ARTS Page 19
SPORTS Men’s soccer crushes Clark 5-1 16 FORUM Reform sentencing for drug charges 11 The Independent Student Newspaper
the
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B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXX, Number 7
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
CAMPUS speaker
Biographer reviews Nixon’s relationship with TV and the press ■ Biographer and journalist
John Farrell spoke to students about Nixon’s relationship with the press. By ELIANA PADWA JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
Chak De performed for community members at Diwali: The Festival of the Lights, an evening of ceremony and celebration at the Charles River Apartments on Friday.
FACULTY
Faculty votes on Gen Ed and divestment resolution ■ Faculty members passed
a divestment resolution and round one of general education changes. By MICHELLE DANG JUSTICE EDITOR
The University’s faculty convened for their monthly assembly on Friday afternoon and passed both a resolution to divest from fossil fuels and the first of two votes on the general curriculum changes. The resolution states, “We pledge to support the president and his team as Brandeis adopts increasingly ambitious climate action plans to help fulfill the [Paris Agreement’s] commitment to ‘take forceful action’ in support of ‘the global effort to hold warming to under 2°C.’" Senate Chair Susan Curnan (Heller) said that the Faculty Senate unanimously supported the resolution and that the resolution aims to put more commitment on the part of the faculty in supporting
ambitious action planning. Several faculty members voiced concern about the final sentence of the resolution, which described the Trustees’ responsibility “to develop and implement a strategy for ending our university’s investments in fossil fuels at the fastest pace.” One faculty member asked how much wiggle room it leaves the trustees and wondered how the resolution would keep trustees accountable for taking action. The resolution commends President Ron Liebowitz’s signatory support of the Paris Agreement on June 1. Liebowitz gave a speech on his experience at Middlebury to push for divestment and the reduction of the college’s carbon footprint. During his time at Middlebury College, the college was successful in reducing its carbon footprint by 52 percent, as well as spawning a socially responsible investing fund to pursue sustainable actions. “Those that want to address the consequences of climate change can do far more with what’s in their control,” said Liebowitz. While Middlebury was not able
to convince its board of trustees to commit to divestment, Liebowitz said that he would take the resolution, if approved by the faculty, to the University’s trustees and engage the issue with them. Prof. Daniel Bergstresser (ECON) said that with approving the resolution, “There is an element of risk involved.” He does believe, however, that “it has the potential, if other universities join us, to create a larger context of change. Someone has to jump in first.” After discussion, the faculty voted on and approved the resolution. Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren moderated the discussion on the General Education Task Force’s proposal for general education curriculum changes. “We did our last revision more than 23 years ago. The Task Force was appointed to better serve our students in today’s world, and [it was] also part of our goals to consider diversity and the issues of race at Ford Hall, and the agreements that we reached in 2014,” said Birren. The Task Force has worked on
See FACULTY, 7 ☛
Five decades ago, President Richard Nixon began a political comeback which culminated in his presidential election in 1968. It wasn’t an easy feat: Nixon had an antagonistic relationship with both the press and himself, as journalist and biographer John Farrell discussed in a presentation on Tuesday. Nixon’s political career involved extreme highs and lows, Farrell explained. Nixon went from political glory during the Red Scare in the 1950s to a crushing electoral defeat in 1960, and then around again with his victory in 1968 and the subsequent Watergate Scandal.
Nixon knew his career was driven by the press, Farrell said: “He had gone from House freshman to vice president of the United States in six years, basically because of exceptionally favorable notices.” Farrell claimed that throughout every major event in Nixon’s career — both good and bad — the press became so excited at times that they didn’t maintain their “professed standards of objectivity.” Nixon’s successful Congressional campaign in 1946 was due to favorable coverage by the conservative New York Herald and the Los Angeles Times, according to Farrell. He was “the darling” of the family who owned the latter paper, and his campaign took out expensive ads in other local papers. Farrell said Nixon learned from this experience that “the game was rigged—” favorable articles could be bought. Nixon’s relationship with the
See NIXON, 7 ☛
OBITUARY
Friends remember distinguished biologist ■ Community to honor Prof.
John Lisman ’s (BIOL) life and influential contributions to national brain research. By KIRBY KOCHANOWSKI JUSTICE EDITOR
Prof. John Lisman (BIOL) may have been a scientist by trade, but by all accounts he was an ardent supporter of the arts, a talented lecturer and a dedicated researcher. In an email on Monday, University Provost Lisa Lynch informed the campus community that Lisman had passed away on Friday from a lung infection. He was 73. Lisman taught at Brandeis for 43 years, returning to the school after graduating with a B.A. in Physics in 1966. During his brief period away from the school he received his Ph.D. in physiology from the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology and pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. During his extensive career, Lisman made important strides in understanding the brain. His research lab specifically focused on the formation of memories and on the abnormalities that underlie schizophrenia, according to Lisman’s website. His research significantly influences new studies on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, according to Lynch’s email. In 2013, Lisman was elected to the rank of fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2014, Lisman and his team were awarded $1.95 million to advance their research by the National Institutes of Health under former President Barack Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Ini-
See LISMAN, 7 ☛
Oh, Deer
Soccer Survival
Millenium Campus
A panel evaluated the fight against Lyme Disease.
The women’s soccer team earned a win and a tie despite its recent injury setback.
Sam Vaghar ’08 returned to talk about youth leadership in nonprofits.
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INDEX
SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2017 FREE AT BRANDEIS.