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Various “challenges” have been circulating Facebook, including one for which I was recently nominated: list 10 books that have impacted me. Not much of a challenge, in my opinion, although choosing which books to include did take some serious consideration.
A New York Times/CBS News poll has found that President Obama’s approval ratings are similar to George W. Bush’s ratings in 2006. About 40% of Americans approve of the President and 50% disapprove, comparable to Bush’s 37% and 56% during his sixth year in office. While 70% of Americans disapprove of Congressional Republicans, 45% say they would vote for a Republican if the 2014 midterm elections were being held today, as opposed to 39% who say they’d vote for a Democrat. Do you approve of Obama, and do you plan to vote Democrat, Republican or neither in 2014?
On Sunday, the United Nations launched an ambitious new women’s rights campaign aimed at people that don’t care about women’s rights campaigns. Titled the “He for She” campaign, this multifaceted lobby hopes to frame women’s rights as an issue that equally affects both men and women, and one in which both sexes should be equally involved. It couldn’t be more timely or more accurate. The Women Against Feminism movement has been gaining traction in recent years, promoting its misconception of feminism as being anti-men and of self-described feminists as being entitled and whiny, blaming society for all of their personal problems. It’s more critical than ever that we understand that gender equality is, in the words of the He for She website, “not only a women’s issue, it is a human rights issue that requires [our] attention.”
The incoming Class of 2018 was filled by May 1—marking the first time an incoming class has been filled by this date since the fall 2000 entering class— according to Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an email to the Justice.
The University announced on May 13 in a BrandeisNOW article that nine Brandeis undergraduates, graduates and recent alumni have been awarded grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The article also acknowledged that a Brandeis student was named a Goldwater Scholar and yet another was selected as the University’s second-ever Gates Cambridge Scholar.
On March 31, Brandeis released its list of honorary degree recipients for this year's commencement ceremony, including keynote speaker Geoffrey Canada, and five other hon-orees. Among these other honorees was Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose nomination caused an uproar in the Brandeis community, leading to her degree invitation being rescinded. Now, almost a month later, the school, its faculty and student body are still dealing with the fallout from someone, somewhere in the administrative food chain, not taking the time to read the first sentence of Hirsi Ali's Wikipedia page.
The University's Exploratory Committee on Fossil Fuel Divestment, which was established in October 2013 in order to assess whether or not the University should divest and how it would go about doing so, is continuing to work toward a way for Brandeis to divest from fossil fuels According to Michael Abrams '15, a student representative on the committee, the committee is currently looking at a period of three to five years during which the University would gradually move its portfolio away from fossil fuel corporations. The committee is comprised of students, faculty and administrators. Based off its analysis, the committee is expected to put together a proposal to present to the faculty and the Board of Trustees including its recommendations. A timeline has not yet been released. In April 2013, Students for a Just and Stable Future partnered with Brandeis Democrats and Students for Environmental Action to put divestment on the ballot for a vote by the student body. Students were given the opportunity to decide whether or not they thought the University should divest from fossil fuel corporations and instead invest in other, more "green" stocks for its endowment portfolio. The student body passed the motion with 79 percent of voters in favor of divestment, a total of 897 votes. Divestment is a "gradual process," Abrams said. "It takes time to find suitable replacements for the fossil fuel stocks." The chair of the committee and Dean of Student Financial Services, Peter Giumette noted in an email he wrote to the Justice that "there are a wide range of opinions as to that best course, and I am glad that we have a broad and well informed group considering these important issues." Senior Vice President of Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel wrote in an email to the Justice that the committee is continuing to work to make sure that its eventual proposal will "honor our social justice values and be representative of our diverse student and community views" and limit the "costs to Brandeis students." -Kathryn Brody
After a seven-year career at Brandeis, Dean of Career Services Joseph DuPont at the Hiatt Career Center is leaving the University to assume the position of associate vice president for student affairs at Boston College, beginning in the fall. "I am delighted about the opportunity at Boston College but will miss the amazing colleagues, staff and students that I have had the good fortune to work with in the past 7 years," DuPont wrote in an email to the Justice. "They are truly special, as is Brandeis." At Boston College, DuPont continued, he would have the opportunity to oversee "career initiatives for undergraduate, graduate and professional students in several different schools," including the College of Arts and Sciences, Carroll School of Management, Lynch School of Education, Connell School of Nursing and Woods College of Advancing Studies. DuPont wrote that he hopes to "create a united cross divisional school approach," which would "maximize career opportunities" for all of Boston College's students. The system would, as DuPont went on to say, draw upon "the expertise and strengths of many different departments and members" of the university. DuPont wrote that he is excited about being part of this "new venture to serve student career needs," and wrote that his time at the Hiatt working with both students and alumni has been "wonderful." According to DuPont, University administration is putting together a search committee to replace him. The last search for the position, which ended with DuPont's appointment in 2007, lasted almost a year before finding a suitable candidate. -Kathryn Brody
In the first round of Student Union elections, Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia '15 was elected as the next Union president. Walia, who won 62 percent of the vote, wrote in an email to the Justice that she is "unbelievably excited." Walia wrote that she plans to focus on increasing transparency about "major Union initiatives" and work with student groups on campus on diversity related initiatives. The other presidential candidates, Terrell Gilkey '15 and Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf, received 12 and 19 percent of the votes, respectively. In a close race, Sofia Muhlmann '16, was elected Student Union vice president, winning over Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina '16, with 42 percent of the votes going to Muhlmann and 40 percent to DePina. "[O]ne of the first things that I believe we as the Student Union need to think about is setting goals at the beginning of our terms, making reasonable deadlines to accomplish these goals, keeping all undergraduates in the know, and informing our constituency about how it is we are collectively working to represent and support our undergraduate community," wrote Muhlmann in an email to the Justice. Muhlmann also wrote that she is "looking forward" to tackling issues such as improving residence halls and meal plans, "increasing awareness" arround sexual assault and its advocacy as well as pushing for increased transparency regarding the University's administrative and financial affairs. Current Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 was elected secretary with 56 percent of the votes. Franco wrote in an email to the Justice that her top priorities will be "the club system as a whole," as well as the structure of the Union. She wrote that she hopes to collaborate with Student Activities to examine and look for ways to improve the support and resources provided for clubs. Assistant Treasurer Andrew Miller '16, the sole candidate for the office of the treasurer, was elected with 70 percent of the vote. Miller could not be reached for comment by press time. Class of 2016 Senator and Director of Communications Jonathan Jacob, Judy Nam '16, Elad Ohayon '17 and Ari Ben-Elazar '17 were elected to the Allocations Board. Jacob wrote in an email to the Justice that he aims to work with the Senate to de-charter "defunct or inactive clubs" and look for ways to provide funding for performance clubs, which currently do not receive money from the Union. Nam wrote in an email to the Justice that she will work to increase transparency between the A-Board and club leaders. "Increasing transparency will help students be assured that their money is being put to use efficiently to benefit not just select members of the campus, but the Brandeis community as a whole," she added. Nam's other goals include helping clubs on campus find ways to maximize funding for their events, building communication between the A-Board and clubs leaders and "smoothing out some procedural kinks in the financial process." In an email to the Justice, Ben-Elazar wrote that he will work with clubs to focus on "smarter spending. "I see that there is potential to reform the allocations process and promote more sustainable spending so we can make the absolute best of the [Student Activities Fee]," he wrote. Xinyu Annie Li '17 was elected the racial minority representative to the Allocations Board. Li, the only candidate running for the seat, received 63 percent of the votes. Li could not be reached for comment by press time. Grady Ward '16, who was elected the junior representative to the Board of Trustees with 49 percent of the votes, wrote in an email to the Justice that his top priority will be getting a "better picture" of the University's finances. "I will be setting up meetings with administrators to better understand how the allocation process works and formulating plans as to how to insert student input into that process," he wrote. "At the same time, I am going to be contacting and organizing community leaders to begin strategizing about ways that we can bring our concerns to the administration," he added. Class of 2016 Senator Kathy Nguyen was elected the junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee with 41 percent of the votes. Nguyen could not be reached for comment by press time. The two seats for representative to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund remain unfilled, as no candidates ran for those positions.
For a technology start-up, the prospects of wild success are low and the prospects of complete failure are high. Why would a group of bright, well-trained engineers, who have the world of job prospects in research and technology at their feet, choose instead to start an iPhone application For the team of Farseer Inc., Han Wang M.S. '12, Zhaoming Deng M.A. '12, Tong Shen M.A. '12, David Deng M.A. '12, Yeifi Chen M.A. '12 and Karen Hu '12, the answer comes in two parts-passion and challenge. Farseer, Inc. is the team behind the Boston based mobile application FotoDish, which works directly with restaurant owners to provide app-users with professional quality photographs of local restaurant's most popular dishes. They recently reached the milestone of $100,000 in funds raised. The company's professional brief describes the goal of FotoDish as making "the dining experience more enjoyable, by providing [the customer] the most accurate information straight from the source." Wang, the CEO and co-founder, worked for an Information and Technology company in Boston before quitting his job in search of the challenge that working independently would offer. "We only have two modes: sleeping and working. That's the reason all of us are here-because we want to be challenged," Wang said in an interview with the Justice. Co-founders Zhaoming Deng and Shen primarily work on the web application and partially on the mobile application. The original Farseer Inc. team was brought together by a passion for computer science entrepreneurship and a desire for a bigger challenge than what a conventional post-graduate job would offer. They met as Computer Science masters students at Brandeis and were inspired by classes in the department that focused on computer science entrepreneurship. While their mutual interest in entrepreneurship was cultivated in the classroom, their friendship was formed on the basketball court. Their weekly pick-up games brought them closer together as friends and future business partners. Hu, public relations manager for Farseer Inc., met the rest of the team in a different way. Hu was an Economics and Business major, and was introduced to the team by her close friend Deng. Her passion for public relations was born out of the marketing classes and clubs she participated in while a student at Brandeis. "I loved doing event planning at Brandeis. I did event planning for the Asian American Student Association, Chinese Student Association and Culture X for two years in a row. All this led me to want to work for Farseer Inc. in public relations, and help them to coordinate and connect with restaurants," Hu said. Although each member of the team pursued other job opportunities after graduating, their friendship and mutual desire for a challenge brought them back together to make Farseer Inc. a reality in August of 2012. Zhaoming Deng, for example, worked for a year in lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pursuing diabetes research before joining the team. "I realized that in my personality I was not very passionate about working in a lab. I preferred to interact with people. I really enjoy working with friends," Zhaoming Deng said. The excitement of being part of a constantly evolving enterprise is another factor that motivated these recent graduates to form a start-up. They felt that the stagnancy of working for a large well-established firm presents a lack of challenge and imagination, as well as the feeling that an individual cannot have a real influence over the course of the company's future. "A lot of large companies are completely established in their structure. In a new company, there are always fresh challenges," Zhaoming Deng said. The beginning stages of the company's evolution, as the co-founders remember it, seemed discouraging and impossible. "When we first started recruiting owners, we didn't have an app and we didn't have users, so it was hard to just walk into restaurants and convince restaurant owners. At the beginning it's very tough," Shen said. Zhaoming Deng remembers walking into the first restaurant he ever pitched, Lizzy's Ice Cream in Waltham, and being terrified at the prospect of rejection. The owner, Miriam Benitez, expressed excitement at the idea of the app, boosting Deng's confidence in the viability of the app's future. The idea for FotoDish happened by accident. "We are food lovers, and we always wanted to try all the restaurants in Waltham. That's what drew us to the restaurant industry," Wang said. He personally loves fried rice, and his co-founders joked that they made a channel on the app exclusively so that Wang could find the best fried rice in Boston. The application is unique because of the source of the information, which is not from the consumer, but the restaurant owners themselves. This allows restaurant owners direct influence over how they present their restaurant, which allows them to portray the reality of what the consumer will receive through photography. They contrasted FotoDish with the hugely popular app and website Yelp, which allows users to rate restaurants and view other's ratings of restaurants throughout the United States. "FotoDish is local. It's more accurate, and a lot closer to the restaurant owners. It's not just user-generated content, everything is professional," Hu said. As young people working for a start-up, delineation between work and life ceases to exist. Their colleagues are their closest friends, and they are working in a high-risk, high-reward environment every day to create something unique. "I personally love this kind of status," Wang said. "I know I am learning and growing stronger. I know the company is growing stronger." When asked about where he hopes to see Farseer, Inc. in five years, Wang said, "we don't know. In a start-up, everything could change five months from now."
This week, JustArts spoke with John Schnorrenberg '14 who wrote and directed a play that premiered on Friday and ran to Sunday in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. JustArts: Can you discuss the inspiration for your show? John Schnorrenberg: I was procrastinating (that seems to be how a lot of things start for me)... on a project I had for a playwriting class and I was supposed to be writing a monologue. I saw this Charles Manson video ... he said something that really drew me in, and that got me [thinking about] Ted Bundy. I did a lot of research on Ted Bundy. And something about it really captured me. It wasn't so much about Ted Bundy as the women in his life-one in particular who he was dating for a long time, a co-worker of his. [She] had been working with him at the Seattle Police Department and he got married to [her] during his trial for murder. That screamed to me "this would be a great drama, this would be fantastic as a drama." So I had my final project for this class in mind ... and I wrote a monologue about Ted Bundy murdering a woman. I was excited to see all the gasps and horrors in class. Instead ... people laughed. And that was off-putting at first but the more I thought about it the more I thought that this is where I should go with it. So it went away from Ted Bundy and just to the generalized idea of a romantic comedy about a serial killer and a police detective. JA: How did you balance the comedic and heavy aspects of the play? JS: I think the heavy topic is more in the subtext. There are a couple of times where [the heavy topics come] out in a very obvious way such as some of the murders-to really reinforce the point that "this is not a good person, this is not the way it should be," but for me, I wanted to tell the audience, "this is a bad thing" and then make them forget with light comedy and make them fall in love with the characters and maybe root for the relationship. It has been interesting to see how people respond to that. I've gotten a variety of responses-some people "ooing and ahhing" when they kiss and others laughing because of the absurdity. But I really wanted to bookend it between the comedy with the more intense ending ... showing how this is horrible. Showing [that] at the end, she's happy but how ridiculous it is for her to be happy. JA: What was your biggest challenge in both writing and directing this play? JS: Some characters came to me really easily. Some of them, though, were much harder. It was tricky because a lot of my characters are stereotypes- [part of] the whole [romantic comedy] tropes ... and some of those, it was hard to [think about] how much is a stereotype and how much is the real person and also how to make it unique and originally funny and also working to help those actors to find something that I wasn't quite sure how to do myself, that was a bit of a challenge. But I'm happy with the way it came out and I am excited to keep working on it more and also brood more now that I have those voices in my head. JA: Do you have plans for the play after Brandeis? JS: I'm going to take a little bit of time back now ... These past two months have been a lot of focusing on [the play]. I'm going to take a breather. But I'm going to return to it. It's been very helpful to have people working very hard, really turning themselves into the characters for a couple hours every night. And with that in mind, maybe bring some of their [improvised] lines in, maybe even ask them for some of their opinions, workshop it more. What I haven't decided is if I want to keep it a play and submit it to different playhouses or if I want to turn it into a screenplay and maybe try to submit it to various film production companies. JA: Can you put into a few words the message that you hope the audience will get out of this play? JS: First and foremost, I just want people to be entertained. But, ultimately after that, make sure you always think about what you're watching instead of taking it at blank-face. *
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court eliminated restrictions on how much money individuals can donate to election campaigns during two-year cycles. While it is still illegal to donate over $5,200 to a single politician's campaign, potential donors can now give money to unlimited numbers of campaigns across the country. The maximum amount had previously been capped at $48,000 in total donations. Conservatives have hailed the ruling as a victory for free speech, but critics are concerned that extremely wealthy contributors may now have even more political sway during elections than they already do. What do you think about this ruling? * David Clements '14 The Supreme Court's decision marks a step in the wrong direction for America and the democratization of the electoral process. The court's understanding that money equals speech is not only dumbfounded, but is also misguided and counterproductive to free speech. By equating money with speech, the court essentially establishes that those with more money have more speech. This decision not only empowers the super-wealthy to continue to dominate national politics, but also marginalizes those who cannot afford to give thousands-and even millions-of dollars to campaigns. The issue of free speech must be understood with the pretense that one's influence should be determined by the merit of one's ideas alone. While wealth can certainly amplify a message, it by no means shall be the determinant of the merit of one's ideas. Consequently, by equating money with speech, the court legitimizes a practice that is not only full of corruption, but also marginalizes the input and influence of a majority of Americans. After all, money doesn't equal speech; money equals money. David Clements '14 is the Student Union chief of staff. * Nelson Gilliat '14 Campaign finance would be neither a moral nor legal problem-if we had a proper government, strictly limited to the protection of individual rights (life, liberty, property) via the courts, police and military. That way, individual rights could not be voted away by the tyranny of the majority, or sold to the highest bidder. The existence of lobbyists and special interests who buy influence, presupposes a government that sells individual rights for some unspecified collective goal, be it the public interest, public safety, or the common good. Since nobody's rights are safe under such a system, special interests, both to protect themselves and to get benefits they could not otherwise achieve voluntarily, lobby politicians in order to influence legislation and attain some special favor, privilege, exemption, contract, or subsidy. Nelson Gilliat '14 is the president of Brandeis Libertarians. * Daniel Koas '16 Money continues to be poured into American elections at astronomical rates, and the recent decision by the Supreme Court to loosen limitations on big political donors has paved the path for even more monetary influence in our political system. By allowing a tiny sliver of the nation's wealthiest citizens to have even more sway than they did before, the Supreme Court is both potentially corrupting campaigns and silencing the voices of the other 99 percent of the country. While the argument that money is equivalent to speech is tempting, the fact of the matter is that money is merely a way to fund and amplify speech; it helps individuals express themselves, but does not carry the same power as a vote. In fact, by allowing billionaires to drown out the voices of other Americans, the Supreme Court is actually undermining the intentions that the framers expressed in the First Amendment of allowing all voices to be heard and establishing America as an open marketplace for ideas to be shared. Though the playing field can never be truly level, our government should be taking steps to protect the voices and rights of the people, not giving them away to the wealthiest few. Daniel Koas '16 is an American Studies major. * Catherine Rosch '16 While I can't say that I'm surprised by the Roberts Court's decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, I am very disappointed by the ruling. By getting rid of maximum donations an individual can give to a party, the Supreme Court is essentially equating money and speech as being the same thing. This dangerous precedent not only favors wealthier Americans over the rest of the population but could also potentially be used to justify getting rid of any campaign finance limits. Money and speech are not equivalent and should not be treated as such. There is already way too much money in politics. This ruling will only allow money to play a bigger role and does not benefit the majority of Americans. I do not support McCutcheon and I hope Congress is able to pass legislation to limit money in politics. Catherine Rosch '16 is the legislative affairs coordinator in Brandeis Democrats.
Numerous members of the University community have expressed outrage at the selection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient for its 63rd annual commencement ceremony, which was announced last Monday along with the names of the other recipients and the individual who will deliver the commencement address. Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born women's rights activist who has campaigned against female genital mutilation but is also well known for her critical view of Islam; she has at various times called Islam a "backwards religion" and a "destructive, nihilistic cult of death" that legitimizes murder. She formerly lived in the Netherlands and was a member of Dutch Parliament until it was discovered that she had provided false information on an asylum application to gain entry into the country. In response to this, Hirsi Ali claimed that she lied on her asylum application because she was fleeing a forced marriage. She had also previously disclosed inaccurate information through several sources before the controversy, including through her book The Son Factory. After resigning from her position due to the ensuing scandal, she moved to the United States to join the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute-an organization dedicated to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free enterprise according to its website-where she is now a visiting fellow. The decision to award her an honorary degree has drawn strong reactions from many members of the Brandeis community, especially faculty and students. Prof. Mary Baine Campbell (ENG) said in an interview with the Justice that she believes this decision is not in the University's best interest. "Hirsi Ali represents values that Brandeis, in naming itself after Justice [Louis] Brandeis, ... was founded in noble opposition to," said Campbell. Campbell also said that she was concerned about the awarding of the degree because of a lack of consultation with the faculty during the selection process. In an email to the Justice, she wrote that she was "astonished to find out that this choice, to honor Ms. Hirsi Ali for her contributions to 'women's rights,' had been made without consulting the WGS Core Faculty." s=She noted that the core faculty in the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program had not been contacted either. In a statement issued on behalf of the administration, Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid wrote that University President Frederick Lawrence "is aware of concerns that have been expressed following the announcement of the selection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient." She also added that Lawrence was reaching out to members of the Brandeis community to discuss the controversy, but did not respond to requests for comment on which individuals have been contacted by press time. In addition to vocal opposition to Hirsi Ali, there have been more tangible measures to oppose her presence at commencement. A student petition at www.change.org, started by Sarah Fahmy '14, calls on Lawrence to rescind the offer of an honorary degree. As of Monday evening at 11 p.m., the petition had over 600 signatures. Faculty members also organized to protest the decision through a letter to Lawrence. The letter calls on Lawrence to rescind the offer because of her "virulently anti-Muslim sentiments," as well as re-institute a faculty committee to review potential candidates before honorary degrees are awarded, since such a committee could have "warned [Lawrence] about the horrible message that this [decision] sends to the Muslim and non-Muslim comminutes at Brandeis and beyond." The letter was sent to the faculty on Sunday evening, and by late Monday had received over 75 signatures from various faculty members. Prof. Jytte Klausen (POL) wrote in an email to the Justice that giving Hirsi Ali a degree "undermines years of careful work to show that Brandeis University promotes the ideals of shared learning, religious toleration and coexistence, irrespective of religion." She further wrote that Hirsi Ali should be invited to speak on campus since the University allows individuals of all views the opportunity to express them but that honorary degrees should only be given to "people who promote our mission of learning and toleration." Klausen also expressed concern that Hirsi Ali's presence would detract from the overall experience of commencement, which is "not a hard-edged talk show or forum for confrontational endorsement of extreme views," but rather "a celebration where all should feel welcome." She also called into question Hirsi Ali's political career, saying that it had been built on "complaining about refugees and immigrants" and calling for harsher measures to be directed at these groups. Klausen also noted that Hirsi Ali's false statements on her Dutch refugee application and citizenship request was an offense "severe enough for the Minister of the Interior ... to annul Hirsi Ali's [Dutch] citizenship." In addition to condemnation, the announcement has prompted Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG) to call not only for the award to be rescinded, but for a public apology issued by Lawrence to the greater Brandeis community. In an email to the Justice, Lanser wrote that she believes Hirsi Ali "is not worthy of a doctorate of humane letters from a university that claims to be committed to justice, respect, diversity and truth to its innermost parts." She added that her outspoken views on Islam "foment an intolerance that is wholly antithetical to Brandeisian values." While many faculty members and students are decrying Hirsi Ali's being offered the honorary degree, some are coming to her defense. Bernard Macy '79, an alumnus who came forward to defend the selection of Hirsi Ali as an honorary degree recipient, sent an email to Lawrence, numerous faculty members and the Justice expressing his support. Macy wrote that he was very impressed that Hirsi Ali "had the courage to speak and act out against an extremely vicious form of violence toward women, which, until recently, had been a topic that had not been politically correct to discuss." Macy further expressed hope that "protection of women from this insidious form of mental, emotional and physical abuse" would be in line with the values of the University and firmly stated that Hirsi Ali is very deserving of an honorary degree. Students have also expressed concern about the University's selection. Alina Cheema '15, co-president of the Muslim Students Association, said in an interview with the Justice that she and the MSA perceive Hirsi Ali's receiving a degree as alarming. "[Hirs Ali] is well-known for her [anti-Islamic] beliefs ... and this is a slap in the face by the administration. Are they saying that we don't belong on this campus?" Cheema said. "How can the University claim to be so focused on social justice when they award a degree to someone with such radical views?" Cheema also added that this situation has made her personally feel very uncomfortable as a Muslim on campus. "How am I supposed to tell a prospective Muslim student that [he or she] will be accepted on this campus ... when the administration condones this?" When asked if the MSA was preparing a response to the announcement, Cheema said that the MSA had been talking about the issue since the news broke on Monday. "We will not be quiet about this," said Cheema. "Any opportunity we have to work against this, we will take advantage of." In addition to the perceived disconnect between Hirsi Ali's values and the University's, some have criticized the decision for damaging the University's reputation. Campbell wrote that she is worried this will be a "[public relations] disaster, and a step down a road we cannot take without losing our identity [as a university]." Prof. Mitra Shavarini (WGS) also told the Justice in an email that the offer is not in line with the University's mission, unless it wishes to "incite hate, mistrust and division among its community." She further stated that Hirsi Ali's approach to discourse "collapses thought in obscure, non-contextualized allegations that have no intellectual merit"-something Shavarini believes is radically opposed to the University's values of "intellectual exchange and the challenging of one's ideas."
For the fall 2014 semester, students can expect to see several changes and new course offerings. In addition to the Women's and Gender Studies program changing its name to Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, introductory courses will be offered in both Religious Studies and History. As well, the History of Ideas program will be offering a seminar in critical theory that will function as a core course for the program. In an interview with the Justice, Prof. Wendy Cadge (SOC), who chairs the Women's and Gender Studies program, said that the push to include sexuality in the program's name came from its faculty. Prof. Thomas King (ENG), who chairs the Sexuality and Queer Studies program, was supportive of the inclusion of sexuality in WGS' name, saying in an interview with the Justice that the program "should have made that move a long time ago." Cadge said that WGS faculty members are hoping that the name change will help to strengthen its relationship with SQS, which became a minor four years ago. As to whether Cadge sees the two programs combining in the future, she said that "we need to wait and see." King said that the WGS faculty was concerned about keeping the integrity of the minor despite this change, and that SQS will be a "sustained track within WGS." He said that he does not see these programs combining, but said that "any program over time has to decide if it's still meeting student needs." King also added that he does not foresee numbers of SQS minors decreasing due to the inclusion of sexuality in the WGS curriculum, but rather that more students would enroll in Women's and Gender Studies due to the inclusion of "non-normative genders or queer sexualities."SQS, he said, "gives students a more concentrated focus on sexuality" and "tends to raise more theoretical questions about what sexuality is." Although he said a "small number" of students declare the minor, "the enrollments in the courses are fairly substantial. Cadge said that the program had considered several other names for the recent change. Gender and Sexuality Studies is a common name for such programs, she said, but many students and faculty "felt very strongly that 'women' should remain in the name." "Historically, women have been understudied and underrepresented in a lot of scholarly discourse as well as public life, and a number of people feel that if women are removed from the title of the programs, from the titles of names of courses, it's very easy for them to continue to be ignored or to not have the appropriate amount of attention paid," said Cadge. Women's and Gender Studies was originally titled Women's Studies, but was changed and voted on by the program faculty in spring 2005, according to Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG). The new program name will appear on students' diplomas starting in 2015. According to Cadge, one requirement to major in the program did change-students must now take one elective course that focuses largely on sexuality. The minor requirements, however, did not change, according to the program's proposal to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The History of Ideas program will offer a new course titled "Introduction to Critical Theory," which will be taught by lecturer in the History of Ideas Patrick Gamsby this fall. According to Prof. David Engerman (HIST), who chairs the program, despite what the course title implies, it is not intended as an introductory class within the program. In response to questions about whether or not such courses would be offered in the future, Engerman wrote that "[w]e may offer other courses in the future in circumstances such as those for [f]all 2014." However, he wrote that there are no current plans for Gamsby to offer this particular course again. The introduction of the course follows accusations of alleged misuse of funds donated for the History of Ideas program, which were chronicled in a Nov. 26 Justice article. The conditions of the donations, given to the University in 1995 and 1999 by the Hannah Oberman Trust as two separate installments, stated that if the program were to be discontinued, the money would have to be redirected to the Cambridge Public Library. According to the article, in the past 10 years, the History of Ideas program has not offered any of its own courses; it has only offered courses that are cross-listed in other departments. The last time the core course "HOID 127A: Seminar: History of Ideas" was offered was in spring 2003, the article states. The Religious Studies program will also offer a core course this fall, titled "REL 107A: Introduction to World Religions." According to the program chair, Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS), the Religious Studies program is "reinstituting [sic] this-we had offered it in the past, but not in the last few years." Brettler wrote in an email to the Justice that the program stopped offering the course because it "was hard to find the right person to offer it." However, the current demand for the course contributed to its reinstitution, specifically from students and faculty of the International and Global Studies program. According to Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) in an interview with the Justice, the request for this course to be offered was "based on strong student interest in the relationship between religion and world affairs. According to Rosenberger, IGS will fund the adjunct professor who will be teaching this reinstated course, Kristen Lucken. Brettler wrote that he hopes the course will continue to be offered in the future. "I am very excited that this will happen, and that it will foster greater interest among Brandeis students of the importance of religion to contemporary society and to societies past," he wrote. The History department will offer an introductory course titled "HIST 10A: Not Even Past" during the fall 2014 semester. Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST), who chairs the department, described the course in an email to the Justice as an "exciting introduction to the historical roots of modern dilemmas, and to historical thinking more broadly." Kamensky wrote that the department expects to offer the course annually. Although she wrote that this course will not be required, she wrote that "it will be a good gateway for potential History majors, and for a wide range of other students who want to understand the present and the future by thinking more deeply about the past." According to Kamensky, the department has offered several introductory surveys of particular times and places, including East Asian history, Latin American history, United States history, world history and a two-term European History sequence. However, the department has not featured an introduction to history "as a way of problem solving and thinking about the world," she wrote. "We thought such an option would serve a diverse array of history-curious students, especially but not only first-years." The course will be taught by a team consisting of Profs. Govind Sreenivasan (HIST) and Abigail Cooper (HIST), according to Kamensky. Other faculty members will rotate into the course in future years. According to Kamensky, offering the course was made possible through a grant from the Mandel Center for the Humanities. "The grant from Mandel is small and directed at the team-teaching of this particular course but we have several other new courses debuting in the fall, as we do virtually every semester," she wrote.
On Feb. 26 the Brandeis Alumni & Friends Network announced that Rabbi Eric Yoffie '69, Prof. Eve Marder '69 (BIOL) and Wakako Hironaka M.A. '64, Honorary '87 are the recipients of this year's Alumni Achievement Award. The award, which is the highest honor reserved for alumni, is given by the Brandeis Alumni Association to alumni who have significantly impacted their fields of work. The three join the list of winners including Robert J. Zimmer '68, Bonnie Berger '83 and Jon Landau '68, who won last year's award. University President Frederick Lawrence will formally present the three with the award at the 2014 alumni reunion on June 7. Hironaka is a prominent political leader in Japan. She served in the Japanese House of Councilors, which, along with the House of Representatives, forms the Japanese Diet, Japan's legislative body, from 1986 to 2010. She has also served as vice chair of the Democratic Party of Japan, state minister and director-general of the Environmental Agency in Japan. After benefiting from the Wien International Scholarship Program, which funds the studies of international students with significant financial need and academic achievement during their first years, Hironaka served on the Brandeis Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1997. Due to travel, Hironaka was unavailable to comment by press time. Yoffie, who was the president of the Union for Reform Judaism from 1996 to 2012, now lectures about Jewish, religious and Israel-related issues at universities, synagogues and Jewish organizations. He writes for the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz about Judaism and Israel and for the Huffington Post about religion in America. Yoffie wrote in an email to the Justice that he "was a bit surprised, but of course delighted and honored" when he received a letter from Lawrence informing him that he had received the award. This will only be Yoffie's second reunion, since he has had to miss past dates due to conflicts with the Union for Reform Judaism's national conference. "I will enjoy receiving the award, but reconnecting with classmates that I have seen rarely or not at all in the almost 50 years since I entered Brandeis is what I am looking forward to the most," Yoffie wrote. Yoffie was president of the student council during the infamous student occupation of Brandeis' Ford Hall in January 1969 and spoke at then-University President Morris Abram's inauguration, but wrote that his most memorable moment from his time at Brandeis is meeting his wife, Amy. Yoffie also mentioned other highlights of his Brandeis experience. "Being a Brandeis alumnus means many things to me: At Brandeis, there was a certain intensity about politics and social justice that influenced me throughout my life," Yoffie wrote. "In addition, Brandeis was the place where I was inspired by great teachers of Judaism and Jewish history." Marder is currently the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience at Brandeis and was appointed to President Barack Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative in April 2013. Marder wrote in an email to the Justice that she became interested in neurology during her junior year at Brandeis, when she took a course in abnormal psychology. "I ended up doing a research paper on inhibition in the nervous system and its potential relevance to schizophrenia. It was the reading I did for that course that made me decide I wanted to be a neuroscientist," Marder wrote. Marder, who also served as president of the Society for Neuroscience in 2008, wrote that during her time as an undergraduate, she did not anticipate someday teaching at Brandeis. "The idea never crossed my mind," Marder wrote. Marder also met her husband at Brandeis, and wrote that she is looking forward to "seeing old friends and classmates" at the reunion. Her advice for current students is to "follow the dreams that come from unexpected moments." -Ilana Kruger
The men's and women's track and field teams took part in the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by American International College under cold and windy conditions on Saturday. The squads came away with some impressive solo finishes, even though overall the teams had mixed results. The men finished with just 0.5 points earned in the high jump. Mark Franklin '17 tied for ninth place with a jump of 1.73 meters. The women fared slightly better, finishing in 14th place with a total of 18 points. The 18 points all came in the 1500-meter run as the Judges took first and second in the race. Kelsey Whitaker '16 and Amelia Lundkvist '14 took the top two spots with times of four minutes, 41.39 seconds and 4:45.98 respectively. Maggie Hensel '16 and Maddie Dolins '17 also managed to finish in the top 25. Hensel placed 19th overall in the race with a time of 5:03.40, a drop behind her time of 4:55.00 she recording during the seeding race. Dolins finished the race in 22nd out of the 91 competitors with a time of 5:04.76 in the finals. Whitaker felt that it was important to get her first race of the spring season out of the way and she tempered her expectations coming into the race. "Since it was the first race of the season, the main goal was to just get the first outdoor race out of the way and to establish a starting point for the season," she said. "The plan was to just run with the top pack and finish strong. I knew I could stay with the front runners but I did not go into the race expecting to win." The women only competed in one other event on the day-the javelin throw. Ashley Klein '16 finished in 13th place with a throw of 28.55 meters while Selena Livas '17 was right behind her in 20th place with a throw of 19.73 meters. Whitaker said that she hopes to continue her success as the spring season moves on. "I'm excited for the rest of this season," she continued. "I am hoping that we can perform well as a team at [the University Athletic Association Championships]. "Individually, I hope to continue improving my performances and hopefully qualify for NCAA's again with my teammates." The men came into the day with more competitors than the women but finished with some mixed results. Much like the women, the men's best event was the 1500 -meter run. Grady Ward '16 finished in 16th place overall out of 84 competitors with a time of 4:06.59, and Quinton Hoey '17 snuck right behind him and into the top 20 with a time of 4:07.88. Matt Doran '17 also competed in the event, finishing in 42nd place with a time of 4:16.95. Both Ward and Hoey ran the prelimanry round in 4:05:00 flat, though the pair could not match their time in the final round. In the 200 and 400-meter dashes, a promising pair of first-year sprinters represented the Judges. In the 200-meter dash, Nick Wactor '17 had a strong showing with his 21st place finish in 23.26 seconds while Jeremy Wilson '17 came in at 39th with a time of 24.42 seconds. Wactor improved on his time of 23.88 seconds he recorded in the prelimanry round. Wactor followed his 200-meter race with a time of 53.30 in the 400-meter dash, putting him at 32nd for the event. Wilson, meanwhile, finished in 52nd with a time of 54.55. The men also had a strong overall showing in the long jump, despite the inability of Mohamed Sidique '15 to place in the top 10 and earn any points in the event. Sidique came up .08 meters short of his seed distance of 6.48 meters, putting him in 11th place in the finals for the event. Sidique came two-tenths of a meter from finishing in 10th place for the event. Adam Berger '16 and Franklin also competed in the long jump, finishing with distances of 5.95 and 5.62 meters respectively. Both the men and women will travel to Brown University on Saturday afternoon to take part in the Brown University Springtime Collegiate Invitational.
Composting is just one method to help preserve and protect the environment, but it is a method many students rarely take part in. Knowing this, several students decided to host a week-long event called "Weigh Your Waste Week", which took place at Sherman Dining Hall during dinner time from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every day from Monday, March 31 to Thursday, April 3. The week is a partnership between the Eco-Reps and the Senate Sustainability Committee. The premise of Weigh Your Waste Week centers on composting, the process of decomposing wastes, particularly food waste, into soil and fertilizer. The goal of the project was both to educate students about composting as well as motivate students to produce less waste. "We still want to make students aware and try to reduce waste," Deanna Heller '15 said. The week is Heller's project through the Eco-Reps program. Eco-Reps are a group of paid students hired by Brandeis Facilities to promote and coordinate campus sustainability improvements. Heller is part of an Eco-Rep program called Green Corps, a program in which students work 10 hours a week to implement a specific sustainability project of their choice. Initial plans for this project began when Heller and student representative for Sodexo and Chair of the Senate Sustainability Committee Anna Bessendorf '15 collaborated after finding out about the impending changes in the composting system. The duo also teamed up with registered campus dietician Kate Moran as well as student volunteers from Students for Environmental Action and Green Corps. Waste Week volunteers set up a table in Sherman with containers to collect people's waste and a scale to weigh their refuse in pounds. The table supervisors requested that diners dump all that was remaining on their dinner plates, including napkins, into the waste bins to be weighed. The project coincides with the University's recent switch to Casella, Brandeis' new waste disposal company. They emerged on campus this semester. With Casella as our full-time waste contractor, the University is able to manage food waste through composting on a comprehensive scale. So far, according to Heller, "Casella has started composting in the kitchens" and in the future, there are plans to expand this system throughout campus." Casella has the intetnion of expanding to include dining locations on campus and residence halls. Previously, any composted waste from Usdan Student Center and Sherman has traditionally gone to the WeCare commercial composting site in Marlborough, Mass. The food wastes collected from Weigh Your Waste Week will instead now be going to smaller farm-based facilities. The waste from the week will be going to Brick Ends Farm in South Hamilton, Mass. At these compost sites, the waste is sorted and composted, and since the facilities are larger, meat and dairy products may be composted as well. This is usually not possible at a smaller home or private composting system. This switch of waste disposal providers coincides with a statute passed recently by Massachusetts requiring all cafeterias and dining halls of a certain size to implement a compost system. The statute will go into effect in July. They were using the "Weigh Your Waste Week" to "test the waters," Bessendorf said. Elizabeth Casella, Waste Systems business development manager stated in an email to the Justice that logically, Rocky Hill is preferable to the WeCare facility. "Rocky Hill is a farm based site that creates high quality compost that can be applied to fields for the growth of produce, used as a soil amendment, turf dressing, erosion control or potted plants," she wrote. Because of the new statute, the Campus Sustainability Initiative at Brandeis will also be implementing a new three-bin system. The three bins will be for trash, compost and recycling and will have different colors to designate each kind. "The system will standardize what happens with waste throughout campus," Heller said. The total weight of the waste collected on Monday, March 31 amounted to 51.1 pounds, 8.5 pounds on Tuesday for half an hour, 33.7 pounds on Wednesday and 58.6 pounds on Thursday. Heller noted that part of the project's success stemmed from strong student response. "Many students who saw the compost table the night before and how much food was being wasted decided to reduce their food waste the following night," Heller said. Haley Orlofsky '14, a student who helped supervise the table, witnessed a similar student response. "People ask what it is and once they know more about it, they appreciate it," she said. For Heller, the project works toward more than one goal. "I am very passionate about this because it is very multi-layered," she said. It's not just about saving the planet, there are people starving and here we are wasting so much food." Heller noted that composting was part of her upbringing. "Compost makes sense, to use waste to make food rather than just dumping it in a landfill," she said. "The fundamental reality is that we all share this planet with other people."
This week, JustArts spoke with Gabby Lamm '17, the producer of Brandeis Players' production of 1984, written by Michael Gene Sullivan and adapted from the novel by George Orwell. JustArts: Is this your first show at Brandeis? Gabby Lamm: It's one of the first shows that I've had such a leadership role in. I assistant stage-managed a show last semester and assistant produced a show last semester but this semester was the first time I had a real role as a producer. JA: What goes into producing a show? GL: It's funny that you ask that. Because a lot of people [say to me], "Oh, you're a producer. What do you do?" Producers do most of the behind-the-scenes things. We reserve rehearsal spaces, we make sure tickets are working out; we're in charge of the budgets. We organize the coffeehouse (which is a big role), we put together the programs and make sure we have programs and posters and things like that. So we do a lot of the advertising things and a lot of the technical [aspects]. [We deal with] what's necessary for the actors to rehearse. JA: Did you run into any problems with the producing aspects? GL: There are always little things where you have to mediate conflicts. For me it was a little bit hard because I am a first-year. A lot of our [production] staff was first- years so it wasn't too bad. But I had to make sure to balance respecting people who have more experience in theater than I do and who know more than I do [with] making sure that they recognize that there are certain situations where I need to be in charge and I need make sure they're doing their jobs. We also struggled a little bit finding people to fill positions in the [production] staff. JA: What was your favorite part of being a producer? GL: I really liked being able to be involved in everything. I got to sit in rehearsals; I got to be involved in tech week. It really depends on who's producing. For me, I'm really hands-on because I really love theater and I really want to be involved in the production. So I did try to go to rehearsals once a week and I organized meetings with the [production] staff once a week. So my favorite part was being able to do everything. But [I also liked] having the flexibility-not having to be at rehearsal from 7 to 11 [p.m.] every day of the week. I could fit it into my schedule so it would be easier for me to do other things as well. JA: Have you read the book? How do you think it compares? GL: I have read the book. It's actually one of my favorite books so I was really excited when Sarah Waldron ['17], the director, asked me to produce it. The story is the same but the construct is entirely different. So the book walks you through the story, it goes chronologically.... where as [in] the play, all of it takes place in the interrogation room that you only see at the end of the novel. And the party members re-enact all of Winston's experiences and his dreams and so it's much more immediate (I think) and as one of the [assistant stage managers] put it, "psychologically thrilling." So while the story is the same it's entirely two different things. JA: Where do you plan on going after this in terms of doing other shows and trying out other aspects of theater? GL: I'm already on a couple proposals for next semester that people are proposing to different groups. I am definitely going to stay involved in theater. I am already over committed for next semester. But I just love it so much and I love the people and I love being able to see a production from start to finish and literally go from before auditions. [Going] from talking about ideas for the show to today [this Sunday], taking down the set after a week of performances. It's just so cool to see that process and it makes me feel very productive. But just seeing how good people are at what they do, especially at the college level, it's just such a cool thing to be able to witness. I might branch out into other things. I did direct this semester. I might stage manage at some point but right now for next semester the only things people have asked me to do are produce so that's mostly what I'll be doing. -Emily Wishingrad
The editors of the Justice have received a couple of anonymous notes this semester that echo an attitude expressed in similarly anonymous notes sent to them last semester. The four notes seem to have been written by different people, and this concerns me. I don't think the notes represent a "trend." But they do reveal what I would call an "illiberal tendency" among some members of the Brandeis community-along with a fundamental misunderstanding about what a newspaper is, how its editorial pages are not the same thing as its "news" and what its function is in a free society. I devote my column this week, therefore, to educating what I hope is a handful of readers. A newspaper has not committed a journalistic lapse when it reports on an event that you wish had not happened or runs an editorial that you disagree with. The Justice did not "go far beyond legitimate bounds" or "glorify the terror of civilians" when it reported on Max Blumenthal's visit to our campus last month and then ran two editorials about Blumenthal's work-one that was critical of Blumenthal and another that defended his ideas. It was also not "disgusting" of the editors to run two guest editorials last semester in which Brandeis students offered what I would consider to be flawed, but nevertheless refreshing (and possibly even necessary) alternatives to the understanding of "social justice" that has come to dominate the culture on this campus. The reader who wrote that the Justice should have "refused to publish" those editorials is just plain wrong, and his or her time would have been better spent crafting a response that the editors could have run on the editorial pages of a later issue, rather than anonymously calling for censorship. The first obligation of a newspaper is to inform citizens about their community-who its members are, what they are doing and why, how and when they are doing it. There are students on this campus who believe the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians in Israel amounts to "apartheid." Because of their belief, these students recently participated in a national, week-long protest that uses the word "apartheid" to describe the Israeli government's policies. That participation involved bringing a controversial journalist to Brandeis who spoke, then, about his book in which, I am told, he compares the situation in modern-day Israel to the situation in Nazi Germany (full disclosure: I have not read Blumenthal's book). There are also students on this campus who believe it is hyperbolic, inaccurate, dangerous and even bigoted to use the word "apartheid" to describe the complex political and cultural situation on the ground in modern-day Israel. These students are well aware of the national movement that uses that word, and they believe the Brandeis students who participated in Israel Apartheid Week are uninformed. These students insist that "all citizens of Israel are fully equal under the law," and that Israel is "the exact opposite of the institutional discriminatory system of actual apartheid that was in effect in South Africa." I know this, because I read those quotes in the Justice's coverage of the Max Blumenthal visit. I have spoken with the editors of the Justice about the article they ran on Blumenthal's talk. One reader wrote with dismay about the "many articles" the Justice's reporters wrote about the activities of Israel Apartheid Week, insisting that "this should be fixed." Actually, there was just one article-in the March 4 edition. And I believe there really should have been two. The editors tell me that because of deadline restraints and a staff shortage, they elected to collapse the coverage of Blumenthal's visit into an article that examined the controversy surrounding the very idea of an "Israel Apartheid Week." I thought their reporter produced a very balanced piece on the national movement and its manifestation on our campus. I would have liked to have read more, however, about the actual reaction to Blumenthal's talk-after the fact. But because the article was already running long, that reaction got short shrift. I believe the reader who lamented the "many articles" in the Justice about Israel Apartheid Week may have been unaware of the difference between news and editorials. He or she spoke of the biased "wording of articles" in the paper and insisted that the Justice had an obligation to be "neutral." While there was only one news article about the protest week-and its language was quite objective-there were two editorials, and understandably, the writers of those editorials did not use disinterested language. This brings me, then, to the second obligation of a newspaper in a free society. A newspaper should stimulate respectful conversation among the members of a community about the ideas that animate that community. To that end, the Justice published an editorial by Associate Editor Glen Chesir '15 (who has a regular column in the paper), criticizing Israel Apartheid Week and the greater Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (March 11). Chesir provoked readers to consider the extent to which the inflammatory language and actions of these movements inhibit the peace process. The following week (March 18), the editors published a guest editorial from Prof. Harry Mairson (COSI), in which Mairson called attention to the numerous centers on our campus that are "devoted to institutionally supporting Israel." He suggested that the contrarian sentiments of Max Blumenthal were a necessary ingredient in any meaningful dialogue about the difficult situation in Israel. To have a productive conversation, in other words, people have to be willing to hear and consider ideas that make them uncomfortable. This is precisely the attitude that a good newspaper tries to cultivate. *
The editors of the Justice have received a couple of anonymous notes this semester that echo an attitude expressed in similarly anonymous notes sent to them last semester. The four notes seem to have been written by different people, and this concerns me. I don't think the notes represent a "trend." But they do reveal what I would call an "illiberal tendency" among some members of the Brandeis community-along with a fundamental misunderstanding about what a newspaper is, how its editorial pages are not the same thing as its "news" and what its function is in a free society. I devote my column this week, therefore, to educating what I hope is a handful of readers. A newspaper has not committed a journalistic lapse when it reports on an event that you wish had not happened or runs an editorial that you disagree with. The Justice did not "go far beyond legitimate bounds" or "glorify the terror of civilians" when it reported on Max Blumenthal's visit to our campus last month and then ran two editorials about Blumenthal's work-one that was critical of Blumenthal and another that defended his ideas. It was also not "disgusting" of the editors to run two guest editorials last semester in which Brandeis students offered what I would consider to be flawed, but nevertheless refreshing (and possibly even necessary) alternatives to the understanding of "social justice" that has come to dominate the culture on this campus. The reader who wrote that the Justice should have "refused to publish" those editorials is just plain wrong, and his or her time would have been better spent crafting a response that the editors could have run on the editorial pages of a later issue, rather than anonymously calling for censorship. The first obligation of a newspaper is to inform citizens about their community-who its members are, what they are doing and why, how and when they are doing it. There are students on this campus who believe the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians in Israel amounts to "apartheid." Because of their belief, these students recently participated in a national, week-long protest that uses the word "apartheid" to describe the Israeli government's policies. That participation involved bringing a controversial journalist to Brandeis who spoke, then, about his book in which, I am told, he compares the situation in modern-day Israel to the situation in Nazi Germany (full disclosure: I have not read Blumenthal's book). There are also students on this campus who believe it is hyperbolic, inaccurate, dangerous and even bigoted to use the word "apartheid" to describe the complex political and cultural situation on the ground in modern-day Israel. These students are well aware of the national movement that uses that word, and they believe the Brandeis students who participated in Israel Apartheid Week are uninformed. These students insist that "all citizens of Israel are fully equal under the law," and that Israel is "the exact opposite of the institutional discriminatory system of actual apartheid that was in effect in South Africa." I know this, because I read those quotes in the Justice's coverage of the Max Blumenthal visit. I have spoken with the editors of the Justice about the article they ran on Blumenthal's talk. One reader wrote with dismay about the "many articles" the Justice's reporters wrote about the activities of Israel Apartheid Week, insisting that "this should be fixed." Actually, there was just one article-in the March 4 edition. And I believe there really should have been two. The editors tell me that because of deadline restraints and a staff shortage, they elected to collapse the coverage of Blumenthal's visit into an article that examined the controversy surrounding the very idea of an "Israel Apartheid Week." I thought their reporter produced a very balanced piece on the national movement and its manifestation on our campus. I would have liked to have read more, however, about the actual reaction to Blumenthal's talk-after the fact. But because the article was already running long, that reaction got short shrift. I believe the reader who lamented the "many articles" in the Justice about Israel Apartheid Week may have been unaware of the difference between news and editorials. He or she spoke of the biased "wording of articles" in the paper and insisted that the Justice had an obligation to be "neutral." While there was only one news article about the protest week-and its language was quite objective-there were two editorials, and understandably, the writers of those editorials did not use disinterested language. This brings me, then, to the second obligation of a newspaper in a free society. A newspaper should stimulate respectful conversation among the members of a community about the ideas that animate that community. To that end, the Justice published an editorial by Associate Editor Glen Chesir '15 (who has a regular column in the paper), criticizing Israel Apartheid Week and the greater Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (March 11). Chesir provoked readers to consider the extent to which the inflammatory language and actions of these movements inhibit the peace process. The following week (March 18), the editors published a guest editorial from Prof. Harry Mairson (COSI), in which Mairson called attention to the numerous centers on our campus that are "devoted to institutionally supporting Israel." He suggested that the contrarian sentiments of Max Blumenthal were a necessary ingredient in any meaningful dialogue about the difficult situation in Israel. To have a productive conversation, in other words, people have to be willing to hear and consider ideas that make them uncomfortable. This is precisely the attitude that a good newspaper tries to cultivate. *