The Brandeis Hoot 09/23/2016

Volume 13 Issue 17

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

September 23, 2016

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Vote on Indigenous People’s Day deferred to faculty

By Hannah Schuster editor

photo by mia edelstein/the hoot

petition at rabb steps

Campaign for change from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day asks for students’ signatures.

Student Union gathers information regarding dining changes

By Abigail Gardener editor

Sodexo’s decision to close Lower Usdan and open Upper Usdan on the weekends was not based on a lack of money but on the desire to give students more options.

Full-service dining halls used to be the primary option for most of the weekend.

Sodexo looked at weekend foot traffic in the full-service dining halls last year and concluded that the number of students who wanted a full-service option on the weekends could be satisfied with Sherman alone. Closing Lower but opening Upper then gives students more options.

“By opening up Upper Usdan and including a meal-exchange option, students can have the opportunity to enjoy the all-youcare-to-eat option at Sherman as well as the variety of both the retail items in Curritos, Deis Bowl and Sub Connection,” Andy Allen, general manager of Sodexo, said in an email to the Dining Committee.

The Senate Dining Committee is continuing to speak with Sodexo regarding the dining changes made this year, said Kate Kesselman, class of 2019 senator and chair of the Senate Dining Committee. Many students were con-

Inside This Issue:

fused about the reasoning behind the decisions Sodexo made this year.

Even though Sodexo claims in its advertising material this is what students would want because of data they accumulated, they did not ask for student opinion on the changes before making them.

“They didn’t really let the students decide this, so you know, people were upset,” Kesselman said. The Student Union is still unable to confirm any of the data Sodexo continues to cite because they have not yet received any data or financial reports, despite requesting them.

Students were concerned about dining hall hours being cut, and the Dining Committee addressed this with Sodexo, as well. Kesselman referred to an improvement in food quality as one of the reasons that hours had to be cut, since more money is going toward bettering the food.

“Some people might not realize it … but the quality of food has increased a lot and, you know, that takes money. Hand-breaded chicken, quality meat … so they said, we’re going to use more money toward this and less hours,” she said.

Louis’ Deli saw decreased hours See DINING, page 2

News: Senator profile project continues Arts: ‘Bridget Jones’ worth a trip to the movies Opinions: It’s time to scrap Columbus Day Features: Beyond the beakers: Brandeis labs Editorial: Adopt inclusive holiday name

The University Advisory Committee (UAC) did not hold a vote to change the name of “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day” on Brandeis’ academic calendar at their Thursday meeting, despite a student-led campaign and a Change.org petition that has accumulated more than 500 signatures this week. They will instead leave the decision to a faculty vote.

UAC members are “perfectly willing” to adopt Indigenous People’s Day, said Prof. John Burt (ENG) but spent the meeting debating who should make

the change.

“There was a lot of discussion about whether we should go to the faculty first or not, but there wasn’t any discussion about whether it was a good idea or not,” he said.

The council falls within the Provost’s office and is composed of administrators and professors. The Faculty Senate will discuss the proposal and submit a recommendation at the next Faculty Meeting on Oct. 7, where those in attendance will vote on the change. If the faculty vote “yes,” the change will be made immediately, and if they See VOTE, page 9

Financial specialist discloses university budget

By Charlotte Aaron editor

Financial consultant Kermit Daniel, speaking to Brandeis community members at a presentation on Thursday, Sept. 22, reported that because Brandeis is such a complex university without the size, wealth or specialties of its competitors, funding the university in a sustainable fashion has been, and continues to be, an issue for Brandeis.

“Brandeis has a structural imbalance in its financial situation,” said Daniel. “This situation arises because Brandeis is a complicated university, which is another way of saying Brandeis is an extremely ambitious university with very high standards,” he continued.

Brandeis, unlike many liberal arts colleges, not only provides its undergraduate students with a liberal arts education, but is also a top research university that offers both graduate and undergraduate courses and grants degrees in a wide range of disciplines. This requires many centers, institutes and programs associated with the university, as well as specialized resources, Daniel explained.

“What you are achieving with this university is very difficult to achieve even for very large universities and very specialized universities, and you are not specialized, and you are not large,” Daniel said. Some schools specialize in arts or engineering, for example.

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Think small for potential Page 13 renovations in aging quads Page 6 Page 5 OPINIONS: PAGE 14

Daniel has been conducting a comprehensive analysis of the financial structure of Brandeis since April 2016, when he began his work for the university, according to an email from President Ron Liebowitz last week. He is a consultant from the firm Incandescent.

Brandeis’ peer group is not made of liberal arts colleges like Vassar and Middlebury, but rather large research universities such as Duke and Princeton. Brandeis is the smallest competitive research university in the country. Only the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) is smaller. Because these institutions are more specialized, they are able to get more funds from their research than Brandeis. Brandeis produces equally impressive research and degrees, but it has to draw from its tuition revenue much more than its peers to cover these costs, said Daniel.

Universities’ operating revenue comes from a variety of sources, including net tuition (tuition minus financial aid), endowment returns, research grants, gifts and others. According to Daniel, 54 percent of Princeton’s operating revenue comes from its endowment, as it is a “rich” university.

Twenty-eight percent of Notre Dame’s operating revenue comes from its net tuition, as it is a “large” university, and 55 percent of Cal Tech’s operating revenue, despite its small size, comes from research grants, as it is a “specialized” university.

Brandeis is not wealthy, large or specialized so its business model is different from its peer schools, said Daniel. Forty-four percent of Brandeis’ operating revenue comes from net tuition, 19 percent comes from research grants, 13 percent comes from the endowment, eight percent comes from gifts and four percent comes from other sources. Brandeis does not has as much money from either tuition, research grants or endowment as the schools listed above.

Brandeis operates on a “structural imbalance” meaning that it is doing several unsustainable things to balance its budget in the short-term. Brandeis looks like it is gaining revenue by increasing tuition, for example. However, Daniel said the school is doing several unsustainable things to balance its budget. If you factor in all the money Brandeis should be spending on items such as faculty salaries or campus maintenance, we are actually running a slight deficit, said Daniel.

Based on Brandeis’ accounting principles, we don’t see the expenses we are putting off which will hit us eventually and have an impact on the school’s total budget.

When looking at the bottom line of Brandeis, the university’s net profit or loss over the course of history, “It shows that by and large, you are running at a slight deficit,” Daniel said. “I want to fo-

Promoting Sheroes Alumnae create feminist comic book subscription box ARTS: PAGE 10

See FINANCES, page 2

NEWS

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September 23, 2016

University spending trajectory is unsustainable FINANCES, from page 1

cus on the biggest plus year you saw, which is 2015, and then what I’m doing is subtracting all the unsustainable practices,” he said.

In his analysis, Daniel took the bottom line from the fiscal year ending in 2015 and subtracted out the amount of money the university would have lost from its bottom line if it had not overdrawn from the university’s endowment.

This amount, when calculated, ended up being $6.5 million.

Because Brandeis draws on 5.9 percent of its endowment, higher than the suggested ceiling of 5.0 percent, it makes it much more difficult for the endowment to grow, Daniel said. Taking into consideration low-market return and inflation, at times Brandeis might even draw more from the endowment that its return, meaning the endowment would not be growing at all. The $6.5 million represents the amount of money Brandeis was able to add to its bottom line and use simply because it took a higher percentage of money from its endowment than what is sustainable.

Daniel additionally subtracted $1.5 million and $5 million to

compensate for underpaid faculty and staff. While these numbers are rough estimates using the AAU median salaries as a point of comparison and are by no means exact, they represent other areas in which Brandeis is not accounting for the money it should be spending. Deferred physical plant maintenance and IT maintenance was another expense Daniel subtracted from the bottom line of the university. Because for so many years Brandeis has not kept up with maintenance, the university would have to start paying $12.4 million on deferred physical maintenance and $1 million on IT maintenance annually to make up for the already existing issues, and to prevent future maintenance issues, said Daniel.

Lastly, as noted earlier, eight percent of Brandies’ operating income comes from gifts. This is not sustainable. Rather, this gift money could be put into the endowment to help it grow, not spent on annual operating expenses, explained Daniel.

“The implication of all this is that it’s especially important to be good at making decisions. This is everything from large strategic decisions that you may make once

a generation, to much smaller day-to-day decisions about how to operate the university. But being able to make those decisions exceptionally well is going to be important,” Daniel said.

If all of the unsustainable practices Daniel accounted for had not occurred, Brandeis would have operated at approximately a $30 million deficit in 2015.

Some community members in the audience seemed worried about the financial stability of the university at the close of Daniel’s presentation, as evidenced by a professor who, through her question, expressed concern about her area of study losing funding because of Brandeis’ financial status.

“I just want to assure people in the room, this is not a point where we are saying … the university is bankrupt,” Provost Lisa Lynch said, addressing the “depressing” close to the presentation, as she described it.

Lynch acknowledged the university’s finances were a growing concern, but noted that they could continue on as is and even show a balanced budget from year to year under GAAP. “The point of the analysis that Kermit has done is to show that

we have a set of practices that every one of us in this room is familiar with that are just not sustainable. Every one of us that sits in a room where we have wind and rain coming into our office understands the realities of deferred maintenance,” Lynch said to an audience that had clearly experienced the effects of this deferred maintenance, as they erupted in laughter.

Lynch noted that this detailed analysis of the university is the first step to making choices that will positively impact the university’s future. “We have to make choices but make sure that those choices are evidenced based,” Lynch said. Daniel’s analysis is a vital part of this evidence.

“We have an amazingly productive university, and it’s build on good will, sweat, equity, a reasonable financial base that would be sufficient for a much less complex university, but our ambitions are well beyond our financial resources, and all of us take pride in that,” Lynch said. “That’s the sort of scrappy Brandeis character. It’s the thing we love doing.”

While Brandeis faculty, administration, staff, students and even physical buildings are pushed

hard, it’s a push that can only be sustained for so long, said Lynch.

“That’s what this message is about.”

Daniel’s presentation, along with designated time for questions, will happen twice more next week at the following times: Monday, Sept. 26 from 3 - 4 p.m. in Levin Ballroom and Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 8 - 9:30 p.m. in Sherman Function Hall, Hassenfeld Conference Center. These presentations are open to the community. Emily Conrad ’17 and Wil Jones ’17, the undergraduate representatives to the Board of Trustees recommended attending because the presentation is a step forward in terms of administrative transparency.

“This is a sign for a really bright future and a strong relationship with our new administration,” Conrad said in an interview. “It’s an opportunity to really learn about the basis and evidence for why our administration makes the difficult decisions it does.

I think they are reaching out a hand to the community, and it’s important for students to reach back and work together if we want to have a say in the future of Brandeis.”

UCLA prof. analyzes Israel-Palestine conflict

By Elianna Spitzer and Ryan Spencer Editor and Staff

A UCLA professor said the Israel-Palestine conflict will not be resolved until Israel, Palestine and European nations admit responsibility. Placing sole blame on anyone is a narrow “two-dimensional way” of viewing the issue, he said, addressing at least 50 people on Sept. 20.

“Anyone who regards Israel as singularly responsible for the conflict or, for that matter, anyone who regards the Palestinians as singularly responsible fails to understand how the Jews were placed in this situation,” Prof.

David Myers said.

Myers put forth a compromise in which Palestine, Israel, Euro-

pean countries that marginalized Jews throughout history and the countries involved in the Polish Minorities Treaty would all admit blame. In this compromise, the latter three would provide political and financial support to solve the Palestinian refugee problem. Palestinians would recognize the right of Jews to their homeland. Israel would end their 50-year occupation and grant Palestinians either full rights of citizenship or the right to their own state.

Myers admitted that these resolutions are a fantasy, particularly in a polarized situation. However, he urged that “stasis is the enemy of peace.” The only way to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to look at it in a new, three-dimensional way.

Myers used a three-dimension-

Dining hall changes prompt union interaction DINING, from page 1

this year, with closing time moved from midnight to 9 p.m. throughout the week and from 3 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Fridays. The “average traffic count per hour from 9 p.m.-midnight” was seven students, and the “average traffic count from 2:30-3p.m. on Friday” was five students, Allen wrote.

In response to these changes, a Sodexo survey will be coming out in October. “It’s really important that people fill it out because it will help us with our dining,” Kesselman said. She hopes that a larger number of students will take the survey this year, because last year only 70 people responded to it. Their goal is to get 450-500 people to take it this year.

Sodexo is also looking for student workers, due to a general lack of staff. “I’ve been trying to promote this idea of student staff, because when there’s student staff, not only are you getting paid, which is awesome as a student, but you’re helping the dining system, like the lines,” Kesselman said.

The Student Union is looking for students to join the Dining Committee. Kesselman said that a student does not have to be on the Senate to be on the Dining Committee. There are currently two non-Senate members in the group. The Dining Committee meets from 6-7 p.m. on Sundays in the Student Union office.

al model to attribute a shared responsibility in the Israel-Palestine conflict to Jews, Arabs and European nations.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Jews were viewed as separate from the dominant culture in Europe. Myers viewed an attempt to assimilate the Jewish population as a colonization effort on the part of European nations. “Zionism would never had arisen were it not for the deep structure of European anti-Semitism and colonialism,” Myers said.

The goal to create a Jewish state arose out of the need for a collective Jewish majority. Oppression left European Jews to assert “political dominance as a means of survival,” Myers said. This constitutes the European portion of the blame.

Myers highlighted the passing

of the the Polish Minorities Treaty in the Paris Peace conference of 1919 following World War I as an event that “yielded devastating effects” in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The League of Nations treaty told countries to ensure protections for minority groups, but this only furthered their segregation as a minority group.

However, minority groups could not present grievances to the League if they felt their protections were still being violated.

This is part of why Zionists wanted their own nation, the root of their conflict with Palestine over land and control.

European influence, however, does not absolve Israel of responsibility for its actions in the conflict, according to Myers. A Zionist push for an Israeli state resulted in a 1947 partition of

the land, dividing it almost in half. The United Nations partition proposed settling the indigenous population on 45 percent of the land and created hostilities between Jewish settlers and the Arab population. “It doesn’t seem to me to defy logic to understand why that was not greeted with uniform enthusiasm on the Arab side,” Myers said.

In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jewish and Israeli forces expelled around 700,000 Arabs from the region to secure sovereignty for the Zionist movement. “The Jews are both the victims of longstanding oppression and now oppressing other people,” Myers said.

Myers is the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History at University of California, Los Angeles.

September 23, 2016

IN THE SENATE: SEPT. 18, 2016

By Mia Edelstein editor

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The Brandeis Hoot

Class of 2019 Senator Hannah Brown ran the meeting because Vice President Paul Sindberg ’18 was not in attendance. Muslim-Jewish dialogue group Common Ground appeared to ask to be charterer. The group educates both faiths about other’s traditions, holidays and customs.The senate voted unanimously to charter the club.

Class of 2017 Senator Ryan Tracy announced that several clubs should be dechartered or derecongized because they never completed the anti-hazing form. The senate voted unanimously to decharter or derecognized these clubs.

Brown announced the creation of Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund (CEEF). This is a fund made up of unspent Senate funds. It can be up to $250,000 and can be used for general campus enhancements. Brown asked senators to submit for the senate representative position on the CEEF committee Campus Dining Committee Chair Kate Kesselman (class of 2019 senator) said that Sodexo has written up statements that Lower Usdan changes weren’t about money but student choices. Sodexo is releasing a survey soon to ask students about dining Global Brigades appeared for a constitutional amendment.

Global Brigades is consolidating is Public Health and Medical Brigades to now be a single Health brigade. The Microfinance Brigade to a Business Brigade. This requires an amendment to the purpose section in the club’s constitution. Tracy opened a discussion of club members having to pay, said it could be a violation of the non-exclusivity requirement. The Global Brigade club representative said that members can be a part of the club and not go on the Honduras trip, meaning that they don’t have to pay. Mods Senator and Global Brigades member Ari Matz noted that the merging of the two health-based brigades did lower the cost for the trip. The Senate voted unanimously to amend the constitution, with Matz abstaining because she is a Global Brigades member.

The Senate voted on an A-board representative. The only candidate was Kesselman, who is currently the Senate A-board representative, was unanimously re-elected.

Bylaw amendment to create Health and Safety Committee.

Unanimous “Yes” vote Senator-at-Large Nathan Greess ‘19 is meeting with Assistant Dean of Students Steph Grimes about the citations that have been issued to students for social events and student conduct board violations over the past weeks.

Student Union Profile: East Quad Senator Elijah Sinclair ’19

By Ryan Spencer staff

Elijah Sinclair, the East Quad senator, attributed his interest in joining the Student Union to his dedication to improving campus sustainability and the belief that he could make campus life better for students.

Sinclair is co-head of the Senate Sustainability Committee now and hopes to make sustainability something that isn’t “a pain in the neck.” The committee has been working on a reusable mug campaign, introduced by Students for Environmental Action, which aims to reduce waste by providing some students with reusable mugs. Individuals who bring re-

usable mugs to on-campus dining locations to use instead of paper cups receive coffee at a reduced price. Einstein Bros. Bagels, Starbucks and the C-Store on campus have all taken up this initiative, said Sinclair, and they have reduced prices for medium coffees from $2.19 to $1.09 for individuals who fill their own reusable mugs.

Sinclair is also part of the Campus Operations Working Group (COW-G). His involvement correlates with several of his goals, such as increasing hand-driers on campus, preventing dorm room doors from slamming and introducing outdoor power outlets.

“As a senator, I have the power to make a difference in the every-

day life of people,” Sinclair said.

“If more people saw how we affected their lives tangibly, then more people would come out to vote.” Raising awareness was important in getting students to vote, Sinclair said, but it can be hard to do, especially when candidates are restricted to a “paperless campaign,” making social media their primary source of outreach to the student body. The paperless campaign restrictions are in place to create an equal ground for candidates, since printing costs money and uses paper.

122 votes were cast in the election of East Quad Senator, with Sinclair receiving 49 votes. East has approximately 375 eligible voters.

Student Union Profile: Massell Quad Senator Aaron Finkel ’20

By Samantha Lauring staff

Massell Quad Senator Aaron Finkel ’20 wants to improve Massell by enacting a quad beautification program, which would include planting flowers, putting sculptures and art in the quad and cleaning the pond.

Improvements to be made in Massell would include increasing the pressure of the pond fountain to create more water flow and to install more eco-friendly water fountains in the residential halls, said Finkel.

Finkel wants Massell to look more presentable and to overall “improve the Brandeis brand.”

“First impressions are important and prospective students visiting campus should it look as nice as possible.”

Each member of the Union also serves on at least two committees.

In addition to being the Massell Quad Senator, Finkel serves on the Services and Outreach Committee, which deals with student services such as campus transportation, and Cow-G (Campus Operations Working Group), which works with facilities. One of Finkel’s main goals as a senator is to make the BranVan system more efficient and reliable for students to use.

“I am an advocate for what students want,” Finkel said about his role within the Student Union.

Finkel says he is focused on accountability and wants to make the Union as responsible, reliable and innovative as it can be.

Finkel says Massell residents, and students in general, have shared their ideas with him during his office hours, which he holds three days per week.

In response to low voter turnout in the recent Student Union election, Finkel says it’s our duty

as students to vote. “We all come into Brandeis with these ideas of how to make this school better and how to improve our daily lives and experiences here and voting is the best way to do that,” Finkel said to The Brandeis Hoot.

“I am just as fresh as the other freshmen and I do not know what this year will bring, but I will listen to you and I will voice your concerns in front of the rest of the Union and the administration,” said Finkel.

Although his time on the Union has been short, Finkel says it has been fantastic and that the members of the Union are all very dedicated. “My end goal is to leave Brandeis knowing we made the university a better place,” states Finkel. “It’s already an amazing institution and it has so much more potential we can work with.”

Brandeis grants funding for diversity and inclusion programs

By Hannah Schuster, Elianna Spitzer and Abigail Gardener editors

Brandeis awarded $23,995 to more than 10 departments hosting events advancing diversity and inclusion efforts. A total of 11 events or trainings received funding and will take place throughout the year.

Over the summer, departments applied for funding that the Provost and Dean of Arts and Sciences allocated for academic departments to advance diversity and inclusion efforts, according to Daniel Bergstresser, professor at the International Business School and member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering (DEIS) Committee. The DEIS Committee selected recipients for the funding and Provost Lisa Lynch released the list of events in her email to the Brandeis community this Monday.

“All 11 proposals advanced the goal of better educating our community about different aspects of diversity, and all received some level of funding,” Bergstresser said in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

The first such event was a talk with Princeton University professor Ruha Benjamin on how race and genetics are related. Benja-

min argued that biology and genetics cannot be used to justify race-based oppression.

One of the upcoming events will take place at the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC) and will feature a Slidetalk on photographer Lou Jones’ panAFRICAproject on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

Lou Jones will speak about his photography project as well as show some digital photos from the project at the event, which is sponsored by the Offices of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Provost.

The panAFRICAproject aims to “create a contemporary, visual portrait of modern Africa,” according to the project’s mission statement. Jones tries to take photos of Africa that portray it in a more positive light, defying stereotypes that the West has used to previously define the continent.

Jones hopes to establish a “repository of images that represents each of the 54 individual countries devoid of the preconceived, western notions of distress,” the project’s website states.

Karin Rosenthal, a WSRC scholar on the Exhibitions Committee, helped to organize the event over the summer. When she asked Jones to come present and speak about his project, Rosenthal hoped Jones would be able to talk about what his objections were regarding the way Africa is

portrayed and what motivated him to start a new repository of pictures.

Jones has photographed seven countries so far for the project and is now working on taking pictures in Ethiopia thanks to some recent Kickstarter funding, Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal is excited for people to see the presentation and hopes that it will reform their preconceived images of Africa. “I hope that they learn to see Africa more through an African-American’s eyes, somebody who sees issues that perhaps are not ever discussed in the West,” she said.

A separate event hosted by the anthropology department will feature postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Antonio José Bacelar da Silva.

He will speak about black organizations in Brazil and their use of racial politics to gain political power. The Latin American and Latino Studies Program is co-sponsoring the event.

Bacelar da Silva is expected to explore the goals of black NGOs in Brazil, “embracing racial differences in antiracist education and electoral campaigning,” according to a description of the program on the Latin American and Latino Studies department website.

The anthropology department reached out to speakers from diverse national and racial backgrounds, according to Elizabeth

Ferry, chair of the anthropology department. They also sought out younger scholars.

Bacelar da Silva was chosen for his work in linguistics and media, as well as his background in Brazilian politics. Ferry sees the overall goal of the department as providing a global perspective to topics such as elections, by addressing both Brazilian and American politics.

She hopes to have a reading group prior to the program in order to familiarize students with Bacelar da Silva’s work. Graduate students in the anthropology department would organize this group.

Another sponsored event takes on a different form. Instead of inviting a speaker or hosting a discussion, the Heller School created a workshop series on building issues of diversity and inclusion into course syllabi.

In this four-part series participants will learn, generally, about how to create inclusive classrooms and also modify an existing syllabus for a class that they will teach again, according to Deborah Garnick, a professor at the Heller School.

The workshop is not about creating new courses on the topic of race, ethnicity or inclusion but rather incorporating these issues into a course on statistics, for example, said Garnick. There

are preparatory readings and in the sessions faculty will discuss in two or three-person teams and with the whole group.

All Heller faculty, including its affiliated faculty who teach in Arts and Sciences, can apply. Participation is limited to 12-14 people, but Garnick said she is open to repeating the workshop in the spring if there is interest.

Garick and Carole Carlson, both Heller professors, will help lead the workshop, but Heller is also using the funding to hire Sylvia Spears, an expert in inclusive classrooms in higher education, to help with some of the sessions, said Garnick. Spears is the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Emerson College where she works with recruitment, develops trainings and oversees school policies advancing diversity, according to her Emerson bio.

“We wanted additional expertise,” Garnick said.

Other departments hosting events include English, education and sociology, Peace Conflict and Coexistence Studies and philosophy. The African and Afro-American Studies Department is hosting a Black Lives Matter Symposium in April 2017.

SPORTS

4 SPORTS

September 23, 2016

Club sport feature: Krav Maga

By Zach Cihlar editor

Krav Maga is a form of self-defense created for use by the Israel Defense Forces. It stresses practicality over form, emphasizing efficacy over the flashiness of some other forms of martial art.

At Brandeis, it is a club sport led by Saul Kaplan ’17. Kaplan took to Krav Maga in a gap year between high school and college when he spent a few months in Beijing, and ever since he has been practicing the self-defense skill through the club. His senior year marks his fourth year in the club.

Krav at Brandeis is purely instructional and open to all skill levels at the start of each semester. The club provides a beginning period before instructors of Boston Krav Maga join the sessions to teach more advanced technique and skills. The club is “more than welcoming to beginners” for the first few weeks of practice, in Kaplan’s words, but after this beginning drop-in period, a member could show up and fall behind in the instruction if they have not attended any prior practices.

As an instructional club, Krav does not travel or com-

pete in competitions outside of Brandeis. Kaplan accentuates the practicality of the club. No scoring system exists in Krav; therefore, it works purely to instruct members in self-defense.

As a result, Krav distributes its funds solely to instruction and equipment. Equipment includes pads, gloves, kick shields and other protective practice wear, all of which are replaced annually. “Enough punches will break them down,” said Kaplan.

The club practices twice a week for an hour at each practice.

They occur on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and Wednesdays from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The listserv for the club reaches out to about 400 students, according to Kaplan, “but oddly enough, they don’t all show up for practice. At a rough guess, we get between 12 to 20 people per practice.”

One of the things Kaplan noted about Krav is the people he’s met through his time participating in the club. “I’ve met some really interesting people through it,” Kaplan said. “After a while you get this core of a group that comes back to Krav over and over, and you get sort of your Krav family going on.”

Another Krav member, Caroline Mallard ’19 elaborated that the club attracts a diverse group

of people because the self-defense technique caters to all people and all body types. “Anyone, no matter what you look like or how you’re built can fight your way out of a situation if necessary,” said Mallard of the techniques taught during the Krav Maga practices.

Mallard admitted that Krav is a strength training sport since much of the technique comprises of upper body strikes. “It’s more about the power of the strikes that you give,” she clarified.

Mallard became interested in the sport the summer before she attended Brandeis. She was specifically seeking out self-defense training when her brother mentioned Krav Maga, and she was surprised to find that Brandeis had an organization specifically for the self-defense sport. Ever since, she has been developing and honing her skills through the Krav club offered at the university.

One of the great things the club offers, according to Mallard, is the sense of safety and self-confidence the members acquire by learning the self-defense form.

“I was more comfortable going into town by myself and into Boston,” said Mallard.

The club frequently does stress drill training, where the Krav

photo from youtube.com

practitioner will stand with their eyes closed and be faced with a situation that is either amicable or potentially dangerous, and the tester must act appropriately according to the situation. If the tester faces an escalating situation that could be harmful, they must use the skills they learned practicing Krav to defend themselves and combat the confrontation.

The club also uses visualization of potentially harmful situations that may easily occur in the life

of a college student so that they know how to act under certain situations.

The club, though strictly instructional for now, will look to expand what it offers to its members, connecting them to external opportunities to practice Krav Maga. For now, the club will stick to its goal of teaching self-defense and bestowing self-confidence to its members through the combat martial art form of Krav Maga.

Men’s tennis debuts first-years in Middlebury Invitational

photo from brandeisathletics.com

By Sarah Jousset editor

The men’s tennis team spent this past weekend in Vermont

at their first competition of the year, the two-day Middlebury Invitational, hosted by Middlebury College. The Judges were led by their younger players in the season opener.

Brandeis’ David Aizenberg ’20 was the sole winner for the Judges, winning the D flight in singles play. Aizenberg was the top seed going into the D flight.

He defeated a match-up against host Middlebury College in the first round before, 6-3, 6-2. He went on to beat RPI by a score of 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Tufts, 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals.

In the finals, Aizenberg defeated another Tufts player, 7-5, 6-3, to seal the flight win. Aizenberg is the first to win a draw at Middlebury for the Judges since 2010.

Mitchell Ostrovsky ’20 was close behind Aizenberg, making it to the semifinals of the C flight in singles play as well. Ostrovsky was the top seed in the C flight.

Ostrovsky easily got past the first two rounds of play to make it to the semi-finals, but in the semi-final match Ostrovsky lost in a super tiebreaker to Skidmore by a score of 6-2, 4-6 and 6-10.

Zach Cihlar ’19, deputy sports editor for The Brandeis Hoot, had a nice run in the singles D flight. Cihlar beat his first opponent from Bates by a score of 6-0, 6-0 before playing two more three-set matches. In the quarter-finals he took out the second-seed from Tufts in the first set, but couldn’t secure the win.

Ryan Bunis ’17 won his opener in the singles A flight, while Jordan Brodie ’19 won in the first round of the singles D flight.

In doubles action, Aizenberg again led the Judges with his partner, Tyler Ng ’19, making it to the championship round. The two easily beat their opponents in the first three rounds, beating Bates, Middlebury and Trinity College. It wasn’t until the final match that the pair saw defeat, losing to Middlebury’s top-seeded team in a close game of 8-6.

Michael Arguello ’17 and Jackson Kogan ’19 beat Tufts by a score of 8-3 in their first match before being ousted in the second round.

The Brandeis men’s tennis team is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 1 for a weekend at Williams College for the ITA Northeast Regional tournament.

Cross country hits the track

By Shea Decker-Jacoby staff

On Saturday, Sept. 3, your Brandeis women’s and men’s cross-country teams kicked off their respective seasons, coming out strong at the Emmanuel Fens Classic. The women’s team is ranked 33rd in the country, and in achieving a perfect score won The Classic for the third year in a row. The men also took their third straight win. The women’s team took the first five finishing spots, with All-American Athlete Emily Bryson ’19 smashing the previous course record by 37 seconds, with a time of 11:09 on the two-mile course. Kate Farrell ’17 came in second with a time of 11:31, while Emily’s twin sister Julia Bryson ’19 placed third with a time of 12:01. Meaghan Barry ’19 was fourth with a time

of 12:25, and Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 ran the course in 12:28, securing fifth place. Danielle Berteaux ’20 and Christine Minor ’19 received seventh and ninth place, respectively, with times of 12:36 and 12:40.

The men’s cross-country team also competed in the Emmanuel Fens Classic, taking the top four spots, as well as sixth place, to finish with 16 points on the five-kilometer course. Brandeis’ juniors took control of the meet as they nabbed the top four spots. Mitchell Hutton ’18 won the meet with a time of 15:53.

Liam Garvey ’18 came in second with a time of 16:10, with Brian Sheppard ’18 right behind him with a time of 16:17. Russell Santos ’18 took fourth with a time of 16:19, while Eli Waxler ’19 finished in sixth with a final time of 16:26. Brad Payne ’17 took eighth and Sam Reich ’20 took

11th with times of 16:39 and 16:55, respectively.

The Judges were back in action on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational, when the women took their second straight win of the season. The Brandeis women’s team defended their crown, earning a total of 99 points in a field of 37 teams and 275 runners. E. Bryson was the team’s top runner, finishing in third with a time of 17:50.83 for the five-kilometer course.

Farrell took eighth with a time of 18:28.66, dropping 22 seconds from her previous time on this particular course. J. Bryson took ninth with a time of 18:30.74.

The Judges had an average time of 18:42.02, a notable 14 seconds faster than Stonehill, the second place school.

The men finished fifth overall, out of 33 teams, including two of the top four teams in Division

photo by sportpix.com

II. This race marked Garvey’s first time as Brandeis’ top finisher, as he ran the eight-kilometer course in 25:36.20. Santos ran his first varsity race at UMass Dartmouth with a time of 27:04.08, a 22-second improvement over his JV time in 2014. Brandeis also had six runners in the sub-var-

sity race, coming in third out of the 14 teams present at the meet, ending with 104 points.

The Judges will hit the track again on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the James Early Invitational in Westfield, MA. They then will compete at the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15.

September 23, 2016

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief Mia Edelstein Julie Landy Managing Editor Allison Plotnik Senior Copy Editor Sarah Terrazano News Editor Hannah Schuster Deputy News Editors Abigail Gardener Elianna Spitzer Arts Editor Sabrina Pond Opinions Editor Zach Phil Schwartz Deputy Opinions Editor Katarina Weesies

EDITORIALS

Faculty should approve change to Indigenous People’s Day

A

recent student proposal is petitioning the university to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day in the academic calendar in order to counter an American history that has displaced Native Americans and since overlooked their cultures and narratives.

Keeping the holiday with its current name reinforces an appreciation for Christopher Columbus, who embodies the colonialism that has long pushed Native Americans to the periphery of American recognition.

The change to Indigenous People’s Day is two-fold. No longer should we honor a man who brutally colonized the continent and contributed to the downfall of millions of indigenous peoples.

Additionally, the name change would recognize Native Americans’ contri-

Features Editor Charlotte Aaron

Deputy Sports Editor Zach Cihlar Photo Editor Karen Caldwell Layout Editor Lisa Petrie Editors-at-Large Matt Kowalyk Emily Sorkin Smith

Volume 13 • Issue 17 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

STAFF

Emily Altkorn, Rachel Bossuk, Sharon Cai, José Castellanos, Shea Decker-Jacoby, Jacob Edelman, Amanda Ehrmann, Andrew Elmers, Zachary Gordon, Max Gould, Emma Gutman, Sophia He, Alana Hodson, Daniel Kang, Emma Kahn, Naomi Klickstein, Adam Lamper, Samantha Lauring, Monique J Menezes, Santiago Montoya, Candace Ng, Caroline Rourke, Ryan Spencer, Hannah Stewart, 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.

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butions to the nation and specifically Brandeis.

Many other collegiate institutions have accomplished this name shift, and Brandeis should be no exception.

The Undergraduate Advisory Council, a group of faculty, staff and administrators who are responsible for modifications to the academic calendar, is interested in changing the holiday name. After this Thursday’s UAC meeting, its faculty members decided to first consult the Faculty Senate, who will submit a recommendation to the full faculty. All faculty members will then be able to vote as a collective body on Oct. 7, three days before the holiday on Oct. 10.

Due to this swift turnaround, it is crucial for students to sign the petition encouraging faculty to vote in favor of

implementing Indigenous People’s Day in the academic calendar. Faculty should know that this is an issue that students are passionate about, especially in light of the university’s principles of social justice and consciousness.

Brandeis cannot make piecemeal change to racial and ethnic inclusivity. As the administration comes into the final weeks of making a decision on the Chief Diversity Officer, they should realize that it is more urgent than ever to commit to ideals of inclusion. This is a perfect opportunity for the Plan for Diversity and Inclusion to cease being a plan and be put into action.

We look forward to seeing the second Monday of October forever listed on the academic calendar as Indigenous People’s Day.

Digital Damsels

Deputy Features Editor Albert Reiss Sports Editor Sarah Jousset

The Brandeis Hoot 5

By Naomi Klickstein staff

ACROSS 1. Turkish letter 4. Some dunks 8. Sweeper 13. Grooves 14. Bathroom material 15. Bad spot for blockage 16. May be liberal 17. Persian gulf country 18. Word with straight or burn 19. Game featuring Princess Toadstool 21. Shmuck 23. Slightly off 26. Abr. on nutrition label 28. Bounded 30. Spill preventer 31. Milk vol.

32. Pollinator 33. Game named after the princess in it 40. Debtor’s abr.

41. Cylindrical hat 42. Target 44. May be Indian or Arctic 45. e.g. 66 46. Purple dragon of video games 48. Paddle 49. Game with the rescue of Patricia Madrazo 57. Trumpet 58. Ripped 59. Egyptian wader 60. Instrument of measurement or power 61. Olympic sport one can do unwillingly?

62. Arid 63. Place 64. Cupid’s Greek counterpart 65. Before, in brief DOWN 1. Expert 2. Start of many addresses?

3. Evaluate 4. Ratatat track 5. Green bean

Last week’s solution

edited by emily altkorn and caroline rourke

6. Banned apple treatment 7. Some labor 8. Sharp remark 9. Katy Perry hit 10. Rice-like pasta 11. Catfish (abr.)

12. Disfigure 13. Troublemaker 20. Common cancer oncogene 22. Hog’s abode 24. Large sum (abr.)

25. Chemical ending 26. Drafting software (abr.)

27. In the air 28. Confederate general 29. Opposite of 28-down?

31. Modern antelope?

32. Sound from 32-across 34. Early supermodel

35. Greg Bear 1985 sci-fi novel 36. Cost 37. 24 of 53-down 38. 56-down filler 39. Some pressure fronts 43. Gloomy 45. Sound from a baby or a snake 46. Plopped down 47. Laud 48. Promise in many car commercials 49. Pig 50. Deathly breath 51. e.g. 51 52. Jock’s insult 53. Word with happy or glass 54. Thus 55. Ride-sharing app 56. Rubber wheel 57. Brandeis Radio Station W______

L C R O S S WO R D S ?

V E Become a hoot crossword creator. email eic@thebrandeishoot.com if interested.

6 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

September 23, 2016

Memory and Cognition Lab: Working with words

By Zach Cihlar editor

Zoe Brown ’17, a senior majoring in neuroscience and psychology, is currently in the middle of writing her senior research thesis.

An observation of Brown’s years at Brandeis, this thesis might determine that she is conducting the research for her thesis from her own home, the Memory and Cognition Lab at Brandeis University.

Brown has been working in this lab since the second semester of her first year at Brandeis.

She is looking for exposure to the research process designated for psychology and neuroscience and chose the Memory and Cognition Lab because it piqued her developing interest in memory, language processing and aging.

The lab works with speech recognition and memory processes

photo courtesy the brown family

concerning speech, specifically the changes in memory and speech associated with aging, and how all of these factors change over time. The human subjects that participate in projects within the lab listen to different words or sentences and then take comprehension tests based on what they hear.

The lab takes into account how a specific sentence is comprehended within the brain based on the different speech patterns with which the sentence is projected.

The results of such research allow the researcher to better understand the roles of cognition in speech comprehension, as well as what strategies can be used to improve speech and comprehension with aging. The areas of science used in the Memory and Cognition Lab include cognitive psychology, neuroscience, computer

engineering and other disciplines of the hard sciences.

Directing the lab is Principle Investigator Dr. Arthur Wingfield, whose expertise lies in hearing loss relating to age, as well as the cognitive functions associated with hearing loss.

Brown’s thesis also centers around speech prosody, which concerns the way a sentence or segment of speech longer than a phonetic segment, is linguistically said, and it’s effects on speech comprehension. She studies “recall and the amount of effort it takes to process these sentences with good and reduced hearing ability.” She also looks specifically at the cognitive effort to determine the level of comprehension of different speech patterns.

To measure understanding of such sentences, Brown uses an Eye-Tracker, a piece of equipment

which measures the width of the pupil at different dilations. She explains, “what’s been proposed in the literature is that increased pupil dilation is a measure of cognitive effort, so the larger the pupil size, the more effort.” She tests the effort level of listeners with different levels of hearing loss against different speech prosodies and patterns.

Other equipment commonly used in the lab includes an audiometer, which measures the hearing ability of a listener. In recent years, the Brandeis Memory and Cognition Lab has collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania to track data using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, a common imaging technology that looks at blood flow within the brain to determine where speech processing occurs neurologically. Sporadically, the Brandeis lab will also collaborate with other labs using an electroencephalogram, which tracks electrical activity within the brain.

Alongside Dr. Wingfield, Brown works with a lab coordinator, graduate students, master’s students, postgraduates and other undergraduates. Brown said these co-workers have had an overwhelming positive effect on her experiences in the lab. She says, “I feel so fortunate to be able to have co-workers who are not only highly motivated, hard-working and resourceful, but who are also incredibly supportive and welcoming.”

In fact, she says her interactions with Brandeis undergraduates and others have been among the most rewarding parts of her research in the Memory and Cognition Lab. Studying hearing allows Brown to interact with both undergraduates and older adults when conducting research, all of whom are generally enthusiastic to participate in those studies. She stresses that participants in the study do not necessarily need to have inhibited hearing, and the lab welcomes all undergraduates

who want to experience being in a research study.

Along with her interactions with human subjects and co-workers, Brown acknowledged the valuable skills she has gained from the lab, including reading literature on the subject, designing studies and running them, scoring and analyzing data and presenting research.

The opportunity to gain these skills requires an extensive time commitment however. The lab requires research students to be in the lab for a minimum of eight hours per week. Brown explains that research requires effort in every part of the process, from reading the literature, to beginning a study, to defending the data in the research paper. She adds that “I have learned, and have a deeper appreciation for, the amount of work that goes into research.”

The skills gained in the lab extend to the classroom as well, according to Brown, who admits that she began to think more critically about the research presented in her classes.

Brown, whose father also worked in research, affirms that the time she spent in the lab has helped direct her future. After graduation, the senior plans to work for a few years before potentially pursuing more education.

When not working in the lab, Brown tutors middle schoolers and high schoolers through the Waltham Group. She also tutors through the Brandeis Undergraduate Group Study (BUGS), providing tutoring services to the students in many different psychology and neuroscience classes on campus. Her passion for tutoring has cultivated her interest in mental health in education, which she may pursue after graduation.

After Brown’s graduation, the lab will remain at Brandeis, while faculty continues to conduct research concerning memory, speech prosody, language processing and other associated cognitive abilities.

Lifespan Psychology Lab: Discovering the secrets behind aging

By Polina Potochevska staff

Opportunities to work in a lab are multitudinous at Brandeis.

Many college students find research to be an incredibly rewarding experience that offers helpful skills for future careers.

For students who aren’t interested in working in a hard science lab, there’s the Lifespan Development Psychology Laboratory. This is where Rebecca Simon ’19 discovered undergraduate research.

The Lifespan Lab, located in Brown, is dedicated to promoting good health and wellbeing, both physical and mental, while discovering the secrets behind aging.

From the time between birth and death, the lab hopes to research all of the changes that happen to the mind and body. Studies from the lab include subjects of all ages and investigate the cognitive and physical performance and effects of age on the human body.

Simon began working in the Lifespan Lab during her first year at Brandeis. For most of the academic year, she worked independently on a laptop, listening to recordings from a call center of subjects answering questions to a

cognitive test. Her job was to correct the time difference between the lag of the cell phones that were used to record the calls and the response time of the subjects to the questions that they were asked during their tests. Essentially, she was adjusting the calls so that the data would correctly measure how long it took for people to respond to the cognitive questions.

While this may not be the first example that comes to mind when thinking of research, Simon said that she is “really happy that I can do research as an undergraduate,” and learned that there are many “different aspects to working in a lab.”

Additionally, Simon received the opportunity to assist a graduate student with her research project during the last few months of her second semester at Brandeis.

The project allowed her to interact more with Brandeis students as opposed to data, and she collaborated with students taking psychology courses on campus to obtain the information needed to support the graduate student’s research.

When Simon first arrived at Brandeis, she was thinking of majoring in psychology and was

thrilled to be able to start her research career right away. She had some experience with research previously. During her senior year of high school, she worked at the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders and was able to “see the sleep labs,” shadow doctors while they were collecting data and help inform patients about new treatments for various sleep disorders.

This experience greatly benefitted Simon, who is still considering a career in research and would like to continue with undergraduate research at Brandeis. At some point in her academic career, she is interested in the idea of “leading my own project and designing an experiment,” as she was inspired by the work of her colleagues in the lab.

The time commitment for a job in the Lifespan Lab is six to eight hours a week for an undergraduate student. While Simon mentioned that it can sometimes feel repetitive to work with similar data for extended periods of time, there is a period of adjustment like there is at any other job, and the work done by students largely benefits the project as a whole.

Simon also said that she was surprised to learn that she could help graduate students with their

prof. margie lachman

Director of Lifespan Psychology Lab

research and that a wide variety of opportunities could arise from the initial project that she was assigned as an undergraduate student.

There are opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students to get involved in the research in the Lifespan Lab. Si-

photo from brandeis.edu

mon explained that despite some challenges, generally speaking, research is important to “discover new things and help people.” She believes it can greatly add to a student’s experience at Brandeis and said that it is “nice that curiosity can become a job.”

September 23, 2016

The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES 7

On the topic of Israel, what actions are you looking for the next president to take?

Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, conservative and liberal Brandeis students will be prompted with a weekly question. Below are their responses.

Note: Next week will feature responses to the same question from other voices.

photo from touristisrael.com

By Risa Dunbar and Zachary Narin co-chairs of j street u

As the presidential election approaches and a spotlight is shined on America’s largest-ever foreign aid package to Israel, it is of the utmost importance that we ask ourselves as voters: What is America’s highest leadership, its future president and administration, going to do to ensure a sustainable and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians?

As student leaders of the pro-Israel, pro-peace J Street U Brandeis, we have been closely watching the candidates and evaluating their positions on Israel. Chief among those concerns, we believe, must be the United States’ longstanding commitment to pursue a twostate solution to end the Israe-

li-Palestinian Conflict.

This past August, the GOP dropped the two-state solution from its platform for the first time in its history. Current GOP candidate Donald Trump has also appointed two Trump-insider, Jewish lawyers David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt as his Israel advisors. Greenblatt is the vice president and chief legal officer of the Trump Organization, while Friedman is a bankruptcy expert of the famous Kasowitz Law Firm.

Friedman himself serves as a critical testament to Trump’s choice when it comes to advisory on what is arguably the single most contentious conflict in the world. In July, Friedman was featured in The Jerusalem Post questioning, “the viability of the effort [of the two-state solution]. ” What we see before us is unprecedented: a Republican party

that does not uplift a two-statesolution in word or deed. Failure to do so denies the freedom, dignity and security that Israelis and Palestinians so rightly deserve.

Even more shocking, the Republican candidate has chosen as advisors two men with histories and strong ties to the settlement enterprise, a clear threat to Israel’s future as a democratic state and to the viability and contiguity of a Palestinian state.

Even further exemplary of this abandonment of the two-state solution is the Trump campaign’s recent scolding of the Obama Administration for taking a stance against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video on the removal of settlers as an example of “ethnic cleansing.” Trump’s advisor, Friedman, expressed that the “State Department should be ashamed” for its criticism of an analogy that has been widely viewed as inappropriate.

Voters on our campus must ask themselves: If I want to see a Jewish and democratic future for the state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state, how will I ensure that happens? If your vote doesn’t speak, then our leaders never will. The stakes are clearer than they have ever been. We must cast our votes for Hillary to keep the two-state solution on the table. Then, we have to work our asses off to ensure that solution remains a possibility.

By Benjamin Margolin co-president of bipac

It is undeniable that the next president will play a significant role in determining the U.S.-Israel relationship for the duration of her or his presidency. Keeping with current precedent, there are a few things the next president ought to uphold in this strategic relationship.

First, on the international institutional level, the president should maintain America’s steadfast support of Israel. Practically, this means vetoing biased and discriminatory legislation in the UN Security Council and upholding a fair treatment of Israel in all UN agencies (UNESCO is one that immediately comes to mind).

The second point worth monitoring is the maintenance of previous agreements. In this case, supporting full congressional funding for the Memorandum of Understanding, while being cognizant that in times of war more funds might be needed.

This annual foreign aid package is spent in the U.S. (thereby creating American jobs) and provides Israel with the necessary defensive capabilities it needs to keep its citizens safe. New reports indicate that Hezbollah in Lebanon has 150,000 rockets prepped for war with Israel. If there is a war, the international community needs to know that the United States is not neutral.

Hezbollah and Hamas are both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, and it is important to recognize that the United States will stand behind Israel in regard to the imminent national security threats it faces on its borders.

Thirdly, I hope that the next U.S. president will restore the no daylight principle that was once commonplace. The principle assured that disagreements between the U.S. and Israel would occur in private, not in the public sphere.

In practice this would mean if dirty laundry comes up, it should not be aired to the world, but instead be addressed behind closed doors. While the U.S. and Israel inevitably won’t agree on every issue, it is crucial that the international community views the two states as insuperable allies. The safety and security of the State of Israel impacts our own national security, thereby making this an ally we ought not appear neutral about.

Finally, I hope that the next president recognizes that in order for a final status agreement to be reached, direct negotiations need to take place between Israelis and Palestinians. Coerced frameworks of borders are doomed to fail. The next time the French seek to impose a final status agreement in the region, the United States should not waiver in their condemnation of the conference. It just won’t work—the Israelis will never, and should never, take it seriously.

This also requires more neutrality on the part of the United States; reversing President Obama’s embrace of the pre-1967 borders (with mutually agreed trade swaps) will prove to be an effective first step toward healthy and direct bilateral negotiations.

A Brandeis undergraduate’s chemistry lab experience

By Albert Reiss editor

Like many students at Brandeis, Jeremy Koob ’17 has the opportunity to work with scientists on groundbreaking research.

A chemistry major doing research in both the chemistry and biochemistry departments, Koob thinks that research, despite its complexity and time-consuming nature, is “cool.” For his chemistry research, this means “designing new catalysts for changing the way we impact the environment.”

For his biochemistry research, he looks at metals and enzymes.

While these projects may sound daunting, the ability to apply science skills to research is an excit-

ing task for Koob.

His motivation to do chemistry research is rooted in his curiosity about the environment.

“I’ve always been interested in the environment, so hence the environmental focus,” Koob said about his chemistry research. For the biochemistry research, he was recommended to work with a particular professor.

Among the various tasks that Koob does in his research, “purifying and expressing proteins” are among them. “I could say that I’m doing nuclear magnetic spectroscopy but you might not know what that is,” Koob joked. For all of the scholarly aspects of his research, Jeremy admits that much of his research is quite difficult to

explain to others.

“Working in research tasks that you do over and over again, the only interesting part is when you get to look at the data that you collect and are able to make a conclusion about what you are studying,” he said. By repeating these tasks over and over again, the hope is that eventually a problem will be solved or new scientific information will be uncovered.

“The cool part is the you are [doing] cutting-edge research on real world problems that have the potential to change the world,” Koob said.

However, there are drawbacks to doing research. “The least enjoyable part is that it’s hard, it’s dangerous, it can be boring, it can

be frustrating. 99.99 percent of the time, your experiments don’t work, so science is about that .01 percent of the time when the experiments work,” Koob explained.

Despite the odds, when a researcher like Koob is able to find this needle in the haystack, it is significant because you have “found something that nobody knew before you.”

A great research advisor can make all the difference in regard to whether the research will be effective and the experience valuable, Koob said. “The relationship between an advisor and yourself in a lab setting is very important.

My advisor in Canada was unbelievably enthusiastic. That created a really friendly and open atmo-

sphere.”

Doing science research has also proven to be beneficial in Koob’s undergraduate academic experience at Brandeis. “Learning the facts isn’t science, testing the facts is science,” he said. More acutely, the opportunity for Koob to synthesize and then apply what was learned in his science classes has been an invaluable experience at Brandeis.

For students interested in doing research in the future, Jeremy has some words of wisdom: “It’s definitely feasible, the environment is very supportive. The easiest thing to do is to talk to a professor because they will be able to give you an idea of what it means to be in a lab.”

PVC pipes instead of brooms

By Ally Gelber staff

Eleanor Kalman ’20 made the decision to hop aboard the Hogwarts Express in her first year at Brandeis and participate in the nationwide frenzy of college Quidditch.

Brandeis Quidditch was founded in April of 2010, and since then, the team has grown exponentially, culminating in 30

current members who finished 13th at the 2014 Northeast Regional Championship and earning an alternate bid to World Cup 8, according to its Facebook page.

One may think that Quidditch is simply a fun pastime, but it is a competitive and engaging hobby for many people across campus.

“We do drills and then play practice games against each other train for the competitions. It’s a legit sport, but it’s not like be-

ing in Harry Potter. We use PVC pipes instead of brooms. It’s also a full-contact sport, and we have to wear mouthguards,” Kalman said.

Quidditch is fairly simple, consisting of the chasers, who run around with the quaffle and score in one of the hoops. The beaters throw dodgeballs, and whoever they hit must drop everything and run over to touch their own hoops. The keepers are the goalies. About 20 minutes

into the game, the snitch comes out, which is essentially a tennis ball attached to someone’s back that a player must grab in order to gain their team 30 points and end the game.

“The people on it are super fun.

That was my appeal,” Kalman said. “The bonding was amazing; we played games and cards and chatted and played multiple rounds of mafia. I’m very glad I joined the team, it makes me feel like a true Hogwarts student.”

photo from facebook.com

8 FEATURES

The Brandeis Hoot

September 23, 2016

Spatial Orientation Lab: Turning Brandeis upside down

By Blake Linzer staff

If you enter the left building of the Rabb Graduate Center you will be surrounded by offices where much history, philosophising and other fine humanities research occur every day. But below these historians and philosophers, down a “U”-shaped staircase and through a door you will find fascinating and interdisciplinary science laboratories at Brandeis and, likewise, beyond.

Down those stairs and through that door is a large lab, with human centrifuges, a chair setup that can rotate you in two dimensions at one time and far more. Down those stairs is a team of neuroscientists, physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians.

Down those stairs is the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory.

The laboratory is officially part of the psychology department and is a founding lab of the Volen Center. Janna Kaplan, senior research associate at the spatial orientation lab, explained some of the laboratory’s research. She began by introducing some fundamental but highly neglected thoughts about human body control.

The Research When a human stands normally (assuming a healthy individual) our body is able to balance by shifting one’s weight equally on our two legs. This is the equilibrium state. Each of our legs have gathered enough strength throughout our lifetime to be able to support half our body weight.

Indeed our legs are strong enough to support more than the amount normally required of them. This is evidenced by the fact that humans can stand on one leg or wear a heavy backpack with little strain to the legs. But since our arms and core are not adapted to carry the weight, we strain when we do a pushup, and our back hurts when we lift a bag.

Our two legs support our body’s weight without us falling so long as our center of gravity is within a range of circumference that our legs are physically able to support.

When that center of gravity extends beyond that circumference, we fall or require a cane or walker.

Older people, who tend to slouch because of poor muscular-skeletal health and who can not keep their center of gravity within their circumferences, therefore require canes or walkers.

When a human goes into a novel environment such as different gravity environments (or when an elderly person stoops), his or her

center of mass is not in the same location and can extend outside the circumference we are generally accustomed to. There are two ways to deal with this problem.

One is to introduce a cane. But without a cane, the body must adopt on its own to its new environment.

Using a human centrifuge, the Spatial Orientation Laboratory can create variety of novel environments to examine how well humans adapt under a variety of atypical different force circumstances. The lab creates different environments by, for example, changing how far one stands from the center of the centrifuge or the degree of tilt one is on inside the centrifuge.

In addition to studying these so-called sensory motor adaptation, the lab also hopes to understand the basic science of posture control, including making mathematical models of posture control. A lot goes into posture control—from muscle memory to visual cues to balancing systems we have within our ears.

One can easily imagine the range of application posture control research can have, especially for those with deficient systems, such as the elderly. To give a perspective of what goes into posture control close your eyes. Place your hand above your head. How do you know how to get it there?

You have gained a muscle memory, and can naturally intuit where above your head is.

Posture control can be studied by varying the environment, and it can also be studied from a more technical perspective in a natural environment. One set-up used to study posture control is that a participant will stand on force plates in different ways: two legs in front and behind each other or side to side with different force plates set up also to measure hand force measurements (if someone goes to balance with their hand).

One finding the lab has made is that participants attempting to balance with their hands can do so with an extremely low forces, even just by using a finger. By adding oil to the hand force plate, the lab has found that the forces used to balance are shear frictional forces. This explained one physical-therapist-turned-graduate-student’s queries as to why her former patients used to, when they lost their balance, simply tap a railing with one finger lightly.

In addition to this research, the lab studies spatial illusions. The most obvious example of a spacial illusion is the common event of sitting in a train and not knowing whether it is your train that is moving or whether it is the one

photo by blake linzer/the hoot

adjacent to you.

These illusions may seem trivial at first, but they can have a huge effect in high-stake situations, such as when someone in the Air Force is traveling on an aircraft through different forces and has to target specific locations. The Air Force has funded a study in the Spatial Orientation Lab where participants sit in a specially designed Air Force seat inside the centrifuge and try to pinpoint locations on a screen in front of them.

A summary of the lab’s work (albeit a non-exhaustive summary like this one) cannot conclude without mentioning the laboratory has a chair set-up that is capable of moving a participant in two dimensions at once.

One of the many factors that influences motion is fluid in our inner ear, which is divided into different parts that control perception of different dimensions of movement. This system of perception is called the vestibular system. By blindfolding a participant and examining how well they are able to control themselves, the lab can study this system.

Similarly the lab can study the visual system in isolation, using video games with participants seated in a stable environment.

Aly Fassett-Carman, a graduate student who just joined the lab, demonstrated how these experiments work. My first task was to keep an inverted pendulum on a screen swinging back and forth in the middle without it hitting the ground.

This allowed me to test both locational perception (I was able to see how far off the ground the pendulum top was) as well as my velocity perception (I got a sense of how fast it was going and in what direction it was moving).

She then showed me a similar test that only tested my velocity perception, a ramble of dots spinning that I had to stop from spinning. Because I had concrete perception of the location of any dot relative to any ground (I had a perception of the pendulum top relative to the ground), I had only to rely on how fast the dots were moving and try to use the joystick to get them to stop.

Crazily enough, the laboratory can actually study both vestibular and visual systems together, by the use of an Oculus Virtual Reality headset with a specific program running that a participant would wear while riding the two-dimension chair.

Interdisciplinarity of the Lab In all of its studies, the Spatial Orientation Lab requires an interdisciplinary scientific approach.

Kaplan explained how an interdisciplinary approach has become essential to modern science laboratories.

This lab began as a psychology lab, hiring consultants from computer science, engineering and other fields. Kaplan noted that that practice is long outdated and would no longer work.

“Given with what we are dealing with and the complexity of the environment and the human body and the human brain and the variety of interactions … we really needed to have a lab where a lot of expertise are combined and not only meet each other, but that there are specialists that are multidisciplinary in him or herself,’ she said.

Kaplan explained that although one of the lab’s directors, James Lackner (PSYC), did work at MIT in both physics and neuroscience, his study of neuroscience was

janna kaplan

Director of the Spatial Orientation Lab

with the physics background.

In addition to having someone with those talents, one asset is an ability to articulate their multidisciplinary ideas, because science is a groupwork phenomena. A big feature of 21st century neuroscience is the need to be a jack of all trades and not just an amateur.

If one is a specialist, one must have certain strengths to overcome their limitations, Kaplan explained.

In addition, Kaplan talked about how Brandeis does a good job of recognizing interdisciplinary nature of science through, for example, the Volen Center.

“Brandeis was one of the very first universities in the United States … [that] came up with and committed itself to raising the funds and proving there is a need for this aggregate approach to neuroscience—how the brain works from every possible viewpoint from biochemistry to physics and mathematics and artificial intelligence and biology, chemistry, colored vision … A Brandeis type of education gives you the ability to also pick up stuff from disciplines that may affect your future professional interests, and you have to have the maturity to recognize that if you want to do serious research,” Kaplan continued.

Kaplan said that although many graduate students in the lab officially do their work with physics, they are exposed to biology, mechanical motion, interaction of forces, gravitational forces, computer science techniques in heavy-duty technology that are built in the lab or with specific needs of the lab.

Fassett-Carman attested to the interdisciplinary nature of the lab.

She noted that physical systems like the inverted pendulum could be used to model human perception. She also said she had only taken one computer science class before and really liked it but never had a chance to take another one.

By working in the Spatial Orientation Lab, she is learning computer science and is very much enjoying it.

The Undergraduate Lab Experience “Ours is a very active lab in terms of undergraduate … involvement, so we involve people on every stage. Even before they become undergraduates we often take high school interns.”

According to Kaplan, she does a lot of “cradle-to-grave popularization of science because … the earlier [that kids] get inspired the more confidence they will have to gear themselves through their educational environments into serious science, especially girls or especially minority people from minority groups … It takes not

photo by blake linzer/the hoot

just the natural-born talent and hard work, it takes also an inspiration and the ability to put yourself and your mind into that environment if you’ve never seen … [that environment] that you can relate to then you are at a disadvantage even given all other talents.”

Kaplan gives talks at preschools to inspire kids, as well as nursing homes in order to explain to the elderly the lab’s work on posture control.

The involvement of students is part of that scientific chain, and the more they train with scientists, the better they will be able to contribute in the scientific research field or in any field they go into, Kaplan said.

She noted that the lab starts undergraduates on basic science and that many undergraduates get into the highest levels of research. By doing research as undergraduates, students will go into their disciplines with “deep understanding of what the goals of research should be and how they should formulate it, and how clean experiments need to be designed.”

Kaplan defined clean experiments as those with “no shortcuts. There are no neglected factors that are relevant. That there is no conflict with the accumulated body of knowledge in that area, and if there is a conflict that it is addressed. So there is a lot of discipline of research and ethic of research that we teach our students that is an integral part of research.

Without it research will be compromised.”

Kaplan expressed her confidence that, despite the proliferation of lack of ethics in scientific experiments, students who come out of the Spatial Orientation Lab and who went into industry do not take shortcuts.

As you leave the Spatial Orientation Lab, as you ascend the U-shaped staircase and rejoin the historians and philosophers who make their home at Brandeis in Rabb, you get a sense of the modernity of the laboratory you are leaving. That a laboratory that is committed to both basic and applied science in a remarkably curious field, that has a truly 21st-century, interdisciplinary enterprise, and that has a commitment to the next generation of scientists, doing its interdisciplinary research under a team of modern historians and philosophers really makes one proud to attend this liberal arts research university we call home.

September 23, 2016

ARTS, ETC.

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Fall Concert: AlunaGeorge

photo courtesy student events

photo by angela mendez/the hoot

photo courtesy of student events

NEWS

Brandeis joins others in national movement for Indigenous People’s Day VOTE, from page 1

vote “no,” the issue will return to the UAC for discussion, according to Julie Jette from the communications office.

Sophie Warren ’18, a leader of this movement at Brandeis understands the lack of precedent for changing holidays on the academic calendar and “[sees] a benefit” in allowing faculty to have a say. This means the community must show them the importance of the change before the meeting, she noted.

Indigenous People’s Day is a national movement to change the way people think about the founding of America by recognizing that Christopher Columbus colonized and mistreated native populations, and instead celebrate indigenous peoples.

This movement began at Brandeis last year when Sophie Warren ’18 approached the Student Union and created a resolution with Lorenzo Finamore ’18, then Senator-at-Large. Passed on March 21, it recommends Brandeis implement Indigenous People’s Day because it will benefit the community to “[engage] in a celebration of Indigenous People’s culture and history,” and because “the legacy of Christopher Columbus is one of imperialism, genocide, torture, enslavement and long-term systematic injustices which conflict with Brandeis University’s core principles of social justice.”

A public campaign began on Monday, Sept. 19. Organizers created the petition, the Face-

book event and covered the campus with flyers. The Rabb Steps, which lead to most humanities classes, are covered in posters hanging from the railings and taped to the ground. There is also a banner at the bottom with sheets of paper for petition signatures attached.

Students have been posting on social media throughout the week to encourage others to sign, and the anthropology department released a statement of support.

“The current name favors a Eurocentric view of world history that heroizes the actions of an explorer funded by the Spanish empire, while the proposed name highlights the experiences and perspectives of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, whose role in the historical process continues to be silenced and marginalized,” the statement reads.

Hannah McCowan ’19 is from the Tiqua tribe and said Columbus Day is disrespectful to Native Americans, who have been killed and erased throughout history.

“As I grew up, I became more aware that those people were my ancestors and were slaughtered and moved to reservations where much of my family lived until about 50 years ago. There’s this picture of my great grandfather … he’s a little boy and is dressed in traditional dress for our Native American tribe and is dancing for a large group of white tourists. It breaks my heart that he was on display like that.

I think there should be more awareness of how badly Native Americans have been treated and still are treated. It’s especially relevant with Halloween coming up because there are so many disrespectful ‘Indian’ costumes,” she said.

Other universities and cities across the country have replaced Columbus Day. South Dakota began Native American Day in 1990. Berkeley, CA, declared Oct. 12 a Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People in 1992. In 2015, Native American activists secured the celebration in nine cities including Portland, OR, St. Paul and Albuquerque.

The city of Cambridge adopted Indigenous People’s Day in June after a unanimous city council vote, according to The Boston Globe. Cambridge also created Italian Heritage Day on Oct. 1 after Italian-Americans said abolishing Columbus Day was disrespectful to their experience.

On the collegiate level, schools such as Tufts and Brown have transitioned to Indigenous People’s Day. After a year of campaigning, two resolutions passed by their student senate, 1,200 signatures on a petition and 50 public statements from student groups, Tufts faculty voted to make the change on Feb. 24, according to a press release from a Tufts senator.

At Brown, the change came in two parts. In 2009, the group Native Americans of Brown (NAB) campaigned to make the switch, but instead faculty approved the neutral term, “Fall Weekend.”

This year, after another NAB-led movement and 1,100 signatures on a petition, faculty members voted to change the holiday to Indigenous People’s Day on school calendars, according to

The Brown Daily Herald. Warren wants the university to acknowledge how celebrating Columbus Day contributes to violence against indigenous communi-

ties. In a national context, she connected it to supporting protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline and the importance of intersectionality.

“If the lives of Indigenous

photo by sarah terrazano

communities matter, so do #BlackLivesMatter, 13 year-old Tyre King and Terence Crutcher matter,” Warren told The Hoot.

10 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

September 23, 2016

‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ whines its way to glory

By Santiago Montoya staff

After 12 years, the third installment of the “Bridget Jones” (2001 – 2004) film series has finally been released.

When Working Title Films announced its intention to make another film back in 2009, several problems arose after the announcement. In fact, the director of “Bridesmaids” and most recently “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call,” was reportedly going to direct the film. However, creative differences arose with Working Title and he exited the project.

Though production was estimated to begin in January of 2012, the actors claimed the screenplay was not good enough, which resulted in creative differences between the cast and crew. Despite

originally having the three main actors from the first two previous films signed up to return (Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant), Grant exited, commenting on his dislike for the screenplay.

In order to make “Bridget Jones’s Baby” happen, producers hired two-time Academy Award-winner Emma Thompson to revise and rewrite the script.

Thompson, aside from being an Academy Award-winning actress, also happens to be an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, having penned the celebrated script for “Sense and Sensibility” (1995).

The film series was loyal to the adaptation of the first two novels, penned by Helen Fielding. But whereas the third “Bridget Jones” novel kills off Darcy, the movie aims its gun at another character,

photo from marieclaire.co.uk

killing that person instead.

The film brought on board Sharon Maguire to direct it, who has not done much after she directed the first film of the series in 2001.

Patrick Dempsey was brought on board, replacing Grant in another love triangle.

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” brings back certain nostalgia from the original—the film that made everyone fall in love with Jones’ quirkiness and dorkiness. Despite the fact that Zellweger was on hiatus for the past few years, it is as if Jones had never left.

The sole difference is that everyone does look older and more grown up. The audience meets Jones on her 43rd birthday, still single and childless. The only change, according to her, is that she has reached her ideal weight.

At this point in her life, she has devoted the majority of her time to her career as a producer of a TV news segment. She and her friend Miranda (Sarah Solemani) experience one wild weekend in which Jones meets Jack Qwant (Dempsey), and they eventually have a one-night stand. Jones’ relationship with Mark Darcy has concluded; Darcy even married another woman. Notwithstanding, she encounters Darcy, a few days after her one-night stand with Jack, at the baptism of a friend’s child. The attraction between the two of them is stronger than ever. Days later, Jones turns out to be expecting a baby; however, it is not all cheers and joy mostly because she is unsure of the baby’s father.

There is not a lot of new material that the film works with.

Nonetheless, all that can be said is that it is much better than its

photo from eonline.com

predecessor, “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.” One of the few positive aspects to say about this latest installation’s plot is that the audience gets to enjoy more of Thompson, who aside from collaborating on the screenplay also has a supporting role as Dr. Rawlings, Jones’ gynecologist, who receives some of the best laughs due to this arrangement.

While the film has obvious tropes, some of them are pleasing, especially for Jones’ fans.

She still constantly embarrasses herself, although the film elevates this to a new level that the two previous ones did not; in this film, the audience encounters an older version of Jones. She is no longer thirty-something and this is clearly visible in the gag where Jones and Miranda have an encounter with the singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. They ask him to take a photograph of them, which the singer interprets as a photograph with him in it. Nevertheless, they

misunderstand and take him as an egocentric weirdo. This scene implies that Jones does not know who Ed Sheeran is because she belongs to another generation; she is older than when the audience last saw her. It is the only cameo in the film, yet it is brilliant and relevant.

Overall, though, most of the jokes worked out thanks to the entire cast’s input. Even if the main plot was not the most realistic one, the movie has more character development than gags; it is a huge improvement from “The Edge of Reason,” and therefore forgives the past and only focuses on the present.

The reason why “Bridget Jones’s Baby” is pleasing is because, like comfort food, although you know it is not the best thing for you, it is irresistible to enjoy it. Plus, it ends with a nice bow that ties everything together, giving a fair and enjoyable final film to a 15-year-old series.

Brandeis alumnae strive to empower women with FanMail

By Brianna Cummings staff

If one were to watch a comic book movie, aside from action and heroic triumphs, one element that they would definitely see is the oversexualization of women.

From Black Widow to Catwoman to Harley Quinn, women in comics are often appreciated more for their physical attributes than for their actual skills.

However, two Brandeis alumnae have noticed this and decided to encourage female empowerment in the supernatural, fandom, or otherwise known as “geek” realm.

Rose Del Vecchio ’14 and Jenny Cheng ’14 have joined forces in creating a business, FanMail, that helps promote feminism and showcases their love of comic books, fantasy and pop culture as a whole. FanMail is a subscription box service, similar to LootCrate, that sends pop culture and comic

book collectibles to subscribers.

Unlike Lootcrate, FanMail markets to women, acknowledging that they too can be a part of geek culture.

This project is important because the media can greatly affect how women view themselves and students are aware of this.

In an exclusive interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Del Vecchio mentioned that, “We’ve tried to

photos courtesy fanmail

concentrate on the core of fandom culture that we love and tried to nourish that spirit in our own community.”

Del Vecchio and Cheng started the business in 2015, and they are still trying to find a niche for the business.

“I’ve been a fangirl as long as I could remember. I was obsessed with this TV show Merlin for a really long time and Harry Potter was my very first fandom. I sort of set out with my dad to set up this subscription box service that was geared toward women specifically.”

Del Vecchio is currently managing the business out of her apartment in Philadelphia and her parents’ basement in New Hampshire. She is also working in higher education while working on the business.

“I had been receiving multiple subscription boxes that were pop culture based and de-culture based that I found really lacking like they were fun, they had a lot of fun items, but it wasn’t really speaking to me.”

FanMail is blossoming and creating a large fan base. The business currently has approximately one thousand subscribers. Del Vecchio and Cheng work closely with women in different fields and ensure that one or more items in each themed box are sourced from female business owners or women artists. Both Brandeis alumni work alongside fellow business owners, thereby making every effort to promote other businesses while also providing their subscribers with a unique product.

“We really look for ways we can promote the indie stuff, the creative content that’s coming out from diverse creators, and women of color specifically, that are really highlighting storylines and stories that we see ourselves reflected in.”

In July, Del Vecchio and Cheng had their own booth at San Diego Comic Con to promote FanMail to comic book and fantasy fans around the world. The two also were involved in the Fangirls Lead the Way panel. While the

rising popularity of FanMail is a blessing, the heavy workload is less desirable. Del Vecchio said that both her Philadelphia and New Hampshire residences are swamped with inventory. She ships most of the merchandise from the two houses.

“Our first month we managed to sell out. We definitely weren’t expecting it and we sort of hit the ground running and pulled out, and started packing boxes like mad.”

The two are proud of their business and are happy that it is catching on. They are thrilled to show and celebrate the diversity of women and will continue to cultivate their business, one box at a time.

“I definitely think that for me it’s not something I would have seen myself doing out of college.

I had degrees from Brandeis.”

I’ve found that it’s ignited female passion and it has connected me with not only these amazing creators … but I’ve also been able to get to know so many women through FanMail.

September 23, 2016

ARTS 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Stein Night showcases Brandeis’ varied talent

By Emma Kahn staff

The Stein saw a night of acoustic guitar and vocals with some surprise freestyle rap, jazz piano and many original songs at the first Stein Night of the semester on Friday, Sept. 16. Those in attendance were likely able to see their friends perform as well as see the talent of peers they had never met, a great mix for an open mic evening.

Michael Harlow ’19 opened the evening with acoustic guitar and vocals, covering songs such as “I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith and “Bills, Bills, Bills”

by Destiny’s Child. He was then joined by Acia Gankin ’19 in several more numbers. Gankin and Harlow met during the semester before beginning at Brandeis as mid-years, at which point they formed their group, The Downstairs Neighbors.

Harlow and Gankin opened the evening of music fluidly and organically, and the Stein transitioned seamlessly into a space for live performance, good food and conversation with friends. Based on the audience reaction, the Stein seems to be a perfect location for live student music. Both the students who came to support their peers performing and those looking for their usual booth and food on a Friday night were eager

By Sabrina Pond editor

Music’s sultry, mystical quality comes not from the instruments that combine to produce a perfect merging of sound nor the finesse of the players nor even the individual composition they chose to perform. Actually, what makes music intangible is the collision of all these facets, as well as its unique ability to send the listener to other planes. When done right, music is capable of having an impact, creating a certain ambiance and eliciting images of beautiful places beyond the listener’s imagination.

Or so the “Made in the U.S.A.” concert, which kicked off the fall semester season, successfully accomplished. On Saturday, Sept.

17, at 8 p.m. in Slosberg, the Solar Winds Quintet brought euphonious delight back to Brandeis. The dream team, which enchanted the audience and brought any and all conversation to a halt, consisted of Jill Dreeben on flute, Diane Heffner on clarinet, Neil Godwin on French horn, Charlyn Bethell

in memoriam

photos by katie decker-jacoby/the hoot

to hear the music and be a part of the semester’s first Stein Night.

Other notable performances were freestyle rap by Marcelo Brociner ’18, backed by guitarist Brandon Ferrier ’18 and drummer Dave Matthews ’18. The impromptu lyrics touched on topics that were relevant to many Brandeis students. In another performance, Bryan Rauch ’18 performed three original songs that silenced the crowd. His style and lyrics deeply resembled the mellow, introspective feel of Ed Sheeran, a sentiment expressed by the audience a few times during his performance. These were only a few of the many incredible performers who stepped up on stage last Friday.

The Stein Night on Friday was a tremendous success. Despite the smooth and composed nature of the event, all the preparations

were made by one student—Harlow, the opener of the evening.

Harlow is not part of any club or organization, but simply arranged for this night on his own. He saw so few opportunities available for students to perform on campus and was dismayed by the talent just sitting around.

Harlow was not only a talented performer opening the show, but an energetic force that kept the performances running smoothly and made sure the audience was always entertained. You can sense his deep respect for his peers and his strong commitment to bringing out the under-appreciated talent that our student body possesses. He kept the event running smoothly, and avoided all of the hectic, last-minute adjustments and preparations of a poorly organized show. He successfully arranged for a large turnout and

is sure to impress with the future concerts laid out.

“How do you expect to have a vibrant musical community without bands?” Harlow asked, commenting on his discovery that bands are not permitted to practice at Slosberg Music Center. The lack of space for bands to practice on campus has limited musical potential at Brandeis for bands to form and to play. He said that not only individuals play live music for their peers, but also that talented artists collaborate and form collectives. Harlow urges solo artists to join together, and even made suggestions for some of the groupings at the Stein Night.

Last semester, Harlow went to Student Events with the idea of band performances, creating a “Cozy Concert” night in the SCC Atrium where students performed similar to the Stein, but

the audience brought pillows and blankets and got comfortable on the SCC floor. After the success of this performance, Harlow has continued to organize similar events.

On Sept. 29, Harlow is arranging for a night of performances on the Great Lawn, during which full bands will have the opportunity to play. Next month, on Oct. 14, Harlow will host another Stein Night. The only step to take, if interested in performing, is to contact Harlow.

Such organic, open and inviting student-led events with peers as performers are rare to come by.

Thanks to Harlow and the many talented artists who performed last Friday, Brandeis is now better disposed to offer unmediated and candid events that best represent our student body.

Solar Winds Quintet flares up Slosberg

on oboe and Neil Fairbairn on bassoon.

These five players have all led illustrious careers with lifelong experience honing their craft.

Although the audience was primarily made up of non-Brandeis students, this should not serve as a reflection of the quality of the performance; on the contrary, it would seem that Brandeisians are entirely unaware of the various free events that are available on campus.

The Solar Winds’ lineup was composed of three pieces, two of which were in the first half of the program. Their first piece, which has the positively ethereal title Three Summer Dances, showcased three major shifts in mood within its movements. Composed

by Joseph Turrin, the only composer of the bunch who is still alive, the song has a more modern vibe that is simply irresistible. It also highlighted both the strength and diversity of sound in what is a uniquely American composition.

The second piece of the night, Quintet for Winds, was similarly composed of three movements:

photo from solarwindsquintet.com

Allegro risoluto, Andante and Moderato-Allegro con spirito.

Perhaps the most graceful and intimate musical composition of the night, Quintet for Winds brought forth images of candle light, sandy passageways and ornately decorated clay houses.

Robert Muczynski’s work, which had come to life with the hands of five very talented musicians,

Composer Steven Stucky writes “Serenade for Quintet,” one of the Solar Winds’ choicest pieces of the night.

photo from youtube.com

showed how instrumental expertise, breath support, dynamics and group chemistry can elicit great, if not out-of-this-world results. What made the composition memorable was definitely the players’ comfort with each other and obvious comfort performing the piece. Unparalleled unison and amazing poise helped ensure that “Made in America” rose in the ranks to one of Slosberg’s most notable performances.

The group finished the night playing yet another cleverly titled piece, called Serenade for Quintet. Steven Stucky’s composition is comprised of five movements in total, with gorgeous Italian titles such as Con fuoco, Notturno, Allegro scorrevole, e Calmo and con tenerezza. Each of these movements has no relation to the others, though they do, in fact, seem to contrast the next movement. The composition Serenade for Quintet banks its success on the merging of very different registers, so that the flute and the bassoon provide a great dichotomy to the piece. Overall it is a wholly serious work which has a hint of playfulness in the final movement that was an absolute delight to behold.

When the term serenade was

first used to describe music, it once signified that the composition was played outdoors to entertain listeners at night. However, this meaning later completely changed with the ushering in of Mozart, Brahms and Schoenberg.

Ever since, the term serenade has been used to describe more formal, indoor concertos, and the same applies to Serenade for Quintet.

The first draft of Stucky’s composition was written in 1989 in Los Angeles and was later completed in 1990 in Ithaca, New York. The piece, in its entirety, takes about 16 minutes to perform, and the first time it was performed was later that same year at Penn State University.

Despite having attended a multitude of Slosberg performances during my academic career at Brandeis, Solar Winds’ “Made in the U.S.A.” was pure gold, an obvious thrill that reeled me in like no other concert in the past ever has.

To those who think that instrumental music is boring, pompou and strictly outdated, wait for the next concert the Brandeis Department of Music will hold on Sept.

24—you just might change your mind on that front.

12 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

September 23, 2016

The Vaughns brings fun beats to Chum’s

By Sanin Dosa

special to the hoot

This past weekend, music was filling the air here at Brandeis University. Student musicians were jamming in the Stein on Friday, and Saturday saw two performances on campus. While AlunaGeorge entertained students at Levin Ballroom on Saturday night, Sept. 19, The Vaughns gave a performance at Chum’s that had the crowd shaking and yelling.

The Vaughns are an indie rock band from Springfield, NJ. For two years now they have been playing their own shows all around New Jersey. Their performance at Brandeis was one of their first outside the state of New

Jersey besides Philadelphia.

Before their concert The Vaughns had time to answer a few questions for The Brandeis Hoot.

The band members—lead singer Anna Lies, bass guitarist Tom Losito, drummer Ryan Kenter and guitarist David Cacciatore—had all gone to the same high school, but it wasn’t after they’d graduated that they formed the band.

Apart from music, they enjoy bowling. In fact Losito, the bass player, was on the high school bowling team and won state championship.

They get their inspiration from indie rock and 60s rock and pop; they love bands like The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Grouplove and Nirvana.

Lies says their favorite song to perform is “What’s Cooking,” which has been played on the radio a few times. “Yeah I think people just think it’s fun … it’s very groovy. And it’s also kind of funny in a way. The audience sometimes laughs when we say ‘what’s cook’n good look’n.’”

When asked what goals they have for a show, they responded, “We like to interact with the crowd a lot … make people feel happy and laugh, create positive experience more up-beat you know?”

Although Chum’s has the vibe of a small local coffee shop, The Vaughns turned the coffee shop into a cool bar-like rock venue for one night. The music they played had the audience grooving and going wild. The enthralled crowd

was small, but big enough to take up most of the limited space inside Chum’s.

Walking in, one would have seen a vibrant group of people moving their bodies to the music, couples dancing together and everyone else bobbing their heads up and down. Their music alternates between levels of sound; some of the songs start off with a soothing rock rhythm, then elevate toward heavy rock sound and energy.

The one song that received the greatest reaction was “What’s Cooking.” The song starts off with a powerful bang that sets the energy radiated by the audience for the rest of the song. Everyone inside Chum’s was screaming and dancing to it. The band also had

songs that were interactive with the audience.

In “Roses,” Lies told the crowd that she needed them to sing a part. It didn’t take but seconds to get the crowd to co-operate.

Everyone inside Chum’s was harmonically saying, “Bum bum bum.”

The band was excited to play at Brandeis. They have one album, “Tomfoolery” and one EP, “The Vaughns” made up of singles they use to book shows. Their music can be found on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.Also, if you will like to stay updated with their music and shows you can follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/TheVaughnsnj/; Instagram: thevaughnsnj and twitter @thevaughnsnj.

photo courtesy of bamco

Young Thug screams, cries, mimics the muppets in ‘Jeffery’

By Ben Benson staff

Jeffery, the artist formerly known as Young Thug, has been one of the most prolific musicians in hip-hop over the past several years. In his self-titled mixtape “Jeffery,” the rapper reclaims his birth name and pays homage to his musical influences as well as his favorite meme (on the wild track “Harambe”). As is expected with a Young Thug project, the tape features the vocal experimentation that has set Jeffery apart from his peers in the trap scene and the wider hip-hop world.

Interestingly, this tape sees Jeffery riffing off the styles of his musical influences on the tracks named for them, a new development in his ever-evolving sound.

The tape begins with “Wyclef Jean,” a laid back track by Young Thug standards, with the rapper wailing over a Caribbean style beat that evokes the sound of the Haitian rapper the song is named for.

This track along with the most of the other songs on the mixtape

exemplifies what makes Jeffery one of the most interesting people working in rap right now: his unhinged vocal style.

In terms of content, the lyrics of the songs are fairly generic gangster rap fair, dealing with money, sex, weapons, women and the artist’s favorite things, which seem to be luxury goods and his six children.

Jeffery’s vocals shine throughout. On “Harambe,” named for the Cincinnati gorilla that was shot dead and subsequently became a meme, Jeffery’s vocals approach what can only be described as a Muppet-like quality, something never before heard in trap music. Jeffery’s adlib, the classic southern rap “skrrt” is delivered in such a way that the listener can hear the gobs of spit being flung from the rapper’s mouth, his voice hoarse from the extreme effect he puts on his speech.

On the track “Guwop,” Jeffery pays homage to rap legend Gucci Mane, who was recently released after several years behind bars.

The song emulates Gucci Mane’s style in its beat, combined with

photo from vergecampus.com

Jeffery’s lyrical flair as he raps about a woman he likes, presumably his fiance Jerrika Karlae. In addition to having a song named after him, Gucci Mane has a guest verse on the track “Floyd Mayweather.” The same is true for Wyclef Jean, who appears in a verse on the track “Kanye West.”

The way Jeffery plays with his voice stands out in this project, even more so than on his previous works as Young Thug. It seems as though he takes a lot of influence from Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the proto-shock-rocker who sang “I Put a Spell on You” in the 50s.

Hawkins’s singing is almost operatic in range, interspersed with screaming, crying, grunting and snorting. Jeffery’s vocal range is very Hawkins-esque, and many of the tracks on this album, particularly “Harambe,” feature odd vocal noises. Jeffery’s “skrrts” evoke the snorting and choking noises Hawkins makes at the beginning and end of the original version of “I Put a Spell on You.” The incomprehensibility of Jeffery’s singing and rapping is part of his appeal. His lyrics are not particularly interesting, but his

photo from dailytexasonline.com

delivery is entirely unique. Nobody else in hip-hop sounds like Jeffery.

There is something to be said about “Jeffery’s” album art as well. The cover features Jeffery posing in a beautiful lavender designer dress, wearing what

photo from gp.com

appears to be a parasol over his head. This choice of outfit makes sense given Jeffery’s previous statements that he “does not believe in gender.” The artist is well known for cross-dressing, a trait highly unusual in someone who describes himself as a gangster rapper. In a field of music often considered to be homophobic and transmisogynist, it is refreshing to have an artist who seems dedicated to breaking down gender stereotypes.

Jeffery is pushing boundaries: In hip-hop, in fashion, in singing, Jeffery is on the forefront of the experimental. Who would have thought that in 2016, one of the most progressive figures in hip-hop would be a trap star that came up under the name “Young Thug?”

September 23, 2016

OPINIONS

Change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day at Brandeis

By Katarina Weessies editor

If you’ve been on Facebook lately, you might have noticed a page titled “Vote to Change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day at Brandeis.” This page has received a lot of traffic from Brandeis students and organizations, gaining endorsements from several clubs and individual students. The Facebook page connects users to a Change.org petition demanding that Brandeis change “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day” in the Brandeis calendar.

The About section of the Facebook page briefly describes its mission: “As Brandeis students, we are pushing to change ‘Columbus Day’ to ‘Indigenous People’s Day’ in our Academic Calendar and social consciousness.” The online petition received over 500 signatures. During the next Faculty Senate, faculty will vote on whether to recommend the name change. Hopefully, Brandeis faculty will endorse the name change, and “Columbus Day” will officially become “Indigenous People’s Day” in the Brandeis calendar.

Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October, and was officially established as a federal holiday in 1937. The idea to replace Columbus Day

with Indigenous People’s Day was first presented during the 1977 UN International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations. In response to growing anger toward Columbus Day, several states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and South Dakota opted not to celebrate Columbus Day. South Dakota, a state with one of the largest Native American populations in the country, celebrates Native Americans Day in lieu of Columbus Day. Hawaii, Alaska and Oregon also have relatively large indigenous populations.

To me, it seems obvious that Brandeis should replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. Brandeis students already don’t celebrate Columbus. Most Brandeis students rightfully see Columbus as an evil figure rather than an inspiring one. Outside of Brandeis, most young people don’t have the romanticized view of colonialism or Columbus associated with older Americans.

Even among more conservative Brandeis students, anti-colonial and anti-Columbus sentiments prevail. Changing the day’s designation from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day allows the calendar to better reflect the sentiments of the Brandeis student body.

I don’t think that I need to convince any Brandeis student that

Columbus was a bad person, but many might not know that Columbus was such a repugnant character that he was hated even by the Spanish royals for whom he worked. The Queen of Spain eventually recalled and imprisoned him while he was on one of his voyages. As the original European colonizer in the Americas, he set the precedent for the horrible treatment of indigenous people. His crew was the first to spread the European diseases that decimated indigenous populations. Without Columbus, colonization of the Americas still would have happened, but it might not have been so cruel.

One of the possible objections to establishing Indigenous People’s Day is that the change would not actually change circumstances for indigenous people. On the surface, this objection is correct.

Simply changing the name of the holiday would not affect social conditions. It cannot reverse the genocide committed against Native Americans. It won’t free modern tribes from small reservations on sparse, infertile land. However, the new name endorses the substantial and significant change in attitudes toward indigenous people, and this change in attitudes can have huge implications.

See COLUMBUS, page 14

The Brandeis Hoot 13

The issue with housing

By Anindita Chanda special to the hoot

As we continue to adjust to the new semester and prepare ourselves for the first round of midterms, we have all, for the most part, cozied into our rooms as best as we can. Our residence halls are a hub of a place to sleep, a pantry to store snacks and an area to study all in one. Some of us were more fortunate than others with the type of room we got, while some have their heads in their hands crying, “Why, oh, why is the housing the way it is?”

At Brandeis, as we have all come to be familiar with, the housing system is based on a lottery for rising sophomores through rising seniors. Students who live in a quad with access to kitchens, especially those in Grad, get the worst end of the deal, because students living in these areas, in addition to paying a higher housing cost, are now also required to have meal plans, despite the fact that they pay for kitchens where they could cook less expensive food.

If all else fails, the worst case scenario is that a student is not guaranteed housing on campus— which is extraordinarily stressful.

The issue of not being able to provide housing for all students is unfortunate, especially for those

who are on financial aid, because once they move off campus there is the possibility of receiving less financial aid proportionate to expenses. But aside from the idea of possibly having to find a place off campus, there are other equally pressing issues that come up regarding the housing situation.

For one, housing numbers are released right around the time of the last midterms, when tensions are high as they can be.

With the added burden of hoping that one’s not-so-pleasant housing number could possibly get them a room in which they will be able to survive, the atmosphere around campus gets a tad hostile. This is not to mention the endless drama that ensues, especially when it comes to selecting suites for juniors and seniors. It becomes a matter of ranking who your top friends are, who your more reliable friends are and who you have a better chance of staying friends with despite having to share a common space with them for a whole year.

Oftentimes I hear my friends and peers saying that they wish Brandeis had a different housing system: something that was more efficient and accommodated everyone in a fair manner. People are then quick to mention our neighboring school, Bentley, and See HOUSING, page 15

To vote or not to vote?

By Daniel Freedman special to the hoot

This election cycle has brought about a wave of political vitriol and polarization; jingoism and nativism confront the corrupt status quo. In the wake of this political mess, many well-meaning students have absolved themselves of the issue entirely, having not found a cause with either of the nominees. Discussion on a liberal college campus seems not to center around voting Trump or voting Clinton; rather, the polemics lie in debating the efficacy of a third party vote or succumbing to the apathy of abstaining. To many of the former discussion, the vote seems pointless: Third party candidates are not predicted to garner any appreciable percentage, and perhaps would only participate as “spoilers” by diluting the votes of the primary candidates.

I sadly would have to agree with this position, as much as I would like to stand by them on a moral high horse.

With such a short amount of time until Election Day, third party candidates represent the non-pragmatic, feel-good vote.

Ultimately if there is a preference for either the Republican or Democrat nominee, that vote should be made. The rebellious vote that shows a discontent with the political system raises no eyebrows and affects no change unless it wins. It will not win.

The main argument I see around campus is whether it is even worthwhile to vote at all; after all most of us do not come from swing states, so the outcome is almost a fait accompli. Why

vote if the outcome is already determined, and voting for one candidate must be done while holding one’s nose?

Every four years we have hyperbolic statements declaring that this is the deciding election of the generation, even superciliously going so far as to say our election will determine the fate of the free world in a way no other has before. However, despite the circus and exaggerated claims that have plagued this election, I would argue without hypocrisy or par-

tisanship that this election is one of the deciding elections. I’m not saying that because Trump will cause a nuclear holocaust or Hillary will catalyze a path to corruption reigning supreme in politics.

Objectively, there is already a vacant seat on the Supreme Court of the United States that Obama will not be able to fill now or in his lame duck period, and another seat is likely to become vacant in the next four years due to the aging RBG. The social policy of this election thus has the poten-

tial to bear sweeping change and have influence over laws for the next 40 years. While the president will have a great deal of say in the choice to fill these seats, without congressional approval the president will find it immensely difficult to install a hardline justice, just as Obama currently has been unable to even appoint a moderate.

My urge then is that you vote, vote this election, vote your conscience, if not for the president then for all of the congressional

seats up for re-election. The climate of Washington surrounding the next president will guide the choices and ultimately decisions for the Supreme Court going forward.

Many of us will be eligible to vote for the first time ever in a lesser-of-the-two-evils election— what a time to be alive. Do not let your disillusionment translate into apathy, and do not lose sight of the ways in which your vote still counts.

cartoon by julianna scionti/the hoot

14 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

September 23, 2016

The problem with calls to upgrade older residence halls

By Zach Phil Schwartz editor

Time and time again, calls to upgrade or renovate older campus buildings arise. The buildings of Massell, North and East Quads are well over 50 years old, and obviously they show their age. The even older Castle Quad is set to close in a few months due to the effects of the years. In the warm times of year, the conditions are almost unbearably hot because the buildings in these quads lack air conditioners. Rooms there are equipped with individual radiators that make an exceptional amount of noise when they’re activated in the colder months.

Although calls to have these areas upgraded have merit, they are almost impossible to fulfill due to the financial and environmental costs of doing so.

The biggest complaint out of Massell, North and East is that they are extremely uncomfortable to live in when the weather is hot.

I wholeheartedly agree; having

lived in Massell myself two years ago, it was tough to tolerate the hot and humid building and room temperatures in August, September and May. Although I’ve never lived in North or East, I’ve experienced how uncomfortable they can be. There have been calls to equip the quads with air conditioning for these reasons, but unfortunately that would be simply infeasible if not impossible.

One proposed solution that would kill two birds with one stone—that is, both the air conditioning and the radiator issues— is a central air system like in the Village, Ridgewood and Ziv. The problem with this solution is that central air systems are supposed to be incorporated into plans and built into buildings beforehand, rather than after the fact. The university would have to completely tear apart each residence hall and rebuild them to be able to incorporate central air systems and ductwork; Brandeis may as well just raze the quads and rebuild them from scratch, as is the plan for the Castle. So unless the plan

is to rebuild every aging quad, which obviously would take significant financial and time commitments, let’s toss this proposed solution.

Another proposed solution is to install external air conditioning units in each individual room.

Although this would not require tearing apart the residence halls, the financial and environmental costs would be catastrophic and would be completely antithetical to Brandeis’ commitment to being an environmentally cleaner campus. Such an endeavor would put an immense toll on electrical demand, costing the university huge amounts of money. This is not to mention the environmental toll such an increase in demand would cost and that could be exacted by running so many units. With these financial and environmental factors taken into consideration, let’s also throw out this proposed solution.

If there is to be change in the older areas of campus, attention must be turned in more creative directions.

The most environmentally friendly way to tackle the issue of cooling older residence halls would be to stay away from air conditioning units altogether, as no matter what we do, the chemicals within units will still, in one way or another, contribute to environmental issues.

So what do we do? Although it’s not imperative that something be done about the most common complaint for residence of older quads, there are things that can be done, especially in the simply designed Massell and North. Both quads feature simple buildings that have one hallway per floor that ends at a window by a stairwell; it wouldn’t hurt to have a reasonably large fan on each level installed into a part of the window on each floor that could be turned on at night to blow in cooler air.

In East, although the layout is far more complex than in Massell and North, there are certain common areas on each floor where a fan could be installed.

Such a solution would not significantly alter the conditions of

these buildings during the warmer times of the school year, but they would at the very least circulate cooler air through the residence halls without a significant financial and environmental cost.

Another similar solution would be to install energy efficient air conditioning and heating units in place of the fans, but again, the financial toll would be higher.

There is always a solution to complaints coming out of aging quads, but sometimes the propositions are so grandiose that they overshoot and bear no results as a consequence of being so outlandish. Advocacy for elevators and central air conditioning systems in aging quads may garner significant support, but they’re just not going to happen. If we want to advocate for any type of change, we need to think creatively in ways that can ameliorate issues in a feasible way, rather than completely fix issues in an outlandish way.

Maybe then we can cease the endless parade of complaints and actually begin a series of real quality improvements.

photo by zach phil schwartz/the hoot

massell quad

Finding relevance in an ED100 film

By Angela Mendez columnist

I have recently made the decision to pursue a license in teaching. My love for children is simply that great. As a result, I am currently taking Education 100A, Exploring Teaching (Elementary and Preschool). This class is absolutely phenomenal as it introduces the world of teaching with not only insightful readings, but also with critical documentaries that provoke conversation and dialogue.

Last week my professor, Aja Jackson, assigned my class to watch “School: The Story of American Public Education.” This documentary is broken up into four 55-minute episodes. Narrated by Meryl Streep, this film talks about four different time periods, starting from 1770, right after the American Revolution, and ending in the early 2000s. It informs audience members of the rich history behind the American education system and how this system is constantly evolving. I will briefly talk about the first two episodes and then delve in detail about the

last two, because the connections I made with the last two illustrate how vital these time periods were to the improvement of the education system here in the United States.

1. The Common School, 17701890 In the aftermath of the Revolution, a newly independent country confronted a challenging obstacle as it dealt with building a nation that united 13 unique colonies. This is when the passionate Thomas Jefferson, Noah Webster, Horace Mann and others launched an innovative approach to education. They created a common system of tax-supported schools that would mix people of “different” backgrounds to reinforce the ideals of a democracy. Research shows how this noble experiment was a completely radical idea and was opposed by many due to racial prejudice and fears of taxation.

2. As American as Public School, 1900-1950 In the early 1900s, the industrial revolution began and unfortunately, only about six percent of American children graduated high school. By 1945, 51 percent

graduated and about 40 percent went to college. This episode highlights how massive immigration, child labor laws, the birth of baby boomers and the growth of cities fueled school attendance and essentially transformed public education. John Dewey, a key player in revolutionizing the American education system, voiced progressive ideals, including the effects of the controversial IQ tests on children. Interviews with immigrants, scholars and administrators help paint a landscape on the United States’ changing educational system.

3. A Struggle for Educational Equality, 1950-1980 This episode mainly conveys how impressive gains masked profound inequalities within the education system. During the 1950s, the civil rights movement brought attention to how unfair and unjust the notion of “separate but equal” was. Simply put, there was no equality whatsoever.

Schools with white children had astounding resources in comparison to schools with students of color. White schools had gyms, and many children were taught a foreign language. Having gyms

and enrichment classes were not options students of color had.

Protests took place due to this injustice.

In a similar vein, the Chicano movement took place to protest the maltreatment many Chicanos or Mexican-Americans were receiving. Chicanos were often addressed as dogs, animals, idiots and even dirty. They were treated as inferior. It is upsetting to hear that such injustices did happen.

Nevertheless, it did occur.

And then there were the feminist protests, where women emphasized that they were equal to men. Women could and can do anything they set their mind to.

4. The Bottom Line in Education, 1980-2001 In the last episode, the film talks about the most current changes in the education system. In 1983, the Reagan Administration reported that the nation was at risk. It shattered the confidence the United States had in the education system. In efforts to improve students’ performance, a new wave of education reform was born.

Schools were treated as businesses, national standards were set, and programs such as vouchers

were created.

The last two time periods resonate a lot with me and my experiences. As a woman of color, the civil rights movement holds a lot of significance for me because this movement gave me access to the same education as many other people who attend this school.

As a Mexican-American, the Chicano movement holds a lot of importance to me because this movement gave me role models to look up to. Lastly, I went to a school where statewide testing was enforced. All of the students were required to be tested. The history of education continues to affect everyone living here in the United States. It also continues to affect the lives of children as they are in the system.

Overall, this film was exquisite because it informed me so much about my history and it shined light into the education system, which is often not known about.

It was also thought-provoking because it leaves many people questioning the education system today.

Columbus Day antithetical to Brandeis values COLUMBUS, from page 13

The growth of anti-colonial or pro-indigenous sentiment among young people could have a massive effect on modern Native American issues, which are deeply tied to the legacies of Columbus and other colonizers.

2016 is an especially relevant and tumultuous year for indigenous people in America. Lately, Native American protests in

North Dakota have put indigenous issues at the forefront of American media. Hundreds of Native American tribes are currently convened in North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL. The protesters claim that the oil pipeline, which passes through the Missouri River, is poorly constructed and is thus at a high risk of spilling oil into the river and polluting the drinking water for millions of Americans.

The protests have been somewhat successful, causing the federal government to reevaluate the construction permit issued for the pipeline.

DAPL protesters and their supporters see this protest as an indigenous issue. Many of the protesters refer to their activism as “earth guardianship” and state that it has a deep connection to their heritage as Native Americans. These protesters see environmental protest as part of their

responsibility to protect their ancestral land. The DAPL protests have brought Native American issues into the mainstream, creating a more accessible culture for pro-indigenous activism on a much smaller scale, including the campaign to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day at Brandeis.

Although the petition to establish Indigenous People’s Day at Brandeis is insignificant in comparison to larger movements

like the DAPL protests, it is an important facet of our country’s expanding consciousness of Native American issues. Referring to the holiday as Indigenous People’s Day rather than Columbus Day would allow Brandeis to formally distance its ideas from Columbus’s genocidal legacy. The change endorses the view that indigenous lives are worthwhile and reflects the growing consciousness of Native American and indigenous issues at Brandeis.

September 23, 2016

OPINIONS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

Make menstrual products free and accessible on campus

By José Castellanos columnist

On Sept. 6 of this year, students at Brown University made a major breakthrough: The administration had finally made a largely necessary change and provided menstrual products in various bathrooms on campus, completely free of charge to students. Obviously it’s wonderful that a major institution like Brown has taken this step toward helping out their students, but this reveals a major issue that menstruating students at Brandeis are all too aware of and that the administration seems completely blind to: that Brandeis, the school where condoms are only 10 cents thanks to subsidies, fails to provide free or even reduced-cost menstrual products for its students. The only option for someone who is caught off-guard by a period while on

HOUSING, from page 13

campus is to buy menstrual products at the C-Store, which are not always in stock and which are not always a financially feasible option.

Though the administration should be held accountable for this, it’s also worth noting that this is part of a larger societal issue.

Periods, despite being a normal bodily function, are often seen as a taboo, something never meant to be spoken of and are often made out to be something repulsive, not normalized in any way by society despite, again, being a perfectly normal bodily function.

It’s a sad fact of life that menstrual products, though clearly a necessity for the people who need them, are often priced as luxuries. Rachel Dobkin ’17 put it best, stating that “almost every place on campus has a free safety kit which has basic medical necessities like Band-Aids or Advil.

When you want one of those,

you don’t choose whether or not you cut yourself, or if you have a throbbing headache. And these commodities are usually very accessible. I don’t control when I get my period or what happens inside my body, and women should no longer be penalized for our physiology. This creates a financial barrier to obtaining a hygienic necessity, especially when it is not a ‘luxury item.’”

There are those who would argue that people should always be prepared for a period; however, for various reasons, this may not be feasible for some people who menstruate. Many people, such as a junior who chose to remain anonymous, have irregular periods, and therefore may not always be expecting it when it comes, stating that she has “had months where I had one period, and two weeks later I’m having another.” In this situation, it was often enough to make her skip class in

order to return across campus to her room and grab a tampon. “It’s incredibly stressful, and you can miss handing in an assignment or an important lecture,” she said.

“Knowing that the bathrooms have free products would be a relief. Periods are already a stressful time and anything to reduce the stress is great.”

Moreover, it would obviously be helpful to reduce the stress of people who menstruate. It’s not difficult to understand that not having to worry about being caught completely off guard by a period and having to miss class to go across campus and address it would be incredible. In the same way that students don’t have to worry about being caught off guard by the need to urinate because there are bathrooms around campus, people who menstruate shouldn’t have to be concerned about an untimely period. This isn’t an issue of politics, and it isn’t

something that really needs to be debated or fought for in order for it to exist, as it’s a necessity to people who have periods. It’s a simple issue of health that needs to be addressed by the Brandeis administration, especially because it can be very easily fixed. There is no downside to providing free menstrual products in the bathrooms around campus.

If we provide the products to people who menstruate free of charge, then they are less likely to have to miss important class sessions or appointments because of their period, which can only work toward their benefit. Frankly, failing to do this simple act is highly problematic, as it shows that Brandeis is less willing to care for menstruators, who have absolutely zero control over their periods, than they are willing to pay for condoms, which in no way address an uncontrollable hygienic necessity.

There is not enough housing to go around

its housing system which is based on a credit system, incorporating total number of credits taken, with additional “credits” given for being on the dean’s or president’s list.

I must admit, at first I applauded that system. After all, people who work hard deserve to get something in return, right? Un-

By Carolyn Rogers special to the hoot

There is something deeply irritating about the way people walk around on campus. Crowds of students take up the entire sidewalk. Classmates stop in doorways or in front of stairwells to have conversations. Some even come to a complete halt in the middle of a sidewalk or a hallway to read something, oblivious to the impact their pause has on those around them.

The worst case of pedestrian traffic holdup comes as a result of people walking around while staring at their phones instead of watching where they are going.

This is more obnoxious than most people realize, and it should stop.

There are three types of pedestrian cell phone zombies. The first type continues to move, but at a

By Jacob Edelman columnist

When the changes to Brandeis Dining were announced this past summer, I was admittedly skeptical of any positive effects they might have. Fortunately, sometimes in life we receive reminders to not always jump to conclusions. While not perfect, I believe that there has been some solid progress made in the quality and availability of food to students on our campus. While some options have been lost—and must be replaced—and other aspects of Brandeis Dining are still in transition and in need of improvement, I believe that both the potential and quality for what is being offered to campus consumers is rising.

The first improvement that jumps to my mind is the addition of Sub Connection—and its criti-

fortunately, the issue with the credit system is that someone who is taking a heavier course load of easier classes may have more credits than someone who has a variety of fewer, more difficult classes. Furthermore, if housing were based on a credit system with additional points for dean’s list (a higher GPA) at Brandeis, then that would imply that if a student does poorly one semes-

ter due to whatever reason, they may have to live off campus, and thus end up further away from the resources that would best allow them to improve in their academics. Thankfully, Brandeis does not employ such a system which saves us all from getting into a sort of cutthroat mentality.

With all of that being said, I have wondered what the best system is for housing. The lottery

system is not as bad as it seems. If anything, it keeps everyone equal by letting everything be dependent on chance. The issue with it is that there are not enough places to give all of the students rooms, which is rather ridiculous.

How can the university enroll all of these students but at the same time cannot give them the assurance that they will have a place to stay on campus, or if they do have

No texting and walking

significantly reduced speed compared to someone unhampered by the new drama on Facebook and able to focus on their destination. This type slows everyone down, but at least they are easy enough to manage because their movement is predictable.

The second type presents a different kind of challenge. They also continue to move, but with less coordination than their turtle-like counterparts. These phone users serpentine back and forth across the sidewalk because having their eyes on their phones makes it impossible for them to walk in a straight line. Their motion eerily mimics that of a car drifting across the lane when the driver is drunk or talking on the phone. It is doubtful that this type of pedestrian could pass a field sobriety test while staring at their phone because they are clearly incapable

of walking in a straight line.

The final type of person who texts and walks actually comes to a complete stop in the middle of the flow of pedestrian traffic, indifferent to the possibility that the person walking behind them— who in all likelihood is also looking at a phone—will plow into them if they cannot change course in time. This type is by far the most aggravating. The responsibility to avoid collision should be equally shared by everyone on the sidewalk, not solely taken up by those conscientious enough to watch where they are walking.

Asking everyone else to pay attention to their surroundings is not such a high expectation. It is such a small request, in fact, that nobody should even have to ask.

Phone use on the sidewalks is not really about walking slowly or crashing into people, though

those things are annoying. It is about people not being aware of their environment and not being respectful to the other people who need to use the public sidewalk. It is about courtesy. It is about taking responsibility for avoiding a collision just like everyone else. It is about realizing that the world does not revolve around the text message that just made the phone buzz.

It is about students, while decrying the stereotypes placed on young people by older generations, also confirming those stereotypes. How can anyone dispute millennials’ addiction to technology when most of us cannot even make it from the SCC to Usdan without checking our phones?

Though pedestrian phone users often resort to such multitasking because they are busy and trying to be efficient, it appears to every-

a place to stay on campus, that it won’t be falling apart before their eyes?

Honestly, the only real solution to the housing issue is for Brandeis to build new residence halls and renovate old ones that will allow all of its students to live on campus comfortably. To anyone who says there isn’t adequate space or money for it, they should look again.

one around them that those people just do not care about what is happening outside their personal bubble. It makes them look glued to their phones, unaware and antisocial, whether that is an accurate representation of their personality or not. The easiest way for Brandeis students to show the world that they are engaged is to put down their phones every once in awhile. On campus walking paths, this will have the added bonus of making the sidewalks less of an obstacle course.

A world where people can put away their phones for all of 10 minutes to walk from point A to point B without crashing into anyone else or slowing down their peers does not feel like too much to ask for. Bottom line: keep moving or park it on the side. The rest of us need to walk here, too. No texting and walking.

Brandeis Dining: Not perfect, but progress made cal meal swipe—to Upper Usdan.

For one swipe, a meal plan-user can get a six-inch sub or wrap of their choice, along with a sizable bag of chips, a hand fruit or cookie and a fountain beverage. This comprises a complete and filling meal and offers value to the customer.

The second improvement which has taken place is that of keeping Upper Usdan open on the weekends.

It is clear that Upper Usdan offers dining options that are simply not available in the Sherman or Lower Usdan dining halls—or elsewhere on campus at all. Keeping the dining area open on the weekends is a noticeable and appreciated change.

A third, possibly less appreciated improvement is an increase in the number of meal swipe options at the Stein.

The choice no longer lies be-

tween a wrap and a plate of macaroni, but is between multiple wraps, salads and meat/veggie tortellini. I believe that the Stein has a wealth of untapped potential to become a student social hub—both on the weekends, and on weeknights—and the addition of more swipe options is a small step towards that possibility.

While there have been solid steps made in the right direction, there have, in my opinion, been a couple of steps backward and improvements that still need to be made.

For one, the closing of Dunkin Donuts without having any sort of replacement or substitute provided for options available in the south residential area was a lessthan-perfect solution. Thankfully for Dunkin-lovers, it will be reopened on upper campus by spring semester.

Perhaps most concerning has

been the closure of Lower Usdan on the weekends. For one, it presents a serious difficulty for students living in upper campus (East Quad, North Quad and the Castle) who may have mobility difficulties, but it also presents a challenge for students with dietary restrictions who will have markedly fewer options in Usdan to choose from.

Finally, an improvement that has yet to be made is the increase in and quality of meal swipe options at certain key locations.

Until several years ago, one could use a meal swipe at Einstein’s and receive a meal’s equivalent of food. Personally, I would count a bagel, fruit and coffee or tea as a meal, and worth a swipe.

Another location that needs bolstering in its offerings is the C-Store, where one meal swipe can be traded for a bottled milk or water, small pre-packaged and re-

frigerated sandwich or salad and a fruit or tiny bag of chips. This is a decent option; however, it utterly pales in comparison to what can be had at Sub Connection. The difference in value is striking, so I hope that for the sake of offering us value for our (expensive) meal plans, the C-Store bolsters its swipe selections.

College is not a country club.

None of us do, nor should we expect to be served five-star cuisine on silver platters. Brandeis need not offer luxury and need not compete for the title of “Best College Food in the Country” if it comes at the increased expense of students and their families. If there are ways to improve, however, I hope that they are fully understood by those who make the ultimate decisions and are then acted upon. I also know that when an improvement is made, we appreciate it.

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The Brandeis Hoot

September 23, 2016