The Justice, December 6, 2016

ARTS Page 19

FORUM Reject toxic masculinity 11

THE NUTCRACKER

SPORTS Soccer season comes to an end 16 The Independent Student Newspaper

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Justice

Volume LXIX, Number 14

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Administration

UNDERSTAFFED AND OVERWORKED

Neustadt talks about branding in open meeting ■ In a presentation on

Thursday, marketing consultant Mark Neustadt broke down Brandeis' image.

By Abby patkin JUSTICE editor

In order to bolster revenue and attract a wider array of students, the University must position itself using its Jewish values rather than its Jewish roots, consultant Mark Neustadt asserted in a presentation on Thursday. Neustadt gave an identical presentation on Wednesday.

To gain insight into how Brandeis is perceived on campus and in the outside world, Neustadt, the principal of Neustadt Creative Marketing, has been interviewing the University’s constituencies since last spring, according to an April 15 email to the community

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

MAKING CHANGE: Sodexo employees complained that campus dining locations are understaffed, putting extra work on employees.

Sodexo workers deliver grievances to Allen ■ A group of Sodexo workers

and allies met with Sodexo General Manager Andy Allen to protest cuts to hours.

By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE Editor

A crowd of Sodexo employees and allies filed into Sodexo General Manager Andy Allen’s office last Tuesday to protest scheduling cuts and poor labor conditions. The workers delivered a petition from the Brandeis Labor Coalition, which called upon management to create more 40-hour union positions and increase staffing during the week.

The workers — many of whom were members of UNITE HERE!, which represents food service employees — demanded that Sodexo management act within a week to address the grievances.

One Currito worker told Allen that the lines in Upper Usdan had become longer, because all the dining locations are understaffed.

“Every day, I feel sad to come into work,” she said. “It’s a lot of work in

the morning for two people.”

Another worker chimed in, highlighting long lines at dining locations around campus: “Everywhere is so busy. Currito is busy, Sub Connection is busy, Louis’ is busy and Lower Usdan is busy,” she said. “Everywhere is so busy. It’s no reason to cut our hours.”

“No one cares about our breaks,” another added. “When we have to go to the bathroom, we have to wait.”

Others who spoke emphasized the toll that understaffing takes on employees, forcing them to do more work than they should. “Some days we work like slaves. We’re not slaves,” one worker told Allen.

Additionally, Sodexo management has relied on temporary employees and managers to do work that should be going to full-time workers, the group argued. “The point is, when we walk in the door and we see four managers and four employees, it feels wrong. In my personal opinion, we should have more workers,” one of the workers said.

“We are union workers. We expect to get the hours we deserve.”

“Nothing would make me happier than to hire more people,” Allen re-

from Provost Lisa Lynch. Neustadt also conducted two surveys of alumni and prospective students, according to a Wednesday email from University President Ronald Liebowitz.

“The goal of his project is to provide for us a snapshot of how Brandeis is perceived both here on campus and in the wider world, and how we might better communicate the university’s strengths, exceptional characteristics, history, and, down the road, our institution’s aspirations,” Liebowitz wrote in the email.

In his presentation, Neustadt stressed that his goal was not to make recommendations on the University’s values but to instead conduct marketing research and provide recommendations on marketing strategies. He added that the recommendations are geared toward generating revenue for the

See OPEN, 7 ☛

CAMPUS EVENT

sponded. “We don’t bring in temps unless we have to.”

As a result of cut hours, some employees have had to take on other jobs to make ends meet. “This is hurting my wallet just like everybody else. I had to pick up a parttime job now just to make up what you people are taking away from me,” said one of the employees.

“This has been going on a long time.

Am I frustrated? Yes, I’m frustrated.

I was hired as a 40-hour employee, and I should be getting 40 hours.”

At times, some workers also became frustrated, accusing Allen of not giving them answers.

“I’ve been taking input,” Allen replied. “The point here … is to get the information I need and get the management team together and figure [it] out.”

BLC members and students also had an opportunity to speak at the end of the meeting, pledging their support for the workers. “The Brandeis Labor Coalition is here,” said BLC member Aaron Goodwin ’18. “We’ve been keeping track of what Sodexo has been doing since they’ve been here. We’ve been talk-

See SODEXO, 7 ☛

Scholar looks at female scientists’ role in RNA splicing discovery ■ Pnina Abir-Am is conducting

a study into the lack of credit given to female scientists in the discovery of RNA splicing.

By MICHELLE DANG JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The 40th anniversary of the discovery of RNA splicing is set to be celebrated next year, and yet credit and recognition for this scientific breakthrough is rarely given to the actual scientists responsible for it, said Dr. Pnina G. Abir-Am at the Women’s Studies Research Center on Tuesday.

Biochemists Louise Chow and Susan Berget were both the first

authors of studies that contributed to the discovery of RNA splicing in 1977. Their discovery was rewarded with a Nobel Prize in 1993; however, the credit for the discovery was given not to Chow and Berget but to their lab directors — both men.

“These were women who [have been involved in] science since before 1972, so they are complete science devotees, as we say, because at that time nobody encouraged women to go into science,” said AbirAm, science historian and resident scholar of the WSRC. Some scientists, including James Watson — the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA — believe that the Nobel prize credit for the discovery should have gone in part to

See RNA, 7 ☛

Against Alzheimer's

Season Finale

Prince Turki

 Students to End Alzheimer's Disease hosted a coffeehouse to bring attention to stigmas surrounding aging.

 The women's soccer team lost to Washington University in an intense 2-1 battle for a spot in the championship game.

Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki spoke at the University on Nov. 22, detailing the Kingdom's place in a chaotic Middle East.

FEATURES 9

For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

Waltham, Mass.

Let your voice be heard!

Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org

INDEX

SPORTS 16

ARTS SPORTS

17 13

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3

COPYRIGHT 2016 FREE AT BRANDEIS.

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NEWS SENATE LOG

POLICE LOG

Senators recognize clubs and talk Midnight Buffet planning in the last meeting of the semester

Medical Emergency

The Senate convened on Sunday for the last meeting of the semester to discuss club recognition, the upcoming Midnight Buffet and dining options on campus.

The meeting kicked off with a review of the Biotechnology Club, which sought recognition. If recognized, representatives from the club said, they would provide opportunities for internships, career development and networking for students looking to get into the field. The club would also invite guest speakers from inside the industry to come speak at the University. After brief discussion, the Senate voted to recognize the club.

From there, the senators moved on to Brandeis Chak De, a co-ed Bollywood fusion dance team seeking recognition. If recognized, the dance team would be able to reserve space to practice and hold meetings, club representatives asserted. After a brief discussion the senators concluded that the club would need more space to practice and so warranted recognition.

With the two clubs recognized, the focus shifted to communications and executive officer reports.

Senators discussed their duties for the Midnight Buffet, a night of free food on the last day of classes that helps relieve student stress before finals. The event will be a celebration of the semester and a destresser, elaborated Student Union Vice President Paul Sindberg ’18 and Executive Senator Hannah Brown ’19, adding that this year’s buffet will be space-themed.

The conversation then shifted to the possibility of buses similar to the Turkey shuttles for Passover break, ethical guidelines for Student Union-funded service trips, the installation of more water fountains around campus and additional cleaning supplies in student kitchens. Some senators discussed the need for a task force to address flaws in campus infrastructure and facilities. Sindberg also reported that 80 percent of club leaders had received bystander training.

In committee chair reports, members of the Senate Dining Committee reiterated that Dunkin Donuts — previously located in the Village Quad — will move to Usdan in January, likely to replace Louis’ Deli. Louis’ will, in turn, replace the sushi vendor, though the sushi vendor’s final destination still needs to be decided, they said. Senators further noted the need to fill to the vacant retail space in the Village.

Nov. 21—University Police received a report of a party who was feeling faint in the Shapiro Campus Center. BEMCo staff responded and treated the party.

Nov. 26—Waltham Police advised University Police that they had received a 911 call from an Uber driver with an unconscious, intoxicated passenger at the Charles River Apartments.

University Police responded, and the party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance.

Nov. 28—University Police received a report of a party having a seizure in the Charles River Apartments. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care.

Nov. 28—University Police received a report of a party vomiting outside Usdan Student Center by the loading dock. BEMCo staff responded to the scene, and the party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance.

Nov. 28—A party in the Charles River Apartments reported that they had fallen off

a latrine, struck their head and started vomiting. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and the area coordinator on call was notified.

Nov. 30—University Police received a report of a party who got an unknown chemical on their hands. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via University Police cruiser.

Nov. 30—BEMCo staff contacted University Police to report that a party had been struck by a motor vehicle in the crosswalk on South Street leading to the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. University Police assisted BEMCo on the scene, and Waltham Police and the Waltham Fire Department responded. The party was transported to the Lahey Clinic via ambulance.

Dec. 1—A parent called to report that their child was suffering from a migraine at 567 South Street, requesting a medical evaluation. University Police and BEMCo responded to the scene, and the party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance.

Dec. 1—Staff at the Brandeis

Counseling Center requested assistance in a voluntary transport.

BCC staff prepared the paperwork, University Police assisted, and the party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance.

Dec. 1—A party at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center reported that they were suffering from an ankle injury. BEMCo staff treated the party, who was then transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital via University Police cruiser.

Dec. 2—A party in Ridgewood Quad reported that they were not feeling well. BEMCo staff treated the party with a signed refusal for further care.

Dec. 3—A party in the Foster Mods requested BEMCo assistance for a cold. Upon arrival, BEMCo staff requested an ambulance, and the party was transported to the hospital as a precaution due to difficulty breathing.

The area coordinator on call was notified.

Dec. 3—University Police received a report of a party with an injured ankle in Usen Hall.

BEMCo staff treated the party,

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n A News headline referred to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as the Rwandan Genocide, a term that is no longer widely used. (Nov. 8, pg. 5).

Justice

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The Justice Brandeis University Mailstop 214 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3750 The Managing Editor holds office hours on Mondays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 3—University Police observed via closed-circuit television a large group of people on the loading dock of the Rose Art Museum. University Police advised the group to move along, and the group cooperated. No further action was taken by University Police.

—Compiled by Abby Patkin.

Usen Castle listed as endangered MA landmark

The Justice will be on hiatus until next semester.

Happy holidays!

The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

Disturbance

BRIEF

SEOUL TO SOUL

—Peri Meyers

n In an editor’s note for the first installation of the Forum section’s “On the Issues,” the Justice defined “gun ownership” as the number of households that own guns and the number of adults that own guns, both of which have declined, according to NORC at the University of Chicago. Mark Gimelstein ’17, however, defined “gun ownership” as the number of guns in circulation, which has doubled, according to the Congressional Research Service and the National Institute of Justice. In the same installation, Gimelstein’s interpretation of “due process” differed from that of the Justice in its editor’s note.

(Nov. 9, pg. 3).

who was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital via University Police cruiser.

Dec. 4—A party in Ziv Quad requested BEMCo assistance for an intoxicated party who was unconscious and unresponsive. The party was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance for further care, and the area coordinator on call was notified.

Dec. 4—A party in Shapiro Residence Hall requested BEMCo assistance for an intoxicated party who was semi-conscious and alert. The party was uncooperative and refused medical treatment, and the area coordinator on call was requested.

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

Students united over food, music and discussion on Friday evening during “Seoul to Soul,” an event that was sponsored by the Brandeis Black Students Organization and the Brandeis Korean Students Association.

Usen Castle was named one of Massachusetts’ most endangered historic resources in an annual report from Preservation Massachusetts, the state’s historic preservation advocacy organization.

Built in 1928, the Castle is set to be demolished in the spring. Citing failing infrastructure, the University announced plans to tear down the majority of the Castle — save Towers A and B — in a January email to the community. Students living in the Castle are already in the process of being assigned alternate housing for next semester.

An October press release on the list from Preservation Massachusetts noted that the Castle’s architecture is a unique feature on campus and in the surrounding community. The press release argued that the architectural integrity of the remaining towers could be compromised in the demolition. The release also asserted that the future survival of the two towers is not guaranteed, as the University has not announced plans for the space.

“Usen Castle sits atop a hill at Brandeis University and has been a landmark since its founding,” Preservation Massachusetts President Jim Ingoe said in the press release. “In that time, it has become a landmark for residents and visitors alike. We hope that important conversations around the fate of the castle can be re-established to ensure that this certainly fascinating structure will continue to be a part of the Brandeis landscape.”

The annual list compiles historical sites from around Massachusetts that are most in danger of being torn down or compromised. According to the press release, the list serves to draw preservationists’ attention to these sites so that they may focus resources and attention on saving them. Other endangered sites on the 2016 list include Ladder Block in Downtown Boston, the Knox Automobile Factory in Springfield and Sea Captains Row in Hyannis.

—Abby Patkin

ANNOUNCEMENTS For the Love of Money

Dan Rabinowitz will present on the Strashun Library Settlement and its aftermath.

The Jewish Studies colloquium provides a critical forum for graduate students and faculty to present and discuss works in progress, thereby fostering an interdisciplinary intellectual community in all areas of modern Jewish studies. In each session, participants will discuss a paper presented by faculty or graduate students from Brandeis and other institutions.

Today from 12:20 to 2 p.m. in Lown 315.

The Immigrant Experience. Our Experience.

What’s it like for immigrants who live in Waltham? What’s it like for Brandeis students who work with them?

Join students in the practicum “The Immigrant Experience in Waltham” taught

by Marci McPhee, the director of campus

programs at the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life. Students will share what they learned from a semester working with Charles River Public Internet Center, Prospect Hill Community Center and the Waltham Family School.

Tomorrow from noon to 12:50 p.m. in the Hassenfeld Conference Center Lurias.

Apple Cider and Applications

Have you watched an information session, met with a study abroad advisor, and have an idea of where you would like to go abroad? If so, take a quick study break and join the Office of Study Abroad for apple cider and open your study abroad application.

Thursday, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Study Abroad office in Usdan Student Center.

Messiah Sing

Join the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and the University Chorus in the annual

community sing of Handel’s masterpiece.

Music scores and seasonal refreshments will be provided.

Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

Preparing for Winter Break: #HiattLive

#HiattLive is a series of live Facebook broadcasts hosted by the Hiatt Career Center career staff. Topics range from internship tips to job fair preparation and career-related game shows.

Aside from binging your favorite Netflix shows, there is a lot more to be done during winter break. Learn about the upcoming Career & Internship Connections Fairs, alumni networking nights in Washington, D.C. and New York City, and more.

Tune into the Hiatt Career Center’s Facebook page to watch the episode.

Wednesday, Dec. 14 from noon to 1 p.m. online.

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Saudi prince speaks on complexities of Kingdom’s role in the Middle East ■ Prince Turki Al-Faisal spoke

about his country’s complex culture and politics, fielding questions from the audience.

By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE editor

Saudi Arabia’s role in the Middle East is complex, made only more complicated by the Kingdom’s interactions with neighboring nations and its efforts to promote social reform within, Prince Turki Al-Faisal asserted in a discussion on Nov. 22.

Prince Turki, the former Saudi Ambassador to the United States and a member of the Saudi royal family, spoke briefly about the Kingdom’s relations with the United States, telling the audience that he has been following the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath. “I have described it as a huge Bollywood production on steroids,” he said. “There is much to learn from your democracy, but there is also much to regret.”

Prof. Shai Feldman (POL), the director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, which sponsored the event, asked Prince Turki how post-election tensions regarding Muslim Americans might affect Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States. “It’s still a question mark, and to try to speculate how a Trump presidency might handle these issues is perhaps premature,” Prince Turki replied.

Feldman also asked Prince Turki for his opinion on Trump’s statement that countries around the world benefitting from the United States’ security umbrella should contribute to defense funding. Prince Turki replied that Trump is, at heart, a businessman, and “businessmen look at financial records very closely.” However, he said, Trump will find that Saudi Arabia pays for all of its defense obligations and “has never been stingy about paying top dollar for American products.”

“It will be up to President Trump to

look at the figures as they are, and not as they are imagined to be,” he added.

Prince Turki also discussed Saudi Arabia’s role in the ongoing Syrian civil war, describing the conflict as “a blot on humanity and humanity’s conscience.” He noted that Saudi Arabia has taken in millions of Syrian refugees, allowing them to stay and work or leave the country whenever they want.

He also criticized Russia’s involvement in the conflict, saying, “To work with Russia is like abetting the murder against the victim.” He added that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is “the biggest terrorist of them all.”

In a question-and-answer session during the event, one attendee from Aleppo asked Prince Turki what tools Saudi Arabia could use to help the Syrian people. Prince Turki responded that Saudi Arabia hopes to have a permanent ceasefire in effect before going directly to the Syrian people to help them rebuild. However, he added, the process of bringing peace and stability back to Syria can only be successful if the parties involved “can sit at the table instead of throwing rocks at each other.”

Reflecting inwardly, Prince Turki also told the audience about some of the Kingdom’s political and economic reforms. Saudi Arabia has plans to establish two councils, he said: one on politics and foreign and security affairs, and the other on economic development. These councils should help meet political and economic needs in the Kingdom, he asserted.

An audience member asked Prince Turki about the social climate in Saudi Arabia, referring to recent social reforms as “democratization without liberation.”

Prince Turki responded that there are more civil societies lobbying for reform than ever before in the Kingdom, although he did note that these societies must receive government permission to operate. The reason for this policy, he explained, is to prevent groups from taking advantage of the

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

CHAOS AND CREATION: Prince Turki Al-Faisal (center) spoke about Saudi Arabia’s diplomacy and social reforms on Nov. 22. system to try to upset social harmony via anti-government work. “I think it is give-and-take on that issue,” he said.

Another audience member asked Prince Turki to clarify an earlier comment he made criticizing how the media operates in the Middle East.

“Who’s to decide what is a free press?”

Prince Turki responded. “There is nobody but the press itself.”

He added that there should be criteria for how a free press operates, not-

ing that he is uncomfortable with the idea of an unlicensed press.

Prince Turki expressed concerns that an unchecked press could print something damaging about someone that later turns out to be untrue. “Nobody is protected from the media, but the media is protected from everybody,” he said.

In an interview with the Justice, Feldman noted that while he has not heard directly from anyone upset

with Prince Turki’s visit, he would not be surprised if there were some controversy, given that Saudi Arabia is not a liberal democracy. However, he said, “We should keep our eyes and ears open to everybody and engage. I believe very strongly that everyone in the Middle East has different narratives on the situation.”

“It’s only a reflection of our commitment to hear every point of view,” Feldman said of the event.

CAMPUS EVENT

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Panel of scholars reflects on post-election future ■ A panel of local

professors gathered on Tuesday to discuss the 2016 presidential election.

By PERI MEYERS JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER

This year’s election cycle proved administratively unexciting despite intense rhetoric, said a panel of professors on Tuesday.

“We actually planned this before the election,” said Prof. Ryan LaRochelle (POL), opening the event. “It turned out more interesting than we thought,” he added.

One major controversy from this election has been the question of foul play and tampering, noted panelist Charles Stewart III, a professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Both sides of the aisle have brought up the specter of rigged elections, whether in the form of Russian hackers or illegal voters, he added.

For all of the high-intensity rhetoric, Stewart said, professional poll watchers consider this “the most uneventful election from an administration point of view in at least two decades.”

Kay Lehman Schlozman, a professor of political science at Boston College, agreed that “there was a lot that was pretty predictable” about the outcome. The “fundamentals” — that is, important factors

outside either candidate’s control, like presidential approval rating and the economy — suggested that things could go in Trump’s favor, she said. It also did not help that the Democratic party had held office for eight years; “open seat” elections like 2000, 2008 and now 2016 are hard for the incumbent party to win, she added.

However, the blame for these circumstances does not necessarily fall on the Democratic Party, according to David A. Hopkins, a professor of political science at Boston College. “The party can’t control the candidates,” he asserted, adding that the parties could not and should not be treated as mirror images of one another.

“It seems to us increasingly obvious that the two parties just work very differently,” said Hopkins. He said that the parties diverged on the “degree of rebellion against the elected leadership,” the “unique role of the conservative media” and the value of democratic standards.

On the last point, he cited the government shutdown, refusal to hold a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and the prevalence of voter ID laws in certain states.

“A lot of Trump and Trumpism is something that has quite a long history in the Republican party,” he added, asserting that while Republicans do well in elections, they do little to roll back government or

reverse cultural trends.

One student asked the panelists if there was a single point at which the Clinton campaign lost ground.

Hopkins replied that the party had gambled on the likelihood of Trump’s gaffes disqualifying him, taking themselves off-message in the process. “[Clinton] just wrote off going and campaigning in a lot of areas where there were white working class voters,” said Schlozman. In retrospect, Schlozman said she would have advised the Clinton campaign to “spend more time going to talk to ordinary people and showing them that [they] care about them.”

Additionally, the question of gender did not go undiscussed: Schlozman pointed out that there are fewer women in politics as one goes “up the federalism ladder,” with a lower proportion of women in executive positions than in legislatures. One student asked the panelists about the prospects for women in politics going forward.

Schlozman was sympathetic as she discussed the two dynamics at play. While the first major female presidential candidate had lost, she noted that it was far more shocking because the winner was “forgiven for at least discussing in a, quote, ‘locker room’ manner, stuff that can get you prosecuted.” She added, “To quote a former president, ‘I feel your pain.’”

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ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

BRIEF

University makes strides in campus diversity and inclusion, according to email The University released a progress report on its diversity and inclusion efforts on Nov. 18 in an email sent out to students, faculty and staff.

The email, which reflected on the improvements Brandeis has made on the issue over the past 12 months, was signed by University President Ron Liebowitz, Provost Lisa Lynch and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel.

The email noted the appointment of Mark Brimhall-Vargas as the University’s first chief diversity officer and mentions several methods Brandeis has used to foster more diversity and inclusivity awareness on campus and in classes. For example, three diversity trainings were held this semester, with over 120 faculty members and 200 staff members registered for at least one session.

In its aim to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty and staff, the University is seeking a tenure-line position in African-Anglophone literature and Kay Fellows in AsianAmerican Pacific Islander studies. All search committees in Arts and Sciences now include a diversity representative trained in acknowledging and understanding of implicit bias, the email noted.

The email also listed several more efforts the Univer-

sity has made in the past year regarding the admission and retention of underrepresented students of color, as well as the issue of addressing diversity, equity and inclusion in education. Additionally, the email detailed several additions to staffing and programming that will help “create inclusive communities that provide professional development and support for a more diverse community.”

The Heller School for Social Policy is searching to fill a new position of associate dean for diversity and inclusion, while the Gender and Sexuality Center has recently welcomed its new program coordinator Atticus Ranck, Liebowitz wrote.

The email further noted that a large donation will allow the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to expanding its Diversity, Excellence, and Inclusion Scholarship to include science students.

“We are grateful to the work of the faculty, staff, and students who devote themselves to making Brandeis a better place and a more inclusive community,” the email said. “We stand committed to diversity, transparency, accountability, and safety, and will continue to update the community about our progress.”

—Sabrina Sung

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

Jordan Mudd ’20 performed at the Brandeis Asian American Students Association’s winter coffeehouse on Thursday evening in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.

Student life

On-campus resources tackle finals stress

■ Around campus, programs

Do you have a nose for news?

and events aim to help students cope with stress from final exams.

By SPENCER TAFT JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Ask any student what the most miserable part of the year is, and the almost-universal answer will be finals week. The onslaught of upcoming tests and papers can loom overhead for many students, but organizations and departments across campus are offering a wide variety of programs and events to help students cope with stress.

The Peace Room Located on the first floor of the Usdan Student Center, the Peace Room is run by the Conflict and Coexistence Studies Department and offers a place for quiet escape and peaceful reflection. In particular, the Peace Room offers meditation every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. open to all students and staff.

Contact Abby Patkin at news@thejustice.org

The Arts According to a 2010 article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “there is evidence that art-based interventions are effective in reducing adverse physiological and psychological outcomes.” In other words, art can

help promote mental and physical health. The Rose Art Museum offers free admission to view its collections, and there is a free exhibition of student artwork at Spingold Theater through the end of the semester, allowing students to escape the library for some stress relief.

Alternatively, Pat Oleszko’s “Fool for Thought” performance at the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center began on Nov. 21 and will be running until March 3. The absurdity speaks for itself: the show combines humor and art, even featuring a woman dressed as an oil rig dancing with people dressed as polar bears. Oleszko “makes a spectacle of herself — and doesn’t mind if you laugh.

With elaborate handmade costumes and props, she utilizes the body as armature for ideas in an array of lampoons that call her audience to action. From the personal to the political, her performances and installations ceremoniously exorcise through humor,” an event page on the WSRC website reads. The performance starts at 9 a.m. on weekdays.

The Landmark Embassy Cinema off Moody Street also offers students a discount on movie tickets.

On campus, the South Asian Studies Department will be screening the Bollywood Comedy “3 Idiots” tomorrow evening to “allow students to relax before beginning to study for finals,” according to an entry on the Brandeis Events calendar.

Do you enjoy plays, music or movies?

Write for Arts!

Contact Lizzie Grossman at arts@thejustice.org

The Holidays With the winter holidays fast approaching, many events around campus are putting emphasis on the lighthearted spirit of the season in order to ease the stressful burden of finals.

Today, the Department of Student Activities will be having a holiday bazaar in the Shapiro Campus Center, giving students a chance to shop for holiday gifts and look at goods made and sold by local vendors.

On Friday, the Intercultural Center will sponsor “Holidaze,” an event that offers holiday foods, hot cocoa, and a chance to write holiday cards and learn about the dozens of holidays that take place around this time of year.

Additionally, many community advisors have offered residents resources and methods for coping with stress: one CA in Ziv even tacked a sheet of bubble wrap to the main bulletin board.

At the end of the day, though, the best method for coping with stress might be the most overlooked: sleep. “Pulling an all-nighter is liable to do more harm than good,” asserted a May 3 BrandeisNOW article. “Most animals, from flies to humans, have trouble remembering when sleep deprived, and studies have shown that sleep is critical in converting short-term into longterm memory, a process known as memory consolidation.”

let’s eat grandma Let’s eat, Grandma!

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THE JUSTICE

SODEXO: BLC argues for fair labor conditions CONTINUED FROM 1

ing with workers. We know that you’ve been consistently cutting hours, and that’s consistently been a problem since Sodexo came here.”

Allen reiterated his support for the workers, telling the crowd that he was interested in opening up a dialogue about past and ongoing Sodexo initiatives. “I chose to come

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BRAND(EIS) RECOGNITION

back because I like Brandeis [and] I like the coworkers, and if that’s [not] how I’ve been representing it … check me up,” said Allen, who returned to campus in January. “I have a deep, deep sense of caring for these employees. … That’s why I came back here — because I enjoy working with this team.”

—Max Moran contributed reporting.

RNA: Research group investigates memory of RNA discovery CONTINUED FROM 1 Chow and Berget, who both played crucial roles in the experiments’ designs, according to “Watson and Crick,” a book by Victor McElheny.

Still, this discovery’s credit disparity remains unresolved in the greater scientific community.

As a result, Abir-Am, alongside undergraduate student scholar partners Danielle Robbins ’17 and Jaime Korner ’17, has been researching the discovery’s credit disparity and the culture of gender bias in 1970s science labs by analyzing how Chow and Berget’s proper roles in the discovery are remembered by scientists today.

The team of three interviewed scientists at Brandeis as part of their investigation to analyze how the discovery is remembered by “pertinent scientists,” said AbirAm. Abir-Am’s motive for the study is in part due to the upcoming 40th

anniversary: “The reason I’m doing this now and not five years ago … [is that] recent anniversaries [are] a great opportunity for historical research — you don’t need to explain to scientists [why] we need to relook at the past,” she said.

RNA splicing is one of the most prominent molecular genetic discoveries of the 20th century, a discovery showing that genes do not translate as continuous strings but instead require “splicing” to aid the creation of mRNA molecules that are then translated and formed into the proteins found in living organisms.

Abir-Am and her student scholar partners have conducted interviews with several scientists involved in the original studies, as well as scientists from the Brandeis community.

The team now awaits contact with the studies’ co-authors across the U.S., France and Israel to further their ongoing research.

Want in on the action?

Join the Sports section!

Contact Jerry Miller

at sports@thejustice.org

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

MARKETING AN INSTITUTION: Consultant Mark Neustadt provided positioning recommendations to the University on Thursday.

OPEN: University should market its Jewish values, Neustadt recommends CONTINUED FROM 1 University so that it can be successful in accomplishing its initiatives and goals. “Institutions are businesses, so they need to be mindful of these things,” he said.

Neustadt split his research into quantitative and qualitative subgroupings, collecting data from alumni and prospective students.

His survey of alumni received 2,409 responses, while the prospective undergraduate survey garnered 1,244 responses. In his qualitative research, Neustadt heard from ten focus groups of current and prospective students segmented by region, program and admission status. He also spoke with nine focus groups of alumni — segmented by year, school and degree — as well as seven faculty focus groups and various administrators and trustees.

Of the alumni surveyed, Neustadt noted, 52 percent identified as Jewish, 12 percent identified as atheist, eight percent as Catholic, seven percent as agnostic and six percent as Protestant. Of that Jewish population, 58 percent identified as either Reform or Conservative. He added that the population of self-identifying Jewish alumni has decreased from 68 percent in the 1970s or earlier to 40 percent in the 2000s.

Moreover, only 36 percent of alumni surveyed are likely to promote the University, with 30 percent likely to dissuade people from attending and the remainder passive.

From these figures, Neustadt calculated a net promoter score of 6 percent, which he described as “woeful.” The average net promoter score for schools in the Neustadt Creative Marketing database — excluding Brandeis — is 54 percent,

he added.

There is also a concern among prospective students that the University is “too Jewish,” with no opportunity to get out of the “Jewish comfort zone.” Neustadt noted that Brandeis seems to be uncomfortable describing its Jewish identity.

Brandeis “can no longer behave like it’s a startup institution,” Neustadt asserted, urging the University to clarify its position.

In order to do so, the University must position itself not based on its Jewish heritage but based on its Jewish values, including its reverence for scholarship, cultivation of critical thinking and emphasis on social justice.

“The minute you do mention religion, it suppresses interest,” Neustadt said. “We’re trying to come up with an elevator speech that responds to audiences' priorities. …

A place saying they have values is a plus to both non-Jewish and Jewish students.”

“The awkwardness and the discomfort that this institution has had in talking about its Jewish dimension has been this huge impediment,” Neustadt continued.

“This is the question on everyone’s minds, and the discomfort or inability of the institution to answer it in a straightforward way leads to all kinds of misassumptions that it’s only for Jewish students.”

The University also struggles with its social scene; when graded socially by class year, only 41 percent of alumni from the 1980s gave the University an A- to A+ grade.

“Brandeis is not alone in being a place that ... is kind of lame,” Neustadt said, adding that Brandeis is a good fit for students “who do not want bro-y environments.”

“Try to recruit students who look like they will make a social contribution to the institution,” he ad-

vised, asserting that the University should “simply not concede that its social life is lame.”

Neustadt also emphasized that the University should clearly define itself as either a research university or a liberal arts college.

“Brandeis should stop talking about how it’s the best combination of a liberal arts college and a research university, because it’s really nothing like a New England liberal arts college — and in fact, there’s really little demand for New England liberal arts colleges,” Neustadt said, arguing that the University would be better off describing itself as a medium-sized research university in the Boston area.

In a question-and-answer session that followed, audience members had a chance to ask questions of Neustadt, Liebowitz and Lynch.

Tzlil Levy ’17 told the panel that she struggles to find a reason to give back to the school as she nears graduation, having dealt with overloaded faculty and inadequate buildings for the tuition she pays annually, she said.

Liebowitz replied that the administration is trying to address these problems, while Lynch encouraged Levy to reach out to her for help finding a faculty member with enough time to work with her on an independent study.

Another audience member asserted that the University has a community that extends beyond alumni to include Jews from around the world. “It’s kind of like if you grow up in Boston, the Red Sox is your team — if you grow up Jewish, Brandeis is your school,” he said.

—Editor’s note: Tzlil Levy ’17 is a staff writer for the Justice. Carmi Rothberg contributed reporting.

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features

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 ● Features ● The Justice

just

VERBATIM | UNKNOWN A day without sunshine is like night.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 1917, two ships collided in Nova Scotia, killing 1,600 people.

December 6 is unofficially celebrated as Microwave Oven Day.

BUILDING BUSINESSES: Students were tasked to create sustainable businesses aimed at helping refugees.

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

Social Justice Startups

Brandeis hosted the Hult Prize Competition

By KIRBY KOCHANOWSKI JUSTICE EDITOR

Though the official definition for refugee — “a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution” — encompasses 65 million people, the Hult Prize organization believes there are effectively many more.

In fact, including those under threat of relocation because of environmental factors, those displaced by political, social or economic crises and those living in illegal or informal settlements, the number is closer to a billion refugees.

Saturday morning, groups of students gathered in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management to share their business solutions for the refugee crisis.

They acted as part of the Hult Prize@ Brandeis, a competition dedicated to social justice entrepreneurship. The winner of the Brandeis competition will have the opportunity to compete in the regional Hult Prize competition in Boston. The Boston regional winner will compete against winners from San Francisco, São Paulo, London, Dubai and Shanghai.

This is the first year the Hult Prize has come Brandeis. Emily Nolan and Lena Muntemba, two of the campus organizers, discussed the competition in an email interview with the Justice. They explained, “A second-year Heller student who applied to compete in the Hult Prize last year applied to bring the competition to Brandeis’ campus. We were approved to hold a campus competition called Hult Prize@, and an organizing team of about 10 Heller students pulled together the competition in about 6 weeks.”

Bringing the Hult Prize to Brandeis was very important for both Nolan and Muntemba. “As students at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, we undoubtedly believe that there’s a pressing need for start-ups geared towards social justice. A large part of our drive to bring the Hult Prize to Brandeis is the fact that it’s a business case competition with the specific mission to address the world’s most pressing issues,” they said.

The topic for the challenge this year was very fitting concerning recent events.

The 2017 Challenge — Reawakening Human Potential — challenged participants to build sustainable startup enterprises that will restore the rights and dignities of refugees. 10 teams competed in the Brandeis competition. Carole

Carlson, the director of the Heller MBA program, stressed that the competition was less about winners and losers than about exposing the individuals competing to other ideas, so that even if their idea for this competition didn’t end up being successful, their next idea might come forward and change the world.

Carlson also stressed that if students have an idea, they should start in her office first.

Nolan and Muntemba saw the competition as an important step for Brandeis in terms of social justice and entrepreneurship.

“It is very important for Brandeis to offer platforms for entrepreneurship. As the Hult Prize@ Brandeis organizers, it was easy for us to find on-campus partners for this event because I think that many people and centers at Brandeis acknowledge this,” they said. “We had support from the Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center, the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship at IBS, the MBA program at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, the Hiatt Career Center, the Heller Career Center and Heller Admissions, as well as student working groups including Net Impact’s Heller chapter and the Heller Consulting Group.”

Teams competing offered ideas ranging from refugee-owned mutual funds to organic pickling companies.

Many utilized online platforms and apps to gain access to a broader network of resources.

The winning team was Gray Collar Virtual Job Training. The team “uses virtual reality to teach mid-range skills for electrical work, plumbing, car repair and more,” Nolan and Muntemba explained.

“Either through videos that anyone can access on their mobile devices, or by using installations that combine virtual reality with real world objects, Gray Collar trains refugees across the world to help them acclimate into communities where these skills are always needed.

The judges felt that Gray Collar’s mission is both feasible and successful in restoring dignity to refugees of varying backgrounds.”

As part of their prize, the winning team had been given a spot in the Hassenfeld Center’s Lean Launchpad Program, three mentoring sessions and placement into the Spark program finalist pitches.

Already, Nolan and Mutemba are looking forward to next year’s competition.

“We’re excited to see what next year’s issue is. In the meantime, we’re even more excited to support the team representing Brandeis at the Hult regional competition in Boston this spring!”

EAGER ENTREPRENEURS: Teams of students watched each other’s presentations.

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS: Teams presented their ideas in front of a panel of judges and their peers.

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

the justice ● Features ● TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016

ACAPELLA AND AGING: Too Cheap for Instruments, alongside other acapella groups, sang songs representative of the night’s theme of aging.

AARON BIRNBAUM/the Justice

Coffeehouse for a Cause Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease brings awarenness to aging

By LEV BROWN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Aging is a topic of growing importance. In current society, ageism is rarely discussed in relation to prejudice. Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease helped to address the lacking presence of this issue in society and provide a better understanding of the stigma regarding aging at their coffeehouse held last Thursday at Cholmondeley’s Coffee House.

The event, organized by co presidents Leah Levine ’17 and Sarah Lipitz ’17, featured several speakers who discussed their connection to growing older as well as many performers who shared their talent in ways that connected to the theme of aging.

SEAD is a club that works to aid in the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association through community service, increasing awareness and discussing research related to Alzheimer’s disease. This coffeehouse was their largest event of the semester and mainly focused on aging and the stigma that surrounds it.

The evening began with an introductory welcome given by Levine, who discussed the purpose in leading the event, as well as the overall goals of the club. She began by stating, “Our goal for tonight is to provide an introduction to what we do as a club, what aging is and why we should be talking about it.” She then continued to explain her own experience with Alzheimer’s disease: “My personal interest in the topic began when I was younger. My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and since then, in high school and college, I have been volunteering with older adults with and without the disease.” She strongly believes that older individuals have “been marginalized in a society that focuses so strongly on youthfulness and economic productivity.” Her plan was for this night to be a way of providing awareness for these issues.

SEAD began by showing a short video about age and how students and faculty on campus feel and think about it. Respondents were asked, “How do you feel about getting older?” Some answers were as simple as “ner-

vous” or “excited,” while other Brandeisians went into great depth about the excitement and fear they experience about growing older. To most, however, the response was simple: “Age just isn’t on my mind.”

Following this video was student-led acappella group Company B, which only performs music 25 or more years old. Their performance was a unique way of getting the audience accustomed to the beauty that can come from older culture.

False Advertising, a long-form musical-improvisation acting group, then performed a set to follow Company B. The group’s performance used comedy to demonstrate the true harms of ageism and why it makes little sense to discredit elder citizens of society. False Advertising is also the oldest improvisation comedy group at Brandeis, which aimed to fit the night’s theme.

In addition to these performances, several student speakers told their own stories about the positive impact older people have had on their lives. One of them was a young writer, who currently is in the process of writing a book about her relationship with her grandmother.

This book focuses on the theme of passing down wisdom from one generation to the next.

At the coffeehouse, she read aloud a prelude to this book.

In poetic language, she discussed the lessons of wisdom that her grandmother has taught her. One example of a lesson she has learned is that “it’s easy to change ourselves and our minds to think that we are more important than someone else.”

Additionally, she stated that her grandmother’s long life has taught her that “change is always necessary. Don’t allow negative things to be passed down from generation to generation.”

In addition to these performances, other individuals shared their art, including a barbershop quartet, as well as another a capella group. In addition, more students gave written speeches about the relevance of older individuals in their lives. Perhaps most notable was Dean of Students Jamele Adams, who delivered a slam poem about age.

Adams, who is well known around campus for his empowering slam poetry, contributed yet again to student events by reading his original poem written about ageism and the true beauty of growing older.

“The more days you’re on earth,” said Adams, “should not decrease your worth.” He argued, “The older you get, the closer you get to angels … Love is ageless hyperactivity!” He finished off his poem by pleading for society to “Treat people right!

Gray hairs come in the night, because age is love reflecting life’s light.” With these words, Adams created an entire poem that capitalized on the beauty rather than the danger that is growing older.

Overall, the night seemed to be a successful articulation of the true tragedy that age differences create between the young and elderly citizens in our society.

In an interview with the Justice, Levine discussed the club and her involvement as well the coffeehouse as a whole. She went into great depth about her investment in the club’s work as well as her own investment in advocating for Alzheimer’s.

Levine, who is double majoring in Health: Science, Society and Policy and Psychology, plans to work on “outreach and advocacy” for Alzheimer’s disease after college. Levine says, the club was founded for “research focused and community service oriented students” who were interested in the disease. Prior to SEAD’s founding, “there wasn’t really anything related to Alzheimer’s on campus.” Levine currently interns at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she works on Alzheimer’s disease outreach. She hopes to continue with this work after graduation.

Levine went on to explain that the club has not had an extremely large presence on campus, so this coffeehouse was meant to bring people’s attention to the important issue of memory loss and old age.

Thanks to the coffeehouse, the many students who were in attendance now have the opportunity to stand up and get involved with SEAD or simply take any action they can in the fight against ageism.

AARON BIRNBAUM/the Justice

WISE WORDS: Dean of Students Jamele Adams presented a slam poem about his thoughts on aging.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

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10 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice Established 1949

Brandeis University

Carmi Rothberg, Editor in Chief Mihir Khanna, Managing Editor Max Moran, Senior Editor Morgan Brill, Deputy Editor Jessica Goldstein and Noah Hessdorf, Associate Editors Abby Patkin, News Editor, Kirby Kochanowski, Features Editor Amber Miles, Forum Editor, Jerry Miller, Sports Editor Lizzie Grossman, Arts Editor Natalia Wiater, Acting Photography Editor Mira Mellman, Layout Editor Pamela Klahr and Robbie Lurie, Ads Editors Rachel Sharer, Online Editor, Sabrina Sung, Copy Editor

EDITORIALS Appreciate Liebowitz’s early successes At the start of this semester, this board issued President Ronald Liebowitz a challenge. We called on him to avoid “the trope of the dispassionate establishment leader,” in an Aug. 30 editorial, and asked him to communicate clear stances on a number of issues for the University community to really learn who their new president was.

Now that Liebowitz has helmed the University for a semester, it’s time to give credit where it is due. This board applauds Liebowitz’s unflinching dive into establishing a path for Brandeis’ future and his emphasis on transparent communication throughout the process.

In the course of four months, Liebowitz has shared more information with students about administrative plans and priorities than his predecessor, Frederick Lawrence, would in a full semester. Liebowitz articulated at his inauguration that he believes the University’s “startup phase is over,” and that his job is to lay a sustainable groundwork for Brandeis’ future, economically and pedagogically. To accomplish this, he’s commissioned, completed and shared two frank assessments of the University’s spending and marketing strategies, as well as provided regular and detailed summaries of Board of Trustees meetings.

It’s no surprise that Liebowitz leaps naturally into the business end of the presidency, coming as he does from years of management at Middlebury College.

What is surprising and welcome are his communication skills. The Brandeis community loves to criticize and freely debate its own future, and providing open information about the administration’s own priorities allows

Encourage further action all community members to enter this civil discourse with thorough and established facts.

Moreover, Liebowitz has centralized diversity and inclusion initiatives in both his vision of the University’s future and his actions in the present.

He’s followed through on post-Ford Hall 2015 initiatives, like hiring a Chief Diversity Officer and providing regular updates on diversity and inclusion, and spoke eloquently when he said at his inauguration, “We should agree that 21st century Brandeis is a richer and more effective educational environment for students when it includes and successfully brings together in discussion, debate and learning students with different life experiences, perspectives and world views.”

However, in two areas, Liebowitz remains evasive. In our Aug. 30 editorial, we called on Liebowitz to clearly state whether he plans to reestablish the University’s partnership with Al-Quds University or to divest the University’s endowment from fossil fuels. The semester has seen fewer pavement-pounders than past years on both of these issues, but diminished public activism is no excuse for shuffling two moral questions under the rug. As Liebowitz calls for renewed University partnership with the state of Israel in his inauguration and warns about the University’s unsustainable revenue model, clearly stating University policy on these two topics becomes all the more crucial.

This board believes the community deserves answers on these issues, even as we commend Liebowitz’s strong first semester.

Praise Brandeis participation in Hult Prize On Saturday, Brandeis participated in the first year of Hult Prize@, a more local division of the larger Hult Prize competition. This year’s topic focuses on refugee resettlement.

As a not-for-profit organization, the Hult Prize Foundation seeks to encourage young social entrepreneurs to address the world’s problems.

According to the Hult Prize’s website, the program’s goal this year is to “focus on restoring the rights and dignity of people and societies who may be, or are forced into motion due to social injustices, politics, economic pressures, climate change and war.”

This board applauds Brandeis for its participation in the Hult Prize, which gives students the opportunity to gain resources to be competitive at the subsequent regional competition.

This year’s topic, refugee resettlement, is especially relevant and critical at this time. According to a study by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, an estimated 470,000 have been killed in the five-year conflict. Another 11 million have either been internally displaced or have become refugees, according to Mercy Corps. The ongoing crisis continues to threaten lives every day,

Applaud innovative efforts all while widespread xenophobia makes resolving the refugee crisis and the ongoing plight of Syrian civilians more difficult. Any programs encouraging help for those affected should be praised, but the Hult Prize is especially admirable for its attempt to solve a worthy issue through more creative methods. By encouraging its students to participate in a refugee resettlement project, Brandeis is joining a larger dialogue those in the international community engage in, and by doing so through the Hult Prize, students have the opportunity to enact important social change in original ways.

Combining the ideals of social justice with the spirit of entrepreneurship, the Hult Prize encourages undergraduate and graduate students to commit to not just providing aid but rather creating innovative solutions for one of the toughest problems faced by the modern world.

Brandeis already has entrepreneurial opportunities for community members such as LeanLaunch Pad and the SPARK Program, and the Hult Prize is a welcome addition.

JULIANNA SCIONTI/the Justice

Views the News on

Cuba held a two-day memorial on Monday and Tuesday for Fidel Castro, who led the country for 49 years before officially ceding power to his younger brother, President Raúl Castro, in 2008. While some world leaders and Cubans criticize the elder Castro for risking nuclear conflicts and treating his people — especially dissidents — harshly, others praise his revolutionary policies, particularly those involving healthcare and education. What do you think of Castro, and how do you think his death will impact the future of Cuba?

Prof. Faith Smith (AAAS) When Columbians rejected a peace-keeping referendum last month, the news that it had been carefully hammered out in Cuba for the past five years was a reminder of Cuba’s mediating presence in the region. Cuban doctors supplemented the Jamaican health care system of my youth, and some Jamaican doctors studied in Cuba. These are the quieter, quotidian aspects of the extraordinary Cuban experiment that began in 1959. Its insistence that everyone deserves food, housing, education, medical care and training in the arts continues to elude US and Caribbean projects of emancipation. I hear in the condemnation of Castro mainly this: Cuba failed to behave like other Caribbean territories in what Ronald Reagan termed America’s “backyard,” as orderly havens for tourists and offshore banking. If the social change envisioned by Castro’s generation became outmoded, we must figure out how to make its best elements workable for the many, rather than the few.

Prof. Faith Smith (AAAS) is an Associate Professor of African and AfroAmerican Studies and English. She also teaches in Latin American and Latino Studies.

Prof. Brian Fried (POL) Castro has long been an iconic figure, respected — and even revered — for leading a revolution against a corrupt and oppressive regime and his resistance to U.S. influence, both domestically and internationally. Under his tutelage, Cuba made huge strides in combatting poverty and illiteracy and providing quality healthcare to all. However, this progress came at a price: economic gains depended on subsidies from foreign powers; central planning did not yield prosperity. Furthermore, Castro’s regime imprisoned and killed thousands that it deemed threatening. After decades under Castro, change is unlikely to come quickly. Most Cubans have no memory of anything different. Brandeis has students whose families were political and economic refugees from Cuba, and many continue to flee the country in an effort to attain greater freedom. Those who remain presumably would like to gain the freedoms and opportunities available in more open societies without giving up the gains made in past decades.

Prof. Brian Fried (POL) is a Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Comparative Politics of the Developing World. He also teaches in Latin American and Latino Studies.

Prof. Cristina Espinosa (Heller) Castro gave hope to those fighting oppression and injustice. The fall of bloody Batista to Castro’s guerrilla was supported by a broad coalition of workers and teacher unions, Catholic youth and workers’ organizations, priests and nuns, small business and farmers and lower ranks of the police and army. The myopic hostility of the USA turned Cuba to the URSS and into a more ideological and party-controlled process, where state repression was complemented by “grassroots repression” through the Neighborhood Committees’ reporting of anti-revolutionary behavior or attitudes of common citizens. Paranoia and repression were hard to ignore or support, and they tarnished the amazing accomplishments in the fields of medicine and health services, education, land reform, redistribution of wealth and urban agriculture. Cuban people managed to survive 50 years of embargo with remarkable ingenuity, creativity and pride. The fall of the URSS forced some opening of the economy since 1990, and the blooming of tourism has already spread inequalities, in a country where a well-trained scientist can now make more money catering to tourists. Castro’s death might facilitate inevitable further opening. I hope the spirit of the Cuban Revolution will respond to this challenge.

Prof. Cristina Espinosa (Heller) is an Associate Professor in Gender, Culture and Development at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Jessica Goldstein ’17 Cuba would never have reached the state it is today had it not been for the revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. While his revolutionary policies may have stood ahead of others and upended the Cuban political status quo, revolutionary policies do not excuse a record that consistently fails human rights. While in office, Castro sought to stamp out any semblance of dissidence. This lack of political freedom soon led to a lack of human rights. According to a Nov. 26 Human Rights Watch article, in 2003, the Cuban government infamously cracked down on human rights activists, journalists and others critical of the government. In fact, the same lack of freedom barred rights groups and intergovernmental organizations from monitoring the country’s practices. Although Castro no longer remains in power, his legacy persists. In order to reach a Cuba that upholds human rights, we must look beyond Castro’s Cuba and move away from his repressive policies.

Jessica Goldstein ’17 is the president of STAND on campus and a Politics major. She is also an associate editor for the Justice.

THE JUSTICE ● fORUM ● TUESDAY, december 6, 2016

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Recognize toxic masculinity’s negative effects on men

By Tafara gava JUSTICE contributing writer

What really makes Donald Trump’s impending presidential term so grave a prospect? It is that for many groups in America — and the world at large — the man is the common villain in most of their narratives.

For individuals whose gender or sexuality does not conform to traditional, heteronormative standards, Trump represents that father or uncle they just found it so difficult to come out to, for fear of being disowned. For working women, Trump is that boss who would slap their backsides or call them “sweetheart,” despite being in a patently formal office space and lacking the women’s consent. For people of color, he is that white man subsumed in so much privilege that the idea of racism — let alone him being racist — is laughable. All of these people are fearful, because America has given the most unstable and unknowing of their antagonists the most important office in the country and, arguably, the world.

However, when people think that Trump and white men — particularly straight, cisgender men of Christian and upper- or middle-class backgrounds — will come out of the next four years somewhat unscathed, they should think otherwise. Because Trump and the other individuals reported to be in his administration exhibit aspects of toxic masculinity, they are likely to also be victims of this destructive social construct.

The term “toxic masculinity” first appeared in the mid 1990s men’s movements and literature aimed to help boys and men overcome negative aspects of traditional masculinity. In social psychology, toxic masculinity is the harmful behavior and practices that are traditionally associated with men. From a very young age, men are encouraged to adopt traits like aggression, competitiveness and dominance.

From history to popular culture, society has glorified the idea of a rugged, apathetic, violent and virile man. This is seen in popular films like “Fight Club” or “The Fast and Furious.” As renowned feminist scholar Judith Butler posits, gender is not real: It is imagined. Thus, Trump’s ideal concept of a man is not only difficult to attain but also unrealistic. One example of toxic masculinity exhibited in Trump’s campaign and future administration is the aggression of his rhetoric. Trump takes hostile and violent stances on various minority groups in America. During his campaign, he described Mexicans as “rapists” and Muslims as “terrorists.” In a 1991 study conducted on Latin American men, Ingoldsby Bron, a child and family development doctor, uses the term ‘‘machismo’’ to describe this aggression together with other sets of characteristics

exhibited in toxic masculinity. Bron noted that aggression in his subjects was a mechanism to cope with inferiority complexes. As such, it could mean that Trump’s aggression is a manifestation of an inferiority complex, and that such a defense mechanism is deterring him from appropriately dealing with feeling vulnerable or incomplete. Hiding behind a veneer of hate, he may be overcompensating for what he lacks, and this has clearly divided him from the people he is going to lead. If he continues to endorse toxic masculinity in his presidency, he will have to live with half of his constituency abhorring him.

A competitive attitude and desperation to win can also show a tendency toward toxic masculinity. From his obsessive talk of “winners” and “losers” to his unwarranted insistence that he only lost the popular vote as a result of illegal voting, Trump perfectly embodies this aspect of toxic masculinity.

Trump’s philosophy on winning does not only stem from his background in high-stakes business. It comes from the idea that it is not enough for a man to be good at what he does: He should always be the best. It is an idea that is substantiated by research conducted for the MenEngage Alliance advocacy brochure “Sports and the Making of Men: Transforming Gender Norms on the Playing Field.” In this publication, sociologists, with the aid of major sport scholars, theorized how the over-competitive and violent behaviour of men in sports is an effect of the aggressive competitiveness that is an aspect of toxic masculinity. Just as in sports games, toxic masculinity makes everyone a player, life a game. This results in a clear binary of winner and losers. Boys are taught that for them to succeed, someone else has to fail. For men like Trump who adhere to this value, life is reduced to a series of challenges which they must ultimately win to prove their masculinity.

American writer and human behavior educator Alfie Kohn writes that, in being aggressively competitive, one’s character is not built as much society thinks. In a September 1987 piece, she posits that “competition is to self-esteem as sugar is to teeth.” Thus, in men like Trump dividing everyone they meet into winners or losers and turning everything into a competition, they are unnecessarily creating animosity between others and themselves in the pursuit of an ideal that does nothing to give worth to their character. It also means that losses and setbacks, inevitable parts of any presidential term, do not become the lessons or teachers of experience that they really are. Because everything is a game and losses equate one to a loser, the slightest failure for Trump may wreck him personally — which would be destructive to not only him but also the larger country.

The president-elect also exhibits the idea

JULIANNA SCIONTI/the Justice

that a man does not admit to being wrong.

Despite the vast plethora of convincing evidence gathered by scientists on the reality of climate change, Trump remains an unwavering climate-change denier, refusing to admit that he may be wrong.

Men knowing more than other individuals around them, the idea that they must be infallible is an idea discussed in sociology. In this discipline, knowledge is equal to power.

American sociologist Henry Rubin theorizes that knowledge is an indicator of masculinity in a similar way to how physical activity or having multiple sexual partners is. Just as a man’s worth is measured by the degree of his dominance, a man’s worth is also measured by how much he knows about certain fields.

For example, society largely expects men to know about machinery in general and how it functions, leading to the expectation that all men should be able to fix cars.

It is true that Trump’s belief that climatechange is a hoax is illusory. Not wanting to admit he may be wrong narrows his world a lot. Where he could be open to perspectives different from his own, thus gaining a lot

in learning about them, he is content with only his opinion. Toxic masculinity narrows understanding.

Perhaps the saddest thing about toxic masculinity is that it has seeped into the consciousness of many men so much that they cannot separate it from themselves. Where it should be viewed as a social construct that should be fought against just like homophobia, its victims have internalized it so much it is hard for them to imagine themselves without it. Beyond that, many men have never heard of it while others think it is merely radical feminist propaganda.

A man’s worth should not be judged by his physical abilities, virility, lack of emotion or knowledge. In an ideal world, specifically cisgendered men are conscious of the fact that being a man simply means that one has a penis between their legs. It does not mean they are any stronger, wiser or more successful.

Trump has perpetuated toxic masculinity, and because of its pernicious effects, Trump’s victory puts everyone at risk — including Trump himself. He is both villain and victim in his own story.

Advance social progression through discourse and advocacy Max MORAN

junkie — more conscientious, more political and feeling more and more that what I need to do with my education is fight, in some capacity, to undo the social effects of this November.

“

THE BOTTOM BUNK

The world seemed headed on a very different path in August 2013, when I first entered Brandeis University. Barack Obama was in his fifth year in the White House, Edward Snowden had just become a household name, Ted Cruz was an ascendant standard-bearer and Nate Silver was an unbeatable pollwatching god.

Almost four years later, as I prepare to leave this campus, the Grand Old Party controls the government, led by a petty and vindictive crypto-fascist who scammed his way to the nuclear codes. His election has normalized bigotry and hatred in a way many thought impossible in this country just 18 months ago.

Far from steadily marching toward a more socially just country, the whole planet seems to be taking tremendous leaps backward toward isolation, prejudice, fear-mongering and cruelty. On my first day at Brandeis, I was a theater-kid fireworks display of hope and positivity. Nowadays, I am a cynical news

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We must show that social justice is not the restriction of speech but rather the embrace of it from all kinds of people.

So as the American Left gears up for four challenging and defining years, I am more thankful than ever to have spent my last four years at Brandeis. This school is a perfect storm of free debate and critical thinking, of social activism and of constant self-evaluation.

Students march by the hundreds in solidarity with Mizzou protesters, speaking eloquently about issues specific to that campus. Then, weeks later, they turn around and occupy one of our own administrative buildings for 12 days to demand justice for our own treatment of the Black community. We vocally oppose an Islamophobe from receiving an honorary degree but gladly host hard right-winger Ben

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Shapiro — because he came in an open forum setting, where anyone was free to question him.

Whenever a Brandeis friend told me about a stellar professor, I have always found that what made the professor exceptional was their willingness to hear and interrogate many different points of view. This paper’s own opinion section constantly strives to attract columnists all across the political and social spectrums but also attempts to grind misinformation and fallacies out of their thinking through a rigorous editing process.

In my experience, Brandeisians love nothing more than a good argument. We understand that testing one’s views in public is the only way for them to grow more nuanced and more powerful and that disagreeing with another’s views should not mean disliking them as a person. We also know that this ideal separation between the individual and their opinions can be difficult to achieve, but practice is the only way to get there.

That model of social justice — the one which recognizes that equality among people is equality of reasoned, informed points of view — is what is needed more than ever in this country. Trump and his cohorts’ views are not defensible. Bigotry is not only hateful: It is also illogical and misleading.

One cannot reasonably argue that the Black Lives Matter movement sows anti-police or anti-white hatred when one recognizes that the movement is reactive, peaceful and

The Staff

For information on joining the Justice, write to editor@ thejustice.org.

inclusive by nature. It is irrational to think that undocumented immigrants steal jobs or cause crime when one finds that economic and statistical data universally points the other way: Working-class jobs are leaving due to automation and profit margins for the one percent, while undocumented migration is at its lowest level in almost a decade, according to studies from the Pew Research Center and the Center for Migration Studies, respectively. Facts and rigorous thinking remain the best and only weapons for those fighting for justice in society, be they activists, reporters, pundits, politicians, lawenforcers or others.

We are not, despite what the Oxford English dictionary might say, living in a posttruth world. It’s just a post-objective truth one. Trump’s greatest weapon is his ability to spin any criticism or fact-check as the liberal elites conspiring to suppress him through political correctness. As New England college students, most of us are, by definition, the liberal elite. It is our challenge in the Trump age to prove that caricature wrong. We must show that social justice is not the restriction of speech but rather the embrace of it from all kinds of people. We must show that the facts of the world — no matter who chooses to weaponize them — are still facts and that the one rational way to live is to embrace them.

We must work hard for every inch of ground and acknowledge that the gift of a good education is one that we must pay forward.

Editorial Assistants

Sports: Lev Brown, Gabriel Goldstein, Evan Robins

News: Michelle Dang

Arts: Kent Dinlenc, Brooke Granovsky, Isabelle Truong

Sports: Ben Katcher

Photography: Aaron Birnbaum, Ydalia Colon,

Arts: Hannah Kressel

Talya Guenzburger, Candice Jiang, Yashaspriya Rathi,

Copy: Jen Geller, Avraham Penso

Heather Schiller, Anna Sherman, Joyce Yu Copy: Angela Li, Frankie Marchan, Nora Perlmutter,

Staff

Billy Wilson

News: Tzlil Levy, Peri Meyers, Spencer Taft,

Layout: Morgan Mayback, Ellie Mendelson,

Arianna Unger

Jenna Nimaroff

Features: Daisy Chen

Illustrations: Ben Jarrett, Julianna Scionti

Forum: Aaron Dvorkin, Ben Feshbach, Mark Gimelstein, Andrew Jacobson, Maddox Kay, Nia Lyn, Nicole Mazurova, Kat Semerau, Ravi Simon

12

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Mobilize against objectionable policies proposed by Trump By elias rosenfeld JUSTICE contributing WRITER

It has been four weeks since America chose Donald Trump as its 45th president, and the somber feeling of shock still has not gone away. As a Hillary Clinton Campaign Fellow, I dedicated over a year to her campaign, and to say I was shocked on election night would be an understatement. As an undocumented student currently under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals, the results of this election will cause direct harm to my ability to succeed in this nation. Presidentelect Trump has stated multiple times that, on his first day in office, he will reverse executive actions made by Obama, according to a Nov. 11 New York Times article. DACA is an executive action during Obama’s term designed to shield and protect from deportation the 1 to 3 million children who were brought illegally to the U.S. when they were very young by their parents.

It will likely be terminated come Jan. 20. What does this mean? 740,000 DACA recipients, including myself, will now fear deportation and the loss of work opportunities. Social security numbers and driver’s licenses may also be revoked. However, now is not the time to stand idly by. Liberals and advocates for DACA recipients have a little less than two months to organize and prepare for the arduous road that is ahead.

The Democratic Party was greatly defeated on Nov. 8, and we must admit this. We lost our ability to gain a majority in both chambers of Congress. We also failed to gain the Oval Office and missed the chance to fill Antonin Scalia’s vacant seat on the Supreme Court.

Most importantly, however, the Democratic Party has lost significant control of state legislatures and governorships in the last eight years. Republicans will have 26 fully controlled states where the GOP has a majority in the state legislature and controls the governorship.

In comparison, the Democratic Party will only hold six.

The Democratic Party cannot afford to only be active every four years; it must be present in people’s lives every single day. Democrats must not only put in place a 50-state strategy but also have a strategy to organize all 3,141 counties in the U.S. They must also organize in this style so they have a more diverse pool of candidates come next election. This issue could not be more glaring in analyzing 2016, where Republicans had 17 candidates competing for the presidency while Democrats had only five. Investing in field organization at the state level will enable young and new candidates to compete for office, gain recognition and actualize policy proposals.

According to a Jan. 25, 2015 Politifact article, the Democratic Party has lost over 900 state legislature seats under Obama’s presidency by focusing attention only on national races and often neglecting crucially important state races; the party must never make such a mistake

MARA KHAYTER/the Justice

again. Midterm congressional and state races are just as important as presidential elections.

Creating and enforcing policies is a joint effort, requiring the support of the legislative and executive branch at all levels — federal, state and local. Additionally, state congressional lines are drawn by state legislators; thus, the party must win these races when the next census comes in 2020.

While a Trump presidency is a direct threat to many of us, there are areas where compromise can be truly achieved with President-elect Trump, if he follows through with his campaign promises. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have made it clear they are willing to work with Trump on issues of agreement: trade, campaign finance reform, congressional term limits and “draining the swamp” — essentially reducing the influence of the powerful political establishment.

However, it is impossible to “drain the swamp” when the members of a candidate’s cabinet and transition team are establishment representatives, business leaders or lobbyists that rarely represent the working-class individuals who drove Trump to his unexpected victory. The Democratic Party must hold the incoming president accountable to actualizing these campaign promises by ensuring they inform his coalition of promises which he has broken. There are policy arenas where America may be able to see some change and progress.

However, just because Democrats are looking

to work on some issues with Trump, does not mean they should not organize and fight against the many policies he has proposed that are unconstitutional and do not reflect this nation.

Trump won the election fairly and legitimately, but he does not have the popular mandate he claims to own. He is expected to lose the popular vote by over two and half million votes. This does not change the outcome, but it shows that his policies do not have universal approval by the constituency. This was an election marked by a constant desire to end the establishment, even if that change was not particularly good: Voters just wanted any change. On an issueby-issue basis, many Americans agree with the Democratic Party platform, especially on immigration, gun control, climate change and wages.

With this stunning defeat, the Democratic Party has opened new and bright opportunities that will fundamentally change the party to be more successful moving forward. The first big fight is the next Democratic National Committee chair, who will serve as the head of the Democratic Party under Trump’s administration. The chair must be young and passionate, represent the diversity of this party and present a grassroots mobilization strategy that will yield victory. Democrats should not be guarded in who they choose; they should be bold. If there has ever been a time for our party to try a new strategy, it is now.

While the DNC chair is a crucial indicator of

our status moving forward, the most important component to succeeding in 2018 and 2020 is how strongly Democrats organize and mobilize at a grassroots level. They must encourage all individuals, especially minorities, to not only vote but also organize and volunteer to mobilize others in their situation. As young students, we have been provided new leadership opportunities to transform our new and innovative ideas into realistic and substantive policy solutions. As Elizabeth Warren often states, “personnel is policy.” The individuals President-elect Trump hires will be representative of the policies he will seek to advance. If we want to be further represented in the political arena, we must begin to work in this field as to shape the policy that is formed.

As an immigrant, these days have been dark and hard for me. We must all stand in solidarity during these times. If the president-elect decides to form a Muslim registry, we should all sign up. If the president-elect attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, we should organize to safeguard these crucial services for women.

If the president-elect attempts to deport our fellow immigrants, we should coordinate with sanctuary cities across the nation to resist.

Solidarity is our strongest tool, and we must and will use it. Liberals have had a massive setback in our road forward, but we need to use it to make the Democratic Party stronger so we advance the policies we know truly make America great.

Urge American Jewish population to reject Donald Trump Ben

feshbach Extended deadlines

For nearly a month, the shock of Donald Trump’s victory has left many American Jewish communities asking themselves the following question: Where do we go from here? The vast majority of our community strongly opposed Trump’s candidacy. In light of his victory, though, some groups have floated the possibility of compromise, of “giving him a chance,” a strategy which largely rests upon the theory that a Trump presidency will be good for Israel. Indeed, a Dec. 2 Newsweek opinion piece suggested that Trump has taken more pro-Israel stances than those of President Obama and that Trump’s presidency could offer “an ever closer bond between the two countries … beneficial to both parties. … [Thus,] we should judge our new president on his actions in Office and not on the tone of his campaign.”

In that same vein, groups like the Zionist Organization of America have taken to defending some of Trump’s more controversial staffing announcements, including that of former Breitbart tzar Steve Bannon as chief strategist in Trump’s White House. These groups seem to believe that even though Bannon and his former publication have associated with white nationalist groups, they are still pro-Israel, so at least there is some silver lining. This attitude fails on both a practical and moral level: compromise with Trump cannot be an option.

The idea of what it means to be pro-

Israel is up for debate, to say the least. The organizations that have begun looking for “silver linings” are supposedly nonpartisan neoconservative organizations; this follows the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s decision during the primary season to invite Trump to speak at its policy conference as if he were any other candidate, thereby contributing to the normalization of his candidacy. These organizations support the Likud Party — of which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is chairman — but by no means is that the only way in which members of the American Jewish community express their support for Israel.

“

The question we all are left is, where do any of us even begin?

Even focusing on Israel, though, constitutes a dangerous distraction. It is certainly important for the American Jewish community to have an ongoing relationship with Israel and an active role in U.S.-Israel relations, but it still is the case that sometimes someone can be both a right-wing Zionist and anti-Semitic at the same time.They’re not mutually exclusive.The indisputable antiSemitic elements of Trump’s campaign and the spike in hate crimes against Jews in the weeks following his election demonstrate this.

According to a Nov. 15 Forward article, Todd Gitlin, a sociologist at Columbia University, posits that “anti-Semitism and right-wing

Zionism are varieties of ultra nationalism … both presume that the embattled righteous ones need to bristle at, wall off, and punish the damned outsiders.”

Since Trump’s election, as reported in a Nov. 30 Washington Post article, swastikas have been graffitied on school properties all across my home county of Montgomery County, Maryland. Quince Orchard High School and Westland Middle School — ten minutes away from my home synagogue, Temple Shalom — are among the locations vandalized.

This is only a small sample of what has taken place in a community that supposedly embraces its religious pluralism. Nationwide, according to a Nov. 29 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, “in the ten days following the election, there were almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation.”

To be clear, Trump’s condemnation of this violence carries zero weight whatsoever: First, he staged an actively racist campaign; second, he repeatedly published neo-Nazi imagery on his Twitter account; third, his campaign’s closing television advertisement was chillingly evocative of themes present in “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” In order to win, Trump did not need to take antiSemitism seriously; he did not need to listen to us, choosing instead to run a campaign that elevated the political power of white nationalism and neo-Nazism. When these groups comprise a sizable portion of Trump’s political constituency, currying favor with the Trump administration will get us absolutely nowhere.

There is a graver harm still to normalizing a relationship between the American Jewish community and the incoming Trump Administration: the message it sends to other historically oppressed groups within American society. At the point where Trump has suggested his administration might

open up a Muslim registry in America — an abhorrent, flamboyantly unconstitutional idea that sounds terrifyingly similar to the 1930s — doing anything other than standing in solidarity with American Muslims at this time would be an act of moral bankruptcy.

There is no compromise — not today, not tomorrow, not next year. There is only resistance. It is the Jewish thing to do; it is the American thing to do. Only through fighting against Trump as one will we push back against the message that one cannot be Jewish and American at the same time.

Negotiating with Trump or finding “areas of compromise” only validates the alt-right’s structurally anti-Semitic philosophy. Emma Green of the Atlantic writes that the alt-right “promotes white nationalism and argues that the strength of the United States is tied to its ethnic European roots … [making it clear] that Jews are not included in their vision of a perfect, white, ethno-state.”

The question we all are left with is, where do any of us even begin? We must stand behind our Muslim friends and neighbors both politically and personally. This is not just about donating money to advocacy organizations or lobbying against the political injustices to come. Although both are admirable, those actions will not be enough. It is about literally taking this into our own hands. If a mosque or Muslim community center near us is graffitied, we must show up the next day and help remove the paint. If bigots come the day after and graffiti again, we must show up again. The rise in hate crimes in response to Trump’s candidacy and subsequent victory — including, according to a Nov. 14 New York Times article, a 67-percent jump in hate crimes against Muslims over the past year, such as “assaults, bombings, threats, and property destruction” — demonstrates the danger not only of his actual policies but also the hatred his election has validated.

THE JUSTICE

WSOCCER: Season comes to a close for the Judges CONTINUED FROM 16 the Judges were victorious in an overtime victory at home.

William Smith had been able to send the game into overtime with a few seconds left, before Brandeis rallied to win the extra period.

Even before the intense Elite Eight matchup with William Smith, the Judges were forced to contend with some of the top teams in the country.

The squad had to go through Virginia Wesleyan College in the first round and then a tough matchup on the road with the No. 5 team in the country, The College of New Jersey. In the matchup with TCNJ, the Judges barely survived in a penalty kick shootout. Their final test of the season before facing off with William Smith was a closely-decided 1-0 victory at home against a tough McDaniel College team.

While the Judges are decidedly

upset about their season coming to a close, they have a lot to be proud of. The Judges will close out their season with an overall record of 164-4 and a conference record of 2-32.With only one loss at home, the Judges were able to secure a welldeserved playoff berth and deliver an incredible performance to their hometown crowd. Their eightgame win streak proved to make the difference in their season.

After the most impressive season in University history, the squad will have high expectations going into next season.

As Defender Michaela Friedman ’17 wrote in an email to the Justice, “Going to the final four was an amazing experience, one that I know not everyone gets to experience and for that I am extremely thankful. We didn't really know what to expect going down there, I don't think I could have imagined a better experience.”

●

Sports ● December 6, 2016

13

READY FOR LAUNCH

MORGAN BRILL/Justice File Photo

LOADING UP: Defender Sam Vinson ’18 winds up for the kick in a shutout win against Clark University at home on Oct. 19.

MSOCCER: Men unable to

WBBALL: advance past Final Four Women improve impressive record CONTINUED FROM 16

CONTINUED FROM 16 from the field and turned the ball over a whopping 18 times to give Tufts 18 points off turnovers.

While the Judges struggled offensively, so did Tufts, which shot 27.9 percent from the field and allowed 14 turnovers in the game.

The Judges were not able to convert at the foul line. The Judges

converted only two of their 10 free throws, while Tufts poured in 16 from the stripe. Tufts was able to get the calls they needed to push them over the top and into the win column for the day, and that was what mattered.

The Judges will continue against Gordon College on Dec. 10 and will look to sharpen their offense and keep their record above .500.

goalie Nate Van Ryn out of position only to miss wide and hit the far post. Though the Judges had a few more opportunities to pull ahead, they failed to convert time and again, missing several attempts they surely wish they could have back.

“I still feel we were the better team in the Final Four match and [that we] outplayed our opponents,” co-captain Kyle Robinson ’17 wrote to the Justice. Robinson served as the backbone of Brandeis’s stifling defense, growing into the team’s primary source of composure.

Asked to reflect on his final season,

Robinson stated that “since day one, our goal was to win a national championship. We didn’t complete that goal.”

The star defenseman proceeded to touch on the trials it took to strengthen the team for a deep postseason run, stating that “being ranked No. 2 at the beginning of the season, we got ahead of ourselves.”

Robinson continued, “[I]t just took us time to gel as the season went on.

Once this happened, we started to get hot and carried that momentum into the playoffs.” Despite that wave of captivating momentum, the squad was unable to see their dream season to its end.

Finally, with a wealth of emotion in his words, Robinson stated, “This season was one of the best times of my life, and I will always remember the 38 players that were part of this team.

As a captain, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to lead into battle. I’ll miss going to work every day with the guys I care about most, and that’s the hardest part about this season being over.”

Though Loop Road played host to no parade, the student body should celebrate this team with the reverence and appreciation they deserve, as they have proven themselves to be champions in their own right.

BASKETBALL SWIMMING TRACK FENCING

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THE JUSTICE

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS

● Sports ●

Tuesday, dECEMBER 6, 2016

15

Men’s Basketball

Men’s BASKETBALL TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Points Per Game

UAA Conference

W L Rochester 0 0 Chicago 0 0 WashU 0 0 NYU

0 0 Emory 0 0 Carnegie 0 0 JUDGES 0 0 Case 0 0

Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 1 .857 1 .833 1 .750 2 .667 2 .667 2 .600 4 .250

W 8 6 5 3 5 4 3 1

UPCOMING GAMES: Tuesday at Amherst College Thursday vs. Becker College Dec. 30 at Fitchburg State University

Jordan Cooper ’18 leads the squad with 16.2 points per game.

Player PPG

Jordan Cooper 16.2 Tim Reale 12.8 Robinson Vilmont 12.2 Nate Meehan 6.8

Rebounds Per Game Robinson Vilmont ’17 leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game.

Player RPG Robinson Vilmont 8.4 Jordan Cooper 4.0 Latye Workman 3.0 Tim Reale 2.0

WOMen’s basketball UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS Points Per Game

UAA Conference

W L W NYU 0 0 7 Carnegie 0 0 6 WashU 0 0 6 Emory 0 0 6 Rochester 0 0 6 Chicago 0 0 5 Case 0 0 6 JUDGES 0 0 5

Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 1 .857 1 .857 1 .833 2 .750 2 .714

UPCOMING GAMES: Monday at Babson College Saturday at Gordon College Dec. 30 at Endicott College

Maria Jackson ’17 leads the team with 12.4 points per game.

Player PPG Maria Jackson 12.4 Paris Hodges 11.3 Frankie Pinto 11.0 Sydney Sodine 7.7

Rebounds Per Game Maria Jackson ’17 leads with 8.0 rebounds per game.

Player RPG Maria Jackson 8.0 Sydney Sodine 7.1 Paris Hodges 5.9 Hannah Nicholson 5.4

SWIMMING AND DIVING Results from a meet against Bentley College on Nov. 18.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

50-yard freestyle

SWIMMER Cam Braz Junhan Lee Tom Alger Adib Milani

TIME 23.03 24.53 24.76 24.24

100-yard Individual Medley

SWIMMER TIME Hwanhee Park 1:06.98 Abby Damsky 1:11.26 Fallon Katz 1:14.80 Natalya Wozab 1:04.70

UPCOMING MEETS: Dec. 10 at Colby College Jan. 13 at Trinity College Jan. 20 vs. Merrimack College

cross cOuntry Results from the NCAA New England Regional meet on Nov. 12.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

8-Kilometer Run

6-Kilometer Run

RUNNER TIME Ryan Stender 25:00.91 Mitchell Hutton 25:17.12 Liam Garvey 25:42.24

RUNNER TIME Emily Bryson 21:44.37 Maddie Dolins 22:11.36 Kate Farrell 22:17.67

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Judges season ended at the NCAA Division lll Championships on Nov. 19.

SQUAT AND SWAT

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

UP AND UNDER: Forward Jordan Cooper ’18 scoops the ball for a clutch basket in a win against Tufts University last Friday.

Squad takes two of three to break .500 ■ Guard Carlin Haymon ’18 led the Judges with 22 points en route to a blowout victory against Salem State.

By LEV BROWN Justice STAFF WRITER

The Brandeis men’s basketball team had a very promising week, as they took home two hard-fought wins over a long week of play. The team beat the Salem State University Vikings and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs but lost by just two points against the undefeated Tufts University Jumbos. Through the beginning of the basketball season, the squad has shown that it is prepared to work hard and has the grit needed to succeed in its conference.

Judges 78, Salem St. 63 On Saturday, the Judges beat the Salem State Vikings 78-63 at home.

Judges take silver and bronze in home tourney ■ Foilist Len Grazian ’17

capped of the day with a silver performance in the home foil event.

JUSTICE EDITOR

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

Judges 72, Tufts 74 On Friday, the Judges hosted the No. 3-ranked Jumbos. Brandeis was looking to see if they were capable of giving Tufts a run for their money, and indeed, Brandeis nearly snapped

the Jumbos’ winning streak, losing 74-72 in a nail-biter finish to the game.

The entire game was a sequence of runs on both sides. Tufts was led by junior guard Vincent Pace,who had 21 points.

The Jumbos won the first half 38-24.

The second half remained moderately close as the lead stayed within 10 points up until the seven-minute mark. The Judges put up a series of runs to bring themselves within one point, and this seemed to make Tufts rather nervous. With a few seconds left, the Jumbos were winning by two, and were intentionally fouled to head to the line. The Jumbos missed both free throws, and Brandeis secured the rebound. With only a few seconds remaining, the Judges could not get a good enough shot off.

The Judges lost the tight match but showed they could compete with any top team.

The Judges look ahead to their game today against Amherst College at 7 p.m.

Fencing

By JERRY MILLER

LUNGE AND ATTACK: Foilist Chaya Schapiro ’20 goes in low for the forceful jab against her opponent at the home meet on Sunday against Cornell and Yale.

Brandeis guard Carlin Haymon ’18 led the way for the Judges with 22 points, shooting 8-13 from the field and 4-6 from deep. Haymon had a stellar night as he made several acrobatic plays to contribute to the Judges’ lead. Collin Sawyer ’20 had a career high of 12 points, and Tim Reale ’17 put up 11. Guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 had nine points and seven rebounds, and forward Jordan Cooper ’18 had nine points and six rebounds.

The first half was very close between the two squads, but as the second half began, Brandeis put together multiple dominant runs to extend their lead to 20 with 6:09 to go.

Brandeis finished with a monstrous 15-point lead.

The men and women’s fencing team showed off their skills in their first home event of the season, as the teams went for two medals against some of the nation’s top fencing competition.

The men’s foil squad looked to have the edge coming into the day with foilist Guillermo Navaerez ’18 ranked as the No. 1 seed. Narvaez was unable to live up to his rank and fell to eighth place in the final finishes. Foilist Len Grazian ’17 was able to battle past the competition to put on a bronze medallion after a seventh-place seed in the first pool.

Grazian was placed in a tough situation, as he defeated teammate Narvaez 15-13 in the quarterfinals.

Next on the men’s side was the epee event, which featured some of the toughest competitors of the day.

The Judges’ lone top-10 finish came at the hands of epeeist Nick Clancey ’19. Clancey placed eighth on the day after coming in as the No. 20 seed. Epeeist Hunter Stusnick ’18 fell to 16th after entering the day as the No. 4 seed for the tournament.

The men’s saber squad also had a tough go, with saberist Leon Rotenstein ’20 edging out the rest of the pool for a 10th-place finish. The first-year fell to senior saberist Alex Palabrica, the eventual silver medalist, in an intense 15-10 battle.

The women had a similar fate in the foil event, with foilist Jessica Gets ’20 managing to slide into fifth place after a two-way tie at bronze podium. Foilist Joanne Carminucci ’19 also cracked the top 10 and matched her No. 8 seed with an eighth-place finish on the day.

Gets was able to overcome her No. 10 seed ranking to give the Judges a respectable finish for the event.

The epee event went much the same way, as epeeist Liz Feller ’18 posted a seventh-place finish. Feller was the only Judge to place inside the top 15 spots in the epee event, a competition which has plagued the Judges as of late.

With no medals for the Judges, saberist Nina Sayles ’17 put the team on her back and barrelled her way through the competition for a silver medal. The rest of the saber team fell behind, with no other Judges coming in the top 15 finishes for that event.

The Judges came away with one win and three losses to cap a respectable performance on their home court.

The teams will continue at the Western Invitational hosted by the California Institute of Technology on Jan. 15.

The tournament will feature Stanford University, University of California, San Diego, Northwestern University and the United States Air Force Academy.

just

Sports

Page 16

CUT AND DRIVE The men’s basketball team played well this past week with a pair of clutch victories, p. 15.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Men’S SOCCER

FULL THROTTLE

Club falls after incredible run ■ Goalie Ben Woodhouse ’18 impressed on the field, only allowing one goal in the tough loss.

By Gabriel Goldstien JUSTICE Staff writer

The men’s soccer team’s season ended on Friday afternoon in disappointing fashion as they fell to Calvin College in a nail-biting Final Four matchup. The Judges controlled much of the game, narrowly missing a handful of solid offensive opportunities, but ultimately lost to the Knights in Salem, Virginia.

Despite nearly being left out of the NCAA Tournament, the squad hit their stride at the perfect juncture in the season, coming just a few breaks away from claiming the coveted Division III championship trophy.

And though the team finds itself feeling that it dropped a game it deserved to win, its inspiring run to Salem should serve as a source of tremendous pride for years to come.

Postseason soccer is notoriously multifaceted, at once elegant and chaotic, and the Judges’ Friday match did not disappoint. The

Waltham, Mass.

game was physical from the start, with each team battling for every possession, every position and every opportunity to strike first.

Despite the intense focus and fast pace of play in the first half, neither team was able to net a goal, with Calvin narrowly missing multiple shots thanks to a series of dazzling saves from goalie Ben Woodhouse ’18.

Woodhouse was the unquestioned star of the day, showing off his athleticism and field awareness throughout the match and amassing several highlight plays en route to four awe-inspiring stops.

The game’s lone goal came in the 74th minute. Following a foul just outside of the box, which resulted in a red card for defenseman Thales Brito ’17, the Knights were able to capitalize on a free kick that led to a scrum at the goal line, just barely chipping home what proved to be the game’s decisive goal despite Woodhouse’s best efforts.

The squad had several opportunities to put goals on the board, the most notable of which came in the 29th minute, when midfielder Brandon Miskin ’18 appeared to have Knight’s junior

See MSOCCER, 13 ☛

Women's Basketball

Women continue strong start with wins ■ Guard Paris Hodges ’17

dropped 22 points and grabbed six rebounds in a win over Johnson and Wales.

By JERRY MILLER JUSTICE EDITOR

The women’s basketball team won two of three games over the past week to vault them to a 5-2 record for the season.

Judges 44, Johnson and Wales 37 The Judges ended their week against Johnson and Wales University on Saturday in a lowscoring win. The team managed only 44 points off 26.8 percent shooting on the day.

Guard Paris Hodges ’17 poured in half of the team’s points with 22 points and six rebounds on the day.

The rest of the Judges struggled to keep up with the pace, with no player scoring more than six points in the game.

The Judges could not hold on to the ball, giving up 20 turnovers to Johnson and Wales’ 14. The squad was able to box out inside the paint with a whopping 58 rebounds, nearly double that of Johnson and Wales’ total. Forward Maria Jackson ’17 and forward Sydney Sodine ’17 helped control the low key with 12 and 14 rebounds, respectively. Guard Eva Hart ’18 also chipped in with a personal season-high of 10 rebounds.

Defensively, the team excelled as usual, reducing Johnson and Wales to 26.3 percent shooting.

Their stellar defense has continued to save the Judges in times of offensive struggle and has kept the team in contention.

Despite their solid record, the Judges stand in last place in their conference, behind undefeated

powerhouses New York University, Washington University and Carnegie Mellon University.

Judges 59, Salem St. 34 The Judges’ stifling defense showed up big time on Tuesday against a struggling Salem State University team.

In the second and third quarter, the Judges allowed an unbelievable 10 points, with Salem St. scoring a mere two points in the second and eight in the third.

Guard Sarah Jaromin ’19 led the squad with 12 points in 11 minutes off the bench. Jackson helped secure the post with an impressive 13 rebounds on the day and tacked on another eight points to finish off the game.

Offensively, the Judges struggled to find their shot, with no starter scoring more than eight points on the day.

Despite the team’s recurring offensive struggles, the women were able to battle it out and come away with a win that propelled them to a 4-2 record for the season.

Judges 37, Tufts 53 The Judges managed a seasonlow 37 points in a disappointing loss to Tufts University. The team came out of the gate with passion, scoring 15 points in the first half versus Tufts’ 12.

The team completely fell apart in the second quarter, scoring only once in the entire quarter. The lone basket came by the hands of guard Hannah Nicholson ’20. From there the team regained their composure, but was never able to outscore the streaking Tufts team.

The game came down to offense and the box score said it all, with only one player scoring in double digits for the Judges’ squad. The Judges shot a mediocre 25 percent

See WBBALL, 13 ☛

JOYCE YU/Justice File Photo

EYE ON THE PRIZE: Defender Amanda Fernbach ’20 charges in on the ball down the field against Lesley University on Oct. 4.

Women fight hard in tough Final Four loss ■ Midfielder Haliana

Burhans ’18 scored the only goal for the Judges in their Final Four match against Washington University.

By NOAH HESSDORF JUSTICE EDITOR

The women’s soccer team’s magical season came to a screeching halt last Friday evening at the hands of the Washington University in St. Louis Bears. The Judges were defeated 2-1 in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, the furthest Brandeis has ever advanced in the program’s history.

This was not the first time that the squad and WashU were matched up, as they had previously battled during the competitive portion of the University Athletic Association Conference schedule.

The Judges were dominated in that contest, ultimately losing 2-0 in a game that featured few shot attempts. In the Final Four bout, Brandeis had its opportunities and was able to make the game closer but ultimately fell.

The Judges were forced to play

with their backs against the wall for much of the contest, as the Bears found the back of the net early in the game in the sixth minute.

However, the Judges were resilient and mustered enough offense to tie up the game in the first half.

As she has been all year, forward Cidney Moscovitch ’17 was the catalyst for the team’s scoring opportunities. Moscovitch broke free on the end line enough to lift a cross into the box that was booted through by midfielder Haliana Burhans ’18. Burhans’ score in the 22nd minute was her fourth goal of the season and tied up the game at one apiece.

WashU came into the game with one of the top defenses in the country, having not allowed a goal in almost two months.

The Judges were able to continue their aggressive play for the rest of the first half by outshooting WashU 3-1 in the final 23 minutes. This run would not extend to the second half, where a different tempo was set.

Once again, WashU opened the half with a crucial score. The goal came just three minutes and 18 seconds into the second half off a slick corner kick. On a scramble

off an attempted clear from a Brandeis defender, WashU would blast a shot that goalkeeper Alexis Grossman ’17 was able to get a hand on but could not corral. The shot would give WashU the 2-1 lead as they tried to advance to the NCAA Championship.

While Brandeis was able to control possession for most of the second half and had a few quality looks, they were not able to convert the chances into goals. Grossman did all she could to keep the Judges in the game, playing admirably in her last collegiate contest.

While the Judges were eliminated from the tournament and had to settle for a Final Four appearance, WashU went on to win the championship game on Saturday in penalty kicks versus Messiah College.

The Judges had a tremendous run to even get to the National Semifinals. The most intense drama came in the team’s upset of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, in the Elite Eight.

In what will undoubtedly be remembered as an all-time classic,

See WSOCCER, 13 ☛

December 6, 2016

Vol. LXIX #14

The NUTCRACKER >>P. 19

just

ARTS

Waltham, MA.

Images: Ilana Krill. Design: Natalia Wiater & Ilana Krill/the Justice.

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THE JUSTICE | Arts i TUESDAY, December 6, 2016

comedy

TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN: Boris’ Kitchen draws laughter from the crowd in one of their many skits.

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

Sketch comedy groups stir up laughter

By Lizzie grossman justice Editor

Students packed into the Shapiro Campus Center Theater on Friday for one of the most awaited events of the semester: the 17th Annual Sketch Comedy Festival.

The show was hosted by Boris’ Kitchen, Brandeis’ sketch comedy group, and featured comedy groups from other schools, as well. On Friday, the other groups that came included Emerson College’s Jimmy’s Traveling All-Stars, Cornell University’s Humor Us! and Skidmore College’s Sketchies.

I found Humor Us! to be pretty underwhelming, with sketches that focused more on juvenile humor, which was not as appealing.

I also thought that both Humor Us! and Sketchies performed too many sketches. The Traveling AllStars were the most memorable and performed two sketches that were particularly enjoyable. The first sketch involved two students playing a pair of twins who tried to prove how similar they were by finishing each other’s sentences in robotic voices and ending each sentence by both saying, “We’re twins!”

I, and presumably most of the audience, expected this to just be a joke that would end once the sketch was over. However, the last sketch that they performed portrayed a teacher instructing

a theater class, trying to invoke creative movement by having everyone in the class do a unique pose on the count of three. All the students continue to do the same poses each time the teacher counts to three, with two of the students even performing the same pose as each other. The teacher gets frustrated and asks the students, specifically the two with the same pose, why they are not varying their poses. Those two students —

After a short intermission, it was finally Boris’ Kitchen’s time to shine. There were a few sketches that stood out in particular.

One of the first sketches was titled “Samples” and was written

by Yael Platt ’17, Mira Garin ’19 and Sarah Sharpe ’20 act as two customers in Costco, with many employees coming up to them and asking if they want to try samples of foods such as ice cream. Then, Platt comes up and asks if they

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

COMEDIANS IN CAHOOTS: Another university’s sketch comedy group performs in Boris’ Kitchen’s show. who happen to be the same actors who portrayed the twins in the first sketch — respond “because we’re twins!”

would like to try a “stool” sample, handing them a cup of pudding.

They look disgusted as they eat the pudding, which we assume

is representing exactly what we think it is.

However, at the end of the sketch, Platt brings a literal stool onto the stage that the pudding had originally been resting on, revealing why it was called a “stool” sample.

Platt was the star writer of the show, writing four other sketches that were all very memorable. In one, titled “Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” Sarah Duffett ’17 and Andrew Agress ’17 portray a couple walking in the park. Duffett is obsessed with babies, and every time someone walks into the park carrying a baby in a baby carrier, Duffett freaks out, screams “Baby!” and runs over to the person holding the baby, with Agress trying to stop her.

Two other sketches that had me laughing were written by Agress and Perry Letourneau ’20. In Agress’ sketch, titled “Thanks, Dog,” Raphael Stigliano ’18 is sitting on a chair with a stuffed dog (portraying a real dog) next to him. Claudia Davis ’19 comes in and starts talking in a baby voice and giving compliments that we assume are directed at the dog.

Instead, she walks straight up to Stigliano and starts fussing over him, treating him like a dog, while she talks to the dog as if it is a human being.

Letourneau’s sketch, “Go-Gurt,” was also particularly funny. Duffett and Alan Omari ’20 portray a couple on a date in a fancy restaurant.

Agress, playing the waiter, recommends the restaurant’s latest specialty and describes the characteristics of a Go-Gurt, exaggerating the details to make it seem like a more extravagant dish.

Duffett and Omari are suspicious of the fact that they are ordering Go-Gurt from a fancy restaurant, but Agress tells them that it is an aphrodisiac, and they agree to order it. When they are done, they are impressed and believe that they have more sexual desire than before. When they leave the restaurant, Agress exclaims to Jason Kwan ’20, playing the restaurant’s manager, that he was lying about the Go-Gurt, saying, “It works every time!”

Boris’ Kitchen succeeded in impressing the crowd with its humor. The show was a success and a perfect way to de-stress during the end of the semester. While the visiting schools were certainly entertaining, I wish that they had not performed as many sketches, for after a while they seemed to drag on. It was our own beloved Boris’ Kitchen that truly stole the show, providing a wonderful end to this sketch comedy group’s performances from this semester.

THEATER

‘After Orlando’ offers a space for mourning

By Isabelle truong justice Staff writer

The sting of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting has not been forgotten; its impact still exists in the minds and hearts of not only those directly affected by the shooting and the LGBTQ+ community but also students and activists across the country.

As a contribution to the international response to this horrific tragedy, the Brandeis Department of Theater Arts put on a series of five-minute plays, entitled “After Orlando,” a collective of student-directed short performances that touched upon matters surrounding the Pulse shooting: the heinous event took place June of 2016 in Orlando, Florida in which a security guard took open fire to a gay nightclub killing dozens and incapacitating more. Some themes discussed in these pieces included gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, the Latinx community, homophobia and racism. Prior to the start of the play, donations were inquired; the money raised would go to counseling and support for injured victims from the shooting and also to the loved ones of victims whose lives were taken.

The actors performed with incredible passion. Plays “Gone Silent,” directed

by Matt Hoisch ’19, and “These Wings are Meant to Fly” directed by Ayelet Schrek ’17, portrayed the reactions of those directly related to victims and both felt chillingly authentic — so much so that it seemed the students really were linked to the shooting.

Despite the short time span, the actors exuded raw emotion. This feat was especially noteworthy as the plays did not rely on many props or costumes. The smaller environment in Spingold’s Laurie Theater allowed the plays to feel extremely intimate and personal. A common emotion expressed in each piece was an intense, mourning anger; the general emotions throughout “After Orlando” seemed in accordance with the five stages of grief. For example, in “You

aftermath of the shooting that their physicality becomes non-consensual and dangerous. The skits presented multiple different scenarios. For instance, “The Gun Collector,” directed by B.T. Montrym ’19, was more of a monologue piece, where one woman expresses her disgust for such weapons and how she wishes that all guns — toy, water or fake — would disappear. “And Then the Music,” directed by Becca Myers ’18, featured a larger cast with actors

dancer fell down.

The artistic merit of the directors was particularly outstanding. They presented the complex, delicate subject with professional awareness.

The “Director’s Talk” forum, hosted at the end of the reading, allowed the directors and cast to not only discuss their creative process but evaluate the ultimate importance of these plays about the Orlando shooting and how each person felt connected to the subject matter. The audience was

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

PROTEST FOR PULSE: People gather together to mourn and remember the victims of the Pulse Night Club shooting.

Have To,” directed by Ben Astrachan ’19 and Gabe Walker’s ’19 anger grew into violence. In this scene, two lovers are so overwhelmed with the

portraying the reenactment of the scene as carefree clubgoers dancing and enjoying themselves until they hear gunshots — with each shot, one

also able to receive insight behind the meanings of some of the pieces through this question-and-answer.

The directors all agreed that one of

the major efforts of “After Orlando” was to dispel the idea of the shooting as exclusively “the 49” (for the 49 victims of the shooting). Rather, the plays aimed to make it about the “49 individuals concretely or abstractly,” according to Andrew Child ’19.

The directors and cast members discussed how it remains important to really recognize the repercussions by becoming aware that for each numerical victim, a real human life was taken, rather than evaluating the tragedy as simply more mass shooting data.

One question brought up was the overall impact making these plays had on the shooting. Actress Gabby Lamm ’17 weighed in on the topic, expressing “I saw all of the cold statistics and the news articles that were coming through that were saying this is how many people died, this is who it was, and I didn’t have a space to process it.

So this, for me, was an opportunity to process it again and ... explore the impact of it on my community, on other communities, on everyone around me.” Ben Winick ’17 also added, “I didn’t really have the time to mourn, but I think also what these plays can do is absolutely provide us a space to mourn.”

“After Orlando” showcased the passion and connection that Brandeis students have to this horrific tragedy.

It’s amazing to think that through the vehicle of playmaking, these students created a space for themselves, as well as those watching each play, to mourn and process.

THE JUSTICE i arts i TUESDAY, December 6, 2016

Dance

‘Nutcracker’ breaks from expectations

PHOTOS BY ILANA KRILL/the Justice

A BEVY OF BALLERINAS: A group of dancers showcase their skills in a scene of “The Nutcracker.”

By Elana ISrael justice Staff writer

Every winter, “The Nutcracker,” a ballet with a score written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is performed by dance companies across the country. If you walked into the Levin Ballroom this past Saturday night, you would have found the Brandeis Ballet Company performing this show for the first time. This production was fairly untraditional. Much of the show was cut out, and the gaps were filled in with narration that was projected onto a screen to look like a storybook.

After the first narration explaining the premise of the show, the ballet opened with Clara (Brooke Granovsky ‘18) and a group of party guests performing the first

FANCY FORM: David Dropkin ’20 lifts Hannah DeRoche ’19 gracefully during their duet, Pas de Deux.

dance in the show. Granovsky was a perfect Clara. Throughout the whole party scene, from the first dance to Clara being presented the Nutcracker doll, Granovsky was able to genuinely portray Clara’s excitement at receiving the doll.

Her face lit up when the doll was handed to her, and her movements were energetic and animated.

Granovsky was not the only one who played Clara, though.

Along with Granovsky in Act I, the part was shared with Hannah Schuster ’18 in Act II — who also played the Rat Queen — and Liza Korotkova ’19 — who also was cast as the Harlequin Doll. Every Clara played the part extremely well, and the transitions were so seamless that it was nearly impossible to tell that the part was shared.

The party scene was not complete

without the “Drosselmeyer Variation,” danced by Amanda Ehrmann ’18, and “The Dolls,” performed by the Soldier Doll (Joanna Martin MA ’17), the Harlequin Doll (Liza Korotkova ’19) and the Princess Doll (Polina Potochevska ’20). Each doll danced beautifully, and their dancing was so fluid and so skillful that I could easily tell they were wind-up dolls but also could tell that the dancers were experienced and graceful as they twirled and glided across the stage.

“The Battle Scene” in the show was one of the most entertaining, though. The music was more modern than the traditional music, and the scene was lively. The red lighting made it easy to understand the conflict between the Rat Queen and her army of mice and Clara,

PRINCESS ON POINTE: Polina Potochevska ’20 dances with unrivaled fluidity, portraying the Snow Queen.

the Nutcracker (David Dropkin ‘20) and the soldiers.

The scene was well choreographed and fun to watch.

Another distinct element of the show was the fact that multiple guest groups, both from Brandeis and from professional dance groups, performed. The highlight of these was by far Dance Reveasian, a Chinese dance group in Boston.

This group performed a traditional Chinese dance that was both wellperformed and enjoyable to watch.

All the dancers were perfectly in sync with each other, and the traditional costumes really made the dance. It was fascinating to watch dances inspired by so many different cultures.

Many times, it was unclear how these groups fit into to the larger context of “The Nutcracker,” but

that made it all the more unusual and untraditional.

“The Nutcracker” ended with a rendition of “Pas de Deux,” a dance choreographed by David Dropkin ’20 and performed by the Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy (Hannah DeRoche ’19).

DeRoche and Dropkin worked so well together, and their chemistry really shone in the dance.

Overall, “The Nutcracker” was a lighthearted, fun show to watch.

The costumes, the lighting and the set all created the mood of the show, and the dances were wellchoreographed and well-executed.

It was a great way to begin the month of December and get into the spirit of the holiday season.

—Editor’s Note: Brooke Granovsky ’18 is a staff writer for the Justice.

19

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TUESDAY, December 6, 2016 | Arts | THE JUSTIce

Brandeis TALKS

INTERVIEW

What is your coping mechanism for finals week?

Yael Platt ’17

Patrick Lo ’20

MAX MORAN/the Jusitce

“Being with friends, because that definitely helps me feel less stressed, because everyone else is working on the same thing as me, and by doing the work together, I feel like I’ll get more work accomplished.”

This week, justArts interviewed Yael Platt ’17, a vice president of Boris’ Kitchen and the director of BK’s section in this week’s 17th Annual Sketch Comedy Festival. justArts: Can you tell me what some of the differences are between directing a sketch show and directing a more traditional piece of theater?

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

Shikha Chandarana ’17 “For me, it’s just watching “West Wing,” and drinking hot chocolate, which is what I’m currently planning to do.”

River Heisler ’19 “Probably Netflix and hanging out with friends.”

Lauren Grobois ’19 “Netflix.”

—Compiled and photographed by Natalia Wiater/the Justice.

STAFF’S Top Ten

Things Found in Our Office

By Mihir Khanna justice EDITOR

By virtue of the Justice being a newspaper office, things can get pretty messy around here.

Every now and then we take it upon ourselves to try to clean things up a bit. Here’s a list of some of the weirder things we found around the office.

1. Advanced Microscope 2. Five microwaves 3. A fax machine 4. Expired Girl Scout cookies 5. A doughnut tacked to a tackboard 6. A sleeping bag 7. A plaster mold of someone’s fist 8. A shark hat 9. Two liters of bubbles and fifty bouncy balls 10. Editors

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Back part 6 Word before top, for the Fab Four 9 Things often ordered “stat!” on a medical drama 12 Spine-tingling 13 Redolence 16 Totally rockin’!

17 Group of authors that vote?

19 Add-___ 20 Word before boy or girl 21 In one piece 23 Ken who became an overnight sensation 25 Puts over one’s shoulder, say 28 Long story 30 Pine 32 Carly ____ Jepsen 33 Dreamily in love 34 Medical drama locales, for short 35 “Sounds good to me!”

37 They may be secret, in the office 38 Fashionable French policemen?

40 _______ ‘til you make it (confidence booster) 43 Prefix with space 44 Japanese period 47 Bucolic 48 Support for women?

49 “Well, I _____!”

51 401(k) alternatives 52 Women at college, in years past 54 One may be harsh 55 Verdi opera 57 Asian sea 59 Rahm’s brother 60 Campaign finance grp. staffed by canines?

65 _____ Te Ching 66 Snack most commonly eaten in the woods 67 Creditors’ holdings, in law 68 Bathroom sign 69 Tolkein creature 70 Weighed down

Wars 11 60s org. on college campuses 14 Olympus _____ 15 Ham it up, perhaps 18 Cheer at a high school football game 22 Long stretches of time 23 Week with no game 24 Nat’l anthem word 26 One of the Trump children 27 Hype, formally 29 Young 50-Down 31 _____ Obstat (nothing stands in the way) 33 City called “The Heart of Georgia” 36 Cambridge sch.

37 Title for Ben Kingsley or Patrick Stewart 38 Partner of desist 39 Element 82 40 The F in TGIF 41 Celestial lights 42 Army grub ... or something this puzzle appears to have?

44 Changed over time DOWN 45 Dragons’ _____ 1 Mend, as jeans 46 Mt. Hood locale 2 It abuts Marseille, avec 48 A lot of, slangily “La” 50 See 3-Down and 29-Down 3 Grande 50-Down 52 Happy mollusk 4 Group of kittens 53 Old saying 5 _____ speak (Internet slang) 56 Short records?

6 “Uno _____” 58 Word after Kaiser or pork 7 Planet, to a poet 59 Right now, in a text 8 Like Canadians, 61 Hockey player Bobby stereotypically 62 Org. regulating 60-Across 9 Cookware full of foam 63 Yakima-to-Spokane dir. shoes?

64 Its last 4 digits might be your 10 Mos Eisley locale, in Star PIN number

Yael Platt: First of all, there’s the writer’s process. We have members of Boris’ Kitchen, and other folks on campus — a lot of people from other comedy groups, but also anyone who wants to write for us. So our writing coordinators direct that whole process and are more involved, then we choose sketches. So you really don’t know what your show’s going to look like until the cusp of the show itself. We’re kind of rehearsing in little pockets for each sketch, so a lot of times if you’re not in a certain sketch you won’t even get to see what your peers have been working on until tech week, which is kind of exciting because we’re always surprising each other. When you’re rehearsing a sketch for a while and one of your troupe members sees it and starts laughing at it, it kind of gives that boost of extra confidence. A lot of times in BK we’ll be trying new things a day before the show. Sometimes that will end up making it into the show, because while our sketches are prewritten and we pretty much stick to them, there’s still a lot of room in there to find humorous moments and really work on our interactions with each other as characters within the sketches.

CROSSWORD COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

JA: Do you feel like the dynamics within the group and the people that are within the group end up affecting the show and its sense of humor?

SOLUTION COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

SUDOKU INSTRUCTIONS: Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Sudoku Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service, Inc.

YA: Definitely. I mean, every show with us is different depending on who’s directing and the sketches we’ve gotten. But in this rehearsal process in particular, I made an effort as a director to really listen to the folks in the scene. If they were having trouble with a certain part or we were trying to decide “What’s the motivation here? What’s going on here?” I’ll often have suggestions in my head, but I’ll usually ask the actors “What do you think is going on here?” before I make my suggestion. I try to make it as collaborative as possible...

But obviously, because we’re a troupe, because the cast doesn’t break up after the show, we definitely get to build those long-term relationships, and I think that definitely helps our comedy.

We start every rehearsal by doing check-ins and really listening to each other talking about whatever we want to talk about, whatever is going on in our lives. That’s really important to me to set the tone for the rehearsal process.

JA: Can you give me an example of something which came up in the rehearsal process that ended up in the show?

YP: Zephry [Wright ’17] [is a good] example. There’s a sketch that was making fun of blessing someone after they sneeze, and I could never quite see what was happening because I was in the sketch and was looking away, but I know that Zephry tried something new, like, every single rehearsal. Because we were just sitting there until the actual thing in the sketch started. So I know that one time he took a pair of my gloves and was doing sock puppets, and he would be dancing with his fingers on his legs, and I know that in one of the rehearsals...and before the show he did something with this little doll that he had. And the people in the tech booth started laughing, and so he said “Great, I’ll do that.”

—Max Moran