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TUESDAY, december 10, 2013
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THE JUSTICE
FORUM
Texan columnist says goodbye to Boston’s strength Noah M.
Horwitz Civil affairs
I first came to Brandeis University as a brash and capricious 18-year-old, ready to take on all the challenges that college would throw at me. I looked forward to meeting new people, understanding diverse world-views and forming an overall better rounded opinion of life. Now, as I write my last op-ed as a student at Brandeis, other than now being 19, I cannot think of anything that has really changed in that regard. What has changed, however, is that I believe I have learned a great deal about both myself and others, not only from Brandeis, but from Boston. As I have previously written in the Justice, issues such as a competent public transportation system that connects both transit depots and suburban universities to a sprawling city are important for the rest of the country to take note of. Similarly, eschewing the death penalty with a criminal justice system based on justice would be especially helpful for my home state of Texas. However, more than any divisive, partisan issue, the people of Boston have taught me a valuable lesson in resilience. Whether that is the unyielding loyalty to their sports teams that any fan of the Houston Texans football team, like myself, could learn from, or a determination to continue on with business as usual no matter the how cold it gets or how extreme the conditions, the people here do not give up. In my native Houston, temperatures often become extreme on the opposite end of the thermostat, with summer months regularly boasting highs above 100 degrees. The only response to the scalding heat is to turn up the air conditioning and eschew any and all outside activity that does not feature an icecold swimming pool. Boston does not resort to comparably drastic measures when the cold comes. Massachusetts winters bring snow, often by the foot, but we—for I now consider myself a Bostonian in part—continue walking to class or our place of employment. We spend hours on end shoveling the snow and salting the roads so that we can keep going no matter which nor’easter or blizzard may try to stop us. People who grew up here may think this is a silly or superficial point, but I cannot stress enough how different a culture this presents. Regularly battling against the forces of nature is no small point in explaining a unique determination. This determination was shown to the world last April, when Boston was rocked by a terrorist attack that ultimately took four people’s lives and wounded hundreds more. When a citywide manhunt ensued to capture the suspects and bring them to justice, we gladly worked together to catch those respon-
Boston Herald/MCT
sible for the heinous acts. Nationwide, the general public dubbed the reaction “Boston Strong,” an honorific given to the great resilience of this city. I believe it is this resilience that helps foster so many excellent universities in this city, with Brandeis being, in my opinion, the most excellent among them. This resilience, this strength, gives us the courage to become truer to the person we really are deep down. I believe this is how Brandeis helped me to learn about myself. For me, I define myself a lot by my political views. As someone who was considered very liberal in Texas, I felt like my opinions would be considered quite popular at Brandeis and looked forward to that experience. But in many cases, they were
not popular. Ironically enough, my views are probably more conservative than that of the average Brandeis student, and that has been just as rewarding a learning experience. I would not have it any other way. Brandeis has given me the strength and resilience to understand exactly where I am on the political spectrum, and to come to grips with all of my own views. What use would political opinions be if they were only clearly defined on one side of the spectrum? Since I have now had interactions with many people both more conservative and more liberal than I, I have been able to mark out my own space. Simply put, Brandeis has allowed me to acquire the knowledge to better define myself and the pliancy to put that person to good
use. Certainly, I have become a much more rounded person, but most importantly, a better defined one. And I do plan on putting it to good use. Beginning next semester, I will transfer to the University of Texas at Austin, where I will seek new professional opportunities. Accordingly, this will be my last column for the Justice. While my brief sojourn in Boston was tough, between Hurricane Sandy, the blizzard Nemo and the marathon bombings, it has been an experience that will help shape me for the rest of my life. For no matter which Big 12 conference team I will be rooting for next year, I will always be a “Judge.” And no matter where I hang my hat, I will always be “Boston Strong.”
Choose leaders who follow their principles, not what’s popular Glen
Chesir Chagi’s chop
“What makes a good leader?” This question is asked a lot in today’s competitive world. Each of us college students entering the job market has thought extensively about leadership and has a different perception of what it is relative to our strengths. But what truly is an objectively good leader, and how do we, as Brandeis students looking to leave the world a better place than when we entered it, become one? When looking around the world we see all different types of leaders, each with his or her strengths and weaknesses. President Barack Obama has a once in a generation ability to orate and motivate through words. Yet, his approval rating is at the lowest it’s ever been according to polls by Gallup, Business Week and others. Does his low approval rating therefore categorize him as a poor leader? To judge a leader by their approval ratings, though, would be nearsighted. For the indefinite future, we will be hearing stories about one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen: Nelson Mandela. Vigils, memorials, speeches and press releases will be made to honor the man who dedicated his life to fighting for the causes that he deemed more valu-
able than life itself. But what discernible quality made Mandela into what he was? How was he able to achieve the immense success and respect that he carried to his grave? One of Mandela’s shining moments was the decision to negotiate with the National Party government that controlled South Africa through the apartheid, the same white government that held him in jail for 27 years. Moreover, Mandela made the decision to negotiate in secrecy, behind the backs of his own African National Congress, the entity that led the revolutionary charge against the apartheid regime, for he knew they would not approve of such a maneuver. Without that monumental decision, Mandela would not have brought an end to the apartheid state. Yet, we can only imagine what his ‘approval rating’ would have been among the African National Congress had the negotiations been publicized early on. Mandela had a firm understanding of what he was fighting for, and how he was going to achieve that goal. He did not bend under the pressure of his enemies nor his allies. He knew the best chance he had to end apartheid was to progress with these secret negotiations—and so he did. Mandela once said, “When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.” Mandela knew his duty, and would not let anyone deter his path. And that is what made him the leader he was—his perseverance to-
ward his goals. His subsequent global recognition came only as a response to his success; no respect was handed to him.
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We as citizens...choose our leaders to be able to make these decisions, and outline courses of action... Ultimately, we trust the people we choose as our leaders to make the right decisions, not necessarily the popular ones. Francesca Gino, a professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of the book, Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed and How We Can Stick to the Plan, studies how people make decisions. She wonders why so often we decide to proceed a certain way, and end up acting on seemingly the exact opposite motivation. External desires, outside pressure and irrelevant motivations all cloud our judgment of fundamental right or wrong, good or bad, yes or no. Leadership, then, is the ability to persevere through the external factors and make decisions on strictly the relevant motivations. We live in a world where releasing convicted murderers is a means toward peace in the
Middle East, where known terrorist regimes are rewarded for pausing a nuclear program, where the single most powerful government in the world is shut down in opposition to a bill that has passed Congress over 50 times, and where a traditional family holiday becomes a free-for-all celebration of pure materialism and consumerism. Yet, all of these things have a stated greater purpose: the release of Palestinian prisoners will bring the Palestinian Authority to the negotiating table, a six-month window of nonprogress will lead toward a true halt of Iran’s nuclear program, a government shutdown will lead toward bipartisanship, and at a most basic level, we sacrifice Thanksgiving for a happier Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. True leadership is the ability to obtain the universally accepted goals through the most appropriate means, from the leader’s perspective. We as citizens, stakeholders and shareholders choose our leaders to be able to make these decisions, and outline courses of action—not simply to listen to what we think should occur. Approval ratings and public outcry are part of any leader’s life; no leader has ever been universally popular while still in office. Courses of action can therefore only be judged after the fact, with the advantage of hindsight. Until then we must trust the leaders in place to make the correct decisions. I only hope those same leaders don’t abuse that power of leadership and have their judgment clouded by us.