The Brandeis Hoot - 9-18-09

VOL 6, NO. 4

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

Univ. files motion to dismiss Rose lawsuit

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

Hinojosa ‘owns her voice’ in Roosevelt lecture

BY KATHLEEN FISCHMAN Editor

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

Brandeis University filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by three Rose Art Museum benefactors.

The motion argues that the suit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs have no standing to file such a suit.

Rose Art Museum benefactors and Board of Overseers members Jonathan Lee, Meryl Rose, and Lois Foster filed a lawsuit against the university to prevent the close of the museum and the sale of its art in late July. The suit was a response to President Reinharz’s spring announcement that the university’s Board of Trustees had authorized the closure of the museum and the sale of its art.

The motion to dismiss the suit, written by Brandeis’ hired outside counsel and former Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly, cites precedent in the Massachusetts Legislature and courts to argue that donors do not have standing “to enforce their vision of how a charitable organization should operate.”

Reilly’s motion sees the plaintiffs’ suit primarily as one looking out for the “public interest,” and therefore stipulates that “the attorney general alone has standing to represent the public interest, and she has asserted no claim against Brandeis.”

Reilly himself reiterated this point in a telephone interview See ROSE MOTION, p. 3

Union elections postponed The student union primary elections have been moved to Monday.

The elections, which were originally scheduled for yesterday, were postponed after the transition to a new election software took longer than the Student Union expected, Student Union President Andy Hogan ‘11 said.

Primary elections will be held on Monday starting at midnight of Sunday night and ending at midnight of Monday night. Secondary elections will then be held on Thursday from midnight to midnight.

– Ariel Wittenberg, Editor

IN THIS ISSUE:

THEHOOT.NET

PHOTO BY Phil Small/The Hoot

LA PERIODISTA ACTIVISTA: Mexican journalist Maria Hinojosa speaks about the importance of owning one’s voice politically in Rapaporte Treasure Hall yesterday.

Mexican feminist and awardwinning activist journalist Maria Hinojosa filled Rapaporte Treasure Hall with her 6th Annual Eleanor Roosevelt Lecture on “The political responsibility of owning one’s voice.”

Hinojosa is the managing editor and host of National Public Radio’s Latino USA program as well as senior correspondent for the Emmy-winning PBS newsmagazine “NOW.” The lecture, which was also part of Hispanic Heritage month, was sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and cosponsored by Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, AHORA!, the Journalism Program, the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, and the Departments of American Studies, Hispanic Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies and Sociology.

In her lecture, Hinojosa drew on many personal experiences to discuss the importance of finding and owning one’s voice in order to become self-empowered and

to fight for social justice. Born in Mexico City and raised in the “multicultural utopia” of Hyde Park, she explained that growing up as “a Mexican kid in the south side of Chicago” was “a matter of ethnicity and gender, my status as immigrant and as someone who was trying to become an American.”

As she struggled with issues of identity and finding her voice, she was influenced by the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, activists including Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez, as well as her mother. She shared a story of her mother standing up to immigration officers who tried to separate their family as they entered the United States as an example of the power of trusting and owning one’s voice.

Hinojosa explained that as she began to find her own voice, she was driven by a powerful sense of mission to “meet this need of speaking the truth and being visible because there were times I felt invisible.” She explained, “I am able to do what I do because See HINOJOSA, p. 2

Professors prepare for launch of JBS pilot

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

In preparation for the launch of the Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) pilot program this summer, professors have begun drawing up plans for individual JBS programs, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said.

The JBS program is the brainchild of the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering (CARS) committee which developed the idea of JBS as a way to alleviate overcrowding that could occur as a result of the university’s plans to increase the student population by 400 students over the next three years.

When JBS is officially implemented in summer 2012, students will be required to take one semester away from the Brandeis campus. One option that will be afforded to students is JBS, which allows students to choose from a variety of discipline-specific ways to spend their fall, spring, or summer away from campus.

Currently, Jaffe said, the faculty is busy preparing plans for specific JBS programs to occur in this summer’s pilot program, and will have to submit their proposals by Oct. 1. Each summer program will have a budget of no more than $20,000 and they will

be offered for either eight or ten weeks, with sessions beginning June 1 and ending either July 23 or Aug. 6.

Jaffe will then form a JBS committee consisting of faculty, staff, and one student representative.

The committee choose between eight and 12 of the proposed JBS proposals to be executed this summer.

This summer’s pilot program will be designed to accommodate between 60 and 150 students, however Jaffe said he was unsure of how popular the pilot program would be.

“We don’t know what kinds of issues doing this JBS will create,” he said. “We might plan for 100 kids to apply and 500 do, or only 20 could. We don’t know. And that’s why we’re doing the pilot.”

Students participating in both the pilot and actual JBS programs will have to pay three-fourths of tuition, and will receive 12 credits for participating in the programs.

Students who are regularly eligible for financial aid will be eligible for financial aid on the same basis for JBS. However, students who receive federal financial aid may run into problems because, according to federal law, students cannot receive financial aid for more than two semesters per calendar year.

Attack of the Wiggio guerilla advertisers Impressions, page 5

At a glance

THE ISSUE: Professors have begun to draw up plans for individual Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) programs in preparation to launch a pilot program this summer.

WHAT IT MEANS: If this summer's pilot is successful, JBS will begin full-throttle in 2012 as part of an attempt to alleviate any overcrowding that could result from the university's commitment to increase the student population by 400 students over three years.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The university needs to increase the student population by 400 students in order to use the additional tuition revenue to bridge its 2014 budget gap brought on by last November's nation-wide economic crisis.

There will be two application deadlines for the JBS programs, one in early January, and another in early March, Jaffe said.

Jaffe said he did not know many of the specifics about the application process, but that the university has created the new position of JBS manager, which would overlook the logistical aspect of creating and maintaining both the pilot and actual JBS programs.

The university is in the midst of a

Brandeis Open Mic slams its way into the new semester Diverse City, page 8

job search for the new JBS manager.

The JBS manager will also be responsible for securing housing for JBS participants.

President of the Student Union Andy Hogan ’11 said he hoped JBS participants would be housed in “favorable dorms” so that “where you live can be used as an See JBS, p. 2

AUDIO @ THEHOOT.NET Off The Beaten Path: The tavern side of the OtherSide Cafe.

Third Wavelength: Check out the second installment of The Hoot’s newest feminist podcast.

2 The Hoot

September 18, 2009

N E W S Univ. hopes to help overcrowding with renovations but has no solid plans

BY ALEX SELF

Special to The Hoot

The addition of 122 more students on campus than last year has lead to long lines at Usdan and Einstein’s and fewer empty rooms on campus.

In light of this, Brandeis administrators are looking for ways to alleviate overcrowding on campus.

Vice President for Campus Operations Mark Collins said the university plans to renovate service facilities in order to ensure that the number of beds and dining halls meets demand.

Collins acknowledged one of the more troubling obstacles students face this year is the long lines in the dining halls, which could ensnare students who have a short time between classes.

“As people’s schedules formulate…there are always peak periods in the dining hall. Once people’s schedules are finalized, it should even out a bit,” Collins said, “But we are thinking of adding a new lunch option to meet the demand.”

Collins would not provide any specifics about the new lunch option because it is still in the planning stages, but he said it should be implemented by next year.

PHOTO BY Robert Hammer/The Hoot

CROWDS: After the welcoming of an unusually large, 788 student, first-year class Brandeis University has had difficulty providing adequete dining accommodations.

Coupled with a fear that, by 2013, University dorms might not be able to house sufficient numbers of students Brandeis has begun considerations for campus-wide renovations, despite a tight budget.

As for the university’s housing, Brandeis is continuing with its plans to renovate residence halls throughout the campus.

So far, five of the eight freshman dorms have been refurbished and Collins said the university is looking to complete the remaining three in the next few years.

The university is also looking into renovating the Charles River housing complex in order

to make it more competitive with on campus housing. Collins said Charles River has the most pressing need for renovation, but did not provide any specifics.

Collins said Brandeis also hopes to renovate a building in Ziv Quad; however, he did not mention any concrete plans.

Off-campus housing is readily available for now, Collins said, and the university already pro-

vides services for students looking for off-campus housing, including a free guide for interested students.

The university hopes to have 400 aditional students on campus by 2014, and as more students are admitted to the university, Collins cautioned “no one knows what will happen two or three years down the road” as far as the availability of off-campus housing.

Collins said the university hopes to increase services as a whole and that it is exploring the best way to meet the new needs.

Options include increasing the amount of triples, adding to health services, doing more frequent bathroom cleanings, and exploring new lunching options.

“It’s a challenge, but we’re committed to solving it,” Collins said.

Mexican journalist speaks about owning one’s voice Faculty plan for JBS pilot launch in summer 2010

HINOJOSA (from p. 1)

I have a mission and I understand that I’m living in a particular historical moment,” she said. “My mission when I was your age and in college is different from the one I have now, but I always have the one of visibility and portraying who I am in my realities—the realities I have understood—and putting them forth.”

Hinojosa portrayed many realities of her life in her lecture, touching on personal subjects including her decision to have two abortions.

Although she said in her community there is “a tremendous amount of shame surrounding this topic,” Hinojosa does not shy away from sharing her experiences.

“I speak about my abortions because to me, it’s part of my political responsibility to own my voice,” she said. “It had to be my role to talk about this, and to talk about it without shame.”

She also discussed her role as a working mother, explaining that as she tries to balance her life, it’s complicated.

“I think about the notion of balance, and I don’t know if that’s the right word, because you’re never entirely settled with it,” she said.

Yet she is able to manage her roles as mother and career woman through dialogue with her children. “I listen and talk with them about everything. I talk to them about the work that I do and when they understand that there’s a mission behind it, they get it,” she said.

Being personal in her lecture, according to Hinojosa, “allows people to open their own personal place” which is important because “the personal is so political.”

“I think that intimacy, genuineness and authenticity are the most important. That’s what we’re all clamoring for deep down inside,” she added.

Hinojosa’s lecture also addressed the students and the importance of their voices.

“We are entering a time in our country that’s going to get really ugly, and your generation needs to step up to the plate. This is your battle and you may want to think of

the political responsibility of owning your voice in this moment,” she said. “You guys have to open the dialogue to create a better sense of unity.”

In the past, Hinojosa has also worked as a correspondent for CNN, hosted public affairs talk show Visiones on WNBC-TV in New York, and served as a producer and researcher for CBS This Morning and worked for CBS Radio as a producer. In addition, she has also published two books, “Crews: Gang Members Talk with Maria Hinojosa” and “Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son.” Hinojosa’s work has earned her numerous awards and honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy award, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Radio Award, a Unity Award and the Top Story of the Year Award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, among others. She has also been named one of the 100 Most Influential Latinos in the United States by Hispanic Business Magazine and one of the 25 Most Influential Working Mothers

by Working Mothers Magazine.

JBS (from p. 1)

incentive to participate [in the program],” however, he would not comment on which residence halls he had in mind.

Professors Adrianne Krstansky (THA) and Alicia Hyland (THA) are planning to propose a JBS for theater majors to run this summer.

Their JBS will include a class that focuses on acting techniques and a class that focuses on autobiographical theatrical writing. At the end of the summer, students will use what the used in each class to create a theatrical production that will be a compilation of the students’ autobiographical pieces from the first part of the summer.

Hogan also said he is currently working with the Legal Studies department to create a pilot JBS, and encourages any students interested in participating in the pilot JBS program to be in close contact with the professors working on that program.

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NEWS

September 18, 2009

NEWS ANALYSIS

Rose suit hinges on Museum’s independence

The Hoot 3

Univ. says plaintiffs have no standing in motion to dismiss Rose Art lawsuit ROSE MOTION (from p. 1)

BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

University counsel Thomas Reilly’s Tuesday filing of a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against the university by three Rose Art Museum benefactors marks the first proactive measure taken by Brandeis in the suit.

Since three Rose Art Museum Board of Overseers filed suit for a court order to stop the closure of the museum and the sale of its artwork on July 27, the university’s role has been to respond, generally through statements given to the press, to the plaintiff ’s actions, as opposed to being the actor.

Tuesday’s motion, on the other hand, is the first window into the university’s legal strategy, which underscores a fundamental chasm between the two sides concerning whether the Museum is considered a part of or independent from the university. The answer to that question may decide the verdict.

Brandeis argues in the motion that the Rose Art Museum “is and has always been part of Brandeis,” and contends that the Rose’s Board of Overseers is merely “an advisory body without any governing power of fiduciary responsibilities.”

“The Rose museum is neither privately endowed nor autonomous,” the university’s motion to dismiss reads.

The plaintiffs, Rose Board of Overseers members Jonathan Lee, Meryl Rose and Lois Foster, on the other hand, argue that the monetary donations given by Edward Rose in 1961 to build the museum were given to the university “for permanent use as a museum, located on its campus in Waltham, Massachusetts,” according to the suit. The plaintiffs also argue that because the Rose Art Museum has its own endowment, it is financially independent of the university.

Plaintiff Jonathan Lee maintains that the Rose is “self funding” and that the museum’s now $16 million endowment pays for everything from the museum’s staff ’s salaries to the building’s electric bill.

Indeed, Edward Rose’s 1974 last will and testament (filed with the Suffolk Probate Court as part of the lawsuit against the university), the document which founds the Museum’s endowment, says that Edward Rose donated $500,000 to the university “to be set aside by Brandeis as a separate Endowment fund.”

The will continues that the income from the Rose endowment “shall be used to defray the expense of maintaining the museum.” The will allows for the income from the endowment to be used toward “substitute uses” within the university as a whole if the executors of the endowment agree with the university on the alternate use.

Edward Rose’s will concludes that the museum must be maintained in perpetuity as a public art museum and that “my wife and I are relying on good faith of the Brandeis leadership who made this commitment and of those who follow them.”

Contributions by Henry Foster to the endowment fund in 1999 contain similar restrictions.

In a phone interview with The Hoot, Reilly argued that legally, the university is allowed to use the Rose’s endowment because the money originally given by Edward Rose to be used specifically for the museum “has been used for the museum.

The museum is there.”

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

with The Hoot, and said “the state of Massachusetts has no right to give the plaintiffs the broad type of relief they seek.”

The three Rose benefactors would only be eligible to sue the university if they believed their particular donation had been used in a way that violated restrictions previously put on the donation.

Donors have standing “to pursue redress for the wrongs the individuals allegedly suffered” via lawsuit, the motion says, but they do not have “the right to interfere with the operation of a charity.”

According to the motion, the plaintiffs only have the right to sue for the return of their own individual gifts—not for control of the museum. Meryl Rose’s total lifetime giving to the university is $45,000, and Lee’s total lifetime giving is $43,880, the motion reads.

The motion further argues that while the three plaintiffs claim they have standing in the Probate Court as members of the Rose Art Museum’s Board of Overseers, because the board is “an advisory body without any governing power or fiduciary responsibilities, [the] plaintiff’s membership in that body affords them no standing to challenge the actions of the fiduciary body of Brandeis (and therefore the Rose).”

Lee said the university’s motion comes as “no surprise” to him. As for Reilly’s argument that the plaintiffs have no standing, Lee said “Of course, that’s something we thought about before we filed the suit, so I do not agree with what the motion says, and I think the motion will lose.”

According to the motion, only the university’s Board of Trustees, a fiduciary body, has the authority to make decisions about the financial needs of the university as a whole.

The motion to dismiss, as well as the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard before the Suffolk Probate Court on Oct. 13.

Rose: News in brief CELL PHONE TOUR Anthropology students have drafted a cell phone-accessible audio tour of the Rose Art Museum’s current exhibition, “Number, Color and Text” (closing Sept. 25), and the continuing outdoor installation, The AboutThing.

Eight users took the tour in the first two hours after its debut Tuesday.

To access the trial tour, please dial (781) 253-3398.

ROSE ART CATALOGUE SHOW OPENS OCT. 28 The Rose Art Museum will temporarily close between Sept. 25 and Oct. 28 in order to prepare for the museum’s catalogue-based show, which will exhibit artwork from the museum’s permanent collection.

4 The Hoot

September 18, 2009

E D I TO R I A L 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 Hannah Vickers Sports Editor Alex Schneider Layout Editor Jodi Elkin Layout Editor Max Shay Photography Editor Leon Markovitz Advertising Editor Vanessa Kerr Business Editor Danielle Gewurz Copy Editor Max Price Diverse City Editor Samantha Shokin Diverse City Editor Senior Editors Sri Kuehnlenz, Kathleen Fischmann

FOUNDED BY

Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

O

ver the past few weeks, frequenters of Usdan and other campus dining facilities have encountered longer lines and larger crowds, in part due to the 122 additional bodies on campus this semester. Such inconveniences are to be expected on a campus whose enrollment is approaching spatial capacity. In the years to come, enrollment will further increase as part of the administration’s plan to boost revenue.

Though the university has begun developing the Justice Brandeis Semester program to alleviate the strain on buildings, requiring students to spend a semester away from campus will not magically fix facilities that are beyond repair.

Vice President for Campus Operations Mark Collins is rightly concerned with the state of residence halls but at a cer-

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.

Don’t invest in a money pit

I

tain point, the university must recognize that for some buildings, renovation is an exercise in futility. Case in point: Charles River Apartments. Unlike Reitman in North Quad or Shapiro in Massell Quad or even Ziv, Charles River is not a fixerupper. It is a tearer-downer.

Aside from the decrepit state of most Charles River kitchens and bathrooms and the mold that some students encountered during move-in, the concrete Soviet style construction does not lend itself to repairs. Installing an up to code sprinkler system would take Herculian effort to say nothing of the cost. Moreover, renovations to Charles River could not be done over the course of a summer or a summer and a semester, as has been done with first-year housing.

The university must stop deluding itself and prepare to shell out some serious cash

on a new housing facility where Charles River now stands. Because of Charles River’s high capacity, there will be a housing crunch worse than that experienced during Ridgewood’s construction while new apartments are being built.

However, the same would be the case if the university chose a renovation project that would most likely be drawn out over the course of at least two years. As such, there will be strains on housing facilities regardless of whether the university chooses to renovate or start anew.

A fresh start with a new foundation, even though it might cause more problems in the short run, ensures that the university does not invest in buildings that are a money pit located in a death trap. Sometimes you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And in this metaphor, Charles River is the baby.

JBS needs groundswell support

n order to combat the overcrowding that additional students (and additional tuition) will create, the university has dreamed up the Justice Brandeis Semester, an experiential learning program that requires students to spend one semester away from the Brandeis campus.

If the administration expects JBS to solve its overcrowding woes, the meetings about the JBS pilot program better be crowded. Unfortunately, this has

not been the case. The most recent JBS town hall meetings featured the politicians but not the town.

It is not enough for Student Union officials or Undergraduate Department Representatives to be excited or at least intrigued by JBS. In order for the program to work as intended, the student body as a whole must be engaged in the pilot development and launch. Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe explained that the planners of JBS do not know how many students might apply for this

summer’s pilot program. There might be 500, he said, or there might be 20.

If only 20 students express interest by way of application, the program will have failed before it was even launched.

In order to make the Justice Brandeis Semester program alleviate crowding and serve as an attraction to perspective students, the administration must partner with students, faculty, and staff to create a groundswell of interest and support. Without that, the program will be dead on arrival.

Check out The Brandeis Hoot’s newest audio show The Third Wavelength.

The Hoot 5

September 18, 2009

IMPRESSIONS

? d a o l r e v o g n i t Marke

Don’t wiggio-ize my school Wanton Wiggio

BY ALEX SCHNEIDER

BY NATHAN ROBINSON

What does Bill Lumbergh have to do with Brandeis? Nothing, I discovered the other day, when I searched Google for the man’s name. In fact, according to my cursory research, Bill Lumbergh is a fictional character from a 1999 movie, “Office Space.”

I wondered, then, why Bill Lumbergh’s name appeared on a poster on the wall in my dorm hallway in East Quad. The poster was an advertisement for some website called “Wiggio,” and read, “Bill Lumbergh owns Wiggio.”

Let me tell you what I have learned about this Wiggio-thing.

It is a group collaboration website started by Cornell graduate Dana Lampert. Keen on promoting the site, the company, which is based in Cambridge, MA, posted an ad on Boston’s Craigslist looking for 2009 college graduates to “wiggio-ize your school.”

Those hired would then compete amongst themselves for a $5,000 prize based on their ability to get students to sign up for the website en-masse. The Craigslist ad promises “a war-chest of marketing materials to plaster your campus with.”

While I am not aware of whom Wiggio hired as a marketing strategist at Brandeis, I can tell you I don’t like the person in any way.

After seeing the poster about Bill Lumbergh, I stepped outside only to see that the word “Wiggio” had been spray-painted in florescent green on the sides of buildings and on concrete walkways throughout campus. The intercultural center, with its modest brick façade, now displays prominently the dumbest word ever invented since “Bing.”

How has advertising at Brandeis come to this? Couldn’t Wiggio have stuck to the Bill Lumbergh signs rather than using such guerilla marketing tactics? Or, even better, the company could have purchased an ad in the Hoot for less than one-twentieth of the $5,000 prize promised on Craigslist.

Wiggio has discovered, it seems, that grabbing students’ attention is a difficult undertaking. At Brandeis, no less, it can be impossible. Think for a moment of all the posters hung around campus of late. Most are tattered, ripped, and left for the maintenance staff to remove. Those remaining on the almost empty board in the mailroom are among the most boring ever designed. The posters stuck to the glass enclosure at the bus stop below Rabb Steps are soggy and fading.

Speaking of the Rabb Steps, more flyers litter those grounds

At one point during the past weekend, some nefarious individual (or individuals) grabbed a bit of neon chalk and a stencil, and plastered the domain "Wiggio.com" all over Usdan and the Rabb steps.

As a result, when we Brandeisians traipsed to class on Monday morning, our eyes were treated to a selection of bright green advertisements on the walls and floors.

I'm not sure how many passersby paid attention to this assortment of Wiggios, but I was particularly perturbed by it. Two thoughts came to mind: What is this Wiggio.com?

And who the hell do they think they are?

The first one of these is probably the exact reaction hoped for by the mysterious chalker. The second, perhaps less so. Anyway, after a bit of cursory Googling, I discovered that Wiggio is apparently yet another social networking site, whose particular specialty is "the formation of groups."

But as for who the hell they think they are, I am still not sure. It is unclear whether Wiggio had permission to advertise on our campus, or simply decided that because the Rabb steps are a sort-of open forum, companies can plaster their logos there freely. Perhaps Wiggio even paid the University for the space. It seems a reasonably conceivable deal given our school’s current dire financial state.

The appearance of the paint raises a number of curious questions, such as whether the company paid a student to do the defacement, or sent its own staff in under the cover of darkness. But more importantly, it is worth examining as an example of a hitherto-unseen form of intrusive advertisement.

In the Digital Age, the art of admaking has undergone a number of significant changes in a short period of time. The two most common and disturbing new strands of ad are "stealth" or "undercover" marketing, in which consumers are unaware that what they see is an advertisement, and "viral" marketing, in which companies attempt to create a rapidly-spreading buzz through the use of catchy, easilytransferrable memes.

The Brandeis Wiggio ads bear a relation to these new marketing techniques because they employ a sly mechanism that is becoming more and more frequently employed in modern ads: they fail to actually disclose what the product does. By providing us only with a web address, Wiggio means to pique our curiosity, so that we fall victim to the irresistible urge to solve the mini-mystery of the site’s identity. And by the time we have reached the website, and found that

Editor

Special to The Hoot

PHOTOS BY Alex Schneider/The Hoot

VANDALISM OR MARKETING? ‘Wiggio.com’ is painted on Usdan window, above.

than anywhere else on campus.

They are stepped on, left out in the rain, and are often made using the unattractive Times New Roman font or—even worse—Comic Sans. One wonders whether the makers of such flyers actually expect students to act when the time and date of an event are printed in size 10 point font.

My personal favorite ad is one that is printed on various colors of paper and advertises jobs for $15/hr. with Vector marketing.

A warning—please do not fall for that one, unless you want to sell knives in the homes of Waltham residents. (That’s right—Vector Marketing is a subsidiary of Cutco Cutlery).

Every week, dozens of events take place on campus. With so many clubs and lectures and fundraisers, it is certainly difficult to find out what is going on at Brandeis. Posters are a great way to share what’s going on and, in so doing, build community.

But let’s be honest with ourselves—some poster campaigns just do not work. What is happening is that students spend valuable time and money to try to catch the attention of their peers, only to have posters litter the ground and dirty the campus. The campaigns that achieve name recognition, sadly, are the ones that use green spray paint and empty promises of $15/hr.

There is a way to fix this problem, however: if you put up a poster, take it down. If you de-

sign a poster, spend five minutes instead of fifty seconds on the design. Use some clip art.

As to the administrative aspect, the Department of Student Life should install more bulletin boards that are enclosed, locked, and monitored. This way, students will know where to go to find the most current information. If marketing for events and clubs is organized and well presented, students will pay more attention.

Perhaps then, green ink and Bill Lumbergh won’t be necessary.

it is actually quite mundane, it is too late. We are already customers.

But while the Wiggio ads are similar to other recent ad trends in their coyness, they are of a somewhat different breed. The Wiggio ads do not explicitly meet the criteria of "stealth" or "undercover" marketing, because their purpose is clear, even if their product is not.

Nor do they really qualify as "viral" marketing, because they emanate from a clear source, rather than being passed from person to person in an ever-growing chain.

No, this is a new type of invasive advertising, which turns the very environment we inhabit into a billboard. The Wiggio logo appeared not only in the typical open-forum space of the steps, but also on walls which have previously been entirely free of notices, whether studentgenerated or corporate. The Wiggio logo placement showed no regard for the aesthetics of the campus, and its creators seemed to have only one priority in mind: making Wiggio as visible as possible. This marks a failure to understand the typical limits of what constitutes an ad-space, and what constitutes the surrounding world. It shows a disrespect for the sanctity of the school grounds, and if it is allowed to continue then all space will be ripe for branding.

Perhaps soon you will awake to find a Starbucks logo painted on the side of your house, or tattooed on your newborn’s forehead.

It’s curious that the company should choose this particular method of hawking their digital wares, considering how irritating it is. Surely they have not forgotten that most elementary of business maxims: try not to annoy the hell out of your customers. Although on some level, perhaps it does make business sense. After all, every word I write gives Wiggio free publicity, regardless of what I say about it.

And maybe in a recession, companies are turning in desperation to previously untried methods of luring consumers. Or it could be that college campuses simply present a frustrating problem for advertisers, since they are ripe with well-to-do young potential buyers, but have no obvious space in which to propagandize. The structure of campus life, after all, leaves us watching little network television, listening to little FM radio, reading few magazines, and generally bypassing the typical mechanisms by which we are advertised to.

Perhaps the reasons for the change are even more sinister. Perhaps, as Marshall McLuhan only somewhat facetiously put it, that "advertisers must now confront the opposition of tranquilizers in suburbia. Suburbanites are so hopped up that the TV ad, quack and all, rolls off their backs like a duck." Has See WIGGIO, p. 7

6 The Hoot

IMPRESSIONS

September 18, 2009

Brandeis Lacks Grammatical

**note to editor: check grammar PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

BY LIZ BAESSLER Special to The Hoot

So there’s a new sign on the side of the Campus Center, proclaiming all the virtues of a “Brandeis Education.” That’s all well and good, albeit I haven’t a clue why this sign has suddenly appeared or why money has been spent on it. I love Brandeis. I’m proud of it, and if we want to proclaim to the world and prospective students how terrific we are, I’m all for it. Except that the sign is written incorrectly.

It’s not right. On the top right there is a list of “Core Skills”. They are: Communication, Quantitative, and Critical Thinking.

Communication is a noun. Critical thinking is a noun. (It’s actually an adjective and a gerund, but it still works as a noun, so

we’ll let it slide.) Quantitative, however, is an adjective. It’s not the same part of speech as the other two things in the list. That’s not how lists are made. It’s just plain wrong.

Granted, if one places each thing listed in front of the word “Skills,” it sounds better: “Communication Skills,” “Quantitative Skills,” "Critical Thinking Skills.” But as a list, it still just does not work. Lists can’t contain both adjectives and nouns. They can’t contain different parts of speech. That’s not how English works. A very easy fix would have been to change “Quantitative” to “Quantitative Reasoning.” Then it would be a noun, like everything else. It would also be the name of the actual university requirement. It would be what’s written in the University Bulletin and my Sage account. Someone actually took something that exists and changed it to some-

thing wrong when making this sign.

I’m aware that there are people who don’t know this rule. I know this because I’ve seen it before, and felt indignant about it. I’ve ranted to my friends about it. But the reason I’m not stopping at simply complaining to my friends this time is that I’m embarrassed.

Brandeis has produced an enormous sign touting its academic virtues to the world, and it has written it wrongly. As an English major, I’m embarrassed and honestly insulted that my education is being represented by this, proudly, in six inch high letters. If I were a prospective student and this were one of the first things I saw at Brandeis (as I guess it’s meant to be) I would seriously consider crossing Brandeis off my list entirely. I speak English, I want to study English, and my first impression of Brandeis is that it is getting it

completely wrong.

If I saw the same mistake at a restaurant, I’d be annoyed, I might mention it to the person with me. But I would still eat there, because I’m interested in the food and the service, the things for which the restaurant is responsible. The thing for which a university is responsible is academics, so I’d really like to think that it could get that right.

My goal in writing this article hasn’t been entirely clear. I certainly don’t want Brandeis to spend more money on a new, edited, replacement sign. I’d just like both students and those responsible for this sign to realize that, to the people who know about this kind of thing—a pretty decent portion of those touring a well-regarded liberal arts college—we’re presenting ourselves as being pretty stupid.

Creating positive change: The case for single-payer healthcare

BY ELIZABETH CRANE Special to The Hoot

The last few months of the health care debate have offered a chaotic stream of political incidents that fall somewhere between entertaining and disheartening. Bitten-off fingers at town halls and catchy sound bites like “death panels” and “you lie!” have stolen the show, turning the process of health care reform into an ill-fated media circus.

Some of these outbursts appear to be political savvy, scoring hundreds of thousands of dollars for Representative Wilson and scaring Americans away from meaningful reform.

Others underscore shocking misconceptions about the government and its role in health care. One refrain heard at town halls this summer seems particularly tragic: “Keep the government out of my Medicare!”

This quote defines the current debate in one short and effective sentence. Americans dislike big government on ideological grounds and continue to protest a “government takeover” of health care. The problem arises when, in practice, Americans actually love the health care that government provides.

They can protest the government ideologically, but the evidence shows that Medicare, a form of (gasp!) single-payer health care, enjoys not only quality and efficiency, but also immense popularity.

In a point that has gone unacknowledged throughout the current debate, Medicare has endured as one of the most effective components of our health care system. Now, instead of decrying the role of government in health care, Americans should embrace it and expand Medicare to all citizens in an inclusive single-payer system.

As most other advanced nations have figured out, single-payer health care offers a superior and comprehensive alternative to the train wreck that is the American system. Unlike socialized medicine, where the govern-

ment runs a nation’s hospitals and employs its doctors, single-payer health care simply means that the government assumes the role of one big insurance company paying health care costs to both public and private institutions.

If the U.S. were to magically make this switch, it could expect a number of unique positive results, the most important of which will be addressed in this article. First and foremost, every single citizen would have, for the first time in our history, access to the high-quality care that many insured people enjoy today.

Americans could expect their overall health to improve with the new availability of routine physicals and check-ups as well as access to specialists and hospital care. Most crucially, this would shift the focus from secondary to preventative care.

Instead of paying sky-high rates to treat the uninsured in the emergency room, the government can ensure that people have access to treatment for conditions like high blood pressure and pregnancy before their health problems threaten their lives and cause bankruptcy. By doing so, it prevents many avoidable medical catastrophes in a cost-efficient and effective way.

While focusing on preventative care cuts costs both immediately and in the long run, some of the most significant savings occur in health care administration. Switching to single-payer health care would immediately cut the percentage of money wasted on administrative costs from our high of fifteen percent to the low three-to-four percent that most other nations enjoy, effectively reducing some of the most wasteful and bureaucratic spending in the system.

The U.S. has already witnessed these savings in its current single-payer systems, particularly Medicare; Medicare spent a mere two percent of its budget on administrative costs in 2004. By eliminating America’s na-

tionwide mess of private insurers, claims, policies, and corporate legalese, a single-payer system would eliminate red tape and bring the focus back to health care delivery. Other reforms, like advancing electronic medical records, would create even more efficiency in health care administration and ultimately hold down costs in the long run.

Businesses and employees would also get to take advantage of the single-payer system’s sweeping cost cuts. Entrepreneurs could start up their own companies with the security of guaranteed, life-long insurance. At the same time, small businesses would no longer have to spend a significant portion of their earnings on providing health insurance to employees, a costly problem that discourages wage increases and company expansion.

Finally, employees themselves could change jobs or career paths instead of getting stuck in dead-end jobs for the fear of losing insurance.

No other reform option on the table offers so many unique and significant advantages to small business, but like single-payer health care itself, these have been systematically ignored throughout the health care debate.

Many people reading this article are probably shaking their heads and declaring that the U.S. will never make the move towards “socialized health care.” This seems to be accepted as fact, but why do Americans continue to oppose single-payer health care in such huge numbers? It seems preposterous that anyone would oppose what is essentially an effective, low-cost, fair, and comprehensive expansion of Medicare, a government program that enjoys an approval rating as high as 76%.

It also seems unlikely that anyone could approve of the current system, where at best, people pay sky-high premiums for below-average health care and at worst, hardworking citizens die of treatable medical problems for lack of coverage. The problem is that no matter how well a single-payer system works, Americans cannot get past the false idea

that government seeks to “take over” health care. This ideological quagmire has prevented meaningful reform for years, and now we have the failed health care system to prove it.

The best idea that Republicans can offer is low-impact tort reform, and the only decent proposal from Democrats, the public option, remains woefully inadequate at addressing our system’s most fundamental cost problems. Neither of these options holds the potential to create the positive change that is so desperately needed in the system today.

Obama’s health reform speech contained the line, “I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch.” President Obama is dead wrong about that. American health care delivery is fundamentally flawed, and nothing short of a complete overhaul will change the system.

Switching certainly wouldn’t be easy; it would take years of transition, policy formation, and battles with the private insurance industry to extend Medicare to millions of Americans. Even then, the system would require more cost-cutting mechanisms to help defray the inevitable rising price of high-quality care. The promises this dream holds, though, are too great to pass up.

It’s time for Americans accept that government can and should have an effective, meaningful, and central role in reform, and that their own health and welfare will improve as a result.

For that reason alone, the United States should accept the evidence at hand and pursue a full expansion of Medicare, the system that best guarantees that all Americans will gain access to the high-quality and low-cost health care that only some get to enjoy today.

IMPRESSIONS

September 18, 2009

The Hoot 7

Book of Matthew

Lies, incivility, and hypocrisy Pre-existing cruelty

BY BRET MATTHEW

ILLUSTRATION BY Andrea Fishman/The Hoot

BY ALEX SELF

Special to The Hoot

Two words were all it took for Joe Wilson to catapult from a mostly unknown representative to a political lightning rod. Two words, vitalized by vitriol, turned what might’ve been just another one of President Obama’s pleas to pass the healthcare bill into a media sensation. When the Republican representative from South Carolina violently interrupted the President’s speech with his accusation, he completely changed the dynamic of the night. Suddenly, everyone’s attention shifted from the ever sickening health care reform effort to the outburst heard round the political world.

This outburst, which was in response to the President stating that the public option in the health care bill would not cover illegal aliens, was unprecedented in modern politics. In fact, one would have to go back to when Preston Brooks brutally assaulted Charles Sumner with a cane to find an incident so outrageous and unexpected. Immediately, the representative was shouted down by his peers, and he was condemned by both parties (ironically the only instance of bipartisanship in recent memory).

The uproar was not so much over the message of the interjection. Free speech is tolerated and there are many who would agree with the representative. Instead it is the manner in which he expressed this sentiment that is so offensive. When Presidents of the United States are making speeches, you do not rudely interrupt them with your opinions. They are

the ones speaking for your benefit (whether you like what they are saying or not) and any school of manners will testify to the extreme impoliteness of interrupting them.

President Obama, whether you like him or not, is the democratically elected leader of this country and therefore demands a certain amount of respect in public, especially from elected officials. Even when partisanship is at its worst, an elected official should still give a president the respect due to his office. What Representative Wilson did was reprehensible, regardless of his message, and it’s only right that he should be condemned for his actions. One hopes that, at least when the President of the United States has the floor, Congress could show some sense of decorum.

The second overlying problem with Wilson’s brief editorial was the message. Not only did it brand him as ignorant (for disputing what is literally in the language of the bill) but also a hypocrite. The healthcare reform bill has legislation in it that specifically forbids giving healthcare to illegal immigrants. One must wonder what Representative Wilson was looking for in order to make sure that his concerns were answered. The point which Wilson contested was already specifically addressed, which makes his actions even less tolerable.

However, there’s nothing less tolerant than hypocritical obnoxiousness. While he accused the President of falsehoods, he conveniently forgot to mention the myriad lies being purported by his own party. It’s not the fact that the healthcare bill is being bombarded

that is bothersome; this is a healthy part of democracy and a sign that even with a Democratic majority in every branch of government, there is still healthy debate over new legislation. It is when this debate devolves into lies and bitter accusations that the situation turns sour.

Take for example the absolutely ridiculous notion that this healthcare bill will somehow result in “government death panels” deciding who lives or dies. This idea is so outlandish that it would seem to speak against itself, but there are subtler lies which sway more sane constituents. For example, the idea that the healthcare bill will result in some rationing of healthcare or that it will result in a completely government run healthcare program (and here the magic word socialism appears). This accusation conveniently fails to note that the public option will provide rudimentary healthcare for those who simply can’t afford it.

Those more fortunate persons who wish for more comprehensive healthcare can keep their current plans. While the bill may force the insurance companies to lower rates to gain the lower class workers who shy over to the public option, this is healthy competition which will ensure that insurance remains affordable (and it will end the nightmare of being uninsured for forty-seven million people).

This is not even close to socialized healthcare, in which there would be no competition for the insurance companies.

Thus, the representative from South Carolina not only accuses the president without merit, but also conveniently glosses over his own party’s problem with telling the truth. It doesn’t help that his accusation is so utterly baseless and just another example of a groundless smear attack upon the healthcare bill. There are still some problems with the reform bill, and I agree with a few of the Republican contentions (especially about the lack of tort reform) but to express such asinine views in such a brusque and uncivil way belittles not only one’s self but one’s party and one’s political system as a whole.

Representative Wilson, please do everyone a favor; the next time you feel like castigating the president during one of his speeches without any foundation, start a blog and save us all the trouble.

The fine line between viral and vandalism WIGGIO (from p. 5)

our country been rendered numb, immune to the barrage of images fired at us each day? Are viral and stealth marketing efforts the only way to penetrate the consciousnesses of a deadened and stupefied youth?

This might be over-thinking the issue. Wiggio is a local (Cambridge) start-up company, and rumor has it that it was founded by a Brandeis student's relation. It's hardly an allconsuming corporate monolith like

MySpace or Google, at least not yet.

But it's disturbing that a company would resort to painting their logo all over our beautiful campus in order to generate hype. Excitement about new social networking tools generally spreads through social networks themselves, which is why you don't see paid ads for Facebook in your local newspaper. Wiggio’s forcing itself upon us hints that the company has been unable to generate sufficient interest through word-of-mouth, and has thus resorted to vandalism to

spread news of its existence.

It is up to us as Wiggio's targets to prove that their despicable, if clever, plot has failed. We must not respond to in-your-face ads, or they will continue to pop up. Instead, Wiggio must realize that there is a difference between buzz and hype.

Buzz is real and spontaneous, and it is the measure of true success. Hype is manufactured and imposed on us, and it is the mark of a company desperate to be liked but without anything to like about it.

Editor

Allow me to introduce you to Jane.

Jane is a victim of domestic violence. Not long ago, she was married to a physically abusive husband who made it his job to control every aspect of her life. He cut her off from her social circles and forced her to stay home like a “good housewife.” He became demanding, needy, at times deranged, giving her increasingly difficult orders to be carried out at once.

When Jane failed to do as he said, he beat her. Again and again.

For years Jane allowed herself to be convinced that this was all her fault; that somehow, she deserved to be punished. It is a mindset that too many victims fall into. But after several near-fatal beatings, she decided that she couldn’t take it anymore. She sought help from her family and the few friends she had left, and finally escaped from her marital prison. She was a lucky one.

Jane now lives with her sister in a small suburb just outside of a major American city. She has three part-time jobs at various small businesses downtown, and saves her money in the hope of someday getting her life back together. She is, in many ways, a success story.

Well, not quite.

Although she tries to hide it, Jane has painful shoulder and wrist injuries inflicted by her husband. Lately, they have made working increasingly difficult, and she worries that she may have to give up one of her jobs. And yet, Jane refuses to visit a doctor.

This is because she knows she could never afford medical attention.

Jane does not have health insurance. The state where she currently resides allows insurance companies to deny coverage to victims of domestic violence. This leaves Jane with two options. She can go into debt trying to cover uninsured medical bills, or she can grit her teeth and hope that her condition doesn’t get any worse.

Actually, Jane won’t have to choose either option because she isn’t a real person. But she might as well be. Her story represents the real-life struggles of Americans who have fallen victim not only to domestic violence, but also to one of the insurance industry’s most powerful weapons: denial due to a pre-existing condition.

The term “pre-existing condition” has been getting a lot of airtime lately, thanks to the never-ending healthcare debate and prominent politicians who have finally figured out that publicly criticizing health industry practices is a good way to gain votes in midterm elections. But the idea itself is nothing new. A pre-existing condition is defined as an illness or condition that a person has before their health coverage begins. Insurance companies try to exclude people with such conditions from their plans, because too often including such people costs these companies more than they are willing to pay.

Allow me to explain. For-profit insurance companies make their money through a complicated process that can be summed up rather simply in three words: spreading the risk. “Risk” refers to a customer who is likely to require the company to cover his/her medical bills—an elderly person, for example, or a cancer patient. Since paying for too many of these bills does not bode well for the insurance company’s finances, the company will try to “spread the risk” by insuring as many healthy individuals as possible while making it difficult for those who are unhealthy to receive benefits, all while charging hefty premiums.

Many conservative economists and free-market hawks refuse to believe that insurance companies are so picky. They argue that private companies have to compete with each other, and in doing so they must offer good, affordable plans to attract customers.

Sounds good to me, but unfortunately, the magic of competition doesn’t apply to today’s insurance market. As President Obama pointed out in his recent (rudely interrupted) address to Congress, many parts of the country experience health insurance monopolies. In 34 states, 5 or fewer companies control 75 percent of the insurance market. A particularly troubling example is that of Alabama, in which Blue Cross Blue Shield controls a jaw-dropping 90 percent of the market.

In this case, insurance companies don’t have to try to serve the customer. They only have to serve their own wallets. It’s in their best interests to deny coverage to expensive cancer patients, diabetics, arthritics, and yes, domestic violence victims.

Which brings us back to Jane’s story. In seven states (Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia, there is no law stopping insurance companies from denying coverage to someone like Jane. Think about the impact of this for a moment. It is especially detrimental to women, who statistically have a greater chance of being uninsured, and a far greater chance of being domestic violence victims. And on top of the victims who are being denied the coverage they seek, there are likely countless more who keep their abuse a secret, knowing that reporting the true cause of their injuries would mean losing the chance to affordably treat them.

Is this the country we live in? It reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw that protested the Bush Administration. It read: “If you aren’t appalled, then you haven’t been paying attention.” Those words still hold true today. The problems we face haven’t changed.

While Congress spends the next few months debating the finer points of the various healthcare proposals that have been brought forth, its members should stop talking about the evils of the insurance industry and start acting. We need a strong, permanent Federal ban on insurance companies denying care based on any pre-existing conditions.

It’s about time we learned to take care of those in need.

12 The Hoot

September 18, 2009

FEATURES Sillerman Center introduces competition to encourage philanthropy

BY CHRISSY CALLAHAN Editor

Sometimes the best ideas come to us when we’re in transit. At least, that was the case for Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management Lisa Lynch.

It all started about a year ago. Lynch was on a plane returning to Boston from a meeting in New York with the Sillerman family, the namesake of the Heller School’s Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy. During her flight, Lynch got to thinking about what kind of program would make the Sillermans proud while also advancing philanthropy on the Brandeis campus at the same time.

Back at Brandeis, she approached Claudia Jacobs ’70, director of capacity building for the Sillerman Center. True to one of Brandeis’ four pillars – social justice – the center’s mission is to support philanthropy that advances social justice. It does so through research, education and practice and leadership development, and serves as a resource for Heller graduate students.

With the Center’s mission in mind, Lynch told Jacobs about the MIT robotics prize – a competition for student inventors.

Such an event, Lynch thought, could be the perfect way to encourage Brandeis students to get interested in philanthropy.

In keeping with President Jehuda Reinharz’s recurring theme of the “connected university” and the Heller School’s motto of “knowledge advancing social justice,” Lynch and Jacobs developed a plan – the Sillerman Prize for Innovations in Philanthropy – that would unite members of the Brandeis community while also encouraging philanthropic action.

Participants in the Sillerman Prize competition must form mixed teams with a minimum of four members. At least two members must represent different sectors of Brandeis life, whether they be undergraduate students; graduate students from the International Business School, the Heller School of Social Policy and Management or the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; students from the Rabb School of Continuing Studies or the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or members of the Brandeis National Committee.

Teams will work together to create a five to eight page written plan that would advance philanthropy on college campuses.

The winning team will receive $5000 in prize money. The money is not meant to support actual implementation of the idea, Jacobs said. Rather, it’s simply a reward for the members of the winning team.

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

ADVANCING PHILANTHROPY: Sillerman Center Director of Capacity Building Claudia Jacobs ‘70 has developed The 2010 Campus Challenge to encourage Brandeis community members to put their minds together across age and program in order to develop innovative philanthropic strategies.

After all, Jacobs said, the competition is meant to be a fun way to spread excitement about philanthropy.

“Most people have heard about the community service movement and how that swept through campuses, and we want philanthropy to do the same,” she said.

The college environment certainly seems like the perfect place to do so, she said: “We really feel that it can [spread] because undergraduates and graduate students are sometimes at the place where they have the most idealism and [the majority of] their life [and] their careers before them, and so it’s a great place to develop philanthropic values.”

The Sillerman Center will host four workshops for members of the Brandeis community interested in joining or learning more about the competition. These workshops will also serve as opportunities for participants to meet other community members they might never interact with otherwise.

The first will be held Sept. 25 at 2:30 p.m. in Heller room 163.

Seeking out innovative ideas circulating among Brandesians serves as a way to

strengthen community bonds and form ideas, but it also serves as intellectual inspiration for the Sillerman Center, Jacobs said.

“It’s also from a place of humility too [because] we don’t have [all] the ideas,” she said. “There are so many fresh ideas that could percolate when people get together.”

BOLLI Director Sharon Sokoloff ’91 said she’s excited for the upcoming competition because intergenerational programs are one of BOLLI’s main focuses. “[This type of work is] very very important to us and we love it,” she said.

In addition to its involvement with the Sillerman Center, BOLLI has seven other intergenerational programs, Sokoloff said: “It is one of our program’s strategic priorities and has been [since the beginning of BOLLI].”

Having teams of both young and old members will help to strengthen each team’s ideas, Jacobs said: “It maximizes the integration of our campus and it gets people thinking about innovations that others might not have thought about before, and those that can be spread to other campuses.”

The Sillerman Prize is just one of many

manifestations of the Sillerman Center’s goals of advancing philanthropy, a goal they hope to spread to other colleges.

In addition to the Sillerman Prize Competition, the Sillerman Center is also seeking to spread philanthropic values in the classroom. Last year, Jacobs and Elenore Garton, a Ph.D. student at the Heller school, taught a graduate course at the Heller School where students distributed $40,000 to philanthropic causes. Garton plans on teaching a similar undergraduate course this spring.

This past summer, the Sillerman Center also brought faculty from 20 other colleges involved with similar classes to the Brandeis campus for a conference.

Just like the philanthropic movement is currently moving beyond the United States to include other countries worldwide, Jacobs hopes the Sillerman Prize will serve as inspiration for other schools to join in on the movement: “We really feel like it can even be [more] highly developed in the U.S., and where better to start than when people are impressionable?”

F E AT U R E S

September 18, 2009

The Hoot 13

Great Expectations New faculty member set to invigorate Arabic language program

BY ROBIN LICHTENSTEIN Staff

With a new curriculum and fresh faculty, the Arabic program is poised to become a star attraction at Brandeis.

The effort is being spearheaded by Senior Lecturer in Arabic Studies and Director of the Arabic Language Program Carl Sharif El-Togbui. El-Togbui joined the Brandeis faculty after spending five years as a preceptor of Arabic language at Harvard University.

He is currently in the last stages of completing his Ph.D. dissertation in Islamic studies, specializing in Islamic Thought and Islamic Law and Legal Theory, at McGill University in Montreal.

Though his current activities would suggest otherwise, you’d be wrong to assume that El-Tobgui knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“I wandered into teaching Arabic almost accidentally,” he said.

El-Togbui initially took up teaching in his first years as a graduate student to gain some experience in the classroom and earn some extra cash. A want ad for Harvard brought him back to the U.S. Now, El-Tobgui is enthusiastically taking on the challenge of bringing Brandeis’ Arabic program up to speed.

So far, among other efforts, he has up-

graded to a new textbook series for first part-time and one full-time faculty memyear Arabic students. Students currently in ber, but this year the program needed the higher-level classes will continue with the extra help to support the influx of enthusiold textbook series. astic first-year Arabic students. “[The new textbook] is very functional “I have been very impressed in general and communicative; very hands on...it’s with the quality of the students,” El-Tobgui very practical, not as theoretical,” El-Tobgui said. “I don’t feel like I’ve come to a place said of his reasons for making the switch. that is a whole different ball game. [There’s] “It’s much more visually appealing,” he add- a lot of enthusiasm among the students, ed. especially the Additionones who are have to do your work, already in ally, the new book is more but [El-Togbui is] really the program. technologiThey are cally savvy. It a wonderful professor…he saw I was thirsting for comes with a having a problem with something and a new direccomplimention.” tary set of he [reached] out to me. You can tell That new online activi- he’s really dedicated to his students. direction ties and both has come in DVD and authe form of, dio features, - Shirel Guez ’12 among other in addition things, extra to the tradiclass sections. tional written Two first-year drills found sections of in most language textbooks.

Arabic had to be created this semester – a The textbook isn’t the only change in the first for Brandeis – to accommodate the department; there are two new part-time 55 students who enrolled. Additionally, a lecturers, Ahmad Al-Jallad and Sherif Sha- 40-level class has been added to accommobaka. date students who want to study Arabic at a In past years there has only been one more advanced level.

You

ADVER TISEMENT

Looking to the future, El-Togbui hopes he can get an Arabic minor passed, and maybe even one day a major. El-Togbui eventually would like to approach Arabic language instruction from a broader Islamic studies perspective. “[I] have been able to use a clean slate [because] I don’t have anyone who was here before saying ‘No, we do it like this.’ It allows us to move forward,” El-Tobgui said.

Part of moving forward means increasing the pace and raising the expectations in Arabic classes.

Shirel Guez ’12, who is currently taking Arabic to fulfill the requirement for the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies major, can attest to the fast pace and difficulty of the language.

“It’s hard work. You have to do your work, but [El-Togbui is] really a wonderful professor…He saw I was having a problem with something and he [reached] out to me.

You can tell he’s really dedicated to his students,” she said.

Many of the newcomers were told to be wary of Arabic, Guez explained, but after the first class she was already confidently using a few phrases she had learned.

“I don’t feel uncomfortable making mistakes,” she said. “He tries to guide you in the right direction.”

14 The Hoot

September 18, 2009

SPORTS

Women’s soccer ties Springfield, shuts out Bridgewater State

BY HANNAH VICKERS Editor

After going into two overtimes against the Springfield College Pride last Saturday, the final score remained 0-0. The Judges also shut out Bridgewater State College at home on Tuesday with a 6-0 victory. The shutout against Springfield on Saturday was the 17th career shutout for goalkeeper Hillary Rosenzweig ’10, putting her just two shy of tying the school record.

Rosenzweig and Springfield’s goalie Hannah McDougle both ended the game with four saves. The teams were nearly evenly matched despite the fact that Springfield entered ranked 18th in the country for Division III soccer.

The best scoring opportunity for the Judges came just over 16 minutes into the game by forward Tiffany Pacheco ’11.

While Pacheco had an open net in front of her, her shot went just to the left of the post.

With fewer than 10 minutes remaining in regulation Springfield had a free kick, but was unable to translate it into a goal as the ball sailed over the top of the net.

The teams were forced into overtime. Despite the additional time, neither the Pride nor the Judges were able to get the ball into the net. Brandeis finished the game with a 16-14 shooting advantage, but those extra two shots proved meaningless. With the tie Springfield moved to 3-0-1.

The atmosphere at the Judge’s next game on Tuesday against Bridgewater State could not have been more different. Bridgewater managed only three shots on goal over the entire game while the Judges had 13, as well as six goals from five players and assists from four. Although Rosenzweig missed out on an opportunity for her 18th career shutout, she played the majority of the game and registered two saves before Elyse Phillips ’12 came in for the final 17 minutes and put up one save to earn the win.

The first goal of the game for the Judges came only eight minutes in. Melissa Gorenkoff ’10 put away her first goal of the

season off an assist by Pacheco. Pacheco put a long through ball that allowed Gorenkoff to be one-on-one against Alllison Dexter, the keeper for Bridgewater State.

Bridgewater attempted to respond within a minute with a shot on goal, but Rosenzweig blocked it. Pacheco put up the next goal of the game at just over 21 minutes in thanks to assists from Ali Theodore ’12 and Gorenkoff. Gorenkoff had a perfect corner kick that Theodore was able to tip to Pacheco for the goal.

Just over thirty seconds later the Judges put up yet another goal, this time by Sofia Vallone ’11. Gorenkoff passed the ball to Vallone who angled a beautiful shot right into the net. The fourth and final goal of the first half came with less than a minute left on the clock before the break. Ruth Orbach ’11 had her first goal on the season when she headed in a service shot by Stevie Phillis ’13.

The Judges added the final two goals of the game in the second half. The first came in the 56th minute when Pacheco recorded her second of the game off an assist by Theodore. The final goal came in the 73rd minute by Kelly Cozzens ’11 after the ball deflected off the Bridgewater keeper. After this sixth goal Rosenzweig came out of the game and handed over the final minutes to Phillips, who put up one stop in her time in the net.

With two assists in the game, Gorenkoff moved up the Brandeis all-time charts to tie for second place with 21 in her career.

She is just two behind first place. Pacheco also had an impressive game with a careerhigh five points, putting up two goals and an assist. Brandeis moved up to 3-1-1, including an undefeated 3-0 record at home, while Bridgewater fell to 1-2-1. The Judges played Roger Williams University on Thursday at 4 p.m., but the final score was not in before the paper went to press. Their next matchup will take place against Clark this Sunday Sept. 20 at noon.

PHOTO BY Andrew Rauner/The Hoot

HEADING OFF: Brandeis forward Kelly Cozzens ‘11 (No. 4, right), goes up for a header against Bridgewater State defender Christina Amaral (No. 8, left).

Men’s soccer loses to Clark on the road, drops home opener to WPI

BY HANNAH VICKERS Editor

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

NOSE DIVE: Brandeis Midfielder Sam Ocel ‘13 (No. 13, left) beats a WPI defender. Despite rookie Ocel’s swift moves, the Judges lost to Clark on the road, and lost their home opener against Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The men’s soccer team has not had as successful a week as they would have hoped.

On Sunday they lost to Clark University 2-1 in overtime while also dropping their home opener against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday 3-2.

The game against the Clark Cougars started off slow, with very little shooting and no scoring in the first half. Clark struck first, getting a goal in the 53rd minute of play. The Judges responded quickly, when forward Matt Peabody ’13 scored in the 71st minute to notch his first collegiate goal with an assist from Sam Ocel ’13.

Those two goals would be the only ones in regulation thanks to some great goalkeeping on both sides, including a save by the Judges’ Matt Lynch ’11 in the final minute of play. Despite the hard fought battle during regulation, the Judges were unable to hold on in overtime. The Cougars scored just six minutes in courtesy of Kyle Klapp ’11.

While the game against Clark was rather quiet with the exception of the three goals, there was significantly more action in the home opener against the WPI Engineers on Wednesday. The Judges dominated the first half, outshooting the Engineers 14-4.

Despite all the shooting attempts, Brandeis was only able to get one in the net in the 40th minute. Alexander Farr ’12 knocked in the only goal of the half thanks to an assist from Luke Teece ’12.

WPI came out fighting in the second half an their determination paid off. Engineer Tommy Zajac ’10 took a penalty kick in the 58th minute and put the ball past Lynch to tie the game 1-1. From that point on the Engineers tore the game open. Twenty minutes later Zajac registered his second goal of the game off another penalty kick to give WPI the lead, one which they would not relinquish for the rest of the match.

The eventual winning goal came just over two minute later by WPI’s Mike Ford ’11.

The second goal for the Judges came in the 86th minute. Lee Russo ’13 made a header off a pass by Kyle Gross ’11 to bring the game within one. Despite a push in the last minutes, Brandeis could not get another ball past WPI’s goalkeeper. The Judges had twice the number of shots as the Engineers in the game, outshooting the visitors 22-11, but they weren’t able to translate their shots into goals. With the loss Brandeis falls to 0-3-1 while WPI improves to 5-1-0.

The Judges will have a week to work on their strategies and make improvements before hosting MIT Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

SPORTS

September 18, 2009

The Hoot 15

Women’s volleyball plays home opener, splits matches

BY HANNAH VICKERS Editor

The Brandeis women’s volleyball team had their home opening tournament, the Brandeis Invitational last weekend and split their games on Friday, beating Rhode Island College in straight sets before faltering against Williams 3-1, and Saturday, falling to Tufts 3-0 before taking out Babson 3-0.

“This weekend’s tournament was a good test for us, as we had some of the top teams from our region competing in it,” said head coach Michelle Kim. The two teams the Judges were most interested in were Williams and Tufts, as they were ranked among the top teams in the region last year and had nearly all players returning this season. “Unfortunately, we did not have a good showing overall this weekend, and we need to work harder at practice to clean up some things,” Kim told The Hoot in an e-mail.

“But we’re looking forward to seeing them again later in the season.”

The Judges dominated their home opening game against Rhode Island College, taking them down 25-14, 25-12, 25-20.

Strong starts in all three games allowed them to make quick work of their opponent. Rookie Becca Fischer led Brandeis with a .538 percentage thanks to seven kills and no errors in 13 attempts, followed closely by Bridget McAllister ’10 who had only two errors in

25 attempts in addition to 14 kills for a .480 percentage in the game.

In the second game of the day against Williams, Brandeis won the first set 25-20 thanks to a 6-1 run at the end of the set started off by a kill by Paige Blasco ’11. The Judges were unable to maintain momentum from the first game against RIC. Williams fought hard to take the second set of the game 25-23 and won the next two 2514, 25-22. Nicole Smith ’11 put up an impressive .600 percentage, with only two errors in 20 attempts in addition to 14 kills, but it was not enough to carry Brandeis to victory.

The Judges dropped their first match Saturday against Tufts in straight sets, 27-25, 25-15, 25-18.

While Brandeis held a slim 2319 lead in the first set, Tufts was able to come back in the next to bring the score within one. Blasco registered a kill to bring it to set point with the score of 24-22, but Brandeis was unable to hold on when Tufts delivered kills on the next four out of five shots and finally took the set on an error

by Brandeis. Errors plagued the Judges in the second set, where Tufts was able to take the 25-15 win. Although Brandeis started off the third set with an 8-8 tie, their opponents went on an impressive run to claim the final set and eventually the game.

After their defeat in the morning, the Judges came back to defeat Babson 25-20, 25-9, 25-20.

Brandeis had 15 hitting errors in

PHOTO BY Lien Phung/The Hoot

SET, BUMP, SPIKE: Number 16 Nicole Smith ‘11 spikes the ball on her way to winning All-Tournament Honors.

the game, but were able to move past these mistakes thanks to numerous block and nine service aces. McAlister led the team with seven kills.

Despite splitting their games, the home opener did end on a high note for the Judges. Smith earned All-Tournament honors after putting up 27 kills and five errors on 50 attempts to bring her

Phil Kessel must make a contract decision

BY SARAH BLOOMBERG Staff

Now that the U.S Open is over, I am turning to a new sport, hockey. I know the season does not start for a few more weeks but I am already excited for two reasons. First I am from Minnesota, and second, I spent last year in a country where the only ice you will find is in a drink, and I wentthrough major hockey withdrawal. So this week I am going to talk about one player who has made much news so far in his short career here in Boston – Phil Kessel.

I first heard about Kessel my senior year in high school while he was playing for the Minnesota Gophers. At that point, he had already made a lot of news in the hockey world. He first skipped his senior year of high school to start college early and then decided to play for the Gophers instead of his hometown Wisconsin Badgers.

And then there is my personal favorite Kessel moment when he scored his first goal against the Badgers, in Madison, and he skates around the entire rink with his hand cupped to an ear listening to (OK, it was mocking) the crowd who booed him every time he touched the puck.

It took me that one moment to understand many scouts’ concern. Phil Kessel might have maturity issues. Kessel was supposed to be America’s answer to Sidney Crosby; there was a good chance that he could go number one in the 2006 NHL draft. Instead the St. Louis Blues number one

choice was future Gopher Erik Johnson, and Kessel was taken at number five by the Bruins. And then came the negotiations. Kessel did not want to return to the Gophers, and even though many thought that it would be good for his game to return to college and mature, Kessel decided to sign a three-year entry-level contract with the Bruins.

His rookie season was sadly most notable for his battle with testicular cancer. Kessel had surgery on Dec. 11, 2006 removing the tumor and was able to return to play on Jan. 9, 2007. I was actually at Kessel’s last game pre-surgery, a 5-1 loss against the New Jersey Devils, and my respect for Kessel grew because it takes courage to play a game with the knowledge that you have cancer.

Because of Kessel’s attitude and ability to come back and play after surgery he won the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy for the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the sport of hockey. He is the only rookie to have won the award.

The next two seasons Kessel’s play improved along with the play of the entire Bruins team. They capped off the 2008-2009 season by winning the NHL Eastern Conference and got to the conference semifinals before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Kessel had a career high of 60 points in 70 games during the regular season and scored 11 points in 11 games during the playoffs.

Bringing these stats into re-

stricted free agency, Kessel and the Bruins are not able to come to new contract terms. Kessel’s teammate David Krejci, with comparable stats, signed a contract for three years $11.25 million. It was expected that Kessel would sign a contract with similar terms. Kessel thinks he is worth more. He has held out on any offers and has claimed that he is done with negotiations with the Bruins. This does not mean there is no chance of Kessel putting on a Bruins jersey this season. As a restricted free agent, the Bruins have a chance to match any offer from another team. Although there have not been any offers, the Toronto Maple Leafs stoked the rumors when getting back their 2010 second-round draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks.

In order to sign Kessel, the Leafs needed their first, second, and third round picks to give to the Bruins as compensation. Currently the Leafs GM is said to have offered the Bruins two first-round and one second-round picks for the rights to Kessel. Nothing solid has come of any of the rumors.

Toronto is not the only team who would like to have Kessel on the roster. The Nashville Predators and the Minnesota Wild have also expressed interest in him, but the Maple Leafs is the definite frontrunner. Hopefully for all teams, the deal should be finalized by the end of the weekend or the middle of next week at the latest.

So although anything can happen, it looks like that days of Kessel in a Bruins jersey are numbered.

to a .440 hitting percentage.

With the results from this weekend, the Judges record moves up to 7-3, one that coach Kim is proud of. “We are off to a great start,” she said. “Our players have been working very hard at practices and we had a very productive pre-season, and it has paid off for us.”

The Judges played Thursday

at Endicott but the final score was not available before the paper went to print. They will face Tufts again Tuesday at home at 7 p.m. Kim remains optimistic about their chances this season. “[I] know that there’s still lots of work to be done. Our players know this...and they’re ready to work hard so that we can grow as a team.”

Golf team finishes third twice, has strong opening showing

BY HANNAH VICKERS Editor

The Brandeis men’s golf team played in two tournaments this week, the Bowdoin Invitational at the Brunswick Country Club in Brunswick, ME on Sunday and the Elms Invitational at the Chicopee Golf Club in Chicopee, MA on Tuesday. The Judges came in third out of nine teams at both events.

At the Bowdoin Invitational, Lee Bloom ’10 repeated his success from last year and shot the low round of the tournament with a two-under-par 70.

With this strong showing in the second round of play, Bloom finished in second place. His final score was 79-70-149 (+5), just three strokes behind Husson College’s Kevin Byrne.

To secure the third place finish, though, the Judges had to rely on more than just Bloom. Everyone on the Brandeis squad finished in 28th place or better.

Charles Sacks ’10 finished tied for ninth with 79-74-153 (+9) while Aaron Cusato ’12 tied for 22nd after shooting 85-75-161 (+19), an 11-stroke improvement from the first day to the second.

Scott Beaulac ’12 tied for 26th after going up three strokes on day two (80-83-163, +21) and Dan Goldsmith ’11 finished in 28th place after shaving 8 strokes off his second day score (86-78164, +22).

Overall Brandeis improved from day one to day two, taking 27 strokes off their second round score.

The second round score of 297 was the lowest on the day, beating out eventual first place finisher Husson by two strokes.

Their final score was 324-297631, finishing 13 strokes behind the second place St. Anselm, a Division II school, and 22 strokes shy of first.

At the Elms Invitational on Tuesday the Judges also came in third overall out of nine teams with a final score of 320 (+36).

That finish put them 10 strokes behind first place Nichols College and only one behind Franklin Pierce College, a Division II competitor.

Once again all of the Brandeis players finished below 30th. The top finisher for the Judges was Cusato whose 78 (+7) put him in a tie for sixth.

He was followed closely by Beaulac with a 79 (+8) who finished in a five-way tie for eigth.

Bloom shot an 80 (+9) for a tie for 13th while Goldsmith shot an 83 (+13) to secure a tie for 18th place.

Jerry Yu ’13, the fifth competitor, shot a 90 (+19) for a 29th place finish.

The Judges have some time off now, not playing again until Sept.

26 when they will attend the Duke Nelson Invitational at Middlebury, VT.

16 The Hoot

September 18, 2009

WEEKEND Spotlight on Boston

Sowa Open Market

The Free Tour of Boston

Saturday, Sept. 19, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

SOWA Open Market Have you ever shopped at an open market? Well you can this weekend at the Sowa open market where you can meet local artists at South End while the weather is still warm.

Sunday, Sept. 20, 10:30 a.m.

Government Center Plaza For a unique and cheap Boston experience go on a tour of 25 historical sites across 3 of the city's most historic districts.

What's going on at Brandeis?

Women's Rugby Game Wii Tournament Saturday, Sept. 19, 3 p.m.

Shapiro Campus Center

Sunday, Sept. 20, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Brandeis Univeristy Athletic Turf

Test your Wii skills this weekend at the Shapiro Campus center and try to win a prize!

Come with your friends to the Athletic Turf to see the impressive Brandeis Women's Rugby team play against Merrimack college.

Unless otherwise noted, photos are from Internet Source.

Waltham Farmers Market Saturday, Sept. 19, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Sovereign Bank parking lot Courtesy of Brandeis Athletics website

Hoot Comic Strips Stick Figure Dungeon

laughingwarlock

A Day at the Zoo

For some fresh produce come to the Waltham Farmers market. While you shop you can also hear Outrageous Fortune in a free concert.

Sleazy

By Matt Kupfer

By Xander Bernstein

By Ian Price

By Haley Baron

Ever drawn a caricature of your professor?

Can you draw and write comics?

Want to see your work in print?

E-mail sri@brandeis. edu