ARTS Page 21
FORUM Acknowledge genocide in Darfur 12 SPORTS Women grab two top spots 16 The Independent Student Newspaper
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Justice
Volume LXVII, Number 25
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
FACULTY
ADDRESSING ACTIVISM
Hill honored as Professor ■ Anita Hill, who has been
at Brandeis since 1998, was awarded the title of University Professor. By ZACH REID JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
During its March 26 meeting, the Brandeis University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to award Anita Hill the position of University Professor. Hill is a professor of Social Policy; Law; and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and a senior advisor to the provost. “I am absolutely honored and thrilled with this appointment,”
Waltham, Mass.
Hill told the Justice in a phone interview. “I really do owe so much to my colleagues for their support and encouragement,” she added. The title of University Professor is a prestigious award bestowed upon “faculty members of surpassing eminence whose work cuts across disciplinary boundaries, who have achieved exceptional scholarly or professional distinction within the academic community, and whose appointment will enhance the reputation and prestige of the university” according to an April 15 BrandeisNOW article. Hill has been a member of the Brandeis faculty since 1998, when she visited the campus and became
See PROMOTED, 7 ☛
BRIEF Lawsuit filed against University On April 9, an alumnus filed a lawsuit against the University for its founding of “false allegations of sexual misconduct” against him by his ex-boyfriend, another Brandeis student. The alumnus—referred to in the complaint as “John Doe”—filed a complaint with the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, demanding a trial and asking for $75,000 in damages. The University has 60 days from the time the complaint was filed to either respond to it or dismiss it. According to Doe’s complaint, he wishes to “obtain equitable and declaratory relief for legal damages based on causes of action for violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, breach of contract, invasion of privacy,” and more. In January 2014, Doe’s exboyfriend—referred to in the complaint by the pseudonym “J.C.”— filed a Community Standards Report with the University alleging that Doe had “numerous, inappropriate, nonconsensual sexual interactions” with him over the course of their 21-month relationship, according to the complaint. Doe was placed on emergency suspension, the complaint states, following J.C.’s filing of the CSR. In the months following, the two students entered into a Special Examiner’s Process, which the 2014-
2015 Rights and Responsibilities handbook describes as the process used “in cases where the University receives a report from a willing accuser who is a current Brandeis community member ... and determines that one or more possible violations of section 3 or gender-based behaviors from any other section exist.” The April 9 complaint comes after Doe filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education this fall alleging that “Brandeis wrongly disciplined him, violated Title IX’s mandate that both parties involved in sexual misconduct cases be treated fairly, and failed to equitably consider John’s claim that, if what John did violated the University’s sexual misconduct policies, then J.C. ... was equally culpable of sexual misconduct toward John,” the complaint states. On Apr. 15, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education published an article about the April 9 complaint, writing that: “By implementing a seriously flawed procedure and abandoning common sense in order to discipline Doe, Brandeis effectively set a standard that makes everyone who’s ever been in a relationship guilty of sexual assault.” The University did not respond to request for comment by press time. —Rachel Hughes
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES: Bond spoke about his work advancing social justice for African Americans during the Civil Rights era.
Civil Rights activist Julian Bond speaks at University ■ Bond's talk focused on
his work under the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his subsequent work in politics. By ARIANNA UNGER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday March 31, Rapaporte Hall erupted in applause before Julian Bond—a civil rights activist, politician, professor, writer and actor—even spoke a word. Bond gave a talk titled, “How I Got into the Movement.” His lecture was part of a three-day event organized by the Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life. Atop the podium, University President Frederick Lawrence greeted Bond and handed him a certificate for the Brandeis Richman Fellow-
ship Award. As explained by Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS), the Richman Fellowship Award is presented to “individuals active in public life whose contributions have had a significant impact on improving American society, strengthening democratic institutions, advancing social justice or increasing opportunities for all citizens to realize and share in the benefits of this nation.” According to the University’s website, the award was created by Dr. Carol Richman Saivetz ’69 and her children, Michael Saivetz ’97 and Aliza Saivetz Glasser ’01, in honor of Carol’s parents, Fred and Rita Richman. Bond began his talk by describing his early engagement in the Civil Rights Movement, which included organizing student activist groups at his alma mater, Morehouse College, and facilitating sit-in protests at downtown Atlanta lunch coun-
See BOND, 7 ☛
Garden for a cause
Solid contact
Awareness march
Students to End Alzheimer's Disease (SEAD) hosted their first Alzheimer's Awareness Week.
The men's baseball team fell on the road at Roger Williams University by one run, losing 6-5.
Students from B.SASV and FMLA marched to promote awareness of sexual assault.
FEATURES 9 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
ters. Bond recounted the story of his first arrest at age 20, when he led a group of students into the segregated cafeteria in the basement of Atlanta City Hall. Bond described his experience studying under the tutelage of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1962. Bond was one of eight students in King’s social philosophy course at Morehouse College—the only college course ever taught by King. Bond then spoke about his major contributions to the formation of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, an organization devoted to eradicating segregation and giving the younger black population a more prominent voice in the Civil Rights Movement. He explained how the organization endorsed the tactic of nonviolent resistance when protesting racial inequality, arguing
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INDEX
SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 9
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2015 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
2
TUESDAY, April 21, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
NEWS SENATE LOG
Senate discusses University labor practices in final meeting of the year On Sunday, the Senate convened for its last meeting of the semester to hear from a club seeking charter and from students seeking to share a referendum with the student body, as well as to discuss end-of-year business. The Be Bold, Be Bald group—represented by James Machado ’16—presented to the Senate, seeking recognition. The club does an annual fundraiser for cancer charities during which participants wear bald caps and raise money for charity. Next, the Quiz Club members Jacob Edelman ’18, Zach Schwartz ’18, and Marc Siegel ’18 presented, seeking charter. The club wants to host tournaments at and sees tournaments as an opportunity to talk about social justice, they said. The club, which participates in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, sought charter in order to get funding for transportation, which would allow them to attend competitions out of state. The senate asked about the benefits of chartering and whether it would allow the club to host tournaments. The students said that it would and clarified that money gained from tournament entry fees would go to the Quiz Club, not to the University. The students were asked to step out, and the senate discussed the charter briefly, mentioning that the students had researched the history of their club at Brandeis and that they had been meeting with Senator David Herbstritt ’17 this semester as part of the Club Support Committee. The senate voted unanimously to charter the Quiz Club. Secretary Charlotte Franco ’15 motioned to add the Brandeis Labor Coalition’s referendum to the agenda, and the Senate proceeded into conversation with two students representing the BLC about the referendum. Andrew Nguyen ’15 and Marisa Budlong ’15, both members of the BLC, presented to the Senate a referendum that the club worked up regarding labor practices among University employees. The two sought the signatures of 10 senators on the referendum, which is required to send the referendum to the student body for a vote. Both spoke about campaigns that the BLC has initiated over the past year to investigate whether employees at Brandeis are paid a living wage. This semester, they said, they found that Sodexo workers were not being treated fairly, inspiring them to begin the referendum, which they called a “just employment policy.” The policy features seven points, mandating the following: that all employees be paid a living wage; a harassment-free work environment; the insurance of safe and effective grievance procedures; respect to workers’ right to organize and vote on unions; the upholding of union agreements; the prioritization of secure, full-time employees; and the creation of oversight infrastructure. A senator pointed out that the definition of “staff” at the University, in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, includes faculty and student employees and asked if the just employment policy would extend to students. Nguyen replied that “the workers we want to protect the most are full time staff,” but said that BLC’s official position is that the policy would have to extend to students. The requisite 10 signatures were obtained on the just employment policy, and Franco told Nguyen and Budlong that the next steps before sending it to the student body as a referendum for a vote would involve communicating with her, Student Union President Sneha Walia ’15 and Chief of Staff Flora Wang ’15, as well as compiling statements for and against the referendum. The senate skipped executive officer reports. The executive senator, Herbstritt, reported that committees are wrapping up for the semester. Franco then announced that this had been the senate’s last formal meeting for the semester and thanked the senate. On April 28, she said, the new Executive Senate will be elected in an executive session, at which the senate will also appoint new Course Evaluation Guide editors. Franco reminded the senate that the State of the Union will be delivered tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in Rapaporte Treasure Hall. The committee chairs gave brief reports on their activity wrap-ups, followed by reports and farewell messages from each senator. —Rachel Hughes
POLICE LOG Medical Emergency
Mar. 29—A party in Shapiro Residence Hall reported having a fish bone caught in their throat. BEMCo was requested and treated the party on the scene, and the party was transported by University Police to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Apr. 6—Police received a report of a party in East Quad who fell and hit their head. University Police responded and assisted the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care. Apr. 9—University Police received a report of a party in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center who had glass in their eye. Police responded and assisted the party and requested Cataldo ambulance for transport. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further care. Apr. 10—University Police monitored a radio call from the Waltham Police Department dispatching Waltham Fire Department and ambulance to school grounds. Waltham
Police called University Police, explaining they received a 911 call for a report of an intoxicated party in the Shapiro Life Science area. University Police located the party in the Shapiro Life Sciences building. The party was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital by Cataldo ambulance for further care. Apr. 14—A party in Rosenthal Quad reported feeling dizzy and nauseous. Police notified BEMCo who treated the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care. Apr. 15—Police received a report of a party in Ridgewood Quad who fainted and was unconscious for approximately 45 seconds. Police and BEMCo responded and treated the party on the scene. Cataldo ambulance transported the party to the emergency room for further care. Apr. 16—A doctor from the Psychological Counseling Center requested an ambulance for a psych transport for a party with section 12 paperwork.
University Police assisted the ambulance staff and transported the party without incident. Apr. 16—Police received a call of a party on the soccer fields who was injured and notified BEMCo. BEMCo treated the party on the scene with a signed refusal for further care.
Larceny
Apr. 15—A party off-campus reported their bicycle was stolen. Police compiled a report on the incident.
Disturbance
Apr. 18—Police received a report of loud music and people talking loudly near East Quad. Police responded and checked the area but found nothing.
Other
Apr. 1—Police on patrol observed people inside a dumpster near the Epstein Building. The people were identified as theater students looking for possible misplaced items that mistakenly may have been thrown away. Police took no
ADMITTED STUDENTS DAY
n The Views on the News column did not include the fact that Clayre Benzadon ’17 is a Staff member of the Hoot. (Mar. 31, pg. 10) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@ thejustice.org.
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WIRE BRIEF Tsarnaev convicted in trial
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS n The editorial on tuition hikes incorrectly listed Bill Schaller’s title. He is the Executive Director of Integrated Media. (Mar. 31, pg. 10)
further actions. Apr. 14—Police interviewed a harassment victim in Stoneman and compiled a report on the incident. Apr. 15—A party in the Usdan Student Center reported finding a manila envelope in their mailbox with unusual writings. Police complied a report on the incident. Apr. 17—Police received a call from a reporting party in the Goldsmith Building who said a former graduate student was in a room watching a movie. University Police issued the party a written trespass warning in hand. Apr. 17—Police received a call from escort staff that a possibly intoxicated party was dropped off by a taxi at the main entrance. The party stated they did not know where they were and started walking toward the Spingold intersection. University Police checked the area and were unable to locate the individual.
MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice
An admitted student attends the Community Luncheon—one of four academic and community lunches—in Levin Ballroom on Sunday to learn more about student clubs and on-campus groups.
For a city still traumatized by the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, the 30 guilty verdicts announced Wednesday against Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev offered a moment of closure and unity. The next phase of the trial, when a federal jury decides how to punish the young Russian immigrant, could prove more painful and divisive given the stark differences in the community between those who want Tsarnaev put to death and those opposed to capital punishment. Tsarnaev, 21, stood in the federal courtroom in Boston for a half-hour as the clerk read all 31 pages of the jury’s verdict form, reciting the word “guilty” over and over. But Tsarnaev showed little interest in the proceedings. He sometimes scratched his neck or cracked his knuckles and always looked away from the jury box. When U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. asked if their verdicts were unanimous, all of the jurors responded in one loud, clear voice: “Yes.” The counts against Tsarnaev included conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction at the annual racing event and murdering four people, including rookie MIT Police Officer Sean Collier. The two pressure-cooker bombs were filled with nails, metal shards and BBs, shrapnel that shredded victims’ flesh. Krystle Campbell, 28, Lingzi Lu, 23, and Martin Richard, 8, were killed in the blast. Seventeen others lost one or both legs. Leaving the courtroom, defense lawyers brushed past reporters. Lead attorney Judy Clarke, one of the nation’s top antideath penalty lawyers, has yet to see one of her clients sent to death row. Although the government will push hard for a death sentence, Clarke will argue for a sentence of life in prison without parole, maintaining that Tamerlan was the bombing mastermind and Dzhokhar his acolyte. Before being selected, all 12 jurors swore to the judge that they would be open to a death sentence and could set aside any sympathy for Tsarnaev if they decided he deserved to die. But to avoid the death penalty, the defense only needs to convince a single juror. —Tribune News Service
ANNOUNCEMENTS Sexual Violence on Campus: Awareness & Prevention
Sheila McMahon, the Brandeis Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist, will offer a lecture and discussion, addressing the prevalence of sexual violence on campuses, prevention strategies and their effectiveness, responsibilities for University employees and how best to respond to disclosures. Today from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Epstein Lecture Hall.
Taking Care of Ourselves, Taking Care of Others
Social policy, development and peacebuilding work is often undertaken in high stress, high stakes environments. Practitioners in these fields are often at high risk for the development of trauma and eventual burnout. These outcomes, however, can often be avoided by utilizing the right tools for a healthy work and life balance and learning to identify when one reaches their breaking
point. This special program will feature panel members Dr. Maria Torres, senior research associate at the Institute for Behavioral Health at the Heller School; Elizabeth McClintock, founder and managing partner with CMPartners; and Dr. Mary Jo Larson, Heller senior scientist and lecturer as a moderator. It will be followed by a session on stress management by Justin Haaheim, leadership coach for social movement leaders, with additional time for one-on-one interaction with the panelists after 2 p.m. Tomorrow from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in HellerBrown Building, Room G3.
Take Back the Night—Shatter the Silence, Stop the Violence Since the 1970s in the United States, Take Back the Night has focused on eliminating sexual and domestic violence in all forms. Thousands of colleges, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers have held
events all over the country. Join Students Talking About Relationships, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, the Brandeis Rape Crisis Center, and the Brandeis community in a march around campus and a candle-lit vigil to raise awareness; express our solidarity with, or as, survivors; and share our stories, experiences, strength, anger, sadness, hope and voices. Tomorrow at 8 p.m. starting at the Rabb steps.
Noam Chomsky: Activism from Vietnam to Palestine
Professor Noam Chomsky will talk about the nature and effects of activism in the antiVietnam War movement, the movement to end apartheid in South Africa, the movement to free East Timor from Indonesia’s brutal occupation and the movement for Palestinian self-determination. Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Wasserman Cinematheque.
THE JUSTICE
STUDENT EVENT
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
3
ADMINISTRATION
SSSP celebrates students New position for ■ An event Friday honored
students who have overcome barriers to be at Brandeis. By MAX MORAN JUSTICE EDITOR
On Friday, the Student Support Services Program hosted an event in Levin Ballroom celebrating the contributions of first-generation college students to Brandeis, titled “I Am Historic.” The event also commemorated SSSP’s 25th anniversary, and featured speakers from across the University, including faculty, SSSP administration and graduating students. SSSP, which defined itself as “a communityoriented program in Academic Services” in the event’s program, aids students by providing “holistic advising, academic support, cultural enrichment activities, and peer mentoring to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree.” SSSP Director Dr. Jennifer Morazes stated at the event that SSSP aids students who are “the first in their family to attend college, are defined as low-income according to the federal government, and/or have overcome significant barriers to be at Brandeis.” It is funded in part by a federal TRiO grant from the U.S. Department of Education, a program providing access to education for first-generation and low income students. SSSP serves 150 students overall, including about 40 incoming students each year, through three academic advisers, 12 peer mentors and 25 one-on-one peer tutors. According to Morazes, all of SSSP’s staff are themselves first-generation college graduates. In an interview with the Justice, Morazes said that SSSP students “have overcome significant barriers to be here, but they are not defined by their adversity. They are defined by their strength and their resilience and their achievements.” Michelle Dennis ’18 and Wilkins
Lugo ’17 moderated the event, which began with Student Union Presidentelect Nyah Macklin ’16—herself an SSSP-participating student—singing Beyoncé Knowles’ “I Am Here,” to thunderous applause. Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Kim Godsoe followed Macklin and spoke on Brandeis’ history of including and supporting first-generation college students. Addressing this year’s graduating SSSP students, Godsoe said, “On behalf of the Provost Office, let me just say that we are so proud of each and every one of you and the incredible journeys you have made to be here right now.” Godsoe oversaw SSSP from 1998 through 2007 under the title of Assistant Dean for Student Enrichment Services. Morazes then spoke about the importance of supporting first-generation students. She spoke about feeling excluded when she attended a private high school on scholarship—being called a “bunion” by other students— and noted that half of college students in the United States are the first in their family to attend college. “We are not on the road less traveled, but that does not mean that the road is an easy one,” Morazes stated. “Brandeis distinguishes itself … among elite universities in having SSSP for 25 years. And this far outnumbers the number of years some other elite Universities have acknowledged the realities of first generation students,” according to Lewis. SSSP Assistant Director Elena Lewis then spoke on her experiences working with SSSP for 10 years, and acknowledged the students’ work this year through the “I am Awareness” week in March, student documentaries and the new exhibit in the Academic Services office charting the history of “access to education at Brandeis.” Students then presented the keynote addresses. Colleen Beckford ’14 M.S. ’15 spoke about her desire to be “a representation for women and people
of color who want to pursue careers in medicine and research” and acknowledged her pride in being the first in her family to receive not only a bachelor’s degree but also a master’s degree in biotechnology. “My heart still has some trouble fully understanding this, but what I do know is that this degree is a testament to what I am capable of and what I have yet to achieve,” said Beckford. Vinh Nguyen ’15 then spoke about his decision to change his career plans from studying to be a doctor to being a high school science teacher after the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Ferguson, Mo. He argued that “access to a quality education is imperative to gaining social mobility.” Following Nguyen, Yeng Her ’16 and Ajai Scott ’15 presented a photo documentary in which SSSP students and administrators were shown holding whiteboards that read “I am Historic,” followed by an explanation of why the individual felt they were historic. Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) then spoke at length about Brandeis’ history of social advocacy and protest, discussing the University’s opposition to drafting young men into the Vietnam War based on low college grade point averages, the takeover of Ford Hall, protests urging the University to divest from apartheid South Africa— which resulted in legal action being taken against the student protestors— and the current movement urging divestment from fossil fuels. Finally, Lewis acknowledged the members of the the SSSP Student Leadership Board, noting their hard work and sacrifices to help the program. Lewis then asked the graduating seniors in SSSP to stand and receive applause from the audience. The event was followed by a reception in the Usdan Student Center. In addition to SSSP, Academic Services and the Brandeis Pluralism Alliance co-sponsored the event.
diversity opens in Provost Office
■ A search to fill the new
position will begin after the selection of the next University President, according to Provost Lynch. By SAM MINTZ JUSTICE EDITOR
The University has created a new position in the Provost’s Office, titled V.P. for Diversity and Social Inclusion, according to the Provost Office staff listing on the Brandeis website. In an email to the Justice, Provost Lisa Lynch wrote that subject to budget approval, “the plan is to launch a search [for the new position] in consultation with the next president after she/he is selected.” The position description will be based on the detailed work that was done by the Provost’s Steering Committee on Campus Diversity Issues last year. Depending on the outcome of the search process, the position may be titled vice provost, vice president, or senior vice president, wrote Lynch. Meanwhile, Lynch wrote in the email, the Provost’s Steering Committee on Campus Diversity Issues is “planning events and supporting activities” for the upcoming year to “advance social inclusion and support diversity at Brandeis.”
Neither Lynch nor Bill Schaller, the University executive director of integrated media, responded to multiple requests for further information about the position’s formation or responsibilities by press time. Many other colleges and universities have several diversityrelated positions that are either in the Provost’s Office or in other academic spaces or departments at the school. For example, Tufts University has a chief diversity officer who is also an associate provost, and New York University has a vice provost, an associate vice provost, and an assistant vice rovost all with diversity in their titles and responsibilities. Brandeis adopted a “diversity statement” in 2006, which, among other things, says that Brandeis “aims to engage members of our community as active citizens in a multicultural world.” The diversity statement also notes that the University actively “seeks to build an academic community whose members have diverse cultures, backgrounds and life experiences.” The Provost’s Office does include a steering committee on campus diversity issues, which is “designed to increase internal capacity to serve as effective stewards for diversity at Brandeis,” and includes faculty, staff and students.
STUDENT ACTIVISM
Students march in second national Carry That Weight Day ■ Student group B.SASV
organized the march across campus to spread awareness of sexual assault. By MAX MORAN JUSTICE EDITOR
As part of the second national Carry That Weight Day of Action, members of Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence marched across campus last Monday carrying mattresses and pillows to support survivors of sexual assault. Between 10 and 15 students marched from the Rabb steps to Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center. Marching alongside the students were Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon and Shannon Hunt, the academic administrator in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sexuality and Queer Studies programs. Before leaving the Rabb Steps, B.SASV member Ava Blustein ’15 encouraged students who may have found the march triggering or overwhelming to speak to McMahon, take a break or stop at any time. The students carried two air mattresses with them, and several brought pillows with them as well. Some also carried signs reading “Carry That Weight” and “Support Survivors.” Outside of Bernstein-Marcus, B.SASV member Evelyn Milford ’16 spoke briefly to the group, saying that it is important to support survivors all year long. She noted that believing survivors who speak out, respecting survivors’ thoughts and choices and educating oneself about resources on and off campus are important to create a safer culture. Milford called the choice to end the march outside of Bernstein-Marcus “a strategic choice” in an interview with the Justice. “Making sure that students and administrators work together to combat these issues is really important, and I know that there has been a lot
of progress, and we’re really appreciative of some of the responses that we’ve been getting from the administration, but just making sure that these responses are continued [is important], especially in creating safer spaces” said Milford in an interview with the Justice. B.SASV member Emily Appel ’15 said in an interview with the Justice that the purpose of the march was to show that “there is a community at Brandeis that does support survivors, because a lot of the time people can feel really isolated.” Appel told the Justice that the march was “definitely not trying to get people to disclose or share their stories or their information” but instead was meant to show that “there are people on campus who will believe you and will support you if you choose to come forward with your story,” according to Appel. The event was part of a national movement to spread awareness of sexual assault on college campuses. This movement, Carry That Weight, was inspired by the actions of Columbia University senior Emma Sulkowicz, who since August has carried a mattress on Columbia’s campus as a piece of performance art in response to her alleged rapist being found not guilty of sexual assault by the university. Sulkowicz plans to continue her performance art piece until either her alleged rapist is expelled or leaves the University or she graduates, according to a Sept. 21 New York Times article. Monday’s march came after B.SASV organized a similar event in October on the first Carry That Weight Day of Action, in which marches were held on campuses across the country, including Brandeis. According to Appel, Carry That Weight plans for similar days of action to be held every semester. The event was part of B.SASV’s activism during the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance’s third annual Sexual Violence Awareness Week, which is itself during Sexual
Assault Awareness Month. On April 2, B.SASV began a social media campaign in which students wrote on whiteboards the reasons why they support survivors of sexual assault and had their responses photographed to be later posted online. “It’s staggering to me how many people I know have been survivors of sexual violence, to the point where people think that they won’t be heard if they share it, because they think their stories aren’t bad enough,” said Appel, adding that it is important that survivors do not feel a need to “qualify their experiences.” She also added that “not sharing stories is also
a perfectly valid reaction to sexual assault” and that B.SASV does not seek to pressure survivors into publicly sharing their stories. Hunt said she chose to march to “support my students, who are really hardworking activists” and ensure that they knew “the staff are interested in what they’re doing and interested in supporting them as well.” When asked how she felt the University is responding to the issue of sexual assault, Hunt said she felt “the University is finally listening” and expressed support for Provost Lisa Lynch and the faculty. McMahon said she chose to march
because it was “an important symbolic event.” McMahon added that she felt the University had received “a lot of good guidance” on how to address sexual assault from B.SASV’s progress report in November and the University Advisory Committee’s Subcommittee on Sexual Violence report in June, but also said “we have a lot of changes that [still] need to happen and those changes are being implemented. It takes time.” Dean of Students Jamele Adams also joined the marchers outside of Bernstein-Marcus and expressed his support for the movement in an interview with the Justice.
CARRY THAT WEIGHT
AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice
TAKING ACTION: Some students carried air mattresses to reflect the actions of Columbia University student activist Emma Sulkowicz.
THE JUSTICE
Brian Salerno, the director of Online Learning and Instructional Design within the Graduate Professional Studies division, said that the new program will provide students with important skills to enter the job market. “As the learning analytics field continues to evolve, it is more important than ever before to use the technology and data we have available to us to understand and, ultimately, enhance the learning experience,” he told BrandeisNOW. According to the article, Brandeis GPS currently offers eight other online “part-time” master’s degrees in addition to the new Learning Analytics certificate. These include Strategic Analytics, Bioinformatics, Health and Medical Informatics, Instructional Design and Technology and Software Engineering. —Rachel Sharer
BRIEF SU holds discussion on diversity The Student Union held an event yesterday titled “Analyzing Allyship—A Discussion on Black and Asian Relations at Brandeis and In the World.” The discussion focused on how those minority groups can “discover areas of mutuality and allyship,” according to the Facebook page for the event. About 60 students sat at round tables in the International Lounge and spoke to each other, guided by discussion questions passed out to each table by the event organizers. One of the questions asked about what it means to be Black or Asian in America and on campus, and students shared some of their experiences on and off campus. Because the organizers requested that students’ words not be used outside of the room, individual students are not quoted here. More broadly, students spoke about diversity at Brandeis and the tendency for people to gather in cliques and spaces with people who are similar to them in some way. Participants at the event also talked about how some groups of
people on campus feel more comfortable in some spaces on campus than in others and how they feel the administration falsely believes that simply having students of different races attending school together creates diversity. Several people spoke about the importance of breaking down “silos,” or isolated groups of students, and working together on activism, sharing resources and ideas. Student Union President Sneha Walia ’15, Student Union Chief of Staff Flora Wang ’15 and Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees Mohamed Sidique ’15 facilitated the discussions and led the event. Other Student Union members, including Undergraduate Representative to the Board of Trustees Grady Ward ’16 and incoming Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16, were in attendance as well. The event was funded by the Student Union’s Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund. —Sam Mintz
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
5
REMEMBRANCE WALK
BRIEF University to launch online graduate certificate program The University’s Graduate Professional Studies division will launch a Learning Analytics online graduate certificate program next fall semester, according to an April 14 BrandeisNOW article. The certificate program is five courses long and worth 15 credits and is part of Brandeis’ expanding online course offerings. It is influenced by two existing masters degrees in the GPS division—Instructional Design and Technology and Strategic Analytics. According to the article, the online program is “designed to be completed in 1.5 years or less” and is for professionals with “strong backgrounds in education, instructional design, or institutional research.” The article states that the certificate program will provide students with the “foundational tool sets and theory of business intelligence and data analysis.”
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MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
WALKING IN SILENCE: Participants walk in silence down Rabb Steps at the beginning of one of the five walks.
AEPi hosts Holocaust remembrance walks ■ Members of the
fraternity organized silent walks to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE eDITOR
On Friday, community members gathered to remember Holocaust victims through a series of silent walks led by the Brandeis chapter of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. The fraternity decided to coordinate the walks to “honor those who perished, and to ensure that such an incomprehensible tragedy never again occurs,” according to the Facebook event page. “The [walks are] a short but powerful way to both remember those who perished in the Holocaust, and express solidarity with those who reject oppression and advocate equality,” the page also said. “We don’t walk as a fraternity. We walk as members of humanity, with the understanding that people of all backgrounds and colors deserve equal treatment and
the right to an unobstructed life. We walk for those who can’t.” The 15 to 30 minute walks—five in total—began at the top of the Rabb steps, where attendees were given stickers that read, “Never Forget.” AEPi brothers also passed around fliers explaining the intentions and significance of the walks, which could then be handed to other students as the group traveled across campus. AEPi member Gabriel Goldstein ’18 began the 6 p.m. walk by addressing the crowd, discussing the privilege Brandeis students have as individuals with protected liberties, especially as they reflect on events such as the Holocaust. “I think it’s an even greater privilege to be a part of a school with such emphasis on social justice,” he said. “It kind of grounds you and shows you that things can be worse, no matter what situation you’re in.” Goldstein also urged the crowd to be mindful during the walk and to reflect on the lives lost during the Holocaust. “Actively think about why we’re walking, especially why we’re walking in silence, and just take things in,” he said.
During the walk, the group went down Rabb steps, passed through Usdan Student Center and continued on through the Shapiro Campus Center, finally stopping at a picnic table near Ziv Quad. At the end of the walk, coordinators from AEPi led a reflective discussion, encouraging participants to share their thoughts on the Holocaust. “The first time I went through [the remembrance walk], I thought about our ability to move,” AEPi member Ari Givner ’17 said of his second walk of the day. “[Holocaust victims] lived in constant fear, and … we don’t have any significant fear whether we’ll live day to day or meal to meal.” Additionally, Goldstein discussed the overwhelming hopefulness he felt during the walk, touching briefly on the link between the past and the present. “[For] the people in concentration camps … there was always a sense of hope, and as we were walking, I felt that we were manifestations of hope,” he said. —Editor’s note: Gabriel Goldstein ’18 is a contributing writer for the Justice.
cAMPUS sPEAKER
Timothy Snyder discusses WWII precedent and future of Russian-Ukrainian conflict ■ Snyder, a historian and
Yale Professor, spoke on the changing role of history in the Ukrainian conflict. By RACHEL SHARER JUSTICE EDITOR
Historian, author and Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder spoke at Brandeis last Wednesday in a lecture titled “Ukraine: The War for History.” Snyder is one of the most prominent historians of modern Central and Eastern Europe and an expert on the current Ukrainian crisis, having reported widely on the conflict since its outbreak and testifying to the U.S. Congress regarding the issue. After a brief introduction by Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS), Snyder began his lecture, in which he discussed the history of the RussianUkrainian conflict, the Russian interpretation of World War II and how Russia justifies the continuation of the current war. Snyder began by discussing World War II and its relation to both Russian memory and the Ukrainian war today.
Snyder quoted Polish writer and Gulag survivor Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski’s writings on his time in the Gulag, a narrative discussing death, humanity and totalitarianism. Snyder chronicled how Grudzinski was captured by Soviet police trying to cross the border to fight the Nazis and was deported to the Gulag and interrogated. The charges listed against him included “illegally crossing the border to fight the Soviet Union.” When Grudzinski pointed out that he was off to fight the Nazis, the interrogators told him “it comes to the same thing.” “At the deepest level, what that reminds us of is that the Soviet Union began the Second World War in an alliance with Nazi Germany,” he said. He also mentioned that there is only one monument to the Gulag in Russia today, the Perm-36 Gulag Monument near the city of Perm, and it is currently being dismantled, which Snyder said is an “initial suggestion of what is happening to Russian political memory today.” However, Snyder said that the most important marker of Russia’s changing political memory is President Vladimir Putin’s “rehabilitation”and defense of the Molotov-Ribbentrop
pact—a Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact signed in the beginning of World War II—in November 2014. “What does it mean [for Putin] to rehabilitate a Soviet-Nazi alliance in the middle of a war?” Snyder asked. “What does it mean to say it was fine to be a German ally and to say it was fine to be a German enemy at the same time?” According to Snyder, Russia’s current foreign policy has tried to seek an alliance with the European far-right in order to weaken the European Union, which is exactly what the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact tried to do politically back in 1939.“The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is the beginning of the Second World War,” Snyder said. “To rehabilitate this [pact] is to rehabilitate the beginning of the Second World War.” Snyder also drew parallels between the aftermath of the pact in World War II and the present-day conflict with Ukraine and the justifications for both given by Russia. “This responsibility [for World War II and the Holocaust] is seen to exist [in Russia], but it is exported,” Snyder said. While Russia recognizes there was Soviet responsibility for the Holocaust, the guilt is “exported onto other groups,” so as to not claim full responsibility.
According to Snyder, Russia has “extended this approach” to talk about its invasion of Ukraine—one common Russian justification for the invasion is saying that Ukrainians are fascists, a highly disputed claim, but one claimed by Kiev nonetheless. Again, Snyder claimed, the Russians are attempting to justify their actions through exporting responsibility. “The Soviet myth of the war in 1945 is being transformed … from a justification of a defensive war then to a justification for an offensive war [today],” Snyder said. Snyder claims that these myths and contradictions within Russian political memory are particularly dangerous because they are being “shared” with the rest of the world through Russian propaganda, which has been allowed to circulate without question despite the blatant contradictions it poses. This, Snyder said, “leads us back to the notion of totalitarianism.” “The moment that we can no longer tell what a contradiction is, that’s the moment when our personalities have been decomposed … and it has been happening with this war,” Snyder said. Snyder said that the war itself may have its “greatest consequences outside of Ukraine,” including the
extreme Russian propaganda being imposed on Russians and the rest of the world and the potential end of the European Union as Russia aligns with the European far-right. Snyder also shared his fears for the future of Russian foreign relations, questioning what it means for Russia to essentially be celebrating both the starting and the ending of World War II. “I fear that what is [going to be celebrated] is not going to be a defensive war against Nazi Germany,” Snyder said, “but what’s going to be celebrated is war itself.” Snyder is currently the Bird White Housum Professor of History at Yale University, where he teaches modern East European political history. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1997 and was a Marshall Scholar. Snyder was also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics from 2013 to 2014 and traveled to Ukraine to report on protests in Kiev. He has authored five award-winning books on modern European history. The International and Global Studies program, the Center for German and European Studies and the Department of History were co-sponsors.
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THE JUSTICE
BOND: Fight for gay rights is a top priority CONTINUED FROM 1 that that was the key to the organization’s success. Bond served as SNCC’s national communications director for five years, from 1961 to 1966. Afterward, Bond transitioned into a discussion of his career in politics. He told the story of how he was elected into the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965 but soon after was ousted by his colleagues because he opposed the war in Vietnam. When he ran for the vacant position the following year, he was re-elected and then expelled from the Georgia House a second time. He was re-elected to the house for a third time in 1966, and in December of that year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Georgia House had violated Bond’s rights by refusing him his seat. Bond subsequently served four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives. Bond then spoke about his six terms of service in the Georgia senate from 1975 to 1986. In 1968, he was the first black man ever nominated for the U.S. vice presidency by Wisconsin’s Ted Warshafsky, vice chairman of Eugene McCarthy’s delegation at the Democratic National Convention. Bond, then 28 years old and too young for the office, respectfully withdrew his name.
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TUESDAY, April 21, 2015
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EXPLORING INNOVATION
Bond then described how, weary of political life, he helped found the Southern Poverty Law Center, a law firm which works to represent the underprivileged, eliminate discrimination based on race and gender and expose the malicious activity of hate groups. He served as its president from 1971 to 1979. In 1999 he was selected to serve as chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a post at which he served for 10 years. Bond also discussed his decision to follow in the footsteps of his father and enter the academic world. He spoke about courses he taught at Drexel University, Harvard University, the University of Virginia and about his current post as a professor at American University. In addition to his continued efforts to achieve equal opportunity for the African-American community, Bond plays an active role in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer rights. “When I’m asked ‘are gay rights civil rights?’ My answer is always, ‘of course they are,’” Bond said. “Civil rights are positive legal prerogatives—the right to equal treatment in a court of law, and these rights are shared by everyone … Gay and lesbian rights are not special rights in any way. It isn’t special to be free from discrimination.”
MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice
Two prospective students who attended Admitted Students Day last Sunday speak with Eduardo Beltrame ’15 from the group Deis3D, the University's 3D printing club.
PROMOTED: Professor Hill will continue her teachings in Social Policy, Law and WGS Studies at the University CONTINUED FROM 1 “enamored” with the Women’s Studies program, which is now called Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Because the program was made up of temporary appointments of individuals from other programs and institutions, Hill told the Justice, she had to secure a permanent Brandeis appointment if she really wanted to remain affiliated with the program. Around this time, Hill was “approached by the dean of the Heller School, Jack Shonkoff, about tak-
ing on a more permanent role in the University.” Over her Brandeis career, Hill has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate classes, such as HS 120A "Race and the Law" and HS 218A "Social Justice and the Obama Administration." “Part of what makes the University Professorship so exciting,” said Hill, “is that I can now expand on the number of courses [I teach] outside of Heller.” In addition to her academic work, Hill has been a significant voice in the shaping of the University’s Stra-
tegic Plan and chaired University committees on diversity and communications, according to BrandeisNOW. She has been involved with national searches to fill faculty and senior administrative positions as part of her involvement with the Office of the Provost. Hill earned her bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and her law degree from Yale University. Before coming to Brandeis, Hill worked in the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Educa-
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tion. She then followed this with her work at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was thrust into the public spotlight during the hearings on Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court in 1991. During this time, she testified that Thomas had sexually harassed her during their time working together. Hill was also the subject of a 2013 documentary film, Anita, which detailed her experience during the scandal.
Hill is currently on sabbatical from the University and will resume teaching during the 2015 to 2016 academic year. During her time on leave, Hill told the Justice that she has been conducting “research on topics including the questions of how race and gender interjectionally impact academic contributions.” Additionally, Hill said she has been researching what AfricanAmerican women have been conducting, and “what their contribution to the intellectual community has been over the past 23 years.”
the Justice Contact Rachel Hughes at editor@thejustice.org.
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features
TUESDAY, April 21, 2015 ● THE JUSTICE
just
VERBATIM | EDGAR ALLAN POE “If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.”
ON THIS DAY…
FUN FACT
In 753 B.C., Romulus and his twin brother Remus founded Rome.
In order to run, our feet use 26 bones, 33 joints, 112 ligaments and a network of nerves.
Ready for the Big Leagues Betsy Hochman ’17 joins the U.S. national off-road triathlon team By Mira mcmahon JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
While some Brandeis students will be spending their summer months working jobs and internships or enjoying sunny vacations, Betsy Hochman ’17 will be training to compete against triathletes from around the world. A relative newcomer to triathlons, Hochman has quickly risen in the national ranks in her age group. In September, Hochman will join the U.S. national off-road triathlon team to run, bike and swim across the coastline of Italy. In March, the U.S.A. Triathlon Association invited Hochman to compete with the U.S. team in the 2015 International Triathlon Union Off-Road Triathlon World Championships. Hochman qualified for the national team based on her finishing times in qualifying triathlon races in the past year. She ranked among the top-18 competitors in her age group and qualified for the national team. She will compete alongside athletes from all age groups selected from triathlon competitions across the country. “I’ve always dreamed in some ways of being able to race internationally, but I didn’t think it was something I would end up doing,” Hochman said in an interview with the Justice.
Hochman will be competing in an Olympic distance off-road triathlon with the U.S. team. According to the U.S.A. Triathlon Association’s website, the race is composed of 1.5 kilometers of swimming in the ocean, 30 kilometers of off-road biking and 10 kilometers of running. Each age group accepts between 18 and 20 athletes. The competition will take place in Sardinia, Italy on Sept 27. “I’ll have to miss a few days of school, but I think it’s worth it,” Hochman said with a laugh. Hochman is no stranger to competitive outdoor sports. She began mountain biking with her family when she was 10 years old and has been a competitive trail runner for several years. A Pennsylvania native, Hochman enjoys running through the woods of the Poconos Mountains, she said. Before becoming a triathlete, Hochman competed in everything from 5k trail races to half-marathons. Hochman began competing in triathlons last summer and has completed just two triathlons prior to joining the U.S. team. “For a long time, I’ve tried a lot of out-there sports just trying to find a sport that I fit in with well, which I kind of found in the off-road triathlons,” Hochman said. In order to balance her schoolwork and preparation for international competition, Hochman ad-
heres to a training schedule while at Brandeis. She runs three times a week, swims twice a week, works out at the gym once a week and allows herself a day to rest. “At home it’s a lot looser, because running and biking are just things I enjoy,” Hochman explained. “This summer I really want to make sure I’m prepared to do it and I’m ready to race at a good level.” Although most of her preparation for the World Championships has been individual, Hochman will meet and train with the team a week before the competition begins. She will stay in a hotel on a floor reserved for the team, where she will get to socialize with fellow triathletes. Hochman expects to see some familiar faces. “For the most part, you get to meet people in those races anyway, because it’s kind of a small community, so I may know some of them already,” Hochman said. Hochman said that she is most looking forward to racing with athletes from across the globe. She explained that one of her favorite aspects of the sport is the people she meets at competitions. “The community—the people— are really, really cool. They’re very welcoming, and it’s cool, because it’s a mix of people who really enjoy the outdoors,” Hochman said. To athletes considering competing in a triathlon for the first time,
MIRA MCMAHON/the Justice
ITALY BOUND: Betsy Hochman ’17 was selected by the U.S.A. Triathlon Association to compete in the Off-Road Triathlon World Championships in Italy this summer. Hochman advises to set aside any inhibitions about not measuring up to the competition. “I think more than anything you have to believe that you can do it ... For a long time, I had heard about these races, and I was worried about trying it because I was worried I would hold people up or be the last one in the water. And it’s really fine either way—people are just happy that you’re out there.” For those looking for a way to combine exercise and being outdoors, Hochman hopes to provide an outlet. “A few of us are thinking about starting a running club here.” Hochman said. She explains that the club would combine a vari-
ety of different running styles and locations so that others may explore outdoor sports. In addition to training for the off-road triathlon, Hochman also serves on the executive board of Students for Environmental Action. An Environmental Studies major, Hochman traces both her interest in the environment and in adventure sports to her love of the outdoors. “I think part of it is that it’s always been a big part of who I am,” Hochman explained, “And I feel like, no matter what is going on, whether it be school stress or anything, just being outside is awesome, and I’d like to keep that there for future generations.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF BETSY HOHCHMAN
FINISHING FIRST: Hochman crosses the finish line, winning first in her age group at the 2012 Xterra Trail Running National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BETSY HOCHMAN
PEDAL TO THE METAL: Hochman bikes through the beginning of the mountain-bike section of the Xterra Dirty Grizzly, winning first in her age group at her first triathlon, near her home in Bear Creek Ski Resort in Macungie, PA.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BETSY HOCHMAN
READY TO RIDE: Hochman prepares for her first triathlon event by setting up her transition area before the race at the Xterra Dirty Grizzly Triathlon event.
THE JUSTICE
Fighting with Flowers By BRIANNA MAJSIAK AND ERICA SCHUTZMAN JUSTICE Editor and Contributing writer
“What are the flowers for?” was a common question or thought for most students who happened to walk through the Fellows Garden on Friday afternoon. The yellow flower windmills were spread throughout the pathway between Gerstenzang and the Shapiro Campus Center to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease. The flower windmills were just one of the several events of Alzheimer’s Awareness Week, hosted by the Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease club. SEAD is a new student-led club that is focused on spreading the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association—to end Alzheimer’s disease and to enhance care for those living with the disease. Alzheimer’s Awareness Week was SEAD’s first event and took place from April 13 to 17. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disorder that damages and eventually destroys brain cells, leading to memory loss, changes in thinking and altering other brain functions. Alzheimer’s is a fatal disease and the most common form of dementia. In fact, Alzheimer’s is the only disease in the top ten causes of death that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed. SEAD is the first college club to promote Alzheimer’s awareness and was chartered at Brandeis this semester by co-presidents Maryanne Cai ’16 and Arielle Keller ’16. “We’re actually starting the movement, and what we’re trying to do is get other colleges to start SEAD at their university or college,” Keller said in an interview with the Justice. Keller, a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology, became inter-
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TUESDAY, April 21, 2015
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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIANNA MAJSIAK
A GROUP EFFORT: Club members (left to right) Ilana Weisz ’15, Bethany Rennich ’17, Sarah Lipitz ’17, Leah Levine ’17, Arielle Keller ’16, Linda Maleh ’16 and Erin Radziwon ’16 come together to host the Fellows Garden event on Friday, the final event of awareness week.
Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease (SEAD) host first awareness week
ested in raising awareness on campus through her volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association and independent research on hearing, vision and attention. She began working in the Sekuler Lab in the fall of 2012 and is now a Computational Neuroscience Trainee. “I was asking what we could do to get more involved as a school, like what I could do to help the Alzheimer’s association … There’s a problem where the younger population isn’t talking about Alzheimer’s enough. It’s mostly staying in the older population or not being talked about at all,” Keller said. SEAD is focused around three main goals: volunteering, outreach and research. In addition to the week of awareness, club members will also participate in two big volunteer and outreach events of SEAD, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in the fall and the Longest Day event happening during the summer. The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is an event hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association in more than 600 communities nationwide. Participants form teams for the 3 mile walk and fundraise to raise awareness in their communities. The Longest Day event is also hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association and occurs on June 21. The Longest Day is the held on the longest day of the year, and teams are asked to come together to honor those facing Alzheimer’s by partaking in a day of being active from sunrise to sunset. SEAD has created a Brandeis team and encourages anybody to sign up for it. “We’re encouraging people to get outside, be active: you can go hiking or biking, whatever you want to do. Then you get a picture of you in your Longest Day t-shirt and post it on social media … so that way we’re all connected as a Brandeis community, even though we’re all in different places over the summer,” Keller explained.
SEAD’s Alzheimer’s awareness week began on Monday, April 13 with a Wake and Shake outside of Usdan and cupcake decorating at night. Cupcake and pinwheel decorating continued throughout the week while tabling in Usdan to encourage community members to donate to the Alzheimer’s Association. Other events included an awards ceremony on Tuesday night and a phone bank in Castle Commons on Wednesday night where club members called to thank Alzheimer’s Association donors for their support. The Alzheimer’s Research Award Ceremony on Tuesday night honored Brandeis’s own Prof. Angela Gutchess (PSYC) for her groundbreaking research in the field. Dr. Gutchess received a New Investigator Research Grant from the Alzheimer’s Association for her project “Improving Memory in aMCI with Self-Referencing.” The grant funds from the Alzheimer’s Association will help support data collection of neuroimaging data collected through fMRI, as well as behavioral data from healthy older adults who will serve as a control. Dr. Gutchess and her colleagues will be investigating how self-referencing can improve memory in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). According to Dr. Gutchess, MCI is the first stage at which memory impairments are diagnosed in patients, and “it is thought to be due to the same pathology in the brain that ultimately leads to the progression to Alzheimer’s,” Gutchess explained in an email to the Justice. The results of the study may help identify a method for slowing the progression of the cognitive effects of Alzheimer’s disease in the future. Prof. Angela Gutchess has been researching Alzheimer’s in her Aging, Culture and Cognition Lab. Dr. Gutchess and her colleagues study how aging affects memory as well as different ways some people remember things more vividly than others.
BRIANNA MAJSIAK/the Justice
A MOVING GARDEN: Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease placed dozens of flower windmills throughout the Fellows Garden on Friday to raise awareness and spread the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association.
According to Dr. Gutchess, she first became involved with and interested in Alzheimer’s disease from a research perspective. Her lab found that relating information to yourself—a method called self-referencing—has helped adults form more vivid memories, and she became interested in whether they could extend the self-referencing method to those with memory impairments. Dr. Gutchess heard about SEAD from Keller and has been excited to learn about the work they are doing around campus. In an email to the Justice, Dr. Gutchess explained, “I’m always surprised when undergraduates have an interest in aging, because it seems so far away from their presentday concerns. But SEAD has identified the importance of raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease from a social justice perspective, as well as a personal one.” Club member Nathan Schneider ’18 was inspired to join SEAD after volunteering for awareness week through a ‘this week in service” email. “I’m really in support of ending Alzheimer’s be-
cause my grandfather died of dementia. When I read about it, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to volunteer,” Schneider said in an interview with the Justice. The week of awareness came to a close in the Fellows Garden on Friday with yellow flower windmills, to educate people on how to get involved in the Alzheimer’s Association. The flower windmills are a common practice of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, in which each participant is given a color significant flower to represent their reason for walking. The flowers are accumulated into a Promise Garden, which was emulated by SEAD in the Fellows Garden. Ultimately, the week proved to a be a successful display of awareness and the first event hosted by and Students to End Alzheimer’s Disease club. “It’s going to be a long fight to find a cure for this, but I feel like it shows that Brandeis is concerned with doing hardcore research and trying to get to the root of the problems around the world,” Schneider explained.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIANNA MAJSIAK
BREAKING BARRIERS: Co-president Arielle Keller ’16 promotes the Longest Day event in an event t-shirt and #endalz hashtag written on her hand in purple marker.
BRIANNA MAJSIAK/the Justice
SPREADING AWARENESS: Nathan Schneider ’18 stops students in the Fellows Garden on Friday afternoon to talk to them about the “garden” that they’re walking through and the club’s mission to fight Alzheimer’s.
10 TUESDAY, april 21, 2015 ● THE JUSTICE
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Rachel Hughes, Editor in Chief Tate Herbert, Senior Editor Avi Gold, Managing Editor Jessie Miller, Sam Mintz and Max Moran, Deputy Editors Morgan Brill, Glen Chagi Chesir and Grace Kwon, Associate Editors Abby Patkin and Rachel Sharer, Acting News Editors Brianna Majsiak, Features Editor Jessica Goldstein, Acting Forum Editor Noah Hessdorf, Sports Editor Emily Wishingrad and Brooke Granovsky, Arts Editors Michelle Banayan and Mihir Khanna, Photography Editors Brittany Joyce, Online Editor Carmi Rothberg, Copy Editor Aliza Kahn and Talia Zapinsky, Advertising Editors
EDITORIALS
Reform sexual assault judicial practices On April 9, a student identified as “John Doe” opened a lawsuit against the University for allegedly mishandling a case against him in a Special Examiner’s Process last year. The student is seeking damages for, among other things, defamation and loss of educational and economic opportunities. While we do not wish to play judge and jury in this particular case, this board does recognize that it illustrates many of the serious flaws that exist within the University’s Special Examiner’s Process. Students have advocated for and achieved the addition of substantial resources for the protection and support of victims of sexual misconduct, including the creation of a new Rape Crisis Center and new position for a sexual assault services and prevention specialist. Now these holes in the SEP also need to be addressed to protect the rights of the accused and the integrity of the process’ findings. The problems with the SEP are symptomatic of larger problems with how sexual assault is judged and punished at the university level. At Brandeis, as well as at colleges and universities across the nation, administrators with no legal or investigative expertise are expected to construct systems capable of determining guilt for sexual assault, all the while under scrutiny from students, parents and the media to be tough on the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses. This is due to Title IX, a law prohibiting discrimination in universities on the basis of sex and gender, which mandates that universities develop systems for punishing sexual assault. Title IX also mandates that universities determine their rulings based on “a preponderance of the evidence,” a much weaker standard of proof than in criminal courts. Considering the pressures and limited resources, it is understandable that universities might overcorrect for the criminal courts and build systems that are quick to find the accused guilty. However, such behavior fosters a system that deprives the accused of their constitutional, due process rights, and this is unacceptable. The rationality of Universities is practically problematic, but also understandable in the lens of the national environment. The criminal justice system, for instance, only convicts about six percent of all rapes reported to the police, according to statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Meanwhile, organizations such as the Enliven Project and the “Making a Difference” Project estimate that anywhere between two and seven percent of cases are falsely reported to police. That would leave 87 to 92 percent of reported rapes statistically likely to be true reports, without enough evidence to secure a conviction. Undoubtedly, this is a problem. But the system that Brandeis has put in place has not served as a suitable substitute to the criminal justice sys-
Uphold due process rights tem if it does not respect the rights of the accused. Doe’s case alleges that “[t]he Process has no safeguards to prevent the Special Examiner from conducting a biased, incomplete, or incompetent investigation … and vests in one person the conflicting roles of investigator, prosecutor, and judge.” Indeed, the Special Examiner in Doe’s case was an attorney from outside the University, a choice which may give the appearance of objectivity and legal expertise. However, all Special Examiners are appointed by the Dean of Students’ office, the same body to whom the examiner delivers their report and who ultimately judges guilt based on that report. The Dean of Students also processes Community Standards Reports—which must be filed to initiate a Special Examiner’s Process—and No Contact Orders, such as the one Doe filed against his accuser. In other words, the Dean’s office is close to the case before it reviews evidence and makes its ruling, and it may be personally connected to the students it must objectively judge, especially on a small campus like Brandeis. The investigator in the case, the Special Examiner, is also essentially employed by the judge, the Dean of Students. Police are not employed by judges, because there must be a difference between the institution determining the truth of an incident and the institution looking for a criminal. Brandeis’ current process has no such distinctions, and thus an undue amount of power and opportunity for bias are both granted to the Dean of Students office. Additionally, the Special Examiner’s Process does not feature any hearing at all; there is no time in the process when a fully informed defendant can argue their case to those ruling on it. While the appellate process of the Special Examiner’s Process is not directly affiliated with the Dean of Students, it makes even less effort to grant power to those qualified to make just rulings—the type which would normally be determined by a judge. Appeals boards are made up of faculty members; (outside of Legal Studies professors), academics have no training in how to determine a just verdict and, again, may be biased because of personally knowing students and witnesses involved in cases. This board takes issue with a basic lack of fairness in the Special Examiner’s Process. While developed with the absolute best of intentions, its systems do not promote civil rights and a fair chance at the defense of those facing the weighty charge of sexual misconduct. We recommend the University instead think about revisions to the current process that would cultivate a more equitable judicial proceeding by promoting the civil liberties this country was founded on.
GABY YESHUA/the Justiice
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On April 8, a jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 11 and a half hours before coming to a guilty verdict in the case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man accused of participating in the Boston Marathon bombing two years ago. He was convicted of 30 counts, including conspiracy to commit mass destruction, bombing a place of public use and aiding and abetting in the bombing and the attacks following it, including the death of Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier two years ago. Of these, 17 counts could send him to death row. On April 21, the sentencing phase of Tsarnaev’s trial will start. The jury has to vote unanimously in order to impose the death penalty. How do you react to the guilty verdict, and do you think that the death penalty should be considered?
Prof. George J. Hall (ECON) My thoughts continue to be with the many victims of the Marathon bombing. I hope they find some solace in the recent guilty verdict. I have no sympathy for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; he is a murderer pure and simple. Given his brutal crimes, the Commonwealth should remove him from society for the remainder of his days. But just because Tsarnaev is a killer does not mean we, as a society, need to kill as well. Going forward, I pray to God for the courage and strength to work to build a world free of vengeance and violence. Prof. George J. Hall is a professor of Economics.
Alex Mitchell ’17 I think that it was pretty obvious he is guilty. But I also think that given Massachusetts’ firm opposition to the death penalty and support of due process, killing him is the wrong way to go. I was here when the bomb went off, and I followed the coverage of the manhunt closely. Like every citizen of this great state, I was afraid, and I wanted to see the perpetrators in chains more than anything else.Tsarnaev’s hope was to sow discord in one of the most welcoming and cosmopolitan places on earth. Killing him would not only turn him into a martyr for extremists around the world but also complete his mission of destroying Massachusetts’ most sacred values. Watching my state abandon her principles to satisfy some vengeful bloodlust would be extremely disheartening. I desperately hope that even one juror finds the courage to do the right thing and prevent Tsarnaev’s execution. Alex Mitchell ’17 is a resident of Massachusetts. He is majoring in Neuroscience and Biological Physics.
Henry Snow ’17
I think the verdict is certainly the correct one and not a surprise, though I question some of the laws upon which it is based. For example, the idea that a pressure cooker bomb constitutes a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ where an assault rifle would not have is patently absurd. As for the sentence, the death penalty should not be considered. It never should be. Execution is a disgusting and heinous practice, and I’m outraged and ashamed that our government engages in the willful murder of citizens. Killing Dzokhar Tsarnaev will not bring anyone back from the dead, it will not teach him any sort of lesson and will not deter others like him. It will, however, degrade our morals, waste state resources and end a human life that has a non-zero potential to someday better the world—however unlikely that may be, no life should ever be written off. The death penalty is not justice. It is needless violence, revenge motivated by rage.In the end, it should be a choice about how involved they want to be. Henry Snow ’17 is a member of Amnesty International and Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society. He is majoring in Physics and History and is studying Arabic.
Dor Cohen ’16
I am pleased, but not surprised, by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s guilty verdict, which will finally allow Boston to receive some closure on the marathon bombings. There are both positive and negative aspects to Tsarnaev receiving a death penalty. Tsarnaev is clearly guilty and his actions, which killed four and left hundreds injured, are not undeserving of capital punishment. Further, despite claims that he was manipulated by his older brother, at the time of the attacks Tsarnaev was a 19-year-old college student with the maturity to act independently. However, if death is recommended, Tsarnaev’s lawyers will lead a lengthy appeals process, thus elongating the trial and failing to bring the kind of closure that many of the victims and survivors are anticipating. A death sentence could also transform Tsarnaev into a martyr for like-minded individuals, while life in prison would force him to live in desolation and away from the spotlight he sought to achieve. Thus, the best bet would be to simply let the judicial system go through its process and accept the sentence doled out to him. Dor Cohen ’16 is the president of the Brandeis Pre-Law Society.
THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, april 21, 2015
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Reevaluate views on Religious Freedom Restoration Act Mark
Gimelstein Give me liberty
Just 22 years ago, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives, approved by the Senate by a vote of 97 to 3 and then signed by President Bill Clinton into law. The justification for passing such a law at the time was to countervail the decision made by the Supreme Court in the wrongfully-decided 1990 case Employment Division v. Smith, in which the Court ruled that the state of Oregon could refuse to give unemployment benefits to two Native Americans fired for testing positive for mescaline, an illegal substance found in peyote, which they used for religious ceremonies. The law simply brought back, according to the Constitution Center, the “Sherbert test,” an old metric created in the 1963 case Sherbert v. Werner but greatly diminished in the 1980s. The test says “that if a person claim[s] a sincere religious belief, and a government action place[s] a substantial burden on that belief, the government need[s] to prove a compelling state interest, and that it pursue[s] that action in the least burdensome way.” In short, the law creates a balancing test for the courts to weigh people’s sincerely held religious convictions with the compelling interests of the state. Since the passage of RFRA, 21 states have adopted such measures to empower religious individuals to petition their case against state action—not just action involving the federal government—while 11 other states have had similar provisions made through state court decisions. One of the most recent states to enact such a measure was Indiana, with two main differences: the law also applies to closely held corporations, constitutional through 2014’s Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case, and it applies to private parties, which many legal scholars, like University of Virginia Law Professor Douglas Laycock—who is pro-same-sex marriage and a supporter of RFRA—say follows the original meaning of the federal RFRA. This should have been an agreeable law to all. Religious freedom is, after all, the cornerstone of America and its founding. But the problem is that the year is 2015, and many liberals, who at one time declared themselves to be the unabashed champions of civil liberties, have become disgracefully intolerant of and authoritarian toward religiously-minded people.
In order to create traction against RFRA, liberals declared war on the law by promoting a campaign to instill fear and deceive the public, doing a complete 180-degree flip on their stance towards RFRA under President Clinton. Democrat Governor of Connecticut Dannel Malloy, who conveniently glossed over the fact that his state has its own, stricter RFRA (the burden on a belief in Connecticut’s RFRA doesn’t have to be “substantial” like in Indiana’s version of the law), had a Twitter tirade, disingenuously accusing Indiana’s law of “turn[ing] back the clock on progress” while righteously proclaiming that “discrimination won’t be tolerated,” which led him to ban state-funded travel to Indiana. Other politicians like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would follow suit in banning state-funded travel to Indiana. But politicians weren’t the only ones crusading against “discrimination.” People like Apple CEO Tim Cook warned of RFRA’s dangers, writing that such laws “say individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law” while recklessly equating it to the Jim Crow era. And there was much, much more. While Indiana Governor Mike Pence, along with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, facing a similar bill in his state, would eventually capitulate to the mob and would add an “antidiscriminatory fix” that, in effect, guts the law, it is still imperative to debunk the central lie on RFRA—it does not, and will not give license for business owners to discriminate against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender patrons or against anyone else. Indeed, there is plenty of legal precedent from before RFRA was even codified law to suggest that no business has legal standing when it comes to discriminating against particular groups of people, according to Professor Laycock. In actuality, RFRA sets up the framework for a more targeted and controversial question: can the religious—or anyone else for that matter—be forced to participate in activities that they believe are in direct contradiction to their sincerely held religious or moral beliefs? If the owners of Memories Pizza, a pizzeria located in the small town of Walkerton, Ind. that became the epicenter of liberal spite and condemnation, explicitly state that they do not practice discrimination against anyone but would refuse to specifically cater to or participate in a hypothetical same-sex marriage—a crucial distinction—they should at least be allowed to ask that question and state their case to a court. And they should definitely not be receiving death threats from our friends on the left just for espousing their religious views. But if we’re going to ask this question, we might as well answer it. Yes, religious busi-
BEN JARRETT/the Justice
ness owners should be able to deny services for same-sex marriages. The primary problem present today is that many liberals fail to understand the meaning and purpose behind religious ideals, values and beliefs because they have far removed themselves from any exposure to flesh-andblood religious, traditional people as they’ve coalesced around LGBT-related issues. That’s why they instinctually jump to the conclusion that believing in traditional marriage makes one a bigot without knowing a single thing about the individual or individuals they’re attacking. Liberals do this mainly because they believe that, regarding views on marriage, there is only one right answer—theirs. As such, people are inherently bad if they don’t subscribe wholeheartedly to the liberal mindset on social issues.But the truth is that, at its core, the question of marriage and its designed purpose mean different things to different people. Yet instead of agreeing to disagree, many on the left are trying to coerce people to conform to their views through government force by opposing laws that would check the power of government to regulate religion’s practice out of existence. It’s especially ironic given that these are the same people who started the same-sex marriage push by marketing it as a “leave-me-alone” movement with slogans like “Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t have one.” When looking at all of this, it becomes increasingly clear that the inculcation of this groupthink mentality through force, contrary to what liberals like Tim Cook say seems to be
much more aligned with the evils of the Jim Crow era than anything America’s religious community has ever done. In fact, people often forget that these laws actually mandated that all businesses discriminate and segregate their services based on race. The Jim Crow era was, at its core, government force. Similarly, it is the left today that is attempting to mandate through government’s heavy hand that every dissenter be quelled into submission, which is quite literally the opposite of the tolerance they purport to live by. So instead of trying to suppress the beliefs of those they disagree with, the left is better off leaving people who haven’t harmed anyone alone. They should respect the views of people like Aaron and Melissa Klein, Oregonians who, because of “anti-gay discrimination laws” are facing fines that could potentially bankrupt their cake-making business. Because, in the end, punitive measures that violate the sacrosanct beliefs of religious businessowners hurt the proprietors far more than any grievance hustler trying to generate controversy. With the added fact that there are many more businesses that will serve same-sex marriages than not, this search-anddestroy campaign against religiously minded people has no warrant, basis or place in America. All it does is ruin lives. Ultimately, no one should have to abandon their religious and moral convictions simply for trying to make a living. Instead of listening to the Left, let’s embrace diversity of thought and leave good, honest religious people alone.
Encourage American reciprocity to help the less fortunate By kat semerau
JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Spending just one day in a U.S. suburb is enough to realize how rich and prosperous most Americans are. While this is an obvious fact to those living in the slums of Mumbai or to the struggling mother of three in Detroit, most Americans do not see this. While the rest of the world’s bereavements are overlooked, our own first world problems ignite coffee table buzz and intellectual pomp. However, for such talk, little is actually done. Despite our wealth of blessings, affluent Americans fail to give back to the people most in need. One trend of affluent American culture too oft overlooked is how little we give to the poor. According to a 2012 report by the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the amount of donations given by individuals to charitable organizations averages out to three percent of their adjusted gross income. The U.S. has the fourth highest standard of living in the world yet does not rank amongst the top 15 most charitable countries. Our materialism has blinded us to the meaning of opulence: to help people by disseminating wealth. By merely complaining, we do not help anyone, at home or abroad. The most egregious complaint made comes from those in the upper middle class. Their critique of affluence inspired the Occupy Wall Street movement , in which “the 99%” belittled the “wealthy.” The effort was undermined by the fact that those involved were overwhelmingly highly
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educated and employed, according to a report from the Joseph F. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the City University of New York. The ignorance of this movement became even more apparent when protesters were interviewed. Most did not even know why they were protesting, nor did they have any specific demands. Another reason the movement failed was because stereotyping the richest one percent and labeling them the axis of evil misses the point. Real injustice lies in the unprecedentedly high wealth gap that persists in America that creates socioeconomic castes and prevents GDP growth, not in the fact that rich people exist. Inherent problems in our economic system are underscored when Americans scream out a window that rich people are bad. All this does is scare the pigeons. Furthermore, it is important to take a step back when considering wealth. First world problems become much less scary when fathoming those in the developing world. Three billion people on the planet live on less than two dollars a day, according to a 2013 report by the World Bank. Rather than be seen as a depressing fact, this should be an enticing incentive: all Americans can be opportunists and charitable donors, if they please. We also take for granted other important luxuries. Our education system, for instance, is a pillar of equal opportunity. Programs such as Headstart and other government-funded organizations ensure that every American citizen has the op-
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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.
portunity to receive an education, from preschool to postgraduate studies. Rather than appreciate this fundamental advantage, many Americans ignore it altogether. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count report shows that 53 percent of U.S. children who were three and four year old did not participate in preschool in the three years spanning 2008-2010. This is one reason that America ranks average (and below average in math) in test scores compared to the rest of the world. Receiving early education is proven to be a determining factor in whether or not students attend postsecondary schools. The freedoms we are afforded are not embarked upon, leading to detrimental effects. American children have the dream of becoming anyone. They believe they can become rock stars, professional sports players or even president of the United States. However, this idealism is combated throughout adolescence when American culture influences our attitudes. Once capitalism is understood, money becomes the prime motivator of our youth rather than personal knowledge. If only the system taught the value of an education; in places like Pakistan, you can be denied schooling purely because of your gender, an issue recently brought to our attention by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. Maybe then free education would be appreciated more. Another system that is criticized without legitimacy is healthcare. In America, if a car hits you, an ambulance will rush through traffic to be
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by your side. A paramedic team consisting of five qualified medical personnel will come to your rescue, assessing your injuries and providing the necessary care to save your life. This interaction occurs daily without red tape, questioning or exploitation. Your immediate life preservation is valued, whether you are homeless or the richest person in the world. This life sparing blessing is one that enrages the political right. Politicians and conservative Americans complain about expensive health care bills and tax increases for this cause. In fact, taxing is such a hot button issue that prior to the November 2012 election, Americans for Tax Reform convinced 95% of all Republican members of Congress to sign a petition vowing that under no circumstance may they increase taxes. This act of partisanship was crude and misguided. Curbing healthcare in a prosperous country such as the United States when other, less fortunate countries leave dying people on in the street is at least unpatriotic and at most downright offensive. We like to think we are poor when in actuality we are rich. The right to life, an education and a solidified opportunity for success are granted to every American citizen. Though serious challenges confront us, it is the task of our brightest, most innovative minds to tackle them. However, in a culture that does not appreciate or spread its most basic blessings, this progression is deterred. Those who inevitably suffer from such callousness are those who stand to benefit most from a helping American hand.
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TUESDAY, april 21, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Denounce international complacency to genocide Jessica
goldstein ubuntu
Welcome to the reign of African dictators— men who served their countries for much too long, manipulating constitutions and bringing about an end to legitimacy on the African continent—namely, Omar al-Bashir, who plays the role as chief dictator to his crumbling regime. Bashir came to rule Sudan after a bloodless 1989 coup and has since been named as the only sitting head of state wanted for the crime of genocide. However, as soon as Bashir extends his rule of the country—with results expected on Apr. 27—he is bound to make his rule seemingly legitimate, despite a surprisingly low voter turnout. In fact, the elections were boycotted by opposition parties waiting for the formation of a coalition government in order to ensure legitimacy, according to the Associated Press. His actions have been deplorable, to say the least. Extending the reign of an African dictator is an easy feat, but capturing him is not so much. On Mar. 10, Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, pressured the UN Security Council to take action on his seizure as the only sitting head of state wanted for the crime of genocide. This seems rather ironic, as the council referred the situation to the International Criminal Court ten years prior on March 31, 2005. After the brutal man evaded capture for some five years, the ICC decided enough was enough. However, if elections go through successfully, the legitimacy of the ICC may come into question as Bashir may find himself in office for a neat 25 more years while the ICC crumbles to the ground after only thirteen years. In turn, Bashir’s success will deem the ICC illegitimate in many viewers’ eyes. However, as we examine the rule of Bashir, we realize that throughout the years of his near-despotic rule, many in the international community should be left scratching their heads, wondering what is, in fact, legitimate in the world. In 2003, Omar al-Bashir began his campaign of genocide in Darfur, a region in Western Sudan that largely had been abandoned by the government up to that point. As a result, militant groups known as the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Move-
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
ment attacked government bases in order to respond to this deprivation. Bashir responded with a brutal campaign of “draining the pond to catch the fish.”
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Bashir... has been named the only sitting head of state wanted for the crime of genocide. This campaign allowed for Bashir to orchestrate massive aerial attacks on civilians accompanied by massive ground assaults which consisted of a campaign of looting, rape, torture and murder perpetrated by the Janjaweed or the “devil on horseback.” Today, this ragtag militia group is supported officially by the government and have been named the Rapid Support Forces.
According to United to End Genocide, some 300,000 have been killed, and 3 million more have been displaced due to the government’s desire to pursue counterinsurgency methods against these militias, oftentimes directly targeting the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit ethnic populations in the process. If that is not enough, this expansive campaign of atrocities has spread to other regions of the country—including South Kordofan and the Blue Nile regions—for nearly four years now following disputed state elections and the country’s split from today’s South Sudan. Those in the region fought alongside the SPLM in the Second Sudanese Civil War. As a result, Sudan continued the campaign of impunity, striking down individuals accused of allying with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the group currently fighting with the government. And though it might seem it couldn’t get any worse, the international government is standing idly by while all of the evidence points to the government’s complicity. In fact, in March 2012, in response to evidence found in John Prendergast’s and George Clooney’s Satellite Sentinel Project,
the two visited the Nuba Mountains—an area in South Kordofan—in order to alert the world to what happens when there are no witnesses. The footage shows a place where “for the first time since the Stone Age, people are living in caves.” According to the United Nations, as of May 31, 2012, some 202,000 refugees from the Blue Nile and South Kordofan are living in refugee camps in South Sudan and Ethiopia. An estimated 300,000 have been displaced by the conflict. Now, the international community is devolving to a point of complacency. Today, the arrest warrants for Omar al-Bashir and his closest advisor are losing legitimacy with every coming day. All the while, the UN Security Council is supporting a cessation of all humanitarian efforts with the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur and is failing to support the necessary efforts to bring peace to the country. As Omar Hassan Al-Bashir grabs on his 26th year of the presidency, I suppose we will continue to hold our tongues. Let’s say goodbye to the ICC and any hope for a peaceful resolution for the violence in Sudan.
Support unionization of non-tenured University faculty By JULIA DOUGHERTY SPECIAL TO THE JUSTICE
A regular courseload for Jodie Austin, an adjunct professor in the English Department, is three courses—but it’s barely enough to make ends meet. At the March 31 teach-in facilitated by Brandeis Labor Coalition, she remarked, “I think it greatly affects my ability to teach as effectively because I cannot devote as much energy to each course.” Austin notes that even when her husband received unemployment benefits, the income was greater than hers as a university professor with a PhD. Sadly, this isn’t an isolated experience; it’s an emerging trend across the country. In the last 30 years, the proportion of contingent faculty has increased sharply at institutions of higher education. Among them are adjuncts, who are hired part-time on a course-by-course basis with no benefits, and contract (contingent) faculty who are full-time but not on the tenure track. At first, these contingent faculty served largely as sources of specific expertise on campus—generally maintaining full-time employment outside the university. But universities have increasingly relied on contingent faculty to minimize teaching costs, and according to the American Association of University Professors, non-tenure-track teaching positions now make up 76 percent of all instructional staff nationwide. Cited by AAUP, nationally, contingent faculty are often paid as little as $2,000 per course. According to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, in 2013 professors (averaged across assistant, associate, and full professors) at private four-year schools made between $63,000 and $117,000 annually, depending on area of study. At Brandeis, compensation varies by department—but many contingent faculty earn close to poverty wages, and some don’t even receive basic benefits like health insurance, as related by adjuncts at
the teach-in. To make a living, many faculty work at multiple institutions, teaching four, five or more courses to make ends meet. This all comes in the face of rising tuition, which clocks in at over $45,000 annually per student. This shortfall represents a source of profit for the University, keeping costs of teaching low.
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Many contingent faculty earn close to poverty wages, and some don’t even receive basic benefits like health insurance. Contingent faculty often are hired on shortterm contracts with little to no job security. At the teach-in, one adjunct professor related how he had been abruptly told not to expect coursework the following semester. Others have stated that they are often not told if there are course openings for them until very soon before a semester begins, leaving them in a precarious financial state. Furthermore, they are not compensated for the crucial work of professors outside of the classroom, such as student mentoring and advising. Academic freedom may suffer too, as according the the AAUP, contingent faculty often fear that taking an unpopular position or challenging authority might end in a nonrenewed contract. Given the lack of tenure-track teaching positions, contract faculty often hope that their positions will lead to full-time opportunities. This, however, is almost never the case, with some professors working for decades in contingent positions. Some of this stems from the lack of professional development opportunities afforded to non-tenure-track faculty,
whether to attend conferences or conduct research. Adjuncts and contract faculty are often isolated from the rest of the University community as well, disallowed from campus governance and not compensated beyond regular coursework. These issues deeply concern us as Brandeis students and members of the larger community. Our professors are an integral part of our learning experience, and we rely on them to give us the tools with which to approach the wider world. Many students have enjoyed classes taught by adjunct faculty, only to have them disappear the following semester—making it more difficult to form relationships with faculty. Even those who are able to maintain a more regular course schedule often lack basic meeting spaces to meet with students or hold office hours. We believe that any social justice university must maintain a commitment to fair treatment of all students and faculty within its walls, regardless of where they fall in the academic hierarchy. We must create labor practices that serve the needs of our entire community, including ensuring that all faculty are compensated fairly with livable wages and have access to benefits like health insurance and retirement plans. No one who works to fulfill the University’s core mission should have to hold multiple jobs just to get by, so it is crucial that students both support our nontenured faculty in their unionization efforts and urge Brandeis administrators to remain neutral. A union would allow non-tenure-track faculty to have a greater voice in their teaching conditions—which are our learning conditions. Unionization would also elevate the role of contingent faculty in campus governance and the decisions that affect us all in the classroom. It would also allow them to negotiate more favorable contracts with the University. Beyond pay, a collective voice would help con-
tingent faculty to have more of a presence in decision-making, be included more in university workings and advocate for more stability in their working lives. More than 3,000 partand full-time professors throughout Greater Boston have already won a collective voice —with faculty at Boston University, Bentley, Lesley, Northeastern and Tufts all voting to form unions in the last 18 months. And at both Tufts and Lesley, faculty have made landmark gains in compensation, benefits and scholarship opportunities, improving standards in the process. Brandeis has an opportunity here to fully realize its values, with a “union yes” vote among non-tenure-track faculty as our first step. Many contingent faculty are already organizing to gain their collective bargaining rights, and there are many ways to get involved. Tenured faculty can champion the cause of their colleagues by speaking out on behalf of adjuncts whose voices are not otherwise heard in the faculty senate. Students can get involved by engaging with our adjunct professors, advocating in support of contingent faculty causes or encouraging friends to sign the faculty solidarity petition on the BLC Facebook page. (Also, be sure to fill out course evaluations for adjuncts, as these are often critical to their hiring or rehiring.) The Brandeis Labor Coalition and many other campus organizations fully support contingent faculty in their organizing efforts —and we ask the administration to remain neutral in this process. That is why we joined hundreds of other students and faculty on April 14 and 15 to fight for improved wages and union rights for all. As Brandeis students, we believe it is crucial to compensate fairly and respect all members of our community. With these values in mind, we must commit ourselves to making Brandeis a truly just community. —Julia Dougherty ’15 is a member of Brandeis Labor Coalition.
THE JUSTICE
TRACK: Women earn two first place finishes CONTINUED FROM 16 en, the men had their best performance in the 1,500-meter run. Ryan Stender ’18 led the way for the Judges with a sixth place finish and a time of 4:04.11. Overall, 12 men competed in the 1,500-meter run, and none of the Judges finished in the bottom 20 of the run. Adam Berger ’16 finished with the eighth-best long jump for the men with a distance of 5.97 meters. Mohamed Sidique ’15, the Judges’ top competitor in jumping events, failed to record a legal mark in either the long jump or the triple jump event. Unfortunately, the men saw little success in the other events. Nick Wactor ’17 snuck into the top 20 in the 100-meter run with a time of 11.75 seconds, but the men could
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
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LOCKED IN
not record a time in the top 20 in the 200-meter run, the 400-meter run or the 800-meter run. In talking about the team’s success, Freeman is quick to praise the work of her teammates. “I look to my teammates, who are all so incredibly motivated and dedicated. We all try to hold each other to a high standard, and I believe that's what has made us so successful,” she said. Freeman looks to one phrase for motivation in her day-to-day routine: “Train smart and race easy.” The team will have to train smart and race easy in order to have a strong finish to the year. Both the men and the women will move onto the University Athletic Association Championships next weekend at Emory University in Atlanta to begin the championship season.
BASEBALL: Squad wins against regional foe CONTINUED FROM 16 even more costly than the standings show, as it halted the Judges’ mounting momentum. Judges 11, Springfield 3 On Monday, the Judges claimed an emphatic victory over the Springfield Pride at home. The game saw every Brandeis starter connect on at least one base hit, with six different starters finishing the contest with multi-hit batting appearances. Perhaps more impressively, six starters finished the game with RBIs, with four starters claiming two apiece. Heading the hitting clinic, right fielder Ryan Healy ’16 went 3-4 with two RBIs, a home run, and two runs scored. Third baseman Greg Heineman ’17 also had three base hits, racking up two RBIs and scoring a run of his own. Left fielder Ryan Tettemer ’17 and shortstop Nick Falkson ’18 hopped on the hit train, each doubling in the contest. While the Judges’ hitting proved impressive, the team’s bullpen
work was just as—if not even more—stellar. Pitcher Anthony Nomakeo ’17 got the start for the squad, only going 1.2 innings while allowing one earned run. Relievers Anthony Nomakeo ’17, Bradley Bousquet ’18 and Justin Freeman ’17 held the Pride to just five hits and two runs over the final seven-and-a-third innings of the ballgame. The bullpen helped secure what was ultimately a wildly lopsided victory by the hometown Judges. Following the victory, Gallanty reflected on the Judges’ performance: “Springfield was a really good win for us. Our offense was pretty dominant, putting up double digit runs and hits. The bullpen did a great job throwing strikes and getting outs.” The victory was the Judges’ fourth straight and brought them to 11-14 on the season. The Judges return to action on the road on Tuesday, squaring off against Gordon College at 3:30 p.m. The team has six games left on the schedule, including the final four contests to be played at home.
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
GOLD GLOVE: Amanda Genovese ’15 waits for a groundball in the victory against the University of Massachusetts Boston.
SOFTBALL: Team defeats UMass Boston at home CONTINUED FROM 16 the world to help my team win the game in extra innings,” Hecht said. Starting pitcher Nikki Cote ’15 picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the season. Cote said the game felt “like a roller coaster. I knew we were not going to give up and [would] keep fighting until we win.” Judges 9, Salve Regina 2 In Tuesday’s victory over Salve
Regina, Brandeis took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and did not look back. Though Salve Regina scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Judges kept piling on runs, scoring six runs combined in the second, third and fourth innings. Brandeis came away with the victory behind three innings of work from starting pitcher Cote and relief pitcher Melissa Soleimani ’17. With only four sets of doubleheaders remaining in the regular
season, Cote said that the team needs to work on playing a balanced game offensively and defensively. “If one area is having trouble, the other area should step up even more to make up for it. I also think we need to keep hitting and have a strong defense in our next four doubleheaders,” Cote said. The team will look to keep its winning streak going with a doubleheader at home against Bowdoin College this Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m.
BASEBALL SOFTBALL TENNIS TRACK Write for Sports! Contact Noah Hessdorf at sports@thejustice.org
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THE JUSTICE
●
Tuesday, april 21, 2015
15
TENNIS
jUDGES BY THE NUMBERS baseball TEAM STATS
UAA STANDINGS
Runs Batted In
Not including Monday’s games. UAA Conference W L Emory 6 2 WashU 6 2 Rochester 8 4 Case 4 4 JUDGES 2 6 NYU 2 6
W 23 23 21 17 11 15
Overall L Pct. 11 .677 12 .657 7 .657 10 .630 1 6 .407 19 .441
UPCOMING GAMES: Today at Gordon Tomorrow at Curry Friday vs Salve Regina
Ryan Pocock ’18 leads the team with 23 RBIs. Player RBI Ryan Pocock 23 Ryan Tettemer 13 Greg Heineman 12 Connor Doyle 10
Strikeouts Sean O’Neill ’18 leads all pitchers with 27 strikeouts. Player Ks Sean O’Neill 27 Sam Miller 24 Kyle Brenner 19 Ryan Pocock 14
SOFTBALL UAA STANDINGS
TEAM STATS
Not including Monday’s games.
Runs Batted In
UAA Conference W L Emory 8 2 WashU 8 2 Rochester 6 4 Case 5 5 JUDGES 3 7 NYU 0 10
W 28 29 20 24 12 8
Overall L Pct. 4 .875 9 .763 7 .741 11 .686 12 .500 20 .286
Anya Kamber ’15 leads the squad with 19 RBIs. Player RBI Anya Kamber 19 Madison Sullivan 15 Cori Coleman 14 Jordan Busceto 11
Strikeouts Samantha Wroblewski ’17 leads all pitchers with 59 strikeouts.
UPCOMING GAMES: Friday vs Bowdoin (DH) Saturday at Babson (DH) Sunday vs Framingham State (DH) *DH=Doubleheader
Player Ks Samantha Wroblewski 59 Nikki Cote 25 Sadie-Rose Apfel 12
track & Field TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
100-Meter Run
800-Meter Run
RUNNER TIME Nick Wactor 11.75 Adam Beckwith 11.85
RUNNER TIME Maggie Hensel 2:29.71 Gabriella Guillette 2:40.14
AMANDA NGUYEN/ the Justice
RUSHING UP: Dylan Schlesinger ’15 runs for the return in the Judges’ victory over New York University this past Saturday.
Judges win both home matches on Senior Day
■ Michael Arguello ’17 and Jeff Cherkin ’17 improved to 13-9 in doubles play with a victory on Saturday. By noah hessdorf justice editor
UPCOMING MEETS: Apr. 25 at the AA Championships at Emory University May 1 at the New England Division III Outdoor Championships at MIT May 8 at the Open New England Outdoor Championships at MIT
TENNIS Updated season results.
TOP PERFORMERS (Men’s)
TOP PERFORMERS (Women’s)
MEN’S SINGLES Michael Arguello
RECORD 14-7
WOMEN’S SINGLES Carley Cooke
RECORD 12-7
MEN’S DOUBLES Arguello/Cherkin
RECORD 13-9
WOMEN’S DOUBLES Cohen/Cooke
RECORD 12-7
UPCOMING MEET: The men and women’s team will be at the UAA Championships in Florida this coming weekend.
The men and women’s tennis teams won both of their matches this weekend as both squads beat New York University during Senior Day on Saturday. The 29th-ranked men defeated the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday, while the No. 27 women’s side took down Endicott College on Thursday. With the victories, the men improved to a overall record of 8-9, and the women’s team padded their record to 10-8. Judges 6, NYU 3 On Saturday, the Judges were led by their No.1 singles player, Brian Granoff ’17, who won his singles match by a score of 6-1, 3-0. Granoff’s opponent, junior Sidd Thangirala from NYU, was forced to retire due to an injury in the second set. On the No. 1 doubles court, Granoff and Danny Lubarsky ’16 defeated their counterparts from NYU 8-5. At the No. 2 doubles court, Jeff
Cherkin ’17 and Michael Arguello ’17 won their match 8-4. Arguello won again at No. 2 singles, winning his match 6-4, 6-3. Judges 5, MIT 4 Wednesday’s contest witnessed a more competitive match. The Judges struggled in the doubles portion of the competition, only winning one of the three matches. The team rebounded well in singles play, led by Arguello. The No. 2 singles player won his match in three sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Lubarsky won as well on the No. 3 court, winning 6-4, 7-5. Cherkin kept the winning ways going on the No. 5 court, 6-1, 6-3. Judges 6, NYU 3 Playing in her last home match ever, Carley Cooke ’15 led the Judges to a University Athletic Association conference victory on Saturday afternoon. Cooke played in a tough three set match on the No. 1 singles court, eventually coming out victoriously, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). Cooke also won the No. 1 doubles court alongside Haley Cohen ’18, 8-3. Charlotte Aaron ’18 and Sarita Biswas ’16 earned the other doubles victory for the team on the No. 3 doubles court, 8-5. Aaron and Cohen took their win-
ning ways onto the singles court as well. Cohen won on the No. 2 court 6-3, 6-2 while Aaron defeated her opponent by the same score on the No. 6 court. Judges 9, Endicott 0 The Judges shutout the visiting Gulls on Thursday afternoon. This time, Maya Vasser ’16 was the most dominant player on the court for the Judges. In the No. 2 doubles match, Vasser and Dylan Schlesinger ’15 won 8-1, while Vasser was also victorious 6-0, 6-0 on the No. 4 singles court. Once again on the No. 3 doubles court, Aaron and Biswas continued their impressive chemistry, this time winning 8-1. Aaron also earned a victory for the team on the No. 5 singles court, 6-2, 6-2. Cohen and Cooke won again on the No. 1 doubles court, beating their opponents 8-5. Instead of Cooke, Cohen got the nod this time on the No. 1 singles court, easily defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-1. Danielle Simms ’18 closed out the shutout for the Judges, winning her match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Both teams will be at the UAA conference tournament in Florida this weekend, with games scheduled Friday through Sunday.
pro sports BRIEF Edmonton Oilers win National Hockey League’s draft lottery to claim first overall pick in draft The National Hockey League draft lottery took place Saturday night, and every non-playoff team had a chance to win the right to draft first overall on June 26. The Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes actively spent this NHL season tanking to increase their chances of drafting consensus generational talent Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters. They came into the draft with lottery odds of 20 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively. As models of rebuilding franchises, these teams have been taking steps to surround whichever of McDavid or other generational talent—Boston University’s star center Jack Eichel—they had the privilege to draft. Instead, the third-worst team in
the NHL will now have the chance to draft McDavid. The Edmonton Oilers won the draft lottery at 11 percent odds, and they will be selecting number one overall for the fourth time in the last six seasons. With those other three first overall picks, the Oilers selected Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov, all skilled offensive players, and failed to focus on their defense through the draft at the number one position. All of their selections since 2010 have been in the top 10, but the only defenseman drafted of those picks was Darnell Nurse, the nephew of NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb, at number seven overall. Just because they have number one overall doesn’t mean Edmon-
ton will necessarily draft McDavid. Based on the tentative development of their other number ones and other rising stars on their team like Nurse, Leon Draisatl (a number three overall) and Jordan Eberle, the Oilers might seek an established NHL talent from a team more willing to take a chance on McDavid with a better history of developing offensive players. McDavid is an almost impossible talent to pass up, so this most likely will not be the case, but Edmonton General Manager Craig MacTavish may get some interesting offers for the first overall pick. Sabres GM Tim Murray is all but guaranteed to take Eichel at number two, another generational talent capable of singlehandedly tilting a game and becoming the perfect cen-
terpiece for a rebuilding franchise. The Sabres guaranteed themselves at least Eichel by finishing last, but the result is still slightly disappointing for Sabres fans after an intentionally lost season. The real loser in this situation is the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes have taken steps to amass top developing talent, and McDavid or Eichel would have been perfect supplements to top-tier offensive prospects like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Klas Dahlbeck. The Coyotes also have Chicago’s first round pick in this draft, acquiring it in the trade that sent center lineman Antoine Vermette to the Chicago Blackhawks. While Noah Hanifin is a promising defensive prospect almost universally projected to be the third
overall pick, there is a significant talent difference between the top two and the rest of the field. McDavid or Eichel are the most highly touted projected top-two draft picks since the Capitals and Penguins drafted star players Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin at number one and number two respectively in 2004. It remains to be seen what MacTavish will do, but with an 11 percent chance, the Oilers leapfrogged the only two teams worse than them where they will be given another try to kickstart a franchise that has not made the playoffs since 2006. Arizona will draft third followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils. —Dan Rozel
just
Sports
Page 16
UNDERHAND TOSS The tennis teams were victorious in matches against New York University this past Saturday, p. 15.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Waltham, Mass.
softball
THE DELIVERY
Women win three games ■ Shortstop Anya Kamber
’15 hit a two-run homer in a win against UMass Boston on Friday afternoon. By elan kane JUSTICE staff writer
The softball team heads into this week on a three-game winning streak after two victories last week at home against the University of Massachusetts Boston and one victory on the road against Salve Regina University. The Judges swept UMass Boston in a doubleheader on Friday, defeating the Beacons 10-6 in the second game and 10-9 in the first game. On Tuesday, Brandeis defeated Salve Regina 9-2 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the victories, the Judges improved to 12-12 overall.
MIHIR KHANNA/ the Justice
WINDUP: Pitcher Sean O’Neill ’18 pitches in the Judges’ 5-4 defeat against regional competitor Tufts University on April 4.
Men win one of three games during week ■ Left fielder Ryan Tettemer
had a home run and three RBIs in the Judges’ 6-5 defeat to Roger Williams University on Thursday afternoon. By gabriel goldstein JUSTICE contributing writer
The baseball team went 1-2 on a week that saw its fair share of highs and lows last week. The Judges fell in their final two games of the week with consecutive road losses against New England foes Johnson & Wales University and Roger Williams University, falling 6-3 and 6-5, respectively. The team picked up its only win of the week in a rout against Springfield College. Judges 5, Roger Williams 6 On Thursday, the Judges squared off against Roger Williams in a nonconference game. The game was a back-and-forth battle for the Judges, with the Hawks jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning off of RBI singles from junior infielder Kevin Baker and junior first baseman Shawn Cargilio. After four straight innings that saw Judges hitters reach base, the away squad was finally able to break through in the fourth on right fielder Ryan Healy’s ’16 RBI single. The game remained close for several innings until the Hawks
were able to bring two runners home in the seventh, the result of freshman outfielder Sean Gaffney’s triple, followed by a timely sacrifice fly. While it looked as though the Judges were finished, they caught a second wind in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs off of the Hawks’ relievers. Two of those runs came as the result of outfielder Ryan Tettemer’s ’17 home run, who had a career day at the plate, finishing 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Unfortunately, Tettemer’s heroics weren’t enough to stave off the resilient Hawks. The host squad got back two runs off of senior catcher and captain Chris Travers’ two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth. The Judges pushed hard for one last comeback, highlighted by another Tettemer timely RBI but saw their effort fall short as Roger Williams’ outfielder Caulin Rogers made an amazing game-saving catch to crush the Judges spirit and secure a victory for the Hawks. Pitcher Sam Miller ’16 picked up the loss for the squad, pitching 2.1 innings in relief. Miller allowed three earned runs and five hits while striking out two. “Roger Williams was a really exciting game,” said pitcher Justin Gallanty ’18. “Tettemer had a huge game,” he continued, before noting his disappointment in the game’s final result. “That was a disappointing loss but we showed a lot of heart and
fight.” The loss dropped the Judges to 11-16. Judges 3, Johnson & Wales 6 On Tuesday, the Judges saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt on the road at the hands of the Johnson & Wales Wildcats. The Judges jumped out to an early lead in the game, with catcher Connor Doyle ’16 scoring on an error in the second inning, and designated hitter Ryan Pocock ’18 crossed home in the third after a grounder from third baseman Tom McCarthy ’15 to second. The Wildcats quickly responded, scoring one in the bottom of the third and three in the fourth off of relievers Liam Coughlin ’17 and Bradley Bousquet ’18. The Judges put up another run in the sixth, the result of an RBI single by right fielder Ryan Healy ’16. However, the Judges were unable to dig themselves out of their deep hole, ultimately falling to the Wildcats by a score of 6-3. Pocock was the starting pitcher on the day, only lasting 2.2 innings while giving up one run and three hits on the day. He struck out three in the contest while allowing one walk. Gallanty shared his thoughts on Tuesday’s contest, stating that it was “a very winnable game and we let it get away.” Simply put by Gallanty, “We didn’t play well.” The loss dropped the Judges to 11-15 and proved
See BASEBALL, 13 ☛
Judges 10, UMass Boston 6 In Friday’s second game, the Judges provided some late-game offense to help starting pitcher Samantha Wroblewski ’17 get her fifth win of the season. Brandeis took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when shortstop Anya Kamber ’15 hit a two-run home run. UMass Boston responded immediately, scoring one run in the top of the second inning off a single by sophomore first baseman Lauren Mitsiaris. The Beacons then took the lead in the third inning scoring two more runs, both unearned. After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, UMass Boston added two more runs in the fifth inning. Brandeis came back with a five-run inning in the bottom
half of the inning to take a 7-5 lead. The inning was highlighted by Kamber’s second home run of the game and an RBI single by designated player Allison Hecht ’17. UMass Boston scored one run in the sixth inning to come to within a run, but a three-run home run hit by catcher Cori Coleman ’15 put the game out of reach. Wroblewski pitched a complete game, giving up four earned runs and striking out three. Judges 10, UMass Boston 9 In the first game of the doubleheader Friday, Brandeis nearly lost in extra innings, but a walkoff home run hit by Hecht in the eighth inning gave the Judges the victory. The Beacons broke the game open in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring a combined five runs to take a 6-1 lead. Brandeis followed suit in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring four runs of their own highlighted by a two-RBI single by center fielder Amanda Shore ’18 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Then, down by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Shore connected on a home run to lead off the inning and send the game into extra innings. UMass Boston scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning, but the Judges showed resilience to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to bring the deficit to one run. Then, with a player on first, Hecht sent a pitch over the wall for her first collegiate home run and the walk off home run. Hecht said she approached her at bat by moving off of the plate more than she usually does, which helped her hit the inside pitch. “It was the best feeling in
See SOFTBALL, 13 ☛
TRACK & fIELD
Squads compete in outdoor event at Brown ■ Tove Freeman ’16 finished
the women’s 400-meter run with a time of 1:00.71 for first place on Saturday. By daniel kanovich JUSTICE staff writer
The men and women’s track and field teams took part in the Sean Collier Invitational on Saturday. The women’s squad led the way in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted meet with two first-place finishes, while the men’s squad only managed one topfive finish. Tove Freeman ’16 earned one of the team’s first-place finishes in the 400-meter run, recording a time of one minute and one 71st of a second in the event. Kelsey Whitaker ’16 earned the team’s other firstplace finish in the 1,500-meter run, which she completed in 4:49.30. The team had a strong showing in the 1,500-meter run, with Kristi Pisarik ’15 earning third, Kyra Shreeve ’18 earning sixth and Kate Farrell ’17 earning 16th. Freeman managed to add a top20 finish in the 200-meter run,
earning the 18th spot with a time of 27.43 seconds. “I was really pleased with my performance at the meet this weekend,” Freeman said. She continued, saying, “I had my best races of the season, with a season best in both the 200 and 400 [meter runs]. I ended up winning the 400- [meter-run] at the invitational, which was the first time I have ever won an entire event in my collegiate career.” Alyssa Fenenbock ’15 earned the team an eighth-place finish in the Javelin event with a total distance of 30.61 meters. As captain of the women’s team, Freeman accepts the additional responsibilities that come along with the position. “I feel that it is my responsibility to set the example and hold the team to a high standard, which means being consistent and not being complacent,” she said. The best result of the day for the men came in the javelin throw, as Jonathan Gilman ’15 secured the third-place finish with a throw of 52.94 meters. Max Berner ’16 followed Gilman in 12th place with a throw of 44.47 meters. As was the case with the wom-
See TRACK, 13 ☛
JustArts Volume LXVII, Number 25
Your weekly guide to arts, movies, music and everything cultural at Brandeis and beyond
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Waltham, Mass.
‘Passion in Motion’ >> 20
Interview Column — justArts speaks with Amanda Ehrmann ’18, the director behind the Free Play Theatre Cooperative’s play Columbinus » 18
Father Tongue
Milcah Bassel’s multidisciplinary art
INSIDE
installation combines themes of language,
columbinus
This play showcases the story of the two shooters behind the Columbine High School shooting » 21
feminism and space » 19
The Vagina Monologues
Through a series of monologues
derived from the real-life experiences
of women, the show explores sexuality and womanhood » 20
18
justARTS
TUESDAY, April 21, 2015 | THE JUSTIce
CALENDAR
INTERVIEW
$
What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS ‘Post-Baccalaureate Sculpture’
Painting
and
Attendees will view work produced by students in the post-baccalaureate program in studio art. There will be opportunities to meet the artists and discuss the work. Today from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Dreitzer Gallery at the Spingold Theater Center. The event is sponsored by the Fine Arts Department.
Singing ‘West Side Story’
‘I am the Seagull or Something’
The play follows actors who take inspiration from Chekhov and their acting classes as they search for intimacy in the modern world. Eventually, the pair learns to question the way people relate to one another. The play is part of the Senior Festival, which gives graduating students an opportunity to showcase their work. Today from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Laurie Theater at the Spingold Theater Center. This event is sponsored by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. It is free and open to the public.
Amanda Ehrmann ’18 Director of ‘columbinus’
JAIME GROPPER/the Justice
This week justArts spoke with Amanda Ehrmann ‘18, the director of Free Play Theatre Cooperative’s play columbinus.
‘Song of a Murderess’
justArts: Why did you choose to direct ‘columbinus’?
The play’s protagonist, Fallon, is on trial for the murder of her boyfriend. Through a world of magical realism, Fallon guides the audience through her memories in the hopes that they will find her innocent. The show is part of the Senior Festival.
Amanda Ehrrman: The writer is from Chicago, and I am from Chicago, and it’s been my favorite play ever since I saw it senior year of high school, and I actually took a gap year so I’m a little older. Then I came here, and I was talking about it, and no one knew what I was talking about, so I’m like, “Okay, everyone needs to hear this story. I have to put it on if no one else is going to put it on.”
Today from 9 to 9:45 p.m. in the Laurie Theater at the Spingold Theater Center. This event is sponsored by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. It is free and open to the public.
JA: What was the rehearsal process like? AE: We had rehearsal most days from 7-11 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and we had a very busy cast, so lots of them were involved in many different things. We gave them a little bit of homework, so I assigned them two victims each and they had to go and do research about the victims and come back. Sometimes we would watch videos about Columbine and sometimes we would just do line-throughs or talk about cast bonding, talk about how we are feeling about it, but most of it was just regular rehearsal, blocking, working through character development. JA: What do you think is the most important message of the show? AE: The show starts out with the first act on high school archetypes and then Freak and Loner in the second act, who, like, become Eric and Dylan who were the shooters. I think the main message is that Columbine was no different than any other high school—this could happen anywhere. It’s all rooted in how we treat each other. There are a lot of internal factors, like how we treat each other, things we can actively do and then things we can do on a national level like school programs for a positive atmosphere and gun laws and things like that. JA: Was everyone happy with opening night? AE: I hope so! I was happy with it. Everyone was really nervous, everyone was like, “How are we doing? Who’s there?” Asking a lot of questions, and I was like, ‘You guys are fine.’ I wish we had more time; I think every director wishes they had one more week, but, like, especially since right after the break we had to jump back into it, but like every show, it pulls itself together at the last minute. JA: Is there one thing you wish the audience would take away from the show? AE: To just have an open mind and to realize that everyone is going through something and never to jump to conclusions if they snap at you or treat you badly. That’s kind of like preschool—the golden rule—but you know it really is true. There are so many moments where you say if that had gone another way it wouldn’t have ended this way and we are just left wondering how it could have ended and what could have been changed. Just more awareness, I would say. JA: What were your biggest challenges as director? AE: I think really good theater doesn’t tell you what to think. It doesn’t have one message that comes across. It has many messages and many different outcomes that the audience can leave with. My biggest challenge was not trying to shove something down their throats. —Jaime Gropper
‘Grace’
school senior, whose goal is to lead a normal life—to go shopping, eat lunch with her friends and date boys. Grace runs into problems when she starts hearing voices. Her guidance counselor advises her take control of her life, but she struggles to do so. Tomorrow from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Laurie Theater at the Spingold Theater Center. This event is sponsored by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. It is free and open to the public.
The show features Grace, a high
Attendees will have a chance to sing along to Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in this Festival of the Arts program. Thursday from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Stein at the Hassenfeld Conference Center. It is free and open to the public.
Behind the Scenes at Brandeis: The Masks We Wear
is free and donations are encouraged.
Brandeis Folk Festival
Brandeis’ annual festival of folk music will feature up-and-coming folk bands and solo acts from across New England. The event is produced by Too Cheap for Instruments, Victoria Carter ’15 and Madeline Black ’17. Attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Saturday from 12 to 5:30 p.m. on the Great Lawn or, in the event of rain, in the Shapiro Campus Center. The event is sponsored Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. It is free and open to the public.
Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (SLSAPS) Frequent performers at peace rallies, street festivals and parades, SLSAPS will play a set in honor of the Festival of the Arts.
The students of SOC128b invite the Brandeis community to an interactive photo exhibit where they will share their personal experiences with race, class and gender. The students will also prompt attendees to question their own identity and their place within the Brandeis community.
Sunday from 1 to 1:20 p.m. on the Great Lawn or, in the event of rain, in the Shapiro Campus Center. The event is sponsored Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. It is free and open to the public.
Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Farber Library Mezzanine. There will be a reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and light refreshments will be served. The event is sponsored by the Sociology Department and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.
Leonardo da Vinci and the Idea of Beauty
Boris’ Kitchen: Spring Show
Members of Boris’ Kitchen, Brandeis’ only sketch comedy group, will present their own original sketches. Friday from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Theater. Admission
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS The work of Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo is currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition is an intimate one but will feature rare loans from a number of Italian public collections, including the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy and the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, Italy and the Casa Buonarroti in Florence. On view through June 14 at the MFA. General admission is $25 but free for students with a Brandeis ID.
Pop Culture n !
By Anna Stern
ww
Spring is here, and with that comes the beginning of music festival season. Music festivals used to be under-theradar experiences that only those in the know witnessed. Now, festivals have become commercialized, and people pay ridiculous prices to spend hot, sweaty nights raging with performers and seeing who wears the least clothing. Festivals like Coachella, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza create a stir on social media, causing the best of us to immerse ourselves in jealousy as festival-goers see big names such as Kanye, Paul McCartney and maybe even Beyoncé herself. Big-name brands such as Red Bull, Spotify and Heineken encourage this behavior and sponsor various tents for people to chill and party in at their leisure. Clothing brands such as H&M have even started creating spring lines called “Music Festival Chic.” Colleges get into this spirit as well, and Brandeis is no stranger to this tradition. Brandeis’ much-anticipated “Springfest” is coming on April 26 and transforms Chapels Field into the ideal location for a music festival. What makes these festivals special is the music. Yet festivals have now become commercial locations for social interactions, drug and alcohol experiences and merchandising instead of focusing on the music. If I could go to any music festival, I would have gone to Woodstock from August 15 to 17, 1969. I would have not cared about the facilities or activities. I would have wanted to see the Jimi Hendrix Experience; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Joan Baez; Janis Joplin; Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Who. Woodstock was a place where nowlegendary artists came together for the purpose of bringing a culture of peace and love. One of the most popular music festivals is Coachella. This year, Coachella wanted to bring in more artists and more money. The festival expanded, and they now have two weekends for “wanna-be indie folk” to live this instantly gratification-style
CREATIVE COMMONS
THE NEW WOODSTOCK: Musical festivals like Coachella (above) are expanding quickly. cultural experience. Located in Indio Springs, California, two hours away from Los Angeles, Coachella has become the quintessential music festival experience. Dedicated festival-goers buy their tickets a year in advance and eagerly anticipate the line-up announcement. This year’s lineup was unimpressive. Sure, headliner AC/DC is a great band, as is headliner Steely Dan, but Drake and David Guetta are the most famous artists this year to be present at the festival. Here’s hoping for a Beyoncé/Jay Z surprise appearance from years past. Another one of the largest music festivals is Outside Lands. The San Francisco-based festival always manages to score incredible headliners. This
year’s festival is taking place Aug. 7 to 9 and has an incredible lineup that includes Mumford and Sons, The Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John and Sam Smith. Located in Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands is not just about the music but features food, wine, beer, art and comedy. As city festivals go, Outside Lands is one that has an epic lineup and gets significantly less publicity than Coachella. I would prefer going to a more intimate festival like Outside Lands than Coachella because, after all, it is about the music. So, my fellow Brandeisians, get pumped for our school’s own intimate music festival: Springfest!
ARTS COVER IMAGES: AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice. DESIGN: MIHIR KHANNA and MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice.
19
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
EXHIBIT
Exhibit draws on artist’s childhood to highlight artistry in the Hebrew alphabet By JAIME GROPPER JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
tion to the act of writing but also provides sharp contrasts between dark and light. In a description accompanying the exhibit, Bassel said that she used “the creation story from Genesis to provide the framework for the installation, where light, darkness, and chaos emerge as organizing themes.” On a separate wall, the opening lines from Genesis are printed in both English and Hebrew. Through headphones hanging opposite the drawings, viewers can listen to a sound piece that offers an interpretive recording of the beginning of Genesis. Bassel’s art merges her Jewish cultural identity with her feminist ideals. In Brandeis’s State of the Art magazine, Bassel notes how her artwork reflects her relationship with the patriarchal tradition inherent in Hebrew scripture. Bassel writes that the title of the piece Father Tongue is a reference to both “father culture” and “mother tongue.” “Tongue” is also a reference to “Codex Artaud,” an old art installation by prominent feminist artist Nancy Spero. A panel on the installation explains that “[t]raditionally, Hebrew texts are scribed by men, and her actions to flip and invert the five characters are a way to reclaim them as her own as graphic and abstract forms.” Bassel explained to the Justice that she hoped that people of different backgrounds would have differing reactions to her installation. To those who knew Hebrew, she hoped they would recognize the Hebrew letters, and for those who did not know Hebrew, she hoped they would recognize that the installation at its core is a manipulation of space and language. A live performance of the installation will be held Sunday, April 26.
Currently on view in the Women’s Studies Research Center Kniznick Gallery, Father Tongue portrays a unique connection between visual art and the Hebrew language. Combining themes of feminism, abstraction, space and language, the exhibit is a multidisciplinary installation that includes large-scale wall drawings, murals and a sound piece. The artist behind the installation, Milcah Bassel, holds a postbaccalaureate certificate in studio art from Brandeis. She created the large-scale wall drawings of Father Tongue on site as the Hadassah Brandeis Institute Artist-in-Residence. The wall drawings cover the full span of the exhibition walls and PHOTOS BY HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice their sheer size grabs the attendees’ THE BEGINNING: Bassel’s exhibit uses quotations from Genesis to showcase the inherent artistry in the Hebrew alphabet. attention. Although the drawings appear to be made of a combination of several geometric forms due to their complexity, they are actually created from the manipulation of only five Hebrew letters. Bassel explained that she looked through the Hebrew alphabet and settled on these five letters because they all consist of exclusively right angles. Although the drawings are divided over three walls, there is a seemingly invisible continuation guiding the viewer from wall to wall. The nature of the exhibit’s setup causes the wall drawings to be “read” from right to left, which, according to Bassel, was intentional, since Hebrew is read from right to left. Bassel’s installation is deeply inspired by her experiences with the Hebrew alphabet. In an interview with the Justice, Bassel discussed her family’s impact on her art. Bassel recalled watching her father, a traditional SHADES OF GRAY: This sketch of the exhibit illustrates how the piece uses depth and tone to create a strong visual impact. Jewish scribe, meticulously writing on Torah scrolls and other scriptures. Since she was unable to read and understand the writing as a child, observing her father writing was a fundamentally visual experience. Bassel’s connection to the Hebrew alphabet only grew stronger after her family moved to Israel and Hebrew became her second language. The balance between negative and positive space enhances the exhibit’s use of space. On the right most wall are only a few lightly shaded letters. As the drawing progresses leftward, there is an accumulation of letters with gradually darker tones, and the left most wall has only a few letters that are completely dark. The choice to gradually increase the number of letters and use tonal variation gives the piece a commanding presence. The wall-drawings were made with only graphite and ink. This choice not only 3-D PAINTING: The wall drawings use three dimensional elements, such as pieces that jut out from the wall, in order to change the way the Hebrew letters are perceived. strengthens the drawings’ connec-
BRIEF
Lydian String Quartet showcases their musicians’ versatility in a short concert Once again, the Lydian String Quartet brought music to Brandeis at the It’s About Time (Part 2) performance last Wednesday. The performance was a sneak preview to their full concert, which took place in Slosberg Recital Hall this past weekend and featured the musical talents of Daniel Stepner and Judith Eissenberg (violins), Mark Berger (viola) and Joshua Gordon (cello). Set in the Mandel Atrium during a busy lunch hour, the performance attracted a diverse audience and captured the attention of passersby. After a brief introduction from Deborah Rosenstein, the Concert program manager of the music department, the quartet began their
performance by explaining the two pieces they would play: String Quartet No. 4 “Amazing Grace” (1973) and String Quartet No. 2 (1907-1911). Eissenberg first spoke, explaining that the quartet has used tradition as a resource for their performance. Berger explained that Ben Johnston, the composer of the first piece, is an American experimental composer and, although underplayed, is still important to the genre. The piece starts off very simply, using a pentatonic scale of five notes, but then gradually adds more pitches and energy to the piece. After a subtle beginning almost exactly like the original “Amazing
Grace,” the piece turns into a much more energetic song yet still relies heavily on the hymn to ground the piece. Overall, the quartet wonderfully executed a performance that the audience is immediately familiar with due to the popularity of “Amazing Grace.” However, Johnston’s reinterpretation of the hymn adds interesting layers of slow and dreamlikemusic, contrasting with the heavy and romantic sounds that came later. These twists helped keep the audience intrigued and interested. String Quarter No. 2, composed by Charles Ives, contained three parts: “Discussions,” “Arguments” and “The Call of the Mountains.”
Each section had its own personality and style. Eissenberg explained that the piece resembles things emerging, like the childhood art project of scratching off black ink to reveal the bright colors underneath. Ives is one of the most written about and known American composers, the quartet explained. They also explained that this particular piece is a collision of sounds, similar to a stream-of-consciousness style. “Discussions” begins very dramatically and, as it progressed, sounded almost like a conversation between two people. The second part, “Arguments,” was much lighter and also included a wonderful, brief solo by Eissenberg. The
final part began with a slow and eerie start and builds as the piece progresses, reminding me of a mountain slope. The piece ends slowly, with a very high pitched sound emanating from the strings as the musicians’ bows hardly moved across the strings. Overall, the sneak preview of the Quartet’s performance was an entertaining and accessible hour filled with captivating music. Although taking an hour off from essays or job applications may seem daunting, the music was a calming reminder to take a break and relax as we near the end of the semester. —Jessie Miller
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
THEATER
‘Vagina Monologues’ empowers women
PHOTOS BY TOMMY GAO/the Justice
ACROSS TIME: Women tell the story of the “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could” from different points in her life, discussing unwanted sexual encounters and personal growth.
By LINDA MALEH JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
This past weekend in the Shapiro Campus Center theater, Brandeis held its annual production of The Vagina Monologues. The Vagina Club presented the production in honor of the club’s annual Vagina Week. The play was a colorful collage of different Brandeis female students talking about women’s experiences and celebrating women. The actresses in this play were bold and uninhibited, and the audience sat captivated as they took the stage. According to the Facebook page for the event, “In 1994, Eve Ensler began collecting interviews with women about womanhood and vaginas. From some of their experiences, she crafted The Vagina Monologues.” In an interview with the Justice, the show’s director, Jemesh Hunter ’15, said that “[The Vagina Monologues] was the beginning of a campaign against violence against women … It’s basically a platform for
women to talk about their womanhood through a vagina.” The monologues featured a wide range from characters who were survivors of sexual assault, to women having sexual awakenings at all ages to women learning about the vagina as part of their body and learning to embrace it. The production did not feature a set—rather, it featured a white backdrop of changing lights—and the performers wore clothing in colors of black, maroon, plum and orange. The unadorned stage sent a clear message: the audience’s attention was not to be distracted from, but focused on, the actors delivering their monologues. The show opened with a conversation about the word “vagina.” The actors talked about the implications of the word. They acknowledged how uncomfortable the word can be to use, and how many people shy away from using it at all. This was their premise. They first recognized how uncomfortable so much of society is with vaginas and discussions
about them, so that they could move past that and talk about why they embraced them. Throughout the monologues people would snap, clap or cheer in appreciation of a particular point that resonated with them. Audience member Sarah Adler ’16 said, “‘My Angry Vagina’ was my favorite monologue. She [Jessica Hood ’15] was on point! She was such a great actress and so much of what she said, and the way she said it, made me think ‘me too!’” The monologue Adler refers to is a rant about the things people shouldn’t do to vaginas, how vaginas have to be treated with respect, and about the problems with the gynecologist’s office. Hood was assertive and owned the stage as she lectured the audience about vaginas. I think that seeing the show is a deeply emotional experience for women, especially those who can identify with the characters and realize that they have shared experiences. Hunter said, “It’s a big thing about the experience, more so than just the acting … and how important it is to have a bonding experience with women who are all trying to learn something about themselves through this project.” A harder monologue to listen to was about Bosnian women who
were raped during the war in Yugoslavia, entitled “My Vagina Was My Village,” and played by Kiana Nwaobia ’17. It was due to monologues like this one that the show was preceded by trigger warnings. The graphic monologue was difficult to hear, and this alone demonstrated how important it was to be heard. Arielle Keller ’16 said, “Even if that particular event [in Bosnia] is over, events like that are not, unfortunately. So, I think that it’s really important to talk about these experiences, especially when it’s so poignant and so shocking because it gets people talking.” Nwaobia broke the audience’s heart with her monologue of how she was serially raped by soldiers. Much of the show was about the difficult experiences that women go through and how these experiences can’t be covered up. One of the monologues entitled “My Short Skirt,” played by Laquasia Cherry ’17 and Bethlehem Seifu ’16, talked about how short skirts are not an advertisement or an excuse for raping women. This statement seemed necessary, as the “short skirt” assumption is an integral part of rape culture. When asked if she had any issues with the play, Hunter described a
scene in which a 16-year-old girl has a positive sexual encounter with a 21-year-old woman, “ ‘The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could’ with the 16-year-old girl is practically statutory rape, but you can’t discount what this woman went through; it’s her experience. It’s showing how she came in touch with herself and with women … This helped her understand who she is.” Interestingly, the performance’s monologues focus on positive sexual experiences with other women and bad sexual experiences with males. There was one monologue that was positive in relation to heterosexuality, but the monologue’s introduction posited that this was an exception. The production’s content may have made some viewers uncomfortable, but overall, seeing the play was a positive experience. The play was powerful and hit all the monologues with emphasis. The show did a great job of making its message of getting women to embrace the vagina as part of their body and female empowerment. In a culture whose history and present often subjugates women, this play fights against that and empowers women to join that fight. It was a triumph for Brandeis women.
THE ART OF MOANING: A character explains to a group of kneeling women and the audience why she elicits sexual moans and how these moans vary across different cultures.
BEGINNINGS: Two women eagerly introduce the production and provide a glimpse of the major themes of the show. The ensuing monologues dove right into the discussion of female sexuality.
THE JUSTICE | TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
THEATER
PHOTOS BY MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice
DEFINING FEATURE: Perfect (Emma Nissenbaum ’18, left) and Faith (Sarah Skrovan ’18) reach for a makeup compact during a montage about identity.
Play uses unique staging to showcase dark themes By BROOKE GRANOVSKY JUSTICE EDITOR
columbinus was a deeply and hauntingly affecting play. The show used high school archetypes, such as nerds and jocks, to profile students at Columbine high school, following them through the 1999 school shooting and its aftermath. Only at the end of the first act did columbinus reveal that the archetypes “freak” and “loner” actually served as stand-ins for murderers Eric and Dylan, respectively. The shooting at Columbine high school was the most devastating school shooting of its Stime. Its legacy can be felt in current police and school security policies, as well as in the enduring interest behind the shooters’ seemingly random motives. The play, directed by Amanda Ehrmann ’18 under the Free Play Theatre Cooperative, relied on a small but dedicated cast and production team to create the evocative show. The cast performed over the weekend in Schwartz Hall, using the building’s layout and integrated technology to enhance the production. As Ehrmann wrote in the program’s preamble, “modern day theatre has all these unspoken rules.” The production’s unusual subject matter inspired Ehrmann to delve into unconventional theater and staging. Ehrmann wrote that these unspoken rules in modern theater included proponents like, “[a]ctors should always face out; after all, there is no way to show emotion when people are looking at your back!” The performances largely ignored these modern theater conventions and favored more experi-
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mental choices. The cast used Schwartz’s four doors as entrances and exits, which caused the characters to walk through the audience’s rows as they made their way to the stage. The audience sat in sets of two rows, with each set bordering a side of the stage. This unusual staging choice created a unique dynamic between the audience and the characters— characters would speak directly to some sides of the audience and ignore other sides by turning their back to them. In one of the most emotionally charged scenes, called “History Lesson,” Freak/Eric (Jacob Klein ’18) turned his back to different sections of the audience as he yelled about how much he vehemently hated the little things that mess up his day. He then went on to praise famous murderers, including the stories of Cain, Leopold and Loeb and Hitler. The scene was jarring, and Klein managed to convey his character’s anger even as his back was turned. In first act scenes “Guidance” and “Guidance Part 2,” the guidance counselor characters sat in the audience as other characters interacted with them. In the scenes, the counselors (Shira Harary ’17 and Shauna MacDowell ’18) sat in reserved seats in the audience as they counseled Freak/ Eric and Loner/Dylan (Dashiell Marley ’16). The experience of sitting next to the guidance counselors as Freak/ Eric and Loner/Dylan yelled at them allowed the audience to view the scene from the counselor’s minds. In quick succession, a spotlight shifted the scene’s focus to the students’ points of view. The lights on the counselors went dark as the
students started to yell at them for misunderstanding them and for being inferior to them. These switches in perspective and creative staging choices made the audience see the scene from both the students’ and the counselors’ perspectives, adding poignancy to the scenes. The performances also used technology in novel ways. Above each side of the audience was a TV screen with a projector on the remaining wall. The TV screens and projectors announced titles for each of the scenes and then displayed images relating to the scene’s events. In relevant scenes, the screens displayed copies of artifacts from the Columbine trials. For instance, in one scene the screens displayed copies of an actual story that Dylan had written for his creative writing class. The play focused on the victims and their families in a series of scenes titled “Aftermath.” In these scenes, the cast stepped out of their archetypical high school roles and played the parents of Columbine victims. The cast’s speeches were eloquent and moving and felt genuine. At one point during these scenes, the parents stood and encircled Eric and Dylan—a choice that seemed symbolic in many ways. Having the parents denounce the murders as they slowly moved toward them gave the scene a retributive air. On the other hand, the scene’s staging also emphasized the devastation that two people alone caused. As Ehrmann wrote in her preamble, “The piece is not perfect, it does not honor the victims as much as I would have liked … It does not hand [the viewers] the answers, which is terrifying, chilling, and exactly why theatre sur-
BASEMENT TAPES: Freak/Eric (Jacob Klein ’18, left) and Loner/Dylan (Dashiell Marley ’16) take videos of themselves as they discuss their plans to carry out a mass shooting at their school.
vives.”
UNEXPECTED NEWS: After being sexually assaulted, Perfect learns that she is pregnant, illustrating that even “perfect” people grapple with serious issues.
MISTAKEN IDENTITIES: Prep (Brian Dorfman ’16, left) and AP (Ryan Mills ’15) fight over the objects they took during a montage about identity. The fight ends when Prep takes a watch from AP and gives him glasses instead.
Everyone has a story. Help us find it.
Write for the features section of
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Contact Brianna Majsiak at features@thejustice.org for more information.
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TUESDAY, aril 21, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
dance
‘Passion in Motion’ displays multigenre and student-choreographed dances By samuel zucker justice contributing writer
Every performance of the Adagio Dance Company’s Passion in Motion began with a pitch-black room coming alive with dazzling bright lights. Adagio’s end-of-semester show consisted of student choreographed pieces from several dance genres. The show featured dances not only from Adagio, but also from Hooked on Tap and the Brandeis Ballet Club. Adagio, a completely studentrun dance group, encourages students of all dance backgrounds to perform. There are no auditions for their shows, only placements, and whoever wants to perform is given the opportunity. Other than dances that use placements, there is a group within Adagio called Dance Ensemble that is an audition based intensive dance group. Passion in Motion was entertaining not only for its dance performances but also for its full show atmosphere. The black and gold decorations at the entrance of Levin Ballroom made the show experience all the more pleasurable by unexpectedly adding to the overall show environment. Before the show even started, the emcees David Getz ’15 and Michael Frederikse ’15 made sure that the audience was in high spirits. The emcees created an interactive experience between the crowd and the performers with jokes and laughs. There was never a dull moment in the show with Getz and Frederikse keeping the crowd smiling in between each piece. The lighting helped tell a story in many of the dances. One performance which was enriched by lighting was “When I Come Back,” choreographed by Samantha Daniels-Kolin ’15 and Brittany Ritell ’15. This performance was about two
seniors struggling with the notions of being forgotten after they leave Brandeis. Soft lights during slower parts of the song and strobe lights when the song grew especially fastpaced also enriched the story. These lighting effects brought out to the audience the emotional aspect that these two seniors were addressing. Another characteristic of the Adagio show that added to the experience were the costume choices. In performances such as “Pompeii,” choreographed by Joyce Situ ’17, and the Dance Ensemble’s “Queen Bee,” choreographed by Lori Shapiro ‘17, the costumes truly added to the dance. “Pompeii” featured allblack outfits with red hairbands, which are appropriate with the theme of the song. “Queen Bee” took a similar approach with all-black costumes and yellow hair bands. These costumes choices showed the level of consideration taken with each performance. Every dance in the show utilized movement across the entire stage. This was demonstrated through all types of circular, triangular, square and many other formations. The various formations featured benefitted many of the performances by having different dancers in the front positions at different times. “Don’t Wanna Dance,” choreographed by Agnes Baldenweck ’15, used a triangular formation of the dancers. This added a dimension to the dance that really made the piece more complex. This aspect of the performances made it so that there was not one clear soloist; every dance was a group dance, in which the dwancers worked together. However, some performances did have special performers in them to make each performance stand out in their own ways. These special performances included dancers going into the audience, acrobatics,
AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice
ALL TOGETHER NOW: “Time of My Life,” choreographed by Allison Lawsky ’15 focusd on the group aspects of dance. and much more that added more dimension to give the Adagio show more excitement. A fascinating quality of the Adagio show was how the choreographers were able to group all dancers in a piece to do such acrobatic skills such as splits, pike folds and backward rolls. These made the Adagio show truly sensational and dynamic to watch from dance to dance. The Brandeis Ballet Club did an excellent job with their piece, choreographed by Hannah Schuster ’18, Vanessa Alamo ’17 and Abby Skolnik ’17. This piece was differ-
ent from the others in that the white backdrop of the stage was taken full advantage of. In most other pieces, the backdrop was not noticeable, but the Ballet Club used the white backdrop to add another dimension to their piece. This backdrop reflected the entrancing turns and poses of these ballerinas. Another aspect of this piece that was unique was the non-vocal song “A Flat” by Black Violin because the nature of the song caused the audience to fully concentrate on the ballerinas dance rather than on the lyrics of the song.
Adagio Dance Company did an excellent job of using every utility they had at their disposal to create a full show environment. This made the varied dance pieces all the more pleasurable to watch. —Brooke Granovsky ’18, who choreographed and appeared in “Octahate,” and appeared in “When I come Back,” “Wasted Love” and “Worksong,” is an Arts Editor for the Justice. Vanessa Alamo ’17 who choreographed and performed in the piece for the Brandeis Ballet Club is a staff writer for the Justice.
Q&A with Adagio co-president Samantha Daniel-Kolin ’15 JA: How do you think the show went this year?
which was really great and really appreciated. Four person dances are not as fun as eight person dances. It went very well. JA: Did you have any challenges with the production this year?
SK: I think the show went really, really well, definitely considering the fact that we had a lot less dancers show up this semester than in previous years. And we had a lot more dances. So people definitely put in more effort and were willing to get involved in more than two dances,
SK: You name it. Levin [Ballroom] was double booked [between Adagio and another group] on Friday, which [meant] we had to take down and reset the set—the whole stage— between Thursday and Saturday. When we got there on Saturday to set everything up, the facilities and
justArts spoke with Samantha Daniel-Kolin ’15, a co-president of the Adagio Dance Company, about the group’s show Passion in Motion.
conference and events [staff] had not been there to set anything up. It [was] a little bit of a freak out moment in trying to get drapes set up, putting the decorations up again… When it’s 7 [p.m.] and we’re opening [the house] at 7:30 and everything is not set, it gets interesting. Working with [Student Production Services] this year was actually more challenging than other years. For example, in the last dance— which was the [executive board] dance—last night, the music stopped halfway through. We kept dancing
to no music and just finished the choreography anyway. It actually looked very good, but it’s definitely a little bit disheartening to the dancers and to the choreographer if the music just stops. You’re not really sure what to do. … Both of our stage managers ended up not being able to show up last-minute on both shows. … It was kind of on the spot, use a dancer that’s not in half of the show, [then] swap around—things like that. There [were] definitely a lot of issues because the show [was] right after the break, [so] people forgot choreography, forgot to come, didn’t practice. It was a lot of extra rehearsals [in the three days] right before the show. JA: What was your favorite part of the show this year? SK: This year I was in seven dances, which is the most I’ve ever been in, so that was very fun [and] very challenging. I choreographed again, which is always a challenge, to try and do something that you think is audience-worthy and worthy of your dancers who are putting in the effort to participate in it as well. JA: Did you do anything differently this year as opposed to in other years? SK: We have a website, which I don’t think gets a lot of traffic. We started publicizing a lot more and a lot heavier. We asked our dancers to get more involved and to try and attract more students at every club fair. [We’re] definitely trying to get the Dance Ensemble [a smaller, more advanced group within Adagio] to perform at other Brandeis events and not just our own show. We’re trying to get our name out there.
AMANDA NGUYEN/the Justice
ON CLOUD NINE: Dancers performed “Hijack,” choreographed by Kiki Tringali ’17, wearing cloud patterned leggings.
JA: What would your goals be for
next year’s performance? SK: Hopefully we’ll get a lot more people interested and [find people] who will stick through with it. I think the E-Board will have a lot of challenges, because the majority of the E-Board is going to be new. The majority of us on the board are graduating, so it’s unfortunate for us because we don’t really want to leave. But I think the new E-Board will do really, really well. It’s just going to be interesting for them to try to get a grasp of how things work and working with the bureaucratic methods that exist on this campus can be a struggle sometimes. So I think that that’ll be a challenge for them. And I think it will be a challenge to just keep recruiting people because a lot of the people who were very involved graduated in the last year or two or three. So bringing a new crop of students up will be a challenge for them. JA: What do you see as the mission of Adagio? SK: I think our mission is just to promote dance as a fun activity that people want to do. As I say, it’s all-inclusive. You don’t have to be trained to dance. You don’t have to have been dancing since you were three to either know how to dance or want to dance or be allowed to dance on a stage. So definitely all the clubs—even the clubs like Ballet Club, Hooked on Tap, they all want to take you in, even if you have never done it in your entire life. They’re happy to teach you, happy to show you and they’re happy to let you perform even if you’re not the most advanced… so those are really great options for people on campus. —Emily Wishingrad
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TUESDAY, April 21, 2015 | THE JUSTICE
TOPof the
PHOTOS CORNER
Brandeis TALKS
CHARTS for the week ending Apr. 19
Quote of the week “When I’m asked ‘are gay rights civil rights?’ My answer is always, ‘of course they are. Civil rights are positive legal prerogatives— the right to equal treatment in a court of law, and these rights are shared by everyone.”
BOX OFFICE
1. Furious 7 2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 3. Unfriended 4. Home 5. The Longest Ride 6. Get Hard 7. Monkey Kingdom 8. Woman in Gold 9. The Divergent Series: Insurgent 10. Cinderella (2015)
—--Civil Rights activist Julian Bond (News, p. 1)
If you could tell your freshman self one thing, what would it be?
NYT BESTSELLERS
BRIANNA MAJSIAK/the Justice
FLOWER POWER: Justice editor Brianna Majsiak ’16 took this photo in front of the Shapiro Campus Center on Friday. The flowers were dispersed across the campus as part of Alzheimer’s Awareness week.
Featuring creative photos from our staff This new feature will showcase our photographers’ work capturing small moments around campus Felicia Lee ’18
“Just go out there and be yourself in groups and not be afraid to just expose yourself.”
David Lee ’16 “Learn time management and make more time for fun.”
Lily Montana ’15 “Everything’s going to be ok.”
Rachel Weissman ’15 “Stop doing things you think you should be doing and start doing things you want to do.”
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Digital periodical, briefly 5 Part of CBS: Abbr. 9 Comics title character who married Irving 14 Kitchen floor covering, in Kent 15 __ Ness monster 16 Earth pigment 17 Sooner State city 18 Architectural S-curve 19 Rays of light 20 Taking the top spot 23 Roman fountain 24 Volcano in Sicily 25 “What’s happenin’?” 28 In the least favorable case 31 Brit’s “Bye-bye” 32 Cleopatra’s undoing 35 Slim and muscular 36 Annie with a gun 38 With 40-Across, remaining focused 40 See 38-Across 41 Gold purity measures 42 Brother of Cain 43 Item in a P.O. box 44 This, in Seville 45 Fed up with 48 For what reason 49 Capricorn’s animal 50 Creates 54 Betting it all 58 “Hot corner” base 60 Cowboys quarterback Tony 61 R&B singer India.__ 62 Exposed 63 Explorer __ the Red 64 Reject as false 31 Fight stopper, for short 65 Brass or bronze 32 Cockeyed 66 CPR pros 33 Hidden supply 67 It’s a long story 34 Free-spirited socializer 37 Poise DOWN 39 Former NBA center __ Ming 1 Put into office 40 U.K. award 2 Insignificant 42 Painting or sculpture 3 Japanese cartoon style 46 “No argument from me” 4 Premium chocolate brand 47 Electrical capacitance units 5 Walk laboriously, as through mud 49 Dizzy with delight 6 Quotable Berra 51 Divided country 7 The stuff of many postcard photos 52 Barely managing, with “out” 8 Burglaries 53 Parting words, perhaps after the 9 Hooded snake visit suggested by the starts of 20-, 10 King beaters 38-/40- and 54-Across 11 “It’s not true!” 55 Twistable cookie 12 Pants bottom 56 Fail to mention 13 Decade tenths: Abbr. 57 Mythical birds 21 Knucklehead 58 TV schedule abbr. 22 Chanted 59 Actor Holbrook 26 Sch. with a Chattanooga campus 27 Subscription-based home entertainment Solution to last issue’s crossword 29 Churchill of the United Kingdom 30 Charity’s URL ending Crossword Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service,
Fiction 1. The Girl on the Train—Paula Hawkins 2. All the Light We Cannot See— Anthony Doerr 3. The Stranger—Harlan Coben 4. Hot Pursuit—Stuart Woods 5. Falling in Love—Donna Leon Nonfiction 1. Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies— David Fisher 2. Dead Wake—Erik Larson 3. The Residence—Kate Anderson Brower 4. Being Mortal—Atul Gawande 5. A Fine Romance—Candice Bergen
iTUNES
1. Mark Ronson—“Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)” 2. Ed Sheeran—“Thinking Out Loud” 3. Ellie Goulding—“Love Me Like You Do” 4. Rihanna and Kanye West— “FourFiveSeconds” 5. The Weeknd—“Earned It”
BILLBOARD
1. Soundtrack—Furious 7 2. All Time Low—Future Hearts 3. Soundtrack—50 Shades of Grey 4. Maroon 5—V 5. Tayor Swift—1989 6. Sam Smith—In The Lonely Hour 7. Kendrick Lamar—To Pimp A Butterfly 8. Drake—If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late 9. Ed Sheeran—X 10. Meghan Trainor—Title Top of the Charts information provided by Fandango, the New York Times, Billboard. com and Apple.com.
STAFF’S Top Ten
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.
DISNEY CHANNEL ORIGINALS By jaime gropper
justice EDITORIal assistant
Watching Disney Channel was a staple of my childhood, and I remember eagerly awaiting the premiere of original movies. Here are the movies that have stuck with me the most.
Aviv Glick ’16 “Take it easy.”
—Compiled and photographed by Grace Kwon/the Justice.
Solution to last issue’s sudoku
Sudoku Copyright 2014 Tribune News Service, Inc.
1. Smart House 2. The Thirteenth Year 3. The Even Stevens Movie 4. Stuck in the Suburbs 5. Jump In 6. High School Musical 7. Cow Belles 8. Minutemen 9. Zenon: Girl of the 21st century 10. The Luck of the Irish
April 21, 2015
justArts previews
the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts April 23 - April 26, 2015
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF THE ARTS. DESIGN : MIHIR KHANNA and RACHEL HUGHES/the Justice
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
THE JUSTICE
Folk Fest Annual Music Festival Saturday from noon to 5:15 on the Great Lawn. In the case of rain, Folk Fest will be held in the Shapiro Campus Center. Folk Fest is produced by Too Cheap for Instruments, Victoria Carter ’15 and Madeline Black ’17. Molasses Jones Molasses Jones is a Boston-based group that performs American rock. The duo have many talents—John Zapato is a vocalist and plays the guitar and harmonica, and his partner, Corey Fein, plays the drums, banjo, harmonica and guitar. Noon to 12:25 p.m. Too Cheap for Instruments Brandeis’ female a cappella choir and one of the coordinators of the event, Too Cheap for Instruments, will perform. 1 to 1:20 p.m. Mark Whitaker Boston-based singer-songwriter and banjoist Mark Whitaker will come to campus to perform his music—ranging from folk to blues to pop to bluegrass.
1:30 to 2:15 p.m. The Wiles American folk music group The Wiles will perform. The group is of three musicians— Isa Burkeon, who performs on the fiddle, vocals and guitar, Ellie Buckland, who performs with the same instruments and Mali Obomsawin who performs bass and vocals. 2:20 to 3:13 p.m. The Meadows Brothers The Meadows Brothers—siblings Ian and Dustin—will perform their music. According to their website, their music is inspired by the “brother bands” of the 1940s and 50s and by bluegrass. 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Liz Frame and the Kickers Liz Fame and the Kickers will perform. The group consists of vocalist and singer-songwriter Fame and her band—Pat Chamberlin (guitar), Lynne Taylor (bass) and Pete Walsh (drums). 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.
BEAMS: The 2015 Electroacoustic Music Half-Marathon: This half marathon is no race—this event will feature electroacoustic music written by composers from
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around the world, performed by campus musicians involved with the Brandeis Electroacoustic Music Studio. The studio, founded in 1961, was the recipient of the 2011 BEAMS Marathon IBM Innovation Award for Performance at the Boston Cyber Arts Festival. Unlike many other studios in the country, BEAMS, according to its website, emphasizes using the studio as a tool to create music. “This emphasis on music, rather than developing new technology has been an integral part of the Composition Department’s formula for success,” the website reads. Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Find Your Light
Theater
‘A Night on the Clowns’: Brandeis graduate Kenny Raskin ’74 will be returning for the festival, performing in the clown show that he both conceived of and directed. Raskin, who majored in American Studies at Brandeis, has become a theatrical veteran—having performed in a number of critically acclaimed shows including Cirque du Soleil as well as the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. He also works as a comedy coach. A Night on the Clowns will feature physical comedy performed by Randy Judkins, Amy Gordon, Kevin Brooking and Waldo and Woodhead. Raskin will also be holding a “Clown/Physical Comedy” workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday for 40 participants. Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. on the Mainstage of Spingold Theater Center. Tickets are free and avail-
Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts With over 100 events offered as part of the festival, justArts takes a sneak peek at some events to look out for.
Performance Art
CLOWNING AROUND: Bonnie Duncan, a puppeteer who performed at the festival last year, will return to perform her original Lollipops for Breakfast for the Brandeis community—both the kids and the adults.
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
PLAYING WITH FIRE: “The Burning Boards,” the Festival’s featured event, will take place on Friday night in front of Chris Burden’s “Light of Reason.” Players will play strategically against each other but they will also be playing against time.
Music Sing-along ‘West Side Story’: Kicking off the first night of the festival is a sing along of the score of West Side Story and a viewing of the film. The event honors the Festival’s namesake—Leonard Bernstein wrote the score for this canonized musical along with his other larger body of compositions. Bernstein was a visiting professor at the University from 1952 to 1956 and was the founder of the eponymous Festival of the Creative Arts. Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Stein. This event is free and open to the public.
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“The Burning Boards” On Friday night, novices and experts will come together to play chess games with a twist. For this event, members of the Brandeis community will play 16 simultaneous games of chess under Chris Burden’s permanent installation “The Light of Reason.” Artist Glen Kaino’s goal in this performance piece is for the players to play against one another strategically while also racing against the opponent of time. Players will mostly be students and the Chess Club has a lot of players registered, including president of the club, Misha Vilenchuk ’16, who has also been heavily involved in the planning process, according to Acting Director of the Office of the Arts Ingrid Schorr. Friday at 7:30 p.m. outside the Rose Art Museum. Participants have already been chosen but onlookers are welcome.
Big Nazo Do you remember those gigantic, slightly terrifying characters that were parading around the Shapiro Campus Center for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts in 2012? Well, those guys will be back this year. According to the Festival schedule, characters will include “a rowdy rodeo horse, a three-eyed robot percussionist, a charismatic lab rat and his giant maneating Chia Pet.” The company that performs as these creatures is an international performance group called Big Nazo, and they have performed in countries ranging from Italy to Indonesia. The performance on Sunday will be what the company terms a “Creature Stroll.” We will have to show up on Sunday to find out what that means. Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. on the Great Lawn.
able at the Brandeis Ticket Office. To register for the workshop, email kenny@ kennyraskin.com. ‘Lollipops for Breakfast’ For the festival last year, Bonnie Duncan brought her one-woman puppet show Squirrel Stole My Underpants to the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium for Brandeis guests and students from the Lemberg Children’s Center. This year, she will bring Lollipops for Breakfast to campus. The one-woman show features main character Sylvie and her pet bird as they attempt to make a lollipop from scratch—presumably for breakfast. A dance party will follow the puppet show. Sunday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. This event is free and open to the public.
Visual Art
“Unnoticed” In a thought-provoking installation, Brandeis graduate Paul Belenky ’14 will feature two of what he termed, in an email to the Justice, “large grotesque stuffed canvas monsters.” Each will be sitting at a table painted with the Tinder logosin Fellows Garden. Belenky’s inspiration comes from “a personal struggle to find a good romantic match, and bad results from online dating,” he wrote. He hopes the installation will inspire students to stop and notice the people who they walk by every day—people who might just be, as he says, “the perfect match.” Belenky is currently pursuing a career in the visual arts and may pursue a graduate degree in painting next year. On view in Fellows Garden throughout the Festival.
“Art Within The Soul of Science” Doctoral graduate student Vivekanand Vimal (Ph.D. ’16) has conceived of an installation that features the work of Brandeis’ Neuroscience labs. The installation will consist of eight images of scientific data mounted on foam board, including a 3-D printed image created by the Brandeis Maker Lab. “When I discovered that the theme of the Festival of Arts is Light, my heart fluttered and I knew that I had to apply for the grant,” Vaimal wrote in an email to the Justice. “Microscopy is one of the bedrock tools of science and it works by bending light to magnify the world of the infinitesimal.” On view in the Slosberg Music Center throughout the Festival.
PHOTOS FROM CREATIVE COMMONS AND COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF THE ARTS. BY EMILY WISHINGRAD, DESIGN BY RACHEL HUGHES/the Justice.
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015
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THE JUSTICE
PUBLIC ART RAINBOW CONNECTION: Rachel Berkovitz ’15 (left) and Jess Podhorcer ’15 installed their “Color Theories” yesterday morning. The piece stretches 37 feet long. Emily Wishingrad/the Justice
Curator helps artists prepare installations By EMILY WISHINGAD JUSTICE EDITOR
Nine public art installations will be scattered around campus during the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. These installations will be diverse, ranging from larger-than-life painted cloth figures to visual representations of neuroscience research. They will undoubtedly give viewers pause as they go about their daily lives. But will we ask ourselves the question: How did they get there? The answer to this lies with Sam Toabe, who curated the installations. He is the assistant director at the Samson Gallery in Boston and is currently pursing a masters’ degree in museum studies at Boston University. He was referred to the Festival by one of the gallery’s clients—Prof. Todd Pavlisko (FA). Toabe has been working with the Office of the Arts since February in preparation for the Festival, but a lot of his job involves interacting with the artists themselves in making plans for installing the art. In an interview with the Justice, Toabe noted that typically, the role of a curator is to choose the pieces of art that go in a display. But Toabe’s role in the Festival is a little different in this respect—the pieces were chosen by the Office of the Arts before he came on board. So, Toabe’s role has turned out to be mostly dealing with the logistics of the installations— a role that has not turned out to be easy. “It’s always challenging to place the artwork in public spaces. They’re not necessarily constructed like a gallery. So you’re gonna find challenges just with the space of making sure that it’s coherent a space, that it stands out as an artwork,” said Toabe. And some of the art pieces for this year’s festival are incredibly large and unwieldy. One such work is “Color Theories” by Rachel Berkovitz ’15 and Jess Podhorcer ’15. The 37-foot-long patchwork of multicolored theater gels that are meant to
reflect light. The piece, which was installed in the Shapiro Campus Center on Monday, hangs from across the second floor landing. It is hard to miss—the multicolored and semitransparent piece will be apparent to anyone who walks into the SCC—but its installation was no small feat. According to Toabe, the planning of the installation was a “production.” Yesterday, the artists worked with Toabe to figure out not only where to hang it but also how. The piece required all hands on deck to set up— with Toabe on one end of the landing and Berkovitz and Podhorcer on the other. A basket crane and an electrician were also brought in to direct lights so that they could point at the banner and reflect off of it. Berkovitz and Podhorcer needed to make additional decisions in the process of putting up the banner. The two had underestimated the length of the banner, so when it was hung—because of its weight—it caved downward. The choice was then whether to tighten the banner on both ends and lose some of the colored segments so that it could lay flat or keep all the colored segments and the caved shape. Toabe said that throughout all of the projects, he has very much enjoyed working with students—most of whom are not associated with art— and getting their artistic perspective. “It’s been an interesting challenge working with people who aren’t necessarily artists in their name practice but it’s been really rewarding seeing … what kind of perspective they bring to it and what kind of ideas that an artist might not necessarily have when they are approaching an artwork,” he said. The nine installations will be going up all week and will all be up by the start of the Festival on Thursday. So if you see installations around campus, take a moment to consider their significance. But also take a moment to think about what goes into their displays and the countless decisions that need to be made even after the creation of the piece.
EMILY WISHINGRAD/the Justice
REFLECTIONS: “Color Theories” is made from recycled lighting gels placed on a sheet of vinyl. In an email to the Justice, Berkovitz wrote that the piece was inspired by the gels themselves, which Spingold Theater Center had thrown out.
MICHELLE BANAYAN/the Justice
LOVESICK: Paul Belenky’s ’14 piece “Unnoticed” was inspired by his struggles with online dating. He has been working on the piece for weeks in the underpass of the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center.