a group. Streamlining the process would force people to commit to their groups more quickly.

The process should also happen much earlier in the semester and require more commitment. Many people would be equally happy with on- or off-campus housing, but they enter the lottery anyway for the chance to get a good number. It is then less likely that someone more committed to living on campus will get a good number and more likely that someone with a moderate number will pull

out of the lottery. A deposit, of say $200, would motivate people who do not place a high value on on-campus housing to forgo applying for housing at all. Requiring a deposit would increase the likelihood that good numbers, and therefore on-campus housing, would go to the people who value it the most. And getting housing settled in February instead of April would give anyone choosing to move off-campus more time to find a place to live in Waltham.

Finally, there should be more fairness regarding which upperclassmen get high and low numbers. Randomly assigning numbers to rising sophomores is as fair as it will get, but there should be a system resembling that of course registration appointments in place for rising juniors and seniors. Everybody who got one of the latter 150 numbers the previous year should be guaran-

teed something within the first 400 numbers the next year. This would make it so that nobody would get a truly terrible number two years in a row, but it would still give everyone else a shot at a low number.

While comparing the lottery system to a dystopian arena where teenagers fight to the death feels accurate, that is an indicator that the system needs to change.

These suggestions will not solve every problem associated with the housing lottery, but they will certainly simplify the process and make it less stressful.

Finding housing at a university should not be an ordeal and developing a less painful system does not seem like too much to ask for. Perhaps injecting some common sense into it will make next year’s choosing process less like the Hunger Games and more like the inclusive, positive community that Brandeis strives to be.

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ARTS, ETC.

8 ARTS

April 15, 2016

Adagio dancers make a touchdown with latest spring performance

By Sabrina Pond editor

There is nothing as fantastical as watching humans in motion.

Dance in and of itself is such a beautiful form of self-expression—able to convey such emotion, feeling and finesse—that when performed in unison, displays the grandeur of the human form.

The same can be said about Adagio Dance Company’s most recent performance “Undefeated: Adagio Spring Show 2016” which took place on Wednesday, April 13 at 8 p.m. in Levin Ballroom. Inspired by the quote, “If dance were any easier, it would be called football,” Adagio Dance Company decided to declare itself Brandeis’ official, undefeated football team.

Showcasing a plethora of different dance types, such as lyrical, ballet and street jazz, among many others, with more of a focus on lyrical, Adagio’s spring show wonderfully merged the artistic inclinations of its members.

As an all-inclusive group that strives to give every Brandeis student the opportunity to demonstrate his or her passion to dance, the group’s spring semester show had dance performances that varied in difficulty and complexity; ranging from beginner to advanced, it is possible for practically anyone to get involved, no matter that person’s level of experience.

Interestingly enough, this Adagio performance incorporated a

description written by the choreographer in the event’s booklet in an attempt to explain the purpose of the dance and the artistic vision associated with the choreography and song choice. The creators of each dance put in a great deal of thought about the intention of each piece.

The culmination of a semester’s worth of practicing most certainly paid off. The dances were polished and retained a measure of panache and flavor that was enjoyable to behold as an audience member. The dancers exhibited immense skill, taking special care to go beyond simply memorizing the dance routine; rather, each performer seemed to put their heart and soul into the performance, placing special care in the subtlety of movement. The dancers appeared to not only enjoy dancing, but to feel the beat of the movement and convey the deepest feelings reflected in the song.

The first dance of the night, “Nebulo” was intended to “show the synchronicity of movement,” which it undoubtedly executed very well. Choreographed by Julie Joseph ’18, the dance was set to the musically dynamic “Asht”

by Nebulo and performed by the Dance Ensemble. Presenting lyrical ballet at its finest, not a single dancer faltered on a particular move, nor did anyone exude anything but poise and confidence.

The performance choreographed by Akshiti Todi ’19, titled “Turning Back Time,” was particularly notable in its creativity, attention to detail and conveyance of a storyline.

The songs in this performance included smooth transitions between Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” Beyonce’s “Yoncé” and Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” and were meant to “feature a DJ who is rewinding her playlist.” Adagio dancers were dressed similarly to

dancers in the Justin Bieber music video, rocking flannel shirts, tank tops, shorts and caps. Possessing the most sass out of all the performances, “Turning Back Time” showcased fun, confident movements performed in almost complete unison. At the point in the dance routine when a transition between songs took place, all dancers were still except for one; she was the DJ of sorts and rhythmically moved her body to the haphazard sounding DJ beats.

“Howl” left me speechless, as Deesha Patel’s ’16 choreography gracefully jived very well with Hozier’s “It Will Come Back.”

From the first seconds of the performance the dancers were able to elicit a wildly alluring choreography as the girls snapped, swayed their hips and simply stayed in place. The intimacy of the various dance movements displayed Deesha Patel’s ’16, Melina Gross’ ’19 and Maura Koehler’s ’19 absolutely outstanding dancing ability.

photos by sasha ruiz/the hoot

Other rather notable performances include Hannah Suib’s ’19 “Fix You,” which was choreographed to show the true importance of friendship, as well as Brooke Granovsky’s ’18 “Destiny’s Child Medley,” which demonstrated female empowerment through hip hop dance moves. Amanda Ehrmann’s ’19 “Unsung Hero,” a dance routine that was set to the beat of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” was intended to pay tribute to the influential artist, a task which the performance did wonderfully.

The logistics of the show also came together perfectly and greatly contributed to the success of the show.

The transitions from one performance to another were cleanly executed by the two emcees of the night, Ray Trott ’16 and Dan Rozel ’16, both of whom were decked in sports attire, representing their favorite sports teams.

Each dance routine was also uniquely lit, with a collage of a full range of colors. The unique lighting allowed for the expression of ever more heartfelt emotions and really added to the experience of every routine.

The effort involved in every roundhouse kick, twirl, split and full body roll revealed the fierceness and zeal of the Adagio dancers. If they were in a competition, I can only imagine that the judges would unanimously declare them undefeated—they might not be Brandeis’ football team, but they sure could make every touchdown.

‘A Cast of Colors’ marks the start of the Festival of the Creative Arts

By Emma Kahn staff

Helping kick off the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, or “Bernstein Week,” were student performances taking on many innovative and thought-provoking forms in a Departmental project titled “A Cast of Colors.”

The exhibition demonstrates the efforts of CAST (Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation) minors as well as all students enrolled in the introductory course. The Brandeis campus transforms during Bernstein Week to embrace the creativity of its community and to invite professional artists from around the world to partake in a celebration of art, activism, and education. A schedule of such special attention to the arts worked perfectly with the ambitions of the CAST discipline.

Each student work in “A Cast of Colors” from the course “Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation” centers upon inspiring oral history

interviews; students were asked to develop projects that could represent and encompass an individual markedly different from themselves.

What resulted was a variety of forms, ranging from architectural models to poetry books to interpretive dance. Each work brought together a student’s own ideas, perceptions and talents with that of another, allowing for brilliant collaborations of people representative of varying lifeways and worldviews.

One particularly striking performance was that of Queen White ’16 titled, “A Womyn Conjured.”

White majors in African and Afro-American Studies (AAAS) in addition to minoring in CAST. Her performance, inspired by powerful female figures in her life, depicted the raw emotions felt when undergoing hardship.

She began with a recording of her poetry in the background as she performed an interpretive form of motion and dance, reflecting the magical work of surviving in spite of obstacles. She then proceeded to grace her audience with

very intimate and thought-provoking entries from her journal.

Finally, she concluded with a poem by Audre Lorde which tied in well to her own writings, drawing together the rawness and openness of her own work with that of Lorde’s. Although this was the first venue in which White read her own poetry aloud and performed in such an interpretive and innovative style, and although there was a small technical difficulty in arranging for sound equipment, White gave off a strength and maturity well beyond what would be expected of a young and experimenting performer. The mastery of such an unconventional performance style speaks to a high level of talent and perception.

In addition to performance modes, CAST students displayed works throughout the Multipurpose Room of the SCC that represented their inspiring interviews.

Ali Santana ’16 arranged a small, warm and inviting display which welcomed viewers to read a collection of short poems inspired

by Yiyi Wu ’19. The poems shift

from heavy themes of adversities in Wu’s life to more whimsical themes such as her adventures in a new country. Santana’s simple and succinct language leaves her readers with a clear picture of who her subject is, while drawing them into her own artistic style which is clean, simple and makes capturing the essence of a person appear easy. Her book, “How to be Yi” speaks volumes about two different women who view the world in two distinct ways; nevertheless, the two come together to form one superb gem, a book of only a few short poems that opens a window into the depths, pains, excitements and joys of living life. In her first endeavor taking a CAST course, Santana serves as an exemplary model of natural talent applied to a field of study that lends itself to innovation and creativity.

As expressed through CAST’s overview on the Brandeis website, “The borderland between human suffering and human possibility is filled with creative expressions, some virtuosic, some inclusive; some enduring and

some ephemeral; some direct and content-driven, others that invite us into qualities of presence that subtly open us to new perceptions of ourselves, each other, and the world.”

CAST serves the crucial role of bringing together activism and creative expression in a formal academic setting at Brandeis.

Thanks to the CAST program, our students’ artistic efforts and their powerful messages can be conveyed across campus in tandem with the professional work of visiting artists.

All involved with “A Cast of Colors” brought a much-welcomed vibrancy to the SCC, adding to the excitement and joy of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts.

Those interested in further exploring the work of CAST students can look forward to the performance and displays of CAST Capstone projects later this semester. In addition, Bernstein Week will continue to serve our community with exciting arts events and displays throughout this weekend.

April 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS 9

The Lumineers ‘Cleopatra’ glints in the distant wake of first album

By Jacob Edelman editor

I’m an unabashed fan of The Lumineers. I came upon their namesake first album at the height of its popularity, and listened the hell out of the sing-song “Ho Hey.” I only later appreciated and embraced the rhythmic callings of “Dead Sea,” the common identity begging to be found in “Stubborn Love” and the upbeat swings of “Flapper Girl.”

It has been four long years since their first album was released. Now, “Cleopatra” (the deluxe edition with four bonus tracks) draws on many of the the folksy, acoustic, untreated origins of four years ago that have been missed by some for so long. From the first track, the band is instantly recognizable as the band we’ve been waiting for another album from. The restrained electric guitar is back, as is their well-used percussion interspersing their accessible, abiding lyrics.

One of the biggest draws of The Lumineers, I find, is their absolute accessibility. They are not country music, but they sing about Cadillacs and love, finding your way home and becoming a bigger person.

Their melodies are easy on the ears, and the tracks don’t run any longer or shorter than what they know simply works. This newest album runs 31 minutes, 47 seconds.

“Cleopatra” is an easy album to listen to, but what’s difficult about it is to listen deeply. It is hard to tell where the Lumineers were pulling their lyrics and melodies from—from the heart, or from the wake of their success and a desire

photo frommusictour.eu

to duplicate their past.

A band similar in some styles, Mumford & Sons, took their sec-

photo from dinealonerecords.com

photo from www.kpbs.org

ond album in an entirely different direction from their first, straight into electric rock and high-power

lyrics from a place that had previously been occupied by a happy banjo.

I approved of the direction they went, for it showed both their versatility and that they could maintain their character as a musical group.

The Lumineers, rather than veering in an entirely different direction, adjusted their heading by a few degrees and seem to be trending in the same general direction as they were already. That direction may be a good one, but it is about the same nonetheless.

Call me a sucker for headlining songs, but the tracks that ring with me the most are “Sleep on the Floor” and “Angela.”

Each is tender, each is subtle and each pulls its own to help prop up the rest of the album. Part two of “Cleopatra” is unmemorable and following “Angela,” the tracks seem almost to run together.

Ironically, the main portion of the album ends on the track “Patience,” which is entirely instrumental. As it turns out, I was not patient enough for it, and have not checked back on the track since my initial listening.

The four bonus tracks are a pleasant addition, and it is worth getting ahold of the album’s deluxe edition to have the opportunity to give them a try.

Taking the headphones off and walking away from “Cleopatra,” I get the sense that I had just listened to The Lumineers’ first album with a new, glossy coat of paint. The album seems polished and does well to fill the footprints left by its predecessor; however on the inside it sounds like it could be hollow. It’s worth giving a listen to for anyone who hasn’t listened to the band in a while, butI wouldn’t recommend it as a replacement for its precursor.

Brandeis screens rare documentary ‘The Yellow Ticket’

By Santiago Montoya staff

On Thursday, April 14 the Film, Television and Interactive Media Program hosted a screening at Wasserman Cinematheque of the 1918 German silent film that stars Pola Negri, “The Yellow Ticket.” The original German title is “Der Gelbe Schien,” while its English title varies, mostly known as “The Yellow Ticket,” but also known as “The Devil’s Pawn.”

The film is one of those rare gems; most of the silent films created during the 1910s and 1920s are considered lost today. In fact, only half of Negri’s work survives to this day—“The Yellow Ticket” being one of them. The

film is important because it was made before Negri was introduced to an American audience, and subsequently she became one of the most popular and richest Hollywood actresses during the early 1920s. In addition, the film represented a challenge in her acting career, since for the most part, Negri was known for playing femme fatale roles, both in German and American film.

Not only was its star important, but so was the fact that the picture was partly filmed in German-occupied Warsaw during the last year of WWI. The film is based on a Yiddish melodrama “Afn Yam un Ellis Island” (At Sea and Ellis Island).

Since its publication, several film versions have been made, includ-

ing another film version in 1931 (with the same title) starring Laurence Olivier.

Lea (Pola Negri) is a girl who lives with her father in a Jewish ghetto. She is a bibliophile and aspires to go to a university to study medicine and cure her ill father. When her father dies and her tutor, Ossip Storki (Victor Janson), obtains a job with the governor, Lea decides to travel to Russia. She suddenly learns that Jewish women are only allowed to work as sex workers. However, even as sex workers they still needed a “yellow passport”; any other way, they go straight behind the bars of a cell. Lea, by sheer serendipity, finds her tutor’s dead sister’s identification papers and applies to the university in St. Petersburg, which she gets accepted to. Despite making her dream a reality, she is unhappy.

She studies during the day and after receiving her yellow passport, she works as a lady of the night. Dimitri, a classmate, develops feelings for her, but soon after he discovers Lea’s double life, he is devastated. As a result of this, Lea attempts to commit suicide, thinking that her studies and a brighter future are doomed for her. Her deceased father turns out not to be her real father. Things swirl when the doctor, who is also a university professor, turns out to be her biological father, and he has to attempt to save her from a life or death situation.

The music score that accompanied this film was played live

by Alicia Svigals, composer and musician, who was also in charge of creating a new score for this

photos by nathan taber/the hoot

film. In composing the piece, she said, “I went about composing by watching each scene over and over until I was familiar with each gesture of the actors and every movement of the camera; in some scenes I could almost detect a steady tempo, and I used this as a basis for the melodies. Out and about in the streets of New York, I could still see the film in the corner of my mind’s eye, and sounds to go with it would pop into my head.” The score was also influenced by klezmer and non-Jewish East European folk forms, European café music, the cantorial tradition and fiddling style.

Svigals, the violinist, and Marilyn Lerner, jazz pianist—who has an ability to “take a melody and twist it into surprising shapes”— were superb from beginning to

end. The way Svigals handled the violin was masterful and flawless, and combined with Lerner’s vocal sounds of sheer originality, it juxtaposed so well along with the timeless images shown on the screen.

In the book “Memoirs of a Star” about Negri’s life as a silent-film actress, she said that the film was progressive for “its sympathetic portrait of Jews might displease some of the population, but a vast majority would be very moved by it. It might even help to spread a little tolerance and understanding, and this would be no small accomplishment during those long enervating years at war.”

Indeed, the film was incredibly progressive during a period in cinema history that is filled with ethnic stereotyping.

10 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

By Sabrina Pond

April 15, 2016

The mysterious graffiti box, explained

editor

You may have passed by the SCC last week and wondered why there was a giant wooden box.

With no identifying information, it may have been puzzling to understand what the purpose of the box was—the inner controversial theorist may have even guessed that it was part of a social experiment.

However, the box’s purpose is far less sinister. Actually, the graffiti box is part of Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) Graffiti/Youth Culture Week which took place April 11-15.

Sponsored by Latin American and Latino Studies, African and Afroamerican studies (AAAS), the Mandel Center, LDB Centennial and the Festival of the Creative Arts, the multitude of events were brought about through a collaborative effort between Dr. Greg Childs of History and Dr. Laura Brown of Latin American and Latino Studies department. In an exclusive interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Administrative Coordinator and Professor Brown discussed more about the purpose of the Youth Culture Week and its overall aim, which were well established through five events that took place over the course of five days.

The LALS Graffiti/Youth Culture Week was the culmination of

an ongoing desire to learn more about graffiti art as a medium of activism: “It started as the goal of wanting to bring a graffiti artist to speak to the History of Graffiti class, but it grew to a week of activities and talks after we became aware of other resources—both in terms of people and logistical support on campus,” said Brown.

Brown went on to explain that, “For example, Pablo Delano, visiting Madeleine Haas Russell fellow at Brandeis this year and Professor of Art at Trinity College in Hartford, has photography projects on graffiti, especially in Puerto Rico. He gave a fascinating and visually stunning talk on Tuesday on how graffiti has served as a form of protest in Puerto Rico, particularly following the latest economic crisis.”

The most notable of the events on campus, and possibly the least understood by the student body, had to have been the graffiti wall. According to Brown, “The graffiti wall is in theory open to anyone who has something to paint or write with. We will only be supplying paint during a few sessions. The original plan was to disassemble and likely dispose of the wall, at a time that has yet to be determined. I will be reaching out to see if any other groups on campus would like to save the wall, as it is a fun artistic object and it would be great to reuse it from an environmental standpoint.”

As it turns out, the graffiti box was in a way part of a social experiment of sorts. Brown aptly described how, “We built the box

as an [sic] blank slate. We didn’t know what people would write or draw, so there was no statement from our side...In a way it was proposed as an experiment, to see if a certain tone would be presented. Would students write political messages? Would people paint images?”

Her explanation reaches a whole new level of introspection as she makes the point that, “Of course, the creating of a graffiti wall creates an artificial simulation of graffiti. The act of real graffiti generally involves transgression and sometimes the complete absence of self-censorship that is usually expected in professional and academic settings.”

Other events that happened over the course of week include “The Youth Movement, Urban

photo by nathan taber/the hoot

Art, and Puerto Rico’s Economic Catastrophe,” “Digital Cuba: Contemporary Screen Cultures,” as well as “Between Free Speech and the Spray Can: Graffiti as Social Protest from the Margin.”

All in all, the LALS Graffiti/ Youth Culture Week was meant to “bring greater awareness to the Latin American and Latino Studies program on campus, including our resources for students, such as the Jane’s Travel grant for research,” says Brown. On top of that, she goes on in a hopeful manner, mentioning that “There are so many students on campus with different connections to Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latino communities in the US. We hope to continue to explore these connections and the various diasporas in the upcoming years.”

Putting all the threads together, Brown stated “So, this is the culmination of youth culture, Latin American and Latino topics, and our appreciation for the arts, as well as Dr. Childs’s interest in rebellion and revolution.”

Although the Youth Culture Week could have been better advertised, all the right elements did come together at exactly the right time, ensuring a week of exploration into a ubiquitous art medium.

But it doesn’t end there—actually, Marcelo Ment will be doing an art demonstration on Friday, April 15 at 3 p.m. on Chapel’s Field, so definitely come and view his passion in action!

JSA’s Harumatsuri pleases with outstanding food

By Alana Hodson staff

On Saturday, April 9, Brandeis’s Japanese Student Association (JSA) held its annual Harumatsuri (“spring festival”) in the Intercultural Center (ICC) from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

The event drew in over 100 students, as it usually does, making Harumatsuri JSA’s biggest event of the year.

The popularity of Harumatsuri is no secret as its main attraction is the one thing college students desire most (besides good grades): homemade food. JSA definitely pulled through with a ton of delicious Japanese foods skillfully managed by the head chef, Yuchen He ’18. Each of the foods has its own station to which the visitors would travel around, marking off their brochures as they go.

Among the prepared dishes were Inarizushi (Inari sushi), which is sushi rice in a fried tofu skin pouch (inari); corn cooked and seared in soy sauce; kenchinjiru, a soup made with a variety of vegetables; matcha ice cream, which is made with Japanese matcha (green tea) powder and vanilla ice cream; curry and rice, which greatly differs from other types of curry due to its thickness and distinct flavor; and cold tofu, served with toppings like soy sauce and chives. Refreshments of tea and other Japanese drinks similar to the aloe vera drinks available in the C-store were provided.

However, the main food event of Harumatsuri was the Spicy Ramen challenge in which 20 brave contestant took on ramen in He’s specially made spicy broth created from boiling habanero peppers in white vinegar. Held in two rounds of 10 people each, the crowd gathered around the table to watch as the contestants

photos courtesy jeremy longfellow

consumed the flaming ramen as quickly as possible, their face taking on a bright red shade in the heat of battle. The last round concluded as the finalist each drained

their second bowl of the spicy ramen, earning a prize and the honor of victory.

JSA’s Harumatsuri also featured a variety of other clubs and

components such as a Japanese Language table, typical festival games, demonstrations from the martial arts clubs and the anime club.

People could also try on many colorful yukata, traditional Japanese spring and summer festival attire.

Current JSA president Meg Kobashi ‘18 explained that this year’s Harumatsuri was a milestone since it involved collaboration with many other clubs, and though it was a challenge to coordinate everything, the event ending up coming together nicely.

Among the various club events, the karate club performed a demonstration of their martial art style and the Japanese language table had activities that introduced the basics of the language.

Harumatsuri is JSA’s biggest event of the year since it is annual, and it also serves to show the importance of spring in Japanese culture.

The tradition of Harumatsuri in Japan is part of many celebrations surrounding the beginning of spring, such as Setsubun, also known as the bean-throwing festival, and hanami, which are parties throw for viewing the cherry blossoms. Spring is an important time in Japanese culture, as it accompanies the lunar New Year, and thus comes with the idea of cleansing the previous year of bad spirits and “blessing” the coming year.

The Japanese Student’s Association has hosted many other events throughout the year including Ikebana (the art of flower arrangement), New Year celebration and the recent Japan week.

Japan week was a four-day event in collaboration with other clubs, consisting of a cooking night with the cooking club, dumplings and snacks night with TSA, Anime night with the anime club and finally a restaurant outing to Gyukaku, a Japanese restaurant in Boston.

With the election of a new e-board, JSA looks forward to another year of exciting events.

April 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS 11

Brandeis Jazz Ensemble swings into spring with semester show

By Adam Lamper staff

As the campus begins to come alive with activity again while the winter draws to a close, the Brandeis University Jazz Ensemble brought forth a performance that was surely as unprecedented as the latest bout of inclement weather.

Scheduled for this past Sunday, amid the general hubbub of Admitted Students Day, the ensemble’s semester show, “Spring Swing Dance,” drew in a considerable amount of prospective students (and their parents), who were interested in seeing firsthand what musical education at Brandeis has to offer. In fact, the performance was so desirable to witness, it was perhaps the most people that regulars at Slosberg Recital Hall had seen all semester.

As is suggested by the name of the show, the performance featured the works of many jazz musicians who made significant contributions to the swing genre, including greats like Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and even the “King of Swing” himself, Benny Goodman. Unbeknown to many attendees was that Brandeis’ own Swing Club was going to perform alongside the ensemble. Adding to the already exceptional playing of the student musicians was a group of students who were not just phenomenal in their footwork, but also exuded a sense of pure elation for their talent that quickly spread throughout the hall.

Not only did the dancers add to the visual interest of the show, they also played a crucial role in putting the music of the ensemble

photos by adam lamper/the hoot

into a historical context, thereby enhancing the overall effect of the entire performance.

One of the first pieces performed, “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” by the Tommy Dorsey Band showed the slower, lilting side to swing music, featuring principal soloist Jordan Kaufman ’19 on the trombone. Playing almost exclusively in the upper register, Kaufman demonstrated his virtuosity through a combination of tactful glissando and his unwavering embouchure. The song also featured measures of fluid saxophone parts in between the soloist sections of the piece.

Though not as upbeat as its predecessors, the piece certainly added a nice break for the dancers from the high-intensity of the two previous Goodman-style pieces.

Featuring the fantastic, woodwind extraordinaire Billy Novick, graduate student Eric Elder and Aaron Goodwin ’18 on clarinet, the ensemble again performed another unique style of swing with Duke Ellington’s “The Mooche.”

Beginning with a screeching clarinet trio accompanied by the suave responses of a plunger-muted trumpet, the song instantly captivated audience members with its driving rhythm that eventually transitioned into a more traditional swing-style piece as it progressed. Though it featured a large portion of solo time from each of the clarinetists, the growling solos of Yoon Jae Lee ’17 on trombone and Noam Cotton ’17 on trumpet surely played a crucial role in driving the piece home.

The last few songs again fea-

tured the traditional driving style of swing-music with which many people are familiar, with classics like “Sing Sing Sing” by Louis Prima, “Rain Check” by Billy Strayhorn and “Lady Be Good,”

by George and Ira Gershwin.

Not only did these pieces demonstrate the true-to-genre big band style of the ensemble, but they also showcased the abilities of many exceptional soloists, including Garth Retallack on trombone, Mitch Mankin ’16 on tenor saxophone and Moira Applebaum ’17 on piano.

Meanwhile, the members of the Swing Club showed just as much diversity among their dancers as the music itself, constantly switching in and out new pairs of partners and even having a few invited members of the audience

come down to participate as well.

Ending on the propulsive intensity of “Lady Be Good,” the ensemble and dancers alike earned a well-deserved standing ovation in recognition for the superior musicianship and dedication displayed by the performers.

It was hard nonetheless to not tap one’s foot along to the catchy tunes of one of the first truly “American” styles of music.

What this performance shows, whether through the dancers or musicians or both, is that true art cannot be confined to and expressed in solely its period of creation, but rather is best enjoyed when it is equally as uplifting and confounding to its creators, no matter how “offbeat” it may seem.

‘Eye in the Sky’ drops hard hitting bombs on audience

By Jess Linde editor

“Eye in the Sky,” the latest directorial effort from director/ screenwriter/actor Gavin Hood, is an excellent critique of the modern war on terror that presents all the sides of a specific issue— drone strikes—while also making the filmmakers’ opinion on it clear. It skips circular logic and asks its audience their opinion on extrajudicial assassinations by the west on sovereign soil abroad.

The masterfully tense script by Guy Hibbert allows members of the cast to air out their argument as to the necessity of remote targeted killing, and everyone has good and bad points. But the movie has its own opinion, and the way it humanizes all sides while still taking a stand is admirable.

The movie begins like a rock being dropped into already unsteady waters, with the plot unfolding through the ripples that come after. British Army Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) receives intel that at least two high-value members of AlShabaab (al-Qaeda’s affiliate group in the Horn of Africa) are meeting at a safehouse in Nairobi, Kenya. One of the militants is a British citizen whom Powell has been tracking for six years. With the help of surveillance from a predator drone being operated from Nevada by a USAF pilot (Aaron Paul) and a local agent (Barkhad Abdi), Powell is able to confirm the targets, who are in a heavily guarded house.

Considering the situation, Powell requests permission to fire a hellfire missile into the house, which Lieutenant General Frank

photo from www.youtube.com

Benson (Alan Rickman) gets from British politicians. Then, a little girl walks into the firing line to sell bread to locals. USAF refuses to fire, and the politicians refuse to allow a strike without a safety guarantee for the girl.

Meanwhile, a spy camera shows the terror subjects priming suicide vests and machine guns, and the pressure is on to make a decision.

To make an entire film about a single drone strike may seem narrow in scope, but the script uses that moment of indecision to explore the many layers of drone warfare. Every character is fleshed out, even if their name is a title or position, all of them disagree with each other and nobody wants to be the one to pull the trigger. Every scene of bureaucratic nonsense is then juxtaposed against Paul’s character

photo from www.filmjabber.com

struggling with the decision to fire, or the local Kenyans just trying to live their lives while under occupation by a militant group.

The great world building creates an opaque atmosphere of dread, fear and complete frustration. Because all of the characters are so well developed and the direction is so tight, it is never boring or unfocused. Like a great journalism story, it takes drone warfare from the top down and is always angering when someone pushes the responsibility of saving or taking a life onto someone else, and horrific when the layers of pressure and bullying are shown. There is also very little violence in the film, but when a trigger is pulled, it is so loud and packed with so much emotional buildup that it is one of the film’s most tragic moments.

“Eye in the Sky” is hard to re-

view without giving important plot elements away, but I can say that it is an important film that ought to be seen. It actively confronts its audience with the human cost of the war on terror and lays a great bait-and-switch in the first act. After the suicide vests are shown, Mirren’s character poses a familiar question: Is it better to spare one life for sure while possibly risking hundreds more?

The film could have easily continued on this known path (see “A Most Wanted Man,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and any film that features an overbearing government force), but instead it asks: How did we get to the point where flying death robots blowing people up thousands of miles away in poorer countries is justified? And now that we are here, when do we stop?

photo from www.fandango.com

EDITORIALS

12 The Brandeis Hoot

Take our campus journalism survey!

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Editors-in-Chief Theresa Gaffney Julie Landy Senior Managing Editor Jess Linde Senior Copy Editor Allison Plotnik News Editors Hannah Schuster Emily Sorkin Smith Deputy News Editors Abigail Gardener Elianna Spitzer Arts Editor Sabrina Pond Opinions Editor Zach Phil Schwartz Features Editor Jacob Edelman Sports Editor Sarah Jousset

April 15, 2016

F

rom the historic achievements of the Ford Hall 2015 movement to the Castle’s impending destruction, The Brandeis Hoot has covered a range of stories this year that all impact our community. However, it’s not always easy to cover the news: It’s emotional, it’s sometimes scary or shocking and it always involves our friends and our peers.

We believe that we have done our best this year to cover campus occurrences objectively and fairly. Our editorial board is dedicated and has pushed the paper to a higher standard of journalistic integrity.

What we’ve realized, though, is that despite these efforts, there is still a discon-

nect between us (and campus media on the whole) and the Brandeis community.

Do we have a readership? What does it look like? What do people think about the paper and our role on campus? These are questions we need to answer before The Hoot can fulfill the need for campus journalism appropriately.

We can’t answer these questions on our own. This is why we’ve created a survey, to find out what readers need from campus journalism. The survey is 10 questions, and we’d love to have as much participation as possible. Our last issue of the year will be on May 6, and in that issue we would like to critically think about the re-

sults and begin to implement change over the summer, so that we can return for the 2016-2017 year with a plan to better serve our community in our capacity as campus journalists.

We recognize that your time is valuable, but believe that your criticism and feedback is valuable too. We ask that you take a few moments to answer the survey as honestly and thoroughly as possible.

The survey questions are listed below, but a link to the survey can also be found on our website or Facebook and Twitter pages. If you have questions or concerns, you can also reach out to us at eic@thebrandeishoot.com.

Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano Photo Editor Karen Caldwell Video Editor Matt Kowalyk Editors-at-Large Charlotte Aaron Mia Edelstein Lisa Petrie

Volume 13 • Issue 11 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

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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.

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Survey preview: Journalism on campus These are all the questions on our survey. Many of them are some variation of multiple choice. The survey can be completed online, and can be found on our Facebook page.

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SPORTS

April 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Men’s club volleyball goes to nationals Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

These past two weeks have been a very exciting time for our Brandeis Judges men’s club volleyball team. The team features three graduate students (Jake Shafran, Allan Volf and Peter Walton), two seniors (Milo Charny-Rosen and David Burakovsky), one junior (Ean Silbar), two sophomores (Philip Cooper and Kevin Vallejo) and two firstyears (Wyatt Emenaker and Kevin Kang). The team has had a very successful season competing in the New England Collegiate Volleyball League (NECVL) in Division I. “Established in 1972, the goal of the NECVL is to provide a competitive league for schools that sponsor a men’s collegiate club volleyball program.” At the end of the regular season, the team went into the Interdivisional Tournament at the University of Rhode Island with a 12-7 record. At URI, the team took a win against Columbia University and fell to University of Rhode Island and Tufts in two gripping threeset matches.

On April 2 and 3, the team traveled to Bryant University in Rhode Island to compete in the Regional Championships. In this two-day

The Men’s Club Volleyball team placed second in the Division I New England tournament and finished 19th in the nation in Division II which is the best season finish in team history. making history

tournament the team faced off against a variety of schools from the New England area, including Tufts University, Boston University, Boston College, University of New Hampshire and the University of Rhode Island. Competing

in the finals against Boston University, the team placed second in Division I in New England as a Division II team, which is the highest the team has ever ranked in New England. To top off a great winning season, our very own

Full weekend for tennis teams

By Lily Wageman staff

This past weekend both Brandeis’ men’s and women’s tennis teams saw some highs and lows as they are nearing the final stretch of their seasons. Both teams are led by head coach Ben Lamanna and assistant coach Michael Kopelman. The team captains for the women’s side are Sarita Biswas ’16 and Hannah Marion ’16, while the men’s captains are Danny Lubarsky ’16 and Brian Granoff ’17.

On their home courts in Gosman Athletic Center, the 31-ranked women’s team dominated as they went up against Wheaton College this past Friday.

The Judges improved to 5-6, while the Lyons fell to 5-11. The doubles action on the indoor tennis courts had a spectacular start. In the No. 1 matchup, Haley Cohen ’18 and Olivia Leavitt ’19 didn’t give their opponent a chance when they won 8-0. Then in the No. 2 spot, Sofia He ’18 and Charlotte Aaron ’18 kept tight control on the courts, winning 8-2. Hitting one of the higher points of this season, Maya Vasser ’16 and Biswas won their matchup 8-1.

On the outdoors Rieger Tennis Courts, the Judges’ momentum continued into the singles action. Finishing with ease, Leavitt played the No. 1 singles matchup, winning 6-1, 6-1. At the No. 2 matchup, Emily Eska ’16 won 6-0, 6-1. In her first action since Feb. 17 in California, Michele Lehat ’19 won the No. 3, 6-1, 6-1. Marion also played for the first time since Feb. 17 in the No. 5 spot, and won, 6-1, 6-0. Biswas topped

Brandeis’ victories with a clean defeat of Arielle Klopsis, 6-0, 6-0.

Once again on their home courts, a few days later on Sunday the women’s team continued to improve as they beat the Bates Bobcats. The Judges improved to 6-6, returning to .500 for the first time since their second match, while the Bobcats fell to 3-10. The Judges won two of three doubles matchups, with He and Aaron winning the No. 2 matchup, 8-5.

Then Vasser and Eska defeated Bates’ Emma Mattson and Emma Blakeley, 8-1. This was their fourth win in five matchups. The singles actions showed strong performances as well, with all four of their wins coming in straight sets. At the No. 2 matchup, Leavitt won 6-2, 6-3. Eska took the No. 4 matchup, 6-3, 6-0, Vasser won the No. 5 matchup, 6-4, 6-0, while Lehat won the No. 6, 6-3, 6-1.

The 32-ranked Brandeis men’s tennis team also showed strong performances over the weekend.

On Saturday, going up against Vassar, they completely dominated, winning 9-0 for their sixth straight victory. The Judges improved 8-3, while the Brewers fell to 6-11. Eric Goldberg ’18 and Brian Granoff ’17 opened the doubles actions, winning the No. 3 matchup, 8-2. Then at the No. 1 spot Jeff Cherkin ’17 and Michael Arguello ’17 triumphed 8-3, and the No. 2 pairing of Danny Lubarsky and Jackson Kogan ’19 won 8-5. The Judges’ success continued in the singles actions, with Kogan, Arguello, Granoff and Cherkin once again seeing victories. Kogan defeated with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5, and then Arguello’s 6-1, 6-2 score won the No. 3 spot. Then after a hard

photo courtesy brett crandall

Milo Charny-Rosen and Jake Shafran earned all tournament selection.

Two days later our Judges suited up again and headed to Nationals in Louisville, KY for their final tournament of the year. The Judg-

Softball drops two

By Sarah Jousset editor

photo from brandeisjudges.com

earned tie-breaker of 10-5, Ryan Bunis ’17 finished off the sweep at the No. 1 matchup. Later that afternoon, going against Division-I Boston College the men’s team saw its six-game streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss. The Judges fell 8-4, while the Eagles improved to 6-14. In doubles actions the Judges did see some victories come from the pairing of Kogan and Lubarsky at the No. 2 spot, winning 7-6, and then at the No. 3 spot Goldberg and Granoff also won, 7-6. In the singles games the Judges didn’t fare as well, with Boston College dominating five of six matches. Arguello got the lone win for the Judges, winning 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot.

Both Brandeis’ men’s and women’s tennis teams will be back in action this week, with the men playing Wednesday at Tufts and then the women playing Thursday at Bentley.

es competed in nine matches over the course of three days competing in Division II. The first day the team faced off against Fairfield University, Wheaton College and Loyola Marymount University.

The Judges ended the day with a big win against Fairfield University taking the set 25-14 and 25-17.

The Judges took a set from Wheaton College, but fell in a gripping three set match. The second day the team took on Xavier University, Messiah College and Baldwin-Wallace University. Brandeis took another big win against Xavier University in a close, suspenseful three-set match with the scores 25-23, 22-25 and 15-11. On the final day, the Judges competed in the Silver Bracket in the tournament playing against Michigan Tech University, St. Olaf College and Lincoln College. The Judges took wins from Michigan Tech University (26-24, 25-18) and Olaf College (26-25, 25-19) and fell to Lincoln College in a close three-set match (25-20, 23-25, 1510).

The Judges finished off the year 19th in the nation in Division II, which is the best result in team history and finished their season with a 20-12 record. We are very proud of the success of our Judges and cannot wait to see what the team will accomplish next year.

The Brandeis softball team played two games against Babson this week. The first took place on Monday and the second was scheduled for Tuesday but postponed to Wednesday due to rain.

The Judges dropped both games to Babson.

In the first game on Monday against Babson, the Judges lost 4-2 at home. Babson threatened in the first inning with three hits, but didn’t open the scoring until the second inning on an error.

The Babson Beavers added two runs in the third with back to back solo home runs. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that the Judges answered, when Amanda Shore ’18 hit her first home run of the season to put Brandeis on the board. Three batters later, Madi Gagnon ’16 doubled to score Keri Lehtonen ’19, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Shore put forth a strong performance for the Judges, with a clutch defensive play in both the first and sixth innings, the sixth inning play being a double play.

The Beavers added their fourth run in the seventh inning. The

Judges tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh inning with two runners on base, but the game ended with a called third strike. Lehtonen went 3 for 4 for the Judges, while Gagnon went 2 for 4.

Melissa Soleimani ’17 had eight hits and three earned runs in three innings. Sadie-Rose Apfel ’18 came in for relief, pitching four innings and allowing five hits and one earned run.

The Judges couldn’t pull through on Wednesday against Babson, in a 9-1 loss to the Beavers. The Judges didn’t muster enough hits to close the gaps. The highlight for the Judges was Maddie Sullivan’s ’16 homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning. The home run put the Judges on the board and was their only run of the game.

Soleimani started the game for the Judges, but was pulled after two innings. She allowed seven hits and earned three strikeouts.

Apfel came in for relief in the third inning and finished the game for Judges. Apfel gave up nine hits and earned three strikeouts.

The Judges fell to 11-12 on the season. The Brandeis softball team is back in action this Sunday in a doubleheader against Colby college at home at 1 and 3 p.m.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

14 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

April 15, 2016

Graduate Student Association represents, advocates

By Albert Reiss staff

What is the GSA? Most Brandeis undergraduate students might be unsure of what this acronym stands for. The GSA, or Graduate Student Association helps to represent graduate students at Brandeis as well as coordinate issues of student life between its students as well as to inform administrators.

A number of the goals of the GSA are to make sure that the voices of graduate students at Brandeis are heard. This can often be a difficult process given that Brandeis has more undergraduates enrolled than graduate students. According to Carlo Guercia Sammarco, a GSA senator, “Brandeis graduate students are about 40 percent of the student body, and it seems like the general university caters mostly to undergraduate. It is getting better though.”

In spite of these constraints Stephen Alkins, a GSA senator and Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) noted that the GSA “ensures that graduate student perspectives are heard, acknowledged and incorporated into the strategic planning of initiatives throughout Brandeis.” By engaging the graduate student community, the GSA hopes to resolve graduate student issues effectively and efficiently.

Some of the responsibilities of

the GSA include serving on various committees that in turn will represent the graduate students.

The GSA also works closely with the Office of Graduate Student Affairs to create “various forms of programming for graduate students,” says Alkins. In the past, the GSA has hosted events ranging from a ski trip, sporting events, tax seminars and a social event known as TGIF. TGIF occurs sporadically and is a great way for fellow graduate students to socialize amongst their classmates.

Many graduate students also view the GSA as helping to improve the graduate student experience. In particular, Sammarco commented that “the main thing is [the GSA] gets people from different schools to know each other.

In addition, it provides some interesting initiatives to participate to, and helps support grants for students with interesting ideas.”

Sammarco further noted the popularity of TGIF as well as the Red Sox games that the GSA will try its best to organize.

The GSA also tries to solve issues directly relating to graduate students’ lives on campus. Transportation can often be a difficult issue for many graduate students given the fact that there is little on-campus housing for graduate students. Therefore, those students without access to a car are left either walking to campus or taking an overcrowded BranVan. The GSA has tried to lobby for increased route coverage from Brandeis to help ameliorate this

issue. The increased shuttle coverage is also meant to allow for a greater variety of affordable housing options.

Among the various “test” routes proposed includes one that would stretch to Auburndale, giving graduate students the option of living there and finding affordable housing. This shuttle would go to the Riverside station regularly, allowing for nearby Brandeis graduate student Auburndale residents easy transportation to the campus.

Another issue affecting graduate students is filing taxes. Particularly, international graduate students often have difficulties navigating US tax laws. Given the large percentage of international graduate students, this issue is important to many graduate Brandeisians. The GSA currently hosts two annual tax seminars in order to educate the graduate student community on how to file taxes as well as other tax related information.

In addition to these issues, we also had a chance to talk to the GSA about diversity on campus and what the GSA would like to do in order to increase minority student involvement. During the protests, the GSA released a statement of solidarity to show both its support for the protesters and its commitment to diversity. According to Alkins, the GSA “brings in students from different ethnicities [and] out of 2,000 grad students it’s very diverse.” In an attempt to create more dialogue, the GSA

photo from wikimedia.org

heller school for social policy and management

has planned an upcoming panel on diversity to talk about possible solutions.

Some of the issues to be discussed according to Alkins include minority faculty and student recruitment as well as access to resources and funding. Alkins went on to comment that the minority students, while well-mean-

ing in their protests, would be more effective by helping out in the planning process of increasing diversity on campus. By increasing the involvement of minority students in these talks, the GSA and the university can hope to be even more effective and attune to the needs of minority graduate students.

Introduction to the Board of Trustees

By Jacob Edelman editor

The Brandeis University Board of Trustees is, according to the university’s website, “comprised of up to 50 elected members” and is the “final authority on all aspects of the university’s operations.” The board has a number of specific functions that are carried out by a number of the committees, which include: “Academic Affairs; Audit; Budget and Finance; Development; Executive; Honorary Degrees; Investment; Nominating and Governance; Personnel, Compensation and Ethics; Physical Facilities; and Students and Enrollment.”

Additionally, the board includes four faculty members and three student representatives. The faculty representatives are Professor Wendy Cadge (SOC/WMGS), Professor Steve Dowden (COML/ GRAL), Professor Liz Hedstrom (BIOL) and Professor Susan L. Parish (HS). The student representatives are Emily Conrad ’17, Grady Ward ’16 and Shen Wang, the graduate student representative.

The student representatives to the board both meet with students who need to communicate certain ideas and provide proposals to the board, and then speak with trustees in order to bring these topics to the table. The representatives additionally serve as a student point of view to board members and work in tandem with board members when the

board is working on some of the most difficult university issues.

On March 13, 1947, Brandeis University was brought into existence, rising from what was previously known as Middlesex University. The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sanctioned the name change and Brandeis became chartered as an eleemosynary (reliant on charity) corporation, giving the actions taken by the board of trustees “legal validity,” according to the website.

Later, in 1961, the board was expanded to a maximum of 35 voting members, and by 1973 it was expanded to a maximum of 50 voting members. The board is self-perpetuating, and trustees are elected by other eligible voting members to four year terms.

The board itself operates under a set of bylaws that can be found on the Brandeis website.

The board is the group that selects the president of the university, and according to the website, the president is “responsible solely to the board.”

Currently, the chair of the board of trustees is Perry M. Traquina ’78, the retired chairman and CEO of Wellington Management Company LLP. Traquina has served in the position since 2013.

On May 22, Larry Kanarek ’76 will take over as chair. Kanarek is the retired senior director of McKinsey & Company.

The board has had many notable members, including former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt, who joined in 1949.

trustee perry m. traquina

One of the responsibilities of the board is to approve of candidates who have been nominated to receive honorary degrees. Any person can nominate someone to receive an honorary degree; however the Honorary Degree Committee on the board decides who should be recommended for receiving a degree, and the full board decides whether to approve the individuals recommended by

trustee larry kanarek

the committee. “The president of the university selects degree recipients from the list of approved nominees,” says the website.

Previous recipients of honorary degrees include US Senator Cory Booker, journalists Tom Brokaw and Walter Cronkite, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), numerous Supreme Court justices and many, many other deserving recipients.

photos from brandeis.edu

There is, of course, a great amount more that the board is responsible for and finds itself involved in; however the information above should have hopefully served as a most basic introduction to the definition, role and basic responsibilities of Brandeis’ most powerful governing body.

Greater detail about the board can be found at: http://www.brandeis. edu/trustees/index.html

April 15, 2016

FEATURES 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Emerging powers JBS seeks to teach students about the political, econ. rise of Asian countries

By Katarina Weessies staff

Brandeis students frequently use the Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) as a way to explore new and innovative topics while earning class credit. JBS is a set of multiple for-credit summer programs, all of which have a specific subject, such as public health policy or global business culture. One particularly interesting JBS program this summer is “Emerging Powers and the New World Order: Identities, Politics and Culture of Globalization 2.0.” The program focuses on the political and economic rise of Asian countries, primarily China and India.

Students of this JBS programs will learn about the globalization and the cultures of China and India in order to prepare them for their future within the emerging world order.

Many theorists believe that the emerging world order will be polycentric, meaning that politics, culture and economics will have multiple, diverse cultural centers, rather than one obvious center in the West. This means that Westerners will have to learn about other cultures and political systems more deeply than they would in the Eurocentric or Western world order.

Chandler Rosenberger, one of the heads of the JBS Program, thinks that being educated about China and India will hugely benefit students’ careers. “The rise of China and India will have an enormous impact on all of us, but especially anyone going into business or foreign affairs. In business, it’s obvious—2 billion people have entered the marketplace as both

customers and competitors.”

To Rosenberger, it is essential that Westerners have a working knowledge of the people of China and India in order to engage in business with them.

Both business and politics will be deeply affected by the growth and development of China and India. These nations both have very different economic and political styles than the United States. It can be especially difficult for American students to understand the role of authoritarian politics in China’s business world.

“Politics and business are closely connected in some countries but further apart in others. They are very closely connected in countries, such as India and China, where the government used to play a huge role in the economy but is now backing away. How a country frees up its economy depends a lot on which industries it’s willing to let compete in a free market and which it feels it still has to support.” For students, understanding the intricate ways in which the Chinese and Indian economies flow and change can gain them an enormous advantage in business and politics.

It is problematic to suggest that the only good reason to learn about Chinese and Indian cultures is for purposes of business.

According to the JBS Program’s webpage, China and India “represent one-third of humanity.” It is a bit ridiculous not to learn about the cultures that encompass a third of the world’s people. Being educated about Chinese and Indian culture can enhance not only your business or political savvy, but also your worldview. Gaining an appreciation for the complexity of huge, multifaceted countries like China and India is a necessity

photo from pixabay.com

of being a global citizen, and can help students gain a broader and more nuanced understanding of the world.

That being said, an understanding of Chinese and Indian cultures certainly has its practical advantages. In terms of politics, the emergence of these two global powers will have an enormous effect: “In foreign affairs, the rise of China and India is arguably the biggest change to the world order in 500 years. The rise of Germany within Europe in the late 1800s upended the Concert

of Europe: Now picture the rise of not one but two Germanies, and on a global scale. Both India and China need to feel they have a place in shaping the 21st century if it’s going to be peaceful.” Students of this JBS Program might one day be the businesspeople or diplomats that maintain the peace between America and emergent powers such as India and China.

According to Rosenberger, one of the primary goals of the “Emerging Powers and the New World Order” JBS program is to help Brandeis students un-

derstand the diversity of global cultures. “The biggest mistake foreign affairs analysts make is to assume that all countries have the same interests and pursue them the same way. Countries are as different from one another as their cultures are. If you want to know what’s possible or not in dealing with China or India, you have to get to know their cultures.

That’s where we start in both countries. We can give students a foundation in these countries upon which they can build for the rest of their lives.”

16 The Brandeis Hoot

WEEK IN PHOTOS

April 15, 2016

Nathan Taber ’17: SCC Roof Photo Project

photos courtesty nathan taber

With his fascinating photo project, Nathan Taber ’17 shows us a rare view from the top of the SCC high in the sky