The Brandeis Hoot - 2-27-09

VOL 5, NO. 19

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

B R A N D E I S U N I V E R S I T Y ' S C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R

THEHOOT.NET

Justice Brandeis Semester adds professional focus to liberal arts

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

Part II in a five-part series on academic restructuring The Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering (CARS) committee’s proposed Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) will require students to take one semester away from Brandeis, adding a professional focus to an otherwise liberal arts curriculum.

If JBS is implemented, students in the class of 2014 and beyond will be required to enroll in the university for eight semesters, one of which will be the JBS. Under JBS, students will be able to choose from a variety of ways to spend their fall, spring or summer, including an Environmental Studies Intensive Semester, The Brandeis Summer Science Institute, The Brandeis Summer Arts Festival, A Global Engagement Summer Institute, The Academically Networked Brandeis Internship Semester, and the Brandeis Immersive Summer Language Institute.

Each choice would require a student to See JBS, p.4

Rose backlash increases transparency

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

PHOTO BY Amira Morgenthau/The Hoot

JUSTICE BRANDEIS SEMESTER: CARS committee members Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe, Prof. Timothy Hickey (COSCI) and Susan Dibble (THA) lead an open forum Wed. evening to discuss the committee’s proposed Justice Brandeis Semester.

Reinharz’s job not at risk, Trustees say

COUNT HER IN:

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

COUNT HER IN: Julia Cohen ‘10 (above) wore a sign reading “HELP, Housing Crisis! Can’t afford number, Can’t sell my number, PULL ME IN” for a half an hour in Usdan on Thursday in order to find students to live with next year. Cohen, whose housing number was somewhere in the 1500’s said that she was looking to live in either a Ridgewood or a Ziv and was hoping to find students who needed to fill their planned suit for the 2009-2010 year. Eventually, Cohen found Maya Gallagher-Siudzinski ‘11 and Jourdan Cohen ‘11 who were friends of a friend of hers and were looking to fill what they hope to be a Ziv. Cohen said she had never met the two girls before but that it is “to their credit that they would invite me to live with them. I’m not afraid to live with strangers.”

--Ariel Wittenberg

IN THIS ISSUE:

NE WS ANALYSIS

Members of the university’s Board of Trustees told The Hoot this week that they have complete confidence in President Reinharz’s ability to lead the university. These statements of assurance follow an article in the Boston Globe entitled “Brandeis woes put president on the line.”

Chair of the Board of Trustees Malcolm Sherman told The Hoot in a phone interview that he believes the Boston Globe article to be inaccurate and said that while the Globe article implied that Reinharz’s job security was at risk, “we’re definitely going to keep him around.”

Fellow Board member Stuart Lewtan ’84 agreed and said that the Board is “100 percent behind president Reinharz.”

While Sherman acknowledged that “the public relations was not handled in the most perfect way” when Reinharz announced the Board’s authorization of the closing of the Rose Art Museum, he said that “it’s not entirely President Re-

inharz’s fault.”

“Clearly, he’s the President, so the buck stops with him” Sherman said, “but there were many people involved with the media handling.”

“In a time of crisis you need a tough guy to lead,” he continued.

“You need a strong and effective leader.”

Lewtan agrees, saying that “it’s difficult to lead in these crazy times.

The most important decisions are often the least popular ones.”

Sherman also said he was heartened by Reinharz’s apology to the Brandeis community, and sees the president’s acknowledgment of his mistake as a sign of good leadership.

Additionally, Sherman said, Reinharz’s media bungle is not enough to make the Board reconsider his employment.

“He has not lost the trust of the Board,” he said. “You can’t say that just because he made one mistake he’s got to go.”

While both Sherman and Lewtan acknowledge that some of Reinharz’s recent actions have been unpopular, both hope to see that change.

See JOB SECURITY, p. 2

Losing the sugar for Lent Opinions, page 6

Saving lives with CPR Features, page 13

Executive Director of Union Communications Jamie Ansorge ’09 and 59 other Brandeis student leaders met with university President Jehuda Reinharz about the university’s budget crisis on Dec. 5 2008.

During the meeting, the students were shown a presentation of the budget projections and were told that budget cuts were going to be made.

“But we didn’t know where, we didn’t know what was going to go,” Ansorge told The Hoot in an interview. “We had no idea that study abroad or the Rose was coming down the pipes.”

The December meeting between student leaders and university administration was an anomaly of the fall semester, a period that was marked by small budget changes made with little to no student input.

Comparatively, the spring semester started in January with the initial decisions to retract merit aid portability for study abroad and the authorization of the closing of the Rose Art Museum. While these decisions were met with backlash and outrage from faculty, students and alumni, the reaction from the community has increased transparency most noticeably in the recent academic restructuring of the university, but also across the board.

“Last semester, we knew there would be cuts, but we didn’t know where they were going to be,” Ansorge said. “It’s hard to ask for representation on a decision we don’t know is being made. Now we know what decisions are being made, and students are even being given a voice in the decisions.”

Student Union President Jason Gray ’10 said he thinks the administration had been less transparent before the Rose decision because they were making decisions with sensitive results.

“These cuts impact lives,” he said. “If staff gets cut, that’s the job their families and their kids are depending on. There are real stakes here and the administration understands that and so they tend to keep that information to themselves until the last minute.”

Lev Hirschorn ’11 helped to found the Brandeis Budget Cut Coalition at the end of last semester in an effort to increase transparency in budget cuts and agreed with Gray.

“There was secrecy in the making of decisions in order to avoid public relations debacles,” he said. “Students didn’t know what was going to happen with the university and I think the administration was afraid to tell us because they knew they were making big cuts.”

See TRANSPARENCY, p. 3

AUDIO @ THEHOOT.NET Tech. talk: The new Kindle2, etc.

Off the Beaten Path: For the love of Grad Brandeis Watch: Reinharz Job security

2 The Hoot

February 27, 2009

N E W S

Intended Consequences: WSRC exhibit sheds light on survivors of rape and their children

BY JAKE YARMUS Special to The Hoot

When Photographer Jonathan Torgovnik first stepped foot in Rwanda in Feb 2006, he thought he was going there to cover the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Rwandan Genocide for Newsweek Magazine.

But upon meeting and interviewing Odette, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and multiple rapes, Torgovnik’s life was changed.

Odette’s rapes had not only led to her contrating HIV, but also a pregnancy which resulted in the birth of her son, who still lives with her.

“It was the most powerful and sad interview I have ever experienced,” he wrote in the forward of his newest book “Intended Consequences.” “[Odette’s] horrific story led me to return to Rwanda to embark on a personal mission to document the stories of women like [her] and to share them with the international community.

Torgovnik returned to Rwanda numerous times over a three-year period to try to get in touch with as many as twenty thousand mothers who bore a child from rapes committed during the genocide. A photographer by trade, he took a series of portraits, sometimes taking two or three hours to capture the right one, and created an exhibit, which is currently being shown at Brandeis’ Women’s Studies Research Center.

This exhibition, named after Torgovnik’s

book, “Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape,” features the portraits and stories of approximately twodozen survivors of rape and genocide and their children in rural Rwanda.

The exhibit was brought to Brandeis by Margot Moinester ’09 and Noam Shouster ’11 after they were approached by Amnesty International, a primary donor to the project which is holding its Annual General Meeting in Boston this March.

Already a compelling piece of work, the exhibit has special significance for Moinester, who spent her last two summers in Rwanda working with genocide survivors and other HIV positive women.

Moinester, who was able to travel to Rwanda on Brandeis’ Ethics Fellowship grant and later its Davis Peace grant, is excited that she is now able to bring a bit of her summer experiences to the Brandeis community.

“Brandeis provided me with the opportunity to work with the women, and now, with this project, I have an opportunity to share some of that awareness and knowledge with the campus,” she said.

She hopes that it will really open up the eyes of people, even those who have had interaction with genocides previously.

“People don’t usually make the jump that because there is genocidal rape, children are born,” she explained. “It makes perfect sense, it’s just a hard jump to make. This project helps make it more real.”

Though there are commonalities be-

Trustees assure Reinharz’s job secure

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

INTENDED CONSEQUENCES: The WSRC exhibit on Rwandan children born of rape will be open until April 9.

tween her experience and Torgovnik’s, they do have one major discrepancy - her experience was in urban areas, while the exhibit focuses largely on rural women. This causes a significant difference between her interactions and Torgovnik’s interviews.

There can be “an immense variation in access to resources,” Moinester said, explaining that usually rural women have fewer of the resources than urban women.

Despite the differences in their experiences, both Moinester and Torgovnik have similar views regarding the women and the importance of not merely victimizing them.

Financial aid prioritized in raising gifts, donations

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

JOB SECURITY: President Jehuda Reinharz speaks to the students about the Board of Trustee’s controversial authorization of the closing of the Rose Art Museum at a forum on Jan. 28. Reinharz’s frank apology to the Brandeis community about how he handled the announcement of the Rose Art Museum impressed the Board.

JOB SECURITY (from p. 2)

“I have been very impressed by the recent increase in transparency on campus,” Lewtan said. “It seems as though with the town hall meetings he has been making an effort to hear out as many opinions as possible so that he can make the best decision moving forward.”

Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship said that the Board supports Reinharz, in part, because in his 15 years as president of the university, the endowment and cash gifts to the university have more than tripled.

It was Reinharz, Winship told The Hoot in October, who reinvigorated the university’s relationship with Carl and Ruth Shapiro—the university’s largest donors.

Sherman also credited Reinharz with the

university’s expanded curriculum, and increased student diversity, saying that the university has “transformed” during Reinharz’s time as president.

Just last year, Board of Trustees renewed Reinharz’s contract for an additional five years.

While some members of the Brandeis community and local media, including Bob Oaks of National Public Radio, have speculated that Reinharz might consider resigning because of his public relations mistakes (speculations that have been met with a definite no by Reinharz himself), Sherman said that he does not believe Reinharz will do so.

“He’s mentioned that this might be his last contract,” Sherman said of the 64 yearold university president. “But he’s not going anywhere before 2014.”

“The mothers…have lived through the most severe torture any human being can endure, and in the aftermath they continue to struggle against multiple levels of trauma,” Torgovnik wrote in his book. “I admire their resilience and courage. They are undoubtedly the strongest human beings I have ever encountered.”

Moinester agrees, and sees this as key to the exhibit.

“Its important to show the hardship and create awareness – but also to frame it in terms of empowerment,” she said. “There are vestiges of genocide, but there is a lot of progress being made.”

Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship said that the Department of Development and Alumni Relations will be refocusing its gift soliciting strategies on financial aid for undergraduate students.

Shifting focus to financial aid will lessen the stress on the university’s $80 million operating deficit over the next five years.

Financial aid is part of the school’s operating budget.

Winship, however, attributed the shift in focus not to the university’s economic crisis, but to the nation’s, saying that it has increased the need for financial aid in for the comming years.

With 75 percent of the student body receiving need-based financial aid before the nation’s economy took a turn for the worst in September, Winship said focusing on raising need-based aid money is “a nobrainer.”

“This is not a pre-emptive measure,” she said. “There are more students who need help. Their parents have lost their jobs, their incomes have decreased and their savings are worth less. Helping them stay here is our priority.”

Donors and alumni have always been asked if they would like to donate money for financial aid; however, that choice was presented alongside a variety of opportunities to donate to the university, including funding building projects, academic programs and faculty chairs. While donating to other projects is still on the table for interested donors, Winship said, her depart-

ment is now suggesting donations toward financial aid “first and foremost.”

While donating money for buildings and faculty chairs can seem more glamorous to donors looking to have their donations recognized with namings, Winship said that “it’s actually easy to make a compelling argument for financial aid donations, especially to alumni.”

Winship added that donors should see financial aid donations as “giving young people access to tools that will help them for their whole lives.”

So many of our alumni came here on scholarships that were made possible by people who, like them now, had the means and wanted to give students an education.”

The Department of Development and Alumni Relations is concentrating on need-based financial aid, and its newfound focus does not affect merit aid, Winship said.

With the nation’s economic troubles not looking up anytime soon, Winship said that she hopes that this new initiative will not only help students in need of aid for the coming academic year, but will also build up a financial aid endowment for the future.

Winship said that it will be impossible to gauge how successful her department’s efforts to raise financial aid have been until June 30, when the university will know how many students will need the aid, and how much they will need.

But, she said, failure is not an option.

“We’re a university, the most important thing is that students stay here and get the education that they deserve,” Winship said.

“We simply must be successful in this endeavor.”

NEWS

February 27, 2009

The Hoot 3

Student Union President works for more transparency TRANSPARENCY (from p. 1)

Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles denied claim that the administration was afraid to be transparent. Instead, she told The Hoot that the university’s administration has tried to be transparent from the beginning of its economic crisis, citing the fact that President Reinharz’s Oct. 3 email to the community about the impact of the nation’s economic crisis on the university was the second like it from university presidents around the country.

Miles said that the economic crisis “was like a train that just kept coming that we didn’t know when it would stop,” and that though the administration’s transparency may seem retroactive now, that is a result of the fast pace of events.

“We have a very small senior administration for a university our size,” she said. “It looks like an evolutionary process because there was a small number of people working on a large number of things.”

To students, however, the initial decision to make merit aid not portable for study abroad and to authorize the closing of the Rose came as a shock. No member of the student government, nor any member of the student body was consulted on either decision—something which enraged the community at large.

Both decisions were met with physical, verbal and written protest, and the protests of the authorization to close the Rose Art Museum were covered by the local and national media.

Ansorge believes the two decisions, especially the authorization to close the Rose on Jan. 26, brought the university’s lack of transparency to the forefront of the community’s attention.

“For a lot of people, the Rose Art decision made people hypersensitive to the need for transparency and community engagement,” he said. “A lot of students and faculty woke up said ‘Wow, there really are important decisions being made behind

closed doors.’”

“The Rose helped the Union, though,” Ansorge continued. “More students got pissed, so Jason [Gray] was able to get on the horse and pressure the university on transparency.”

Ansorge credits Gray with convincing the administration to become more transparent.

According to Ansorge, after Reinharz emailed the Brandeis community about the Rose decision, Gray “was in meetings from 9-5 with administrators, sometimes skipping classes, trying to figure out how we can include and inform students.”

While the administration “was resistant at first,” Ansorge said, Gray was finally able to convince Reinharz to hold a forum on Jan. 28.

Gray, however, attributed the student body’s interest in the budget cuts with the subsequent increase in transparency.

“When more students want to get involved, it makes my job of asking for transparency a lot easier,” he said.

Gray also said that the administration is always happy to include students in decision making, but did not know how until after the backlash from the Rose and study abroad decisions.

“What the backlash forced us to do is put forth a vision of how transparency would translate into better process and what that means,” he said. “The administration is not some evil want to be non-transparent group. They are glad to be a part of creating substantive change.”

Miles agreed and said that the administration’s “object is to be transparent, but first we have to develop what information we are conveying.”

Since the initial forum, student involvement in budget-related decisions has greatly increased. Gray was made a member of the Faculty Senate’s Curriculum and Academic Restructuring and Steering Committee (CARS) where he is not allowed to vote on the committee’s recommendations but is able to give his input as a representa-

tive to the student body. Additionally, each of CARS’ five sub-committees contains student members with similar roles, something Ansorge calls a “huge victory.”

Gray sees student involvement in academic restructuring as a model for how students can be involved and engaged in future budget-related decisions.

“The administration deserves credit for doing as much as they have recently regarding the academic restructuring,” Gray said. “Once the administration involves students, they learn the benefit of doing it and will continue to do so.”

Dean of Arts and Sciences and chair of CARS Adam Jaffe said that the increased transparency and student input has been beneficial to the committee and credited Gray for making such transparency possible, saying that “he is a constant reminder of the importance of transparency and student input. This wouldn’t have happened the same way without him.”

Jaffe also said that he would hope that it would continue in the future.

Gray agreed, saying that he has already spoken with administrators who have mentioned that they want to get student input on various ideas for the university without his prompting.

“The administration lost trust in the beginning of this semester,” he said. “I think they are beginning to regain that, but it is by tangible acts that trust is built.”

Ansorge agrees that the administration “has learned its lesson,” but said he is concerned that the semester’s gained transparency is not sustainable without maintained student interest.

While Reinharz’ initial forum on Jan. 28 attracted 350 students, his second forum the following day only attracted 50. The three academic restructuring town halls that have taken place this semester have attracted between 20 and 40 students.

“I hope this is sustainable,” Ansorge said, “but the Union has opened up the administration’s ears. It’s now up to the students to speak.”

P.O.D. Store uniquely green

BY ROBIN LICHTENSTEIN Special to The Hoot

The student body was greeted by a new fixture in Usdan, the P.O.D. Store upon returning to campus last fall. While some bemoaned the new name, most were happy with the new, cleaner, shinier and better-stocked campus convenience store.

What students may not have known, however, is that the P.O.D., which stands for “Provisions on Demand,” is part of Brandeis’ Dining Services effort to be more green, Michael Newmark, Director of Dining Services wrote in an e-mail to The Hoot.

According to Newmark, The P.O.D store, which is one of only a few on college campuses across the country, is unique in that it “reinvents the campus store experience by blending ‘corner store’ quick convenience with modern market style and service,” wrote Newmark.

The P.O.D has expanded its inventory; many may remember the contents of the old expressway, or as it was more affectionately known, the C-store. An aisle of candy bars, chips, and cereal. An aisle of microwaveable foods and an aisle of what were essentially condiments. There were refrigerated drinks, a small selection of produce, and an even smaller se-

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

lection of dry goods.

According to Newmark’s e-mail, the store’s new and improved stock, which includes an extensive vegan and organic selection, was “Developed from extensive market research and student focus group[s].” Additionally, the P.O.D, along with all Aramark dining facilities, has gone green and is helping students reduce their carbon footprint.

The non-Kosher dining in Sherman has gone tray-less, decreasing the amount of water used and food wasted. Food waste is composted and over 400 tons of food was composted last year. The P.O.D., as well as the other dining locations, carry products from local farmers, not only providing students with better quality foods, but also

reducing emissions because there is less transportation is required, meaning less pollution created. P.O.D. has also put an emphasis on recycling through the “Recyclemania” competition, which pits campuses against each other in a race to see who has the highest recycling rate.

Julie Judson ’11 said that store has improved shopping on campus. “Comparatively, the P.O.D. store is far more convenient, [there is] way more to choose from and I think it’s a great addition to dining and student life on campus,” she said.

Newmark wrote that the P.O.D was designed for the savvy shopper, and anyone who has been there at lunch times would not be in doubt of the fact that this design has been quite successful.

4 The Hoot

February 27, 2009

E D I TO R I A L

Once a student, always a stakeholder

Established 2005 "To acquire wisdom, one must observe."

Alison Channon Editor in Chief Ariel Wittenberg News Editor Bret Matthew Impressions Editor Chrissy Callahan Features Editor Kayla Dos Santos Backpage Editor Alex Schneider Layout Editor Jodi Elkin Layout Editor Max Shay Photography Editor Leon Markovitz Business Editor Vanessa Kerr Business Editor Danielle Gewurz Copy Editor Max Price Diverse City Editor Senior Editors Jordan Rothman, Zachary Aronow

FOUNDED BY

Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

SUBMISSION POLICIES The Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the general community. Preference is given to current or former community members. The Hoot reserves the right to edit any submissions for libel, grammar, punctuation, spelling and clarity. The Hoot is under no obligation to print any of the pieces submitted.

Letters in print will also appear on-line at www.thehoot.net.

The deadline for submitting letters is Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. All letters must be submitted electronically at www. thehoot.net. All letters must be from a valid e-mail address and include contact information for the author.

Letters of length greater than 500 words may not be accepted.

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

The Hoot is a community student newspaper of Brandeis University. Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events.

Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

CORRECTIONS The actual cost of labor to put a cell phone service amplifier in lower usdan is $2,500.

“T

ransparency, transparency, transparency now” read a sign posted in Olin-Sang during a protest of a closed faculty meeting held Jan. 22. The student protesters knew the faculty and the administration were discussing major issues affecting Brandeis and they wanted a voice in the process.

Four days later, university President Jehuda Reinharz sent an e-mail informing the campus community that the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the Rose Art Museum.

That same night, a group of students known as the Brandeis Budget Cut Coalition, the same group who organized the faculty meeting protest, met to discuss

S

ways to push for greater transparency. Just two days after Reinharz’s announcement about the Rose, he and members of the senior administration answered questions at a student forum. Hundreds of students came to share their anger and their concerns.

The Rose Art Museum announcement clearly energized the campus. Students who had complained about an unresponsive and secretive administration were now taking their frustrations to the source.

And thanks to Student Union President Jason Gray’s ’10 efforts, students have seen a marked increase in opportunities for involvement and communication with the administration.

We have also seen a greater effort from

senior administrators to reach out to students in forums and e-mails.

But the student fervor surrounding budget cuts and changes to the campus has died down. Recent forums on academic restructuring have been poorly attended.

And while curricula changes will not affect current students, our resumes will always bear the Brandeis name.

Our ability to be actively engaged in the affairs of our university has substantially improved over the past six weeks. We have made strides for transparency but if we show disinterest after the Rose controversy has quieted, we will lose the advances we have made. We must remember that now and in the future, we are stakeholders in our university.

Finance students first

enior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship recently explained that her department will refocus its fund-raising efforts on financial aid in response to the growing concerns families have about their abilities to pay privateschool tuition. While her department has always presented financial aid donations as an option, at times, the prospect of seeing a modern structure adorned with one’s name may have distracted some donors. Winship and her department will now work to highlight financial aid over new structures. In a time of economic distress, this is precisely the type of fund-raising we need the most.

Recent discourse surrounding the uni-

versity’s financial crisis would suggest that students agree. As news of the budget cuts broke last month, many students grumbled about the spending of money on a new admissions building rather than channeling that money towards the university’s operating budget, which includes funding for need-based aid.

Those grumblings were a bit unfair. The Shapiros donated the funding for the admissions building before Wall Street collapsed. More importantly, the university must abide by the conditions of a restricted gift. If the Shapiros decide to donate $1 million to buy gold forks for Usdan, then we’ll have $1 million worth of gold forks, but no spoons.

Though students must understand the realities of fund-raising and development, the frustration behind such grumblings is understandable. The foundation of our university is people, not buildings. Redirecting fund-raising efforts towards financial aid for students appropriately acknowledges that a university cannot function without its lifeblood – students – and sends the message to current students, prospective students, alumni, and donors that our goal is not to be the flashiest campus with the shiniest buildings. Rather, our goal must always be to provide the most qualified, talented, and deserving students with the best education possible, regardless of their ability to foot the enormous bill.

Continued from the News section:

Academic restructuring committee adds professional spin to the meaning of a liberal arts education

JBS (from p. 1)

focus on a specific subject or career in an either experiential or immersive manner.

“We’re trying to think about what Brandeis education for the twenty-first century should look like,” CARS chair Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said.

“The idea is to connect Brandeis education to the world at large in a way that will help students post-Brandeis.”

The proposed JBS is just one of many ideas CARS has developed in the past month with the aim of attracting more undergraduate applications. The university has decided to admit 100 more undergraduate students per class in an effort to use tuition to offset the university’s projected $80 million budget deficit over the next five years.

In order to attract more students to the university without decreasing the quality of students admitted, the CARS committee has proposed the JBS. The JBS, by requiring all students to take a fall or spring semester away from campus,

will also ensure that there will be no over-crowding of facilities, despite the extra students.

The JBS itself will also earn the university money by having students pay 75 percent of regular tuition for a semester away from the campus.

“We simply don’t have enough beds to essentially add 400 students to our population and have everyone on campus at once,” Jaffe explained. “We’re creating a number of off campus options in order to increase the number of students without increasing overcrowding.”

Despite its monetary origins, Jaffe said that the JBS is not motivated solely by the university’s financial crisis.

“What this is doing is giving us the opportunity to make Brandeis stand out and expand upon things we are already doing, like experiential learning,” he said. “The JBS resonates with the basic themes of the university like social justice.”

Jaffe said that one of the aims of the JBS is to prepare students for “the post-Brandeis world” because in a time of national financial insecurity, students want to

W

hat this is doing is giving us the opportunity to make Brandeis stand out and expand upon things we are already doing like experiential learning...The JBS resonates with the basic themes of the university like social justice.

- Adam Jaffe, Dean of Arts and Sciences be ensured that they will be successful after college. College and higher education, he said, is beginning to be seen as a steppingstone into professional security rather than for a time for academic growth.

“What is very important about this in terms of recruitment is that JBS will significantly improve our ability to show students how Brandeis prepares them for the real world,” he said. “As much as we might like to think that students come to Brandeis because they want a marvelous four years of liberal arts education, more and more students want to know how we will help them with the next stage of life.”

Many of the logistics of the JBS

have yet to be finalized. CARS has written a proposal for the framework of how the JBS would be structured, but has yet to determine details such as how to offset costs (most of the costs should be covered by the increased tuition, Jaffe said), and deal with faculty (which will be cut by 10 percent by 2010) potentially working overtime with JBS. The Board of Trustees will vote on the JBS, along with proposals to create a business major and a communications, media and society major in late March.

Jaffe said that, if the Board approves the JBS, the university will have two and a half years to work out the details before the first Brandeis students will be re-

quired to participate in it.

Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) said at Wednesday’s academic restructuring town hall on JBS that the program “has a lot of potential to excite and draw more students,” however, he is worried that it is “easy to do poorly and hard to do well.”

Perlman cited the lack of detail in the CARS proposal as his reason for concern.

While many at the town hall expressed concern that the JBS proposal was rushed and not well thought out, Jaffe explained that the university wants to be certain of any changes that would be implemented for the class of 2014 before April, when the Office of Undergraduate of Admissions will begin recruiting for the class of 2014.

Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy were unavailable to comment before print time on admission’s take on JBS; however, Jaffe told The Hoot that “admissions is very involved in this process and believes that this is a very exciting change for Brandeis.”

February 27, 2009

The Hoot 5

IMPRESSIONS

One Tall Voice

Ridiculous protests on campus

BY JORDAN ROTHMAN

their friends and take part in an interesting gathering. The meeting was legitimate, Everybody on campus must know how the protest, unnecessary. It got some pretty the global economic crisis is affecting the sexy photos, but other than that, it made Brandeis community. And just about ev- the individuals involved look like dolts. ery student must be aware of the immense What’s funny is that the organizers of the changes that are currently under consid- protest are in the Student Union, an orgaeration by the administration. Whether it nization that regularly has its own closed is fewer options in Sherman, or reduced “Executive” sessions. How hypocritical can hours at certain facilities, we are experienc- you be when you allow yourself to operate ing the effects of our society’s economic behind the veil of secrecy and yet protest duress. Most notably, people have been a group of individuals who are doing the talking a lot about the fate of the Rose Art same?

Another really ridiculous series of proMuseum and other academic programs. tests involved the Rose Art Museum. FolPerhaps only a few people, however, know lowing the e-mail university President Jethat there were student protests to demhuda Reinharz sent saying that the Board onstrate against the actions of the adminof Trustees voted to close the museum, istration on these issues. This activity was supporters of the Rose pathetic indeed and organized a “sit-in” in did no more than show verybody on campus order to try to keep the rabble-rousing inthe place open.

This competence of campus must know how the protest was amazingly organizers. These “activists” seem to think global economic crisis ridiculous. First of all, we’re back in the 1960s is affecting the Brandeis does anyone understand where the term (and although there are community. “sit-in” comes from? plenty of pot smokers It originates from the on campus- god damn civil rights movement them- there is certainly when people would sit no free love!). I’d like at lunch counters illegally to protest unjust this article to make fun of some recent laws.

They would oftentimes be brutally campus protests and promote my own view beaten at the protests, but this was effective on the most efficient paths to changing uniat garnering media attention for the cause. versity policy.

What the “protesters” did at the Rose was Last month there was a closed faculty not even close to a “sit in”; they were not meeting in order to discuss some of the acting illegally and there was no threat of proposed changes to the academics at bodily harm.

In fact, most people were Brandeis. The faculty have every right to have a closed meeting in order to afford standing at the demonstration!

Next time you want to ally your cause them the greatest avenue to talk freely and with a noted phenomenon of the civil without the pressures that may be generrights movement, please do your research ated by outside observers. Yet some stuand risk more than a wasted afternoon and dents believed themselves entitled to a sore legs. presence at the meeting, and they decided In addition, some people decided to to protest the closed nature of the gatherhave a “funeral” for the Rose. This also ing. These students knew beforehand that seems like a pathetic gesture, as no one they would not be granted admission, but is certain of the fate of that facility and it still acted abrasively in order to draw attenmay not die off. People really have to stop tion to their lack of politeness. Then, they being so melodramatic.

They have to stop called their friends to come to the “protest” believing they are saving democracy and in order to demonstrate against the closed trying to bring Brandeis back to its glory meeting. I am willing to bet that many of days with their pathetic attempts at protest. these individuals did not give a damn what Stop rabble-rousing and stop your irritatwas being protested or what the issues ing demonstrations.

Our administration is were. They probably just (metaphoricallyjust.

They are trying the best they can, and speaking) dusted off some old posters and headed up to Rabb in order to meet with your inefficient and petty attempts at proEditor

E

PHOTOS BY Max Shay/The Hoot

FUNERAL AT THE ROSE: Students protest Reinharz’s and the Board of Trustees’ decision to close the Rose Art Museum.

test accomplish nothing.

I do want to say that I am extremely happy that the administration seems willing to return to their previous policy of allowing merit aid to carry over to study abroad programs. It is certain that there was student input in the process, and that this activity helped move the administration to act on the subject. But this was the right type of protest. From what I have heard, people signed petitions, and took established avenues in order to petition the administration. There were no foolish demonstrations, no protests loaded with imbecilic rhetoric. There was civility and discourse, which worked better than the other unnec-

essary demonstrations.

Look, I know some people wish it was 1960 and may be a bit frustrated in their search for any reasons to pick up signs and protest. Still, we have a great administration that cares about the concerns of students and more civil, less-public activity is the best avenue to petition our university.

Stop embarrassing yourselves. Don’t be a rebel without a cause who is only latching onto these protests in order to hang out with friends or do something cool. Please stop the grandstanding and focus on activity that works, like civilly and politely talking to university officials.

Are you enraged by pointless protests?

Do you have a puffy pink coat?

Or are you just a generally angry person?

Write to the Hoot Impressions!

E-Mail Bret Matthew at impressions@thehoot.net

6 The Hoot

IMPRESSIONS

February 27, 2009

Book of Matthew

Panic in the Red States: Conservatives spreading false rumors about reform

BY BRET MATTHEW Editor

The fact that the Democrats’ $787 billion stimulus plan is now law—despite near-unanimous Republican opposition—has sent conservatives all over the country into a panicked frenzy. And they’re not panicking quietly either. No, they’ve shifted into noholds-barred fear-mongering mode.

There are few better examples than that of Betsy McCaughey, former Republican lieutenant governor of New York. McCaughey recently published an article for Bloomberg.com that attacked the stimulus bill; specifically, certain provisions which called for the establishment of a national electronic health information database.

She writes, “Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health.”

What could be so threaten-

ing, you ask? According to McCaughey, once the government has control over all our medical records, “One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and ‘guide’ your doctor’s decisions.”

Armed with her obviously superior understanding, McCaughey paid a little visit to the Fourth Estate. She appeared on Glenn Beck’s talk show on FOX News and Lou Dobb’s show on CNN to give interviews. Soon, every right-wing media outlet, from Rush Limbaugh to Matt Drudge, was up in arms over the notion that Congress and the President could have signed our health and wellness over to a bunch of Washington bureaucrats.

It could have been the big story that conservatives have been waiting for, the one that would bring

down the fledgling Obama administration before it even got off the ground. That is, if it were actually true.

You see, once McCaughey took her story to more legitimate news organizations, she encountered an odd phenomenon rarely found in the realm of right-wing news: the fact-check.

On CNN, she was asked to produce language in the bill that backed up her claims. And she couldn’t do it. There was nothing in the bill that came close to giving government the power to influence a doctor’s decision.

It seems that Big Brother won’t be watching us after all. Which is hardly a surprise to those of us who saw the national electronic health information database for what it really is: an excellent idea.

Imagine a system that would allow doctors to throw away the piles of dusty paper records that clutter their offices and replace them with a computer program,

Attention over Rose may help Brandeis

BY AARON UDEL Staff

The Rose Art Museum controversy may actually be a blessing for Brandeis. Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain.

No one, the Brandeis administration included, wants to see to the museum closed and the art sold off. No one wants to see Brandeis portrayed negatively in major news publications such as the Boston Globe and the New York Times. Despite the dire situation on campus and the negative nature of the news coverage, there may be some cause for celebration: Brandeis is receiving national attention. A lot of it.

“Big deal,” you may say. “Negative attention is worse than no attention at all.” I beg to differ.

While Brandeis is generally recognized and respected in academic circles, many high school students still have no idea that it exists. Many of those who do know of Brandeis know of it as “that Jewish school.” Ivy League institutions have instant name recognition. For one of the top 50 universities in the country, Brandeis is not well known at all.

My friend Jordan Rothman ’09 (also of The Hoot) informed me that he has been receiving a swarm of questions about the Rose when he gives campus tours. Clearly the news is not only important to members of the Brandeis community and those involved in the art world, it is also reaching prospective students. With the eyes of the media so intensely focused on Brandeis a month ago, the attention is still lingering. For instance, on Feb. 20 The New York Times published a piece titled “Why University Museums Matter,” complete with the all too familiar case against Brandeis’ recent decisions. Hopefully Rasky Baerlein, the PR firm hired by Brandeis, will be able to channel all the attention in a manner that ultimately benefits the institution.

Before winter break the Justice criticized the decision to hire a PR firm under the assumption that the Rose Art damage cannot be repaired. That's a relatively fair assumption, but that doesn’t mean Brandeis was wrong to hire the firm. If the firm can help Brandeis use the recent media coverage to highlight its strengths, then the decision to enlist its services won’t seem so foolish. I was initially irked by the decision to hire the firm, but after considering the matter more carefully, I think it is sensible. The PR firm won’t magically solve Brandeis’ problems with the media, but it can help.

Anyone who has been to campus recently knows that Brandeis is planning for the future. You need look no further than the multiple construction projects that are underway. The science center is nearly complete, the new admissions center is steadily being built, and the Mandel Humanities Center is expected to be completed by fall 2010. Although the construction projects are a source of immediate disruption, they are transforming Brandeis into a more desirable place to live and study. When prospective students visit a college or university, they try and envision themselves living there. The new buildings on campus should help make that easier. New buildings aren’t the only positive change at Brandeis, but they embody the university’s investment in its future.

Of course, improvements to Brandeis cost money. A search of Brandeis's web pages reveals the large sums of money that have been spent on capital projects.

“From 1999 to the present, over $170M in major new construction and renovation projects were completed at Brandeis,” a page updated on Jan. 30 states.

Many of these projects have been made possible by generous donations. With the economy ailing, Brandeis can’t expect too many large donations in the near fu-

ture. Still, there is a bright side.

Many investments have already been made.

In addition to investing in infrastructure, the university is also looking to the future by trying to update academic requirements.

If Brandeis wants to attract more students, it should be careful not to implement restructuring proposals that radically change the current system. Some of the ideas being considered could potentially scare off students rather than drawn them in. Proposals to add a Business major and a major in Communications, Media, and Society seem very beneficial and feasible. The idea of requiring a “Brandeis Semester” dedicated to service is arguably less so. On one hand, the idea of spending time off campus is appealing. On the other hand, students may not be so keen on being forced off campus for an entire semester (or spending one of their summers fulfilling the requirement).

The logistics of the proposal could also be complicated.

Obviously Brandeis isn’t perfect. We all have something we wish to change about it. Some wish to change the social life.

Some may be dismayed by housing arrangements. For others, campus dining is the problem. I will be the first one to acknowledge that these are legitimate gripes, but we shouldn’t overlook Brandeis’ potential when we are identifying its flaws.

I am as uncomfortable with the actions of the Brandeis administration as the next student, but I am hopeful that some good will come of the situation. The Rose controversy has already initiated discussions about the core values and mission of Brandeis.

Students are actively involving themselves in discussions about the future of the university. These are positive consequences to a bad situation. With any luck the media coverage of the Rose will help peak the interests of more high school students, even if it is for the wrong reasons.

thereby reducing medical errors and other unnecessary costs. And the best part is, you could go anywhere in the US and never fail to find a doctor with your complete medical history sitting at his fingertips. This is the task with which the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology has been charged, set to be complete by the year 2014.

The data will, of course, be completely secure—subject to the same laws that protect our current medical information from the prying eyes of the government, or anyone else. The goal of the project is not to destroy doctor-patient confidentiality, but to make the process more efficient.

So what’s with McCaughey?

Well, she does have quite a history of standing in the way of progress in the field of healthcare. In 1994, for example, she published an article in The New Republic attacking President Clinton’s healthcare plan (with about the same degree

of accuracy as her current article).

That plan, as you already know, has gone down in history as one of Clinton’s greatest legislative defeats.

McCaughey and her fellow conservatives hope to see something similar happen to President Obama when he proposes his own major healthcare initiative. Which is why they latched on to the idea of a national database—to them, it is the first battle in a long war that they are afraid to lose.

I suppose, in that case, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that since the stimulus package passed, we will get our electronic database. Eventually, we will probably get our badly needed healthcare reform as well, once the current administration begins to focus on the issue.

The bad news is that we will likely have to suffer through countless poorly researched conservative hit-pieces until that day comes.

Sacrificing sugar for Lent

BY EMILY MASKAS Special to The Hoot

Over break, I spent most of my time rocking out to Taylor Swift with my seven-year-old brother (we like “You Belong With Me” and, of course, “Love Story”). But aside from that sad and frequent display, I cooked. I cooked a lot (want some muffins?). I have two large, lovely burns on my hand from some difficult brownies. But it was wonderfully cathartic, tasting yummy batter and pretending I was doing chemistry with my cocoa powder and my baking soda. And most importantly, I indulged in one of my ultimate passions before Lent. For now, I will not make or eat a single sugary treat, in an effort to prove that I appreciate Jesus’ suffering.

Yes, ‘tis the season of reflection, repentance, and self-denial.

After Lent begins, Catholics are supposed to give up something very dear to them until Easter.

This abstinence usually involves chocolate or Facebook. And no sex or drinking is just assumed. I am giving up my typical source of stress relief. Hopefully, this selfimposed restriction will go better than giving up compulsive spending, Terry Pratchett books, or Baked Lays Ruffled Potato Chips.

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, officially marking the start of this liturgical season. Maybe you saw people walking around with black smudges on their foreheads (sexy, right?). These ashes come from last year’s Palm Sunday palms. They are sometimes mixed with holy water or oil, but mostly just applied by the priest to one’s forehead. I have heard some differing accounts of why we wear the ashes, but both my super-catholic-y friend Shannon and Wikipedia say that they are supposed to remind us of that ashes to ashes mentality of which the Church is so fond. In Mass, the priest may say “Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris,” because Latin is sexy. The nice thing is that be-

cause the ashes are sacramentals (like blessed accessories), not sacraments (big important acts that impart grace onto the participants), anyone, not just Catholics, can receive them as long as they are used in a Church-approved manner to inspire devotion and reflection.

Ash Wednesday actually holds an unpleasant but important meaning for me. It was this time, two years ago, that I started thinking that maybe I wanted to rejoin the fold after my years of angry adolescent atheism. One of my very best friends (who later became a boyfriend who is now an “It’s Complicated”) came into my high school with the ashes. He had gotten up at 5 a.m. to attend morning services before school, like the impressively devout guy he is. For no reason at all, I started railing on him about his head being dirty, and how could he not see it. So you had some man in a dress smear dirt on your forehead because some imaginary creature in the sky wants you to? Sadly, I usually act immature around guys I like, but here I went above and beyond: this unpleasantness on my part lasted all day, and I just kept getting angrier and angrier.

The worst part is that I had no idea why I was so angry, why I was lashing out at this poor guy whose only crime was his willingness to profess his faith in front of me. Upon reflection (that’s the point of the ashes after all), I decided it was actually jealously that was causing my wrath. Jealousy over the fact that this guy could do things like wear the ashes, without shame or fear of the response it could engender, because he had faith.

Understand that I was raised Catholic. My mother is Catholic, my father was baptized Greek Orthodox, raised a Protestant (poor guy), and then converted to Catholicism for my mother.

All through my childhood, I was a good little papist. I went to mass See LENT, p. 7

IMPRESSIONS

February 27, 2009

Borde-nough

What an opportunity to save money!

BY CHRIS BORDELON Columnist

What an opportunity! In the near future, the United States government may find itself needing to print some of the money that it's committing itself to spending but doesn't have. At the same time, print newspapers-- or, at least, print newspapers supported by subscribers and advertisers-- are reducing the physical size of their product, laying off staff members, and ceasing operations across the country. Think about it: a need for printers, and a bunch of idle presses. Can you smell the synergy?

When President Barack Obama “pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of [his] first term in office” and told a joint session of Congress on February 24 that he had “identified two trillion dollars in savings over the next decade,” he probably didn't have in mind the notion of taking printers' bids to do the work of the US Mint.

That's ok; there are plenty of other ways of saving money that the government should look into.

And it need not look far. The administration of Obama's predecessor in office was known for its emphasis on secrecy, not its internal auditing. Lack of internal controls in the government as a whole was compounded in some departments by a reflexive invocation of “national security” whenever legal or political challenges to spending arose. Any serious search for waste should therefore give special scrutiny to (at least) the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security. (While they're taking a look at these departments, Obama's team should consider proposing a change in the name of Homeland Security, which has always sounded like it was chosen by a team of propaganda commissars from the former Warsaw Pact countries).

Probably the easiest way to cut spending is to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama was honest enough to acknowledge in his speech that the habit formed during the administration of his predecessor in office of budgeting separately for these wars as though the money for them was coming from a source other than the Treasury-- perhaps a charitable trust dedicated to enriching the wellconnected and slaughtering dark skinned people?-- effectively “hid” the cost of the wars from public scrutiny.

But those who have come to enjoy a carefree bath in Obama's seemingly boundless seas of rhetoric should remember that past

opacity in budgeting was agreed to by Congress, where Obama's party retained strong influence and often had control. For all his own talk of openness, Obama's much-publicized plan to close Guantanamo Bay's prison and his overblown claims that “without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture” have served to mask his administration's February 20 announcement that it would continue to make the previous administration's legal argument that overseas prisoners should not enjoy access to courts, and Obama's earlier decision not to exclude the possibility that American contractors or allies might now do the torturing that American GIs will not.

And although he has pledged to take a more transparent approach, Obama appears committed to spending the money to continue the wars, and has budgeted for an increase in the size of the military.

Moving beyond a state of denial about the cost of the cancerous wars that eat at American values and wealth is a step toward ending this national affliction, but it will accomplish little for the patient if the best treatment is stubbornly refused.

Fortunately, there's plenty of money to be saved closer to home.

If there were a big suggestion box somewhere in Washington, and if we all had a weekend to head down there, and if we could all find parking, I'm sure that practically everyone could write down an idea or two to stuff in the box about how the government might best avoid waste. I think parking would be hard, though, so I'll write my suggestion here.

The federal government should condition its grants of highway funds to the states on the states' willingness to maintain open highway weigh stations on federally supported highways. At present, the federal government acts as the states' patron, giving away money for the maintenance of roads. If states take the money, they take it subject to a wide range of conditions that may be imposed on it

by Congress. One possible condition-- although not one currently imposed-- would be that the money made available to a state would be made to depend on how many days per year the state kept its weigh stations for large trucks open.

As a child, I never saw a sign on a weigh station stating that it was open. When I finally did see one, I remember thinking that something was wrong, and wondering if something special or disastrous had happened. An open weigh

station is an exceptional thing in most parts of the country.

It shouldn't be. If overloaded or loaded improperly, a tractor-trailer might as well be a rolling jackhammer, pulverizing highways that cost billions of dollars annually to maintain. The loads carried by trucks are a near-perfect subject for regulation. Only a few people are likely to derive the bulk of the benefit from the abusive loading practices: the trucker or trucking company and the owner of the goods being shipped. Meanwhile, the entire cost of the abuse is borne by the public in the form of higher taxes. Lack of regulation-- or, in this case, lack of regulatory enforcement-- means that scarce public dollars must be spent fixing the same roads too frequently.

Weigh stations are the form that regulation of truck loading takes.

States don't keep them open because even the incentive of collecting fines for violations is not enough to outweigh the desire to please trucking companies and shippers of goods, which form a powerful lobby for lax enforcement, and truckers who spend money in states they pass through.

If an individual state got too zealous in enforcing the rules, highway shipping routes might be adjusted as if to avoid what truckers, trucking companies, and shippers would view as mere tolls. And state governments know that within a few months, the federal government will hand over more money to be spent repairing the ruined roads that the trucks left behind.

To change this situation, the federal government should throw the weight of its money behind enforcement by conditioning its grants of funds on keeping weigh stations open. State governments will immediately gain revenue and reduce repair expenses: enforcement will generate more fines and reduce damage to roads. The trucking lobby's influence at the state level will be overwhelmed by the federal government's, because it is unlikely that any state would be foolish enough to give up federal money to satisfy truckers and shippers. And as for the federal government, it can plan on reducing highway appropriations over time as the amount of repair work needed is reduced.

As fun as it would be to say so, I can't tell you that attaching a weigh station condition to highway funds represents a “road to recovery” from deficit spending. But I'm sure that it would do away with some of the waste that the president and many in Congress have identified as a problem.

A rebirth of faith on Ash Wednesday

LENT (from p. 6)

every Sunday, CCD, received the sacraments in a timely manner. But I think it was around the time of my lovely little brother’s birth* (*these events are significantly correlated) that I lost my faith almost completely, in that nasty bitter way demonstrated above. I know a lot of people here who think nothing of going from Judaism to atheism, but for me, this fleeing of the flock was

a huge deal. Obviously, I did not immediately “see the light” upon returning home on that fateful Ash Wednesday of 2007. There is a long story following that. But I did start to realize that something was missing from my life that was keeping me from being happy.

Jesus wandered in the desert for forty days, being tempted at every turn by the devil. He was well aware of what his Father had planned for him and for human-

ity’s salvation, and yet he resisted any path but the one that was chosen for him. Today, I don’t think it is too much to ask of those who believe in him to look a little silly for a while and maybe eat less chocolate. And it is not like we are not rewarded on Easter, with baskets of candy, and before that, the palm sword fights that shouldn’t happen but always do on Palm Sunday. It should be a good forty days.

The Hoot 7

Shopping for Truth

Sticking out with a pink coat

BY CHRISSY CALLAHAN Editor

When I was in middle school, the last thing I wanted to do was stick out. I didn’t want people to take too much notice of my wardrobe because that was a problem, as any fifth grader can tell you.

Lucky for me, that wasn’t much of a problem.

You see, I went to eight years of Catholic school and my inner fashionista was stifled for those eight LONG years. I often self-diagnose my current clothes fetish by telling myself that I was denied the chance for self expression for so long and now it’s only fair that I express myself. But, anyway, that’s only my justification and I’m not a psych major.

So back to the story. The thing that I hated the most – standing out – was pretty much inevitable in the cursed New England winters I’ve grown up in. Ask any New Englander and they’ll know what I’m talking about.

There was this pink, puffy, long down winter coat that my mom made we wear to school every day. Let me tell you, I hated this coat with a passion. Now I’ve always been a girly girl and have always loved pink. But at the time I loathed this coat. It seemed like everyone else was diving headfirst into the trend of wearing “sophisticated” black and navy, (although, ironically, we all complained about having to wear exactly those colors in our uniform) and I didn’t want to be known as the “girl in the pink coat.” When you’re a fifth grader, you don’t want to stand out, not in that way at least.

But I wore it anyway, however grudgingly. And every morning my mom would send me to school in that puffy pink coat, and a hat and gloves and a scarf and boots when the weather required them.

And every morning I trudged out the door begrudgingly, waiting for spring to come so I could shed that stupid coat for another few months until it all started again.

In junior high school, I finally asserted a bit of my inner fashionista and went through a pea coat phase after my Mom bought me a navy blue one. And boy did I love that pea coat. It wasn’t big, and it didn’t stand out; it was simply perfect. I wore it for years until my mom so kindly told me I had to get rid of the thing because it had pilled so much.

Before we get to the point of this column, allow me one more anecdote.

When I was little, I hated shopping with my mom. I always got so bored just walking around while she shopped in stores like Macy’s; stores where you could easily play the biggest game of hide and go seek and never get

caught. It all seemed so tedious – “Wow another sale…who cares?”

What a difference a few years can make, right? That was then.

And here in the now, we get to the point. This is now, and I’m ironically still in those same situations, although my attitude has done a complete 180.

If you can tell from the name of this regular column, I love to shop. And if you’ve had any type of interaction with me over these past few winter months, perhaps you’ve noticed the color of my pink winter coat. So how did the little girl who hated that puffy pink coat and dreaded the trip to the mall turn into the shopaholic wearing the pink pea coat?

I often ask myself the same thing. And isn’t it funny how the things we used to hate when we were younger can so easily become the things we love as we get older?

Maybe it’s perspective. Maybe after all these years we finally realize that we were stupid and that Mother was right after all.

I don’t care about standing out anymore. And maybe we have to go through those insecure childhood phases to learn that the person we were avoiding becoming was what we were really meant to become all along.

Sure, my pink coat still makes me stick out, but who cares? And ironically, my pink coat is a combination of the two major phases of coats in my life: pink and pea coats. After all this time, I’ve finally combined the two.

Maybe this sounds narcissistic to you. Maybe you think I’m crazy. Maybe I don’t care. And that’s exactly the point.

I don’t care if I stick out anymore and I’m sure if you look at yourself you’ll see that we are nothing but a mosaic of our childhood experiences. We become who we are by going through the very experiences that when we look back on them make us cry, laugh or sometimes even cringe.

That’s exactly the point.

So when you look back on your childhood or your high school years, remember to laugh at what you were and how it’s shaped who you’ve become. Perhaps we’d all do well to think of that in relation to who we want to become five or 10 years from now. If our former experiences shape who we become, maybe we should all pay a bit more attention to how we act now and realize that we are responsible for making most of our destiny.

And if this column isn’t indication enough, I’ll be the girl walking around campus in the pink coat with the pink book bag and the pink purse. I’ll probably also be wearing a pink sweater underneath.

The Hoot accepts submissions to the Impressions section on any topic of consequence to any member of the campus community.

Our mission is to give every community member a voice. The views expressed in the Impressions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Hoot's editorial board.

12 The Hoot

February 27, 2009

FEATURES

Recession-proof your job search Kevin Bacon and you — there may be more similarities than you think

BY JOSEPH DU PONT Special to The Hoot

Do you remember the movie, Hollow Man , starring Kevin Bacon that came out a few years ago? It did ok at the box office, but not great. It had wonderful special effects, but the story line is a bit thin. If you are unfamiliar with the film, you can probably guess the plot. Kevin Bacon’s character becomes invisible and eventually his life unravels in all sorts of ways.

We have all heard of Kevin Bacon in another context too. His movie career has been so productive that a game has been named after him – Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which rests on the assumption that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to Kevin Bacon. The game requires a group of players to try to connect any film actor in history to Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible.

So what does any of this have to do with you? A lot, actually. You can choose to be the Hollow Man or play the Kevin Bacon game. With graduation and summer on the horizon, many Brandeis students are understandably worried about their job and internship prospects. Every day more headlines emphasize the gloomy economic situation and it is easy to accept the notion that you won’t be able to get a job. I am constantly speaking to students who feel like they are “invisible” to employers like the Hollow Man, and when I dig a little deeper it is understandable, particularly given the current economic climate.

“I send my resumes to the job portal on websites and to Hiatt NACElink and never hear anything. I thought I would at least get some sort of response.” “I am looking for a job in marketing or public relations and they don’t hire until a specific project comes along so I’m not doing anything now.” “I want to work at a museum and those employers don’t come to Brandeis so I don’t know what to do.”

The challenges that lie ahead for you are very real. I am very sympathetic to this situation but you can exacerbate it when you act like the Hollow Man. For reasons many students perceive to be outside their control, they have become invisible to employers because their job search techniques are incomplete or not as strategic as they could be.

On the other hand, I work with students who are masters of the Kevin Bacon Game and they have far more success with their job search. Take, for example, Jill Seplowitz ’08 (Anthropology and HSSP) who recently landed her dream job at the Epic Theater Ensemble in New York City as a development associate despite the current economic uncertainty. Non-profits and the arts have been disproportionately affected in a negative way because they rely heavily on the financial contributions of corporations, individuals and foundations – all of which have been hit extremely hard by the downturn. Yet, despite having the odds against her, Jill landed the “job of her dreams” despite the lack of any development experience. “Networking doesn’t mean anything until you live it,” Jill told me. “It was the key to my job search.”

Ask yourself: have you been playing the Kevin Bacon game like Jill or have you been invisible like the Hollow Man? Here are some steps to get you started to win the Kevin Bacon game and conduct an effec-

I never really bought into [networking] until I had to conduct my own job search. I got rejected a lot in trying to land a job in theater development, but was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who wanted to help me too. I started to realize the real value of networking when I became a finalist for a job that I didn’t get. The hiring manager expressed interest in helping me out and I made sure to stay in touch.

She helped me prep for interviews, and also introduced me to other people who then became good contacts, including Brandeis alums I was unaware of.

One person turned me on to The Foundation Center in New York City that has free classes on grant making, development, and organizing volunteers – the exact kind of work I wanted to do. I attended every class I could and in my subsequent interviews I started to speak the language of the theater development profession. Another big moment came when I walked into a theater company and read the playbill of an upcoming production. At the same time, I heard an employee say good morning to someone who looked really important. I quickly read the playbill and realized he was a senior person and immediately introduced myself. He agreed to chat with me for a few minutes and gave me one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. He told me if you want to break into this profession “say yes, to everything”. If someone invites you to a party, to help them stuff envelopes for an upcoming production, to attend a production, just say yes and good things will happen because you will become known to the people with the power to hire you or at least help you out. In the end, that is how I met the people who eventually hired me and I couldn’t be happier.”

“I was also fortunate enough to have the support of Jane Pavese in the Hiatt Career Center. Although I recently graduated, I had been working with Jane throughout my senior year and talked to her weekly about my job search and my resume, which I was constantly updating with my different volunteer roles and other experience. She is the bomb.” -Jill Seplowitz ’08 (Anthropology and HSSP) tive job search.

First things first: Job Search Basics A job search takes longer than many students think. It is perfectly normal for a job search to take up to six months or longer from the time you begin to the day you receive that offer. In a down economy you should expect that the search process may be drawn out, which is why it is important to be prepared straight out of the gate.

Search for jobs through personal, academic and professional connections like Jill, not just on the internet, HiattNACElink or any particular job board.

The number of positions for which you apply will directly correlate with the number of interviews you receive, provided you are truly qualified and have a stellar cover letter and resume. Make sure you are qualified, but don’t limit yourself to jobs for which you fill every qualification. If you find a particular employer that interests you but they don’t have a job posted, reach out anyway. You never know when a new opportunity might arise.

Be Prepared!

Before you apply, have your resume and cover letter reviewed by at least one qualified person, such as a Hiatt counselor. Once you have an interview lined up, do your homework. Do you know how to interview professionally? Can you provide specific examples of ways you have excelled in your coursework, work experiences and volunteer activities? Be able to talk about yourself in concrete measurable ways that showcase results you have achieved. The most common mistake students make is not to research the company or industry well.

“Knowledge of the company and sector goes a long way to demonstrate your interest in the position and gives you credibility as a candidate,” one seasoned recruiter who visits Hiatt several times a year said.

“I love Brandeis students and their resumes reflect so many attributes that our company is seeking.”

The recruiter continued, “What can be disappointing though is I can walk into an interview and sometimes they can’t articulate their accomplishments well or, even

worse, it is clear they haven’t done any research on my company. I want to hire them – but I can’t when students at other schools have clearly done a lot more homework.”

Networking – Do I really have to?

Yes, you really do, and it is not as painful as you think. In fact, you do it all the time, but you often don’t know it. It is the way we make new friends, learn of new restaurants or clubs or find someone to give you a ride home for break. Networking is perhaps the most important aspect of the job search.

Forget the image of the annoying used car salesman and think of Jill’s experience.

Have you been leveraging your contacts like she has?

Flexibility In this market, don’t underestimate the importance of being flexible. For many it would be ideal to wait until the end of summer to start a job, but if you get an offer and the organization wants you to start in June, you have less leverage this year to ask for an extension. Similarly, I would encourage you to be open to starting at a job you didn’t initially consider.

For example, many students who are interested in finance will find excellent opportunities within companies for financial roles, even though they may have had their hearts set on Wall Street. The same type of logic applies to the nonprofit sector. If you are passionate about working at a particular organization, you might have to consider another organization that works on similar issues. Either way, you will still be getting great experience that will help you in the long run.

On Campus Opportunities/ Job Search Resources Hiatt is focused on finding and creating opportunities for students, and we encourage you to take advantage of the workshops, programs and events that are occurring on campus throughout this semester. Did you know that you can speak to over 400 alumni who want to help you with your career decisions (including Jill); that we have employers on campus for brown bag lunch sessions this week where you can learn about different careers in an

informal setting; that we have an upcoming nonprofit career fair on March 5; that we have eight employers coming to campus on today to let you practice your interview skills; that 10 employers are scheduled for on-campus interview sessions in the next few weeks and that we have over 700 jobs and internships posted on our website right now? Take a look at our calendar and access our job database (HiattNACElink) to learn about all the activities and programs we have.

Reflection I don’t mean to downplay the challenges facing students looking for opportunities in this economy. They are significant. On the other hand, entry-level hires are less expensive than more seasoned professionals, and with the right combination of skills and determination you can find opportunities even in a down economy. Employers are looking for individuals who are savvy, flexible, demonstrate some level of relevant experience, and are able to multi-task successfully. In other words, they are looking for Brandeis students.

While adaptability is always important in a job search, the current economy makes this even more crucial. Approach your job search with an open mind and consider that you may need to cast a wider net in order to land opportunities that fit your skills. Think carefully about where and how you add value and what makes you stand out from other applicants.

Hiatt can help you tailor a job search that meets your specific needs and interests. In other words, you need to be strategic and get out there. Don’t be the Hollow Man. Instead, play the Kevin Bacon game with your own job search and you might be pleasantly surprised with the results. Jill and you can be too.

Joe Du Pont is the director of the Hiatt Career Center and in the spirit of full disclosure his brother-in-law, KeeSuk Hahn was nominated for an Oscar for his special effects work on Hollow Man. Ken didn’t win, but Joe gets free movie tickets a lot.

F E AT U R E S

February 27, 2009

The Hoot 13

How to save a life:

Health Occupation Students of America host life-saving CPR classes

BY CHRISSY CALLAHAN Editor

On a rainy Sunday afternoon over February break, four Brandeis students gathered in Lown Auditorium. As Priyanka Chilakamarri ’11 bent over the floor, she carefully administered chest compressions and rescue breaths to the CPR mannequin.

Certified cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructor Dan Saxe ’12 stood at a diagonal angle to Chilakamarri and watched closely, questioning her to assess the status of the situation. Soon after, Saxe stood behind Anushka Aqil ‘12, holding her in a chokehold and administering back-blows in an attempt to dislodge the imaginary object stuck in her throat.

Mat on the floor and instructional DVD in the auditorium’s computer, these members of the Health Occupations Students of America were deep in concentration in the midst of a six-hour preparation class for the upcoming CPR classes they’re offering next week.

HOSA, a chartered Brandeis club, is part of a national organization prominent in high schools and some colleges. Its mission, according to co-president Aqil, is to serve as a “gateway” for students interested in health occupations and to help provide them with resources such as internships.

HOSA’s interests are diverse and include providing career resources for students interested in respiratory therapy and medical assistants to certified nurse’s assistants and paramedics. As such, the activities they plan are multifaceted. “Part of this is volunteering, part of this is resources for those interested in health care careers and part of this is education for the general Brandeis community in everything from CPR to how to properly handle a drunk friend,” Saxe said.

In addition to serving as a resource for budding health professionals, HOSA exists to “get the campus just generally aware about healthcare and about healthy lifestyles,” Aqil said.

One of the club’s primary goals is making Brandeis a heart safe community. This designation depends on the number of people in the community who are trained in CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs; the number of AEDS accessible; and the campus’ proximity to medical care.

Next week, Saxe, who works for the Eascare Ambulance Service in Boston, will be teaching a CPR class for interested members of the Brandeis community.

The class, which is broken up into two three-hour sessions, will take place March 2 and 4 from 7-10 p.m. in Lown Auditorium and will cover primary care for life threatening injuries such as cardiac arrest and severe bleeding, and secondary care such as treatment for obstructed airways and first aid.

Saxe said the course will provide students with the tools necessary to “asses a scene for safety, call for help and assist responders once they arrive” and will include adult and child CPR/AED. If there is interest, he will also teach the infant section of CPR.

PHOTO BY Chrissy Callahan/The Hoot

CPR: Priyanka Chilakamarri '11 administering chest compressions to a CPR mannequin. Brandeis club HOSA will host CPR classes March 2 and 4 from 7-10 p.m. in Lown Auditorium.

Taught under the standards of the American Red Cross and the approval of its Cambridge office, the course will cost $40 and $50 if the infant section is included.

For college students working as camp counselors, employees at ice cream shops or even the average person, knowledge of CPR is invaluable, Saxe said. “We’re active in the community and we’re young and capable of this,” he said.

With knowledge of life saving skills such as CPR and the use of AEDs, saving the lives of cardiac arrest patients is made that much more possible. Without early access to CPR, Saxe said, the survival statistics of instances of cardiac arrests are grim.

According to the American Heart Association, there are 250,000 deaths a year from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in the United States alone. CPR is a simple procedure that can increase survival rates of cardiac arrests by up to 60 percent. The AHA also predicts that increased access to AEDs could also save 50,000 lives each year.

If learning the tools to save a life wasn’t motivation enough, as an added incentive students completing the CPR course, including the infant section, will receive onehalf of their required physical education graduation credits.

HOSA member Priyanka Chilakamarri '11, also a member of the executive board of Brandeis’ Pre-Health Society, wants to pursue a career in health professions. She first joined HOSA during their national week last semester and attended some of their classes in an effort to become more aware.

“A lot of times I’m not knee-deep in the health professions so I’m not exposed to

all the opportunities that I can get,” she said. “Through this organization I can also see what’s there and kind of spread [awareness].”

William-Bernard Reid-Varley ’09 founded HOSA two years ago. Last semester, the club took part in the national week of HOSA, hosting auctions on campus, welcoming a guest speaker and hosting a class in first aid.

In addition to the CPR classes and their charitable work, members of HOSA are working to form partnerships with certain clubs on campus such as Active Minds, a mental health awareness club run by Brandeis students, to expand their work.

The club has also recently started a partnership with Hope Lodge, a house in Boston where cancer patients and their families can live close to their treatment center for no fees except for food. Next year members hope to offer volunteer opportunities in Boston area hospitals.

“The club is still a baby and it needs to grow, and even though we don’t have 50 people in the club, we have about 10-15 really committed people and that makes the biggest difference,” Aqil said.

Those interested in signing up for the CPR class can email Aqil at aqila@ brandeis.edu .

If the statistics are any indication, Saxe said, learning CPR is an invaluable skill: “By training as many people as possible, we’re literally saving lives; the numbers are really amazing.”

GRAPHIC BY Alex Schneider /The Hoot

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14 The Hoot

February 27, 2009

SPORTS

Tennis teams win in Florida

BY ZACHARY ARONOW Editor

Brandeis tennis returned from its spring trip through Florida with both the men and women returning with tans and winning records.

The men wrapped up their spring with a 9-0 whitewashing of Capitol at Orlando, Florida. The Judges took 12 of the 13 singles matches played with number one seed Steven Nieman ’11 and number three seed Simon Miller ’11 each recording 6-0, 6-1 sweeps.

The sixth seed match was the lone match to require a third set as Dan Roffman ’11 rebounded after dropping the first set 2-6 to equalize 6-4 and then preserved the shut out 13-11.

It was a good way to end a trip that had started off very rough for the men’s squad, opening 2009 with losses to Weber International 6-3, and Palm Beach Atlantic 5-4. Weber opened the onslaught with a clean sweep of the doubles play but Brandeis was able to come back in singles action. Craig Elman ’12 struck first in the number six singles match, picking up the quick 6-0, 6-2 victory. Nieman and team captain Scott Schulman ’09 also picked up wins in the number one and two singles.

However with the doubles sweep, Weber needed only two more wins and they earned them at the expense of Miller in the number three match and Josh Bookman ’12 in the number five match. Mayur Kasetty ’11 had a heroic effort

in the fourth match, requiring a third set super tie breaker but ran out of gas, falling 10-2.

Palm Atlantic also saw the Judges having to fight uphill after doubles play, though this time they took the number two doubles match behind the pairing of Steven Niemen and Kasetty getting the advantage of a late break 9-7.

Singles play saw Schulman roll to a 6-1, 6-1 win and Bookman similarly costing to a 6-2, 6-2 decision. With Palm Atlantic taking the number four and five singles matches over Kasetty and Elman, it was Simon Miller who tied up the match, requiring a second set tie breaker to come out 6-4, 7-6.

Unfortunately, Karsi Atanasov got the better of Nieman, requiring a third set super tie breaker after Nieman had taken the second set, it was Atanasov who came out the better end of a 6-1 match.

The skid would end there though as the team responded with 9-0 sweep of Alma and an 8-0 domination of Hanover. Scott Schulman had a particularly fine performance against Alma, easily taking the number one doubles match with partner Simon Miller 8-1 and went on to hold his opponent scoreless in singles action 6-0, 6-0. Schulman also cruised against Hanover though there would be no shut outs, settling for 6-1, 6-1 wins. The lone defeat came at the mercy of Roffman who was defeated in the sixth singles match 6-2, 6-1.

With the victory over Capitol, the men finished 3-2 in Florida to

improve their record to 5-2 on the season.

The women matched the men with their own 9-0 blanking of Capitol. Ariana Sanai ’10 and Emily Weisberger ’10 experienced a day of pure perfection. First polishing off an 8-0 shut out in the number two doubles match and then went on to keep their opponents off the scoreboard in the number three and five singles matches respectively. Mackenzie Gallegos ’11 also had a perfect day in singles play, wiping out Capitol’s Meredith Wedell in the number four singles match.

Unlike their y-chromosome carrying counterparts, the Brandeis women had little trouble against Weber, soaking up the sun and a decisive 8-1 win. Rachel Rosman ’11 opened 2009 with a bang as she did not drop a game, beating Weber’s number one doubles pairing with partner Gabrielle Helfgott ’09 8-0 and swept number one singles 6-0, 6-0. The number two doubles pairing of Sanai and Gallegos also shut out their Weber counter parts. Weber’s lonely win came in the number six singles match as rookie Davidela Judelson ’12 dropped a second set tie breaker in the first game 7-6 and fought hard but fell short 6-3 in the second game.

Against Palm Atlantic however, the Judges again had no answer, this time falling 7-2.

Mackenzie Gallegos and Emily Weisberger kept Brandeis from being shut out. Gallegos took the number four match 6-4, 6-1 and

ILLUSTRATION BY Leah Lefkowitz /The Hoot

Weisberger took a hard fought 7-5, 6-4 win in the number five match. The Weber outcome fortunately proved to the common recurrence than the Palm Atlantic match as the women quickly wrapped Alma and Oneonta State both with 8-1 tallies. Rosman did not drop a singles match in either contest and also shut out Oneonta’s double’s pairing. Gallegos also matched her doubles partner’s perfection against Oneonta, also posting a 6-0, 6-0 sweep in number three singles.

The women finished 4-1 and are now 6-2 on the season. Their

play has garnered attention from the UAA, especially Gallegos as she was named UAA Athlete of the week just before she went out to pummel Capitol. It is Mackenzie Gallegos’s first such honor which she earned with a 9-1 record with five wins in singles action and won all her doubles matches all while playing with a different partner.

Both sides get to catch their breath before they hit the road to Middlebury March 14, where they have a doubleheader against hosts Middlebury and UAA foe New York University.

Judges gain winning conference record, look to NYU

BY HANNAH VICKERS AND ZACHARY ARONOW Staff, Editor

The Brandeis Women’s Basketball team has won their last four games, bringing them up to 17-6 overall on the season and 7-6 in the UAA. “Our backs were against the wall and we knew that we would have to have a total team effort in order to get these wins,” said Captain Jessica Chapin ’10. “Everyone stepped up and basically the key was we did this as a team.”

Their most recent victory came this past Sunday, Senior Day, at home against the Case Western Reserve University Spartans with a final score of 76-56. The Judges were led by Jessica Chapin ’10 who had her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. In addition to leading the game in points and rebounds, Chapin also led with six assists and four steals. Morgan Kendrew ’12 also had a big night, putting up a career-high 15 points, 12 of which came in the first half, and matched her career high of four assists. Lauren Orlando ’09 finished strong in her last regular-season home game with 11 points and eight rebounds. Cassidy Dadaos ’09 finished her last regular season home game with six points and four assists.

Less than five minutes into the game Brandeis had an 8-2 lead. The Spartans responded with a 9-2 run and, with 11:59 left in the first half, they grabbed an 11-10 lead.

It was at that point the Judges went on the most significant run of the game, scoring 19 of the next 22 points and taking a 24-14 lead with 5:12 remaining in the first. The Judges started the second half with a 41-23 lead. With 5:38 left on the clock, Brandeis

had a 33-point lead of 70-37. While Case Western had a 19-6 run to end the game, they weren’t able to make up the difference.

Near the end of the game, Lauren Goyette ’09, out all year due to injury, saw her first action of the season. Utilizing a timeout, Goyette was subbed in, received the inbounds pass. With one possession to her name this season, Goyette was then subbed out, leaving the court to a standing ovation from the bench and the fans.

The path to breaking .500 in the UAA began Friday with a hard fought 67-57 win over the feisty Emory Eagles. Having lost their first meeting at Atlanta earlier this season, the Judges came out strong, opening the game with nine unanswered points.

Emory launched a furious comeback in the second half though, with 10:52 left in the game, Lora Turner’s three point play brought the Eagles to a one point deficit.

Brandeis however would not be overcome and responded with another seven unanswered points, four of them coming off the hands of rookie Kelly Ethier ’12 as the Judges would never trail in the game.

Chapin led the scoring with 15 point, eight rebounds followed by Kendrew who finished with 12 and Diana Cincotta ’11 with 10. Emory was paced by Lora Turner who had a double-double 17 points, 10 rebounds. LaShonda Lillard also finished with 17 of her own. Turnovers proved key as Brandeis converted 20 Emory turnovers into 23 points, conversely Emory was held to seven points off of the 16 Judges turnovers.

Brandeis started their streak Friday February 13 in Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans with

a decisive 71-49 win. The Judges shot 55.4 percent from the floor while also holding their opponents to only 28.5 percent. Orlando led Brandeis with 15 points, blocked a season-high three shots and picked up six rebounds. Chapin also had another great night with 13 points, a game and career-high eight steals, and a team high eight rebounds. Amanda Wells ’09 also contributed to the win with 12 points.

Carnegie Mellon started off the game with a 7-5 lead less than five minutes into the game, but that wouldn’t last long.

Starting with a three-pointer by Chapin, Brandeis went on a 10-0 run over three minutes to take the lead, 15-7. The Tartans responded with a run of their own, going 10-2 starting with six straight points to tie the game at 17-17. With 7:36 remaining in the first half the Judges went on another run to reclaim the lead, heading into the break with a 36-27 advantage. They didn’t end there, though, starting with an 18-5 run in the first seven minutes of the second half. Brandeis held on for a 22-point victory.

The win was then followed up with an upset, edging out number two ranked Rochester 52-50 on February 15. Trailing 30-19 after a sluggish first half, Brandeis turned the tables, shooting 54.5% in the second half while holding the Yellowjackets down to 26 percent. With 6:48 left in the game, it was Cassidy Dadaos who gave the Judges their first lead since the 11:40 mark in the first half, 47-46. Both sides traded baskets until Amber Strodthoff ’s ’11 jumper with 57 seconds left proved to be the game winner. An insur-

ance free throw from Diana Cincotta following a Rochester turnover wrapped up the win.

Chapin picked up a double-double, playing all 40 minutes and finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds. Cincotta also finished with 12 points on the strength of three three pointers. Rochester’s Melissa Alwardt led all scorers in the game, finishing with 17 points. Alex Porter also had a doubledouble, pulling down 14 rebounds to go along with 12 points in the Yellowjacket loss.

Brandeis is now 17-6, 7-6 in conference play and look finish the regular season on a high note as they travel to New York and take on heated rival NYU. Poor shooting doomed the Judges the last time they faced each other, falling at home 6149 back on January 17.

“The team is very excited for this weekend,” Jessica Chapin said. “It is obviously a very big game for us along with the fact we are playing against our rival. This game also hold importance because we know if we win we potentially secure our berth into the NCAA tournament.”

Although the Judges are close to a lock for NCAA play, currently ranking number three in the Northeast region and having worked their way back into the top 25 polling, nothing short of a division title is a guarantee for NCAA play.

“Obviously it is something we all think about,” Chapin explained, “and know that if we win this game against NYU that we will have potentially secured our berth into the tournament. But now as one of our goals was to go to the NCAA so this is the last step to reaching that goal.”

SPORTS

February 27, 2009

Brandeis announces Hall of Fame Class

BY ZACHARY ARONOW Editor

The Brandeis Athletics Department and Friends of Brandeis Athletics (FOBA) announced Monday the eight alumni who will be inducted into the Brandeis Hall of Fame as the Class of 2009.

The biggest name on the list is the legendary tennis journalist Arthur “Bud” Collins. Inducted in the contributor category, Collins was Brandeis’ first tennis coach. In an interview with the Center for Sport and Jewish Life, Collins explained that Benny Friedman, Brandeis’ first athletic director and NFL legend, asked Collins to coach the team, offering him “$250…and all the sweat socks you can steal.” He would hold the position from 1959 to 1963 where he coached many players, including Abbie Hoffman.

The future radical actually had to be coached to not be so conservative in his game play but did cause trouble, wearing a waiter’s jacket with a piece of rope on road trips. Another athlete that went through Collins was Bert Strug whose daughter Keri helped the United States Woman’s gymnastics team to a gold in 1996.

He covered Wimbledon for ABC from 1968-72 and then served in the same capacity for NBC until he was let go after the 2007 tournament. Collins joined ESPN shortly after and still covers tennis for the Boston Globe. Bud Collins was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994 Another familiar name on the list is fencer Tim Morehouse ’00 who made history as the first Brandeis athlete to win an Olympic Medal. He reached that peak as a member of the 2008 U.S Men’s Saber Fencing team which wound up surprising the world, taking the silver at the Beijing summer games. Morehouse, who also competed in Athens in 2004, was also the first Brandeis alum to compete in the Olympics. In his college career, Morehouse was a three time UAA Champion, three time All-American, served as captain in his last two years with the

squad. In 2000, Morehouse was voted the NCAA’s men’s Fencer of the Year after leading the Judges to a top-10 finish in the Division I NCAA championships.

Theresa Ceriello ’03 is the first member of the women’s volleyball program to be inducted into the hall of fame. In her career, she led the Judges to three ECAC tournaments and was Brandeis’ first-ever American Volleyball Coaches Association FirstTeam All-New England selection. She was also a four time All-UAA selection.

Kevin Curtin ’84 led the Judges to three straight top two finishes in Men’s Cross Country including a national championship in 1983. During his senior season, Curtin won the New England Division III championship in the 1,000-meter run, and established a still standing meet record. He was also a captain of three New England championship teams at the same time.

Mark Eisenstock ’72 was the picture of versatility during his time at Brandeis. A member of both the baseball and basketball programs, Eisenstock played all nine positions on the diamond and three positions on the court. Playing multiple positions didn’t phase him as he finished a career .300 hitter. He also served as president of FOBA and helped create the Hall of Fame.

Ginny Lypscon Richburg ’81 earned her place in school history as the first woman to qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, securing a spot in the 1981 heptathlon. She was also named Brandeis’ top athlete in 1979.

Michael Novaria ’91 made his name on the soccer pitch. The third all-time leading scorer in the school’s soccer history, Novaria was a three-time All-New England and four-time All-UAA selection.

He is also one of two players from Brandeis to be named as the UAA Player of the Year in soccer, earning the title in 1989. Donald Soffer ’54 rounds out the inductees. A member of the long extinct football program, he made a name for himself as one of the top lineman in the school’s history.

Not quite 300, Judges swamp Spartans

BY ZACHARY ARONOW Editor

What ever happens, this Brandeis Judges squad has if nothing else lived up to lyrics of one of my favorite songs from The Clash, “I’m Not Down.” They’ve been beat up, they’ve been shown up but they are not down, no they are not down yet.

If everything breaks right for Brian Meehan’s squad after this coming weekend, I may have to rev up a deep fryer and develop a taste for crow. It would be an impressive comeback for the squad, losing their three games of the season, ending non-conference play with five losses, the disastrous Midwest road trip and falling all the way out of the top 25 after being ranked ninth before the season. Now though, the Judges could manage to elbow their way into NCAA postseason play.

It will be necessary to at least think about preparing the crow after the seeing Judges extended their win streak to four thanks to a record setting 73.1 percent field goal rate to pummel visiting Case Western Reserve University 108-78. The win comes at the heels of a harder fought win over Emory and key victories over Carnegie Mellon and Rochester over the break.

The Senior Day Massacre of the Spartans began with a bang as Kevin Olson ’09 opened up the Brandeis offense with a three and then followed with another three by Steve DeLuca (GRAD). Kenny Small ’10 then converted a three point play when Olson made two straight three pointers and DeLuca responded with two more of his own. The Judges were simply unstoppable, every shot they took would go in. Hand in the face? No problems for the Judges who would convert on 20-25 shot attempts, an 80 percent clip including 9 three pointers in the half.

By the time Case Western burned a second time out with 3:23 in the first half, Brandeis was up 55-30.

Olson finished his last regular season home game of his career with 23 points on 8-9 shooting and was perfect on all five of his three point attempts. Also making his last regular season home game was DeLuca who left the court with 22 points and seven rebounds. All in all, both players finished their last regular season home game of their careers on a perfect note, receiving a standing ovation after they

were subbed out with around three minutes left in the game.

It was Kenny Small though who led all scorers with a career high 24 points on 9-10 shooting. All three combined to account for 13 of Brandeis’s 16 three pointers. Vytas Kryskus ’12 provided 10 points in 14 minutes of action while Terrell Hollins ’10 finished with nine. Case Western had three players reach double digits, with Colin Mulholland leading with 12 points off the bench. Steve Young followed with 11 and Eric Duerr rounded out the double digit scorers with 10. The Spartans shot 45 percent in the game and actually finished with more bench points but had no answer for the sharp-shooting barrage they faced.

The 108 points scored was the most reached under squad coached by Coach Meehan, topping a 102 point effort against Emerson back in 2002.

The record setting shooting precession comes at the heels of an ugly 65-54 victory over Emory last Friday as the Judges overcame a poor shooting performance, outshot by Emory 42 percent to the Judges 34.7. However Brandeis was able to utilize their opportunities at the free throw line, making 28 out of 33 and converted 19 Emory turnovers into 27 points while surrendering only 10 turnovers of their own.

Small set what was then a career high of 18 points followed by Olson and DeLuca with 16 and 11 points respectively. Emory only had one player reach double figures in scoring, Chad Hixon who finished with a double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds.

What ever playoff chances the Judges have will be strengthened with a victory at New York University on Feb. 28, where they will wrap up the regular season. The last time the two squads faced each other, Brandeis swept them out of Red Auerbach Arena 65-35 thanks in large part to 13 three pointers made including five from Kevin Olson.

A win in the Big Apple would give Brandeis their second straight 10 win performance in conference play. However, any postseason bid will ultimately rest on the mercy of the NCAA and since last year’s tournament saw no teams entering with eight losses so loss number nine would likely end all chances.

With hopefully a win and a prayer, I would hope to have my crow next week. Preferably medium.

The Hoot 15

The Deis Board February 12-14 Swimming and Diving - Sat UAA Championships, Chicago MSwimming 416.5 points 8th place WSwimming 614 points 8th place February 13 Men’s Basketball - at Carnegie Mellon - W 66-63 Women’s Basketball - at Carnegie Mellon - W 71-49 February 15 Men’s Basketball - at Rochester - W 80-63 Women’s Basketball - at Rochester - W 52-50 February 18 Men’s Tennis - vs. Webber Int’l - at Orlando, Fla. - L, 6-3 Women’s Tennis - vs. Webber International - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 8-1 February 19 Baseball - at Peoria, Ariz. - W, 11-8 & vs. Hastings - at Peoria, Ariz. - W, 19-15 Men’s Tennis - vs. Palm Beach Atl. - at Orlando, Fla. - L, 5-4 Women’s Tennis - vs. Palm Beach Atl. - at Orlando, Fla. - L, 7-2 February 20 Men’s Basketball - v. Emory - W 65-54 Women’s Basketball - v. Emory - W 67-57 Baseball - vs. Wash. & Lee - at Peoria, Ariz. - L, 7-4 February 21 Baseball - vs. Hastings - at Peoria, Ariz. - L, 8-3 & vs. Wash. & Lee - at Peoria, Ariz. - L, 6-2 Men’s Tennis - vs. Alma - at Florida - W, 9-0 Women’s Tennis - vs. Alma - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 8-1 Men’s Track - v. New England Division III Championships - at MIT - 23rd out of 24 Women’s Track - v. New England Division III Championships - at Bowdoin College - 7th out of 24 February 22 Men’s Basketball - v. Case Western - W 108-78 Women’s Basketball - v. Case Western - W 76-56 Men’s Tennis - vs. Hanover - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 8-1 Women’s Tennis - vs. Oneonta St. - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 8-1 Fencing - at New England Championships at Mount Holyoke MFencing 7th of 13 - WFencing 5th of 15 February 23 Men’s Tennis - vs. Capital - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 9-0 Women’s Tennis - vs. Capital - at Orlando, Fla. - W, 9-0 February 27 Men’s Track - at Open New England Championships - at Boston, Mass.

Women’s Track - at Open New England Championships - at Boston, Mass.

February 28 Men’s Basketball - at NYU - 4:00 pm Women’s Basketball - at NYU - 2:00 pm Fencing - v. IFA Championships - 8:30 am February 27-March 1 Swimming and Driving - at ECAC Championships - at Cambridge, MA

16

The Hoot

February 27, 2009

W E E K E N D Spotlight on Boston

Much Ado About Nothing: Lang Lang: Friday to Sunday, 8 p.m.

120 Boylston St., Boston

Photo courtesy of dnabil.

Sunday, Mar. 1, 3 p.m.

301 Mass. Ave., Boston Like classical music? Then, you should go see young pianist Lang Lang (pronounced Long Long) perform Chopin, Debussy, Bartok and Schubert pieces. See the 26-year-old artist that everyone is buzzing about. $38/ticket.

Lovers, misunderstandings, and happy endings. Go check out Maureen Shea's adaptation of one of Shakespeare's comedies. In her reimagining set in the 1960s, couples are put to the test at a conservative liberal arts college. www.emerson.edu

www.celebrityseries.org

What's going on at Brandeis?

Fencing:

Brighton Beach Memoirs:

Saturday, Feb. 28, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Gosman Sports Center

Friday to Sunday, 8 p.m.

Shapiro Campus Theater

Support your university's fencing team at this year's Intercollegiate Fencing Associaton Championship! All day on Saturday, teams will battle to be the winner of the nation's oldest fencing Photo courtesy of sad444. competition.

Kiss and Fly:

Don't miss out on this Depressionera coming-of-age story! Set in Brooklyn, main character Eugene struggles with growing up, thinking about sex, dreaming about baseball and the approaching world war.

Knite:

Saturday, Feb. 28, 10 p.m.

Chums

Hailing from NYC's exclusive underground club Kiss and Fly, DJ Arty will get Chums hopping.

Dance until your legs fall off to electronic dance music, house tunes.

Sleazy

Saturday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Levin Ballroom Experience Korean Culture. The Korean Student Association hosts this event featuring traditional drumming, fan dancing, Taekwondo and other aspects of Korean culture. Buy bubble tea and eat free food. $5/ticket.

Floppsie

Comic Strips

By Grace Alloy-Relihan

By Matt Kupfer

Insert Comic Here laughingwarlock

Photo courtesy of Lauren Elias.

By Ian Price

By Anthony Scibelli