The Brandeis Hoot, February 11, 2022

Volume 20 Issue 4

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe” www.brandeishoot.com

February 11, 2022

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper · Waltham, Mass.

Carol Anderson is awarded with 2022 Gittler Prize

By Sasha Skarboviychuk editor

Carol Anderson was selected as the 2022 winner of the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize. We are pleased to honor her with the 2022 Gittler Prize,” said President Ron Liebowitz. Anderson is a scholar of African American studies as well as an award-winning author.

“Carol Anderson has produced seminal scholarship that not only explains how structural racism shapes life, policy, and politics in America but also demands the action necessary to bring about a better future for us all,” said President Ron Liebowitz, according to the prize’s page.

Anderson got her bachelor’s

and master’s degrees in political science from Miami University; she got her PhD in history from Ohio State University. She used to be an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri. Currently, Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University, which she joined in 2009.

Anderson wrote numerous books, including “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide,” “Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African-American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955,” “Bourgeois Radicals: The NAACP and the Struggle for Colonial Liberation,” “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy” and “The See GITTLER, page 3

photo from professorcarolanderson.org

Univ. changes COVID-19 policies

By Victoria Morrongiello editor

The university announced it will be easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions on campus, according to an email sent by Carol A. Fierke, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Stewart Uretsky, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration and Raymond Lu-Ming Ou, Vice President for Student Affairs, on Feb. 7. The announcement comes after a drop in positive cases within the Brandeis community.

“Thank you for continuing to observe our guidelines as we work to strike the right balance between mitigating the spread of COVID on campus while also cultivating and nurturing the spirit of community on campus,” reads the email.

The university will begin to relax its guidelines due to the “significant” drop in positivity cases on campus, according to the email. As of the time of publication, the percent of positive test rates on campus is 0.28%, according to the university’s dashboard.

The masking requirement will remain in place on campus. According to the email, the univer-

Inside This Issue:

sity administration has been in contact with the Waltham Director of Public Health. The university will continue to adhere to the Waltham mask mandate, which permits unmasking in limited circumstances when an individual is in a private space, according to the email. The university’s masking policy will be updated on the university’s COVID-19 response page. The email notes that the Spring 2022 masking policy will resemble the same practice from the Fall 2021 semester.

The university will allow indoor events to resume serving food and beverages. At the beginning of the semester, the university set in place a rule which prohibited serving food at indoor events.

According to the email, food may be served if the event is capped at a 50 percent capacity in indoor spaces through Feb. 18. This rule will remain in place as long as positivity rates stay low on campus, according to the email.

The spectator policy for athletics events has also been altered due to the drop in positivity rates.

According to the email, community member spectators will have to remain masked and show a

Janurary Board of Trustees Meeting

By Peter Mitelman staff

University President, Ron Liebowitz, sent an email to students and staff on Thursday, Feb. 3 detailing the matters discussed during the Board of Trustees

meetings held on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25. The meetings consisted of a general session attended by all trustees, as well as a number of committee-specific meetings.

In the former, one significant topic of discussion was the donations that the university received “in recent months”, allowing the

community to be “well on its way” to meeting several fundraising goals. These would allow for new ways to expand upon the learning environment at Brandeis and create new opportunities for students to make meaningful

See COVID-19, page 2

News: Student organization becomes non-profit.

Ops: Wendy’s new chicken sandwich.

Features: Pauli Murray’s lasting impact.

Sports: On the olympics.

Editorial: R1 research status at risk.

See BOT, page 2

photox by sabrina chow/the hoot

Womens Basketball

Page 3 Page 12 Women’s basketball has Page 9 their head in the game.

Page 5 SPORTS: PAGE 6 Page 7

Stew-Art He gives his opinion on art, which happpens to be Catan.

How is this art? Read to find out.

ARTS: PAGE 14

NEWS

2 The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2021

Liebowitz updates the community on new developments after Board of Trustees meeting BOT, from page 1

contributions to the Brandeis community and beyond, according to Liebowitz’s email.

One particularly notable gift was provided by Brandeis alumna Bobbi Samuels ’63 and her family—an extraordinary amount of $10 million according to Liebowitz. The gift will allow for the creation of the Vic and Bobbi ’63 Samuels Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation, which, according to the Brandeis Alumni website, will “bring together students, faculty, staff, practitioners and researchers in an innovative, interdisciplinary environment to address community needs and advance civic transformation”.

Liebowitz also dedicated part of the plenary session to various aspects of campus safety. The Jan. 15 incident in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, in which four individuals were held hostage, prompted the discussion of the importance of further collaboration with law enforcement as well as safety training for the community. Moreover, as COVID-19 continues to remain a risk, Liebowitz praised the safety measures that were taken for the spring semester move-in process, which

allowed for Brandeis to maintain a “relatively low” rate of infection.

Among a multitude of other topics, Liebowitz discussed the many new recent promotions for faculty. Namely, these were provided to Karen Donelan, the Stuart H. Altman Chair in U.S. Health Policy, in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Monika Mitra, the Nancy Lurie Marks Associate Professor of Disability Policy and Director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Pamina Firchow, associate professor in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Omer Offen of the mathematics department, and Olga Papaemmanouil of the computer science department.

The meetings held by the various committees include those of the Academy Committee, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, the Institutional Advancement Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee, the Resources Committee, the Risk Management and Audit Committee, and the Student Life Committee.

One highlight was present in the meeting of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, during which trustees discussed Brandeis University’s expected

implementation of its Anti-Racism Plans.

These plans were revealed in December of last year, and, according to the Office of the President, they include hiring and admitting “diverse students, faculty, and staff ”, providing training on equity and inclusion, increasing financial support and creating new teaching materials that allows for informing the community of “multicultural responsiveness and inclusivity.”

The Resources Committee forecasted a “modest budget surplus” for the 2022 fiscal year. This is in large part due to a high level of student enrollment as well as a large number of research sponsorships, allowing for ease in conducting such research.

The Student Life Committee brought up the increasing mental health-related issues that students have been presenting to Brandeis’s Care Team, a group that supports students in significant need of said support, particularly those exhibiting concerning behavior.

Trustees also heard a presentation on the Office of Graduate Affairs, which “supports graduate students at Brandeis through coordinated social programs, off-campus housing assistance, and peer mentoring networks.”

Liebowitz ended the email ex-

pressing his appreciation for the Board’s commitment to improving the many components of the Brandeis community and indicat-

ed that the next Board of Trustees meetings would be held in April 2022.

photo by the hoot

Univ. begins to ease on COVID-19 restrictions due to decrease positivity rate COVID-19, from page 1

green passport. However, as of Feb. 7, university athletics will open home competitions to external spectators without restrictions. According to a story posted on the BrandeisJudges Instagram page, spectators are still expected to wear high-quality masks including surgical, KN95, K95 and KF94. Masks must be worn at all times, according to the story.

“We hope you will join your fellow Brandeisians in cheering for the Judges: Always have your green passport ready and mask on when you enter Gosman,” reads the email from Fierke, Uretsky and Ou. The university’s travel policy was updated on Feb. 6, according to the Health and Safety Travel page on the university’s website.

For fully vaccinated undergraduate students, domestic travel will be allowed, this is for both university-sponsored travel and personal travel, according to the page. If undergraduate students are trav-

eling outside of the New England states which include: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut, they must register their travel with the Dean of Students office. Fully vaccinated undergraduate students will have to fill out a form to submit to the Dean of Students office, on the form students are requested to fill out their departure and arrival date from campus, their vaccination status and their reason for travel.

A separate form is to be filled out by fully vaccinated undergraduate students if they are traveling for university-sponsored travel.

The form asks for the same information but additionally requires the information of which university department you are traveling with and with how many other Brandeis students.

Fully vaccinated graduate students traveling domestically must register their travel with graduate student affairs, according to the page. Graduate students are also expected to complete a form in-

forming the university of their travel plans. Faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated are not required to register their domestic travel with the university, according to the page.

For unvaccinated community members, university-sponsored domestic travel is prohibited, according to the page. This includes field trips, sporting events and retreats and is applied even for those who have received a religious or medical exemption from the university’s vaccine mandate.

Unvaccinated community members are allowed personal travel, however, they must comply with CDC guidelines for quarantining and testing upon arriving back on campus, according to the page.

The CDC’s current guidelines for unvaccinated individuals after travel includes receiving two negative test results— one taken on arrival and another on day 6 of quarantining— in addition to 7 days of travel quarantine, according to the page.

For unvaccinated undergradu-

ate students, travel outside of the six New England states will be allowed only for emergencies, according to the page. Travel must receive prior written permission from the Dean of Students Office.

In the email, the administrators remind students to check in on the university’s travel policies as we approach February break which is set to begin on the week of Feb. 21 through to Feb 25.

Community members were asked to take “extra precaution” upon returning to campus after break, including taking a rapid at home test before traveling back to campus. Students will be required to submit a sample upon arriving on campus, though the at home test is not a requirement before travel. Students who test positive over break are advised to notify the Contact Tracing Team at bctp@ brandeis.edu , according to the email, students who test positive should not return to campus until cleared by the Contact Tracing Team.

“Please check out the

COVID-19 Response website to see all the updates to our COVID policies. While we are making these steps towards more normalized operations, it’s important to remember that COVID is still here: please continue to wear your mask in all indoor public spaces including our classrooms, Gosman, the Library, and the SSC, and continue to make wise personal choices to avoid exposures,” reads the email.

Fierke, Uretsky and Ou, wrote in the email that the university will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation on campus and in the greater community to adjust guidelines and restrictions. At the time of publication, Waltham has a positivity rate of 4.94 percent, according to the university’s dashboard. Waltham as a city is labeled as a red zone indicating that it is in the range of the highest infection zone, according to the dashboard.

Student Union holds Spring 2022 elections

By Victoria Morrongiello editor

The Student Union announced the winners of its first round of elections for the Spring 2022 semester, according to an email sent

by Michael Pollard— Student Union Secretary— to community members on Feb. 6. The North Quad Senator and Mid-Year Senator positions were filled as well as two allocations board seats.

The North Quad Senator Position was won by James Brosgol ’25. There was one seat open and Brosgol was the only person to run for the position, according to Pollard’s email. In his candidate bio, Brosgol wrote that he values honesty and integrity. “Serving others requires a steadfast commitment to the truth, alongside resolve to act with sincerity and honor when making decisions.

The people of North Quad deserve nothing but the truth, and if elected I will ensure that they re-

ceive nothing less,” wrote Brosgol in his bio. Sherry (Xuanyu) Tao ’25 won the Mid-Year Senator position. Tao ran against Harrison Maddick, Asa Colby Weinstein and Shreya Ahuja, according to Pollard’s email.

In Tao’s candidate bio, she wrote that she has a lot of experience connecting with the student body and planning events for students.

Tao gained experience during her high school career where she served as a head Prefect, house captain and student ambassador

for her boarding school.

“Although this is my first semester at Brandeis, I hope to represent and step forward for my midyear class to contribute to our new home for the next three and a half years,” wrote Tao in her bio.

The two allocations board seats were won by Seema Nepal ’25 and Elisha Gordon {year}.

Nepal wrote in her candidate bio that she wanted to become more involved in improving the student experience at Brandeis.

Nepal wrote in her bio that she

wants to help clubs and support the community by being a part of the allocations board.

“My goals are to create inclusion for all voices to be heard and active communication to understand where support is needed,” wrote Nepal in her bio.

Gordon did not submit a candidate bio.

Voting was opened on Feb. 3, according to an email sent to students by Pollard. Voting was open for 24 hours and closed at midnight on Feb. 3.

February 11, 2021

NEWS 3

The Brandeis Hoot

Anderson’s research on how racism and inequality affects the process of how policy is made GITTLER, from page 1

Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.”

She has also written a young adult adaptation of “White Rage:” “We are Not Yet Equal.”

According to her website, Anderson’s research focuses on “how policy is made and unmade, how racial inequality and racism affect that process and outcome, and how those who have taken the brunt of those laws, execu-

tive orders, and directives have worked to shape, counter, undermine, reframe, and, when necessary, dismantle the legal and political edifice used to limit their rights and their humanity.”

Anderson has also been awarded numerous fellowships and grants, including those by Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History American Council of Learned Societies and the Ford Foundation. She has also

appeared on numerous shows.

Anderson will receive her award on Oct. 25, during a formal award ceremony, while she will be in residence at Brandeis from Oct. 24 to 26.

The Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize was created in “2007 by the late Professor Joseph B. Gittler to recognize outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic and/or religious relations,” according to its website. The winner also receives a

$25 thousand prize and a medal.

Brandeis is also currently accepting nominations for the 2023 Gittler Prize, which are due on April 3.

“To be considered for the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize, candidates must be formally nominated”, according to the website.

This means that self nominations are not accepted for the award, the nominees must be proposed by another part .

“Nominations must be submitted

in writing or by using the online nomination form; they should not exceed 1,000 words,” according to the webpage regarding the requirements for the prize. ​​The Gittler Prize is hosted by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life on behalf of the Office of the President and Office of the Provost.

CBS News ranks univ. 25th most expensive college in America

By Daniela Zavlun and Nataniela Zavlun staff

A recent CBS News report published on Jan.14 ranked Brandeis University as the 25th most expensive college in the country. It also ranked 49 other colleges in its list of the 50 most expensive colleges in America.

The article reported that the university costs approximately

$76,141 per school year. Brandeis fell between Bennington College at 26th place and Tufts University at 24th place. The University of Chicago topped the list at number 1.

According to the article, CBS compiled its ranking based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics, which “ranks the 50 most expensive four-year institutions in America by their published out-of-state tuition, annual fees and residential charges.”

The article noted that the prices listed for each college were deter-

mined without calculating need and merit-based scholarships.

The report points out that while some schools have alleviated their financial demands because of the challenges to on-campus life posed by COVID-19, the tuition prices of more expensive colleges remain controversial.

CBS makes mention of a highly publicized federal lawsuit against 16 elite universities, 11 of which are listed in the article, for fixing tuition prices and withholding aid from students with

financial need. Brandeis University is not included in this list.

In the last report from CBS News on the 50 most expensive colleges in America, published in 2012, Brandeis ranked 14th on the list with an average total cost of $56,516.

The Brandeis website currently lists the tuition cost for a first-year in the 2021-2022 academic year as $59,408. Supplemented by the Student Activity Fee and the cost for room and board, this adds up to a total annual cost of $76,456.

This does not include the cost of books and personal expenses.

The website includes a Cost of Attendance Calculator for students to determine their individual tuition price, as well as a Net Price Calculator for prospective students to estimate their financial aid package and a link to MyIntuition, an app used to estimate a student’s eligibility for need-based scholarships.

Study co-authored by Brandeis prof. finds benefits of drug checking technology

By Roshni Ray editor

Brandeis professor from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management Traci C. Green recently co-authored a study investigating the benefits of “drug checking” programs. These programs refer to the analysis of illegal drugs and drugs that are not acquired from a pharmacy that people may use recreationally, according to the article. There are numerous methods to employ drug checking, all with the ultimate goal of reducing the prevalance of overdoses and other health detriments associated with increas-

By Roshni Ray

ingly contaminated drug supplies.

Jennifer Carroll, an assistant professor of anthropology at North Carolina State University and first author of a paper on the study, explains that “drug checking [methods] with advanced technologies, such as spectrometers, have been very effective at preventing drug overdoses in other countries.”

However, the U.S. has not adopted drug checking practices as widely as other countries. The researchers therefore wanted to investigate the obstacles that were in the way of implementing a drug checking program in the U.S.. Their secondary goal was to be able to “document the individual and commu-

nity health benefits of getting the program off the ground.”

The researchers were collaborating with an organization called Access, Harm Reduction, Overdose Prevention and Educated Syringe Exchange (AHOPE) that is based in Boston, MA. This organization was implementing fentanyl strips along with mobile spectrometers in order to detect trace amounts of drugs from containers.

The study lasted for about 22 months, where the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with the staff from the program as well as the people participating in the syringe exchange program.

Carroll asserts that, ““In addition to helping reduce drug

overdoses, we found that there are also other public health benefits. For one thing, we found that demand for drug checking services was very high. People who don’t normally come into contact with syringe exchanges, such as middle-class folks who use drugs, began coming to AHOPE in order to get their drugs checked. We also found that drug distributors came to the program to check their drugs.

In some instances, when high levels of fentanyl were found, distributors recut their drugs to reduce the potency to better protect their clients. In at least one case, a supplier threw out a batch of drugs due to the presence of unexpected contaminants.”

The researchers found that Massachusetts public health law concerning the use of illegal drugs was counterintuitive to the demonstrated needs of people experiencing drug addiction.

“Essentially, in a program designed to improve public health and safety, we found multiple instances in which law enforcement used its discretion to prioritize the enforcement of misdemeanor drug possession even when it hurt vital overdose prevention efforts. Even a shift to being impartial to program workers would be a step in the right direction,” Carroll says.

BaselineMed hits nonprofit status

editor

BaselineMed, an organization developed by four Brandeis undergraduate students, recently achieved nonprofit status. The organization seeks to provide “BIPOC high school and college students with a supportive online community of resources and connections” that will encourage them to pursue medicine in the future, according to a recent BrandeisNow article.

The four students spearheading the effort, Emma Ghalili ’22, Leah Naraine ’22, Jonathan Joasil ’22, and Fatim Kragbe ’23 each play distinct roles for the founding and creation of BaselineMed. According to the BrandeisNow report, the initial team had Ghalili as the executive director, Naraine as associate director, Kragbe as di-

rector for undergraduate writers and Joasil as director of physician outreach. An additional member of the initial team included Joli Vadil who is from Stony Brook University, a state university of New York, who served as the director of community outreach.

Ghalili, Naraine, Joasil, and Kragbe are all double majoring in Biology and Health: Science, Society and Policy, and are all residents of New York.

Now, BaselineMed has recruited a “diverse group of premedical writers,” most of whom are students from Brandeis, according to the article.

The students write articles and blog posts regarding the work-life balance as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) majors and advice for aspiring doctors or other medical professionals.

Additionally, Joasil is responsible for keeping in contact and editing pieces submitted by practicing physicians to be posted on the BaselineMed website.

In addition to regularly posting helpful articles and content for BIPOC students at various stages in medical training, BaselineMed also organizes educational workshops and college application preparation.

Ghalili first conceived of the idea for BaselineMed and collaborated with Lucas Malo, the Director of Community Service at Brandeis, in order to bring her project to fruition. The current board members shared her goal of better representation, resources and role models for aspiring medical professionals. Together they were able to take Ghalili’s original idea and created BaselineMed. The board members received

the Rich/Collins Community Impact Fellowship (R/C CLIF) to begin hosting workshops in their home state, New York. The R/C CLIF has two central goals according to the information on its webpage: the first is to expand student involvement with the Waltham-Boston community, and the second is to allow students to fine-tune their leadership abilities.

The fellowship supplies students with “mini-grants” ranging from $500 to $4000.

Additionally, the fellowship provides support for students applying in the pre-application process, leadership training and one-on-one mentorship. The BaselineMed team’s goals aligned with the mission of the fellowship and provided an outline for a sustainable organization.

Other community service opportunities at Brandeis include

the Community Engagement Ambassador Program (CEAP) and the Commitment to Service Award (CTSA). CEAP members work with the Department of Community Service to “build the capacity of all community service clubs,” according to the webpage.

CTSA celebrates students who have applied knowledge obtained from their coursework to a prolonged community service project.

In the interview with BrandeisNow, Naraine said, “Most of the time, students of color will feel like the most doubted in the room. We’re working to change that.” The team shared their future plans to expand their organization by introducing BIPOC medical writers from across the country to share their advice.

To see the work of the nonprofit organization, you can visit their website baselinemed.com.

4 The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2022

Univ. celebrates Black History Month on campus with event compilation

By John Fornagiel editor

On Feb. 2, University president Ronald Liebowitz wrote an email to the Brandeis community, writing about the “powerful impact African Americans had in shaping the history of the United States,” and moreover, recognizing that Black History Month is a “month-long opportunity to noy only celebrate the heritage, accomplishments, and cultural contributions African Americans have made to the nation but also to acknowledge the unique role the diverse and expansive Black community has played in leading the struggle toward advancing freedom, racial justice, and equality throughout the world.”

According to the email, each year the Association for the Study of American African Life and History (ADALH) selects the theme for Black History Month, and has chosen Black Health and Wellness this year as the theme.

The email details that this theme was chosen as a result of the “ongoing pandemic, and [this theme] serves as a timely reminder of the remarkable breakthroughs African Americans have achieved in the fields of healthcare and wellness and a call to action for us all to address the enduring legacy of disparate healthcare as experi-

enced by communities of color” The email also links a detailed list of events in regards to Black History Month.

These events included a faculty lunch symposium at 12:00 p.m. on Feb. 9 led by Shoniqua Roach (AAAS/WGS) as well as a Peace Corps celebration event on Feb. 9 starting at 4:00 p.m.

There are also three events on Feb. 10. These include an event on the context of race and education that “allows attendees to explore the historic relationship between race and education,” according to the page, a Madeleine Haas Russel Lecture by Rachel Cantave (AAAS) within the skyline commons or over zoom starting at 4:00 p.m. and then an event by the Rose Art Museum called “My Mechanical Sketchbook” — Barkley L. Hendricks & Photography by Dr. Gannet Anko and Dr. Elyan J. Hill. This latter event is an exhibition that will showcase “new scholarship and rarely-exhibit artworks,” according to the page.

There is also an event called Moonlight Gala by the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) that starts at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 12 in Sherman Function Hall.

Registration for the event is available on the page In the event, “students and faculty can talk, dance, and enjoy each other’s company.”

On Feb. 15, there is an event starting at 7:00 p.m. that features

Laura Arnold Leibman’s book “Once We Were Slaves: The Extradordinary Journey of a Multi-Racial Jewish Family.” According to the page, the book “takes a deep look into the background of Blanche Moses, a member of a prominent American Jewish family that can trace its lineage to the time of the American Revolution.”

There are also three events available on Feb. 16. These include a virtual opening celebration of “My Mechanical Sketchbook” starting at 7:00 p.m. and an annual event by the BBSO

called Shades of Blackness also at 7:00p.m. that “highlight[s] the beauty of the many cultures of the black-identifying diaspora.” and to “better understand the truths and complexities of the Black experiences(s)”, according to the page. Finally, there is also a workshop starting at 12 p.m. that “explores some of the contentious meeting points between diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discourse and the Jewish context.”

There is also a virtual event on Tuesday Feb. 22 at 12:00 p.m. that is “aimed at black college

photo from brandeis.edu

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students hoping to launch their careers in financial services.”

In this event, topics discussed will include understanding being black in the corporate world and how to approach recruiting for your first role as a black student, according to the page.

Further information for all of these events are available in the compiled list of events linked in Liebowitz’s email. Liebowitz also notes that the list is not comprehensive as programming evolves over the weeks.

In the Senate 2/6

The student union held a brief senate meeting to share some announcements of some working plans for the upcoming weeks.

Courtney Thrun ’22 announced plans that are underway to make Brandeis Counseling Center appointments available in person.

Thrun hopes that appointments will move from zoom as it would be more beneficial for students.

The student union decided to host a live showing of the Jeopardy!

College Championship in support of Joey Kornman ’23, who will be the University in the tournament. The live showing was set to take place on Feb 8 at 8 p.m. in the SCC theater. Another live stream of the show was offered on Feb. 9 as Kornman moved on in the Championship.

To ensure the safety of students on campus, the union will be handing out free KN95 masks on a “first come, first serve” basis. As of now, mask reservation is only open for undergraduate students but the union may make adjustments in the future. Students were able to reserve masks by filling out a google form attached to the email they sent out on Feb 7. The student form to request a free KN95 mask closed at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 8. The student union also advertised their mask giveaway on their Instagram and on the various Facebook student groups to reach the student body.

Brandeis will be holding an in-person event in light of Wellness Day on Feb 18th. The event will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the blue booths located outside the Student Campus Center (SCC).

The theme of the event will be “coping with change”.

Some of the campus organizations that will be involved include Brandeis Bridge to Wellness (BTW), Brandeis Latinx Student Organization (BLSO), Brandeis South Asian Student Organization (SASA), Student Sexuality Information (SSIS), Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center (PARC), 6TALK and Student Accessibilities Services, will host tabling events.

The student union reached out to the administration about the recent price increases in retail dining in the C-store. The administration answered the student union’s question and replied that the price increase is due to elevated food costs across the brands and the country.

The Student Union’s next meeting will be on Sunday, Feb. 13, however, there will be a change in meeting time to 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. instead of the usual 7 p.m. meeting time, according to an email sent by Joseph Coles to The Brandeis Hoot.

The meeting will be mostly an executive session, according to Coles, which is for union members only and no members of the public or the press. The student union will be voting on Executive Senator, Senator Representative to Allocations Board and Senate Representative to Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund (CEEF), according to Cole’s email.

Coles will be stepping down from his position as Executive Senator, he wrote in an email to The Hoot, however, he will remain on the senate in a different capacity.

- Vimukthi Mawilmada

February 11, 2022

By Emma Lichtenstein editor

This week has been rough for the figure skating world. Between a Russian drug scandal and missed jumps, the 2022 Beijing Olympics has been shocking. Going into the men’s competition, I was torn between rooting for Japanese skater Yuzuru Hanyu or American skater Nathan Chen: “The Prince” versus “The Quad King.”

Both are legends in their own right—with Hanyu having the most grace I’ve ever seen on the ice, and Chen being the most precise jumper in the game. Scoring is based on two different components: technique and artistry.

Technique comes in the elements on the ice—the jumps, the spins, the step sequences. Each of these tricks has a base value score of points, but the points each skater earns depends on their level of performance. Judges award “grade of execution” points, ranging from negative five to positive five, to be added to the base score to determine the overall value for a trick.

The artistry, on the other hand, looks into factors like the grace in their movements or the relation between music and choreography.

Each skater gets to perform twice: first in the short program (this year on Monday, Feb. 7), and later in the free skate, aka the long program (this year on Wednesday, Feb. 9). The short program is just under three minutes long, and the long program is about four and a half minutes. Tricks are worth more points when performed in the second half of a program, as skating is a test of pacing and managing fatigue. The scores of both programs are combined to make a skater’s total score.

Hanyu and Chen often have programs of similar difficulty, so the fight for the gold medal was supposed to come down to slight differences in artistry

SPORTS and grade of execution points.

Never could I have imagined a score gap like the one that happened. Hanyu scored a combined 283.21 points, while Nathan Chen scored 332.60 points.

In a shocking upset, Hanyu did not earn a spot on the podium at the 2022 Olympic games. As a two time defending gold medalist, Hanyu was favored to win, potentially placing second only to Chen. Instead, Hanyu ended in fourth place. In his short program, Hanyu missed his first jump, a quadruple Salchow. Instead of completing the required four in-air rotations, Hanyu only completed one. Unfortunately, single Salchows are worth zero points at this level. A quad Salchow would’ve earned Hanyu at least 10 points, likely more given his typical high level of execution. This left him in eighth place after the short program.

Hanyu needed a free skate performance that was better than perfect if he wanted to podium.

Though he was brave enough to attempt the quad axel—a jump so challenging that no one else has ever dared to try it in competition—he didn’t land it, leading to deductions for falling. He fell on his second jump as well, losing any chances he had of ending the night on the podium.

Despite his rocky start, the rest of Hanyu’s show was stunning.

The choreography lined up beautifully with the classical piece he was skating to. His artistry was so overwhelmingly gorgeous, I was moved to tears. No matter ranking, Hanyu is number one in my heart and forever in the history books for his quad axel.

Hanyu is the best skater on the ice, sorry, Chen. Chen’s technical prowess is undeniable— there’s a reason he’s known as the “The Quad King.” But, while he is beautiful, he is soulless.

He skates like a robot, technically perfect, but lacking any

emotion. His artistry scores are embarrassingly overinflated, especially in the short program.

Chen miraculously grew emotions, though, for this “Rocketman” free skate. The first half of the routine was as monotone as his first performance, but something changed towards the back half. Perhaps it was the relief of knowing that he had secured his spot as a gold medalist, but Chen’s last two minutes of “Rocketman” were the strongest performance I’ve ever seen from him. I think he had one wobble on a landing, just a hair of imperfection, but his artistry has never been higher.

Chen looked engaged in his skating! The last minute of his show added hip hop style dance moves, done to a rap track. The Chen that skated on Monday could have never pulled this off, but Wednesday’s Chen sold an easy cool vibe that completely contrasted with everything I’ve complained about.

Also endlessly cool was American skater Jason Brown. Though he might not be the most technically advanced skater, he is truly one of the most exciting to watch.

Despite having zero quad jumps, Brown ranked sixth after the short program, ahead of many skaters who attempted quad jumps.

Though his steady stream of triple jumps—completing three rotations in air—are worth less points than his competitors’ quads, he executed them so cleanly that it didn’t matter. His “Sinnerman” short program was flawless, not so much as a wobbly skate out of place. Brown delivered the same level of excellence with his long program as well. I was in awe watching him skate so cleanly. His skating looks so effortless, and Brown looks happy every second he’s on the ice. He has this magnetic energy that is so potent, it radiates through the screen. His long program was performed with the same level of grace, earning him crazy high points on the

The Brandeis Hoot 5

PHOTO BY EMMA LICHTENSTEIN/THE HOOT

grade of execution. He ended the competition in sixth place, a feat given the lower base score of all of his jumps. Brown reminds us that skating isn’t just about tricks, it’s about being able to evoke a reaction from a crowd and throw your entire heart into a show.

Other standout performances include Mexico’s Donovan Carrillo. Carrillo is beloved in my Ziv, now, to the point where we all squealed the second we saw him during our Wednesday night watch party. He is so charismatic and so joyful, it’s impossible not to smile when you watch him.

Even though both his runs had challenges, he walked off the ice beaming each time. He is the first Mexican skater to ever make it to the free skate portion of Olympic competition, and that is more important than any falls Carrillo makes. He also had some of the best outfits we saw this season, not afraid to be covered in sequins.

Outfits are important to the overall skating show, either adding or taking away from the overall theme. France’s Adam Siao Him Fa skated to music from “Star Wars” for his short program, and wore a version of a Jedi out-

fit to match. Obviously, he looked phenomenal. The other French competitor, Kevin Aymoz, skated to Prince for his short program and wore a gorgeous purple top, a nod to the singer. Hanyu’s outfits were as stellar as always, this year playing with baby blues for both of his performances. Words can’t describe how beautiful he looked.

Unsurprisingly, Chen had the worst costumes both nights. I’m almost positive that Vera Wang— yes, THAT Vera Wang—hates him, considering she keeps giving him the most boring outfits I’ve ever seen. His first performance featured a play on the tux, completely bland.. We saw Chen in color for his long program, a rarity, but that shirt was a nightmare. I don’t know who told Wang that bright orange galaxy print was back in style, but that was the crime of the century. His outfit was giving 2013 Tumblr boy, not Olympic skater about to win his first gold.

I still love Chen, though—and obviously, Hanyu too. I hope the boys keep skating past this season and that I can see them compete again. The two of them keep proving that to be a legendary skater, you have to truly be cutting edge.

Brandeis women’s tennis served by Bryant

By Jillian Brosofsky special to the hoot

The Brandeis women’s tennis spring season started Feb. 5 with a 0-7 loss to Division 1 school Bryant University at Rally Point, a tennis and exercise club in Rhode Island. Due to the coronavirus

By Sasha Skarboviychuk editor

The men and women’s track and field teams competed in Tuft’s 2022 Cupid Challenge.

The meet was not scored.

On the men’s side, in the 60 meter dash Reese Farquhar ’22 placed 17th, with a time of 7.34, while Dean Campbell ’23 and Dean Carey ’24 placed 31st and 32nd, with times of 7.63 and 7.71, respectively. Farquhar also placed sixth in the 200 meter dash, with a time of 23.17; Campbell placed 14th with a time of 24.2 and Jordan Colon ’25 placed 21st with a time of 24.82. In the 400 meter dash, Jamie O’Neil ’22

restrictions, the team, usually composed of ten students, came to the match with five players.

Though the match-up was dominated by Bryant, Ella Subramanian ’24 showed her fighting spirit in both her #2 singles and #1 doubles match. After dropping the first set 6-2, Subramanian took her match at second singles

to a nailbiter of a tiebreaker losing it 10-8 in the end. Subramanian and Sabrina Loui ’25 took their #1 doubles match to a tiebreaker before losing it 7-0. Loui, who had a stellar tournament last October at the ITA Regionals reaching the second day in both the singles and the doubles draws, lost at #1 singles 6-0, 6-1.

Olivia Howe ’22 went down in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in her #4 singles match. Her doubles partner Summer Quinn ’22 also lost with a bagel and a breadstick score of 6-1, 6-0 at #5 singles.

They finished their matches 5th and 4th respectively. Playing at #2 doubles, the team lost 6-2.

At #3 singles, Cecil-

ia Denis ’25 lost 6-1, 6-1. She didn’t play a doubles match.

Looking forward, the next two matches are against two fellow Division III schools in MIT and Wellesley, followed by a trip to the West Coast starting on Feb. 21.

They also have their next match on Feb. 11 at Gosman against MIT.

placed ninth, with a time of 52.66.

In the 600 meter run, Jacob Grant ’22 placed 10th with a time of 1:25.58, Aaron Portman ’22 placed 12th with a time of 1:26.38 and Sam Kim ’24 placed 13th with a time of 1:26.45. Taylor Diamond ’23 placed 21st, Henry Nguyen ’25 placed 22nd while Carl Nie ’25 placed 24th, with times of 1:31.86, 1:32.20 and 1:34.20.

In the men’s one mile run Willem Goff ’24 placed 16th, Spencer Lee ’25 placed 21st, Jac Guerra ’22 placed 24th and Lucas Dia ’25 placed 26th, with times of 4:35.00, 4:40.98, 4:45.96 and 4:47.31, respectively.

In the men’s 4x400 meter relay Grant, Kim, O’Neil and Portman placed fourth with a

time of 3:31.41, while Campbell, Carey, Farquhar and Wang placed seventh with a time of 3:43.25. Thomas Vandalovsky ’23 placed sixth in the shot put, throwing 13.66 meters.

This was his season-best throw.

On the women’s side, in the 60 meter dash Anna Touitou ’22 placed 12th, with a time of 8.43, while Sonali Anderson ’22 placed 22nd, with a time of 8.65. In the 200 meter dash Touitou also placed 12th, with a time of 28.2; Anderson placed 18th with a time of 28.64. Smiley Huynh ’24 placed 20th, Ianna Gilbert ’24 placed 25th and Gabby Tercatin ’22 placed 34th, with times of 29.02, 29.58 and 31.38, respectively.

In the 400 meter dash, Devin

Hiltunen ’22 placed 17th, with a time of 1:04.03, Hannah Bohbot-Dridi placed 25th with a time of 1:06.99, while Gilbert placed 27th with a time of 1:07.90.

In the 800 meter run Victoria Morrongiello ’23 placed sixth with a time of 2:24.06. In the one mile run, Natalie Hattan ’22 placed third, with a time of 5:15.24.

Kayla DiBenedetto ’25 placed 10th, Lizzy Reynolds placed 11th, Erika Karlin placed 14th and Adah Anderson placed 23rd, with times of 5:31.91, 5:36.50, 5:42.25 and 6:11.99, respectively.

In the three thousand meter run, Juliette Intrieri placed 10th with a time of 10:45.89, while Zada Forde placed 16th, with a time of 11:05.86. In the women’s

60-meter hurdles, Alya Campbell ’24 placed fourth with a time of 9.57, while Anderson placed fifth with a time of 9.57.

In the 4x400 meter relay, Campbell, Hiltunen, Morrongiello and Elizabeth Korn ’24 placed seventh, with a time of 4:18.11.

Huynh placed seventh in the pole vault with a height of 3.10 meters.

The Judges will next compete at the BU Valentine’s Invitational on Friday, Feb. 11 and at MIT’s Gordon Kelly Invitational, on Saturday, Feb. 12.

Editor’s Note: Editors Victoria Morrongiello and Mia Plante did not contribute to the writing or editing of this article.

6 SPORTS

The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2022

Men’s basketball plays two close games

By Francesca Marchese staff

After falling to Emory on the road just a week prior, the Brandeis Men’s basketball team took the court ready to compete against the Eagles. While the Emory University Eagles are ranked 20th in D3 men’s basketball, the Judges were able to increase their lead to 19 off a three-pointer by sophomore Ryan Power ’24. A 19-point lead, though, was not enough to secure the win. The Brandeis men were unable to connect in the second half, shooting only 28 percent compared to their first half percentage of 58 percent; the Eagles capitalized on the Judges 30 percent shooting decline, closing the gap to just three points. With four seconds remaining, the play of the game forced overtime in Red Auerbach Arena: a contested three-pointer at the top of the key.

At the beginning of overtime, the Judges and Eagles traded baskets, but Emory answered with a three-pointer and never trailed again. Collin Sawyer (GRAD)

By Justin Leng editor

This year’s Super Bowl matchup has taught us two things. One, quarterbacks are very important for winning in the National Football League (NFL). Two, making a good NFL team is super complex and sometimes makes no sense.

In Super Bowl 56, the Los Angeles Rams will face the Cincinnati Bengals on Feb. 13.

The Bengals are led by quarterback Joe Burrow. In 2020, the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow with the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft. Burrow had just completed one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time at Louisiana State University (LSU).

Last year Burrow tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after a promising start to his rookie season. This year he has only gotten better as the season has gone on. According to Pro-football Reference, Burrow had over 4500 passing yards and led the NFL in completion percentage.

Part of this incredible offensive masterclass came due to the addition of Ja’Marr Chase, who was

had a pair of open looks as the clock winded down, but he was unable to connect. While the Judges’ overtime University Athletic Association (UAA) loss to the Emory University Eagles was disappointing, the Judges had a lot to be proud of, as they had a handful of players rise to the occasion, filling the stat sheet.

Tommy Eastman (GRAD) had a game high 35 points, 19 of which he scored in the second half; he finished the game with eight rebounds and two steals as well. Sawyer was perfect from charity stripe, eight-for-eight, and totaled 13 points for the Judges.

Power was also a high-scorer for the Judges, finishing with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, all of which were career highs. Power prides himself on defense, though, and can be relied upon to draw at least one offensive foul a game. Emory was no exception— Power drew four offensive fouls, including three charges and one over the back. Guard Dylan Lien ’23 facilitated for the Judges, setting a game—and career—high

seven assists against the Eagles.

After a Friday night loss against Emory University, the Judges looked to bounce back and secure their second win over the Rochester University Yellowjackets who they had beat the week before. Akin to their game against the Eagles, the Judges gave up a lead late in the second half that allowed the visitors to go on a game-defining run.

With 7:39 remaining in the contest, tied at 42-all, Eastman and Sawyer combined to score the Judges next seven points—two lay-ups and a shot from downtown. Eastman hit one more basket to increase the lead to seven, the largest of the game for either team, but unfortunately for the Judges, only one more point was scored in the remainder of the game; the Yellowjackets finished the game on a 13-1 run.

For the second consecutive game, Tommy Eastman led the Judges with 15 points, seven-of-14 from the field, but simply one-of-seven from behind the arc; Eastman also secured a game high seven rebounds and three

steals. Nolan Hagerty ’22 contributed 12 points to the Judges overall 50 and Sawyer netted 11 in the loss against the Yellowjackets.

Aedan Using had his hands in the passing lanes tallying four steals, a game high, against the visitors.

Eastman, Hagerty and senior floor general Sam Nassar ’22 tied for the team lead of two assists each. While the Judges fell to the Yellowjackets 55-50, the game statistics were equivalent; the exception, though, Rochester’s bench contributions, the Yellowjacket reserves outscored the Judges’ reserves 15-five. Before the Judges took off to Pittsburgh and Cleveland to compete against Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve, respectively, for the first time this season, the Brandeis men secured a win against Connecticut College. Never trailing, the Judges successfully used a balanced attack to defeat the Camels, 63-48, in a non-conference makeup game on Tuesday night that allowed the Judges to improve their record to 10-six overall.

Shooter Toby Harris ’25 did more than simply shoot the three,

as he netted his first collegiate double-double of the game with 12 points and a game—and career—high 10 rebounds. Eastman had another high-scoring game for the Judges, one rebound shy of a double-double; he finished the game with 15 points, nine boards and four assists. Hagerty added 12 points and 6 rebounds to the mix and floor general Nassar dropped five dimes on the Yellowjackets.

Sawyer led the way with a game high 16 points. He finished the game with 1206 career points, scored over the course of 100 games. Sawyer is now tied for 18th on Brandeis’ career list with Tom Haggerty ‘69, while also tying with Steve Harrington ‘92 for third on the career 3-pointer list with 209. Sawyer also became just the 18th player in Brandeis’ history with 100 career games.

The Judges return to UAA play this weekend, looking to secure two wins on the road. Tune in to watch the men and women take on Carnegie Mellon University on Friday evening and Case Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

one of Burrow’s teammates on LSU. Chase had one of the greatest wide receiver seasons from a rookie ever. He had over 1000 yards receiving and was named to the All-Pro second team. This offensive dynamic duo is supplemented with wide receiver Tee Higgins and running back Joe Mixon. Higgins also had over 1000 yards receiving and Mixon had over 1200 yards rushing.

These four players were part of one of the most dynamic offenses this season and could go toe-totoe with any offense in the NFL. Just look at how they beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

The Rams aren’t slacking on offense either. Their quarterback Matthew Stafford was traded by the Detroit Lions to the Rams before the 2021-2022 season. This trade proved to be very good for the Rams as Stafford threw for almost 5000 passing yards and 40 touchdowns. The Rams also have their own Chase. Rams’ wide receiver Cooper Kupp led the NFL in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and receptions.

He also almost broke the single season record for receiving yards in a single season. Wide receiver

Odell Beckham Jr. was signed out of free agency during the season, and he has had a career resurgence with the Rams. Beckham Jr. has had six touchdowns in 11 games with the Rams and he has only gotten better as the playoffs have progressed.

So, both teams have a good offense. Are their defenses at the same level? The Rams did not have the best statistical team defensively, but their defense is full of superstars that can easily take over a game. Defensive lineman Aaron Donald is possibly the best player in the NFL. Edge rusher Von Miller is going to go to the Hall of Fame as one of the best defensive players of all time.

Cornerback Jalen Ramsey is the best cornerback in the NFL. Although the Rams defense may not be good, each of these players can instantly change the game and cause the opposition to have to completely change their game plan. The Bengals are very different but also very similar defensively. Cincinnati does not have as many superstars on defense compared to the Rams, however their team does play well as a whole. According to Pro-football

Reference, edge rusher Trey Hendrickson led their team in sacks with 14. The rest of the defensive line is filled with solid players such as Sam Hubabrd and Larry Ogunjobi (however he is out for the season). Their secondary is led by free safety Jessie Bates, who was on the All-Pro second team in 2021. Overall, both teams do not have the best defense, however they both have the potential to cause high levels of disruption for the opposing offenses.

These two teams are actually very similar as they have gone against normal ways of building a roster. The Bengals signed many players to moderately large contracts in free agency. Players like Hendrickson, cornerback Mike Hilton, Ogunjobi and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie have all made huge impacts on the team.

Just two years ago, the Bengals were the worst team in the NFL and now they are one of the best.

Even though the free agency signings were big, the addition of a full season of Burrow was what made the difference. As soon as Burrow played a full season, the offense was instantly one of the best in the league. He showed the

importance of a good quarterback on a team. Stafford on the Rams also showed that. The Rams added big pieces to their roster via trade. They traded multiple draft picks for Miller and multiple first round draft picks for Stafford.

These two trades alone have made big differences in how the Rams have functioned this season. The addition of Stafford made their passing offense one of the best in the league like Burrow’s situation.

Teams normally do not get this good this quickly. Although the Rams have been good for multiple years, this year they appear to have all the star power they need to finally win a Super Bowl.

The last time the Rams won the Super Bowl was in 2000. Their most recent Super Bowl appearance was against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53.

The Bengals on the other hand have never won a Super Bowl. Before this year, the Bengals hadn’t won a playoff game in 31 years.

One focus stands out as the Bengals are fighting for Harambe.

“That’s our guy, that’s our hero.

We’re doing this for him,” said Hubbard when talking about Harambe.

Brandeis goes toe-to-toe with Emory and Rochester

By Jesse Lieberman staff

After four straight games on the road, the Brandeis Women’s Basketball returned to Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges hosted two of the top teams in the University Athletic Association (UAA), falling to Emory University 76-65 on Friday and losing to the University of Rochester 72-55 on Sunday.

The Judges’ record is 6-12 and 1-8 in the UAA. Friday, Feb. 4: Emory 76 – Brandeis 65 Guard Camila Casanueva ’22 scored a game-high 24 points on eight-of-13 shooting, but a late third-quarter run allowed Emory to cruise to a double-digit win.

Emory’s Claire Brock, who is second in the UAA in points per game, had a team-high 19 points on seven-of-seven shoot-

ing. The Eagles knocked down a season-high 50 percent of their 3-pointers. With the win, the Eagles completed the season sweep of the Judges, who lost to Emory 69-43 on Jan. 28 in Atlanta.

The Judges led 50-49 with 2:45 left in the third quarter after a layup from forward Christina Bacon ’24. The Eagles responded by closing out the quarter on a 10-0 run, six of which came from Brock. A Casanueva jumper cut Emory’s lead to 63-57 with 3:49 to go, but the six-point deficit was the closest the Judges would get.

For Brandeis, guard Emma Reavis ’23 scored 11 points and had a game-high seven assists.

Center Casey Perry ’24 scored a career-high nine points and grabbed six rebounds, while Mollie Obar ’25 knocked down two three-pointers.Emory opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Brandeis responded with a 7-0 run to take

its first lead of the game. Emory led after the first quarter 20-19.

The Judges kept themselves within striking distance of the Eagles in the second quarter. After Emory’s Erin Martin made two foul shots, the Eagles led 32-31. On the ensuing possession, Obar drilled a three-pointer. Emory then scored eight unanswered points to take a six-point lead. Two free throws from Casanueva put the Judges down 40-36 at the break.

A focus for Brandeis coming into the game was rebounding.

The Eagles outrebounded the Judges 48-41 on Jan. 28, which led to 16 second-chance points.

The Judges crashed the glass on Friday, out rebounding Emory 38-32 and limiting the Eagles to just seven second-chance points.

Sunday, Feb. 6: Rochester 72 – Brandeis 55 Emma Reavis scored a career-high 17 points on six-of-13

shooting, but the Judges shot just 31 percent from the field in the loss. Rochester forward Juliana Okoniewski, who played just five minutes and did not score in the first half, scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Brandeis opened the game with a 14-8 lead capped off by a Reavis layup with 2:34 to go in the first quarter. In an extended run lasting over nine minutes, the Yellowjackets outscored Brandeis 25-6, to take a 33-20 lead. The Judges battled back, using a 6-0 run to end the quarter, went into the break trailing 35-30. The Judges did not get within five points for the remainder of the game.

Rochester outscored Brandeis 20-7 in the third quarter and led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter. For the Yellowjackets, leading scorer Hannah Lindemuth had 16 points, while Alexis Sestric scored 11 points.

Casanueva scored 12 points to go along with two steals. Casanueva’s nine rebounds were her most since Nov. 20 against Tufts, where she tallied 13. Caitlin Gresko ’25 scored 11 points on 4-of12 shooting. After shooting 39 percent on three-pointers against Rochester in a 66-59 win in January, the Judges went 3-of-16 or 19 percent from deep.

The Judges will travel to Pittsburgh and Cleveland this weekend to take on Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve.

Brandeis will play Carnegie Mellon on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and take on Case Western Reserve on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The next game at Red Auerbach Arena will be Friday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. against the University of Chicago.

EDITORIALS

February 4, 2022

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editors-in-Chief John Fornagiel Emma Lichtenstein Sasha Skarboviychuk Deputy Copy Editors Logan Ashkinazy Emma Stott News Editor Victoria Morrongiello Deputy News Editors Vimukthi Mawilmada Roshni Ray Arts Editors Stewart Huang Caroline O Deputy Arts Editors Cyrenity Augustin Lucy Fay Rachel Rosenfield Opinions Editor Mia Plante Deputy Opinions Editor Cooper Gottfried Sports Editor Justin Leung Layout Editor Anya Lance-Chacko Photos Editor Grace Zhou Editors-at-Large Abdel Achibat Thomas Pickering Madeline Rousell

Volume 20 • Issue 4 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

FOUNDED BY Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

STAFF

Sam Finbury, Sarah Kim, Josh Lannon, Kristianna Lapierre, Max Lerner, Rafi Levi, Jesse Lieberman, Francesca Marchese, Abigail Roberts, David Shapiro, Matt Shapiro, and Alex Williams

MISSION As the weekly community student newspaper of Brandeis University, The Brandeis Hoot aims to provide our readers with a reliable, accurate and unbiased source of news and information. Produced entirely by students, The Hoot serves a readership of 6,000 with in-depth news, relevant commentary, sports and coverage of cultural events.

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T

The Brandeis Hoot 7

Univ. maintains R1 status

he university was under some pressure when the preliminary report of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education was released, due to projection that the university would be bumped from R1 research institution to R2. R1 denotes the highest ranking of the Carnegie Classification System and is reserved for institutions that have “Doctoral/Very High Research Activity.” The university has been ranked as an R1 research institution since 2000, according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education archives. The last time the university was ranked as R2 was in 1994, according to the archives. From the preliminary report, before the review period, Brandeis University was one of three institutions, including New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, set to be reclassified from R1 to R2 which is “Doctoral/High Research” classification. After the preliminary report is released, it is sent for a six week review. During the review, data corrections can take place to appeal and reverse classifications announcements. All three institutions' reclassifications were reversed and they were set to keep their R1 classification. The reversal came after the institutions updated their information regarding research, during the six week review period

following the preliminary projection announcement, according to a Forbes article which had inisitally predicted the drop in ranking. According to a previous Hoot article, classifications are determined from empirical data taken from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from 20192020 and from the National Science Foundation surveys from 20192020. The university’s classification is important for obtaining grants and funding for research conducted by the university. It's especially important because the university uses its R1 status as a selling point on tours and on their website. Being a small R1 institution makes the university appear very desirable to prospective students, so being demoted to R2 would be a pretty big hit. However, it should be concerning to the Brandies community that the university’s R1 ranking was on the line. For six weeks, the university was set to lose its R1 distinction with multiple sources reporting on it, including Forbes and The Chronicle of Higher Education. What does this say about the direction our university is heading? As an editorial board we are interested to see where the university takes research opportunities on campus, in order to maintain its status and not risk losing it again. According to the Forbes article, to remain competitive institutions typically draft plans

with the classification in mind. Institutions manage their budgets, facility designs, academic programs and faculty hires when attempting to climb or maintain their ranking.

The creation of the Shapiro Science Complex (SSC) was only part of the initiative to revamp the science buildings on campus. The plan never completed the other phases set, due to the 2008-2009 recession. In August 2021, President Ron Liebowitz sent an email to community members with recommendations to plan for phase 2a of the science buildings. In the same email, Liebowitz proposed to “initiate planning for greater faculty and staff support and renewal; and pursue external support for a university-wide data science program and the recently approved program in engineering science.” These proposed plans would all be crucial in maintaining the status of R1 research institution but no timeline has been put out for when these projects are set to begin or be completed. It is wonderful to say these are things the university wants but it is pointless if no plans are ever actually set in motion.

These plans have been in place now for over 10 years and still no progress has been made on them. They remain a part of the university’s future, not the present. We either need to be truthful in our demotion or increase our research action.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

FEATURES

February 11, 2022

Interviews with Brandeis University’s academic leadership: the anthropology department

By Cooper Gottfried editor

The chair of Brandeis University’s anthropology department, Charles Golden, sat down with The Brandeis Hoot to shed a little light on the anthropology department, its future and himself. This interview is the first in a series of interviews with the chairs of a plethora of different academic departmentsandprogramsatBrandeis.

Why did you choose to come to Brandeis?

I think the reputation of Brandeis as a small university that is dedicated to research, but is also dedicated to teaching the liberal arts is really attractive and it’s unique. When I speak to my colleagues and friends at other universities, I think Brandeis is a really different and special place.

On the anthropology department’s website, a “four lenses” approach is mentioned.

Can you explain what that means?

So anthropology is the study of people, as broadly as it can possibly be. Traditionally, in the United States, departments are divided up into four distinct branches.

One is physical or biological anthropology that studies humans as biological beings and our evolution, and medical anthropology is also linked to that. Linguistic anthropology, as the name suggests, studies languages. Cultural or sociocultural anthropology studies living cultures in the broadest sense. Then archeology could be in classics [departments] or can be in history departments depending on where you are [studying]. But those of us who are in anthropology departments see ourselves as aligned with those other subfields as well. The thing that links all of them together is this notion of human culture.

What do you think that the anthropology program does right?

I think we do a good job of communicating with one another and with students. Because our discipline is so broad we really [try to] engage with the world around us in ways that [help] students find the path that is most exciting to them. Brandeis folks are double [or] triple majors, so over and over again, we have the experience where people are neuroscience majors or business majors or computer science majors, and they didn’t know much about anthropology, but then they come and they see the courses we offer and the engagement of the faculty and they say, “wow, you know, that really has changed my perspective on this thing [that] I thought I understood.” … So I hope that we can help students find a new perspective that’s really interesting to them. And I also hope what we do well is, uh, listen to the students about those interests and change our courses as a result of that as well.

Is there anything you think the anthropology program could improve on?

I think that we can do more.

This is true, I think of Brandeis as a university and it’s true of all of us as individuals, so therefore it’s true of the department: we can always

do better. We can meet our obligations to social justice better. We can listen better to students and to one another. But I think that we’re always on that path forward and if we haven’t gotten there, it’s not for lack of trying, it’s just that these things are developmental.

What do you wish that students knew about the anthropology program?

I don’t know that it’s always clear to students how excited faculty are to teach the classes. It seems like work from the student side of things, but in our conversations in the hallway every day, I hear how excited the faculty are to be in the classrooms and to teach those things. And part of that is also to do their research. One of the exciting things about Brandeis is that faculty are really involved in cutting-edge research. So our faculty are constantly going out and finding out new things about the world and they’re excited about it. We’re excited to be in the classroom and we’re excited about the new things we’re learning about the world through anthropology.

How has the anthropology program changed over time?

I think one of the most exciting things to me in the past decade or so is that the number of our faculty has grown. That means that we have a lot of new, younger faculty bringing in new perspectives, new ideas [and] new courses. So when I look at the range of ideas and concepts and classes that we engage with and we teach, it’s really exciting. We’re in a terrific place to go forward. I feel like I’m repeating myself, but this is all sort of interconnected. I learn a lot from my colleagues in the hallway and having all of those new colleagues makes it even more exciting.

How do you hope the program will change in the future?

I would love to see it grow, but Brandeis is a small university. So we’re probably not gonna grow so much, but there’s so many exciting things in anthropology.

I would just love to have more people doing more and different things. We’re very excited because our building is being renovated.

The Brown Social Science building is being renovated, and that means more than just a fresh coat of paint. That means that we are going to have new facilities. So we’re gonna have new or refurbished archeology labs where we can have exciting hands-on courses. We have a media lab in the anthropology department, and having that refurbished space is gonna add excitement. Pascal Menoret is teaching a course on making a new social justice walking map of Boston and Jonathan Anjaria is teaching a class about a sustainable Brandeis campus. So those kinds of hands-on, engaged things are [something that] we’ve always done, but there’s going to be new facilities and new courses that allow us to do even more of it.

What is your favorite class to teach?

I love teaching my regional specialties. I’m a Mesoamerican archeologist, [and] I work in Guatemala and Mexico. So any course that’s a lecture or a seminar where I can talk about that stuff. I mean, I love it enough to do it for my career, so I love talking about it.

That said, last semester I taught a 3D scanning and printing course with Ian Roy from the Maker Lab. This semester I’m teaching geographic information systems.

Those are really exciting because students come into them never having done these things, never having scanned and printed something in 3D, never having used geographic information systems.

Then over the course of the semester, we can see them learn the skills. Then the outcome is always something that they get to develop their own projects, something that really is interesting to them.

So that’s exciting to see them going from having never turned on a computer or used this software before and then at the end creating these incredible research projects. So those two courses, the 3D printing course and the GIS course, are really exciting to me.

Where can an anthropology degree take you?

It can take you anywhere. I think it gives you that toolkit, that ability to analyze culture. And that can be the culture of an office, it can be the culture of a medical practice, of the emergency room. … [It gives you the tools to ask] “how can we see beyond the simple logistical problems and understand the cultural issues that may be driving it?” So we see students a lot who may be dual majors in something else entirely, but they come back and they say “I’m working in a biology lab now, but this thing came up and it brought me back to that moment in anthropology.” I teach a human origins course and the students may be long gone from anthropology, they’re not doing that as their career, but I get an email [from them] saying, “I was just walking through the American Museum of Natural History and it reminded me now 10 years later about this discussion of human

evolution. I really think about it a lot, even though my career has nothing to do with it.” … So I think people do everything with it. If you name a career, we have anthropology majors in it. I think anthropology, even if [anthropology majors] aren’t anthropologists as a career, that anthropological lens forms how they do that job.

How do you think that this program fits into Brandeis’ DNA? One of the things that is not just a slogan at Brandeis but fundamental to Brandeis’ DNA is the social justice mission, the diversity equity inclusion mission, it’s foundational mission to be a place for everybody. Anthropology helps us as a university get a little farther down that road. … I think that, [anthropology] gives us the toolkit to look at things through the lens of the diversity of cultures, and that helps us as a university.

Your research focuses on Mesoamerica. What draws you to Mesoamerica?

Long ago when I was a young student, I thought of archeology as being about the Mediterranean world, about Rome and Greece and Egypt, and Israel. Then when it was time for me to go try my hand at actually doing field work, I looked at field schools, which is where you do a summer abroad and excavate somewhere. And the place where I could get to because of my resources was Belize. I had a terrific undergraduate professor who had been teaching me about Mesoamerican archeology, so it was interesting to me and I had the wherewithal to actually get there. From the moment I got to Belize, the ancient culture, the modern culture [and] the environment really enticed me. So I’ve been working there ever since. I went from Belize to Honduras, to Guatemala to Mexico, learning more and more about the ancient

Maya civilization. I’m fascinated by ancient American civilizations, but it’s also the modern connections [and] the modern communities that I work with that make it most exciting for me. So that’s what really energizes me to go back. With COVID, I haven’t been able to go for two years to Mexico, but I’m going back I hope this year … and I’m really just eager to get back and see my friends and colleagues down there.

What do you work towards in your free time?

I would love to have free time to go hiking if it was a little warmer. You know, exploring the green spaces in Massachusetts and New England. That’s really what I like to do; Doing that with my son, playing board games, those sorts of things.

Do you have a favorite board game?

[Settlers of] Catan. It’s a go-to.

I don’t know if it’s my favorite, I have so many, so many great board games. Some people are very intense players. … So, Catan is the first thing that pops to mind, but I enjoy the whole world of what they call European board games.

What do you wish that Brandeis students knew about you?

I would say this about not just myself, but again about the faculty as a whole: I think it’s often the case that students feel wary about going to talk to a professor for whatever reason, they feel wary of it. It seems intimidating or they’re not quite sure why to go. I would just say that I wish students knew that when we say “just knock on our door,” or “we have office hours,” that students would know that we mean it. We’re really interested in talking to students and hearing [what they have to say]. It doesn’t have to be a big conversation. It can just be a hello, to let us know what’s going on with them.

PHOTO FROM BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

FEATURES 9

February 11, 2022

The lasting impact of former professor Pauli Murray

By Victoria Morrongiello editor

Justice Stephen Breyer announced in late January his intention to retire from the Supreme Court. With his intent to retire, this offers President Joe Biden the opportunity to appoint someone in his place. The vacancy allows Biden to fulfill one of his campaign promises—to appoint the first African American woman to the Supreme Court.

Though, this isn’t the first time the request is being made to appoint a female African American justice. Fifty years ago, in 1971, Pauli Murray wrote to then-president Richard Nixon asking him to consider her for one of the vacant positions in the Supreme Court, according to an article from The Harvard Crimson archives.“It should be of passing interest that I [Murray] represent the largest group of minority status in the United States—namely, female.

The Court would be more representative of the composition and interests of the population of the United States if a qualified woman were appointed. My applica-

tion is to forestall the popular misconception that no qualified women applied or are available,” reads Murray’s letter to Nixon.

Biden announced his intention to nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court, which received some backlash from other politicians arguing the decision should not be made on the basis of race and gender. However, former President Ronald Reagan made a similar campaign promise to nominate the first woman to the supreme court, which he later fulfilled with his appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor. Though Murray did not receive the nomination back in 1971, she did leave a lasting legacy. Murray has been cited as an “unsung hero” of the Civil Rights Movement. Her argument regarding that the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection clause could be used as a “frontal assault” on Plessy versus Ferguson became the inspiration behind the framework of the Brown versus Board of Education case which ended segregation in public schools. Murray had made the argument that “separate but equal” is unconstitutional, 10 years prior to the Supreme Court

case arguing the same point.

Murray was a civil rights activist who organized restaurant sitins 20 years before the sit-ins in Greensboro. She was also arrested in Petersburg, VA for refusing to move to the back of the bus. This happened 15 years before a similar situation happened with Rosa Parks—who is remembered for being arrested for the same reason.

While she was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Murray also fought for women’s rights.

She was one of the co-founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), an organization dedicated towards the movement for true equality for women.

Murray’s name was also featured on the cover page of Reed versus Reed, the first gender equity brief put forward by Ruth Bader Ginsberg. While Murray did not work directly on the case, Ginsburg featured her name on the brief due to her, “delineation of the connection between race and gender, and of the way to use the equal protection clause to litigate for gender equality.”

“I [Murray] knew that in many instances it was difficult to determine whether I was being discriminated against because of race or

sex,” Murray wrote in her memoir.

Murray broke several boundaries, she was the first African-American to receive a degree of Doctor of Juridical Science from Yale University. She was also the first African-American woman to become an ordained Episcopal priest, after having earned a Master in Divinity degree. Twenty-seven years after her death, Murray received the distinction of saint by the Episcopal Church.

In spite of her work providing the framework for civil rights legislation, her work widely goes unnoticed. “As a black, queer, feminist woman, Pauli Murray has been almost completely erased from the narrative,” reads her biography on NOW’s webpage— the organization she spearheaded.

Murray not only left her mark on the nation, but she also left her mark on the university. Murray joined the faculty in 1968 and served until 1973. During this time she wrote to Nixon regarding her application to be a Supreme Court Justice. In her letter to Nixon, Murray cites that one of her qualifications for the position includes that she is the first Stulberg Professor of Law and Politics at Brandeis University.

Murray was responsible for the transition from the American Civilization program into the American Studies Program, which still exists today. Murray discussed and taught ideas of gender identity, sexuality and race and how they intersect. The combination of those three ideas is today referred to as intersectionality and is widely studied across the university, though in Murray’s time the term had yet to be coined.“I’m always ahead of my time,” Murray told The Washington Post in 1977. It is widely recognized today how Murray was ahead of her time. In a documentary called “I am Pauli Murray” the film draws on how Murray was ahead of the curve with her ideas. Faith Smith, chair of the Department of African American Studies said that the documentary “demonstrates that we are always trying to catch up to Murray,” according to an article.

Murray’s lasting impact can be seen within the Brandeis community and in the greater United States. Her work with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and NOW changed the course of history for civil rights and women’s rights.

Brandeis catering team speak out about job insecurity

By Teresa Shi staff

Once the pandemic hit, Brandeis University’s catering team was deemed essential. While most students, faculty and workers headed home in mid-March 2020, three catering supervisors, Kevintz Merisier, Seda Garzaryan and Hugo Mansilla, were asked to produce and deliver food to hospitals as part of the Sodexo Business for three months.

Then it was a year of waiting for catering to come back.

Everything was behind plexiglass, dining halls had to operate under social distancing guidelines and the supervisors were each placed in a cafeteria temporarily until a new “norm” of work was established.

But the “norm” never came.

“Before, we were usually having maybe between eight and 15 events a day,” Hugo Mansilla, a Brandeis Dining worker, said.

Versus now, they only have an average of three or four events per week, most of which are small jobs like dropping off coffee. “I would say [we’re] a good 90 percent down,” Mansilla continued.

Come August 2021, they had only catered for the first week of orientation. The busy hours died down after that. “That’s when I started asking questions,” Merisier said. “Because you said catering was full-fledged. You’re showing us a full binder of events…

[Are] legit events and everything else just going down…the drain?”

“At first, we didn’t say anything,” Garzaryan explained, thinking the lack of events was a result of COVID-19. “And then we found out when actually we saw the trucks from other companies.”

And suddenly, “everything started adding up,” Mansilla said.

They brought the issue up to the dining hall workers’ union. After

the union steward read over the contract between Brandeis University and Sodexo Dining again, he found out that the contract did not include a catering section at all. “I got offered to lose my supervisor position and go be a dishwasher if I want[ed] the 40 hours position,” Merisier shared.

In need of the hours, Merisier considered making the switch, but catering is a different skill set.

It is exciting. “With catering, our days are never the same, never redundant, ” Merisier explained.

He is currently placed in Einstein Bros. Bagels temporarily to earn the full forty hours per week.

He serves coffee and bagels for students’ to-go orders. The bagel spot is located at a corner of the first floor of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Campus Center. “I can do a circle, go back, do a circle, go back and do a circle, go back, five days a week,” he said.“[But with] catering, it’s more like today I’m in the Science Center; tomorrow, I’m in the Rose Art Museum; I’m in the theater; I’m at the Mods; I’m at Gosman; I’m in the president’s office.” Catering was a different atmosphere every day, and he missed running up and down the hills, feeling adrenaline rushing through his body. “Ever seen the movie Groundhog Day?” The three supervisors, Merisier, Garzaryan and Mansilla, joined Brandeis Catering around the same time in 2016. Mansilla arrived on the scene after the catering director at the time convinced him to leave his post at Boston University catering. Garzaryan and Merisier joined a few months later from the same external catering agency. Brandeis was Merisier’s favorite place to work, so he signed up for as many shifts as possible for the two years before joining Brandeis. After proving their capabilities to organize and run events independently, the catering director offered Garzaryan

and Merisier full-time positions.

“I did not second guess it at all, and it’s been a hell of a run,” Merisier chuckled.

Merisier described Garzaryan as a perfectionist who cares about every minute detail. Since faculty club events are her stronghold, she would come by the events even when the other supervisors were in charge. While asking how the other people on the call are doing, she would slightly adjust the forks and rearrange the napkins.

The way she asks, so smoothly, you wouldn’t even notice. For Mansilla, catering was something else. If he had the menu for tomorrow, it should already be the next day in his mind. “He wants to conquer the day,” Merisier noted. As for Merisier, both Garzaryan and Mansilla agreed that he is the most outspoken person of the three. He brought up his suspicions to the dining workers’ union regarding the loss of catering hours right away. “He’s not the only one that feels that way, you know, we all feel the same. He[’s] just a little more courageous,” Garzaryan added.

Garzaryan, Mansilla and Merisier have been working as a team at Brandeis for five years. “It’s the strongest team I’ve had since I’ve been catering,” Garzaryan said. She recounted proudly an event they catered. Around 9 a.m. on the day of the event, she explained, the event organizer called asking where the food for 450 people was. “And we’re like, what? We don’t have it.” It turned out the scheduled event never reached their information system. But “we didn’t panic. We didn’t, like, start complaining… we just said what was it? Where and what?” Mansilla chimed in.

They ran to Usdan and started to prepare the food. By the time the clock clicked at 9:45 a.m., they had all of the tables set up with brewed coffee, bagels, cream

cheese, and even a kosher pastry table. “At the end, we were all congratulating each other, really happy. We made it happen all together!” Mansilla said.

“We do love the job. But right now, we all have families. We all have bills to pay,” Mansilla said.

“We could apply for a different position and make less money,” he explained, “but that’s not what we came here for.” Garzaryan is now confronted with the question of where to go next. As one of the Brandeis dining staff who has worked here the longest, she trained other dining hall supervisors in their current jobs because she knows how to run all of the locations. “Now we’re training people to take over dining hall supervisors, so what’s gonna happen to me?” Garzaryan asked. “I don’t want to think about it, but we have to.”

The Director of University Services Jeffrey Hershberger listed the reason of excluding cater-

ing team from the contract to a student organizer in a email on Dec. 2: “the impetus to drop the exclusivity requirement for this year and last was to address stated desires and concerns of student and staff to have more freedom of choice in catering events.” However, the information was never conveyed directly toward the catering supervisors. “We can do essentially what other catering companies do,” Mansilla shared that they always have good relationships with their clients and are happy to help if clients want additional food from external vendors.

As the Director of University Services listed in his email: “the opportunity for change is in developing the new contract which will commence on July 1, 2022.”

The catering supervisors are hoping to call for more students’ help on petition before renewing the contract.

PHOTO BY TERESA SHI

The Brandeis Hoot 10

OPINIONS

February 11, 2022

NBC’s biased commentary ignores fair mission of Beijing Olympics

By Jenny Zhao special to the hoot

The long-expected Beijing Winter Olympics officially opened on Feb. 4th. I was sitting with excitement in front of my computer, using my just-purchased NBC membership, and waiting for the start of the Opening Ceremony. It was supposed to be a spectacular ceremony with well-designed artistry and expression of global unity, however the NBC commentator disrupted this atmosphere.

The first time I realized that something went wrong was when the Chinese national flag was passed onto the flagpole. It was designed to have dozens of people representing all ages, professions, and ethnic minority groups in China pass the flag, but the commentator mentioned: “the intention was good, but there was also deep water under the surface.” She implicitly referred to the dispute

of the independence of Tibet and the incident of Xinjiang, as two major ethnic minority groups, the Tibetans and the Uyghurs, are inhabitants of those regions.

The NBC commentator addressed the Xinjiang Incident again when the final female torchbearer from China appeared to be an athlete from Uyghur. According to her, China purposefully chose the Uyghur torchbearer to show the world the unity of Xinjiang, but the hidden implication of this decision might have a counter effect of its intention, as the Western nations—especially the US here—put suspicion on such action.

The Xinjiang Incident stands as a big mile mark of the worsening of the US-China diplomatic relationship, which has a long-lasting effect reflected on the US’s attitude towards the Beijing Olympics. In 2021, reports on genocide over the Uyghurs and forced labor in the cotton production industry in Xinjiang caused growing dis-

putes in both China and the rest of the world. Dozens of foreign clothing started to boycott the use of Xinjiang-grown cotton, which accounted for roughly 20 percent of global cotton production. The United States also expressed its standpoint by cutting down all of its imports from Xinjiang, including both cotton and silicon.

Later, the Biden administration released the decision that the US would be boycotting the Beijing Olympics by not sending any diplomatic officials to Beijing due to the concern over forced labor in Xinjiang. Some US allies such as Canada and the UK stood in a similar position after the US made its statement.

Although the US government has an attitude over the diplomatic standpoint of the Olympics, I still think it is not right to bring such biases into the games when it isn’t really the time for it. The mission of the Olympic Games is to celebrate global unity. The political boycott and cri-

tiques towards the host country significantly destruct the games’ neutrality and do not convey the IOC (International Olympics Committee)’s central message of bringing hundreds of countries together in peace and friendship.

Meanwhile, the role of the commentator should be to explain the Chinese cultural elements in the show to the foreign audience and

to commentate on the competition without any judgments and preferences of any athlete. Bringing a political view regarding the diplomatic relationships among countries to a neutral place is a substantial disruption towards the fair mission of the Olympic Games.

PHOTO FROM BUSINESSINSIDER.COM

‘Just relax!’: stop the stigma surrounding mental healthcare

By Mia Plante editor

I am tired of being told to relax. Not only is that the most unhelpful suggestion, but it assumes that I am at all capable of relaxing and that I wouldn’t be relaxing even if I was able to. As someone with anxiety and depression, the campaigns of mindfulness can be helpful for some, but the popular notion that deep breathing, exercise, and meditation can cure anxiety and depression is frustrating, to say the least.

Anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in the United States, approximately 18.1 percent of Americans, every year. Assuming that something as simple as breathing deeply and trying to clear your mind can help every 40 million of those people to the same extent is ridiculously incorrect and an unhealthy narrative to be spreading. Promotion of “natural” remedies, as opposed to po-

tentially life-saving medications, has created a stigma around those who do rely on medications, such as SSRIs, antipsychotics and beta-blockers to go about their lives normally.

Recently, there have been campaigns to normalize mental illnesses within the general public, which has been beneficial in making people more aware of what they may be going through.

Despite this awareness, there still lies a stigma surrounding getting help for mental illnesses beyond persevering on your own. Some believe that just because mental illness is ‘all in your head’ you can solve it by working on yourself, and that those who cannot do that simply aren’t trying hard enough. But mental illnesses stem from so much more than just minor stressors or sadness, they are genetic, generational and can be formed by trauma or a simple lack of the proper neurotransmitters.

You wouldn’t tell someone who is diabetic to just try harder to have their pancreas make insulin,

so why do you tell people with depression to try harder when they are fundamentally lacking the chemicals needed to do so? Even my family members with mental illnesses — as my plight is the genetic kind not the trauma-based kind — fall to the assumption that I just need to learn breathing techniques and go on a walk. But fifteen years of persistent anxiety later, they have finally realized that I can’t just try to be happy or calm or content. I want to be calm, and I will go on walks and breathe deeply and try to distract myself, but my body and mind deep down never really relaxes and I never really can work through my anxiety without the help of medication.

Even as someone who has come to terms with the fact that I am going to rely on medicine for probably my entire life it is scary to write these things out for people to read. I don’t want to seem like I’ve given up getting better or that I am weak for using medicine as a crutch, but I am neither of those

things. I am not weak because I take medicine for my mental health, I am strong because I am able to focus on things other than my mental health when I take medicine. I am not giving up because I am not letting my mental illness win, I am working against it and using all the tools I have in my arsenal to do so.

Medicine is not a cop-out or a cure-all for mental illness, it is an approach that takes time to work and to find the best fitting medication for you, but it also can seriously help people cope with things that otherwise would be debilitating. Calling people weak for taking care of themselves in a way you wouldn’t do but is perfectly healthy is only contributing to the greater problem of severe untreated mental illness in the world. Just because your version of anxiety is having your heartbeat a little faster during an exam doesn’t mean another person’s version isn’t debilitating. Just because you can clear your head by doing yoga doesn’t mean a bipolar

person can solve their manic and depressive episodes by doing so.

I’ve also noticed that people become hopeless because the medication they are on isn’t working well for them. Our brains are complex and so are our mental illnesses. This means that unlike taking medication for high blood pressure, there often isn’t one expected outcome. Medications can do different things for different people, and the time spent trying out new things until you find something that works for you is worth it.

In 2019, 15.8 percent of American adults took prescription medications for mental health concerns. 9.5 percent of American adults participated in mental health counseling. These things are common, healthy, and the best resource for many people. Shaming anyone for how they choose to treat their illness is disgusting and unnecessary. Shut up and stop telling me to just relax.

Pence’s statements and the need for multiple parties

By Abdel Achibat editor

Bipolarity in the United States’ political realm has been a growing concern throughout various periods of American history; today’s political bipolarity shows nothing more than the centuries-long need to step away from our two-party system that feeds into this cleavage. Pence’s surprising rebuke of Trump’s statement on the legality of overturning American elections signals, to me, a growing sentiment on the Republican side of the need to redefine American republicanism and conservatism.

In other words, Pence, in openly rebuking Trump’s statement, has uncovered a growing rift within the right, perhaps an indication of the varying sects of the Republican party that may increasingly want to distance themselves from Trump’s base.

It is more than evident that Trump’s base, and the loudest sect of the Republican party, is truly destroying Republican principles

and actively causing erosion of our general American processes. The Jan. 6 riot was a political anomaly; a display of political disagreement that touched the organs of the American project in a way and with support that has not been seen in centuries. It signaled white supremacy and white privilege as consistent lobbyists without our government, and we continue to live in its history as its very impact is still being contested and downplayed by the right. There is increasing distrust amongst the right and republicans of American institutions, the electoral process and our executive branch. While Trump’s base believes their hesitation to trust the American government is their own Americanness at play, they are actually causing deep erosion in the efficiency of our society and government. Trust in the governmental process is the absolute key to functioning states. Transparency of government functions is the absolute key to trusting our government. Trump first eroded the latter in his presidency and

has eroded the former in the time following it. Very clearly, Trump’s base has set themselves as essentially opponents to the state, and Republican’s with their continued support and rhetoric of such ideals have been pushing themselves further and further from the central government; incredibly ironic, however, they still seek to put themselves as the head of government they hold so much disdain for.

Consequently, it is not possible to openly call for the distrust of a system and simultaneously want to be a part of it. The consequence of creating so much distrust of the governmental process is that if they are to regain control of the legislative branch, that same distrust they created previously will still be there just no longer from their perspective. In essence, the decay of trust in the effectiveness of the American government has already spread. It has already taken root within the Republican party, and because of that, it will take root within the Democrats.

Such angst without our govern-

ment, and within the relationship between our government and the people cannot and will not simmer down as the literal riot has already taken place, and change has yet still to occur. Trump’s base which so willingly tears down the American system while seeking to replace it with Trumpism clearly has set up the next period of American politics, characterized by profoundly deep introspection of how our American government can function when two parties are imploding from within.

Pence’s “President Trump is Wrong” statement shows his own attempt, and perhaps a symbol of the conservatives he represents, that the Republican party is not whole. There are in fact a wide array of ideologies that differ and rebuke the Trump mindset. Consequently, if Trump’s base continues to be a driving factor for the Republican party’s modern success, then Pence’s statements indicate a distinction of principles within conservatives and the right.

Similarly, the Democrat party has spent so much energy and

time battling Trumpism and the Republicans, and simultaneously upholding American institutions, that they have signaled their own neglect of the minorities that consistently vote for them. Black, indigenous, and people of color generally align well with principles of the Democrat party, but recent political trends and the need to respond to Trumpism has made these concerns unimportant and susceptible to solely slow reform. Evidently, the rifts between progressive and moderate democrats indicate to me a difference of principles within the Democratic party. This along with Pence’s display of the rifts within the Republican party highlight the very desperate call the American people have been pleading for to have actual governmental representation and not just alignment with parties that stray so far from our values and care solely for consolidation of power for everything but the people.

February 11, 2022

OPINIONS 11

The Brandeis Hoot

Brandeis hates hot girls with stomach issues

By Emma Lichtenstein and Mia Plante editors

Having a sensitive stomach or food allergies comes with a lot of costs including but not limited to: not being able to eat the cookies your friend makes, not being able to safely eat out most places and not being able to enjoy many foods without some sort of suffering later on. One of the most noticeable costs though is how much allergen friendly and sensitive stomach friendly foods cost as compared to their regular counterparts. This phenomenon is widespread and can be attributed to the amount of time put into formulating products that are as close to the original but easier on stomachs, as well as the cost of ensuring no potential allergen contamination in facilities and training on allergens for staff. But the price gouging on stomach-friendly foods on Brandeis’campus is

astronomical and feels as though students who do not choose to have these allergies or ailments are paying an unnecessary price in order to stay healthy while at school.

We understand that Brandeis has to charge a higher price, it costs money to buy these groceries in the first place. But these profit margins are insane! For example, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the C-Store runs at $7.49. That same pint can be bought at Hannaford for $4.29.

That’s a $3.20 profit margin per pint. These rates stay the same for non-dairy ice cream, which is burdensome for all students, but especially students allergic to or sensitive to dairy. Students with allergies don’t have the option to purchase cheaper options while at the C-store, and they have to deal with the increased price of nondairy products to begin with. That cost on top of the school’s price gouging is practically criminal.

New on the shelves are quarts

of ice cream made with coconut milk. The quart is listed as only $7.69, a steal given that the pints are over eight dollars. Of course, it was too good to be true. The quart rings up at $9.99. This is truly an appalling number for some ice cream, especially after being listed as over two dollars cheaper. But breaking it down, this is still a better deal than the other non-dairy pints, coming out to less than five dollars a pint. For the C-Store this is practically a value price!

Another truly unbelievable price jump are the gluten free pretzels. A bag of these pretzels, having 14.1 ounces, costs more than $10. This same exact bag can be found at multiple retailers—including Walmart and Amazon— for less than five dollars. It is over double the cost to purchase a bag of gluten free pretzels on campus than off campus.

One of the biggest issues this presents for students is the lack of increase in points on the student meal plan. Inflation happens

every year in the greater United States economy, but points have been the same for years. While inflation either has not occurred or not been noticeable enough in previous years, this year is outrageous. Last semester, students could purchase a bagel with butter at Einstein’s for $2.09. This semester that exact same order costs $2.69, 60 cents more. While that will not cause an effect for a one-time purchase, eating this as a daily, or even weekly, breakfast takes a toll on the allocated points.

This is once again more problematic with students with allergies or food sensitivities as the dining hall doesn’t always provide completely safe foods for many students. Some people are then made to choose between an overpriced meal from the c-store that they can be sure won’t hurt their stomach, or a “free”ish meal swipe that may have consequences later on.

Yes, convenience is factored into the cost. When living on

campus, it’s much easier to walk to the C-Store than all the way to a grocery store. But at what point does the convenience cost become predatory pricing—especially in the case of stomach-friendly foods?

We also have to mention the fact that many allergen and sensitive stomach friendly foods at the C-Store are just downright gross. Some of the best tasting items in the C-Store have been removed, leaving even fewer pleasing options available. The Nova Crisp cassava chips were Emma’s favorite snack available on campus. They were crunchy, like a softer, puffier rice cake—similar to a Cheeto puff versus a regular Cheeto. In their place, now, are sesame snacks. They are extremely hard chips, making them difficult and painful to chew. Students with dietary restrictions are suffering enough, please don’t take away any more of our safe foods.

Ask SSIS

Welcome back to the Student Sexuality Information Service (SSIS) column, where we answer any and all of Brandeis students’ questions about sex, sexuality, identity and relationships. If you have a question you’d like answered in our next column, email ssis@brandeis.edu or leave a question in our Google Form https://tinyurl.com/AskSSIS Any and all questions are welcome: there are no bad, stupid or weird questions!

(Note: These answers are good-faith attempts by SSIS to be helpful to the Brandeis community, and are by no means exhaustive or to be taken as universal. If these answers don’t resonate with you, either pay them no mind, or reach out to us with suggestions for improvement!)

By SSIS special to the hoot

A girl I’m hooking up with wants me to send her nudes but I’m worried about them getting leaked. What should I do?

Thanks so much for asking this question! Sex and nudity are complicated discussions even without adding in the internet and web safety, so sexting can be a really difficult conversation to have.

By Cooper Gottfried editor

Nintendo’s first “Nintendo Direct” of the year took place this week. As usual, this 40-minute broadcast was full of news on what’s coming to the Nintendo Switch. In this article, I’ll give my thoughts on most of what Nintendo revealed on Feb. 9.

Nintendo revealed that “No Man’s Sky” is coming to the Switch. This game is a lot of fun, but my desktop PC struggles to run it at times. This game didn’t have a great launch, but several updates were made to the game, and it’s a very enjoyable game now. “No Man’s Sky” will be available on the Switch this summer.

A new “Mario Strikers” was unveiled, called “Mario Strikers: Battle League.” This is a great time to release a new “Mario Strikers,” as the last one came out 15 years ago. This seems like a great title, and it’ll even include eight-player co-op. I’ve always loved the Mario sports games, Mario Super Sluggers on the Wii is still one of my favorite games today, and I hope that this game can be similar to the fun experience that “Super

While many schools and organizations teach other aspects of safer sex, safer sexting and sending nudes is rarely taught in any spaces, leaving lots of people confused and in the dark, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Sexting can be an enjoyable experience for all parties once guidelines and boundaries are established.

As with all aspects of sexuality, consent is key. When it comes to sending nudes, make sure that you and your partner are enthusiastic about sending and understand what you each want. It’s always okay to say no and not send

nudes, regardless of reason; your comfort and consent come before anything else. You and your partner can also decide what kind of nudes you want to send, maybe partially nude, only of a specific body part or area, or completely nude full-body, whatever your comfort level is. You can also discuss how and when you want these nudes to be sent. A lot of people use Snapchat because the picture can disappear after a few seconds and you will be notified if your partner screenshots it. You can also choose to text or DM these photos at certain times

or places so that you and your partner are in private areas. With any method, it is important to remember that there will always be some form of risk.

If you choose to send messages via text, there are a few ways to limit the chance of someone besides your partner seeing the pictures. You can ask her to turn off her text notifications or previews so that they won’t show up on her screen and you can ask her to turn off iCloud downloads so that they won’t be saved. You can also ask her not to save any of them. You can also communi-

cate with your partner if you don’t want your face or identifiable features in the photos. Some ways to mitigate risk can be introduced but ultimately it comes down to trusting your partner and being communicative of your concerns.

You can start a conversation with your partner before you ever send a nude to let her know about your concern of them getting leaked.

And this doesn’t have to be a one time conversation, you can check in with each other throughout sending.

Sluggers” was. This title releases in June.

It was also revealed that a sequel to Wii Sports is in development, called “Nintendo Switch Sports.”

Wii Sports was the best-selling Wii game ever, and it appears that Nintendo hopes to replicate that success with this very similar title. However, much of Wii Sports’ success is due to the fact that it often came bundled with the Wii console. Additionally, Nintendo has already released games like 1-2-Switch that may steal sales from Nintendo Switch Sports.

This game releases in late April, and updates will come later to add golf to the game’s catalog.

Mother and Earthbound are also being brought to the Switch, but only through Nintendo Switch Online. Even though I don’t have interest in playing these games, I wish Nintendo would make them available for purchase instead of locking them behind a subscription service. I don’t like the way that Nintendo locks desirable content behind periodically billed service, but I’m glad that these games are finally being made available on the Switch nonetheless. These games are available through Nintendo Switch Online now.

It was revealed that 48 additional tracks will be coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe through paid DLC. These courses will be released slowly until winter 2023, and some of these courses will be remastered courses from old consoles while some of them will be original courses. It appears that there is simply no land beyond Mario Kart 8. The game came out in 2014, and Nintendo has been using it as their flagship racing game ever since. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is definitely better than eight, but I would have much preferred a new Mario Kart game to go along with a new system. The first batch of courses will be released in mid-March.

Portal and Portal two were announced for the Switch, under the Companion Collection moniker. These are two of my favorite games of all-time, so I’m ecstatic that they’re coming to the Switch.

Portal two’s split-screen co-op mode should lend itself particularly well to the Switch, which comes with two controllers. These games should also run very well on the Switch, which can’t be said about many other PC game ports. Although pricing wasn’t announced, these games are available for $14.98 on PC. The Com-

panion Collection will be released this year.

The new Kirby game, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, got a new trailer. It was unveiled that a mode called “Mouthful Mode” will be included. This mode will allow Kirby to absorb objects from the world around the world and use their powers. For example, if Kirby inhales a car, he now has the ability to drive around.

This seems like a fun addition to Kirby’s first 3D platformer ever.

This game releases in March.

There were also reveals for Metroid Dread DLC, Xenoblade Chronicles Three, MLB The Show and so much more. I feel confident saying that the first half of 2022 will be successful for Nintendo. Plus, the second half is set to include long-awaited Zelda and Bayonetta games. Nintendo has set themselves up for a good year, and I look forward to the next Direct.

PHOTO FROM EN.AS.COM

12 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2022

Wendy’s ‘Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich’ is there

By John Fornagiel & Sasha Skarboviychuk editors

Wendy’s is back at it with two new chicken sandwiches, just in time for Valentine’s Day, which were released on Feb. 8. The “Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit” is only available during breakfast hours (before 10:30 a.m.), and neither of us were willing to wake up that early for it. That left us with only the “Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich” to try, which is available with regular, spicy or grilled chicken. The sandwich is “a juicy chicken breast marinated and breaded in our unique, fiery blend of peppers and spices topped with pepper jack cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, crunchy dill chips and a drizzle of habanero hot honey sauce all on a toasted bun.

For fire-eaters with a sweet tooth,” according to Wendy’s website.

The sandwich will cost you $5.99 plus tax.

Sasha Let me just start by saying that I definitely identify as a “fire-eater with a sweet tooth.” Honestly now when anyone asks me about myself, this is what I will tell them.

But even I had some reservations before trying this sandwich; when I go for a chicken sandwich, as much as I love sweets, I don’t know how much I want sweet on it. I also cannot stomach the smell/taste of honey, so I was

really not excited for this sandwich. Onto the sandwich itself, I must say it was very odd. Firstly, I don’t like bacon, so next time I would definitely get it without bacon. I also don’t know how I feel about the chips on the sandwich, though honestly whoever invented this concept is one troubled person. Personally, I was not a fan of them at all. The cheese, well I didn’t notice that this is a different kind of cheese than what they usually use. But you know what this sandwich needs? Like this entire country, some vegetables. The sandwich was just so dry and hard to consume. The sauce, believe it or not, was actually quite good!! I wish there was more of it, I barely got a taste of it because there was so little (and this made the sandwich even drier). Overall, not too impressed, but I think if I make my modifications to it, it has the potential to be good. I would rate it seven out of 10: wouldn’t get it again in its current form.

knowledge, there are no other fast food chains out there that have added crunchy dill chips and a honey glaze to their chicken sandwiches. So in terms of uniqueness, I have to give this sandwich an extra point just because the flavor profile is unlike anything I have ever tried before. The dill chips were a very unique replacement for pickles in a traditional chicken sandwich, and the honey sauce also added a sweetness to the sandwich.

However, with that being said, I did not enjoy the sandwich all that much. Like always, the chicken itself was juicy and is a solid addition to the sandwich. However, while unique, the dill chips

were not a great replacement for regular pickles in my opinion, as they really lacked the acidity that complements the fried chicken so well. Instead, it was more of just something else that was crunchy on the sandwich, adding more texture heterogeneity, which was definitely not unwelcome but I feel that it could have added a bit more.

I feel a very similar way about the bacon that they added. It was a nice and crunchy texture that contrasted with the softer fried chicken and bun, but its flavor was mostly overpowered by the honey glaze sauce itself.

Now, to the star of the show: the honey glaze sauce. This sauce

John Going into this sandwich, I had extraordinarily high expectations.

The latest premium chicken sandwich that we tried from Wendy’s was the jalapeño popper chicken sandwich, and if you’re one of our followers, you know that it’s one of the best fast food sandwiches that we have tried. So when Wendy’s announced that they were going to be releasing a new premium chicken sandwich, I was ecstatic.

I have to say, this sandwich is certainly unique, and to my

comprised a vast majority of the flavor within the sandwich and in my eyes was certainly a bit overpowering. Perhaps this is because I am personally not the biggest fan of honey (especially in a savory context), but the sandwich was just this strange aggregation of flavors that did not mix incredibly well, though they were pretty good individually. I would give this sandwich a seven out of 10 as well. A significant downgrade from our previous premium chicken sandwich from Wendy’s but certainly not terrible.

PHOTO FROM FORBES.COM

Amsterdam and Utrecht – when & where to explore

By Thomas Pickering editor

My recent travels have brought me to two cities in one day— Utrecht and Amsterdam. Both filled with different levels of charm and appeal which I was not expecting when I arrived in either of them. My day began in Utrecht and I will admit that it was not because I wanted to go there. I arrived in Utrecht to acquire a digital COVID-19 vaccination QR code. How practical, right? Why carry a piece of paper that gets ripped up and crumpled in your pocket when instead you can have a QR code on your phone that is linked to your biometrics? It is a safe and practical system but that topic is for another article, all that matters right now is that the only place I could convert my US vaccination card into a QR code was in Utrecht.

I arrived in Utrecht with no expectations and no idea what would be there. Perhaps my judgment was inherently distorted because without expectations the entire city blew me away. It is an

old city with small city charm.

Homes with colorful facades on every corner and canals encircling the city with long parks running along them. The city’s charm was characterized by the fact that it was clean and inviting on every corner. I was able to buy lunch from the city center and then walk down a set of stairs to sit next to the canal and eat.

Utrecht was clean and welcoming making it easy to explore and feel welcomed in.

Then on a personal note, Utrecht really became my favorite city so far (spoiler warning – sorry Amsterdam) because of the museums. Within Utrecht is one of the most famous railroad exhibits in Europe which is only a short walk from the center of the city. Through a beautiful row of old homes and over a few canal bridges which are older than the United States itself is the rail museum which is housed in the original train station of Utrecht.

With giant chandeliers and paintings on the ceiling the museum preserved the old beauty of the station while also bringing you through the history of rail in Europe. Not only was it fascinating

but it was shocking, not because of any of the trains or the information, but also because of the weird attractions inside the museum. The most surprising of which was a mini-roller coaster in the museum which was like riding a tiny Space Mountain (Disney, please do not sue The Hoot—we just got new computers which was our entire budget). The ride was not alerted to (or maybe I just cannot read Dutch) but it was just there and we were shuffled onto it not expecting anything but walking away pleasantly surprised.

To finish my time in Utrecht I embellished my touristy tendencies and went on a canal tour to get a complete view of the city.

Utrecht immediately rose to the top of my list in terms of favorite cities but I was still excited to see what Amsterdam at night time had to offer.

In short, not much if you weren’t already oriented with the city and its nightlife. I had a general idea of the attractions of Amsterdam but I had no idea how to really navigate it and where to stay away from. I spent most of the night in the center of the city which was dirty, loud and crowd-

PHOTO BY THOMAS PICKERING

PHOTO BY THOMAS PICKERING

ed. The old charm of Amsterdam and the canals and the Palace were undermined by its crowded and busy nature as a large city. A city which, as the yellow sun goes down, turns on red lights. A district I accidentally found myself in when trying to genuinely find a church to look at. I swear I had the purest of intentions when trying to find this church but as the crowded streets became filled with a different kind of person looking for a very different kind of entertainment I left immediately. It was a sweet relief to make it back to the train station and back to white lights.

This is not to say that Amsterdam is not beautiful and not filled

with the same charm as Utrecht, I was just simply unable to find it when I was there briefly. Amsterdam certainly deserves a second trip when I have more time to see all of the city and its more beautiful parts during the day time. But as for the day when I was traveling, Utrecht was the clear winner when it comes to the welcoming feeling and beauty of the city. Plus it helps that my neighbors from Worcester have a son who owns a pub in Utrecht—what a small world!

ARTS

Febraury 11, 2022

The Brandeis Hoot 13

‘And Just Like That’ lacks the sexiness of its predecessor editor

I couldn’t help but wonder …

Who was asking for a revival of the television series “Sex and the City?” Regardless of what we wanted, the revival is what we got.

“And Just Like That” follows the 30-something city slickers of “Sex and the City” as 50-something jaded women. The original TV series was highly praised for showing four sex-positive modern women living their best lives in New York City. The show ran for six seasons and two movies in the 2000s. In the 2020s, the show is back. As of Feb. 3, all 10 episodes of the revival’s first season have been made available on HBO Max. Unfortunately, it seems that the show has lost the magic that made the original a success. The characters do not even feel like the same original people. There’s also the fact that not all four women came back for the remake. Kim Cattrall, who played the sexual Samantha Jones, decided not to come back due to her feud with her costars and not wanting to keep coming back to a character to whom she has already said goodbye. People have said she is the “sex” in “Sex in the City.”

While this is partially true, “And Just Like That” has problems with the characters, even those who stayed, that make audiences wonder if there is still sex in the city.

The witty Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), the diligent Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and the poised Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) are back, and times have changed since we last saw them. Carrie is no longer writing for a sex advice column and is instead hosting

PHOTO FROM BUFFALONEWS.COM

a sex advice podcast. She is happily married to Big (Chris Noth) without any children, completely devoted to each other. Miranda is getting her master’s degree in human rights and is raising her son Brady (Niall Cunningham) with her husband Steve (David Eigenberg). Charlotte is the Park Avenue Princess raising her two children, Lily (Cathy Wang) and Rose (Alexa Swinton), with her husband Harry (Evan Handler).

The women are living their best lives, but they soon have hurdles

to overcome. Big has a heart attack and passes away, making Carrie a grieving widow. She has to pick herself up and start the next chapter of her life sans Big. Charlotte is trying to keep up with her children and the diverse world that is the 2020s. When Rose tells Charlotte that they do not feel like a girl, she has to figure out how to be the best mom for her children. Miranda is dealing with a son who has sex with his girlfriend (Cree Cicchino) every chance he gets and a marriage that she feels is getting stale.

PHOTO FROM TVINSIDER.COM

Soon Miranda meets Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), Carrie’s boss and a non-binary comedian. Miranda grows feelings for Che that make her feel like a whole new person.

A lot of challenges are thrown this trio’s way, but at the end of the day, they have each other.

This is definitely not a terrible show. There are hilarious new characters like Carrie’s real estate agent Seema and scene-stealing returning characters like Charlotte’s friend Anthony. There are some interesting plots and fun lines. Carrie retelling on her podcast the story of her diaphragm getting stuck and Charlotte getting caught giving her husband a blowjob got a few chuckles out of me. It was interesting seeing turn-of-the-century women in a new time and seeing what these beloved characters are up to. I also enjoyed the diversity of the show. The original was very white, and it was nice to see many different types of people, African Americans, Latinos and Asians, people who were not often seen in the original. I also liked the modern parenting techniques, like conversations about weed, TikTok and identity. I felt like I was seeing teenagers to whom I could relate or to whom my friends could relate.

Not to mention, the fashion was iconic as ever. The show was always known for its clothing. I would not say every outfit was a slam dunk, but modern styles looked great on the women, such as Carrie’s sparkly dress when she fully recovered from surgery or Miranda’s maroon jumpsuit when she is out for a late night with the girls. If this was a show without any predecessors attached, it would probably get better reviews.

I had a lovely time watching it and I would watch a second season.

Despite the positive points, this is a show that leaves much to be desired. It is a shell of what it once was. The main problem with the show is Miranda’s storyline. She acts as if she never loved Steve, when we saw them fall in love on “Sex and The City.” Miranda is also okay with cheating on her husband and acting like it was not

a big deal. When Steve cheats on Miranda in the first movie, she acts like it was a crime and is devastated. Now, she is only thinking of herself and not the people around her, which is not the Miranda we know. While that is the main problem, the other characters’ storylines also have issues.

Meanwhile, Carrie seems to be less vivacious than the woman we met twenty years ago. The show seems to be treating her as if she was older than her cities. Her plot lines included hip surgery, face lift consultation and trying to keep up with the young people around her. I wish there was more of the fun, cool and hip Carrie Bradshaw that audiences once knew.

Then there is Charlotte, who is just there. She doesn’t get any plot lines that are as exciting as those of her costars, and the plotlines she does get seem to be her trying too hard. She wants to be seen as “woke” and have diverse friends and try to understand this new world. Nothing that bad but also nothing that thrilling. While we shouldn’t expect women in their fifties to act like how they were in their thirties, it would be nice if the characters still had their relatability and spunk.

It is unclear if there will be a second season. Rumors have been floating around but the mixed reviews do not make the outlook hopeful. Not to mention, the sexual assault accusations against Chris Noth have brought the show’s integrity into question. I think the show was fairly wrapped up, but it seems that there could be more stories to tell with these characters. I only got into “Sex and the City” relatively recently and I’ve only read about the movies, so my reactions may not be as strong as some other people’s. This is a show with a lot of history and a lot to live up to. “And Just Like That” is an amusing show that is a guilty pleasure, and while it may not live up to the original, there is potential for it to grow. So if you need a “Sex and the City” fix or you are wondering about life as a middle aged women living in a big city, watch “And Just Like That” today.

14 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2022

The love-destroying, friendship-ruining board game that is ‘Catan’

By Stewart Huang editor

I often hear others and sometimes myself say something to the effect of “It’s just a game, bro.” But the truth is when you’re playing a game, it’s rarely “just a game.” In these moments of gameplay, it becomes the only thing that matters to you. And oftentimes you’re so focused on winning the game that you tilt and rage when something goes wrong, which is exactly what happens when my friends and I play “Catan,” my favorite board game.

“Catan” is a game about building stuff and expanding your territory on this island called Catan.

The goal is to build enough stuff like roads, settlements and cities to reach 10 “victory points.” Each player starts off with two settlements and two roads for free, and they have the chance to acquire different “resource cards,” which are required to continue building more stuff, based on which map tiles the settlements are on.

Each map tile is assigned a number ranging from two to 12 except seven (more on this later), and each player rolls a pair of dice on their turn. The outcome then determines who gets what resource cards. For example, if I have a settlement on a map tile that produces wood and is assigned the number four, I can take a wood resource card every time four is thrown, regardless of whose turn it is. To make sure the game isn’t

too luck-based, the turn player can trade with other players however they like. But I don’t think gifting them is allowed, not that anyone would do it. I absolutely love this gameplay loop. There are a lot of choices to make and a lot of interactivity outside your own turn. It feels so rewarding to finally assemble the necessary resource cards to build more stuff and start snowballing. But most importantly, you can make other players really mad and revel in their misery.

There is already room for conflict when the game starts. Inevitably, some locations on the map are just better than the rest, and people obviously want to build on these spots to get a good start.

But, alas, this is a turn-based game, and someone is bound to get to them first. But my girlfriend, who has a very low opinion of my character, likes to think that I’m always out to get her and ruin her game plan when I get to a good spot first. (Sometimes she’s right though.) Then she’ll slap my shoulder, scream at me in this very high pitch and complain that I “always do this,” which is extremely entertaining and makes me want to actually mess with her. Then she’ll go through the five stages of grief and say in a defeated voice, “I already lost! You’re gonna win!”

A similar situation also happened to a pair of friends with whom we regularly play, but things got seriously heated and bitter as they argued back and forth about whether there actually was any malice involved. I still found that incredibly entertaining though.

The most rage-inducing element of this game has to be “the robber.” When a seven is thrown, which is very likely, any player with more than seven cards must discard half of their hand (if they have an odd number of cards, round down the number by one).

Then the turn player must move the robber to any map tile that it does not occupy. A map tile with a robber on it prevents players from getting any resources from it until the robber is moved to another place, and the turn player can steal one random resource card from a player whose settlement or city is on that tile. I just played a game right before writing this review, and I made my friend miserable by stealing that crucial resource card that she could have used to build a city on her turn. Damn, it feels good.

The evils of the robber don’t stop there: Players can purchase “development cards” to really

mess you up. These cards have various abilities, but most of them are “knight” cards that allow players to move the robber without rolling a seven, though you wouldn’t have to discard half your hand in this case. Usually, the player with the most victory points becomes the target of the robber, and the experience of being targeted by three other players is not good, to say the least.

I was unfortunate enough to be subjected to this kind of treatment in high school. All three of my opponents just kept using their knight cards on me turn after turn, stealing most of my hand and blocking the resources that I desperately needed. This was the only time in recent years that I lost my cool and rage quit.

Another development card that is also very toxic is the “monopoly” card. The player who plays this card declares one type of resource card, and all other players

must give them every copy of that resource card. I must admit, I’m an expert on using the monopoly card. Before playing it, I’ll pretend to look for trades and ask who has what resources to maximize its value and inflict maximum damage. I collected about 10 cards with this friendly strategy one time, and I utterly ruined my girlfriend’s turn, which was about to take place right after mine. I think you can imagine her reaction.

I’m so happy when people get mad playing “Catan” partly because I’m a nasty person, but mostly because this means that they’re really enjoying the game by being so emotionally invested.

At that moment, the game meant the world to them. This level of immersion is probably one of the highest praises you can ever give to a game. I recommend this one to every couple or group of friends looking for something fun to do.

PHOTO FROM REVIEWGEEK.COM

‘From the Desert Comes a Stranger’ is great Star Wars but forgets what show it belongs to

By Zach Katz staff

Episode 6 of “The Book of Boba Fett,” titled “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” is a great episode of “Star Wars.” It masterfully ties together material from the entire franchise’s 45 year history including all three trilogies, “The Clone Wars,” “Rebels” and “The Mandalorian” into an episode that somehow does not collapse under its own weight and actually manages to tell a meaningful story that should affect even the most cynical “Star Wars” fan. Unfortunately, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” acts much more as a “Star Wars” special, rather than an episode of “The Book of Boba Fett.”

Comic book companies regularly publish issues known as ‘oneshots.’ These are single issues that tell a complete story. Sometimes, they tie into ongoing events and tell stories that wouldn’t fit into the overarching narrative, or act as preludes to company wide events or initiatives. Recent examples of this type of one-shot include DC Comics’s “Infinite Frontier #0” and “DC Universe: Rebirth #1” or Marvel’s “Incoming! #1” The closest equivalent to a oneshot that television has would be a special, such as the numerous Doctor Who holiday episodes.

All of this talk about one-shots might seem like a strange diversion in an article ostensibly about an episode of “The Book of Boba Fett,” however “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” fits the structure of a one-shot perfectly, while

coming across less successfully as an episode of its parent show.

The episode opens with everyone’s favorite Mandalorian surrogate father, Din Djarin, (Pedro Pascal) greeting the unsung hero of the franchise, R2-D2. He is looking for Grogu so that he can give him a gift. It might be worth pointing out that Pascal’s Mandalorian isn’t the main character of this series, but the audience just has to accept the detour from the show’s primary arc. And it really is an incredible detour.

Almost immediately, Grogu and Luke Skywalker, who is played jointly by Graham Hamilton and Mark Hamill, make a surprise reappearance. Continuing the surprise appearances, Mando wakes up to discover that Ashoka is also at Luke’s fledgling Jedi Academy, hopefully filling Luke in on what his parents were like before they died/turned to the dark side. Ashoka successfully convinces Mando to leave without seeing Grogu, simultaneously breaking everybody’s hearts, before the episode swiftly rebuilds them by treating the audience to a Luke and Grogu training sequence. Next is the long awaited conversation between Luke and Ahsoka, before she goes off into her own spin-off, which is already confirmed to have returning characters from “Star Wars: Rebels.”

After a solid 20 minutes of pure, unadulterated fanservice that would be significantly better if it actually belonged in this show, “From the Desert,” briefly seems to be returning to Boba Fett’s plot when Mando attends a meeting at

the crime lord’s palace to discuss their upcoming battle against the Pyke Syndicate. Mando offers to find Fett foot soldiers, returning to Mos Pelgo, now known as Freetown, under the command of Marshall Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), who was briefly seen at the beginning of the episode. Vanth is reluctant to get his people involved in a new conflict, but is willing to try to get them to support Mando and Fett’s cause.

That is, until a familiar cowboy hat appears in the distance. From the desert, and from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” comes bounty hunter Cad Bane. Bane’s appearance in live action is a big deal, to some on the same level as Ahsoka’s appearance in “The Mandalorian.” The bounty hunter’s alien appearance is brilliantly and unsettlingly translated into live action. Bane seemingly dispatches Vanth and his deputy before the episode ends with Luke asking Grogu to choose between Mando’s gift, and Yoda’s lightsaber.

Again, this is a great episode of “Star Wars,” however it really cannot be considered an episode of “The Book of Boba Fett.” Fett himself appears for about 20 seconds, and has almost no impact on the story. Instead, this episode takes the structure of a one-shot by following Mando around the galaxy as he checks in with characters we love who happen to have upcoming spin-offs or stories related to them in production.

The sequences of Luke and Grogu training are amazing. The CGI used to recreate a young Skywalker looks vastly improved

since “The Rescue,” seemingly promising more adventures from the early days of Luke’s Jedi Academy. The possibility of having stories bridging the gap between Luke at the end of “Return of the Jedi” and the start of the sequel trilogy is intriguing. Luke’s Jedi Order ultimately failed because of Luke’s unexpected orthodoxy when it comes to Jedi beliefs, and the version of Luke seen here is clearly struggling to come to terms with what his Order should be. Meanwhile Ahsoka seems poised to create a new kind of Order, one which might be a little more open to new ideas. The fact that Ahsoka and Luke interact is almost mind blowing, and their first encounter will hopefully be revealed in her upcoming solo series. Ahsoka’s parting comment to Luke, that he’s “so much like [his]

father,” is the type of interaction Ahsoka fans have longed for since the character was introduced in 2008, although the comment itself feels a little out of place.

If “From the Desert Comes A Stranger” had been released on Disney + as a special, untethered to any existing “Star Wars” show, I would unambiguously be praising its laurels. As it is, the episode is still excellent “Star Wars,” but it is hard to ignore that the story has almost nothing to do with Boba Fett. “From the Desert” makes for an excellent tease for the future of “Star Wars,” setting up the franchise’s upcoming trails effectively but also managing to reinvigorate the past of a franchise that has always struggled to reconcile its different time periods. It’s just a shame Boba Fett doesn’t have more to do in his own series.

PHOTO FROM STARWARSK.COM

February 11, 2022

ARTS 15

The Brandeis Hoot

After four years, Mitski returns with new masterpiece ‘Laurel Hell’

By Caroline O editor

Like a good chunk of the 20-somethings trying to live their lives in a pandemic, I fell in love (or perhaps deeper in love) with Mitski. With her heart-wrenchingly poetic lyrics, hypnotic electric guitar-synth-bass sounds and an absolute siren-like voice, Mitski Miyawaki is perhaps one of the most compelling artists of our time. She’s been appropriately labeled the Poet Laureate of young adulthood by NPR, and to be honest, there’s no other way to describe her sheer talent and force as an artist. Her songs are all relatively short, perhaps anywhere from two minutes to three minutes in length, each one with powerhouse lyrics that speak right into the hungriest of human emotion. And now, in our year 2022, Mitski has returned with her gut-wrench-

ing album “Laurel Hell.”

“Laurel Hell” is, perhaps, the only title that could exist for this beautiful collection of songs from someone like Mitski. Which is, to say, poetic, but also tinged with a feverish dread that reflects the artist’s own tumultuous trajectory as someone who has now entered more mainstream media.

Mitski referenced the burnout and this frustration with how people have labeled her music, particularly what she calls “the sad girl schtick.” This frustration with her music and her newfound popularity and all the complications that come with that are all present themes in the music, and in her usual beautiful way, Mitski captures these lyrics with a deep-rooted profoundness that somehow touches even those of us who aren’t masterful indie artists.

One song on this album that covers the more feverish sides to this phenomenon is the brooding “Working for the Knife.” Released

PHOTO FROM PITCHFORK.COM

By Lucy Fay editor

Michael Schneeweis, who releases music under the name Sadjoy, describes himself as a poor interviewee. In his dedication to answering questions

honestly, he feels he contradicts himself or does not answer questions as fully as he intended to.

So instead of a formal outlined interview, Schneeweis and I just talked for a little over two hours.

Schneeweis’ catalog, which goes back 18 years, paints a story of growth and transition within a

PHOTO FROM BANDCAMP.COM

as the first single of this album, “Working for the Knife” is an excellent transition from Mitski’s previous album “Be the Cowboy”: This song, with its distant hammering sounds, resembles that of an old railway working song.

This is, of course, intentional, as “Working for the Knife” details the miserable feeling of working just for the sake of working. Mitski captures this emptiness best with the lyrics, “I used to think I’d be done by 20, now at 29, the road appears the same,” speaking to the pervasive, panic-inducing bewilderment that so many 20-somethings seem to feel these days.

We’ve worked so hard, but why does our world still feel the same, and why do we still feel as though we’ve been here before? These are the questions that Mitski brings up in “Working for the Knife,” and in the end, she concludes with the worst conclusion that I think so many of us fear—that “I chose wrong…and end with the truth, that I’m dying for the knife.” Talk about a sharp lyric to make you feel the gut-wrenching, life-draining phenomenon that is burnout.

But of course, burnout isn’t the only theme covered in “Laurel Hell.” As we move down the tracklist, we’ll find my personal favorites, “There’s Nothing Left for You” and “I Guess.” Both of these songs are slow, with low synths and a large focus on Mitski’s voice. However, they have fundamentally different feelings, in that “There’s Nothing Left for You” is about the feeling of being replaced or being forced to move on now that you’ve left. Perhaps the most chilling moment in this song is how, while the song starts somber and slow, the bridge takes a breathtaking crescendo: In the wake of her irrelevance, it is here Mitski recalls, “You could fly, it was your right, it was your life.” In that brief moment, you can imagine someone soaring through the clouds—the music swells, Mits-

ki’s voice stretches into a powerful bellow that makes you feel as though you really are drifting through the clouds with her—only to crash suddenly, violently back down to the ground when Mitski quietly concludes, “and then it passed to someone new.” This turnaround (or return!) makes for a particularly jarring effect on the listener, but it’s an appropriate tactic in capturing that disappointing feeling of being on top of the world one moment, then at the bottom in the next. The song is brutal in that nature, but it’s also so breathtaking in how it can capture such a complex emotion in less than three minutes.

But if “There’s Nothing Left for You” touches on the grief that comes with feeling replaced, “I Guess,” while just as quiet and slow, gives this feeling a touch of sweetness to the bitter. Relying on synths and the repetitive chords of a piano, Mitski sings a simple message: “I guess this is the end… it’s been you and me, before I was me.” Over the course of this approximately two-minute song, Mitski reflects on the quiet after someone who’s now leaving her— and although she makes it clear in the song that she has to leave now, she sings, “From here [the pond], I can tell you ‘thank you.’” As the

final synths and piano chords die out in the background, all we have left is the last haunting notes of Mitski’s echoing voice, as though she herself is calling across from the water. Perhaps what makes this song most special is that, while the other songs have a touch of resentment or bitterness to them, this song is also touched with a spot of gratitude.

As though waving away an old friend who you know you won’t be seeing ever again in your life, “I Guess” takes all the bitterness of this album and leaves its listeners with a wistful whisper of a feeling, one that will make you feel equal parts gratitude and loneliness at the possibility of a chapter closing.

Now, while it’s uncertain whether this album might actually be Mitski’s official encore from her time as an artist, one thing is clear: “Laurel Hell” is an absolute gem. With its synth sounds and masterful lyrics covering its many nuanced themes, Mitski proves herself to truly reign supreme over the indie genre and then some.

Mitski is equal parts musician and poet. She is equal parts honest and sarcastic. And “Laurel Hell” shines with the power of an artist who’s unafraid to play with the genre and songwriting as a whole.

talented DIY musician. From his roots in early 2000s punk music through his explorations of sobriety and Buddhism, Schneeweis’ albums vary quite a bit, but they always have a calming yet silly quality completely unique to him.

Having grown up in a home of working musicians, music has always been a driving force in Schneeweis’ life. He notes that “[Playing music] is something that my parents liked, so I might have genetically received an imprint from my bloodline where I like it.” He describes his childhood home as being filled with live music, through his father’s various bands as well as from his older brother, Patrick (Pat the Bunny), who played in punk bands since both men were teenagers. But Schneeweis has a passion for music entirely in his own right. He is self-taught on guitar, piano, bass and essentially all other instruments, noting he is always confused by questions about what he plays because “my gut answer is I play everything,” no matter the proficiency.

Schneeweis rarely listens to music but has always been drawn to composition, as he notes when working on a song, “I get so into it. It is like this amazing puzzle … It kind of drives me crazy.”

Additionally, he likes to handle

every aspect of the album-making process—lyrics, arrangement, recording, editing and all instrumentals: “I’ve always felt like for this album to sound how I want it, the most efficient way is for me to just do everything … the positive way of looking at that is that [I am] a multi-instrumentalist and full of ideas. The negative side is having a hard time letting go and letting people help [me].”

In recent years, music has been Schneeweis’ most consistent form of income, but he still pursues many other interests. Schneeweis, on top of working a handful of less than ideal labor jobs, has earned his Master of Divinity in Buddhism and is currently studying at a massage school. He leans towards jobs where he can help and communicate with people, be it through music, working as a chaplain or providing massage therapy.

It has only been in the last couple of years that Schneeweis began reflecting on whether music was the field he really wanted to pursue, when he noted, “In my teens, there was no question. Of course I’m going to be making music …

But now I’m 31, and the energy around it is very different.” That energy, he went on to explain, applies to many aspects of his musicianship, from feeling more self-conscious as an adult about

playing music loudly in his room, to experiencing what he describes as an Earthly separation from his newer music. Because his newer music was mixed on a computer and has never been played live as a result of the pandemic, Schneeweis feels this music is not “connected to the ground floor of life.”

But he is hoping to go back on tour sometime this year because “the live thing keeps it real … and where I’m at musically right now is that it might be time to focus on live music a little more.”

The style of music that Sadjoy and Schneeweis’ older project Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass consist of is hard to capture. “I say it is like indie pop folky music… or at times I say, it is indie rock. Other times I would say it is pretty folk punky.” Schneeweis classifies himself somewhere within the genre of folk punk, but given how vague that genre description is, I would recommend just giving his music a listen.

When asked what album Schneeweis would recommend as an introduction to his music, he suggested listeners start with “Cash, Money” (a Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass album), which he wrote in high school and ending with his most recent album “Clouds” (a Sadjoy album), released when he was 28.

PHOTO FROM NPR.COM

16 ARTS

The Brandeis Hoot

February 11, 2022

An in-depth analysis of ‘Waltham Song’

By Jamie Trope special to the hoot

Over December break, I fell into the never-ending void that is Spotify, and I may have discovered the best song to ever be released on the platform, “Waltham Song”

by The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities. It is an ephemeral piece of music that touches upon important themes such as community, nature and friendship, and I implore you to listen to it when you have the time. And now, an analysis of “Waltham Song.”

The Guy Who Sings Songs about Cities, henceforth shortened to “The Guy,” dives immediately into the subject at hand, Waltham, by singing “Waltham, what a good city.” He then touches upon a piece of history important to Waltham, telling awestruck listeners that “it’s the Watch City.”

It is always important to make sure that the history of a location is kept alive, and The Guy is doing his due diligence by informing listeners of Waltham’s ties

to the watch-making industry.

The Guy also pays careful attention to the close-knit relationships between people who live in Waltham, stating that “Waltham, Massachusetts is a wonderful community.” Careful listeners will also note that in the following line, The Guy says that Waltham is “located in Massachusetts,” imparting important knowledge about Waltham and demonstrating a deep understanding of the city.

Pivoting to the topic of living in Waltham, The Guy passionately argues that “it’s a wonderful place to be.” As someone who has now lived at Brandeis for a few months, I can wholeheartedly back this statement up.

Continuing, he supports his argument with statements such as “Waltham is a great place (yeah)” and “I like Waltham a lot.” Not to get personal in this analysis, but I really felt the emotion behind that last line. I do like Waltham a lot!

The methodology behind repeating the words Waltham and Massachusetts throughout the song clearly demonstrates a profound understanding of what

people living in Waltham care about most. The Guy also touches upon some of the lesser-known geographic locations of Waltham, such as the Charles River (“look at that Charles River!”) Ellison Park (“let’s go to Ellison Park as well”), and Ravenswood (“yeah, let’s go to Ravenswood). The Guy rounds out his lyrical tour of Waltham by simply singing, “so many wonderful sections of Waltham.” Sometimes, it is nice to see a song artist comment on the locations only a true native Waltham-er would know. I, too, enjoy going to the different sections of Waltham.

Just the other day, I was speaking to a friend, and I said, “hey, when was the last time we went to a section of Waltham?” Listening to “Waltham Song” reminded me of that moment with my friend, and has brought me and my friend closer together over our shared love of Waltham.

Adding to the theme of community, The Guy also speaks about the fire department, saying that Waltham has “a good fire department putting out all the fires and helping people.” I appreciate

that The Guy used some of the valuable runtime of “Waltham Song” (and for reference, the song has a runtime of one minute and forty-three seconds) to speak about the valuable contributions the Waltham fire department has made, and continues to make, to our community. When there are no fires burning, the fire department is an often overlooked aspect of any city, and the fact that The Guy calls it to attention despite this indicates the quality of our Waltham fire department.

No lyric of the song stands out more to me than the line “they got good streets and trees and stuff.” Though my time spent in Waltham has so far been limited, I have enjoyed the changing of the seasons immensely. There is just something profound about watching the leaves on the trees shift from green on the branches to orange to brown on the ground. The Guy captures the seasonal emotions perfectly and concisely. I have also enjoyed walking to Hannafords and discovering that, no matter which street you walk down, you will

still end up where you need to go. To The Guy’s point, Waltham does have “good streets” because they all connect to one another. It is very important to me to live in a city where the streets are connected, much like how the Waltham community is connected.

Towards the end of the song, The Guy sings “let’s walk along the beautiful Charles River.”

These lyrics are a perfect summation of why Waltham is (to quote The Guy) such “a wonderful place to be.” Living in Waltham allows one to appreciate the different ecological elements of the land. It reminds me of leaving my dorm room in the chilly mornings and encountering turkeys on the way to my UWS class, of watching two squirrels argue with one another up a tree, and of finding a singular frozen puddle up the Rabb steps. The Guy truly wants us, the listeners, to go out and enjoy the great outdoors of Waltham.

And I intend to do exactly that.

You can listen to “Waltham Song” by The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities on Spotify.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: ‘MOUNTAINS AND HILLS’’ BY LAUREN PODHORZER AND ‘SUNSET AND WAVES IN ACRYLIC’ BY JENNIFER PODHORZER’