The Justice, Nov. 18, 2014 by The Justice

ARTS Page 19

SPORTS Runner earns NCAA bid 16

ISLAMIC ART

FORUM Rethink electoral college laws 12 The Independent Student Newspaper

the

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 LXVII, Number 12

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

FACULTY

Professor pay trails average ■ An AAUP survey shows

that Brandeis professor salaries are lower than those at peer institutions. By SAM MINTZ JUSTICE EDITOR

Full professors at Brandeis are paid lower salaries than their equivalents at many of the University’s peer institutions, according to an annual report by the American Association of University Professors. The average full-time professor at Brandeis

Waltham, Mass.

CENTER STAGE

earns $130,800 a year, which is in the 60th percentile for doctoral institutions included in the study and is less than schools like Tufts University, Bentley University and Smith College. Brandeis is also one of the few schools in its peer group where average full professor salaries have decreased since the 2012 to 2013 academic year. The study conducted last year found that Brandeis professors made $131,400 on average. Compared to 28 institutions similar to Brandeis in size or liberal arts status, which comprise a group that was designated by

See SALARY, 7 ☛

BRIEF Honorary Degrees Committee hires firm to vet candidates The University’s Honorary Degrees Committee, which annually selects candidates to receive honorary degrees, has implemented several changes to its selection process, including hiring an outside firm to help with the vetting process of potential candidates and adding the University’s General Counsel Steven Locke to the committee. According to the Honorary Degrees Committee Chair Carolyn Saivetz ’69 in an email to the Justice, the changes were implemented last spring. These changes come after the University received national attention and criticism when the University first offered and then rescinded an honorary degree from Somali-born activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali in April. One way in which the selection process has been made more thorough is by hiring an outside firm to help with the vetting process to avoid future incidents like the one that occurred last spring. Saivetz did not specify which firm this was but wrote that it will work closely with the University. Saivetz also wrote in an email to the Justice that every potential honoree will also be reviewed and discussed by “all senior faculty in the department” with which the recipient’s work relates. According to the University’s website, anyone can submit the

name of a potential honorary degree recipient to the Honorary Degrees Committee. The committee then votes on candidates and brings a list of selected candidates to the entire Board of Trustees for approval. The University president then selects the degree recipients. Saivetz wrote that an online form has recently been created so that “students, faculty, and trustees can all nominate worthy candidates.” Senior Representative to the Board Mohamed Sidique ’15 said in an interview with the Justice that the committee wants to make absolutely sure that it has collected substantial research on potential candidates and that all input is taken into consideration before decisions are made. He emphasized that the University “welcomes free speech” and differing viewpoints, but has decided to take more precautions when it comes to screening candidates. Locke has also been added to the committee and according to Saivetz, will “bring a lawyer’s analytical mind to the vetting process.” Locke did not respond to requests for comment regarding his new role by press time. —Rachel Sharer Tate Herbert contributed reporting.

JEREMY PERLMAN/the Justice

In Tympanium Euphorium's production of Spring Awakening this past weekend, Jason Theoharis ’17 (center) portrayed Melchior, a rebellious young man who gets in trouble for writing an essay about sex. See Arts page 21 for full coverage.

Administration

University slated to operate at surplus for next 10 years ■ University President

Frederick Lawrence said that Brandeis is operating at a surplus ahead of schedule. By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR

The University will be operating on a surplus by fiscal year 2015, as University President Frederick Lawrence announced the faculty meeting last Thursday.

but compared that number to the 6.8 percent draw rate from when he first joined the University in 2011. “We have, by most measures, turned a corner and are into a position of being able to talk about choices going forward,” Lawrence said. “It’s a position of stability, a position that allows us to think about where we want to make investments going forward and as we move to the next stages of planning.” The operating balance is the result of “strong undergraduate enroll-

See FINANCE, 7 ☛

Turning on the tap

Sweet 16 bound

Mailroom turnover

 J Street U Brandeis event raised awareness for a humanitarian water crisis in Gaza.

 The men’s soccer team won two home games to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championships.

 Several former Canon staff are still unemployed months after the turnover to Xerox.

FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

The University has been operating at a deficit for several years, Lawrence said at the meeting. Provost Lisa Lynch said later in the meeting that a surplus is projected to hold for the next 10 years. According to Lawrence, the budget had initially been projected to reach a surplus by fiscal year 2016 or 2017, meaning that the University is a year ahead of schedule. Lawrence added that there will still be a 5.9 percent draw rate from the endowment in order to achieve this surplus, which he said is “more than we like it to be,”

Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org

INDEX

SPORTS 16

ARTS SPORTS

17 16

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 8

OPINION POLICE LOG

10 2

READER COMMENTARY 11

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

●

THE JUSTICE

NEWS WIRE BRIEF

National tuition increases decline Families remain justifiably concerned about paying for college, but there may be cause for some relief, according to a new national report. Though college tuition and fee prices still outpaced the rate of inflation in the past year, the average increases were lower than those posted in the past five years, the past 10 years and the past 30 years, according to the report published Thursday by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that aims to expand access to higher education. Education borrowing is down eight percent in one year, while borrowing per student is down by six percent—a decrease one of the report’s co-authors said was “really notable.” In its “Trends in College Pricing 2014” report, the College Board said the average price for in-state students at four-year public schools increased 2.9 percent from 2013 to 2014 academic year to 2014 to 2015 academic year. The increase was slightly higher—3.3 percent—for outof-state students at four-year public schools as well as for in-district students at two-year public colleges. In-state students at four-year private colleges saw an increase of 3.7 percent, on average. The report may indicate a move away from the ballooning cost of higher education. “When we think about the whole picture, we see some trends that were frightening in recent years that seem to be quieting down,” said Sandy Baum, the report’s coauthor and an education policy professor at George Washington University and senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington. Still, Baum said, “we should take that news with some caution.” That’s because students enrolling in public four-year schools this year will pay a sticker price more than three times higher than what students paid in 1984 to 1985, according to the report. For students at two-year public schools and four-year private schools, the price is roughly 2.5 times larger. “Those are big increases over time. We still need to be concerned,” Baum said. Mitch Dickey, 21, student body president at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said rising tuition costs create significant worry for prospective students. “It’s absolutely a problem,” said Dickey, a junior. “Students in high schools are looking at colleges ... and they’re saying, ‘Where can I go and not have to break the bank?’” Dan Mann, director of student financial aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign added, “Cost is a barrier for students, not just at our university but across the country.” Students and families may take solace in knowing that most students do not pay full price for their schooling, the report said, as federal grant aid, tax credits and deductions help cover the cost. The report found that undergraduates received an average of $14,180 in financial aid in 2013 to 2014 including grants, federal loans and tax credits and deductions. And 9.2 million students received Pell grants—federal grants that provide financial aid to low- and moderate-income students—in 2013 to 2014. This may be one reason for the dip in student borrowing, the report said. Total education borrowing fell by 13 percent between 2010 to 2011 and 2013 to 2014 academic years, according to the report. It also said that borrowing per student decreased nine percent over the same time. Baum said that the reasons for the decline in borrowing aren’t clear but that it could be that older students, who tend to borrow more, are returning to the workforce. “It is also possible that people are sobered by the discussion of student debt and are choosing to borrow less,” Baum said. Of those who graduated with bachelor’s degrees from public and private nonprofit institutions in 2012 to 2013, 60 percent said they graduated with debt. On average, graduates had borrowed $27,300, according to the College Board report. Mann said students enrolled at higher levels in the past academic year, but borrowing decreased $8 million among undergraduates. He said the numbers likely indicate that students are finding other ways to afford an education.

POLICE LOG Medical Emergency

Nov. 9—A party called to report that a student in Massell Quad was experiencing a rapid heartbeat. BEMCo and University Police responded. BEMCo staff treated the party, and police officers transported the party to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via police cruiser. Nov. 9—A caller reported that a male student at the athletic fields had sustained a nose injury. BEMCo treated the party on-scene, and University Police transported him to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. Nov. 10—A reporting party stated that a female in East Quad was experiencing stomach pain. BEMCo responded, assessed the patient and requested Cataldo ambulance to transport the patient to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Nov. 10—A caller reported that a student in East Quad had cut her finger. BEMCo staff responded and treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. Nov. 11—A staff member at

the Psychological Counseling Center requested an ambulance for a party who required transportation to NewtonWellesley Hospital. Cataldo ambulance transported the patient without incident. University Police assisted the Waltham Fire Department and Cataldo. Nov. 11—University Police and BEMCo responded to a report that a female student injured her ankle in Usdan Student Center. BEMCo staff treated the party, and police transported her to Urgent Care for further treatment. Nov. 11—A male student who said he felt light-headed and dizzy came to the University police station for Stoneman building treated the party onscene, and University Police transported him to NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care. Nov. 11—A student sprained his ankle at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. BEMCo staff treated the party and University Police transported the party to

Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. Nov. 12—A reporting party requested BEMCo for a worker who slipped and fell in the Usdan Student Center. BEMCo staff and University Police responded. Cataldo ambulance transported the patient to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Nov. 12—A doctor at the Psychological Counseling Center called to request an ambulance to transport a patient to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. University Police assisted the ambulance with the transport. Nov. 14—The manager at Sherman Dining Hall reported that a worker was feeling faint. BEMCo staff treated the party, and University police officers transported the party to Urgent Care via cruiser. Nov. 14—A student in North Quad reported the he had a rash and requested BEMCo. BEMCo responded and treated the party with a signed refusal for further care. Police transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital via cruiser for further

n A Sports article stated that Andy Jick ’74 ended his career with the Boston Celtics in 1990, when he in fact ended it in 1997. (Nov. 11, pg. 28) n An Arts referred to Hindu god Indra as female, when he is actually male. (Oct. 7, pg. 21) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.

Justice

the

www.thejustice.org

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods. Editor in chief office hours are held Mondays from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Justice office. Editor News Forum Features Sports Arts Ads Photos Managing Copy Layout

editor@thejustice.org news@thejustice.org forum@thejustice.org features@thejustice.org sports@thejustice.org arts@thejustice.org ads@thejustice.org photos@thejustice.org managing@thejustice.org copy@thejustice.org layout@thejustice.org

The Justice Brandeis University Mailstop 214 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3750

Burglary

Nov. 10—Library and Technology Services reported that someone had apparently tampered with a security mechanism in an attempt to remove a projector from Golding Judaic Center. LTS staff reinstalled security screws, and University Police compiled a report on the incident.

Larceny

Nov. 12—A reporting party stated that her brown clutch purse had been stolen while left unattended in the Goldfarb Library. University Police compiled a report on the theft. —compiled by Tate Herbert

SENATE LOG

LAUGHTER YOGA

Market prices in question

—Tribune News Service

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

care. Nov. 15—University Police and BEMCo responded to a report of an intoxicated male in Massell Quad. Cataldo ambulance transported the student to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. The community development coordinator on call was notified.

MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice

The Ripple Effect and the Brandeis Yoga Club hosted a laughter yoga session with two certified laughter yoga instructors to help students de-stress last Tuesday in the Shapiro Campus Center.

After relocating from the Shapiro Campus Center to Olin-Sang 101 and then to Olin-Sang 116, the weekly Senate meeting started off with an announcement from Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina ’16 that it would be kept informal in order to keep discussion as productive as possible. The Senate spent about 10 to 15 minutes talking about expectations for senators. DePina was bothered by the fact that some senators had been leaving early. Though she made it clear that she understood that people had other obligations, she firmly insisted that people should “try to block off Sunday nights for Senate and homework. … You ran for this position; your constituents elected you; it should be very important.” The rest of the meeting was comprised of reports and questions from each of the senators who were present. Senator-at-Large Brian Huff ’17 suggested putting more lights in the area behind Gerstenzang and the Brown Social Science Center to improve safety for students. Another senator added that lighting around the Goldman-Schwartz Art Studio would be beneficial. A number of senators mentioned that they were working on the Midnight Buffet that will take place later this semester. Class of 2018 Senator Skye Golann talked about his investigations into Hoot Market prices, which involved comparing the items at the Hoot Market with similar items at Hannaford’s. Golann said that Hoot Market items were frequently priced 70 to 100 percent above identical items at Hannaford’s. Golann also said he felt that the police response to the Library Party was “extremely inappropriate.” He reported hearing police officers around the Goldfarb Library speaking harshly to partygoers and threatening them with jail sentences if they did not return to their rooms. DePina responded that she would email Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan and ask him to discuss this further with the police officers. After the meeting, the Senate voted unanimously in favor of an executive session. —Carmi Rothberg

ANNOUNCEMENTS Martin Weiner Lecture Series

This talk will present an overview of the plasma physics that determine whether or not we can make fusion, the energy source of the stars, a practical reality on the terrestrial scale. The main focus is on magnetic plasma confinement, about which we now know a very great deal in a range of physics fields including magnetohydrodynamics, plasma collisionless heating and sustainment, crossfield transport and the plasma boundary and materials interactions. There are several grand physics challenges that remain to be solved and even more engineering challenges. Today from 4 to 5 p.m. in Abelson 131.

Imagining “Shame-Proof” Social Policies

Donna Haig Friedman Ph.D. ’96, director at Center for Social Policy, the McCormack Graduate School, University of Massachusetts Boston, presents on unrelenting growth in family homelessness in the state and the “shaming” involved in social policy design

and implementation. Further, based on intensive research and evaluations, she will explore the potential for new “shame-proof” social policies that build upon and strengthen families’ personal assets and social connections, as well as cross-class solidarity. Today from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Glynn Amphitheater.

Panel Discussion on Immigration

The Brandeis Immigration Education Initiative has organized an educational conversation on immigration. It has invited a great selection of panelists to lead us through this topic. Come, learn and be a part of the conversation. Today from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Lounge.

On the Side of the Road Film Screening

Israeli Director Lia Tarachansky will present her documentary film “On the Side of the Road” about Israeli collective memory of 1948.

A discussion of the film will follow the screening. Wednesday from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Lown Auditorium.

Queer 101

The Gender Identity and Expression Common Cause Community is sponsoring a Rainbow Rap from the Queer Resource Center followed by a panel with QRC members. Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Castle Commons.

It’s Our Crisis: Ebola

This event will address the various issues surrounding the Ebola crisis. This crisis pertains not only to those being directly affected but to the entire global community, and it calls for a response. This is a campus-wide discussion. Come learn about ways to deal with this crisis. Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Lounge.

THE JUSTICE

STAFF

Bill Bowen has not been rehired by the University nor has he found work elsewhere. By MARISSA DITKOWSKY JUSTICE EDITOR

Several former employees who left Brandeis after the University contracted Xerox Corporation this summer to run the mailroom and copy center in Canon’s place are still without jobs. Although Xerox offered to rehire some of the Canon employees, according to current mailroom manager Linwood Dailey in an interview with the Justice, employees like former mailroom manager Bill Bowen left because Xerox offered them about half of what they had been making previously. Dailey also said that Xerox has brought a machine to Brandeis that automatically sorts mail. Although mail media clerk Josh Motta said in an interview with the Justice that many of the former Canon employees were interviewed for jobs with Xerox, Dailey said that the machine only needs one operator, whereas about four or six people would be needed to manually sort the mail. Director of Strategic Procurement John Storti first announced the switch to Xerox in an April 24 email to the Brandeis community, writing that the turnover would occur on

June 1. Brandeis allowed the former employees to be subject to the University’s severance policy, according to Executive Director for Integrated Media Bill Schaller in an email to the Justice. “Although they were employed by another entity, we took this step to recognize their service to the university community,” wrote Schaller in an email to the Justice. According to Bowen, no one in the mailroom was offered the buyout deal that was offered to a number of University staff members last year. Bowen attributed this to the fact that mailroom employees were not University employees but Canon employees. The University’s severance policy provides four weeks of pay for up to two years of service, eight weeks of pay for two to five years of service, 12 weeks of pay for five to 10 years of service and 16 weeks of pay for more than 10 years of service. According to former copy center manager Barry Hayes in an Aug. 26 Justice article, the University’s Vice President for Human Resources Scot Bemis sent an email to the nowformer Canon employees several weeks after the announcement came that the University had sealed its partnership with Xerox, “telling us that he had just found out about our situation,” Hayes said. Bemis’ email stated that the University would allow the employees to utilize the Hiatt Career Center and other job searching resources and that the Univer-

sity would help them apply for and obtain interviews for other jobs on campus, Hayes said. However, according to Hayes, Bemis wrote that he could not guarantee that they would be hired. According to Dailey, Mail Center Plus, which partners with Xerox to carry out processes and personnel management, offered the employees temporary positions before they were offered full-time positions. Dailey said that the primary deterrent for former employees was that employees would not make the same wages that they were making before. “You’re starting with a new company; you’re basically starting from the beginning, you know, because you’re proving yourself all over again to a new company. I’m sure if it was the University, then they would continue to get what they were paid.” He added that new employers such as MCP have different standards of what they pay for each specific position. According to Bowen, who was affectionately known as the “singing mailman,” in an interview with the Justice, Xerox initially offered him a job at $12.50 per hour for a 90-day trial period. Should the decision have been made to keep Bowen, he said that he might have been eligible for a $0.25 raise. However, Bowen said that this pay was about half of what he had been making as an employee after 35 years at the University. Bowen said that he was also offered a job as a night supervisor but that this

See XEROX, 7 ☛

STUDENT ACTIVISM

STAND puts forth proposal to avoid conflict minerals ■ Conflict minerals are

found in a number of technologies that the University owns and uses. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The Faculty Senate’s most recent meeting saw an idea several months in the making come to fruition as members of the Brandeis chapter of student organization Students Taking Action Now in Darfur made a presentation to the Senate on conflict minerals. Director of Strategic Procurement John Storti said in an interview with the Justice that one of STAND’s student leaders approached Procurement Services toward the end of the spring semester to inquire about any University policies regarding use of conflict minerals. “Basically, the response to [the student] was why don’t you work on this and come back with something and see what we [Procurement Services] can do,” Storti said. STAND’s proposal included requests that the University consider electronics suppliers that avoid the use of conflict minerals and that the University phase out conflict mineral-containing electronics over time. STAND presented its proposal to the Faculty Senate, and Faculty Senate Chair Prof. Thomas Pochapsky (CHEM) announced at the faculty meeting last Thursday that the Senate will investigate how to implement this proposal. Conflict resources are titled as such because they are harvested in areas where the population is in conflict. Oftentimes, the harvesting of the resources harms the area’s lower-class citizens while fueling the region’s ongoing violence. Said exploitation also benefits foreign groups in Rwanda, Uganda and other countries, as well as oppressive militant groups such as the Congolese army. “As framed and presented [during a

separate meeting with STAND members in October], [the proposal] seems like a reasonable thing; it seems in line with Brandeis’s professed values,” said Vice Provost, Chief Information Officer and University Librarian John Unsworth in an interview with the Justice. “The general tenor of the discussion was a constructive effort to see if we could, as a university, raise some consciousness on vendors and, you know, cut off our nose despite our face in the process.” Unsworth also said that he believes there are a lot of “complicated issues” in the matter, including how to ask vendors—especially small vendors— to remove the materials and what the University should do if the cost of conflict-free products is higher than that of their conflict counterparts. “The potential for expense would arise if … we had two possible vendors or a certain set of items and one of them was less expensive and less conflict-free and the other was more expensive and more conflict-free,” Unsworth said. Still, Unsworth maintained his view that STAND’s proposal was “practical,” acknowledging that the proposal’s language allows for some flexibility in the procurement process. “[STAND is] just asking that [conflict minerals] be a consideration in procurement, that we start to ask questions,” Unsworth explained. Yet Unsworth also noted that one of the issues with the proposal is that the University is buying an increasing number of cloud services—that is, Internet services available to users via off-site servers, which may or may not use conflict minerals. “We don’t own that electronic equipment, but we procure our services from people who own that equipment. How do we treat that kind of thing?” he asked. “These are all questions that can be raised and answered and perhaps revisited periodically from time to time.” Likewise, Storti said that he believes the loose terms of the proposal invite many questions and debates. “I think we have to define what

we’re talking about in terms of electronics,” Storti said. “But what’s really feasible? … [W]e want to make sure that whatever we implement we can actually uphold and do.” Meanwhile, as the Brandeis chapter of STAND prepares for its Dec. 3 meeting with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the group persists as a whole on a larger basis. According to STAND’s website, the group as a whole partnered at an international level with another antigenocide group called Raise Hope for Congo, a human rights campaign launched by the Enough Project—also an anti-genocide group—and aimed at eastern Congolese people. Both groups operate for the international community and power the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative. The initiative, which aims to ban conflict minerals from college campuses, is currently represented in 166 schools—Brandeis included—with locations spanning five continents. CFCI pressures universities “to commit to measures that pressure electronics companies to responsibly invest in Congo’s minerals sector, students are voicing the demand for conflict-free products from Congo,” according to the Raise Hope for Congo website. After the Faculty Senate meeting at which STAND presented its proposal, both CFCI and STAND have indicated through Facebook postings that they feel optimistic about their accomplishments, although they both acknowledge that their work in achieving their goals is not yet done. Storti also noted that the brunt of the work ahead comes down to analyzing the University’s actions. “You have to look at this holistically,” he said. “[T]his is great; this is a wonderful starting point, but I think we really have to dig deeper into this to better understand what it is we’re actually talking about and how it affects what we’re doing at Brandeis University.” —Tate Herbert contributed reporting.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

REACHING OUT

Former Canon workers still without employment ■ Former Mailroom Manager

●

MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice

FOOD FORUM: Rabbi Chayim Zirkind (left) and General Manager for Sodexo Shawn Managhan (right) addressed student questions at the dining forum last week.

Sodexo representatives discuss issues, progress ■ Students praised

Sodexo’s improvements but still brought up a number of remaining concerns. By RACHEL SHARER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Students raised a number of concerns about the flexibility and cost of meal plans at a dining forum with Sodexo last Wednesday. The Senate Dining Committee sponsored the forum so that students could discuss their concerns directly with Sodexo management. The Sodexo representatives present included General Manager Shawn Monaghan, Senior Director of Operations Randi Kates-Peirce and Rabbi Chayim Zirkird. Brandeis’ Vice President of Operations James Gray was also in the audience to answer questions. The Chair of the Senate Dining Committee and Class of 2017 Senator Ben Margolin moderated the discussion. Monaghan started the discussion by giving his “sincerest apologies” for the difficulties Sodexo faced in the beginning of the year. “It’s not the way we wanted it to go,” Monaghan said. However, he stated that Sodexo has made ample changes in food quality and availability since the start of the school year and hopes that having more open conversations with students will help them improve even more in these two areas. Katie Blocklove ’16 brought up concerns about the price of meal plans and the number of options available for students. She said that the 12-meal plan is the only plan that “makes sense for students” because the others are “much less flexible.” For example, she said that in her own cost calculations, the eight-meal plan charges about $15 per meal, which is more than the other meal plans. She suggested that there be fewer meal plan options and, in particular, ones with less meals and more dining points to allow students to get a better value for their money. She also mentioned that many students dislike the fact that use of meal swipes is restricted to dining halls only and that many students missed the meal equivalencies from last year, the method in which students could use meal swipes not only at dining halls but at various locations across campus for a certain number of items. Gray responded that the University took away the meal equivalency method because it “didn’t work economically” and that Sodexo had to implement what they saw as the most economically feasible system. While Sodexo and the University “try to meet students’ needs in every way possible,” he said, there are limited resources and money to make that happen. However, Gray said that even

though bringing back meal equivalencies was unlikely, the University is looking to change the meal period system to make it easier for students to use more meals throughout the day. “The three-meal period is excessively restrictive,” Gray said. He said that the University is looking at a system of four or five meal periods throughout the day, which will allow students to swipe meals more often and therefore have more flexibility. Gray stated that this system would be implemented at the beginning of next semester at the very latest. Two students from the recently recognized club called the Food Recovery Network, Matthew Schwartz ’15 and Jane Qian ’15, said that their club seeks to donate uneaten food from campus dining halls to those in need. They questioned the Sodexo management about the amount of leftover food after mealtimes, what happens to it and if it could be donated to their club’s cause. Monaghan responded that because Sodexo carefully tracks how much food is eaten daily and tries to make the minimum amount possible to meet student’s needs, there is limited waste, but she said that he is open to having a bigger discussion about the leftover food at a later date. More student suggestions included adding more grilled chicken in Lower Usdan, a spice bar that offers herbs and various seasonings, more sweet potato fries, a Sriracha sauce pump and themed dinner nights, all of which Monaghan said Sodexo would look into trying to implement as soon as possible. Gray, Monaghan and KatesPeirce all said that many changes have been made in the past few years from student suggestions, such as the creation of a “second Sherman” in the renovated, buffetstyle Usdan Dining Hall, an increase in food variety and the addition of a Dunkin Donuts on campus. They said more changes will continue to be made to meet students’ needs and that they hope more forums and discussions will be held in the near future as a medium of discussion. Margolin said in an interview with the Justice that while he would have liked a bigger turnout at the forum, he thought the dialogue was “very positive.” “The majority of students on campus have an opinion when it comes to dining services,” Margolin said. He explained that the Brandeis University Senate Dining Committee Facebook group, which was created in 2012, did not seem sufficient enough to address all student complaints. The forum, therefore, was held as a more effective way for students and management to address grievances in person. Margolin said that he thought the forum was a success and that he looks forward to holding more forums in the future to get more feedback from students on what needs improvement.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

●

THE JUSTICE

campus event

IMPROVING INFANCY

Education Week promotes global engagement ■ Global Brandeis

spearheaded the University’s celebration of International Education Week with a number of events held over this past week. By SAADIAH Mcintosh JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

In celebration of International Education Week, the International Students and Scholars Office, the Study Abroad Office, the Intercultural Center and Student Activities hosted a number of programs that took place throughout last week. Global Brandeis, a University initiative intended to strengthen students’ global engagement, spearheaded much of the week’s programming. IEW, a joint initiative of the United States’ Departments of State and Education “is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide,” according to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website. “This joint initiative...is part of [the Departments’] efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States,” the website reads. In an email to the Justice, Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs and the head of the Global Brandeis initiative Kim Godsoe explained the intentions behind IEW. “We live in a world in which the ability to communicate cross-culturally is of growing importance,” she wrote. “International Education Week celebrates the many ways that Brandeis faculty, staff and students are engaged in learning about different people and their cultures,” Godsoe added. Godsoe noted that Brandeis has celebrated IEW “for a number of years” but added that the University has wanted to draw more of a focus to the week in the last two years. In addition to sending out an email announcing IEW to students, the IEW staff also put a video promoting the week on the

BrandeisNOW website. The video endeavored to highlight the diversity present on campus. For the promotional video, several students, professors and campus leaders were interviewed about the importance of being global. As part of IEW, 28 events were hosted and sponsored by various University groups. “When we were planning the week, it was important to include academic lectures, student groups, information about studying abroad, and programs that focused on cross-cultural awareness,” Godsoe told the Justice. At Passport Day, an IEW event that occurred last Wednesday, students were given the opportunity to apply for or renew their passports on campus. Usually, to apply for or renew a passport, students would have to travel to a passport office or post office. At the global bazaar, another popular IEW event, several ICC groups provided food samples for attendees to enjoy, and local vendors were given the opportunity to sell handmade crafts. The bazaar, which was cosponsored by the International Students and Scholars Office and the Wien International Scholars, also hosted a global fashion show and gave students the chance to learn about global opportunities. The bazaar also hosted a number of international musical performances. The week also included a talk by Lara Baladi, an Egyptian-Lebanese artist, discussions on terrorism, issues affecting Native Americans and an event centering around the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was last week. Godsoe said that she believes Brandeis students “embody the ideas of International Education Week.” She added that International and Global Studies is one of the most popular majors on campus. In addition, she wrote that almost 40 percent of each graduating class studies abroad, as a part of what she referred to as “innovative” programs such as Brandeis in the Hague and the India Science Scholars program. “IEW is a celebration of what we already do as well as an opportunity to promote how much we can learn from each other,” she wrote.

ABIGAIL ROTHSTEIN/the Justice

PREMATURITY PERSPECTIVE: Researcher for Vida Health Communications Lisa McElaney spoke about infant brain development.

Panel discusses prematurity ■ Panelists discussed the

health effects of premature birth and the efforts of the March of Dimes organization. By ARIANNA UNGER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 17, 57 countries worldwide participated in World Prematurity Day. March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of babies by preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality, has devoted the month of November to educating expecting parents and health care workers about premature birth. State Director of Programs Services at March of Dimes Dr. Alex Travis, social epidemiologist and Heller School for Social Policy and Management lecturer Lindsay Rosenfeld and public health researcher for Vida Health Communications Lisa McElaney spoke at a panel last Tuesday at Brandeis about “Perspectives on Prematurity.” Travis, the first panelist, said that premature birth rates experienced a rising trend until 2006, when they reached a peak. In 2006, 12.8 percent of all births in the U.S. were premature. She also said that due to greater awareness and the efforts of March of Dimes and other organizations, the prematurity rate has since dropped to 11.4 percent. Travis went on to discuss the major concerns associated with premature birth. She explained that premature birth can often have lifelong effects on children and can cause cognitive disabilities, respiratory issues and problems with eyesight. She also emphasized the tremendous amount of money spent on treating the effects of premature birth—approximately $26.2 billion annually. Travis explained that many of the known causes of preterm birth are actually preventable. Such causes include elective early caesarean sections, smoking and alcohol consumption. She said that March of Dimes aims to eliminate such causes by dis-

couraging early induced labor and caesarean sections, recommending progesterone therapy, increasing access to maternity care and educating mothers about links between smoking and alcohol and premature birth. Travis said that March of Dimes currently has over 200 associated researchers who are looking into other potential causes of preterm birth. The organization plans to invest $75 million more in premature birth research in the upcoming years. She described March of Dimes’ focus on synergy, or bringing together scientists from all different fields to cooperate on research and education projects. March of Dimes currently has two transdisciplinary research centers—in California and Ohio—and plans to open two more facilities at the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania this coming year. Rosenfeld was next to take the podium. She approached the topic of prematurity from a more personal angle, describing her experience of giving birth to premature twins. She described this moment as “when my work became my life.” Rosenfeld recalled the day when she was at her OB-GYN appointment for a routine pregnancy ultrasound and her doctor told her she needed to go to the hospital immediately. When she arrived at the hospital, she said, she discovered that she was in preterm labor and spent two and a half weeks on bed rest. She gave birth to her twins at only 28 weeks and five days into her pregnancy, while they were still in the “micro-premature” stage of fetal development. Rosenfeld explained that both twins were placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Boston to be monitored for several weeks. Rosenfeld was informed that one of the twins suffered from a diaphragmatic hernia, which is when the diaphragm muscle fails to close completely and some of the abdominal organs move into the chest cavity. She described the many struggles she and her husband endured during and after the long period of time that their twins

spent in the NICU. McElaney, the third panelist, spoke about the major impact of the NICU environment on early-stage brain development in infants. She showed part of a documentary film that illustrated some of the recent discoveries about the adverse impact of the NICU on neonatal brain growth and development. The film first stressed the importance of the third trimester of pregnancy, explaining that many important aspects of the brain’s circuitry are formed during this period. It explained that the third trimester is a stage very important for the development of the myelin sheath, which is a casing comprised of lipids and proteins that help to protect and insulate neurons. The movie showed images depicting the major morphological differences between the cortex—the part of the brain responsible for executive functions—of infants at the ages of 28, 32 and 40 weeks. One of the researchers in the film pointed out a correlation between infants who spend a longer time the womb and increased gyrification, or folding, of the cortex region in the brain. The researcher explained that the increased gyrification is often associated with an increased intelligence. Gyrification does continue, however, even after an organism is born. The documentary then explained that, unlike healthy babies, many preterm babies spend their critical periods of neural development outside the womb in the NICU. In the film, several researchers emphasized the negative impact that the stressful environment of the NICU can have on a child’s emotional, cognitive, social and communicative brain. The documentary mentioned that elements of the NICU such as loud noises, extensive machinery, artificial light and lack of skin-to-skin contact might affect many aspects of an infant’s development. “The disorder and the impact of it is part of who the child then is for the rest of their lives,” said one of the researchers in the film.

Place your ad here To place an ad or for more information,

contact Aliza Kahn and Talia Zapinsky

at ads@thejustice.org

THE JUSTICE

campus speaker

for Israel Studies hosted a teach-in about the realities of war between Israel and Gaza. By KATHRYN BRODY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

“Most of you have never lived in a war zone,” said Prof. Ilan Troen ’63 (NEJS), who spoke at the Gaza teach-in on Sunday. The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies hosted this teach-in with lectures concerning the conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip and the rising Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Troen, who is the Stoll Family chair in Israel Studies, director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies expressed how, having lived in Israel, one has to deal with the reality that many houses have to have their own bomb shelters. He said that he noticed how students who have never lived in Israel or other war zones view war with a measure of “abstraction,” as they have only heard about wars in terms of historical events and theories. During his lecture, Troen pulled up a political cartoon that depicted a member of Hamas in negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which United States Secretary of State John Kerry is depicted as asking Netanyahu if he could “at least meet him halfway,” ignoring the demands the Hamas terrorist is holding up that says “Death to all Jews.” Troen said that he felt that this cartoon “suggests the limits” of any negotiating between Hamas and Israel because there is often no clear halfway point in Hamas’ demands. In the past, Hamas’ demands have included an open border, free passage by sea and the ability to have their own airport, Professor Donna Robinson Divine of Smith College said later on. She added that, other than how Hamas has continued to perpetrate violence against Israel, all of the aforementioned demands would be considered legitimate. Divine then took the podium to discuss the Israeli and Palestinian political landscape, both historically and in the present day. She described how the Palestinians were completely dependent on sympathetic nations like Jordan and Egypt during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War; it was Jordan that ended up capturing the West Bank, while Egypt captured the Gaza Strip. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Palestinians relied on Arab nations to establish bases, help them cross the border and to allow them to use those countries’ training grounds. The Palestinians predominantly used guerilla warfare during this period, she noted. It was also through the help of their allies, Divine said, that the Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded in 1964 with the purpose of “liberating” Palestine.

Divine also discussed the history of Hamas. Hamas, she said, was founded in the 1980s as a Palestinian offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The organization reached the peak of its power in 2012 and 2013 when, with the help of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas strengthened its arsenal of rockets and its capacity to produce its own rockets across the borders, she said. However, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt began to cut Hamas off, closing off its supply line, which resulted in a decline of power, according to Divine. When Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Illinois Cary Nelson, the author of The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel, took the podium, the conversation focused on the BDS movement. The BDS movement is a global campaign that began in 2005, according to its website. The movement has focused on returning “dispossessed” land in the West Bank to Palestinians. The movement also encourages participants to boycott Israeli universities, accusing the institutions of preventing scholars from visiting Palestinian universities as well as assisting in the “occupation and oppression of Palestinians,” according to the official statement of an offshoot of the group called Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions. The movement, according to Nelson, has been very vague on its key issues. For instance, he pointed out that the movement asks to return Palestinian land to Palestinians; however, Nelson asked which lands are considered Palestinian land. He discussed how the Israelis initially legally purchased land from the Palestinians and asked if this land is considered Palestinian as well. The movement, has condemned “institutional silence,” or silence on the part of any institution, including universities, when discussing the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, said Nelson. Nelson asserted that BDS’ methods of protest, including forbidding faculty members to write recommendations for students who plan to study in Israel, as well as the boycott of Israeli universities and academics, would limit communication and “promote hostility, not peace.” Other speakers at the teach-in included Prof. Leonard Saxe, director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute, who spoke in a breakout session titled “Millennial Attitudes Towards Israel.” Brandeis Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Elyse Winick ’86 held a separate session titled “Mapping the Israeli Organizations on Campus.” Finally, Joe Hyams, an MA/MBA student at the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program and Heller School of Social Policy and Management, discussed the media’s reporting of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and how this has affected views of the conflict.

MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice

CONSIDERING CONFLICT: Dr. Donna Robinson Divine of Smith College spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian political landscape on Sunday in the Mandel Auditorium.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

ANALYZING ANTIBIOTICS

Professors speak on issues in Gaza ■ The Schusterman Center

●

GRACE KWON/the Justice

REVIEWING RESISTANCE: From left to right: Dr. Thomas F. O’Brien, Maryn McKenna and Dr. Michael Graziano spoke on the panel.

Film director discusses the issue of antibiotic overuse in America ■ The Schuster Institute

for Investigative Journalism screened ‘Resistance’ followed by a panel with the director and experts on antibiotic resistance. By Sherry Simkovic JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism screened Resistance, a 2014 documentary that discusses the evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria as a result of overusing antibiotics, on Thursday. Florence Graves, the founding director of the Schuster Institute, said in her opening remarks about Resistance that “[t]he film provides both a 30,000 foot view of the problem and provides a closer look to enable us to talk about it in detail.” The film focused on stories of families who had been directly affected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The first story the film explored was about a young boy from Kentucky who developed a very high fever and began hallucinating. He was diagnosed with pneumonia but his condition continued to worsen. As his health steadily declined and his parents grew more worried, the doctors eventually diagnosed him correctly. They determined that he had contracted MethicillinResistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a bacterial infection that is a strain of staphylococcus bacteria (staph) and isresistant to antibiotic treatments. Staphylococci are a strain of bacteria that can cause a variety of infections in humans and animals by producing toxins. Initially, in order to counteract the negative effects of the MRSA infection, the doctors put him into a medically induced coma. The young boy eventually came out of the coma, but he remained on antibiotics and struggled to walk. The film next focused on Dr. Brad Spellberg, an infectious disease specialist at University of California, Los Angeles. Spellberg told the story of a leukemia patient who was a mother in her 20s. The patient developed a bacterial infection that he was unable to treat with antibiotics and died.

“I remember looking at the computer screen of everything the bacteria was resistant to and feeling powerless. I couldn’t believe that an infectious disease specialist had run out of medicine,” said Spellberg. Spellberg continued to say that while antibiotics kill bacteria, antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria evolve as result of several factors, including doctors prescribing wrong doses of antibiotics and giving antibiotics to animals. Maryn McKenna, a Schuster Institute senior fellow, was featured throughout the film as well. “We completely squandered a miraculous medicine, and it astonishes me that we don’t ask ourselves how we squandered it,” she said about antibiotics. The film then turned to a story about a California surfer who developed spinal lesions as a result of contracting an antibiotic-resistant staph infection. Due to the multiple surgical procedures and sepsis, a potentially fatal whole-body inflammation caused by infection, the surfer lost control of his legs. In the film, his wife said, “It can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time—no one is safe.” McKenna then posed in the question in the film, “How did antibiotic use become so prevalent?” The film then discussed the development of antibiotics. It began in the 1940s with Alexander Fleming’s famous discovery of penicillin by way of moldy bread, and the discovery of tetracycline in moldy cantaloupe. Stemming from the discoveries of antibiotics, the film discussed how Winston Churchill’s decision to use penicillin in the military during World War II allowed antibiotics to be completely integrated into the medicinal world. The film showed various clips from the World War II-era that praised the use of antibiotics, featuring phrases such as, “Thanks to penicillin, he will come home.” At this point, the film seemed to suggest that had it not been for that initial push from Churchill, the world would not have begun to overuse antibiotics. McKenna cited an incident of antibiotic overusage when the United States Army gave antibiot-

ics to women to prevent the spread of venereal disease in the military, which led to the evolution of a penicillin-resistant strain of gonorrhea. “Doctors use antibiotics because they are afraid of being wrong. If you don’t address that fear at that moment, then it’s not going to work,” said Spellberg. The film then continued to describe practices of overusing antibiotics. Senior Officer for the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming Gail V. Hansen explained the origins of putting antibiotics into animal feed on farms. According to Hansen, low levels of antibiotics make animals grow a bit faster. Initially, penicillin and tetracycline were added to their food in order to produce as much meat as quickly and cheaply as possible. According to the film, 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used on farms, and 80 percent of antibiotics given to animals are used non-therapeutically. “The system has to change, but farms say it would cost too much. Tell that to a mother whose child has died,” said McKenna. The film also presented responses outside of the U.S., focusing on Denmark, where since 1992, there has been a ban on using growth promoters or antibiotics in pigs. In 1998, the ban was extended to all animals. According to the film, Danish farmers use 50 percent less antibiotics since the ban and produce 50 percent more meat. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has also decreased since the ban. According to the film, 148,000 people die every year due to uncontrollable infections. The next question posed by the film was why new antibiotics have not been developed. “A drug company spends a billion dollars to develop an antibiotic, and physicians can only use it for a few years until it is no longer usable because resistant strains have evolved,” McKenna explained. “We have to develop new medicines, or we will not have any effective ones at all.” The event was co-sponsored by the Biology department, Brandeis Students for Environment Action and the Health: Science, Society and Policy program.

WE TAKE THE

THRILL OUT OF INVESTING. At TIAA-CREF, we believe the less excitement you find in your portfolio the better. When we invest, we do it for the long term, steadily.1 Our approach works so well it earned us the Best Overall Large Fund Company award two years in a row by the independent research firm Lipper.2

Learn more in one click at TIAA.org or call 855 200-7243.

BEST OVERALL LARGE FUND COMPANY 2 The Lipper Awards are based on a review of 36 companies’ 2012 and 48 companies’ 2013 risk-adjusted performance.

Consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Go to tiaa-cref.org for product and fund prospectuses that contain this and other information. Read carefully before investing. 1 TIAA-CREF funds are subject to market and other risk factors. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The Lipper Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years’ Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12 and 11/30/13, respectively. TIAA-CREF was ranked against 36 fund companies in 2012 and 48 fund companies in 2013 with at least five equity, five bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services Inc. C18456B ©2014 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017. 2

5021A0002 C18456B THRILL 10x8 BW NWS Various.indd Black

Join the Justice Photography Staff!

Contact Morgan Brill and Grace Kwon at photos@thejustice.org

THE JUSTICE

CONTINUED FROM 1 ment,” “higher personnel vacancy savings,” energy efficiency efforts and other procurement efforts, wrote Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Marianne Cwalina in an email to the Justice. However, she added that it is still early in the fiscal year and that the operating budget surplus will depend upon “a number of costs and revenues in the spring semester.” The Integrated Planning and Bud-

GRACE KWON/the Justice

Casey Lamar '18 competed in the hummus-making competition hosted by the Brandeis Organization of Sephardic Students last Tuesday in the Intercultural Center Lounge.

SALARY: Faculty pay ranked 16th in the state in AAUP survey the Board of Trustees for the purpose of determining executive compensation, Brandeis professors have higher salaries than only their peers at Vassar College, Washington and Lee University, Middlebury College and Syracuse University. Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren wrote in an email to the Justice that there are many factors that contribute to Brandeis’ position in salary rankings, including financial pressures on the University and the lack of programs like medicine, law and engineering, which typically pay faculty more. “Salary is only one reason that young faculty come to Brandeis,” wrote Birren. “As a highly ranked research university, faculty have the opportunity to build their research and scholarship in a supportive, collaborative environment, to work with senior faculty who are renowned in their fields, and to teach and do research with outstanding undergraduate and graduate students.” Brandeis faculty have the 16th-highest salaries out of 42 Massachusetts colleges and universities listed, two spots below last year’s 14th place, according to the AAUP survey. Every other school in the University Athletic Association, the athletic division that Brandeis competes in, pays its full professors more than Brandeis. Brandeis’ Waltham neighbor Bentley University pays its full professors an average of $152,400 per year, and nearby Boston College gives its professors an average of $168,400. While many of Brandeis’ peers with higher faculty salaries also have larger endowments, Fordham, Bentley, Colgate and Wesleyan Universities all have higher average salaries but smaller endowments. Other schools in New England with smaller endowments but higher average salaries include Quinnipiac University—$132,500 per year—in Connecticut and Bryant

University—$148,200 per year—in Rhode Island.

Focusing on junior faculty

The survey found that associate professors at Brandeis have average salaries of $96,000, assistant professors average at $82,200, and instructors make an average of $60,200. Brandeis ranked considerably higher in the comparable group of 28 institutions when it came to associate professors and assistant professors, categories both Birren and Prof. Jerry Samet (PHIL), a member of the University Budget Committee, classified as important to focus on. “If Brandeis is going to equalize salaries, it has to be for junior people. Because if we don’t attract the best junior people, we won’t get them, and the whole quality of the faculty will drop, which won’t be in anybody’s interest,” Samet said in an interview with the Justice. “I’m always worried that my junior faculty will be flight risks.” Birren shared her opinion about the importance of recruiting junior faculty, and wrote that “in the past year we were successful in recruiting our top choice candidates in five out of six assistant professor searches.” For assistant professor salaries, the University ranks almost exactly in the middle of the 28 comparable colleges, with 13 above it and 15 below.

Contrasting faculty salaries executive compensation

The financial crisis when Brandeis stopped putting money into faculty pension plans occurred at the same time as paying what Samet called “tremendous severance pay packages” to President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz and outgoing Chief Executive Officer Peter French. “I still feel that the University owes us $5 million, and they ought to make that good,” said Samet. “Whether they can or not is not clear.” At first, said Samet, he wasn’t that troubled: it was simply a difference in market values between faculty

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

FINANCE: Budget one year ahead in surplus projection

COMPETITIVE EDGE

CONTINUED FROM 1

●

and administrators. “Everyone tries to get their market values,” he said. “Professors are paid in other coins besides money and … I’m not asking to be paid the same as an executive who puts in 80-hour weeks. But it’s grating when you know that your colleagues at other universities are paid more than you.”

A strategic goal

In the executive summary of the University’s strategic plan, published last year, one of the listed goals is to “renew investment in faculty and staff excellence.” “A first-rate university cannot exist without a first-rate faculty,” reads the plan. “This requires not only rigorous procedures for hiring and promotion, but also salaries, benefits, and academic supports that enable us to compete with our peer institutions.” Birren wrote that she and the University remain steadfastly committed to this goal. “I completely agree with the strategic plan language that defines the excellence of the faculty as a critical factor in creating an outstanding undergraduate experience and in achieving our success as a top-notch research university,” she said. “I have been working to make progress on addressing faculty salary concerns and, in the past year, was successful in moving the average assistant professor salary closer to the means of our peer institutions.”

get Committee, which Lynch chairs, will be reviewing operating and capital budget requests pertaining to the strategic plan over the next few months. “We are using a 10-year financial planning model to project balanced operating budgets and surpluses,” Cwalina wrote. “The final operating bottom line will depend on the strategic planning investments and choices made by the University.” —Rachel Hughes and Sam Mintz contributed reporting.

XEROX: Faculty look to assist former Canon employees without jobs CONTINUED FROM 1 job would require him to work until about 1:30 a.m. and prevent him from participating in theater productions and rehearsals at night. Bowen then explained that the University had reached out to him regarding a potential job in September, but has not heard back from anyone since. Former Canon employees such as Motta decided to take jobs with MCP. Motta has been at the University for about 17 years, he said in an interview with the Justice. According to Motta, his wage with Xerox is “about the same” as it was with Canon, although he said that he could not disclose his current wage. “I decided to see if I could stay because I enjoy Brandeis. To me it didn’t matter as much the company, it’s just I like the Brandeis environment, so I was really happy to transition over a not have a problem with changing over because my job hasn’t changed all that much,” he said. “I’m doing what I was doing before, but I’m working a little extra with the new automated mail machine, so I’m doing an extra job.” Motta said that his benefits are also similar. According to Dailey, employees such as Motta receive 401K plans, health insurance, dental insurance and vision insurance.

Bowen said that he received about $7,800 in severance pay from the University back in July, but noted that this severance pay delayed his unemployment compensation. In fact, he said that he had to return about $3,500 of his unemployment compensation because he was receiving the severance pay. Both Bowen and Hayes have noted the role that age has played in employment opportunities. “It’s been a very discouraging experience to be turning 60 years old and to now have to start looking for work again,” wrote Hayes. Bowen said that although he was told he could apply for other jobs at Brandeis, there are not many jobs at Brandeis “that I can go without having a bachelor’s degree, and at 62, I don’t think I’m going to be taking any courses to get a bachelor’s degree for the last few years of my employment life.” According to Prof. Mary Baine Campbell (ENG), a number of faculty members have been discussing how to go about helping former employees such as Hayes and Bowen, she said in an interview with the Justice. One suggestion that Campbell mentioned was creating a GoFundMe page for these employees, specifically due to the fact that the holidays are approaching, but she noted that discussions on how to handle the situation are still underway.

JOIN

the Justice

Looking forward

Samet said that he expects the recent financial upswing at Brandeis to have a positive effect on faculty salaries. Birren wrote that faculty salaries will continue to be a high priority for her and her colleagues in the administration. “I expect to continue to work with Provost Lisa Lynch and President Fred Lawrence on faculty salary issues and to make more progress in the future,” she wrote. Provost Lynch declined to comment by press time.

Contact Rachel Hughes at editor@thejustice.org.

features

TUESDAY, November 18, 2014

just

●

THE JUSTICE

VERBATIM | ARUNDHATI JOY And there it was again. Another religion turned against itself. Another edifice constructed by the human mind, decimated by human nature.

ON THIS DAY…

FUN FACT

In 1946, Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden joined the United Nations.

There is a safe deposit box in New York City containing Albert Einstein’s eyeball.

Thirsting for peace

In the aftermath of war, J Street U’s event ‘Turn on the Tap for Gaza’ campaigns for awareness about a humanitarian crisis By ROSE GITTELL JUSTICE EDITOR

Last Wednesday, J Street U Brandeis hosted the event “Turn on the Tap for Gaza” to raise awareness for the current water crisis in Gaza and to campaign for the J Street U national fundraiser to support environmental groups on the ground in Gaza addressing the crisis. As of the end of summer 2014, 11 wells and two purification plants in Gaza were completely destroyed, and an additional 15 wells and four purification plants were partially destroyed, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. The destruction of the purification plants and pipelines has made it increasingly difficult for people in Gaza to access clean, potable water. According to the Head of Communications for J Street U Brandeis Shani Abramowitz ’14, the event was a success in terms of both educating students on the water crisis and raising money for the international fundraiser. J Street U Brandeis began the event by showing a video from Gaza about the water crisis. Participants then broke off into small groups and read and discussed an article about the Red Cross’ work to address the water crisis. “People were really open and not afraid to share and really comfortable in that space,” Abramowitz said. “They were shocked, and

wanted to get involved even beyond their five dollar donation.” Students who attended the event, although generally wellversed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, were unaware of the water crisis as a whole. “It’s easy to ignore a humanitarian issue when it’s nestled in a war, which is nestled in an even bigger conflict,” said Abramowitz. “It seems so small and insignificant when there are horrible violent things happening in the region to innocent people,” Abramowitz said. “People forget that these are real people who need things like access to clean water.” J Street U is the student-run branch of the international political organization J Street, which defines itself as a “pro-Israel, propeace American” group. J Street U seeks pragmatic solutions to complex problems, an aim which manifests itself in their recent campaign to raise awareness for the current water crisis in Gaza. To address this issue, which J Street U Brandeis views as an issue of essential human rights, J Street U is raising money for two grass-roots environmental groups currently on the ground in Gaza, who cite peace and co-existence as part of their mission. The first group is Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), an environmental advocacy organization, that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to work toward

advancing the sustainable ecological development of the region. The second group is Other Voice, a grassroots initiative that empowers volunteers from cities along the Gaza border to shed light on the psychological toll that ongoing violence has on Israelis and Palestinians. “They do joint ecological development work with Israelis and Palestinians, doing a lot of coexistence work with Israelis and Palestinians to rebuild damaged infrastructure,” Abramowitz said. “They do general ecological education, providing access to water and shedding light on the physical and psychological toll violence takes on this region.” The financial goal for each J Street U chapter is $500, culminating in a $10,000 financial goal for the organization as a whole. Thus far, most donations have taken the form of small, student-given donations of five or 10 dollars. In order to raise awareness for this campaign, J Street U Brandeis reached out to other clubs at Brandeis to engage in cosponsorship. Cosponsors include Brandeis Divestment Campaign, Hillel at Brandeis, Poverty Action Coalition and Brandeis Libertarians. “These clubs are all people who either care about the Middle East, Israel, human rights, or social justice in general,” Abramowitz said. “When we frame it as a humanitarian fundraiser, people were really receptive towards it, and really

willing to cosponsor.” Organizing a diverse group of organizations for one common cause was a unique and challenging undertaking. “J Street was overseeing everything, but people from different clubs shared tabling responsibilities, and each club individually mobilized their members to contribute to the fund,” Abramowitz said. When considering the scale and complexity of Israeli-Palestinian relations, it may seem perplexing for a political organization to focus on an environmental issue such as water access. Abramowitz argues that it is precisely the overwhelming scale of the issue that caused people to mobilize behind the initiative. “If you can get behind one very tangible goal, you can feel like you accomplished something and perhaps make an even bigger impact,” Abramowitz said. An environmental issue like this may have political repercussions that go beyond the tangible. If an Israeli group addresses a basic human rights issue in Palestine, this may promote a positive Palestinian view of Israelis. “J-Street U promotes a two-state solution to the conflict, and we really believe that in order to meet that end ,we have to really empower Palestinians, and make them believe we actually care about them, and believe in the feasibility of a future state for them,” Abramowitz said. “We have to make them believe we are partners for peace.”

By focusing political capital on issues other than the war, Abramowitz hopes J Street’s aims will become more attainable. “A war is a war, but there are also humanitarian issues that come out of wars,” Abramowitz said. “There is a humanitarian crisis occurring in Gaza, and there is something tangible we can do about it.” Abramowitz appreciates being a part of J Street U Brandeis for the chance to discuss these issues at depth and from a multitude of perspectives. “It provides a really great open space to talk about these issues in ways I have never talked about them before. It’s really powerful in that it challenged me in a way I didn’t grow up with,” Abramowitz said. Growing up in what Abramowitz describes as a “right-wing community,” she hadn’t been exposed to a lot of the types of conversations that occur at J-Street, where members come from all different types of backgrounds and are willing to expose themselves. “I also had been afraid of a lot of the realities,” Abramowitz said. “Thinking about what peace actually looks like, for both Israelis and Palestinians, is really hard, and I struggle with it all the time. Being able to talk about it and work through that, learning about perspectives from both ends of the spectrum, helped me care more about the issues and given me a more nuanced perspective of what is going on over there.”

GUILLERMO NARVAEZ/ the Justice

LEADERS FOR CHANGE: From left, J Street U Brandeis Head of Communications Shani Abramowitz ’14, and J Street U Brandeis co-presidents Yaakov Malome ’15, Talia Lepson ’16 and Zachary Anziska ’15 hosted the event Wednesday night.

THE JUSTICE

●

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

NO LIMITS: Shota Adamia ’15 interned with Thom Browne in New York City last summer with a scholarship from the YMA Fashion Fund. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHOTA ADAMIA

Fashion

Entrepreneur Shota Adamia ’15 is a finalist for a prestigious scholarship from the YMA Fashion Fund for his study on 3-D printing By MARIYA GREELEY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Although enthusiastic about his budding career in the fashion world, Shota Adamia ’15 refuses to let it define him. “I don’t think a career is the most important part of one’s life,” he said. Adamia doesn’t like limits or labels in any form. “I want to break out of the limits always and overflow,” he said. He is hesitant to even talk about his dream job or plan past 2016, not wanting to limit his identity or his future to one field in one area of his life. Last year, Adamia won $5,000 and a summer sales internship with Thom Browne in New York City from the YMA Fashion Fund. He continues to work for Thom Browne occasionally, including an upcoming trip to Milan to sell their newest collection to retailers. He is also in the running for a $30,000 scholarship from the YMA Fashion Fund— a Geoggrey Beene Scholarship for his case study about the potential impact of 3-D printing on fashion. “I don’t think career is the most important part of one’s life,” he said. For this reason, Shota hates when people ask him about his dream job. “My dream job wouldn’t necessary include everything that I’d be doing and everything I am, so by answering that question I feel like I’m limiting myself to a field that’s only going to be part of my life,” Adamia explained. “People should not be in the binary of anything whether its profession, sexuality, religion … I don’t like labels because I don’t like the limits.” He also doesn’t like planning too far ahead. He doesn’t want to limit himself from any of the possibili-

ties in life. He knows he is graduating in 2015, and living out his childhood dream of living in New York, working in the fashion industry in 2016. After that? Adamia has no idea. At this rate, he will probably be fulfilling another long-term dream like making a film, becoming a politician or traveling to every country. “In school there’s some people who look at me and go ‘oh you’re the guy who got the fashion thing!’ and then they look at my outfit, and they’re like, ‘um, what?’” Adamia exaggerated, claiming he doesn’t have much time for fashion during the school year. His close friend Munis Safajou ’16 shared a contradicting opinion. “He could be stressed out like no other, but still [have his] outfit on point, everything put together. It’s amazing,” she said. Adamia grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia as an only child. Tbilisi is the largest city in Georgia—home to 1.5 million people, about twice as many as Boston. “It’s an amazing country. The culture is very rich and old. We invented wine … at least we’d like to believe that we did,” he said. Although Adamia was reared in a largely liberal family and exposed to open-minded, western ideas through books and movies, he grew up in a wider context of violent oppression. “The levels of homophobia and persistent sexism are very prevalent and very conspicuous [in Georgia],” he said. A transgender woman in Georgia was killed and burned on Monday, Nov 10. Adamia is a member of Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence, “one of the best groups that has existed,” Adamia said, “ever.” An Economics and Sociology

double major, Adamia has been on the Dean’s list every semester since his arrival at Brandeis in 2011. His other awards include the Wien Scholarship, given to about 10 incoming international students with outstanding academic and personal accomplishment each year and the Karpf and Ari Hahn Peace Priz, which he received his sophomore year. He is fluent in five languages — Georgian, Russian, English, German and French—and wants to learn as many more as possible. Spanish is

“

They’re not going to be displaying our ideology or our green dollars in museums in 2000 years. They’re going to be displaying our artwork and our literature.

next on his list. In spite of his continued success, people are what matter most to Adamia. “I put my friends and family in the first spot in any list. Whether I have to abandon my work or my classes for a few hours or a few days or forever, in order to help my friends and family, I would without any hesitation,” Adamia said. Safajou met Adamia during her first semester on campus. “I think I asked him where the printer was,” she said. She immediately noticed his upbeat brand of friendliness. She then overheard

Adamia and another student talking about a ceremony for the new Wien Scholars that night. Safajou mentioned that she was supposed to be at the event, a new Wien Scholar herself. “He was like, ‘Wait, you’re a Wien?’ And he just, out of nowhere, gave me this huge hug,” she said. Three years later, Adamia is one of her best friends on campus, and the story of their first interaction is “typical Shota”she said. In addition to his work in fashion classes and his participation in BSASV, Adamia is working on his honors thesis, interviewing prospective students and interning in the Maker 3D printing lab at Brandeis. He relishes being busy and loves everything he is doing. “Shota has a lot going on but he’s always there. There’s so much energy and life,“ Safajou noted. He got his dynamic passion for a tight schedule from his mother. “Sometimes she’s even too much for me. Like ‘wait, hang out, take a break.’ And she can’t.” “I over-commit myself to everything” Adamia admitted. He hadn’t spoken to his grandma, to whom he is very close, in a few weeks. “She gave me a call today and she was like ‘Are you alive?’” Still, he relishes being busy and loves everything he is doing. “Shota has a lot going on but he’s always there. There’s so much energy and life [in him],“ Safajou noted. When he does get a spare moment you are most likely to find Adamia at a museum. “I just enjoy art in any way possible,” he said. He used to work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in order to ensure he would go there every week. Over the summer he swapped the MFA for the Museum of Modern

Arts in New York, visiting at least once every week. Although Adamia is also passionate about politics, he conceded that art is ultimately more central to him and to the human experience. “They’re not going to be displaying our ideology or our green dollars in museums in 2000 years. They’re going to be displaying our artwork and our literature…Our art is going to stay there always because it is essentially what motivates other people to find their own passion,” he said. Adamia couldn’t name any of his quirks, which made his friend, Theo Goetemann ’17 laugh. “He couldn’t think of anything?” he said incredulously. There may have been too much to choose from. “Everything about him is quirky and not typical and different,” Safajou said. “He pulls it off in an ultra fly way.” Looking at his resumé, it’s hard not to wonder if there is anything Adamia is bad at. “Some weird sound that mammals should not be able to make comes out of my throat and it’s just not fun to listen to,” he said about his singing voice. As a rule, he never takes his friends up on karaoke. “Not even a duet. [My voice] is just going to shine through. Like, its’ going to shine through and break glass, eardrums … friendships,” he teased. Adamia is zealous about so many things—fashion, film, politics, friends— that it is hard to narrow in on what is truly most integral to him. After an hour of animated, fast-talking discussion and lively hand gestures, Adamia came to a fitting conclusion: “That’s what I’m passionate about—people [and] art…so I guess that’s life, right?”

10 TUESDAY, November 18, 2014 ● THE JUSTICE

the

Justice

Brandeis University

Established 1949

Rachel Hughes, Editor in Chief Tate Herbert, Senior Editor Glen Chagi Chesir, Managing Editor Jessie Miller and Sam Mintz, Deputy Editors Jaime Kaiser, Associate Editor Marissa Ditkowsky and Hannah Wulkan, News Editors Rose Gittell, Acting Features Editor Max Moran, Forum Editor Avi Gold, Sports Editor Emily Wishingrad, Arts Editor Morgan Brill, Photography Editor Grace Kwon, Acting Photography Editor Rebecca Lantner, Layout Editor Brittany Joyce, Online Editor Catherine Rosch, Acting Copy Editor Aliza Kahn and Talia Zapinsky, Advertising Editors

EDITORIALS

Invest surplus in professor salaries University President Frederick Lawrence announced at last Thursday’s faculty meeting that the University is no longer running at a deficit. Brandeis will end the 2015 fiscal year with a surplus and with a draw rate from the endowment of only 5.9 percent, down from 6.8 percent at the start of Lawrence’s term. Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Lisa Lynch added that the surplus is expected to hold for the next 10 years. This is particularly good news as it is coming earlier than predicted; Lawrence had previously announced that the University would operate at a balanced budget by fiscal year 2016 or 2017. In Lawrence’s words, “It’s a position of stability, a position that allows us to think about where we want to make investments going forward.” This board applauds the hard work of the administration in balancing the University’s finances, as well as generating a surplus ahead of schedule. However, as the administration begins considering their “investments going forward,” we urge them to uphold their goals made in Goal 5 of the Strategic Plan from last year and consider investing this surplus at least in part into the very thing that makes Brandeis a strong academic institution: our faculty. Data from the American Association of University Professors shows that Brandeis professors are consistently paid less than professors at peer institutions, including Colgate University, Wellesley University and Tufts University. Brandeis full professors are being paid an average of $130,800 this academic year, less than last year’s average of $131,400. They earn the least out of professors in any college within our athletic conference, as well as less than Quinnipiac University ($132,500) and Bryant University ($148,200), both of which have smaller endowments than Brandeis.

Keep pay competitive In total, Brandeis full professors are in the 60th percentile for pay from doctoral institutions and are the 16th highest-paid professors out of 48 colleges and universities in Massachusetts, down from 14th highestpaid last year. In order for the University to remain competitive, it must continue attracting leading academics to teach at Brandeis. While pay for associate and assistant professors is closer in line to that of peer institutions, the fact that average pay for full professors is an alarming trend. The University’s deficit has been a leading focus of the administration for some time, as it inarguably should have been. However, now that the University is projected to be holding a surplus for the next 10 years, this board feels that increased pay for professors is both warranted and strategically valuable to the University. Attracting strong students requires attracting strong professors. Focusing efforts on the needs of professors would also be in line with the University’s strategic plan. Goal 3 of the strategic plan states that “A first-rate University cannot exist without a first-rate faculty. This requires not only rigorous procedures for hiring and promotion, but also salaries, benefits, and academic supports that enable us to compete with our peer institutions.” Now that significant progress has been made on Goal 5—financial security and “responsible stewardship”—this board asks that professors, whose knowledge and guidance are the key products the University confers, are not forgotten as the administration begins planning how to use the newly developed surplus.

Support conflict mineral resolution Last Thursday, the Faculty Senate announced that Students Taking Action Now in Darfur had presented an electronics policy procurement change and received 13 votes in favor of Brandeis implementing policies opposing using conflict minerals in electronics. STAND at Brandeis is one of many college groups which have joined the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative that fights against the use of conflict minerals. This board applauds STAND in organizing students and beginning to implement changes to address this global problem. Conflict minerals include tin and tungsten and are harvested through human rights abuses to fund conflict between rebel groups, most notably in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These minerals are used in consumer electronics such as phones and computers. CFCI focuses on requesting that universities do not purchase products including conflict minerals. If Brandeis passes the CFCI, it would be the first university in the Northeast to enact a conflict-free responsibility resolution. STAND has taken proactive steps in implementing its initiative, including gaining support from Vice Provost of Library and Technology Services John Unsworth,

Release proposal to public gaining support from the Faculty Senate and spreading awareness through a Facebook page. However, STAND still has work to be done in educating students on the issue. This board recommends STAND share its proposal with the student body. This will educate the student body on this often obscure topic and ensure that the proposal is agreed upon by a majority of the University. The current proposal includes advising the University to consider which companies they buy electronics from and eventually phasing out electronics that contain conflict minerals. Since Brandeis was founded, the definition of social justice has continued to evolve and today includes the use of unethically mined conflict minerals that violate individuals’ human rights. In conjunction with other universities participating in CFCI, Brandeis now has the opportunity to make a statement against the use of conflict minerals in consumer electronics. This board praises STAND’s efforts to effectively lead that cause on campus.

GABRIELA YESHUA/The Justice

Views the News on

On Monday, President Barack Obama entered the fight for net neutrality, the idea that all content on the Internet should be given equal loading times by Internet service providers like Comcast and Cox. Obama urged the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility like water or electricity. This would allow the federal government to demand certain standards of net neutrality from all ISPs but would also give the FCC more power over these companies. Opponents of enforced net neutrality argue that it puts undue burden on businesses and intrudes on the free market. Do you believe Internet access is a right and do you support Obama’s plan to make the Internet a utility?

Michael Corn For the last 20 years, the Internet has been a catalyst for massive social change across the globe. It has achieved this to a large extent because of the de facto existence of net neutrality throughout its history. We need only look at the reaction of the totalitarian regimes to the Internet—filtering, blocking and intrusive monitoring—to witness the fear these regimes have of the free exchange of ideas. It’s ironic to hear those opposed to net neutrality do so under the banner of free markets and capitalism when net neutrality has itself given rise to those very markets. But to more directly answer the question: in a society where the information needed for civil engagement, such as informed voting, is primarily provided via technologies built on top of the Internet, how can we not view Internet access as a right? Michael Corn is the University’s deputy chief information officer.

Aaditya Prakash I strongly believe that unregulated Internet is a basic right, and Barack Obama’s decision to classify Internet services under Title II of the Telecommunications Act is a welcome move. If this move succeeds, it will prevent greedy corporations like Comcast from taking content hostage and charging fees to providers and consumers for unthrottled bandwidth. In addition to major websites, the Internet is also made up of smaller hobbyist sites, mom-and-pop eStores, education providers and many other smaller content providers. If the FCC’s proposal were to go through, it would severely limit the reach of these smaller providers. This would lead to an unfair advantage for rich corporations, and creativity from up-and-coming Internet companies would be quashed. The Internet is one of the most important inventions of 21st century and is most widely used as a medium to exercise freedom of speech. Letting corporations dictate how it should be structured will lead to a breakdown of this great platform. Aaditya Prakash is a Ph.D candidate in the Computer Science department.

Christa Caggiano ’17 In 2011, a United Nations report declared that access to the Internet is a human right. 2011 was a pivotal moment in history: it was the year of the Arab Spring. Egypt brought down a dictator with the Internet and irrevocably changed the course of history. The right to Internet is the right to free speech, the right to protest, and it is the right to participate in making an identity for yourself in a society where our identities are so wholly tied to an online world. Since Internet is a concrete thing, it is a right that is incredibly easy to take away. Egypt tried, Saudi Arabia does to an extent and North Korea almost completely. I am not saying eradicating net neutrality would eradicate free speech completely, but in my opinion, it becomes increasingly problematic when too much power goes into the hands of too few. Internet is truly power, and I think as the bastion of freedom that America claims to be, we should take all measures to protect the rights guaranteed to us. Christa Caggiano ’17 is the president of Brandeis Amnesty International.

Shmuel Treiger ’16 I am unequivocally in support of net neutrality and Obama’s plan to make it a utility. Given the ubiquitousness of technology in today’s day and age, Internet is an absolute necessity to be a functioning, productive member of society. People without access to Internet are at an incredible disadvantage in almost every aspect of life, including their ability to access job markets, utilize free online education and perhaps even most importantly in a free and democratic society, to educate themselves toward making an informed decision when voting. As technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, Internet will only become more and more of a necessity. America already lags behind a majority of the developed world in terms of access to and quality of Internet. Now is the time to address this national problem, and Obama’s plan is an important step toward that end. Shmuel Treiger ’16 is an Economics major.

THE JUSTICE

READER COMMENTARY

—Joe Babeu ’15

TUESDAY, November 18, 2014

Promote graphic labels on cigarette packs

Recognize all responses to assault In response to your article “Campus protests do not speak for all assault survivors” (Nov. 11): How the writer has dealt/is dealing with their assault and the disciplinary process is completely valid and understandable. However, I can promise you that each and every person’s healing process after a trauma, such as sexual assault, is quite different. Survivors can experience a wide range of emotions and will deal with them in a variety of different ways. For some people, that means going to a support group; others may transfer schools and still others may engage in some form of activism (and there are still a million other ways to cope). All of these are “right” in the sense that they are what that particular survivor needs to heal at that particular moment. Just as students protesting should not claim to represent everyone in a group (which I do not believe the students protesting have claimed), this writer should not claim to represent the “silent majority.” As a survivor myself, I have found the recent activism on campus very healing, and this article (whether intentionally or not) seems to be trying to invalidate that. For some, a lot of frustration can be built up through the healing process, and a protest is one of the healthier outlets to channel it through. This article represents a single story. A completely valid story, but, nonetheless, it is only one narrative out of far too many, all of which differ drastically.

●

By Jennie Bromberg JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Last Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed that Medicare beneficiaries under the age of 74 who, for at least 30 years of their lives smoked one pack of cigarettes a day, would be covered for annual screenings for lung cancer, according to the New York Times. This is extremely important for many reasons. First, 90 percent of lung cancer cases can be attributed to cigarette smoking according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is usually diagnosed late in life and is the most deadly type of cancer for both men and women; 27 percent of the total deaths caused by cancer are from lung cancer. Although the five-year survival rate is less than 50 percent no matter at which stage it is diagnosed, early diagnosis does make a difference: according to the American Cancer Society, when the cancer is caught in stage I, the five-year survival rate is 45 to 49 percent, while for stage III it drops to five to 14 percent, and at stage IV it is only one percent (these ranges depend on the type of lung cancer). While this new proposal is an excellent step forward for diagnosis of lung cancer, it is not a measure that would help the root of the problem itself: smoking. At around the same time that the government proposed annual screenings for lung cancer in America, statistics on the effectiveness of Australia’s relatively new and mandatory cigarette packaging law started to be collected and analyzed. In 2011, Australia’s parliament approved new standardized packaging for all cigarettes, showing graphic images of the damage they can cause on the outside of each pack. These images

include damaged lungs and open mouths exposing cancer, and are clearly displayed so the buyer sees the pictures before buying the cigarettes. While most smokers reported to be against this packaging when the legislation was first passed, it seems to be showing some positive results: calls to a hotline to help people quit increased by almost 80 percent, and the smoking population in Australia has dropped by three percent, according to the Washington Post. The United States should take note of Australia’s example and follow in its footsteps, but, unfortunately, this is unlikely.

“

A simple black and white label with easily ignored words does not have the same visual impact as a rotting lung. In 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was passed in America, which created new requirements for tobacco companies, including using larger written warning labels on cigarette packs and more transparency of cigarette ingredients. While this is progress, it will hardly make the difference graphic labeling does. A simple black and white label with easily ignored words does not have the same visual impact as a rotting lung. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates tobacco products in the United States, proposed new

packaging, including the image of a man lying in a coffin. But this was ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment by a federal judge in 2012. It is disappointing that showing the realities of smoking on cigarette packages is illegal in this country. America is doing itself a disservice by avoiding stricter regulations and more prevalent warnings for tobacco products. While there are commercial campaigns and other measures, they are often too easily ignored by those who need to see them most. If there is a commercial on, it is easy to switch the channel, and if there’s a billboard one can easily look the other way. But when the message that smoking is harmful is prominently displayed on the cigarette pack itself, it becomes impossible to ignore for the people who need to see it. Those graphic labels in Australia may be enough to turn that “just one more cigarette” urge for someone who is trying to quit into a call to a hotline. In Australia, the graphic labels are where they need to be seen when they need to be seen. The laws that we have in America are protecting an industry whose sole product kills its patrons. While we are protecting jobs and an industry, we are making it way too easy to put people at risk. And while it’s great to offer the proposed screenings for lung cancer, it doesn’t do anything to actually prevent lung cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control, 68.9 percent of adult smokers wanted to stop smoking. Is protecting the tobacco industry really worth further damaging the health of, according to the CDC, the over 16 million Americans who suffer disease caused by smoking? Although these laws are a great step forward in the early detection of lung cancer, more could be done in the United States to stop people from smoking.

Referendums and ballots in midterm elections show liberal victory By AARON DVORKIN Justice staff writer

“When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself.” Speaker of the House John Boehner issued the preceding warning to President Barack Obama on the Thursday after the midterm elections saw the Republicans take control of both Houses of Congress. It was a warning to Obama to refrain from acting unilaterally by taking executive action to ban deportations of undocumented immigrants. Boehner and fellow congressional Republicans will soon begin pursuing an agenda which includes tax cuts, reduced government regulation, ending amnesty for undocumented immigrants and approving the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. The midterm elections have given Republicans in Congress a newfound confidence that they will be able to pursue their agenda with more freedom than they had before. However, if Boehner’s aggressive tone is any indication of the way in which the Republicans will act toward the president and toward achieving their agenda, Boehner might be wise to radically change the image that the party has built up for itself over the past four years rather than increase its hostility. While a superficial look at the midterm results certainly signals an increased popularity of Republican ideas in this country, national exit poll data regarding voters’ opinions on the Republican party and the results of ballot referendums nationwide seem to refute that idea. According to a poll conducted by ABC News, two-thirds of voters are dissatisfied with Republicans in Congress and six in 10 have qualms with the party in general. Although the poll did not ask for specific explanations, six years of relentless and conspicuous obstruction from Republicans in Congress have likely created a negative image of the party in the minds of the American people. The results of ballot questions across the country also signal that Americans do not endorse Republican policies as much as it may seem. Voters in Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota and Alaska all approved increases in the minimum wage, a policy which Republicans certainly do not support, while simultaneously electing Republicans to either the Senate, the Governorship or both. In Massachusetts, Republican Charlie Baker upset Democrat Martha Coakley in the governor’s race, but voters still overwhelmingly approved the referendum to guarantee paid sick leave for employees, a very progressive cause. Baker supports paid sick leave, although he supports a different plan that would apply to fewer employees.

Write to us

The Justice welcomes letters to the editor responding to published material. Please submit letters through our Web site at www.thejustice.org. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted. Letters should not exceed 300 words, and may be edited for space, style, grammar, spelling, libel and clarity, and must relate to material published in the Justice. Letters from off-campus sources should include location. The Justice does not print letters to the editor and oped submissions that have been submitted to other publications. Op-ed submissions of general interest to the University community—that do not respond explicitly to articles printed in the Justice—are also welcome and should be limited to 800 words. All submissions are due Friday at 12 p.m.

MOZELLE SHAMASH-ROSENTHAL/the Justice

He may have been pressured to show some support for the cause given that the measure was popular in polls prior to the election. However, Baker is a very moderate Republican in a very Democratic state, and it is unlikely that Republicans in other parts of the country would be willing support such a liberal cause.

“

What we saw in this past election was voters voting for candidates based on irrelevant issues and the president. In New Mexico, while the Republican candidate for Governor Susana Martinez beat the Democrat Gary King, voters approved three ballot initiatives which authorized the state government to issue general obligation bonds for senior citizen facility improvement, public schools, libraries and post-secondary schools, all of which will be funded by a general property tax. Reducing government spending and cutting taxes have become cornerstones of conservative ideology, and these types of policies run

Fine Print

The opinions stated in the editorial(s) under the masthead on the opposing page represent the opinion of a majority of the voting members of the editorial board; all other articles, columns, comics and advertisements do not necessarily. For the Brandeis Talks Back feature on the last page of the newspaper, staff interview four randomly selected students each week and print only those four answers. The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. Operated, written, produced and published entirely by students, the Justice includes news, features, arts, opinion and sports articles of interest to approximately 3,500 undergraduates, 900 graduate students, 500 faculty and 1,000 administrative staff. In addition, the Justice is mailed weekly to paid subscribers and distributed throughout Waltham, Mass. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods. Advertising deadlines: All insertion orders and advertising copy must be received by the Justice no later than 5 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the date of publication. All advertising copy is subject to approval of the editor in chief and the managing and advertising editors. A publication schedule and rate card is available upon request. Subscription rate: $35 per semester, $55 per year.

counter to the agenda that Boehner and his colleagues plan to pursue following the elections. The incongruence between the issues American voters approved and the candidates they supported is a testament to the importance of superficialities and extraneous factors in elections. In a perfect system, voters would vote based solely on the candidates who are running and the positions they stand for. What we saw in this past election was voters voting for candidates based on irrelevant issues and the president. Even though the conduct of Republicans has certainly not been popular among Americans, the president is still the most powerful member of the government and is therefore the face of Washington, D.C. dysfunction. According to CBS News exit poll data, over 53% of voters said their views on the president influenced who they voted for in their local elections. Bill Cassidy, the Republican challenger to Senator Mary Landrieu’s seat in Louisiana recently said that “Every week the president does something to help us.” Republicans succeeded in stirring up enough fear and anger around Obama that the elections became a referendum on him more than on the actual candidates on the ballot. Republicans must realize that in 2016, Democrats could campaign on issues like the federal minimum wage due to its clear popularity across the country. They could also attack Republicans for their part in stagnating the leg-

The Staff

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

islative process, an argument which would be greatly bolstered if they continue to do so while having control over both Houses of Congress. They do not seem to have gotten the message. Boehner and his Republican colleagues in Congress have begun their rule of both Houses in a brash, recalcitrant manner, using threatening language to warn Obama not to pursue any of his goals for the remainder of his tenure. Similar dispositions lead to Republicans taking a hit in the polls after they shut down the federal government in an unnecessary and counterproductive act of rebellion against the implementation of the Affordable Care Act last year. Referendum victories for liberal policies and exit poll data showing the pervasive unpopularity of the Republican Party show that the success of the Republicans in the midterm elections was more a result of voters repudiating the president than of voters endorsing Republican ideas. While it is possible that Republicans will try to make the 2016 election a referendum on Obama as well, if they choose to use the next two years to continue their relentless campaign of delegitimization against the president— which has been shown to be unpopular among Americans—voters will be discontent with both their policies and their conduct come 2016. They must be careful, because they may just be playing with matches.

Editorial Assistants

Arts: Kiran Gill, Ilana Kruger, Nate Shaffer, Anna Stern, Karl

News: Rachel Sharer, Abby Patkin

Hakmiller, Vanessa Alamo

Sports: Noah Hessdorf

Photography: Michelle Banayan, Hannah Chidekel, Mihir

Arts: Brooke Granovsky

Khanna, Abby Knecht, Bri Mussman, Jeremy Perlman, Abigail

Photography: Guillermo Narvaez

Rothstein

Copy: Carmi Rothberg

Copy: Allie Goodman, Kathleen Guy, Annie Fortnow, Mara Nuss-

Layout: Sydney Miller

baum, Rebecca Shi Layout: Corey Cohen, Josh Sander

Staff

Illustrations: Jason Lipow, Ali Santana, Mozelle Shamash-

News: Kathryn Brody, Saadiah McIntosh, Zachary Reid,

Rosenthal, Gabriela Yeshua

Sherry Simkovic, Arianna Unger Features: Mariya Greeley, Brianna Majsiak, Casey Pearlman Forum: Jennie Bromberg, Aaron Dvorkin, Mark Gimelstein, Jessica Goldstein, Kahlil Oppenheimer, Jassen Lu Sports: Siddharth Mehra, Daniel Kanovich, Colin Warnes

TUESDAY, november 18, 2014

●

THE JUSTICE

FORUM

Rethink current laws implementing electoral college Kahlil

Oppenheimer Unedited justice

The Electoral College could be a lot better than it is. Many, notably Steven Hill in Fixing Elections: The Failure of America’s Winner-Take-All Politics, have critiqued it, especially in light of elections where the electoral vote disagreed with the popular vote (which has happened four times: 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000). And many have suggested getting rid of it all together, but few have suggested a feasible revision to it. I would like to propose a painfully simple but effective revision. But first, let’s examine why its current state is an issue. Each state has the same amount of electoral votes as they have representatives in Congress, with a minimum amount of three (one House representative and two senators). But each state’s electoral votes are not weighted proportionally with that state’s popular vote. Currently, the entire electoral power of a state is determined by the majority popular vote. Now, let’s break that down. If California were split 51 percent Democrat and 49 percent Republican, currently all of the electoral vote would go to the Democratic party. Consider that 49 percent of California can also be thought of as approximately 27 electoral votes. The eight smallest states in the United States (including the District of Columbia) only have 24 electoral votes combined. Suppressing half of California’s vote in a given election is worse than not representing the eight smallest states of the United States. How does that make sense? We knew enough math after 1000 B.C. to handle fractions better than by rounding up. This majority-rule electoral system guarantees that the minority opinion of each and every state is entirely ignored and unrepresented in the presidential election. The founding fathers created the Electoral College as a democratic compromise between having votes cast by Congress and a pure popular vote to determine the president, but it also had the well-known side effect of giving more of a say to states with lower populations. Given that majority-rule systems like the current apportioning of all electoral votes to the majority candidate often suppress the wills of minorities (by definition), this seems pretty reasonable. The solution to the problem is actually remarkably simple and similar to how English parliamentary governments hold elections.

Each state should still have the same amount of electoral votes to ensure more even representation from less populated states. But the proportions of the popular vote should decide the electoral votes for each state. In other words, if California’s popular vote was 51 percent Democrat and 49 percent Republican, then 51 percent of the electoral vote should go Democrat and 49 percent should go Republican. Yes, this means we have to use fractions. No, they’re not scary. Now that we have our electoral votes directly represented by the popular vote, there’s no need to actually have any physical people who vote in the Electoral College. That notion, too, is antiquated in this day in age. This can be a purely mathematical calculation. Give each side (of our haphazardly dichotomous party representation) the direct proportion of the popular vote it had in electoral votes. Simple. Now, a viable counter to this approach is that we lose the impression of a presidential candidate “winning a state.” It would no longer be the case that Democrat X had Massachusetts and that Republican Y had Texas. Some might argue that elections where the difference was in fractions of an electoral vote might slow progress because the losing side would not be willing to submit with such close results. But if Democrat X didn’t have 100 percent of the vote in Massachusetts anyway, Democrat X never had MA to begin with. Democrat X had 70 percent of MA while Republican Y had 30 percent, and that should be represented in the election. The obvious implication of this is that it destructs the idea of “swing states.” It would no longer be the case that only eight states (in the case of the 2012 election) are important. Each and every state would now matter, and minorities in each given state would feel more adequately represented. Cheers to Republicans in Massachusetts and Democrats in Texas. It’s worth noting that shifting the focus away from swing states does not at all imply caring less about small states. In 2012, the combined populations of the eight swing states totaled to 18 percent of the U.S. population. The actual eight smallest states sum up to a mere 1.9 percent. The swing states occupy more population than the average and exponentially more than the actual eight smallest states. Therefore, the swing states did not adequately represent smaller populations before, and removing them would not hurt smaller populations. The Electoral College was developed in order to help smaller states. This idea of swing states actually hurts smaller states, since many smaller states are not swing states. Implementing electoral votes based on proportion would better represent the minority votes of each given state. Smaller states actually require less campaigning per electoral vote. For instance, in 2013 Wyo-

ALI SANTANA/the Justice

ming had about 194,000 popular votes per electoral vote whereas California and Texas both had about 690,000 popular votes per electoral vote. This means that presidential candidates have an even stronger incentive to campaign in small states. Also, as it turns out, the current winner-takesall system of distributing electoral votes was not even specified in the constitution; it was decided by states, mostly throughout the 19th century. Over two dozen states enforce laws to ensure that electors stay true to the majority popular vote, with some states like North Carolina fining such dissenting “faithless electors” $10,000. This means that no constitutional amendment is necessary for states to veer away from winner-

takes-all mechanics—only well-supported state legislature. The only two states that do not participate in winner-takes-all are Maine and Nebraska, though Maine has never split its electoral vote, and Nebraska only did for the first time in the 2008 election. And neither has split the vote based on the proportion of the popular vote. There is no reason to suppress the opinion of the minority, either through a pure majority vote or through a broken Electoral College. The solution isn’t some intangible insoluble theory; it’s simple. It just involves some fractions and a step away from tradition, one (or both) of which have apparently scared off progress for this long.

Fully consider shortcomings of current gamification in education Max

Moran The Bottom Bunk

I was sitting in a class on Monday, listening to a professor give a deeply involved lecture on a complex topic and absorbing absolutely none of it. It was a topic which people have devoted their entire lives to studying and something which I knew was going to be on an upcoming midterm. But a combination of the rainy weather, the warmth of the room and my typically millennial short attention span turned the whole thing into so many sounds— not words and ideas and concepts worth absorbing. I glanced to my right. My neighbor was on a website where a flapping green owl was asking her to translate “The cats drink milk” into Spanish. She typed in the answer and a big green check mark appeared. In the upper-right corner of the screen, a small progress bar began to fill up. I quickly became involved in the website. Correct answers earned her points to fill up the bar, and wrong answers led to simplified questions. The class was over before she finished, but I left feeling a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see what happened next. It wasn’t until I had left the room that I realized I’d just found it more engaging to watch someone else take a quiz online than to actually participate in a real-life class I was taking. Such is the nature of gamification, the new trend of applying the rules of video game design to other fields. Gamification has been used as a marketing strategy for years; over 70 percent of Forbes’ Global 2000 companies in 2013 reported plans to use gamification to increase customer retention. Examples include airline companies with frequent flier re-

wards, excercise applications such as Nike+— which tracks the user’s exercise record—and My Marriott Hotel—a Facebook game which simulates the experience of running a hotel in the Marriott chain. But gamification applied to education is still relatively recent. Teachers have invented games to teach material to students for who knows how long, and educational games like The Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego have existed for decades. But academically identifying specific game design concepts—things like leveling up, health meters and the like—and deliberately incorporating these concepts into the classroom is still fairly new. There have been numerous success stories. Lee Sheldon, a professor at Indiana University, started grading his student with an “experience points” system. Laurier University professor Celine Petsche uses tournaments and leaderboards to incentivize being at the top of her Business classes. Western Oklahoma State College is creating badges to reward students for using their tech systems, and they’ve even taken a lesson from Xbox 360 achievements and come up with punny names for them—students who use Dropbox earn the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” badge. In all of these cases, student engagement and performance have increased dramatically as a result of gamification. It’s not difficult to see why. Games are specifically designed to be engaging and enjoyable and are good at breaking complex concepts into small, bite-size challenges to overcome. Framing education as a competition gives a clearly delineated goal to learning: do X, and you win. And perhaps the feeling of “winning” is the biggest advantage of gamification. It provides positive reinforcement and incentivizes succeeding rather than punishing failure. In games, you are rewarded with victory. In education, when you pass a tough midterm, your reward is not failing the class. You didn’t succeed necessarily; you just didn’t do poorly. It’s a very different story if success is framed as a win.

But reducing education down to a system where one can “win” or “lose” ignores an entire critical vector of education, that some would say is the most important part. If one is only given absolute success or absolute failure as the options for completing a task, they are never encouraged to think critically about what they are being told to do.

“

Too often, gamified education takes the form of a simple quiz with a reward system. Too often, gamified education takes the form of a quiz with a reward system. My lecture neighbor learning Spanish from the green owl on her computer is a perfect example of this. She may be able to take a thousand quizzes testing her grammar and vocabulary, but we haven’t yet written the algorithm that will tell her whether she is writing a Spanish essay that tells an interesting story or makes an interesting point. This is key to truly understanding Spanish, as it is with most any topic. But critical thinking is non-absolute and non-objective. Video game mechanics simply lack the capacity to be non-objective, but someone learning a topic through games will never be tested on skills that cannot be quantified or ranked. Absorbing facts is one layer of education; interpreting fact is quite another. Reducing interpretation down to a simple “correct/incorrect” binary would be a dangerous mistake to go down as the gamification fad becomes more and more implemented in education. The only major way that gamification has

impacted the quizzes that make up the majority of its purview is through progress meters, visual metrics of how close one is to accomplishing a given task. In games, this often takes the form of a “level up” meter and in the real world, it becomes frequent flyer miles, Sheldon’s “experience points” grading system, or the little green “correct answer” meter in the corner of my neighbor’s Spanish quiz. This is also the same concept at the heart of games like Farmville, at one time the most popular game in America, in which players spend hours performing rote, redundant tasks to grow a farm. However, the exploitation of this common mechanic is itself dangerous. It’s called operant conditioning, and it’s the reason that activities like gambling are addictive. If an activity rewards the user on a predictable but irregular schedule, the user is likely to continue long after the activity itself is no longer enjoyable. The reward becomes the only reason the user continues, not the inherent value of the activity. For gamified education, this means that the feeling one receives from passing a quiz may be the only reason one returns to the game. This isn’t an inherently bad thing except that it further reduces likelihood that students will think critically about the content they are presented with. As long as you get your fix, you keep coming back. Additionally, there are some serious ethical implications if the way we plan on fixing our educational system is to use the tactics of a casino. Too many articles hail gamification as the “future” of education, the one tool that will singlehandedly save American schools. Gamification is a powerful tool to be sure, but it still cannot replace a good teacher who truly cares about what they are doing. The fact that I was sucked up in someone else’s activity on someone else’s computer speaks to the extreme power of gamification, as well as its extreme danger. But careful and thoughtful implementation of the concept may prove it to be a powerful tool in education.

THE JUSTICE

MSOCCER: Men stay undefeated on Gordon Field with shutouts CONTINUED FROM 16

the crossbar, and the Polar Bears had one final shot on target just one minute prior that was easily saved by goalkeeper Joe Graffy ’15 to preserve the close win. On Saturday, the squad used a pair of goals by Picard and an early goal by Soboff to defeat Husson 3-0 in the opening round of the tournament. Soboff scored just five minutes into his first start since Oct. 7, taking a pass from forward Tyler Savonen ’15 and blasting it past the Husson goalkeeper. “They gave [the team] a lot of time and space in the middle of the field, and the boys used that pretty well,” Coven said. “It was great to be back with the boys,” Soboff said. “I just missed playing with them, so it’s great to get on the field and score again [and] get our confidence back.” “When Soboff is out there, we step up offensively as a team, so it’s

great having him back,” Savonen remarked after the game. After Soboff’s early goal, the teams traded possession in the midfield and each side produced a handful of shots on target, but it was the Judges who doubled their lead just before the half. In the 45th minute, defender Robbie Lynch ’15 dribbled through the Husson defense and left a drop pass for Picard, who blasted the ball into the back of the net for his first of two goals on the night. “Goals are team efforts so I don’t think you should single any single person out when they score and everyone’s got to play their part,” Picard remarked. The midfielder deflected in a corner from Miskin in the 80th minute, sealing the victory and setting up a New England match with Bowdoin. The Judges return to action on Saturday when they face Amherst College in the round of 16, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

●

November 18, 2014

STREAKING UPFIELD

MIHIR KHANNA/Justice File Photo

MIDFIELD MAESTRO: Forward Holly Szafran ’16 takes possesion during the squad’s 1-0 victory over Bowdoin College on Sept. 27.

WSOCCER: Squad unable to

XC: Judges race to find late equalizer in defeat top-20 finishes at regional meeting CONTINUED FROM 16

CONTINUED FROM 16 “After UAAs, they took it easy, and it was just enough time to get [Whitaker] to [racing a time] she’s capable of. It was just a little bit of inconsistency [earlier this year], but nothing out of her control.” Whitaker had yet to be the first Brandeis runner to cross the line during the outdoor season after finishing fourth on the team at the UAA Championships on Nov. 1 and second on the team at the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 18. Kyra Shreeve ’18 and Molly Paris ’16 finished three spots apart in

140th and 143rd with times of 24:50.6 and 24:53.7, respectively. Kristi Pisarik ’15 rounded out the squad's runners with an 185th place finish in 25:27.0. Both teams have completed their respective seasons, but Whitaker’s season continues as the sole representative of Brandeis at the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend. The NCAA Championships will take place in the Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 12:30 p.m. —Avi Gold contributed reporting.

hosts who got on the scoreboard first, when Misericordia junior forward Meghan Antrim knocked a rebound past goalkeeper Alexis Grossman ’17 in the 71st minute. Grossman made an initial save on a Misericordia shot but was unable to corral the rebound, which Antrim slotted into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Grossman made four saves in her 18th appearance this year and finished the year with a .43 goals against average, the lowest average in school history. The Judges drew level six minutes later off of a set piece in the 77th minute. Defender Haley Schachter ’16 took a free kick that found forward Melissa Darling ’16. Darling ripped a shot inside the far post for her second goal of the year, giving the Judges new life on the game. The two teams traded goalscoring chances after the equalizer,

although neither squad put a good shot on net. The Cougars grabbed a lead they would not relinquish with just under three minutes remaining, capitalizing on a slight misplay by the Judges' defense. In the 87th minute, Misericordia senior forward Meghan Mahoney took a cross into the center of the box and blasted it past Grossman, sending the Cougars through to the next round of the tournament. The game at Misericordia came less than 24 hours after the Judges earned a 2-0 win over PSUB on Saturday night. The Judges found themselves ahead inside of 20 minutes when forward Cidney Moscovitch ’17 fired a shot into the back of the net in the 18th minute. The forward took the ball down the right flank and cut to the center just before the top of the 18-yard box, where she turned and blasted home her fourth goal of the season. Brandeis remained in complete

control of the contest throughout the first half, outshooting PSUB 12-2 and holding the Lions to only one shot on goal. The Judges put the margin out of reach in the 59th minute when forward Holly Szafran ’16 scored off a free kick. Szafran, the Judges’ leader in assists on the year, rattled the ball off the crossbar and in, doubling the lead and setting up Sunday’s contest against Misericordia. Savuto made the Judges only save in the game, combining with Grossman to hold the Lions without a shot in the second half. Brandeis managed nine shots in the second half for a 21-2 shot advantage in the contest overall and earned seven corners off the Lions' defense. Savuto and Grossman recoded the two lowest goals against averages in school history—Grossman’s .43 a notch better than Savuto’s .55—and set a school record by allowing only 11 goals for the year.

fencing

Squads gain eight wins against regional foes in weekend meet ■ Epeeist Liz Fuller ’18

won 12 of her 13 bouts at the first Northeast Fencing Conference meet. By Avi gold JUSTICE editor

The men’s and women’s fencing teams went a combined 8-3 at the first Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season, paced by a dominant 26-1 victory over the University of New Hampshire by the men’s squad and a 25-2 win over University of Massachusetts Amherst by the women’s team. Both teams squared off against five opponents at the meet—Boston University, UMass Amherst, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sacred Heart University and the University of New Hampshire—while the women also defeated Wellesley College. The men earned a 4-1 record

while the women fought to a 4-2 record on the day. The women’s squad topped UMass Amherst 25-2, Wellesley 19-8, UNH 18-9 and BU 19-8 but lost to Sacred Heart 15-12 and MIT 17-10. Ashley Jean ’17 helped pace the women’s sabre squad, winning 11 of her 16 bouts at the meet with a team-high indicator of +32. The epeeists saw three competitors end the day with an indicator of above +1, as Liz Feller ’18 led the way with a +30 indicator, winning 12 of her 13 bouts. Gwendolyn Mowell ’16 and Shayna Lyandvert ’18 both turned in strong performances with +16 and +14 indicators, respectively. Mowell won seven of her 14 bouts, while Lyandvert was successful in six of her nine bouts. “Overall we gave it our best; each squad fenced really well,” said Feller. “While we still have ways in which we can improve we worked well as a team, and although we did not win as many as we had hoped we still made great milestones.” Caroline Mattos ’16 once again led

the foilists, winning 12 of her 15 bouts for a +39 indicator. Chaya Schapiro ’17 ended the day with a +13 indicator, winning four of her five bouts at the meet. The men’s team turned in a pair of dominating victories en route to a 4-1 record, defeating UNH 26-1 and sweeping BU 27-0. The men also defeated Sacred Heart 15-12 and topped UMass Amherst by a score of 20-7 but were denied a perfect weekend by a 14-13 loss to MIT. “I was pleased with my result but know I can do better,” Lyandvert said. “Individually, I'm working on my speed and making my moves smaller. As the first competition of the season, it was a warm up and nice first start to the season.” Foilist Ethan Levy ’15 led the way for the Judges with a +39 indicator, winning 10 of his 13 bouts on the afternoon. The foil squad saw all four members who competed win at least 75 percent of their bouts and score at least +15 on the indicator. Guillermo

Narvaez ’18 followed Levy with a +35 indicator after winning 12 of his 13 bouts, while the duo of Toby Gray ’16 and Len Grazin ’17 had +17 and +16 indicators, respectively. Kyle Berney ’18 led the saberists and was one of four Judges to end the day with an indicator above +10. Berney went 11-3 on the day with a +28 indicator, followed by Jess OchsWillard ’15, whose 9-3 record gave him a +19 indicator. Eric Shen ’16 had a +10 indicator with a 6-2 record while Curtis Wilson ’18 won five of his six bouts at the meet for a +17 indicator. “I am very proud of our team and I know we tried our best,” said Lyandvert. “We definitely have things to work on individually and as a team and as we keep improving, we'll keep doing better. This was my first team college fencing meet and I was impressed with the comradery of the team. I know as a whole we are super pumped for our home invitational.”

Lyandvert explained that the team has a number of technical skills to work on in practice before they return to action. “The team is aware of what we need to work on,” explained Lyandvert. “As a whole, improving our speed and making our moves smaller will help with unpredictability and accuracy. Coach [Bill Shipman] is also teaching us different strategies through drills that make our fencing better.” Feller echoed her teammate's focus on training before the host meet, “Everyone on the team has their strengths and weaknesses but we are working to maximize ... the strengths ... and keep our level of competitiveness rising throughout the season,” remarked Feller. Both squads return to action with the Brandeis Invitational on Dec. 7, beginning at 9 a.m. —Editor's note: Guillermo Narvaez ’18 is an editorial assistant for the Justice photos section.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

●

THE JUSTICE

Swimming and Diving

SURVEYING THE COURT

Teams split meet with Wesleyan as men earn victory ■ Zach Diamond ’18 earned

a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, stopping the timer at 2:02.70. By Avi gold JUSTICE editor

MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice

QUICK DRIBBLE: Guard Hannah Cain ’15 dribbles at the top of the key during the team’s 77-39 victory over Salve Regina University.

Judges begin campaign with two dominant wins ■ Center Maria Jackson

’17 was named tournament MVP, scoring 29 points over the two games. By Daniel kanovich JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The women’s basketball team won the 2014 Brandeis Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off Tournament this weekend, coming away with two blowout victories to win the four-team tournament and open their season with a 2-0 record. The Judges began the tournament with a win over Mount Ida College 85-36 on Saturday. The squad followed that up with a 77-39 win over Salve Regina University to win the tournament and earn a perfect start to the season. “I thought the team played excellent this weekend; we were tough,” said guard Hannah Cain ’15. “Our energy, effort and chemistry was incredible and everyone contributed to both wins.” The team’s offense took some time to get on track against Salve Regina, as the Judges missed their first six shots before center Maria Jackson ’17— named tournament MVP—scored the team’s first points four minutes into the first half on a layup. It was the Judges’ defense that kept them in the game in the early going, holding the Seahawks to just four points in the first eight minutes of the half. With their defense leading the way, the Judges’ offense started converting on the other end of the floor midway through the first half. The squad went

on a 24-4 stretch spanning just under five minutes that gave the team a 27-8 lead. The run was jumpstarted by eight Salve Regina turnovers, giving the Judges an insurmountable lead. The Judges closed out the half with another strong run, outscoring Salve Regina 16-8 in the final five and a half minutes of the first half to go up 43-16. Going into halftime, the Judges were led by guard Frankie Pinto ’17 who had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two threes. Salve Regina junior guard Meaghan Harden led the Seahawks with six points at the half on 33 percent shooting from the field. Harden came down to earth a bit against the Judges after putting up a schoolrecord 45 points and shooting an astronomically high 16-of-26 from the field against Regis in the first game of the tournament. Salve Regina was unable to cut into the lead in the second half, as Brandeis continued to dominate virtually every aspect of the game. The Judges managed 25 points off of just as many Seahawk turnovers while holding Salve Regina to an anemic 29 percent shooting from the floor. Brandeis won the game with a final score of 77-39, and Pinto finished the game with 23 points to lead the women. Hannah Cain added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes in her second game back from injury while grabbing five of the squad’s 11 steals on the game. “After being out all last season, it felt really refreshing to be able compete with my team and play for my coaches again,” she said. “It is weird because now that I am back and healthy to play, I do not even feel like I ever got

hurt, and I do not feel any different than I did before I got injured.” On Saturday, the Judges had similar success against Mount Ida in their season opener. The game was tied at 6-6 with 17:03 left in the first half when Brandeis started to pull away thanks to consistent inside scoring. Over the next 10 minutes of game time, the Judges put together a 28-6 run to go up 34-12 and put the game out of reach. Brandeis was led by Jackson, who had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, as well as a career high from guard Heather Cain ’16, who scored 14 points and tallied five steals. The lead never dwindled for the Judges, who won the game by a large margin, 85-36, for their first win of the season. “Since I have been playing at Brandeis, this team isn’t quite like any other team I have been on,” Hannah Cain said. “Each year was good in a different way, but this year we’re fast and athletic, so we’re looking to capitalize on those strengths and play an up tempo game,” she remarked. “We want to learn and we want to work; we’re not here to mess around, and we just want to be our best. “Every day we come to practice to get better,” Cain continued. “We understand that getting better takes discipline and toughness. So in order to improve and to get better each day, we really lock-down and focus on being disciplined and physically and mentally tough.” The team will look to continue its winning streak to start the season with two games this week. The Judges play at Roger Williams University tomorrow, beginning at 6 p.m., and at Tufts University on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split a weekend meeting with Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon as the men earned a 155-35 over the Cardinals while the women fell by a 220-70 score. Brian Luk ’16 paced the men’s squad with two individual wins and a second place finish, taking first place in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle races. Luk swam the 50-yard freestyle race in 22.50 seconds, out-touching the second-place finisher by .43 seconds. He finished the 100-yard freestyle in 49.12 seconds, nearly a second and a half faster than Cameron Braz ’17. The squad swept the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle, as Braz touched the wall at 50.57 and Daniel Smyda ’18 grabbed third with a time of 51.75. “At this point in the season, my performances thus far give me a lot of optimism to meet my goals,” said Braz. “I guess you could say I’m happy with them, but I use ‘happy’ lightly in the respect that I can’t just settle for happy. I always strive to perform in an event where the outcome just shocks me at the end. I was shocked by my 200 as well, because I nearly matched my time [last week]. The best way I approached this meet was just to take it one event at a time without thinking of anything else.” David Lazarovich ’16 won the 200yard backstroke in 2:22.78, more than three seconds faster than the secondplace competitor from Wesleyan. Lazarovich was also one of three Judges to finish in the top five in the 200-yard individual medley, a race won by Zach Diamond ’18. Diamond got the win in the 200yard IM with a time of 2:02.70 and was followed closely by Edan Zitelny ’17, who grabbed second place in 2:05.82. Lazarovich took fifth place in 2:10.50. “Our teams’ thinking was to constantly keep up the pace,” said Braz. “I think everyone on the team felt a bit groggy at the start of the meet, but some events, like … the 100 [yard freestyle] where we had our team competing with each other, got everyone up off their feet.” Max Fabian ’15 continued his

dominance over the distance races, winning both the 500-yard freestyle and 1,000-yard freestyle races. He took the former in 4:56.39 and the latter in 10:06.67, more than six seconds faster than the secondplace finisher. Fabian also took third place in the 200-yard butterfly, stopping the timer at 2:02.74. The squad needed a win in the 200yard freestyle relay to walk away with the victory on the afternoon, and the quartet of Braz, Smyda, Luk and Abu Batjargal ’18 delivered with strong races in the final two legs. Although the four outswam opponents from Wesleyan by nearly one and a half seconds, they entered the final two legs in second place. Batjargal closed a gap of nearly .4 seconds in the third leg while Luk swam the anchor in 21.61 seconds, a full two seconds faster than the Wesleyan side. “Without a doubt, though, the most exciting part of the meet was the ending relay,” said Braz. “It took all four of us to win it, and ultimately with the score of the meet on the line, we handled the pressure very well.” Although the win in the relay secured the day’s victory for the Judges, the women’s squad was not able to match their success. Joanna Murphy ’17 paced the women’s squad with three secondplace finishes as the squad totaled seven second-place finishes during the meet. Murphy finished the 200-yard freestyle race in 2:01.40, the 500-yard freestyle race in 5:28.32 and the 200yard butterfly in 2:24.17. Murphy was fewer than three seconds behind the top finisher in the 200yard freestyle and the butterfly. Sherry Tu ’18 took second place in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.58, exactly one second off the pace of the winner, and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.89. Yi-Sul Richter ’18 was the runner -up in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing the race in 11:39.07. Theresa Gaffney ’16 placed fourth in the race with a time of 12:15.79. Erin Gawronski ’18 completed a strong weekend with a pair of second-place races and a third-place finish in the afternoon. Gawronski took second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:24.01 and was the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:22.36 finish. She added a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, stopping the timer at 1:06.80. Both squads return to action on Friday in a meet at Bentley University, beginning at 5 p.m.

Interested in online advertising? Place an ad today at thejustice.org.

THE JUSTICE

jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS

●

Tuesday, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

CLUB SPORTS

Men’s Soccer UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS Goals

2014-2015 Statistics Chicago JUDGES Emory Rochester Carnegie Case NYU WashU

UAA Conf. W L D 5 0 2 5 2 0 3 3 1 3 3 1 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 5 0 1 5 1

Overall W L D 11 5 2 17 2 0 13 3 2 9 5 3 8 5 3 8 6 4 11 6 0 8 7 2

Pct. .667 .895 .778 .618 .594 .556 .647 .529

Tyler Savonen ’15 leads the team with nine goals. Player Goals Tyler Savonen 9 Michael Soboff 7 Zach Vieira 6 Josh Ocel 4

Assists Josh Ocel ’17 leads the team with nine assists. Player Assists Josh Ocel 9 Evan Jastremski 3 Foti Andreo 2 Mike Lynch 2

EDITOR’S NOTE: The squad will face Amherst College in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships on Saturday.

WOMen’s Soccer UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS

2014-2015 Statistics

Goals

Carnegie Chicago NYU Emory WashU JUDGES Rochester Case

UAA Conf. W L D 5 2 0 4 2 1 3 2 2 2 1 4 3 3 1 2 3 2 2 4 1 1 5 1

Overall W L D 14 2 0 13 4 1 11 5 2 11 1 6 13 3 2 12 4 2 8 6 4 8 7 3

Pct. .875 .750 .667 .778 .778 .722 .444 .528

EDITOR’S NOTE: The team ended its season with a 2-1 loss to Misericordia University on Sunday afternoon.

Sapir Edalati ’15 leads the team with nine goals. Player Goals Sapir Edalati 9 Samantha Schwartz 9 Cidney Moscovitch 4 Melissa Darling 2

Assists Holly Szafran ’16 leads the team with seven assists. Player Assists Holly Szafran 7 Sapir Edalati 7 Samantha Schwartz 3

VOLLEYBALL UAA STANDINGS

TEAM STATS Kills

2014-2015 Statistics UAA Conf. Overall W L W L Pct. WashU 7 1 33 5 .868 Emory 6 1 34 3 .919 Carnegie 5 2 22 11 .667 Chicago 4 3 26 12 .684 Case 4 3 18 12 .600 NYU 3 5 20 18 .526 Rochester 1 6 17 19 .472 JUDGES 0 9 7 24 .226

EDITOR’S NOTE: The team concluded with an eighth place finish at the UAA Championships on Nov. 8.

Maddie Engeler ’16 led the team with 199 kills. Player Kills Maddie Engeler 199 Jessie Moore 193 Liz Hood 113 Summer Koop 112

Digs Elsie Bernaiche ’15 led the team with 504 digs. Player Digs Elsie Bernaiche 504 Shemira Pennyman 219 Julie Kim 205 Liz Hood 99

cross cOuntry Results from the NCAA Division III New England Regional on Saturday.

TOP FINISHERS (Men’s)

TOP FINISHERS (Women’s)

8-Kilometer Run RUNNER TIME Jarrett Harrigan 26:32.9 Quinton Hoey 26:45.1 Ryan Stender 26:49.0 Mitchell Hutton 26:55.7

6-Kilometer Run RUNNER TIME Kelsey Whitaker 22:30.0 Maddie Dolins 23:15.2 Lydia McCaleb 23:46.1 Ashley Piccirillo-Horan 24:46.1

EDITOR’S NOTE: Both teams ended their seasons on Saturday where Kelsey Whitaker ’16 earned a bid to this Saturday’s NCAA Division III Champsionships.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN BERSON

STRIKING A POSE: Members of the club soccer team Brandeis F.C., which uses soccer as an avenue for community service, sit for a team photograph on Gordon Field. Editor’s note: Sam Mintz ‘15 (front row, far right) is the deputy editor of the Justice.

BFC places community service at core of team ■ Club soccer team Brandeis F.C. won the “Clubs in Service Award” last year for its work with Waltham Group clubs. By Avi gold JUSTICE editor

Brandeis F.C., the club soccer team, is a unique club in that it focuses not only on its on-field product but also on community service as well. The club was honored with the “Clubs in Service Award” last year, given annually to a club on campus dedicated to community service. “[The club was] originally chartered in 1998, but we sort of fell apart and I [helped] re-establish the club two years ago,” said captain Benjamin Berson ’15. “When I started the club, I thought what’s important is building a community around the team, not just a team on the field but a team off the field [as well]. So I thought a great way of doing that … would be community service. It’s a way to give back to the community, a way to influence the Brandeis community as a whole and the local community.” Berson explained that BFC began its community service by working with Waltham Group to set up a

soccer clinic for local children in the last two years. “We talked to [Language and Cultural Enrichment], one of the [clubs under] Waltham Group and that’s when we did our first event with them, running a soccer clinic,” Berson said. “All the kids came out to the turf, we did some basic soccer dribbling and shooting and played a game at the end. It was a positive experience for everyone so now that’s a semester event we do.” The club’s community service was expanded in the past year to include other community service opportunities, including raising money for Relay for Life and working with Spectrum, a Waltham Group club that works with children with developmental disabilities. “Spectrum is a [group that focuses on younger children] and a little smaller [than the clinic], but they liked it so much this semester we have been trying to do it more,” Berson explained. “We’ve done it twice this semester, and we’re probably going to do it even more because they have an outdoor activity time to get the kids social with each other … and we facilitate that. It’s been really amazing.” On the field, the club has enjoyed relative successes as well, defeating the College of the Holy Cross club

team in September and going up against New England area sides, including Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University and Dartmouth College. “The games are pretty high level,” Berson explained. “Most of our players played varsity in high school. We do more losing than we do winning, but [the team is] almost entirely sophomores and freshmen which means we have a lot of room to grow.” Berson explained that it is difficult for BFC to compete with teams like BU, which has a much larger pool of available players to use during a game, so the focus of the club is less about the on-field result and more about the players’ technical ability. Though the season runs only in the fall, Berson said the club operates year round and wants to focus on the community service aspect even after the season itself ends. “Off the pitch, we have a bunch of guys that are living together and getting together to watch professional soccer games … [so the goal] is to keep facilitating that team-bonding activity,” Berson said. “Having lots of people that are involved off the field ... lets us do more fun things and more community service things because we can create more opportunities for service.”

PRO SPORTS BRIEF Boston Bruins earn home win over Carolina Hurricanes after losses to Toronto and Montreal on the road The Boston Bruins opened a quick two-game homestand this week with a win on Saturday but suffered two devastating losses on the road in back-to-back games in Canada on Wednesday and Thursday against division rivals. The team has been plagued by injuries over the past several weeks, including a knee injury to captain Zdeno Chara, a shoulder injury to defenseman Kevan Miller, a groin strain to defenseman David Warsofsky and an undisclosed injury that has left center and alternate captain David Krejci playing on a day-to-day basis. Boston saw defenseman Torrey Krug return from injury on Nov. 10, but he was unable to help the team earn a win on the road. The Bruins started their

Canadian road trip in Toronto on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs started the game with a goal six minutes and 46 seconds into the game by forward Phil Kessel. The rest of the period remained scoreless for both teams. The majority of the scoring occurred during the second period, starting with another goal by Kessel just 18 seconds into the period. Just a minute and a half later, Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly followed up with another goal to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. The Leafs went on to score two power play goals at 3:32 and 9:51of the period, putting the Maple Leafs ahead 5-0. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was replaced after he allowed four goals on just 16 shots. The Bruins finally answered with

a goal 14:16 into the second period after forward Riley Smith had a goal disallowed. Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg ripped a shot past the Leafs keeper to cut the lead to 5-1, but the deficit was too large to overcome. The Leafs sealed their win in the third period with one last powerplay goal. Center Peter Holland scored 7:21 into the third, earning the final score at 6-1 in favor of the Maple Leafs. Thursday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre was not much better for the Bruins, as they fell 5-1 to the leaders of the Northeast Division. Goaltender Niklas Svedberg was placed in goal for the Bruins and squared off against Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.

Although Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored the only goal of the first period at 16:04 on a power play, the Canadiens dominated the remainder of the game between the longtime rivals. Montreal began their scoring streak in the second period when Canadiens forward Dale Weise scored on a penalty shot two minutes into the period. Canadiens center Lars Eller and forward Max Pacioretty scored two more goals during the second period at 12:00 and 14:57, respectively. Pacioretty scored again during the third period, netting a goal just 5:09 into the period. Montreal forward Jiri Sekac scored the last goal of the game on the power play 14:06 into the game, leaving the final score at 5-1 in

favor of the Canadiens. The Bruins finished off the week with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes during a Saturday matinee at TD Garden. The Bruins got all the scoring they would need in the first period. Hurricanes forward Jiri Tlusty put the Hurricanes on the scoreboard at 7:05, but the Bruins answered with a goal at 14:24. Center Patrice Bergeron sealed the Bruins’ win at 19:10, with an assist from forward Brad Marchand and Seidenberg. The Bruins will take on the St. Louis Blues tonight at 7 p.m. at TD Garden before traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Blue Jackets on Friday night. —Marissa Ditkowsky

just

Sports

Page 16

TAKING THE FIELD Club soccer team Brandeis F.C. has combined community service with its soccer games, p. 15.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Women’s soccer

SPLITTING THE DEFENSE

Judges end season with one-goal loss

■ The squad allowed

two late goals to lose a heartbreaker at Misericordia University on Sunday. By Siddharth mehra JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

The women’s soccer team ended their season on the road at Misericordia University on Sunday afternoon in a grueling 2-1 loss, ending the team’s run at the NCAA Division III Tournament in the second round. The squad had advanced out of the first round with a 2-0 victory over Penn State Erie, The Behrend College on Saturday night. The Judges finish the season with a record of 13-5-2 overall, the team’s sixth-best campaign in school history. The Judges set up shop in the host Cougars’ zone in the first half of Sunday’s game, recording nine shots, seven of which forced impressive saves from Misericordia junior goalkeeper Maureen Ciccosanti. Forward Holly Szafran ’16 and Samantha Schwartz ’18 both

Waltham, Mass.

came close to putting themselves on the scoresheet with opportunities from close range, but Ciccosanti was up to the challenge, punching each effort over the crossbar. Midfielder Sapir Edalati ’15 nearly gave the Judges a firstminute lead over the 11th-ranked team in the country, but her shot sailed wide of the post. Brandeis took three of the next four shots in the contest, peppering Ciccosanti from close-range, but none were able to find the back of the net. The Cougars mustered four responses in the first half, including two consecutive shots just after the 40-minute mark, forcing goalkeeper Michelle Savuto ’15 to make a number of tough saves. Misericordia junior forward Megan Antrim came closest to finding the back of the net in the 40th minute. Her effort from 15 yards out came clattering against the woodwork, but the two teams went into the halftime break with a scoreless tie. The second half told a different story as each team recorded eight attempts on goal in the half. After the Judges took three of the first five shots in the half, it was the

See WSOCCER, 13 ☛

cross country

Teams finish outdoor season on strong note

■ Kelsey Whitaker ’16 earned

a bid to the NCAA Division III Championships with a top-20 finish on Saturday. By Noah hessdorf JUSTICE editorial assistant

The men’s and women’s cross country teams finished off impressive seasons at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships at Williams College this past Saturday, sending Kelsey Whitaker ’16 to the NCAA Division III Championships in the process. The men finished ninth overall out of 54 teams, while the women secured a 13th place finish in a field of 57 teams. The mens’ finish was their best at the regional meet since the 2011 to 2012 season. “Our [men’s squad] is a young team, led by Jarret Harrigan [’15] and [Grady Ward ’16],” said coach Sinead Evans. “But the rest of the scores are from freshmen and sophomore [runners].” “The goal [coming in] was to get in the top-10 in New England.” Harrigan, who placed 45th out of 373 runners, once again led the squad after spending most of the year as the Judges’ top finisher. Harrigan finished the eight-kilometer race with a time of 26:32.9, his fastest time in the conference championships. Quinton Hoey ’17 finished in 57th with a time of 26:45.1, while Ryan Stender ’18 had a time of 26:49.0, good for 60th place. Mitchell Hutton ’18 ran the eight kilometers in 26:55.7, which was for a 68th place finish and fourth on the squad. Grady Ward ’16 finished with a 27:22.4 for 94th place, while Matt Doran ’17 and Liam Garvey ’18 took 115th and 135th place with times of 27:37.2 and 27:53.5, respectively.

The squad’s 324 points were 150 points more than they earned in last year’s competition and also put them 30 points ahead of 10th place Wesleyan University. “We had a bit of ups and downs in the season, especially [the University Athletic Association Championships], which affected the team,” Evans said. “They ran great and a really solid race, back to where we want to be as a top-10 team in New England. “Hopefully, they’ll be a stronger team next year, finishing a bit higher in the region and earning a bid to NCAAs.” The women ended the competition with 421 points, which left them 11 points back of 12th place Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The result was a step back from last year’s result, when the Judges earned fifth place. The team was led by Kelsey Whitaker ’16, who earned her first career All-New England honor with an 18th place finish out of the field of 387 competitors. Her time of 22:30.0 in the sixkilometer race was her best performance of the season and was good enough to gain her an invite to her second-straight NCAA Division III Championships. However, Whitaker was not the only member of the squad with an impressive performance on the day. Maddie Dolins ’17 finished with a time of 23:5.2 that gave her a 50thplace finish overall. Lydia McCaleb ’17 finished in 77th place with a time of 23:46.1. Ending the race exactly one minute after McCaleb was Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17, whose time netted the runner a 136th place finish. “Both [Whitaker] and [Dolins] struggled at UAAs [with fitness issues], and it was a matter of training,” Evans explained.

See XC, 13 ☛

GRACE KWON/the Justice

FIRST TOUCH: Forward Tyler Savonen ’15 (center) cuts through two defenders during the team’s 1-0 win against Bowdoin College.

Men to play in Sweet 16 after pair of home wins

■ Midfielder Brandon

Miskin ’18 scored the first tally of his career in a 1-0 victory on Sunday. By AVI GOLD JUSTICE editor

The No. 5 men’s soccer team tied a school record with 19 wins on the season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament, defeating Husson University 3-0 on Saturday night and Bowdoin College 1-0 on Sunday. The Judges also set a program record with 16 shutouts this year after not allowing a goal on Gordon Field this weekend. The Judges pushed their record to 19-2 overall and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row. The Judges controlled the majority of the play down the wings on Sunday and produced a number of scoring opportunities in the opening 20 minutes but could not find the back of the net en route to a 9-0 shot advantage in the first half. “We dominated play, and we had some great opportunities,” said

coach Michael Coven. “We played very well, dominated possession, had four or five excellent opportunities to score and defensively shut them down.” The Judges’ offense produced three quality scoring chances in the final 25 minutes of the first half, including a hard shot by midfielder Jake Picard ’16, but sent all three shots directly at the Bowdoin goalkeeper, sending the squads to the halftime break level without a goal. As the second half wore on the squad’s speed down the wings was finally able to overmatch the Polar Bears’ defense and produced nine shots and three corners, while only allowing four shots by Bowodin. “We’re always trying to find that third midfielder when we’re switching [in the offensive zone] because it opens up space for our outside backs [and] the winger tucks in,” explained midfielder Evan Jastremski ’17. The Judges got all the scoring they would need in the 75th minute, when midfielder Brandon Miskin ’18 headed home his first collegiate goal. After midfielder Zach Vieira ’17 was wrestled off the ball just outside

the 18-yard box by a Bowdoin defender, the Polar Bears handed the ball right back to the hosts when they failed to clear. Midfielder Josh Ocel ’17 picked up the failed clearance 35 yards from goal and swung a cross into the heart of the box where Miskin connected after a well-timed run to head the ball into the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead. “I got the ball and saw Miskin at the back post,” Ocel said. “I was hoping it would hit his head and he would put it away, so I was happy to see he got his first collegiate goal.” “[The goal was a] class finish,” Jastremski added. Miskin attributed the goal to the work of his teammates, setting him up for an easy finish. “It was a great ball from [Ocel] and everything [on the play worked],” he said. “The whole team played great, but it was a class ball by [Ocel]. The goal opened play on both ends of the pitch, with the Polar Bears pushing for an equalizer and the hosts using the newly created space to look for a second goal. Midfielder Michael Soboff ’15 nearly doubled the Judges’ lead in the 80th minute when he sent a screamer just over

See MSOCCER, 13 ☛

Volume LXVII, Number 12

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Waltham, Mass.

MAGIC! »20

JustArts

Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond

INSIDE

‘Sonic Highways’— Foo Fighters releases a new album and documentary about their travels, both under the same name » 23

‘Spring Awakening’ Musical takes viewers through taboo aspects of life in Germany in the 1890s » 21

‘Interstellar’ Hit film succeeds in aesthetic quality while falling short on plot and character development » 23 Performing Arts in the Islamic World Artist-in-Residence Hafiz Karmali talks about different forms of Islamic art in conjunction with the play he is directing this weekend, ‘The Conference of the Birds’ » 19

justARTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

CALENDAR

INTERVIEW

What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week

ON-CAMPUS EVENTS Visiting Artist Anna Betbeze Discusses New Works

The Fine Arts department presents an artist talk by Anna Betbeze. She has worked with a variety of materials, including fabric and leather, but is currently focusing on white shaggy Flokati rugs. Tomorrow from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Goldman-Schwartz Art Studios, room 115. This event is part of the Post Baccalaureate Program Visiting Artist Lecture Series.

Curator Talk: Adriana Zavala

Tufts University associate art history professor Adriana Zavala analyzes Frida Kahlo in a talk titled Frida Khalo: Her Home, Her Garden, Her Time. Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in room G03 in the Mandel Center for the Humanities. This event is free and open to the public and is cosponsored by sponsored by the department of Fine Arts and Latin American and Latino Studies program.

Alex Faye ’15

Faye directs music for ‘Spring Awakening’ MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

This week, justArts spoke with Alex Faye ’15, the music director for Tympanium Euphorim’s production of Spring Awakening, about the company’s shows this weekend.

Musicology Colloquium: Jean-Paul Montagnier, ‘The Missa Ad majorem Dei gloriam by Andre Campra’

JustArts: What motivated you to join the production of Spring Awakening?

Musicologist Jean-Paul Montagnier joins the Brandeis department of Music Colloquium Series to discuss “The Missa Ad majorem Dei gloriam by André Campra: Its Origins and Its Aftermath.” Montagnier specializes in French Baroque music and is currently a professor of musicology at the University of Lorraine. Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center, room 212. This event is free and open to the Brandeis community.

Alex Faye: I’ve always loved the show—it’s always been one of my favorite shows, and I think the score is absolutely fantastic. It seemed like a really fun show to do and a really great group of people who were going to do it, and I just knew I couldn’t pass it up. JA: What did your role as music director entail? AF: As a music director, my job is twofold. I have to teach the entire cast all of their music, all of their harmonies, all the rhythms—I’d just sit at the piano for hours and hours at rehearsals and just teach all of the music to the cast. Which was really great [to do] for this show because the cast was so talented and so into it, which was wonderful. The other part is the pit. I have to rehearse the pit, I have to find [musicians for] the pit—that takes quite a lot of time, too. And then I conduct the pit. For this show, since it’s not a really big pit, instead of having to conduct with a baton, I was able to conduct from the piano and play piano and conduct for the show. So music director, in short, teaches the music to the cast, rehearses the pit and then conducts the show. JA: Did you have any challenges as music director? AF: The show is actually not challenging, really. There was some incredibly challenging music and some really difficult things to teach, but the cast really took it in stride and was so dedicated to making it the best it could be. Of course, there’s challenges with any show you do, but this show really was as flawless a production as I’ve ever been involved with. JA: What was your favorite piece to direct? AF: I have two favorite songs in the show. There’s a song in Act One—“Touch Me”—which is this beautiful ensemble number with incredible harmonies, and the cast sang it so well. It’s got a really fun piano part to play, and it’s just so beautiful. Conducting it, hearing it, playing it and [having] it all come together—it’s just one of the most beautiful things. The cast, the soloists and the whole ensemble were just amazing with it. I also love a song in Act Two called “Left Behind.” It’s a very sad song, but it’s really, really beautiful. Our guitarist, Mike [Hirsch ’18], and Jason [Theoharis ’17], the soloist who played Melchior, was also amazing. It’s just the most beautiful song—one of the most beautiful songs, I think, ever written really. JA: Was there something that the musicians were most excited for? AF: I think that the musicians really liked that it was a small pit and that everybody was really integral to it. I’ve done a lot of shows at Brandeis as a musical director, and most of them have had pits of about 10 to 20 peoples, and this show had seven, including me on piano. [There are] no doubled instruments—there’s one violin player, one viola player [and] so on. Everyone loved how they were very integral to it and that we were really in tune with each other musically and mentally. They just loved playing the music [because] it’s beautiful music and everyone had their moments to shine. We get to really rock out sometimes, which is fun, and kind of bounce around backstage or onstage with this show. And then there were some really beautiful moments where it’s just like an awesome experience to make that music. JA: Was there one thing you wanted the audience to take away from the show? AF: I don’t want to tell the audience what I want them to take away because I think that that’s one of the cool things about theater—that its up to you, as an audience member, to leave thinking what you want to think and with a certain message in mind. I think that Rachel [Liff ’16], our director, probably has some ideas, and I have some ideas, and the choreographer has some ideas, but really it’s about what the audience member gets out of it. Not what we’re telling them to get out of it. —Brooke Granovsky

Undergraduate Composers’ Collective

The Music department invites the public to listen to the undergraduate music students’ latest compositions. Friday from 8 to 9 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center.

Salsa and Bachata with Salseros and AHORA

The Student Union is partnering with Salseros, Brandeis’ salsa dancing club and AHORA, Brandeis’ Latin culture club, to invite students for a free instruction in salsa and Latin dance. Beginners are welcome, and snacks will be provided. Particpants do not need to bring a partner. Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Shaprio Campus Center Art Gallery.

Brandeis Jazz Ensemble Performs a Tribute to Duke Ellington

Bob Nieske directs the Brandeis Jazz Ensemble as they pay homage to Duke Ellington, a jazz icon. Many critics consider Ellington to be America’s greatest composer, bandleader and recording artist. In fact, Ellington was the most prolific composer of the twentieth century. Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra: Celebrating the Human Spirit with the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony

The Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra performs the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony. Shostakovich’s composed the symphony shortly after he recieved death threats from Stalin over Shostakovich’s earlier opera, Lady MacBeth. Sunday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center. Presented by the Music department, this event is free and open to the public.

Brandeis Theater Company presents ‘The Conference of the Birds’

Based on a Persian poem, this play illustrates the aftermath when the birds of the world gather for a conference and declare that their world is in chaos. They set out on a quest to find their king Simorgh, a generous bird from a Persian myth. The birds’ journey through the deserts and valleys is complicated by riddles, spiritual questions and

temptations. Showing on Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Sunday at 2 p.m in the Spingold Theater Center’s Laurie Theater. The event is presented by the Theater Arts department, and student tickets are $5 at the Brandeis Tickets office.

Hillel Theater Company: ‘Good Doctor’

This play follows a writer as he desribes his short stories through a series of sketches. These sketches feature humorous characters, such as an old woman who upbraids a bank manager and a man who agrees to drown himself in exchange for three rubles. Showing Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and on Sunday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. Tickets are $3 for Brandeis students and are avilable at the Brandeis Tickets office.

OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS MFA: ‘Planes, Trains, and AutomobilesSelections from the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection’

For the first time, the Museum of Fine Arts has gathered the planes, trains and automobiles of the world’s dreams in one place. There are “spin-dizzies,” concept cars, see-through model planes, and a train that lights up—many by major designers such as Raymond Loewy and Viktor Schreckengost. Student tickets are $23, and admission is free for museum members. The exhibit is on view through May 10.

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park: ‘The Social Medium’

“The Social Medium” features work spanning from the mid-twentieth century to the present and includes multiple photographic genres. It was largely inspired by a recent gift of one of Andy Warhol’s Little Red Books, which contains a set of color Polaroids. The exhibit is on view through April 19. Student tickets are $10, and further discounted tickets are avilable.

POP CULTURE n !

ww week in music: Lorde continued This to prove her dominance with her new track “Yellow Flicker Beat” and some epic covers, Eminem released a freestyle rap with offensive lyrics and Nicki Minaj apologized for her new music video that features Nazi imagery. What else is new? Lorde, the pop songstress from New Zealand who dominated radio waves with her hit “Royals” in 2013, isn’t going away anytime soon. In addition to “Yellow Flicker Beat,” her first new track since her inaugural studio album, Pure Heroine, last September, three cover tracks of Kings of Leon, Jeremih and Bright Eyes are keeping Lorde a buzzworthy artist. She has two tracks on the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack, which will be released today. “Yellow Flicker Beat,” already released, is the first single and features the singer’s signature dark beats and poetic lyrics. “This is the start of how it all ends,” she sings fittingly, as the film is the first of the series’ two-part finale. Incidentally, Lorde curated the songs for the entire soundtrack. She also gets a second track on the album: a cover of Bright Eyes’ “Ladder Song,” off of their 2011 album The People’s Key. The melancholy song fits both the film’s somber tone and Lorde’s own style, as it sounds like it could have easily been a track off of her own album. Covers seem to be the teen’s theme of the week: on BBC Radio 1, promoting the Mockingjay soundtrack, she sang Jeremih’s current radio hit “Don’t Tell ’Em.” She stuck to the rhythm and blues song’s roots but lent her own synth-pop tinge to it. Not everyone has had as good of a week as Lorde. Promoting his upcoming compilation album Shady XV, rapper Eminem released a freestyle rap video in which his explicit lyrics have garnered some criticism. However, Eminem having offensive lyrics is nothing new. After all, the album is rapped by one of Eminem’s alter-egos, Slim Shady, whose songs have similarly vulgar lyrics. This time, the rapper aims his vocal

By Ilana Kruger

CREATIVE COMMONS

STILL ON IT: Lorde has two tracks debuting today from the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. canon at singer and professed fan Lana Del Rey, as well as the Ray Rice domestic violence controversy. “Bitch I’ll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice, like Ray Rice in broad daylight in the plain site of the elevator surveillance / Till her head is banging on the railing, then celebrate with the Ravens,” he raps. Of course, it is natural that he will reference current controversial issues, but making light of the football player’s violence has generated negativity. This might have been the publicity plan all along, as he has not released any apologies or statements as of this week. Nicki Minaj, on the other hand, has publicly apologized for the music video for her latest single, “Only.” The clip’s black-and-white cartoon images

have generated comparison to Nazi propaganda films from World War II, and its armbands and gas masks also recall Nazi imagery. Following criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, Minaj apologized to fans via Twitter on Tuesday. “I didn’t come up [with] the concept, but I’m very sorry and take full responsibility if it has offended anyone. I’d never condone Nazism in my art,” the R&B artist wrote. The visual artist and creator of the video, Jeff Osborne, acknowledged that aspects of the video are “representative of Nazism,” but did not apologize. He wrote on Myspace that the video emphasized the importance of remembering our history. The actual meaning of the video, then, it seems, is up to interpretation.

ARTS COVER IMAGES: GUILLERMO NARVAEZ, MORGAN BRILL AND JEREMY PERLMAN/the Justice and courtesy of Gillian Wearing. DESIGN: MORGAN BRILL /the Justice.

ON CAMPUS

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

ART TALK

Director-in-Residence analyzes Islamic art By VANESSA ALAMO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Hafiz Karmali, an acclaimed international theater director and resident director at the University this semester, spoke on Islamic performing arts on Wednesday afternoon. He discussed various art styles, including theatre and dance, and how he incorporated them into his version of Jean-Claude Carriere and Peter Brook’s production of The Conference of the Birds, which premieres this weekend. Because many of Karmali’s works incorporate religious topics, I asked after his presentation what some of his challenges were as a director and performer. He began by admitting that religion is a heavy topic andsaying that directing “is like walking on a tightrope.” He pays close attention to language and has become aware of what references and prayers are too personal to say aloud in front of an audience. Although representing religion through the arts is a challenge within itself, Karmali believes “there is only one sun and many rays,” meaning humans branch out into many different beliefs but are all connected by one thing—art. In addition to being a director, Karmali has performed using Islamic and western theater styles. He favors highly stylized forms of dance-theatre to express his passion for religion and the arts. It is through performing arts that Karmali can discuss symbolism and humanity without mention of social constructs such as politics. Because he was raised by a religiously devout family and grew up surrounded by the arts, Karmali set off to find a way to combine both his devotion to religion and his passion for the arts. During his presentation I asked what triggered his interest in such a unique combination, and he said, “Greek theater started with a chorus that chanted to the gods and that is when I realized I could include my religion into theater.” He learned his passion for the arts could serve

as a “platform for inter-religious dialogue,” so he received a Masters in Fine Arts in directing at Carnegie Mellon University. Shortly after, Karmali furthered his education through experience and work with the American Repertory Theater at Harvard. By starting the presentation with a short lesson on Islamic history and acknowledging the difference between Sunni and Shia, Karmali helped me better understand how and why certain art forms he mentioned later came to be. Two similar styles of art that are still used today are known as Khayal, which comes from an Arabic word meaning imagination, and Karagoz, which means big black eye in Turkish. Both are forms of storytelling through shadow plays and puppetry. Although Karagoz is the more popular term for this style of expression, it incorporates paper puppets that are designed with intricate details. The puppets are then connected to long sticks for easy manipulation by the puppeteers. Karmali discussed another art form popular in Islamic culture: Taziyeh. The term that sometimes connotes “passion” and refers to the reenactment of the death of a religious leader while uniting the community engaging in this event, similar to Christian nativity plays. The term Taziyeh comes from Iran but in Pakistan this theatrical style is known as Qawwali. There is a round platform at the center of the stage area that serves as the only set. Many actors are amateur citizens from the community who use basic materials such as bed sheets and clothing fabrics to create costumes before presenting the reenactment to the community. The last art form Karmali discussed was Sama—a style of dance that entails whirling of the body and chanting as a form of praise toward God. Men wear long white skirts while raising their right hands in a cupped shape up toward the sun and their left hands down toward the earth. The dancers tilt their heads down as if looking at their hearts. In

MORGAN BRILL/the Justice

ART PLAY: Hafiz Karmali, who will direct The Conference of the Birds, spoke on Wednesday about his work in a broader context. maintaining this position while spinning in circles to the left, the dancers are demonstrating the energy of the sun and the earth meeting in their hearts and giving them positive energy to share with the world. In The Conference of the Birds, Karmali incorporated this technique within the choreography to represent the birds

as they travel throughout the play. After first joining the Brandeis community by working with a couple of departments and professors on campus, including Prof. Judith Eisenberg (MUS) from the MusicUnitesUs program, Karmali is back to work with Brandeis theater students on his adaptation of The Conference

of the Birds. Although Karmali has presented this play in previous years with other casts, he expressed his excitement for this particular production. Karmali serves as director of the play, but he is very flexible in allowing Brandeis actors to become involved in the creation process and showcase their strengths.

SPORTS PHOTOS FEATURES COPY

JOIN THE JUSTICE! Email editor@thejustice.org

FORUM NEWS LAYOUT ARTS ADS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

CONCERT

MAGIC! headlines Student Events concert

PHOTOS BY GUILLERMO NARVAEZ/the Justice

SING IT OUT: Guitarist Mark Pellizzer (left) accompanied Nasri (right) during all of MAGIC!’s songs but at times stood as the main focus of the stage as he engaged in intense guitar solos.

By EMILY WISHINGRAD JUSTICE EDITOR

STRUTTING THE STAGE: Lead singer Nasri engaged with the audience during the performance, speaking directly to the crowd and even reaching out to touch attendees’ hands.

The lights went dark; a drum roll-like thunder sound came out of the speakers and MAGIC!—the Canadian reggae-fusion band—came out on stage to perform their first piece, “No Way No.” Sunday night’s concert, the second part of the Student Events concert series, featured openers DJ Pup Dawg, and Jamaican singer-songwriter Samantha J as well as the headliner MAGIC!. Student Events had not previously advertised DJ Pup Dawg, but, as it turns out, he travels and performs with Samantha J on a regular basis. Lights went down at 8 p.m. to a small group of students congregated around the stage. In an interview with the Justice, Director of Concerts for Student Events Benji Bernstein ’15 said that they sold tickets for “half [the] capacity’s worth” and that “a couple hundred people come out to the show.” He attributed the low attendance rate to “the combination of [the concert] being [on] a Sunday night” and “in the heat of midterms for many students.” According to Bernstein, when Student Events booked the concert early in the summer, it was scheduled to be on a Saturday night. The band cancelled and wanted to rebook on a Friday night. Bernstein said that in order to be “inclusive of everyone at Brandeis,’ they eventually settled on a Sunday

night. DJ Pup Dawg started off the concert with an interactive set in which he attempted to engage the audience. He asked questions interspersed within his mixes of songs like Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” and Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How to Dougie.” “Anyone had a few drinks before they got here?” he asked. Later, he called out all the regions of the country—encouraging people to shout when their home was mentioned. While DJ Pup Dawg casually introduced both of the subsequent performances, he focused on Samantha J, which made sense because the two work together. Samantha J then came out to perform her first song, “Hot Gyal Anthem,” accompanied by two identically clad backup dancers. Every step in her set was neatly choreographed, and the movements were executed to precision. The backup dancers deviated into their own choreography, but at times—especially during the chorus—the three came back together to dance in sync. DJ Pup Dawg accompanied the singer all the while. A few songs in, Samantha J told the DJ to hold the music and addressed the audience, introducing her next song, “Run Come.” “It’s about freedom,” she said, “I just turned 18—I just finished school.” After a break of nearly 15 minutes for set changes, it was time for the headliner. MAGIC! came onstage, accompanied by heavy bass

JUST DANCE: Jamaican singer-songwriter, Samantha J, performed neatly choreographed dance moves with two backup dancers.

drums, to an excited crowd. Lead singer Nasri Atweh, known simply as Nasri, was extremely lively on stage and made it a priority to interact with the audience. With laid-back but enthusiastic body language and a tendency to look right into the eyes of the audience, his demeanor was very likeable. The band’s cover of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” was particularly well-received. Before the song started, Nasri dedicated it to the “ladies.” His hip movements as he squatted low to the ground received some excited screams, and the audience sang along with the chorus. In a few of the songs, guitarist Mark Pellizzer had some very complex guitar solos, which the audience loved. “Even when we rehearse, he goes crazy,” said Nasri, referring to Pellizzer’s intense and energetic demeanor. “I know we don’t have a ton of people here,” he said, “but you guys are filling up the room.” The band proceeded with “Don’t Kill the Magic”—the band’s second single, released on April 4. The set, as anticipated, ended with the band’s hit song, “Rude.” The audience seemed to finally come alive for this last song and sang all the lyrics—for the first time unprompted. Phone cameras were everywhere. The band ended about 15 minutes before the delineated end of show but stayed afterward to take pictures with the attendees.

SHINING STAR: At one point Samantha J stopped the music and told the audience that she knows about school— she is 18 years old and just finished.

THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

THEATER

‘Spring Awakening’ engages in taboos

PHOTOS BY JEREMY PERLMAN/the Justice

TABLE TALK: The male lead on the left, Melchior (Jason Theoharis ’17) and his friend Moritz (Zach Marlin ’16) on the right, discuss controversial topics.

By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Many people associate musicals with random dance numbers, toneddown dialogue and happily-everafters. Brandeis’ latest musical challenges this assumption, touching on sensitive issues like sex education and abortion overs its two acts. Typhanium Euphonium’s production of Spring Awakening debuted on Thursday evening in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater. The show was directed by Rachel Liff ’16 and stage-managed by Rachel Josselsohn ’17. It focused on two German teenagers, Melchior Gabor (Jason Theoharis ’17) and Wendla Bergmann (Sarah Steiker ’17), who break the rules of their restrictive society. The show’s program bills it as a play about “everything we don’t talk about,” which is pretty accurate. Featuring sex, abortion and corruption, the play highlighted the darker parts of German society in the late 1890s. The production appeared to be cognizant of this fact and included a resource guide for sexual assault survivors and bystanders in its playbill. The Brandeis ticket booth reported sold-out shows for Friday and Saturday night, and even the Saturday matinee show opened to a mostly-full house. The production featured an innovative set and an on-stage orchestra. The set consisted of a U-shaped ramp bordered by two life-sized trees. The trees were made of actual branches that were propped up and tied together, which made the set appear more realistic. The orchestra, directed by music director Alex Faye ’15, complicated this sense of realism; its unusual presence onstage almost broke

the fourth wall and reminded the audience that what they were watching was merely fiction. In a way, however, this worked to the play’s advantage. Theater critics often mention how the idea that an audience is meant to sit and passively witness a story is becoming outdated. Moving the orchestra pit onstage helped the musical engage the audience by allowing them to see exactly how much effort was involved in creating the play’s songs. This made the audience feel more like they were involved with the production and less like they were passive witnesses to it. The play dealt with many serious themes such as abuse and identity, but it definitely had its funny moments. At one point, one of Melchior’s friends, Hanschen (Jason Teng ’17) was sitting in a chair miming masturbation so energetically that he accidentally knocked over his chair and fell backwards. Although this happened in the middle of a song, the actors dealt with the disturbance professionally and kept singing. Another funny moment was when Hanschen and his friend Ernst (Rodrigo Alfaro Garcia-Gonzalez ’18) agreed to meet in a clearing where Hanschen surprised Ernst by kissing him. After the kiss, Ernst pulled away wearing a look of complete confusion that was almost comical. This comedy softened the otherwise pivotal and significant moment in the characters’ lives. One of the play’s most captivating scenes happened while the cast sang about how Melchior’s actions put him in a position where he could not escape punishment. The song, titled “Totally F*cked,” had the actors singing, yelling and eventually jumping off the edge of the stage. The performers ran

up and down the theater aisles, singing and jumping to the music. They eventually made their way to the space between the first row of the audience and the stage and finished the song with their middle fingers raised. The actors’ desperation, as expressed by their constant movement and loud singing, was infectious and drew the audience into their performance. In the following scene, Melchior’s friends made offhand remarks about how he was expelled from school. The comment was made casually, as if Melchior’s friends barely cared about this misfortune. This caused the audience to sympathize more with Melchior as he faced abandonment by his family and by his friends. Many of the play’s best songs were full-cast songs. “Totally F*cked” and the play’s final song, “The Song of Purple Summer,” followed this pattern. “The Song of Purple Summer” drew the whole cast to the front of the stage, where they summarized the various events that had occurred over the year. The play’s storylines were very specific and individualized, so it was a nice change to see the whole cast together. These moments also helped the audience make connections between characters and reminded the audience of how the characters related to each other. As the Saturday matinee show ended, the cast received a standing ovation from the crowd. The production’s innovative use of music and its complicated dance choreography helped add new dimensions to the musical. In a play that has been performed for over a decade, these new additions, coupled with the well-executed fullcast scenes and scenes of comedic relief, helped keep the show relevant.

IN MOURNING: The cast gathers to sing and lay flowers on Moritz’s gravestone as they mourn his death in the play’s second act.

TAKING A STAND: The female lead, Wendla (Sarah Steiker ’17), stands on her chair before singing “Mama Who Bore Me” and objecting to her mother’s unwillingness to discuss sex.

OVERCOME WITH EMOTION: Melchior falls to the ground when he realizes that his pregnant girlfriend, Wendla, has died at the very end of the play.

Everyone has a story. Help us find it.

Write for the features section of

the

Justice

Contact Rose Gittell at features@thejustice.org for more information.

Want to become red carpet famous?

Write for Arts Contact Emily Wishingrad at arts@thejustice.org CREATIVE COMMONS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

ALBUM REVIEW

Foo Fighters diversify their musical style By JESSIE MILLER JUSTICE EDITOR

After 20 years on the American rock scene, Foo Fighters still continues to attract and enchant their listeners. In honor of their 20th anniversary, the band released an HBO documentary series and an album on Oct. 17 and Nov. 10, respectively—both titled Sonic Highways. Fronted by lead singer Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters once again proves their artistic strength. The documentary version of Sonic Highways follows Foo Fighters around eight major U.S. cities—Chicag; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Los Angeles, Seattle; New Orleans; Washington, D.C. and New York. At each stop, the band visited a well-known music studio to record a track, building an impressive repertoire of music and a dynamic documentary. Foo Fighters worked with different musicians on each track to give every song its own special sound. In the trailer for the documentary, Grohl explains how he “really believe[s] that the environment in which you write or record an album influences the musical result.” The result is an album that ties together different studios and artists by the “sonic highways.” The first episode in Chicago encountered studio owner Steve Albini, a Chicago music icon who also recorded Nirvana’s (Grohl’s first band) third album, In Utero. The result was “Something From Nothing,” the first single from Sonic Highways. In Washington, D.C., the band explored the city’s music scene, speaking to groups such as Bad Brains and recording studio owner Don Zientara. In Nashville, they met with country heavy-hitters such as Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson before setting off for Austin, Texas where they met with Austin City Limits Executive Producer Terry Lickona. The latest episode of the documentary took the band to Los Angeles, where they recorded the track “Outside” in the desert with Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, who later described himself as “an honorary Foo Fighter” in a Nov. 15 Rolling Stone article. The final three episodes have yet

to air, but they promise an equally engaging and musical education as the previous five. In 2011, the band released the movie Sound City, which inspired Grohl to continue the synthesis of film and music. “I realized that the pairing of music and documentary worked so well because the stories give substance and depth to the song, which makes a stronger emotional connection to it. If you know the story behind the artist, or the story behind the studio, or the song, it widens your appreciation for the music,” he explained in a May 31 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. As an album, Sonic Highways upholds the promises the documentary makes. Every song retains an original and unique sound, whether it’s Walsh’s fantastic guitar contribution or the slightly country undertones of “Congregation,” which was recorded in Nashville. The first single, “Something From Nothing,” recalls older Foo Fighters songs with its low-key vibe and emphasis on guitar. The sixth track, “In the Clear” sounds like a more traditional rock song and breaks up the album before softer tracks such as “Subterranean.” Of the eight songs on the album, “Outside” is a clear frontrunner, as is “I Am a River,” which starts with a mesmerizing musical interlude and builds to include Grohl’s voice. Though the lyrics seem to lack the depth of other tracks, the musical composition is commanding. Through recording in different studios with different artists, Sonic Highways is a winding road of slightly different musical styles that keep the listener guessing. Overall, the album contributes to Foo Fighters’ existing discography that varies from alternative to acoustic to harder rock. By adding in the documentary aspect of Sonic Highways, Foo Fighters is adapting its musical style and presentation to changing times in the music industry. With new services such as Spotify or illegal streaming, actual album sales can be affected; however, by partnering with HBO, Foo Fighters proves they are still at the top of their game.

LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT

DOUBLE FEATURE: From left to right, Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear’s new documentary debuted on Oct. 17, closely followed by the band’s new album on Nov. 10.

FILM REVIEW

‘Interstellar’ proves beautiful but plot falls short By KARL HAKMILLER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Despite its exciting, expensive and thorough advertisement campaigns, Hollywood rarely breaks through the college bubble. Most students don’t seem terribly in touch with the film scene while on campus. But if you haven’t heard of Interstellar by now,

then I have to assume you are some kind of hardcore survivalist mountain man, because this is the film on everyone’s mind and Facebook newsfeed. Directed by Christopher Nolan with a star-studded cast, the film tells the story of distant future where, due to consumerism and over farming, the world and society are on the verge of collapse. Ex-NASA engineer Cooper

(Matthew McConaughey) and a crew of scientists embark on a deep space voyage in search of a new, habitable world. Of course, one plot summary is not enough to capture the various sub-plots and twists that spring from the film like tributaries off the mighty Mississippi. With Nolan’s direction and music by Hans Zimmer, the film is aestheti-

MELINDA SUE GORDON/MCT

BLAST OFF: Professor Brand (Anne Hathaway) (left) and Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) (right) are scientists exploring outer space.

cally thrilling. The film captures deep space in a terrifyingly beautiful way. One cannot help but recognize the great vastness of the universe that Cooper and his crew watch from their spacecraft. Even the way that the film represented day-to-day life was exciting. It captured monstrous dust storms ravaging the agricultural hubs of the United States. Zimmer’s ominous chorus always accompanied these suspenceful moments and always left the viewer thoroughly titillated. Despite this, the film left a strange taste in my mouth. Though Nolan’s direction is exhilarating, his writing is weak. The story spreads itself thin over a multitude of different conflicts and seems to sweep away plot holes through quick, confusing and questionable dialogue. The characters seem just as weak. For example, Cooper’s whole motivation throughout the film is to return to his daughter. Upon his arrival, he learns that his daughter has now aged far beyond him. His reunion with her has a screen time of about four minutes and is cut short, it seems, so the film can introduce the possibility of a sequel. This resolution was anticlimactic at its very best. Furthermore, Professor Brand, played by Anne Hatheway, is the only female scientist on Cooper’s ship. Despite her portrayal as a professional, empowered scientist, halfway through the film she abandons her scientific background and delivers a forgettable

monologue about the unshakable power of love over the weak, observable science. Her monologue is followed by what can only be described as a semi-sassy temper tantrum before the whole scene is forgotten. As the strong female lead is crippled by emotion in a scene that proves to be unnecessary in the scope of the film, one cannot help but question Christopher Nolan’s view of women (and certainly his abilities as a writer!) The most interesting part of this film is its grappling with with the philosophical truths. The film is mainly about time. As Cooper and his team enter different ravitational fields at different times, they all age at entirely different rates. This relativity are represented cinematically as well. Watching the film, one never truly grasps the time. Not only is a year never established, but the cuts into different times at some points seem confusing. This execution must be purposeful, aimed to comment on a bigger theme: what is time? In the end, this film will go down with The Matrix and Inception as a science fiction work but also as a philosophical work. It mirrors these two films in the content it attempts to convey but also in its high-tech, CGIbased film style. Though this film may have spread itself thin in all directions, it is a certainly a thrilling movie to watch. It’s not everyday that you watch a blockbuster film that entertains you and makes you think, too.

24 “

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | THE JUSTICE

TOPof the

ARTS ON VIEW

Brandeis TALKS

CHARTS

Quote of the week

for the week ending Nov. 16

“We have by most measures turned a corner, and are into a position of being able to talk about choices going forward,” Lawrence said. “It’s a position of stability, a position that allows us to think about where we want to make investments going forward and as we move to the next stages of planning.”

BOX OFFICE

1. Big Hero 6 2. Interstellar 3. Gone Girl 4. Ouija 5. Fury (2014) 6. St. Vincent 7. Nightcrawler 8. John Wick 9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 10. The Book of Life

—President Fred Lawrence on the University’s finances (News, p. 1)

Winter is coming—what is your favorite thing to do in the snow?

NYT BESTSELLERS

JEREMY PERLMAN/the Justice

IN BLOOM: Justice photographer Jeremy Perlman ’15 took this photo of a cherry blossom tree outside Usdan Student Center last spring. He was struck by the way light hit the tree and by the day’s blue skies.

THE JUSTICE WANTS TO SEE YOUR ORIGINAL ARTWORK! Send works to photos@thejustice.org for a chance to be featured in next week’s issue. Daniel Katz ’16 “I love skiing. I love winter. It’s my favorite season.”

Grace Gao ’18 “I like to take a walk with people in the snow, right after it falls.”

Do Dang ’15 “I like to roll around and get hit by other people with snowballs.”

Jonathan Kim ‘18 “I haven’t seen snow in a while, so I don’t know.”

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Wildlife photographs may be a memento of one 7 Visit Overstock.com, say 11 It’s near Miss. 14 Reebok rival 15 Piece of glass 16 “Collages” novelist 17 Triangular chip 18 Zero degrees Celsius, for water 20 Go out with 21 Synthetic rubber for one 22 Capacity limit 27 Turn down 28 Bathroom fixtures 29 Airline seat pocket item, briefly 30 Word with ball or cup 32 Molar mender’s org. 33 University of Nevada city 34 Pinnacles 38 Not getting it, and, in a different way, what 18-, 22-, 52- and 58 Across are 42 Pound and Poe 43 Bounders 44 Santa __, California 45 Attorney’s thing 47 I-5, for one 48 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics year 49 Abbey recess 52 Moment of change 55 Viruses, worms, etc. 57 Bk. after Ezra 58 Sensitive spot 60 Be unable to stand 63 Squeeze (out) 64 Govt. agent 65 Like most wedding cakes 66 Who __ Nation: New Orleans Saints fans 67 Exists no more 68 Said DOWN 1 In a funk 2 Stir 3 Diamond corner 4 Parting words 5 Olympic judge, e.g. 6 Equi- kin 7 Beach lotion letters 8 Horn honker of classic comedy 9 Score that often requires overtime 10 Spa treatment 11 Cartoon genre 12 Hotel housekeeping supply 13 Fuming 19 Louisiana music style 22 Forever __ 23 TV feed component 24 Hymn ender 25 Cranberry quality

Nonfiction 1. Killing Patton—Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard 2. Yes Please—Amy Poehler 3. Not That Kind of Girl—Lena Dunham 4. Being Mortal—Atul Gawande 5. True Love—Jennifer Lopez

iTUNES

1. Taylor Swift—“Blank Space” 2. One Direction—“Night Changes” 3. Taylor Swift—“Shake It Off” 4. One Direction “Fool’s Gold” 5. Meghan Trainor—“All About That Bass”

BILLBOARD

1. Taylor Swift—1989 2. Various Artists— Now 52 3. Bette Midler—It’s the Girls! 4. Jason Aldean—Old Boots, New Dirt 5. Calvin Harris—Motion 6. Florida Georgia Line—Anything Goes 7. Barbra Streisand—Partners 8. Sam Smith—In The Lonely Hour 9. Brantley Gilbert—Just As I Am 10. Sam Hunt—Montevallo Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.

STAFF’S Top Ten

26 Practical joker’s cry 31 Kennel sounds 33 Opposite of set 35 American Airlines Arena team 36 Film composer Morricone 37 Carpet blemish 39 Scatters, as petals 40 “Private Benjamin” star 41 Nestlé ice cream brand 46 Plays chords, in a way 48 Medit. hot spot 49 Unlike rock bands on MTV’s “Unplugged” 50 Insulated jacket 51 Winter fall 53 Aired again 54 Not reactive 56 Wine from Italy 59 Otitis-treating MD 60 Uno y uno 61 Law firm office, perhaps: Abbr 62 Journalist Koppel

HAPPINESSES By CARMI ROTHBERG

JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

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

Felicia Silber ’16

“Go skiing!”

—Compiled and photographed by Mihir Khanna/the Justice.

Fiction 1. Gray Mountain—John Grisham 2. The Burning Room—Michael Connelly 3. Prince Lestat—Anne Rice 4. Leaving Time—Jodi Picoult 5. The Slow Regard of Silent Things—Patrick Rothfuss

Solution to last issue’s sudoku

Here are a few types of joy that can be experienced in day-today life at Brandeis. 1. The happiness derived from chocolate 2. The satisfaction of checking things off of lists 3. The happiness of watching a baby 4. The joy of finally remembering that lyric 5. The happiness of taking off sweaty socks 6. The happiness of walking through a pile of crunchy leaves 7. The happiness of coming up with a clever comeback on the spot 8. The happiness that comes from the short silence between pitter-patters as you drive through a tunnel in the rain 9. The joy of getting the paper wad into the trash bin on the first try 10. The happiness of making someone laugh