The Brandeis Hoot 01/23/2015

Volume 12 Number 2

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Rape Crisis Center offering student positions

‘Selma’ resonates amid current racial tensions

By Victoria Aronson Editor

Following the previous night’s showing of the critically acclaimed film “Selma,” directed

by Ava DuVernay, Rapaporte Treasure Hall filled to capacity as students gathered for a discussion on race and civil rights on Thursday, Jan. 22. Moderated by President Fred Lawrence, the panel featured speakers including Chad Williams, professor and chair of the African and Afro-American Studies Department; Thomas Doherty, professor of American Studies; Daniel Kryder, professor of politics; and Jasmine Johnson, professor of AAAS and Women’s Gender and Sexuality studies.

Beginning the discussion with a historical overview of the Civil Rights Movement and the time period framing “Selma,” Lawrence pointed to the failure of the Constitution, as it was originally drafted to address the relationship between states and

individuals. Lawrence stated that this omission was a deliberate maneuver to avoid the topic of slavery. “Slavery is the one issue that preoccupies the Constitution

even though it never showed up in written form,” he said.

Despite the tremendous work and accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movements since, Law-

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

Pictured right. professor speaks on campus about race relations. chad williams

January 23, 2015

See PANEL, page 2

By Jess Linde Editor

Student activists Samantha Daniels ’16, Victoria Jonas ’15 and Ava Blustein ’15 outlined the responsibilities and application process for “peer advocate” positions at the soon-to-be implemented Brandeis Rape Crisis Center (RCC) to interested students on Tuesday. The Rape Crisis Center, an extension of Brandeis’ Peer Counseling Center and the Office of Prevention Services, was first proposed to the university by sexual assault activists in 2013. Since the administration’s approval of the RCC in the summer of 2014, activists, particularly members of Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence (B.SASV) have been working to implement its services on campus. Daniels, Jonas and Blustein have been closely involved with the center’s devel-

opment, and are seeking to hire 12 students as peer advocates.

The RCC is a massive victory resulting from years of activism by students, including the above mentioned student leaders. Last semester, activists conducted a silent protest during the dedication of the “Light of Reason” sculpture at the Rose Art Museum. Students also disrupted a meeting of the board of trustees to publicly demand more serious action against sexual assault on campus. In April 2014, B.SASV published a petition to the Brandeis administration with a list of requests, including a rape crisis center. After months of deliberation, the center will be implemented on campus in Usdan in the very near future.

Once the RCC opens this semester, it will principally be staffed by professionals in the See RCC, page 3

Memorial event to reclaim MLK’s legacy

By Emily Belowich Editor

On Monday evening, Jan. 19, members of the Brandeis community gathered in the fully packed Shapiro Campus Center Theater for the school’s 10th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The event was co-hosted by Dean of Students Jamele Adams and Rabbi Elyse Winick ’86, and was also sponsored by the Dean of Students Office and the MLK Scholars and Friends Club. The event included various performances as well as a keynote address from Dr. Roy DeBerry ’70, an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement.

The event opened with Adams reading a list of names of all the African Americans killed in the last year through acts of violent brutality. Eric Garner and Michael Brown were two names recited, both of whom were killed over the summer and have received attention in the news posthumously in regard to the grand jury hearings surrounding their cases.

Adams then performed two poems that he wrote, one titled “New Negro Nursery Rhyme for Black Boys.” He recited, “Hands up, don’t shoot, is what we say; I can’t breathe, don’t kill me that way.”

Inside this issue:

Adams went on to say that the night was about engaging with one another as a family. He mentioned that whatever reaction it was, whether it be to laugh, cry, smile or be silent, those are the reactions that members of the audience should have. He then introduced Winick, who spoke briefly about King’s friendship with Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, a prominent rabbi, theologian and philosopher who was an active Civil Rights leader marching right beside King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March of 1965. Winick said that when King sat in the Birmingham jail, Heschel sent him a telegram which read, “My deep identification with the goals you pursue. May your leadership be an inspiration for all of America.

Professor Chad Williams, chair of the African and Afro-American Studies Department, also spoke briefly about Brandeis’ role in reclaiming King’s legacy.

“So Brandeis, we have a lot of work to do … I believe if Martin Luther King were alive today, he would be on the front lines with all of us who proclaim that black lives matter,” Williams said.

“Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed radical freedom dreams, and it’s up to all of us to make those See MLK, page 3

News: Looking back on Prof. Dodson’s career Page 4 Arts, Etc.: Dining hall improv in Usdan Page 7 Opinion: Free speech should always be preserved Page 12 Sports: Ski team off to a fast start Page 5 Editorial: Admin. responds to student needs Page 10

photo by emma hanselman/the hoot

An event in the Women’s Studies Research Center (titled Suffer the Women: Pain, Prison and Perfection ina Medicalized World) shed light on the plight of women in prison. suffer the women

Cunningham leaves for WashU after 15 years at Brandeis

By Charlotte Aaron staff

In 1988, David Cunningham stepped foot on the University of Connecticut’s campus as a firstyear undergraduate student. Like most of his peers, he expected to earn a college degree over the following four years and get a job. Unbeknownst to him, this was the beginning to Cunningham’s journey to nothing short of academic excellence. While this semester is Cunningham’s last as part of Brandeis’ Sociology Department, he is leaving as a

highly regarded professor among Brandeis students and faculty.

Cunningham will continue to contribute to the field of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis beginning next year.

When Cunningham entered the academic world as a firstyear in college, he never would have guessed it was a place he was going to spend the rest of his career. “When I first started college, I was a civil engineering and English major,” Cunningham told The Brandeis Hoot. While spending his evenings working on problem sets, his friends,

who happened to be sociology majors, were equally busy with their work. Although he was able to feed his literary curiosity by proposing and completing a dual degree program that allowed him to study both English and civil engineering, he continuously looked for ways to become more engaged in his work.

By Cunningham’s last year in college, he knew he would never be satisfied with engineering.

While switching majors was still a viable option, he chose to finSee CUNNINGHAM, page 2

Pop star shines

Taking advantage

Arts: Page 16

Ops: Page 13

Meghan Trainor exceeds expectations with release of debut album after early success

University should reconsider Follett partnership when it comes to supplying campus bookstore

NEWS

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot 2

Brandeis panel discusses race relations From PANEL, page 1

rence emphasized, “The price of liberty is indeed eternal vigilance.” With the timing of the release of “Selma” coinciding with the pain and controversy surrounding the grand jury decisions on the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, a point addressed by audience members, race relations continue to be a point of pertinent discussion.

It is also an issue that clearly resonates with members of the Brandeis community, as evidenced by the overwhelming attendance.

Describing “Selma” as a serious portrayal of “the perennially anguishing issue of race in America,” Doherty pointed to the historical intersection of race and film. With the 100th anniversary of the release of the film “Birth of a Nation” rapidly approaching, Doherty addressed the potential of films to be both aesthetically brilliant yet devastating in their effects. He described “Birth of a Nation” as a “horribly destructive work of racist revisionism … appalling in its impact in that it led quite directly to the rebirth of the KKK.” Although Doherty acknowledged the flaws in “Selma,” including the perhaps unjust portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson as a resistor rather than a facilitator of the Civil Rights Act, he commended the film’s brutally honest rendition of the racial tensions of the time period. Discussing “Selma” from the perspective of black feminist thought, Johnson claimed the

film reveals beautiful aspects of the black community. Although the film is not afraid to show instances of horrific racial violence and suffering, it also offers scenes showing what she coins “gorgeous black living.”

However, Johnson asserts a key failure of the film is its portrayal of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. Claiming the film “represented her as if she did not have her own agenda before [King],” Johnson points to the undermining of black feminism within “Selma.”

From the perspective of strategy, Kryder pointed to the genius of King as a political organizer.

However, he claimed the film failed to depict the “highly fragmented white power structure,” which he asserted ultimately played in King’s favor. “What ‘Selma’ shows us is a moment of time when coordination was an advantage of the disadvantaged,” according to Kryder.

Recalling his first time viewing “Selma,” Williams shared the emotional nature of the experience. “I was in tears. I was sunk into my seat. It really hit me hard,” he said.

“It made me think about my own grandparents … what was it like to have to reaffirm their identity on a daily basis?” he asked. Williams commented on his own experiences with racial tensions, including his memories in college when affirmative action was dismantled, to his experience being racially profiled by police while at Princeton University.

“It made me think about my

photo by emma hanselman/the hoot

president lawrence

Brandeis University President Frederick Lawerence (middle) speaks to the Brandeis community at the panel.

two little boys, my sons,” he stated, pointing to the question of what it means to be a man of color in America today.

“Selma is not some distant event in the past. Selma is here.

Selma is right now. Selma is in this room,” Williams said, emphasizing the need for love and compassion when coping with these issues. Although he also

acknowledged the potential flaws with the film, he stated, “There is no such thing as a completely objective historical reality … it is and always has been a matter of interpretation and contestation.”

Alluding to Johnson’s previous commentary on the role of women within the film, Williams recalled a powerful scene featuring King, explaining, “King wanted

to hear the voice of the Lord, and he calls a black woman.”

Concluding the discussion, Williams said, “‘Selma’ does the work of reminding us that black people are beautiful … it is an affirmation of black humanity that matters today. It reminds us of black pain, of what it means to have violence inflicted on black bodies.”

Prof. Cunningham continually inspires students From CUNNINGHAM, page 1

ish out his double major and go from there. After graduation, Cunningham, with a diploma for both civil engineering and English, applied to graduate school for sociology. “I kind of did it as a leap of faith,” Cunningham explained. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I kind of stumbled into it, and it ended up working out, but its not a recommended path.”

From Cunningham’s time at the University of North Carolina, where he earned his doctorate in sociology, he went through a great personal transformation.

He had never met anyone who had attended graduate school, but he could hardly explain the subject for which he was attending. When Cunningham’s parents, apprehensive about the decision, asked him about his future, he had trouble responding.

“To be honest, I didn’t understand what sociology was either, so I couldn’t explain it very well,” he said. Because Cunningham grew up in central Connecticut in the ’80s, he never felt like he had the vocabulary necessary to understand and engage with issues such as the Los Angeles Race Riots of 1982. Cunningham felt isolated and yearned to understand what was going on in society.

Over the course of his six years in graduate school, Cunningham began to get his questions answered and became an expert in the field of sociology. He wrote his dissertation on FBI Count-

er Intelligence programs, which were designed to shut down movements they saw as threats to national security. With the use of surveillance, informants and active disruption, the FBI hindered a large range of social movements, a majority leftist.

Yet the FBI did cover one rightwing group—the Ku Klux Klan.

Though Cunningham did publish a book on the FBI, he was more excited about what he described as the “window into the KKK.” Through his research on the FBI, Cunningham discovered his interest in the KKK. “The Klan people, beyond the obvious racism side of it, saw themselves as patriotic, anti-communist and Christian,” Cunningham said.

“All these kind of things that most FBI agents saw themselves as as well.” Because of this relation, hundreds of FBI informants inserted themselves into Klan groups and wrote detailed reports. These reports gave Cunningham a perspective on the KKK he had never seen before.

Two days after defending his dissertation on the FBI at UNC, Cunningham flew to Boston, where he immediately took a job as an associate professor at Brandeis and not only continued to research the KKK, but worked his way up to become the head of the Sociology Department.

“I defended my dissertation on, it must have been, Aug. 29, 1999, and started here two days later,” Cunningham said. Cunningham’s first course at Brandeis was titled “Community Structure and

Youth Subculture.” Initially, Cunningham was given a classroom with space for about 15 students, but when he walked into Pearlman on the first day, there was a line of about 50 students lined up to get a seat in the class. After moving to Pearlman Lounge, and then to Gerstenzang after the class grew even larger, Cunningham was able to begin teaching.

“I got to know a lot of students from that class, so I appreciated that I at least included ‘youth subculture’ in the title,” Cunningham said.

Sixteen years later, Cunningham is just as dedicated to and interested in his students as he was when he began. “It’s been so satisfying to see students who you meet early on, or it’s the first sociology class they have ever taken, develop and go on and do amazing stuff,” Cunningham said.

“It’s an amazing thing to watch over time and there are just so many interesting students that come to Brandeis, the beauty of it is that everyone is always doing something different, so the trajectory is never the same.”

Just as Cunningham has taken a pleasure in watching his students move on to do incredible things with their lives, the Brandeis community will feel similarly about Cunningham. He leaves after this semester to take on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of building a sociology department from the ground up at Washington University in St. Louis. As Gordon Fellman,

professor david cunningham photo from internet source

a long-time professor in the Sociology Department, says of Cunningham, “David’s teaching about social movements, youth, methods and much more have been key courses in our department’s curriculum.” Fellman continued to describe Cunningham as “magnificently smart, kind, decent, considerate, empathetic, earnest and dedicated in the most sophisticated ways to his profession, his students, his colleagues and our university altogether.” Fellman is not alone in his admiration for Cunningham.

Students describe him as en-

gaging, helpful, compassionate and caring. As Hannah Marion ’16 said, “What makes Professor Cunningham so special is not only his clear passion for what he teaches, but his ability to offer students that same zeal for the subject through engaging and creative classes that truly make you want to learn.”

When Cunningham takes the next step in his career as an accomplished and influential sociology professor, the Brandeis community will support him in his journey and continue to be a place he can call home.

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot

NEWS

3

Brandeis leaders inspire with moving memorial From MLK, page 1

dreams a reality.”

The event featured performances from gospel singer Louise Grasmere of students and enrollment, Sean Fielder and the Boston Tap Company, Kaos Kids and the So Unique! step team. There were also readings by students Wilkins Lugo ’17, D’Andre Young ’15, Cameron MendesMoreau ’15, Naman Patel ’16, Leah Staffin ’15 and Makalani Mack ‘16.

Two of these students performed MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963 and his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from 1964.

The last part of the event featured DeBerry’s keynote address to the audience. DeBerry is the executive director and one of the founders of the Hill Country Project, a non-profit dedicated to recording the stories of the residents of Benton County, Mississippi, “who have lived through the modern Civil Rights Movement and beyond and provide education

support to the local school district.”

DeBerry, a native of Holly Springs, Mississippi, participated in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s first as a Freedom School student and then as a general organizer. DeBerry shared stories about being a student in the early 1970s, at a time when a very small portion of the students were of color, he noted.

He acknowledged that today, “freedom is not free,” but he believes that today’s generation is a promising one. He said that he is hopeful that one day, violent acts of racism will be eradicated, and that hope, he believes, is realizable somewhere in the foreseeable future.

The events celebrating the life and legacy of King continued throughout the week, including a free screening for the Brandeis community of “Selma” and a panel discussion about the film on Thursday evening featuring President Fred Lawrence, Professor Thomas Doherty (AMST), Professor Jasmine Johnson, (AAAS & WGS), Professor Daniel Kryder (POL) and Williams.

photo from internet source

Student activism leads to opening of Rape Crisis Center From RCC, page 1

field of sexual assault and offer services for survivors of sexual assault, including education and counseling.

“Peer advocates...will play a vital role in the increased development of the Rape Crisis Center,” Jonas said.

Advocates will report to professional employees, such as Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon, and will be trained to handle situations involving serious trauma. “People might just be coming to pick up a brochure or ask a question, or they might be coming to the center as a first response,” Jonas said. “We are not totally sure what we will get.”

The presenters also stressed the importance of emotional self-care in the peer advocate position. “This definitely can be a very emotionally intense position,” Daniels said. “But there will also be time to reflect and meet with the supervision … you are not just going to be thrown into the position and never have anyone to talk to.” Applicants must also be able to maintain confidentiality. Peer advocates may also be required to provide “medical advocacy,” including accompanying assault survivors to the hospital in order to receive a rape kit or similar treatments. Transport would be arranged and paid for by the RCC, though coordinators are currently unsure of the frequency of

these trips, according to Daniels. All interested students are encouraged to apply but will only be considered if they are at Brandeis for at least another two semesters.

Student coordinators hope that the RCC will be a safe place that will also be open to growth and change. “We want to help destigmatize the conversation around assault,” Jonas said.

“We want the RCC to be a place everyone knows about and can access whenever they want.” The application for the peer advocate position is currently online at the Office of Prevention Services’ section of the Brandeis website, and applicants will be informed of their acceptance or rejection by early to mid-February.

The Brandeis Hoot has a new website!

Come visit us at

brandeishoot.com

January 26, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot

NEWS

4

Heller school Professor Lisa Dodson fights poverty

By Emily Smith Staff

Heller School Professor Lisa Dodson is an accomplished writer, researcher and educator who has made significant contributions to the study of poverty and the lives of those living in poverty. She focuses on the role of race, class and gender in poverty.

Her most recent published work, “We Don’t Fight Poverty Anymore,” an article for the website The Conversation, looks at the role of government programs in American society. She writes about the development of social programs and safety nets during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency and the years following it, but says, “50 years later, we don’t fight poverty anymore.”

In “We Don’t Fight Poverty Anymore,” Dodson looks at the effects of poverty on families and children and the various steps society has taken to provide safety nets for Americans who need them. She examines the connections between race and poverty, noting that African Americans and

Latinos are disproportionately affected by poverty. Much of her article focuses on the changes in government policies and programs between the time of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and the present. Referring to wage responsibility as “the elephant in the room,” Dodson says that the United States has enough resources to conquer poverty.

As a senior scientist and senior lecturer for the Heller School, Dodson is able to teach graduate students while continuing research on low-wage jobs and related subjects. In addition to her work at the Heller School’s Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy, she is a professor of sociology at Boston College. She has presented findings from her research to Congress and to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as well as several other organizations.

Dodson’s career has taken her from being an OB-GYN nurse to being a Policy Fellow at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Public Policy Institute. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Research

and Public Policy at the Heller School in 1993. Dodson’s accomplishments include numerous awards, fellowships and grants. Her book “The Moral Underground” won the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant in 2010.

Professor Dodson’s diverse experiences are inspired in part by her upbringing. She says that her family saw great importance in the concept of social responsibility. Her research involved direct contact with people struggling to make ends meet with low incomes and the organizations that aim to provide them aid. Though this is often a rewarding and uplifting experience, it can be frustrating. She said, in an interview with The Hoot, “What is frustrating is that I have been at this a long time and right now there is a larger percentage of children living poor in America than there was when I started out.”

Dodson wrote “The Moral Underground” after hearing of a repeated theme of fairness and unfairness in American society from the people she works with. She found that many

Day of service honors MLK Jr.

By Hannah Schuster Staff

On Monday, Jan. 19, the fifth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Interfaith Service was held at Brandeis. The event brought together many organizations and around 250 volunteers to celebrate the legacy of King through valuable community service. Brandeis students as well as middle and high school students from the surrounding area attended the daylong event.

The event was organized through a partnership between a wide range of groups, including many Brandeis student groups, the Multifaith Chaplaincy and several outside organizations.

The Waltham Group, the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO), the MLK & Friends Club and the MLK Scholars helped to organize and host the event.

The Sharon, MA,-based Youth LEAD worked in collaboration with members of the Brandeis community. Youth LEAD encourages young leaders to collaborate with peers of different faiths and backgrounds to promote positive change.

A strong partnership existed between Brandeis and the Boston-area organization Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM), which seeks “to mobilize congregations and communities across economic, religious, racial and ethnic boundaries so that, in partnership, we can work more effectively for a just and peaceful society and for spiritual growth and interfaith understanding,” according to CMM’s mission statement.

CMM was founded in 1966 by people of different faiths who marched alongside King and, in turn, sought to bring his vision of social justice and equality to the Boston area.

Brandeis’ Protestant chaplain, Rev. Matt Carriker, who was very involved with the event, said that he believes the partnership “seems like a good fit for Brandeis, whose identity is social justice.”

Carriker has been a chaplain at Brandeis for three years, but he has been involved with the Day of Interfaith Service for five, as he worked for many years with CMM. He praises the cooperation between the numerous groups involved in the planning process, calling it a “bonding experience.”

“King was so successful because he brought so many people together.

If it’s just one group planning, it’s not going to be in the same spirit of Martin Luther King,” Carriker said.

During the Day of Interfaith Service, volunteers participated in an Educational Justice Fair, a series of social justice-themed workshops and a meal-packaging activity.

Angela Balcom ’18 is an MLK Scholar who became involved with the Day of Interfaith Service in late December.

“The purpose of the day was to spend the day that would be considered a day off from school and treat is as a day on because that’s what we felt Dr. King would have wanted,” Balcom said in an interview with The Brandeis Hoot. She helped reach out to Brandeis clubs and local food banks to advertise the service event to Brandeis students. She also served as an MC for the event with fellow MLK Scholar Irene Wong ’17.

ics. Some were led by Brandeis groups and some by outside groups. Watch CDC, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, Amnesty International, BBSO, Chaplains on the Way, the Waltham Family School and Youth LEAD led the workshops. The Youth LEAD workshop focused on stereotypes and was led by high schoolers who participate in the program.

Students also attended a session titled “Forgiveness and Reconciliation and Non-Violence.”

During the event, participants also watched videos on King, Carriker led the song “Peace, Salam, Shalom,” and Dean of Students Jamele Adams performed. At the close of the event, volunteers reflected upon their experiences as a group.

Balcom believes that the Day of

The volunteers packed meals of macaroni and cheese with soy, which gives the dish extra protein, so the dishes were three times more healthy than the average meal of macaroni and cheese.

Through an assembly line production, volunteers added ingredients to the pasta, sent bags along to be weighed and finally sealed.

During the event, volunteers packaged a total of 12,000 meals. The expected number was 10,000, however donation boxes set out on Monday allowed for the additional 2,000—at a cost of 25 cents per meal. A representative from Outreach Ministries who attended the event announced it was a record-breaking day for meal packing between all the events to which they donated food on MLK Day. The social justice workshops for students encompassed a range of top-

Interfaith Service is “about moving forward and helping those we can and doing something on MLK Day that reflects his life and legacy.” Around the country, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has become a day of service seeking to do just this.

“When I reflect on Martin Luther King, on his life and legacy, I think how he’d want us to remember him would be continuing to work for peace and justice, to live out that Gandhi quote, ‘Be the change you want to see in the word,’ and not just talking about it, but living it,” Carriker said to further this message.

He commented on the state of equality in the world today, “I think a day like this helps because it’s so easy to get overwhelmed when you look at the magnitude of injustice and social inequality … when I see a day like this, I’m hopeful.”

Americans were taking risks to help others. Dodson described her findings, saying “I began to hear this theme of people who were not themselves poor but they … object to the fact that so many people live poor in this country when it’s such a wealthy country. They were very concerned and felt it was essentially unfair.”

In 1981, Dodson founded the Division of Women’s Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

She served as the director of the Division until 1989. During her time as director, Dodson was awarded the first Massachusetts Women’s Health Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to women’s health. Of her time at the Division of Women’s Health, Dodson says, “That was a period when we actually were able to get something done … we really had a vision of women’s health as not only maternal health but also women and issues of inequality.” Professor Dodson’s contributions to her field and to the lives of many in her community are a testament to her hard work

photo from internet source

and view of the importance of social responsibility. She represents many of the principles of both the Heller School and Brandeis University and is of tremendous value to the community she serves.

Flasher at Walgreens

By Andrew Elmers Editor

In an email sent out to the Brandeis community Tuesday afternoon, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan relayed information about an incident occurring at the Walgreens at the corner of Weston and South streets in Waltham. A Brandeis student, who was shopping there Monday evening, was victim to an act of indecent exposure. According to the email, a white male “exposed himself ” to the student and then took off without being identified beyond a general description.

The 30-50-year-old male suspect stands six feet tall and has a medium build. He was seen wearing a green hat with ear flaps, a dark winter jack-

et and gray sweatpants, according to the police report filed. Callahan mentioned in the email that the Waltham police are currently investigating the incident and, in a separate statement to The Brandeis Hoot, that there was no further information available.

This was the first act of indecent exposure to occur in the Brandeis community since an incident in August 2010. A man in his 20s was reported to have been exposing himself inside an empty Harlan Chapel, the Protestant chapel on campus. That incident had no direct targets, while this most recent incident was targeted at this particular student.

Anyone with any information relating to this incident at Walgreens should report it to the Waltham Police.

photo from internet source

photos from internet source

5 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

January 23, 2015

Tennis returns to the courts

By Sarah Jousset Staff

The Brandeis women’s tennis team kicked off its spring season this past Monday, Jan. 19. The team has put in hours of training over the off-season to get ready for their first game Feb. 7 at Bryant University.

“The team trained by practicing multiple times a week and working out both on our own and with our athletic trainer, Jason Byrne,” captain Carley Cooke ’15 said.

With only two weeks until the first game of the season, Cooke is excited about her team’s potential. “This year’s team looks very different than last year’s because we graduated four seniors. But we filled the spots with four new freshmen who are all very talented and hard-working, so we’re looking forward to a great season.”

The team looks forward to a rigorous season. “Our greatest challenges are maintaining a rigorous practice schedule amidst playing lots of matches … and managing our school work,” Cooke said.

The women’s tennis team strives to finish in the top four of the UAA conference and make it to the NCAA championship. However, the team will first have to get past some very tough competition, including Middlebury and Amherst.

The men’s team begins its season next Monday, Jan. 26, a week after the women’s team begins. However, the staggered season hasn’t stopped the men’s team from keeping in shape this past offseason. “For the first few weeks … we worked with [the trainer] to build our leg strength, running and lifting, instead of touching a racquet,” captain Alec Siegel ’15 said.

The results should be positive, with returners and rookies alike coming together to rack up some wins. “[The] team looks great this year. We have some new guys that will definite-

photo by charlotte aaron/the hoot

ly contribute in a positive way this season, and all of the guys from our starting lineup last year are back, a year more mature, stronger physically, mentally and emotionally,” Siegel said.

Siegel is enthusiastic for a competitive season, where the team’s biggest downfall is its passion for the game.

“Our greatest challenge is also our biggest strength: our ability to compete, get amped up, and remain calm

throughout an entire match. These things can be a double edged sword … [because] we sometimes let our emotions get the best of us and forget about tactics.”

The team hopes to earn a top seed

in the UAA tournament and go to the NCAA tournament. The Brandeis men’s tennis team starts their battle to finish top in the region and country on Feb. 17 with their first match at Chapman University.

Ski team kicks off season

By Sarah Jousset Editor

photo from brandeis university ski and snowboard team

There might not be any snow here at Brandeis, but there is plenty on the mountains. Brandeis’ ski and snowboard club team kicked off its season on with a race on Jan. 10 at Magic Mountain in Vermont.

Brandeis performed well at the race with Allison Schwab ’16 finishing third in the women’s snowboarding slalom with a combined time of 1:30.54. Brandeis’ Rachel Zhu ’18 finished with a combined time of 1:40.20, Kathryn Semerau ’17 finished with a combined time of 1:51.22, and Tamar Lyssy ’16 finished with a combined 2:02.78.

In Alpine skiing, Miriam Fink ’15 finished ninth for Brandeis with a time of 58.66. Emily Caditz ’15 finished the race with 1:04.29, Evelyn Karin ’17 finished with 1:09.22, Malika Briggs ’18 finished with a 1:12.33, Ellen Parker ’16 finished with a 1:21.26, and Isabel Smith ’18 finished with a time of 1:26.99.

In Men’s Alpine Jordan Miller ’17 finished 15th with a time of 54.63.

Also, racing for Brandeis, Shi Pu ’16 finished with a time of 59.22, Corey Shapiro ’15 finished with 1:06.55, Jacob Abrams ’17 finished with a time of 1:10.55, Zachary Schwartz ’18 (Website Editor at The Brandeis Hoot) finished with 1:15.71, while Tianxiang Liu (GRAD) finished with a 1:21.56.

The club will compete again this weekend at the Middlebury Snow Bowl in Vermont.

ARTS, ETC.

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot 6

Comic dating coaches share wisdom with students

By Sabrina Pond Staff

Dave Ahdoot and Ethan Fixell, contrary to what their ordinary and boring names suggest, have managed to become semi-famous because of the amazing virtual portal we call the Internet. Dave and Ethan made their YouTube debut in 2009 with their video “Double Date Us: Dave and Ethan Introduction,” where they challenged girls to double date them.

They were shocked that their video triggered such a large response, as women from across the globe showed an interest in double dating them.

Dave and Ethan made a bold entrance to Brandeis with their performance “Winter Week: Dave and Ethan—Comic Dating Coaches” in Brandeis’ Shapiro Campus Center Theater on Saturday, Jan. 17. They consider themselves the ultimate dating experts, having gone on 200 dates (after their first video was well received) and used this opportunity to try practically every dating trick in the book. Having acquired a vast amount of knowledge about the dating scene, their massive repertoire has been put to good use as they perform live, in our case to inform Brandeis students how best to win that special person’s heart.

The results were hilarious. Dave and Ethan delivered bogus advice, and won the audience’s heart along the way. In order to impress a girl, Dave and Ethan recommended faking an accent. Because of their extensive practice at the art, they were

able to deliver spotty renditions of Russian, French and Spanish accents.

Their second token of advice was to be able to sing, and sing one’s heart out—because nothing wins a girl’s heart over more than the ability to serenade her into complete ecstasy.

They then sang a song they composed themselves, a true indicator of their awesome dating prowess. All was taken in humor, as those kinds of superficial qualities don’t actually determine how well a person will be received. Yet being able to sing, and sing powerfully, never hurt anyone.

The performance commenced with skits that required spectator interaction. One Brandeis student from the audience was asked to recount her first date, given that it was an awful and unsatisfying experience. In her rendition of the encounter, many things went wrong, but the underlying problem was an inability for both partners to adequately communicate to each other what they wanted. She wanted a nice, relaxing first date, and he wanted her to physically exert herself, expecting her to carry her own canoe and row to their destination. Dave and Ethan performed two versions of the story: one that closely resembled her date, and another where improvements were made so that communication was improved.

When entertainers laugh at themselves during their skit it’s obvious that they’re doing something right.

Another part of their act incorporated a “dating game,” where a bachelorette was chosen from the audience with the hopes that she would find her perfect match. Thereafter, three bachelors were anonymously chosen from the audience, and asked to sit on

dating pros?

Dave and Ethan consider themselves to be the “ultimate” dating experts.

the other side of a white board so as to block her view of them. Dave and Ethan then handed her questions that she posed to the three potential bachelors, which ranged from “What’s your best pickup line?” to “What kind of cereal would you be and why?”

Bachelors 1 and 3 gave sufficiently confident answers, but Bachelor 2 had a hard time thinking on his feet and overcoming an overwhelming awkwardness. To Dave and Ethan’s greatest surprise, it was later revealed that

the Bachelorette dismissed Bachelors 1 and 3, given that she “just liked awkward guys.” As noted by one of the YouTubers, this was the kind of phenomenon that could only happen at Brandeis.

The performance was worth attending, because it played on our insecurities and doubts as we become involved in the dating world more and more. Dave and Ethan, having known each other for an exceptionally long time, are really capable as

photo from internet source

comedians; they simply have a knack for it.. They finished their performance on a high note as they sang their final tune, which recounted their romantic encounters in college—or the lack thereof. As they pointed out, in the end college really isn’t about finding that perfect person or fooling around—it’s about getting that golden ticket, your degree. Ultimately, don’t stress about your dating status; as long as you have your eye on the prize, you’re bound to come out on top.

Burton disappoints with plotless film

By Jess Linde Editor

The easiest way to start this review would be to ask me to criticize the career path of Tim Burton. Perhaps I could lament his recent Johnny Depp/ Helena Bonham Carter-starring “reimaginings” of things nobody wanted to be reimagined, before discussing my nostalgia for his older films. I am not going to do this, because it’s been done to death, and because I actually do like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Sweeney Todd.” Still, my excitement on seeing the first trailer for “Big Eyes” was driven by the hope that it would be a return to Burton’s early days of making weird indie movies about weird characters making their way through life. It has a great cast, is about a strange-yet-true piece of American history and the trailer at least had a sense of fun to it. Unfortunately, my hope was a false one.

“Big Eyes” tells the story of Margaret Ulbrich (Amy Adams), an amateur painter who finds herself in San Francisco after leaving her first husband, barely making ends meet. Margaret is selling her paintings, all of kids with oversized and melancholy eyes, on the street when she meets the charming Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), another wannabe artist.

Falling hard for his promises and sweet-talk, Margaret quickly marries Walter, and the two try to build a life together as artists. Unfortunately, it turns out that Walter is an untalent-

poor and boring script

Burton seemingly did not try with “Big Eyes.”

ed, lying jerk with a drinking problem who starts selling Margaret’s work as his own. When said paintings take off as a kitsch sensation, Margaret must confront her guilt over the constant lying and staying with an emotionally abusive husband.

I did my best to summarize the plot of this movie in the previous paragraph, but it might not make that much sense, because this movie bare-

ly has any plot to it. The script is totally uninterested in the real-life story it’s based on, delivering a narrative so bare that Lifetime would demand rewrites.

There’s no clear passage of time, there’s no clear goal to the story and the only performance worth mentioning is Waltz, just because he is a really good actor and takes the terrible dialogue as far as he can. Adams

photo from internet source

sleepwalks through her role, and besides them, every other character is basically a cameo, which is unfair to the great character actors in the film, like Jon Polito.

Burton’s direction is barely noticeable. There are no attempts at any narrative depth or quirks, and any scene where Burton’s camera starts to get in people’s faces and begins to feel weird cuts almost immediately. Basically,

anyone could’ve directed this movie and it would have been the same, but since nothing really happens, that’s inconsequential. The script is just so bad, and it’s so boring, and I was so disappointed, because I do not think that Tim Burton is done or washed up. But it’s like he didn’t even try with “Big Eyes.” And if that’s not a reason to avoid this movie I don’t know what is, and I’m tired of talking about it.

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot

Staff

This week marked the debut of the Fine Arts Department’s “Dimensions 2,” located in the Dreitzer Gallery of Spingold Theater Center exhibiting student drawing, painting and printmaking pieces. The myriad of student work, ranging from smaller sketch drawings to large, painted canvases, showcases the artistic talent of the Brandeis student body. Students from all backgrounds who have come together to take introductory- and second-level art courses covered the walls with professional and polished style.

A large number of art pieces are devoted to artistic representations of scenes of campus. Many of the pieces are of the Gerstenzang Science Library, showing the building in various lightings and angles. Other art pieces are devoted to the outskirts of campus, portraying the fallen autumn foliage and silhouettes of trees.

Scattered among the art are portraits of classmates, friends and unknown figures. Some students centered their work around still lives, contributing

to the exhibit with classic productions of everyday objects. Many of the art pieces, however, diverged from the standard subject matter, revealing intricate scenes of ships caught in storms at sea, mermaids swaddling their children amid various obstacles and darkened figures emerging from unknown depths. Students utilized a variety of media, including markers, pens, charcoal, oils and even arranged bits of scrap paper. Each piece is unique and reflects the students’ individual personality.

7

Key-II Me By LinJie Xu

Dreitzer Gallery hosts “Dimensions 2”

By Emma Khan

ARTS

Brandeis offers beginning-level courses in drawing, painting and printmaking, which introduce students to the materials and methods of the art, offering basic instruction through certain themed assignments.

Other “Dimensions” exhibitions will likely showcase the work of various other media and skill levels.

“Dimensions 2” will be available for viewing through Feb. 6. Be sure to visit Dreitzer Gallery to enjoy the display and also to ask questions and discuss artwork with those involved.

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

Hoot Bites: this week’s favorite places to eat in the greater Boston area Le’s Vietnamese Cuisine

36 JFK St,Cambridge, MA 02138,Harvard Square Regularly populated by both native Bostonians and college students, Le’s is a great place for those on the lookout for cheap, healthy and high-quality Vietnamese food. Everything is fresh and well-sized. The large pho is enough to satisfy even the hungriest of eaters. We have a long winter ahead of us, and Le’s pho is the perfect antidote to those cold nights out. Other favorites are the spring rolls, summer rolls and pork chops. Le’s also serves Thai food, so picky eaters can opt for the pad thai.

Hei La Moon

88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111 (between Lincoln St & Kingston St in Waterfront, Leather District, South Boston) Every experienced dim sum eater in Boston has been to Hei La Moon. This is where Hong Kong natives go to eat authentic dim sum. The food is wheeled around the two-story building in carts by lovely (and persistent) old ladies. Hei La Moon is great for big groups; the place is loud, lively and teeming with amazing dim sum. Unfortunately, vegetarians, vegans and people who keep kosher will not find anything suitable for consumption.

Clover

7 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Vegetarians and omnivores alike love Clover, which sells a plethora of plates that consist of amazing flavors, textures and colors. Clover is brilliantly innovative and uses fresh ingredients. The resulting menu items (all of which, by the way, are under $10) will send your taste buds over the moon. Clover is a personal top choice for a quick bite whenever I am in Harvard Square. Everyone going to Clover should order at least the hand-cut fries with rosemary. Clover is also extremely eco-friendly—everything handed to customers is compostable.

Cafe on the Common

677 Main St, Waltham, MA 02452 Near Baan Thai, Cafe on the Common is a delightful little eatery where one can spend an hour or two chatting with friends, sipping coffee and eating scones. While not worth earning a Michelin star, Cafe on the Common is the perfect place for afternoon tea. The cafe is simple and has a homey feeling. You’ll feel like you’re in someone’s living room.

Have suggestions? Please email the Brandeis Hoot at thursday@thebrandeishoot.com.

photo from internet source

Surviving Sodexo

By Charlotte Aaron Staff

Spaghetti Arrabbiata, a piquant Italian dish, is for those who crave something more savory than Usdan’s basic pasta with red sauce, healthier than the grilled cheese and certainly more “Italiano” than hamburgers and stir fry. Arrabbiata, which means angry in Italian, defines the spicy and flavorful sauce that can be created with ingredients found right inside the walls of Brandeis’ dining hall.

Ethan Saal, a first-year at Brandeis, initially created the dish when he spotted familiar ingredients among the array of everyday food. Looking to eat a healthy, yet energizing meal before tennis practice, he could not help but think back to one of his favorite meals from home—Spaghetti Arrabbiata. Saal, having visited Italy almost every year since birth, is an expert on Italian cuisine, and quickly adapted to the ingredients available. The recipe below spells out exactly how to create what Saal calls “Spaghetti Arrabbiata with a Special Twist,” all within the walls of Usdan.

Ingredients: 1 bowl of pasta Marinara sauce Red pepper flakes 10-15 olives, green or black 1 scoop of garbanzo beans (chick peas) 1 scoop of edamame Recipe: Fill a bowl with pasta from the pasta

station. Add marinara sauce. As Saal explains, “I am not a big fan of too much sauce, so I just put enough so that the pasta is red, but not clumpy.”

Proceed to the pizza station and add red pepper flakes to the sauce. “I put a ton because I love it to be really spicy—I’m Hispanic,” Saal said. While it is common for pasta dishes to have cheese, Saal strongly urges against the use of cheese, as it does not complement the dish and decreases its health value. Collect 10 to 15 olives from the chips and hummus bar. The olives can be either green or black, but note that the red peppers in the core of the green olives add flavor to the sauce.

Cut the olives in half and mix them into the pasta. Lastly, add a scoop of both garbanzo beans and edamame to the dish. Saal suggests returning to the pasta bar if the ratio of “extras” to pasta is off balance. “Make sure there is always enough pasta so that the pasta is always dominant and the extras aren’t taking over.” Once the pasta to sauce ratio is perfect, “You got yourself a really hearty and healthy meal to continue on with your day. It shouldn’t leave you too full, which is perfect for athletes.” No matter how you plan to spend the rest of your afternoon, Saal’s Spaghetti Arrabbiata with a Special Twist will leave you more than satisfied and ready to work hard.

If you have a way to survive Sodexo that you would like to share with the Brandeis community, please contact Charlotte Aaron at cj18@brandeis. edu and we would be happy to feature your meal in an upcoming edition.

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS

8

WSRC opens interactive video game exhibition

By Clayre Benzadon Staff

Over the past week, the Women’s Studies Research Center in the Epstein Building held an exhibition called “Dames Making Games: Leaps and Maneuvers,” a gallery that was installed to promote and encourage women to play and critique video games. Inside the building was an open space with small blurbs explaining the purpose of DMG (“Dames Making Games”), a non-profit feminist organization dedicated to empowering women to create and play video games.

According to Susan Metrican, curator of DMG, it is a form of expression that “gives a voice to people who weren’t heard before.” The committee is also a very diverse group of people dedicated to including everyone regardless of gender, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, culture and religion.

The exhibition included two computers displayed on top of pedestals, projecting images of the different games that were available for viewers to play. The different games included “Techno Tarot,” “Medication Meditation,” “LongTimeComing,” “Oh My Dog” and “Brother Nature” on one of the computers. The other screen contained games like “The Getaway,” “Hibki’s DokiDoki Room Coming Day,” “Feeding the Ducks,” “Cyborg Goddess,” “Phone Home” and “Even Cowgirls Bleed.”

Each of the games contains important messages throughout. Even “Techno Tarot” and “Oh My Dog,” which seem like simple classic games, are included as comments on the fact that women are also present in the world of action/adventure computer games, which involve getting shot, losing lives and killing the villains.

“Medication Meditation,” “Long Time Coming” and “Phone Home”

dames making games

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

The exhibition aims to empower women to create and play video games.

are games that contain more complexity in that they are interactive games, where the player has to choose between different options in trying to figure out how to best respond to situations.

“Brokenflox,” for example, contains four characters who are faced with complicated situations concerning their gender identity. The character that you are playing is responsible for helping the other people in the game to become more comfortable with themselves and for the player to learn more about issues concerning gender identity.

“Medication Meditation,” developed by artist Kara Stone, is another game concerning comfort and self-

care. The game involves the player going to therapy sessions, and other activities like daily deep breathing exercises and other games that open up the players’ mind to answering their own questions, looking inside themselves and questioning more about the societal implications involved within in each of the games displayed in the gallery.

“Medication Meditation” makes people think about the societal stigma attached to therapy and how by playing this game, people get a more accurate glimpse of therapy as a more relaxing, helpful tool rather than an unpleasant place where mentally ill people are “locked up.”

The other games place emphasis

on empowering women and people of marginalized gender identities, as well. The game “Even Cowgirls Bleed” is an especially feminism-inclined computer game that demonstrates that not all women have to be into dresses and stereotypically female hobbies. The games starts off with an introductory blurb: “It’s a usual story.

You’re a big-city girl with a closet full of fancy dresses, but not a whole lot of sense, and lately all you’ve wanted to do is trade in your lonely winters for some real adventure. So really, you did the only sensible thing a girl can do: You picked up your petticoats, you got yourself a gun and headed out west to San Francisco.”

The pixelated adventure consists of

a girl who goes out and shoots the bad guys, an inspiring story, considering the fact that almost all video games with guns and violence contain men as the protagonists holding the gun and shooting; the hero is typically an image of the “masculine ideal.”

The only problem with the games displayed in the gallery was the fact that the games sometimes did not work and contained a couple of glitches. While players were in the middle of the game, sometimes the scene would freeze and they would have to start the game all over again from the beginning. Because the games are indie and relatively recently-made, the videos still need to fixed, but are headed in the right direction so far.

9 The Brandeis Hoot

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS

January 23, 2015

WINTER SKY: A cloudy day at Brandeis

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

VIDEO GAMES: Interactive video games exhibit

photo by emma hanselman/the hoot

ROSE ART: Outdoor art exhibit lights up winter day

photo by marian siljheolm/the hoot

DAMES MAKING GAMES: Exhbit features video games made by Toronto collective. photos by emma hanselman/the hoot

EDITORIALS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

Admin. moves forward on student concerns

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-Chief Dana Trismen Andrew Elmers

Senior Managing Editor Victoria Aronson Managing Editors Theresa Gaffney News Editors Emily Belowich Jess Linde Arts Editor Michelle Kim Sports Editor Sarah Jousset Deputy Opinions Editor Kevin Healey Senior Copy Editors Mia Edelstein Julie Landy Copy Editor Allison Plotnik Senior Layout Editor Sasha Ruiz Graphics Editor Linjie Xu Website Editors Zak Kolar Andrew Parks Zach Phil Schwartz

Volume 12 • Issue 2 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

STAFF

Charlotte Aaron, Clayre Benzadon, Ethan Berceli, Rachel Bossuk, Robin Briendel, Sharon Cai, Karen Caldwell, Shikha Chandarana, Curtis Zunyu He, Emma Kahn, Shayna Korol, Joe Lanoie, Nabi Menai, Monique J Menezes, Joon Park, Lisa Petrie, Sabrina Pond, Emily Scharf, Hannah Schuster, Marian Siljeholm, Eliana Sinoff, Emily Smith, Hannah Stewart, Joe Vigil, Michael Wang, Sophia Warren, Ludi Yang MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information.

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

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

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

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

ADVERTISE Advertising in The Brandeis Hoot helps spread your message to our readers across the Brandeis campus, in the Waltham community and beyond through our website.

All campus organizations receive a 25 percent discount off our regular prices. We also design basic ads for campus organizations free of charge.

To reserve your space in the paper, contact us by phone at (781) 330-0051 or by e-mail at ads@thebrandeishoot.com.

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

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

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

January 23, 2015

F

ar too often, the administration discusses lofty goals and projects, only to put them on hold after the initial support has diminished. Examples include previous student complaints about meal plans and the divestment from fossil fuels campaign. These were both times when the administration did not maintain focus and simply let an idea fade from public memory.

However, with the opening of the Rape Crisis Center (RCC) this semester, the administration has broken the status quo and seen a project through.

Utilizing a joint effort between a group of professionally-trained staff and dedicated students, the RCC is one of the first examples of the administration wholeheartedly listening to student voices and providing them with the

necessary resources for their college experience. What needed to get done got done, and the RCC was approved by the administration over the summer and is set to opened in the very near future. The Brandeis Hoot has called on the administration to meet students halfway on important issues in the past, and we applaud them for finally making substantive steps forward.

Student involvement in the creation of the RCC cannot go unnoticed, and the effort put forth by student activists clearly helped keep the administration moving forward in completing this project. There are a multitude of different activists around campus, and though sometimes their voices can be quelled by an administration unwilling to listen, the opening of the RCC proves that progress can be made,

and this school can be molded into a place where students feel like their voices are heard and desires are met.

The administration, however, cannot remain content with simply opening the RCC and responding to campus needs in a timely manner just this once. The administration needs to recognize that they hold the most power on campus to enact change, and they should feel responsible when that change doesn’t occur. They cannot sit on their hands when students are passionately expressing their concerns about this school and offer empty promises.

Hopefully the opening of the RCC pushes the administration to complete more projects and listen to student concerns with more attention.

FEATURES

11 The Brandeis Hoot

January 23, 2015

Stein ‘15 balances running startup and academics

By Marian Siljeholm Staff

As if the obligations of senior year weren’t sufficiently demanding, Ethan Stein ’15 puts mere academic complaints into perspective by balancing the role of CEO with a triple major (in computer science, film and interactive media and Near East and Judaic Studies).

The 22-year-old Upper East Side native came to Brandeis seeking the archetypal campus experience. Since then he has relished in the sense of Jewish community that Brandeis fosters, with a student body “reaching to new highs of achievement,” says Stein. Yet Stein’s academic focus is only part of what takes up this busy senior’s time.

As stated in his Jan. 15 feature in BrandeisNOW, Stein recently launched the company CyberSecurityPlan, a startup that aims to ensure businesses have the framework to keep clients’ confidential information protected. The company focuses not only on firewalls, but also on the front and back end of security platforms.

CyberSecurityPlan provides infrastructure and framework to regulate not only who has access to information, but also how that information is disposed when it is no longer needed.

This wasn’t Stein’s first appearance in BrandeisNOW. In May 2013 he was featured when

he teamed up with high school friends to make a film titled “Wordsmith,” which ended up winning the Boston Student Film Festival.

This is also not Stein’s first experience with a startup enterprise.

Several years ago, he launched EventLeaf, an online company focused on transforming the experience of hosting and attending events by helping manage the financial risk, promotion, marketing and organization and administration inherent to planning of ticketed events. Since then he has also involved himself in Good St., a charitable “community of good people coming together to do good things for the world. Every.

Single. Day.” It was following a conversation with Stein’s uncle (New York based attorney Michael Rosenblatt) that the concept arose to sell cyber security plans at a better price. His startup aims to revolutionize the cyber security and telecommunications market by giving businesses the framework to help organize and protect themselves through infrastructure. CyberSecurityPlan also offers audits for website vulnerably, as well as a Watchdog app to provide instantaneous notifications about security breaches. The innovative idea caters to any business with confidential information, which, in this age, is a nearly all encompassing qualification.

This includes information ranging from social security and credit card numbers to health records.

The company’s initial develop-

ment took place predominantly last summer, allowing Stein to complete the bulk of planning and execution before returning to Brandeis to begin his senior year. Since then, CyberSecurityPlan has blossomed from providing solely cyber security plans, to a one-stop option for all cyber security and telecommunication needs. Despite allotting time during the semester to overseeing aspects of company, Stein is careful to remain focused on his studies, leaving most of the managerial responsibilities to his uncle and co-founder. As Stein points out, first and foremost, “I need to graduate.”

In addition to his uncle, Stein works with world-renowned Israeli developer and cyber security expert Eitan Magid. With offices across the globe, Magid was most recently involved in the renovation of Madison Square Garden, as well as rebuilding the Afford-

able Care Act’s website (healthcare.gov). Stein considers himself “very lucky to call [Magid] a colleague and a friend,” saying, “There is no one else I would have trusted to do our website. He is not only the website designer but also helping us grow our company to what we had envisioned of it and more.”

As Stein points out, the issue of cyber security could not be more relevant. The company website states, “The European Union issued a mandate recently that any U.S. company doing business via Internet with a European company must have an implemented cyber security plan!” Following in the Sony controversy, it wasn’t only European nations taking notice of the necessity for such safeguards. Rather than a hack as it is popularly believed, Stein attests that the Sony information leak was caused by an insider.

Had a cyber security plan been in

place and implemented, an overseer would have been alerted that unqualified personnel had been granted access to clandestine information.

Following graduation, Stein plans to fully immerse himself in his company, and devote all his energies to helping his business reach its full potential. Recently, the Jewish People’s Choice Awards nominated Stein for Business Person of the Year for his embodiment of entrepreneurial-mindedness, leadership and contagiously constructive energy. The website calls Stein “the most qualified young Jewish entrepreneur on the Upper East.” His presence will be surely missed at Brandeis following his graduation in May. Despite his many responsibilities, Stein remains an active member on campus, especially within his role as a UDR, and may be reached at ethan@cybersecurityplan.com.

photo from internet source

OPINIONS

January 23, 2015

Setting priorities

By Monique J Menezes Staff

At the beginning of every semester, there are a lot of choices to make. There’s the obvious choice of class selection. Ideally, these have already been chosen the semester prior during early registration, but we all know that that’s not always the case. Unfortunately, we are not only figuring out how a lecture or recitation fits into our schedule.

There are also the things we do after class like clubs and sports. Thankfully, Brandeis has an activity fair to remind us all that we have options. Whether it is a morning science class or a weekly meeting with the mock trial team, cheerleading, belly dancing or karate, student-life is busy. So, we might not want to, but we have to use that pesky thing most responsible people use: time management.

We are all familiar with what a schedule looks like. Since we first stared at the clock, willing it to move faster and for for the bell to ring, we have been more than aware of schedules. What makes college different from high school then? Well, for most of us, this is the first time we are on our own.

We are responsible for getting our butts in seats on time, and for making time to do our laundry, and we have to make sure we get to the dining halls before they close.

Managing our time means managing our lives. We are out of our parents’ house for most of the year at least.

So consider the shopping period or the activity fair, where we choose our classes for the next few months or we pick a club to be a part of for years to come. We are not just choosing something arbitrary to fill our time; we are choosing the things that we believe to be worth our time. Hopefully, we can all look at our schedule and be satisfied with what we’re choosing to do for the next few months and over the next few years we have here in college, at Brandeis.

Classes and activities are not the only parts of our days. Many also devote time to a job or volunteering. Sometimes, it just doesn’t feel like there are enough hours in the day. With homework, reading and studying aside, there’s another aspect of our lives that’s time-consuming and usually preferable to all the work: our friends. We all socialize, in one form or another. Thus, even when we are pressed for time, we don’t tend to schedule friends. We make plans for lunch, dinner or even to hang out on the weekend. We might not always think about it, but truthfully, our friends do take time.

Class, clubs, friends and work of all kinds sound like a lot to juggle, which brings up one of not-so-fun things of being responsible: prioritizing. Priorities are a major contributing factor to time management.

Sometimes, we do not always have time to do things we want. Instead, we often have to do things like write a 10-page research paper rather than see a new movie with our friends. Prioritizing is just no fun. Yet it is part of that whole growing-up thing that we have to decide what is important to us and hopefully get where we want.

Time is tricky, especially in college when we want to do so much. We try to get the education we came here for, and we try to pursue our interests. We plan our four years here, which is necessary to a certain extent to graduate with our chosen major.

Nonetheless, a healthy lifestyle isn’t just work. That’s what our clubs and sports are for, balance. More importantly, that is why we have friends, to rant to, to experience college life with and, with any luck, to have a little fun with. Four years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things. Consequently, we have to be conscious of what we devote that short time to.

The Brandeis Hoot 12

University should do more to maintain safety on public roads

By Zach Phil Schwartz editor

Last week, the Brandeis community received an email from Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan detailing measures to combat unsafe driving on university roads.

Official actions were long overdue. However, the actions proposed by Callahan do not accomplish enough to keep our roadways safe.

Loop Road has a posted speed limit of 15 miles per hour, which is largely ignored.

The lack of good lighting and forward visibility only increases the hazard factor of speeding on the street, which is heavily traversed by pedestrians who don’t always pay attention to their surroundings.

Down on the heavily crossed parts of South Street, it’s even darker, and there aren’t any traffic signals to slow down the traffic. This is the case from the train station all the way to the end of campus beyond Gosman.

At two locations on South Street, pedestrians must hit a button that illuminates a flashing sign that warns drivers that people will be crossing the street. During the day, this won’t be a problem for an attentive driver and a watchful pedestrian, but at night this is just not a safe avenue for crossing. It is easier for drivers to ignore the flashing lights, especially when it is difficult to see pedestrians if they aren’t wearing reflectors. This increases the chances of incidents that could cause serious injury See ROADS, page 15

photo from internet source

Free speech must be protected in all situations

By Joe Lanoie Staff

My high school once performed a comedic retelling of “The Princess and the Pea,” a story about a girl, who, to prove she is a true princess, must feel a pea beneath 20 mattresses. The play’s queen creates the test to examine the girl’s “sensitivity.” During this past winter break, with stories of tweets, magazines and movies being suppressed, the song came to mind. “Common people don’t know what exquisite agony is suffered by gentle people like me,” the queen laments. This song describes many who believe that speech is sacrosanct only when it supports their beliefs or does not offend anyone. To quote talk show radio host Dennis Prager, that “is so deep, that I can only ascribe it to higher education.”

Freedom of speech, whether it be tweet, film or satire, must be protected from both those who would infringe upon it as well as from the double standards of those who claim to endorse it.

The double standard of sensitivity revealed itself recently on campus. Khadijah Lynch tweeted some things that were inflammatory. She has every right to say these things, just as she does to believe them. Daniel Mael, upon seeing these tweets, had every right to refute her claims.

For full disclosure, Mael is a friend of mine.

Even if I hated him, I would have praised the mindset behind his actions. He was disturbed by her tweets and wanted to show others what she thought. The death threats both have received are wrong because they go against decent humanity; even a free speech proponent does not wish threats to be protected. Yet some on campus showed their double standards.

They tolerated Lynch’s speech and forgave her once she resigned as UDR. When Mael was concerned, they wanted disciplinary proceedings and even expulsion

photo from internet source

for the actions of others. Why does calling out a person for their public statements get more societal shame than tweeting an unpopular opinion? They both have the right to do so, as my readers have the right to criticize me. My readers do not have the right to threaten my editors for publishing my content. They can write an opinion arti-

cle counter to published opinions.

Recently, the double standard revealed itself again in The Justice, when the co-president of the campus chapter of Amnesty International was asked her view on the See SPEECH, page 14

January 23, 2015

OPINIONS 13

The Brandeis Hoot

Bookstore needs to prioritize students

By Jacob Edelman

By Kevin Healey

Special To The Hoot

Editor

According to Forbes’ rankings, the Follett Corporation stands among the largest 200 private companies in America. According to Follett’s website, they serve more than half of the students in the entire country, in more than 80,000 schools and have physical locations on more than 940 campuses, including Brandeis. Last semester, I decided to rent my course books through Brandeis’ Follett store, and had quite an experience.

Upon checking out my five books, I felt that I had definitely spent far more than what was justifiably fair. I wouldn’t keep any of the readings at end of the semester, yet I was paying an amount only nominally less than it would have cost to buy the books at full price. I was even made to fill out collateral information in case I absconded with one of the worn out editions, which would have incurred upon the bookstore a mere $13 loss from the already lucrative rental. In the end, I decided to buy one of the books at the completion of my rental for a few extra dollars and return the others, one of which I discovered I didn’t even have to rent in the first place.

As the second semester closed in, I asked one of my friends how he shopped for textbooks. He directed me to TextSurf.com— just one of the many online tools available.

In a process far more pleasant than navigating the Brandeis bookstore’s online site, See BOOKSTORE, page 15

photo by

Katherine Selector/ the hoot

Political satire should be culturally sensitive

By Eva Spitzen

Special to the Hoot

Over winter break, the theatrical release of Sony Pictures’ political satire “The Interview” was canceled following an online security breach and subsequent threats by the North Korean hacking group Guardians of Peace. Sony received widespread criticism after its decision to cancel the release of the film, with many critics claiming that Sony’s actions reflected American defeat. Others felt that canceling the release was akin to bowing to censorship from a foreign dictator. Even President Barack Obama disapproved of Sony’s decision, stating that Sony “made a mistake” in canceling the release of the film.

While censorship in any context is certainly unacceptable, blind outrage at Sony’s withdrawal of the film ignores the subtleties of the situation. While political satire has always been and remains an important aspect of free speech in the United States, there is a difference between what can be published legally and what should be published from a moral, culturally sensitive standpoint.

“The Interview” follows a plot by unqualified tabloid journalists to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. While this plot reuses the previously successful trope of a pair of incompetent undercover agents from “21 Jump Street,” it does not convey any significant political message.

Legitimate political satire makes a statement about a controversial issue in a subtle and meaningful manner. “The Interview,” however, uses cheap jokes and political flagrancy to attract attention. Furthermore, the movie was unsuccessful from a critical standpoint, in addition to failing to send a meaningful political message. The movie received only mediocre reviews from top critics, averaging 5.8 out of 10 stars on ag See SATIRE, page 14

Univ. should invest in snow removal

photo from internet source

Though global warming continues to worsen and our climate is becoming more and more unstable, no one should be surprised that every year around this time it becomes incredibly cold. Our roads and walkways become icy, and maintenance shifts from mulching gardens and trimming plants to making sure our roadways are cleared and safe. While our landscaping always seems perfectly manicured in the summer, and every autumn day our maintenance workers are out clearing leaves, today our paths are full of black ice and piled snow. Unlike the rest of the year, the maintenance done in winter is much less organized or standard, and that leaves our students in danger of serious injury or worse.

Unfortunately, a simple walk around our campus reveals serious failures in our ice removal duties. Instead of having clean paths we have frequent snow drifts and ice sheets that create difficulties for anyone trying to cross campus. Although some areas of the paths might be clear, one can turn a corner and unexpectedly careen into a sheet of black ice stretching out before you. It isn’t that the ice removal on campus is consistently bad, but instead that it is uneven. Because one never knows exactly where they could encounter ice, every step becomes dangerous, and the potential for serious injury abounds.

My mother works in high school athletics, and while I never quite picked up any physical skills from spending so much time around athletes, I’ve certainly seen the way these types of injuries can affect everyday life. Broken arms, legs and wrists can be pretty painful and make life much more difficult. Especially on a campus like Brandeis’, with so little accessibility to the handicapped, living with a physical injury can harm one’s quality of life for weeks.

Even worse than that, however, are the possible neurological injuries one can sustain.

A slip on the ice can easily lead to a concussion, and even a mild one can lead to neurological problems, such as an inability to focus, dizziness and extreme tiredness.

These issues can directly interfere with a student’s ability to succeed in college, and can sometimes cause students to receive lower grades, fail or even drop out. No student should be excluded from college because of something as innocent as freshly fallen snow, but without proper ice removal these injuries are a real possibility.

At this point some of you may be convinced that I’m overreacting and that it isn’t possible for anything seriously bad to occur. While I wish that was the case, far too many injuries occur every year on icy paths like ours. Last weekend, while walking along the path outside of Sherman, a firstyear student slipped on some frozen bricks and hit his head on the sidewalk. At first, he tried to shake it off, but after the bleeding refused to stop and he began getting dizzy, his roommate decided to call BEMCO. What emerged was an hours-long marathon of tests, hospital visits and disturbing diagnoses as the extent of his traumatic brain injury was measured. At first doctors believed his neck might be broken, but after another hospital transfer and more tests, it was ruled a major concussion.

When a walk across campus can end in hospital bills, serious injury and major trauma, we need to take action. If we can’t be safe on our own roads, then we can’t be safe anywhere. The costs aren’t especially high—with a little more investment in our facilities department we can keep our roads much clearer. The problem here, fortunately is simple to solve. All we need to do is really invest in our safety, before the next fall really does break someone’s neck.

14 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

January 23, 2015

The Interview misses the point of satire SATIRE, from page 12

gregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Thus, it fails as both a political satire and a comedy.

Exploiting the political situation in North Korea for a few cheap laughs ignores the reality of the situation for millions of North Koreans living in a constant state of danger. Centering the premise of a comedy film around such a grave situation is simply insensitive, and shouldn’t be excused in the name of political satire.

Had the roles in this scenario been reversed, and North Korea had produced a film in which Obama’s murder was the center of the plot, it is very likely that Americans would be understandably outraged. Why then, is it acceptable for an American company to make light of the serious situation of millions of North Korean citizens? Sony’s ignorance of this fact is representative of a long stream of American tactlessness in the context of international relations.

While it is true that the threat of censorship is an extremely serious issue, the ability of the Guardians of the Peace to cancel the worldwide release of the film likely increased viewership of the film rather than lowered it. Yes, Sony lost a lot of money by not showing the film in theaters across the country. But from the North Korean perspective of minimizing disrespect toward Kim Jong-un, threatening to censor the movie likely had the opposite effect than intended.

The real danger at hand in this

photo from internet source

situation is the constant state of North Korean citizens living in an authoritarian dictatorship.

The central point of this discussion should not be on American resilience to not getting to watch any movie we want. Rather, we as

Americans need to reevaluate our sensitivity and our standards for effective political satire. It is worrisome that the mass public’s reaction to this ordeal was outrage toward censorship, and didn’t award any consideration to whether the

movie was politically and morally correct in the first place. Censorship and threats of terrorism should not be tolerated in any circumstance, but we can address these issues with some tact.

Comedy is an art form, and

being overly politically correct sometimes hinders potential humor. Still, making light of mass suffering is inappropriate and should not be overlooked only because our free speech has been threatened.

Criticism should not be met with censure SPEECH, from page 12

Charlie Hebdo attack. In response she stood up for the magazine’s free speech, but chided them for publishing their cartoons, saying “people of the world should

… not attack religions, races and sexualities.” People should be able to question the validity of all religions. Political theorist Thomas Paine wrote an entire book questioning organized religion, which resulted in his funeral being at-

tended by six people. Free speech has consequences, but censorship should not be one of them.

Secondly, Charlie Hebdo insulted Moses and Jesus as well; would this chiding response arise if it were a different religion? Some

photo from internet source

feminists have attacked archbishops to speak out for women’s rights. Considering that the Amnesty International Facebook page for Brandeis has numerous photos with the hashtag “#mybodymyrights,” the group would praise the mentality, despite them “attacking religions.”

Thirdly, Charlie Hebdo has every right to criticize religion under free speech. Who is one of the best fighters for free speech worldwide? Amnesty International. From their official website, “Human rights defenders … depend on, and fuel, freedom of expression.” So the campus group has free speech, but the magazine doesn’t? The double standards of Brandeisian speech strike again.

If a comment is made publicly, countering it should be allowed.

Violent threats must be condemned. They are the limitations of free speech most decent people endorse. But they don’t act that way. The fear of minority rule suppresses the majority’s choices. Self-censorship happens to prevent condemnation under the sophistry of not being offended.

It’s not feasible to expect to live without being offended. The value of being offended only goes to test our comfort zones, not in making them no-man’s-land of speech.

I am a devout Catholic. I believe that the Virgin Mary was sinless all her life from her conception.

When I see Chris Ofili’s “painting”

“The Holy Virgin Mary,” with its elephant dung and flying female sex organs, I want to question his choices. Shouldn’t the artist act responsibly, and not attack religion?

Then I sigh and do something radical: ignore its existence. The artist has every right to paint a holy figure in animal feces, and I have every right to stay away from it. Charlie Hebdo also had magazine cartoons blaspheming Jesus Christ and the Trinity. Instead of being offended when seeing the images, I turned off my computer.

The point of offensiveness is to question taboos and spur discussion. If someone is offended that we use fossil fuels on campus, they do not sue the campus to stop it.

They hold a vote and discussion. If someone does not like the fact the school’s president had not spoken out about an issue for over three years, they protest. If meal plans cause pain, they discuss it with management. They don’t threaten violence. If a film mocks a dictator, hacking it should not be tolerated.

Calling out a person for discussing another’s opinions is not intolerant; punishing them is. Everyone has the right to discuss, but the motive must be considered. Motives of hatred are not allowed, but motives spurred by freedom and education must be. Fight through discussion to see who is right, but be nice. Don’t shut down an opponent just because you do not want to hear what they have to say.

January 23, 2015

OPINIONS15

The Brandeis Hoot

Bookstore needs to straighten priotities

photo from internet source

BOOKSTORE, from page 13

I found all of my required books available from companies such as Chegg, Amazon and ValoreBooks for far less even than Follett’s cheapest prices. After a total of 15 minutes, I had placed orders for all of my books, including a new book from Amazon that cost literally a handful of pennies. Shipping was free and expedient, and

upon arrival the boxes included a free handful of fun college essentials. All in all, the bill for my second-semester books was less than half of what the Follett bookstore would have charged.

So what’s the catch? Why is it that books from the university bookstore are often double (or more) than the cost of books online? With the Follett Corporation being nearly 150 years old, one

would imagine it could figure out more than simple market domination and ability to dictate prices.

With the costs of college fees and tuition rising faster than inflation, the last thing that students need is for their own campus bookstore extorting them. This streamlined monetary extraction process is something that shockingly continues even with the flourishing array of online retailers. Follett, how-

ever, is not a business to which Brandeis should feel eternally bound beyond the terms of any existing contract. Recently, UMass Amherst rolled out a collaboration with Amazon to provide students cheaper textbooks with free shipping. There is no point in Brandeis continuing to push its students toward an inferior textbook delivery network when there are cheaper, smarter options available. There

is no point for Brandeis to seriously consider proceeding with the Follett Corporation if Follett cannot provide the best prices and services for the university’s most valuable assets: its students.

If a university can find it possible to keep with the spirit of the free market and competition while relieving an extra burden from the backs of struggling students, why shouldn’t it?

Administration must seriously invest in road safety ROADS, from page 12

and damage.

On campus, pedestrians wishing to walk to and from areas of campus on the other side of South Street heavily frequent a crosswalk that spans Loop Road behind the science complex on toward Squire Bridge. Vehicles approaching from the main gate of the university must go uphill to reach this area, and they slow down upon reaching the crosswalk.

In such a heavily frequented part of campus that lacks good lighting and visibility, there is definitely a need for more rigorous vehicle safety regulations.

At a university that collects as much money as it does from its students, unsafe roadways should never be a problem. Enforcing road safety regulations does not require a whole lot of money, and students should be entitled to safe roadways. Yet according to Callahan, “Public Safety receives complaints almost daily about speeding vehicles and near accidents with pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Although measures were put in place to combat this problem, they were provisional ones— experiments. You’ll notice that the temporary speed bumps, installed even before Callahan sent the email, are not there anymore.

photo from internet source

The experiment in safety has been conducted, and the old conditions have returned in the interim while the data is analyzed. Meanwhile, the old conditions have not gotten any better, and the dangers posed in this situation are still very real.

We find ourselves in this situation today because the efficacy of stalling tactics disintegrates when the situation presents real consequences. In addition to the near

misses seen daily around campus roadways, cars have hit students— real people—as recently as last semester. The administration could pretend the problem didn’t exist until they couldn’t anymore, and that’s why we’re seeing some sort of response now. Even so, the response is inadequate, and a permanent solution is beyond simple.

The roadways need some simple updating: increased lighting on

South Street and especially on Loop Road, along with permanent speed bumps on both roads. South Street could definitely use some traffic signals, but a little more lighting and decreased speed will go a long way towards diminishing risk even without the signals.

To say this would be a cost-effective job would be an understatement, especially given how much the university accrues on a

yearly basis. It’s a simple job that could easily be done over short breaks or over the gaps between the semesters. In the name of safety, it is imperative that immediate action be taken to ensure safety for anyone and everyone who finds themselves on our grounds.

The Department of Public Safety is finally getting on the right track, but there’s still a long road ahead of us.

ARTS, ETC.

January 23, 2015

The Brandeis Hoot 16

Meghan Trainor is all about that debut album with “Title”

By Lisa Petrie Staff

Meghan Trainor’s debut album “Title,” released in September, mixes bubbly pop songs and some slower songs, coming together as a very cohesive album with enough variety to keep the listener interested.

The first song on the album is “The Best Part,” a short a capella piece that starts the album with a bang. The harmony and jazz feel are carried through most of the rest of the album. Following is her hit “All About That Bass,” which needs no explaining, as most of us have had it stuck in our head at least once since it came out in the fall.

“Dear Future Husband,” which starts off sounding like an old vinyl record, is one of the best songs on the album. It has an old-fashioned sound and starts the spectacular use of piano and brass instruments that continues throughout the rest of the album. It also continues the sassy content of her songs that she introduces in “Bass.”

The most memorable lyric in this song is, “You know I’m never wrong.”

The album takes a slower turn in the next song, “Close Your Eyes,” which has a more R&B feel. The beginning is beautiful, with a quiet guitar, great bass line and gorgeous harmonies carrying empowering lyrics. It gets a little confusing toward the middle though with excessive computer sound effects. Toward the end, though, they return to harmonies, piano and fewer sound effects, making for a very powerful switch.

The next song goes back to the bubbly pop Trainor has become famous for, called “3 a.m.” The song begins with a great beat and staccato piano in the background. The chorus is very simple and sounds great, definitely something that could get stuck in your head easily. This song is a lot lighter

catchy and colorful

Meghan Trainor, known for “All About That Bass”, released her title album, “Title.”

than most of the other songs in the album, which makes it a really nice break from the very full-sounding, super computer-processed feel of the rest of the album.

“Like I’m Gonna Lose You” follows this song and is just as impressive.

This song is a mix of blues, country and R&B, featuring John Legend. The harmonies are great, and it’s a good slow love song. Legend sounds amazing in his cameo, and the voices blend really well when they sing together.

This song is very full but not in a processed way and might be one of the best songs on “Title.”

The next song is “Bang Dem Sticks,” which really shouldn’t be on this album. Trainor tries to sound like Iggy Azalea, which does not work for her. It does break up the album and shows she has a large range of styles, but it’s pretty repetitive and boring.

“Walkashame” completely makes up for the misstep. It has great harmonies, has fantastic use of percussion

Lost SIgnal By Katherine Selector

and brass section and has a cool soul sound. It’s very catchy and fun, and the background singers sound amazing. The message of female empowerment is very clear and refreshing. The bridge is a nice change from the rest of the song, moving from a rap-inspired section to a cool pause for some soft piano. The repetition of the chorus does get a little annoying after a while though.

The next song is “Title,” which starts with a ukulele, which is a very weird break from the theme of the album. She also tries to rap like Iggy again and it doesn’t work at all.

The only things that save this song are her sassy lyrics and the brass section. The next song is “What if I,” which sounds a bit like the song “Blue Moon.” It’s very full sounding with a huge orchestra, which is a bit much for what could be a very delicate song.

Her voice doesn’t lend well to a sweet ballad either because it’s too powerful. During certain parts though, she

lets her signature belt come out and it sounds gorgeous. This song could have been very successful but ends up sounding very flat without a moment of crescendo.

Trainor’s famous “Lips are Moving,” which has a great bass line, percussion and piano, is a very sassy and powerful song.

The next song is “No Good For You” which starts with a single guitar, and then a bass line and percussion come in. This song is also a bit lighter sounding, which is a nice break. It has a bit of a Spanish feeling and a great bass line with very clean sounding guitar in the background. Piano comes in halfway through which makes the song really interesting. This song has the most variation in it, which is very cool.

The next song is “Mr. Almost,” which starts with an unidentifiable instrument which is uncomfortable to listen to. When the chorus comes in, the song gets much more fun. It has

photo from internet source

a great bass line and piano as usual.

There are especially cool harmonies in this song especially. Stry Walker does not fit in this song whatsoever though.

My verbatim notes when I first listened to this song are, “Stry Walker?

What are you even doing? You don’t fit in this song, go away. Umm no.”

“My Selfish Heart” has a cool doo wop sound and is carried by a really strong piano melody. There’s also a harp playing in the background which is surprising and really cool. This song is very soulful and dreamy sounding and has a nice mix of a ballad sound and a poppy chorus, which is very interesting. The rap section is a really cool way to break up the song, and makes a cool contrast with the ballad section that follows it. Overall this is another one of the best songs in the album.

The final song is “Credit” which rounds out the jazzy feeling of this album. It has a nice piano melody, great percussion, and gorgeous harmonies that have an old-fashioned feel. This final song also has lots of her signature sass. She talks about a guy she shaped into the perfect boyfriend, but he’s dating someone else now.

Overall this album is a great pop hit with enough variation to be interesting but enough consistency to be cohesive. The best songs definitely aren’t the most popular ones, so you should give this album a listen if you can’t get “Lips are Moving” or “All About that Bass” out of your head.