The Brandeis Hoot 3/17/2017

Volume 14 Issue 6

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

March 17, 2017

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Student-run trial will gauge usage of free menstrual products

By Elianna Spitzer editor

The Campus Operations Working Group (COW-G) hopes to conduct a student-run trial of providing menstrual products in public restrooms around campus during the month of April, according to the chair of COW-G, Aaron Finkel ’20.

Finkel has reached out to multiple clubs and organizations on campus in support of the initiative, including the Feminist Majority League Association (FMLA) and Brandeis Students for Reproductive Justice (BSRJ). He is working closely with BSRJ because they proposed the initiative. He will be discussing the technicalities of the plan with Student Sexuality Information Service (SSIS) on Friday, March 17.

“The plan is to conduct the test run before the completion of the semester—most likely during the

month of April—and we are doing so at the request of administration. The end goal of our trial, if successful, is to request permanent funding from the administration, and they only agreed to consider it if we conducted a student-run trial, without any assistance from Facilities, or administrators,” Finkel wrote in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

Finkel could not give specific details about the plan. He would not comment on how many pads and tampons would be placed in which bathrooms. In a Hoot survey that received 144 responses last semester, some students criticized the fact that only cardboard applicators were available in dispensers on campus. Finkel has not discussed what brands the products will be The Hoot reached out to Jim Gray, the vice president for camSee INITIATIVE, page 2

photo courtesy mike lovett

‘leveling up’ Chuck (Ben Astrachan ’19) and Jeannie (Gabi Nail ’18) play video games in a show that examines the fine

line between the virtual world and reality. See page 9.

Profs discuss implications of Supreme Court nominee

By Samantha Lauring staff

Four Brandeis professors discussed the significance and implications of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, at a panel on Thursday, March 9. The panel, moderated by Prof. Jill Greenlee (POL/WMGS), was composed of professors Michael Willrich (HIST), Jeffrey Lenowitz (POL), Anita Hill (HS/WMGS) and Ei-

stonehenge See

leen McNamara (AMST).

“The court is an institution that appears to act independently of the executive and legislative branches, yet in reality, it relies heavily on those two branches in both its proceedings and to honor and to implement its decisions,” Greenlee said.

Despite the Court’s responsibility to maintain an apolitical stance, it has been prone to political disputes throughout history, which is demonstrated in our current political climate, Green-

lee continued.

Willrich, who teaches and researches American social, political and legal history, discussed the problematic nature of the Republican Congress’ decision not to go forward with the confirmation hearings of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. The decision not to go forward with Garland’s nomination with 10 months left of Obama’s second See COURT, page 2

photo by sarah jousset/the hoot

page 8 for Week in Photos Abroad.

Inside This Issue:

News: New workshop from Club Support Ops: Students angered by DCL debacle Arts: Neil Hilborn’s slam poems are refreshing Features: Dining managers share insights

EDITORIAL: Questions about campus media

‘We the Art.

Page 3 We the Vibez.’

Page 5 Page 11 An intense night featuring Page 12 local artists Page 7 ARTS: PAGE 10

Univs should lead renewable energy transition

By Abigail Gardener editor

Institutions of higher learning like Brandeis are the perfect candidates for making the complete transition to renewable energy, Rachel Gerber ’19, campus coordinator for Environment of Massachusetts Research & Policy Center, told students at an informational event on Wednesday, March 15.

“We’re here today to stress the urgent need for rapid transition to renewable energy and to highlight the role that colleges and universities specifically can play,” Gerber said.

A complete shift to clean energy is not only the best way for colleges and universities to reduce their carbon footprint, but it also makes the most sense, according to Gerber. Colleges are the most logical choice to lead the change because by nature, they are significant energy consumers, serving more than 20 million students, according to the press release.

Institutions of higher learning are also logistically the best places

to support renewable energy initiatives. “Colleges and university campuses often have physical attributes that make hosting clean energy projects possible,” she said. These include large amounts of rooftop space, large parking lots, and marginal land for solar panels, wind turbines and similar initiatives.

Although Brandeis does not have marginal land and is therefore unable to accommodate wind turbines, the university is doing everything possible to put more solar panels on campus, according to Mary Fischer, manager of sustainability programs.

In addition to the optimal landscapes that colleges provide, college campuses can also save money by switching to clean energy, according to Michael Logan, director of operations for the company Sunlight Solar Energy.

Brown University, for example, has a 50-kilowatt solar panel system installed, which saves about $13,000 annually off their utility bill, Logan said.

“There’s obviously the ability to protect the planet, but also at the

Up Before Dawn Morning practices keep club rowing on top of their game SPORTS: PAGE 15

See RENEWABLE, page 2

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

March 17, 2017

Univ. clubs work to provide free menstrual products in public restrooms on campus

INITIATIVE, from page 1

pus operations, for comment on the administration’s role in the initiative. He did not give comment as of press time.

On Sept. 23 of last year, an opinions writer for The Hoot argued that Brandeis should provide free menstrual products in bathrooms around campus. The article drew on a national conversation about the accessibility of menstrual products. Gray pushed back on the idea, wanting to see student body support for the initiative.

Then-Chair of COW-G Shaquan McDowell ’18 spoke with Gray and began to determine the level of support for the initiative.

About two months later, several groups on campus published a joint statement of progress in The

Hoot. The groups included BSRJ, FMLA, COW-G and the Senate Social Justice and Diversity Committee. They created a survey to ask about the availability, accessibility and quality of products in menstrual product dispensers around campus. The survey yielded 455 responses. The groups determined that “the quality of products available, inconsistent pricing and availability and financial insecurity were all factors that students cited as inhibiting them from getting the care they needed during menstruation.”

When discussing the initiative, members of the Brandeis community turned to students at Brown University for guidance.

Brown’s Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS) maintains a menstrual product initiative. The council funds the purchase of san-

itary napkins and tampons and oversees restocking. The products are placed in baskets in most of the public restrooms on campus.

The frequency of restocking has changed since The Hoot last published an article on Oct. 21.

Brown undergraduate council members place 10 pads and 10 tampons in men’s and women’s restrooms on Sundays. However, they have added a second round of restocking on Wednesdays for bathrooms around the central part of campus.

These bathrooms receive higher foot traffic than others, according to Molly Naylor-Komyatte, the UCS chief of staff. She added that there has not been any reported abuse of the resource. Concern over abuse was originally cited as a reason to not proceed with the initiative at Brandeis.

photo from thegaurdian.com

Gorsuch may shift direction of Court if confirmed as Justice

COURT, from page 1

term was a “striking break with an institutional tradition,” Willrich said. Gorsuch fulfills Trump’s promise to nominate a judge similar to Antonin Scalia.

Willrich went on to discuss originalism, the belief that the original intent of the authors of the Constitution should be adhered to, and the 1987 confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, who is known for his controversial, individualistic views.

Also, in 1987, Americans were celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of the Constitution, while Thurgood Marshall criticized the Constitution. Willrich read excerpts of Marshall’s speech, which

said that the Constitution was defective from the start and needed several amendments and momentous social transformation to obtain the system of constitutional government of fundamental rights we value today.

Lenowitz questioned whether Gorsuch is a nominee any Republican administration would pick or a nominee only Trump would pick, joking that the former would make him personally disturbed, but the latter would make him stop sleeping at night.

Gorsuch’s nomination was predictable coming from any Republican administration, and Gorsuch is a proud originalist.

Lenowitz told the room of about 40 people that the role of the Constitution is to provide stability, yet originalism cannot provide this.

Hill focused on the relationship between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Neil Gorsuch and how they can change the direction of the courts “in ways that one or the other alone could not do—especially when it comes to human rights issues.”

Sessions and Gorsuch have the power to change the trajectory of the rights of individuals. Hill stated four areas that she is “gravely concerned” about in terms of the application of originalism that Gorsuch practices, which include disability rights, voting rights, immigration protection and the Department of Justice’s inquiries in police abuse. She also discussed how Title IX protections and the attitude toward sexual harassment could be changed by the Trump administration.

“One of the things I want to talk about in this moment is that we are talking about real people and real lives,” Hill said. “It is important for us to think about that as we hear the testimony on Neil Gorsuch and as we listen to the questions that are being asked to him during his confirmation hearing.”

“I am not going to talk about originalism!” quipped McNamara. She discussed the obligation of news organizations to the public during the Trump administration and the lack of normalcy for journalists in Washington. “What we need the press to be doing is going over Gorsuch’s records … they need to read everything he has written,” she said.

She examined the drama and political theater of politics and the

tension between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, while also questioning if the hearings should go forward due to a potential investigation about whether Trump was elevated to the presidency by foreign interference in the election.

A potential story could be that “if it was legitimate not to seat a nominee, not even to give a nominee the courtesy of a hearing for a year—Merrick Garland, then let’s postpone until we have clarified what is happening with the investigation into the collusion that may or may not have happened between the current campaign and Russia,” suggested McNamara. “The Supreme Court is supposed to be about justice and the law.”

Brandeis on track to implement more clean energy initiatives

RENEWABLE, from page 1

same time, the reason this works is there’s the ability to protect your pocket. There’s huge financial incentives here for universities,” he said.

Despite these benefits, people are still hesitant to embrace renewable energy. Much of the apprehension people have about installing solar panels comes from an unwillingness to do things in a new way. People are “stuck in the old way of doing things and not opening their arms and embracing the future of what it’s going to look like … solar panels in your yard, solar panels on your roof, wind turbines possibly on the coast and in the marshes,” Logan said.

Because younger generations of students have experienced the effects of global warming and fossil fuels, they are very open to the possibilities available and the ability to transfer to renewable energies. “It’s really getting our brains wrapped around the look of the

future, and abandoning the old look and the old aesthetics and just moving forward and evolving,” Logan said.

Colleges and universities are also prime targets to lead the push

for 100-percent renewable energy because they are centers of innovation.

Brandeis has already made progress toward using as much clean energy as possible. The uni-

versity reduced its carbon footprint by eight percent in fiscal year 2016 and has a short-term goal of reducing carbon emissions by 10 percent by fiscal year 2018, according to Fischer. In addition,

photo from brandeis now

the university is actively working to add more solar panels to campus and is investigating the use of renewable fuel in the central heating plant.

“I think it starts with conversation, education … so many people have misconceptions of solar energy, the money it takes to invest, the financials behind it … a lot of people are just unaware,” Logan said.

This unawareness can be solved through education and conversation about the issues, which happens often on college campuses, according to Logan.

Universities house “large populations of people with their minds expanded and ready to learn, ready to go out and lead the world. That’s why I think universities are going to lead the charge, they’re going to educate the new generation who’s going to go out and put these things in place, through bills, through physical labor and through actually putting up renewable energy sources themselves,” Logan said.

March 17, 2017

IN THE SENATE: Mar. 12, 2017 •

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NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Club Chartering • Rights of Immigration Institute • CLINIC (immigration network) is putting students through training, a six-week long course, three hours a week. Recent changes in deportation policies moti vated this club • The Senate voted to charter the club.

Student Communications • Sindberg noted that there are approximately 20-30 clubs on probation probation for not going through bystander intervention training Committee Reports • Sustainability • The committee will meet with University President Ron Liebowitz to tell him what students want regarding sustainability. The committee will emphasize the climate action plan discussed last year, climate change education, faculty hiring and energy reduction.

• Social Justice and Diversity • Screening the Netflix Original documentary “13th” after April break.

• Campus Operations Working Group (COW-G) • The committee has reached out to SSIS to request their partnership in the free menstrual products initiative.

• COW-G received a request for hand sanitizer to be placed in more convenient locations in Usdan and Sherman. COW-G will meet with Vice President for Campus Operations Jim Gray to push this initiative through.

• Services and Outreach • The April break shuttles will only service Boston Logan Airport and South Station. The committee decided not to run a shuttle to New York because of cost.

Senator Reports • Class of 2018 Senator Christian Nuñez said that students want “cute and cuddly days” with animals and stress balls because of midterm season stress • Racial Minority Senator Lian Chen ’19 asked about changing the design of the recently updated Brandeis website. She said that it is insufficient, lacks style and makes it difficult for new student to access important information. People do a Google search rather than website search.

• Chen suggests that there be a contact person for travel plans so that the university knows who is on national and international trips.

- Karen Caldwell

Club Support Committee to hold publicity workshop for clubs

By Elianna Spitzer editor

The Club Support Committee will hold a public relations workshop to educate club leaders on advertising events and membership on Wednesday, March 22.

This committee has traditionally assisted clubs with recognition and chartering, so this will be the first workshop created to assist clubs after the chartering process.

The first half of the event will feature a speaker from outside the Brandeis community. Scott Farmelant ’86 from Denterlein company, a Boston public relations firm, will explain a professional approach to advertising on a small or nonexistent budget.

Clubs request funding each semester for advertising, but Class

of 2020 senator and Club Support Committee member Tal Richtman hopes that the lecture will show club leaders that money is not always necessary to encourage participation in a club or an event.

The second half of the workshop will include a panel of executive board members that hold a marketing or public relations position. Gabi Tucker ’19 from TAMID, Venus Sun ’19 from BC3, Cindy Xu ’17 from BAASA and Sarah Levy ’17 from Student Events will speak about what advertising methods they found useful when recruiting members or encouraging attendance for an event.

The club support committee used a survey to help them select the panelists. The survey asked first-year students which clubs

they thought were most attractive based on advertisements and word of mouth. The committee then reached out to the E-boards of these clubs and asked if they would participate in the event.

“The Brandeis community has a lot of people with creative ideas, and we can help each other to improve,” Richtman said.

The workshop itself will serve as an example for how to organize an event. The hour-and-a-half event will be publicized about two weeks in advance and provide food for participants. The workshop is geared toward club leaders, but any member of the student body will be allowed to attend. “Anyone can learn something about public relations,” Richtman said. He hopes to continue club support workshops in the future.

Middlebury sociology prof. lectures on racism within the gay community

By Chengcheng Xiang special to the hoot

Chong-suk Han, a sociology professor from Middlebury College, spoke about gay racism to an audience of about 70 students and alumni on Monday, March 13.

People see white gay men as normal, while overlooking the existence of gay people who are minorities, according to Han. “White men are universally desirable,” he said. By giving examples of gay images in popular culture, Han pointed out that both Asian

and black gay men suffer from the stereotypes that people create for them.

Speaking of the black gay community in the U.S., Han mentioned the “down low” phenomenon, which says that the majority of black gay men lead a secret life and continue to marry women for complex reasons. They have sex with men while still going home to a woman. He explained these as “products of a black culture that deems masculinity and fatherhood as a black man’s primary responsibility.” According to Han, the “down low” life has been in

photos by daniel kang/the hoot

the black gay community for long time.

“Down low is not just about sex. It is particularly about black sex,” Han said. As black sex is constructed in a very negative way, the media hypersexualizes it. “Black sexuality is contrary to pure white sex,” Han said. As a result, society defines white sex as the only type of acceptable sex.

The media shows stereotypical images of gay men of color, such as in “Grey’s Anatomy,” commercials and magazines, according to Han. He mentioned that the media creates stigmatized images of gay couples, which is misleading. For instance, on the cover of “Know” magazine, a white husband goes to work while the Asian man, dressed as a “wife,” stays home and makes coffee, according to Han. “In fact, existing evidence shows that gay men of color report much higher rates of racism, despite the stereotypes we have,” Han said. According to the statistics he cited, 33 percent (out of 990) Latino gay men said they experienced racism from within the gay community and 58 percent reported racism specifically from gay white men. In a survey of the Asian homosexual population in New York City, 82 percent personally experienced racism and

these men believed they experience more racism from the gay community than from straight people, according to Han. However, racism within the gay community takes on very subtle forms, which makes it problematic, Han said. For example, on Grindr, a gay online dating app, a number of remarks demonstrate discrimination against Asian gay men with comments that they are “ugly,” Han said. “Because that racism is so subtle, it becomes very easy to deny,” he said.

What is worse, individuals tend to utilize language of preference, like “this is my personal prefer-

ence,” to conflate sexuality and sexual preference. “‘Preference’ is more than simply excluding members of a racial group as potential sexual partners,” said Han. “It is the ability of sexual racism to hide, under the guise of ‘personal preference,’ which depends on constructing one race as fundamentally inferior to another, where the true danger lies,” he said.

“There are multiple ways to be sexually attractive,” Han said. “To embrace your roots is an option.”

With humorous tones, Han urged gay people of color to take pride in their racial identities.

4 The Brandeis Hoot

OPINIONS

March 17, 2017

Improving LGBTQ life on campus

By Santiago Montoya columnist

The main focus when it comes time to talk about diversity is people of color, and I agree this is a topic of conversation that students should be having on the Brandeis campus and the many other campuses across the nation. Nonetheless, there is barely any talk about the other marginalized groups that exist, such as people with disabilities, minority religious backgrounds and the LGBTQ community, just to name a few. These are other important identities that should be given space for discussion in order to implement integration in our school setting and the community as a whole.

This past weekend one of the candidates running for Student Union president was the victim of hateful homophobic slurs, one of which was scrawled into the grout between tiles in the men’s

By Katarina Weessies editor

Before I begin this article, I want to point out that while I am the editor of the Opinions section, I will not turn down an opinion because I disagree with it. I understand that perfectly reasonable, intelligent people will disagree with my views, and that they have every right to publish in this section. I will not refuse to publish an opinion that I dislike, and I will not look down upon or disrespect the author. Especially in terms of controversial issues like freedom of speech, many people who are smarter and better informed than me might disagree with me. I will, however, turn down anything that I think is hate speech.

In the wake of the recent election, one of the dominant conversations in political circles is whether or not it is beneficial to allow hate speech in media, on the Internet or in public forums. This debate can be framed in terms of censorship of hate speech or violent retaliation against hate speech. As an editor of the Opinions section, one of the more common arguments I see is that hate speech should be allowed in the media and in public places because the best way to fight hate speech is to publicly disprove it.

This sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s an unrealistic method of fighting bigotry that legitimizes and disseminates hateful views.

There are two specific events that dominate this discourse about hate speech: the punching of Richard Spencer and the loss of Milo Yiannopoulos’ book deal.

In the first case, the argument is over whether or not it is okay to punch a neo-Nazi who is arguing his views on a public street. The second is over whether refusing Yiannopoulos a book deal fights his ideas or empowers his supporters. The second discourse, involving Yiannopoulos, is fairly simple. Yiannopoulos’ book deal was denied by private publishers

restroom of the SSC. While there is no evidence of who could have done it, Andrew Flagel, the Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment, issued a response condemning the incident with an email to the Brandeis’ community: “We are so proud to have Brandeis listed among the most LGBTQ-friendly campuses in the nation—a representation of the values of inclusion and support for difference that are at the heart of this university’s founding. With these tiny marks, someone has come into our house and broken that trust.”

While I feel that Brandeis is a welcoming campus to the LGBTQ community, there is not a lot of effort taken further to amplify understanding and acceptance among students. Comments like the ones targeting the candidate on the wall of the restroom demonstrate that there is still prejudice and a lack of understanding among the Brandeis student body.

What’s worse is that this candidate, the target of the comments

in the restroom, was also insulted by another Brandeis student to the candidate’s own face. What, I ask, is the fear? The fear that a student, who just happens to identify as a member of the LGBTQ community, be elected as our president, and therefore become one of the main faces representing the Brandeis student body? Do we not want to be known as LGBTQ friendly? And how are we LGBTQ friendly if we are not or are barely talking about what it means to be queer?

Yet, if the comments emerged out of the fear of the candidate potentially becoming the Student Union president, does this imply we are not as progressive as we pride ourselves to be at Brandeis?

Are we ready for a student who is openly part of the LGBTQ community to represent us? What do these comments and this student election say about our campus?

In fact, the LGBTQ students are mixed among all of us, just like in the world outside Brandeis. However, Brandeis needs to take the

following step in integrating and opening the community so that everyone feels comfortable in it regardless of how they identify.

Many times, the people included in the LGBTQ community try to assimilate and cover up—concealing their real identity mostly because of fear of the community’s response. Comments like the ones that targeted this year’s Student Union president candidate can only hurt and close our community.

One of the solutions is that we bring this topic in more of the different discussions that the students are having on the Brandeis campus. Moreover, I also think that Brandeis admissions should perhaps incorporate in the Common Application a question or a series of questions regarding students’ sexual orientation and identity. It could ask questions about how the student identifies, if they are open and comfortable with their sexual orientation, or what their pronouns are. It could also ask how they might feel once

they are on campus. Would they feel threatened? Comfortable being open? Or would they be compelled to conceal certain parts of themselves?

Needless to say, this should not become a primary aspect when accepting incoming students to Brandeis. But there needs to be a recognition that admissions does not have regarding LGBTQ students when it comes to increasing diversity in our student body.

Not only would it bring a variety of distinct perspectives about life to the campus, but it would also open up the campus to be more accepting and understanding of one another.

Of course, not everything can be included in a newspaper article as this is. There are other solutions that should be looked at, such as improving the diversity discussion during orientation. But the main idea is that we, as students, start to be aware and talk about this issue that is important for the improvement of our already progressive community.

The problem with proving racists wrong

rather than public forums. Private publishers deny book pitches and manuscripts all the time, often for much less serious reasons than racist or generally hateful views.

Allowing hate speech into the work of a well-known or respected publisher implies that the speech is worthy of respect.

The platform on which a work of speech is presented forms the perceived respectability and validity of the work. Yiannopoulos, before his controversial pedophilia comments, was supposed to be published by Simon & Schuster, one of the more academically respected commercial publishers.

If Yiannopoulos were published

by Simon & Schuster, regardless of whether or not anti-racists responded under the same publisher, it would legitimize Yiannopoulos’ views as academically respectable.

In terms of the punching of Spencer, the freedom of speech issue is more subtle. However, I see the punch as a form of self-defense (or defense of others, depending on the status of the puncher). This is because I see the actions of Spencer as a directly and immediately advocating violence.

Spencer argues a eugenic view of race, in which white ethnicities are “scientifically” superior to others, and that these “superior” races should be globally dominant and exclude people of color from exclusively “white” regions of the world. On a few occasions, he has questioned whether or not black people have a reason to exist and implied that genocide is a worthwhile solution to his version of the “race problem.” In the United States, harassment, threats and speech that advocate immediate violence are not protected under freedom of speech. In several other countries, such as Germany, certain types of hate speech are specifically banned. Based on both the German and American standards of freedom of speech, Spencer’s actions are technically illegal, even if most people do not

photo from nypost.com

the punching of richard spencer

see it that way.

Many might argue that, although Spencer’s words may be illegal, the state, rather than the people, should decide on his punishment. However, U.S. law does have a means for individuals to legally act violently toward violent people. It is legal for Americans to attack someone if they think that it will stop an instance of violence.

Especially in terms of non-deadly force, such as a punch, it is perfectly legal to use violence to stop an instance of violence. I would argue that since Spencer’s public speech is extremely likely to result in violence, passersby have a right to attack violently.

Many people disagree with me on this issue, which is understandable. Violence is terrifying, and issues of freedom of speech and self-defense are complex and nuanced. However, I think that it is worthwhile for the future of Americans to prevent Spencer from promoting his views by certain violent means.

Another facet of the freedom of speech debate is the idea of emotional labor. The term “emotional

labor” refers to the way in which people are expected to put effort into maintaining their emotions and the emotions of others in order to achieve a certain goal. The concept of “emotional labor” is intuitive to understand, but the term originated from feminist sociologists to describe the types of labor expected of working women. Emotional labor applies to interpersonal careers such as nurses or teachers, but it also applies to the traditional role of women as the provider of emotional support within the family.

Discussions of hate speech involve an unequal amount of emotional labor that makes it unrealistic to expect people to disprove hate-speakers at every available opportunity. A good portion of people who argue against hate speech are people of color. Consider the example of a racist arguing with a person of color over the correctness of racist views. The racist is arguing against the humanity of the person of color, and the person of color is forced to defend their own humanity. This conversation is far more exhaust-

ing, labor intensive and traumatic for the person of color than for the racist. This means that racists will have more time and energy to speak than people of color will.

Furthermore, discrimination impacts the ability of people of color to speak out against racism, assuming that the racism is being argued by white people. This is because unconscious biases lead people to take the views of people of color less seriously. Thus, the white racist would have an advantage in any argument with a person of color. This makes it even more difficult for people of color to advocate against racist views.

The concept that anti-racists should “prove racists wrong” with words rather than censorship or violence sounds great. It would be wonderful to live in a world where anti-racists could rise up and expand our ranks solely through civil speech and accurate evidence. But that is not the world in which we live. Racists have an advantage over anti-racist advocates, and legitimizing their views by giving them a platform to speak only empowers them.

March 17, 2017

OPINIONS 5

The Brandeis Hoot

Searching for an end to the crisis in Syria

By Aviya Zarur special to the hoot

March 15, 2017 marks the sixyear anniversary of the war in Syria. Since 2011, there have been thousands killed and injured in fighting, 4.9 million refugees and 6.3 displaced people within the country’s borders. The numbers are unimaginable, and the stories told through photos are unbelievable. Apart from a country self-destructing and countless cities collapsing, there are 13.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian aid.

Every one of them has risked their lives to find refuge for them-

selves, their families and the three million children who cannot grasp the idea of a world without conflict. Every day, hundreds of refugees take the risky voyage across oceans to try to find a new home, some never making it to the other side.

Others are told to turn around, and most are unable to properly integrate into an alien society.

Countries around the world are trying to help these refugees, but the thousands that flood in are a strain on the communities, economy and politics of their host countries. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is doing what it can to save the lives of men, women and

photos courtesy aviya zarur

a student at the kneading aid fundraiser

children all affected by the chaos.

In the last year alone, they provided more than four million Syrians with basic relief items such as food and bedding. Every motion to protect and assist the refugees, despite only putting a dent in the issue, is crucial.

Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are the top three among many countries allowing the refugees inside their borders. In Egypt, the refugees do not live in camps and are immediately integrated into society. Israel too is doing its part in saving lives by taking injured refugees from Aleppo and arranging for them to be treated in the country’s hospitals and returning them to Syria after their treatment.

In the most evil of worlds, humanity shines as people come together to support even the smallest fraction of people. The Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat, Israel, for example, is a hospital that has treated over 2,000 people hurt during the civil war in Syria and has been raising funds for the treatment and return of Syrians since February 2013. The center takes care of men, women and children who are suffering from war injuries due to lack of medical care in Syria. The patients hospitalized in Ziv are treated for weeks or sometimes months until they are well, although they arrive at the hospital without anything, including the medical forms that are usually required to treat patients. Patients include Druze, Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Driven by the determination to prevent another mass massacre such as the Holocaust, Amaliah, a different hospital at the border of Israel, understands that there is a need for a safe zone in Southern Syria. The hospital brings refugees to be treated there before

the kneading aid fundraiser

being taken back. Amaliah’s mission is to support projects that create partnership, stability and prosperity within the Middle East and promote a safe zone in Southern Syria. Their goal is to restore civil society in Southern Syria.

Because of the United Nations’ strong presence in that area and the border to the Golan Heights, it becomes easier to envision a brighter society due to geographical advantages. Their goals for 2017 include bringing over 10,000 injured and sick Syrian civilians into neighboring countries, partnering with Syrian doctors and ongoing medical relief programs and expanding their “Bus of Angels” to Syria’s neighboring countries.

Ziv Hospital and Amaliah Field Hospital in Israel have been providing crucial medical aid to Syrian civilians caught in the Syrian Civil War and humanitarian crisis, but are understaffed and un-

derfunded.

At Brandeis University, different groups and people came together to find a way to support the refugees. Despite the unfortunate position for Syrians in America, three student groups—Judges for Israel, the Muslim Student Association and Common Ground— teamed up to raise money for this hospitals. By coming together, their fundraiser, Kneading Aid, raised over $1,000 that will be distributed evenly between the two hospitals that help thousands regain their health and their lives.

Together, Judges for Israel and the Muslim Student Association made baked goods, designed shirts and sold all of it in an effort to help make a difference where possible. Hopefully, there will be an end to this crisis soon and we will not have to witness the seven-year anniversary of this tragedy.

DCL must take responsibility for their mistake

By José Castellanos columnist

The Ides of March are more than just the commemoration of the death of Julius Caesar. March 15 is, perhaps appropriately, also the day where the Department of Community Living releases its priority numbers for the housing lottery. In a way, the two events are almost identical, replete with alliances, secrets and backstabbing. However, the housing lottery of 2017, or LottoGate as it is becoming increasingly known, became even more tumultuous than it has been in previous years due to a heinous error on behalf of DCL. At 8:30 p.m., an email was released claiming an error in the DCL systems in regard to how numbers were assigned. Juniors and seniors, rather than being combined into the same lottery as has been done in previous years, and as was confirmed in a campuswide vote last academic year, were separated into two separate pools, essentially guaranteeing housing for rising seniors and severely limiting the available housing options for rising juniors.

To remedy this, the solution given by DCL was a second lottery, with numbers to be released around noon on Thursday. Basically, the lottery that occurred on March 15 is null and void,

and those who had already made plans given those numbers previously released must now completely readjust their plans after a hectic day.

After the email that was sent out, a screenshot of the housing guidelines, which was released before the initial set of numbers was released, began circulating Facebook, stating that “Rising seniors will receive #s 1-635, rising juniors will receive #s 636-1382.”

The DCL Facebook page posted an apology to students, stating that their computerized housing system automatically updated the housing guidebook in order to give preferential treatment by class. However, this does not make up for the stress experienced by thousands of Brandeis students.

To add insult to injury, on March 16, the day of the second lottery, DCL was over an hour late in releasing housing numbers.

When numbers were finally released, many rising seniors found that their numbers had been almost exactly doubled, leaving many afraid that they will not be able to find housing.

Rising Juniors shared a barrage of angry posts and memes due to their less ideal situation after being largely led to believe that they would be unable to find housing, and the change to the lottery and subsequent repeat of the lottery has caused an immense amount

of undue stress to the rising upperclassmen student body as a whole.

Numerous students have taken to social media to voice their outrage at the change, especially given that DCL painted this as a computer error without explaining the nature of the error, and the fact that the error could have been spotted by any member of DCL who simply read the housing guidebook.

Needless to say, this is absolutely unacceptable on behalf of DCL, which sent an email that was painstakingly crafted in order to deflect the blame on a computer error. DCL, which claims that it is “made up of individuals who care about each student,” is recklessly creating a toxic and stressful environment within the student

a screenshot of the housing guide

body. The housing lottery is not something to be taken lightly. It is a serious process that, even when running smoothly, causes high amounts of stress for the students.

For DCL to now come out and say that it was all a mistake and that the whole process needs to be repeated is a disgrace.

DCL fed many Seniors false hopes that they would all miraculously be able to get the Ridgewood or Foster Mod that they wanted.

For DCL to simply say “we apologize for the added stress of the issue, and are committed to a fair and just housing selection process” is absolutely unacceptable.

Add the fact that DCL severely delayed the re-release of lottery numbers on Thursday, and they

have numerous mistakes to answer for.

DCL has consistently misled and lied to both students and parents regarding the lottery, and their continued actions have had a real impact on the stress levels and mental health of students.

And they fully expected the student body to just accept their irresponsible actions.

A brief apology that is not enough to compensate for what has occurred over the past few days. A more comprehensive apology as well as a detailed and more thorough explanation of why this occurred to begin with is necessary. Until then, a 216-word email that reduces the entire incident to an “error in coding” is just not enough.

photo from facebook.com

6 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

By Anindita Chanda columnist

A few weeks ago, the news and social media was flooded with Milo Yiannopoulos. For those who may be unaware of who he is (as I was not too long ago) Milo Yiannopoulos was an editor for Breitbart News, which is a network that speaks for the far-right.

But to describe Yiannopoulos in the way that he is best known, he is a professional provocateur.

The overflowing news about Yiannopoulos began when a video from about a year ago was released of him brushing off and condoning pedophilia that some Roman Catholic priests commit.

He pushed beyond the boundaries that even alt-rights could handle—an action that cost Yiannopoulos his position to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and a lucrative book deal, and ultimately led to his resignation from Breitbart.

March 17, 2017

Milo and you

Because I originally had no clue who Yiannopoulos was, I did some more reading on him, and watched a few of his interviews.

Mind you, Yiannopoulos is anti-feminism, anti-gay rights and probably anti-anything so as long as it gets the people all rattled up and flustered. Yet in all of the interviews, there he was, dressed rather androgynously and very open about being gay himself.

I was confused at how Yiannopoulos can be the way he is—a living, breathing contradiction.

But that is his point. He believes that he and everyone else should be able to say what they please, and it doesn’t matter with which groups or parties they are associated.

Yiannopoulos’ persistence about free speech made me think twice. Americans don’t have free speech? Of course we do, free speech is part of the foundation of this country. But when I thought some more on the issue, I realized that free speech among the liber-

als has become an issue.

I have from time to time wondered how ineffective the few riots, involving burning, breaking of windows, and screaming and shouting have been throughout various university campuses in response to Trump. I do not blame people for being so angry. There is a lot at stake. The Affordable Care Act could be replaced by a healthcare plan that will cause many Americans to lose their insurance. Whatever progress was made with reproductive health could also be destroyed. Dark Ages here we come again! There is a lot to be angry and worried about. Many think that we have to voice our opinions and our frustrations and be loud, or else no one will hear.

I agree with the voicing our opinions part, but the way in which these things are being done currently is ineffective. With every little offensive remark, people become fired up and hot-headed.

They give the alt-right all the op-

photo from stanfordreview.org

portunity to justify the belief that liberals (and the many millennials who make up the liberal population) are incompetent little children who don’t care about their country, just about their own selfish needs.

Well, prove them wrong! Prove them wrong by not becoming offended or insulted by every comment that may go against your beliefs. Don’t block every single conservative who appears on your newsfeed.

See what the people who oppose you have to say. Read about

why a large portion of this country voted for the potential horror that could take place for the next four years. If you do not listen to them, how can you expect them to listen to you?

Only through exchanging ideas can people learn more about their world, can people find flaws in their own beliefs or strengthen them.

That does not mean they are right, or that you must agree, merely that you show up for civil discourse. We cannot fight ignorance by being ignorant.

Working to remember global injustices

By Michael Wang columnist

I’ve been exposed to quite a bit of social justice in my time.

It’s been a generally virtuous—if broad—banner which has rallied the hearts and minds of innumerable people across recent history and geographical space to mostly positive results. Before I had come to this university, I had never really encountered such a smattering of educated, informed individuals who could be so passionate about the manifold injustices plaguing the world and their thoughts. As if through osmosis, I became familiar with a respectable variety of less-than-ideal circumstances that had defined a good chunk of the world.

It has been nearly four years: I am a senior about to graduate, and though the discourse about global injustices dominates my conversations at Brandeis, the tragic effects of these injustices are not present in my life. Recently, I was reflecting on some of the things I have experienced during

my time here, and I remembered some stimulating, ongoing discussions I had had with a few acquaintances concerning things like the environmental hazards of fracking, the FIFA stadium in Qatar, the post-Gaddafi civil war in Libya and Ebola.

I realized that, until now, the content of these conversations had pretty much vacated my and—apparently—most of my friends’ heads since then. Many of said friends conceded that they did not remember the conversations at all.

Afterward, I looked up the updated statuses of the topics mentioned above: Most of America’s domestic oil is produced through fracking now.

Stadium builders are still dying in Qatar.

Libya has been in its second civil war for nearly three years.

The Ebola epidemic was actually successfully quarantined and is relatively under control.

The general trend was that the better part of the provocative issues my friends and I had once shared in lost our collective attention without ever really improv-

ing. An international crisis might have enjoyed a 15 minute conversation here, an organized discussion there, been venerated with a well-articulated, passionate, 800word, sage post lauded by the 3050 people who threw “likes” at it on Facebook—then, months going on years of unbroken silence and patchy oblivion.

I am pretty sure it is mostly a symptom of college busyness; is it really practical to worry about people being victimized while one is meticulously laying the bricks of their future? At times those motions of metaphorical brick-laying will go rheumatic and unsteady, while at other times it is just hard: a bombed test, a difficult lab protocol, a reversal in friendship, an unhealthy study habit, a bout of jealousy, a hitherto unaddressed flaw thrown into squirming relief.

I don’t know about everyone else, but it seems my memory of the outside world’s problems is, more often than not, cut short in the face of tangible tribulation.

From what I have gathered from the handful of people with whom I have spoken about this, it seems

it is a general consensus that the immediate obligations of the individual will just about always trump the abstract torment of the many.

My observation about students’ memory of talked-about injustices might just be an idle thought or an unfair assessment based on a sample size too limited to be statistically significant. But it is by no means a novel idea, nor is it exactly controversial in most circles of thought. It makes me wonder if it is bad that the better part of our discussion on the tragedies that wax strong in the world is carried out for, what I believe to be, mostly recreational purposes.

When you say it aloud, it sounds a bit uncouth. But that is what I think most of us are doing.

Most of us are highly educated, lower-middle-class to wealthy individuals currently residing in a state with an economy nearly the size of Iran’s. And I don’t think it is bad to spread knowledge of something sinister, as recreational discussion of injustices has no ill consequence even when its main object is the mildly pleasant electrical stimulation of a student’s

brain.

I just think it might do us well to sometimes remember a number of the forgotten problems still lingering about the world even after mainstream publications have abandoned their stories in favor of reporting Trump tweets.

Maybe five years from now, one of us will have the theoretical expertise to devise a non-prohibitively expensive method of desalination or even more efficient tune-ups for our alternative energy sources.

Maybe 15 years from now, one of us will run for public office and help reform the education system or the way voting districts are organized.

Maybe 50 years from now, I’ll inform someone that rock is dead, and they will revive it. It is beyond the spiritual endurance of most people to always bear the gestalt burdens of the world abroad, but I do think it is worth the effort to efficiently review one’s portion every once in awhile.

Who knows, over the next 70 years, a few of us might end up being the right people at the right time.

EDITORIALS

March 17, 2017

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Mia Edelstein Julie Landy Senior Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano News Editors Abigail Gardener Elianna Spitzer Arts Editors Katie Decker-Jacoby Emma Kahn Opinions Editor Katarina Weessies Features Editor Charlotte Aaron Deputy Features Editor Polina Potochevska Sports Editor Zach Cihlar Photo Editor Karen Caldwell Layout Editor Lisa Petrie Deputy Layout Editor Candace Ng Editors-at-Large Matt Kowalyk Sarah Jousset Allison Plotnik Sabrina Pond Hannah Schuster Zach Phil Schwartz Emily Sorkin Smith

Volume 14 • Issue 6 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

T

Evaluating the scope of campus journalism

he Brandeis Hoot has been in conversation with Vice President for Student Affairs Sheryl Sousa ’90 and The Justice regarding the rights and responsibilities of student journalists on campus. The purpose of these meetings is to eventually update the student handbook’s, Rights and Responsibilities, language detailing the rights of student journalists and what rules they are beholden to.

In these conversations, we have been forced to wrestle with where, and to what extent, our presence as the press is acceptable. It has involved trying to understand the nature of events and individual attendees, and the extent to which people can expect privacy at certain kinds of events.

We are trying to come to the root of our newspaper’s purpose, the purpose of campus journalism and the interests of who we’re serving. There is a blurry line between rights and responsibilities, specifically for students journalists.

We acknowledge that we cannot categorize all of our duties as rights or responsibilities. But this does involve taking seriously the meaning of each half of that title—both

STAFF

Faria Afreen, David Aizenberg, Emily Altkorn, José Castellanos, Elizabeth Cayouette-Gluckman, Anindita Chanda, Leah Channen, Brianna Cummings, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Gabriel del Carmen, Sanin Dosa, Jacob Edelman, Daniel Freedman, Ally Gelber, Ari Givner, Max Gould, Emma Gutman, Noah Harper, Sophia He, Alana Hodson, Daniel Kang, Adam Lamper, Samantha Lauring, Monique J Menezes, Santiago Montoya, Katharine Mound, Faiyaz Rahman, Caroline Rourke, Ryan Spencer, Lily Wageman, Michael Wang

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 • eic@thebrandeishoot.com online • brandeishoot.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.

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

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://brandeishoot.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.

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Last week’s solution

student and journalist.

Campus becomes a unique public-private location in which journalists have the responsibility to report on events, but also to protect students on campus. The role of being a student journalist cannot be divorced from the community it serves. We are trying to reconcile our responsibility to students with our right and responsibility to faithfully report the news.

We are attempting to understand how to cover events when organizers and individuals are not comfortable with media coverage.

We have to weigh our desire to protect the privacy of individuals with our need to report on campus events. This comes down to questions of whom we may quote and how detailed our coverage can be, without alienating our community.

As an editorial board, we have not come to a definitive conclusion on these issues. We have questions that we are working through and that remain unanswered. What does free speech mean for student journalists? When does an open event on campus become a public event? In this vein, when are events private rather than public?

We are also wrestling with the

notion of the campus as students’ home, because while Brandeis is not exactly a “home” in the legal sense, it is where the vast majority of students live throughout their time at the university. This raises questions, for us, of what students’ expectation for privacy is on Brandeis’ campus. We’re not sure that it would be the same expectations on purely public property, nor on purely private property.

This is a difficult issue, and we are still working to come to a conclusion ourselves. Among the members of our editorial board, we have different opinions that we are still trying to reconcile, and we recognize that we will not reach a simple resolution. Additionally, this is not a decision that we can come to on our own, but one that should involve a discussion with other members of the campus community. This is in part why we are discussing this with Sheryl Sousa and The Justice, so that we have a more informed, developed resolution.

If you have any thoughts on this issue, please reach out to us at eic@ thebrandeishoot.com.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

WEEK IN PHOTOS ABROAD

March 17, 2017

Students studying abroad submitted their week in photos.

the rhine river

Or Rijn, if you’re Dutch

spring along the seine

photo by allison plotnik/the hoot

photo by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

old town warsaw

World War II.

Paris is finally leaving winter behind.

This area of Warsaw was rebuilt to look like what the city looked like before the destruction during

photo by hannah schuster/the hoot

photo by sarah jousset/the hoot

marrakech, morocco

edinburgh, scotland

amman, jordan

Exploring life from higher views

photo by emily sorkin-smith/the hoot

photo courtesy shaquan mcdowell/the hoot

ARTS

March 17, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Despite shortcomings, ‘Leveling Up’ hits several of the right buttons

By Andrew Agress special to the hoot

There are not many plays, or even movies for that matter, about video games and the people who play them. Perhaps this is because it is a relatively new medium, or because it is difficult to portray the pastime accurately or perhaps it is a combination of the two. Nevertheless, Deborah Zoe Laufer’s play “Leveling Up” tackles the culture surrounding this activity and achieves mixed results.

Ultimately, the use of gaming in the show is a vehicle to explore technology as a whole and the correlation between the real world and the virtual, as the script delves into other topics such as identity, growing up and even drone warfare. The show bites off more than it can chew in a few places, but its strong themes and the high quality of the Brandeis Theater Department’s production ensure that it gets most of its message across. Directed by Prof.

Robert Walsh (TA), “Leveling Up” ran from March 9-12 in Spingold’s Laurie Theater.

“Leveling Up” begins by introducing us to four friends who play video games together. Tensions arise once Zander (Dan Souza ’19) reveals that he sold a virtual mask procured in a game by Ian (Andrew Child ’19) for a measly $10,000 when it was somehow worth $30,000. Have you ever gotten a gold star in Mario Party and then tried to sell it to the friend sitting next to you for real money? Neither have I, but the opening conflict of the show rests on a similar conceit.

Despite some odd portrayals of video game culture, the show reaches its stride once Ian lands a job piloting drones for the NSA. It is here that the show’s more interesting themes are explored, as Ian has trouble coming to terms with the fact that his job has real life consequences but is modeled after the virtual games he plays so often.

The fine line between reality and illusion is explored in other ways, such as when Zander takes up selling dietary supplements, which prove to be a scam, to the surprise of no one. Once Ian and Zander reach their wits’ end, it’s up to Chuck (Ben Astrachan ’19)

photos courtesy mike lovett

and Jeannie (Gabi Nail ’18), two of the play’s more likable characters, to try to salvage what they can from the situation.

Even before the actors arrived onstage, it was immediately clear what kind of people their characters were, as the audience was treated to a view of a fascinating and elaborate set of their basement apartment designed by Harrison Fuhrer ’17. Posters of various video games adorned the back walls, with the consoles and controllers themselves placed front and center. Small details such as trash under the couch and notes on the refrigerator gave the space a lived-in feel. Various decorations and belongings strewn about or lying on shelves gave a sense of the personalities and interests of the inhabitants.

Likewise, the other design elements of the production were also top notch. For a show in which characters are often sitting in front of the TV, it would have been easy to have one onstage.

Instead, the production made the more creative decision to convey the screen through lighting and sound.

While interesting in theory, the script itself has a few rough patches. The story is intriguing and its messages are thought provoking, but the language and characters have weak spots. Terms like “epic win” and “pwned” are used liberally throughout, which may have been popular at some point in time but come off today as cheesy.

In one scene, characters repeatedly mention that they “leveled up” but thankfully don’t turn to the audience and wink as they do so.

The biggest issue with the script is that it has only a single female character, who is relegated to mostly watching boys play video games and little else. It would have been interesting to see Jeannie in the center of the action in a subversion of the “boys and their video games” trope, but instead she is given separate interests of her own, which are then pushed

to the background.

Despite having little to go with, Nail was able to make the character her own by granting her a strong point of view. She served as a window for the audience, constantly reacting to the antics of the people around her and conveying what she thought of them through her expressions and actions.

Across the board, the performances of the four leads were phenomenal. Chuck was arguably the most clearly defined role in the show, but Astrachan made him even more enjoyable to watch through his friendly disposition and witty delivery. On the flip side, Ian was tough to love, but Child provided him with humanity amid his standoffish nature.

Even though Zander and Jeannie were on the one-dimensional side, Souza and Nail brought them to life and added agency to their predicaments.

Every cast member used the script to their advantage, but some

of the best moments in the show had no dialogue at all. One of the funniest parts was when Chuck, Jeannie and Ian began reacting to the intimate encounter of their virtual avatars in a role-playing game, which quickly turned chilling once it became apparent that Ian was taking the game too far.

“Leveling Up” played around with a lot of different elements, some of which hit their mark more than others. The themes were interesting despite rough patches in the dialogue. Some of the characters were based a bit too much on tropes, but it is a testament to the acting that they ended up feeling like real people. Walsh’s directing kept the show surprisingly dynamic, considering that it took place almost entirely in a basement and primarily on a couch. And thanks to the design, the basement was an interesting place all on its own. “Leveling Up” never hit its max, but it operated on a level that was just high enough to make it worthwhile.

10 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

March 17, 2017

‘Big Little Lies’ explores important themes in depth

By Noah Harper staff

“Big Little Lies,” an hour-long drama currently in its fourth episode on HBO, has an incredible cast. Led by Reese Witherspoon, who plays an idle, troublemaking mom, the show also features Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz, among others. On the surface, it appears to be a class drama about mothers and their children, but it soon becomes apparent that it is about far more than bourgeois parenting problems.

Female-led prestige TV shows are few and far between, which begs the question: How many famous women does it take for Hollywood to let them lead a big TV show? There is an obvious inequality when it comes to how many female stars it takes to get one of these kinds of shows made, versus ones starring male actors.

It seems to only take one big male star to get his own show—Amazon is just giving them away at this point (see: “Goliath,” “Hand of God,” “Bosch”).

But it is not just the concentration of great actors that makes “Big Little Lies” worth watching; visually and technically too, it is remarkable. The director, JeanMarc Vallée (of “Dallas Buyer’s Club” and “Wild” fame), takes some risky stylistic choices, especially with the show’s editing, in telling the story of this affluent Monterey, CA, community—risks that end up paying off.

For instance, in a scene set in Witherspoon’s character Madeline Mackenzie’s oceanside home (which looks like it is straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog), there is a distant, hand-held establishing shot of the family getting ready for dinner, then it cuts to a few snippets of local authorities discussing a grisly murder, and then it cuts back to the family eating and the actual scene begins. It is an interesting, elliptical form of

editing that finds a new way to set up narrative context—it works, and it is not jarring either. These kinds of cuts serve the purpose of reminding the audience about the killing, which can seem somewhat distant from the actual story at times. We do not yet know who was brutally murdered at the PTA fundraiser, but we can guess.

The murder mystery provides a necessary hook for the first couple episodes, but it is not what the show is about. In the pilot, we are introduced to Madeline Martha Mackenzie—the intense mother played by Witherspoon—who befriends a young mom new to the neighborhood at the first day of school. Jane (Shailene Woodley) is a single mother with a hidden past whose son, Ziggy, becomes important to the show’s central conflict.

After dropping off their kids for the first day of first grade, Madeline and Jane return to find something amiss: Amabella, the daughter of Renata Klein (Laura Dern) was choked quite viciously by someone, and she’s blaming Ziggy for it.

This starts the currently unfolding drama. Madeline rallies to this “injustice” like a banner, and decides that she will not let Dern’s daughter smear Ziggy’s good name. She stages a boycott of Amabella’s birthday party, opting alternatively to take a cohort of dissenters to go see “Frozen on Ice” instead. Of course, this only makes things worse.

When summarized like this, the plot can seem a bit unimportant and contrived. I readily agree— why should we care about the foibles of these coast-dwelling elites?

Who cares who does and who doesn’t go to a birthday party?

While the first point of interest in “Big Little Lies,” is, of course, the murder, it is not the meat of the show. The killing has been teased (a bit incessantly) episode to episode, but, four episodes in, I am less interested in who gets murdered and why than in the

photo from imdb.com

surprisingly deep exploration of trauma and domestic abuse. This is what keeps me coming back to the show, not the birthday parties and mom drama.

We see this the most with Nicole Kidman’s character, Celeste, in the third and fourth episodes.

Celeste is married to a much younger man, Perry, played by Alexander Skarsgård, and they have twin boys together. Celeste and Perry share a difficult, often physically violent relationship— their fights usually ending in sex.

In couple’s therapy, they admit as much, both candidly worried about this dangerous feedback loop they have created. Kidman’s character, who at first is not as central to the plot as Woodley or Witherspoon, comes to the forefront with this frank portrayal of a complicated relationship.

Similarly, Woodley’s Jane is haunted by an abusive past. As the show develops, we find that Jane is the only main character who is not affluent; she recently moved to Monterey with her son for the good schools and is trying to find work as an accountant. She is struggling with a past trauma, perpetrated by Ziggy’s dad. In the first episode, she wakes up to find her son standing over her in the

middle of the night. He is a kind, sweet boy, but even she begins to wonder—could he have actually choked that girl? To avoid spoilers, all I will say is that her son could be interpreted to be the physical manifestation of the violence in her past. As a single parent trying to raise a child alone, Jane is, at the same time, trying to not mentally and emotionally associate him with his abusive father. She’s working hard to break this psychological cycle, and it’s not easy.

Witherspoon’s character, Madeline, empathizes with Jane, because she was once in a similar position. While Madeline is now married to Ed (played by an affable Adam Scott), and has a daughter, Chloe, with him, there is also a teenager, Abigail, from a previous marriage. Abigail’s dad abandoned them 15 years ago, only to recently resurface in Monterey, remarried to Zoë Kravitz’s character, Bonnie, and with a new kid too.

“You’re drawn to damaged people,” Ed tells Madeline, as they discuss her helping out Jane and Ziggy. “Last time I checked, that’s not a character flaw,” she retorts.

On paper, the happenings of the Monterey bourgeoisie should not

be that interesting, but within the relationships that are portrayed, there is something universal being examined. Questions regarding why people hurt each other and living with trauma are central to the show.

In a broader context as well, this show adds something to the current canon of TV drama. I am a snobby TV-watcher, but after seeing several episodes of “Big Little Lies,” it forced me to pause and reevaluate the television I think is the best, and why. If you asked me to name some of my favorite shows, I will instinctively list “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “The Wire,” all great, but very much male-led programs. There is a broader trend in our culture with prestige TV: The tendency to critically minimize female-led shows as vapid and unimportant.

But this show is a disruptor and, hopefully, a trend-setter. We need more female-led hour-long TV dramas to be taken seriously by critics.

“Big Little Lies” is compelling, exciting and forward-thinking.

It surprises me that I am this interested in the social lives of the California elite’s first-graders, but I’m definitely going to keep on watching.

‘We the Art. We the Vibez.’ unites talented artists

By Katharine Mound staff

Students braved the frigid weather Friday night, March 10, to come together for art, music and community at Chum’s for “We the Art. We the Vibez.” The event highlighted musicians and visual artists from the Brandeis community and beyond—inviting two rappers from the greater Boston area to perform alongside Brandeis students.

The doors opened at 8:30 p.m., welcoming in a healthy crowd of friends and fans, Brandeis students and others, who lit up the room with excitement. Lively chatter, dancing, laughing, hugs and smiles saturated the atmosphere of the venue, creating a warm, welcoming space for performers to feel comfortable in.

Works of art created by Brandeis students were exhibited around the space of the coffeehouse for attendees to enjoy before the musical performances began. Stacy Finley ’16 displayed a vibrant, massive and impressive painting that was placed on the performance stage. The work depicted two figures posed heroically in front of a backdrop of boldly colored bars, created with

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

a similar sensibility as street art.

Justus Davis ’19 also contributed works of drawing and collage to be put out on display which were admired on the south wall of the coffeehouse.

By the time emcee Makalani Mack ’17 took to the stage to introduce the first performer, Chum’s was overflowing with the camaraderie of its occupants, all anticipating the performances of their peers and valued guests. To inaugurate the evening, Maegann Stafford ’19, who goes by the stage name Marz, gathered her smooth, soothing vocals to sing a cover of “Royals” by Lorde, which the audience could not help but sing

along to.

Then, she truly entered her element with a song she had written, “Queendom,” which electrified the crowd. Someone called out from the crowd comparing Marz to the singer-songwriter SZA, a resemblance that was truly accurate for the velvety voice emanating from her serene, collected stage presence.

I feel pretty comfortable saying that the next performer was the highlight of the evening. King J (Jordan Carter), a classically trained percussionist-turned-rapper from Boston University, took to the stage to display his wealth of talent and radiant personality.

From the minute he unleashed his first lyrics into the microphone, the crowd went wild and did not cease until the last words were uttered. Alongside him was DJ WhySham (Shamara Rhodes), who had been playing a well-received selection of music even before the first performers were invited on stage.

King J is a name familiar to the Brandeis community, since he was the opening act for the Student Events-sponsored fall concert featuring AlunaGeorge in September of last semester. But even if the name wasn’t familiar to some attendees’ ears, it soon would be.

King J’s presence as a performer inspired admiration, laughter and happiness—he really did light up the room from his brilliantly crafted lyrics to his beaming smile. The crowd favorites were his classic “Robert Downey,” and a newer track, “Kitty Kat Freestyle,” paying homage to Beyoncé by sampling the beat from a song off her sophomore album.

Celo (Marcelo Brociner ’18) was another familiar name across campus, an individual any Brandeis student has probably seen once or twice jamming along to the music pulsing through his headphones. If not, maybe you

have seen his new music video for his song, “Upwrite,” featuring pianist-singer Michael Harlow ’19.

To sum up Celo’s performance in one word: intense. Intensity was in his eyes, his words, the sweat that he had worked up from performing in such an engaged way with his audience, who seemed to love every minute of it and knew the lyrics like true fans.

In one instance, Celo pulled out his phone to use as a prop while he performed and let it fall to the ground and remain there for the rest of his set. Celo cultivated a pulsating, powerful energy in the crowd while he passionately threw himself into his performance.

The high-intensity performance of Celo was hard to follow up, but Peter James stepped up to the task. A local rapper, James, or “PJ” as he was referred to, was met with a swelling of enthusiasm that held steady throughout his performance. The first song he rapped was performed with a fiery presence, enlivening the audience once again after such a lively night. However, PJ showed some variety in his raps by following up with a softer, more romantic rap.

It rounded off the night of excitement nicely without losing any of the energy that audience members still retained.

March 17, 2017

ARTS 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Rose’s Wiki Edit-a-Thon spotlights female artists

By Katie Decker-Jacoby editor

Community members gathered in the Rose’s Lois Foster Gallery to create and improve the Wikipedia pages of underrepresented female artists on Friday, March 10.

The Rose Art Museum joined forces with Art+Feminism to host the Wiki edit-a-thon.Accompanying one of the Rose’s spring exhibitions, “Collection at Work,” the Art+Feminism edit-a-thon aims to put a spotlight on female artists who do not receive enough recognition in the art sphere. The Rose scheduled this event to coincide with International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8.

The Rose provided lists of artists with pages that needed to be verified or expanded, and artists without pages. An enormous disparity existed between the two groups: There were 17 artists in the first category and 60 in the latter.

Twenty of the 77 female artists listed have books in the Brandeis library. Many of these artists have works in the Rose’s collection and will be featured in the “Collection at Work.” Rose curatorial intern Meredith Combs ’17 was excited to work on Jacqueline “Jackie” Winsor’s page, since Winsor’s wooden sculpture, “Fence Piece” (1970), can be found on display in the “Collection at Work.”

Event organizers advised participants to first see what was already on the artist’s Wikipedia page to find out what further information was needed. Students could then search for academic sources such as university-level textbooks, journals, mainstream newspapers, magazines and books issued by respected publishers. Finally, students corrected preexisting information or inserted new information.

A page had less credibility if it did not have enough reliable sources or was only edited by a single individual. Participants were advised to check such pag-

photo by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

es and add relevant information.

One Rose staff member stayed at the reading room table at all times to guide participants through this process.

Last year, Acting Director of the Office of the Arts Ingrid Schorr and Visual Resources Curator and Art History Administrator Jennifer Stern reached out to Rose Collections Assistant Betsy Nelson to launch Brandeis’ very own edit-athon event on campus. The Rose hosted its first edit-a-thon last school year.

There was a small turnout this year. However, Nelson appreciated those who did show up. “As one of the two main goals of this project is to get more women as Wiki editors, and two people signed up for new accounts and learned how to edit pages, I take it as a win. I think any additional people who get more comfortable editing, who figure out they can do this on their own even without an event, is a plus,” Nelson said.

Nelson herself learned something new this time around. “I wrote a new article this year, which I’ve never done before. It was really exciting to be able to see a Wikipedia page that I wrote,” she added.

Siân Evans, Jacqueline Mabey, Michael Mandiberg and Laurel Ptak founded Art+Feminism in 2013. What started as a conversation between four friends flourished into a global phenomenon.

The group has gathered at more than 280 events across six continents.

According to Art+Feminism, less than 10 percent of Wikipedia contributors are women. The group strives to change this num-

ber by hosting edit-a-thons all around the world. Some upcoming events will be held in Portugal, Switzerland, Peru, Germany, Canada and Italy. These events tend to take place in museums, libraries and colleges. Art+Feminism’s website makes it easy to locate the nearest edit-a-thon and register for it online.

“We are students, librarians, professors, artists, art workers and art lovers who create meaningful changes to the body of knowledge available about feminism and the arts on Wikipedia,” Art+Feminism’s website states.

“Our feminisms are intersectional and inclusive. We have different perspectives and practices but share the belief that art is fundamental to thriving societies and strive to make visible the lives and work of underrepresented artists,” Art+Feminism added.

Since the Rose participated in an edit-a-thon last year, it was eager to join Art+Feminism for its fourth annual Art+Feminism’s Wiki Edit-a-Thon this past Friday. The Rose advertised its event on Facebook, through posters and in the Fine Arts Department listserv. Museum staff hoped to train students and other community members to be editors.

Several copies of a quick guide for the edit-a-thon rested on the reading room table in the “Collection at Work.” The guide provided instructions on how to get started, general tips and suggestions specific to artist pages. Participants had to first make a Wikipedia account. Then they could join the program on the event’s website. Some general tips included, “Write with a neutral point of

view” and “Citations from reliable sources are important.”

Simple edits and fact-checking took 15 minutes to complete, while creating a fresh page was a two- to three-hour endeavor, according to Combs. To help out with research, library books that pertained to the list of female artists also appeared on the table.

The Rose’s participation in Art+Feminism’s Wiki Edit-aThon is among several other acts that show the museum’s part in recognizing women in the arts.

On International Women’s Day, students created signs with the names of numerous women, including some female artists’ names. These signs were posted at the Rose’s Light of Reason. Additionally, the Rose hosted a book sale, selling art books by or of female artists on March 8-12.

In terms of powerful female artists featured in the Rose this spring, visitors can view the works of Ana Mendieta and Louise Nevelson. Mendieta, a Cuban immigrant, pays respect to the female body through performance paintings and videos. Meanwhile, Nevelson’s art flouts gender norms from the 1970s feminist art movement.

“I’d also love to see other edita-thons happen on campus. Once you figure out the Wiki system, it is remarkably easy, and it’s the kind of consolidation and citation of researched information that university students are already so great at,” Nelson said. “So if we keep doing this event in the future, I’d love to see an emphasis on other underrepresented groups both as editors and as subjects of pages.”

Poet Neil Hilborn finds humor even in the sadness

By Sanin Dosa staff

Laughter and smiles filled Slosberg Recital Hall last Saturday night, March 11 as Neil Hilborn took the mic and recited poems from his book, “Our Numbered Days.”

His poems focus on relationships, heartbreak and the difficulties of having obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and bipolar disorder. At age 11, Hilborn was diagnosed with both OCD and bipolar disorder. Despite having a

“depressing life,” as he calls it, his poems provide a sense of comic relief.

Neil Hilborn made the crowd of students and adults laugh with his opening poem, “OCD.” The poem recounts Hilborn’s experience of being in a relationship while having OCD. A video of Hilborn reciting this poem on Youtube has reached over 12 million views.

The one poem that left the audience in stitches was “Rejected Ideas for Tinder Profile.” The poem is a list of bios for a Tinder profile that is intended to drive potential matches away. For example, one of the bios read, “ Ain’t

no party like an anxiety party because an anxiety party will kill you!”

Other poems deal with his mental illness and depression. “Joey,” for example, is a poem in which Hilborn expresses his sympathy for those who feel depressed and tormented inside but cannot afford to get help.

After reciting the poem, Hilborn encouraged people with mental illness to take advantage of any help they may have access to.

“I was fortunate enough to have parents that could afford to pay a therapist to help me,” he noted.

“Because of the help I received, I

have been able to tame my mental illness.”

Despite the sad stories Hilborn shared in his poems, he managed to add humor to his set. In between each poem he shared humorous personal experiences to entertain the audience. In the middle of his set, Hilborn asked if anyone’s first time ice skating was when they came to college in Massachusetts. More than 10 hands rose up from the audience.

He then continued with a story revealing his hatred for children who were better than him at ice skating during his first time at a rink, which led to the poem “Un-

solicited Advice to Minnesota Children,” encouraging them to appreciate the land they live in before the beauty goes away.

Hilborn’s “The Future” closed the show. This poem shed light on Hilborn’s bipolar diagnosis, describing how he continues to fight his illness and suicidal thoughts.

Poetic Justice, Brandeis’ slam poetry team, hosted the event.

Three of its members opened the show with their own spoken word poetry. After the show ended, so many students lined up to meet Hilborn and purchase his book that the meet-and-greet had to move to Ridgewood Commons.

JSA shares culture through traditional snacks

By Brianna Cummings staff

The International Cultural Center smelled of chocolate and strawberries due to an event for the Japanese Student Association’s (JSA) celebration known as Japan Week. Wednesday, March 15 marked day three of Japan Week, also known as Snack Night.

There were tons of food for those in attendance. The snacks consisted of strawberries, pineapple, apples and bananas, among other fruits. There was even a chocolate fondue fountain. On another table were bowls filled with Pocky, chips and Nori Maki Arare, a rice cracker wrapped in seaweed. Beverages included Oi Ocha, which is unsweetened roasted green tea, and Calpico, a un-carbonated soft drink that re-

sembles milk.

The club also showed a Japanese animated film, “5 Centimeters Per Second,” which followed a romance between a boy and a girl from middle school to adulthood.

The movie was well-animated and had a beautiful score that entranced the audience, but did not keep them from going back for more food.

This is the second year that the JSA hosted Japan Week. For the whole week, they plan on sharing Japanese culture with the rest of the Brandeis community. On Monday, they kicked off the week with Ramen Night.

“We served 200 servings,” said Yu Dai ’17, JSA’s co-president along with Tamara Garcia ’18.

“We had regular ramen, and we also had a spicy ramen challenge,” Dai added. Tuesday was supposed to be Anime Night, but the snowstorm postponed it to Tuesday,

March 21. On Thursday, the club delivered Japanese fried chicken, known as Karaage, to people’s dorms. On JSA’s Facebook page, they described Karaage as KFC but better. On Friday, the club and its guests will visit a Japanese restaurant in Cambridge called Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ. Like all cultural clubs, JSA is a staple at Brandeis. Since Brandeis prides itself on social justice and strives to promote diversity and inclusion, it needs clubs that will help community members see the beauty in other cultures. JSA currently has 19 members who come from many different backgrounds but who bond over their love of Japanese culture.

“There are not a lot of Japanese students [at Brandeis], but we have a lot of people who are fascinated with Japanese culture,” Dai said. “I am glad there is a club that can showcase Japanese cul-

photo courtesy jeremy longfellow

ture and people can come here and discuss it. Eventually we can showcase it to the whole Brandeis community. I think it is important to share the culture with other students,” Dai continued.

JSA’s next big event is on April 22 and is called Haru Matsuri, which means Japanese Spring Festival. Dai described Haru Matsuri as “half festival, half performance” and said that the event

would have lots of booths for people to enjoy different activities, like taking photos. She also said the club is looking to feature a lot of performances at the Japanese Spring Festival event.

Overall, Snack Night was a success. The food was delicious and the event was casual and inviting.

People entered the room as they pleased and exited with full stomachs and smiles.

FEATURES

12 The Brandeis Hoot

March 17, 2017

Sodexo managers speak to food at Brandeis General manager connects students, staff and Sodexo

By Zach Cihlar editor

Each morning, Andy Allen runs through statistics detailing student dining trends at Brandeis.

On Monday, March 13, nearly 1,300 students purchased items at the C-store from 4:30 p.m. to its closing at 2 a.m. The hike in activity marks a trend Allen recognizes as the pre-snow day stockup. This is just one of his many tasks as the general manager of Brandeis Dining Services.

Allen works from a high-ceilinged office adjacent to the Lower Usdan dining hall and just to the right of the C-store. Past the glass door marked by the Brandeis Dining logo, classical music can be heard filling the edges of the space, a glaring contrast to the bustle and noise of the dining hall atmosphere.

When he’s not in his office, Allen can be found roaming the various dining options, keeping a check on the quality and service and checking in on his employees.

“I’m a picker,” is how he described himself on his trips to the dining halls. “I’ll go through Usdan or Sherman, I’ll pick a plate, and I’ll pick a little bit of a bunch of dif-

ferent things, just to see the quality,” he explained.

Allen entered the position just 15 months ago, but has worked for Brandeis Dining for 10 years. His first job out of college was an executive chef position at Brandeis, which he held from 1987 to 1996.

Allen then left Brandeis to work at Harvard for 14 years, during which he transitioned from a position as a chef into the retail operations facet of university dining.

Allen then moved on to work for Aramark at Simmons College for five years (Aramark previously served Brandeis before Sodexo), before returning to Brandeis to fill the open general manager position.

Now comfortably situated back at Brandeis, Allen remembered the novelty of his return, but also the sense of reunion with the Brandeis Dining workers, including Sherman greeter Yen Yu, who worked at Brandeis with Allen for a short time while he was a chef.

Allen described his role as one that requires a sense of connectedness to the employees and the students, which is why he spends so much time visiting the various dining options across campus.

A large portion of his job is keeping “a pulse on what students

think, on what the administration thinks [and] what’s expected,” which is where this connectedness comes in. He measures these expectations by following various Facebook pages (including the Overseen at Brandeis page, the Brandeis University Parent and Families page, the Sodexo Fan Club page and others), hiring student secret shoppers, reading feedback on Sodexo’s website and communicating with the senior leadership team, about 30 managers and supervisors including the executive chef.

In general, the statistics Allen reads each morning on trends in student dining attendance give him a solid grasp on what the student body wants. “People make decisions with their feet,” he said.

By tracking where students make their purchases, he can tell what options and items are most liked by the students.

These statistics actually influenced the recent dining hall changes. According to Allen, the Dunkin Donuts move occurred due to high student activity in Upper Usdan and low awareness and traffic at the Village location last academic year.

Changes such as the movement of dining options in Upper Usdan

all stem from Allen’s connection to his employees, the administration and students. He sees himself as a sort of liaison between his customers, employees, employers and suppliers, which gives him the ability to solve problems by aiding in communication between those separate groups of people.

This is his favorite part of the job, he said. Getting to take in the ideas and wishes of the dining hall workers, chefs and students and put them into action is both a challenge he faces and the reason why he decided to take the position as general manager. He described Brandeis students as a “food savvy” student body that pushes him to help put out a better product.

The products, such as gluten-free, vegan and kosher items, are designed to fit the student body’s different dietary restriction needs. At other schools, many students with limited dietary options often have to eat separately from the rest of the student population, Allen pointed out. At Brandeis, however, he and the previous general managers have worked to integrate the various dietary restrictions into the greater residential dining halls.

In a letter to new students and

photo from brandeis.sodexomyway

parents, Allen wrote that he and the rest of the team is dedicated to accommodating and pleasing the student body. “Our team is committed to providing the highest quality food and service to each and every member of the community we have the privilege to serve,” he wrote in the letter.

Allen’s only request of Brandeis Dining Services customers is this: “When we’re doing good, let us know. When we struggle, let us know.” Despite a 45-mile drive from his home, Allen and the rest of the Dining Services team are committed to delivering quality food to students daily. “We’re always there for you, even when it’s snowing out,” he said.

Innovative plans to draw crowds to Upper Usdan

photo from brandeis.sodexomyway

By Polina Potochevska editor

Cathleen Jordan is the retail manager for Upper Usdan and in charge of making Upper Usdan run smoothly. Relatively new to

By Charlotte Aaron editor

From experience as a bank manager, garde manger chef and even a mother, Elaine Lunardi, dining manager of Sherman, ensures not only the production of high-quality food, but that the dining hall is a place that students and staff alike can feel at home.

“I am all about the kids,” said Lunardi. “If I wouldn’t serve it to my kids, I wouldn’t want it served here [in Sherman]. I want your environment to be cozy and comfy, just like I would want it for them.”

Lunardi entered the food service industry when her son began kindergarten. She was offered a job in the cafeteria that had “part-time mother’s hours,” she explained. Since then, she hasn’t looked back. After years of working in various schools in the

the position, she has been working as manager since last October. Her job is to make sure that students want to eat there. She explained that she “tries to create special and exciting events and promotions” such as free sample tables to increase interest and traffic. She said more sampling tables will be coming up this semester, including one for Italian ice.

In addition, she hopes to grow the retail offerings and snacks available for purchase in the kiosk in the middle of Upper. “I want to make sure that students are happy!” she said.

Because she has not held the position of retail manager for very long, Jordan’s goals for the semester are to “watch the flow” of the space to see how it runs on an everyday basis and also to introduce new products to students

and staff. A goal she has is to look for “what we don’t have that people want,” especially for students with dietary restrictions so that they can also enjoy what Upper has to offer.

Jordan has a degree in English, but is very excited to be holding her position at Brandeis. She said the team of other staff members make it “fun to come to work every day,” and that college campuses have a lot of energy. She has worked at a college before, and while it may seem a little counterintuitive since students are often so busy with work, she enjoys that Brandeis “students are unafraid to open dialogue” and bring energy into the space.

After the winter break, some of the Upper locations were rearranged, including the shift of Louis’ Deli to where the sushi bar

was, the introduction of Dunkin Donuts and the replacement of the pho booth with sushi. Jordan is very excited about the changes to Upper, and said, “Dunkin is really busy, people love its new location.” She noticed an increase in traffic to Upper and said that Louis’ now has more accessibility.

The weekly specials at Louis’ is a new idea this semester that the team is trying, and will continue into next month if proven successful. Ultimately, Jordan said that she “loves the changes and growth” and that it “helps us offer more and do our jobs even better.”

Jordan realizes that because students need to buy meal plans, they can be very unsatisfied with their options, but said that Brandeis students may want to know that the staff working with Sodexo really do “try to keep it exciting,”

and that “the [management] team loves being here.” All of the managers enjoy their jobs, and Jordan reiterated that she and the rest of the team “want to be accessible for any issues [that students have], and we want to resolve them.”

Jordan is truly passionate as the retail manager for Upper and is hoping to increase its popularity and efficiency even more than before. Her favorite meal that she has almost every day is “a bowl of rice and chicken from Curritos,” or a cheeseburger in Lower Usdan, because “they’re always fresh and cooked in small batches.” Not only does she enjoy the food, but she is a positive, energetic member of the team and looks forward to working with them every day, and working on improving the food quality and variety in Upper Usdan.

Sodexo’s Lunardi makes Sherman home

Medford school system, Lunardi enrolled in culinary school and took a job in the kitchen to open up more doors for herself in the industry.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was in the kitchen with the uniform on and doing my bit back there. I loved it. I was a garde manger chef, so I did fancy salads, fancy sandwiches, and I did catering managing,” said Lunardi.

Her work in the kitchen landed her a job as dining supervisor at Brandeis four years ago when Sodexo took over the Brandeis dining account. Because of her experience as both a chef and kitchen supervisor, when she was promoted to dining manager of Sherman at the beginning of this year, she stepped seamlessly into the role.

Managing three kitchens—Kosher meat, Kosher dairy and the regular kitchen—as well as staff and payroll, Lunardi is constantly

on the move. “It’s been a learning curve for me,” Lunardi admits, but it is not reflected in either her completion or knowledge of the job. In addition to ensuring all is in order for staff in and out of the kitchen, Lunardi is committed to larger Brandeis goals as well, with sustainability as a top priority.

Just this last year, Sherman was recognized for having the greatest improvement in poundage of compost. Rather than throw food waste away, Sherman staff uses a green bin system in which they compost food such as cucumber peels, pepper seeds and ends of melon. At the end of the day, what is put in the trash is very minimal, according to Lunardi.

“We work with Mary Fischer,” who is the manager of sustainability programs at Brandeis, Lunardi explained. “This is why we what we do, because students want it.

It’s the world we live in, and it’s something we have to do.”

In addition to emphasizing sustainability, Lunardi looks for other ways to improve students’ dining experience through napkin comments—comments students write anonymously and leave on napkins at the entrance to Sherman. “A few comments back, we had a student that asked for less sweetened yogurt,” said Lunardi. Since then, vanilla yogurt has been switched out for plain in the morning, and Greek yogurt is available during the day.

On average, 1,800 meals are run through Sherman a day. While feeding students, let alone remaining in touch with them, may seem like a daunting task, it is the reason Lunardi keeps coming to work.

Her favorite moment in the job so far was when she asked Amy, an always-bubbly student who seemed sad, what was wrong, and she explained she had an exam and was panicked. “I said, well

photo from brandeis.sodexomyway

what can I do, and she just went like this [put arms out], and I just hugged her. That was a super special day for me. That was a day that I realized that I was doing something and in the right place for the right type of a reason,” said Lunardi.

March 17, 2017

The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES 13

Executive chef brings culture to Lower Usdan

By Polina Potochevska editor

Johanne Legrand is the executive chef for Lower Usdan, and has been working at Brandeis for just over a year. Originally starting as a chef manager in Sherman, she was promoted to executive chef, although she still occasionally helps in Upper Usdan and Sherman when necessary.

Legrand’s responsibilities include creating the menus for Lower Usdan and Sherman twice a year. She creates the fall semester menus during the summertime and the spring semester menus during winter break.

She is also in charge of ordering food for catering services, helps with retail when extra hands are needed, checks in on the food in the Faculty Club and does administrative work such as scheduling employees. “I do a little bit of everything!” she said.

One important role that she has as executive chef is to taste test all of the food everyday. She tastes the dishes to make sure that the food is fresh and has the correct flavor. She also enjoys seeing creativity in the dishes. Legrand trains her staff for what she is hoping to see in the dishes so that the whole team is on the same page.

Legrand said that since she was little, she loved to cook and often “watched my grandma cook.” At nine years old, her favorite dish to make was rice with lots of different toppings. Her reasoning for wanting to become a chef was because she not only loved to eat, but she loved to experience different cultures through food, as she said, “No matter what culture you are, you’re always going to eat!”

By Charlotte Aaron

photo from brandeis now

photo from brandeis dining services

mardi gras food

One of the cultural night meals in Brandeis dining halls.

Legrand attended school at Johnson and Wales University in Providence and graduated with an associate’s degree in culinary arts and a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, as she enjoys cooking and likes the science behind it as well.

Some of Legrand’s goals for this semester include helping to create the marketing calendars that are hung up in the dining halls.

For example, one special event on these calendars is the Third Annual Harry Potter Night, which will include themed food such as butter beer and a build-yourown edible wand station. Another of Legrand’s favorite themed nights is the international dinner that took place on the last day

of school that she planned with the operating manager last year.

“We had Brazilian food and Haitian food. It was so great.”

Legrand mentioned that both students and employees were really excited about the variety and the introduction of different cultural foods, and she hopes to host it again this year as well.

When Legrand is ordering food, she uses a specific system where she can select the types of food for the day. For example, if chicken is on the menu for the day, she could choose whether or not she would want to create a Mexican-themed chicken entree or take a different approach. This way, “we know exactly what we

buy but we still get to be creative.”

In addition, Legrand wanted to make it clear that she and her team do respond to student feedback. For example, when she received messages from Latino students asking for a greater variety in foods, she agreed and is now creating a menu for Latin Night on Wednesday, March 22.

She also said that some students do not know that all produce is directly from Russo’s in Watertown, so the food is local. When there is fish on campus it is called Catch of the Day because it actually was freshly delivered that day.

Legrand’s favorite thing to eat in Lower Usdan is stir fry, as “there are a bunch of fresh vegetables, you can be creative, and it is all

gluten free.” Also, the teriyaki sauce is homemade! Legrand also said she loves to eat salmon, but they try to balance out the foods in the dining halls so one food is not repeated too often.

Her favorite part about working as executive chef is the student responses. “When I cook something special, and I get to hear the student reaction, that is my favorite part,” she said with a smile, and shared that she loves to hear a student say, “This is so good. I’m so happy!” Legrand and her team are working hard each week to satisfy students’ appetites and are hoping to bring all different kinds of foods to Lower over the course of this semester and beyond.

Professional publication fosters friendship

editor

High-quality, professional and academic are all adjectives used to describe the Brandeis International Journal. However, while these descriptions can at times be daunting to any new writer, publication board members pride themselves on the Journal’s warm community and focus on teaching.

The Journal, which prints once a semester, exists to promote not only discourse on international relations, but also to promote

student academic-style work, explained Journal Editor-in-Chief Connor Wahrman ’17.

The writing process begins each semester with the submission of prospectuses, or short paragraphs describing what each writer wants to write about, why it is interesting and what initial sources will be used, explained Wahrman. From there, Wahrman and President Jake Silverman ’17 go through the proposals and decide which ones to accept.

“We usually accept all of them because they’re usually good,” Wahrman said. “Some of them are amazing,” Silverman chimed

fall 2016 brandeis international journal cover

photo from brandeisinternational.com

in. “We sometimes get crazy ones, but I won’t say on the record,” Silverman continued. As they do most things on campus, Wahrman and Silverman were interviewed by The Brandeis Hoot together, poking fun at each other almost the entire time. “We’ve been best friends since freshman year. “We can have long, drawn out, days long arguments and then go out to dinner and giggle about something,” Silverman said.

Once prospectuses are accepted, writers get paired with their regional editor, explained Wahrman. The regions include the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Over the course of the semester, writers submit outlines, first drafts, second drafts and third drafts.

Following each submission, the editors send detailed feedback, according to Wahrman.

“We take who we give our editor slots to very seriously,” Silverman explained. Because the Journal produces such high-quality work, with a strong focus on writer improvement, it is important that editors put the time necessary into assuring all articles in their region are exceptional.

“We’ve had writers substantially improve the quality of their writing throughout the Journal process. It’s very much a learning process,” Wahrman said. “I know that my writing has totally improved.” Similar to being in a writing intensive course, the Journal pushes its writers to outline, use Chicago-style citations and revise drafts—all “valuable skills,” said Wahrman.

While the Journal has high standards, people begin writing with a range of experience, Wahrman said. For example, many first-year international students just coming to the United States submit great ideas but struggle with the writing, so editors work with them to make sure the final product meets the Journal standards, Silverman explained.

Each edition, while it consistently has at least three articles in each regional section, has an additional article from each region published in the “theme section.”

Past themes have included “A Closer Look into North Korea,” “A Global Rise of Insurgency” and, last semester, “Body Politic: Gender and Sexuality in International Affairs.”

“Our theme for this semester is called ‘The Resistance: Contentious Politics in a Discontented World’ where contentious politics is just social protest, people versus the state,” Wahrman explained.

For the edition, Wahrman plans to publish an article looking into how Black Monday, a huge, prochoice protest in Poland near the end of 2016, tied trends in international feminism with anti-authoritarianism in Eastern Europe.

This will be Wahrman’s eighth and final article for the Journal.

Silverman, on the other hand, plans to publish yet another article on China. “He’s the China guy,” explained Wahrman and confirmed by Silverman. “I read about China and am writing my thesis on Chinese policies … so every time, I [write] something about China.” In the past month, Silverman took the U.S. Foreign Service Exam and hopes to end

up in China as a U.S. diplomat one day.

Wahrman and Silverman’s consistent contributions to the Journal, through articles, leadership and passion, have shaped the culture of the Journal. “When we started the journal, it had a bit of a business atmosphere,” said Silverman. Since becoming leaders on the board, they have taken themselves less seriously than past leaders and made the journal more open to its members, Wahrman explained. Rather than just being “a bunch of talking heads,” the two leaders ensure it is a collaborative and respectful environment.

“Neither of us are particularly ego driven in terms of our leadership, so it’s very much ‘where does the good idea come from’ as opposed to making sure one of us gets the credit or comes up with the good idea,” Silverman said.

Each week, Silverman collects one article from each region editor to send out to the entire Journal group for discussion at the weekly meetings. The meetings, which are only mandatory for editors, has two components: reviewing article progress and chatting about topics of interest. “It’s a good community side to what the journal does,” Wahrman said.

As professional as the Brandeis International Journal is, thanks to Wahrman and Silverman, the editorial board and writers are able to function as both colleagues and friends. “I’m very much the meme Biden to his meme Obama,” joked Silverman. “I throw out crazy ideas and he reels me in,” Silverman laughed.

14 The Brandeis Hoot

SPORTS

March 17, 2017

Emily Bryson ’19 places ninth in mile-run at NCAAs

By Jordan Brodie staff

Emily Bryson ’19 represented Brandeis women’s indoor track in the NCAA Division III national championships on March 11 and placed ninth in the mile run and 14th in the 3,000-meter run.

Going into the meet at North Central College in Naperville, IL, Bryson said that she was excited to participate in the event and was grateful to be there. “My expectations were just to be competitive and enjoy the experience, as it is so hard to make it to NCAAs to begin with, and I really just wanted to have fun and make the most of my experience.”

At the same time, however, Bryson mentioned that her thoughts on the competition, and the prospects of her third All-America honors, were on her mind.

“Of course I was also hoping to gain All-America honors in the mile and 3K, and even though I came up just short of that, I’m happy knowing I was much more competitive in the meet this year than I was a year ago.” The progression she showed from last year, where she placed 12th in the mile run, was something she will

photos from brandeisjudges.com

carry forward into the outdoor track season.

As in all competition, the preparation for Bryson was just as important as the actual event in forming a winning result. For training, Bryson says that she increased her mileage and has been working harder than ever. She also mentioned that her workouts have been harder as she has spent more time as a member of the track team.

According to Bryson, the environment at the national championships was a bit different from

the usual meet. “The environment at the meet was definitely more intense than other meets this season, but at the same time it’s such a unique and inspiring atmosphere to be surrounded by some of the best athletes in the nation,” the Brandeis long-distance runner said.

In the mile, Bryson finished with a time of 4:57.02, placing her just four-tenths of a second out of her third All-America honor.

For the majority of the first two lengths of the race, Bryson was hovering around fourth or fifth,

Women’s tennis extends winning streak to six

By Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

The women’s tennis team, currently ranked #21 in Division III, took down unranked St. Lawrence 9-0 on Saturday, March 11 to improve their record to 7-1. It was the team’s fifth straight win.

The Judges then achieved their sixth straight win with a victory over New York University the next day.

In the doubles matches, Brandeis started off strong with Sabrina Ross Neergaard ’20 and Olivia Leavitt ’19 beating St. Lawrence 8-3 in the number-one doubles spot. Leavitt looked to close off volleys and the net, while Neergaard dominated play from the baseline.

Haley Cohen ’18 and Ariana Ishaq ’19 won their match 8-5 beating St. Lawrence’s number-two team. The match saw many switches in momentum until the Brandeis team took the lead at 6-5 and coasted to victory.

Keren Khromchenko ’19 and Michele Lehat ’19 finished the doubles sweep with their 8-4 victory in the number-three doubles spot.

In singles play, Cohen downed the number-two seat in quick fashion with her 6-1, 6-0 victory.

She led the match after a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and used the early momentum to guide her through a controlled win. Neergaard, playing at the number-one singles spot, clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win. The rookie’s skill shone through after a few rough games in the beginning of the match. Neergaard finished off her opponent by remaining steady and earning easy points off big serves.

After the clinch, Brandeis rolled through the bottom part of the lineup, sweeping St. Lawrence.

Khromchenko, at the three spot, closed out her opponent with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Leavitt took the next win, with a quick 6-1, 6-1 score, and shortly after, Ishaq earned a double-bagel win at the sixth seat 6-0, 6-0. Lehat would close out the match with another dominating win in the fifth singles spot at 6-2, 6-1.

The Judges hit the courts again early on Sunday morning when they matched up against conference opponent NYU at Longfellow Racquet Club in Wayland, MA. The Judges took home a 5-4 victory to increase their winning streak to six, and advance their record to 8-1.

The Judges started off strong by winning the first five of six matches of the day. Brandeis’ top doubles team, Neergaard and Leavitt, took down the number-one seat in doubles with an 8-4 victory. At two, Cohen and Ishaq could not hold steady against their opponents, and ultimately lost 3-8. The last doubles match came down to a tiebreaker at 8-8. Though tight, the Brandeis team prevailed in a 7-4 tiebreaker win to take the lead 2-1 going into singles play.

In the singles tournament, Khromchenko swept her opponent with a quick 6-0, 6-0 victory to be the first off the court. Neergaard earned yet another win in the number-one singles spot by defeating her opponent 6-3, 6-3.

Leavitt would clinch the match at the number-four singles spot to go up 5-1. She won with a score of 6-4, 6-4 after coming back from a 3-4 deficit in the second set. NYU would take the final three singles matches to tighten the score to 5-4, the same score the Judges had against their conference opponent in the 2016 season.

This was the 14th win for the Judges out of the 15 meetings they have had with NYU in program history. After the Judges wins, Brandeis women’s tennis have moved up to #18 in the nation, the highest rank the team has ever achieved in the program’s history.

Next up on the schedule, the Judges will take on Middlebury College, who is currently ranked third nationally in Division III. They will travel to Vermont to take on Middlebury College on Saturday, March 18.

photo courtesy michael arguello

but she trailed off in an effort to make a push in the final 800 meters.

Later that same day, Bryson competed in the 3,000-meter, in which she was seeded seventh.

She started in the inside lane, but was unable to make it into the front pack. Her time of 10:10.35 was still good enough for 14th place.

“I’m disappointed with how the races ended up, but at the end of the day, I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to represent Brandeis at NCAAs, and I look

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forward to the opportunity to do so again in the future,” she said about her performance.

Bryson will have little time to relax after this meet. Brandeis has its first outdoor meet on Saturday, March 25 at the Bridgewater State University Bears Invitational.

“Heading into the outdoor season, I’ll just be taking this next week nice and easy to recover from the races and then get my mileage back up and start doing more workouts to prepare me for my next races.”

More from last week:

Friday, March 10: Men’s tennis fell to conference opponents New York University in an upset loss 3-6. The Judges started off the match slow and could not recover from a 1-2 match deficit after doubles. The team saw a dip in the rankings to #32 in the nation after the loss.

Next week:

Saturday, March 18: Men’s tennis plays an early-morning match at 9:30 a.m. against Middlebury College. Brandeis travels to Middlebury, VT, to play the third-ranked team in the nation.

Saturday, March 18: Women’s tennis plays Middlebury College as well later that day, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Middlebury’s women’s tennis team is also ranked third in the nation.

Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19: All baseball and softball games were postponed for the weekend. There is no update on when the games will be rescheduled.

Tuesday, March 21: Baseball takes on Western New England University in a home game at 3:30 p.m. Due to all the postponements in baseball games, it will be the first game for the Judges since Monday, March 6.

Wednesday, March 22: Baseball returns to the field against Rhode Island College for another 3:30 p.m. game. The team will take the short trip over to Providence for the away game.

Thursday, March 23: Baseball returns to Brandeis to play against Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 3:30 p.m. The game was originally supposed to be played on Wednesday, March 15 but was postponed to this date due to inclement weather.

Friday, March 24: Softball hits the road for a double-header against Smith College. The two games will be played at 3 p.m. and at 5 p.m. Smith College in Northampton, MA. Due to postponements, it will be the team’s first game since Wednesday, March 8.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

March 17, 2017

SPORTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Club rowing offers training and competition

By Shea Decker-Jacoby and Zach Cihlar staff and editor

Ever wanted a full-body workout before your class? Ever want to try a new sport? Then crew may be the team for you!

The Brandeis rowing team, a club sport, has a novice and varsity team to accommodate all skill levels. The novice program teaches first-time rowers the basics of the sport, while the varsity team consists of returning and experienced rowers. They focus on further developing skills and look to participate in competitions all over New England. There are men’s and women’s squads and

practices are year-round.

This year, the teams participated in four different meets all in October. The first was at UMass Lowell, with the women’s varsity two team competing in the Textile River Regatta. They finished with a time of 32:19.365. At the second meet held in Worcester the women’s varsity four team competed in the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta, finishing with a time of 20:24.468 to place 14th out of a total of 17 teams.

The third meet of the year was the famous Head of Charles, held on the Charles River. The largest regatta in the world, teams travel internationally to compete in the Head of the Charles. Each year, 50 teams are selected from a lottery

photos courtesy alitza maarek

to compete.

Alitza Maarek ’19, the team’s treasurer, talked about the magnitude of the event. “It was frightening because there were boats everywhere,” she said. All the big-name schools also attended, including Harvard and Brown, Maarek also mentioned.

The final meet of the season was at the Lasell Boat House, where Brandeis practices.

Spring competitions see shorter races. The team wakes up before sunrise to begin practices, especially once they hit the water.

In the winter, the team practices inside and on land, using rowing machines and doing team lifts throughout the week. In true crew fashion, the team begins practicing as early as 6:30 a.m.

In the fall and spring, when the team shifts to on-water practices, the group of rowers wake up even earlier, meeting at Gosman to travel to the Lasell Boat House at 5:30 a.m. They spend about an hour and a half on the water before returning to Brandeis to begin their class days.

The schedule of practices offers the rowers a uniquely beautiful view of the sunrise while on the water, Maarek said. “It’s so cool seeing the sunrises every day,” she said.

The team took a training trip to South Carolina over February break. Maarek and the team hired two coaches and took a five-day trip. Four out of those five days were spent driving the dedicated team, while the team spent the fifth day in South Carolina improving their form and speed for the races to come.

The number of people on the team currently fluctuates around 16 students, with a majority of them women. There are four different types of boats in which the rowers race, singles, pairs, four-persons, and eight-persons.

Maarek fills the role of the coxswain, the rower who sits at the end of the boat and yells commands to keep the rhythm and speed of the boat in check. “My favorite part of coxswaining is feeling the boat move, and feeling the power behind my teammates’ rows as the boat sweeps through the water,” Maarek said.

All the practices culminate in one final competition at the very end of the year. The competition, which takes place in Philadelphia, occurs after the end of the spring semester.

The team will travel in a van to the city to compete against a variety of colleges from all over.

Baseball, softball look to gain momentum in a packed schedule

By David Aizenberg staff

Following their week-long trip to Florida, the Brandeis baseball team picked up their first win of the season against University of Massachusetts Boston on Monday, March 6. The 3-1 victory was highlighted by a strong performance from pitcher Sean O’Neill ’18. O’Neill pitched seven innings while giving up just three hits and one earned run.

Another standout performance came from Kyle Lussier ’19, who knocked in his first home run of the season in the seventh inning to put the Judges ahead 3-1. Lussier’s contribution provided a much needed boost to a Brandeis offense that managed 10 runs in its previous four games.

Looking ahead, the Judges play a series against conference foes Case Western, NYU, Emory and Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U). In their two meetings against Case Western last season, the Judges lost both contests, with one of the losses coming in the University Athletic Association tournament. In their quest for revenge, the Judges will take on the Spartans in a four game series beginning on Friday, March 31.

Following last season’s dominance over NYU, the Judges will continue to look for that form this season. While going 5-0 in games against NYU last season, the Judges posted 39 runs throughout the five games. Over the April spring break, the Judges will face off against NYU in a four-game

series starting on Friday, April 14.

In two meetings against Emory last season, the Judges played Emory close but fell short of victory in both games. The first game of the matchup last year featured a back-and-forth affair, with both teams firing on offense. Emory eventually came out on top with a score of 7-4. April 7-9 will feature the Judges against Emory in a four-game series taking place at Brandeis.

In their one game match up against Wash U last season, the offensive powerhouse of the Bears was on full display as they dominated Brandeis 17-3. Wash U finalized the 2016 season ranked fourth in the country among Division III schools. Wash U, without the same dominance as last year, is in the heat of its season with a 7-5 record. The Judges will look to rebound from last seasons defeat in another four game home matchup beginning on Friday, April 21.

The Brandeis softball team has had a solid start to their season, posting a record of 3-4. On a young team featuring six first years, the softball team looks to gain experience for their young players before taking on conference foes in a couple weeks. Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 leads the team with nine hits and five runs batted in the first seven games.

In two weeks, the softball team begins the conference portion of their scheduling and takes on Case Western, Emory and NYU. With a solid start to the season, Brandeis softball is a force to be reckoned with.

photo from brandeisjudges.com

The drama of March Madness begins

By Kevin Costa staff

There is nothing in sports that embodies drama like March Madness. Sixty-eight teams will compete. Only one will be crowned the national champion.

With so much unpredictability in a single-elimination tournament, perhaps the only semblance of order might be in the seeding.

The teams with the top seed have shown their dominance throughout the regular season and are the favorites to win it all.

According to CTV News, Kansas finished the season 28-4, securing the Big 12 regular-season

title for the 13th straight year.

The Jayhawks secured the number-one seed despite being eliminated from the Big 12 tournament

by Texas Christian University.

Similarly, North Carolina won the ACC regular-season title with a 27-7 record but lost their conference tournament. The Tar Heels lost in the semifinals to Duke 93-83. Villanova (31-3), dominated the Big East, winning both the regular-season and tournament titles. They look to defend their national championship.

Gonzaga came out on top in the West Coast Conference, nearly completing a perfect season before losing their last regular-season game to Brigham Young Uni-

versity.

Las Vegas is as busy as ever. The Westgate Superbook favors North Carolina with 5-1 odds. To follow is Kansas (6-1), Duke (7-1), Villanova (8-1) and Gonzaga (9-1), ESPN reports. But as fans know from previous years, no odds can predict the tournament’s upsets.

Especially in the first round, some higher seeded teams fall to lower seeded ones.

In fact, upsets are quite common. Seeding is only preliminary, and for every team, it is do-ordie, with no way to fall back on previous accomplishments. These stats from ESPN on first round games are as follows: In sixth seed vs 11th seed (6v11) games, 11th

seed teams are 19-13 against the spread since 2009. In 5v12 games, favorites are 5-11 against the spread since 2014. In 2v15 games, second seeds are 18-18 against the spread since 2008.

This year, there are a couple of underdogs that could advance to the second round. According to Sports Illustrated, 11th seed Rhode Island Rams faces Creighton, a team without starting point guard Mo Wation. Out with a torn ACL, Wation will hurt the Bluejays’ chances of advancing.

The point guard led the country in average assists (9.1) and was the team’s third-leading scoring with 12.9 points per game, SB Nation reports.

Rhode Island, coached by Dan Hurley, could shut down their upcoming opponent with a strong perimeter defense. They play tight man-to-man and allow the third-lowest field goal percentage in the nation behind Duke and N.C. Central.

Twelfth seed Middle Tennessee could also upset fifth seed Minnesota. Last year, Middle Tennessee upset the heavily-favored second seed, Michigan State. The Blue Raiders, coached by Kermit Davis, run a mix of defensive looks from man-to-man to 2-3 zones, according to Sports Illustrated.

This confuses opponents not used to facing multiple defensive schemes in a game.

SPORTS

16 The Brandeis Hoot

March 17, 2017

Foilists Gets ’20 and Carminucci ’19 barely miss NCAA fencing qualification

By Zach Cihlar editor

After March 12’s NCAA Northeast Regional Fencing Championships, foilists Jessica Gets ’20 and Joanne Carminucci ’19 were named at-large candidates for NCAA Championships because they were the two top-scoring women foilists not to win a general bid to NCAAs. However, they were not granted bids to NCAAs in the end because other at-large candidates from other regions had better season-long performances.

Carminucci, entering the competition seeded at the 15th spot, tore her way to the finals, going 5-1 in the first round and 3-3 in the semifinal round. Moving her way up the rankings, she took three wins out of 11 bouts to secure a 10th place finish.

Gets finished the first round with a winning record as well, going 4-2. Like her teammate, Gets went 3-3 in the semifinal round.

Unfortunately, the rookie first year was unable to score a win in the final round, a result that landed her at the 12th-place spot.

Neither performances from the two Judges fencers were strong enough to make the cut for the NCAA national tournament. The

two fencers made the finals

Joanne Carminucci ‘19 (left) and Jessica Gets ‘20 both made finals in the foil event.

good news is that both Carminucci and Gets have two seasons and three seasons left, respectively, in their career.

Another notable performance came from captain Nina Sayles ’17, who made the semifinals for women’s saber.

Men’s fencing was unable to secure any spots in the final rounds of competition, though the team advanced six fencers to the semifinal rounds. Fencers advanced to the semifinals in each of the three weapons.

Men’s fencing saw all three of its fencers for the saber event make it to the semifinal round. Leon

Rotenstein ’20 achieved a 4-2 record in the first round of competition, while Kyle Berney’s ’18 3-3 record scored him a spot in the semifinal round. Each of their results safely secured their entrance into the next round.

Curtis Wilson ’18, the last of the three Brandeis competitors in the saber event, barely advanced the next round. His 2-4 record earned him the 21st spot, the final spot in the pool.

Each of them picked up two wins in the semifinals but could not make the cut for finals. Wilson picked up a notable win against a Columbia University fencer. Co-

lumbia is the defending national champion in NCAAs. Men’s fencing also saw two fencers reach the semifinals in the foil. Len Grazian ’17 and Elishua Litle ’18 secured the 17th and 19th place spots, respectively, after competition ended.

Finally, Hunter Stusnick ’18 posted the final men’s semifinal result in the epee competition. He advanced with a 4-2 record in the first round, but a 2-4 result could not push him into the finals.He had a notable win against a Columbia fencer in the first round, though the Columbia fencer would finish in sixth place over

photos from brandeisjudges.com

Stusnick’s 17th-place finish.

With no qualifiers for the NCAA national tournament, the NCAA Northeast Regional tournament finalized the season for the Judges.

The relatively young women’s team will graduate three seniors before next season, including Sayles, Chaya Schapiro ’17 and Savannah Bishop ’17.

The men, with a significantly larger team than the women, will only graduate one senior, Grazian, going into the next season. The team looks to lean on its younger members to carry the team into the next season.