The Justice, March 13, 2018 by The Justice

ARTS Page 19

FORUM Promote civil gun debate 12 SPORTS Softball eager to continue their season 16

‘THE DANUBE’ NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

The Independent Student Newspaper

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B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9

Justice

Volume LXX, Number 19

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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Richman Fellow Award

Student union

Union presents Coffeehouse ■ Student Union members

met with constituents to discuss students’ concerns and listen to the MAD Band. By Emily Blumenthal Justice Production assistant

Student Union members gathered in Cholmondeley’s Coffee House to discuss relevant issues with constituents and enjoy tea party refreshments during a coffeehouse on Thursday night. The coffeehouse included a performance from Brandeis’ pep ensemble, the Music and Dance Band, which played hits like Michael Jackson’s “I Want You Back” and Adele’s “Hello.” Student Union Communications Director Callahan Cox ’18 said that her goal was was to make the gathering intimate, which drove her choice of venue, music and the tea party theme. In an interview

with the Justice, Cox explained, “Last semester we had a ‘Meet the Union’ that was larger-scale and outside. This time, I wanted to do something more intimate and discussion-based in case people had some concerns they wanted to talk about.” Other Union members agreed with Cox. In an interview with the Justice, Student Union Vice President Hannah Brown ’19 stated, “It was nice to talk informally with people, because a lot of the time the way we talk is kind of stilted.” “It’s great to see the community together. We’re here to listen to everybody, so it’s a great opportunity to come meet us,” Executive Senator Aaron Finkel ’20 added in an interview with the Justice. There were a few constituents eager to discuss critical issues with their representatives, but most in attendance were Union members or MAD Band members and supporters.

See COFFEEHOUSE, 7 ☛

COMMUNITY

CAST Resource Room creates space for artists ■ Monday's opening of

the Resource Room gave CAST and Creative Writing students a creative retreat. By Jocelyn Gould JUSTICE EDITOR

Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation and Creative Writing students now have a space to relax, be inspired and create on campus, following Monday’s opening of the CAST Resource Room in the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life. Marcelo Brociner ’18 organized and implemented the creation of the Resource Room as a project for his senior year. He worked with and was mentored by Prof. Elizabeth Bradfield (ENG) and the Rose Art Museum’s deputy director, Kristin Parker, both members of

the CAST Advisory Committee. In an email to the Justice, Brociner described the project as “designing a room that would serve as a space devoted to the creative endeavors of students in the CAST minor” and the Creative Writing program. The Resource Room opened on Monday as a part of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life’s 20th anniversary celebration. Describing what he sees as the connection between the Resource Room and the Center that houses it, Brociner wrote, “I think the Resource Room and the Center are connected in that the work being done in the Ethics Center is inspiring, important, and progressive, and we want to increase the number of spaces on campus that are devoted to helping students do that same work through a creative lens.”

YVETTE SEI/the Justice

hope as discipline: Vanita Gupta, the 2018 Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life, examined hope in her lecture.

Richman Fellow discusses cultivating hope amid chaos ■ 2018 Richman Fellow award

winner Vanita Gupta explored the struggle to hold on to hope in her acceptance lecture. By Abby patkin Justice Editor

For civil rights attorney Vanita Gupta, the future of American human and civil rights reform lies in one simple word: hope. Even as the Trump administration backpedals on years of legislation and civil rights protections, hope will drive reform, Gupta asserted in a lecture last Tuesday. The 2018 Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life recipient drew upon her personal experience in the field of civil rights law for the event, which recognized her dedication to strengthening democratic institutions and improving social justice. Gupta, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, previously served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general and acting head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice under President Barack Obama. She has also held leadership positions

in the ACLU and the NAACP. During her time in the DOJ, Gupta’s division sued North Carolina, arguing that the state’s House Bill 2 infringed upon transgender individuals’ federal rights. The department also conducted an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, finding that BPD engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests that unjustly targeted AfricanAmericans. Throughout her years in law, Gupta has seen both the highs of legal victories and the lows of abridged rights. However, she told the audience, “I think it’s no overstatement to say that we are at a most perilous time for the causes of justice and fairness and inclusion.” Yet, despite threats to legal protections for many groups and an “acute sense of whiplash from the last administration to this one,” it is crucial to maintain a sense of hope and optimism, Gupta asserted. “Sometimes in the face of these overwhelming setbacks, I can’t help but feel discouraged,” she admitted. “But I’m a civil rights lawyer, and I have been my whole adult career. And as a civil rights lawyer I often talk about hope; in fact, I don’t think you can be a civil rights law-

yer without a profound reservoir of hope.” Hope, she added, is a discipline, the strength of which lies in “the stories of real people and real communities and real leaders who have stared down injustice over some of the most oppressive context and times, and they’ve decided to fight back, sometimes with the help of government and sometimes without,” she said. “And it lies with the knowledge that, though the arc of our universe may be long, very long, it bends towards justice.” The course of American history is altered by those who take a conscious stand against infinite odds, Gupta said, citing examples of students standing up against gun violence or athletes taking a knee against racism. “There is nothing automatic or inevitable about that kind of hope and determination. Our nation’s progress has not been guaranteed. And it never will be,” she said, adding, “Our values, our constitution, our democracy — they don’t protect themselves. Instead, our progress has really been as a result of people pushing, sometimes inside government, but many, many times outside.”

See AWARD, 7 ☛

Where a B+ Gets You

No Time to Panic

Dark Universe

 Elliot S. Maggin ’72 turned a homework assignment into a hit comic book.

 The baseball team is off to a slow start, but spirits are high.

A Harvard physicist talked about measuring gravitational waves from neutron stars.

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See CAST, 7 ☛

Waltham, Mass.

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FEATURES 9

INDEX

SPORTS 16

MICHELLE BANAYAN/Justice File Photo

ARTS SPORTS

17 13

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG

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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018

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NEWS SENATE LOG

POLICE LOG

Senate discusses club changes and upcoming Student Union elections

Medical Emergency

At the beginning of the year, the Club Support Committee aided the renewal of the Brandeis Basketball Club, which had previously dissolved when its senior leadership graduated last spring. With the club now up for chartering, the Senate debated whether or not the club violated the University’s policy on inclusivity. The Basketball Club’s leadership wants to maintain a men’s only team in order to compete in a national tournament league that is male-exclusive. Most of the club’s funding requests would pertain to this league participation, the fee for which is approximately $1,800. To abide by the University’s policy on inclusivity, CSC Chair and Class of 2020 Senator Tal Richtman said the committee had the Basketball Club agree in a statement that if enough women come to the Basketball Club requesting participation, their leadership will work with the Senate to create a subgroup under their organization for a women’s team. Senators asked for clarification on whether or not women could participate in the club’s practices, and Richtman sent an inquiry to the Basketball Club leadership. During this time, Senators discussed the structure of the Brandeis Football (Soccer) Club — whose practices are open to all and specific rosters are put together for exclusive tournaments — and assumed a similar structure would be executed. Under the assumption that women would likely be able to attend meetings, but would ultimately not be able to play in the men’s league games, the Senate voted to charter the Basketball Club. However, later in the meeting, Richtman received a response from the Basketball Club that their practices will only be open to team members and closed to outsiders, regardless of gender. Being a team for a male-only tournament, this would by default exclude women from any participation. This response opened further Senator concerns that the club would be a gated community. The Senate approved a vote to reconsider the chartering and in a following vote, they decided not to charter the Basketball Club, on that grounds that their conduct violated the Union constitution. The CSC will conduct further discussions with the Basketball Club on whether they would like to open up practices to any interested community member, regardless of gender, and reapply for chartering. Sam Fishman ’19, president of the Young Americans for Liberty Club, came to the Senate to provide details on why his club requests a name change to “Philosophy Club.” Fishman said that the club had undergone a lot of internal changes, from a club with a political, specifically libertarian, focus to one that discusses philosophy more broadly. However, after further discussion with Fishman, the Senate was concerned that major club structure reform would be needed alongside Fishman’s change in vision and that “Philosophy Club” would be a misleading title, as Fishman wants to maintain its libertarian roots. The Senate voted against the name change but invited Fishman to create a new club under a new constitution. Richtman added that the majorette dance troupe, TOXIC and the coed Water Polo Club successfully passed their 14-week probationary period and were approved by CSC as recognized clubs. Student Union President Jacob Edelman ’18 spoke to the Senate, thanked them for their work and invited them to this week’s election meeting to campaign for upcoming officer positions. Student Union Vice President Hannah Brown ’19 announced that some of the Senate’s club decisions had been appealed to the Student Judiciary, but the specific clubs had not yet been named to her. Each Senator will be asked to discuss the reasoning behind their votes in a survey for the Judiciary’s review.

March 5—BEMCo treated a party in Ziv Quad who was experiencing abdominal pain. The party was transported to an urgent care facility via University Police cruiser. March 7—University Police responded to a report of a party who was banging on the tables and acting disruptively in Farber Library. The party was transported to the Brandeis Counseling Center with the assistance of the Department of Community Living, and the Dean of Students Office was notified. The party was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. March 7—Cataldo Ambulance staff assisted in a voluntary psychiatric transport to

Mount Auburn Hospital. March 8—A party in Village Quad reported that they had injured their elbow. BEMCo staff treated the party, who was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via University Police cruiser. March 8—A party in the Charles River Apartments burned their hand while cooking. BEMCo staff treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. March 8—University Police transported an ill party from Rosenthal Quad to NewtonWellesley Hospital. March 9—A caller requested BEMCo assistance for a party on Loop Road who had passed out and regained consciousness. BEMCo staff treated the

party with a signed refusal for further care. March 9—BEMCo staff treated a party in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center who had injured their knee and ankle playing sports. University Police transported the party to an urgent care facility for further care. March 9—A party in Village Quad reported that they had cut their finger. BEMCo staff treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. March 11—University Police responded to a call regarding an intoxicated party in a bathroom in Village Quad. BEMCo staff treated the party, who was transported to NewtonWellesley Hospital via Cataldo Ambulance.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

n A Features teaser on the front page incorrectly spelled the name of Mathias Boyar ’20. (March 6, Page 1). n A Sports photo was credited to Yvette Sei but was actually taken by Mihir Khanna. (March 6, Page 16). The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

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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.

March 5—An area coordinator in the Charles River Apartments found drug paraphernalia while conducting health and safety checks. University Police confiscated the contraband and compiled a report. March 6—An area coordinator in Ridgewood Quad recovered drug paraphernalia while conducting health and safety checks. University Police confiscated the contraband and compiled a report.

Disturbance

March 8—A party in the Charles River Apartments reported that their ex boyfriend was yelling and banging on

See POLICE LOG, 5 ☛

BRIEF Waltham High School proposes alternative to Parkland solidarity walkout for its students

—Michelle Dang

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

Drugs

Students performed music, dance and comedy for International Women’s Day on Wednesday evening at Rapaporte Treasure Hall.

As high school and college students across the country prepare for walk-out protests on March 14, Waltham High School leaders are encouraging students to protest without leaving school grounds. In a March 9 letter sent home to students’ parents, Principal Gregory DeMeo explained the school’s alternative to the planned protest: a short meeting in the gym during the scheduled walk-out, according to a March 9 Wicked Local article. The proposed WHS walk-out that prompted DeMeo’s letter is part of a national protest movement. “Students at schools around the nation … will leave their classes for 17 minutes beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday to honor the 17 victims gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.,” a March 9 Boston Globe article explained. Similar walk-out protests have already happened at other Boston-area high schools. DeMeo’s proposal instead encourages students to walk to the gym, where the Parkland shooting victims’ names will be read and a moment of silence observed, the Wicked Local article explained. Students “will also be given information in their history classes on how to write letters to state and national legislators,” continuing the spirit of teenager-driven activism which characterizes this walk-out protest, according to the same article. Other high schools around Boston have proposed their own alternatives to the walk-outs. According to the Boston Globe article, these alternatives include having students “walk around the school’s track for 17 minutes” or having participants “listen to student speakers talk about gun control.” Describing the WHS alternative to the walk-out, DeMeo wrote in his letter, “This program provides our students who are passionate about this cause with an opportunity to show their support in a safe and productive manner.” —Jocelyn Gould

ANNOUNCEMENTS Mass Innovation Night

Watch startup teams from around Brandeis as well as distinguised alumni teams compete for audience favorite and showcase their accomplishments. Held once a month, Innovation Nights are one of Boston’s longest-running and most respected startup events. Mass Innovation Night comes to Brandeis with an evening showcase with all the best innovations that Brandeis has to offer. Tomorrow from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Frances Perkins: The Civil Service Commission

Frances Perkins, an American sociologist and workers-rights advocate was the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. After Frances Perkins retired from the Department of Labor in 1945, she worked for the Civil Service Commission. It was the beginning of the Cold War. What role did she play in the hearings on disloyalty? This talk will be facilitated by Ellen Rosen, a scholar of the Women’s Studies Research Center. Thursday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at LibermanMiller Lecture Hall, Epstein.

Faculty Discussion on Diversity: Ranksim

We hope you will join us for these important discussions led by Mark Brimhall-Vargas, chief diversity officer and vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We encourage you to complete the readings for eah session beforehand to make the conversations more meaningful. Thursday from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in Room 135, Gerstenzang.

Hoops for Help

Hoops for Help is a students versus faculty and staff basketball game and fundraiser. All money raised will help the World of Work Internship Funding Program provide internship stipends for students who aren’t able to accept unpaid internships. Hoops for Help is part of a larger “Internship Access Campaign” to support high-need students: students under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, international students who might have been affected by recent travel restrictions and students who come from modest economic circumstances. Thursday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Big Hunger: Author Talk with Andrew Fisher

Come join us for a talk and discussion with Andrew Fisher, author of “Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance Between Corporate America and Anti-Hunger Groups.” Food banks and food pantries have proliferated in response to an economic emergency. The loss of manufacturing jobs combined with the recession of the early 1980s and Reagan Administration cutbacks in federal programs led to an explosion in the growth of food charity. This was meant to be a stopgap measure, but the jobs never came back, and the “emergency food system” became an industry. Fisher takes a critical look at the business of hunger and offers a new vision for the anti-hunger movement. Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Room 103, Schwartz.

Bingo

Come try your chance to win a prize at Thursday night bingo. This event is hosted by the Department of Student Activities. Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. at the Stein, Hassenfeld Conference Center.

the justice

CAMPUS SPEAKER

Ysin-Yu Chen spoke about measuring gravitational waves from neutron stars. By SAM STOCKBRIDGE Justice EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Ysin-Yu Chen spoke to the Brandeis Physics Department on Thursday about the discovery of gravitational waves and the future of gravitational research. Chen, who completed her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and began postdoctoral work at Harvard University this past fall, is a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The discovery of gravitational waves led to Nobel Prizes for researchers from three universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Technical School. Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which states that all mass distorts the fabric of the universe, affecting the measurement of time and distance. It often helps to visualize this fabric, called space-time, as a thin, elastic fabric, like a trampoline, which is distorted when heavy objects are placed on it. General relativity predicts that, just as pushing and pulling the trampoline can produce waves on its elastic surface, massive objects like black holes should be able to produce waves in space-time. Researchers at LIGO measured the gravitational waves generated by two black holes orbiting each other 1.3 billion light-years away in February 2016, making headlines across the world. It was not until October 2017 that researchers measured gravitational waves from a different pair of equally heavy objects, Chen explained. The

waves were produced by a pair of neutron stars, which are made of the densely packed nuclei of atoms. For a sense of scale, one teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh approximately 10 million tons. Chen recounted the process of this more recent discovery in her lecture. Researchers’ first exposure to the measurement came from an automated phone alert sent by the observatory. As researchers learned more of the discovery from other parts of the world, their picture of the event became clearer, Chen explained. For instance, at the Virgo interferometer, located near Pisa, Italy, researchers had almost no record of the event, which initially puzzled the physicists, according to Chen. After several hours, it became clear to them why. Chen explained that the Virgo detector has a “dead spot” when it measures waves that move in the same direction its arms point. The LIGO researchers were able to deduce how the gravitational wave propagated and determined more of its characteristics from this. What first seemed like a problem became a useful tool, Chen noted. Chen went on to explain the significance of the observation in measurements of the Hubble Constant, a variable that describes the rate at which the universe is expanding and accelerating. Since the scientists were effectively measuring how two massive objects distorted the fabric of the universe, their data helped improve the precision of the constant, giving more insight into the nature of the universe, according to Chen. The lecture concluded with Chen describing LIGO’s efforts to expand and construct more detectors, including plans to build another observatory in India and a detector currently under construction in Japan.

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FORMOSA

Physicist recounts developments in gravitational waves discovery ■ Harvard University physicist

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YVETTE SEI/the Justice

A student dance troupe performed for Brandeis Undergraduate Taiwanese Student Association’s annual culture show Formosa, hosted on Saturday night in Levin Ballroom.

CAMPUS EVENTS

Scholar discusses the women of Tupperware ■ Laurie Kahn shared her

documentary “Tupperware!” about the women who brought the plastic empire to success. By EMILY BLUMENTHAL Justice Production assistant

Telling the story of an unlikely partnership between two underdog businesspeople, Laurie Kahn’s “Tupperware!” brought viewers back to an unknown moment in the 1950s. Kahn, a Women’s Studies Research Center resident scholar, screened the film at the WSRC on Tuesday and led a Q&A afterwards. Earl Tupper grew up poor in central Massachusetts during the 1900s but refused to give up on his dream of being a millionaire, inventing dozens of devices despite never graduating high school and continually failing to sell his inventions. After WWII, he started his own plastics factory and tried to mold pure polyethylene tablets into a new plastic product. At the time, no one believed that these tablets could be molded, but Tupper defied the odds and invented Tupperware and its “burping” seal. Tupper now had a unique product; however, he was not a people person and struggled with lifting off sales of his invention. Then, along came Brownie Wise. Wise was trapped in an unhappy marriage and caring for an infant son and, as a woman in 1950s Detroit, could not do any work outside the home due to societal restrictions. She got involved with Stanley Home Products, which sold home appliance products door-to-door, and became a star in the business. Though there were many door-todoor product sellers, Stanley was unique in that it enlisted women to sell its products at parties. When Wise and another Stanley worker, Gary McDonald, saw Tupperware at a department store, they knew they had found something special. Wise contacted Tupper to suggest he sell his product at women-led parties, and Tupper agreed. These two “could-nots” came together and created a massive empire driven by Wise and the women leaders of the so-called “Tupperware Parties.” Kahn’s film told the story of Wise and her Tupperware

empire. During WWII, women worked in defense factories and were celebrated for their achievements in helping the country and war effort. However, after the war’s end, according to Kahn’s film, “women got a clear message: Go back to the kitchen.” Women could not leave the home because they were taking care of their children and thus could not make money of their own to satisfy their wants and needs. The economy of the 1950s, though, was booming, and “women who’d done without now wanted a piece of the pie.” Wise’s Tupperware parties changed the income power dynamic, as the hostess would get to keep a portion of the profits and use it to buy products she wanted. Sylvia Boyd, a Tupperware distributor, elaborated, “When we were recruiting people, we tried to fill a need for something that they wanted, like … new carpet or … a new refrigerator, and then we would map out for them how many parties they would have to hold in order to get whatever it is that they wanted.” The parties also provided a social escape, as women could invite their networks of friends in order to sell them Tupperware. The social aspect of the Tupperware Parties allowed women to sell to other women like them and do relatable marketing that other companies could not. “They were selling to themselves. They were selling to people with the same needs, same budget that they had,” stated Tom Tate, the son of a Tupperware distributor. Kahn touched on Tupperware’s impact on female opportunity. She explained, “Tupperware, or homeparty selling, thrives wherever women don’t have many opportunities. Here’s something that they could do part-time — they can control their own hours and not threaten their husbands.” Though women gained more power through the Tupperware Parties, many husbands were opposed to their wives working outside the home. Some organizers tried to convince the husbands by saying that their wives would not overtake them in personal wealth, and it would be beneficial for their households. One Tupperware distributor, Anna Tate, stated during the film that she told the husbands,

“You bring in the bread; you’re the breadwinner, but she can bring in a little cake.” Soon, women and their husbands began to rise in the company ranks as managers and distributors. Their husbands would quit their jobs to work in Tupperware, and the families would move anywhere in the country where the company needed workers. Though women did gain more power in the company, all of the executives, save Wise, were men. Tate’s son, Tom, stated that Wise was “realistic enough to know that at some level, bankers don’t talk to women.” After years working together, Wise and Tupper’s relationship began to sour. Wise became exhausted with constantly being in the spotlight, and she and Tupper had a series of disagreements which led to her being fired in 1958. Even though she was the backbone of Tupperware, Wise was left with no wealth. She started a cosmetics company, Cinderella Cosmetics, but the company failed a year after its founding because one of Tupperware’s executives discouraged Tupperware women from following Wise. Tony Ponticelli, a Tupperware staff member, said of Wise, “She was an idol on a pedestal. From that day on, she fell off that pedestal.” During the talkback, Kahn continued to discuss Wise’s firing and the failure of Cinderella Cosmetics. When the executive told women at Tupperware they could follow Wise to Cinderella Cosmetics, Kahn stated, not one of them left the room, because Tupperware “was their bread and butter, because it was successful, because they had friends.” Kahn added that Wise was disadvantaged from the outset, as she had an 8th grade education and knew nothing about the financial aspect of companies, which were factors in Cinderella Cosmetics’ short life. Tupperware, Kahn states, changed women’s lives, because the company received recognition they had never had, even if it was through arcane feminine stereotypes. “These women subverted the system from inside the system. … These women never got recognized. … Someone thinking about how to make life fun for you, and recognize you for what you’ve done, wasn’t happening for women.”

SUNDAY MARCH 25, 2018

YEAR

Anniversary CELEBRATION AND CONFERENCE

CELEBRATION 3:00-6:00 PM Olin-Sang Auditorium, followed by a reception THE ILAN TROEN LECTURES ON CONTEMPORARY ISRAEL AFFAIRS SPEAKERS:

DANIEL SHAPIRO Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel “The United States and Israel Face a Changing Middle East”

RIVKA CARMI President, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev “Personal and National Stories Intertwine: Israel at 70” Please also join us for an academic conference MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018, 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM Free and open to the public. RSVP requested. For more information visit:

www.brandeis.edu/israelcenter

We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the sponsors who have made this event possible:

CHARLES AND LYNN SCHUSTERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION

ISRAEL INSTITUTE and JIM JOSEPH FOUNDATION

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TUESDAY, march 13, 2018

EXAMINING IRANIAN PRISONS

BRIEF Nor’easter Skylar brings fast wind and heavy snow to New England Following last Thursday’s snowy morning and the heavy wind and rain of March 2, the third nor’easter to hit Waltham in fewer than two weeks arrived today, causing an all day closure of the University. The National Weather Service announced a winter storm warning that began at 11 p.m. last night and will stay in effect until 8 p.m today, with an expectation of 12 to 16 inches of snow across southeast New England. Named “Winter Storm Skylar,” the nor’easter will mostly impact coastal New England throughout the day, according to a report yesterday from the Weather Channel. Wind gusts may potentially reach 60 mph or higher for the eastern Massachusetts coast. A statement from the National Weather Service announced that power outages should not be as widespread as they were in prior winter storms Riley and Quinn, which knocked out power for about 800,000 people in the Northeast. Skylar started as a storm in the Plains on Saturday, with light snowfall across the Mis-

sissippi Valley, and spread across the Appalachians over the weekend, according to the Weather Channel. Prior to hitting the Boston area, snow draped the East Coast yesterday as it made its way up from Tennessee and North Carolina. Skylar is a winter storm that underwent “bombogenesis,” or a rapidly intensifying area of low pressure, which activates heavy precipitation and strong winds. Also known as a “weather bomb,” this weather occurrence results from large temperature gradients, either between cold-continental air masses and warm sea-surface temperatures, or cold surface air meeting the warmer air of the South, according to the Weather Channel. Nor’easters are common on the East Coast due to Canada’s cold air flow swinging southeast and meeting warm air from the Atlantic’s northward current from the Gulf of Mexico. Though a cold and snowy week, temperatures are expected to rise by the end and hit a high of 53 F on Sunday.

Scholar explores Iranian prisons’ societal impact

—Michelle Dang

police log CONTINUED FROM 2 their apartment door, causing a disturbance. University Police identified the ex boyfriend, issued him a verbal trespass notice and escorted him off University property without incident. A certified trespass letter was sent, and the reporting party was advised of their options. March 11—The manager of the Stein requested assistance for several parties who had entered with open containers of alcohol and who refused to leave or cooperate with the staff. University Police dispersed the crowd, and the Stein was closed early.

Other March 5—Staff at the Rose Art Museum reported that there were two individuals on the roof of the museum. The two parties were

ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice

educational institutions: Scholar Golnar Nikpour discussed the role prisons have historically played in Iranian society.

identified as students who were taking photographs from a high vantage point, and they left the scene without incident at the request of the staff. University Police took no further action. March 8—A caller reported that a dark Toyota Sienna van had been sitting outside the Berlin Chapel. University Police on the scene ascertained that the driver was dropping off a student at the Volen National Center for Complex Systems. University Police took no further action. March 11—University Police placed one party in protective custody due to alcohol intoxication. The party was transported to the Waltham Police station for processing, and the area coordinator on call was notified. —Compiled by Abby Patkin

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■ Scholar Golnar Nikpour

examined prison policies in the 20th century and how they affected Iranian society. By Jiyin Chen JUSTICE staff writer

For scholar Golnar Nikpour, the idea of prison — especially in Iran’s Pahlavi era, 1925 to 1979 — is so much greater than criminal punishment; Iranian prison, she argued in a seminar on Wednesday, has historically been an educational institution. Nikpour, the Neubauer Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, has written a book about Iran’s prisons, penaly and criminal systems. Nikpour discussed what prisons stood for and what they brought to Iran, giving the audience insight into the social context of that period. She began the talk by arguing that prison was treated as educational and served as a center for social reform for many prisoners. She quoted leftist Iranian political activist Bozorg Alavi to demonstrate such a belief: “Prison, for us, was truly a school. We learned many things there. Not only about social and political matters, but also… well, what didn’t we learn? For example, I learned Russian in prison. I learned English in prison. In prison, one read in earnest,” Alavi said in a 1985 interview. Nikpour mentioned Alavi’s memoir and pointed out that he is not the only one whose experience demonstrates this fact. She explained, “Nearly all opposition parties in modern Iran produce work from or about prison.” Nikpour then talked about her work on the topic. “My work is an inquiry on the nature of the power of the modern state, and I argue that both techniques of punishment, as well as response to those techniques have developed and vary over time.” Adding to this, she spoke of the

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importance of viewing punishment practices as interconnected, rather than separated by the philosophies of the governments which implemented them. “Punishment techniques are not natural, stable outgrowths of forms of governance,” she said, “but are rather historically contingent practices that fluctuate and evolve in a shifting arsenal of modern power.” “That is,” she continued, “we cannot speak coherently of ‘fascist punishment,’ ‘liberal punishment,’ ‘nationalist punishment,’ ‘Islamic punishment,’ [and so forth].” Cultural languages of modern punishment are “transnational and linked,” she said. She pointed out that Iranian prisoners read materials by activists and prisoners all over the world, including those outside Middle East. Incarceration tends to be a “global phenomenon,” which is not necessarily addressed by current scholarship, Nikpour emphasized. She believes that people should “not simply examine regimes of mass incarceration in local context” but also “contextualize them in the transnational networks in which they have emerged.” There are some detailed examples, especially from the Pahlavi period, which support this concept, she added. Nikpour discussed some big transformations from this period, showing photos depicting the state of the prisons and the imprisoned: what they dressed in and the what those prisons looked like. Yet, prisons were also handy for another form of education, Nikpour asserted: teaching prisoners how to develop their criminal skills. She made critiques of Pahlavian Iranian prisons, which argued that even female or juvenile prisons served as places where elder prisoners teach younger ones to commit crimes. These critiques pushed prisons to require work from their prisoners in order to keep them out of trouble, according to Nikpour. Discussing her work with previously unexamined scholarly sources on criminology and criminal

sociology, Nikpour told audiences about an early 1950s doctoral thesis, “Prisons and Prisoners,” by an Iranian at Tehran University’s law school. “From what I discovered, this is the earliest academic work that focuses exclusively on prison,” Nikpour said, adding that the thesis’ author claimed that “the history of punishment moves as a progressive march from an inefficient and inhumane towards one useful and just.” Nikpour added that the author wrote, “in prisons of old … the prisoners will be forced to confess whether or not they had committed any crime. But in today, in Iran, punishments are applied in regard to the law.” Nikpour also quoted a criminology expert who said, “The criminal is like a patient, and just as a doctor orders tests on the patient in order to diagnose their disease, the judge must collect information on the personality of each offender, in order to discover the reasons … for their crime.” The medicalization standpoint, according to Nikpour, is necessary “because prisoners were both imagined as a vulnerable population in need of care and as possible social contagions.” “If crime was the illness,” said Nikpour, “then prison would be the cure or, at least, the quarantine.” Nikpour further discussed this topic in the context of revolutions and revolutionary groups during the 1970s, in the last decade of the Pahlavi era. Nikpour also discussed postIslamic Revolution Iran. She explained that the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolution’s leader who overthrew the Pahlavi regime in 1979, said that “no person could be executed except when a person has ordered a massacre or act of torture.” She also discussed her perspectives on tortures and interrogations against political prisoners. The talk concluded with a question-and-answer session with the audience.

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CAST: Opening of Resource Room gives creative students a relaxing space for art CONTINUED FROM 1 Brociner worked with CAST students and faculty to formulate his vision for the Resource Room, which would provide a place for students to work on their creative projects and to collaborate with others. For Brociner, the goal was to create a space which would “foster creativity” and “help students ... relax,” something he thinks is rare on the University campus. To this end, Brociner filled the room with resources both for creative inspiration and relaxation. Bradfield and Parker donated “literary magazines, art books, and poetry journals” as well as sketching supplies, according to Brociner in the same email. These

resources are intended to inspire and facilitate students’ own work. The Resource Room also includes “a lava lamp, a zen garden, a tea station, and a speaker for people to play music of their choice,” according to Brociner, as well as an inflatable couch. Additionally, the walls of the room are painted yellow to give the space “some positive energy,” Brociner wrote. The Resource Room is Room 327 in the Ethics Center, located in the Abraham Shapiro Academic Complex. It will be open during the same hours as the Ethics Center: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The space is reserved for Creative Writing and CAST students.

Do you enjoy museums, music or movies?

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NEWS

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TUESDAY, march 13, 2018

politics with a side of pep

HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice

COFFEEHOUSE: The Music and Dance Band played during the Student Union discussion at Cholmondeley's on Thursday night.

COFFEEHOUSE: Students express concerns to Union representatives at Chum’s CONTINUED FROM 1 Aviva Davis ’21 stated, in an interview with the Justice, that she was concerned by was the lack of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, particularly in residential buildings. Davis elaborated, “I have friends in gender-neutral housing who have [gender-neutral bathrooms] there, but when they come to visit me, they don’t have them [in my dorm]. So that’s something that’s really been on my mind lately.” Davis also touched on the Union’s recent trial run of free menstrual products in bathrooms, adding, “I really appreciate the free tampons movement. … I think that should be a thing.” One common desire was “to end the meal plan requirement for

students with a kitchen in their suites,” stated Charles River Senator Oliver Price ’20 in an interview with the Justice. Ridgewood Senator Leigh Salomon ’19 elaborated, “I’m part of the Senate Dining Committee and they’ve relayed to me that the meal plan system is being mended… [Brandeis] has to pay [Sodexo] a certain amount of money, so students have to have meal plans.” Salomon added, “The administration has been very understanding of this issue and is working on a solution.” Speaking to the Justice, Brown encouraged students to get involved with the Union and enumerated the many options for those wishing to take part. “There are a lot of ways to get involved,” Brown stated. “You can join any of our

Senate Committees.” Brown also mentioned that anyone can run for a position on the Student Union’s Executive Board or for open seats in the second round of elections in the fall. While the coffeehouse allowed Union members to talk with their constituents, it was also a way for the Union to raise awareness of its work. “I don’t think a lot of students realize or ... take advantage of the fact that ... we’re here to serve them,” Salomon said in the same interview. “I just want to make students aware that the Union is here for them.” —Editor’s note: Leigh Salomon ’19 is a Features writer for the Justice.

AWARD: Gupta hopes for civil rights progress CONTINUED FROM 1 This progress, she said, has momentum. Gupta learned this lesson firsthand as a 26-year-old attorney with the NAACP, when she traveled to Tulia, Texas, to work a case involving a drug sting. The sting had resulted in 46 arrests, including nearly 15 percent of the town’s Black population. It was later revealed, however, that the undercover detective behind the arrests had not kept records, and the evidence he gathered could not be tied to the suspects. Gupta and her team obtained pardons and a $6 million settlement for the victims, with the case serving as a testament to the momentum of hope and progress, she said. “Although it can feel like it comes from nowhere and nothing, it grows,” she emphasized. “And there’s mo-

mentum to hope; there’s a kind of multiplying effect that really can’t be explained. And it’s powerful.” This momentum is best applied when individuals form coalitions, she said, arguing that America is built on a history of people coming together and fighting for change. “This is why, despite the setbacks in Washington today, I remain deeply hopeful about reform, and about the progress that this country has made,” she said. She later added, “That’s the thing about hope; it has always been built from the ground up, from bold communities and courageous individuals, especially young people, who have the vision and the heart to make our country live up to its ideals.” Ongoing challenges to civil and human rights have even prompted some to become involved in poli-

tics, indicating a promising start for a brighter future, Gupta said. “It’s really the hope that men and women today can build a more just, a more inclusive, a more fair future for the children of tomorrow. … And it’s the hope that despite all the zigs and the zags of our nation’s history, that we are going to continue to ensure that America marches forward, imperfectly, but inexorably,” she said. This momentum and dedication fuel her hope and drive her passion for civil rights, she said. “Civil rights work is designed to build momentum, and it’s designed to persist and endure,” Gupta concluded before fielding audience questions. “Your resiliency gives me hope, and your determination gives me hope. And the struggle will always give me hope.”

features

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018● Features ● The Justice

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VERBATIM | AUDREY HEPBURN Everything I learned, I learned from the movies.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 2013, North Korea tore up the Korean Armistice agreement.

Before it will tear, a dollar bill can be folded roughly 4,000 times.

Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

LAST DANCE: As Burt Lancaster dances in the final scene of “The Leopard,” he acknowledges a paradigm shift, meaning an end to his era.

Watch Out for the Leopard

The History of Ideas Program hosted a film screening of ‘The Leopard’ By victor feldman JUSTICE editor

Leopards are sly, fast and endangered — so too is Burt Lancaster as Don Fabrizio Corbera in Luchino Visconti’s classic 1963 film “The Leopard.” Projected in a classroom at the Mandel Center for the Humanities on Thursday, March 8, this film — about a ruthlessly honest aristocrat fighting to preserve his way of life while his country is in political turmoil — created a calm in the room filled with students chewing popcorn and eating candy. When “The Leopard” was released in theaters in the summer of 1963, it was largely dismissed by film critics, with the majority of the criticism aimed at Lancaster’s performance. Prof. Bernard Yack (POL), a political theorist and author of several books on the topic of revolution and nationalism, feels differently. Both before and after the film screening, he stood up to face the audience. “They don’t make films like this today; they just don’t,” he said. The film screening was part of a series hosted by the History of Ideas Program to explore classical film and study the ramifications of nationalism. “The Leopard” opens with a panorama of a villa in the Sicilian countryside in 1860. Soon, cries come out from the garden, where a dead Royalist soldier’s body has been found. The Prince of Saline, Don Fabrizio Corbera, finds the body and in a tight shot of his face, wrinkled and sweating, the audience sees a man in deep distress. The prince realizes that the dead soldier’s body is just the beginning of the carnage to come as revolution breaks out between the king’s army and rebels led by insurgent Giuseppe Garibaldi. Fearing for his life, the prince flees with his priest, taking a chariot to the small town of Palermo. There, after consuming countless glasses of

bourbon, he meets with a prostitute. The next day, in a heated discussion with his priest, the prince justifies his actions by noting that while he has a loving a devoted Catholic wife, he has “never see her navel.” The priest laughs with the prince but

mo to be suffocating his spirit, the prince travels to his summer home in Donnafugata, where he spends his days hunting and evenings hosting guests and drinks copiously. In this small town, a referendum is held on whether Donnafugata

ing companion, who is also the village organist, about the vote. His companion admits that he voted no. This event further sows doubt in the prince’s mind over whether he is part of a dying breed of aristocrats who, perhaps, have been

Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

PANNED: Burt Lancaster’s portrayal of the prince of Salina was harshly criticized upon the film’s release. is concerned. Both men sense that while everything seems the same at surface level, the paradigm is shifting, and war is imminent. The priest questions whether the church will survive the civil war, to which the prince forcefully proclaims that the church will always be fine, but that his class, the aristocracy, will fall. Finding the small town of Paler-

should remain under control of its leading citizen, Don Calogero Sedara. Given the corrupt town officials and Sedara’s iron grip of control over town politics, the vote unsurprisingly yields a win for the nationalists by 512-0 votes. The prince looks on as the vote is announced, an expression of worry on his face. He later asks his hunt-

corrupted by their own power. The film ends with a 22-minute scene of a grand ball held in the villa of a neighboring aristocrat. The final scenes show the prince wandering aimlessly during the ball, walking through each chamber of the house until he is lost. With nowhere else to go, he sits on the marble staircase, watching the

young men and women fly as they dance across the marble floor. Ultimately, he joins the dancers with a look of deep sorrow across his face. “The Leopard” may provide insight on today’s political climate, Yack explained. He noted the dignity with which Lancaster’s character handles the changing paradigm, as well as the dangers of nationalism and labeling the wealthy or educated in a society as “the enemy.” Most of the students in the audience are participants in the History of Ideas Program at Brandeis, of which Yack is a faculty member. The program offers an interdisciplinary minor to students who wish to take elective classes and supplement their major with classes that pertain to social justice and new ways of thinking about personal identity and the world. The Program occasionally hosts a movie night, often screening classic films that the faculty believe have cultural significance, and shine a light on important moments in history and cultural shifts. As the credits of “The Leopard” rolled across the screen, students from the program huddled in small groups to discuss the film. Some felt that, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the movie was too long and failed to tell a compelling story. Others felt that Lancaster’s character was, in many ways, the opposite of Donald Trump. The conversation turned toward whether the movie was a cautionary tale with relevance to the millennial generation. One student mused as to whether the rich and educated in the U.S. should fear an uprising by the far-right and Tea Party members. But, as Yack noted, the purpose of the screening was not to force students to analyze everything about the movie. In many ways, he said, “It’s a wonderful film because the costumes are so intricately detailed and colorful.”

the justice ● Features ● TUESDAY, march 13, 2018

Superheroes Don’t Write B+ Papers Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

BREAKING POINT: Elliot Maggin ’72 got his big break when he sent an essay with a comic book to DC comics.

By Sophie Fulara JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Getting a B + on a history paper is precisely how former Features editor of the Justice Elliot Maggin ’72 began his writing career with DC Comics. The paper included a comic book to illustrate how comics could be used to convey ideologies. Maggin went to the section leader regarding the grade, saying, “You write a comic book as part of a history paper, you either get an A or an F. What’s the B + about?” The section leader shrugged and responded, “I thought you were going to draw it, too.” Unsatisfied with his grade and feeling his work was underappreciated, Maggin sent the comic to Carmine Infantino, the head of DC Comics. In an interview with the Justice, Maggin described his creative process and the world of comic books. He has worked on multiple characters, including Batman and Green Arrow, but some of his most popular comics came from the

Superman series. Superman is a recurring character in almost every major culture, but each culture has given him a different name. The Romans called him Jupiter, and the Norse called him Thor. One possible reason Superman is so popular is that he represents every generation’s idea of omnipotence. Maggin, although happy to spend much of his time with Superman, primarily identifies with Clark Kent. He also identifies with Lex Luthor, a criminal hero. The way Maggin puts it, “Luther could be the greatest man in the world if he didn’t have the misfortune of living in a world where there was a Superman. You just can’t compete with that, so he decided to be a criminal because he could do that better than anybody else. That was my favorite character in the series.” Maggin attributes much of his writing career to Julius Schwartz, the first editor to buy his re-created comic. Having edited his stories for 30 years, Schwartz taught

Elliot Maggin ’72 turned a college essay into a comic book

Maggin one of the most important skills in storytelling: structure. Maggin now believes that every story structure is hardwired into the human brain. He explained that a story consists of the decision, the conflict and the resolution. These three steps are necessary for a story to feel complete. Otherwise, the story is left to the reader’s imagination, and the story is no longer the author’s. Most of Maggin’s time is spent writing the first half of the conflict phase, or act two. Writing the rest of the story is much simpler: in act one, the protagonist is set on a journey that drives the second act. At the end of the second act, something happens that drives the story to a climax, which then, leads to the resolution. But what happens in act two tends to be longer than the other acts because the characters and their relationships must be introduced, making it a challenge to hold the reader’s interest and advance the plot.

Maggin believes so strongly in this universal story structure that he often goes through a two-hour routine explaining to people how it works. He cites the Declaration of Independence as the best essay ever written in English. In Maggin’s eyes, the Declaration is “a letter to the world talking about what a creep King George is, and it makes an incredible case for it.” It begins with a statement, explains it and then lists 29 illustrations of that explanation. Maggin believes Thomas Jefferson understood how to structure a story. At times during the interview, Maggin would insert a short story or piece of historical knowledge. For example, he mentioned that in 1984 he ran for Congress in New Hampshire as a Democrat. His opponent, Judd Gregg, had established his name before anyone knew Maggin, so his chances were low to begin with. The district was also heavily Republican, lowering his chances even further.

After a heavy loss, Maggin learned a hard lesson about politics: winning requires more than $30,000. Even after winning, he explained, congressmen spend hours each day fundraising on the phone. Today, much of Maggin’s life revolves around his family. Besides his writing career, Maggin says his biggest accomplishments are his children. In a new book called “Not My Closet,” he manages to combine the two by getting more personal in his writing. “Not My Closet” is about Danny Sugarman, a geeky man whose seemingly perfect life gets turned upside-down once he learns that his wife is gay. At Brandeis, Maggin says he learned how to become a better version of himself. He said, “Brandeis defines who you are. If I didn’t go there, I wouldn’t know who I’d be.” Now in his 60’s, with hundreds of stories and life experiences under his belt, Maggin can finally say, “I’ve been approving of who I am along the way.”

Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

ACT TWO: When writing comics, Elliot Maggin ’72 spends the majority of his time working on the second act, which he says is the most diffcult to craft.

10 TUESDAY, march 13, 2018 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice Established 1949

Abby Patkin, Editor in Chief Amber Miles, Managing Editor Carmi Rothberg, Senior Editor Kirby Kochanowski, Avraham Penso and Sabrina Sung,

Brandeis University

Deputy Editors

Michelle Banayan, Abby Grinberg, Lizzie Grossman, Noah Hessdorf, Ben Katcher, Mihir Khanna, Pamela Klahr, Robbie lurie and Natalia Wiater, Associate Editors Jocelyn Gould, Acting News Editor Victor Feldman, Features Editor Nia Lyn, Forum Editor, Zach Kaufman, Sports Editor Hannah Kressel, Arts Editor Yvette Sei and Andrew Baxter, Photography Editors Morgan Mayback, Layout Editor, Liat Fischer and Devo Meyers, Acting Ads Editors Eliana Padwa and Lily Swartz, Copy Editors Jen Geller, Online Editor

EDITORIALS Call transparency in housing accomodation process With housing lottery numbers to be released soon, this board urges the University to re-evaluate this year’s process in order to make it more transparent for students, specifically regarding special housing accommodations. In order to receive special housing accommodations, students must submit a general form that requires basic information such as class year and telephone number, as well as a medical provider form that includes more detailed information about specific medical and/ or psychiatric disabilities. This form must be signed by a student’s physician and must be accompanied by full medical documentation, such as laboratory or test results. When applying for accommodations, students must specify which room conditions they need, such as air conditioning, carpeting and kitchen access, as well as how those conditions would help them with their daily functioning, per the general form. The two forms, along with the medical documentation, are then brought to a panel that consists of medical health clinicians, dietitians, disability specialists and a housing operations representative, according to a March 12 email to the Justice from Timothy Touchette, assistant dean of Student Affairs. “Special care is given to review every case,” Touchette wrote. The Housing Accommodation Requests Guide provides a list of criteria that the committee follows when assessing a student’s needs, including room availability, whether the request was made on time, whether it places an undue financial burden on the University, how it affects other students and whether there are other housing options that would have the same effect. If an accommodation request is granted, the student may either receive a low housing lottery number or be placed in specific housing, such as a room that is wheelchair accessible. Some rooms, such as those with Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility features, are not available to the general student body during the general housing selection process, according to Touchette. These, along with other spaces that “feature modifications based on the need,” are reserved for the housing accommodations process. Representatives from the Justice and the Brandeis Hoot attended an informational meeting organized by Student Union President Jacob Edelman ’18 to see what the housing lottery process looks like. Generally, numbers 1-49 are reserved for medical accommodations for sophomores, and 1501-1549 for upperclassmen. These numbers are scaled to accommodate the approved requests, according to Touchette. Since the University does not guarantee housing for upperclassmen, if students’ medical records report a need for campus housing, “they may be prioritized,” according to the Accommodations Request Guide. Students must submit requests every year, and there is no guarantee that the request will be approved each time. It is possible for a student to receive accommodations one year but not the next, and vice versa. This year, students were notified of their requests in the beginning

Inform students on housing of March, two weeks before the release of housing lottery numbers. This board recognizes the complex process that the Department of Community Living adheres to, as it requires the time and effort of many involved. However, DCL could be more transparent with the process and allow for ample time to appeal the decision before housing numbers come out. The Justice interviewed a sophomore whose application for special housing accommodations for the upcoming academic year was rejected. We granted this student anonymity due to the sensitive nature of her situation. Suffering from chronic fatigue and an allergy to peanuts, she is worried about her future housing arrangements. “If I maybe put my food down on the same table where they [my suitemates] had a peanut butter sandwich and then eat my food, I could end up in the hospital,” she told the Justice. This year, she lives in a double and was able to choose her own roommate, but she is concerned she will be placed with other students who would not necessarily be as accommodating. When she first inquired about disability housing, DCL encouraged her to apply, and they were “really nice and really, really supportive about whether I needed housing,” which is why she is surprised that her recent request was not granted. She followed up with an email asking why her request was denied but has not received a response as of press time, two days before the release of housing lottery numbers. In a March 11 email to the Justice, Cynthia Crispino ’21 explained that she had “really bad environmental allergies” and requested a room with air conditioning and no carpet, but her application was rejected. Lily Fisher Gomberg ’20 explained that she applied for a single for the upcoming academic year because of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder, but her application was rejected as well, per a March 12 email to the Justice. She reached out to DCL minutes after receiving the notification but did not receive an answer until four days later, telling her she would receive a reason for the denial the upcoming Monday, March 12. However, Gomberg said, this did not occur. According to Gomberg, when she went to the DCL office that same Monday, the coordinator was out of the office and no one in the office at that time could give her any information. Housing numbers are released March 14, and the lack of communication means Gomberg has “no opportunity to go through the appeals process” before then. While the special housing accommodations process is long and handled with sensitivity by the committee in charge, this board urges DCL to make the appeals process easier and to allow for more transparency in the rejection process. Students who have allergies or special needs may face unnecessary stress when dealing with the housing process, and a fair and more transparent appeals process would be a step in the right direction.

LIZZIE GROSSMAN/the Justice

Views the News on

On Mar. 3, the New York Times reported that YouTube had launched a large-scale crackdown on misleading and inflammatory content, with thousands of conspiracy and far-right videos being removed from the website. Dealing with deceptive content has become a pressing issue for companies like Facebook and Google, whose services have been widely used as a platform for spreading misinformation and organizing hate groups. Should tech companies take steps to curb malicious content on their platforms, or should free speech remain paramount?

R Matthews ’19 I’m definitely a proponent for open internet and anti-censorship, but I think a key part for this to be possible is education about what news sources people get their information from. I’ve mentioned this in a previous opinion piece for the Justice, but most news is biased in some way and I feel as though people don’t do enough research on the news they are receiving or the sources they are getting it from. I feel as though not enough people do their due diligence when it comes to reading the news, regardless of what platform they get it from (online, social media, television, etc.). I personally feel as though the sifting of information should be dependent on the user, rather than the platform, but the platform should better state their biases. Tech companies don’t need to be responsible for this, but should they choose, I’d want proper information disclosure. R Matthews is a Brandeis University Posse Scholar and is majoring in Computer Science and African & Afro-American Studies.

Amanda Kahn ’20 The crackdown on misleading and inflammatory information on platforms like YouTube is an important step toward halting the spread of misinformation. This has become a huge issue, particularly on Facebook, and it had a huge impact on the 2016 presidential election. This is very problematic, and has led to the spread of more and more fake news on many internet platforms. Furthermore, I can fully support this decision by YouTube, particularly because the main cause for the crackdown was conspiracy theories coming out about the shooting in Parkland, Florida. As a student from Newtown, Connecticut, I can fully support this effort to stop these conspiracy theories, because they can be extremely damaging to the victims and their families. This occurred prominently after 12/14/12 and it was really difficult to see. It affected a lot of people in my town in a very damaging way, and even resulted in some people calling parents of the victims and harassing them. I am very glad that YouTube is making an effort to curb these conspiracy theorists, and I hope other platforms decide to follow their example. Amanda Kahn ’20 is majoring in Biology with a minor in History.

Roland Blanding ’21 If there is an ethical responsibility that these corporations have outside of their profit incentives, then I think that they ought to uphold freedom of civil discourse, lest they only propagate the illiberal institution of censorship that forces people into violent discourse because they feel that they are unheard. When someone makes a post on the internet, they open a dialogue with not only their proponents, but also their opponents, and it is necessary to inform both sides for fruitful debate to take place. The exceptions are threats on the lives of individuals, or damages to property, as these should be dealt with immediately and not protected as speech is. I think that a better world is one where we let people choose what voices they want to listen to, and where we understand that viewpoints are not pernicious because they engender pain within us, but because they are principally wrong. Roland Blanding ’21 is a member of Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society and the Men of Color Alliance.

Julianna Scionti ’20 The paradigm set up in the question is legally irrelevant. The first amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” The Fourteenth Amendment extends this standard to the states. As much as people may want the First Amendment to apply to corporations like YouTube, it does not because they are private organizations. Even if the First Amendment did apply to private organizations, the content YouTube will be regulating would largely not be protected under the First Amendment. Inflammatory language that leads people to act in lawless ways is already not protected along with false content which can be prosecuted under libel laws. Free speech is not all-encompassing. Julianna Scionti is Co-Founder and Vice President of the Brandeis Drawing Club and is majoring in Politics.

Photos: the Justice

THE JUSTICE ● fORUM ● TUESDAY, march 13, 2018

Promote awareness of harassment in the food industry By ABIGAIL GRINBERG JUSTICE EdITOR

Across the country, servers and bartenders are speaking out with stories of crude comments, groping and other unacceptable behaviors by customers. Over the past year, much attention has been placed on sexual harassment and inappropriate treatment of employees in the workplace. However, one of the largest industries in the country is being overlooked: the restaurant industry, which has some of the most vulnerable employees of any occupation, according to a March 12 New York Times article. A Jan. 18 Harvard Business Review article reported that 90 percent of women and 70 percent of men experience some sort of sexual or professional harassment in the restaurant business, which saw more harassment claims filed than any other industry. As stated in the same New York Times article, “A ‘customer is always right’ ethos often tilts the equation — creating the kind of power imbalance that has become front and center in a broader conversation about sex and gender in the workplace.” Servers and bartenders around the country face a dilemma every single day: When relying on tips as a significant part of their income, how should servers go about creating boundaries with customers? Many have learned to ignore inappropriate comments made by customers in order to get that extra tip which might help pay for basic necessities like groceries or rent. This puts these employees at greater risk of sexual harassment, as they are forced to push any mistreatment under the rug when their income depends on it. The underlying issue that must be addressed is why employees of the restaurant industry are so dependent on tips to begin with. According to the United States Department of Labor, only seven states require employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Under federal law, the minimum rate that employers can pay tipped workers is $2.13 per hour, as long as their hourly wages plus tips add up to $7.25 an hour. According to the aforementioned Department of Labor report, this policy often leads to workplace exploitation, such as employers withholding or stealing tips, other forms of wage theft and, even worse, sexual harassment. Without a minimum wage, many

low-income families will remain perpetually below the poverty line, especially if they are relying on day-to-day tips. Beyond the wage rate, employees face another troubling issue. Restaurants aren’t required to have a human resources department, but they are legally required to make sure their employees are not subjected to discrimination or harassment, according to a lawyer specializing in restaurant law who was interviewed in a Oct. 27, 2017 Huffington Post article. Often, however, restaurant workers have no one to turn to, as management does not always take care of these cases properly. As Joseph M. Sellers, a lawyer working in Washington, D.C., said in the same New York Times article, “The employer has an obligation to make a safe workplace, and if you complain, they should do something about it.” If an employee does not have a human resources department and cannot turn to their boss, to whom can they go?

“

Without a minimum wage, many low-income families will perpetually remain below the poverty line. Fortunately, efforts are being made to protect employees working in the food industry from harassment. Advocates for workers are pushing multiple states and the District of Columbia to change laws that allow restaurants to pay servers less than the minimum wage. New York recently cited harassment as one of the reasons it was looking into the way tipped workers are paid, according to the March 12 New York Times article. The hope with new payment regulation is that servers would be less dependent on tips as primary sources of income, and consequently more willing to push back against harassment. Yet some employers and employees doubt that raising the minimum wage rate for servers is a good idea. Many worry that doing so would cause customers to tip less, while

MARA KHAYTER/the Justice

forcing restaurants to close due to higher costs. “The tip credit allows employers to keep their labor costs low and allows us to make a great living,” said Joshua Chaisson, a server from Portland, Maine, who was quoted in the New York Times article. Chaisson helped create Restaurant Workers of America, an advocacy group that fights to preserve the tipped wage. Many restaurant owners also

cannot afford to pay full wage, as they already struggle to make a profit in a notoriously difficult industry. Sexual harassment of any kind should never be tolerated in the workplace, and without raising the minimum wage for tipped workers and improving conditions for reporting cases of harassment, these issues will persist and go unnoticed.

Condemn Iran’s hypocritical repression of its female population By MICHELLE BANYAN JUSTICE Editor

In late February 2018, Maryam Shariatmadari stood atop a utility box in the streets of Tehran and took off her hijab, waving it like a flag with her hair flowing behind her, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Peacefully protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab law, she was met with violence by state authority. A policeman violently pushed Shariatmadari to the ground, forcing her to require urgent surgery. Before she could reach the hospital, the 32-year-old computer science student was stopped by police and jailed without access to a lawyer or medical treatment for violating a law against encouraging immorality or prostitution. If convicted, she may face up to ten years in jail. This is just one incident in a larger movement aimed toward the goal of female liberation in Iran. Since the passing of the mandatory hijab law in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, there have been wave after wave of uprisings protesting it. In recent years, Iranian women have taken to social media to wage a battle against this law through online movements such as “My Stealthy Freedom”, which shares photographs of Iranian women “inside the country who want to share their ‘stealthily’ taken photographs without the veil,” according to the group’s Facebook page. Now, this radical new movement is moving offline and into the streets of Iran, where the

government is fighting back without remorse, as seen most recently on International Women’s Day on March 8. IWD is regarded as a celebration of the “social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women,” according to the movement’s website. However, as people worldwide proudly marched in the streets on this day in solidarity for gender equality, the people of Iran found themselves facing the same kind of governmental repression Shariatmadari and countless activists before her faced in the name of female liberation. Over two dozen women activists were detained while staging a peaceful protest outside the Labor Ministry in Tehran, according to a Feb. 2 article in the Guardian. This is not the way a government should treat its people, especially a government which constantly claims to stand by values that would dictate otherwise. While Iranians were getting arrested for speaking up for female equality, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, took to Twitter to celebrate women in a manner contradictory to the actions of his law enforcement personnel. In a Twitter thread on March 8, Khamenei praised the ideal Iranian woman for her cultural independence and social involvement. He claimed, “The flag of women’s identity and cultural independence is at the hands of Iranian women,” and added, “The best people who can follow up and solve women’s issues are women themselves.” It is a step in the right direction that Khamenei values female voices, especially in regard to issues facing Iran’s female sector,

such as domestic and sexual abuse. As part of his Twitter thread, he further mentioned, “A woman can have active presence and deep influence on social arenas … [including] protecting herself from abuse by men.” However, these tweets were interspersed with tweets championing women for their “defined roles” as educators and mothers. For Iran’s Supreme Leader to recognize the worth of his country’s female sector is crucial, but it is not enough.

“

We must recognize that women do not hold “defined roles” — they are simply equals in every way. Sentiments like these underscore the importance of days such as IWD, where we must recognize that women do not hold “defined roles” — they are simply equals to men in every way. Khamenei’s sentiment does not align with the actions of Iranian law enforcement which has so quickly resorted to violence and arrest when faced with peaceful protest for female equality. Further, his stance on the aforementioned topic of abuse is laced with irony, for women in Iran are still subject to discrimination entrenched in the country’s laws: Women do

not have equal family and criminal laws, nor do they have equal access to divorce. These are the laws that are meant to protect the country’s people, the laws that are meant to reinforce Khamenei’s rhetoric of the ideal Iranian woman. Yet not only are the laws failing to do just that but they are also failing at the expense of innocent activists who are simply trying to foster the ideal Iranian society depicted in the more progressive segments of Khamenei’s Twitter feed. This is not to say breaking the law is justified. Iran implemented its compulsory hijab requirement in 1979, and lawbreakers should be prepared to face punishment, as with any other law. But the consequences of breaking this law and standing up for the values that Iran’s Supreme Leader himself desires for his country are too harsh. Ten years of jail time, a potential sentence for some of Iran’s most recent female activists like Maryam Shariatmadari, is equivalent to the sentence of owning a brothel. Respecting women and their influence in the social arena, as Khamenei says, includes respecting their voice and individuality. The current treatment of women in Iran disrespects these values and demands more than one day of solidarity and action. The protests happening across the nation are inspiring agents of change who will maintain the persistence and perseverance needed to liberate Iranian women from an oppressive regime that aims to quiet their voices. As an Iranian woman myself, I proudly stand by the actions of these ladies — not just on International Women’s Day but every day.

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TUESDAY, March 13, 2018 ● forum ● THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Foster bipartisan consensus on gun violence debate Ravi

Simon unabashed

In the wake of the carnage in Parkland, Florida., students at Brandeis have expressed their fear and anger about the lack of reasonable gun regulation in America. A walk-out planned for March 14 is evidence that the trauma of these events can have a catalyzing effect on progressive students. After every mass shooting, we try to convince ourselves that this incident will be the tipping point, that this shooting is so horrendous it will move legislators across the aisle to act. Yet, seemingly without end, the vicious cycle continues. It is enormously difficult not to be overcome by feelings of disappointment and hopelessness as these mass shootings continue to occur again and again. There is an urgent necessity for commonsense gun regulations to curb violence, but the strategies that the left has employed have been critically ineffective. Most progressives rightfully blame the National Rifle Association and the prevalence of special interest groups and lobbying in America. They cannot, however, be a scapegoat for failure and a justification for inaction. The manner in which Republican leaders such as President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Rick Scott have, in recent days, defied the NRA is indicative of the limitations of lobbying in the face of massive public pressure for reasonable reform. The NRA is not going away, and progressives cannot work to change their incentives: however, there are key ways in which the left can make its message on gun control far more effective. The problem for the left stems from ignorance. On aggregate, both sides of the aisle after incidents of gun violence tend to talk past each other. It is important to note that cyclical mass shootings are not a result of apathy or indifference on the part of the right. In fact, conservatives are deeply shocked by these events as well. The critical difference is that they view these events as arguments for their own beliefs on gun violence. That is, to the right, restrictions on gun ownership prevent individuals such as teachers from exercising self-defense. As a result, they believe that too much gun control is a cause of mass shootings, not the solution. This is why gun sales skyrocket in the aftermath of publicized shootings, according to a Feb. 20 Vox opinion piece, and why each successive tragedy is never enough pass comprehensive reform. Instead of pushing Republicans to the left, the message and advocacy activists have pushed has often just caused both sides to dig their heels in further and made compromise impossible. Given the outburst of emotion on the Brandeis campus, the question ought to be how progressives can target their messaging in different ways to actually effect change. There are at least four ways in which aspiring activists can target their message to conservatives to make them more likely to support common sense gun reform. First, emphasizing the human nature of the tragedy and avoiding “policy speak” is vital. Gun control works: Numerous studies, including a twoyear research review by the RAND Corp., have

JULIANNjkA SCIONTI/the Justice

produced a wide set of statistics that demonstrate the benefits and necessity of gun reform. Yet, while data and evidence can effectively serve as ancillary support for arguments, it is an unfortunate habit of progressives to focus too much on statistics and numbers. Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times is perhaps the primary example of the academic impulse to quantify arguments. He has for some time advocated for the left to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, emphasizing well researched statistics in his op-eds. According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, studies have shown that statistics often fail to motivate people to action, because they tend to be abstract, nebulous and impossible to relate to. What does it mean if states with gun ownership rates that exceed 32 percent of total households are more likely to have death rates above 10.5 per 100,000 people? Data from an extensive survey research project by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research seems to demonstrate that Americans are swayed more easily to support common-sense gun control by messaging that uses powerful images and stories as opposed strictly to facts and statistics alone. Second, activists need to focus far more on forms of gun violence other than mass shootings, especially suicide. While incidents such as the shooting in Parkland have a emotional impact on the country, they are not sufficient to make conservatives believe gun control arguments. The right points to the fact that, according to Kristof’s own article in the New York Times, mass shootings makeup only around one percent of total gun violence in the country. By contrast, the vast majority of gun deaths in America are the product of self-inflicted harm. In 2016, for

example, over 22,000 individuals died by suicide using a firearm. As a result, conservatives are more likely to be persuaded by arguments about suicide. For one, they target a more personal issue, one that potentially feels closer to home for many Americans. In addition, guns are particularly likely to be lethal in suicide attempts, meaning that restricting access to firearms for individuals struggling with suicidal ideation could meaningfully affect their chance at survival. Third, activists must better tailor the rhetoric of their arguments to appeal to a conservative frame of reference. Data from the survey project by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research indicates that the use of different words and phrases has a substantial impact on the efficacy of a gun-control message. When talking to men, for instance, use the term “gun crime,” as opposed to “gun violence.” Likewise, referring to “strong” gun ownership restrictions rather than “strict” restrictions and “gun violence prevention” rather than “gun control” were all more likely to persuade conservatives to support common leftleaning policies. Most importantly, researchers from Oregon State University found that tailoring a message culturally, to call upon values such as responsible gun ownership and cultural heritage, was far more likely to be recieved better. According to research conducted at Stanford University, using a technique known as moral reframing can be critical to persuasion. Moral reframing focuses on making arguments that are persuasive to the principles and values of the targeted audience. In the case of gun control, appeals to conservatives ought to be related to values such as family ,

patriotism, respect for authority and order. Arguments about protecting law enforcement from criminals were found to be quite effective, for instance. Unfortunately, Democrats have often treated gun owners with condescension. Former President Barack Obama’s remarked that rural Americans “cling to their guns or religion,” according to an April 14, 2008 article in the Guardian. Likewise, attacks on the NRA were found to be ineffective because most Americans view them as a mainstream watchdog organization. Fourth, progressives need to be better informed about guns. Many individuals on the left find it difficult to recognize the legitimacy of conservative arguments regarding complex issues such as race and sexual orientation. When individuals on the right, for instance, use ignorant terminology such as the “gender binary,” it creates a gap in trust that makes persuading others nearly impossible. he same force is at play for gun control. When progressives use ill-defined terms such “assault weapons,” individuals on the right may become instantly turned off of leftleaning perspectives. Only by demonstrating respect to gun owners – by listening and learning about guns – can gun control proposals become persuasive. The vast majority of Americans support common-sense gun control. Reforms, including fixing background checks, are broadly popular among Republicans as well. Yet, despite enormous efforts and truly admirable courage on the part of advocates, survivors and students at universities including Brandeis, the time and effort is put to waste unless the messaging is actually targeted, well-framed and powerful in the right ways.

Caution against wasteful practices in fast-fashion industry By PHOEBE DOLAN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Consumer fashion is consuming the climate. Fashion in America is a large outlet of behavior that is dangerous for the climate. It is not what we wear; it is how long we wear it. As the early spring clothing sales begin, take a look into America’s closets and America’s landfills. According to a Sept. 1, 2016 Newsweek article, annual American clothing waste the prior year produced an equivalent amount of emissions to driving 7.3 million cars for a year. Clothing waste? Really? How much can what you wear contribute to climate change? Well, it turns out, a lot. Consumerism in America is a huge pillar of society. The societal need for more has never been greater and more detrimental. A pair of denim jeans takes around 700 gallons of water to make, and the water used comes from countries with histories of clean water scarcity, according to an NPR story from April of last year . People in the United States spend around $250 billion on clothing every year, and a large percentage of that comes via the fast-fashion market. The folds of that fun yellow leather mini skirt from H&M hide ecologically dangerous

repercussions. The fast fashion industry is growing and producing clothing using cheap fibers that can be only be reduced by the shopper choosing other items to purchase, as these clothes cannot be reused or recycled. Fast fashion comes from clothing stores such as Uniqlo, H&M, Forever 21 and Primark. The prices are too cheap for consumers of trendy styles to pass by. According to a John Oliver special from April 2015, H&M boasted of their ability to design, build and sell a product within a two-week span, from designer to consumer. Many people only wear a cheap, fast fashion item three or four times, according to the same Newsweek article. This is not enough: We must become more conscious of our waste production and begin waste reduction. Recycling is an important part of sustainable systems, but to lower the problematic emissions and the landfills consisting of fashion waste, we must reduce and reuse. Let’s propose the start of the reusing generation. It will not be hard, because change and success are within reach. Beginning with reducing, we must work to only shop and purchase items that are quality goods. Not only will better-quality clothes last us longer,

but their fibers can also be recycled into new items. Reducing our consumer intake will take effort. We must put less money into fast fashion and look for quality over quantity. According to an Aug. 17 Chicago Tribune article, out of 16.22 million tons of clothing waste produced last year, only 2.62 million tons ended up being recycled into commercially sold fiber. This number is partly due to the low quality of clothes purchased, which may rip after their third or fourth wash, thereby limiting the potential for reusing garments. Clothing donation companies such as Goodwill, Salvation Army and other collection stores are overflowing with inventory. Too many donations from people and institutions forces companies to sell the clothing as a material resource in cubic tons to either incinerators or recyclers. With the increasingly poor quality of clothing, just a fraction of that can be remade into rags and denim. With nowhere for all this clothing waste to go, it sits in landfills taking hundreds of years to decompose and emits dangerous petroleum-based chemicals into the air. A single nylon shirt can take around 50 years to degrade. The waste here is

The opinions expressed on this page are those of each article’s respective author and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Justice.

astronomical. What can you do as a conscious consumer? It is not enough to simply stop buying large quantities of cheap clothing. Let’s kick smallquantity personal reusing into action. Look to purchase from companies that work hard to make sure that they are positively affecting the climate and global population, make use of ethically sourced materials, and produce clothes made for the long haul. Stop making uncalculated purchases. Think of your shopping as climate activism. Buy quality clothing, either worn or new pieces, that will last longer than fast fashion. Buy timeless pieces that can be worn for many seasons. Shop at thrift stores. They are becoming the new normal and now exist online. Be mindful of questionably low-priced garments; these clothes might not be as reusable as others. Clothing waste is a problem that can be easily fixed. The switch to consuming fewer textiles is an easy one that all of us can take on. Buy what you need, make purchases that put your money toward climate-respectful companies and check vintage and second-hand stores whenever possible. Then take the money you save and put it toward assisting others to do the same. Be climate aware in what you wear.

THE JUSTICE ● Sports ● Tuesday, March 13, 2018

TENNIS: Teams look to remain in national conversation CONTINUED FROM 16 kept the momentum going when they turned to the singles court. The first-years were the key for the team on the day, especially on the No. 2 and No. 3 singles courts. At No. 2 Coramutla took the victory, while Vohra earned the win on the No. 3 court. Coramutla had a difficult test, with the game going the full three sets, 6-4, 6-7 (71), 6-3. On the other hand, Vohra made quick work of his opponent from RPI, winning 6-0, 6-1. Das, another first-year, picked up a win for the team at No. 5 singles. Das edged out the victory by the score

SWING FOR THE FENCES

of 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. The classmates were the only ones to win for the team at singles; Aizenberg, Ng and Wolfe all fell in their singles matches. The Judges will be back in action this week when the men’s team faces off at home against Middlebury College on Saturday. The women will next play on March 24 against Trinity College on the road. With the Men’s team currently sitting at 20th in the nation, the Judges hope to continue their winning ways and continue to climb up the national ranks. The more time spent there, the more positive exposure for the program.

BASEBALL: Judges off to slow start, but Team hopes month SOFTBALL: the young team has off will help spark offense a high ceiling

MICHELLE BANAYAN/Justice File Photo

CROSS CORNERS: Third Baseman P.J. Ross throws to first to try to beat the runner during a game against NYU on April 16, 2017.

CONTINUED FROM 16

CONTINUED FROM 16 close to 5-4, but the Judges would never pull out the desired win that they were after. During the second game of the day against Western Massachusetts, the eight innings would be out of the Judges’ favor. Western New England began scoring quickly and at the top of the first inning held a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Brandeis would tie up the game, but immediately the Golden Bears would regain the lead in the third inning. The rest of the game was

full of back-and-forth action as both teams scored and were strong during their respective parts of the innings. However, in the end, the Judges would suffer another blow. While these early-season losses do sting, The Judges are a very young team with a talented rookie class that has the ability to make some noise down the line. Once the team knocks the early season rust off, and the pitching works out a few kinks, the Judges should have a very high ceiling and look to improve the reputation of the Brandeis baseball program.

position to be a powerhouse squad in the conference this season at the plate. Furthermore, the Judges’ pitching staff has been equally impressive. Through 38 innings, the team has combined for a 3.50 ERA with 19 strikeouts. For comparison, their opponents have totaled a combined 6.81 ERA against them. These stellar pitching statistics should come as no surprise to avid fans after watching Todd in her first season last year. Todd had one of the most impressive rookie campaigns in Brandeis history, with a 9-5 record (including nine complete games), 1.41 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 94.1 innings pitched.

With the outstanding one-two punch of Todd and MacDonald, the Brandeis pitching staff is in very capable hands. While Brandeis has a plethora of talent and has put up some gaudy numbers from the start, the team will be looking to improve upon their results from last year. In particular, the team will look to improve in conference play after totaling a 4-9 record against UAA opponents. Last April, the team struggled against Washington University in St. Louis, dropping four straight games against them on April 21 and April 22. The Judges are clearly playing in a very tough conference, but they have the talent and camaraderie to rally together and match up against any

opponent this year. Looking ahead, the game today at Framingham State University was postponed and rescheduled for March 20. A home doubleheader against Clark University, originally scheduled for March 17 was also rescheduled to March 23. After the Framingham State game on March 20 and the double header on the 23rd, they will head back home for another doubleheader on Tuesday, March 27, against Gordon College. Although the team hasn’t played in a month, this season should continue to be an exciting and successful campaign for Brandeis softball as they look to assert their dominance in UAA and Division III play.

TENNIS BASKETBALL SWIMMING TRACK

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TENNIS BASKETBALL SWIMMING TRACK

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THE JUSTICE

● Sports ●

Tuesday, MARCH 13, 2018

FENCING

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS BASEBALL TEAM STATS

UAA STANDINGS

Runs Batted In

UAA Conference W L NYU 0 0 Case 0 0 WashU 0 0 Emory 0 0 JUDGES 0 0

Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 1 .833 4 .600 9 .308 5 .167

W 8 5 6 4 1

Isaac Fossas ’21 leads the team with six runs batted in. Player RBI Issac Fossas 6 Victor Oppenheimer 5 Dan Frey 4 Mike Khoury 3

Strikeouts

Mason Newman ’21 leads all pitchers with seven strikeouts. Player Ks UPCOMING GAMES: Mason Newman 7 Saturday at Clark University double-header Greg Tobin 7 Sunday vs. Wentworth IT double-header Bradley Bousquet 5 March 21 vs. Rhode Island College Sean O’Neill 5

SOFTBALL UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS Runs Batted In

UAA Conference W L W Case 0 0 6 Emory 0 0 6 JUDGES 0 0 3 NYU 0 0 2 WashU 0 0 2

Keri Lehtonen ’19 has a teamhigh 10 runs batted in. Player RBI Keri Lehtonen 10 Jolie Fujita 7 Marissa DeLaurentis 5 Melissa Rothenberg 5

Overall L Pct. 0 1.000 2 .750 3 .500 2 .500 4 .333

Strikeouts Scottie Todd ’20 has a teamhigh nine strikeouts on the hill. Player Ks UPCOMING GAMES: Scottie Todd 9 March 20 at Framingham State Callie MacDonald 6 March 23 vs. Clark University double-header Sadie-Rose Apfel 4 March 27 vs. Gordon College

TRACK AND FIELD Results from the NCAA championships on March 9.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

200-meter dash

RUNNER Irie Gourde

TIME 22.09

3000-meter run

RUNNER TIME Emily Bryson 9:39.99

ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice

POKING FUN: Joanne Carminucci ’19 wins a point in a bout against NYU during her dominant performance on March 11.

Fencers defend home turf in NCAA regionals ■ Joanne Carminucci ’19 has the best chance to make it to the NCAA collegiate fencing championships. By Zach Kaufman JUSTICE EDITOR

UPCOMING MEETS: March 24 at Bridgewater State Invitational March 31 at Tufts Snowflake Invitational

TENNIS Updated season results.

TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)

TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)

MEN’S SINGLES David Aizenberg

RECORD 7-5

WOMEN’S SINGLES RECORD Haley Cohen 4-2

MEN’S DOUBLES Coramutla/Kogan

RECORD 3-1

WOMEN’S DOUBLES RECORD Bertsch/Neergaard 3-0

UPCOMING MEETS:

Men: Saturday vs. Middlebury College Women: March 24 at Trinity College

Members of the Brandeis University Men’s and Women’s fencing teams competed with the top talent from the region at the NCAA regional championships. Being the host school for the event, there was increased pressure to perform well in front of the Brandeis faithful. Good performances in the meet should qualify fencers to advance to the NCAA national collegiate fencing championships later this month. If a Judge advances, he or she will be the school’s first national competitor since 2014. Here’s how the fencers fared. For the men’s team, many fencers competed in the meet using all three weapons. The saber squad included Leon Rotenstein ’20 and Kyle Berney ’18. Rotenstein went 2-3 in the opening round, but was able to sneak into the semifinals in the 21st and final spot. Berney went 4-2 in the opening round, making it to the semis in the

10th spot. The two teammates were paired together in their semifinal pod. Rotenstein went 3-3 overall in the semis and picked up two more wins in the finals to place 11th overall. Berney did not pick up a win in the semis, dropping him to 20th overall in his weapon. In the men’s foil, one of the three fencers reached the final round. Elishua Litle ’18 started as the events 13th seed, earning him a bye into the second round. He used a 5-1 performance in the round of 35 to advance to the semifinals as the fifth seed. He then went 4-2 in the semis to claim the seventh seed in the finals. He posted three wins in the finals, giving him an outside shot to make nationals. Ian Quin ’20 and Jared Sugarman ’21 each went 3-3 in the round of 35 to claim the 19th and 21st spots, respectively. Sugarman went 3-3 in the semis and only missed the final on point differential by five touches. The men’s epee squad sent one fencer to the semifinals. Hunter Stusnick ’18 ended up in a four way tie for the 8 seed going into the semis, but his two semi final wins were not enough to advance him to the finals. The women’s team also had many fencers competing in the meet. The women’s foil saw the best

performance of the day and the most likely contender in the finals, Joanne Carminucci ’19. Seeded 17th, she was given a bye into the second round of the competition. She went 4-2 in the round of 35 to reach the semifinals as the eighth seed. In the semifinals, she picked up four more wins to move on to the finals. A 5-6 record in the finals was good enough to place her eighth overall. With fencers from Columbia holding the top four spots, two more than is allowed, Carminucci is almost guaranteed a trip to the finals. The epee squad saw three judges reach the second round, but none reached the semis. Dakota Levy ’20 and Maddy Vibert ’21 went 4-0 and 3-1 respectively to advance to the second round. Liz Feller ’18, who received a bye, went 2-4 placing her 23rd, two away from advancing. Levy placed 33rd while Vibert finished in 36th. Women’s saber saw only Laura Broffman ‘18, who finished in 30th. She went 3-1 in the opening round to advance to the round of 35, but could only muster one win in the second round. If Brandeis has any fencers that qualify for finals, we won’t know until Tuesday afternoon. The NCAA Fencing Championships will be held at Penn State University on March 22 through 25.

PRO SPORTS BRIEF With a plethora of top teams and talent, March should once again prove it is the month of madness There are a few months out of every year which are dedicated to one thing and one thing only. October is almost completely associated with Halloween. One can’t think about the month of December without thinking about Christmas. What does one think of when they consider the month of March? Madness. The college basketball season has been raging since November and now that all the regular season games have been played and all the conference tournaments have concluded, it’s time for the playoffs. Last Sunday, a day dubbed selection Sunday, the NCAA released the annual 68 team bracket featuring teams from across the country. South The south may have the most stacked region in this year’s

tournament. Lead by their stifling defense, University of Virginia has been absolutely dominant this year, easily taking the number 1 overall seed in the tournament. Beating them will be no easy task for anyone, but if there is a region for the 1 seed to go down early, it will be in the South. For UVA to make it to the final four, they would likely have to take on either University of Arizona, University of Kentucky, or Davidson University before taking on the two seed, University of Cincinnati. Davidson has been playing out of their minds as of late and found the perfect time to get hot. They are an easy pick for a 12 over 5 upset against Kentucky. Even if Kentucky survives Davidson, they’ll likely face the best player in college basketball in Arizona’s Deandre Ayton. Cincinnati may be in the best position to make it out of

the south. They had the second best defense in the nation which led the team to an impressive 30 win season. East The east is a very exciting region as well. Villanova University may be a 1 seed, but their path may not be as easy as it looks. While University of Alabama may be known for their football, they have a freshman phenom in Collin Sexton who could excell on the national stage. When Sexton gets hot, he can take over games so this potential round of 32 upset is an intriguing one to watch. West Virginia University was once thought of as one of the top teams in the nation after starting 15-1, but a 9-9 finish brought them down to earth. Still, if they get hot, they could potentially make a deep run. Purdue University

should also should not be ignored. West Defending champion University of North Carolina are my pick to make it out of the region. Xavier University is the worst out of the four 1 seeds and the Tar Heels have already proved their prowess over the 3 seed University of Michigan and the 5 seed Ohio State University. They could potentially meet GonzagaUniversity in the elite eight for a rematch of last year’s title game. Michael Porter Jr. was once thought of as the top high school prospect in the nation and while his return to University of Missouri in the South Eastern Conference tournament proved underwhelming, there is no reason to assume that he’s lost a step. He could easily lead Mizzou deep into March.

Midwest University of Kansas and Duke University are the regions 1 and 2 seed respectively and they shouldn’t have too hard of a time meeting in the elite eight. Duke’s biggest challenge is Michigan State University which should be an intriguing sweet sixteen matchup. However, there are still some upsets that could happen. Coach Bobby Hurley of Arizona State University and Coach Dan Hurley of University of Rhode Island could meet in the sweet 16 to renew their brotherhood rivalry, but that would mean that Duke and Michigan State would have to fall early. University of Oklahoma is my sleeper in the region solely because of Trae Young.Young has proved time and time again that he will be a star. —Zach Kaufman

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Sports

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FENCING DEFENDS HOME COURT The Brandeis men’s and women’s fencing teams have many athletes hoping to advance to nationals, p. 15.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Softball

BACKSWING

Squad splits its first six games ■ The Judges have either

blown out their opponents or lost badly with only one close game this season. By Ben Katcher Justice Editor

After winning three of its first four games in North Carolina, the Brandeis softball team struggled against Salem College on Tuesday, Feb. 20 suffering a pair of losses. The Judges have yet to play a University Athletic Association conference game this season and currently sit at 3-3 overall moving into the heart of the season. Judges 0, Salem 8 The Judges dropped their second game of the day against a formidable Salem College by a score of 8-0. First baseman Amanda Shore ’18 and shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21 had the only hits for Brandeis in the shutout. Starting pitcher Callie MacDonald ’20 struggled in the loss as she fell to 1-2 on the year. The second-year hurler allowed eight runs (six earned) off seven hits and five walks. However, after a very solid rookie campaign

Waltham, Mass.

including the second-lowest ERA on the team, fans should expect her to bounce back quickly. Judges 1, Salem 2 Brandeis lost in an extra-innings nail-biter in their first game of the day, falling to Salem College 2-1 in eight innings. Out of the three-spot, Fujita came through again with a single and an RBI for the game. Shore was equally impressive for the Judges, going two for three to help lead the way offensively. Outfielder Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 tallied two hits as well. Pitcher Scottie Todd ’20 was dominant in this one but came away with the loss. The second-year stud tossed 7.2 innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out two. The loss was her first on the season. While the Judges are on a twogame losing streak, the team and fans alike have a lot to be excited about this season. Through six games, Brandeis has totaled 47 runs from an astounding .395 batting average, .477 on-base percentage and .545 slugging percentage. These numbers are remarkable, and they put the team in

See BASEBALL, 13 ☛

baseball

Judges drop four of their first five games ■ A stagnant offense and

inconsistent pitching has lead the Judges to a 1-4 record to begin the season. By JEN GELLER JUSTICE EDITOR

The Brandeis Baseball team has had a rocky start to their season so far. With only one victory since their season began on March 5, the Judges have a long way to go if they want to reach the playoffs. The season began for the Judges on Monday, March 5, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Judges lost 4-1 to the third-ranked team leaving them 0-1 to begin the season. Sean O’Neill ’18 started the game allowing three runs on five hits in the first inning alone. Greg Tobin’20 relieved him for the last five innings, allowing a run on two hits while striking out four. The Judges lone run came at the top of the fourth inning off an RBI double from Dan Frey ’21, but he was left stranded on second The Judges then dropped to 0-2 on the year after a 7-4 loss at the hands of Salem State University. Viking starting pitcher Stephen Keskinidis pitched four scoreless innings. RBIs came from Frey, Victor Oppenheimer ’20, Isaac Fossas ‘21 and Alex Parrott ’21. The team then split a double header with Bowdoin College. The first game left the Judges victorious over the Polar Bears with a 8-3 victory. Unfortunately, they fell in the second game with a 12-9 loss. These games left the Judges 1-3 for the season. In the first game, the Judges seized the lead very early on, scoring five runs in the first two innings. Fossass proved to be a force to be reckoned with as he started the game with a two-out

double that brought Darron Bates ’21 and Mike Khoury ’21 home. Luke Hall ‘21 helped in the second inning with a ground-rule double, later scoring with classmate Scott Zeigler’s single. Oppenheimer would later score a fifth run for the Judges before Khory sent a ball over the fence, breaking the game open. Other plays would make this game a success for the Judges. Pitcher Mason Newman ’21 only allowed two hits and one walk for the Polar Bears in the over 4.2 innings he played in and was able to strike out seven players in the process. The second game against the Polar Bears was a struggle for the Judges as Bowdoin scored six runs in the first inning. The Judges would put up a fight, though, as they loaded the bases with no outs in the first, scoring three of their own. The Judges would eventually carry a 7-6 lead at the bottom of the fourth inning. The Polar Bears responded, and despite the fight the Judges put up, they were ultimately not able to pull out a victory. On Sunday March 11, the Judges suffered two defeats against Western New England University with 4-12 and 3-7 losses. The first game was marked by the Golden Bears improving offensively and dominating the competition late in the game. Oppenheimer quickly started out the game in favor of the Judges with two home runs in the first inning, giving them a 2-0 lead. However, Western New England responded rather quickly with two runs at the top of the second. In the fourth inning, the Golden Bears made the lead that they would fight to maintain during the rest of the game. At the bottom of the fourth inning, the gap would

See TENNIS, 13 ☛

YURAN SHI/the Justice

ACES HIGH: Rohan Vohra ’21 kicks his leg up high after serving the ball to his opponent during a match on March 9.

Tennis teams begin season a combined 10-3 ■ The Men’s Tennis team is currently the 20thranked NCAA Division III team in the nation. By NOAH HESSDORF JUSTICE Editor

Both the men and women’s tennis programs had strong performances this past weekend in the early stretch of the 2018 season. In their one match, the No. 20 ranked men defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday at home, while the women split their two matches against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wellesley College. Judges 6, Wellesley 3 The Judges, after losing to MIT the day before, were able to come away with a victory over No. 25 ranked Wellesley on the road. The day began well with the team taking a 2-1 advantage at doubles. At the No. 1 court, the squad suffered its only doubles defeat of the afternoon. The duo of Olivia Leavitt ’19 and Haley Cohen ’18 fell

by the score of 5-8. The Judges got their first point on the board on the No. 2 court. Keren Khromchenko ’19 and Lauren Bertsch ’21 earned an 8-4 victory against Wellesley. At No. 3 doubles, Michele Lehat ’18 and Rachel Zubrinsky ’21 took home an 8-5 victory. At singles play, Khromchenko kept her impressive day going with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles. The Judges swept the last three singles matches of the day. At No. 4, Bertsch picked up her second win of the day by the score of 6-1, 6-3. Lehat also earned a victory over her Wellesley opponent at the No. 5 court, 6-3, 6-0. The momentum continued into the last singles match of the day at No. 6, where Zubrinsky won 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. The victory moved the Judges to 5-2 on the young season. MIT 7, Judges 2 The No. 19 Judges fell in a dominant performance by the No. 21-ranked Engineers from MIT. The day started off poorly for the squad as they lost all three doubles matches against MIT. In both the No. 2 and No. 3 courts, the team fell

by the score of 9-7. In singles play, Brandeis was able to capture two individual victories. Both wins came in the form of hardfought three-set contests. At No. 3, Leavitt pulled away a 1-6, 7-6 (86), 10-3 victory. Bertsch picked up where Leavitt left off by winning by the score of 7-5, 3-6, 10-3 at the No. 4 court. Judges 5, RPI 3 The squad got off to a fast start in doubles play against RPI. In a tight tiebreaker, David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramutla ’21 edged out a victory 9-8 at the No. 1 doubles court, with the win coming from a 7-3 edge during the deciding tiebreaker. In an ironic turn, the Judges actually fell by the exact same score at No. 3 doubles. Nikhil Das ’21 and Rajan Vohra ’21 were unable to pull off a tiebreaker victory against fierce competition from RPI. Overall, the team controlled the doubles results by winning at the No. 2 court. By breaking RPI’s last serve, the duo of Benjamin Wolfe ’20 and Tyler Ng ’19 were able to capture an 8-6 victory. The Judges

See TENNIS, 13 ☛

Vol. LXX #19

March 13, 2018

Vol. LXX #2

September 12, 2017

The Danube

>>Pg.19

Arts

just

Waltham, Mass.

Artwork: Hannah Kressel. Images: Natalia Wiater/the Justice. Design: Yvette Sei/the Justice, Andrew Baxter/the Justice.

TUESDAY, THE JUSTICE MARCH | ARTS 13, |2018 TUESDAY, I ARTS JANUARY I THE JUSTICE 31, 2017

FILM REVIEW

‘Black Panther’ proves marvelous By BRIANNA CUMMINGS

Photo Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

If you have heard anyone scream “Wakanda Forever,” or seen anyone cross their arms over their chest, you are probably dealing with someone who has “Black Panther” fever. Marvel first announced that they were going to produce a “Black Panther” movie in October 2014. However, until the film’s release this past February, some were nervous about the film’s potential for success. While there have been movies in the past with a Black lead, there has never been one with a $200 million budget. Many thought that a superhero movie with a Black lead would not perform well, especially overseas. Were they wrong? As of today, “Black Panther” has earned over $1 billion. The film has already earned more than any superhero movie released in 2017, including “Spider-man: Homecoming,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Wonder Woman.” “Black Panther” follows T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the king of Wakanda, who goes by the name Black Panther and protects his country. Wakanda is a fictional African country which has never been colonized. What the world doesn’t know is that Wakanda is home to vibranium, the world’s strongest and most precious metal. Most casual Marvel fans have heard about vibranium; it is the material out of which Captain America’s shield is made and of which Vision is composed. However, Wakanda is the only place on Earth where vibranium can be found in large quantities. The Wakandans use vibranium liberally in their daily lives and, subsequently, Wakanda is the most technologically advanced nation in the world. Marvel moviegoers have been acquainted with T’Challa in the past. His big-screen debut was in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.” In this film, his father, T’Chaka (John Kani), was murdered. Black Panther takes place directly after the events of “Captain America: Civil War.” T’Challa is about to take the throne, is unsure of what to do as king and relies on the help of his inner circle: his mother, Ramonda, queen of Wakanda (Angela Bassett); his younger sister, Shuri, a princess of Wakanda and gifted scientist (Letitia Wright); the general of Wakanda’s elite army, Okoye (Danai Gurira);

THE PREVIEWS: Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan and Danai Gurira promoted the film at San Diego Comic-Con International in 2016.

and his ex-girlfriend, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who is also a spy for Wakanda. One of the things I liked about the movie and about the character of T’Challa was that he had no problem surrounding himself with women and he allowed the women to perform their duties without making comments about their gender. Usually, in movies featuring strong female characters, a male character makes disparaging comments towards toward them; this happens to Black Widow in almost every film she appears in. Few movies are immune to this but Black Panther lets its women shine, free of sexism. T’Challa’s world is shaken when Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) comes to Wakanda and plans to take the throne, using the vibranium for his own devices and revealing Wakanda’s power to

the world. T’Challa faces a difficult task: he can either continue with his country’s isolationist policy or expose Wakanda’s power in order to help others. Overall, I liked “Black Panther.” It was not as funny as other Marvel movies like “Thor: Ragnarok,” but characters made jokes occasionally. It was refreshing to see a Marvel movie where nothing about the film felt forced; everything, from clothes to makeup to dialogue, felt natural. Every character’s actions made sense within the context of the Marvel universe. While I liked Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of the titular Black Panther, Gurira, Jordan and Wright gave the best performances. Jordan was by far the best villain the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had since its inception. He had a goal that

made him sympathetic, but the plan he concocted to reach that goal was morally wrong. There were times when I found myself liking Killmonger more than T’Challa. Okoye was not the stereotypical, taciturn female warrior that people often see in a film — she was given depth. Although she had a strong friendship with T’Challa, she made it clear that her loyalties lie with her country. As the events in the film unfolded Wright was enchanting as Shuri. Seeing a young Black woman as a world-renowned scientist was one of my favorite parts of the film. Often Black women are reduced to damaging stereotypes, more so than white women and Black men typically are. These stereotypes are inaccurate and warp other people’s perception of Black women, causing them to view Black women negatively. Many

young Black girls are already looking up to Shuri. This film is not just another Marvel installment. For many, it is the first time they get to see characters who look like them on screen and are portrayed in a positive light. Most of the time when there is a Black character in a movie, they are criminals or comic relief, or exist only to help the white protagonist. In “Black Panther,” the Black characters are complex and well-written. Their actions stem from their personality rather than from hackneyed stereotypes. The complexity of these characters can be attributed to Ryan Coogler, who directed the film and wrote most of its script. I hope with the release and success of this film that audiences will see more films that present Black people the way they deserve to be represented.

THEATER REVIEW

Solo-play invites introspection By SABRINA SUNG JUSTICE EDITOR

It is always a rare delight to watch a play performed by its creator. Though at times such a personal work can unintentionally alienate an audience, at others, they can be evocative, drawing an audience into a vivid, heartfelt experience. From start to finish, “little sister: An Afro-Temporal Solo-Play,” was of the latter kind. The performance took place in the Intercultural Center Lounge on Thursday evening as part of the Intercultural Center and the Gender and Sexuality Center’s celebration of International Women’s Day. Part of the event was a postperformance Q&A session with the play’s writer and creator, Misty De Berry, who is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at

Northwestern University. De Berry’s play is described in its program as “at once memoryscape and a mytho-biography,” but I find that to be an objective description which ignores the subjective experience of the audience. In my opinion, it is more accurate to call it an invitation. Before the play even started, the audience was encouraged to write the names of loved ones on slips of paper to invite their presence into the room. The Intercultural Center Lounge, filled with the warm glow of standing lamps and a soft, smoky smell, provided an ambient setting for the performance. The carpeted floor muted De Berry’s bare feet, and in the opening ritual of her performance, all the audience could hear was the undercurrent of music, the tempo of her breathing and the rustle of those paper names in her hand.

In these quiet first moments, De Berry invited the audience into an experience. According to De Berry, the play incorporated elements of theatrical jazz, and this influence was evident by the almost musical nature of the performance. The first words of the play, “This be my little sister,” became a recurring riff, and the odd time signatures of jazz music manifested as temporal experimentation in De Berry’s piece. There is even a blue note mid-performance, a moment of anger in an otherwise calm, almost whimsical monologue. The play consists of only a handful of monologues, occurring again and again throughout the half-hour performance, but it never once grew tiresome. Each new iteration of the same monologue brought fresh emphasis, different emotion and a new perspective. Despite being

a contemporary play, De Berry’s experience with Shakespearean theater shone through, and every inflection of every word was clearly a deliberate choice. Although the play made many references to the unique experiences of the African diaspora that I, as a Korean-American, was not privy to, De Berry’s animated performance still invited me to share in the emotion of those memories. Though I did not understand the details of every reference, I did manage to glimpse how those details seemed to affect De Berry herself. Watching this performance, the repeating segments conjured an image in my mind: It was reminiscent of striking something again and again, the same spot from different angles, trying to dislodge something stuck. Or, perhaps, rubbing at a stubborn knot in the muscle,

trying to soothe it. Emotions come loose, bringing catharsis. The release of old hurts brings relief. All in all, De Berry’s performance of “little sister” was one that captivated and kept me in the moment. De Berry’s use of the space was interesting, and the distinct voices she summoned throughout her performance were equal parts thoughtful and startling. However, the performance left me with the peculiar sense that I was close to some epiphany which eluded me in the end. I asked De Berry after the show, “Would you say that this is a play that can be watched again and again?” She assured me that yes, it is a play that differs every time she performs it, and invited us to watch it again, given the chance. And, given the chance, I would very much like to.

THE JUSTICE i TUESDAY, January 31, 2017 THE JUSTICE i artsi arts i Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Theater Review

‘The Danube’ flows into Mandel

By jOSH RUBENSTEIN justice CONTRIBUTING writer

“The Danube,” as directed by Dylan Hoffman ’18 for his senior project, is the third Brandeis production of a Maria Irene Fornes play in the 2017-2018 academic year. Following “Fefu and her Friends,” directed by Prof. Adrianne Krstansky (THA) and “Mud,” directed by Sophia Massidda ’20, Hoffman’s “Danube” is the first Brandeis production of Fornes’ to be spearheaded by a male director. Hoffman, along with assistant director and stage manager Jessie Kinsley ’20, took creative liberties with the staging and delivery of the show while keeping the script intact and remaining faithful to Fornes’ intentions. Hoffman told me that Fornes was inspired by

a vinyl record that was meant to teach English speakers Hungarian. Many of the phrases from the record were added into the script by Fornes, and Hoffman utilized this information by working the record into his staging. Hoffman and his video designer, Nick Sutera ’18, took advantage of the flat-screen television in the Mandel Center for Humanities Atrium and used it to display videos of a disembodied mouth responding in English to recordings of basic Hungarian sentences. Many of the scenes would begin with a “unit” on the recording. Raphael Stigliano ’18 provided the voice and disembodied mouth that appeared on the screen. Stigliano and the actors switched off, allowing the audience to hear the lines in two separate contexts. This con-

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

LIP READING: Raphael Stigliano ’18 provided the voice and disembodied mouth that appeared on the screen in “The Danube.”

cept was incredibly well-applied to the narrative and added a level of depth not found in the original script. The set also included a kiddie pool, a visual representation of the Danube River designed by Hoffman and Alexa Gilbert ’18, but not required by Fornes’s script. “With very few exceptions, I rarely follow stage directions,” said Hoffman. “The transition music I used was prerecorded and chosen by me. The Blue Danube Waltz in the script is not used, and there are no blackouts like in the script.” Hoffman created an atmosphere with his staging that evoked the kind of human-technology hybrid that would be familiar to viewers of cautionary sci-fi television shows such as “Black Mirror” and “Mr. Robot.” The cast included Ryan Sands ’19 as Paul, Haia Bchiri ’20 as Eve, Peter Diamond ’20 as Mr. Sandor, and Alex Wu ’19 in a myriad of ensemble roles. Sands and Bchiri as the young lovers were incredibly charismatic and possessed a magnetic chemistry every time they were on stage together. Diamond shined bright in his role as the businessman Mr. Sandor and serenaded the audience with a delightful singing voice. Wu displayed a malleable range in her multiple ensemble roles. Once the play had ended and the actors taken their bows, Hoffman addressed the audience to ask about their interpretation of what they had just seen. He took the opportunity to provide the spectators with background information on Fornes and to explain the historical backbone of the narrative. In doing so, Hoffman’s senior thesis

NATALIA WIATER/the Justice

TOUGH LOVE: Moving mechanically, Eve (Haia Bchiri ’20) prepares to strike her husband, Paul (Ryan Sands ’19) during a tense scene. morphed from an expertly executed theatrical production into a seminar on historical context and the creative process. As Hoffman’s senior project, “Danube” truly represents what makes Brandeis so special: it is a research university where the liberal arts permeate every aspect of one’s education.

Hoffman’s production of Fornes’ “The Danube” comes off as an atmospheric, reality-bending episode of “Black Mirror” with a European theatrical sensibility. It is simultaneously charming and entertaining, while also shedding a light on the dark side of humanity.

Dance review

‘Legally’ Liquid Latex comes of age Editor’s note: Liquid Latex photos are not posted online due to their sensitive nature. By Isabelle Truong justice Staff writer

This past Wednesday evening, I fulfilled what felt like the most Brandeisian of Brandeis rites of passage: Liquid Latex. This year’s show was titled “Legally Latex” to represent that it was the 18th and now “legal” Annual Liquid Latex show. The event was hosted by the Liquid Latex club and organized by club president Rebecca Kahn ’19. For anyone who has no idea what Liquid Latex entails, the premise might initially seem strange. The show was first put on in 2000 by students Alaric Toy ’00 and Sharon Gobuty ’00, and consists of multiple grouped acts in which students participate in movement-based performances wearing only thongs and latex paint. Since its inception, Liquid Latex has been a campus hit and an

annual event attended by many. However, there is so much more to Liquid Latex than just that. This show is such an empowering and enjoyable way for students to learn to feel comfortable and love their bodies. After all, performers are dancing practically naked across the Levin Ballroom stage in front of over 300 people. Even watching the performers, I felt a surge of happiness, confidence and solidarity with all of these students who were unafraid to reveal themselves in what some may deem a very vulnerable way: nude. While strutting across a stage without clothes on in front of your classmates might initially sound like a bad dream, the students seemed to be having the times of their lives — and, consequently, so did I. All of the performers were smiling and sporting original poses. In short, it looked like a lot of fun. Each act had

a specific theme brought to fruition by designers, choreographers and, of course, models. Most of the performances this year were dance-based; however, they were less about strict choreography and more about modeling and moving bodies to fun music. The acts seemed like combinations of dance routines and fashion shows. The art itself, painted onto the performer’s bodies by other students, was quite intricate and very beautiful. The geometric patterns in the first performance — “Not Sorry,” designed by Eliana Cohen ’21 —were stunning and almost abstract with many splashes of bright colors all over the models. My favorite designs were from “Animal Queendom.” In this routine, models were painted in animal patterns designed by Olivia Joy ’18.

The intricate detailing of the zebra painting looked especially precise and chic and was one of my favorites. In the acts “Damsels in Undress,” “Song of Ice and Fire,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Spongebob NoPants” and “Iconic Women,” the models were painted to resemble specific characters. In “Damsels in Undress,” models represented Disney princesses, and in “Iconic Women,” many models were painted as iconic pop stars of color such as Beyonce and Rihanna. Some of the routines followed specific narratives. “Guardians of the Galaxy,” choreographed by Haley Director ’20, seemed like a reenactment of the film, albeit one in which Rick and Morty temporarily join the Marvel universe. However, “Dreaming Love,” choreographed by Devora Krischer ’21, was an original story about heroes, princesses

and storybook worlds. In each of the routines, every model would rotate and take turns having their own spotlight by walking down the “runway” and posing at the end, greeted by boisterous cheering and support from the audience. Legally Latex was a great way to promote body positivity. The show was unapologetic yet fun and lighthearted. All of the models performed so enthusiastically making it very enjoyable to watch. The amount of support from the audience as well was great to see on campus. Expect to see me in attendance at Liquid Latex’s show next year; I am very excited for what is to come! —Editor’s Note: Justice editor Lizzie Grossman ’18 and Justice writerAnna Stern’18 performed in Liquid Latex.

TUESDAY, march 13, 2018 | Arts | THE JUSTIce

INTERVIEW

Brandeis TALKS

If you had 400 pounds of cheese, what would you do with it?

Dylan Hoffman ’18 NATALIA WIATER/the Justice File Photo

Vincent Dong ’20 “Oh man, I would probably get another 400 pounds of cheese that’s different and make some Mac and Cheese.”

This week, justArts interviewed Dylan Hoffman ’18, who directed “The Danube” for his senior project. justArts: What attracted you to this play?

CARMI ROTHBERG/the Justice

Hannah Borgida ’21 “I would throw a cheese party!”

Jessica Rosner ’20 “Sell it to Wisconsin.”

Reyna Luback ’21 “Honestly, my dog loves cheese, and I would just keep it with me and give some to my dog, give some to my mom and give some to me, because I also love cheese.” — Compiled by Jen Geller/the Justice photographed by Yvette Sei/the Justice

STAFF’S Top Ten

ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice

Top 10 Smells

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Mid-length CDs 4 Cinephile’s netwk. 7 Idiot 14 Cambridge sch. 15 “Of course!” 16 City near Pittsburgh 17 Corrida cry 18 Understanding against all odds? 20 Doorframe part 22 E. ____ (bacteria) 23 G.I.’s fare 24 “Assuming you’re correct...” 25 One of 18 on the green 26 Kill, to a mobster 28 Tony, after polishing his Iron Man suit? 33 _____ acid 36 He played Mike in “Birdman” 37 His wife wasn’t very sweet? 38 Neo-noir movie filmed in Seattle 41 Jul. follower 42 Flight tracker datum 43 Prepare to ask a favor of, say 46 Paul Allen vis-à-vis the Seattle Seahawks 48 The first tap? 51 ____ and tonic 52 “Let It Snow” lyricist 53 Guns, as an engine 57 Dallas sch. 59 Pretzel shape 60 Parcel of land 61 One’s voice after a lot of drunken singing? 66 Mineral suffix 67 Wrong 68 “Piggy”, in a sense 69 Path to enlightenment 70 Stingy with money 71 Fig. of the form XXX-XXXXXX 72 62-Down, Biblically DOWN 1 A suggestive eggplant, e.g. 2 Turkish rice dish 3 Arises (from) 4 Scot’s cap 5 Pretentious 6 Strand 7 Spanish ranch 8 Word found twice in the Three Musketeers’ motto 9 4G _____ 10 It may be as thick as pea soup 11 Derelict 12 “Are you _____ out?” (poker question) 13 Bit of filming started with a clapboard 19 Kate’s sitcom partner 21 Petty officer, for short 26 Equiangular shape 27 Middle: Abbr. 29 Target, with “on” 30 African bearded animal

JA: What is the play about? DH: I don’t think that this play is singularly about anything. I think it’s one of those things that has to kind of exist before you, as a piece of poetry ... a work of art that has all these multiplicities of flavors in it. So that’s a long answer to say, “It’s about fascism.” CROSSWORD COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

31 Like memorization 32 Bump on a log 33 As well 34 The _____ of Venice (title for Othello) 35 “Why am I not surprised?” 39 Frequent target of Trump tweets 40 Bad medicine 44 _____ Friday’s 45 Fallback strategy 47 “______ in Cincinnati” (classic sitcom) 49 Young pigs 50 Emcees’ deliveries 54 “My Fair Lady” character 55 Swing _____ 56 Surgeon’s tube 57 Look over quickly 58 Salon offering 62 See 72-Across 63 Hockey great 64 _____ Nidre (Jewish prayer) 65 Smooth guy? SOLUTION COURTESY OF EVAN MAHNKEN

SUDOKU

The nose knows, as they say. Here are some smells that will add a burst of color to any dreary day!

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.

1. Petrichor (the smell of rain!) 2. Evergreen forests in the summer 3. Ground coffee beans 4. Sandalwood 5. Freshly-mowed grass 6. Antique books 7. French bread baking in the oven 8. Rosemary 9. Fresh sawdust from the wood shop 10. Leather

JA: Why did you choose the Mandel Atrium? DH: Because the [Merrick Theater] was full. I mean, I like this space. I think it’s kind of pretty. It’s interesting, it has these windows, which I like. It has this television and I knew I wanted the television. I was hiking in the mountains of Peru over winter break and I was thinking about what I was going to do for “The Danube.” I closed my eyes and there’s this giant red mouth saying “Oh Hungary, we cannot save you” and I was like, “Well, that’s what it’s gonna be.” So I knew I needed a place that had a TV that I could use easily, so that was a natural fit. ... It just felt like the logical choice.

By SAM STOCKBRIDGE justice EDITORial assistant

Dylan Hoffman: I’m fascinated by [Maria Irene] Fornes. She’s a playwright who’s been on my radar since my freshman year, when I read “Mud.” When I was at [the National Theater Institute], ... we did Fornes plays. The person who came to teach us for Fornes week knows her and he loves her work and he was telling me [about] this show by Fornes called “The Danube” that [he]...could have directed a couple of years back but [he] had to turn it down ... This is tragic, in my opinion, for him. … When I got back to Brandeis, I knew I wanted to do one last project here, and ... I hadn’t gotten “The Conduct of Life,” the Fornes play, out of my mind. I talked to my advisor and ... he said it might be difficult to find the actors you need for that. So I went and got a copy of “The Danube” and I fell in love with the play.

JA: What else influenced the decision to include the mouth on the screen? DH: I thought it would look compelling, and I thought it would help me a lot in terms of communicating this essentialization of voice and use of speech to kind of control people and control society. And then I happened to cast a lead actress who is hard of hearing, and ... she can’t hear sound cues. I needed a way for her to know when to talk. So the idea came about of just making it so that she could see the mouth. It’s practical and aesthetic. JA: Is there anything you personally did with the show of which you’re especially proud? DH: The river! The fact that there was a literal river on stage in the form of this kiddie pool — not in Fornes’ production, not in any other production that I researched. It’s a choice that I was very happy with. I think it gave me a really strong final moment, personally.

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Puzzle courtesy of www.sudokuoftheday.com

—Maya Zanger-Nadis

The Justice

Published on Mar 13, 2018

The Justice, March 13, 2018

The independent student newspaper of Brandeis University since 1949.

The Justice, March 13, 2018

Published on Mar 13, 2018

The independent student newspaper of Brandeis University since 1949.

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