ARTS Page 23
FORUM GMOs address hunger crisis 12 SPORTS Baseball team hires new coach 15 The Independent Student Newspaper
the
'UNREAL' of
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 LXVIII, Number 2
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Student life
NEW ACTIVITIES
Chums is open for business ■ Following a five-month
hiatus, the student-led coffeehouse opened for business on Friday. By abby patkin JUSTICE editor
On Friday night, Cholmondeley’s coffeehouse opened for the first time following an incident on March 6, 2015 during which the staff did not evacuate the building after the smoke detector went off. At the end of last semester, the space was open for events scheduled prior to the incident, but it has not been open for regular hours since. Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes wrote that Chum’s would be open to students from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on both this
Waltham, Mass.
past Friday and Saturday in an email sent to the community on Friday evening. Associate Director of Student Activities Steve Pagios said in an interview with the Justice that the current plan is to open Chum’s for regular hours, but he also noted that the student management does not have all the keys to the building yet, which could complicate opening and closing the coffeehouse. “As it stands, Chum’s is open and will be for the foreseeable future,” student manager Elizabeth Villano ’16 said in an email to the Justice. “In fact, we intend on outlasting the castle and other various dimensions of time and space.” On March 6, students smoking in the coffeehouse’s back room set off the smoke detector, and the Chum’s workers on duty that night did not evacuate the facility, according to a March 24 Justice
See CHUM'S, 7 ☛
dining services
Dining services leaders step down from roles ■ The former Sodexo general
manager and chair of the Senate dining committee have been replaced. By max moran JUSTICE editor
Shawn Monaghan and Ben Margolin ’17, the general manager of Sodexo at Brandeis and the chair of the Senate dining committee respectively, have both stepped down from their positions. Steven Canario, the former general manager of Sodexo at Emerson College, has replaced Monaghan. Margolin is expected to be replaced by Skye Golann ’18, a Class of 2018 senator. In an interview with the Justice, Margolin said that he is stepping down from his position because he is studying abroad next semester and cannot hold a senate seat or chair a committee from abroad. Monaghan could not be reached for comment. Canario told the Jus-
For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
tice in a telephone interview that he found out he would become general manager at Brandeis in late August and that Monaghan has accepted a different position within the Sodexo network. Canario said that he has not yet encountered any major difficulties as general manager and that he hopes students see him as accessible. He added that he highly values student input on managing dining services. “The best part of my job is getting to work with students, getting to know the community,” Monaghan said. “Each institution has different needs, and you know, at the end of the day, from the two or three weeks I’ve been on campus I’m very pleased with my team and how committed they are to providing great service to the community.” Margolin announced his resignation on Sunday via the Brandeis University Senate Dining Com-
See DINING, 7 ☛
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
Students gather around near the Chess Club table at this semester's student activities fair, which took place on the Great Lawn on Sunday afternoon.
student activism
University named sixth in social justice activism ■ In a new list released by
online magazine Her Campus, Brandeis was ranked in the top ten schools for social justice activism. By Tzlil levy JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
On Aug. 24, Her Campus ranked Brandeis University students 6th in the nation for “Social Justice Activists.” Her Campus serves as an online magazine aimed at women on college campuses across the country. More than 280 colleges and universities engage with the magazine with over 6,400 student representatives.
This year, Her Campus had eight different lists, including rankings for the most students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields; the most Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Queer friendly schools; the most pet-friendly schools and the preppiest schools. This was the first time Brandeis University appeared on a Her Campus ranking since the magazine’s founding in 2009. In the email announcing the rankings, Her Campus Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Kaplan Lewis wrote, “The college experience is about so much more than just academics, and these rankings take a critical, multi-faceted look at our nation’s
colleges and all they have to have offer in and outside the classroom, while having a little bit of fun, too.” The students’ involvement in activism and social justice is also evident in the classroom, according to Prof. Melissa Stimell (SJSP), the chair of the program in Social Justice and Social Policy. Stimell wrote in an email to the Justice that the SJSP program “brings together an unusually broad spectrum of faculty, supporting coursework in social justice, social research, social service, and social policy.” “The University encourages students to get involved and stay involved by both linking the academic
See ACTIVISM,
☛
Brandeis abroad
Driving hard
Castle renovations
Students took part in an innovative new summer session program that combined Art History and Studio Art.
The women's basketball team took their show overseas to Europe over the summer.
VP of Operations Jim Gray announced updates to the Castle's condition yesterday.
FEATURES 9
SPORTS 16
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INDEX
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 9
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
READER COMMENTARY
News 3 10
COPYRIGHT 2015 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
2
TUESDAY, september 1, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS SENATE LOG
POLICE LOG
Senators discuss improvements to relationship with student body and transportation methods
Medical Emergency
On Sunday, the Senate convened for its first meeting of the semester to review Student Union procedure and discuss a new push for bringing change and advocating for students in the Senate. Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 told the senators that she hopes they generate “purposeful programming” in the coming semester with a goal of bettering the Brandeis community. “In previous years, we were the folks that dealt with clubs … there’s so much more we can do,” said Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17, who also chaired the meeting. “The more we do, the better we do,” he added. Due to the summer break, there was no communications, administrative or executive board business to attend to. Herbstritt reviewed the seven permanent Senate committees. Class of 2017 Senator Matt Smetana, who is the chair of the Senate Sustainability Committee, floated the idea of changing his committee name to the Brandeis Sustainability Committee, as it is commonly referred to by that name. Herbstritt asked whether the Brandeis Sustainability Committee was a separate entity run by the University at large and also promised to look into the question. Herbstritt noted that the Senate plans to have a renewed focus on “productive and accountable office hours” and on informing students when they can meet with their senator during office hours. This will be done both online through social media and email, and through physical leaflets and pamphlets. Senators were encouraged to hold at least two to three office hours per week. According to Herbstritt, student union elections are scheduled for Sept. 10, and all candidates are required to attend a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 3. On Sept. 18, the full Student Union will meet and begin an orientation weekend. Previously, orientation took the form of a retreat, but this has been changed this year to put a renewed focus on productivity and learning Senate procedure. Macklin then joined the group to discuss her intentions to move the Union away from “programming for the sake of programming.” She wants the Union to be more budget-conscious, due to heavy student club spending last year, which will result in fewer funds rolling over to this year. Macklin also plans to streamline communication between Union branches to build “a more united Union” and encouraged Senators to talk to administrators on behalf of their initiatives. Herbstritt and Macklin then clarified for the senators that initiatives are self-directed projects which look into an issue that an existing Senate committee does not already address. Class of 2018 Senator Skye Golann ’18 then informed the Senators that he has been working with Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan to improve transportation to “off-campus activities.” This will include BranVans to Walgreens and Dartmouth Street every 10 to 15 minutes. Golann and Callahan are currently deciding on phrasing for an email to be sent out to the student body soon, Golann said. Future meetings will be held in the Multi-Purpose room on the Shapiro Campus Center’s second floor to give all attendees more space, according to Herbstritt. The Sunday meeting was reduced in size, as some senators have graduated and the Class of 2019 has not elected its own senators yet.
Aug. 23—A party near the Sherman Dining Hall hit their head on a pole. BEMCo treated the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care. Aug. 25—University Police received a report of a party in Massell Quad who dropped a bed on their foot. The party was treated on the scene by BEMCo and transported to Urgent Care by police. Aug. 25—A mother called police from New York claiming her child in North Quad had suffered a facial injury. The party was treated on the scene with a signed refusal for further care. Aug. 25—A party in Ziv Quad reported feeling ill. Cataldo ambulance was notified for transport of a student complaining of stomach pains, vomiting, and dizziness. Upon ambulance arrival the patient refused medical treatment. Aug. 26—A party in the Gosman Sports and Convocation
Center reported a friend who was intoxicated. The party claimed their friend was lying in the grass by the bike rack on South Street. Cataldo ambulance was notified of an unconscious intoxicated party and transported the patient to Newton Wellesley Hospital for further care. Aug. 26—A caller from Massell Quad reported an intoxicated party in the bathroom. University Police and BEMCo responded and Cataldo ambulance and Waltham Fire Department were on the scene. The party was evaluated by Cataldo staff and decided to accept the patient’s refusal request for further care. Aug. 26—Police received a call of a party in East Quad who fell in the shower and had a slight injury. University Police and BEMCo responded and treated the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care. Aug. 28—Police received multiple reports of a man who collapsed in the Shapiro Campus Center. University Police and
BEMCo responded and requested Waltham Fire Department and Cataldo ambulance. The party was treated on the scene and transported by Cataldo ambulance to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. Aug. 30—A Community Advisor in Massell Quad requested BEMCo for an intoxicated party in the bathroom. University Police and BEMCo responded and notified Cataldo ambulance for transport. Cataldo ambulance transported the party to NewtonWellesley Hospital for further care.
Drugs
Aug. 25—The Area Coordinator in the Charles River Apartments reported the smell of marijuana. University Police were dispatched, and the Area Coordinator said they would handle the situation. Police compiled a report on the incident.
Vandalism
ALAS POOR YORICK
Representatives from the University’s clubs gathered on the Great Lawn on Sunday for the Club Activities Fair. Interested students visited the tables to get more information and to sign up for mailing lists.
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Aug. 24—University staff reported two possibly intoxicated suspicious individuals in the vicinity of Fellows Garden. University Police found upon further investigation that the individuals were employees and not intoxicated, and they were cleared without further incident. —compiled by Avi Gold
The White House insisted Monday that President Barack Obama has made no final decisions about his post-presidential plans, after Columbia University’s president reportedly told new students that the university would welcome back its “most famous alumnus” in two years. Columbia said in a statement late Tuesday that the remark wasn’t intended to reveal what Obama will do after he leaves office but rather a more general reference to plans being shaped by Obama’s post-presidential foundation. The organization has previously said that it looked forward to a “long-term association” with the school. Yet the Obama-to-Columbia talk is not new. The New York Post reported in April that Obama was “rumored to be in talks” to teach at its law school after he leaves office on Jan. 20, 2017. Obama transferred to Columbia in 1981 after first enrolling at Los Angeles’ Occidental College. But while much has been speculated, little is known about what Obama really has in mind and how he might split time between any of four possible destinations: Washington, where his youngest daughter, Sasha, will still be in high school when his term ends; Chicago, where he rose to political prominence; his native Hawaii; or New York. “The president has long talked about his respect for Columbia University and his desire to continue working with them,” White House spokesperson Jennifer Friedman said. “However, at this point, no decisions have been finalized about his post-presidency plans.” Obama mused about life after the White House in May when he visited with David Letterman just before the host retired from the “Late Show.” Perhaps, Obama said, the two could reunite to play dominoes. “I plan to teach law at Columbia,” Letterman countered, prompting Obama to say: “I’d be interested in sitting in on that class.” —Tribune News Service
ANNOUNCEMENTS Latin Dessert Night
Justice
Other
White House insists Obama has no post-presidency plans as Columbia rumor swirls
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
the
Aug. 26—Police received a report of the larceny of a MacBook Pro from the Rabb Graduate School of Continuing Studies. Police compiled a report on the incident and told the LTS Department to be advised. Aug. 27—A party in North Quad reported the theft of clothing from their room. Police compiled a report on the incident.
WIRE BRIEF
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.
Larceny
Aug. 23—Police received a re-
—Max Moran
n An arts question-and-answer incorrectly labeled Prof. Pablo Delano’s (FA) initials as “PB.”
port of vandalism in a bathroom in East Quad. Police compiled a report on the incident.
Join AHORA for a night of Hispanic desserts! Learn a little bit about Hispanic culture while also enjoying some delicious food. Tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.
GRALL Open House
Stop by our department-wide Open House for food and conversation with program representatives from the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literature. All students, both new and returning, are encouraged to attend. International treats will be served! Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.
South East Asia Club (SEAC) & Greet
We will be welcoming everyone back to campus and introducing the new E-board. We will also share the club’s goals for the year including future events and open posi-
tions. Home-made Vietnamese spring rolls and bubble tea will also be served. Thursday from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in the Intercultural Center Swig Lounge.
Bingo
Start the year off right by winning great prizes! Bring your friends or make some new ones! Thursday from 9:30 to 11 p.m. in the Stein.
Screen on the Green featuring: ‘Jurassic World’
Join Student Events and kick off the semester with the screening of the summer’s #1 movie on a 20-foot screen! Bring your friends and blankets. Free food, including cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, and more of your favorite theater snacks will be provided. Jurassic World is set 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, and Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World. After 10 years of opera-
tion and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to reignite visitors’ interest, which backfires horribly. Friday from 8 to 10 p.m. on the Great Lawn.
Celebrating Para-Deis Brandeis on the beach: Celebrate the end of summer at our own little piece of paradise, featuring cornhole, ladder ball, a tiki hut, mocktails, Adirondack chairs and the sounds of reggae music. Saturday from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. on the Great Lawn.
Food Truck Festival
Celebrate the beginning of the semester with a Food Truck Festival. With a variety of cuisine (including kosher, vegetarian, and vegan options) and a multitude of lawn games, this will be the tastiest way to ring in the new year. Sunday from 12 to 3 p.m. on the Great Lawn.
THE JUSTICE
GROWING A COMMUNITY
●
TUESDAY, september 1, 2015
BRIEF Gray announces new committee to review Castle
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED: The Brandeis Community Rooftop Farm has been growing produce that will be sold on campus.
Rooftop garden slated to sell produce in SCC ■ The club has already
coordinated two farmers’ markets and is in talks to sell produce to Sodexo. By MAX MORAN JUSTICE EDITOR
The Brandeis Rooftop Community Farm will sell produce from its first harvest on campus at a farm stand in the Shapiro Campus Center on Friday. The club will also host two farmers’ markets on campus on Oct. 2 and 23. The markets will also feature vendors selling locally produced goods, including tea, honey and jam, according to Gerrianna Cohen ’18, the farm’s market manager. Marc Rudnick, who is one of the organizers of the Waltham farmers’ market, has met with representatives from the farm to provide guidance and support as they launch their farmer’s market, according to Cohen. The farm does not currently sell at the local Waltham farmers’ market, according to an email to the Justice from Jay Feinstein ’17, the president and co-founder of the Rooftop Farm. Cohen later elaborated saying, “For now, it makes the most sense for us to sell on campus and establish ourselves here, but we may expand our selling operations in the future.”
Some of the sellers at the October markets on campus will be from the Waltham market while others were found through recommendations, according to Cohen. “The vendors that we have worked with for the past market love Brandeis students and enjoy working with our team. ... When looking for vendors for our markets, we try to have variety and products that appeal to the student market,” he said. Most of the produce so far has been sold through a Community Supported Agriculture program, in which staff, faculty and community members purchase $200 or $400 shares of the farm and receive weekly produce in return. “Because it is a pilot, we wanted to limit the amount of shares we sell for the first year,” Feinstein wrote in a separate email to the Justice. “So, we are to capacity and have a wait list. The rest of the produce goes to donations and volunteers. Donations go to Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Grandma’s Pantry, and various Waltham Group programs.” Sodexo General Manager Steven Canario expressed interest in purchasing from the farm in an interview with the Justice and said he would follow up with Feinstein. Currently, the University purchases much of its produce from Russo’s, a wholesale distributor located in Watertown, according to Canario.
“I’d be happy to talk to the students or the student group who coordinates the farmers’ market just to learn a little bit about it,” Canario added. Feinstein wrote that “there are a few hurdles we would need to cross” before the farm could sell to Sodexo. This would include gaining assurance that the farm produce would be covered under the University’s liability insurance. However, Feinstein added, “It’s actually better financially to sell the produce through the CSA because Sodexo would only buy it using wholesale prices.” The Rooftop Farm, which is located on the red square roof of the Gerstenzang Science Library, started last year as part of “AMST 191b: Greening the Ivory Tower: Improving Sustainability of Brandeis and Community,” taught by Prof. Laura Goldin (ENVS). Students maintained the farm over the summer with help from Green City Growers, a Bostonbased group that helps urban farming efforts, according to a July 2 BrandeisNOW article. The rooftop garden also traps heat by insulating the roof of Gerstenzang, leading to less energy consumption and air conditioning use, according to a March 17 Justice article. The first farmers’ market took place on April 18 in the Gosman Athletic Center parking lot.
DRAWING A CROWD
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
STRIKE A POSE: Students at the Activities Fair on Sunday showed off their clubs and attract first-years and interested students.
In an email to the student body on Monday afternoon, Vice President for Campus Operations James Gray gave updates on various campus projects, including renovations to Usen Castle and Sherman Dining Hall. Gray wrote that Usen Castle “is showing its age and … [has] reached a point where maintaining the status quo is not practical or sustainable for the long run.” A Castle Advisory Group of students, faculty, staff and board members will assess the Castle and decide on any future plans. In an email sent out last December, Gray acknowledged that some structural renovations might be necessary and that the University would be conducting a survey to determine what improvements would be necessary. The survey results, however, which came out in February, concluded that while the building clearly needed repairs, it was still safe for students to live in, which Gray confirmed in an email to the Justice on Feb. 6. The University has had to contend with safety issues in the Castle in the past, including problems with the building’s structural integrity. Justice articles from February 2010 and February 2011 give reports of leaking roofs that left a great deal of water damage in multiple rooms. In an email to the Justice yesterday, Executive Director for Integrated Media Bill Schaller
wrote, “Until we have the experts’ assessment (from a structural engineer, architect and project manager), it is impossible to state with certainty what the future holds for the Castle. Once we have that analysis, we will be able to make some decisions about our next steps.” Gray’s email to the community also touched on renovations to Sherman Dining Hall, confirming that they will be completed in October. Facilities also made safety updates to the Mandel Humanities quad, including installating fire-safety and window systems to the Rabb School of Continuing Studies and Golding Judaic Center, which is part of a larger five-year plan to install the same improvements to other buildings in Mandel quad, Gray said. As part of the University’s initiative to increase energy efficiency, facilities also replaced all of the washers and dryers in the residence halls in favor of newer machines meant to conserve water and lower energy consumption, the email read. The last campus improvement outlined in Gray’s email was the relocation of the Prospect Street art studios to the Epstein building. This move will not only make studio art classes more convenient, Gray said, but also “the quality of the studios for students and visiting artists will also be upgraded dramatically.” —Morgan Brill
BRIEF Darryl David steps down from Student Activities to pursue career as professional DJ In an email sent to the University’s office captains on Wednesday, Student Activities Operations Specialist Darryl David ’09 announced that he would be stepping down from his position and transitioning from the University “on to new adventures.” “Thank you all for everything & I look forward to the legacy you all will leave at this fine institution,” David wrote in the email. In an email to the Justice, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes wrote that David has left his position to pursue a career as a professional disc jockey. “He has been DJing part time since he was a student,” Grimes wrote. “He will be pursuing this career full time.” David also announced that Student Activities Specialist Robbie Steinberg ’13 would be the “go to person” on office captains’ building concerns. As of press time, David could not be reached for comment. Grimes noted in a separate email to the Justice that all of David’s responsibilities would be split up amongst the Student Activities staff. “We have posted the position and hope to fill it as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Student Activities staff has split up his responsibilities. Kelly Whiffen will spearhead the reservations for the Campus Center, Robbie Steinberg will assist with club needs associated with the building … including office access and storage, and I will oversee the Campus Center Team,” she wrote. “We hope to have someone in place by end of October at the
Darryl David latest,” Grimes added. In an email to the Justice, Steinberg described the specific responsibilities he will be taking on until David’s replacement is found. “I am the point person for Club Offices within the SCC, so I’ll be helping them with card access and other issues as they arise. I am also in charge of card access for all spaces within the SCC,” he said. “I’m looking forward to meeting new students and new student groups that I haven’t had a chance to interact with yet, since I will be talking to the Club Officers so frequently,” Steinberg added. After graduating from the University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, David “spent two years working with Orchard Garden Pilot School’s special needs community and one year prior as the METCO Specialist at Lincoln Sudbury Regional HS,” according to his biography on the Student Activities staff page. David first joined the Student Activities staff in 2012. —Abby Patkin
3
let’s eat grandma Let’s eat, Grandma!
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THE JUSTICE
Lynch discussed her hopes and plans for the future of the University at a Friday event. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITOR MIHIR KHANNA/Justice file photo
INTERFAITH CONVERSATION: Past leaders of the Brandeis University-Al-Quds University Dialogue Initiative held a press conference in former University President Frederick Lawrence’s office last year to discuss goals and communication.
Al-Quds student leaders discuss their trip and new goals continue an initiative to re-establish ties with Al-Quds University. By HANNAH WULKAN JUSTICE EDITOR
This summer, three members of the Brandeis University-Al-Quds University Student Dialogue Initiative travelled to Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem to discuss reinstating AlQuds’ partnership with Brandeis. Brandeis suspended its partnership indefinitely in 2013 after a student rally on the Al-Quds campus invoked fascist imagery and then-Al-Quds president Sari Nusseibeh’s letter in response to the rally was considered “unacceptable and inflammatory” by former University President Frederick Lawrence, according to a press release published on BrandeisNOW on Nov. 13, 2013. Hannah Kober ’16, Risa Dunbar ’17 and Leah Susman ’18 were already in Israel for personal reasons this summer, which were studying Arabic and researching a Near Eastern and Judaic Studies thesis, working for a summer camp program called Project Harmony and interning for an interfaith organization called Kids for Peace respectively. They each took three days to visit Al-Quds, meeting with university president Imad Abu
5
Interim President Lynch leads first Oneg Shabbat of the semester ■ Interim President Lisa
Kishk, touring the facility and speaking with students. The Brandeis University-Al-Quds University Student Dialogue Initiative started in April 2013 as a way for students between the two universities to have discussions and try to figure out how to restore the partnership. “The [Al-Quds] president is incredibly enthusiastic about reinstating the partnership. He himself had an opportunity to study at Brandeis as part of his Ph.D … and he speaks really fondly of Brandeis, and that’s really how the [Al-Quds] students have such a passion for reinstating the partnership,” Kolber said in an interview with the Justice. The group is working on various initiatives this year, especially given that in her role as interim University President, Lisa Lynch does not plan to reinstate the relationship with AlQuds. “It’s definitely a new approach this year because we understand President Lynch’s unique position,” Dunbar said. “I think a lot of this year is going to be about working for the goal of bringing them [the Al-Quds students] here.” “Lynch has expressed interest in doing as much as she possibly can … she can’t make any tangible changes to the partnership itself, but she’s personally invested as a campus administrator in ensuring that we can pull this off,” Kober said. “She [Lynch] said that she’s trying to maintain contact with
TUESDAY, september 1, 2015
CAmpus Life
DIALOGUE CONFERENCE
■ Three student leaders
●
a number of people at Al-Quds University and she has been in dialogue with the Brandeis professors who have been going back and forth despite the suspension of the partnership.” All three expressed that everyone at Al-Quds was very welcoming. “We have an opportunity to learn in a place that is dramatically different in a constructive way. … They have an entire culture that we’re not experiencing,” Dunbar said. “It is really symbolic for a Jewishsponsored University and a Palestinian University to have partnership. That is something that ... is completely in Brandeis’ values as well and a part of Brandeis’ mission,” Susman added. Some students, however, do not think that the University should reinstate the relationship with Al-Quds. Former president of the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee Daniel Koas ’16 said in an email to the Justice for a Nov. 19, 2013 article that he “fully support[s] the university’s decision to take a firm stand against such despicable acts, especially given the fact that Al-Quds had the chance to condemn the demonstrations, but instead decided to release an inflammatory statement.” He went on to say, “While it is upsetting to lose a partner university that Brandeis has such a longstanding relationship with, the events of the past weeks have given the administration no choice.”
On Friday night, members of the University’s Jewish community gathered in the Luria rooms of the Hassenfeld Conference Center after Hillel’s Shabbat dinner to listen to Interim University President Lisa Lynch lead the first Oneg Shabbat of the academic year. Rabbi Elyse Winick ’86, the University’s Jewish chaplain, began the event by discussing that week’s Torah reading, quoting the Torah portion in Hebrew and translating it into English. Lynch then discussed two of the books she read over the summer, “Brandeis University—Chapter of its Founding,” written in 1951 by Brandeis co-founder Israel Goldstein and “Brandeis University: A Host at Last,” written in 1995 by founding University president Abram Sachar. “At some stage in your life, you should read this book,” Lynch said of Sachar’s book. “This is a really interesting book because it’s going to give you a perspective on your university that you might not have had.” Transitioning into a discussion on the University’s founding, Lynch addressed what she referred to as the “seeming paradox” at Brandeis, namely that “we are a Jewish-founded university that is nonsectarian.” As someone who was raised in the Catholic faith and is no longer practicing, Lynch said she found the University’s religious background and tradition of social justice activism particularly fascinating. “When I came to Brandeis—and I was very much drawn to this University because of the excellence of the academics, the reputation of the university, the focus on social justice—I felt a deep and profound connection with those same traditions.” Lynch delved into the background of how the University was founded, going back to the committees of Jewish intellectuals stationed in New York and Boston who first conceived of a Jewishfounded university. Addressing Sachar and Goldstein’s desire to found a university in a manner similar to other reli-
giously-founded schools, Lynch said, “You have this sort of aspiration and desire to say, ‘well, the Jewish community should do the same thing as these other institutions, and this is part of showing that we have arrived, that we are part of the same standing and status in society and we can do this as well.’” Though the University had only 107 students and 13 faculty members when Sachar became president in 1948, Lynch said the University’s founding developed a precedent for achievement that continues today. “The University has from its inception—and I would argue it continues today—to have also this requirement that we are an influential center of Jewish learning and a communal responsibility,” she said. Lynch then cited the Near Eastern and Jewish Studies department and Hornstein programs as evidence of the University’s “preparing this next generation of leadership in social services.” After Lynch spoke, the Oneg moved into a brief question-andanswer session. After a student asked her what had shocked her most during her eight years at the University, Lynch told a story about how she was amazed when, she said, professors and administrators were willing to take a pay cut in order to maintain staff jobs and salaries during the 2008 recession. She noted this sacrifice reinforced the University’s value of “thinking of others before self.” Lynch also touched briefly on the sustainability initiatives that she wants to focus on during her time as interim president. “One of the things that we can do [during this interim presidency] … is to focus on what we’re doing in respect to our carbon footprint and our sustainability on this campus,” she said. “We are so wasteful with our materials. We should be doing a much better job in respect to how we are using our natural resources.” The University’s “Turn It Off” days from this past summer, she said, “lowered our energy consumption by 28% on those days.” Finally, Lynch discussed the significance of the next University president’s religion. “I’d like to think that being Jewish is not a litmus test about who the next president is going to be at Brandeis. I think it’s highly likely that the next president is probably going to be Jewish, but I think what’s most important is how someone values the roots and the founding and the aspirations of this University,” she said.
ACADEMICS
Computer science students create campus map application ■ The Justice Brandeis
Semester summer program has yielded a mobile application designed to aid campus navigation. By MAX MORAN JUSTICE EDITOR
A group of students have begun building a Brandeis-specific navigation app as part of their Justice Brandeis Semester, Voice, Mobile and Web App Development. They predict the app, called “Discover Deis,” will be completed by the end of the semester. Unlike other navigation apps,
Discover Deis will include mapping within buildings and across shortcuts on campus. Jessica Huynh ’16, Tianjie Zhong MA and Ziyu Qiu ’18—the students behind the app—hope that it will help visitors and incoming firstyears who are still learning the campus. Huynh elaborated in an interview with the Justice that while “Google maps does have some of the buildings on campus,” it doesn’t “do routing inside buildings, and it won’t tell you about, like, the path in the woods beside Heller and the chapels.” “There’s just a lot of little things that if you don’t go to Brandeis, you don’t know about, but are like really helpful shortcuts that our app aims
to have and other apps can’t have,” she added. The course, taught by Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI), concluded with several final mobile apps being developed by students. These included an app for playing chess exclusively with your voice, a voice-based personal training app and a geolocator-based social media app. The course ran from June 1 to July 31, meeting five days a week, according to the course’s webpage. In an interview with the Justice, Huynh said, “Our app started its life as a tour app for campus, and I think we realized that people aren’t really going to use a tour app, you know, and it’s mostly the same logic if you’re doing a tour app versus a
navigation app, so we just decided that a navigation app was the way to go.” Currently, the app includes “data points” across campus and routing through south campus and much of the science complex, as well as East quad, according to Huynh. Due to time constrictions in the course, the team was unable to completely map the campus in their app. However, Huynh plans on “finishing up and polishing our app and putting it out on all of the app stores.” “We have most of them [the locations] but we just haven’t connected them,” Qiu added in an interview with the Justice. For those locations that are con-
nected, the app functions well, according to Huynh. She hopes to complete the app during an independent study with several of the other students who were part of the JBS, including those outside of the initial Discover Deis group. Because Hickey is going on leave in the spring semester according to Huynh, the group hopes to complete the app by the end of the fall semester. “It’s definitely doable,” said Huynh. “We just need to keep working on it, and we still want to add some other features on to it,” noted Qiu. —Abby Patkin contributed reporting.
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DINING: Golann expected to fill open leadership position
SHARING A MEAL
CONTINUED FROM 1
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
BUILDING NEW FRIENDSHIPS: Students eat together on the Great Lawn during the Community Dinner held on Friday. The event drew large crowds of students, faculty, staff and administrators as community members mingled, dined and enjoyed the summer weather.
CHUMS: With three hired, interview process still ongoing CONTINUED FROM 1 article. After arriving and finding occupants still inside Chum’s, Public Safety evacuated the building and closed it for the night. Chum’s then remained closed indefinitely as it underwent a “reorganization,” according to Executive Director of Integrated Media Bill Schaller in a March 16 press statement from the Office of Communications. Former Chum’s employee Saren McAllister ’18 wrote in an email to the Justice that reopening negotiations between the two elected student managers, David Stiefel ’16 and Villano, have been ongoing since the end of the spring semester. As of press time, Stiefel and Villano could not be reached for comment. “One of the biggest things they [the managers] wanted—which I am 100 percent with them [on]—is
better training, so we’re gonna do more with crowd manager training, food safety training and I just kind of think group training as a whole,” Pagios said. “I think my role as advisor and supervisor is just supporting them, making sure that we’re providing a space on campus that’s obviously safe and healthy and everyone can go to and feel welcomed.” Pagios added that the event booking and hiring processes will be “exactly the same” as they have been, with an open job posting listed on the Brandeis Job Opportunities page for the latter. As of press time, there are positions open for Chum’s “Food and Drink Manager” and for “Chum’s Event Manager” on the job opportunities page. The listing is open to any students who wish to apply, Pagios said, though he also noted that former Chum’s
employees will have the benefit of previous work experience in the same environment. Though she has not yet had her interview, McAllister noted that one other former employee has been hired back, and Villano, Stiefel and that student will be running Chum’s until more staff is hired. She also noted that Stiefel and Villano are elected managers and did not have to go through the rehiring process, as they remained on staff during the hiatus. “The staff hopes to complete the ‘rehiring’ process as quickly as possible in order to restore and cultivate Chum’s as an inclusive student-run space,” McAllister said. “We are optimistic about implementing a few new policies and making Chum’s an even safer space for students at Brandeis.” Villano wrote that, though she did not work the reopening event on Friday, she had heard
the gathering was “relatively low key.” “Saturday night was really great, we had somewhere from 25-30 freshman come through, enjoy our tea, good vibes, and Lizzy’s ice cream,” she added. “What happens in Chum’s stays in Chum’s, but I can reveal that several musical instruments were involved.” While it is unclear what the semester will hold for the staff, McAllister stated she looks forward to sharing the Chum’s experience with the community. “Things at Chum’s might be a little different this year, but we [the Chum’s staff] are so excited to reopen and want to encourage everyone to come visit us in the Castle on weekends, to keep an open mind, and to continue making Chum’s the best, most unique spot on campus,” she said.
ACTIVISM: Club leaders discuss role social justice plays in daily life CONTINUED FROM 1 program to real world problems and giving financial support to students in the form of World of Work scholarships,” she added. “This institutional support is vital to student involvement, Brandeis’ core mission, and its national recognition.” Throughout the year, students discuss current social justice topics, including sexual assault policy and fair working conditions. In February, students participate in a weeklong celebration of social justice—called DEIS Impact—which includes workshops, forums, and speaker-based events. Of the 200 clubs at Brandeis, 24 are listed under the “political and activism” tab on the University’s “Student Clubs and Organizations” page. This list includes clubs such as Students for Environmental Action, Brandeis
Climate Justice and Women, Inc. SEA is the largest environmental group at Brandeis, engaging with the community and informing it on environmental and sustainability issues. Each semester, SEA works on projects to improve the University’s environmental impact, including planting trees and promoting reusable bags and electronic recycling. In an email to the Justice, Vice President of SEA Jay Feinstein ’17 said he invests his time in environmental issues because he believes it is an “important” cause. “It’s great for people to think about sustainability because that’s the future,” he said. “It’s important to take care of the Earth because it’s our home—we only have one!” Saren McAllister ’18, a board member of BCJ, said in an email to the Justice that BCJ’s main goal “has always been to encourage and pressure
Brandeis University to divest (remove its investments) from fossil fuel stocks because fossil fuels are the leading cause of climate change and the companies that extract them are immoral and unjust.” According to McAllister, BCJ’s focus on divestment has been supported by the group members’ commitment and determination to make a difference. McAllister also noted that recent policy changes within the University—including the Brandeis Exploratory Committee on Fossil Fuel Divestment’s report last semester analyzing the cost and benefits of divestment—will influence the club’s initiatives. “This report strongly encouraged the board of trustees to consider divestment, so this semester we will contact the [Board of Trustees] and further encourage them to divest or at least come to a decision on the is-
sue,” she wrote. WINC is a leadership initiative for Brandeis women to support and inspire each other while pursuing careers, also advocating in part for gender equality in the workplace. Similarly to Her Campus, WINC unites women together to support each other during and after college. Vice President Lauren Nadeau ’17 wrote in an email to the Justice, “there are a lot of women in our community who want to have professional careers after Brandeis, but could use a ‘leg-up’ [on] the competition. I am one of those women and I am striving to create opportunities for others that I would want to have myself.” “Social justice isn’t just this idea that we talk about it,” said Feinstein. “It is something that Brandeis students put into action every day; [we] make that one word come to life.”
mittee Facebook page. Margolin wrote that “many of the former committee members will remain involved with dining things at first to help ease the transition, but you should all know that if you have any issues with dining, there will be a new committee in charge of things.” Though Margolin indicated in the Facebook post that Golann would be replacing him as chair, it will be several weeks before the next chair is formally announced. Both the Senate and Vice President Dennis Hermida-Gonzales ’16 must confirm the nominees for committee chair positions. Golann was a member of the committee last year and is currently completing an initiative with Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan to increase BranVan service around Waltham. Regarding his involvement this year, Margolin told the Justice in an interview, “It’s likely at the beginning that I’ll go and I’ll sit in on those [early] meetings [of the dining committee] and I’ll help facilitate.” “Moreover,” he said, “Once every two weeks the heads of the committee will meet with Sodexo, so it’s definitely possible I’ll sit in on those meetings.” Margolin told the Justice that he feels the current relationship between Sodexo and the student body is “what I wanted, in a lot of respects. And I want it to grow, and I want all the first-years to be added to the [committee’s Facebook] group, things like that, because it centralizes everything.” “If you’re upset about something and you complain to your friends in your dorm room, that doesn’t bring change. However, if you post in the Facebook group and then it becomes public, the people in the senate know about it, [and] the Sodexo administrators check the Facebook page so they can do something about it,” he added. Margolin also said that he was not worried about possible pushback from students displeased with the recent renovations to Sherman dining hall. “A lot of students say, ‘Why did the University spend 7 million of my dollars to renovate Sherman?’ There’s a few things to keep in mind: we didn’t pay for it, Sodexo paid for it. It was in the contract that they would hash out the money for [Sherman].” Margolin also noted that “there are certain structural things … that were seriously wrong and needed to be changed." “I think once the new committee gets that out to the students, they’ll [understand],” he added. Both Monaghan and Margolin were a part of a Nov. 12, 2014 panel in which students addressed concerns with Sodexo and dining services. Margolin moderated the panel while Monaghan spoke on behalf of Sodexo, along with Rabbi Chayim Zirkind and Senior Director of Operations Randi KatesPeirce. Students discussed contention with the 2014 meal plans and food waste, among other topics, according to a Nov. 18 Justice article. —Avi Gold contributed reporting.
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features
TUESDAY, September 1, 2015 ● THE JUSTICE
just
VERBATIM | BRUCE LEE If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 1985, a U.S.-French expedition located wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland.
Only female mosquitoes bite because they need the protein to help their eggs develop.
CREATING COMEDY: Michael Kaplan ’00 shifted his dream of becoming a singer/ songwriter to pursuing a career in comedy.
Standing out as a stand-up
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MINDY TUCKER
Michael Kaplan ’00 got his start in comedy while at Brandeis By BRIANNA MAJSIAK JUSTICE EDITOR
Brandeis alumnus Michael Kaplan ’00 considers himself “Small, Dork and Handsome.” Or, at least, the title of his most recent comedy album does. His album, following two previous ones, “Vegan Mind
I would say is where it gestated … and I was able to [do that] by performing on campus, [and by] finding out that there were places outside of campus to perform. It’s where it sort of activated the spark that was there with the idea that I could actually do it,” Kaplan said. On campus, Kaplan was involved
FEELING FUNNY: Kaplan has showcased his comedic abilities on shows like The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman. Meld” (2010) and “Meat Robot” (2013), has been dubbed by Mstarz as “undoubtedly his strongest yet.” This past summer, Kaplan put his comedic abilities to the test, as a stand-up performer on America’s Got Talent. Kaplan, who goes by Myq, pronounced “Mike,” is a stand-up comedian currently based in New York City. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and Comedy Central Presents. In 2010 he was a Last Comic Standing finalist on NBC. In an interview with the Justice, Kaplan explains that he did not know that comedy was a “thing” until he began pursuing his interest in music. “My dream was sort of born as a teenager, but at Brandeis
in the Chamber Choir Club and the a cappella group VoiceMale. He explains that in his senior year he decided to leave VoiceMale in order to focus that time commitment on pursuing his own individual goal. Kaplan then began to put his time into performing music at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square. Kaplan’s first performances at The Comedy Studio began in his senior year at Brandeis and continued up until 2002. “Certainly for all that time, I was always going on stage with a guitar. I would play a song, I would rip a little [and] I’d play another song… in the beginning I didn’t call it ripping, I called it ‘talking in between songs until they stopped laughing and [then] playing another song,’” Kaplan explained. He defined the
term “ripping” as similar to adlibbing. “I knew my songs were at least structurally funny enough to have a punch line at the end and make people laugh at them. But making people laugh with just words and no music, whether it was pre-written or via ‘ripping’ was this new exciting challenge.” It was throughout his time at the Comedy Studio that Kaplan realized his passion for stand-up comedy and shifted his dream of pursuing a singer/songwriting career to pursuing comedy. “I found out there were just open mic nights all over the city [Boston] and I started going to them,” Kaplan said. Kaplan’s persistence in pursuing comedy proved fruitful when he performed as a contestant on Last Comic Standing in 2010 on NBC and placed in fifth. “It was basically the thing that exposed me to the most people suddenly. Up until that point, and still in general, comedy is a gradual, you don’t become an overnight success really in one moment. It’s over the course of years and years of building things that people are like ‘Wow, where did this guy come from?’ This guy came from years of hard work, but because you’ve just found about him now, or her, or them, then it seems sudden. People all the time are still finding me online and being like, ‘Wow, I just watched the thing of you online; I’ve never heard of you but you were great.’ And they’re like, ‘Where have you been?’ And I’m like, ‘I’ve been here doing stuff, where have you been?’” Kaplan jokes. Kaplan also appeared as a contestant on America’s Got Talent this past summer. “It was a pretty super opportunity,” Kaplan said. “It’s not a show that obviously features stand-up, so getting to do 90 seconds or two minutes of comedy at a time, for anything—any performer; I’m sure a singer can’t even sing really a full song, [in 90 seconds] so it’s sort of not necessarily the most holistic version of what you do.” Kaplan’s previous experience on competition shows like Last Comic Standing helped him adjust to the nature of performing on America’s Got Talent. Although he did not win the $40 million prize, he was grateful for the opportunity to be in front of millions of potential new fans. “To this day still when I go perform almost anywhere—‘We saw you for the first time on The Last Comic Standing.’ It’s all sort of symptoms of the same thing. I was becoming a better comedian, and now that was being rewarded with opportunities of doing more comedy,” Kaplan explains. Although actively pursuing comedy, Kaplan continues to reflect on
his time at Brandeis. He graduated from Brandeis with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology and a double minor in Linguistics and Mathematics. “A lot of the classes that I took are things that I still think about ‘till this day,” Kaplan said. Semantics and Philosophy of Law were two of his favorite classes from his undergraduate career. He recalls discussing the meanings of words and concepts in his Linguistic courses and being very drawn to them—so much so that he decided to go to graduate school at Boston University for a Masters in Linguistics. Interestingly, his fascination for linguistics has factored into his career. Kaplan currently has a podcast called “Words of the Years” on the Howel network with fellow Brandeis classmate and comedian Zach Sherwin ’02. “That’s another thing that Brandeis did for me… it introduced me to a couple other great friends that started at Brandeis,” Kaplan
explains. On the podcast “Words of the Years” Kaplan and Sherwin examine different words that have been deemed the words of a year. “We talk about the words, the world, ourselves, our lives, our friendships. So we like working together on that, so what’s next might be working on more fun projects together,” Kaplan said. While thinking about the challenges of being a comedian, Kaplan notes that “some people say, ‘Isn’t it hard to not have a secure regular job with an IRA or a 41K or job security’ that kind of thing, and in this day and age, I feel like almost nobody has 100 percent job security. So [I’m] not trying to ask everybody else, ‘Hey how do you do your job?’—knowing that you might not have it in a year, but basically, nobody knows the future. Everything is potentially uncertain, so why not try to do the thing that you most want to do, that you most enjoy and are most good at hopefully?”
CLASSMATES AND COMRADES: Kaplan poses with longtime friend and comedian Zach Sherwin ’02, with whom he runs a podcast called “Words of the Years.”
THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, September 1, 2015
A return to the Renaissance The Brandeis in Siena art program inspires in its inaugural year
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
A HISTORIC CITY: Students on the Brandeis in Siena program this summer, traveled to Siena, Italy to immerse themselves in studio art and art history.
By Jaime Kaiser JUSTICE editor
She tries to explain the importance of being in the presence of original works of art, as opposed to their digital reproductions, by recounting a recent experience she had with a famed sculpture. “When you’re studying on a screen, you can’t imagine how big it is, the dimension of it,” says Myung Joo Khang ’16, an Art History major. “But when I was there, I was overwhelmed. Not only the size. I mean it’s tall, it’s very tall, but you know just looking at it ... it was the surface Michelangelo actually touched.” The piece of art Khang describes is none other than Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo di Lovovico Buonarroti Simoni’s “David,” located at the Galleria dell Accademia Museum in Florence, Italy. Khang visited the museum on a field trip along with 12 classmates just a couple of months ago. It was one of many cultural sites the group visited during the five weeks they participated in the inaugural year of the Brandeis in Siena program. Brandeis in Siena is a five-week intensive abroad opportunity for Art History and Studio Art students based in the medieval Italian city of Siena, organized in
cooperation with the Siena Art Institute (SART). Every day, students in the program took three hours of art history courses in the morning and three hours of studio art in the afternoon at SART, but through the program got to experience plenty of other experiential and cultural gems. Prof. Joseph Wardwell (FA) taught the “Painting in Siena” studio class, while an art history professor and coordinator from the art institute, Roberto Fineschi, taught “Early Renaissance Art in Tuscany from the Age of Dante to the Medici.” Both classes were taught in English. The program is especially unique in one significant way—its location. It bucks the trend of the 67-plus American study abroad programs that exist in the larger and more well-known Italian art mecca of Florence, though the group did go on excursions there and elsewhere around the country. “I’d say that there is no better place to study this period of Art History,” Fineschi explained in an email to the Justice. “The incredible advantage for those students that can have this experience is to see on-site the pieces we usually look at in PowerPoints. If you ask students, I am sure that they will confirm what a ‘shock’ it is to admire F.I. Duccio’s Maestà or Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Good Govern-
ment having those pieces in front of you: color, size, material; the location itself that most of times is the original one.” Siena was chosen in part because of an already-established relationship between the Brandeis Office of Study Abroad and the Siena Liberal Arts College. Wardwell also has a personal connection to the city, having studied there as a student himself in the 1990’s. Commenting on his role in teaching and developing the program, Wardwell says that he wouldn’t want to do just another study abroad program. “I wanted to do something very specific, it was a place I knew well, I knew the language,” he says. The first inklings of the Siena program began 10 years ago when study abroad office staff approached him. “In about 2004, 2005 —because studio art students were a historically low cohort of study abroad students,” says Wardwell. There aren’t many programs that combine Studio Art and Art History, but when Wardwell was devising the curriculum he felt it was crucial to build a fluid boundary between the two. “I wanted there to be a continuity to the program where it wasn’t that you were studying abroad and studying these two subjects, but it was that these subjects were connected to the place while you were
CULTURAL OUTING: Students and professors pose for a group picture while on a field trip in Florence to study and explore medieval art. PHOTO COURTESY OF CANDACE MATTA
located there.” The techniques they used for their compositions were far outside of a traditional painting class that would be taught at Brandeis. Commenting on the process, Khang said, “You actually see the process of artwork being made. You get to appreciate art not only as something to analyze but actually as something that was made by the artist.” One of the cultural highlights of the trip was the 2015 Palio di Siena, a horse race held twice each year, first in July and again in August. A horse from each of the 17 “contrade” or neighborhoods in Siena is represented. The tradition dates back to medieval times, and the deeply traditional nature of the ceremony is felt in the customs and celebrations associated with the Palio. Allison Simon ’17, a student on the trip, describes one of these traditions. “For example, I woke up at like eight o’clock in the morning, and then, suddenly, we hear really loud snare drums outside.And it’s weirdly loud this morning, so I look outside and a whole ’nother neighborhood comes into the neighborhood that I was living in and has a flag and snare drums out with the neighborhood I’m living in and it went on the entire day. This one contrada battled everyone that they walked by.”
Yet it would be only half the story to say that the program immersed them in Italian culture. Ironically, it took an eight-hour flight to a different continent to experience a new aspect of Brandeis culture. For Khang, the trip immersed her in a community which appreciated art in the same way she did. “It could happen anywhere, you know?” Khang muses—“it” being the great conversations and relationships she formed with her new circle of art-minded friends. “Maybe it could happen here, but that environment, that cozy and welcoming environment, made us all open up and care about each other.” Wardwell expressed enthusiasm about the program’s success and hope for its longevity. Next year, a Studio Art professor will be provided by the Siena Institute, and Prof. Jonathan Unglaub (FA) will teach the art history component of the program. Khang remembers liking every single day of the trip. One of the only things Wardwell would have changed was Siena’s summer heat. When Simon was asked if she would recommend the trip, she didn’t hesitate: “I would; I definitely would.” -Briannna Majsiak contributed reporting.
LEARNING BY EXAMPLE: Professor Wardwell talks to a student about technique while painting in the studio. PHOTO COURTESY OF CANDACE MATTA
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Max Moran, Editor in Chief Avi Gold, Managing Editor Hannah Wulkan Deputy Editor Morgan Brill, Rebecca Lantner, Jaime Kaiser and Grace Kwon, Associate Editors Abby Patkin, News Editor Brianna Majsiak, Features Editor Jessica Goldstein, Forum Editor Noah Hessdorf, Sports Editor Brooke Granovsky, Arts Editor Jaime Gropper, Acting Arts Editor Michelle Banayan and Mihir Khanna, Acting Photography Editors Emily Wishingrad, Online Editor Carmi Rothberg, Copy Editor Talia Zapinsky, Advertising Editor
EDITORIALS
Reinforce Chums’ student-led mission This week, Cholmondeley’s Coffeehouse reopened for business. The coffeehouse closed last March, and all of its 13 student workers were let go in response to the mishandling of a fire alarm during an event. As Chums prepares to reopens its doors, this board would like to propose a model to ensure that it remains properly and safely managed and maintains its tradition as a student-run organization. This editorial board believes that with its history as the only completely all-student-run food service on campus, it is important that Chums preserves its independence. However, this independence cannot come at the expense of proper training and hiring practices and oversight which must for now be enforced by the University. If the University is involved—perhaps more so in the beginning of the year as the coffee house is just reopening—it will be able to set a precedent for the kind of organization the students will be running. Leading up to the recent shutdown, Chums saw a number of managerial issues. A Sept. 21, 2014 article outlined the abusive hiring practices that were prevalent in the Chums culture, which cannot be continued. In an Oct. 7 2014 article, the Justice published that the coffeehouse had stopped serving food in late August due to an expired food permit—an oversight of Student Activi-
Implement safety procedures ties team members. And on March 6, the coffeehouse was not evacuated after a fire alarm, causing the subsequent shutdown. In light of these past issues, this board would like to recommend that the University specifically oversee such business as the implementation of nonhazing agreements (which is similarly a requirement for all campus clubs) as well as fire and food safety training. This University oversight would not alleviate students of their responsibilities for running the business, but would assist them in making important elements run smoothly, safely and fairly. The students in charge of Chums must also take responsibility for their actions and be held to the same standards as campus clubs, as well as to service industry standards. Ideally, student workers at Chums would be collaborating with Student Activities minimally to maintain healthy and safe practices surrounding the coffee house. This board would like to suggest that the Student Activities staff make Chums a priority early on as Cholmondeley’s reopens its doors. The reopening of Chums is a chance for the beloved coffee house to start afresh with safe and responsible practices and procedures, and this board wishes the staff luck in beginning.
Commend new farmers markets On Oct. 2, the Brandeis Rooftop Community Farm will host its second farmer’s market. The market will feature the newest harvest from the Rooftop Farm, located atop Gerstenzang, along with products from Waltham farmers’ market vendors. In an email to the Justice, Steven Canario, the new Sodexo general manager, expressed that the company is interested in working with the Rooftop Farm to provide produce for dining services. This editorial board applauds the Rooftop Farm for using a previously unused space to serve multiple functions. It now serves to bring communities together, serves as a medium through which students can garner real-world experience in farming and management and fosters a culture of healthy and local eating on campus. We would like to recommend that the executive board of the rooftop farming initiative pursue means of advertising the market to the Waltham public so as to foster more of a connection between Brandeis and the outside community. Because they have most of their needs met on campus through classes, services and extracurriculars, students often only interact with the Waltham community through community service initiatives, if at all. Opening up the market will provide students with a new venue to interact with the community and foster dialogue from campus, all while both Brandeisians and Waltham residents enjoy the product of students’ hard work. Such an effort reflects strongly on the University community, and displays the best elements of our student
Connect with Waltham body’s character. Likewise, although this editorial board recognizes the challenges of forming a relationship between Sodexo and the Rooftop Community Farm, we would like to encourage both parties to seriously work toward achieving that goal. In order to sell produce to Sodexo, Jay Feinsten ’17, the president of the Rooftop Community Farm said that the farm produce must be covered under the University’s liability policy. Ideally, Sodexo would also purchase the produce through the Community Supported Agricultural Program in order for the company to purchase the goods at wholesale prices and the BSC to still benefit financially. A collaboration, even as it would take work and time, would be a great achievement in improving both the quality of food on campus and the sometimes fragmented relations between Sodexo and the student body. For creating a campus garden that will provide fresh produce to the Brandeis community and also generates a medium through which Brandeis students can interact with the greater Waltham community, this board applauds the Rooftop Community Farm. We would like to see the Waltham community become more deeply integrated at the two farmers’ markets this year and urge Sodexo and BSC to work toward a collaborative relationship. We wish the Brandeis Rooftop Community Farm luck with their market and hope to see it expand in the future.
GRACE KWON/the Justice
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Ten years ago, four-fifths of the city of New Orleans was destroyed by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina--a storm that affected Florida, Cuba, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. By Aug. 28, the storm’s intensity escalated to a Category 5 storm with winds at 160 miles per hour, and 25,000 to 30,000 New Orleans residents took refuge in the Superdome. On Sept. 2, Congress approved a $10.5 billion aid package, and President Bush announced, “I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with the results.” By Nov. 21, estimates put the death toll at 1,306 people. Looking back, how did Katrina affect you, and how can the cities be better prepared for future superstorms?
Professor Jasmine M. Waddel (HS) When the hurricanes hit, the idea that I was created in New Orleans by two trailblazers who left their Gulf Coasts homes in Florida and Alabama to become the first in their families to graduate from college weighted me with a sense of responsibility for the resiliency of the region. To this end, I held a senior research position at Oxfam America where I led reports on the impact of the storms on the lives of socially excluded populations including the working poor, undocumented immigrants, women and people of color. I have an article, “Employment Change among Hurricane Katrina Evacuees: The Impacts of Race and Place,” with Sara Chaganti, coming out in a peer reviewed journal later this year that shows the benefits of remaining in place, despite disaster. All of my work suggests that empowering people through social justice advocacy is the only way to prepare for future storms. Prof. Jasmine M. Waddel (HS) is a visiting scholar at the Heller School. Her work on race relations in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina was published in Brookings Institution Press and in a New Republic blog post.
Rebecca Holman ’17 The effect Katrina had on me was, of course, a negative one, but I think many citizens of New Orleans can agree with me when I say one of the worst parts of Katrina was the response from the rest of the United States. At eleven years old, I heard news reports where people claimed that New Orleans deserved all that it got. People tried to tell us that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God. It was not. It was a failing on the part of the U.S. government to effectively protect its people. The Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency, was in charge of constructing and maintaining the levees that protected the city. Their levees broke, and not because a category five storm barreled through them. Katrina hit New Orleans as a category three. New Orleans was prepared, the United States was not. Rebecca Holman ’17 is a resident of New Orleans.
Professor George J. Hall (ECON) When I would read about disasters such as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 or the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, I used to think “Well, that could never happen today.” Boy, was I wrong. Like these disasters of an earlier era, Hurricane Katrina and the resulting destruction to the great American city of New Orleans was a natural disaster that became a man-made disaster due to a failure to plan and invest in infrastructure. Once the flooding began, our failure to look out for the most vulnerable in our society was exposed for the world to see. I don’t know where the next disaster will be. A tsunami off the Oregon Coast? Another superstorm coming up the eastern seaboard? Are we prepared? We can’t seem to take climate change seriously. Can we look out for the weakest among us when it does occur? I like to think that we learn from our history, but we will see. Prof. George J. Hall is a professor of Economics.
Molly Pearlman ’16 After Katrina devastated so much of the gulf coast, my father volunteered for a month in Louisiana with the Red Cross. Although this touched my family, I’d like to make it clear that it doesn’t matter how Katrina affected me. All I did was watch the destruction from my living room. What really matters is what people from the affected areas went through and are still going through. To prepare for future natural disasters, I support a serious implementation of evacuation plans, especially focused on the indigent, who have fewer options for a safe exit and sustained support. Unfortunately, I also believe in a sincere consideration of relocating the city’s population. I say this with an extremely heavy heart and with the awareness that NOLA has a soul. But as the sea levels rise, we creep toward the inevitable day when the city goes underwater for good, and that scares me beyond belief. Molly Pearlman ’16 is an undergraduate departmental representative for the American Studies department.
THE JUSTICE
READER COMMENTARY Condemn Cecil the lion hunting in international community In response to your article “Focus attention on international human rights issues” (Aug. 25): I applaud Jessica Goldstein for asking why the media doesn’t focus more on human rights violations in Africa and elsewhere. May I suggest, however, that the story of Cecil the lion’s slaying is a powerful reminder that, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Or as the white civil rights proponents who risked life and limb to demonstrate in Selma and register black voters said to their critics, you do not wait until the issue you relate to most is resolved before recognizing that all exploitation and discrimination are evil. Members of other species, like those of other genders, age groups, races and religions, deserve respect, and if we can learn to extend consideration to those we find difficult to relate to, then we will be all the more able to extend consideration to those we relate to more easily. I think Goldstein’s point is better made in attacking the media for focusing endlessly on Kim Kardashian’s derrière, salacious stories and fashion frivolity, which often dominate the front pages, where human and animal rights issues deserve to be.
——The office of Ingrid E. Newkirk, President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
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TUESDAY, september 1, 2015
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Support Amnesty prostitution decriminalization By CHRISTA CAGGIANO SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE
On Aug. 11, Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, voted to amend their policy toward prostitution: Amnesty will now support the decriminalization of all aspects of sex work. Outrage followed quickly. Celebrities, including Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, signed a viral Change.org petition urging Amnesty to reconsider their stance. The UK newspaper the Guardian started an onslaught of editorials condemning the action. American nonprofits, such as the Coalition against Trafficking in Women International, embarked on campaigns rallying against the change. Perhaps most important for the public, Lena Dunham got in a highly publicized Twitter battle criticizing the decriminalization of prostitution. These celebrities and organizations believe that decriminalizing prostitution will send the signal that not only is the exploitation of women acceptable, it is encouraged. The strong reaction to the decision was surprising to me as co-president of the Brandeis chapter of Amnesty International. Firstly, it is rare for major news organizations, nevermind Hollywood actors, to take interest in the bureaucratic proceedings of Amnesty. But even more so, the outrage is surprising to me because I believe at its core, the choice to support the decriminalization of prostitution is the most human rights centric choice. Aphorized as the world’s oldest profession, prostitution has existed in nearly every Western and non-Western civilization. Today, prostitution is roughly a $186 billion industry, according to the Havocscope, a research organization that studies black markets. There are 14 million prostitutes solely in countries where prostitution is illegal. In fact, China, a country with criminalized sex work, makes up about half of the interna-
tional total sex trade revenue. Despite this ubiquity, there is widespread human rights abuse. Societies shun prostitutes, causing Amnesty to consider them one of the most marginalized groups in the world. They are subject to rape, beatings, extortion and imprisonment. Human trafficking is a major concern. The International Labor Organization predicts that there are about 4.5 million people involved in forced sexual exploitation on a global scale. Furthermore, those in the sex trade out of their own volition often have no other option, blurring the lines of consent. In research published in the feminist magazine Off Our Backs, Patricia Barrera found that 92 percent of prostitutes wanted an escape from prostitution, 70 percent wanted alternative job training and 73 percent needed a home or safe place. She also enumerates that nearly 90 percent of prostitutes are incest and/or child sex abuse survivors who entered the industry, on average, at the age of 14. The human cost of prostitution is abhorrent. It should be made abundantly clear that Amnesty International does not support human trafficking or any human rights violations committed against sex workers. Yet, it is important to recognize the reality of the situation. Stopping all sex work is unreasonable and naïve. The criminalization of sex work not only penalizes women for their lack of choices, it prevents them from accessing services that could empower and protect them. Amnesty’s official policy, which is neglected by the media attention surrounding the decision, is that states must provide “adequate and timely access to support—for example, state benefits, access to education and training, or alternative employment” to those involved in sex work. Additionally, criminalization of prostitution means that it is much easier to imprison prostitutes- those actually committing the illegal acthan pimps, who are often the source of abuse.
Amnesty calls for laws that are more specific than the current criminalization, which would enact strict punishments for pimps and abusers. Workers would not be punished under this model, allowing them to be empowered to seek help if they desired it. Most importantly, decriminalization is a policy favored overwhelmingly by those in the sex trade. Amnesty spent two years researching the decision, most of that research being interviews with sex workers. The nonprofit Sex Workers Outreach Project, consisting of current and former sex workers, also supports the action, emphasizing that current media attention fails illustrate “that criminalization actually makes these inequalities worse.” A notable exception to this support is a recent New York Times op-ed, written by a former sex worker, which condemns Amnesty’s move to support decriminalization. The op-ed, however, denounces the policy change because Amnesty “wished to help women and girls in prostitution and mistakenly allowed themselves to be sold the notion that decriminalizing pimps and johns would achieve that aim.” This claim is patently false, as Amnesty makes very explicit that pimps would still be criminalized under their proposed program. What sex workers think of this issue is, frankly, all we should consider. Arguments over what is best for prostitutes, whether they stem from Lena Dunham or college feminists like myself, are incredibly paternalistic. Instead, we must remember that sex workers have human rights and listen to them to determine what they need to access these rights. We must fight to protect the human rights of all people and resist the temptation to tokenize any person because of their relationship to sex. —Christa Caggiano ’17 is the co-president of Brandeis Amnesty International.
Encourage presidential candidates to rethink anti-poverty policies By Ben FesHBach JUSTICE Contributing writer
Very few matters of public policy are as important as, and yet still consume as little political thought as anti-poverty policy. The political landscape is changing—Clinton declared in her campaign kickoff speech that “success isn’t measured by how much the wealthiest Americans have, but by how many children climb out of poverty”—but for the most part, such proclamations are candidates’ attempts to burnish their populist credentials, Hillary Clinton included. The deck is stacked against the (rapidly shrinking) middle class, as progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren remind us, but little has been said from any candidate that amounts to a fresh approach in helping communities mired in cyclical poverty. Perhaps this is because political candidates are loath to publicly ponder the question of who bears the ultimate responsibility for the persistence of poverty in America. The fact that more than one in five children in America is born into poverty may be appalling, but that has been the reality for so long that the American electorate seems oddly desensitized to it. Candidates’ refusal to challenge the orthodoxy on this matter makes basic political sense, considing that 44% of Americans are more “likely to blame poverty on circumstances beyond people’s control than they are to believe the poor aren’t doing enough to dig themselves out of it,” at least according to a 2014 poll conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. Denying the electorate a robust debate on this topic is denying all Americans an important public service. This is because public perceptions —and misconceptions—of those in poverty have made their way into the fabric of federal antipoverty policy, to the point where stereotypes of the poor have become statistical self-fulfilling prophecies. One such case of this is the 1996 welfare reform bill (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), authored by now-Ohio governor John Kasich, currently a GOP candidate for president, and signed into law by Bill Clinton, whose wife is the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination. According to Mimi Abramovitz, acclaimed author and social worker, racist and sexist stereotypes of ‘welfare queens’ (a.k.a. black mothers on welfare) were heard not only on television and talk radio but also on the floor of the United States Congress during the debate over welfare reform. Such stereotypes became woven into federal antipoverty policy. In a 2006 article titled “The Compassion Gap in American Poverty Policy,” Fred Block, professor at the University of California, Davis,
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wrote in the journal Contexts that welfare critics “insist that immorality is the root cause of poverty...but when assistance becomes inadequate, the poor can no longer survive by obeying the rules; they are forced to break them.” The origins of such stereotypes are well known. In the thirteen colonies, where Puritan-Protestant beliefs dominated everyday life, economic success as a result of hard work was deemed as a sign of God’s blessing. But what of those who were less fortunate? Nathan Scovronick, an associate dean at Princeton University, completes the logical puzzle: “I am an American,” he writes, “So I have the freedom and opportunity to make whatever I want of my life. I can succeed by working hard and using my talents; if I fail, it will be my own fault.” This attitude is embedded into federal antipoverty policy, especially where it comes to eligibility for government assistance; the 1996 welfare reform bill tightened eligibility for welfare on the premise that the ills of our society are caused and perpetuated by the unmitigated sexuality of poor unmarried women. And although not an explicitly discriminatory piece of legislation, the implementation of welfare reform following 1996 disproportionately affected members of minority communities. Current policy has failed as a
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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.
moral calculus—it implies a Catch-22 for those in poverty—and as an economic calculus, for since the economic downturn in 2008 those formerly covered by federal welfare have been hit even harder. But, apparently, it is successful as a political calculus, because this is still the way we talk. The website OnTheIssues.org documents candidates’ statements about all number of topics, including poverty and welfare. Not a single major candidate for president, save Bernie Sanders, has admitted, as he has, that “beating up on the poor is now good politics.” The other Democrats at least have been more supportive of programs that actually do help those in poverty, like increasing regulations on predatory banks, supporting universal pre-kindergarten education nationally, and demystifying the consumer’s role in our nation’s financial system. That isn’t to say no Republican supports any of these ideas, but by and large, Democrats have a much better track record of doing so. But almost every GOP candidate, it seems, feels obliged to chastise “government dependency” in some way, in favor of “personal responsibility.” The one exception to this is John Kasich, who, in defending his decision to expand Medicaid [under Obamacare] in the state of Ohio, said in 2013, “When I get to the pearly gates, I’m going to have
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an answer for what I’ve done for the poor.” But this was not received well by his fellow GOP governors: Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina, went so far as to suggest he was “hiding behind Jesus” in defense of his move. No one should deny that, often, personal choices lead to or exacerbate poverty, but when policies aimed at “reducing dependency” have been an abject failure in reducing poverty in the U.S., perhaps it’s time not only for a different approach but a different discussion entirely. Certainly, some individuals have been prophetic in calling for a different way of discussing antipoverty policy, among them Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times. He said, in November 2013, that “compassion is not a sign of weakness—it is a mark of civilization.” American voters in both parties should follow his example and demand of their candidates for president a detailed, sensitive and nuanced debate about poverty in America today. The fact of the matter is that, according to a 2013 study from the Pew Charitable Trust, 70 percent of Americans born into poverty remain there for their entire lives. The American Dream implies equality of opportunity, but each and every American is only afforded that opportunity if the proper policies are in place to guarantee it.
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Layout: Corey Cohen
News: Marissa Ditkowsky, Tzlil Levy, Nikki Nikova,
Illustrations: Ben Jarrett
Rachel Shaw, Arianna Unger Features: Rose Gittell, Mira McMahon Forum: Dor Cohen, Aaron Dvorkin, Mark Gimelstein, Kat Semerau Sports: Gabriel Goldstein, Elan Kane, Daniel Kanovich, Dan Rozel, Colin Warnes Arts: Ilana Kruger, Linda Maleh, Anna Stern, Vanessa Alamo Photography: Tommy Gao, Leslie Kamel, Amanda Nguyen, Abigail Rothstein, Heather Schiller Copy: Annie Fortnow, Yael Jaffe, Rebecca Shi Sabrina Sung
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TUESDAY, September 1, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Criticize leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s evolving character Jessica
goldstein uBUNTU
Pro-democracy activists call her “the Lady”—Aung San Suu Kyi. We use her name as a representation of the movement for democracy in the once military junta-ruled country of Burma. Her face rests on cardstock on my bedroom wall with the Burmese caption which reads “Freedom to Lead.” Today, however, her name means something rather different for the country’s minority populations than solely fighting for democracy. The woman who spent nearly two decades under house arrest fighting against the country’s nearly 50 years of military rule is succumbing to the pressure herself. She is allowing for minority groups like the Rohingya to be oppressed, failing to speak up. Her almost superheric persona has made her vulnerable to widespread criticism, and rightly so. This reminds me of the film The Dark Knight, where Harvey Dent expresses,”You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” In this, he means that there is a spectrum of evil in which choices we make define us as good and another in which the choices define as us bad. We need to stop plastering “the Lady’s” image on our walls and wake her up before she becomes Two-Face. Following years of colonization, the military government did everything in its power to establish a sole Burmese culture due to the everyday threat to Buddhist identity in the country. Colonial government sought to force its religious practice on the Buddhist majority country, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. With the opening of the country in 2011, the threat of violence against minority groups increased. The marginalized Rohingya population largely inhabits the northwestern Rakhine state, and the group can trace itself as far back as the 15th century Arakan Kingdom. However, the government under the rule of President Thein Sein completely disregards the existence of the Rohingya identity, classifying the minority ethnic group as Bengali. As a result, the Rohingya are often forced to either claim the Bengali ethnic identity in order to avoid
being stateless, or flee the country due to lack of any basic rights under the Constitution. The group grabbed international headlines this summer when thousands of Rohingya fleeing the country were stranded in the ocean. Estimates put the number of migrants at one hundred thousand, according to United to End Genocide. Furthermore, the population of people confined to modern-day concentration camps in the country with little access to basic medical care reaches 140,000. Suu Kyi’s failure to recognize the rights of the Rohingya is anything but laudable. A major critic of Suu Kyi’s ambivalence, the Dalai Lama, expressed, “I met her two times, first in London and then the Czech Republic. I mentioned about this problem and she told me she found some difficulties, that things were not simple but very complicated. But in spite of that I feel she can
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Her party, and perhaps the future of the Rohingya—hangs in the balance. do something.” Although many dedicated activists hope to attribute Suu Kyi’s uneasiness addressing the issue of the Rohingya to fear that the National League for Democracy will lose big in the upcoming Nov. 8 elections, that is no excuse for this approach, especially when she is taking so many other steps to alienate her own supporters. A ruling by the outdated Constitution forbade Suu Kyi from running for president because her late husband and children are all foreign nationals. However, the leader recieved deep criticism from the National League for Demcracy when vetting potential candidates for the upcoming elections. Many individuals deeply intertwined in the pro-democracy movement were passed over leading to rather controversial statements expressed by Suu Kyi herself. In Radio Free Asia, Suu Kyi expressed “The responsibility of the people is simply to vote for the party, and not the candidate.” Statements like these are the antithesis of what leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi have stood for for decades, and they have led many long-time supporters to leave the party. While
BEN JARRETT/the Justice
the country the officially progressed to a democracy, one of its main leaders is becoming more and more authoritarian. Aung San Suu Kyi has lost her edge, and her party—and perhaps the future of the Rohingya—hangs in the balance. Aung San Suu Kyi has a purpose. She is fearful of potential defeat of the NLD in Parliament. These concerns are far from unfounded, as the outdated Constitution—developed prior to the cessation of military rule—allocates a quarter of the seats to the military. In order to have a simple majority, the pro-democracy parties must gain two-thirds of the seats. That is a hard sell, as 40 percent of the seats are in minority concentrated areas where people will generally ally behind local candidates. While Aung San Suu Kyi represents a pro-
democracy movement that came well before my time, it is essential to understand her evolving character and identity. Perhaps Suu Kyi is just attempting to allow her party to win the simple majority in elections until she takes action for the Rohingya. In this case, we can in some way try to absolve her from the crime of apathy. However, my love and admiration of the Lady should not just be something of the past. For now, I suppose I will keep her image plastered on my wall. But this time, it is different. This time, our consciences should be clear when we question Aung San Suu Kyi as we realize she is only human. However, “the Lady” should forever and always maintain her sole image as the renowned, resilient, pro-democracy activist who saved Burma.
Preserve GMO technology to combat global hunger crisis By Alex Mitchell special to the justice
Over the summer, after a contentious legislative battle, the United States House of Representatives passed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act with bipartisan support, which sought to limit states’ ability to require the labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms. The bill was a response to the efforts of many state legislatures to require companies to label GMOs on all food, which supporters say increases transparency in the food supply. Opponents respond that GMOs have been shown to have no negative health effects, and research done by William Lesser, has shown that burdensome labeling laws could increase the food expenditure of the average American family by as much as $500 per year. But while GMOs may remain a contentious issue politically, there is a broad scientific consensus over their benefits. Firstly, I should point out that “GMO” is a bit of a misleading term. Basic farming practices such as selective breeding have been used for millennia to preserve certain genetic traits and even create unnatural organisms such as corn or chickens, but these products are never really thought of as unsafe or unnatural. The scientifically proper term for the modern “GMO” is “Transgenic Organism,” meaning that an entire gene from a different organism has been artificially added to the genome of the modified organism. One of the first attempts at a GMO crop was to take a gene that expresses an anti-freezing protein from a winter flounder and add it to the genome of a tomato, thus minimizing losses to freezer burn during shipping. While it may seem strange to be adding fish genes to a tomato, the process is considered perfectly safe, and all GMOs are thoroughly vetted by the Food and Drug Administration before ending up in the grocery store. The resistance to GMOs is often rooted in falsehood. No study has ever shown any causative link between any health problem and the consumption of GMOs. Despite this, many celebrities, food enthusiasts and environmen-
tal activists believe that there are many risks associated with GMOs. Every malady, from autism to Alzheimer’s, has been ascribed to the proliferation of GMOs, often in direct contradiction to scientific evidence. Anti-GMO activists will also claim that the process is not “fully understood” and that no concrete studies have been done to verify the safety of GMOs. Both of these claims are false. Transgenic organisms have been a staple of biology for decades, and literally thousands of studies have repeatedly rejected the claim that GMOs are unsafe. Despite the facts, anti-GMO activists have waged very vocal campaigns, and these sadly seem to be working. According to polling done by the Pew Research Center, only 38 percent of Americans believe that GMOs are generally safe, compared with 88 percent of members of the American Academy of Sciences. Activists have also launched coordinated campaigns against GMO labs, often publishing the addresses of researchers, sending death threats and even directly sabotaging labs.
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GMOs will become a common weapon in combating hunger and climate change.
There are numerous arguments for promoting and expanding the use of GMOs. The biggest argument is that using GMOs are simply more productive. GMO food, combined with other innovative agricultural practices, has allowed humanity to produce more than enough food to feed everyone on earth--although sadly because of waste and inefficiencies, world hunger is still a reality. Extensive research done by University of California-Davis’ Genetic Literacy Project has shown that
various GMOs improve yields, minimize crop loss to weeds and pests and even ship better, meaning that more people can eat more food for less money. GMOs are also more environmentally friendly. For example, organically grown potatoes naturally produce formaldehyde, a moderately dangerous chemical and known neurotoxin. But recently the Biotech company Simplot has created a new potato that not only produces less acrylamide but also requires less energy and pesticide to produce. Another advantage of GMOs is their increased efficiency. GMOs require significantly less energy and water to produce than their organic counterparts by increasing the per-acre yield and reducing losses to drought or disease. Studies done by PG Economics, an agriculture think-tank in the United Kingdom, have shown that yields can increase by as much as fifty percent, depending on the crop. One would think that the drought-ravaged and usually environmentally conscious West Coast would be leading the charge on expanding the use of GMOs, but many of the strongest opponents of GMOs in Congress and the media hail from Oregon, Washington, and especially California. Many GMO crops are also designed to require fewer pesticides than traditional or organic crops, which limits the ecological impact of agriculture. In short, GMOs are simply cheaper, more effective, and in general superior to traditional or organic crops. One would therefore hope that support for these miracle plants would be higher, but in truth GMOs have faced an uphill battle. Since GMOs first reached the market in 1994, numerous great advances in the field have been thwarted by unscrupulous activists. Recently, the British company Oxitec completed testing of a genetically modified mosquito in residential areas in Brazil. These mosquitoes produce offspring with a fatal genetic birth defect, so they can be used to remove large numbers of disease-carrying mosquitoes without the use of harmful pesticides. Furthermore, these modified mosquitoes are all male, so they pose absolutely no risk of bit-
ing humans or pets. While tests overseas have been overwhelmingly successful, these mosquitoes are facing an uphill legal battle in the United States. Despite these successful tests, anti-GMO radicals have lobbied the Florida government to prevent the use of these mosquitoes. The government who recently agreed to a moratorium on these new mosquitoes. This entirely unnecessary delay has exposed millions of U.S. citizens to dangerous illnesses such as dengue fever and West Nile virus. But there are even more tragic stories of stillborn GMO products. Golden rice is a form of genetically modified rice that has beta-carotene (a precursor to vitamin A) added to it. Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness, and according to the World Health Organization, in much of the developing world a vitamin A deficiency can be fatal, especially for children. The WHO estimates that as many as a quarter million preschool age children with this deficiency die every year. Research done in China by Dr. Guangwen Tang at Tufts University showed the amazing health benefits of golden rice. However, after her results were published in 2012, a massive smear campaign was launched against the project, featuring online petitions, celebrity appearances and government lobbyists. Pressure from activists led the Chinese government to actually arrest researchers who collaborated on the project, and the bad press led Tufts to bar Dr. Tang from conducting research on human subjects for two years. Attacks like these hamper the research and development of GMOs, leading to unnecessary human suffering. In a world of over seven billion people, efficient and environmentally sustainable agriculture is necessary to keep humanity fed. GMOs are a reliable and proven method of improving yields and minimizing environmental damage. Hopefully, we will learn to appreciate the wonderful advances this technology can give us, and GMOs will become a common weapon in combating hunger and climate change.
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THE JUSTICE
jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS
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Tuesday, September 1, 2015
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BASEBALL
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 led the team with nine goals. Player Goals Tyler Savonen 9 Michael Soboff 7 Zach Vieira 6 Josh Ocel 4
Assists Josh Ocel ’17 led the team with nine assists. Player Assists Josh Ocel 9 Evan Jastremski 3 Foti Andreo 2 Mike Lynch 2
UPCOMING GAMES: Today vs. Bridgewater St. Friday at Hardin-Simmons Sat. at Trinity (Tex.)
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
UPCOMING GAMES: Today at MIT Friday at Lasell Tuesday vs. Bridgewater St.
Sapir Edalati ’15 led the team with nine goals. Player Goals Sapir Edalati 9 Samantha Schwartz 9 Cidney Moscovitch 4 Melissa Darling 2
Assists Holly Szafran ’16 led 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
UPCOMING GAMES: Today vs. Babson Today at Colby-Sawyer Friday vs. Johnson & Wales
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 last Nov.
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
UPCOMING MEET: The teams will begin their seasons at the Roger Williams University Invitational on Sept. 5.
MIHIR KHANNA/Justice File Photo
LEFTY HACK: Outfielder Ryan Tettemer ’18 makes contact with the ball against Tufts University at home on April 4.
Carlson tapped as new baseball head coach ■ Derek Carlson ’91 follows former coach Pete Varney after his 34th season behind the Judges’ bench. By avi gold JUSTICE editor
Derek Carlson ’91 was announced as the new head coach of the men’s baseball team on Friday, succeeding Pete Varney and becoming the ninth baseball coach in university history. Varney retired at the end of June following a 34-year career as head coach that included an astounding 700 career wins, 12 NCAA Tournament berths, one trip to the NCAA Division III World Series and one Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament title. Carlson joins the Judges on the heels of 13 years as the head coach of the Roger Williams University baseball team, where he earned an ECAC title and was named Commonwealth Coast Conference Coach of the Year four times, including following the 2014 season. Carlson compiled a 261-267-7 record during the course of his coaching tenure at Roger Williams but holds a 131-100 record in conference play against CCC opponents. In the 2015
season, Roger Williams entered the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed and upset the top three squads at the tournament en route to the CCC Championship Game. Carlson also coached the Roger Williams squad to a school-record 38 victories in the 2008 season, a year in which one player was named to the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association All New England 3rd Team, one was named to the CCC All Conference 1st Team and two were named to the CCC All Conference 2nd Team. Prior to coaching at Roger Williams, Carlson was an assistant coach at Wheaton College for six seasons. There, Carlson served as the recruiting coordinator and helped lead the team to three NCAA Tournament berths. During his tenure Carlson was also the head coach of the New England Mariners AAU baseball club based in Danvers, MA. Carlson began his coaching career as an assistant to Varney in 1991 and remained with the Judges through the 1996 season. While an assistant at Brandeis, he was also an instructor at the Mo Vaughn Baseball Camp, the Four Seasons baseball camp and the Pete Varney baseball camp. Varney announced his retirement
at the end of June following a season during which he earned his 700th career victory as head coach. Only three other Division III coaches have accomplished that feat, and Varney ends his coaching career with a standout 705-528-6 record. Varney mentored the Judges only professional player who made a Major League Baseball Roster, pitcher Nelson Figueroa ’98, and had more than 50 players named to the Division III All New England teams and 100 All University Athletic Association team members. Varney also coached four UAA Players of the Year and six UAA Rookies of the Year. Carlson was a career .313 hitter under Varney, starting all four years behind the plate. He was named to the All UAA team three times and was invited to the prestigious Cape Cod League after his junior season. “This is an honor and a privilege,” Carlson said in a press release. “I learned so much under coach Varney, both on and off the field. I’ve seen the kind of players that he has brought in from the opposing dugout, and I am looking forward to working with them myself.” Last year, the Judges finished with a record of 13-20 and 2-6 in UAA conference contests.
PRO SPORTS BRIEF Forward LaMarcus Alridge and the San Antonio Spurs lead the NBA’s biggest off-season moves As the National Basketball Association offseason begins to settle down, it is time to look back at the frenzy that was. Be they ineffably impactful free agent acquisitions, potentially franchisealtering draft selections or head coaching shake-ups, this offseason had a more active and edge-of-yourseat character than past years. Of the abundant significant offseason moves, there are three that stand alone as the most important, in both the near future and the long-term. First and foremost, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected center KarlAnthony Towns of the University of Kentucky with the first overall pick in the NBA draft. Few teams have shown the same sort of potential that the Timberwolves did last
season. Despite their atrocious record, the talent they threw on the court every night was hard to ignore. With reigning Rookie of the Year forward Andrew Wiggins polishing his game with each passing contest, along with Spanish wiz-kid point guard Ricky Rubio and high-flying guard Zach Lavine, the Timberwolves showed that, though they are not yet ready, they will soon become significant again. Not only should Wolves fans be thirsting to see their young stars in action next season, but the rest of the NBA community should eagerly await the emergence of what will likely become one of the league’s most entertaining young teams in recent memory. Second, LaMarcus Aldridge said goodbye to the Portland Trailblazers
and went home to Texas to join the San Antonio Spurs. Each year, you hear casual NBA fans swear that the Spurs are done. It is the same stale argument —they are too old, too slow and to be facing too many other elite teams to remain great. But, as they do each and every year, the Spurs find a way to silence their detractors. More often than not, they use their play on the court to do the talking. However, this off-season, they swiftly hushed the “too old” argument not with their play but their front office savvy. In convincing four-time All-Star forward Aldridge to make the move to the Alamo City, they have not only found a successor for forward Tim Duncan—a future Hall of Fame inductee—but they
have found a way to stay relevant for at least the next four seasons. In addition to locking up Aldridge, the Spurs managed to make the moves necessary to bring back a sharpshooting defensive-stopper in guard Danny Green. With Aldridge, forward Kawhi Leanord and talented veteran point guard Tony Parker anchoring the Spurs’ offense, the team looks to be in good shape. Finally, the New Orleans Pelicans recruited Alvin Gentry and signed center Anthony Davis to a whopping five-year, $145 million contract extension. With a young core of point guard Jrue Holliday, guard Tyreke Evans and forward Ryan Anderson, and one of the game’s best players, Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans appeared primed
to become a force entering the 2014 to 2015 season. However, they found themselves swept by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Their disappointing exit made way for the hire of Alvin Gentry, the architect of the Warriors’ historically efficient offense. With Gentry at the helm, the Pelicans are sure to blossom into one of the better teams in not only the West but the entire league. Such success is expected well past this season—with the re-signing of Davis to the league’s biggest contract ever, the Pelicans appear to be in a position to use the next few seasons to become serious championship contenders. —Gabriel Goldstein
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Sports
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POWERFUL SLAM The National Basketball Association was home to a frenzied off-season this summer, p. 15.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
SWINGING AWAY
Waltham, Mass.
BASKETBALL BRIEF Squad travels abroad to play international competition The women’s basketball team took its time off during the summer and used this time to improve itself both on and off the court. The team traveled to Spain to play some basketball and also grow the chemistry between the players. The Judges are looking to build off of a season in which they went 16-12 in overall play and 5-9 against the conference and captured the Eastern Conference Athletic Tournament title. Playing better against University Athletic Association conference opponents will be a key for the squad to put together an impressive season. The team will look to turn around losses from last season against rivals such as the University of Chicago and the Washington University in St. Louis. The Judges were defeated by both of these teams twice during the 2014 to 2015 campaign, with the biggest loss coming on the road at Chicago by a score of 86-69. Victories against fellow UAA members Carnegie Mellon University, Emory University and Case Western Reserve University were instrumental in the Judges’ success last season. Those results will look to be copied this year, as the squad will play all of those teams twice in the coming season. Key non-conference opponents for the coming year include matchups with regional rivals Tufts University, Emmanuel College and Roger Williams University. Last year the Judges narrowly defeated Roger Williams in a 73-
AMANDA NGUYEN/Justice File Photo
REACHING BACK: Haley Cohen ’18 takes a backhand stroke in a match against New York University at home on April 18.
Judges look to begin fall season strong ■ The teams will play at
the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals on September 25. By daniel kanovich JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Both the men and women’s tennis teams look to get off to a fast start to the 2015 to 2016 season with their fall lineup of exhibition matches. The seasons begins on Sept. 19 at the Middlebury Invitational for the men and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals on Sept. 25 for the women. Last season, the men finished with a record of 9-10, and the women finished with a similar record of 11-10. Both teams are looking to improve on those records, despite the departure of a combined six graduating students between the two teams. The men got off to a very slow start last year in competitive play, starting the spring season 1-5
before picking up their play in the latter half of the season. Ryan Bunis ’18 commented that he “thought we didn’t do as well as we were hoping. We got a national ranking, but a lot of the big matches we didn’t perform our best. Some guys were fighting through injuries so that was tough as well. But we worked really hard in the off-season and our team culture and camaraderie was the best I had ever seen it.” Three of the five losses came during the team’s trip to California in February, where they were defeated by California Lutheran University, the University of Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Upon returning home, the men added road losses to Middlebury College and Stevens Institute of Technology to their tally. Their only win in that six-game stretch came against Chapman University, the first match during the team’s trip to California. A big loss for the Judges was that of their two captains from the previous season. While Bunis acknowledged the loss, he was optimistic,
saying, “I think our captains, Danny Lubarsky and Brian Granoff, will fit into the role nicely.” The women’s team got off to an even worse start than the men’s team, going 1-3 on their trip to California before returning to the east coast to add four more losses to their record against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury; Wesleyan University and Tufts University. The women turned their season around against Bates College, where they won a close 5-4 match and proceeded to go 9-1 to finish off their season of nonchampionship play. Unfortunately the momentum ended in the University Athletic Association Championships, where both teams finished in fifth place. Bunis and the squad are looking forward to the upcoming year. “I think Brandeis Tennis can be a Top 10 team competing for an NCAA spot at the UAA conference tournament, no question. … Everyone is hungry to put Brandeis Tennis on the map.”
71 showdown that went down to the last minute. With the squad facing a ninepoint deficit on the road, it went on a 15-4 run to narrowly win a tight contest. The team followed up that game by beating Emmanuel by 11 points in a game that it controlled for all 40 minutes.The women hope to repeat those performances against Roger Williams and Emmanuel this coming winter season. The showdown with Tufts in particular will be one to circle on the calendar. Tufts defeated the Judges last season en route to a Final Four appearance in the Division III National Championship. It will be imperative for the team to win these games before heading into a tough conference schedule against UAA opponents. The Judges will be fully loaded for the winter as they only lost one player, guard Hannah Cain ’15, to graduation. Key contributors, such as guard Frankie Pinto ’17, forward Maria Jackson ’17 and center Olivia Shaw ’18 will all be returning to the starting lineup for the team. While in Spain, the team got a chance to matchup with the Europe Basketball Academy. The competition posed an important experience for the squad, as it exposed them to an international team with a different style of play. The Judges hope to build off of this positive experience as they look ahead to a successful 2015 to 2016 season. —Noah Hessdorf
SOCCER BRIEF Soboff accepts offer to play soccer overseas in Israel Brandeis graduate and men’s soccer forward Michael Soboff ’15 has become just the second player in the university's history to play professional soccer. The Framingham native recently signed with Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan FC of the Israeli Liga Alef South Division. The club is located in Ramat Gan, a city in the district of Tel Aviv, and was recently relegated to Liga Alef from Liga Leuimit, the second tier of the Israeli soccer system. Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan looks to bring itself back up in the standings table by adding a dynamic scorer and play-maker in Soboff. Before coming to Brandeis, Soboff spent the first two years of his college career playing for Division I Rutgers University. In his two seasons on the Judges, Soboff scored 13 goals and compiled 12 assists in 39 contests. An incredible nine of those 13 ended up being the game winners of the match. His biggest goal came in last season's NCAA Division III Championship’s opening round against Husson University. Soboff also finished his senior year earning NSCAA All-New England honors while also being chosen as the NSCAA National Division III Player of the Week in September but missed some time
due to a leg injury. As a team, the Judges finished with an overall record of 35-8-2 in the two years that Soboff reigned on the pitch. He helped send the squad to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013 and the Elite Eight in 2014 while also ending the 2014 season No. 6 in the NSCAA Division III national poll and No. 7 in the D3soccer. com poll. The only other player to play professional soccer for the Judges was Cleveland Lewis ’78. Lewis was part of the inaugural Brandeis Sports Hall of Fame class in 1993. He played for the Memphis Rogues of the North American Soccer League (NASL). After Lewis, it had been more than thirty years since a Judge had signed a professional soccer contract. Joining Soboff on Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan will be an opponent with whom Soboff and the Judges have faced off before, Luke Finkelstein of Division III Wheaton College. Soboff was also named as the first Brandeis Athlete of the Week presented by the Chateau Restaurant Group. Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan’s opening contest of the season will be against Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa on Sept. 25. —Noah Hessdorf
JustArts Volume LXVIII, Number 2
Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Waltham, Mass.
Linda Bond: Reconnaissance »19
Interview Column—justArts interviews upcoming UTC director Ayelet Schrek ’17 » 18 Staff Summer Movie Picks
INSIDE
Staff choose their favorite summer movies including ‘Trainwreck’ and ‘Ant-Man’ » 21
‘Unreal’ A summer television show gives a glimpse into the inner workings of reality television. » 23
New Rose Exhibits The Rose Art Museum’s fall exhibits include inventive installations, a collaboration with the Israel Museum of Jerusalem and pop-out drawings from across America. » 20
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justARTS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
CALENDAR
INTERVIEW
What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this summer
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS
Campus Center Theater on Sunday from 8 to 11 p.m. and is sponsored by Hillel Theater Group and Tympanium Euphorium.
Brandeis Ballet Company Audition
For experienced ballet/contemporary dancers. This is a chance to audition for the Brandeis Ballet Company, a new performing group sponsored by the Ballet Club. It will be combining training at the barre with work on choreography under the direction of the new artistic director Michelle Dennis. Look forward to collaborating with musical groups on campus. The audition is in the Intercultural Center Multipurpose Room today from 8 to 9:30 p.m.
Documentary film screening and discussion: ‘One Rock, Three Religions’
This documentary film screening and discussion will feature the film’s producer and director. Director of the film, Isaac Hertz, and producer, Valentina Castellani Quinn, will introduce One Rock Three Religions. They will be joined for a post-film discussion by Brandeis Prof. Kanan Makiya (dept. of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies) who is featured in the film; David Ellenson, Acting Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies; and Bobby Sager ’76, Chairman of Polaroid, Founder of the Sager Family Traveling Foundation & Roadshow and of the Young Presidents’ Organization Peace Action Network. Drawing from this powerful statement, One Rock, Three Religions explores humanity’s connection to one of the world’s most revered and disputed places, Jerusalem’s Haram Al Sharif or The Temple Mount. The screening will be in the Wasserman Cinematheque on Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and is sponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, the Film, Television and Interactive Media Program and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.
Ayelet Schrek ’17
Schrek discusses role as ‘Nightingale’ director Photo by MIHIR KHANNA/ the Justice
This week, justArts spoke with Ayelet Schrek ’17, the director for the Undergraduate Theater Collective’s production of The Love of the Nightingale, JustArts: What motivated you to join the production of Nightingale? Ayelet Schrek: When I saw For Colored Girls, I realized that I needed to direct this semester. I went home and I read two plays. I read The Love of the Nightingale and I actually also read Ruined, funny enough. ... I decided that I would propose The Love of the Nightingale. Last semester, we had so many conversations in the UTC about gender and race, and I wanted that to be something that we continued talking about through theater. JA: When you said you felt like you had to direct, what did you mean by that? AS: I do a lot of theater, obviously. More and more, I’ve been gravitating towards directing and playwriting and less and less acting, although I still love acting. I directed my first year for [Boris’ Kitchen], and then I was like, “Yep! I’m gonna’ direct this year.” The question was what kind of theater do I want to be doing, because I was going to do something. So I just decided it would be directing. JA: Do you have an ideal cast in mind, and if so, what would they be like? AS: It’s a 16-person cast. Which is a lot. I’m actually thinking very specifically about this cast, because I want to do a racially conscious casting. It’s really important to me that this be a discussion, and that every person who wants to can be represented in this play. ... So this play definitely gives opportunities to both men and women, and also anyone who is not of [those] genders, you know, again, [are] welcome to audition. Also, although it’s not explicit in the text that it’s about race, there’s so much language in there—a lot of themes of otherness—and it’s a really good play to racialize and bring that element in. ... The play is about sexual violence. Sexual violence can be gendered, and it can also be racialized. So I really want to talk about all [of] those things. JA: Did you expect have any challenges as director? AS: My number one fear right now is casting. It’s going to be really intense. Last time I did a common casting, I cried, and I was only casting six people. This is going to be a really intense experience. [Directing] is going to be a challenge, because I definitely have fear about the topics I’m dealing with. I mean, sexual violence is a really hard thing to talk about. And race is a hard thing to talk about. So I want to make sure that [through] the conversations I’m having, I create a safe environment. JA: Do you have a favorite scene of the play? AS: No. The writing itself is very stylized—it’s mythic. There are moments of the plays that are more intense than others. Each moment kind of is its own thing, too. ... Each moment kind of brings its own aspect to the play. So I don’t necessarily have a favorite. For me, the way it all comes together is what’s so exciting about it. JA: What do you hope the audience will take away from the show? AS: In the ideal world, this play could spur us all to talk about things like violence, and racialized and gendered violence. Maybe our campus would start really dealing with those issues ... I just think I want people to—maybe people who haven’t been as comfortable talking about those things—to maybe gain some comfort talking about them. Or maybe feel uncomfortable but talk about it anyway. Or just enjoy a show. ... I know personally, I’ve seen shows that years later will still kind of be in my mind and influence me. Not necessarily in explicit ways. I would love for this to be a night of theater that people remember.
—Brooke Granovsky
24-Hour Musical
Come see students put on a musical in just 24 hours. This once-a-year production is an unmissable show. The performance will be in the Shapiro
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS
‘Popular Artist Series: An Evening With Harry Connick, Jr.’
‘Boston Ballet at Home Program 1’
An unsung contemporary of George Balanchine, Leonid Yakobson was born in St. Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century and suffered severe persecution for retaining his Jewish identity. Noted for an “explosive” and experimental style, Yakobson’s innovative work was censored by Soviet authority for challenging classical ballet. Boston Ballet will shed new light on Yakobson’s transformative style, presenting Pas de Quatre, an elegant expression of romanticism to be reprised later this season, and Rodin, a breathtaking work set to musical excerpts by Berg, Prokofiev and Debussy. Following each performance, Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and author Janice Ross will delve into the world of Yakobson’s groundbreaking, yet suppressed, influence. This program marks the 40th anniversary of Yakobson’s death. Witness this rare performance in an intimate space like no other and join Boston Ballet in honoring the legacy of a brilliant choreographic voice. The performances will be on Sept 17 and Sept 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through bostonballet.org.
‘MFA: Yours Sincerely, John S. Sargent’
illuminate his artistry and reveal the spaces of his labor. The exhibit will be on view untill Nov. 15 in Gallery LG26 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
In celebration of the recent gift to the Museum of Fina Art of The John Singer Sargent Archive, which establishes the Museum as the center for Sargent scholarship, this exhibition selected from the archive and the MFA’s collection brings Sargent’s era to life, enhancing our understanding of the man and his work. The show features watercolors, prints, drawings, correspondence and photographs arranged around several themes. Caricatures of Sargent by his friends and fellow artists Henry Tonks and Max Beerbohm add a dose of humor to our view of this hardworking artist, while sketches, props and photographs of his studios
Made famous by his 1993 Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas, Connick will perform at Tanglewood as part of their ongoing music series. Connick has sold ten number-one jazz albums and seven top-20 US albums. He has been signed to music label Marsalis Music since 2003. Connick has also acted in 2007’s P.S. I Love You, 2009’s New In Town, 2011’s Dolphin Tale and 2014’s Dolphin Tale 2. This event will take place on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Koussevitzky Music Shed in Lenox. Connick will perform a musical set as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Popular Artists Series. Tickets for indoor seats to Connick’s concert start at $29 and are available at bso.org.
Museum of Science: ‘The Science Behind Pixar’
The Museum of Science’s latest exhibit—a world premiere—explores the mechanics of the science and technology behind various Pixar movies. The exhibit is interactive and highlights how science, technology, engineering and math fields play into Pixar’s movies. ‘The Science Behind Pixar’ is divided into eight sections, with each new section taking a critical perspective on an aspect of the movie making process. These sections include modeling, rigging, surfaces, sets and cameras, animation, simulation, lighting and rendering. These many sections allow viewers to gain a deeper understanding of how animators use digital tools to tell Pixar’s entertaining stories. The films included in the exhibition span generations, starting from Toy Story—a film almost 20 years old—and continuing on to Inside Out, which was released just under two months ago. This exhibit is on view at the Museum of Science in Boston until Jan. 10. Admission will be by timed ticket only, and tickets are available at mos.org.
POP CULTURE n !
By Ilana Kruger
ww
Last week, I looked at some of the upcoming fall shows debuting on traditional broadcast networks, but there are also some exciting new shows coming to online streaming services. Since most of us watch television online nowadays, it makes sense that platforms such as Netflix and Amazon are now creating their own original shows to compete with those on broadcast networks. Netflix, arguably the leader of the streaming pack, has been riding high with the popularity of its original content, from political drama House of Cards to prison dramedy Orange is the New Black. This summer’s Daredevil was the first of five Marvel shows that will debut on Netflix, which plans to release a show set in the Marvel superhero universe every six months. The next installment is Jessica Jones, starring Krysten Ritter as the show’s titular heroine, a former Avenger now working as a private investigator. The show has no official release date yet, but it will debut sometime before the end of 2015. Though the release date hasn’t been announced, Netflix is also developing its reboot of the beloved 90’s family sitcom Full House—which will ingeniously be titled Fuller House—sometime in early 2016. Original star John Stamos, reprising his role as Uncle Jesse, is also on board as a producer. Candace Cameron-Bure and Jodie Sweetin will return as sisters D.J .and Stephanie, and other original cast members are slated to make guest appearances, including Bob Saget, Dave Coulier and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It’s been twenty years since the original show ended its eightseason run, which means the characters will be introduced to a new generation of viewers, fittingly on an entirely new platform. With the huge success of last year’s Transparent, Amazon is continuing its string of unique shows with the upcoming The Man in the High Castle. The show explores an alternate version of history; it is set in 1962 in a world where the Axis powers won World War II and the United States split in two. The Man in the High
CREATIVE COMMONS
YOU GOT IT, DUDE: John Stamos will reprise his role as Uncle Jesse in a reboot of Full House. Castle follows Juliana and Joe, played by Alexa Davalos and Luke Klientank, respectively, as they investigate a series of illicit newsreels. The show’s ambitious plot might seem confusing, but reception to the January pilot (which Amazon released before ordering the full series) was very positive. The series will premiere in full on Nov. 20. Hulu has yet to have an original show become as huge a hit as shows from other online broadcasting platforms, but with Mindy Kaling’s popular show The Mindy Project moving to Hulu from Fox for its fourth season, the service might get a boost in viewership. Unlike Amazon and Netflix, Hulu releases its original series on a weekly basis, as opposed to
releasing whole seasons at once. Going against the binge-watching phenomenon is a risky move for a service still gaining its footing in the original content game. If the upcoming series The Way, or Lost creator JJ Abrams’ project, 11/22/63, gain enough popularity, the strategy could work to Hulu’s advantage by enticing subscribers to keep tuning in to the new episodes. What makes these services different from traditional television is, of course, exclusivity. If you aren’t subscribed to Netflix or Amazon Prime, you don’t get the content. So far, Netflix is still the leader in terms of subscriptions, and its upcoming lineup of original shows should keep it at the top.
ARTS COVER IMAGES: MORGAN BRILL/ the Justice. DESIGN: MIHIR KHANNA/ the Justice.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
ART EXHIBIT
WSRC exhibit highlights war’s devastating effects By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
War has been a part of society since humanity’s earliest days. Tribes warred with one another before countries took their place and continued the fighting. Linda Bond’s exhibit Reconnaissance, on view at the Women’s Studies Research Center until Oct. 27, questions how today’s society still tolerates this ancient and archaic practice. The exhibit takes a critical perspective of America’s wars and conflicts in Middle Eastern countries, specifically in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The exhibit uses drawings, maps layered under collages, newspapers, sound and installations to make its point about war’s damaging effects. Its black-and-white drawings focus on women wearing hijabs and on American soldiers. The figures were drawn with gunpowder and graphite on paper, embodying the impact of war even in their materials. Many of the characters in the drawings have ambiguous expressions or body language. In “Untitled (Volunteer)” (2005), a soldier with her hair in a bun looks off of the paper and to the right. Her eyes are almost closed, but they do not look focused on anything. She looks worried, with prominent lines by her mouth and under her eyes. She seems to embody the artist’s notion of tired soldiers; alert and ready for action, but not completely awake or fully aware of what they’re doing. The center wall holds rows of 16-by-12 inch maps that make up “Shadow War” (2012-2015). The maps represent a selection from Bond’s 400 piece series. They are made of archival ink on paper, covered by cut Mylar on paper. The Mylar creates a collage effect, making the small black Mylar airplanes and helicopters look out of place.
The collage is reminiscent of childhood projects, and it gives the maps a more whimsical feeling. It makes the viewers feel as if fighter planes and reconnaissance helicopters are part of some elaborate game. Toward the back of the exhibit is a wall covered in rows of newspapers. “War Language Series” (2015) consists of 11-by-11 inch folded newspapers, printed with archival ink and gunpowder on paper. A semi-opaque film bearing a word or phrase from the paper’s articles obscured the newspapers. The most interesting and haunting part of the exhibit is the sound installation, “Remote Control” (2013-14). Bond collaborated with Richard Brotman to put together the moving piece. The installation consists of three monitors sitting on a black desk. The outer two monitors click through aerial pictures of war zones, while the middle monitor displays footage of bombs being dropped and targets being hit. The footage comes from a variety of sources, including wikileaks.org, cbsnews.com and Apacheclips. A pair of large black headphones relays the sound accompanying the clips. Soldiers can be heard congratulating each other on targets hit, using language that would sound more at home in a video game. They shout expletives in celebration when they successfully track and target two men, and shout “bam!” in encouragement when bombs are dropped on other fleeing targets. The installation reinforces the idea that war, especially seen from this light, is treated too lightly. The installation’s game-like setup, title and sounds emphasize how war has become overly simplified, allowing people to engage in it while forgetting its human costs completely. The exhibit’s other installations are two small houses. “One to One
Installation (detail)” (2015) showcases the bare bones of two 6-foot houses, one with paper walls and one without walls at all. The house without walls has a unique floor. The floor is made of woven newspapers and is filled with drawings, hung one under the other from the top of the roof. The drawings depict hamsas: colorfully decorated Middle Eastern symbols for peace. Their placement above the headlines hints that maybe peace should be placed as a higher priority than the war described by the newspaper’s headlines. The house with walls showcases a similar message, emphasizing the importance of education, an aspect of society victims of war often are forced to forgo. Letters written in English and Arabic by refugees of war in Arab countries cover two of the wooden house’s walls. The letters detail the refugees’ struggle to find a way of educating their children, or to access education themselves. The letters listed the writers’ names, districts, ages, and other details about their lives before and after the wars. Many of the letters were accompanied by drawings of homes and schools. The house is missing a final wall, which is replaced by a projector that superimposes pictures of Arab women onto a screen on the opposite wall of the house. Reconnaisance presents a nuanced portrayal of the negative effects of war. The exhibit goes beyond depicting war’s obvious destruction. Instead, it focuses on how casually soldiers can execute their country’s plans and how mundane the media coverage of serious conflicts has become. The exhibit is not without a dash of hope: “One to One Installation (detail)” (2015) reminds the viewers that prioritizing education and peacebuilding efforts might serve as alternatives to armed conflicts and wars.
Photo by MORGAN BRILL/ the Justice
SYMBOLS OF PEACE: A hamsa, representing peace and protection, hangs from the roof of one of the two houses in “One to One Installation (detail)” (2015).
Advertise in theJustice and reach the entire Brandeis community! Run your ad for the rest of the semester and receive a 25-percent discount. Perfect for advertising local businesses or club events.
To place an ad or for more information, contact Talia Zapinsky at ads@thejustice.org.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
ART EXHIBIT
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND DAVID ZWIRNER
Rose Art Museum fall exhibits 2015 By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
‘Rose Art Video 07’ ‘The Brood’
Nira Pereg’s Rose Art Video 07 is a collaboration with the Israel Museum of Jerusalem. The video showcases religious histories and rituals. It also highlights spaces that are contested by the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND BRAVERMAN GALLERY
Lisa Yuskavage’s The Brood focuses on the relationship between panels, figures and the human body. The exhibition explores how depicting the human body can be an act of defiance,and how
painting has historically encouraged acts that disregard the status quo. Yuskavage’s work merges high-craft art and oil painting, and the artist keenly emphasizes the finer details of different figures.
‘The Undisciplined Collector’ The Undisciplined Collector evokes a homey feel, focusing on pieces from the university’s history. Curator Mark Dion selected works from the Rose’s permanent collection and from other collections from different places on campus. The exhibit features an interactive environment with pieces that helps give context to the Rose’s collection.
‘LA/MA’
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSE ART MUSEUM
LA/MA presents a selection of 1960s pop art to provide context to other pieces from that genre in the Rose Art Museum’s collection. The exhibit’s title plays on the fact that the show presents works from both East Coast and West Coast artists. LA/MA takes viewers back to a time when art and different styles of art were specific to different regions, creating a coastal divide across America. The exhibit will showcase new acquisitions alongside pop art works from the Rose’s collection.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY
‘Foster Mural: Joyce Pensato’ Foster Mural: Joyce Pensato displays Joyce Pensato’s work with cartoons and distortion. Pensato takes popular figures from American cartoons and
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ESTATE OF JASON RHOADES, GALERIE HAUSER & WIRTH AND DAVID ZWIRNER
changes them, affecting more aggressive body language and aggressive expressions. The artist works exclusively with 1Shot enamel paint.
‘Multiple Dimensions’
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND PETZEL
Jason Rhoades’ Multiple Deviations will bring new installations to the museum. The installations play off of the themes of labor, craft, class and culture. Rhoades has said that he understands his work as separate parts of a coherent whole, and this idea is evident in the exhibit through the inclusion of multiples of his sculptures.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
FILM
Staff Picks: Summer Movies ‘Trainwreck’
By VANESSA ALAMO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Summer 2015 was an exciting couple of months in the film industry. Personally, I enjoy a good laugh, and who better to deliver the laughs than ex-Saturday Night Live actor Bill Hader and stand-up comic Amy Schumer in a hilarious romantic comedy? Trainwreck, directed by Judd Apatow and written by Schumer, is a funny yet touching film about a girl who breaks societal norms but still finds love in an unexpected place. The movie centers on Amy (Schumer), whose father has suffered immensely after his divorce and convinced both of his daughters that monogamy is not real. Naturally, growing up with a father who never recovered from such a difficult life event impacts Amy’s own life and her views on relationships. Amy’s life is chaotic, and viewers witness her trainwreck through Amy’s lack of emotional connection with numerous averagelooking guys. Her lack of emotional connection and physical attraction make it easy to carry a commitmentfree life. Unfortunately, the pitfalls of Amy’s casual lifestyle become more apparent when she begins falling in love with a “good guy.” Amy meets this “good guy” while writing a news story about a sports doctor, Aaron Conners (Hader), who is set to perform the first leg adjust-
ment surgery on a professional athlete. On the case, Amy is obligated to follow Dr. Conners through his research and preparation for this historic event, which forces Amy to become vulnerable with a partner. Many romantic comedies involve an opposites-attract storyline. Similarly, in this film, Amy begins falling in love with Dr. Conners and genuinely struggles to accept this new emotional attachment. Astounded by her feelings for Aaron, Amy seeks advice from her friends and family
‘Paper Towns’ on how to engage in a mature relationship. Toward the end of the movie, Amy’s wild lifestyle catches up to her and prevents her from establishing a secure relationship with the doctor. Although this film has a sappy ending, the drama of the film never eclipses its comedy; laughter begins from the minute the film starts until the last second of the final scene. I highly recommend this film to anyone craving to laugh along with Hader and Schumer in their trainwreck relationships.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MCTCsmpus
TWO FAMOUS COMEDIANS WALK INTO A BAR: Comedians Amy Schumer and Bill Hader play love interests in Schumer’s New York based comedy “Trainwreck”
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ By JAIME GROPPER JUSTICE EDITOR
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is a visually stunning look into a barren post-apocalyptic world. The film is the fourth installment in the Mad Max franchise and is directed by George Miller who directed the three earlier films in 1979, 1981 and 1985 respectively. The film begins in Immortan Joe’s (Hugh Keays-Byrne) citadel, a small hierarchical cult surrounded by wastelands that serves as one of the few places where humans can actually survive. One of my favorite aspects of the movie is that while Mad Max (Tom Hardy) may be the titular character, the movie really focuses on Furiosa (Charlize Theron). Furiosa is an exceptionally driven female character who leads an escape out of Immortan Joe’s citadel. Joe’s wives are held as breeding prisoners because they lack physical deformities, unlike the majority of the population. Max ends up joining Furiosa in the escape, but Furiosa proves
again and again that she is just as capable as—if not more than— Max in every way, even with only one biological arm. Furiosa, in my opinion, is the true victor of the movie. The world of Mad Max is one ruled by water, oil and transportation. The movie is packed with car chases across all sorts of landscapes. In fact, the entire movie can be viewed as essentially one giant car chase between Furiosa’s escape party and Immorten Joe’s army which is sent out to bring back his wives. While people driving cars taking up the majority of film might have made it boring, the chase stays fully attention grabbing. The cars move in non-cliché maneuvers, the obstacles they encounter are original and the cars themselves, the “war machines,” are decked out in weapons with intense war decorations. One car in the army of The War Boys serves the sole purpose of having giant guitar amplifiers and the Doof Warrior strapped in, playing an electric guitar that
By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
A typical day in Nerdfighteria, the online community surrounding brothers John and Hank Green, involves puns and deep discussions. The Green brothers run a Youtube channel called vlogbrothers in which they discuss current events and make jokes. Lately, the brothers have found that their own work shows up more and more in the media and pop culture. John Green is a writer known for his popular books such as The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns. The Fault in Our Stars’ movie adaptation opened in summer 2014 to incredible and laudatory reviews. Paper Towns, Green’s most recent movie adaptation, opened this summer on July 25. Directed by Jake Schreier, the movie follows the nerdy, 18-year-old Quentin “Q” Jacobson (Nat Wolff) as he chases his elusive and popular next-door neighbor, Margo (Cara Delevingne). In the film, Margo recruits
Q for her night of pranks and shopping trips before she disappears the next day. Q is baffled by Margo’s disappearance and romanticizes her departure and her identity while positioning himself as Margo’s savior. After a lifetime of crushing on Margo, Q does not want to lose his shot to “get the girl.” He decides to try and find Margo, eventually teaming up with his friends Radar (Justice Smith), Lacey (Halston Sage), Ben (Austin Abrams) and Angela (Jaz Sinclair) to go on a roun trip to find Margo. Paper Towns helps capture the easy way in which teens (and people in general) fall in love with the ideas of people rather than the people themselves. When Q finally finds Margo, she explains that Q has idealized her and that she did not leave town just so he could find her. Margo’s explanation is heavy handed, but it gets the book and film’s point across. To quote from the Paper Towns book, “What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.” PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
MAD WORLD: Charlize Theron plays Furiosa, a fierce one-armed soldier who leads an escape attempt that leads to a a massive car chase in Mad Max: Fury Road. also shoots out flame. Amid all of the post-apocalyptic films currently being produced, Mad Max: Fury Road manages to be excitingly original.
A LOST CAUSE: Q (Nat Wolff, above) leaves town to search for Margo, his long-time crush who has run away and does not want to be found.
‘Ant-Man’ PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
By MORGAN BRILL JUSTICE EDITOR
SMALL BUT MIGHTY: Paul Rudd portrays the titular character in Marvel’s Ant-Man.
In a summer that gave us some rather disappointing superhero movies—I’m looking at you, Fantastic Four—Ant-Man served as a relatively low-key and altogether charming take on the superhero we make fun of after we can’t think of any more jokes about Aquaman. Marvel has been taking the world by storm with its production of movies about superheroes. Films centering on Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor and several other well known superheroes have done exceptionally well at the box office. It may seem that Marvel’s making of a movie focusing on
Ant-Man is simply a last-resort attempt to squeeze all the money it can from the popularity of superhero movies. However, Ant-Man proves that Ant-Man can stand on his own. Directed by Peyton Reed, AntMan tells the story of bad-guyturned-superhero Scott Lang, played by the ever-charming Paul Rudd. After being ousted from his own company, scientist Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, tricks Lang into taking on the guise of Ant-Man. Pym is cognizant that the technology to shrink human beings down to the size of ants would be dangerous in the hands of the all-encompassing Marvel Universe cult-of-badguys, Hydra. So Pym coerces
Lang, recently released from San Quentin prison, to infiltrate his company and destroy all of the evidence that such technology ever existed. Ant-Man, who was one of the original Avengers, first appeared in Tales to Astonish in January 1962. Movies featuring Ant-Man have been in the works since as early as 1980, and the most recent incarnation of a script was written in 2003 and pitched for the first time in 2004. Rudd actually helped rewrite the script in 2014 with the departure of Edgar Wright, who wrote the original script with Joe Cornish. It is clear, at the very least regarding Rudd’s own character, that Rudd had a hand in writing
a lot of his own dialogue, as he seems to very much be playing himself. The Los Angeles Times review of the film remarked that it was “playful in unexpected ways and graced with a genuinely off-center sense of humor,” which the most dedicated of Paul Rudd fans have come to love. Ant-Man did a phenomenal job of embracing the plot’s inherent silliness while still serving up enough action to satisfy the part of me that just wants to go to a summer blockbuster and watch things blow up. All in all, Marvel’s casting was what made this movie what it was—an enjoyable and endearing addition to the Marvel Universe.
Join the Justice Photography Staff!
Contact Michelle Banayan and Mihir Khanna at photos@thejustice.org
Do you enjoy museums, music, theater or movies?
Write for Arts! Contact Brooke Granovsky and Jaime Gropper at arts@thejustice.org
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
TELEVISION
Netflix’s ‘Wet Hot’ revives cult movie By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
Camp is a funny place. Young staff members act as authority figures, taking care of young campers while still creating their own memorable summer moments. The cult movie Wet Hot American Summer (2001) explores this unique relationship between campers, counselors and head staff members. The film gently mocks writer and director David Wain’s experience at a Jewish summer camp and is notable for starring a host of now well-known actors—including Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd—before they were famous. While the film details a group of counselors’ last day at Camp Firewood, the Netflix prequel series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp does the opposite. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp was (fittingly) released over the summer, on Jul. 31. It consists of eight episodes, each with titles such as “Lunch” and “Staff Party” corresponding to different parts of the main character’s first day at Camp Firewood. First Day of Camp reunites the film’s original cast of counselors and staff, including Coop (Michael Showalter), Lindsay (Elizabeth Banks), Andy (Paul Rudd), Katie (Marguerite Moreau), McKinley (Michael Ian Black), Ben (Brad-
ley Cooper), Suzie (Amy Poehler), Abby (Marisa Ryan), camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo), chef Gene (Christopher Meloni) and the camp’s neighboring professor Henry Newman (David Hyde Pearce). In addition to the star-studded cast, the series features several high profile guest stars.Wain guest stars as Yaron, a counselor from Israel who ends up dating Coop’s girlfriend Donna (guest star Lake Bell). Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig plays a counselor at Camp Tigerclaw, a rival and more upscale camp across the lake. Key & Peele’s Jordan Peele plays Lindsay’s boss at Rock World, where she worked as a journalist before going undercover as a counselor at Camp Firewood. Other famous comedians that appear on the show include Michael Cera (as a camp lawyer), Jon Hamm (as a hired assassin), John Slattery (as a visiting theater director) and Chris Pine (as a reclusive musician).One of the most interesting parts of the series is seeing how the campers and staff evolved into the people they were by the last day of camp. The series adds to the movie’s events by explaining several of the main characters’ backstories. First Day of Camp demonstrates that Coop hadn’t always been lovestruck over Katie, his love interest in the film. Instead, Coop spends his first day at camp worrying
about when his sort-of girlfriend Donna would arrive. In the film, Camp Firewood’s fearless director, Beth, deals with several camp disasters before finally facing the climactic asteroid threat on the last day of camp. In the series, Beth loses her husband to a giant vat of toxic waste, leading her to confront the government about the vat’s dangerous location on camp property— all in only eight hours. In addition, in the original film, arts counselor Gail (Molly Shannon) divorces her husband on the last day of camp, but in the series, her other divorce takes place on the camp’s first day. After a long engagement, Gail gears up to marry Gene, only to amicably leave him at the altar for Jeff (Randall Park), a city hall records clerk who Gail met around lunchtime that day and divorced just a few hours later. The series allowed for more time to focus on different main characters. My favorite outcome of this dynamic is Lindsay’s storyline. Lindsay starts off the series with a pitch to her editor at Rock World, describing how she has heard about camp in sensational terms and expresses the need to find out what camp is like for herself. When she arrives at camp, Lindsay makes friends easily and quickly learns the camp’s secrets. These secrets include the fact that an almostfamous musician and Camp Fire-
wood alum, Eric, is said to live in an abandoned cabin on the camp’s outskirts. Lindsay finds Eric and uses her expertise as a rock reporter to help him finish his track. The talented Banks plays Lindsay with poise and enthusiasm. For a series whose actors are in their 30s to 60s when their characters are in their teen years, it would not be unreasonable to expect that viewers would be forced to suspend a great deal of disbelief. However, Banks’s portrayal of a journalistturned-camp counselor somehow rings as honest and compelling, despite the unlikelihood of it ever occurring in everyday life. First Day of Camp provides con-
text, explanations and additional plotlines for the Wet Hot film. While it is not strictly necessary to have seen the film in order to understand the series, viewers will benefit from being able to compare the characters’ journeys from their first to last days of camp. If that’s not enough, Netflix released in conjunction with the series on July 24 Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot, a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage from the film. The documentary will allow viewers to make a similar comparison between the development of the characters at camp and the evolution of the actors in their careers.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MCTCampus
CAMP THEATER: Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper portray camp theater counselors Suzie and Ben on Netflix’s new series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.
TELEVISION
‘Unreal’ gets behind-the-scenes of reality tv
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
RUTHLESS PRODUCER: On Unreal Shiri Appleby plays Rachel Goldberg, a producer for the fictional reality show Everlasting who creates exciting drama.
By JAIME GROPPER JUSTICE EDITOR
Unreal, Lifetime’s new scripted look at the inner workings of a
reality television show, strongly presents the case that reality shows are, in fact, very much not reality. The first ten-episode season of Unreal aired this summer, and the
show has already been picked up for a second season. Unreal takes place almost exclusively on the set of Everlasting, a fictional, Bachelor-esque reality show. Female contestants compete through various romantic challenges, dates and parties for the affections of a British millionaire bachelor Adam Cromwell (Freddie Stroma). Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) is a producer on the show who is considered to be a “closer”—someone who sets the stage for the necessary drama to happen. Essentially, Rachel’s job is to slyly make people do and say things that will move the show in an exciting direction, often without them realizing that she’s guiding them along. Much of the drama in the show within the show—Everlasting— comes from this “producing” technique-creating drama that isn’t really there, a technique that Unreal strongly suggests that actual reality shows heavily utilize. The show emphasizes that editing is a major feature of reality production, and production is centered on making sure every detail is captured on camera so that everything can be ripped apart and meticulously pieced back together in exciting ways. A fair amount of screen time is spent in the control room of Everlasting where producers vigorously plot and plan how to create drama and where the contestants are thought of not as people but as means to an end. Unreal succeeds in proving just how unreal reality shows can be. For example, on one of Adam’s romantic dates with a contestant
they go goes horse-back riding, but the shots of them galloping away are completely fake. While real horses are present on the set so that cameras can capture shots of the couple sitting on actual horses, the riding sequences are created with an electronic rig that uses a fake body of a horse and simply goes up and down as it is dragged along. However, Unreal also suggests that many of the main plotlines are derived from seedlings of truth. The bachelor may be coerced by producers into choosing people who will make for an exciting story to stay on the show until the next week, but some are chosen to stay because genuine friendly relationships have formed. In addition to drama arising from the producers’ creation of spectacle for Everlasting, it also comes through in the producers’ personal lives. Rachel quickly finds herself in a sort-of love triangle with cameraman and ex-boyfriend Jeremy Carver (Josh Kelly) and with Adam, the bachelor himself. Rachel’s boss Quinn King (Constance Zimmer), the executive producer of Everlasting, and Chet Wilton (Craig Bierko) have a whirlwind romance involving affairs, drugs, engagement, breakups, lawsuits and pregnancy. Unreal packs in the amount of drama in one season that other shows might spend several seasons covering. Since Unreal at times seems like a true exposé of the intricacies of the reality show business, the speed at which the plot surrounding the producers unfolds serves as a reminder that Unreal is, in fact, fictional.
The production behind Everlasting is vulgar, sexist and politically incorrect. Unreal even picks up right after Rachel has returned to working on Everlasting after having a breakdown due to her frustration with the compassionless manipulation that “producing” the contestants involves. However, the Everlasting producers completely acknowledge that they do horrible, and sometimes illegal, things to the contestants. The producers put them into unhealthy situations without consideration for what’s best for the contestants, such switching out needed medications, bringing an abusive ex-husband onto the show to get a reaction from a contestant, and using the emotions from the death of a parent to capture someone acting crazy. The producers know what they what they do is horrific, but as they say, you have to do what you have to do to make good television. Although Shiri and King play seemingly heartless and ruthless characters, they still evoke a sense of empathy and reliability. You are forced to ask yourself the ethical question: if you were in their positions, would you act the same? Rachel does struggle with her conscience throughout the show. As a viewer you struggle with a similar guilt of wanting the producers to be terrible in order to see what their terribleness will produce. Unreal utilizes an innovative format to be a fun and fascinating look at the intricacies of producing reality television. Overall, Unreal is just as addicting as reality shows can be.
24
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
TOPof the
PHOTOS CORNER
Brandeis TALKS
CHARTS for the week ending August 29 BOX OFFICE
Quote of the week “Social justice isn’t just this idea that we talk about it. It is something that Brandeis students put into action every day; [we] make that one word come to life.”
1. Straight Outta Compton 2. War Room 3. Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation 4. No Escape 5. Sinister 2 6. The Man From U.N.C.L.E 7. Hitman: Agent 47 8. The Gift 9. Jurassic World 10. Ant-Man
--Jay Feinstein (page 1)
What fall TV show are you most looking forward to?
NYT BESTSELLERS
MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice
WATCH YOUR STEP: This unique and artistic angle of the staircase leading to Usen Castle from Gosman Athletic Center was captured on a sunny day by Justice Editor Michelle Banayan ’18 on Monday, Aug. 31.
Josh Luger ’16
“’Monday Night Football.’ I’m a huge fan of sports and I’m excited that it’s coming back.”
FEATURING CREATIVE PHOTOS FROM OUR STAFF This feature showcases our photographers’ work capturing small moments around campus
CROSSWORD
Keturah Walker ’18
“’Empire’ because it has a lot of my favorite actors.”
Joseph Arciprete ’17 “I don’t watch many TV shows, but I’m excited to just watch the Patriots, in general.”
Zhuo Zhang ’17 “I just finished ‘Orange is the New Black,’ but I don’t follow fall TV shows because school just started and I’m really busy.”
ACROSS 1 “__ Plus 8” 5 “__-Devil”; Meryl Streep movie 8 __ even keel; steady 9 Trousers 12 Actor Bridges and his namesakes 13 Marge and Homer’s youngest 14 Edible pod 15 Bernie and others 16 Actor on “The A-Team” 18 Suffix for Japan or Nepal 19 Not bananas 20 “I’ve __ Secret” 21 “__ and the Fatman” 23 Church table 24 Singer & songwriter __ Redding 25 Boring 26 Composer, entertainer and producer George M. __ 28 Singer Nelson __ 29 “__ She Great”; Bette Midler film 30 Actress Ward 32 Advanced degree, for short 35 Public prosecutors: abbr. 36 Disposable razor brand 37 Sean Connery or David McCallum 38 Mayberry resident 40 Mr. __; nearsighted cartoon character 41 “__ the Dragon”; Bruce Lee film 42 “Boy, Did __ a Wrong Number!”; Bob Hope movie 43 “The __ Commandments” 44 Phil Mickelson’s pegs DOWN 1 Nuts 2 Role on “Black-ish” 3 Expression said in mock fanfare to call attention to something impressive 4 Jr. naval officer 5 “Star Trek: Deep __ Nine” 6 Broom Hilda and others 7 One of Canada’s two official languages: abbr. 10 Role on “NCIS” 11 Mattress brand 12 Foot digit 13 “Spider-__” 15 West and others 17 Street paver’s goo 19 “I’ve Got You Under My __”; Cole Porter song 20 Happy 22 Rat-__-tat; knocking sound 23 Alan of “M*A*S*H” 25 Lugosi or Bartók 26 “El __”; Charlton Heston classic
Nonfiction 1. Plunder and Deceit—Mark R. Levin 2. Between the World and Me—TaNehisi Coates 3. The Wright Brothers—David McCullough 4. Being Mortal—Atul Gawande 5. You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)—Felicia Day
iTUNES
1.The Weeknd—“Can’t Feel My Face” 2. R. City feat. Adam Levine— “Locked Away” 3. Silentó—“Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)” 4. One Direction—“Drag Me Down” 5. Rachel Platten—“Fight Song
BILLBOARD
1. Luke Bryan—Kill The Lights 2. Ed Sheeran—X 3. Dr. Dre—Compton 4. N.W.A—Straight Outta Compton 5. Various Artists—NOW 55 6. Melanie Martinez—Cry Baby 7. Taylor Swift—1989 8. Bullet For My Valentine— Descendents 9. Future—DS2 10. Sam Hunt—Montevallo Tayor Swift—1989 Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com. 27 Siouan-speaking tribe 30 Radio personality Howard __ 31 Goof up 33 “Puss in __”; animated film 34 “__ Z” 36 Busy as __ 37 Cooking herb 39 Mel the Giant 40 Cambridge univ
STAFF’S Top Ten
Disney Renaissance Films By JAIME KAISER JUSTICE EDITOR
Solution to last issue’s crossword Crossword Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service, Inc.
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.
The Disney Renaissance refers to the era beginning in the late 1980s and ending in the year 2000 during which Disney Studios experienced a period of revived creativity, producing some of their most beloved and critically-acclaimed animated films. I was obsessed with these movies before I could properly pronounce the names of their characters--(for example, Pokeyhonkins and John Smits)--so I’m pretty sure my Disney-related opinions count as facts. From best to worst: 1. Pocahontas 2. Aladdin 3. Mulan 4. Beauty And The Beast 5.The Hunchback Of Notre Dame 6. The Lion King 7. The Little Mermaid 8. Tarzan 9. Hercules 10. The Rescuers Down Under
Brittany Duncan ’18 “’How to Get Away with Murder’ because there’s so much suspense and drama.” —Compiled and photographed by Michelle Banayan/the Justice.
Fiction 1. Go Set a Watchman—Harper Lee 2. The Girl on the Train—Paula Hawkins 3. All the Light We Cannot See— Anthony Doerr 4. Friction—Sandra Brown 5. Alert—James Petterson and Michael Ledwidge
Solution to last issue’s sudoku
Sudoku Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service, Inc.