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Women's cross-country and track and field standout Victoria Sanford '14 once enjoyed spending her time on a soccer pitch. "I actually started running track in high school just as a way to stay in shape during the [soccer] off-season," she said at the start of her running career. "I had no idea when I started running that I would eventually make it my main sport." After discovering her talent on the track, though, she ditched her cleats and shin guards for spikes and shoes. "For a while I tried to balance both running and soccer, but eventually realized that I needed to pick one [of the two]," she explained. "I picked running." The decision has paid off immensely. Sanford, an All-University Athletic Association honoree in cross-country, has impressed in both cross-country and track, recording personal bests of 22 minutes, 11 seconds for six kilometers in cross-country and 5:03.41 for the one-mile run in track. As a native of Lagrangeville, New York, Sanford was drawn to Brandeis because her soccer coaches attended the school. "They loved it," she said of her coaches' time at Brandeis. "They got me interested and then after visiting the campus and meeting [former head coach] John [Evans], I knew this was where I wanted to be." Sanford, who attributes her development as a runner to an ability to increase mileage, acknowledges that she most particularly enjoys the simple nature of the sport. "I love how very straightforward running is," she said. "The more effort and training you put in, the more results you get out of it. The results are tangible and there's no feeling quite like the one after running a [personal record]." During this indoor track season, Sanford has parlayed that increase in mileage to the most formidable distance event of all: the mile. In fact, she has focused largely on this event throughout her winter season, competing in the mile four times. That effort and persistence resulted in her aforementioned personal best at the Tufts University Stampede on Feb. 1. Sanford also has illustrated her diverse skill set this year, competing in both the 800-meter run and the 3000-meter run. Yet, while she has shone in all three seasons, Sanford's biggest achievement to date arguably came this past fall during the cross-country season. After earning All-UAA honors, Sanford helped guide Brandeis to its first NCAA Division III Championship appearance since 2001, where the Judges-one of five UAA teams to qualify-finished 22nd in the national meet. Sanford spoke fondly of achieving a goal that had been a long-term target for the team since she and fellow standout Amelia Lundkvist '14 joined in fall 2010. "Going to Nationals meant so much to us," she said. "We had it as [as a priority] since our freshman year, so it was amazing to finally achieve that goal. We all worked so hard over the summer and throughout the season and it was so satisfying to see our hard work pay off." With the rest of the indoor season and a full outdoor season still to come, Sanford looks to continue to shine in her senior year.
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On Feb. 8, Card Gym at Duke University in Durham, N.C. transformed into a maze of mats that featured several of the top NCAA Division I fencing squads, including the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University and the United States Air Force Academy. Five Brandeis University men's foilists-captain Julian Cardillo '14, Ethan Levy '15, Noah Berman '15, Toby Gray '16 and Len Grazian '17-entered the maze on a mission. "The goal since the start of the season had been to go toe-to-toe with some of the best Division I squads in the country: Sacred Heart University, Yale University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina," said Cardillo. Card Gym presented an opportunity to achieve that goal, and on that February day, the foilists-along with the rest of the Brandeis fencing squads-seized it. Cardillo, Berman and Levy went a combined 8-1, and for the first time since 2006, the Judges left Durham with a 15-12 win against the host Blue Devils and a 17-10 victory against the UNC Tar Heels. "Everyone clicked together at Duke ... you don't have to rely on just one squad, but you can trust everyone-the epeeists and saberists included-to excel," Levy said. "At the end of the day, the five of us are hard-nosed competitors who don't like to lose." Since an initial 32-8 showing from the foilists at the New England Fall Collegiate Championships on Nov. 2, that has proven to be the case. It was at Duke, though, where something happened-where Cardillo's vision became a reality. "It blew me away" he said. "We took it to a whole new level at Duke and it is my belief that this is the best team since I've been here." Three years earlier, as Cardillo strode onto the fencing mats at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, he joined a team comprised largely of upperclassmen. He then witnessed a transformation that began in fall 2011 with two new foil recruits. Berman, a former soccer player-turned-fencer, arrived from the local clubs at Stanford University and Levy, after turning to the sport in ninth grade, entered Brandeis with just four years of fencing experience. There were two spots to fill, though, in creating this ideal squad. Enter Gray, a walk-on to the team in 2012 who, as Levy said, "has grown so much and emerged as a real threat in meets." And enter Grazian, the promising rookie out of the Chicago fencing clubs who won his first seven collegiate matches and took down Michele Caporizzi, the Italian national world champion, in December. Berman noted that the foil squad represents an ideal mix of "elder statesmen" and rising stars. "This team is really young and that is good for prosperity," he explained. "But having elder statesmen is helpful," he continued, "especially to pass down knowledge of the sport, a critical mental edge and what to expect from each tournament." Also, for the first time in three years, depth no longer proved to be an issue. Grazian and Gray now had the ability to step in and secure major victories along with-and sometimes in place of-the three starters. By Jan. 25, at the second Northeast Conference Meet, the five foilists-along with the rest of the Brandeis fencers-were ready to hit the ground running against top foes. That they did. The squad compiled a 33-9 record at that meet and the foundation had been set: not only for wins over Duke and UNC, but also, a second consecutive first-place finish at the New England Collegiate Championships and a bronze medal at the United States Collegiate Squad Championships. "This all comes down to the fact that we have really good depth," added Cardillo. "We have the experience to know what it takes to compete at that level." Their success also comes down to coach Bill Shipman's 30-plus years of experience at the helm of the Brandeis fencing squads. "He is so knowledgeable about the sport which is helpful for the younger fencers," Gray added. "Most importantly, he knows when and when not to step in." The foil squad now approaches the NCAA Regional Championships at Wellesley College on Sunday in a landmark position. Even in a division that, in featuring half of the U.S. National Team, is reputed to be the toughest in the tournament, Cardillo and Berman are both well-positioned to secure bids to the National Tournament later this month. Levy, Gray and Grazian, with their recent successes, are also prepared to use that momentum to make a statement. However, there is a caveat ahead. For Cardillo, this is the end of the maze of collegiate fencing. Even as he prepares to graduate and the Judges lose their senior captain, the foilists are ready to build on the transformation that he started. "Everyone on foil has improved year after year," said Grazian. "As long as we continue to push each other, [Cardillo's] legacy will be intact and we can keep this trend going." Consider this the foil squad's next mission to accomplish. *
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The women's basketball team dropped a tough loss on Sunday to New York University 68-50 at the Red Auerbach Arena on Senior Day in the final game of the regular season. The loss came following a ceremony that honored the team's five seniors for their services to the team. At the pregame ceremony, each of the honorees' highlights of their time on the team were read out to the Senior Day crowd. Nicolina Vitale '14, Kasey Dean '14, Julia Scanlon '14, Janelle Rodriguez '14 and Angela Miller '14 all accepted their honors and proceeded to have strong games for the Judges. Unfortunately, the hosts ended up falling to their University Athletic Association rivals to cap their winning season off with a fourth-place finish in the division and an overall record of 13-12 and a UAA record of 7-7. To begin the game, NYU went on an early 11-2 run, and after a brief timeout, the Judges responded with a 7-2 run of their own to cut the deficit down to 13-9. However, this was the closest the Judges would get. For the rest of the game the Violets maintained their lead with timely offensive runs. NYU eventually took a 31-17 halftime lead behind an impressive 11-point performance from NYU freshman guard Kaitlyn Read. NYU was impressive from behind the arc, shooting 10-for-27 and outscoring the Judges from three-point range by 27 points. Brandeis had very little opportunity to close that gap, attempting only seven three-pointers of their own during the half. Niki Laskaris '16 and Scanlon contributed eight straight points with under 10 minutes left in the second half to cut the lead down to 38-27. However, the Violets maintained their grip on the game, never allowing the Judges to pull within nine points over the remainder of the contest. Laskaris and Paris Hodges '17 shared the team lead with 10 points, but it was not enough to keep the Judges in the game. Another key difference besides the advantage in three-pointers was NYU's edge in free throw shooting. The Violets went 12-for-14 from the line while the Judges could only muster up 11 free throws on 22 chances from the line. Brandeis finished its regular season in a stretch of difficult games against UAA opponents, playing to mixed luck on a road trip in late February. Brandeis dropped the opener of the trip 74-51 to the University of Rochester on Feb. 21, but responded two days later with a win over Emory by a 75-72 final. At Rochester, not one member of the Judges could record double-digit point totals. However, Hodges finished with a team-high nine points and added a pair of steals in 20 minutes. Miller added an effective 17 minutes off the bench, recording five rebounds, an assist and six points to pace the way for the Judges. While Rochester cruised to victory, the Judges survived a nail biter in their win over Emory on Feb. 23. Although the team entered the half down 48-30, Brandeis dominated the second half. The Judges outscored the host Eagles 37-32 in the second half to secure the 75-72 win, clinching the team's winning record on the season. The Judges put three players in double figures. Forward Maria Jackson '17 led the charge, collecting 15 points and seven rebounds to go along with a steal and an assist. Vitale, who contributed 14 points and eight rebounds and guard Samantha Mancinelli '16, who gathered 13 points and five rebounds, joined her in the double-digit scoring column. While Sunday's loss to NYU put a damper on the overall mood of the day, the seniors still performed admirably in what was potentially their last career home game. Vitale put up eight points and nine rebounds to the scoring for the seniors. Scanlon and Miller contributed seven and six points respectively while Dean and Rodriguez had good games on both sides of the ball, balancing their points, rebounds and assists. Rodriguez ended up leading the team with three assists. The women next travel to Emmanuel College tomorrow night for a first round matchup of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament as the eighth seed. The team could not be reached for comment at press time. *
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Correction appended. The University community has moved swiftly to assist Mangok Bol MS '13, an academic administrator at the University who arrived in the U.S. in 2001 as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, as he travels to South Sudan to search for his nieces and nephew who were abducted amid ethnic violence. Bol recently learned that his brother and sister-in-law were among those murdered in their village of Kolnyang as a result of the ethnic violence in South Sudan, and that their children-three daughters and a son-were abducted. University faculty and staff have reached out to governmental and media contacts and collectively raised almost $30,000 to fund his search and to support his nieces and nephew. Bol's background Bol arrived in Boston as a refugee of a civil war in Sudan that left thousands of children displaced or orphaned. Prof. Ellen Schattschneider (ANTH), explained in an interview with the Justice that the University first hired Bol to administer the graduate programs in Cultural Production and Global Studies. Today, Bol administers the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the International and Global Studies program. He also received his Master's degree in finance from the International Business School in 2013, according to a July 9, 2013 BrandeisNOW article. David Chanoff Ph.D. '74, a board member of South Sudanese Enrichment for Families who has known Bol since 2001, explained in an interview with the Justice that the murders that took place in Bol's village of Kolmyang stem from long-standing violence between the Dinka and the Nuer ethnic groups, who have raided each other's cattle for hundreds of years. He explained that the third ethnic group that lives in the area, the Murle, have been known to abduct children. "The Murle live a little bit farther away and they also have engaged in cattle raiding, but one of their trademarks has been abduction of women and children, ... So every time there are child abductions, it seems that that is perpetrated by young men from Murle, and that has been going on for a long time," Chanoff said. Bol is a member of the Dinka ethnic group. Chanoff explained in an interview with the Justice that many of the Lost Boys, who were resettled in the U.S. from Sudan as displaced or orphaned refugees in 2000 and 2001, had returned to Sudan to visit their families. Bol, however, had not attempted to do so until this past Christmas vacation. However, Bol could travel no farther than Nairobi, Kenya, as the ethnic violence intensified near the time of his flight and precluded his arrival in South Sudan. Bol's current trip to Sudan is, therefore, his first time returning to Sudan since he arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2001, according to Chanoff. Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) estimated that Bol would be absent from the University for three weeks in total. Bol's time in South Sudan While he has been in South Sudan, contact has been sporadic, according to Schattschneider. She mentioned the difficulty in hearing regularly from Bol, although added that he has not yet located his nieces and nephews. "[I]t's very hard to stay in regular contact because cell phone coverage is very bad. Email is nonexistent. He has been able to call David Chanoff of SSEF I believe now twice and give him brief updates. And so far, no breakthroughs," said Schattschneider in an interview with the Justice. Chanoff said that Bol is heavily involved in the SSEF, an organization dedicated to supporting the South Sudanese community in Massachusetts, as a co-chair and treasurer of the board and is a "leader" of the local South Sudanese community. Chanoff estimated that there are about 300 Sudanese in the Boston area, largely in the cities of Malden and Everett, comprising the original Lost Boys, their spouses and children. All of these residents have been impacted by the violence in South Sudan, according to Chanoff. "[A]lmost everybody here has suffered losses, and sometimes very dramatic losses," he said. Response from the community University administrators, faculty, staff and students have all mobilized to provide assistance to Bol during his travels. Senior Vice President for Communication Ellen de Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice that the University contacted Kevin Cullen at the Boston Globe "to write the story about Mangok's family's tragedy." De Graffenreid wrote that the University also provided "official letters of affiliation" signed by University President Frederick Lawrence for Bol to use for travel. "[T]hese can be important for gaining assistance in Africa. In addition, President Lawrence's office funded Mangok's travel expenses, as this is indeed an extraordinary situation," wrote de Graffenreid. De Graffenreid wrote in her email that she has also been in contact with the staff of Reps. Katherine Clark, D-MA, and Mike Capuano, D-MA, the latter being the representative for Bol's home district. "The staffs in these offices reached out to the U.S. State Department officials both in Washington, D.C. and in Africa (South Sudan has been evacuated but there are still U.S. diplomats in adjoining nations), to non-governmental organizations on the ground in South Sudan, and to diplomatic contacts," she wrote. De Graffenreid also wrote that the office of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power reached out to Bol and have "been assisting him in making contacts who may be able to assist in locating the abducted children." Faculty have also been able to leverage connections to support Bol. Rosenberger said in an interview with the Justice that he reached out to the Reuters correspondent at the United Nations about Bol's story. "[I] asked him to publicize it at the UN and to share the story among people at the UN, and as far as I know, he did," said Rosenberger. Rosenberger also mentioned that Prof. Harleen Singh (GRALL) was able to reach out to contacts at the United Nations on Bol's behalf. Singh declined to comment for this article. De Graffenreid wrote that Prof. Ramie Targoff (ENG), the Jehuda Reinharz director of the Mandel Center for the Humanities, has also been highly supportive of Bol in his journey. Targoff was unable to comment on her involvement by press time. An online fundraiser to support Bol has raised $29,389 from 455 faculty, staff, students and friends as of press time. Donations on the site ranged from five dollars to an anonymous $1,500 gift over 17 days of fundraising. The fundraiser's organizer, Hannah Kahl of Oakland, Calif., wrote in an email to the Justice that she met Bol at the University of New Hampshire, where they were both students, and that he approached her to set up the fundraiser. "He knew he would be very busy and away from [I]nternet while traveling," she wrote. Sudan teach-in Schattschneider organized and moderated a teach-in on Monday evening in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium to explore the origins and future of the current conflict in South Sudan. The teach-in featured a panel of both Sudanese individuals and University scholars. Dawn Schrepel, a political adviser at the United States Mission to the United Nations, joined the teach-in via live video. De Graffenreid spoke briefly on behalf of Lawrence, who is currently traveling, saying that this event helps "show Mangok Bol that he is not alone." Schattschneider also arranged for Bol to call in to the teach-in, where he received applause from the gathered attendees and thanked the Brandeis community for their support. Chanoff, one of the panelists, emphasized to the audience the importance of community, saying "the Brandeis community has been a leader in the country in welcoming and integrating the South Sudanese Lost Boy refugees. ... It is our business to support the Sudanese who are here and so that they can help support the Sudanese that are there [in South Sudan]. We are connected with them." At this time, Bol is in South Sudan and is following leads to search for his abducted nieces and nephews. Editor's Note: The online version of this article has been updated with the correct name of organization with which David Chanoff and Mangok Bol are affiliated. It is South Sudanese Enrichment for Families, not Sudanese Education Enrichment for Families.
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When Bob Tenczar '87 learns of the suffering of a fellow human being, his first response is to search for any way possible that he can help. He proved this by a sacrifice he made for a friend he hadn't seen for 15 years. This past year, Tenczar donated one of his kidneys to his former friend and teammate Bob Boutin '87 in an act that he viewed not as a personal sacrifice, but as an opportunity to put his faith and values to the test. The surgery took place on Nov. 26, 2013 at Massechusetts General Hospital in Boston. Tenczar and Boutin were both members of the Brandeis baseball team, Boutin as a recruit and Tenczar as a walk-on. As first-year students, they lived together in East Quad on the same floor and then again in Rosenthal Quad, which used to be primarily housing for juniors with a small group of soccer and baseball players. Tenczar recalls Boutin's incredible skill as a player and a captain of two years, leading Brandeis' baseball team during the late 80s, some of the most competitive years Brandeis baseball has had. During his time at Brandeis, Boutin was a two-time Academic All-American and was eventually inducted into the Joseph M. Linsey Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame. Boutin recalls Tenczar's intelligence and spirit of generosity. A gifted student, Tenczar was a willing tutor for his fellow teammates and classmates. "He had a great personality, and was generous to a fault, and great to be around. There wasn't a single person who didn't like Bob Tenczar," Boutin said. The two shared similar familial backgrounds. Tenczar's mother is from the same place that Boutin grew up-Salt River, Mass. In addition, they both were raised in Christian households and attended the local Waltham church together during their time at Brandeis. Tenczar and Boutin agree that the friendships they formed during their time as college students are unique in strength and endurance. "It's your first time away from home, it presents a real time to mature and to go through all that with other people creates incredibly strong bonds," Tenczar said. Those bonds were strengthened by a crisis Tenczar faced during his junior year of college. The sudden aneurysm of his mother, and her miraculous survival, had a lasting effect on Tenczar. "It was at that time that I was shocked into the role of God in my life, and the role of prayer. In that situation, I was completely helpless. There was nothing I could do. She survived, and it was a blessing and a miracle," Tenczar said. This experience not only brought Tenczar closer to his friends at Brandeis who supported him but also changed the way he would live the rest of his life. "Over time, the influence of religion has encouraged me to be culturally active, and encouraged me in doing things for other people. I'm involved in a non-profit, and the administration of our church. It does drive me in any given situation to consider what my values are, and consider what the right thing to do is," Tenczar said. After graduating, Tenczar joined the military, which took him to the West Coast and eventually led him to settle down near Seattle, where he currently resides. This created distance between Tenczar and many of his former teammates, and they fell out of touch as many of them got married, started families and became consumed with their careers. "I have the kind of personality where I get really focused on what I'm doing, and due to that we unfortunately fell out of touch," Tenczar said. Then, two years ago, the Bobs reconnected through LinkedIn and began exchanging emails. Tenczar learned of Boutin's illness not through Boutin, however, but through mutual friend and former teammate Peter Kaslauskas '87. Kaslauskas is the fundraiser organizer for the annual golf tournament held by alumni to raise money for the baseball program. Before Tenczar realized that he could become an organ donor for Boutin, he used prayer as a way to support his friend, including Boutin in his family's nightly prayers as well as his church's prayers. "When I first learned of [Boutin's] illness, I was shocked and immediately felt compassion toward him and his family and what they must be going through," Tenczar said. Once Tenczar realized Boutin could accept a kidney donation, he immediately began researching the topic to find any way he could help. "I realized at some point there was a potential I could be a donor. I thought about it, prayed on it and asked my wife, who had sensed that I was already thinking about this. A large part of this was I had to do what I thought was the right thing to do, and that was certainly guided by my religious views," Tenczar said. For an old friend, Tenczar did not see the operation as a sacrifice. "I viewed it as an opportunity to do something really meaningful that doesn't come around very often-the ability to really help somebody. I wanted to help him as much as he could. That was certainly motivation and helped me to assess the risk-benefit equation," said Tenczar. The surgery not only changed the long-term health trajectory of Boutin but the life and perspective of Tenczar. "I really feel like I've been blessed by this experience. I've talked to other organ donors, and they all feel a similar way. "It was an amazing opportunity for me to put my faith and values to the test. I feel so good now, so it doesn't feel like a sacrifice. My attitude toward life has changed, I reminded myself of my priorities and what's important," Tenczar said.
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For the past several months, student leaders Brittany Lerman '14 and Jaclyn Kellner '16 from the American Sign Language Club have been spearheading an initiative to integrate ASL courses into the University's curriculum. As would be seen in the implementation of any initiative, the students have been running into issues of funding and staffing that would be necessary to get the program off the ground. We encourage the University and the students to continue working together to institute an ASL program given the academic benefits and opportunities that would be made available to the student body. According to the latest survey by the Modern Language Association from 2009, ASL is among the most popular language classes offered at universities, ranking fourth just behind Spanish, French and German, respectively. Brandeis University could join other schools that have already invested in an ASL program, including Boston University, Brown University and Northeastern University. These universities have already recognized the potential benefits of ASL classes, including the cognitive benefits of learning a language visually, according to Dr. Evie Malaia, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Aside from becoming fluent in both a spoken and sign language, ASL courses also create new career paths for students. After students were able to successfully obtain a grant last year, Korean language classes were made available for this academic year. The push for the initiative was the largely due to the substantial interest students expressed for the courses. The ASL club already helps around 20 students take ASL classes at Harvard University every Sunday, paying for the class partly by themselves with help from the Student Union. Moreover, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the ASL club, 87 out of 122 students also said they would be interested in enrolling in the classes if they counted toward the foreign language requirement. As the interest level appears substantial enough to have a class, we urge the University to do what it can to to help students secure the funding for the courses. While the student leaders can fundraise themselves given the encouragement they have been receiving from the community, the University should be able to afford the $6,000 salary of one adjunct professor that would be needed. Moreover, we are proud to see that the Language and Linguistics department has agreed to sponsor the ASL classes, if the funding can successfully be secured. Including the program in another department will reduce the amount of funds and administrative clout necessary to instate the courses. Successfully establishing ASL courses within the next few years will need substantial coordination from both the community and the administration. We commend the students for their proactivity, and hope the administration fully cooperates to ensure the classes are available in the future.
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Last December, I read an article about Harvard University's grade inflation in their school newspaper, the Harvard Crimson. According to the article, Harvard University Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris released the median grade as an A- and the most received grade as an A. I laughed. How silly was it that such a prestigious institution could have such low standards? Last week, I picked up a copy of the Justice and saw an article titled, "Median fall grades released to the public." I grew excited at the chance to shove Brandeis' higher academic standards in Harvard's face. According to the article, however, Brandeis students received a median grade of an A- and maintain an average grade point average of a 3.4. I was ashamed and humiliated. All of my pride about working hard in classes to achieve high grades began to dissipate; what did this mean for me as a student? Did this mean that I was taking easy classes and that my grades simply reflected that? Brandeis Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid defended Brandeis' grade inflation by stating, "The averages and the distributions have been remarkably stable over time, which would not indicate a pattern of grade inflation." Are we supposed to feel better that grades have always been inflated and that this isn't simply a recent trend? To make matters worse, she later added, "The averages at Brandeis are consistent with those at other elite colleges and universities." Adapting the old "If you can't beat them join them" ideology is not permissible. Rather than conform to the norm, we should be setting new trends and maintaining non-inflated grades. Some might offer that everyone receiving high grades simply means that everyone is just doing really well in their classes. But this is incorrect. A high median grade simply indicates that grades have lost value as an intellectual currency. Best put by Syndrome, the evil villain of Disney's The Incredibles, "When everyone's super, no one will be." There are valid arguments as to why grades shouldn't exist in the first place: they cause competition in an area where some believe competition isn't necessary, they don't always accurately represent what people actually know and they often yield bias to those who test well, among other reasons. But those arguments are irrelevant because, whether we agree with them or not, grades are currently the main metric by which students are evaluated. Grades are weighed heavily on applications for internships, graduate schools and even jobs. It is concerning to think that we would be disadvantaging our students by issuing comparatively lower grades than other universities. However, if we come out publicly in strong opposition to grade inflation, and call out other elite institutions on their grade inflation, the issue will become more well-known among employers and recruiters, and the issue as a whole can begin to be solved. It's the other schools, not us, who will be disadvantaged.Additionally, Brandeis could even distribute "adjusted for inflation" grades which compare current Brandeis grades against the school's past inflated standards, or against a national average. This would map the C a student might receive against the A- they might have received before Brandeis became conscious of the issue. Rather than passively accepting the standard around grades as a necessary evil, we need to correct it through leading by example. Grade inflation also provides a ceiling for learning-a point at which one becomes complacent with his or her current progress. This is ironic since one of the original purposes of academic assessments was to provide a floor for the basis of knowledge that someone should possess. For example, when lifting weights, you don't set a finite goal of 100 pounds, then reach it and stay there. You constantly increment the weight once your current weight becomes too easy. The process never ends; it's simply revised at each iteration. If an A- or A is easy to reach, students are able to stop working once they've reached it. And why should this ever be a lesson educators encourage? Learning has no definite starts or stops. But providing an easy-to-reach maximum grade perpetuates the falsehood that it does. As educators, as students, as lovers of learning, we need to hold ourselves to higher grading standards.
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With a history that extends back to one of its first mentions in Geoffrey Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, written in 1382, Valentine's Day holds a sentimental place in our hearts every year on Feb. 14. This week, JustArts previews four events that are perfect for a Valentine's Day excursion for you and your sweetheart. With events and activities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Brandeis's own Rose Art Museum and the Boston Public Library, there is no limit to arts events to attend on this special day and the weekend following. * Museum of Fine Arts: 'Boston Loves Impressionism' On Valentine's Day, Boston Loves Impressionism opens at the Torf Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibit is composed of 30 impressionist works chosen by people who voted online for their favorite pieces. In the spirit of Valentine's Day surprises, the exhibit will not be unveiling the top pieces until Feb. 14. As part of the opening weekend festivities, the exhibit will hold three gallery talks on the 14th. At 1 p.m., curator of the exhibit Emily Beeny will give a talk entitled "Impressionism Comes to Boston." Henry Augustine Tate, a professor of art history at the Berklee College of Music, will speak on works that focus on the themes of love and romance in poetry and painting in his talk "Love and Lovers at the MFA" from 6 to 7 p.m. Finally, from 7 to 8 p.m. Christopher Gilbert will hold a talk called "Broken Hearts" that will discuss broken-hearted themes in works from Greek coins to medieval panels to Cubist masterpieces. Valentine's Day events will continue for three days at the museum and the exhibit Boston Loves Impressionism will be open through May 26. General admission to the museum is $25 and for seniors and for students it is $23. University students will get in free with a Brandeis ID. All events taking place for the opening weekend are free with admission. Handel and Haydn Society On Feb. 15, join the Handel and Haydn Society for a romantic night of classical music at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their website notes that although Vivaldi's violin concerti are very wellknown in the music community, his cello concertos are a little more obscure. The website states that "[t]he [cello] was just on the cusp of gaining recognition as a worthy solo vehicle when Vivaldi pushed the limits of cellists' technique with some of his 27 cello concerti." The performance will feature four works by Vivaldi as well as works by Purcell and Durante for strings, lute and harpsichord. Cellist Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky and keyboardist Ian Watson will lead Guy Fishman and the principal players from the Handel and Haydn Society in concert. The concert will take place in Remis Auditorium, from 2 to 3 p.m. Admission is $16 for members of the museum, students and seniors, and $20 for general admission. * Rose Art Museum's spring opening On the eve of Valentine's Day, stop by the Rose Art Museum between 5 and 8 p.m. for a special reception for the museum's spring opening. In addition to the opportunity to view select pieces from the museum's permanent collection, visitors will be able to see five new exhibitions for the first time, presenting a range of mediums and created by artists from all over the world. These new exhibitions include Chris Burden's The Master Builder, Mika Rottenberg's Bowls Balls Souls Holes, Collection in Focus: The Threshold of Recognition and Rose Projects 01A, Wols and Charline von Heyl's The Matter that Surrounds Us, as well as the second installment of the Rose Video projects, Rose Video 02: Mark Boulos and Josephine Meckseper. Some of the themes explored in these new collections of works include bodies and viscerality, architecture and structure, as well as visual and conceptual design. The museum's spring opening will certainly make for the perfect outing for those who enjoy intellectual and emotional engagement with art. * Annual Storytelling Festival at the Boston Public Library For those who prefer the emotionally and culturally interactive format of storytelling, the Third Annual Boston Storytelling Festival is the perfect event to kick off Valentine's Day weekend. At the Rabb Lecture Hall at the central branch of the Boston Public Library, the festival will offer programming from morning until late afternoon on Saturday, Feb. 15-and all with free admission. In the morning, until lunchtime, there will be a lineup of traditional storytellers performing, followed by personal storytellers for the 21st century in the afternoon, and the day will finish off with storytelling workshops. The workshops offered include "From Page to Stage" and "Personal Narrative." In addition to the workshops, there will also be folk and fairy tale-telling during the day, and a themed poetry slam. The day will be sponsored by the Boston Public Library and massmouth, Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote the art of storytelling. On a holiday that celebrates love stories, this festival is an ideal excursion for those who wish to commemorate their own personal stories. *
(02/04/14 5:00am)
Did you know that tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death in the United States? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that tobacco use causes over 440,000 deaths in the United States each year; that's more deaths than those from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and firearm-related injuries combined. Did you also know that secondhand smoke is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A Carcinogen, just like asbestos? Or that, according to the CDC, it causes thousands of deaths each year, in healthy non-smokers, from lung cancer and heart disease? The CDC also says that there is no risk-free exposure to secondhand smoke; even a brief exposure can be harmful to health, and nonsmokers who breathe secondhand smoke are breathing in the same carcinogens that smokers are. At least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Those are some pretty significant statistics, and I think it is critical that Brandeis respond with a change in its current policy regarding smoking on campus. After reading about e-cigarettes in the Justice Forum on Jan. 14, "To Combat New E-Cigarettes, Inform Public About Smoking Facts," I thought it was important for the Brandeis student body to know what Colleges Against Cancer is working on. Some of you may have heard about our Smoke(less) Initiative. CAC is pushing forward a policy change that would create designated smoking areas on the Brandeis campus, in place of the current rule allowing smoking anywhere 30 feet from a building. Last spring, CAC sent out a survey on the current smoking policy, and suggested making a change; 1,006 undergraduates responded, and 73 percent said that they supported prohibiting smoking on campus, with the exception of designated smoking areas. The specifics of these designated smoking areas, including location and structure, will ultimately be up to the administration and feedback from students. CAC hopes that over time, given the data from organizations such as the CDC, Brandeis will transition to a completely smoke-free campus. This is the only way to truly eliminate secondhand smoke. The 30-feet policy is simply ineffective. It was brought into being by the hard work of a since-graduated CAC member, and while it was definitely a step forward for the campus, we realize now that it needs to be updated. The rule fails to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke; for example, even if a smoker is standing 30 feet from a doorway, someone who wishes to enter the building often has to pass through a cloud of smoke to do so. One can imagine other problematic situations as well, such a walking behind a smoker on a path to class. In each situation, the concern stems from the fact the secondhand smoke is a public health hazard; we wish to eliminate this harmful exposure. CAC, as an American Cancer Society organization, strongly supports quitting smoking. There are multiple resources on campus to help and we encourage smokers to take advantage of them. The Golding Health Center already has programs in place through Lauren Grover, the alcohol and other drug counselor, and as the Smoke(less) Initiative moves forward, CAC is planning on working closer to help develop even more resources. For the past two years at the Great American Smoke Out, we worked in conjunction with Diana Denning, nurse practitioner at the Health Center, to provide information and resources for smokers interested in quitting. Again, we encourage smokers to use these resources, and if this new policy is enacted, CAC will work closely with the Health Center to develop even more programs. There are currently 1,182 colleges in the United States that are completely smoke-free. We have researched some of the local colleges, like Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cape Cod Community College, Westfield State University and Bridgewater State University; all seem to rely on community enforcement of their policy. Essentially, this means that students are encouraged to enforce the policy themselves, either through words or through reporting offenders via an established email system. The same holds for faculty and staff. These colleges also have specific committees that oversee compliance and discipline for repeated offenders. Many of them have just enacted their new smoke-free policies, and as such, CAC will be contacting them to monitor their successes and hopefully gain some valuable feedback, insights that will make for a smoother Brandeis transition to a smoke-free campus. This isn't just a trend in the United States, either; it is becoming an international one. With smoking and secondhand smoke clearly linked to disease and poor health, even nations with a large smoking culture, such as China, are seeing this connection and banning smoking indoors. Many countries, including Australia, Canada, Singapore and Thailand, now also have smoke-free outdoor areas. Brandeis has always prided itself in being on the forefront of new ideas; it is time to join this global campaign. I believe that, given the clear health concerns demonstrated by secondhand smoke (noted by the CCD, American Cancer Society and other organizations), the overall goal for Brandeis should be to become a completely smoke-free campus: CAC is proposing that we take a step towards this goal by transitioning into designated smoking areas, as the undergraduate population seems to support. It's time for us to move forward and create a healthier campus environment, one that reduces (and eventually eliminates) secondhand smoke. CAC has approached the Brandeis Student Union about this issue, but they have failed to vote on it. Please contact your senators and other campus representatives and tell them how you feel about this new smoke-free trend both in the United States and worldwide, especially how it should apply to Brandeis. -Editor's Note: Elizabeth Allen '14 is the president of Brandeis University's chapter of Colleges Against Cancer.
(02/04/14 5:00am)
This past Sunday, a small group of about five students who also helped to organize the event came together to discuss how social justice and Judaism are linked at an event called "Do Justice and Love Kindness: Models of Charity and Social Action in Judaism." The event was hosted by the Now Project as part of 'Deis Impact. In an interview with the Justice, Associate Chair of the Executive Committee of the Now Project Sara Fried '15 said that the goal of the event was to get people talking to and learning from one another. She said she hoped the event would spark questions relating to how social justice is a part of Judaism and how it can span across denominations that might never have been asked otherwise. The event commenced with a walk to Moody Street in downtown Waltham to a bookstore and at-risk youth group called More Than Words. On the walk there, participants were prompted to share their own experiences with social justice and discuss how it connected to their faith. Once at the bookstore, participants were given a tour by two youths in More Than Words. More Than Words empowers youths ages 16 to 21 by giving them up to a year of employment and training, as well as helping them to "craft concrete action plans to move forward with their lives after MTW" according to their brochure. After the tour, participants sat down to discuss Judaism and its relationship to social justice. They did an exercise in which several quotations about why people might feel compelled to participate in social justice activities due to their faith were posted around the room, and each participant picked one and spoke about his or her views on social justice. Some answers were deeply spiritual, while others were based in history and current events, and then led to a discussion of the connections between Judaism and social justice. "I think one of my religious beliefs is that free will is a gift from God that is meant to do good in the world, and that God purposely created human beings' free will so that we can kind of piece the world back together to its perfect state," said Jessica Goldberg '13, cofounder of the Now Project and organizer of this event, during the discussion. While all branches of Judaism were not represented in the small group that was present, there was discussion of how this profound sense of the necessity of social justice is held in almost every branch and how it is a common factor throughout Judaism. "I'm hoping that people will be able to articulate why justice fits into their personal Jewish narrative and then the group that is here today can create a larger narrative about why justice is Jewish," said Goldberg of her hopes for what people gained from the program in an interview with the Justice. The Now Project began last year in Goldberg's Ziv Quad suite while discussing Jewish pluralism on campus with cofounder Anna Bessendorf '15, and they soon recruited Fried to join the executive committee as well, according to Fried. "The mission of the Now Project is to open up dialogue and action around the issue of Jewish pluralism at Brandeis, and also because we have such great resources in the Jewish community here, to be able to bring that beyond the Brandeis community," Fried told the Justice. They hosted a conference this past November to address their mission, and hope to continue to expand their efforts.
(02/04/14 5:00am)
Students elected five new representatives to the Student Union during its winter elections on Jan. 29, leaving two positions unfilled due to the number of abstentions. While the positions of Rosenthal Quad senator, off-campus senator, Village senator, midyear senator and Class of 2017 senator were filled, abstain won in the elections for Finance Board member and associate justice. There will be a special election next Wednesday, Feb. 12 to fill the vacant positions, Student Union Secretary Sneha Walia '15 wrote in an email to the Justice. Due to an error, Brandon Odze '16 was not included on the ballot for Rosenthal Quad senator. According to Walia, the ballots were fixed and sent again when this was discovered at 9:30 a.m. after elections opened at midnight on Jan. 29. All votes prior to this were invalidated and students were emailed new ballots, according to Walia. Jesse Ruth '16 won Rosenthal Quad senator with 63 percent of the vote, or 19 of 30 votes. In an email to the Justice, Ruth wrote that he has several plans he hopes to begin soon, both for his quad and then the larger Brandeis community. "I plan on coordinating with facilities and [Mac-Gray] to address the recurring issues we've been experiencing in the laundry facilities and working to secure funding for new exercise equipment in the cardio room," he wrote. Michael Kosowsky '14 won the election for off-campus senator with 59 percent of the vote, or 36 of the 61 votes. Kosowsky wrote in an email to the Justice that he has already begun asking off-campus students to submit any ideas they have to him. In particular, he wrote he wishes to join the Senate Dining Committee to help "design new meal plans for off-campus students, so that we have more flexibility for on-campus eating without having to buy a very comprehensive plan." Jeff Tan '17 was elected Village senator with 56 percent of the vote, or 58 of the 104 votes. In an email to the Justice, Tan wrote that his first goal is to improve the laundry facilities in the Village. Additionally, he wrote he hopes to arrange for compost bins to be placed on each floor of the Village. Mitchell Beers '17 won midyear senator with 60 percent of the vote, or 48 of the 80 votes. He expressed his gratitude at being elected in an email to the Justice, writing that his first goal is to work to improve the pre-arrival and integration processes for midyears. "I look forward to providing the viewpoint of my fellow midyears and also representing and upholding the values of the entire student body," Beers wrote. Ben Margolin '17 was elected Class of 2017 senator with 37 percent of the vote, or 111 of the 301 votes. In an email to the Justice, he wrote about his excitement in being elected. Margolin wrote that the first thing he hopes to implement is change to the BranVan service. He wrote he "would like to see an expansion of the routes covered by the BranVan, such that it will include the shops/restaurants surrounding Bentley University," and to see that [it] will be "more reliable when it comes to return service." Abstain won Finance Board member by 28 percent, or 196 of the 710 votes. Judy Nam '16, meanwhile, came in second with 172 votes, or 24 percent. For associate justice, abstain won with 37 percent of the vote, or 258 of the 697 votes. Jacob Aronson '15 and Linda Phiri '16 then came in second, each receiving 22 percent of the vote, or 151 and 150 votes, respectively.
(02/03/14 5:00am)
The women's basketball squad went on the road this past weekend, looking to continue a recent winning streak against Midwest opponents. The Judges did so, winning both of their games this past weekend against University Athletic Association opponents, defeating Carnegie Mellon University 58-55 on Sunday and Case Western Reserve University 63-58 on Friday. With the victories, the Judges improve to 10-8 overall and 4-3 in UAA play, climbing into a tie for fourth-place in the conference. The Judges extended their win streak on Sunday to four victories in a row, cobbling together their longest streak since the 2009 to 2010 season and matching their win total from last year. The game featured 20 lead changes and, additionally, the largest lead by either team was seven points. Brandeis went into halftime down 30-27, and at the outset of the second half, Carnegie Mellon increased their lead to six points following a traditional three-point play made by Carnegie Mellon sophomore forward Liza Otto. The Judges responded on a six-point scoring run to tie the game with 16 minutes, 44 seconds remaining. After swapping leads with Carnegie Mellon for about 10 minutes, the Judges found themselves trailing 49-44 with 6:15 left. Brandeis then went on another scoring run, scoring 10 of the next 12 points. While trailing 51-49, center Nicolina Vitale '14 scored on a one-and-one play, proceeding to make one of her two ensuing free throws to give the Judges the lead for good. Forward Maria Jackson '17 then blocked a shot and collected the rebound on CMU's next possession, leading to a jump shot from guard Janelle Rodriguez '14. After two Tartans free throws made it a one-point game, Vitale responded with a jumper on the next Brandeis possession to increase the lead back to three points. Carnegie Mellon didn't let up, though, scoring on their next possession to get back to within one at 56-55 with 1:51 remaining. Yet the Judges came away with two big defensive stops and hit their free throws to end the game. Jackson finished the game with a double-double, tallying a team-high 16 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Vitale added 11 points while Rodriguez finished with five points and four steals. On Friday, the Judges again narrowly escaped with another close road victory. Case came out firing, scoring nine of the first 11 points. Brandeis responded, however, with a 9-0 run highlighted by six points from guard Kasey Dean '14. The Spartans still managed to go into halftime with a 24-21 lead despite shooting just four-for-23 from the field in the first half. The Judges found themselves trailing 51-50 with 3:42 remaining in the second half, but executed consecutive defensive stops to hold Case scoreless for the next 2:59. Guard Paris Hodges '17 scored three of her career-high 14 points during the run and collected two of her nine rebounds as well. Hodges gave her teammates credit for helping her perform late in the second half, especially after struggling in the first half. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates," she said. "After missing my shots in the first half I continued to shoot. I didn't let it get to me. Staying aggressive was key and fortunately we won." With 58 seconds remaining against the Spartans, guard Samantha Mancinelli '16 hit a layup to put the Judges up 59-51. Brandeis withstood a late run by Case, hitting free-throws to ice the game. Hodges said the team's success in the final minutes of the second half came from its defensive intensity throughout the game. "We continued to do what we do best," Hodges said. "We kept our defensive intensity up and our offense came to us. We executed our game plan." Brandeis featured three players with double-digit scoring marks. Dean tallied 13 points to join Hodges and guard Niki Laskaris '16 who had 15 points. Dean also collected nine rebounds and two assists while Brandeis out-rebounded Case 51-32, including 19 offensive rebounds pulled down by the Judges. The Judges will look to continue their winning streak in a rematch at home against Case this Friday night at 6 p.m.
(02/03/14 5:00am)
The presence of technology is becoming increasingly prominent in our daily lives. With the growth of the Internet and other technological advances, it may be of interest to those aspiring to any number of professions to learn about computer science. DEIS.kernel, an academic club founded this past November 2013, aspires "to educate members on topics in computer science and to provide a format for members to present on an area of computer-scientific expertise," according to its website. The club aims to provide an environment for members to share their individual areas of computer science expertise to the rest of the club body in the form of presentations, discussions and lectures. The club was created and is led by five coordinators: Kenneth Foner '15, David Giliotti '16, Daniel Kats '16, Andrew Kouides '16 and Eden Zik '16. DEIS.kernel, as it stands, has a minimalist approach to its functions; the student-directed club activities rely primarily on allocating the time and location to discuss a topic of interest. Then, Foner said, "the members decide what interests them and what they [wish to] bring to the undergraduate body interested in computer science." This framework inspired the analogy which became the club's name, "DEIS.kernel." The kernel of the computer is the component which allocates memory and tasks to programs, much like the coordinators who "allocate" time and space to its members. A few of DEIS.kernel's current and upcoming projects for the semester are Project Euler where they intend to solve computational puzzles in a group and a typography lesson about fonts; user interface and design and one, in particular, is the series of talks about Bitcoins. DEIS.kernel held the first Bitcoin talk on Jan. 30 in the Benjamin and Mae Volen National Center for Complex Systems. For this event, Sam Ronkin '15, president of the Brandeis Technical Trader's Society, a chartered club that educates members on technical analysis and trading, helped facilitate the "What is Bitcoin?" presentation and discussion. "This Bitcoin series is a collaboration," Foner said. DEIS.kernel teamed up with BTTS to "run a joint three part series on the what, why, and how of Bitcoins, the crypto-currency that's taking the world by storm," according to the club flier. Bitcoin is the "first decentralized digital currency," according to the informational video available on weusecoins.com, a website dedicated to increasing accessibility of Bitcoins to beginners. The video was shown during Ronkin's presentation. According to the video, Bitcoins are sent directly from one individual to another, eliminating the transactional fees one could incur. They are generated by anybody with access to a free application called a Bitcoin miner. For each "block" of coins, worth a certain amount of computational work, one must "mine," ergo extract, Bitcoins. After the mining process, the Bitcoins are stored in the user's digital wallet, which is similar to the format of online banking accounts. When a person transfers Bitcoins, an electronic signature is added to the transaction, which is verified by a miner and permanently stored in the network within the span of a few minutes. One benefit of Bitcoin that was cited in the talk is that it is secure. Bitcoin "verifies transactions with the same ... encryption that is used in military and government applications," Ronkins said. The drawbacks of the currency were also addressed. According to Ronkin, many criminals take advantage of Bitcoins as payment. The price of Bitcoin-how many dollars per Bitcoin-is volatile, and moreover, it is seen as a threat to governments and as a speculators' market to some economists. It also poses ethical and regulatory issues. "In December, the People's Bank of China decreed that merchants may not accept Bitcoin and forbade banks and payment processors from converting Bitcoin into yuan," Ronkins said. The second and third Bitcoin talks will follow up with the hardware aspect of mining Bitcoin and the Bitcoin algorithm, which deals with the actual process of mining. Naman Patel '15, a member of BTTS, said "the event was excellent because in addition to the people presenting, there was a lot of discussion being done among the peers, [including] people who already have knowledge and a lot of people who are actually involved. ... There was a lot of engagement. So that was nice." Attendees ranged from the self-proclaimed tech-illiterates to those with a more advanced knowledge base. Although the nature of each event will vary, DEIS.kernel encourages all students to join and participate in the club events. "We all have different experiences, even within the club, but that's kind of the beauty of it," Kouides said. "[The beauty is] that we're able to come together to teach what we know, starting at the ground floor ... making it accessible for people of all levels." One attendee had a very positive reaction to the event. "I was kind of curious about how [Bitcoin is] stored on different computers, et cetera. I definitely learned a lot about that," Elena Stoeri-D'Arrigo '16 said. "If I come to the next [talk], I think that will help me better understand [Bitcoin's] hardware aspect of it. That was really great." "Anyone, really, needs to understand how this world is changing and in what ways," Zik explained. "We want to communicate this to everyone on this campus, regardless of their interests or majors."
(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."
(01/21/14 5:00am)
One of my favorite things about the time surrounding winter break each year is the rush of holidays we get to celebrate with family and friends-Christmas, New Year's and one that probably isn't usually at the forefront of people's minds, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For Brandeis, MLK Day is about reflecting on and celebrating our university's heritage of diversity, social justice and activism, and each year student clubs host programs that up the ante in our observance. Yesterday evening, continuing their celebration of King's life after already hosting a day-long service activity for local middle and high school students, MLK & Friends Club teamed up with Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams and the African and Afro-American Studies department to host a memorial program. Though this is the ninth year that the University has hosted a memorial for King, the programming was, this year as much as ever, dynamic and celebratory, and geared toward facilitating a dialogue about King's teachings. The memorial, which was fondly called "For the Love of a Dream!" was staged in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater, and every seat in the house was filled far before the program began. As the excited audience settled down, a sound bite played, prefacing the program with the words of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress," the bit began, leading into a warm introduction by Adams. Beginning with Adams, each performer and speaker shared his or her own contribution to the memorial, each with an artistic and sentimental flair that drove home King's message. Adams began by delivering a slam poem, detailing in no uncertain terms that the society we live in is not, in fact, a post-racial one, and sending the audience into roars of applause and reactionary finger snapping as he chronicled the struggle for civil rights from its earliest origins in the abolitionist movement. "How outside of yourself would you go to get out of your own way?" he slammed toward the end. Prof. Chad Williams (AAAS), who hosted the rest of the program, took the stage next, reiterating to the audience that King's work "was a fight that he committed his life to, [and] it was a fight that he gave his life to." Williams hyped up the audience for a group of performers returning from a superb performance at last year's memorial program, the Boston Tap Company. Established in 2007, the group seeks to spread their message of love and positivity through dance, Williams said. Their routine certainly did that-starting off with no music at all, the group's wild and resonant tapping progressed into an exciting choreography to Sam Cook's song "A Change is Gonna Come." Taking a break from the musical aspect of the program, the first ever cohort of Brandeis Bridges Fellows shared stories of their recent trip to Israel in order to institute an interfaith, intercultural dialogue between black and Jewish students on campus. Bridges Fellow Makalani Mack '16 took on the song in a heartfelt vocal performance, accompanied by three students on the bass guitar, electric guitar and saxophone. Mack rose from his seat in the audience as the song's tune began playing, and shared how growing up in Atlanta and walking by sites sacred to the Civil Rights Movement as he was growing up, like King's place of burial, inspired him from a young age. During his performance, Dean Adams yelled "sing, sing!" at him, and the rest of the Fellows joined in as they were seated in the audience. The highlight of the musical program, without a doubt, was keynote speaker Jane Sapp's performances on the piano, playing and singing songs that were sung during King's activism, at protests and rallies, and encouraging the audience to sing along with her. Her husband, keynote speaker Hubert Sapp, said with a surprised smile after her first song that he never knows what she will do. An absolutely unbelievable evening of music and performances, in addition to a slew of moving spoken-word pieces and orations, many composed of or inspired by the words of King himself, "For the Love of a Dream!" gave the Brandeis community a wonderful opportunity to commemorate the legacy of a man to whom we owe much of the freedom to which we have grown up accustomed. *
(01/21/14 5:00am)
On Sunday, the Senate met for the first time this semester to discuss events and initiatives for spring. Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 said that last week, Village Senator Bowen Li '16 resigned due to a strenuous course-load this semester. Elections will take place to fill the positions of Village Senator, Rosenthal Quad Senator, Off-Campus Senator, Midyear Senator, one position on the Judiciary and one on the Finance Board in the coming weeks. Next, Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 delivered his executive report. According to Rosen, the student body has responded positively to the online forms for the BranVan. Rosen said he anticipates that in the future the Union will work toward greater online accessibility for other campus services. He also informed the Senate that the hours of the Brandeis shuttle to the Riverside Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station has officially changed from Wednesday and Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m. to Saturday and Sunday at the same time. Rosen expects the change to make transportation into Boston increasingly convenient for students in the upcoming semester. Additionally, Rosen mentioned that David Barsky '17 has been contracted to work on the Union website, which will be functional by the end of the year. Rosen informed the Senate that the 'Deis Day co-chairs have resigned because they do not have the time to commit to the project. As a result, Rosen urged members of the Senate to involve themselves in planning the event. According to Executive Senator Annie Chen '14, 'Deis Day this year may feature a parade through campus in which clubs build golf-cart floats, school bands play or a capella groups join in the festivities. Finally Rosen briefly discussed the 'Deis Impact! key-note address, which will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Levin Ballroom. Kweku and Ndaba Mandela, two of Nelson Mandela's grandchildren, will attend the event. Following the executive officer report, Senator at Large Naomi DePina '16 delivered a report on the upcoming poetry slam to take place on Jan. 31. The event consists of students presenting their perspectives on the meanings of social justice and diversity. According to DePina, Dean of Students Jamele Adams will host and perform at the event. Next, Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf and Class of 2016 Senator Jonathan Jacob introduced a proposal to create another BranVan stop at Waltham's Main Street Marketplace, where dining options include Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The marketplace is situated near the BranVan's current Walgreen's stop and therefore the addition would only cause a minor change in the current BranVan schedule. Bessendorf also discussed safety concerns on South Street near the Lemberg Children's Center. In this area there are no streetlights, making a walk through the area of campus dangerous at night, said Bessendorf. Bessendorf raised such concerns with Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan, who replied that the area is owned by the City of Waltham and therefore Brandeis has no jurisdiction to place a light post on that area of the street. The Senate might introduce the issue to the interim vice president of operations or Waltham City Hall. North Quad Senator Brian Hough '17, a member of the Constitutional Review Task Force, stated that this semester he will continue working on amendments to the constitution but, thus far, has no projected end date to the project. The Sustainability Committee stated that more than 60 dual flush toilets have been installed in both Massell and North Quads. The committee will soon begin calculations to determine the impact of the initiative. East Quad Senator Andrew Savage '16 proposed a revisal of the Club Committee's procedures. He expressed concerns over ineffective measures of de-chartering clubs due to inaccessible information or lack of communication with the Union. The Senate hopes to establish a better relationship between itself, the Finance Board and clubs to more efficiently monitor club activity. -Rachel Uemoto
(01/20/14 5:00am)
"No meaningful discussion, about any topic, can occur without accurate facts and appropriate context." This is part of the mission statement of the Students for Accuracy about Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, a student organization that was approved to become a chartered campus club on Dec. 8, 2013. The club was founded by Daniel Mael '15, Guy Morag '17 and Ari Givner '17. SAIPA's core mission is to expose media manipulation in order to further establish campus event accuracy by attending campus-sponsored events. SAIPA then issues a report on the event with the intention of holding campus speakers accountable to any misinformation they may have shared. "This will change the nature of Middle-East affairs discussions because when people know they are being monitored they are much less likely to present their opinions as facts." Morag noted in an e-mail to the Justice. "We always want to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to explore the issues from a factual perspective. Brandeis is a perfect climate to debut a club like this because there are so many groups that care about it," Mael said. Mael, Morag and Givner had been talk for a long time about starting a group that exposes media manipulation. Mael explained that they reached their tipping point at a Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee event in which there was conflict between certain campus groups over facts and definitions. Brandeis already has several clubs that are involved in the Israeli and Palestinian debate. "We felt that every group that was talking about the Israeli conflict, [on campus] was an interest group," Mael said. "We are simply trying to make sure that students have a fair shot at that facts ... [and] can form their own opinion afterward," Mael said. SAIPA hosted an event on Oct. 29, in which it brought in guest speaker Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, an Israeli Defense Force combat veteran. "He was explicitly clear that this is his narrative, and that it did not represent what our organization thinks. We believe that it is important that we hear varying perspectives and give them a forum to speak," Mael said. The event was hosted in conjunction with the Brandeis Libertarian Conservative Union and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. Mael indicated that the group hosted the event as a way of raising visibility for SAIPA in their early stages, but that going forward, SAIPA will focus on exposing media manipulation and ensuring the accuracy of campus events hosted by other groups. On Nov. 12, Neil Hertz, professor emeritus at John Hopkins University, gave a presentation called "Pastoral in Palestine." The University and six other campus organizations sponsored the event. SAIPA attended and wrote a report following the presentation. "[Hertz] supported boycott divestment and sanction movement in his question-answer session. That is his opinion and SAIPA made no mention of that in our report." Mael said. "What we did make a mention of was that he said that excavating the city of David was a private-public joint venture in displacing Palestinians from East Jerusalem ... [describing what] is in the Jewish tradition a very significant place as simply a venture in displacing Palestinians is misleading to the community." SAIPA has not been well-received by all campus clubs that deal with Israeli and Palestinian affairs. "My question for those that oppose us or have problems with SAIPA is why is a group that is oriented to find the truth problematic? It should be no problem that a set of students have come together to try to ensure that an objective truth is presented," said Mael. Responding to the club's mission and activities thus far, J Street U Brandeis Co-president Catie Stewart '16 stated in an e-mail to the Justice that "[W]hile interrogating assumptions and perspectives is a value we share with SAIPA, we believe that no group is truly apolitical or 'objective' and we would hope that the organization is frank about their own political motivations." J Street U is a self described "pro-Israel, pro-peace organization advocating for a two-state solution." Anyone, despite their stance on Israel, is welcome to join the club. "I don't know many people who are happy to have others monitoring their work and then finding their biases published online for the world to see. With that said, we have encouraged members of all organizations on campus to join us," Morag noted. SAIPA plans to extend their "pro-truth, pro-honesty" agenda through a monthly or biweekly publication where they can share the perspective from two sides. "I think that's very unique because when someone actually has to articulate a thought on writing, you would hope they bring their best honesty and most well thought out ideas," said Mael. "If one student can be positively impacted and have a little bit better understanding of media manipulation and fact manipulation I think we've done a good job," Mael said.
(01/20/14 5:00am)
Social justice can, at times, seem like an ideal that is hard to define - a construct impossible to concretely extend beyond the walls of a classroom. At Brandeis, however, there are faculty members who devote their careers to bringing this ideal to fruition, working every day to translate theory into practice in order to defend the world's most vulnerable people. Prof. Allyala K. Nandakumar (Heller) is one of these faculty members, an economist who has succeeded in finding efficient ways to deliver health care to the poorest and most marginalized sector of the global population. In his new role as chief economist for Global Health for the United States Agency for International Development, which began in November 2013, Nandakumar will provide a crucial voice that synthesizes economic expertise and humanitarianism. "My role is to try to sit there, and shape the strategies and policies of the United States government. You are part of these big discussions, you are shaping what is happening," Nandakumar said. Nandakumar completed his undergraduate and master's studies in India in the field of mathematics. He then worked for several years as a bureaucrat, running large organizations in India, before being one of two Indians selected to become a Fulbright scholar in the U.S. As a Ph.D. candidate in economics at Boston University, he wrote a paper about health economics that impressed his professor. He immediately introduced Nandakumar to the Heller School for Social Policy and Management's Dr. Stan Wallack, and Nandakumar's relationship with Brandeis was born. Nandakumar and Wallack had a mutual passion for analyzing problems in the financing and delivery of health care. Nandakumar promised Wallack he would eventually join him at The Heller School, but in the meantime he accepted a faculty position at Harvard University in order to explore other aspects of economics before he committed to specializing in social policy at Heller. Throughout his 25 years as a professor and researcher, Nandakumar has worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the World Health Organization and the World Bank as a consultant, creating a unique role for himself at the intersection between the academic community and the political world of global health. For Nandakumar, who resides in a unique intersection between the political and the academic, the Heller school is the ideal environment to conduct research and translate it into policy. "What is most critical is how one brings research to practice. One must ask, 'if I want to translate this research into policy, what are the potential barriers to implementation, and what are the interventions that can be performed?'" Nandakumar said. Nandakumar will be the first person to occupy the role of chief economist for Global Health for the United States Agency for International Development. This role was created by the U.S. government in response to significant structural changes in the global arena regarding health care financing and the number of small donors who play a role in financing global health. "The number of people who are playing in this space and trying to address major global problems has increased," Nandakumar said. Also affecting the rapidly changing face of global health is the magnitude of economic growth in African countries, as well as countries such as Brazil, China and Russia. "They are becoming big economic powers who have a different say. ... The kind of assistance you provide needs to be rethought," he said. By a vast margin, the largest funder of global health in the world is the United States government, and assistance flows through USAID. Nandakumar's first goal as chief economist involves engaging the political world with the academic one. "The first goal is to actively bring health systems, health financing and health economics to bear on some of the big internal discussions that are taking place to inform and shape those discussions," Nandakumar said. Secondly, Nandakumar plans to work directly with the countries themselves in order to install functional health systems that accurately address the needs of individual countries. "From the health systems perspective, it's not a question of going in and doing the work. I go in, put in clean water, and I'm out. Nothing is left behind. So I think the perspective the U.S. government is taking, rightly, is to create country systems that are sustainable. Countries are increasingly going to take ownership of their own destiny," Nandakumar said. Third, Nandakumar plans to build external partnerships with organizations he has worked with in the past, such as the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization. "I hope to mentor, create and strengthen a network of health economists, and people interested in health financing, within USAID," Nandakumar said. The ideal of social justice and global health policy are, from Nandakumar's perspective, inextricably linked. For Nandakumar, it is a moral necessity that efficiency is balanced with equality. "Society is obligated to pay more attention to those who have less. Everybody should be treated equally, and everybody should have equal access, therefore we are required to look specifically at the poor and marginalized populations. You come up with a very different policy recommendations if you put a social justice lens on social policy," Nandakumar said. Nandakumar encourages aspiring advocates for social justice. "You are all here because you believe in social justice. ... It is not easy to make it happen, the fights are not always easy, but I really feel that it is worth it," he said. "My only advice is you are here at this great place-remain passionate, don't give up. As individuals we cannot solve all the problems, but each one of us is capable of making a difference."
(01/14/14 5:00am)
This week, JustArts sat down with Emily Zoller '14, the executive director of hip-hop dance performance group Kaos Kids. JustArts: Would you tell us about your involvement with Kaos Kids-how long have you been involved, and what is your role in the group? Emily Zoller: I joined Kaos my freshman year, and I'm a senior now. So I've been with the group almost four years. I'm now the executive director; I was the executive director last year too, in the fall, and in the spring I was abroad. Before that, I was the events coordinator, so I've always been involved with Kaos from the beginning of my Brandeis time. JA: How would you describe Kaos Kids to someone who is unfamiliar with it? EZ: Kaos is crazy. Kaos is chaos-we know that about ourselves and we love that. First and foremost we are a family, and that's something that we really promote and we really push. We're really good about supporting one another, in the dance room and when we perform, but also in our lives in general. We are a very diverse group. We do hip-hop, but we have some breakers and some people who like to do flips and stuff like that, and we like to incorporate a lot of different styles. Sometimes we'll bring in contemporary, and we pull on people's strengths within the group. JA: I'm excited for Kaos Kids' performance at the University's celebration for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on MLK Day next Monday. How has the group prepared? EZ: It's something that the artistic directors are working on-Stephanie Ramos '14 and Mark Borreliz '14-so they are putting together the choreography and song choice. It's not going to be all of us because it's a shorter time period to practice, but we'll put it together, and you'll see! JA: I'm curious about the personal stake that you guys have in this performance, as Kaos Kids has performed at MLK Day last year, is it a yearly thing for you? EZ: I didn't perform in it last year, I was abroad, but it is an important thing to us. It's important that we're doing it again, and we'd like it to become something that's regular for us. We're a very diverse group and support everything that MLK stands for. It's a different space for us to perform, and it's something that's meaningful. JA: Is social justice or activism with regard to diversity a common interest among the group's members? EZ: It's not something that we explicitly talk about-I think, as Brandeis students, we all sort of have social justice tendencies, but it's not necessarily the mission of the group. We do like to give back to the Brandeis community and the community at large, and have worked with some of the on-campus groups that do after-school programs, and teaching kids, and we went to the YMCA last year to do a performance for some of the kids. JA: What has been your biggest challenge as you've worked with Kaos Kids over the years? EZ: That's a good question. I think that the biggest challenge is that we want to do a lot, and we always have ideas and there's always a lot of ambition and a lot of momentum to move forward and do big things. And it's just a lot of energy to try to do the work and try to organize and make sure that we get done what we need to get done and make sure that we are perfecting the pieces we are performing, and not just running through them, not just trying to get to bigger venues or different places or try really crazy ideas. It's just to follow through and make sure that we have a finished product as much as we are trying to grow and do new things. JA: What sort of direction do you see the group going in for the rest of this year? Are you guys planning out long term? EZ: We are just about to have our pre-semester meeting, so we will be talking more about that. We've been talking for years about trying to compete in things around Boston. We have performed at different universities and we really do love that, being part of a Greater Boston-area hip-hop community or dance community in general, so that's something we're thinking about. We're planning our semester show, which we did for the first time last year. We're trying to get more people to choreograph, really get involved with the group. -Rachel Hughes
(01/14/14 5:00am)
Welcome back, my fellow Brandeisians-and a special welcome to our new midyears! To kick off this semester's first Pop Culture, here's a taste of what you might have missed this week while you were caught up in your return to 'Deis. A rep. for Hilary Duff announced that the former Disney star has separated from former professional hockey player Mike Comrie. Confirming the news to People magazine, Duff's rep. calls it an "amicable separation." Duff, 26, and Comrie, 33, wed back in August 2010, and in March 2012, Duff gave birth to their son Luca Cruz. If you're looking for some scandalous or dramatic reason for the split, you're not going to find one. Sources close to the couple have expressed that the two simply have drifted apart. Duff has even gushed about Comrie's parenting skills to the media in recent months, a true sign of respect between the two of them. Only time will tell if there really is such a thing as an amicable separation in the world of Hollywood. With news of this celebrity split came news of another Tinseltown marriage. Unlike Duff's split, this marriage does bring a bit of drama along with it. On Friday, Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late Whitney Houston, confirmed to TMZ that she has married her fianc?(c)e Nick Gordon. The couple had announced their engagement in October 2012, and apparently wed in a small, secret ceremony back in November. So where does the scandal come in? Since the age of 12, Gordon grew up with Bobbi Kristina. Though Houston never officially adopted him, she raised him like one of her own children. It's this bizarre scenario that has been raising eyebrows. Nonetheless, Brown, 20, and Gordon, 24, plan on having another, more elaborate, marriage ceremony this upcoming year. Adding to the drama quota this week, news outlets report that singer Ke$ha's mother has joined her daughter in rehab. On Jan. 3, Ke$ha had entered rehab for an eating disorder. Reportedly, the 26-year-old "Timber" singer is being treated at the Chicago-area Timberline Knolls facility, the same rehab center that treated singer Demi Lovato. Ke$ha's mother, Pebe Sebert, 57, announced on Saturday that she has also checked herself into Timberline Knolls for post-traumatic stress disorder. Sebert has allegedly been so affected by her daughter's struggles and actually entered treatment at the urging of her daughter. In recent weeks, Sebert has publicly blamed Ke$ha's producer, Dr. Luke, for fueling the singer's eating disorder with comments he has made. Last of all, if you caught the Golden Globes Sunday night, you likely saw Hollywood's royalty out on the red carpet, dripping in lavish jewels. But, one actress's bling caught the media's attention in particular. Newly engaged American Horror Story: Coven actress Emma Roberts showed off a big, pink gold and diamond sparkler on her finger. Her beau, actor Evan Peters, popped the question over the holidays. Back in July, Roberts, 22, was arrested in Montreal for allegedly attacking Peters, 26, in a hotel room they shared. At the time, their reps called the disturbance a "misunderstanding." If the ring is any proof, it sure looks like they have moved past that incident. That's your pop-culture breakdown for this week, Brandeis. Have a great first week of classes (how is it already second semester?)! *
