The Brandeis Hoot 12/05/2014

Volume 11 Number 26

www.thebrandeishoot.com

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.

Brandeis community expresses solidarity with MO protests

By Jess Linde Editor

Nearly 200 members of the Brandeis community covered the Rabb steps Monday, Dec. 1, in protest of the Nov. 24 decision by a grand jury in Ferguson, MO, to not indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in

die in

the August shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The shooting has sparked months of protests across the United States, and raised new discussions in mainstream media about police violence against racial minorities. Also on Monday night, anonymous student activists posted signs and posters all

over the Brandeis campus, emblazoned with phrases including “Black Lives Matter.” A banner displaying a quote by civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois was flown over the Rabb Steps.

The banners were removed by See DIE IN, page 10

Students participated in the die in this Monday on the Rabb steps.

photo from internet source

Connerty sponsors special needs sports clinic

By Victoria Aronson Editor

On Jan. 10, Ed Connerty, former special education teacher in the Tewksbury Public Schools and founder of SPARK (Special People, Athletes, and Remarkable Kids), will be hosting a free basketball clinic for children with special needs. Connerty, who is a passionate advocate for children with both physical and mental disabilities, explains that the event is multifaceted, bringing together a support network of families, athletes and mentors.

Connerty has ties to Brandeis University due to previous events at which Brandeis students volunteered.

According to Connerty, there are over 1,100 children with special needs in the Waltham area alone. The clinic, which will be held at the Henry Whittemore Elementary School in Waltham, will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with registration beginning at 10 a.m. Connerty urges members of the Brandeis community to “come and see a community at work, helping individuals that haven’t had the opportunity to play sports in their life—for free.”

Connerty actively fundraises to provide the equipment and facilities necessary to make his clinics possible. Without incurring any

Inside this issue:

costs on the families of participants, the clinics transcend financial barriers to allow children of all socioeconomic classes to attend.

In fact, on Jan. 29, SPARK will be hosting a comedy fundraiser featuring a Brandeis a capella group, alongside famous comedians, such as Dave Russo. Russo has recently been awarded the title “best male comic” by The Boston Examiner. “To make anything work, we all know it takes money,” Connerty acknowledged, stating, “Please show your support for these special abilities athletes that reside in our community.”

Previous events organized by Connerty in the past include a soccer clinic, held on Oct. 25.

Originally intended to be hosted at Brandeis, the clinic was held at McDevitt Middle School in Waltham. Despite the change in location, members of the Brandeis varsity soccer teams were on site to serve as mentors for participating special needs children.

As a founder of the Titan TeeBall special abilities baseball program in Tewksbury, Connerty has long demonstrated a passion and dedication to supporting special needs children See CONNERTY, page 3

News: “Why are we drugging these kids?”

Arts, Etc.: Ensemble throws back to Ellington Opinions: Pay for tuition in a lump sum to save Sports: Swim team develops rivalry with Bentley Editorial: Admin should clarify sign policies

Page 2 Page 6 Page 12 Page 4 Page 10

December 5, 2014

Pres. Lawrence discusses rising tuition costs

By Ethan Berceli Staff

University President Frederick Lawrence joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan of Boston Public Radio on Nov. 20 to discuss the cost of a higher education and what makes Brandeis a unique institution.

The interview was conducted as part of a series with other leaders and thinkers that shape the Boston area. In just the last two weeks, Braude and Eagan have welcomed, among others, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and Representative Michael Capuano on the show to discuss notable current events. The interview started out with a playful narrative of Brandeis’ motto, “Truth, even unto its innermost parts.”

Lawrence explained the university motto through his distinctive presidential lens. “It’s about the

journey, and it’s about the vision of trying to pursue issues even if it takes you in tough places and uncomfortable places and being open to new experiences,” he said.

The conversation was quickly steered toward the cost of college, and specifically the historically high cost that students must now pay for a higher education.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between the 2001–02 and 2011–12 school years, prices for undergraduate tuition, room and board at public institutions rose 40 percent, and prices at private nonprofit institutions rose 28 percent. Braude made reference to a recent CNN documentary, and specifically noting its continual presence in the news this past decade, posed a question to Lawrence. He said, “Is college worth the cost?”

See TUITION, page 3

Brandeis community actively involved in combating Ebola

By Emily Belowich Editor

Since the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” in August, alumni, researchers and students at Brandeis have been instrumental in developing an Ebola virus disinfectant system.

The community has also been active in the discussion about the onset, economic impact and

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

health effects of the disease.

Brandeis alumnus Dr. Christopher Doona M.A. ’89 Ph.D. ’91 has been a key leader in the invention of a “next-generation disinfectant system that kills the Ebola virus on surfaces,” according to an Army press release from Oct. 21. Doona and his fellow scientists at the United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center have patented a novel chemical system, which

is currently being used to sterilize medical equipment and other electronic items in West Africa. One of the center’s breakthroughs has been the development of decontamination technologies to “keep the warfighter healthy and safe from bioterror attack.” This has been invented through a “no-power-required” method, using chlorine dioxide, better known as CIO2, which has been portably generated to use in

photo from internet source

This graphic depicts some areas in Africa that the ebola outbreak has spread to in the past. To the left, a presenter speaks at It’s Our Crisis: EBOLA. ebola outbreak

‘Junoon: The Power of Passion’

Students reach out

Arts, etc.: Page 16

News: Page 9

Annual Mela show puts the power into passion.

See EBOLA, page 9

to community

Students step into teacher role with local immigrants.

NEWS

December 5, 2014

The Brandeis Hoot 2

Mike Epstein Award given to Prof. Blake LeBaron

By Liya Wizevich Staff

Professor Blake LeBaron, the Abram L. and Thelma Sachar Professor of International Economics at Brandeis International Business School (IBS), was honored with the 2014 Mike Epstein Award from the Market Technicians Association Educational Foundation for his work bridging technical analysis to the academic world.

This award was established in 2009, in memory of late MTA Educational Foundation partner, Mike Epstein. Each year, the award is presented to the person who “best exemplifies Mike’s goals for long-term sponsorship of technical analysis in academia and in practice,” according to the website. The MTA Educational Foundation’s original mission was to build educational programs in the field of technical analysis, which has now spread to complete curricula taught in schools and universities around the country.

LeBaron began this field of research as an undergraduate studying computer science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He developed his interest in economics concentrating in a data-driven, computational approach.

After graduating from RPI, LeBaron continued his education to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. His graduate studies focused on non-linear aspects of finance, and his final thesis concentrated on non-linear dynamic chaos and tested stock returns. What he found from his research was that the little fluctuations in the daily stock market are not really as random as they seem. He determined that this “chaos is not just the absence of identifiable trends but something that hides that meaning.”

LeBaron explained his current work as “mostly concerned with building agent-based financial markets which look into the interactions of traders operating with different predictive systems.

Basically, the idea is to generate computer simulations mimick-

ing behavior in actual markets to better understand what is going on.”

Here at Brandeis, LeBaron teaches a class on computational risk management and forecasting (at the master’s degree level), and he occasionally teaches Ph.D. classes in his area of expertise.

Apart from his courses, LeBaron said that he also “runs a small team who are building further software tools related to mine and some others’ research in this area.”

LeBaron said that students at Brandeis have shown a great interest in the field. This has been demonstrated through the formation of the Brandeis Technical Trader’s Society, which educates members on the topics that LeBaron works so closely with, and on related fields.

For more information about LeBaron’s research, there are several working papers available on his website. His older survey is available in the Handbook of Computational Economics and currently, a new survey is in progress and is expected to be available summer 2015.

Prof. Conrad studies medicalization of ADHD

By Charlotte Aaron Staff

“I was the kind of kid who would get up and walk around, look at the goldfish, read the encyclopedias in the back of the room, talk to neighbors,” Professor Peter Conrad (SOC) said in regard to his childhood. “Had ADHD been an option as a diagnosis in the ’50s, which it wasn’t, I would have been probably labeled and gotten a trial and medications.”

Professor Conrad has researched ADHD, short for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, since he wrote his dissertation on identifying hyperactive children 40 years ago. While only three to five percent of school children were diagnosed with ADHD when he started his research, today, that number has increased to 11 percent. “That’s a lot of kids,” Conrad commented.

ADHD is a psychiatric diagnosis based on behavior and attention, Conrad explained in an interview. It has three main aspects: impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity. Over the past 50 years, it has become the most common psychiatric diagnosis of children. While the disorder initially focused on hyperactivity, it has more recently been linked to problems with attention. Because of this, starting in the ’90s, ADHD has transitioned from solely being a childhood disorder to an adolescent and adult disorder. Or rather, as Conrad described, “a lifelong disorder.”

To correct the widespread diagnosis of ADHD, stimulant medications such as Ritalin and Adderall became popular solutions. Although the medication improves behavior, it only works so long as patients continue to use it. Once the medicine stops being taken, there is not necessarily any improved performance on tasks. “Sixty-five to 75 percent of people who are diagnosed take those medications,” Conrad stated. The medicine is now pre-

photo from internet source

This professor from Brandeis International Business School (IBS) has recently received the 2014 Mike Epstein Award.

professor blake lebaron

Savonen ’15 excels on the field and in the classroom

By Emily Smith Staff

photo from internet source

meds for adhd

Medications such as Adderall are designed to treat ADHD.

scribed to approximately 4.5 million people in the United States, a fact that deeply concerns Conrad, whose studies have focused mainly on the medicalization of society.

“My concern is about the medicalization of society. It’s turning all differences, and in this case, behavioral and cognitive differences, into some kind of pathology that needs to be treated,” Conrad said. He continued, “Anytime somebody is underperforming in school or not doing as well on standardized tests, or not doing as well in their behavior in paying attention in classrooms, well, they may have ADHD.” While the increase in the diagnoses of ADHD over the past 20 years can be connected to a wide range of things, the drug companies have played an important role in the process. Because they have such a large investment in the drugs, they continually push to increase the market in which their drugs can be used. Yet, the drug companies are not the only ones to blame.

In the 1990s, ADHD began to be seen as a learning disability. This created a situation in which “the diagnosis can buy you something,” said Conrad.

“If you have the diagnosis it can get you untimed tests, it can get you special situations where you take tests, or it can get you certain kinds of individual learning plans.” The usage of new medication to treat ADHD also encour-

aged people to get the diagnosis, Conrad explained.

In Conrad’s most recent article, “The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder,” published on Oct. 8 of this year, he discuses how the diagnosis has spread and become prevalent in other countries. “Until the 1990s,” Conrad wrote, “the U.S. consumed about 90 percent of all the Ritalin (methylphenidate) produced, the signature psychoactive treatment for ADHD. As other countries adopted the treatment, this dropped to 75 percent in 2010.”

Despite this spread in the prescription of ADHD medications, countries such as France have been slow to medicalize the disorder. In France, Conrad stated, they are more likely to do some sort of psychotherapy or family interventions first. Medication is a last resort.

“There are a lot of people who believe this is a real disorder. But, when you talk about 11 percent of some school age population—that’s a whole lot of people—you begin to wonder if it’s a disorder or just a variant.”

As Conrad continues to research ADHD and the medicalization of disease, he wonders if in 30 or 40 years from now, we are going to look back on giving stimulant medications to kids with this socalled disorder, ADHD, and ask, “Why were we drugging those kids?”

Tyler Savonen ’15 has been an instrumental part of the Brandeis men’s soccer team and an accomplished student since the beginning of his time at the school.

As one of the team’s captains, Savonen helped to lead his team to the Elite Eight this year, all the while maintaining a 3.7 GPA. Savonen is a forward from Orleans, MA. He was named a Capital One Academic All-American and the University Athletic Association 2014 Most Valuable Player. Michael Coven, the soccer team’s coach, praised Savonen’s leadership and athletic talent, including his ability to motivate and push his team to success.

“His leadership ability is his best quality,” said Coven. “He’s been a leader ever since his sophomore year really, and the team rallies around him. He’s a leader by example and a leader verbally. He’s the one who drives the time during the pre-game.

I think his leadership qualities are one of the reasons why we’ve been so successful.”

The soccer team has had a triumphant season this year, making it to the Elite Eight before losing 3-0 to Oneonta State.

Savonen said that walking off the field after the game against Oneonta State was his proudest moment of his soccer career at Brandeis. He said that, though it was a sad moment, he was proud because “not one person stopped working as hard as they could until the final whistle blew. That is essentially all you can ask for, and the fact that my teammates and brothers gave me everything they could possibly have, made me extremely proud.”Savonen shines off the soccer field as well as on. He is part of the International Business School’s five-year joint bachelor’s/ master’s degree program and plans to pursue real

estate development in the future.

Balancing soccer and a rigorous academic career has worked to his benefit, Savonen said in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.

He explained that the structure and support soccer provides has helped to keep him focused. Coven reiterated Savonen’s dedication to his education, saying, “Studies come first. He doesn’t miss classes. He takes difficult classes … That transcends the soccer field where every single day he works out doing something to enhance his ability.”

Savonen has grown as a player and a student during his time as an undergraduate. Over the course of the 2014 season, he scored 21 points, making him the highest scoring player on the team. Three of these goals were game-winning. He started all 23 games he played this season.

“This year was the culmination of all the hard-work and dedication that [I] and the rest of the senior class have put in to the team for the past four years, and it was a surreal feeling to see the rest of the team look up to us and follow our lead,” Savonen said.

Savonen is uncertain exactly what he wants to do in the future, but hopes he will find time to fit soccer in to his life. He explained, “I would love to pursue soccer at a professional or semi-professional level...but I honestly think that my other interests in life are going to take over, and soccer won’t necessarily be a huge part of my future.”

Whether he ends up focusing on soccer, real estate or something different, Savonen is excited for what the postgraduate world holds.

“I’ve always had a strict and organized plan for the future, but for the first time in my life I’m really not sure what will happen or where I will end up, and it actually feels pretty good,” he said.

December 5, 2014

The Brandeis Hoot

NEWS

Connerty empowers Waltham youth

Pres. Lawrence appears on Boston Public Radio From TUITION, page 1

“The short answer? Absolutely,” Lawrence said, but he continued in greater depth about what exactly the cost of college entails, especially for Brandeis students.

“A school like Brandeis, twothirds of our students are on financial aid,” Lawrence said.

“For some, that is a complete free ride, that we cover through scholarships from donations and endowment. For some, it’s smaller scholarships that can make a big difference.”

Students who graduate from Brandeis with debt graduate with an average of about $28,000 in debt, almost exactly the national average for private institutions.

While tuition from 2013 on has still increased, it has grown less than it has in the years before that, according to U.S. News & World Report. However, because the growth in financial aid has not kept pace with rising tuition costs, students are still paying more than they did.

Matt Brondoli ’14 had taken the high price of tuition for granted his whole life, but after studying abroad in Europe, where on average the education is much cheaper than the United States, he is appalled.

“Education is the most important thing for any society,” he said. “It should be funded completely by the government and be free and equal for everyone.”

Lawrence said that the investment is still a good one, not just because of the immediate benefits of graduating with a college degree.

“It will make them who they are in terms of their lives as citizens and as members of their society, but it will make them agile and flexible, because they’re going to have to re-educate themselves multiple times.”

Lawrence also talked about how, in today’s fast-paced world, a college education is even more important than ever. Brandeis, and universities in general, are now preparing students for not only their first job, but also their 10th job. The days where a person stays in one position at a company for the extremely long term are quickly fading, and a college degree, specifically a liberal arts one, prepares its students for jobs down the line as well, Lawrence said.

During the interview, the trio also talked about costs for Brandeis students and ways the university is trying to reduce its own tuition costs for students.

Brandeis is attempting to reduce its costs by reexamining insurance policies and restructuring a myriad of other programs.

The extravagances that some universities have gone to in a bid to attract students was also touched upon, such as gourmet food in the dining halls or hotel-quality dormitories. Lawrence acknowledged the presence of such spending in the higher education market, but insisted that Brandeis has never engaged in a tactic of the sort.

“Brandeis competes on quality of access to faculty and quality of teaching,” he said. “Our buildings are good buildings, and our dorms are good dorms. We never got involved in that arms race.”

Many students, however, have strong opinions about the price tag of Brandeis’ tuition.

Kris Steinhart ’14 said that it is not only the exorbitantly high tuition costs, but also the way in which most students have to extend its payment over their foreseeable future.

“It makes me anxious and nervous about the future. I’m going to be stuck paying back these loans for a long time when I get

out of school,” Steinhart said.

Tudor Livadaru ’14 also disagrees that the cost of college is worth it and believes that students cave into the system because of the strong disadvantages from not receiving higher education.

“I think the whole system is a joke,” he said. “How do you charge students $60,000 a year for a college education? Thank goodness we go to a decent school that ‘might’ put us on the right direction to find a decent job.”

Livadaru also said he believes it is now more about the money than the growth of students. He reasons that, unless a student is pre-med or going to a technical school, classes don’t prepare their pupils for the real world by teaching them what they will eventually face. Furthermore, he argues, our education system rewards students who binge study for 48 hours before their exams just as much as the students who spend the whole semester learning the material. It isn’t even important that the latter student is a lot more likely to remember that information, because it’s unlikely it will help him further down the road.

Livadaru echoed Brondoli’s previously mentioned sentiments and mentioned the need for change. “The system needs to be changed,” he said. “The U.S. needs to look elsewhere for better answers because the system here is a joke.”

The interview ended discussing rather lighter topics. Lawrence revealed that the best thing at the kosher deli on campus is turkey on rye, and the three discussed his career before Brandeis and academia working under who would later become New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a lawyer specializing in civil rights.

3

From CONNERTY, page 1

and their families. Describing his experience as truly rewarding, Connerty recalls a young special needs student from the Tewksbury area who participated in his events. “Because of volunteers and her dedication, she is now on the high school field hockey team and has the intention of playing ice hockey in the very near future,” he stated.

Despite the fact that inevitably, not every special needs student who participates in the programs will continue with sports in the future, Connerty said, “that one, two or three who do, that’s huge.”

Noting the remarkable contribution of the students and community members who volunteer

soccer clinic

their time and effort to make these events possible, Connerty stated, “Volunteering takes compassion, commitment and the ability to share your knowledge with another human being.”

When asked to share the benefits volunteers themselves may gain from lending their time and efforts, Connerty posed the question, “If your child is volunteering in the community, no matter if they are helping special needs kids or the elderly, does it make our community better, or does it make it worse?”

Connerty urges anyone interested in volunteer opportunities with the clinic or in learning more about his initiatives for special needs children to contact him at (978) 551-0944 or at sparkwaltham@gmail.com.

A photo from a previous soccer clinic that Connerty ran. photo courtesy ed connerty

‘After the Launch’ features Boston-area start-ups ByJoon Park Staff

This Wednesday, Dec. 3, in the Hassenfeld Conference Center, WINC (Women, Inc), a Brandeis initiative for women to support business and politics, organized “After the Launch.” The event was sponsored in conjunction with the International Business School (IBS) Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship program.

The entrepreneur panelists had a chance to introduce their business and answer general questions asked by students. The participating eight firms were Philo, MassChallenge, Disease Diagnostic Group, SongwriterLink, Leanbox, SQZ Biotech, Catie’s Closet and Jess, Meet Ken. Feierstein asked questions to each of the companies.

Panelists responded to the first question, which concerned at what point they decided to focus on their business instead of a career or school. “Philo is a television service for college,” Tuan Ho answered. He said he never meant it to become a business.

Philo started in a Harvard dormitory, when Ho and his roommate wanted to watch cable TV. They encountered a problem: Harvard did not provide cable TV. As physics majors with engineering mindsets, the two dug in and solved the problem.

“For some reason we had a [TV]

server. And we used that server to re-broadcast the television to the laptops to watch television.” When a hallmate found out about this, he offered to pay for the service on his own computer. At that point, Ho was convinced that this could be a business.

Joanna Meiseles from MassChallenge introduced her idea for Snip-Its. When she had her first child, she thought it would be great to have a child-specialized haircut business. A child’s first haircut experience is memorable, and children often dislike it. Snip-Its provides a more fun environment. Meiseles also shared her current work as the director of MassChallenge. She said startups, regardless of the field, face similar problems. It comes down to money, people and strategy problems. MassChallenge is a company that helps startups from all stages throughout the world.

John Lewandowski from Disease Diagnostic Group (DDG) shared how he got involved with his business. In Cleveland, he became interested in medicine and enjoyed helping patients but wanted to help a larger population. With this in mind, he started his company to cure malaria.

On top of running a company, he was continuing his studies as a Ph.D. candidate at MIT. He offered advice to people who might want to do both work and study:

“Make a flexible timeline.”

Lisa Occhino, the youngest panelist, graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in music management. Her background helped give her the idea for her company, SongwriteLink, which connects composers with musicians. Occhino thought that Berklee was the best place to try her beta website, enabling her to use unique resources and the people around her.

“As a student I was also in one of these conferences, and I had a fire in my belly,” recalled Shea Coakley, founded of Leanbox.

He remembered his college life, and how the idea for his startup bounced around in his head for a while. After graduation, he took a traditional career path and got a job that was high paying and high stress. During work, the most important thing to him was getting fresh food. He got his business idea from that insight.

SQZ Biotech founder shared the basis technology, CellSqueeze, for his company and its use in medical practices. CellSqueeze squeezes cells that open up pores in the membrane. When the pores are open, the device can deliver molecules inside. SQZ Biotech are the people who provide the technology to deliver the molecules. This has shown effects in immunotherapy, treating leukemia and cancer. The University of Pennsylvania conducted a study using

photo from internet source

Philo was one of the startup companies featured at this event sponsored by the Brandeis International Business School (IBS) philo

CellSqueeze on 21 patients with fatal diseases, and 18 of them became cancer-free after four years.

Identifying the molecules are key in preventing the disease.

The only non-profit startup, Catie’s Closet, was launched after creator Mickey Cockrell worked in the retail sector for 30 years. Catie’s Closet provides free clothes and necessities to 12,000 impoverished students.

She shared the two stories behind the creation of her company. In 2009, she read an article about two homeless high school students living under a bridge in her town. She could not believe that people were living in such conditions in the community in which she grew up and wanted to aid them. The second motivation was her niece, after whom the company is named. She caught

an unknown disease when she was 14 and passed away when at only 20 years old. As a way of continuing her legacy and raising awareness of Catie’s tissue disorder, Cockrell named the company Catie’s Closet.

Ken Deckinger is the founder of a new dating website, Jess, Meet Ken. The site functions in that a woman posts a man to recommend to other girls. If another woman finds him interesting, the site connects the two women.

Then afterward, the actual meeting between the man and the woman happens. Ken said this is how he met his wife Jess, and thought this idea could be competitive with other dating websites.

“After the Launch” was a night filled with energizing panelists and advice.

SPORTS

December 5, 2014

SPORTS 4

Best start in years for women’s basketball

By Curtis Zunyu He staff

Despite a tough loss to the Tufts Jumbos on Nov. 22 by 74-51, the first loss of the season for the Brandeis women’s basketball team, the team pulled themselves together for a home game against the Emmanuel Saints last Tuesday with a 12-point victory, 66-54. The Judges then kept up their winning streak for the new season at Red Auerbach Arena with a 4-1 record, marking the best start since the 2009-10 season.

The efficiency of guard Niki Laskaris ’16 and the aggressive performance from Noel Hodges ’18 maintained a close half with the Jumbos leading 27-23. Laskaris scored seven points with three field goals including one from downtown, while Hodges posed as a threat to the opponent’s front court players as she earned five free throw attempts, causing two starting forwards from the Jumbos to pick up two fouls each. However, the Judges defense struggled with 10 turnovers early in the game and the steal stat came to a one to six deficit.

Additionally, nine offensive rebounds were snatched by the Jumbos which hurt the Judges a lot when the Jumbos had 14 more shot attempts and 16 more three-point attempts.

These problems became the game changer in the second half when the top shooter and scorer for the Jumbos, Hannah Foley ’15, knocked down four threes with only six attempts and two of them nailed the defeat for the Judges after Maria Jackson ’17’s lay-

winning start

up which put the Judges behind by a 13-point deficit. The turnover crisis continued for the Judges as nine turnovers were forced by the opponent with seven steals and the points lost off turnovers for the Judges turned out to be 25, compared to five for the Judges. Another blowout on the stat line occurred in second chance points as the Jumbos caught 20 offensive rebounds. Laskaris scored a team high 15 points and despite the defeat, the

Men’s soccer misses final four

performance from Noel Hodges and Olivia Shaw ’18 were quite impressive as Hodges scored five points without missing a shot, and Shaw contributed nine points off the bench.

Shining performances came from the young players for the Judges in the game against Emmanuel. Hodges stayed aggressive with 12 free throw attempts, making eight. Shaw collected nine rebounds in 21 minutes on the court and guard Kyle Gabriel

’17 joined the “bench storm,” scoring six points. With their effort, an eightpoint advantage was achieved by the Judges to help win the game. The starters contributed with Maria Jackson’s double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the game. However, some problems from the previous game remained unfixed for the Judges as they lost control of the ball 30 times during the game. However, the Judges’ defense managed to hold

the Saints’ top scorers, Sarah Higgins ’16 and Jennifer Bujnowski ’15, below their average. Higgins gave a threefor-15 shooting performance and Vanessa Bramente ’16 struggled with the Judges’ defense, shooting five-for-18.

The improvement on both offense and defense secured the perfect home record for the Judges.

The Judges face Johnson & Wales University this Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.

Swim team falls to rival

By Sarah Jousset Editor

By Sarah Jousset editor

The Judges’ road to the NCAA finals came to a close on Nov. 23 as the men’s soccer team lost in a final eight game against No. 3 SUNY Oneonta, 3-0. The Judges were just one win shy of making the Final Four for the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Judges finished the season 19-3-1.

The SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons came out strong in the first half, outshooting Brandeis 6-3, which included 5-1 shots on goal. Michael Soboff ’15 had the only shot on goal for the Judges in the first half, marking the first time all season that the Judges trailed their opponent at halftime.

The Judges tried to break through in the second half when midfielder Josh Ocel ’17 shot from the right of the box, hitting the far goal post. The ball slid back to the middle of the field for the Dragons to take control, which led to a goal by Dragons player Greg Silvestro, the second of the game for Oneonta. This goal made Oneonta the second team of the season to score more than one goal against the Judges.

Ocel tried again for the Judges in the 66th minute, only for his shot to be punched over the goal by the Dragons’ goalkeeper. Forward Tyler Savonen ’15 tried to score for the Judges in the 76th minute when he dribbled around three defenders only to miss wide. The Judges attempted to come back from the 3-0 deficit, out-

photos from internet source

Maria Jackson ‘17, left, and Niki Laskaris participate in tuesday’s win against Emmanuel.

photo from internet source

shooting Oneonta in the second half, 8-5, including leading 6-0 in corner kicks.

Brandeis missed out on securing its first Final Four seed in 30 years.

However, their 19 wins tie the 1984 Brandeis men’s soccer team for most wins in a season. This year’s men’s soccer team also set program records in shutouts with 17, fewest goals allowed with nine and lowest goals allowed average at .38. The Judges lose UAA MVP Tyler Savonen, first-team All-UAA goalkeeper Joe Graffy ’15 and second leading scorer Soboff. On the bright side, the Brandeis men’s soccer team will welcome back eight

Linsey Pool was surrounded by excitement as the Jury came out in support of the Brandeis women’s and men’s swim teams on Friday, Nov. 21.

However, despite the high energy, the Judges couldn’t pull out the win against rival Bentley.

Even though the Judges couldn’t pull out the win, individuals from both of the Brandeis teams performed well. Brian Luk ’16 stood out among the crowd by winning the 50-yard free with a time of 22.16 and the 100-yard fly 54.06. Brandeis dominated the men’s long distance events with wins in the 1,000-yard and 500-yard free events from Max Fabian ’15. Rookies Zach Diamond ’18 and Joey Barr ’18 helped the Judges in the 1,000-yard event, coming in second and third.

The Brandeis men’s team also won the 200-yard medley relay with the help of Edan Zitelny ’17, Luk, Cam Braz ’17 and Rich Avrutsky ’18 with a final time of 1:40.96. The men’s team lost to Bentley, 139-102.

“We have a great rivalry developing with Bentley,” said Fabian, the team captain. “Coming together and racing as a team is what makes this sport so fulfilling, and I feel like this meet provided us with a great opportunity to do that.”

The women had more trouble with Bentley, falling 156-74. Proving to be the best category for the Judges, the women managed to take home two wins in the long-distance events. Joanna Murphy ’17 grabbed both wins

roll deis roll

Max Fabian ‘15 swims in firday’s meet against Bentley. photo from internet source

for the women’s team, in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard free events.

Despite the numbers, the meet was a huge improvement on the past two years. With the swim team having more than doubled in size since its inception two years ago, each team that they face is shocked by the abilities of the faster, bigger team. The Bentley coach told Brandeis Coach Michael Kotch that the team swam so well that it motivated the Bentley team to swim faster than they had swum all season.

“Our women’s team had only a few members last year, but fortunately

they were all extraordinary … We are lucky to have brought in a new class of equally exceptional women, so I am really excited for the remainder of this season and to see what the future holds,” said Fabian.

The next meet for the men and women’s swim team will be at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Dec. 6-7 with trials starting at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. This will be the last meet of the semester for the Judges. The team will rest before the meet in order to get fast swims in before their training trip to Puerto Rico over winter break.

5 FEATURES.

The Brandeis Hoot

December 5, 2014

FEATURES WBRS, offering ‘Something for Everyone’

By Liya Wizevich staff

Currently, WBRS is Brandeis University’s sole student run radio station. WBRS broadcasts 24/7 to Brandeis University, Waltham and its surrounding towns. WBRS facilities are located on the Brandeis campus with studios on the third floor of the Shapiro Campus Center and features a transmitter on top of the Rabb Graduate Center.

WBRS’ motto is “something for everyone.” Living true to its motto, the station encourages all artists, radio services and labels to contribute material to be played. According to their website, “WBRS prides itself on also being able to provide Brandeis University’s student body with a diverse array of services.” This includes providing the Brandeis

student body with concerts and live music events, DJ training and certification and the ability to rent equipment. Additionally, for those interested in pursuing careers in media or broadcasting, WBRS also offers professional development services.

WBRS is completely student-run, according to Tahlia Quartin ’18. Having become the host of an Indie Styles show this year, she noted how many students were involved. “One of the most impressive things about WBRS to me is the fact that we have the third largest record collection in New England. While this is relatively unknown, this aging asset is not only for the station, but for the whole university.” WBRS first started at Brandeis University in the 1950s.

At the time it was named WLDB, originally representing Louis Dembitz Brandeis’ initials. In

RADIO WBRS Brandeis Radio Service began in the 1950s and has three separate departments: music, sports and news.

photo from internet source

SERVICE WBRS provides Brandeis University’s student body with a diverse array of services.

1964, however, members of the radio station decided to change its name to the current title: Brandeis Radio Service. At the time, WBRS broadcasted to only the Brandeis campus. However, four years later, in 1968, WBRS managed to obtain an FM radio license. This provided the station with the ability to broadcast to further distances within Massachusetts. Always expanding, in the 1980s, WBRS became an allgenre cooperative community radio station. In addition, that year WBRS developed a new constitution and was able to institute a membership contract. In fact, this constitution still remains in service today. Brandeis University’s radio station today hosts many programs that broadcast all genres. At the moment, there are three main departments within the station, the first being for

music. This is its largest department, with over 30 shows broadcasted each week. Not including the on-air programs, this department is largely in charge of WBRS’s large physical and digital music collections.

The second department within WBRS is the sports department.

This department is the broadcast home of each Brandeis athletic event. However, the shows within the sports department do not simply limit themselves to Brandeis sporting events. There are some sports shows on WBRS that conduct interviews with athletes and teams as well as ones that cover professional sports.

The third department at WBRS is solely dedicated to reporting news. This department provides opportunities for students to host their own shows where they talk about a variety of subjects.

photo from internet source

Currently, WBRS has shows that cover breaking news, politics, anthropological news, weekly headline overviews and more.

“There are many ways to get involved with WBRS,” says Quartin. The radio station is always looking for new people to join.

However, beyond hosting a show, “you can recommend music to be played, or stop by anytime to simply visit or to learn more about WBRS.” Quartin encourages anyone who has an interest in radio broadcasting to consider becoming involved.

For those interested in learning when a specific show will be on the air, the WBRS website provides a full listing of all those available each week. Additionally, stop by the third floor of the Shapiro Campus Center, or tune in to WBRS 100.1 FM at any time to listen in.

ARTS, ETC.

6 The Brandeis Hoot

December 5, 2014

‘The Imitation Game’ highlights unsung hero

By Jess Linde Editor

Ah, another movie featuring a likely awards nominee, so soon after “The Theory of Everything.” And it just so happens to be another biopic! Why, it’s almost as if there’s some sort of season upon us, an Oscar season if you will. OK, in all seriousness, “The Imitation Game” is a movie that, like “The Theory of Everything,” I was looking forward to quite a bit.

Though I’ll never really understand the obsessions he inspires, I am a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch. He was honestly enough to save “Star Trek Into Darkness” for me, I love him as Smaug and, of course, Sherlock is great. I’m not of the opinion that he should be in everything requiring a deep British voice, because I’d rather see him in actual roles that let him act. Luckily, I have him starring in the best biopic of 2014.

“The Imitation Game” is the story of British mathematician Alan Turing (Cumberbatch), recruited in World War II as part of a team trying to crack the Enigma machine, a seemingly unbreakable Nazi code maker.

Every day, Enigma changes to a new, completely random group of settings through which German messages are

fed, never repeating itself or failing to baffle the Allies. An insecure but brilliant loner, Turing begins work on a machine to break any code, ignoring and annoying his colleagues (Matthew Goode, Allen Leech and Matthew Beard). After making friends with fellow, more sociable genius Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), Turing begins to come around, all while trying to keep his homosexuality, then illegal in Britain, buried as deep as the secret to cracking Enigma.

Last year while on vacation with my family in London, I picked up a copy of The Guardian’s Christmas Day issue. Inside, a small blurb towards the end of the news section mentioned that as part of some annual tradition, the queen had pardoned Alan Turing posthumously, who was charged with indecency in the ’50s.

This was my first time hearing of Turing, and I soon became enraptured by his philosophies and work, especially the idea of the Turing Test and the Turing Machine. I’m not going to go through his entire life and death here, but I don’t need to do so to hammer home how abominably the man was treated by his government, partly because of the top-secret nature of his code breaking work. “The Imitation Game” goes through all of this, and unlike most long-form biopics, it does it extremely well.

“The Imitation Game” succeeds be-

cause of two things: how it specifically approaches its subject, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Firstly, the film details true events comprehensively and thoroughly, through the eyes of Alan Turing, a mess of genius, self hatred and social disorders. The screenplay decides early on that this Alan Turing is the mystery that it wants to unfold and portray in his utmost complexity, and sticks with it to the end. Secondly, Benedict Cumberbatch embodies these traits extremely well and is a wonder on screen.

Unlike most biopics, which are comfortable only to show the infamous aspects of their subjects, “The Imitation Game” shows Turing at his best and worst, and like a great essay, breaks both down. Director Morten Tyldum allows no veneer of myth or idolatry in his movie, portraying the desperation, fear and loneliness of the code breakers’ jobs and Turing’s personal life. The main story is interwoven with scenes of Turing as a child discovering his sexuality, as well as him after being arrested, which the film’s intense personal analysis uses to give the audience a full portrait.

I also cannot praise Benedict Cumberbatch enough here; his performance ranges from inspiring to curious to heartbreaking and every second is fully realized and believable.

After all, no video or audio recordings of Turing exists, so Cumberbatch had

Duke Ellington honored in Jazz Ensemble concert

By Kahlil Oppenheimer Special to the hoot

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a jazz legend. So it’s only natural that Brandeis Jazz Ensemble’s latest concert “Music of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Edvard Grieg,” was all about Ellington.

Duke Ellington was born in 1899, led his orchestra starting in 1923, and kept playing and composing until he died in 1974, spanning a record-long 51-year career. Ellington, in fact, originated over a thousand compositions and is therefore responsible for the largest recorded personal jazz history.

Many of Ellington’s pieces have become jazz standards and are featured in any jazz “Real Book” (a collection of jazz standards) that you’ll see.

It was therefore surprising when Bob Neiske, the director of the Brandeis Jazz Ensemble, started off the evening concert by announcing that much of Ellington’s work is wrongly credited to Ellington. Neiske announced that he too was surprised when he discovered that two of Ellington’s most famous tunes, “Take the A Train” and “Chelsea Bridge,” were both actually composed by Billy Strayhorn, another jazz legend and composer who worked alongside Ellington for nearly three decades.

The concert began with the classics.

“Take the A Train,” “Cottontail,” “Caravan” and “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” were each graced by the 16-piece Brandeis Jazz Ensemble. With five saxophones, three trumpets, three trombones, a piano, a bass, drums and a cello, the orchestra was not lacking the ability to project.

However, even with the large group size, the featured soloists for each tune still managed to distinguish themselves. For each solo, the given

soloist would stand up (when possible, because standing and playing the drums or piano isn’t so easy, as it turns out) and weave a story through melody and rhythm—sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, often passionate, but always skillful.

During most jazz concerts, the ensemble will play through all of the sections of a given tune, then let a few of the musicians solo over an instrumental section. These solos are often improvised, and so the audience will traditionally applaud solos that they like. However, this tradition is not known to all jazz concert-goers, so many will stutter scattered applauses in awkward places or forget to clap at all after less distinguishable reserved solos. This particular audience did an all right job with the applause. It was awkward, but it conveyed good intention.

After the ensemble finished running through the classics, it moved on

to Ellington and Strayhorn’s groundbreaking interpretation of Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite,” featuring “In the Hall of the Mountain King”—I promise you’ll recognize this one if you take the time to Google it, a different arrangement of it was even featured in “The Social Network.”

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg originally wrote the “Peer Gynt Suite” for Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt,” which premiered in 1876. Ellington and Strayhorn took the suite and rearranged it in a way that had never been done before. Maybe it was the rhythmic incantation of the bass drum, or maybe the roar of the baritone saxophone, but the music lulled audience into a hypnotic trance, only broken by the occasional jubilant outburst from the brass section.

The concert highlighted what many love about jazz: A story was told, and some, if not most, people heard it differently.

photo from internet source

honoring duke ellington

Jazz Ensemble performed Ellington hits.

to create his performance from biographies and descriptions of Turing’s voice. Thus, we have the pleasure of viewing a great actor in his most personal performance to date, one that solidifies him as one of the best in his generation. The supporting cast, particularly Matthew Goode and Mark Strong, is also fantastic, which contributes to the fullness of the movie.

What else is there to say? Not much. “The Imitation Game” is a movie that I expected to like one part of, and left loving pretty much all of.

There are nitpicks I could make, and it does get a bit slow at times, but as

a piece of emotionally evocative art, this film is wonderful. Yes, Benedict Cumberbatch should get at least an Oscar nomination, but more importantly, “The Imitation Game” is a great chronicle of one of the world’s most unjustly unsung heroes. Remember, Turing’s accomplishments and his horrible postwar life weren’t even acknowledged by his government until 2013. Considering that, taking two hours out of your day to see his story is worth it. This is an amazing, sad story told greatly, and Alan Turing deserves to have some time in the sun.

photo from internet source

the imitation game

Benedict Cumberbatch gives another brilliant performance.

Cobwebs for Snacks By Linjie Xu

December 5, 2014

The Brandeis Hoot

ARTS

7

Rather Be Giraffes hosts yet another successful semester show

By Sabrina Pond Staff

Can you picture a night where singing, some Shakespearean comedy, and giraffes were all present? It sounds like it would be interesting, to say the least—and it actually transpired on Friday, Nov. 21, when one of Brandeis’ a cappella groups, Rather Be Giraffes, had its fall semester show. With songs ranging from Kimbra’s “Settle Down” and Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die,” the soloists’ performances incorporated quite the range of musical sounds that spiced up the show—in the same way that, around this time of year, many college students use pumpkin spice to make their generic latte a little more exciting.

“Romeo and Giraffiette” began when three figures walked onto the stage, wearing a combination of witch hats and black robes. The witches, played by Radhika Jangi ’18, Kristin Diamantides ’18 and Alex Ellison ’16, announced the commencement of the performance with clever rhymes, all in a poetic and Shakespearean

tone. Although a strange sight at first, the witches were there to serve a larger purpose.

Unlike any of the other a cappella groups’ performances, the Rather Be Giraffes show worked with a theme to transition to each of the various songs. Though only loosely related to Shakespeare’s works, with references to “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth” and even “Hamlet,” the brief skits in between each of the performances made for mild entertainment that connected the show in a seamless way. Each of the skits ended with a line that was a direct reference to the title of the next song of the fall show, thereby connecting the diverse and somewhat unrelated songs.

Though the performance took place in the small and enclosed Bethlehem Chapel, the location’s disadvantages could also be seen as advantages. For one, the small, cramped space enabled a lot of movement of sound. The enclosed nature of the chapel allowed the audience to hear the vocals with complete clarity, and even enabled the singers to hear each other better. Every sound, breath and

utterance was heard by the audience.

The last song of the first act, “I Will Never Let You Down” originally recorded by Rita Ora and performed

by Nicole Wittels ’15, is an example of what pop music, if it were any good, should sound like. The original song was undeniably catchy and perfect for the Rather Be Giraffes’ purposes. The background vocalists rise and fall in volume, coupled with Wittels’ sweet and charming voice, proved to create a musical piece that was the epitome of pop—if pop were inventive, exciting and invigorating.

The final song, “Better Dig Two,”

by The Band Perry, sung by Deanna Heller ’15, had a lot of heart and soul.

Heller channeled the strength afforded to her by her diaphragm and let out strong and powerful vocals that soothed and empowered. The piece, arranged by Ryan Mulvihill-Pretak ’16, was put together so as to spotlight Heller’s angelic voice, while blending earthy, cooing sounds in the background. The interlocking voices merged to generate a tune more pleasing to listen to than The Band Perry’s original recording.

Rather Be Giraffes’ “Romeo and Giraffiette” fall performance was a fun show to watch and showcased, yet again, some of Brandeis’ ever-present talent. The cheerful demeanor with which the vocalists sang and performed together and the excitement riddled on each and every members’ face was a sight to see, experience, and enjoy. Some of the Rather Be Giraffes members, however, will be

romeo and giraffiette

graduating in 2015, and said their farewells when the fall show came to a close, some with tears in their eyes.

Allen Ganjei, Deanna Heller, Jenny Scontras, and Nicole Wittels will all be graduating, and in some ways seem unhappy about that fact. Rather Be Giraffes will surely miss these seniors, but they will undoubtedly go on to do great things and take their musical ambitions with them.

RBG has yet to disappoint.

photo by carrie chung/the hoot

Poet creates a future more vivid

By Clayre Benzadon Staff

On Dec. 1, Israeli poet, translator and musician Betsy Rosenberg came to campus to perform a poetry reading in the Mandel Reading Room.

She has lived in Jerusalem since 1967 while studying at Hebrew University.

Through her selection of poems that she handed out to the audience, “A Future More Vivid” serves to reflect a more optimistic attitude toward the country’s future, especially with its most recent and continuous traumatic incidents that were occurring at this point in time. Her poetry is characterized as “enchanting, unsettling and a music of poems that come from an exuberant crafting of language.”

Additionally, her works are interested in the articulation of female voice despite the fact that she claims that she is not a feminist.

Most of her pieces contain a fusion of different languages, such as Sanskrit. The first two poems that she recited, “Dark Rabbit” and “Sukham Dukham,” featured interesting comparisons. In “Dark Rabbit,” for instance, she likens the person addressed in the poem to a “dark rabbit,” to whom she will speak “in a language soft as grapes.” This simile is unusual because we usually don’t associate softness with grapes. Rosenberg explained that in Sanskrit, there are three different types of “fruit languages”: “grape language,” which is known as a “soft language,” used mostly in poetry, “plantain language,” meaning that one has to peel the words off to understand the meaning of the language, and “coconut language,” which one breaks open in order to get to the milk of the language.

“Sukham Dukham” is another poem that contains an interesting juxtaposition of words because of the element of Sanskrit included in the work. “Sukham Dukham” is translated to “pleasure pain.” The phrase “the fruit of pleasure pain” is the last line of her poem and even though it’s an oxymoron, it sounds beautiful when

read aloud because of the alliteration.

This theme is based on a saying that Rosenberg recited by heart: “The end of pleasure is pain, and the end of pain is pleasure.”

Rosenberg also dedicated a couple of poems to her brother, Jonnie, who was in the Israeli Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. “In Transit” is a reflection of her journey in transit after visiting Crete, when she addresses her brother: “I heard you call my name/ from your place beyond the Milky Way.” Her other piece “Mercy” compares Jonnie to a bull because he was a vet of large animals, specializing in taking care of cows.

She also addresses societal and political issues, especially with allusions to the Holocaust. In her poem “Dumbo,” she compares the scene where Dumbo has to leave his mother and is put into a freight train to that of the horrors Jews suffered when they were rounded up into freight cars.

“The Ball” includes similar allusions, such as the yellow stars of David that Jews had to wear around like badges and the ghettos in which they lived in, cramped together, dying from the poor hygienic circumstances as well

as from starvation. Even in “Gil Singer,” she mentions the “Jewish bitters” that are societal remnants permanently left as a mark of the Holocaust.

She also addresses the voices of woman through her “personal poems in disguise”: “Meroe” and “Seventh Idyll,” both poems referencing to classical figures. Meroe is the name of an ugly witch who turned who ex-lovers into animals: “You […] were transformed/ into a turkey for/ abandoning me.”

“Girl Singer” is also another poem where the title was controversial.

“Girl Singers” is supposed to be considered a derogatory term and is especially looked down up by ultra Orthodox Jews because girls are not supposed to expose their voice to the world as they are violating the rule of being modest.

At the end of the reading, there was a question and answer session, and many audience members asked about Rosenberg’s translations, which seem to be a prominent characteristic in her work. Another aspect that the audience discovered is that Rosenberg listened to a lot of instrumental music while writing. As a result, this process created a sing-song rhythm to her poetry.

betsy rosenberg

photo from internet source

The poet, translator and musician came to Brandeis.

8 The Brandeis Hoot

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS

MELA: Studnets perform dances during Mela, before Thanksgiving.

November 14, 2014

photos by sharon cai/the hoot

THE GOOD DOCTOR Theater group puts on production

DANCE: Performers showcase culture

THE GOOD DOCTOR: Students give powerful performance

WINTER WEATHER: November snow falls on leaves

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

photo by sharon cai/the hoot

photo by sharon cai/the hoot photos by marian siljeholm/the hoot

GROUP NUMBER: Mela performers showcase talent

NEWS

December 5, 2014

The Brandeis Hoot 9

Brandeis discusses implications of Ebola crisis See EBOLA, from page 1

combating contaminants. Doona has been the lead inventor of this portable field method and in the press release says “an important exponent of CIO2 is its versatility as a disinfectant suitable for any industry, ranging from textiles, medicine, wastewater treatment and public health to food safety, personal hygiene and household uses.” Meanwhile, at Brandeis, Dr. Michael Willrich, the Leff Families Professor of History and the author of the award-winning book “Pox: An American History,” says the public’s reaction to the Ebola crisis is similar to that of the 20th-century smallpox outbreak. In an interview with BrandeisNOW, Willrich discusses the parallels in both epidemics

in terms of advances in the field of public health, vaccines, quarantining, the nation’s preparation for the crisis and civil rights lessons. In his book, Willrich writes about the smallpox epidemics becoming “politically explosive,” as they created a strong response from the government on the local, state and federal levels. In the smallpox epidemic, according to Willrich, the courts sided with public health, but he also clarified that the incident cases of smallpox led to future stronger measures in the public’s safety. Willrich states that the power and duty to prevent the dissemination of contagious diseases lies within police power, which has traditionally been applied at the state and local levels, not at the federal level. As for quarantining, he says that “its use can certainly be dramatic,”

and in American history, it remains to be one of the most controversial topics in public health. According to Willrich, his opinion is that the use of quarantine in the United States thus far “has not been clearly thought out.” Willrich believes that the historic epidemic of the smallpox crisis offered a message about the importance of public education, and this, he believes, can be applied directly to the case of Ebola. He mentioned the case of Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was quarantined after returning to the United States after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. Hickox felt her human rights were violated.

At Brandeis, the discussion around the Ebola crisis continues to circulate among students, faculty, and researchers. On Oct. 31st, Dr. Theo J.C. Lippeveld, an adjunct professor at the

Heller School for Social Policy and Management, spoke about the three contributing factors to the outbreak that need to be examined for future crises. These include an exponential spread in the initial phase of the epidemic, a slow initial response from international agencies and the failing health systems in the three countries most affected. Lippeveld, vice president of the international division at a public health consulting firm John Snow, Inc., spoke alongside Dr. Allyala Krishna Nandakumar, director of the Ph.D. Program at Heller and chief economist of the Global Health Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Nandakumar spoke about the economic perspective of the outbreak, stating it “has had a profound effect in West Africa, including the fuel and agriculture

sectors.” He also mentioned the impact of American aid, remarking that “from early August to today, when you look at what the U.S. government has done, it’s quite outstanding.” On Monday Nov. 24, Rima Tahini ’16 and Nadege Seppou ’15, held a discussion in the ICC lounge discussing the various issues regarding the Ebola crisis. Members in the audience discussed the global impact of the outbreak but also commented on the effects of the disease on a local level here at Brandeis. The Health Center at Brandeis has released information on the disease as well as precautions to take if traveling to affected areas.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has requested that colleges and universities in the state have plans to monitor returning travelers from the affected regions.

Students support immigrants in Waltham

By Hannah Schuster Staff

On Wednesday, Dec. 3 in the Hassenfeld Conference Center, 11 Brandeis students discussed their experiences working with immigrants in the Waltham community, through the program, “The Immigrant Experience in Waltham: A Service-Based Practicum.” The students volunteered with three community partners supporting the immigrant population: the Waltham Community Day Center (CDC), Waltham Family School and the Charles River Public Internet Center (CRPIC). The practicum is a two-credit course connected with a series of base courses in departments such as anthropology and International and Global Studies. Marcy McPhee of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life taught the course this fall.

Sophie Warren ’18 began with opening remarks, “I believe I can speak for our group of 11 students when I say that I am so glad I ended up able to be a part of this opportunity,” she said. Warren offered praise for the program. She discussed the weekly meetings in which all participants have contributed “insights and thoughtful interpretations of their experience in this community.”

In groups, the students presented their experiences with each of the respective organizations.

The four students who volunteered with the CDC (Lilah Kleban ’17, Austin Shanabrook ’18, Averi Gardner ’18 and Janel Ridley ’16) spoke first.

The CDC is a day shelter that gives those in need a place stay during the afternoon. It provides an afternoon meal, computers with Internet access and a wide range of services. The stu-

dents took on several roles: helping with meals, teaching English to immigrants as a second language, assisting with resumes and job applications and spending time engaging with and learning about the immigrants and their unique backgrounds.

During the presentation, the students instigated a role-play activity. On every seat was a card with a character and objective, such a student who wanted to teach English language and a homeless man in search of a bed. The students asked the audience to mull around talking to each other, in character. Following the activity, they discussed the experience and agreed it can be awkward to speak to new people, frightening to ask for help and difficult to battle language barriers.

The students each articulated the value of their experiences volunteering at the CDC. They agreed how important it was to gain the trust of the immigrants as they attempted to learn about them.

“We … are not in the same situation as the people who are at the community center. We are not living in poverty. We are not reliant on the services at the day center,” said Keban.

The next group to present, Warren, Marian Gardner ’18, Grace Gao ’18, Yigu Liang ’16, Alexandra Libstag ’16, had volunteered with Waltham Family School. They began their segment with an activity.

They presented the audience with a scenario: They were told that they were in a foreign country and must discern the meaning of a sign, using a smattering of word definitions that the students distributed.

The goal of the activity was to express the language barriers immigrants face in a culture when English is the primary language. Furthermore, they desired to illustrate the

immigration practicum

photo by marian sileholm/the hoot

Brandeis students volunteer with immigrants in Waltham.

challenges that they as English tutors experienced, struggling to get their message across in Spanish.

Waltham Family School is a family literacy program that prepares children and their families for elementary school. The students taught mothers from immigrant families so that they could communicate better with teachers and be active in their children’s education.

All of the students discussed the connection between the school and their base classes at Brandeis. In the class, students have studied how globalization has connected the world both economically and culturally. The United States, as a major contributor to globalization, has increased the importance of learning English in order to participate in the global community.

Libstag discussed her experience in the base class, Race, Immigration

and Ethnicity. In class, they have discussed how immigration challenges the “narrow image of what America looks like.”

She explains that her, “experience at Waltham Family School has reinforced the idea that yes, the face of America is influenced by immigration … historically many people have chosen to be fearful of these changes, as opposed to embracing them. The women at Waltham Family may look different than us, they may speak a different language than us, but their value as human beings is not contingent upon the invisible border that society has created.”

The final group to present was Julie Maschler ’16 and Ziyin Kong ’16, who volunteered with the CRPIC, the community technology center. The CRPIC provides free access to computers as well as English and computer skills classes to members of the

community, especially immigrants.

Maschler and Ziyn taught a weekly course to three immigrants. Though intended to be intermediate level, they quickly discovered that their students had far less experience. They had planned to teach programs in both Microsoft Word and Excel, but instead focused solely on basic skills in Word.

They displayed a sample assignment for their students: Fill a Word document with colorful text, and italicized or highlighted some words.

Maschler noted, “For all of us, this is assumed knowledge … we can do this all in three minutes or four minutes, but for them, this would take the entire class.”

Both Kong and Maschler noted the connections they have fostered with their students and the rewarding experience they had stepping into the role of teacher for the first time.

Brandeis organizations unite for Stanley Family Night

By Rachel Bossuk Staff

On Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Stanley Elementary School in Waltham hosted its annual Stanley Family Night.

The event is set up like a carnival, and various organizations and clubs from Brandeis run different booths that the students of the elementary school and their families walk around and participate in.

These booths range from ones focusing on sports activities to ones focusing on the arts and even a photo booth. This year over 25 different clubs came to participate in this event,

including the Fashion Design Club, Manginah, MLK & Friends, Student Events, Quidditch, Harry Potter Alliance and Brandeis Football Club.

In addition, volunteers at the event included members of Waltham Group’s Big Siblings and Junior Brandeis Achievers (JBA). These organizations work with the Stanley Elementary School community throughout the year. Brandeis Big Siblings has a Lunch-Time Program at the elementary school, where Brandeis “big siblings” meet with their “little siblings” during their lunchtime every week for an hour. JBA works with the elementary students after school.

One day a week, the volunteers provide a variety of clubs and activi-

ties that the students can sign up for based on their interests. Some of the activities include writing, art, sports and dance programs. As a whole, more than 200 people came to volunteer at this year’s Stanley Fun Night.

This event is produced by the Clubs in Service committee, whose members worked tirelessly to make it possible. Clubs in Service is a partnership between three Brandeis organizations: Waltham Group, the Student Union and the Department of Community Service. It is an initiative with a primary focus to encourage all other clubs and organizations on campus to engage in a more direct way with the Waltham community.

They help to foster a relationship

between organizations that are not traditionally service-oriented with those who are more involved with service projects.

Some events that they broadcast to the campus organizations are these one-time service opportunities through Waltham Group. Many students, including coordinators of Waltham Group, volunteered to help make the Stanley Family Night come to fruition.

The students of Stanley Elementary School enjoy this event the most, says Ariana Schachne ’15, head facilitator and a member of the Clubs in Service Committee. According to her, the most popular booths this year were Quidditch and the cheerleading club’s

popcorn stand.

The elementary students were also very excited to take photos with Ollie the Owl in the photo booth.

Schachne would like to thank all of the incredible and committed volunteers and all of the support they received from Brandeis University as a whole. “Also,” she says, “we could not have done this event without the support from the Stanley School.”

As for the next Stanley Family Night, Schachne hopes that they can get even more clubs involved and have more students and families attend. If anyone is interested in getting involved, she encourages them to like their Facebook page, “Clubs in Service,” for more announcements.

EDITORIALS

10 The Brandeis Hoot

“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-Chief Dana Trismen

Senior Managing Editor Victoria Aronson Managing Editors Theresa Gaffney Andrew Elmers News Editors Emily Belowich Jess Linde Senior Copy Editors Mia Edelstein Julie Landy Deputy Features Editor Nathan Benjamin Deputy Arts Editor Michelle Kim Deputy Sports Editor Sarah Jousset Senior Layout Editor Sasha Ruiz Graphics Editor Linjie Xu

December 5, 2014

Student protests need respect from administration

D

ean of Students Jamele Adams sent an email to the Brandeis community on Thursday morning, Dec. 4, explaining the reasoning behind the administration’s decision to take down the signs placed around campus this past weekend in support of the national “Black Lives Matter” campaign.

Dean Adams cited the lack of any identifying student organization associated with the signs as the reason for their removal. These messages appeared on campus following the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, MO, police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. Following the removal of the signs, Dean Adams reported that a group of students then approached him stating they were upset with this decision.

The issue lies not just in the administration’s decision to remove the signs themselves, but also in the fact that policies on hanging signs and exhibiting protest materials around campus

has never been explicitly mentioned prior to this incident. There has been no protocol set in place for students who wish to post such signs peacefully. While it is nice to see a member of the administration not only take responsibility for an action that obviously upset the student body, but also apologize for it, there has definitely been a miscommunication between the administration and the student body about the current policies regarding signage. Signs and other displays are one of the most prevalent media through which students protest and make their voices heard. As a very efficient and effective way to reach a majority of the community, signs often serve as the initial medium by which students are exposed to movements and protests.

Additionally, movements such as this one (which fights that black lives do matter) initiate spontaneously. To create a group or club to support it is too tedious of a task, one that only

inhibits the power of the movement. Even to find a currently established club that could sponsor the movement and then approach the administration for approval could detract too much from the spirit of the campaign. While we sympathize with the hard decision that administration had to make, the signs were removed so quickly that it seems that students were never given a chance to defend their placement. We ask that the policy on signs be more clear and consistent so that students’ hard work doesn’t feel like it is in vain.

There was no clear reason for the administration to assume that the signs placed around campus were put there by outside groups rather than students. This semester especially, between the signs regarding sexual assault and the art around campus outlining the bodies of dead black people in chalk, students have chosen to utilize visual displays like signs to protest for their rights.

Website Editors Zak Kolar Andrew Parks Zach Phil Schwartz

Volume 11 • Issue 26 the brandeis hoot • brandeis university 415 south street • waltham, ma

Founded By Leslie Pazan, Igor Pedan and Daniel Silverman

Students walk out in protest of grand jury decision

STAFF

Charlotte Aaron, Clayre Benzadon, Ethan Berceli, Rachel Bossuk, Robin Briendel, Sharon Cai, Karen Caldwell, Shikha Chandarana, Rachel Dobkin, Curtis Zunyu He, Kevin Healey, Rachel Hirschhaut, Shayna Korol, Carter Kunkle, Joe Lanoie, Nabi Menai, Monique J Menezes, Joon Park, Lisa Petrie, Allison Plotnik, Sabrina Pond, Emily Scharf, Marian Siljeholm, Emily Smith, Naomi Soman, Hannah Stewart, Vardges Tserunyan, Joe Vigil, Michael Wang, Sophia Warren, Shreyas Warrier, Liya Wizevich, Ludi Yang 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. Recognizing that better journalism leads to better policy, The Brandeis Hoot is dedicated to the principles of investigative reporting and news analysis. Our mission is to give every community member a voice.

SUBMISSION POLICIES The Brandeis Hoot welcomes letters to the editor on subjects that are of interest to the community. Preference is given to current or former community members and The Hoot reserves the right to edit or reject submissions. The deadline for submitting letters is Wednesday at noon. Please submit letters to letters@thebrandeishoot.com along with your contact information. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The opinions, columns, cartoons and advertisements printed in The Hoot do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

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To learn more, send us an e-mail at join@thebrandeishoot.com, or visit our website http://thebrandeishoot.com/join.

UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS We welcome unsolicited submissions from members of the community sent by e-mail to eic@thebrandeishoot.com. Please limit submissions to 800 words. All submissions are subject to editing.

From DIE-INS, page 1

the Brandeis administration less than a day later.

In an email to the Brandeis community, Dean of Student Life Jamele M. Adams claimed that the signs were removed because the administration was not aware they were placed by students.

The Monday protest, titled “#HandsUpWalkOut” on Facebook, was a local show of solidarity with similar events nationwide, and was organized by Ra Malika Imhotep ’15 and students Leah Hoffman, Christian Perry, Nick Hurt and Rima Chaudry from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The Facebook event encouraged students to walk out of their classes around 12:45 p.m., in order to “stand together against police brutality and against a future where the law perpetuates and legitimizes inequality and violence.” The organizers could not be reached for comment in time before this article was published.

The event began with the organizers standing at the top of the steps, speaking on the Ferguson decision and systems of inequality designed to harm and oppress black Americans, including law enforcement. “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable,” said the leaders of the event, quoting Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Attendees were also encouraged to turn to their neighbors and have a conversation on why the issue being presented was important to them personally.

Conversations regarding police brutality, allyship against injustice and the “cheapness” of black life in America were had before the crowd was asked to perform a “die-in.” The guests were called upon to lie down as if they were dead for four and a half minutes, representing the four and a half hours Michael Brown’s body lay in the street after he was killed.

During the “die-in,” a list of names of African-Americans killed by law enforcement

and racialized violence was read, including the names of Brown, Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy shot in Cleveland by police in November. Following the four and a half minutes, the crowd participated in a call-andresponse of a quote by activist Assata Shakur.

On Dec. 2, one day after the die-in, a Facebook page called “Black Lives Matter Brandeis” was created, claiming to be run by an unnamed group of students as a voice for similar activism on campus. The group condemned the removal of the banners, pointing out online that in the past, non-racially-focused banners placed at Brandeis had not been removed for weeks, much less hours.

Neither “Black Lives Matter Brandeis” nor the organizers of the die-in have announced any further plans for activism or meetings with the university administration. They have, however, made it clear that they will make their voices heard, one way or another.

ARTS, ETC.

11 The Brandeis Hoot

December 5, 2014

Christian Gentry and Susan Dibble lead discussion on ‘Duckfoot’ at Rose Art Museum

By Clayre Benzadon Staff

On Dec. 3, composer and lecturer Christian Gentry led a discussion in the Rose Art Museum with Professor Susan Dibble (THA) on Elizabeth Murray’s piece “Duckfoot.”

Gentry describes the piece as absurdist, with a little comedy in the composition in a subtle form. To call the painting a “duck foot” contrasts with the conventional standard of beauty, since a duck foot is seen as the most awkward part of a duck.

Therefore, “Duckfoot” is not a representational composition, but rather described musically by Gentry as a riff. The major theme underlying “Duckfoot” is the idea of the paradox.

There is a constant sense of consonance, but also dissonance, throughout the piece, which creates a pleasing resonance of pushing and pulling the different ideas that this painting lends itself to.

Gentry continued to characterize “Duckfoot” in musical terms in order to give the work a whole new life and different perspective. He said, “talking about music is like dancing about architecture,” meaning that each art form is intertwined with another and contains the same descriptions, just described in different ways. When he first saw this painting, Gentry was automatically reminded of bebop jazz.

The loudness of the warm colors, of the reds, yellows and oranges, and the almost three-dimensional sculpture are the main aspects that helped him associate the art to bebop jazz.

The musical features that Gentry tried to get the audience to spot in the work were melody, harmony, rhythm,

form, texture and tambour. The “me- sitting. The oil on canvas also con- ring to it and feathery distortions that lodious” quality refers back to this in- tributes to dry and sheen texture. The bleed into the texture.”

Towards the end, the audience atterplay between the consonance and further up towards the top shapes the dissonance in the piece. There are no viewer looks, the more the viewer can tempted to make out figures from the right angles throughout “Duckfoot,” see the sheen smoothness. The inde- piece. Murray used the domestic life as the painting is not a conventional pendent colors are what ultimately as a theme for a lot of her paintings, square canvas. The shapes are made make up the totality of the work, and so to some, the art looks like the orup of ambiguous acute and obtuse an- the roundness of the sound of the ange figure was a steaming mug of tea gles that tweak with the piece’s form. piece is described as having a “brassy or coffee balanced on top of an apple The rhythm and free movement of the piece allows viewers to interpret the clustered shapes and feathery brushstrokes themselves.

The timbre was discussed through the different qualities of the colors and the light harmonies that go together with the color. The free-flowing movement lines work together with regularities and irregularities of musical sound waves through the artwork, which also does the job of occupying spatial and visual mastery. The different contours also create rhythm in the composition through the similar ratios of each shape, all similar in size. Additionally, the arrangement of the objects creates a unity of elements, all together precisely in the spatial realm of art.

The textural elements of “Duckfoot” were also discussed in great detail, especially through the musical definitions of monophony, homophony and polyphony. Monophony is characterized by one clear melodic line, homophony contained more than two melodies together, and polyphony is different, distinct melodies sounding interpedently between each other, with rich, dense sounds.

The cracks in the painting show the overpowering nature of the colors, the thread-like texture, and adds a sort of beauty to the piece that marks the artist’s commitment to finishing the painting in different stages, rather ‘duckfoot’ Christian Gentry and Susan Dibble led a talk about the piece, calling it absurdist. than producing the piece in just one

and orange. Another person thought that they saw a foot and a baby cradled in the middle of the piece. Either way, the message of this piece was to give people space to imagine and create their own interpretations about the piece. “The strangeness, weirdness and unknown is ultimately what captures the essence of what art is about.”

photo from internet source

‘Serial’ podcast mystifies and hooks listeners

By Theresa Gaffney Editor

This past October, a new podcast “Serial” was released and immediately became a hit. “Serial” is a spinoff of WBEZ’s “This American Life,” which has been on air since 1995. The podcast is released weekly on Thursdays, and is a non-fiction account of one woman’s attempt to uncover the details of a murder that happened 15 years ago.

This woman is Sarah Koenig, a producer at “This American Life.” In the podcast, Koenig is trying to decipher the truth of a real murder case that took place in Baltimore in 1999.

Adnan Musud Syed was a 17-year-old high school senior convicted of mur-

dering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Lee was 18 years old when she was murdered on Jan. 13, 1999. The cause of death was manual strangulation.

Koenig learned about the case when Rabia Chaudry, the older sister of Syed’s best friend, sent her an email asking her to look over the case, as she believes he is innocent. Chaudry believes that the lawyer had thrown the case in order to get more money from the appeal. The lawyer has since died, and Syed has been in jail serving his life sentence ever since the trial.

Yet 15 years later, Syed still claims that he is innocent and that he had no reason to kill his ex-girlfriend.

Koenig does an excellent job of not jumping right away to believe him and looks at every piece of evidence

Cold Shoulder By Katherine Selector

with an analytical eye.

“On paper, the case was like a Shakespearean mash-up,” Koenig says in the first podcast, “young lovers from different worlds, thwarting their families, secret assignations, jealousy, suspicion and honor besmirched.

And a final act of murderous revenge.”

After listening to the first four episodes of this podcast, I am already hooked. While it isn’t exactly a Shakespearean drama, the story is frustratingly complex, yet so simple at the same time. With each episode, Koenig tries to make sense of a certain piece of the case, whether it be the alibi, the crazy story of “Mr. S,” the man who found the body, or the part another suspect may have played.

And I’m not the only one who

can’t get enough. “Serial” has exploded, reaching No. 1 on iTunes before it even debuted. And it stayed there. “Combining the drama of prestige-television-style episodic storytelling, the portability of podcasts and the reliability of ‘This American Life’, the show has been, perhaps not surprisingly, ranked at No. 1 on iTunes for much of the past couple of weeks,” said The New Yorker.

Each episode varies in length, usually ranging anywhere from half an hour to a full hour. Each time I am engrossed by Koenig telling her story and am surprised to already hear her say “next time on ‘Serial’,” as the music fades out. The music by Nicholas Thornburn is simple and obviously not the main focus of the show, but

it just fits the narrative and Koenig’s voice perfectly.

While the producers of the show had been worried about where the funding for a second season would come from, listeners were so desperate for more that the money needed was donated within one week.

Fans of the show have already dedicated themselves to it, creating a subreddit page for the podcast, even a meme of its sponsor, Mailchimp, calling the meme Mailkimp. “Serial” is a must-listen for anybody who loves podcasts, mysteries or simply good story-telling. It is available for download on iTunes every Thursday morning at 6 a.m. or can be streamed at SerialPodcast.org.

December 5, 2014

Brandeis research opportunities offer new perspectives

By Michael Wang staff

So I got a new job as an assistant in the preparatory area of a biology lab the other day. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to get some exposure to the research facilities located within a university that’s specifically known for conducting original research.

Now, I’m aware there’s a pretty high concentration of people at Brandeis who are planning on embarking on careers centered around the hard sciences, and they’re pretty interested in just how they might secure a lab job. Whether one plans to become a physicist, chemist, health care professional, molecular biologist, biophysicist or a plain old, boring biochemist like I am, it’s generally recommended they accrue at least some experience working in a real lab outside of the classroom setting at some point during their undergraduate studies.

I’m essentially a biology department grunt at the moment, the extent of whose duties stretches to pushing around, cleaning up and mixing together an assorted collection of different stuffs—sometimes with gloves.

Granted, it is not the most glamorous job, can sometimes be pretty gross, exposes me to some pretty pungent (but non-hazardous) fumes and basically relegates me to the coveted duty of science janitor here and there, but I like it. The work is actually rather relaxed, the people in the lab are friendly, I get to operate some machinery I’d never seen before, and I’m learning things here and there that never really would get covered in a classroom setting—like why someone is an inconsiderate fool when he or she forgets to push the jacket-steam button after running a big oven-thing called the autoclave through a fluid cycle.

Speaking of which, the autoclave is arguably one of the coolest, if simultaneously uncomfortable, things to operate in this job. The autoclave is a large oven in which a number of different lab materials and waste products are heated and subsequently returned to their respective labs for general use and the garbage can, respectively. Objects placed within the autoclave are subjected to two rounds of autoclaving, unless said objects happen to be liquids: the sterilization phase and the drying phase. Now, liquids might be run through the autoclave so that they might be sterilized, but the autoclave is also used for a slightly more sinister purpose, and that is what I like to call “smothering fruit flies to death while maybe also burning them a little.” At the same time “sterilizing” flies has a catchier ring to it, even if referring to it as such in a real conversation would either make one sound gratuitously diabolical or make it sound like the flies are getting castrated for some reason.

It would be somewhat irresponsible for the fly labs of Brandeis to breed tens of thousands of mutant flies and then release them into the wild to mate and invade Sherman or Curritos; instead, the flies are basically doomed to a rather short, boring existence never having more than a few cubic inches of space to move around in until they’re either dissected, poured into rather gruesome “fly-morgues”—glass bottles filled with water and soap, or ethanol—or disposed of en masse in special, nonflammable autoclave bags, autoclaved to death and subsequently tossed in the trash. Admittedly, were I to spend my entire life buzzing around a stupid cubic inch of space, I’d probably prefer taking my chances with reincarnation and enter the stifling hellfire that is “death by autoclave” to my boring, non-sapient, three-day prison sentence of a life. I admit I feel a twinge of compassion every now and then for these completely oblivious, dumb, invertebrate animals, here and then.

Otherwise, I just roll things around and wash things up. It’s not actually that exciting, but I’m still glad I’m here with an excuse to ask a ton of questions anytime I’m exposed to something new.

OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot 12

Univ. hides fact that tuition increases aren’t necessary

By Andrew Elmers Editor

The biannual stress surrounding finals and the end of the semester is always compounded by the university sending out the bill for the next semester’s tuition right before the Thanksgiving break. Adding to typical holiday stresses with family visiting and birds to be stuffed, plus those from school itself, sending the bill at this time seems almost maniacal. Just the reminder that you owe a large sum of money to a school that is currently putting you through hell seems inconsiderate. Yet the school needs to make sure families are given an adequate amount of time to pay before classes begin in the spring.

However, not everyone receives a regular bill from the school—or at least one that asks for a tuition payment. Looking at the payment options on the Office of Student Financial Services website, at the very bottom of the page, is the “Tuition Stabilization Plan.” Looking at the fact sheet related to it, this plan allows students, or parents, to prepay tuition for future semesters at the current rate. Basically, for an incoming firstyear for the class of 2019, they can pay for their 2018-2019 academic year tuition at the cost for the 2014-2015 academic year, simply because they are able to.

There are some variations in the plan, such as being able to prepay for anywhere from four semesters to eight semesters, but families are able to forego agonizing about the inevitable rise in tuition that comes every year and just pay for tuition. While this only covers tuition costs, and not room and board costs or other fees (so those on the stabilization plan still receive a bill), it makes a huge difference to be able to pay for tuition all at once. Tuition for the 2013-2014 year was $44,380, and that rose to $46,022 for the 2014-2015 year, a difference of over $1,600.

Over the standard four-year education, that’s a See TUITION, page 15

photo by katherine selector/the hoot

In defense of Uber

By Zach Phil Schwartz editor

Here at Brandeis, we face both the positives and the negatives of living on a suburban campus, relatively disconnected from the bustle of city life. It’s a peaceful and semi-isolated existence, yet to get off campus to other nearby areas, it can sometimes be a challenge. As helpful as taxis can be, more and more students have been using Uber, an alternative method of transportation.

Uber, the private ride-sharing service offered as an alternative to taxi services, has drawn unrelenting criticism on all sides, as it has grown over the years. From the get-go, the service, which allows anyone with a smartphone and the app to hail a ride, has strived to be more efficient than cabs, and although it has met speed bumps along the way, does not deserve the onslaught of disparagement it receives.

When I returned from the Thanksgiving break with a few friends, we found ourselves at the Riverside T Station without a ride back to campus. The campus shuttle had just left, so we would have had to wait another hour for the next one. We called a local cab company, who confessed it would be another thirty minutes before they could take us. Naturally, as tired and weary college students teeming with impatience, we looked for another method. Remembering I had already signed up for Uber, I decided to give the app a try, and I couldn’t have been happier with the results.

The driver pulled up within two minutes, helped us load our baggage into the trunk, and most of all, did not dawdle in the drive. In the past, I’ve taken cabs to campus where the cabbie purposefully took detours and roads with more frequent stops to hike up the meter. Our Uber driver was not like that. Perhaps because it was not a true cab company, the driver was not preoccupied with hiking the meter. It was a prompt trip of no more than seven minutes, the driver went on his way immediately afterward, and no cash was needed.

One of the criticisms of Uber is that it hikes ride prices in certain conditions, especially when demand is higher or road conditions are See UBER, page 14 photo from internet source

December 5, 2014

OPINION 13

The Brandeis Hoot

The fault in our radiators

Family transcends religious boundaries

By Kevin Healey Staff

It’s getting colder here on campus, and as the mercury goes down, more and more students are turning on their heating systems. Unfortunately, for far too many of us, that means rattling pipes, oppressive temperatures and frequent work orders. Our current heating systems, especially in our older residence halls, are in desperate need of an upgrade, and if we don’t act soon, the problems will become even worse.

What we overwhelmingly have here at Brandeis is called forced hot-water heating in which boiling water is forced through exposed pipes to heat the air around it.

Though state of the art when many residence halls were built, these systems haven’t aged well and have been outclassed by more modern heating methods. The energy required to heat water, then transport it across a building and possibly up several floors, and then have it heat air means that quite a bit of heat is wasted. This significantly lowers the fuel efficiency of our buildings, burning excess fossil fuels and wasting energy when the university should be focused on reducing its carbon footprint.

Beyond the system’s environmental impacts, our current heating systems are also generally difficult to use. Because the system works by forcing scalding water into the heating system, the only thing that can be controlled is how much water flows through the system. Although this does allow for some temperature control, the system tends to heavily heat a room no matter what setting it’s on, leading to either a freezing room with no heat or an incredibly hot room. This further wastes energy and can make students uncomfortable in

By Michael DeYoung Special to the Hoot

See RADIATORS, page 15

photo from internet source

Brandeis should open up to Christmas

By Joe Lanoie Staff

photo by linjie xu/the hoot

After Thanksgiving, and unfortunately even earlier, after Halloween, society turns to the next big holiday: Christmas. The holiday commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the day that, according to Christian belief, God came into the world to save mankind. Other holidays are celebrated around the same time: Chanukah memorializes the Second Temple’s reclaiming by the Maccabees and the miracle of the Temple menorah’s single night oil allotment lasting eight nights. The Winter Solstice notes the season’s changing and the increase of daylight.

Kwanzaa is a weeklong holiday celebrating African-American identity by honoring unity, self-determination and purpose, among other ideals. Brandeis does not recognize any of these holidays, other than Chanukah, with an organized event. A few years ago, a huge laser light show played in the Shapiro Campus Center for the Festival of Lights. There were no Christmas or Kwanzaa parties, with barely a sign they existed. Brandeis must acknowledge and celebrate Gentile holidays. The few holiday spirits here isolate these holiday minority groups on campus.

Signs of other holidays on this campus are not tolerated. Last year, Dunkin’ Donuts played Christmas music and hung decorations. Yearning for some Christmas spirit, I enjoyed it until the music disappeared. I asked about its absence; having worked for a big box retailer, I knew Dunkin’ Donuts did not control its own store’s music. The manager mentioned that they had to remove it “because someone threatened [to sue or complain.]”

There is no other mention of Christmas on campus, and so far this year, I am not optimistic. Yet Chanukah events are funded by Student Events. I enjoy these events and candle-lightings, and we should have them. What irks me is that I cannot have a Christmas tree or a nativity scene up in public, yet my roommates can have a menorah. All happiness is private; since holi See CHRISTMAS, page 15

Beatrice W. Hudson, known to me as Be Be, was my great-grandmother. She was one of the strongest, and most caring people I have ever met. Born May 10, 1918, in Suffolk, Virginia, she was the oldest of 13, and played a major part in raising her many siblings. Being a black woman in the racially divided South presented many obstacles. Every day, the black minority experienced segregation and daily oppression by the white majority, yet my great-grandmother never strayed from her religion. She attended church every Sunday, celebrated every holiday and said a prayer before going to bed each night.

Growing up as a bi-racial Jew, I have struggled with my identity on a daily basis. I was raised in a predominantly white town, and attended a Jewish day school and synagogue with little diversity. “Are you Jewish?” and “What are you?” were questions I was asked far too often. People’s doubts and confusion about my religious identity made it hard to feel accepted in the Jewish community. Knowing that my great-grandmother was able to live through times where being black resulted in beatings and deaths yet still maintain such strong religious beliefs inspired me to be proud of my Jewish heritage.

Though the puzzled glares and questions still persist, my doubts have been extinguished. Judaism is an important part of who I am, and my great-grandmother understood and respected that. She knew who I was: her great-grandson.

Though we were of different faiths, she attended almost every religious event I was part of. In fact, the picture we took on my bar mitzvah became one of her favorites. Every time I came to visit, there it was on the table, housed in a beautiful frame. She would often tell people amusedly, “Look at my handsome husband,” and smile. At the time, I was outwardly abashed hearing this so often, but internally, I was happy to have gotten this title. I could truly be myself around her; she loved me unconditionally. She was so proud to be my great-grandmother. She was Christian, and I was Jewish, but we were family.

As her age began to take its toll, she struggled to remember who I was. On my final visit with her, I sat next to her bed, holding her hand for about an hour. She liked when people held her hand. Though the television was playing in the background, she still wanted to make conversation. She would fluctuate between thinking I was myself or another family member. From time to time she would have me remind her who I was, and where she was. Interestingly, she was never startled when she didn’t recognize me. She still saw me as a member of her family. She often asked how we were related. When I explained the connection, the expression on her face was like that of a child being presented with a trip to Disney World. She was so happy that she was a great-grandmother and that she had “such a good looking family.” It was very hard for me when my great-grandmother did not know who I was. The woman to whom I felt so connected, who loved and accepted me unconditionally, who would inspired me, did not know me for me. Yet there was comfort in knowing that she sensed a familiarity with me. I was her

photo from internet source

14 OPINIONS

The Brandeis Hoot

December 5, 2014

Brandeis Education Department offers a true education

By Dana Trismen Editor

I believe that classes in the Education Department at Brandeis are some of the most valuable at this school, for any student. Even for people who have never had any interest in teaching as a career, or people who lack the patience to become teachers, taking education classes is still worthwhile.

I entered Brandeis knowing what I wanted to major in (English and creative writing). Then I toyed around a little bit with the idea of adding psychology as a major but instead chose to pursue a secondary education minor—an option that would allow me to graduate with a teaching license. I observed public high school and middle school classes at three different schools in Waltham and Newton.

I created lesson plans on “The Iliad” and a middle-grade book called “Seedfolks.” I considered my (imaginary) student’s possible obstacles, from second-language learners to students with special needs.

I saw myself as a middle-school teacher, preferably for eighth grade. I thought that in middle school, I could truly make a difference in the lives of children who are on the cusp of becoming teenagers, kids who are dealing with many challenges from puberty to bullying. I read in my education classes that if people intervene in a child’s life during middle school and show that child the vast amount of opportunities and doors that can be opened to them (including college and even grad school), then these children become much more motivated to do well in high school. I wanted to be a teacher who inspired that kind of change.

However, real life got in the way.

After two years, I decided not to pursue my secondary education minor. I still see myself becoming a teacher, in some capacity, at some point in my life—just not right now. I chose to focus on my writing, my thesis project and my interest in public relations and communications. However, I have never regretted taking any education courses at Brandeis, despite the many hours of observation in classrooms and work that they require. This is why I feel able to recommend to other students that an education class is beneficial, regardless of what major you’re pursuing.

First off, the faculty members are fantastic. They are experts in their field (all teachers, some former superintendents and all educators of educators). They have first-hand experience in the classroom and on the ground level, and have also implemented policy changes. The way they teach their classes at Brandeis is also great, and includes dynamic classroom lessons. I have always had the utmost respect for the faculty in the education department and they have been some of my favorite professors here. They also go out of their way to help students. Education classes are primarily small, so the instructor gets to know each student well. Personally, one of my mentors went above and beyond when trying to find me a student-teaching placement, considering my needs and my own goals for teaching in the process. She also wrote me a recommendation.

It is also important to consider that many of the professors at any college or university do not actually have a degree in pedagogy. While they may have a lot of knowledge about their field, be it math or history, they are usually not as well versed in teaching

photo from internet source

waltham public schools

This is a photo of the Waltham High School, where many Brandeis students observe as parts of class requirements.

methodologies and how to best reach different kinds of students.

Education professors, on the other hand, are very practiced in this, and it shows in the way their classes are engaging.

Education classes often examine the state of the world as a whole, which is important for students to know about. Better education policy across the United States could affect many areas and empower many children. Encouraging women to be scientists and children to take accountability for their actions can all be done in the classroom. Teachers change children’s lives and therefore change the world, and it is fascinating what someone can discover in an

education class. Motivating entire groups of people is possible with a better education system.

The classes at Brandeis explore how different types of learners can grasp the same material, and how teachers can scaffold learning.

This then becomes helpful in figuring out what kind of learner you yourself are, so you can become a better student.

Students also discover the hardships of people who do not walk in their shoes. I took an English-language learners education class and discovered just how hard it is for people who are not native English speakers to navigate the American classroom. Imagine going into your biology class, and all of

a sudden your teacher spoke half in English, half in Japanese. How much material would you grasp?

How well would you do on the exam? How long would it take before you got frustrated? I realized that my whole life, I had been very lucky in my educational journey.

I am a native English speaker. My parents read to me as a child and impressed upon me the importance of academics. They praised me when I did well and motivated me. My entire family has attended college and expected it of me.

There are many who have a much more difficult educational path.

My recommendation is this: Take an education class before you graduate.

Uber can do better in accepting responsibility UBER, from page 12

treacherous. We need to look at this situation through the eyes of an Uber driver. If you were a driver for Uber, maybe trying to make an extra buck by driving some folks around, is it worth your time to sit around in traffic during peak hours when demand is high? Is it worth your safety to drive in treacherous conditions? Those are situations to which many would respond to with “pay me more or I won’t do it.” This is exactly the case for an Uber driver. They don’t have to waste their time nor do they have to risk their lives for the same prices. It’s essentially hazard pay, and these drivers deserve it for making themselves available to serve you.

Among the fixes to the issue of price fluctuations is for the company to simply let the customer know beforehand that the prices may fluctuate, due to traffic, weather, etc. during the ride. This allows customers to be aware of price changes. They can then decide whether to take the ride or not beforehand.

Another issue many have with the ride-sharing service is that they are not a licensed taxi company, nor are all the drivers licensed taxi drivers.

They are just regular folks with drivers licenses and cars. The problem is that when something like harassment occurs, who exactly is held accountable? In the past, there have been sexual harassment and rape allegations against Uber drivers, and while the company declares that their number one mission is safety, more could

photo from internet source

definitely be done to prevent and deal with these situations.

First off, the best way to prevent these situations for ride-sharing services like Uber is to do a more comprehensive background check on prospective drivers. This way the company can hire the right drivers for the job and assure the public that their service is safe.

Second, in the event that something does transpire in a registered driver’s

car, whether on duty or off, the company should be held responsible and should not be able to hide behind the fine print of its terms of service.

Of course the rider agrees to the terms, but why should the company be allowed to even hide behind such terms? There needs to be some sort of regulation as to the level of responsibility these companies are required to promise to their customers, who place their lives in the hand of strang-

ers with cars.

Obviously, the majority of the drivers are just strangers trying to make some money, but there is bound to be a portion of the pool consisting of malevolent drivers that make it past the current background checks. However, with proper augmentation of terms of services and strengthening of the security of the company, this minority can be rooted out.

For the most part, Uber and oth-

er similar ride-sharing services are helpful, faster, and sometimes cheaper alternatives to conventional transportation options. Also, many of its criticisms, while valid, have easy fixes and tend to unfairly hurt the services’ reputations. If we as a society can stop totally focusing on the shortcomings of companies and start working on trying to fix them, situations like what Uber and similar organizations face can be ameliorated.

December 5, 2014

OPINIONS15

The Brandeis Hoot

Brandeis’ War on Christmas CHRISTMAS, from page 13

days are public, this tries to have a cake and eat it too.

The holiday schedule put out by the Department of Student Activities is not holiday-themed in nature, instead a pure hodgepodge of coincidental and holiday irrelevant events. The first event, the tree-lighting at Copley Square, is off-campus and has no Brandeis-sponsored transportation. Silent auctions, pre-scheduled Tringo, music class recitals and talking to strangers are not holiday events. Examples of such would be visiting Santa, carolling, ugly-sweater showoffs and cocoa parties—events that make one think of the yuletide season. The events offered by Student Events being holiday events is like labelling Adam Sandler’s “Eight Crazy Nights” a Christmas movie because it takes place in December.

Student Activities took already existing events and put them on a nice poster, claiming them all to be holiday events. As comedian Debra Wilson once quipped on Mad TV, “Just because you put syrup on a piece of toast don’t make it a pancake!”

You may be wondering about my lack of including the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” with the kosher Christmas cookies and carols; alas, the event is not holiday-themed. Firstly, all Christmas cookies are kosher by nature. If you buy mass-produced packaged cookies from a

chain store, more likely than not, the company would have asked a rabbi to certify the process and ingredients as kosher. Secondly, Student Events does not fund nor sponsor the event. The Catholic Students Organization organizes the carolling and the music is provided by Brandeis ensembles, doing so for a class grade. Thirdly, Handel’s “Messiah” is not a Christmas work, but an Easter work appropriated to Yuletide.

The oratorio was first sung and played on April 13, 1742. This was about two weeks after Easter Sunday, and since the Easter season lasts for 50 days, the oratorio would have been meant for and played in an Easter context. The famous “Hallelujah” chorus commemorates the end of the Passion, when Jesus died. Brandeis is basically playing “Taps” for a birthday party. Overtime, people erroneously performed it outside of the Easter season and assumed it to be a Christmas event. It is not and must never be considered one.

So why does Brandeis host the event? This is a saccharine “love all and everything” event before finals and not a Christmas celebration. This is further proved by last year’s pamphlets making it a political event: Apparently, the event is not religious, despite all of it coming from the Bible, but a social justice celebration. Taking Brandeis’ own words, this beloved tradition destroys any Christmas spirit, and is meant to inspire whatever social justice is. Christmas cheer cannot

be extant, apparently, without some false political message.

Holiday cheer on campus does not exist due to finals, and the few examples of it are squashed. Finals occur during Chanukah this year and before all of the other holidays. One cannot have a party for the season. Quiet hours are enacted three days prior. The assumption is we are all good students and spend day and night holed up in the library making sure we all do well enough to make the dean’s

list. Even good students need study breaks. Also, to put it nicely, not all Brandeisians possess the foresight to study in advance. It would be nice to have a Christmas party during finals, but due to the Department of Community Living’s moratorium on events after Dec. 8, we must celebrate our holidays in silence. All-in-all, it sucks not being able to have a Christmas celebration on this campus. I am a senior, so I am relieved to say it will be my last one. In the world

outside of campus, the Christmas season becomes sullied. Yet we all need a little Christmas, as the song goes, to make stresses such as finals melt as the snow on the campus does. And if someone does not celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah or any other holiday, that is fine. The experience means more to the believer or the celebrant. I wish you the best holiday you celebrate this year. Feel free to wish me a Merry Christmas if you see me.

Flat rate tuition charge unadvertised TUITION, from page 12

savings of over $9,600, enough to buy a decent used car, if you assume tuition will rise by $1,600 each year over four years.

This plan produces a class-based dilemma as well, since it makes it so that people with the money to prepay tuition pay less tuition overall, increasing the disparity between the very rich and the rest (if only slightly, in the big picture). If tuition stabilization is made available for the very rich, then it should be available for all students.The university barely advertises this option when educating students and families on ways to afford and pay for Brandeis, instead choosing to highlight the generous financial aid packages awarded. Of course not everyone has $184,088 in liquid assets lying around to pay for four years’ worth of tuition at once, but imagine if every incoming student took advantage of this plan and paid all four years of tuition at once without regarding the certain rise in

the cost of tuition. When that fourth year rolls around, there’s sure to be some sort of pitfall in the accounting books. I mean, that must be why the school has to raise tuition by over $1,500 every year, even though other market indicators like minimum wage don’t increase at the same rate.

But even if Bill Gates funded the entire class of 2019’s tuition costs using the stabilization plan, the school wouldn’t be facing any major problems when that fourth year rolled around. Of course the funds usually reserved for grants and scholarships wouldn’t have to be given out, and this would cover the difference in the lower tuition costs. But the simple fact that the school is willing to admit that it’s fine to pay tuition four years in advance at the current rate means that there is no justification for the university to raise tuition each and every year. Yet tuition will still rise for the next academic year even though this basic admittal is published on the school’s website.

And while the school is already ex-

tremely generous in handing out financial aid to students, so the rise in tuition does not affect them as much as others, those who pay out of pocket or take out private loans are very much affected. $9,600 is a great deal of money to potentially lose out on, and when you think of the interest that could accrue on an extra $9,600 for those that take out loans, that comes out to even more money lost. It is even possible that someone might decide to take out a giant loan to cover all four years of tuition at the stabilized rate instead of taking out loans for each year—though it probably would be difficult to find a bank to hand out a loan over $180,000.

Still, the university is basically pulling numbers out of thin air when they tell students each year that tuition is once again being raised. There is no need to raise tuition each year when people are still struggling to find jobs, including recent graduates, when others—specifically others who don’t actually need the help—are able to pay tuition at a flat rate.

Campus heating systems can use an upgrade RADIATORS, from page 13

their rooms.

The systems also tend to build up sand inside the pipes, which can be very labor intensive to clean out. This costs the university quite a bit of money in maintenance, since the pipes regularly clog, and wastes the time of maintenance workers who could be doing something more important. Beyond that, the sediment that builds up in the pipes can disrupt the flow of the water even if the pipes don’t clog. This causes the pipes to rattle, disrupting sleep and being generally

annoying, as anyone in an older residence hall, such as in Massell, can attest.

The most pressing concern, however, is how these problems will change over time. The majority of our heating systems are rather old, and as they age, the systems tend to break down more quickly.

Pipes can begin to leak, can fill with sediment more quickly, and the systems will become even less energy efficient. Over time, our residence halls are approaching a tipping point, at which the costs of maintaining our current systems become unbearable. We don’t have to have heating systems like this.

Our newer residence halls, for instance, contain central air heating, in which warm air is fed directly into a room. These newer systems use far less energy and are significantly more user-friendly, as they allow for a variety of different temperatures and never produce the low rattling so many of us have gotten used to. In addition, these systems don’t contain pipes, so they cannot clog and require significantly less maintenance.

This will both save the university money and allow for maintenance workers to focus on more pressing issues. All the benefits above are great, but if the university cannot

afford to pay for them then they aren’t particularly useful. In order to install central air in our older residence halls, it certainly would be expensive. Ducts are larger than pipes, and would require structural work to install. For these reasons, I’m not advocating for the immediate replacement of all our university’s old heating systems. Instead, we can focus on a longer-term maintenance plan to update the systems. Especially as our current heating systems age, more and more maintenance will be required. At some point, the maintenance costs of the old system will become larger than

those of installing a newer system, and at that time the upgrades should be installed. This will allow the university to save money for the installation costs, as well as spreading the costs over multiple budget cycles. This will allow the current system to become much more efficient and effective.

When the defining feature of a Brandeis winter is rattling pipes, one knows there’s a problem. It’s time for our university to adopt a plan and refurbish our outdated heating systems. It’s critically important for us to update our heating systems, lest we face any more problems.

ARTS, ETC.

16 The Brandeis Hoot

December 5, 2014

SASA showcases annual Mela show with ‘Junoon: The Power of Passion’

By Lisa Petrie Staff

The South Asian Student Association’s (SASA) annual Mela show, this year named “Junoon: The Power of Passion,” occurred on Nov. 22 in Levin Ballroom. The emcees announced that there were over 150 performers, which is more than they have ever had. At least 700 people were in the audience in Levin.

The opening of the show was a little awkward. While three emcees had good chemistry, a lot of their dialogue was forced and detracted a bit from the performances. However, the executive board had a very nicely choreographed dance that started the night off on a high note.

The performers in Laasya, an Indian dance ensemble at Brandeis, were the first of the groups to perform.

Their routine was very well organized and upbeat. Next up was Stop Motion, a hip-hop dance troupe, whose most memorable skills were break dancing and the use of comedy. The first-year dance was entertaining, and continued the show at the same pace as the other routines.

The fashion show was cute, and the dresses were beautiful, but it could have been a lot shorter. The rest of the show was very high energy until this point, and the fashion show brought it to a grinding halt. It did help slow down the pace a little for the next act, however, which was a spoken word piece performed by Rohan Narayanan ’15.

Narayanan introduced himself as a fairly new slam poet who had started writing last semester. For Mela, he performed the first poem he had ever written. The poem was very well composed, although the performance was a little lackluster. He was clearly nervous, and consequently he was sometimes hard to understand because he did not enunciate clearly, often spoke too quickly and mostly spoke in a monotone. He redeemed himself when he built to a crescendo to end.

The dance performed by the sophomores was very well choreographed and was executed with a lot of enthusiasm, but was occasionally slop-

py. Overall though, it was a very enjoyable piece. The belly dancers went next, and were good as usual.

They have had better performances, though, and the solo section was a little too long. However, their usual charisma, gorgeous costumes and unbeatable skills made for an entertaining performance. Next, we took a pause to learn about a sponsored charity, Asha for Education, which aims to bring education to all Indian children. This slowed down the per-

passion and culture

formance a bit, but was very clean and put together.

At the end of the first act, Chak De, a Bollywood-fusion dance team, showcased their talents. Chak De played a video of a fight between their two choreographers that ended in a “Freaky Friday”-like switch of their bodies, creating the storyline for their piece. Chak De ended the act on a great note, pumping up the crowd for the next act with their high energy blend of Bollywood and American

This year’s MELA was entertainingly successful.

dance styles and spot-on performance.

The second act was slightly more successful than the first act, and definitely held its own after a long intermission. The group MASTI from Boston College performed first and started the act with a bang. Their choreography was performed perfectly in sync. Their costumes were eye-catching and looked great on stage. They had very smooth formation changes and successfully used American

photo by sharon cai /the hoot

songs in their piece in a way that was fun but not distracting.

So Unique, Brandeis’ step team, was equally entertaining. The content was funny, the dancers were perfect together and precise, and they made the audience laugh by making fun of each other in a non-offensive way.

The dance performed by the juniors was fun, but the amount of people on stage made it a bit confusing at times. The juniors choreographed separate boys and girls dances that were especially successful, and their enthusiasm and commitment shined through for the entire piece.

The graduate student dance was also high energy. All of the performers smiled the entire time, which made their piece more enjoyable to watch. Their dance was a little messy but very well choreographed, with more Americanized moves than some of the other pieces, plus they changed outfits halfway through, which was well executed.

After this, the show slowed down a bit for a spoken word piece by Naman Patel ’16. His poem was well written, well performed and gave a very profound message.

The STUDS went next, a group of boys who did a comedic dance performance. They started off with a film, with which they had some technical difficulties. Once they got it working though it was pretty funny. The choreography was very random but cute, and the boys did a very good job executing it. This was definitely one of the funniest pieces in the show.

Bhangra performed a precise, virtually flawless piece as usual. Next were two singers, who were very talented but made a poor song choice. The song took too long to build up and did not get the audience pumped up at all. The seniors went last and performed a very nicely choreographed piece. Emotions definitely ran high as these seniors were performing at their last Mela show.

Overall, this year’s Mela show was incredibly fun due to the passion of the performers and their choreographers and directors. Everyone involved in this show should be proud of their hard work, and I hope to see an equally strong performance from SASA next year.