The Brandeis Hoot 01/15/2016

Volume 13 Issue 1

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

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

January 15, 2016

Brandeis hires new pres.

By Jess Linde, Hannah Schuster & Emily Sorkin Smith Editors

Former President of Middlebury College speaks to students in anticipation of his term at Brandeis at a reception on Jan. 12. He will take office on July 1. ron leibowitz

photo by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

Univ. committee bans use of drones and hoverboards on campus

By Elianna Spitzer Staff

Vice President for Campus Operations Jim Gray announced new policies restricting the use of drones and lithium-ion powered skateboards on campus.

“Hoverboards” are sometimes referred to as smart boards or balance boards. According to Consumer Reports, if one were looking to purchase a hoverboard, they may purchase a Swagway X1 or a MonoRover R2 on Amazon. com. For the purposes of this article, they will be referred to by the overarching term, “hoverboards.”

These boards do not literally hover in midair. They are lithium-ion powered skateboards that allow the user to move forward or backward without removing their feet from the board. They are new, popular and difficult to regulate.

As of now, hoverboards do not adhere to any standard practice of safety.

In an email to the Brandeis community, Gray cited safety concerns as the reason for ban-

Inside this issue:

ning hoverboards from campus.

According to Consumer Reports, “the Consumer Product Safety Commission (or CPSC) has identified 39 emergency room visits related to hoverboard falls since August.” The severity of falls related to hoverboards range from bruises to lacerations.

Hoverboards also have technical issues. Lithium-ion powered skateboards have made the news for their ability to spontaneously combust. The CPSC is currently investigating incidents of combustion. U.S. CPSC Chairman Elliot F. Kaye released a statement in response to these incidents on Dec. 16, 2015. “CPSC engineers in our National Product Testing and Evaluation Center in Maryland have tested and will continue to test new and damaged boards in search of an answer for why some models caught fire during the charging stage and others caught fire while in use. Our expert staff is looking particularly closely at the configuration of the battery packs and compatibility with the chargers,” wrote Kaye.

The decision to ban hover-

News: Adjunct faculty form union Page 3 Opinion: Winter break is too long Page 11 Arts: Tribute to Daivd Bowie Page 14 Features: David Herbstritt ‘17 becomes VP Page 5 Editorial: New pres should focus on diversity Page 10

boards from campus relied heavily on this technological problem as well as popular response to it.

In an email to The Brandeis Hoot, Gray wrote, “Our decision to ban the storage and use of hoverboards and related devices is based on some serious safety concerns, including the well-documented risk of spontaneous combustion. This is a national concern, and a growing number of colleges and universities in the Boston-area and across the country have implemented similar bans. We will continue to monitor product-safety information and will revise this decision as merited.”

New policies governing the use of drones on campus are less restrictive than those imposed on hoverboards. In an email to the Brandeis community, Gray wrote that the committee has decided to ban the recreational use of the unmanned area vehicles on campus.

However, the technology may still be used for educational purposes.

“The indoor use of drones See HOVERBOARDS, page 4

Alpha Pi Phi

Seven Brandeis students found new chapter of the Alpha Pi Phi sorority

NEWS: Page 3

Ronald D. Liebowitz, former president of Middlebury College, will become the ninth president of Brandeis University, succeeding Fred Lawrence, who left at the end of the last academic year. Liebowitz will take over from Interim President Lisa Lynch on July 1.

Before coming to Brandeis, Liebowitz served as Middlebury College’s president from 2004 to 2015, where he also served as a professor of geography, provost and Dean of the Faculty.

Liebowitz and his wife Jessica attended three welcome receptions in Levin Ballroom on Tuesday, Jan. 12; one for staff, faculty and students respectively. At the reception for students, Liebowitz said students should not feel intimidated by the title of president and should be comfortable approaching him.

In an email to The Brandeis

Hoot, Liebowitz said he enjoyed the warm welcome. “I know there are many different perspectives on a university campus on so many issues, but [Jessica and I] got the sense that everyone with whom we met shares and exhibits a remarkable level of passion about and dedication to Brandeis,” said Liebowitz.

Perry Traquina ’78, chair of the board of trustees, announced Leibowitz’s appointment in an email to the Brandeis community on Dec. 17.

He called Liebowitz “an exceptional leader at Middlebury, charting paths that significantly enhanced the school’s academic rigor, reputational profile and financial strength.”

During his tenure as Middlebury’s president, he oversaw several important initiatives, such as affiliating the Monterey Institute of International Studies with Middlebury. Liebowitz also kicked off See PRESIDENT, page 3

Brandeis explores new minor

By Abigail Gardener Staff

Interim President Lisa Lynch sent out an email on Dec. 22 informing students about the “formation of a new Faculty-Student Committee on Asian American Pacific Islander Studies at Brandeis.” This comes in response to the Brandeis Asian American Task Force’s (BAATF) letter to the administration, which was posted on their Facebook page Dec. 2, that demanded the creation of an Asian American Studies department at Brandeis.

Lynch prefaced her email announcing the formation of the Faculty-Student Committee with a short paragraph addressing Brandeis’ commitment to change, saying that although Brandeis’ Mission and Diversity Statement “speaks to a commitment to fostering a just and inclusive campus culture, we are not always as successful as we aspire to be.”

BAATF originally launched their Facebook page and published their manifesto on Nov. 20, which was the same day the oc-

Rose Art Museum

Brandeis’ art museum to debut three new exhibits

News: Page 13

cupation of Bernstein-Marcus began. They had planned to publish the letter to the administration at this time as well, but after the occupation of Bernstein-Marcus they chose to delay the release of their letter and stand in solidarity with the students involved in Ford Hall 2015.

“To ignore the call for Asian American Studies is to create a flawed and oppressive curriculum; to deny Brandeis students the opportunity to pursue knowledge critical to the identity and advancement of Asian Americans is to contradict Brandeis’ mission,” said the letter from BAATF to administration.

The Faculty-Student Committee on Asian American Pacific Islander Studies is headed by Professor ChaeRan Freeze (NEJS/ WMGS). The faculty on the committee also includes Professor Sarah Lamb (ANTH/HSSP/ REL/SAS), Professor Joyce Antler (AAAS/AMST/HIST), Associate Professor Harleen Singh (COML/ See AAAPI, page 4

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

January 15, 2016

Brandeis welcomes the midyear class of 2019

By Theresa Gaffney Editor

After 12 days of occupying the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center, student negotiators from the Ford Hall 2015 movement and administrators signed a Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion at Brandeis on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

The agreement formed after students issued a list of 13 demands to the administration on Thursday, Nov. 19. It addresses the issues of diversity and inclusion on campus. It establishes plans to increase the number of black students, faculty and staff, creates support systems for those people and outlines a plan to create a more diverse and inclusive curriculum.

“The students of #FordHall2015 who have occupied the Bernstein-Marcus Administration building for the past 12 days, since November 20th, 2015, are now a part of history. We are a part of Brandeis’ history, Black History and American History.

We are overjoyed to pave the way for future Brandeis students and hope that our actions are inspirations to other university students demanding a positive change,” a post on the group’s Facebook page reads.

Organizers of the movement declined to comment to The even On Jan. 8, Brandeis’ Midyear Class of 2019 moved into their rooms in the Village to begin

By Hannah Schuster Editor

Non-tenure track faculty voted to form a union on Dec. 18, securing the right to collective bargaining with administration.

Faculty leaders will work this semester to learn union members’ priorities and organize demands for contract negotiations with the administration. The organizing committee which led the charge to unionize is now the Contract Action Team.

Eligible faculty approved the union with a 120-to-28 vote, a four-to-one margin. Professor Nina Kammerer (HS/ANTH), a part-time contract faculty member at the Heller School, said she was confident union supporters would win but was pleasantly surprised by the “strong margin.”

Kammerer has been involved with the organizing committee since last spring.

The vote was administered by the National Labor Relations Board. Faculty sent their votes via mail and on Dec. 18, the NLRB completed the tally. More than 80 percent of the eligible faculty members participated in the vote, according to a press release.

The union is a chapter of the Service Employees International Union Local 509. SEIU is a na-

By Ryan Spencer Staff

The beginning of the Spring semester has brought new openings in the Student Union. There are several appointed positions open in the Student Union and openings for elected positions in the Senate, the Allocations Board,

their first-year orientation. Midyear Orientation takes place in the days leading up to the first day of classes for the spring semester.

Due to classes starting on a Wednesday, Midyear Orientation took place over five days this year rather than four, according to Director of Orientation Jenny Abdou. The week was planned

by Abdou, Assistant Director for First Year Programs and Orientation Coordinator Scott Berozi, as well as the Midyear Planning Committee. This year, the committee consisted of three students who are all previous CORE Committee members: Genesis Leon ’16, Ellie Rosenthal ’16 and Brendan Weintraub ’16. As members of CORE 2014, Leon, Rosenthal and Weintraub planned the Fall 2014 First-Year Orientation together as well.

The trio was selected last spring to plan the programming, but work began in the fall when they began meeting weekly with Orientation staff. “We worked together as a team to make a unique diversity program, create programming for OLs to learn more about facilitation techniques, and run logistics for every event of both training and Orientation itself,” said Rosenthal. “It really was a team effort and I loved being able to work with Gen and Brendan again.” Rather than come back to campus even earlier, winter Orientation Leaders (OLs) have multiple training sessions during the fall semester.

While the weather is drastically different, much is the same

between the August and Midyear Orientation programs. The university tries to “provide a consistent message to all new students, regardless of when they arrive on campus,” said Abdou. One recurring event is the popular “This is Our House” event with Dean of Students Jamele Adams.

However, despite efforts to streamline the two programs, the midyear class is significantly smaller than the fall semester class, creating a more intimate atmosphere at most midyear orientation events. “Programming is much more personalized and orientation leaders and their groups have more time and space to really get to know each other on deeper levels,” said Rosenthal.

“Midyear orientation and fall orientation are two very different games,” said OL Hannah Brooks ’16. While she enjoys the oppor-

photos courtesy hannah brooks

Adjunct faculty form union

tional organization that has also worked with non-tenure track, or contingent, faculty at other schools in the Boston area, including Northeastern and Tufts.

The Brandeis union now represents about 300 adjunct and part-time contract faculty, according to SEIU spokesman Jason Stephany.

To learn what issues are important for contingent faculty at Brandeis, the organizers are using a series of surveys. Faculty filled out a preliminary survey on priorities with a list of items such as longevity raises and improved benefits. A more detailed survey will go out this month, according to the Brandeis Faculty Forward website. Responses from the first survey, as well as surveys given at other schools, will guide the new one, said Kammerer.

There will also be planning sessions to discuss goals, according to the Faculty Forward website.

It will also be important to have meetings between groups of faculty, both one-on-one conversations and meetings between groups such as faculty in specific departments, said Kammerer.

“We really need everyone— whether they voted yes, whether they voted no, whether they abstained—to talk about what their concerns are, what their priorities

are and to creatively think together about how to best address them in collective bargaining,” said Kammerer in a phone interview with The Brandeis Hoot.

Kammerer is motivated as both a Brandeis professor who believes the union relates to the university’s social justice mission and as a longtime academic who sees unionizing as a response to the nationwide increase in the number of non-tenure track faculty.

To her knowledge, she was never taught by an adjunct faculty member as a student, because “that was not the normal,” she said although now nationwide, over 70 percent of faculty are contingent faculty, according to the American Association of University Professors.

Professor Christopher Abrams (FA) agrees getting faculty together is important now to “get an accurate picture” of everyone’s unique situations and priorities, he said in a phone interview with The Brandeis Hoot. Abrams became involved with the unionization efforts in Fall 2014. Both he and Kammerer have helped with communications and with reaching out to professors to talk about the union. Abrams said those involved are passionate about the movement and have come to care for one another. The union is a

way of bettering the lives of contingent faculty and improving the quality of the university, according to Abrams.

As a union, the faculty also have the right to request information from the administration. They are requesting specific items such as information on salaries for professors of different titles. Abrams explained they have done their best to gather data on their own, but having information from the administration will be necessary as they move towards collective bargaining.

Issues which have been prevalent in the unionization movement both at Brandeis and nationally include greater pay, job security, benefit and compensation for classes cancelled soon before a semester begins among other points.

Adjunct faculty can earn less than $6,000 dollars per class, according to Brandeis Faculty Forward. Some non tenure-track faculty have year-to-year contracts and are uncertain whether they still have a job from year to year.

Brandeis was the ninth union victory in the Boston area, joining over 3,000 others working with the SEIU in the area, according to a press release.

In 2013, Tufts became the first school to unionize with the SEIU.

In October 2014, the union secured a three-year contract guaranteeing pay increases for most contingent faculty and first notice of full-time openings and the chance to interview, according to the agreement.

Just yesterday, contingent faculty at Northeastern reached a “tentative contract settlement,” with a strike arranged to begin on Jan. 19 if an agreement was not reached, according to a press release from Stephany. Points in the contract include pay raises, compensation for classes cancelled shortly before the beginning of a semester and increased participation in university decisions, the press release said.

Adjunct faculty at Boston University voted to unionize in Feb. 2015, nine months ago, but in November the union filed charges through the NLRB stating the administration delayed bargaining sessions for around seven months and withheld information the union requested, according to the document filed by the union, obtained by The Daily Free Press.

Of future negotiations at Brandeis, Interim Provost Irv Epstein said, “We look forward to working with the SEIU to reach a collective bargaining agreement for these employees,” in an email to the Brandeis community.

and the Treasury.

Positions on the Student Union are not limited to elected positions.

Applications for the appointed positions of Official Chief of Staff to the President and the Student Union and the Official Media Manager of the Student Union were due Thursday, Feb 14.

Student Union President Nyah

Macklin ’16, in an email to the student body, asked students to “challenge yourself and your views, become critical of the spaces in which you inhabit,” encouraging students to apply for Student Union positions as part of these efforts. She “the fruit of our work might also not be realized for years to come. We are not a Union that focuses on short term

goals, we are in this for the long run.”

The election process began Feb 14 with a meeting for those interested in running.

Open positions within the Senate include

Class of 2018 Senator, Rosenthal Quad Senator, Massell Quad Senator, Off-Campus Senator.

The Allocations Board currently has one Three-Semester Seat open, one Racial Minority Seat open, two open Two-Semester Seats.

The treasury has three openings for Assistant Treasurers.

Announcement: Student Union positions open

Midyear Senator, Class of 2016 Senator, Class of 2017 Senator,

January 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot

NEWS

3

Alpha Pi Phi initiates new chapter

By Emily Sorkin Smith Editor

A chapter of the sorority Alpha Pi Phi has formed at Brandeis, the first chapter at an American university. The Theta chapter has seven founding members who were initiated into the sorority in November 2015. Though Greek life is not officially recognized or funded by the university, around 10 percent of students are members of fraternities or sororities.

Alpha Pi Phi becomes Brandeis’ fourth sorority.

The sorority began in Ottowa, Canada in 2009, and now has two chapters in the United States, at Brandeis and a chapter pending Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. In the seven years since their founding, they have chartered nine total chapters. By contrast, Sigma Delta Tau (which also has a chapter at Brandeis) has over 60 active chapters.

Members of the Brandeis chapter began their relationship with Alpha Pi Phi in the spring of 2015, when they reached out to the organization.

“What sets Alpha Pi Phi apart is that joining Alpha Pi Phi means being a part of the beginning of something special, both in the Brandeis community and the international community. The ability to shape our organization and to play a large role in decision making is an amazing and unique aspect of our sorority,” President Anna Craven ’18 wrote in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

Alpha Pi Phi is one of two sororities at Brandeis that does not belong to the National Panhellenic Conference, an organization that supports and governs international sororities. Kappa Beta Gamma also does not belong to the Conference.

Brandeis’ founding members explored the possibility of chartering a panhellenic sorority; however, universities with three panhellenic sororities must form

a College Panhellenic Council.

The Theta chapter at Brandeis has a diverse composition, including several mid-year students and members of multiple varsity sports teams. Craven emphasized Alpha Pi Phi’s commitment to sisterhood and the betterment of its members. “Alpha Pi Phi truly aims to help every sister become the very best version of herself that she can be,” she wrote.

Recruitment for the spring semester will begin on Jan. 20.

To be eligible for a bid, students must come to at least one event.

Though they are interested in growing their sorority, focus will be on recruiting women “who fit with our values of love, loyalty and friendship,” said Rush Chair Marissa Kaplan ’18.

They have been in communication with other Greek organizations through the Greek Awareness Council (GAC) to set up rush week events. These mostly involve collaboration with other fraternities to host events, such as Alpha Epsilon Pi. Other sororities and fraternities have been supportive of Alpha Pi Phi, according to Kaplan. “They have been very welcoming to us and it’s nice to see how they are incorporated a new sorority to campus,” said Kaplan.

Greek life is not officially recognized by the university, meaning that it does not receive funding and has no designated housing on campus. University policy as written in the 2015-2016 Rights and Responsibilities states that “exclusive or secret societies are inconsistent with the principles of openness to which the university is committed,” and therefore sororities and fraternities are not permitted to use university facilities.

The GAC serves as a liaison between sororities and fraternities and the university, hosting philanthropic events and organizing bystander intervention training.

The GAC is able to use university facilities for events, provided they are not exclusive to one sorority or fraternity.

photo courtesy anna craven

photo courtesy anna craven

Liebowitz comes to Brandeis from Middlebury PRESIDENT, from page 1

the “Middlebury Initiative” in 2007, which sought to raise and invest $500 million into Middlebury’s strategic plan of financial aid and new faculty, in the largest-ever fundraising campaign by a liberal arts college.

In 2009, he was named one of the “Ten Best College Presidents” in an online feature by TIME magazine which praised Lebowitz for his commitment to reducing Middlebury’s carbon footprint.

In 2007, Middlebury commit-

ted to becoming carbon neutral by 2016. Students created a proposal to make the college carbon neutral and Liebowitz helped convince the Board of Trustees to approve the plan, according to TIME. Liebowitz is also one of more than 200 college presidents who signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007 to promote sustainability efforts on their campuses. One focus is on recycling and compost, with 65 percent of their waste recycled or composted.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Liebowitz received his BA in economics and geography from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, and his PhD in geography from Columbia University.

Liebowitz, his wife, and their three children moved to nearby Newton, Massachusetts, a few months before being announced as Brandeis’ new president.

During his sabbatical in between presidencies, he will be working on a research project with his wife. Liebowitz was officially welcomed by Interim President Lynch and other Brandeis administrators in a ceremony this Tuesday, Jan. 12th, where he made some remarks and met with the gathered audience.

Peter Giumette, Senior Advisor to Lynch, will head a committee to facilitate the transition between Lynch and Liebowitz. Interim President Lynch will be resuming her role as Provost and Chief Academic Officer after Liebowitz takes office.

photo by zack phil schwartz/the hoot

4 The Brandeis Hoot

NEWS Committee bans recrational use of hoverboards and drones

HOVERBOARDS, from page 1

in teaching and research is permitted with appropriate training, supervision and notification of building administrators. However, outdoor teaching or research uses of drones require the permission of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Brandeis Police Department,” wrote Gray.

In an email to The Hoot, Gray stated that appropriate training for instructors using drones in an educational setting “may vary based on why and how they are being used.”

National policy regarding the recreational usage of drones is still evolving. In his email, Gray stated that the university would

update its policies based on federal regulations and educational practices. As of now, Gray does not know of any classes that intend to use drones for educational purposes this semester.

The new drone policies are not in response to any direct campus incidents involving drones.

“We formed the committee last September in response to the increasing popularity—and use—of drones in the general public and the related safety and privacy issues,” wrote Gray in an email to The Hoot.

Chief of Police Ed Callahan confirmed that there have not been any issues regarding drone usage on campus.

As a result, the committee’s

decision relies heavily on two aspects of drone usage—safety and privacy.

The fact that the unmanned aerial vehicles are equipped with cameras raises questions in the realm or privacy rights. “Although there wasn’t a specific incident on campus that drove our decision, there have been reports across the country of drones flying into and injuring people.

There is also the issue of one’s right to not be photographed or videotaped without permission, and many drones are equipped to capture photos and videos.

This policy only limits the use of drones on campus. People are free to use drones on non-university property.”

January 15, 2016

photos from internet source

Faculty and students will discuss cirriculum

photos by emily sorkin smith/ the hoot

AAAPI, from page 1

GRALL/SAS) and Assistant Professor Xing Hang (HIST). Student members of the committee include Theresa Yeo ’17, Tony Tran ’17, Cecile Afable ’16 and Danni Tang ’19.

Lynch said in her email that “This committee has been established to examine and make recommendations on the development of courses, programming

and a minor in Asian American Pacific Islander studies.” The committee will also consider how the curriculum might be structured, named, located and resourced within the School of Arts and Sciences, Lynch said in the email.

The Faculty-Student Committee has not yet had their first meeting, but it is scheduled for Jan. 22.

“Our goal is to discuss ideas about the minor based on research on comparable programs,”

said Committee Chair Professor ChaeRan Freeze in an email to The Brandeis Hoot. They will also discuss “the possibility of hiring a Kay Postdoctoral fellow to teach at least two courses starting next year, and potential speakers to bring to campus this semester,” she said.

Fellow committee member Professor Xing Hang elaborated briefly on the committee’s plans, saying, “Using comparisons to other institutions will certainly

form an important component of how we structure the program.

Research into other programs will form a part of our meetings, starting with the one on Jan. 22.”

This is not the first time students have been dissatisfied with the academic offerings at Brandeis and requested a new department be added. During the occupation of Ford Hall in January 1969, one of the 10 Demands the occupying students released was a call for the formation of an African

Studies Department. As a result of the demands, Brandeis’ African and Afro-American Studies Department (AAAS) was formed in April 1969.

BAATF was happy to see their demands have resulted in positive change. They said in a statement posted on their website on Dec. 22, “Thank you to all of of the students, faculty, staff and alumni who have stood with us and supported us. Our voices were heard.

This is change.”

Brief: Student selected for scholarship

By Emily Sorkin Smith and Ryan Spencer Editor and Staff

David Benger ’14 has been named to the first cohort of Schwarzman scholars, an organization inspired by the Rhodes scholarship and funded by Co-Founder of Blackstone Stephen Schwarzman.

Schwarzman scholars will receive a one-year Master’s degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. It is the “first scholarship created to respond to the geopo-

litical landscape of the 21st century,” according to organization’s website.

The Schwarzman Scholarship curriculum aims to build the student’s leadership qualities as well as increase the student’s knowledge of China in a global context.

Benger majored in Politics and Russian, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He participated in the Brandeis in the Hague study abroad program, where he worked as a legal assistant.

He has also worked in the New York District Attorney’s office.

Benger plans to go to law school

after studying in Beijing. His long-term career goal is to become an advocate for international legal institutions.

Three thousand students applied for the Schwarzman scholarship, out of which only 100 were selected.

The organization intends to select 200 scholars each year, with 45 percent of students from the United States, 20 percent from China and the remaining 35 percent from other countries. The college’s building at the Tsinghua campus is LEED gold certified, the first academic building in China to receive this certification.

photos from internet source

January 15, 2016

FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot 5

Former executive senator steps into vice presidency

By Jacob Edelman Editor

David Herbstritt ’17, a politics major, is the new vice president of the student body. Less than a week ago, however, he was still the executive senator to the Student Union. Herbstritt’s rise in the Union has been steady since he first won the seat of Castle quad senator in his sophomore year.

Dennis Hermida-Gonzales ’17 served as vice president last semester, but stepped down to “practice self-care and love for his family,” according to an email sent to students on Jan. 13. The now-vacant role of executive senator will be filled after the upcoming Student Union elections.

Herbstritt originally joined the Union due to the fact that in his first year, he couldn’t find a club that he liked enough to make a long term commitment. He explained, “I tried a good number of [clubs], but I never found the groove I was looking for. I play in jazz band, but I get credit for that. The Student Union is where I found myself settling in.”

Finding satisfaction in providing club support, Herbstritt became the Club Support Chair for the Union. Last year, during the spring semester, the previous executive senator stepped down from their position. “I had done a lot as club support chair, so someone nominated me,” he recalled.

The executive senator is selected by a secret ballot taken of the entire senate of who they would like to serve in the position. The position is the Brandeis Student Union’s equivalent of the U.S. Speaker of the House, representing the face of the body.

Describing his responsibilities of late before his move into the vice presidency, Herbstritt spoke largely about the amount of organizing and behind the scenes work that he does. On a weekly basis, his work consisted of writing agendas for meetings, working on the bylaws committee that recently passed a constitutional amendment pertaining to the restructuring of the A-board, creat-

david herbstritt works in the student union office

ing a budget for the Union, communicating with Union President Nyah Macklin and being a go-between on any number of other general Union matters.

Since assuming the vice presidency, Herbstritt didn’t see a reason to adopt new goals that he didn’t already have. He intends on making sure that the senate is as equipped as possible of the next semester, and he has a number of goals that he wishes to continue working on that carried over from his tenure as executive senator.

One initiative he hopes to pursue is a solar panel construction project that has been on his agenda since last summer. Wishing to install solar panels atop a building (such as the Admissions building), Herbstritt has been working with a class of 2017 senator, Matt Smetana, in an attempt to make it happen. Additionally, Herbstritt wishes to work towards better Union organization, increasing communications between the

Union and the student body and creating a smoother system of Union procedures.

As an example of a successful change he worked hard to implement, he noted the hard work and consideration that the bylaw committee put into “solving many of the problems that had been pervasive with the A-board,” by taking such actions as expanding the number of board positions, and staggering the seat elections.

Herbstritt notes that much of what he does “isn’t the most exciting”; however he is still passionate about doing it. Currently, he’s working with Senator Lorenzo Finamore ’18 to reformat many of the standardized club documents, such as the Union petition forms, in hopes of cutting down on the number of forms necessary to start a club.

An additional area of interest for Herbstritt is implementing improvements in how club leaders are trained for bystander in-

photos courtesy matt smetana

tervention. “It makes sense for us to ask our student leaders to be leaders on that kind of thing. It’s more than fair, more than necessary and a good thing. Hopefully before I’m gone we’ll see campus-wide bystander training,” he explained. Herbstritt continued, “We’re working with the Office of Prevention Services to create a refresher course for someone who’s had the training before. It’s helpful to do it a few times, but having something tailed for someone who’s had the training before and giving reinforcement is a good idea.”

Looking at Brandeis’ student politics, however, Herbstritt recognizes areas for improvement.

“It’s incredibly important to get people out to vote,” he explains, speaking in regard to the low voter turnout of recent Union elections. “I think that people don’t really know how much we do, but if we can explain to people how we fix various things or talk

to Sodexo or communicate with the Board of Trustees—if we can get that across better and make people more aware of what we do, that’s the key to [increasing turnout.]”

Valarie Timms ’16, the Charles River Apartments Senator, expressed the sentiment, “David is an amazing person. He cares so much about the school and the community of people, and I have full confidence in his ability to lead in this capacity.”

Emily Conrad ‘17, the junior representative to the Board of Trustees, made an additional comment about Herbstritt, saying, “The entire Student Union has a great deal of gratitude for the work of David, who will always take on new initiatives—even the most boring or difficult tasks—for the sake of the function and efficiency of our Union and student body. HIs work often goes unrecognized, and he continues to keep at it, day in and day out.”

6 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS Judges fall to NYU over break

By Shea Decker-Jacoby Staff

Both women’s and men’s basketball teams battled it out for 40 minutes with the NYU Violets on Jan. 9, but regrettably both fell short of victories. The Violets men’s team is nationally ranked at 14th in the nation by D3hoops.com and the women’s team ranked fourth. The men’s team lost by a close score of 6967, while the women’s team lost 57-46.

The men’s team worked hard every second with five players scoring in the double digits, achieving a season high that outnumbered NYU, who only put four players in the double-digit scoring range.

Jordan Cooper ’18 led the team in scoring with 13 points, while

Jay Fay ’17 contributed 11 points.

Tim Reale ’17, Robinson Vilmont ’17 and Carlin Haymon ’18 all added 10 points in the game.

Vilmont and John Powell ’17 led the team on the defensive end with six rebounds by Vilmon and eight rebounds by Powell. However, it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory, as Brandeis lost a seven-point lead with just five minutes left on the clock when NYU went on a 12-3 run at the end of the game. The Judges also outshot the Violets 50 percent-42 percent and 44 percent-35 percent from the three-point range, but just 52 percent from the foul line. The loss left the Judges at a .500 for the season, with an overall record of 6-6.

The women Judges’ bench rose to the occasion and held NYU

January 15, 2016

under 60 points — making them only the third team to do that this season. Maria Jackson ’17 shined on defense for the Judges with a scoreless 45 seconds, while Frankie Pinto ’17 scored back-toback three-pointers with 20 seconds left in the half. Senior guard Heather Cain ’16 scored a high of eight points in the second half, leading to the closest the Judges got to closing the gap with NYU. The loss brought the Judges’ overall record to 7-5 on the season.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams are back in action this Friday at home against Rochester.

The women’s team plays at 6 p.m., while the men’s team plays at 8 p.m. at Red Auerbach Arena in Gosman Athletic Center.

photos from internet source

TRON: The legacy and the future

By Curtis He Zunyu Staff

The men’s ultimate frisbee team, TRON, took the new year as a fresh start to their spring season of the Division III U.S.A. Ultimate season. With an amazing finish at second place in last year’s U.S.A. Ultimate Championships, TRON has not stopped working to improve. “We fully expect to be a team that can compete for the championship in the spring,” said Captain Mike Humbert ’17.

The fall season started with an influx of 22 new members who were instantly attracted to the rising organization. “We get more and more freshmen that come to school already planning on joining the team, and more and more of those freshmen are coming in with prior ultimate experience,” said Humbert. “Two years ago we had about 25 consistent members and now we have upwards of 40.”

The swell in membership has allowed the program to expand to form a second team.

“One of our goals this year is to have a competitive B-side. When we first created the team last year, it was pretty last second, and it was hard to keep the team structured properly and their performance suffered because of it. This year we were able to plan for the team in advance and implemented a few changes that should help get the team on the right track,” said Humbert. TRON looks forward to having more intense, but valuable, practices and scrimmages between the two “sides” to become stronger.

However, the elevation of the team’s performance was not completely showcased during the four tournaments in the fall season. Despite victories in the MIT Round Robin and the Brandeis B-Bash Tournament, TRON has

fallen to some tough opponents, such as Bryant and Bentley University, and only ended up in fourth place in the Lobster Pot Tournament, which was swept by TRON last year with an 8-0 record. But according to Humbert, the teams weren’t at their best and were more concerned with improving themselves than winning the games. “We care more that players are learning to run to the right spaces and make the right throws rather than winning every game. Most of the tournaments we attended this fall, we split ourselves into two teams in order to maximize playing time for each player,” said Humbert.

Giving players time to develop has proved to be the right decision according to Humbert, as the new talents on the team have been gaining a lot of useful experience.

“Although our record is not as strong as it could be, I could not be happier with how this fall has gone,” said Humbert.

TRON looks to defeat tough opponents like Bryant University this season. Bryant has beaten TRON twice in two consecutive tournaments, the second a tough 4-15. “Recently Bryant has developed into our biggest rival. They have a solid core of players with strong chemistry that run their system effectively. On defense they run a very effective zone defense where they take advantage of their tall, long players to cover a lot of ground,” analyzed Humbert.

“It would have been nice to come away with a couple of wins but we picked up a lot of valuable experience by playing such a strong team.” Last year, Bryant was the team that TRON rolled over twice in both Regionals and Nationals to attain the second place overall.

Bryant will be looking for revenge this season in games against Brandeis.

But perhaps more important

photo from internet source

than rivalry is the closeness developed among the players. To Humbert, TRON is like a big family with a lot of friends being able to share joyful moments together. “Hanging out with the guys on the team is a blast no matter what we’re doing. Whether it is taking up a huge table at Sherman for lunch or dinner, car rides to tournaments, homework in the library or hanging out on weekends, those are going to be the things I remember down the road,” said Humbert. The team chemistry improves every practice, especially with new ideologies being implemented. Another captain, Elan Kane ’16, developed the idea of encouraging players to work on their throwing out-

side of practice by having partners to practice with, which has produced great results according to Humbert. The family dynamic has not stopped either, despite its increasing size. “It is awesome to see ultimate grow so quickly here at Brandeis and we hope for that to continue. Anybody can stop by a practice at any time and we will gladly accept them with open arms,” said Humbert.

With a big tournament ahead, this winter break certainly wasn’t an easy holiday for the men’s ultimate frisbee team. “Over winter break our coaches sent us all a workout routine to start getting us into shape. In addition to the running and throwing, we have practiced multiple times per week

where our coaches help us work on our different offensive and defensive strategies,” said Humbert.

The hard work has been paying off for the team, as Humbert sees the results he and other captains have been expecting. “People are running to the correct spaces, making the correct decisions, communicating with teammates on the field and staying focused.

I would say the thing our team has improved on the most is the mental aspect of the game.” The team’s devotion to their sport will be tested this weekend as the first team will compete in a tournament at Williams college on Saturday, Jan. 16.

January 15, 2016

SPORTS 7

The Brandeis Hoot

Swim team takes practice to Puerto Rico

By Zach Cihlar Staff

Over winter break, the varsity swimming and diving team returned to a deserted Brandeis campus on Dec. 26, 2015 to continue training, a session that consisted of five days on campus before a flight took them to Puerto Rico for a training bootcamp.

Captain and Brandeis Hoot Editor-in-Chief Theresa Gaffey ’16 expressed that “training on campus during this time is always pretty hard because it’s so cold out and there’s nobody around on campus. However, once we get to Puerto Rico, the training doesn’t seem so bad and everyone’s spirits are up.”

Both the men’s and the women’s teams spent the break doing two-a-day practices and strength training to prepare for the end of the season. In Puerto Rico, the team had little time for tourist adventures, practicing twice a day both in and out of the water, rounding out the day with yoga to calm their bodies after a day

of physical stress. “During practice we do dryland (land-based strength and conditioning exercises), running and of course a lot of swimming,” said Gaffney.

The team had one rare afternoon off after a long practice in the morning, and used the opportunity to visit Old San Juan. In past years, the team has also visited El Yunque National Rainforest.

The team returned to Brandeis after a week in Puerto Rico, ready to compete and prepared to perform their best for the second half of the season.

Upon the swim team’s return from Puerto Rico, both the men’s and women’s teams competed against Colby College in their first meet of the new year. The meet resulted in a pair of losses: 94-200 on the men’s side and 68-201 on the women’s.

Individually, Brandeis’ Joanna Murphy ’17 took two of the events for the women. Murphy won both the 1000 and the 500 by more than three seconds.

The men’s team won three total events. Cameron Braz ’17 won

the 200 freestyle only a couple hundredths of a second ahead of a Colby swimmer. Taku Harada ’18 also got a win for the Judges in the 200 backstroke, and Zach Diamond ’17 won the 200 butterfly. The men also took second in the 1000 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, the 50, the 100 and the 200 individual medley.

The women quickly rallied with a win, competing in another meet against Merrimack College on Jan. 12 at home. The Judges scored 126 over Merrimack’s 84. Kylie Hermann ’19 led the Judges with wins in three different events—the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley. Murphy again took the wins in both the 500 and the 1000. Fallon Bushee ’16 won both the breaststroke events, and Abby Damsky ’18 added a win in the 50 freestyle.

The men’s and women’s swim teams both face off against Trinity College from Connecticut in their next meet. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. at home.

photos by theresa gaffney/the hoot

Track and Field starts off on right foot

By Lily Wageman Staff

This past weekend, the Brandeis indoor track and field team started off the new season at the nonscored University of Southern Maine Invitational. The Judges had three individual winners, seven second-place finishes and five third-places. After their performances at the invitational, three members of the team were selected as University Athletic Association Athletes of the Week. For the women, rookie Doyin Ogundiran ’19 was honored for track. On the men’s side, Ryan Stender ’18 was honored for track and Adam Berger ’16 was the field athlete of the week. Although the results of the competition won’t count toward their regular season, the positive results bode well for the Judges in their upcoming meets.

The team is led by head coach Sinead Delahunty Evans. Since joining the Judges, Evans has helped eight Brandeis runners qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The men’s

team captains include Adam Berger ’16 (jumps), Quinton Hoey ’17 (distance), Mark Franklin ’17 (jumps), Trevor Tuplin ’16 (sprints) and Grady Ward ’16 (distance). The women’s captains include Maggie Hensel ’16 (mid-distance), Tove Freeman ’16 (sprints), Lydia McCaleb ’17 (mid-distance) and Kelsey Whitaker ’16 (mid-distance). The Brandeis Hoot was able to talk with Ward and Whitaker to gain their insights and experiences with the team.

Ward studies Computer Science, Mathematics and Economics and is “unbelievably excited” to begin working at Google in San Francisco as a software developer after graduation. Outside of track he enjoys his work in Brandeis’ Student Union and working on his independent programming projects. Ward describes his favorite moment in Brandeis athletics as when he watched teammates Alex Kramer and Mike Kern go 1-2 at the UAA Championships their senior year in the mile. “Their friendship and competition took them both to new heights and

faster times, and that race was incredible to watch and appreciate.”

He looked up to both of them as role models while he was a firstyear and hopes to follow in their footsteps in terms of being the best miler he can be. As a captain, he describes his leadership style as leading by example and clearly and consistently communicating with his teammates. This season he hopes to break 4:15 in the mile, which he believes is possible with a solid season of training.

Whitaker is a double major in Biology and Health: Science, Society and Policy. After graduation she would like to work for a few years and then go to graduate school for Physical Therapy or a Master’s in Public Health. In addition to track, she works for Brandeis GPS and will be starting at Phosphorex Inc. this semester. Similar to Ward, Whitaker describes her leadership style as leading by example, and considers herself to be a hard worker and dedicated team member. Being part of “such a great team” is her favorite part about competing for Brandeis. “My coaches and team-

mates are so supportive on and off the track and genuinely want everyone to perform to the best of their ability,” she said.

The track team will be back in

action this Saturday at their only home meet of the season, The Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational. The meet will begin at 11 a.m.

photo from internet source

8 The Brandeis Hoot

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS

January 15, 2016

photo by elana hodson/the hoot

photo by alex friedman/the hoot

photo by jacob edelman/the hoot

winter in paradeis

A light snow covers campus as midyears arrive and the rest of the student body returns.

photos by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

January 15, 2016

liebowitz has entered the building

bingo at brandeis

The Brandeis Hoot

Our new president came to campus to address the community.

A skilled group of seniors take bingo at the SCC on Thursday night.

WEEK IN PHOTOS 8

photo by jacob edelman/the hoot

photos by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

EDITORIALS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Theresa Gaffney Julie Landy Senior Managing Editor Jess Linde Senior Editor Andrew Elmers Senior Copy Editor Allison Plotnik News Editors Hannah Schuster Emily Sorkin Smith Arts Editor Sabrina Pond Opinions Editor Zach Phil Schwartz Features Editor Jacob Edelman

I

New pres. should recognize privilege, strive for diversity

t is a momentous occasion for a university to hire its next president. It provides a great sense of hope and optimism to have a new leader who has the potential to bring positive change to the community.

While The Brandeis Hoot does not want to dampen any excitement regarding our newly appointed president, we would like to express frustration at the inevitability of a white male having been appointed for the job. Brandeis University has had only one female president, and no presidents of color. While a new president can bring new hope, it is hard to hold out when the position is continually filled from the same demographic of people.

Last semester, students of color forced the

Sports Editor Sarah Jousset

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

Volume 13 • Issue 1 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

STAFF

Clayre Benzadon, Rachel Bossuk, Sharon Cai, Zach Cihlar, Talia Franks, Zachary Gordon, Emma Gutman, Curtis Zunyu He, Sophia He, Daniel Kang, Emma Kahn, Naomi Klickstein, Nabi Menai, Monique J Menezes, Santiago Montoya, Joon Park, Nicole Porter, Albert Reiss, Emily Scharf, Marian Siljeholm, Eliana Sinoff, Ryan Spencer, Elianna Spitzer, Hannah Stewart, Michael Wang, Katarina Weessies MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information.

Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events. Recognizing that better journalism leads to better policy, The Brandeis Hoot is dedicated to the principles of investigative reporting and news analysis. Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

SUBMISSION POLICIES

The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS

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Brandeis community to pay attention to the lack of diversity on our campus with a powerful protest. Administration eventually responded with a call to action, but the hiring of Ron Liebowitz demonstrates just how deeply ingrained it is in our society to see white as the default.

However, this is not just a Brandeis problem. According to Sneha Walia ’15, the student representative on the presidential search committee, few of the viable candidates for the position were of color. While it would be easy to simply use this as an excuse, as a community we need to recognize the institutional racism that created this scenario, and work toward dismantling it.

The lack of candidates of color shows

exactly how necessary the actions of Concerned Students 2015 and the Brandeis Asian American Task Force are on the Brandeis campus. By demanding more minority hires among faculty and more diverse academic programs, more opportunities to enter higher education administration will be available to people of color. There is a deep and wide pool of talented academics who need to be hired as faculty members.

Liebowitz can’t help it that he’s a white male, but he can hold himself accountable for that and be aware of his privilege. AWe hope that in preparing for his presidency, Liebowitz makes a commitment to fostering real diversity and change at Brandeis where it is needed.

Below Zero

Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano Layout Editor Ludi Yang

January 15, 2016

By Naomi Klickstein staff

Across 1. Word with wind or stone 5. Ceramic jar 9. Duck Dynasty granddaughter 14. Away from port 15. Method of coffin transport 16. Vulnerable (with “to”) 17. Rapid transit 20. Subject of a many a rap 21. Cadillac model 22. Some swords 25. Priestly garment 28. Homophone of 8-down 29. Move like a tide 31. Migraine symptoms 33. Object of chance 35. Acquire knowledge 37. One out of their element (with “like”) 44. Dubai tower 45. Type of camera 47. Chops 48. Hog’s abode 49. Direction from Boston to New York City 50. Like some potatoes 52. Holy 55. Kerfuffle 58. DC superhero 60. Circus romance novel 66. Julia Child and others 67. Use a scythe 68. Fencing weapon 69. Like some judgment 70. Spongebob snail 71. Avant-garde

Down 1. Opening 2. Somewhat (informal) 3. Flower necklace 4. Machine tool 5. Last words (abr.)

6. Cause for head scratching

7. Peer at 8. Pirate’s threat 9. Sunblock measurement 10. Pottery and painting 11. “You can _____” 12. Places to stay 13. Screen of brain activity 18. May be inner or outer 19. Upcoming Benedict Cumberbatch role 22. Despondent 23. Diva’s solo 24. e.g. Kobe 25. Aid 26. Vomit 27. Bathroom sign 30. Abrupt 32. Place of higher learning (abr.)

34. Meek 36. The A of AIM 38. Water below zero 39. Pageant wear 40. Conical kiln 41. Grp. looking into human extinction 42. Otherwise 43. Appreciative poem 46. One end of the visual spectrum 51. Paddle 52. Like some trees and movies 53. Fire reminder 54. Rub the wrong way 55. College Hockey grp.

56. Moose and/or caribou 57. Sends to the fishes 58. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer 59. Mad king 60. “___ liebe dich” 62. Rowing machine (abr.)

63. Nonverbal agreement 64. Comedian Notaro 65. Tricky

OPINIONS

January 15, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot 11

Univ. should reconsider length of winter recess

By Jacob Edelman Editor

Winter intersession is often a welcome break for students, most of whom are glad for the relief from the non-stop flow of homework and exams. The recess that was from Dec. 18 through Jan. 12 this year, however, was almost a month in length—a lot of time.

That leads one to ask the question: Is the current length of break best for students? There are multiple arguments that can be drawn up both for and against the idea of a near-month long break. I submit that a shorter winter break is worthy of review by the university.

What are a few of the main reasons for a winter intersession? For one, the break provides a measure of study relief after final exams.

Finals can be a draining time of year, and many students can suffer from stress, anxiety and other negative health effects during the exam season. According to Georgetown Student Health Services, stress inflicted by finals can become a source of fatigue, frustration with friends, difficulty making decisions, headaches, eating issues and panic. Having a period to unwind with family and friends, eat home food and get full amounts of sleep after exams can be a valuable relief.

The break also provides an opportunity for students to earn money in part-time jobs, work on resumes, complete applications for summer activities and internships and (as many sophomores like myself find ourselves even more aware of) to fill out applications for study abroad. If there’s a

time to be productive, kick back and read a book or grab a ticket to the nicest tropical island in the Caribbean, winter break is the time to do so.

I would assert, however, that having a break that lasts as long as ours does is not always the best decision for students. When break stretches from the middle of December to the middle of January, students can lose a number of things. First, students can easily lose some of what they had learned the previous semester to memory. Some argue that the point of university is to learn study habits and ways of thinking, but the knowledge that is learned carries enormous value and shouldn’t be lost due to lack of re-engagement.

Second, Brandeis has the privilege of being located in Massa-

chusetts. It’s a wonderful place to be, and it’s an amazing location for a first class university; however one thing that everyone in Massachusetts has to deal with at some point is snow. Snow serves as the wrench in the machine for schools, and even a few inches can shut down a university’s functioning for a day or more. This issue leaves professors in a jam—do they shorten their classes in the spring semester to account for the lost class day, or do they stay to their course and be faced with rushing to finish their lessons or being unable to do so at all?

Unlike many public primary and secondary schools in the Northeast, Brandeis does not truly expect and plan for snow days in its schedule, and therefore learning time is lost. One would hope that professors would account for

the possibility for a snow day in their lesson plans; however often they do not, and not everything that should have been taught in the semester gets covered.

I propose that the university reexamine how long winter break is generally scheduled to be, and to decide whether the current three to three and a half weeks is the optimal amount of time for students to have off. Taking into considering the price of tuition and the amount of learning and learning time that can be lost due to the intersession and lack of days available for academic makeup, finding an extra several days in the spring semester might be worth doing. At the very least, looking into the concept might turn out to be beneficial to everyone involved.

Usen Castle: Remembering a once grand edifice

By Zach Phil Schwartz Editor

Much of Usen Castle, known colloquially to Brandeis students as “the Castle,” is in a state of disrepair. According to an email sent

by Vice President for Campus Operations Jim Gray on Aug. 31, 2015, the building is “showing its age,” making its future very much uncertain. With this uncertainty, it becomes necessary to remember what the Castle once represented to the university and its predecessor, before it is lost to time.

At first glance, opinions on the Castle will differ. Some will gaze

castle in disrepair

at it in awe while others scoff at its current visually unappealing state. It offers truly unparalleled views of Boston, but at the same time it lacks the basic wiring that could grant us the ease of card access. The inside is windy and narrow, and it pales in comparison with newer residence halls.

Residents complain about anything from bad lighting to exposed insulation, making for a clearly run-down edifice in need of repair.

While Usen Castle sticks out like a sore thumb on Brandeis’ campus, it is more than a simple architectural oddity.

The Castle represents perse-

verance and determination in the face of adversity. The fact that it still stands today despite its age is a testament to that. According to the National Register of Historic Places, which inducted the Castle into its archives in 1979, the building dates back to the late 1920s, when John Hall Smith was trying to get Middlesex College running in Waltham. Brandeis’ campus is the only vestige from the Middlesex era, save the Castle, which is nearing 100 years of age.

With time gaining the upper hand in the fight to maintain the building’s status quo, the last living artifact from our past is quickly fading.

Middlesex College had many names and existed in several places, but it always remained steadfast in its values of acceptance. In an era punctuated by intolerance and quotas, Middlesex remained an outlier with its profound sense of tolerance. According to the Brandeis archives, the university’s predecessor faced fatal problems securing AMA accreditation, which some believed was due to the school’s diverse composition.

These issues proved to be too much for the fledgling school, but its property, buildings and most importantly, its values, made the transition to Brandeis.

Today, Brandeis reflects the tra-

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Write a letter to the editor to express your views on our writers opinions and see yourself featured in next weeks issue! Submit to letters@thebrandeishoot.com Have a piece you want published? Submit it to us at eic@thebrandeishoot.com Have an idea for a column? Contact join@thebrandeishoot.com

ditions of tolerance and openness that Middlesex practiced. It also reflects how times have changed; the campus has grown significantly, technology has advanced and older edifices have become obsolete. The Castle once housed an entire school. Now, it serves as an increasingly decrepit residence hall.

However, despite its current problems, the Castle continues to bring us back to an age long before Brandeis was a thought in its founders’ heads. The traditions of Middlesex not only live on in the values of today’s Brandeis University, but they live on through their former physical heart: the Castle.

It was once the center of Middlesex’s operation, and today it remains the only physical vestige of the school’s existence.

Usen Castle may be reaching the end of its lifespan as a residence hall as it transitions into a period of uncertainty, which could be followed by significant renovation or even demolition. It is not, however, reaching the end of its lifespan in memory. The values and traditions of Middlesex College that spurred the birth of Brandeis University out of the former’s ashes will continue to live on in our students, faculty and staff. They bind us together as a community. And as we prepare to say goodbye to the oldest building on campus as we know it, we must remember that it helped us get to where we are today.

SUBMISSION POLICIES

The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community.

Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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

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

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12 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

January 15, 2016

Bridging the gap between international and domestic

By Santiago Montoya Columnist

The ideal dream of all admissions counselors who decide on who to accept or deny to their university is creating a diverse and unified community.

Nonetheless, not all international students like the idea of mingling with domestic students.

It seems as if many are not ready or simply do not care to talk about it.

However, I wish to talk about it, and an international student named Chengcheng Xiang ’18 has her own thoughts on this issue.

According to Xiang, a foreigner will inherently feel like a foreigner all their life: “They may not be confident in their English. This language barrier stands in their way of mingling with domestic students.” She added that having a cultural similarity with other people makes it easier to find friends. “Living in a foreign country where nobody speaks your native language can be difficult. Personally, I feel insecure about that sometimes. As a result, it is a safe

way for international [students] to have their own circle of friends with people from their home countries or, a least, who share similar cultural backgrounds,” she said.

For Xiang, as an international student in the U.S., she believes the most difficult part is getting out of her comfort zone. “I was really intimidated by domestic students at first.

Later, I started to join clubs and meet new people. I felt it was hard to join conversations at first—everyone spoke so fast. However, I realized later [that] I should be authentic. I make efforts to be confident and honest about my opinions and share it with others, either domestic or international students.”

When asked about some of the differences between domestic and international students, Xiang expressed her frustration for not getting equal consideration for merit scholarships the same way that domestic students do. As a result, virtually all of the international students have to pay the university’s sticker price, which is

roughly 60 thousand dollars annually and is drastically increasing every year.

In fact, Brandeis University attracts a large population from abroad, especially from China, where Xiang is originally from. Two of the reasons why Brandeis, along with many other universities and higher-learning institutions, is accepting more international students is because these students are capable and willing to pay the entire price. In addition, international students often have higher standardized scores and GPAs, which boost the school’s reputation and allows it to accept and fund other students—students who may come from low-income families and/or low-performing high schools.

If international students have some of the highest standardized scores and GPAs, why are they not taken into consideration for merit scholarships as domestic students are?

Some may argue that there is not enough funding. However, according to U.S. News, small institutions with a lower endow-

ment (such as Skidmore College) provided an average of 56,600 dollars in financial aid to 96 international students during the 2014-15 school year. Trinity College, another small liberal arts college with a relatively lower endowment, also funded 166 international students with 54,788 dollars of financial aid awarded.

Xiang believes that offering more financial aid to international students would encourage more students from abroad to apply.

Even though there are clearly differences and disadvantages of being an international student compared to being a domestic student, not all international students rebuff the idea of mingling with domestic students. Xiang is a perfect example of being involved on campus; she belongs to BADASS (Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society) and holds a leadership position in the Chinese Language Program organized by Brandeis’s language department.

She also added that in her experience, “Asians have a tradition of not speaking up. We have an old

common phrase ‘You don’t speak out, you don’t complain.’” Perhaps one of the reasons why some international students complain about their disadvantages is also because of how their different culture and upbringing affect their perspective.

According to Xiang, as an international student herself, “I always complain about the extraordinary expensive tuition for internationals … But more importantly, from my perspective, unlike [other students of color] in our community, international students are reluctant to form a unified group that speaks for their best interests. In other words, internationals don’t attempt to act and demand as a group.”

In other words, some international students prefer to remain hermits, although it may not be because of inferiority or complex differences between domestic and international students. Perhaps it is because of the way their upbringing affects their personality and way of socializing.

Second semester a time of reflections, new beginnings

By Zach Phil Schwartz Editor

For some, the fall semester can be a trying time. Some will want to look back upon it with pride while others may wish to move on. For all, though, the start of the spring semester cleans the proverbial slate. New friends have taken the place of the old ones that have left indelible marks on our community. With this new period comes a time not to dwell on the negatives of the previous semester but rather a time to look to the future with a renewed sense of optimism and hope. The new semester brings about the opportunity for students to move away from overly stressful academic habits and to explore more of what university life has to offer.

Students left campus last semester in a time of much stress and many sleepless nights. To call finals taxing would be an understatement. Perhaps the only thing that exceeded stress levels were caffeine levels. No matter how well or how poorly we did

on our finals and papers, though, we need to remember that we are not defined by our grades.

We emerged from the fall semester extremely exhausted, but we emerged nonetheless. The dysfunctional habits characteristic of finals is over, just as 2015 is. The year 2016, less than a month old, brings to us new beginnings and a time to improve upon our relationships and ourselves.

Of course, with another new semester comes new faces. Midyears find themselves in the exact situation we all have been in at one point. For many, first semesters can be as challenging as finals are for others, muddled with uncertainty and an uncomfortable sense of urgency. It is important that the significance of self-care not be underemphasized in such times. Although academics are important, it is imperative that students do not forget that academic performance cannot be maximized in a troubled state of being. As midyears commence their Brandeis experience, we must for the sake of us all make

sure that the university maintains an atmosphere friendly more than just to academics.

Brandeis University has been about more than academics since its inception. Campus organizations, clubs and teams have long served to help students unwind from the stresses of academic life.

Such social organizations and groups can help ease exhaustion and make the overall college experience more enjoyable.

Some will label these extracurriculars as “distractions” from

the overall college aims, when in reality they are distractions from the bad habits we form trying to accomplish those aims. The sleepless nights and overstressing that we see during every finals week are not simply endemic to that period; they represent exacerbated habits developed over an entire semester. Making sure that we have other activities to break up those habits that basically turn us into robots can go a long way towards bettering ourselves over the long haul.

We all know that college expectations are not easy to bear.

The struggle that is balancing Brandeis’ rigorous academics with social extracurricular activities is very much hard to deal with, but if balanced, the results can bear satisfactory fruit. So, to all students—midyears included—why not make an attempt to take some time out of your day for other activities? The benefits you could reap may surprise you.

photo from internet source

Dissent necessary for meaningful discourse

By Sam Bernheim Special to the Hoot

The primary role of a college education is to give students a better life. By equipping them with knowledge and techniques in different disciplines of their choosing, it allows them to better perform throughout their lives.

Essentially, people attend college to major in a specific field and to get a better job than they would have gotten had they not attended.

Of course, there are a multitude of other reasons to attend college, and the focus of this article is on one such reason. College is where we as students define ourselves for the first time. Until this point, the majority of us have been living at home, hearing and digesting only certain viewpoints and beliefs.

This gave us a predisposition towards whichever ideas we heard

discussed at the dinner table, on the news our parents and relatives watched and in the papers that our family members consumed.

College is where we find ourselves on our own for the first time, cast into a sea of many unlike-minded students. Physiologically we are at our peak developmental stage in which we develop habits that will stick for nearly the rest of our lives. In short, this is where we define ourselves, but this transformative process is evaporating.

It appears that on today’s college campuses, any thought which does not conform with the politically correct or liberal ideology is immediately decried as uninformed nonsense or an unrighteous opinion. When students determine which guest speakers should be admitted based only on whether or not they conform to a single belief, we inherently

give up our ability to think freely.

If we as students do not allow our beliefs, ethics, morals and views of the world to be questioned, we will never evolve; we will never be given the chance to question the foundations of our beliefs. This is a fundamental issue because it causes us to not choose our beliefs and subjects us to a prescribed ideology which we can only defend with spoon-fed generic arguments.

With the demand for trigger warnings, politically correct speech and the denouncement of all ideas except those followed by a certain group, it seems that in this time when we are supposed to grow the most, we are instead stifled. For example, the expansion of “safe spaces” are harmful and only do us an injustice by ill-preparing us for the outside world. Safe spaces seek to isolate people, to make sure that no kind

of “conflict” will arise. But only through the conflict which safe spaces seek to avoid can we expand our understanding of other viewpoints, which may affect our own beliefs or deepen our own convictions.

The idea of protesting, as seen most recently on many college campuses, is in direct contrast to the idea of a safe space. If the intent of a safe space is to eliminate all possible forms of conflict and to ensure that everyone feels comfortable, then protests—which have the effect of making people uncomfortable with the current status quo—should be banned.

But banning protests, legitimate and evidently impactful methods of generating change, is ludicrous.

It is through debate and discourse, research and argumentation that we are allowed to discover the underlying reasons for our thoughts and motivations. By

limiting dissenting opinions and allowing only a single viewpoint, we become weaker. Only by engaging with those with whom we disagree and only by questioning the values we as individuals hold can we define our ethics, our justifications and our very being.

We become stronger when we are forced to rationalize and justify our positions, and this can never be done without dissent.

By forcing ourselves to question our core beliefs, we expose ourselves to new schools of thought.

We allow ourselves to consider ideas that we would otherwise ignore for no reason. We can consider ideas that we have never thought of. It makes our convictions stronger and guarantees that we are always in control of our own thoughts. That is what it means to live in a free society.

January 15, 2016

ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot 13

Upcoming Rose Art exhibitions praise the diversity of art

By Sabrina Pond Editor

With the undeniable blessing of a new year, a new semester and the continuation of the college experience, comes a flourish of new and wonderful art to explore.

Starting Feb. 12, the Rose Art Museum will open its glass doors and welcome students with three new exhibits, each of which cover a wide range of artistic mediums.

There are also several continuing exhibitions, including Rose #FordHall2015, Foster Mural: Joyce Pensato—which will remain until the end of the spring semester, and Mark Dion: The Undisciplined Collector, which is a permanent exhibition.

Rosalyn Drexler’s “Who Does She Think She Is?” showcases her varied work over the course of her artistic career as she explored the concept of American culture—in a way that seems both deep value of the past, while also taking note of its imperfection and hypocrisy. Unafraid of the vastness of the art realm, Drex-

ler has dabbled unflinchingly in almost every medium out there, which might begin to explain the diverse media evident in her exhibition: paintings, collages, sculptures, acclaimed plays, novels, as well as photos and videos.

Curated by Curator-at-Large Katy Siegel and Curatorial Assistant Caitlin Julia Rubin, “Who Does She Think She Is?” incorporates stylistic choices from the Pop Art movement, drawing primary inference from images of pop culture from 1960s America.

Both her collages and large format paintings include images from 60s pop culture, such as movies, advertisements and newspapers, and can be seen in the Gerald S. and Sandra Fineburg and Lower Rose Galleries soon.

The second exhibition, titled “Sharon Lockhart/Noa Eshkol,” is the work of Sharon Lockhart, who, despite never having met Noa Eshkol, was so inspired by and felt such a deep connection with her work that she decided to further investigate that legacy

through her own art. Having traveled to Israel in 2008, a year after Eshkol’s death, Lockhart first became exposed to Eshkol’s work, whose fame was derived from her far reaching talents; she did a great many things, and therefore was an Israeli dance composer, textile artist and theorist and conceived of the profoundly insightful dance notation system that classifies the body’s movements through the use of both numbers and symbols. The film installation was created through Lockhart’s collaboration with a group of dancers, some of which were Eshkol’s students and some of which were not. Together they recreated the Israeli dancer’s choreography and filmed it, utilizing a more simplistic background composed only of an off white backdrop and reversible rugs that were alternated between dance routines.

Each of the five filmed dances will be projected onto the studio walls in the Lois Foster Gallery, and in their own way pay excellent tribute to the woman who in-

spired it all.

Ben Hagari’s “Potter’s Will” melds multiple concepts in a contemplative and organic way, positing the relationship between the process of making pottery, video art and religious understanding of the cycle of life from a Christian perspective. The installation, titled Rose Video 08 and which can be found in the Rose Video Gallery starting Feb. 12, has two parts: one which is a video of a potter’s work space, which is laid directly on top of a potter’s work space that is on display.

The video first begins as Paul Chaleff transforms a misshapen lump of clay into a pot with perfect proportions, and all the while the potter’s wheel is still and the surroundings are rapidly turning.

The video then shows the conversion of the pot into a human being, like that of the first humans who, according to one Christian version of the story, were formed from clay. Various religious references are also incorporated, such as the serpent that tempts Adam and Eve and Khnum, the Egyp-

tian god who utilized clay to form his newfound creations, as well as the four elements, shapes and the tail-biting snake.

As a response to the more recent Ford Hall movement, the Rose introduced an exhibition titled “Rose #FordHall2015,” as of Dec. 3, as a way of making Brandeis’ campus more aware of racial prejudice and continue a conversation about racial inequality.

The exhibition, which is located in the Mildred S. Lee Gallery, has workshops and discussion sessions in order to determine how to make Brandeis, and the world, a more just place.

Lucky for Brandeis students, the curators of the Rose Art Museum persistently attempt to diversify the work on display; the age old image of an art museum as a gallery, with an endless array of paintings hanging on the walls, continues to be challenged.

Art comes in a great many forms, some of which can be experienced in our own backyard. There’s no telling what will come next.

photos from internet source

Brandeis students win Karpf and Hahn Peace Awards

By Santiago Montoya Staff

Recently, four students and a student group were named Maurice J. and Fay B. Karpf Peace Award and Ari Hahn Peace Award winners; the prizes are grants for projects that will work on peaceful ways of addressing and resolving conflicts.

Maurice J. and Fay B. Karpf Peace Awards and the Ari Hahn Peace Awards are given each year to people “who wish to work toward coexistence and peaceful ways of addressing and resolving conflicts.” Any undergraduate or graduate student is eligible to apply for the awards and prizes ranges from $300 to $5,000 dollars.

The applications for the grants were evaluated by faculty and student members of the Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies Program—which does not mean that the winners need to be majoring in Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies. The applications are considered under three different categories: art works and essays on peace, travel grants for participation in a peace project or conference and money for peace-related projects not involving travel.

The art works and essays on

peace include those that reveal the costs of violence, the commitment to non-violent struggle and artistic expressions of any aspect of peace culture.

The submissions usually take form of poetry, a play, a scene or a short story, which has to be related to peace—essays too are included in this category for submission and are between 20 to 30 pages long.

The travel grants are for participation in a peace project or conference in the country or somewhere else, such as the Brandeis Bridges, which was one of this year’s winners. The group is going to Ghana “to enhance discussions regarding the topics of identity and peoplehood from a non-western approach. They will also be learning about homeland and diaspora for black and Jewish communities.”

There is also the seed money for peace-related projects that does not involve travel. That would be like organizing a project such as a community mediation service at Brandeis or a peace education project in a local school. There are so many different possibilities.

Annie Long ’16 plans to plant a seed of feminism in a conversational way by partnering with Media Monitor for Women Net-

work in Beijing. She aspires to initiate a series of inspiring feminist lecture/forum events.

Brontë Velez ’16 is another winner, she plans on creating a video art work that will embody Alice Walker’s story “The Flowers” (author of “The Color Purple”), “serving as an elegy to the remnants of slavery. The piece, along with her senior thesis, will regard the history of indigo cashcrop slavery.”

Leah Susman ’18 will be working with the Brandeis-Al-Quds Student Dialogue Initiative in order to bring seven students and faculty members from Al-Quds to Brandeis for a week. The purpose of such visit is to re-establish the academic partnership between the two schools.

And lastly, Linda Phiri ’16, through her magazine, planned to be called “Moments in Time,” will be providing a space where the voices of the refugees in Recife, Brazil will be heard through the compilation of fictional or biographical stories.

It is to no surprise that in an institution such as Brandeis, that highly values social justice, awards like these exists.

They are meant to enhance peace culture as it evolves in our society and elsewhere in the world.

photo from internet source

14 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

January 15, 2016

‘The Revenant’ is a beautiful yet barbaric frontier epic

By Ryan Bunis

Special to the Hoot

Director Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu gives himself another chance to win his second Oscar in as many years with “The Revenant.” Iñàrritu’s Academy Award-winning movie “Birdman” displayed such originality, from its story of a washed up action-film actor’s attempt to resurrect his career via Broadway, to the movie appearing as if it was shot in a single take. “The Revenant” shows more innovation by Iñàrritu, but tackles a new beast entirely. Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead by his fellow fur trappers. Glass then goes on a vicious and dangerous path for revenge against the man who betrayed him, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).

The time period is around the

early 1820s, when frontiersmen are expanding west due to the Louisiana Purchase. At that time, the main intention of frontiersmen was to gather pelts and other materials. Unfortunately, hunting on Native American tribal land comes with a price. In the opening scene, Hugh Glass and his troops are ambushed brutally.

Iñàrritu does not shy away from blood and gore as arrows graphically slice through bodies and animals are slaughtered. However, it does not detract from the film, since it exudes such a rich authenticity. The scene reminds me of the opening to Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” where American soldiers attempt to take the Normandy beach. The intensity so early on lets the audience know what they are in for.

Iñàrritu avoids portraying Native Americans as a savage culture and instead displays them as victims. Glass’ Native Amer-

ican wife and son are ruthlessly murdered. The movie quickly establishes a strong father-son relationship between Glass and his son Hawk that it makes Hawk’s murder startlingly devastating.

Scenes also show Native American villages torn by frontiersmen and the daughter of a Native American chief stolen and brutalized. It has to make you wonder why Iñàrritu wanted to replay the tragedy of Native Americans in American history. It is skillfully shown, but perhaps only included to create sympathy for the main character.

Throughout the film, Iñàrritu captures beautiful landscapes.

“The Revenant” was filmed in Alberta, Canada but since there wasn’t as much snow as needed, scenes were also shot in southern Argentina. There are shots of towering mountains that stretch for miles and vast snowy forests, untouched by civilization. Direc-

photos from internet source

tor Peter Jackson covered similar scenery in New Zealand for “The Lord of the Rings,” but the historical backdrop of “The Revenant” casts a more realistic shadow.

These great shots do not come without brutal conditions that the film crew had to endure.

There were temperatures below zero and blizzards completely unaided by special effects. The film-making process was to be implemented in the most realistic fashion possible. That is how Iñàrritu wanted to do it, and he is known to be demanding in his film-making methods. Similarly, the physical limits are tested not only by fictional Hugh Glass but

by Leonardo DiCaprio himself.

Swimming in frozen rivers and stripping down to nothing in the middle of a snowstorm are just a few of the brutal circumstances he withstood. And if you think the ice on his beard isn’t real, guess again. Bring an extra layer to the movie, because you will feel the arctic cold DiCaprio suffers. It’s the basic human instincts that speak such volumes in “The Rev-

enant,” and what lengths man will go to survive.

With this film, DiCaprio may finally win Best Actor from the Academy. Though there was little dialogue in his role, it was all the more powerful. I have never seen a character endure so much pain and battle against the brink of death as much as DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass. It’s knowing that DiCaprio suffered himself that makes it feel so genuine. His performance may even be compared to the likes of Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood, but perhaps that’s an exaggeration. The rest of the cast did a fine job as well, and they all were able to persevere under adverse conditions rather than Hollywood sunshine. Tom Hardy will probably snag an award as well, as his talent and performance surely doesn’t go unnoticed. Expect “The Revenant” to attract a great deal of attention at the Oscars this year.

Remembering the Starman: a memorial to David Bowie

By Zach Gordon Staff

David Bowie died last Sunday of cancer at age 69, two days after the release of his final studio album: “Blackstar.”

After an 18-month battle with cancer which reportedly started in his liver, Bowie “died peacefully [Sunday] surrounded by his family,” according to posts made on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

In a week that has been underscored by loss in the artistic community—with the deaths of both Bowie and actor Alan Rickman—we take time to remember the man, the mind and the music of the Starman himself, David Bowie.

From “Space Oddity” to “Changes” to “Under Pressure,” chances are you have heard the genius that is and was David Bowie. In his 27 studio albums, Mr. Bowie was often described as musically 5 to 10 years ahead of his time. From the start of his career Bowie’s musical style was undeniably unique and as fluid as the many personas he wore over the years. Ranging from Glam Rock to Disco to experimental Jazz, Bowie infused every song with his inimitable personality and creative spirit.

Two days before his death, Bowie released “Blackstar,” an experimental record collaborating with a Jazz quartet led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin who he met at The 55 Bar in New York’s West Village. According to Bowie’s long time producer, Tony Visconti, in an interview he did for Rolling Stone back in November,

“The goal, in many, many ways, was to avoid rock & roll.” And avoid rock and roll they did.

“Blackstar,” combining elements of jazz, including thick and creative horn lines, and a signature Bowie flavor, with high echoing vocal accompaniments and lyrics as sharp as ever; Black Star serves as a beautifully poetic epitaph for a man who never stopped experimenting.

Bowie also put out two music videos accompanying the album before his death. The first video, for the album’s 10 minute title track, “Blackstar,” was released back in November when the single was released. The second video for “Lazarus,” a dramatic, pulsing, and somber piece, was released one day before the album’s release.

Both videos are haunting and show a darker side of Bowie.

And both contain elements that in hindsight reference what we found out shortly after, that he was indeed dying of cancer.

In the video for “Blackstar” Bowie is portrayed as a blind prophet who amassed a following of seizing figures underscored by the crucifixion of three scarecrow figures and shots of a massive “solitary candle,” as it is referred to in the lyrics. The visuals take on a surreal short film quality stylistically reminiscent of the cinematography present in Guillermo Del Toro films. That style and the unsettling but flawless nature of the video’s pairing with the music extends to the video for “Lazarus.”

In the Lazarus video, we see Bowie lying on what now is clearly a hospital bed, being tormented from below by a shadowy female

figure who looked similar to the monsters from “The Ring” and “The Grudge.” The lyrics of the song, which begin with “Look up here, I’m in heaven” may refer to Bowie’s struggle with his illness and with keeping his diagnosis a secret.

According to another Rolling Stone interview with Tony Vis-

this world. Bowie was always so courageously and passionately dedicated to his music. To release one last record before the end is exactly how he would have wanted to go.

As a fan of his music, and the man behind it, I am incredibly saddened by his death, but with the release of Blackstar, it feels

conti, Bowie was planning on recording another album after “Blackstar.” Reportedly Bowie had written and demoed 5 more songs and wanted to record one last album before he succumbed to what he reportedly knew since November was terminal cancer.

It may not have been the last album he wanted, but David Bowie got to record and release one last critically acclaimed album before his death. In looking back on David’s career there was no other way he could have left

as if the life and music of David Bowie was a complete story. At 69 we lost him so young, but he was able to put out one more album and die doing what he loved most in this world. It doesn’t remove the pain of his loss, but it is inspiring and moving to know that even at the end he was so committed to his art.

Bowie was open about his bisexuality all the way back in 1976, and he constantly bent and broke the lines of gender, performing as many gender-ambiguous perso-

photo from internet source

nas such as Ziggy Stardust. Bowie’s openness about his sexuality and his arguable gender-fluidity were and are inspirations to so many people in the LGBTQIA+ community including myself. His unashamed presentation of himself is something to remember and for me something to always strive to reach in my personal life.

David Bowie was always true to himself and never compromised his authenticity for anything. His ever changing persona and his many phases bent to his whims and no one else’s. He showed the world and generations of artists and non-artists alike that being real and genuine is a trait to be admired above all else, and that dedication and creativity should never be mired by conformity to anyone’s ideals but one’s own.

David Bowie was so many things to so many people. He was weird, he was wild, he was ingenious. He was creative, he was talented, he was eloquent. He was an inspiration to so many and changed music in so many ways.

Bowie’s musical innovations can be heard echoed throughout his contemporaries and all those after him. And at the end he showed himself to be what he always was: dedicated, inspirational, progressive, and genius. He was a man out of time, who made the most out of his time here, and we thank him for it, because without David Bowie music, and the world that makes it would never be the same.

January 15, 2016

ARTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Cage the Elephant’s new album a breath of fresh air

By Adam Lamper Staff

The post-punk revival movement of the early 2000s brought into the mainstream a slew of artists such as New York’s The Strokes and Detroit’s The White Stripes, whose widespread success would later pave the way for subsequent musicians, as well as the reintroduction of alternative rock and its countless sub-genres into pop culture. Amongst a socalled “second wave” of alternative rock in the latter half of the decade came Kentucky’s Cage the Elephant, whose hits like “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and “Shake Me Down” secured their place in the ever-increasing world of alternative music and even earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album for their 2015 album, “Melophobia.” The band’s latest album, titled “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” has accumulated a Metacritic score of 73 and tastefully integrates the excitement and raw sound of the initial postpunk revival with more modern trends that have emerged at the turn of the decade.

Cage the Elephant’s first single, “Mess Around,” was released at the end of last October. What it lacked in lyrical diversity, it made up for in upbeat riffs and rhythms, a typical and often effective tactic for drawing in new listeners to the truly substantial tracks of the album. It draws

on contemporary influences in the refashioning of beach rock, and more heavily on the more widely spread blues rock genre, though there is a noticeable shift in the musical styling of this premier track that is more reflective of midwestern-born The Black Keys, another musical group who rose to prominence in the wake of the first post-punk revival. This comes as no surprise given that The Black Keys’ lead singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach served as the band’s producer, somewhat curbing the group’s traditionally harsher garage vibe and opting instead for the trendy “indie” sound that more easily finds its way into the ears of today’s mainstream audience. Though this shift in style has undoubtedly given Cage the Elephant a commercial edge and better demonstrates the group’s

range in dynamics and genre, many longtime listeners castigate their having “sold out,” or simply trying too hard to sound like their more successful counterparts.

Despite the initially-released single, the album’s first track, “Cry Baby,” greets fans with the band’s acclaimed, eclectic sound.

Unlike “Mess Around,” this track features a modern take on what is undeniably a classic rock and proto-punk-inspired melody, combining elements of the music of the British Invasion with the band’s signature garage-style.

Given the band’s affinity for the punk genre, it comes as no surprise to hear the equally poetic and angst-filled lyrics that teenagers and young adults find so appealing. In addition to the already genre-laden piece, an interrupting bass groove brings listeners from

the upbeat chorus and verses to an outro that begins in a manner more reminiscent of 70s pop rock, which gradually incorporates the melody of the song’s body before ending with vocals that reflect the neo-psychedelia movement of the 90s. One of the more interesting songs of the track, “Cry Baby” allows listeners to not only experience a wide range of stylistic influences in under five minutes, but is also lyrically duplicitous, with comparatively condensed verses that can display both a negative and positive outlook on life depending on the listener’s individual interpretation.

Two of the song’s tracks, “Trouble” and “How Are You True,” feature characteristics that are remarkably contemporary. Most notably is the use of

a more electronic sound as well as the increasingly popular male falsetto, interspersed within the gruff vocals of the verses, characteristically found in the music of the alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys and, more recently, Foster the People. However, lead vocalist Matt Schultz maintains the band’s individuality with his uniquely raw and expressive voice, which seems to add just as much to the song’s underlying story as the lyrics themselves do.

Many of the album’s songs deal with personal relationships, exploring themes of domestic abuse and self-advocacy in “Punchin’ Bag,” insecurity of mutual feelings in “Portuguese Knife Fight” and unrequited love and the inability to end a relationship in “Too Late to Say Goodbye.” However, there are many other themes that have a significant impression on the album and on post-punk revival music in a broader sense, including feelings of depression, rage and the simultaneously pessimistic and optimistic outlooks on life. Due to its recent release and intriguingly eclectic sound, Cage the Elephant’s “Tell Me I’m Pretty” is sure to produce more hits within the world of contemporary alternative rock, and perhaps even produce a crossover hit into the realm of pop success.

With its straightforward rhythms, driving beats and myriad stylistic influences, this album is definitely a must-listen for any fan of rock music.

photos from internet source

Surving Sodexo: Make a Banana Brownie Boat!

By Charlotte Aaron Back on campus after a long winter break and with New Years resolutions, health-focused students fill their plates with fruits and vegetables and leave the desserts on the serving trays.

Yet, with the increasingly chilly weather, there is nothing better than dessert to warm students up.

This week’s Surviving Sodexo features a banana brownie boat—a

dessert featuring chocolate brownies, peanut butter, bananas and ice cream.

the packet equally on top of two chocolate brownies from the dessert section. If brownies are not available, chocolate cookies can be used as substitutes. Place both brownies at the bottom of the bowl next to each other. Slice the banana into 4 slices the long way across and lie them down on top of the brownies. Add two scoops of ice cream to the dessert. Sprinkle hot chocolate mix over the ice cream and add marshmallows.

Enjoy!

Ingredients 2 Chocolate brownies Peanut butter packet Banana Vanilla or chocolate ice cream Marshmallows Hot chocolate mix Recipe Take a peanut butter packet from the bagel station and smear

photos from internet source

Comic: The ‘Me’ Generation

Drawn by Tova Weinberger and text by Emily Kalver

16 The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS, ETC.

January 15, 2016

Mid-Year Exhibition proudly displays seniors’ artwork

By Alana Hodson Staff

From Dec. 9 to Jan. 12, Spingold’s Dreitzer Gallery housed this year’s Senior Mid-Year Exhibition. This exhibition featured a

stunning display of a wide variety of art produced by Studio Art seniors, including everything from photography, sculpture, pop art, abstract, collage and more.

As soon as one walked down the right-hand staircase of the gallery, the impressive talent of Brandeis’ art majors was boldly asserted, with the walls elegantly dressed with neat frames, sculptures placed throughout the open floor and the vast array of color treating the viewer to an endlessly fascinating experience. The first piece of art one encountered was placed on the wall to the right to the stairs—the photography of Yeng Her ’16.

The large photos were divided into page-sized sections, giving

the illusion that one was looking at the jungle-like forest scene through a paned window. The vibrancy of the greens laced with yellows and shocking red primed the viewer’s eyes for the rest of the artwork to come.

contrasting figures were the lyrics of a monologue from a song by T.I. In speaking with Pineda, he described his method of painting as wanting to be able to work in the moment and paint anything that sparked his emotions or

sky is largely obscured by a thick column of dark gray smoke that rises from a volcano. It seemed as though the suffering of the three humans is embodied within the smoke of the volcano.

However, Heare’s entrancing

placed which foils the mood of the previous scene completely by displaying a bright collection of geometrical houses, all designed with different windows, and all fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

The overall effect is one of a

Although all the art students worked throughout the year in close vicinity to one another, there was absolutely no repetition in theme or technique; every piece was captivatingly original. One of the most unique art displays was that of Cesar Pineda ’16, whose vibrant oil paintings, reminiscent of Basquiat’s contemporary graffiti style, featured an international flare. Pineda’s most prominent piece was a massive canvas painting that hung on the wall. It illustrated two figures, one of which was a Buddha dressed in the traditional azure robe, and the other was the bare chest of a muscular man with head that wore the face of a simple text “surprised” emoticon. In the background of these

struck his interest at a particular time, such as aspects of pop culture.

Pineda noted that being in a class with such astounding artists was quite inspiring, and one such inspiration was fellow student Thomas Hearne ’16. Just a few paces beyond Pineda’s work hung Hearne’s oil painting that captivates the viewer, especially those with an eye for ancient Greek art. The paint seems to hold an ominous aura as the viewer is immediately drawn to the three smooth, marble-white figures whose bodies were tangled among one another yet still appeared to be yearning toward the sky with outstretched arms. In the background, the fiery orange

piece was not the only to give off a darker vibe.

In fact, just beyond the next wall of the gallery was a painting

by Julia Jeon.

The painting was of a nighttime scene of a cityscape, and in the background against the black sky loomed three brightly-colored, towering monsters all gazing down at the city with eyes that hinted at gleeful savagery. In the foreground, scrawled in crimson, graffiti-like script were the words, “God is Still Here.” These words, in combination with the three monsters, gave the impression that just below the surface of the paint, lies a dark truth about the nature and fate of humanity. Yet, to the right, another painting was

simple, geometric shapes yet all creating the appearance of order within chaos.

One could go on and on describing the fantastic artwork nestled within the gallery, from the gorgeous, colorful string sculpture that laced a corner of the room like a spider’s web to the large canvas and hanging frames that were literally dripping with wild colors of melted wax—though hardened in time for display, of course.

There is no doubt that Brandeis boasts a wide spectrum of incredible talent, and the next art show, which will contain the final works of the art majors before graduation, is an absolutely must-see event.

photos from internet source