(02/11/14 5:00am)
Most college professors write books and articles for an audience of intelligentsia, keeping their prose precise and the ideas strictly academic. Prof. John Plotz (ENG), a scholar of Victorian literature, has quietly bucked the trend with his forthcoming children's novel. Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure, Plotz's first work of fiction, will be published in May. "Fundamentally, the book is set up as a time-travel narrative where kids from the present fall back into the past," Plotz explained in an interview with the Justice. His novel centers around the journey of siblings Jen and Ed who must find the missing pieces to their grandmother's old tapestry so she can sell it and save her house. Jen and Ed fall back into the tapestry and find themselves back in 19th-century England, where they meet William Morris, the famous English textile designer and Jen's personal hero, and formulate a plan to complete the tapestry. Plotz explains that his motivation to write a children's novel comes from the fact that he has young children himself. "It comes out of sitting around with my kids and telling stories and reading books with them and rediscovering all those books from my childhood that I loved," he says. The Wizard of Earthsea, the Madeleine L'Engle books, The Hobbit, just remembering what incredible joy you can get if you lose yourself in one of those stories." The focus on William Morris, however, comes from Plotz's academic background. "I've worked on William Morris in the academic context for a really long time and I am always excited to talk about the things I love about him and his socialism and his ... amazing forms of art, and I noticed there had never been a children's book written about it," Plotz explained. William Morris is a significant figure because of his socialist ideology, his textile designs and his publications as a science-fiction writer. "I got interested in him, I think, because the ways that he thinks about what he hates about the capitalism of his day seem very relevant to the critiques of multi-nationalism capitalism today," Plotz said. In addition to being a textile designer, William Morris was also a writer and wrote News from Nowhere, which Plotz described as a "wonderful science fiction" book that considers the idea of "an England after capitalism had disappeared." Plotz has kept the process of writing his new book very quiet, describing it as "a labor of love off in its own world." However, he did seek advice from Prof. Stephen McCauley (ENG), associate director of the Creative Writing program, on how to shift gears from an academic prose and write more creatively. "Steve McCauley said probably the most important thing to me. We were talking about the book early on and he said 'yeah, it's clear you know a lot. You probably want to forget some of it too,'" referring to Plotz's background on Victorian culture. "Talking to people like Steve McCauley at Brandeis really helped in terms of thinking about what is different about that kind of writing. But dialogue was for sure the hardest part," he commented. Having just spent about a year and a half writing and editing his first novel, Plotz is already starting a second, this one directed toward young adults. Although it is too early to give many details, he explained that the second novel would focus on author Mark Twain. "I can say that it's going to be about the old Mark Twain looking back at the stories of his childhood ... in a way, it's going to be set in two times," said Plotz. Despite enjoying the process of writing fiction, Plotz doesn't plan on giving up his academic studies. He explained, "I really enjoy my scholarly work and I can't see giving it up, for sure. I enjoyed this a lot, whether that means I can keep doing it, I don't know. My kids gave me the thumbs-up," Plotz has authored two academic monographs and is currently at work on a third tentatively titled Semi-Detached: The Aesthetic of Partial Absorption, the research for which has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship. Other professors have published literature or poetry alongside their academic work. Profs. John Burt (ENG), a scholar of American literature, and Mary Baine Campbell (ENG), an expert in literature of Early Modern Europe, have each published books of original poetry. In the history department, Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST), an expert on early American history, co-authored Blindspot, a 2008 romance novel that takes place in the era of the American Revolution. Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure is illustrated by Phyllis Saroff and is scheduled to be published in May by Bunker Hill Publishing. *
(02/11/14 5:00am)
The 2014 Winter Olympics opened in Sochi, Russia on Friday. The games have been mired in controversy since before they began: Sochi is only 180 miles from an ongoing war zone in the Caucasus Mountains, which is why the games will have the largest security force on any Olympics in history. Russia's homophobic laws have led many to boycott and protest the games. Journalists have been given rooms in hotels that are not fully constructed, with undrinkable water and poor facilities. How do you feel about the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi? * Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL) I agree with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, that the Olympics are about building bridges to bring people together. And in my opinion, the focus should be on athletes first. But the hosting country also comes into the spotlight months before the games even open. The spotlight can promote the country in the eyes of the world, but it also exposes its problems. The promotion is precisely what Russia sought (please don't think that only Putin wanted these games to happen in Russia!). An overwhelmingly negative coverage in the Western media is what Russia got. Don't take me wrong: there is much to criticize about the Russian society, from the unprecedented scale of corruption to the homophobia of most Russians and more! There are also documented problems with the state of preparedness which brings shame to the Russian organizers. But there is a thin line between criticism and schadenfreude in which much of the American media is engaged turning the Russian Olympics and the country itself into a joke. The only issue that is not a joke to anyone is the threat of terrorism, but even this topic does not often receive an impartial coverage. Yet if we are to find the much needed solution to our common problem of terrorism, we desperately need each other, and schadenfreude is not the way to build bridges. Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL) is the director of the Russian Studies program. * Prof. Peter Gould (PAX) In the past, Olympic games have been held close to war zones. There have been local problems, international threats, fierce objection to the politics of the host country and the oncoming or receding tides of war. While protesting or boycotting the games could be a strong statement, it takes away from the dedication, and long years of training, of the participating athletes. I lived through the 1980 summer Olympic boycott-he U.S. protested the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. No matter how sensible it might have seemed, no matter how intense the feelings we had about murderous Russian troops sacking Afghan homes, most people today only remember that athletes' hopes and dreams were shattered, that the decision proved an unpopular embarrassment to President Jimmy Carter, and, anyway, in the next generation we invaded Afghanistan and did the same things. Send all our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer, etc. athletes to Sochi and show the world that in this matter at least we lead freely. Prof. Peter Gould (PAX) is a lecturer in Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies. He teaches PAX 120b: "Inner Peace and Outer Peace." * Joseph Babeu '15 As a Russian Studies major and LGBTQ advocate, my feelings regarding the Sochi Winter Olympics are mixed. On the one hand, I want for the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Russia to be something other than a joke about the Soviet Union-a hugely successful Winter Olympics would help do that. On the other hand, the Russian government has made some truly horrendous policy decisions regarding the queer community. While the games' success may not be as relevant to this problem, I feel as though simply having the Olympics in Russia is. It provides a focus on Russia that I do not think would otherwise be present. In today's day and age, keeping oneself informed about international events seems to be becoming less and less common. Without these games, I am sure that the righteous outrage now directed at Russia would not be present. Joseph Babeu '15 is the president of the Russian Club. * Molly Gimbel '16 From my eyes as an LGBTQ+ activist, I can understand the resistance and hesitation from the countries participating in the games, as the newly implemented laws in the country are considered homophobic by these countries' standards. That being said, I also believe that having the games in Sochi is forcing much of the U.S. to recognize other LGBTQ+ issues- besides the fight for marriage equality. The unity of much of the world is showing to express their disapproval with Russia's new laws is a promising sign. It shows many people within the LGBTQ+ community that there are many people who want to help fight for equal rights. Hopefully, their unity on this issue can be utilized to create a more unifying group to fight for the more basic issues and needs of those in the LGBTQ+ community across the world and the states. Molly Gimbel '16 is the general coordinator of Triskelion, Brandeis University's GLBTQSA student group.
(02/11/14 5:00am)
The Super Bowl is a curiously American tradition; Friends and families gather together around the TV, with some watching for the football game itself, but others watching only for the advertisements. This year, one ad in particular stood out. Kicking off a new campaign called "America is Beautiful," Coca-Cola aired a 60-second commercial showing attractive children and young adults laughing, playing, hiking and drinking Coke together. The interesting part-and for a certain portion of viewers, the controversial part-was the audio. Accompanying the visuals are a group of young women who sing different sections of "America the Beautiful" in seven different languages, from English to Mandarin to Hebrew. While I didn't watch the game this year, I sure did see the ad, as Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators shook their fists and popped their forehead veins over the ad's multicultural message, keeping it in the news for days after it aired. Satirizing the controversy is not especially difficult. Comedian Doug Walker noted on his Facebook page that making fun of the angry masses is "like shooting brain-dead bigots out of a Coke bottle." Stephen Colbert summed it all up nicely in his bit on the issue: Screaming and throwing his hands to his ears, Colbert furiously proclaimed "Only English can give that song its certain je ne sais quoi! The last thing I want to be is a prima donna, but I am full of schadenfreude over this!" Both Walker and Colbert hit the nail on the head: the fact that this controversy even exists is ridiculous. Apparently Limbaugh and his compatriots were unaware that "America the Beautiful" does indeed have Spanish, French and Arabic translations, but the response against the outrage has been overwhelming. The video has over 10,000,000 views and 40,000 likes on YouTube, the most of either metric for any Coca-Cola video, and an extended version aired during the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. Evidently, the advertisement has affected a lot of people, either filling them with rage or national pride. But what does it mean that we've been so deeply affected by something designed to get us to buy soda? Last year, Coke began being sold in Myanmar for the first time in 60 years, meaning the only countries left in the world without the iconic cola are Cuba and North Korea. According to a National Public Radio feature, Coke's ad executives had to go back to their company archives and look at Coca-Cola ads from the 1880's to rediscover how to sell their product to people who had never tasted it before. Coke ads in Myanmar center around two words-"delicious" and "refreshing." They also offer free samples of the drink at Buddhist festivals, and give out instructions to "Chill the bottle" and "put three cubes of ice in the glass" in order to best enjoy Coca-Cola in a country with bad refrigerators. As more and more Burmese start drinking Coke, the Coca-Cola company has established itself as both the world's wealthiest and most widespread soft drink company. Coca-Cola, like most soft drinks, is correlated to weight gain. In addition, two of the ingredients that create its caramel color are known to cause cancer. These ingredients are purely cosmetic, but despite numerous petitions, Coke refuses to extract them from the soda's formula. Coke's numerous artificial sweeteners also don't break down in water treatment plants, meaning that pouring Coke down the drain can cause water pollution. It takes a lot to get people to keep buying a product that they know is bad for them. In 2010, Coke spent a whopping $2.9 billion on advertising, more than Microsoft and Apple combined. The majority of Coke ads have nothing to do with the drink itself: they center around icons like the American flag, young people having fun at night or the cute and cuddly polar bears who serve as the company mascots, and who got a short animated movie produced by Ridley Scott last year. Coke hires some of the best advertisers in the field, men and women whose job it is to make you want to drink what is essentially liquid garbage. Out of all of the executives who must have had a hand in designing the Super Bowl ad, I find it hard to believe that not one of them ever predicted that their multicultural message might generate some harsh reactions from a certain part of the American community. It is hard to get anything noticed in the information era, where news updates, apps and advertisements flash at us every second we are online. Look at how much attention Coke has gotten after the Super Bowl: many of the pundits who would usually criticize Coca-Cola for its unhealthy products value racial tolerance more than they value health issues. Suddenly, liberal commentators find themselves in the position of defending a major soda conglomerate, giving it more and more press time, while video shares, tweets and Facebook posts surge. Coca-Cola is now releasing several "Behind the Scenes" videos, interviewing the young women who sang in the ad about what they think it means to be an American. Apparently people really do want to know everything they can about a 60-second video designed to make them thirsty. Whether or not any of this controversy was intentional is honestly irrelevant. It is fascinating to note how the media scandal has become the best way to get everyone talking about your product. For years now, Coke has no longer sold its soda but its own image, but this recent kerfuffle has somehow made the American people into Coke's own advertisers. The media, both social and traditional, is what perpetuates the conversation around this ad, giving Coca-Cola more and more and more free advertising. And as advertisers have said for decades, "any press is good press."
(02/04/14 5:00am)
One of the first songs I remember learning was "If I Had A Hammer" by Pete Seeger. My grandmother would always sing the liberal folk music canon to my sister and me: "If I Had A Hammer," "Union Maid," "This Land Is Your Land," and countless others. At the time, I didn't fully understand what the songs were about, only that they were easy to sing along to and were somehow important to members of my family. Shortly after my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, she took my family to see a documentary about Pete Seeger. I didn't want to go; the idea of spending time with my grandmother while she was dying terrified me. I didn't want to acknowledge what was happening. My mother forced me to go of course, but I can't say I remember enjoying it. After my grandmother died, I stopped listening to Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and other folk musicians, partially out of trying to fit in with my friends' musical tastes and partially because they reminded me too much of her. It wasn't until Pete Seeger was a guest on The Colbert Report that I started listening to old folk music again. I was older, almost out of high school, and trying to determine what sort of person I wanted to be as I grew into an adult. Even a few years after my grandmother died, I rarely talked about her, and would grow uncomfortable whenever my aunt or my mother brought her up. At the same time, though, I knew I also wanted to make her proud of me. It is a contradiction that still bothers me: I wondered what my grandmother would think of who I was becoming, while still feeling guilty for ignoring her as she died. I am troubled by my own idealization of her. My grandmother was an amazing woman; she was active in the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. It's often all too easy for me to brag about her achievements, both as an individual and a part of the bioethics community. It is also all too easy for me to forget that she was by no means the perfect person I make her out to be. After someone you love dies, it is easy to look back and romanticize them. Certainly people have done this with Pete Seeger. Read obituaries of him, or listen to news broadcasters share his life story and you'll find they typically don't mention his often-controversial politics. The New York Times obituary mainly focuses on how Seeger inspired Bob Dylan or sang with civil rights marchers, but glosses over his relationship with and membership in the Communist Party, or his active involvement in the Occupy movement. The focus is on the non-controversial things Seeger did, the things that people find nice and safe rather than the aspects of Seeger's life and personal philosophy that so informed his music. I find it troubling to romanticize people, to change the past to fit in with your own perceptions of how someone ought to have been. I'm not saying I am innocent of it either. It's easier to only acknowledge the good parts of someone you loved, to brag about what makes you proud and to simply ignore the contradictions and hypocrisy that were equally a part of who that person was. My grandmother was not a perfect woman, but when I think of her, I only remember the good, the parts that I want to relate to. It's human nature, I suppose, to ignore the controversial or unpopular, especially just after someone's death. But it is not necessarily the best way to honor their memory. People are complicated. Even those who we look up to, men and women like Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela or even your late grandmother are not perfect. Can we really understand and respect Nelson Mandela's life without acknowledging his advocacy for violence early in his career? By ignoring Eleanor's Roosevelt opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, are we also ignoring the complexities of her character? Is Pete Seeger's life and advocacy overly simplified by ignoring the politics that inspired him? If I only focus on the things I admired about my grandmother, am I discrediting who she really was? Everyone has their complexities, and it is important to acknowledge them while understanding someone's imperfections does not make them any less of a person you admire. I believe that people are afraid of acknowledging these short-comings, these flaws, especially following the death of a beloved figure. It can be easier to simplify people after they die, to hold them up on a pedestal, but that is doing them a disservice. To fully understand those we love and admire after they die, we have to appreciate the full picture, not just the pieces that appeal to us most. After all, it is better to love a real person than a fantasy.
(01/28/14 5:00am)
Jan. 22 was the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that solidified women's right to choose abortion. On that day, I spent two hours in the bitter cold counter-protesting the March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The March for Life, the largest anti-choice demonstration in the world, takes place every year on the anniversary of Roe to challenge the Supreme Court ruling's pro-choice premise. I, along with a friend and a group of about 20 other protesters, donned our "Keep Abortion Legal" signs and "I Trust Women" pins and assembled in front of the Supreme Court to show the anti-choice marchers that a strong pro-choice voice exists in our nation. At the march, I had some intense revelations that I want to share with you all. After the march, I used Facebook to post photos from my experience, and some friends and acquaintances subsequently asked me to explain or justify my pro-choice stance. I realized that although I do a lot of work in reproductive justice, I've never taken the time to pause and explain why I fight for what I fight for. So here it goes. I am staunchly, proudly and unapologetically pro-choice. Abortion is a medical procedure, one of the safest in the world when performed by a trained medical professional, that allows women the right to decide when and if to have children. It gives women the chance to plan their families, and, as such, to secure educational opportunities, economic stability and autonomy. That being said, I recognize that not everyone agrees with me. According to the New York Times, abortion is one of the most divisive issues of the 2014 election cycle. The contention, hatred and venom that exist on both sides of the aisle of the abortion debate are baffling to me. At the protest, my friend and I linked arms and an anti-choice man attempted to physically plow through and disrupt our peaceful demonstration. A woman carrying an anti-choice sign began screaming in the face of the counter-protesters from the National Organization for Women. We were scoffed at, yelled at and physically intimidated-not to mention outnumbered, obviously-by our anti-choice counterparts. These interactions are not productive. They do not create useful dialogue or a sense of understanding among the different factions. They foster hatred, violence and demonization of the "other side"-an "other side" that is composed of people, people like you and me, who are just as convinced that what they are fighting for is as righteous as what we are fighting for. At the end of the day, we are each fighting for what we believe is moral and just. This is a democracy, where we are free to voice our opinions openly, proudly and encounter the support and opposition that subsequently follow. I do not "hate" people who are anti-choice. I respect the staunchness with which they support their beliefs, and I respect their right to do so. But I demand that they respect my right to do so as well. I will continue to fight this fight-peacefully, respectfully, and fiercely-until a woman's right and ability to choose are secure nationwide. I'd like now to speak directly to those of you who may be fiercely pro-choice, moderately pro-choice or undecided: According to NARAL Pro-Choice America's Choice Out Loud Campus Toolkit, 61 percent of millennials, our generation, are pro-choice. But only 21 percent think the issue is important. Meanwhile, 44 percent of anti-choice millennials believe the issue is important. That means that the modern pro-choice voice is being outspoken by the voice of the anti-choice movement. We, the pro-choice folks, are the majority, but not enough of us are willing to take a stand, vocally express our support and take action to secure women's right to choose. At the March for Life demonstration, the marchers kept chanting; "We. Are. The Pro-Life Generation!" If we as pro-choice millennials do not raise our voices, mobilize and stand in support of a woman's right to choose, our generation will become the pro-life generation. In 2013, three states attempted to ban abortion at varying points throughout the pregnancy; five states attempted to ban insurance coverage of abortion; and eight states attempted to close abortion providers through anti-choice restrictions. We can protect Roe, and secure women's right to reproductive health. But we have to make a dedicated effort, and we have to spread our passion and dedication to our friends, our families and everyone who is willing to listen. Some people won't fight because they don't believe abortion affects them. To those people, I offer this: Stop and think, just for a minute. Think of every female-bodied person you know. Every individual that may, at some point, experience an unplanned pregnancy-whether it's you, your mother, your friends, or your role models. According to the non profit organization Advocates for Youth, about one in three women will get an abortion by the time she turns 45. Odds are, you know more than one person who has had an abortion. Odds are, one third of the women at the March for Life had received abortions. We cannot forget the regularity with which abortion occurs, nor can we forget that women will continue to get abortions even if the procedure is legally outlawed. We cannot forget the alarming number of women who have died, or become seriously ill, from botched abortions performed in back alleys because the procedure was not legal. And, most importantly, we cannot forget the power of a story. These issues seem vague and distant until we realize that we know someone who has experienced them firsthand. The best way-the very best way-we can shift public opinion to become more pro-choice is to share our stories. To say, "I had an abortion." Whether you had one and regretted it, or had one and never looked back, or had two, or more: at the end of the day, you had the ability to choose your future. Expressing that you have had an abortion-a procedure so stigmatized in our society-is not easy. But the rewards of doing so will be enormous. Be brave, take a stand and share your story. You will be shocked by how many people have been waiting for the right moment to share theirs. You will be shocked by the support and understanding you receive as a result. I am pro-choice. I am proud. And I am dedicated to making sure that 2014 is a year in which the pro-choice voice becomes louder and stronger than ever before. *
(01/28/14 5:00am)
In a team full of seniors, it can be hard for a first-year player to shine. That has not been the case for guard Robinson Vilmont '17. In his first year as a member of the men's basketball team, Vilmont has appeared in all 16 games this season and has impressed for the Judges, averaging 7.1 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field. Vilmont averages 18.6 minutes per game, easily the most minutes per game of all first-years, ranking fifth on the team behind four seniors. No other first-year player averages more than 12 minutes, 3.3 points or 1.9 rebounds per game. Vilmont leads in all three categories for first-year players on the Judges. He has grown into his spot on the team, culminating in a season-high six assists in Sunday's 94-88 loss to Emory University. "My goal was to get 10 assists [on Sunday], but I couldn't get it," he remarked about the game. On the team's final possession, and down by just two points, Vilmont found himself at the top of the key. He then drove into the lane in the hopes of drawing a foul and obtaining a chance to tie the game. Although he did not get the foul call he was looking for, the confidence his teammates have in him has been well earned. Vilmont began the year with a personal-best 13 points in the team's home-opening win in November. However, he saw his playing time-and his point totals-dwindle as the competition got increasingly more difficult. Coach Brian Meehan has shifted his starting lineup throughout the season based on matchups, and ultimately, Vilmont's time on the court has been reflective of the coach's strategy. The guard saw a season-high 30 minutes against Lasell College in November, but then, entered the game for just one minute in the team's loss to Washington University in St. Louis on Jan. 17 and only five minutes in a loss to New York University six days prior to that. Since the loss to WashU, Vilmont has averaged nearly 20 minutes per game, adding eight points and four assists for the Judges in the team's previous three games. "My confidence has been going through the ceiling because of how much trust coach has on me now," he said. Even amid his changing role, Vilmont looks to contribute to the overall success of the team. "Since coach switches the lineup depending on matchup just means that when your number is called you need to be ready to perform and work hard," he explained. Vilmont has found a different way of contributing in each game, registering a game-high four assists in the Judges' win over Rochester on Friday and a team-high four rebounds on Sunday. The guard, who spent last year in the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program, is proud of his contributions so far to the team but has his sights set on pushing himself to be the most complete player possible. "My first semester as being a Judge is going really well," Vilmont said. "I am doing well in all my classes thanks to [TYP] for preparing me. My personal goal for the future is to be in the best shape of my life and soon become an All-American." A team with a core of experienced players may just have to step aside as Vilmont continues to develop as a key member of the Judges. *
(01/28/14 5:00am)
On April 15, 2010, a vision came to fruition. Shaina Gilbert '10 watched from the sidelines as students squared off against staff for a novel fundraising event known as "Hoops for Haiti." The Brandeis Haiti Relief Effort, now known as the Brandeis Haiti Initiative, staged the friendly basketball exhibition between staff and students to fundraise for relief efforts for a disaster-ravaged Haiti. The Haiti Relief Effort that year focused on support for three organizations, one of which proved to be Gilbert's Empowering Through Education camp. Founded in 2009, and based in Hinche, Haiti-the hometown of Gilbert's mother-the summer program sought to serve and educate 100 children in at-risk communities. Fast-forward to Saturday. Hoops for Haiti received an added boost in publicity this year from its affiliation with Brandeis' inaugural HOOPcoming week. Led by Stacy Finley '16 and Terry Shaipitisiri '16, the committee planned a series of spirit-based events, revolving around the Judges' two critical University Athletic Association games this past weekend, to rally the student body. Gilbert reflected on the sustained success of this event, a fundraising initiative that, each year, has continued to take Red Auerbach Arena by storm. "Even four years later, I am so glad that Hoops for Haiti is alive and kicking," she said about the event. Her words resonated as Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams led the student squad onto the court against a staff team coached by men's basketball guard Ruben Kanya '14. While Kanya had a fifth straight victory in mind for the faculty, he also expressed his appreciation for having the opportunity to participate in such a great cause. "It was an amazing experience to have the opportunity to coach the staff and faculty team in an environment raising money for a great cause," he said. "It was fun to see the different faces from all departments unite as one community." Kanya looked like he would have his way, though, in the first 10 minutes of the game. The students did not earn their first basket until the five minute, 42 second mark in the first half. Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS) drained a statement three-pointer from the right corner. Meanwhile, Cary Weir Lytle, associate director of employer relations at the Hiatt Career Center, and Darryl David '08, from the Office of Student Activities, continued to lead the charge, pacing the faculty to a 19-6 lead. The students would not be deterred. After a 6-0 run, the students found themselves down by just six points at the half. Adams' squad continued to claw back from seemingly insurmountable deficits in the second half, pulling to 25-16 and 29-24 margins. The staff, though, seemed to have the game in hand, boasting a 35-29 lead in the closing minute of the game. The students then benefited from a helping hand at the scorer's table. With the click of a button, the score suddenly stood at 35-35 and the outcome of the game hinged on the next basket scored. Vincent Asante '14, who has shined in countless meets on the track during his four-year career with the Judges, then took his talents to the basketball court. He drained the game-winning basket from inside the paint to clinch the 37-35 victory. The students, accompanied by Adams, stormed the court to the tune of "We Are the Champions." David, even while on the losing side, alluded to the enriching opportunity that Hoops for Haiti provides for both students and faculty. "As an alum and staff member, I am ecstatic every time I get to participate in the Hoops for Haiti initiative," he said. "Not only does it bring attention to a great cause in Haiti but also creates relationships among staff and the student body. As long as my body permits I will continue to support this event and aid in any way possible." While the students rejoiced, the true champions that night proved to be the 250-plus children in Gilbert's ETE camp who stood to benefit from the fundraising efforts. Their mission is now more pressing than ever. KIND Snacks, a major multinational food provider, is currently offering $10,000-as a part of the "Do the Kind Thing Initiative"-to support a project aligned with the ideals of social justice. ETE is a front-runner for the grant, and as the month-long voting period continues to pass, Gilbert elaborated on her program's ability to enrich and inspire children from throughout Haiti. "We have many eight to 12 year olds enrolled in our program and encourage them to make our nation better," she said. "We hope one day that they will be fearless leaders." Each year, as students and staff square off for the annual Hoops for Haiti title, that aspiration continues to become more of a reality.
(01/28/14 5:00am)
Brandeis Profs. Marc Brettler (NEJS) and Ellen Wright (PSYC) embraced an online course format this semester, each teaching one class through Semester Online. This marked the University's first venture into online course offerings, joining a consortium of nine other colleges who are also offer courses through Semester Online. The consortium offers a total of 21 courses. Though both Brandeis courses were intended to attract Brandeis students as well as students from consortium schools, Wright's "Psychological and Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Health" online course enrolled only Brandeis students. In total, 29 Brandeis students are enrolled in online courses, 18 enrolled in Wright's class and 11 enrolled in courses offered by consortium partners, according to Senior Vice President of Communications Ellen de Graffenreid. Brettler's course, "The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: Then and Now," only enrolled students from consortium partner schools. De Graffenreid wrote, "offering an academic strength at Brandeis to students at other top-ranked schools" is "exactly what was intended with Semester Online." In an email to the Justice, Brettler wrote that he wishes Brandeis students were also taking this course, "but there is something exciting about teaching students from other schools, and increasing the diversity of the students I am teaching." Brettler's course "explores the meaning of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in its original ancient Near Eastern context, and how this compares to the uses made of the Bible now," according to a June 11, 2013 BrandeisNOW press release. Both professors said they sought to teach online courses due to personal interest in the method. Brettler wrote that he liked to experiment with new educational models "especially because I think that the standard model of three hours of classroom contact is arbitrary and not always best for the students." He expects online teaching to be "used widely in all colleges," so he said that he was excited to get involved. Wright wrote that she appreciates the online teaching method for its many resources. "Students get the opportunity to have guest lectures asynchronously, and also to watch and join in virtually with roundtables that feature experts in particular fields," she wrote. The online format includes first a "flipped class format (lecturing and some activities testing knowledge and understanding)." Beyond that, it "allows for 'live' discussion and activities that will help support the learning of the material in ways that we don't have the time or resources to do with our regular course load," Wright wrote. The live sessions allow students to divide into break out rooms for smaller discussions. Wright's course is "designed to survey areas of psychology, psychobiology, medical anthropology and medical sociology and was created to be helpful to pre-med students around the changes in MCATs." Using the online format to her advantage, she noted that it allowed one unit of the course to feature a discussion about evaluating public service announcements around the Women, Infants and Children program between Monique Turner, an expert on persuasion and communications who has worked with [public service announcements], and Patricia McDade, a pediatric nurse practitioner. Wright reported getting "a tremendous amount of help from faculty in all three departments" including Profs. Margie Lachman (PSYC), Nicolas Rohleder (PSYC), Anita Hannig (ANTH), Ph.D. candidate in Sociology Catherine Tan and recent Brandeis Ph.D. recipient Michael Polito. Though Brettler showed no trepidation about the possible anonymity of online courses, Wright expressed that she still has "some concerns about how the Internet leaves us less connected rather than more connected." However, she wrote, "I think the partners in this activity work hard to make the classes really great."
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In a statement released last week, Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, asked the University for a permanent prayer room for Hindu students on campus. Zed's press release called on the University to respond to the "presence of a substantial number of Hindu students," and provide a "designated prayer-meditation hall for rituals, quiet reflection, festivals and spiritual exercise." The University "needs to recognize the intersection of spirituality and education, which is important in Hinduism," according to Zed. He further asked all American and Canadian universities to respond to the needs of their "considerable Hindu student bodies" and offer prayer spaces. In an interview with the Justice, Sharada Sanduga '14, president of Namaskar-a group established to promote Hindu, Jain and Sikh culture and spiritual heritage-said that she was comforted that "outside members of the Hindu community are invested in the community here at Brandeis." Vaishali Gupta, the newly hired Hindu chaplain, wrote in an email to the Justice that she agrees with Zed in that it is "important to meet the spiritual needs of the Hindu students on campus." Currently, Hindu services are held in the Harlan Chapel, which was originally built for Protestant services. Weekly services are held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, according to Gupta. When asked why the Harlan Chapel in particular was chosen, Rev. Walter Cuenin, coordinator of the Interfaith Chaplaincy, said in an interview with the Justice that after consulting with Protestant Chaplain Matt Carriker, the Chaplaincy chose the Protestant Chapel "because it is very plain" and that this made it "a more neutral space" as opposed to the Bethlehem or Berlin Chapels (which were built for Catholic and Jewish services respectively). Gupta also stated that the chapel is an adequate space and "can definitely be used for Hindu prayers." Sanduga stated that she believes the chapel to be an adequate space, both due to the lack of iconography and because it gives Hindu students "the opportunity and space for services." Cuenin also told the Justice that a permanent prayer space for Hindu students is a work in progress. "Space on this campus is difficult," he explained. Gupta stated that if she sees a large number of students gather to pray and meditate, she will "communicate that with the college. "It would be ideal to have a separate space," Sanduga told the Justice, "but it is great that steps are being taken toward that direction." Four months ago, a chaplain and prayer space were not a reality," she added. "For that, I am grateful." In the past few years, the Chaplaincy has moved to expand the services it offers to Hindu students. Last semester, the Chaplaincy welcomed Gupta onto the staff to serve as the University's first Hindu Chaplain since the Chaplaincy's founding in 1955, according to a Nov. 5 article in the Justice. Gupta works part time at the University and Wellesley College. Previously, the position of imam, a Muslim cleric, was a part-time job like Gupta's; after several years, according to Cuenin, the position was made a permanent part of the Chaplaincy. Cuenin also told the Justice that the Muslim suite at Brandeis had previously served another purpose, but had been renovated as a result of student demand. While the University does not ask for information on each student's religious affiliation, according to Cuenin, Sanduga said that she estimates there to be 250 members of the Hindu community at Brandeis, with five to 10 interested in weekly services. When asked about the needs of the Hindu community, Sanduga told the Justice that while there was "extended discussion in the University to get where we are now," she believes the community's needs are being met in a "thorough and timely fashion." The Universal Society of Hinduism is an organization dedicated to bringing "people and organizations of all faiths, background and beliefs together to create understanding" and building "bridges between different beliefs and backgrounds," according to its website. The society is headquartered in Reno, Nev. Zed was the driving force behind the creation of the society, according to its website. It states that his vision was to bring people together, represent Hindus across the world, and use Hindu tenants to "create a better world and leave a better world for the future generations."
(01/28/14 5:00am)
All residential students at Brandeis University will be required to purchase a meal plan starting in fall 2016, according to an unsigned campus-wide email from "Campus Operations." Currently, students living in apartment-style residences equipped with kitchens, such as the Foster Mods and Ridgewood Quad, are not required to be on a meal plan. Sodexo will also begin to implement other changes such as a renovation of Usdan Cafe and the elimination of meal equivalencies next year. Lower Usdan will become a second unlimited-dining location in the 2014 to 2015 academic year. Also in 2014-15, unlimited and flexible meal plan programs will be implemented and point-equivalency programs will be eliminated. Einstein Bros. Bagels will also expand that year. Survey results collected by the Student Union suggest that the residential meal plan requirement could prove to be an unpopular change among students. However, of the students currently on campus, the new policy will only affect those in the Class of 2017. In interviews with the Justice, Student Union leaders said they were concerned about the meal plan requirement, particularly because it may force cash-strapped students to move off campus and they felt the process lacked sufficient student input. Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 said he worried the University prioritized administrative concerns over student well-being. "The decisions we make have to have students' interests in mind, and with this decision in particular, I'm not entirely sure that the best interests of students were the driving force behind the changes," he said. Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 said she is "disappointed" with the way the decision to implement mandatory meal plans was made and the way it was communicated to the student body. Franco said that the new structure of meal plans, such as the elimination of meal equivalencies and the renovation of Lower Usdan, is a significant improvement. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel wrote in an email to the Justice that "all of the plan models include much larger portions of flexible funds that can be used at any retail (non dining hall) location, or to purchase additional 'meals' for those who do not opt for the unlimited plan." In 2015 to 2016, residential students who enrolled in fall 2013 or later will be required to purchase a meal plan. By the following year, the requirement will apply to all residential students. The apartment plan option, according to the email, will be priced similarly to the current Village plan, which currently costs about $2,000 per semester. Regarding exact pricing of the plans, Flagel wrote the Board of Trustees will set tuition, fees and housing costs at its March board meeting. Franco said the Student Union is advocating for less expensive meal plans so as not to add a prohibitive cost to students' bills. According to the email from Campus Operations, "both dining-services vendor finalists" in the bidding process that Brandeis undertook last year before hiring Sodexo "agreed that a residential requirement was essential if the university wanted to expand its offerings and bring in new franchises such as Dunkin' Donuts." Students responding to a December 2013 Student Union survey were largely critical of mandatory meal plans. In all, the survey garnered 877 responses. Franco said the survey results have not yet been shared with either University administrators or Sodexo staff. The majority of students surveyed responded that mandatory meal plans would affect their decision to live on campus. In response to the question, "If meal plans were required for all on campus living (with or without a kitchen), how would that affect your decision to live on campus?" 28 percent of respondents said, "I would choose to live off campus and not be on a meal plan," while 36 percent said, "I would choose to live where it was most affordable to me." Forty-three percent of students said mandatory meal plans would not affect their housing decision. Rosen said affordability should be a top concern for the administration: "If we have mandatory, required meal plans for all on-campus housing ... we want to make sure that all of these options are affordable for students. I think that that needs to be the number one concern going forward." According to the survey, 47 percent of respondents were satisfied with their meal plan, while 53 percent were not. In a space reserved for additional anonymous comments, students overwhelmingly criticized the notion of mandatory meal plans. "I think it would be an absolute disgrace if the university decided to coerce all students living on campus to get meal plans," wrote one student. "Right now people choose to live in certain places because they literally cannot afford to purchase a meal plan or do not wish to take on additional debt for one. Going to this system would exacerbate class issues already at play at Brandeis." "I am extremely unhappy that the university is considering making everyone living in on campus housing get a meal plan," wrote another student. "I don't need one and I don't want to pay for one." The Campus Operations email indicated that administrators were aware of concerns having been raised, and pointed to the fact that "the new requirement would phase in over four years." Rosen said Sodexo and University administrators presented some elements of their proposal to alter the meal plan structure to student representatives in a November meeting. However, Rosen said, by the time the administration sought student input, decisions had already been made. "I have gotten the sense that this has been the trajectory for the last few years. ... When we reached the point when we were in the room with them, to discuss the changes, a lot of the changes had been made already, which was a little worrisome." Franco said she, Rosen, Class of 2017 Senator David Heaton and Danny Novak '15, met with Sodexo representatives, Flagel and Director of Strategic Procurement John Storti in the middle of last semester. That meeting consisted of discussions about the structure of meal plans, but the administrators did not provide a definite answer about mandatory meal plans. The meeting "danced around" the topic of a meal plan mandate, said Franco. While Rosen regularly met with Flagel, that group never met again. Regarding the email from Campus Operations announcing the meal plan changes, "When they're referring to students I find it very ambiguous," said Franco. "If they're talking about students in the context of Ricky, or myself, or the four people, we were in that one meeting and then never again." "Our conversations, I would label as limited," said Franco. "Not that we weren't willing to have them, but it's just that were weren't involved." In an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel wrote, "Discussions about these models began with the Student Union and Senate Dining Board when I arrived, and continued through the past 2 1/2 years, including the subject coming up at nearly every strategic planning town hall meeting." Storti wrote in an email to the Justice: "An effect of planning for construction, implementing dining venues and programming meal plan structures is that many decisions are made in consultation with students a year or more in advance of implementation of many efforts, which can often give students the false impression that this is a top down process." Flagel declined to provide the Justice with specifics on how much revenue would be raised by the new requirement. "The contract with Sodexo has confidentiality components, but I can share that the expanded participation that will be phased in over the next three years was included in the model for investment in dining facilities and expanded dining venues," he wrote. -Phil Gallagher contributed reporting.
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Judith Rich Harris '59 is widely regarded in the psychology community for her research into the factors that influence child development. In 1998, Harris published The Nurture Assumption, an outgrowth of a paper she published in the prestigious Psychological Review journal, a considerable feat at the time given that she was unaffiliated with a university and suffers from an autoimmune disease. In 2006, Harris went on to publish a second book that refined her previous conclusions in The Nurture Assumption entitled No Two Alike. She has become known in academic circles as one who has challenges many of the myths regarding parental involvement as a supreme factor in a child's eventual personality, opting for a nuanced approach that takes into account environmental variables that extend beyond the household and genetic factors. In an email interview with the Justice, Harris reflected on her dynamic career as a research psychologist. JustFeatures: Where does your passion for psychology stem from? Judith Rich Harris: I probably could have developed a passion for just about any science. But what's particularly interesting about psychology is that people have pre-existing opinions on its subject matter, and in many cases these pre-existing opinions are flat-out wrong! By nature, I'm a skeptic. I don't accept conventional beliefs simply because I heard them from someone in authority-I want to see the data! As it happens, in my area of interest there's plenty of data. JF: How did your time at Brandeis prepare you for your career and your life of psychology research and publishing? JRH: What I found out at Brandeis ... is that I love collecting and processing data. My thesis advisor was [Prof. Emeritus] Ricardo Morant (PSYC), and he set me a problem that involved testing people (my classmates) in a visual perception task. The experiment produced lots of data. After each testing session, I would rush back to my room in Renfield Hall in order to plot the latest batch of numbers on my graphs. JF: What did you do upon graduating from Brandeis? JRH: Became a graduate student in Harvard's Department of Psychology. At that time the Department of Psychology was exclusively experimental; its most prominent professor was B. F. Skinner. The other kind of psychology-which includes social, clinical, developmental, and personality-was in a separate department called Social Relations. We grad students in Psychology looked down our noses at the "soft-headed" types in Soc Rel. They no doubt held us in equal disdain. JF: Why did the psychology department at Harvard reject you from their Ph.D program? JRH: The letter I got from George A. Miller, the acting chairman of the department, started out by saying that they had no doubt I was "capable of doing satisfactory work in lecture courses and in seminars." The difficulty, he said, had to do with my "promise as an experimental scientist"-in particular, with what the department perceived as my lack of "originality and independence." JF: What did you do after you graduated from Harvard with a master's degree? JRH: I worked as a teaching assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then as a research assistant at Bolt Beranek and Newman. After 10 years as a full-time mother of two daughters, I became a research assistant again, this time at Bell Labs. My younger daughter was in first grade when I developed intractable back trouble-the first sign of what turned out to be a serious and chronic autoimmune disorder. I was bedridden for a time-had to give up the job at Bell Labs-and was looking for something I could do in bed. Then a friend at Rutgers University, Marilyn Shaw, gave me one of her papers-an experimental study of something called "visual search." Marilyn hired me to edit it-to improve the writing style. But she also gave me the data from the experiment, which I found much more interesting. I spent more than a year happily playing with the data. Then I heard that a textbook publishing company, Prentice Hall, was looking for someone to write two chapters of an introductory psychology book. I applied for the job and was hired. They liked the chapters I wrote so they asked me to co-author (with a professor at SUNY Stony-Brook) a textbook on developmental psychology-one of those fields that Harvard classified as Soc Rel, not Psychology. I didn't know beans about developmental psychology but accepted the job-it was something I could do in bed. By then I was tired of being a co-author, so I decided to start afresh and write a new development textbook on my own. On a cold winter afternoon in 1994-I was alone in the house, reading a journal article on adolescent delinquency-I suddenly had an idea that led me to re-examine the foundations of developmental psychology. JF: What was your initial motivation for writing the Psychological review article that would eventually become The Nurture Assumption? JRH: One of the basic tenets of this field is the belief that the most important part of a child's environment is the child's parents-the belief that, if something goes wrong with the child, it was probably the parents' fault. What I realized, after looking closely at the evidence, was that this belief is nothing more than a cultural myth. At that point, it didn't even occur to me to write a book aimed at a general audience. How could a nobody like me, with no Ph.D. and no affiliation, expect to get an article into one of psychology's most prestigious journals, which had an acceptance rate of 15 percent? It was sheer chutzpah, but I figured I'd give it a try. Amazingly, my paper was accepted. It appeared in the journal in July, 1995. JF: What were the difficulties involved in writing and research at the same time you were struggling with illness? Did you view your work as a way to distract yourself? JRH: By the time I started work on the Psych Review paper, I was no longer bedridden, but I was (and still am) very limited in my ability to do any kind of physical activity. Fortunately, there are work-arounds. I sent out many postcards and letters-in paper mail, remember that?-to researchers at universities, asking for copies of their papers. JF: What did it mean to you to receive the George A. Miller Award, given that the psychology department at Harvard rejected you from their Ph.D program while George A. Miller was the chair of the Psychology department? JRH: In my acceptance speech, I told the audience the story of having been kicked out of the Harvard Psychology Department by George A. Miller and added, "I don't think you will ever have a recipient of the George A. Miller Award who is happier to receive it than I am!" JF: What about the reaction in academia to your theory surprised you most? Did you anticipate that it would be as controversial as it was? JRH: Yes, I anticipated that The Nurture Assumption would be controversial. But I didn't anticipate the amount of media attention it would receive, or the fact that every periodical in the country would voice an opinion! JF: What are some of the major points you communicate in The Nurture Assumption? JRH: It's not that "parents don't matter"-of course they matter, though not in the all the ways you assumed! And it's not that parents don't influence their children's behavior-they do influence their children's behavior at home. The catch is that much of what children learn at home is of little or no use to them in the world outside the home. Children are perfectly capable of adjusting their behavior to the setting in which they find themselves, so the behaviors that don't work outside the home are quickly dropped and new ones acquired. Parents are often surprised to discover that their children behave quite differently in school. I remember, when my children were young, going to Back-to-School Night at their school. Parents would talk to their children's teacher and come away shaking their heads in disbelief. "Was she talking about my child?" they'd say. JF: Some misunderstand your book as one that claims childhood development is strictly determined by "nature." Can you explain in more detail what your conclusions actually prove? JRH: No one-certainly not me-thinks personality is entirely inherited! So the question is: What, besides genes, shapes an individual's personality? The problem is that genes tend to confuse the issue. If competent parents have competent children, is it nature or nurture? Do competent parents teach their children how to manage their lives, or do they pass on this trait in their genes? Because ordinary observation can't distinguish between these alternatives, special research methods have been devised to disentangle them. The use of these methods led to an unexpected conclusion: Most of the environmental factors that were thought to be important ... have no discernible effects on the offspring's adult personality, once the effects of heredity are taken into account. To be honest, I didn't do a very good job of solving it in The Nurture Assumption, though that book does show that the conventional beliefs about childhood, and the conventional research methods used to back up these beliefs, don't stand up to scrutiny. I took another stab at solving the mystery in my second book, No Two Alike. The theory presented in N2A is an enhanced version of the one in TNA and fills in some of the gaps. It's based in part on an idea that comes from the field of evolutionary psychology-namely, that different psychological functions are carried out by different mental organs, often called modules or systems (as in "the visual system"), which work more or less independently. JF: Although of course your research is based on objective study, are there any subjective personal experiences you can recall that confirm your findings or inspire your work? JRH: While I was at Harvard, I lived in a rooming house in Cambridge. It was owned by a Russian couple; they both spoke English with a heavy foreign accent. Even without hearing them speak, you could somehow tell they were foreigners. But their three young children, who ranged in age from five to nine, looked like perfectly ordinary Americans and spoke with no foreign accent at all. I didn't think of the Russian couple and their children for many years but they must have remained in a corner of my mind, ready to speak up again when the time came for them to be heard. -Compiled by Jaime Kaiser and Casey Pearlman
(01/21/14 5:00am)
Well, pop culture people-there are now two more big celebrity weddings appearing on the horizon. When actor Johnny Depp and actress Amber Heard were spotted leaving a West Hollywood restaurant last Monday, a sneaky photographer snapped a shot of a big diamond ring on Heard's left hand-though Heard reportedly took great measures to try and keep that hand covered up. Now, People Magazine confirms that the couple is engaged. Depp, 50, and Heard, 27, met on the set of their 2011 film The Rum Diary. Notoriously private, the couple has barely alluded to their relationship in past interviews. This will be the second marriage for Depp (he was previously married to make-up artist Lori Anne Allison from 1983 to 1985). After that, Depp was famously in a 14-year-long relationship with French singer Vanessa Paradis, with whom he had two children, Lily Rose and Jack. However, Depp and Paradis broke up back in 2012. Meanwhile, Heard, who has come out as bisexual, had previously been in a four-year relationship with photographer Tasya van Ree. As for this week's second engagement announcement, actor (and son of Diana Ross) Evan Ross took to Twitter last Monday to announce that "The love of [his] life said YES!!!!!!" The love of his life who inspired these six exclamation points is none other than singer/actress Ashlee Simpson. This will be the second marriage for Simpson, who was married to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz from 2008 until February 2011. With Wentz, she has son Bronx Mowgli, 5. Simpson, 29, and Ross, 25, went public with their relationship back in July. Then, in November, the couple attended The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiere, where Ross was caught gushing about Simpson, saying, "She's the one." It sure looks like their romance caught fire rather fast. In other news, pregnant No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani announced via Instagram on Friday that she is expecting another boy. Stefani already has two sons, Kingston, 7, and Zuma, 5, with her husband, musician Gavin Rossdale. Posting a photo of herself wearing a crown, Stefani wrote, "I was ready to hand over the crown. but I guess I am still queen of the house. #itsaboy #surroundedbyboys." Although other sources close to the couple confirmed that Stefani was pregnant back in September, this is the first public confirmation from the singer herself. A piece of more unfortunate news came out of Hollywood this week, as Dennis Rodman's agent announced that the former NBA star has checked into rehab to treat his long struggle with alcoholism. Recently, Rodman, 52, returned from his latest trip to North Korea. He has been in the spotlight most recently for these visits, during which he met leader Kim Jong Un. They started in February 2013, when Rodman accompanied the HBO documentary series Vice to host basketball exhibitions there. Rodman's rehab stint comes just after eyebrow-raising comments he made earlier this month, in which he stated that Kenneth Bae, a Korean American missionary who is imprisoned in North Korea, was at fault for his situation. Rodman later apologized, and attributed the comments he made to his drinking and the pressure he was under.
(01/14/14 5:00am)
On Feb. 13, the Rose Art Museum will see five new exhibits featuring the works of Chris Burden, Mika Rottenberg, Wols and Charline Von Heyl, Mark Boulos, Josephine Meckseper, Mary Reid Kelley and Maria Lassnig. The museum will also be displaying some of Chris Burden's models of bridges in addition to a highly anticipated outdoor installation that will be coming to the Rose at the beginning of the next school year, "Light of Reason." The Burden exhibit will be held on the upper level of the Gerald S. and Sandra Fineberg Gallery. In an interview with the Justice, Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose Christopher Bedford said that he hopes that the exhibition in the Fineberg Gallery will give context to the outdoor installation. He noted one of the things he appreciates about Burden's work is his impressive use of "materials that we're all familiar with, whether those things are toys or refurbished antique lamps." Meanwhile, downstairs, the Lois Foster Gallery will hold an exhibit with works by Mika Rottenberg, a multinational video artist who has lived in the United States as well as Israel and Argentina. "The way [Rottenberg] is able to intertwine sculpture and the moving image is unusually sophisticated and very new," Bedford said. Rottenberg is interested in elements of the corporeal, especially the obese, intertwined nature. She has said that in her art she is interested in the idea of "labor as a process between a person and nature." As Rottenberg is a relatively young artist and takes on very new ideas, Bedford sees her as a model for what a Brandeis student could become in a few years. Rose Video 02 and Rose Video 03, both to be viewed in the Mildred S. Lee Video Gallery, are part of a larger initiative at the Rose to expanding the museum's video collections and tracing the development of the medium of videos from the 1960s, according to Bedford. Last semester the program premiered with Rose Video 01 by Omer Fast, "5000 Feet is the Best." The first of the videos, Rose Video 02, shows successive four-week screenings; the first, by Mark Boulos (All that is Solid Melts into Air, 2009) has already been screened but the second by Josephine Meckseper (Mall of America, 2009) will be on view from Feb. 14 through March 16. Rose Video 03 will exhibit videos by Mary Reid Kelly and Maria Lassnig. Rose Video 02 will run through March 16, and Rose Video 03 will begin screening on March 25. Bedford said that Prof. Lori Cole (FA) was instrumental in choosing the artists and pieces for Rose Video 02 and Rose Video 03. In an email to the Justice, Cole commented on the pairing of the Boulos and Meckseper videos. "Through diverging documentary strategies, Boulos and Meckseper reveal the disembodied nature of consumption, undermining our complacency and forcing us to gaze at the circulation of commodities. By pairing these artistic propositions, Rose Video [03] seeks to expand the conversation about power, inequality, and consumption that these works initiate," she wrote. Regarding Rose Video 03, Cole said that she "was interested in drawing a historical link between Lassnig's work [in the early 20th century] and that of contemporary artist Mary Reid Kelley, whose videos are also drawing-based, and centralize her body, as she performs pun-filled ballads evoking women's experience of history. The pairing is intended to explore film's and video's relationship to other media-performance, drawing and poetry-and to reflect on the trajectory of feminist video art." Another video installation, Rose Projects 01A: The Matter that Surrounds Us, features artists Wols and Charline Von Heyl, and will be viewed on the lower level of the Gerald S. and Sandra Fineberg Gallery. Wols, a German artist from the first part of the 20th century, is known for his paintings in which he dripped thick layers of paint on the canvas and then scratched into the paint. A New York Times article on her show at the Petzel Gallery in New York says that "Charline von Heyl is one of the more intriguing, and least predictable, abstract painters working right now" and notes that "she develops her paintings in shallow but high-contrast layers that evoke the printmaking studio and the computer screen." The preview on the Rose' s website notes that "at once visceral and visual, each one of these works of art is something we've never seen before." Bedford told the Justice that the mission of the Rose is very much in line with the University's dedication to social justice and these new exhibits will aim to strengthen this focus. Steering away from the extremely abstract works of Jack Whitten and Andy Warhol, the new exhibits at the Rose promise to present a very unique array of art in a diverse range of media. I, for one, am extremely excited to see these distinct exhibits come to fruition. *
(12/19/13 5:00am)
* Correction appended. The American Studies program discontinued its institutional affiliation with the American Studies Association in response to the association's recent vote in favor of an academic boycott of Israel. The program released a statement on Dec. 18 announcing the decision, two days after the association announced the boycott. Brandeis' program was the second to decide to cancel its institutional membership. "We view the recent vote by the membership to affirm an academic boycott of Israel as a politicization of the discipline and a rebuke to the kind of open inquiry that a scholarly association should foster," the statement reads. "We remain committed to the discipline of American Studies but we can no longer support an organization that has rejected two of the core principles of American culture-freedom of association and expression." According to the association's website, it is one of several academic associations that were asked to participate in the boycott of Israeli academic institutions as a part of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions campaign. "Israeli academic institutions function as a central part of a system that has denied Palestinians their basic rights," the American Studies Association's website reads. "Palestinian students face ongoing discrimination, including the suppression of Palestinian cultural events, and there is sanctioning and ongoing surveillance of Palestinian students and faculty who protest Israeli policies." The ASA also condemned the United States' role in "aiding and abetting Israel's violations of human rights against Palestinians and its occupation of Palestinian lands through its use of the veto in the UN Security Council." The boycott targets institutions and their representatives, and will prevent participation in conferences or events officially sponsored by Israeli universities. The ASA claimed on its website that the boycott will not interfere with individual scholars or students, but acknowledged that it would be a civil offense for Israeli academics to support the boycott. The boycott was approved by its membership in an online vote, according to Prof. Thomas Doherty (AMST), who is the program chair, in an email to the Justice. According to the association's website, 1,252 of almost 5,000 members voted. The website states that this number is "the largest number of participants in the organization's history." According to the association's website, 66.05 percent of voters endorsed the resolution, while 30.5 percent of voters voted no and 3.43 percent abstained. The website states that the election was a response to the ASA National Council's announcement on Dec. 4 that it supported the academic boycott. Doherty wrote that the resolution was put forth at the association's annual meeting in November. Although Doherty wrote that he did not receive an email reminding members to vote, "[i]ronically, a postcard arrived today [Dec. 16] from the ASA urging me to vote 'by Dec. 15.'" According Doherty, the decision to cancel the program's affiliation with the association "was pretty much a spontaneous consensus among our faculty-we had been tracking developments since the [November] meeting and had talked about what to do." Doherty added that there were no dissents, and that the program's move was made independently, with no input or pressure from the administration. After the program ceased its affiliation with the association, University President Frederick Lawrence released a statement condemning the association's resolution. The Dec. 24 statement read, "I find disturbing the uniqueness of the target of the ASA decision, with Israel representing the only nation on the planet whose universities are thereby stigmatized. The boycott even defies common sense; what Israeli universities can do that would end the policies that the ASA has condemned is hard to imagine." Lawrence wrote that he was proud that Brandeis was one of the first institutions in the world to withdraw as an institutional member of the ASA, and urged others to follow Brandeis' lead. "Brandeis University values its many relationships with Israeli academic institutions. We will not allow the ASA's action to undermine those relationships or the principle of academic freedom," the statement continued. Other universities, such as Harvard University, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University and Yale University, have openly condemned the association's resolution. Harvard University President Drew Faust's statement on the matter asserts that "[a]cademic boycotts subvert the academic freedoms and values necessary to the free flow of ideas, which is the lifeblood of the worldwide community of scholars." Although Brandeis' program ended its affiliation with the association, faculty members decided to leave the association individually prior to the release of the department's statement. Doherty wrote that he is leaving the association after about 30 years. "I am sad that an organization I have been a part of for so long has decided to politicize itself in this way," he wrote. Prof. Joyce Antler (AMST) agreed that such academic associations should not engage in systematic academic boycotts. "I agree with the [American Association of University Professors] that on specific issues, other forms of protest may be appropriate, even for non-partisan academic associations, if they promote the free exchange of ideas rather then stifle academic freedom," wrote Antler, who also stated that she would be resigning from the association before the program released its statement. "The resolution is noxious, deeply harming the principle of academic freedom and dangerously scapegoating Israel." Doherty also questioned the association's actions, stating that the "outrage is highly selective." "[L]et's just say that it is interesting they're going after Israel-and not, say, China or the Arab states," Doherty wrote. According to Antler, over 70 "eminent" ASA scholars, including eight former presidents, opposed the resolution before the vote, but the ASA's National Council refused to share the countering statements with ASA members. Despite disagreement among scholars, the association released a statement on Monday emphasizing the fact that the members did vote for the association to take such an action. "The resolution is in solidarity with scholars and students deprived of their academic freedom, and it aspires to enlarge that freedom for all, including Palestinians," the statement read. Brandeis' American Studies program was the second to announce that it would discontinue its affiliation with the association after Pennsylvania State Harrisburg. Kenyon College and Indiana University followed suit and cancelled their institutional memberships, as well, according to a Dec. 23 Tablet article. Editor's Note: American Studies is a program at Brandeis, not a department, as originally stated.
(12/10/13 5:00am)
I first came to Brandeis University as a brash and capricious 18-year-old, ready to take on all the challenges that college would throw at me. I looked forward to meeting new people, understanding diverse world-views and forming an overall better rounded opinion of life. Now, as I write my last op-ed as a student at Brandeis, other than now being 19, I cannot think of anything that has really changed in that regard. What has changed, however, is that I believe I have learned a great deal about both myself and others, not only from Brandeis, but from Boston. As I have previously written in the Justice, issues such as a competent public transportation system that connects both transit depots and suburban universities to a sprawling city are important for the rest of the country to take note of. Similarly, eschewing the death penalty with a criminal justice system based on justice would be especially helpful for my home state of Texas. However, more than any divisive, partisan issue, the people of Boston have taught me a valuable lesson in resilience. Whether that is the unyielding loyalty to their sports teams that any fan of the Houston Texans football team, like myself, could learn from, or a determination to continue on with business as usual no matter the how cold it gets or how extreme the conditions, the people here do not give up. In my native Houston, temperatures often become extreme on the opposite end of the thermostat, with summer months regularly boasting highs above 100 degrees. The only response to the scalding heat is to turn up the air conditioning and eschew any and all outside activity that does not feature an ice-cold swimming pool. Boston does not resort to comparably drastic measures when the cold comes. Massachusetts winters bring snow, often by the foot, but we-for I now consider myself a Bostonian in part-continue walking to class or our place of employment. We spend hours on end shoveling the snow and salting the roads so that we can keep going no matter which nor'easter or blizzard may try to stop us. People who grew up here may think this is a silly or superficial point, but I cannot stress enough how different a culture this presents. Regularly battling against the forces of nature is no small point in explaining a unique determination. This determination was shown to the world last April, when Boston was rocked by a terrorist attack that ultimately took four people's lives and wounded hundreds more. When a citywide manhunt ensued to capture the suspects and bring them to justice, we gladly worked together to catch those responsible for the heinous acts. Nationwide, the general public dubbed the reaction "Boston Strong," an honorific given to the great resilience of this city. I believe it is this resilience that helps foster so many excellent universities in this city, with Brandeis being, in my opinion, the most excellent among them. This resilience, this strength, gives us the courage to become truer to the person we really are deep down. I believe this is how Brandeis helped me to learn about myself. For me, I define myself a lot by my political views. As someone who was considered very liberal in Texas, I felt like my opinions would be considered quite popular at Brandeis and looked forward to that experience. But in many cases, they were not popular. Ironically enough, my views are probably more conservative than that of the average Brandeis student, and that has been just as rewarding a learning experience. I would not have it any other way. Brandeis has given me the strength and resilience to understand exactly where I am on the political spectrum, and to come to grips with all of my own views. What use would political opinions be if they were only clearly defined on one side of the spectrum? Since I have now had interactions with many people both more conservative and more liberal than I, I have been able to mark out my own space. Simply put, Brandeis has allowed me to acquire the knowledge to better define myself and the pliancy to put that person to good use. Certainly, I have become a much more rounded person, but most importantly, a better defined one. And I do plan on putting it to good use. Beginning next semester, I will transfer to the University of Texas at Austin, where I will seek new professional opportunities. Accordingly, this will be my last column for the Justice. While my brief sojourn in Boston was tough, between Hurricane Sandy, the blizzard Nemo and the marathon bombings, it has been an experience that will help shape me for the rest of my life. For no matter which Big 12 conference team I will be rooting for next year, I will always be a "Judge." And no matter where I hang my hat, I will always be "Boston Strong."
(12/10/13 5:00am)
The University announced on Wednesday that two professors from the History department have been appointed to endowed chairs. On Nov. 26, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren named Prof. Michael Willrich (HIST) the Leff Families Professor of History and Prof. David Engerman (HIST) the Ottilie Springer Professor of History. "I was utterly surprised and delighted by the news," Willrich wrote in an email to the Justice. "An endowed chair is a special honor for a professor, and I'm particularly honored to be taking on the chair previously occupied by my much-missed colleague Rudy Binion, a brilliant historian who died in 2011." Engerman had a similar reaction. "I was very excited and proud. Academia is a funny world in which one doesn't get many promotions ... so to find out about the University bestowing an honor like that was great," he said in an interview with the Justice. Carl and Phillip Leff established the Leff Chair in 1965 with their wives, all of whom contributed financially to Brandeis' early years. "The chair is an honor, with no particular strings attached, other than continuing to strive to meet Brandeis' high standards for research, teaching and service," Willrich said. Axel Springer, German journalist and media mogul, named the Ottilie Springer Chair after his mother in 1968. "There's a story about the chair in the memoir called A Host at Last by the president [of Brandeis] under whose auspices it was created, Abram Sachar," Engerman explained. "Axel Springer had given a lot of money to Israel and various Jewish causes, and Abram Sachar solicited a gift on behalf of American Jews." Engerman is currently working on a book entitled Planning for Prosperity: The Economic Cold War in India. "It's about American and Soviet competition ... to provide development aid to India," Engerman said. "It's an unusual facet of the Cold War, since we usually think about the Cold War as military competition and this is about economics." Willrich's most recent book is Pox: An American History, about the smallpox epidemic in 20th Century United States. He is "at the early stages of two separate projects, a political history of sports in the United States, and a post-frontier history of Americans who have chosen-and often have struggled-to live 'off the grid,'" Willrich wrote. Willrich, who began his career as a journalist, said that he likes teaching history because "history offers important insights into our contemporary challenges, and I am particularly drawn to the historian's craft of making meaningful arguments through narrative." Engerman is also enthusiastic about his job. "I like teaching because every time I do it I look at the material differently. Even pieces I've taught on and off since I was in graduate school sound different now. Communism sounds more remote to current students than when I was a student or even students in the 1990s," Engerman said. Both professors say they learn a lot from their students. "We're pretty spoiled at Brandeis, because the students here are very smart and engaged-always ready for a good debate," Willrich wrote. "My legal history class this fall is a case in point. Today the students launched into a nuanced debate about President [Abraham] Lincoln's purposes in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation." "Brandeis students in particular are good teachers," Engerman added. "Trying to see it through their eyes gives me new ways to think about things that I thought I knew something about." Engerman and Willrich both started their Brandeis careers in 1999, and their "careers have evolved together as colleagues and beyond," Engerman said.
(12/10/13 5:00am)
At the Dec. 5 faculty meeting, Prof. Sarah Mead (MUS) revealed that the University Budget Committee during the 2009 economic recession was unaware of the Board of Trustees' decision to contract President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz a salary of $1.5 million in 2009, $627,000 in 2011 and $300,000 each year from 2012 and 2014. According to University administrators, Reinharz's post-presidency salary has declined from its high in 2011. Reinharz's total compensation is approximately $300,000 each year from 2012 through 2014. In 2014, Reinharz will be compensated as president emeritus until June at the same rate as 2012 and 2013, with a total compensation that year of about $160,000. After June 2014, Reinharz's annual salary will be $180,000 as a half-time professor. "I am hurt that I spent all those years on the UBC, which I am still a member of, and didn't know anything about this. During a time we were in dire financial straits ... we didn't know this was happening," Mead said. Mead's comments were made during the question-and-answer section of the meeting during which faculty were encouraged to respond to the issue of executive compensation. Other faculty members responded similarly to the article in the Boston Globe that focused on the salary packages of outgoing university presidents, concentrating on Reinharz's compensation. "I'm mortified, as I was in the fall of 2008," said Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST). "If I were [Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement] Nancy Winship, I would be waking up in a cold sweat every two hours all night long. I don't want to move backwards, but this is Groundhog's Day." In response to the information about Reinharz's salary, which went viral after its publication in the Globe, Faculty Senate Chair Prof. Eric Chasalow (MUS) revealed the contents of a letter drafted by the Senate that was presented to the Board of Trustees on Monday. The letter details the Senate's three principal concerns about how executive compensation packages are created and determined: transparency, equity and oversight. According to Chasalow, transparency refers to the timeliness and completeness of the information used to create the packages for executives and when that information should be made public. Equity relates to the processes that determine the fairness, structure and proportion of the packages in relation to the pay of the other employees of the University. Lastly, the letter includes a section asking for more oversight of the Board of Trustees and specifically the Personnel, Compensation and Ethics Committee that is in charge of executive compensation. Chasalow said in the past this committee has made decisions without a vote or providing information to the entire Board. Chasalow went on to say that the Chair of the Board of Trustees Perry Traquina '78 believes this is an issue that should be addressed. Moreover, in a related matter, Chasalow revealed the Senate has been discussing the possibility of recommending that faculty representatives to the Board of Trustees become voting members. Board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the University and also have the final authority in nearly all matters relating to the functioning of University. Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life Daniel Terris also spoke at the meeting and gave a brief synopsis of his recent trip to Al-Quds University along with Profs. Susan Lanser (ENG) and Daniel Kryder (POL). Terris also briefly mentioned the report that he, Lanser and Kryder had been commissioned to compile by Provost Steve Goldstein '78 and University President Frederick Lawrence. Although Terris was hesitant to comment until the community had a chance to read the report on Monday, Dec. 9, he abstractly outlined the contents of the report, which he said would address Al-Quds University President Sari Nusseibeh's background, information about the rally and Al-Quds University response to the rally. Further, the report will speak to the suspension of the University's relationship with Al-Quds University's and Nusseibeh's suspension from the advisory board of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public life. The report will end with conclusions and recommendations as the University continues to evaluate its relationship with Al-Quds. The meeting also included a memorial tribute to Professor Emeritus Harold Shapero (MUS), who recently passed away at the age of 95. Shapero was among the original faculty in the Music department and was a renowned neo-classical composer whose work was played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1947. In addition, Goldstein also announced that two History professors have been named endowed chairs: Prof. David Engerman has been appointed as the Ottilie Springer Professor of History and Prof. Michael Willrich the Leff Families Professor of History.
(11/26/13 5:00am)
This week, JustArts talked with Alison Thvedt '15, who directed Hillel Theater Group's production of The Children's Hour, which was performed this weekend. JustArts: Would you tell us about you previous theater experience at Brandeis? Alison Thvedt: I am minoring in Theater Arts here. I have acted in shows before-I did the Vagina Monologues both years, freshman year and last year. I was in a senior thesis [play] about Rachel Carson, and I was also in Into the Woods last fall. I've just been acting before this semester in undergraduate theater. JA: I understand that this was your first directorial effort. What have you learned from the experience of directing that is different from acting in a production? AT: I think the biggest thing is the amount of time that goes into it. I knew it would be a big time commitment, but it was even bigger than I thought it would be. You have to know the play really well. I like directing because I really got to go into each character and work with the actors on each character. Because, in acting, you're mainly focused on your own character and that character's specific relationships with others, whereas I get to see all the relationships and how they intertwine and intermingle ... I don't get to personally go so deeply into each character. JA: How did you select The Children's Hour for performance? AT: Well, I had to propose it. In the spring, there were proposals for each of the undergraduate theater groups. I actually acted in The Children's Hour in high school, so I knew the play, and I took a directing class last spring and I really liked it-so I thought, "oh! I'll propose this play, I'm familiar with it." I proposed it to HTG because Lillian Hellman [the playwright] is Jewish, so, since I had that play in mind, I decided to propose it to HTG instead of other theater groups. I really like The Children's Hour because it's a really female-centric play. There are 12 female roles and two males, at least in my production ... And that's getting more common, but it's still not very common to have so many females versus males. Especially in undergraduate theater, and in theater in general, there's an imbalance of women and men. JA: There was some really heavy content in the play. Would you talk a bit about the themes at work and how the actors engaged with them? AT: One thing I tried to do was I tried to have a few nights of rehearsal where we would forget about blocking, forget about just going through lines or going through moments and just focus on themes, and just forming connections between the actors, and not necessarily between the characters. One theme is love, regardless of whether it's heterosexual or homosexual or familial, like between the grandmother or granddaughter. I had them write love letters to a character, to someone else in the play, and I also had them write a hate letter. That was a really cool exercise, and I had them read them in small groups to each other, and getting into those was really awesome. I also discovered things about characters in the play that I wouldn't have thought of. ...We did bring up the themes of homosexuality, and also preadolescent and adolescent sexuality. JA: What do you hope that audiences took home with them after watching? AT: I chose to set the play in the present because I think, even though the specific events like someone being sued for spreading a rumor about someone being gay wouldn't happen, I think, in our legal system today. But the general events-people's lives being ruined through rumor, people acting in self-righteousness, people spreading rumors without even knowing if there's any legitimacy behind the rumors -all of these things still happen. People still commit suicide because they're bullied, for being gay, for being queer, transgender, anything. That still happens. I'm sure there are communities that would still take their kids out of school if they found out their teachers were gay. ... I think just remembering that things like this still happen, and recognizing that there's truth in it. -Rachel Hughes *
(11/26/13 5:00am)
Since University President Frederick Lawrence's decision to halt its academic partnership with Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, Al-Quds President Sari Nusseibeh has also been suspended from the International Advisory Board of Brandeis' International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life while a report on the recent events at Al-Quds is currently being compiled by Brandeis faculty who visited Al-Quds last week. Meanwhile, Syracuse University announced it would also be suspending its partnership while Bard College decided it would not. In a statement released this past Friday, Lawrence affirmed that he is committed to "keeping the lines of communication open" between Brandeis and Al-Quds. Al-Quds reportedly had asked the University to reconsider its decision to suspend the relationship, according to a Nov. 20 article from the Associated Press. Nusseibeh later criticized Lawrence in a Nov. 22 article in the Times of Israel, saying that the University president had "gone overboard" in his decision to suspend the partnership. Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life Daniel Terris, along with Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG) and Prof. Daniel Kryder (POL), had originally traveled to Al-Quds last week to explore ways to develop the partnership between the two schools. According to a Nov. 21 post on Terris' blog, Lawrence asked them to gather information after news of the events that took place on the Al-Quds campus broke. According to Lanser in an email to the Justice, they are currently writing the report and expect to release it sometime next week. "The issues on the ground at Al-Quds University are much more complex than has been reported on blogs and in the press," Terris wrote on his blog. "These issues deserve careful consideration and conversation." Terris wrote later in the post that "at this point ... nothing that we have learned during this period has changed our conviction ... that Sari Nusseibeh and the Al-Quds University leadership are genuinely committed to peace and mutual respect." Syracuse decided to suspend the relationship between Al-Quds and its Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism three days after Brandeis' decision, according to a Nov. 22 article from the Jerusalem Post, which reported Nov. 24 that Bard would continue its relationship. In an email to the Justice, Prof. Jytte Klausen (POL) expressed criticism of the decision. "My concern is that by withdrawing we have given the extremists what they wanted, and allowed then [sic] to cut off moderate Palestinians from participating in exchanges with the outside world," she wrote. "I wish President Lawrence had waited to make a decision until the faculty fact-finding group returned and provided a rapport." The academic partnership was halted in response to what Brandeis called an "unacceptable and inflammatory" statement released by Nusseibeh regarding controversial demonstrations that took place on Al-Quds' campus earlier this month, where participants donning "black military gear" and "fake automatic weapons ... marched while waving flags and raising the traditional Nazi salute," according to a Nov. 18 BrandeisNOW press release. In the Nov. 22 Times of Israel article, Nusseibeh explained that he had originally condemned the demonstrations on the campus in a statement "saying such manifestations of militarism are unacceptable" and called for an investigation into the incident. According to Nusseibeh, Lawrence had then contacted him "expressing anger, and calling for a condemnation of Nazi-style militarism." Though Nusseibeh agreed to wait for a draft statement from Lawrence, he said that he felt it "expressed more [Lawrence's] immediate needs than my needs as a university president having to handle a culture rather than a one-time event" and chose to write his own statement addressing the "matter," "limits" and "values" of free speech. Brandeis' Nov. 18 press release stated that "While Brandeis has an unwavering commitment to open dialogue on difficult issues, we are also obliged to recognize intolerance when we see it, and we cannot-and will not-turn a blind eye to intolerance." The statement released by Al-Quds opened by saying that the "university is often subjected to vilification campaigns by Jewish extremists" and that it had been misrepresented as "promoting inhumane, anti-Semitic, fascist and Nazi ideologies." While the BrandeisNOW press release described the demonstrators as "raising the traditional Nazi salute," a spokesman for the political branch of Islamic Jihad quoted by the Associated Press explained that the symbol represents a "desire to reach holy Jerusalem, currently under Israeli control." Lawrence addressed Nusseibeh's comments in his Nov. 22 statement. "Al-Quds University President Sari Nusseibeh has made a number of remarks and serious accusations to the media that have not been conveyed to me personally or through my staff," Lawrence wrote. "I am reaching out to President Nusseibeh today and hope that he will be open to that discussion." Lawrence concluded the press release by stating that he "will not respond to specific issues raised in the public media." -Jessie Miller contributed reporting.
(11/19/13 5:00am)
Consider other uses for finances To the Editor: I am writing to you with regard to the article "A gilded goodbye for many private college leaders" by Todd Wallack, which appeared in the Nov. 17 issue of the Boston Globe. As I'm sure you and your readers are aware, the central figure investigated in the article was former Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz, who has continued to receive a six-figure salary from the University since his retirement, on top of the even larger salary he is drawing from the Mandel Foundation despite an apparent lack of any duties as a professor or mentor to the campus community. To say I am dismayed at this would be an understatement. Reinharz was already a divisive figure during my time on campus, and only became more so after the Rose Art Museum debacle. With the costs of higher education continuing to spiral out of the reach of many students, it seems unconscionable to me that Brandeis would offer him such a generous and long-term severance package, not to mention continuing to accord him the respect of membership in the faculty. I was a beneficiary of a Presidential Scholarship as a student, which was the only thing that allowed me to attend the University without accumulating crippling amounts of debt. How many more of those scholarships could have been distributed this year without the drain of Reinharz's salary? How many more academically deserving students could have become part of the Brandeis community? My wife and fellow alum also points out the irony of having students staffing the Phonathon solicitation efforts, working to shave off a bit of the financial burden of attendance at Brandeis, while the money they raise goes in part to line the pockets of a man who makes no tangible contribution to the University. Having recently worked as an adjunct college instructor, it's also disturbing to me to think of the many courses that graduate students and adjunct faculty are teaching at Brandeis right now, barely making ends meet, while Reinharz draws a salary and takes up a position that could both go to a deserving scholar who might actually interact with a student every once in a while. I have a great fondness for Brandeis and its mission, and have looked forward to the day that I could afford to donate to the institution where I spent four wonderful years. As long as this situation persists, however, I not only cannot in good conscience give to the University, but feel as if the pride I hold in my education has been somewhat misplaced. Doubtless there are any number of my fellow alumni who feel similarly. I am hopeful that other alumni and current students will make their feelings known to the administration with regard to this matter. With any luck, President Lawrence and the Board of Trustees will find a resolution that takes the best interests of the Brandeis community-the entire Brandeis community, not just one man-into account. -Patrick Hume '07 *
