(08/26/13 4:00am)
The men's and women's cross-country squads didn't finish as well as they would have hoped at last year's New England Division III Championships. However, given some of the improvements made by the runners, particularly in the track seasons, the Judges could once again become a formidable force. "The women's team had no seniors last year," said Amelia Lundkvist '14, "so it's nice to have most everyone back at this point. I think we have a lot of potential." While the two teams are attempting to figure out where they stand at this point in the season, veteran runners on both sides give Judges' fans reason to be optimistic. Ed Colvin '14 looks to lead the men's squad. Colvin paced the team last year at the New England meet, taking 50th place with a time of 26 minutes, 1.17 seconds. Colvin clocked some superlative times on the track last spring, breaking 15 minutes for the 5,000 meter run. Classmate Taylor Dundas '14 will unfortunately miss the fall season, having suffered a stress fracture. The loss of Dundas could prove detrimental to the squad, as he has consistently been one of the team's top performers in his first three years of competition (Dundas will retain a season of eligibility as a graduate student). Though Colvin is the clear-cut leader of the team, he is joined by a strong core. Greg Bray '15, Jarret Harrigan '15 and Michael Rosenbach '15 look to build on their sophomore campaigns. Grady Ward '15 made large improvements during the indoor and outdoor track seasons-he'll look to keep the string of progression going. Classmates Liban Aden '16 and Carl Lieberman '16 should provide depth for this young but talented squad. On the women's side, the Judges have been led by the senior duo of Lundkvist and Victoria Sanford '14. After taking 41st at last year's New England Regional meet, Lundkvist finished second in the 1500-meter run at the 2013 University Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships, running the equivalent of a sub-five-minute-mile, and will look to build on her spring success. Sanford is a strong competitor as well-she was the team's top finisher at the 2012 UAA Cross-Country Championships-and is often neck-and-neck with Lundkvist. Ali Kirsch '14 took 43rd at the UAA Championships last year, and is often in the running for the team's top spot. As always, the UAA provides great competition, which Lundkvist believes could play to the team's advantage as it strives to improve during the season. "The UAA Championships is a smaller race, which makes it easier to focus on certain individuals in competition. And while it's not quite as competitive as [the New England Division III Regional Meet], it is still pretty competitive." And while Lundkvist realizes that the team may take a bit of time to develop its fitness, she believes the women could make a challenge to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships. "We want to make Nationals," she said. "While that might be unlikely at this point, I think we have a shot. We have the chance to be a really great team." Though the teams-which only feature four seniors between the men and women-will likely take some time to find its stride (no pun intended), rest assured that with its talent, it has the potential to be formidable by season's end.
(08/26/13 4:00am)
The 2012-13 season didn't end the way that Boston Bruins fans or players would have liked. After winning two of its first three games against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, the B's dropped three straight to lose the best-of-seven series in the National Hockey League's showpiece occasion. To make matters worse, Boston led with just two minutes left in the sixth game-only to surrender two late goals to lose 2-1. "We had more reasons than just ourselves to win a [Stanley] Cup this year," said head coach Claude Julien, who was referring to the team's desire to win the big prize for citizens of the greater Boston area, who had collectively felt the impact of the Boston Marathon bombings. However, while the ending was heartbreaking, the abbreviated season-which, for many, was about more than hockey-showed many positive signs for the Bruins in the upcoming season. Center David Krejci had a year to remember. He scored 19 goals (nine of which were in the postseason) and chipped in with 40 assists (17 in the postseason). Left wing Brad Marchand led the team in points during the regular season, scoring 18 goals and providing 18 assists for 36 points. Center Patrice Bergeron, who had a notable campaign last year with 42 regular season points, will have to step up his game to help negate the loss of former right wing Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars. Yet, despite the loss of Seguin, the team has plenty more in its offensive arsenal. Right wing Nathan Horton is a more than capable attacker. Furthermore, Bruins fans would be unwise to forget about left wing Milan Lucic, whose play improved dramatically in the postseason. And while right wing Jaromir Jagr, an NHL veteran who joined the Bruins last season, didn't score any goals in the postseason, he did set up 10 goals in that time. Despite all its offensive prowess, Boston also sports a solid rearguard. Captain Zdeno Chara, who suffered a stretch of below-par play in the Stanley Cup Finals, still proved to be a domineering presence on the rink last season. Defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Dougie Hamilton were quick and ruthless at coming up the ice and scoring, chipping in four and five regular season goals, respectively. Goalkeeper Tuukka Rask's save percentage went from 92.9 percent in the regular season to 94.0 percent in the postseason. Many Bruins fans were quite worried when veteran goalkeeper Tim Thomas decided to take a year off last season, but it has been proven that Rask is a more than capable prot?(c)g?(c). A longer season may prove more demanding for the Bruins-after all, last year was significantly shorter than a normal season due to the infamous NHL lockout. And while the end of last season was less than ideal, the fact that the team made it to the Finals-along with its solid lineup-puts Boston in the running to get the job done this year.
(08/26/13 4:00am)
After a 27-year absence from the NCAA Division III Tournament, the No. 12 men's soccer squad did much more than just qualify for the top collegiate competition. In his 40th year at the helm, coach Michael Coven and his squad won a share of the University Athletic Association Championship before defeating Baruch College and Vassar College in the Tournament's first and second rounds, respectively, before falling in a close 1-0 contest to Williams College in the round of 16. However, despite the graduation of First Team Division III All-New England players forward Lee Russo '13 and center back Joe Eisenbies '13 MA '14, as well as the team's starting goalkeeper Blake Minchoff '13, the task of defending against the Judges will not be easy, as they return eight of their 11 starters. "I think we'll be OK," said Coven. "I think we're much deeper than we were last year. We had a good squad, but beyond our 12th or 13th man we didn't have a lot of depth. Though we lost a few really great players, two or three of our guys who didn't play much last year have really improved and our freshmen are looking good." Up front, the attack is led by forward Sam Ocel '13, a National Soccer Coaches' Association of America Third Team All-American last season. Despite marching at Commencement in the spring, Ocel will graduate in December and retain his fourth season of eligibility this fall, as he missed his sophomore season due to injury. In addition to his All-America accolades, Ocel was named UAA MVP and First Team Division III All-New England. His 13 goals and eight assists were vital, especially following his wide display of game-winning goals against Mount Ida College, Baruch, Vassar, non-conference rival Babson College as well as UAA foes Case Western Reserve University, Emory University and New York University. However, Ocel is not the only threat the Judges have. Forward Tyler Savonen '15 scored six goals and assisted on five other tallies. All-UAA Second Team selection Kyle Feather '14 was critical as a late-arriving midfielder, chipping in with six goals and seven assists. Forward Steve Salazar '14 proved that he can score off the bench, chipping in two goals, including the second in a vital 2-0 win over Case. The center of the park features a core of talented midfielders. Jake Picard '16 and Josh Hacunda '16 excelled in their first-year campaigns, playing a part in all 22 games last season. Given the Judges' attack-minded 4-3-3 lineup, they will likely rotate players between midfield positions and forward roles. Despite losing Eisenbies, the Judges return a solid defensive unit. Left back Ben Applefield '14 was an All-UAA Honorable Mention selection last season. In addition to his defensive duties, Applefield-a naturally left-footed player-was known for his offensive contributions, scoring a direct free-kick and chipping in three assists. Right back Robbie Lynch '15 will red-shirt this season following surgery, but Coven is optimistic that Foti Andreo '15, a former midfielder, may be able to fill the void. Center back Matt Brondoli '14 transitioned seamlessly into the central defensive role. He'll be joined in the center by defender Conor Lanahan '16, who saw some playing time late in the season as a first-year. "Lanahan played well towards the end of last year," said Coven. "He's big, he'll be good on attacking and defending set pieces." Goalkeeper Joe Graffy '15 will look to assume the starting role this season. "(Joe) has been working his butt off all summer to improve his game," Coven said. "I think he'll do very well." "We had a really good attitude last season, and this season we seem to have carried it over," he said. "Our guys are family, they stick together and they're good people. (Assistant coach) Gabe (Margolis) and I say that when that is the case, the soccer takes care of itself." The Judges open the season on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., taking on Keene State University in Keene, N.H.
(08/26/13 4:00am)
John Unsworth, vice provost for library and technology services and chief information officer, is joining the National Council on the Humanities this year. Unsworth was nominated to the Council, which is the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in December 2011. The Council, which consists of 26 members, advises the chairman of the NEH. Grants from the NEH help fund libraries, humanities programs at universities, and public radio and television, according to BrandeisNOW. "It's an honor to be nominated by the President [of the United States], and to be confirmed by the Senate," Unsworth said in an interview with the Justice. Unsworth's work with the NEH dates back to 1993, when he served as the director of the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia. "The NEH provided support for a number of projects at the Institute over the decade during which I was there, including The Rossetti Archive, The Walt Whitman Archive, The Waters of Rome, The Valley of the Shadow and a number of others," Unsworth said. "The appointment makes it possible for me to contribute in a new way to the national conversation about humanities scholarship, teaching, and innovation," Unsworth said. "More specifically, it will be an opportunity to have input on the NEH's funding programs and priorities, and to support the only federal funding agency focused entirely on the humanities." "I truly enjoy the variety of things that my job at Brandeis consists of," Unsworth said when asked about how he balances his different roles. "I like working with information technology, I love figuring out how to help people do their work more effectively, I admire our highly skilled information professionals-a category in which I include both librarians and technologists." He joined Brandeis in February 2012 after serving as the University of Illionois Urbana-Champlain's dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science for nine years. Unsworth said he believes the humanities are important because "life is short. The humanities offer us the best way to understand more lives than the one we live." *
(06/29/13 4:00am)
On July 1, Sodexo officially replaced Aramark as the University's dining services provider. The change came almost six months after University administration announced that it would be sending requests for proposal to dining service providers, including Aramark, Sodexo and Chartwells. "This was a long process; this was a painful process for a lot of people," said Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins in an interview with the Justice. He added, "I think there's a level of excitement about the change." He commended Aramark's staff members for their work over almost two decades at the University. "There are a lot of good people on that team, and they've worked hard over the past 15 years," he said. Collins did not attribute the switch to any concrete factors, but said instead that "at the end of the day, it was decided by the Brandeis team that it was time for a change." "We are excited the University has selected us as their strategic partner for Dining services," wrote Jay DeGioia, the University's new resident district manager, in an email to the Justice. According to DeGioia, he and his staff were notified of Brandeis' selection of Sodexo on June 14. "There will be some great enhancements to the program this fall semester with a lot of exciting things proposed," wrote DeGioia. "I will share these as soon as they are finalized. We have also made suggestions on meal plans and will also share those and the time frame for rollout." According to Collins, meal plans would remain essentially unchanged for the next academic year, pending feedback from students. However, one plan, the all-points plan, has been eliminated. DeGioia was joined on July 1 by a campus executive chef, David LaFleur, and Rachel Oppenheimer, the new director of campus operations for Sodexo. DeGioia added that "we also have some other great people lined up, and as they come on board we will welcome them to the community." While Collins would not reveal the terms of Sodexo's new contract with the University, he said that the deal included an "attractive financial package" with a "multi-million dollar enhancement fund." However, the most expansive renovations, including a revamp of Sherman Dining Hall and potentially converting Usdan Caf?(c) into an all-you-can-eat style dining hall, will not be realized until next summer. Some of the changes that students can expect to see on campus in the fall will include the addition of a Dunkin' Donuts in the Village in place of the Provisions on Demand Market, a Guy Fieri on Campus restaurant in place of Ollie's Eatery and the Stein, and Russo's Market and Starbucks products at dining facilities, according to Collins. It is unclear at this point whether or not a full Starbucks venue will be completed this fall, but the eventual installation of one is planned for the EcoGrounds Cafe location in Goldfarb Library. Einstein Bros. Bagels and the Usdan Student Center Provisions on Demand Market location, now dubbed the Hoot Market, will remain. In fact, Einstein's may expand-both in the size of its location and its menu, to which hot breakfast sandwiches may be added. Maura Boughter-Dornfeld '14, a representative of the Real Food campaign at Brandeis, was involved in the decision-making process this spring. "The presentations were really incredible," she wrote in an email to the Justice. According to Boughter-Dornfeld, both Aramark and Sodexo's proposals included a goal that the Real Food campaign had advocated for: 20 percent "real food"-meaning "humane, local, ecologically sound, and fair-trade"-by 2015. "The change to Sodexo is huge, and very exciting, but there is still quite a lot of work to be done in order to make much of the campus happy," wrote Boughter-Dornfeld. After the announcement was broadcast via email, Facebook and Twitter, multiple members of the campus community pointed to Sodexo's lengthy list of cases filed with the National Labor Relations Board, as well as student and employee protests at the University of Washington, Emory University and Clark University, as cause for concern. Addressing these concerns in an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid wrote that "Brandeis is committed to ensuring that all vendor operations on our campus are carried out to the highest legal and ethical standards and ... monitoring this behavior is a routine part of our business operations." Collins confirmed this statement and added that all union employees that had worked under Aramark will have the option to stay on with Sodexo. As of June 27, almost all had filled out applications, formally initiating the transfer. The same union will continue to represent the employees, he said. Student dining workers will have to undergo the same process, but can also expect to stay on in the positions they had held under Aramark, said Collins. While Collins said that he had been made aware of some problems with Sodexo at other locations, he expected that the same conditions would not exist at Brandeis. "It's not going to be tolerated at Brandeis, period," he said. Sodexo, a globally-operated company based in France, also handles dining operations at neighboring Bentley University and Babson College, among other universities, hospitals and large venues across the U.S.
(06/28/13 4:00am)
Editor's note: A Justice editor spending the summer in Washington, D.C. had the opportunity to witness the delivery of Wednesday's Supreme Court decisions as a member of the student press. The following coverage is an account of her experience.
(05/20/13 4:00am)
Last Thursday evening, the Boston Museum of Science held an exclusive preview of its newest exhibit, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life in Ancient Times, where visitors had the chance to see the New England premiere of the scrolls and accompanying artifacts through a guided exhibit tour. The exhibit, which is the product of a partnership between the museum and the Israel Antiquities Authority, opened to the public on Sunday, and will remain open through October 20. Brandeis has a special connection to the exhibit, as the University is the educational partner of Life in Ancient Times. Upon arrival, visitors gathered in the museum's beautiful Pierce Atrium for a dinner reception, accompanied by a continuous stream of jazz music. The largely adult crowd happily chatted as the sun began to set through the atrium's floor-to-ceiling window, and they shortly gathered around a podium at the back of the room for a welcome address. Exhibit curator Dr. Risa Levitt Kohn, a professor of Hebrew Bible and Judaism at San Diego State University who has curated countless Dead Sea Scrolls exhibits around the country, elegantly gave the visitors an idea of what they were to see. The scrolls are the oldest known copy of writings that are today found in the Hebrew Bible. The scrolls, she said, are almost a thousand years older than the next biblical source found, and are largely not just concerned with biblical content, but instead hold writings that are liturgical, psalmic, legal and commentaries, and that together, they "provide a spiritual map of ancient Israel." Visitors were led into the exhibit by a guide in staggered, scheduled groups, so that everyone had enough time to see all of the artifacts and read the carefully placed placards that prefaced each section of the exhibit. Walking up the staircase to the upper level of the atrium, where the exhibit is staged, I was very excited and hardly had an idea what to expect to see. I was able to join the first group of visitors, and we were ushered down a hallway and into a large room, walls and ceiling painted black, the floor around the perimeter of the room covered with sand. At the entrance to the room, projected onto the black walls in bright, white-lighted script was Genesis 12:1, in English, Greek and Hebrew, reading: "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.'" Six large projection screens were hung on the walls, surrounding us with calming footage of the Dead Sea shore at sunrise, as the guide launched into a pristine monologue about the story of the modern rediscovery of the scrolls. In 1947, the year before Israel declared its independence, a Bedouin goat herder tossed a rock into a cave along the shore, and when he heard the rock break a pottery jar from within the cave, he investigated- what he found was a priceless cache, countless pottery jars holding the miraculously-preserved scrolls. The scrolls were hidden near the site of the ancient community of Qumran, whose ruins have since been excavated extensively. As we moved into the next room of the exhibit, we were presented with various artifacts found in the ruins of Qumran. The exhibit teaches visitors about this ancient people who were responsible for the scrolls by way of examining their belongings, constructing a careful historical picture of the time in which the scrolls were written. After winding around a dividing wall and seeing countless artifacts of ancient life, the exhibit opened up into a much larger space, centered around a massive, gingerly lit glass table. Fragments of the scrolls were preserved in the light and temperature-controlled glass, and visitors flocked eagerly to see what they could. The scrolls themselves were preserved in shreds, torn or worn pieces, recorded in beautifully written ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Nabataean. I was shocked at how fractal the fragments of the scrolls that we have now actually are-seeing the sacred writings in real life, for me, carried a much greater weight than I have felt from seeing pictures of them in textbooks. The Life in Ancient Times exhibit is a point of academic and cultural pride for Brandeis, and I am sure that I echo the sentiments of many of our faculty and students when I say that I am very happy that our institution had the chance to partner in such an endeavor. *
(05/20/13 4:00am)
Personally, I'm not much of a baseball fan and know very little about the sport, but the summer premiere 42, directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, is about much more than running the bases. The film's emotional journey builds up to the penultimate game of the season, where Robinson stands at bat, focused and determined. The pitch comes fast and he nails it-the ball flying as he casually jogs the bases in victory. The movie tells a gripping story about love, sacrifice and bravery in post-World War II America. Based on the story of Jackie Robinson's life, the movie explores his 1946 initiation into the Montreal Royals and subsequent move to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Robinson is confronted with bitter racism, but also showered with support by both black and white fans as he pioneers the desegregation of baseball in the United States. The film begins in 1946 when Branch Rickey, the Dodger Baseball Club president, decides that the best chance the Dodgers have of winning the year's World Series is to recruit an African-American player. In doing so, Rickey mindfully breaks the unspoken rule of segregating baseball teams, and Jackie Robinson joins the team. The film eloquently gives the audience a glimpse into Robinson's spirit from the moment he is introduced: Robinson and his all-black baseball team, the Kansas City Monarchs, are filling up their vehicle's gasoline tank on their way to a game in Chicago. When Robinson heads to the restroom, the owner of the gas station stops him. Apparently the restroom is for whites only. Robinson casually replies that his team will take their business elsewhere. The owner finally relents and reluctantly points him toward the restroom. Robinson is innately outspoken and not afraid to stand up for what is right, both traits that help him along his journey to the major leagues as a racial minority. Immediately after this scene, Helgeland integrates a historically well-known episode into the script-a conversation between Robinson and Rickey. Rickey warns his new recruit of the criticism and hatred that he will be forced to deal with as the first African-American to play on a traditionally white team, and implores him not to fight back. Robinson defensively asks: "You are looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" to which Ricky replies that he is looking for a player with the "guts not to fight back." Fighting back in 1946, roughly a decade before the civil rights movement even began, could mean not only the end of Robinson's career, but possibly even the end of his life. This scene allows the audience to realize the severity of the danger in which Robinson experiences. Throughout the film, Robinson struggles to resist the urge to fight back in the face of hatred, resentment and prejudice. In every game crowds boo Robinson as he comes to plate. In a Dodgers game against Pittsburgh, even the Pittsburgh coach taunts Robinson from the dugout, as Robinson is about to hit. The coach's slew of racial slurs was, for me as an audience member, extremely uncomfortable to listen to. As history shows, however, by the end of the film, even the players most opposed to playing alongside Robinson come around, putting their teams before their prejudices. One of the most touching moments in the film is during a game against the Cincinnati Reds when Pee-Wee Herman, a player who, just days before, was worried about criticism from his family and friends at home for playing with a black man, stands on the field and puts his arm around Robinson, looking the crowd-and his family-right in the eyes. Jackie Robinson is a heroic legend in this day and age, known for breaking a precedent by initiating the desegregation of baseball-long before the civil rights movement even started. The film, however, considers more than his historic legacy, and attempts to make Robinson a more relatable character; the glorification of Robinson's career was not the focus of the film. Instead, Boseman's portrayal of Robinson expresses the very human emotions of fear, anger and resentment, making both his character more relatable and the film all the more moving. For someone who is not interested in baseball whatsoever, this film was unexpectedly enthralling. 42 tells a story not just about a man's journey through the minor and major leagues of American baseball in the 1940s, but of drastic societal change and the strength of one man to pioneer that change.
(05/20/13 4:00am)
Now that school is over and finals are a distant memory, we have time to relax, enjoy summer and catch a movie or two! These five movies look especially entertaining among the dozens of films that are slated for release. From adorable minions to a shady drug deal, there is something for everyone. So sit back, relax, grab an Icee and get ready for some laughs! 'The Hangover 3': May 24 At this point, The Hangover is a Hollywood icon-if you've seen the previous two films, this one is an obligatory finale to the drunken trilogy. My guess is that The Hangover 3 will continue in the same vein as the Las Vegas and Bangkok adventures, but director Todd Phillips has stated that the movie will be more of a finale. Not many details have been released, but rumors have circulated that the quartet will get into their usual antics in Tijuana, Mexico, possibly rescuing Alan from a mental hospital. The infamous Mr. Chow will also join the bunch. Though I don't have high expectations, The Hangover 3 makes the summer movie list-giving closure to a prominent film series. 'We're the Millers': Aug 9 Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball), We're The Millers is lesser-known than other must-see movies of the summer, but the original comedy looks equally deserving. Jason Sudeikis stars as a small-time pot dealer who hires a fake family to help him transport marijuana from Mexico to Colorado undercover. Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter form the perfect fake family, as their sketchy road trip becomes a comedic bonding experience. In addition to the great cast, We're The Millers appears promising and I'm looking forward to catching more of Aniston on the big screen after a hilarious performance in Horrible Bosses (also alongside Sudeikis). 'Despicable Me': July 3 My slight obsession with the adorable, pint-sized yellow minions automatically puts Despicable Me 2 at the top of my "To-See list" and I cannot wait to catch the latest installment of the animated film series. Villain-turned-hero Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) returns to save the world with his three adopted daughters in tow. Miranda Cosgrove voices the youngest girl, Agnes, and she gives the minions a run for their money in the cuteness contest, while the two elder girls Margo and Edith each have their own quirky personalities. Animated movies are perfect for beating the summer heat, and if the overwhelming Facebook presence of Despicable Me is any indicator, the minions will take the summer by storm. 'This Is the End': June 12 Let's face it: anything with Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Michael Cera, James Franco and Paul Rudd is bound to be hilariously epic. They are the Hollywood comedic dream team and their upcoming apocalyptic crisis movie This Is The End looks to be no exception. In the movie, the group of friends struggle to adapt after a global apocalypse leaves them struggling in Los Angeles. Adding to the excitement, sitcom super star Mindy Kaling will make an appearance, along with stand-up comedian Aziz Ansari, pop singer Rihanna and Emma Watson. Though the post-apocalyptic theme has already been heavily played out, the previous comedic genius of these actors surely indicates that This Is The End will be a great summer hit. 'After Earth': May 31 Remember that adorable little boy who joined Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness seven years ago? Jaden Smith once again joins his father, but this time in a very different movie. After the human race abandoned the planet and moved light years away, After Earth chronicles the perilous father-son journey across the dangerous terrain. In a struggle for survival, the pair rebuild a failing relationship-a classic action-meets-heartfelt theme. Ever since his first movie role, I've anticipated Jaden following in his father's footsteps and this movie is clearly a step in that direction. Will Smith, as seen in hits such as I Am Legend, perfectly puts out emotionally charged action movies and, therefore, After Earth should be a great start to the summer movie season.
(05/20/13 4:00am)
I've always been a five-year-plan kind of girl. In high school, I had my path to college all planned out by the end of my freshman year. I knew exactly which colleges I was going to apply to and what extracurricular activities I was going to do to get myself accepted into them. When I got to Brandeis, I felt less sure of what the end goal would be. Yet my sophomore year when I decided what my major would be, I still sat down with a friend of mine who was a Roosevelt Fellow and planned out the rest of my time at Brandeis, down to which classes I would take my second semester of senior year. By the end of my sophomore year, I already knew what my thesis topic was going to be and how, when, and where I was going to carry out the fieldwork for it. For all of my obsessive planning however, I never was able to figure out just what it was I wanted to do once I graduated from Brandeis. I also never thought that I would ever get to the day of my commencement without a job already secured, a place to live and a little cushion in my bank account. Yet, on Sunday I graduated from Brandeis without any plan at all. All I know is that I will pack up my room and go back to New York with my parents. I will spend the next four weeks relaxing and visiting friends before I head off to Israel for the summer. My return from Israel, however, is blank-a question mark. I am terrified. And also angry with myself for not having planned better, thought harder and worked more to secure something, anything for myself to do next year. I am worried about tight funds, especially because I do not know when I will be able to secure any employment again, even if just a job at a caf?(c). Most of all I am worried about having to move back in with my parents after a gap year and four years of college living totally independently of them. Despite all these worries, which do not cease to grow and multiply, when I laid down to sleep on Sunday night after officially joining the ranks of Brandeis alumni, I had a strangely uncharacteristic thought. It occurred to me that without any particular obligations for the coming year of where I have to be or when, I can literally do anything that I want. Normally when I make my five-year plan, I do so by placing myself in "the box." I choose paths that correspond to my strengths, and I never choose an end goal that I do not think I can achieve, or that I am not entirely sure about. Ultimately, all of my plans have fed into the notion I have that I should go to college, do exceptionally well, graduate and start my career, and later get married and start a family. As I am standing on the edge of the cliff that is the "real world," I am realizing that now is perhaps the best time I will ever have to throw all my plans to the wind and simply follow my whims. Perhaps by placing myself in "the box" all these years, I have sold myself short of the full range of my capabilities. This is not to say that I haven't done exceptionally well at Brandeis, because I have, and I am extremely proud of my accomplishments. I have, however, only made accomplishments in a very limited field. I have excelled in anthropology, but I have neglected to pursue other interests and to nourish my creative mind. I have always believed that I "can't" do art, music, dance or martial arts because I am simply not talented enough for these things. Yet in my time at Brandeis, I did not branch out beyond the obligatory distribution requirements to give myself the opportunity to even try these things. On Sunday night when it occurred to me that I can do anything I want, it also occurred to me that I am afraid of the coming year precisely because I have been placing myself in "the box" all this time. Since I don't have a fantastic job that will launch me into a steady and fulfilling career, I am suddenly sitting on the outside of this perfect little "box" with no real way to get back in, nor with any idea how I might get back in. It's unnerving to be locked out of this ideal, but it's also the greatest blessing I could possibly have. With no obligations for the coming year, I can literally choose any interest, any activity that occurs to me on a whim and do it, even if it means that I have to support myself doing a job I didn't need to go to college to do. It's time to break out of "the box" and explore everything else that I am capable of. *
(05/20/13 4:00am)
I've always been a five-year-plan kind of girl. In high school, I had my path to college all planned out by the end of my freshman year. I knew exactly which colleges I was going to apply to and what extracurricular activities I was going to do to get myself accepted into them. When I got to Brandeis, I felt less sure of what the end goal would be. Yet my sophomore year when I decided what my major would be, I still sat down with a friend of mine who was a Roosevelt Fellow and planned out the rest of my time at Brandeis, down to which classes I would take my second semester of senior year. By the end of my sophomore year, I already knew what my thesis topic was going to be and how, when, and where I was going to carry out the fieldwork for it. For all of my obsessive planning however, I never was able to figure out just what it was I wanted to do once I graduated from Brandeis. I also never thought that I would ever get to the day of my commencement without a job already secured, a place to live and a little cushion in my bank account. Yet, on Sunday I graduated from Brandeis without any plan at all. All I know is that I will pack up my room and go back to New York with my parents. I will spend the next four weeks relaxing and visiting friends before I head off to Israel for the summer. My return from Israel, however, is blank-a question mark. I am terrified. And also angry with myself for not having planned better, thought harder and worked more to secure something, anything for myself to do next year. I am worried about tight funds, especially because I do not know when I will be able to secure any employment again, even if just a job at a caf?(c). Most of all I am worried about having to move back in with my parents after a gap year and four years of college living totally independently of them. Despite all these worries, which do not cease to grow and multiply, when I laid down to sleep on Sunday night after officially joining the ranks of Brandeis alumni, I had a strangely uncharacteristic thought. It occurred to me that without any particular obligations for the coming year of where I have to be or when, I can literally do anything that I want. Normally when I make my five-year plan, I do so by placing myself in "the box." I choose paths that correspond to my strengths, and I never choose an end goal that I do not think I can achieve, or that I am not entirely sure about. Ultimately, all of my plans have fed into the notion I have that I should go to college, do exceptionally well, graduate and start my career, and later get married and start a family. As I am standing on the edge of the cliff that is the "real world," I am realizing that now is perhaps the best time I will ever have to throw all my plans to the wind and simply follow my whims. Perhaps by placing myself in "the box" all these years, I have sold myself short of the full range of my capabilities. This is not to say that I haven't done exceptionally well at Brandeis, because I have, and I am extremely proud of my accomplishments. I have, however, only made accomplishments in a very limited field. I have excelled in anthropology, but I have neglected to pursue other interests and to nourish my creative mind. I have always believed that I "can't" do art, music, dance or martial arts because I am simply not talented enough for these things. Yet in my time at Brandeis, I did not branch out beyond the obligatory distribution requirements to give myself the opportunity to even try these things. On Sunday night when it occurred to me that I can do anything I want, it also occurred to me that I am afraid of the coming year precisely because I have been placing myself in "the box" all this time. Since I don't have a fantastic job that will launch me into a steady and fulfilling career, I am suddenly sitting on the outside of this perfect little "box" with no real way to get back in, nor with any idea how I might get back in. It's unnerving to be locked out of this ideal, but it's also the greatest blessing I could possibly have. With no obligations for the coming year, I can literally choose any interest, any activity that occurs to me on a whim and do it, even if it means that I have to support myself doing a job I didn't need to go to college to do. It's time to break out of "the box" and explore everything else that I am capable of. *
(05/20/13 4:00am)
I've always been a five-year-plan kind of girl. In high school, I had my path to college all planned out by the end of my freshman year. I knew exactly which colleges I was going to apply to and what extracurricular activities I was going to do to get myself accepted into them. When I got to Brandeis, I felt less sure of what the end goal would be. Yet my sophomore year when I decided what my major would be, I still sat down with a friend of mine who was a Roosevelt Fellow and planned out the rest of my time at Brandeis, down to which classes I would take my second semester of senior year. By the end of my sophomore year, I already knew what my thesis topic was going to be and how, when, and where I was going to carry out the fieldwork for it. For all of my obsessive planning however, I never was able to figure out just what it was I wanted to do once I graduated from Brandeis. I also never thought that I would ever get to the day of my commencement without a job already secured, a place to live and a little cushion in my bank account. Yet, on Sunday I graduated from Brandeis without any plan at all. All I know is that I will pack up my room and go back to New York with my parents. I will spend the next four weeks relaxing and visiting friends before I head off to Israel for the summer. My return from Israel, however, is blank-a question mark. I am terrified. And also angry with myself for not having planned better, thought harder and worked more to secure something, anything for myself to do next year. I am worried about tight funds, especially because I do not know when I will be able to secure any employment again, even if just a job at a caf?(c). Most of all I am worried about having to move back in with my parents after a gap year and four years of college living totally independently of them. Despite all these worries, which do not cease to grow and multiply, when I laid down to sleep on Sunday night after officially joining the ranks of Brandeis alumni, I had a strangely uncharacteristic thought. It occurred to me that without any particular obligations for the coming year of where I have to be or when, I can literally do anything that I want. Normally when I make my five-year plan, I do so by placing myself in "the box." I choose paths that correspond to my strengths, and I never choose an end goal that I do not think I can achieve, or that I am not entirely sure about. Ultimately, all of my plans have fed into the notion I have that I should go to college, do exceptionally well, graduate and start my career, and later get married and start a family. As I am standing on the edge of the cliff that is the "real world," I am realizing that now is perhaps the best time I will ever have to throw all my plans to the wind and simply follow my whims. Perhaps by placing myself in "the box" all these years, I have sold myself short of the full range of my capabilities. This is not to say that I haven't done exceptionally well at Brandeis, because I have, and I am extremely proud of my accomplishments. I have, however, only made accomplishments in a very limited field. I have excelled in anthropology, but I have neglected to pursue other interests and to nourish my creative mind. I have always believed that I "can't" do art, music, dance or martial arts because I am simply not talented enough for these things. Yet in my time at Brandeis, I did not branch out beyond the obligatory distribution requirements to give myself the opportunity to even try these things. On Sunday night when it occurred to me that I can do anything I want, it also occurred to me that I am afraid of the coming year precisely because I have been placing myself in "the box" all this time. Since I don't have a fantastic job that will launch me into a steady and fulfilling career, I am suddenly sitting on the outside of this perfect little "box" with no real way to get back in, nor with any idea how I might get back in. It's unnerving to be locked out of this ideal, but it's also the greatest blessing I could possibly have. With no obligations for the coming year, I can literally choose any interest, any activity that occurs to me on a whim and do it, even if it means that I have to support myself doing a job I didn't need to go to college to do. It's time to break out of "the box" and explore everything else that I am capable of. *
(05/20/13 4:00am)
Rabbi David Pardo and his wife Ariel Pardo will be joining Brandeis as co-directors of the Orthodox Union's Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus this August, according to an email announcement from Executive Director of Hillel at Brandeis Larry Sternberg to members of the Hillel community. According to its website, JLIC aims to provide advising and counsel to Orthodox Jewish students attending secular universities by placing Rabbinic couples on campuses to serve as mentors. Currently, JLIC serves 15 colleges and universities, including Brandeis. The Pardos, who both attended the University of California at Los Angeles as undergraduates, were student leaders at the JLIC program there, they said in an interview with the Justice. David said he felt "excited" and "really fortunate" to come to Brandeis. According to Sternberg's announcement, David received his semikhah, or rabbinical ordination, from Yeshiva University and was also educated at the Isralight Institute and Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future. He has done community work in several cities, most recently in Toronto, where he is the director of education and community engagement at The House, a center which provides "inspiring and relevant Jewish education" according to its website. After UCLA, Ariel attended the Nishmat's Alisa Flatow program, which "offers a unique opportunity" for women to "study Jewish texts in a warm and intellectually stimulating environment," and later received a certificate from Machon Puah's Women's Health Training. According to Sternberg in an interview with the Justice, the process of selecting a rabbinic couple began when the Orthodox Union suggested rabbinic couples, whom he then interviewed. Later four of the couples were brought to campus to meet with more members of the Jewish community. "It was a long two days. We interviewed almost everybody on campus, and their mother," joked David when he was asked about the interview process. When asked why the Pardos were selected, Sternberg answered that the couple exhibited strong interpersonal skills and an ability to relate to the Brandeis community and individuals. In addition, he said that they will be able to relate to all students, not just Orthodox Jewish students. "One of the beauties of having a couple who are different from one another a bit ... with different background and exposures is that they will invariably have a greater impact than just on Orthodox community," said Sternberg. As co-directors of JLIC, David said that he and Ariel would want to help the community "foster an incredible Jewish experience" during their time at Brandeis. "That includes learning and social events and everything in between," said Ariel. She went on to explain they will have to become more familiar with the Brandeis community before they make any specific plans, but would like to try ideas that were successful at UCLA. The couple will be succeeding Rabbi Eliot and Toby Kaplowitz, who announced last December that they would be leaving Brandeis at the end of this academic year to pursue other opportunities.
(05/19/13 4:00am)
Held at Bentley University, the first meet of the New Balance Twilight Meet Series serves as an opportunity for local track and field athletes to test themselves against elite competition. For a select few Judges, mainly those of the squad's middle-distance and distance crews, the meet yielded top performances. "There were some disappointments for some but really awesome races for others, but I have to say I'm still really amped about how my race went," said Amelia Lundkvist '14, who finished eighth in the women's 1500-meter run in four minutes, 35.92 seconds. "I honestly surprised myself and still can't really believe I ran that fast." While some collegiate meets give the Judges the chance to compete against top talent, there are few whose caliber match the aforementioned Twilight Series. Many local athletes who train with prestigious training groups like the Greater Boston Track Club and the Boston Athletic Association attend these meets. The winning performances on both the men's and women's side are usually close to those seen in events at NCAA Division I meets, as opposed to the Division III competition that the Judges usually face. The women's 1500-meter was a fast race that could have proved challenging to collegiate competitors, but the Judges fared well. In addition to Lundkvist's eighth-place effort, Victoria Sanford '14 came in 16th in that event, running the distance in 4:45.66, just a little bit less than 10 seconds behind her training partner and teammate, as the duo, who headlined most of the Judges' middle-distance performances, finished strong. On the men's side, the 1500-meter run yielded a couple of top times from Brandeis athletes. In that race, Mik Kern '13 finished 13th in 3:54.26. He was a few seconds ahead of University Athletic Association champion Alex Kramer '13, who took 26th in 3:58.50. The previous weekend, from May 3 to May 4, the Judges competed at the New England Division III Track and Field Championships held at Colby College. In that meet, Lundkvist and Sanford also competed in the 1500. Lundkvist led the way for the Judges, finishing ninth in 4:37.51. Sanford took 15th in that race, completing the three-and-three-quarter event in 4:45.56. Similar to the aforementioned female pair, Kramer and Kern also took part in the 1500. That time, Kramer led the way in the battle between the duo, as he took seventh in 3:52.73. Kern wasn't far behind, however, as he placed 13th, crossing the line in 3:56.80. While middle distance has proven to be the Judges' forte in previous years-standout Chris Brown '12 placed fourth in the 1500 at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships-the Judges qualified two competitors for the 5000-meter race in the aforementioned New England Division III Championships. After breaking 15 minutes in the 5000 the weekend before at the UAA Championships, Ed Colvin '14 took 10th in 15:11.92. Jarret Harrigan '15 joined Colvin in the 5000, and managed to break five-minute-mile pace, finishing the race in 15:26.93. Friday's Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships saw a few Judges have one final opportunity to compete. Kramer took sixth in the 1500, finishing in 3:53.78. Kern placed 27th, timing in at 4:03.71. Lundkvist and Sanford also competed well, placing 13th and 23rd with times of 4:39.87 and 4:44.80, respectively. Though the Judges will say goodbye to Kramer and Kern, as well as Erin Bisceglia '12 MA '13, the prospects for the middle-distance and distance squads look strong on both sides. Colvin, who battled injury throughout the year, will look to return healthy. Harrigan took large proverbial strides this year, and he has the potential to be a top runner next year. Taylor Dundas '14 hopes to rebound from an Achilles' tendon injury in time for the fall. Grady Ward '16 improved a great deal during the track campaigns, which should set him up for next year's cross-country season. On the women's side, Lundkvist and Sanford have made massive improvements in the past two seasons, which they will attempt to carry over into the fall. The return of Kelsey Whitaker '16, who barely missed qualifying for the women's 800-meter final during this year's UAA Championships, as well as the return of Maggie Hensel '16, Rachel Keller '16, Molly Paris '16 and Nora Owens '16, bodes well for the future. After a short time off, the Judges will begin preparation for the fall season. Based on how they performed in the last couple of races of this season, it is very possible that they will further improve in time for the fall.
(04/30/13 4:00am)
"Look! Quick!" One of my friends pawed at my face to turn my head toward the door of Sherman Function Hall, where we were seated, waiting for Starving Artists' 14th-annual collective show, "A Cappella Fest," to begin. Laughing, my friend pointed at Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel dancing through the doorway in time with the Top-40 Spotify station that had been blasting throughout the venue to pump up the audience. I could tell that this was going to be a good show. To kick off the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts on a happy note last Thursday evening, "A Cappella Fest" assembled Brandeis' large collection of a cappella groups to showcase the impressive cache of vocal talent on campus. All 13 campus a cappella groups were present, as well as a guest group from Lexington High School. Funds raised by ticket sales for the show went to benefit a local charity, the Greater Waltham Arc, which works to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families. Starving Artists' members Ellyn Getz '13 and Abby Armstrong '13 emceed the show, which was largely inspired by the theme of this year's Festival of the Arts, "Imagine the Impossible." Groups took their creative cues from iconic pop culture fixtures that are associated with imagination-ranging from John Lennon's song "Imagine" to films like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The show opened with a massive performance in which all 13 groups took to the stage and performed Lennon's "Imagine" together. Coordinating all of the harmonies, timing and solos performed during this number with such a large group was a feat in itself, but the performance was commendable-the multivalent melodies were smooth and pleasant. After the collective performance, the groups dispersed toward the back of the room, and each group took to the stage individually, performing two or three of their favorite or most well-known songs, with some groups even making debuts of new songs. Getz and Armstrong introduced each group with a fun fact about that group's history, a member of the group or their performance. Starving Artists kicked off the group performances, its members dressed in a bold red, all smiling and clearly excited for the show to come. Their first song was a stunningly resonant rendition of Neon Trees' hit "Animal," which has been a popular Top 40 radio favorite. Starving Artists set a precedent for the rest of the groups, who, continually, put complex and harmonic twists on pop songs that we are all used to hearing performed in their original auto-tuned glory. Company B, Brandeis' coed classic hits a cappella group, made a world premiere of "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow" for the occasion, for which Sarah Brodsky '15 delivered an outstanding solo performance. The group added in some subtle choreography that made the performance all the more cheery, and Brodsky's adorable air-guitar dance moves got the audience laughing and smiling in a few seconds. The group announced that their 30th founding anniversary will be next year, but they won't stop thinking about tomorrow anytime soon. A personal favorite performance of mine was delivered by Rather Be Giraffes, who excitedly took the stage, all wearing black shirts with a rainbow variation of neckties. Getz and Armstrong introduced the group's performance of Florence + The Machine's "Shake It Out" with a hilarious story about how the song's soloist, Ryan Mulvihill-Pretak '16, accidentally auditioned for the group thinking that he was joining a giraffe appreciation club. Another of my favorite performances came from Too Cheap For Instruments, an all-female group who wore black tops and color-coordinated sashes around their hips and flaunted beautiful, and obviously rigorously rehearsed, harmony parts. Abbie Goldberg '16 sang a solo part while the rest of the group joyously stomped their feet together to Mumford & Sons' "Roll Away Your Stone." The ladies then showcased their flawless harmonic coordination to an ethereal performance of Imogen Heap's airy "Hide and Seek," their intonations following hand directions from Deena Horowitz '13. Overall, "A Cappella Fest" provided an upbeat, dynamic event that was a perfect evening performance for students and families. While each of Brandeis' 13 a cappella groups holds various performances of their own throughout the school year, seeing all of the groups together in one room, singing with light hearts and smiling faces, was a powerful and happy moment. *
(04/30/13 4:00am)
On Saturday night, the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra, conducted by Prof. Neal Hampton (MUS), performed the first of its two semester concerts in Slosberg Music Center's Recital Hall. Both as the culmination of a semester's worth of work, and also as one of the many events of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts this weekend at Brandeis, the concert was an impressive show of collaborative effort, expertise and artistry.
(04/29/13 4:00am)
"Louder, louder!" Though it was only 9 a.m. and the majority of the class was not completely awake, Prof. Hiroko Sekino (GRALL) energetically initiated conversations in Japanese with her students, geared up to begin her final week at the University. Japanese students know Sekino as a colorful character. One student described her as "straight out of a comic book." Another described her coursework as "intense." At the end of this semester, her career as a Japanese instructor, spanning almost a quarter of a century at Brandeis, will come to an end. "It does not feel like this is actually my last week. I am busy as usual and can't imagine what it will be like when I am finally done with this," said Sekino in an interview with the Justice. Japanese is one of the few language programs at Brandeis that holds class five days a week. Sekino puts emphasis on the basics because she believes they go a long way when students are pursuing upper level classes. Sekino came to the U.S. in the 1970s to study abroad at Boston University. "I was frazzled by the student activism in Japan at that time ... I felt I wanted to do something outside of Japan," she said in an interview with the Justice. It was a big and difficult decision to move to the U.S, but she had no idea that this would become a turning point in her life. After studying at BU for two years, she became a Japanese teaching assistant at Harvard University. She felt like she had found something that she could be passionate about. "I had a memorable mentor and amazing students ... It was an eye-opening change. It made me realize how fascinating and fun it was to teach Japanese," she said. In 1988, she learned that Brandeis was looking for a Japanese instructor and wanted to give it a try. That summer, with one other Japanese instructor, Sekino initiated what would become the Japanese language program at Brandeis. "When I started here, Japanese was part of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. We basically started from scratch," she said. Initially ,the language department was limited and higher-level courses had to be taken elsewhere. Sekino explained that building the program was new terrain and that she learned as she went. "Because I was a novice, I was trying to learn every year," Sekino said. She recalled it had been difficult to offer students more extensive courses on Japan. "It was very regrettable that we couldn't offer more courses to students who wanted to learn more," she said. The Japanese language program was later extended to six semesters when it became part of the Department of German, Russian, and East Asian Languages and Literature in 2002. With the expertise of Prof. Matthew Fraleigh (GRALL) who joined the department in 2006, students are now able to take more integrated Japan-related courses that Brandeis offers, including contemporary Japanese history, literature and film courses. In Sekino's 24 years of teaching at Brandeis, she has watched the department grow and evolve. She has seen the Japanese language student demographics change over time. "When the Japanese economy was prosperous, there were many global economy graduate students taking Japanese," she said. "For these [past] 10 years, more and more students are learning Japanese because of Japan's popular culture, like manga, anime and music." Sekino explained that although Japanese is a difficult language to learn, she consistently found her students to be up to the task. "What I like about teaching at Brandeis is that students here are really dedicated and hardworking," she said. "Japanese is not an easy language, but I always find my students are tough and motivated enough to get through it." Prof. Yukimi Nakano (GRALL), a colleague of Sekino, said Sekino was always there for her students. "She is always willing to meet students after class and lend an ear to her students," she said. "She has also planned so many Japanese-related fun events and activities to make sure her students enjoy learning Japanese." Esther Cho '14 remembers her first year taking Japanese as a worthy challenge. "We were pretty much guaranteed a quiz a week," she said. Though Cho admits that the first-year Japanese class was demanding, she said she must give credit to Sekino for providing a smooth transition to upper level Japanese courses. "Sekino-sensei is very thorough when it comes to making sure her students have a strong foundation for subsequent years of Japanese language study," Cho said. Sekino has developed special connections with many of her former students. "Some of them even write me New Year's cards! I teach Japanese, but more than that I have learned so much from my students," she said. Sekino has always strived to instill in her students a global and cultural perspective that can be useful beyond Brandeis. "I don't just teach a language, but I teach Japanese culture as well. Teaching a language means teaching a culture. Understanding a language is one of the cornerstones for mutual understanding and I believe that will lead to a more peaceful world," she said.
(04/23/13 4:00am)
Jamie Bernstein has vivid memories of tagging along with her father, Leonard Bernstein, to his Young People's Concerts, at which he would conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and explain various musical topics to his audience. She and her brother Alexander would run through Philharmonic Hall, unsupervised, while her father ran through dress rehearsals, camera rehearsals and script meetings before filming the concert for the public, which was then broadcast on CBS. Bernstein was born and raised in New York City, the eldest of three children to Felicia Cohn Montealegre and Leonard Bernstein. She has fond memories from her childhood and the early days of her parents' marriage. "The house was always full of people. Our mother Felicia Cohn Montealegre, who came from South America-she had a wonderful sense of style and a sense of warmth with people, and so she made our house such an attractive, comfortable, lovely place to hang out and every- body always came to our house and there were so many people among our parents' friends," she said. Among those friends were musicians, artists and writers who filled their house with music, singing and games. The adults that surrounded Bernstein's environment when she was a child made Bernstein believe that "all grown-ups did was have fun-we couldn't wait to be grown-ups," she said. Aside from keeping her father company during the Young People's Concerts, she also enjoyed going on tour with him to places in Europe, Israel and the United States. Narrating concerts entails speaking about either the composer, music or elements of the music performed by an orchestra. Hearing her father narrate and put together the Young People's Concerts would help Bernstein later in life, more than she could know at the time. About 15 years ago, her family created a concert similar to the ones Leonard Bernstein developed. This concert, however, would focus on Jamie's father's music instead of the other composers her father's program focused on. "I volunteered to write [the concert] myself because I thought it was such a great idea, but I'd never done anything like that in my life. But I sure had been to a lot of them...so I felt like that maybe by the process of osmosis I would be able to figure out how to write one," she said. Because she was not trained to play any instruments, Bernstein joined forces with Michael Barrett, Leonard Bernstein's assistant conductor, to write the script, develop the concert and introduce what they called "The Bernstein Beat" to the world. She has hosted and narrated the concert in places like China, Venezuela, Spain and Cuba. Bernstein continued narrating concerts about various topics, mostly about her father but also about Aaron Copland, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Igor Stravinsky. First, she researches the topic, then writes the script and then sets out on the road to perform the concert. "[The job] covers all the things I like to do. I love to find out more about a topic I didn't know about be- fore-that's the research part-and I love writing ... so there's that. And I love performing-getting up and sharing what I've learned and my own excitement about my topic to an audience, preferably a young one," she said. As she narrates concerts and listens to the various orchestras play her father's music, she feels a connection to her father. "I feel happy that I found a way to share him with the rest of the world, which is a nice way to give back to him, thank him in a way for everything he gave to me in the course of his life. When I sit on the corner of the stage while they're playing my dad's music and I'm in the middle of a concert about him, I always have this great feeling that I'm sort of giving him acknowledgement or giving him a hug back," she said. Leonard Bernstein, who was a visiting Music professor at Brandeis from 1951 to 1956, founded the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts. Jamie will be hosting one of the events, "Late Night with Leonard Bernstein" this year on Friday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center. The event, which she describes as "a little tour inside my father's brain," will consist of pieces he might have written late at night, while he could not fall asleep. She explained that her father would write smaller pieces that would sometimes be developed into longer and more complex pieces of music later on. Bernstein described her father as an "insomniac" and as someone who "had this power motor that he could not shut off. His engine just kept going and going all the time. That was part of why he couldn't sleep at night. So instead, he would be up all night long by himself and would be composing ... or he would be up all night partying with his friends, roaring around the piano," she said. "You get a sense of an 'inner' person and an 'outer' person. There's a combination of the interior compositions and also the sorts of pieces he liked to entertain his friends with, not by him necessarily," she said. Besides the festival, Bernstein has several other developing projects in the coming weeks and months. She will travel to Venezuela in May to start putting together a concert in Spanish to introduce Aaron Copland's music to young audiences there. In the summer, she will narrate a concert of her father's music in Los Angeles, and then begin researching topics for next year's concerts. "[My father] himself taught at Brandeis, so he'd be thrilled to know that everything was coming around full circle," she said.
(04/22/13 4:00am)
The men's and women's track and field teams were all over the map this past weekend. While the majority of runners competed at the Fitchburg State Invitational at Fitchburg State University Saturday, a contingent of four distance runners made their way to Princeton University to compete in the prestigious Larry Ellis Invitational Friday. Alex Kramer '13 headlined the Judges' performance at the Ellis Invite. The senior finished 36th out of 60 competitors in the Elite section of the men's 1,500-meter run, going the distance in three minutes, 52.92 seconds, besting competitors from notable Division I programs such as Brown University, Syracuse University, Georgetown University and Iona College. "Competing at night, when the temperature is nice and being in a line with a bunch of the best guys in the country is really exciting," Kramer said. "When you run against better competition, you're going to run faster, so it was a great experience." Mik Kern '13 competed in the second section of the 1500, placing 18th out of 54 competitors with a time of 3:59.95. On the women's side, Amelia Lundkvist '14 and Victoria Sanford '14, as they have done all season, pulled together back-to-back finishes in the 1,500. Lundkvist placed 21st out of 46 competitors in the event, crossing the line in 4:43.48. Sanford was right behind her teammate in 22nd, finishing less than a second back in 4:43.84. The Fitchburg meet also yielded some impressive performances. Ed Colvin '14 took fourth out of 42 competitors in the 1,500, clocking in at 4:07.13. Jarret Harrigan '15 wasn't too far behind, taking 10th in 4:13.78. In the women's event, Maggie Hensel '16 placed 10th, finishing in 5:04.13. She was followed by Nora Owens '16, who finished 13th in 5:18.23, and Rachel Keller '16, who finished 16th in 5:24.69. Michael Rosenbach '15 led the charge in the men's 800-meter run, taking seventh in 2:00.97. Grady Ward '16 placed ninth in 2:01.96. Greg Bray '15 and Mohamed Sidique '15 placed 11th and 20th, respectively, timing in at 2:02.47 and 2:07.05. Kelsey Whitaker '16 took seventh in the women's 800, crossing the line in seventh in 2:24.24, while Gabriella Guillette '15 took 25th in 2:45.52. The men's 100-meter dash featured a quartet of Brandeis runners. Jacob Wilhoite '15 took 27th in 12.11 seconds. Galen Karlan-Mason '16 placed 31st in 12.21. Kensai Hughes finished 34th in 12.32, while Chi Tai '16 rounded out the field, finishing 41st in 12.64. Tove Freeman '16 was the Judges' lone competitor in the women's 100, taking 27th in 14.53 seconds. Casey McGown '13 was the other female sprinter for the Judges, taking sixth in the 400-meter dash, timing in at 1:02.14. The Judges featured several other competitors as well. Brandon Odze '16 took 14th in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.49. Adam Berger '15 placed third in the triple jump with a jump of 12.62 meters and took 15th in the men's long jump with a jump 5.80 meters. Hudges placed 18th in 5.68 meters. Wilhoite took ninth in the javelin, throwing 46.48 meters, just ahead of Jonathan Gilman '15, who took 13th in 42.94 meters. As the University Athletic Association Championships approach this weekend, where athletes who competed in both meets will join together, Kramer is optimistic that the teams-and particularly the distance contingent-have been making steady progress and are reaching their peak levels. "We did a big block of training right after the indoor season ended," he said. "Our mileage was pretty high, and we did a lot of long workouts focused on building strength. In the next few weeks, we'll be doing more pace-focused stuff and tuning up rather than get significantly fitter. We'll freshen up; the mileage will come down a bit." Following a week of training, the Judges will travel to New York University for the UAA Championships this Friday and Saturday, and given that Kramer and Kern hold the UAA's top two seed times in the 1,500, he's confident that they will perform well. "I'm honestly more worried about Mik than I am about anyone else," Kramer joked.
(04/22/13 4:00am)
Today, LauraBen Moore '14 is an All-American. She is the public relations officer for the Brandeis women's rugby football club and a regular player on Beantown, Boston's Women's Premier League rugby team. Yet, less than two years ago, Moore was none of those things. She was new-at Brandeis and at rugby. She was a kid who had a bold prediction: "We're going to win this game." As far as guarantees go, that promise before Moore's first collegiate game was as ambitious as they come. Heading into the fall 2011 season, the Brandeis team had grown accustomed to losing. The squad had gone so long without winning that not a single team member at that time had ever tasted victory. Moore decided it was time for a change. "She said 'We are going to win this game,' and everyone said 'Ok, that's cute,'" coach Matt Cameron said. In fact, they won handily, beating Framingham State University 27-5. "First thing she said when she walked off the field was 'I told you so,'" Cameron added. Nineteen months later, the team has kept the winning tradition alive. After winning games in Division IV, Brandeis moved up to Division III this fall and qualified for the playoffs. Next season, the squad will be compete in Division II. "The team as a whole is growing incredibly, and it's a really exciting time to be a part of it," Moore said. Additionally, Moore has begun to accumulate individual accolades. She joined Beantown last semester and began making regular appearances in the past few weeks. What happened next was even more impressive. Of the tens of thousands of women who play rugby in America, only 160 were chosen to attend one of four prestigious USA Rugby camps last month. Out of that pool, 38 were selected for the AIG Women's Junior All-American team. Last week, Moore learned that she was one of the few that made the cut. When that team is narrowed down to an active 26-person roster at a camp in Chula Vista, Cal., she'll have the chance to be in the Nations Cup, a U-20 tournament that will take place in Nottingham, England in July. "She's a very special person and a very special athlete," Cameron said of his decision to nominate Moore. "She's made rugby her priority." Not that long ago, rugby was the last thing on Moore's mind. After transferring from the University of West Georgia, she arrived at Brandeis as a sophomore. She decided to take up studies in anthropology and sculpture, and soon, began looking for a place to fit in. "I came in as a transfer and I really just needed to make some friends," Moore said. "I hadn't played a sport in a little while, so I thought I'd try something new. I'd never played rugby before, never touched a rugby ball, never even seen a game." As Cameron stated, the sky is the limit for his star athlete. "Nothing would surprise me with the height of rugby that she could get to," he said. Even the Olympics or the World Cup, "she has the drive to get there."
